2013 Lap around the USA

Day 31 – Sunday 9th June 2013 – Route 66 ,St Louis, Missouri – Haskell, Oklahoma- 431 Miles

We woke to a wet overcast day. On the road by 8am and had trouble finding pieces of Route 66. A lot of it is covered by the interstate or small strips running parallel to the interstate. It was at times better to saty on the main road.

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The rain was quite heavy and wasnt long before we came across a pileup of cars travelling in the opposite direction. Traffic was blocked for miles and miles.

With our lanes clear we travelled on 66 before making a necessary stop in Springfield, Missouri.

Bass Pro Shop. Something I had read about and there was no way I would miss it. I called it the Husband Daycare Centre. You could easily drop them off all day and they would still be there that nigh. It has a website if anyone wants to check it out. Acres and acres of indoor fun, sporting camping, boating and fishing.
The sign above the door says it all. Welcome Fisherman, Hunters and other Liars.

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It has to be the biggest sport store around. We spent at least three hours there and didn’t see it all. But I did get to purchase a few toys. Even my wife was impressed with it and came away with a cammo handbag.


Leaving Springfield we drove through Joplin and had a look at where the Tornado had hit two years earlier. All the time we were still looking at the weather, and what thinking about how severe and frightening it must have been.


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My wife the navigator led us into Kansas for a whole twelve mile, so we could tick another State of our list.
Route 66 led us through some wild back roads and through farms and right past the farm houses.
If it wasn’t for the concrete strip for a road I would have thought we were lost.

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On our previous trip we stayed with some friends in Phoenix Arizona. They had now moved to Haskell, Okalahoma. Our plan was to spend a few days resting once we got there.
With the trip now half over I would be a good time just to chill and park the van for a while. A quick phone call to confirm our arrival and it wasn’t long before we got off Route 66 at Tulsa, Oklahoma and on our way to Haskell.
We arrived at 9.30 pm after a long day on the road. I was asleep before 10pm but my wife stayed up all night catching up on the last two years since we visited last.
Now looking forward to a few quiet days in Oklahoma.
We did not realise how tired we were and definetly needed the break before moving on.

Day 32 – Monday 10th June 2013 – Haskell, Oklahoma Miles – 0


After 31 days into the trip, it was nice just to do nothing. We had enjoyed every minute of the trip but didnt realise how much of a hammering we had given ourselves.
We were pretty worn out from the long days on the road and all the sight seeing and adventures we had taken.

A hot day so it was inside under the air conditioner. Highlight for the day was a visit to the Laundromat and a drive down the main street of Haskell.

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The rest of the day was spent checking out the van and going through my photos and making copies to my second hard drive, and of course doing very little else.

Day 33 – Tuesday 11th June 2013 – Haskell, Oklahoma – Tulsa – Haskell 66 Miles.

Up at 6.30 am and ready to hit the road. Only one problem, were here for another two days. Im not one for staying in the same place for too long if not a lot to do.

My wife was happy to sit and talk but I get bored. I wrote myself a list of things I needed and headed off to Tulsa for the morning.
My wife had earlier confiscated my second SLR camera as her point and shoot had battery problems.
The only lens spare was my favourite 31mm prime. It was also my main lens for panoramics.

It didn’t take long find a camera shop and wasn’t long before I walked out with a nice 18 -250mm telephoto lens. Also half the price I would have paid in Australia.

Now my wife was happy with a lens more suitable and me with my favourite lens back in my camera bag. It looks like I have lost the camera for good. There was never any talk of it returning. Happy Wife – Happy Life I suppose.

Second Item on the list was a Ipod. We wanted to listen to music on the road. The Apple Ipod store wanted to sell me one for a few hundred dollars. Not the amount I wanted to part with.

I headed to Walmart and ended up buying a similar thing with a mini SD card for $45. Loaded all our music on and plugged it into the CD player. Its all ready now for next trip.

It was mid afternoon by the time I got back to Haskell. I spotted a sign to the local lake and diverted for a quick look.

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A few photos and it was back to base for the rest of the day. Starting to think ablout the rest of the trip, so my batteries must be nearly recharged.

Day 34– Wednesday 12th June 2013 – Haskell, Oklahoma


Another sleep in before getting up to another beautiful warm day in Haskell Oklahoma. With no plans today, I just went about repacking the van and making sure everything was ok for the next chapter in our adventure.

I fuel up and checked the van over before another trip out to the lake after dinner. I think if we had stayed any longer in Haskell, it would have been very hard to leave.
So easy to just relax and unwind.

I sure my wife found it hard to leave after a few days with her friend.

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Tomorrow we are back on the road.

Hahaha Im guilty of Drop bear stories. Ends up a big laugh.

Day 35– Thursday 13th June 2013 - Haskell, Oklahoma – Route 66 – Pilot Service Centre, Amarillo, Texas – 438 Miles.

Up at 6.30 am but didn’t hit the road until 9.30am. I had a new lease of life and ready to put some more miles behind us.
We followed Route 66 to Oklahoma City before turning off and heading to Moore County. I had remembered the name when the Tornados were shown on the news. We had never seen the so much damage caused by a storm like this. After a few minutes we turned around and headed back to pick up Route 66 again.

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It wasnt our intention to drive around through the affected area and it didn’t feel right being there. I think I took a couple of photos of a shopping centre before putting the camera away.
After leaving Oklahoma City, we passed through El Rino, which had been hit by a Tornado two weeks prior.
Again it was damaged houses and trucks tipped upside down everywhere. Our hearts went out to the affected people.
There were fires everywhere as people were burning rubbish and cleaning up.

Im sure witnessing first hand the destruction caused by the Tornado’s had me worried for the rest of the trip and forever looking out for signs of bad weather. So far we had only a few days of rain and nothing too severe.

A couple more photos from along Route 66.


Sunset On Route 66
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Railway Silos.
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Giant Cross. Route 66
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We continued on Route 66 until we reached Amarillo, Texas. Again we chose a Pilot service centre as out camping area for the night.
It was just on dark as we pulled over for the night so it wasn’t long before we were all tucked up in our van after 12 hours on the road.

Day 36– Friday 14th June 2013 - Amarillo ,Texas – Route 66 to near Albuquerque, NM – Santa Fe – Taos NM - Motel - 376 Miles.

Up at 7.am and on the road by 8.am.. Today would be our last day on Route 66 and we were looking forward to a change of direction and hopefully scenery.

Travelling the full length of Route 66 had been a fantastic journey and really enjoyed doing it in two sections and having the break in between. I don’t think I would have been able to enjoy it as much in on direction unless it was the whole road trip..
It’s a great drive but I think it has to be something you are really into and prepared to take the time to experience it.

First stop on the road was the Cadillac Ranch where someone has buried all the cars nose first in an open field. It looks as though everyone takes a tin of flouro paint and puts their own signature on them. Lots and lots of empty tins on the ground so not sure how long it will be until someone gets sick of it.

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Getting to make my panoramic photos took a while as more and more people were now starting to pull up. I eventually got what I wanted and we moved on.
For such a very popular place I was surprised that no one was taking advantage of the continuous stream of visitors stopping to look at the cars. I thought maybe a stall or something.

Back on the road and it wasn’t long before we arrived at Adrian,Texas. With a fantastic little Roadhouse named Midpoint, midway between Santa Monica and Chicago. . 1139 miles in both directions.

Everyone was out having their photo taken at the Midpoint sign across the road from the diner. We waited our turn before heading over to the diner for breakfast. It was a very popular place with a constant stream of people waiting leaving or waiting to be served.
This would be our last stop in Texas so we thought it would be an appropriate place to sample some more of the local hospitality.

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Motorcycles seem to be very popular on Route 66 and the riders came in all shapes and sizes as well as varying age and from all over the world. We watched them come and go as we sat in the diner. The Harleys were in one area and the Japanese bikes parked in another.

It wasn’t until we were leaving that we looked in the visitor’s book, that we noticed the last group that left were not only from Australia but lived only a few hours from where we lived.
We purchased our last Route 66 souvenirs’ before taking a few more photos and back on the road.
Our plan for the rest of the day was to go as far along Route 66 towards Albuquerque before turning off and starting the northern leg of our adventure.

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It was early afternoon when we made a right hand turn and headed north towards Santa Fe. Just to have a quick look around before heading off.

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We were greeted with some very heavy rain so our stay was shorter than expected. The buildings were spectacular and the colours beautiful. I asked my wife if she wanted to stay for the night. Her reply was “No” I just wanted to drive through and have a look.I was quite happy to keep driving for a while yet.
The scenery was spectacular as we drove along side the Rio Grand towards Taos. Lots of stops and lots of photos, while dodging the more frequent rain showers.

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We arrived at Taos before dark, found a motel and settled in for the night. Taos is a very pretty town sitting below a huge mountain range. The town buildings and houses remind me a lot of Santa Fe with all the rich colours and design.

Watching the television News that night we were reminded of the large wildfires burning through Colorado and the area we had planned to visit. We spent a while looking for a new route in case we need to make changes the next day.

Day 37– Saturday 15th June 2013 - Taos NM - Durango –Silverton – Ouray – Montrose - Paonia State Park – Colorado. 394 Miles

We were up early as usual and enjoyed a free breakfast of waffles and coffee at the Motel.
On the road by 8.am we followed our GPS and map in the direction of Durango and soon found ourselves crossing over the Rio Grand Bridge.

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We couldn’t resist stopping for some more photos and looking at stalls and goods on display at the local markets. Back into the van and it didn’t seem long before we were crossing into Colorado.
The closest we had been to Colorado was in 2011 when we were at four corners.

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As we drove along it was like being in a different country as the scenery started o change from desert to pine forests and then into beautiful mountain landscape. More photos before moving on again.
I have this tendency to visualise what a town would look like going by its name. Durango to me sounds like a small western town wide streets and old buildings. Wrong again as we entered another large city. Just like El Paso I couldn’t be further from what I had imagined.

The drive from Durango to Silverton was beautiful and very scenic. Winding roads and steep drop offs kept both myself and my wife alert for the trip. As we approached Silverton we stopped to photograph a steam train in the valley below, taking passengers on a trip to Durango and return. We would love to have done that but had missed the train.
Now Silverton was exactly like I had thought it would be like. A real Western town in my opinion..

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Our original plan was to get to Gunnison and head down into Colorado Springs and drive up Pikes Peek before going to Denver. Then find our way to Nebraska and onto South Dakota.

A visit to the Visitors Information Centre soon changed that plan. With the wildfires in the Colorado Springs area, we had a choice of going down to Denver through the smoke, or heading into Wyoming and then into Nebraska.

After some thought and discussion it was decided that we would continue on into Wyoming and avoid any of the danger or smoky areas.

A while later when getting gas I mentioned how beautiful the scenery was and if it gets better. When I told him we came from Durango he just smiled and said, ”It sure does”. He was right too.

We left Silverton and onto the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray.
I thought the name was for the million dollar views and not the true meaning because of the mineral rich ore that was used to build the highway.

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Ouray.

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Spectacular views, winding roads and steep drop offs with no guard rails only added to the thrill of driving this road.
I was forever reminded to watch the road and not the view. It was very slow going, but all the better for soaking up the scenery and time for a photo or two.

We spent the rest of the day just cruising along enjoying every moment we were in Colorado. Not sure where to stop for the night we asked while getting some food supplies’. Someone mentioned Paonia State Park, and only a half hour away we set this as our destination.

Arriving at the campground around 8 pm, the sign said pay before entering. So we filled out the camping permit, paid our money and drove in only to find the place full. I think we misinterpreted the sign.
I drove around for a while and found a spot near a big skip bin and parked there for the night. I thought at least we have paid and we will be one the road by 6am the next morning it shouldn’t hurt. I spoke to a few of the campers and they were fine with us being there.

With the sunlight fading I grabbed my camera and decided to take a walk to the lake and get a few shots. As I walked past a camp I said hi and asked if it was OK to walk past their camp to the water.
Where are you from I was asked. They must have picked up on my Aussie Accent as that was as far as I got that night.

They were a husband and wife and two friends from Glenwood Springs. We have never met such friendly people. They cooked us a BBQ dinner and spent the rest of the evening chatting about our trip and where we were heading. Plus a million questions about Australia.
A lot of people cannot believe how much we have seen of the USA so far.

We were offered boat rides over the lake the next day but we were leaving early and their day didn’t start until 11 am.
I think it was the most memorable evening of our trip spent with wonderful people. Memories like this are what road trips are made of and the reason we keep coming back.

Day 38– Sunday 16th June 2013 –Paonia State Park, Colorado – Craig – Rawlings Wyoming – Casper – Fort Robinson, Nebraska – 570 Miles


Up and on the road by 6.am we crept quietly out of the camping area. Not sure of how far we would get but hopefully close to Nebraska.

Again the scenery was beautiful and I loved the rolling hills and the wide open spaces of Wyoming. I stopped for a photo every now and then but kept on moving as I knew we would be back in Wyoming in a day or so.

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Late in the afternoon I pulled up on the side of the road to photograph the locals at a Calf roping competition.
We didn’t go in as we had a high vantage point from the side of the road. Im sure they must have been wondering who those people were in that funny looking van.

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We quiet often forget what it looks like until the funny looks we get. With no rental signage on the van, people were always commenting on how cool it looked or great paint job.

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We crossed over into Nebraska (State No 27) and headed to Crawford and found a campground at Fort Robinson. It was $22 for the night but well worth it for the hot showers and somewhere to tidy up a bit.
We put in 570 miles but I still felt quit fresh after such a long drive. The miles just roll by while soaking up the scenery in a new place.

Day 39– Monday 17th June 2013. – Fort Robinson, Nebraska – Mammoth, SD – Rapid City – Bandlands NP, South Dakota. – 242 Miles

Woke at 5.30 am to the sound of thunder. I nearly hit my head on the roof of the van because it was so loud I jumped up.
The sky was turning red and lightening everywhere as the storm approached. We got our cameras our and took a few photos before the rain started.

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We managed to keep ahead of it but it finally caught us as we crossed into South Dakota.

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Our Early start got us to Mammoth and the Mammoth Museum just before opening. Being first in line we had the first tour. It has to be one of the best places we visited and to be an actual dig site made it better. Just seeing how the animals were trapped over the years is amazing and to be able to see the Mammoths where they actually died and still remain today.
We spent a few enjoyable hours before leaving and heading towards Rapid City.

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First stop was Crazy Horse Monument. What a great monument in progress. I would love to go back and see it again when it is finished. A very busy and popular place with all the car parks near full to capacity.
Just wandering around the museum and watching the film of the early das is just amazing. Its good to see the family continuing on with the dream of one day finishing it. Even better is funded by the owners. Another Monument ticked off the to do list.

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The storm clouds from early this morning were again catching up with us and the rain wasn’t far away again.

Next stop Mount Rushmore. Our GPS got us to the entrance without any trouble. Unlike Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore was near impossible to see from anywhere outside the main gates. It wasn’t until we were inside and walking through the main entrance that we could see the monument.
I suppose it a way of getting the people in to see it.

Although a very spectacular monument it didn’t have the same effect on me as Crazy Horse. Maybe I was expecting something a lot bigger. We didn’t get to see the movie on the making of the monument but I imagine it would have been a massive task.
Along with the thousands of other tourists we took our photos before heading into the gift shops.

On our way to the gift shop we could hear the thunder and wasn’t long before the rain and hail hit us. Our storm had caught up again. The gift shop was packed with people getting out of the rain. We purchased a few souvenirs’ before heading back to the car park.

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It was still early in the afternoon so we decided to head out to Badlands National Park and see it we could get a camp for the night. I took us an hour or so to make it to the Park entrance. Paid our $16 for the night and found a spot in the campground. The campground was full of young families on holidays and a hive of activity with children everywhere. It’s easy to see why it is popular for an extended stay.
Just before sunset we took a drive around the Park. Got some nice photos of the sunset, and quite a few shots to join into panoramas. It may be a while before I get to work on them as they are quite time consuming.

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Back at the camp it seemed to take forever to get dark. The colours were still in the clouds and the amazing landscape illuminated by the setting sun. What a spectacular view to end the day.