2018 History Trip

Our summer trip has begun, and to distinguish it from other trip reports, I've decided to call this the "History Trip". As the trip report progresses, you all should understand exactly why it's titled that way!

DAY 1 - OUR HOME TO HOLBROOK, AZ - 10 hrs., 51 minutes

Our morning began at 4 am with last minute trip prep and loading. Our truck was full not only with our own stuff, but with things heading for Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. Much of the stuff for those destinations had been loaded in the truck several weeks ago, as a storage place as well as to see how things were riding. (I should say that we are normally early risers anyway, so 4 am isn't unheard of, for us.)

We had hoped to depart earlier than 5 am but we were only a few minutes later. The drive was uneventful until the Cajon Pass, where CalTrans unwisely took traffic from 6 lanes down to 2 (plus the truck lanes), then eventually took those 2 truck lanes down as well, for construction. It delayed us at least 10 minutes.

Breakfast stop was at IHOP in the Lenwood area in Barstow. Then our next stop wasn't until Kingman, where we picked up fuel at Smith's Grocery and Gasoline.

More construction along the way took us down to one lane in each direction. Our next stop was at the Pilot just west of Flagstaff, for pit stop, getting something from the cooler to drink, and to stretch our legs. Then we didn't stop until the hotel in Holbrook. The woman at the Pilot station said that much of the construction was re-doing a sloppy job from the wrong materials put in last summer!

Along the way today we started to count a certain brand of commercial truck, and trains. We couldn't get over counting 41 trucks and 30 trains! It got so that we had to keep track (in pencil) in a notebook.

The Quality Inn here was decent. We tried the pool, though, and it was like ice. Neither of us got in past our thighs, it was actually painful. The front office also gave us recommendations of local restaurants rather than just relying on Denny's. We walked a half mile down to a place that was half bar/grill, half Italian. We sat on the Italian side and enjoyed Fettucine Alfredo (Warren) and chicken cacciatore (me, though I didn't eat about half of the pasta).

Crossing the Colorado River from California into Arizona along I-40 just east of Needles, AZ. Yes, it's a windshield shot, as there's no place to pull over and take photos!

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1755/...0cb07a45_h.jpgIMG_6401 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


Donna

DAY 2 - HOLBROOK AZ to AMARILLO, TX - 514 miles, 8 hrs 45 minutes

Up just before 4:30 this morning, , we loaded up the truck and were out before 6. We tried to get ice at the Chevron next door but it wasn't open yet, but ended up getting it down the road a little bit.

Drive, drive. The first eventful thing, after fuel and food at Gallup, was seeing the Amtrak Southwest Chief going down the tracks. I have memories of riding that train years ago!

The next eventful things had to do with the truck and that now-too-common bucking and snorting it does when some electronic interference bothers a sensor. One was right as we entered Albuquerque metropolitan area. There were antennae on the south side of the freeway, very close to it, and I said to my husband, “brace yourself”. Yup, it acted up. It jumped right back within ½ mile, though. Then it did similar just as we passed through Santa Rosa, though neither of us noted any antennae.

Train count today: 17, including that Southwest Chief. truck count: 50! A record!

The Comfort Inn is quite lovely though it's in the middle of a construction zone. There is a pool and hot tub which we tried after going out to dinner. We also had a Jacuzzi in the room.

Dinner was down at the tourist place, Big Texan Steakhouse. No, we didn't try to eat 72 oz steak in one hour – neither of us would win that one any more. Each of us had a 12 oz Ribeye “Fort Worth cut”, but it was a bit peppery for our taste. Hubby loved the stout he had to drink. We both left very full. The ambiance of the place was fun and the service was excellent. We'd do this again if we get back to Amarillo. It's someplace we have wanted to try but have never gone through Amarillo at lunch or dinner time in order to do so!

Inside The Big Texan Steakhouse

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The challenge clock, inside the Big Texan. If you eat 72 oz steak (4-1/2 lbs of beef) plus all the trimmings (baked potato, rolls, vegetables), in less than 60 minutes, you get it free. You pay it upfront, $72, and try to win your money back.

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Condiment basket. It says "Big Texan" and, on the side, Route 66.

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Donna

DAY 3 - AMARILLO to VAN BUREN, AR - 451 miles

It was a leisurely morning. We chose to try the hotel breakfast this morning and wait out “rush hour” in Amarillo since we had mistakenly placed ourselves on the west side of town (my fault, I thought the place was on the east side when I reserved). I went down and tried the hotel exercise room, using the treadmill to walk for about 12 minutes. We packed up, drove to get some fuel which we'd found at $2.79/gallon....yay!

We did very well today, making good progress and with no truck problems. The truck has been getting 17-18 mpg so far. We passed through some rather sage looking desert, then the rolling hills finally began just west of Oklahoma City again. OKC had no bothersome traffic issues and I do commend them for well marked lanes at major intersections such as I-44.

Neither of us had intended to get fuel much before Arkansas, but we couldn't pass up another opportunity at $2.79 for Valero, when others had been advertising $3.09-$3.15.

Pulled into the Best Western in Van Buren to find it fairly empty. I surmised that this is a place that doesn't fill up till later, and that seemed to be the way it was. We unloaded and went for a swim in an outdoor pool whose temperature was “just right”. Then drove to Arby's to pick up dinner and bring it back to the room to eat.

Having enjoyed the treadmill this morning and still the need to add more steps today, I went to the exercise room at this hotel and used the treadmill again. I usually do my walks around our neighborhood, rather than using a gym's or a personal treadmill (don't own one), but when the weather is hot and muggy, an indoor "gym" is a nice convenience!

Donna

DAY 4 - VAN BUREN, AR to CORINTH, MS - 385 miles, 7 hours

It was another day of driving but the last one for a few days that is focused on "just driving". Tomorrow we have another destination but plan to stop and see a couple of places along the way.

This morning after rising, I got some exercise by once again utilizing the exercise room at the hotel. Breakfast was in the hotel breakfast room – scrambled eggs and sausage for hubby, scrambled eggs, oatmeal and a tiny yogurt for me (and I took a banana to go).

We left Van Buren, AR as a storm was passing by. While eating breakfast in the hotel's breakfast room, the wind really started to whip, and then it rained.* We packed up anyway after breakfast and just left.**

The drive was mostly overcast, though it rained in patches here and there. It seems like it always rains when we're in Arkansas! It must see us coming and say, "Oh, I must RAIN, here comes that couple!"* The traffic was okay until after Little Rock when it got really heavy.* Then, just coming into West Memphis, everyone on I-40 *stopped*. There was a crash involving two semi's, in the left lane.* So we all had to carefully go around.**

To get around Memphis, due to the direction we were headed, we got off I-40 at I-55 South, and followed that until we got to I-240 east. Then got off that at AR-385, and our final change was to get on US-72.

Right after we got onto US-72, we came to a halt. Again. There was yet-another-crash involving several semi's. We were diverted through a fuel station, because the vehicles were taking up the whole eastbound side of US-72. We were so grateful to see dual lane again, to get around a whole convoy of trucks.

Pulled into Corinth and evidently went right past our hotel. We had to kill time before check-in time anyway, but doing so by by-passing the place wasn't in our plans.* They let us check in early, then we went to the pool. It's warm and muggy, and would be *hot* and muggy if the sun were out. Thank heavens it isn't.**

Dinner was at a place just down the road a bit, Taylor's Escape BBQ & Catfish. Hubby of course had the catfish and shrimp. That's why we chose it. It was mostly a place that the local's go, and that's what we wanted to do. He said the catfish were just as he likes it!


Donna

I am enjoying reading this Donna. Enjoying the food parts as well hehe. Looking forward to some more of your trip. Hope there are no more crash's to hold you up.

Keith

No more crashes. I just need more hours in a day. We keep going east and losing an hour -- finally lost the last one today.


Donna

DAY 5 - CORINTH MS to HUNTSVILLE, AL - 141 mi, 6 hours (sightseeing)

It rained and rained last night, making us wonder if we'd get to do much sightseeing around Corinth at all. Twice last night, the phones screeched. Once was for an Amber Alert in northern Mississippi. The other was a Flash Flood warning. We were safe above ground in a motel, technically on the first floor but not in a downhill area, so we weren't too worried.

It took us forever to decide exactly what to do about weather and our intended plans. We dressed and went to breakfast at the hotel breakfast room, which was disappointing since some of our favorite things were missing. We are definitely in the South when there are “instant grits” available in the area where instant oatmeal is located, on the hotel breakfast bar Then later, we used a break in the rain to load the truck for departure.

Our first stop was at the Corinth Battlefield Interpretive Center. It was a nice museum, a few artifacts, a decent movie about the Corinth battle of the Civil War, and a few other things. We took a driving map and headed out to see what's in the townsite of Corinth. Two things with that: first, nothing is really visible any more except Battery F (just interpretive signs and no parking for our huge pickup); second, we got lost trying to find the Contraband Camp and never did find it. The town streets were not always well-marked. Eventually we found our way back to Cass Street and decided it was time to grab lunch and leave town.


Corinth Battlefield Interpretive Center, a branch of the Shiloh Battlefield NHP:

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Outside, the walk includes bronzed war relics (probably not the real thing):


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Corinth marks its side streets with a white pole and the street names painted on them. This is all well-and-good, until the street names peel off or the pole (made of fiberglass pipe) falls down. It's no wonder we got turned around.

Hubby couldn't decide last night between Taylor's Escape and Popeye's Louisiana Chicken. Well, at lunch today he got his Popeye's, something that's hard to find in CA (our area has *one* but it is at least 20 miles round trip to get there). After that, we headed east 60 miles to Tuscumbia, AL.

There we almost got lost again trying to find our way into Tuscumbia to the destination. Turned around and went where GyPSy told us, which was not marked with a street name at all (much less the one GyPSy named) and found it perfectly. Helen Keller Birthplace was a very interesting, pretty area of Tuscumbia, the estate called Ivy Green. A docent led us through the downstairs of the main house, we could look upstairs to our heart's content and out on the property as well. I had wanted to see the water pump where Annie Sullivan made the break-through with Helen, and got to see it. Plus the rest of the house and all the gardens. It was dripping rain as we came in but we managed to get around after the tour without getting soaked.

Ivy Green:

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The room where Helen was born:

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Where Teacher Annie Sullivan made a break through with Helen, teaching her the word "water":

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The truck aimed east again, this time towards Decatur and then Huntsville. We situated ourselves just north of the US Space and Rocket Center in the La Quinta Inn Huntsville Research Park, which has an outdoor pool. The room is small, especially compared to the past two nights, and we are here for two nights. But there is a pool, and there are places to eat within walking distance, including Golden Corral (which we love).


Donna

DAY 6 - U.S. SPACE & ROCKET CENTER, HUNTSVILLE, AL

Whew, what an inspiring yet exhausting day!* Our bodies just naturally got up this morning, then we had coffee in the room, and I grabbed a bowl, spoon, and a banana at the breakfast room in the motel. (It was otherwise very disappointing breakfast.)

Off we went to the US Space & Rocket Center, which is only about 2.5 miles from where we are staying, down a parkway.* Got in, they verified our tickets to the Marshall Space Flight Center bus tour (which we had purchased by phone last month), and we were off to see the museum first. We spent about 2 hours looking at all the exhibits, not quite finishing the Saturn V center, then went back out to the truck for our "truck picnic" lunch. Then it was time for the bus tour, which for us was the reason to come to Huntsville.

That was absolutely wonderful, to see where they assist the International Space Station occupants with their science experiments in the Payload Operations building. Then we were driven out to see all the rocket test pads where history was made.* We made another couple of stops and almost 3 hours later, we were back at the Saturn V center.

Historic test site where Alan Shepherd took his flight:
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There were "blockhouses" made from old tank cars left on the base, and buried, for the rocket controllers to remain and supervise during tests.
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We knew where we'd left off before lunch, so we started there.* We've added to the Apollo Command Modules that we've actually laid eyes on, as this place had Apollo 16. We'll see two more in DC, most likely. We also needed our souvenir t-shirts, before they closed.

Apollo 16's command module, at Huntsville:
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Apollo 16's parachute:
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Our last order of business there was dinner. They were having a "Biergarten" festival there, every Thursday in summers, and you buy German food and dine right underneath one of the three remaining workable Saturn V rockets left on Earth. (We've seen the other two, at Kennedy Space Center and at Johnson Space Center in Houston.)* The food was reasonably priced, very good, but the ambiance of the location of your table just couldn't be replicated anywhere else.**

When we came back to the hotel, it was during Rush Hour, Huntsville style, but that wasn't bad at all. What wasn't so fun was that all the parking slots near to our hotel room were taken by other travelers. One spot was open, but it was a "blue" spot and we couldn't use it.*

Now we are just tired! Mostly our feet, but our bodies too since we were on the “go” all day after sitting in a pick-up truck for the better parts of five days.


Donna

There's a RV park adjacent to the museum and if you take the path through the trees, you will find a pond with lots of frogs. The home of the "Screamin' Frogs" to be exact. They actually squeal if you surprise them.

Mark

DAY 7 - HUNTSVILLE, AL to ROANOKE, VA - 471 miles, 9 hours

Not much to say about today except that we did a lot of driving. We started on I-565 in Huntsville, which turned back into US-72 east. That we followed the rest of the way in Alabama and our first 2 or 3 miles in Tennessee. After a breakfast in Kimball, we got on I-24, took that past Chattanooga, then got on I-75 north. We were on that for about 100 miles or so where we picked up I-40 east again for a short time, then most of the rest of the drive was on I-81.

Traffic got a bit heavy at Chattanooga, and stayed that way all the way past Knoxville and to the split between I-40 and I-81. It lightened up for awhile, till around 3 pm (Eastern time) when it got heavy and stayed that way all the way into Roanoke. I guess it was the start of the weekend!

We saw about 6 Virginia State Troopers.

The place we are staying is another Quality Inn with an outdoor pool, which we used right after we unloaded the truck of our necessities. Then we headed out for dinner up at the next exit on I-581, Olive Garden. It was about the closest thing that wasn't a Waffle House or fast food. After dinner, we found a Kroger gas station selling diesel for $2.79 gallon. We've found this price three times on this trip, and have yet to hit our budget high of $3.25 to $3.50/gallon. Yay, us!

The pool at this place is one of the nicer ones, as far as its location goes. So many times, the pool is added as an after-thought, usually smack-dab in the middle of the parking lot. This time, the pool was in the center of the property, surrounded by rooms. Hubby and I figured that this is an older motel that has been renovated, judging by the style of the windows and of the age of the AC/furnace units. This has also been one of the least friendly hotels. There were signs that if you're a local, we'll refund your money and send you on your way. I commented on that and received a snide reply, leaving us to believe that the management must have been burned by some locals.

No photos for this leg of the trip.

Donna

DAY 8 - ROANOKE, VA to FORT BELVOIR, VA via APPOMATTOX CH - 240 miles

We left the convenience store after getting ice this morning, just before 8 am, and found our way to US-460 east. It took us about an hour and 20 minutes to meander our way to Appomattox Court House National Historic Park, arriving about 9:20. There is no longer a fee here, though they do take donations very willingly. As is our custom, if there is a guest book, we sign it.

We looked at the Visitor Center, then went to listen to a 40 minute Living History, where a young man dressed as a soldier in the Union Army, 1865, told about the surrender and reactions to it. He was quite good. This was a good substitute for the slide show that we decided not to attend, and we are both familiar (especially hubby) with Ken Burns' Civil War PBS series.

Appomattox Visitor Center:
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Clover Hill Tavern, where the Confederate soldiers' parole passes were printed, and where we sat on the porch for the Living History presentation:
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Then we wandered around the village for awhile, seeing the McLean House where the surrender papers were signed, and so much more. The weather was holding for us, not overly hot, but we were there for most of the morning.

The McLean House, outside, with the well in front:
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Where Robert E. Lee surrendered the Virginia Army, inside the McLean House:
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We drove back down VA-24 to see the Confederate Cemetery and the place where Grant and his troops were camped out, then headed out of town towards Alexandria.

The rise on which Grant had been camped out:
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Confederate Cemetery:
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We knew we had about 180 miles to drive on non-interstate roads. Lunch was also needed, but rather than return to the townsite of Appomattox, we went on, finally eating in a place called Teresa's Place: A Family Restaurant, which served good "comfort food", either on a menu or buffet style. This was in Dillwyn.

Most of our driving was done on 2-lane highways – VA-24, US-60, US-15, VA-20, VA-3. Then we hit I-95 which was soupy in places but not the parking lot we expected, and finally, the last 7-1/2 miles was down US-1 to our hotel.

We are situated in the Towne Place Suites by Marriott Alexandria/Fort Belvoir. The room is a “studio king with daybed”. It has a full kitchen with almost everything you need, a nice bathroom with a shower that looks inviting, desk, closet that even includes a laundry basket. Laundry is free here if you bring your own soap (I have). There is a pool but it's only open 6 hours a day (3 pm to 9 pm). Plus barbecue grills if you care to use them. A small home-away-from-home.

Safeway and CVS were right down the street, so after a quick swim, we went off to shop. Picked up some stuff that we like for dinners and breakfasts without overdoing because we'll be here only a week.

This seems the way to go for us, if the price is right, to find places with kitchens/kitchenettes, to be able to make our own dinners, and the bed is comfortable too.


Donna

I’m enjoying reading this. I live outside Fredericksburg, VA near four Civil War Battlefields. Enjoy the history of this area!

DAY 9 - ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

t was a rather solemn day today for us. Today we went to Arlington National Cemetery, a place of great reverence, and walked our feet off.

First, we had to find the Metro Station. Thanks to Google Maps directions printed out before we left home, we drove right to the Franconia-Springfield Station, which is at the very end of the Blue Line. Parking was not difficult for the truck at all, and on Sundays it's free, which makes it even better. (Who knows what it will be like when we go into DC tomorrow.) The train was waiting and we sat inside it for about 10 minutes before it actually took off. Following on the train line map, we were able to get off at the Arlington Cemetery Station, and you just sort of follow the crowds to get to the cemetery.

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Oh my goodness, we walked our feet off. First stop was in the Information Center to get a map. Let's see....our first stop was at the Kennedy Grave. I have a few memories of that from back in 1964, but if my memory serves, the only thing similar between JFK's "temporary" grave and this one, was the eternal flame. Of course, his wife and son are both gone now, and I notice there is a place for Caroline, his daughter who is about 62.

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We then walked out to the Tomb of the Unknown, and watched the guard for about 20 minutes before the next changing-of-the-guard ceremony took place. That is an impressive guard and ceremony, well worth watching.

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Went up to see the amphitheater, then started to walk to see Audie Murphy's grave. Then walked up to what I have always called the Custis-Lee Mansion, but of course is now known as Arlington House. It is not open for tours until next year (they hope) because of renovations. At the foot of the hill in front of Arlington House, is Bobby Kennedy's grave.

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Walked to a few other things, then made our way back to the information center, then headed out to find the train station. By this time it was well after lunchtime and there isn't food anywhere nearby. Had to wait 20 minutes for the next train since the Franconia-Springfield train was leaving just as we got to the platform. Once back at the truck and near the hotel, we grabbed food and brought it back to the room.

I spent the afternoon catching up on laundry. One perk of Towne Place Suites are FREE laundry facilities. You just have to bring-your-own laundry detergent, which was not a problem as I had some in the truck. Then we went for a swim afterward. The evening will be spent IN. I am grilling a ham steak in the room, which we will have with baked beans (canned) and corn. We bought one of those SMALL ham steaks, and part of our own cooking equipment is an electric griddle. Should be good eatin' tonight!


Donna

DAY 10 – NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

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Another day with lots of walking and a great museum. Today was the day for the National Air and Space Museum, along the National Mall.

Once again, we took the MetroRail. I tell ya, that's the way to go if one stays in the suburbs and wants to go into town.* Despite the hour later than the average rush hour, we had no real trouble finding a parking space, even for our Beast of a truck. The train was waiting for us.

On the way in, we realized that the Yellow Line would allow us to skip a lot of stations, creating a shorter ride, by changing from the Blue Line to the Yellow Line at either Kings St Station in Alexandria, or at the Pentagon (underground) station. We chose to try this today, changing at the Pentagon. That avoided going around to the north, across the Potomac at a point further north, then dropping southeast to the same station (L'Enfant Plaza) as we needed.

Found the entrance to the NA&S Museum and started in. We'd almost finished the ground floor when it was time for lunch. I swear that half of DC is under rehabilitation, because the food court at the Air Museum was closed. We walked over to the National Gallery of Art for lunch -- nice cafeteria over there. On the way over, we looked down the Mall one way to see the Capitol, and the other way to see the Washington Monument (also under rehab this summer).

One of Buzz Aldrin's spacesuits:
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Replica of the Hubble Space Telescope:
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When we got back from lunch, we took several more hours to finish it up. We couldn't read every single placard, it was detailed. It was wonderful to see the following: the REAL Spirit of St Louis plane that Lucky Lindy flew, the REAL Wright Bros. 1903 plane, the Skylab 4 command module. What was a big bummer to us both was that the Apollo 11 command module is off gallivanting around the country, currently up in Washington State. It won't be back to DC until 2025. Grrrr!

Skylab 4's command module:
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Spirit of St Louis:
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Wright Bros. 1903 flyer:
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One of Amelia Earhart's planes:
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Can you believe, we went off this morning and left behind our good cameras? They've been in the back of the truck for so long, but we took them out when we got to this hotel. We remembered them yesterday, for Arlington, but for some reason, we left them at the hotel today. So we took photos using our phones. In many ways, it was a blessing not to have the albatross around our necks all day, but we had to be careful about using our phones as cameras, especially me. I was down to about 50% power and I still had to use the Metro app to find out departure times and iMaps (which uses a lot of power) to get us from the station to the hotel.

When we rode the train back to the Franconia-Springfield Station, we reversed what we did this morning. We rode the Yellow Line as far as the Pentagon Station, then got off and waited for the Blue Line -- about 6 minutes to wait. The parking garage at F-S was relatively easy to get out of, just more traffic than there was yesterday. It's about a 10-14 minute drive in each direction to this station from our hotel.

So far, I've found that we made some good decisions about this trip. The hotel is in a good, fairly quiet location. Though the hotel's location says "Alexandria/Fort Belvoir", it's actually in a subdivision called Woodlawn. It's about 3-4 miles from here to Mount Vernon (on the list of "things to see"). It's 5 miles to the Metro Station which is the end of the Blue Line, and I understand that Huntington Station is about as close (the end of the Yellow Line).


Donna

Donna:

I'm really enjoying your trip report. You're in my old stomping grounds; I lived in an apartment in Arlington, walking distance from the Pentagon, and I worked in downtown DC, so I made that run on the Yellow Line to L'Enfant Plaza thousands of times (literally). Count your blessings, that you're not using the Metro at the peak of rush hour. Try to imagine those underground platforms so crowded with people that there's no room to stand, and every train car jammed full like a can of sardines. I loved living in DC; my office was so close to the National Mall that I could visit random sections of the various Smithsonian Museums on my lunch hour. The thing I miss least? That awful commute on the Metro!

If you enjoyed the Air and Space Museum, I hope you have time to visit the other section of it that was built out by Dulles airport. That's where they out the BIG stuff; think, Space Shuttle, a Concorde, an SRT Blackbird! There's plenty of parking, so that's something you could easily drive to. Another spot that I highly recommend is Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, near Charlottesville. It's a bit over 100 miles from where you're staying, so the round trip will eat up half a day (just to drive it), but as long as you stay off I-95 it's a beautiful scenic route through the Virginia countryside, and the old estate provides a truly fascinating glimpse into the life and times of a truly brilliant man.

Enjoy the rest of your journey--and keep those words and pictures coming!

Rick

Thanks, Rick -- we're going to skip the outer air & Space museum this time around; we'd have gone out there if the Apollo 11 command module was there, but it isn't. Monticello is on the outbound plans -- don't want to miss that, since Jefferson was the brains and financing behind the Lewis & Clark expedition (which we are very interested in).

As for the Metro, we've been getting on in what's considered "Peak time", but have only left once during a time when it was considered "off peak", at least on weekdays. We've discovered that the further out we go, the less and less people are on the train. On the Blue Line, the Reagan Airport (Washington National) is a prime destination, as is Pentagon (which is also on Yellow Line). Sunday was our time for learning to use Metro, when commuters weren't behind us swearing at the Californians who don't know how to do the SmarTrip card!

Donna

DAY 11 - US CAPITOL HILL AND SURROUNDINGS

A trip to DC involves a lot of walking, riding a train or bus, or both. Today, it also meant getting wet. It rained. Fortunately we were mostly prepared by having one umbrella with us -- no easy feat when we were limited on what we could take into the US Capitol Visitor Center.

This morning we rode all the way from Franconia-Springfield Station (the end of "the blue line") into DC without changing stations. We got off at Capitol South Station and walked (dry at this time) to the Capitol Visitor Center. We had a tour scheduled by our representative for 11:20, but we were there in plenty of time and got to look at quite a few of the exhibits even after going through the Security line and then the "short line" for folks who had reservations for tours through their Congressman or Senator.

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We saw the "sister" of this statue in Tuscumbia a few days ago!
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It was quite a nice tour. We saw a short movie, first, then were taken into the Capitol Bldg. They don't take you to very many places. The Rotunda is the highlight and the focus, and also the Hall of Statues.* We passed Paul Ryan's office and the office of the Majority Whip, they showed us where the Senate and House chambers were and told us how we could get passes to the gallery. Though Trump was scheduled to speak to Congress today , passes were in high demand and therefore not a lot left, so we didn't even try.

I wonder how many people have photographed the Rotunda:
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or the Room under it:
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We used the tunnel to go over to the Library of Congress, but you can't see a whole lot unless you have a Library of Congress library card, which is a rigmarole to get. It's a researchers pass. There was a small display for George and Ira Gershwin, and some wall displays for Marvin Hamlisch. THOSE got my attention.

A Gutenberg Bible in the L.O.C.:
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I was in awe.....George's piano. A little background information: when George and Ira were growing up, Ira got the piano lessons and didn't want them, but George wanted them. Ira taught George whatever he'd learned at lesson that day, and this went on and on until Ira complained to his mother, give George the lessons, they're a waste of money on me, all I want to do is write poetry! George got the piano lessons.
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Ira's typewriter. Another thing to be in awe of, as those brothers wrote some awesome pieces now considered classics!
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The Supreme Court Building, though we didn't go in:
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We chose to go back and eat in the Capitol Visitor Center cafeteria, whose prices were "okay".

From there, we chose to walk to the National Archives. At first it was a pleasant walk, as things were breezy and had cooled down a little. Then it started to rain. By the time we got two blocks from the National Archives, it was coming down pretty hard. Two of us crammed under one umbrella was not fun, especially when the wind was attempting to turn said umbrella inside out! We thought we were at the wrong door for the Archives until the guard said, "this one is for groups and the military." Military? Does retired count? Yes, if you have your ID. Of *course* hubby had his ID, so we got head of the line privileges.

What an honor it was to see the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, as well as the Magna Carta. Awesome, even though NO PHOTOS were to be taken anywhere inside that building. OK, we could live with that.

By the time we got out of the Archives, the rain wasn't quite so bad. I bought an umbrella as my souvenir from the Archives, so now we had two umbrellas. We walked over to the Archives Metro Station, discovered it was a Yellow Line, and got on the next one heading our way. We then transferred at the Pentagon Station, to a Blue Line. We're getting good at this Metro stuff....scary!

As you might expect, Security is everywhere in DC. Some museums have airline style metal detectors and have you put purses, bags, items in your pocket through a screening. Most don't allow food of any kind -- not even the Tic-Tacs you might keep in your purse, though they might be okay with the hard candy you keep there if you are a diagnosed diabetic or hyperglycemic. Hubby usually carries a tiny pocket knife with him, but has left it back almost every day.

Donna

I’m enjoying reading a tourist report of my old stomping grounds. If you’re back on the Mall again, I’ve been told the food at the Native American Museum is excellent. I’m sure you are well scheduled already but since you’re headed back to Monticello, if you have the time Montpelier, James Madison’s home, is not that far away. They use to visit. It isn’t as “developed” as Montpelier but the archeological digs going on are interesting and amazing to stand in his library where he wrote the Constitution.

DAY 12 - SEEING THE NATIONAL MALL AND SURROUNDINGS

Two very tired people are off our feet and sitting in the hotel room after 4 hours of walking, walking, and more walking. My Fit Bit registered us as 6+ miles just in DC alone, plus getting between the train and our truck. I'm at more than 19,000 steps on my Fit Bit right now and expect to hit the 20K mark soon.

We took the Blue Line all the way into the city today, getting off at the Smithsonian Station. Our first stop was at the Smithsonian Castle, mostly to use their facilities but we also looked around there a little. Then we started the walk.

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Up first to the Washington Monument, which is surrounded by construction equipment and closed "for the foreseeable future". Elevator needs help as does the stairs and really, the entire structure. Still, it's impressive on the outside just to look at it.

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We then decided to walk over to the Jefferson Memorial on the edge of the Tidal Basin. Very impressive monument, though it didn't have nearly the amount of people that the Lincoln Memorial did, later, probably because it isn't as accessible.* On the way between the Jefferson and the Lincoln, we saw other memorials including the ones for FDR and Martin Luther King Jr.

Jefferson Memorial:
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Monument. Note how the sculptor hid his wheelchair, but remembered to include Fala, FDR's dog.
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Martin Luther King Jr Memorial:
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The Korean War Memorial:
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At the Lincoln Memorial, we walked UP all those steps to see Lincoln. As I said, far more people were there than at Jefferson. I also found the engraving in the marble for the place where Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I have a dream" speech back in 1963, and photographed it and photos of the Washington Monument and reflecting pool from that point.

Inside the Lincoln Monument:
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"I have a dream...." speech podium and man here:
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Off we went again, this time over to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and then back to walk along the Reflecting Pool down to the World War II Veterans Memorial. Along that reflecting pool, 'skeeters were out and they seemed to LOVE me. Ugh. Glad to get down to the WWII memorial where there was more of a breeze that blew those pesky things AWAY.

Reflecting pool:
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WWII Memorial and Fountain (where folks slipped off shoes to get their feet cooled off):
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We walked over to Constitution Avenue, which seemed to be more of a parking lot than a productive place for moving cars. We were definitely making better time on foot than any of the cars were, and we were really exhausted by this point! But we had a goal. We finally reached it: we got to the park called "The Ellipse" and were able to walk up to a fence and photograph the White House. Mission accomplished!

A most recognizable building to most of you!
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On the way between the Ellipse and the Federal Triangle Metro Station, we found a food truck and bought 2 hot dogs, one for each of us. By then it was after 1:30 so we were pretty hungry!

It wasn't long before the train came -- 4 minute wait, I think -- and this was a Blue Line that took us all the way back to Franconia-Springfield Station. We talked to some folks that had been on the White House Tour and they wished they hadn't bothered, as they said you don't get to go very many places at all.* (Unlike NYC, people on the Metro *will* talk to each other, especially those who are not locals who pick out others who are not locals by the presence of cameras and the absence of phones.)

Too tired to cook tonight OR go out for dinner. We got menus from downstairs and found a Chinese place in the next shopping center that delivers! There's plenty left over for another meal, too.

DAY 13 - MUSEUM HOPPING ON THE MALL

And so ends our trips into the city of Washington, D.C.

We did our last day there by going museum hopping. We took the Metro into the Federal Triangle station on the Blue Line, and walked over to start at the National Museum of American History.

Because we were choosing to do 3 museums in one day, we wanted to see what we considered the highlights.* In the NMAH, the first order of business was to see the flag that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. Unfortunately NO photos were allowed to be taken in that section, but we were in awe of this beautiful sight anyway. We moved on to American Stories, where we saw a number of inventions including one of the first sewing machines, an early telephone, an early Edison light bulb, and more. Taking one around to more modern times, I was stunned to see things like an Etch-a-Sketch, a Speak-and-Spell, and an old Apple II computer in that section. The Hall of Music and the one about American culture is totally shut down, most of the stuff placed in storage until they can get a new exhibit opened -- this fall. I was bummed again not to see Dorothy's slippers from Wizard of Oz, the Fonzie jacket from Happy Days, and a couple of other things. They did have some furniture from the set of the TV show All in the Family, namely Archie's and Edith's living room chairs. We also went through sections about the American Presidents, just to find Abraham Lincoln's top hat, and Thomas Jefferson's lap desk.

Prototype sewing machine:
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Archie and Edith's chairs, All in the Family:
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I am officially old. I had one of these in my very first elementary grade level classrooms:
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Abraham Lincoln's hat:
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Alan Shepard's space suit:
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We then hopped over to the National Museum of Natural History, just to see one thing: the Hope Diamond. We were not disappointed. We saw that and a lot of other beautiful jewelry, then moved on again.

The Hope Diamond:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1835/...9d0f57918b.jpgIMG_6512

This one's for you, AZBuck and PMount. It's the Tucson Meteorite!
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Third museum was the National Gallery of Art, which is NOT a Smithsonian institution. We went through more galleries in there than I could count. My favorite things were mostly the sculptures and the furniture.

Hubby's DaVinci painting photo. It's the only DaVinci currently on display in the Gallery of Art:
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When we'd had about enough, we walked up to the Archives Metro Station and took the Yellow Line as far as the Pentagon station. We only had to wait about 1 minute to catch the Blue Line the rest of the way, as it was right behind this Yellow Line train. Between the two of us, we probably have $12 worth of fare left on our SmarTrip cards. Since we live more than 100 miles from DC, we can apply for a refund on our cards when we depart the area. I'll wait until we get home to CA.

Donna

DAY 14 - GEORGE WASHINGTON'S MOUNT VERNON

It was raining when we got up this morning and hasn't let up much. With hopes for a nice day to see Mount Vernon pretty well dashed, we got in the truck anyway and drove the not-quite-4 miles down to Mount Vernon.

We got in on the military rate of $14 per person, down from $20 for a walk-in ticket, with ID. We came in at 9:45 am and they were already selling 11:45 am tour tickets. We wandered around a little, seeing the grounds, the view from the Mt Vernon front porch of the Potomac River, the greens, all the various farm/plantation type buildings on the property, and down to George and Martha's tomb. A little later at the gift shop, hubby found a coffee cup for our collection, and then 2 glasses for his bar.

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The tour was very interesting. There were a few rooms with what I term “ugly wall paper”, and two rooms with the gaudiest green paint. I told my hubby, I'd rather see that kind of green on my lawn than on my wall,” and he agreed. Lots of rooms, plenty of space, a few beds that looked comfortable, and really, some gorgeous furniture, particularly in what's termed “the new room”.

After the tour, we continued to walk through the pouring rain (thankfully with our umbrellas) to the main building, then out to the parking lot.

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On the way out, we stopped at the Grist Mill and Distillery, where hubby treated himself to a bottle of special whiskey. It was EXPENSIVE, but it was rare and the bottle will be a nice souvenir after the whiskey is long gone.

Back out at US-1, we continued up that road for 5 miles to find a gas station with the “right” price on diesel, as we are heading out tomorrow. It was $2.79, when all others around here are between $3.05 and $3.15. Then we stopped at a Walmart on the way back to the hotel, for ice for tomorrow, which we threw in the freezer.

Came back to the room and ate up what foods we can't take with us easily in the cooler tomorrow.


Donna

DAY 15 - DRIVING AND MONTICELLO

We just got in to a different motel after a day doing both driving and sightseeing.

This morning, we got out of the place we stayed in DC with no problems. We weren't 10 miles down I-95 when that highway became a slow moving parking lot. We *crawled* to Fredericksburg. It set our teeth on edge to think we only made 35 miles (from hotel to VA-3, where we finally got off 95 to head west) in 1-hr, 25 minutes. If we never see I-95 again, it will be too soon.

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Had breakfast at a very busy IHOP just off I-95 at VA-3, wondering when we went in if we'd lose another hour and a half. Nope, very fast service and meal, in and out of there in 40 minutes.

Finally got to Monticello around 12:45. Sorry to say this, but it was so danged expensive! $29 PER PERSON for a day pass, but that included a house tour and two other tours if you chose to stay and do them.* After yesterday's Mount Vernon and Today's Monticello, we are thinking that both should become National Historic Sites and be preserved by the National Park Service. They're too commercial as they stand right now.

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The home is beautiful and there were sure many things to see inside it. It was a longer tour than yesterday's Mount Vernon. It was also a far nicer day, no rain, not overly hot but a wee bit sticky (humid).

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We rode the shuttle to the Grave and viewed that, then rode back to the parking lot and headed out.

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We are staying about 30 minutes from Monticello in Waynesboro. The town itself is along I-64, but we are a bit inside Waynesboro. The room itself is okay. They tried to cram too much furniture into the space, though, so that one of us has to put our suitcase on a table. (Usually, one of us gets the luggage rack and the other takes floor space,and we trade off. But there's no floor space in this room.)


Donna

DAY 16 - WAYNESBORO, VA to CORYDON, IN - 499 miles, 9 hrs 25 min

We pulled into Corydon, IN, right when we expected to. We'd left Waynesboro this morning and headed west on I-64, stopping in Staunton (VA) for a bite to eat and then moving on. Traffic was light for most of the day. We found a few pockets of construction where nobody was working, but lanes closed anyway.

Random shots out the passenger windows, either western Virginia or eastern West Virginia:
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Talk about overkill! This truck is towing this car:
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The worst part of the trip was in Charleston, WV. As we entered that city, rain started to drip on us, but the further west we went, the heavier the rain came down. Warren tried to pass a semi using the left lane and that truck gave us his wash -- had almost no visibility without the wipers going as fast as they could! We were so grateful to drive out of that rainstorm.

Traffic in the cities we passed through wasn't bad at all. Of course, other than Charleston, the only other cities we passed thru were Lexington and Louisville, KY. I was surprised at the amount of traffic in Louisville, as we went right smack dab through it on 64 without taking the beltways, and it was pretty light for a city.


Leaving Louisville, about to head over the Ohio River into Indiana:
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We are situated in Corydon, which is about 19 miles across the Ohio River from Louisville, in IN. It's a Comfort Inn, but the room is a bit small for a Comfort Inn. While last night's place had too MUCH furniture in the room, this place doesn't have a chair to sit in other than the desk chair (which I am currently in).

Right next door is a Big Boy restaurant. Prices were very reasonable and the meal was a nice size.

This place does have an outdoor pool, pretty decent water temperature, so we went for a dip before dinner, and a small fitness center which I used after dinner.

Donna

DAY 17 - CORYDON, IN to COLUMBIA, MO - 380 mi. plus sightseeing

We set out this morning just after 7 on the local time (EDT), made a left turn to get onto the road to take us to the freeway, and promptly got stopped by a policeman. Hubby and I had both thought there were two lanes to turn into, but there was only one and we cut off one of those senior-citizen type buses. Hubby apologized to the cop, telling him that we thought there were two lanes not one, in the rain the lines were very obscure. The policeman looked (and ran) hubby's license and our registration, came back and told us to be careful and enjoy our trip.

It rained most of the way through Indiana, at one point driving through a deluge. It was mostly just cloudy through Illinois, with only a few drips here and there. One of those times was attempting to get fuel for the truck about 30 miles before we'd turn off I-64 for good.

We turned north on I-255, drove on that for 10 miles, then turned west on I-270 before getting off at IL-3. We took that up to the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site. We looked around the museum there, then took a group tour out to the replica of Camp River Dubois. It was different from Fort Mandan and Fort Clatsop, that's for sure. The only thing we raised eyebrows about was the mention of the Mississippi River freezing over in winter. (We've lived here enough to know that is almost impossible now, and rarely happened in the past.)

The new visitor center at Camp River Dubois:
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The newly constructed re-creation of Camp River Dubois:
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Beaver pelt inside one of the cabins:
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After the group tour, we drove to a place where we could look at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. You could see more than you'd think.

Memorial out by the Confluence:
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The confluence:
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The rest of the ride was on I-270 west and then I-70 west, into Columbia. We arrived around 2:25 pm, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening visiting with our Missouri family members.


Donna

That was the last post for a little while. We are now with family for a bit. If we go out sightseeing, I will do another write-up, but the next real sightseeing isn't for awhile.


Donna

DAY 21 & 22 - SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Seven of us left Columbia at about 8:30 on Friday morning, in one van. Each of us took a small satchel for the overnight trip. I had to borrow one from my daughter.

It took us about 3-1/2 hours to get down there. We took I-70 east to MO-47 south, which we took to MO-21 south. We took a different route than usual into Irondale and it turned me all around. The driver was confused, too. She'd relied on the GPS. Shouldn't have done that.

The reason I am including this in my trip report is that it covers something we see a lot in RTA: a request from folks to see "small town America". Irondale definitely fills that bill. It's hard to find unless you know what you're looking for, and with less than 500 residents, it's small town. If you have a Missouri map, find Farmington, Park Hills, and Potosi. It's in that region.

First thing we found was "downtown Irondale" (hah) and the Blue Haven Cafe', AKA "Earl's." I swear that little cafe hasn't changed menu or prices since I was last down there which had to be 30+ years ago. You wait forever for your food, but it is freshly cooked and it is yummy. We had to put "dibs" on the last pieces of pie that they had, because hubby and his sister both wanted the Coconut Creme pie, as did my daughter. I had their last piece of apple pie -- I had said all along that I was going to break the eating plan twice on the trip. Once was for Earl's. Other than the pie, though, I ate pretty decently. But when 7 people eat full meals for less than $35, you know it's pretty cheap. My grandgirls both ate everything on their plate, too. And had room for a brownie for dessert.

Blue Haven: The eating side is on the left, the house thing is an extra "banquet room" that they only open when needed, like on Sundays after church.
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Small town America: Irondale, MO City Hall:
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Small town America: Irondale, MO. Church (brown building) on left, Masonic Hall (white) on right:
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After Earl's, we went down to the cemetery where a lot of the folks on my husband's side of the family were buried. It isn't a particularly well kept cemetery, and has been there for well over a century, judging by the headstones.

Then we went to find Camp Irondale, an old Boy Scout Camp where hubby's grandparents were caretakers and where my FIL grew up. Find it, we did. Looked around. Took a bunch more pictures.

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By then we were all tuckered out, so we went to find the motel we had reserved. Quality Inn at Farmington. It surprised us because the Internet site said it had an indoor pool, but it ALSO had an outdoor pool (Seasonal, of course). We all enjoyed that for a long while, as the temperature was "just right" and of course the little girls wanted to play.

After being in the pool for almost 2 hours, we decided that maybe we should go eat dinner. In retrospect, a fast food joint would have been fine though the food at the place we chose was decent and not overtly expensive. We were just still not overly hungry after that heavy lunch.

All of us slept pretty good last night, ate breakfast at the hotel (their coffee was lousy). The only bummer is that I walked out and left my pillow there. So we'll have to go buy me another one. Not so much the pillow but I hated losing the pillowcase.

It took us about 3-1/2 hours to drive back, though we took a different route. Took US-67 north out of Farmington to Park Hills, then MO-8 from there all the way to I-44. Went west on 44 for about 9 miles, where we caught US-63 north. And took that all the way up to Columbia. The traffic on MO-8 was great, but on US-63 we kept getting stuck behind somebody that had to go slow and there were took many hills, curves, and double yellow lines to go around them. It was great when US-63 joined US-50 just east of Jefferson City, and it became 4 lane. Zoom zoom!

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We stopped in Jefferson City at my very favorite place there, and I broke my special eating plan for the 2nd place I said that I would: Central Dairy, where they serve the BEST ice cream and it is not expensive. I had some kind of a chocolate thing. The little girls thought they'd died and gone to heaven, they got ice cream for lunch, and they had "birthday cake" flavor. My daughter had recommended the chocolate, and had it too. Not sure what my Sis-in-law and bro-in-law had, but hubby had peppermint stick. It was 97F outside, too, making ice cream very appealing to all of us.

We got back into Columbia at about 12:30.

Just saw this sign at the McDonald's on Osage Beach Parkway in Osage Beach, MO:

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So what are the job requirements?



Donna

DAY 23 - LES BOURGEOIS WINERY, ROCHEPORT, MO

In the afternoon, however, 8 of us went out to Les Bourgeois, the winery out by Rocheport and the Missouri River. Family members packed a small picnic of cheese, crackers, and grapes.

When we got there, my hubby bought a bottle of red wine and red grape juice, and my Sis-in-law bought a bottle of white wine and white grape juice. The minors all had juice, the rest of the adults shared the wine. That place has been there for years, as I remember going there and leaving our daughters with their Missouri grandparents, while sister-in-law and brother-in-law did not have kids at that point.

We only stayed about an hour, due to evening plans.

I always post this when we go to MO, because we love it so much, it's a nice relaxing break that anyone can make by going 2 miles north of I-70 at MO exit #115 and following the signs.

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So close to the freeway, and yet so far (you don't hear it):
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Donna

DAY 25 - WILLMORE LODGE AND POINT, LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO

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In the afternoon, we all got in two vehicles and went a few miles down the road to the Willmore Lodge. There is a beautiful view of the Lake of the Ozarks, and a small museum, inside the Lodge. Unfortunately their porch, which looks extensive and inviting, was under rehabilitation (the story of this trip, I think). The little girls were bored in the museum, but the 4 adults looked at the small exhibits about the land pre-Lake (since the Lake is man-made by damming up Osage River), during construction, the early years, and a few other things. It was a beautiful and interesting afternoon.

Fortunately, the inside of the Lodge and its museum were air conditioned. Outside, it was warm (mid-90s) and humid!

Beautiful stone fireplace, inside the Lodge:
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Inside the Lodge. Yes, that's me, taking the picture of the fireplace, above. My husband contributes this photo.
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View out the Lodge window:
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Chinaware saved from an area that would be wiped out by the building of the Bagnell Dam (about 1930). I loved the hand painting on this china!
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The Bagnell Dam was built in 1931. Here is a time capsule they saved, which will be opened in 2031. Hope I'm still around to see what's in it!
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Donna

Donna,
I love the history part of the trip. I guess all trips are about history. That what's so great about our country. Jeep posting.
Thanks

BRINGING MISSOURI TO A CLOSE

Staying in Missouri for a period of 10-14 days is a normal thing for us on a long trip. With loads of family here, it's mostly just a time of catching up with folks, doing some fun things with each other, and eating together.

When in Columbia, we're able to stay with family. Not so easily done at Lake of the Ozarks, where it's a small home and not enough room for two more people. This time, we stayed at the local Econo Lodge. When we booked, we really didn't realize that it's a good 10-15 minute drive between the hotel and our daughter's place. But we've enjoyed that.

First, the Econo Lodge is well-kept and has *everything* we needed in a room that was priced right. We've talked to the manager, Don, on several occasions and not for complaints, just because he takes the time to talk to his customers. He went out of his way to find a disposable bowl for me when I forgot to go to the breakfast room to get one and he'd already put it all away. This Econo Lodge has a more extensive breakfast offering than I've ever seen at Econo Lodge. EL is only required to have a bread, a sweet bread, butter and jam, coffee/tea, juice and milk. They actually offer 3 types of cereals, packets of oatmeal and grits, hot waffles, scrambled eggs and some form of a meat (bacon, sausage or ham), along with the Choice-required breads.

There is a lovely, well-kept outdoor pool that is open most of the day and into the evening. We were allowed to bring in our Lake Ozark family members to swim, for a small fee. Some of the resorts do that around the Lake, but my daughter was amazed that it was only $2 a person.

This particular hotel is located on the south "quiet end" of the Lake, away from the Bagnell Dam "Strip" where all the action is, and away from the shopping areas. However, right across the street is an Arby's, a Culver's, and a Casey's (convenience store and gas, no diesel).

It's only a few miles from the shopping areas. For those, there is an outlet center. Compared to the status of that outlet center a year and a half ago, though, it appears to be suffering from economic distress. A lot of stores have gone out, due to online shopping and not as much traffic through town since the bypass was put in. Still, I managed to do some shopping for me for the new school year, as for the grands as well. Other shopping includes Walmart (one in Osage Beach, one at Camdenton), Target, HyVee (grocery), Dierberg's (grocery), Woods (grocery), and of course all sorts of little souvenir shops including Ozarkland more in town and Dogpatch on the actual Strip (where all the bars are).

The sad thing is that some of the really good restaurants have closed. Kilt & Clover, in the Outlet Center, had its final weekend at the end of June and then closed for good. I was trying to get the menu for J Bruner (supposedly prime rib that was scrumptious), but it wasn't coming up online. When we drove to the place on the way to our daughters, there was a big permanent type sign on the front: CLOSED. So the bypass and the lake economy is taking a hit on restaurants as well as shopping.

There are still great places to eat. Baxter's had good food and a lake view. Bentley's had great food, but with 9 people, we didn't get a lake view. We're doing JB Hooks too, which we know from Dec. 2016 that it has a great lake view, and we requested one when we got reservations.

If you're into water sports, this is a place to be. If you love caves, it's a good place to be. History is also all around, but with the exception of Willmore Lodge (see above), we've "done up" most of them on previous trips. Hiking is another thing that one can do, though the weather here has been HOT HOT HOT and STICKY HUMID.

We'll be moving on, to the West, shortly. I still feel like my truck is a moving van, though some items have already miraculously jumped off at Missouri family members' homes. Next stop is Kansas, then Colorado, then Utah, and finally, home again.


Donna

DAY 31 - OSAGE BEACH MO to HAYS KS with STOPS - 483 mi

We got out onto Osage Beach Parkway right on schedule at 7 am, and drove north on US-54 to Jefferson City then on US-63 before switching to I-70 west at Columbia. Our original plans had been to have breakfast at Columbia's Cracker Barrel, but after last night's huge meal, neither of us felt much like eating. We chose this route because we'd had about enough of some of the two lane roads suggested by Google Maps and Apple Maps, and just used the extra mileage to avoid said roads.

So we kept on driving, stopping only at rest areas until lunch, which we ate at Hardee's at the Topeka Service Area on the Kansas Turnpike ($3). Our next major stop was in Abilene, at the Russell Stover Factory and Outlet Center. Man, did we find great stuff there! I highly recommend this if you love candy, chocolate, and even sugar-free for diabetics and others who avoid sugar.

Our next major stop was at my brother's. It was not to be a long stop, just for an hour or so because he was working. Our timing was just right, thanks to the stops for lunch and the chocolate factory, to arrive at his place just as he began his lunch hour. We unloaded more stuff from the truck, all fairly small tools, as well.

After talking to the two of them, brother had to go back to work (he works from home, but on a schedule). We visited with my sis-in-law for a short time, then decided it was time to move on since we still had about 100 miles to drive to our overnight.

We arrived in Hays about an hour and a half after we left their house, and pulled into the Sleep Inn. It's a very nice place set back from the main road behind the Comfort Inn. The price included an indoor pool AND small spa, and a fitness center.

Dinner was at a place called Whiskey Creek Wood-Fired Grill. Food was excellent, particularly the BBQ Baked Beans! They were probably not exactly what the doctor would suggest, though, as they were sweetened with both molasses and brown sugar. But SO good. We both had them and commented on them.

Came back to the room to relax, though I changed into workout clothes and went down to walk on the treadmill for about a half hour.



Donna

DAY 32 - HAYS KS to AURORA, CO - 348 mi, 6 hours

It was a really nice travel day, except for the south wind that kept hitting us. The only nice thing was when the highway meandered to the northwest, then the wind was more or less behind us.

In the morning, we were up before 6 and out exactly at 7. We picked up ice at the convenience store, for the larger cooler, then headed west. Our first stop was at Colonial Steakhouse in Oakley, KS, but the breakfast was nothing really exciting. The cook''s version of “over medium” meant cooking the yolks hard, which I can take or leave, but hubby wasn't thrilled. Though this place was a family traditional stop, I don't think we'll be making a stop there again. There are other places in Colby.

Next stop was in Colby, KS, at the Walmart, where we picked up an extra gallon of regular diesel oil. We had the truck's oil changed when in Columbia, MO, with our own oil, but never replaced it. So it was high time! Then we were headed west again. The stop after that was in Burlington, CO, where we picked up some travel things about Colorado for us and for our younger daughter, at the state tourist bureau.

One more stop, at a truck stop in Strasburg (or similar) for the bathroom, since the State of Colorado removed a rest area that I'm used to along I-70. Be aware that many maps and publications list a rest area near mm306, but it is no longer there.

Maneuvering Denver without getting on E-470 took a bit of pre-planning, possible because of paper maps. We took I-225 and surface streets instead. The only issue we had was trying to get fuel, because it was usually on the wrong side of the road for us. That was remedied later when my son-in-law took hubby out to King Soopers for fuel.

Spent the rest of the evening with family.


Donna

DAY 34 - AURORA, CO to CEDAR CITY UT - 614 miles, 11 hrs 13 min

Drive, drive, drive. It was a long, long driving day. Our ONLY stops were for breakfast, photo opportunities (the mountain areas, Glenwood Canyon and the Swell), pit stops which were mostly combined with the photo ops and the one fuel stop. It still took us a long time.

First was just getting out of Denver. That probably added 17 miles to our projected mileage for the day (597 mi), but it took us a good 50 minutes. Mostly we were moving along between 45 and 60 mph. Then the construction zones along I-70 were just plain irritating. Pet peeve #1 about road trips: states that shut down whole lanes for miles and have NO work being done on them or even appearing to have been recently worked on. Pet Peeve #2 about road trips: people who insist on driving under the posted speed limit in the construction zone, i.e. 40 in a 50 zone.

We drove through several sections of rain, in both CO and in UT. Some were downpours, others were sprinkles.

Our stops for photos were usually combined with something else - a pit stop, food, etc. We stopped at two places in the mountains, one at our usual Vail Pass Rest Area, while one was listed as "Scenic View", which indeed, it was. I was also taking photos out the windshield. In Glenwood Canyon, we stopped for photos as well, and then later by the San Rafael Reef in the Swell area. All of these photos are still in my main camera, and will be posted separately.

Breakfast was at a local place in Idaho Springs, a restaurant called Marion's of the Rockies. Mostly locals stopped in. The Western Omelet was super, and hubby's Country Breakfast was delicious and filling. Neither of us felt like eating for a long time after that!

We pulled into Cedar City to the Comfort Inn and Suites and got checked in, unloaded most of our stuff just as it started to sprinkle. So when we came back out for the stuff we forgot, we got a little wet. Our room is a suite, but only because the sleeping area is divided from a sofa, chair, and the “bar area” by a half wall. There's an extra sink for making coffee in the morning, yay! We are here for two days.

We went down to dinner at a Sizzler restaurant, since we don't have one anymore and I *love* their salad bar. The line was obnoxious and not moving. We must have stood there for 10-15 minutes before I realized this was a big group, so we asked to cut in front of them to order our food. Once we did that, we ordered and paid quickly and got to go to that salad bar. Bear in mind we hadn't eaten in about 10 hours at that point, other than a few bites of almonds and pistachios in the truck!


Donna

Here at RTA, we often suggest that I-70 between Denver CO and Salina UT is about the most beautiful scenery on a US interstate highway. So this trip, I decided to have my good camera out and ready for some "windshield shots" as well as those taken when we stopped at rest areas and scenic view points.

One isn't far out of Denver when the snow-capped mountains start to peek out, even in the good old summertime:
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There are a few tunnels along the way, the most notable being the Eisenhower Tunnel, at about 11000 ft elevation.
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This is the view you are greeted with, as you exit the tunnel heading west:
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Still near the top of the summit by Eisenhower Tunnel:
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We stopped at a favorite scenic view, to be rewarded with a very still pond and an opportunity for a "reflection shot":
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We summited Vail Pass and stopped at another favorite place, the Vail Pass Rest Area. It was a wee bit chilly there, in the 50s.
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After climbing through the mountain regions around the ski areas, one enters the Glenwood Canyon area. This area challenged the engineers that built I-70 because of the terrain.

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In the Glenwood Canyon, there are several rest areas and scenic viewpoints within the space of a few miles. Here are some views from the rest area we stopped at:
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Though this shot is a bit blurry because hubby hit a bump on the freeway just as I clicked, it DOES show you how the highway is supported. It is very much a series of bridges, or "hanging freeway".
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The Pet Peeve #1 that I wrote previously: road going down to 1 lane, nobody working (or any signs that the road has been or is being worked on), and somebody ahead of us crawling through at less than the speed limit. Ugh.
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It's easy to get distracted while driving in all of this gorgeous scenery, and to marvel at the way the highway is built.
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Had to admire this guy's gumption. Plates were from Connecticut. The note on the spare tire cover said, "California or Bust."
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Leaving Glenwood Canyon:
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As one leaves the Glenwood Springs area, the terrain is still very pretty, and then you get into some very desolate land until you get past Green River, UT. Be sure you have a good tank of fuel before you leave Green River (though prices for fuel are less in Grand Junction, CO) because the next fuel reasonably close to the highway is about 108 miles away in Salina, UT.

The San Rafael Swell area is the beauty in this area. It's also desolate. Here is the San Rafael Reef, which the highway cuts right between. A sign at the scenic viewpoint said that it cost $4.5 million in the 60s and 70s to build 8 miles of freeway through here.
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More Reef:
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View from the passenger window:
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With scenery like this to look at, even at 75-80 mph, who can complain!
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As we were on the west end of the Swell area, the clouds got darker and darker. Yes, they eventually opened up and dumped on us.
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Felt a bit sorry for this lone motorcyclist when it started to rain like it did:
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The rain then came down, and my camera got put down. It was difficult to shoot photos through wet windshields and passenger windows.
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Donna

Donna,

Thanks for sharing your windshield photos. Yep, I love that stretch of I-70.

Here are more photos from the San Rafael Swell area:

Off-road -- jeep trails near the highway


A trip along I-70 -- photos by Megan Edwards and me.

Mark

DAY 35 - CEDAR BREAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT

This was the last ditch effort to do some sight-seeing on this trip. Before departing home over a month ago, we figured that we'd be “museum-ed out” and would need to see some beautiful nature and scenery. While yesterday's trip down I-70 filled part of that view, we had chosen Cedar Breaks National Monument as close enough to I-70 for a definite possibility to see on the way home.

Off we went, about 9 am, with our cooler, snack bag, cameras, and dressed ready for 10,000 ft elevation, in jeans. We had sweatshirt jackets in the back of the truck, just in case. The weather forecast for CBNM was for cooler, partly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.

It took us an hour to drive up to the Monument, through some gorgeous crevices and valleys. We stopped a number of times to take photos. One drives up UT-14, which is full of 6-8% grades and lots of curves, though nothing really “hairy” (at least to us). It whet our appetites and we started to talk about a possible trip for next summer, a shorter one through Utah.

One turns north up UT-148 which is another beautiful road, lots of grassy flowery meadows at this time of year. Finally one gets to the parking lot for the visitor center (small) and some of the lookouts. We attempted to hike out to Spectra Point, but the trail was so muddy and we didn't have proper footwear for that, nor our hiking poles. So we just did the sights from the more accessible scenic points.

It's a very small park, about 5 miles of scenic road with about 6 viewpoints. It only took an hour and a half or two hours to see. It took us an hour to drive up, and an hour to drive back. (The latter was a pain because we had to follow some big motorhome that did not know how to gear down on the downgrades and he really heated up his brakes – we smelled them.) Meanwhile, my husband went in and out of Overdrive on our vehicle, and barely touched the brakes.

Lunch was at a fast food BBQ place called Charlie's. We both had the pulled pork sandwich. I am almost dreading getting on the weight scale when we get back, as I'll bet I've put on 3 or 4 lbs. I ate the sandwich with a salad. Hubby had their baked beans which he said were very good.

The afternoon was spent relaxing, just reading at the hotel and debating our plan of departure for home tomorrow. In years past, we have left southward in the middle of the night. But we think we are just going to “deal with it”, meaning the traffic and the heat between Las Vegas and Riverside.

Dinner was out at Rusty's, which was located on UT-14 on the way out to Cedar Breaks, but not that far out. The décor there was Western and “hunting”, as there were a number of mounted heads of elk, moose and bison. Outside one window were several hummingbird feeders which were busy. For food, I had a “Southwest Chicken Breast” which was that piece of meat with a barbecue bean sauce that was tangy. That came with corn-on-the-cob, and our waitress brought me an extra piece instead of the baked potato, as well as a salad. Hubby had a seafood pasta which was huge, and there was no way that he could eat all of it.

Photos to come!

Donna

On UT-14 going out toward Cedar Breaks National Monument, we pulled into a pullout and enjoyed the view:
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Gives you perspective:
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One of our favorite parts of the drive on UT-14:
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The wildflowers I wrote about, earlier:
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Still along the approach road, UT-14, on a good day you can see to Zion:
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Alas, we come to Cedar Breaks and the first scenic viewpoint!
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Uh-oh, dark skies approaching. Time to head back:
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Just gorgeous!
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Driving back down, following the motorhome who rode his brakes all the way:
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Donna