West Coast to East Coast, July 2011

[DonnaR57]

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts, prayers, and condolences. My youngest daughter arrived today from home (San Diego), so the family is gathering tonight. We had to go shopping for funeral clothes for me - I didn't bring a top appropriate for funeral OR visitation - and my husband took a look at our car and said OH, DIRTY! then took it to the car wash today. (After 4000 miles, I am not surprised.)


Donna

[DonnaR57]

Visitation and the funeral are now done. We miss my MIL desperately - what a courageous, warm, generous woman. The funeral service was not quite packed (but almost) and the visitation had folks lined up outside the doors to the funeral home for several hours running. We are now working on thank you cards for the huge amounts of food, flowers, donations, and love that was poured out over the last few days.

Perhaps we can do some sightseeing here in MO over the next few weeks, when not delving through the house. My Son-in-law who lives in CA is flying out next week, and daughter wants to show him the things in Hannibal, the Arch, Grant's Farm, and a couple of other places.


Donna

[DonnaR57]

Day 19 - Hermann, MO: Missouri's wine country "Capital"

We had a lovely day today - hubby and I drove down from Columbia to Jefferson City, picked up our two daughters (Son-IL was working) and we drove to Hermann via a rural road. We used MO 94, which goes north of the Missouri River. Unfortunately, there were no river views as I'd hoped. There were lots of places where you can see the Katy Trail, a Missouri trail which mostly follows the Lewis and Clark route and other pioneers through MO. It's a very long bike and hiking trail.

Our first stop was at the Adam Pucha Winery outside of Hermann, on the west. Oh, yum, lots of great wines. They didn't have good juice, though. Then we went back into town as everyone except the pregnant daughter was pretty hungry. We found a little place - bigger than it looked on the outside - called Lyndee's. Huge salads for Younger Daughter and DH, a small appetizer for mama-to-be (most of which she took home with her), and a Reuben for me (since I didn't get one in NYC). There was homemade German potato salad for me. Normally I don't care much for that, but this was fairly good.

Third place was another winery, Bias. Wow, it was down by Berger (east of Hermann about 7 miles down MO 100). Go through Berger, cross the RR tracks, go down a dirt road, cross the RR tracks again at a private crossing, and then up a worse dirt road. (We were glad we weren't towing on THAT road.) Delicious wines, but no juices at all. This place had homemade root beer but the PG daughter didn't care for that thought. (This place was also a brewery.)

I should add that Hermann is a town begun by German immigrants. There are not only some lovely wineries, but also some breweries. We aren't big beer fans - hubby prefers either stout or ale - so we didn't "do" those. He loves all kinds of wines, from dry whites and reds to the semi-sweets, and sweets (which are my favorites).

We bought wine at both places, so we'll have some thoughts about how to transport this all home safely. We headed back to Hermann, stopped in at Stone Hill Winery and picked up some juices for our 9 year old niece. She'd loved those last year.

Then we drove back to Jefferson City. Mama-to-be was wiped and needed a nap, and we were taking the younger one back to Columbia with us. She's going to be with us for a night or two.

Relaxing and watching a movie tonight - probably Harry Potter #7 Part 1, since we're all going to go see HP #7 Part 2 tomorrow night together.

Pictures of Hermann to follow....

Donna

[Southwest Dave]

Thanks for the report, I am glad you had a nice family experience together.

We bought wine at both places, so we'll have some thoughts about how to transport this all home safely. We headed back to Hermann,

If I were available, I would have willingly helped out with any cargo space issues.
[GLUG, GLUG, Yummy !]

[DonnaR57]

(grin) Thanks!

Here's the original thread for the planning of this vacation, if anyone's reading that wondered what the trip was SUPPOSED to be about.

Today's plans are to go up to my MIL's home and take care of some phone calls (insurance company, funeral home, etc) and start to pack stuff in the basement. That's the only place in the house where both siblings can bear to deal with right now. Then this evening, we're going to HP 7-Part 2.

Donna

[DonnaR57]

Day 24 - TO HANNIBAL AND BACK

We started out just after 9 am this morning - hubby and me, our 9-year-old niece, and our daughter and her hubby. Our decision this morning was to avoid the interstates as much as possible - - not difficult when starting in Columbia!

We headed up via the county roads to Mexico (Co. Route C to MO 124 to MO 22), where we stopped at my MIL's (former) house to pick up some things and use the bathrooms. Then we headed up MO 15 to Co. Rd. Z to ZZ to D to Santa Fe. My hubby really wanted to find the 2 former family homes, and we were successful. The only bummer is that the backseat occupants would NOT get out of the car because of some giant horseflies buzzing around!

From there, the car headed north on Co. Rd. E to MO 107 North. Mark Twain Lake and State Park is right there, and it's a nice drive. The lake seemed pretty low, as we crossed it several times. My husband wanted to find Buzzard's Roost, a place he used to climb on when he was a kid. It's still there, but now it leads down to the water. (The lake is about 34 years old.)

Our next stop was in Monroe City. By this time it was lunchtime and most of us were hungry. Our son-in-law really wanted to compare the west's Carl's Jr (his favorite fast food place) with the Midwest's Hardee's. He said that the beef seemed a LOT better.

Finally, we made it up to Hannibal, deciding to get hot and sweaty before going to the cave. We were absolutely fascinated with the Mark Twain Visitor Center, Boyhood Home, and the Huck Finn house. Right now, the Becky Thatcher house is STILL under renovation even though it was supposed to be finished by now. So is the Judge's office and the drug store. Everyone in the party except our niece and son-in-law had seen this before. Then we walked down to the Mark Twain Gallery Museum. I realized that I'd also been there before, but this was really our niece's favorite place. With lots of buttons to push, things to look through, videos to view, and steamboat whistles to pull, it's really a child's paradise. For me, this whole thing was the exact thing I need for our upcoming production of "Tom Sawyer."

"Is anyone for the Cave?!" Yes, all of us were ready. We were hot and sweaty, so off we went to the Cave. Our arrival at 2:30 had us in queue for the 3:00 tour. Our tour guide had us watch a 7-minute video about the cave and its history, then off we went. It was a great tour. Our guide was a bit over-the-top when it came to the dramatics, but it kept the audience's attention.

We attempted to find Inspiration Point in Riverview Park, but failed. So we came back down and went to the waterfront. Our son-in-law had never seen the Mississippi River except from the air, so we had to take him down to the actual river. It was muddy and smelly.

The next stop was Quincy, IL. Son-in-law had also never been to Illinois, and another family home (mine) was over there. Off we went. It was really a short trip. Over the "old bridge" from West Quincy, into Illinois, then find my great-grandparents' home in Quincy. I took a photo of it for my mom, and then we headed back over the new bridge.

We came home via US 61 and US 24, then US 63. Our dinner stop was in an unlikely place: Madison, MO, at a place called Becky's Restaurant. It looked like an old red tin shed on the outside. The food was DELICIOUS. We all had something different: hubby had a ham and cheese sandwich, son-in-law had a rib-eye steak sandwich, daughter had a turkey sandwich on a French roll, and I had the two-piece dark chicken. (Niece was full from some potato chips and an Icee and didn't want to eat, so we didn't force her. Our dinner stop was rather unexpected.)

I'll be uploading some photos, in a new photo album called MISSOURI. I'll also do a better report on the Mark Twain Cave and one on the Lake as well.


Donna

[DonnaR57]

DAY 26 - JEFFERSON CITY

Though the day was supposed to be another scorcher, four of us hopped into the car for another sightseeing trip. With hubby's sister and brother-in-law working, we've been on our own for a few days during the day. Yesterday was a relaxing day, but today, it was back to seeing something.

First stop was down in Jefferson City at a place called Runge Nature Conservation Center. It was named after a friend of my husband's family, who was a conservationist in the State of Missouri. This was quite the place for families. It had a nice visitors center/museum, with hands-on experiences and visuals about the types of habitats, and the flora and fauna, found in the State of Missouri. Once we roamed through the exhibits, even with the heat, we decided to take the shortest hike around the place. It was called "The Naturescape Trail", was 1/3 mile long and paved. It took you past many examples of habitat and flora of the state, with suggestions on landscaping your yard to make it natural looking. (This would be excellent if we lived here. But some of those things just wouldn't work in our climate.)

We walked enough to make our stomachs growl. Consulting Gypsy (GPS) for a place to eat, Ryan's (cafeteria style) sounded decent. Lesson about GPS: sometimes it wants you to make a Left Turn where it is clearly marked "No Left Turn". We managed to find the place anyway, listening to Gypsy's British voice telling us "Re-cal-cu-lating!" Ryan's had a good selection and the price was right. No one left hungry, that's for sure!

In one of the AAA Tour Books, we saw "Jefferson Landing State Historic Park", but there were no directions except "at the foot of Jefferson Street". My MIL left a great Missouri map in her car, which we grabbed (better than AAA's) and it had the place listed, so off we went. (Gypsy didn't have it listed either.) We found free 3-hour parking, and off we went.

There were three buildings for Jefferson Landing SHP. In the first was a brief museum and visitors center with a very helpful guide. The second (Union Hotel) had a wonderful exhibit of wood carvings, all done by Missourians. Three of us commented about how Grandma (my MIL) would have loved one of the dioramas, because it was all Santa's. The third building was not open to the public, the Christopher Maus House.

We were only a block or so from the Capitol, so we hoofed it up the hill. The building was nice and cool, despite its age. We signed up for the 2:00 tour, though the guide warned us that there were lots of people with kids. The tour was very interesting! The guide told us the building's history, and showed us many of the paintings that are in the building. The most fascinating of those was the Thomas Hart Benton mural, in a room of its own. The kids on our tour were not a problem until that room, because of its size and the carpeting. I had to speak a little louder, "I wish I could hear!" when the mother next to me was not controlling her loud child. Fortunately, the mother caught the hint. The other interesting thing was the fossils in the limestone floors. They just left them there! The other thing that I loved was the House of Representatives Galley.

Once done in the Capitol Bldg., we were ready for a snack. Off we went to Central Dairy. For years, that's been the place to go in Jefferson City if one wanted ice cream. It's a type of 31 Flavors place, but the ice cream is much, much better. Between the 4 of us, we tasted 7 different flavors. Yum, yum! You can't get better ice cream in central Missouri.

The time was running short, and we knew we were expected back in Columbia for dinner, so we headed back home. Thank goodness for a good paper map and a good sense of direction, as Gypsy's battery had died and the charger was not with us.

Tomorrow, we must go back to the estate breakdown. Maybe on Friday we'll do something as a family with my sis-in-law, bro-in-law, niece, etc.

I put more photos in the Missouri album. (Thanks, Mark, for combining the message. For some reason "edit" was not offered to me or I would have done that myself.)

Donna

[DonnaR57]

Thinking about the upcoming trip back home ... it looks like we are going to keep to the original schedule, to a degree, and the original route. It is our very favorite route CA --> MO or return: I-70 West to I-15 South (which practically dumps us at our house).

This morning we took the car over to a shop to get the oil changed. Our bro-in-law said that Jiffy Lube or the Nissan dealership would be the best. Our car is not a Nissan, but I guess that Nissan dealerships all do everybody's oil changes???? However, we got RIGHT into Jiffy Lube and were in and out of there quickly. They were friendly, professional, and I felt like I was back home at our little oil change place (which is not a Jiffy Lube). Like our home shop, they did a fluids and basics check. Everything checked out fine except 3 bulbs which were burned out! Now, whether these were burned out before we left and we never noticed, or 4500 miles of driving burned them out, I'm not sure. They put new ones in for $5 each (regularly 12.95 each), and they sure did it a lot faster than my hubby. (It's also raining here in mid-Missouri, and who wants to change bulbs in the rain?!)

We are continuing to go through my MIL's possessions. It's very hard on my husband and his sister, and in some ways, very hard on the rest of us. Fortunately, there has been NO fighting over anything. There's already been a phone call from someone who might want to buy the house when it's ready - childhood friend of my husband's wanting to move back to the old neighborhood. The two aren't ready to sell, but the friend isn't quite ready to buy anyway. He just wanted to speak up for first dibs when they ARE ready. The appraisal isn't until next week.

Both daughters, one of my sons-in-law, and my niece are all down at "the lake" today (Lake of the Ozarks). They went to a place called Miner Mike's/Buster's. It's an indoor playground and video game arcade. Miner Mike's is the kids' side, with a maze, play equipment, and kid-rated video games. Buster's is the adult side, with more video games and beer in the snack bars. :-)


Donna

[DonnaR57]

I can't remember which thread was discussing grocery store cards! So, if one of the moderators remembers which thread that was, perhaps they can move this message into it?

Today, I needed to ship two boxes of stuff home - - stuff that we just didn't need/want to try to stuff into the car for the return trip. So I looked for a post office. The nearest one was a full-service PO inside a grocery store!

GERBES is a Missouri grocery chain - related to Kroger, Ralph's (California), Food-4-Less (California), City Market (Colorado), Smith's (Southwest) and Fry's Foods (Arizona). For the most part, you can interchange cards among these stores to avoid getting yet-another-card for your bulging card-holder.

I was treated very well inside the store.

Un-related - - we were back to problems with my husband's debit/credit card today: it was declined again. I thought, oh, maybe that vacation report we filed with the bank on our first week out may have expired. Nope....come to find out, that our bank has CANCELED my husband's card and "oh, btw, we mailed another one to your home!" It was because some merchant that we had used, had its records compromised. Excuse me, bank, but we're in central Missouri and a card mailed to our home in southern California does us absolutely no good. "Well, we gave plenty of notice and allowed time for you to get the new card." Excuse me, but it was canceled on the 12th, and we filed the vacation report on the 5th saying we'd be gone until the 5th of August??? We are going to be STORMING into our local branch either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning and seeing if we can get them to CALL us when there's a problem with our card, not just cancel it. For now, though, we have only MY card (attached to the same account) and another credit card. Just in case, I checked with the credit union on the latter to make sure it was viable, and let them know why we needed to know. Lesson learned: talk to your bank before you leave about vacation plans and under what circumstances they will put a hold or cancel your card. There is no branch of our bank anywhere in the state of Missouri, though it's in about 40 other states!


Donna

[DonnaR57]

DAY 33 - COLUMBIA MO to BURLINGTON CO - 566 miles - 9 hrs 20 min

We were in the vehicle by 6 am CDT, having said goodbyes to the entire family being left in central MO. (We took 2 members of the family to the airport yesterday and they flew home. That was an adventure in itself for them.) Traffic on I-70 was fairly light, probably because of the hour, until we got about 22 miles from Kansas City. The temperature was in the mid-80s with a lovely breeze in the windows, though quite humid. The windshield kept fogging up on my husband!

Breakfast was at the IHOP at Exit 17. That's always a good place for some pancakes, but especially important this morning with the rush hour building just before 8 am. Once we were done at IHOP, traffic was a bit heavy until exit 1, then we lost most of it!

The KS Turnpike ($2.50) had light traffic and only a couple of construction places, both of them bridges over it that didn't impede traffic. However, in east-central KS, there were two places on I-70, both 8-10 miles long, in which it was two-lanes (one in each direction) with speed limits down to 55....grrrrrr.

We stopped at Salina's Flying J for a stretch break, fuel for the car, and vitamins. Then we only hit two other rest areas between there and the overnight stop.

We'd debated going on to Limon, CO, to stay there overnight. But instead, tradition ruled, and we are here in Burlington, CO instead. First off, we know the motel, as we've stayed at the Chaparral Inn for 20 or so years. It's an older property now, starting life as a Best Western, then going to Budget Host before ending up as an independent property. It's clean, well-maintained, gets good ratings. Queen beds, refrigerator in room, flat screen TV, modest sized bathroom, and wireless internet for less than $50. Can't complain!

There's plenty to choose from as far as meals are concerned, too. Right across the street is a Pizza Hut, Burger King, and an Arby's. Down the road, walking distance, are two other restaurants: Interstate House and Route Steakhouse. We went to the latter last year. We haven't decided yet about dinner, mostly because it's only 4:30 by stomach time (3:30 by local time). Though we didn't stop for lunch, we ate so much breakfast that we're just NOW thinking about food.

Other reasons for not choosing Limon:
1) Most of the motels are more expensive.
2) Some of the less expensive ones have online reports of bed bugs. No thanks.
3) Positioning for Denver rush hour tomorrow. Leaving here at 6 am tomorrow, getting into to Aurora for breakfast at 8 would have us waiting out rush hour at a good time. Leaving Limon at 6 am puts us into Aurora at 7 and we'd STILL hit rush hour in Denver. We need to leave early in order to have plenty of time to cross the Rockies and Escalante Canyon in Utah.

Later:
We decided to have dinner at Pizza Hut. I felt like pizza. It turns out to be one of the least expensive dinners on the trip. One personal pan pizza and one drink for each of us, bill was less than $10 (plus the tip). We found out that Interstate House is out of business.

I added some photos into the "Views from the Passenger Seat" photo album, just click
here: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/photo...ry.php?cat=693


Donna