2018 History Trip

[DonnaR57]

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

[DonnaR57]

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

[DonnaR57]

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

[DonnaR57]

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

[DonnaR57]

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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[DonnaR57]

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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[DonnaR57]

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

[Mark Sedenquist]

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

[DonnaR57]

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

[DonnaR57]

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