Sunday, October 11, 2009
Westward Ho - Home
A little slow getting this chapter of the west trip posted. In fact Bobbi is still busy and I have to try my hand at writing this final chapter of Westward Ho.
We made it home Tuesday Sept.29th 10:45 p.m. We pushed it from Wisconsin to make it home and sleep in our comfortable waterbed. It sure seemed like a treat to sleep in our own bed for a change. One of our few stops on our push was in the Upper Peninsula for home made pasties (pronounced pah stees) for lunch near the city of Escanaba. We passed thru the state of Michigan in rain from morning till we got home.
Now that we are home, and winter feels like it is fast approaching, we have a lot of work to catch up. Bobbi has been busy with closing down her gardens, picking the vegetables, trimming back plants and storing her flowers bulbs for the winter. She also had a lot of inside work to do like washing curtains and drapes after we had new windows installed in the three bedrooms. With that project completed the whole house now has updated windows. I started on my projects, winterizing the boats and motorcycles, closing down the hot tub and yard work.
We have a long weekend trip planned to central Ohio for Oct. 22nd. This will be like a little pre check of the trailer, then it is time to get serious about packing it up and getting ready to close the house up for the winter so we can head to Florida. The time is approaching fast; it looks like it is about six weeks from now.
Will keep you posted
We made it home Tuesday Sept.29th 10:45 p.m. We pushed it from Wisconsin to make it home and sleep in our comfortable waterbed. It sure seemed like a treat to sleep in our own bed for a change. One of our few stops on our push was in the Upper Peninsula for home made pasties (pronounced pah stees) for lunch near the city of Escanaba. We passed thru the state of Michigan in rain from morning till we got home.
Now that we are home, and winter feels like it is fast approaching, we have a lot of work to catch up. Bobbi has been busy with closing down her gardens, picking the vegetables, trimming back plants and storing her flowers bulbs for the winter. She also had a lot of inside work to do like washing curtains and drapes after we had new windows installed in the three bedrooms. With that project completed the whole house now has updated windows. I started on my projects, winterizing the boats and motorcycles, closing down the hot tub and yard work.
We have a long weekend trip planned to central Ohio for Oct. 22nd. This will be like a little pre check of the trailer, then it is time to get serious about packing it up and getting ready to close the house up for the winter so we can head to Florida. The time is approaching fast; it looks like it is about six weeks from now.
Will keep you posted
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Westward Ho Eastbound
When we were up in Glacier National Park, Lola (the GPS) got so dizzy that she quit talking to H and the compass was so disoriented that it took till Saturday to unwind itself. So, Saturday, the cruise was set and the automatic pilot was on. It must have been set, because the road was straight as an arrow, due east thru brownish gray grasslands of north central and northeast Montana on Rt 2. It took us a week to get across the state that afternoon! We were following an east/west railroad track that had more traffic on it than the road we were on! Long, long trains with 2 and 3 engines pulling miles and miles of grain cars or cars stacked 2 high with semi truck boxes! There was very little truck traffic on Rt 2 which was a relief after being on all those 2 lane winding roads in Washington state, crossing traffic with all those double trailered semis and log trucks! Down Rt 13 to pick up the intrastate Rt 94 and North Dakota was our only change in direction.
North Dakota faired just a bit better - the grasslands changed to sunflower fields and grain fields, some harvested and some still waiting. Only at the oasis of a small town were there any green trees. Bismarck is the state capital but the only part we explored was the Select Inn Motel and the American Steak Buffet across the highway!
Sunday morning and not only has the time changed but the season certainly has also! Yesterday was capri and short sleeve, sunny summer weather. This morning is heavy gray clouds, wet pavement and STRONG tailwinds. It’s definitely fall. No worries about sun in the eyes as we headed on our way - just ahead of the next storm! Due east we flew again and with the tailwind the gas mileage improved, too. H’s navigation system is pointed towards home now! He wants to sleep in his own bed – SOON! Rt 94 in Minnesota changed direction to southeast once we rounded the curve in the road just past Fargo. The colors at the edge of the road, out to the horizon changed to green grass and darker green trees and red barns! Yellow aspen changed to deep red sumac. The occasional vehicle or truck changed to a steady stream of traffic and then heavy traffic as we reached Minneapolis. The Mall of America just south of Minneapolis was the intended port of call for the afternoon. The bypass around to the south of Minneapolis itself was lined with shopping centers and we were heading for the BIGGIE! One of the parking garages was even bigger than the entire Franklin Park Mall in Toledo. We entered the mall at the Bloomingdale entrance on the 4th level of the mall but never did find Bloomingdale’s! We saw it from the pedestrian walkway tho!! We’ve been told that there was an amusement park on the lower level of the mall. Since it was a Sunday afternoon the Nickelodeon, Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, SpongeBob Squarepants themed mega park was a cacophony of noise, electric colors, amazing rides and KIDS! Talk about sensory overload! There were roller coasters in orange, yellows, purples and lime green. A Demon Drop ride for bigger kids and one for the little ones also! ( I thought about Raegan!) A merry-go-round like the one at the Toledo Zoo and a ferris wheel almost as big as at Cedar Point! There was a swinging ride that was a mammoth skateboard where the passengers were in rotating seats that twirled around and around on top of the skateboard as the giant board swung high like a huge pendulum. AND – the Cedar Point ride that takes you straight up and then zooms straight down - - - it was there too! In bright turquoise! It reached almost to the glass windows in the ceiling! The food court was up on the 3rd level and we ate our Orange Chicken with chow mein from Panda Express at a table right by the railing overlooking the “park”, so we could watch the action below. We did not ‘shop” but we did walk some of the many levels, amazed at all the stairs, escalators and cross over walkways. The Mall of America needs a girlfriend to shop with – not H! We did go into Sears - does that count? Lola was confused with all the layers of the parking garage but she did catch up once we were back out on the street and we quickly wove thru traffic and back up onto the interstate. We made it over the Mississippi River into Wisconsin with fond memories about the start of our journey and our stay downriver in LaCrosse. Menomonie is one town west of Eau Claire and thanks to yet another traveler’s coupon we’ve got a place to “camp” for the night at one more Econo Lodge for a reasonable price. Monday we will see Michigan once more!
North Dakota faired just a bit better - the grasslands changed to sunflower fields and grain fields, some harvested and some still waiting. Only at the oasis of a small town were there any green trees. Bismarck is the state capital but the only part we explored was the Select Inn Motel and the American Steak Buffet across the highway!
Sunday morning and not only has the time changed but the season certainly has also! Yesterday was capri and short sleeve, sunny summer weather. This morning is heavy gray clouds, wet pavement and STRONG tailwinds. It’s definitely fall. No worries about sun in the eyes as we headed on our way - just ahead of the next storm! Due east we flew again and with the tailwind the gas mileage improved, too. H’s navigation system is pointed towards home now! He wants to sleep in his own bed – SOON! Rt 94 in Minnesota changed direction to southeast once we rounded the curve in the road just past Fargo. The colors at the edge of the road, out to the horizon changed to green grass and darker green trees and red barns! Yellow aspen changed to deep red sumac. The occasional vehicle or truck changed to a steady stream of traffic and then heavy traffic as we reached Minneapolis. The Mall of America just south of Minneapolis was the intended port of call for the afternoon. The bypass around to the south of Minneapolis itself was lined with shopping centers and we were heading for the BIGGIE! One of the parking garages was even bigger than the entire Franklin Park Mall in Toledo. We entered the mall at the Bloomingdale entrance on the 4th level of the mall but never did find Bloomingdale’s! We saw it from the pedestrian walkway tho!! We’ve been told that there was an amusement park on the lower level of the mall. Since it was a Sunday afternoon the Nickelodeon, Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, SpongeBob Squarepants themed mega park was a cacophony of noise, electric colors, amazing rides and KIDS! Talk about sensory overload! There were roller coasters in orange, yellows, purples and lime green. A Demon Drop ride for bigger kids and one for the little ones also! ( I thought about Raegan!) A merry-go-round like the one at the Toledo Zoo and a ferris wheel almost as big as at Cedar Point! There was a swinging ride that was a mammoth skateboard where the passengers were in rotating seats that twirled around and around on top of the skateboard as the giant board swung high like a huge pendulum. AND – the Cedar Point ride that takes you straight up and then zooms straight down - - - it was there too! In bright turquoise! It reached almost to the glass windows in the ceiling! The food court was up on the 3rd level and we ate our Orange Chicken with chow mein from Panda Express at a table right by the railing overlooking the “park”, so we could watch the action below. We did not ‘shop” but we did walk some of the many levels, amazed at all the stairs, escalators and cross over walkways. The Mall of America needs a girlfriend to shop with – not H! We did go into Sears - does that count? Lola was confused with all the layers of the parking garage but she did catch up once we were back out on the street and we quickly wove thru traffic and back up onto the interstate. We made it over the Mississippi River into Wisconsin with fond memories about the start of our journey and our stay downriver in LaCrosse. Menomonie is one town west of Eau Claire and thanks to yet another traveler’s coupon we’ve got a place to “camp” for the night at one more Econo Lodge for a reasonable price. Monday we will see Michigan once more!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Westward Ho Eastbound
Our room at the Crown Motel was very nice and clean with pretty hardwood floors! The outside was a sunny yellow and the ½ dozen units on either side in the front all had cute little cement front porches with plastic chairs and a small table. Before we left town we took a few pictures of the lake with the road to Summerland and the yellow cliffs that we had gone by the evening before. Barbee and Terry live in such a gorgeous area! The orchards south of Penticton take up the entire valley and stretch out like Midwest cornfields! While we headed south to the US border, anticipating the stern, stoic customs agent demeanor that we had been warned about, I “strongly suggested” that H keep his sometimes sarcastic humor in check and JUST answer the agent’s questions. Did he, you ask? If you know H, you already know that answer. We were the 10th vehicle in line. One or two of them took a bit longer than the 2 or 3 normal questions. A small motorhome was even pulled over. Those nine vehicles took 10 minutes. It took us 5 minutes to get thru! Luckily, as she opened things, she left them strewn over the back interior of the van and nothing was removed to the pavement. Thankfully, we/I endured and off we drove south, safely back in the US of A. From British Columbia, across the corner of Washington, across the panhandle of Idaho and into Montana we drove. Libbey Montana is the Eagle City of Montana and I did see a lot of high nesting perches all along the way. The center of town has a hugh big statue of an eagle that hangs above the street! The time had changed but I was still tired!
Friday the 25th we passed thru the foothills and “Native American” areas before entering the gate at West Glacier National Park only to find out that the Road to the Sun was closed 16 miles up the road. We turned around and took the long route around the entire south end of the park on Rt 2. Another delightful road that we have never been on and it gave new beautiful views of the peaks and rivers and the ribbon of railroad track that clung to the side of the mountain or nestled in the valley next to the ever present babbling brook. Up the other side and we finally entered into East Glacier. The last time we were in the park was in 1997 on our way to Alaska and nothing that we saw on our way up this time looked familiar. Last time, the world there was much greener - this time the southeast area just across the lake was totally destroyed by fire and the devastation looked fairly recent. We had driven miles and miles thru acres and acres of tall, thin, gray and black sentinels waiting forlornly to be blown over. Once up at Logan’s Pass, the parking lot had a long row of porta johns lined up like toy soldiers, as the visitor center was just as closed as the road at its feet! Coming back down from the top, the memories of our past trips, finally came back to us - the square chunks of boulders at the edge of the roadway instead of guardrails, the trickling waterfalls that dribbled under the roadway before seeping down the valley below, the magnificent deep dark blue St Mary’s Lake and her dainty island in the middle! The receding glaciers on the far jagged peaks! This time we passed thru big patches of yellow golden aspens with faded white or soft pink wildflowers at their feet or waving at us from the sides of the road as we sped downhill. There was less water in the streams now and more curves in the narrow almost 2 lane road. This time we (almost) ran into cattle on the roadway and several tourists taking pictures of some grazing horses next to the roadway! 50 miles east of the park the land is flat and mostly golden or tan, but you can still see the rise of the majestic mountain range behind us! I remember that view from years past! Just east of a “Native American” area and we are parked at another unusual “out west” motel! Saturday morning will be into the sun again!
Friday the 25th we passed thru the foothills and “Native American” areas before entering the gate at West Glacier National Park only to find out that the Road to the Sun was closed 16 miles up the road. We turned around and took the long route around the entire south end of the park on Rt 2. Another delightful road that we have never been on and it gave new beautiful views of the peaks and rivers and the ribbon of railroad track that clung to the side of the mountain or nestled in the valley next to the ever present babbling brook. Up the other side and we finally entered into East Glacier. The last time we were in the park was in 1997 on our way to Alaska and nothing that we saw on our way up this time looked familiar. Last time, the world there was much greener - this time the southeast area just across the lake was totally destroyed by fire and the devastation looked fairly recent. We had driven miles and miles thru acres and acres of tall, thin, gray and black sentinels waiting forlornly to be blown over. Once up at Logan’s Pass, the parking lot had a long row of porta johns lined up like toy soldiers, as the visitor center was just as closed as the road at its feet! Coming back down from the top, the memories of our past trips, finally came back to us - the square chunks of boulders at the edge of the roadway instead of guardrails, the trickling waterfalls that dribbled under the roadway before seeping down the valley below, the magnificent deep dark blue St Mary’s Lake and her dainty island in the middle! The receding glaciers on the far jagged peaks! This time we passed thru big patches of yellow golden aspens with faded white or soft pink wildflowers at their feet or waving at us from the sides of the road as we sped downhill. There was less water in the streams now and more curves in the narrow almost 2 lane road. This time we (almost) ran into cattle on the roadway and several tourists taking pictures of some grazing horses next to the roadway! 50 miles east of the park the land is flat and mostly golden or tan, but you can still see the rise of the majestic mountain range behind us! I remember that view from years past! Just east of a “Native American” area and we are parked at another unusual “out west” motel! Saturday morning will be into the sun again!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)