Bear With Us

Last Stretch of Road Home

2011-07-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye to Mom. Linda was so glad to have a few days to visit here.

Leaving St. George, UT.

Arizona is just a few miles from St. George. We cut through a corner of this state.

The rain started just after the state line. We hope it doesn't follow us home.

The landscape continues to change as we drive along the I-15.

The Virgin River. It is quite muddy with all the rain in the area the past few days.

Nevada, we're getting closer! At least we have emerged from the rain storm to blue skies.

The long desert highway ahead of us.

Enjoying the scenery at 70 mph.

Passing by Las Vegas. The traffic was light at this time of the morning.

Back in the home state, and the California desert.

More long stretch of road. Here is the boring desert part of the trip.

The rest stop in San Bernardino County that has been rebuilt. The last time we were by here the place was closed and under construction. They did a great job. We are getting closer to the mountains again.

Mojave, where highway 58 meets the 14.

From the 14 to the I-5 in Santa Clarita. Passing Valencia.

Not far now.

Driving through the orange groves.

The farm land, Orange trees on the hill side.Lemon trees.

Strawberries.

Home! Our neighbor did a great job of caring for the plants while we were gone.

We had a wonderful time. It would have been fun to have been able to camp more on the way back, but the weather was too hot and there were thunder storms almost every night. The best part about being here . . . the fabulous weather!

Now, if we can get the bug spatters off the front of the van (that's Dan's department). The vehicle served us well.

To St. George, UT, 07072011

2011-07-16T11:03:00.001-07:00

Leaving Grand Junction on the I-70 - the scenery continued to change. The sky was dark with clouds and we did have rain for a while.

Included the elevation sign. Of course we were much higher in the mountains west of Denver.

The road ahead. We love those mountains.

The rapidly changing landscape required that we keep the camera ready to get the shots.

Black Dragon Canyon.Some of the castle like formations of Castle Valley.

Here we are on the edge of Goblin Valley, an amusing state park. Too bad we did not decide to take a tour here, the formations are very interesting as can be surmised by the name. Linda had visited this place when she lived in Utah many, many years ago.

Still the castle formations, but a change in soil hue.

A lone tower standing guard.

The castles give way to large boulders as we near the I-15.

We stopped for lunch in Richfield under sunny skies, but some scattered thunder heads. When we stepped out of Arby's into the bright sunlight we were met by large rain drops falling from the sky. Dan used this situation to his advantage and cleaned the van windshield.

Heading south in the I-15. Cowboys drive too fast. We were doing 76 MPH when we were passed by a diesel 4X4 dually pickup pulling a six-horse trailer at 85 MPH! Well, the speed limit here is 80 MPH.

We had reached St. George and were headed to Karen's house to spend some time with her and Linda's Mom.

The black lava flow remains are a stark contrast to the red earth here.

Finally, after a long day on the road, we arrived at Karen's just as she was returning from the market. This was the first time we had visited since Karen and Linda's Mom had moved to St. George. They are both very happy here, and the house is beautiful. Karen has been working tirelessly on the yard with Christine's expert help. Christine, our sister-in-law, is a landscape pro. We had a nice visit with all of Linda's family that live here: Mom; siblings Karen, JoAnn & her husband Brent, Gary & his wife Christine & their two sons Dylan & Tyler; and Linda's niece Loretta.

The weather was hot and unsually humid due to the storms passing through. We did have thunder storms on night, but it did cool off during the nights.

Linda's Mom is 88 years old and still looks great. She uses a walker, but does as much as she is able to. It was good for Linda to have some time here.

To Grand Junction, CO 07062011

2011-07-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

The B&B in Limon, COThis was our room. Very comfortable & beautifuly decorated with hand made quilts.

After having a marvelous ranch style breakfast, which included home made multi-grain bread and jellies prepared by our hostess Beth, we walked to the corral to visit the resident horses. Beth told us that they like visitors and would push each other in order to get to us. She was right, they were very friendly.

She had "cakes" for us to offer the horses. These cakes are, of course, just for horses.

After that we loaded our stuff into the van and drove back toward the I-70.

Good by. We had a great night here, it will be one of the highlights of this trip.

The landscape was much the same as the last couple of days. We drove past Denver around 11:30 AM where this photo was taken. This building is right by the freeway - hard to miss. All of the good views were on the driver's side and no way to get good shots of the city while heading west.

Finally mountains were in view.

Here we were on the down side of the mountains west of Denver. The last time we were here the mountain sides were covered in snow and skiers. The skiers looked like ants on the slopes.

People will build houses just about anywhere! We were passing through Vail about this point.

We did miss the mountains while traveling east of the Rockies.

These were the short tunnels, the first of three through the mountain side. The Eisenhower tunnel is the longest, a little over 1.6 miles, the longest & highest bore of the interstate highway system.

This rest stop has a little museum and these building to show visitors the old west lifestyle.

The Colorado River was at the top of the banks and rather muddy.

The scenery was changing quickly as we progressed westward.

A good shot of the Colorado River. It did seem small after seeing the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers even though it was running high as can be seen here.

Nearing Grand Junction. We had crossed the Colorado several times since leaving Denver.

We arrived in Grand Junctin about 3 PM, checked into a nice hotel and found a good Tratoria right across the street where we had great Italian food. Our table was by the bar where a couple were having drinks with their dog in tow. We were surprized that the place would allow dogs inside, but he was quied and well behaved. This made us think of a joke we heard Tommy Smothers tell about a man who took his dog into a bar, and we chuckled. The dog owner thought that we were disturbed by the dog and asked us if that was so, so we just had to tell him the joke.

The WiFi signal in the hotel room was week and we were unable to upload our photos and get caught up with the blog. But we did have a good night's rest before the next big travel day.

About July 4th Fireworks Show

2011-07-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

This review entry is a day late. There were fireworks sales stands everywhere for the past 3 or 4 days before the 4th. There was one in the lot next to place we stayed in Junction City, KS. The city show was scheduled to start at 10 pm, but the residents started at 9 pm with some pretty impressive fireworks. Just as pretty as the pros, but not has high in the sky. Quite a nice "pre-show show".

We noticed people setting up their chairs in the lot next to the fireworks stand, so we joined them. The "pre-show show" was all around us with some being set off in that lot. The city show started right on time and was fabulous. There was a slight breeze and the temp. cooled down, so it was very comfortable sitting outside for the fireworks display.

An advantage of joining the group at the stand was that we got to visit and they shared the bug repellant spray so we wouldn't have to go back to the van and get ours.

*** This was a definite plus for the 4th of July***

Limon, CO. 07152011

2011-07-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

Big Travel day today, almost 400 miles to cover. However, the speed limit in Kansas is 75 MPH so we should make good time. Driving across Kansas is like driving across Nevada, a lot of the same scenery and quite boring. The sight of wind turbines did offer something interesting to see. This photo shows how large these things actually are.

A familiar sight here.

Finally!!!

Entering Colorado did not offer much change in the scenery though. Once we get past Denver tomorrow there will be mountains to add interest to the landscape.

The place we stayed last night was quite awful. It looked like it had been a different hotel company gone under and the owners took it over and did some fixing up. The lobby looked freshly painted and had new furniture. The hallways had poorly done patching on the walls and worn carpet. It looked like the room had been painted then damaged areas of the walls poorly patched. The carpet in our room looked new. The grounds were messy and neglected.

While looking on the Internet yesterday evening for places to stay in Limon we found a Bed & Breakfast that looked very interesting. We called and reserved a room. We were delighted to find that the place is as good as it looked to be.

We are on a 15,000 acre working cattle ranch. The owners have horses which we haven't seen, but hope to tomorrow morning. Of course there is their boarder collie which is a great dog. We were greeted at the front door by the two family cats. The accommodations are fabulous, and the owners very friendly, welcoming people. And then there is the prospect of have a marvelous breakfast prepared for us tomorrow morning.

Views from the house.

The corral for the horses. I don't know where the horses are, but they have plenty of property to roam and graze.

We went into town for dinner. We needed to get a couple of items at a drug store and this is what we found. Quite a combination, but that is how is often is in small communities like this one.

The building across the street from the drug/sundries store.

Beth, the B&B proprietor suggested that we visit the museum. It is work renown she told us, so we took her advise. The museum is behind the City Hall building.

There is the railroad depot and this is the interior of the antique dining car.

Who else should man the stove but Dan the master cook.

The caboose.

The caboose and dining car.

A freight car.

The interior of a Shepherd's wagon.

The classic chicken coop.

From there we moved on to another building with displays from the past.

Gasoline pump.

A typical living room (or parlor as it may have been called).

Kitchen with the first type of refrigerator and an electric washing machine. This may have been typical in the 1940's.

A mock-up of the General Store.

There were displays of Native American artifacts and geological finds, but it was not possible to get satisfactory photos of those items. This was indeed an exceptional museum.

Now it is time to retire to a very comfortable bed in a beautiful room. Linda may need a stool in order to get into and out of it though.

From Missouri to Kansas 07042011

2011-07-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

330 miles to go today to get to the next stop in Kansas. We had rainy weather for the first 30 miles. Once we drove out of the storm the sky continued to clear. We crossed the Missouri River again.

We could see how the water has risen far above the normal banks and has yet to subside here.

Hey Emma! Here's your own town.

Missouri farm.We have seen these flowers along the road side for a few days and finally got to get a close look at a rest stop.

These thistles were there, too.

Kansas City Royals Stadium. It caught us by surprise and we almost didn't get this shot.

Kansas City Skyline on the Missouri side.Finally reached Kansas.

Kansas farm. Couldn't resist getting a photo of the bales of hey in the field.

Looks like we are running out of trees.

This reminds us of the road to Las Vegas, except with lots of green. It is, however, almost as hot.

Our destination town has a high of 96 today with high humidity!

We arrived at Junction city about 3:30 pm and rested before going to the town 4th event. We read about it on the Internet. This dog agility show began at 5 pm.

The finally.WWII Memorial. Fort Riley and Marshall Field are just east of Junction City.

Civil War Memorial.The fireworks show starts at 10 pm, hope we can stay awake for it.

To Wentzville, MO, 07032011

2011-07-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

We set out on a 300 mile trek today. We passed Indianapolis, IN, and shot this city skyline.

Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Statium right of the I-70.

Crossing the Wabash River near Terre Haute.

Entered Illinois at 11: 24 AM.

We have been on the Blue Star Memorial Highway for a while.

The Mississippi River.

Entered Missouri at 1:20 PM Central Time. Now we have gained an hour.

Looking back to the river from the Missouri Visitors' Center.

As we progressed westward on the I-70 dark clouds were moving in from the south. This is what the sky looked like at 2:30 when we checked into the hotel in Wentzville, MO.

Next to the hotel is a Rural King country store. We had to check it out. They cary just about everything one could need for home, garden, farm, pets, hunting, fishing, clothing, and some food. We purchased some interesting jams and headed for the doors. The rain was pouring down. We hoped it would let up enough to get back to the hotel soon, and it did after a few minutes. It was a good thing we had waterproof sandals since we had to wade through a small stream in the parking lot.

We made it back to the hotel just in time. As soon as we got into our room we saw flashes of light and heard thunder. This is what we saw when we looked out the window.

By the time we were ready to walk to the Bandana Bar-B-Q restaurant on the other side of the hotel the rain had stopped, but was starting up again when we returned.

The weather is forcast to be better tomorrow. But we have come to depend on the downpours to clean the windows of the van.

Heading Home 07(01&02)2011

2011-07-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

July 1:
We left Syracuse, New York, and headed west on I-90, a toll road. Traveling was much simpler than the day before and we made good time. There are service stops on these highways and this one had a walkway over the road to get to the restrooms and food shops.

Traffice approaching
Traffic heading away

The toll portion of I-90 ended just before entering Pennsylvania at 1:45 PM.

A short while later we were in Ohio. We spent the night in Twinsberg, OH.

July 2:

There was a thunderstorm during the early morning hours, but it wasn't raining when we left the hotel in Twinsberg. There were still storm clouds in the sky and this section we encountered along the way was very interesting.

There was rain for the first few hours of our trip today, but we did get out of the storm and had sunny skies the remainder of the way.

At our last rest stop in Ohio we parked next to a young family having lunch in their car. Dan remarked that they had beautiful babies, two little girls just like we had. When we returned from the restrooms the father of this cute little family pointed out to Dan that the front, driver's side tire was badly damaged. Dan had checked the air pressure a couple of days earlier and hadn't noticed this. He is still shaking his head wondering why.

Luckily we were just 6 miles from the city limits of Columbus. Dan located a tire store with the GPS and we drove carefully toward that store. We looked at all of the tires and they were all in the same condition, just not nearly as bad as this one we photographed. We had new tires & an allignment within an hour and a half and were on our way once again.

We feel extremely lucky that the tire held up until we could replace it, lucky that someone noticed it in the first place. Here it is:

The tire store: We ate lunch & sat in the McDonnald's next door with our computers while we waited.

We reached Indiana and drove to Greenfield to spend the night. We got here about 4 PM. It is hot & humid. Looks like thunder storms are predicted for tonight.

Twinsberg, Ohio, 07012011

2011-07-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

We decided to head for home this morning due to several circumstances, one being the fact that we did not get our passports packed and would be unable to do the Canada part of the trip. We took the I-90 West heading for Twinsberg, PA, for the night. Being on the interstate was a relief after yesterday's very rural roads. We covered a lot of ground today and will play it by ear from now on. We are concerned about this being a holiday weekend and hope we will be able to find lodging the next few days.

Stay tuned.

Norman Rockwell Museum, 06302011

2011-07-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

We departed Somers and headed for Stockbridge, Mass. Our hosts had told us to be sure and visit the Norman Rockwell Museum. We had planned to do this on our last trip three years ago, but didn't, and hadn't thought about it this year.

We reached Huntington, Mass. at 11 AM. Arrived at the museum at noon and had lunch before going in. A delightful woman led our group, telling us about Mr. Rockwell and his works, after which we were left to view the original paintings on our own. There was also a section on animation and the development of the characters with videos from Ice Age. Dan enjoyed the videos with the children while Linda examined every piece. Dan enjoyed the artwork, too. This was just as exciting as the Basketball Hall of Fame.
It just didn't seem appropriate to photograph the artwork, so we only have these two pictures for this day.

After leaving the Museum we reached New York state. Somehow we never managed to get a photo of the "Welcome to New York" signs, but we did enter the state a few times. We passed by Albany, the state capitol, and drove on through the country side. The scenery was beautiful, but we began to get concerned about finding a place for dinner and a place to spend the night. Many of the small communities had no lodging or restaurants. We stopped at a few motels that seemed to be open, but could find no one at the front desks. We found a great looking bead & breakfast, but the owner was at work until 7 PM and her visiting grandmother didn't know how to get hold of her, but we did find a place to eat.

We ended up staying in Syracuse were we arrived at 8 PM quite exhausted.

Basketball Hall of Fame @ Springfield, MA 06282011

2011-07-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Springfield, MA., the Basketball Hall of Fame
Dan was quite excited about visiting here. Well, we both were. We are big fans of basketball.
The center of the building is a huge basketball court lined with baskets on the perimeter. Every type of basketv & backboard in the history of the game is represented. Visitors are welcome to grab a ball and try their skills.

The dome is lined with photos of those inducted. We looked at them all and remembered many of them. The careers of men & women are cronicled here. One person is on this wall twice - John Wooden, as a player and as a coach. We remember him as the most successful coach at UCLA.

The game was devised by James Naismith as a sport that could be played indoors during the cold winters in Mass. He used a peach basked as the goal.

Here are some samples of the evolution of the baskets & backboards,

Dan had to join the group on the floor.

There was so much to see and take in here. It was sensory overload for both of us. History of the sport; notable players, coaches, promoters,

& announcers; the evolution of the uniform, shoes & warm ups; uniforms of the Hall of Fame inductees; samples of the announcer's booth; trophies; samples of the balls used up to the present and history of the changes. We also watched a big screen video on Michael Jordan's career. We purchased T-shirts before leaving. An exciting day.

Somers, Conn. 06(28&29)2011

2011-06-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

Our Evergreen Club hosts for Somers, Conn., were Tom & Cathy. Wonderful people who made our vist delightful. We arrived here after visiting the Basketball Hall of Fame.

They have a beautiful yard. All of the meals we had with them were in the back yard and this was our view. Beyond the fence is one of the pastures for their neighbor's stable of valuable racing horses. Tom & Cathy told us that the horses often come to this fence in the evening to visit, but they didn't show up while we were there.

Day 2 of our stay we visited the house that Mark Twain & his wife had built in Hartford.

Is there anything not represented in Legos?

Gee, Mark Twain looked a lot like Dan!

Norman Rockwell did illustrations for some of Twain's books. There is a collections of Rockwell prints in the Museum and this is a set up for visitors to emulate his Tripple Portrait piece.

On of only two pieces of equipment designed to make printing faster. Twain was excited about this machine and invested $200,000.00 with its developer believing that he would make a fortune. However, it had too many parts and broke down often, which defeated the speed at which it could print. Another machine was made at the same time which, though slower, worked better and was more successfull. Hence Twain's investment was a loss.

Our hosts took us to their mountain. I think they said its elevation is about 1500 ft. We would call this a hill, but in the part of the country where most of the land is flat this is considered a mountain. There was a great view.

We hiked up to the observation tower to see this vista. Dan, who is afraid of heights, actually stood at the rail for a few moments.

Here we are at the top of the observation tower.

On the drive back to our host's home we passed many farms and ranches. Cathy said, "Let's go by the Orio cookie cows." We were thinking brown & white spotted cattle, but were surprised when we saw these Dutch Belted cattle. They do look like Orio Cookies!

The Mill that has long been vacant.

The river and fall at the mill.

After dinner we walked with our hosts along one of the roads that boarder their property. This is a view of the pasture and stables for the horses that live behind their place.

A corn field across the street.

The farm house of another neighbor and friend.

After returning from our walk we had ice cream.

Boston, Mass., 06(26&27)2011

2011-06-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Our host Mary. Another delightful person with the Evergreen Club. She, like us, lives within walking distance to shopping and transportation.

I don't like to include photos of our host's homes, but this one is so unique. One of the very old houses that have been converted into apartments. Mary lives on the top floor. Two stories of narrow winding steps to climb. This has to be all the exercise she would need if she did this 2 or 3 times a day. The interior of her apartment is done very nicely. Our first evening here we walked around the neighborhood to admire the beautiful houses, many have been converted into multi-family dwellings.

DAY 1:

We parked the van at Riverside Station and took the "T" into Boston. Fortunately we received plenty of assistance from the regulars, so we managed to get on the right train, and were told what to do to get back to the station at the end of the day. Here is Linda on the Green Line heading into Boston. This was a fun experience.

We arrived in Boston at noon and had lunch at Cheers.

We were upstairs since that is where the replica of the Cheers set is. It was fun trying to imagine where Norm and the others would have been seated in the TV episodes. Great sandwiches.

After lunch we boarded the Old Towne Trolley to tour the city.

This fountain in Boston park invited people to sit on the edge and cool off their feet in the water. This shot is cropped to eliminate the waders.

Pond an Bridge in the park. This park is next to Boston Commons.

Dan just had to have a photo with the park officer who, by the way, was very helpful.

Another view of the pond.

Looking back from the marina.

This is one impressive sailing yacht. Notice the power boat passing by on it's way out of the docks.A street scene.

We took the Green Line of the "T" back to Riverside Station where we had parked the van and headed on to the house of our Evergreen Club host.

DAY 2:

We walked 3 blocks to the Amtrack Commuter stop and took the purple line directly into Boston this day. No need to drive to the Riverside station. This is a shot of the entrance to the track we need to go to for our return trip. We took this, an a couple of other photos in case we forgot where we would need to be at the end of the day.

The oldest public library in the U.S.

We opened this door to tour more of the library and was surprised with what was behind it.

The library court yard.

The famous Fenway Park baseball stadium.

The trolley never got us into a good position to get a photo of the front of the stadium.

The "new" State House

The Old State House where many events around the Revolution movement took place.

A replica of the stamp that was required during the time of the Stamp Act, a tax on the usage of paper for official and legal documents, even Bills of Sale. One of the many thorns to the Colonists.A cobble stone street, one of the original Boston roads.

Dan just could help but hob-nob with one of the Red Coats.

The house is still in use, as is many of the building from that time.

The Old North Church where the two lanterns were used to signal that the British soldiers were approaching by sea.This shot illustrates how the sleek new glass enclad structurs stand among the historical buildings erected by the colonists. Linda is not pleased with the modern buildings that intrude in the photos of the historical buildings. Not to mention the traffic lights & signs, and power lines.

We rode the Trolley part of the day, and walked the rest. We walked along 2/3 of the Freedom Trail. We had walked this trail several years ago while on a Fall Colors Cruise out of New York, but were rushed due to limited time ashore. This time we had time to stop longer where we wanted to. Walking on the cobblestone streets was rather precarious.

We were quite tired after spending the entire day in Boston. We found our way back to the Amtrack station and returned to our host's home where we promptly took a nap.

Sturbridge, Mass 06(24&25)2011

2011-06-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

The weather was drizzly off and on this day, with dark clouds. We planned to camp in Wells State Park and hoped we wouldn't be rained on. When we stopped to check on the weather forcast rain was predicted. When we reached Sturbridge we decided that a hotel or motel would be a better idea. We saw the Super 8 and stopped to check in, but they were booked for the night.

We decided to go to the camp ground and hope for the best. We planned to spend 2 night here, and could get in that day, but not the next. So, Dan was being charming and working to convince a family to share their space with us the next night. They were amused, but looked like they were seriously considering the idea. We selected our site and got set up.

We were in a wooded area on a lake. The ground was damp from rain earlier in the day. The mosquitos were out already, in the middle of the day, so we applied the repellant, but not before being bitten a few times. We built a nice little fire to sit by until time for bed. We were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of thunder and the rain gently falling. The rain continued to increase and we turned on the lantern to check for leaks, but all seemed well, and we were warn enough. However, when we got up in the morning we noticed that the sleeping bag was wet at our feet, and there was some water on the floor on one side. The entrance flap had leaked some.

The minor leaking of the tent changed everything. We had to get to a laundromat to do laundry and dry out the sleeping bag. Dan dropped Linda off at the laundromat and went back to break camp. He returned with the bedding, sleeping bag and tent. The tent was spread out on pavement next to the building and we put the sleeping bag in a dryer for a few minutes. At least the weather was dry and warm so the tent could dry out. Dan said that as he was checking out of the campground the family he has tried to charm into sharing their space the second nigh said that thay would make room in their space. But by that time we had found a room in town for the night. He told them that we had "wimped out", but thanked them anyway.

The laundromat:

After we finished the laundry and checked into the hotel we visited the Old Town Sturbridge area. This was why Dan had planned the stop here. The village depicts life in the 1800's and is located on a farm that was active during that time.

Examples of fabric production in the home before American factories were producing fabrics and ready made clothing.

A typical kitchen setting.

There was a wagon for visitors pulled by Belgan Draft Horses. Here we saw them approaching from the covered bridge.

The area was set up like a typical village of the time. Some of the building have been moved to the property and some were originally here.

The typical general store and merchandise that would be stocked.

Fabrics and notions.

Various sewing items and shoes.The back room of the store.

A house of worship.

We really enjoyed this place, but when we were in heavily wooded areas there were mosquitos and we hadn't applied repellant that day. Of course we received more bites. Thank goodness we had a prescription cream to apply to the bites to help them heal and stop the itching.

By 8 o'clock that evening the sky was dark, lightning was flashing and thunder was pounding. The rain came down heavily. We were very glad to be in a building and not a tent.

Danbury, Conn, 06232011

2011-06-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

Peggy served a fabulous breakfast before we departed this morning.

The bumble bees were really working over these flowers at the West Virginia welcome center.

We cross over state lines getting from one place to another, usually going through a corner or small section of each state.

We took a winding forest road (209) toward New York State. Reached Port Jervis, NY, about 3 PM. A Quaint town. But once we go back onto the freeway (I-84) we were backed up twice behind accidents before leaving the state of New York.

Crossed the Hudson River at 5 PM.

The weather was cloudy & drizzly, so we opted to check into the Danbury, Conn., Super 8. We had dinner at the McDonald's across the street. We were too tired to try to find a restaurant.

There wasn't much to photograph here, since we simply stopped for a night's rest.

Carlisle, PA 06222011

2011-06-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

We left the Staunton/Walnut Hills KOA (Near Stuarts Draft) this morning. We traveled through parts of West Virginia and Maryland before entering Pennsylvania about 3 PM.

We wanted to find a Bass Pro Shop to check out the camp stoves for back packing. The one we have leaked kerosene this morning. We found one in Harrisburg. Didn't find a stove we liked, but we did find some nice articles of clothing. Besides, visiting these stores is quite an experience. We encountered this bear while go up the stairs.

This is a shot from the bridge over the Susquehanna River while traveling to our next stop for the night. Wish we had remembered to ask our hosts about the arched bridges.

These are our hosts in Carlisle, PA, Bob & Peggy. She had some delicious home made potato salad and chicken fingers ready for us when we arrived. We also had left over lasagna & spaghetti from last night's dinner. After dinner they drove us through the historical areas of the town. We saw buildings that were built in the 1700's. We went past the church where George Washington worshiped. We toured the Military College & Museum grounds, a place where military officers study. We stopped for ice cream cones at Bob & Peggy's favorite place before heading back to their home. Wonderful hosts and great people. We only wish we had remembered to get the camera before driving into town.This is their back yard and the field beyond. This area was filled with lightning bugs at dusk whick made it sparkle.

Stuart's Draft, Virginia 06212011

2011-06-24T05:52:00.001-07:00

It's Tuesday and we are in Virginia.

We camped at the KOA. Another "way off the beaten path" campground. But these are the best kind. There was lightning & thunder so we opted for a cabin. Besides, the tent sites had no level areas. We went into the town for a great Italian meal, spaghetti and lasagna, with left-overs for another meal.

We did a load of laundry. We had a nice quite night again.

Our campsite neighbor.

Bluff City, TN 06202011

2011-06-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

This campground was a long way from the freeway, on a one lane road in the middle of pasture land. This one caters to horse owners with a stable and paddocks. When we arrived three campers were setting out on their mounts for an afternoon ride.

One of the paddocks, no vehicles are allowed on this road. This is a beautiful place, but no cell reception or internet service.

This is our cabin, the one with the open door. We were very close to the bath house. There weren't many campers there this day, but they were all very friendly.

Finding a nearby place for dinner was a challenge. Since this was a monday some were closed. We finally settled for Bar-B-Q at this mobile stand. Turkey leg and coleslaw. One camper, J.C., had offerd us some of the chicken he had just cooked, but Dan did not want to impose. Too bad since this dish looked more tasty than the turkey leg. We did, however sample J.C.'s steak dish later that evening and it was absolutely delicious. J.C. loves to cook and was handing plates of food to anyone who stopped by the camp fire near his tent. His girlfriend, Chris, told us that she has gained 27 pounds since they got together. We sat around the campfire this evening and visited with the campground owners and a few other camper. We had a great time.

This might be a lane to avoid traveling along.

One of the farms we passed on our way out of the campground. At least we had a nice quiet night.

Cedars of Lebanon State Park, TN 06192011

2011-06-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

We were really in the woods here. Far from civilization. It had rained before we arrived and was hot and very humid. As soon as we dried off after taking showers, we were as wet as we were when we stepped out of the showers. It did eventually cool down sometime during the night.

The picnic table is interesting, the benches are far too low to make eating at the table possible. We sat in the lawn chairs and used the bench for a table.

The camp chef at work again. He has it all down to a simple process. He really seems to enjoy this tent camping thing.

We expected to have a nice peaceful night. We learned, however, that the whiporwill is a nocturnal bird whick calls out all night long. When he finally quits the daytime birds chime in to fill the void. Linda also spotted a small wild cat, possibly a bobcat, creeping past the tent.

Memphis, TN 06182011

2011-06-23T18:31:00.001-07:00

We cross the state line in the middle of the Mississippi River. What a river, too. The creeks in this part of the country make our rivers back home look small.

Our Evergreen host in Memphis, Susan & Kirk. Another pair of great people. They drove us into town and were great tour guides.

One of a couple of facades of buildings that were being torn down when they decided to preserve the fronts.

This is Beal Street which is blocked off on Saturday's for performers and the weekend crowd. This group of guys were one of the dance teams on America's Got Talent. They were discussing the next routine.

Some of the horse drawn carriages waiting for customers.

Who else but ElvisWe took the trolly on a loop around the historical parts of the city and along the river. Don't ask why we didn't get a photo of the outside...can't figure that one out.

The mighty Mississippi. Susan told us that the street we see here was under water during the flood.

Susan & Kirt's son-in-law, the Elvis impersonator. He had the voice down. He performs here three nights a week.

Where Elvis got his start.

Dover Arkansas 06172011

2011-06-21T17:11:00.001-07:00

We needed an oil change and found this place in Elins, AR. They got the job done so quickly we hardly had time to fill out the paper work.

Interesting sights on the way out of Elkins

Quaint little town, Jasper, Arkansas. We stopped here on our way to the home of our first Evergreen hosts. Linda got two huge scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone for $1.50 here.

We visited the antique shop here and asked if we could use the restroom. Here it is.

We had lunch here just south of Jasper. Great home style food and a great view.

We got stuck behind this trailor of hay on the narrow, winding road to the Cliff House Restaurant. It was moving very slowly. Luckily we were able to pass it soon after this photo was shot.

Our first Evergreen Hosts, Maureen and Jeff. They are marvelous people. Their home is in the mountains with a fantastic view. We sat on the back porch and watched the sun set while eating homemade ice cream and strawberries.

Lonoke

A stop after leaving the home of Jeff & Maureen on the morning of the 18th.

Civil War Memorial

The Museum

We spent some time in here and learned interesting things about the area.

Shawnee, OK, 06162011

2011-06-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

We had no WiFi, or had inadequate WiFi service, so far along the road. So, we are covering several day in today's session of entries. We stopped at McDonald's along the way to check our email and check out the weather forecasts for our destinations. Today, Thursday, we finally have the WiFi service we need to get things done.

It has been hot and windy all day, and we were glad to finally see some green in the landscape just before leaving Texas. Thank goodness we're out of Texas!!! Oklahoma is very green and lots of trees, but still hot with strong winds. We had planned to camp just outside Oklahoma City, but decided that a hotel, and far away from the city would be better. So we are in Shawnee, OK, tonight. Not too close to the freeway. We dined at Denny's since it was close enough to walk. Linda opted for a salad after having the steak and potato on Wed.

It is humid here, and still in the 90's. The desk clerk said it will get to the low 80's - high 70's tonight, but the Internet check on the weather didn't agree. Doesn't matter anyway, since we are sleeping inside tonight.

Amarillo, Texas, 06152011

2011-06-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

We stopped at Cadillac Ranch, a point of interest Dan found on the Internet.

On the other side of the fence:

Standing along Route 66 west of Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch was built by a group of art-hippies imported from San Francisco. They called themselved the Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh III. He wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. Ten Caddies were driven into one of Stanley's fields, then half-buried, nose-down, in the dirt (supposedly at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza). They face west in a line, from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan De Ville, their tail fins held high for all to see on the empty Texas Panhandle. The public is invited to spray paint these monuments.

The wind was howling and the temp. was in the 90's with not much change expected for the night. The rates at the Amarillo KOA were about the same as the Americas Best motel, so we opted for the motel. It was in the process of being renovated and the room had fresh paint, new carpeting, new matress & bedding, new bath linens, but the same old furniture and curtains. It was a non-smoking room, but the drapes reeked of tobaco smoke. At least the bed was nice so we could get some sleep.

We had dinner at the Big Texan restaurant, renowned for it's offer of a free dinner of: 72 oz steak, three breadded shrimp, baked potato, salad, and a dinner roll, IF you can eat it all within 60 minutes. There were 2 takers on Wed. evening, both young men. We didn't stay to see if either of them accomplished this fete, and we have no idea what one is charged for the meal if one cannot finish it all in the alloted time. However, our meal was delicious and enough to take with us for another meal. The TV program Man vs Food did an episode here.

The restaurant was an amazing place and we would have marvelous photos . . . if we had remembered the camera!!! Remember the mantra?

New Mexico

2011-06-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

Rest Stop

This abandoned house is behind the rest stop just after crossing the state line. We couldn't resist taking photos.

We spent the night at a home in Albuquerque. The hosts made a nice dinner and drove us to the Sandia Mtn. tram station which is located about half way up the mountain. We purchased something to drink and sat on the balcony to watch the sunset and overlook the city. However, Dan & Linda both forgot to take the camera along and missed a great photo opportunity. The montra is, "Always have the camera." Should be easy to remember, right? The hosts fed us a light breakfast and we were on our way to Texas Wed. morning.

2011-06-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

06132011 Holbrook, AZ

KOA campground where we camped. The wind was really blowing when we arrived. The park manager told us that it would die down and the temp. would cool down at dusk. We decided to shower and get dinner before setting up the tent so we wouldn't have to worry about it blowing away.

This is where we had dinner. Dan found the cafe on the internet with a coupon for a free deep fried apple enchalad with the purchase of 2 dinners. The food was good and the apple enchalada was delicious. As is the case with most Mexican food places, there was way too much food on the plates.

The Wigwam Motel which is directly across from the restaurant. Vintage cars are part of the setting.

We happened to be in Holbrook when there was a performace of dances by the local Native Americans. The dancers varied in ages from about 4 yrs. to adults. The apparell was beautiful and I wish we could have seen more of the fronts.

It had been a long day with the hike at the Walnut Cyn. ruins, so we didn't stay long. We had to get the tent set up & ready for the night. The wind did stop and the temp. did cool. The KOA servs pancakes for breakfast for $1.99 per person, all you can eat, so we had a nice breakfast before heading out on Wed. morning.

2011-06-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

Walnut Canyon Ruins in Arizona
Park entrance. We visited this one on our last trip 3 years ago, but a landslide had blocked the path to the ruins. We hoped that the path would be cleared by now and were glad to find out that it had. Now we could hike to the cliff dweller ruins and actually step inside!

The entrance to the ruins is through the park visitors' center at the top of the canyon.

Here we look back from the first section of stairs leading to the ruins.

Looking across the canyon to the ruins on the other side.

The dwellings were built under the natural overhang of the cliffs. This is the remains of one of the rooms.

Here I am looking at soot stains from the fires that were built inside this room.

A view of 3 rooms in this section. There were dwellings that still had the stones and mud fronts with small doorways and vents, but visitors were not allowed to enter. We walked past dwelling sites on the shady side of the cliff, then the sunny side.

Pretty cactus flowers were a surprise.

Now we must return to the top of the canyon. This marker at the beginning of the return path will give everyone an idea of how far down we were from the visitors' center.

This is the view from the stone marker!!! Thank goodness we brought water as the weather was hot and dry.

Here we were about half way up the climb.

There are several landings with benches for resting. We were at about 6000 ft. above sea level here and needed to stop a few times to catch our breath and get the heart rate back to normal. One of the drawbacks of living a sea level.

This was a highlight which burned a lot of calories, and left us both with some sore muscles.

We had lunch in the picnic area before heading to our next camp site.

Grand Canyon - 06122011

2011-06-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

Our Camp siteThis is our first time setting up the new tent.

It goes up quickly & easily. Ready to spend the night. After getting the campsite ready we drove to the South Rim Village for some groceries. We then hiked to the edge of the canyon. The canyon is hazy, but still amazing.

Angel Canyon:

Dan is afraid of heights, but never seems to have trouble at the edge of the Grand Canyon.

After hiking back to the Village, we had sandwiches at the market for dinner, then went back to the campground. There was no internet access, but we could download these photos from the camera. The weather was beautiful, but was quite chilly at night. The moon was almost full and provided plenty of light for getting to the restrooms after dark.

The tent and bed pad worked very well and we slept well. Dan made breakfast Monday AM with his tiny camp stove. In all it went very well and was quite enjoyable.

Ready to hit the road (or "Are we going to the Moon?)

2011-06-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

Do we really need all this stuff? Star date 06092011.

We will be spending 3 nights in Las Vegas before catching the I-40 East. We've all seen Vegas so we need no photos.

The Adventure Starts Again!

2011-06-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

We are heading out on another cross country trip. This will be our 3rd. As we always say, "Every day is an adventure." However, the Bear will not be with us this time. We plan to do some tent camping and he refused to "rough it". He needs a nice bed and air conditioning. He will stay home and keep an eye on the place with the care taker.

We will be posting, with photos, when we have Internet access. There is hope that it will be more widely available everywhere (especially WiFi) than 3 years ago.

Please follow us in our adventure.

Dan & Linda

The Kitchen

2010-05-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

Dan tore out the cabinets, I patched and primed the walls....

The wet bar remained in place so we would have a sink to clean up the paint equipment...

Cabinets have been installed...

Toe kick cover has been installed,the floor coated with a leveling compound in preparation for installation of the vinyl tiles.

Vinyl tile installed, appliances installed, cabinetry replacing the wet bar installed and awaiting the counter top....stay tuned.

After the initial clean up

2010-05-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

The park management company required that the yard be cleaned up before we could get final approval for residency. We discovered 2 hibiscus plants that had been smothered by the junipers. We discovered this brick planter underneath the overgrown succulents.

It took us 1 and a half weeks to get this done. We still had boxes stashed in the sun room and second bedroom to sort through. There was loads of costume jewelery, lotion, body wash, makeup, and miss. duplicated items.

As can bee seen, there are still items in the hutch and kitchen, but these look like interesting or useful items.

Interesting wet bar with wine rack, but it has to go. Maybe to be replaced by a single level counter which would be a nice baking center and buffet counter.

The problem here is how to get rid of the bed.

The closet is nice and the mirrored doors with be nice when it comes time to check my attire before leaving the house.

The master bath is roomy with lots of cabinet space. Do we paint the existing, or install new?

The main bath has a full size shower which was one of the selling points for us. No having to step over the edge of the tub.

Of course, we went through a box of vinyl gloves in this phase.

The paint colors have been selected, and the paint purchased. Now we can get started on covering up the vast amount of wood panelling.

#82 When we took possession

2010-05-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

The front of the house was obscured by overgrown juniper shrubs and bougainvillea. The place had been empty for 6 months which accounts for the dry lawn surrounding the spruce tree. At least the tree is established and is doing well. Portion of the back yard - sun room on the right

Living room from the front door

Living room looking toward the front door. It seemed like the resident gave up on packing up her belongings and left a lot of stuff behind.

Dining room viewed from living room. Again, the cabinet was full of stuff.

Kitchen as seen from dining room. There was food in the ref. and cupboards. Dirty dished in the sink and dog food stashed in the dishwasher.

Second bedroom

Main bath: the pile beyond the fan is adult diapers - and more were left in the shower.

The master bedroom and bath. The closet was half full of clothing.

The cabinets were full of stuff

Quite a collection of colognes, many still in unopened packaging, and more stuff inside the cabinet. For some reason we did not get pics of the inside of the sun room which was full of stuff including two bookcases of books.

The place was full of dust, dog hair and spider webs. However, there was a vacuum left behind that came in useful once we purchased the required filter.

The Fixer-upper

2010-05-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

We have purchased a larger mobile home in a park very near where we now live. Twice the space and more yard for a vegetable garden. But . . . . it needs loads of work. Well, our modus operndi is "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" (referring to dwellings of course), and we're at it again.

Just when we thought we had moved into our last house we find another. However, it is a great feeling to see what our hard work can create.

Stay tuned for the photos of progress . . . . . . .

July 30: Home

2008-07-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

The air is cool as we leave St. George. We hit a snag at the on ramp to the I-15, it is closed for road work and there are detour signs. Either the last detour sign is not well marked or we don't see the arrow. We end up on the other side of the I-15 and stop at a gas station for information. Dan is definitely not adverse to asking for directions. We find the temporary on ramp for the south bound traffic and are on our way.

The trip takes 9 hours, but the air stays cool, the traffic is light and the route we take has good roads. We take the 58 west from the I-15 to Mojave, then Ave. D to the I-5 near Gorman and head south to the 126 west to Ventura. Linda sleeps most of this time so the trip doesn't seem like 9 hours to her. Dan is so excited to get back home that he doesn't feel tired. At the last rest stop before home he has a huge smile on his face.

We get home earlier than planned so we can spend a little time with one of our daughters and her girls since they are "vacationing" at our place this week. They have been doing the "back to school shopping" and enjoying the nice beach climate. They live inland where it gets very hot in the summer.

It is good to be home, but as we unpack the trailer and start to put things away we have a little trouble remembering just where everything goes. It is like being in someone else's home. We have been gone two and a half months so there is a pile of mail to go through as well as unpacking. It will take a few days to get everything done and a few weeks to get the dirt from the road off the van and trailer. The fun is over and it is time to get to work.

We had a marvelous trip, really enjoying the places we visited and seeing so much of our country. The Bear was a great companion. He had a few boring days, but otherwise had a good time. He is glad to be home and is getting rested up.

Our country is a marvelous playground with many wonderful and helpful people. There are an incredible number of interesting things to see and do. Everyone wants to know if we will do it again. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We will keep you posted if we plan another adventure.

July 28 & 29: St. George, Utah

2008-07-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

On the I-15 from Provo to St. George we see fields of alfafa and even some with corn. Here is a piece of farming equipment waiting to go to work.

We watch the temperature rise as we get closer to St. George. When we arrive it is 105, but dry. We will spend a couple of days with the Arnolds.

We visit the Huff's this afternoon and are impressed with the progress on their home remodel project. They have done an excellent job. We also look at the latest electric guitar Gary has built. He used three different patterned rose woods and the result is beautiful.

The Bear really enjoys the visit here in St. George. The Arnolds have a couple of bears for him to hang out with. On Wed. morning the bears enjoy tea in the back yard while it is still cool enough to be out side. The Bear and Dan take naps to prepare for the last leg of the trip while the rest of us go to a movie.

We all go out for dinner and have root beer floats and cookies later in the evening.

The temperature outside is 106 today and we decide to make the trek across the desert during the night. We get everything ready to leave, Dan goes to bed early for a few hours of sleep before we hit the road. The original plan was to make this part of the trip in two days, but Dan feels that he is up to driving the distance in one night.

Linda has to stay up and visit with her brother & sister, take advantage of every minute she has to spend with them. Dan awakes at midnight and we are on the road by 12:10 am.

July 27: Provo, Utah

2008-07-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

On the road leaving Wyoming we see more mountains on the horizon. This is a welcome sight for us after two months of flat land. When one lives with mountains every day they become part of the comfort of home.

The last rest stop in Wyoming. The I-80 is along the Mormon Trail to Utah.

More wind power at use. We have seen many locations where these wind turbines are being used. Of course these locations have a record of daily wind. However, we have noticed that when the winds are very Strong the turbines are disabled in order to avoid damage.

Here we are in Utah. We're getting very close to home now. Some how I deleted the Welcome to Utah sign my mistake so you'll just have to take our word for our location at this point. We are in the mountains now and the colors and formations have changed. The soil is red here just past the state line. We realize that we will see a wider variation in the land scape in the next few days than we have seen for the past two months.

We are at the Visitor Center in Utah and the Bear is impressed by this view. The weather is cooler and the sky is clear this morning. Judging by the pattern of the past couple of weeks we expect the storm clouds to start moving in this afternoon.

Wow! Look at the size of the sage brush! We hope the Bear doesn't pick up any ticks.

We are entering Utah Valley and plan to spend the night in Provo.

We are camped between the Provo River and a canal on the west side of town. It is quit warm today, but every spot is shaded by trees. We use the air conditioner for a little while to cool the trailer off for better comfort. The storm does move in and we have rain again.

July 28: The Provo River next to the RV park.

The canal if full of ducks this morning. They seem to be just getting their day started. Some of the duck on the bank are chasing others and one smaller duck looks like it is actually attacking another. These critters can be pretty aggressive with each other.

We hook up the trailer and hit the road again.

July 26: Rock Springs, WY

2008-07-27T07:43:00.001-07:00

On our way to Rock Springs we pass by the town of Sinclair. This is what we see; the Sinclair oil refinery with a small community to the west of it.

We are now seeing hills and mountains. This one with the rocks at the top is interesting. Talk about going from one extreme to another. We left the high humidity and green landscape and are now in a desert climate and higher altitude. It is so dry that we are downing water constantly.

We are at the KOA in Rock Springs. It has gotten windy and after we get the trailer set up the force of the wind gets stronger and, as can be seen in this photo, has blown in the storm clouds. The sky is soon a blanket of clouds and the wind is causing the trailer to rock. If any rain did fall over us it dried up before hitting the ground. We spend the rest of the day inside. The winds die down by night fall. Tomorrow the chore will be to get out on the road before the winds pick up again.

July 24-25: Laramie, Wyoming

2008-07-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

July 24: As we progress westward the landscape changed to the drier prairie, less fields of crops and more ranch land with grazing cattle. The lush green is gone and the foliage is drier. The land is still flat, no sign of mountains yet.

We have noticed a few mesquite trees here and there, but the numbers have been increasing. Here we now see mostly mesquites.

We have reached Wyoming and see more pine trees. The trip today is a continual, but gradual climb.

The mountains are starting to appear. The scenery is what is typical in old west movies.

We stopped at the visitor center shortly after crossing the state line and picked up a map and tourist guide. We saw a picture of this monument to Abraham Lincoln and read about it, but are surprised when we can see it from the interstate. What an impressive sight. This monument is at the summit, highest point on the transcontinental I-80 at 8640' above sea level, about 15 miles east of Laramie. This monument was commissioned in 1959 to stand at the highest point of the Lincoln Highway. When I-80 was completed in 1969 the monument was moved to it's present location.

July 25: We are staying in Laramie for the next two nights (altitude 7200'). This prison housed may notorious outlaws in the 1800's and early 1900's. One of note is "Butch" Cassidy.

Look who the U.S. Marshal captured.

The processing room.

The kitchen.

The laundry with man-powered washing machines.

The prisoner housing, three tiers high.

And here is the newest prisoner. Wonder how long he'll have to serve.

Behind the prison is a frontier village. This is a very nice log cabin compared to those we have seen on this trip. Glass in the windows, two large bedrooms and nice furnishings.

The front porch with the man-powered washing machine and tubs. We saw washing machines like this one in the Route 66 Museum at the first part of the trip. There is a barn and other out buildings and several pieces of farming equipment.

Just inside the entrance in the main room of the house is the wash basin. This was probably located here so the family members could wash up after working out on the farm as soon as they entered the house.

The old west street.

The curator, Teresa, decides that the Bear can work off his sentence at the guest counter in the visitor center of the Territorial Prison Historical Site. So don't worry, he'll be coming home with us.

This monument is on the University of Wyoming campus. We didn't spend any time on the campus. After visiting the Territorial Prison Historical Site we had a snack in a beautiful park in the shade of a tree. The weather is comfortable, but we see storm clouds moving in.

We stop at the Chamber of Commerce to pick up a self guided tour map of the Historical are of Laramie then stop at Wendy's for lunch. We decide to go back to the trailer to rest and just in time. The storm moves in on a strong wind which rocks the trailer and drops rain for a while. After dinner we head over to the Ice Arena to see the Fly Ball event. The event starts tomorrow, but the local participants are practicing. This is an event for dogs and their people. The dogs work in teams of 4 on a relay basis. Each dog must run in a lane, clearing gates, hit a platform that releases a tennis ball. The ball is retrieved, the dog runs back in the lane to deliver the ball to it's handler. As soon as the dogs passes a point on it's return the next dog is released to perform the same fete.

We don't get to see the Historical Old Town due to the thunder storm, and when we get back to the trailer a second thunder storm blows through.

Tomorrow we head for Rock Springs.

July 23: Ogallala, Nebraska

2008-07-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

The Great Platte River Archway Monument. This spans the width of I-80. We look this up in the Nebraska Travel Guide we picked up at the Visitor Center. By the time we find out what this monument entails it is too late to stop. It includes a museum covering the development of the west. This archway is quite impressive and visible from miles away.

Just past the archway is this "abandoned" state coach.

"Wind Sculpture" in a pond at the rest stop near North Platte. The panels are hinged so that the wind can make them move. The wind is light today and two of the panels are moving slightly. As you can see the panels face in several directions so that what ever the direction of the wind there will be movement somewhere in the sculpture.

While photographing the sculpture we see these huge mushrooms in the grass. These have been pulled up, most likely by children. Whether they are edible we do not know.

Here we are again under a T-storm watch. We finally have cable TV service and can watch the news and keep informed about the weather. This is the sky to the west of us, and.....

this is the sky to the east of us. We see a couple of flashes of lightning, hear a few rolls of thunder in the distance, have a light sprinkling of rain, but that is it so far. The clouds lift from the western horizon a little and the sunset is beautiful.

We may take in some of the points of interest tomorrow, or just head on to Wyoming where it is cooler. The temps are going to be in the high 80's & low 90's here tomorrow, and with this humidity it is not comfortable outside. It is good that the trailer has an air conditioner.

July22: Grand Island, Nebraska

2008-07-23T06:09:00.001-07:00

Nebraska, entering another state. This bridge takes us over the Missouri River which is the state line between Iowa and Nebraska. We are on a bee line for home from now on. If we see something of interest we will check it out, but today is a camp, rest and plot the path to home day. We need to be home by the 3rd of August. After the first month and a half we were both wanting to be home, then we got over that and wanted to keep traveling.

Linda thinks of her experiences riding horses and feels the old saying is true, "The horse has to be encouraged to head away from the barn, but is ready to make a fast return."

We have seen a great amount of flat land or rolling hills. We see rolling hills when we first enter Nebraska, but soon we are looking at scenes like this. We will have to get use to the mountains again after we cross the Rockies.

We know we have loads of photos of corn fields, but this one caught our eyes.

This is a field damaged by flooding from the heavy rains. We are traveling north of the areas where the flooding was so devastating, but have seen some fields that show the effects.

Many of the Fields we have driven by have been replanted after the soil dried enough. Many farmers have put in soy beans in these areas instead of corn.

Finally a group of farm building and silos close enough to really see them. If one were on an exhibition to photograph farms, silos and barns our path of travel so far would be excellent.

In the past week most of the corn crops have blossomed out. The KOA RV park where we are camped is on the grassy side of this fence. Dan is 6'1", so this gives an idea of how tall the corn is. We can also see that the stalks have fairly good sized ears. This is "dent corn", the variety used to produce animal feed and ethanol. Before this crop is harvested it is left to dry out. Unlike "sweet corn" which is the type consumed by us people.

The stalks are so close together that weeds can't grow. The farms, fields, towns, and landscapes we have passed through in the past month are picture perfect. Green, clean and well taken care of. We have seen State Pride among the citizens of these state and it is impressive.

July 21, Madison County, Iowa

2008-07-22T17:29:00.001-07:00

Today we stopped in Adel to stay the night. We discover that we are right at he edge of Madison County, the place written about in the book "The Bridges of Madison County". It's a short drive and has several historic covered bridges. We pick up a map here. We also find that the town of Winterset, where this Visitor Center is, is the birth place of John Wayne. Now we have two points of interest to visit.

City Hall in Winterset, Madison Count, Iowa.

Read the street sign. As always, this town has wonderful old, old buildings which are well preserved.

John Wayne's boyhood home.

The Duke in bronze.

We find this bridge in a beautiful park where there is also a hedge maze. The bridges are all almost identical so we visit just this one. The gate to the maze is locked. It would have been fun to go through it.

None of the bridges have water running under them, and most have been relocated to the area around this little town.

We walk across the bridge and explore the park area.

July 15 - 20, Minnesota

2008-07-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

While publishing the last post Linda had to sit out side until 9:30 pm. to get a good enough WiFi signal. She applied Skin-So-Soft to keep the mosquitoes off, but didn't get it into her hair line. After brushing away a few of the pests she brought out the citronella candle, but it was too late she ended up with 4 bites on her forehead and one in her part. It seems that by the time one feels the brush of the mosquito's wings one has already been bitten. She did, however, enjoy watching the fireflies.

July 15: Today we are heading north. The interstate takes us right through St. Paul, MN.

We stopped for gas at Sandstone and this stand of pines makes an interesting picture.

After setting up we walk around the RV park and find a group of people who are on an annual camp out. They always have a competition for the best decorated camp site. This particular site is that of a couple who participate in Civil War re-enactments and this is the gear they use. They decided to make this their bid for this year.

As soon as we see their black bear, along with the moose, we asked if our bear can visit. He even seems to be smiling. He has loads of fun visiting with this group.

These are some of the birch trees that cover this general area. There are also a few varieties of pines and other deciduous trees, but the birches realy stand out. This particular day we had some sunshine which made the white trunks stand out.

Some other views from our camp site.

This park is so far out that there is no sign of civilization except that we do have electricity and water hook-ups. The electricity is under ground so the feeling of wilderness is not ruined. The camp sites are scattered among the trees and many seem secluded. However, the deer flies are busy during the day and the mosquitoes are busy in the evening and all night (except for when it is raining). Thank goodness we have plenty of Skin-S0-Soft. We have insect repellent, but it is in a pump spray bottle which is difficult to use and is not good when sprayed on the face. Skin-So-Soft seems to work better than the repellent and it is a good moisturizer.

This is the view from our trailer door.

We had booked this camp ground for some of the activities they offered, but it rained every day except the day we got these shots. We had planned on inner tubing down the St. Croix River, but it poured that day. Linda wasn't too disappointed about this since she is hydrophobic and one of our fellow campers, who is a MN resident, said that with the heavy rains this year the river would probably be running faster than normal. Dan would have really enjoyed the river and was dissappointed. He enjoys visiting with the neighboring campers everywhere we stay, so is happy to fill the time this way.

We spent a lot of time in the trailer reading and playing games on our laptops. Dan enjoys Free Cell and Linda is getting to understand the Jewel Quest game the Heywoods gave them for the trip. It wasn't all a "wash out", we visited with other campers and did get to enjoy some of the activities. The RV park has hired a live band for Friday & Saturday evening, and the seasonal residents have prepared a play. The band was excellent and the play was really good.

Many of the private & state RV camp grounds have seasonal/permanent sections. The residents in these areas are mostly from the local and surrounding areas. We get a real taste of the accents of the local people in these parks. Here we are surrounded by Minnesota residents and have started talking like them.

The only RV park with seasonal/permanent residents where we didn't meet any residents was in Port Byron, IL, since the place had been flooded. The entrance to that park had been under water and had only been clear for a couple of days before we arrived. In fact we seemed to be the only people there beside the manager.

July20: We are heading back to Albert Lee in Iowa. We are going through St. Paul, MN, again. We noticed this on the way north and decided to get a photo as we headed south. This is the ski slope just north of St. Paul, and yes it is right off Interstate 35! These people don't have to go far to hit the slopes.

Fields of corn and soy beans as far as the eye can see. The farming in the Midwest is vast. We have seen many Farm Equipment and Mower dealers in past few weeks.

July 12-14, Albert Lea, Minnesota

2008-07-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Museum in Austin, Minn.

Ready to work the line for some Spam.

Bicycle collection in a bicycle store in Austin. An amazing collection.

Fountain Lake in Albert Lea.

Marion Ross was a resident in this area. Theatre in Albert Lea.

Monday: we had to drive back to Forest City, Iowa, to visit this museum and go on the tour since the place is closed on weekends.

Chassis inventory for the A-class motor homes.

Chassis inventory for the C-class motor homes.

The line.

A side wall having the steel reinforcement for attaching cabinetry installed.

There's a Ventura here in Iowa.

An other Iowa town.

Still in Iowa on our way back to Minnesota camp ground.

Tomorrow we head farther north for a few days in a camp ground with no Internet or cell phone service, really rustic and out in the wilderness.

We'll have some catching up to do again. We have to sit outside here to get a strong enough signal.

At least we have had two days without rain. The wind was pretty strong late yesterday, but just a nice breeze today.

July 9-12 Charles City, Iowa

2008-07-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Iowa.

We have seen miles and miles of corn and soy bean fields. We haven't seen any of the flood damaged areas yet.

Iowa Visitors' Center. The sculpture depicts the products and industries of the state.

Historical marker for the Mormon Handcart Trail.

Pond on the grounds of the RV park where we are staying. We are in Charles City.

Our spot. There is a stream to the left of this shot.

One of the main attractions of Charles City is the Historic Swinging Bridge. This is what is left after the flooding. We can see where the water level had risen by looking at some of the houses along the road by this bridge. However, the clean up that has been achieved is amazing.

The Cedar River. There is a lot of damage here next to the bridge. The main road through the town is closed to the north of town due to flood damage. We have also seen areas of damage in some of the corn fields between here and the state border.

The stream running through the camp ground.
Most of our time here is spent relaxing and getting the oil changed in the van. We learn from the RV park owner the the town library has an art collection of original works of lithographs, etchings, wood block prints, and other art print mediums. This collection was given to the library by Mr. Mooney. There are works by Rembrandt, Chagall, Manet, Dali, Currier & Ives, and several other renowned artist. Most of these are works I have never seen prints of in books. It is very exciting, but the lighting system has malfunctioned so not all of the pieces are properly illuminated. Even with poor lighting the pieces are viewable. There are also works by local artists in this library available for check out.

July 7-9 Port Byron, Illinois

2008-07-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

The RV park is right on the banks of the Mississippi river. The water level looks high, but the manager shows us a photo of the place a week ago and the office was surrounded by water. He also told us that he is having a sale on driftwood: All you can carry away for FREE!

One of the local robins who stopped by to say hello. There are tree squirrels every where, but they don't sit still long enough to photograph. We have ground squirrels at home, they scamper, but the tree squirrels hop. Their movement makes us think of the animated feature "Ice Age".

We are checking out the river front community when we see these electric vehicles. We just have to stop and find out about them. We meet Bruce and Amy who have left their careers to start this business venture with electric vehicles. We find that Bruce has resided in California and one of the cars he is promoting is assembled in Camarillo, CA., just 15 minutes south of where we live. We also learn that he was employed at John Deere for many years before starting this new business, and he offers to show us around the Museum and Headquarters when we tell him we stopped here just to visit John Deere.

We learn that Amy is an artist and Adjunct Professor in the college art department. Her works are fabulous! She teaches and still devotes time to the electric car venture. She is a very busy person.

We joined the couple for lunch and learned all about the ePower company they have set up. Check out their web site at ePower.com. We think they are on the right track for the future with their line of cars, scooters and even a little flat bed "truck".

On the Mighty Mississippi.

Museum with a collection farming equipment built by Deere. The Antiques & Classics are hands off, but the public is welcome to climb aboard the new models.

Today's tractor.

Antique

Antique.

The green machines are the farming line.

The yellow machines are the earth movers: building & road work.

Just to give you an idea of the size of this equipment here I am in the scoop.

What is it about men and machinery. Here is Dan manning the ginormous harvester.

We can see that tonight's sunset is going to be good. The clouds are the "back end of the storm". Every time I think I've got the best shot and turn to go back to the trailer I look back and see that the colors have intensified, so I go back to the river's edge to get a couple more shots. In the course of shooting this spectacular sunset on the Mighty Mississippi I have been chewed up by mosquitoes. But isn't this worth it?

July 4,5,6 & 7 Joiliet, Illinois

2008-07-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

We are camped at the Oasis RV Park at the Empress Casino on the Des Plains River. This is the only RV park we were able to get into for these days. This park caters to those who come to gamble in the casino and there are no brochures in the office on local points of interest. There is no Internet service of any kind. We check out the hotel to see if Internet connections are available there, but no. We do get a Joliet area map which will be helpful. We find a few places to visit. We also need to do laundry and find a laundromat.

The Casino on the River. The walls inside resemble Egyptian temples & tombs, some in relief.

Hey! there's a White Castle burger place! We have to stop there for lunch. We have been wanting to eat at a White Castle and now's the chance. Out impression: so-so, but interesting.

Another place we have been looking for, and Aldi grocery store. We stopped here for some supplies. Very nicely laid out and very low prices. On our way out the toddler in the cart in front of us reaches out for Dan and squeals as if he knew Dan as we pass by.

Bird Haven Green House and Conservatory.

we are looking through the water fall as the walkway goes behind it.

The fall and pond. The place is beautiful and we spend some time wandering through the green house and around the grounds.

July 3, South Bend, IN

2008-07-03T20:03:00.001-07:00

Even though we are going to South Bend, IN, since the camp ground is 2 miles south of the Michigan border and the best route is through a portion of the state we get to add another state to our list of those visited.

Back in Indiana at our first destination: Notre Dame University, home of the Fighting Irish, and the Golden Dome.

We park in the lot by the football field and walk around the stadium to get to the main section of the campus. This is a vast campus, so we don't plan to see it all.

This is an impressive sight, a mosaic on the front of one of the buildings we pass.

The Main Building, known as "The Golden Dome", which houses the administration and admissions offices. This building was built in 1879 after a devastating fire had destroyed much of the original campus. The dome is topped with a 16', 4,400 lb. statue of Mary. The dome and the statue are are covered in gold leaf. Holy Cross Father Edward F. Sorin was instrumental in the rebuilding of the campus and vowed that the dome would be gilded in gold. He achieved that dream in spite of those who thought it too showy and advised the use of yellow paint.

There are wings on each side of the Main Building.

The entrance door.

Carpeting in the first office just inside the entrance.

Looking up at the rotunda from the first floor. All of the ornamentation, including the moulding features are trompe l'oi.

A ceiling in the grand hallway area. Again, trompe l'oi work creating the details. As is usual in Catholic buildings, especially churche and catherdral building foot print is in the shape of a cross.

Looking out from the steps of the Main Building.

other campus buildings.

Looking across the lawn to the west.

What old university campus would be complete without the "ivy covered walls"?

The architecture of the old buildings is very ornate and beautiful. They look like one would imagine those built in Medieval times would look.

We make our next stop at the Studebaker Museum which is just 5 miles from Notre Dame.

The Studebaker brothers started out as Blacksmiths and wagon builders. The motto of the brothers was one coined by their father: "Always deliver more than was promised"

The first automobiles built by Studebaker were electric cars, but they got into the gasoline powered vehicles and were very innovative and successful until the 1960's.

If anyone is interested in learning and seeing more about the Studebaker visit the site noted below. The displays and information are excellent and Dan find the model his parents once owned.

http://www.studebakermuseum.org/photogallery/virtualtour.asp

The weather was beautiful today, no thunder storms and not hot. The camp ground is full and the majority of the campers are sitting around their little camp fires enjoying the evening into the late hours. However, they are visiting quietly and not disturbing anyone. They are all looking forward to the 4th of July. We head to Joliet, Illinois tomorrow.

July 2, Shipshewana, IN, Flea Market and Amish country

2008-07-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

At the Shipshewana Wells Fargo Bank we see this scene. All businesses have provided places in the parking areas for tying up the horse while the owners are shopping or doing business.

Today we are checking out the Shipshewane Flea Market. This is a big weekly event, every Tues. & Wed. However, this week the Flea Market is open Tues. through Fri. since Friday is the 4th of July. People come from all over to shop here. We think Saugus Swap Meet at it's height, but even bigger! The large buildings are for the Antique and Live Stock Auctions. There are permanent building, but the majority of the vendors are under the pop-up canopies. The parking is $3.00, but there is no entrance fee for the Flea Market. Finally, found something of interest that is open for business.

Shipshewana, as well as most of this general area, has a large population of Amish families. The Livestock Auction is a big draw for them - selling or buying.

As we enter the parking lot we pass this parking area reserved for horse & buggy use.

The buggies are all alike, with a few exceptions, and are well cared for.

We spot one of the unusual wagons.

Different breeds of horses are used for different purposes. Here we see a pony with a small buggy. Larger draft type horses are used to pull large wagons for hauling or pulling farming equipment.

Scene inside the Antique Auction Barn. There are groups like this throughout the building with several auctions going at the same time. It is quite noisy in here and at first seems confusing.

After leaving this building we find the Bar-B-Q stand so we can get some lunch. We are standing behind an Amish family and strike up a conversation with them. We ask them about their way of life and education. When we get our food and head for the tables, the mom of the family invites us to visit their home. This would be great, except they live in Fort Wayne, where we have already been, and we will be heading the opposite direction when we leave Middlebury on Friday. This family comes to this Flea Market every year during the 4th of July week.

Here we see ice cream being made with the use of an International Harvester motorized piece of equipment. This piece of equipment can be used for many farming chores requiring the use of mechanical power and a drive belt.

Here is another ice cream maker in action. This one we see by the Yoder General Store which is one of the regular stores near the Flea Market. (By the way, Yoder is one of the most common surnames amoung the Amish.)

We walk along the main road near the Flea Market and find shops selling fabrics, hand made quilts, clothing, furniture & home wares, decorator items, storage sheds, porch swings, wind mills, weather vanes, wind chimes, propane powered appliances, and lanterns, and even an "out house".

"Hey! how about some privacy!" I guess this answers the age old question often asked about a bear.

We are really glad to find the porch swings since we have been on our feet most of the day exploring the Flea Market and village shops. These are very comfortable, too bad we don't have room to take one home.

We find a local market where food is sold in bulk. This store is run by and caters to the Amish people. We find some items we need to stock our trailer at great prices. Can't wait to try the farm fresh eggs. Add this thrifty purchase to the free tomatoes and zucchini that our camping neighbors from Texas gave us. Their garden was just peaking in production when they left for their camping trip. When it comes to tomatoes we have hit the jackpot in the last week or so. Nothing is better than home grown though.

The day started out sunny and warm, but the clouds have rolled in and look threatening this evening. We hear thunder in the distance, it moves closer and the lightning is flashing on the horizon. By the time we go to bed there is a fantastic light show and rolling thunder. The rain is pouring down, but stops for a while, then the hail starts, but quickly turns to rain. This weather activity keeps up awake 'till midnight then subsides. Hope tomorrow isn't a repeat of this.

July 1, Elkhart, Indiana, RV Hall of Fame

2008-06-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Middleburg, IN, yesterday. This is in Elkhart County, the RV factory capitol of the U.S. and we were looking forward to touring one or two of the factories. The KOA Camp Ground provided us with many brochures and lists of interesting things to do and see. One sheet listed the RV factories with the tour times and phone numbers. We felt that making phone calls to verify the tour days and times would be a good idea. Good idea indeed! To our dismay the factories have declared a two week shutdown due to the lag in sales recently.
We begin to worry that everything we had hoped to see here will be closed .

We drive to the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart. At first it appears that there are no vehicles in the parking lot, but we are approaching on the convention center side. Thank goodness, the Hall of Fame is open.

The first item in the door is this mi nature of a Model "A" pulling a camp trailer. Just the right size for the Bear. He thinks this is marvelous.

This one touts a "genuine leatherette" cover on the exterior.

This camp trailer was custom built. The Model "A" will give an idea of the time period.

This one looks like the space age concept of the 1940's. Doesn't it resemble a bug?

One of Shasta's first camp trailers.

The dinette area of the Shasta.

The back opens up to a bed, this side has the stove, the other side has the table.

a motorhome from the '20's.

The back of the motorhome is very ornate.

a 1966 Winnebago, we had one like just like this about 10 years ago. Drove it to Oregon, Idaho, and had an engine breakdown in Green River, Wyoming. We bought if from our neighbor to get it out of his driveway, but moving it over to ours didn't solve the "eyesore" problem. We finally sold it to the daughter of a friend. If it had been as well maintained over it's years as this one it would have been pretty nice.

Hey! I think Granny is cheating! But she looks like such a nice little old lady.

The "Tear Drop" in it's early years. This is an item that is gaining in popularity today. We have seen the new ones on some RV sales lots. The concept is the same, but of course the equipment today is better.

There is much more, but too much to include here. We really enjoyed this excursion.

After this we drive along a suggested "historic route" in a magazine type brochure, but it all seems to be very commercial so we abort and look for a grocery store. We find one called "Pay & Packit" which is the same concept as the Aldi grocery stores. One third of the items in a regular grocery store, no name brands, for one third the price. The shopper bags their own groceries using the boxes left from the merchandise cases, their own bags, or buys bags at 5 cents/each.

We spend the evening visiting with neighboring campers and their dogs. One family has a 1960 MGA we just have to talk to them about, and pet their two dog which demand attention. We once owned an MGB-GT and always stop to look at any MG we might see.

The fireflies are very active tonight. It's like the place is decorated with miniature twinkle lights, only these move around. It is warmer than last night which is probably why the fireflies are more active tonight. This is such an amazing sight for us.

June 27,28 & 29, Auburn, Indianna

2008-06-30T06:28:00.001-07:00

Across the fruited plains.

Welcome to Indiana. This is as good as possible when snapping a shot at 55 mph.

From the camp ground where we stayed in Auburn, IN, we see these flags. Upon inquiring at the registration desk we are told that this is the entrance to the Kurse Foundation Museum of Carriages and autos, and the museum of WWII. We decide visit.

The museum entrance. One wing for carriages and autos and one wing for WWII. Kruse also operates an auction house and a large building across the street is used for auto auctions.

The WWII collection was purchased from a collector in Belgium. Kruse purchased the entire collection which includes a large selection of German vehicles, uniforms and military machinery. The lighting in the WWII wing was not as bright as that in the Carriage and Auto wing so we got photos only where the lighting was bright enough.

A DeLorian exactly like the one used in back to the future.

Example of a luxury car from the 1920's and what the gasoline pumps looked like.

European Royal carriages, restored.

The car designed and built by Carl Casper for the Batman Movies.

The collection includes several vehicles by Carl Casper.

The weather here has been on and off rain storms with lightning and thunder. We have seen so many t-storms that we decided to refresh our memories about how thunder is caused. We remembered that it has something to do with the heat created by the lightning, but not exactly how.

June 25& 26, Streetsboro, Ohio

2008-06-29T07:22:00.001-07:00

Ohio Welcome Center.

Our camp ground.

We passed this greenhouse as we approached the camp ground yesterday and ask the person in the office about it. As we suspected tomatoes are grown here and we walk over to check it out. This building is huge, really huge. I need two photos to get it all.

It looks like the empty land next to the building is staked out for future expansion. We enter the building at the reception area. We are told that tours are not allowed, but we can purchase tomatoes for $1.00/pound. These are the "on the vine" tomatoes sold in the grocery stores for $3.00+/pound. No one can pass up this opportunity. The tomatoes are grown hydroponically and since they are sheltered in the greenhouse there is not need for pesticides. There is a large photo of the rows of tomato plants and the growing system on the wall which is almost as good as looking inside the growing area. We are familiar with the hydroponic growing system since we have seen it presented in a booth at the Ventura Home & Garden Show.

We visit the Hale Farm & Village, set in the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley, which it an outdoor living history museum. This is the first home built on the land. It was originally two stories. Approaching this house was like being in a story about a house in the woods. The place is surrounded by forest, except where the land has been cleared for pasture and farming. The family garden is at the right, and beyond that is the fenced pasture with grazing cattle.

The hearth of the home. The docent describes how cooking and baking is done and points out the various equipment used. She says that she usually has a fire going and cooks and bakes during the day, but this particular day too hot.

The setting just inside the front entry door. At our backs is a bed, furniture pieces with drawers, various gardening equipment in the corner, and a rocking chair. The furnishings are what was contained in the house while it was used as a home. A "newer" house is on the property which was built with brick made here. That house is large and very nice, but this one is more interesting.

The blacksmith shop. We watch the blacksmith work and look at the display of the tools and items he has made. He has also made much of the iron implements we saw in the log house.

The sheep barn which now is used for broom making demonstrated for visitors.

More out buildings and the brick house beyond them. This is our view as we leave the log house.

One of the many vinyards we pass on our way to the next destination.

June 24, Rest & Chore Day

2008-06-29T07:05:00.001-07:00

Not an interesting day, but the cleaning & laundry have to be done and tomorrow is one of the days we will be covering a lot of mileage to get to the next destination. We have made several changes in our itinerary and have seen an expanse of beautiful, green country. The Bear was a little miffed about not going to see the Falls, but no one wants to share living space with a damp bear.

June 22 & 23, to Youngstown/Niagara Falls, NY

2008-06-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

June 22: Ready to leave Cherry Grove Campground in Wolcott, NY. The park is a huge expanse of lawn and the RV spaces are generous. We enjoyed visiting with neighbors at their camp site fires each evening.

When we arrive at the KOA in Youngstown, NY, we leaf through the brochures while we have dinner. We discover that the falls are lit up at 9 pm every night and there is a fireworks show at 10. Well we have to at least see the falls illuminated so we head for the falls around 8 pm. We park at the Discovery Center (which is closed at this hour) and wait for the trolley to come back around. We board the trolley and head for the Observation Tower on the advice from the trolley driver for the best vantage point. This gives us a chance get an overview of the Niagara Park layout and plan our tour for tomorrow.

The falls have been illuminated for about 10 minutes now and the red colored lights have come up. The colors change, but the red shows up the best at this time of night. We are amazed that it is still so light at 9:30 pm and it doesn't seem to be getting any darker. I know, this photo is tilted, failed to align it before uploading. We are tired from the traveling today, and the trolley makes it's last pick up at 9:30, so we opt to forgo the fireworks and head back to the parking lot and get back to the RV park.

June 23: We visit Old Fort Niagara in the morning. The history of this fort spans more than 300 years. "During the colonial wars in North America a fort at the mouth of the Niagara River was vital for it controlled access to the Great Lakes and the westward route to the Heartland of the continent. With the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, however, the strategic value of Fort Niagara diminished. It nonetheless remained an active military post well into the 20th century" Three flags fly daily above the parade grounds symbolizing the nations which held the fort. The fort was built in 1726 and occupied by the French. The British took control in 1759 during the French & Indian War, and held it throughout the American Revolution, but were forced by treaty to yield it to the United States in 1796. The fort was captured by the British in the in 1813 during the War of 1812. It was ceded to the US again in 1815. The US Coast Guard is the only military presence there today.

The entrance over a draw bridge. There was not a moat here, the fort is surrounded on the land by ditches and earth mounds to absorb cannon fire and assaults. The ditches were tiered and zigzagged to break up the ranks of the attacking forces.

Inside the Gate House, the pulley system for opening the draw bridge. This place is especially interesting since we both just read the book "Pillars of the Earth" which covered a time from about 1130 to 1177, and described the structures of castles and cathedrals and Churches in England. Many of the same building aspects are employed here.

The top of the redoubt just inside the entrance. The floor below this has the sleeping platforms for soldiers to have them ready at all times to man the cannons.

Looking out the redoubt to the entrance.

The "French Castle" while not actually a castle looks like one. This building housed commanding officers, soldiers, cannons, gun bays, a chapel, store house for general goods, gun powder room, and a large "conference room".

One side of a soldiers' quarters room where they cooked, ate and spent free time.

The other side where they slept, side by side, on a large platform, and stowed their belongings.

The young man on the left gave a musket firing demonstration. The good soldier should be able to reload his musket in 15 seconds, and it is quite a process. We learned that some of our sayings today come from the terms used when loading a musket. The hammer is covered with a hood after the powder is loaded into a well at it's base so that if it strikes the flint accidentally a spark will not result, then positioned at half cock until the soldier is ready to fire the weapon. This is so that the musket won't "go off half cocked". Not paying attention here could cause serious burns. The term "lock, stock and barrel" also originated with the musket. The uniform was also described. We have lunch and head back to Niagara Falls.

We get closer than this at the base of the American Falls, but the heavy mist makes it difficult to get a photo. Besides, we don't want to mess up the camera lens. The force of the falling water creates a wind that blows away from the falls. We don't get all the way to the top of this stairway, too windy, too wet. Even with the ponchos our pant legs get wet and the water blowing in our faces makes it hard to keep our eyes open. What an incredible sight from this position. When we get back to the entrance at the base of the observation tower where others have removed their ponchos we see that many still got their shirts soaked all down the front.

At the base of the observation tower as we get ready to go back to the top.

The American Falls.

Looking down into the river from the top of the falls we see a rainbow. It is amazing how loud the sound is, and how much the noise is diminished when we walk back from the edge of the overlook.

The Horse Shoe Falls. The shape cuts deeper into the land than it appears to from the other side of the American Falls. It is impossible to get the entire scope of this fall to fit within the frame of the camera lens without getting too far back to get an unobstructed shot.

The mist from the Horse Shoe Fall is so thick that we can barely see the boat in the river below. We don't see how those on the boat would be able to see anything through the mist. From this point we get on the shuttle bus and head back to the parking lot and our van.

June 21, Palmyra, NY

2008-06-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Bay of Lake Ontario in Wolcott, New York

Fountain in the Wolcott Town Square. We pass this on our way to the local Strawberry Festival. Dan visits with the guys who brought their tractors in for display while Linda samples the strawberry shortcake (made with home made short cake, by the way).

The fountain, made of metal, was painted white at one time because the mayor at that time didn't like the color. In recent years the new mayor didn't like the plain white and had the fountain painted in colors. Well, the use of colors brought out the feature and it was covered for a period of time. It is amazing how some people think, a sculpture should not be painted in a manner not intended by the artist.

We leave the park and head to Palmyra, the birth place of Joseph Smith.

This is a replica of the house in which Joseph was born. It is built on the original foundation from references to records and descriptions of the original house.

The original fencing on the farm looked like this and was quick and easy to build, and easy to repair.

The kitchen sink of the second house built on the property, which still stands. This house is not a split log house like the first one built.

Path into the Sacred Grove.

One of the four beautiful churches built on an intersection of streets in Palmyra. The other three follow.

Each is, of course, of a different denomination.

A section of the Erie Canal running through the village.

A hiking/bicycle path at the bridge over the canal. Check out the signs, this is quite a path.

June 20, Syracuse, NY

2008-06-24T19:44:00.001-07:00

We are headed to Syracuse to visit the Erie Canal Museum today.

This little lake and a pretty park are next to the road we are taking. We decide to stop and admire it all.

A little pier on the lake.

Here we are at the Erie Canal museum. This was once one of the Weight Houses that weighed the boats to determine the amount of the fee to be collected. The portion of the canal at this building is now filled in but the edges of the canal leading into the weigh area and the gates are still here. The glassed in area here was where the boats entered to be weighed.

A passenger boat like those used on the canal.

A portion of another boat the the gate that still remains here. the top of the gate can be seen just above the gravel lining the canal space.

Office in the weigh building. Note the pressed tin walls. Pressed tin also covers the ceiling.

Syracuse City Hall.

Monument to the Civil War in Clinton Square.

June 19, Wolcott, NY

2008-06-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

Our travel time today was short. This is our camp site at Cherry Grove Camp Ground in Wolcott, NY. This village is at the southern edge of Lake Ontario. We decided to take in some sites this afternoon since we got settled in early enough in the day.

A small boat marina just off the road along the lake.

We are at Sodus Point to see one of the historic lighthouses. This one is no longer in use since another one has been built to the east and farther out into the lake.

The front entrance of the lighthouse keepers house which is attached to the lighthouse. This lighthouse is not as tall as most. We take a tour of the place and learn of it's history.

The back of the building showing the attached lighthouse.

View from the top of the lighthouse.

The old lighthouse lens.

This house was once a boarding house and is across the street and west of the lighthouse.

We meet some of our camping neighbors and learn that thy all live in Wolcott, but keep their trailors in this camp ground on a seasonal basis. The couple next to us is the parents of the woman right behind them, and her inlaws are camped across the rodaway. They all live within 5 miles of the camp ground, but think of this as a get-away without having to pay the price of gasoline to get there. They can also "go camping" without have to miss any days of work. We have a nice visit with them all and learn about things to see in the area.

June 17, Montour Falls, NY

2008-06-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Montour Falls. This water fall is right behind the homes in town. We were told that this was a must see. We drive into the town following directions we had been given, but can't find the fall. We ask a couple who are out for their morning walk for directions, still can't find the fall and don't see any signage. We stop at a dry cleaners and the owner says, "Go to the end of this street and look up." By golly! there it is! The sign is back of the street which explains why we did not see it. We had not expected the fall to be right in the town.

While we are admiring and photographing the fall we see the owner of one of the houses nearest the fall working on the wood trim of the back of the garage and stop to talk to her. Her house was built in the early 1800's and is designated as an historical home, as are many other in the town. We ask her if the sound of the water fall was something she enjoys, finds annoying or has learned to ignore. She replies that it is pleasant except at the time of year the snow melts and then it is very loud. Her house is so close to the water fall that she is continually replacing the wood siding and corner molding on the back of the garage due to wood rot from the moisture.

As we like to do when meeting the local citizens of the towns we visit, we ask her to recommend a place to have lunch. She tells us that the restaurant at the Seneca Lake Marina has great food at a decent price. She also gives a brief history of her home.

When we go back to the van we notice that we are parked in front of this library and decide to go in. The librarian and her assistant tell us the history of this building, which still houses many of the original furniture and furnishings. They are proud of the building and we are impressed with it's beauty and wonderful preservation.

The building was originally a bank.

This area with it's beautiful leaded glass windows was an addition done some time prior to 1904 at which time the owner presented the building to the village for literary and historical purposes.

The Bear enjoys some reading with one of the books in this room of the library.

June 18, Watkins Glen, NY

2008-06-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

We came to Watkins Glen to see the water falls at Watkins Glen State Park. When we reach the entrance of the park the rain is pouring down. The Park Ranger at the entrance gives us strange look and ask us if we are sure we want to go into the park. He adds that the rain should stop fairly soon, he can tell by looking at the sky. Since it is 11:30 am we decide to go the the restaurant the lady in Montour Falls recommended for lunch and to wait for the rain to stop.

This is the marina just outside the restaurant at the southern tip of Lake Seneca, one of the"Finger Lakes" just south of Lake Ontario. The hostess seats us at a window so we can view the lake while we eat. The special for lunch today is "Endless Soup & Salad" for just under $8. The special offers two soups, prime rib or shrimp gumbo. The day is chilly and even with our long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts we are feeling the chill. Hot soup is just what we need to warm up so we go for the special, Dan orders the prime rib soup and Linda orders the shrimp gumbo & hot tea.

The salad is brought in a large bowl, family style, and is more than we can eat, the freshly baked bread is delicious, and the bowls of soup are larger than we expect. The food does the trick of warming us and the rain stops while we are having lunch. We can now return to the State Park

We are awed by the beauty of the falls. There are a total of 19 falls along the gorge of Glen Creek. This area was was carved out by glaciers that covered the New York and the narrow valleys during the ice age. The run off from the melting glaciers channeled through the valleys eroding away the softer sediments leaving gorges like this one. The walls of the gorge are solid rock, but vegetation has found places to grow.

We take scads of photos, but have selected only a few to add to our blog. We hope you can see the formation of the gorge walls and the beauty of the falls. We think these falls rival any we have seen in Hawaii.

Unfortunately, we won't get to the end of the trail because the rain is falling again and we opt not to get wet. We meet a family where we decide to turn back and have a great conversation as we all head back to the parking lot.

Heading to Wolcott and the next camp ground. Wolcott is just south of Lake Ontario. Just ahead is a glimpse of Lake Seneca as we head north. The Finger Lakes are called such because they are all long and narrow.

This is a wine producing area. We have passed many wineries and are following one of New York's "Wine Trails". This view is looking eastward and across the lake. Vineyards as far as we can see. We have learned from our neighboring campers who are New York residents that the state is a big wine producer, but has a law in place that prevents exportation of the wine from the state.

We stop at the road side to get photos of this farm. Cows don't move much and, from what we have noticed as we have passed the pastures, the cattle lounge in the grass until around 11 am.

Here we see the farm buildings. We have seen hundreds of farms like this, but this one is the easiest to stop and photograph since it's at the road's edge and there is enough shoulder on the for parking.

We're working on it

2008-06-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

The spotty WiFi services we've encountered the past week have made it difficult or impossible to upload our photos. We will get caught up soon, hopefully. Most of the RV parks have WiFi, but sometimes the signal is weak where we are located, or more users are on line than the router can accommodate.

Please, bear with us.

We did reach New York, the Empire State, on Monday. We stayed in Corning for three nights and are presently in Wolcott near Lake Ontario. Tomorrow we head for Niagara Falls. We have seen some beautiful country. We opted to forgo New York City and visit other part of the state, and are sure you will understand when the photos finally get uploaded.

We have had much cooler weather starting with the day we visited Philadelphia, and the Bear is much happier. In fact, since we hit New York it has been stormy and quite chilly untill today.