Day 29 June 26

Greetings to All,

Yesterday we got a preview of the spectacular scenery along Interstate 70 west of Denver.  Many years ago we had been through the area between Denver and Grand Junction and it would be hard to equal the rugged forested slopes and mountain passes of that section of the Rockies.  But today’s trip, with completely different countryside, was equally amazing.  Not only were the views of mesas, canyons, bizarre rock formations, rushing river rapids (the upper Colorado) and mountains stunning but the wonderful four lane “freeway”  itself is a beautiful engineering achievement --and so easy to drive.

Once we crossed Utah and reached Salina, we left the Interstate and began our remaining journey on US 50, one of the historic routes that first connected the east and west of our country.  Richard has wanted to travel this part of 50 for sometime, intrigued by its repute as the “

Loneliest Road

in America.”  As of tonight we are only beginning the truly empty part of the trip even though we pass perhaps a dozen cars during our trip of several hours from southeast Utah to Ely, Nevada.  It really is lonely and beautiful as well.

Ely is a small crossroads town but is a very comfortable spot to stay the night. I kind of hate to leave the room, it is so comfy, but—this is Nevada, after all.  I might want to try my luck this evening.

Tomorrow we will complete the

Loneliest Road

and return to some semblance of civilization.

Almost Home,

Linda and Richard

Day 28 June 25

Hello Dear Readers,

We managed to leave early in the morning and headed west on I70. The scenery became more and more spectacular the higher we climbed into the Rockies. We had decided to stop in an historic silver mining town named Georgetown.  The town is located in one of many areas that had been the focus of prospecting for gold, silver and other minerals that had started in the Rockies about 10 years after the California gold rush.  As might be expected, many of the small towns that haven’t been turned into ski resorts have a strong resemblance to our own California cold country. 

Georgetown is at the bottom of the Georgetown Loop Railroad that runs from the town of Silver Plume where we had decided to trade our car board the train for a few hours trip down and back up the mountain. It was an incredible adventure…the temperature was perfect and the steam train was fun. By the way, according to the conductor, this steam mine train (which must use switchbacks to negotiate steep terrain) is the only one which does not use tunnels to do so. Consequently, the view is always spectacular, following a rushing river and crossing high over the cascade on an iron bridge just above Georgetown.

After our train adventure, we drove through the beautiful front range of the Rockies, which still have a great deal of snow, and eventually reached the dryer west side of the range and a vast area of mesas straight out of a wild west movie. What a contrast and what a gorgeous sight. We spent the night in Grand Junction.

I had decided we should economize when selecting a motel and found a rather run-down-looking Super 8. The room was OK, but when I tried to find an electrical outlet and moved a small table, there was a dispenser of rat poison!! I did not sleep well that night.

Sleep tight,

Linda and Richard

Day 27 June 24

Hello Blog Readers,

This was the second of two pretty low-energy days.  When we get back I think we will need a day or two to restore our usual level of stamina. We left Colby and continued on across the great plains toward Denver and the Rockies. When we got to Aurora, a suburb of Denver, we stopped to get maps, tour information needed for the remainder of the trip at the local AAA office and found a motel for the night.

Richard took a few hours to visit his old haunts from 25 or 30 years ago when he spent many months working with the pilots of Frontier Airlines (an early casualty of deregulation) in Denver. Since those days, the old airport has closed and is being redeveloped as a new community, “Central Park West.”  Denver now has a new airport relocated to what was once open prairie but now is a part of the huge growth of the Denver metropolitan area.  He found the old hotel he had once spent a good part of his working life and and he was also able to relocate the old Air Line Pilots Association office in the Cherry Creek area of Denver.  It was still there but, fittingly enough, is now a liquor store.

We decided to take it easy and had pizza and a good red wine for dinner. We are starting to get a little homesick and hope to make it back by next Thursday.

Hope to See you all soon,

Linda and Richard

Day 26 June 23

Hello Everybody,

We left St. Joseph early this morning, crossing the Missouri River and driving through Kansas. The state seemed to get more monotonous the further we drove.

We are currently staying at a nice motel in Colby, Kansas. We needed to do the laundry so I washed the clothes, but the dryer would not take my quarters (it was broken). The staff took my wet clothes and dried them for me…very accommodating.

Richard and I went to the store to buy some food for dinner. We’re watching old reruns and resting. We hope to get to Denver (4 hours away) fairly early tomorrow.

More Later,

Linda and Richard

Day 25 June 22

Dear Happy Trail Folks,

We had a very relaxing day today. After trying to get caught up on our blogs (endless task) we drove to the St. Joseph Museums.

This town, (St. Joseph) is fantastic and sort of spooky. Driving around yesterday we noticed that many buildings and houses are huge, gothic-looking and made of dark stone. If you stopped and rang the bell the Munster’s might come to the door.

The town is also the home of the Glore Psychiatric Museum located in the somewhat dark and dilapidated buildings of the old Missouri State Lunatic Asylum.  With its huge collection of early psychiatric implements, tools and devices and the actual wards and treatment rooms in which they were used, this was a must see for me.   Among the other museums and places of interest are  a Civil War Medical Museum, the Pony Express Museum and a wonderful collection of plains Indian art and artifacts. Also to be found: the house in which Jesse James was shot and killed (“by that dirty little coward…”),

The Pony Express exhibit had brief biographies and pictures of many of the teenage boys (“Orphans especially encouraged to apply….”) who rode for the Pony Express. Most were local farm and village boys and then a few were originally from England, Ireland, Germany, etc. The route, of course, passed through Laramie, Salt Lake City and hundreds of tiny towns and settlements, ending up passing through Placerville and down to Sacramento.

The big news here (as everywhere in this part of the country) are worries about the levees overflowing—in this case, those on the Missouri River. It looks like Friday may be the crucial day for the river flows but it was time for us to head off into Kansas.

Hope your life is also overflowing

Linda and Richard

Day 24 June 21

Saying good by to Cape Girardeau, we hit the road north again along big muddy towards  St. Louis. A few hours later we were standing on the grounds of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, better known as the site of the Gateway Arch. From close up, the Arch is an awesome and elegant monument celebrating the great migration of America from the east to the west.

Arriving early on a weekday morning, we were able pass through a short line to take the tram to the top. You head down below ground level to board a small capsule which only holds five people. It almost feels like a tiny window-less space capsule (not recommended if you are at all  claustrophobic). The tram moves up the inside of the arch with a lurching start and stop motion.  When it reaches the top of the arch, you disembark and go to look at the views from the top. The views were gorgeous and worth the trip up.

Back at the base under the arch we walked through an excellent National Park museum telling the story of westward expansion using high-tech simulations as well as the more usual museum displays.  Either the Arch or the Museum would be well worth a trip

Back on the road we headed to Hannibal, Missouri to see the town where Mark Twain grew up.

The drive was pleasant and only took a couple of hours. We had lunch in town and then visited a group of several buildings important in Mark Twain’s life including his home and the homes of his childhood friends whom had served as his models for the characters of Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn.  At the Twain museum, among other exhibits we viewed the original oils painted by Norman Rockwell to illustrate various editions of his Twain’s novels.  Many are instantly familiar and have passed into our culture as the image when one thinks of Huck, Tom, Injun Joe, etc.

After about a two and a half hour drive, our last stop for the day was St. Joseph, Mo., headquarters and starting point of the Pony Express. There are several places to see here, so we decided to stay for two nights (we also felt the need for a little extra rest).

Hope you are riding high,

Linda and Richard

Day 23 June 20

We left beautiful Vicksburg and continued to headed north passing through Memphis, Tennesee (home of the late, geat Elvis). We stopped for the night at a charming town, Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi River.

The town is near the site of a French trading post established in the 1700’s when France still owned all of the vast territory surrounding the Mississippi River. The town later became a major port on the river during the period when paddle wheel steamers provided the main form of transportation west of the Alleghenies.  

We drove to a place near town called the Cape Rock, said to be the site that in about 1733 an adventuresome French soldier, Jean D. Girardot, established the trading post.  It is now a park and has a beautiful overlook of the river, now in full flood and swallowing up areas that would  normally be fields and wooded areas.  From the rocky bluff you can really see the fallen trees and other debris being swept down river. The flooding also continues to damage roads and port facilities along the river and many areas were closed to travel or were being repaired.

The town itself is a typical gorgeous river town: old shops, cafes and dock areas near the river with old houses surrounded by big trees and gardens on bluffs overlooking the twists and turns of the river. We drove around, enjoying the views. The town is protected by a tall concrete levee which unfortunately limits river views when actually next to the river.  The view has been improved by colorful portraits on a "Missouri Wall of Fame."

Hoping your views are beautiful,

Linda and Richard

Day 22 June 19

WOW! Another incredible day. We had offered to drive Trystan to the airport to fly to were getting ready to leave, when she arrived at our door. Trystan asked if her wallet was in our room. I looked, but assured her that I would have noticed if it was there. She had already called Robert, who had left early that morning was driving through northern Florida,  to see if she had left in the car. She was awaiting his call back when we went down to our car to make sure it was not there. It was not…she remembered going with Robert the night before to fill the tank and was sure she must have left it in the car.

Robert called back with a confirmation. Without her wallet and ID she could not board her scheduled flight or check in at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base where she was to report for Coast Guard advanced boat training the next day.

We quickly agreed with Robert that he would turn back and we would start driving toward Florida and meet half-way. We quickly left New Orleans and Trystan called the Government Travel Office for help but after a long wait got little help other than cancelling her existing plane reservations. At any rate, we ended up meeting Robert after about a two hour drive and Trystan headed off to Panama City, Florida where she had located a flight that would get her to Raleigh, N.C. where she could then rent a car to get her to the base on time. (We also gave Robert a gentle reminder that he too had misplaced a few things during his years with us.).

We then drove north toward Hannibal, Mo., where we decided to stop for the day and to visit the Vicksburg Battlefield Military Park. It is a very beautiful but sad place. After visiting the museum and viewing a film about the Vicksburg siege, we bought an audio car tour, which provided a detailed narration of our two hour drive through the park. The Union victory at Vicksburg split the Confederacy in half and along with Gettysburg turn the course of the war against the south.

There were scores of monuments on the battleground in memory of the various units that participated in the battles from May through July of 1863 and the nearly 100,000 soldiers, north and south, who fought there.

We also saw the USS Cairo, which was an iron-clad Union warship that had been sunk during the siege and rediscovered, raised and restored about 50 years ago. I was surprised to learn that the Navy was heavily involved in the Civil War operations this far inland. The ship and museum would have been well worth a trip to Vicksburg on their own merit. All for Tonight,

Linda and Richard

Day 21 June 18

Hello Blog Followers,

We had a breakfast at the hotel. Richard and I decided to spend the morning at the National World War II Museum while Robert and Trystan devoted themselves to other attractions.

The museum is absolutely incredible. As part of the museum, we viewed a very moving film narrated by Tom Hanks called Beyond the Borders. The film was about an hour long and was an IMAX production with motion and other incredible special effects. As we reclined in our seats, real snow fell as we were taken into the battle of the bulge, flack exploded around us as we flew in a bomber over enemy territory, etc. The remainder of the tour can easily last 2  to 3 hours. If I were a history teacher, my students would spend a week at this museum.

 

When we returned to the hotel, Robert, Trystan, Richard and I drove over to Ward Nine to see the areas where levees had broken during Hurricane Katrina. Having read Zeitoun’s great book on the aftermath of the storm, it was extremely interesting. And it is unbelievable how much still needs to be done all this time.

We celebrated Father’s Day on Saturday, because Robert and Trystan had to leave on Sunday. We ate at a great place in a neighborhood a few miles from our hotel. We chose a place that had great local reviews found after a brief on-line search: the Crescent Pie and Sausage Company. It was in a very non-tourist neighborhood, was small, loud and had great food. I think the average age of the patrons went up several years when Richard and I arrived.

We drove back to the hotel and said good night and goodbye. Robert was to leave about 3:30 am the next morning and we would drop off Trystan at the airport three or four hours later.

Happy Trails to All,

Linda and Richard

Day 20 June 17

Dear Readers,

It was a long drive into New Orleans. We stopped for lunch in Gulfport at a local dive called the Blow Fly Inn and had a selection of the local seafood. I wasn’t crazy about the fried catfish (no whiskers!), but everything else was excellent, including the view of the bayou (the restaurant is built on stilts).

Richard had booked rooms at the the St. Charles Inn in the Garden District and we arrived fairly early on Friday. After checking in, we went next door to relax over drinks. This area is beautiful. According to our guidebook, the lush greenery and trees are there as a result of a big flood in the 1800’s which deposited a rich silt on the earth as well as raising the elevation of the area above the normal flood level.

After drinks we took the St. Charles streetcar to the French Quarter. While on the streetcar, I talked to a woman visiting solo from Manhattan about Schwarzenegger and Wiener. As you might imagine we had a few laughs. We were prematurely interrupted when a collision between the streetcar ahead of us and a car forced us to transfer onto a bus for the few more blocks to the French Quarter.

The French Quarter is a true adult Disneyland. It was hot and the streets were closed off to traffic. Music was everywhere and the drinks were flowing. We stopped into a couple of the clubs and heard some great jazz, blues and old time rock n’ roll. Had we been two or three years younger we could have partied all night… what happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans! Suffice to say, we caught a cab back to the hotel and collapsed into bed.

Nighty-night and Happy Trails,

Linda and Richard

A few words from Richard

Now here is a contribution to the story from Richard:

Linda has asked that I let everyone know what I was up to while she was in camp.  Well, the first priority was to rest up a bit from the trip across the country and then down to Alabama.  I decided to take advantage of being in northern Alabama to explore countryside that I had never seen before.  When we lived in Alabama years ago we saw only the southern part of the state and when we travelled it was generally to coastal areas like Carolina, Florida and Louisiana.  The area around Jasper and Birmingham is very different: hills and mountains covered by forest with small towns and farms scattered along the highways. The highways, by the way, are generally excellent. All in all, its very pretty country and, if it weren’t for the terrible climate, it would be a great choice for a vacation.

Jasper itself is a small city of about 15,000.  Like many other small cities in the rural east and south, a whole new business district has sprung up along the interstate or main highway a few blocks or a mile or two from the old town.  A WalMart, maybe a small shopping center, chain restaurants (Chili’s, McDonalds, Cracker Barrel, etc.) gas stations and motels line the highway for several miles.  Over in the old section of town you can often see very well kept and impressive homes often dating back to the 1800s or the pre-WWII era.  In the case of Jasper, old rail yards and the decaying ruminants of the days when small towns actually made things can be seen (machine shops, coal yards, lumber mills, etc.)  Even though the old infrastructure is in decay, the town seems to have remained prosperous perhaps because of the good highways, many farms and forest resources.

I also spent a day visiting Muscle Shoals, Alabama, about 75 miles north of Jasper. Here is what a local history has to say about the unlikely selection of this town as a center (for a time) of the music industry:

In the 1960's, Rick Hall, a legend in the music industry, risked locating a major industry of another kind in the city of Muscle Shoals.  This industry, Fame Recording Studio, made Muscle Shoals known as “The Hit Recording Capital of the World.”  Famous bands and singers, including Aretha Franklin, the Osmonds, Mac Davis, and Duane Allman, came to Muscle Shoals to record hit songs at Fame.

 

I’m sorry to say there is not much to see today that relates to the musical heritage of the town except the studio itself, which is still there, and the nearby Alabama Music Hall of fame which provides a great introduction to the huge roster of early blues legends, country stars and major names of the rock era. (e.g. W.C. Handy, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole, Emmy Lou Harris, the Commodores, Percy Sledge, etc.,etc.,etc.)

With son Robert and girlfriend Trystan arriving to meet us, I spent another day with them exploring the city of Birmingham, a surprisingly interesting place situated between forested mountain ridges, hills and rivers.  The city was once the industrial center of the south supported by railroads as well as and iron and coal deposits.  The city is handsome and vibrant with plenty of parks, museums and excellent restaurants.  Vulcan Park was a highlight with a world’s largest Iron statue of the god on a pedestal rising 189 feet at the top of a mountain overlooking the city.  An excellent city history museum is a part  of the complex.

P.S. Before meeting Robert and Trystan, since Linda and I had covered well over 3,000 miles on the trip by this time, I also spent an hour of my day in Birmingham getting our car serviced.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon, Richard