Day 27: Rocky Mountain Ahhh.

Yesterday started off just wonderfully in Scottsbluff (the town is one word), NE, when we got to the Scotts Bluff National Monument (two words) at 7:30AM. There was a ton of ground fog, which kept things cool, but was kinda funny when trying to view an 800-foot tall monument. So, we followed trails and got a bunch of exercise (about 4 miles total), enjoyed the museum, and then the sun started to come out. At that point, we:

--walked through a narrow pass where the stone ground was still worn in grooves from the (get this) 350,000 emigrants and their oxen who passed through this famous landmark between the 1840s and when the RR was completed. I had not known that this was the largest *voluntary* human migration in history. Winding our way through this path, all signs of modern life disappeared and we could actually be present to the vast expanse of prairie and get a little taste of what it must've been like. Really moving.



--drive through 3 tunnels to reach the top of the bluff and get views that were emerging from the hazy/foggy morning





All in all, one of our favorite national park/monuments. Very good experience of the history there as well as being dog friendly (very rare!).

Then we hit the road again, taking small roads through backcountry NE and Wyoming. Did a drive-by of Cheyenne--looks like a great Western town to explore. Very busy at the moment as its big annual festival was going on, so we pressed forward into Colorado. Stopped at a park in Greeley to have a picnic lunch. Had to flee rapidly--heat was over 100. Not pleasant picnicking!

Made it to Estes Park, Colorado, and our campsite at 8200 feet. Whew! It was low 80s when we arrived and then a delightful 53 degrees to sleep in. The campground itself is quite funky, but neat--all smaller campers and tents. Here's a Where's Waldo photo of the terraced hillside--we're up there somewhere ;-)



Off to Boulder to visit our friends. Since they're much lower and in the heat, we're consigning Mr. Nick to a "spa" experience at a kennel for a few days to keep him safe. It'll be interesting to see how that goes, but we feel like we can do some serious playing now!

Day 26: Westward Ho!

When we left the VERY humid Omaha area in the morning we jumped on I-80 to get out of Dodge quickly. We made it to about Cozad, NE--the 100th meridian and the place where we left the East and entered the West, based on aridity. Yay. Then, after 4.5 hours on the numbing interstate, we just had to get off and take the US route 30. Ah. Much better.

We went through great, small towns like Gothenberg, a Pony Express site. This is a cabin that was one of the way stations for this 18-month long experiment back in 1860-61. (Many of you will remember that the Pony Express was put out of business by the completion of the telegraph. One of the first "disruptive" technologies in the country that have become commonplace to us now. The backers of the Pony Express ended up going out of business $100k in the hole.... But it gave us great stories.)



Then we wandered through many towns until we hit this sod house on the side of the road in...101 degree heat! But it WAS a dry heat.... Those pioneers really did rough it.




Then Chimney Rock--the major landmark (and graffiti spot) for emigrants on the California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails back in 1840-1880s (until the transcontinental railroad put the trail out of business).




Then we checked into our motel in Scotts Bluff, NE. This is our smoke alarm:




This is the strategy for having the smoke alarm work:




Off to figure out where the heck we'll be tomorrow. We weren't expecting the heat wave to follow us up into the Rockies, but it was 99 in Boulder today. We were not counting on that.

We lost an hour today--back in the Mountain time zone--and we want to get a very early start going to the Scotts Bluff National Monument tomorrow before the heat builds up. It's one of the few national parks/monuments we can take Nick hiking with us. Just have to beware of rattlesnakes, apparently. But no bears.

Starting to have a very distinct feeling that we'll be making a marathon trip across the Colo. and the Great Basin. Perhaps we'll hole up in Tahoe for a few days to cool down! Stay tuned....

Day 25: Of Farms and Family

What a lovely, gentle day today was. Now, it wasn't gonna start out that way. Last night, Nick did something he hasn't done thus far--he was unruly. Of course, we made two strategic errors. (And any dog trainer will tell you that almost all dog errors can be traced to handler error!) One: we stayed in a motel near casinos. People were coming in at all hours of the night and, of course, slamming their doors. German shepherd must do his job and bark. And, boy, did he. Second, yesterday was a big driving day (7AM till 5PM and then too hot/humid in evening to do much substantive exercise). Dog had excess energy. So, at 11PM, after a bout of barking that was gonna get us evicted, Julie took Nick to the van and slept out there with him. And I use the word "slept" loosely. We are next to a highway. I now understand why communities put restrictions on trucks and jake brakes. Those puppies are loud. We survived, but if I'd have written the blog in the morning, it was gonna be called, "Game Over. We're Going Home NOW. Dad Crawley wins the bet." But we persevered.

Did laundry and washed/vacuumed the van this morning, in anticipation of increased camping the coming week. Then we headed south to Glenwood, Iowa, on the Loess Hills Scenic Byway. Gorgeous country. We so enjoyed our visit with Renee. She has a lovely farmhouse, with a big shady tree under which we parked Nick. He could see cats, goats, and sheep and be comfy in the shade. We then toured the area and had a lovely lunch in Malvern, Iowa, at a pretty little cafe. Ah, a Midwest pork tenderloin, pickle, and mustard sandwich. Bliss. I forgot to take my camera with us on the trip, so, I'm photoless. But picture a cute town square, tidy shops, and tons of green punctuated by zinnias and dahlias.









After lunch, we returned to the hotel where Lisa so kindly dropped me off for a much-needed nap. She took Nick and the rig across the way to Harrah's and dropped a big $7 on the slots. Apparently, we don't need to worry about her becoming a gambling addict. And when she asked a staff person at the casino where she could get change, the gal shook her head and said, "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" So, she had fun, I got a nap, and Nick didn't bark.

For dinner, we cleaned up and headed across the river to Omaha to meet my big brother's wife's mom--an amazing woman. We so enjoyed hearing her life stories and stories of the area. And we got present to the power of family ties, even when the parties haven't met in person yet. We're still connected. Plus she so kindly gave us tons of gifts--jewelry and beaded leashes for our glasses (and boy, did I need that--I'm forever misplacing my glasses!) that she made herself and my favorite--an illustrated history of Nebraska. We'll enjoy reading this tomorrow as we make our way all the way across Nebraska. Again, I forgot to get a picture taken with Virginia (doggone it!), but we did take some pix of the exterior of this great 50's steakhouse (which apparently Warren Buffet frequents. Mr. Buffet was not in attendance tonight.)






The heat is expected to be intense this weekend, so we'll make 500miles tomorrow and then Sunday beat feet into the Rockies seeking, if not cool weather, then at least cooler/drier air up in the mountains.

Think good thoughts for us as we double our regular mileage tomorrow on, we hope, a good night's sleep....

I'm on Roadfood. I'm Somebody Now!

Who knew these folks were as persnickety as I used to be in my editorial days? I submitted 4 reviews, but only made it with this one. And I'm proud.

Check out my new claim to fame.


:-)

Day 24: Well It's a Dry Heat....

I always thought people were a little off when they talked about the "dry heat" of say, Arizona, vs. the humid heat of the Midwest and South. Now, we understand. It was in the high 80s/low 90s the last 3 days. In the arid West, that would've been hot but bearable. In Minnesota and Iowa, not so much. The heat covers every part of one's body with a clammy, yucky grip. Even if the temp is in the 70s, as it was this morning. We were packed up and gone from our nice RV park by 7AM, and we were dripping. (We can't run our A/C at night--too loud.)

But today, the A/C saved the day. Meant gassing up more often, but oh well. Gas is pretty cheap in these parts: $3.85 and certainly worth the A/C.

We intended to be on the interstate all day today, but that really isn't our style on this trip. We managed to be on I-35S and I-80 for most of the day (taking side trips to see a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Mason City as well as "The Music Man" sites there, as well as seeing Iowa State University in Ames).



We were about 1 hour outside of our destination when we had to switch drivers. Lisa, who had been driving, was falling asleep. Julie, as the passenger, was nodding off constantly. We decided to get the heck off the hypnotic interstate and spend an extra hour taking 2 scenic byways to our destination. Ahhhh. Beautiful, even though a T-storm was brewing. Rolling hills, bluffs, and terraced corn fields. This Illinois girl has never seen terraces for corn. Pretty!




We even stopped at a "Good Eats Restaurant" for 1 scoop of homemade ice cream at one point--yum. Our favorite part of Iowa, though, has been the state DOT rest stops. Several of them are spectacular tourist stops on their own; and all have very nice picnic spots AND wifi! Here's the first one we stopped at, just over the MN border:



Plans are all lined up for tomorrow to visit friends, and then we face the apparently soul-killing drive across Nebraska. We'll figure out a way to make it interesting!

Day 23: St. Paul—Our Kinda Town

Despite the heat/humidity and the fact that city driving is a bit tricky in the rig, we had a great day in St. Paul, our kinda town. We toured the sites, including Mickey’s Diner and The Fitzgerald Theater, familiar to anyone who is a Prairie Home Companion fan. Great architecture. We think we’ll have to come back and stay downtown and go to a live show sometime at The Fitz. Lisa thinks January would be good (for our birthdays)—that would certainly be a very different Minnesota experience.



Then we headed for another Roadfood.com AND Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (the Food Network TV show) site: The Nook. The target for lunch was a Jucy Lucy. This food was sooooo good that I couldn’t be bothered to take a photo of it. We did snap a few photos on the phone whilst waiting for a table. Wednesday afternoon at 1PM and the place was packed. Understandably so—one of the best burgers ever. For Californians like us, accustomed to water conservation, we really liked the sign "Save Water. Drink Beer."






We were going to head back to our campground for a swim, but Lisa wanted to at least do a drive-by of the Mall of America, that retail behemoth and bastion of commerce in Bloomington, MN. Just driving by it made my skin crawl—it has parking for 20,000 cars! A train drops tourists off from the nearby airport right at one of the mall entrances. (Apparently the mall is a major destination for Chinese and, I think, Icelandic visitors, if I remember the recent Wall Street Journal article correctly.) At any rate, I know lots of people must love this mall, but I took a bad picture from the car window because I didn’t want to get any closer….



We did a little shopping for dog food and sundries, et al, and came back to camp. Thank goodness a breeze kicked up—made for a pleasant late afternoon. Time to fire up the barbie for dinner (chicken and veggie kabobs). We’re off early tomorrow for our longest segment yet (almost 400 miles) to get through Iowa quickly and onto the Omaha area. Friday holds social occasions—lunch with an old friend and dinner with a new friend.

We’re getting excited about making the turn back west on Saturday. After Omaha, we head to Oregon Trail country in western Nebraska and then Boulder, Colorado (another one of our kinds of places ;-) and the mountains again. Yay! Once we cross the Rockies, the mosquito problem goes way down!

Day 22: Into Lake Wobegon Territory

Last North Dakota learning (and this looks as if it may also apply to Minnesota): the people here are very nice. This may explain the fact that every single gas station in a town has the same, exact price for gas. No need to shop around; it’s all the same. Now, some might call that collusion, which is of course illegal. But I think it’s simply neighborliness. An even playing field. But seriously—Minot, Grand Forks, Fargo. All unleaded gas was $4.09. We saw one gas station—out of dozens—that was $4.07. Probably a renegade from back East. A fellow without any manners. In Minnesota, the price so far has been $3.99 at many towns, including Minneapolis. Amazing. I don’t know about YOUR town, but in ours, the prices vary widely (not on the same street corner but across a town).

Lisa here – we hightailed it out of Fargo this morning and found our way to Collegeville, MN, to meet our friend who is a novice. He happily showed us around the campus - the highlight of the tour being the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library to see the display of amazingly beautiful illuminated bibles they have produced. 5 out of 7 books are now printed. You must see them here: St. John's Bible.

We also enjoyed greatly knowing that Garrison Keillor launched his career here at St. John’s. Minnesota Public Radio—the powerhouse of public radio and precursor to NPR—was launched here as Minnesota Educational Radio. The Lake Wobegon Trail even meanders past here in the form of a bike trail made from former RR tracks.

It was wonderful to see our friend, Julie’s former co-worker, Aelred (formerly known as Johnnie), and to have a guided tour, complete with seeing some of the private monastery spaces. Thank you, Aelred, for sharing your life with us. He also baked us a round loaf of cinnamon raisin bread that we are anxious to have for breakfast. We were so absorbed in the experience that we forgot to take pictures, except for this terrible one on my iPhone (no fill-in flash capability on the ole phone):



Once again we have hit a heat wave and we knew we could not leave Nick in the van for too long, so between sights, meals, and a very lovely mass, we checked on the dog to make sure he was OK in the heat. This required moving the RV twice. Thank goodness that the Benedictine tradition is rooted in hospitality. Julie had to park the RV across many parking spaces late in the afternoon to capture a little shade in the 90+ degree heat. When she emerged from the RV, a brother was getting into his vehicle. He welcomed her and assured her that it would be fine for her to take up 5 parking spaces in the faculty parking lot at this time of day. St. Benedict would be proud of his hospitality.

Remaining present to the constraints of the trip can be frustrating for us, but it does provide a very clear, and therefore, comforting path. For example, before we arrived, we had planned to spend the night in the very swanky guesthouse of the monastery, but it was clearly inappropriate for us one of us to be sleeping in the van with the dog in the parking lot in this particular place. (We had no idea how large—and lovely—the place was!).

The other issue was that we were not really 100% present to Nick. So, today he ate the rest of the *#&$& Chippers we bought in Fargo (Julie meant to put them away in the fridge but forgot), the rest of the box of dog treats (the bathroom door wasn’t secure and we keep all his food locked up in there), and some trash (we had him tied up outside tonight and thought he was far away). Can’t wait to pick up that #2. Right now, it’s still pretty hot and humid in our bedtime quarters, as we write this, and Nick is sound asleep. Julie has broken from all tradition to shower at night; Lisa is now doing the same. (And Julie has taken over writing this. I wonder if you can tell when I took over….)

Now, the 3 of us are trying to stay cool and away from the mosquitoes in a campground near St. Paul tonight. This is the place we had “booked” for Day 23, so now we’re here for 2 nights instead of 1. We are ecstatic that there is a Trader Joe’s nearby; we hadn’t provisioned ourselves for camping tonight. Now, we’re set with yummies for tomorrow, too.

Off to bed.