You might think I am a little bit crazy. After driving a truck across the USA in the last week of May, I am now driving a car across the USA - this time with my wife, our dog and some houseplants.
My flight on Tuesday evening was a little bit delayed, but I got to our condo in South Burlington around 10:30. Wednesday morning, I ran errands and loaded the car. Our friends Bridgette and Mike came by to say farewell. And we left our condo around 10:00 a.m. We stopped in Weverton, NY, for lunch and drove to Batavia, NY (a little east of Buffalo). We had dinner at Applebee's and then a decent night's sleep.
On Thursday, we drove to Cleveland and stopped at the USS Cod on the Lake Erie waterfront (it is next to the US Coast Guard station and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). We took a self guided tour through the sub, which meant going through the original doors and where I hit my head several times. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Cod was one of the subs sent after the Japanese fleet. While not enjoying much success initially, during the war they did sink six Japanese Navy ships, twenty cargo ships and a variety of smaller boats that the Japanese used.
After our lunch break, we continued on to Montpelier, OH. After checking into our hotel around 4:00, we went to the Stoney Ridge Winery: http://www.stoneyridgewinery.com/ We sampled wines and had cheese and crackers. We got wine for ourselves and as a gift for our upcoming visit with Kaye. And back at the hotel, we shared a bottle of wine with our dinner.
On Friday, we drove to the suburbs of Grand Rapids, MI, where we had lunch with Kaye. Kaye was our fantastic group leader on our trip to Peru in April. We also got to meet her husband Jeff and see their lovely condo. After lunch, we drove on to Rantoul, IL, the home of the former Chanute AFB. It had been a technical training center when I was an enlisted troop back in the 1960s. It was one of the bases closed in the first round of base closures in the middle 1980s. Mr. Shadow enjoyed our stay at the Magnuson Hotel Heritage Inn. There were many places for him to take me on a long walk.
On Saturday, we drove to Springfield, IL, and visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum. It is very new and hi-tech with a couple of hologram style video shows as well as exhibits about President Lincoln and family. There was a Civil War soldier who often participated in reenactments of civil war battles.
In addition to the museum, there is a library, a park and a small museum in a train station - this second museum is all about the making of the movie "Lincoln" including sets and costumes that were researched, reproduced and then used in the movie. There was a Subway restaurant in the museum where we got lunch and ate outside in the park are with Mr. Shadow.
It started to rain just as we were ready to leave and as we drove on to Cameron, MO, we crossed the Mississippi River. We had a quiet Saturday night in preparation for our one day of no stops.
Sunday we drove more than 650 miles from Cameron to Colorado Springs, CO. The ride was uneventful until we left Kansas. Once in Colorado, we drove through counties where there were a tornado watch, a tornado warning, and heavy rains and thunderstorms. We did not encounter the tornadoes (they were north of our route) but several of the thunderstorms forced us to slow down and stop, and one caused us to get off I-70. I noticed the temperature change from in the 70s in Kansas, to the 60s in Colorado, and then a quick drop to the mid 40s. Once the weather eased up a bit, we continued on towards Colorado Springs. I kept seeing small amounts of white stuff on the sides of the road and at first thought it was soap suds - but where did they come from? As we continued on, we realized it was snow - in some places there were accumulations of snow on roof tops, on the grass and on the sides of the road.
We eventually got to Colorado Springs and checked into our hotel. We walked across the street and had dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill restaurant. I had seen tv commercials for them, but this was the first time either of us had been there. We ordered off their pasta menu. Patty had a salad and linguine with clams, while I had soup and shells with bolognese sauce. Much to our surprise, all of these pasta items come with two bowls of pasta - and they ask before serving whether we wanted the second bowls in take out containers, which we decided to do. Those take out containers would become our picnic lunch on Monday.
After a good night's sleep, on Monday morning I took Mr. Shadow for a nice early morning walk in Colorado Springs. The temp was 44 with a wind chill making it feel like it was in the low 30s.
We set out for Great Sand Dunes National Park. After driving south on I-25 for about 90 minutes, we headed west on Route 160. We were clearly heading into and through the mountains and could see snow on many of the mountains. I tried taking photos of the mountains while Patty was driving. The photos do not capture the size and beauty of these mountains which were over 14,000 feet tall.
We got to Great Sand Dunes National Park a little before noon. After Mr. Shadow had a drink, Patty and I found that there was a Ranger talk at 1:00. So we went to the picnic area and had lunch.
We went back to the visitor center and all three of us enjoyed the Ranger talk. We learned about how the sand dunes were created, the different types of sand, and how things were constantly changing in the park. After the talk, we went for a walk on one of the loop trails and had a close encounter with a whitetail deer. At one point we were within 20 feet of the deer and Mr. Shadow was very excited by the experience.
We then went to Medano Creek, one of the two streams that bring water and sand from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We expected the water to be cold as it was obviously still snow melt. Much to our surprise, while the creek was more than a hundred feet wide, it was only a few inches deep and as warm as bath water. We waded and walked through the creek for about 30 minutes.
We then went to the amphitheater and campground and found a trail that took us up on the side of a hill and allowed us a view of Medano Creek and the dune field. The tallest dunes are between 700 and 800 feet about the level of Medano Creek and the dune field spreads for more than 30 square miles - a most unexpected area in the high desert of the San Luis Valley.
We then drove on the Alamosa. Tuesday we will stop in Taos and Santa Fe before spending the night in Gallup, and then reach Phoenix on Wednesday.
My flight on Tuesday evening was a little bit delayed, but I got to our condo in South Burlington around 10:30. Wednesday morning, I ran errands and loaded the car. Our friends Bridgette and Mike came by to say farewell. And we left our condo around 10:00 a.m. We stopped in Weverton, NY, for lunch and drove to Batavia, NY (a little east of Buffalo). We had dinner at Applebee's and then a decent night's sleep.
On Thursday, we drove to Cleveland and stopped at the USS Cod on the Lake Erie waterfront (it is next to the US Coast Guard station and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). We took a self guided tour through the sub, which meant going through the original doors and where I hit my head several times. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Cod was one of the subs sent after the Japanese fleet. While not enjoying much success initially, during the war they did sink six Japanese Navy ships, twenty cargo ships and a variety of smaller boats that the Japanese used.
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| This is one of the six torpedo tubes at the front of the sub |
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| Bunks did not have much room for tossing and turning |
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After our lunch break, we continued on to Montpelier, OH. After checking into our hotel around 4:00, we went to the Stoney Ridge Winery: http://www.stoneyridgewinery.com/ We sampled wines and had cheese and crackers. We got wine for ourselves and as a gift for our upcoming visit with Kaye. And back at the hotel, we shared a bottle of wine with our dinner.
On Friday, we drove to the suburbs of Grand Rapids, MI, where we had lunch with Kaye. Kaye was our fantastic group leader on our trip to Peru in April. We also got to meet her husband Jeff and see their lovely condo. After lunch, we drove on to Rantoul, IL, the home of the former Chanute AFB. It had been a technical training center when I was an enlisted troop back in the 1960s. It was one of the bases closed in the first round of base closures in the middle 1980s. Mr. Shadow enjoyed our stay at the Magnuson Hotel Heritage Inn. There were many places for him to take me on a long walk.
On Saturday, we drove to Springfield, IL, and visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum. It is very new and hi-tech with a couple of hologram style video shows as well as exhibits about President Lincoln and family. There was a Civil War soldier who often participated in reenactments of civil war battles.
In addition to the museum, there is a library, a park and a small museum in a train station - this second museum is all about the making of the movie "Lincoln" including sets and costumes that were researched, reproduced and then used in the movie. There was a Subway restaurant in the museum where we got lunch and ate outside in the park are with Mr. Shadow.
It started to rain just as we were ready to leave and as we drove on to Cameron, MO, we crossed the Mississippi River. We had a quiet Saturday night in preparation for our one day of no stops.
Sunday we drove more than 650 miles from Cameron to Colorado Springs, CO. The ride was uneventful until we left Kansas. Once in Colorado, we drove through counties where there were a tornado watch, a tornado warning, and heavy rains and thunderstorms. We did not encounter the tornadoes (they were north of our route) but several of the thunderstorms forced us to slow down and stop, and one caused us to get off I-70. I noticed the temperature change from in the 70s in Kansas, to the 60s in Colorado, and then a quick drop to the mid 40s. Once the weather eased up a bit, we continued on towards Colorado Springs. I kept seeing small amounts of white stuff on the sides of the road and at first thought it was soap suds - but where did they come from? As we continued on, we realized it was snow - in some places there were accumulations of snow on roof tops, on the grass and on the sides of the road.
We eventually got to Colorado Springs and checked into our hotel. We walked across the street and had dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill restaurant. I had seen tv commercials for them, but this was the first time either of us had been there. We ordered off their pasta menu. Patty had a salad and linguine with clams, while I had soup and shells with bolognese sauce. Much to our surprise, all of these pasta items come with two bowls of pasta - and they ask before serving whether we wanted the second bowls in take out containers, which we decided to do. Those take out containers would become our picnic lunch on Monday.
After a good night's sleep, on Monday morning I took Mr. Shadow for a nice early morning walk in Colorado Springs. The temp was 44 with a wind chill making it feel like it was in the low 30s.
We set out for Great Sand Dunes National Park. After driving south on I-25 for about 90 minutes, we headed west on Route 160. We were clearly heading into and through the mountains and could see snow on many of the mountains. I tried taking photos of the mountains while Patty was driving. The photos do not capture the size and beauty of these mountains which were over 14,000 feet tall.
We got to Great Sand Dunes National Park a little before noon. After Mr. Shadow had a drink, Patty and I found that there was a Ranger talk at 1:00. So we went to the picnic area and had lunch.
We went back to the visitor center and all three of us enjoyed the Ranger talk. We learned about how the sand dunes were created, the different types of sand, and how things were constantly changing in the park. After the talk, we went for a walk on one of the loop trails and had a close encounter with a whitetail deer. At one point we were within 20 feet of the deer and Mr. Shadow was very excited by the experience.
We then went to Medano Creek, one of the two streams that bring water and sand from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We expected the water to be cold as it was obviously still snow melt. Much to our surprise, while the creek was more than a hundred feet wide, it was only a few inches deep and as warm as bath water. We waded and walked through the creek for about 30 minutes.
We then went to the amphitheater and campground and found a trail that took us up on the side of a hill and allowed us a view of Medano Creek and the dune field. The tallest dunes are between 700 and 800 feet about the level of Medano Creek and the dune field spreads for more than 30 square miles - a most unexpected area in the high desert of the San Luis Valley.
We then drove on the Alamosa. Tuesday we will stop in Taos and Santa Fe before spending the night in Gallup, and then reach Phoenix on Wednesday.
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