Road Trip, Day 24

Left St. George, Utah, this morning and headed north on I-15.  Still spectacular scenery.  I can see why people retire here.  The woman at the front desk moved here from San Diego which is no slouch in the scenery and good weather department.

Was hoping to go to the Kolob Canyon portion of Zion National Park which is just off I-15, but arrived to find the visitor center closed.  Started up the road and found the road was closed as well.

Had a variety of weather conditions:  snow flurries, clouds, a bit of rain at one point, sunshine, but the roads were clear and no problem traveling except that the car got covered with salt spray again.  First thing I did on arriving at the motel was to get it washed.  At least it will start tomorrow clean.  I hate trying to unload the car when it's covered with salt--I end up covered with salt as well.

The scenery on I-15 and then on I-70 is absolutely spectacular.  It rivals some of the national parks.  When I reached the high desert in Utah, the sun was shining.  I can see why the Mormons picked Utah--it's absolutely gorgeous.  Their saying--Utah, life elevated--is very appropriate.

Am just across the border in Fruita, Colorado, tonight.  This is the gateway to the Colorado National Monument, which I hope to visit again tomorrow if the nasty storm doesn't materialize here.  It's really gorgeous, but that road is dicey in the best of times.  Won't attempt it if there's snow or ice.

If the storm hits here, I will probably hole up here for another night.  I'm hoping to get past Denver tomorrow and then head north.  That should skirt the storm.  Could see the clouds building up on the back side of the Rockies all day.

Pulled out at the Salt Wash View Area--it was so windy, I had to put my down jacket on just to snap a few photos!  There were other viewpoints along the highway, but the view from the highway is pretty fantastic, so I skipped the other ones.

Today was another day of up the mountain, down the mountain, up the mountain, etc.  My trusty car is handling all this well.  There are long stretches where no gas is available, so I filled up when my tank was half empty.  In Richfield, Utah.  Not Richfield, Minnesota.

I have bagged the idea of visiting in Colorado Springs and Wichita, which would put me right in the worst of the storm.  Hope to be able to skirt it to the north.  Will see what tomorrow brings.

Road Trip, Day 23

Took the Hoover Dam Tour today.  Checked out of the hotel, left my car in the parking ramp where it had remained the entire time I was there, and was picked up at 9:00 a.m.  The bus driver stopped at the welcome to Las Vegas sign on the way and let us all out for a photo op.  Then on to Boulder, where the tour company is located to pay for the tour.  They were offering new helicopter tours over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead for $99.  Would have liked to do that, but it would have involved staying longer than I wanted to.

Hoover Dam is amazing!  We did the power plant tour, which takes you into the bowels of the dam.  You're then free to wander across the dam and around.  Good views of the new bridge.  Oh, and we saw 3 bighorn sheep in the hills just before the dam!  The water level is way down, due to the 12-year drought they're experiencing.  Has left a very noticeable white ring (from the minerals in the water) on the Black Canyon walls.  Saw tumbling tumbleweeds on the way back.  A little bit of everything today.

Got the car from the parking ramp and hit the I-15 towards St. George, Utah.  Was hoping to get farther, but forgot about losing an hour and I was getting tired and didn't want to be driving in the dark.  Didn't realize that I would be passing through a piece of Arizona along the way.  Hello/good-bye, Arizona.

The drive through the Virgin Canyon just before getting to St. George is awesome--easily rivals some of the gorgeous national parks.  That's the same river that carved Zion.

Stopped first at a Hilton Garden Inn which allegedly had rooms for $69 according to the AAA book.  $89 was the best price she would give me.  Told her I'd stay elsewhere.  Just down the street was a brand-new Comfort Inn which had nice big rooms for $61.  I parked next to another Minnesota car.  What are the odds of that?  It's definitely cooler here, decided to bring in the big suitcase and get out some warmer clothes.

Also discovered that they have a very nice guest laundry that only charges $1 to wash and $1 to dry, so decided to do laundry while I had all the stuff with me in the room.  That's when I made the ugly discovery that I've somehow misplaced my big ziplock bag of underwear.  Have been operating out of a smaller bag and hand washing.  No clue where I might have left it.  Last time I had the big bag in the hotel was in Santa Barbara.  Have sent them an e-mail to see if I left it there.  Guess I'll be hand washing from now on!  I suppose it won't be the end of the world if that's all I lose on this trip.

The wi-fi didn't work for spit, but the desk had an ethernet cord they lent me and life is good and connected.  Will have to add that item to my travel bag.  Also need to acquire another mouse to replace the one I managed to kill.

Road Trip, Day 22

Saturday, January 29

Went to the concierge desk to inquire about a tour of the Hoover Dam.  Am really sick of driving, so I thought it would be fun to leave the driving to someone else.  They want $71.95 for a tour.  Told them I would think about it.

Decided to get a day pass on the monorail and explore the strip.  Those hotels are enormous.  You get off the monorail and get lost in them.  No signs indicating how to get out.  They want you to stay in and gamble!  Finally figured out that if I could find the lobby (which wasn't always easy), there was usually a way out from there.  Got to the Bellagio in time for the noon dancing fountains.  They are exceedingly impressive.  It's all choreographed to music.  They do the Star Spangled Banner at noon complete with bombs bursting in air and water shooting 300 fee into the air.  The Bellagio was all decorated for Chinese New Year.  They also have a Dale Chihuly overhead glass sculpture in the lobby along with a pretty impressive golden horse.  Also plenty of places featuring designer threads, etc.

Caught the fountains again later in the afternoon--they apparently do different things every time they do them.  Decided to come back and see them at night when they are lit.  Also enjoyed lots of street theater:  chorus girls in full regalia strolling down the street (at night, they had fur coats on over their costumes), Darth Vader et al. so you could pose for pictures with them, mimes, etc.  The one thing that struck me when I went back that night was the young women all dolled up accompanied by young men in jeans.  Eh?  Slight disconnect there.

While walking the strip, encountered tour sellers, one of whom offered a tour of the Hoover Dam for $40.  Reserved on the spot.  Now I won't have to drive out there and then circle back.

Road Trip, Day 21

Day 21 was Friday, January 28.  Decided not to pay Hilton $12/day for internet access, so have taken a break from posting.  It always amazes me that the cheaper hotels/motels offer free internet access and the more expensive ones charge for it.  A lot.

Lots of mining activity in the Searles Lake area on the way to Death Valley National Park.  Also associated air pollution.  Too bad they don't have stricter regulations on their smokestacks.

Took about an hour to get to the park from the middle of nowhere.  Now DEFINITELY in the middle of nowhere.  Gas only in two widely separate places, almost no services, main visitor center is closed for renovations, this is really a minimal park.  Doesn't even have an entrance station.  There's some great scenery, but it's really spread out.  Spent almost the entire day and still didn't see it all.  Many of the areas require a high-clearance vehicle to access.  The dunes were not as impressive as they appear in photos, but I was seeing them in the midday sun.  Light is everything with this kind of stuff.  Ubehebe Crater was impressive, although a long drive to get there.  So there, crater place in Arizona that wanted to charge me a fortune to get in.  Saw one for free.  The Artists' Drive is very impressive.  I've seen lots of red, orange, yellow rock.  How about blue rock!  The road through there is very narrow and in some places, you barely make it between the rocks/boulders.

The elevation changes in the park are amazing.  One minute you're at 5,000 feet, the next you're 282 feet below sea level.  There actually is water in the badwater section, I don't know if it's because of the recent rains or not.  Nobody around to ask.  Up, down.  Repeat.  This is not the place to be driving a dodgy car.

Anyway, finally decided I had better hightail it to Vegas because it was getting late and I'm not fond of driving in the dark, although I would be doing that this time.  Welcome to Nevada.  First town is Parumph, kind of a strange name.  But there was a Linda Street, so it must be OK.  Lots more nowhere after that.

Coming through the mountains in the dark, all of a sudden you see the lights of Vegas through a break in the hills.  Pretty impressive.

Mr. Garmin once again delivered me to the door of the Las Vegas Hilton.  It's a LONG way from the parking garage to the hotel.  Only took in minimal things.  The hotel is huge and has long corridors.  Just getting from my room to the ice machine was a hike.

The hotel has the requisite gambling facilities where they allow smoking, so it's pretty nasty in there.  It's such a shock to encounter people smoking indoors.  Even in the central lobby area.  But it was cheap, had free parking, and it's on the monorail.  And my room was on a nonsmoking floor in the central tower.

Road Trip, Day 20

This morning I got up early and took Pat, Mary, and Joey to the airport.  Anne and I had breakfast and then I packed up my car while she swam and sunned.  She decided to hang around the hotel longer and take the shuttle, so I left around noon.

Was still unable to connect with Beth in Ventura, so I proceeded to the Camarillo Outlets.  That was pretty much a waste of time--prices in the Chico's outlet were higher than the sale prices in the stores!  As I was attempting to find my way to Ridgecrest in the deepening dusk, I regretted spending the time at the stores on the way.  Also hit some traffic in the LA area.

So now I am in the "middle of nowhere" according to the desk clerk at the motel.  He was wondering what I was doing here by myself.  Told him I was going to Death Valley National Park tomorrow.  Two men came in while we were talking and they had just finished touring the park.  They said it was spectacular.

I decided to not make hotel reservations and try to negotiate a better rate at the hotel.  Didn't get me anywhere at this one, they just offered me the AAA rate.  Will see how it goes.  This was the lowest price reasonable motel in town, so wasn't prepared to walk.  I did have great luck negotiating in Sedona, so will keep it up.

Ridgecrest is about 4,000 feet in elevation, high desert.  Dramatic temperature drop from Santa Barbara.  I suddenly noticed warm air coming out the vents at my feet (you just set a temperature and the car decides how to maintain it) and checked the outside temp.  It had dropped 20 degrees.

Road Trip, Day 19

We decided to just hang out at our wonderful hotel and enjoy the gorgeous weather for a while.  I enquired about a place to do some laundry and was directed to a laundromat up on the mesa.  Drove up there and discovered it takes a lot of quarters to do laundry these days!  I probably haven't been in a laundromat for 40 some years.

Got my load of laundry in and determined it would take 30 minutes.  Went outside to see what I could see in the neighborhood.  A block down was a park with a gorgeous view of the Pacific.  I walked around a bit and enjoyed the view and then came back and put the clothes in the dryer.  Then went across the street to a healthy foods grocery store, purchased a salad for lunch, and sat on a bench in the sun and ate my lunch.  By then the clothes were dry.  Not a bad trip to the laundromat!

Went from there to the post office to acquire some postcard stamps for all the postcards we'd been writing.  Then came back to the hotel and relaxed on our patio and the lawn and visited some more.

Tonight we went for a last dinner at Emilio's Ristorante down the street.  Yummy food.  We had a great time.

Tomorrow my friends head back to Minnesota and Washington and I begin my return journey to Minneapolis.

Road Trip, Day 18

This morning we drove up to the Santa Barbara Mission.  It was an interesting building, but I always feel sorry for the Indians who were enslaved by the "Christians" who built these buildings to enslave and convert them.  This mission is apparently one of the more well preserved ones.  We were lucky that we got there early because as we were leaving, swarms of school children were leaving.

We then drove to Solvang.  Thanks to the cab driver who delivered some of the group from the airport, we knew to take the scenic route (Highway 154) through the mountains.  It was gorgeous up there!

Solvang was fun.  It's a town founded by Danes, so most of them know how to spell my name.  Although one shop was selling magnets promoting Hans Christian Anderson.  When I pointed out to the young woman running the cash register that the name was misspelled, she was indifferent.  I told her I'd buy my souvenirs in a store that cared a bit more about such an important figure.  There's a Hans Christian Andersen museum there as well as a statue.  There's also a replica of the little mermaid statue.

I had forgotten to bring my large camera and thus all the camera impedimenta.  All of a sudden my new small one announced that the memory card was full.  I had forgotten it came with a 2 MB card.  Asked at the restaurant where we were having a typical Danish lunch of open-faced sandwiches where I might buy a card in town.  Was directed to the small shopping center about half a mile out of town.  Went there, but couldn't find anything.  A helpful local woman who was also seeking assistance suggested that I go the other direction, past Solvang, two miles up the road to Buelton, where I would find Albertson's and a CVS.  The CVS had one, thankfully on sale, since their prices are normally astronomical.

On the way back to Solvang, saw ostriches in a field.

Back in Solvang, I checked out the Bethania Lutheran Church, which is a typical Scandinavian church.  Spare and beautiful.  Many Scandinavian churches have a model ship hanging from the ceiling in the sanctuary, symbolizing a haven of safety across the waters of life.

I stopped by the Chamber of Commerce office to ask where I might find Solvang magnets.  The volunteer running the office was sporting a beautiful Solvang Centennial pin, so I asked where I could get one.  Turns out they were selling them.  Found a magnet place a few doors down and bought one that the fellow who owned the store had designed.

Also checked out the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, the statue in his park, and the replica Little Mermaid statue.  Then found the others and we went back to the restaurant where we had lunch to have ebelskivers for desert.  We then came back to Santa Barbara via the scenic route.

Had our usual gathering on our patio and then decided to have dinner at the hotel's restaurant since the breakfast was so good.  We only have one full day left here.  It's time to start figuring out where I'm going to go next.

Road Trip, Day 17

Have I really been on the road for 17 days?  The time seems to fly by.

This morning we made a run to Trader Joe's to stock up on provisions for our afternoon gatherings on the patio.  Then we went to brunch at Eladio's Restaurant, which is part of the hotel.  It was gorgeous out, so we sat on the patio overlooking the ocean.  The food was great!

We then caught the trolley up State Street and went to the Santa Barbara Courthouse.  From the tower there, you have wonderful views of the ocean, Santa Barbara, and the surrounding mountains.  The building itself is quite fascinating inside, with beautiful tile work and some wonderful murals.  They are working on restoring the fountain outside.

One of the things I always appreciate about California is that they seem to care about how their public spaces look.  They are all beautifully landscaped and well cared for.  The public library was gorgeous.

We then wandered back down State Street, stopping at shops which caught our interest.  When we tired of that, we took the trolley back to Stearns Wharf.  Walked out there to see the view and check out the shops and the restaurants.

Back to the hotel to rest and relax and enjoy our wonderful patios.  For dinner, we walked to a pizza place a block away.

Road Trip Day 16

Got up, had breakfast, and bid farewell to my wonderful hosts and headed for the Getty.  Nelson had given me good directions, thank goodness, because this involved some serious LA freeway driving, including going past LAX on the 405.  Thank goodness it was Sunday morning.  To drive the LA freeways, you need to have nerves of steel, be highly caffeinated, and have some sense of where you're going.

Successfully made it to the Getty Museum, which is perched high on a hill overlooking LA.  Fascinating architecture.  Richard Meier built the center with 16,000 tons of travertine from Bagni de Tivoli in Italy. It's roughly hewn and absolutely gorgeous.  It's all organized on a grid system with different variations on a 36-inch grid.  Even the trees are planted in 36-inch spacing.  I took a tour of the gardens, which was very informative.

The views from up there are stunning.  You can see the layer of smog that hangs over LA, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean.

I toured the expressionist galleries and then had a quick lunch because I wanted to catch the tour of a special exhibit of French illuminated manuscripts from 1500 which had taken the museum 8 years to put together.  It was fascinating to see those gorgeous books, scrolls, and tapestries.  Imagine lavishing such care on books and creating them all by hand.  The guide had samples of the sheepskin parchment for us to feel--it's smooth on the side they wrote on and rougher on the side where the hair was.  She said it could take an entire heard of sheep to produce one book.

One other note on the Getty:  Meier knew what he was doing when he designed the stairs.  They're wide (probably 18 inches) with about a 6 inch rise.  Very easy to climb.  All stairs should be built this way!

I could have stayed longer, but didn't want museum fatigue to set in, so I called it good and headed for Santa Barbara and my reunion with some of the women I went to college with.  Arrived at the Harbor View Inn around 4:00 p.m.  This is a hotel right on the corner of State Street and Cabrillo Boulevard, directly across from the beach and Stearns Wharf.  Since I picked it off the internet, I was hoping it would turn out to be a good place for us to hang out for four days.

It lived up to its advance billing.  Our rooms face the pool and the ocean and have lovely terraces where we can gather for cocktail hour or just to relax and visit.  The location is perfect--both the trolleys run right past the property.

Tonight we walked down to the harbor and had dinner at Brophy Brothers Clam Bar & Restaurant, a restaurant recommended by the cab driver who brought Pat, Mary, and Joey from the airport.  We retired early because the Minnesotans were suffering from time change lag and they had been up early to catch their flights here.  Anne, coming from Washington, is at least still in the same time zone.  I've been in this time zone a while, but was tired from all the walking at the Getty (not to mention the LA freeway driving!).

Road Trip Day 15

This morning we went to Crystal Cove Beach for breakfast at a restaurant right on the beach.  After breakfast, we wandered the beach, enjoying the beautiful day and the historic beach cottages.

Then we drove through Newport Beach to Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island.  Took the short trip on the car ferry, which takes all of 5 minutes.  Ferry only carries 3 cars at a time.  Enjoyed looking at all the homes and the yachts.  Came back through Mission Viejo and Santa Margarita to see how more ordinary people live.

Then we were off to have dinner with Inge van de Venter.  I haven't seen her for 52 years.  We met at a restaurant halfway between where she lives and where Nelson lives.  We had a great dinner and a wonderful reunion!  In July, she will be marrying Max Stringer, her senior prom date from Augsburg.  That is really something.

Back to Nelson's & Terri's.  We put on the wonderful video Nelson made of our Augsburg Reunion Cruise to Alaska and enjoyed those memories again.  Then we sat up and talked forever.

Road Trip Day 14

Toured Palm Springs a bit today and drove up to Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument to see the view.  Decided against going all the way to the top which would have taken at least an hour round trip.  Was hoping to avoid most of the rush hour traffic in the LA area.

Headed for Nelson's & Terri's in Lake Forest.  It's an interesting experience driving California freeways.  Speed limits appear to be advisory only.  Actually, if you drive the speed limit, you'll probably get run off the road.  So, you just go with the flow if you want to survive.  California's roads are in terrible shape.  Just had my front end aligned before this trip.  I fear I will have to have it done again when I get home.

Mr. Garmin sent me west on the I-10 and then southwest on the 91.  That's where the traffic hit.  One minute you'd be zooming along at 80 mph and the next minute you'd come to a complete halt on the freeway.  Pretty crazy.  Then south on 241, a private toll road through a beautiful mountain pass.  Absolutely no traffic and smooth road surface--well worth the toll.  Arrived at Nelson's and Terri's at 4:00 p.m.

We had Nelson's world famous smoked salmon for dinner and then sat around and visited forever.  They've been remodeling their house and thought I might have to stay in a construction zone, but the contractor just finished laying the tile the day before I got there.  They have a lovely new kitchen and family room. 

Road Trip, Day 13

We got in one last game of Clue before I had to leave for Palm Springs.

The drive was interesting.  Went up Highway 95 which connects I-8 with I-10.  Out in the middle of nowhere there is a boarder control station.  Everybody must stop.  There are drug sniffing dogs, etc.  I'll bet the people who smuggle immigrants and drugs in took about three minutes to figure this out and now use alternate routes.  Your tax dollars hard at work.

Also encountered a MASSIVE gathering of RVs just before 95 intersects with I-10.  All sorts of flea market activity going on and traffic jams (all in the middle of nowhere in the desert!!!)  I wouldn't pick that as a gathering place, but apparently it works for the RV folks.  The city there is called Quartzite.

Left turn on I-10 and on to California.  Welcome to California!  Pretty soon another of these great border patrol stations--everybody must stop again.  Somehow, all this doesn't make me feel safer and it doesn't seem to be stemming the flow of either illegal immigrants or drugs, but what do I know, I'm just an ordinary citizen and taxpayer, not a government bureaucrat.

I visited Joshua Tree National Park--interesting to see the Joshua Trees.  Will have to look up how they acquired their name.  Very interesting rock formations in the park once you pass from the Colorado Desert to the Mojave Desert.  Also a great overlook where you can look down on the San Andreas Fault--they describe how fast it is moving there.

Heading to Palm Springs had to drive into blinding sun, not an easy task while keeping track of all the speeding Californians around me!  Also heading toward snow-capped mountains--gorgeous!

On arrival in Palm Springs, discovered the main drag is closed for some sort of street fair.  Of course my hotel is located on the main drag, so Mr. Garmin had fits as I drove around and around trying to figure out how to get past all this.

Was pooped by the time I got to the hotel, so asked for a recommendation of a good local restaurant, went there and had dinner, came back and tried to get on the internet, but their connection wasn't working.  It said it was on their network, but it wouldn't take me anywhere on the web.  Gave up and went to bed. 

Road Trip, Day 12

More cookie baking and decorating with the grandkids.  Eric was boasting about shooting down a Blue Angel last night at dinner, so when I saw the angel cookie, I had to paint it blue and decorate it with gold!

We also played Clue and King in the Corner.  The kids really like to play games.  And grandma likes to be a kid again!

Road Trip, Day 11

We were busy today!  The grandchildren and I made pancakes for breakfast, something we always do when I come.  We played games and baked cookies.  This afternoon we went to their 4-H class, where they were learning about the different food groups and the food pyramid.  I'm pooped!  But it was fun.

Road Trip, Day 10

This morning Trish & Mike came over and picked us up and we went out for breakfast.  Mark was already at the softball field.  In the same shopping center as the cafe we went to was a Beall's outlet, so we had to go and check that out.  I didn't find anything.  Actually, I found the hangers that Beth and I got at her Beall's outlet for around 4 times the price we paid for them.  Anyway, there was a huge line to check out, so Trish and Nancy put back the items they had selected and said they'd get them some other time.  Trish says the secret to shopping in Sun City Grand is to go in the afternoon when all the old geezers are napping.

We stopped by the softball field to see how Mark's game was coming along.  Got there in time to see him get a hit which turned into a triple due to not-so-great fielding.  The following batter hit him home.  They have tons of softball players there and all seem to be having a fabulous time.

Then we had to go to Trish's & Mike's and check out their new couch which arrived while they were in Minnesota for Christmas.  We all decided it looked good.

Packed up then and headed for Yuma (actually Wellton) to see the grandkids.  It took less than three hours to drive from Phoenix including a detour to check out their former house in Litchfield Park.

The kids are cute and are growing like weeds.  I haven't seen them for six months.  Zeke (the baby) isn't sure about me yet, but the rest of them were happy to see me.

Road Trip, Day 9

Today was a day to sleep late, visit, do laundry, read the paper, relax.

Mark took me on a tour of Sun City Grand.  It is a beautiful community, but I think I prefer the diversity of the community in Mesa.  Everything looks the same here.  I had looked at this community when my son was stationed in Phoenix previously, but decided not to buy.  Not sure I could handle Arizona summers.

Mark's router is down, so I'm having to use his computer, so no chance to deal with adding pictures to the blogs.

Tomorrow will visit some more with another brother and sister-in-law who are flying in from Minnesota tonight and then will head for Yuma and my grandchildren.

Road Trip, Day 8

Another beautiful day in the Mesa/Phoenix area!  We plucked some grapefruit from the tree for breakfast--oh, that heavenly smell!  There's a lot to be said for living in a climate where fruit trees grow.

My friends took me for a ride on their electric pontoon boat.  Totally silent.  Just wonderful.  They live on an artificial lake in a community Charles Keating built around 30 years ago.  Somehow or other, he convinced the local water authority to let him divert irrigation water to form his lakes.  Apparently it gets back into the irrigation system somehow.

We cruised around and looked at whatever everybody else on the lake is doing with their lakeside lots--a wide variation.  Also, some of the boats were still decorated from the Christmas parade.  That must be something to see.

Then I packed up and headed to my brother and sister-in-law's place in Sun City Grand.

Road Trip, Day 7

Ah, the luxury of not having to go far today! About two and a half hours to Mesa. Slept until I woke up, no setting an alarm. Went out to find breakfast and discovered a Bealls outlet store. Will have to check that out later. Beth and I had such a good time shopping at the one in Cape Coral. Will the shopping gods smile on me this time?

Back to the hotel to try to reorganize my packing so I don't have to take so many bags into people's houses. Got my filthy car packed up and checked out of the hotel by 11. Made a last stop at the scenic overlook and then headed for Bealls and the car wash. Asked the manager what Bealls was doing in Arizona—I had thought they were only in Florida. Apparently they have outlet stores all over the south, just the regular stores in Florida. Scored two new tops! The spirit of Carolyn is still with me.

Then took my salt-encrusted car to the car wash which had been broken two days previously when I tried to get the car washed. Still broken. However, today, the guy was hand washing cars. I told him I would wait because I was tired of brushing up against all that salt and getting it all over my clothes. Yes, Virginia, there really was a car under all that road grime!

Then headed for Mesa. I had to stop at Costco to get some of the dark chocolate pomegranate things Milt introduced me to and to fill up with gas. Arrived at Jack's & Trish's around 3:45, faithfully steered here by Mr. Garmin after I disabused him of the notion of taking the 10. I've been to Phoenix before and know to avoid the 10 if at all possible.

Jack & Trish live on a small lake and Jack has promised me a boat ride tomorrow. We had a lovely dinner and enjoyed catching up—haven't seen them since our Panama Canal cruise last January.

Road Trip, Day 6

Today was Grand Canyon day. Milt picked me up at 7 and we were off. It's about 2 hours from Sedona. Milt hadn't been for a while and when I was there in 2008, the Hermit's Rest road was closed for reconstruction, so I had never seen that area of the park. The roads to the canyon were in good condition and the roads within the canyon had a few patches of snow where the sun didn't reach, but were otherwise in good condition. I had been a bit worried about that.

We decided to concentrate on the Hermit's Rest area and spent the whole day there. Drove down to the end, stopping at viewpoints that looked interesting. The Hermit's Rest building is fascinating—it has a HUGE fireplace.

We drove back and went to lunch at El Tovar—Milt was dying to have their chili which he had found a recipe for someplace. He said it lived up to his expectations. We scored a table with a view of the canyon!

The food was good but the service was unpolished. The waitress brought the appetizer at the same time as the entrée. And what is with the strange affectation of all the servers keeping their left hands behind their backs??? It comes off as very forced and serves no useful purpose that I can think of. I'm used to formal service on ships and they don't do anything like that.

Anyway, after lunch, we returned to the Hermit's Rest road and explored more lookouts. Some of the paths were clear, others had a lot of snow and ice. We were scouting for the best place to shoot photos in the late afternoon light. Will see how I did when I upload my photos.

We left as the sun set and had an uneventful trip back to Sedona. The road through Oak Creek Canyon is quite an experience in the dark! What luxury for me—two nights in the same hotel. Packing in and packing out every day is getting a bit old.

On to Mesa tomorrow.

Road Trip Day 5

Talked to the Aussies today at breakfast—they're from Brisbane. So far, their daughter says their house is fine.

I left Holbrook around 9:00 a.m. Garmin says only two hours to Sedona—hadn't realized I was so close. Woo Hoo! I get to play and stop if things look interesting.

Milt's friend had suggested I stop in Winslow to see a restored Fred Harvey roadside diner. When I got to Winslow, there were no signs on the freeway indicating which exit I should take to get to historic Route 66 stuff. Funny, because other towns have had such signs. Decided not to wander through a wasteland of WalMarts, etc. trying to find it, so pressed on.

Milt had mentioned the meteor crater. Sure enough, there were signs for Meteor Crater National Landmark, so I turned off. When I started seeing advertising on the way in, I began to suspect that the joint wasn't run by the Park Service. Sure enough, it's a for-profit enterprise run by a ranch. They want $14 (senior price) to see their crater and a movie and whatnot. Told the fellow I would pass as I have seen far more spectacular craters for no cost at the national parks. Also told him I thought it was false advertising to style themselves as a national landmark. He's heard that complaint before.

Driving in on the narrow road there's a sign that says, “Road narrows.” Hmm. Seems to me narrow is narrow. Whatever.

Driving through the desert headed toward snow-capped mountains, I'm at a loss to describe how gorgeous this is. Yesterday's waves of golden grasses swaying in the afternoon sun were fantastic. Where is Willa Cather when you need her descriptive talents???

OK, next possibility. Walnut Creek Canyon. Which is a real national monument. Which is gorgeous, quiet, and unexpected. You can hike down 285 or so steps into the canyon, or some such astronomical number. Everywhere are signs saying you should know your limits and that this is a very strenuous hike. Well I knew my knees weren't going to go for that many stairs, both up and down, so I hiked the rim trail instead. From the place where the stairs started going down, I could spy a pueblo on the other canyon wall. There are pueblos on the canyon walls as well as at the foot of the canyon. Unfortunately, Walnut Creek is no more as they dammed it up to provide water for Flagstaff. That of course killed off the walnut trees that grew there as well.

Driving down 89 to Oak Creek Canyon on the way to Sedona, we were stopped for construction—one lane at a time was being allowed through. I happened to glance at the Garmin and the road ahead was all squiggles! The slowdown was good as far as I was concerned, forced people to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

The discovery I've made today is that I want to do more rambling and less having to push on through in order to reach a certain destination. I'm so glad I haven't pre-planned the return trip. A certain amount of planning was necessary in order that the people I wanted to visit would be home and that I would arrive in Santa Barbara on the 23^rd, when I'm scheduled to rendezvous with my college friends, but in the future, I'll try to leave more wiggle room.

Today is absolutely gorgeous—sunny and warm. Definitely the best day of the trip. It got into the 60s. Milt drove me around to all the gorgeous scenic spots in Sedona. I decided to get a hotel since the place he is renting is very small and I would have cluttered it up quite a bit. Found a great place, the Sky Ranch Lodge, recommended by one of his friends—it's 500 feet above the city overlooking all the gorgeous red rocks. It's also the place where everyone comes to watch the sunset. Beautiful red sky tonight. They gave me a great deal and I even have a fireplace in my room!

Enjoyed the sun going down on the red rocks and took lots of pictures. Then we went to dinner at a great organic restaurant. Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Canyon for the day.

Will try to add pictures later.  Have to get to bed so I can get up early.

Day 4 of Road Trip

Ran into people from St. Paul at breakfast this morning.

Car was frosty, but the sun was rapidly burning off the frost. Beautiful sunny day. But cold. When will it warm up???  Good thing I brought lots of warm clothes.

No sign of snow anywhere until I crossed the Continental Divide. Then, bingo, snow everywhere. What, is there some sort of curtain that kept it on the west side of the divide???

Great scenery today through the mountains. The only snow around Albuquerque was on the very tops of the Sandia Mountains. I think of the pioneers as I look at those mountains and wonder how they managed to find the passes to get them through. Not to mention that they weren't rocketing along the interstate at 75 mph or so in a car equipped with all luxuries and piped in music. I don't know how they did it!  I have a great deal of admiration for their persistence.

Arizona's entry sign says, “Arizona. The Grand Canyon State welcomes you.

Before I finish with New Mexico, they have interesting color on their overpasses—they've made an effort to jazz up the freeways a bit. Good for them! And both Arizona and New Mexico have a 75 mph speed limit on the interstate. In town it's 65. Good for them. You can make good time.

I went to the Petrified Forest National Park this afternoon. This also includes the Painted Desert. January is definitely the time to come—had the park almost all to myself. So peaceful and quiet. If I decided I wanted to see something again, I was able to just turn around on the road and not worry about traffic in front of or behind me.  Here's a picture of petroglyphs.

I saw a sundog! Saw this reflection of the sun in the clouds that sort of looks like a rainbow and thought that must be a sundog. Confirmed it with the ranger on my way out of the park. Couldn't get a good picture of it.  But I got something.

I thought the park was gorgeous. The skies were unbelievable—you can see forever in the desert.

 

Here's a picture of a petrified log.

Here are some of the teepes.

It was a great day!

Road Trip, Day 3

Forgot to mention that I discovered why my GPS had amnesia about my destination every time I turned off the car. Operator error. Lo and behold there is a button as big as the GO button, right above the GO button which says SAVE. Duh. Life is better now. However, the GPS does not recognize the address of my motel tonight which is 2277 Historic Route 66. I tried several versions, like Hwy 66, but no dice. So I finally gave up and just put in Santa Rosa, NM, as the destination. That means I will be on my own to find the motel when I get to Santa Rosa.

Did I mention that this all occurred after I scraped the ice off my car? Are you seeing a pattern here?

Stopped at the CVS I had noticed on my way to Heidi's and picked up a neti pot since I forgot mine. I've wanted a plastic one for travel anyway. Mine is ceramic and tough to pack.

OK, hit the road around 10 and headed back toward Oklahoma City. Fog. Hoarfrost. As I turned west on I-40, started in with the wintry mix stuff. Is there good weather anywhere???

West of Oklahoma City, I-40 is very rough. Maybe they need to turn that patch into a turnpike? Or maybe the feds could put some money to good use and actually repair it?

Temperature kept dropping. Then it started to rise again. Range for the day was from 30-19. Snow didn't amount to much.

Got to the Texas Panhandle. Sign says, “Welcome to Texas. Drive friendly. The Texas way.” Panhandle is pretty flat and unremarkable until you approach New Mexico.

Now I'm drawing a blank as to whether or not the sign said Welcome to New Mexico or not. Big arch over the highway proclaiming, “New Mexico, Land of Enchantment.” Enchantment indeed. Buttes, mesas! Yeah!!! Some more interesting scenery. Also picking up an hour 'cause we're now on mountain time. Arrived about 3:45. Managed to find the motel in spite of the GPS—Santa Rosa is a pretty small place. Motel is high up on a hill with a great view.

Had a discussion with the friendly desk clerk about the GPS and Route 66. He's heard this before and says it's incredibly difficult to get street names changed in the GPS system. The road used to have a different name but several years ago they changed it to Historic Route 66. He says it can take years to get that stuff updated.

Asked the desk clerk about good places to eat dinner—wanted to go to a place the locals go to. Was given two possibilities, both historic Route 66 properties. One was the Comet Diner which I didn't find. Don't know if I didn't go far enough down Route 66 or what, but decided not to wander around in the dark. Came back and went to the Route 66 Diner which is right next door to the motel. Had fun talking to the waitress. She wanted to know where I had come from and where I was going and was in awe of all that driving.

OK, no snow here, but it's dang cold. The average high in January here is supposed to be 55. They'd better get cracking.

Day Two of road trip

Get up in the morning to find it has snowed overnight. Great. Thought I was leaving Minnesota to escape the snow and cold.

Something I forgot from yesterday. Iowa's rest stops are funny. There will be a sign that says, “Rest stop. Parking only.” Then there will be a sign indicating that there is a “modern” rest stop X number of miles down the road. Lo and behold the modern rest stops have wi-fi! That's definitely modern.

Today I passed through the Flint Hills region in Kansas on the Kansas Turnpike (I-35). When I stopped to pay my toll at the end of the Kansas Turnpike ($6), I asked the woman what had happened to my tax dollars which are supposed to fund the interstate highway system. She said they had been spent on the adjacent bumpy roads and that the turnpike “takes care of itself.” Hmm.

Kansas has all kinds of buildings along the highway that look like Monet haystacks. No clue what they are. Anybody from Kansas care to enlighten me?

After Wichita, I started seeing green fields. It's the dead of winter. The temp is 36 and the windchill is ferocious. How can there be green fields???

Also started spotting oil wells.

OK, Toto, we're not in Kansas any more. The sign at the beginning of Oklahoma just says OKLAHOMA. No welcome or any of that extraneous nonsense.

Spent the night with my friend, Heidi, in Norman. Another friend, Carolyn, came up from Texas to join us. She had to drive through snow. What's with all this snow??? Anyway, we both got there around 2:00 p.m. and had a great time visiting and remembering the good times we had on our impromptu girlfriends' cruise to Alaska in May.

Road Trip, Day 1

This is an experiment for me. I've never blogged before. I've never done a long road trip by myself either. I'm driving from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Santa Barbara, California. Along the way, I plan to visit friends and see some sights. The trip out is pretty scripted because in order to see friends, you have to plan so they will be home! I also have to be in Santa Barbara by January 23, because I'm meeting some of the women I went to college with. I hope to be more spontaneous on the way home. There's no set itinerary for that.

I left this morning at 10:15 a.m., much later than planned. I thought I'd leave around 7:00 a.m., but since I didn't finish packing last night, that plan was doomed. When I fired up my new toy, a Garmin GPS, it indicated I would reach Kansas City by 5:00 p.m. Of course that doesn't allow for any stopping, but I decided I could live with that.

Very cold in Minneapolis, 7 degrees. Stopped at Goodyear to see if they had the records related to my tire purchase since my copy seems to be buried in a sedimentary layer someplace. In case anything goes wrong with my new tires, I wanted a copy of the warranty with me. Yeah for computers! They had it and kindly printed it out for me. They only keep the records at the local service center, so it's a good thing I stopped. Also had them check the tires' inflation due to the cold.

So, will not having the appropriate documentation to hand spur me on to deal with my sedimentary layers? Who knows?

Drove down I-35 through southern Minnesota, very cold and lots of snow on the ground. Fortunately, it is a beautiful sunny day and the roads are clear, a good day for travel.

Arrived at the Iowa boarder where the sign says, “The people of Iowa welcome you to Iowa.” Nice message. Pretty tough for a state to welcome you. The more south I went, the less snow there was, and it warmed up to 11 degrees. There doesn't seem to be the snow depth that we have in Minneapolis, although it is so flat I think it all blows until it meets some sort of obstruction to stop it.

Soon arrived in Missouri—“Welcome to Missouri.” This was going to be my first trip to Missouri; however, I ended up spending the night in St. Louis on my 3-day flight home from Raleigh after the great Christmas snowstorm. Never did get to see the arch. Kept peering out of the plane windows as we were landing—no luck. It was dark when we landed and dark when we took off the next morning. And apparently the arch isn't in the vicinity of the airport Hilton because we didn't see it from the shuttle either. Guess maybe some day I'll need to go there again if I want to see the arch. I'd just as soon it were a voluntary trip next time, though.

Much warmer in Missouri—21 degrees. Lots of black cows (cattle?) in the fields. More hills and many more trees. Also rock—evidence that the road cut through rock layers. Sandstone? I don't know my rocks. Not much evidence of snow.

Somewhere in either Iowa or Missouri is a town called New Virginia. Thought that was a fun name since my mother's name is Virginia.

On to Kansas—Kansas welcomes you. The change happens in the middle of Kansas City—one of which is in Missouri and the other one in Kansas. Gorgeous red sunset as I'm navigating my way through the two Kansas Cities on the freeway. Trying to watch the sunset, the Garmin, and the traffic. Good thing it was Saturday and not rush hour on a week day! No snow in Kansas.

There have been things along the way I wished I could pull over and photograph--naked trees against a beautiful blue sky, the hard, crusty snow, interesting signs & billboards.  Today and tomorrow are heavy driving days, although it will help if I get off early tomorrow.

I'm spending the night in a southern suburb, Lenexa. I should know the address by now because every time I stop my brand new Garmin develops amnesia about where we were headed and I have to type in the address all over again. And if I'm in a different state, I have to clue it in that my destination is Kansas. There must be something I'm missing here, but I haven't a clue. Anyway, the Garmin did a great job of navigating once I repeated where we were going. I managed to miss the turn to the hotel (it was dark), but it kept re-directing me until I got there. Now I know this thing is much to young to suffer from Alzheimer's—is it possible its creators did not teach it to remember where you're going??

So, the end of the first day. I've discovered the prepaid phone card I've been carrying around in my wallet doesn't work (Thank you, AT&T). I have a brand new, never used one at home—fat lot of good that does me. Will just have to burn up my TracFone minutes. I'm not a big fan of that phone, so I guess that will just hasten its demise.

Getting ready to hit the road

I'm getting ready to start on a long road trip.  Blogging will be an experiment for me.  This will also be my first time traveling with a GPS.