The Trip Comes to an End

After some 9543 miles covering 21 states and 4 weeks on the road I'm back home.
Angie and I arrived about 7:00 pm last night after a long day on the road. It's nice to be home!
My last post had gotten us to Sundance, WY. Not much of a town, out on the plains, just a spot on the side of the road,  least it had a place for us to sleep.We had dinner at Roa Family Restaurant. I had all the local color you could want; the food wasn't bad.

We're reaching for home. Angie's symptoms haven't improved so we're heading for Salt Lake City and then Home. I'm sorry that Angie wasn't able to visit Yellowstone, she really was anticipating this part of the trip.
We spent most of the drive on the Interstate jousting with the truckers and other travelers in a hurry to get somewhere.

Our route took us through a lot of wide open country, that seem to stretch out unimpeded forever. This transitioned into high desert grasslands to the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City, UT. We were somewhat successful in out running a thunderstorm. At lest it keep things cool, it been in the high 80's most of the time, not missing the high temps or the humidity.
Came into Salt Lake City by way of Park City, a big ski resort; approaching it from the east I didn't realize how much of a climb we were making but coming down the other side you get a marvelous vista of Salt Lake City stretched out in the valley below.  Got a tour of the SLC freeway system in finding our hotel, lots of fun after 10 hours of driving. At least it was Saturday evening so no rush hour traffic.

Early to bed early to rise. Sunday; we were up early with a final 11 hours of driving in front of us. Angie wants to get home so no site seeing along the way just potty breaks. Long straight road through the salt flats and then though desert for miles and miles. Stopped in Elko, NV for lunch, this time at KFC no local color, except that it was across the street from the cemetery. Took the tour through town just to check it out, much to Angie's concern. Lot of desert, I mean a lot of desert. The whole northern part of Nevada is sand and casinos. How those who came trough here to settle the west made it is miraculous And as we drove along there are these little settlements of a couple of buildings and/or trailers; solitary houses set in the middle of the dessert with nothing for miles.
Finally made it to Reno. 4 hours from home. Coming over the pass to Truckee we got drenched by a thunderstorm, Lighting struck the hill starting a brush fire; fortunately it was put out by the rain and was smoldering as we passed. OK, we're back in California. Massive traffic jam heading to Sacramento. Lots of people going home after a weekend in the mountains. It was like old times driving home from the Tahoe area, I know the road by hart we've traveled in so many times.
That's it. I might post some additional photos and remarks in the next couple of days; don't hold your breath.
Its been fun.

Pierre, SD to Sundance, WY

Angie is ill with a very congested head and a bad cough. So we're going home tomarrow, shortening our trip by a couple of days; we'll be traveling the highways so that we can make as much distance as we can. We're stopping in Salt Lake City tonight and push home on Sunday.Unfortunately, we're going to bypass Yellowstone something Angie wanted to do.
Angie was a trouper Friday, after leaving my aunts we went to the Field of Dreams movie site, it was great fun.

Angie at the Field of Dreams

We drove through the Badlands National Monument,

saw prerrie dogs

Mount Rushmore,
and Devils Tower.

A beautiful way to end the day.

DC to Lexington, KY to Marion, IA to Pierre, SD

We've been on the road for a couple of days now.
The drive from DC to Lexington, KY was nice; driving through the Blue Ridge mountains of Virgina, the Allegheny's of West Virgina and the grass lands of Kentucky. We had a great drive through quite a variety of topography. The best part was stopping in all the small towns for gas and stuff. The towns are wonderfully Rockwell in nature; the typical downtown surrounded by great old houses.
Angie and I have been really curious about the change in topography as we move from state to state.As soon as we cross a state line the terrain instantly changes from the rolling hills of the Shenandoah Valley to deep valleys of West Virgina, replaced with the flat grass lands of  Kentucky. Its very lush and green.

Leaving Lexington we moved into the central plain states; heading north by northwest to Iowa. Lots of corn fields and soy beans. Wide open spaces.
We've been fortunate missing most of the heat and storms as we move north. It's actually pleasant lately. Angie is always shocked when she steps out of the car and her glasses fog up.
Made it to Marion, IA to visit my aunt. We had a wonderful visit and enjoyed the stay.

Today, we left Marion and headed toward the Dakota's. But before we left Iowa we took a small detour to visit the "Field of Dreams" ball field. Actually it was a lot of fun and interesting.  Did a lot of driving today to make it to Pierre, SD. Pierre is the capital of SD and is on the  Missouri River. I was very impressed with the vastness of SD. It has these wonderful rolling hills that afford great vistas of the prairie.

Enough for now, sorry no pictures maybe later. Heading for the Badlands and Mount Rushmore tomorrow, keep you posted.

Leaving DC

Tomorrow we, Angie and me, are leaving DC for home. It will have been a week since I arrived in DC and it been a good week. I've spent the week doing almost nothing except visiting with family and friends. I tried to sit down an write a recap of my journey eastward but just couldn't get very far before I was off doing something else.

The weather here has be absolutely exceptional, moderate humidity and  the temperature has been in the high 80's, low 90's. Very pleasant walking around weather for DC.
It was great to have some time with Jennifer(daughter) and her significant other Per. They came in to have dinner with me the first night (last Tuesday) which I really enjoyed and appreciated,. not having anyone to really talk to for more than a week.
Angie, came in on Wednesday night. We spent some time catching up and relaxing. I found it hard adjusting at first, wanting to go to bed when the sunset and get up with the sunrise, typical road behavior.
Some how Angie wasn't into it.

On Friday night Jennifer and Per took us to the Nationals  Park to watch the Nationals beat the Phillies.
Its a great stadium and we had great seats thanks to Per.

I got the windshield fixed on Thursday, now I can once again see the world without a crack the shape of a long horn steers horns.

Chris (son) and his family arrived on Saturday morning. Oh what a joy seeing them; especially the baby, Annabel.
The baby turned 1 on July 31 and she is just a jewel, but then I'm only slightly prejudice.

We, as a family, along with our good friend Vivian Lock, went to dinner at a local French restaurant which was very enjoyable; great food great family, just lovely. It was nice to have the whole family together again, its been awhile.

Unfortunately, Annabel, the poor dear, was under the influence of a viral infection acquired at her day care, and as the evening progressed became feverish and couldn't sleep. So, in the early morning we go the tour of upper northwest DC looking for the DC Children's Hospital. What an adventure.

The doctor said it just the virus and to give her infant Motrin and Tylenol. This proved easier said than done. It seem that Motrin has had this massive recall on the infant formula and even the generic was hard to come by. I shopped at least three CVS drugstores with no luck. Her parents eventually found some up by DuPont Circle.
This weekend was in part suppose to give Chris and Kathleen a chance to spend some quality time together while the grandparents enjoyed the baby. They had arranged to spend a night in a local hotel while we watched the baby. I was with a great deal of trepidation that we had to call them, at 2:00 am concerned with the persistent temperature Annabel seem to be running. Not the time off they had hoped. I feel a bit inadequate, not being able to handle this for them. I was one of those up and down nights. We did get some good grandparent time with her though and that was what was really nice. Chris, Kathleen and Annabel left for home this afternoon. I hope she gets better soon.
So now we're, actually Angie, is cleaning up the condo and getting ready to start off tomorrow.

We're heading off to Lexington tomorrow.

Oh! If I hadn't mentioned it Angie is not a camper. Her idea of camping is the Best Western motel chain, sorry Best Western. So probably  no more sunrise/sunsets over the camp site. As  you can see by the map we're heading west then turning north. We're visiting my aunt  in Iowa and going to visit Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone before getting home. Of course there will be a lot of highway in between; since we have only 7 days to get across the US I don't see to many side roads. Bummer.
I'll be back in touch.

Day 15 and 16 Atlanta to Savannah to Washington DC

I've made it to Washington D.C. This is the conclusion of the eastbound leg of this journey. Angie is due in this evening and we'll spend ~a week here enjoying the kids. Chris, Kathleen and Annabel are coming this weekend and we'll have grandbaby time. Looking forward to that.
My intention is to, over the next couple of days, write a recap of my journey embellishing the previous posts. I hope this has been some interest to you. I would like to hear from those of you who have been following me, email, facebook, what ever. Thanks for those who have left comments along the way.
So now to report on the last two days.

Day 15: Atlanta to Savannah, GA

After my post of Day 14 I took a drive around Atlanta it was just to hot to do much else. Its a big city with great architecture and skyscrapers. Not many people on the street again the heat.

My campsite was about 50 miles outside of Atlanta heading to Macon, GA. It was a wonderful State park on a gorgeous lake. This is what I imagine the wilderness was like when the first settlers arrived. Very serene.

Had dinner at the Fair Air restaurant. Reputably the best BBQ in Georgia, at least according to the sign out front.  If this is the best Georgia has to offer I'll do BBQ somewhere else.

The drive to Savannah was interesting in that I tried to take some of the route that Sherman took on his infamous march to the sea. Lots of great country and little towns along the way. Stopped at a road side stand and bought some Gerorgia peaches. Tryed to see one of the plantations along the way, went 8 miles off the main road on to find it closed, bummer.
Drove through Macon, GA, didn't spend much time but has some great history. 

Great little rest stop between Macon, GA and Savannah

Savannah GA, lovely city. It's the first city out side of San Antonio that I acutally felt that tourist where in town. This is a place I would like to spend some time in.

Had a great dinner at the Boar's Head restruent in Shavannah. A bit touristy bout a good meal. Yes that's grits on top of the shrimp.

Walked through an number of the famous squares. Love the hanging moss.

My camp site was 8 miles out on the islands, Skidaway Island to presice. Again another state park, I really enjoyed the state parks. Great dive through the Atalantic marshes.

Day 16: Savannah GA. to Washington DC.
Along day on the road. Rather then spend another night on the road I decided to get on the Interstate and get to DC. I really dislike the Interstate; not much to see other than semi's and other cars all go fast. But it got me here in time to have a martini and dinner with Jennifer and Per.

Did stop in Hilton Head SC, just to see what its all about. Lovely but very congested with vacationers. Nice beach.
OK, that's it for now

Day 12, 13 & 14 A lot of traveling

I've finally gotten to an Internet connection and power supply all in the same place. The last couple of days I have put a lot of miles behind me. As you can see by the maps I've been through much of the south and down to the Gulf coast.
There is a lot to see and just driving though has be a great experience. Again I'm trying to travel on secondary road rather then the Interstates, sometimes this works other times, for the sake of time, its not practical.

Day 12: Left Nashville and went south to Mobile, Al. I was a long drive but scenic.
Not much to really write about; passed through Birmingham and Montgomery, didn't spend any time to speak of however. Big cities with a lot of civil rights history them. Skirted Mobile on my wave to rural campsite in Vancleve, MS; yes back in MS again.

One of the many towns I been through

Turkey anyone.

Not my camp site.
The site was one of the more interesting ones thus far. Because of the uncertainty of the storm forecasted for the Gulf area I rented a cabin for the night. It consisted of a single room with a queen and bunk beds. I got there late in the evening. As I arrived I was informed that the car was clattering and I might need to check the oil, which I did the next morning. But I did give me a night of some concern. It's unfortunate I didn't get any picture here but arriving late and leaving early under apprehension caused me to neglect my photo opportunities.

Day 13: Vancleve, MS to Dorthan, AL

Back on the Gulf of Mexico again. This time I'm drove along the coast route looking for oil. Fortunately, it's been pretty well cleaned up along the resort areas. It did seem a bit deserted. Not many soles on the beach around the noon hour. Great resorts, big massive hotels with tons of rooms most empty I think.

Very overcast because of the storm moving through. No rain but lots of wind blowing in to shore. This leg has taken me through Gulfport & Biloxi, MS, Mobile, Al, Pensacola, FL  for a frame of reference. Most of my travels were along the coastal byways.
Heading north trough AL , toward Columbus, GA.

Found this marvelous state park north of Dothon, AL. It's on a lake and maintained by the Corp of Engineers. Just beautiful. Sampled the local cuisine at the Anchor Inn. It seems that in the south everything is fried.

Day 14: Eufaula, AL to Atlanta, GA

This Morning woke to great sun rise and motor boats on the lake. This  a very beautiful camp. On the road to Atlanta. It's been an easy day on the driving front.
Atlanta is a gorgeous big city with great architecture and downtown. As of this writing I haven't walked around but have spent sometime driving around looking for a Starbuck's. I have been past CNN headquarters though; impressed?
I've gained another hour, I'm working on EST now which has shortened my day. Oh the weather report in the mid 90 but not to humid. Off to see Atlanta. Post again soon.

Day 11 Memphis, TN to Nashville, TN

Graceland.

OK. I can check that off my list. Really it wasn't as gosh as I had expected. It was done well and interesting. I can why its such a peilgrimage for those who are big Elvis fans. Devotion has its price however, the prices are a bit steep starting with the $10 parking. The various tours range from ~$40 (the Mansion tour)  to >$60 (the everything tour). If it weren't for my senior discount and AAA...there are advantages to getting old I guess.

I got on the road sometime around 11:00 after the tour. Did I tell you that McDonald's is wifi; I'm floored how much connectivity has infiltrated all aspects of our lives.The drive was relative short ~ 4 hours. Following my intent to stay off major freeways was impossible. I tried a couple of times to get off US40 to State 70 but for what ever reason I could never make the connection. I took it as fate after a while and just did the US40 route. It wasn't very scenic, it is lined with trees on both sides with very few breaks. Not much of a picture opportunity.

Arrived in Nashville and was confronted with a major traffic jam; Oh big cities what a joy.
Downtown at sunset

 Old and New at sunset

Cooling down in Nashville

Jack', A simple place for dinner with the locals

Had a great night on Broadway, the entertainment district. Lots of saloons with live music. It was a very dead Thursday night as I was informed by one or more of the locals. Most of the bars were less then full. A bit of a disappointment I guess. 

Walked around the downtown some and to the Tennessee river.
Heading south today through Alabama to Mobil area.
Hope everyone is good and your enjoying this as much as I am.