It's Good To Be Back Home Again!

This last day of our grand tour started in Northwestern Pennsylvania and ended in Mt Holly, NJ, for a "welcome home dinner" (not technically our home, but close enough). Cheryl drove the middle third of our trip, the pretty part, the north to south part as we followed first the Juniata River, then the Susquehanna from State College to Harrisburg. As usual on this journey, there were lots and lots of construction sites along the way.

The end of our day, however, was the most memorable moment. As we pulled up to the home of our son & daughter-in-law, our smiling granddaughter, Amalia, waved a checkered flag from the front porch. We had arrived! Our 29 days of living out of a suitcase had come to an end.

Now that we're back, we took the time to do a little math. Here's a way to understand how vast our country actually is.....what it means to drive through all that nothing. The area of Texas is 268,820 square miles, equivalent to more than 172 million acres. As of July, 2011 the entire population of the USA was 311,591,917. So....every single man, woman and child living in the US could move to their own half acre of Texas, and Texas would have room left over! The rest of the country would be empty!

Our trip is now a compilation of memories. One thing about driving a Corvette: no room for souvenirs. The experiences and several hundred photos are all there is. We have had such an awesome trip and met so many interesting people along the way. Both our Corvette and/or the NJ license plates were the start of conversations all over the country as people were amazed that we had driven that far in that small car. 

It was truly a once in a lifetime experience!

We're Getting Closer

Wednesday we left Indiana and headed back into familiar territory. We've never actually been to this particular part of northwestern PA, but Pennsylvania, where our day ended, is technically "home turf", since we both grew up in Bucks County, PA. 

Our first two hours of driving were off the interstate. We were surprised to see Amish and Mennonites in Indiana, since we've known these people generically as "Pennsylvania Dutch". Our first hint was a sign for a Mennonite school. When did you last see wash hanging on the line? Apparently Wednesday is wash day in Indiana, since we saw laundry hanging in back yards all along US Rt. 20 as we headed east. One childhood memory we shared was the unforgettable smell of sheets dried outdoors.

In the space of about 45 minutes we passed three burned out - to the ground! - homes. Ironically, a sign stated that the same section of highway 20 had been "adopted" by the local firefighters. Maybe if they spent less time picking up litter....

We decided to skip Cleveland and the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" (too much to see for a quick stop; maybe another road trip?) and Enrico Biscotti in Pittsburgh (a favorite from prior visits; the best biscotti ever!). On our second pass we photographed the "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign on Rt 80 (camera trouble) and prepared for landing in Slippery Rock, PA. We ended our day with dinner at the kitschy North Country Brewery.

We drove 375.7 miles today and saw 4 Corvettes.

Hey....Look What We Found

Tuesday and we're on our way to an overnight stop in Indiana....but first we decide to take a trip to Chicago for a late lunch. Chicago had been on our original itinerary but when we added a day to go to Jackson Hole the hotel in Chicago wasn't able to accommodate us a day later.
 

On our way we realized that we could pick up a small piece of Route 66 from Joliet to Chicago so...."let's do it". There really wasn't much left of the old road but we did find a few places still cashing in on the Route 66 nostalgia.
 

We had never seen Lake Michigan before and were amazed at the size. It seemed a little strange to us to see people in bathing suits sitting on the "beach" in the shadow of all the skyscrapers. Navy Pier was very cool.....the kind of place you could go to with friends for a nice dinner or just stop and get drinks and people watch. There were several different types of boat cruises available but we opted for lunch at Margaritaville (we didn't even know it was there until we got there) and then a ride on the giant ferris wheel. It was a little disappointing in that it only takes you around once. But the view was amazing. We met a guy wearing a Phillies hat who was surprised that we didn't know that the Phillies were in Chicago. He was there to see the game. The traffic getting out of Chicago was typical of most large cities. After a few frustrating moments we were on our way and said "goodbye" to another city.


We crossed the Mississippi River today and re-entered the eastern time zone. We drove 370.6 miles today and saw 0 Corvettes.

Boy It Sure Is Flat Out Here

Monday our day began and ended by waterfalls. We started our day in Sioux Falls, IA, by driving to the Falls Park and viewing the beautiful Big Sioux River Falls.

 

Next we took off for Iowa. The drive was so different from what we've experienced on most of our trip. Lots and lots of rolling hills in the beginning of the day followed by nothing but flat fields of what we suspect is corn later in the day. We could see forever and yet see nothing at all. Judging by all of the contrails we really are in the "fly over states".

Lunch was at the Midwest Deli and Grill in Holstein, IA. We went to Holstein because of a sign advertising "pirates". It turns out the pirates were the local high school mascot and are no more due to a recent merger with another area school. The "philly cheesesteak was really good....would have been great if they had Philadelphia style rolls. A hamburger bun just doesn't make it.

Dinner was (belated Mother's Day dinner) at the Iowa River Power Company. We had a fantastic dinner by the Iowa River. The view was spectacular. Too bad this place isn't closer to home. The owner noticed our car and talked to us for quite awhile about his 3 Corvettes. A '69, '70, & '72. We encouraged him to join in the next Caravan to Bowling Green, 2014. Maybe we'll meet up with him again.

We drove 396.9 miles today and saw 3 Corvettes.

Happy Mothers' Day

Sunday  (Mothers' Day) started with calls from our boys. Living "on the road" really impacts how you celebrate holidays. Instead of enjoying the traditional Mothers' Day brunch, we took off after a hearty breakfast of coffee and granola bars. Today we'd share a nice light lunch and a special dinner. 

Our first destination was the "Badlands" of South Dakota. 244,000 acres of severely eroded volcanic clay that separate the high plains from the low. Imagine several hundred square miles of drippy sand castles. This area is a "grand canyon" of clay, about 500,000 years old. Like the Painted Desert, the Badlands change every time it rains. They lose about an inch of material a year. In another half million years, about when the Crazy Horse Monument is finished, they'll be gone. The Visitor's Center offered lunch: Mothers' Day special buffet featuring Prime Rib. No thanks.

The rest of South Dakota is pretty flat. We had noticed that Wyoming was greener than Utah. The Sage Brush slowly replaced by patches of grass. In SD the grass seems to take over. I'm reminded of how Eskimos have different names for different kinds of snow. When all you see is miles of nothing, you begin to notice different kinds of nothing. South Dakota  is a lot of nothing.

We purposely skipped Wall Drug. 100 miles of hype is more than we can bear. We did stop for a late lunch to find that we had crossed into the Central Time Zone - lost an hour and were just in time for an early dinner. The Mothers' Day Special was Prime Rib. No thanks.

Just like in Kentucky, three weeks ago, it was hard to find anything open on a Sunday night. By the time we got to Sioux Falls, our choices were burgers or pizza. We could walk to the pizza place and they served adult beverages. Luckily for Cheryl, Mothers' Day will happen again next year.

Today we saw 1 mid-year Corvette and drove 438.7 miles

A Landmark Day

Before getting into Saturday's travels, I'd like to thank our federal government and the state of Wyoming for building such beautiful highways for our singular use. Driving from Casper first to Devil's Tower, then Mt. Rushmore we could not believe the amount of time we spent without another living soul in sight. We definitely saw more cows than cars, and assuming there were people in the cars, more deer and antelope (they appeared to be eating, the playing must come later) than people.

Looking for the first glimpse of Devil's Tower was a lot like trying to be first to see the ferris wheel on the road to Great Adventure. Cheryl saw it first from 17 miles away. The monolith rises 1,300 feet above the Belle Fourche River. You've all seen this phenomenon as a major player in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Seeing it live is like the difference between listening to "Margaritaville" on the stereo and singing along with Jimmy Buffett at a concert. I'm running out of adjectives to describe the incredible natural wonders we've seen on this trip.

The one special difference about Mt. Rushmore is that humans made it. That alone adds to the wonder. As beautiful and awe inspiring as it is, it was not as big (yeah, it's huge, but you see it from far away) as I had expected. It is however just as incredible a landmark to see "live". Rushmore is gorgeous at night. The nightly lighting ceremony (lasers and music) starts tomorrow. We're a day early again.

 

The sculpture of Crazy Horse will be WAY bigger than Rushmore, but has a long way to go. Maybe a spot our great-grandkids won't want to miss. This is not a criticism, but they could have told us the statue was barely taking shape before hyping us into going to see it.

During our drive we detoured into the Black Hills (singing Rocky Raccoo-oon) to see the Wild West town of Deadwood, SD and the actual spot where Wild Bill Hickock was murdered. We passed the historic Salt Creek Oil Fields (in WY) and even noticed a section of Hwy 14 that had been "adopted" by Leather & Lace Adult Gifts. I wanted to turn back to document this last spot with a photo, but Cheryl vetoed. Not all landmarks are as exciting as the others.

We saw 4 Corvettes today including one late 50's model that was out enjoying a ride on a beautiful day in Wyoming and we drove 390.5 miles.

Two, Two, Two Trips In One....

Friday's trip was almost like two trips. We started by going back to Grand Teton Park to re-create Ansel Adams' iconic Snake River photo in the morning light. That way the sun would shine on the mountains, not from behind them. The Tetons were even more spectacular in the morning sun.

From the park we headed east through the mountains high enough to drive through snow. The road was dry, but the plowed piles still lined the road. The temperature dropped to 34 degrees. Twenty minutes later, we watched people walk around in short sleeves as our car's outside thermometer read 52 degrees. The road was wide as it rose and dipped trough the mountains. We followed Lava Creek then Wind River down the eastern side of the range. The landcape turned gradually drier with fewer tall pines and more smaller bushes.

We stopped for lunch at the Cowboy Cafe in Dubois (dew-boys) WY. Their specialty - Buffalo burgers! Dubois' population  is 971 according to the signs, with a busy three block downtown and a good sized "suburban" commercial zone that included two lumber yards. Obviously, Dubois depends on the surrounding ranches and resorts for a living.

Just east of town is several miles of "badlands" that rival the Painted Desert. From there the drying of the landscape increased. Soon we were in the second half of our trip. We drove arrow straight through at least 150 miles of high desert to Casper, WY. Cheryl was driving when we encountered our first curve in the road and I was jealous!

Since we were on a state road and not the interstate, we drove through several small towns including one with the published population of 10 (ten!). The one redeeming point of interest was "Devil's Half Acre". Actually 300+ acres of grotesquely eroded rock that looked so other worldly that it was used to film the sci-fi movie "Starship Troopers". It is said that Indians used the canyon as a trap for Buffalo, driving herds over the edge and collecting the carcasses at the bottom.

We arrived in Casper mid afternoon with plenty of time for laundry, (perhaps the last loads we'll need to do on the road) a work out and would have gone for a swim if the pool had not been closed for repairs. Dinner was at the "World Famous Wonder Bar", where at least until the mid 1940's you could ride your horse right up to the bar. Everybody seemed to be having a good time, some things are the same all over the USA. My guess, judging from their fluorescent sun burns, is that the "cowboys" spend their day wrangling TPS Reports, not heifers. 

We were heartily welcomed at the Casper Elks' Lodge. These guys were really having fun! And truly amazed to hear our tale of the road. "What brings you to Casper?" was followed by "You DROVE here?!" It was BOGO night at the bar. Josh bought us a round, when I ordered another, it was free. I had never tried Pendleton's Whiskey, so a "taste" was free, so was Cheryl's "Colorado Bulldog" (It may have been called something else, but to the best of our slightly fuzzy recollection of last night, we're going with Bulldog). We saw less of Casper than we did of some other towns, but what we saw we really enjoyed.

We drove 282 miles today and saw 3 Corvettes.