HOME....oooh so sweet.
We're looking out from our crow's nest on the 48th parallel with a backward view of the USA. There are so many memories of adventure and fond thoughts of super people circulating and distilling in each of us. The trip has become part of our beings. We are grateful for safe passage.
Final Odometer: 10141
States: Montana, Idaho, Washington Total: 28
Countries: 2
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
From Rapid City, South Dakota to Butte, Montana
On the road again.....and no planned sights to see, but there were some sights that we couldn't avoid seeing.
Just a short distance outside of Rapid City, near Spearfish, we were one of the first to come upon a truck on fire on the freeway. We gawked until the fire fighters arrived and then gawked some more as they emptied one foam filled truck and then another onto the fire. No one was injured, and fortunately, there was a nearby exit that kept the traffic moving.
Then, in mid-Montana we passed a man running along pushing a 3-wheeled baby jogger. He had a bright yellow 'coast-to-coast' sign on the stroller, and I was able to find his blog tonight, (thank you Google). Evidently, he started in Westport, Washington and is running to Georgia doing about a marathon worth of miles every day. He's Swedish and has done the run once before from the east coast to the west. He carries all of his supplies in the stroller.Wow!
We also passed a prairie dog town with a big sign reading "no shooting/prairie dog study area". The little guys must believe in "don't fence me in", because their burrows were both inside the study area and out.
I've been living with a no shopping rule for the entire trip, (there really is no extra space in the boxster). Today I snapped. We stopped at an intriguing second hand store in a teeny Montana town and found the most wonderful old galvanized steel watering cans; so I bought three. :) One fit in the trunk, one beneath my feet, and one in my lap. Just a few hundred miles to go...
Giving symmetry to our trip, here we are in Butte, with Tom Mulcahy. Dinner at the Uptown Cafe, across the street from the historic Finlen Hotel. Great stories, great fun.
Running Odometer: 9819
States: South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana Total: 28
Countries: 2
Just a short distance outside of Rapid City, near Spearfish, we were one of the first to come upon a truck on fire on the freeway. We gawked until the fire fighters arrived and then gawked some more as they emptied one foam filled truck and then another onto the fire. No one was injured, and fortunately, there was a nearby exit that kept the traffic moving.
Then, in mid-Montana we passed a man running along pushing a 3-wheeled baby jogger. He had a bright yellow 'coast-to-coast' sign on the stroller, and I was able to find his blog tonight, (thank you Google). Evidently, he started in Westport, Washington and is running to Georgia doing about a marathon worth of miles every day. He's Swedish and has done the run once before from the east coast to the west. He carries all of his supplies in the stroller.Wow!
We also passed a prairie dog town with a big sign reading "no shooting/prairie dog study area". The little guys must believe in "don't fence me in", because their burrows were both inside the study area and out.
I've been living with a no shopping rule for the entire trip, (there really is no extra space in the boxster). Today I snapped. We stopped at an intriguing second hand store in a teeny Montana town and found the most wonderful old galvanized steel watering cans; so I bought three. :) One fit in the trunk, one beneath my feet, and one in my lap. Just a few hundred miles to go...
Giving symmetry to our trip, here we are in Butte, with Tom Mulcahy. Dinner at the Uptown Cafe, across the street from the historic Finlen Hotel. Great stories, great fun.
Running Odometer: 9819
States: South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana Total: 28
Countries: 2
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Albert Lea, Minnesota to Rapid City, South Dakota
Driving all day in a straight line we finished off Minnesota and most of South Dakota, Sturgis...Deadwood...Wall. The prairies are strikingly beautiful today dressed in greens of every hue. The grasses look soft, velvety, mossy, a real prairie dog paradise. There's been rain, and that's left many areas of standing water, pools and ponds that are wetlands now, but will be sipped dry by the summer sun. We stop at Wall Drug, just because it's there. We're in earlyish. One long day to go and then home is a chip shot.
Running Odometer: 9261
States: Minnesota, South Dakota Total: 28
Running Odometer: 9261
States: Minnesota, South Dakota Total: 28
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Lansing, Michigan to Albert Lea, Minnesota
Lots of miles today and late getting off the road, but we are once again west of the Mississippi and that's the appropriate river bank for us. Sight seeing is no longer a goal. We are headed for home.
The highlight of our day was lunch in Wheaton, Illinois with Ram and Rani Ramaswamy. Rani treated us to crispy hot dosai with chutney and sambar. Delicious! The dosai is similar to a crepe, but thinner and more savory. We were honored to enjoy Rani's cooking. While we were together, the four of us gathered in front of the computer and visited with Vivek and Sophia via webcam. This is the first time all four grandparents have been together since Sophia was born and we all oohed and aahed in unison over our darling baby. Thank you to Vivek's mom and dad for being such gracious hosts.
Running Odometer: 8708
States: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota Total: 28
Countries: 2
The highlight of our day was lunch in Wheaton, Illinois with Ram and Rani Ramaswamy. Rani treated us to crispy hot dosai with chutney and sambar. Delicious! The dosai is similar to a crepe, but thinner and more savory. We were honored to enjoy Rani's cooking. While we were together, the four of us gathered in front of the computer and visited with Vivek and Sophia via webcam. This is the first time all four grandparents have been together since Sophia was born and we all oohed and aahed in unison over our darling baby. Thank you to Vivek's mom and dad for being such gracious hosts.
Running Odometer: 8708
States: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota Total: 28
Countries: 2
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Niagara Falls, Ontario to Lansing, Michigan
Water, water, everywhere, which brings with it the threat of hypothermia.
We voyage on the Maid of the Mist, (which has been in operation since 1846), out into the Niagara basin. A hint of what is to come are the dark blue rain ponchos issued to each passenger. The boat putt-putts past American Falls and we feel some of its spray; then the boat heads to Horseshoe Falls and turns directly into the face of the waterfall and holds there....forever. The tour guide, speaking over the PA system, intones, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Niagara Falls." Indeed. Being in such close proximity to this tremendous force of nature was very awe inspiring, BUT, also like standing in a cold, unrelenting shower.
Our second adventure is the Journey Behind the Falls. This time it's a bright yellow poncho. We are taken by elevator down the equivalent of 14 stories and then allowed to wander long concrete corridors that open to viewing platforms deep in the gorge, below the falls. The ponchos are a necessity, but standing in the splash zone is an option this time. The striking feature to me, is the thunderous roar.
Next stop is Niagara's Fury, a multi-media presentation which is inside a theater, so I'm suspicious when we are handed green ponchos. I ask if we're going to get wet and the answer is "just a little bit". We learn about the geology of the area culminating with a big screen shot of the waterfall complete with heavy mist descending on us from above.
Last stop is the White Water Walk, which is a boardwalk along the Niagara River. No ponchos, and the class 6 rapids are astounding.
Niagara Falls is a beautiful natural phenomenon. The area is surrounded by a lovely park, but it is bordered with a casino, a ferris wheel, a water park, Hard Rock Cafe and a Ripley's Believe It Or Not. WHY???
Running Odometer: 8048
States: Michigan Total: 25
Countries: 2
We voyage on the Maid of the Mist, (which has been in operation since 1846), out into the Niagara basin. A hint of what is to come are the dark blue rain ponchos issued to each passenger. The boat putt-putts past American Falls and we feel some of its spray; then the boat heads to Horseshoe Falls and turns directly into the face of the waterfall and holds there....forever. The tour guide, speaking over the PA system, intones, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Niagara Falls." Indeed. Being in such close proximity to this tremendous force of nature was very awe inspiring, BUT, also like standing in a cold, unrelenting shower.
Our second adventure is the Journey Behind the Falls. This time it's a bright yellow poncho. We are taken by elevator down the equivalent of 14 stories and then allowed to wander long concrete corridors that open to viewing platforms deep in the gorge, below the falls. The ponchos are a necessity, but standing in the splash zone is an option this time. The striking feature to me, is the thunderous roar.
Next stop is Niagara's Fury, a multi-media presentation which is inside a theater, so I'm suspicious when we are handed green ponchos. I ask if we're going to get wet and the answer is "just a little bit". We learn about the geology of the area culminating with a big screen shot of the waterfall complete with heavy mist descending on us from above.
Last stop is the White Water Walk, which is a boardwalk along the Niagara River. No ponchos, and the class 6 rapids are astounding.
Niagara Falls is a beautiful natural phenomenon. The area is surrounded by a lovely park, but it is bordered with a casino, a ferris wheel, a water park, Hard Rock Cafe and a Ripley's Believe It Or Not. WHY???
Running Odometer: 8048
States: Michigan Total: 25
Countries: 2
Monday, May 10, 2010
Montreal, Quebec to Niagara Falls, Ontario
Today's scenery is wide expanses of green fields, an occasional smattering of trees and large tracts of range land. Compared to what we've seen in the past weeks, it's "pretty", not spectacular. We skim the outskirts of Toronto on an expressway. It's a city of 2.5 million, but we shoot right by. We can see the CN Tower, (the world's tallest free standing structure), in the distance. We pass over a finger of Lake Ontario....and it is indeed a 'great' lake as far as the eye can see.
Arriving in Niagara Falls we turn towards our hotel and see the American Falls portion of the cataract at the end of the street. It's enough to cause a double-take. We walk the viewing pathway and the mist in the air is refreshing and amazing that it's infused in the air even at this distance.
Rainbows come and go in the watery air. One makes a full-scale arc, framing completely American Falls, with the pot of gold somewhere under the water's depths.
Standing just at the verge of Horseshoe Falls where the water rushes over the edge I feel like I'm going with it even though my feet are firmly on the pathway.
Our hotel balcony overlooks the spectacle of water and sound. We plan to leave the glass door open so we can fall asleep to the rush of the falls.
Running Odometer: 7718
States: 0 Total: 24
Countries: 2
Arriving in Niagara Falls we turn towards our hotel and see the American Falls portion of the cataract at the end of the street. It's enough to cause a double-take. We walk the viewing pathway and the mist in the air is refreshing and amazing that it's infused in the air even at this distance.
Rainbows come and go in the watery air. One makes a full-scale arc, framing completely American Falls, with the pot of gold somewhere under the water's depths.
Standing just at the verge of Horseshoe Falls where the water rushes over the edge I feel like I'm going with it even though my feet are firmly on the pathway.
Our hotel balcony overlooks the spectacle of water and sound. We plan to leave the glass door open so we can fall asleep to the rush of the falls.
Running Odometer: 7718
States: 0 Total: 24
Countries: 2
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Quebec City, Quebec to Montreal, Quebec
We are in the land of bonjour, bienvenue and au revoir, but this time we haven't left the continent. Old Quebec City looks just as if a cookie cutter piece has been dislodged from the side streets of Paris and set down along the St Lawrence River. This is the only walled city in the US and Canada.
We walk the Dufferin Terrace lined with cannons left over from the days when protection was critical. The terrace fronts the St Lawerence, above the Old Port. The Chateau Frontenac, a sister hotel to the Banff Springs Hotel, was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1893. It is an imposing chateau rising above the walkway like an enormous castle complete with turrets and a slanted copper roof, gone green. The narrow streets are populated by horse-drawn carriages, or caleches, offering journeys through the venerable city.
A funiculaire which has been in operation for 130 years takes us down to the Old Port. The track is 64 meters in length, dropping down 59 meters. Here we find old-world cobbled streets and the Place Royale, the oldest French settlement in North America.
The Citadelle of Quebec was built in 1820 to secure the area against the Americans. It was used in more modern times as a meeting place for Churchill and FDR during the second world war. It is still in use as a military installation by the Canadian armed forces. To enter the fortress we travel a narrow walled drive that we cannot move into until the light turns green, as it is the only path in and out and is one car at a time, one way at a time.
Downtown Montreal is sleek, clean and modern; but we head into the old city near the quais where we enjoy the Basilica of Notre Dame and the Rue Saint Paul and savor a delicious Mother's Day dinner, (they have lobster in Montreal).
As we take the exit to our hotel, a rusty red fox scoots in front of the car reminding us that we are not far from the wilds of Canada.
Happy Mother's Day to all my 'Mom' friends and family; especially to the mother's of the singularly exceptional Sean, Anna, and Sophia.
Running Odometer: 7259
States: 0 Total: 24
Countries: 2
We walk the Dufferin Terrace lined with cannons left over from the days when protection was critical. The terrace fronts the St Lawerence, above the Old Port. The Chateau Frontenac, a sister hotel to the Banff Springs Hotel, was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1893. It is an imposing chateau rising above the walkway like an enormous castle complete with turrets and a slanted copper roof, gone green. The narrow streets are populated by horse-drawn carriages, or caleches, offering journeys through the venerable city.
A funiculaire which has been in operation for 130 years takes us down to the Old Port. The track is 64 meters in length, dropping down 59 meters. Here we find old-world cobbled streets and the Place Royale, the oldest French settlement in North America.
The Citadelle of Quebec was built in 1820 to secure the area against the Americans. It was used in more modern times as a meeting place for Churchill and FDR during the second world war. It is still in use as a military installation by the Canadian armed forces. To enter the fortress we travel a narrow walled drive that we cannot move into until the light turns green, as it is the only path in and out and is one car at a time, one way at a time.
Downtown Montreal is sleek, clean and modern; but we head into the old city near the quais where we enjoy the Basilica of Notre Dame and the Rue Saint Paul and savor a delicious Mother's Day dinner, (they have lobster in Montreal).
As we take the exit to our hotel, a rusty red fox scoots in front of the car reminding us that we are not far from the wilds of Canada.
Happy Mother's Day to all my 'Mom' friends and family; especially to the mother's of the singularly exceptional Sean, Anna, and Sophia.
Running Odometer: 7259
States: 0 Total: 24
Countries: 2
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