Getting Our Kicks en Route 06

Finally, after almost one year, the final post. Here are a few statistics:

Start Date: May 26, 2006
End Date: July 6, 2006
Days on the Road: 42(amazingly enough, exactly as planned from the start!)

Total Miles: 9,964
Average Miles per Day: 237
Best Gas Mileage: 10.05 mpg
Worst Gas Mileage: 6.79 mpg (Mostly in the mountains going fast to get home)
Average Gas Mileage: 8.05 mpg
Highest Fuel Price (Regular Unleaded): $3.10 (July 3rd)
Lowest Fuel Price: $2.53 (July 6th)
Average Fuel Price : $2.81

Frozen Burritos Consumed: Lost Count
Number of Days Driving in the Desert: Too Many

Labels: Final Entry

Here's a look at all the states we've visited in our Motorhome (California was on a previous trip)



Later, we'll post a few statistics and highlights for the trip - like miles traveled, etc.

Trail's End...

We discovered Cracker Barrel Country Stores in every state except here on the West Coast and Nevada. Geared for travelers, they are so much fun!
Old fashioned toys and candies, and a front porch filled with rocking chairs so you can "set a spell"! You can "borrow" books on tape and return them at any of their locations.

We spent MANY hours listening to some great tales on the road, and several nights in Cracker Barrel parking lots.

Remember when McDonald's looked like this? This one is in Boise, Idaho. We actually didn't over do on fast food. It's nice to take your kitchen with you on the road!

Our last night on the road, and we had a beautiful camping spot right on the Snake River.

Simple pleasures really are the best! Joseph thoroughly enjoyed his wind-up balsa wood airplane (from Cracker Barrel, of course!)

The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center was very interesting.

We stood in the actual wheel ruts of the Oregon Trail!

Home at last...

...in time to enjoy our own hometown celebration of Derby Days!

So good to see friends again "jazzing things up" in the parade!

Who has the biggest smile: This clown or three weary travelers happy to be home?

A scramblin' good time at the carnival!

Even the Fun House at the carnival can't compare to the happiness of just being home.

Time to catch up again - 29 new pictures!


"Remember the Alamo"

San Antonio River Walk

Along with a couple of regular sized ones, which ran across the road in front of us, we spotted the World's Largest Road Runner in Fort Stockton, New Mexico. And they say everything's bigger in Texas, hmph!

billions of billboards!

Despite miles of reminders, we never did stop to see The Thing?

We've been through rain, wind, sun, snow, hail, but fortunately no dust storms.

Nothing like an ice cold Sarsparilla in a real Ghost Town - Steins, New Mexico. The girl working there told us her grandpa called up her grandma on the phone one day and said, "Sell the house, we bought us a ghost town!" Not MY idea of a fun retirement project, but to each his own!

Geronimo! (monument where he surrendered)

a tornado in the distance on the way to Tombstone, Arizona

We took a stagecoach ride in Tombstone.

The world famous OK Corral where we watched a re-enactment of the famous gunfight.

We saw thousands of this and many other types of catcus.

Yes, we actualy were on Route 66, if only briefly.

Entering the Grand Canyon.

At the South Rim.

Sunset over the Grand Canyon.

Dinosaur footprints in Navajo country, AZ. This was a roadside attraction, where a very drunk (at 8:30 a.m.) tour guide showed us around. Very sad (the alcoholic), but the footprints were intersting.

A Navajo house (a Hogan, pronounced "Hoogan").

A great view from mom's seat. Oh yeah, note the formations in Monument Valley out the window.

Some examples of the hundreds (thousands?) of impressive rock formations we passed. we thought these looked like carved statues of people.

Four Corners monument. We stood on Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Four new stickers to add to the map on the back of the "Rig"!

Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings. The winding up and downhill mountain roads sent mommy cowering under the table and turned her green. Is that how they got the name Mesa Verde?

Joseph thouht the cliff dwellings from 1200 AD were cool. They were much bigger than they apear in this photo. Mommy wouldn't know, she was still recovering under the mesa!

Wilson Arch in Utah.

The guys made it to the top! (Sometimes it's really good to be the designated photographer!)

The Great Salt Desert, Utah. We recognized the Morton Salt plant by the picture of the little girl with the umbrella. Remember when it rains, it pours? This wierd sculpture was just sitting out there in the desert.

Independence Day at West Wendover, Nevada. They were celebrating the town's
15th anniversary.
Making a spectacle of myself with the free glo-sticks the Mayor passed out (along with cherry pies!)

This was part of an excellent small-town fireworks show: a full 18 minutes long with an excellent grand finale.

Liberty Bell, Philadelphia



First Supreme Court, Independence Hall, Phildelphia



The Constitional Convention was here at Independence Hall, Phildelphia



This is the actual chair George Washington used.



Independence Hall, Phildelphia



William eating a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich "Here's to you, Willy"



Philly "Firefighter" - at the Philadelphia Firefighters Museum



Elfreth Alley - Oldest Continously Occupied Residential Street in the U.S.



Betsy Ross' House



Many Philly bldgs have murals like this.



"Master Firebuilder" Joseph bought the wood and marshmallows himself, as well as tended the fire.



An example of how very old (17th and 18th century) houses have been updated.



Flag Day at Annapolis, MD



Pizza boy



Capital Building



View of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Monument



Inside the Lincoln Monument



The White House



Gardens at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Plantation



Monticello



Jamestown, VA "Ranger Joe"



Our guide who took us through the old capitol building at Williamsburg, VA



George Washington and troops marching down the Williamsburg main street



Williamsburg Knuckleheads



"Minuteman Joe" at Williamsburg



Our first visit to Cracker Barrel Country Store - being handed our Welcome Packet!!



Cracker Barrel porch. The rocking chairs are for sale.



Our Fort Wilderness campsite at Walt Disney World





Our favorite ride, "Pirates of the Carribean," was closed, but we found this indoor virtual game to play instead. This is inside "DisneyQuest," a single building at "Downtown Disney" that was full of games.



Julie with her pals at Downtown Disney.



On board a Disney Bus. One of many rides.



Typhoon Lagoon was one of two water parks at Walt Disney World. LOTS of fun! In two days at water parks we were only kicked out of the water once for a thunderstorm.



Do you rememeber this hand-slapping game from when you were a kid? Joseph and William played it a lot to while away the hours waiting in line.



The monorail runs right through one of the Disney resorts. Cool.



Ten months AFTER Katrina in New Orleans



They were right. Everything is big in Texas. It may be hard to tell in this picture, but this grasshopper was at LEAST three inches long!

Oh, my goodness! I don't think we have EVER played this hard!! We are absolutely wearing ourselves out with FUN! There is just NO TIME for chores like laundry or blogging, and barely enough time for eating or sleeping! Walt Disney World is AMAZING! We do have a few pictures from Philly and I don't remember where else, that we will post soon, but right now we're off to Blizzard Beach water park for the day. We have "done" the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon water park (where one can swim with the sharks- and Joseph lost a leg- just pulling your leg!)We just swam with all the other people! Yesterday was Epcot, where we traveled around the world in 15 hours! Our "dogs were barking" as they say here in the south. Sorry to say we have not been taking pictures here. We have not wanted to carry the camera around. NO TIME for picture taking either! 90 plus degree and feels like 90 plus percent humidity days are leaving us looking like limp rags-NOT a pretty picture, anyway!

We have been SO busy, and having a WONDERFUL TIME!! Internet connection has been all but impossible, but we promise to post some pictures and info soon. We saw the Librty Bell and Independence Hall in Philedelphia, Monticello and Williamsburg in Virginia. Also had some more good family time. We are currently at Walt Disney World in HOT and HUMID Orlando, Florida! Splash Mountain never felt so good! Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Love and blessings to all our friends and family, old and new!

The last several days have been very busy with William's cousin's wedding, a visit to Old Bethpage, a family Barbecue and a Yankee's baseball game in New York. We had a great time visiting with relatives, old and new! It has been very difficult to get an internet connection when we finally have the time to blog! We are still enjoying ourselves very much. Today has been a very relaxing day at a KOA campground in Pennsylvania. When we arrived last night we saw our first fire flies! Tomorrow we take a tour in Philadelphia.


Joseph having a "blast" with the Revolutionary War figures he bought for himself in Pennsylvania.


"Hooping" it up 19th century style in Old Bethpage on Long Island, NY.


After seeing many mansions in Newport, Rhode Island, and a fun day at Mystic Seaport, we took the ferry from New London, Conneticut to Orient Point on Long Island.


Who can resist these silly photo ops? This one is at Mystic Seaport.


Aboard the only remaining steam powered passenger vessel, the Sabino, at Mystic Seaport.

William was very dissapointed by the Charles W. Morgan - her fake gun ports he remembered from many years ago have been painted over! But we did get to see a great demonstration about "going aloft" while we were on board. Joseph enjoyed visiting the blacksmith shop the most, Julie enjoyed the Master Wood Carver, and we all learned about making wooden barrels at the Cooperage.


This is just a really nice house across the river from Mystic Seaport.


This was the after-effects of the Nor'easter that blew in while we were trying to visit Boston - there were several places flooded out like this or worse the day AFTER the storm!

Today we took a commuter train to Boston. It was cold, wet, and nothing like I'd ever seen. Umbrellas were being torn apart, and flapping inside out. The rain was colder than usual, and came down in huge sheets. We got soaked. We heard on the news later in the day that it was a real nor'easter (unheard of in June!)
We took a trolley ride, it was really cool, don't get me wrong, but really cold and very wet. It was a historic trolley ride. It went past the Old North Church, Boston Commons, Beacon Hill, the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides). We never left the trolley because it was just too wet to walk around. Brrrrrrrrr! We didn't take the camera out at all-just too wet!

Ohio Amish - Niagara Falls - Vermont - New Hampshire - Maine - Plymouth, MA. Beautiful countryside, lovely old churches, quaint homes...So many places, so little time. Keeping up with this blog is difficult as we are either on the road, sightseeing, or grabbing a quick bite to eat. Besides that our internet connection is slow. So if we fall behind, don't worry, we will catch up when we can.

Joseph's comments from the last six days:

He liked Plymouth the best, especially listening to the role-playing actor who was playing Miles Standish. Joseph knew quite a few facts from what we saw today in Plymouth, and is looking forward to seeing a few places he's learned about that are in Boston.

This Amish buggy was right in front of us on the road in Ohio and was one of many that we saw. We even got to ride in one just like this pulled by Tony the horse, and owned by a bearded Amish gentleman who gave buggy rides because he had been hurt some years ago and could do no menial labor at all.

Niagara Falls is amazing! The volume of water going over the falls is truly staggering - over 600,000 gallons PER SECOND! We went on the Canadian side for a much better view and went under the falls for a different perspective. Cool!

This covered bridge in Vermont is still in use today, but unfortunately, at 10'10", our motorhome would not quite fit through.

The actor playing Mile Standish kept us very entertained/"edutained" aboard the Mayflower II.

Well, we've reached Niagara Falls and left that behind us now - but it's very late, so we are turning in and will post more tomorrow along with some pictures.

Until then...

--William

Here are some pictures to bring y'all up-to-date:

A well fed prairie dog at Prairie Homestead, SD (they don't bark, they squeek!)

A dinosaur we passed on the freeway - advertising for Wall Drug, we think.

Joseph "driving" Mom in the Old West (1880 Town in South Dakota)

Joseph making a new friend. Note the matching corn cob pipes :)

Yes, we went all the way to Mitchell, SD to get this picture of the Corn Palace! How corny can you get?

Grilling burgers for lunch in a former WalMart parking lot in Le Mars,IA - where Julie's grandma was born. (well, not in the paking lot...)

Getting a little exercise at a fuel stop.

Le Mars, IA, is the "ice cream capital of the world." Who knew?



Joseph has been a great traveler-all the way to Ohio so far!

Deadwood - Devil's Tower - Mt Rushmore - Wall Drug - Prairie Homestead & prairie dogs - Badlands - 1880 Western Town - Corn Palace - Bird Watching.

That's a summary of the last two days. We are catching up with the Blog - and will post pictures later.

Deadwood, WY was dissapointing. It's a gambling town - full of smokey casinos. Still, we did get to see a re-enactment of Wild Bill Hickok's assassination and a gunfight in the street.

We did not go right up to Devil's Tower, but got a good look from a mile or so away and called it good enough and headed for Mt. Rushmore.

Mt. Rushmore was FABULOUS!! It was awesome to see, and we stayed for the lighting ceremony which was very well done.

Wall Drug was just as expected - a tourist attraction. It was a must-do sort of thing, and they did have an animatronix T-Rex that was fun and some "singing cowboys" - all very silly, really, but how could we possibly skip Wall Drug? We even have a bumper sticker from them now!

On the way to the Badlands is the Prairie Homestead - which is also home to quite a fair number of prairie dogs. The homestead is a restored sod home made from cutting sod squares out of the local area and using them like big bricks. The prairie dogs did not look real at first - they were so still. Then they started moving around some. They are really very cute - though, of course, quite a pest because of the holes they make in the ground that can break the leg of a horse or cow.

The Badlands is very impressive. It's an other-worLdly landscape not to be missed.

The 1880 Western Town was an impulse visit - just a place we spotted while driving. It was really very nice - lot's of late 19th century buildings from around South Dakota all put together in a town.

The Corn Palace is another of those silly "must see" items. It's really quite unusual and worth seeing, but we arrived about 15 minutes before they closed, but that was enough.

For bird watching, we've spotted many mountain bluebirds, lots of magpies, quite a few red-tail hawks, a golden eagle, dozens of red-winged blackbirds and even few vultures actually dining on carrion.

--William

Today we didn't do much. We looked in a museum in Cody that had a lot of information on Buffalo Bill. Then we drove on for a long time and settled down t a Wal Mart in Gillette, Wyoming.
Who could resist this beauty? Not us! We traded our GreyHawk in for it.






...just kidding, we're not that hokey.

Today we exited Montana and entered wyoming, through yellowstone! There were tons of Bison. Some were on the road unfortunatley! We got a good picture of a calf following it's mother. We saw some elk too. Then we got to sulpher, and didn't see wildlife anymore. We drove through that for a little while and got to an Old Faithful parking lot. We parked and ate lunch. Then we walked over to the lodge. Then we went to the visitor center, and then walked to Old Faithful. "It sprayed up higher than it has in years" I heard a man say. Than we piled back in the motor home and drove to Cody, Wyoming in another Wal Mart parking lot.

Today was very interesting. I'll skip everything about Idaho because we didn't do anything except stay in a Wally's World parking lot. After we got up early in the morning we hit the road again. We entered Montana and visited my uncles house. When we got back on the rode we ran into more of a mud pit than a rode (see on left). See that pot hole? There were thousands of those. We went along at a speeding pace of two miles per hour. After what seemed like hours we got back onto civilized rodes. Right now we are in a KOA Campground. It's getting late so I better turn.

Today we hit the road. We made our first stop at a petrified wood museum in Vantage, Washington. (Overlooking the Columbia River - really beautiful)

We drove on for a little bit more and found wild horses. They were a bit bigger than normal size and made of iron. Right now we are done for the day and staying in a Wal Mart parking lot just inside Idaho.

In exactly 13 days we leave on our " Mega-Trip" as my uncle calls it. Right now we're on our shake-down-outing. I am getting very exited.

16 days before we go!!! Even I (Joseph) am getting exited. It's gonna be really fun.

:)

Just a brief note to summarize the trip for those who want to know:

We are going East on I-90 to Boston, NY, Philly, D.C., Williamsburg and Orlando; then West all the way to Tombstone, AZ; North to Salt Lake City and then Northwest to home. All in our 25' Jayco 24SS Class C Motorhome.

The adventure begins in only 17 days!! Yipes! NOT ready...

--William

Less than four weeks before we leave! (hi from Joseph). This is a test to see if we can figure out how to do this blog thing. We invite you to visit often and "join us" on our travels around the United States.