North Carolina to Atlantic City!

This will be a catch-up post for the last couple of days. Sorry there was no update yesterday, but the day just got away from me!

We drove from North Carolina to Virginia to stay with my brother, Jay and his wife Ija. It was another boring Interstate highway day, but an easy drive of only about 380 miles. Since it was a fairly short drive we would have arrived long before they got home from work, so we decided to stop in Fredricksburg for a few hours. What a beautiful town! Very old, historic buildings, brick sidewalks, lots of shops and restaurants, and plenty to see and do. We had lunch at The Capital Ale House, a great pub with delicious food and a fun bar. It's made of concrete and there's a strip of ice that runs along the whole length to keep your beer nice and cold! Plus they had the friendliest bartender ever! After lunch we walked the downtown area for a while, and Rick did some bench-sitting while I poked around in some antique shops. There are a lot of museums and tours available, but we opted not to do those and just spent a quiet, relaxing afternoon looking around. We had a nice visit with Jay and Ija, with another wonderful home-cooked meal of steaks on the grill, good conversation and lots of laughs. I wish we could have spent more time with them, but we enjoyed our visit and it was good to see them both.

We decided to end our trip with a fun night, so today's plan was to drive to Lewes, DE, catch the ferry to Cape May, NJ and continue on to Atlantic City. We drove Jay into DC for work since we were heading in that direction, and it allowed us to use the HOV lane so we could avoid sitting in the rush hour traffic. If you've ever seen the traffic around there you'll understand what a great plan that was! We made good time, stopped for breakfast along the way, and arrived at the ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare for the 12:45 boat. Once we were in Cape May we had just a short drive to Atlantic City. One more sign that we're getting closer to home was that we used our EZ-Pass for the first time since around Illinois! We're staying at Showboat, and the room is very nice, but Atlantic City is looking a bit tired. We took a walk along the Boardwalk and onto the beach before dinner, and maybe it was because it's so late in the season but everything seemed just a bit run down...more so than the last time we were here. It's still a fun place, it just looked sort of sad I thought. It's been a nice day, and we managed to avoid part of that long drive up 95 North. For now, I'm heading back to the casino for one last try at the slots!

This link should take you to the photo album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lyons.da/CrossCountry2009Days2930?authkey=Gv1sRgCNDRlMLxx-fCUw&feat=directlink

We'll be home tomorrow...YAY!!! Can't wait to see good old Cape Cod! It's been an incredible trip but as Dorothy said, "There's no place like home"!

Fireworks & "Jesus Saves" in the Carolinas

This is a picture of the sky here tonight...so pretty!

Much as we enjoyed visiting with Jen and Mike, our time in Atlanta came to an end today. Mike left for work, we dropped Jen off at Emory and by 10:30 we were on I-85 N headed for Gastonia, NC where we had a room reserved for the night. All in all it was another boring drive on an Interstate, but it was uneventful and we arrived safely so all was well! I-85 was an easy drive, as Rick said "This is a good road!" and we only had to drive a little over 200 miles today. The road is lined with billboards, billboards, billboards! Lots of signs for fireworks, peaches, rugs, and we saw lots and lots of churches & "Jesus Saves" signs. We arrived at our hotel by 2:30, & lo and behold...there's a "Jesus Saves" Seminar tonight in one of their meeting rooms! They're serious about religion here in the South!

We relaxed for a while, got the car washed, and went to dinner at a local chain...like the 99...with good food & good service. When we went out to the car we spotted this gorgeous, mint condition, vintage Mustang parked next to us. It was a beauty! Reminds me of the one my brother had back in the day! Came back to the hotel, dodged the Jesus Seminar and are tucked in for an early evening. Tomorrow we head to Jay & Ija's for the night and will head further north the next day, possibly via a ferry & a casino. More on that later!

Oh, just a few stats since our trip is coming to a close. As of today: 28 days...8,718 miles...303 gallons of gas...and a lifetime of memories. We'll add a few more states, miles & gallons to those totals by the time we're home!

Cokes & Dogs in Atlanta

We've enjoyed our visit here in Atlanta. Yesterday we toured Emory University so Rick could see where Jen spends so much of her time. We saw the Art Department, a couple of classrooms, and the library...such a nice campus. After our tour we had lunch at a cafe before heading into downtown Atlanta. Our first stop was the World of Coke. We weren't quite sure what to expect there, but it turned out to be fun. There are a couple of movies, the first one as you enter is to get you into a "Happy" frame of mind and the other is 4-D with moving seats and special effects. A huge collection of Coca Cola memorabilia is spread throughout the exhibits, and examples of how their marketing program really launched the company. The finishing touch is the tasting room, where we got to sample Coke products from all over the world...lots and lots of them! There were 64 different ones to taste! It was fun watching all the little kids get ramped up! We finished up our

day in the city with a stop at a tavern overlooking Piedmont Park. We sat outside in the sunshine and enjoyed a couple of cold ones watching tons of people having fun. Great people-watching spot! This particular tavern allows customers to bring their dogs with them, and it seems to be the thing to do. There were lots of them! I was amazed at how well-behaved all the dogs were, and it was funny to watch them interact with each other. Then it was back to Jen & Mike's for a pasta dinner...our first home-cooked meal since we left home! I wish we had time for a longer visit, but today we're hitting the road to head home! We'll stay somewhere in NC tonight, stop at Jay and Ija's for a night, and should arrive back on the Cape sometime on Thursday.

Hello From Atlanta!

We arrived in Atlanta this morning at around 10:30, and made our way to Jen & Mike's house. It's so good to see them! Their new house is adorable...it's a cute bungalow in a great neighborhood. Jen showed us around the little square near their house...cute restaurants, coffee shops & such. It started raining pretty hard, but it's warm...just very wet! Rick and Mike stayed in and watched the Red Sox/Yankees game...Rick was in heaven! He's missed watching the games while we've been away. Jen and I decided a rainy day was perfect for the movies, so we went into town and saw Julie & Julia. I liked it much better than the book, and Meryl Streep was awesome as Julia Child. Definitely Oscar material! Tonight we went out for dinner at a nice restaurant, Watershed, where we had a fabulous meal. After dinner we walked to Decatur Square for a drink, then back home to relax. It was so nice to not be in the car all day...we drove 900+ miles in the last two days!

Louisiana - Mississippi - Alabama

Our day started out poorly today...breakfast at our hotel was no good! The coffee pot was empty, choices were poor, and we decided to move on. Our choices for breakfast in the area were Shoney's and Waffle House. If you've been in the South you may know them...neither is very good...we chose Waffle House. I had a great time watching Rick's reaction! Our waitress was sporting bright, bubble-gum pink eye shadow and matching earrings...it was quite an eyeful! Our breakfast was not the greatest...as Rick said at one point, "They use a LOT of butter here"! But, everyone should experience Waffle House once. Only once! Moving on...

We had to cover a lot of miles today on a lot of different roads...I think all in all we drove on six different Interstate highways! I-10 out of Louisana was the most interesting. We had to drive about 20 miles, between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, on elevated roads over swamps. The road is part of the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, according to a guide book, crossing America's largest swamp. The road sits up on concrete stilts, with two lanes separated by an expanse in the middle over murky-looking watery muck with more swamp to the sides. Very wierd to drive along looking at treetops knowing that beneath you is a swamp full of alligators and whatever else lives in that swamp! It's an eerily attractive landscape, with a beautiful array of colors from blues to greens.
Not much else to report today. We had another boring day driving the Interstate highways. Not very exciting...but we covered the ground we needed to. We're both looking forward to our visit with Jen and Mike, and should arrive at their house early tomorrow morning. It will be a fun couple of days, then we're making tracks for Massachusetts. It's time to come home! This has been an amazing trip, but we're both ready to get back to our normal routine.

Texas to Louisiana

Last night we had a great time on the Riverwalk, even though it rained. I think the rain probably kept some people away, but with umbrella in hand we still enjoyed the evening. We walked around for a while trying to decide where to eat and settled on a barbecue place, City Line. The atmosphere was fun & comfortable...lots of brick & wood. I'm not sure how it would rate with barbecue "experts" but we thought it was great. After a good meal we meandered along the Riverwalk for a while, and when the rain began to pick up decided to get inside for a while. We walked up to street level and went to Howl at the Moon. What a great time! It's a rock & roll duelling piano show, with four piano players who alternate in and out, along with a couple of guitars, drums and a horn player to fill things out. The music is non-stop, anything from the 70's to today, with requests from the crowd and they keep the place hopping. There is a mirror behind the stage where customers can pay to have a "Phrase of the Night" put up...so I couldn't resist. We Are Highly Mobile made the board! It was a fun night, but we paid today and we were both pretty tired. So sad to get old! :)

Today was another travel day, uneventful and pretty boring. We needed to restock our cooler, so we stopped at a couple of small towns along the way looking for a grocery store. Found one that was pretty bad and we actually walked out empty handed! The second try was better and we managed to pick up what we needed. We've been having picnic lunches at rest areas along the Interstates and have had very good luck with them. There are usually nice picnic tables with shaded shelters and restrooms...until today. The only rest area we found was so bad we left and ate at a Cracker Barrel down the road. Other than that, except for a stressful ride through Houston traffic it was just an easy, but fairly boring, ride down the Interstate. We had dinner tonight at a Texas Roadhouse...good food and a nice chat with the bartender...then back to the hotel for an early night. Tomorrow night we'll stay in Birmingham, then on to Atlanta for a couple of days with Jen & Mike. It will be nice to see them!

History & Horns in San Antonio

We're enjoying our stay in San Antonio. It's a great city with a lot to see and do but, unfortunately, we only have time to see and do a little! We had a nice breakfast at our hotel and hit the sidewalk to do some sightseeing. We began with the Alamo, and a dose of Texas history. We were a bit surprised by the Alamo...it's smack in the middle of the city. Not what we had pictured at all, but it was a great stop. We did the audio tour, and it's well worth the small cost. Listening to the stories gave a much better experience than just walking around on our own, and made it seem to come to life. There is so much to the story...both fact and legend! Then we spent a little time looking around in the museum and watched a video that gave even more of the history behind the shrine. After we left the Alamo we went to lunch at Schilo's, a local delicatessen. What a great meal we had. It's a good old-fashioned deli, very much like you would find in New York. Super food, service & atmosphere in a terrific old building. Really hit the spot!

Next, we decided to see what the Buckhorn Saloon & Museum was all about. Incredible! They have the biggest collection I've ever seen of exhibits about "Wildlife and the Wild West". Everywhere you look, as Rick put it, is taxidermy heaven. I've never seen so many horns! It all started in 1881 when the owner offered to trade deer horns for a beer or a shot of whiskey! They must have had to give out a lot of beers because there are horns everywhere. The entire second floor of the museum is almost entirely made up of collections of animals from all over the world, including a gorilla, lions, and so many more. A Texas Rangers Museum, huge exhibit of old-west items, gun collection and a curio shop complete this, as one brochure calls it, "totally Texas complex".

The Riverwalk, however, is by far my favorite part of San Antonio. It is so pretty with gorgeous trees, plants and architecture all along that I could just walk for hours. Restaurants, bars and shops line the banks of the river, and there are lots people strolling along so it's a very festive atmosphere. Yesterday we had an early dinner at an Irish Pub, then walked for a bit before heading back to the hotel. We'll spend the evening on the Riverwalk tonight...dinner and maybe drinks at one of the clubs so we can see it at night. It must be spectacular when the lights come on! The only problem will be choosing which restaurant to eat at! I only wish we had more time to spend in San Antonio, but I'm enjoying my "Taste of Texas"!

San Antonio

We made it to San Antonio today. It's such a great city! We checked into our hotel and right away walked down to the Riverwalk. What an amazing place! It's lined with great restaurants and clubs, pretty walkways, and is just such a fun place! Tomorrow we'll go to the Alamo and whatever else we can find to see, will have dinner at the Riverwalk and see what kind of fun we can have. I may or may not post tomorrow...we may just decide to have a fun day & night on the town!

500+ Miles & Truth or Consequences

Today was just a travel day, so this will be a short post. We spent over 500 long, long miles traveling from New Mexico to Texas! We drove through mostly flatlands, with a few hills and farms mixed in, but there really wasn't a whole lot to see. We were on I-25 until about Las Cruces, NM and then I-10 for the rest of the day. I have to say, I-10 is one boring road through western Texas! Very flat, very brown, very boring! There is literally nothing to look at for most of that road! The speed limit is 80!! Yikes! You know everyone around here must be doing 90...too fast even for me!

We did, however, have a couple of diversions today. We passed a sign for the town of Truth or Consequences, NM...yes, we had to drive through! It's a small town with a nice Main St, a couple of museums and hot springs. Not a very exciting stop, but I looked it up tonight and apparently it was at one time known as Hot Springs. In 1950 Ralph Edwards wondered if a town in America would change its name to Truth or Consequences in honor of the tv show. The town held an election and did change the name...only in America! We also had to go through a Border Patrol Inspection Station after entering Texas. Not much of a delay, but interesting.

So, that's our day. Not very exciting, but we covered the ground we planned with no problems so it was a good day. After entering Texas our state count is 19 and we've driven 6, 797 miles in 21 days!

Route 66, Petrified Trees & A Painted Desert

Today turned out to be a fun day. We were on the road by 8:00 and headed from Flagstaff, AZ to Albuquerque, NM, with a planned stop at Petrified Forest National Park. The landscape in Arizona is just beautiful. There are rock formations everywhere that have a red, clay-like appearance, and wide-open ranch or farm land that stretches as far as we can see. Every so often we saw abandoned structures, small houses or businesses, that look like someone just walked away. There are so many trucks on the road, too! We had another beautiful day, although we did ride through some crazy storms later on. Quick ones, but intense!

We played tag with Route 66 a lot today. The "Mother Road" kept popping up alongside the Interstate, and what fun! We passed the exit sign for Winslow, AZ and, being Eagles fans, just had to drive through. The town is filled with old Rt 66 buildings, and has built a park at "the corner" honoring the song "Take it Easy". There is a statue of a man playing a guitar, a flat-bed Ford sits on the street, and there is a mural depicting scenes from the song. We were not the only ones to stop, either! A sign taped to the window of the Ford advertised a "Standin' on the Corner" Festival next weekend. What a fun way to get people to stop into the town! So, yes, we stood on the corner today and what a fine sight to see! The ride through town was fascinating, with so many of the businesses still standing, though maybe not open, that are so famous from years gone by on Route 66. There are so many pictures in books or movies showing the unique motels, cafes and shops that lined the road, and they really do look amazing!

My favorite building from Route 66, by far, was the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ. It was built years ago and is still in business today. Each room occupies a cement teepee, and there is an amazing collection of vintage cars and trucks on the property. There is a car parked outside each "room" and they look fabulous. We got a huge kick out of seeing one that was just like Rick's first car - a '60 Chevy! This one was blue, not black like his, but we had fun remembering all the great times we had with that car!

An 18-mile drive down the road took us to Petrified Forest National Park. We enjoyed this park a lot! The first section of the park took us through miles of petrified wood. The ground everywhere is just littered with pieces of huge trees that fell millions of years ago and have petrified into amazing "stones". The colors are so beautiful, and we could see the rings in some of the tree trunks. Some of the pieces have crystals in them that sparkle in the sunshine and look gorgeous. There is a 28-mile road that meanders through the park, with pull-outs that afford views that just take your breath away, and trails that take you through the "forest". One trail takes you to an ancient Pueblo ruin where you can see petroglyphs, or rock drawings, that are fascinating. It's so unbelievable to be standing in a spot and know that in the far-distant past a person actually stood there and produced such amazing art. The best part of the park, for me, was what is known as the Painted Desert. The colors, and the way the light plays on them, are stunning. Everywhere you turn there are the most gorgeous vistas. Looking around such beauty made me wish I were an artist! There is a building, now on the National Registry of Historic Places, known as Painted Desert Inn, that was so interesting. In the past it was operated as a restaurant, with a lunch counter and a dining, that served visitors to the Park. It has been preserved and is now a museum and gift shop. There are beautiful murals on the walls that were painted by a Hopi artist, a gorgeous stained glass ceiling, and the views from both inside and out are wonderful. We didn't expect much from this park, but it turned out to be on of our favorites! Tomorrow will be a travel day. About 500 miles down the road and we'll be in Fort Stockton, Texas for the night before moving on to San Antonio.

Hoover Dam & Grand Canyon

We left Las Vegas behind this morning...glad we came...glad we saw...but glad to leave. It was a lot of fun, but both of us said we would not be sad if we never got to go back. We started off toward the Grand Canyon and passed through the town of Henderson, where we saw at least ten motorcycle police officers along the highway writing tickets. We haven't seen that many cops on this entire trip, so to see so many in such a concentrated area was bizarre. After about an hour we came to the Hoover Dam. Amazing doesn't quite cover it...it's truly an unbelievable engineering feat. The road goes over the dam and along a winding, cliffside road. Poor Rick! Another curvy road along a cliff...but this one wasn't so bad because there were good guard rails. There is a huge construction project going on that looks to be building a road that will bypass the cliff and go directly over the dam. We even had to go through a security checkpoint, but it didn't slow things down much.
We were now in Arizona...our 17th state...5,887 miles under our belts! The road along this stretch is still in the desert, but we were starting to see more vegetation. Still scrubby brush, but more pines...short ones, but pines all the same. The landscape is beginning to appear more and more like what we imagined the Southwest to look like. Rick loves this road! Flat, straight, and easy driving. It was a gorgeous day...bright blue sky with white puffy clouds overhead - so pretty!


Eventually, we started looking for a place to pull in for a pit stop and somewhere to have a picnic lunch. We got off the highway in Ash Fork, AZ, thinking it might work. Turns out it's part of the old Route 66, and who knew? According to their sign, it's the "flagstone capital of the US"! We followed signs directing us to a visitor center and museum, but it was closed. There were some crazy, old motels, cafes and such, so we pulled into a truck stop/pizza shop/gift shop. Used the restroom, bought a cold drink & Route 66 coffee mug, took this picture of the Route 66 sign, and back on Interstate 40! We weren't too far from the Grand Canyon, so we decided we would eat lunch there instead. But it was very cool to be on a piece of the "Mother Road"!


Next up was the Grand Canyon. Oh, my! It really is incredible. Layer upon layer of amazing colors and so many levels of sheer beauty. The colors and light are wonderful! Poor Rick wasn't very comfortable because it really is a long way down...but there is a paved pathway along the rim that is a nice walk. He would have been happier had there been fencing along that walkway, but he did admit that it was quite a sight. The park itself, however, is a mess! There is construction everywhere, parking is a disaster, and it just makes it difficult to enjoy the park.

Of all the National Parks we've been to I think it's probably the one we found the least enjoyable. The others we've visited had a stronger ranger presence, and seemed to be much better managed. I'm still glad we went, though, and it really was an incredible experience. After we left the park it was on to Flagstaff for the night. We had dinner at a local restaurant, Buster's, that I highly recommend to anyone who visits Flagstaff. Great food, great service and great atmosphere. What more could we ask? We'll rest up tonight, and tomorrow morning we'll hit the road for Albuquerque, New Mexico. More eastward progress!

Desert and Vegas Recap

I know I'm behind on posting, and I said I would catch up, so here goes. We left Modesto on Thursday morning, finally leaving California behind. As we traveled along the landscape changed from a mix of industrial and farmland to all fruit and vegetable farms. We started to notice that we were sharing the road with more and more trucks, transporting fruit, vegetables and cattle. Rick loved this drive...long, straight, flat roads. No more mountains or cliffs! After a while we started to see hills ahead but they were so covered in haze they were just a faint shadow. Eventually we were at an elevation of about 4,000 feet, but considering some of the places we've been that was pretty tame. There were railroad tracks following alongside the highway for quite a ways, with many tunnels through the hills. A long freight train came along and we rode parallel for a bit. It would have been great to see it go through the tunnels but no such luck. We began to see the landscape change as we got further into the desert, and there were Joshua Trees cropping up all over the place. They really are beautiful...so different than anything we've seen before. As we drove along, we could actually begin to see how hot it was outside. You know that hazy, hot & humid look to things when the road up ahead looks liquid and shimmery? It was like that but a thousand times magnified from what we're used to at home, and when we got out of the car the heat just made us feel like we were baking. Dry, but hot, hot, hot!
We stopped in the town of Baron, CA for gas and to look for a place to eat lunch. Driving into town it looked like a ghost town! We passed one after another of closed and dead-looking businesses and homes and wondered if we'd have to pass it by. Eventually we came upon the town "center" which consisted of a couple of cafes, a small strip of stores, a Chamber of Commerce building, and two museums. Very strange...an Aerospace Museum with a fighter plane sitting in front and the Twenty Mule Team Museum. We had to ask where we could get gas, so it was the perfect excuse to stop in! Turns out the town started out as a mining town, home of U.S. Borax and its open pit mine. What a great stop it turned out to be! The museum has a fascinating collection of everything to do with the production of Twenty Mule Team Borax, a product I remember well from my childhood! Apparently there was a strike at the mine years ago, the company installed a lot of automation and many people moved on, which is why the town looks so deserted. Edwards Air Base (no, not the one on the Cape!) is also in the area, which I believe is one of the alternate landing areas for the space shuttle. We learned that the movie Erin Brokovich was filmed partly in Boron. The museum was manned that day by a sweet older gentleman, and we chatted for a while. Imagine our surprise to find out he's lived in Boron for 60 years but was born in Canton, MA! What a small world. We never made it to the Aerospace Museum next door, but our stop in Boron was a rare find.

Eventually, we started to see billboards littering the roadside and knew we were getting closer to Vegas. We arrived just before 5:00, checked into the hotel, got settled and off we went to explore. What a crazy town this is! Each hotel is so different, and there is so much to see. Our hotel, Excalibur, has a castle theme, with a dinner show featuring jousting, New York New York has a roller coaster that winds around the outside of the building, Monte Carlo is beautiful and very Roman, Paris is, well, Paris, and it just goes on and on. We walked around last night just looking at all the lights, people and madness. We both enjoyed New York New York the most. There's a fireboat outside that shoots water every so often and that was great.

We've had a great time in Vegas, and we're glad we experienced it, but in the end we'll be happy to move on. I think, for me anyway, it's too over the top...but we've both decided that it's enough to drive a couple of hours from home and go to Foxwoods or Mohegan.
Tomorrow we head to the Grand Canyon and will stay in Flagstaff, AZ, so we'll be making some more forward progress!

Viva Las Vegas!

We're in Vegas and having a great time! I'm just going to do a short post and I'll catch up later. We were in the car all day driving through the desert. What a landscape! We had an encounter with a man who's lived there 60 years but was orignally from Mass! What are the chances of that? We arrived here at our hotel at about 5:00 with our mouths wide open in amazement! Vegas is a crazy, insane, place! The lights...the people...all the hotels & casinos...wow! We had a great time last night just walking around...great for people-watching! And there are some people to watch...we've seen some sights! So, for now I'm off to enjoy...

Route 1 & San Francisco

As promised, I'll update the last couple of days for you. Yesterday we drove along the coast on Route 1, a super exciting, super scary drive! I loved it...Rick didn't! I think he's happy to put the hills and cliffs behind him for a while. I'm just happy I got to drive part of it, something that was high on my wish list! It was so scary, but so much fun at the same time. The views on that road are absolutely incredible! The coastline out here is so different from what we have on the Cape...huge cliffs, massive rocks, pounding surf. Just beautiful! We had lunch on a beach that had huge, crashing waves that were fabulous to watch. We both got our toes wet, just at the very edge of the foam that drifted up the beach. After lunch we saw a sign that said this beach was one of the most dangerous in CA, and there was a diagram of where the "danger" zone was...exactly where we were! Oops!


After lunch we continued on Route 1 for a while, then headed inland. We had planned to drive into Napa to see the vineyards, but Sonoma was closer to where we were and we opted to see that instead. It seems that everywhere you look there are vineyards with the most amazingly beautiful buildings and fields of vines that go on forever. So beautiful! We decided we could only visit one tasting room, and we chose Chateau St Jean. The property was just stunning. I would have been happy to just walk around the courtyard with its gorgeous plants and walkways, but the shop and tasting room awaited. It was a lot of fun, and we left with a couple of bottles, of course.


We continued on to our destination for the night...San Francisco! We arrived at our hotel, only to discover that it was in a terrible neighborhood and was not one of our best choices. Unfortunately, it gave us a bad start, and I was sad that our stay began on such a down note. But, we made the best of it and tried to enjoy the evening. We took a ride on the Cable Cars, and they're such fun! It's fascinating to whiz up and down the hills...a little scary at first, but we quickly got into the fun of it. We had a great dinner at an Irish Pub...pure comfort food! Then back to the hotel for one of our least restful nights of the trip. But we got up early, checked out, put it behind us and went on with our day. We found a parking garage not far from Fisherman's Wharf, stowed the car for the day, and went for a nice breakfast at a diner around the corner. We had good coffee, good food & good service, and felt refreshed and renewed! We strolled around Cannery Row, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 for a while, then went to buy our Alcatraz tickets. It was still very early, there weren't many people about and most of the shops were just starting to open up. I love watching an area like that come to life! It's always interesting to watch the hustle and bustle. After buying our tickets we walked back to the garage, picked up the laptop, and went to a coffee shop to take care of some details. Once we did our thing, we walked back to Pier 39 to look around the shops.



The funniest part of the day was watching the hundreds of seals that have taken over a section of the marina. They made such a racket! We watched them for a while, and it was hysterical. They really are funny animals...smelly, but funny! We got lunch from one of the many carts that are everywhere...chowder for me and a loaded hot dog for Rick.

By then it was time to board our ferry for Alcatraz. We were so glad we did the tour...it was one of the highlights of our day. What an imposing, bleak place, yet it was so interesting. I can't imagine what it must have been like for an inmate to arrive there knowing they wouldn't be leaving for a long time, if ever. We did the audio tour with headphones, and I highly recommend it. What a difference it made! Listening to the narration with all the accompanying prison sounds made it seem like you were there when the prison was still in use. Amazing! After we returned on the ferry we picked up the car, drove over the Bay Bridge, and on to Modesto for the night.

All in all we had a nice time in San Francisco, and today made up for our bad start last night. In the end, while I was sad my experience wasn't what I had hoped, San Francisco is a great city. I hope to return again, but for now, onward! We're heading east...Vegas bound! Tomorrow will be a long travel day, and we'll spend most of it in the car. We plan to spend two nights in Vegas so we'll have time to enjoy it.

We're Alive and Well in San Francisco

Hello from San Francisco! I thought I better check in and let you all know we're fine! We had a poor wifi connection last night and I was just too tired to deal with it so I took the night off. I'll recap quickly and fill in the blanks later.


Yesterday we drove along the coast on Route 1 - What a crazy ride! This picture doesn't really do it justice, but in some places the road is literally on the edge of the cliffs! Scary, exciting, awesome views but stressful! We had lunch on the beach, went to Sonoma for a wine tasting, and arrived later in San Francisco. Hopped on the Cable Car down to the waterfront and had dinner at an Irish Pub. Then it was back to the hotel to tuck in...we were exhausted!

Today we're relaxing and enjoying Fisherman's Wharf and have tickets for the ferry to Alcatraz. We're staying in Modesto for the night, hoping to have a quiet, relaxing evening and will drive to Vegas tomorrow. I'll catch up soon with the photos and details...for we're off to look for the Birdman!

California Redwoods

We stayed in Oregon last night and in just over an hour this morning we were in California! The weather started out nice this morning, but as the day went on we had rain, fog and more sun. It was fine for the type of day we had planned, except the visibility along the coast wasn't great at times. The first part of the day took us through very remote territory, on super curvy roads with huge rock walls and fog hanging down over the tops of the trees. We both commented on how it reminded us of scenery from the movie Deliverance. Gas is very expensive here - in the $3.50 range. Ouch!

Most of today we were in one or another of a number of National and State Parks. After we passed the first ranger station, all of a sudden we were beginning to see huge trees. They really are amazing. We stayed on 101 South most of the day, which pops back and forth between the coast and groves of Redwoods. It was quite a contrast. Eventually we turned onto the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway. The trees we were driving through give new meaning to the word massive! They are tremendous. We stopped to walk on one of the many trails through the forest, and it was a humbling experience. Standing amongst those huge trees makes you realize what a small part of nature we humans are! As we continued on we came upon a meadow with some Elk grazing - what magnificent creatures! The coast along here has become much less rocky and we are seeing more beach and less cliffs.














We started to look for a place to have lunch and happened upon a beach at Trinidad Head. It was nice to eat lunch and relax for a bit by the water. The sound of the surf here is wonderful! After eating I took a walk on the beach, but unfortunately, this one had a lot of what appeared to be some sort of dead sea-something (animal? plant?) that smelled terrible! It was a short walk!

Next, we drove along a stretch of road called Avenue of the Giants, a 31-mile drive through more giant Redwoods. It was just beautiful and awe-inspiring. The Redwoods are some of the tallest trees in the world, and can grow to almost 370 ft. They can live for about 2,000 years, but average between 500 and 600 years old, their bark is about a foot thick, and their base can be about 22 feet in diameter. Avenue of the Giants has some quirky sights to see, also! Everyone needs to make a living somehow, and there are a lot of tree-related businesses along here. Among others, there is the Eternal Tree House, a 20-foot room inside a living Redwood, with the apparently mandatory gift shop/snack bar (every business has one!). We also stopped at the drive-thru tree, of course! This guy must make a fortune - $6.00 per car! But we caved...how could we not do it? Then we headed back to Rt. 101 toward our hotel for the night. The weather improved, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the ride with warmer temps and sunshine. The road from this point travels in and out of forests and canyons. There are so many trees on the hills with houses tucked right up to the tree line that we could see why so many homes are lost in the wildfires they have out here. Tomorrow we plan to drive part of Route 1 along the coast in the morning, head to Napa for a bit in the afternoon and will spend the next two nights in San Francisco!

Oregon Beaches & Coast

Today was a long, long day but was filled with some pretty incredible sights! It was also the first day we've had that was not sunny and warm! We woke to a beautiful sunset, and thought it was going to be nice, but as we got closer to the coast it became cooler and quite foggy. Our first stop was at a Refuge for Columbian White-Tail Deer - a must when we say it on the map! It was just a quick drive-through stop, but we did see some deer. Continuing on, our route took us along the Columbia River (second time we've run into it) into Astoria, OR. The Columbia is a huge river that runs for 1,200 miles through seven states. It really is impressive! We drove across the Astoria-Megler bridge, and since it crosses a huge river the bridge itself is quite a bridge! It's 4.1 miles long and at it's highest point is 400 feet high.



We drove along the coast until lunch-time on Route 101, also known as the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway. What a stunning coastline! There are places to stop along the way that overlook unbelievable views of towering cliffs, huge rocks, and the surf pounding onto wide stretches of sand. In some places the road travels along some insane cliffs, but after Hurricane Ridge they weren't too bad. We stopped at many of the viewpoints, and eventually drove into the town of Cannon Beach, a very cute "beachy" town of quirky shops, restaurants, hotels and cottages. We parked the car and walked down to the beach...and it was quite a beach! It went on and on for miles, and is very much like so many scenes we've all seen on tv or in the movies. We walked for a long way down the beach to Haystack Rock, a 250+ foot high rock rising out of the water that has become the symbol of Cannon Beach - you may have seen pictures of it. It was impressive! The weather was very chilly, windy and super foggy, but it actually added to the experience in my opinion. It was almost ghostly, and reminded me of so many movie scenes! I actually got my feet wet, too! Another highlight of this trip for me, and another item to cross off my list! After a while we decided it was time for lunch, and drove to Cape Meares for our picnic. There is a state park with huge cliffs, Oregon's shortest lighthouse (only 38 feet tall but it sits 217 fee above the water), and Three Arch Rocks (which are National Wildlife Refuges). It was a wonderful stop.

By then it was 2:00, so it was back on 101 and the end of sightseeing for the day. We still had a long drive to the hotel and we miscalculated the time it would take to meander along the coast.
Just before we turned inland to Route 5 toward the hotel I did get one last stop to look at the water. Cape Foulweather has a lookout building that sits 500 feet above the water overlooking more cliffs. I was sorry to leave the coast, but it was okay...I got to walk on a beach, put my feet in the Pacific, saw a lighthouse and spectacular scenery!

A Forest, An Ocean & A New Direction!

Today was one of our best days yet! I think I've said that before, but it seems each new thing we see surpasses anything that came before. Today really did top them all, though. We left Port Angeles behind and headed out on Rt 101 around the Olympic Peninsula. We passed Lake Crescent, which is surrounded by huge, towering evergreen trees. The sunshine sparkling on the water combined with the reflection of the trees was just beautiful. We passed through the town of Forks and were greeted by a sign saying "You Have Entered the Twilight Zone". Apparently the setting for the book and movie Twilight was based on this area so there are lots of people coming here because of that. I've never read the book or seen the movie, but I think I know some fans!


Our first stop of the day was the Hoh Rain Forest. I didn't realize there was a rain forest in the Pacific Northwest, but there is! It truly is a magical place. There are hiking trails for every ability, and some serious hikers were taking advantage of them! We, on the other hand, took advantage of one of the shorter, easier trails and it was wonderful. The forest is so quiet and peaceful! The play of sunlight through the canopy of branches was so beautiful, yet it was shady everywhere at the same time. The trees in the rain forest are absolutely huge, and some of them hold records for their size. This picture of Rick standing among some of them puts their size into perspective, doesn't it? My camera just doesn't do justice to this amazing place. I wish you all could have seen it with us!

There is the most incredible moss hanging all over the trees, there is no bare ground anywhere, and it really is indescribingly beautiful. You could almost picture fairies and elves flitting around or some fantasy creatures climbing among the trees. The best word I can think of to describe it is lush. After walking through the forest I felt rejuvenated and all my negative feelings from last night were wiped away. I've already said it, but I'll repeat...this really is a magical place and I'm so glad we decided to visit.


On the way out of the park we stopped for coffee at a place down the road called The Hard Rain Cafe, and continued on our way. Not long after that we could feel a definite change in the air, and it was becoming a bit foggy. We rolled the windows down and could smell that salty smell we know so well. Soon we drove around a curve that lead us to our first sighting of the Pacific Ocean...Oh, my!!!! It is so different than any of the beaches at home! We were happy to see a parking area just after we saw the water so we could pull in and take a good look. The sound is amazing...waves just crashing and the view was spectacular. Just down the road we saw a sign for "Beach 1" so we drove into the parking lot. To reach the beach there is a path that goes down a huge hill, and off we went. What a beautiful sight greeted us at the bottom. This is definitely not a swimming beach, but there were people walking or sitting on huge pieces of driftwood, fishermen were surf-casting, and the waves were pounding. Hard as it was, the climb back up was well worth the effort! We drove a little further, stopped for lunch at a campground that was right on the water and continued enjoying our first encounter with the Pacific. We have officially reached the west coast! We are also very happy to be headed south now. It seems like we have been driving west forever, and Rick is glad we're making some more forward progress! Three days in WA was enough for him. Our plan for the afternoon was to try and go to Mount St. Helen. By the time we got to the first visitor center it was 4:30, and we discovered that the first viewing center was almost 50 miles away! We decided our day had been full enough and drove to our hotel instead! Tomorrow morning we'll be in Oregon and will have another state crossed of our list!

Olympic Peninsula

This morning we decided it would be crazy not to see the Olympic Peninsula while we're here, so we took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island. The ferry system in Seattle is a well-oiled machine! It's a commuter's dream...lots of seats, a restaurant for breakfast or a snack on the way home, and the whole boat is a wi-fi hot spot, so lots of people take advantage of it. For us, it was great! Only $21 to take the car, and we enjoyed having a boat ride. Once we got to Bainbridge Island we meandered along the coastline and both commented on how like Nova Scotia it was. Beautiful countryside, pretty views of the water, lots of farms and forests. Very nice!
Our first stop was Port Townsend, a Victorian Seaport on the National Registry of Places. What a nice town! The buildings really are wonderful, lots of shops & cafes, and a terrific waterfront. Today was the start of their annual wooden boat show, so the harbor was abuzz! So many boats with brightly colored flags and lots of people. I can't imagine how crowded it will be tomorrow, so it was good that we were there today. I'm also pretty sure I enjoyed it better than Rick did, but he's very patient while I poke around the shops...he sits a mean bench! After we left Port Townsend we stopped at a State Park for our picnic lunch. It was nice to have a break and the park was on the water, which is always a bonus.

Next we drove out to Dungeness Spit, the world's longest naturally occurring sand spit. It's 5.5 miles long! There is a lighthouse out at the end that you can hike to, but we opted to just look from shore. It takes us an hour to walk 3 miles, so an 11 mile hike on sand? We just weren't up for it! What a beautiful spot, though. The mountains just loom over everything here, especially the one in this photo. Everywhere we go it just seems to pop out here and there...we thought it might be Mt. Ranier, but today we discovered it's actually Mt. Baker. Pretty spectacular! The picture doesn't do it justice, but it's huge and the summit is completely snow-covered.

Now, on to the most stressful part of today - Hurricane Ridge! Part of the Olympic National Park, Hurrictane Ridge is a 5,242 foot-high mountain area reached by driving up a 17-mile road. Up being the operative word here. What were we thinking?? Anyway, up we started, and what a road! No guard rails and it just keeps going up and there are the most frightening curves. Poor Rick, he was unthrilled to say the least. The views were amazing, but so scary at the same time. There is a visitor's center at the summit and hiking trails that seem to be very popular. Not for us! We still had to face the ride down! I don't think Rick took his eye off the yellow line in the road to avoid looking down over the edge of the road. But, we made it safely, and it really was an incredible experience!

Tonight we're staying in Port Angeles. It's an interesting town. There is a nice waterfront area with restaurants, hotels and shops, but outside of that area there really isn't much to offer in my opinion. There is so much traffic on streets that are mostly one-way that it's hard to figure out how to get anywhere. We ended the night with a visit to a casino like no other we've seen. The drive there took us out on roads that were so remote we almost thought we missed a turn somewhere. We finally got there, and oh, my! It was the smallest casino we've ever been to! I don't think there were more than 100 slot machines, no table or card games and a deli in the back. So all in all, it's been a day! Tomorrow we'll continue along the Peninsula and plan to visit the Hoh Rain Forest and will finish with another drive across the Columbia River. We'll finish our visit to Washington on Sunday with a trip to Mount St. Helen, then on to Oregon.