Day 30 - Home Sweet Home

It was only a three hour drive from Berkley, WV to Charlottesville this morning. We arrived shortly before noon and it was such a GOOD feeling to unlock the door and walk into my "home sweet home". Linda had another two hours to drive after dropping me off though.

It's mighty quiet here. The dogs are with Stephanie and family in Raleigh. I'll rest up a couple days, then get on the road to get them (it's a four hour drive to the minute from my home to theirs).

Thirty days on the road, 7,000 plus miles. We shared the driving of course but still we were each behind the wheel quite a bit. For all that distance and time on the road, we had two days of travel with some rain (not a complete washout either of those days, and not the entire day--just summer time downpours, then clearing), we did not see any accidents, and road work areas only reduced speed and never had to come to a complete stop --- except --- in Yellowstone National Park! I'm afraid to step on the scale though. We ate some mighty good food most everywhere we were; I tried some food I'd never eaten before. We saw so many wonderful sights, did so many interesting things, travelled through quite a few states (I'll have to sit down sometime and actually count them).

One thing I did before leaving was to go up to the Parkway and paid $10 for a National Park senior pass. That saved us about $200 -- the pass was for myself and up to three other people. So, all we did for the national parks we visited (most of them were $25 entry fee per person) was to show the pass and we both got in on that one pass. I can't remember who told me to check into it, but whoever you are, thanks.

I saw sites I'd never seen before, but had dreamed about for years. Especially the Grand Canyon. So many friends offered suggestions of things to do and see. I am grateful for every suggestion you made. I got to do many of them, but not all of them. (maybe next trip) :)

The trip had some emotional moments for me ... the museum in Oklahoma City that paid tribute to those innocent lives that were lost in the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building, the moment my eyes saw the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, to the playing and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at Crazy Horse monument on July 4. It's a great land we live in folks. The freedom we have has come with a cost to many who have given their lives for this nation. I would not give up the opportunity I've had these past 30 days to see all I've seen and do all I've done.

I thank God for the opportunity for this trip, for safety for us and those around us and the blessing of good weather.

One thing I've learned is I can travel far and wide, see sights that have been made by man, such as Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, cityscapes, and see sights that have been created by our awesome God, such as the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone and Zion National Park. But when it all boils down to it, the truest beauty is found in my own backyard, in God's creation of the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the beauty of my home state Virginia, in the blessing of each member of my family and in each and every friendship I have.

Thanks for riding with me. I felt your presence along the way.

Day 29 - July 10 - Beckley, WV

I just realized I'm a day off in posting -- this is Day 29 and on July 2 and 3 I typed in Day 21 for both days ... so tomorrow in fact will indeed be Day 30 of the trip!!

We are stopped for the night in Beckley, WV ... 4 1/2 hours on the road today ... was more than enough. With several 9+ hour days earlier in the week two short days on the road has been nice. It's a three hour trip from here to Charlottesville and another two hours for Linda to Fairfax ... we'll be at our homes tomorrow!!!!

Linda's at the pool right now and I'm just relaxing a bit. We'll have an early dinner then hopefully an early night to bed AND early getting up. It would be nice to be home by noon tomorrow!!

Day 28 - July 9 - Indiana

We are in Indiana tonight, near Louisville, KY. The drive today was 4 1/2 hours long ... shorter than the past several legs of the trip. As tired as we both are from the recent long hauls on the road the decision was made to travel only 4 - 4 1/2 hours each day, getting away a little later and stopping a little earlier, until we get home. Tomorrow night we're guessing we'll stop around Charleston, WV. We have no plans to do much of anything in the places we stop, just rest up. I'm sure once I'm back in Charlottesville, the first few days will be spent catching up on my rest.

So tonight and tomorrow night on the road, then home.

Once home I'll do a little summary of the trip. Thanks to all of you who have been following this blog the past four weeks!! I hope you've enjoyed it and it's even brought a smile or two to each of you. I'll be posting a good number of pictures on something like Snapfish or Clark Color so I can order copies and will let you know when they're up if you want to see more than I've posted here.

We're about to go get something to eat then back to the hotel and hopefully a good night of rest before travelling again tomorrow.

Day 27 - July 8 - Chicago, Illinois

A chilly July day in Chicago. At 2:00 it was 53!!! and a slight rain was falling. We walked again to the Navy Pier and decided to take an architecture boat tour. (My friends at the A-School would be proud I did.) Quite interesting and picturesque. Afterward Andrew (Linda's son) phoned and we caught up with him around 3:30. We drove down Shore Drive then to a Indian Restaurant for dinner. It sure opened my sinuses!!!

Afterward we went to see Mary Poppins (a touring Broadway show) and it was wonderful. The acting, singing, dancing were superb and the lighting and everything was wonderful.

Tomorrow we get on the road and head toward home. It will be Saturday before we get there after all. Linda doesn't want to rush and feels two days of 7 hours of driving will be too much. Oh well ... we'll be home soon. That makes me a "happy camper." I'm ready to get back to my daily routines.

Day 26 - July 7 - Chicago, IL

We are in Chicago. The last leg of the trip. We'll leave the windy city Thursday morning and stop somewhere en route to Charlottesville for the night and arrive home Friday!!! Yippee!!

We walked quite a few blocks to The Navy Pier. Don't know how to describe it other than it is for tourists ... boats to take scenic rides around, lots of restaurants.

Tomorrow night a play, "Mary Poppins," then Thursday morning start toward Virginia, with a night on the road and home Friday.

I'm so looking forward to that.

Day 25 - July 6 - Omaha, Nebrasha

Today we had a leisurely morning, then midday headed to the Omaha Zoo. It was enjoyable, but I think Washington, DC's zoo outdoes Omaha's by a long shot. It wasn't too hot, nor too humid so getting around the zoo, up and down the hills, wasn't too bad.

Afterward we went downtown Omaha and had, you guessed it, an Omaha steak at a restaurant called Upstream Brewing Co. The steak was absolutely delicious. I've eaten more than my yearly quota of red meat on this trip. Guess it'll be fish and chicken the rest of the year.

Tomorrow we head out for Chicago, where we'll be two nights, and then ... and then ... head the car toward HOME!! If all goes well, we'll be at our respective homes on Friday!!!

Day 24 - July 5 - The Badlands

We were on the road about 11 hours today. The drive itself was 9 hours or so but we made a couple stops. We left Hill City, SD early and lost an hour when we left Mt. time and entered Central Time (getting closer to Eastern Time!!!). We made two stops ... one in Wall, SD at Wall Drug and the other as we drove through The Badlands. Both places were well worth the stop. I had not thought much about The Badlands but they were quiet beautiful. Lots of rocks and grassy areas. We drove the entire length of South Dakota, into Iowa then down to Nebraska. Beautiful terrain with rolling hills and cattle and more cattle. Just like the past few days in Wyoming and Montana. Lots of horses and cattle.

With a sign like this, I didn't venture very far on any of the paths.



Tomorrow we plan to go to the Omaha Zoo (one of Linda's favorite), then Wednesday to Chicago for two nights. Thursday when we leave Chicago, our destination will be Charlottesville!!! I doubt we'll make the trip in one leg so we'll stop somewhere in route but we should be home Friday. One day earlier than planned (we've cut out Cincinnati OH and a night at my cousins, and a night in Shelbyville KY and a night at my brother's). After 23 days on the road we're both anxious to get home.

In Chicago we'll meet up with Linda's youngest son and his girlfriend, and plan to go to a touring Broadway plan to see Mary Poppins.

Now ... about this picture. We went to Wall, SD. It was early in the morning, and noone was around so I just couldn't resist!!

Day 23- Independence Day - Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore

We've had another beautiful day. It started off as though it might be a washout but the sky cleared up, the sun came out, and we had a good day at Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore.

First thing, Crazy Horse, as at 11:00 a.m. they were blasting the rock today to carve out rocks on the mountain. There was a bit of a "technical problem". Everyone was ready with cameras aimed. The one-minute siren went off, then nothing. It was announced that there would be a 10-minute delay. A brief shower started so people scattered. Three minutes later it was announced they would have to manually set off the explosion. Then two minutes and the one-minute siren sounded again. Everyone came running back from shops and wherever they had scatterd to. There was a muffled boom but nothing else. Mrs. Ruth Ziolkowski, the CEO/President of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation and wife of the late sculptor, Korczak, announced that apparently it wasn't a very good day so people relaxed with their cameras, and only a few seconds later a Flash, an explosion and smoke. I was one of those who had "relaxed my camera" and missed both a digital photo of the flash and explosion. oh well. It was still pretty neat to witness the work in progress...even without a photo of all that. I did get a picture of the smoke that followed the eplosion. :)

Another interesting part of the day was that three WWII Navajo Code Talkers had been invited to witness the explosion as well. Pretty amazing to see those veterans. During the ceremonies introducing the navajos they played a tape with a recitation of "The Pledge of Alliegence" and Lee Greenwood's "I'm Proud to be an American." I must be getting emotional in my "old age" as it put a lump in my throat.

After that and lunch at a neat "dude ranch" of sorts, off to Mt. Rushmore. It was crowded but still a sense of pride on Independence Day to see this beautiful monument. It was small compared to the Crazy Horse monument though.

Linda and I are a bit tired so are resting up a bit before we head out to have dinner. Tomorrow it's Omaha, with a side trip to "The Badlands". I saw some more beautiful South Dakota scenery today and look forward to a few more stops (Omaha and Chicago) before heading home. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed though.

Day 22 - Mt. Rushmore drive

Today was essentially a day of driving. We left Yellowstone at 7:11 (GREAT place) and arrived in Hill City, SD at 5:00. A long day on the road, plus we drove in and out of rain most of the day. We've been blessed with great weather the entire way though until today. (We had a little rain one day in TX.) We're both exhausted. Tomorrow is Mt. Rushmore (found out fireworks are today - July 3 so we won't get to see fireworks there) and Crazy Horse (maybe we'll get to see the laser show instead). We'll be here two nights but will have to get on the road early Sunday morning as that drive is longer than today's. We'll have two nights there and another long day from there to Chicago.

We stopped in Sundance, WY for lunch ... nope, didn't see Robert Redford.

Wyoming and Montana are both beautiful states. Would like to visit them again some day to see more of them.

We're in the homestretch and both looking forward to getting home next week.

Day 21 - Yellowstone - continued

What a day! We were up early as we wanted to make the grand loop around Yellowstone. We did it all. Left the hotel around 7:30 this morning and got back around 8:30 tonight. Whew!! We're pooped and tomorrow is a long day on the road - 8-9 hours to Mt. Rushmore.

We saw lots of wildlife, mainly elk and buffalo, and a wolf. One place there were two herds of buffalo and it looked like hundreds of buffalo in each herd. In another place a lot of cars were parked on the road but we couldn't tell what they were looking at ... but think it was a bear far out in the meadow. Of course, Old Faithful was part of the day. And a beautiful waterfall!! Although I think we both were more excited about the wildlife.

We got up to the snowline in the highest part of the park. Some 9,000 or 10,000 feet. That's a far cry from the elevation of Charlottesville!

We ate breakfast at a little hole in the wall restaurant ... it was really good then tonight ate at a restaurant near mammoth springs. I had bison burgers. Getting adventureous eh? Elk while at the Grand Canyon.

I took lots of pictures of elk today. We were pretty close to them, until one of them went up behind another and nipped him. They both sprinted ... and so did everyone watching!!! :)

Tomorrow it's on to Mt. Rushmore. Hopefully we'll get to see a July 4 fireworks display there Saturday.

Day 20 - Jellystone, Rather Yellowstone (hey Booboo)

We were up early this morning for the ride to Yellowstone. It took about an hour through the Park to get to the hotel but the ride was beautiful!!! Didn't see any buffalo as I'm hoping too, but the first thing we saw was an eagle in a nest, then some elk, beautiful river with rapids, nearby mountains with SNOW on it -- I'm sitting here in the hotel looking at a not too distant snow-capped mountain (a FAR cry from the 100+ in AZ earlier in the week), small waterfalls.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to see other wildlife as well as geysers and yes, of course, Old Faithful.

There are grizzly's in the park, buffalo, elk, moose, eagles, to name just a few. We've seen quite a few birds we'd never seen before. Linda and her husband are bird watchers so she has enjoyed the birdlife.

We stopped at a little town in Idaho here for lunch. It was on the Snake River and there were angler's in the river fly fishing for trout. Such a beautiful view.

I failed to mention as much about Salt Lake City as I wanted last night ... it was late and I was tired and was hurrying to get in bed.

The building we were in at dinner was the Joseph Smith building and we dined on the 10th floor overlooking Temple Square. As we were finishing dinner they opened the roof and you could see the beautiful sky. Salt Lake City's downtown is really beautiful.

Bartly's friend Chandra is a structural engineer and gave us a brief tour of the Capitol building, telling us how just recently they have placed material under the entire building to help earthquake proof it.

After dinner we were outside looking at buildings and saw a peragrine (sp?) falcon family. Two of the baby's have not flown yet. A gentleman in the courtyard was viewing them and told us about them.

Okay -- back to Yellowstone.

The scenery is beautiful. God's creation is abundant in everything -- the hills, the rivers, the steam rising from the ground, the wildlife. I stand in awe.