A Full and Fine Day in Colorado Springs

This evening we capped off a great day in Colorado Springs with a fine Italian meal of Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken, red wine and find dark chocolate for dessert. This candlelight dinner overlooked the twinkling lights of the cityscape below us. The restaurant? Our own motor home with leftovers! But, it was a good meal and one of the finest views we have seen, sitting at 6840 feet in elevation.

This was the end of a day that started with a bit of laundry, some housekeeping and some picture management. After lunch we went to the Air Force Academy. The chapel there is just beautiful. The structure is most unique and the stained glass with the sun streaming in was very pleasing to the eye. There is a Protestant chapel, a Catholic chapel, a Jewish chapel and a Buddhist chapel, all housed in the same building. The academy grounds are panoramic as well, with the mountains circling it.

Then it was on to the Garden of the Gods – very unique rock formations that are just fascinating to look at, changing shapes and images as you watch.

We took lots of pictures, but it is too late and we are too tired to post them now. Check back and there may be some pictures added to this post!

So for now, from Colorado Springs, Good Night!

Sunrise from Cheyenne Mountain State Park

Colorado Springs, CO

Here some pictures taken this morning. They were taken from our site.

Somewhere Along I76

We became more shadows of ourselves!

Bye-Bye I80, Hello I76

We have been travelling I80 for over a week. We entered I80 on Saturday, August 10 and left it today – after 9 days of travel! It has been our constant companion for this entire trip. True we venture off of it to visit new and exciting places. But, in general we were never far from I80. It was a good road for the most part. But, it was in need of repair in many places or was being repaired in some places. But, we liked I80. After days, we were excited to get onto another highway. Welcome to I76.

We picked up I76 this morning. We thought it would be great to be on a new highway. WRONG! It is in terrible shape. It made the RV shake, rattle and roll. Mostly rattle! We stopped at the welcome center, where a nice gentleman gave us a route that the “Locals use”. It was most interesting and better than I76. Nice trip.

We have arrived in Colorado Springs and here is a view from our campsite.






BTW, we have been here just a short time and we have seen gophers, wild turkey, bunny rabbits and a sparrow-like bird (will have to look that one up). This should be great fun!

Nebraska Optical Illusion

As we drive across I80 in Nebraska, we are noticing a visual phenomenon. This is a case that a picture would be worth all of these words! But, at 60 or so miles per hour down the road, the picture cannot be taken.

So, words will have to do!

As we look at the many miles of corn fields, the stalks all appear to be placed close to each other with no apparent pattern. So, close that these fields are not planted, harvested, or worked on by human hands. There is not room between the stocks for the average human body. But, as we drive, we notice that at just the correct angle, very straight and perfect rows appear, with some space between them. These rows can go on for one or more areas of a field. But, the rows only appear for a narrow angle of vision. So, it is a lot like those books that we all enjoyed as kids (or adults!): The ones that you flip from page to page and the image changes. That is what these fields look like. As if someone is flipping each row as you pass it. Look ahead to the left and there are no rows; look to the right and there are no rows. There are rows only in that one area – that special viewing angle.

It was just amazing and mesmerizing to watch as miles and miles went by. It is also amazing what will intrigue the human mind driving down the roads in the heartland of the US!

Nebraska State Fair

It’s a Grand Affair!

We don’t consider ourselves city folk. But, we surely aren’t country folk. I have rarely stepped foot on a farm and would not be able to handle any of the many farm animals – roosters, to cows, to horse and llamas. But, we decided we would go the Nebraska State Fair. It was being held in Grand Island, NE for the first time. The facilities looked spectacular and the shuttle buses were convenient. We enjoyed the birthing pavilion, the sheep and cow shows, the llama show, the beer tent, the music, and the quilt show.

All in all, it was a Grand Day!

National Balloon Museum

As many of you know, we are both balloon enthusiasts, going to balloon festivals whenever we can and crewing when the possibility arises. Because of our love for these colorful orbs on the sky, we are also going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in October.

As we were traveling through Iowa, we found a gem of a museum for us - the National Balloon Museum in Indianola, IA. It is a small museum by the standards of big city museums. But, it is packed with all sorts of memorabilia, envelopes, gondolas, and baskets. It even had an early home-made gondola with headlights from a car to light the balloon during night flights. The building itself depicts two inverted balloons, with their baskets turned upside-down.

Although we only had a hour or so to spare – too many miles to go to get to our destination, this was an enjoyable stop and a great, unexpected find along I80 in Iowa.

Grand Circle Tour - Getting Closer

It is now exactly one week from our departure. We pulled into the last rest area in Iowa for lunch. After lunch we were out for a walk and another MH pulled in next to us. Well it was an Itasca and I said “I wonder if they are going to the Grand Circle?”. Well it turns out that they are; so we have met the first other couple (Jack & Charlotte) that will be on the tour.

We are plannng on being in Moab on Wed. Sept 1; we have a few stops to make yet along the way.

West of the Mississippi

Whenever we travel west from the East Coast, crossing the Mississippi is a milestone. We crossed it today, as it creates the boundary between Iowa and Illinois.


We are headed west for a few more days. I am beginning to believe that I80 never ends; it just keeps going west.

By the end of the week, I believe that we will start heading south. Now the directions from navigator to driver will have to change. “Go West” will no longer work.

The "I" States

There are four states that start with the letter “I”. Three of them, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa are sandwiched right between Ohio and Nebraska. So, we have visited all three of these in the last 2 days. (I guess Idaho will have to wait for another trip. We had lunch in Indiana, dinner and an overnight in Illinois and now we are spending the night in Iowa. We have not seen much of any of the states, just what you can see from I80 west. But, the landscape has changed. At the eastern end of these 3 states, it looked a lot like home – the east coast. Perhaps, the crops were different, and the topology a bit different, but it seemed the same as we see all the time.

But Iowa is still different. The farms, with rolling hills of plowed and planted fields that are green, from the darkest green to the lightest yellow-green, look so manicured and well kept. The corn is planted in rows, but some of the rows seem to have arcs and not all the rows go in the same direction. It looks like a patchwork quilt of planted fields. And always, there is a farm house and some building nestled into the landscape. All quite beautiful to look at and quite different from home.

The picture is of a sculpture that is at one of the rest areas off I80. I believe each pillar represents an industry in the state of Iowa. But, I could not find any explanation of it. But, it was unique and “pretty” so I took a picture of it!

August 25

This is a special date for us: Our anniversary. We spent the day doing what we love – driving the RV down the road. This road happened to be I80 westbound in Illinois. We spend the night at an Illinois Casino campground. It was a nice campground and we had a great time. It was especially nice of the casino to give me a gift as I played the 2 cent machine! It wasn’t a windfall, but it was a nice surprise.

Two Hips, Two Months, Two Hikes, Two Miles

Both my hips were replaced within 2 months (actually 9 weeks), the last one just 6 weeks ago. Yesterday, I took two hikes and today I walked at least 2 miles! Quite an accomplishment for my bionic parts!

Actually, I have to confess. The hikes were not real hikes. They were on trails, but they were easy and short – about 3/4 to 1 mile in length. For someone who hiked and backpacked in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, these should be no more than leisurely walks, if even classified as walks. But, post hip implants, they were great and shall be call “hikes”.

And the two miles may be a bit incorrect. We walked around the center of town doing some site-seeing. And we measure not a step. O, the two miles is my own estimate. And it too shall stand.

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is large and shallow. It is the shallowest of the great lakes at only 210 feet at it deepest. It was the site of a great sea victory in the battle of 1812. On September 10, 1813, the US Navy, under the command of Oliver Hazard Perry, defeated the British Navy. Perry was born in South Kingstown, RI on August 23, 1785 and died on his birthday in 1819. As another Rhode Islander, I was proud of his victory.

To date, we have visited the northern end of Lake Erie –at Niagara Falls; visited the southern end of Lake Erie – East Harbor State Park, OH; visited an island in Lake Erie – South Bass Island and the village of Put-in-Bay; eaten its perch and walleye; and last, but not least, walked in the waters of Lake Erie.

So for now, Lake Erie is our most visited Great Lake and, as a result, our favorite.

Day Whatever

It happens on every vacation. You know – that day when you can’t quite remember the date or the day of the week. Or how many days you have been on vacation. You sort of know where you will be and what you will be doing, but you just aren’t sure when that will be. Well, that was today for us. After much research, using calendar, computer, and itinerary, I can safely say that it is the 4th day of vacation, August 23, 2010, a Monday. We will be in Ohio until Wednesday morning and then we will go to Illinois for one night. But, this is probably the last time that I will reference a day or date! I will use things like today, tomorrow, previously and in the future!! But, no dates or days.

Today was picture taking day. We got up for sunrise. But, it was too cloudy and we did not get many good pictures. But, we continued to take pictures throughout the day and captured some good ones. Here are a few: The geese – did they know they were going the wrong way; the Marblehead Lighthouse; a gorgeous butterfly; breaking waves on Lake Erie; and Pond Lilies on Lake Erie.

Not bad for a great day of vacation.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

And neither of us is snoring - yet!

We have arrived in Hubbard, OH and none too early. It started to sprinkle as we arrived in the area. We had planned on staying at the Ohio Welcome Center. But, it was not very welcoming. There were many, many trucks and there seemed to be some construction. So, there was absolutely no room. We pulled off at the next exit and stop at a Love's, just to look things up and decide what to do.

We found a campground and they had a nice pull through site. For those that don't know, a pull-through allows you to leave the car that you are towing just where it is - no unhooking, no re-hooking it up. Great news for a one-night stop. And the price was quite reasonable - $25. When we called them, they were, as she said, "four and a half minutes from Love's". So off we went.

We got in, walked around and checked it out and got all settled in. And then the rain came. And then it stopped and then it started and then... Well you get the idea, this will go on for most of the night. Some RVer's love to hear the rain. I am never sure if I like the rat-ta-tat on the roof. But, we are settled, we are comfortable and we don't care that it is raining out there. As they say, things happen for a reason!

We had lovely dinner of Eggplant Parmesan, asparagus and some wine. To be completed with hot chocolate and black sambuca. Then it will be off to bed - hopefully no snoring.

And tomorrow we are off to East Harbor State Park for a few days.

Great vacation so far and so much more to come!

First Lunch Stop Brings a Revelation

We just stopped for lunch. Still in PA. Compared to RI, PA is quite long! After Steve helped the trucker in the next parking spot unlock his truck with a screwdriver, we ate lunch. Nothing remarkable, just some leftovers. But, for you non-RVers, these are home cooked leftovers of food that we enjoy eating!

After we ate, I decided to make a cup of tea. This is where the revelation presented itself. I am a bit of a tea snob. I find that I prefer Twinings. For now, that is mostly what I drink. Although every few months, it seems my taste changes and I prefer other flavors and other brands. As I was boiling the water, I notices that I drink English Afternoon Tea. But, I only drink it in the morning. And I also drink Irish Breakfst Tea. But, I only drink it in the afternoon
.
I wonder what that means! I hope it only means that I am neither English nor Irish because both are true! But, I am sure some others would find deeper meaning to the oddity.

PS Traffic has been pretty good and the roads have been fine. But, the last hour has been bumper to bumper for quit awhile. We stopped for lunch at the time we planned, just did it about 50 miles sooner than we expected. Oh well, back out to the same traffic. We had hoped it would clear during lunch. Doesn't appear that it has.

Day Two is Special

It is now Day 2 of Our Longest Adventure. And Day 2 is always a special day. Day 1 is usually consumed with leaving. Getting everything on board, closing the house, ensuring that the water, furnace, thermostats and all the house “things” are properly set.

But, Day 2 is special. We are underway. We have progressed far enough that there is no turning back. We wouldn’t want to, but we probably can’t! And then the “remembering” starts.

It starts easily enough. Did you remember the __________ (fill in with your own version). This conversation goes back and forth throughout the day. But, eventually, it is determined that either these “things” are all safely aboard or they really weren’t necessary after all.

Then it gets serious. The first question is: Do you know where we put the ______________ (fill in with your own version). With thinking caps on, we start with “Did you put it in the closet, or the drawer, or the pantry.” As we are moving down the highway at great speeds, we can’t really check it out! So, at the next stop, as many areas as possible are checked to see if IT is there. (And if this is a particularly good day, the IT has multiplied to THE MANY.) At least it gives us something to do at each stop. If we are lucky we will locate them all. If not, on this trip, it could be months before we find all of our stuff!

Moab or Bust!

Once again, the title On the Road Again was my preference. But, I have used it at least once, and wanted to use it several more times. So, I resisted the urge.

This is a longest and largest trip ever. We are ready and we are on our way. Well, not exactly. We have stopped for a few hours; one of us had to work for the better part of the day. But, home is in the opposite direct of Moab – a lot closer in distance but the other way! So, we decided that we would drive to that office and the other of us would wait for the end of the day.

It is Friday afternoon and we will have to traverse western Connecticut and New York traffic either along the coast (Route 95) or more inland (Route 84). Either way, our destination is Pennsylvania for the evening. Our first goal is East Harbor State Park in Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie. Right now we have plenty of time to make our Sunday reservations. The weather seems to be cooperating. Let’s hope the traffic does the same.

Update:
We made it to Milford, PA. Although WalMart was our destination, we stayed at a PA state Welcome Center. Not Bad - on par with Wally World. As always, I called the WalMart in question and asked if they allowed overnight parking. The answer was yes. She did add, "Park in the front, out of the truck lane." We should have know this was wrong - they always put the RVs in the back! When we got there it was clearly posted that overnight parking was not allowed. Not a big problem. The Welcome Center was just down the road!



Our goal for Saturday is the western end of PA, as close to OH as we can get and still have my repaired "but" feeling ok after sitting so long!

Where, Oh Where Did the Adventures Go!

It has been awhile since this blog has been updated. Why the silence? I have no excuse. The adventures in the Adventurer have continued. But, the author(s) have been nowhere to be seen – or rather read.

That will change in the near future. We are headed Out West. We will be travelling from the East Coast, almost ocean side to Moab, UT. We will visit National Parks in Utah, Arizona and Colorado. Then we will experience the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. The trip back home will take us through Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and more.

This trip will take be at least 5,000 miles and take us into or through at least 18 states. It is by far the longest, biggest trip we have every planned. So, we want to share it with you.

Beginning August 20, 2010, this blog will be reactivated! It will be updated as frequently as we can to keep our reading public (of one or two of you) informed of our Adventures!

Happy Trails and see you down the road!