October 26th and 27th Grand Canyon, AZ and NM

We had a great day at the Grand Canyon. The mules were just setting out on the trail to the bottom of the Canyon -- something to do next trip although reservations many months in advance are the norm.
We went to the ranger talk on the geological history of the Canyon and hiked the rim trail back -easy 3 mile walk along the ridge of the Canyon -- we admired some of the hikers coming up from the depths of the canyon - around 9 miles each way.
We left the Grand Canyon mid afternoon and headed for Flagstaff and Albuquerque.
Enroute to Albuquerque we stopped at the National Meteor Monument -- off of rt 40 by 5 miles. Worth the hour of time we spent but this is a one time visit to this giant crater.

We were glad we had made reservations in Albuquerque - the International Arabian Horse Show was taking place. From comments from our hotel clerk, this is a much higher maintenance crowd than the usual business types who visit the Hampton Inn but he managed to check us in to the very last room. We checked into tickets - none available so decided to spend Saturday AM in Santa Fe with Albu. as our backup plan for the afternoon.

October 25, 2007 Utah and Arizona

Last night, I found out that the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was definitely closed, although I had been assured by AAA that it was open until the end of October. We regrouped and decided that we would go to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon – October is a great time to go – we were able to get a room on short notice and a dinner reservation with no problems at the famous El Tovar restaurant when I called this AM.

Amy and I stopped at Bryce Canyon National Park this morning --fantastic! Absolutely beautiful and not far off of our route. We walked around, definitely noticing the altitude difference at 8000 ft.

From there we drove through a beautiful but desolate area. Our afternoon stop was at Glen Canyon dam – quite a project, with lots of information for visitors, built from 1956 to 1964. We then drove through the Navajo reservation The Navajo reservation was very, very poor from our observations by the side of the road.

We arrived at the Grand Canyon just before sunset with a full moon rising. Gorgeous!
Trivia: the Grand Canyon hotel has upgraded TV services. In 2002, only option was the Sundance Channel and not be able to watch the Academy awards. In 2007, the TV offers a full complement of channels, equivalent to DC.

Many visitors here from all over the world are here at the Grand Canyon, especially from Europe and Aulstralia.

Dinner was great. We are looking forward to tomorrow!

Utah 10-23-07

We headed to Salt Lake City today, arriving in the early afternoon. First stop - Audi dealer to get a brake light repaired. Great service, no charge and a great recommendation to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant -- a nice break from the all american cuisine of the west. We then headed to the Utah State house, under major renovations and then to the nearby area of the Morman Church. The Visitor Center, Brigam Young Park, Tabernacle, grounds were all extremely impressive. We did tour Brigam Young's home -- the Bee Hive house. He had 19 wives and more than 50 children while at the same time served as both Governor and the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. His personal life was certainly attention getting. Beautiful, large home with young missionaries as tour guides who completed our tour with a song for our small group - beautiful voices. All very interesting.
Downtown seemed very well maintained, with an updated light rail/trolley car system. Lots of traffice on I 15 in rush hour -- long thin city, with mountains on all sides. Provo seems like an extension of Salt Lake. Lots of big box stores in the suburbs - could be anywhere. Still no 93 octane gas [none in Portland that I found]

We then headed south to Beaver UT where we are spending the night, enroute to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. This is the birthplace of both Butch Cassidy and the inventor of television, Philo Farnsworth.

Portland, OR 10-19, 10-20, 10-21, 10-22

Friday: Allan has a spacious apartment complete with catherdral ceilings. Paul and I decided to make some donations from Target to Allan's apartment while he worked in the morning. I think he will keep about 1/2 of our purchases. For sure the clock that ticks too loud and the laundry hamper with a cover were instant rejects. The TV stand/future coffee table and the coffee pot will stay. Other items are debatable. In the afternoon we headed out to a local corn maze, complete with a farm animal exhibit and haystacks for climbing. Dinner in downtown Portland at a great local cajun place.
Paul and I headed to the Pacific with Allan and Annie on Saturday AM. Annie arrived after her 12 mile run to 3 sleeping persons. It was a great morning for sleeping in with steady drizzle combined with intermittent downpours. When we arrived at the beach we were greeted by blue skies, a nearly empty beach and big surf. Paul's test of his new gortex hiking boots waterproofing was overwhelmed by an unexpected wave. We hiked a trail -- Allan and Annie went all the way to the mountain top, Paul & I went up a little more than 1/2 way up. Beautiful views of the Pacific from the mountain. Rain returned for the trip back. We stopped by Allan's office and air field enroute to Portland. Allan went out to see friends while Paul and I stayed in on Sat evening. Paul continues to battle a cold and it is nice to have a place to hang out at, a home.
Sunday, we dropped Paul at the airport. Allan and I met his real estate agent in downtown Portland. He is looking at 2 and 3 bedroom homes -- ranging in age from 75 to 100 years old. We saw an interesting variety -- all close to areas he'd like to consider. Some were clear rejects including the garage roof that is leaking and caving in. Then off to Allan's pickup ultimate frisbee game. I took a hike through the neighborhood [Dennis Kucinich stickers], met players and went with all to the local sports bar. We met Amy Walsh at the air port Sunday evening.
Monday, Amy and I considered going to the Pacific via Washington state but enroute we were greeted by Mt St. Helen's in the distance. We had absolutely perfect weather and decided to head there first and maybe go to the Pacific later. Well, Mt St. Helen's is further away than it looks so it was our only stop of the day - about 90 minutes from Portland. We were both incredibly impressed -- great visitor centers, hikes near the Mountain, interesting terrain. A recommended stop. We met Allan and Annie in Portland for dinner and walk along the waterfront.
Tuesday, we headed east, stopping in Pendleton, OR for lunch and a stroll around town. We did some shopping and continued on to Idaho.

Onward to Portland via the Oregon Trail 10-18-07

We left Mountain Home and headed on to Portland. We have been following the Oregon Trail. Even the Craters of the Moon was part of the path although must have been tough on wagon trains, willing to travel over harsh volcanic rock to avoid Indian attacks.
We stopped in Boise -- toured the Idaho Museum of history [only $2 entry fee, $1 for students including college]. Great story of Lewis & Clark and update through 1900 of Idaho. We had lunch in Baker City -- stained glass ceiling in an old hotel from the 1880's [probably a wild place back then in a town full of gold miners].
We stopped at one of the dams along the Columbia River, between OR & WA - big civil engineering projects with lots of hydro power for the entire area.











Last stop before Portland was at Multnomah Falls -- easily accessed from I-84 and really spectacular. We didn't climb the mile high hike to the top because the park was ready to close and found out later from Allan, totally not worth it, but the view is spectacular off the bridge between the upper and lower falls.


















Dinner for an early celebration of Paul's birthday from the 30th floor of Portland's tallest office building with Allan and Annie. With window side seats, we had a terrific meal. Then off to the suburbs and Allan's current apartment.

Craters of the Moon and Mountain Home 10-17-07

Paul and I woke up to falling snow in West Yellowstone. Sunrise is after 7:30. We headed west on US 20 through Eastern Idaho to Craters of the Moon – a national park with Volcanoes in the middle of a lonely place [sign: fuel in 52 miles]. Not even cattle live in this area of volcanic rock. We got to see inside a Volcano. It is a long way across this desert with high mountains – over 11,000 ft- encircling the entire area.

Then onward to Mountain City, ID to see Tom and Heather Laffey. As we left I-84 to head to the air force base, with a mile marker 10 miles to Mt Home AFB, Paul asked: why do we need an afb here? Tom filled us in that this entire area with several air bases is used for pilot training with Mt Home being a base sending pilots directly to Iraq and Afghanistan. So far, these are places,Tom has been able to pass up.

Tom met us at the gate [all of the security guys are report to him so we were treated like honored guests.] Quinn, [4 ½] and She [2 ½ ] have grown tremendously in the 16 months they have been in ID. Paul and I were first family visitors since Uncle Joe so got a terrific welcome. We ate at the restaurant on base and a chance to visit at their home. They will be only be here another 7 months, finding out by early 2008 where they are headed next May. They were in Yellowstone in August [DOD has places for military and government employees to stay in between Yellowstone and Grand Teton Park – per Tom, Marg should be eligible if she want to go.].

Yellowstone 10-16

Paul arrived along with a very well healed crowd uneventfully yesterday. Early start for him [2:30 am MT time], painful PHL security process which evidently is not atypical to the point he was worried about missing his plane. Jackson Hole is a free parking airport - my first ever.
We had time to see a few of the sites in Jackson, shop at the local outdoor store where serious climbing ropes are standard fare. Both Paul and I selected new hiking style footgear and he found a noteworthy pair of sheepskin style lined flip flops, all on sale.
We had a great drive through the Grand Teton Park, stopping at several places I had passed by on the way down on Sunday.














We went on to Yellowstone, stopping at the West Thumb area

before it got dark and checked in to the Yellowstone Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Beautiful facility but no TV's in the rooms and more surprising to Paul, no internet. Dinner was quite mediocre but great location. Paul went to sleep by 8:30 MT so no need for TV and internet. We were right next to Old Faithful which we stopped and saw this AM, went off 7 minutes early. Quite spectacular. We made a number of stops, did a 5 mile hike to Fairy Falls, took lots of pictures. Saw numerous buffalo, elk,
deer but no bears. The park is very empty - our lodge, the last one open, closes on Sunday. It was nice having no traffic, lots of wild life and beautiful park.
Ended up this evening at West Yellowstone, complete with TV [baseball game] and internet along with washer and dryer[Paul needs] and indoor pool and hot tub. Best Western is very clued in to the desires of the typical American traveler.
Picture posting is a challenge due to so, so internet wireless service so they are in process. We are a long way from anything but trees.

Yellowstone & Jackson Hole 10-14 & 10-15

I drove Sunday AM to Jackson Hole via Yellowstone. I continue to have absolutely gorgeous weather--crystal clear although crisp in the mornings. I meet up with Paul at the Jackson Hole airport this afternoon and don't expect to have internet service at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Ride from Cody to Jackson is over 3 hours driving time[not the 5 hours presented by the hotel clerk in Cody].
Yellowstone is all it is claimed to be. Geysers spouting forth over the lake, water falls, buffalo walking along right off the road [no sign of aggressive activity]. I had wondered how the buffalo managed to move about in the Black Hills since I had thought of them as animals of the open plains but they manage just fine, moving a bit like a very large horse. Picture below has two buffalo in it -- the two dark lumps on either side of the tree.



The park is very quiet with many sections closed -- last week for lodging in Yellowstone until Christmas. I am looking forward to exploring more of it with Paul.
The road to Jackson through the Grand Teton National Park is spectacular. Nearly all of the park is completely closed to visitors as of Columbus Day. Will see more of it with Paul today as we head north.

Jackson, described to me as the town of billionaires by the hotel clerk in Cody, certainly seems extremely well to do. This is a lull in the season at Jackson - summer tourists have left and it is too early for the skiiers. Highest mountain tops are snow covered.I have seen numerous Audi's -- including 2 wagons just like my own.
The Best Western here even had a bell man available to carry my luggage. Most plush hotel room so far but not the most expensive. Rooms have decor of Elk antlers [town theme].
Had late lunch at the local sports bar next door to the hotel -- NFL ticket has lots of fans, all watching the NE -Dallas game. Next store was a ritzy grocery complete with lots of prepared deluxe foods available to non-cooks. The town is loaded with art galleries and expensive shops. New York Times for sale at the local book store for $6.50 but was the Sunday edition. Luxuries like the pet grooming van which comes to your home along with the magician van for kids parties are signs of $$. Nearly all the 'for sale' properties are 7 figures in the real estate window. There is housing that is more affordable-- apartments and trailers. Workers seem to be all kinds but include Eastern Europeans and hispanics [local Catholic Church has both a Spanish Mass on Sunday and an hispanic ministry].
Local hospital [must serve a huge radius] has large orthopedic section - evidently to handle all the skiing injuries as well as the usual hiking incidents. Ski season opens December 1.
Jackson is a former elk winter pasture [town has replaced 2/3rds of elk space]. Elk were out in full force when I drove by the Nat'l Elk preserve just north of town. I just missed the annual elk hunting on the preserve, open to 12-17 year olds by lottery.

Wall Drug 10-11 update

Chris and Ellen asked if I made it to Wall Drug. Of course, couldn't miss it - came highly recommended by Allan and others. Lunch was very mediocre - Tom will appreciate that I sent back my tuna salad sandwich which arrived on burnt toast. When I spoke to the teenage server, he looked like he had heard my comment and was ready to move on to the next customer. Then his boss [my peer] quickly asked me, after a fast visual exam of the charred toast, would I like a replacement which I requested. [Tom considers me a high maintenance customer. I explained once again when I complained about my lousy prime rib in Champagne, tough and served medium well when medium rare had been requested that I was giving the restaurant a 2nd chance, to make me happier with my meal; alternative that I would never return still left me with a lousy meal. ] While eating my replacement tuna sandwich, I was interested to read the story of how Wall Drug came to be. Mom will be interested that the pharmacist selected this location to have a pharmacy because of its close proximity to a Catholic Church which had daily mass.
The town of Wall Drug had the most expensive upcharge for premium gas ever seen 40 cents more per gallon rather than usual 20 cents.

pictures

I am having technical difficulties -- Paul has assured me he will take a look when he arrives on Monday.

Enroute to Yellowstone 10-13 & 10-14

After leaving Gillette, WY, I headed to the Battle of Little Big Horn site. Once you cross into MT, you are on the Crow Reservation for more than 30 miles --reservation housing visible from I-90 makes the trailer parks outside SD & WY cities seem rather plush. Good preliminary for the battle site where Custer had his last stand. Bio on Custer [last in his class at WP, etc, along with numerous other problems makes him a rather controversial officer--I didn't realize he fought against JEB Stuart - our local hero, which Tom's high school is named for -- at Gettysburg ].
The Indians certainly has reasons to fight. Battlefield is a bit like Gettysburg - big open fields with graves marked. Horses roam around -- right on the driving route of the battlefield. It was appropriate to see Crazy Horse's battle after having visited the Crazy Horse monument.


I stayed in Billings, MT Friday evening. Busy town with all the usual big box stores. Walmart is everywhere including Gillette and Cody, WY but Best Buy, Lowes and Borders not. I headed to Cody, WY today -- named after Buffalo Bill Cody. Billings in the nearest real city -- not a single traffic light for 120 miles in between. 2 lane road posted at 70 miles/hr but mostly good road.
Cody has a great museum -- on a par with Smithsonian quality -- really 5 separate museums - Buffalo Bill Cody gets his own, Plains Indians another, western art, natural history and I passed on the Cody Fire Arms museum. Sitting Bull of Little Bighorn Fame was in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at one point. If I had come in the summer, there is a daily rodeo show from June to August -- this town must be packed with tourists then. Billings is also a big rodeo town.














Trivia: Carnegie Library here in Cody. Peak dinner hour seems to be as early as 5:30 on Sat night. Local restaurant - not for tourists, based on who was there - was packed at 5:30, plenty of empty tables when I was leaving at 7:45. I asked the waitress - she said 'this is Wyoming' -- you can't get food after 10'. Best Western has a full service laundromat - with 8 washers and dryers in Cody. One possible route to Yellowstone is already closed for the winter. Snow predicted for the high altitudes tonight but unlikely where I am. Many locals know I am not from around here - just by looking however the drive thru latte guy admired my audi and wanted to know where I got it serviced in Billings -- he is looking to upgrade from his Saab.
Radio coverage of the WY-NM game on 3 different channels today, with WY players interviewed [NM trounced WY]. Preceded by the high school sports report where individual players get recognized. HS teams must travel big time all over the state-- Rock Spring played Casper -- over 200 miles away.
Paul thinks the gps idea is a good one and has volunteered to select a model at a Phil Best Buy and bring it with him on the plane.
Yellowstone alert: bear mawling of elk hunter with north east corner of park closed, temporarily.

South Dakota October 10 & 11

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD is worth skipping. This building is the local auditorium most frequently used as the high school gym. Interesting exterior but no big deal.
Turns out this is the home town of George McGovern [Peter is the source of this political info] -- you would never guess it from the town. Absolutely no mention anywhere -- not unexpected when the local TV news in the Hampton Inn breakfast area is set on Fox Morning News.




I headed west, crossing SD.
I spent the afternoon at Bad Lands National Park -- wonderful, beautiful park. Hikes off the main road all laid out by the Park Service.












Next stop: Rapid City SD, 2nd largest city in SD before visiting Mt Rushmore this AM. Impressive monument. The Natl Park guide was great, but short with protruding ears [noticeable with his hat]. They were filming at the park -- the ranger selected for filming was not Shortie but a handsome ranger who could be in the movies. Other high light: 3 big white sheep came down and hung out in the trees right near the path around the monument.















I went to the Crazy Horse monument afterward -the family involved is totally into private enterprise; they are refusing federal grant money, have been working on this since 1947 and the face was completed in 1998. [Face is as big as all of Mt Rushmore]. I am not sure if private fund raising will get this done in this century. Felt way too commercial since they need to pay. Most outrageous fee: $125 to take a van trip right up to the dig sight. I passed even though I was informed that this was totally tax deductable. Evidently they are refusing federal funds but are a charitable organization.

Next stop, on the way to Devil's Tower, was Jewel Cave. Didn't work out to visit --out of snyc on timing for tours. Impressive facility with very few visitors [4 cars but room for 200].



Great drive to eastern Wyoming -- to Devil's tower. Even more impressive than the Bad Lands, I think because of the amazing geological shape. I lucked out -- only open Wed through Sunday [who knew that the Park Service has reduced days in the off season]. Half way around the tower, in a lovely sunny spot, a group of us watched two climbers coming down while 3 others climbed up. The walkway around the tower is a place of tranquility, at least at the end of the day.



Tonight I am in Gilette, Wyoming. Busy town complete with a open pit mine [I assume the dark stuff is coal], oil production --I passed WY oil wells on the way along I 90, and is a big train center.



Trivia:
WY Local restaurant had terrific steaks -- prices compete with DC.
Radio has farm report as part of local news. Grain prices first in SD but cattle prices come first in WY. Wyoming Public radio fund raising time: with $ for $ match, they were hoping for 4 new members during ATC -- I know the population is smallest state but this seemed a tiny goal.
Lots of trailers in SD and WY -- both in small cities [all cities seem small] and rural [poorest of all]. Must be frigid during the winters here.
93 Octane gas for my audi is non-existent. ultra is 91 or 92 [BP has 92]. Car seems to run fine. Gas stations are not so frequent -- I look for stations before I get below 75 miles to go.

Kansas to South Dakota

I had a great visit with Cy and Esther Rudnick in Kansas City. They have moved from KC,MO city residence to suburban KC, KS where they can live all on one level which Cy needs [he is dealing with old high school football knee injury and is considering knee surgery in 2008]. They are busy with life and wonder how they time to work prior to 12-31 when they closed their long time fabric business.

They fed me well with great local offerings: We had fantastic Indian food on Sunday pm, KC barbecue for lunch and deluxe pizza with all the grandkids Monday evening. I was able to see everyone who is in town.

Rain Monday AM was followed by absolutely perfect Fall weather. I was able to take a walk in their neighborhood Monday afternoon.

I headed to SD this morning, traveling through MO and Iowa on Lewis and Clark's route along the Missouri river. Gorgeous weather continued although cooler by this evening.

This is the breakbasket of the US. I didn't see a single cow until SD. MO & Iowa are full of corn, wheat and other crops - I am embarrassed as to my limited knowledge. Fence post to fence post with lots of harvesting, up until sunset.

[Machinery is amazing -- some single machines seem to be able to pick corn, separate into different bins and get land ready for new crop [may even be planting as they go]. Other farms seems to do this with several pieces of equipment.


Trivia:
Spanish radio is alive and well in the farm belt but not much hip hop. The headlines in the Omaha paper were 'VISA RULES,HARVESTS COLLIDE'. Omaha, Sioux City and Sioux Falls are booming. Passed ethanol plants -- very smelly. Lowest price gas in MO $2.42/ gallon for regular. I continue to be a rare European vehicle. I did see two VW's and then a BMW 740 with SD tags in Sioux Falls. People don't go much over the SD posted speed of 75 -- I was passing lots at 79.

Hunting season has started in SD. The Hampton Inn I am staying in is full with guys my age in pretty fancy hunting gear and carrying their guns into their rooms. Turns out 20% of the state has a hunting license.

Midwest - October 8th

I left Columbus at sunrise on Saturday AM. Fog covered the fields -- a bit like a sci-fi landscape - with the sun rising slowly, as I headed west. Harvest is in full swing in Ohio and Illinois with large farm machinery at work on Saturday AM and even Sunday afternoon in what looks like a very observant part of western Illinois [anecdotal based on billboard signs and church parking lot fullness]. Rain forecast for Monday comes true -- good soaking rain starts on Sunday evening as I approach KC.
Central Illinois farms seem very prosperous -- new pickup trucks and farm machinery, neat and tidy farm buildings and fences. [Interesting to buy gas on Saturday AM and be the only non-pickup truck]. Corn especially being harvested with quite a bit of wheat.
Southern Illinois, near St. Louis, seems less well off, along with Missouri. Vehicles are not all brand new and you don't see farm fields covering every square foot of ground. All seems ok -- good time to be a farmer in the US with ethanol very good for the farm economy.
Kansas City is going through lots of rebirth. One can still buy a modest single family home with a yard for $150,000 in a good suburban school district. Many families choose to live on one income per Cy and Esther, even though salaries aren't as high as the East Coast.

Game Day 10-6-07

I am immersed in the subculture of big 10 football. I opened up the Columbus daily newspaper to see an entire 'game day' section covering the OSU-Purdue game at Purdue. The local news reporter touted the game I was headed to with Tom as a top game of the day to watch!

I drove along I -70 with cars touting both OSU & Purdue at 7:30 am even though the game didn't start until 8 pm. By touting, I mean flags on their cars and brightly colored football shirts worn by entire car. In Indianapolis, the exit to the University of Indiana was packed with fans headed to the Indiana-MN game [Indiana won 40-20]. Then as I head to Champaign -- drivers were wearing orange T shirts for the UIllinos - Wisonsin game which started at 11 AM - a bit early for many of the local residents. Tom greeted me wearing orange and had an orange T shirt he had purchased for me [even our tickets had said 'WEAR ORANGE'. Tom and I had plenty of company as we arrived at the stadium partially into the 2nd quarter. I was one of a number of parents in the student section --this was 'Dad's weekend' -- the Fall parents weekend. The fans were extremely enthusiastic at the sold out crowd [Tom had bought my ticket on the internal face book on campus]. Most everyone was in Orange with a few tough souls wearing the bright red of Wisonsin -- even some in the students section but less than 5% of the entire crowd. It was a great game, close down to the last minute with a final score of U of Illinois 31, Wisconsin 24.
The local paper opening front page on Sunday was all about the game with the possibility of a bowl berth for the first time since 1989 mentioned. Big question: how high will Illinois be ranked?

10-5-07 Blastoff

Headed west from DC this am arriving in Columbus, OH to see Rob, Christie, Luke, Sam & Ben. Digesting Graeters as I write this. Toured OSU at night [scouting SAT II location for Luke's test tomorrow am].
Early departure planned for trip tomorrow to UIUC -- football game starts at 11 am, ct. I have been warned to look out for OSU tailgaters headed to Lafeyette, IN - Purdue vs. OSU even though their game is at 8 pm.