Whew!

I think we must have walked for miles and miles today! Most of the long walk was entirely due to our spatial challenges in that most trips from one location to another had to be done twice -- first the wrong way, and then maybe another wrong way before finally getting the right way! Oh my goodness, we felt so stupid as we trudged along the sidewalk trying to remember if we'd been at that particular location before and having to go all the way to the intersection to see the name or number of the street. Once we found that, however, we often still didn't know which way to go to get to the next numbered street. I know I had north and south mixed up and Mary Ann is as bad as I am -- must be in the genes.

We stopped at AAA today to pick up some maps and tour books for the next part of the journey. We got off the bus early and surprisingly, found the office easily. We didn't know whether we would be able to get back before they closed in the afternoon, so we got what we needed and packed those heavy tour books around with us all day.

Museum #1 today was the Museum of Natural History. It was kind of fun for me to see up close the same animals we saw live at the zoo in Columbus. The museum had stuffed animals from all over the world -- very interesting, but their fur was all clean and neatly brushed -- quite unlike the real thing in Columbus and Peoria. We also saw skeletons of animals and could see how apparently unlike animals were really quite similar without their skins. Quite a large ocean display also -- made me think that Maddie and Chelsea would really enjoy seeing all the sea creatures. We went through a geology section, most of which was just too hard and too much, but we did see some beautiful gems and jewelry, including the Hope Diamond.

Mary Ann took a trip up the Washington Monument. I didn't go because I didn't want to be crowded into that elevator and besides, if I'm going to be up that high, I'd just as soon be in an airplane!

We ate hot dogs from a kiosk and headed for the Air and Space Museum next. As we entered, we heard a man explaining some things about the Appolo 9 command module so we listened in. That led to our joining the guided tour. We know now that if someone tours us around and explains things about the exhibits, we learn uch more. This tour guide was excellent, but we stood so long with only short walks from display to display that we became unbelievably tired. It's one thing to walk all day, but it's much more difficult to stand. In any case, we managed and followed the tour to its end some two hours later. We learned about airplanes that first carried the mail and we saw some of the first passenger planes. We saw the actual airplane flown by the Wright Brothers and heard the story of those historic times. We learned about some of the other early planes -- Fokkers and the plane flown by Ameilia Earhart. We were also taught about modern airplanes and saw the nose of a 747. The guide explained that it was just too huge to hope to get it all into the museum! The last part of the tour involved space and particularly, the moon landing program. That little vehicle that they used to actually land on the moon wasn't very big and to think that it was used as a "lifeboat" for Apollo 13 was amazing.

By this time, we were worn out, so we had to sit on the wall outside for a few minutes to give our legs a rest before we set out to catch the bus. Of course, we made numerous wrong turns, but found a great little coffee shop where we again sat down while we ate a bagel and jelly. We still had about 7 blocks to walk to catch our bus, so we hustled along being sure to keep the sun in our eyes so we could be sure we were walking west.

Our last bus ride was like the others -- pleasant and pretty efficient. We continue to be impressed with the courtesy and skill of the drivers. Interestingly, however, the steering wheels in the buses are very high -- about shoulder height for the drivers. We can't really see why they would be so high and we wonder how much control the drivers would have with the wheel so high. It reminded me of the high handlebars on some of the motorcycles I saw earlier in Sturgis.

We had tea and cookies again with the other guests -- an interesting group. It seems that this place is particularly attractive for students who come to study in DC but who do not yet have their accommodations finally arranged. It makes for good conversation.

We plan to leave after breakfast tomorrow. We don't really have to make a long trip since we have no deadlines for a few days and we thought we would wait to leave after the morning rush hour. We also plotted a route that is a bit longer than the one "GPS-Susan" chose for us, but one that looks easier and avoids the down town urban area. Rivers -- Potomac in this case -- can make for circuitous and complicated routes. So, we'll see what happens when we defy Susan!

One more thing

Take all the awesome beauty of creation that we've seen, add some magnificent trees, and you have the unbelievable West Coast! How good to see green trees -- lots and lots of them -- as well as mountains, fields, valleys, farms, cities and all. Even Pike's Peak doesn't compare.

BIG Valleys, BIG Round Mountains, BIG Table Top Ridges

Today was a BIG day. We left southern Idaho, passing modest, but apparently successful farms. It was somewhat unspectacular country, but pleasant if you like flat. Interestingly, on both sides of the large valley, were tall hills (or little mountains, I guess). The sides of these hills were almost vertical and the tops were flat so they looked for all the world like walls. We could see that they had had snow, but it was about 8 or 9 degrees, so there was no danger of our seeing any new snow or ice.

Boise is a bigger city than we expected. It seems like a prosperous area with lots of evidence of industry, but not ugly at all. I think we have given a "thumbs up" to Idaho . . . not for me to live in, for sure, but fine for a visit.

As we drove north and west, we entered the northeast corner of Oregon. Here we saw amazing scenery. It's hard to describe, but the overriding observation would, again, have to be that everything was big. The mountains (not hills) are massive and round and bare, resulting in huge dips and valleys.

You might get a bit of an idea from this photo (taken from the car window by Nita, of course)

This photo doesn't show that off in the distance were much bigger bald mountains rising higher and further away -- big, round, bald mountain ranges.

We climbed up over some of these mountains, and at one point, we stopped at a viewpoint for a spectacular sight. The scene is a huge valley, the centre of which is the city of Pendleton. Here's a bit of a look. (By the way, I took the first one! I couldn't see what I was taking because the little camera that I'm using has an LCD screen but no view finder. All I could see was a reflection of myself, so I just sort of pointed the camera in the general direction of the valley!)

And here is one that show the road below and the patchwork of the cultivated fields. Wherever there is no irrigation, the land is as arid as can be -- sagebrush and all. I am constantly amazed at the lack of water and green growth across most of the country I've traveled!All of the interstates have trucks, trucks, trucks. As you will see in this picture, some are even three trailers long.

We're going to try to get home by 4:30 tomorrow so I can get the dentist to tighten up my implanted tooth! The cap is loose and I'm afraid it will pop off. So, if all goes well, I should be home from the dentist by about 5:30. I am so looking forward to seeing my friends and family at home. I just wish I didn't have to travel from one end of the country to the other to see those I love!
So, this is the end of this Kentucky Bound Blog. It's been a wonderful trip, coming and going. I hope you were able to get a glimpse of the fun I've had. Thanks for reading.

From Winter to Summer to Winter in Ten Hours

We left Dillon, Colorado in freezing winter weather. It was about 22 degrees F., which is something like minus 5 or 6 C. The car windows were covered with ice, and with freezing hands, a credit card, and the defroster on full, we finally cleared the windows enough to be on our way. As the morning unfolded, the temperature increased and the sun shone. By the time we got through most of the mountains the temperature soared to 22 degrees Celsius. We drove on after supper since the driving was easy and we weren't too tired until we reached Burley in southern Idaho. The temperature dropped again, and the close-by hills were again snow covered. You've probably never heard of Burley, Idaho -- neither had we. It's about 200 miles north of Salt Lake City on I-84, but we have no idea what the place looks like since it was dark when we arrived and is still dark this morning.

I forgot to mention that we saw two Rocky Mountain big horned sheep right next to the highway between Denver and Dillon. We were surprised and delighted because those animals are usually found only in remote mountain areas. I have seen them before, but never that close. Too bad we were on the Interstate so we couldn't stop and have a better look.

I have been to Colorado before, but I am still shocked by the fact that by far, the largest part of Colorado is arid. The plains in the east are just a continuation of Kansas, but when I think of the Rockies, I think of huge mountains and trees -- even if they are high altitude trees. Well, as we drove through the Rockies yesterday, the area looks more like Kamloops than the Hope-Princeton. We saw huge mountains, for sure, and some were snowy crags, but, for the most part, they were big bald yellow mountains separated by wide, arid valleys. By the time we crossed the state line into Utah, the valleys were bigger and the mountains and hills were the strange shapes that go with the beautiful Arches of southern Utah. The other thing that impressed me was that there are huge distances between settlements. People living in a remote little village miles and miles from any kind of city makes me wonder what on earth they do for a living. Some settlements were mining communities and, of course, Vail and surrounding areas were ski resorts, but there were plenty of others that seemed to just "be there".

One of the massive "rocks" along the way.

See what I mean by wide, arid valleys?

Still arid and beginning to show some interesting shapes.

Some hills looked like this, others just like castles, yet others like pyramids. Strange shapes.

We turned North at Provo, Utah. Provo and Salt Lake City almost run into each other in one large megalopolis. We arrived just in time to experience rush hour. Well, other than two slow downs because of construction, I don't believe we drove more slowly than 60 mph during the entire time. If that's rush hour, then these folks from Utah certainly know how to do it.

We stopped in Ogden, Utah -- just a bit north of SLC at a Cracker Barrel for supper. We looked at the map and at the books and decided to carry on for another couple of hundred miles. I pulled into the Fairfield Inn parking lot and was able to hook into their free wireless service in order to reserve a room in Burley. I felt very much as if I had found a real bargain by saving the cost of a phone call! The roads are good, and like earlier in the day, I was able to set the cruise control for 75 mph and on we went, passing only big trucks and being passed by a few cars. The GPS did its thing, and we arrived at the motel we had selected without incident.

It's light now -- and cloudy. Nita just looked out the window and described the area -- "Farm country with snow on the hills." We're off in a few minutes to drive through the surprisingly large state of Idaho (I always just think of that northern little part of Idaho), through a bit of Oregon, and then into Washington. It's interesting that as soon as we came out of the mountains into the Salt Lake City area, Nita and I both felt more "at home". Idaho feels closer, Oregon will feel good, and by the time we get to Washington, we will be virtually "back home."

Purple Mountain Majesties

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

These words were penned by Katharine Lee Bates after she visited Pike's Peak by Colorado Springs. We drove the 19 miles from Colorado Springs (altitude 6000 ft.) to the summit of Pike's Peak (altitude 14,110 ft.) It was so steep in places that I couldn't go over 10 mph. Part of the road is paved, and part is gravel. There was snow and fog on the way up, but the fog cleared so on the way down, we could see down the precipices and across the ranges of mountains. Coming back down, we were told to put the car in the lowest gear so that we didn't burn out our brakes! There were steep inclines and hairpin turns that made the Summits to Christina Lake look like a little winding road in the park! Just to prove we were there in the well-below freezing temperatures and blowing wind -- well above the tree line . . . (you can see that I cut the top of the sign off when it was my turn to take the photo!)

We witnessed what must surely be the most spectacular sights I have ever seen. I used up all my superlatives yesterday, and now I have no words left to describe the scenes. So, here are some of Nita's photos -- you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words! Too bad that even Nita's superb photography doesn't do justice to the pictures we saw with our eyes.

See the mountain ranges in the background.

This shows the summit -- and we were all the way up there at the very top!

I told you there was snow!

I will, however, have to try to describe the aspens. Remember that when I use the words "lower" altitudes, we are starting at 6000 feet! In the lower altitudes, the aspens are beginning to change colour. First, they seem to be almost a lime green. A little further up, and mixed in with the green aspens, are ones that are a mixture of green and yellow. Next, they become bright yellow, and then a tangerine orange colour. They look so spectacular because their trunks are paper white. Standing next to dark pines with black trunks makes them stand out even more. By the time we travelled further up the mountain, they had lost all their leaves and stood naked and chilly in the snow and wind. So here are some pictures of the aspens.

We're somewhere in the Rockies tonight in a little town named Dillon, Colorado. We're still about 7 or more hours from Salt Lake City if the weather holds. We hope to make it to Ogden, Utah tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

By the way, just as a postscript -- the altitude at the summit made for strange feelings. I felt pretty uncomfortable -- a little shaky, swimmy head, and a general "not good feeling". These are signs of altitude sickness, except what I experienced was very mild. Some people cannot handle it and can become very sick. I think the combination of altitude, the special doughnuts that they can make only at that altitude (we ate two each), and the tension of the drive attacked my digestive system so that I have "suffered" every since! Not only that, but the little Suzuki also felt the altitude and had its oxygen sensor knocked out of whack. It cost $50 to have it put on the scan to find out what the warning light was all about! It's a good thing we met this very nice mechanic the previous day when I had the oil changed. We've now driven a couple of hundred plus miles in mountain country and no more warning lights. As well, a good shower and some ginger ale are working together to repair my innards too!

Colorado Springs - Mountain Splendor

We spent a lovely day today in Colorado Springs. It has been COLD -- we had layers of warmies on. We started out this morning for the US Air Force Academy. Our GPS guided us easily to this military base, which, while right in Colorado Springs, is huge. Once we passed the inspection point (when a freshly scrubbed young man peered at our over laden car, looked in the over laden trunk, and just waved us on) we drove for about six miles before we reached the visitors' centre. We stopped at a static display of two Thunderbird planes -- a Warthog and a T-38 (I think).

We looked around a bit and watched a short movie about the Academy. It was okay, but not great -- mostly advertising for the Academy. However, then we walked a 1/3 - mile trail to the Chapel. What a beautiful building! Nita, of course, has some beautiful pictures, but, for now, here are a couple I took -- truly a unique building.

It's not really possible to describe the interaction of the stained glass windows and the shape of the building and the windows. The Protestant chapel on the main floor was glorious in the light. The Catholic Chapel is on the bottom floor, and has a lovely mosaic behind the altar. The Jewish Chapel and the Buddhist Chapel are on the lower floor and are quite small in comparison. There is an Islamic Chapel as well now, but we were unable to see it.

Our next port of call was The Garden of the Gods. This natural area is free and open to the public after being donated to the city of Colorado Springs many years ago. Again, pictures cannot do justice to the magnificence of nature. This area is right up there in terms of strange beauty. Again, here are some poor pictures. (I really should have waited till I could get Nita's photos.)

After a wonderful drive through the Garden of the Gods, we drove into Old Colorado Springs, expecting to see what the town looked like in the very early days. Instead, we found shop after shop selling antiques and such. It was a bit disappointing, but we poked around for a bit, and then headed back to our very modest motel. We entered some addresses into the Tom-Tom and headed out for supper. We have been saving a portion of our dinners (always too much around here) and using the leftovers for lunch the next day! We were going to get gas after supper, but some of the gas stations around here make it difficult to use a Canadian credit card (if you can believe it). Before you can pump gas, you have to put your zip code in. Of course, a Canadian postal code will not work. I tried putting either Donna's zip code or Mary Ann's zip code in, but they didn't match the address on the credit card so that didn't work. If I take my card into the cashier, they sometimes don't know what to do, and even if they do, I don't know how much gas the car will take. So, tonight, I just drove out. We'll fill up somewhere else. Many stations will take the card -- especially the major oil companies. Still, it's a nuisance!

We did an analysis of our time, the distances and the weather conditions and have decided to change our Yellowstone plans once again. The weather and road conditions are just unpredictable so we aren't going to try to even drive anywhere near the park. We aren't even going to go up to I-80 since there is some question of the conditions even of that Interstate through the Rockies. The best route we can find is I-70 from Denver to Salt Lake City and then north to I-90 at Ellensburg. It's still a long drive home. We're planning to go to Pike's Peak tomorrow and then on to a little place near Vail. The next night we're hoping to make it to Ogden, Utah and then to Kennewick, Washington -- getting us home sometime on Friday. If we are delayed by weather through the Rockies, we might not make it home till Saturday, but so far as we can see, we should be fine. We'll keep you informed if our plans change. Pike's Peak should be good tomorrow.

Wind, Rain, Road Construction, Trucks and Cold

As I predicted, today was a hard drive. It started out just fine -- good road, not too much traffic, easy directions. However, once we passed the Kansas City Ring Road, the wind started up. It blew in gusts -- not dangerous like the Casper trip of the past, but just enough wind to make me unable to relax as I drove. That wind went on for quite a few miles and then eased up until we were just getting on and off gusts. Next, however, we experienced rain. At first, it was ordinary rain, but then turned into driving rain along with much traffic, road construction, and truck after truck spraying water making visibility an issue. So, we are tired, but safely in a motel in Colorado Springs, near the Garden of the Gods which we plan to visit tomorrow. We're thinking of staying another day here so we can do some sight seeing. We're not sure about Yellowstone, so perhaps we'll settle for Pike's Peak instead.

Kansas was okay, but by the time we got to the Colorado state line we were pretty sick of prairies. We did see fields and fields of milo -- a kind of grain used to feed livestock. It looks like stunted corn with a brown flower on top. I forgot to mention that we also saw fields of cotton in Missouri. We're not sure just what stage those fields were in -- ready for harvest??

The one thing of particular interest today was the clouds (and there were plenty of them!) They looked like big grey blankets rolled up and placed in a row. At one point it looked as if the entire sky was moving quickly -- the wind was strong enough to be moving all the clouds together. Interesting. The temperature dropped as far as 1 degree Celsius along the way and it's only about 3 degrees here in town. With the wind added, we were COLD as we walked across the street to the restaurant, even though we were pretty bundled up. It's supposed to snow tonight I think, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. It's all good though.