A Week of Recovery

OK. We've been home for a week now and it seems like it is time to quit sleeping for 9 to 10 hours a night. Most nights on the road we were getting 7 to 8 hours which should be fine for old folks like us. But, we were usually very busy during the day and quite tired by bedtime. Now, it seems like we can't get enough sleep. We are trying to pick up on our physical activity as an antidote. We are back up to a two mile walk each morning, but it has been too hot to do much else outside. We are really looking forward to cooler weather when we can get back on the bikes and go for rides any time we want (not just on weekends).

Summary

I thought it would be somewhat interesting to gather together some facts and statistics about our journey. So without further delay (please scroll down):

Days on the road:	28
Miles driven:	8193.2
Different interstate highways driven on:	12
States visited (outside MD):	12
Provinces visited:	2
New states added to our life list:	3 (4 for Mary)
National Parks, Memorials, Monuments and Battlefields visited:	8
Different Lodging Places:	16
Lodging places stayed in twice:	1 (Spokane, WA)
Hotel key cards accidentally brought home:	4
Hotel room keys accidentally brought home:	1 (Glacier Lodge)
Black Bears Sighted:	1
Grizzly Bears Sighted:	4
Elk Sighted:	Lots
Buffalo Sighted:	Hundreds
Pronghorn Antelope Sighted:	Dozens including Wyoming ranges and ranches
Big Horn Sheep Sighted:	Whole Bunch (by Mary's count)
Wolves Sighted:	1
Coyotes Sighted:	2
Mule Deer Sighted:	About 6
Moose Sighted:	2
Bald Eagles Sighted:	3
Capitol Buildings "collected":	3
Pictures and videos taken:	2212
Pictures and videos deleted:	Less than 10 (so far)
Forest fires sighted (smoke clouds):	4
Great concrete dams visited:	1
Large lakes visited:	7
Water falls sighted:	Too many to count
Highest elevation driven to:	14,110 feet (Pike's Peak)
Highest elevation hiked to:	10,243 feet (Mt. Washburn)
Souvenir shot glasses purchased:	14
Souvenir Christmas ornaments purchased:	12
Souvenir T-Shirts purchased:	22 (8 for grandkids)
Gallons of gasoline purchased:	Yeah, right!
Highest price per gallon:	$3.799 (North of Denver)
Lowest price per gallon:	$2.799 (Quad Cities, Iowa)
Pounds gained:	Not gonna tell
Family reunions attended:	1
Windshields broken:	1
Wonderful memories:	Enumerable

Day 28, August 6: The Final Leg

We left Wheeling, WV this morning and took the scenic route through the city and down US-215 to get onto I-68 at Morgantown, WV. The weather was a bit cloudy and foggy / hazy, but the scenery was still pretty good. It allowed us to compare driving through the Appalachians with our drives through the Rockies and the Cascades. It was certainly greener here than it was back west, but the mountains are nowhere near as rugged. Of course the elevations and switch backs couldn't hold a candle to what we encountered in the west. Of course, after Pike's Peak, everything is pretty tame. Most of this drive was through the panhandle (sometimes referred to as the "finger" of West Virginia. That area seems to be mostly farming, although, we did see one mine (probably coal).

Once we got to I-68, the going was pretty quick and the traffic fairly light. At the interchange with I-70, we went into Hancock, MD for lunch at one of our favorite family restaurants named Weaver's. We have eaten there before on bike outings. They are famous for good food and homemade pies. The pie of choice today was fresh blueberry a-la-mode. That will be our last meal out for awhile. The dieting and exercise starts now.

By around 3:30, we were pulling into our driveway after 28 days on the road. One of the first things each of us did after we unloaded the car was lie on our bed. It felt so good. No matter how good the beds are at many of the hotels we stayed at, there is nothing like laying down on your own bed after being gone for a long time.

So ends our epic journey. As many have said, it was a once in a lifetime experience. We would do again in a heartbeat. We enjoyed every bit of it. We were pretty tired the last three days or so, but we think that was mostly because of the dreary weather we were driving through and the fact that we were just driving. We weren't exploring new areas of the country.

I will try to do a summary tomorrow. I think we have some interesting statistics to relate.

Day 27, August 5: Indianapolis to Wheeling, WV

Another travel day. Again we left the distance short so we could make side trips. However, we caught up with a weather front that is moving East with a fair amount of rain. In addition, I've decided that I must have had a little something going on that was making be very tired the last couple of days. I had a low grade fever yesterday (and probably the day before) and have been very tired even with 8 hours or more of sleep. Fortunately, by mid-day today, I was beginning to feel much better.

We did take the side trip we had planned to the Longaberger Basket factory outlet. Keep in mind that, until a couple days ago, I had never heard of Longaberger. We went by their corporate headquarters in Newton, OH. Another piece of Americana. It was raining pretty good and we could not find a good place to pull off, but you can visualize it if you imagine a 5 story building sitting all by itself that looks like a basket with windows. Now imagine the handle of the basket soaring above the building. You can actually see the thing if you go to their web site. I think the "handle" was the most impressive thing to me.

We went on to their factory store and did some shopping there. They do have some nice baskets, but, so do the sweet grass weavers in Charleston, SC. I'm not real sure what makes the Longaberger basket so special unless it is the advertising.

From there we went on to Wheeling, WV. We have been through Wheeling several times in the past, but never went into the town. We are in an older Hampton on the National Road (US-40) just off I-70. We ate dinner across the street then walked up a few blocks to get a look at some of the old buildings in the area. There are lots of old (early 1900s?) houses and row houses that have been maintained very nicely. I'd like to take a bit of a drive about tomorrow to see more.

As tired as I was the last few nights, I am feeling much better now. We are, however, ready to get home. Another short 300 mile drive tomorrow and we will be home.

Day 26, August 4: Muscatine to Indianapolis

Today was another moving day. It's not far from Muscatine to Indianapolis, but we wanted to allow time for a late start and a visit with my sister Kathy in Davenport.

We got somewhat of a late start (it seems to be getting harder to get up in the morning) ate breakfast at the hotel (Muscatine Holiday Inn -- we do not recommend it) and hit the road. We arrived at Kathy's before 11:00 and had a nice visit with her and John.

From Davenport we go on I-74 and headed to Indianapolis. It was an uneventful trip, so there is not much to say. We crossed the Mississippi River for the first time since July 11. We entered the Eastern time zone and arrived at our hotel (actually in Brownsburg) about 5:30 EDT. We ate at a little bar and grill nearby and had fun with the bartender / waiter. We stopped for a fill up paying the least amount for a gallon of premium ($2.899) that we have paid on the entire trip. We had heard that the price of gas has fallen in the last couple of weeks, but it was hard to tell out in Montana, Wyoming, etc.

So now we are just taking it easy and celebrating our 39th anniversary. I must admit that the 4 1/2 hour drive was about all I felt like doing today. It is kind of like those marathons I ran: The closer I got to the end the run intervals became shorter and the walk intervals became longer. We are definitely ready to get home.

Tomorrow night we will be in Wheeling, WV which is about half way between here and home.

Day 25, August 3: Des Moines to Muscatine

We got up this morning at my sister Martha's house in Des Moines. Of course, she had another "simple" meal planned for breakfast. Besides the great food, we were able to sit out on the patio to eat. The weather was great. Cool, low humidity and clear skies. They have several bird feeders near the patio, so we were also able to enjoy watching the birds come to the feeders.

After breakfast, we loaded up the car and hit the road again for Sheila's last leg on the trip. We took a quick tour through Wilton (my childhood home) on the way down IA-38. Shortly, we were back in Muscatine for the first time in over 3 weeks and took Sheila to her home. We unloaded her stuff and headed out to do some errands and get a bit of lunch. One of the things we needed to do was go see Mary's Aunt Maureen and pick up the luggage we had sent back with her from Seattle. Now the car is nearly full again.

After getting settled in at the hotel and freshening up, we went to Mary's sister Judy's for dinner with Judy's family and Sheila. We had home made pizza -- something Mary and I haven't had in a long time.

After a great meal during which many anecdotes of our trip were retold, we said our final goodbyes to Sheila and to Judy's family and returned to our hotel. Now Mary and I are ready to continue our final legs.

After a visit with my sister Kathy in Davenport, we are going to return by I-74 / I-70 stopping just west of Indianapolis and again in Zanesville, Ohio. We plan to stop and see a couple of things along the way and just take our time. We expect to arrive home on Monday, August 6 completing a full 4 weeks on the road. Get that lawn mowed, Rob!

By the way, we passed 6000 miles for the trip on the stretch from Des Moines to Muscatine.

Day 24, August 2: Omaha to Des Moines

Today was a short drive to get to Des Moines and visit with my sister and her family. We were kind of looking forward to crossing back over the Missouri River since it had marked a milestone when we first crossed it going west and we had not seen it since we passed the headwaters in Montana. It turned out to be a non-event. There was a barely noticeable bridge and we were in Iowa. Not so much as a welcome sign when we entered Iowa. We would not have known for sure we were in Iowa except for the mile markers resetting back to Mile 1. Oh well. The only other remarkable part of the trip was the fact that we apparently could no longer get 91 octane fuel for the car at many gas stations (they had 87, 89 and E-85) and this bit of Americana we passed a few miles into Iowa.

We arrived at my sister Martha's just in time for lunch. As always she had prepared a simple little lunch. In this case it was comprised of: strawberry puree soup, seafood salad, croissants, mint tea and fresh fruit. Excellent! We enjoyed seeing their house that they had moved into last year. When we last saw it in November, they were still remodeling and didn't even have a full compliment of furniture. We spent the afternoon catching up, then on to the simple dinner Martha had planned: grilled kabobs with steak, potatoes, zucchini and mushrooms, corn on the cob and fresh fruit. Martha and Jim's son (my nephew) David and his wife Vicky and 4 children joined us for dinner. After dinner we retired to the patio for pie and ice cream and more conversation. It was a great time and the weather was cool and dry. We had a great time. We need to visit more often. Martha always does way too much, but the meals are wonderful.

We all went to bed a bit tired. I think the travel is starting to catch up with us. Even though today was a short trip and not physically active, it felt like another full day of activity. I believe we are all about ready to get home and get some rest.

Day 23 August 1: Denver to Omaha

Well folks, there is not much to tell today. This was another transit day. We left our hotel and drove by the place where we lived in 1968. It looks about 39 years older (it was fairly new back then), but was immediately recognizable as were other landmarks from the neighborhood.

We then set our course to Omaha. This was just over 500 miles and the trip went well. We switched off frequently on driving duties. We drove toward an afternoon prairie storm, but did not catch up with it until just as we arrived at our hotel (of course). The hotel is brand new -- just opened the first of June.

Nebraska is (in)famous for being flat and boring to drive through. I would contend that it does not come anywhere close to the long stretches of nothingness that we drove through in Wyoming. At least in Nebraska, there are changing fields, cattle ranches, feed lots, trees and farmsteads.

Here we are in a new month and two days into our fourth week on the road. We are planning to travel from Muscatine, IA to home via I-74 and I-70 with a couple of stops to explore places we have not been able to spend time at in the past. It has also been a number of years since we followed this somewhat longer route between Iowa and home. For tomorrow it's on to Des Moines.

No pictures today!

Day 22, July 31: Denver and Colorado Springs

We decided to check out the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception here in Denver. We are collecting animal sightings, capitol buildings and cathedrals on this trip. We found a parking place across the street where we could get some exterior pictures then checked out the interior. The cathedral is another Gothic style with lots of stained glass and interior support columns. Mary and Sheila both lit candles. I assume that was for the strength to finish the trip without giving in to the urge to inflict physical harm upon me. Or maybe for a safe journey.

After the cathedral stop, we tried to find the little apartment building Mary and I lived in when we were here in 1968. We had two problems here: After 39 years, our memories are a little fuzzy, and we could not remember the street or address. After driving around in circles for about half an hour we about gave up when Mary said she thought the street name was Clarkson. We had just driven on that street so we gave it one more pass. No luck. We decided the place had probably been torn down and replaced by a parking lot (sounds like an old song). We headed out of town at which point I came up with the number 1090 as the address. Tonight we confirmed that was the place using Google Maps, and according to the satellite picture, the building is still there. We'll check it out tomorrow.

From there we drove south to the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. We weren't sure what the procedure would be for getting on the grounds and seeing anything. It turned out that all we had to do was show my driver's license and let the guard see into the car ("roll down that tinted back window, please"). Sheila wants me to note that when she showed him her driver's license from the back seat, he said "I don't need to see your license, ma'am. You're from Iowa. I know I can trust you." We drove into the visitor's center and checked out the history and other information about the academy and shopped. Mary and I found it interesting that the first Air Force Academy Class started their training at Lowry Air Force Base. That is where I was stationed when we were here in 1968. We also stopped at a very nice overlook there where we were able to take pictures of the campus including the distinctive chapel. As we headed south from the academy on I-25, we went past the air field that is on the grounds and stopped at an overlook to watch parachutists who were coming down to the landing zone there. The cadets undergo parachute training during the summer months.

From there we went to a park named "Garden of the Gods". Mary and I had gone there in 1968 and remembered it being quite remarkable. Now there is a visitor's center and a whole park system built up around it. The Garden of the Gods is mostly red sandstone rocks formations that have been left behind as the area around them was eroded away. The formations are really beautiful. We were able to drive around the whole area and jump out at various overlooks for picture taking.

Next on the agenda was Pike's Peak. Sheila suggested this one, and Mary and I had never gone up there. We thought we would check it out and see if it was something we wanted to do. Pike's Peak is 14,110 feet above sea level, and the road to the summit is very steep and winding in places. The road is a toll road costing $10 per person. Sheila treated. As we were paying the toll, I noticed the sign that recommended a half tank of gas before heading up. A quick check told me we (more specifically, me) were in trouble. We had less than a quarter tank. At Sheila's urging we have not let the level get below a quarter tank since many of the area we have driven in have been a bit thin on gas stations. Anyway, we had to turn around and head back to the nearest town (about 5 miles away) to refuel. Then it was back to the mountain for the drive up.

The drive up Pike's Peak is about 19 miles and goes from about 6000 feet to the aforementioned 14,110 feet. The first part of the drive is fairly unremarkable. It is a bit of a climb with some switch backs, but the road is wide and paved. That changed in the top 1/3 of the climb. There the road was unpaved (though still fairly wide), extremely steep and had hairpin switch backs. I just stayed in 2nd gear and often shifted to 1st (Low) gear. I must say the car never flinched. The temperature gauge stayed right on it's normal mark. We did run without the AC on (as suggested) which mattered very little. The temperature at the bottom was in the mid 80s. When we got to the summit, it was 45. Needless to say, as we went higher on the mountain, the views were just incredible. Some of the views were, shall we say, disconcerting to the driver. I do not deny that I have a bit of a problem with my peripheral vision telling my brain that we are all going to die in situations like that. As I mentioned, the road was not paved and was fairly wide which was nice because I could drive in the middle without appearing to be straddling the yellow line (there was no yellow line). We made it to the top and my fingers did not have to be pried off the steering wheel.

Mary and I both noted the low oxygen level (40% of normal) at the summit. Sheila just went skipping around like nothing was different. Mary developed a headache, and I got winded easily and just a bit light headed. We checked out the gift shop and took pictures. While we were there, the cog drive train arrived from Manitou, so were able to see that and take pictures of it. I thought it would be an old fashioned steam driven deal, but it is comprised of three or four fully enclosed cars that were diesel driven.

We headed back down the mountain and before long came to a place where a herd of Big Horn Sheep were gamboling about. We stopped and watched them a bit. They actually came closer to the people stopped there before heading over a ridge and out of sight. We got some good close views and pictures of them. There were even a couple of young males in the group that were occasionally practicing their combat skills by butting heads.

It took us about an hour to drive up the mountain and about 40 minutes to come back down. Although I thought we had actually gone faster on average going up. I kept the speed pretty low coming down and mostly had the transmission in Low during the steepest part so I would not have to ride the brakes. There is even a brake check station at one point where you must stop so a park ranger can check how hot your brakes are using one of those thermal imaging devices. We passed OK.

The Pike's Peak experience was a very good one. I'm really glad we did it. I think that since we have driven it once, I would not need to ever do that again. However, if I got the chance, I would probably like to ride the railway up. I could spend more times looking at the scenery and less time trying to avoid death that way.

On the way back to Denver we stopped at an outlet center in Castle Rock. We promised Sheila we would stop there on the way back after we saw it going down to Colorado Springs. We actually all had a good time there, and Sheila bought another purse. We also bought more snacks for driving that we didn't need, but I'm sure we will enjoy them.

Back in Denver, we went down to the local Cheesecake Factory for a "light" dinner. We sat outside, and the evening air was wonderful. Denver has changed a lot in appearance, but it's personality is very much the same as I remember it. The city is a pleasant, clean place and the weather is very nice. It has its "characters" here and there as does any city. In 1968, most of those characters were "hippies". Now, I don't know what they are called, but they really are not that much different. We had a great time here, and I am glad we came.

Another full day is in the books. We have now started our fourth week on the road and the end is near. Tomorrow night we will be in Omaha, Nebraska, then Des Moines and Muscatine on Friday. I think we are all just a little ready to return to our homes and sleep for a day or two before setting out on another adventure. 8^)

Pictures have been posted.