Reno, NV

Well, 7000 miles and almost a month later, here we are back in Reno.  Glad we took the trip and visited with family and friends, but we're sure glad to be back home. 

Left early this morning from W. Wendover and got back on I-80 heading west.  No problems with navigating this stretch of the road.  Nevada was beautiful - we missed the mountains and everything is still green from all the rain and snow we had.

The above picture is of the Ruby Mountains near Elko, Nevada.  All the rivers are running full and even the Carson Sink and Humboldt Sink are lakes.  Not sure when the last time that happened.

Everything was fine at home, except the driveway was covered with pine cones - must have had some good wind storms while we were gone.  Picked up our mail, started the paper and we're in for the duration.

W. Wendover, NV

Gee, it seems like it was only yesterday that we were here in W. Wendover on the start of our journey back East.  Actually, it was almost a month ago, only this time the temperature is 97 degrees and not freezing cold.  Amazing what a difference several weeks can make.

First, we'd like to wish Tim a Happy Birthday - sorry we weren't there to celebrate on your actual day, but we celebrated a little earlier in the week. 

Today we travelled across the wide open prairie of Wyoming, admiring the wide open spaces and making much better time than the pioneers did on their trip west. We would have counted antelope, but that would have put us to sleep - not good when you're going 75 mph on I-80.  Easy driving - not much in the way of mountains until we got to Utah.  Did cross the continental divide several times at varying altitudes, but mostly around 6500' to 7500'.  As we crossed into Utah, it got a little more scenic.  It's beautiful coming through Echo Canyon - downhill all the way.  Off to the side, you could see the old road which was the Mormon Trail.

The Mormons came through here starting in 1846 after travelling from Illinois.  At least they had the sense to stay in Utah and forego the hardships experienced by those pioneers who continued on through Nevada to California.  After going through Park City, we dropped down into Salt Lake City and saw the vast expanse of SLC and the great salt lake. Traversed the flat land around the south end of the great salt lake and arrived in the mountains surrounding W. Wendover.  We could have continued on into Reno, but we had been on the road long enough.  Tomorrow is another day and we can arrive back in Reno rested and relaxed.

Looking forward to being back home!

Laramie, WY

Leaving St Joseph, MO, this morning, we headed the northern boundary of Missouri, caught the south west tip of Iowa and crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska.  We took NE 2 into Lincoln and picked up I-80 for the trip home.  Guess we don't need any more maps or directions - it's pretty straight forward going home to Reno.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that there were plenty of corn fields and natural gas plants in the area we were travelling through.  This morning as we drove north on I-29 through Missouri, we noticed once again the proximity of grain elevators to the gas facilities.  It then dawned on me (who says I'm a little slow) that the gas facilities were really ethanol plants.  It explains all the corn fields - it had seemed that there were just too many fields to feed cows in the area. 

As we crossed the Missouri River, we were steadily climbing as we drove through Nebraska and into Wyoming.  From an elevation of around 600 feet, we climbed to nearly 8000 feet at the Lincoln statute between Cheyenne and Laramie.  It marks the highest spot on I-80 which I always thought would be in the Sierra Nevada, but is actually here in Wyoming.  Crossing Nebraska on I-80, we crossed the Platte River.  Reminded me of the saying about the Platte - It's too thick to drink and too thin to plow. 

Arrived in Laramie around dinner time - neat little university and Cowtown.  Had dinner at the Altitude Brewery in town and had a great time talking with the staff about the history of the brewery.  Fun evening.

Heading out tomorrow and think we'll probably make to W. Wendover in Nevada which will get us home sometime Monday evening. 

St Joseph, MO

Got another early start this morning from Wright-Patterson AFB.  Might have been occasioned by the early to-bed time!

Took I-70 from Dayton over to Indianapolis.  Passed by the Indianapolis Colts Lucas Oil Stadium - didn't know any Colts fans, so we didn't call anyone.  It's a huge building completely indoors - not like the Buffalo Bills. Out of Indy, we took US 36 which is the Ernie Pyle Memorial Highway.  Wasn't sure why it was called that until we were almost out of Indiana.  Turns out that Ernie Pyle's hometown was Dana, IN (right on the IN/IL border).  For those of you unfamiliar with Ernie, he was a beloved war correspondent from WW II who was tragically killed on Okinawa toward the end of the war.

About halfway between Indy and Dana, we passed through Rockville which billed itself as the covered bridge capital of the United States (not sure that Vermonters would agree with that statement).  Along the way, we passed through more farmland punctuated by huge elevator complexes as well as a lot of natural gas facilities.  Made our fourth state of the day when we crossed the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri.  We alternated between I-72 and US 36 which are mostly interchangeable.  We passed through Springfield, IL (quick, what's the capital of Illinois). Some time we're going to have to spend more time in these areas - looks like a lot to explore across mid-America.  In Missouri, US 36 was a four-lane divided highway all the way to St Joseph.

Tomorrow, we head up I-29 toward Omaha, but will cross the Missouri River and cut across to Lincoln, NE to pick up I-80.  Should be able to navigate easily toward Reno from there.

Dayton, Ohio

This is also the home of Wright Patterson AFB where we are staying for the first night on our return to Reno,  Left at oh-dark-thirty Thursday morning - wanted to say good-bye to Tim when he left for work, so we got an early start

Headed out of Rochester on I-490, but quickly headed south to pick up US 20 and travel through the rolling farm countryside rather than take the New York Thruway.  Nice drive and traffic was all going the other way.  A lot of dairy land and farms in this part of upstate New York.  Passed through Aurora and Orchard Park on our way.  I was going to call all the Buffalo Bills fans as we passed their stadium; however, I didn't think they would appreciate a call that early in the morning.

We did pick up the New York State Thruway south of Buffalo (Nickel City) - lots of vineyards along the way.  As we passed the Southern Tier Expressway exit, we reckoned that we had just completed a loop of some miles.  Kind of like a lollipop, although we hope to find a different way home than when we came out.  Stopped at Presque Isle Race Track and Casino for breakfast and found that they are not big on breakfast places.  However, a bagel and coffee sufficed before we helped to contribute to the Eldorado coffers.  Racing there only goes Sunday through Thursday and starts at 5:30, so we just saw some of the jockeys and their horses out warming up.

Quickly passed through Pennsylvania (only the tip is on our trip) and drove south from Cleveland toward Columbus.  Just north of Columbus, we saw (from a distance), the players on the driving range for the Memorial Golf Tournament (Jack Nicklaus' s tournament).  We had made reservations at Wright-Patterson AFB and arrived in the late afternoon.  Huge base in several segments, so we had to make several attempts at finding where we were staying.  This is not only the home of the Air Force Logistics Command, but also the Air Force Museum and several monuments to the Wright brothers.  It's known as the cradle of aviation because of Orville and Wilbur.  Bet they would be surprised at the size of the aircraft now taking off from their home turf.  I'm not sure, but I think the wing span of these planes is longer than their first flight.

Heading off Friday morning to head through Indiana, Illinois and probably stay somewhere in Missouri this evening.

Back in Rochester

We took a different route out of Morrisville this time, heading down Route 100 through Stowe all the way south through the Mad River valley and then down the White River valley to Killington before heading west on 4 to New York State.  Back in 2011 when Hurricane Irene hit Vermont, there was widespread devastation along the White River.  We can remember traveling that route for a year or two afterward and there was still evidence of the storm's power.  Now it's a peaceful, idyllic trip along a quintessential New England route.  Beautiful countryside and peaceful rivers.  Lots of green trees and fields - we're trying to soak up as much of that green before we get back to Nevada.

Killington is a ski area in the heart of the Green Mountains.  It's where the Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail intersect in southern Vermont.  As were eating breakfast, I thought perhaps we should order a meal to go and bury it for Char, Tom III and their families as they hike the Long Trail later this summer.  Naah, the bears would probably get it before they reached it.

Crossing into New York State, we passed the birthplace of the US Navy (at least that's what the sign said).  It's right at the bottom of Lake Champlain and is also the headwaters of the Erie Canal Way.  The Erie Canal is much further south, but there is a whole network of feeder canals which helped with the distribution of goods back in the early 1800's. 

Cutting southwest from I-87 to I-90, we hit the Mohawk River and encountered one of the most heavy rainstorms we have ever experienced.  Traffic slowed to a crawl and a lot of people pulled over to the side.  After about thirty minutes, it subsided and we were in beautiful, sunny weather.  We watched the temperature climb from 59 to 77 in the space of about twenty minutes after the storm went through.  One of the side benefits was that we got a great free car wash!

Got to Rochester about the same time Tim got home from work.  We're going to celebrate his birthday (June 4th) early and then head home on Thursday.  Went out to dinner at Basil's at the foot of Irondequoit Bay, part of Lake Ontario.  Water was still very high (and the rain earlier today probably didn't help any).  Outside the restaurant, they had a walking trail called the Swan Trail  There were a couple of the beautiful birds in the bay - much prettier than the Canadian geese which were also swimming around.

Morrisville, VT (graduation continued)

We left off on the baccalaureate Saturday for Danny's graduation.  On Sunday (which dawned beautifully sunny and warm), we met the group over at Coram Library (of course you remember that's where the baccalaureate service was, right?).  Tom III had gotten there earlier and saved seats with various blankets and jackets.  Bates family and friends being the friendly sort did not usurp the saved seats - unlike perhaps some other environments.

As I mentioned, it was sunny and very comfortable.  There was a slight breeze which made it very nice.  We were glad Bates is a relatively small university, so there were only 438 graduates.  Their commencement speaker was Geoffrey Canada, a person who had started the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City.  He was a dynamic speaker who had a clear message for the graduating class.  One aspect was very cool - he made mention of the fact that what one generation starts, another may have to finish.  He quoted from MLK's Mountain Top Speech where he said he had been to the mountain top and seen the other side.  I might not get there with you, but we will get there.  When he quoted MLK, he had the same resonant quality to his voice and gave you chills.

Honorary degrees were bestowed on four individual - one of whom was Senator Susan Collins from Maine.  Another was Patrick Dempsey, an actor from Grey's Anatomy - those who are familiar with the series might add that he's more than just an actor, he's a heart-throb!  Listing his accomplishments as a race car driver, founder of a facility to support people living with cancer.  As I texted Tom III during the ceremony, he really made you feel like you had missed so many opportunities.  Feelings of inadequacy abounded. 

After the commencement address, they went through the calling up of each one of the 438 graduating students and presenting them with their diplomas.  As I mentioned above, it's a small university, so each student got presented a diploma and their individual cheering sections made noise - we like to think that we were the loudest; however, one group brought cowbells.  Vi had that idea, but we never followed through on it.  Too bad.  The below picture is not of Danny receiving his diploma, but hey, at this distance it could be!

Proud families below.  We checked to make sure that the diploma had the right name and wasn't blank!

After commencement, the college provided lunch on the Library Quad behind where the ceremony was.  They served thousands in a very efficient manner.  They had four long tables set up and you served from both sides.  Good food and we all found a hillside to sit on.  Needed some of the wine from yesterday to top it off, but we all had to drive home to Vermont afterward, so that wasn't a good idea.

We left Tom III and his clan to head back to Vermont.  They were going to load up the car and RV with Danny's "stuff" (accumulated over four years) and then follow us.  We had a great trip back through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont - wish we could go through three states out west as quickly as we did those three.  Took the northern route so we wouldn't duplicate our trip over and passed through the White Mountains region.  With it being the middle of the three-day weekend, there wasn't much traffic, although the trailheads and tourist attractions along the way were crowded.

Everyone arrived back home in Morrisville safely and the RV made it even though it was pretty heavily laden.  Pizza for dinner and then an early night.  For some reason, everyone was a little tired.

This morning Tom III and Danny gave us a demonstration of the capabilities of their drone, flying it from the house and out over the valley, around the area, back to take a picture of us on the deck.  Afterward, Vi and I went down to the Civil War statue in Morrisville for their Memorial Day service.  I must say I have been to bigger parades, but not one with more enthusiasm and patriotism.  The parade consisted of two honor guards, a boy scout troop, one car, one SUV and one ambulance.  Two bands had promised to show up; however, the impending rain (which held off until after the ceremony) kept them away.
 

The American Legion and VFW did an excellent job of speeches, songs, pledges, memorial presentations, and ended with a great rendition of Taps.  Made up in fervor what they lacked in numbers.  Good small town ceremony.  Quite a change from the thousands at graduation the day before.

This afternoon we watched a slide show of Katie's trip abroad to Austria and all the other countries she visited in her semester abroad.

Tomorrow, we start our trip back to Reno with a couple of days in Rochester before heading home.  Route still unknown, but we'll keep you posted.

  

Morrisville VT

Now we're back at Tom III and Carolyn's after a fun-filled weekend in Maine at Danny's graduation.  Saturday morning, we took a drive in the Maine countryside on the way down to LL Bean in Freeport, ME.  Couldn't quite drive along the ocean, but we did manage a side trip to catch a glimpse of the bay and some islands.  Beautiful homes in the area - would have loved to see inside some of them.  I would think some of them are summer homes for people in either Boston or New York, but these ain't cabins in the woods!  Ended up in Freeport, the home of LL Bean which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Huge complex, not only is LL Bean there, but also almost every other store who wants to attract customers. We were there on Saturday and the crowds weren't too bad.  Can only imagine what it's like in the middle of summer.  Going through the various LLB buildings - Hunting & Fishing, Camping and Hiking, Family & Home, etc. was interesting - could have ordered one of everything.  Their quality is excellent and their guarantees are unsurpassed - return anything, anytime.  This was the entrance to the Hunting and Fishing area. I have a friend who could have spent the summer there checking out the merchandise.

We took a different way back to Lewiston, more through the farm country, and had lunch in Auburn (across the Androscoggin River from Lewiston).  Met up with the rest of the group for the Baccalaureate service on the Quad in front of Coram Library.

Impressive ceremony - it wasn't just a religious observance, but one filled with song and dance.  Neat to see the graduates (kind of a run-through for tomorrow's graduation).  After the ceremony, we talked, took pictures, drank wine (courtesy of Mike and Christie) and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.  According to the President of  University, this was one of the weekends which were filled with sunshine in her six-year tenure at Bates.  Below are several of the pictures we took.

After the ceremony, we went over to Danny's house so he could change and we could get ready for dinner.  Most of Danny's housemates had left the building, but a couple showed up while we were enjoying some adult beverages.  One of Danny's housemates (five boys and four girls) parents had arranged for a dinner for the whole group in one of meeting rooms at Bates.  All nine housemates were there with their families and friends.  Great idea for all the parents to gather one last time and meet all the people who had come to the graduation in a slightly less hectic setting than graduation itself.  This is the group of graduates - happy and relaxed.  Tom III was the MC after dinner and in the picture below Danny was handing out candles to each of the graduates for them to place on their respective tables to share with friends and family.  Nicely done and a great credit to the mother who made the arrangements.  p.s.  Dinner was awesome.

Danny went on a night of celebration of his last night at Bates.  Don't think there was much sleep involved before graduation.  The next morning there was a breakfast for all the people who attended the graduation in the dining hall. Vi and I elected to meet everyone afterward at graduation. 

I'll do another post after I gather some of the pictures we took at graduation.

Lewiston, ME

So we left Stu and Mary Ann's this morning and headed across New Hampshire toward Maine.  We were in the lake country of New Hampshire and it would have been really beautiful if it hadn't been raining and cold (think 50 degrees!).  Very old farmhouses and farms - each one is unique in its' own way.  We especially like the barns which are attached to the homes - not sure how you keep the odor in the barn, but maybe you just get used to it.

Again, we were on back roads and enjoying the rural atmosphere of the countryside.  One of the roads we were on had a sign - steep grade ahead.  Thought nothing of it until we got there and it was a 14% grade - that's STEEP!.  In New Hampshire, we passed through the town of Ossipee whose main claim to fame was that it was the home of the first snowmobile.  Guess every place has to be known for something.

Crossed into Maine and NH 25 changed to ME 25 - not much originality on their road numbers.  Eventually got to the Maine Turnpike (also known as I-95).  Guess we could have turned right and gone down to visit Char, but we elected to continue on to Danny's graduation.  Met up with Tom III et al for lunch at Gritty's in Auburn - across the river from Lewistown.  Fun seeing Danny again.  Tom III just recently bought a 1995 VW Rialta - kind of a cross between a Class C motor home and a van.  It's got a really neat layout - didn't say anything about it in a previous post because they wanted to surprise Danny.  There was an extremely slim chance that Danny might read the blog and that would spoil the surprise.  When we met him at lunch, he really like the RV and was already planning road trips!

After checking into the motel and getting settled, we did some Walmart shopping and then met the group at DaVinci's for dinner. 

From left to right, me, Vi, Tom III, Danny, Katie, Carolyn, Mike & Christy Keene (long-time friends of Tom and Carolyn), and Peg (Tom III's mother).

There was a ceremony later that evening when Danny was inducted into Sigma XI which is kind of a Phi Beta Kappa for science and engineering students.  There were 48 inductees and they had a nice ceremony for them.  I think Danny got the loudest ovation - the rest received just polite clapping!.

 

Tomorrow I think we're going to head down to Freeport to visit LL Bean - can't come to Maine without visiting them!

Ashland, NH

After leaving Morrisville yesterday, we travelled across Vermont (didn't take as long to cross as going through Montana or North Dakota) to New Hampshire.  Once again, we were going through rolling hills and dairy land.  We love seeing the old barns and homes - the architecture is wonderful.  Most of the time they build the house and barn on opposite of the road.  That way the road gets cleared by the snowplow and it's easier to get from one to another.  Not always true, but happens often.

Crossed into New Hampshire just above the White Mountains and enjoyed the scenery, especially around Cannon Mountain, a popular ski area.  Just a very few patches of snow left on the ground.  It is so scenic and beautiful that they don't widen the roads through Franconia Notch.  I-93 narrows down to one lane each and has a speed limit of 45 mph.  Not sure that happens anywhere else in the Interstate system (except for construction zones).  Got off I-93 after Franconia Notch and took Route 3 which parallels I-93 (if you can call criss-crossing back and forth every couple of miles parallel).

We passed through one town which had a sign "Charter granted in 1767" - they are going to celebrate their 250th anniversary this year.  Don't see any signs like that out west!  Heck, Nevada just got through celebrating its' sesquicentennial (150 years) and we thought we were doing well.

Since we had gotten an early start, we decided to play golf at a course in Thornton we played last year.  Now you would think that with a name like Jack O'Lantern Golf Course, it would have windmills and clown's mouth obstacles.  Instead, it's a beautiful, well-maintained 18-hole golf course along the Pemi River.  I'd spell out Pemi, but it takes too many vowels and I'd probably get it wrong anyway.  In any event, tourist season here doesn't start until Memorial Day, so there were very people around.  It was like having our own private golf course, so we took our time and had fun.  The only fun-disrupters were the mosquitoes which seemed to have their own private vendetta (and it was against us!).  I'll give you an idea of how slow it was at the golf course - when we went to the Pro Shop, there was no one there.  Then the guy trimming the juniper bushes out front crawled out from under the bush and came in and took our money.  Good old New England frugality - doing double duty.  Their signature hole was #17 which had a covered bridge going to #18 and the end of our round.

Arrived at Mary Ann's after a little misdirection (that's code for "we got lost") and shared a glass of wine with Mary Ann.  Stuart was at a bridge tournament over in Dartmouth, but he arrived home shortly after we got there.  Had a delightful dinner and talked into the night.

Tomorrow we head for Lewiston, ME for Danny's graduation.  Should be a neat trip across New Hampshire and to the coast.

Morrisville, VT

Monday morning we left early from Rochester.  With a quick stop at a local bakery to pick up some kemmelwick rolls to take to Vermont, we joined the morning rush hour traffic.  Thankfully, we were going the opposite way of most of the traffic and got to I-90 (aka New York State Thruway) with no problem.  Travelled over to Syracuse and then took I-81 up to Watertown.  Then it was US 11 across the northern tier of New York State.  Familiar territory since we lived for a short period in Potsdam, NY back in the 80's (plus the fact that we have made that trip from Rochester to Vermont more than once).

Went through Canton, home of St Lawrence University, but Katie had already finished her junior year and was back home.  Countryside is mostly rolling farmland - still ran into some Amish, but not literally.  Still have to watch out for the buggy's on the road, but there were only one or two that we encountered.  Came close to the Canadian border, but didn't cross over.  It was raining pretty heavily as we crossed into Vermont at the top of Lake Champlain.

Arrived in Morrisville around 5:00 p.m. (in time for dinner - fortuitous timing).  Fun visiting with Tom III, Carolyn, and Katie.  Tuesday we played golf at Copley Country Club (sounds glamorous, doesn't it?), but it's a neat nine-hole course in Morrisville.  Started off with a par and it went downhill from there.  Still fun, both Tom III and Katie play well, so we tried to learn from them.  Don't think I'll ever approach Tom III's club head speed though.

In the afternoon, we went over to Hyde Park where Carolyn's high school softball team was having a game - it was their Senior day, so they presented flowers to the graduating seniors from both teams.  Nice evening and the sun was out for most of the event, but when it went behind the clouds, it was cool.  The girls lost, but it was a good game - Carolyn has done a good job of building the team.  They still have another couple of weeks of school - not like North Dakota which ends this week.

Today we're heading over to Ashland, NH to stay with Mary Ann (my sister) and Stuart before going to Danny's graduation this weekend.  We'll keep you posted (pun intended).

Lake Ontario, NY

This morning we drove up to Lake Ontario to check out the scenery.  The lake is really high because of all the rainfall they have had in US and Canada, causing some real concerns about flooding and erosion.  Today was off and on rain, that'll raise the water levels even higher.  They had a picture on the news today about a crane sitting on the bridge over the Genesee lifting driftwood and debris where it had snagged on the bridge in downtown Rochester.

Up around the town of Charlotte, there were some beautiful homes along the waterfront; however, they looked high enough to withstand any high water.  It was a different story near the Port of Rochester where parts of the parking lot were flooded and several of the restaurants were sandbagged. 

Before I forget, if you check yesterday's Rochester post, you'll notice that I changed the size of the Genesee tanks from 2000 gallons to 2000 barrels - just a slight difference!  Judging from today's post on the tank location, we won't get to see them on Monday unless we drive almost all the way over to Albany - a little bit out of the way.  Just in case you are wondering, there are 31 gallons to a beer barrel (oil is different).

Drove out to Brockport this evening to have lunch with Kathy's mom.  We went to the Old Stoneyard Inn which is on the Erie Canal there in Brockport.

Tomorrow we head for Morrisville, VT to visit with Tom III and Carolyn.  Actually, Tom III and Katie are here in NY , going to a friend's graduation at Ithaca College.  We're going to meet up with them in Vermont at a school where Carolyn's high school softball team (she's the coach) is playing.

Next post from Vermont.

Rochester, NY

Here we are in the Flour City or the Flower City - depends on what stage of development in the City you're talking about.  Left Erie on I-90 for a short trip up to I-86.  Originally, this was US 17 and we knew it better as the Southern Tier Expressway when we lived at the other end of it in Appalachin.

Beautiful, rolling hills, heavily forested land.  Passed by lots of water, most notably Lake Chautauqua and the Allegheny River.  Got off the Interstate at Cuba, NY where we always try to stop and get some cheese.  It's in the heart of New York's dairy land we try to stock up before we get to Vermont.  We were back in Amish country and had to watch out once again for the horse and buggy's on the two-lane roads as we headed north.  There was an Amish farmer plowing his field with a horse-drawn plow and we couldn't help but wonder how long it would take Russ to plow his acreage that way :-).

We were going to play golf along the way and had even gotten a recommendation from Joe and June about golf courses, since they used to live in this area.  Alas, the temperature had gone from mid-eighties on Thursday to the low fifties on Friday.  That, combined with a southerly wind, was enough to blow the thought of golf out the window.  Instead, we enjoyed the drive north through small towns.  Kind of neat seeing the different architecture in the towns, some of which date back to the 1700's and 1800's.  This part of the country was settled when people didn't know anything about the West.  Think about it, Lewis and Clark didn't even start on their expedition until 1804 and they didn't even touch our part of the country in Nevada.

One exciting part of the trip was driving through Letchworth State Park.  It's where the Genesee River (which we had kind of been following as we drove north), cuts through some beautiful gorges.  Not quite the Grand Canyon, but spectacular in its' own right.  As we were at one of the overlooks, we heard voices drifting up from a distance.  Shortly, we saw a bunch of rafters appear around one of the bends (bunch equals seven).  Bet they were cold and were very careful about staying out of the river!  It's a good time to visit because there aren't many tourists and the schools haven't let out, so there were very few visitors. 

Arrived in Rochester early in the afternoon, so we did some shopping while we waited for Tim and Kathy to get off work.  Finally hooked up with them and settled in for the weekend.  In the evening, we went to the Genesee Brewery which has a great restaurant overlooking the falls in the center of Rochester. 

A side note is that the Genesee Brewery is undergoing a $49 million renovation, part of which is the addition of twelve 2000 barrel tanks.  They were too big to haul over the highways, so they are bringing them via the Erie Canal over from Albany.  There is a "tank watch" which is monitoring  their travels along the canal.  Supposed to arrive in Rochester over the Memorial Day weekend - sorry we'll miss the spectacle, but maybe we'll see them as we travel east on Monday. 

After dinner, we drove up to Cobbs Hill Reservoir which is one of the higher spots in Rochester. 

Saturday morning we went over to the Rochester Public Market - think farmer's market on steroids!  Every conceivable type of produce - some probably came from those truck farms we passed through on Friday. Didn't buy anything (except breakfast), but it was fun strolling through sheds and people-watching.  Kathy had a friend's birthday party to attend, so Tim, Vi and I were left to our own devices in the afternoon.  After checking out Costco (the only one in upstate New York) and getting gas - a lot cheaper at Costco. Not quite North Dakota prices at 2.09, but respectable at 2.19.

In the afternoon, Tim had gotten tickets to a Rails and Ales event in Industry, NY.  Don't bother looking that one up on MapQuest - it's one of those towns that say "Welcome" on both sides of the sign.  Blink and you'll miss it.  However, they have an old train depot and siding which have been taken over by a local group of train enthusiasts.  They have quite a collection of old engines, cabooses, baggage cars, passenger cars, etc.  Kind of like the Railroad museum in Carson City, NV.

It was called Rails and Ales because it was the inaugural event celebrating local breweries.  So you could along and admire the trains, while sampling local craft brews - very neat!  Not only did they have beer, but also cider, mead and ales.  It was only open to people over 21 and they carded everyone at the entrance - even us.  Included in the event was a short train ride - we stood and sat in one of the cabooses on the ride.  Didn't go far nor very fast, but it was enjoyable.  Even saw a baggage car from the Lackawanna Railroad which reminded me of my grandfather who worked on the Lackawanna ferry from Hoboken to NYC.  One of his perks when he retired was a lifetime pass on the Lackawanna RR which he often used when he came to visit us in Matawan.

The Lilac Festival is going on in Rochester this week and Kathy is running in a 5K early Sunday morning.

Erie, PA

Continued our trip through Indiana and into Ohio on US 6.  Great traveling the backroads and seeing the countryside (think I've said that before).  Anyway, along US 6, there are a lot of manufacturing, food processing plants, and supporting businesses to the local population.  The only problem is that a synonym for Spring time is Construction time.  Lots of work being done on the highways and byways.  See below for a huge elevator complex along the highway.



At one point, we passed what we thought was the Devil's Highway - both US 6 and OH 66 ran together.

As we passed through Clyde, OH, there was a huge plant which we found out was the Whirlpool factory and distribution center.  At least now we know where our appliances came from.  Farmers were all working their fields and the wind was whipping up the dirt.  We had heavy winds from the south all day.  In the middle of Ohio, we transitioned from US 6 to US 20, but it was pretty much the same - at least until we got to the environs of Cleveland.  Then it's all suburbs and shopping.  We managed skirt Cleveland to the south and then headed north to pick up I90 on our way to Erie.

When we arrived in Erie, we drove down to the waterfront before checking into the hotel.  Neat waterfront with a big convention center and lots of touristy type activities.  This was the Sheraton Hotel connected by an overpass to the convention center.

Didn't climb the lighthouse, but I don't think they would have let us anyway.

After checking in, we went over to Presque Isle Casino and Race Track which is one of the Eldorado's latest acquisitions.  First time in a casino in a while and it's not much different from those in Reno.  We ate dinner at Brew Brothers (see, I told you it wasn't much different).  Their Brew Brothers is located on the second floor overlooking the race track - no races going on while we were there.

An interesting side note was that Erie was the scene where Commodore Perry met the British Fleet and coined the phrase - "We have met the enemy and they are ours". History lesson for the day.

Tomorrow we head for Rochester - should be a short trip day.

p.s.  If you go back to the Christine, ND post, you'll see the group photo which was taken at Ken and Melanie's.

Kendallville, IN

Good thing we didn't take the I-94 out of Minneapolis-St Paul yesterday.  The really bad weather and tornadoes went north through that part of Wisconsin and skipped us. 

Drove south today out of Madison into Illinois.  It was a case of Welcome to Illinois - now start paying tolls!  Won't mind too much if they had tickets like the New York State Thruway, but you have to stop every couple of miles and pay the toll.  Having an IPass would help and make it a lot simpler - have to check on that for the next trip.  If it worked on all the roads in IL, OH, PA, NY and NJ, it would be fine. 

We kind of had it with all the truck traffic and tolls, so we decided to head south off I-294 and use US highways.  Even though US 30 and 6 had traffic lights, there wasn't as much traffic, trucks were fewer and it was more interesting to see a wider view of the area.  The area where we dropped of the interstate was around Orland Park, IL which is a pretty affluent area.  As we travelled along US 30, we came through Chicago Heights.  Let's be polite and say there was a slight bit of difference in the surroundings.  There were a lot of boarded up and/or abandoned buildings in Chicago Heights - it was almost like the aftermath of a war zone. 

After leaving the suburbs of Chicago and entering Indiana, we drove through farmland which was almost reminiscent of North Dakota.  Large farms, flat land, and crops starting to pop up through the soil.  There were several areas where the crop (appeared to be oats) was in full bloom - must have been a fall or winter planting.  We also came through Amish country which was kind of neat.  Saw several horse and buggy's on the road.  Kind of harrowing when you're on a two lane road and the buggy is taking up half of your side.  Although they trot along at a pretty good clip, they don't quite have the horsepower that the Red Baron has.  We saw a buggy earlier which had two young girls in an open buggy - they had on the typical Amish bonnets and dresses.  Kind of cute - going to town to do some shopping, I suppose.  This one was enclosed and you can barely make out the horse pulling it.

This part of the country is also big for woodworking, cabinetry and RV/trailer/modular home construction.  Must be the Amish influence as far as the woodworking is concerned. 

We arrived in Kendallville in late afternoon and after we checked in, we went to a local golf course - Noble Hawk Golf Links - to play nine holes.  Really great course in awesome shape - the fairways were like our greens back in Reno.  Enjoyed playing, but then we ran up against the local high school golf teams which were out practicing.  Would have taken too long to play the rest, so we quit after six holes.  Still good to get out of the car and get some fresh air and exercise.  The courses are pretty crowded in the morning, so we're going to leave here, drive over to Ohio and maybe find some place to play before getting a hotel for the night.

We're still on track to get to Rochester Friday.  Tim and Tom III better watch out - today we passed into their time zone. 

Madison, WI

Well, here we are in the capital of Wisconsin.  Originally, we had planned on stopping in La Crosse and play golf; however, the weather did not cooperate.  We started out going southeast from Fargo toward Minneapolis.  As brown as Nevada is, Minnesota is just as green.  Between the woods, croplands, grasslands, etc., it's so pretty.  Add to that the tilled deep black soil and the crops which are starting to poke their heads up and it's a beautiful drive.

After passing through Minneapolis, we crossed the Mississippi twice (once going east and the next time going south), ending up on the Great River Highway which runs along the west side of the Mississippi.  At one point, we were opposite Lake Pepin which is a naturally occurring lake on the Mississippi.  Huge expanse of water.  Neat seeing the barge line-ups and their tug boats going up river. Crossed into Wisconsin at La Crosse on I-90 (I-94 which we had been on out of Fargo goes due east out of Minn/St Paul). 

Passed through some river towns, the largest of which was Red Wing - home of the work shoes.  If the size of the two factories there was any indication, most people in the area must work for Red Wing.  Going east out of La Crosse, we connected with I-94 again at Tomah and headed south to Madison.  After checking into the hotel, we drove downtown to see the capitol and explore the area.  Madison is kind of cool because the downtown is between two lakes.  Lots of college students in the downtown area, do you think it may be because of the University of Wisconsin is located there?

Checked out the Great Dane Pub and Brewery downtown.  It's located in the old Hotel Fess and is an old building as are so many others in the downtown area.  Had dinner at the Texas Road House and here we are back in the hotel.  Tomorrow we plan on heading over to Kendallville, IN and maybe spending two nights there before heading to Rochester on Friday.  We have stayed in Kendallville before and it's a good town to rest up in - two golf courses and a small town atmosphere.

Christine, ND

Look up that location on your Map Quest app!  The Knudsen River Ranch (Ken's favorite appellation for his and Melanie's home) is a main stop on any local Home and Garden Tour in Christine! 

The whole family gathered there for a Mother's Day celebration.  We had a great time visiting, eating and exploring the property around the house.  Ken and Melanie had a cabin on their property along the Red River which was gradually destroyed by falling into the river because of erosion.  We all took a walk out there to see the conversion where Ken was having a Man Cave made out of the garage which was far enough from the river to be saved.

Kind of like a high school dance, the girls had their confab going while the boys were down along the river catching catfish out of the Red River.

Afterward, everyone got together around the fire pit.  Again, so much fun just talking and listening to all the generations different stories.  We did take a group photo; however, it was after Michelle and Adrian had left with their boys - they needed to get back home for some last minute homework.  I'll post the group photo when Melanie sends it to me.  We all posed out on the lawn and Celsey set up the camera with a timer and then ran back to the group while we all counted down :-). 

The sun set and the wine bottle levels went down - strange how that occurs.  It must be some force of nature. 

Today (Monday) was just a quiet day, caught up on some laundry, washed the car, checked AAA for some maps, and had lunch at Panera.  Tomorrow we're heading down to La Crosse, WI on our way to Tim's. 

Fargo, ND (#2)

Friday evening the family got together and celebrated Vi's birthday at Maxwell's here in Fargo.  From the outside, it's very unimpressive - in a strip mall with Domino's on side and Subway across the street.  However, upon entering, it's a beautiful, cozy, upscale restaurant.  I've always said that Fargo has more different type restaurants - it almost seems as if they use the city as a trial place for new endeavors.  We had an excellent dinner.  The service was impeccable and the food was superb.

After dinner, we went back to Michelle and Adrian's with the whole group, augmented by the addition of several kids who were not at the dinner.  Fun sitting around the fire pit again and an open fire - weather was cool and eventually the moon showed up over the house next door  - a waning gibbous moon which lit up the sky. I think we made a good dent in their wine cellar.

Saturday morning we went to Ryan's track meet at Fargo South.  He runs in the 800 and 1600 meter events.  I got tired just watching them run!  In the afternoon, we went out to Holy Cross Cemetery and did some gardening and planting flowers at Vi's parents gravesite.  Came out really pretty with the new flowers.

The rest of the day was just relaxing and doing a little shopping.  In the early evening, we went out to Mapleton for Reilee's graduation party. Fun evening at local place called Hagge's where we met a lot of Reilee's friends as well as the rest of the family.  We had not gone to the graduation in the Fargo Dome - only the immediate family went to that, but we enjoyed meeting everyone at the party (along with a libation or two).  Someday I'll have to explain about the Taco in a Bag which we snacked on.

We had originally planned on everyone getting together back at Michelle's and Adrian's; however, by the time we left, it was kind of a general consensus that between the night before which went into the wee hours and the prospect of getting together at Melanie and Ken's on Sunday, that it was probably better to get some rest.  Now there's a run-on sentence if ever I saw one.

Sunday we arose early and went to church service with Michelle and Adrian - beautiful new church which is actually going to be their social area after their new church is built just to the north.  One thing about North Dakota is that you don't use right, left, etc., everything is north, south, east or west - as in go two blocks, turn north, etc. Easy to follow directions, especially when everything is flat and square - kind of a holdover from all the farmland which is done in mile-square blocks.

More tomorrow - don't think there will be any posts tonight after the party at Ken and Melanie's :-). 

Fargo, ND

Well, actually we're in West Fargo at Michelle and Adrian's home.  Started out on Thursday with a little backtracking from Bismarck to Mandan because we wanted to visit the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery to get some genealogical information.  The cemetery is located at beautiful site on a hillside along the Missouri River and is a northern extension of Fort Lincoln State Park.

 The NDVC has a very impressive building and lay-out with white marble gravestones aligned in perfect symmetry.  We went inside to get some information and found a very helpful receptionist as well as an amazing computer system.  You type in three letters of a name and it returns a list of all the people buried at the cemetery.  Not only did it give the grave location, but also all available information on their military service and family history.  It was very helpful in providing more data for Vi's side of the family tree.  We killed a few trees because you could print out the information - saved having to write it all down.

The picture above is of Floyd and Mary Wells gravesite.  Mary Wells (Vi's cousin) just recently passed away and you can see where they placed our ashes at her husband's grave.  They eventually will engrave Mary's name on the reverse side of his marker. 


After leaving the cemetery, we resumed our trip on I-94 heading east.  Because we had a relatively short trip on Thursday, we decided to stop in Jamestown and play golf.  We played at Hillcrest Golf Course which was in excellent shape, although the greens had been recently sanded and then "painted" green.  Fun course, although we only played nine holes.  Great to get out of the car and get some fresh air and exercise

 Arrived in Fargo in time to go to Colin's track meet at Discovery Middle School.  Amazing field layout.  They actually had separate areas specifically lined out for discus and shot put (Colin's area of expertise).  A far cry from my high school days when everything was crowded into the center of the running track.  We won't even talk about the quality of the track, which was outstanding!  Must have been our influence because Colin had a Personal Best in his efforts.  Unfortunately, because  of timing we were not able to get over to see Ryan participate in his team trapping shoot event.  He also got a Personal Best Thursday evening!

 

Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner which Michelle bar-b-qued on their great new patio (Adrian was working late, but arrived home in time for dinner).  After dinner, Melanie stopped by and we sat outside (in the cool North Dakota air), drank wine and reminisced.  Always fun to visit family and relive old memories as well as create new ones.

 

Casper, WY

Well, here we are again retracing the steps of the pioneers across Utah and Wyoming.  Left Wendover early this morning.  Meant to say in yesterday's post that West Wendover is the site of an old Army Air Force Base where the Enola Gay crew trained for the bombing run over Japan in WW II.  It's also notable for the fact that it is where we met Tom III, Carolyn et al (that's Danny and Katie) when they made their trip out west in Bucky.

It's always fun traveling across the salt flats between Wendover and Salt Lake City.  Today the smog was so thick that we could hardly make out the Wasatch Mountains - only the snow-covered tops showed above the smog.  We were lucky that the traffic around SLC was going the opposite way as we were heading east.  Driving up the pass through the Wasatch is fun with spectacular views, Park City is a great ski area and the homes there are fantastic.

Crossing into Wyoming at Evanston, we stopped at the Bear River Rest Area/State Park and checked out the exhibits of how the pioneers came through there.  There was a fenced-in area in the back which had two bison busily comping the grass.  Sign said "Bison are Dangerous", but these two looked more content to eat grass than charge any unsuspecting tourists.  Saw an interesting display which explained the difference between bison and buffalo.  I know the North Dakota crowd is very familiar with the difference, but it was interesting to learn the distinction.

The speed limit in Wyoming is 80 mph, similar to the new raised limits on I-80 in Nevada.  I was reminded of the fact that, back in the day, the speed limit out West was reasonable and prudent.  In other words, you could go as fast as you wanted.  If you got in an accident, it obviously wasn't reasonable or prudent :-).  That all ended when the federal government mandated the 55 mph and threatened to cut off federal funding for highways if states didn't follow the rules.  Nowadays, the states can determine their own speed limits once again.

Driving through Wyoming on I-80 is always fascinating.  It is a state which has a lot of everything (except people) - oil, coal, pronghorn antelope, cattle, cowboys, oil wells, etc.  We saw several cowboys out rounding up sheep and cattle - neat touch of the Old West.  At Rawlins, we headed north up toward Casper.  Again, it was one awesome view after another as we crested one ridge, travelled through the valley, and then crested another mountain range.  I think we crossed the continental divide at least three times in Wyoming - all of them at elevations greater than 6700'.

One interesting historic spot was Independence Rock.  We last visited that location in May 2015 when we were returning from our annual trip.  It's called Independence Rock because it is the location the wagon trains hoped to make by July 4th - the midway point on their trip from St Louis to Sacramento.

Arrived in Casper to thunder and lightning which has continued through the evening.  We're actually out in the suburbs of Casper which has really grown in recent years.  Subdivisions, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. abound! 

Tomorrow we're heading to western North Dakota.  Not sure exactly where we're going to stay, but probably somewhere in the Bowman area.

West Wendover, NV

Well, here we are on the first leg of our journey and already our plans have changed.  We checked the road situation in Yellowstone and found that half the roads there are still closed and won't open until mid-May.  So now when we leave Wendover, we're going to head east on I-80 through Utah and then cut north in Wyoming up to Casper.  From there, we're not sure, but tomorrow night's post should have more information.  We're still on track to get to North Dakota by Friday.

Today we travelled across Nevada on I-80.  On the way, we saw the road crews out changing the speed limit signs from 75 to 80 mph.  Doesn't change much, people still drive more than 80 mph anyway.  What was really amazing as we came across was the amount of water.  Obviously, the Truckee is still flowing at a tremendous rate, but the Carson Sink and the Humboldt Sink (the ends of those respective rivers) were lakes where normally they are just salt flats.

My saying about an artist in Nevada having to appreciate the subtleties of brown is not true this year.  The hills are green and the meadows are full of birds and marsh grasses.  Probably won't last long, but it's pretty while it lasts.  The Ruby Mountains were beautiful as we left Elko.

We arrived in West Wendover on the Nevada/Utah border around 2:30 PST; however, Wendover operates on Salt Lake City time since that's the largest city nearby.  In any event, we had time to check-in at the Rainbow and then go play nine holes at Toana Vista Golf Course.  Not sure what a 'toana' is, but it sure was a pretty golf course.

Not many people on the golf course, so it was fun taking our time and enjoying being out of the car.  We won't talk about score, just that it was fun being out of the car and getting some fresh air.  Not sure where they get their water from, but there were several water hazards on the golf course.

Tomorrow we're heading across the Great Salt Lake which is always a fun drive.  Stay tuned.

p.s.  Wendover Will sends his regards.  Note the blue sky!

Itinerary Planning

Much as I hate using the word "planning", sometimes it's necessary to let others know what we're up to and where and when we're going to be on our trip.  So here goes:

May 8 (Monday) - Leave Reno and travel to West Wendover, NV.  Want to start our trip solely within the confines of Nevada and also take advantage of the Peppermill facilities over in Wendover.

May 9 (Tuesday) - Leave West Wendover and wend our way over (pun intended) toward the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park.  There are some back roads which will take us over to US 89 where we'll head north.  Not sure where the second night on the road will be, but somewhere either in Idaho, Wyoming or Montana (how's that for narrowing it down). 

We'll travel through Montana to North Dakota and want to spend a day or so in the Mott/Flasher/Shields area where Vi has some relatives and we can do some research on the family tree.

May 12 (Friday) - Arrive Fargo.  Michelle and Adrian have kindly offered to take us in while in Fargo.  Reilee's graduation from NDSU is on the 13th and they plan on a party in Mapleton.  Visiting family and catching up will be fun - it's been a while since we've been back there.

May 16 (Tuesday) - Depart Fargo for Rochester.  We'll keep you posted on how we do that - we just know it won't be through Chicago.

May 19 (Friday) - Arrive Rochester to visit Tim and Kathy.

May 22 (Monday) - Depart Rochester for Morrisville to visit Tom III and Carolyn.

May 24 (Wednesday) - Leave Morrisville for Ashland, NH to be with Mary Ann and Stuart for a couple of days before heading over to Bates College for Danny's graduation.

May 26 - (Friday) Ashland, NH to Lewiston, ME.  Danny's graduation is on Sunday.

May 28 - (Sunday) - Leave Lewiston to head back to Tom III and Carolyn's.  Not sure what our plans are for that week.

June 2 - (Friday) - Morrisville to Rochester to celebrate Tim's birthday weekend (June 4th).

June 5 - (Monday) - Leave Rochester and head to Denver.

June 8 - (Thursday) - Arrive Denver to spend some time with Paul and Sandy.

June 10 - (Saturday) - Depart Denver and head home.

OK, that's it - we'll see how the "plan" works out.  Look forward to seeing everyone.  Hopefully, the Red Baron, Vi's driving, and audio books will see us safely through the trip.