May 25, 2012

Grammie has been found. She is now home in Newport Maine. We arrived in Maine today and the first stops planned were to visit all 7 of the grandchildren. We did however make a quick stop in South Paris for an Ice Cream. You probably wouldn't believe that it was the first one we bought on the trip so I won't go there. Let me begin today's entry by expressing our thanks to all who helped us along the way, whether a complete stranger that guided us to the Paddlewheel boat Arabia in Kansas City MO, or our friends and relatives who put up with, or rather put us up for a night or 2. The time that we had not seen some people ranged from 60 days to about 45 years.

I have included some statistics for the trip below. Siblings visited: 1. Aunts visited: 2. Cousins visited: 8. Niece/Nephews visited: 5. Former students seen: 5. College friends seen: 2. Hometown friends visited: 2. National Parks visited: Congaree, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Mesa Vedre, (Arches), Jefferson Expansion National Memorial. Aircraft Carriers visited: 1. Museums: 23. Times Tom played golf: 12. Days gone: 60. Miles driven: Total 10218, Alice 350. Highest Point: Pikes Peak, 14,110. Lowest Point: -80 Thousand Palms, Ca. Breweries visited: 1. Visited 14 of the 50 largest cities. Military facilities stayed in: 12. Most paid for gas: $4.239 Calabasas, CA. Least paid for gas: $3.299 N. Kansas City MO. Prettiest drive: Durango Co to Colorado Springs. Best Museum: MIM Phoenix. Best city: Albuquerque. Best Zoo: San Diego Zoo. Best find: Quilt Center Lincoln, Nebraska. Best Golf tournament: Masters. Best Quilt place: Quilt Research Center and Museum, Lincoln Nebraska. Total Rain: 15 min. Total snow: 10 min. Best View: Pikes Peak. Best city tour: The ABQ Trolley Company, Albuquerque, NM.

To give you a quick overview of where we have been, I took a pic of one of the maps that we left for our grandchildren. It shows 2 big bodies of water with a lot of continent in between and marker tracings of where we were. Believe me, there is a lot to see and a lot that you will never find either. If you want to get the most out of a trip I have only have one important suggestion...start sooner and come back later. For more we will gladly show you all 7 pictures that we took while we were gone. Again, thanks all for keeping track of Grammie. There are some special grandchildren who wanted to know where she was.

May 24, 2012

Today we traveled a short way to visit my sister Joan and husband Ron. We spent some time updating family information that I collected from visits with relatives. We also shared the pictures of our trip to many wonderful places. After spending the last night here of our trip we will be back with family and friends. One thing that we realized is that no matter how much time one allots to travels and sightseeing, they will never begin to see all that the US of A has to offer.

May 23, 2012

Slowing down in our journey. Today we stopped at the home of our college friends in Connecticut. John and Jeannie are both retired and are keeping busy with quilting and geneology, not necessarily in that order. Alice acquired several plants from John for her plant garden but before that starts, first comes the weeding.

May 22, 2012

Heading through Pennsylvania we happened upon an old building where beer from the nation's oldest brewery is made. It was started in 1829 in Pottsville, PA by D.G. Yeungling. After 2 years the brewery burned down and they built this building and others behind it where beer continues to be made. Because of it's limited production it is sold regionally. Next door in Ohio, sales started last October. They have a plant in Tampa and another 3 miles from this plant. This plant only produces cans and bottles while the other do that plus kegs.

When the grains and hops are all done being used, the by-product makes a lot of cows happy as it is used for feed.

This is the inside of their 600 barrel copper tank that is still used today. The other tanks are aluminum.

After the tour, there were about 50 amateur taste testers assembled here. For each barrel produced, the feds get $18.00, the state gets $2.48 and the point of sale collects another 6%. We are spending the evening in the 12th different military facility since we have started the trip. Have a great day everyone.

May 21, 2012

Today was one of those slow paced days where we got onto the road and just took our time traveling towards home. The countryside along the highway has really started to remind us more of home with plenty of trees beside the road. Since we had been to Pittsburg before we really didn't take a lot of pictures but I just thought that I would share at least one. This one is not of any building in particular but a scene that included home to someone who lives in the land of the free. It makes us realize how lucky we are to live in the greatest nation on earth and be able to do the things we want. Tonight we had dinner with a former student who is doing well. He happens to be a fan of the game of golf like I am, but has taken it to a higher level and is making it a career. Every chance we get, we try to stop in to see how he is doing and share life's experiences, even if it means driving all the was to Pittsburg. When we began this trip, there wasn't any way that we weren't going to stop in town for a visit. Actually I am writing this blog early this morning as we didn't sleep much thinking of being back home, wanting to see family and friends after 8 weeks. Have a good day all.

May 20, 2012

Today was another very warm, but pleasant drive. We left Indianapolis where the Inn started breakfast at 4 am so the diehard Indy fans could get to the raceway for 6:30 opening time. You would never catch me at a golf course that early, no way. We left Indy and headed to Cincinnati to find the WKRP Radio tower. Really folks, the program ended in 1982, but the thought still crossed my mind, how about yours.

We were visited during Christmas time by a former student of mine, but really more of a neighbor on the Durham Bridge Road. We felt so bad when she stopped in to say hi, and we were in town for about an hour and missed her. We planned this whole trip all around the US just to see Jane. After living in Cincinnati for a while she hasn't found the tower yet either. We had a very pleasant visit and met her husband Dave although when I first met him before, he wasn't the husband. We shared memories of the neighborhood and families years ago. After our visit, we continued in the heat to Columbus, Ohio. Alice and I want to pass on congratulations to my children (grownups) for their awesome performance in the Sugarloaf 15K. A personal best by Becky and Trevor and to the winner of the flowers, Caroline. Also running was my brother Bob who ran the Marathon distance in just under 3 1/2 hours. If the time holds up he will have qualified for the Boston Marathon...if he chooses. He certainly has my support. I'll drive him down if he wants a couple of hours more sleep.

May 19, 2012

On the way to Indy today, something happened to the Sun. It was hidden behind these puffy white things in the sky. Has anyone else seen these things too? We are now on Eastern time and less than 1000 miles from home.

Hey Garrett, I bought you a hat, but if you want it you will have to check with the Boss.

My ticket only cost $15. Do you suppose these tickets cost that much more? I didn't bother to ask.

After the third try I managed to get a pic of one of the cars coming into turn one at 221 mph. Still not quite good enough to qualify.

It was a little bit busy on Pit Road. These guys were still trying to qualify. For those interested, Becky, Caroline, Trevor and Tammy Harthorne will be in the Sugarloaf 15 K at Sugarloaf. Also brother Bob will be doing the Marathon along with my cousin Tom Trytek and his wife Brenda. On-line timing will be at http://allsportsevents.com/Results/running_results/SugarloafMarathon-15K2012.htm

Have a great day all.

May 18, 2012

Day 2 in St Louis, we took a trolley tour of the city named after one of them King Louis guys from France. They have a statue in his honor in the city's Forest Park which is said to be 500 acres larger than Central Park in NYC. The tour driver told us of many attractions that were free such as the St Louis Zoo. Well, it is free to get in but some of the attractions do charge a bit. The city was founded by Pierre Laclède and his stepson Auguste Chouteau. Actually Leclede dropped off his 14 year old stepson with 30 workers on the banks of the Mississippi and went back to Illinois to build a fort for 9 months. When he got back, his stepson had already established the city and had started trading with the Indians.

This is one of the views of Forest Park near the Art Museum, which was free admission.

The famous Blueberry Hill restaurant where supposedly Chuck Berry plays once a month. I will however add that some reviews of service at the restaurant are not great. We did not eat there.

The paddle wheeler "Tom Sawyer" on a tour up the Mississippi. We didn't get to go because it was full.

A statue to Lewis and Clark, down by the riverfront. It has been said that the city has been cleaned up a lot since the gangster days and business seems to be thriving. Another day in the high 80's and plenty of sunshine.

May 17, 2012

Some of you may know that St. Louis was the beginning of the Westward expansion, or what we know better as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. St Louis is home to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, also known as the Gateway Arch. We arrived after 1:30 and got tickets to go up in the arch on the 3:30 trip. Tickets were sold out for the day shortly after that.

This is one National Park they don't charge for.

Was this the truth...or one of those white lies we tell our moms?

Can you imaging the amount of work that had to be done?

A valuable resource for the settlers. Practically nothing was wasted.

Been there, done that.

What a view, and on another clear day. Do we really want to go home with this weather.

Steps down to the St. Louis riverfront, the Mississippi that is.

You kind of have to move back to get it all in the picture.

Here is a picture of them whatchamacallits. Went to see if we could find that Jimmy Buffet fella again. Congratulations to my grandson Drew for scoring his first run today.

May 16, 2012

After a short 210 mile trip to Kansas City Mo, we found gas at 327.9. Now if that wasn't a find, we have another to tell you about. In 1987, Bob Hawley and his sons set out to find the sunken Arabia, a paddle wheeler that sank in 1856. Believing that it was no longer in the Missouri River, they set out with metal detectors, like my good buddy John would, to locate it. It was eventually found in a cornfield. Over the next winter they dug and dredged and removed probably the most intact collection of early western building supplies that included pretty much included all materials to build a home. Since then, the have built a museum and still to this day, have continued restoration of the many articles. Information about the boat and museum can be found at 1856.com The pictures that follow are only a small portion of the find.

Keep in mind that all the pics that you are about to see are original artifacts dating back to 1856, and before. This is part of the stern that was removed.

It would be hard to believe but, many glass and china articles survived...in multiple quantities.

Just a small sample of the many tools for home construction.

...and plenty of hardware for doors, windows, hinges and the like.

It has taken years to remove the mud from the tons of materials saved. Here are hinge and doorknobs still covered in mud.

The paddle wheeler carried about 5 million beads that would have become valuable for trading with the Indians.

This is part of the boilers and steam engine to power the boat. It drove the two, 28 foot diameter paddle wheels.

Later on in the afternoon went to a place named Harrah's. They had a restaurant named Buffet. I'm not sure that this is the one owned by Jimmy Buffet but it might be. We didn't see him, maybe he was out back in the kitchen with one of them tall hats on.

Before we went in, they sent us out to the back room where we had to pull a lever of some sort to get a coupon for the meal. It wasn't really worth the trip out back and we didn't save much. The room was kinda smokey and didn't have any windows. It was a good day in the city. Good night John Boy

May 15, 2012

Today we got an early start (9:30) and went to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum. http://www.quiltstudy.org/ Later we visited the state Capitol Building.

This sure looks like a real Badger but was taken at Cabelas on Monday.

A little bit of Yankee ingenuity? Put a trailer hitch on the back part of a truck body and you have a ready made trailer. Notice it is registered.

400 plus miles. Is the scenery interesting or boring?

Alice waiting for the International Quilt Study Center and Museum to open. She wasn't the first in line when the door opened. We were beat out by a Canadian couple.

The Nebraska State Capitol building, very unique for such a building. It was a 14 story building and even had it's own Peregrine Falcon nest up higher.

The Governor of the State of Nebraska doesn't seem to have a problem with organized labor.

Since 1937 the Legislature of Nebraska has been unicameral. They reduced the number by half and since then they have run the government much more efficiently. This April they even overrode 2 of the Governor's vetoes one of them (LB599) establishing a program to offer services to low-income women. The other (LB357)allowed cities to increase sales taxes without voter approval. Sure wish this could happen in Maine.

At the end of the day we had a rough choice, Brewsky's or Buzzard Bill's. Cajun food won.

May 14, 2012

Monday was one of those peaceful days while traveling the 440 miles along US 80 from Cheyenne to Lincoln NE. There was relatively little traffic and the sun was shining all day. We finally left the 6000 plus feet altitude where we have been for days and ended up in Lincoln where the altitude is about 1800 feet. The sights were pretty bland for a while with miles and miles of flat farmland, all in various degrees of planting preparation. There were plenty of trucks on the road hauling new farm equipment and I have never seen so many mechanical, field watering systems in my life. It's a good thing they are sitting on top of the nations largest watering supply (Ogalalla) where the cranes make their yearly migration. It would be a disaster to the area if a new oil pipeline ever disrupted the water supply. Wish we had time to stop in Minden, NE where there is an antique car collection (350). See http://pioneervillage.org/ Not to worry though, I think we will be back this way again. We did however stop at the World Headquarters of Cabelas in Sidney Nebraska. They have a nice display of animals native to the west similar to the one in Scarborough, ME, not to mention a large selection of fishing poles Garrett. Heading back towards home, one of the notes we have taken is that in the Northern part of the country, many places don't even open until Memorial day. ie Rocky Mountain National Park, Co...Mississippi River ride, Lincoln NE to name a couple. Happy trails to you, until we meet again.

May 12, 2012

Today had sort of a hazy, lazy beginning. For many days we have woken up to bright sunshine and warm temps however today was not the case. After our usual coffee and continental breakfast, we were just about to head to Cheyenne when Alice's nephew called. Tod hadn't gotten our 2 previous messages from the day before because he was busy gathering his daughter Juliet, and belongings from Colorado State U at Ft Collins. After a lunchtime, catch up spell, we finally hit the road to Cheyenne where Robin's parents Bob and Bev still live. Alice had a nice Mother's day card waiting for her from Doug and Robin. We enjoyed a nice "home cooked meal" (2nd day in a row) that you miss when you are on the road. It must be one of those indicators that it is time to get back home to see kids and grandkids. We did have a facetime session with the "Birthday Girl" who was celebrating with the friends back home. Sure wish we could have been there. You might be interested to know how "young" Sue is so let's just say Alice and I have been there. Later on in the evening we showed about 10% of our pictures to Bob and Bev when we finally realized how late it was. Another good day on the road. Goodnight all.

May 11, 2012

Day 46 on our whirlwind tour found us visiting Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and then making a short driving day up to Golden CO. You may remember yesterday that I drove and drove, well while in Golden Co we went to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and I walked and walked and walked. At least I had Alice with me to share my love for well made quilts. We then finished the day at my Aunt Helen's house and had supper with cousins Betty, Steve and Kathy.

One thing about sightseeing in the west, they pick out a rock and find a name for some unusual formation. See if you can find the "Kissing Camels" seen at the Garden of the Gods.

The "Spires" at the Garden of the Gods.

A drive by photo of Falcon Stadium at the Air Force Academy.

Golden CO, once the Capitol of Colorado, is a thriving city where there is activity every weekend and lots of community support.

For you fellow quilt lovers out there, this is a favorite of mine. This quilt created about 1870 is a Log Cabin design. You will notice the red center of the squares that represent the location of the chimney in the Log Cabin.

This is a picture of my favorite quilt maker next to a, and get this, Double 9 Patch quilt made about 1880. Walking is good for the body and the soul. I should walk more often.