September 28, 2014

Hi all.
Today was a short day on the road.  We left Offutt Air Base just below Omaha, NE and ended up in Panora, IA.  For miles and miles and miles, you can see corn and soy bean plants just hollering out...harvest me...please.  Apparently today wasn't early enough.

Before we got to Panora, we decided to take a short side trip to Elk Horn, IA.  It's claim to fame is that it is the largest Danish community in the US.  We ate at the Danish Inn and for $12.95each, we were not disappointed in the Smorgasbord.  Prime Rib, Shrimp, Chicken, Fish Fillet Stuffed Pork and Meat balls, as well as the usual salad fixings.

I hope that you google Panora, Iowa because we are there and there is somewhere.

Shortly after we checked in, Alice checked the TV and said, "They have the Hallmark Channel",  which is Tom's cue to head to the Golf course.  Below is off to the right, just off the back deck.  There are houses around the golf Course as well timeshare rental places.
The air here is fresh with the smell of something else in the air.  I guess people are enjoying the HIGH life.

We were having snacks on the deck and the The Travelocity Troll showed up to let us know that Life is Good!  He's right.

We are 3677 miles into this trip and the weather has been great.  We plan to be here for the rest of this week, but if by chance we might get bored, we might set out a little earlier to get back home.

September 27, 2014

Yesterday wasn't a down day for the blog, there was no internet where we stayed.  However we were at the same place yesterday afternoon as well as this morning.

Pioneer Village in Minden Nebraska.

Pioneer Village 

Pioneer Village, founded in 1953 has a lot of articles from our early lives that have been kept in more than 2 dozen buildings in Minden, Nebraska.

 There are 3 buildings with 300 automobiles from the beginning of the auto era up to the 70's

 Telephones, Ham radio equipment, and old computers are displayed.

 Does anyone remember Rawleigh salve?  How about the delivery people coming to your door?

This is old, but they are still being used even today.  Cablecars in San Francisco.

 The operator uses the foot pad at the bottom to give him more leverage when pulling the brake handles.

A quilt depicting the United States.

A photocopy of land grant #1 issued by the US

Model train cars from a hobby of years gone by.

Did you ever go to a school where they had one of these on the playground?

These were commonly used before indoor plumbing.

 Buildings were moved to the location.  This was an actual Pony Express Relay Station.

Grammie was smiling in this one.  She spent 3 years in a one room schoolhouse...with her mother.

Merry Go-round.

Radios

Stone from the  old "White House" was used in this fireplace.

 Medicines from a Pharmacists office.

Toy collections

The Electric Chair?????? Sure looks like it.

Remember seeing a picture of Tom's Mom and Dad in front of a car that looked like this one.

The pictures could go on and on.  Wore down 1 battery while taking all the pictures.

Pioneer Village might be a little out of the way, but if you have a chance, you will get a smile just from seeing a few things from your early lives...and maybe even say..we used to have one of those.

Be sure to look at the website at the top.

September 25, 2014

After a late start this morning we decided to go to the Denver Museum of thNature and Science.  It is located right on the edge of City Park.  To the right of City Park Lake is the Denver Zoo.  We decided to do that another year along with the Denver Mint.  By the time we got online, all the tours at the Mint for today were taken.

Inside the museum, there was a display of gold that is kept inside a vault at night. 

The next picture explains the story behind the gold

This piece of Gold has been named Tom's Baby.  Tom Groves, one of the miners at the time is said to have carried it out of the mine like a baby.  The piece weighs 13 pounds and was found in 1880.

For more information of the Museum, visit  Denver Museum of Nature and Science  

Today's sign was caught along a main route through the city.  They have the boys in blue on motorcycles with radar in hand and a citation book.  They had nabbed 2 in just the short time that we went through.

At the end of the day, Grammie was found having supper with her nephew Tod.

It was a good day to be in Denver.  The temperature reached 80 and the skies were clear.  Tomorrow, we continue our journey heading back east.

September 24, 2014

This morning we left Estes Park and headed south to the Denver area.  We took the slow road through National Forests with the weather cooperating.  One last look at the hills before we turned the corner.

Not every road built was done easily.

A view of Lily Lake reminded us of home.  Tom almost made an offer on a lady's painting that wasn't even finished yet.

Couldn't resist the wonderful colors.

Despite the last 2 days driving up towards Longs peak (middle) where the clouds were, today it showed its splendor.

Has anyone seen Grammie?

 Her 3rd trip to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

All that looking at quilts made Grammie a little hungry.  Broccoli, Cauliflower and a little Marzetti Light Ranch dip.

We finally finished the day in Golden where we had a nice visit with Tom's Aunt Helen.  An amazing person.

September 23, 2014

Good Morning all.
We didn't have to turn off the alarm clock this morning.  We were awoken to the sound of a male Elk singing his rendition of "Afternoon Delight"...and this was 6:30 in the morning.  Here is the bad boy.

Since we were up early, we had breakfast and got on the road.  Actually we had planned to do so anyway because the parking lot at Bear Lake gets full early and we wanted to hit a couple of trails there.  The morning sun was doing its job hitting the Aspen.

 We got to Bear Lake (9475 feet) and the trail was already busy.

This little feller tried to tell us that he was busy putting on the weight for Winter.  

He looked like he wasn't really having a problem doing so.

Next we planned to hike into Alberta Falls.  The trail went down and up for 8 tenths of a mile...and then back.  Alice was planning ahead.

By the time we got to the falls, it had already started to rain.  We were glad we had extra jackets to wear.

Heading back to the Trail Ridge Road was still full of great picture opportunities although the wind has been picking up and the leaves may not last to much longer.

It is easy to spot Elk when driving along the road.  Just stop where all the other cars are stopped.

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We went over the Longs Peak portion of the road and started down the other side.  In about 4 miles we hit the Continental Divide at 10,759 feet.

Just before the divide, we passed Ploudre Lake which is a main source of the water that drains East, eventually to the Atlantic Ocean.

Going just down the trail a bit (about a hundred yards from the sign) to the west I found a little bit of water in a tiny stream heading down to the West.  Would it be OK to go out on a limb and say that this is the beginning of the Colorado River.  It collects into Lake Irene and heads on from there.

On the way back is a great view of the mountains to the North but we couldn't see the train yard control tower in Cheyenne so the weather wasn't clear enough.

On the way along the road we thought the sign read  "Do not drive outside the white lines."

 

 Across the valley on the North side of the mountains there are still areas where the snow hasn't finished melting yet.

The Rocky Mountains extend many miles to the south and to the north into Canada.

We decided to hike up the Tundra Communities Trailhead.  The top was 12,310 feet.  The wind was very strong and the temp around 40.  We both wore 2 fleeces but wished we had our hats and gloves.

This is the Trail Ridge Road's answer to the Knife Edge.  In a few yards up ahead there is about 2 feet from the edge of the tar on either side.....and that's it.  This is NOT the place where you just close your eyes and say you will be past it soon.

Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the park.  Plan ahead and make the trip.  It is worth it.

Sign in a store window.

And finally, an update to this mornings start. The dominant Elk was strutting his stuff this evening while the rest of the males kept their distance.