Cape Cod

We did the complete peninsula today -- This is a photograph of a light house that is one of a series of three retired lighthouses. Ok, very few photographs were taken today -- this will have to do . . .

Boston -- History City USA

Well, here we are in the big city -- high-speed freeways, high-rise buildings, highly-congested traffic, and high volumes of people. I mentioned to Judi today that throughout the West and Midwest we saw large herds of buffalo and cattle roaming aimlessly over the plains. Today, we were the herds and we were roaming aimlessly. Well, maybe not aimlessly -- we actually followed the famous "Freedom Trail" that wound throughout Boston. But nonetheless, I find the city an unworthy competitor to the wide open plains and forests of the West . . .

The Freedom Trail is a well-marked walking path through the sometimes narrow streets of Boston that covers 2-1/2 miles one way. Key sights included the Old Statehouse Museum (Boston's oldest surviving public building -- see photo above), the site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere House, Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea"), USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides"), and Bunker Hill ("Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!") -- 1400 casualties on June 17, 1775.

The visual history lessons have been great -- we're staying in Concord, just down the road from the North Bridge where the American revolution began. We stood there yesterday evening as the sun was setting . . . visualizing the Minute Men -- farmers and merchants -- opening fire on the red uniformed British troops. And then today we stood at the crest of Bunker Hill where one of the bloodiest battles of the revolution took place.

Today we walked more than 5 miles -- much like our walking tour of Paris last year. But we find that, unlike an organized tour, we see things and touch things and experience things that we might not see, touch, or experience any other way than slowly and methodically walking.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we will attempt to conquer Cape Cod in a day.

Where it all began!

Today we are in Concord, Massachusetts home to the first confrontation between the British and the Minutemen of the Revolutionary War. It is also home to several authors of the 1800's: Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. There lives were all intertwined. Fascinating. The tour of the Alcott home was a highlight of the day. Alcott was Judi's favorite author when she was a young girl. There was also time to take a hike at Walden Pond to the home site of Thoreau (Doug has read Walden) and to visit Minuteman National Park and see the bridge where it all began. Next to that is the home of Rev. William Emerson, father of Ralph Waldo, built in 1770. The family watched that first battle.

This is the home of the Alcott family. Louisa May Alcott's bedchamber was on the second floor and her desk stood between the two front windows to the left of the front door on the upper floor. That is where she wrote Little Women in just three months time. She was the best selling author of her time and Little Women has been in continuous publication ever since it was first published.

Tomorrow morning we are heading into Boston. That means that this will be a short entry so I can get some sleep. More to come so keep checking.

1838 Sturbridge

Today we ventured into the world of time travel and explored 1838 Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts. It was interesting, informative and fun. We saw the old Friends Meeting House and the parsonage. I pictured living there with my parents and sisters. Not sure that I would have liked sleeping in the attic or the amount of work it took to do just about everything. We watched demonstrations of spinning wool, shooting a musket, making tinware, saw examples of clothing and house goods. Although Sturbridge Village was beautiful and interesting, I'm grateful to be living in the 21st century.
This is the Publick House where we are currently staying, built in 1771. Yesterday's blog entry tells a bit more about the Publick House. There is a link there to the website for the Inn so you can read more about it.
Yes, there is color in Massachusetts, it's just a little harder to find than it should be this time of the year. Isn't this tree beautiful? There is more than just this one but you can tell by the background that this one, at least, is standing alone. Over the next two weeks, we will be on the hunt for the elusive Fall colors of New England. It should be fun!

We Made It!!

That's right, after a week of driving and exploring new and wondrous sites, we've finally arrived at our main destination, New England. This afternoon we arrived in Sturbridge, Massachusetts!! First stop in the couple of weeks we will be in New England. Although fall hasn't really come yet, the trees are just beginning to turn colors and the weather is hot, we're still looking forward to all we'll have the opportunity to see and do. We expect that before we leave New England we'll have the chance to see some great color, both because we'll be in lots of different places and because the weather is supposed to be getting cooler.

This morning we visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It was very interesting. Do you know when baseball began and who is credited with creating the game? Well, it began sometime in the early 1800's and Abner Doubleday is credited with creating the game. It was supposed to have been first played in Cooperstown and that is why the Baseball Hall of Fame is in this little out of the way town. Also, Cooperstown is named for James Fennimore Cooper. More trivia to add to your brain for the next game of Trivial Pursuit. The picture of Babe Ruth is of a life-size carving of him. It is made entirely from one piece of wood and no cloth or leather or any other material is part of the carving. It really is amazing.

Tonight we are staying at the Publick House in Sturbridge. It was built in 1771 and the floors let you know the truth of that statement. They creak and slant but are beautiful old wood. It was built by Colonel Ebenezer Crafts and is where he entertained his revolutionary troops. We ate in the Tavern tonight and the food was excellent. Our room is complete with a four poster canopied bed that is so high that one almost needs a step stool to get into bed. Speaking of bed, I think it's time to get some sleep. More later.

Erie, PA to Cooperstown, NY

It was fun to stay in Erie, PA last night since we were just here in July. It actually felt familiar and we knew where to find a restaurant for dinner and where to find a motel. That was nice after spending all week looking for places to stay and places to eat and trying to figure out how to get around in unfamiliar towns.

Even though it rained last night, it was already warm when we left this morning and the day was hot. Where is that fall weather we were expecting? It's a good thing we brought along a few warm weather pieces of clothing. I haven't had to go below the top layer in my suitcase. It appears that fall will be arriving in New England later this week as the temperatures in Bar Harbor are supposed to drop into the high 50's and low 60's. At least then the long sleeved shirts will come out of hiding.

In the summer of 1969 Judi and her family traveled across the USA and one of the stops was Niagara Falls. Interestingly enough, the American side of the Falls was 'turned' off. They were actually doing repairs on the falling rock to keep the Falls from becoming a cascade. So, today when we went to Niagara Falls, it was new to both of us. Doug had never been and I had never seen the American Falls falling.

Niagara Falls is spectacular. The volume of water is incredible. Mist shrouds the bottom of the falls and drenches even those viewing from the top. Rainbows appear in the mist. The sound becomes part of the subconscious as it is a constant roar. All the senses are involved in being at Niagara Falls. The roar of the water, the wet mist on hair and skin, the views of constantly rushing water, the smell of wet rock and even the taste of mist on the tongue. It was an incredible experience.

There was no real destination once we left the Falls other than getting closer to Massachusetts where we are staying Wednesday night. When we first began to plan and dream of this trip, the Baseball Hall of Fame was on our list of things to do. Somewhere amongst all the planning, the idea of visiting here was lost. But when we examined the map and saw Cooperstown in the exact area we planned on stopping for the night, we were on the phone making reservations. Tomorrow morning we will visit the Hall of Fame before heading on to Sturbridge. After some of the places we have already been and the way things are commercialized, it was a pleasant surprise to drive into Cooperstown and find it a quaint village. We are looking forward to exploring the town and the Hall of Fame tomorrow.

Monday, September 24

Today's drive was much more enjoyable than yesterday's, probably because I was not so tired. We drove through upper Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The forests hugged the road. Trees have begun to change colors; lime green, yellow, gold, orange and red amongst the mostly green trees. Wildflowers were still in bloom in bright purple, yellow and white. Breaks in the forest reveled beautiful farms. Green and gold fields of corn. White houses nestled among the trees and big red barns. Tall grey silos stood sentinel over each farm. With only a few variations, this seems to be the typical mid-west farm.

The original plan for Monday was to visit the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. We ended up taking a highway that by-passed Cleveland proper and just for once, we wanted to get to our hotel before dark. So, we drove through the beautiful country and then went straight to Erie, PA. It felt really good to have time to just rest, get a good dinner and be in bed at a reasonable time.

How to Entertain Yourself on an All Day Drive

Today was a long day of driving and not much else. So, as we drove and tried to stay entertained, I thought I would share with you the kinds of things that kept us busy. Here is a list of things you could also do while driving.

1. Think -- about anything because you have time
2. Converse with traveling companion
3. Switch off between driving and navigating
4. Listen to a book on tape -- Undaunted Courage about Lewis & Clark
5. Watch the changing scenery - from corn fields to forests to corn fields to forests to corn fields...plus a city or two for interest
6. Nap
7. Call Amy to check on the USC score
8. Watch for a place to stop for lunch -- there are lots of Arby's along Hwy 90
9. Have money ready to pay tolls
10. Continually check mileage driven against mileage to go
11. Play license plate game if there are enough cars on highway
12. Try to identify road kill as you speed past.

There should be more interesting things happening tomorrow as we drive through Cleveland and on to Erie, PA. Hmmm.....

Great Faces, Great Places

The official slogan of South Dakota is "Great Faces, Great Places." Well, we saw both those in the last couple of days. Last night we did not have Internet access so I'll try to catch you up on both Friday and Saturday's adventures without running on too long.

Friday morning, we left Billings around 9:00 a.m. on our way to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Park. This is about an hour drive. However, do you know that if you miss the turnoff along the highways of South Dakota that you will probably have to drive 16 miles out of your way before being able to turn around? My suggestion is to get off the highway if you just think you might need to. Then figure out if you are at the right place. Prevention is half the cure. All that to say that we did arrive at the Battlefield but not before seeing some extra countryside.

Even though we only expected to make this a quick stop it was actually very interesting and we spent several hours there. Add that to the wrong turn and lost time, it was later than planned when we left there for Mt. Rushmore.

Driving through South Dakota is mostly what you would expect. Lots of rolling hills covered with golden grasses and cattle and pronghorn antelope and not much else. It's big country and beautiful. But the surprise to us was the mountains. Okay, we're not talking Rockies here but mountains none the less. The drive to Mt. Rushmore was wonderful. (I really could use a thesaurus because I'm running out of descriptive words quickly.)

Everyone has seen pictures of Mt. Rushmore. I think it's required to be an American. It looks just like the pictures only more. It's big and magnificent and even a little awe-inspiring. The ability of Borglum to imagine this sculpture in the side of a mountain and then be able to accomplish it is amazing. We arrived in the very late afternoon and were there until dark. I'm very glad we took the time to go and recommend it to you as well. Go when you have the opportunity.

From there, we drove in the dark along winding mountain roads to our lodge in Custer State Park. The dining room had closed by the time we arrived but a very nice dining room host managed to get us some dinner and bring it to our room. End of a great day.

This morning we were able to actually see where we were staying and decided it was very nice. The lodge was built in the early 1920's and was the summer white house in 1926 for Coolidge. Custer State Park hosts the largest publicly owned buffalo herd. The Wildlife Loop Road winds through the park and we spent the morning exploring. We did see some buffalo but certainly not the entire herd. The road wound through pine forested hills, green grass covered meadows edged with golden leaved trees and made a great start to the day.

From Custer we drove a couple of hours to Wall, S.D. home of the famous Wall Drug Store. Along with all the other tourists, we stopped for lunch there and then across the highway to drive through the Badlands of South Dakota. This is where you will see the differences in personalities between Doug and Judi. The Badlands consist of eroded mud cliffs in unique formations and colors. It was hot, 94 degrees hot, and there are lots of these mud cliffs. They look a lot like sand castles on the beach and I will admit that it was unique and interesting but a fairly quick drive would have satisfied me. Doug, however, was totally intrigued and stopped at every turnout to gaze again at the mud cliffs. Do you see my prejudice for this afternoon's adventure? Doug wants to come back and believe me when I say he will come alone. Well, actually, I'll go anywhere with him if I just have a good book to read while he's exploring.

Once again the day ended with a long drive to our hotel arriving well after dark and dinner time. Once again we made a wrong turn which resulted in a 19 mile detour. Once again, it was a good day, mud cliffs and all.

Yellowstone traffic jam

Life is different on vacation. The desire to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and enjoy the quiet and serenity of the country is not always what it seems. We sat for quite a while in this 'traffic jam' and enjoyed every minute of it. The buffalo were fascinating. The scenery was beautiful. It was a great day in Yellowstone.

We began the day in Idaho Falls and drove for about 1 1/2 hours to Yellowstone. One of the surprises along the way was Fall. The birch and aspen have begun to turn colors so the pine forests were dotted with swaths of bright lime green, gold and orange. Absolutely breathtaking.

Today we were out of the car and hiking. It felt so good after all the sitting yesterday. However, this was Yellowstone and that means boiling sulphur springs. When the wind blew our way we were shrouded in dense moist sulphur sweet clouds. It was actually quite interesting and beautiful. We picnicked by a rock strewn creek under pine trees. No sulphur there just clear cold air and the sound of the water running over the rocks. Our last stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the Yellowstone Falls. They were spectacular.

By this time, the day was mostly gone and we still had a couple of hours to drive to get to Billings in time to rest and relax a bit before dinner. The shortest route was to leave by the northeast exit of the park. What we did not know was that meant climbing out of the park and over the Beartooth mountains. The summit was almost 11,000 feet reached by driving a winding narrow road. We passed clear mountain lakes, moonscape vistas, views to the far blue mountains and sheer drops to tree covered valleys. The drive was beautiful but much longer than we had anticipated. By the time we had descended the other side and driven out of the valley it was dark and we still had over an hour to drive to Billings. Once again, we arrived at our hotel late, tired and ready for a late dinner. Although it was longer than planned, it was a great day.

14 hours in the car

Rollin', rollin', rollin', keep those doggies rollin', RAWHIDE!

That's how today felt. Like a cattle drive and we were the meat. However, we did make it to Idaho Falls and we are now safe in our motel room ready to get some sleep. It was a beautiful drive even if long. High desert, low desert, mountains, rain, sunshine, clouds, we were driving long enough to experience more than one day's worth of weather and scenery. No pictures but there will be so keep checking. Good Night!

Bristlecone Pine Tree

Picture of the day -- September 7, 2007

today is saturday

we're leaving next wednesday.