Home Again, the End of Adventure #1, November 4, 2011

Our journey from Davenport, Iowa to Howell, Michigan was relatively uneventful.  The roads were clear, there was not too much construction, and it was cloudy.  We are so glad that we took the time to have Adventure #1.  We are reviewing all of our photos (we only posted a few) and reliving all of the fun we had.  We learned a few things about being good travelers.

How did people do this before the internet and smart phones?  Our phones helped us find our way when we were lost.  They helped us find restaurants nearby.  They helped us keep up with family and friends back home.  One thing we learned is that we need to contact states to get state maps before we leave.  In October not all state welcome centers still have maps.

We learned that you cannot buy wine in grocery stores in every state.  Some states have special stores for all alcohol.  This can be a surprise when you want a glass of wine at night!  We also learned that there are wineries in almost every state!  You can take a wine tour in Iowa – not just in California and Michigan.

We learned that it is important to discuss how much driving we will do each day and how many side trips we expect to take.  There are so many interesting museums and wonderful historical sites and state parks.  We really need to plan ahead to make sure we have enough time.

We learned that it is really enough to take seven days worth of clothes no matter how many days you will be gone.  There are laundry facilities at many hotels and in most towns (and there are stores, too, shoppers!).  And, you need room in your suitcase for souvenirs, so don’t pack it too full.

We marveled at the beauty of the United States and the resilience of its people.  Each state possesses its own beauty and we appreciated all of it – mountains, big mountains, desert, high desert, the ocean, lakes and rivers, farmland, and exciting cities.  We noticed that driving through cities is always a little crazy, but we gave the prize for horrible driving to California.  The most exciting drives were the mountain roads in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.  The steep curves and breathtaking vistas were thrilling.  Dennis especially loved the drive through the mountain pass on the Oatman Highway outside of Kingman AZ. 

Everywhere we went we encountered people who were helpful, cheerful, and interested in making our journey the best it could be.  We traveled more than 6700 miles and we never felt far from home.  The travel took us out of our comfort zones and made us learn new things about U.S. history and geography and geology.  We felt powerful emotions in some locales – from shock and sorrow for the destruction in Joplin through peaceful joy for the beauty of the desert at Joshua Tree to the overwhelming grandeur of the Grand Canyon.  We also laughed a lot at the history of highway travel in the U.S. as we visited some of the Route 66 classic locations.  We can see how much things have changed and how little.

Our car was a true partner on this journey.  It was comfortable for both driver and passenger.  We had increasingly good gas mileage (this was a surprise considering the speed at which we traveled on the interstate highways).  Arriving home is both a happy and a sad feeling.  We love our home but we know we will miss the adventure of being on the road.  We are looking forward to Adventure #2.

A funny thing happened on our way through Lincoln NE!

On our way back to Michigan, we were doing some serious cruising. As I have observed previously; I really like the speed limits out west. The expressways are typically 75 MPH which automatically tell me 80 is no problem and when out on the prairie one could go a little faster. As we cruised into Lincoln Nebraska, MaryAlice was driving. I started searching for NPR on the radio. Yes, we have our I pod with 11 gig of music but it's always nice to get a local station on.

While searching Jimi Hendrix 'Are you Experienced' comes on. We stopped the search on the radio and then an old Bob Seger song comes on.... no it was not Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet, it was Bob Seger and the Last Herd. The next song was 'And the Beat Goes On' a classic MoTown song. The host comes on with background psychedelic music/sounds and discusses how things have not changed much from the words to 'The Beat Goes On'. He then gives a shout out to the demonstrators down town Lincoln ....yes the 99% ers.

I was intrigued! Turns out that this was KZUM Lincoln NE. This is an independent radio station since 1978. I had to call. I spoke to our host and told him we were cruising home after our retrace of RTE 66 and a couple side trips through New Mexico art colonies. He told me that he doesn't always play '60s rock but plays jazz, and sometimes new cutting edge rock and r and b . He loved the fact that we were not only doing the RTE 66 thing but looking for areas where people of our generation landed and made a life.

We had a great discussion and then ... went on. As radio signals go so does life. In about 20 minutes we were out of range and found NPR classical music. Still I felt I made a contact with a kindred soul and the fact that there are pockets of alternative lifestyles still existing.... even in Lincoln NE!

D

Back in the Midwest, November 1, 2011

What a huge change from Nebraska to Iowa!  I am continually amazed at the wonderful differences in geography and geology in this huge country.  Nebraska was fairly flat as we drove across the Eastern half of Nebraska on I-80.  Driving through the large cities, Lincoln and Omaha, was just as crazy as driving through most cities, but the extensive construction on I-80 threw in some extra drama.  We crossed the bridge (over the Missouri River) into Council Bluffs, Iowa, and were astounded at the quick change in the terrain.

Iowa is all rolling hills along I-80.  There are more trees and lots of rivers.  Every rolling hill has a farm on it.  The contrast was that Nebraska had lots of huge ranches and we saw large herds of cattle and many horse farms.  In Iowa the farms are rolling and much smaller and we did not see cattle ranches but we did see dairy farms.  The farm fields that cover the hills are tiered – my limited knowledge of farming suggests that the terracing helps to control run-off and soil erosion.  The drive was really beautiful.

There is highway construction (there has been highway construction everywhere!) but not as much and it disrupts traffic flow a lot less.  The drive through the capitol of Des Moines was the usual struggle with traffic.  I am so glad that we have somehow avoided driving through cities during rush hour!  We also gave Iowa top honors for their welcome center on I-80 just over the state line from Nebraska.  It was large, new, and well-stocked with Iowa info and a free Iowa map.  Driving was tiring because we have stuck with a 6-7 hour trip each day on our way home.  Dennis is learning that he needs to share driving duties on a more equitable basis.  He does not realize he is tired until it is way too late, but I recognize the signs and I’m not afraid to say, “It’s my turn.”  I am sure we will get better about this as time goes on. 

We are looking forward to being home soon.

“We’re on our way home…” October 31, 2011

Yesterday we started our big push for the drive home.  I wanted to see the Sandia Crest and to drive the Turquoise Trail from Albuquerque to Santa Fe.  It was my turn to drive and it was an exciting drive up through the mountain pass.  When we reached the peak (over 10,000 feet) we were so excited with the views.  We took lots of pictures (a few are here) but I cannot say we were breathless with excitement because we were breathless due to lack of oxygen!  The view was worth the exciting, twisty drive up.  We went into the gift shop, purchased some souvenirs, and I saw my favorite T-shirt of the whole trip.  The shirt had a picture of several native Americans on horseback with weapons.  The caption read, “Homeland Security: fighting terrorism since 1492.”  Loved it.

We rejoined I-25 north at Santa Fe and continued up into Colorado.  We stopped for the night in Colorado Springs.  I was driving as we passed the state line and Dennis got the “welcome to Colorado” picture.  I commented earlier on the beauty of I-25 and Colorado gave me another chance to see the beauty of the highway.  Once we reached Colorado, we dove down steep mountain roads complete with twists and turns and trucks screaming down the road next to us.  Very exciting!  The mountains here are the Rockies – and the Anheuser Busch label does not do them justice!  The Rocky Mountains are so different from all the other mountain chains we have seen on this trip.  They are so high and topped with snow – I kept looking and thinking – “is that real or is it a picture?”

In the morning we left Colorado Springs and headed to Denver to move on to I-76 into the northeast corner of Colorado.  We drove across a lot of prairie land once we turned away from the mountains.  The land was gently rolling and all the same color – burnt grass – with no outstanding features.  It was hard to focus sometimes, but we kept track of our path and our miles traveled. 

We crossed the state line into Nebraska and merged on to I-80 east.  I was not expecting to find Nebraska very interesting.  I-80 traverses the entire state and I was expecting wheat and corn fields.  We found water – for the first time in several days we saw water along the road and some trees.  We also saw lots of cows and farms, but it was nice to see trees and water again.  We stopped at Grand Island, Nebraska for the night and tomorrow we will drive on into Iowa.