Home sweet home

Old glory standing straight out

Exactly 100 days after we left Michigan we returned. Today's travel was uneventful and we got home in time to have Joan stop and renew her driver's license which expired while we were in Tucson.

On the way from Iowa City to North Aurora, Illinois we encountered some of the stiffest winds of our trip.

It was one of those days I was very glad that the trailer was back in Flagstaff and not behind my car.

It seems we missed a lot of the recent bad weather as most of the foul weather seems to be about one day ahead of us. The wind is doable without the trailer attached, but I felt sorry for those folks we saw pulling fifth wheels and trailers on Wednesday.

Whee! We're in Illinois

We spent two wonderful days with my sister Laura and her husband Philip in North Aurora, Illinois. Always the best hosts, my sister whipped up a wonderful spaghetti dinner (my favorite meal) and invited Doug and Deb for dinner and we had a wonderful time Wednesday night.

On Thursday, my sister took a day off from work and she and I went for a brisk walk in the morning while Joan got ready and we had fun catching up. After the walk we headed to the local Costco store. Why? Because it is there and we don't have one at home.

Besides Costco has the best free samples and I enjoyed all of them during our visit there.

Joan, Laura and Philip

In the afternoon we headed to a local car wash so I could clean about 10,000 bugs off the Tahoe and then we all went to the movies to watch "Monuments Men." The movie was pretty good and we had a great time and free popcorn refills, so what's better than that.

In the evening we went to a nice restaurant - Stockholms - in Geneva (Geneva, Illinois, of course) and then headed back with an extra plate of food for Philip who was working late in Chicago.

Back at the house Philip and I started planning our September backpack trip in Wisconsin and then we turned in to get a good night's sleep before we headed home to Michigan on Friday.

Me, Laura and Philip

My sister suggested a new route from her house to I-80 and it was really quick and knocked at least a half hour off our trip.

Before we even drove home we stopped at the local Secretary of State's office so Joan could verify for them that she could still see well enough to drive and a quick eye test and a $25 check and she was approved for another few years of driving in Michigan.

Back home we found the house in good shape, except for the back hoe damage in the front yard from the broken well pipe while we were gone, but all in all we found the old place in good shape. Thank you, Elin.

Whee! We're in Indiana (Trust me on the sign)

I went and picked up a couple cheap pizzas for dinner and then I headed back out to attend the funeral visitation for my friend and former work colleague, Angelia Lewis. Sad news, but I got a chance to talk to all her children and tell them just what a great woman their mother was.

Be good to each other, life is short.

Usually this would be my last post for awhile, but I'm working on a Top 10 (it may actually be longer, we'll see) of things that any newbie RVer should consider before investing in a vehicle.

Tune in over the weekend and you may see the list pretty soon.

Whee! We're back in Michigan

Time out: 7:46 a.m. (CDT)

Mileage out: 78808

Time in: 2:30 p.m. (EDT)

Mileage in: 79148

In case you have forgotten our trip started back on January 8, with a mileage of 66995 - a total trip mileage of 12,153

A quick trip, but some terrible news

Another crashed truck on I-80

Driving across the middle part of Nebraska is a little like driving on a pool table. Flat doesn’t really describe it, but it has its own beauty.

It appears that the same storm that caused havoc in Wyoming and Utah caused a similar mess in Nebraska as we saw more evidence of cars and truck off the roadway, but it wasn’t from the beautiful weather we had today.

Today was a relatively easy drive and everything went well.

We passed under one of the more curious highway monuments that I have seen today. Mind you, it’s not the first time we have passed under it, but it is always impressive.

The Great Platte River Road Archway

The Great Platte River Road Archway is a monument to the pioneers who traveled through Ft. Kearny on their great adventure west. Someday we’ll take a little time and pay a visit to the museum and other exhibits there.

For today, we were simply about making tracks and getting closer to home. My brother-in-law Philip will be glad to know that we spent the night in the city of his alma mater, Iowa City, the home of the University of Iowa.

We had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and sat under a nice picture of Herky, the Hawk, the great mascot of the University’s sports teams.

Whee, it's Iowa

We crossed into Iowa about 1 p.m. and spent much of the afternoon listening again to Classic Radio programs.

Favorite old radio show line of the day came from a Johnny Dollar episode.

A suspect pleading his innocence to a murder implored to the private detective: “I didn’t kill her, I loved her.” To which Johnny Dollar said: “That’s not an alibi, that’s a motive!”

Love those old radio lines.

Joan also got a chance to go “whee” again as we crossed over the Iowa state line. My daughter-in-law will be proud that she has passed this tradition onto Joan.

Strange artwork entering Iowa

We also spotted a strange sculpture as we entered Iowa from Nebraska. The artwork, done by artist Albert Paley, is supposed to represent the transformation of society and culture. If you are interested you can read more about them at this link.

On Monday while driving through Wyoming we passed by Curt Gowdy State Recreation Area. I was curious enough to look up why a sportscaster had a State park named after him tonight.

Turns out Curt Gowdy was a native of Wyoming, a high school basketball standout and a very accomplished fisherman and hunter. The State, in honor of his accomplishments named the area after him back in the early 1970s. Someday we’ll have to stop there as well.

While passing through Omaha today I thought of my stepmother’s nearby hometown of Blair, Nebraska.

Nice hotel in North Platte, Nebraska

Someday we’ll stop there so I can show Joan the little city that we visited when I was a youngster. Blair was such a cultural shock for kid from Los Angeles that it is hard for me to describe how I felt when I first visited there.

People didn’t lock their doors and there were no fences between the houses. That was a big enough shock for a kid from Southern California where everyone locked the doors and everyone had fences.

I should also say that the hotel we stayed at last night, the Oak Tree Inn in North Platte was a very fine hotel for a very little money. If you happen to be passing through North Platte (and who doesn't) it would be worth the money if you are looking for a decent place to stay.

I did receive some terrible news through the Internet today, however. A very close friend, Angelia Lewis, died early this morning at her home in Flint. Apparently she had been ill, but kept the sickness to a very small group of family and friends.

Angelia was perhaps one of the very nicest people I ever knew. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body and she was always one to look on the bright side of everything. In a bad moment in the newsroom she perhaps saved my career by keeping me from doing something I would have regretted.

I’m not going into details here, but a phone call from her desk to mine and a reminder of what was important in life at a very critical time kept me from an act that certainly would have ended my newspaper career. I was ever grateful to her for that and have told her so many, many times.

Hearing that she is gone was very hard to bear today. May she rest in peace and may her family know that her memory is a cherished one to many, many people.

Tomorrow we'll be in North Aurora, Illinois with my sister and brother-in-law for a couple days. Then home.

Time out: 9:02 a.m.

Mileage out: 78027

Time in: 4:53 p.m.

Mileage in: 78557

Two Whees! and a Warning

A victim of yesterday's storm in Wyoming

This was one long travel day. It would have been a lot longer if we would have done it 24 hours earlier as the I-80 route we traveled was pretty much a snowy parking lot on Sunday as a late winter storm rolled through the Plains states.

We saw plenty of evidence of the aftermath with tow trucks pulling trucks out of the median and a couple nasty wrecks being cleaned up as we went by. The roads were clean and green for us, but we saw a lot of dirty semis coming from the east and heading to the west.

But my day started with a crazy traffic stop in Utah.

My warning ticket (I covered ID parts)

As I was climbing up the grade out of Salt Lake City I spotted a Utah State Trooper on a traffic stop and pulled into the far lane so as not to endanger him. As I passed he was finishing up the stop and went on the roll right after I passed him.

I was doing the speed limit so I wasn’t worried. He came up behind me fast like he wanted to fly by so I put on my turn signal and pulled into the right lane and then noticed he slowed down and was obviously eyeing my out-of-state license plates.

He pulled in behind me and on went the lights, so I pulled over onto the next off ramp.

Crossing into Wyoming from Utah - Whee!

The young trooper advised me that he needed to see my license, registration and insurance and of course I complied. He then noted that I did not wait for two seconds after turning on my turn indicator to pull to the right and that my plastic cover over my license plate was illegal in Utah.

Huh?

 He went back to his office and probably ran a computer check on me and the car and then returned a few minutes later with a printed warning. It means nothing, but I assume I was simply a fishing expedition that didn’t pan out.

No harm, no foul and he was very polite and nice, but for the rest of the day I was counting to two before moving my vehicle after turning on my turn indicator. As for the license plate cover, I have had it on the car for more than two years and this is the first time anyone told me it was illegal. I’ll wait to remove it.

Crossing into Nebraska - Whee!

Ever since we had our new daughter-in-law Toni with us on a road trip last fall Joan has adopted Toni and Teri’s habit of lifting their arms and shouting “Whee” as they cross a state border. Sort of like a roller coaster ride without the necessary “roller.”

Today we crossed into Wyoming and then later into Nebraska (which is a really long day) and so Joan had to let fly with two “Whees!” today. Now you understand today’s headline on the blog.

The weather today was downright Michigan like. We started in Salt Lake City at 31 degrees and it went down from there until later in the afternoon. The lowest temperature we experienced was 19 degrees at some high altitudes in Wyoming.

It was cold out there today

At one point on I-80 we were passed by a pick-up truck with Indiana plates that was pulling a trailer filled with several of those rowing “shells” – narrow racing canoes – that had Notre Dame markings on the side. Not sure where they have been but they looked pretty nice.

This has been a little bit of a nostalgic trip for me as this is the same route I took with my father and stepmother when I was a child.

Yesterday, we drove through Black Mountain, Nevada, which has a mountain with a large “BM” painted on the side of it. As children we used the initials “BM” to indicate bowel movement. So you can imagine two little boys spotting a mountain with those letters on the side.

Little America Hotel

As I recall my brother and I got a pretty good laugh out of it and to be honest I got a little chuckle out of it on Sunday. Almost as funny as Joan having to teach her eight graders about the planets and having all the boys laughing when she brought up “Uranus.”

Today’s nostalgic moment came when we gassed up in Little America, Wyoming.

During my cross country trip with my parents we stopped and stayed at the then brand new Little America Hotel. At that time it was in the middle of nowhere and it is pretty much still there in the middle of nowhere.

The "thunderstorm" field behind Little America

The trip of my youth was memorable because after we pulled into the hotel my father took me and my brother Mike out into the open fields behind the hotel to “plink” at little green plastic soldiers with our JC Penney .22-caliber single bolt action rifle.

Looking back on it, this was probably a way to exhaust two little boys who had been cooped up in the backseat of a car all day, but it was a welcome time for me and my brother.

We walked far out into the field, but at some point my father recognized a quickly approaching thunderstorm. The lightning was flashing, the thunder was crashing and the three of us were the tallest thing for a mile in that open field.

One of the dirty trucks from yesterday's storm

My father urged us to make haste back to the hotel, but at one point he realized that the JC Penney rifle had turned into a lightning rod. My father is a brave man and he was loathe to leave behind our rifle so he lowered the barrel and we continued our hurried retreat to the hotel room in the rain.

I think I remember my father hearing (or at least he thought he heard) some crackling on the end of the barrel. It is a memory as vivid today as it was 50 years ago.

After we topped off the Tahoe I pulled around the back of the Little America Hotel and took some pictures looking out toward the field where the great thunderstorm swept through so many years ago.

Snowy mountain

A lot of today was spent listening to old time radio shows as they really help to make the time pass quickly.

During one episode of the radio version of “Dragnet” with Jack Webb the famous detective was questioning a man about a fraud case. The man had claimed he was a psychiatrist and listed a number of academic initials behind his name. BS, PH.d, and a long list of other impressive initials.

One of the people he was interviewing asked Joe Friday: “I wonder how long it would take a guy to acquire all those letters?”

Jack Webb replied in his famous smart ass style:  “It would take about 10 minutes with a paint brush.”

One of two Continental Divide crossings today

Today we spotted some Sandhill Cranes – the same kind as we saw in Tucson a couple months ago – in a Wyoming field. They, like a lot of us, are probably wondering why they left Tucson so early only to come up here and find things still frozen over.

In Wyoming we saw many fields filled with Prong Horn Sheep, which we weren’t sure were wild or being raised by ranchers. They are probably wild as the fences they were behind would not be any obstacle to them.

We also passed by the World Headquarters of Cabela’s in Sidney, Nebraska.

Endless construction zone

Last night the Airport Inn we stayed at in Salt Lake City was very nice, but the employees there seemed to have a universal attitude problem. When I was checking in they seemed annoyed that we arrived just as they were digging into their McDonald’s dinner.

This morning when I went to the restaurant to collect on our free breakfast, the woman who was helping me collect a yogurt was wearing an outfit more appropriate for a pole dancer in an exotic dancing business than in a restaurant.

Also, one of my pet peeves is when there is an endless construction zone with absolutely no construction work going on. Today in Wyoming we were reduced to one lane for about 10 miles and at the very end of the zone there was one tractor working in the median.I want to buy stock in the company that buys those plastic lane divider cones.

Tonight we are in North Platte, Nebraska in a very nice hotel, which I booked online for $45. The employees here have a much better outlook. So all is good. See you all tomorrow.

Time out: 7:42 a.m. (MDT)

Mileage out: 77349

Time in: 6:30 p.m. (CDT)

Mileage in: 78026 (that’s a lot of miles in 10 hours folks!)

A word about the ads on here

I have no idea when Google starting putting ads onto my blog. I can't really stop them because they host my blog for free. But just to be clear I do not endorse or condone any of the products or services that are advertised here.

The long journey home is underway

Joan with Brother Serra at Mission San Miguel

The great journey home began at o’ dark thirty on Monday from the resort. The alarm clock went off at 3:30 a.m., but I was already up and getting ready. It took just a couple minutes to stow the bedroom television and unplug the trailer.

Phoenix was just rising when we drove through and traffic was getting heavy, but still manageable at 6 a.m. We topped off the Tahoe in Chandler and began the short, but high climb to Tucson. Pulling our trailer from 1,000-feet in Phoenix to 7,300 feet in Flagstaff in just 100-plus miles is a daunting task.

But we’ve done it before and as I write this, we did it again. There are only about 12 miles of steep grade and it is simply a matter of putting on the flashers and taking our time (40 mph) up the grades. Usually I have a large truck in front of me going just as slow, so not a big deal.

The Mission San Miguel sanctuary

About 9:15 a.m. we pulled into the Camping World at Bellemonte, Arizona about 45 minutes early for our winterizing appointment but they were not busy and took us right away. My Good Sam membership saved me $10 on the job and we were done at Camping World shortly after 10 a.m.

It is only a quarter mile drive to the storage lot from the store and we had the trailer in place by 10:30 a.m. Then came the first of two frustrations of the day. For the short drive from the store to the storage lot I did not hook up the safety chains, but rather hooked them to the storage position on the trailer.

Me and Brother Serra

Everytime I tried to lift the trailer off the hitch it simply would not drop. We tried jumping, we tried spraying WD-40 and a little nasty talk. Nothing worked. Then Joan mentioned perhaps the safety chains in the position they were in might have been the problem.

Once removed the trailer lifted off the ball like a champ. So, again it pays to listen to the wife, even if it is damaging to one’s ego.

It took about ½ hour to go through our closing checklist, install the tire covers, remove the luggage and liquid bottles from the trailer as well as remove the battery and install a lock on the receiver part of the hitch on the trailer.

Joan at the Mission

We were back on the road and en route to Bakersfield about 11:30 a.m. for a long drive. The scenery through the Mojave desert is pretty desolate, but does have an isolated beauty of its own. With the sun sinking in the west and our stomachs growling we stopped in Tehachapi, California for dinner. We were looking for one café when we drove by La Belle Amore Italian Bistro and decided to stop there.

Only one other family was in the restaurant but we ordered a nice meal and returned to the road in about an hour.

We were using OnStar directions and they brought us to Buck Owens Boulevard in Bakersfield when suddenly everything went kind of nuts.

The directions called for me to go straight, but the intersection had been redesigned and you could only go left. That led to a number of confusing turns and then finally we were back on Buck Owens Boulevard.

William in his new home

As we approached the hotel (Quality Inn) we saw the sign, but drove by the one and only entrance into the lot. By missing the entrance we were once again forced back on Highway 99 headed the wrong way. That made me very mad, which was not helped by my massive sleep deprivation for the day.

It took about 15 minutes and some additional assistance from OnStar to get us back on Buck Owens Boulevard. This time we didn’t miss the elusive entrance and checked in.

Then it took us a few minutes to figure out how to get to our second floor room, but once inside we both showered to wash off 14 hours of road and storage dust.

How about them avocados?

Time out: 3:55 a.m.

Mileage out: 75245

Time in: (Flagstaff trailer) 9:15 a.m.

Mileage in: (Flagstaff trailer) 75530

Mileage out: 75530

Time out: (from strorage) 11:35 a.m.

Mileage in: 76014

Time in: 8:05 p.m.

On Tuesday we were up early in Bakersfield and headed for our next great adventure, a visit with our children and grandchildren in Northern California.

One last Misson photo

We went cross country through the Central Valley passing many farms and ranches as we made our way to Paso Robles and Highway 101. Highway 101, also known as El Camino Real, was at one time the major north south road in California. Now it is a secondary route to I-5 which runs through the middle of the state.

Joan, always the science teacher, was fascinated with the lettuce, strawberry, table grapes and wineries on the route. Paso Robles has become a major wine producer and we stopped and picked up a bottle for one of our children.

Joan the artichoke

As we hit 101 I saw a sign for Mission San Miguel Archangel and decided to take a little stop so Joan could finally visit one of California’s famous missions. We didn’t spend a lot of time there but she was able to visit the museum and tour the church and cemetery to get a flavor of what the many missions in California were like. I had her pose next to a statue of Junipero Serra, the  famous Franciscan brother who was a key mover in establishing many of the missions.

The further we headed north on Highway 101 the warmer it got until it topped off about 85 near Salinas. At Salinas we turned west to head to the home of Tim and Toni, our son and daughter-in-law and within 15 miles the temperature dropped from 85 to 62 as we hit the coast.

Such is the weather in California.

We spent an hour or so visiting until it was time for me to say good bye to Joan and for me to head alone to my son William’s home in Soquel, near Santa Cruz.

Joan and Jan at the Ritz Carlton

Joan had a great time with the kids and their family and it especially gave Joan a time to learn about our new granddaughter, Teri. Teri didn’t hurt her cause by whipping up a delicious homemade carrot cake for her new grandmother.

Tim and Toni put on a nice barbeque steak dinner for Joan and I took William out to dinner at the Capitola Diner on 41^st Avenue.

Up early on Wednesday I attached William’s bushes and cut them back so they won’t overgrow his home during the next 12 months. Then I fixed his bed and then we went shopping for some needed supplies for his home.

Jan and me

William’s mother and I accompanied him to a dentist’s appointment in Watsonville and are pleased that some very necessary dental work will begin soon.

After the appointment William and I did some more shopping and then watched some of William’s favorite programs on TV after a fine dinner at Zelda’s down on the beach in Capitola.

On Thursday morning I was up early and headed down to pick up Joan for a trip up the coast and lunch with a very dear friend, Janet. Janet and her husband Norm visited Joan and I in San Antonio, Texas a few years back and then sadly, Norm was diagnosed with cancer and died just a few months later.

Toni and Teri

We love Jan and always try and make a point of seeing her when we are out west. She shared her new home with us and took us on an adventure to the nearby Ritz Carlton Hotel in Half Moon Bay. We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant and then toured the swanky hotel grounds after lunch.

It is wonderful that Jan has a  very nice new home and we look forward to the next time we are all together.

After lunch Joan and I headed south and spent the rest of the afternoon with William before heading back to Marina for dinner with the whole family at the Kula Steakhouse. We had 11 people on hand including our two sons, our daughter-in-law and two granddaughters for dinner. William’s mother and stepfather also joined us for dinner. It was a very special gathering.

The blurry photo taken by the waitress

We visited with Toni and Tim at their house before going to bed there and then got up early to being the long road home.

Time out: 8:59 a.m.

Mileage out: 76480 (We forgot to log in our miles from Bakersfield to Marina)

The Friday trip was a relatively short one with a quick visit to my cousin Cynthia in Danville, California where we sat on her patio and visited for about 90 minutes before heading to our Friday destination in El Dorado Hills.

Joan, Liz and Kenny

A former Atherton Police Officer and one of my very best friends, Ken, lives in El Dorado Hills in a gorgeous home with his girlfriend Liz.

We shared laughs and good times and Ken and Liz put on a great steak dinner for us that was truly outstanding.

Outside we watched a gorgeous sunset and after visiting some more we finally checked in to our beautiful guest room.

In the morning Ken whipped up his patented sour cream with green onion scrambled eggs and too soon it was time to head out for our next destination – Reno, Nevada.

With a couple long drives ahead of us, we took it easy for this first leg so we wouldn’t start out too tired.

My turn with Liz and Kenny

Time in: 2:55 p.m.

Mileage in: 76694

We departed Kenny’s house and began the short drive to Reno up the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was a truly spectacular day with wispy clouds and bright sunshine the whole way.

On the way we did one short tourist thing when we stopped at the Emigrant Memorial Museum, which has a wonderful account of the famous Donner Party.

We spent about 90-minutes touring the museum, watching a film and then taking a short hike to the cabin site where many of the Donner Party waited out a miserable winter after getting stuck on the wrong side of the Sierras due to an early winter.

Sunset at Kenny's

The hike was beautiful and took us next to a stream carrying snow melt down from the mountain.

Joan is doing much better with her walking this year and it was fun to see her enjoying herself on a hike.

After the museum tour and hike we continued on our way to Reno this time on the down side of I-80. We made a rest stop at the Donner Pass rest area and got a kick watching all the Californians playing in the snow that is still in great supply at the top of the mountain.

Joan at the Donner Memorial

We arrived in Reno to our hotel and did a little laundry so we have enough clean clothes to get home to Michigan without having to do laundry again on the road.

After the laundry duty we headed downtown so we could have dinner and so Joan could try her skill at beating the odds. This time we did not beat the odds, but we both played a long time on not too much money and Joan had a great time. She especially enjoyed her time at the El Dorado Casino. It was fun to see  the old (and now very much out-of-date) Cal – Neva Casino that I remember from trips there back in the late 1960s.

Time in: 1:45 p.m.

Mileage in: 76827

I should mention that we stayed in the Days Inn Reno on Sunday night and it was a good thing I made reservations in advance. The place was packed with high school students in town for a volleyball tournament, a wrestling tournament and a big jazz festival.

Reno sign

The kids were pretty good at the hotel, which is more than I can say for the loud mouthed adults who were loud and boisterous outside until the wee hours of Sunday while we tried to get some rest.

The morning brought cold temperatures, but sunny skies in Reno and we headed out fairly early to get some miles behind us.

Just for fun we listened to “Radio Classics” on the XM channel and we were able to hear some of my favorite segments. While listening to a “Boston Blackie” episode the bad guy, who had kidnapped Blackie gave one of those great radio lines.

Crossing into Nevada

Boston Blackie asked the bad guy what the score was in his effort to get away.

The bad guy said: “What’s the score? It’s two to nothing and you’re the nothing.”

Love those old radio lines.

The wind was blowing a gale today so I was very glad I was not dragging the trailer today. We stopped for gas in Winnemucca, Nevada, a place I stayed with my parents back in the early 1960s on a trip to Nebraska.

We also made a quick pit stop in Wendover, Nevada before starting across the salt flats in Utah. Joan has never taken the northern (I-80) route so she was really impressed with the change of scenery that we experienced today.

Crossing into Utah

As always the drive across the salt flats is long and monotonous, but with the new 80 mph allowable speed limit, it doesn’t take so long to put it behind you.

After checking into our hotel we headed out to dinner and found that most of the restaurants in Salt Lake City were closed. We did find a little Chinese place where we had a fine little inexpensive dinner. On the way back to the hotel we stopped and took a couple photos outside the main Mormon Temple downtown, but this trip is pretty much an express trip home so not much time for tourist stuff from now on.

Joan at the Mormon Temple

Time out:  8:25 a.m. (PDT)

Mileage out: 76830

Time in: 4:35 p.m. (MDT)

Mileage in: 77349

(Note: Just because I took 129 photos in the last week I have put a bunch of them in a post below this one in case you are interested). So simply scroll down to see more of our exciting photos.

More photos from the trip home

Me playing the artichoke

Mission courtyard

The Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay

Tim, Toni and Teri

Brittany, Joan and William

Me and Brittany

The California Poppies in Kenny's yard

Joan at Donner Summit

Me at the summit

Snow on the summit

This rock formed one wall of the Donner cabin

My favorite speed limit sign ever

Joan and the Reno sign

Utah State Capitol