Day 2 Update:
There was a shooting outside our original hotel in St. Louis during the parade that blocked us from our hotel. I'm convinced that I heard the gunshots. Oh dear...
Day 3: St. Louis to Cheyenne, WY
St. Louis was fun to navigate in the morning, even at 6:30 am. We got on the road right at 6:00 local time. We lost another hour today, so now we're two hours behind the east coast. We crossed the entire state of Missouri. Looks like Illinois. Farms. Lots of farms. Our maps sent us on a loop of Kansas City (we didn't ever actually enter Kansas) that was like a bajillion miles long. Really. The loop doesn't loop. It heads straight north, then hangs a left and heads west. Look at a map some time. While we're on Kansas City, I should mention my commentary that all the major cities in states around here seem to be on the border. Here's how we figure it: borders are along rivers, rivers equal commerce, commerce builds cities. Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis...think about how many cities you know on some sort of major waterway. Moving on now...
We headed north from Kansas City and ended up entering Iowa for like 10 miles before we took a left and headed toward Nebraska. Before leaving the lovely state of Iowa (looks just like Missouri), we stopped at a "welcome center" that was a small museum, some maps, and a dude behind a desk. The dude was rather old. Had been to Myrtle Beach, so that was his impression of South Carolina. At least he enjoyed himself there. We made lunch on the back of the car in Iowa, then hit the road for Nebraska. Which was two miles down the road. Counting lunch, we were in the state of Iowa for like 25 minutes. Oh Nebraska. Nebraska is really really big. Like REALLY big. Lots of farms. I have so many pictures of farms. Lots of flat. I now know all sorts of things about crop irrigation systems. If you ever see an overhead view of Nebraska, look at the circles. They're due to the center pivot irrigation system. Look it up, it's very cool. North Platte had a Starbucks. We stopped there and were caught in a sudden rainstorm that lasted only a few minutes. The flat nature of the state causes weather to change very quickly there. Think "Little House on the Prairie" and the storms they had then. There was a constant wind while we were driving. It made staying on the road a challenge for mom. As we entered the panhandle region of the state, there was a change in terrain as more hills appeared and more rocks. There was also a significant increase in elevation. We decided that we have all the respect in the world for the people of Nebraska. Not only do they provide a significant amount of the country's food, they also survive through some very extreme seasons. It was 82 there today. I imagine the summers there are brutal as are the winters. Very unpredictable weather. Last Nebraska bit: the state is not only the cornhusker state, it is a source of oil, coal, wheat, grain, and cattle. Large beef farms around the state. More varied terrain than you'd imagine. All in all, very interesting, yet very boring.
We are now in the state capitol of Wyoming. Cheyenne is a town of only 56,000. About a third the size of Greenville. We came over a hill and could see mountains in the distance. The first thing we've seen on the horizon in a while. This is a very quiet town. Not at all touristy. Has a big plant (Pioneer something) and an old-fashioned downtown area.
The deer count: We've been counting dead deer. We are up to 11. Until the very edge of Nebraska, the dead deer outnumbered the live ones. This leads to the conclusion by majority rule that deer are, in fact, alive. We have been tallying all sorts of dead animals and are hoping for some more interesting ones tomorrow. I'm still looking for a bison and a moose for amy.
Tomorrow, we literally cross the state diagonally. We will see the Tetons as well as Yellowstone. We should be getting there early enough to look around.
Enjoy the pictures!!
Nebraska. Nebraska.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Day 1: Greenville to Knoxville
Well, seeing as how I have made this trip like a bajillion times, I didn't really see anything of note. Nothing new. I-40 is closed through Knoxville for those who may be trying to travel through that city any time soon. I highly suggest looking up the T-DOT website to find out the status of this road before you travel through that area. And now on to the weather report. Sunny with a chance of weather. Kidding. Really though, it was the same old mountains, same old road through the mountains. We have decided to take a picture of every state line that we cross. I have done an excellent job so far (as far as I am concerned). As I am now quite learned in the ways of slideshows, I can put a slideshow of each leg of the trip (yay! I know you're all excited, right?). We had a lovely party in Knoxville, with delicious food and a surprise birthday cake for Uncle Paul and Mom, who are both turning 29 this year. All the cousins (well, not all of them were there, but that's what G-ma kept telling me) came and we had a good time. And kicked them out promptly at 9:02.
Day 2: Knoxville to St. Louis
Up bright and early today. We were out the door and started the car promptly at 5:54 am. G-ma and G-pa were up to wave out the window at us. We got on the road and headed out toward Nashville with no problems. They even gave me a cup of hot water for my tea when we stopped by McDonald's for mom's coffee. The roads were clear, it being a Sunday morning, and we breezed through most of the day. Even Nashville. We saw Amy's favorite dam on the way to Nashville. We hopped through Kentucky and stopped at a rest area in Illinois to use a picnic table for lunch. While attempting to eat lunch, our efforts were thwarted by the vicious attack of a rabid squirrel and his gang of squirrel buddies. Okay, so they weren't vicious, they weren't rabid, and there were only two. But two's company. These squirrels were not bothered by mom's valiant attempt to defend our humble meal. She chose to take a lesson out of the Scott Burka Guide to Dealing with Animals. She yelled menacingly at them and waved. I chose to remove my feet from the ground and point while saying "no!" when they got on the table with us. The drive was fast, thanks partly to the lack of traffic on the roads and partly to the loss of a time zone. We lose another one of those tomorrow. Good thing too, since it's going to be 13 or 14 hours on the road tomorrow. We need all the daylight we can get. We got into St. Louis approximately 15 minutes before the start of the Cardinals game. Of course, we were rather lost, because 4 interstates become 1 interstate for a section there, and we weren't sure about the road numbers. So, we ended up in the middle of downtown in the game traffic. Let me say that police in this city are a bit incompetent. They don't direct. They just block streets and watch. We FINALLY find a road that allows us to get past the stadium to the road we need and we discover that the middle of town is blocked off too. In fact, there are tons of roads blocked off. I just looked up an events calendar and learned that there was a May Day parade and blues festival today. For those who are thinking "may day is on the first"...you're correct. They are a little late. Nevertheless, they were celebrating. And this celebration involved the section of road by our hotel being completely blocked off. So we went back down and talked them into letting us into the arch tram early. We walked around and took pictures and then we rode up in the little eggs. Those things are so strange. And so cool. And I got pictures of the two events that were causing us so much trouble. Must admit...the arch is way cooler than I thought it would be. And most of it has to do with how they built it. We watched a video on it. Very very very cool. And UN-SAFE (that's for dad). No safety harnesses at all. Mom survived the small spaces in the building and we made it up and down alive. After this, we headed away from town, had dinner, and talked our way into a hotel outside of town. Oh, and the people in this city don't understand intersections. Or how to drive. Tomorrow, I take the wheel first. Mom is already asleep, so I am going to hit the hay. At 8:32 pm, local time. Whatever. It's a long day tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures y'all!
Well, seeing as how I have made this trip like a bajillion times, I didn't really see anything of note. Nothing new. I-40 is closed through Knoxville for those who may be trying to travel through that city any time soon. I highly suggest looking up the T-DOT website to find out the status of this road before you travel through that area. And now on to the weather report. Sunny with a chance of weather. Kidding. Really though, it was the same old mountains, same old road through the mountains. We have decided to take a picture of every state line that we cross. I have done an excellent job so far (as far as I am concerned). As I am now quite learned in the ways of slideshows, I can put a slideshow of each leg of the trip (yay! I know you're all excited, right?). We had a lovely party in Knoxville, with delicious food and a surprise birthday cake for Uncle Paul and Mom, who are both turning 29 this year. All the cousins (well, not all of them were there, but that's what G-ma kept telling me) came and we had a good time. And kicked them out promptly at 9:02.
Day 2: Knoxville to St. Louis
Up bright and early today. We were out the door and started the car promptly at 5:54 am. G-ma and G-pa were up to wave out the window at us. We got on the road and headed out toward Nashville with no problems. They even gave me a cup of hot water for my tea when we stopped by McDonald's for mom's coffee. The roads were clear, it being a Sunday morning, and we breezed through most of the day. Even Nashville. We saw Amy's favorite dam on the way to Nashville. We hopped through Kentucky and stopped at a rest area in Illinois to use a picnic table for lunch. While attempting to eat lunch, our efforts were thwarted by the vicious attack of a rabid squirrel and his gang of squirrel buddies. Okay, so they weren't vicious, they weren't rabid, and there were only two. But two's company. These squirrels were not bothered by mom's valiant attempt to defend our humble meal. She chose to take a lesson out of the Scott Burka Guide to Dealing with Animals. She yelled menacingly at them and waved. I chose to remove my feet from the ground and point while saying "no!" when they got on the table with us. The drive was fast, thanks partly to the lack of traffic on the roads and partly to the loss of a time zone. We lose another one of those tomorrow. Good thing too, since it's going to be 13 or 14 hours on the road tomorrow. We need all the daylight we can get. We got into St. Louis approximately 15 minutes before the start of the Cardinals game. Of course, we were rather lost, because 4 interstates become 1 interstate for a section there, and we weren't sure about the road numbers. So, we ended up in the middle of downtown in the game traffic. Let me say that police in this city are a bit incompetent. They don't direct. They just block streets and watch. We FINALLY find a road that allows us to get past the stadium to the road we need and we discover that the middle of town is blocked off too. In fact, there are tons of roads blocked off. I just looked up an events calendar and learned that there was a May Day parade and blues festival today. For those who are thinking "may day is on the first"...you're correct. They are a little late. Nevertheless, they were celebrating. And this celebration involved the section of road by our hotel being completely blocked off. So we went back down and talked them into letting us into the arch tram early. We walked around and took pictures and then we rode up in the little eggs. Those things are so strange. And so cool. And I got pictures of the two events that were causing us so much trouble. Must admit...the arch is way cooler than I thought it would be. And most of it has to do with how they built it. We watched a video on it. Very very very cool. And UN-SAFE (that's for dad). No safety harnesses at all. Mom survived the small spaces in the building and we made it up and down alive. After this, we headed away from town, had dinner, and talked our way into a hotel outside of town. Oh, and the people in this city don't understand intersections. Or how to drive. Tomorrow, I take the wheel first. Mom is already asleep, so I am going to hit the hay. At 8:32 pm, local time. Whatever. It's a long day tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures y'all!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
So I am trying this new thing where instead of putting all the photos in individually, I put a slideshow in. We'll see how it works. These are just a few pictures from the end of the year.
As an update, I will be travel-blogging as mom and I (thelma and louise) take off for Washington. We're hoping to photograph every state line we cross, so get ready for some excitement!
As an update, I will be travel-blogging as mom and I (thelma and louise) take off for Washington. We're hoping to photograph every state line we cross, so get ready for some excitement!
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