October 8, 2010 (Fri) Indianapolis, IN (2) - Joy and Frannie went shopping at the nearby quilt shop this morning, then we spent the rest of the day relaxing. Late in the afternoon Lee and Frannie's son, Janusz came by (Tami is away) with their two children and we all went out for Mexican food. When we got back we helped Shealee celebrate her 8th birthday.
Q070175 Lee and Frannie's driveway (x2)
October 9, 2010 (Sat) Indianapolis, IN to Wheeling, WV (321/ 8653 miles) 47/80° - True to what appears to be a tradition in this part of the Indianapolis suburbs, the price of gas jumped 20¢ a gallon while we are in town - every station, every brand! We got off at about 9:00 (clear 50°) and got gas on the way to I-465. Thanks Lee and Frannie for a great visit.
There was nothing spectacular about driving I-70. It was pretty much putting the miles behind us. We crossed the border into Ohio at about 10:30 and into West Virginia about 3:15. Our destination was the Cabela's store in Wheeling, WV where we've spent the night one other time. We bought a stuffed bear rug (we'd given them to our grandchildren for Christmas a couple of years ago and Joy wanted one for herself) and a couple of miscellaneous things - enough to earn a 30% discount - and got dinner in their "grill".
The Walmart across the road, where we stayed another time, now has low clearance barriers that kept us from even going into their parking lot. We think they are to keep big trucks out but they are also keeping RVs out - not good in our opinion. We, and probably many other RVers, had some shopping to do but had to go somewhere else.
Q070491 Camp Cabela's Wheeling, WV
October 10, 2010 (Sun) Wheeling, WV to Home (439/8974 miles) 57/80° - When we asked in Cabela's about spending the night we were told that the lights in the parking lot would be turned out during the night. They suggested that we park up near the road near the street lights if we'd feel more comfortable. We chose not to. The lights went out at 6:00am as we were preparing to leave. Strange!
We took off for I-70 before dawn thinking that breakfast in a rest area down the road would have more atmosphere than the Cabela's parking lot. It did, but not much. Oh well.
The hills in western Pennsylvania were ablaze in fall colors. Although far from the spectacular canyons along the western reaches of I-70, the landscapes were beautiful. And a wonderful welcome back to the east for us.
We stopped in Reading. PA to see grand daughter Jackie who is a freshman Albright College there. We had lunch in Applebee's and a wonderful visit. When we got home, her parents had us over for a late dinner. Thanks Jeff and Barbara, it was good not to have to worry about that after a long day.
Q070937 Home
QC03-12 And home.
QC03-11 The prairies and beyond
October 4, 2010 (Mon) Franktown, CO to Salina, KS 53/75° - We said good-buy to Jeremiah and Kim at about 8:20 and made our way to SR86 which would take us north to I-70. Thanks guys for the use of your driveway, the ride to Evergreen, the air, the bulbs and especially the good times hanging out and visiting.
We stopped at the Safeway in Elizabeth for gas and groceries. The gas price at $2.52 per gal was by far the best we'd seen in the area. Most stations were advertising $2.69. And speaking of bargains, when we stopped again in Ellis, KS we got unleaded Plus for $2.60, 10¢ cheaper than their regular grade. We saw other people confused with this pricing too.
The long flat prairies west of the Rockies in Colorado and across Kansas were pretty much the same as when we came out a month ago. There was more harvesting going on, more activity in the fields but that's it. The scenery was far less spectacular than that west of the Rockies but interesting and fun none the less.
We pulled into the Salina, KS Walmart about 6:00 and made our way to where other RVs were parked for the night and settled in.
Q069441 Camp Walmart Salina, KS
October 5, 2010 (Tue) Salina, KS to Sedalia, MO (295/8214 miles) 52/76° - Our first stop this morning was the Flying J for water. The rest stop where we dumped yesterday didn't have drinkable water. While the water at Flying J was accessible the sewer was padlocked - meaning either they are getting strict about charging to dump or there were sewer problems, probably the former.
We felt the need to get away from the interstate so we took exit 313 off I-70 and headed south on SR177 into the "Flint Hills". It looked pretty much like the Kansas we been seeing but there wasn't the traffic. The occasional small town slowed us down but otherwise we were able make the same time as if we had on the interstate. In Burlingame, one of those small towns, albeit a little larger, the main street was wide enough to have diagonal parking down the center of the street as well as at each curb. Even then then was enough room for two lanes each way, though it wasn't marked that way. Now that's a wide main street!
There were signs at many points along the way mentioning the Santa Fe Trail. We must have been following it but we could find no positive indication that we were - no historical markers, etc.
At one point in the middle of the prairie we saw a train caboose and three old passenger cars in the yard of a house up on wheels ready to be moved . We thought, now there's a garden railroad! - and a wife not too happy with her husband's hobby.
Q069736 Camp Walmart Sedalia, MO
October 5, 2010 (Wed) Sedalia, MO to Union, MO (137/8351 miles) 47/68° - We weren't completely comfortable at Sedalia Walmart. We can't figure out why. It was relatively quiet and there were a couple of other motor homes spending the night some distance away. There were no strange people hanging out or wandering around - well there was a fellow panhandling up on the highway for a while but he seemed harmless. Anyway we were up at 6:30 (47°) and off by 8:00 headed east on US50.
We found Joy's high school friend Jim and Lois' house in Union, MO with no trouble - not nearly as difficult as trying to catch up on 50 years of experiences in a short few hours. After lunch Jim and Lois took us on a tour of Union and nearby Washington. We also took a short hike on the Katy Trail - a multipurpose trail constructed on an old railroad bed. After a delicious salmon dinner we mutually shared photo slide shows for our separate Alaska trips (ours by motor home in 2005 and theirs by small cruse ship this year).
Q069873 Jim and Lois' driveway
October 6, 2010 (Thu) Union, MO to Indianapolis, IN (302/8653 miles) 57/78° - After a wonderful breakfast and, of course, more discussion of family and old times we were again eastbound on US50. Thanks Jim and Lois for a great time. It was so good to meet you/see you again. We will be back.
Jim had suggested that we get gas in Missouri as the prices were higher in Illinois but we waited too long! As soon as we got on I-44 headed for I-70 the prices jumped 10¢. So we hunted up a Costco in St Louis that had gas. It was 7 miles off Hildene's proposed route but well worth the detour. The cost was 28¢ less than we were seeing on the highway - plus we got an additional 2% discount by using our Costco card. Joy resisted the temptation to go inside to shop.
I-70 was completely closed through Indianapolis so they could plant flowers and shrubbery. (Is that a good reason to close a busy interstate or not?) Fortunately Hildene directed us off onto I-465 just before the closure. We got to Lee and Frannie's at about 4:51.
We plan to be home Sunday night but the way this trip has gone, we are ready for anything.
Q070175 Lee and Frannie's driveway
QC03-10 And the push for home
September 29, 2010 (Wed) Bryce Canyon NP to Arches NP (297/7099 miles) 41/93° - This morning we watched the sun come up over Bryce Canyon at Sunset Point. It was chilly but very special! There were more clouds in the sky than there have been all week making for a beautiful sunrise - more than just the red sun peeking over the rim of the canyon. Then we had breakfast in the parking lot and headed for the dump station to take care of Q's sanitary needs. Too late! There were four RVs in line ahead of us! We decided to take care of that duty when we got to Arches. The only problem with that we discovered, there is no dump station in Arches!
The campground at Arches National Park campground is at the far end of the park (18 miles out). Non-camping visitors drive out to a view point just beyond the campground (Devil's Garden) then have to turn around and go home. We are here for two nights!
The ranger talk in the amphitheater was about some of the poisonous creatures here in this national park - Rattle Snake, Black Widow spider, and Scorpion. It was a very interesting talk, mostly because it was aimed at the third or forth grade class on a field trip in the park. The ranger had a good time with the kids and in the end both they and we understood the poisonous creatures much better.
We had our own personal slide show when we got back to our motor home, reviewing all the pictures we've taken the last couple of days.
September 30, 2010 (Thu) Arches National Park (2) - Today we explored the park. We started in Devil's Garden just north of the campground and worked our way down the 18 miles or so to the entrance, stopping at almost every turn-out (and even places we weren't supposed to stop) to take pictures. It was amazing how many times the photo op turn-out was 1/2 mile or more past the best vantage point! There are many walks/hikes in the park ranging from .3 miles to over 7 miles long round trip. We avoided the long ones, but did take advantage of most of the short ones. The longest we took was to where we could see the "Delicate Arch", one of the signature arches of the park. It was less than a mile round trip but moderately strenuous because of the climbing.
Since the park had no RV sanitary facilities, we decided to go into Moab - 3 miles from the park entrance - and pay a commercial campground $5 to use theirs - the cost of not waiting in line at Bryce Canyon! Since we were so close to town we went on into Moab to get lunch for us and gas for Q. We ate at a little place called "The Love Muffin Cafe" (who could pass up the opportunity to eat there?) and had one of their specialties called the "Spring Love BLT" (I think). In addition to the usual ingredients it had avocado and onion and was served on a marvelous home made bun. Joy thinks we might stop there on the way out tomorrow and pick one up for our lunch on the road.
Just as it as getting dark - we hadn't drawn the shades yet - there was a knock on our window. A white haired gentleman was there and introduced himself as our neighbor and said that he was from Germany. He asked if we had a bottle of wine he could buy. Evidently he hadn't been able to buy wine before coming the 18 miles into the campground. Joy said no, she was sorry. He asked if we had a beer he could buy. "As a matter of fact we do but I won't sell it to you, I'll give it to you." After some discussion he accepted the gift. As he walked by the window, he tapped on it and said to Joy, in his thick German accent, "In the cathedral of my heart, I will light a candle for you every day." Wow!
Q068572 Devil's Garden CG, Arches National Park (UT). #27/37 dry $10.00 A (x2)
October 1, 2010 (Fri) Arches NP to Franktown, CO (409/7508 miles) - Some clouds in the sky made for a beautiful sunrise - captured on film... er, in bits. The campground is located amongst the rocks, very large ones, behind "Skyline Arch". Before we took off we hiked up the dunes to it - not a long hike but strenuous because there was a steep climb in parts and no trail to follow - and took pictures. Finally we were ready to go.
We didn't get our Love Muffin sandwiches because our route didn't go through Moab as we thought. SR128 follows the Colorado River north through beautiful deep canyons that hint at the spectacle of the Grand Canyon to the south. There are BLM campgrounds all along the river where rafting/kayaking enthusiasts hang out between adventures. We followed the river (more or less) across Utah and well into Colorado, leaving it just before the hard assent into the Rockies. The mountains were mottled with the yellow of Aspens in full autumn color.
Environment shock! From the relative calm and serenity of a beautiful national park to the madness of heavy city (Denver) traffic - in the dark no less - in one day. We arrived at nephew Jeremiah and Kim's about 8:00 completely dragged out.
October 2, 2010 (Sat) Franktown, CO (2) 47/67° - Woke this morning to find we had another flat tire, the second on this trip! It also was inside rear but on the other side. We couldn't help but wonder how long it had been flat. It was OK when we got gas in Grand Junction but that was before the steep winding mountain roads! It turns out that it probably was flat for quite a while. The tire was ruined. We will limp home now with no spare!
After getting the tire fixed, the day was mostly sitting around chatting, reading and relaxing.
October 3, 2010 (Sun) Franktown, CO (3) 47/74° - Our excursion today took us to Evergreen, CO, a small mountain town/tourist attraction west of Denver, with Jeremiah and Kim. It is one of the few places in the Denver area with a Gluten Free Pizza restaurant. The pizza was delicious and the atmosphere was interesting. The landscape around the town was beautiful especially with many houses clinging precariously to the cliffs. Other than than that it was another day of relaxation.
Q079030 Jeremiah and Kim's driveway (x3)
