Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Kingman, Arizona, was in the rear view mirror this morning as we head north. Highway 93 is a long long straight road. We are in Ely, Nevada tonight.
We stopped at the Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery this morning. It is in Arizona not far before Hoover Dam. It's about 4.5 miles from the highway down a very twisty road. We were surprised at the number of people and boats at the marina on the river. The hatchery is right past the marina at the end of the road. The assistant manager there retired from IDFG a few years ago and went to work for the Feds. We planned on surprising him with our visit but he's not here this week having gone to the Seattle area to teach a class. The manager here also worked at IDFG so we visited with him and he showed us around.
The next stop was Hoover Dam. I didn't realize that you can walk out on the new bridge to get a view of the dam until we crossed it and a lot of people were on the pedestrian walkway. We stopped and walked up a hill to the bridge. There is a concrete wall about 5 feet high that separates the walkway from the highway and a 3-4 foot concrete wall with a railing on top on the other side so the pedestrians are very safe. It's an out and back walkway though as it dead ends on the other side of the bridge. I walked all the way to the center to get pictures, and had a death grip on my IPhone so I didn't accidentally drop it over the side. It's windy out on the bridge. I'm surprised some people didn't lose their hats in the wind.
We stopped for lunch in Henderson and then drove to Ely for the night. Today's our 42nd day on the road. We've had a wonderful trip and loved it, but it will be nice to be home for awhile.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
I forgot to mention the large truckstop complex that we stopped at in eastern New Mexico yesterday. It had restrooms labeled "Elvis" and "Marilyn" with the words Men and Women in small letters underneath. I guess that was for the people who didn't know what gender Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe were.😃
Continuing west, we stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona not too far from the New Mexico border. It's the smallest national park. There is a fire burning in the area so it was pretty smoky at the visitor center. It has a 26 mile loop for driving and lots of trails. We looked at all the samples of petrified trees in the center but decided not to do the loop because of the poor visibility and it was in the high 90's temperature wise.
Next stop was Winslow. It was a must stop place so we could be standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. And it was 100 degrees here so the statue of Glenn Frey was very hot to the touch.
Not too far past Winslow is the Meteor Crater. It's 6 miles off the interstate and worth a visit. It's the largest and best preserved meteor crater in the world. It's huge. In the 10 minute film, a graph showed that 20 football games could be going on at once on the floor of it and that the stadium around the fields could hold two million people. It's that big. The visitor center is new and very well done. They have a space capsule on display outside it. We went out on the observation deck and looked through the permanently mounted telescopes there. They are focused on areas where research has been done. We could not see these things with our naked eye. There is a US flag posted on the floor of the crater and that couldn't be seen without a scope. Someone standing close to us said that it is as deep as the Washington Monument is tall but we don't know that to be true. It looked deeper from our vantage point.
As it was 100 degrees here, we opted not to do the guided walking tour. Just being outside for ten minutes made me feel dried to a crisp.
We had lunch in Flagstaff and are in Kingman, Arizona tonight. It was 102 and 7 percent humidity when we got here.
I forgot to mention the large truckstop complex that we stopped at in eastern New Mexico yesterday. It had restrooms labeled "Elvis" and "Marilyn" with the words Men and Women in small letters underneath. I guess that was for the people who didn't know what gender Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe were.😃
Continuing west, we stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona not too far from the New Mexico border. It's the smallest national park. There is a fire burning in the area so it was pretty smoky at the visitor center. It has a 26 mile loop for driving and lots of trails. We looked at all the samples of petrified trees in the center but decided not to do the loop because of the poor visibility and it was in the high 90's temperature wise.
Next stop was Winslow. It was a must stop place so we could be standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. And it was 100 degrees here so the statue of Glenn Frey was very hot to the touch.
Not too far past Winslow is the Meteor Crater. It's 6 miles off the interstate and worth a visit. It's the largest and best preserved meteor crater in the world. It's huge. In the 10 minute film, a graph showed that 20 football games could be going on at once on the floor of it and that the stadium around the fields could hold two million people. It's that big. The visitor center is new and very well done. They have a space capsule on display outside it. We went out on the observation deck and looked through the permanently mounted telescopes there. They are focused on areas where research has been done. We could not see these things with our naked eye. There is a US flag posted on the floor of the crater and that couldn't be seen without a scope. Someone standing close to us said that it is as deep as the Washington Monument is tall but we don't know that to be true. It looked deeper from our vantage point.
As it was 100 degrees here, we opted not to do the guided walking tour. Just being outside for ten minutes made me feel dried to a crisp.
We had lunch in Flagstaff and are in Kingman, Arizona tonight. It was 102 and 7 percent humidity when we got here.
Monday, June 20, 2016
We couldn't leave Amarillo without seeing the Cadillac Ranch. It's right off the interstate. There are 10 Cadillacs that have been buried in the ground hood down. They are all in one row and have been spray painted constantly for years. It's a graffiti person's dream. It's free, and is in a field where you have to go through an iron turnstile gate and then walk about as far as two blocks are long. The path is wide and packed down from all the sightseers.
There was a photo shoot if some sort just finishing up when we got there. We met a number of young women dressed to the nines with fancy shoes going out as we went in. It was quite windy so we made sure to walk around it up wind since there were 15-20 people spray painting and we didn't want paint on our clothes. A man who was probably late 40's said to us "you don't have spray paint?" In a shocked voice. When we said no, he said "we have plenty so take some". It was nice of him to offer but we declined.
As we left, there was a man parked about three feet from the gate in a nice pickup that had its tailgate down and a bunch of stuff spread across it. It was keychains made out of paint chips from the cars. I don't know how much he wanted for them but I heard him telling a guy that the cars have so much paint on them that it just chunks off. He also had one of those ginormous coolers in the back that I think had cans of spray paint for sale in it. Something for everyone, I guess.
We continued on to New Mexico. As Santa Fe is only about 50 miles off the interstate, we detoured through it. Several people said we should not miss it. It's nice, we liked it. We had lunch there and saw the oldest church in the Ubited States dating to 1610. We also saw the state Capitol which doesn't look like any others we saw. It's built in the Adobe style befitting the heritage here. Pretty much every building here is in that style, even the local grocery store. But it fits the terrain and heritage and is nice that the area does that.
We drove back to Albuquerque and on to Gallup, New Mexico. We had dinner at the restaurant in the historic El Rancho Hotel. This hotel has seen a lot in its years and is still authentic in its furnishings and fixtures. A number of western movies were filmed here in the 40's and the stars all stayed at the El Rancho. The items on the menu are all named after them. The Robert Taylor club sandwich, the John Wayne steak, etc, and they have framed autographed pictures and letters hanging in the hallways. Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman, Humphrey Bogart, Rita Moreno, Desi Arnez, and many others. The food was good.
After dinner, we went in the bar to see all the historic stuff there. It has wonderful stained glass windows depicting western scenes. And every pillar, beam, wall, light fixture, and all other flat surfaces have one dollar bills signed by whoever and taped up. Of course, we had to add one to the collection. The bartender just reached under the bar and came out with a tape dispenser and sharpie for our use. It's an amazing place and still functions as a hotel.
We couldn't leave Amarillo without seeing the Cadillac Ranch. It's right off the interstate. There are 10 Cadillacs that have been buried in the ground hood down. They are all in one row and have been spray painted constantly for years. It's a graffiti person's dream. It's free, and is in a field where you have to go through an iron turnstile gate and then walk about as far as two blocks are long. The path is wide and packed down from all the sightseers.
There was a photo shoot if some sort just finishing up when we got there. We met a number of young women dressed to the nines with fancy shoes going out as we went in. It was quite windy so we made sure to walk around it up wind since there were 15-20 people spray painting and we didn't want paint on our clothes. A man who was probably late 40's said to us "you don't have spray paint?" In a shocked voice. When we said no, he said "we have plenty so take some". It was nice of him to offer but we declined.
As we left, there was a man parked about three feet from the gate in a nice pickup that had its tailgate down and a bunch of stuff spread across it. It was keychains made out of paint chips from the cars. I don't know how much he wanted for them but I heard him telling a guy that the cars have so much paint on them that it just chunks off. He also had one of those ginormous coolers in the back that I think had cans of spray paint for sale in it. Something for everyone, I guess.
We continued on to New Mexico. As Santa Fe is only about 50 miles off the interstate, we detoured through it. Several people said we should not miss it. It's nice, we liked it. We had lunch there and saw the oldest church in the Ubited States dating to 1610. We also saw the state Capitol which doesn't look like any others we saw. It's built in the Adobe style befitting the heritage here. Pretty much every building here is in that style, even the local grocery store. But it fits the terrain and heritage and is nice that the area does that.
We drove back to Albuquerque and on to Gallup, New Mexico. We had dinner at the restaurant in the historic El Rancho Hotel. This hotel has seen a lot in its years and is still authentic in its furnishings and fixtures. A number of western movies were filmed here in the 40's and the stars all stayed at the El Rancho. The items on the menu are all named after them. The Robert Taylor club sandwich, the John Wayne steak, etc, and they have framed autographed pictures and letters hanging in the hallways. Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman, Humphrey Bogart, Rita Moreno, Desi Arnez, and many others. The food was good.
After dinner, we went in the bar to see all the historic stuff there. It has wonderful stained glass windows depicting western scenes. And every pillar, beam, wall, light fixture, and all other flat surfaces have one dollar bills signed by whoever and taped up. Of course, we had to add one to the collection. The bartender just reached under the bar and came out with a tape dispenser and sharpie for our use. It's an amazing place and still functions as a hotel.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Sunday, June 19, 2016
We loaded the car this morning and started west again. We had such a good time here. They were great hosts. I thank them so much for everything.
Our first stop was in Oklahoma City to see the bombing memorial. Well, not the first. First we ate lunch, then we went to the museum and memorial. It's heart wrenching, it really is. The museum takes you step by step through the timeline with videos and displays. It counts down the minutes from when the bomb exploded to the hours it took to find survivors and, unfortunately, those who didn't. And the following days and weeks. What a display of cooperation between agencies and the efforts of the fire and police departments. The outpouring of support, the trauma medical teams. It's unbelievable what they all went through. I think this is the first museum I've been to where I read all the information and really looked at every display and video. It's an amazing place.
They have an Honor Gallery where every person who died has a shadow box, for lack of a better word, with their picture, usually an 8x10, and mementos from their life that their family chose to remember them by. It was heartbreaking. How could you choose what to put in them. And the ones for the children, with toys and stuffed animals. I cry just thinking about it.
They also have the get away car on display and the information and timeline for the arrest, trial and ultimate execution of Timothy McVeigh. I can only hope it brought some closure to the families of those who died but I know it's something they will never fully come to peace with.
We continued on and drove as far as Amarillo, Texas. We decided to go to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was jam packed with more than 50 people waiting when we got there. It was to be a 30-40 minute wait but after about 5 minutes they seated us. I'm sure it was because it was just the two of us and they had a small table open up. Only after we sat down did it dawn on us that it's Fathers Day and everyone took dad out for dinner. Duh.
We loaded the car this morning and started west again. We had such a good time here. They were great hosts. I thank them so much for everything.
Our first stop was in Oklahoma City to see the bombing memorial. Well, not the first. First we ate lunch, then we went to the museum and memorial. It's heart wrenching, it really is. The museum takes you step by step through the timeline with videos and displays. It counts down the minutes from when the bomb exploded to the hours it took to find survivors and, unfortunately, those who didn't. And the following days and weeks. What a display of cooperation between agencies and the efforts of the fire and police departments. The outpouring of support, the trauma medical teams. It's unbelievable what they all went through. I think this is the first museum I've been to where I read all the information and really looked at every display and video. It's an amazing place.
They have an Honor Gallery where every person who died has a shadow box, for lack of a better word, with their picture, usually an 8x10, and mementos from their life that their family chose to remember them by. It was heartbreaking. How could you choose what to put in them. And the ones for the children, with toys and stuffed animals. I cry just thinking about it.
They also have the get away car on display and the information and timeline for the arrest, trial and ultimate execution of Timothy McVeigh. I can only hope it brought some closure to the families of those who died but I know it's something they will never fully come to peace with.
We continued on and drove as far as Amarillo, Texas. We decided to go to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was jam packed with more than 50 people waiting when we got there. It was to be a 30-40 minute wait but after about 5 minutes they seated us. I'm sure it was because it was just the two of us and they had a small table open up. Only after we sat down did it dawn on us that it's Fathers Day and everyone took dad out for dinner. Duh.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
The original plan for today was for the entire family to take us to a wildlife preserve near here called "Wool-a-roc". I think I may have spelled that wrong. Anyway, they have a lot of buffalo there. Because it's in the upper 90's here, we decide to go to the Woody Guthrie museum in Tulsa instead. Some opted out, needing to barbecue for tonight's dinner and working, so 7 of us went. It was well worth it. Woody Guthrie was born on Okemah, Oklahoma, not far from Tulsa.
The original piece of paper with "This Land is Your Land" song lyrics is on display along with his guitars and banjos. They have a short movie about his life and influence on American music. He was quite the artist, too. There are numerous paintings and drawings that he did as well as all the songs he wrote. He was in the Army during WWII so that played a part in his writings. He also wrote short stories and novels. I thought the displays were very well done. One section has a film and displays about the Dust Bowl and how devastating it was.
They also have a room that has traveling displays and The Supremes are honored in that space. It just opened on Thursday and lasts until October, I think. There are costumes on display from their performances, and screens showing them on Ed Sullivan, etc. Quite a contrast from Woody Guthrie, but fun to look at.
The center of the universe, as it's known here in Tulsa, was about a block and a half up the street so of course we had to see that. It's a circle that looks like it's made of concrete that is set in the middle of the walkway on a pedestrian bridge. When you stand on the circle and talk or make other sounds you hear the words or sounds as an echo but everyone else hears it as regular speech. It's weird but fun. We all tried it.
Then we walked to a chocolate shop about a block away. An astounding display of candy made with every flavor imaginable. For example, watermelon and feta cheese. How did they ever come up with that combo? The guy running the cash register told me that a guy came in last Valentines Day and bought one of everything in the store. I can't even imagine what that must have cost.
This evening, there was another movie on the agenda but a storm blew through and dropped a lot of water in a short amount of time so that was cancelled. Good thing they got all the equipment and screen put away before it hit. Stella's nephew, Lee, had spent most of the day barbecuing, bringing ribs, brisket, ham and turkey. More food than we could eat in a week. It was all excellent.
The original plan for today was for the entire family to take us to a wildlife preserve near here called "Wool-a-roc". I think I may have spelled that wrong. Anyway, they have a lot of buffalo there. Because it's in the upper 90's here, we decide to go to the Woody Guthrie museum in Tulsa instead. Some opted out, needing to barbecue for tonight's dinner and working, so 7 of us went. It was well worth it. Woody Guthrie was born on Okemah, Oklahoma, not far from Tulsa.
The original piece of paper with "This Land is Your Land" song lyrics is on display along with his guitars and banjos. They have a short movie about his life and influence on American music. He was quite the artist, too. There are numerous paintings and drawings that he did as well as all the songs he wrote. He was in the Army during WWII so that played a part in his writings. He also wrote short stories and novels. I thought the displays were very well done. One section has a film and displays about the Dust Bowl and how devastating it was.
They also have a room that has traveling displays and The Supremes are honored in that space. It just opened on Thursday and lasts until October, I think. There are costumes on display from their performances, and screens showing them on Ed Sullivan, etc. Quite a contrast from Woody Guthrie, but fun to look at.
The center of the universe, as it's known here in Tulsa, was about a block and a half up the street so of course we had to see that. It's a circle that looks like it's made of concrete that is set in the middle of the walkway on a pedestrian bridge. When you stand on the circle and talk or make other sounds you hear the words or sounds as an echo but everyone else hears it as regular speech. It's weird but fun. We all tried it.
Then we walked to a chocolate shop about a block away. An astounding display of candy made with every flavor imaginable. For example, watermelon and feta cheese. How did they ever come up with that combo? The guy running the cash register told me that a guy came in last Valentines Day and bought one of everything in the store. I can't even imagine what that must have cost.
This evening, there was another movie on the agenda but a storm blew through and dropped a lot of water in a short amount of time so that was cancelled. Good thing they got all the equipment and screen put away before it hit. Stella's nephew, Lee, had spent most of the day barbecuing, bringing ribs, brisket, ham and turkey. More food than we could eat in a week. It was all excellent.
Friday, June 17, 2016.
Today's plan is to rent sumo wrestling suits and have a match this evening. Kacy has built a large outdoor movie screen and has all the equipment so that's on the agenda, too.
We've watched the birds that come to the feeders every day. I had never seen cardinals or blue jays until this trip. I love seeing them. The colors are great. It's also tick and chigger season here so we have not gone out walking very much. We both have had some small bites even with a liberal coating of insect repellent. But there are fireflies here too! That's been fun. I've only seen them once before.
I made a dump cake this afternoon for dessert. Five ingredients, you can't beat that. Crushed pineapple, cherry pie filling, a yellow cake mix, chopped walnuts and butter. Easy easy.
After dinner, it was time for sumo. Stella and I decided that we needed to put the suits on first, have a quick picture taken, and then the others could put them on and actually wrestle. Now these are not inflatable. They are made out of heavy plastic and stuffed with batting or something. There are pants and a jacket. The jacket has a Belt that comes up between your legs and velcros on to look like the cloths the real sumo guys wear. I managed to get the pants on by myself but the jacket velcros closed down the back so you definitely have to have help getting that on. After getting suited up, we could barely shuffle to the mat. I had to take itsy bitsy steps because the pants ate padded too. We get to the mat and pose for pictures. I could hardly reach Stella over my big padded stomach but we thought we were doing okay even though we forgot to bow before we tried to at least look like we were grabbing each other. It was all going just fine until Tara deliberately bumped her mother and we both went down like dominos. We had helmets on, too, I forgot that. Anyway, it took two people to roll me over so I could get out of the suit. We were so padded that it didn't hurt but it was unexpected. All this in 95 degree heat with high humidity. Those suits were hot but the others put them on and really did throw each other around.
Stella and I went to WalMart and brought prizes so everyone got something after it was over. Then it was time for the movie. With the evenings staying light so late, it was 10 pm before it started. It was "The Revenant" with Leonardo DeCaprio. It's more than two hours long so it was a late evening, but I thought the movie was good. I can see why he won the Best Actor Oscar.
Today's plan is to rent sumo wrestling suits and have a match this evening. Kacy has built a large outdoor movie screen and has all the equipment so that's on the agenda, too.
We've watched the birds that come to the feeders every day. I had never seen cardinals or blue jays until this trip. I love seeing them. The colors are great. It's also tick and chigger season here so we have not gone out walking very much. We both have had some small bites even with a liberal coating of insect repellent. But there are fireflies here too! That's been fun. I've only seen them once before.
I made a dump cake this afternoon for dessert. Five ingredients, you can't beat that. Crushed pineapple, cherry pie filling, a yellow cake mix, chopped walnuts and butter. Easy easy.
After dinner, it was time for sumo. Stella and I decided that we needed to put the suits on first, have a quick picture taken, and then the others could put them on and actually wrestle. Now these are not inflatable. They are made out of heavy plastic and stuffed with batting or something. There are pants and a jacket. The jacket has a Belt that comes up between your legs and velcros on to look like the cloths the real sumo guys wear. I managed to get the pants on by myself but the jacket velcros closed down the back so you definitely have to have help getting that on. After getting suited up, we could barely shuffle to the mat. I had to take itsy bitsy steps because the pants ate padded too. We get to the mat and pose for pictures. I could hardly reach Stella over my big padded stomach but we thought we were doing okay even though we forgot to bow before we tried to at least look like we were grabbing each other. It was all going just fine until Tara deliberately bumped her mother and we both went down like dominos. We had helmets on, too, I forgot that. Anyway, it took two people to roll me over so I could get out of the suit. We were so padded that it didn't hurt but it was unexpected. All this in 95 degree heat with high humidity. Those suits were hot but the others put them on and really did throw each other around.
Stella and I went to WalMart and brought prizes so everyone got something after it was over. Then it was time for the movie. With the evenings staying light so late, it was 10 pm before it started. It was "The Revenant" with Leonardo DeCaprio. It's more than two hours long so it was a late evening, but I thought the movie was good. I can see why he won the Best Actor Oscar.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Today's agenda was a tour of Tulsa. Stella's daughter, Tara, arrived from Houston this morning so we set off after noon. The first stop was at the Golden Driller statue. It has a framework of an oil rig and a huge statue of a man, the driller, beside it. He's painted gold and it looks to be made of concrete. The plaque says it's the fourth largest statue in the United States.
Then it was off to see the Blue Whale in Catoosa, a suburb of Tulsa. This is listed on the roadsideamerica.com website. It's very old. There's a small pond where it resides. It's a very large structure of a whale where you walk through his mouth to get to his stomach which is open to the sky and has rickety uneven boards for flooring. That's followed by a large tail that had an iron ladder where you could climb up on top. I thought it looked pretty sturdy but I didn't go up it. The head is so large that you can climb up another iron ladder to a floor there and stick your head out his eyes. Kacy and Tara did that. I think at one time you could jump off and swim in the pond but it doesn't look safe enough for that now. We had our picture taken on it but to get the entire whale in, we look like stick figures we're so far away. It looked like it was made out of stucco and the paint is bright blue. It's free and there was a gift shop that was maybe 8x10 feet in size.
We also stopped to see the iron buffalo statue, a mountain goat bronze statue, and bear statues that are along a green belt in Tulsa. Last, but not least, we drove by the praying hands statue in front of Oral Roberts University. Huge statue, I didn't think it would be so large.
Oh, and we stopped at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, too. They had pins so I added to my stash.
We ate at a good Mexican restaurant tonight, Pablo's in Sapulpa.
Last night, after dinner, it was time for Game of Thrones, the tv show they are all glued to. Stella and I had seen part of the same episode in Memphis when we used the microwave in the lobby there. The desk clerk tried to explain it to us but we didn't get it. They tried to explain it again last night but there are so many characters and it was the 61st episode that we were lost. I think it's something you need to have watched from the beginning.
Today's agenda was a tour of Tulsa. Stella's daughter, Tara, arrived from Houston this morning so we set off after noon. The first stop was at the Golden Driller statue. It has a framework of an oil rig and a huge statue of a man, the driller, beside it. He's painted gold and it looks to be made of concrete. The plaque says it's the fourth largest statue in the United States.
Then it was off to see the Blue Whale in Catoosa, a suburb of Tulsa. This is listed on the roadsideamerica.com website. It's very old. There's a small pond where it resides. It's a very large structure of a whale where you walk through his mouth to get to his stomach which is open to the sky and has rickety uneven boards for flooring. That's followed by a large tail that had an iron ladder where you could climb up on top. I thought it looked pretty sturdy but I didn't go up it. The head is so large that you can climb up another iron ladder to a floor there and stick your head out his eyes. Kacy and Tara did that. I think at one time you could jump off and swim in the pond but it doesn't look safe enough for that now. We had our picture taken on it but to get the entire whale in, we look like stick figures we're so far away. It looked like it was made out of stucco and the paint is bright blue. It's free and there was a gift shop that was maybe 8x10 feet in size.
We also stopped to see the iron buffalo statue, a mountain goat bronze statue, and bear statues that are along a green belt in Tulsa. Last, but not least, we drove by the praying hands statue in front of Oral Roberts University. Huge statue, I didn't think it would be so large.
Oh, and we stopped at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, too. They had pins so I added to my stash.
We ate at a good Mexican restaurant tonight, Pablo's in Sapulpa.
Last night, after dinner, it was time for Game of Thrones, the tv show they are all glued to. Stella and I had seen part of the same episode in Memphis when we used the microwave in the lobby there. The desk clerk tried to explain it to us but we didn't get it. They tried to explain it again last night but there are so many characters and it was the 61st episode that we were lost. I think it's something you need to have watched from the beginning.
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