On the road again... 4/7/24
Day 17 (Tuesday) - Our final day :-( An easy drive day today from Champaign IL area back to Grand Rapids. Between the rain the first half of the drive and the fact that we have driven between Chicago and GR too many times to count, there is not a lot of cool things we haven't already seen so we did the one thing anyone should do on every "Chicago" trip. We stopped and picked up deep dish pizza for the road! We love Chicago style and it turns you that if you are careful, you can eat it in your car while charging :-) I will probably add more tomorrow to this last entry but for some reason, we are tired and doing laundry hasn't helped so heading to bed. It was a great trip and if you are wondering, total miles covered was 5,036 miles!
Day 16 (Monday) - There are days when I realize just how lucky I have been. Today we drove from Branson MO to southern IL on what should have been a sort of boring drive. Pardon me for gushing but when your soul mate can, after 2 weeks of road tripping, make driving around Casey, IL ("Big Things in a Small Town") looking for a dozen "World's Largest" items fun, and enjoy it as much as I did, you have won the partner lottery!
Before we reached our destination (Casey) we enjoyed seeing the World's Largest Rocking chair on Route 66, a nice sculpture of an Osage family and, of course, the "Arch" in St. Louis. We randomly drove Route 66 again for different parts of the day which resulted in us seeing a nice turtle and 2 donkeys that really wanted us to give them some food but just didn't have anything they would have liked.
When we arrived in Casey just before 4:00, we realized that we still had time to change our reservation and make tomorrow's last day drive a little shorter. Casey is a remarkable small town as they decided to create "World's Largest" items in order to draw in people like Chris and I. The town now has at least 12 different items including (Wind Chime, Golf Tee, Pitchfork, Mailbox, Key, Barbershop Pole, Teeter Totter and Rocking Chair - yes, that was the SECOND World's Largest Rocking Chair we saw today!)
At 5:30 we booked a new motel about 1 1/2 hours away near Champaign and when the route generator suggested county roads across southern IL, my wonderful wife said, "Let's do it!" Most of the roads were only 1 1/2 lanes wide but were paved and in great shape and since you could only find flatter land in TX / NM, it made for a very fun drive. Then to take it to the next level, I asked the car to play the Monkees Last Train to Clarksville which started a 1 hour car karaoke! Like I said at the start, I am a very lucky guy!
Day 15 (Sunday) - Today was going to be a slightly easier drive from OK City to Branson MO. We headed straight to "Pops" soda restaurant and store. A newer (2007) icon to the famous Route 66 just outside OK City. It is home to the World's Largest "soda bottle" as well as hundred of flavors of soda in bottle from around the world. We decided to have our first real breakfast right there at Pops. Yes, we also picked out 6 bottles of "strange" flavors to bring home and share with the family. Bonus: A round barn was just a few miles down the road.
As we were about to get on to I-44, we realized it was a toll road. It would not take our EZ-Pass so rather than take a few minutes and figure out how to pay the $5 online, Chris says, "Lets just drive 66 for a while" You see why I married her. She is brilliant, funny and has incredible good taste in guys. :-) While driving 66 added a little time, it was SO worth it. We drove through about 6 small towns that all had some cool thing devoted to Route 66, including the World's Largest Gas Pump. If we knew the drive was going to be so incredible, we would have made it part of our plan!
As we left Tulsa and headed into Arkansas and then on to Branson MO we had two stops planned. One where you can buy a "world largest ice cream cone" and one for an old, single-lane, wooden planked 500 feet long suspension bridge. Unlike the "soda bottle" which obviously is not a real soda bottle, the ice cream cone you buy and it is HUGE. See the picture of the cone we shared which was ONLY a MEDIUM and I think you will agree, they are the largest :-)
We arrived in Branson and drove around the historical downtown and it is very nice and no too much "over the top" tourist destination like Niagara Falls. Then we drove down the main drag and we found it it is 100 times crazier than Niagara Falls! There are dozens and dozens of theaters and every tourist trap you can imagine (putt-putt, wax museum, Titanic exhibit, Ripley's, etc.)
Day 14 (Saturday) - A nice, long drive from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City (10 hours). We left early and just like San Antonio, leaving town on Saturday morning makes for an easy departure traffic wise. The past 8 or 9 days have been very sunny and yet today, as we left it was cloudy and overcast which was very nice as we were driving east into the morning sun. Our first stop was in Amarillo to see the "Cadillac Ranch" which was so much more than just cars buried in the field. First thing I noticed as we got out of the car is that I should have warn jeans! It was only 51 with a significant wind chill but there was no way freezing was going to stop me from walking out to the cars. There were probably 50 to 100 people, including a tour bus! The 'art' changes constantly as people bring their own spray paint (or they can buy it on site) and the smell of spray paint was so strong Chris didn't get closer than 50 feet. The cars are probably 100 yards off the road and as you walk the dirt field, people leave message in spray paint on the dirt. It was better than expected and very colorful.
While in Amarillo we drove by the Beef Burger Barrell (see picture) and the famous "The Texan" steakhouse where you can get a free steak, if you can eat 72oz in one hour. No, we didn't try. Later, we were able to see the "leaning water tower" of Groom Tx.
We were also lucky in that one of our Charging stops is in the parking lot of a perfectly restored 1930's Art Deco style combination diner / gas station on Route 66. At one point, we were on the Expressway running parallel to Route 66 and I looked over and saw a classic (59 or 60?) Corvette all by itself. Brought a smile to my face.
Over our many family trips, we have driven Route 66 in CA, NV, AZ, NM, MO and IL. With this trip, we were able to fill in the remaining 2 states as we drove MANY miles in TX and OK on the "Mother Road"
Day 13 (Friday) - Today we started off at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. This is a multi-purpose venue which has an museum detailing the culture of the 19 Indian Pueblos of New Mexico. It was very well done. They also have a Native American culinary restaurant We didn't need breakfast but we did get a "muffin" and a "cookie". The muffin was similar to what we normally get but was "dense". The cookie was nothing like any cookie we have had before. It was very dry and more like a hard bread with a touch of cinnamon sugar.
From the Center, we went back into Old Town to go to a store which was not open yesterday. The store is brainteaser and jigsaw puzzle wonderment. It was a cool store with most of the items made from wood and I kid you not, I lost my mind trying to figure out some.
After the store, we went on a wandering drive which was also part of Route 66 to the Tinker Town Museum. Trying to describe this one of a kind museum - listed as one of the 10 best "small" museums in the world is nearly impossible. It is a man's lifetime effort of creating miniature scenes, gadgets, etc. Here is a link so you can see it for yourself. Incredible! https://tinkertown.com/
After the museum we drove up the Sandia Crest Scenic Hwy which is the highest scenic byway in the southwest US. It was 13 miles of switchbacks to the peak, (10,400 feet) for a fabulous 360 deg view. It turns out that the tram we did not take yesterday ends very close to where this road ends. We lucked out with not taking the tram yesterday.
As we drove back into Albuquerque we decided to go to a highly recommended Mexican Cafe in Old Town. From the front, the small adobe porch made it look like it might seat 40. Inside it had incredible decor and could probably seat 200 or more. Most importantly, Chris's tamale and my burrito were perfect.
Day 12 (Thursday) - Our first full day in Albuquerque. This is another day of going with the flow and not having a plan we have to check off. We are staying about 2 blocks from Old Town so we decided to start the morning by exploring it. Temps in the morning are in the 60's so much nicer to walk around. The area is full of stores and restaurants scattered across streets and alleyways of pueblos and courtyards Across from the Old Town Plaza (park) is the San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church built in 1706!! As we strolled the area (2 miles) we also found the "Breaking Bad Store and Museum". Even though we never watch the show, we did watch the spinoff "Better Call Saul". It was a hoot! We talked to a person at the visitor center they gave us some great ideas for the rest of our day. We went to the International Balloon Museum via a very scenic drive on the Rio Grande Blvd. From there we went to the base of Scandia Mountain via another scenic drive which included Buffalo. At the base of the mountain they have a Tram to the top of the mountain. We were debating if we wanted to ride the tram as we have done several in other locations and when we arrived to see the gondola just leaving the base, our decision was made. We did not wait around for the next one. Now to work on plans for tomorrow!
Breaking Bad Store (above)
Day 11 (Wednesday) - My plan for today was not to have a plan today. We had a 4 hour drive from Las Cruces to Albuquerque but other than that, no set plan so last night Chris and I started using google for ideas. Chris found that on our way we would be near (30 miles off the expressway) the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. We decided that it sounded interesting so we visited 2 of the 3 Missions which date back 400 yeas and the communities that pre-existed the Missions go back 2,000 years. It is always humbling to walk among ruins that are that old and to think of how these people were able to live in such tough conditions.
Chris made a great choice. Two bonuses from the drive out to the Missions: 1) There was a dual railroad track going through the same pass on our drive and we drove parallel to several trains that were going in both directions. There were three or more BNSF (Burlington Northern and Santa Fe) engines pulling mile long convoys of rail cars. So cool! 2) While we didn't see any rattle snakes along the trails in the ruins, their sign certainly got our attention - "Respect the rattlesnake's privacy, stay on the trail" No rattlesnakes but Chris did spot a prairie dog at one site.
In addition to seeing a prairie dog we also saw a roadrunner! I have been looking to spot one the past 5 or 6 days all across Texas and NM and where does Chris spot one? In the parking lot of a mall in Albuquerque where we are sitting charging our car.😁 . We also saw the Rio Grande several times today, it was good to see the water level was up. Speaking of charging, at one of our stops we were on Doc Holiday Lane. How perfect is that? It's been a great vacation it's hard to believe it's almost over but we've come to the realization that it doesn't have to be. So while I planned on 2 nights in Albuquerque, we both decided, 3 sounded better so we added another night. I have moved back our remaining reservations accordingly and I have to say, "Retirement is good!"
Day 10 (Tuesday) - Today was a relax and take it easy day with only one item on the list which was to see White Sands National Park, our 35th park, 5th on this trip. More on this later.
At the restaurant last night our waitress recommended we visit the Roswell Museum - a place she described as 3 museums in 1. It has a section devoted to the Father of Modern Rocketry, Roswell's own Robert Goddard, an amazing collection of Western and Native American art / culture (going back to the Conquistadors) and a more traditional Art section. The museum didn't open until 10 AM giving us an opportunity to sleep in. No, we didn't sleep in that long but it did feel great to "take it slow" in the morning. It was a great museum..... and as we walked through the gift shop the attendee asked what brought us in and after further discussion we learned she was from Royal Oak, just like Chris. No, they didn't know each other but it was a cool coincidence. She recommended we visit the Museum of Contemporary Art in town. It turns out Roswell is stock full of museums but we didn't have that much time to spare but we did go see the Contemporary. Wow, it blew us away. Needless to say Roswell is a very cool place with lots to see, we highly recommend it!
As we left Roswell we decided to try a shaved ice place - Yum! On our way to White Sands we drove by the Worlds Largest Pistachio nut. Well of course we had to stop - pistachio sampling, pistachio ice cream, pistachio wine tasting, and a photo stop. Also, a Google Street View car passed us twice as we left Roswell so, I waved like crazy hoping that at some future point, I can check Google Maps and maybe see myself waving at the car.
Okay, back up a bit. As were were leaving Roswell what should appear in the distance? A snow covered mountain top. Talk about surprised, we were flabbergasted as we were not expecting that. As we traveled around NM that mountain came in and out of view. We never quite caught up with it but we did make it to White Sands National Park.
It is amazing how each national park we visit each one is so incredible unique and beautiful. White Sands was no exceptions. The sand is nothing like ours in Michigan, ignoring the color, it is a much finer sand, almost soft, silky when you touch it. Not sure if the pictures will do it justice but the dunes looked every bit like snow drifts along the side of the road. Amazing.
Strange sightings today... A mobile DOT sign (one of those that light up and is on a trailer so they can put the sign anywhere quickly) appeared ahead of us as we drove from Roswell, "Warning, Elk in road" I was very excited until we found out that in this case, it was two dead elk that had been hit on the road. :-( As we drove near White Sands, a sign stated, "When Flashing, Highway 70 and White Sands NP can be closed for up to 1 hour while a Missel test is conducted." Luckily, no test today.
Day 9 (Monday) - The fun just keeps getting better. We were a head of schedule leaving our hotel which allowed us to hit some sites we hadn't planned on visiting until Tuesday. Will wonders never cease!
Today we started the day driving by the Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos's rocket company) launch site and ended at the International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell NM. In between we visited Guadalupe National Park (#33) and Carlsbad Caverns National Park (#34)! Guadalupe was the most rustic park we went to, meaning their wasn't any scenic drives or many "easy" hikes but the visitor center was outstanding. It looked to be the hardcore hikers dream location. Heavy duty hiking boots, long sleave shirts and pants and personal latrine bags, this place is way outside our league but the scenery was spectacular. I am happy to report that on the short hike we took, we did not see any of the FIVE different types of rattle snakes!! From here we traveled to Carlsbad Caverns. WOW! The cave is 800 feet below the surface and the hike is 1.25 miles around the cave. We've been to caves before but these take the cake. I took multiple pictures but it doesn't do them justice. Our suggestion, if you have an opportunity to go to Carlsbad Caverns, go for it, you won't be disappointed. We were also lucky enough to see one large mountain goat (no picture, was on a curve, could not stop) on the drive into Carlsbad.
Today we had severe gusty winds (50+ MPH) almost the entire drive and found out that dust storms are brown versions of fog! Several times we had to slow down because of visibility. What is scary is our waitress said in Roswell they have a "season" of dust storms! Yuck! Finally, I feel like I should apologize to Indiana and Illinois for calling them flat. There are parts of Texas and almost all of the part we have driven so far in NM that are some how "more flat" than those.
After the caverns we headed to Roswell, NM. Yes, you guessed it, the UFO capital of America. It was all I hoped for and more. I can't say it convinced me more if aliens exist but it certainly was worth the drive.
It's worth sharing that today we also had to use a non-Tesla Supercharger as there are none available in this part of NM. In fact, there are not a lot of fast chargers of any type in this area but we knew where there were two and they both worked just fine. The downside is that we actually had to pay for our own fuel.
Day 8 - We woke up and verified we had a 100% charge on our car! So of all our driving since December, we finally had to pay for a charge, that means we paid for the RV spot which came with electricity. In this case, supply and demand being what it is out in the middle of nowhere, we paid $45.00 to fill our tank.
The plan for today was a light day of driving (4 hours) through west Texas with a stop in the town of Marfa and ending in Van Horn, TX. Marfa is a small county seat which has become a haven for artists and such. It had a 100+ year old hotel that would rival any classic hotel of the era. The town is also famous for where they filled "Giant" (Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean and Dennis Hopper) Overall the town lived up to the hype, we enjoyed the art and especially the "Giant'" and "Marfa Prada" art displays on the highway out of town. NOTE: When leaving Marfa the sign stated, "Van Horn 74 miles". "Note: No services for 74 miles". That is another example on how far off the beaten track we were.
Day 7 - We left San Antonio bright and early and I was shocked by the expressway being so empty. Six lanes and only about a car or two in each one. Leaving was going to be a breeze and I couldn't get over that a 8:00 am the rush hour was non-existent. Then, Chris pointed out that it was Saturday and suddenly it all made sense. Clearly, my reminder below didn't help me much! But don't worry, it turned out they had to shut down I-35 COMPLETELY as they were building a new overhead bridge so we still had traffic leaving town, even on a Saturday.
The drive to the NW started with long rolling hills and became more desert like as we went. About 3 hours out of San Antonio we arrived in Fort Stockton and turned toward Big Bend NP. The state highway we was a long, 2 lane ribbon of blacktop with a speed limit of 75 and 80! Occasionally, the road even had a few curves :-) After driving for well over an hour, we arrived in the last location for a Super Charger for the Tesla in Alpine TX At that point we felt we were at the end of the earth but then we charged up the car and headed another 72 miles further west to Terlinqua (the entrance to Big Bend National Park our #32) and, eventually, the Rio Grande.
We arrived much earlier in the day than we had planned so we verified we could successfully charge the car at an RV park and then headed into Big Bend. The scenic drive was incredible and ended at the St. Elena Canyon. This canyon is where the Rio Grande has cut though leaving sheer cliffs on either side of 1000 to 1500 feet! We got out several times for scenic views and a few very short trails but it was HOT (100!) and we were reminded neither one of us does well in high heat. We returned to our motel/RV Park after dark and plugged in our car and then walked across the street to our motel. It was a very long, but wonderful day.
Day 6 - Friday - this is for me, Parry, as a reminder which day it is :-)
We drove into San Antonio this morning and then spent about 5 hours walking around the River Walk and saw The Alamo and the San Fernando Cathedral. It was 82 with a nice breeze and most of the River Walk was in the shade so it was a fantastic day. I have always wanted to see the Alamo (sang the song "Davey Crocket" so many times as a kid, you can not even imagine!). It didn't disappoint! The River Walk actually lived up to it's hype. Beautiful and peaceful, even though it is in downtown San Antonio. We were probably the most surprised by the size of the Cyprus trees along the walk (thus all the shade!) They are about 250+ years old and huge! We were not familiar with the Cathedral but when we heard about it, we had to walk over to it as well. Churches are amazing buildings. We had a great lunch outdoors at Mad Dog's British Pub, on the River Walk. We arrived at our hotel in San Antonio a little earlier than we expected so it became our "laundry day" I feel a little bad as Chris did the laundry while I blasted aliens in a video game in our Tesla. I was supposed to help but got carried away making the universe safe but she is such a good sport and understands the importance of keeping the universe safe!!
FYI - TOMORROW (Saturday) We are heading to Big Bend National Park which is WAY off the grid. Cell service will be nearly non-existent on some of the drive and our motel says it has "some" WIFI in the lobby. So, don't be surprised if we don't update our story until Sunday night.
Day 5 - We spent the day in Austin. We decided to go to the LBJ Presidential Library which might not sound that "great" but we both thought it was! It was amazing to see the number of laws signed into affect in LBJ's just over 4 year term. Not sure any other President since has any results that are even close.
Later in the afternoon, we spent a couple of hours just crisscrossing Austin which is a remarkable city. The city is proud of it's "weirdness" and you can see it everywhere. Just driving through a neighborhood you would see WWII bungalows that were a little "old", completely remodeled or torn down and replaced with a huge modern house - all on the same block! Never saw an old neighborhood that was trying to stay with a certain "style". Anything goes and because of it, two or three completely different style houses among older homes didn't look bad, it actually made the neighborhood more interesting.
For dinner we met Andrea's parents at a quaint restaurant right on Congress (the main "neon" street full of unique and "weird" stores and restaurants. AKA, very "Austin"
Day 4 - Lots more driving today and while yesterday we were lucky and instead of driving in rain all day as predicted, we only had a few hours. Well, that was reversed today. Rain, rain and more rain. We were lucky in that when we needed to get out and charge the car, the rain had stopped. As we drove through Dallas, we drove to the JFK assassination site. Still hard to fathom.
We arrived in Austin in the late afternoon. We drove by the capitol (wow) and around the downtown. It is an amazing city and the amount of neon rivaled Las Vegas. Finally, we went to the Congress Blvd bridge where as many as 1.5 million bats spend the summer. At this point, there are probably less than 1 million as the breeding season is just starting. At sunset, the sky can be covered with bats as they all go out to feed. It can be an incredible sight. Unfortunately, today was very windy and bats don't like windy days so rather than seeing a sky full, we saw a dozen or so. Not exactly impressive but it was still fun to be part of a group, all getting disappointed at the same time. :-)
Buc-ee's and driving into Dallas...
Day 3 - Today (and tomorrow) are mostly driving days. The bad news was we woke up to the fact that it was expected to rain nearly the entire drive. The good news was that while it did rain very hard a couple of times, it probably only rained 3 of the 9 hours of the drive, so in all it was a win!
We arrived in Hot Springs late in the afternoon and went straight to the National Park. Yes, a park we hadn't visited yet, number 31 from our list. The town and the park are very much intertwined. On one side of the road there are stores, shops, and restaurants and the other side is the National Park with a row of historic bathhouses. The town and the National Park Service have clearly worked well with each other over the years. We went through the museum which explained in detail how the bathhouses work and how the hot springs are very unique. Much to Chris' relief these hot springs don't smell like sulfur. Accordingly these are one of the few hot springs on the planet which don't have the sulfur smell.
Day 2 - Monday, April 8, 2024 a total eclipse, that is what this day was all about. We arrived at the Angel Mounds site about 2 1/2 hours ahead of the start of the eclipse. What do you do for 2 1/2 hours at a historic site you might ask? Well, you read a book or enjoy the video game feature of the Tesla. Tesla comes with a dozen or so games so for most of the time, we sat and played games and it only used 1% of our battery so I think we could play for about over 100 hours if we were that nuts.
We went out into the park and spent the eclipse time laying down on a blanket looking up at the sun. It was a gorgeous day and little clouds, UNTIL minutes before the eclipse began Luckily, the clouds were low level and during a total eclipse, it is common for the low clouds to disappear which they did so we had a great viewing.
Below is a view of the clouds BEFORE they disappeared, an example of how "everyone" had to have their eclipse glasses and Chris checking things out.
It was hard to take good pictures with a phone but we think this one is a pretty good one.
It was so fascinating to watch the sun disappear but the big moment came as we were watching the last pinpoint of the sun disappear and we took off our glasses to see the most amazing thing, the "diamond ring" Pictured below.
The first txt I sent to our boys and Grandma/Grandpa is below. Background is Nate/Andrea saw the 2017 total eclipse and told us we "had to see one". Also, not only did we go and see it, Nick and Rayla drove into Ohio to see it as well.
Text: "OMG OMG OMG!!!! Nate and Andrea were totally right. Good luck Nick. Right after the last dot of sun disappears while wearing glasses, take off glasses and the diamond ring is INCREDIBLE!!! "
After the eclipse we drove to downtown Evansville and walked along the riverfront. Seems like a very nice town.
It was a very spectacular day!
Day 1 - First, let us take this opportunity to share a little background on this trip. All things being equal, we would have done this trip to the southwest this coming fall and put more time between our Savannah trip and this one. However, as part of our Tesla purchase, we were given 6 months of free Supercharging! Yes, that means that we have owned the car for just over 3 months and have spent almost $0 on electricity. The current road trip should almost be $0 electrical cost as well. The only exception is there are a couple of places WAY OFF the beaten track that we will have to hook up to electrical sources that won't be Tesla Superchargers. So, as you can see, doing these road trips so close together was a done deal given the free charging. We also got lucky with the timing of this trip as our Car came with 3 months of "auto pilot" full self-driving mode which we used on the trip to Savannah. Our 3 months just expired but then we received an email from Tesla and they said we were "picked" to have another 30 days so YOOHOO!
We left this morning around 7 for a relaxing 8-hour drive to Evansville IN. Rather than drive expressway almost all the way, we drove US 41 from about the south end of Lake Michigan straight south by the Indiana/IL border. It wasn't the fastest, but it was a road we hadn't driven before and we are glad we did. That said, one time was enough :-) We were concerned about traffic to the eclipse but on our route, there didn't appear to be any extra traffic. As for the hotel? It is a zoo! Nearly everyone in town is sold out and the places that have a room or 2 left are asking $400 and up! At our first charging stop, we saw our first eclipse cake and could not resist buying 2 eclipse donuts. We went to Angel Mounds and a couple of other locations in Evansville to scope out where we want to be during the eclipse. We are leaning toward the Mounds as the riverfront downtown should be crazy and fun, but contrary to what many people may think, we are generally not that "crazy"
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On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again....
Willie's great lyrics and our "theme song". Our travels continue bright in early tomorrow morning (Sunday 4/7) as we start the trip with our first stop in the path of totality so we can experience a total eclipse. About a year ago we made reservations in 4 cities across the path and recently we had nearly 60 hotel reservations because we weren't quite sure where and when we would start this trip (eclipse options were Benton AR, Evansville IN, Cleveland OH and Watertown NY). It wasn't easy but we finally decided on Evansville IN. This was based on cloud "forecasts" and the fact we really wanted to go southwest instead of northeast. Many factors were at work and then the Nor'easter' storm system hit, and we figured it was a sign to head south. Of course, it also helped to learn more about cloud cover and the effects the solar eclipse should have on the clouds. But it is the weather we are talking about here and it's anyone's guess as to where the right place to be is. We hope Evansville.
We have had a lot of anticipation for this trip. Our guest for the week prior was a great distraction (see Kendi below) as we counted down the days, watched the weather predictions, and finalized our plans.
We are off to ... IN, IL, MO, AR, TX, NM, OK, and home again.