The Angeli Family

We arrive in Vancouver BC at 8:00 AM to begin the long flight back to Atlanta.

Ok so some of us are slow learners. I see from looking at our 2006 Hawaii blog, that we said we wouldn’t do any more long flying days. Well, we did it again. This was another 15+ hour travel day including a stop in Toronto where we had to collect our luggage and clear U.S. Customs before getting on our final flight back to Atlanta.

Well this time we mean it. For the sake of convenience, we booked our air travel with the cruise line, and took what they gave us. After doing some online shopping now that we’re home, it turns out we could have booked our own air travel, and probably saved $400 each on airfare and saved about 6 hours travel time into the bargain.

All in all it was a great trip. We’d like to go back and spend more time in Alaska in a couple of years.

Weather is cloudy and grey. After leaving Ketchican, we’re just crusing down the inland passage to Vancouver. Not much to see. The trip is winding down, and we’re getting ready to head home.

The high point of the day, or evening actually, was diner in the Pinnacle Restaurant which is the fine dining restaurant on the ship. Richard tried the escargot, and we both had the Fillet Mignon, Wine with diner, and amaretto with our coffee. Altogether a delightful meal. So you can say we ate very well on this trip.

We stopped at Ketchican this afternoon, and visited the Saxman Native Village. This is one of the first groups of Eskimos to have settled in Alaska. They have a long history and many traditions and much culture that they are striving to preserve. Unfortunately while we were there, a majority of the village were celebrating a Potlach in Juneau so we didn’t see the best of the best that was there. The history and stories of the Totem Poles are very interesting. Also the process of carving.

We also saw the lumberjack show in town before walking back to the ship.

All aboard for a fun day in Juneau (the Capital of Alaska). We had a grand tour of Juneau that included the fish hatchery, the Mendenhall Glacier, and Glacier Gardens. Our driver Rick was a lot of fun. At one point Richard and Rick had dialog going that had the entire bus in stitches they were laughing so hard.

The sights were interesting, beautiful and exciting. This was probably one of the best on shore activities of the entire trip.

We spent today in Haines and Skagway. Started with a Classic Car (1950 DeSoto) tour of haines and the area around there. That was followed by a fast ferry boat ride over to Skagway for a trip on the White Pass - Klondike Narrow Guage Railroad. We followed the train ride with a bus tour to a 1897 Gold Camp.

The train ride was interesting and fun. The bus ride and the gold camp were a bit of a let down. It turns out that Wednesday is the busiest day of the week in Haines / Skagway. There were 5 large and 1 small cruise ships at Skagway today plus our ship at Haines. By the time we got to the gold camp, the place was over run with tourists, and we were unable to participate in or enjoy most of the activities available there.

Winds died down over night, and the sea was calmer. We had breakfast and attended a presentation by the National Park Service this morning. We spent the afternoon in Glacier Bay. We got very close to Marjorie Glacier. Marjorie is a very active noisy Tidewater Glacier. While we were there she did a very impressive calving (dropped a huge chunk of ice into the water). Richard got a series of good photo’s of the action.

Diner was an entertainment. The singers, and dancers turned diner service into show time, all the dining stewards participated and all the guests wore chef’s hats. It was a lot of fun.

Spent today cruising through College Fjord towards Glacier Bay. Richard read a book and kicked back most of the day watching the scenery float by. Karen attended a Diamond and Gemstone seminar. Had a dress up diner (i.e. Richard Wore a tie, and Karen was dressed up) and the Captain’s Toast.

Rough seas tonight. According to the status display on the upper Promanade Deck, 12 -18 foot seas and Force 9 (gale force winds) forced us to slow down. Lots of seasick folks on board. We were pretty comfortable. Our stateroom is amidships so we had a fairly smooth ride, and a good sleep.

Had time this morning for a leisurely breakfast at our hotel the Hilton Towers. Karen did some shopping, Richard met a friend from the National Park Service Alaska region, for a cup of coffee. We boarded our coach at Noon for the trip to Alyeska, and a tour of Portage Glacier that included a boat ride that took us within a quarter mile of the face.

After checking in at the Alyeska resort, we rode the aerial tram to the top of the mountain for the best diner of the entire cruise tour at the Seven Glaciers Restaurant. The views from the mountain were spectacular, and the food and the service were outstanding.

Saturday we had a boat tour of Prince William Sound that included a visit to a Salmon Hatchery, and a visit to Columbia Glacier. Saw a lot of sea lions, and rafts of sea otters.

Sunday morning boarded our bus for the last time for the ride down to Seward to meet our ship MS Zaandam. Said goodby to Daniel, and boarded the ship. Had lunch on the Lido Deck while we waited for our state room to be ready at 1:30 PM. It took a long time for the luggage to show up.

Diner in the main dining room was served at our table for 2, we had fruit compote, tomato/crab salad, French onion soup, braised lamb shank, and home made ice cream, and chocolate raspberry cake for desert. Saw the show “That’s Entertainment” in the Mondrian Lounge later in the evening.

Had trouble getting to sleep. Sea was a bit choppy this evening, and the doors between our balcony and the neighbors kept banging. Got up, got dressed, and went for a walk. stopped at the Main Desk, and asked for someone to lock the doors. Slept well later.

Had time before taking the Noon train to Anchorage to go for a covered wagon ride and great breakfast that included reindeer sausage, bacon, eggs, pancakes, biscuits, fruit, coffee,…. and more.
Back on the McKinley Explorer car #1050 Kenai, for the 8 hour trip. Saw more majestic scenery, and even caught glimpses of Mt. McKinley later in the afternoon. Because it’s so tall it makes it’s own weather, a full view of the mountian is relatively rare. Diner on the train was excellent.

Much better day than yesterday. We left Fairbanks a little after 8:00 AM on the Alaska railroad. HAL has their own custom built rail cars (as do other cruise lines) called McKinley Explorer.

The front of the train The rest of the train

The double decked cars with their own dining areas and full view Vista Domes. Breakfast on the train was delicious. We enjoyed talking with the couple we shared a table with. Richard had reindeer sausage, and even Karen tried some.

The views and scenery are spectacular. And many folks tell us this is the boring part of the trip.

We arrived at Denali around noon, and by 1:00 PM Richard was off on a river rafting adventure. He had a great time on an 11 mile trip through class 3 and 4 rapids.

We’re staying at the McKinley Chalet Resort (a HAL property) just outside Denali National Park. This is a much nicer place with better service than at the Westmark Hotel in Fairbanks.

When Richard got back from the white water trip, it was time for diner and show at the Cabin Nite theater at the resort. Diner is served family style and includes a lot of fun in getting it served. The food was delicious and included salad, fresh rolls, BBQ ribs, Salmon, corn, Potatoes, and ended with a berry cobbler topped with whipped cream that was to die for.

After Diner the serving staff put on a musical show that was very entertaining and funny.

Another early day. Continental breakfast in the lobby of the Chalet and on to the bus at 6:00 AM for a Tundra Wilderness Tour of Denali Natioal Park. The weather is still cold and cloudy. Everyone says that spring is coming late this year. We’re glad we had our layers of clothing to keep us warm and dry. It even snowed some today. Still and all it was beautiful and exciting. We saw a lot of wildlife including some of the first Grizzly Bears of the season. Besides 11 Grizzles, we saw a moose, many Dall Sheep, Caaribou, and an Great Horned Owl Nest with momma and baby.

Click the following image to see our photos from our tour of the park

we rented a Jeep for a self drive tour which was a disappointment though other folks on our tour said they enjoyed it. Guess the combination of the weather and our tiredness did us in on that one.

Had a delicious King Crab Leg diner at a restaurant called the Alaska Salmon Bake.

Two weeks in the far north. We’ve looked forward to this trip for a long time. We roll out of bed at 2:30 AM, not PM, and head for Hartsfield - Jackson International Airport for the first of 3 flights. We go from Atlanta to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Seattle, and finally from Seattle to Fairbanks. Total travel time is more than 15 hours. We are exhausted.

We arrived in Fairbanks at 3:00 PM Alaska time and were met by Holland America (HAL) folks who guided us to our luggage, and to the coach that took us to the Westmark hotel where we’ll stay for tonight. We were very impressed with the friendly helpful service from the HAL folks.

We met our Tour Guide Daniel Reynolds a young Canadian fellow who will accompany us for the next 6 days of the land portion of our tour.

Had an early diner at the hotel, and turned in. We were not impressed with the accommodations and service at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel. Maybe it’s because we were exhausted from the long days travel. But, we thought the food service was poor, and the hotel did not meet our expectations for the category of lodging we expected.

We have an early start tomorrow. The train leaves at 8:00 AM to take us to Denali National Park.

This was a very, very long day. We rolled out of bed at 3:30 AM in the morning to catch a 7:00 AM Atlantic Southeast (Delta Connection) flight to Houston. From Houston we had a 9:35 AM (10:35 AM EST) Continental flight to Honolulu arriving at 2:05 PM (7:05 PM EST). In Honolulu, we connected to a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Kailua-Kona at 4:00 PM (9:00 PM EST). We finally arrived at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa at just after 7:00 PM (12:00 AM 12/7 EST) for a total travel time of 21 hours. That’s a long long time to be traveling. We were exhausted to say the least. In addition there was no food service on the two connecting flights, and the food service on the long flight we wouldn’t serve to Lucky in a doggy bag. We’ll certainly do it differently when we take any more long flying trips.

That being said, the itinerary from Expedia was flawless. All our reservations were in order. The Sheraton is outstanding, and our ocean front room is heavenly.

Once we checked in, and dropped our baggage, we headed down to the hotel restaurant to get some diner. We won’t do that a second time. The service was outstanding, and the food was delicious and beautifully prepared. But, the price was outrageous.

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Note: You may view the image galleries by “clicking” on any of the images in the log entries

By the time we ate and got back to the room it was after 9:00 PM (2:00 AM EST 12/7) so we went to bed and slept like babies.

Today is the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There’s big doings in Honolulu. This may be the last time the Pearl Harbor Survivors hold a reunion. Most of them are in their 90’s now.

We’re really tired after the travel yesterday, and getting used to the 5 hour shift in time. So we are really taking it easy today. We enjoyed the buffet breakfast in the KAI restaurant, especially the fresh pineapple, and the home fried potatoes.

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After breakfast we walked around the hotel grounds and looked at the flowers. After winter on the mainland, seeing all the beautiful flowers is amazing. The variety and colors dazzle your eyes everywhere you look.

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Later we drove down into Kona, checked out a shopping plaza and visited a farmers market, looked in a few stores, and had a soda at a sidewalk restaurant. We’re really just getting oriented today.

Later, back at the hotel, we stopped in and visited the concierge. We booked the hotel Luau and diner show for Friday evening, and a Helicopter tour of the volcanoes for Monday. The concierge also pointed out some of the favorite eating spots of the local folks. After yesterday’s diner, we aren’t in a hurry to go back to KAI for diner even though it was excellent. We tried a place on one of the side streets called “Quinn’s almost on the water”. The food and service were great, and the prices more reasonable. We had a good time.

Today, we followed the coffee trail. Kona is famous for it’s coffee probably as famous as Juan Valdez for Columbia, and Jamica Blue Mountain.

album28/IMG_6652 We visited Cooks Monument,
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saw the Painted Church (St Benedict’s), and toured 2 coffee plantations. Of course we brought back samples. We’re still trying them out to see which ones we like the best.

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Probably the most interesting is Kona Joe’s. They have received a U.S. Patent for their method of espaliering the coffee trees the way the vintners in California grow their grapes. They found that they improve the yield and flavor of the beans by providing them with more even access to the sunlight. The beans also ripen more evenly so the trees don’t have to be visited as often for harvesting.

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At the Kona Le’a plantation we got to follow the beans from the time they come in from the harvest till they are roasted, packed, and labeled for shipment. There are a couple of different kinds of roasters, that have a significant effect on the flavor of the resulting coffee. Also, while there are +/- 200 coffee growers on the island, there are only 15 or 16 processing plants. So the most of the growers contract with the plants to process and package their product.

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This evening is the Luau on the lawn at the Sheraton. Really good diner, and nice show. We found out that if you like to be close to the stage you can pay extra to sit closer and have your food served at the table. But if you like to eat, you can sit further back, and get your food from the buffet (it’s all the same). The people eating on the buffet were doing desert and coffee while the people at the tables were still waiting for their main course.

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Today, we toured the Northern end of the island. Traveled through Waimea Home of the Parker Ranch where cattle ranching in the islands got it’s start. We also saw some more great Ocean views.

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Funny how when you’re on an Island, everywhere you go you wind up next to the water.

Had an early diner at Quinn’s again. It’s our kind of place, good food congenial atmosphere, reasonable prices.

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Today was kind of leisurely we took a sunset cruise on a really nice catamaran with cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres. You’ll have to check out the gallery for the photo’s.

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Today was a long one. But, seeing the volcanoes is the main reason we chose to come to the Big Island this time. We got an early start and drove out to the south on the way to Hilo to take a helicopter ride out over the volcanoes. We drove through the Volcano National Park on the way, and went part way around the rim of Kilauea. Made some nice photos of steam vents and craters. You could spend days hiking and / or biking in the park. There’s really a lot to see. But, time was short, so we headed on down to Hilo for lunch.

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The Helicopter tour is probably the best way for the average tourist to see the volcanoes. The tour operators always know where the current action is, and that changes day by day, and hour by hour.

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The tour takes you out over Kilauea (the youngest and currently most active volcano) shows you the different kinds of lava flows. The tour also flies over several of the water falls on the North Eastern part of the island that you can’t get to by car. Older folks, like us, appreciate that since we don’t hike as much as we used too.

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We drove back to Kona from Hilo on the northern route. We saw some more water falls, and beautiful ocean views. The variety of scenery and climates on the different parts of the island is really amazing. We made it back to Kona in time to have a really nice diner at Hugo’s on the water front.

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Today was a bit different. We spent the morning doing some shopping and sight seeing. The parrot lives on a stand in downtown Kona run by one of the tour brokers.

After lunch Richard took a bus tour to Mauna Kea while Karen hung out at the hotel, and spent the evening sipping Mai Tais and eating shrimp.

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Mauna Kea is home to all the best observatories in the world presently.
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The volcano tops out at 13,476 feet. It’s always cold up there. Though recently there hasn’t been as much snow as in the past. I know it’s strange to think of Snow and Hawaii in the same sentence but it’s always cold at almost 14,000 feet. The tour company supplies Parkas and gloves. It seems strange, but when you’re there, you’re glad to have them.

The tour operator has their work cut out for them. first of all it’s a long drive on really bad roads. The car rental companies won’t insure their cars for those roads. So the tour is the best way to see it.

You start out about 1:30 in the afternoon and drive up to the Visitor Center at the 9,000 ft. level. You get some great views of the ancient volcanos, and also see some of the historic ranches, and military bases along the way. At the visitor center you stop for at least 30 minutes to eat, shop, do whatever, and give your body a chance to adjust to the altitude.

From the Visitor Center you drive up to the top at 13,476 feet. You get there in time to see and learn about the various observatories on the mountain and the different types of telescopes up there.
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You’re there in time to watch the sun go down from that altitude, well above any clouds or weather.

After the sun sets, you drive back down the mountain in the dark and pull out to a spot at the 9,000 foot level that is set aside for the tour company to set up their telescope. If you’re interested in astronomy, they are using a Celestron CPC 925 GPS (XLT). It’s a 9.25″ GPS guided reflecting telescope See the Telescope Description. The telescope uses the GPS to orient it self for date, time, latitude, and longitude. Once it sets itself up, it can automatically find and track more than 40,000 individual objects. This was a really awesome experience looking at the stars from 9,000 feet, and drinking hot chocolate. We didn’t get back to Kona till after 10:30 PM. Needless to say, Karen didn’t wait up for me.

It’s been a fabulous week. We’ve had a great time. But now we have to leave and head for home. The hotel room was very comfortable and the view from our balcony was outstanding. So we’re up early as usual for us. Headed down for one last buffet breakfast in the KAI restaurant. Then packed up, loaded everything in the car.

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Then took one more walk around the resort where we found the wedding chapel. Nice place for a wedding.

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We stopped in at a farmers market and looked around. Didn’t see anything we just had to have, and went on downtown to visit the Hulihe’e Palace. This was the home of the last queen of Hawaii. It was pretty severely damaged in the earthquake this October so we could only tour the main floor. Most of the furnishings were moved around, and covered up.

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We stopped for lunch at a sidewalk restaurant over looking the ocean. Had a leisurely lunch, gassed up the car, and headed out to the air port even though our flight isn’t till 7:38 PM.

Hawaii_2006/DSC02283We sat at the Kailua-Kona airport from 3:00 PM till our flight boarded after 7:00 PM. We had thought that we might be able to catch an earlier flight they run to Honolulu almost every hour, but were told that there was no space available. However, I talked to someone else who was there early, and they were scheduled on the flight after ours. So, I was surprised when we left with empty seats on the aircraft.

We left Honolulu on Continental at 10:15 PM headed for Houston. It’s 7 hours flying time + 4 hours time change for around 11 hours putting us in Houston at around 9:30 AM on Thursday December 14th.

It’s a long way and a lot of flights to get home from Hawaii. We arrived back in Atlanta, GA at 4:00 PM On Thursday. This is actually the 9th day of the trip. We lost a day traveling east across 5 time zones. Rushed to baggage claim, jumped on the bus to the long term parking lot, and hurried to get to the Due West Animal Clinic before closing time to pick up the Lucky dog. Boy was she glad to see us. We’re exhausted after traveling for more than 20 hours. Guess Friday will be a crash day.

Left San Antonio Saturday Morning. Headed towards Houston. Had an invitation to visit with the Angelos from the RV Chat Room http://rvchat.com at their “Last Re-sort” in High Island on the gulf. Parked in their driveway, used their spare hook ups, and had a very enjoyable visit Saturday night and sunday Morning
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Meet the Angelos and their friends from RV Chat at their web site http://jatexas.com

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Got to San Antonio Wednesday afternoon. Spent the evening at Dick’s last resort on the river walk. Got lost trying to find our way back to the campground. OnStar got us straightened out. Big rain storm that evening. Thursday was Beautiful toured the Alamo, took the riverboat cruise, and had lunch at the first restaurant on the River Walk.
We had such a good time we decided to stay an extra day and tour the 4 other Missions in San Antonio. Friday was another beautiful day. We toured 3 of the missions, had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe back on the River Walk, and finished up by visiting the last of the 5 San Antonio Missions. All in all a very interesting visit.

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Left Albuquerque Sunday morning 10/15, drove most of the day to just outside Carlesbad NM. Spending Monday the 16th exploring Carlesbad Caverns National Park, and the town.

album21/CRW_5884 Morning
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Fantastic Morning. Perfect weather. You will want to see all the photo’s in the gallery. We had a full day of Balloon Fiesta, and you can spend a lot of time checking out our galleries of photo’s from both events.

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Visited the nearby Petroglyph National Monument this morning. Did some shopping at Home Depot and spent the afternoon at “home” doing housekeeping and making minor repairs to the coach.

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Rain finally stopped. Weather was clear temps were in the 50’s and 60’s. There’s snow on the higher peaks near Eagles Nest. Beautiful day for a drive. Had Lunch in Taos, drove through the mountains to Cimarron and Philmont. Ate sundaes at the Soda Fountain, and took photos of the tooth of time, and Waite Phillips House.
It was a long drive but had a really nice time.

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It’s been raining for the last 2 days. The Balloon Fiesta is having a big washout. One news report today said that the 6 inches of rain in the last 48 hours is more than the normal rainfall for New Mexico in the entire month of October. It’s supposed to clear up by tomorrow, and be nice until at least this coming weekend. Hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to attend another event at the Fiesta.
Today we went about 40 miles west to the Acoma Pueblo. We visited the museum, and toured the oldest continuously occupied in North America.
The Acoma have a long and colorful history. Since the end of the 19th century they have been careful to ensure that the protect and preserve their culture while working and building their economy in the modern world.

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Had a liesurely morning, and spent the afternoon at the Pueblo Indian culture center watching the dancers, touring the museum, and looking at the Jewelry, pottery, and crafts by the indian artisans. There’s a lot to learn about native american culture and history. More photos to join the galleries.

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It’s hard to believe we actually woke up at 4:00 AM this morning to make it to the bus that took us to the Fiesta Grounds. It was still dark when we left the campground at 5:30 AM. They said there were +/- 70,000 people there for the Grand Ascension. We have more than 200 photos to post to the gallery.
We were back at the campground before Noon. Would have been sooner, but there was another phoobar by the organizers from the campground so we spent more than an hour riding around in circles on a School Bus. It was still worth it. The show was spectacular.
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We spent the Afternoon shopping and eating at Old Town Albuquerque.

Got a fairly early start from Tucumcari. Made pretty good time until a car pulled along side and waved us down. The big Winnebago mud flap was falling off the back of the coach. We pulled over and Richard managed to get the flap off and into the coach.
After that we managed to get to the American RV Park to check in. The place was a mad house. Our prepaid reserved pull through site had been reassigned and we were assigned to a small back-in site that wouldn’t hold our rig. After several go arounds, we were assigned to another pull through site that was assigned to a no-show.
We got in and got hooked up. Then we took a drive down Central Avenue (Old route US 66) through town. Got to see a Police stand off, found the local Winnebago service shop, and the Balloon Fiesta park.
We’ll be here until Sunday October 15.

Not much to say about today. Left El Reno about 10:00 AM Central time which is in keeping with our comfort level. Stopped about 2:00 PM in Amarillo TX, to buy fuel, and have lunch. The Leftovers from Montana Mikes were just as good today as yesterday. Karen finished up her shrimp from lastnight, and I had a blackened sirloin steak sandwich with cheese and mushrooms on a yeast roll. “YUM!”
We shifted from Central to Mountain time when we crossed the border from Texas into New Mexico. Arrived in at the Mountain Road RV Campground in Tucumcari around 3:30 PM. That puts us 2 hours behind our home base in Georgia.
Met some folks with a retired military RV club that are heading our way to Albuquerque, staying at the American RV park same as us. Maybe we’ll get to know them better in the next few days.

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This is a landmark day in the history of Karen and Richard and their Journeys in their Journey. We left Russellville aroud 10:00 AM Central time this morning, Interstate 40 is pretty much a straight shot west all the way to Albuquerque. The traffic was relatively light, and the weather was clear and hot. Here’s the important part. We stopped at the first rest area we came to, and Karen took the wheel for the first time in our 2+ years of traveling in the motor home. She was a bit nervous at first, but settled down quickly. She drove more than 100 miles today. Excellent outing for her first try.

We have photos and a movie clip that we’ll post here shortly to prove that it was really her.

We got to El Reno around 4:30 PM set up camp, rested a bit and then went for a drive. Took a look aroune El Reno. and then cruised up the highway to a “Cherokee Trading Post” that we’d seen signs for along the highway. You really have to know what you’re shopping for in these places.
There were several displays of authentic native america pottery and baskets. But there was also pottery labeled “Hecho en Mexico”, and some replicas of western american firearms labled made in Spain. Many of the items in the store had no identification of where they came from.
For diner, we followed our noses and found a restaurant near the campground called Montana Mike’s Steak House. There were a lot of local license plates in the parking lot so we gave it a try. We were pleasantly surprised. They had an fried zuccini on the menu and it was so good, we really pigged out on it. There was nothing left by the time my blackened Sirloin, and Karen’s fried shrimp came to the table. Altogether it was an excellent and reasonably priced meal. We both have left overs for lunch tomorrow.
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Monday October 2nd left home before 11:00 AM. Took a different route to get to I40 west of Memphis. Went out across 278 to 78. Spent our first night in Tupelo MS. Elvis birthplace, but not the most photogenic site we’ve visited. Left early Tuesday Morning and headed west. Picked up I40 at Memphis TN. Roads were a disaster connecting from US 78 to I240.

Spent Tuesday Night October 3rd in Russellville Arkansas just off exit 81 on I40. We’ll be on I40 all the way to Albuquerque.

Richard skipped out on the closing session of his meeting, and we hit the road about 10:00 AM. We were back in Kennesaw around 3:00 PM.

We have mixed feelings about ending this Journey in our Journey. It’s nice to be home, and see the family. Wouldn’t mind a couple of days to do laundry, and clean service the Jeep and the Journey. Then hit the road again.

We learned about a lot of places on this trip. There are many places we’d like to go back and spend more time at. So our future Journey’s will probably involve some specific destinations with extended stays included.

ECCHHHH!!! Reality is starting to set in again.

Not a bad site, The roads are paved, and the site is nice and wide. But there are NO amenities, not even a laundry. Would have expected better for a major metropolitan area. After we got set up, we drove around, and checked out a KOA, just across the border in SC. Looked like it was primarily a long term campground.

Oh well, it’s fairly convenient to the hotel where richard has his business meetings, and we’ll be heading home on Saturday any way.

Toured Mamoth Cave this morning. Only did the short (1.25 hr) tour, but got some interesting photo’s. Will add the Cave City and Mamoth Cave Photos Shortly.

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Drove over to Charlotte, NC for Richard’s Business Meetings. Got the worst campsite we’ve had on the entire trip. Besides it’s hot and muggy here.

Hard to believe we’re into our last week of the trip already. We’re at a Jellystone Park, Resort in Cave City about 10 miles from Mamoth Cave National Park. This is certainly the most expensive but not necessarily the nicest place we’ve parked on this journey.

We have tickets for a Cave Tour tomorrow morning at 8:30 CDT. Then we’ll head east. Reserved a site at Sevierville, TN for tomorrow night (about half way to Charlotte), Then on to Charlotte for our Business Meetings.

By the way, did you notice the change of plans? Charleston West Virginia fell off the radar, and we’re on a more southeasterly heading.

Happy Fathers Day! Happy Anniversary! Karen and I met on Father’s day weekend 29 years ago today.

Beautiful in Metropolitan Louisville, KY. Slept in, had a liesurely breakfast. Went to the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill downs. Watched the movie, Got to see the 2nd race from right by the rail next to the winner’s circle. Got a nice pic of the winner.

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Drove by the Steam Boat Museum, and stopped for a little while at the Ohio River Falls State Park. Good place for palentologists, to go to see Fossils from several epochs.

Talked to the kids and grand kids, and cooked a great Veal Marsala for diner. Weather has been beautiful. Low 80’s.

Tomorrow is the 29th aniversary of our first meeting June 19, 1976, and today is the 14th anniversary of our marriage in the church.

Today was special. It’s just like home. Spent the morning and part of the afternoon doing laundry, and cleaning house. Finally got out of here a little after 2:00 PM EDT. Drove around a bit. Had an early diner at Outback, and hit the neighborhood Wal*Mart Super Center to do our week’s grocery shopping.

Got “home” a little after 5:00 PM. We’re exausted. Will probably just stay in watch movies, and eat Ice Cream this evening.

Left Golden, CO early Wednesday. Drove through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana and finally reached Louisville, KY about 6:00 PM EDT today. Richard used to think driving through Nebraska and Iowa on Interstate 80 was the most boring drive in the country. Well guess what? Corn and Soy Beans are infinitely more interesting than Grass, and FLAT and we mean FLAT plains.

There were some high points though. For excitement we spent Wednesday Night in Russell, KS (Kansas), at the hight of the summer thunder storms and Tornados that blew through there that night. Fortunately we were north and east of the Tornado warnings, but the wind was strong enough to really shake our 12 ton motor home.

Thursday the weather was much better. Actually slept with the windows open, and the AC and heater turned off at Boonville, MO.

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Nice Photo’s from the Eisenhower Museum

Stopped in Abeline, KS on the way to visit the Eisenhower, home, library, and museum. In our lifetime, Ike was the first president that we were really aware of. He was quite a guy. His wife Mamie was also a very interesting person, and very well respected. It was an interesting couple of hours.

There are photos from the grounds and the Museum, that will be joining the Gallery shortly.

Friday, was a long driving day. Mostly driving, across the plains of Illinois and Indiana. Louisville is right on the border between Kentucky and Indiana. They’re only separated by the Ohio River. Now you’ve had your geography lesson for today. 415 miles with the traffic around St. Louis made for a rather tiring day.

We plan to spend the weekend here, and then move on east through Lexington, and on into West Virginia, before we head south to Charlotte, NC on Wednesday.