Posts Tagged ‘road trip’

Yet another gorgeous day! We were so worried about all the rain and tornadoes, but I’m thinking we’ve brought the good weather with us! We left Des Moines, gorgeous morning, and finally crossed the Mississippi. There is something mythic about this mighty river and it’s division of the country. Every time we cross the Continental Divide, I think about the water that flows to the Mississippi. And the gateway to the westward movement, with all its pros and cons. And Mark Twain, whose many books I have read. I always feel like I am entering or leaving a different country. The day was quiet, and very relaxing…Iowa is certainly “heartland.”

Illinois just seemed soft and green, lots of farms, not nearly the amount of sprinkle systems that we saw in Nebraska. It is SO NICE to see rivers with water in them! And I must say, Iowa has some of the nicest roadside stops!

We traveled through Illinois, past Regan’s  birthplace, into Wisconsin, and finally to Milwaukee. We weren’t  sure we’d head this far north, but I have always wanted to visit this city. Tomorrow we are doing a boat cruise around the lake and river.

Here’s a few shots from today.

A whole rest area devoted to quilting!

Iowa rest area – patchwork. locks

Even the brickwork…..

The little picnic areas are identified by patchwork.

We noticed in Illinois that the mile markers were in fractions…one-quart, half, and three-quarter.  Very cool…I’d like to know why….in Wisconsin the markers were in two-tenths….also cool!

Mile markers!

Tomorrow on the water!

We left Denver at 5:30 am, with the intent to get to Omaha a d potentially see an elementary school friend. Despite an unexpected tour of the Denver Airport (huge and confusing), we headed on our way to Nebraska. What a great drive….flat, once we were out of Colorado, lots of grass, loads of farming, and a LOT of corn!  Small farms, large farms, lots of small towns. We’ve had great weather…one  of the concerns we had about getting across the Plains.

Saw my first dandelion at the Colorado Welcome Center, right before we crossed into Nebraska. Also, it was a stop for the Pony Express. So much history as we cross the country, and lots of friendly folks. We followed the Platte River for a while, and I kept thinking about the great documentary about Lewis and Clarke, done by Ken Burns. We got to Omaha, but couldn’t find a motel, so we ended up in Des Moines…nice little city.

We crossed the Missouri River and the terrain changed….hilly all over.  Plus, every bit of land was taken up with corn and hay, to the extent of terracing hills to plant more corn. Iowa was much more beautiful than I had imagined. and Des Moines is lovely.

So we have decided to head tomorrow to Milwaukee for a few days….so many things to do in that city! Here’s a few shots from today…and more on the art  museum when my brain is not fried from directions…..

My first dandelion on the trip…

Lots of lilies…reminds me of our last trip east – they were all over.

The Pony Express statue…

The Platte River has such historical significance….

Wonderful  scenery today, and lots of pleasant thoughts, including some rain. In fact, humidity is now 38% and about 70 degrees….absolutely gorgeous. Northern New Mexico is really beautiful, with vistas from high desert to almost deserted plains. We left Santa Fe  (dew on the car windows….) and headed east, through Glorieta and the Pecos National Historic Park. I’d post my own pictures, but major problems trying to get pictures to work….

Lots of great green pines, small towns, streams with actual water in them. We headed through Las Vegas, NM through to Raton, and the landscape kept changing around every turn. The clouds mixed with sun, and there were so many layers to the clouds – you felt like you could reach out and touch the bottom layers. And then you are out into what appears to be “nothingness,” but is really just empty, gorgeous vistas.

Looking east -quick video of the landscape. If you listen carefully, you can hear a marvelous bird.

Looking west – same spot but looking to the west.

We  first went to Denver in the early 80’s, and things have really changed. Pueblo was just a small sleepy town that handled printing and distribution of all the government pamphlets. Not any more…manufacturing, new developments, and very spread out. Same for Colorado Springs…huge, and well spread out on the east side of the Interstate. And the traffic in Denver…oy. But we are in Denver to see the textile show at the art museum tomorrow.

When we went east three years ago, it had been 15 years since seeing all of our old haunts. I was taking pictures of green grass, dandelions….so many little things. Well, same thing today….

 Dew on the car….

Gorgeous rest area in Colorado….great grass!

Always on the look for tree bark….

To the art museum tomorrow!

Finally…we opened the garage door and drove out this morning at exactly 5  AM. Just as we wanted to do. We’ve been planning this trip since January, and this last month we made lists of everything we wanted to do on the trip, had to finish before we left, and where we wanted to go on the trip.

Right now we are in Santa Fe, destination for the first night. It is considerably cooler, three hours after we arrived…how nice to be cool for the first time in a month! We started with our usual egg salad in Lordsburg, NM, and took our shortcut to I-25 through Albuquerque. Dry dry desert. The only green was along the Rio Grande. There are times when you can get quite tired of brown, scrub, and heat.

We are still in area we know, and most of tomorrow’s drive will be familiar. We will see what’s going on with the fires around Colorado Springs. Not sure if we’ll explore that area around the motel…depends on how tired we are.

So now I will see just how tough it is to load pictures!