Binghamton Days - Days 69-72

We are here packing up over 60 years of my parents' living in their house in Binghamton. We have rented a storage unit and are filling it up. This involves handwrapping most of the things that Mom collected - Beatrix Potter figurines, little English village pieces, commemorative tea cups, mostly dealing with Queen Elizabeth, and her many pieces of china. We are also storing two dining tables and some other things. It is rather sad to take down all the photos and pictures, plus pack away all the personal things. Fortunately, my cousins, Len and Carole just bought a lake house and will take quite a lot of the furniture.

While in Binghamton, we also went to a Grange Hall pancake dinner out in Windsor at the old, one-room schoolhouse where Bob went to elementary school.

Back Roads to Binghamton - Day 68

Today, we had breakfast in Pittsburgh and hit the road. We decided to take back roads as much as we could. So, we headed up Route 220 through central Pennsylvania. It was a lovely day for traveling. As my Mom's house is under agreement, we are going to stay here until we get quite a bit of work done.

Pittsburgh Revisited - Day 67

Today, we drove about 325 miles to Pittsburgh. We did Priceline.com and, interestingly, got the same hotel, the Wyndham, that we got in February. So, there is a nice symmetry to this. The first hotel we stayed at on this trip, will also be the last hotel we will stay at on this trip. And, the last time we were here, it was rainy and cold. Today was sunny and pleasant - very Spring-like.

So, we are once again in the University District, called Oakland, in Pittsburgh. It is really pretty and lively. I think we were the oldest people everywhere we went! Pittsburgh is a very livable city, especially for young professionals. It did not suffer the housing bubble and is doing quite well, despite the recession.

We walked on a quest for a particular Indian restaurant. When we got there, it was not yet open, so we wandered into an rare book store and bought two Nantucket-related books. Then, we decided not to go to that particular restaurant as it was a bit expensive. A couple of people recommended another Indian restaurant a little further away. So, we walked there....and, it was closed on Mondays. Sigh. So, we wandered back toward the hotel and had a kosher hot dog at "The Original" restaurant. Mark has been hankering for a hot dog of late, so it was actually very satisfying.

A 600 mile drive - just east of Indianapolis - Day 66

Today we drove a bit too far. But, we were on quite a bit of new road, which we always like. Instead of taking Route 70 to Indianapolis, we decided to go Route 72. Why? Well, for one, it is a route we've never taken. Two, Rob suggested that we stop at a rather rare old round barn which he said had been made into a restaurant that he had visited when he was a child in Champaign, Illinois. The route was great - but quite empty of places to stop. As an upshot, Mark drove for over 300 miles before stopping. We pulled off in Champaign and asked for directions to the Round Barn. Well...we found it. But....it had become a Famous Dave's Barbecue place. We have tried so hard not to eat at chains, but...we had come over 400 miles and were tired and hungry. So, we decided to eat there. The barn really was quite amazing. And, the waitress told us that it had been a steakhouse until about 10 years ago.

We kept on driving, lost an hour because we crossed the last time zone of this trip. We pulled in to a Comfort Inn just east of Indianapolis. Tired!

A great day in Kansas City with Anne & Celine - Day 65

Today was sunny and pleasant. The four of us drove into downtown Kansas City to the City Market. We bought fresh vegetables and some spices and strolled in the nice weather.

Then, we went to Chez Elle, a creperie and had a lovely lunch. I had a spinach, cheese and mushroom crepe. Mark had a chicken and pepper jack cheese crepe. Anne had a ham crepe and Celine had a cheese crepe. We all had thought about having a dessert crepe, but were all too full.
We went home and Mark, Anne and I worked on her large lawn. Anne mowed the front; Mark mowed the back and I raked up clippings. It was a job well down. It was definitely the most work Mark or I had done in a long time!

Later, Mark finished his pot roast preparation, plus made two great vegetable dishes: ginger asparagus and the carrot dish that he last tested for the America's Test Kitchen. It was all very good, although we only gave the pot roast dish an 8 out of 10 because it was a bit too fussy for the result, although we all liked the sauce a lot.

Kansas City - cooking, barbecue and dinner with friends -Day 64

Today, Anne and Celine went to work. Mark has another America's Test Kitchen recipe to test. This one is for a pot roast and it involves two days of preparation. So, we went shopping for the ingredients in the morning. Then, we prepped the vegetables and sauce for the recipe and put the beef in and left it to cook in the oven for several hours.

Meanwhile, we went to B.B.'s Lawnside for barbecue. "When in Kansas...." It was good, but not as good as the two restaurants that we tried on our earlier visit.

For dinner, Anne, Celine, Mark and I, met Rob and Ronda with their kids at a Japanese Steak House. The kids really enjoyed the show that the chef put on at our table as he did things such as aim shrimp at our mouths. Anne, Mark, Rob and Ronda and myself taught together in Egypt. It was great to see everyone again. Rob and Zaid were planning for a camping trip with the Scouts the next day.

Colorado Springs to Kansas City - LONG drive -Day 63

Today, we drove across the flat and boring part of Colorado. It is always hard to believe that you are not in Kansas! We drove just under 600 miles. But, the hill country of Kansas, as you go east, is actually quite pretty. The trees were in bloom, especially the red buds, which are actually purple. We did not even stop to eat today; we had bought food for the road, so we made sandwiches along the way.

We arrived at Anne M's house in the Missouri side of Kansas City. It was warm enough to sit out on the back porch, which we did. Anne made us a lovely meal.

Durango to Colorado Springs, a driving day only -Day 62

Today we drove Route 160 through southern Colorado. Wolf Pass took us up to almost 11,000 feet. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground. Today's temperatures ranged from 36 degrees to the high 60's. The drive though the mountains was beautiful.

We are not sight-seeing in Colorado Springs - just stopping as we now work our way home pretty steadily.

Mesa Verde and Durango - Day 61

We woke up to snow this morning in Cortez! We were a bit afraid that Mesa Verde would be closed, but....it wasn't; in fact, it was free, probably because of the weather. The blue sky and the snow in the canyons was incredibly beautiful. The entire mesa was not open for the season, so we could only do one of the loops, but it was amazing. We saw the mesa-top dwellings and many of the cliff dwellings. In the photos below, you can see a photo with a small niche and then, a closeup of the bird's nest.

After spending the morning at Mesa Verde, we drove the 46 mile drive to Durango where we had a reminiscing time. We found the house in Wildcat Canyon where we spent a summer in 1985 and attended a computer class at Fort Lewis College. We also drove around the campus and up the Animas River towards Purgatory. We found that the old Griegas Mexican take-out place had moved out of town on the road to Silverton. We did not, however, eat there. If we were staying another day, we probably would have. Anyhow, we checked into the old and grand Strater Hotel and are in a Victorian room with antique furniture and decor. It is beautiful.

We found a Mexican restaurant where we had eaten at before, Gazpacho's and had a lovely lunch. Then, we strolled Main Street. We decided that we needed to do a laundry and found a laundromat on the Animas River Waterfront Bicycle Path which goes for miles. It did not exist when we were here in the 80's. So, while the wash was being done, we biked, first one way and then the other.

Sandstorm Travel to Cortez, Colorado - Day 60

Today, we rather sadly packed up the camping gear, as we will not camp for the rest of our trip. And, we were sad to leave Zion. The weather was supposed to be cold when we got up, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was about 54 degrees when we were breaking camp and also sunny.

We drove by back roads all day. Routes 9, 89, 98 and 160. We went through Zion first. It was a beautiful drive, including driving through the mile-long tunnel which was built in 1930. After we left Zion, we drove through high desert to Page, Arizona and over the Glen Canyon Dam. As we got into the drier, Navajo reservation country, the wind picked up. At times, it looked like the hamaseen (sandstorms) of Egypt with the entire sky filled with sand and the car being buffeted by some pretty strong gusts. It meant that we barely could see the scenery of Monument Valley country, and we saw nothing of the looming Rockies in the distance.

Four Corners Monument was closed for construction, so we couldn't stop there. Then, we pulled into an Econo-Lodge in Cortez, Colorado. It is not looking very promising for visiting Mesa Verde tomorrow as the visibility is so limited and it may either rain ...... or snow! We had thought to stay here for 2 nights, but have changed our plans because of the weather and will stay here just one night. Mark made reservations for us to move on to Durango tomorrow.

We did have a lovely Mexican meal at Tequila's here.

Another Perfect Day hiking and biking in Zion - Day 59

Once again, we started our day in town having coffee. We looked to see if there was a place where we could shower as the campground has no shower facilities. But, the only one we found was at a bike store and it was $5.00 per person, so we decided to skip the showers.

After that, we loaded our bikes on the shuttle bus and went as far as Zion Lodge. There, we bought Henry a cool T-shirt for his birthday that changes color when you go outside.

We locked our bikes and took a hike to the Lower Emerald Pools. It was listed as an easy walk to the pools. (really a waterfall.) We decided to venture upward to the Middle Emerald Pools, a moderate hike that went up a bit higher. The views were amazing. We decided to forego the hike to the Upper Emerald Pools. For one, the pools were not that impressive, to be honest. They were small pools beneath waterfalls. What was impressive were the amazing views of the canyon from there as we had climbed fairly high. The whole trip was only about 2 miles round trip, but quite enough!

David hiked Zion a few years ago during one of his Spring Breaks from the West Entrance to the South Entrance where we are. It was about 38 miles of unbelievably rugged country. We cannot imagine it.

From Zion Lodge, we got on our bikes and coasted back down to our campground, probably about 5-6 miles. I thought it would be a little too steep for me, but it wasn't. As usual, I freak myself out and worry unnecessarily! But, it was very gusty as we descended.

So, it was a great day. The weather got into the mid-80's, too. So, it was just about a perfect day.

A Perfect Day in Zion! - Day 58

We had a fabulous day here. First, it was not too cold during the night - maybe only the low 50's. We went to Cafe Soleil in Springdale for coffee and to check our emails.

To reduce the impact of traffic and pollution on the Park, Zion now has a shuttle system to take you up the canyon. It is very convenient as the shuttles are only about 7 minutes apart. We took the shuttle to the last stop, the Temple of Sinewava. There, we got out and took the paved one-mile walk along the river to the Narrows. From there, you'd have to walk in the water to access the rest of the canyon. It is closed, however, because of how hard the river is running. (not that I would have river walked anyhow!) If you look at the photo above, there are actually FOUR climbers. You will have to enlarge it to see them. It takes them 2-3 days to get to the top; they sleep in hammocks. Courageous? Crazy?

By this point, the weather was well into the 70's, sunny and very pleasant. We had our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches alongside the river. The photo below is near where we ate.

From there, we stopped at Weeping Rock and took a short hike up to a waterfall. The views down the canyon were beautiful. The scenes are so large and sweeping that it is impossible to adequately capture them with the camera. We couldn't stop taking photos, though, as the views are so amazing.

We then rode the shuttle back to the campground and relaxed at the campsite and watched the shadows move across the rocks.

Back to Nature! - Day 57

We left Vegas today and headed to Zion National Park. We have not visited Zion since a summer many years ago with David, when it was so hot that all we did was play in the river.

We stopped in St. George, Utah to do a little shopping. Despite our mostly-successful vow not to eat at a chain restaurant, we weakened and did have a meal at a Five Guys there.

Then, we went to Zion where we got the last reserved site available for the weekend at Watchman Campground. We are in D Loop, the furthest from the river and are SO lucky to have got the reservation as the South Campground, which is first-come, first-served, was filled by noon. We set up and then went into the town of Springdale which is at the entrance to the park and did a little more shopping. The town has grown a lot since we were here years ago. It is a pretty little town and we could envision it as a place that David would enjoy living. The photo below shows Watchman Mt. which is behind our tent.

From there, we took a short drive up Rt 89 through the park and took some photos. Then, we took a short bike ride along the Virgin River and then, had a campfire. We worried a bit about how low the temperatures would go.

Sitting by the pool mostly - Day 56

Today was slightly warmer, but still not warm enough for us to want to go into the pool. Mark wants to slide down the 3-story slide which goes through the middle of an aquarium before we leave, but the wind chill kept him from it today.

We have decided to stay here an extra night as the price is right and we are having fun relaxing. The trip has been pretty busy and we have not had much "down time" so it is nice to sit and read. We also signed up today for 24 hours of internet, so we can plan our route home. We are debating between going through Colorado via Denver, taking back roads toward Cortez and Durango, or going a more southernly (warmer) route via Albuquerque. So, we need to internet to find reasonable prices.

We went on a quest to find Rosemary's Restaurant which Mark had discovered in his research. We did find out on the outskirts across town, but...it was closed on Wednesdays. And, when we read the menu and the prices, we have decided not to go there anyhow.

So, we came back and sat by the pool and read. Mark is reading Out Stealing Horses. I am trying to stick to non-fiction right now and just finished a book on the early history of the Unitarians to help me with Cyrus Peirce research.

For dinner, we went to the Main Street Casino which has a non-smoking sports bar and watched the Yankees beat the Sox again. Ted and Bev were at the game, but we did not spot them.

Finally, some warmth in the desert - Day 55

Today is Cole's 11th birthday - Happy Birthday to Cole!

Although it is not really warm today, it is warmer - into the high 60's.

We started our day at McDonald's again, to check our email. We got the news that we will be getting a tax refund, although we don't know the amount. Hurray! It is the first time that has happened in years and years.

As we continue to eat our way across America, we at at the Lotus of Siam, a Thai restaurant that he read about in a website, Hidden Gems of Las Vegas. From the very drab outside, it is never a restaurant that we would have driven by and stopped at, unless it had been recommended. But, it was surprisingly nice inside, despite being in a very run-down strip mall. I had a wonderful yellow curry chicken dish and Mark had Thai barbecued chicken. It was really excellent.

As the temperature has finally warmed up, and the wind has diminished, we decided to go to the pool. Well, we never made it into the pool, but did have a nice dip in the hot tub.

Later, we went across the street to the same bar as two nights ago and watched the finals of the Women's NCAA, as well as a Sox-Yankees game. UConn beat Stanford in the girls' final and the Yankees beat the Sox.

Afterwards, we saw the "Fremont Street Experience" which is an hourly light show on the arched ceiling over Fremont Street. The tune of the hour was "The Day the Music Died" with images projected overhead.

Desert Rain & Lunch at Bobby Flay's - Day 54

Today it is still too cold and windy for the pool....bummer! It actually RAINED in the desert today.

So, we went to Jiffy Lube to have the car serviced in the a.m. We have just completed 6,000 miles since leaving home. We went to McDonald's to check our email as the hotel charges $12.99 for a day of internet.

For lunch, we went up to the Strip to Caesar's Palace and had lunch at Mesa Grill

owned by Bobby Flay. Mark had a roasted chicken sweet potato hash with onions, chile peppers and cilantro with poached eggs (2) on top. I had a spicy halibut. It was good, but I felt that, for $24 I should have gotten something besides just the fish - like a veggie or salad. We liked the decor, though, especially as we saw a special on the Cooking Channel of the making of the restaurant.

Then, we strolled through the shopping area where there were ridiculous things like shoes at Jimmy Choo's for $1900! And, they looked ridiculous, too - much too high and flimsy.

We went back across the street to the same sports bar as the tv is good and there is no smoking there. Vegas is way too filled with cigarette smoke for us. We watched Duke win the NCAA over Butler in a very exciting game, by just 2 points.

Note: For the second year in a row, Mark has won the family NCAA tournament. David was in the lead for the bulk of the competition, but...then, Mark and Nick tied, only to have Mark win. This was notable as Mark started out the first round WAY in the bottom, so it looked like he was out of the competition. In the end, Jecca was in last place. Mark is feeling quite smug and hopes that the family pays up!

Easter, Windmills, Mad Greeks and Las Vegas - Day 54

Today is Easter Sunday. We got an early start and headed toward Las Vegas where Mark got a deal at the Golden Nugget Casino/Hotel.

The route was a new one to us for much of the way...and, we love new roads. It took us up a number of amazing mountain passes, each one less green than the previous one, as we dropped eventually into the southern end of the Mojave Desert.

One of the early passes was the Tehachapi. There is a famous old railroad loop there. If a train has at least 85 cars, as the engine snakes around loop, it passes over (or under, depending on its direction) the caboose. We were not lucky enough to see a train there, but did see the loop.

Tehachapi is also noted for a HUGE windmill farm. We have seen big windmill farms before in Palm Springs and outside of San Francisco, but this one put them to shame. It has over 4,500 windmills covering the pass. They can supply power for a year for over 300,000 houses. Very impressive and beautiful.

We pulled off for lunch at The Mad Greek diner, something else that Mark got from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We expected a rather small diner. Instead, it was a huge place and very crowded. It is very, very tacky with loads of plaster Greek statues outside and inside. I had a good Greek salad and Mark had a gyro. We also split a vanilla milk shake. When we talked with David on the phone, amazingly, he knew the place we were - Baker, California, from Hunter S. Thompson's book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Amazing as we did not make the connection and thought we had never heard of the place.

We arrived in downtown Las Vegas where we are staying at the Golden Nugget for $39 a night. It is one of the old-time casinos and not on The Strip. Our room is on the 21st floor and has quite an amazing view. We had hoped for warm weather so we could bask by the pool, but it is in the 60's and is really windy. In fact, they closed the pool down because of it. And, northern Mexico also had a 7.2 earthquake, which supposedly was felt in Vegas, although we didn't feel it.

We went out and did a big laundry and then went to a sports bar across the street from our hotel and watched the opening game of the Sox which was in Fenway with the Yankees. It was a nail-biter, but the Sox did pull off a win.

Napa to Bakersfield - Day 53

Well, it was only 36 degrees when we crawled out of the tent. Mark made some coffee using a hot pot which he took to the bathroom. Again, we opted out of showering. The thought of getting undressed in the cold shower stall and then standing under a small stream of hot water which clearly would not hit all parts of the body....no way! It took quite a while to break camp. The tent and the tarp were wet and somewhat muddy on the bottom. And, when we unzipped the two sleeping bags, I discovered that the bottom sleeping bag was quite wet where our feet were! No wonder it felt cold down there! But, we did stay dry. However, we are convinced we made the right move in leaving as we'd have to go into town to a laundry to dry out the sleeping bag if we had decided to stay. Anyhow, somewhat regretfully, we left Calistoga and headed south.

This really marks the half-way point of our trip in that we are now heading back home, even though we won't be home for a while. That always feels a bit sad.

Anyhow, we drove back down Interstate 5 and stayed at a rather dumpy EconoLodge in Bakersfield. We are annoyed as the internet only works in the lobby. I had to go and send out emails to everyone in my mail box, 20 at a time, because of a social network, sent to me by a friend in Egypt which hijacked my entire address book. It is very embarrassing as it sent out an email asking people to join and be my friend. This includes, not only my friends, but students, students' parents, professional colleagues and people who have rented with us, so it makes me feel pretty awkward.

We did have a lovely dinner at a Mexican restaurant down the street, called Agave. I had a wonderful chicken salad with spinach leaves, avocado, nuts, cranberries with a raspberry vinaigrette. Mark had a steak and carmelized onion burrito.

Cold Night, Rainy Day, Beer, Wine and Hot Springs - Day 52

What a day! First, it got very cold last night. It was 34 degrees when we got up and out of the tent. BRRRR! Both of us decided against a shower in the campground.

We drove into Calistoga to warm up at the Calistoga Roastery Coffee Shop where we sat for quite a while checking our email and having a delicious apricot-ginger scone. By then, it has started to rain. So, it was cold and rainy - not the best weather for being in a tent. So...what to do for the day?

We drove over the mountain to Santa Rosa where we located the Russian River Brewery, recommended to us by Will S. We ordered a flight of beers before checking to see how many beers we would get - expected 5-6. Instead, we got 18!!!! Way too much for us light weights! And, we ordered a pizza. Half of the beers were Belgian Ales. They had wonderful names which I cannot remember - Temptation, Damnation, Procrastination were 3. We barely finished half of the beer, not surprisingly. We also bought David a T-shirt there. By this point, the rain was bucketing down!

We had made an appointment at Failla Winery, owned by Ehrin Jordan and his wife. Ehrin's Mom was on the Theatre Board with Mark and, last time we were in Calistoga, we went to her house and then had a wonderful tour of Failla where they were just pouring the walls of the underhill caves that Failla was building. And, last year, at the Nantucket Wine Festival we poured for the Failla and Paes vineyards. Ehrin was away and we did not see Lucille either, but had a wonderful tour and tasting. We were taken through a portion of the caves which were quite amazing. And, we bought two bottles of Pinot Noir from the Kieffer Ranch.

The rain stopped around this time, but it was still cold and sitting at the campsite for hours was not terribly appealing. So, we had peanut butter & jelly and then went to the Calistoga Hot Springs and sat in the hot pools there for over an hour. The Spa opens up at night for just $10 per person and was well worth it! We sat up to our heads in the hot water, warming our bones for the chilly night ahead, even though the air was only in the 50's. It was wonderful.

We have decided that we will cancel the next 3 nights of camping, even though we love the campground. It is supposed to rain some more and the weather is not supposed to get any warmer. Too bad, but we are not going to stick it out.

To Napa - for wine, food and camping - Day 51

Today we left San Francisco and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped in Sausolito to look at the houseboats on the bay. We drove up to Santa Rosa where we located Guy Fieri's Johnny Garlic. Note: This is Guy Fieri who hosts Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I had a very memorable roasted red pepper soup and a Cajun chicken penne dish. Mark had a 'buffalo' meatloaf sandwich. We also bought a T-shirt for Nicholas.

Then, we set up our tent in our favorite site in Bothe-Napa State Park, site 10. We can certainly see the decline of funding for the California State Parks. There was no ranger on duty; just a list with our name and site on it.

After setting up, we drove into St. Helena to shop for some food (peanut butter & jelly). Then, we wandered up past Calistoga to the Vincent Arroyo Winery. We got some Arroyo years ago when we visited Napa. Interestingly, some of our Arroyo disappeared from our cellar. At any rate, we had a wonderful tasting outside on a picnic bench. (The winery is being re-built) We bought 2 bottles of Melange,, a mostly-Cabernet blend which is drinkable fairly soon. All the grapes for Arroyo are grown on the site and are only available in Napa. We also tasted some of the port, but could not buy any as it has sold out for the year. But, we did sign up for some to be delivered with their next batch. (September.)

After that, we went to the wonderful supermarket in Calistoga, Cal-Mart and got some home-made sausages which we cooked over the campfire