Day 2 (Continued)

We continued down our route through winding mountain roads and came upon some gorgeous valleys

Waterfalls were abundant in the mountains from the snow melt, despite still having snow on the mountains.

We leveled out on the valley floor - the valley was desert like in some places and fruitful for farming in others.   In a search for lunch, we came across signs in the shape of alligators -- "Colorado Gators" -  we were more curious than hungry, so a quick turn to the East took us down this side road to an area with several ponds and seemingly broken down buildings.   Being us, we could not resist seeing alligators in the middle of the desert and figuring out what you could fish for in these ponds.

Well we were in for a treat!    We were greeted in the gift shop with a whole family; kids, moms, dads, grandmothers, etc.   We paid our entrance fee and proceeded down the path following the gator prints.    We first have to step over a a 6 x 1 on the floor, then a second one - only to find out that desert tortoises occupy every area and have to be separated from each other.   They are very fast!

We walked into a room with hundreds of aquariums -- hundreds of rescued reptiles occupy these aquariums.   Most were friendly enough to be held - as our guide started pulling them out and putting them in our hands.   We finally said no to the scorpion!   But we did not say no to the alligator - what an experience, we got to hold a REAL LIVE alligator!  His name was Captain Hook.   He is much softer than I thought.  

We continued through the farm -- this is a fish hatchery and they started with one alligator for "garbage disposal" of the dead fish.   1 grew to 400 - yes, I said 400 -- there were alligators every way we turned.   All rescued gators.   People started bringing other animals to them as well -- ostriches, bunnies, turtles, birds - quite a sight to see - you have to go if you are ever on 17, Mesco, CO.  

We left the Colorado Gator farm and headed for a place to eat and sleep for the night.   We saw tons of antelope and elk along the way.   We ended up in a town call Fairplay -- you have to research it -- named for the gold prospecting mindset of things need to be "fairplay" - I am simplifying the whole story - but worth a stop and a read.    We stayed in this beautiful old Inn; Fairplay-Valiton Hotel -- every floor board made noise -- it was amazing.   We had called ahead, they were expecting us, when we arrived, the owner/operator was across the street eating.  The note instructed us to call from a antique phone to find out our room number

The lobby had beautiful original woodwork and fixtures.    Two dogs greeted us as well.  There were authentic pieces in the lobby such as the original registration window, old typewriter and a license for prostitution (evidently you had to have a license to practice back in the day).

We walked the creaky stairs to our room at the end of the hall.   We loved the uniqueness of the place and the fact that none of the doors were locked as we walked through the hall - it was like we were in someone's home.    Modern bathroom to make us feel comfortable, although I was hoping for a claw-legged tub.  We cannot wait to see how we sleep!

 
We will see what the next day brings!

Colorado...Day 2

Second day on the road;  left Phoenix area at 111 degrees on Monday -- arrived into Durango at a cool 49 degrees -- this morning is very nice; around 70  We started with a quick breakfast at the hotel.   The hotel sits right on the river - beautiful view.

We set our sights high for the day, but knew that we would take it one bite at a time.   We headed to Pagosa Springs.   Great little town with amazing views.   We captured the Chimney Rock view first -- not many places to pull over and take pictures on this road.

Stopped at a local gift shop and picked up some yummy fudge! 

Wolf Creek Ski Resort was our next stop -- a re-con for future skiing trips.   The resort is tucked away in the mountains.   They are doing so much construction, what it looked like during last year's ski season is going to be nothing like this up and coming one.   The mountain still had snow in places and waterfalls from the melting snow in others.   Could not resist running up the mountain for a quick reminder of snow.

Lots of road to cover today and much to see - more in the blog later. 

We are back on the road

We left Chandler on Monday morning-ish -- okay it was a late start and we left in time to get lunch. 

We were torn - wanting to help in the tornado stricken areas, yet not wanting to be one that needed help with the new storms brewing - we decided to take the northern route to Michigan.

Loaded with a u-haul trailer and a back full of "stuff" - we headed north.   

Our first stop after lunch (which was a couple miles from home) was Montezuma's Castle.   Quinn is very much into Minecraft these days, virtually building amazing structures online -- the consideration of seeing an ancient cliff dwelling was extremely appealing.    The dwellings did not disappoint.

As we headed further north, we made the choice to land in Durango for the night -- we pushed forward through the Navajo Nation.   The wild horses were abundant - we saw over 150 wild horses grazing and running through the open areas in the Navajo Nation.  

We stopped in Kayenta to get gas and a bite to eat.   One of the hotels had a copy of an old cover wagon -- we could not resist a quick snapshot

Our one sad moment was as we were getting gas a pack of 6 dogs came up to us -- the friendliest dogs you have ever seen.   They were hungry and wanted attention.   We had a couple of leftovers that we tossed to them and convinced them that 8 of us could not fit in my car.   Hated leaving them behind.

We got to Durango late and fell into bed, dead tired.   Tomorrow we head up into the Rockies.

We're BACK!!!

Yes, after a 6 month hiatus, we are back.

Traveling has become a way of life with us now. Since August, we have visited Dallas, Michigan (again), Las Vegas, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Herndon, Orlando, Cancun, Mexico City and Chicago. Many more trips to come.

Gotta love WiFi on most flights now. We never have any down time. We have most of the air, land and sea covered for connectivity to the outside world. Hiding is not an option anymore.

Interesting stories along the pathways and byways.......fire alarms in the middle of the night at hotels, lost luggage for days in a foreign country, typhoons in the middle of San Francisco, stranded in many cities due to weather and the list will continue.

Watch for sightings of the Sears Tower, Golden Gate and the LBJ Highway in the next couple of weeks.

The adventure never ends!

Roadtrip - Day 48; Career Intersection - Day 65

Last night was interesting finding a place -- seemed like there was no room at the Inns.

After grabbing a quick breakfast this morning, we jumped in the car with our minds set on getting to Crazy Horse and then down the road to Denver.

Just our luck, though, we found a monument inside Rapid City that we had only read about and could not believe was true. Much to our surprise it was! The lawn mower sculpture of Rapid City does exist! Hutch climbed right up in the middle of the sculpture to take a picture.

Of course you are asking yourself why, we did too - but more importantly, would you want this guy as a neighbor?????

Still shaking our heads we jumped back in the car and headed for Crazy Horse. The bikers were everywhere -- seems like they were either going to Mt. Rushmore or to Crazy Horse.

We decided to take a quick detour and explore a cave before going into Crazy Horse. The tour was great! We stopped at Rushmore Cave. The tour was almost an hour long and we were in the cave most of that time. Hutch went with us - but was afraid to leave our side for a picture -- the passages were very narrow and you had to duck your head most of the time.

After the tour was over, Hutch decided he wanted to go on the Adventure Tour the next time when they take you through the holes in the cave on your belly. Not sure I will be going on the Adventure Tour.

On to Crazy Horse, we almost passed this site up, but we are so glad we came. The story of craving this massive monument is amazing and emotional. We spent almost 2 hours looking around the place and could have spent more time if we did not have to get back on the road.

If you go, you have to sit through the 15 minute movie. It tells such a wonderful story of both Crazy Horse and the respect the Tribes have for him and Korczak Ziolkowski, the man who started this with Chief Standing Bear.

Moved by the entire story, we moved forward to our destination of the night, Denver.

We will post a little more later.

Roadtrip - Day 47; Career Intersection - Seems like forever!

We started out in South Dakota this morning and I have a feeling we will end up in South Dakota tonight -- long state.

South Dakota has so many different facets to it -- farmland, grazing, mountains, Badlands and cities -- not to mention the monuments and caves. And the people - what nice people!

We stopped at a few of those roadside attractions and Hutch wanted his picture taken with the local wildlife.
He was very interested in the mysterious Jackalope.

We moved down the road a bit to see if we could find a real western town. Unfortunately, we did not, but we did run into a local car collector -- you can tour his place. Most of the cars/trucks are sitting out in open barns, but a few were inside. Lots of antiques along with the cars -- interesting stuff! Hutch could not find the Starsky and Hutch car -- but he did find the General Lee.
Struck by the beauty of the land -- we saw many beehives -- as we understand it, most of the beekeepers bring their hives here for the summer and take them south for the winter -- this is one thing we would like to learn more about to understand.

In one of the fields we drove by - we found a man walking his dinosaur -- of course, we had to take a picture. We think they were headed for town for groceries -- looked like they needed some!

As with this entire trip, we had to have another hiccup - - for the first time in weeks, the temps got above 85. Flipping on the AC -- and there was no AC :( We made a quick stop at a rest area to take a look. We ran into many bikers headed for the big Bike Rally in Sturgis. A shout out to Big Roy for taking the time to bring his group over and helping look at the car.

We pulled into Wall Drugs and spent sometime there and picked up freon to fill the car back up. Good to go - we moved on to Mt. Rushmore.

Arriving at Mt. Rushmore was AMAZING -- this monument his wondrous! We took so many pictures we ran the camera batteries down. Hutch was a little scared of the height, so he stayed tucked safely in the car as we explored. This monument is a must if you are traveling through this area.

After spending a couple of hours at the monument we had to find a place to sleep. Just as in WI with the airshow - - the hotels were sold out and those that were not were 5 times the normal cost due to the Bike Rally. 600,000 bikers expected this week in this area. We finally found a hotel for the night.

Nothing new on the job front, have not heard anything. The consulting business has hit a snag with the contract - hopefully we will get it resolved.

Time for lights out and to dream about tomorrow's adventure - - we are thinking a cave and Crazy Horse before getting into Denver.

Roadtrip - Day 46 (continued)

Headed west we were witnessed massive farms. Most appeared to be family owned through several generations. Original structures still stand and are functional next to each generation’s progression. What were once old techniques is new again - wind farms span for miles creating self contained power grids to run these farms - the windmills of yesteryear, sufficient in their time, pale in the shadows of these giant wind-machines.


Our first stop in Minnesota was the statue of the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN -- what a site -- a 55 foot green man!



We stopped for gas a little way down the road and found this pile of cable reels -- just like the ones that I remember as a kid.

With our destination for the night in mind, we got back on the road. We crossed over into South Dakota -- so 3 states today - whew.

It was time for another pit stop -- and we found a perfect place! The local Little League was having a fundraiser -- a cookout. As we understand it, this is an annual event. They set up right off the freeway and serve burgers, hotdogs and sweet corn. We had already had our dinner, but could not pass up an ear of corn and a chance to contribute to a great cause.

We started to see a storm roll in as we sped towards Mitchell. We got in town just as the wind was kicking up -- but we decided we still had to keep the Corn Palace on our agenda. Downtown we headed!

The outside is made of corn and corn husks -- it was really a site to see.

Inside were murals made of corn and a couple of "corn-y" characters

We rushed in and out -- and got to a hotel just as the storm was hitting. The hotel has an indoor pool and mini-golf course. Exhausted, we might have to leave the activities until morning and get some shut-eye.

We will see you all again tomorrow! We hear that there are dinosaurs, prairie dogs and Badlands out there to see - cannot wait :)

Roadtrip - Day 46

We rolled out of Wautoma, WI this morning a little late. We are hoping to get to Mitchell, SD before nightfall.


The first interesting thing we came upon was in the middle of nowhere. The landscape was forest and farming -- and all of a sudden this large rock formation appeared.



There was no sign or anything to tell us about this unusual area -- so we stopped took a few pictures and moved on.
We happened to run into a factory that produced molds and casts of HUGE statues, icons and/or logos. Of course, we had to stop and take pictures.Hutch was a bit scared of some of these large beasts.



We did find a few that were kinda fun and cute though :)

We had a lot of fun walking through the field of molds and casts -- it was a nice stop

We arrived into Minnesota by crossing the Mississippi River! We got to touch the banks of the Mississippi -- WOW! Headed to SD - more to come -- watch our blog

Roadtrip - Day 45 (continued)

We stopped for a moment in St. Ignace to take a few candid pictures with Hutch.


We stopped a few more places to play in the water. Lake Michigan goes forever! And good for the Upper Peninsula for ensuring hundreds of miles of the shoreline is undeveloped and available to the public. Very hard to explain to people that live near large lakes and oceans that you could not see another human for miles if you are on the beach.

Hutch wanted to check out the John Deere dealer in Manistique -- he is partial to John Deere, since he is a little offended that every state and some cities have CAT dealerships but no DOG dealerships.

We passed by the roads that we traveled so much as a kid going to "Grandma's in the UP" -- almost took a detour into Garden to see what has changed. It had been years. We did keep driving though and came into Escanaba. Interesting sites in Escanaba, a quick trip into a gas station for a fill up found us next to the end of the railroad tracks and near a old boat just sitting on the corner -- Hutch had to jump in for a little picture taking.

Back on the road again headed for Wisconsin...but we had to stop at one more beach -- this time in the bay. The waters were much calmer, but the beaches a little more littered.

We finally got to Wisconsin and headed for the city of Green Bay.

Only to discover that with the Airshow all the hotels were out of our budget -- so we had to keep driving....Hutch was soooo done with the backseat, but hung in there.

Roadtrip - Day 45

Saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa was very hard this morning. As the saying goes "all roads lead to Rome" -- we think it should be "all roads lead to home" (we will be back). The first 20 miles were screaming of "Go Back" from the backseat :(

Although we were grieving our departure we could not help but sit in awe over the beauty we saw today. Our trip this year has given us the opportunity to see many areas. The drive from Michigan's Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula was amazing. It appears that a deal was struck by Mother Nature and Humans long ago; the road is allowed, no more invasive than that-- the sides of the road lined with trees, not billboards.

Hutch got a chance to see some of the view from above the tree lines:

We stopped at the famous Sea Shell City. Hutch made a friend while we shopped through all the salt water shells in this souvenir store close to Lake Michigan (a fresh water lake - go figure).

We left Sea Shell City with our wallets a little lighter and headed for the Upper Peninsula. Hutch was excited to see the Mackinaw Bridge! The wind was strong today and the Bridge was moving with it -- rocking us back and forth as we crossed to the other side.

We got to the Upper Peninsula and Hutch had to have a picture of the bridge.

We got a chance to stop and play in the water a little. The waves were kicking up which made it fun. Hutch stayed in the car because it was very wet.

Many more things to share with everyone that happened today, but it is time for bed. We crossed into Wisconsin only to find all the hotels either booked or 5 times the normal cost due to the big annual airshow. We have landed someplace, but it is late and we will write more in the morning.