Escaping Gustav we ran into a cowboy...

We woke up yesterday in Columbus, MS and had a very formal breakfast in our B and B. The owner gave us a tour of the house and all the Victorian antiques. Very interesting. When we got onto the road, we ran into a ton of people who have evacuated from Gustav! 75% of the cars on the road in Alabama were Louisiana plates. In the rest area where we stopped, there were many evacuees sleeping on the grass. We were already 300 miles from the Gulf!! Almost 2 million people evacuated so it's not surprising that there were a lot of cars on the road. I think if we had left Baton Rouge much later, we would have been stuck in awful traffic.

Despite this, we got to Nashville pretty quickly. We went out to dinner and to a little famous club in downtown. The bands playing were mostly country and rock cover bands. They were good though. We made some new friends, including a man who is a professional rodeo guy. He was very friendly and had a cowboy hat. He was in Nashville "breaking" horses for a stockbroker. He explained that weathy people buy horses and hire him to train them. He claimed to be one of the 15 best rodeo people in the country. He lives in Montana. He was very charming and Herb and I had a nice time talking to him. Best of all, he produced one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip!!! I'll post it. Herb had only had one beer in the picture, contrary to the way he looks.

We're leaving soon to head to Columbus. I'm glad we stopped here. Nashville seems like a very lively spot!! We really are on the last leg. I'll post once more after Columbus and then it's time to face real life. This dreamlike tour of the country has been the trip of a lifetime. When the cowboy was talking about where he lived and the places he'd been, Herb and I could intelligently discuss almost all of them. We really know the country now. What a treat!!

Love to my mom and Gregory in Baton Rouge. They just started to get rain and are probably in for a long few days.

Heading north!!

Well, we are finally on the last leg. We crossed back over the Mississippi River from Texas into Louisiana. The last time we crossed it was Aug. 1 in Saint Louis. It was nice to be back East but I was sad that our monumental vacation is coming to an end.

We had a really nice couple of days with my mom and Gregory. We didn't do much. We were so tired from all the traveling. They made us meals and took good care of us. We were sad this morning to leave, especially since they stayed behind to deal with Gustav, a category 4 hurricane. It was very exciting leaving as people were starting to evacuate from New Orleans. But I was worried thinking about my mom huddling in the kitchen away from all the windows. I'm sure it will be all right but I just don't want them to suffer all the anxiety and/or any damage to the house.

We are staying tonight in an old antebellum house in Columbus, Mississippi. I don't know exactly how I found it. It is enormous, and quite beautiful. Tomorrow we are headed for Nashville and then on to Ohio to visit Herb's family. That will be great and relaxing too. In two weeks, we are starting work!! And a whole new life!! How exciting!!

I did realize from looking back on the blog that I use way too many exclamation points!!!!!!

howdy from austin continued...

Last night we saw a great country band. The lead singer sounded like Johnny Cash. They were excellent and the club was right across from our motel. We bought one of their cds

We have spent both mornings sitting in a little coffee shop watching roadrunners (the main bird here), dogs and funky people. Our motel is the Austin Motel, from 1938. The rooms are very small but they are all individually decorated and pretty comfortable (good AC).

Today we are going to San Antonio. We are on our last leg of the trip. It's sad but we are quite tired. It will be nice to end with seeing our families and staying in one place for a few nights. Herb and I have been joking that we feel like we are on tour, and the tour is almost over. We've had a spectacular time though.

Of course we are stopping for more barbecue on the way to San Antonio!!!

howdy from austin!!!

We have had a great time in Austin!!! What a fabulous little city!! People are friendly and quirky. Despite a population of a million plus people, it does have a small town attitude. We spent yesterday wandering around some funky neighborhoods. We did laundry and tried on boots (mostly Herb did both). We've had barbecue three times (again, mostly Herb) and lots of Mexican food. More blogging in a second.

in the lone star state

We're in the lone star state!! Taos was fun, but a little too touristy. We stopped by Santa Fe. While lovely, it was also crawling with tourists. All the galleries and stores were seriously overpriced. We also had a very disappointing meal at The Coyote Cafe. I tipped under 10% for the first time in my life (the service was terrible). The Georgia O'Keefe museum was good though.

Anyway, after that we went on to Taos. Taos is much higher elevation than Santa Fe. It is a flat valley at the top of a range of mountains. It is surrounded by 13000 foot peaks. The Rio Grande runs about two miles away from town. It is quite lovely. All the structures are adobe. I think the best part of Taos though, is the air and the light. Maybe because of the elevation, the air feels very pure and easy to breathe. And the sunlight is particularly beautiful up there, reflecting off the adobe structures.

We stayed in a charming bed and breakfast which dates back almost 200 years. It is on many acres of property, had a hot tub and great views of the mountains. Friday we went for a 6 mile hike. Aside from a little sunburn, it was really fun. It was the first trail of our trip where we saw almost no other human beings. Then we went to the Taos Pueblo which is supposedly the oldest continuously inhabited structure in the US. It was built over 1000 years ago!!!! We had our best mexican food meal so far on Friday night. I had a veggie burrito smothered in red hot caribe sauce (I don't know what that means but it seems like it means really spicy).

Yesterday we drove to Texas. We are staying in the craziest place here in Lubbock. It is a bed and breakfast. However, instead of the hosts having separate living quarters, they were watching TV and knitting in the living room of the B and B. The guest rooms are integrated with the host rooms. Herb and I were afraid when we left for dinner last night that if we got home too late, we might get scolded by the hosts!!!! Very bizarre. In addition, our room is called the "lone star room". It is decorated with animal horns (longhorns I think), a lasso and boots, and lone star Texas towels. Very funny.

Lubbock doesn't have much more to offer I think for tourists. We went out last night to a pub owned by one of Jason's best friends from college (he went to school here at Texas Tech) and today we move on to Austin. We are going to see music at the Continental Club, a famous Austin club!!! Yea!!

We are really moving back east quickly now. I'm sad that the trip is almost on its last leg. But I think we will be ready to start our new life at the end. As expected, it has been very tiring. However, this has been one of the most fun months ever!!! I think Herb has had a great time too!!

that really is quite a grand canyon!

Wow, the Grand Canyon was well worth the trip. I can't believe in retrospect that we were thinking of skipping it. It literally takes your breath away. I asked Herb last night what his favorite National Park is so far. It's tough. I think Glacier might be my favorite but the Grand Canyon is really a wonder of the world. After leaving our little bordello yesterday (see pic), we drove about and hour and half to the Gr Can. We jumped out of the car as soon as we got there to get our first look. Wow!!!! It also wasn't nearly as annoyingly crowded as I had expected. There were a lot of people there but it is a big canyon and there was room enough for everyone. We walked the rim for a little while and took about a 45 minute hike down and up. Coming up wasn't as bad as I had expected. Of course, we didn't go down too far. Also, we got to trade in our credit for admissions to other National Parks and get an annual "park pass". Yea!!!! We used it later in the day when we went to Petrified Forrest National Park and got in for free. That is another wacky place. At first it didn't seem like much more than desert. But when you got out and walked around, all the trees were literally turned to stone and crystalized. It produced the most sparkly and vibrant colors, especially since we were there at sunset.

We didn't arrive at our final destination until almost nine and we were famished from our hikes (even though they were small). We stayed last night at the El Rancho Historic Hotel. It is the pinnacle of kitch, a Route 66 hotel that has housed many movie stars. It was opened in 1937. As you can see from the picture, it is all neon and is visibile from the road. The rooms are a little rugged but the lobby (where I am currently blogging from) is quite charming-old wooden railings, pictures of stars and of course animal heads.

The west, specifically Arizona, has a beauty that I've never seen before. The earth is mostly red, which is the strangest part. And there is painted desert everywhere. The sky is vast and blue with a few scattered clouds. It is quiet and peaceful. And there are always lone freight trains rumbling by. I have been trying so hard to get a good train picture but it's usually out the car window. Maybe I'll post what I have tomorrow.

We are going to Taos today by way of Santa Fe. We are going to try to find somewhere good to have lunch.

This trip has expanded my mind in ways I can't even appreciate. I really feel like I have finally seen my country and am beginning to understand how vast it is. Herb and I are having the best time ever!!!!!

everyone is named emma these days

This is an "Emma" bag that was hanging from the chair of a child about the age of 10. I spotted it and couldn't resist getting a picture.

The bordello we stayed in last night has quite a colorful history. When the current owner bought the place, it was not being used and was still set up like a bordello. He renovated it, put period pieces in the room. The wallpaper still has fringe on it!! There is also a ghost here. It is a Mexican woman and there is a picture of her hanging on the wall downstairs. Her reflection is not seen in the mirror directly behind. Strange.

The town we are in is called Williams. It is half Grand Canyon gateway and half Route 66 tourist stopover. It is full of kitch. Herb and I went out last night for Mexican (Herb had ribs) and we heard live music. We are leaving for the canyon in a few minutes. Then it's on to Gallup, NM and the El Rancho! Fun!!

I will post some pics of the bordello tomorrow.

A long road on the California/Arizona border!!!

Pictures!!!!!

Here are pics of people: Katherine and Robert, her boyfriend, aunt Gwen and Elvis the dog, Herb and Uncle Peter in hats, and a snail!!!

Today we left LA and drove across the desert to a small town in Arizona. We had a great time in LA. We went to a cactus garden and this morning I went for a run on the boardwalk.

Tomorrow we are going to the Grand Canyon. The Mojave was HOT!! It was 108 degrees, which I guess isn't even bad for a summer day. We climbed 6000 feet to our current location and now it's 80 degrees. When we first got on Highway 40, there was a sign which said "Wilmington, NC 2,554 miles". I realized that we were entering the highway at it's beginning!!! It was 2554 miles all the way across!! We are heading East again!

Tonight we are staying in a restored old bordello and are about to go out for our second Mexican food meal today. Delish!!

The pace has slowed thank goodness...

Well, the blogging has slowed for the time being because the pace of the trip has. We really needed it. We are in LA, where I am not able to download pics and before yesterday, we were in SF where the wireless wasn't working. Luckily, I didn't have too much to say. We arrived in SF on Thursday night. My aunt Gwen has a fabulous house perched on top of Telegraph Hill with a roofdeck looking out on Alcatraz (sp?) and the bay. The second we arrived, she whisked us up to the roofdeck, poured us wine and I updated her on the last year of my life. The rest of the time in SF was so nice. We welcomed the chance not to stay in a hotel. We did laundry three times (ah, the lap of luxury), went out to dinner with my friend Katherine, went out to a superb lunch at Greens, a gourmet veggie restaurant with Gwen and watched the Olympics. I do have a good picture of Gwen with her dog Elvis and some wacky photos of Katherine and me. Herb loved San Francisco. He really liked the yuppie farmers market, the light-colored houses and the cool air. I think San Francisco would be high on a list of cities he would consider moving to.

Yesterday, we drove to LA. We decided to scrap the idea of taking Highway 1 and came down the freeway. We got hungry in the middle of nowhere and drove 5 miles off the highway to a tiny Mexican town-no English was spoken there. We ordered tacos (I had to pull out my best Spanish to get something without meat). The food was pretty good and cost about 6 dollars. We hung out last night with my Aunt Jean and Uncle Peter and had a really nice time catching up with them. Today we are going to walk on the boardwalk and go to some gardens which are full of cacti. We changed the upcoming portion of our trip a little because we are now going to go to the Grand Canyon. Even though it will be very touristy, I really want to see it. And Herb is ok with it.

So, hopefully this is enough of an update for now. I will post the pics from SF when I can. Tomorrow we head back East for the long trek to MA!!!!!

redwoods!!!!

Yesterday, we saw the redwoods. Wow, those are some big trees. The forests are so peaceful. You can totally imagine dinosaurs running around in them. We started out at a not-too-crowded one close to the Oregon border. One funny note-at the California border, someone stops you to find out if you are bringing any fruit in from another state. The guard asked us where we were coming in from. And Herb answered in typical Herb fashion "Well, we're just kind of taking a lap around the country," with an understated circle of his arm. It was really funny.

Anyway, the first forrest we went to had many groves with dozens of redwoods, and no other people. We got a few good pictures and aside from briefly not being able to find our car, we had a great time. The rest of the Northern California coast just seems so empty. Today we are heading briefly into wine country and then on to California. The place we stayed last night was my least favorite so far. It wasn't bad, just a little overpriced and run down. Enjoy the tree pics.

oregon is an all around special place!!!

Finally, everything has come together so I can again blog!!! How wonderful!!! So, yesterday we left Portland, which really is a delightful city. I would certainly consider moving there if I had a good reason. The rest of Oregon has turned out to be lovely as well. We drove through the Columbia River Gorge on the way out of town. It was a little slow going but we saw several waterfalls, including the second highest in the country. We ate lunch at a little outdoorsy town called Hood River. Then we took a very scenic drive past Hood Mountain (see picture) which is an 11500 foot peak. They just don't make mountains in the East Coast like they do out here.

It has multiple glaciers at the top, I hear. We spent the rest of the day meandering through central Oregon. There are quite a few towns (like Bend, OR) which are apparently really on the rise. It is mostly because there are so many outdoor activities here, the weather is beautiful, there are wineries and microbreweries gallore. Oregon seems like an all around good state!!!

One interesting thing that I snapped a pic of was a brush fire. If you look closely at the pic, you can see little flames. We aren't sure, but we think this may be an intentional fire.

Anyway, we ended the day at Crater Lake. I must admit that although it is a one-trick-pony type of National Park, it is quite a pony!!!! Crater lake was formed by a volcano erupting thousands of years ago. What was left behind was an enormous crater which since has filled with rain water and snow. There are some glaciers at the top and the lake is the deepest in the country!!! It is five miles across and very beautiful (see last pic). And unlike the other National Parks, there were very few people there. The lodge (which I couldn't book because it was full) was much nicer than the ones in GNP. It certainly is worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

We stayed in a tiny town in Oregon called Prospect (pop. 500 people) which is so cute. We stayed in a modern motel room which is part of a historic hotel and dinner house. It is nestled in the pines and there is a pond with trout on the property. Herb and I walked over there and played with the trout this morning. We also took a short walk to a waterfall. Not a bad town. I have to toot my own horn a little by saying that I am very pleased with all the little inexpensive quirky places we have stayed. Research really pays off.

Today it's off to Miranda, CA and the Redwood National Park. Herb and I are having fun. Tomorrow we will go to San Francisco, hopefully by way of a few hours in wine country!!!!

here are a couple pics!!!!

Animal heads have been a theme for the trip. And here is a picture of Herb at the Continental Divide which we have crossed many times!!!!!

i know! where are the pics?

ok. well, blogging has become more difficult in the face of valet parking. herb and i gave our car to the valet (we got a 50% discount for driving a hybrid) and i left my picture uploading equipment in the car. so, i got some cute portland pics today but can't transfer them.

portland is great though. it seems to mostly be a series of very vibrant, cute neighborhoods. all of them have brewpubs and wine bars. in the distance are tree and house covered mountains. and we got, surprisingly, sunny skies!!!!! herb and i walked around the town-and it does feel like a town. we ate last night at jake's famous crawfish, which we learned about from my mom. tonight we ate at a decent little italian place. traveling is catching up with us a little though. it's tiring. and tomorrow we start another three day stretch where we travel every day.

i would certainly suggest a visit to portland for anyone who is in the area. although there aren't a lot of attractions per se, there are endless great people watching venues, good food, outdoor activities and a generally laid back attitude.

i'm off to watch a little olympics before tomorrow we are off to a motel near crater lake. i got a nice picture today of herb in a brew pub and of the laughing planet cafe which is only in bloomington and oregon. will (hopefully) post them tomorrow along with some crater lake pics.

by the way, i met two nurses today and got to advise them on fun glacier hikes. i realized again how much fun this trip is and how much i want to go back to glacier national park!!!!!

portland is better than seattle

Sorry that ive posted no pictures in two days. seattle was a little overcast and rainy. herb and i decompressed from the pace of the last seven days and relaxed. there were very few picture worthy moments. seattle seems a little like a city that needs a bit of reinvention after the heydayof the 90s. it had a lot of traffic. the pike's place market was fun and we had great chowder there this morning. but we were excited to get to portland. our hotel here is a wine hotel with a happy hour from 5 to 6 with free wine. herb and i had a glass and wandered around to the central square. portland is a little rough and tumble but really seems like an exciting town with lots of good places to eat. we happened on a celebration of an animal hospital with a live 70s cover band and microbrews. we hung out there for awhile and went for seafood. i had blackedened coho salmon with chipotle marinade and mashed potatoes. yummy. so far, portland is my favorite city i've seen. and herb pointed out that portland has a major medical center, which boulder does not.

anyway, pics tomorrow!!!!

Good old USA!!

I think by the end of the trip there will only be 6 states I haven't been in!!!!

it can't get any better than glacier national park!!!!!!

Whew!!! I'm back to the land of cell phone service and wireless internet. My cell phone didn't have reception for almost 36 straight hours in and around Glacier.

I know having spent yesterday and the day before in GNP (Glacier National Park) that the trip can only be downhill from here. It was spectacular!!!! Better than the Alps or Norway in my opinion!! We stayed in a Park Lodge. The actual hotel was nothing much to speak of. It kind of felt like being at camp (with many 8th graders running the hall and bunkbed type furniture). But the view out our window was the best ever!!! (See image 2). We saw tons of wildlife-grizzly bears (from a distance), mountain goats, a moose swimming in the lake and bighorn sheep. Actually, the goats were right on our path-a mommy and a baby. They were so cute.

Herb and I went on a 10 mile hike to an alpine iceberg lake. We heard it was better to hike in groups of 4 to avoid bears so we hiked with a couple in their 50s (who were very fit). They were from Ohio so there was some Buckeye chatter and we all did a little "hikotherapy". We were with them for around 5 hours and amazingly we never ran out of things to talk about. The woman had a pretty loud voice so Herb and I felt much less anxious about bear attacks. After a couple of miles I noticed Herb had even loosened his grasp on his bear pepper spray.

Anyway, we had a great time in GNP and identified it as one of the key places that we want to come back to. Today we are off to Seattle-back to civilization!! We have seen a lot of cute little Westerny towns with wood saloons and gun shops. We stayed last night in Kalispell, Montana. I think Ennis, Montana has been our favorite so far. I am happy to get to the West Coast but feel sad to have left Glacier. It really was the most beautiful place I've ever seen!

Yesterday we were in Yellowstone. Getting there was a little annoying because theywere doing quite a lot of road construction. It is all two lane roads so we often had to come to a complete stop for 15 or 20 minutes before we were guided through rock falling areas by a "leader car". I tried not to get upset about it because the settings were so beautiful but it was hard.

Herb and I started off our Yellowstone time by going on a three mile hike through fir forrests and mountain meadows. They were so lovely. Very few people were on the hike, which was surprising, since overall Yellowstone was a zoo. We had to end the hike a little early because there were tons of mosquitos eating us alive. We saw other people who were abandoning their walks as well for the same reason. But it really was very beautiful. Apparently other people, like us, hadn't thought to buy bug spray for the middle of the day.

Then we went to the thermal features. Now I get why Yellowstone is such a tourist destination. It is like nothing I've ever seen. You walk around and hot sulfur geysers are erupting all around you. It feels like Mars. We were very excited because we walked up to the Old Faithful visitors center to see when the geyser would erupt next. There was a sign that read "Next predicted eruption of Old Faithful will be within 10 minutes of 3:02". We had totally lost track of time but I looked at my watch and it read "3:02". Perfection!!!!!! We had arrived at the exact right minute. So, we watched Old Faithful with about 5 million other people and then walked around to explore the other thermal features. Herb liked it so much, he put is on his top three list of the trip so far. We are racking up quite a lot of competition for this list. On the way out of the park, we saw mule deer, which are big ugly fat deer, nothing like home deer. And we got to use our binoculars!!!!

Today it is sunny and 70 degrees in Ennis, MT. We are heading out for a 5 hour drive along back roads of Montana and spending tonight in a lodge in Glacier National Park. How fun!!! Enjoy our pics! More tomorrow or the next time I have wireless!!

Wyoming!!! Day 4!!!

How is it possible that we have only been on this trip for 4 full days??? We have seen so much. Herb wants everyone who will listen to know that we saw a badger. He was really excited. We left Boulder at a reasonable time this morning and stopped at Johnson's Corner (see pic above), a historic truck stop in our Roadfood book, for lunch. Actually, it was really good. I had a tuna melt. Then it was on into Wyoming.

Wow!!! I am not sure in my 34 years that I have seen anything like Wyoming. Pictures could not do it justice (especially from a non-photographer like myself). It is hard to describe, but for one, it has no people in it. We drove for hundreds of miles without seeing a person, a house, a telephone pole, a gas station or a billboard. It was just empty rocky outcroppings and flat grasslands literally as far as the eye could see. Unlike the East Coast mountains, which have trees and greenery, the mountains here are red, rocky, often much like I imagine Mars looks. And there are no signs of life. Thank goodness we had a full tank of gas. After about 250 miles like this, there started to be some signs of habitation. We are now about 80 miles from Yellowstone in a motel/RV stop called the Longhorn. It seems like it is in the middle of nowhere but is about 3 miles from a Western looking town that clearly caters to tourists. (The picture above of the river is in the backyard of our motel.) Tomorrow it is on to Yellowstone for a few well picked hikes and then we are staying in another cabin type place on the other side.

What a great trip!!!! Everyone should see the country this way. It actually is comforting to know that there are still such vast empty spaces in this country. I had no idea that someplace like Wyoming existed.

By the way, Herb and I came up with a new term yesterday for the conversations that many fit Colorado women seemed to be having with eachother while going up the trails--hikotherapy!!! While Herb and I were puffing and heaving trying to get up the strenuous trails, all of the Boulderites were talking about how to better communicate with their husbands, etc. The trail seemed to be quite easy for them. It was very amusing. As Brendan told me, Colorado is the most fit state in the country!!! It shows!!!