2010 Road Trip - St. Louis, MO to Mount Vernon, IL

Happy Memorial Day!

We left from Springfield, Missouri this morning, drove through St. Louis, and went on to Mount Vernon, Illinois.

We made our 300 miles today, so that is good. We are aiming for Lexington, KY for tomorrow night, Tuesday June 1. We've had a little rain, but not very much.

For Wednesday June 2nd we may be as far as the Greenbrier!

We are driving in on I-64, which will take us through Huntington and the southern part of WV, a beautiful route. It is beautiful here in Illinois, and green, very very green. Especially following the canyons of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

2010 Road Trip - near Branson, Missouri

Largest McDonalds in the world (according to the plaque on the wall.) Missouri along I-40 near Springfield



Ed enjoys chicken fried steak at Lambert's.... #1 on the travel channel for "throwed biscuits"

2010 Road Trip - Oklahoma City Memorial

Oklahoma City Museum of Art
in the old art deco theatre.


This day we left Oklahoma City rather early, before 9:30 I think. We debated whether or not to wait for the museum to open at Noon today (Sunday). Ultimately, we decided we could not afford the time to wait. I wanted to see the largest Dale Chihuly glass art exhibit. I did go to the museum and saw the largest Chihuly piece, a 55 foot high sculpture in the atrium, surrounded by glass windows. It is beautiful, and really huge. 2,400 separate pieces of hand blown glass.

http://www.okcmoa.com/exhibitions/dalechihuly-theexhibition/chihulyglass

I could not get a nice photo of it. Downtown Oklahoma City is beautiful, with a lot of vintage buildings. So, I snagged this one from the web site:

We went to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial again. It is truly a lovely and beautiful spot now. After 15 years, I am pleased people still come and pay respects to the victims of that awful violence. The memorial is serene, reflective, thoughtful and touching. It is hard to look at the two large arch like structures at either end of the reflecting pool. One says 9:01 the other 9:03.
The bombing took place at 9:02.
Really puts life into perspective. I am glad so many artists and people worked to make this a lovely remembrance. It is an important place.

2010 Road Trip - Oklahoma City, OK

We left Amarillo, Texas this morning in time to take in the 25 mile drive to Palo Duro Canyon in Texas. This canyon is the 2nd largest in the USA. It is beautiful and not so commercial.

We drove along I40 and Route 66 for most of the day. We visited the Route 66 Museum in Clinton Oklahoma. It was fun and interesting, lots of memorabilia. This is a most interesting motor route, I wonder if Mom and her family came through here. I know there were on part of Route 66, as the Petrified Forest is also on Route 66.

We ask for local eateries and found a place called "Deb's" for lunch, it was rustic but nice, home cooking. I had a grilled cheese. Ed had a fried egg sandwich.

Tonight we made Oklahoma and we had dinner in the Stockyard Section of Oklahoma at Cattlemen's Steakhouse. It was really good, but a zoo of a place, noisy and funny. We enjoyed it immensely.

I have some nice photos, but cannot get Blogger to work properly tonight, so I'll have to upload those later.

2010 Road Trip - Amarillo, Texas

We left Gallup New Mexico this morning, and made it to Amarillo Texas in time for dinner. It is a lovely drive, although too much time in the car. We had lunch along Route 66. New Mexico has a lot of extinct volcanos and lava flow visible. Very neat.
Tomorrow we go to Oklahoma City. Heading a little north now. We are tired!
We are going to try to see Palo Duro Canyon tomorrow morning.



The Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, set at the same angle as the Choeps pyramid.



Ed taking in the scene at The Big Texan. He did not elect to try eating the 72 oz. steak....



Barbara getting ready for dinner too.

2010 Road Trip - Grand Canyon and Desert View (East)

This was Wednesday, May 26, 2010. We stayed in Flagstaff that night.
We are a bit tired from all the walking and stuff.

2010 Road Trip - Petrified Forest AZ and Sunset Crater National Park

This first photo is at the Petrified Forest.


This one is Sunset Crater, a volcanic area near Flagstaff, AZ We hiked a little here to see the lava flow and cinder cone. It was a very windy day, and I think we are a little gritty and wind burned.
Tired too!
We are at Gallup, New Mexico tonight.
We will make Albuquerque tomorrow. Maybe even Amarillo, TX.

Grand Canyon Skywalk

Furnace Creek Ranch and Scotty's Castle - Death Valley

June Lake, CA May 2010


Ed at Mono Lake in May 2010


Scotty's Castle in Death Valley, CA May 2010






Barbara Nicholson May 2010

Leaving the Sierras --> Bound for Kingman AZ

June Lake, CA Here we are waiting for the oil light to go off. It is 26 degrees. We're (I'm) worried.




Ed having a wonderful breakfast at the Double Eagle Resort and Spa, June Lake, CA. May 2010



What a lovely fireplace in this restaurant at the Double Eagle.



View from our room at the Double Eagle on Sunday morning...wow.




View from our passenger seat as we start day 2 of our drive.

You might imagine how surprised we were to wake up to all that snow this morning. It was 26 degrees and the oil light in our car was on. Ed had just changed the oil, but at that subzero temp, the thicker weight summer oil was having a little trouble getting warmed up. Luckily, after letting it get warmed up, everything worked out fine! We enjoyed the great breakfast at the resort in June Lake, then we were off, headed for Death Valley National Park and Scotty’s Castle.
It turned out to be a really great day. The drive was beautiful, desolate, and soul warming. We soon left behind the snow of the Eastern Sierras for the relative warmth of Death Valley.
Scotty’s Castle is an architectural wonder, a really amazing place. For anyone in this area, it is a MUST SEE. They generated their own hydroelectric power, so this place had hot and cold water, electric lighting, (using DC current at first, like Edison.) Not to mention the beautiful Spanish tile work and the 7 indoor bathrooms. It was great. I feel so lucky that we got to see this.
We made Furnace Creek Ranch by 5:30pm, just in time to check in and get a steak for dinner. Then we were off to the warm spring fed pool, the one Furnace Creek is famous for. It is really wonderful and under the sparkling night sky, I felt like I as in heaven.
We went from 26 degrees in the morning, to 77 degrees and a 88 degree pool by night. Elevation change today went from 8,000 feet above sea level, to the lowest point in the USA, at -119 feet below sea level.
Gas cost us an incredible $3.69 a gallon!