Summer Travels
2010
click on state for write-ups and pictures
Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City Memorial
Oklahoma Fire Fighters Museum
Route 66 Old Town, Elk, OK
National Cowboy Museum
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Acoma, NM
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Albuquerque, NM
Old Town
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Gallup, NM
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Tucumari, NM
Mesalands Community
College's Dinosaur Museum
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​Texas
Amarillo, TX
The Big Texas Steakhouse
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Kingman, AZ
Oakman, AZ
Williams, AZ
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Winslow, AZ
Meteor Crater Site and Museum
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Beatty, NV
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Death Valley, NV
Hawthorn, NV
Army Ammunitions Plant
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Lake Mead, NV
Hoover Dam
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Las Vegas, NV
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden
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Reno, NV
National Auto Museum
The Harrah Collection
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Rhyolite
a ghost of a town
Goldwell Open Air Museum
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Virginia City, NV
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Bodega Bay, CA
Filming of The Birds
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Crescent City, CA
Battery Point Lighthouse
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Driving Through California
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Klamath, CA
Trees of Mystery
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Leggett, CA
Gateway to the Redwoods
Confusion Hill & Mystery House
Avenue of the Giants, Redwood Drive
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​Santa Rose, CA
Charles M. Schulz Museum
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Astoria, OR
​ Goonie's Movie House
Coscomb Hill is the Astoria Column
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Game Park Safari - baby lions & tigers
Shore Acres State Park
Sunset Bay State Park
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Cannon Beach, OR
​The Tillimook Cheese Factory
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Florence, OR
Sea Lion Caves
Head Lighthouse
Sand Dunes Buggy Ride
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Gold Beach, OR
Jet Boat River Trip
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McMinnville, OR
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
(Home of the Spruce Goose)
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Newport, OR
​ Yaquina Bay Lighthouse
Ripleys Believe It or Not Museum
Butterfly Museum
The Wax Works
The Undersea Gardens
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​Seaside Beach, OR
Helicopter ride
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Around the State
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Bellingham, WA
​ American Electricity and Radio
Museum
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Bothwell, WA
Boeing Assembly Plant
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Cle Elum, WA
Snoqualmie Pass
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Forks, WA
Town of Twilight books
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LaPush, WA
​ West End Drag Races
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Leavenworth, WA
​ Car Show
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Moses Lake, WA
​ Memories R Forever Car Museum
​ Cat Tails Zoo
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Ocean Shores, WA
Horse Back Riding on the beach
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Port Angeles, WA
​ Sand Sculptures
Olympic National Park
Hurricane Ridge
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Rialto Beach, WA
Olympic Hoy Rain Forest
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Roslyn, WA
​ Telephone Museum
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Seattle, WA
​ Ride the Ducks Tour
Seattle Underground
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Spokane, WA
​ Spokane Riverfront
​ Indian Pow Wow
Deer Lodge, MT
Powell County Museum
​ Old Montana Prison
Montana Car Museum
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Phillipsburg, MT
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Reed Point, MT
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St. Regis, MT
$50,000 Silver Dollar Salon
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Aladdin, WY
Sheridan, WY
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Deadwood, & ​Midland, SD
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​North Platte, NE
Platte Archway
Fort Cody Trading Post
Union Pacific Baily Railroad Yard
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Minden, NE
Pioneer Village
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Lincoln, NE
Smith Collection Museum of Speed
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Cape Girardeau, MO
Murals
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Tunica, MS
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Pensacola, FL
T.T Wentworth Florida State Museum
National Naval Aviation Museum
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Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee Automobile Museum
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Canada - Victoria ​British Columbia
Victoria, BC
Miniature World, Victoria, BC​
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On the Road Again
April 15, 2010
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN! Today Jack and I packed up the motor home and hit the road for the scenic highways and byways of this beautiful land of ours. Our plans are to go across the country into California and drive up the coastline of Oregon and Washington. After two weeks on the road we have driven through Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas and into Oklahoma. The roads are much to be desired but we managed to find a few smooth ones. The weather has been great except for those in Mississippi. For my bingo buddies, I went to a place called Mr. Bingo where you can play from 11 AM to 11 PM. Sounds like a place Marilynn would love. I played but didn’t win anything. We crossed over the part of I-10 that was destroyed by Katrina. It is now all concrete again. We traveled through Gulfport and Biloxi, Alabama to check out the progress. The shoreline is now beautiful white sand beach but there are still large areas of open land where houses once stood. Of course all the casinos, 14 of them, are in full operation. Some of the campgrounds we stayed at. Click on picture.
Arrowhead campground in Marianne, Florida, pretty neat
USS Alabama
Arrowhead campground in Marianne, Florida, pretty neat
Oklahoma - April 2010 All Pictures (Indian Territories, Oklahoma City Memorial, Brick town, Oklahoma Fire Fighters Museum,
Route 66 Museum, National Cowboy Museum)
That brings us to Oklahoma. We passed through six Indian Territories and what seemed to be 30 casinos. I guess that’s the main revenue for the Indians and they sure advertise for your dollar. The weather didn’t have any rain but the wind was very strong and keeping the coach going straight was a challenge.
Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
We then drove downtown and caught the trolley to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. This is the site of the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The memorial honors the victims, survivors, rescuers and all those who lives were changed forever on that day. As you approach the site there is a portion of a chain-link fence that was installed around the entire site to protect it but soon became filled with tokens of love and hope. This portion of the fence was left in place to allow people to continue to leave these items as remembrance and hope. Passed the fence you walk through a large “gate of time” inscribed 9:01 depicting the innocence of the city a moment before the bombing. The west “gate of time” is inscribed 9:03 a moment after the bombing that changed life forever. In between is a long reflecting pool with 1/4 inch of water over black granite. To the side is the field of empty chairs. These chairs represent the 168 people who lost their lives; 19 of them are smaller chairs for the 19 children who died. The perimeter wall matches the buildings footprint and a pathway following the wall is made of granite salvaged from the Murrah Plaza. At the east end of the field is the only remaining walls of the building with salvaged pieces of granite inscribed with over 600 names of those who died, survived or injured during the attack. On the other side is the Survivor Tree, a 90-year old Elm tree signifying human resilience. There is writing on the old Journal Record building put there by the rescuers that reads: “4-19-95 We search for the truth. We seek Justice. The courts require it. The victims cry for it. And GOD demands it!” The Memorial Museum is now housed in this old Journal Record building and is a self guided tour through the story of the Oklahoma City bombing and the days, months and years following that fateful day. All is very well done and the gardens and memorial are very peaceful.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Bricktown is the city’s Historic Entertainment District along a mile long canal in the heart of downtown. You can catch the water taxi and ride the entire length of the canal or walk it; we walked it. There are two levels of shops and restaurants, one was the Toby Keith Restaurant, and looked like a nice place. The Bricktown is a nice place but doesn’t hold a candle to the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas. On our way to Elk City, Oklahoma we passed several rows of wind mills stretching for miles across the landscape. I knew they just had to harness this wind somewhere.
Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
This is the only fire museum in the US owned and operated by firefighters. Inside is a collection of antique fire trucks dating back to the mid 1700’s and firefighting equipment. There was even a replica of the first fire station built in Oklahoma in 1869 with its original equipment inside.
Route 66 Old Town Museum
Elk City, Oklahoma
We stopped at a small place called Old Town Route 66. This was a town from back in the 1940's. A few buildings to walk around.
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
This is an impressive building and display of works of art, sculptures and gardens to tell the story of the American cowboy. The building is impressive in itself and we were surprised to learn that it was built in 1995. Outside, the entire west wall of the museum is a mural as a salute to the west stretching some 360 feet. Just inside the front door in a glass surround is a statue of an Indian on horseback depicting The End of the Trail, a tribute to the tragic dispossession of Native Americans at the end of the nineteenth century. The statue is 18 feet tall and weighs approx. four tons. We first watched a movie about life as a cowboy then we walked around the museum on a self-guided tour. Down the hallway is a statue of the Canyon Princess white cougar that stands 18 feet high and weighs 16,000 pounds and was carved out of a single block of Colorado Yule marble. This was a gift to the museum and is just beautiful. Then we walked through three art galleries of pencil, oil and watercolor prints. One of a cowboy on his horse done in pencil was just unbelievable and an oil of an Indian girl among the red rocks was marvelous and I would have loved to take a picture to show you but unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures. There is a gallery of American firearms and displays of hats, boots and of course saddles. There is also a Native American Gallery with pictures and artifacts of the Indian culture. Next we walked through the Western Performers Gallery with pictures and memorabilia of those who have contributed to the preservation of the stories and legends of the American Cowboy such as John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and even Ronald Regan. Then we walked through the American Rodeo Gallery with bull riders, bucking horses and other memorabilia of the 1950’s rodeo. Last you enter Prosperity Junction, a 1900 Western cattle town with full-size buildings of a saloon, school, bank, doctor office, church and stables. Each building has authentic articles and equipment. Outside are gardens with graves of infamous rodeo bulls and bucking horses and a larger than life bronze sculpture of Buffalo Bill. The place is very impressive.
New Mexico - May 2010
Albuquerque, New Mexico Pictures
May 4, 2010
There is a lot of Spanish influence and has been the focal point of the community since 1706. There are five to six blocks of old historic homes that have been restored in the old adobe style and turned into jewelry shops, art galleries or restaurants. This would a shopper’s paradise if you are into unique items or Southwestern style jewelry and clothing. In the center plaza stands the San Felipe de Neri Church that is quite beautiful and a national historic site. The rose garden out front is very pretty and very peaceful. We also played a little at the Route 66 Casino and Hotel. Driving there along I-40 all you see is open flat land with a truck plaza and the casino in the middle. As they say, "Build it and they will come", well this place is out in nowhere land and was packed. The casino is all decorated with Route 66 pictures, neon signs, a theater front and a 50's style restaurant with all the carpets done with Route 66 pictures a blacktopped road with Route 66 on it leading you through the casino.
Acoma, New Mexico All Pictures (Acoma, Gallup, Tucumcari Dinosaur Museum)
May 6, 2010
We thought the motor home was going to take flight. The winds were so fierce it was really rocking us. I did play bingo at one of the casinos there and met some very nice ladies. However, I was the only pale face there; everyone else was Indian. In fact, almost everyone in the casino was Indian. All the casinos we saw this past week are in Indian Territory and I thought a lot of their revenue came from gambling but the majority of gamblers were Indian! We talked to one policeman who said a lot of Indians get the fever and gamble everything they have away. We saw that in the homes they live in here; most were single very old trailers or worse and there are so many of them.
Gallup & Tucumcari, New Mexico
The road was good, it was a beautiful sunny day and the wind was a nice breeze. Our campground here is also on Historic Route 66 just off I-40. Gallup is in the heart of Navajo Territory and the meeting place for the world-famous Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial held each August. The Navajo Nation is the largest in the country and let me tell you, thousands of them live here. The town is really busy and the stores downtown are full of beautiful turquoise jewelry, pottery and crafts. One necklace that was exceptionally beautiful costs $650. That’s pretty expensive to me but every piece is handmade and you can definitely see the quality in workmanship. If I was into Indian jewelry or turquoise it would probably be a great price. We also walked through the El Rancho Hotel & Motel. This hotel was opened in 1937 and the place where many famous movie stars stayed while making their movies here. It is a large wood structure with a large foyer of heavy wooden beams, Navajo rugs and trophy animal heads, a large fire place and circular staircase to the second floor where there are autographed picture of stars like Ronald Reagan, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn and Kirk Douglas. The humidity through New Mexico has been 18% to 28%. Combine that with the winds and your skin dries out, your eyes dry out and your lips start cracking. And your hair, well forget that, it blows everywhere; at least mine, Jack doesn't have that problem. Ha Ha.
Mesalands Community College's Dinosaur Museum
Tucumcari, New Mexico
Our campground was right on Historic Route 66 and we drove right through an old demolished motel to enter. In town we stopped at this museum that they say the world’s largest collection of bronze skeletons, fossils and replicas of prehistoric creatures and has educational facilities for students studying paleontology and geology. They have a large laboratory inside the museum with the latest equipment for preparing fossils and looked very impressive.
Texas - May 2010
The Big Texan Steakhouse Pictures
Amarillo, Texas - May 2, 2010
The Big Texan Steakhouse and Motel. The steakhouse looks like an old saloon with animal heads hanging all over the walls. They offer a free steak providing you can eat it and all the trimmings in one hour. You have to pay $72 up front which you get back. The only problem is that the steak is a whopping 72 ounces! They have one in a case at the front door along with the 'winners’ board next to it. Three people actually did accomplish this feat but I don't think I would consider them 'winners'. They said one guy had to go to the hospital afterwards. There is no way either one of us could eat that much beef.
Arizona - May 2010
Meteor Crater Site and Museum Pictures
Winslow, Arizona
In the museum, we viewed a film about the creation of craters that was very good. The museum contains pictures, instruments and information about meteorites of all kinds. You can see the crater from a large window inside or walk outside to three viewing decks. There is also a trail several hundred yards along the top of the crater leading to the house/study of Daniel Barringer, a mining engineer who set up to mine iron from the crater. He determined that the crater was created by a meteorite and set out to prove it spending 26 years trying to find the giant meteorite. He never found anything more than one piece two feet wide that is in the museum. We now know that the crater was created some 50,000 years ago when a huge iron-nickel meteorite estimated to have been about 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons, struck the earth with an explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT. Within a few seconds, this crater some 500 feet deep, over 4,000 feet across and 2.4 miles round was carved into the flat land. To give you an idea just how big this is, the floor of the crater could accommodate twenty football games played simultaneously with more than two million spectators observing from its sloping sides. Now that’s big! The crater has also provided scientific training for the Apollo astronauts from 1964 through 1972. All around the crater we could hear the winds coming with a weird loud, low roar. I walked up the steps to the highest point on the crater’s rim and had to hold on for dear life. Just as I reached the top, the winds stopped and it was perfectly still, then that loud, low roar started and you better hang on tight. They said they have clocked winds of 50 MPH here. I saw a t-shirt in the gift shop that said “I survived the winds at Meteor Crater” and I knew I had to take a picture.
Williams, Arizona All Pictures (Kingman, Oatman, Williams)
May 13, 2010
An old western town on Historic Route 66 and the last Route 66 town in America to be bypassed by the freeway system. Most of the buildings were constructed in the early 1900's and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is situated on the shortest route from Interstate 40 to the Grand Canyon which gave it its name “Gateway to the Grand Canyon”. There are several buildings displaying Route 66 memorabilia, lots of shops, two 50’s style restaurants, old motels and gas stations. We ate lunch at the Route 66 Café with large cokes and larger half pound hamburgers. The café has all kinds of Route 66 stuff including the front of an old Chevy on the wall. Each day we were there it was in the 70’s during the day but went down into the 40’s at night and at an elevation of 6,700 feet it was really windy.
A fair size town also on Route 66 and has lots of old 1950’s buildings. There are a lot of shops, but most are pawn shops or outlets. The Power House Route 66 Museum is also the Visitor Center. The museum is just a small one with pictures explaining the history of Route 66 throughout Arizona. The Route 66 Diner called Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner is an original Route 66 Diner decorated in pink and turquoise colors and all 50’s stuff inside including an original soda fountain. It’s a real step back into 1950.
About 45 miles from Kingman on Route 66 we drove across the Black Mountains into Oatman. This town was once almost a ghost town. The drive goes through the mountains and is not a road you want to drive with a motor home. We saw two Class C coaches along the way and they sure didn’t look like they were having fun. The scenery, however, was fabulous. We almost ran over a road runner and saw a wild burro along the way. Oatman was an old mining town and produced nearly 1.8 million ounces of gold by the mid 1930’s but in 1942 the last of the mines were closed as nonessential to the war effort and the town died. When the miners left town the burros once used in the mines, hauling water and supplies, were released into the surrounding hills. Today the town has been restored and the burros walk freely around town. They are actually wild and they warn you that they could bite. They approach you for food but don’t try to pet them; we saw one woman get a head butt when she tried. Thousands of people stop here just to see the burros. The town has a General Store, stores called Jackass Junction and Classy Ass, the Gold Dollar Variety store, the Olive Oatman Restaurant, Ice cream Saloon, post office and the Oatman Hotel. The Hotel is the oldest two-store adobe building in Mohave County built in 1902 and is registered with the National Historical Society. Perhaps one reason for its fame was that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon there in 1939. They said they often returned because they enjoyed the solitude and Gable would play cards with the miners. The bar attached to the hotel is quite unique because the walls are completely covered with dollar bills. You can sign your name on a dollar bill and will be stapled to the wall; even the railing and door are covered with them. On the way back we passed two of the old gold mines and one Gold Road Mine that is still operating today.
Nevada - May 2010
Las Vegas, Nevada
Hoover Dam & Lake Mead All Pictures (Hoover Dam & Lake Mead, Las Vegas, Siegfried & Roy Secret Garden)
May 22, 2010
We drove into Nevada and across the Hoover Dam. We thought there would be a long delay because they thoroughly check every vehicle going across. We were there for ten minutes; one guy walked inside, walked to the back, turned around and went out and one guy only took a quick look inside each basement compartment.
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Our campground in Las Vegas was five minutes from the “Strip”. For five days we walked around the casinos, played some slots, ate at some good buffets and saw some free shows. The Mandalay Bay Casino is a large gold building with lots of glitz inside. New York New York Casino is really neat with the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York skyline, the Statue of Liberty and a roller coaster that goes around the buildings. The Excalibur Casino is a castle and the inside is decorated like a castle also. The Luxor Casino is a pyramid with a large Sphinx in front of it and all kinds of Egyptian statues inside. The Bellagio Casino is one of largest casinos and the famous Bellagio Fountains. Inside the foyer has a ceiling with glass flowers and a garden with larger than life bugs and flowers. Caesars Casino is all about the Roman Empire with fountains, statues and gladiators walking around. Paris has the Eifel Tower and inside is like walking through the streets of Paris with lantern lit streets and plenty of shops. We ate at the Village Buffet there and felt like eating in a French courtyard. A smaller casino called Bill’s Gambling Hall reminded us of an old western town casino with no glitz but plenty of gambling and we even saw Elvis there (okay not the real one). The Venetian Casino is my favorite. The place is beautiful and has a large square called St. Mark Square reminiscent of one in Italy surrounded by shops. You can also take a gondola ride from here that takes you through the casino to a pool outside. The ceiling is painted like the sky and it really feels like you are outside and is just wonderful. At the Treasure Island Casino, we watched the Pirate Show. One pirate ship was manned by scantly clothed women and they “battled” with the other pirate ship manned by men shooting cannons back and forth until the women sank the men. The pirate ship actually sank down into the water while the women celebrated by dancing around on ship. It was different and I guess the guys liked it. The casino is huge and you can get really lost inside with all the hallways and shops; some seem to go on forever and sell just about anything. There were lots of people there and lots of families with kids. We were surprised to see so many young people gambling with the economy the way it is. We had a ball seeing all the glitz, watching all the people and playing the slots. Unfortunately we didn’t hit any big wins this time.
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden
The Mirage Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
The way I feel about cats, I just had to see this. They have a dolphin pool and they perform during the day but I was there to see the tigers. There were two large white lions in one area, five white tigers and a regular tiger in another. Everyone was watching as they “played” in the water, of course to us it looked like they were fighting. What fun it was to watch them. You realize just how powerful, fast and big they are. In a separate area were two white tiger cubs, each over 200 pounds that were playing with pieces of cardboard and exercise balls. They were all beautiful.
Beatty, Nevada All Pictures (Beatty, Rhyolite Ghost Town, Death Valley)
May 26, 2010
We stopped in the small town of Beatty, Nevada with antique shops, a hairdresser and a few other shops with some neat stuff. In town, which isn’t real big, is a place called Eddies World Nut and Candy Shop that is said to be the largest nut and candy shop in Nevada. I don’t know about being the largest but it sure has a lot of nuts and different candies and the place looks like a castle.
Rhyolite, Nevada - a ghost of a town
Ever see a real Ghost Town? Well the town of Rhyolite is just that. Rhyolite was established in 1902 when gold was found in the surrounding hills and by 1903 swelled to a population of 10,000. A guide there told us the town stretched from the mountains all the way down into the valley. By 1910 the economy affected the money backers of the gold mine which meant no money, no equipment or salaries and the town began to die. One guy built a house made out of 178,000 beer bottles in the hopes of auctioning it off for money but even that didn’t help. Today the house of beer bottles still stands totally intact while the only other buildings from the town are a few walls from the bank, general store, and school. I asked the guide if he ever went into the mine looking for gold to which he replied, “No and if I did, I’d have to hide it or be prosecuted”. It seems that the whole area is under Federal protection and no mining or taking of anything is allowed. It was eerie walking around seeing only a few walls still standing of a once bustling town.
Rhyolite, Nevada
This museum is just down the road from town and was started as an artist project of Belgian sculptor Albert Szukalski, known for his life-size “ghostly” shrouded figures. He wrapped live model in fabric soaked in wet plaster, posed them and refined the drapery and when it dried, the model would slip out leaving the rigid shroud. One sculpture called The “Ghost Rider” was really eerie. There was a couch covered with tile and other iron sculptures including one done as a tribute to Shorty Harris, a legendary prospector in Rhyolite.
We then continued along Route 374 into California and Death Valley. We drove down 5% and 6% grades going through the mountains to Hell’s Gate. I thought this was a landmark or natural bridge but it was only a crossroad to go north or south and a view of Death Valley. We drove thirteen miles of another 5% to 6% grades into the valley. This is desert but there are plenty of sage brush, cactus and desert flowers all around. We passed a place called the Devil’s Cornfields where the brushes look like corn stalks. Then out of nowhere in the middle of all the flat land and sage brush there are five square miles of sand dunes called the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes; some as high as 500 feet. What a phenomenon. We stopped at a place called Stove Pipe Wells Village, some 20 miles later. The village has a general store, gift shop, saloon, a campground and lots of small motel rooms. I guess if you REALLY wanted to get away from it all, this is the place if you can stand the dryness and heat. We are now at sea level. Death Valley is 3.3 million acres of desert terrain and in this area between the Grapevine and Funeral Mountains on one side and the Cottonwood Mountains on the other and is one of the most extreme environments in the North American continent. They say it gets up to 120 degrees in summer during the day and down to 100 at night. The mountains keep most of the rain water from reaching the valley making one extremely dry place.
Army Ammunitions Plant Pictures
Hawthorne, Nevada
We passed through three small towns that looked like they were right out of the old Wild West and the Columbus and Rhoads Salt Flats, several miles of flat white salt. In Hawthorne, Nevada we stayed in a campground six miles from the foot of Mt. Grant that’s 11,239 feet high and what a sight. Hawthorne is surrounded by and the home of the Army Ammunitions Plant. There are 148,000 acres of land with underground bunkers housing LIVE ammo and hundreds of above ground bunkers housing materials of disarmed bombs. It’s a little scary to think all those bunkers contain LIVE ammo. The plant is operational and they do arm, disarm and destroy ammo here. The Museum contains old disarmed ammo, bombs, missile, helicopters, mines, pictures and papers collected from World Wars I and II and several others. They sure had a lot of bombs and ammo and very interesting.
Reno, Nevada All Pictures (Reno, Harrah National Auto Museum)
June 1, 2010
Reno, the “Biggest Little City in the World”. It is a good size city and lots of casino. Virginia Street is where the famous sign of Reno crosses over the street. There are several casinos here including Harrah’s, Flamingo, Eldorado, Silver Legacy, Circus-Circus, and several others. We walked around and found we walked from one casino to another without even knowing it.
National Automobile Museum, the Harrah Collection
Reno, Nevada
The museum houses over 200 antique, vintage, classic and special interest vehicles all from a private collection of William “Bill” Fisk Harrah; the namesake of the Harrah casinos to perpetuate his legacy as a renowned collector. We watched a movie on the life of William Harrah and his fascination with the automobile. The museum is divided into five “Galleries”. Gallery 1 has cars from the 1890s to the early teens with horseless carriages and early automobiles. Gallery 2 contains cars from the early teens to early 1930s. Gallery 3 houses the classic cars from 1930s to 1950s. Gallery 4 contains the race car collection and special interest cars. Boy do they have some really nice cars and Jack said he saw ones he never heard of before. They even had the Thomas Flyer, the car that won the 1908 New York to Paris Automobile Race, traveling 22,000 miles in 169 days of competition. There is also a small collection of race cars and a 1960 Flying Caduceus Streamliner, jet propulsion land speed car that reached a top speed of 359.7 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats. There is also one of two 24-karat gold-plated De Lorean cars. The cars were offered as part of a promotional campaign for American Express “Gold” cardholders appearing in the 1978 American Express Christmas catalog for $85,000. A door ding would have cost $24,000 to repair.
Virginia City, Nevada Pictures
May 30, 2010
One day we drove into Virginia City, 6,700 feet in the Sierra Mountains. The view of Reno from the mountains is awesome. Virginia City in 1859 was the biggest producer of gold and silver and poured over $700 million into the nation. Virginia City is a pretty neat little town. It has one main street that is lined with stores, shops, restaurants and saloons. There was a car show in town but most of them looked to be as Jack called them, “rusto rods” and we didn’t even look at them up close. There is a small museum called The Way It Was. It’s free to walk around the grounds with examples from the mining industry. The buildings in town are original, restored or reproduced to resemble the original. One is now the Barrels of Candy Shop that has large barrels filled with candy everywhere. To purchase, you pick up a bucket and fill it. The Silver Queen Hotel, an original hotel, has a very large picture of the Silver Queen whose dress consists of 3,261 silver dollars and 28 twenty dollar gold pieces that make up her belt. The picture is a tribute to the Virginia City of long ago. The Delta Saloon Cafe is now a small casino and was once “invaded” by a TV camera crew and Jack Palance when making a movie. The Delta Hotel is famous for a poker table dubbed the Suicide Table. The table got its name because each owner, of which there were three, committed suicide after losing heavily at this table. The first lost $70,000 and shot himself; the second lost heavily, couldn’t pay his debt and committed suicide or someone saved him the trouble; no one is really sure which. The third owner lost $86,000 in cash, a team of horses and an interest in a gold mine to a drunken miner and committed suicide. It is now on display behind glass. As we walked around town, we saw an old prospector and his donkey letting people take pictures with him for tips. They also had a gun fight in the afternoon and for a small fee, you can learn how to pan for gold. We had lunch at the old original Palace Saloon and saw the Bucket of Blood Saloon. It is a pretty neat old saloon and a guy standing outside just had to tell me the story how it got its name. Short version, the name of the saloon was just wasn’t bringing in customers so the owner decided to have a party to get suggestions for a new name when a customer, when reaching for a ladle of punch, said “that looks like a bucket of blood” and the legend was born.
California - June 2010
Driving into California
Donner's Pass All Pictures (Donner Pass; Charles Schultz Museum; Trees of Mystery)
June 8, 2010
Well we finally drove into CALI FORN I A. Our drive up I-395 wasn’t bad but when we got onto I-80 crossing into California there was lots of construction with solid barriers. I sure wouldn’t want to drive the rig here and glad Jack was because the road was only two feet wider than the motor home! Or so it seemed. Luckily it only lasted for 30 or so miles. After we crossed over into California we had to stop for an Agricultural inspection. A woman came into the coach, asked if we had any plants, looked in the refrigerator and left. Our next road took us through the mountains and Donner Pass. Donner Pass is a really dangerous road, especially in the winter but it’s been warm and there was snow only on the mountains. The scenery of the mountains was great but the ride took us up and down 5% to 6% grades and winding roads. Donner Pass at the summit is 7,239 feet above sea level and everywhere along the way were chain hook-up areas. Give you an idea how much snow can accumulate here, the mile markers were eight feet high.
Santa Rosa, California - Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center
Santa Rosa, California
June 13, 2010
This museum houses over 7,000 original Peanuts comic strips done by Charles Schulz. Schulz and his wife planned the museum to display his comic strips but after his death, his wife wanted to not only display his comic strips but give people insight into the man himself. We watched a nine-minute film on the life of Charles M. Schulz and his work then we walked around the museum. There is a large Great Hall with a large wooden relief sculpture of “Morphing Snoopy” taking him from a regular dog to the one in the comics. There is also a ceramic tile mural made from 3,588 comic strips to make up a picture of Lucy holding the ball for Linus; it’s amazing. We then walked outside through the gardens to see sculptures of Snoopy, Linus and the largest baseball cap we ever saw. Back inside we walked through several galleries with pictures, comic strips and history of the Peanuts comics. Charles Schulz started working on the Peanuts comic in 1951 and spent the last 30 years of his career here in Bodega. The museum also has a 100-seat theater where you can watch several 30-minute movies of the Peanuts comic strips.
Bodega, California (The Birds movie location)
We drove along US-101 and out to the coast on Rt. 1 stopping in the town of Bodega, CA where they filmed Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds” in 1962. There on a hill stood the Potter School, just like the movie except no jungle-gym or birds. The Taylor family owns the property and just after the release of the movie, they had so many Alfred Hitchcock fans wanting to see the school, that they opened a small gift shop in the room where they filmed the movie but is now closed to the public. Next to the school is the Saint Teresa of Avila Church.
A large city with a six block area that has been restored as the Old Town District. Eureka is on the Humboldt Bay and has a small waterfront boardwalk that is still being developed. The port is quite large and pretty. The downtown area has several restored building and roads have planters and flowers in the middle. There is a large gazebo in the center of town where children play with the seagulls. We continue our walk down to the beautiful Victorian Carson Mansion. Built in 1880s for lumber baron William Carson, it’s an incredible mixture of towers and turrets and said to have employed 100 craftsmen at one time for all the carving, finishing and installing of its intricate decorative flourishes. It is said to be the most photographed Victorian in California and I helped add to its number. Another Victorian mansion is across the street called “The Pink Lady” also built for the Carson family.
Fortuna, CA is a small town with nothing exceptional except the two-mile walkway along the Eel River. We stopped at the River Lodge and walked for a little bit along the River where the views were wonderful and even had a Bald Eagle fly right over top of us.
Ferndale, CA is a small town that by the 1880s had become a bustling agricultural, dairy and transportation center. Immigrants from Scandinavia, Italy and Portugal settled here and with the riches of the dairy business, built beautiful Victorian homes. These “homes” are referred to as “butterfat palaces”. The street is lined with Victorian style buildings. The entire one-square-mile village is a California Historical Landmark with Main Street listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is considered the best preserved Victorian Village in California. This town was also the place where two movies were filmed; The Majestic and Outbreak. Ferndale struck us as an “everyone knows everyone else” type of town and a pretty neat place. There are a few restaurants and all kinds of shops but not cheap. Another Victorian Mansion is the Gingerbread Mansion Inn. It’s a really pretty Victorian Mansion that is now a Bed & Breakfast. One stop in Fernbridge where the Humboldt Creamery is (they make premium ice cream), there is a place called Fernbridge Market. This place was fascinating. They have groceries, beer, wine, hamburgers, ice cream, pizza, a bakery where they make their own bread, and in the back of the store they sell antiques and you can play pool. It is also the only place in town except the creamery.
A really small town whose main industry is lumber. Rick in the campground office told us to stop and see the Scotia Inn for its redwood lobby so that’s what we did. The Inn is very large and the lobby is gorgeous. All redwood beams, railings, floor and furniture, very impressive. Across the street from the Inn is Hobby’s Market. The building looks like an old hunters lodge but is actually a grocery store. We did go into Carlotta, CA to eat at Shamus T. Bones BBQ. The place is small with a bar, antler chandeliers, picture from the 1800s and stuffed animals on the walls. Neat place but we’ve had better ribs.
Crescent City is a descent size city and very laid back and the home of the area’s commercial and sport fishing fleet. The harbor is just loaded with fishing boats and looks pretty neat. The day we walked out to Pelican Bay it was so foggy you couldn’t see anything passed the water’s edge. Driving along the coastline in the fog is really eerie but interesting seeing the large rocks in the ocean surrounded by fog.
Battery Point Lighthouse
We had to walk across on the bay floor to a small island and I’m glad it was low tide because it is not accessible at high tide. The lighthouse was built in 1856 and is the 10th lighthouse built on the western shore. The beacon was manned until 1953 when it was automated and then decommissioned in 1965. Reactivated in 1982 it now operates automatically but still has a resident keeper if there is a malfunction. You can walk around outside or take a guided tour inside.
Klamath, CA - Trees of Mystery and Sky Trail
Klamath, California
As you drive into the parking lot you are greeted by a large wooden Indian on horseback carved from one single tree depicting the Indians End of Trail sculpture done by the same man who did the marble carving at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, OK. There is also a huge statue of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe. The park is a walkway through redwood trees that are very unusual. One is called the Elephant Tree that has roots above ground forming a gross looking mess; the Octopus Tree with roots reaching out in all directions creating a tunnel underneath; the upside down tree with limbs growing out sideways and back down to the ground, and a Wedding Tree that looked like five or six trees that grew next to each other in a crescent shape. The walkway goes for about a quarter mile with audio tapes along the way. I ran into a couple with two really cute little girls, ages one and three. As we walked along, the three year old girl came back to me and took my hand! I was shocked. After her mom said it was okay, she held my hand the whole rest of the way just chatting away; that sure made my day. As we approached a gondola ride to the top of the mountain, the little girl took my hand and wanted me to sit next to her on the ride, which I did. We rode over the tops of redwood trees at about 200 feet above the ground. The ride was only 7 to 9 minutes and we had a lot of fun. At the top we walked out on a platform checking out the views of mountains, forest and the Pacific Ocean. Back down the mountain, the walkway continues back to the entrance. It was a nice walk and I really had fun talking with my new little friend.
Leggett, California (Giant Redwoods) All Pictures (Avenue of the Giants, Confusion Hill, Founders Grove)
June 10, 2010
Our campground in Leggett, CA is nestled among beautiful redwood trees and in fact we had to drive through two of them to get to the site. I, of course, went ahead of Jack in the motor home to direct him in but this time I made him stop in the middle of the redwood trees to take a picture. That’s one for the scrap book! Our site backed right up to a fallen redwood and we had five more around us. Leggett, CA is a really small town with only 312 residents. We drove the car through a 315 foot tall redwood tree and barely squeezed through. The tree is 21 feet wide and 2,400 years old. Rt. 1 is the most two-lane winding road we've ever seen. Our road atlas said it had 24 miles of winding roads and boy did it ever. Lots of horseshoe curves that had to be taken at 10 to 20 miles per hour. AND we saw logging trucks and campers on the road. The coastline of California is really beautiful. The beach we saw was black and the mountains come right down to the water’s edge.
Confusion Hill and Mystery House
Leggett, California
Our campground is across the street from this place. The park and Mystery House were established in 1949 to enhance the natural phenomenon of defying gravity. Inside the house you can stand at one end of the room and appear tall while at the other end you appear small, you can stand on the wall and not fall, if you roll a golf ball it comes back to you, just to mention a few. Outside are a lot of unusual stuff. A most unusual picture with Wyatt Erp, Teddy Roosevelt, Doc Holiday, Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, Bat Masterson, Morgan Erp, Liver Eating Johnson, Harry Britton, Ben Greonough and Judge Roy Bean all together taken in Hunters Hot Springs, Montana in 1883. I’m going to have to research this one. There were other pictures and a few experiments you could do to defy gravity and two very tall redwood trees slated as the Twin Towers in a salute to 911. This is also the home to the rare and elusive Chipalope. What is a Chipalope you ask, well I’ll tell you. The story goes that some years ago a pair of antelope were walking down a hill and at the same time a pair of chipmunks were walking up. At the very second they were side by side, lighting and thunder and all manner of weather struck and all went dark. Upon clearing, the four were now two becoming the first Chipalope pair. They knew they were special so they only appear at night and only at this location. Believe it or Not. Outside the park is the World’s tallest free-standing redwood chainsaw carving; a 40-foot high statue of six bears, two back to back, three high one on top of the other. There is also a Shoe Tree House that's built like a large shoe.
Avenue of the Giants - Redwood Trees
June 20, 2010
We drove 1.7 miles on the Avenue of the Giants in the motor home and we felt like ants among these trees. Our campground is home to The Immortal Tree that is said to be between 900 to 1,000 years old and stood over 300 feet tall. They call it the Immortal Tree because it has been struck numerous times by lightening, survived numerous fires, the woodsman axe and the 1964 flood. There is an axe on the tree where woodsmen tried to cut the tree down but gave up. The tree grew back over the chopped area leaving a noticeable scar. There is a wooden fish that sits on the tree to show where the water rose to during the December 1964 flood. The next generation, believed to be the fifth, is growing in front of the original tree. We drove a 31 mile drive on US-101 through the redwoods. It was the old stage coach road that was used until the present US-101 was built. The state decided to preserve a part of the old road and is now known as The Avenue of the Giants. It runs from Phillipsville in the south to Pepperwood in the north. The ride was just wonderful, weaving in and out of large majestic Redwood trees. They are truly magnificent. The Eternal Tree House is a Redwood tree that stood for 2,500 years before being reduced to a stump by a fire. It is said that it had been used by Indians, trappers, hunters and travelers and their livestock for shelter. The inside is 20 feet across and at one time housed a gift shop.
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
This grove is dedicated to the founders of the Save-the-Redwoods League. In 1917, several prominent men viewed the redwood groves and found they were not protected so they formed the Save-the-Redwoods League. The Humboldt Redwoods State Park is the first grove purchased by the League. Since then they have contributed over 57 million dollars to protect 170,000 acres of redwood land in 35 California State Parks, Redwood National Park and Sequoia National Park. We parked the car and walked through the redwoods on a quarter-mile loop through the Grove. We walked around hundreds of tall redwood trees and massive amounts of undergrowth. There were lots of trees that were gutted out by fire but still standing. They say once a redwood grows, it is nearly impossible to kill it and these burned out trees are testaments to that fact. Then we came upon the Dyerville Giant. This redwood stood for an estimated 1,600 years and was 362 feet tall, 17 feet in diameter and 52 feet in circumference and one of the oldest in the area. This is a really big tree. In March of 1991 it fell and at over 1,000,000 pounds hit the ground creating a noise that sounded like a train wreck, according to a woman who lived a mile away. The redwood roots grow only a few feet down into the ground but can grow a hundred feet or more laterally but when the ground is saturated with water it weakens their hold. That was the cause for it falling. A nearby tree lost its hold and fell against another that then fell against the Dyerville Giant causing it to fall. Rockefeller Forest is a large area of Redwood Trees. Rockefeller Forest is said to have the largest single stand of old growth redwoods in the world. There are 10,000-acres containing many of the tallest trees in the world. It got its name when John D. Rockefeller, in 1927, donated $1 million to preserve it. These trees are so awe inspiring. We then continued to the Visitors Center in Myers Flat. Here we watched a movie on the December 1964 flood. This was the worst natural disaster in Northern California. Just four days before Christmas heavy rains hit the area and six rivers overflowed their banks. The flooding was so severe all roads, railways, 17 bridges and all lines of communication were destroyed or cut off and the towns of Pepperwood, Scotia, Rio Dell and Weott were almost complete destroyed. They said the water reached a level of 95 feet above normal. Most of the residents had evacuated but there were still numerous deaths. The pictures in the film were devastating. One photographer caught one bridge as it collapsed on film. The thing is, this happened in 1955 to a lesser degree; but no one thought it could be any worse, they were wrong. There are high water markers along the Avenue marked with the height the waters rose above the road. These marks must be 30 feet or more above our heads and we were already 60 or 70 feet above the river. I'll leave you with a poem I saw on a post card about the Redwoods. Author: Joseph B. Strauss, Builder of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Redwoods
Here sown by the Creator's Hand, This is their temple, vaulted high,
In serried ranks, the Redwoods Stand; And here we pause with Reverent eye,
No other lands their glory known. With silent tongue and aew-struck soul;
For here we sense life's proper goal;
The greatest of Earth's living forms,
Tall conquerors that laugh at storms; To be like these, straight, true and fine,
Their challenge still unanswered rings, To make our world, like theirs, a shrine.
Through fifty centuries of kings. Sink down, Oh, traveler, on your knees,
God stands before you in these trees.
Oregon - June 2010
Gold Beach, Oregon All Pictures (Gold Beach, Jet Boat River Tour)
June 29, 2010
It is in the high 60s and breezy here but at least the sun is warm. One morning we saw three deer run through the campground right in front of us. The town of Gold Beach isn’t much for shopping or browsing through shops but a great place to enjoy the outdoors. There are numerous hiking trails, bike trails and of course the beach. The beach here is one of the best with lots of sand that goes for miles. We enjoyed walking along the beach watching local fishermen, kit flyers and treasure hunting for shells and such. There is the Rogue River Myrtlewood Shop that make all their own products out of Oregon myrtlewood, like clocks, wall hangings, and such that were really beautiful. We took a few short drives, one that followed the Rogue River and up to Cape Sebastian, a popular starting point for a hike with some nice views of the whole coastline. Gold Beach is also known for the Patterson Memorial Bridge (Rogue River Bridge) that was completed in 1932 and ironically, is 1,932 feet in length. It spans the Rogue River and replaced the ferry service. It was dedicated in memory to Governor of Oregon Issac Lee Patterson and considered the most advanced concrete bridge in America and listed as a national engineering landmark. The structure or rather the method used in the design was a new French arch design and the first bridge in the US to use it. The only other one of its kind is in France. Down at the docks we saw a boat half submerged in the marsh that was the Mary D. Hume. This ship was built here in Gold Beach in 1881 by R.D. Hume, “The Salmon King”, who started a fish hatchery here, built a company town, held several patents, hosted thoroughbred racing at his ranch and owned a fleet of ships. The Mary D. Hume was R.D. Hume’s most prized possession. This ship was a steam schooner, tugboat and cannery tender and whaling vessel. It was retired in 1978 and returned to Gold Beach to be renovated and restored but was severely damaged while being placed in a cradle designed to display the ship above the waterline. So here she sits, only a few feet from where she was built, after 97 years of service. The Mary D. Hume was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Gold Beach, Oregon
One day I got up at 6:45 AM to take a jet boat tour from Jerry’s Rogue Jets at Port of Gold Beach. There were three boats that left the docks and headed up the Rogue River. It was 51 degrees out and I was glad to have my sweater and jacket. These hydo-jet boats are specially built to navigate strong currents and shallow waters with its flat bottom and three engines. We increased our speed to 40 MPH going up the river. When we saw something, our guide would slow down or pull over so everyone could see. We saw eagles, egrets, turtles, otters, osprey and deer. Once at full speed again our guide would turn left then right or right then left doing a figure "S" or doing donuts (turning completely around). In fact, we did several of these and everyone got wet! After two hours we stopped at Cougar Lane Lodge for a pee break, and had to take off our sweaters and jackets because it was now close to 80 degrees and the life jackets were needed for the roughest part of the ride; the rapids. We continued up the river and hit the rapids. They won’t real severe just fun. We drifted making all kinds of turns with a lot of bouncing around. We went through once and our guide asked if we wanted to do it again and got a unanimous Yes! We went back and forth three times and could tell he enjoyed it as much as we did. After we got about ten miles upriver, we stopped and the guide answered any questions we had. A little girl asked just how long he had been driving the boat and he told her this was his second day. This guy was a comedian as well as a boat pilot. After playing in the rapids for an hour and a half we came back to Cougar Lane Lodge where we discarded our life jackets and walked up the hill for lunch. We sat down on a beautiful wooden deck overlooking the river. We were allowed an hour and a half to enjoy our lunch and explore the area. There is a nice pebble beach and the water was actually warm. On our way back we cruised along at 30 to 40 MPH stopping occasionally to see more wildlife or slowing for private boats. Our guide just couldn't resist getting us wet a few more time doing drifting and donuts in the river. We were back at the dock by 2 PM. Boy this was fun! Unfortunately, the pictures I did manage to take while on the rapids didn’t come out. The camera just wasn’t fast enough and I only have two hands that were being used to hold on! I’ve got to do this again.
Bandon, Oregon All Pictures (Bandon, Game Park Safari, Shore Acres Botanical Gardens, Sunset Bay, 4th of July Parade
June 30, 2010
We took the Beach Loop Drive along the coast stopping at a few places to see rock formations with names like Table Rock, Point Rock, Elephant Rock, Face Rock, Cat and Kittens Rocks and one that looked like a Seal. The coastline is rocky and just beautiful and the homes along the cliffs are really nice.
Game Park Safari
Bandon, Oregon
This is the largest walk through free roaming wildlife petting zoo. There are goats, deer, sheep, long horn sheep and peacocks roaming around that you can touch and feed. There was an area just inside the entrance where you can handle and pet lion and tiger cubs. Guess who did it. I sat crossed leg on the ground and the trainer brought out two four-week old lion cubs and put them on my lap. Oh, I was in heaven. They are sooo cute and they just loved being petted. Their fur was on the course. Only minutes later the trainer said my time was up and I had to leave so others could have a turn. We walked around the park and I came back again for the tigers. This time there was a line and I had to wait and was lucky enough to get in before the trainer cut off the line and took them back in. Once again I sat on the ground and the trainer put three three-week old Siberian Tiger cubs on my lap. Wow, I am really in heaven now. All three were climbing all over me. I held one rubbing his belly and I heard “Puff, puff”. The trainer said they make that noise when they are content....Puff, Puff....The fur on the tigers was much softer than the lions and they were soooo very cute. She allowed me a little more time this time but I sure could have played with them all day long. Boy this is fun.
Shore Acres State Park & Botanical Gardens
Coos Bay, Oregon
The scenery is awesome. The entire park was once the private estate of Louis J. Simpson, lumberman and shipbuilder. He built a house on these cliffs as a surprise for his first wife in 1907. He had extensive gardens, ponds and a dairy complex. The house burned down in 1921, was rebuilt for his second wife but sold to the State of Oregon after his death. The mansion was used as a barracks and officers club during World War II but left unused until 1948 when it was demolished. It wasn’t until 1974 when Oregon State Parks rehabilitated Shore Acres, redesigning the gardens and improving the area and recreating the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are acres of native and exotic plants and flowers but there wasn’t too much in bloom now except for the roses in the Rose Garden that were just beautiful.
Bandon, Oregon
What an absolute beautiful place. The bay is small surrounded by rocks and high cliffs, has a beautiful beach and is so peaceful. We also stopped at an overlook and took a picture of Cape Arago Lighthouse. This lighthouse is actually on an island in the Coos Bay and built in 1864. The lighthouse that stands there now is the third one and in 1966 it was decommissioned. It’s not open to the public but makes for a beautiful picture.
We drove downtown this morning to watch the 4th of July parade at 10am. To our surprise downtown was almost like a ghost town; there was no one around and even the parking spaces were empty. We parked in the Visitor Center and walked around meeting a guy who said nothing happens until quarter to 10 AM or so. By 20 minutes to 10 AM there still were no barriers, no police and no people. 10 minutes to 10 AM there was a swarm of people. By 10 AM we saw a helicopter fly overhead, what a way to start a parade. This was followed by a few trucks with flags and lots of kids, bikes, kids dressed in costumes and a few small floats with kids inside. The fire trucks and a bunch of corvettes followed that and a few floats with Miss Cranberry and a youth group and some old cars. Next came local businesses and more classic cars followed by a few boats and a riding club with eight horses with decorated hooves, manes and even sparkles on their rumps. That was it. We were surprised that there were no marching bands or even high school bands at all and no military veterans. It only lasted half an hour. After the parade we went to the city park where there were booths set up with mostly hand crafts, jewelry and a three-piece band that only played one song while we were there. Inside the community building there was an arts and crafts show going on and we walked through that. Here to were lots of towels, rugs, aprons and the like. They didn’t even have any bake goods. There are supposed to be fireworks tonight but loads of clouds just came in and it was getting cold. But, around 10 PM the first set of fireworks went off. After fifteen minutes there was what we thought was the grand finale so we started walking back to the car when we heard more. We decided to sit inside the car to watch whatever was left. It turned out that there were ten more minutes of fireworks and another grand finale. They were pretty good.
Florence, Oregon All Pictures (Sea Lion Caves, Heceta Head Lighthouse, Sand Dunes Buggy Ride)
We saw sea lions in their natural habitat at the Sea Lion Caves. This is the world’s largest sea cave that is as long as a football field and 12-stories high. You enter a building that sits on the cliffs right on US-101 that’s a gift shop and entrance to the cave. You walk outside and to the left is a walkway down the slopes to an observation deck. From here you can see dozens of sea lions on a large rock sunning themselves. To the right is another walkway down the slope to an elevator. This elevator takes you 204 feet down into a cave adjacent to the Sea Lion Cave where you can see them safely from a distance. You can look and take pictures behind a fence without a flash. The sea lions are wild and they don’t want to disturb them. There were dozens of sea lions on the rocks inside the cave. These guys can grow to 12 feet and up to 2400 pounds and the noise from the cave at times was very noisy. Inside our cave was a skeleton of a sea lion and a short film. We walked up a few sets of steps to an observation deck to see the Heceta Head Lighthouse and coastline. What a view and it looked really neat through the cave.
Florence, Oregon
The beach is nice surrounded by cliffs. We couldn’t see the lighthouse because it was obscured by trees and there were no tours the day we went. The lighthouse was built in 1894 and the light shines a beam visible for 21 miles out to sea, making it the strongest light on the Oregon coast. It is also one of the most photographed lighthouses on the coast. We came through a tunnel and over a really neat looking bridge called the Cape Creek Bridge. This arch bridge spans the Cape Creek and is reminiscent of a Roman aqueduct. It was opened in 1932 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Florence, Oregon
Florence is at the northern end of the Oregon Sand Dunes and I went on a sand dune buggy ride. The Sandland Adventures runs the sand dune buggy rides and there were 17 people on my tour. We were all assigned seats and mine was right next to the driver up front. This was a scenic tour so we didn’t go real fast, but we did go up and down the dunes and some of them were really steep; we were all glad we had seat belts and the buggy had good brakes. The dunes are unbelievable. They stretch for 40 miles along the coast as the Oregon Dunes National Park. The dunes change constantly and some can reach heights up to 235 feet. We rode down one dune that our driver estimated to be 100 to 150 feet high and boy was that a thrill. We stopped several times for pictures and to point out the sea grass, the highest dune, the lake and the ocean. Our driver said that the sea grass was planted to help keep the dunes from eroding and now they are overrun by it. We rode out to the beach and the fog was so thick all we could see was a few feet of the coastline and boy was it COLD! After about two miles in the fog, lots of wind and sea spray, we turned around. They told us to dress warm and now I was glad I wore my sweatshirt, heavy coat and my windbreaker because I needed them all. The beach is smooth with no driftwood, no trees no grass and no shells. We finally came back into the dunes and off the beach and it was like instant warmth. Sandland Adventures also rents ATVs and there were plenty of them on the dunes that looked like fun too. There was a nice lake and a special area for sand boarding. We saw a few trying but they weren’t making much progress. We continued to go up and down the dunes for almost an hour. It was a lot of fun.
Newport, Oregon All Pictures (Newport, Astoria)
July 11, 2010
The Yaquina Bay State Park and Yaquina Bay Lighthouse has a beautiful view of the coastline, Yaquina Bay and the Yaquina Bay Bridge. This Arch Bridge was built in 1931 bringing US-101 into Newport and the Yaquina Bay State. We toured the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse which is the second oldest standing lighthouse and Oregon's tallest lighthouse at 93 feet. We continued on to the historic bay front of Newport, Oregon. The Bay front area is pretty neat with plenty of shops and restaurants but most of the area is taken up by fish markets and commercial fish processing plants. The smell of fish is very prominent. We explored four of the attractions there. There is a small Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum where everything is in the dark with things like a shrunken head, a woman with a real long neck, the four-eyed Chinese Emperor and King Tuts Tomb. We kept thinking something was going to jump out at us but nothing did. They also had a thing called the Fiji Mermaid that looked really strange. Afterwards we went into the Butterfly Adventures which is only two rooms that had mostly Monmouth butterflies that flew all around you. One landed on my sweater and I put it on my finger. It sat there even as I walked into the other room and probably would have continued to sit there if I hadn’t put it on a flower. It only took us five minutes to walk through the whole thing. The Wax Works is another museum that was pretty cool. They had wax figures of movie stars, bad guys, vampires, Bigfoot, and a movie about Mount Saint Helen. They also had a neat dragon, a large voodoo mask made into a rock wall but the most interesting was a bridge through a tunnel with a large rotating cylinder going around the bridge as you walked across. It was hard to keep your balance and walk in a straight line. The Undersea Gardens is in a ship in the harbor and once inside you walk down into an area about 10 feet below the surface of the bay. All around you is a 2,000,000 liter tank that houses numerous species of fish and ocean plant life all found in the Pacific Ocean. We saw all kinds of fish, sea sponges, crabs, a ten-foot Sturgeon, a Wolf Eel and a small tide pool with the prettiest orange Sea Stars. They also put on a show where a scuba diver picked up a Dungeness crab, a large Sun Star and displayed them at the tank windows for everyone to see. He tried to get an Octopus but it wasn’t cooperating. Hey, we’ve been to Newport, Rhode Island on the east coast and now Newport, Oregon on the west coast.
We took a ride into Astoria, Oregon. The first thing you see is Astoria on the hill and the Astoria Bridge. The bridge is 4.1 miles long and was included in movies such as Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, The Goonies, Short Circuit and more. It crosses over the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon to Washington and built to withstand a river flood speed of nine miles per hour and strong winds. It’s really high, long and impressive. Astoria is built among the hills and on the top of Coscomb Hill is the Astoria Column. This column stands 125 feet tall much like a lighthouse tower and has fourteen 25-foot-long scenes representing the triumphs, conflicts and turning points of the Pacific Northwest. It was built in 1926 as a promotion of commerce and travel by the Great Northern Railway. The scenes are actually a combination of painting and carving into the concrete structure. It is fascinating. Jack walked up several sets of steps that wined around inside and out onto the platform at the top. He said the view was awesome. The views from the top of the hill were pretty great too with views of the Pacific Ocean, Oregon coast, Washington coast, the Columbia River and Astoria. We also checked out the Goonies House, a house on 38th street where Mikey and Brand lived in the movie The Goonies. Of course it’s been 25 years since that filming and now there is considerably more evergreen growth which helps to obscure the view of the house. The brochure said the restaurant in the movie owned by the Fratelli’s was only a façade which was torn down after filming but the rocks in the ocean was Haystack in Cannon Beach. Astoria is built in between the Columbia River and Youngs Bay and is much like San Francisco with roads going up and down hills. There are a lot of nice shops and coffee cafes. Most of the buildings in town are dated in the early 1900’s with interesting architecture. We walked up to the impressive Victorian home of Capt. George Favel called Favel House built in 1885. They say the house has wonderful woodwork, exotic hardwood fireplace mantels and period furnishings but it was closed. We then walked over to the Oregon Film Museum & Jail. It is an old jail with two rooms of the jail with bunk beds and a few items from the Goonies movie. One had the vest and punching belt made by Dada in the movie. In the other cells were cardboard stand ups and in another larger room were pictures and artifacts from The Goonies movie, including the statue, skeleton keys and map props. They only had a listing of other movies filmed in Astoria. I really thought it would be more than it was because they say there have been eight movies made here but I guess none were as notable as The Goonies.
McMinnville, Oregon
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum - Home of the Sprue Goose Pictures
McMinnville, Oregon
One day we drove into McMinnville to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. There are three buildings to this museum with another one being built. The Evergreen Aviation Museum is built around the Spruce Goose. The Spruce Goose dubbed the “Flying Boat” is entirely made out of wood and the largest airplane ever constructed but flown only once on November 2, 1947. During the war the government commissioned Howard Hughes to build a plane as a personnel and material carrier to fly transatlantic to avoid the World War II German submarines. He was granted $18,000,000 to do so but due to a government mandate not to use materials critical to the war effort (such a steel and aluminum), he made it out of wood. Hughes and his staff worked from 1942 to 1947 exceeding the $18,000,000 federal dollars. The project was going to be cancelled due to cost overruns and much criticism about the planes ability to fly, that Hughes spent $7,000,000 of his own money to keep the project going. After completion, he “flew” The Spruce Goose a little over a mile and 70 feet above the water for about one minute. That was its only flight. After this famous flight, it was put in hibernation for thirty-three years and Hughes ordered to keep it in immaculate flight-ready condition. This was rumored to have cost him $1 million a year. After Hughes death in 1976, the plane was to be disassembled but was saved by entrepreneur Jack Wrather and eventually sold to the Evergreen Museum founder where it was transported to the Evergreen museum in McMinnville, Oregon. This thing is HUGE! You can walk inside what seemed to be the second level of three where the troops and tanks would have been. The main workings is below and the cockpit above. One fact that was really amazing was each wing, which spans 20 feet longer than a football field and supports four 5,000 pound engines, is not supported by anything. One guide in the museum said the wings have not warped or bent over two-inches since it was built. There are other planes in the museum from 1940’s to 1960’s like the Wright Brother’s 1903 Flyer replica, Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, McDonnell-Douglas F-15 and others. Upstairs is the Captain Michael King Smith Firearms collection with 18 cases of firearms from Civil War to present day.
The next building is the Evergreen Space Museum that has planes, shuttles and exhibits on space travel. They have replicas of the Sputnik, a Titan II Missile, Gemini spacecraft, a lunar module, a lunar roving vehicle, a Lockheed Blackbird, a Northrop Talon, a Mercury 7 exhibit and lot of other exhibits. I tried my hand at landing a space shuttle and Jack said he would never travel with me because I crashed, not once but twice! In between the two museums is an IMAX theater but we didn’t do that. The museums are very impressive and very interesting and well worth the trip. We met a really nice couple from St. Augustine, Florida and talked about the place so much, they changed their plans to stop there.
Cannon Beach, Oregon All Pictures (Cannon Beach. Tillamook Cheese, Seaside, Helicopter Ride)
July 17, 2010
Cannon Beach, Oregon is another seaside town that is extremely busy with people everywhere. There are several blocks of restaurants, ice cream shops, cafes and other shops. You should be able to find just about anything here from clothing to jewelry and they have lots of jewelry stores. There were hundreds of people on the beach even though there was no sun and it was only 64 degrees. Guess this is warm to them. Downtown there are so many homes, condos and motels along the coastline; we really didn’t see much of it. We walked down to the beach that was beautiful and what a backdrop with the Haystack Rock just off shore. We even saw a few people horseback riding on the beach. I’m going to do that soon.
Once in Seaside we found a really good restaurant called Bigfoot’s Steakhouse with some of the best prime rib that just melted in your mouth. Seaside is another really busy and popular place with people everywhere. Seaside is a typical seaside town and reminded us of Seaside in New Jersey with all the shops. The whole downtown area takes up several streets, not just one or two and there are lots of other shops and restaurants. We stopped at the Seaside Candyman candy store that had 170 flavors of salt water taffy, 70 flavors of Jelly Belly beans plus popcorn and chocolates. We have never seen so many flavors in one place. There is also a small mall that has a Carrousel in the middle with all kinds of animals. But the thing Seaside is famous for is called “The Prom” and the Lewis and Clark monument. The monument stands in the middle of a turnaround at the end of Broad Street at the beach and is where Lewis and Clark ended their exploration to the west coast and met the Pacific Ocean. Right here on this spot history was made. The oceanfront promenade (The Prom), is a boardwalk that runs 1.8 miles from one end to the other. We walked about half way in one direction and to the end of the other then walked through the residential area back to the beach. Most of the homes in Seaside are small cottages with a few larger homes in between and the beach is long, wide and beautiful as are all the beaches along the coast. There were lots of people on the beach but no one in the water because it was still only about 74 degrees and the water was still really cold. We were told that the summer here along the coast doesn’t come until September or October. For weeks, the temperature has been from 60 to 74 but just over the mountains the temperature is in the high 90s.
While traveling, we decided to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory for an hour. It is a large processing plant and when we walked in there was a line. We got in and found out it was to go by the cheese samples and into the Gift Shop. We walked back around the saw a sign for a self tour pointing up to the Observation Deck. You watch around the room and look through thick glass at the packaging of the cheese down below. Huge blocks of cheese come down a conveyer belt where it is inspected, cut, stacked and packaged in large chunks and individual size packages. The actual processing to make the cheese is not shown, only the large tanks on the other side of the room. Then you come back down the steps to the gift shop. From the samples we had, the cheese is very good and creamy.
Seaside, Oregon
While in Seaside, I took a helicopter ride. Yep, that’s right, a helicopter ride. The company was right up the street from our campground and we passed it every time we went out. I kept thinking about it and one day just decided to give it a try. The shortest ride is over Seaside and never doing this before I decided to do that one. The helicopter only holds four people and just after I arrived there, a woman and her two young girls showed up wanting to take a ride, perfect. They have you fill out a form with your name and weight; as much as I hate to admit my weight, this is one time you shouldn’t lie about it. Then they have you sign a “we are not responsible if anything goes wrong” statement. Just then my hand started to shake. They then show you a short film about the four-point harness safety belt, where the fire extinguisher was located and how you should not walk into the rotors. Now my legs are going weak! They take you out to the helicopter and help you buckle in. Hey, those kids were all excited, laughing and wanted to go; I certainly couldn’t back out now. The woman sat with her two girls in the back while I sat in the front next to the pilot. After he harnessed me in he put headphones on everyone and even took a picture of us. He then started the helicopter, which was really noisy, and turned on the headphones; that’s much better and we could talk to each other. I had windows in front of me, to the left of me, to the right of me beyond the pilot and even at my feet. It was like flying in a bubble! We flew over the Columbia River and Seaside then turned and flew over the ocean back north passing over our campground. The pilot was talking to me and turned around and flew over our campground again so I could take a picture; nice guy. The flight was only about ten minutes but WOW, it sure was fun and I loved it.
Washington - July 2010
Entering the State of Washington Hoquiam; Forks; LaPlush; Rialto Beach; Hoh Rain Forest
July 28, 2010
We drove into Washington State over the Astoria Bridge. What a trip driving up the ramp and back down to run across the river. You’ll see what I mean when you see the pictures. Once in Washington we drove along the coastline for a few miles before heading inland through forests. There is a lot of tree cutting going on here and it seemed that every few miles there would be an area that was completely void of standing trees. All of them have been cut down and most are just lying there. It looks like a picture I saw of Mount Saint Helen after the eruption. A few of the areas had the trees piled up like beaver dams but most were just left lying there; it looks devastating. But the Lumber business is big business in Washington and most areas we saw were the third generation of trees; yes they do replant with new trees.
Hoquiam, Washington
We stayed in the town of Hoquiam, Washington. The only shops we found wouldn’t shops but local businesses. There is a renovated train depot that the town spent 1.8 million on and is now offices for the License Department. We tried to find the waterfront but only found lumber companies and then got lost and we even had a map; the layout of their street makes this one confusing town. We did manage to find the Hoquiam Castle, an impressive house built in 1897 by timber merchant Robert Lytle that is now a Bed & Breakfast. Next to the Hoquiam Castle is the Lytle House, another beautiful and impressive home that is a private residence.
Forks, Washington
From Hoquiam we drove along US-101 going mostly through the forests of the Olympic National Park. The road was curvy but in good condition for the most part but Jack was glad when we finally got to the campground. We camped in Forks, Washington. The second day we were there it got up to 76 degrees and the first time I’ve worn shorts since we left home. One day we drove down to a small airport where the West End Thunder Club holds drag racing of nostalgia cars. All kinds of nostalgia, muscle, pro-street cars, a couple of junior dragsters and even a truck were running up a 1/8 mile track. We walked around and watched a number of runs. Pretty neat watching them go down the track. Forks, Washington is small town and only four blocks long by several blocks wide but I think without the Twilight books, wouldn’t exist at all. For those of you that may not know, the Twilight books are about vampires and werewolves around a love story. The author apparently centered the stories on the town of Forks, Washington and there are at least ten places here that were mentioned in the books. Practically every shop you go in has something about Twilight and there is a whole store called Dazzled by Twilight that is decorated like the forest and sells everything with Twilight on it. There is also a Twilight Tours where you sign up to take a tour of all the places in Forks pointed out in the books. You can stop in the Visitor’s Center and actually get a map that directs you to those places. There are cardboard stand-ups of the characters and a replica of the red Chevy truck driven by Bella, the lead female in the books. La Push and Port Angeles are also places mentioned in the books. We just couldn’t believe the number of people getting maps and taking pictures of the buildings and in front of the Welcome to Forks sign!
La Push, Washington
La Push, Washington is the Quileute Indian Reservation on the coastline and another place mentioned in the books as the home of the werewolves. On our way there we passed a burger place that serves a Werewolf burger and a sign that says “Welcome to the Treaty Line - No Vampires Beyond this Point”; apparently another thing mentioned in the books. The coastline is a beautiful place. The beach is surrounded by driftwood and the marina is protected by a long stonewall. The ocean has islands and other large boulders just feet from the shoreline. This is a small community with a campground and one or two restaurants but not much more. There is a nice senior center, a one room schoolhouse and a few businesses. The homes are small and rather depressed looking.
Rialto Beach, Washington
We then drove to Rialto Beach or Mora as it is known. Rialto Beach is a long beautiful black pebble sand beach and it has thousands of tall trees along the coastline with thousands more lying on the beach. In fact, you can’t get to the beach unless you want to climb over all those trees. You have to follow a designated trail to get there.
Hoh Rain Forest, Washington
One day we took a ride into the Olympic National Park and the Hoh Rain Forest. The Hoh Rain Forest Road is a lovely ride that follows the Hoh River. There were some really beautiful spots along a beautiful turquoise colored river. The visitor center has several displays of plants and wildlife in the forest and a map of several walking trails; one only a few yards to one that goes for 18 miles. We walked the Hall of Mosses Trail for 8/10 of a mile through large spruce and pine trees, lots of ferns and moss, over water and up and down hills. The Hoh Rain Forest receives about 200 inches of rain each year and is one of the only coniferous (cone-bearing tree) rain forests in the world. It was a beautifully peaceful walk but a bit eerie walking through trees with moss hanging down above your head. I really enjoyed the walk but I think Jack was being bothered by the bugs too much, you know how bugs love sweet things! We were both surprised that it was warm in the rain forest; I thought for sure I would need my sweater but it was very warm. The day before we were to leave, the campground owner came over and asked if we wanted to stay another night for free! He said our coach made his campground look good and helped business. That’s a first.
Port Angeles, Washington Pictures
August 2, 2010
We drove into Port Angeles, Washington. Port Angeles is a harbor town with most of the pier taken up by ferries and other large tankers but there is an area that has a nice park and a band shell for concerts. There was a sand castle contest this past weekend and about eight of them were still standing but some had been vandalized by some kids which is a shame. Downtown Port Angeles has lots of shops and businesses along a four block area. We tried to find a bakery I read about in one of the brochures but no one seemed to know about it; guess it moved. Port Angeles is the northern entrance to the Olympic National Park so we took a ride through the park to a place called Hurricane Ridge. The Olympic National Park encompasses nearly one million acres and includes glacier-carved lakes, waterfalls and over 600 miles of hiking trails. The park is divided into three parts; this part is the mountains; we saw the coastline, the rain forest and now we’re seeing the mountains. The Hurricane Ridge Road is quite scenic and goes 18 miles to the top of a mountain and a Visitor Center. About two miles from the top we had to stop and wait for a tractor and dump truck clearing some dirt from a landslide. Once at the top there is a large parking lot and a Visitor Center. The views are AWESOME! Large beautiful forested snow capped mountains sit in front of you as far to the left and right as you can see. From the walkway you can look down to the valley where we saw two young deer and one buck with a decent set of antlers. One deer kept getting close to the walkway; I think someone was feeding it or it expected food when people are around. There are several trails to hike on the opposite side of the parking lot. We walked to the overlook where we could see tree covered mountains, snow and in the distance, Port Angeles. They say on a really clear day you can see Canada but it wasn’t that clear. This is one beautiful place.
Ocean Shores, Washington
Horseback Riding on the Beach Pictures
Ocean Shores, Washington
I went horseback riding on the beach in Ocean Shores, Washington. I dropped Jack off at a casino nearby and drove to the beach for my ride. The Chenois Creek horse rental is right on the beach and they have two dozen horses tied to ropes. For $20 you get a guided ride on the beach for one hour. There were 22 of us on the ride. Once on the horse they tell you how to handle the reins to make them turn and stop. Okay, we’re ready to ride! They said it would be a walk but most of the horses wanted to trot. Did you know horses have their own personalities; some tried to bite others and some just wanted to be the leader. Mine kept trying to get to the front of the pack and into the water. The guides kept saying to rein them back and make them walk but once one started to trot, they all followed... I guess I wasn’t riding right because my rear is soooooo sore. When we got off, we all had sore butts and walked bull-legged for five minutes which made us all laugh. It was fun riding on the beach but would have been better if they had walked more and acted up less. When I picked Jack up from the casino, he was $60 up. He paid for my horseback ride.
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Canada - British Columbia - July 2010
Victoria All Pictures (Victoria, Miniature World)
July 30, 2010
We boarded the Victoria Empress ferry at 11:45 AM and had to show our passports and Customs Declaration before getting on. That’s a really good idea, that way they know everyone has them. We left port at 12:15 PM and traveled at around 18 knots across the Strait of Juan de Fuca into Victoria, British Columbia Canada. The trip took 55 minutes for 18 miles. There was some fog and it was overcast when we pulled into port but cleared up into a beautiful day. Victoria is a big beautiful city that’s great for walking around. It is the capital city of British Columbia and the seat of Provincial Government. The port was alive with tour boats, seaplanes, small personal boats and large cruise ships and very impressive. We had no problems going through Customs and spent the next five hours just walking around enjoying the city, and that’s really saying something because we both hate large cities but Victoria is a large city with that small town feel. The waterfront had all kinds of merchants selling jewelry, paintings, leather goods, and several guys doing character drawings. There were also several musicians performing for tips and one guy doing tricks and putting on a show. The city has wonderful Victorian buildings and we almost felt like we were in London or another British Country. There are flower pots everywhere and small gardens along the streets. We walked past the Victoria Parliament Buildings; Wow, what a place and it is huge! It covers the entire block. A large statue of Queen Victoria stands at the entrance before a large green lawn. The building is beautiful with eight domed towers and one large dome in the middle.
Miniature World
Victoria, British Columbia Canada
This place is phenomenal and is right next to the hotel. There are displays of places and events all in miniature, hence, miniature world! Let me tell you the workmanship done is unbelievable. They had world events like war torn Germany in 1945, the last spike driven in for the railroad in the west, and entire towns in the 1800’s. There were a few displays of Castles and Tatiana’s Palace; Tatiana being the Queen of the Fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. You could stand and look at this one for hours and still probably miss something. Coming of the Automobile is another large display of old cars at a picnic at one of America’s large mansion. What a neat display and it reminded me of the movie The Great Gatsby. Jack stayed here for a while. Then there were displays of the World of Dickens; Gulliver’s Travels, the Old Woman who lived in a Shoe and Oliver Twist. Another display was an entire city when the circus came to town. There was a parade on the street with thousands of “little” people, animals and cars; the amount was staggering. You walk along the display to the fairgrounds where there is a big top, circus and rodeo arena. They all had mood lighting going from daylight to nighttime and the buildings and/or tents all light up and some of the figures have moving parts. The Ferris wheel goes around, some circus animals move around the ring and trapezes artists fly through the sky in the Big Top tent. It’s incredible and each piece is expertly detailed. Then there was an entire room of doll houses. Talk about elaborate, these took the highest honors. Each one had totally decorated rooms with people, pets, furniture and even plates, etc. in the cupboards.
Washington - August 2010
Seattle, Washington All Pictures (Seattle, Ducks Tour, Underground Tour)
August 18, 2010
We took the ferry from Bainbridge Island. What a beautiful view of the city from the ferry. That’s saying something, as we don’t like cities but there is something about Seattle’s skyline that is actually quite beautiful. This weekend is Seafair and the Blue Angels are doing practice runs up and down Lake Washington and they are closing down I-90 bridges from 12:45 PM to 2 PM so we had to make sure we were in the campground before 12:45 PM and the ferry doesn’t take reservations. We were there by 9:20 AM and only waited twenty minutes before being loaded on the first run. Thirty-five minutes later we were driving off the ferry and over the bridges of I-90 and in the campground by 11 AM. We stayed just a few miles east of Seattle and our nephew Corey and his girlfriend, Carrie picked us up and showing us the sights of Seattle. Boy am I glad Corey drove, there are so many different roads here it is very easy to get on the wrong one if you don’t know where you’re going.
Seattle, Washington
The Captain asked where we were all from, told us about the safety rules and the whole trip told fun facts about Seattle, pointed out the landmarks, told jokes, played music at the most appropriate times and wore several funny hats. We took a tour of Seattle past the Science Center that’s got to be the weirdest shaped building I’ve ever seen, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, the Seattle Waterfront, Olympic Sculpture Park and the downtown shopping district all the time clapping, “Quaking” and waving at passerby’s. Seattle had the very first Starbucks Coffee Shop down at the waterfront and now has over 400. Each time we passed a Starbucks we had to raise our hands and pull it back down again yelling “CaChing”. Then we drove into Lake Union. The Duck now puts down its propellers becoming a boat and the captain’s hat was now a pair of goggles. We motored around the lake looking at the ships, houseboats and the skyline of Seattle. We passed the houseboat used in the filming of the movie Sleepless in Seattle and a houseboat that cost two-million to purchase - they have other for sale if anyone is interested. After half an hour on the water, we headed back to the Duck station and when we pulled in we had to make as much noise as possible. It was a fun tour. After our Ride the Duck tour we walked over to the Seattle Space Needle that was very impressive but it was drizzling and hazy out and I wasn’t too comfortable about going up it in the all glass outside elevator, so we didn’t. We went to the Seattle Center food court for lunch. Just as we came out we heard and saw the Blue Angels fly right over us. We walked all over town, around Pioneer Square, the historic area of town, and the Seattle Waterfront. The Waterfront is lined with plenty of shops and restaurants; we passed by the Old Curiosity Shop, famous in Seattle that has really unusual stuff. We then walked over to the Park Place Market. This place is one long building on the waterfront that has three floors of shops. The place was packed, it was shoulder to shoulder. The market sells just about everything with thousands of vendors. We walked around a bit then caught a bus back to the car. The bus is free for traveling downtown and I’m glad we took it because it was further than we thought and we had already walked our feet off enough.
Seattle Underground Tour
Seattle, Washington
We watched a 20 minute film on the history of the Underground then walked a few blocks and down into the Underground. Some of the stories they told go like this. Seattle was settled on land known as tide flats which meant that twice a day the whole area would flood up to the 200-foot cliff. This cliff had the largest trees ever seen and Seattle soon became the major producer of wood, cutting down the trees to build homes on Beacon Hill and to ship to San Francisco. One day a ship arrived with gold and the income of the city increased three-fold. News traveled quickly and more and more people arrived into Seattle. Beacon Hill soon filled with homes and building began on the tide flats. Of course this created a problem when it flooded at high tide. The outhouses would flood and waste would be “flushed” out all over town making for a smelly situation. They made wooden viaduct boxes to carry the waste out to sea but as it couldn’t be buried, they elevated the box three-feet above the ground. However, twice a day when the 12-foot tides came in it would cover the box and back up the sewer. Everyone knew not to “flush” at high tide. Problem solved! However, one day an outsider flushed at high tide which meant that the sewage was forced out to sea while the high tide was rushing in leaving the sewerage nowhere to go accept.... every toilet in town spouted like Mount Saint Helen. They realized they had to do something so they took the wood chips from the lumber mill and raised the land and buried the waste boxes. This still caused problems because now the wood chips would get soaked twice a day and the homes started sinking and they still couldn’t “flush” at high tide. One day in 1889 a furniture maker left a pot of glue unattended on the stove that started a fire in the shop. They say the fire department started putting out the fire but there was very little water pressure and when the citizens complained, they put down their hoses and watched it burn. The fire destroyed the furniture shop in two minutes and spread to the next building that was storage for the liquor store. In the end, Seattle burned to the ground in a matter of hours. Instead of being discouraged the citizens banded together and rebuilt Seattle the right way this time. All buildings were built of brick and the cliff was re-graded to raise the city a full story above the existing streets leaving the first floors of the storefronts and sidewalks stranded in the subterranean level which was sealed creating the Underground today. The city built walls to restrain the water and actually added an additional 12 blocks of buildable land to the city.
It’s almost like walking through a cave except there are buildings of brick with windows and doors. There are lots of discarded wood, machines, tools, ladders, furniture, etc. scattered around along the walkways and at several places there were skylights, the only light source in the Underground at the time. At street level these skylights are large sheets of concrete filled with different colored round pieces of glass. Most stores used their Underground for storage and even the bank had a separate vault at this level to hold all the gold brought back by the miners. Of course now there is modern plumping down there but we did see some of the original hollowed out log viaduct. We then walked back up to street level for another block and back down into the Underground again. This part is actually under a building and they had pictures of the original city and where the city is now. We were also told about the story of another major problem in the city; three men to every woman. One guy had an idea to advertise for women with promise of home, work and adventure. Seventeen women arrived and sixteen of them married local men, the seventeenth became the school principal and was said if you saw her picture you would understand why she didn’t marry. The gold rush restarted Seattle’s economic success and as it grew, it was discovered that there were 2,500 seamstresses. Upon investigation no sewing machines were found and when questioned about this, the "Madame" responded that the work was done by hand...Actually, the Madame was actually a very good business woman and helped many of the businesses get started in Seattle by lending them money at a slightly inflated rate. As businesses grew the business center shifted north and by 1930 the Pioneer Square was abandoned. In 1960 plans for urban renewal was proposed that would flatten the building for a parking lot. The contractor who was in charge of the urban renewal had already built a parking lot on the site of the old Seattle Hotel that wasn’t accepted very well and the idea of other such buildings horrified the citizens. So they rallied to save 40 blocks of vintage architecture. They won and in 1970 Seattle created one of America’s first historic preservation districts saving Pioneer Square. What an interesting tour full of history, fun facts and stories.
We also walked over to the Smith Building for a ride up 35 floors to the observation deck. The 35th floor is the Chinese Room with beautiful teakwood and Chinese furniture and had windows all around and a small walkway outside. This building was built by the Smith typewriter company as a “We are the biggest and best” so our building will be also. It was the tallest building in the world west of New York and the tallest in Seattle at the time. The views from here are awesome. You can see the entire city, the harbor, Elliott Bay and even the Cascade mountains in the background. We also found out that a couple has been renting the very top of the Smith Building for the past fourteen years. When the building was built the top floors were used as storage with a small caretaker’s space and a 10,000 gallon water tank used to supply the building with water. After renovations to the building in 1996 the water tank was dismantled and the reclaimed space was combined with the caretaker’s space and turned into a three-story apartment. The guide said he didn’t know how much the rent was and probably wouldn’t be able to tell us how much anyway. We had a great time around Seattle and our nephew did a great job, Thank you Cory.
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Poulsbo, Washington
August 12, 2010
Guess what we found in the area, yep, two casinos! We signed up for a card from one because it gave us a 2 for 1 buffet that was very good. At the other casino we played for about two hours and when I sat down at a machine I never saw before, I decided to play max ($2) and hit the bonus. I won $494!!!!!! And Jack hit at another penny machine for $147! That’s almost enough fuel for the trip home. Poulsbo, Washington is a nice little Bavarian town. Most of the buildings are done in a Bavarian style with lots of shops. The Sluys’ Poulsbo Bakery is an old fashioned bakery. They have all kinds of “goodies” in a large window display that makes everyone stop. The smell inside was just wonderful and boy did they have great looking stuff and absolutely delicious; there goes my diet again.
We saw yet another example of ignorance and lack of communication. A motor home pulled up to the office and stopped right in the middle of the road to register leaving no room for even a car to pass. There was a truck in back of him and a trash truck pulled up in back of that. As he got out I motioned to him he was blocking traffic and he could pull up to get out of the way but was ignored. Now the trash truck was blaring his horn but he ignored that also. Ten minutes later, this same motor home pulled into a site three away from us, then the show began. The guy got out after parking and found out he couldn’t open his water compartment door so it was back in the motor home to move it back. Upon checking again, it still wasn’t right so he moved it forward, not right again so he moved it back. The fifth time he moved the motor home we heard yelling and saw that his wife apparently thinking he was finally done moving the motor home, parked their truck across the back but he wasn’t looking or listening to her yelling at him to stop. He backed right into the truck and pushed it about a foot sideways putting a nice size dent in the side. He moved the motor home two more times before being satisfied. He then parked his truck across the back of the motor home. No wait, he’s not done yet, he got back in the motor home and pulled it forward then parked the truck in front of it this time with the tailgate sticking out into the road. That was entertaining!
Bellingham & Fairhaven, Washington All Pictures (Bellingham. Museum of Radio)
August 14, 2010
We took a ride downtown Bellingham to Bellingham Flea Market in the heart of downtown. An entire block is dedicated to the flea market with lots of vendors with fresh fruits, vegetables and plenty of crafts. Guys playing guitars, doing face painting and a guy blowing up animal balloons for the kids. Of course there were plenty of food vendors with food from around the world; Mexican, Taiwanese, Greek, Chinese, Japanese and a few others. After walking around the flea market we took a stroll around town looking at their old buildings housing shops, restaurants and businesses. It seems like a very comfortable, easy going city. From here we start our trip back east. We can’t believe four months have passed since getting on the road. When we leave here we will be leaving the beautiful cooler weather we have been enjoying for the past four months and into the heat. Well, it’s time to go sit outside in this beautiful weather for the last time this trip.
American Museum of Radio and Electricity
Bellingham, Washington
The museum has exhibits, displays and pictures of four centuries of scientific achievement and cultural heritage. The place is filled with experimental equipment in the early days of electricity, the first wireless devices, telephones, picture tubes, and lots and lots of radios. When we first walked in the woman at the desk told us back in the corner is a radio station. When I asked her which one, she said KMRE, 102.3. Hey, this is the radio station we were listening to that had 1920s and 1930s music. The station is broadcast right from here and is a non-commercial local radio station in Bellingham. The museum was great and sure had a lot of stuff.
Boeing Assembly Plant Pictures Video
Mukilteo, Washington
One day we took the tour at the Boeing Assembly Plant in Mukilteo, Washington. The Aviation Center is where the tour starts and you are not allowed to take any personal items on the tour that includes cameras so I didn’t get any pictures of any of the tour; bummer, because it sure was impressive. After a short welcome and told no personal items are allowed, we were assigned a bus and shown a short film about Boeing. We were then led to our bus and driven over to the assembly plant. This building is 4.3 million square feet making it the world’s largest building. It takes up 1,000 acres and is 13 stories high and employs 29,000 people and the building has been expanded with each new plane being built. One door is as big as a football field and there are six of them. Just try to imagine that, a football field! The door for people is so dwarfed by these doors. Once off the bus we were led into a 1/3 miles tunnel under the assembly plant where 37 tons of airplanes sat over our heads; sure hope this concrete holds.... We took a freight elevator to the third floor and walked onto a platform in the middle of the plant. From here we were told about the assembly process of the Boeing 747-8. The size of this place is unbelievable. There are several levels and the concrete is on one level is actually cut out to accommodate the wings of the plane for easier installation. There are large overhead rails that transport the parts and pieces of the planes from one station to the next. It is absolutely amazing. We were then taken over, by bus, to the next section, another tunnel and freight elevator to another observation deck. This section of the plant assembles the Boeing 767. Here the plant is a huge very slow “U” shaped moving assembly line. It moves so slow we couldn’t see any movement at all. On the other side of the plant they assemble the newest Boeing plane, the Boeing 787. This new plane weighs less than an aluminum airplane because it’s made of a composite material. It’s larger, faster and cheaper than the Boeing 767. It costs $178 million versus $320 million for the 767 and can be assembled in three days...This plane is called the Dream Liner and is huge carrying 450 passengers. Boeing had over 400 orders before the first plane was made. We then got the bus back to the Aviation Center. The Aviation Center has a gift shop and the entire first floor is a display area through the Future of Flight. We watched a short film about the Boeing 787, saw a Briggs & Stratton engine, a Roles Roes Engine and the front noise and tail of a plane. The rest of the displays are TV monitors with short films on flight, planes and history of Boeing. The tour was really good and very interesting.
Cle Elum, Washington Cle Elum, Roslyn, Leavenworth
August 16, 2010
A small old town with really wide streets and very laid back. We did however find a car show with 150 or more cars. Jack said he found four that were really nice but the rest were just okay. There were also several food vendors.
Roslyn, Washington - Telephone Museum
This town had to be the oldest looking town we’ve seen yet. Coal mining established the town and the buildings are all wood structures and really old. We took a tour through the Telephone Museum that had old switchboards, telephones, old telephone equipment and lots of pictures. They also had pictures and mining equipment. It brought back memories for Jack because they had a working switchbox he used to work on. They had it open so you could see how each “stepper” stepped through the series when the phone was dialed. Jack started talking to the volunteer guy at the desk about it but had no clue what he was talking about so Jack took him back into the museum and showed him how it worked. He was very appreciative. That’s a first; a tourist shows the curator something. Roslyn is also the town where filming of the TV series Northern Exposure was filmed; and you thought it was filmed in Alaska....Roslyn is a really cool town, nothing there but interesting.
Leavenworth, Washington
We drove through the Wenatchee Mountains and the Blewett Pass at an elevation of 4,102 feet to get here. There are a lot of produce stands in the valley as well as over 40 wineries; apparently the mountains help to provide the perfect climate for growing grapes and they say wine from this area rivals that of the Napa Valley wines. Leavenworth is a Bavarian themed village but it wasn’t started that way. The town started out as a lumber town and became famous for the toboggan run and International ski jumping competitions. However, that wasn’t enough to sustain it and something else had to be done. A group of residents established the Project LIFE committee and agreed to “go alpine” creating a Bavarian theme and remodeled began. The town is beautiful...Almost every building has the Bavarian style with murals, flowers and typical Bavarian architecture. There are over 100 stores and businesses, 45 restaurants or eateries and over 45 lodging facilities. There are really unique shops that carry traditional German items, cuckoo clocks, beer steins and Hummel’s and shops for more American made items. We walked all over town checking out all the shops, even Starbucks and Bank of America were done in the Bavarian style. What a neat place. We even had some real good German food.
Moses Lake & Spokane, Washington All Pictures (Moses Lake, Auto Museum, Spokane, Cats Tails Zoo Park
August 24, 2010
Our drive was all on I-90 and except for the ruts made by truckers’ chains was good. From Exit 148 to about Exit 170 it was like driving through the desert. There were lots of hills with sagebrush and nothing else. We then passed miles of open field growing grain corn, peas, wheat potatoes and alfalfa. What is alfalfa anyway and what is it used for? I don’t know but there sure was a lot of it. The campground is out in nowhere but is very nice.
Memories R Forever Auto Museum
Moses Lake, Washington
This museum was collected by one man in the past five years of his life. He recently died and the sign said it was closed. We parked and walked into an Activity Center out front to ask about it and the woman said if we hurry over her husband was inside and he would open it up for us which he did. This collection has 120 cars from 1908 to present day; in fact, there were three new mustangs in the museum purchased this year. Most of the cars are well used but there are a few that have been restored and in pretty good condition. There are also a few motorcycles, several pictures and several bronze statues but the guy said the children took many of the pictures and statues as well as sold a few of the cars. It was a nice collection and it will be a shame if they ended up selling all the cars.
Cat Tales Zoological Park
Spokane, Washington
The “zoo” is actually a rescue reserve for big cats that were once pets and abanded or endangered big cats. They have about 40 exotic big cats; lions, tigers, and smaller cats and a few domestic cats up for adoption. A keeper in one cage was trying to rake out the area but this tiger cub wanted to play and kept attacking him or the rake, entertaining everyone. After a few hits on the nose, he calmed down and went back to playing with a cardboard box. They also have a large cage with two tigers you can feed. You are handed a long stick with a piece of meat on the end that you put through a hole in a large piece of Plexiglas on the fence so the tiger can bite it off the stick. The tigers were really beautiful and the keepers would give them cardboard boxes that they would tear apart. There were two really beautiful white tigers. I talked to one of the keepers who had only been there for two weeks and he said he was having a ball caring for the cats.
Spokane, Washington
August 26, 2010
We left early and our drive on I-90 had field after field of potatoes and wheat until we got about 40 miles outside Spokane where it changed to desert. Not a thing in sight except hills with dirt and sagebrush. Spokane is a very large city and reminds me of Philadelphia, all large, old buildings with lots of traffic and concrete. The winds were blowing at 20 MPH with gusts up to 40 MPH and the city had a sandy haze everywhere. We couldn’t even open our windows without getting hit by flying sand.
Spokane Riverfront Park - Indian Pow Wow
The park is 100 acres on the waterfront of the Spokane River. Built in the 1970s as part of the World Expo ‘74, the Riverfront Park Pavilion offers a variety of activities year round. During the summer the pavilion is an amusement park with a Ferris wheel, pony rides and an indoor Fantasy Mini-golf. During the winter it is an ice skating rink and recognized as one of the best outdoor skating rinks in the nation. The Clock tower was originally part of the Great Northern Railroad Depot constructed in 1902. The depot was a brick building 3 stories tall, with the Clock tower standing 155 feet high. By 1973 the Depot was demolished as Spokane made preparations for Expo’ 74. The Clock tower, however, was preserved and serves as a reminder of Spokane’s railroad history. Each week, a technician climbs 5 stories to reach the clockworks housed in a small room behind the 4 9-foot diameter clock faces. It takes 99 turns of the crank to rewind the clock. The pendulum weighs about 200 pounds and is suspended from a thin strip of metal. The counterweights hang from cables and descend approximately 40 feet between windings.
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The Indian community was having a Pow Wow and they were in full dress costumes performing dances. I asked to take a picture of one young Indian boy who put his headdress on for me. We watched for a little while then walked back over to the other side. Here there is a large fountain and the Looff Carrousel. The Riverfront Park’s 1909 Looff Carrousel is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of America’s most beautiful and well preserved hand-carved wooden carrousels. The Carrousel features 54 horses, 1 giraffe, 1 tiger, and 2 Chinese dragon chairs. Charles Looff, a master craftsman, created the Carrousel as a wedding gift for his daughter Emma and for many years operated at the Natatorium Park on the west bank of the Spokane River until the park was closed in 1967. Some fun facts: The carrousel rotates counter-clockwise so all of the carousel animals are positioned with their right sides facing outward. This side (which is most visible to the public) is known as the romance side. The jewels, the most ornate carvings and the nicest artistry appear only on this side. The left side of the horse is known as the money side. When the customers are getting on this side of the horse, they have already paid their money. (Mounting a horse from the left side is standard throughout the world. Horses are trained for this, and may buck off a would-be rider attempting to mount from the other side.) The figures in the outside ring are not only the most intricate, they're also the largest. The inside ring figures are the smallest. The difference in detail between the sides was probably done more for cost savings than for any other reason. The decreasing size of the horses in the inner rings provided a cost savings too, though it was somewhat of a necessity as the diameter of the inner rings is smaller than that of the outer ring. A total of 1056 jewels have been used to decorate the carrousel figures. They range in size from 1/2 inch to 2 inches. All of them are European stained glass jewels with the exception of Geri Giraffe who is estimated to be older than the rest of the figures on the carousel and is decorated with mirrored glass jewels. The carrousel also has a Brass Ring rather than the plastic rings used today. Just a few feet from the carrousel stands the Garbage Goat. This goat was designed by a Catholic nun for Expo ‘74 as a recycling/environment statement. This sculpture of a goat will eat small pieces of trash with the aid of its vacuum digestive system. A couple of kids were “feeding” the goat and it worked great. A few hundred yards from the goat is a larger than life sculpture of the Radio Flyer Big Red Wagon and when I say big, I mean BIG! The wagon was built in 1989 for the Centennial Celebration of Children, is 12 feet high by 12 feet wide and 27 feet long, made of steel reinforced concrete and weighs 26 tons. The kids can climb up the back and slide down the handle. The Riverfront Park is really nice and has lots to do including several hiking trails, one of which is the 37 mile long Centennial Trail.
Montana - August 2010
Small Towns in Montana All Pictures (St. Regis, Deer Lodge, Old Montana State Prison, Powell Museum, Phillipsburg, Reed Point)
August 29, 2010
St. Regis - 50,000 Silver Dollar Salon
Once again we passed miles and miles of golden wheat fields before crossing the mountains. We drove through 4th of July Pass and Lookout Pass up and down the mountains through Idaho and into Montana following a curvy I-90. The scenery was lovely and Lake Coeur d'Alene is large and quite beautiful. The downtown is a four way intersection with a post office, two restaurants, a store, gas station, two antiques shops, a bank, a large gift shop, casino, large school and a bank; that’s it. Curious, we didn’t see a church. The 50,000 Silver Dollar Salon is one building has a casino, restaurant, gift shop, bar and a motel. The gift shop is huge and they really do have $50,000 in silver coins, in fact, the count is now $55,721. They are all mounted on boards hanging on all the walls in the bar. I sure hope they have insurance. We did try a few of the keno machines and left.
Deer Lodge, Anaconda
September 2, 2010
We drove through several national forest and the mountains. The scenery was lovely with mountains or rather hills covered with pine trees. We saw one really nasty accident when we passed a suburban with about 40 feet of guard rail through the windshield and back out the back window onto the road. We thought the person had to be dead for sure. We heard later the guy fell asleep but walked away without a scratch, it was his lucky day... Then after we got into our campground, we saw a truck do barrel rolls down the embankment into the ditch in back of our site after blowing a tire. This guy was also unhurt.
Philipsburg, Montana
Philipsburg is in the upper Flint Creek Valley surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. What a setting. Philipsburg is an old 1880’s mining town that developed when gold and silver were discovered here. Today, the old buildings are full of shops and businesses. We went into the Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine store. They sell jewelry mined from Gem Mountain about six miles from Philipsburg. They sell bottles, buckets, jugs, mega jugs and bags filled with gravel that contain several sapphires that cost $129 and up. They will clean, heat treat (improves color) and facet the stones for $49 apiece. They say they have no idea of the value of any sapphires until they are faceted but I think they know. If you ever go to Philipsburg, you must go into The Sweet Palace. It is a two-story building with a first floor full of cabinets holding all sorts of candy, saltwater taffy and chocolates; talk about a chocoholic’s heaven. The second floor you can sit and enjoy your candy at quaint tables and chairs. We did our share of “snacking”.
Reed Point, Montana
September 9, 2010
We drove through the valley passed the Absaroka and Beartooth Range Mountains. They are mountains with sharp snowcapped peaks and just beautiful. The town is definitely a little hole in the wall town. The entire town is on one street with eight buildings on it, three stores, a hotel and saloon that were all closed. The Waterhole Bar is the only eating establishment in town and everything on their menu, chicken, burgers, pizza, is said to be the best in town! (remember, it is the ONLY place to eat in town). The owners actually built the bar to look like an old western town tavern and did a really good job. There are loads of license plates all over the ceiling and all kinds of pictures of Indians, locals and cowboys. The town is currently in dispute with the owners because they refuse to replace their wooden sidewalk with the new cement ones proposed. Reed Point, MT is best known for their yearly Sheep Drive held Labor Day weekend. Shucks, we just missed that one.
Old Montana State Prison & Auto Museum Pictures
Deer Lodge, Montana
This prison was built in 1912 and used for 108 years. Inside the 23-foot high stone walls was a kitchen, bakery, workshops, chapel, library besides the three-floor cell block, showers and the “hole”. There was also a Woman’s prison that was used for maximum security facilities. Cells were a small 4x6 foot area with sink, toilet, writing desk and bed and nothing else. The “Hole” or “Black Box” was just as small with no light, no windows and nothing else. An old Theater also sits on the property but is now totally destroyed except for an old hangman’s box sitting in the middle. The Montana Auto Museum is part of the old prison and houses 120 cars from classic Chevys and muscle cars to Model Ts and old camping vehicles. Powell County Museum, is free and has a history of Powell County and Deer Lodge. Outside next to the Powell County Museum is a replica of Cottonwood, the original name of Deer Lodge. There was a one-room school house, Post Office, Barber Shop, General Store, house, Jail, saloon and brothel. All the buildings are of the 1890’s period with some furniture. Yesterday’s Playthings is a doll and toy museum of the collection of Harriet Free. There were dolls and dishes and all kinds of toys we all had as kids. Jack found several of the old cars he used to have. They also had a room with all kinds of model trains. Next to this was a small shop called Prospectors’ Collectibles where we watched as a couple of adults and their kids sifting through a bag of gravel looking for sapphires and rubies. The store had everything needed to go hunting for gems. Next to this was a little shop with items made by the inmates of the prison called the Frontier Museum but it was closed so we couldn’t go through that one.
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Wyoming - September 2010
Sheridan, Wyoming Pictures
September 12, 2010
We drove east on I-90 and drove in from the south end of town. The buildings are old western style and I read that Sheridan was in the top four western towns in America. I can see that in the buildings. There are lots of stores and businesses. Sheridan also has sculptures around town in bronze and such so we took pictures of those. We also saw a store front window that had all cowboy stuff inside, including a horse. Now that’s something you don’t see too often. We stopped at the Historic Sheridan Inn. The Inn was built in 1893 and designed after a hunting lodge in Scotland by the designer. This was the home of Buffalo Bill when he visited town and for a time was even called the W. F. Cody Hotel with good cause, he was part owner. He would even audition acts for his world-renowned Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. The inside is gorgeous with large stone and wood fireplaces and dark wood beams throughout.
South Dakota - September 2010
Deadwood, South Dakota All Pictures (Deadwood)
September 16, 2010
Deadwood is the greatest little western town ever. Just about every building is a casino and they all give you free drinks and just baked chocolate chip cookies; I’m in heaven. Casinos like the Four Aces Casino, the Tin Lizzy Casino, the Deadwood Gulch Resort and Gaming, First Gold Hotel & Gaming, Cadillac Jack’s are only a few we visited. The Celebrity Hotel has pictures and clothing belonging to celebrities plus a collection of their cars. Evel Knievel’s motorcycle is on display along with autographed guitars from rock legends hanging on the walls. Bourbon Street is decorated like Mardi gras and I even got a set of beads for playing there and I didn’t have to “flash” anyone. Mustang Sally’s is a sports bar with slots. Gold Rush has sawdust on the floors and the Mint has John Wayne’s truck on display and several outfits from the stars. Saloon 10 is all decorated in dark wood with pictures of old gun slingers, outlaws and the like. This is the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was shot to death. There are several historic hotels along the street that are right out of the old west. The most famous is the Franklin Hotel, known as the best hotel west of the Mississippi. About 3 PM the fog came in turning to a light drizzle all night and it got colder and by 9 PM, it was 38 degrees outside. Brrrrrr.
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Nebraska - September 2010
North Platte, Nebraska
Fort Cody Trading Post All Pictures (Fort Cody, Bailey Railroad Yard)
North Platte, Nebraska - September 25, 2010
This is a free museum of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show in miniature. The building is a fort surrounded by wooden fence and four towers in the corners. Climbing the walls are cowboys with arrows sticking in their backs. Inside the fort you walk around the grounds with wagons, statues of buffalo and a really large Indian. Inside is a miniature Wild West Show displayed behind glass cases showing about six different scenes from the Bill Cody Wild West show with several of the miniature horses, etc. being animated. They also have several cases with cowboy outfits, Indian outfits and crafts and guns, other stuff. The rest inside is a gift shop.
Union Pacific's Bailey Railroad Yard
North Platte, Nebraska - September 25, 2010
We left there and stopped at the Golden Spike Tower. This is an eight story observation tower overlooking the Union Pacific’s Bailey Railroad Yard. This yard is the world’s largest railroad yard with 15 miles of tracks and where east meets west on the Union Pacific line. The yard is eight miles long by two miles wide, covers a massive 2,850 acres, the equivalent of 2,800 football fields. Every 24 hours 10,000 railroad cars move through the Bailey Yard. This place is massive and very impressive. The Repair Shop is three footballs fields in size and can repair 750 engines a month. We saw tons of engines sitting in front of it. There are two “hump yards” at the field where individual rail cars are gently rolled down the “hump” to be sorted for their outbound destination. The east hump yard has trains sorted into 64 “bowl” tracks heading east where the west hump yard has 114 “bowl” tracks for trains heading west. All this is done by computer bar codes and amazing to watch. We then drove over to Cody Park. This park is a memorial to Buffalo Bill Cody who lived in North Platte and where he developed his first Wild West Show. There are several ball fields, a swimming pool, playground, picnic areas and something of a zoo with buffalo, deer, big horn sheep, donkeys, peacocks and lots of geese. This is a beautiful park and there were a lot of people enjoying it. The scenery has changed from rolling hills to really flat land; mile after mile of flat open land.
Kearney & Brownville, Nebraska
Great Platte River Road Archway - Pictures
Kearney, Nebraska
Our drive down I-80 took us under the Great Platte River Road Archway. The Archway goes over the highway and is very impressive with displays of pioneer life inside.
Minden, Nebraska
Harold Warp Pioneer Village Pictures
September 26, 2010 - Minden, Nebraska
This place is unbelievable! It is a museum with 28 buildings on 20 acres housing one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections of Americana, covering the period from 1830 to the present. The Village was founded by Harold Warp in 1953 and is continued on by his son, Harold G. Warp. The Village has more than 50,000 items that are in original or un-restored condition. We used our free ticket and asked for an “overnight return ticket” which would allow us to return tomorrow and get in for free. After you enter the large room had all kinds of antique cars and planes, including a Wright Brothers plane and other trains and carriages. Outside there are ten buildings set in a circle around an open yard. The Elm Creek Fort is a cabin that was the first log cabin in Webster County Nebraska used as a residence and fort. The People’s Store is a replica of a general store with items of general merchandise plus clothing and house hold items. The Land Office is a building actually moved from its original location in Franklin Country, Nebraska to here and contains maps and old land records. The Fire House has a fire engine and pump engine inside. The old Train Depot has pictures of the B&M Railroad with two locomotives sitting outside. The Country School has original desks, books, stove and even an outhouse. The Sod House next to the school is an authentic replica of a home on the plain. A building called the China House has a collection of china, pottery and keepsakes carried west in covered wagons. The Minden Church built in 1884 and the first church in Minden with the original pews, pulpit and organ. They still hold Sunday Services during the summer months. Then there is a Merry-G0-Round that is the oldest in the U.S. powered by steam. The Horse Barn is filled with all kinds of harnesses, horse shoes and carriages. In back of these buildings is an antique farm Machinery Building that houses plowing, cultivating, seeding, harvesting and threshing equipment. There is a huge combine from 1890 that had to be pulled by 30 horses and an Antique Tractor and Truck Building containing over 100 early farm tractors, trucks lawn mowers and engines. The Livery Stable has saddles, harnesses and horse drawn rigs including a large covered wagon and a set of huge logging wheels. In back of this building is a two-story building with Antique Cars; Buick, Cadillac, Dodge, Chrysler, Oldsmobile models, etc., over 100 cars in all and an old motor home. The last building we walked into was the Homes and Shops Building that has twenty rooms decorated in period furniture from 1830 to 1980. There is also a doctor’s office, print shop, drug store, barber shop, photo shop and a few others. Upstairs are all kinds of items and furniture from the turn of the century. There are still nine more buildings to go through but we were tired.
The next day we used our “free day” and continued our tour. The two Yesteryear buildings house antique cars. The first has 50 Chevrolets on the first floor and the second building has 50 Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Edsel models on the first floor and antique motorcycles, bicycles and snowmobiles on the second. The Agricultural Building has over 500 agricultural implements and steam tractors. The Blacksmith Shop had a lathe and other items you would expect to see in a Blacksmith’s shop. There is a Pony Express Station that is authentic and moved here from Bridgeport, NE. The Pony Express Barn is next to it with models or horses and historic saddles. It also has the 20-mule team Borax wagon on display. The Woman’s House or Home Appliance Building contains washing machines, stoves and refrigerators and all other pieces of equipment or appliances as they evolved through the years. The Hobby House has collections of dolls, pens, pitchers, hatpins, canes, trivets, salt and pepper shakers and a button collection that had items made with buttons hanging from the ceiling. The last building is an old ice cream café with tables and chairs set up out front but they don’t sell anything and only for display next to a large Gazebo. Phew....This place has the most of everything we’ve ever seen.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Smith Collection Museum of American Speed Pictures
September 19, 2010 - Lincoln, Nebraska
Smith Collection Museum of American Speed. The Smith Collection started with the personal collection of “Speedy” Bill Smith and his wife from the years they were involved in racing and hot rods and their lifelong love of collecting and automotive history. We had to take a tour as you are not allowed to walk around on your own. The building has three stories with the first housing race cars, hot rods, engines and memorabilia from various racing manufacturers and drivers. Our guide stopped at almost every car and display telling us not only about the car or display but stories about the driver, manufacturer or engine and no I don’t remember most of it!. There is a Hall of Fame with trophies and pictures of drivers inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame on the wall. There is also a Garage with some really neat looking cars, guitars covering the ceiling all signed by the person who used them and record albums on the walls. The second floor had pedal cars of buses, tractors, fire engines, boats, planes and motorcycles. On the stairs going to the third floor were hundreds of lunch boxes hanging on the walls. The third floor had more pedal cars and a merry-go-round with race cars. There were also displays of toy race cars, puzzles and games about racing. At the other end are all kinds of engines and engine parts. When we returned to the first floor we walked through an area called Indianapolis 500. Three special cars were on display from the Indianapolis 500 races. The tour lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. We sure got our money’s worth and saw really interesting cars, etc. but long listening to all the “stories” our guide just had to tell us.
Missouri - October 2010
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Wall of Murals Pictures
October 9, 2010 - Cape Girardeau, Missouri
We drove to downtown Cape Girardeau and walked around. There are several antique shops with really neat stuff. However, there are also several bars in town and we saw more cigarette butts and broken glass on the streets. I guess the town hopes at night. We walked along the Riverfront Park looking at all the murals on the flood wall. The entire wall is covered with murals of famous people who were born in Missouri or lived here during their lifetime. The other end of the wall has murals depicting Missouri’s history.
Mississippi - October 2010
Robinsonville, Mississippi (Tunica) Pictures
October 11, 2010
Tunica, MS is known as "Little Vegas", and also where casinos go to die. They have three casinos in one area, another three casinos three miles away and another three casino three miles away. We had a ball going to each, playing (losing and winning), getting comps for several free lunches. We stayed a few days at the Sam’s Town Casino RV Park, played the nine different casinos. The weather was great, and we walked away even. We walked around the campground several times and saw several deer in the field next to us. Our neighbor told us the deer cannot be hunted here and at times there are hundreds of them. We didn’t see that many but did see an armadillo. We also saw an old guy run into the water and electric hook-ups. We were walking around and just as we got to his fifth-wheel he started backing up into the site but his wife was sitting in the truck instead of watching and he backed into the electric box. Jack yelled for him to stop, which he did but when he pulled forward, his bicycle tire caught around the water nozzle. We both yelled but he pulled the water nozzle right off the pipe sending water squiring everywhere. His bike tire was now oblong and the bike was hanging half off and half on the bike rack. He raced out of the campground. Security showed up and Jack walked over to let them know that the guy drove out but could be identified by the bent up bike and oblong tire on the back. The security guy found him in the parking lot. I hope they charge him for damage.
One day we drove into downtown Tunica to the Delta Festival and Car Show. There were hundreds of tents downtown and along the waterfront. We found Rivergate Park where the car show was on Main Street, Tunica. Main Street runs through town on both sides of the Rivergate Park and has stores on with a large parking lot on one side where the show cars were parked and a large grass area that’s the park area in the middle. The buildings all looked to be built during the 1800’s. No special design or any fancy woodwork. There were about 70 cars in the show. Besides the car show there were games for the kids, a petting zoo and two bands playing on a stage set up in the park.
Florida - October 2010
Pensacola, Florida All Pictures (Pensacola, T.T. Wentworth Museum, National Aviation Museum, )
October 26, 2010
We drove through downtown Pensacola and over the 3-mile bay bridge over to the Pensacola Beach. After driving a mile or two along the bay we stopped and walked along the beach. Pensacola beaches are supposed to be the whitest beaches in Florida. They are really white and the sand is very fine. This morning a cold front came in so it was only 71 degrees and there were only four people on the beach for as far as I could see. We left the beach and drove back to the Historic Pensacola Village. We walked into the Tivoli House that was reconstructed from photographs of the original boarding and gaming house in 1805. Inside they offer tours of the Village for a fee but we missed the last tour and all buildings close at 4 PM. So we left there and walked to the Pensacola Historical Museum. This is a free small museum with artifacts, items found on digs in the area, information on the Indians who lived in the area before the Europeans came over, and papers and pictures from Pensacola’s history.
We then walked over to the T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum. This museum is also free and established to house the private collection of T.T. Wentworth, Jr. and donated items from local Pensacola residents. He found a gold coin on the beach when he was a boy and sparked his interest in collecting. It is quite an extensive collection of everything from his soapbox derby cars, his Cub Scout awards, ladies clothing through the years, stuffed animals, old artifacts, an old telephone switchboard and Civil War era in Pensacola. The third floor is a children’s area with a wooden boat, house, store and a fort. It was interesting and the building used to be the old City Hall.
National Naval Aviation Museum
Pensacola, Florida
The museum is on the Naval Air Station and we had to go through the base gates to get there. This is an admission free museum that’s just incredible. We walked in and before seeing anything, signed up for a tour of the yard outside. The tour is free but you need a ticket because it is restricted and they can accommodate 40 people. We had to wait for six other people and our guide said they must be civilians because anyone who was in the services would be here ON TIME. He walked out and everyone on the van started taking bets as to what branch of service he served in. He was an ex-marine and very funny. The museum houses over 150 restored aircraft representing the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Our van tour took us around the outside flight line where there were restored planes that were just too big for inside the museum. Our guide told us we could take pictures except for the newest invisible aircraft being tested on the runway. Don’t you know one woman actually got out of her seat to take a look?! There was an F-14 that had been under water for years they were cleaning up, one of the Blue Angels planes and their transport plane, Fat Albert. There were several helicopters that were used in Vietnam and other countries, the Navy 1 plane piloted by George W. Bush, a Russian plane and two F-15’s, one used by the Navy and one used by the Marines sitting noise to noise. They also had the NC-4 flying boat that is the actual aircraft to complete the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by air. This one is impressive. It also had two tanks on the side above the tires, one green and one red; it seems that the tires had to be put on the correct side (not interchangeable) but as our guide tells the story, this was done so non-seamen personnel would be able to tell which tires go on which side by the color of the tank because they don’t know which is starboard and which is port. He also pointed out that this airfield is where the Blue Angels practice.
Inside is where most of the planes are. They have all kinds of planes sitting on the floor and hanging from the ceilings. All these plans have been restored by retired Naval, Marine or Coast Guard volunteers. They say it takes eight to ten years to restore a plane. One had been under water for 65 years and is now totally restored now and in an area called Sunken Treasure. It recreates a site under Lake Michigan with two WWII aircraft that were made to look like they were under the water with refracted lighting effects; amazing. There are Coast Guard helicopters, a World War I exhibit with a flying boat, fighter plane and Ambulance. One large area is set up with a wooden flight deck of a World War II aircraft carrier, the USS Cabot. This flight deck is made from planks taken from the USS Lexington. In the middle of the flight deck are the ships stacks with hatch marks for the number of Japanese planes shoot down by the ship. They had Tomahawks, a Japanese Zero and lots of other planes. At one end were four Blue Angel planes in formation hanging from the ceiling. They had a really neat display set up under one of the flying boats of what the inside looked like. There were displays of model planes, aircraft carriers and a clear plastic model of the USS Kearsarge aircraft carrier. The details of these models were amazing with planes, guns and even sailors. They also have a Naval Aviation Library with over 8,000 books and a Top gun simulator.
On the second floor a hallway displayed the Medal of Honor awardees, a Hall of Honor for those who contributed to the history of Aviation, a large display of photographs and an art gallery. We also saw two dirigibles, two large flying baskets and the Skylab capsule. There were several cockpit trainers and the cockpit of a Blue Angel’s aircraft that I sat in while Jack took my picture. A replica of American life during World War II had a movie theater, stores, the living room of a house and all kinds of stuff. They also have an IMAX theater with your choice of two 40 minute movies. This place is incredible and very well done. Just the way the displays are arranged you can tell a lot of thought went into it.
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee Automobile Museum Pictures
October 30, 2010 - Tallahassee, Florida
This museum is a collection of not only cars but other items collected by one individual (they don’t say who). Outside the building is the Elvis Mobile, a pink Cadillac used by Rockin’ Caddy Daddy Disc Jockey and his one of a kind entertainment show. I never heard of them either. Inside are 130 rare and unique cars. There are three Bat Mobiles, a Bat Plane and the Bat Cycle. There were a lot of rare cars like the Tucker and the Studebaker that was made to look like the Tucker that was crashed in the movie. There is a specialty car built for Paramount Pictures that looks like a train, and lots more. Not only do they have cars but five Steinway Pianos, three are recreations of the first White House piano, a Steinway made from Indian Rosewood and the Alma-Tadema, the most expensive piano ever built. There are also collections of golf clubs and golf balls, pedal cars, boats, outboard motors, an extensive pocket knife collection, baseball cards, duck stamp collection, teddy bears, toys, motorcycles, bikes, slot machines, antique cash registers, Star Wars figurines, all kinds of small collectible cars and trains. There is a lot of stuff.
Back Home
November 3, 2010
We drove our motor home back into the compound of our community and opened up the house. We are now back home for the winter. Wow, we sure did do some traveling this year and saw a lot of places and attractions. It was great and we are already looking forward to next year. Hope you enjoyed our travels and will join us again next year.