All in all, I am so glad we went on this trip. Next time though, I think we'll fly into Anchorage, rent a car, and stay in motels for a few weeks (or get cabins in the military FamCamps). We saw a lot of wildlife, got snowed on several times even though it was May and June. I made the mistake of making the itinerary too far north in May and too far south in June; should have switched that around. Although it would have made no difference as far as Memphis, Tupelo, and Biloxi.
The highways in Alaska and western Canada were almost empty until we got to a town of any size. Even then some looked deserted. Some of the roads were not any better than the Alaska Highway, most were two lanes.
We didn't have any problem getting a camp site anywhere we went. Some were ok, one had fantastic showers, most had showers that sucked especially in the state parks! Some we couldn't get the RV level; most told us to park where ever as they had plenty from which to choose.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Ho Hum Down the Long Road Home
Passing through Kansas was almost dangerous. The drivers are getting worse!
The scenery is flat, the further east we go, we were seeing more trees.
All the time we have been on this trip, I'll see a billboard for a store or catch sight of one that I'd like to shop in only to see it after we have passed the exit or it's way too early to be open.
The one unexpected sight was rice fields in Arkansas. We passed by Memphis, through Tupelo and another visit to Hobby Lobby. Then Frank decided he had earned a side trip to Biloxi for the casinos and we'd still get home by Wednesday evening.
On a quarter slot machine, I won $360; on a 9-line penny machine, he won over $500. Then we parked in one of the casino parking lots for the night. There was a slight breeze but because of the lights in the lot, we had to have the blinds drawn. Then a trucker pulled up right beside us (he had his choice of four other parking lots!) and ran his engine all night while he slept in comfort with a/c. Never, never again will I sleep in the camper without a/c if the temperature is not going below 60 degrees! In fact, I didn't get any sleep. Frank said he started to move the RV but thought the guy was going to turn it off after a little while.
The scenery is flat, the further east we go, we were seeing more trees.
All the time we have been on this trip, I'll see a billboard for a store or catch sight of one that I'd like to shop in only to see it after we have passed the exit or it's way too early to be open.
The one unexpected sight was rice fields in Arkansas. We passed by Memphis, through Tupelo and another visit to Hobby Lobby. Then Frank decided he had earned a side trip to Biloxi for the casinos and we'd still get home by Wednesday evening.
On a quarter slot machine, I won $360; on a 9-line penny machine, he won over $500. Then we parked in one of the casino parking lots for the night. There was a slight breeze but because of the lights in the lot, we had to have the blinds drawn. Then a trucker pulled up right beside us (he had his choice of four other parking lots!) and ran his engine all night while he slept in comfort with a/c. Never, never again will I sleep in the camper without a/c if the temperature is not going below 60 degrees! In fact, I didn't get any sleep. Frank said he started to move the RV but thought the guy was going to turn it off after a little while.
The Old TV West
Stopping in Dodge City, I visited the Boot Hill Museum. This is a reconstructed cowtown main street from the turn of the century. Most of the buildings have been moved from their original locations around town with most of them from Front Street. The cemetery has fake headstones as the city fathers shortly after becoming a state decided the land was too valuable to be a cemetery so the bodies were moved to the present day city cemetery. In one of the 'rooms' was a 1950's style tv playing old "Gunsmoke" shows and on display were autographed photos showing town leaders meeting the stars of the show. A street gunfight was played out in front of us at noon. Later I rode the trolley for a tour of the city. Then we went on down the road toward Wichita.
West of Lamar, along the railroad track were utility poles sunk into the ground, the lowest cross bar looked to be one foot above ground. The ones on the other side of the road were at normal height. We also started seeing many oil well pumpers.
Again the wind was really stiff, the WalMart windsocks on the fences were being shredded.
Leaving Cheney State Park just west of Wichita, we took U.S. 400 on through until it joined I-44 toward Joplin, MO.
Kansas drivers are idiots! They pass on a double yellow lines, going up around curves, and seem to wait to pass until they see at least one vehicle in the oncoming lane. We were seeing more trees now and not so many scrub bushes.
West of Lamar, along the railroad track were utility poles sunk into the ground, the lowest cross bar looked to be one foot above ground. The ones on the other side of the road were at normal height. We also started seeing many oil well pumpers.
Again the wind was really stiff, the WalMart windsocks on the fences were being shredded.
Leaving Cheney State Park just west of Wichita, we took U.S. 400 on through until it joined I-44 toward Joplin, MO.
Kansas drivers are idiots! They pass on a double yellow lines, going up around curves, and seem to wait to pass until they see at least one vehicle in the oncoming lane. We were seeing more trees now and not so many scrub bushes.
Riding the Rails
Unfortunately it took a lot longer to cross Monarch Pass than we thought it would so we ended up spending the night in a RV park just off the highway which had two levels for camping. We took a site right alongside a rapid creek. The park had mostly tents occupied by groups who were going over the rapids in kayaks.
The Cog Railroad is located up a steep narrow street right in the town of Manitou Springs. We arrived about 10:20 a.m. and I got a stand by ticket for the 10:40 a.m. train. When it was filled, I got a seat, Row 1/Seat C, on the aisle next to the driver, Howard,for the noon train. This was the front row facing forward going up and backward going down facing the rear. The temperture at the depot was 90 degrees, at the top it was 48 degrees and windy.
Going up and returning, we saw many yellow bellied whistling marmots that just sat along side the tracks and watched us go by. Then we saw a big horned ram way up on the ridgeline. The guide told us the history of the train (built in 1891) and how it was from viewing the mountain reached by wagon road that a school teacher wrote the poem "America, the Beautiful". When asked, she told us that the trains have three types of brakes: cog, air, and transmission. If they failed, there are two big springs at the bottom named Manitou and Colorado to catch us! As we left the summit for the return to the depot, it started snowing. Hope my pictures turn out.
Later we saw on the news that a teenager rolled his car off the top of the mountain. It took several hours to get him off the side of the mountain.
This part of Colorado is really flat on both sides of U.S. 50. We couldn't see any mountains east of Pueblo.
We stopped for the night in Lamar and had dinner in BJ's Drive-In. At the inside tables were back-lighted menus with a phone handset which you picked up and pushed the black button to place your order then the carhop brought it to us.
The Cog Railroad is located up a steep narrow street right in the town of Manitou Springs. We arrived about 10:20 a.m. and I got a stand by ticket for the 10:40 a.m. train. When it was filled, I got a seat, Row 1/Seat C, on the aisle next to the driver, Howard,for the noon train. This was the front row facing forward going up and backward going down facing the rear. The temperture at the depot was 90 degrees, at the top it was 48 degrees and windy.
Going up and returning, we saw many yellow bellied whistling marmots that just sat along side the tracks and watched us go by. Then we saw a big horned ram way up on the ridgeline. The guide told us the history of the train (built in 1891) and how it was from viewing the mountain reached by wagon road that a school teacher wrote the poem "America, the Beautiful". When asked, she told us that the trains have three types of brakes: cog, air, and transmission. If they failed, there are two big springs at the bottom named Manitou and Colorado to catch us! As we left the summit for the return to the depot, it started snowing. Hope my pictures turn out.
Later we saw on the news that a teenager rolled his car off the top of the mountain. It took several hours to get him off the side of the mountain.
This part of Colorado is really flat on both sides of U.S. 50. We couldn't see any mountains east of Pueblo.
We stopped for the night in Lamar and had dinner in BJ's Drive-In. At the inside tables were back-lighted menus with a phone handset which you picked up and pushed the black button to place your order then the carhop brought it to us.
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