Road Trip Summary

Well, we survived the Great Road Trip of '09. Here's a summary:

We drove through portions of 11 states - Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.

We visited White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Badlands, Black Hills (Including Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and Reptile Gardens), Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Painted Desert, and Petrified Forest. Oh, and the Too-Much-Time-On-Your-Hands National Monument, more commonly known as the world's largest ball of twine, in Darwin, Minnesota. And Roswell, New Mexico, whatever that is...

We also visited the homes of five family members.

We travelled 4544.1 miles.

We spent 16 days.

We used 150 gallons of gas.

We took 2709 pictures. That's an average of 246.27 per state. 0.6 per mile. 18.06 per gallon. I don't know if that's very good performance - neither the owner's manual for the car, nor the one for the camera, gives any estimates for pictures-per-gallon.

We bought some Black Hills Gold jewelry (in the Black Hills, of course - a ring and earrings), a Native American flute (in Utah), and a chunk of petrified wood (where else?). We also bought some fun stuff at a thrift store in Elbow Lake, MN.

We saw many examples of that automotive palindrome, "a Toyota." But we did not encounter the fabled Japanese-car graveyard known as "The Subaruins."

We skipped our planned stop in Dodge City, Kansas, for lack of time. We missed the exodus of 400,000 or so bats from Carlsbad Caverns at dusk because there was too much lightning in the area, and the park rangers made us all leave the park. We didn't see any condors at the Grand Canyon or around Marble Canyon, and we passed the turn-off to the Vermilion Cliffs release point well after dark. So, we saw no condors. We also drove the last part of the Badlands, South Dakota, in the dark. So, not everything worked out just as we had hoped.

Pam had fun snapping pictures through the the windshield as we travelled. I had fun enjoying her fun. We'll both have fun looking at all the pictures and weeding out the ones we don't want.

Driving through Colorado, we paralleled the Colorado River for many miles. A day or so later, we saw the Colorado River where it flows through the Grand Canyon. I wondered if we were looking at some of the same water. I know we drove faster than the river runs, but we also stopped at a motel in Torrey, Utah, for the night, and drove a less-direct route. Not to mention stopping a lot more often to take pictures. I couldn't tell from the rim of the Grand Canyon if any of the river water looked familiar.

All-in-all, it was a great trip, and we're looking forward to future road trips, though probably not as long (because it's hard for me to get away from work for that much time in a row), and probably with a tent.

Road Trip Day 14

We left Torrington, Wyoming this morning a little after 7:00, and we're now settled into our room in Torrey, Utah. What we saw of Wyoming was interesting, but a bit on the desolate side. The drive through Colorado was gorgeous. We left I-28 just West of Green River, Utah, headed South on Hwy 24, through Capital Reef.

As we approached Capital Reef, the earth around us began to morph into other-worldly shapes. At first, many of these looked sterile, like dead tailings strewn around an abandoned mine. A mine dug haphazardly by some juvenile giant and his toy shovel. But as we moved into the park proper, everything changed. There was the green of cottonwoods luxuriating in the moisture of terra cotta - colored streams looking like someone dumped an unimaginably large can of paint somewhere up in the mountains.

The vision and industry of man showed itself as well. Ancient petroglyphs decorated some of the smooth cliff faces, and the more recent contributions of hardy farmers brought green crops, black, brown and tan livestock, and multicolored buildings and machinery to many a flat space nestled between...

...The real genius and labor. Rock formations twist into shapes that defy definition, sculpted by some Cosmic-sized Artist, Who removed every last chip of rock that did not belong, but took not so much as a fleck that did.

Tomorrow we're off to enjoy more Earth-sculpting in Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon.

Road Trip Day 13

Well, here we are in Torrington, Wyoming, back online after many days of Internet deprivation.

Actually, we could have had Internet service last night in Rapid City, South Dakota, but I just plain refused to pay $3.00 on top of the premium price charged for a barely-average room.

So, it's midnight and I need to get some rest, so this will be brief.

Visited with Pam's family until yesterday, including a day on the lake catching a few walleyes.

Yesterday we drove through the Badlands, and today we drove around the Black Hills, including, of course, Mount Rushmore, and not enough else. We got a late start because I had to wait for a store to open where I could replace the battery charger for my camera. Apparently I left my other one somewhere in New Mexico...

Tomorrow we'll get to see something of Wyoming other than headlights approaching at wide intervals.

Road Trip - Day 6 - Elbow Lake

Well, I'm sitting outside the public library at Elbow Lake, Minnesota. As soon as I'm done here, we'll go visit Pam's sister, Charlotte for a couple of days.

On the way up here I got a warning for speeding. In appreciation of the nice officer giving me a warning instead of a ticket, I'll travel only the speed limit the rest of our time in Minnesota.

Last night at Curt and Barb's house, their three daughters came over to visit. Pam's nieces are pretty close to our age, so their kids are all in high school or later. It was nice to visit, and will probably result in our spending an extra day in Minnesota. Roger told me he lives 10 miles from one of the best walleye lakes in Minnesota. I'm just going to have to see if he's telling the truth!

Road Trip - Day 5

Well, we went Internet dark for a couple of days. Comfort Inn in Salina, Kansas had a great room and lousy Internet service.

We drove to Salina from Carlsbad Sunday night. Stopped for a few minutes in Roswell. Didn't see any aliens, but saw a few true believers, I think. We stopped at a rest area somewhere on the Llana Estacada. Very, very flat plain. Except for the hole in the parking lot that I stepped in while taking a stroll to take some pictures of an abandoned house off in the brush behind the rest area. I fell right flat and heard my camera bounce at least twice on the pavement. Fortunately it seems to still be working. So do I, although I had my doubts about my ankle for a while.

That's kind of a story, too, I guess. When I got up Friday morning, the day we left, I could hardly walk. I have some calcification of the tendons or cartilage or something that's not supposed to be bone in my heel and ankle. I have occasional arthritis attacks in that area, but Friday's was the worst ever. I used a cane to get around, and started taking Ibuprofen right away. By the time we got to Carlsbad Caverns I was fine. But I was pretty sore again after tripping. Today it aches a little, but it's not bad.

Somewhere along the road we saw a big sign advertising the Dalton Gang's hideout. Doesn't seem like much of a hideout if they have a big sign on the outskirts of town. In town we saw another sign - "Hideout - 4 Blocks." Turning to follow the arrow, we passed a sign every block - "Hideout," with an arrow pointing the way. Then we saw the sign indicating the location of the notorious Daltons' hideout and escape tunnel. If it's that easy to find, it makes you wonder how the Daltons stayed on the loose for so long. Unless it's all a decoy...

Along the way we passed through Pratt, Kansas. Seems like we know someone from Pratt...

And here we are in Lake Benton, Minnesota, staying with Pam's brother, Curt and his wife, Barb. Internet access will probably be spotty for a while, but I'll update when I can.

Road Trip Day 2 - Howdy from Carlsbad!

Visited Carlsbad Caverns today. Took gobs of pictures, but really, pictures can't even begin to show what an awesome place it is. Trying to catch it "on film" is kind of like trying to capture a moment of God's moving, and then pass it out to everyone who wasn't there. Good thing no one ever tries that!

We took the Natural Entrance hike down into the caverns. We went very slowly, not because we can't walk quickly, and not because we can't walk quickly on a steep downhill grade for a mile or so. We went slowly because we just couldn't go quickly in that place. It's a very sacred place - a place that was God's alone for a very long time, and a place He must have really enjoyed wandering through.

At the bottom of the Natural Entrance Trail is the beginning of the Big Room Trail. There are also restrooms with flush toilets. 750 feet below the surface of the ground. So where exactly do those toilets flush to? Naturally I had to ask a park ranger. Turns out they flush into a holding tank, and every once in a while the waste is pumped to the surface for disposal.

The Big Room is ... well ... really, really, BIG! And filled with sights carrying enticing names like "Rock of Ages," "Bottomless Pit," "Chinese Theatre," and such. Part of the Big Room is very wet and actively forming new cave stuff. Part of it is quite dry. It turns out that when they built the visitors' center and all the parking, they blocked rain water from draining through the rock underlying the building and parking lot. Kind of like the way putting up a building and parking lot can cut off the supply of Living Water to a church. Oops - did I just say that in my outside voice???

We wanted to see the bats leave the cave in the evening - apparently it's a wonderful sight. But there was too much lightning nearby and the flight viewing was canceled. Bummer! I guess we'll have to go back sometime...

So, here we are in Carlsbad. We found a motel room on the second floor, and as we walked up the stairs to our room we noticed fireworks soaring into the sky all across the horizon south of us. At least two professional displays were visible, and countless "backyard" projects as well. We're not used to that in Arizona, where fireworks aren't legal and available as they are in New Mexico. Best part was that God lit up the whole sky with His own fireworks, sending spiderwebs of lightning all over the night. I'm not sure whether He was just joining in the fun, or if He was showing everyone how it's done, but we enjoyed it greatly.

Off to Roswell and parts North tomorrow!

Road Trip Day 1 - Greetings from Artesia!

Well, here we are in beautiful downtown Artesia, New Mexico. We left Phoenix this morning, and drove pretty leisurely until midafternoon. It rained hard, but not blindingly, about 20 minutes before we got to White Sands. One lightning strike off to the side of the road had just about zero lag time between flash and crash, so it was pretty close. Not close enough to hear the snap of lightning or smell the electricity, though. The weather was clear, hot and humid by the time we got to White Sands, and stayed that way for much of our time in the dunes. It clouded up later and got really comfortable.

After leaving White Sands we drove through Alamogordo into the mountains. That was one of the nicest drives ever. It rained lightly most of the way through the mountains, but once the rain stopped we opened the roof and enjoyed the 60-degree weather.

There were a couple of very-deserted houses falling to ruin along the route today. Whenever I see places like that, windows and doors and roof all missing, I wonder about all the people who lived there once-upon-a-time. What were their dreams? How did they make that place a home? Whatever happened to make it more reasonable to abandon than to dwell there?

Anyway, here we are in Artesia, in a bargain-room motel on the South edge of town. It has doors, windows and a roof. Also a decent bed and a clean bathroom. And free Internet access. We're planning to head south to Carlsbad Caverns in the morning. Afterward we're thinking about going to Roswell to watch fireworks and UFO conspiracy theorists.

Hopefully we'll find another affordable motel with Internet access so I can update tomorrow!