Full Circle - Austin, TX - 12,560 Miles

Well, it's time to wrap this thing up. After Amarillo we spent five nights in Dallas primarily to catch up with friends. It also gave Terry the chance to spend one day in the office for the first time in over four months. To me that sounds like the proper ratio. Then we continued to Austin, the official end of our trip, to see our son and find a new home. Some items of note:

- We visited 12 states and 9 state capitals.

- We visited 5 national parks.

- We stayed in 31 hotel rooms, with one in-law, with one friend, and one son. Hopefully my brother-in-law learned when someone has no fixed address, you don't say, "Stay as long as you want." Our son didn't have an option.

- We obtained twenty-seven hotel rooms via Priceline. I began keeping track of how much money we saved on each room, but tired of it and quit. My best guess is Priceline saved us over $5000.

- I had two haircuts, got the car washed twice, and had two oil changes (the car, not me).

- We crossed the Continental Divide countless time. On a single day in Yellowstone there were five.

- Our highest elevation was 14,110 feet. Our lowest was zero. The car made it to about 12,000 feet.

- On a few days I would have preferred being in my apartment on my sofa, but when you have neither an apartment nor a sofa you press on.

- Since I've always been able to find interesting things in the simplest of settings, I knew I would have no problem, but I don't think anyone could have taken this trip and been bored.

Once in Austin our apartment hunt went much more quickly than expected. We signed a lease after four days. We knew the complex we preferred and they had a suitable unit available. The place borders a nature preserve and our main criteria were a view and a second floor apartment. Whether from the windows or the 10x14 balcony it seems almost like a tree-house.

Then the shopping commenced - TV's, bed, sofa, etc. Everything has been delivered except the furniture for the balcony including my coveted chaise lounge. I considered a hammock, but tying cushions to the chaise was all the assembly I wanted to tackle.

We get a lot of visitors near our balcony. The first evening a group of six doe, one fawn, and one buck wandered by. The next morning five doe passed right below us. Some people feed them so they come by regularly. A neighbor said on the ground floor they'll stick their heads through the patio railing looking for food.















The final chore will be retrieving our remaining stuff from Plano and Houston. After over four months successfully living from a suitcase, I'm tempted to just abandon it all and start over. I don't think Terry would go along with the idea though.

Remember the words of Confucius, "No matter where you go, there you are."
















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Back in God's Country - Amarillo, TX - 11,608 Miles

OK. Maybe it's a bit of a stretch to call Amarillo God's country, but we are back in Texas. We've seen both major attractions in the Amarillo area. First and foremost, of course, is the Cadillac Ranch. The Cadillacs have seen better days. They have pretty much been stripped of anything useful and are covered in multiple coats of spray paint, but they are still a draw. While we were there between 15 and 20 people showed up - some speaking various foreign languages. We can strike one more item from our must-do list.















We followed up with a trip to Palo Duro Canyon - billed as the second largest canyon in the US. It was quite impressive but definitely a distant second to the Grand Canyon. Although Palo Duro covered more area, the Rio Grande Gorge impressed me more with both its depth and sheer drops from the canyon rim. My opinion may be a little biased, however, since as soon as I left the car in Palo Duro I was swarmed with buzzing, biting insects. It was still well worth the price of admission.

I did have one common reaction to the canyons. I imagined early explorers or settlers heading west across wide open, perfectly flat ground stumbling across either canyon. Their only logical reaction would have been, "Oh crap!!"
















Tomorrow we head to Dallas.

Santa Fe, NM - 11,200 Miles

We spent yesterday in Santa Fe, NM wandering the downtown area including the state capitol. We can add the New Mexico state capitol to the unexpectedly large number of state capitols visited on this trip. New Mexico's capitol building is unique in that it was built in 1966 and has no dome. It looks like a cross between a modern office building and a museum. Also, unlike Colorado which had a metal detector and armed guards at the entrance, New Mexico simply had a security desk in a corner of the entry foyer. When we entered no one was at the desk, but I had noticed a man in a security uniform near the front of the building on a smoke break. Maybe he was just trying to keep a low profile. Other than state buildings, the downtown area was comprised almost entirely of art galleries. That may explain so many artworks hanging in the capitol building. Someone has to keep those folks in business.

The most notable feature here is the architecture. I've seen enough adobe and stucco to last a lifetime. It's a nice change but all of the buildings look the same. I've seen adobe malls, adobe churches, adobe 7-11's, adobe gas stations, adobe office buildings,and adobe IHOP's. I told Terry driving back to the hotel last night, "Watch for the hotel because I'll be 4 miles past it before I realize it."

Fortunately I remembered a McDonald's sat next to the Marriott. I only knew this because of the golden arches in front of a another generic adobe building. When I saw golden arches I knew turning left would put me in our hotel parking lot.

The adobe houses get repetitive also. If I take a quick glance toward an older residential neighborhood, I'd swear I just had a glimpse of Bedrock. The only things missing were Fred and Wilma.

Today we drove up to Taos. Taos apparently used up whatever adobe Santa Fe had left over. We went through town and to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. First, I never knew the Rio Grande was anywhere other than along the Mexican border, but I guess it had to start somewhere. Second, in my mind, the Rio Grande Gorge is second only to the Grand Canyon in gorges. I had never heard of it before today. Maybe equally surprising is that, other than a small rest area at one end of the bridge, there are no signs and nothing commercial. We went to Royal Gorge in Colorado and they wanted $24 a person to get to the bridge so we turned around. Here it was just another bridge on a two-lane state road 10 miles from the nearest town, but the gorge was every bit as spectacular. I've learned there's no telling what you will stumble across if you keep your eyes open.






























The bridge was short enough to walk with no problem, but I could have done without the bouncing caused by the occasional semi crossing behind me as I looked over the railing.

Santa Fe, NM - 11,017 Miles

Today we drove to Santa Fe, NM. We spent our last morning in Colorado Springs yesterday at Garden of the Gods.

This is a picture of Garden of the Gods with Pike's Peak in the background.

Rock formations in Garden of the Gods and Terry giving an assist to balancing rock.

In the afternoon we visited the Air Force Academy.

Exterior and interior of the Air Force Academy chapel.

Manitou Springs - Colorado Springs, CO - 10,645 Miles

We spent the day in Manitou Springs west of Colorado Springs in the foothills of the Rockies. Manitou Springs, like most towns we've encountered in the Colorado Rockies, reached its peak in the 1890's. The difference is the town's growth had nothing to do with mining. Manitou Springs owed its growth to tourists coming to visit the mineral springs and Pike's Peak. Like most of the towns it faded to near oblivion by the mid 20th century but has made at least a partial comeback due to tourism and art colonies.

















One attraction was an arcade dating back to the early 1900's. Some of the games were as recent as 15 years old but a few went back over 50 years. Those were my favorites. They cost more than a penny, but many cost only five or ten cents. To me real arcade games have no solid state electronics and are housed in a box of stained wood. I found several games I used to play as a kid at Idora Park in Youngstown, OH. I was able to get back to my inner child although I think, even now, my inner child pretty much runs the place.

Pike's Peak - Colorado Springs, CO - 10,630 Miles

Made the ride to the top of Pike's Peak today on the cog railway. That is my kind of mountain climbing. As soon as they finish the line to the top of Everest, I'm there.

Gold Country - Colorado Springs, CO - 10,495 Miles

We turned the hour drive from Denver to Colorado Springs into six hours by making another loop into the Rockies. On the map it looked like the town of Fairplay would be a good destination. Just when I thought I'd seen all possible different landscapes, we crested a ridge after climbing to 10,000 feet and before us were flatlands stretching for miles in every direction. Cows grazed and barns dotted the countryside. It looked like rural Illinois except for the distant mountains surrounding it and we were 9000 feet higher.

The area is in Park county. Fairplay is the county seat in the southern part of the county so the area is known as.....wait for it..... South Park. I had assumed the TV show was based on a fictional town in Colorado, but it really exists. We saw the South Park elementary school (but no Cartman, Kenny, Stan, or Kyle). Many of the businesses had South Park in their name long before the TV show existed.
















We toured South Park City. It's a collection of buildings from the turn of the century or earlier from various towns and ghost towns in the area. During that period the region was at its height of gold mining operations. It was a project of, as you might expect, the South Park Historical Society.























Today, starting from Colorado Springs, we looped around the back side of Pike's Peak to visit the old mining towns of Victor and Cripple Creek. At its peak about 475 mines operated between the two towns. Only one still operates so opportunities abound to see abandoned mining operations.















Victor had about 12,000 residents at its peak. Today it has less than 500. Looking at the dates on the downtown buildings it seems the majority were built in 1899. They all still exist but most are vacant and the town is virtually unchanged since that time.
















After Victor we went to Cripple Creek. We had visited both towns nearly 20 years ago. Victor was the same as I remembered but Cripple Creek was nearly unrecognizable. Shortly after our last visit a law was passed allowing casinos in Cripple Creek. That created a building boom of new casinos and hotels. In addition many of the old buildings were gutted except for the exterior walls to accommodate casinos and hotel rooms. A large number of the historic building were simply torn down. The hillsides that were covered with abandoned mines and miner's cabins on our last visit were now spotted with condos and new homes. I'm sure the people in town are much better off than they were 20 years ago, but to me the town has become much less interesting.

10k at 11k - Denver, CO - 10,152 Miles

Yesterday we wandered west into the Rockies to see a few old mines and mining towns. We happened to cross over 10,000 miles for the trip while at an altitude over 11,000 feet. My heart was all aflutter but I don't know if it resulted from that many miles in one trip or from the altitude. I'm sure the coroner will be able to sort it out.















Today we drove to the top of Lookout Mountain for the view and to see the museum and grave of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Yes, I know. We're getting pretty far down the list of attractions. An interesting aspect of the museum was seeing 100-year old photos of Indians in the Wild West Show next to displays of the same clothes worn in the photos.

I also found it interesting how, after Buffalo Bill's death in 1917, the town of Cody, WY offered a $10,000 bounty to anyone who would steal the body from Colorado and bring it to Wyoming. Colorado's response was to have the national guard - complete with tank - guard the grave site. The offer must have expired since I didn't see any military presence.

We then headed into Golden to tour the Coors brewery. I've toured breweries before - once earlier on this trip - and the process really doesn't vary much so the objective was to speed through the tour to get to the free tasting room at the end. Terry wanted a closeup look at the packaging operations while I had a hard time deciding between the Blue Moon and Killian's Red in the tasting room.















Tomorrow we will take a probably less than direct route into Colorado Springs.

Denver CO - 9978 Miles

Actually we're in Golden, CO, just west of Denver, but that's close enough. Heading south on I-25 from Cheyenne we saw countless hard-core bikers headed north to Sturgis for the rally. We also saw a few wimps hauling their bikes behind their SUV's. I'm assuming they'll park about 50 miles out and ride the bikes in to avoid the shame. Since the drive to Denver takes well under two hours via interstate, we veered into the mountains to make it a five hour drive.

We passed through Estes Park along the way. It mirrored Jackson, WY, in that far too many people were there for the size of the town. Wanting to avoid the mobs we kept driving. We did make a stop in Nederland. About 1400 people live in town at an elevation over 8000 feet. The small downtown was comprised of coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and a few art/antique/souvenir stores. It was nice but didn't really seem to have a reason to exist. When we got to our hotel we mentioned to the desk clerk we stopped in Nederland and she said, "Oh, Nederland. That's a nice place. It's populated by draft dodgers who went there to hide out in the '60's and never left". I guess that's as good a reason for a town to exist as any.

I didn't take any pictures on the drive. It just seemed like, "More snow capped peaks, more mountain waterfalls, more canyon vistas, blah, blah, blah." I think that's a sign we need to wind this trip up pretty soon.

We spent the day in downtown Denver. I'm not a huge fan of big cities and I saw Denver as just another big city, but I can add the Colorado capitol building to the list of capitol buildings visited on the trip. Sometime I'll have to count them up. This was the first requiring passage through a metal detector. Apparently Colorado considers itself a more likely target for attack than other states.

Cheyenne, WY - 9737 Miles

Friday we drove from Salt Lake City to Cheyenne, Wy, passing through over 400 miles of nearly empty countryside. Less than 500,000 people call Wyoming home. If I ever decide to live "off the grid" I've found a suitable place. I don't think it's very likely though. I've grown fond of the grid and would need a very long extension cord. It was the first time I saw signs and gates across an interstate to shut it down in bad weather.

Today we went into town to see the state capitol. Terry had seen a dome so we drove that general direction. As we approached I saw the building below the dome and said, "That can't be it. That must be the county courthouse." I was wrong. The capital must be closed on weekends since all the doors were locked. I should have known since two days worth of newspapers were piled outside the front door. I didn't think about it until after we left, but if I had checked there was probably a key left under the mat. I did learn from the outdoor statuary that the territory of Wyoming in 1869 was the first government in the world to grant equal rights to women. It seems that issue later was a large part of the congressional debate on admitting Wyoming to the union.

We also visited the weekend farmer's market and did the self-guided historic walking tour of downtown and nearby residences. I'm convinced the common factors for community growth in the late 1800's were saloons and brothels.

Tomorrow is Denver.

Contrasts - Salt Lake City, UT - 9220 Miles

We spent our first day in Salt Lake City doing the obvious - a trip downtown to see the Mormon Temple and the Temple Square area. Noon on Sunday is slow for the city in general but it's peak hours around the Temple Square complex. Non-Mormons are not allowed in the temple so Terry toured the tabernacle and other buildings while I remained in the well air- conditioned visitor's center. I viewed the exhibits on how Mormons ended up in Utah and the 40-year construction of the temple. Also, computer terminals were available for searching family history databases. I understand the resources available through the Mormon church are the Mecca of genealogists.

The next day we visited the lake and the desert to the west of the city. Everyone should see the Great Salt Lake once but I have no desire to return. The shoreline is mostly undeveloped. Since the lake level can vary by 20 feet and the land is flat, the shoreline can move by 15 miles in some places. We visited one nearly abandoned beachfront facility that, at one time in the past, had to build a rail line to shuttle people to the water. Now the water is within walking distance. Terry stuck her hand in the water but that was as daring as we got.

The only life in the lake is brine shrimp. Ringing the lake is a cloud of sand flies. To me they look and move like fleas, but I'll take the word of whoever named them. The tourist literature says the flies don't bite or land on humans but I beg to differ.

Less than 10 miles west of the lake we entered some of the most inhospitable looking country I've ever seen. The further we went the more salt replaced the desert sand and even your normal desert vegetation disappeared. Even though we were on an interstate a sign at one exit said there were no services for the next 66 miles. That's the longest stretch I've personally encountered. Next we reached an exit (with no services) and a sign saying the next exit was 45 miles so we couldn't turn around before Nevada. That was far enough. We got off, took a picture, and made a u-turn back to Salt Lake City.















The following day we headed east. The changes encountered going 20 miles east versus west were remarkable. Rather than salt deserts we were in the mountains and ski areas of the 2002 Winter Olympics. At an intersection we saw a sign saying "Ski Resorts" and pointing up a mountain. Having nothing better to do we turned and quite by accident ended up at the Sundance Ski Resort. We rode a lift to the top of the ski slopes. Riding ski lifts in the summer has become one of my new favorite activities since it combines three enjoyable events - nice weather, beautiful scenery, and sitting in a relatively comfy chair. We did have the good sense this time to make it a round trip on the lift rather than walking down. For $10 each I thought Robert Redford would help us get on the lift but I guess he was busy elsewhere.















Coming back we saw a large waterfall coming off the mountains so we stopped. I got a picture of the waterfall along with several young and one not-so-young children playing at the base of the falls.















We leave Salt Lake City on Friday and head to Cheyenne, WY. I hear it's cooler there.

Salt Lake City, UT - 8850 Miles

After our day in Jackson, WY, we drove through the Tetons for two nights in Idaho Falls, ID. We didn't find a great deal of interest in our brief time in town other than a pleasant 5-mile walk along both sides of the Snake River and through downtown before completing the loop. The 95 degree temperatures encountered since gradually wandering back south have us reconsidering our decision not to go back to Canada. A few weeks along the border sound good, but I think we're committed to gradually returning to Texas.















Yesterday during our drive to Salt Lake City we had another of our "just stumbled upon" moments. While looking for a Walmart to replenish supplies we spotted a museum at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, UT. We were running about two hours ahead of our hotel check-in time so we decided to stop. It turned out to be one of our better stops. The museum had two buildings and an outside area filled with aircraft from the Wright brothers to the present. Planes included B-19, B-24, B-25, B-29, B-52, and B-1 bombers, the SR-71 Blackbird, and various propeller and jet driven fighters and transports. WWII bombers have always fascinated me. I can't imagine being crammed in the turrets with people shooting at you.

We also spent time listening to the stories of a veteran who served as a volunteer docent. He told stories of his own service but most interesting were the stories of his son and nephew currently serving in Afghanistan. His son is a pilot loitering overhead and his nephew trails Taliban until they are in a position where an air strike can be called in. They both use code names during radio transmissions and the cousins only found out months later they had been talking to each other during operations.












































We'll be in Salt Lake City until Friday morning so I'll do laundry while Terry works. I'm not sure where we'll end up next.