Home again in California after The Summer of Wonder. What an absolutely wonderful experience - from both cross country road trips to the idyllic days by the lake in Maine. On our last leg from Winnemucca to home last Saturday Steve and I, with our own unique brand of humor, decided to do a Top Ten list from the summer. As you will note from the results below, it got a bit out of hand! Just The Numbers, Please Total miles driven all summer: 15,365 On both cross country road trips: Miles Sacramento to Maine: 4,360 Miles Maine to Sacramento: 4,102 [View Full Entry]

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We're on the next to last leg of our summer long adventure and it's hard to believe it's almost over. Wednesday, Sept 9 we spent a leisurely day the Izaak Walton Hotel in Essex, MT - thanks, Bob and Joanie Dehlendorf for recommending this unique place. The hotel is on the southern border of Glacier National Park and is an old railroad inn that is right on the railway line. A great old place - our room was paneled with wood, and looked like an old railroad car. The dining room is called...The Dining Car...what a surprise... and has big picture [View Full Entry]

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We spent the day today crossing Glacier National park via the famous Going to the Sun Highway. Thanks to all of you who recommended that we drive it from east to west - the views were amazing. However, the weather wasn't. When we left this morning it was in the mid-40's - with the raging wind, it felt more like the 30's. However, your intrepid travelers soldiered on - we weren't going to be deterred from our hiking and touring plans - or at least so we thought. Going in the eastern entrance of Glacier from St. Mary's you quickly get [View Full Entry]

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We had a great weekend with the Dehlendorf’s and all the Lincoln boys. All the guys went out fishing yesterday…with the results not subject for public discussion. When Scott caught a fish and took a photo he had to put it next to his foot so we even had some sense of how big…or little…it was. Lots of laughs, lots of fun. Sunday, Sept. 6 We started out from Bozeman on our continuing tour of Montana, on our way to Glacier National Park. Up through Helena to Great Falls, then north on a two lane road through the most god-forsaken country [View Full Entry]

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On the road yesterday - longest day yet - 582 miles - sore butts!! We came through Sturgis, SD in the morning, site of the big motorcycle rally each August - I added to my bandana napkin collection with some really strange examples! I'm now the proud owner of a Sturgis 2009 motorcycle rally pin - bet none of you can say that! And speaking of motorcycles, we've been seeing thousands of them on the road, particularly in South Dakota. It does make you wonder, the number of riders who ride without helmets - if they don't have brain damage before, [View Full Entry]

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On the road early the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 1, leaving Oacoma, SD. Actually did a short backwards run on I-90 to the rest stop the other side of Chamberlain for a great exhibit on Lewis and Clark. South Dakota has done a great job with their rest stops - friendly people to help you find directions, clean restrooms, interesting exhibits. One of the things Steve and I realized is that we've forgotten as much US history as we remember. Barely could remember much about Lewis and Clark - one of my favorite factoids is that they sent a prarie dog [View Full Entry]

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A real road trip day - straight across I-90 from Wisconsin to Minnesota to South Dakota. I now know why they call them the Great Plains... All you have to do is set the cruise control to 75 and make sure you don't fall asleep. The bugs are terrorist sized and splat all over the windshield - it's almost an hourly chore to wipe it clean so you can see out. Lots more corn, interspersed with cows. Lunch at a rest stop, accompanied by an 18 wheeler that should be reported to PETA - must have had thousands of chickens stuffed [View Full Entry]

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We all know Herbert Hoover as the president who really messed up the recession and ended up with the Depression...but frankly, I didn't know a lot more about him. Did you know that at one time he was the highest paid person in the world - making $30,000 a year as a mining engineer with a truly golden touch - that was big money back at the turn of the century. Maybe one of the most impressive things about him was the woman he was married to - the first woman to graduate from Stanford with a geology degree. His work [View Full Entry]

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A quick jaunt down to Springfield, IL to the Lincoln Library and Museum, which is quite a production. 2009 is the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth and the museum has been spruced up to celebrate. They have done a wonderful job, using the newest technologies, to truly bring to life this monumental man. My guess is that Disney and Lucasfilm had a hand in some of the exhibits and productions. There was a wonderful short film about the library that used 3D holograms fabulously - I was sure the fellow was real in the beginning. In some ways this museum, while very [View Full Entry]

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Do you remember what happenned on Friday, August 9, 1974? It is the one reference question I could always answer without looking it up. Of course, the question is which was the more important event - Richard Nixon's resignation or our wedding? It really was deja vue all over again at the Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Grand Rapids, MI when we saw all the tv coverage from August 9 - it was like reliving our wedding day - watching the news, hoping that Nixon would get out of DC and Ford would finish his speeches in time for us [View Full Entry]

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