ON THE ROAD AGAIN: 2009 GREAT WESTERN ADVENTURE WEEK NINE: NORTHBROOK, IL TO SARASOTA, FL : THE LAST LEG Tuesday, July 21 There were fond farewells to Ellie and Lou as we took off mid morning for the table top flat land around the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. I had a delightful reunion when Dena, Mandy’s nursery school teacher, met us near I-74 to give us a tour of the campus. The Illini Union was as beautiful as ever but I stopped at the university building most memorable to me, the Krannert Center for Performing Arts where, under the [View Full Entry]

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN: 2009 GREAT WESTERN ADVENTURE WEEK EIGHT: BARABOO , WI TO NORTHBROOK , IL Tuesday, July 14 The Warners were at the ready with fond farewells as we prepared to leave Baraboo.  They gave us directions to Portage, a small town north of Baraboo where I have fond childhood memories of my grandfather’s lakeside cottage. Although I was unable to locate the cottage, I did get the feel of the town and Silver Lake as I tried to conjure up memories of skipping stones on the rocky shore and my mother braiding my long hair as we sat [View Full Entry]

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN: 2009 GREAT WESTERN ADVENTURE WEEK SEVEN: CUSTER , SD TO BARABOO , WI Tuesday, July 07 Custer is a cute Western town on the edge of Custer State Park. After checking out of President Harrison’s Cabin we drove into Custer to a little bistro for an egg burrito (I also had a great chai) before heading out to the park. We then drove along the edge of the park for some time before seeing anything. Suddenly as we rounded a bend a herd of buffalo were on the crest of a hill munching on yellow sweet clover. [View Full Entry]

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WEEK SIX: CHOTEAU , MT TO CUSTER , SD Tuesday, June 30 We took our time leaving Choteau lingering over long expanses of soft green prairies and buttes and memories Jen’s hospitality,. Civilization seems an ugly interruption of this lovely land. The Ulm Pishkun State Park, ten miles out of Great Falls is the historic Buffalo Jump of the First Peoples.  For hundreds of years the Great Plains Indian Tribes hunted buffalo by driving them over these and many other cliffs. To get to the edge of these impressive cliffs you must walk through a prairie dog town on top of [View Full Entry]

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WEEK FIVE: HELENA , MT, GLACIER NP, CHOTEAU , MT Tuesday, June 23 We have been on the road now for four weeks and it has been too rainy, cold and buggy to drag out our tent and camping gear. But no matter, our next destination is Jen’s house in Choteau. Before descending on Jen we took the Gates of the Mountains boat excursion from Holter Dam up the Missouri River and into the towering white Madison limestone canyon to retrace a small piece of the journey of Lewis and Clark. The boat stopped near Meriwether’s chosen campsite on one of [View Full Entry]

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WEEK FOUR: TELLURIDE (and SAWPIT), CO TO HELENA , MT             Tuesday, June 16 Leaving Kate and Nathan to finish their garden and fencing on the ranch was not easy especially since, for the first time in a week, it was bright, sunny and warm!  When we arrived last week we drove down Last Dollar Road in the dark.  This time, in full sun and clear blue skies, we enjoyed the yellow dandelions, blues of the wild iris, lupine and larkspur and soft corn silk wildflowers that dusted the rugged landscape framed by the snow capped mountain range surrounding us. Free-range [View Full Entry]

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WEEK THREE: WALSENBURG , CO TO TELLURIDE, CO Tuesday, June 9 The drive to Le Veta brought us through the wide open spaces of the Front Range giving us a dramatic view of the snow covered Spanish Peaks and the Greenhorn Mountain Wilderness Area. To the north and west were the Sangre de Cristo Mountains . The snow still clung to these mountain peaks surrounding this lovely valley giving us a wonderful taste of what’s to come.   We followed the precise directions up to Valley Winds, Marta and Dave’s llama ranch in the mountains outside the charming lit [View Full Entry]

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NOTES FROM THE ROAD: KELLEY AND DAVE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE 2009   WEEK ONE: SARASOTA , FL TO PASADENA , MD We’re on the road again! We left sunny Sarasota on Tuesday, May 26 heading for Maryland and a Family Gathering with 23,100 miles on our car (last year we left with about 1,000 miles on our then new car and came back with 10,000 miles on the odometer!) Rain is typical in May and June and especially so this year. Our two-day drive was no exception for after we hit Georgia the rain came alternately in buckets and drizzle which lasted [View Full Entry]

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KELLEY AND DAVE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE The Big Trip West…Notes From the road: WEEK EIGHT. Thursday, July 10. All was quiet on the Eastern front until the plumbers started drilling and banging on the pipes at 7am installing the Fire Department Connections. But the sun was shining and a cool breeze made it a very pleasant morning. Dave and I had our breakfast then joined the kids at the town Bakery Shoppe for a morning treat. I had a ginger and apricot scone while Dave had a chocolate glazed donut. We needed to walk off those calories so Dave and I walked [View Full Entry]

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KELLEY AND DAVE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE The Big Trip West…Notes From the road: WEEK SEVEN. Thursday, July 3. Pam took us for an early morning walk touring her lovely neighborhood with Jasper, Pam’s standard poodle before leaving for breakfast at the local IHop. Over coffee and pancakes Pam gave us good advice about the next leg of our trip. Having lived around St Louis, Pam had a wealth of information to share. She advised us to spend some time in St Charles on the Missouri River before entering St Louis. She also said I must see the Missouri Botanical Ga [View Full Entry]

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