route66chick

ALASKA, A COOKS TOUR It’s May and time for my trip to visit my brother who lives in Chugiak, Alaska, a small bedroom community in South-Central Alaska, about 20 miles north of Anchorage. I arrived in the early morning; it was still dark at their house. The sun was soon up and I heard a low howling by one or two dogs. In rapid succession more and more dogs joined in the synchronized baying. The eerie howl was enough to cause shivers, enough to make me imagine that I was in the midst of a wilderness or perhaps engrossed in reading The Call of the Wild. It was the wakeup call of the sled dogs kept at my brother and sister in laws house. Chugiak is a quaint collection of modern, homemade, cabin like and curious ... read more

Trilobite Fossil Dig Near Delta, Utah It is often difficult to come up with fun, interesting learning experiences close to home that would be considered a full day trip or perhaps an overnight adventure. The U-Dig Fossil Quarry in Delta provided just such an opportunity. We were going to hunt down Trilobites, not to be confused with the pesky little furry creatures on Star Trek, Tribbles. Our little creatures lived at the bottom of an ancient sea bed some 500 million years ago, an invertebrate marine life which is now extinct. As the seas dried up the trilobites were encased in the limestone shale. The quarry is privately owned and is one of the world’s richest trilobite deposits, no reservations are required and prices are based on time allotments. 2 hrs. ½ day and 1full day ... read more

Salt Lake City Weekend March 13, 2011 Once in a while it’s fun to get away for an overnight respite; this was the case when my oldest son asked if I would like to accompany him to Salt Lake City. He had an appointment mid-afternoon on the 14th and suggested we could do some shopping around his appointment time. Who can say no to a trip especially when you can spend it with your son? My son was taking his retired K-9 with him so he searched the Internet for a dog friendly hotel; The Monaco popped up and was located downtown just a few blocks from his scheduled appointment. It is a 15 story renovated gray building which from the outside is not spectacular. Since its downtown, there is little to no decoration save for ... read more

Pattie and Ron's Vacation 2010 - Part 4 When we arrived at Ft Bragg the skies were over cast. We quickly settled into our hotel and about two hours later decided to go to the Safeway store a few blocks down the street and pick up some T.V. dinners. We both were tired and decided to eat in the room instead of going out. To our surprise, when we opened the door, the fog had rolled in cutting visibility to about twenty feet. Ron had wanted to run in the morning. We feared the fog would put a damper on that. To our surprise, when we woke and looked outside the next morning, the fog had vanished. Clear skies greeted us and the sound of surf echoed in the distance. After a quick two and a ... read more

Pattie And Ron's Vacation 2010 Day 2 Crater Lake/Redwood National Forrest. Day two dawned clear, a mild 53 degrees. Wispy white clouds floating by. We got up early and made ready for our Crater Lake Adventure. The hotel offers an expanded continental breakfast and we ate our fill, grabbed two coffees to go and headed to the car. We headed west on Route 97 for about 26 miles before turning towards the park entrance. We took a brief side tour of a small town just before the turn off. Nice bungalow type houses, neat and tidy. One can only wonder what they do to support themselves way out here. Route 97 is lined with large pine trees and from what we could see they went back a good way. There was no evidence of clear cutting, ... read more