Trip West

Day 1:
On our way for the big adventure. Driving across the country.

Drove to Indianapolis. Stopped at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.



This church has been restored and the interior has been completely refurbished. Here is a picture I took on an earlier visit.

Day 2:

Drove southwest trough Indiana, stopped in Vincennes and visited the George Rogers Clark NHP. Who? I never heard of him either. Apparently he beat the British at Fort Sackville (more like tricked them out of the fort). In so doing, he secured the "Territory Northwest of the Ohio River" for the US. He is also the older brother of William Clark of Lewis & Clark fame. The city of Clarksburg, WVa is also named in his honor.

 



It's a pretty impressive monument built in the 30's. Here is the interior with a statue of George.

He was helped financial by Fancis Vigo an Italian merchant who embraced the patriotic cause.

Vincennes is also home to the Old Cathedral Basilica of St. Fancis Xavier. It is the oldest parish in Indiana.

That is Fr. Pierre Gibault's statue in front of the church. He convinced the citizens of Vincennes to turn the town & fort over to Col. Rogers. He is often referred to as the "Patriot Priest of the Old Northwest". 

Had an excellent lunch at Gilberts than on to St Louis.

Day 3

Drove into St Louis past the worlds largest catsup bottle

and saw the Arch. Officially The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial which memorializes the role St. Louis played in the westward expansion of the U.S.

As you might expect, there is a large Catholic and French presents in St Louis. Here is a picture of the old Cathedral.

St Louis is also were the Dread Scott decision was handed down in the old court house.



The trip to the top of the Arch is pretty unique. You ride up with 5 people crammed in a small car. It would be challenging for someone with severe claustrophobia, but it only takes 4 minutes and the door is glass so you can see the interior of the Arch go by. It's not as large at the top as you might expect. Even with the small cars and small windows, it's well worth the trip. Here are a few pictures from the top.

Old Courthouse from top of Arch

Looking west to downtown St. Louis from top of Arch

Busch Stadium from top of Arch

Looking east from top of Arch

Also took a tour of the Mississippi River on, what else, the riverboat "Tom Sawyer". Here are a few pictures.

Then it was on to Kansas City, MO.

Day 4

 Stopped at the Jazz Museum. It wasn't much. And missed a lot of the early jazz pioneers like Oliver Nelson & Billy Strayhorn. It's near 18th & Vine which was a historic location of the civil rights movement.

Also had BBQ at Famous Amos's. I know it was famous because the sign said so. Food was good too.

We also stopped at the WWI memorial, which I didn't realize was in KC. Apparently KC residence contributed to a fund in 1919. The facility opened in 1926.

You can take an elevator to the top.

There are two Assyrian Sphinxes covering their eyes.

"Memory" faces east toward the battlefields of France, shielding its eyes from the horrors of war.

"Future" faces west, shielding its eyes from an unknown future.

On to Colorado and Pikes Peak.

Day 5

Drove across Kansas on our way to Manitou Springs, CO. 

Along the way we stopped at a road side park in Winona, KS for a nice lunch made up of left overs from some meals earlier in the trip.

Had our first rain as we pulled into Manitou Springs. View of Pikes Peak (which we could see for some distance coming into Colorado Springs). View from our hotel.

Manitou Springs is a nice little town that developed around a carbonated mineral spring that drew in people seeking its curative powers.

Had a nice dinner at the Stagecoach Inn and found a gift shop and ice cream in town.

Day 6

Starting the day driving the Pikes Peak Highway. It's a 19 mile twisty-turny road to the 14,115 ft summit. Here's a little piece of video of the drive up. Stay with it till the end to see the biker's. 

It was a little foggy at the top on the day we visited.

First stop Crystal Reservoir

At the summit

English professor Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write the poem that became "America the Beautiful" after a visit to Pikes Peak in 1893.

A"friend" at the top

Some pictures along the way.

From there we are on our way across Colorado.

Day 7
Drove west through scenic southwestern Colorado through Durango to Cortez. Crossed the Rio Grande River and the Continental Divide (at Wolf Pass, 10,550Ft). Here are some pictures along the way.

This might be Ute Pass (I need to take better note of where a picture was take). The ancient route used by the Ute Indians through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Later used by Spanish & American explorers, fur traders and gold prospectors.

Stopped at Mesa Verde NP to see the cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people.

Some pictures of the dwellings.

 Spruce Tree House

Square Tower House

 Top of the Meas

 Cliff House

Balcony House

 Pit House built on the top of the Mesa

On to the Grand Canyon

Day 8
Some pictures driving out of Colorado.

On the way we stopped at the 4-Corners where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet. Apparently this is the only place in the US where this happens.

Than on across Arizona to the Grand Canyon.

Just a spectacular big hole in the ground! 

All the pictures at: Grand Canyon on Flickr

Day 9

Spent at the Grand Canyon. Had a nice lunch at the Bright Angle Lodge (they also had an ice cream shop). Here are a few pictures.

Day 10

On our way across Arizona via old Route 66.

Stopped at Kingman, AZ

Day 11

On to Nevada

On the way we stopped at Hoover Dam.

Had a good view of Lake Mead. You can see how low the water level is.

Ended up out side Las Vegas, stayed at a Hotel and Casino, although everything is a "something" and Casino.

Day 12

Drove across Nevada past "Area 51" on the Extraterrestrial Highway.

Along the way we stopped for a nice lunch at Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, NV

Than it's back on the road across Nevada. Here's some photos.

Crescent Dunes Energy Project

Notice the dust storm in the center of the picture

On the way to California we passed Boundary Pk @ 13143 Ft it's the highest point in Nevada.

Into California and a stop at Lee Vining.

Lee Vining is a small town that services the recreational area of Mono Lake. Stayed in a small motel where they made a big deal about the fact that we had a private bath. Still $100 a night.

Day 13

Drove into Yosemite NP from the east along Rt 120 the Tioga Rd. It's a pretty spectacular drive. The 1st 10 miles or so you climb in elevation to the Tioga Pass @ 9945 Ft and on to the Tuolumne Meadows. Here's a piece of video. It's a little long. Even in HD it doesn't do justice to the scenery.  

And some pictures.

Than into the Yosemite Valley

You can see how smokey it is from wildfires still in the area.

Spent the night in Mariposa, CA. It was as close to the Park as we could find a motel. It's an old gold mining town that now mainly caters to tourist. It was just barely spared by the recent Ditwiler Fire. Found a couple of nice places to eat and an ice cream shop.

Day 14
Drove back to the Yosemite Valley and spent the day.
All the Yosemite pictures are at: Yosemite NP 2017
Here are a few of the more popular places.

Half Dome

El Capitan

Yosemite Falls

Day 15

Drove through the devastation of the Ditwiler Fire.

Here are a few more pictures

Drove through California across the Oakland Bay Bridge into San Francisco than across the Golden Gate Bridge. The parking area's were all full so we couldn't stop and, even in the afternoon, there was still a fog over the bridge. So we didn't stop or get any good pictures. Stayed in Mill Valley. Nice town, found a church and a good hamburger joint (no ice cream).

Day 16

On our way to the Pacific Ocean.

Stinson Beach

Drove up the coast on CA 1. More twist, turns, ups & downs than I expected.

Stopped for lunch at Gulalala, CA, The dark "smokey" band above the fog was more obvious than the picture would indicate.

Flowers along the way.

Pt Arena Lighthouse - Didn't go in.

 If you look closely you can see seals on the big rock in the center of the picture.

Drove through the Chandelier Tree at Leggett, CA.

Here's a video of the Drive thru Chandelier Tree

Than on to Garberville, CA.

Day 17

Continue up the coast now on US 101. Had lunch at Crescent City, CA. and stopped at the Battery Pt lighthouse.

We couldn't go in since the tide was coming in and would have cut off the path.

With one last look at the Pacific we turned east (and home) on US 199. Although it seemed more north and we still had to go through Oregon to Washington State.

Day 18

Continued across Oregon into Washington.

Saw Mt St Helens

We were pretty far away at the visitors center. Didn't take the time to drive all the way back to the Johnston Ridge Observatory.

Also got to see Mt Rainier

At 14,441 Ft it's the highest point in Washington State.

Than on to Yakima, WA. Here are some pictures along the way.

Rimrock Lake

The landscape around Yakima was quite barren.

Day 19

Drove across Washington State with lunch in Spokane. Across the upper tip of Idaho (I count that as being in Idaho) on to St Regis, MT. Saw lots of Huckleberry "stuff".

Day 20

Headed up to Glacier NP

 Flat Head Lake. You can see smoke rising from a small fire at the end of the lake.













Other end of the lake.

On into Glacier NP and drove the Going to the Sun Rd. Here's is a video of tunnel and loop section. This road is cut into a ledge on the side of the mountain as you can see in this video and Jan's commentary.

All the pictures are at Flickr. Here are few of the better ones.

Lake McDonald
This area has recently been closed due to wildfire activity

Famous Blackfoot and Jackson glacier, definitely showing the effects of global warming.

Ended up spending the night in Conrad, MT.

Day 21
Drove south to Great Falls, MT. Since this is were Lewis & Clark arrived in 1805 on there Discovery Expedition, we stopped at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.

Falls were probably more impressive when Lewis & Clark came through without the dams.
Black Eagle Dam above

Ryan Dam at Great Falls below

Also stopped at Helena, MT. This was the only state capital we saw.

Day 22
Stopped to see my cousin in Belgrade, MT.

Since we have always been a "far flung" family, it's good to get a chance to visit with other members.

Day 23
Than on to Yellowstone NP. Last time we were there, it was just a drive by. Still only had a day in the park this time but got to see some of the things we missed last time. All the pictures are here. I put a few of the better ones below.

Madison River

Gibbons Falls

Grand Loop Rd at Roaring Mt.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Engineering Office

This building was part of old Fort Yellowstone. Built in the early 1900's when the Army managed the park resources. The NPS took over management around 1917 and this has been the park headquarters ever since.

The Terrace Grill and Dining Room at Mammoth Hot Springs. Steve worked here this summer, but he had already returned to Pittsburgh at the time of our visit.

Day 24
August 21, 2017 day of the Total Solar Eclipse Across America

Up at 4am left Canyon Village in Yellowstone NP around 5am. Drove south into Grand Teton NP. We had planned to park along Gros Ventre Rd which was along the center of the eclipse path and the park service had set up for eclipse viewing. But we found a nice "turn out" at the Snake River Overlook with a few parking spaces (and portolet) and well within the path of totality.
It was an absolutely beautiful cloud free day and we had a spectacular view of the eclipse with about 2 minutes of totality.

I didn't get any really good pictures of the eclipse. I guess I should have practiced with the camera beforehand, and had a tripod, and telephoto lens, next time.

Total Eclipse 2017

The sky was dark around the sun and we could see stars. We were in shadow but it was still fairly bright around us as you can see from this picture of the Grand Teton's during the eclipse.

It was a cool day anyway (you can see several long sleeves and jackets) and we noticed it start to cool down as totality approached.
We had brought some sandwiches with us, so we had lunch and left the overlook area about noon. Drove south through Jackson. Since they were predicting horrendous traffic, it wasn't as bad as I expected. A little slow going through Jackson, but I think that's normal. They had crossing guards at the intersections which helped keep traffic and pedestrians flowing and untangled.
Drove south to Rock Springs, CO which is along I80.

Day 25
Heading east along I80 and home.
Stopped at North Platte, NB; had dinner at Penny's Diner. We had stopped here 5 years ago on our other trip west.

Day 26
Continued east but left the interstate for US34 at Lincoln, NB to drive across southern Iowa.
Stopped at Creston, IO.

Day 27
Having breakfast at motel 8 and saw someone who looked vaguely familiar, like a collage professor or lawyer instructing interns. Turns out it was Senator Chuck Grassley who had a town hall meeting in the area.
Drove through Ottumwa, IO, no Radar O'Reilly statue.

Day 28
Continued east, crossed the Mississippi river into Illinois.

Day 29
Left Crawfordsville, IN. Home of Wabash Collage. for home.
2:55pm back in PA.
3:42pm at home!

THE END 7,491 miles