creekside journeys

Leaving Salt Lake City -- Day 18

2008-06-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

We're leaving Salt Lake City this morning, heading for New Mexico. Sadly, my laptop acquired a virus along the way and needs professional help when I get home. So I'll have to post the remainder of our vacation after the fact. A "thank you" to Kevin's parents for letting me use their computer while in Salt Lake! And, of course, for all their wonderful hospitality. Happy Trails!

Three in a Tree

2008-06-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

Grandma has a great climbing tree in the front yard as you can see. Raiden, Luna and Cousin Sean are nice enough to pose for the camera while playing.

Cute Cousins

2008-06-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Kevin's parents home in Salt Lake City Wednesday evening. Trish and her two girls, Madison and Kaya, were also there to greet us.

Idaho Spud

2008-06-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

I spied this in the vending machine at the rest area and had no idea what it was so I had to buy it. It's a candy bar with marshmallow-coconut filling, covered with chocolate and sprinkled with more coconut. It even looks like a potato. Raiden ate most of it.

Day 12 -- Volcanic Rest Stop in Idaho

2008-06-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

Raiden "rests" by riding his skateboard around the volcano.

We stopped the stretch our legs on the drive between Yellowstone and Salt Lake City and found a rest area with a hiking trail around volcanic rocks. It reminds me of the desert in California.

Old Faithful

2008-06-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

The Old Faithful geyser is the most well-known feature of Yellowstone National Park. It was the first geyser in the park to receive a name, which it acquired in 1870. It faithfully erupts (hence the name) about every 90 minutes, although it can be as little as 45 minutes or as long as 125. Eruptions can shoot 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of 106–184 feet, lasting from 1.5 to 5 minutes. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet, but the highest recorded eruption was 185 feet high.

View of Old Faithful from the second floor deck at Old Faithful Lodge.

Waterfalls

2008-06-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

A view of the lower falls at Yellowstone's Grand Canyon.

Lunch!

2008-06-24T05:58:00.000-07:00

Luna enjoyed a lunch of buffalo sausage at one of the park's cafeterias. Yum.

Yellowstones's Norris Geyer Basin

2008-06-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

We took a hike around the Norris Geyser Basin and were treated to some really interesting sights. Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest, oldest, and most dynamic of Yellowstone's thermal areas. The highest temperature yet recorded in any geothermal area in Yellowstone was measured in a scientific drill hole at Norris: 459°F, just 1,087 feet below the surface! There are very few thermal features at Norris under the boiling point, which is 199°F at this elevation. Norris shows evidence of having had thermal features for at least 115,000 years. The features in the basin change daily, with frequent disturbances from seismic activity and water fluctuations. The vast majority of the waters at Norris are acidic, including acid geysers which are very rare.

Hello, Buffalo!

2008-06-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

We slowed down when a pair of buffalo were also using the road.

Day 9 -- Yellowstone National Park

2008-06-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

We finally arrived at Yellowstone National Park on Sunday afternoon. Hooray!

Yellowstone was established in 1872 as America's first national park. Yellowstone is an amazing 3,472 square miles (2,221,766 acres) mostly in the northeast corner of Wyoming, although part of the park extends into Montana and Idaho. The highest point in Yellowstone is 11,358 feet above sea level. Yellowstone is home to a large variety of wildlife including buffalo, grizzly bears, elk, big horned sheep and moose. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. There is a cool website for kids about Yellowstone that includes lots of fun activities:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/forkids/index.htm

Luna and Raiden were excited to see snow in June, although it was more like ice and not much fun for playing in.

Lake Yellowstone in the late afternoon.

Buffalo Bill Dam

2008-06-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

A peaceful view of the Shoshone River.

The Buffalo Bill Dam was built to generate power using water from the Shoshone River. Construction of the dam began in 1905 and it has been generating electricity for over 100 years. The dam works by restricting the natural flow of water from the Shoshone River and releasing it in measured amounts through turbines, which run the generators.

Roadside Wyoming

2008-06-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

We stopped along the road to view the beautiful scenery -- the northern edge of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming with snow capped peaks. We were at 7500 foot elevation and the mountains extended beyond that.

An example of the many bluffs we drove by in Wyoming. Really pretty.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-23T09:35:00.001-07:00

After sleeping at a rest area for lack of decent campgrounds in Eastern Wyoming, we got up early drove on to the town of Buffalo. It had a really cute downtown and we ate breakfast at a local place called Main Street Diner. Yummy pancakes and really good coffee.

After filling our stomachs and stopping at a market to stock the refrigerator, we were on our way to Yellowstone National Park.

Buffalo, Wyoming, was a really cute town ... I wish we had had more time to explore it. Maybe we'll go back someday.

Mount Rushmore -- Day 8 Afternoon

2008-06-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

The first glimpse of Mount Rushmore ... amazing!

Mount Rushmore is a national monument in the Black Hills area of South Dakota, just south of Rapid City. Four presidents were sculpted out of a mountainside made of solid granite. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln represent the first 150 years of American history. The sculptures are over 60 high, comparable to a six-story building. Wow!

Artist Gutzon Borglum lead a team of 400 workers in the creation of this masterpiece, which was built between 1927 and 1941. Construction ended shortly after Gutzon Borglum's death in 1941 due to lack of funding. All totaled, Mount Rushmore cost less than $1,000,000 to build.

Quiz Question: How many years did it take to construct Mount Rushmore?
Bonus Points: What is significant about Theodore Roosevelt's presidency regarding his age?

To learn more about Mount Rushmore visit wikipedia's entry at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore#History

Typical tourist photo for the family album.

Washington and Lincoln still preside over our country in spirit.

Great scenery inspired calm and happy children.

Happy Airstream visiting Mount Rushmore, most likely not its first trip there.

Day 8 Morning -- Wall Drug Store

2008-06-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

Wall Drug Store (in Wall, South Dakota, of course) is the celebrated home of "free ice water" and nickel coffee. It also contains many souvenir and gift shops, a couple of cafes and a backyard play area for kids. Fun!

Luna enjoys the artwork on another totem pole.

Nickel coffee and 89 cent doughnut. Can't beat that.

South Dakota Morning

2008-06-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

After spending the night at a campground somewhere along Interstate 90, we enjoyed a beautiful South Dakota morning. The weather was perfect, the horizon stretches for miles and the meadowlarks serenaded us with their songs.

Day 7 -- Corn Palace

2008-06-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

After traveling for miles and miles on day seven, we stopped in Mitchell, South Dakota, at the world-famous Corn Palace. I was imagining it to be entirely made out of corn husks, but in reality, it's just decorated each year with various colors of corn. This year's theme is "Everyday Heroes." The building is a combination conference center/gymnasium used by local schools and organizations.

After touring the Corn Palace, we ate dinner at this steak house, Chef Louie, built in 1961. We chose it because of the sign, but the food was excellent ... including Raiden's large slice of chocolate cake!

Days 6 and 7 -- Storms

2008-06-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

We spent day number six driving, driving, driving westward through Illinois and into Iowa. Of course, we were headed right into the severe thunderstorms and tornado watch counties as we entered Iowa. So, we altered our course and drove north to avoid the bad weather. In the early evening when we stopped for the day in Center Point, Iowa, we were treated to this lovely rainbow.

We missed the storms but saw quite a bit of evidence of flooding as we drove north through Iowa on day seven.

Hitchhikers

2008-06-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

After leaving Tennessee, we discovered that we had a few yellow jacket hitchhikers in one of the air vents on the Airstream. They made it all the way to Lake Michigan and beyond ... we'll have to see where they decide to make their new home.

Day 5 -- Excursion to Chicago, afternoon sights

2008-06-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

The Sears Tower is the tallest building in the United States and used to be the tallest building in the world until 1998. It stands 1450 feet tall, not counting the antennas and has 103 floors. The top floor is set up for the public to visit and get a view of the city and Lake Michigan.
Quiz question: The Sears Tower is over a quarter mile tall. How many feet are in a quarter of a mile?

View from the top looking southeast toward Lake Michigan.

Looking west down at the city blocks.

View looking northeast ... gosh that's a lot of buildings!

Day 5 -- Excursion to Chicago, morning stops

2008-06-21T22:26:00.001-07:00

We took the Chicago South Line train into the city for a day of sightseeing. The Dune Park station was just minutes from the campground, which made it really convenient.

We got off at Roosevelt Avenue ... train station under construction ...

Our first destination was the Field Museum. This tall, tall totem pole greeted us at the entrance.

Tourist photo in front of the Field Museum.

Sue is the Field Museum's prized exhibit. She is the largest, most well-preserved and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered. She was found in South Dakota by an archaeologist named Sue Hendrickson in 1990. Sue is 13 feet high at the hip and 42 feet long from head to tail. Seeing this in real life was amazing. To see more about Sue, visit the Field Museum's website at www.fieldmuseum.org/sue/index.html

Lake Michigan -- Day 4

2008-06-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

Who knew that the Great Lakes were as beautiful as any ocean? We found this beach at Indiana Dune State Park, where we set up camp for two nights. The Chicago skyline was visible on the horizon when I took this photo, but you can't see it now.

The kids had fun swimming and playing in the sand.

While I relaxed.

Airstreams Galore!

2008-06-12T21:30:00.001-07:00

1963 Airstream Bambi

1948 Airstream Flying Cloud

1937 Airstream Clipper

On to Jackson Center, Ohio

2008-06-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Jackson Center is a small town in western Ohio where all Airstream trailers are born. Of course, we had to take our Airstream for a family visit. Ours was built at this factory in August of 1969. We took an interesting factory tour, spent the night at the "Terraport" (their campground reserved for Airstreams) and bought t-shirts at the Airstream store. Fun!

Quiz: How many years old is our Airstream?

Day 2 -- Vent Haven Museum

2008-06-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

The Vent Haven Museum (just south of Cinncinati, Ohio) is the only museum dedicated solely to the art of ventriloquism. The original collection belonged to W.S. Berger, who spent his retirement devoted to promoting ventriloquism and preserving ventriloquist dummies. The collection currently has over 700 dummies, some dating back to the 1700's. Mr. Berger had no heirs and endowed the museum so that it could continue after his death. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to post any photographs of the collection, but you can see examples of the dummies on their website at http://www.venthavenmuseum.net/.

Secretariat

2008-06-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Before we left the next day, we wandered around the Kentucky Horse Park and visited the American Saddlebred Museum. I took this photo of a statue of Secretariat for my sister, Robin, who is also a horse lover. Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973.

Quick Math Quiz

2008-06-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

The truck's odometer read 107,850 miles when we left our driveway. When we parked at the Horse Park Campground, the odometer read 108,066 miles. How many miles did we travel on Saturday? (Send me your answer by commenting to this post!)

Kentucky Horse Park

2008-06-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

After Corbin, we drove on to Lexington, KY, the horse capital of the world. Happily, we found the Kentucky Horse Park, which included a campground with an olympic sized swimming pool, paved roads for biking riding fun and lots of other campers for socializing. Luna was in heaven ... horses AND swimming!

Finger Lickin' Good

2008-06-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

Corbin, KY, is also the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Harlan Sanders (the Colonel) opened a cafe and motel in 1945. The Sanders Cafe became popular because of Mr. Sanders' secret chicken recipe. More a business man than a restaurant owner, he set out to capitalize on his fried chicken and began selling franchises to other businessmen. The first franchise was sold to someone in Salt Lake City, UT. There are now KFC restaurants world-wide.

The initial cafe still sells Kentucky Fried Chicken (it tastes the same) but also has a small museum that includes the original kitchen, a model of an original motel room and lots of examples of old packaging and advertising. Included in the display was a paycheck for a restaurant employee in 1955. They earned $2.57 that week. While we visited the cafe and museum, we met other tourists from Japan and Russia ... how is that for world famous chicken?

Hello, Mater!

2008-06-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

We found Mater in Corbin, KY! What was he doing there?

Inside the Tunnel

2008-06-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

Driving through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. Beep beep!

Cumberland Gap Tunnel

2008-06-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel connects Tennessee with Kentucky on Highway 25E. Construction of the tunnel was begun in 1991 and completed in October, 1996. The tunnel is almost a mile long. It took 1947 days of work to construct the tunnel and cost 280 million dollars to build. It cost each state (Tennessee and Kentucky) one million dollars a year to maintain the tunnel, which employs 40 people. Before the tunnel was open, travel between Harrogate, TN and Middlesboro, KY was a treacherous, windy road over a mountain pass. Now that same distance is a safe, quick drive through the tunnel.

First stop

2008-06-09T06:03:00.000-07:00

Being that we got off to a late start, our first stop was, of course, Taco Bell in Rogersville. Full stomachs make for happier kids!

Finally, we're ready to go!

2008-06-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

At noon on Saturday, we were finally ready to leave. Happy traveling!

Cheese!

2008-06-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

Stocking the Airstream refrigerator with only the things you really like to eat (after all it is a vacation!) requires for us a large variety of cheese. I counted nine different kinds ... bleu, feta, parmesan, mozarella, cream, cheddar, jack, colby-jack and american. Ahhh ... the good life.

Before we can begin our adventure ...

2008-06-09T05:21:00.000-07:00

Gwendolyn and her three kittens had to be transported to the babysitter's house. They are were four weeks old yesterday, so they all required some extra TLC while we are away. We also had to wait for the housesitter to arrive and give them instructions for feeding, watering and otherwise caring for the rest of the menagerie we're temporarily leaving behind ... a parakeet, 3 chickens, 5 cats and one rabbit. Thank you to our lovely friends who are taking care of our animals and "our stuff" while we are away. You are making our cross-country adventure possible!