Fun and Games Dept

Portland, Maine.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I have a road atlas that we picked up a couple of years ago. While its growing further and further out of date, there is an important list of noted in the front. Using the contents page, which lists all 50 states, we keep track of the states that we’ve been in and those we still need to visit to complete the list. Our checked lists have been unbalanced because I have been in one state that Earl hasn’t.

So tonight we’re spending the night in Portland, Maine.

Always looking for a good trip, I’ve been planning three different trips that are relatively local to our home. So I’ve thinking about driving to Maine for the past couple of days and while doing research on good barbecue, I ran across Beale Street Barbeque, which has three locations in Maine. I mean after all, when you’re looking for some good barbecue, one naturally thinks of New England.

So after a five and half hour drive, here we are. The barbecue joint was *wonderful* and is highly recommended. Afterwards we went and caught “X-Men: The Last Stand”. While we both enjoyed the movie, we didn’t think it was as good as the first two.

Downtown Portland seems to be pretty hoppin’, we’re going to go check it out again before calling it a night.

Earl and I have been home for about and hour and a half. The laundry is tumbling in the washer, the suitcases have been emptied and stored for the next adventure, Earl is catching up on banking and the grass is _really_ out of control. The neighbors must love that.

We drove 6,368 miles.

That means we spent 6,368 miles together in the front seats of a Jeep Wrangler. Two travelers, two best friends, two lovers, two life partners.

It was the adventure of a lifetime.

Tom Wahls.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

It seems like the past few photos I’ve posted have been of me eating. We’re almost home and since we were in the western part of the state, we couldn’t miss the opportunity for supper at Tom Wahl’s in Canandaigua.

I had the ’55 Junker Plate. Very odd for me, because I usually don’t mix my food together, nor do I mix food while eating, opting to eat each item individually.

I guess I was living on the edge.

The Vacation Is Complete.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

I should put a podcast on my blog sometime. I really like saying Mishawaka. Say it with me: Mishawaka. It’s a really cool word to say.

Earl and I have installed ourselves for the night in, say it with me, Mishawaka, Indiana (just outside of South Bend). We were hoping to get as far as Toledo or perhaps Cleveland tonight, but “Holy Toledo” the traffic between Joliet and Chicago sucks the big one. I really don’t understand why the Illinois Tollway Commission decided to rip up the _entire_ roadway AND put in new toll booths all at the same time. Too many consecutive miles of construction congestion leads to huge amounts of road rage. As an avid driving enthusiast, I must say that my patience was wearing quite thin when we reached the Illinois-Indiana state line.

Earl and I left Minnesota this morning around 9:00 a.m. Central and headed south through Iowa. And Iowa. And more Iowa. And even more Iowa.

Iowa doesn’t look that big on our map.

Nevertheless, I fell in love with the “howdy neighbor” feeling prevalent in Iowa back in 2004 and was delighted to find more of the same on our infrequent stops across the state today. We made a pit stop in Cedar Rapids at their local mall, which had more stores empty then full (kind of sad) and had some lunch at my favorite fast food outlet, Chick-Fil-A. I never can have enough Chick-Fil-A.

I just love the friendly people anywhere west of Cleveland, Ohio. I don’t know if it goes hand in hand with “pop” versus “soda”, but I find “soda” people to be crankier than the “pop” people. Earl and I have been to the midwest and the west several times, and I’ve always noticed this, people are just nicer when you get out in these parts. Tonight Earl and I ate at Famous Dave’s BBQ here in Mishawaka, and the sever actually stopped, engaged in some conversation and smiled while she was taking our order tonight. At home we’re grateful if the server doesn’t dump a drink our lap, snap her gum between the words “whadda want” and spit on my head.

Anyways, tomorrow we jump back on the Interstate 80/90 duet, hoping to get back home by tomorrow evening.

I might have to find one more Chick-Fil-A on the way.

I just had the most delightful experience here in our overnight stop of Albert Lea, Minnesota. Earl and I went to a “Green Mill Bar and Restaurant” for dinner, where I ordered, in a very gruff voice, “a tall Bud Light”.

The server carded me. She actually asked me for my I.D. to make sure I was old enough to drink the brewski. I was a little surprised and, just like my college years, got nervous about showing a New York State driver’s license because we were in Minnesota, afraid I wasn’t going to get any beer. But she accepted it with no worries.

I feel so blessed. Here I am almost 38 years old and I’m being carded. Talk about an ego boost!

Today we left Deadwood, South Dakota (or as I like to refer to it as “So Dak” to be a complete geek) and headed eastward with plans on getting home this weekend. South Dakota and Minnesota along Interstate 90 are both, for the most part, very flat.

That’s not a bad thing. I love the wide open spaces in this part of the country. But it does make the drive a little less interesting than it could be.

Our only tourist stop was in Wall, So. Dak., at a place appropriately called “Wall Drug”. This depression era drug store literally took over half of Main Street in the tiny burg of Wall and begins announcing itself along I-90 about 200 miles away. Earl and I had a delicious lunch there and we did a little shopping in the souvenir area. There’s a ton of stuff to look at and quite a few places to take your typical tourist trap photographs. If you stop by, be sure to ask for your free glass of ice water. They’ll even fill your thermos or jug for you.

After Wall, we crossed into the Central Time Zone and continued eastward, finally calling it a night in Albert Lea, Minn. (population 18,000 or so). I have my PowerBook hanging out the window, trying to capture some wireless internet from an adjoining hotel as for some reason I can’t get onto the network here. Of course, Earl jumped on our hotel’s network without a problem, so I’m probably overgeeking something.

Tomorrow we continue our journey east.

I just love this area of the country. We are staying one more night in Deadwood, South Dakota. I’m blogging, having lost my allowance to some one-armed bandits along the main street here in Deadwood; last I knew Earl was doing well at three-card poker with a good looking dealer from Palm Springs.

He always finds the cute ones.

Anyways, today was sight-seeing day here in northwestern South Dakota, northeastern Wyoming and a little slice of Montana for good measure. We met up with our friends, Tim and Gordon, and there friends and our new friends Scott, Don and Wade and headed out to Mount Rushmore.

Let me back up a few steps first. Tim and Gordon live in Cheyenne. Tim and I met through ebay back in the late 1990s, as we both collect school clock systems. We chatted a couple of years over e-mail, got to know each other a little bit, and then Earl and I visited them back in 2001. We’ve maintained contact electronically over the years and were looking forward to meeting up with them again on this trip. They hadn’t been to Deadwood, S.D. in years, so we decided to meet here, and they brought up their friends Don, Wade and Scott. We had a great supper together last night, chatting it up like there was no tomorrow and just having a grand time. There’s pictures of everyone on my flickr page.

So this morning we started the touring at Mount Moriah, the burial site of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. Then we headed off to Mount Rushmore. I’ve wanted to go to Mount Rushmore since I was a little kid, and Earl felt the same way, so we were both looking forward to this.

It was spectacular. Mother Nature cooperated for a little bit and gave us a little bit of sunshine and a little bit of cloud cover so we could see all the different lighting possibilities of the sculpture. I was fascinated with the construction of the monument, especially once I found out that they moved Thomas Jefferson’s at the time uncompleted head to another position and various other little tidbits of trivia. A much enjoyed stop.

We then went to the Crazy Horse sculpture outside of Custer, S.D. I have to admit that I wasn’t really that impressed with Crazy Horse. I don’t know if it was the rather large admission fee or what was going on, but I didn’t really get into it there. Oh well.

Tim and Gordon and the guys left for Cheyenne from that point, so we decided we’d head west into the corner of Wyoming and visit Devil’s Tower.

I’ve wanted to see Devil’s Tower ever since I saw “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” as a child. To me it’s always been a mystical place, and as I’ve read on the internet, many, many, many others share the same sentiment.

Visiting Devil’s Tower cemented my “grounded” feeling I’ve had since we embarked on this vacation nearly two weeks ago. The most beautiful sound I know, the sound of the wind rushing through evergreens, was everywhere. Birds danced around the edge of the summit, nearly 900 feet in the air. Devil’s Tower literally stands in the middle of nowhere, complete with rock columns on all sides. It’s awe inspiring.

After Devil’s Tower, Earl and I drove the last little hop in Wyoming up into Montana. Neither of us had been to Montana before and we wanted to check this one off our states “to do” list. So we cruised through a little corner of Montana, where the speed limit is 75 MPH on two lane roads and there’s nothing but big sky in every direction you look. I guess I’m one of the few that finds beauty in the more desolate areas.

Tomorrow we jump on Interstate 90 and start the journey home. Actually, I guess the adventure just continues.

Self Portrait – Big Sky Style.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

When life/work/etc gets a little too stressful for us, Earl and I either sing, speak or e-mail these lyrics to each other:

Won’t you meet me in Montana
I want to see the mountains
In your eyes
Oh! Oh! I’ve had all of this life I can handle
Meet me underneath that big Montana sky

Today we met each other in Montana. It was wonderful.

Fun In The Sun?

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

When we were planning our vacation, we knew we would pass through a wide variety of weather conditions. We were expecting rain in Pennsylvania, as it always rains when we drive through Pa. on vacation. We hoped to see some storms along “Tornado Alley”. We looked forward to hot and dry in New Mexico and Arizona.

We knew it would be cooler in Wyoming and South Dakota, but we didn’t expect nearly a foot of snow. What a surprise!

We left Scottsbluff, Nebraska this morning, drove back into Wyoming and headed north on U S 85. While the drive across the desert earlier this week was desolate, this drive was even more so, with nothing but ranches and cows for as far as the eye could see. Wide open spaces, indeed.

After stopping in Newcastle, Wyo. for some lunch, he continued north into the Black Hills and crossed through some beautiful country into South Dakota. We’re settled in Deadwood for the next couple of days, meeting up with some friends from the Cheyenne area. Tomorrow we’re going to see Mount Rushmore and some of the many area sites.

Maybe we can fit in some snow sledding.

Earl and I are staying in the Holiday Inn Express in Scottsbluff, Nebraska tonight. Since it’s only a one night stay, it’s a given that the only room available was the huge “Executive Suite”; three rooms of hotel goodness, complete with hot tub.

I think that’s the rule for those that travel: if you’re spending one night, you get the largest room in the place. Spend the week, get jammed in the broom closet or the room next to the elevator, take your pick.

Actually, I can’t complain at all as our rooms have been wonderful on this entire trip.

I had to remind Earl that he couldn’t go out on the “private” balcony in just a towel, after all, the balcony overlooks the lobby and front entrance to the building.

Coal Bank Pass, Colorado.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I trekked through the Rocky Mountains today, leaving Durango, Colorado around 9:00 a.m. MDT. The weather was pleasant in the low 50s and I wore the same clothes that I wore yesterday, so I was still in my “desert gear”.

As soon as we left Durango we started the climb up several mountain ranges along US 550, with our first summit at Coal Bank Pass. We pulled off at the tourist center (which was closed) and took a bunch of pictures. To get to the lookout point we needed to hike through about a foot of snow.

Wicked cool. Especially in “desert gear”.

After our first stop, we continued along up and down and winding all around. The scenery was breathtaking. I never expected the view to be as beautiful as it was. I will never look on the Adirondacks in the same way again, as now they are just really big hills.

We made our way to Grand Junction, Colo. and jumped onto I-70 east towards Denver. I-70 is somewhat of an engineering marvel, maintaining it’s status as an interstate freeway without intruding on the landscape as much as possible. Short tunnels, long bridges, sharp curves, steep grades and overlapping roadways make this a very fun road to drive. I highly recommend it.

Once in Denver, we headed north toward Cheyenne, stopping at a Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then jumping the state line into Nebraska, where we’ve set down roots for the night in Scottsbluff. Eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska have nothing but uninterrupted fields as far as the eye can see. And while much different than the mountains we passed through earlier today, I find the prairies to be quite beautiful as well.

Tomorrow we meet up with friends in Deadwood, South Dakota.