Flagstaff to Winslow and Back

The above picture is of the mountain range just outside Flagstaff.  Notice the snow on the peak!  Beautiful, isn't it? 

Today I decided to go East, back the way I came yesterday, and take a closer look at some of the sites that interested me.  My first stop was Walnut Canyon National Monument.

The pictures below don't do it justice.  It was so peaceful; I can see why the Native Americans lived in the canyon.  What looks like holes in the rocks were actual homes that were lived in.  Amazing.  I didn't hike the trails very far due to the elevation (6,900 feet).  I have been more out of breath than usual due to the thin air and it's taken awhile to adjust.  I expect to be fully adjusted by the time I leave.  :0)

My next stop was the Meteor Crater Natural Landmark.  As you can see, this is in the middle of nowhere.  This crater was created over 50,000 years ago and is considered the best preserved meteor crater in the world.  The meteorite created a 550 foot deep hole in the ground that is almost 2 1/2 miles wide.  Eugene Shoemaker, a man who desperately wanted to become an astronaut but couldn't due to Addison's disease, instead trained the NASA astronauts for their missions at the crater.  He loved the space program so much that, when he died in a car accident in Australia, NASA put his ashes in a capsule, sent it into space and purposely crashed the capsule into the moon.  Awesome, huh? :0)

I took pictures from the top of the crater looking down and attempted a panoramic shot with my camera.  I think it came out pretty well and gives you an idea of the size of the crater.  At the bottom of the crater is a fence with a pump that was used by Daniel Barringer who, in 1902, convinced investors to give him money to dig at the bottom of the crater to find a meteorite, which he thought was buried underground, that never existed as it had disintegrated on impact.  He spent 26 years looking for the meteorite until he died.

The above picture was the gas station just off the Interstate that led to the crater.  I thought it was a cool looking building in the middle of nowhere. 



Next, I HAD to stop in Winslow, Arizona. 

If you're a fan of the Eagles rock band, you will remember the lyrics to the song "Take It Easy" sung by the Eagles.  While the song was sung by the Eagles, it was actually written by Jackson Brown.  The song's lyrics pertinent to Winslow, for those of you with foggy memories is as follows:

Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin' down to take a look at me

Below is the statue of a man with a guitar, on the corner, in downtown Winslow.  And, of course, next to him is a picture painted to look like a store window with a woman in a flatbed Ford looking at him.  Notice in one of the pictures a couple making out in one of the upstairs windows.

Across the street is a store with everything Route 66 called, appropriately, "Take It Easy."  It has one of the world's largest guitars and the store plays non-stop Eagles music, all day, every day.  It rocks.

My next stop in Winslow was the La Posada Hotel which was a Hollywood star hang out back in the day.  (I can't remember who stayed there.)  It has been recently remodeled and is still a functioning hotel to this day.  It was so peaceful on the beautiful grounds, and it was not unusual to find guests sitting in the shade on the quiet grounds reading a book.

The inside is just as beautiful and peaceful.

The picture below was in the large public room up the stairs from the hallway and really fascinated me the more I looked at it.  Also included below is more artwork by the same artist, Tina Mion, who has a gallery on the grounds of the La Posada Hotel.  The artwork that fascinated me the most were the pictures of President Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell and Condi Rice depicted as characters of the Wizard of Oz.  Note that Cheney is the big bad guy.  Also, if you look at the portrait of Nancy Reagan, you will notice that her eyes contain the face of Ronald Reagan.  I believe the piece was titled, "I only have eyes for you."

Finally, leaving Winslow, was a 911 memorial with actual steel beams from the World Trade Center.  It was in a strange place and hard to get a picture of, but I was told they plan to move it closer to town in a public space in the near future for easier access. 

My final stop for the day was along Interstate 40 at Canyon Diablo, a town that existed in the late 1800's and was known for its gambling parlors, saloons, houses of ill-repute, and lawlessnes.  There were 6 sheriff's that governed the town; the shortest term for one sheriff was 6 hours.  The Army finally came in and cleaned up the town, but the city, once larger than Flagstaff, died once the bridge you see in the picture below was built.

Flagstaff or Bust!

I finally arrived in Flagstaff, AZ at 6:30 this evening.  It was a long day.

My first task was to get out of Madison, which proved harder than I thought it should have been.  My "shortcut" to the Interstate turned into a fiasco, but I finally made it, albeit almost 30 minutes later.  Don't ask.  I'm rolling my eyes, too, believe me.  I did make it to Milwaukee, but again, had problems.  I intended to park at the far parking lot and take the shuttle to the terminal, but somehow missed it.  I drove around the airport twice before I finally found parking in the ramp.  Remember, I'm parked on level Red 2 D-E!  Oh, but the fun doesn't end there.  For some reason I looked at the departure board and was confused when I couldn't find Albuquerque (hereinafter "ABQ", I'm not typing that all night).  Duh, I was flying to Minneapolis first.  I know, I have no idea what I was thinking.

After getting water and a book (Tina Fey's "Bossypants") I settled in at the gate.  The rest of the trip was uneventful, but I did meet a couple of women at the gate in Minneapolis who figured out I was hip after they found me reading the Tina Fey book.  In ABQ they were giving me a hard time (I was pretending to ignore them :o)  ) at the car rental counter.

After signing my life away at the car rental counter, a lovely woman named Sharon at the Alamo lot saw that I had an economy car and told me she was upgrading me (score!) and to pick out any car in one of the rows.  I chose a Chevy HHR (it was one of the cars I was considering purchasing and now know not to); I love the feeling of being in a bigger vehicle.  When I finally had to gas up in Arizona, I couldn't figure out how to open the gas tank.  I looked all over the dash, accidentally opened the hood and finally called Alamo.  Duh, you have to push on the tank and it "springs" open.  Problem solved, or so I thought.  I had to call back a few minutes later because the gas cap said "E85".  Found out I can put regular gas in the tank.  Whew!  And, since I had been drinking a lot of water (it was 93 degrees in ABQ) I had to pee this whole time.  Doh!  Now, before you laugh or roll your eyes, take a look at the picture below and tell me you would have figured out how to open the gas tank!  :0)

The dinosaurs were also at this gas station/truck stop.  These guys are heading out to nab that semi truck on the highway.  :0)

I didn't make too many stops on the way to Flagstaff, but I have enclosed a few pictures below.  An interesting story behind the white church.  This was actually a scenic wayside and the lady there in one of the huts was selling beautiful jewelry she'd made.  She told me the church was over 300 years old!  I just thought it was a cool settlement and saw lots of cliff dwellings and beautiful mesas along the way, but didn't have an opportunity to stop along the highway unless it was a pit stop or wayside as they were infrequent.   At the first stop where I shot the picture of the church, I met an adorable chuhuahua named Gus.  Boy did he have energy!  I wanted to get a picture of Gus, but he was way too fast for me and my camera.

One last tidbit, if you ever come to Flagstaff, which, by the way is an adorable little town at the base of the mountains (Elevation 7000), the BEST pizza is at Fratelli's Pizza.  It was awesome.

Route 66, Day 2: Yikes!

This was the highlight of my day....a stop at the world's largest Culver's. 

Seriously, could the weather GET any worse?  Apparently so.  After watching the Weather Channel this morning and seeing all the storms heading towards me and my route through today and the remainder of the weekend, I decided to go home. 

I'm traveling north not knowing if I'm heading right into the storms.  The radio stations are going nuts with the severe thunderstorm  warnings with quarter size hail and strong winds.  They are doing a good job of tracking the storm, but since I don't know where the heck I am, I can't tell whether or not I'm heading into it.  The sky is turning an ugly green (you know the kind...ones that spawn tornadoes) to the west, gray clouds are swirling in front of me and I'm debating whether to pull over at the next exit or hope that I out run the storm.  By the time I hit Rochelle, Illinois, it becomes apparent that I need to pull over as traffic is at a snail's pace of 45 MPH on the Interstate due to decreased visibility.  We all pull over into a truck stop and wait out the rain.  I felt especially sorry for the couple who pulled in to the truck stop during the worst of the rain on a motorcycle.

So I am home, plotting a few days away somewhere that doesn't include rain.   

Route 66, Day 1: Chicago to Joliet, Illinois

Ugh, nothing but rain.  I got a late start today, and by the time I arrived at the starting point in Chicago, it was pouring rain, with lots of traffic in downtown Chicago.  I had never driven Chicago downtown before, and was a bit nervous, but I made it without much ado.  It's interesting how people drive in downtown Chicago, lanes don't seem to matter and drivers are all over the place.   In the wrong lane?  Just pull out and point your car in the right direction...easy peasy.   

I couldn't wait to get out of Chicago to see the "real" Route 66.  I was not disappointed when I entered Joliet, Illinois.  Most of the pictures you see above were taken in and around Joliet.  Since it was pouring rain and most everything was closed, I decided to stay overnight in Joliet and hopefully explore more of Route 66 tomorrow.

One of the historic Route 66 attractions in Joliet are the gas pumps around downtown on Cass Street.  I found one of them, as you can see from the picture above, and hope to find more tomorrow by exploring a bit.  I also want to take the walking tour of downtown Joliet starting at the Route 66 Museum (can you say free!) you see above, as well as the Rialto Square Theatre and the Barton Grande Organ in the main theatre.  There's also an Irish pub and a "lift" bridge.  Hmmm, sounds interesting. 

Of course on my way through Joliet, I had to stop for ice cream at the Route 66 ice cream shop.  I love the Blues Brothers on the roof near the neon sign dancing away.  The site the ice cream shop rests on has a walk way and playground for kids to burn off some pent up energy and give parents a break from screaming kids.  The one statue is Mother Nature, but the other dude, I'm not sure who he is.  It was raining and he looked interesting so I took his picture.  :0)  Notice how green everything is down here?  Just stunningly beautiful.

We've stopped for the night at a Wyndham just south of Joliet and Gnomeo has already snoozed off into slumber in his own bed.  Little guy gets tired easily and is not much of a conversationalist.  Oh well, as long as he's up for some fun tomorrow!

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

My new adventure will be on Route 66.  Look for my travel adventures and photos beginning Saturday!  In the meantime, meet my new travel partner, Gnomeo. 

Lulu's

This month's choice was Lulu's Restaurant.  As you can see by the pics the food was lovely and, believe me, it tasted as good as it looked. The picture below is the vegetarian plate.  Delish!  A really cool thing Lulu does with their water is to flavor it.  Tonight the water had a slight hint of orange blossoms. 

Canada Travels

Wow, what a weekend!  Unfortunately, I did not get to do everything I wanted to do...but then isn't that the way it always is?  I was exhausted after an afternoon of walking the Falls and hit the hostel in Niagara Falls.  Cute little place, and I only had one roommate in a 4-bed dorm.  She was from Japan and had no idea what a legal secretary was, who attorneys were, or even what a law firm was.  Needless to say, the conversation ended quickly.  She had been working the last couple months in Vancouver and was going to spend the next couple months traveling before going home to Japan.

The next morning I made a plan and wandered around the gorgeous botanical gardens before it got too hot and found the floral clock.  The day would eventually get up to 85 degrees and the day before had been hot also.  Then, before I could chicken out, decided to take a helicopter ride over Niagara Falls.  I got some GREAT pictures from the air and even caught a rainbow in the mist.  There was a gentleman from Sydney, Australia, also on our flight and he wasn't too sure about the ride either as he had never been in a helicopter.  He said it was a "worry."  :0)  I loved the ride; the only time my stomach lurched was when the pilot took off and landed when banking the helicopter.  Yikes! 

I decided I wanted to also cross the whirlpool part of the Falls, so I hopped on an Aero car, a contraption that flows from one hilly bank to another by cable.  If you look straight down, you can see the swirling clear water.  Awesome.  Got some great pictures there also.

My last stop was, of course, the store with the chocolates from around the world.  OMG, I had a hard time choosing some fudge, but finally decided on Snickers fudge and Mint/Chocolate fudge.  On my way out I saw a sign for Rossi Glass and decided I had to see that.  I didn't buy anything, but watched a glass blower and his process of making a vase.  It was cranberry colored, and according to the narrative that played while he worked, the only way to get the cranberry color was to add 22k gold to the mix. 

Getting back over the border to the U.S. took longer than I expected.  I had a hat and sunglasses on and was told to remove them; much to my chagrin as my hair looked like sh*t.  I was so embarrassed.  I guess he had to make a positive identification though. 

This morning I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to take back the rental car.  That was fine, except I couldn't find the rental place in the pouring rain and had to call them.  Turns out I hadn't gone far enough to the airport to actually see them.  Good, I thought, got to the airport on time, and I can be home by 9:00 a.m.  No sweat.  I tried to do the self-check in, but couldn't as they had postponed the flight until 9:00 a.m.  Dang!  It turns out the President was in Chicago and we had to wait until he cleared the airspace.  The people waiting to check in were irate.  There was a large contingency of Chinese people traveling also headed for Chicago and the airline gave them a separate unmarked check in window to handle all their needs.  Some other people got in that line, thinking they could also avoid the long line we all had been standing in for 45 minutes, and copped an attitude with the check in clerk when she told them they had to get to the back of the line.  "You can't make someone wait in line and then suddenly tell them they're in the wrong line!"  Huh?  She told them at no time was there a sign that it was a check in station and the line before them had been a group.  They walked away complaining the lady at the counter had an attitude!  Cracked me up.

So, they continued to repeat that our flight was delayed until 9:00 (okay, we get it!), but they forgot to tell me they put me on an earlier flight at 7:04 a.m.  I'm goofing off at the gate with my iPhone and suddenly realize that my ticket says my flight leaves at 7:04, NOT 9:00.  Thankfully I was at the right gate.  I was in the last row, aisle seat surrounded by mostly Chinese people from the traveling group.  Interesting.  There must have been a language barrier (ya think?!) as the flight attendants more than once scolded people in the group.  We were landing and there was a lady in the restroom and they knocked on the door and told her they were landing and to get back to her seat.  Then, a gentleman comes strolling down the aisle from the front of the plane heading towards the bathroom.  The flight attendant stood up and yelled for him to take his seat several times.  He finally got the message.  Like I said, it was an interesting flight with interesting people. 

When we finally arrived in Chicago, I tried to get an earlier flight to Madison, but, in order to do so, I would have needed to pay $50.00 as a stand-by fee, even though the board indicated there were 14 seats available.  I didn't get it either, and I was in no mood to argue with them.  So I found my gate and waited until my 10:30 flight, which left at 11:30 due to mechanical problems, a change in flight attendants and a change of gates.  I think I'm tired of flying for awhile.  Sheesh!

It is another adventure I will never forget!  :0)

Oh Canada!

Yesterday was a travel day.  Interesting people  were met along the way; a guy on my flight from Charlotte to Buffalo I thought at first was deaf as he used his hands so much when he spoke.  It turns out he was just a jerk.  One of the passengers told him to pipe down after he got a little noisy with his seat mate, a man I felt entirely sorry for during the entire 1 1/2 hours to Buffalo.  The gentleman was from India and the jerk made such a big friggin' deal about it, it was embarrassing. 

That was the only strange thing that happened during travel, as I met some very friendly people from Chicago to Charlotte.  The plane was full and I had a hard time finding a place for my backpack in the overhead.  The guy in the seat next to me actually got out of his seat and helped me find a place for my pack.  When I later dropped my water on the floor, he retrieved it for me.  I gotta say, Jackie has told me about southern hospitality and now I really believe it exists.

I arrived in Buffalo, New York at 11:45 p.m., picked up my rental car and found the hostel in Buffalo, but had a few problems with parking as the hostel does not have its own parking.  Finally found parking a few blocks away, but found out this morning I needed to check the tag a little better....I paid $5.00 for 5 minutes of parking, instead of 24 hours....don't know how that happened, but it did.  I came out in the morning and found I owed another $8.00.  Dagnabit!  I'm going to complain when I get home, that just isn't right.

Caught a few hours sleep and headed to the Canadian border to Niagara Falls.  This is the second time I've been to Canada and all I can say is I want to be a Canadian!  This city is beautiful!  Very much like Vancouver as there is lots of green space and a very park-like atomosphere.  Lots of places to walk, and believe me, I sure did walk, along the Falls.  The falls are gorgeous!  Imagine beautifully clear water rushing down hundreds of feet and a mist rising out of the whole thing.  It is breathtaking and I took tons of pictures.  I was on the Canadian side, but got some pictures of the American side also.  After I took pics of the Falls, I wandered up and down the boardwalk all afternoon, stopping along the way to sit in the shade and people watch.  There was a gentleman there who was walking his three dogs, two smaller and one HUGE dog, Isen.  Isen looks like a small horse.  I sat under a tree and watched as crowds of people would stop to admire Isen and then have their or their children's picture taken with him.  With children standing next to Isen he looks like he could take the kids in one gulp!  I, too, have pictures of Isen and will share them when I return home. 

I finally found the Niagara Falls, Canada hostel and thank goodness, the room has air conditioning.  It is hot, hot, hot here.  Tonight I may just stay at the hostel; I've been told they have a bonfire outside tonight and I may join them.

I'll write more tomorrow before I leave Canada.

Farmer's Market

What a beautifully, sunny, windy day in Madison!  Hardly a cloud in the sky, just beautiful blue.  One of the great perks of working downtown in the summer is the Wednesday farmer's market.  It's much smaller in size than the Saturday market, but not in personality.  Those in attendance at the market are people who work downtown, stealing a few minutes away from their desks, colorful folk with unusual attire, such as a hat sporting a feather (reminded me of something worn in the Swiss Alps) and, my favorite, the pre-school children.  Today there were also the most adorable dogs at the market.  Above is one we met, named Kiki.  Kiki's owner, Matteo, was visiting from Chicago and was happy to pose for a picture.

What did I purchase at the farmer's market?  See the picture below.

Meet Beasley

This gentleman and his dog, Beasley, were a hit on State Street and campus.  He was kind enough to allow me to take his and Beasley's photograph.  Beasley even sat for the picture!

In and Around Madison

It was a beautiful day in Madison and I spent it walking up and down State Street taking photos.  Here's another door I found on campus.  I love how the trees are reflected in the glass windows.  If memory serves, it was the University Club.

It's Officially Spring in Madison

New Video

Attached are photos I took on a Sunday bike ride from New Glarus to Monticello on the Sugar River bike trail.Wisconsin Country Roads

Spring in Madison

New Photo Project

Changing it up a bit....taking pics of doors.  Here's the first.

Picnic Point in the Spring

Strolled through picnic point Sunday morning and this is what I saw.  What you don't know is that when the waves came in on the beach, the ice pieces clinked together like glass pieces and made the most beautiful sound.  Enjoy!

It's Good to be Home

The last day on the ship was spent on deck in the sunshine admiring the coast off of Kauai, where we saw a rainbow, waterfalls and whales surfacing.  They had a barbecue lunch out on deck and Vicki and I were thrilled to eat our hot dogs (one of our favorite foods) out there and snapping photos.  That night, the crew put on a farewell show for us and we were able to meet most of the behind the scenes crew like the chefs, waiters, etc.  As we walked out of the theatre, they were there to shake our hands and thank us.  It amazes me how many friends we made among the crew and other travelers.  We met wonderful people from all over the country and some from outside the country and for one week traveled together as a family.

FYI all you trivia buffs, watch out for the Johnson/Will trivia team...we kick butt.  Trivia was one of our favorite activities while on board and while we did fairly well, the last night we ROCKED.  In the Pink Champagne bar they held a final music trivia contest and our team won with 19 out of 20 points total.  Beware!  :0)

Our last day in Hawaii was spent at Pearl Harbor visiting the U.S.S. Missouri battleship and the U.S.S. Arizona memorial.  The U.S.S. Missouri is the only remaining battleship and was last called into service during the first Gulf War.  It sits on the site were the U.S.S. Oklahoma sunk in Pearl Harbor.  The U.S.S. Arizona was very sobering.  It had the most loss of life, with 23 sets of brothers and a father and a son.  It was totally fueled up with over a million gallons of fuel on the day it sank and, to this day, it still leaks oil into the harbor on occasion.  We also toured Honolulu a bit and saw the neighborhood where Barak Obama grew up, Diamond Head and the Punch Bowl, where all the war veterans are buried.  We were told that on Memorial Day each year they put flags as well as leis on each grave.  It was such an aweseome sight.  The statue there at the punch bowl, for all you Hawaii Five-O fans, is the one shown at the opening of the show.

We arrived at the airport at 4:00 p.m. expecting to wait until 9:40 p.m. for our flight to leave.  When we checked in, we found that we could take an earlier flight at 5:55 p.m.  I got on the flight, but when Vicki attempted to get on the same flight, no dice.  We were told I could not go back to the later flight as it was overbooked, but they wouldn't let Vicki on the earlier flight with me, even though there were empty seats.  Huh?!  As I said, it didn't make sense to us, however, we were persistent enough to get Vicki on the earlier flight with me and we hoofed it to the gate.  On the upside, we got a free dinner and breakfast and a choice of movies on that earlier flight.  Plus, we got home 6 hours earlier, arriving in Madison at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

This trip was a great way to see the Hawaiian islands.  I was surprised by the number of activities on the ship, as well as the shore excursions.  A cruise is for anyone who wants to see and do things on the islands, or for the people who want to hang out on ship and participate in the activities they have scheduled, or just chill by the pool and read a book.  If you're bored on this trip, it's your own fault. 

Speaking for myself, it was the perfect vacation with the perfect traveling buddy.  Come join me in my next adventure down Route 66 in September!

Aloha!