Posts Tagged With: driving day

Saturday, Jan 4, 2014, Weatherford, OK

Final trip of 2013 is wrapping up-in 2014. We left 40s and nice sunrises and sunsets in Arizona and New Mexico for sub-zero temperatures in Saint Paul when we arrive on Monday.

The last two days have been driving days. Friday was from Flagstaff (Lou and Joyce’s) to Santa Fe (Jude’s). Today was from Santa Fe to Weatherford, OK. Sunday and Monday drives will be with corduroy and lined jeans in order to deal with the sub-zero temps back home.

The drives on both days have been pleasant. Arizona and New Mexico have been sunny and wonderful scenery along the way. The reds of the hills and valleys contrast nicely with the periodic mountains with snowy peaks. There is some green with juniper and pinon trees to go with the beige, brown earth that provides the basic color.

Traffic has not been a problem, although we did see an overturned car today with an ambulance next to it. All traffic had to do a slight detour for that one. After the stay in Winslow,AZ last week; we played The Eagles CD a couple of times along the way. Yes, it is an old car, we do not have MP3, bluetooth, etc in the car.

On Friday we stopped at Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe in Gallup NM for lunch, similar to a Panera. Lou and Joyce say it is a regional chain that was a favorite of theirs in Houston. We took Jude out to Zia’s Diner in Santa Fe Friday night for comfort food. Both Lou/Joyce and Jude made us breakfast, yum, yum. Watch out folks, we might be back!

No lunch today. We planned to have lunch in Amarillo, and we thought the endless soup and salad at Olive Garden would be good. With the time zone change, we arrived at 2 PM. There was a 25 minute wait!! We said the heck with that and ate peanuts (thanks Jude) on the road. Dinner was at a local restaurant here in Weatherford.

Ed and Chris 1/4/14 8 pm

Traverse City, MI September 3, 2013

I recognize this post is being published out of order. It is also less interesting. However, I planned to keep a daily log and these two travel days were not yet covered. The wedding was more important and interesting and yesterday’s activities at Sleeping Bear Dunes more varied.

Monday, Sept. 2 we were all saying our good byes after the wedding. Travel plans had to be completed. Many of us gathered for breakfast at the Courtyard. Kathy’s flight out of BWI was first and I took her over there. Everyone else had more time before departure.

Lou and Joyce were staying in the DC area to extend their vacation. Jude and Bernie were being picked up by a friend. Bernie would fly back on Wednesday, Jude later in the week after some mid week work activities. Deb and Rebecca were driving home via CT and Carlisle and left after noon, Rebecca’s family having departed earlier in the day. Sarah Lesimer’s family was flying out of BWI later in the afternoon and Chris and I assisted in bringing them over to BWI.

Our travel then continued with a drive to Columbus Ohio for the evening. We skipped the PA turnpike this time and traveled I-68 through western Maryland, northern West Virginia and southwestern PA to Ohio.

We have no pictures but the evening sky was fantastic as we were in the border area of WV and PA around sunset. It rained with black and gray clouds above us. Lightning flashed nearby. Off to the east, you could see huge white and gray cumulous clouds. To the north were tinges of deep blue sky. To the west, the sun peaked through and sunset colors of yellow, orange and red were visible. Quite memorable. We arrived in Columbus about 11.

Tuesday the trip continued traversing new sections of Ohio and Michigan. We are more appreciative of the diversity of these two populous states. Large cities intermingle with farmland and Ohio’s coal and natural gas production. The terrain is not as flat as the prairie states so the drive is not monotonous.

Out of many options,we chose to head basically north through Toledo and skirted Detroit before passing Ann Arbor and entering the more forested region of MI. We arrived in Traverse City about 7 pm and looked for a place to eat.

It seemed no one wanted our money. We had numerous travel brochures and had picked out a few options. The first one we could not find initially. We had to double back and realized: a. the Days Inn it was supposed to be in front of was in the process of changing to a Country Inn by Carlson; and b.the restaurant had also changed names and while supposedly open, no cars were in the parking lot. We passed it by.

We went to downtown Traverse City. The second choice was closed. The third choice was open. However, the hostess stated the manager had just told her the kitchen was backed up and running very slow-yet the place did not look crowded. Having some prior experience with slow kitchens,we left.

Across the street was another restaurant. One of the wait staff was seated at the bus stop and informed us the restaurant had just closed. Finally we found a local sports bar that was open and had dinner. For a town that has a lot of restaurants and tourists, it sure took a long time to be fed.

Ed and Chris Thursday, September 5 8 AM