Today both Chris and I went to Delaware for the first time. Period. That means ever. Over the last few years we've sometimes gone to states for the first time together, but this time neither one of us had ever been here!
We had both forgotten that Delaware was actually the first state in the U.S. It's even printed on their license tags. Another tidbit of information is that they have no sales taxes!
Have you noticed that when you use a road atlas they give Delaware (and other smaller states) a full page. Kansas gets two. So we think of the distances shown on the map as the same scale we are used to. Not true. We did most of the state north to south, from Middletown to Trap Pond State Park. Tomorrow we will go past the southern border, back in to Maryland for a brief spell.
It was interesting driving down the section that might be called "the beaches." This is a skinny section of Delaware running down the east side. From the highway you can see water on both sides, the Atlantic on one side and a couple of bays on the other! We wanted to camp there, but the campgrounds we were hoping to use were already full. We are here at Trap Pond State Park, which is further inland. It looks like it is a pretty good campground, but it was dark when we got here!
It started raining a little while ago, but appears to be tapering off. Today was the warmest day we have experienced on the vacation; even with the rain it may be warm sleeping tonight. (Quite a change from needing the sleeping bag as a comforter a few nights ago!)
We went grocery shopping both at an outdoor farmer's market and a supermarket (called Acme, no less) today and replenished some of our supplies.
All in all a pretty uneventful day. We watched the end of Season two of Deadwood tonight on DVD.
Tomorrow's plans (if you can call them that) is to keep moving south through Maryland and Virginia. We are aiming for Kitty Hawk in North Carolina, for sure.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012: It's the vision thing
.JPG "Mirror Egg")
Our first and major stop was the American Visionary Art Museum. This art is very similar to the grassroot art in Lucas, Kansas, full of color and whimsy. Outside the museum is a large mirror egg I hugged.
The first major piece we saw inside was The Bra Ball, like Cawker City's twine ball, but made of bras donated to the cause.
In the basement, was The Flatulence Post by Bob Benson (scroll down page). I recommend watching the video. This is an exhibit Austin would love.
Each May the American Visionary Art Museum sponsors an annual Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race. One of the museum's out buildings had several entries in this year's race.
After the museum, we followed Google Map instructions through narrow streets to Edger Allen Poe's house and museum. Unfortunately, it was closed.
Then we tried driving out of town east toward Annapolis. We made slow progress through Baltimore's after work traffic.
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Thursday, September 20, 2012
Antietam and Harpers Ferry... Thursday, September 20, 2012
Today we visited Antietam Civil War battlefield and Harper's Ferry. Antietam happened on my birthday, September 17th, 150 years ago. This day is known as the bloodiest day of the Civil War because 23,000 casualties. The federals had 2,108 killed, 9,450 wounded, and 753 missing in action. Other battles had greater casualties, but not in one day.
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So the United States had almost 10,000 wounded. Antietam was one of early battles where Clara Barton started traveling to the front lines to care for wounded soldiers. She followed the sound of the cannon to arrive on the northern end of the Antietam battlefield. She brought medical supplies. She and her companions also served gruel to the wounded men still lying on the field.
Historians have always claimed Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg was the high point of the Confederacy. Pickett's Charge may have been the high point of the Army of Northern Virginia, but I think the battle of Antietam was the high point of the Confederacy.
On the military front, Lee had taken command of the Army of Northern Virginia during June 1862. He won the Seven Days Battles June 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run, August 1962 and was invading Maryland to resupply his army. And rebel forces were planning an invasion of Kentucky which ended at Perryville, October 8, 1862.
On the diplomatic front, England wanted to recognize and support the Confederacy, but were held back because of slavery, a practice England had outlawed 30 years before and the potential of going to war with the United States. However, if the confederates won a major battle on union soil, England would propose negotiating peace between the United States and Confederate States on humanitarian grounds that the war was a stalemate. So if the confederates had won Antietam, they had a chance of winning the war.
When the north won Antietam, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. This made the war also about ending slavery, seriously damaging England's and France's ability to officially recognize and support of the Confederacy. Even though Lee invaded Pennsylvania with an even larger army in 1863, it may be the case that the Confederacy's real possibility of victory vanished in 1862, not 1863.
Kathy and I arrived at Harper's Ferry too late to see the movie about John Brown's raid. The firehouse where John Brown made his last stand has been return to within 150 feet of its original spot, but it is empty. So Kathy and I saw streets looking a little like a Civil War town. There are some shops and restaurants, but it is no Williamsburg. So the drama of those events is lost on us. We were disappointed.
Tomorrow we head to Baltimore. I have never been to Baltimore.
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So the United States had almost 10,000 wounded. Antietam was one of early battles where Clara Barton started traveling to the front lines to care for wounded soldiers. She followed the sound of the cannon to arrive on the northern end of the Antietam battlefield. She brought medical supplies. She and her companions also served gruel to the wounded men still lying on the field. Historians have always claimed Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg was the high point of the Confederacy. Pickett's Charge may have been the high point of the Army of Northern Virginia, but I think the battle of Antietam was the high point of the Confederacy.
On the military front, Lee had taken command of the Army of Northern Virginia during June 1862. He won the Seven Days Battles June 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run, August 1962 and was invading Maryland to resupply his army. And rebel forces were planning an invasion of Kentucky which ended at Perryville, October 8, 1862.
On the diplomatic front, England wanted to recognize and support the Confederacy, but were held back because of slavery, a practice England had outlawed 30 years before and the potential of going to war with the United States. However, if the confederates won a major battle on union soil, England would propose negotiating peace between the United States and Confederate States on humanitarian grounds that the war was a stalemate. So if the confederates had won Antietam, they had a chance of winning the war.
When the north won Antietam, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. This made the war also about ending slavery, seriously damaging England's and France's ability to officially recognize and support of the Confederacy. Even though Lee invaded Pennsylvania with an even larger army in 1863, it may be the case that the Confederacy's real possibility of victory vanished in 1862, not 1863.
Kathy and I arrived at Harper's Ferry too late to see the movie about John Brown's raid. The firehouse where John Brown made his last stand has been return to within 150 feet of its original spot, but it is empty. So Kathy and I saw streets looking a little like a Civil War town. There are some shops and restaurants, but it is no Williamsburg. So the drama of those events is lost on us. We were disappointed.
Tomorrow we head to Baltimore. I have never been to Baltimore.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Four states in a day... Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Today was another driving day, but we did have the distinction of driving through parts of four different states: Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. We even were in West Virginia two different times! Our route consisted of following I-70, then south on I-79, then east on I-68 until it runs into (and becomes) I-70 again.
For lunch, we continued our mission of eating at the
restaurants listed as the best, according to recent issues of Consumer Reports. In Wheeling, West Virginia, we ate at Cheddar's Casual Café. Since we we have only eaten there today we can't really decide whether the CR rating seems right or not. The most unusual item we tried was the edamame appetizer (that's soybeans!). The pods are served with a ginger soy sauce and a southwest seasoning. One dips the pod in the sauce, then the seasoning. The beans are eaten by pulling the pod through your teeth and discarding the shell. Although it was interesting eating them this way, I still prefer mine already shelled and in a salad or other dish. The other dishes were tasty.
The photos accompanying this post show that the leaves are already beginning to turn colors along the way. Last night's temperature was in the lower 40s! We had to break out the sleeping bag for a comforter since it was so chilly!
We entertained ourselves today with flights of fancy. One such episode was when we were at the West Virginia welcome center. A display included the motto: "A state born from a nation torn." Since we both don't like the Kansas tourism motto, "Kansas, as big as you think," we decided we should copy the idea from West Virginia and use "A state started as a nation parted."
Our campsite tonight is the Hagerstown/Antietam Battlefield KOA in Maryland. The road to the campground would through the tree-lined back roads, along a sizable creek. The sites are on a well-wooded hillside, although the pads are level. Even though the sites are close together, as is usual at most KOAs, the feel is much more like a Forest Service campground.
Tomorrows plans include visiting Antietam Battlefield and Harper's Ferry, definitely. We'll then move east toward Baltimore.
For lunch, we continued our mission of eating at the
restaurants listed as the best, according to recent issues of Consumer Reports. In Wheeling, West Virginia, we ate at Cheddar's Casual Café. Since we we have only eaten there today we can't really decide whether the CR rating seems right or not. The most unusual item we tried was the edamame appetizer (that's soybeans!). The pods are served with a ginger soy sauce and a southwest seasoning. One dips the pod in the sauce, then the seasoning. The beans are eaten by pulling the pod through your teeth and discarding the shell. Although it was interesting eating them this way, I still prefer mine already shelled and in a salad or other dish. The other dishes were tasty.
We entertained ourselves today with flights of fancy. One such episode was when we were at the West Virginia welcome center. A display included the motto: "A state born from a nation torn." Since we both don't like the Kansas tourism motto, "Kansas, as big as you think," we decided we should copy the idea from West Virginia and use "A state started as a nation parted."
Our campsite tonight is the Hagerstown/Antietam Battlefield KOA in Maryland. The road to the campground would through the tree-lined back roads, along a sizable creek. The sites are on a well-wooded hillside, although the pads are level. Even though the sites are close together, as is usual at most KOAs, the feel is much more like a Forest Service campground.
Tomorrows plans include visiting Antietam Battlefield and Harper's Ferry, definitely. We'll then move east toward Baltimore.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
At the crossroads... Tuesday, September 18, 2012.
Chris grabbed a breakfast right there at the KOA in the morning before we began our day.
Last night we had decided to do a couple of "touristy" things in Terre Haute. The first place we went was not open yet, so we walked along part of Indiana State University's campus to the business district. There we visited the Clabber Girl Museum. The familiar label of Clabber Girl Baking Powder caught our eyes, although neither of us pretends to actually bake that often!
The museum illustrates not only the history of the company, but also explains about the "Baking Powder Wars". (3-minute Video) Many companies were making baking powder. The Royal Baking Company convince many that alum, an ingredient used by other companies, was poisonous. This started the war. It appears competition was fierce for awhile until companies folded or many were purchased by competitors. Clabber Girl weathered these storms and is still produced.
After visiting Clabber Girl, Kathy and I purchased a number of items from an oriental grocery included some quite delicious Armenian string cheese.
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On the corner near the grocery store was the "Crossroads of America". US-40 traces the National Road route early pioneers traveled from Maryland into the mid-West starting in the early 1800s. US-41 travels north and south along the border of the early frontier. These two highways became part of the national highway system in 1926. The two highways cross at 7th and Wabash in Terre Haute, a corner that became known as the "Crossroads of America".
Behind Kathy and to her right is a bronze Max Ehrmann sitting on a park bench. Ehrmann is the author of the popular 1960's poem Desiderata, falsely claimed to have been found in Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore, dated A.D. 1692. This is rubbish. Ehrmann published this poem in 1927. In the picture, Chris is showing Max the stuff purchased in the oriental grocery store.
We left Max sitting on the bench and walked to Eugene V. Debs' house. Debs was a union leader and Socialist in the early 20th Century. He was the Socialist Party candidate for president 5 times from 1900 to 1920. (Short biography) Today, Socialism is frowned upon by those ignorant of the history of worker abuse by early capitalists. Many of the conditions that make working for someone else tolerable, e.g., 8-hour work day,were promoted by unionists like Debs until finally adopted by some companies and US Congress legislation.
After Debs' house we drove east. Along the way we purchased some Firehouse subs, rated #1 on Consumer Reports list of best sub and sandwich chains. (The paper version of the same report lists Firehouse as #2 behind Jason's deli.) Chris had a New York Steamer. Kathy had a Veggie.
We are now camping in Buck Creek State Park between Dayton and Columbus, Ohio.
Last night we had decided to do a couple of "touristy" things in Terre Haute. The first place we went was not open yet, so we walked along part of Indiana State University's campus to the business district. There we visited the Clabber Girl Museum. The familiar label of Clabber Girl Baking Powder caught our eyes, although neither of us pretends to actually bake that often!The museum illustrates not only the history of the company, but also explains about the "Baking Powder Wars". (3-minute Video) Many companies were making baking powder. The Royal Baking Company convince many that alum, an ingredient used by other companies, was poisonous. This started the war. It appears competition was fierce for awhile until companies folded or many were purchased by competitors. Clabber Girl weathered these storms and is still produced.
After visiting Clabber Girl, Kathy and I purchased a number of items from an oriental grocery included some quite delicious Armenian string cheese.
We left Max sitting on the bench and walked to Eugene V. Debs' house. Debs was a union leader and Socialist in the early 20th Century. He was the Socialist Party candidate for president 5 times from 1900 to 1920. (Short biography) Today, Socialism is frowned upon by those ignorant of the history of worker abuse by early capitalists. Many of the conditions that make working for someone else tolerable, e.g., 8-hour work day,were promoted by unionists like Debs until finally adopted by some companies and US Congress legislation.After Debs' house we drove east. Along the way we purchased some Firehouse subs, rated #1 on Consumer Reports list of best sub and sandwich chains. (The paper version of the same report lists Firehouse as #2 behind Jason's deli.) Chris had a New York Steamer. Kathy had a Veggie.
We are now camping in Buck Creek State Park between Dayton and Columbus, Ohio.
Happy birthday, Chris! Monday, September 17, 2012
Did a few chores for Mom, ate some breakfast, visited a bit, and then headed away from Admire.
We didn't have any plans for the day, just mainly driving east on I-70.
Lunch was in Concordia, Missouri, at Topsy's Restaurant. They serve breakfast all-day (hear that, Maribeth?), so Kathy had a very good veggie omelet and Chris tried the salisbury steak special.
The only actual other time we did something other than drive was stopping in Greenup, Illinois, to do a small amount of grocery shopping (need bread!) and picked up a few odds and ends at the local Dollar General.
Our campground was in Indiana at the Terre Haute KOA. It was dark when we arrived, but we still had plenty of evening. We're in Eastern Daylight Time now, so we actually stopped later than we thought!
Today was Chris' birthday, probably the first one in years when we didn't, at least, go out to eat! Well, unless you count eating there in Concordia, or eating in the camper van in Indiana!
We didn't have any plans for the day, just mainly driving east on I-70.
Lunch was in Concordia, Missouri, at Topsy's Restaurant. They serve breakfast all-day (hear that, Maribeth?), so Kathy had a very good veggie omelet and Chris tried the salisbury steak special.
The only actual other time we did something other than drive was stopping in Greenup, Illinois, to do a small amount of grocery shopping (need bread!) and picked up a few odds and ends at the local Dollar General.
Our campground was in Indiana at the Terre Haute KOA. It was dark when we arrived, but we still had plenty of evening. We're in Eastern Daylight Time now, so we actually stopped later than we thought!
Today was Chris' birthday, probably the first one in years when we didn't, at least, go out to eat! Well, unless you count eating there in Concordia, or eating in the camper van in Indiana!
On the Road Again! Sunday, September 16, 2012
Well, it's time for the two us to have another vacation for just us...
Once again, vacation has come sooner than we expected and we weren't mentally or physically ready for it. Since we know we need to be in Raleigh, North Carolina, for a conference in a week and a half, we are heading East. The only other plan we made was that we would head for Maryland and Delaware because we haven't yet been there in the camper van. Actually, neither of us have ever been to Delaware at all.
We did most of our packing on Saturday, although the food had to be packed on Sunday morning. Before leaving Great Bend, we went to Perkins for brunch with Ben. Saturday was his birthday (and Jason's!!) and Monday is Chris' birthday, so we went for a "birthday brunch."
We then headed out for Admire, Kansas! First stop was south of town at the farm of Joyce Theier and Ann Birney, also know as Ride into History. Joyce was the principal entertainment for the evening and did a performance as a woman who had settled in Kansas as a child and later served in the U. S. Army during the Civil War. There are several hundred cases of women serving in the War on both sides of the conflict, disguising themselves as men. The composite character that Joyce has created later returns to Kansas and secures a homestead.
The well-attended performance was both entertaining and informative and the audience seems very attentive. Later, we were served an outdoor meal that was very good! Ann gave me the recipe of the black bean/corn/avocado, etc. salad. It was great and should be a dish that I'll be taking to potlucks in the future!
We drove in to Admire after the festivities to spend the night with Kathy's mom, Dee Reid. We had a good visit and then headed to bed.
Once again, vacation has come sooner than we expected and we weren't mentally or physically ready for it. Since we know we need to be in Raleigh, North Carolina, for a conference in a week and a half, we are heading East. The only other plan we made was that we would head for Maryland and Delaware because we haven't yet been there in the camper van. Actually, neither of us have ever been to Delaware at all.
We did most of our packing on Saturday, although the food had to be packed on Sunday morning. Before leaving Great Bend, we went to Perkins for brunch with Ben. Saturday was his birthday (and Jason's!!) and Monday is Chris' birthday, so we went for a "birthday brunch."
We then headed out for Admire, Kansas! First stop was south of town at the farm of Joyce Theier and Ann Birney, also know as Ride into History. Joyce was the principal entertainment for the evening and did a performance as a woman who had settled in Kansas as a child and later served in the U. S. Army during the Civil War. There are several hundred cases of women serving in the War on both sides of the conflict, disguising themselves as men. The composite character that Joyce has created later returns to Kansas and secures a homestead.
The well-attended performance was both entertaining and informative and the audience seems very attentive. Later, we were served an outdoor meal that was very good! Ann gave me the recipe of the black bean/corn/avocado, etc. salad. It was great and should be a dish that I'll be taking to potlucks in the future!
We drove in to Admire after the festivities to spend the night with Kathy's mom, Dee Reid. We had a good visit and then headed to bed.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Mad dash to the finish line... Saturday, July 21, 2012
Yes, we are actually on our way home and are already on the Kansas Turnpike. We purchased a new laptop yesterday in League City, Texas (Houston suburb), so it's easier to work on this blog. We apologize to all our dedicated readers for how slow things have been this vacation. I'm goinig to try to go back and start fleshing out the "stubs" I started for each day.
We'll also add pictures. A few have already been posted to Facebook for our "friends." Unfortunately, Chris' phone is not working right now, so we can't post any from his phone camera. (More on that in an earlier post).
Today has simply been driving with one tourist stop. We stopped in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to show Austin the Oklahoma City National Memorial. When you realize that the bombing occurred nearly nine years before Austin was born it becomes apparent that this is "history" for him. We tried to explain the basics of what and why, geared to a bright eight-year-old. He grasped the idea of where the damage was the worse and commented on that when he saw the chairs in relation to the small amount of still-standing wall. We didn't go to the museum today because
We decided to stop in at Fox Lake, near Cassoday, and visit Shannon and Polly. We hadn't seen their cabin yet, so decided this was a good time. They gave us the grand tour of not only their place, but took us around and showed us all of the Fox Lake community. They have a great get-away now!
Next stop was Silver Lake, where we bid Austin good-bye. I think we all had a great time and Grandma and Grandpa felt Austin was a wonderful travel companion!
We'll also add pictures. A few have already been posted to Facebook for our "friends." Unfortunately, Chris' phone is not working right now, so we can't post any from his phone camera. (More on that in an earlier post).
Today has simply been driving with one tourist stop. We stopped in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to show Austin the Oklahoma City National Memorial. When you realize that the bombing occurred nearly nine years before Austin was born it becomes apparent that this is "history" for him. We tried to explain the basics of what and why, geared to a bright eight-year-old. He grasped the idea of where the damage was the worse and commented on that when he saw the chairs in relation to the small amount of still-standing wall. We didn't go to the museum today because
- it takes several hours to do it justice
- I believe it may be too intense for an eight-year-old
- Austin needs to develop some more historical context.
We decided to stop in at Fox Lake, near Cassoday, and visit Shannon and Polly. We hadn't seen their cabin yet, so decided this was a good time. They gave us the grand tour of not only their place, but took us around and showed us all of the Fox Lake community. They have a great get-away now!
Next stop was Silver Lake, where we bid Austin good-bye. I think we all had a great time and Grandma and Grandpa felt Austin was a wonderful travel companion!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
McKinney State Park to Guadalupe River State Park, near San Antonio, Texas.
To be continued.
To be continued.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Leander, Texas KOA to McKinney Falls State Park, Austin, Texas. (Not much distance)
To be continued.
To be continued.
Gone to Texas! Friday, July 13, 2012
Yes, we are finally starting the blog for Austin's "Rippel grandparent" vacation. I don't particularly have a great excuse, but we've been busy. Plus, Sunday night (I'm writing this on Monday), when I was planning to begin, we lost electricity in the camper during a huge storm. But more on that later.
I'm also typing this on a weird-looking screen. The last day before vacation something happened to our laptop and the screen was broken. So now we have a rather decorative line running vertically dividing the screen. We also now have two diagonal lines. So the screen is minimized some to allow us to read everything but it's more like typing a a netbook or something!
Chris and I reached Silver Lake on Thursday night in time to watch Austin's baseball game in Rossville. They won the game and Austin had a good game. After the game we were able to visit with the family before bed.
Friday morning we awoke to a rain storm (yea!). We left on this good note and only went as far as Topeka at first. We stopped at an O'Reilly on 29th Street to buy some of the self-adhesive collision wrap for broken windows. We needed to cover the window we broke on the camper van last year on Blake's vacation with us. Reland Cole has finally found a window for us, but it hasn't arrived yet. We discovered that the wrap was only available in a 36" by 100 feet rools for over $100! Gulp... but we needed it, as we discovered on Sunday night.
Friday was mostly just driving across Kansas and Oklahoma. Austin has been great company, though. He keeps us on our toes.
We made one main stop in Oklahoma. We stopped in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, to show Austin the Toy and Action Figure Museum. You can read about the first visit Chris and I had to this museum in 2007 here. Austin seemed to enjoy the dioramas of World War II, both theatres, using GI Joe figures for all the sides. Austin and Kathy also played a game of chess using Star Wars pieces. This month they are highlighting Batman in all his various renditions and seeing how each of the super heroes have changed over the years is part of the interesting part of this quirky museum.
Our travels for the day ended across the border in to Texas. We spent the night at Ray Roberts Lake State Park. Austin said he wanted trees for the ideal camping spot and he was not disappointed. We also made a campfire and cooked hot dogs and marshmallows in traditonal fashion (thank goodness we had some metal skewers to use because we had just given Megan all of the wire hangers from the camper!
As usual, we have seemed to forget several items we thought we packed! So far we've had to replace all of Kathy's toiletries and we are missing the best large flashlight/lantern. We are making do, of course.
I'm also typing this on a weird-looking screen. The last day before vacation something happened to our laptop and the screen was broken. So now we have a rather decorative line running vertically dividing the screen. We also now have two diagonal lines. So the screen is minimized some to allow us to read everything but it's more like typing a a netbook or something!
Chris and I reached Silver Lake on Thursday night in time to watch Austin's baseball game in Rossville. They won the game and Austin had a good game. After the game we were able to visit with the family before bed.
Friday morning we awoke to a rain storm (yea!). We left on this good note and only went as far as Topeka at first. We stopped at an O'Reilly on 29th Street to buy some of the self-adhesive collision wrap for broken windows. We needed to cover the window we broke on the camper van last year on Blake's vacation with us. Reland Cole has finally found a window for us, but it hasn't arrived yet. We discovered that the wrap was only available in a 36" by 100 feet rools for over $100! Gulp... but we needed it, as we discovered on Sunday night.
Friday was mostly just driving across Kansas and Oklahoma. Austin has been great company, though. He keeps us on our toes.
We made one main stop in Oklahoma. We stopped in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, to show Austin the Toy and Action Figure Museum. You can read about the first visit Chris and I had to this museum in 2007 here. Austin seemed to enjoy the dioramas of World War II, both theatres, using GI Joe figures for all the sides. Austin and Kathy also played a game of chess using Star Wars pieces. This month they are highlighting Batman in all his various renditions and seeing how each of the super heroes have changed over the years is part of the interesting part of this quirky museum.
Our travels for the day ended across the border in to Texas. We spent the night at Ray Roberts Lake State Park. Austin said he wanted trees for the ideal camping spot and he was not disappointed. We also made a campfire and cooked hot dogs and marshmallows in traditonal fashion (thank goodness we had some metal skewers to use because we had just given Megan all of the wire hangers from the camper!
As usual, we have seemed to forget several items we thought we packed! So far we've had to replace all of Kathy's toiletries and we are missing the best large flashlight/lantern. We are making do, of course.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Mobile Home
Want to read about more Rippel vacations?
Check out these!
Southwest 2011
Wisconsin/Minnesota 2011
North 2010
South 2009
Wyoming, etc. 2009
Check out these!
Southwest 2011
Wisconsin/Minnesota 2011
North 2010
South 2009
Wyoming, etc. 2009
Friday, November 4, 2011
Day 12-- Homeward bound, Friday, November 4, 2011
We drove from Tucumcari, New Mexico home to Great Bend, Kansas.
At Texahoma, Oklahoma, we drove north into Kansas and visited the Morton County Library in Elkhart, Kansas and the Stevens County Library in Hugoton, Kansas. Both are nice libraries which gave us some ideas to bring back to our jobs.
At Texahoma, Oklahoma, we drove north into Kansas and visited the Morton County Library in Elkhart, Kansas and the Stevens County Library in Hugoton, Kansas. Both are nice libraries which gave us some ideas to bring back to our jobs.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Day 11-- Heading back across Arizona, Thursday, November 3, 2011
We drove the whole day and camped in Tucumcari, New Mexico.
Day 10-- We leave Las Vegas and spend the "dam" afternoon, Wednesday, November 2, 2011
In the morning, we played one more game on roulette to test Kathy's new strategy. This new strategy was more risky than Kathy's earlier strategy. Kathy ran out of $20 in chips after two or three spins. Chris cashed in after one of two more spins andhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif walked away with $2 more. We left Vegas immediately heading for the Hoover Dam.
We took the dam tour. The tour guides made lots of "dam" jokes. We went into the
bowels of the dam. Inside the dam are two miles of tunnels. We walked only about 300 yards of them. They showed us the generators (shown here). Their explanation of how the dam was built and worked was clear, but very brief. Not a lot of detail.
Before 2010, the Hoover Dam was part of 93 highway from Nevada toward Kingman, Arizona. On October 19, 2010, the Hoover Dam Bridge, officially called the Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge took over this role. Now the drive over the bridge merely leads to parking lots on the other side of the dam. The road past the parking lots is closed. So to drive to Kingman, Arizona, we had to drive back over the Hoover Dam and back several miles to catch 93 highway south, which took us over the new bridge toward to Kingman. (Pictures of the bridge.)
We took the dam tour. The tour guides made lots of "dam" jokes. We went into the
bowels of the dam. Inside the dam are two miles of tunnels. We walked only about 300 yards of them. They showed us the generators (shown here). Their explanation of how the dam was built and worked was clear, but very brief. Not a lot of detail.Before 2010, the Hoover Dam was part of 93 highway from Nevada toward Kingman, Arizona. On October 19, 2010, the Hoover Dam Bridge, officially called the Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge took over this role. Now the drive over the bridge merely leads to parking lots on the other side of the dam. The road past the parking lots is closed. So to drive to Kingman, Arizona, we had to drive back over the Hoover Dam and back several miles to catch 93 highway south, which took us over the new bridge toward to Kingman. (Pictures of the bridge.)
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