H - O - M - E

We are home.  I hope I don't jinx Debby.  She isn't quite home yet.  She is at the airport and should be boarding her plane within the next half hour for the flight home.  Denise, Matt and Emma will be picking her up at the airport.

I imagine Emma will be thrilled.  When we talked to Denise last Sunday afternoon she told us Emma had gotten up Sunday morning saying "It's Sunday; Debby's coming home!  It's Sunday; Debby's coming home!"  She was quite disappointed to learn that it was the FOLLOWING Sunday that Debby would be home.

The drive from Ocean City yesterday was a good final day trip of just under 350 miles.  I had not briefed Debby on the route via the Chesapeak Bay Bridge Tunnel.  I figured there was no reason to cause premature angst about the tunnels.  As we were approaching the toll booth, we were fishing for money, but the signs had not stated the toll amount.  I told her it would probably be at least five bucks.  She asked why it was so high since most tolls we had encountered had been about a buck.  I mentioned that the bridge and tunnel were big.  When we got to the toll booth and the sign said $12.00 she was surprised.  I mentioned again that it was big.  Then we got to the bridge and you can't see the end.   Ok, so far.  Then she asked whether we would be only taking the bridge or the tunnel.  I said both and that they are big.  :-)   Once we got in the first tunnel, I couldn't resist -- I told her to let me know if she say in water leaking down the walls.  Debby's description of going into the tunnels was "a descent into hell."  I told her it wasn't fire she needed to worry about, it was water!  In a nutshell, the bridge/tunnel is 20 miles long and each tunnel is about a mile long.  It made the phrase "light at the end of the tunnel" a lot more meaningful.

The evening was full of visits.  Mom H. came over for a little while and we got "welcome home hugs."  Then we had dinner out with Michael and Natalie.  We stopped by Michael's home to check out his little garden that I had watered while he was at camp (before our trip).  They have harvested a few tomatoes and jalapeno peppers.  The green pepper plant and the cantaloupe vines haven't produced yet.  They have basil overtaking the oregano and one of the sunflowers has bloomed.

At home we played pinball.  By the time we headed for the airport this morning, Debby had regained her pinball playing form and was winning some free games.

What's next?

The immediate future is back to work for both of us.  We gotta' pay the bills.  Debby has been instructed by me to stop working those 12 hour days.  She will be working on getting her house on the market with her official move to Denise's house.  My church has it's first "Children's Church" next week.  I'm supposed to help so I need to check in with our Family's Ministry director and find out what I am suppossed to be doing.

The short term future is our Brockett Babes Beach Trip in just 2 months.  So we'll be back together for a week in September.

And next year's trip?  We're not sure yet.  With Leslie's location in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, there are two routes that could be possibilities -- parts of US Route 2 (Theodore Roosevelt Highway/The Great Northern Route) from Seattle, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine or parts of Highway 93 (Border to Border) from Jasper National Park in Canada to Nogales, Arizona (and Mexico).  Or we might just plant our bottoms on a beach somewhere.

So happy trails to you for another year.

I'm out of shower gel

So it must be time to go home.

We now know why we have an itinerary.  If we don't, we are totally lazy!  We didn't even manage to read our devotions the last two mornings.

But we are back on schedule and headed south.

Beach and balcony time,

with a little geocaching thrown in (found 3 out of 4).  A  nice relaxing day, lying on the beach, bouncing in the waves and sitting on the balcony (in the shade).  There might have been 15 minutes too much lying on the beach time because the backs of both of our thighs are a little pink.  Not like this -- but still pink. 

Which brings me to my next point -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE.  These pictures are just for you.  We ran into a small car show in Lebanon, Illinois at the Maid Rite two weeks ago, this coming Saturday.


 And now, back to the hard work of relaxing.

The waves are crashing outside my balcony door.

We are in Ocean City, Maryland.  We have completed the cross-country drive on US Route 50.  What a drive!  Starting with the hills of San Francisco, California, to the desert of Nevada and Utah, the canyons of Colorado, the beauty of the plains of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana (with all kinds of specialties for each state thrown in), the twists and turns of West Virginia, the horse pastures of Virginia, the patriotism-inspiring sights of Washington, DC, and finishing with the waterways and oceans of Maryland.

We made a quick visit to Arlington National Cemetary this morning and due to time constraints, our main stop was the Tomb of the Unknowns with a viewing of the changing of the guard ceremony.  Then a mad dash to make it to the Capitol in time for our tour courtesy of my representative, David Price.

 

We finally found our way out of Washington DC via Route 50 and headed for Annapolis, Maryland.  I was struck by the quaintness of historic Annapolis and almost used Debby's favorite line "I could live here" before I remembered how cold it gets "up north."   Besides the courthouse in Annapolis, we toured the Maryland State House (capitol building).  The Maryland State House is the location George Washington used to resign his commission.   We had several courthouse stops in Maryland.  It has been interesting to see historical progression (in reverse) of the courthouses and their ages as we have travelled from the west to the east.

This is the courthouse mecca -- the Supreme Court: 

Now we are in Ocean City and I have just finished my first experience with eating steamed crabs Maryland style armed with a mallet and knife.  Yum!   The "hands on" work was a little more than Debby wanted to experience so she went with the safer choice of chicken and shrimp. We have two days of beach relaxation in front of us.  Nice!!

A lazy day

Laundry, the swimming pool, a somewhat aborted visit to Arlington National Cemetary, an accidential drive in a little bit of rush hour traffic, topped off by a feast at Legal Seafood.

All in all, an easy day.

Happy birthday, Dianne!

We are in recovery mode...

It is 9AM and we are still lying in bed.  What slugs!  But yesterday was grueling.  We laughed at the end and said, we sure knew how to kill ourselves having fun.

We arranged a daytime trolley tour in which you could jump on and off at various points of interest and a night time trolley tour with specific stops at monuments and memorials under the moonlight.  They were both good.  The problem was it was about 300 degrees.  So there were several times during the day and night that we simply melted.  We left the hotel about 8AM and got back about 11PM.

Today will include such exciting activities as laundry.

Catching up...July 4th...part 2

At breakfast, we were talking with our waitress and I told her that although we would be in Washington DC by the evening on the 4th, we wouldn't be going down to the Mall to see the fireworks because we probably wouldn't want to get in the crowds.

Well, once we got to the hotel and had a refreshing float in the pool, we decided that it would really be a shame to pass up such a wonderful opportunity as being in DC on our national birthday and not see the official fireworks. So we jumped on the metro down to Washington Monument and joined in the festivities. The fireworks definitely were good, but I'll admit, we did not anticipate the extent of the crowd when it was time to leave. Those people who had trickled in over the last several hours, ALL tried to leave at the same time, including us. We were in a real crush of humanity. Just before we reached the point of no return in entering the metro station, we both agreed we could not take the continuing and thickening confinement. We stepped out of the mainstream for a while, trying to catch a breath. We were prepared to stand, letting the crowds flow around us, but another family decided they had to exit the crowd. We fell in behind them and beat a retreat. We looked for a cab for a very short time and quickly realized that wasn't a realistic option. So we walked to a metro station further away from the crowd and relaxed on a bench until we could go directly onto a train. The train did overcrowd for part of the ride home, but we survived that too.

We agreed that we were glad we had experienced the July 4th celebration in DC, but that we really never wanted to enjoy such an exiting crowd again.

Catching up...July 4th...part 1

I woke up on July 4th, finally figuring out what had been running around in the back of my mind since the preceeding evening.  It was a song that described the first battle at Manassas (or Bull Run as the Yankees called it) found on the old "Johnny Horton Makes History" album.  I can't tell you how many times I listened to The Battle of Bull Run as a kid.  Although we had considered skipping a visit to Manassas, once I realized the connection to this classic country music song, a stop was definitely required.

We were glad we did.  Although we didn't have time to do everything there, we took the walking tour with a ranger guide who provided a great description of the first battle of Manassas (which was also the first battle of the Civil War).  We also looked at the exhibits for that battle and the audio visual display about the battle.  We only viewed the audio visual display and the indoor exhibits about the second battle because it had gotten late in the day and really hot outside.

The drive through northern Virginia was lovely.  Debby said it was exactly what she thought it would look like...lots of grassy fields, fences and tree.  We rolled into Fairfax and essentially, we were at our stopping point for the day.

She'll be coming around the mountain...

West Virginia lives up to its name -- wild and wonderful.

From Clarksburg to Winchester, we "snaked" our way through.  I say "snaked" because of the constant road signs warning of curves ahead.  These were the "15 miles an hour" type curves in which you can see your own tail lights because the car is bending in the middle to make it around the hairpin!

Debby really liked Grafton, West Virginia and said "I could live here."  Don't get too excited; she says that about everywhere we go.  But Grafton was a great example of a small West Virginia town.  The broader streets run horizontal along the side of the mountain with tiny alleyways running vertically between them.  Turning up or down one of the alleyways was a real act of faith.  I don't think anyone could possibly drink alcoholic beverages in Grafton because if you had just one too many and stepped out your front door, you would be rolling at least half way down the mountain and land in the road a couple of streets below, unless you hit the neighbor's house in front of you.

After an intense 150 mile drive, we got to the hotel a little early and had a really relaxing float in the pool.

So much fun that we didn't have time for the blog yesterday

Cincinnati chili fully lives up to its reputation.  We went to Blue Ash Chili as seen on Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.  Debby had chili 6 way and I had 6 way minus beans.  What is chili 6 way?

• 2 way:  chili and spaghetti
• 3 way:  chili, spaghetti, and shredded cheese
• 4 way:  chili, spaghetti, shredded cheese, and onions
• 5 way:  chili, spaghetti, shredded cheese, onions and beans
• 6 way:  chili, spaghetti, shredded cheese, onions, beans, and deep fried jalepeno slices

Two through five are traditional; 6 is a specialty of Blue Ash Chili.  It was fantastic.  I put a little hot sauce on mine because cincinnati chili tastes great, but it isn't very spicy.

In the evening we went to the outdoor drama, Tecumseh, in Chillicothe.  It was a good drama and also quite educational.

The weather has been fabulous.  I actually had a couple of beach towels thrown over my shoulders and legs at the outdoor drama because it was so cool.  Since we left Illinois, we have had the top down on the car all day.  It has been so cool, we have not even had to raise the top during the warmest times, mid-afternoon.  We got a bit of a late start this morning because we had not done any planning the night before.  It was a good thing.  It was so cool this morning, we would have had to run the heater with the top down.

We finished the drive through Ohio and started in West Virginia.  Both have been beautiful.  The extreme hills of West Virginia take a little getting used to after the flatness of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.   Although the hills don't seem as tall yet as our North Carolina mountains, they seem closer to the side of the road and the views down into the valleys seem more extreme.

So today was mostly just a leisurely drive with courthouse viewing and geocaching.  Debby has a lot more adventure in her than I do when I comes to geocaching.  I don't go off into the weeds or reach under or into cavities.  She does so wholeheartedly.  Even so, we each have 1 chigger bite.  I have one fire ant bite and Debby has one thorn puncture, plus muddy shoes.

Lots of dots

 

This was what we saw first today.  It says:  CAN YOU READ THIS.  Well, as close as I can make it by inserting images of braille letter patterns in our blog.  We visited the American Printing House for the Blind.  It was a tour of their museum and factory processes and was extremely interesting.  They have been making materials for the blind and those with low vision since before the Civil War, beginning with raised lettering books (before Braille was invented and widely used), up through talking books that are similar to what we think of as books on tape.  Their product catalog includes all kinds of learning aides for use in schools for the blind, including globes, math and science materials, games and many other items. We saw examples of how book texts go from written or digital form to published braille versions, including binding.  At the end of the tour, we experimented with braille "typewriters" to produce our own messages written in braille.  It was highly informative and interesting.

Then we pressed on to our next tour of the Louisville Stoneware facility.  Although owned by many different people, they have been making stoneware since the early 1800s in Louisville.  They get their raw materials (dirt) from Indiana.  It is a large stoneware (to me, it's pottery) operation and they have many different patterns, plus they make all kinds of customized items.  We were able to learn about the process from the mixing of the dirt with water, drying and pressing it to make clay, shaping the pieces with molds or by hand, painting, glazing and firing the items til they are turned into stoneware to be sold and shipped. 

Then we headed back north from our Louisville detour to return to Route 50, passing through more lovely Indiana countryside under a bright blue, cloudless sky.

4 out of 5's not bad

Today was about a beautiful drive, geocaching, and courthouses.

After one more short visit with Mom and Dad, we headed down the road.  Finishing Illinois with stops in Olney and Lawrenceville and then into Indiana.

This is what the drive looked like.  I just pointed the camera behind Debby and snapped.  It just so happened that a route 50 sign was along side the road just at that instant.

In Indiana, we had stops in Vincennes, Washington, Shoals, Bedford and Brownstown.  Those towns are all county seats, so we visited their courthouses.  We also hunted geocaches in all of those towns.  We succeeded on our hunts 4 out of 5 times, only missing a find in Vincennes.

Then we buzzed down to Louisville, Kentucky for one of our planned detours.

Heading east...

We are truly underway as of today, heading out of St. Louis and starting across Illinois.  Route 50 in southern Illinois is a path through small towns and rolling farmland.  Many places along side the current route 50, the earlier route parallels.  It has lots of weeds growing up through the pavement and the old bridges are sitting rusting with barricades at each end.  It is interesting that the older route was not ripped out and removed.

Besides visiting the small towns and courthouses along the route, we had much visiting with  family today.  We met our cousin, Billie, in her hometown of Louisville.  It is only 6 miles off Route 50.  She took time off from all of her farming business to spend time visiting with us and treating us to cold beverages.  Then she took this picture of us.

We spent the afternoon with our parents and then had dinner with them, and our other two sisters and husbands -- a real fun time!  We'll visit with our parents a short while once again in the morning and then head on down the route towards Indiana.

What do butterflies and beer have in common?

They are both in abundance in St. Louis.  We spent the morning at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House.  It was teeming with fluttering and darting bursts of color.  We saw butterflies eating, resting and loving.

Butterflies have an uncanny ability to close their wings right before you press the button on your camera to take their picture.  Regardless, they amazed and delighted us.

In the afternoon, we visited the Anheuser Busch brewery.  The brewery in St. Louis is both the original location for Anheuser Busch, started in 1851, and the largest Anheuser Busch operation, producing about 15 million gallons per year.  We saw the Clydesdales, the huge lager tanks, the mash cookers and bottling lines.  Unfortunately, the line we could see was down for maintenance so we didn't get to see the bottles and cans flying by.  We finished with refreshing beverages of our choice.  I had Shocktop, a Belgian white ale, and Wild Blue, a blueberry flavored lager.  Debby had a Pepsi.

All aboard!

In it's heydey, during the 1940's, Union Station in St. Louis handled 100,000 train passengers a day.  That's twice as many as go through Atlanta airport daily now.

That's where we are right now.

The station ended train operations in 1978, but was saved as a historic landmark and converted to a hotel and shopping venue. 

This picture shows the station's stained glass "Allegorical" window depicting St. Louis between New York and San Francisco.  It is located over one of the arched domes of the grand atrium.  We'll be exploring more of the atrium area tomorrow since it had somewhat limited access this evening due to a private fundraising event.

The drive from West Virginia to St. Louis was a flash down the interstate, not like our actual road trip, where we avoid interstate travel all together, instead stopping to explore all the little hamlets, villages, and wide spots in the road.

So now that we have arrived at our official road trip starting point, it's all aboard the Route 50 flyer!

Almost heaven...West Virginia

We drove through West Virginia, listening to Jimmy Dean. He entertained us with the story of Big, Bad John, Little Bitty Big John (Big, Bad John's son), and the Cajun Queen (Big Bad John's woman). He described the mine that took John's life as we drove past billboards touting coal for energy and through long, long tunnels that took us deep under the mountains while hearing the refrain..."at the bottom of this mine, lies a big, big man."


Now that it is daylight, looking out our hotel window, I can see past the tops of buildings to treetops, a bridge and the Ohio river just a couple of blocks away.
 
I knew it was time to retire Debby from driving last night when we approached the Walker Mountain tunnel (picture above) and she thought it was a fireworks building.  I know that is hard to understand, but if you've ever driven past the Tennessee Alabama Fireworks building along I-24, you could POSSIBLY see the similarity.  This is just a reminder that Debby can't see at night.

We are on the road again!

We are headed for our official starting point of St. Louis. 

Debby got into RDU about 5PM, after a short delay in leaving Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.  We were on the road by 5:30.  We made it to Huntington, West Virginia, as planned, after stopping for dinner at Cousin Gary's in Pilot Mountain, just past Aunt Bea's BBQ restaurant and Mt. Airy.  Mayberry must have been just down the road.

We traversed 4 big mountain ridges and have made it to the downhill side.  There was some beautiful mountain scenery along the way. 

"Almost heaven, West Virginia."

And the odometer ended at: 

0355

Where are we starting from?

Debby starts like this -- Rockmart to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport to Raleigh-Durham airport.


View Larger Map

Jerry starts like this -- Carrboro to Cary (working for the man all day) to Raleigh-Durham airport.


View Larger Map

And when we roll out of the Raleigh-Durham airport, the odometer starts like this:

0000

I'm packed!

A toothbrush, a change of clothes, and a GPS.  That should be enough for two weeks, right?

Tuning up the electronics

We leave this week!

This weekend, among other preparation, was scheduled for getting all my electronic ducks in a row.  You know how those cords and batteries tend to wander off.  These were the ducks I lined up:

• backed up my laptop (for which I was way overdue),
• cleaned up the contents of my digitial camera cards,
• got a new wall charger for my cell phone,
• rounded up the car, wall chargers, and batteries for the camera, cell phone, and GPS,
• topped off my mobile broadband card for time and data,
• cleaned off a spare thumb drive, cause you just never know when you'll need one,
• organized my CDs into their mobile carrying cases,
• changed all the batteries in my home smoke detectors.

Ok, that last one wasn't strictly preparation for the trip.  However, I like to make sure that the detectors are  not going to go into their dead battery chirp mode (or worse) while I am gone so that they won't drive the kittens or Mom H. (when she is visiting to take care of them) berserk.

I don't like packing.  But I like making lists.   So I decided I could make the packing easier if I would make a detailed list to use for packing.  Debby laughed when I told her there were 78 things on the list.  Ok, so I'm a little compulsive.  But you'd be surprised how many items would be on your list if you wrote down every single item you put in your suitcase and toiletries.  After I've been on the road a day or two, I'll report back what I forgot...there's always something.

Fuzzy Wuzzy...

Fuzzy Wuzzy
Was a bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Had no hair
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Wasn't fuzzy, was he?
Was he bare?
 
I am!  All I have left is a little fuzz on top of my head.  There will be no problems with my hair blowing into my face while we travel with the top down on the Solara.  There isn't a hair on my head longer than 1 inch!

What city did we sleep in last night?

So we put our heads together (some people say it takes both of our brains put together to meet the IQ of a normal person) and came up with the following proposed itenerary for our upcoming road trip. I guess first, you need to understand that we are booking it on the expressway (with our eyes closed all the way in order not to see the scenery) to St. Louis in order to officially start our trip in St. Louis.

Friday, June 25: I fly to Raleigh, NC where Jerry will pick me up at the airport & we will drive to somewhere in West Virginia.

Saturday, June 26: West Virginia to St. Louis, IL (These two days will be the pre-game warm up.)

Sunday, June 27: Our trip officially starts with sightseeing in St. Louis---probably a tour of the brewery, the botanical gardens, etc. (You can see where we're staying in one of Jerry's earlier entries---looks cool!)

Monday, June 28: Leaving St. Louis heading east. Courthouses in Salem, Louisville and Olney, IL.

Tuesday, June 29: Spending the day in West Liberty, IL with family.

Wednesday, June 30: Heading east. Courthouses in Lawrenceville, IL, Vincennes, Washington, Shoals, Bedford, Brownstown, IN. Then, short detour to Louisville, KY

Thursday, July 1: Sightseeing in Louisville. Certainly wouldn't want to miss the "world's largest bat".

Friday, July 2: Back on route 50. Courthouse in Lawrenceburg.

Saturday, July 3: Heading east. Courthouses in Cincinnati, Hillsboro and Chillicothe, OH.
In Chillicothe we plan to see "Tecumseh"...The Ultimate Outdoor Drama Experience.
(http://www.tecumsehdrama.com/)

Sunday, July 4: Heading east. Courthouses in Athens, OH, Parkersburg, W VA, Clarksburg,

Monday, July 5: Heading east. Courthouses in Grafton, Romney, W VA, Winchester, Manassas, VA

Tuesday, July 6: Heading east to Arlington (looking for Trace)

Wednesday, July 7: Sightseeing in DC. We have scheduled tours for both the Whitehouse & the Capitol and also are planning a nightime tour of the monuments.

Thursday, July 8: Leaving DC. Driving through Maryland. Courthouses in Annapolis & Easton and on to Ocean City and the beach.

Friday, July 9: Relaxing at the beach!

Saturday, July 10: Heading home to Carrboro - visiting with family there.

Sunday, July 11: Debby - home to Rockmart!

We won't be covering nearly as many miles as we have on some of our previous roadtrips but have some serious sightseeing planned and of course, some geocaching along the way. I've just mentioned a few of the highlights here but we will keep you updated as we go. Looking forward to hitting "The Lonliest Road" again this summer.

There ain't nothin' wrong with the radio...

In the immortal words of Aaron Tippin -- 

Sometimes she runs, sometimes she don't
More than once she's left me on the side of the road
The older she gets the slower we go
But there ain't nothin' wrong with the radio
She needs a carburetor, a set of plug wires
She's ridin' me around on four bald tires
The wipers don't work and the horn don't blow
But there ain't nothin' wrong with the radio

I picked up the Solara from the shop after having a pre-road trip shakedown, including oil and filter change, lube, top off fluids, visual safety inspection, tire rotation and North Carolina emissions and state safety inspection. I've renewed the registration and am awaiting the new license plate sticker.

I'll wait til the week we leave to get a good wash and interior clean so she'll be all spiffy when we set out.

As of today, the odometer is at 173,874. With a beach trip this weekend and 2 1/2 more weeks of commuting, by the time we leave on June 25, it will be just under 175,000. So she's well used, but we're going to hope that she's not used up!

Mabel* is getting ready...

She's been loaded with the lastest map updates.  She even knows that you can't get through to Wabash Avenue via Henrietta Street in Effingham now.  The last time I tried using her up there -- a year or two ago -- she kept trying to take me via that route.  And for those of you who live up there, you know that you can't get across the railroad tracks that way anymore.

She still needs to be loaded with any points of interest that we want to make sure and map out on our route.

*Mabel is the name of my GPS.  You can't very well argue with someone who is giving you directions, if you don't know what to call them.  Hence, she has a name.  Also, you may note that my GPS is a female.  You don't really think we would listen to some man telling us where to go, now do you?  :-)

Our official starting point...

St. Louis. Although we've traveled through St. Louis on several of our previous road trips (Route 66, Great River Road, and Route 50 part 1), we've had limited time to explore the town. In fact, I don't think we have ever spent the night there. So I think we are going to stay at the Marriott in the historic Union Station.

 

It's just a hop, skip and a jump

I just got the mileage data in our planning spreadsheet.  It contains entries for mileage between the towns listed in our travel book, plus possible detours.  The route is just under a thousand miles with an additional 400 miles for possible detours.  Last year's portion was well over 2,000 miles so this will be just a mere jaunt!

Just goes to show these eastern states are miniature compared to the western states.  Last year, we travelled through 6 states (not counting Illinois) and this year will cover 7 states (plus Washington, DC).

So now it is time for Debby to do her daily drive breakdown using the mileage in the spreadsheet.  Part of the daily allotment is impacted by what fun stuff we decide to stop and do...some of which will only be decided along the way.  So she has to plan for where our whims might lead!

"Are we there yet?"

I don't really wanna be there yet. I just wanna get started. I just read through all of our blog from last year and it makes me wanna jump in the car. I'm pretty sure I must have a little gypsy in me.

I have plenty to do to keep me busy until we can hit the road but nothing I enjoy as much as traveling with Jerry. I'm planning a trip to her house for Easter week-end. We'll probably do some serious planning, scheduling & map perusing while I'm there.

Ready!!!! Set!!!! Is it time to go yet????

On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again....

Time to start planning the second leg of the journey -- St Louis MO to Ocean City MD.

And just to get us in the mood, I found this Route 50 theme song. 



This could be a good serenade for the journey!