First of all, we did some calculating today: we've been through 23 states plus the District of Columbia and into Canada and we've driven over 5600 miles. And we're still speaking to each other and Mr Ripley is still wagging his tail!
This morning we left Niagara Falls around 7:30, stopped in Buffalo for some coffee, juice and pastries and then set out for Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. We had reserved tickets there so we had to stay on a pretty tight driving schedule. That meant we couldn't drive through the Amish farm country but we did see an Amish woman and her child (both dressed in full Amish drag) selling pies in front of a gas station. I really wanted to buy one of her pies but we couldn't figure out where we'd put it.
Fallingwater is out in the middle of nowhere! We got there around 1:15pm and since it was so hot we didn't want to leave Mr R in the car so we so we decided to take separate tours with one of us staying with him while the other toured. There is a cafe with outside seating in the visitors' center but a Falling Water staffer hustled over to me as I was heading that way and informed me that dogs were only allowed in the parking lot and nowhere else. So Dwyne sat with the dog on a boulder under some trees while I took the tour and then I did the same while Dwyne toured. Mr Ripley tried to eat every stick available but was happy to have the undivided attention of one of us at all times. When I was a kid my parents had a book about Frank Lloyd Wright houses and I used to look at that book everyday and Falling Water was my favorite and so getting to finally see it in person was a wonderful experience for me. The setting is so spectacular and the house was so far ahead of its time. Wright was such an innovator and put such depth of thought into every detail.
We left Fallingwater around 5pm with no exact plan (non-planning is not something I handle well-I generally have bathroom breaks scheduled) and decided just to drive near Pittsburgh and spend the night. We found a Hampton Inn that took dogs and had rooms available. It's in Monroeville just outside of Pittsburgh. Our plan was to go to Ann Arbor Michigan tomorrow but when we started searching we realized it's graduation at the University of Michigan and President Obama is the speaker. All the hotels are either booked or have jacked their prices into the stratospheric level. We've decided to stay here another night and go see a couple of museums or sights in the Pittsburgh area and then go to Ann Arbor on Sunday.
We had dinner tonight at a local Italian place I found on Chowhound.com.
We're looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow since we don't have to travel--sleeping in will probably mean we don't get up until 6:30am but at least we won't feel pressured.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Day 19: Mr Ripley Goes International
It was chilly when we left Saratoga Springs this morning around 7:30am. The first part of the drive was along country roads past some pretty farmland. Then we got on the interstate but there was still some nice scenery including a river and the Erie Canal.
After paying lots of tolls we got to Buffalo around lunchtime. The trusty Roadfood book steered us to Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen. What a great find! The sandwiches are made of freshly sliced beef and I've never had such tender, flavorful, moist roast beef. It's called beef on wek. The "wek" refers to the roll on which the sandwich is served. The place is small: there's a counter where you order and you can see the carver slicing the meat a few feet away. Once you've ordered you go around the corner to pay (same person who took your order takes your payment but in a different locale) and then sit at one of the few tables until your name is called.
We also followed the Roadfood instructions to visit Parkside Candy. This is an old-fashioned candy store in a beautiful old space. It reminded me of the candy stores in France. Their speciality is something called sponge candy. It's a chocolate-covered crunchy molasses treat that's hard to describe but extremely good. They are sold in little bags or boxes. We bought a small bag and have almost devoured the entire contents already.
We were impressed with all the parks in Buffalo and were told by the woman in the candy store that they were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (a theme is developing).
Our arrival into Canada was uneventful. The customs agent was more concerned about whether we were carrying weapons than if Mr Ripley had any diseases. We easily found our hotel which is the Best Western Fallsview and upon check-in were given a treat bag for Mr R. This is now his favorite place to stay! We walked down to the falls and were most impressed with the beauty of it all. There's a boat trip on the Maid of the Mist that takes you practically under the falls and we decided that was a must-do. Dwyne took Mr R back to the hotel and returned just in time for us to take the last boat trip. They give you raingear when you get on the boat and we stood at the very front and did get wet but it was worth it. It was amazing to be so close to the bottom of the falls.
They light the falls at night and we decided it would be fun to have dinner at a place with a view. So we overpaid for a mediocre dinner at a place called Kegs to have a great view. We were glad we did it because the falls with the changing colored lights is a wondorous sight.
Tomorrow our plan is to head to Pennsylvania to see Falling Water. Our plans for the next few days are rather "fluid" and we'll just see what happens.
After paying lots of tolls we got to Buffalo around lunchtime. The trusty Roadfood book steered us to Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen. What a great find! The sandwiches are made of freshly sliced beef and I've never had such tender, flavorful, moist roast beef. It's called beef on wek. The "wek" refers to the roll on which the sandwich is served. The place is small: there's a counter where you order and you can see the carver slicing the meat a few feet away. Once you've ordered you go around the corner to pay (same person who took your order takes your payment but in a different locale) and then sit at one of the few tables until your name is called.
We also followed the Roadfood instructions to visit Parkside Candy. This is an old-fashioned candy store in a beautiful old space. It reminded me of the candy stores in France. Their speciality is something called sponge candy. It's a chocolate-covered crunchy molasses treat that's hard to describe but extremely good. They are sold in little bags or boxes. We bought a small bag and have almost devoured the entire contents already.
We were impressed with all the parks in Buffalo and were told by the woman in the candy store that they were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (a theme is developing).
Our arrival into Canada was uneventful. The customs agent was more concerned about whether we were carrying weapons than if Mr Ripley had any diseases. We easily found our hotel which is the Best Western Fallsview and upon check-in were given a treat bag for Mr R. This is now his favorite place to stay! We walked down to the falls and were most impressed with the beauty of it all. There's a boat trip on the Maid of the Mist that takes you practically under the falls and we decided that was a must-do. Dwyne took Mr R back to the hotel and returned just in time for us to take the last boat trip. They give you raingear when you get on the boat and we stood at the very front and did get wet but it was worth it. It was amazing to be so close to the bottom of the falls.
They light the falls at night and we decided it would be fun to have dinner at a place with a view. So we overpaid for a mediocre dinner at a place called Kegs to have a great view. We were glad we did it because the falls with the changing colored lights is a wondorous sight.
Tomorrow our plan is to head to Pennsylvania to see Falling Water. Our plans for the next few days are rather "fluid" and we'll just see what happens.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Day 18: Back on the east coast
I left San Luis Obispo Tuesday evening, changed planes at LAX and arrived at Boston's Logan Airport around 6:30am. It was difficult to sleep on the plane but I managed to at least close my eyes and I think I slept a bit.
Dwyne and Mr Ripley picked me up at the airport and we immediately headed out for Saratoga Springs NY. The weather was much chillier today than what we've had on the trip so far. We even saw a few flakes of snow on the drive. The drive was reasonably pretty but not as beautiful as some of the drives we've taken.
We arrived in Saratoga Springs around 11:15am. The downtown area is very attractive with lots of nice shops and restaurants. We just had a casual lunch at a place called Bailey's. There is a very beautiful park on the edge of town and I commented to Dwyne that it looked very much like an Olmstead design and when I read the history of the park indeed Frederick Law Olmstead had done a renovation of the park (John P. I hope you're impressed). They have horse statues scattered around downtown that have been painted by artists similar to the cows in Chicago and the trout in SLO but these seem to be permanent installations. After wandering around on foot we got back in the car to explore a few other places in the area. We drove past some major homes which I imagine were once (and perhaps still are) second homes for some very wealthy people, then we drove around the campus of Skidmore College which has a lovely setting. Of course, Saratoga Springs is famous for horse racing and we drove out to see the racetrack. The harness races start tomorrow and we were sorry we'll miss that but we've got reservations in Niagara Falls. There's an up and coming arts district in the city that we also checked out as well as the Revolutionary War Battlefield about 16 miles from town. The battle there was one that turned things around for the Americans.
We are staying at the Comfort Inn. It's about 3 miles from downtown and is in an area that could be anywhere--lots of chain restaurants and big box stores around, but it's about $40 cheaper than the places right downtown and is new and pretty nice.
I checked on Zagat.com about places to eat here and the most popular place seems to be one called Hattie's. Oddly enough it serves southern-style food and has been around since the 1930's. We were intrigued and somewhat skeptical but we gave it a try. It was great! First of all, the place is charming-very old building that is simply furnished-just a delightful setting. The staff are all friendly which is always a plus. But best of all, the food was outstanding. We both agreed that the fried chicken was the best restaurant fried chicken we'd ever had. And my fried okra and mashed potatoes were also mighty fine. They also brought us hot biscuits and cornbread. I sure couldn't eat like that everyday but it was fun to do it tonight!
I'm very sleepy since I flew all night last night and I hope this all makes sense. I'm off to bed and then up tomorrow to head to Niagara Falls. I'll try to resist the barrel thing.
Dwyne and Mr Ripley picked me up at the airport and we immediately headed out for Saratoga Springs NY. The weather was much chillier today than what we've had on the trip so far. We even saw a few flakes of snow on the drive. The drive was reasonably pretty but not as beautiful as some of the drives we've taken.
We arrived in Saratoga Springs around 11:15am. The downtown area is very attractive with lots of nice shops and restaurants. We just had a casual lunch at a place called Bailey's. There is a very beautiful park on the edge of town and I commented to Dwyne that it looked very much like an Olmstead design and when I read the history of the park indeed Frederick Law Olmstead had done a renovation of the park (John P. I hope you're impressed). They have horse statues scattered around downtown that have been painted by artists similar to the cows in Chicago and the trout in SLO but these seem to be permanent installations. After wandering around on foot we got back in the car to explore a few other places in the area. We drove past some major homes which I imagine were once (and perhaps still are) second homes for some very wealthy people, then we drove around the campus of Skidmore College which has a lovely setting. Of course, Saratoga Springs is famous for horse racing and we drove out to see the racetrack. The harness races start tomorrow and we were sorry we'll miss that but we've got reservations in Niagara Falls. There's an up and coming arts district in the city that we also checked out as well as the Revolutionary War Battlefield about 16 miles from town. The battle there was one that turned things around for the Americans.
We are staying at the Comfort Inn. It's about 3 miles from downtown and is in an area that could be anywhere--lots of chain restaurants and big box stores around, but it's about $40 cheaper than the places right downtown and is new and pretty nice.
I checked on Zagat.com about places to eat here and the most popular place seems to be one called Hattie's. Oddly enough it serves southern-style food and has been around since the 1930's. We were intrigued and somewhat skeptical but we gave it a try. It was great! First of all, the place is charming-very old building that is simply furnished-just a delightful setting. The staff are all friendly which is always a plus. But best of all, the food was outstanding. We both agreed that the fried chicken was the best restaurant fried chicken we'd ever had. And my fried okra and mashed potatoes were also mighty fine. They also brought us hot biscuits and cornbread. I sure couldn't eat like that everyday but it was fun to do it tonight!
I'm very sleepy since I flew all night last night and I hope this all makes sense. I'm off to bed and then up tomorrow to head to Niagara Falls. I'll try to resist the barrel thing.
Days 15, 16, 17: Dwyne in Maine
I flew from Boston to SLO on Sunday morning. Dwyne dropped me off at the airport and drove from there to Maine. He drove up Hwy 1 and 1A and stopped to see Newberry Port NH which he said was very charming and he enjoyed breakfast at Maggie's Diner. He enjoyed seeing the lovely homes there and then toured around Portsmith NH which has a nicely restored downtown. He then went to York and York Beach Maine and on to Ogunquitt. He stayed at the Gazebo Inn which he liked very much. Each night he had dinner with his friends Bob and Nelson who have a home in Wells which is just one town away from Ogunquitt.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Day 14: A Beautiful Day on the Cape
The weather was very beautiful today and we took advantage of it by exploring the cape. This morning we went to the Brewster General Store which is an old-fashioned general store down the road from John and Paul's house. Then we went down the road the other way to an old mill that has a stream next to it where once a year the herring swim upstream to spawn. This is their season and it was interesting to see them swim up over little waterfalls to get to their desired place.
We drove out to Fort Hill Park where in addition to several overlooks with beautiful ocean views they have a boardwalk through the Red Maple Swamp and a walking path to "Sharpening Rock" where the Indians once sharpened their tools and weapons.
Our lunch stop was a place called Russ and Marie's It-Il-Do. They had a little bit of everything offered to eat and I opted for a lobster roll. After lunch we went to Marconi Beach to see some spectacular views.
Provincetown was our final destination of the day and we spent the afternoon wandering through some shops and galleries. We had an early dinner at Fanizzi's and, once again, I opted for seafood-this time a seafood platter.
Tomorrow I am headed to SLO for a couple of days mainly to check on my mother. Dwyne will go to Maine for those days to visit his friends Bob and Nelson. I hope he'll keep a record of his activities because they are likely to be more interesting than mine.
We drove out to Fort Hill Park where in addition to several overlooks with beautiful ocean views they have a boardwalk through the Red Maple Swamp and a walking path to "Sharpening Rock" where the Indians once sharpened their tools and weapons.
Our lunch stop was a place called Russ and Marie's It-Il-Do. They had a little bit of everything offered to eat and I opted for a lobster roll. After lunch we went to Marconi Beach to see some spectacular views.
Provincetown was our final destination of the day and we spent the afternoon wandering through some shops and galleries. We had an early dinner at Fanizzi's and, once again, I opted for seafood-this time a seafood platter.
Tomorrow I am headed to SLO for a couple of days mainly to check on my mother. Dwyne will go to Maine for those days to visit his friends Bob and Nelson. I hope he'll keep a record of his activities because they are likely to be more interesting than mine.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Day 13: Charming New England
When it comes to charm, few places can top New England! We got up early and left our hotel in Old Saybrook and drove to several of the other small CT towns. Our favorite was Stonington which had a great waterside location, some beautiful homes and a charming little downtown area.
After getting a good charm fix, we drove on to Cape Cod only to be assaulted by even more charm. We are staying in Brewster MA with our friends John and Paul. They live in a beautiful old ship captain's home and Paul has an antique store in the old barn. We are staying the charming carriage house. We went over to Chatham for lunch. Chatham is another extremely charming place with some cute shops and restaurants. We had lunch at The Squire. I was dying for a lobster roll so that's what I had. I'd like to get one more in before we leave New England. After lunch we explored Chatham and drove to a park where we walked to see some lovely views.
We cooked in for dinner. We will be in Brewster one more day and are looking forward to our day tomorrow.
After getting a good charm fix, we drove on to Cape Cod only to be assaulted by even more charm. We are staying in Brewster MA with our friends John and Paul. They live in a beautiful old ship captain's home and Paul has an antique store in the old barn. We are staying the charming carriage house. We went over to Chatham for lunch. Chatham is another extremely charming place with some cute shops and restaurants. We had lunch at The Squire. I was dying for a lobster roll so that's what I had. I'd like to get one more in before we leave New England. After lunch we explored Chatham and drove to a park where we walked to see some lovely views.
We cooked in for dinner. We will be in Brewster one more day and are looking forward to our day tomorrow.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Day 12: From Sea to Shining Sea
We've finally made it from one coast to the other! We've been through 16 states and driven almost 4300 miles. And we're not even halfway through the trip!
Today we left Alexandria early in the morning and encountered the most traffic we've had all the trip. The worst traffic was around the George Washington Bridge near New York City and I was in the driver's seat during that time.
We stopped in Westport CT around lunchtime because I wanted to see the town where Martha Stewart got her start. It is a very upscale little town--not many towns of that size have a Tiffany's! There's a cute gourmet shop in Westport where we got some sandwiches and ate them on their patio.
We got back on the interstate and drove until just above New Haven at which time we exited and got on Hwy 1 so we could explore some of the charming towns along the CT coast. We saw a lovely home for sale on the water in one town but the pricetag of 3.3 million was a bit out of our price range! We're staying in Old Saybrook at a no-frills Days Inn. We took Mr Ripley for a walk around the Old Saybrook harbor area which is very beautiful.
Dwyne's friends and clients, Megan and Bill live in Clinton CT near where we're staying. When Dwyne told them we'd be up this way they graciously invited us to dinner. They live in an old home that Megan inherited from her uncle. When they first got the house it was filled with piles of things her uncle had accumulated over the years. After spending a great deal of time just cleaning the place out they renovated it and it is a charming and lovely home. Megan prepared a delicious Southern-themed dinner that we greatly enjoyed. I'll be dreaming about the chocolate pecan pie!
Tomorrow we head to the Cape Cod town of Brewster MA to visit our friends John and Paul.
Today we left Alexandria early in the morning and encountered the most traffic we've had all the trip. The worst traffic was around the George Washington Bridge near New York City and I was in the driver's seat during that time.
We stopped in Westport CT around lunchtime because I wanted to see the town where Martha Stewart got her start. It is a very upscale little town--not many towns of that size have a Tiffany's! There's a cute gourmet shop in Westport where we got some sandwiches and ate them on their patio.
We got back on the interstate and drove until just above New Haven at which time we exited and got on Hwy 1 so we could explore some of the charming towns along the CT coast. We saw a lovely home for sale on the water in one town but the pricetag of 3.3 million was a bit out of our price range! We're staying in Old Saybrook at a no-frills Days Inn. We took Mr Ripley for a walk around the Old Saybrook harbor area which is very beautiful.
Dwyne's friends and clients, Megan and Bill live in Clinton CT near where we're staying. When Dwyne told them we'd be up this way they graciously invited us to dinner. They live in an old home that Megan inherited from her uncle. When they first got the house it was filled with piles of things her uncle had accumulated over the years. After spending a great deal of time just cleaning the place out they renovated it and it is a charming and lovely home. Megan prepared a delicious Southern-themed dinner that we greatly enjoyed. I'll be dreaming about the chocolate pecan pie!
Tomorrow we head to the Cape Cod town of Brewster MA to visit our friends John and Paul.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Day 11: A Great Day in Our Nation's Capital
Strangely enough, after all my years on this earth I had never really visited Washington DC. I had been through the city a couple of times, but never visited any of the sites.
What a beautiful city! I love the design and scale of everything.
The first thing we did today was to leave Mr Ripley at a doggie day care place in Alexandria called "A Dog's Day Out". Before they would let him stay he had to have an "evaluation" to make sure he was friendly with other dogs. Any of you who know Mr R know he passed that test with flying colors!
We drove to DC and pretty quickly found a convenient parking lot. Our first stop was the Capitol Building where we took an interesting tour. I especially loved the Rotunda which was quite amazing. We just wanted to have a quick lunch and thought about just getting a hot dog from a sidewalk vendor but since it was raining we decided to eat in the capitol building. The dining area had stations with foods from various regions. I had a very good pulled pork sandwich. A pleasant surprise.
Our next stop was The National Gallery of Art. I could spend several days there and indeed plan to do so in the not too distant future, but today we only had a couple of hours. There was an excellent show from the Chester Dale Collection called "From Impressionism to Modernism." We loved the show and since Mr Dale stipulated that his collection not tour, it was a great chance to see some very important pieces that we'd never seen before. We also went to the east building to see a Mark Rothko show. We hated to leave, but we wanted to at least see something at the Smithsonian.
We went to the Smithsonian Castle to get a guide to what was where. We went to the Smithsonian American History Museum. We went to the information desk and asked where the Julia Child exhibit was and then without us asking the woman looked at us and said, "And the first ladies' gowns are on this floor"--she certainly knows her audience! We did indeed see the Julia Child exhibit and the gowns as well as a popular culture exhibit which included Dorothy's ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz and Archie Bunker's chair.
Even though it was raining we wandered around to see some other sites especially the White House. I had some dog biscuits for Bo but he didn't come out on the lawn to see me. He probably doesn't like the rain.
When we went to pick up Mr R he was still playing with the other dogs but seemed glad to see us. The attendant said he had played most of the day and spent much of the time with 2 Golden Doodles who were there.
Since we enjoyed seeing some of Old Town Alexandria last night we decided to return there for dinner. We went to a place called the Warehouse Bar and Grill which was excellent. I had shellfish baked in parchment paper which I loved and Dwyne had a stuffed Flounder that he also liked. We let Mr R nap in the car while we were eating dinner and afterwards we got him and walked along the waterfront and around the old town area. Of course, he made a few friends along the way and even got a treat from someone at the visitors' center.
We plan to leave fairly early in the morning to drive to Old Saybrook CT.
What a beautiful city! I love the design and scale of everything.
The first thing we did today was to leave Mr Ripley at a doggie day care place in Alexandria called "A Dog's Day Out". Before they would let him stay he had to have an "evaluation" to make sure he was friendly with other dogs. Any of you who know Mr R know he passed that test with flying colors!
We drove to DC and pretty quickly found a convenient parking lot. Our first stop was the Capitol Building where we took an interesting tour. I especially loved the Rotunda which was quite amazing. We just wanted to have a quick lunch and thought about just getting a hot dog from a sidewalk vendor but since it was raining we decided to eat in the capitol building. The dining area had stations with foods from various regions. I had a very good pulled pork sandwich. A pleasant surprise.
Our next stop was The National Gallery of Art. I could spend several days there and indeed plan to do so in the not too distant future, but today we only had a couple of hours. There was an excellent show from the Chester Dale Collection called "From Impressionism to Modernism." We loved the show and since Mr Dale stipulated that his collection not tour, it was a great chance to see some very important pieces that we'd never seen before. We also went to the east building to see a Mark Rothko show. We hated to leave, but we wanted to at least see something at the Smithsonian.
We went to the Smithsonian Castle to get a guide to what was where. We went to the Smithsonian American History Museum. We went to the information desk and asked where the Julia Child exhibit was and then without us asking the woman looked at us and said, "And the first ladies' gowns are on this floor"--she certainly knows her audience! We did indeed see the Julia Child exhibit and the gowns as well as a popular culture exhibit which included Dorothy's ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz and Archie Bunker's chair.
Even though it was raining we wandered around to see some other sites especially the White House. I had some dog biscuits for Bo but he didn't come out on the lawn to see me. He probably doesn't like the rain.
When we went to pick up Mr R he was still playing with the other dogs but seemed glad to see us. The attendant said he had played most of the day and spent much of the time with 2 Golden Doodles who were there.
Since we enjoyed seeing some of Old Town Alexandria last night we decided to return there for dinner. We went to a place called the Warehouse Bar and Grill which was excellent. I had shellfish baked in parchment paper which I loved and Dwyne had a stuffed Flounder that he also liked. We let Mr R nap in the car while we were eating dinner and afterwards we got him and walked along the waterfront and around the old town area. Of course, he made a few friends along the way and even got a treat from someone at the visitors' center.
We plan to leave fairly early in the morning to drive to Old Saybrook CT.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Day 10: Mr Ripley Visits a College
We left Raleigh around 8:30 this morning. We were headed for Alexandria VA (it was almost impossible to find a hotel in the DC area but I finally found something at the Comfort Inn in Alexandria) and decided to get there via Charlottesville VA since Dwyne had never been there.
We arrived in Charlottesville around lunchtime and wandered around the downtown pedestrian mall area checking out the possible lunch spots. We settled on The Nook because it had outdoor seating and trees because it was very sunny and we wanted some shade. We had a very pleasant lunch. After lunch we went to see the University of Virginia campus. We went to see the Thomas Jefferson designed Rotunda building and the buildings behind it which are called "pavillions". It turned out they were having some sort of garden club sponsored tour of the pavillions which are residences for some of the university's deans. We never figured out whether we were supposed to have tickets or not but the garden club ladies greeted us warmly and it was so interesting to get to go inside these spaces. We would take turns going in while the other held Mr Ripley. Mr R was a big hit with everyone!
The route the GPS lady had us take from Charlotte to Alexandria allowed us to drive by some of the beautiful horse farms outside of Charlotte.
We arrived safely at the Comfort Inn which may be comfortable but it's not much to look at. We had to go through the lobby with our luggage etc and we looked like the Clampets with all our bags and make-shift luggage.
After we got settled in the hotel we drove to the old town Alexandria area where we wandered around a bit and got a bite to eat (generic Tex-Mex).
Tomorrow we may put Mr Ripley in doggie daycare so we can tour the inside of some of the DC sites. The weather today was gorgeous and we're hoping for more of the same tomorrow.
We arrived in Charlottesville around lunchtime and wandered around the downtown pedestrian mall area checking out the possible lunch spots. We settled on The Nook because it had outdoor seating and trees because it was very sunny and we wanted some shade. We had a very pleasant lunch. After lunch we went to see the University of Virginia campus. We went to see the Thomas Jefferson designed Rotunda building and the buildings behind it which are called "pavillions". It turned out they were having some sort of garden club sponsored tour of the pavillions which are residences for some of the university's deans. We never figured out whether we were supposed to have tickets or not but the garden club ladies greeted us warmly and it was so interesting to get to go inside these spaces. We would take turns going in while the other held Mr Ripley. Mr R was a big hit with everyone!
The route the GPS lady had us take from Charlotte to Alexandria allowed us to drive by some of the beautiful horse farms outside of Charlotte.
We arrived safely at the Comfort Inn which may be comfortable but it's not much to look at. We had to go through the lobby with our luggage etc and we looked like the Clampets with all our bags and make-shift luggage.
After we got settled in the hotel we drove to the old town Alexandria area where we wandered around a bit and got a bite to eat (generic Tex-Mex).
Tomorrow we may put Mr Ripley in doggie daycare so we can tour the inside of some of the DC sites. The weather today was gorgeous and we're hoping for more of the same tomorrow.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Days 7, 8 and 9
We left Columbia, MO early Friday morning. I noticed lots of signs for places selling fireworks in the area, so if you're in the market for some fireworks, Columbia MO might be just the place for you.
Our first stop of the day was St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch. There's a lovely park leading to the arch and it was a good place to walk Mr Ripley. The Arch was shinier than I expected. We also did a short walk along the riverfront and brief drive around the downtown.
Around lunchtime we could not find anything in the area listed in the Roadfood book and we were determined not to eat chain fast food so we got off at an exit around Evansville IN and started searching for something. We saw a sign for an Amish buffet which advertised authentic Amish food. There was not an Amish person in sight and unless the Amish eat only canned and/or frozen food this was not authentic. The only positive thing about it was that is was not a chain fast food place although Dwyne said MacDonald's might have been better. Then later that day we talked to our friend Melissa who lives in Indiana and she said there's a good barbeque place in that area. Damn.
Once we started getting close to Lexington KY the scenery became very pretty. The horse farms and the green grass and trees are quite spectacular. We were headed to the home of a friend of Dwyne's named Trudy who he knew in Knoxville. She is orginally from the Lexington area and fairly recently she and her husband John moved back to be nearer her aging mother. They purchased a charming old farmhouse adjacent to some property Trudy's family has owned for years. Her mother lives in a really cute log cabin on the property. Two other Knoxville friends of Dwyne's, Kelly and Sharon also came to visit. Trudy made dinner for everyone and Kelly brought a cake from her restaurant. We had a great evening just talking and laughing.
Sunday we all went for lunch at a local's place in Lexington called Winchell's. There was a farmers' market going on in the parking lot and I had to check that out. They didn't have a huge variety of produce but I lusted after the country ham at one booth. Lunch was good and I had a Kentucky Hot Brown which is a piece of toast topped with turkey and ham with a cheese sauce over it then topped with a tomato and bacon. Very rich!
The highlight of our day was going to Keeneland to watch the horse races. It is a very beautiful setting and it was a gorgeous day. About half the people were dressed to the nines with the women in big hats and fancy dresses and the men in khaki suits, blue blazers or seersucker. The other half were much less fancy but appeared to be having an equally good time. We just bet on one race and our horse came in dead last. Luckily, we only made a $5 bet. After Keeneland we went to see the Kentucky Horse Park which is a park devoted to all things horse. We weren't able to see everything because we arrived near closing time but it was fun to see some of the horses and the setting. We left there and drove to the charming village of Midway and then past some of the amazing horse farms near there and the town of Versailles (pronounced Ver-sales).
This morning (Monday) we left the farm early and headed to Raleigh NC where we are visiting Dwyne's cousin Carolyn and her dog Teddy. We went to a cool restaurant for dinner called The Angus Barn. It's in a big barn (surprise) and is totally charming. Carolyn knows the owners and after dinner we were given a tour of the place including the wine cellar which contains over 30,000 bottles (almost as many as I have in my basement). The chef won the Iron Chef competion several years ago.
Tomorrow we head for the Alexandria VA/Washington DC area.
Our first stop of the day was St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch. There's a lovely park leading to the arch and it was a good place to walk Mr Ripley. The Arch was shinier than I expected. We also did a short walk along the riverfront and brief drive around the downtown.
Around lunchtime we could not find anything in the area listed in the Roadfood book and we were determined not to eat chain fast food so we got off at an exit around Evansville IN and started searching for something. We saw a sign for an Amish buffet which advertised authentic Amish food. There was not an Amish person in sight and unless the Amish eat only canned and/or frozen food this was not authentic. The only positive thing about it was that is was not a chain fast food place although Dwyne said MacDonald's might have been better. Then later that day we talked to our friend Melissa who lives in Indiana and she said there's a good barbeque place in that area. Damn.
Once we started getting close to Lexington KY the scenery became very pretty. The horse farms and the green grass and trees are quite spectacular. We were headed to the home of a friend of Dwyne's named Trudy who he knew in Knoxville. She is orginally from the Lexington area and fairly recently she and her husband John moved back to be nearer her aging mother. They purchased a charming old farmhouse adjacent to some property Trudy's family has owned for years. Her mother lives in a really cute log cabin on the property. Two other Knoxville friends of Dwyne's, Kelly and Sharon also came to visit. Trudy made dinner for everyone and Kelly brought a cake from her restaurant. We had a great evening just talking and laughing.
Sunday we all went for lunch at a local's place in Lexington called Winchell's. There was a farmers' market going on in the parking lot and I had to check that out. They didn't have a huge variety of produce but I lusted after the country ham at one booth. Lunch was good and I had a Kentucky Hot Brown which is a piece of toast topped with turkey and ham with a cheese sauce over it then topped with a tomato and bacon. Very rich!
The highlight of our day was going to Keeneland to watch the horse races. It is a very beautiful setting and it was a gorgeous day. About half the people were dressed to the nines with the women in big hats and fancy dresses and the men in khaki suits, blue blazers or seersucker. The other half were much less fancy but appeared to be having an equally good time. We just bet on one race and our horse came in dead last. Luckily, we only made a $5 bet. After Keeneland we went to see the Kentucky Horse Park which is a park devoted to all things horse. We weren't able to see everything because we arrived near closing time but it was fun to see some of the horses and the setting. We left there and drove to the charming village of Midway and then past some of the amazing horse farms near there and the town of Versailles (pronounced Ver-sales).
This morning (Monday) we left the farm early and headed to Raleigh NC where we are visiting Dwyne's cousin Carolyn and her dog Teddy. We went to a cool restaurant for dinner called The Angus Barn. It's in a big barn (surprise) and is totally charming. Carolyn knows the owners and after dinner we were given a tour of the place including the wine cellar which contains over 30,000 bottles (almost as many as I have in my basement). The chef won the Iron Chef competion several years ago.
Tomorrow we head for the Alexandria VA/Washington DC area.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Days 5 and 6: From the Mountains to the Prairie
We've done alot of driving the past 2 days. Thursday we drove from Santa Fe to Denver. That was not a bad drive and there was some interesting scenery. Today we drove from Denver to Columbia MO. and it was a long drive without much interesting scenery.
Thursday turned out to be Ripley's day. It started when we first arrived in Denver and took him to the self service dog wash. He had gotten dirty from the sandy Santa Fe soil and was mightily in need of a bath. We stayed with Dwyne's son Morgan and his wife Jessica although Morgan was out of town on business. They have 2 Labs named Tahoe and Pismo and Ripley fell in love with them both. They played and played. Today Ripley slept the entire ride.
When we were nearing Denver on Thursday we were wanting to stop for lunch so we pulled off at the town of Castle Rock. I was afraid we were going to have to settle for fast food when Jessica checked in with us to see where we were. When we told her we were stopping for lunch in Castle Rock she suggested a place called Pegasus and said it had a nice patio where we could take Mr R. It turned out to be the perfect place. They even brought him a bowl of ice water.
While the dogs were playing Dwyne and I had a nice visit with Jessica although we were sorry to have missed Morgan. They have a nice house in Denver and have just redone their master bath and it looks great.
Today we got an early start and had our first on time departure. We left at 6am knowing it was going to be a long day. Originally we were going to drive to Kansas City MO. but decided if we felt up to it we'd drive a bit further so we could be closer to the east. Around lunchtime I checked my Roadfood book and found a spot in Hays Kansas called Al's Chickenette which is said to have some mighty fine fried chicken. It's just a non-descript building with a big neon sign. Inside there's a counter and several tables. The walls are lined with chicken-related items and pictures of John Wayne, the tables are covered with ads for local businesses such as a mortuary, a Mary Kay representative , a bridal shop and a bingo parlor. The chicken had a great crunchy crust and moist meat and the thin cut fries were good too.
I took over the driving duties after lunch and Dwyne and Mr Ripley both napped. I amused myself by reading the roadside signs and businesses. There are lots of religious signs in Kansas but there are also "adult superstores" at about every other exit. At one exit just in front of the adult store was a religious sign with the tagline "porn destroys." And I picked up a bit of political trivia: Senators Bob Dole and Arlen Spector are from the same hometown (Russell Kansas). Bob Dole seemed to get more face time on the signs but that's probably because he stayed in Kansas. Several towns boasted that they were the hometowns of people I'd never heard of and it seems quite a few astronauts hail from Kansas. After what seemed like an eternity we finally got out of Kansas and were able to utter the words from the Wizard of Oz, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." Of course, we changed the "Toto" part to "Mr Ripley."
We decided our final destination today would be Columbia MO. It turned out to be a good choice . We found a La Quinta that's near the highway, had a great AAA rate and dogs are welcome with no additional fee (this is true of all La Quintas btw). But the best part is that it is a really charming college town. Thanks to the Roadfood book, I found a place called Booches which is famous for it's burgers. It's an old pool hall with a long wooden bar and some tables in the front and pool tables in the back. The burgers are small and the waiter said most people get 2 (funny, he didn't say that to the 2 thin co-eds at the next table). They turned out to be very good and are served on soft fresh buns with the standard ingredients. Nothing fancy...just plain good. Booches is located right in the downtown area which reminds me a bit of SLO or Athens GA. The University of Missouri campus is right by downtown and it looks like a very pretty one. The main building is very impressive.
Tomorrow we are heading for the Lexington KY area where we'll stay on the farm of Dwyne's friend Trudy. I will try and post more pictures soon. We have been pretty good about taking them so far.
Thursday turned out to be Ripley's day. It started when we first arrived in Denver and took him to the self service dog wash. He had gotten dirty from the sandy Santa Fe soil and was mightily in need of a bath. We stayed with Dwyne's son Morgan and his wife Jessica although Morgan was out of town on business. They have 2 Labs named Tahoe and Pismo and Ripley fell in love with them both. They played and played. Today Ripley slept the entire ride.
When we were nearing Denver on Thursday we were wanting to stop for lunch so we pulled off at the town of Castle Rock. I was afraid we were going to have to settle for fast food when Jessica checked in with us to see where we were. When we told her we were stopping for lunch in Castle Rock she suggested a place called Pegasus and said it had a nice patio where we could take Mr R. It turned out to be the perfect place. They even brought him a bowl of ice water.
While the dogs were playing Dwyne and I had a nice visit with Jessica although we were sorry to have missed Morgan. They have a nice house in Denver and have just redone their master bath and it looks great.
Today we got an early start and had our first on time departure. We left at 6am knowing it was going to be a long day. Originally we were going to drive to Kansas City MO. but decided if we felt up to it we'd drive a bit further so we could be closer to the east. Around lunchtime I checked my Roadfood book and found a spot in Hays Kansas called Al's Chickenette which is said to have some mighty fine fried chicken. It's just a non-descript building with a big neon sign. Inside there's a counter and several tables. The walls are lined with chicken-related items and pictures of John Wayne, the tables are covered with ads for local businesses such as a mortuary, a Mary Kay representative , a bridal shop and a bingo parlor. The chicken had a great crunchy crust and moist meat and the thin cut fries were good too.
I took over the driving duties after lunch and Dwyne and Mr Ripley both napped. I amused myself by reading the roadside signs and businesses. There are lots of religious signs in Kansas but there are also "adult superstores" at about every other exit. At one exit just in front of the adult store was a religious sign with the tagline "porn destroys." And I picked up a bit of political trivia: Senators Bob Dole and Arlen Spector are from the same hometown (Russell Kansas). Bob Dole seemed to get more face time on the signs but that's probably because he stayed in Kansas. Several towns boasted that they were the hometowns of people I'd never heard of and it seems quite a few astronauts hail from Kansas. After what seemed like an eternity we finally got out of Kansas and were able to utter the words from the Wizard of Oz, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." Of course, we changed the "Toto" part to "Mr Ripley."
We decided our final destination today would be Columbia MO. It turned out to be a good choice . We found a La Quinta that's near the highway, had a great AAA rate and dogs are welcome with no additional fee (this is true of all La Quintas btw). But the best part is that it is a really charming college town. Thanks to the Roadfood book, I found a place called Booches which is famous for it's burgers. It's an old pool hall with a long wooden bar and some tables in the front and pool tables in the back. The burgers are small and the waiter said most people get 2 (funny, he didn't say that to the 2 thin co-eds at the next table). They turned out to be very good and are served on soft fresh buns with the standard ingredients. Nothing fancy...just plain good. Booches is located right in the downtown area which reminds me a bit of SLO or Athens GA. The University of Missouri campus is right by downtown and it looks like a very pretty one. The main building is very impressive.
Tomorrow we are heading for the Lexington KY area where we'll stay on the farm of Dwyne's friend Trudy. I will try and post more pictures soon. We have been pretty good about taking them so far.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Day 4: I love Santa Fe!
I tried to publish some pictures but there must be a better way to do it than this. Anyway, there are a few posted below (or somewhere). Speaking of pictures, our camera seemed to not want to cooperate with us so today we ended up buying a new camera (which means even cheaper meals from now on). We just didn't want to risk not being able to take photos along the way.
Santa Fe is a lovely city and we had a really nice day here today. The Old Santa Fe Inn has a nice breakfast included in the room rate and that was a nice way to start the day. We spent the first part of the morning wandering around the downtown/plaza area. Of course, part of that time was spent in the camera shop where they're probably now celebrating the sale of a camera to the 2 guys and a dog from California. When we weren't in the camera shop we were looking at some of the historic buildings in town including the beautiful Lorretta Chapel. After that we walked back the hotel and got the car, put the top down (it was a gorgeous day) and drove to Canyon Road. This is a rather narrow tree-lined road with literally hundreds of art galleries! They are housed in charming old buildings and former houses. But before browsing the galleries we had to take care of more important matters: eating lunch. We found a cute place called the Tea Room which has a nice outdoor dining area where Mr Ripley was welcome. Our lunches were very good and it was nice sitting outside. After lunch we walked along the road and visited quite a few galleries. We could usually tell from the outside if we would be interested in checking them out. With that many galleries you can imagine that the quality was very mixed. We would always ask if dogs could come in before we entered and at everyone the people said "of course" and greeted Mr Ripley as if he were a proper patron. The people in the galleries were all very friendly which is quite a contrast to many I've visited in Chelsea where they don't even acknowledge your presence. When we headed for the car I spotted what looked like a giant Mr Ripley in front of a gallery. We went over to check it out and it was a standard Labradoodle. The owner (who also owned the gallery) was sad when we said we didn't live here because she was hoping they could be permanent playmates.
We reluctanly left the Canyon Road area because Dwyne had to get on the computer to do something for a client and I wanted to go to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. The museum is not very large but houses the largest collection of O'Keefe works. But since much of the work from the museum is currently on tour, they also had another exhibit. The other exhibit was the work of Susan Rothenberg. I liked her work because much of it is based on horse imagery. The first 4 rooms of the museum had O'Keefe paintings and then the last 3 or 4 were showing the Rothenberg pieces. I got a chuckle when some Japanese tourists went dashing up to the guard saying (insert Japanese accent here)" these are not Georgia O'Keefe paintings!!"
Tonight for dinner I wanted to eat traditional New Mexican cuisine and since we'd just bought a camera I didn't want it to be too expensive. I checked around and found a place called The Shed which fit our needs perfectly. The food was great, it wasn't too costly and the place was filled with charm.
Tomorrow we're heading for Denver. I would really like to return to Santa Fe again so I could check the area out more in depth. But for now we're cranking up Ms GPS and headin' for the road.
Santa Fe is a lovely city and we had a really nice day here today. The Old Santa Fe Inn has a nice breakfast included in the room rate and that was a nice way to start the day. We spent the first part of the morning wandering around the downtown/plaza area. Of course, part of that time was spent in the camera shop where they're probably now celebrating the sale of a camera to the 2 guys and a dog from California. When we weren't in the camera shop we were looking at some of the historic buildings in town including the beautiful Lorretta Chapel. After that we walked back the hotel and got the car, put the top down (it was a gorgeous day) and drove to Canyon Road. This is a rather narrow tree-lined road with literally hundreds of art galleries! They are housed in charming old buildings and former houses. But before browsing the galleries we had to take care of more important matters: eating lunch. We found a cute place called the Tea Room which has a nice outdoor dining area where Mr Ripley was welcome. Our lunches were very good and it was nice sitting outside. After lunch we walked along the road and visited quite a few galleries. We could usually tell from the outside if we would be interested in checking them out. With that many galleries you can imagine that the quality was very mixed. We would always ask if dogs could come in before we entered and at everyone the people said "of course" and greeted Mr Ripley as if he were a proper patron. The people in the galleries were all very friendly which is quite a contrast to many I've visited in Chelsea where they don't even acknowledge your presence. When we headed for the car I spotted what looked like a giant Mr Ripley in front of a gallery. We went over to check it out and it was a standard Labradoodle. The owner (who also owned the gallery) was sad when we said we didn't live here because she was hoping they could be permanent playmates.
We reluctanly left the Canyon Road area because Dwyne had to get on the computer to do something for a client and I wanted to go to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. The museum is not very large but houses the largest collection of O'Keefe works. But since much of the work from the museum is currently on tour, they also had another exhibit. The other exhibit was the work of Susan Rothenberg. I liked her work because much of it is based on horse imagery. The first 4 rooms of the museum had O'Keefe paintings and then the last 3 or 4 were showing the Rothenberg pieces. I got a chuckle when some Japanese tourists went dashing up to the guard saying (insert Japanese accent here)" these are not Georgia O'Keefe paintings!!"
Tonight for dinner I wanted to eat traditional New Mexican cuisine and since we'd just bought a camera I didn't want it to be too expensive. I checked around and found a place called The Shed which fit our needs perfectly. The food was great, it wasn't too costly and the place was filled with charm.
Tomorrow we're heading for Denver. I would really like to return to Santa Fe again so I could check the area out more in depth. But for now we're cranking up Ms GPS and headin' for the road.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Snow?? We're sure not in SLO anymore!
There was a little more snow overnight at the Grand Canyon but not enough to cause us any problems. We opted out of going to watch the sunrise at the canyon because it was cold and it was so early. Plus at our hotel we had to pay a $50 pet deposit which is only refunded after an inspection. We were informed that the "inspector" didn't arrive until 7a.m. so we couldn't check out until then. Of course, Mr. Ripley did not do any damage to the room (which was no great shakes anyway) so we got our deposit back and headed out a little after 7.
Instead of following the GPS instructions to take the road back to Williams and get on I-40 there we opted to take another road which would take us through the Coconino National Forest and still get us to I-40 around Flagstaff. It was a gorgeous drive! We were glad we didn't listen to that woman on the GPS! Of course, she recalculated and told us what to do anyway. If the GPS were indeed a real person she would be so frustrated by us because we are constantly straying from the original route. Anyway, the Coconino National Forest was covered with snow and had beautiful tall pine trees and some white-trunked trees that we thought might be Aspens. Most of the road was okay but there were a few places that still had some snow and ice and we wondered for a minute if we'd made the right decision. But it turned out fine.
We got on I-40 in Flagstaff but got back off again in Winslow AZ (remember the Eagles' song Take it Easy?) because it's another old Route 66 town and also to see the La Posada hotel which is mentioned in several of my guidebooks and also suggested by my friend Nancy. Our timing didn't have us there at mealtime but we wandered around the place for awhile. Our next detour was to check out the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. I should mention that the camera battery died so there will be pictures of either of these spots.
We stopped in Gallup NM for lunch at the El Rancho Hotel. This place was a stop-off for movie stars back in the day and was originally owned by the brother of director D.W. Griffiths. You could tell it would have been quite stunning back in the day but is now sort of sad and slightly deserted. The restaurant is still operating and we had a decent, simple lunch there.
The scenery before Albequerque was gorgeous--the beautiful red rocks and the way the light plays on them was amazing.
We arrived in Santa Fe late in the afternoon and easily found our hotel thanks to the GPS. We're staying at the Old Santa Fe Inn and it's great. It was an old motor court which has been renovated very tastefully with a Southwestern touch. It's a short walk to the plaza area and there are lots of nice shops and galleries on our street and even a little park where we can walk Mr Ripley. We had dinner at a place called the Plaza Cafe which is right on the Plaza (surprise).
I'm looking forward to a full day in Santa Fe tomorrow.
Instead of following the GPS instructions to take the road back to Williams and get on I-40 there we opted to take another road which would take us through the Coconino National Forest and still get us to I-40 around Flagstaff. It was a gorgeous drive! We were glad we didn't listen to that woman on the GPS! Of course, she recalculated and told us what to do anyway. If the GPS were indeed a real person she would be so frustrated by us because we are constantly straying from the original route. Anyway, the Coconino National Forest was covered with snow and had beautiful tall pine trees and some white-trunked trees that we thought might be Aspens. Most of the road was okay but there were a few places that still had some snow and ice and we wondered for a minute if we'd made the right decision. But it turned out fine.
We got on I-40 in Flagstaff but got back off again in Winslow AZ (remember the Eagles' song Take it Easy?) because it's another old Route 66 town and also to see the La Posada hotel which is mentioned in several of my guidebooks and also suggested by my friend Nancy. Our timing didn't have us there at mealtime but we wandered around the place for awhile. Our next detour was to check out the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. I should mention that the camera battery died so there will be pictures of either of these spots.
We stopped in Gallup NM for lunch at the El Rancho Hotel. This place was a stop-off for movie stars back in the day and was originally owned by the brother of director D.W. Griffiths. You could tell it would have been quite stunning back in the day but is now sort of sad and slightly deserted. The restaurant is still operating and we had a decent, simple lunch there.
The scenery before Albequerque was gorgeous--the beautiful red rocks and the way the light plays on them was amazing.
We arrived in Santa Fe late in the afternoon and easily found our hotel thanks to the GPS. We're staying at the Old Santa Fe Inn and it's great. It was an old motor court which has been renovated very tastefully with a Southwestern touch. It's a short walk to the plaza area and there are lots of nice shops and galleries on our street and even a little park where we can walk Mr Ripley. We had dinner at a place called the Plaza Cafe which is right on the Plaza (surprise).
I'm looking forward to a full day in Santa Fe tomorrow.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Day 2: Leaving Las Vegas
We got a fairly early start in our exit from Las Vegas but first we had to photograph Mr Ripley at least one LV iconic spot. Stay tuned...
The drive from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon was much prettier and more interesting than I expected. I visualized that it would be all flat and desert-y but that wasn't the case at all. There were some beautiful mountains along the way. We drove over the Hoover Dam which was cool and evidently won't be something people will be doing much longer because they're building a new road and bridge (which looks very impressive).
We detoured off the highway several times to get a look at some of the old towns along Route 66. The most colorful and interesting was Seligman AZ which had several very kitchy shops and businesses celebrating the Route 66 history. Of the tourists we saw there, it appeared we were the only Americans. It seems the Italians are quite fascinated by the Route 66 culture, or at least the ones we saw today were.
We spent the afternoon at the Grand Canyon. It is always so amazing to see a place you've studied and heard about for most of your life. When we arrived it was about 58 degrees and sunny but rather windy. We decided to walk part of the rim trail. When we were almost at the end, it started to get overcast and even more windy. Dwyne suggested we turn around because he feared it might start raining. About 2 minutes later it started precipitating but it was more snow than rain. Luckily, it wasn't too hard and we weren't soaked. Also I was wearing my slicker jacket because I forgot to pack my windbreaker.
We are staying just outside the park. None of the places inside the park allow dogs, so I booked us at a place called the Red Feather Lodge. The name sounds much more interesting than the actual place, but it's clean and not very expensive. Once we got to our room I looked out and saw the car was covered with snow!! Then just a little later the snow had stopped and most of it had already melted.
The pickings are slim in the little area as far as restaurants are concerned. We had dinner at the Yipee-ei-o Steakhouse. It was not bad and I had some steak left over for Mr Ripley's breakfast.
Tomorrow we head to Santa Fe. We're actually staying there 2 nights so we'll practically be residents!
If the weather is nice early in the morning we may drive to the canyon and see the sunrise.
The drive from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon was much prettier and more interesting than I expected. I visualized that it would be all flat and desert-y but that wasn't the case at all. There were some beautiful mountains along the way. We drove over the Hoover Dam which was cool and evidently won't be something people will be doing much longer because they're building a new road and bridge (which looks very impressive).
We detoured off the highway several times to get a look at some of the old towns along Route 66. The most colorful and interesting was Seligman AZ which had several very kitchy shops and businesses celebrating the Route 66 history. Of the tourists we saw there, it appeared we were the only Americans. It seems the Italians are quite fascinated by the Route 66 culture, or at least the ones we saw today were.
We spent the afternoon at the Grand Canyon. It is always so amazing to see a place you've studied and heard about for most of your life. When we arrived it was about 58 degrees and sunny but rather windy. We decided to walk part of the rim trail. When we were almost at the end, it started to get overcast and even more windy. Dwyne suggested we turn around because he feared it might start raining. About 2 minutes later it started precipitating but it was more snow than rain. Luckily, it wasn't too hard and we weren't soaked. Also I was wearing my slicker jacket because I forgot to pack my windbreaker.
We are staying just outside the park. None of the places inside the park allow dogs, so I booked us at a place called the Red Feather Lodge. The name sounds much more interesting than the actual place, but it's clean and not very expensive. Once we got to our room I looked out and saw the car was covered with snow!! Then just a little later the snow had stopped and most of it had already melted.
The pickings are slim in the little area as far as restaurants are concerned. We had dinner at the Yipee-ei-o Steakhouse. It was not bad and I had some steak left over for Mr Ripley's breakfast.
Tomorrow we head to Santa Fe. We're actually staying there 2 nights so we'll practically be residents!
If the weather is nice early in the morning we may drive to the canyon and see the sunrise.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
First Day
We were hoping to leave around 7am this morning but didn't get away until closer to 830 (let's just say I was not the cause of the delay). The drive was fine and Mr Ripley behaved very well. He sat in the back seat quietly and occasionally glanced at the scenery. The first part of the drive through SLO County on 46 was very pretty but then the Bakersfield area was not so scenic. We stopped for lunch in Tehachapi and just off the highway it was just a mass of chain restaurants but we drove a little further into the town and it was a cute little western town (complete with tumbleweed blowing across the street) and we found an old-fashioned place for lunch called Kelcy's Cafe. It was a good start to a trip when I want to avoid chain restaurants as much as possible.
The drive through the Mojave Desert was prettier than normal because there were some wildflowers blooming so there was some yellow mixed with a bit of green. The traffic going the other direction was practically at a stand-still and we were glad not to be headed that way.
We arrived in Vegas around 430pm. We're staying at a La Quinta on Paradise Road because it's one of the few places here that takes dogs. I think the casino hotels want everyone gambling and not out walking their dogs.
Tonight we went to the Wynn Hotel and saw the show Le Reve. It is quite spectacular both artistically and technically.
Tomorrow we head to the Grand Canyon. I've never been there and I'm very excited about seeing it.
The drive through the Mojave Desert was prettier than normal because there were some wildflowers blooming so there was some yellow mixed with a bit of green. The traffic going the other direction was practically at a stand-still and we were glad not to be headed that way.
We arrived in Vegas around 430pm. We're staying at a La Quinta on Paradise Road because it's one of the few places here that takes dogs. I think the casino hotels want everyone gambling and not out walking their dogs.
Tonight we went to the Wynn Hotel and saw the show Le Reve. It is quite spectacular both artistically and technically.
Tomorrow we head to the Grand Canyon. I've never been there and I'm very excited about seeing it.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Tomorrow is the day
We'll be heading to Las Vegas for the first leg of our journey tomorrow morning. Packing is yet to be done!
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