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The hills of Vermont greeted us as we entered the state on Route 4 from New York...

....downtown Randolph was a welcoming sight....

We got home to intermittent rain, but can't complain because the weather for the last three weeks has been in our favor.  

Now it's time to unpack, do laundry, catch up on mail, and get back to our duties and routines as we settle into Home Sweet Home.  

P.S.  Gracie and Abby are adjusting comfortably to being back in the familiarity of their backyard.

Rolling Home

After a couple of days visiting a good friend in Michigan, we started the last leg of our trip, which brought us through Ontario from Sarnia to Niagara Falls.  Our border crossings into Canada from Port Huron Michigan and back into the States at Niagara (Lewiston NY) were fortunately uneventful.

We're back to familiar scenery and countryside, and were happy to avoid the worst of some heavy rains in the area before arriving at our campground for the evening.

Campgrounds, RV Parks, and RV Resorts

To decide where to stay on any given night, we use a combination of the KOA (Kampgrounds of America) guide and the Good Sam RV Park guide - a book about the size of the New York City phone directory. We're driven mostly by location based on our day's journey, and then start looking for reasonably rated campgrounds in the area, but our search is usually "blind" when we're in unfamiliar territory.   

On most days, I'll call ahead right after lunch to find out about availability and make reservations if required.  To book a site, the questions they ask are pretty routine: size of vehicle, tow vehicles if any, number of adults and children, number of pets, credit card info, and phone number.   I should have known something was up when I called the Sunny Brook RV Resort in Michigan yesterday and was asked the model and model year of our motor home.  We arrived to find a gated community - a lovely setting, but with clear rules about the types of RV's that would be awarded admittance ("...must be 25 feet in length or more, 10 years or newer or in new condition...").  

No repainted school buses here; in our road weary and dead-insect-encrusted Class B+ Cruiser, we felt like the poor Vermont relations of the shiny Class A motor homes lining the man-made lake on the property. 

  

The lawns and flowerbeds were meticulously manicured; the clubhouse immense.   It was like a country club without the golf.  I wasn't even sure if the dogs would be allowed to pee anywhere on the premises!   

Still, it proved to be a lovely, peaceful night.  For once, we didn't have to spend the night within shouting distance of freight train tracks or interstates!

More Gems

Today promised to be a partly cloudy and showery day through eastern Nebraska and half of Iowa, with no interesting distractions except perhaps when we thought an airplane was going to land on our roof as we passed by the Lincoln Nebraska airport.

Once again, however, we were saved by the AAA tour book, our maps, and the occasional roadside conversation piece.

According to AAA, Coon Rapids, Iowa was the location of the American farm, owned by Roswell Garst, that was visited by Premier Nikita Khruschev in 1959 (it's too bad Nikita didn't go to the Corn Palace in South Dakota!)  

(See the story at  http://www.carrollspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=8145&TM=51093.31) 

We also drove through a corner of Madison County, Iowa - famous for the book and movie "The Bridges of....", as well as the birthplace of John Wayne.

We saw signs for the Iowa State Fair, famous for deep-fried butter and its election year straw poll of presidential candidates.  Fortunately for us, we saw neither the butter nor the candidates.

Adair, Iowa greets visitors off of the interstate with what appears to be a butter-coated smiley-faced lollipop...

...and the Iowa rest areas boast of something called "Wireless Internet Vending Machines" - either the Midwest must be one step ahead of us with their junk food apps, or it's a way to buy additional bandwidth without having to slow down on the highway, a type of EZ-pass.  Wonders never cease.

Tonight, we're staying in Newton, Iowa (population 15,000) - home of Mr. Frederick L. Maytag  who - as you would guess - introduced a hand-powered washer that eventually evolved into the washing machines we know today (apps or no apps). 

Tomorrow, the map says we'll pass by the location of "the future birthplace of Captain James T Kirk" in Riverside, Iowa - on March 22, 2228:

The caption on www.roadsideamerica.com reads "Captain Kirk's ancestor, Bob Wieland-Kirk, watches the skies above Riverside for possible Klingon sneak attack."

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AAA Gems

Today we crossed Nebraska along I-80, slowly making our way home.   

First, let me say that there's something about the early mornings in this flat part of the country --- with no trees or hills in the way, the sun can be blindingly beautiful even before 6 AM.  I can understand how some people from this heartland say they feel claustrophobic in the forested rolling hills of New England.

Returning to our trek today -- even when there appears to be nothing of interest along our route, our AAA tour books help us see the repetitive scenery in a different light.  To wit:

1. The town of Kimball (population 2,500) has a Titan intercontinental missile on display in one of its municipal parks --- apparently, the town was surrounded by missile silos during the Cold War.

2. Ogalalla, Nebraska (population 4,700) was once known as "The Gomorrah of the Plains".   In the 1860's, Ogalalla was a cattle-shipping town on the Union Pacific Rail line.  Cowboys from Texas would "let off steam" after their cattle drives, and the results were often somewhat violent.

3. Cozad was named after John J. Cozad, who had visions of making the town a showpiece on the 100th meridian of longitude.   The plan never came to fruition, but the town does have a 100th Meridian Museum displaying local artifacts.  (The picture of our GPS as we drove through proves the town's longitudinal claims)

4. Much of Nebraska's history is wrapped up with the Oregon and Mormon Trails, and also with the Union Pacific Railroad, which was established across the area in the 1860's.  North Platte commemorates the railroad history with the Golden Spike Tower - located at the 2,850 acre Union Pacific rail yard -- "one of the largest railroad yards in the world".

On the other hand, the AAA guide didn't tell us about the town of Sidney, and the fact that it's the location of the flagship store for Cabella's.  Visible from miles away on I-80, the store doesn't lack for visitors and tourists like us.

The selection of hunting and camping merchandise is overwhelming.....doesn't every woman need a pink camouflage armchair?

 

One last view of Nebraska....

Eastbound

(Image from Esquire.com)

Only 30 miles from the white shirts of downtown Salt Lake City is the funky ski town of Park City, Utah, with its tourists, gift shops, and even a brew pub selling the irreverently named Polygamy Porter beer (Wasatch Brews).






We said good-bye to Utah and started the long journey east through southern Wyoming, our least populous state and second only to Alaska in low population density. The drive across I-80 proved that fact to me - although I think that if you counted the number of big rig drivers, you could double the population count.

Mountains arise in the distance at the far eastern end of Wyoming's I-80, but the 300 or so other miles heading east from Utah are an endless vision of wide open spaces dotted with buttes, livestock, trains, windmills, and snow fences.

I-80 traverses the country from California to New Jersey (or vice versa), and its high point is at over 8,600 feet near Laramie Wyoming.  The location of that summit is marked with a 48 foot monument to Abraham Lincoln because I-80 approximates the route of the original Lincoln Highway, the first road across the U.S.

Our otherwise uneventful day ended in Cheyenne Wyoming, which we had visited a few years ago.  This time, our tour of the city was a little different and focused on finding a veterinarian for Gracie, who has had a few bouts of gastrointestinal distress during our journey.  Our GPS was not of much help, so we instead sought out the Cheyenne police station to get our hands on a copy of the local yellow pages (phone booths are hard to come by these days!).  A quick phone call later, we were on our way to a clinic across town and managed to get there minutes before closing time --- saving us the fees imposed during emergency after-hours.  Gracie seems to be doing just fine on some meds and special food; the vet's assessment was that she is otherwise healthy but may be a little stressed from the travel.   She's always been our little worrier!

Salt Lake City

We rarely venture into cities in our motor home - parking spaces can be hard to come by, and a wrong turn can send us through streets too narrow to negotiate or back out of.   Being in Salt Lake City, however, we just had to see the Mormon Tabernacle - the site of those televised and recorded Mormon Tabernacle Choir concerts at Christmas.

To our delight, we found Salt Lake City to be an easy city to negotiate, and were also impressed with the city's infrastructure, cleanliness, and beauty.  Our RV park was right in the city and only a couple of miles from Temple Square, but the grounds were tree-lined and away from traffic.  The city has a streetcar system that runs from the center all of the way out to Salt Lake City International Airport.

We had no problem finding an RV-friendly parking lot ($6 for the day) a short walk from Temple Square, and were further impressed by the grounds of the 10-acre Square.   

The buildings in Temple Square include two visitor's centers - one with interactive exhibits about the history of the Mormon settlers in the area (led by Brigham Young), as well as a scale model of the interior of the Salt Lake Temple: the Temple itself is not open to the general public but is restricted to use for sacred rites such as baptisms and marriages for practicing Mormons; it has different rooms for reflection about life's origins, purpose, and the afterlife.   It took 40 years to build and was dedicated in 1893.

The Salt Lake Temple - not open to the general public

A scale model of the Temple's interior

All of the buildings were staffed by courteous volunteers, mostly young women, and many from other countries.  As we walked through Temple Square and the surrounding area, we noted an inordinate number of smiling, well-dressed people  --- women in dresses, many sporting name tags that identified them as "Sister So-and-so"; and men in suits, ties, and white shirts - reminiscent of IBMers in the past, there were few pastel shirts.   We wandered into the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (Smith was the founder of the Mormon Church, succeeded by Brigham Young), a structure that proved to be a huge hotel and conference center.

Joseph Smith Memorial Building

What also struck us was that there were no admission fees to any of the buildings, no donations boxes, and not even a gift shop (nor any vagrants on the premises).  We had to walk out of Temple Square even to find a postcard of the site.  Nevertheless, the wealth of the well-maintained facilities was evident at every turn. 

Leaving Salt Lake City on I-80 eastbound, we went through Cottonwood Canyon, the same path (in reverse) that Brigham Young and his followers took as they sought religious freedom back in the 1840's.  Granite from the canyon was used to build the Salt Lake Temple; these days, the hills near the canyon are lined with impressive homes with views of the city below.

Bonneville Salt Flats

The Great Salt Lake is what's left of Lake Bonneville, which covered about one third of what's now Utah back during the last Ice Age (10,000 - 30,000 years ago).

 When Lake Bonneville evaporated, it left behind large expanses of minerals, including sodium chloride - good old table salt.  At the western end of the region, about 120 miles from Salt Lake City, are the Bonneville Salt Flats, an area about 5 miles by 12 miles, known by many (especially auto enthusiasts like John) as the site of land-speed racing.   The smooth salt-based surface is a natural roadway, and the area is so flat and expansive that you can see the curvature of the earth.  The first speed record at the Flats was an unofficial 141.73 mph in 1914 by one Teddy Tetzlaff in a car called a Blitzen Benz.  The fastest recorded speed there was set in 1970 by Gary Gabolich in his "Blue Flame" rocket car -- 622.407 mph (all of these stats are from a flier put out by the Bureau of Land Management).

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Anyway, there were no timed trials there today when we visited, and we weren't going to conduct our own, but most of the 120-mile drive along I-80 offered views unlike anything we've ever seen before.  The surface looked like a field of snow or bleached white sand - but much firmer than sand

We're warned that the "shore" or edges of the salt crust may be lined with underlying mud, so driving off-road for the general public is discouraged (we stayed on the road).  It turns out that the Donner party in 1846 encountered this mud when crossing, losing time as their wagons became mired, delaying their journey and setting them up for that fateful winter crossing of the Sierra Mountains.

Those are NOT our tire tracks....

Not surprisingly, salt mining and processing is one of the industries in the area, and we passed by a Morton Salt Plant (those are piles of salt in the background): 

The town of Wendover Utah is at the western end of the Bonneville Lake area, right on the border with the town of West Wendover Nevada.   The Nevada side was lined with casinos as to be expected - even the gas stations have slot machines, so as John refilled the RV, I lost a dollar in slots before I even knew that I had played!

R & R

It's a hot sunny day here in the greater Salt Lake City area, but the Wasatch range to our east still shows signs of snow at the higher elevations.  

Today was just a travel day from Pocatello Idaho (named after a 19th century Shoshone chief --- and I thought the name had an Italian connection!) down to Salt Lake City, with a stop in the urban sprawl of the Brigham City / Ogden / Salt Lake City area for groceries.  No breathtaking photographs to share....

Brigham City was named, as you'd guess, for Brigham Young, who first settled his Mormon followers in the area.   Young was not the first leader of the Latter Day Saints, but took over when the founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered in Carthage, Illinois in 1844.   I mention Smith because he was born in Sharon Vermont, and the town is now the site of the Joseph Smith memorial.

In the next couple of days, we hope to visit the Mormon Tabernacle as well as the Bonneville Salt Flats, west of Salt Lake City.  Fortunately for me, I don't think John will be allowed to race the RV across the Bonneville speedway and try to break the land-speed record for 30-foot motorhomes.

Eastern Idaho

We are continually amazed at how the landscape can change out here in just a few miles. 

From the rugged beauty of Yellowstone, we headed southwest into the heart of potato country in Idaho - miles of soft rolling hills of green, with the mountains in the background as a reminder of how close we still were to the Teton range.

We took a side trip up to the Grand Targhee ski area - back over the border into Wyoming.   We had skied there in 1988, and I remember that the top of the chairlift had offered us a panoramic view of the Teton Mountains, including Grand Teton at over 13,000 feet.   This time, while the Grand Targhee parking lot was too low to get the same view, we did get some glimpses of the range from the winding climb to the closed-for-the-season area.   

At least the dogs got yet another chance to romp in the snow --- on June 1, no less!