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Well hello and happy summer
to everyone!!! Everyone was entertained by
Maria (Cantalopez) and her friend Mike with a variety of
music. Now while Chef Dan’s meal
was probably a great one and all I would have chosen a
different menu for the evening. Here is my idea
of a paranormal meal: Clammy Chowder Medium Rare Ghost Beef in
its own supernatural juices Genuine Liverhearse with
baked stiffed potato Chicken in a casket The above
served with our famous Mummy’s hair-raising biscuits
and home-groan vegetables For dessert—Ice Screams and
spookies or Apparition Pudding
Our
last vacation was in 2009 when we went on a 6000 plus mile 14
state tour. Never got back East farther than Illinois.
Of course we’ve told you about short trips like earlier this
year to Arizona. We don’t consider a 3 or 4 day trip a
vacation. Do you?? After an hour’s drive we
finally reached Tonopah, Nevada. We stopped to get some
gas and something to eat and picked up a post card to send to
Walt and Dennis back home in Gold Point to tell them how much
we were enjoying our vacation so far.
First thing in the morning
after breakfast we visited the Argo Gold Mine & Mill (
http://historicargotours.com/ ) where they have a
great informative tour guide that starts off with a short
film and then outside for a couple of demonstrations before
driving you up and dropping you off to explore the mill.
You can go around the corner first and see the entrance to
the 4 ½ mile tunnel which goes clear under the mountains to
beneath the town of Cripple Creek. They used the tunnel
for many years to drain the mines and bring out ore to be
processed at the mill right next to the tunnel entrance.
Today all the water that comes out of the tunnel is used for
the town of Idaho Springs.
Then up the
road to Georgetown to ride the Georgetown Loop Railroad (http://georgetownlooprr.com/)
with
a stop off at the Lebanon Silver Mine for a tour.
With the green trees of the Rockies behinds us we headed East
again on I-70 thru the rest of Colorado and into Kansas to
stay at the town of Hutchinson just West of Wichita.
The next morning at 9 a.m. we
arrived at the Strataca underground salt museum (
http://underkansas.org/ ). There we entered the
hoisting cage and descended 650 into the darkness to learn
about salt mining. Everything was still left from 70
years of mining. Once something goes underground it
never comes back out. It is an active salt mine but not
where the museum is. We explored an old area that was
mined years ago. They estimate that they have 2000 more
years of mining available of more than 3 trillion tons
of salt left. We rode a small train around one area of
the mine and then hopped into small open air shuttle cars to
explore different area. We bought a beautiful 17 lb.
multi colored chunk of pure salt and grabbed two more small
samples they let you grab on your “dark tour”. In
another part of the mine where they don’t show you is the
Underground vaults and storage (http://www.undergroundvaults.com/)
where everything from motion pictures to government documents
are kept.
Then it was back on the road again. Back up to I-70 in
St. Louis where we saw the big arch as we whizzed over the
river and clear across Missouri before stopping for the night
in Collinsville, Illinois.
In the morning it was breakfast at Denny’s and on the road
again across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio before stopping for
the night in Wheeling, West Virginia. On this trip we
didn’t have time for any more sightseeing until we got
to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was already Friday and
we had to be in D.C. on Sunday and Gettysburg for two nights
was on our agenda.
We got into Gettysburg in mid-afternoon and checked in.
What a beautiful town and surrounding countryside. Hard
to believe that a major battle was fought here for three days
between 164,000 Confederate and Union troops. It is
also known for being the bloodiest battle on American soil.
We walked toward town visiting a couple of museums to learn
about the three day battle. There is an awful lot to
see in Gettysburg.
We had a delicious prime rib
dinner at the historic 1776 Dobbin House Tavern (http://www.dobbinhouse.com/)
before retiring for the night.
The next day was breakfast at Mickey D’s and laundry then
onto seeing more of Gettysburg and the battlefield.
We started at the Gettysburg
National Military Museum and Visitor Center (http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm).
Wow!! Great museum with plenty of actual artifacts of
the era and information. You first go into see the
movie "A New Birth of Freedom", narrated by award winning
actor Morgan Freeman and then the restored
Gettysburg Cyclorama, which depicts the final fury of
Gettysburg- "Pickett's Charge".
Then into a double decker bus for a two hour tour of 22 of
the 26 square miles of the three day battle from beginning to
end. Again, what a beautiful place for a battle.
Not that you look for beautiful places to have battles but
that how on earth could one have taken place here.
Then into the car to go over
to the Gettysburg National Cemetery (
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/national_cemeteries/Pennsylvania/Gettysburg_National_Cemetery.html
) where President Lincoln gave his now famous Gettysburg
Address.
After a good night’s sleep it
was on to Alexandria to hook-up with our friend Jeff from
Iowa. Jeff is experienced in the D.C. area and told us
years ago that if we ever made it out there he’d be happy to
be our guide. This is the year we finally took him up
on his offer and told us that it was about his 14th
trip to D.C.. Zack, his son, went to Georgetown
University.
He flew in from Iowa and got off at the Metro station a
little more than a mile from where he booked our rooms.
We picked him up and went back to check in to our rooms early
then hopped into the car with Jeff at the wheel to head off
on a tour of D.C. and the area. He knew where to go and
we got a chance to stare out the windows at the sights as he
pointed out what we were going to see the next 5 ½ days.
We finally parked a short distance from the White House.
It was Sunday so we were lucky to get a good parking spot.
We walked thru a park across the street from the White House
and went up and knocked on the front door but nobody was
home. Just kidding. Lol. There is so much
security everywhere I’m not sure they allow flies inside the
gates.
We walked around for a while then stopped in for a drink at
the famous Round Robin bar in the Willard InterContinental
Hotel before heading back to the car just in time to get in a
leave before the meter maid got to us. She was writing
tickets about two or three cars from us and we were 1 hour
past expiration. End of first day in D.C.
The next day we were
introduced to the Metro Subway system and buzzed into D. C.
Where we got off by the National Mall and started our walking
tour of D. C. and vicinity at the original Smithsonian known
as the Castle. In the next 4 days we visited the Air
and Space Museum, American History Museum, the Air and Space
Museum at
Udvar-Hazy
Center, Washington Monument, Lincoln
Memorial, World War Two, Vietnam and Korean wars Memorials,
Bureau of Printing and Engraving, Union Station, Mt. Vernon
(Washington’s home) and his Grist mill and Distillery, dinner
at Gadsby’s 1770 Tavern (http://www.gadsbystavernrestaurant.com/),
Franklin Roosevelt and Jefferson Memorials, National Postal
Museum and Arlington National Cemetery, where we watched the
changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,
including General Lee’s home before the civil war. I’m
sure I’m forgetting some places but you get the idea.
There was a whole bunch more to see but we considered these
the “must see” places.
By Thursday night Red Dog’s feet and legs were all wore out
from all the miles of walking so Jeff and I set out on Friday
without her.
We started with a yummy breakfast at the Eastern Market
before walking over to the Capitol building. After
walking all the way around it we went to the new visitors
center and picked up tickets for a tour. We got to see
a short film then a guided tour through to see the inside of
the dome, the hall of statues and such. Afterwards we
went into the House of Representatives just in time to watch
them call to order, do the prayer and pledge of allegiance
and then recess until Tuesday. They were in session for less
than 5 minutes and we were out the door.
Then we walked over to the
Supreme Court, Library of Congress and the National Archives
and that finished up our 6th and last day in D. C.
We have to give Jeff a great big thank you for his help with
guiding us around and giving us the Metro subway experience.
Our D. C. experience would not have been near as rewarding
without his help.
Saturday morning found us on the road again heading north
thru Baltimore heading to our friends Doug and Kathy in New
Cumberland, Pennsylvania for the weekend.
Doug and his family, brothers, friends and their friends have
been coming out to stay a weekend in Gold Point every year
for the last 14 years. We told them if we ever made it
back East we’d like to visit them and they invited us to stay
with them for two nights. They had just left Gold Point
2 hours before we did two weeks earlier.
We got there around 1 p.m. on Saturday. Doug asked what
we’d like to see and we said the Amish and a coal mine.
He said we’ll see Intercourse first. I thought to
myself we’ll if we have time to go to a men’s club on the way
and Red Dog didn’t mind what the heck let’s go. Soon we
were in Kathy’s car along with his brother Art heading East
to the Amish country. Kathy stayed behind to make a big
pot of chicken pot pie for dinner with homemade dough.
She made extra dough and left it raw for me at my request.
Yummy!! Just like when I was a little tike.
After about an hour’s drive we got to Bird in Hand. As
we drove thru town we noticed two birds in every bush.
Hmmm!! A
few more miles down the road and Doug says we’re here.
I jumped out of the car all excited and looking for the men’s
club. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Doug
took us to Intercourse the Amish town not the sex act.
Intercourse actually means, in the old days, the intersection
of two roads. Where their courses intersect.
What a nice little town (http://lancasterpa.com/intercourse/)
. Amish and Mennonites were driving their horse and buggies
everywhere. We went to a nearby Mennonite farm and
bought some white cheddar cheese made from the communities
own cows and some real maple syrup. In downtown we
bought a couple of fresh made soft pretzels at the local
pretzel shop. Then to Kitchen Kettle Village to bring
back a bag of hand rolled sourdough pretzels and have some
fresh made black cherry ice cream and some souvenirs.
On the way back to have our
chicken pot pie we stopped at Dutch Haven (http://dutchhaven.com/)
to pick up a ShooFly Pie for dessert and also drove thru the
town of Hershey to drive by the old candy factory and the
Hershey amusement park. I had two delicious
servings of Kathy’s chicken pot pie before digging into my
first ever ShooFly pie. Wow!! The pie was
delicious!! It was mildly sweet and hard to describe.
The following is from Wikipedia:
Shoofly pie
(or shoo-fly pie ) is a
molasses
pie considered traditional among the
Pennsylvania Dutch and also known in
Southern cooking. The pie may get its name because
the sweet molasses odor attracts
flies that must be "shooed" away. We liked it so
much that we bought a box mix to make at home and a box of
Shoo Fly cake mix. We made the cake mix right after
getting home. Don’t know which I like best. It’s
like heroine. It’s hard to stop eating it once you
start. One thing we do know is that we are going to
start serving it here to our guests with our homemade ice
cream. We have found the recipe for both on the
internet to make from scratch from now on.
After a homemade breakfast the
four of us got back into the car and headed Northeast to
Ashland to take a tour of the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine (http://www.pioneertunnel.com/).
We rode 1000 feet back into the mine and 400 feet under the
mountain to the back of the mine and got out to receive a
well informative guided tour. Then, after we got back
into daylight again, we hopped on the Lokie steam engine to
ride down the tracks where they used to take the cars full of
coal to the loading station for the main big train hauls.
When we got back to the house people were already gathering
for the big BBQ. Relatives and friends from miles
around came over to greet us and chat and eat. There
was crab legs, the most tender steak filets I’ve ever had,
Kathy’s banging beans, deviled eggs, cheesecake and banana
bread made by Kathy’s friend and neighbor Marla, Sarge’s
grilled shrimp, etc. It was so much fun to see
everyone.
Monday morning it was time to
say thank you to Dough and Kathy for letting us stay with
them and showing us a good time and say good-bye to them and
Art and hit the road South to the Shenandoah Sky Line Drive (http://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm)
in Virginia. It was 105 miles of beautiful winding road
and green scenery at 35 miles an hour.
At the end of the Sky Line
Drive we crossed the road and entered the 469 mile long Blue
Ridge Parkway (
http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ ) at 45 miles an hour
max speed.
At 177 miles into the parkway it was getting late so we
stayed the night at the Blue Ridge Motel in the tiny town of
the Meadows of Dan. Named after the Dan River.
In the morning we went to the local country store and had
breakfast sandwiches and hit the road again at the blistering
speed of 45 mph.
Miles and miles and miles of beautiful green meadows and
trees and an occasional farm and tiny town.
We stopped at Little Switzerland for lunch and continued on
to the end of the Parkway at Cherokee, North Carolina to stay
the night.
Finally after two days and 16 hours of driving no more than
45 mph we made it. It’s the longest two days of the
trip. We have no intention of doing it again but we are
not quitters and now we have bragging rights that we did both
of the drives. (Red Dog says she doesn’t care if she
ever sees trees or green again.)
McDonald’s in the morning
again and then into the Great Smoky Mountains (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm).
It was very beautiful and green and slow going like the two
previous days but only a little more than 30 miles to get
through them to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Then to Pigeon
Forge and past Dollywood to I-40 to make our way back West.
We went past Knoxville and Nashville and South of Memphis to
the Memphis BBQ (not the chain restaurant) in Southaven,
Mississippi to have a damn good Southern BBQ!! We split
a plate of bbq sausage, brisket and baby back ribs, beans and
close slaw and corn bread. They give you a bowl of
fresh fried pork rinds. They were so good we bought a
bag to bring home. Another day or two and they’ll be
gone.
With our bellies full and the sun going down we headed up to
Memphis and back west again to Brinkley, Arkansas for the
night. It was a 537 mile day.
With sightseeing behind us we
hit the road early to drive 656 miles to Amarillo, Texas to
stay the night a mile from the Big Texan restaurant (http://bigtexan.com/).
We (I) decided that we should go there for dinner. Two
weeks prior to our getting there a small 125 pound 34 year
old mother of 4 set the world record by eating their 72 oz.
steak along with a big baked potato, 3 shrimp, a dinner roll
and salad in 4 minutes and 58 seconds. Guess what she
had for desert!!! Another 72 oz. steak meal. She
took her time and ate it in about 9 minutes. Yes, both
meals in less than 15 minutes. That’s 9 lbs. of steak,
3 lbs. of potatoes, 6 shrimps, two dinner rolls and two
plates of salad. Hard to believe?? Just go the
their website and you can click on the you tube video and
watch her. It’s unbelievable!!
Well, with our hunger satisfied it was time to go back to the
Super 8 so Red Dog could do laundry and get some sleep for
the “big” drive the next day.
As usual I was happy with my two sausage McMuffins with egg
for breakfast and hitting the road.
It was 8 a.m. Central time when we left Amarillo. In an
hour when we got to New Mexico it was still 8 a.m. Mountain
time. We gained another hour when we crossed the
Colorado River into Nevada before reaching Las Vegas at 7:21
Pacific time. Yes, it was the longest daily drive of
our trip at 875 miles in one day and three time zones.
We stopped only for gas a couple of times and lunch once and
a couple of times to stretch and let Red Dog do some puffing.
We had dinner with our friends Kenny and Debbie at On the
Border before a little gambling and staying the night at
their house. A
little shopping in the morning and on the road for the last
185 miles to Gold Point.
We arrived at our front door a little after 2 p.m. with 6211
miles and 21 days and 2 hours behinds us and all kinds of
memories we will not soon forget.
If you made it to the end of this we thank you very much for
reading this far.
Maybe someday you can go to some of the places we went to and
have an enjoyable vacation.
Until next time have a great summer and take care. happy trails and sunsets Sheriff Stone and/or Red Dog Lil |
