Sabbatical Blog 2008
We were having our pictures taken so we both got some new outfits and Alan also got Jenn some pearls that we picked out of the oysters ourselves.
We had the photographer scheduled for sunset so we got ready and headed down to the beach where we waited for our appointment.
It was a great sunset and our pictures turned out great.
Our Day 80 Picture
We wanted to check out some of the other beaches around Maui that we haven’t been to before so we drove down to Wailea and found a really nice beach that had some great snorkeling too.
The water was so shallow we could practically walk completely around the coral reef. There were so many fish and the turtles were swimming right up to us.
We stayed to watch the sunset before driving back to the hotel.
We went down to Black Rock again to lay out on the beach and do some snorkeling.
There was a tree lighting festival at the banyan tree in Lahaina, so we wanted to go down and check it out. There were a bunch of arts and craft booths setup and they even had a snow man and some snow for the kids to play around in.
This was the last picture we took on our camera. Unfortunately before the tree lighting our camera broke. It had lasted nearly 80 days on our trip but one final drop left us without a camera.
We walked back to the Banyan tree to watch the lighting and Alan was able to take this picture on his phone.
Alan @ the Beach
We spent another day relaxing out at the beach and working on our tans.
Surfer
Watching some surfing
Whale
Yeah … we saw whales again
Alan & Jenn @ Beach
We had plans to see Warren & Annabelle’s so we decided to just hang out at the hotel pool.
We drove into Lahaina and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café before the show.
Warren Posing
After dinner we walked down to Warren & Annabelle’s and after a while waiting for the show to start we got some great seats right in the front row. It was a great show and some amazing tricks. Warren even stopped to pose for Jenn in the middle of this trick.
Our Day 76 Picture
Black Rock
We went back to Ka’anapali Beach to snorkel out at Black Rock
Snorkeling
The water was really clear and we saw a ton of fish and a giant sea turtle
Sunset Cruise
We went out on a sunset dinner cruise but unfortunately it was too cloudy to get to see the sunset. The food was pretty good and we got to see some whales again but much closer.
There She Blows
Alan & Jenn @ Ka'anapali Beach
We drove down to Whalers Village and spent most of the day out on Ka’anapali Beach. For the second day in a row we were able to see whales from the shoreline.
Ka'anapali Beach
Alan & Jenn @ Hotel Beach
Pink Pyramid
We spent the day hanging out at the hotel down by the pool and out on the beach.
Beach
While we were lying out on the beach we got to see some humpback whales jumping up out of the water. We were surprised how close to shore they were.
We packed up and checked out of the hotel and drove to the airport to catch our flight over to Maui. When we got to our airline there was just a phone at the desk with a note to call to check in. We were told that when the pilot arrives he would take our luggage and check us in.
We didn’t realize how small of a plane we were going to be on, but when the pilot had to weigh not only our checked luggage but also weighed us with our carry ons, we knew that it was going to be pretty small.
Our seats were in the second row behind the pilot. There were only 11 people fit on the plane and that included the two pilots.
The flight was only about 30 minutes long and we were pretty excited to be back on Maui again. We stopped in Lahaina and had dinner at the Cheeseburger in Paradise, one of our favorite places to eat. After dinner we picked up some groceries and checked into our room.
Alan & Jenn @ the Tide Pools
We decided to take a drive down past Kona to find a nice place to have lunch and relax. Pu’uhonua O Honaunau is the site of ancient Hawaiian Ruins as well as a beach with lava rock and tide pools.
Tide Pools
After we ate lunch, we walked down to the tide pools and looked around for a while. We saw lots of little fish and crabs and sea urchins.
Hawaiian Sea Turtle
We walked around the Hawaiian Ruins looking at all of the exhibits and along the beach we saw these Hawaiian sea turtles lying out in the sun.
Wood Carvings
After we finished walking around the grounds we headed back to the hotel to watch the sunset.
Sunset
Alan & Jenn on Mauna Kea
We took a tour bus up to the top of Mauna Kea to watch the sunset and do some stargazing.
We stopped about half way up the mountain to have dinner before continuing along the very bumpy road.
Mauna Loa Panorama
There were amazing views once we got up above the clouds and we could see out across to Mauna Loa.
Mauna Kea Telescopes
Up at the summit we got to look around at some of the many telescopes before the sun started to set. We were up so high we could even see Haleakala summit on Maui over 80 miles away.
Haleakala
Sunset
As the sun started to set we could already see Venus and Jupiter. It was really cold already and we headed back down to the visitor center where our tour guide setup a telescope for us to do some stargazing.
Sunset with Venus & Jupiter
Alan & Jenn @ the Luau
We decided that today was the day we would go back to the Hilton Hotel and hang out. We laid by the pool for a while. We went on the water slide quite a few times. It was really steep and Jenn flew down. Alan is so long that it took him a couple times to figure out how to get down the slide fast.
Digging Up Dinner
We drove down to Kona to go a Luau located at the home of King Kamehameha. We had great seats up near the front and before the show started we got to learn the right way to open a coconut. Jennifer got to try some before we went to watch them dig up the pig.
Dancers
All of the food was really good and most of the dancers were really good too.
Fire Dancer
The fire dancer must have been new because they raised a net before he started and it was a good thing too because he kept dropping the fire sticks.
Luau Dancers
Alan & Jenn @ Botanical Garden
Akaka Waterfall
We didn’t have a chance the day before to get to the waterfalls that were on the East side of the island, so we packed our lunch and headed out again. The scenery was beautiful and very tropical, which was much different that the other side of the island. Our first stop was Akaka Waterfall. It was a nice walk and then the path opened up into the waterfall.
Botanical Garden
Our next stop was a botanical garden that the concierge had suggested. It was a couple mile walk through lush gardens. It contained flowers, trees, and other plant life from all over the globe. We even got a couple pictures of the waves crashing against the lava.
Waterfall @ Botanical Gardens
The gardens also had a waterfall. It wasn’t as tall as Akaka falls, but still beautiful. Check out the photoblog to see more photos.
Rainbow Falls
Our last stop was the Rainbow Waterfall. We were assuming that if the sun was out we would see a rainbow. Since it was overcast, there was no rainbow, but again the waterfall was beautiful. We were pretty tired after our 2nd day of long trips, so we went back to the condo to relax for the rest of the week.
We had gotten a late start the day before and we wanted a full day to explore the volcano. So we decided to do that on our 2nd full day in Hawaii. The drive was about 2 and a half hours. We got to the National Park and went to the visitor’s center to decide what we had time to do. We first drove down Chain of Craters Road. This was a 20 mile long road that had many lava flows of the past. It also had a lava tube where lava used to flow down to the water
We also saw lots of craters and other lava flows and there were places that we were told not to get out because the sulfur mist (VOG they called it) was thick and would be harmful to us. We got to the end of the road and headed back up.
We had scheduled a helicopter flight, but we had time to drive up to Kilauea’s crater that had recently started to erupt (March 2008). It spewed Sulfuric Gas into an area that used to be part of a trail on the crater loop. It was crazy to think that the volcano could blow any time.
We then went to the airport for our helicopter tour. We flew over the most recent lava flows and even got to see the red-silvery glow of the current flow. We also were able to see a pot-hole like break in the lava where there was actually magma.
The helicopter also took us out over the ocean where we were able to see the lava flowing into the ocean. The lava and ocean mixture instantly made a deadly gas. The view was crazy.
After the helicopter tour, we wanted to go where the current lava was flowing by foot. We drove about an hour and then hiked another mile to get to where the lava viewing was. The sun had set just before we started the hike, so once we got to the viewing spot, all we could see was the amazing glow of the lava. It spattered up into the air. It was mesmerizing to watch.
After viewing the lava for about an hour, we headed back to the condo to get some sleep.
We decided to explore our first full day in Hawaii. We hadn’t been to this island before, so we wanted to soak it all in. Our first stop was a National Park (of course), called Pu’ukohola Heiau. It was an ancient Hawaiian ruin site. We weren’t able to go very far on the walking path though, they had it blocked off.
We then went Hapuna beach. The concierge suggested it was the best beach on the Big Island. We laid out in the sun and people watched for a while. We also headed into the water and waded in the waves for a while.
After we went back to the condo and cleaned up a little, we went down to the Hilton Hotel. Everyone said that we needed to check it out because it was an adult “Disneyland”. It was very cool when we got there. The extravagant double staircase led down to a snorkeling lagoon. It had turtles, eels, and other marine life.
We walked around the lagoon and decided to make a stop at the dolphin pool. They had a swim with the dolphin experience similar to the one we went to in Florida. The dolphins seemed a little more trained though and one even posed for us without prompting.
We took another stroll around the rest of the Hilton to check out the pool. It was huge. It had two or three waterfalls, at least 4 spas, and a large water slide. We didn’t get in because it was getting late, but decided we were definitely going to go back to the hotel later in the week.
Alan & Jenn @ the Airport
We woke up Sunday morning and got all of our stuff ready for Hawaii. Noni and Papa picked us up for our drive to LA (they were going there anyway, so they decided to drive us). We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch and then they dropped us off at the airport.
The 6 hour flight was really long, but at least Alan and I got to sit together. We landed in Hawaii ( State #27 ), got the car, and drove about 30 minutes to the condo. The room was a 2 bedroom and pretty fancy. After checking out the grounds we went to bed to get some rest for the next day.
Happy Birthday
We drove to Bakersfield to surprise Mom. She thought that we were having an early Thanksgiving dinner at Michelle and Ty’s house because we would be in Hawaii on Thanksgiving Day. When Mom got to Michelle and Ty’s house, she saw it was filled with a bunch of family and friends.
The party was really awesome. Jessie and Michelle did a great job. Michelle made a cake with some milestones in Mom’s life and her and Ty also raided mom’s hope chest to create a slide show for her. Jessie planned the party, invited all the people, and even cooked the turkey.
It was really nice to see all of the family before we went on our journey to Hawaii.
We had to get back to California to see mom for her 50th birthday, so we got back on the plane to Las Vegas. We drove to Bullhead City again to stay with Noni and Papa before heading to Bakersfield.
We were able to get a good picture of Laughlin from Noni and Papa’s window before going to bed for the night.
Alan & Jenn Snorkeling
Blue Water
The water was amazingly warm in Florida, so we decided to look into snorkeling. We drove down to Key Largo and jumped on a boat to snorkel in the Coral Reefs. The trip was great. There were only 3 other couples on the boat, so we had a lot of room to look around. It was also amazing to see how blue and clear the water was.
Christ of the Abyss
One of the stops on the snorkel trip was to see the Christ of the Abyss. This bronze statue was given to Florida as a gift and was placed in the water so that it faces the original Christ of the Abyss in Italy.
Live Coral
The fish and coral on the snorkeling trip was awesome. We saw jellyfish, tangs of all color, and live coral. The most amazing was a mushroom shaped coral that had an intricate design looking like a maze.
After our swim, we drove back to the condo and went to bed.
On Wednesday, we decided to explore. We had been to so many National Parks, so we decided to head to the Everglades National Park in Florida and check that out. Before we got there, we saw an ad for Coral Castle. We stopped there to check it out.
Coral Castle was interesting. A man 5’0” and 100 lbs created a small castle out of coral. It had bedrooms, bathrooms, and even a dining area. All carved out of coral. The story they told suggested he built it for his long lost love. He actually build most of the sculptures that were there in another location and then (by himself) moved them to where they currently sit.
We left Coral Castle and drove another 30 minutes or so into the National Park. The ranger told us about a boat tour in Flamingo, so we decided to head that direction and stop along the way. Our first stop was a mile walking tour. We saw a great deal of birds including the Blue Heron.
We also saw crocodiles. The funny thing was that we were taking a picture of one across the stream and we didn’t even know that there was one right under our noses. So we took that crocs picture too.
We were able to get in one or two more walking tours before we got to Flamingo. The boat tour was also pretty awesome. We saw more birds, plant life, and even some more crocodiles. We got off the boat and attempted to catch a sunset. We were able to catch a glimpse, but that was all.
The day before was fun, but we had to get Mom and Dad back on the airplane so that they could get back to Bakersfield. The Fort Lauderdale airport is really nice, so it was easy to get them right to their terminal.
We decided to hang out at the beach and just relax for the day. It was really nice just hanging out and doing nothing.
Alan was able to get a great picture of the Lighthouse that we are assuming Lighthouse Cove was named after. We also hit the spa and then had some of the leftover Prime Rib for dinner.
We decided to surprise mom with a dolphin swim. We got to the Miami Seaquarium and checked in. She had no idea until they put the armband on her that she was going to be able to see and touch the dolphins. She was so excited she started to cry.
The whole Seaquarium was pretty empty and there were not a lot of people swimming with the dolphins that day. In fact, mom and Jenn were able to have their own swim time with the dolphins. It came with a set of photos, which was good because Alan and dad weren’t able to get any shots from the front.
After the swim, we decided to hang out at the Seaquarium. The shows were pretty fun and they were scheduled in perfect intervals. We were able to see all of the shows and the exhibits. One of the shows was, of course, a dolphin show. Apparently this is where “Flipper” from the TV show lives. So there was a Flipper Dolphin show. The theme was surfing, so we saw a lot of the trainers “surfing” the dolphins.
The Seaquarium also had a Killer Whale show, which was the last show of the day. It also included some spotted dolphins. Quite a few people got wet and even soaked during the show. We were up high enough so that we didn’t get wet, but our day had been so full, that we ran out of batteries in the camera just before the grand finale.
Alan & Jenn @ Homestead
Race #10 the Final Race in the Chase was the Ford 400 @ Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Past Champions
We packed our lunch again and headed out early again hoping to get to the track to watch the SPEED pre-race show, but for some reason they were doing to show from inside the track in front of victory lane. So we found somewhere to hang out and eat lunch before we went up to our seats.
Fly Over
The pre-race ceremonies were really cool. They brought out all the living past cup champions on the stage including the King Richard Petty.
The fly over during the National Anthem was also really cool, and this time Alan was ready with the camera.
Jimmy Wins 3rd Straight Championship
For the second day in a row Carl Edwards was able to win the race but come up short in championship points. Jimmy Johnson won his 3rd straight Cup Championship, which has only ever been done once before.
Alan @ Cup Championship Celebration
We stayed and watched all the post race celebrations with fireworks and confetti, and of course a serious burnout by Jimmy. It was pretty exciting to watch and a great finale to our NASCAR adventure.
We packed lunches and headed out to the track early since we didn’t really know how long it was going to take to get there. After we arrived at the track we ate lunch and then walked around the vendors before going up to our seats. We were pretty early and the Cup Practice was still going on which was pretty cool to watch.
Even though Carl was able to win the race, Clint Boyer’s finish still kept him ahead in the Championship points but it was really close for most of the race and there were a few times where it was actually all tied up.
After Carl did his back flip and headed into victory lane, Clint got to do some burnouts of his own before pulling into the Championship stage which was setup right in front of our seats.
We stayed and watched the celebration for a while hoping some of the traffic would clear out. Jenn’s parents had never been to a Hard Rock Café before so we figured we would take them to the one in Hollywood, FL since it was a Hotel & Casino as well as the café.
Our few days in Daytona were fun, but we had one more race to get to. We started our drive down the east coast along the beachfront highway (A1A). It was a pretty nice drive and we stopped about half way for lunch.
We were able to find a nice beach park to have lunch. The sand was really white and we found tons of whole shells. There seemed to be a few people wading in the ocean, but we decided to stay out of the water since there were warning signs about current, rocks, and man-o-war.
We finally got to Pompano Beach and since we were there too early to pick Jenn’s parents up from the airport, we decided to check into the condo and walk around the beach a bit. The resort wasn’t really fancy, but almost every room was ocean view/ocean front. Our view was great.
The beachfront was also awesome. There was a lot of beach and we were able to see the lighthouse out in the distance. After dropping off our stuff in the room and the short walk on the beach, it was time to pick up Jenn’s parents at the airport.
We were all pretty hungry after our long day. So we went to the Flaming Pit for dinner. We all had Prime Rib, which was so large, it ended up feeding us for two more meals.
Day 56 was nice and peaceful. We slept in quite a bit, had a little breakfast and then hung out in the room for a while to catch up on the blogging. The view from our room was awesome. We had the windows open the whole time we were there and could hear the waves crashing on the beach.
We finally decided to head down to the beach. The water at high tide actually came clear up to the hotels. So most of the sand was a little damp. We found a place to lay our blanket and noticed cars driving on the beach. We then realized that we were probably on the part of the beach where the original “racetrack” used to be.
We also had visitors come and attempt to take some of our snacks. Most of them were seagulls, but we also had a curious looking bird there as well. He wouldn’t eat the snacks we set out for them, however he did keep the seagulls from eating. It was pretty entertaining.
After our crazy day yesterday, we decided it was time for a treat. So we went to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. The place we found seemed like it had been there for a while and they had hot doughnuts. It was great. After breakfast we drove down the street to the Daytona International Speedway.
The Daytona 500 Experience was really cool. We were able to not only tour the museum, but also take a track tour and go on a couple of virtual rides. We also got to see the NASCAR IMAX 3D movie that came out a couple of years ago.
After the IMAX movie we also got to see the latest Daytona 500 Winning Car. Which would be Ryan Newman’s #12. It still had confetti and champagne dried up on the car.
After a few hours at the Daytona Speedway, we went back to the hotel and then went out to dinner at Uno’s Chicago Pizza. Alan hadn’t eaten there before, so that’s where we decided to go. It was good pizza and drinks.
Tuesday we got up early to get to the Las Vegas airport for our 11:30 flight. We were flying clear across the country and with the time change we probably weren’t going to get to Daytona until late. We booked a non-stop flight and everything was going great until we got to the ticket counter at LAS. Apparently our flight that we had booked in March no longer existed. Orbitz had even sent us an itinerary a couple days earlier to tell us that the flight was as scheduled, but US Air had no record of it. We finally figured out that the only way to get to Daytona Beach at a decent hour was to take a flight that had a layover in Charlotte, NC.
We got in the security line and they routed us through the “new” puff machine that “smells” for bombs and stuff. That line was REALLY slow, but that wasn’t a big deal until we realized that our flight to Charlotte had started boarding (the nasty lady at the ticket counter failed to tell us that the Charlotte flight was at 11:30). We got through security and got on the plane. Alan and I were both seated in the middle seat of the bulk head row and we couldn’t find anyone to switch with us. So it was a long lonely flight, where there was no longer any movies, drinks cost $2 and food was $7.
We got out in Charlotte and found a NASCAR café to get some dinner. We also had desert because we deserved it.
We finally got to Orlando and picked up the car. It was only an hour drive to Daytona Beach (which wasn’t bad). We got to our hotel about 10:00. Our room was really nice. We looked around the hotel and then went over to Denny’s to get a late night snack.
Monday morning we got up, packed up, and started on our drive to Bullhead City. We didn’t really do too much except drive. We stopped about half way to fill up the gas tank and eat our lunch.
Just before we got to our destination, we hit the last city on our Arizona Route 66 trip. Kingman had gotten quite a bit larger since the last time we were there. We didn’t stop, since we had to go and get the rental car in Laughlin before the rental place closed.
We picked up the rental car and headed to Noni and Papa’s. We did some laundry, watched some of their Alaska pictures, had dinner and went to bed.
Race #9 the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway
We all got up early and had breakfast at the hotel before heading out to the track. We had a short walk in from the parking lot before we got to the ticket booth where we picked up our tickets for the race. We walked around a bit and then went over to the SPEED area to see if we could get on TV and catch a hat. No hats, but we did hear later that we were on TV quite a bit.
We got some lunch and then went to our seats in turn 4 just as they were starting driver introductions. The race started and wasn’t very interesting except for the rain delay (yes… in Phoenix) and the incident with David Gilliland and Scott Speed.
This wreck was pretty crazy. Montoya started the crash by hitting the back of Casey Mears and then everything escaladed from there. Scott Speed ended up underneath David Gilliland and it took almost 30 minutes for the safety crew to figure out how to get the cars apart.
The race continued and there were a few more yellow flags for debris and single car crashes, but not much else.
Mom & Dad
But once again, Jimmy Johnson was dominant. He lead the most laps this race and won by at least 5 car lengths. It was pretty exciting and he was now pretty much locked in to win his 3rd NASCAR championship in a row.
After the race we walked back to the car and went to a Mexican restaurant that Jenn goes to when she travels to Phoenix for work.
Desert View Watchtower
Since we had gotten to the Desert View area of the park so late a couple days earlier, we decided to stop by again and see if the tower was open. We were able to look around and get a few more photos of the Grand Canyon before we went out of the park and drove to Phoenix.
Sunrise Crater Volcano
We got a little ways into our drive and found another National Park. The Sunrise Crator was really cool and we were able to take a hike around the lava flows. We then went back to the visitor center and had lunch.
We went a little further and found ANOTHER National Park (well it was a monument). We decided it was time to stretch our legs, so we went to Montezuma’s Castle and looked around. This was a pueblo that had been built into a side of a cliff. It was pretty amazing that people lived that far up in the hill.
We got to the hotel just in time. As we were parking, Alan’s parents arrived. We unloaded the truck, went to dinner, and then went to bed…
The morning in the Grand Canyon was beautiful. It was still a little cold, but it was much warmer than the days before. We scheduled a helicopter flight and then got ready. The helicopter ride was awesome. We went over the Grand Canyon a few times and got to see some of the smaller canyons and mesas. The pilot was really awesome…if we weren’t able to see something, he grabbed our camera and took a photo for us.
Once we finished the helicopter ride, we decided to start on the Rim Trail by foot. The views were amazing and we took over 600 pictures that day. We did have to stop and take a break every once in a while.
After a few hours, we went back to the campsite to grab our jackets and check on the dog and then went out again. We saw most of the south rim of the Grand Canyon and once it started getting dark, we began looking for a place to take a sunset photo or two.
We took the bus back to the place we started our rim walk in the morning. The sun was behind us and going down over the forest rather than the canyon. So we didn’t get the Grand Canyon sunset we had hoped for, however there were still some pretty awesome shots.
We then went to one of the cafeterias for dinner and blogged a little.
Alan & Jenn @ the Grand Canyon
Petrified Wood in Crystal Forest
So we continued our journey through the Petrified Forest. The weather was much better, so we were able to take a hiking trail in the Crystal Forest. This area was where the most colorful petrified wood was. It was amazing. The colors were everywhere.
Blue Mesa
We then went to the Blue Mesa….
And then the Teepees…
Teepees in Holbrook
We then continued our drive back into Holbrook on Route 66, where we saw more Teepees. These kind had beds in them though…
Jenn @ Meteor Crater
Continuing through Route 66, we decided to stop at Meteor Crater. It was a crater about 1 mile across and 2.5 miles in diameter. It was pretty amazing to see that big hole in the ground. We were hungry, so we ate at the Subway there and then got back in the truck to drive some more.
First Look at the Grand Canyon
We were heading to the Grand Canyon and made it just in time for sunset. We were able to get to Dessert View and take our first look at the Grand Canyon. It was amazing…
So, in the morning, Jenn was complaining how cold it was and was going to be. Alan thought it was funny and said.. “Maybe it’ll snow!”…well, as we were packing up, it started to snow in Albuquerque….Thanks Alan!!!
We didn’t have too much time since we had a long drive, but we decided to stop at the Petroglyph National Monument on our way out of Albuquerque. We walked for 2 hours and saw a few petroglyphs, but not as many as we were expecting.
We continued our drive of Route 66 by stopping in Gallup, NM. There was a neon sign there that was in the book that we purchased. We then headed into Arizona (State #26)
Just outside of Holbrook (where we were staying for the night), was the Petrified Forest National Park, which included the painted desert. We didn’t have time to do all of the park before dark, but we decided to get started and finish up in the morning. We entered the park through the Painted Desert. The views were amazing. It was getting really cold and windy, so Jenn played chauffer while Alan jumped out and took pictures.
One of the last stops before we headed out of the Petrified Forest was where Route 66 used to be. The park had an old car set out where the road would have been, so Alan took a photo.
We also got a pretty good shot at the sunset coming out of the Petrified Forest. We were pretty hungry so we used our Route 66 book and found a place to eat called Joe & Aggie’s Café. This was also a Mexican restaurant, like the night before. Though this time the food was much hotter. We could hardly eat our meal. We then found the KOA and went to bed…
The start of our Route 66 trip…
At the KOA the night before, we checked out the local attractions. It looked like there was a nice place to eat just around the corner, so we decided to go to The Big Texan for breakfast. We were really impressed. They had a great breakfast buffet and we got to check out the famous 72 oz. free steak dinner. If you ate the steak and the fixins in an hour, you got the meal for free.
The next stop was Cadillac Ranch, which was just outside Amarillo. The buried Cadillacs were full of colorful graffiti. Alan and I were able to get some great pictures.
We drove for a little while longer and then decided to stop in Adrian. Adrian housed the midpoint of Route 66. There was a small Café there and we were able to pick up some really cool souvenirs and a Route 66 book that guided us the rest of the way on our trip. The café owner signed our new book and we signed her old pickup truck.
We continued on our Route 66 journey and stopped for a break in Tucumcari, New Mexico (State #25). There was a nice Route 66 sign in front of the convention center, so Alan and I took some photos before heading on our way.
We then stopped in Santa Rosa. There we checked out the Route 66 Auto Museum. It was a small warehouse with classic cars, and some were even for sale. It was pretty neat. We also decided it was time for dinner, so we ate at Joseph’s, a little Mexican restaurant on the Route.
After a long day, we finally made it to Albuquerque, and set up camp for the night…
We woke up at the track in the morning, packed up and started our drive to Amarillo. We wanted to see if we could hit one more state, so we took a short side trip to Oklahoma (State #24). We thought we could find a park or something to eat lunch at, but there was nothing. So we ended up eating at a rest stop in Texas.
We got to Amarillo and set up camp. We were able to catch a great sunset before heading to bed…
Alan & Jenn @ Texas Motor Speedway
Race #8 the Dickies 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway
We got up the morning of the race and lounged around a little before heading to the track. We stopped off at the booths and got ourselves lunch and then went to the SPEED area to see if we could get on TV again or catch another hat. Neither of those things happed, but we did see a guy in a full devil costume.
We got to our seats just before driver introductions started. We were under the shade which was nice because it was 85 degrees that day. We also noticed that the starting line up was a little different this time. The drivers actually got to qualify and Jeff Gordon was on the pole.
Carl Edwards dominated most of the race. And he even decided to stay out and not get gas at the end of the race. He took a BIG chance, but it paid off. He won by coasting across the finish line. Afterwards, he of course, did his famous backflip.
The walk back to the campsite was a long one, but we decided to stop at the heliport and see if we could catch some of the drivers. We were able to catch a glimpse of Steve Letarte, Chad Knaus, and Tony Eury Jr. We also saw Kenny Wallace, Tony Stewart (who wouldn’t even let us get a photo), and Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, and Jimmy Johnson. We also saw Mike Helton (the president of NASCAR). Once we got back to the campsite, we jumped into bed.
The drive from Shreveport to Fort Worth, Texas ( State #23 ) was pretty long. We got to the track and it took us a while to find our spot, since the “event staff” wasn’t very helpful. Once we found our spot, we set up camp and then headed to the Nationwide race that had already started. We got into our seats when the race was about half way over. It was pretty uneventful.
We were, however able to take some great shots of the track and the painted grass after the race was over. We then went back to the camper, had dinner, and went to bed…
We had a great time in New Orleans, but we had to get on our way to get to the race in Fort Worth. Before we went too far, we drove down Plantation Alley and stopped at the Oak Alley Plantation.
Oak Alley Plantation
The Oak Alley Plantation is known for its 20 evenly spaced Oak Trees in the front lawn. The inside of the plantation was interesting, but the best part was the view from the 2nd floor as well as from the walkways in the front and back of the house.
Really Big Oak Tree
We even stopped at one of the trees. It seemed to tower over the rest. It was HUGE. We took some pictures and then started our drive to Shreveport.
We had another full day in New Orleans. So we decided to do some more siteseeing.
The first thing we did was take the ferry to Algiers Point to go to Mardi Gras World, where they make the floats for Mardi Gras. It was pretty cool. We were able to see people making floats for the 2009 parades (there is about 60 parades in all). We also got to see how they “recycle” some of the floats and the decorations, so that they don’t have to build all of the floats from scratch. The most impressive float (and one that is not recycled) was the Leviathan, which is used in the Orpheus parade that Harry Connick Jr.’s crewe sponsors.
Once we got back to the “mainland”, we walked to the Cafe Du Monde for some Beignets (pronounced ben–YAY…fancy word for donuts with powdered sugar on top). Before we got there, Alan wanted to take a better picture of Jackson Square (since we were on the wrong side of the bus the day before). We got some donuts (they were good) and some hot chocolate and then did a little shopping.
After lunch we went on a Steamboat Cruise on the Natchez. We went up the Mississippi River about 1 mile and then back down. It was interesting to see the ports, the docks, and the ships that service the river. We also got to see a sugar refinery and the Battle of New Orleans Battlefield.
Once we were done with the cruise we went back to the hotel to check on Shadow and then went to a steak restaurant for some dinner.
We started off our day on a tour of the city. We were able to see quite a bit of New Orleans. We started out in the French Quarter. We not only saw the awesome architecture of that area, but also got to see two houses owned by Nicolas Cage and Brad Pitt.
The tour then took us to the cemetery to check out some of the grave sites. It was interesting to see some of the above ground tombs.
We continued on our tour of the city. We went through the Garden District where we got to see some large mansions.
We finished up the City Tour and went right out to the Swamp Tour. The drive out to the swamp was 45 minutes, so it gave us some time to rest and eat lunch (PB&J on bagels…yum). Once there we went out on a boat and headed deep into the swamp. We not only saw alligators, but also got to catch a glimpse of some turtles and some CRAZY HUGE RATS (as big as the ROUS in Princess Bride). The tour guide was also something. He continuously told us stories and facts, neither of us are sure what was true and what wasn’t.
We were pretty hungry after our long day, so we walked to the Hard Rock for dinner. Alan had his usual burger, but Jenn had nachos…and a drink (of the alcoholic persuasion). We then went back to the room and caught some much needed sleep.
Jenn was pretty excited when we got up because we would be staying in a hotel for the next few nights. We packed up and drove out of Alabama into Mississippi ( State #21 ).
We stopped in Biloxi at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to catch some lunch. The cafe was pretty small, but still had some cool memorabilia up including a full wall of gold and platinum albums.
We also noticed that the town was still working on cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina. We were hoping that New Orleans was in a little better shape.
We drove a few hours more before we hit New Orleans, Louisiana ( State #22 ). We did still see some Katrina damage, but it was better than we thought it might be. We followed the Garmin’s directions into the Warehouse District. The streets looked a little shady and when we turned the corner to the hotel, Jenn was a little worried. But once we got inside the Residence Inn, it was really nice. We grabbed our stuff for the next couple of days, organized the room and then got dinner in the happy hour room at the hotel.
We left the track about noon time and headed out. We spent most of the day driving through Georgia. We looked for some peach stands, but I guess they are not in season all year round.
We made a quick drive through Pensacola, Florida ( State #20 ), but then ended up in Lillian Alabama. The KOA was on the Bay of Perdido, so we went out on the beach and walked the dock before settling in for the night…
October 26th 2008 – Hampton, GA
Race #7 of the Chase was the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
After the cold night, we decided to bundle up just a little to head to the track. We started toward the track at about 11:00 and stopped at the SPEED channel to check things out (and see if we could catch another hat). We ended up on TV quite a bit. We weren’t able to catch a hat, but getting on TV was pretty cool.
We found our seats (there were quite a bit of stairs to climb this time) and by this time it had gotten pretty hot. It was a good thing that Jenn wore shorts, and Alan had a T-shirt on. The race was 325 laps and like the other races was pretty exciting. There were quite a few lead changes, and Edwards attempted to take the lead multiple times. Jimmy Johnson went down a lap, and Jr was even getting close to leading a couple of times.
Edwards ended up winning and we were able to get a really good movie of his famous “backflip”. What was most exciting though was the fact that even though Jimmy Johnson went a lap town, he was able to get that lap back and even get second place (keeping him in the lead). He went from 11th to 2nd in 9 laps, it was really crazy.
Once the excitement was over. We walked back to the campsite, had some dinner, took showers and then went to bed…
After spending most of the week on the Atlantic coast, we began our trip back west. We drove across Georgia and pulled into the Atlanta Motor Speedway (which was actually in Hampton) about 4:00. We set up the camper and then went to the booths to find some food. We couldn’t find the “steak” guy, so we settled for some Italian sausages.
It started to get really cold and our “neighbors” started to party. So we locked ourselves in the camper, puzzled a bit, and then went to bed…
We started out our day on a tour of Savannah. We decided to take the Old Town Trolley, so that we could get some narration of some of the sites.
It was pretty rainy most of the day, so the trolley tour was perfect. We were able to stay dry and still see all of the sites. Savannah is the site of quite a few movie sets. One of which was the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”. We were able to see the house where the movie was filmed. We also got to see both the location where the Forrest Gump bench was and where the feather was dropped at the beginning of the movie.
After we finished the trolley tour, we decided to walk down to one of the squares to get a closer look at the scenery. We were able to get a great picture of the Forsyth Park Fountain, which was also the spot where we attempted several times to take our “day” picture, but it was a little too rainy and the camera wasn’t cooperating.
We were also able to get a closer look at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It was very extravagant inside. The stained glass windows were breath-taking, the alters were also ornate, and they had a huge organ up in the back balcony.
After our walk, we went to the Pirate House for lunch. This is the place in Savannah where there were actual pirates. They say Captain Flint died there and it is haunted.
We then went down to River Street to look in the shops. It was pretty rainy, so after peeking in the candy stores and one gift shop, we jumped back on a trolley so that it could take us back to the KOA.
We got back to the KOA pretty early, but it was really rainy. So we stayed inside, took care of Shadow, and worked on the blog…
We woke up in Charleston and decided we wanted to go take a tour of Fort Sumter. It is where the Civil War began. It was pretty cold that day, so we bundled up before we went.
We then headed out on the Ferry to the Fort. It was about an hour ride out to Fort Sumter. We then got a short history from one of the rangers and were then able to explore the Fort on our own for another 45 minutes.
The Fort was pretty interesting. We started off by taking a walk around the magazine and then up to where the Fort flags were. All of the flags were those that had flown over the Fort at one time or another.
We also got to see some of the original canons and brickwork (at least what was left of it). We also stopped in the museum they had there and the gift shop. We then got back in the boat for the 45 minute trip back.
We decided that before we head to Savannah, we should stop by the vet, since Shadow had been limping pretty bad on her right front paw for a couple of days now. The doctor said she had just got bit by something and after giving her a shot and giving us some aspirin to give her later, we started our drive to Savannah.
On our drive, Jenn was able to get a pretty cool picture of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. This was actually the 3rd bridge we had seen that was similar in style on our trip.
Once we got to Savannah, we set up camp, we purchased tour tickets for the next day, and went to bed…
We woke up in the morning and packed up to head for Charleston. We only had an hour or so drive, so we were able to stop at Huntington Beach State Park for lunch. We hung out there for a while, relaxed in the sun, played some games, and took Shadow for walks down the beach. It was a little colder than the day before, but it was still nice.
We then headed to Brookstone Gardens. It was a Botanical Garden that housed not only amazing flora but also had some crazy sculptures.
We took some great pictures (see the album). One of which was Pegasus. The reflection was amazing. We spent about 3 hours in the gardens and then went on our way to Charleston.
Once we got to Charleston, we checked into the KOA, bought some firewood, roasted marshmallows, and went to bed.
We were pretty excited because our campsite was less than a mile to the beach. So after we had breakfast and got ready, we packed up our stuff and headed to the beach. We were there for a couple of hours. Shadow had a great time chasing the waves and Alan and Jenn got to relax on the nice sunny beach.
We then took Shadow back to the campsite so that she could rest and Alan and Jenn went to play some miniature golf, since it was right across the street from the KOA. The course was pretty easy, each hole was only a par 2. Jenn ended up winning, but both Jenn and Alan had a great time.
While playing golf, we were able to get a great scenic view of Myrtle Beach. We could see the water, the hotels, and the amusement park. After golf, we got cleaned up a little and then headed out for a walk to find dinner. After walking a around a while, we found a nice place called Thorney’s. Their sign said “Award Winning Ribs” so Alan had to try them. They were pretty good. Jenn had Prime Rib, but both of us loved the bread and honey butter.
After dinner we decided to go for a walk along the beach. It was really nice. The weather was great and the view was even better. We walked down to the closest pier, but they wanted to charge money to walk on it so we decided to walk along side it instead.
Since we had left Shadow quite some time ago, we went back to the campground for the night…
We started off the day by picking up Shadow from the Pet Spa. She seemed to really like it there, so if we are ever in Greensboro again, we will definitely look them up again. We then went to breakfast at McDonalds, again, for the 3rd day in a row. (It’s Monopoly time, so we HAD to).
We then set out on our drive to Myrtle Beach. When we got close, we stopped at the visitors center and then we stopped again at the “official” visitors center, both of the stops had lots of information on things to do, including the timeshares they were selling. We got to the campsite, checked in and then headed off for dinner at the Hard Rock.
Since the Hard Rock was at the Boardwalk, we decided to look around. It was a bunch of shops, so we got our exercise in after dinner. We then went back, set up camp and went to bed.
Alan & Jenn @ Martinsville
Race #6 of the Chase was the Tums 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
We woke up early in order to make the drive and get to the track. The drive was a little more than an hour and it was straight down the highway we were staying on, so it really wasn’t as bad as we thought.
We got to the track about 10:00 and then headed out to look at the booths that they had set up. It was still pretty cold, so Alan bought Jenn some hot chocolate. We then went up to the stands to look for our seats. We were only a few rows up and right on the end, so it was easy to get in and out of the track. After Alan took some pictures of the track, we headed down to get some Martinsville hotdogs. They were only $2.00!! What a steal. When we finished eating we walked over to where they were taping the Speed Pre-Race Show. We watched that for a while, the whole time attempting to get on the TV. Alan also almost caught the Denny Hamlin hat. It was about time for driver introductions, so we headed to our seats.
The race was dominated by Jimmy Johnson, who led the most laps and ended up winning the race. Since the track was a short track, the cars were not going very fast and besides 1st place, there was quite a bit of bumping and passing. It was a pretty exciting race.
There were quite a few cautions most of which were Kyle Busch loosing a tire (or someone else loosing a tire) and then spinning out. The final caution was another flat tire and a spinout, so the race went into “extra innings” as they call it. Jimmy ended up winning, but Jr. could have won had it not been for the caution.
After the race, we stayed in the stands for a while taking pictures of Jimmy and his team. We were able to get pretty close, so we have great pictures (check out the photo album). Once we were done with that, we walked (Jenn ran a little) back to the truck, since it had gotten cold. We decided to wait out the traffic and instead of sitting in the line of cars, we watched the drivers and owners take off from the helipad behind the stands. We saw Dale Jr., Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, and Michael Waltrip.
The traffic had died down after about an hour, so we decided to make the trip back to the motel and call it a day…
Jenn was still not feeling well so after we dropped off Shadow at the pet spa ( and boarders ) we headed back to the hotel to relax and work on some more blogging. We did walk over to Shoney’s for some lunch, but didn’t really do much else but blog and watch a Law and Order SVU marathon.
It was a long drive and Jenn had gotten sick and really wasn’t feeling well, so we just wanted to get to the hotel in Greensboro and rest up before the race on Sunday. There was not any place to stay in Martinsville, everything was booked way in advance (over 6 months), and so we had to stay in Greensboro. We were not looking forward to the 60-minute drive into the track, but that’s what we had to do.
We started our day by going to the Jamestown settlement. The Jamestown settlement was the first successful colony of the New World, starting the beginning of the colonial period. They had both an indoor museum as well as outside exhibits. We were able to see an old Indian village with interpreters to explain how they lived. There were quite a bit of school tours, so as we were walking around, we “hitched” onto a tour to get more information. We then went down to where they had replica ships that would carry the passengers to the New World. We then headed to the Fort, where we were able to catch a glimpse of life inside the walls.
Once we were done exploring the Fort, we headed inside to the museum. It had all sorts of artifacts from the colonies. Once we finished with the museum, we went outside to eat lunch and then headed to the Yorktown Victory Center.
The victory at Yorktown marked the end of the colonial period. The Yorktown Victory Center also had both indoor and outdoor exhibits. We first walked through the museum, where they had artifacts from the battle of Yorktown. We also got to see a video, which wasn’t very interesting. We then headed outside to listen to one of the interpreters tell us how they administered medicine in those times. Jenn got a little sick to her stomach, so after she went to the restroom, we headed back inside.
At 3:00, there was a demonstration of the canon firing. They had audience participation for the first “practice” run through and then the interpreters shot off the actual canon. Jenn got a really great video. Once that was done, we headed off to check out a replica farm that they had and then we drove back to the campsite…
We hadn’t finished our site seeing at Williamsburg, so we headed back out there the next day. We started with a tour of the Governors Palace. It was very interesting to see the items that would have been in the house had the fire not taken place and had the original items not been auctioned off.
We also went on a tour of the original houses and businesses from the Revolutionary war. Most of them were excellent. They had restored the houses so that we could see how it was originally, including the wallpaper, the paint, and even the flooring. One tour was really bad though. The interpreter was missing a few and it was very uncomfortable.
We also saw the foundry, the silversmith, the blacksmith and the shoe maker’s businesses. It was really cool because the people working there were actually making things…the real old fashioned way, using tools and methods used from the Revolutionary War including a woman working in a foundry making a model for casing a mortar, shoemaker making leather shoes, a blacksmith making iron nails that will be used in the reconstruction of a coffee shop in the historic area of Colonial Williamsburg, a gunsmith making muskets, Cooks baking bread and mashed potatoes, and women weaving baskets.
We had some ice cream and then went back to our campsite for the night.
We woke up in the morning and decided to rent a car so that we wouldn’t have to pack up the truck every day that we were in Williamsburg. After getting ready we had Enterprise pick us up and then we were on our way to Colonial Williamsburg.
We purchased a two day ticket at the Visitor’s Center so that we wouldn’t feel rushed and then decided to head down to the main street to catch the reenactment they did every day from 3:00 to 5:00. Once we got down there, a tour of the capital was starting, so we decided to do that first.
After the tour, we spend the next couple of hours walking up and down the street watching the reenactments. It was very cool and the interpreters stayed in character even when they were not reenacting anything.
At the end of the show, there was a precession of Fifes and Drums. They started about mid-way down the street at the pub and ended at the capitol, where the interpreters completed one more reenactment and then the cannons went off.
We decided to head to the museum, since it was really the only thing open after 5:00 in Colonial Williamsburg. The museum was housed in the old hospital, and the first set of displays was the mental ward of the hospital. We also saw colonial coins, china, paintings, and quilts. It was really interesting.
After our long day, we decided to find a local place to eat. With the help of Garmin and the street signs, we found a really cool Barbeque place called Pierce’s Bar-B-Que. Alan had a chicken sandwich and Jenn had a pulled pork sandwich. They came with fries and cookies. The whole meal was exceptional. We then headed in to get some sleep….
We had a long busy day ahead of us. Alan wanted to check out the race shops and we had a 6 hour drive. So we hit the road.
Our first stop was Hendrick Motorsports. We went to the gift shop and museum first. They had at least one of each of the current Hendrick driver’s cars displayed as well as racing suits, helmets, and trophies. They also had a lot of items to purchase and surprisingly, the prices were not bad. Alan found a really cool sweatshirt.
We then headed to the car shops where we saw them working on the 5, the 88, the 24, and the 48. We even got to see Mark Martin’s test car for next year. It was pretty cool.
Just for kicks (and because it was on the way to our next stop), we decided to stop at Joe Gibbs Racing to see if anything cool was happening there. The museum, gift shop, and car shop were all in one building and it was really nice because the glass for the car shop that the fans could look through was above the cars, so we could see the whole shop.
Our next stop was Jr. Motorsports. That was also pretty cool and we got to see them working on the Busch cars. We also saw Brad Keselowski, the driver of the 88. He waved through the glass, so Alan tried to get a picture. We also got to see a wax replica of Jr. Alan picked up a couple more things and then we headed on our way.
Our last stop before the long journey was Gillett Evernham Motorsports. They had both a 9 and 19 car on display and were working diligently on the current cars to get them ready for the upcoming races. Jenn was able to pick up a cool T-shirt and a hoodie.
We then headed out on our 6 hour drive. It was long, but we finally made it to the Williamsburg, Virginia (State # 19) KOA.
We had to be out of the track campsite by noon, so we got up, packed our stuff and headed to a KOA just outside the track in Fort Mill, South Carolina (State #18). We didn’t want to go far because the race shops would be open on Monday and we wanted to tour them.
We decided to just camp out and relax for the day. We blogged most of the day, since we were really behind, however we did take a break to jump on the Bounce Pillow at the KOA site.
Fort Mill KOA Campsite
After we finished bouncing, we went back to blogging. It was a really relaxing day and we caught up on some of our “work” that had to be done.
Saturday Night Racing under the lights at the Beast of the Southeast Charlotte Motor Speedway, Race #6 of the Chase
We couldn’t wait until Martinsville for another steak sandwich so before the race we made another stop to have lunch. After we ate and did a little shopping around the vendors tents we walked back across the street where the Speed Pre-Race show had just started. We hung around for a while and tried to get ourselves on TV as the camera passed over our heads.
At the end of the show the hosts all pick the driver they think will win and throw out a hat to the audience. While Alan was trying to catch one, Jenn just happened to have one fall at her feet. It was Kyle Busch’s but it was still cool to get one.
After the pre-race show we went up to our seats for the start of the race. As the cars drove around the track for the pace laps fireworks went off above the stadium.
The race was exciting and really cool at night with the track all lit up. It looked like Kasey Kahne was going to pull out the win towards the end but just came up a little bit short.
We spent most of the day on a scenic drive through Smoky Mountains. The first hour or so was by mistake because we didn’t really have directions around the park and we ended up going on a driving tour around the Cades Cove where we saw two black bears running across a field , and later on some deer and other wildlife.
We made a quick stop at the Sugarlands visitors center before continuing our drive through the Smokies where we crossed into North Carolina ( State #17 )
The trip through the park took longer than expected and the dog boarders closed at 6. Since we were running late, Alan called the track to see if we could bring Shadow to the campsite. Lucky for all of us we were able to bring Shadow with us to the track. After we setup the camper we took a ride on the tram across the street from the track to find some dinner. After some mediocre pizza we were still hungry and ended up trying this place next door where we had the best ribeye steak sandwich ever. We had seen this guy the week before and hope to see him again at Martinsville …
We headed out of Nashville and started our journey to the Smoky Mountains. We got to the campsite and Jenn decided to rest for a while. Meanwhile, Alan went off and took some nice pictures of the campground.
One of the snapshots was that of the river behind the campsite. It was pretty cold, but there were still kids playing in the water.
Once it got dark, we decided to have dinner. We roasted hot dogs over the campfire. When we got done with dinner, we made dessert, delicious S’mores.
Alan & Jenn @ the Opryland Hotel
Grand Ol' Opry
We took another guided tour that started out at the current Grand Old Opry House located just down the street from our campsite. It was pretty cool and we hope that someday we can go back to see a live performance of the Opry.
After the tour at the Opry we went into the Opryland Hotel where we got to take a boat ride around the river inside the hotel. It is the largest non-Casino hotel in the world. The ceilings were all glass and they said the rooms were about $150 a night. We got about an hour to walk around and during our walk, we found a place to get a snack, Alan got a brownie and Jenn got a snickerdoodle.
After the Opryland Hotel, the driver took us to the Willie Nelson Museum. It wasn’t very exciting, so Alan and I went next store to Cooter’s Place. It was a small museum of Duke’s of Hazzard items. It was pretty cool and Alan even got to take his picture in with the General Lee.
Later that night we took a shuttle back downtown to go to the Hard Rock Café. We hung out there for a while and checked out the memorabilia and then went off to the Hard Rock store to get Alan his shirt.
We then walked the streets of downtown to check out the Nashville Honky Tonks. We stayed at one bar for quite some time listening to a band with a crazy good guitar player. We then walked around some more and stopped into an ice cream shop before we headed to the shuttle stop to call it a night…
We started off the day by doing some much needed laundry. Jenn also cooked Alan some awesome pancakes. Once all that business was taken care of, we headed off on a guided tour of downtown Nashville.
Our first stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame. It had some pretty neat memorabilia, like Elvis’ gold piano, Buck Owen’s guitar, and walls of gold and platinum albums.
Our second stop was the Ryman Auditorium. This was the previous location for the Grand Ole Opry before it ended up in Opryland. The Ryman was originally a church and had just recently been restored. They were also setting up for the Presidental debate later that night, so it was very busy. The rest of the Ryman tour was amazing and Alan and Jenn even got to get up on the stage for a picture.
Our last stop on the tour was downtown Nashville. We were able to get out at one of the Honky Tonks and listen to the talent while getting something to drink. The gentleman was very good. We then went on a driving tour through music row where all of the recording studios were.
It was a long day, so when we got back to the campsite, we relaxed and then went to bed…
We got up in the morning and packed up the camper and headed out to pickup Shadow from the boarders. Our destination was Nashville but we planned to find out what Rock City was all about.
We got to Rock City and had some lunch before going into the park. Once in the park, we started on the path around by first getting our picture taken, all 3 of us (yes, they let Shadow in, very cool). So Rock City was basically a little park, with lots of large boulders, some were wedged together, others were suspended above us balancing.
See Seven States
In the middle of the park is where you could look and see seven states at once. That was pretty cool. We also got to a part in the park that was called “Fairytale Land”. It was where they had carved out rock inside a cave and put in fairy tale scenes. A little cheesy, but it got us out of the heat. An hour or so later we got to the end of the park trail and headed off to Ruby Falls.
Once we got to Ruby Falls, we had to put Shadow in an outside kennel, since Ruby Falls was a cave that contained an underground waterfall. We waited in the lobby and then headed down 260 feet in an elevator. Once in the cave, we saw all kinds of really cool natural features, some of which were called Candlestick, Cactus, Fish, and Meat and Potatoes. We walked through the cave for about an hour and then we finally got to the waterfall. For effect, they had the lights down low and changing multiple colors. The tour guide turned the light on for a while so we could take a better look. It was amazing.
We went back up the elevator and headed on our way to Nashville. We finally got to our destination, the Nashville KOA, set up, and then went to dinner at the Cock of the Walk that was right across the street. They were supposed to have the best catfish in town, but since neither of us like fish, Jenn had shrimp and Alan had steak.
We then headed in for the night to get some sleep before our full day in Nashville the next day…
Race #4 of the Chase was the Amped 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
We woke up early because we were having breakfast with Dale Jr at the Amped Hospitality Tent. Breakfast was just some pastries and frozen orange juice, but after a little wait Dale Jr showed up to talk to the fans.
After Jr left we went on a tour of the Pit Road where we got to walk down onto the track and past the pit boxes. We got to see some of the teams getting ready and checking tires and gear. We didn’t get to go up to the cars though, they were blocked off at the end of pit road lined up for the start of the race.
After the pit tour we went back to the hospitality tent to have lunch. It was a lot better than the breakfast , with bar-b-que chicken and pulled pork sandwiches plus all the free waters and sodas we could drink. We finished lunch and then went back to the camper to get ready for the race. We grabbed our race gear and headed to our seats.
The race was even better than the trucks the night before, with a few “big ones” that unfortunately took out both Kasey Kahne and Dale Jr. along with most of the chase contenders. Lucky for Tony Stewart they gave him the trophy even though he finished in second place.
We woke up to the humming of generators. Everyone around us had big 5th wheels and RVs, but we’re tough, so we just had our cute little camper. Our neighbors had parked in our spot the night before, so to make up for that, they let us use their generator.
Alan @ the Amped Booth
We got up and had breakfast and then decided to head to the track (which was less than a 1/4 mile away). There was already booths set up so we walked around. We stopped at the Amped booth to take a look at Jr’s car. This week he had over 70,000 names of fans on his car, one of them being Alan’s.
We couldn’t find Alan’s name, but we got a picture anyway. We kept walking and headed towards the Motorsports Hall of Fame. The museum was pretty cool and had all kinds of cars, including some of the cars from the crazy crashes (one of which was Michael Waltrip’s of course).
Trucks Racin' @ Talladega
Once we finished with the Hall of Fame, we headed across the street where there were vendors selling all kinds of NASCAR items for discounted prices. Both of us found a couple of things, and then we headed back to the campsite to get ready for the truck race. The truck race was pretty exciting, with lots of passes and crashes.
Once we got back to the campsite, we decided to take showers so that the lines wouldn’t be long (we were sharing 2 bathrooms with EVERYONE camped at the track). We had dinner and then got a visit from our drunk neighbors. They taught us how to play high low, broke our water jug, cussed each other out a little bit, and then left. We locked the door and went to bed…
This was the start of a very long driving day. We had to get Shadow into the pet boarding place before 4:30, so we got up at 7:00 and headed out. We decided to try and stop at Mammoth Caves, but the cave tours were over two hours long and we didn’t have that much time.
On our trip down to Alabama, we drove through both Tennessee (State #14) and Georgia (State #15) and as we were driving, we saw signs for Rock City and Ruby Falls. Since we were in a hurry, we decided that we were going to stop at Rock City and Ruby Falls on the way back after Talladega.
We made it into Talladega, Alabama (State #16) with about an hour to spare. We dropped Shadow off, went shopping at Walmart, and headed to the track…
We all got up in the morning about 8:00 and headed out for breakfast. We ate at Uncle Russell’s normal breakfast place. We all had the breakfast buffet and it was good.
We then went back to the house and played games for the rest of the day and into the night including Uno, Shanghi, Super Yahtzee, and other games.
We took a break sometime and Auntie cooked an awesome meal of chicken parmesian alfredo and candied yams.
We played until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore. Bed time…
Since we had a nice long day of rest yesterday, we were able to get up early in the morning, pack up and leave for Auntie Allison and Uncle Russell’s house.
Alan & Jenn @ Wyandotte Cave
The Alligator @ Wyandotte Cave
We drove for a while and then decided to stop at Wyandotte Cave. We were the only ones there, so we got a personal 30 minute tour. The cave was very cool. We saw stalagtites, stalagmites, and columns as well as bats (furry chicken nuggets, as the guide called them) and salamander.
When we got back in the truck, we realized that we were on Eastern Time, so we high tailed it out of there. Just before we got to Auntie Allison and Uncle Russell’s, we pasted through Louisville, Kentucky (State #12).
Once we got to Clarksville, Indiana (State #13) and found our destination, we had dinner and then we started to play games. We stayed up until 1:00 playing shanghi and Monopoly. Auntie got her original Monopoly set out that Mom gave her ages ago. That thing is older than Jenn!!
After a long night of games and Uncle Russell kicking our butts at Monopoly (Yes, Uncle Russell, we were shocked too), we went to bed…
Today we drove across the Mississippi back into St. Louis to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It took us a while to find somewhere to park, then we walked along the riverfront up to the Gateway Arch.
After walking through the park and taking some pictures we had to escort Shadow back to the truck before we could take the ride up to the top of the Arch. The “elevator” to the top was a small pod with 5 seats and glass door to look out into the inside of the Arch on the way up. It took about 5 minutes to get all the way to the top where there was a viewing area that looked out across St. Louis and into Illinois. We stayed up there for a little while and got to take some good pictures.
After the ride back down we looked around in the museum for a little while before heading back to the truck to have lunch. We then drove into the city to Forest Park where we took Shadow for a short walk around and sat down to rest in the sun.
We had been traveling quite a bit ( 12 days now ), so we decided to head back to the KOA, set up camp and relax for the rest of the afternoon. Jenn took a nap and Alan attempted to blog some. The internet was slow, so he only got a few pictures uploaded.
Start of Week 2
The weather was forecasting thunderstorms for the next couple days, so we wanted to see if the vet could give us something to help Shadow relax because the thunder really scares her. So after we picked her up from the Pets Hotel, we took her over to the Banfield which was supposed to squeeze us in. It ended up taking nearly 3 hours before we finally got back on the road.
Since we were running behind schedule, we just stopped at a gas station to fill up on fuel and eat lunch, before continuing on to our destination of Granite City KOA, Illinois ( State #11 ). The KOA was pretty nice and we took the rest of the day off to relax before going into St. Louis in the morning.
Race Day … we got up and took Shadow to the Pets Hotel before heading out to the track. We got there about 10:30am and it was already packed with fans bumper to bumper in the parking lot.
After walking around a bit we headed up to our seats to get ready for the start of the race. This was our first race of the trip but Race 3 in the Chase, the Camping World RV 400. It started out with the pace car being dropped off from a Helicopter by the local National Guard and ended with Jimmy Johnson and Carl Edwards fighting it out for the checkerd flag. Jimmy got the win and we had a lot of fun.
After the race we went back to the Hotel and went out to dinner with Alan’s friend Kristen. She took us out to a local sports bar where we got to eat and watch Sunday Night Football. After a long day we needed to get some sleep before we headed out again in the morning …
Jenn & Alan @ Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls
We woke up after a very stormy night ( leftovers from Hurricane Ike ) got packed up and drove out to see the Falls. There was a tall lookout tower but since we had Shadow with us we had to go up one at a time, but the view was great.
Lewis and Clark Boat
After the Falls we got back on the road for a long trip down to Kansas City that took us through Iowa ( State #7 ) , Nebraska ( State #8 ) , Kansas ( State #9 ) and Missouri ( State #10 ). We stopped at a Louis and Clark State Park to have lunch but unfortunately it was mostly closed down, but we still stopped to look around and eat.
Our destination this time was not a campground, but a Townplace Suites, and after we checked in we got some dinner at a Backyard Burgers and came back to the hotel to do some much needed laundry and then some sleep because tomorrow is Race Day ….
September 26th 2008 - Hill City, SD to Sioux Falls, SD
We started out with the Garmin taking us on a little off roading adventure. It said there was a road in front of us, but we didn’t see it. At one point the Garmin didn’t see it either!!
Once we got back on the road, we headed east on I-70 to the Badlands National Park. Along the way, we saw 100s of signs for this Wall Drug (Alan counted 35 in a 5 mile stretch). So we decided we needed to see what all the fuss was about. Well, we were in for a treat. It was a BIG drug store (I know…shocker).
There were lots of things to look at though, like a life sized T-Rex and Jackalope (just like the signs said!!).
We finally made it to the Badlands. The rock formations were layered in multiple colors, including some really dark reds, oranges and yellows.
We had lunch at a stop about half way through and towards the end of the Park, Jenn figured out how to use the panorama feature of her camera.
We drove across the rest of South Dakota to Sioux Falls, pulling into yet another KOA to sleep for the night…
It was a busy day for us on Day 7.
Shadow wanted to check her email before we left, so we let her.
Driving through Wyoming, we ventured onto a monument called Devil’s Tower. It’s basically a big mountain that looks like a tree stump. We decided that would be a good place to have lunch.
On our way out we decided to make a quick stop to take some pictures of the prairie dogs. There were 100s of them, one was pretty close to the truck ( The buffalo’s were closer, but still… )
After lunch we continued on our journey to Mount Rushmore through the Black Hills. We got to Mount Rushmore just before sunset and we took the trail through the Park. We stayed at the Hill City, South Dakota ( State #6 ) KOA, which is the 2nd largest KOA in the country. It was REALLY plush, especially for a campground. We had our first campfire and roasted marshmallows and made S’Mores.
We started out driving back to the North Entrance of Yellowstone through the Roosevelt Archway.
Tower Falls was our first stop of the day as we were heading out of Yellowstone. It was a little cold so we ordered up some hot chocolate.
We drove through Lamar Valley on our way out of the park to see if we could spot any more wildlife. We saw more buffalo roaming and some deer and antelope playing.
After we left the park, we had a long scenic drive across Wyoming. Including some pretty interesting roads.
Note: Jenn had to drive this one.
Jenn and Alan @ the Cabin
We woke up in our cute little cabin and the sun was shining and the mountains were covered in snow.
We headed back into Yellowstone to see the Mammoth Hot Springs. Most of the springs were dormant, but there were still a couple ponds.
After Mammoth Hot Springs, we took a nice scenic drive down to Norris Geyser Basin. We took a couple of pretty long hikes and viewed lots of springs and geysers.
Alan even found himself in “Tha Mist”
Since we had planned to stay in the Mammoth Campsites, we headed back up to the cabin. After resting a bit, we headed out to dinner. Jenn had her usual prime rib, but Alan had buffalo steak.
Now this was a busy day…
We started off in the Grand Tetons where we took a tour through the Indian museum at the campgrounds at Colter Bay Village. ( You should check out the photo album to see how excited Jenn was about that! )
We then headed off for a full day at Yellowstone. First stop…Old Faithful. As we drove in, we could see that we were just missing the eruption. So we sat in the truck, had lunch, and then Jenn, Alan, and Shadow went to await the next show. The “Ol” geyser decided to tease us a little bit and sputtered for about 10 minutes and then there it went! It was pretty cool, though Shadow wasn’t too thrilled about it since she thought it was a GIANT BATH.
After we took a walk along the trails to see the other geysers and springs, we drove to Fishing Bridge to camp. We were so excited as we were driving because we saw a few buffalo sitting out in a grassy field. We stopped to take pictures. But we were soon in for a treat. About 10 minutes later, there was another herd, much larger. And they decided they wanted to stroll in the middle of the road. THEY WERE COMING RIGHT FOR US!!! Luckily, Shadow was there to protect us.
Once the herd of Buffalo passed we headed to our camping site. As we passed the gate and headed to the parking lot we saw the sign: “No Soft Sided Campers”. Well, we didn’t want to get eaten by grizzly bears, so we decided to keep driving in search of another camp site.
Along the way we stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which includes both the Upper and the Lower Falls. The campsite at the Canyon was closed, so we decided to just head to our destination for day 5 – Mammoth Hot Springs campsite.
It started to get rainy once we got close to Mammoth and once there, it was pouring. Before we headed down the hill to the campgrounds, we did see the resident elk. There were about 50 of them just hangin’ out. We got to the campground and just kept on driving (1. It was full, 2. It was a little TOO primative for Jenn). We headed on to Gardiner, MT ( State #5 ). We eventually found a cabin like lodge to stay at.
Whew…day 4 done…now on to day 5….
We drove through Jackson Hole, WY ( State #4 ). Jenn got a scoop of “World Famous Square” ice cream in a cone when we stopped for gas. ( It was just a square scooper ). Once we got that experience out of the way, we headed on to the Grand Tetons…
It was a nice scenic drive through the forest. We got to see all of the changing colors ( or colours for Jenn’s English friends) of the autumn trees.
Then the weather started getting rough… but luckily we avoided any heavy snow but it started getting pretty cold.
At the Falls
We drove to Twin Falls, Idaho ( State #3 ) where we stayed at our first KOA campground. It was pretty nice and our site was right next to the doggy playground for Shadow. That afternoon we drove over to Falls Park. We were able to get a few good pictures of the Falls, though the brochures made it seem more like Niagara.
That night we went to our favorite place to eat…Outback. Yes, I know, not very original, but hey…we like it! We got the food to go and ate at the campsite.
We then decided to go to bed, since the next day we would drive to Grand Tetons National Park…
Ready to go
Our Day 1 Photo
We loaded up the camper and left Folsom, CA heading towards Reno, NV ( State #2 ) where we stopped and had Western Bacon Cheese Burgers at Carl’s Jr and switched drivers ( Jenn’s first time driving the camper )
Our first stop on the way to Yellowstone was in Winnemucca, NV where we stayed at the Hi-Desert RV Park. We setup camp and went to bed to get some rest before the long trip in the morning.
There wasn’t really much to do or see here but it was conveniently located half way between home and Twin Falls, Idaho, our next destination …
Our campsite in Winnemucca