LindaLauraRoadTrip's Blog

Made it to the west coast!

lindalauraroadtrip — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:53:00 +0000

Sorry for the lag in posting. We’ve been hiking and hanging out in the back country without any access to the “wired world”. But we’ve finally hit California -the weather is beautiful and the ocean looks great.

This past week we’ve been in the national parks of the southwest: Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon. Mostly hot and windy, although the nights in the tent have been pretty chilly at times. A couple of the mornings we didn’t want to crawl out from our sleeping bags, especially to hit the push faucet-cold water only sink in the bathrooms. And of course no showers. A fair amount of hiking, although in the Grand Canyon I must admit that the heights were intimidating and I mostly opted for the rim hikes. Laura’s a great traveling partner and stuck with me even though I know she wanted to head down into the canyon. Once we hit Zion and Bryce we definitely went everywhere – the heights were not so enormous.

After six nights in the national parks we landed in Las Vegas – woo-hoo! Stayed at Bill’s Gambling Saloon right across from the Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace. What a city that is… I haven’t changed my mind about it since my only other visit there nearly 30 years ago. But the shower was outstanding. Laura took 3 (each over 20 minutes) and we were only in the hotel for 14 hours!

Went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today. Big and a bit confusing (reminded me of the Seattle Museum as far as lack of organization), but the sea otters and the sea horses were cool. And we got there as they were feeding in the kelp tank. Tons of people. I wonder if it was that busy because it is Sunday, or if it is always that busy.

And thinking of people… there are many more people camping and traveling than I expected this early in the summer. I assumed that it would not be too busy until July, but not so. Perhaps that bodes well for the economy, but it often feels too crowded for my taste.

I’ve been trying to upload some photos, but this weird internet connection at the campground we’re staying at is not cooperating with anything other than text, so photos will come soon.

Wind’s following us in Santa Fe

lindalauraroadtrip — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:04:23 +0000

From Texas to New Mexico the wind and sporadic rain (and tornadoes) have been with us. And now tent camping in Santa Fe reminds us that it is not for the faint of heart. Our tent is remarkably still standing, although people walk by and comment on it. And the dirt, that very fine dry red dirt is everywhere. The four star Hyatt seems long ago.

Tomorrow morning our plan is to break camp and head to the Grand Canyon. I’m so not looking forward to loading all of this dirt into the car.

Laura stopping at a rest area on Route 66, America’s Mother Road.

Coyote Bluff Cafe: Home of the Burger from Hell – as seen on the Food Network so we just had to go. And of course Laura swears that it is the “best burger she’s ever had”!

Toasting the road trip

lindalauraroadtrip — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:12:36 +0000

A great tapas bar-restaurant in Indianapolis,Barcelona, and the waiter liked Laura so she got the glass with logo!

First photo of the great road trip

lindalauraroadtrip — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:04:40 +0000

Laura outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland.

Tornado Warning

lindalauraroadtrip — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:31:09 +0000

Seems like the tornadoes are following us, or I mean we are following them. Luckily our friend Jan turned us on to the weather channel two weeks ago, so we know how devastating they can be! We made it from Indianapolis to Joplin Missouri – on the southwest corner of the state near Arkansas and Oklahoma totally on the tornado track. (We’re always hoping for the excitement…)

Today, Thursday June 4 we drove from Joplin across Oklahoma to Amarillo Texas following Route 66, The Mother Road as they say. Not counting our multiple bathroom breaks, we had a few interesting adventures, stopping for coffee and sightseeing…including that of the funky little Clinton Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. Not bad. Some of our tax dollars at work saving our nostalgia. Good bathrooms; florescent pink and black! For a little 3 dollar investment it shows the historic aspect of the great landmark of the mid-west. While we learned about the creation of route 66 we traveled through the time periods that shaped it. The museum added a playful tune to each time period too, keeping my (Laura’s) childlike interest with interactive buttons. YAY!

The weather today was beautiful for the most part. The plan was to camp (first time on the trip) in Amarillo because it was so nice and hot. 80-90 degrees. However, as we pulled into Amarillo it began to rain, and then began to lightning. And ultimately the city sirens went on several times – warning to take shelter from the tornado. Heavy rains. So, no camping yet. Tonight is a Holiday Inn, again from Hotwire. Always a surprise. Decent. (Well, I think my mother’s point about decent, is MUCH better than hail pounding down on our tent OR better yet us being lifted up in the winds….yes mom our safety is “decent” haha-Laura)

Laura and I went to Coyote Bluff Cafe for dinner; cheeseburgers and cheesy fries for dinner. A totally wacko place. We saw it on the food network: “Man vs. Food”. 12 tables and stuff everywhere. A dining experience, I mean memory, for sure. Memories ranging from my mom drinking a Shiner beer (yuck in my opinion-tooo much hops…actually just toooo beer-y) and me partaking in the legendary burger, what they are known for and what I witnessed on the television “THE HELL BURGER”…this burger was deliciously painful.

Tomorrow’s plan is Santa Fe and camping. We guess it’s about 5-6 hours from here, but the way we travel it will take us 7-8…(Well sometimes the flat landscape gets boring and I entertain myself by drinking as much water as possible…resulting in frequent and I might say frantic need for bathroom stops-Laura).

Any recommendations or thoughts?

Hello world!

lindalauraroadtrip — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:08:34 +0000

We finally got on the road on Monday morning, June 1. Left Bristol, Vermont and made it all the way to Cleveland. Not bad, since we did not get an early start.

Cleveland hotel – Hyatt – was awesome and right in the heart of downtown. Lots of impressive buildings in the downtown area. Great stay and fun wandering the streets at night. The next morning we visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and stayed much longer than we expected. Great music. Fun. Bruce Springsteen was the special exhibit.

So with a late departure from Cleveland we only made it to Indianapolis on Tuesday night. It rained most of the day and night and we drove through tornado warning areas wondering where we’d go or what we should do as the radio kept telling us that the tornadoes were in our path – or us in the tornado path.

Indianapolis was not a bad city and again we stayed in the heart of downtown – Crowne Point hotel at Union Station, which unfortunately still had the trains traveling through so they supply guests with unusual amenities: ear plugs. eye mask and soothing white noise music CD. We found a fun tapas restaurant: BARcelona. Colorful, happy, tasty.

Left Indianapolis on Wednesday; still raining and ugly outside so drove all day, 8 hours. Traveled through St Louis and Springfield, diagonally through Missouri. We’re now staying in Joplin Missouri on the south-east border of the state near Oklahoma and Arkansas. Seems to be a wasteland of nothing but chain restaurants and hotels. We stopped 5 times today looking for a grocery store – none to be found. And 3 times asked for a bakery – no one seems to know what a bakery is.

Tomorrow we head off to Oklahoma City. Our guess is that it will be a continuation of this box city wasteland… too bad. Any tips on ‘must-see’s around this area?

Hopefully the rain will stop soon.