Tag: bridges

On the Road Again

We’re back at it, with a trip that ChatGPT called “very aggressive but doable”. (Sounded like a challenge to me!) The igniter for this trip was based around my birthday gift from Thom–two tickets to see Phish at The Sphere in Las Vegas. We briefly talked about flying out there and renting a car to tool around the region, but we really do enjoy the long journeys in our own car, Mara.

Once we decided to drive, it was just a matter of deciding what other highlights to hit along the way there and back. Thom was really eager to drive the Iron Mountain Road in South Dakota, but it’s a little iffy to go that far north in late April. However, the Phish concert was set for a Thursday, so we wouldn’t have time to go that route on the way back. While we held off on making lodging reservations yet, we set our tentative plans.

A month out, we committed to our plan. Lodging choices were limited in the northern stretch of the country, as many places are closed for winter until May. However, the central north and northwest had seen a relatively mild winter and things seemed to be warming up. Just a week before the trip, our planned northern stops in South Dakota and Wyoming had even been as warm as the 70s. But then just days before we left, the weather forecasts changed from mild and dry to cold and snow. Well here we go…

So Friday after work, we jumped in the car and drove all the way to Metropolis IL. I don’t even have to tell you our first stop, do I?

The first leg of the trip started with a route we’ve taking tons of times up through Tennessee (since one of my brothers lives near Nashville). We didn’t see any of the classic See Rock City birdhouses, but we did see one billboard for this classic tourist trap featuring their gnomes instead of the old classic logo. Not sure how I feel about the advertising change, despite my love for gnomes. We enjoyed the drive along the Tennessee River going out of Chattanooga and the Monteagle crossing; both are such beautiful landmarks.

As we headed into Central time and towards Nashville, we were also heading towards severe weather. Thankfully, the storms diminished as we approached and even gave us a little bit of sunset. The drive through Kentucky was mostly uneventful, although a bit foggy here and there and one bout with construction. After traversing four states, we arrived in Superman’s hometown.

Saturday morning we got moving early for our longest plan travel day of the trip. We had hotel breakfast with all the ladies in town for the national quilting convention; it was hard to find a hotel within 50 miles of this Paducah KY convention…it must be quite the event. We didn’t stop to see Superman since we saw him in Metropolis just a few years ago during the solar eclipse. (You should check out that blog to see the giant eclipse glasses Superman was wearing. Such silliness!) Our first stop was to fill up the gas tank and our water cups, which wouldn’t normally be note-worthy except the nearby gas station had all sorts of odd statues around, including what we had to call “Little Foot”.

We started the day with weather very similar to home–mostly sunny and low 80s. We filled the drive time with one of our favorite podcasts, “60 Songs that Explain the 90s”, as or with an audiobook, “Dungeon Crawler Carl”. (If we weren’t chatting, of course.) Illinois featured an array of farms, mostly soybean and corn. Missouri transitioned from farms to rolling hills, with the periodic cool bridge or interesting building. We finally made a stop for lunch to get some Kansas City-Style BBQ (or so we were told, but we weren’t in Kansas City). If you find yourself in Columbia MO, stop at Como–it was an unassuming place in a gas station complex but had great food. *Look really closely and you can see our picture of the Arch this time in St. Louis.

The afternoon brought forth all sorts of odd adventures. We had a Lamborghini pull up and off we went for a spirited stretch of drive together (certainly following the speed limit). After driving into Kansas briefly and then back into Missouri, we stopped for gas at the fun-sounding “trex Mart”. There were no T-Rexes, and no dinosaurs for that matter. Disappointing. I marveled at the old tornado sirens instead. There was an overwhelming smell of gas, and either the ground was wet or there had been a spill (or both?). I headed towards the bathroom only to have a worker tell me the bathrooms were all closed. We were chatting briefly when I realized Thom was very urgently calling my name and telling me we had to go. That seemed awfully impatient until I got in the car, and he explained that a car pulled up next to us with a guy smoking and flicking ashes. We needed to go before the crazy man caused a gas-fueled explosion. Not far from there, we drove past a theme park that didn’t seem close to any big towns (Worlds of Fun). The midwest surely keeps you on your toes with unusual finds.

Safely back on the route, we said goodbye to Missouri and technically went through Iowa (barely long enough to play the whole Slipknot song, “Iowa”). Soon after, we entered Nebraska. Sadly, it was late enough that the Lewis & Clark Visitor Center was already closed. But hey, we got a picture of the replica boat.

As we approached Lincoln, there was a severe storm moving towards us. Tornado warnings were issued in the area we were heading straight towards. There wasn’t really anywhere else to go, so we pushed onward, hoping for the storm’s severity to lessen. Thankfully, the storm’s energy was short-lived and downgraded to a severe thunderstorm. We experienced pouring rain and lots of lighting, eventually tapering off to “just” heavy rain for ahile. The clouds finally diminished some so that we got the barest glimpse of the sun. (Below, those are not mountains in the distance. That’s all lower level clouds!)

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After surviving the storm, we finally stopped for dinner in Grand Island (which seems like a funny town name in the middle of the country). We were nearly literally blown away when we stepped out of the car. Although it was only two hours since our last stop, the temperature had dropped from 75 to 52…and was crazy windy! So, we blew into a unique dinner place–Max’s Thunder Road Grill. It wasn’t just a car-themed restaurant, it was also a car-enthusiast museum. They had taken notes from Hard Rock Cafe on how to deck a place out–from the uniformly placed pictures to the un-randomly set antiques/memorabilia and all under carefully chosen lighting. Had a surprisingly good dinner and coffee, and then I found my dream car. Hahaha, we’re gonna need better paying jobs if I’m gonna buy that one!

The drive home was dark. It’s too bad it was cloudy, because I bet this place has great dark skies. Of course, I always have my stars in Mara (since he put in that awesome starlight liner). This was a super long day over five states, with 12 hours drive time but about 15 hours actual time. Maybe we found where our actual daily drive limit is. Like, we were so tired that I swear I saw three bridges in a row say Beaver Creek. And then Thom was super spooked by an unexpected large shadow of a bridge in the middle of nowhere. It turns out, that this was The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. Probably would be pretty interesting if we had come through during the day. But alas, it was very much night. We finally made it to the hotel and fell right in bed.

The next day has much in store…

The Grand Drive – Homeward Bound

Our last night away was in the super-cool Hotel Frederick in Boonville MO. The Kelleys had recommended this as a great hotel and area, as well as a halfway point on a two-day drive from Colorado Springs to Kennesaw. We rolled in pretty late last night, but the Brick Room was still hopping with live music. We had to take off this morning before the adjacent town got moving, but the whole area seemed great for wandering, shopping, and playing. I wish we had an extra day for this Missouri to Georgia stretch for more sight-seeing, but work calls us both back tomorrow.

Our main stop for the day was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. On a short road trip with the kids in summer 2021, we visited the Arch and rode a river boat down the Mississippi. Thom wasn’t able to join us on that trip, and he didn’t really want to go up in the Arch today, as he hates heights (and had his fill of heights on Pike’s Peak). But, you have to stop and marvel at this 600+ foot tall structure that’s the largest arch in the world. Although it’s known as the Gateway to the West, it is (for us) the gateway back east. I walked poor Thom to death in search of the proper park entrance for the Arch, but we ended up seeing the Federal Reserve building, making me think of dad. We left the Arch before it started raining and stopped at Raising Cane’s for a Father’s Day lunch. :)

We thought about stopping in Metropolis (IL) to see the touristy Superman stuff, but the pouring rain shut that idea down. It’s hard to complain about the weather, as we were blessed with mostly great weather for nine days. We had a few showers here and there, but we’ve seen really bad weather right behind us or right before us yet missed the bad stuff.

We were able to enjoy numerous bridges from Missouri to Kentucky crossing more big rivers, including the Missouri River, Mississippi River, Ohio River, & Tennessee River.

As we rolled into TN, it felt more like home than a road trip. I’ve made the Kennesaw to Nashville/Smyrna drive more times than I can count to see family. If you haven’t driven this path, it really is beautiful. The drive through Monteagle goes over the Cumberland Plateau and then across Nickajack Lake. There are some stunning vistas to enjoy if you’re not the driver. It doesn’t seem nearly as large and the road doesn’t seem dangerous now that I’ve been out west, but it’s still an enjoyable stretch of road. As you come off Monteagle and head towards Chattanooga, you get some great valley views and (my favorite part), you get to follow the curves of the Tennessee River for a bit. As we leave TN and into GA, I definitely feel home already.

I think it could go without saying that I’m glad Thom made this trip happen. We were in a weird place in life with the “baby” graduating high school last spring and launching into adulthood. There have been so many changes in how our day-to-day lives operate now that the kids are all doing their own things. (Speaking of which, yes, I know I need to update my profile on this blog!) Thom and I have embraced driving adventures together this year (around home base), and that’s been really good having something we do, just the two of us. While we’ve had a weekend away together here and there, we haven’t really traveled just the two of us on this scale. We’ve enjoyed this trip all the way from months of planning together to the very last moment of this last day.

All in all, we traveled 15 states, 7 of which I haven’t been to before. We crossed the Continental Divide twice and crossed most of the major rivers in the country. We saw car tags from all the states except Hawaii and Alaska although we stayed at a B&B with folks from Hawaii. We spent over 100 hours in the car, either traveling or sight-seeing. We drove right about 5000 miles over the past 10 days. We laughed over the different GPS warnings across the country (like “roadkill ahead” or “pothole in road”–that last one would go off all the time if people chose that alert in Atlanta). We listened to music spanning many decades, enjoyed hours of podcasts (mainly “A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs”), and connected with one another through great conversations. I got to take pictures and write & Thom got to drive the Mustang. We had nearly all our preconceived notions blown away. We found beauty along many roads (okay, but it’s true that Kansas, while pretty, became monotonous fast). We also met amazing people all along the way. We basically experienced three seasons and an incredible amount of variety in the geology and landscapes. So many moments were beautiful and breathtaking.

It truly was grand–an epic journey with the love of my life. Here’s ’til I travel again.

Travel America -On the Road Again

Our time in DC was over, and it was time to hit the road to travel America a little more. We headed out of Virginia and through DC, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey before hitting our first stop in Philadelphia. We enjoyed traveling through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and went over quite a few beautiful, old bridges. We also discovered that the northeast is the land of toll roads. (I knew there would be tolls, but was spoiled by my days of the 50 cent toll on Georgia 400…the New Jersey tolls were in the $4 – $12 range.)

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Our first adventure in Philly was, of course, the Philly Cheesesteak experience. My friend Tricia had given us advance notice that we had to experience Pat’s King of Steaks AND Geno’s Steaks. (Pat’s claims to have created the cheesesteak, and Geno’s claims to have added cheese and therefore, perfected it.) So, we navigated what seemed like days of tightly packed one-way streets filled with housing, cars parked on both sides of the streets, and pedestrians haphazardly crossing the road. We found the locations and then circled a few blocks in search of a minivan-sized parallel spot (thank goodness Thom was driving). We were shocked by the chilly temps when we got out, but that’s what hoodies are for (except Thom, who laughed at the rest of us packing hoodies.) Although we were hungry, we certainly weren’t going to eat twice, so we decided on a divide-and-conquer style of trying the two places. The girls went to Geno’s and the guys went to Pat’s and we ended up with a variety of provolone, whiz, and wit (with onions). Thankfully it wasn’t crowded (midweek and school was still in), so we didn’t have a line and could figure out how to order correctly. (I understand these places are a lot like the Varsity when busy; if you aren’t ready to belt out your order, then you’re sent to the back of the line.) Geno’s had lots of indoor seating, but we didn’t want to bring a competitor’s food inside. Pat’s had lots of outside covered seating, so we sat on the backside of the restaurant to eat together.

 

Geno’s had one line for fries and drinks, with a separate line for steaks. While there were lots of specialty sandwiches (with lots of different toppings), we went with the classics. Elizabeth ordered “whiz wit” and I ordered “provolone wit” – plus we got fries (which came with a fork stuck in the fries), a coke, and a birch beer. Over at Pat’s, the guys could order everything at once; Thom ordered a provolone, Alexander ordered a provolone wit, and Brandon ordered a whiz wit – plus they got cokes and cheese fries.
At a glance, Pat’s sandwich looked more like a classic cheesesteak. The meat was thinner/chopped and the sandwich was served open. Geno’s steak was thicker and the sandwich came wrapped up. Both breads were delicious, but Geno’s bread had that extra soft, melt in your mouth feeling. The onions were virtually the same (soft and sweet), and the provolone and cheese whiz was pretty much the same at both places. I didn’t think I would like something “fake” like cheese whiz (and I normally make my cheesesteaks with provolone), but I was obviously wrong. The whiz mixed in with the onions and meat and bread to make something magical. While all the sandwiches were great, I have to say I would go for Geno’s whiz wit if I ever went back (so Elizabeth’s sandwich won). Of course, there were some differing opinions…Thom’s not an onion person (but he did say ours with onions were good) and I think he just can’t admit fake cheese was better than real cheese. The fries were all fine, with Pat’s being a little better. Also, everyone liked the birch beer (and it was a great compliment to the heavy sandwiches).

 

With full bellies, we navigated out of the inner city and headed into the touristy area of Philly. We went down to Independence Hall and walked off lunch a little before heading to the Liberty Bell. It was intriguing to see this piece of history and learn how it’s been a symbol of freedom for many groups of people throughout the years. It was a little difficult to take a good picture with the bell, because of the crowds and because of the lighting, (it was in front of a large glass window, so it was back-lit). Still, this was a worthy stop as we continued the journey of getting up close to American history.

 

 

From Philly, we headed towards our final destination, Glastonbury CT. We marveled at all the industry in New Jersey (when we weren’t counting out dollar bills for tolls), and laughed about the NJ logo “The Garden State” since our limited view featured nothing but smoke stacks, industrial buildings, and ship yards. Some of the industry was intriguing, like a huge complex with railroad cars stacked higher than you could count and for as far as the eye could see. (The quick pic I got doesn’t really do this justice.) The most exciting part of the drive came right after we passed the NYC skyline. Waze directed us off the interstate and right towards NYC, and Thom lost his mind temporarily (I believe his words were “I’ll jump out of this car if we end up on New York city streets” and I believe he was fairly serious about it in that moment.) After a few minutes of serious stress, we saw that the GPS was taking us along the New Jersey coastline (to avoid highway traffic). That stretch of road was absolutely beautiful, and was peppered with exciting views of the NYC skyline.

 

 

The day was filled with more fun in the car, including books, video games, and the phone version of Life. We enjoyed lots of tunes again, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, PTX, Slow Children at Play, the Singles soundtrack, Enya, and the Allstate orchestra disc. We rolled into Connecticut in time for dinner, and met Deejay for some “New England food”, which turned out to be an awesome pizza place. (I only think of Clam Chowder when I hear New England food, but it turns out that, in addition to seafood, there’s some awesome pizza and buffalo chicken up there…and the guys combined forces with a bacon scallop pizza.)  Lizzy’s favorite thing about the place was a car parked out front featuring a tag that said “Das Vhip”.

Reflections: Elizabeth loved having real cheesesteaks, but she was most impacted by the drive. She felt like she would always remember listening to her Allstate orchestra CD (and her favorite writer/conductor, Brian Balmages) while driving through the mountains at sunset. Thom couldn’t settle on a favorite moment as he enjoyed lunch, dinner, and the liberty bell, but he was most excited about seeing Deejay. Alexander loved the food experiences, as you might expect from a teenage boy. Brandon thought the Liberty Bell was amazing and really embraced it as a symbol of freedom.