Day 6 (Pike's Peak)

Day 6
June 27, 2006
Sightseeing in Colorado Springs

We set out for Pike’s Peak by car in the early morning. We paid $30 and were given a map that showed a 19-mile-long road that climbed 8,000 feet elevation. The upper portion of the road was dirt. We saw only 2 sections of guardrail the whole way. The most surprising thing to us was the difference in temperature between the base and summit. It was 40 degrees colder at the top (37 versus 77). We even saw some snow flurries while walking around up there!

The views were awesome. We could see for miles in every direction, including views of several lakes and reservoirs below. The valley floor east of Colorado Springs looked just like the scenery one would typically see out the window of an airplane.

While on the way up to the summit, we passed the timber line at about 12,000 feet. Above that point we all remarked at how much the terrain, landscape and weather reminded us of Iceland.

We felt some effects from the altitude, primarily some lightheadedness if we moved around too quickly. Everyone there seemed to be walking slowly, like COPDers normally do.

While driving up the road to the top, I received a phone call from the manager at the Welcome Center saying that a stranger, no doubt one with Midwest morals, found the camera in the men’s bathroom and turned it into the volunteer staff. I quickly called Don Stewart in Flagstaff and asked him if I could have the camera shipped to his house where we plan to be on July 7. He agreed, so I called the welcome center back and they said they will mail it to Don’s house. What a relief that was!

We then drove part of a scenic loop named the Gold Belt Tour that includes Phantom Canyon Road as one of its legs. Phantom Canyon Road can only be described as a highway engineering masterpiece. It is a dirt, mostly 1 lane with some 2-lane sections, twisting, winding track that goes for 25 miles up, down, over and through (tunnels) some of the most rugged canyon lands any of us had ever seen. In places it was only 15 feet between sheer vertical stone walls. Spectacular! Both kids thought it was better than Pike’s Peak.

We next drove to Royal Gorge to see the World’s highest suspension bridge (just over 1000 feet above the Arkansas River). In a word, this was disappointing. We were charged $50 for a 1-hour look at the bridge, including the rights to walk and drive across it. The town that owns the bridge has made it into a cheesy tourist trap. The only reason we paid 50 bucks to walk across a bridge was that we drove so darn far to get to it. Today we drove more than 230 miles, 80 miles of it at 20 MPH or slower! Tomorrow we all agree no more long rides in the car!

Day 5 (Sleeping by the Rockies)

Day 5
June 26, 2006
Salina, KS to Colorado Springs, CO (422 miles)

The Salina campground continued to fill up late into the evening. After speaking to other campers, this is clearly a waypoint between Colorado and St. Louis. EVERYONE planned to head east or west this morning. We have never seen so many people pull up stakes in a campground for an early start. Many of the travel trailers and 5th wheels didn’t unhook from their vehicles. The overnight low was 58 degrees, so we awoke to a chill in the air this morning. In spite of the cool temperature, there was very little dew. We sense that we are about to transition to the real desert. What a change in weather this is from Thursday when we felt high heat and humidity in West Virginia and Kentucky.

As we drove across Kansas and eastern Colorado, the land really opened up. Gradually trees became less and less common. Eventually the only trees were cottonwoods growing along creeks. The wind is continuous. We saw hundreds of windmills and oil rigs in the fields along I-70. There are many exits in western Kansas that are built to Interstate Highway System standards with long, gently curving ramps and viaducts, of course, which lead to dirt roads at the edge of the Interstate right-of-way. It seems kind of wasteful to us. We saw tractor trailer triples and full-sized (53’) doubles on the road. They looked like trains! Can you imagine them on the Capital Beltway?

We crossed into the Mountain Time zone in western Kansas and shortly thereafter stopped at the Colorado Welcome Center in Burlington to get a map for Emily who has been collecting and referencing state maps as we cross each state. For reasons that are still unclear to even Frank, he wanted to take the camera into the rest area with him. He left it in the bathroom. We drove 280 miles farther, arriving in Colorado Springs before we noticed it was missing. Panic set in as we played through our minds what was lost. Not just a very nice camera, but also about a dozen photos (from today, hence no photos with this post) and three memory cards and 6 expensive rechargeable batteries. Plus the camera case. We called 411, and, amazingly enough, got a phone number for the rest area with very little difficulty. We called but they were closed, so we left a message and hoped for the best. If Walt, Mark or Mya of Engine 23 were with us, Frank would give them our camera to hold for him (inside joke)!

The drive to Colorado Springs included an 80 mile section on a 2-lane road that crossed the last bit of the prairie before, suddenly before us, the Rocky Mountains came into view. There were very few if any foothills before 14,000 foot high, monstrous stone peaks stood before us. Colorado Springs is built on the flat land just east of some of the highest peaks in the Rockies.

The campground was nothing special and very crowded. People were in C. Springs from all over the county. We met a fire fighter from Chicago and another one from a suburb of Detroit. Both were very friendly and helpful with directions and advice on what to see and do in C. Springs. We felt we had no choice but to buy a new digital camera to replace the one that Frank lost. We called Frank’s brother, Jonnie, for advice on which model to buy and dropped $250 on a new camera at Wal-Mart.

Although we would never choose to live in Kansas, there were some wonderful things about it. For instance, you pumped your gasoline before you paid for it in the places where we stopped, and the fast food workers are smart and friendly. It is such a pleasure to have competent people with a pleasant attitude wait on you!

Day 4 (Same roads, different world)

Day 4
June 25, 2006
Cahokia, IL to Salina, KS (427 miles)

There is no way around it, America is huge! We drove west from St. Louis across Missouri and then 1/3 of the way across Kansas. Except for Kansas City and Topeka, both of which are small cities, there was NOTHING. Hilly country gave way to flat, grassy land. We may run out of water, fossil fuels and clean air in America, but we will never run out of space to put people. It’s hard to remember when you live on the east coast that most of the United States is largely empty.

The highlight of the day was buying gas in Warrenton, MO and Alma, KS (our minivan has developed a twice-a-day habit).

It was a cinch to level the trailer at our KOA campsite in Salina; the whole place was completely flat like the rest of Kansas! Early to bed tonight, we have another 400+ mile day tomorrow.

Day 3 (From the arch to custard)

Day 3
June 24, 2006
Sightseeing in St. Louis

We awoke to perfect weather conditions this morning—cool, breezy and dry. After a leisurely breakfast, we headed across the Mississippi River to the downtown St. Louis Riverfront where the arch is located. After purchasing tickets for a 1:50 PM tram ride to the top of the arch, we had 3+ hours to kill so we walked around downtown taking in the sights, including the New Busch Stadium. Frank was impressed that they were able to build a new stadium in the time since he attended the next to the last game played at Old Busch in October (playoffs against Houston). Old Busch stood next to the new stadium, and has since been torn down.

While in line to board the tram, Margaret Hegmann, a friend from our church, walked up to us and said “Hi Hazzards!” She was in town attending the UUA General Assembly. The views of the city and river from the top of the arch were impressive. We shot some video and took several photos. We then drove west to Grant’s Farm, a free, small zoo owned and operated by Anheuser-Busch. This farm is on the land that President Grant owned and occupied shortly after he married.

Before heading back to our campsite, we stopped by the Ted Drewes world famous custard stand www.teddrewes.com and had a dose of hedonism. All in all, it was a good day.

Day 2 (We're in St. Louis)

Day 2
June 23, 2006
Olive Hill, KY to Cahokia, IL (427 miles)

We woke this morning to a wet trailer, but since we had more than 400 miles to travel, we didn’t have the luxury of waiting for the canvass to dry, so we folded it up wet.

The West-Virginia-like, eastern Kentucky mountains gradually gave way today to rolling hills in western Kentucky and Indiana, and flatlands as we crossed Illinois. We got a first dose of wide open spaces in Indiana where there wasn’t much to see except a ribbon of highway, crops, oil wells and natural cover. We ate lunch and bought gasoline (for the second time today) in Elberfeld, Indiana. At least the gas prices have been about 25 cents per gallon cheaper than they were in Maryland when we left. We have averaged 18.8 miles per gallon on our first three tanks of fuel.

We arrived at our destination, a private RV park near East St. Louis, at about 4 PM Central time. We swam in the pool and ate dinner. We caught a glimpse of the arch while we were driving to our campground. Tomorrow should be exciting.

Day 1 (Ahead of schedule)

Day 1
June 22, 2006
Clarksville, MD to Olive Hill, KY (440 miles)

On the first day we planned to drive 352 miles to Charleston, WV, but the thought of arriving at 2:30 in the afternoon and spending the rest of the day sweating outside (it was 96 degrees at 1:00 PM) combined with the thought of driving 505 miles the next day inspired us to press on!

We ended up at Carter Caves State Park in eastern Kentucky. We arrived at about 4:30 and immediately went for a swim in the cool, refreshing water of the park’s pool.

After midnight, a tremendous thunderstorm blew through camp, dumping heavy rain with lightning for more than 2 hours. We were fine in our trailer, but we felt sorry for some nearby tenters who took a beating.

We're On Our Way!

We finally hit the road at 8:06 this morning, headed for Charleston, West Virginia. Our sincere thanks go out to all the family and friends who helped us prepare for this trip. A special thank you to our neighbor, Pete, for the final checkup on the minivan, and to the Young's for their generous gifts to our children.
Video: On Our Way.wmv (850KB)

Pre-trip Update

Only 12 days to go before we launch! There is so much more to do before we'll be ready. This week, with the help of Frank's father, we are working on the trailer, primarily building in shelves in an attempt to maximize the storage in such a small space. There is a LOT of stuff we want to take!