EPILOGUE for trip -Aug 25 - Oct 11 2015

Great trip.  Would we do it again? No, because we've done it.  But, yes we are pleased that we did it and look forward to further exploratory road trips. Some summary details of the trip:

• started with 2 people, finished with (the same) 2 people! Yes, the relationship remains intact.
• 48 days
• summer to fall weather
• 14,885 km (9,300 miles) - see maps below for routing
• 'top down' for approx. 75% of the trip
• 1.5 mm of tire tread used
• 48 fill-ups with gas
• 7.23 L/100km (31.6 mpg-US; 37.7 mpg-Imperial)
• 6 provinces (Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI)
• 23 states (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts,New Hampshire, Main, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota)

Map vs GPS: If you plan the route and have maps, along with a navigating passenger, then maybe you won't need the gps unit. It was nice to complete the entire trip the 'old school' way, without use of the gps entirely.

It helps to be flexible, when you're doing 15,000 km a wrong turn here or they doesn't mean much.  Enjoy the unplanned routing for the time it lasts. Remember, route signage doesn't always appear where we think it should.

Take a break, even a short one, every couple of hours and the longer travel days will be much more tolerable.

If the driver stays focused on the road and driving, the passenger navigator can be free to refer to maps and travel guides from time to time.  A 'talk and text' cell phone plan doesn't hurt either.

If you're thinking of traveling south and eastward, similar to our route, talk with us as we would likely have some recommendations.

North America has prairies running north/south -you have to cross them on long east/west journeys. Enjoy the drainage areas and the foliage that is adjacent.

How about the U.S. west coast next?              

..../David & Susan

Eastbound route
 

 Return, Westbound route

11 Oct 2015 Day 48 - To Home in Canmore

Back on the road by 8:00 for our last travel day of the trip. Left Pincher Creek and headed over to hwy 22 to enjoy the run to Longview.  After picking up coffee, the next leg of the trip was northwest over the Highwood Pass.  The drive was great and we loved being back in 'our' mountains.  Weather was variable as we did run into snow showers approaching the pass, and then rain north of the pass. As we proceeded past Nakiska, we ran out of cloud cover, put the top down for the open road experience and found some blue sky. Arrived back in Canmore at 11:30.

10 Oct 2015 North Dakota-Montana-Alberta

We headed out at 8 am on what was to be a mainly sunny day.  A few miles down the road we crossed into Montana, which we would be traveling across most of the day.  In Montana the Dept. of Highways places crosses adjacent to the highway where a traffic fatality occurs; definitely it serves as a reminder to the fragility of life when running the roads. What was really impactful was the significant number of crosses that we saw when crossing aboriginal lands - too many in too many places, and too many at any incident point. We just looked at a MacLean's article regarding aboriginal challenges (deaths, school dropouts, assaults on women, etc.) - so many years have gone by and these societal issues (including alcoholism and drug addiction) remain and waste too many 'could have been' lives.

Montana is definitely 'big sky country', but as highway 2 crosses the land, the sights do vary, especially as the rolling hills appear and the trees in the watershed areas.  Nicer scenery than in North Dakota where the view seems to be a never ending series of gas wells.

Beautiful and enjoyable trip from Browning to the Border, running along hwy 89 most of the way with the twists and turns, hills and valleys.  A little late too see fall colours as most of the trees have shed their leaves.  All the tourist areas were boarded up for winter, with little to no gas available between Browning and Cardston.  Chief Mountain Border crossing was closed, so we took the route through Cardston, then worked our way west to Pincher Creek for the night.

Arrived at 5:30 Mountain Time (picked up an hour with the time change, so 6:30 Central Time) and completed our longest travel day of 940 km

9 Oct 2015 - Minnesota - North Dakota (Williston)

The usual start at 8:00 am, but first a trip into a nearby park to enjoy viewing the Mississippi River, as we didn't really get a good glimpse yesterday (see pic). Cool this morning, but no rain so that was nice.

A comment re yesterday:
- question of the day. An age 20's young man at a gas station noticed that my license plate had 'Alberta' on it.  His question-"Hey, where is Alberta? Somewhere in Minnesota?" In trying to give a thoughtful and educational answer, I said "North of Montana".  That was met with silence (and I wasn't going to try to explain where Montana is!) OK, enough of that.

A comment re today:
Gotta' love highway signage, advertising and placement.  Saw an ad sign "Adoption - the good thing to do" (or something similar). A 100 meters down the road - a highway sign "Adopt a highway"! Don't think that is what the advert was intended for.

The nice weather saw us putting the top down for the day from about 10:30 onwards. Temperatures hovered around 12 Celcius for most of the day, but warmed up a few more degrees when we hit North Dakota.

North Dakota - the land is flat and the roads are straight, notwithstanding the occasional curve just to break up the drive. Much farming plus gas field/sites continuously.  These two industries intermingled seems to work, but the traffic with large trucks crossing a 70 mph highway with uncontrolled access -- must be some bad accidents from time to time. Also, ND presents a good reminder of the Cold War era, with old missile silos, and in Cooperstown there is the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Control station (decommissioned) that is the only station of its kind that can be visited and toured by the public. What else - oh yeah - only country music on the radio - if it ain't country, it ain't radio!

Went by Fargo - why? - because it is Fargo (and you have to have loved the movie).

Rugby - see pic.  The geographic centre of North America.  The way I figure it, if you visit Rugby then on average you have been everywhere in North America.  At least this attempt at logic makes sense to me! 

Tonight we're in Williston, ND, arriving at 7:00pm.  938 km today, so our longest day on the entire trip.  We're close to Montana now, so might get to Alberta (maybe Waterton) tomorrow.

8 Oct 2015 Michigan - Wisconsin - Minnesota

Headed westward after breakfast at McD's.  8:00 am start on a cool and rainy day; drizzle and rain finally cleared in mid-afternoon, so the top came off of the Miata for awhile even though it was no more than 10 Celcius.  Gained an hour today as we entered the Central Time Zone in Minnesota, so we drove until approx. 5:00 pm Central Time to Baxter Minn. (near Brainerd).  Even though it was overcast all day, the drive is beautiful and we recommend to all the drive along the southern side of Lake Superior.  The colours were bold, but not brilliant only due to lack of sun.  We are hopeful that tomorrow that will be rectified and we will have sunshine. Crossed the Mississippi River near here; didn't expect that but here the river is. Completed about 770 km today (12,700 km cumulative), so we're a little ahead of plan by a couple of hours.

4-7 Oct 2015

4-Sunday - we headed back south from Collingwood to Ballentrae to enjoy a surprise 50th wedding anniversary of our friends Bill and Carol.  Great to be part of the special celebration and surprise event.  Also wonderful time to get together with their friends and family.  Following the celebration, we drove north to Huntsville, trailing Bill and Carol, to their cottage which we had not seen.
(Note: a year for 50th wedding anniversaries as Les and Carole celebrated theirs Oct 2nd in Canmore - sorry we missed it but we managed to get in a phone call)

5- Monday - enjoyed the day around the cottage with Bill and Carol, with some walking in and some very local sight-seeing. Had a 'turkey' dinner at the cottage; also in attendance were Bill and Carol's friends Don and Donna -- Carol commissioned Donna to do a painting of the cottage as a surprise gift for Bill, which he very much appreciated (nothing like the perfect gift) - Great painting Donna.

6- Tuesday - toured to Algonquin Park with Bill and Carol.  We hadn't been there in a number of years, and enjoyed the trip, especially the walk around the outdoor logging museum near the western end of the Park.  A nice evening dinner at the Pub on the Docks.  The day ended with some very unfortunate news, as we learned that our Canmore friend Bob Sanderson passed away suddenly. A big blow to his wife Lesley, the family and the many friends that they have.  Our condolences to Lesley and family.

7- Wednesday - up early to get on the road west-bound to Alberta by 8:00 am.  Nice cool drive north to Sudbury and then westward to Sault St. Marie to cross into the U.S. Beautiful fall colours much of the trip. Modified our trip plan and decided to head westward and skip the Macinanc area.  Reached Newberry, Mich. at 4:30 pm, staying at the rustic but nice (and cost effective) Gateway Motel.  A very good and inexpensive steak dinner at Timber Charlie's restaurant/bar. About 660 km covered today, and with our more northern route, we're a little ahead of schedule.  Came across a 'bear ranch' for tourists - see the pic - doesn't seem right to do this to bears!

1-3 Oct 2015

Thursday - Had breakfast at friends Sandra and Paul, along with Grahame and Lynne.  A great 'catch up' with folks. A wonderful but ever to brief visit.  

Then off to Collingwood to visit with Ray and Fran and stay overnight.  Jean and Jacquie were also dinner guests and we had a great dinner and evening.

Friday - David headed back to Ballentrae to meet up with Trevor and head into Toronto to attend the BMO Pensioner Luncheon, which was most enjoyable.  The free lunch is nice, but the treat is saying hi and having brief discussions with many ex-colleagues acquired over his 25 years in Toronto with BMO.  While David can attend the Calgary annual luncheon, there are few to no people that he knows, so attending the Toronto luncheon is a terrific opportunity. Back to Ballentrae and then a trip back to Collingwood to meet up with Susan at Jacquie's place.  Chinese food was the order of the evening, but it started off with the traditional martini.  Watch the 'Jays' win another game - nice for Canada to have a winning team and one that has potential for play-off wins.

Saturday - A nice breakfast with Jacq at the golf club, and then did a few things about the house.  A nice relaxing day, with our Collingwood friends (as per Thursday) over tonight for dinner.

25-30 Sept 2015 - Toronto

Friday - a relaxing morning and afternoon.  A little shopping with friends, then an evening out with Colin  (retired BMO friend) and Cheryl, and Chris and Julie at our favourite Greek restaurant on Bloor - Just Greek (Royal York subway area).

Saturday - a TFC game with Chris (see pic), along

with his friend Keith and Keith's dad - Paul.  TFC 3-2 win over Chicago Fire - not a clean win, but a win nevertheless.  Beautiful sunny day with moderate temperature.  Dinner with Keith's family and parents at DRIFT (on Bloor, east of Dufferin) with all.

Sunday - an opportunity to take Chris for a ride in the roadster and see some GTHL hockey, with Chris doing some 'Lining' and 'Reffing'.  Good hockey; clearly saw some of the newer Hockey Canada rules in place, especially as regards any hits to the head - no matter how minor it is a 2 minute penalty - good for the sport and more importantly for those people who will continue to play hockey for a few years. While I was at hockey, Julie treated Susan to a  'SPA' morning which she greatly enjoyed.  Dinner was with our long standing friends Karen and John - a great chance to catch up with each other and update on the happenings of the respective family members.

Monday - Lunch at the PILOT in Toronto with work colleagues Carol and Richard. Always great to catch up with wonderful colleagues and friends. Hope to see them again Friday at the BMO Toronto Pensioner Luncheon.  Dinner with Chris and Julie at a Mexican restaurant (Cantina on Dundas).

Tuesday - A chance to drop by Chris' school and see the new classroom that he is in for the year.  Met his grades 4/5 class, the Principal, Secretary and another 4/5 teacher.  A quick lunch near the school for the three of us.  Tonight we webt with Chris and Julie to catch up with Mercedes / Ian (both friends of Chris) and their 3 kids; went out to Margarrita Pizza on Queen St. which turned out to be excellent.

Wednesday - we headed north to Ballentrae for 1 night together with Friends Debbie and Trevor who hosted a dinner inviting Susan's cousin Marilyn and friends Bill and Carol. Great evening. 

22 - 24 Sept 2015 -

22 - Breakfast just north of town at The Woodsman - good traditional breakfast at a very good price (pancakes, eggs, bacon with coffee for $7.00). Got on the road at 8;45 and headed north along a canyon road and past the ski area - Sugarloaf.  An uneventful border crossing at 11:30 and then into the southern part of Quebec through beautiful farm country and small towns - each announcing their distant presence through the ever rising church spires.  Arrived in Lennoxville at about 12:30 (180 km) and met up with Burt - a close bank colleague and a prior boss of David's.  Had a wonderful visit with a lot of reminiscing regarding various days in the Bank.  Enjoyed looking at Burt's fully restored Model A Ford - 1931. After a great evening of discussion, scotch and wine along with dinner, we were getting set for the next short leg of our trip.

23 - A very nice traditional breakfast with Burt, then off to Ontario by 8:15 am. We by-passed Montreal by staying south and arrived at our friends Ray and Betts, near xxxxxxxxxx, on Lake Ontario, at 3:00 (570 km). Great opportunities for Susan to enjoy a swim in the lake, a nice walk for all and a wonderful visit to do a little catching up on things.

24 - After a very nice light breakfast on the deck beside the water, we headed out for Toronto at 10:00 am.  At Oshawa we stopped (noon) to visit our friends Carley and John, and caught up with each other over lunch. Then off to Toronto to our friends Cheryl and Colin who we first met in Montreal shortly after our relocation there in 1976 from Calgary.  Arrived at 3:00 (190 km).  Dinner out with Chris at Julie's and Kelly's place - a very nice and special evening with Chris and people special to him.

Our trip to date, beginning on Aug 25, has covered 10,340 km. We're looking forward to more time in Toronto before we head a bit north to see other friends.

21 Sept 2015 - Kingfield, Maine

8:00 am was the leaving time to embark on the return trip west.  Cool but sunny, and with all the dew, we waited until near Fredricton to put the top down.  We decided to cross the border by way of going through McAdam N.B. (an old railway station - see pic - very large in its day with a dining room and lunch counter along with rooms for overnight guests -- now a museum), and took a picnic lunch break while there. While in Maine saw a couple of covered wooden bridges - always a treat.Then enjoyed the route through Maine on highway 16, staying overnight in Kingfield, south of our planned border crossing tomorrow; this route will take us up a nice canyon road past 'Sugarloaf' ski resort, along the Quebec border to Lennoxville to visit with a prior bank colleague - Burt - who we are very much looking forward to spending some time with.. The hotel (Herbert Hotel - see pic) in Kingfield goes back to 1918 and is very nice -- small, etc., but we appreciate the old building and the efforts to maintain its history for us to enjoy. Covered 720km today, and moved into the Eastern time zone from Atlantic, so got an hour back! Had a nice dinner at 'Longfellows', directly across from the hotel.

18, 19, 20 Sept 2015 - PEI

We have had a wonderful stay on the Island  at cousin Margaret and Mark's cottage, and will be heading westward tomorrow morning.

Friday evening was our opportunity to go the Emerald Junction - Susan's favourite place on the Island due to family history and childhood memories from past visits here.  Friday is when the 'Boxcar Lounge' is open (lok for the flashing railway crossing lights - indicates that the Boxcar is open for business, and tonight was special as their last Ceildh (easy to say, hard to spell and pronounce from spelling)of the summer season was being held this evening. A nice evening with friends and relatives, basic food selection at a reasonable price, then Island entertainment at its best for $10 per person -- a great time and wonderful event (and yes, this involved use of the 'fiddle' - it was a Ceildh of course).

Saturday - a brief tour around the Island between Charolottetown and Summerside. An oil change as we've put 8,700 km on so far this trip.  Dinner down the road at a 'family style' restaurant -- true to form, their wine selection consisted of 'red and white' -- makes ordering wine a simple matter.  Beer comes with a broader range of choice.  The evening was capped of with a 'night cap' back at the cottage - what else but some good ol' 'moonshine' made by the nephew of a cousin.  Add a little lemon to it, and the palatability improves.

Sunday - a 'brunch' get-together at the cottage with some close cousins.  Our last chance to see folks before heading out tomorrow.

A couple of pics from cottage are attached.

17 Sept 2015 arrived in P.E.I.

We're here in PEI- our most eastern leg of the trip. 

But earlier today - after having breakfast with Susan's cousin, Norma-Jean, we said goodbye to Halifax and headed back to New Brunswick and then east to PEI, arriving at cousin Margaret and Mark's about 2:30.  309 km driving on a beautiful warm and sunny day.  Enjoyed being by the ocean on the Northumberland Strait, with a strong S.W. wind kicking up the waves for Susan's swim. Wonderful seafood and fish dinner at Margaret's, with salad fresh from the garden.  Great sunset with the Confederation Bridge providing silhouette.  Off to cousin Clara's for early lunch tomorrow. Maybe go for a drive since we really seem to like that sort of thing!!

15 -16 Sept 2015 - Wolfville & Halifax NS

Tues- left St Stephen's by 8:00 and had a nice drive to Wolfville, arriving at 3:00 pm after 580 km. Great to see our friends Lynn and Neil and daughter Anna-Joy; hadn't seen them in a number of years and it was great to catch up while also enjoying a wonderful dinner in.  The great thing with friends is you pick up where you last left off, jump to the recent past and present - because the intervening years don't change the 'relationship'. Wonderful visit.

Wed - No need to start early, so we headed out for Halifax at 10:00 after a leisurely breakfast.   90 km later we were in Halifax, staying at the Waverly Inn, an old large private residence now a nice inn, preserving a hertitage home (1876). Met with an acquaintance, Sherry, who was very hospitable - lunch by the habour and then off to Pier 21 to see where post-war returnees , war brides, immigrants and refugees first landed on Canadian soil. Also a chance to see the ship's manifest with my dad's name as he returned to Canada at age 24 (Jan 1947) after having left Canada at age 16 on an extended vacation with his mother -- and remained in England due to the breakout of war, subsequently completing war service as a result. Much history and thoughts as to what life must have been like - an experience we were fortunate not to have had. Dad returned to Canada as a married young man, along with his mother and wife's parents - 8 years of major life changing experiences.

14 Sept 2015 to New Brunswick

We took the 7:15 ferry off the Island on a beautiful sunny morning and having said our goodbyes to friends (see pics). After landing at Woods Hole we drove to Falmouth for breakfast, then on the road for the main travel day by 9:00.  Easy drive around Boston and continued north into New Hampshire and then Maine, having now covered 18 states. Border crossing into Canada was easy, with nothing to declare and as fully supported by the sixe of our transportation. Decided to spend the night at St. Stephen NB, having arrived at 6:00pm (lost an hour as we crossed into Atlantic Time). 700 km today. Went to Carmans Diner for dinner - over 65 years in business- basic but nice.

13 Sept 2015 - last day at Naushon

Overcast most of the day with some rain.  Went on a walk to Mary Lake and viewed the turtles, including 'Snapping Turtles' in the lake. Last day for Susan swimming in the ocean.  The last of great meals with everyone in our shared house; a wonderful visit with our Canmore friends - what a great place to get together. Plan to get down to the ferry for 7:15 am departure, then take the ring roads and side roads to get around and north of Boston.  Goal is to be near the Canadian border for tomorrow night.

11-12 Sep 2015 - Naushon

Fri - did a hike to the north end of the island to see the lower harbour area and some more houses. Lots of Poison Ivy on the island so there is always the need to be careful at the edge of trails or if going off-trail. Much off the bush on the island is Cat-Berry, which has lots of large thorns and is vine-like. Neither beast nor man can venture more than a few inches into this invasive growth.

Sat - did a hike along the main road to Tarpaulin Beach where a number of boats had dropped anchor.  A good 10 km round trip hike on a clear and sunny warm day. See pic with Martha's Vineyard in the background.

9-10 Sept 2015. Naushon activities

Wed. - Did a hike along the north side of the island - hot, humid and sunny.  Then cut across the island to the south side to Silver Beach on the south shore and a little east of us- nice beach and a great opportunity to cool off with a swim in relatively warm ocean water. A surprise day for Carole and Les as the group decided to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in advance since we were all together.  Great time and celebration dinner.

Thurs - Woke to the sound of thunder in the distance.  Overcast with a little fog, and by noon the rain started which settled in for the day, still remaining warm though. Before rain, we walked to the Stone House, built in 1887 and is a very large (20 bedrooms) and fascinating historic house that we were able to explore.  See pic.
Afterward we enjoyed sitting on the porch with friends and conversing and reading.

8 Sept 2015 - Naushon Is Mass.

6:30a leaving for a 10:00 arrival at Woods Hole.  While we originally planned a route kess travelked, our schedule pushed us onto to Mass. Turnpike and interstate. Only 300km today. Met up with our friends with supplies (food, beer and wine - not nec. that order!), and 8 of us got on the ferry to Naushon Is. Staying in an old expansive house per pic. We enjoyed swimming in the ocean lagoon - warm water. Some island exploring and hiking on the agenda today.

3 Sept 2015 - Great Barrington, MASS.

8:10a usual departure, with 11:15a arrival in Great Barrington, Mass. We are visiting our friend Sandy, along with her family in the area ('Topher, Alanna and Tracey; will miss Andy who is in Florida). We are missing George who regretfully past away last year - it will be great to reminisce and remember the joy of his life and that which he inspired in others.  

While we had some early travel on I-84, most of the trip was on quieter roads (52 and 23). We will enjoy a few days of rest over the long weekend and do 'whatever', and generally relax with a very great friend.  

To date we have travelled in 16 states and 1 province, covering approx. 6,100km; more to come yet before we get to P.E.I.

Plan is to head out on Tuesday, Sept 8 on the next and relatively brief leg of our trip.  We plan to cover most of our 300km for the day on the Mass. Turnpike so as to afford us time to leave our car in Woods Hole, Mass., and take the noon ferry with friends to Naushon Island where we plan to enjoy the week.

The subsequent leg of our trip is to start on Sept 14 and head up the eastern seaboard over a couple to days to Nova Scotia.

Blog updates may or may not occur for awhile, depending upon wi-fi access on Naushon Is. (which is expected to be limited)

2 Sept 2015 - to Pennsylvania

Left shortly after 8:00a, and arrived at a Comfort Inn, about 20 miles east of Scranton, Penn. at 6:10p, having completed about 670km.  Nice to be finished driving for the day.  We started off the day with overcast, and a few drops of rain, but with the top down.  While we did a few miles at the north end of the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday, the goal today was to take an easy drive on some 105 miles of Skyline Drive (the north end of the Blue Ridge Parkway) through Shenandoah National Park.  We were greeted at the gate by a nice gentleman, who was inclined  to be highly sociable, so we spent about 5 minutes chatting (see pic).  He knew about Alberta and the Rockies, so that was very good for being in the south (somewhat) and eastern U.S.  A very nice drive with some rolling hills (aka old mountains), with the overcast and haze adding a special quality to the views.  The parkway is 45 mph max,, so a pleasant and easy drive was the order of the morning for about 3.5 hours. Afterwards, once on the interstate, the traffic was both heavy and fast, with a lot of trucks (Interstate 81 - see pic) - don't miss not having to contend with that back in Canmore and Alberta.  We did take a less travelled path during part of the afternoon to make the trip more relaxing (hwy 11 & 15 from Harrisburg, Penn. to Danville), and later onto Interstate 84 to place us a little east.  Today we were in/through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and now in Pennsylvania, on the way to NY and MASS.  We've enjoyed stays at various motels, but the best deals for us have been the coupons in the travel guides located at the entrances to each state.  While the room rates are based on availability at time of walk-in (no reservations), a early phone call to confirm general availability of rooms proved worthwhile, and are rates were up to a 1/3 off the best otherwise available price (AAA or Senior - generally the latter being better than AAA; but no where as good as the coupons. Dinner tonight at a truck stop (Twin Rocks) next to the very nice Comfort Inn that we are staying at. (see pics).  As of end of day we have travelled through 14 different states, with more to come!

1 Sept 2015 Winchester, KY to Waynesboro, Virginia

8:00a start with 5:00p finish covering some 630km through Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. Started off on freeway, but did hwy 60 (West Virginia) which was winding and very nice once we got through a lengthy industrial area. Then, back to freeway until we took hwy 56 (off of Hwy 81/64 in Virginia) - now this was a very very twisty road, two lanes, no shoulder, trees on the edges and a signed speed limit of 55 --- nuts if you went that speed, but you wouldn't be able to do so for long before crashing - guaranteed!  Then onto the Blue Ridge Parkway (1935 start as part of depression era work project) for the trip north into Waynesboro for the night. Tomorrow's plan is Skyline Drive - which is the continuation of the Parkway north - which we plan to take to Front Royal, Virginia. Maybe we'll then overnight somewhere in Pennsylvania. Pics from the Parkway, the capital building in Charleston, West Virginia, and other sights along the way.

31 Aug 2015 Jefferson MO to Winchester KY

8:00a start and 6:40p finish (also CDT to EDT).  794 km. Four states - Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.  Three major river crossings - Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio rivers. From Jefferson MO. to Washington adjacent to the Missouri and part of the Lewis and Clark Trail. This area is known as the Missouri Vineland and has German origins. Lots of hills, curves, trees.  Very green and a beautiful scenic road to travel. Coffee still a buck or less (at MacDonald's).  Premium gas $2.62 per gallon - still a bargain even considering exchange. Temperatures in the high 80s, and with highway speeds at 70mph (including some very large trucks) there are a lot of truck tire treads that have stripped off and remain on the road - dangerous at best, but more so for motorcycle riders. If any of you have desires on opening a restaurant or bbq pit, there is lots of free 'possum' meat here - just pick up off the road and you could have a killer (road kill that is) restaurant  operation!

30 Aug 2015 -

It was not yet 8:00a, but the words of Matt Dillon ('Gunsmoke') were already echoing in our ears - it was time to "get outta Dodge". We set off into the rising sun....well - it was there somewhere above the fog, which stayed with us for a few hours. Came across a massive 'windmill farm', which looked quite spectacular in the ground fog.

We had a nice drive as we continued our journey along the Sante Fe Trail - hwy 56, and stopped to see where some original 'ruts' (wagon wheel tracks) still exist.  These are the remains of the wagon tracks from the settlers over some limited tracts of land that have remained untouched and un-tilled.  Little would a settler have thought that their wagon wheel tracks in the mid-1800s would still be there over a 150 years later (and some today deny thought that we have little impact on our environment). It was very nice taking a smaller highway and travelling through a number of very old and very small towns.  Many of these still have some very old (and unused) buildings dating back over a 100 years.  The 'road less travelled' proved to be most enjoyable. 

We also headed to Kansas City - both in Kansas and Missouri -- something like Lloydminster I suppose, but much larger.  Couldn't help but think of the song......"Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.  Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come. They got a crazy way of loving there and I'm gonna get me some" - well - it's only a song, right?  Oh, and while we didn't find Dorothy in Kansas, we did find the Tin Man in a town called Council Grove; we are pleased to note that he still had his 'heart' - compliments of Oz. 

 Then into Missouri and freeway driving to make some time.  Ended up in Jefferson, the state capital, for the evening and settled on take-out pizza, beer and wine for dinner.  Yes, we're concentrating on eating only in the healthiest of fashion on this trip! Arrived here about 6:30, having covered about 840 kkm. Some pics attached.  Tomorrow we start off alongside the scenic Missouri River.

29 Aug 2015 - Dodge City, Kansas

8:00a (MDT) start with a 5:30p (CDT) finish into Dodge City, KS.  About 760 km today. Left Estes Park heading south on the Peak to Peak highway which was a nice drive with views, then east through Denver (nice to get through there --- way too much traffic) and back to the plains.  Once again, flat and arid like an Alberta eastern drive on Hwy 1. Went through Kit Carson (we must be in the old west), Wild Horse (looked to be a 50's era ghost town given the look of the unkept buildings). Later got onto the Sante Fe Trail at hwy 287 in CO. / 50 in KS.  The Trail was pioneered in 1821 (see attached map) and ran from Franklin, Missouri to Sante Fe, New Mexico-- hard to imagine what a trip on the trail would entail - but it would have been very demanding and likely not without significant incident. While in Kansas we'll keep and eye out for Dorothy, or any of her three sidekicks from that parallel universe of Oz!  Dodge is as in the 'westerns' - Boot Hill, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and a number of other figures.