The best and worst, funniest of the USA

The best, worst, -est

Statistics, opinions and facts of the trip.  In LA we’d gone 3500 miles.  The whole trip 9,000 miles.

Highest elevation the car climbed 9900’ in Escalante State Park on Route 12 after the Grand Canyon.  On the north rim of the Grand Canyon it was 8600’ where we stayed.

Favorite states:  Wyoming and Montana.  Blow your mind vistas, rolling hills, distant mountains, cliffs, green, green meadows.

Funniest moments:  Bad jokes cowboy singers at Grand Canyon, listening to the stereotype accents of Valley Girls and Minnesota people, sorry but it was funny.

Best place we stayed – Hard to say, but 

Lied Center in Nebraska City, NE, 

McDonald Lake Lodge, Glacier National Park, MT, 

Cedar Pass Cabins in the Badlands, Interior SD,

Hotel Bonaparte, Montreal. 

Chain motel we used the most was La Quinta.

Worst Place we Stayed:  Red Carpet Inn in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Biggest adventure – hmmm, fortunately none.  Best time on a hike was Escalante Park cool pools swim at the top of a waterfall.

Best National Park:  Glacier, not for the going, going, gone few glaciers, but the mountains, vistas, lakes, hikes, waterfalls, all accessible, beautiful log built lodges.

Great finds:  cabins for $60/night in State Parks, some with AC, microwave, frig and porch.  Search state parks near your destination.

Best Hikes all from the road: streamside Lunch Creek, Glacier National Park, and Hoh National Rain Forest

Best Lunch Place:  very crowded, Heath Farm Market Deli and Antiques in Wautoma, Wisconsin run by Holly and Janice Route 21.

Animals seen: 2 full rack elks, roadside deer, mule deer, cute tame squirrel at door of motel, domestic sheep, cattle, horses, special Bryce Canyon squirrel, prairie dogs greeting/squeaking at MacDonald Lake Lodge, horses, family of 4 wide eyed raccoons at night huddled on roadside, whales, porpoises, elephant seals, jackalopes, roadrunners, quail, various birds, rattlesnake, bison, antelope, mountain goats 

Route followed:  Albany, NY, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada, Iowa City, IA, Nebraska City, NE, Scottsbluff, NE, Laramie, WY, Moab, UT, Green River, UT, Overton, NV, Lake Havasu, AZ, Brentwood, LA, CA, Mill Valley, CA, OR, WA, Seattle, WA, MT, WY, Interior, SD, Wisc, Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, New Hampshire.

# States we drove through: 22.  States I have not ever visited:  North Dakota, Alabama, Alaska

Car driven:   2013 Subaru Crosstrek, the car with the highest ground clearance that’s not an SUV.  Nothing went wrong until I got home and ran over 2 screws to puncture the tires twice in one week,

Notes on Sail v. Motor sail

Notes on Sail v. Motor sail

I am a sailor.  Give me the day on a sunfish and I am happy, wind in my hair, judgment on the wind puffs and direction, sharp turns with a capsize here and there, rising in the water under the sail, standing on the centerboard to right the boat, no fear, fun.

Now we “sail” a maintenance laden 40,’ beautiful Island Packet complete with a Yanmar engine that is used 90% of the time.

Recently the NY Times ran Maya Jasanoff’s article “At Sea With Joseph Conrad.” There was a short period of no motors on ships and only beautiful, big sailing schooners, barks, brigs, galleons, frigates, clippers crossing oceans and carrying cargo, exploring and trading around the world.  She said, “To operate a sailing ship was to master a ‘craft.’  You had to interpret and observe nature, adapt and react to fast-changing conditions, obey without questions, decide without doubt, toil without pause. The craft connotes more than a clutch of skills; it’s a code for how to live.  It turns a sailing ship into a fellowship, a community forged by shared values.”  Sailors were asea for months or years.

  Conrad said, “The taking of a modern steamship has no great moments of confidence.  It lacks the artistic quality of a single-handed struggle with something much greater than yourself.”  And sometimes it’s no struggle at all but a beautiful quiet day with no need for the rummm of the engine.

When the motor snaps off on our boat I breath deeply, take another deep breath of sea air instead of diesel fumes and slowly relax with the end of vibration and the beginning of hearing the frothy wake against the boat, wind through the air, creak of the boom, ringing haul of the winch, and artful coiling of the sheets.

The golden age of sail lasted until about 1900.  Then steamships outnumbered sailing ships and the craft was abandoned for the faster motor.   We get there artfully or directly. Who wants to wait for the right weather, tide, current?  I do.  "Can we turn off the engine now?"

Michigan through Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury, Ontario to glorious Montreal

  July 18, 2015:
A 7 hour drive on this day so there were few stops or sights.  We thought going up through the Hiawatha Forest on Lake Superior might be scenic but not so much and the horseflies were swarming the car.  We should have gone to the beautiful Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.   Check out the pictures on the north side of the Michigan peninsula in google maps.  Next time.  We said that a lot because we didn't spend a year on this trip exploring all that people suggested we see.

We drove on crossing into Canada through Sault Ste. Marie, an historic spot where missionaries started converting traders and Native peoples to Catholicism in the 1600s.  It's a major bridge between Lake Superior and Huron and a port with locks connecting the two lakes for shipping.  The town is pretty industrial. 

As we approached the customs booths we had our usual discussion of which line to creep along in because it's never clear whether trucks can go with cars or RVs, and whatever.  It's about a half hour wait or more for the 3 questions with the show of passports:  "Where are you going?  How long will you stay?  Did you bring anything new in with you?"

On to Sudbury, Ontario where we found the Red Carpet Inn and Suites, a "modest motel with dining and free Wi-Fi."  The price was right, but the area was not pretty and again industrial and just worn out.  The motel smelled of stale smoke and old furniture/carpets.   We didn't even sleep in the beds. We got our sleeping bags and lay on top of the bedspread because the sheets were stained.   We left for the movies and saw the hysterical "Trainwreck" with Amy Shummer.  Some walked out because the dialogue was so sexually explicit.  I have to admit we were the only ones laughing at some of the jokes.

No pretty pix of this place.

Next, a 7.5 hour drive to Montreal, Quebec on the Trans-Canada Highway, route 17 through Ottawa.  Let's just say it was a long day. We'd been sitting so much that at one coffee stop I got out, turned up the radio, and jumped up and down and danced in the parking lot for exercise. A few stares, but mostly just smiles. 
The scenery along the way was much as New England, woods but even though the map shows the area dotted with lakes and ponds we saw few from the car.  Not a scenic byway.

July 19-21
 We approached with trepidation the next place we'd reserved for two nights, Hotel Bonaparte, in old town Montreal.  After  3 nights of questionable places we were ready for a luxury splurge.  Of course all the signs are in French so it's a nice foreign feel and the buildings substantial and beautiful.  Whenever we said anything in French from oui to Bonjour people switched to English immediately.  Everyone speaks French.  
I traveled to Montreal as a child with my parents, when my sister lived there, and another time when my niece went to college at McGill University about 20 years ago;  Drew's first time.  It is really a magical, wonderful place with much to see and history to learn. 


The lobby of the hotel is nice with reproductions of famous paintings with, of course, the one with Napoleon Bonaparte on his rearing horse.  The 3rd floor room was terrific, very nicely appointed, the french windows (I'd been hoping for) opened onto a garden below, the room spacious, simple, clean, and comfortable. 

We highly recommend this former home and now hotel with it's 5 star understated restaurant and bar. Food was incredible with pictures of the food in next blog.  It was hard not to eat there both nights for dinner -- it was just amazing. 

Here is my view at breakfast through large windows onto the street.

Here's our walk around the city on a little bit of a cloudy evening:
Montreal city hall

Notre Dame cathedral and the inside dome.

 Kids posing in front of the cathedral 

Notre Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel

 In front of the waterfront garden

Ropes course for fun on the riverfront



Jardins Nelson restaurant on the open plaza, Place Jacques-Cartier at night - it has a jazz combo play while eating under the stars and tents. We ate here the second night.  House in front here and gardens in back courtyard eating area.  This plaza is the center of old town.

a side street

One day we "hiked" the top of Mount Royal, the big hill in the center of Montreal.  One side is high end residential and the other side is a large park overlooking the city.
We started at this statue.

 We walked up the paths on one side.
Saw the city from the top.   The white dome biosphere in the background.

The many steps that we took down,

Parks are everywhere, very open pretty city.

We went to the famed underground malls and shops and ate at this fast food all wood seating area with painted trompe l'oeil of a library and fireplace on the wall.  Fast food in Montreal is a far cry from that in the US.

Just as we left Montreal we had our first rainy day.  We planned to go to the Botanical Gardens and really only had time to do the conservatory indoor gardens.

 Nicely labeled plants, and there was a nice store to find gifts.

Off we went toward New Hampshire, home, the granite state.  Next a reflection and "the best of the trip".

Northern peninsula of Michigan, Escanaba, and ...a boat update

Arrived in Escanaba, MI early enough to take a walk by the lakeside marina, the park and have a nice dinner at Hereford and Hops Brew Pub and Steak House next to a cute, friendly, knowledgeable, well-traveled young couple.  At this restaurant you can choose and cook your steak the way you like it.  You can own your own mug at the bar.
It's in an historic building in a dying downtown with substantial, empty, old stone buildings.

We stayed again at a place we would not recommend: a family owned hotel, House of Luddington, built in the late 1800s that had hardly been renovated, decorated in 60s style.  One of the reviews of the place described it as seedy with family owners who are "absurdly friendly."  Everything worked, and we slept well without bedbugs.  For the money it was probably okay, and we would give it good marks for our short stay.  The restaurant downstairs was having a wedding rehearsal dinner in a nice room with a stone fireplace and large chandelier.

Note the little dress on the wall and knick knacks.

hallway

 View of the hotel from Lake Michigan at the dock for boat tie ups.

Park in front of the stores.

Walk of the Planets:  One of the coolest things they had was a scale model of the solar system along the sidewalk.  We noticed it as we walked to dinner.  One foot = 865,000 miles.  Beginning with the sun it went about 1.3 miles out to Pluto.  First, a straight, long downtown sidewalk is needed.  Posted information along the way told about each planet.

And what about the boat, Shawnee and dinghy, Tweety?  I can only include this recent cartoon from the funnies.  I love the driver whistling throughout.  Shawnee is still in Mathews, VA at the Zimmerman Marina.

.

 So that's about it - the usual throw money at it.

SD Badlands, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Woke for a good breakfast and I climbed a small Badlands hill that a bunch of people had climbed and slid down to watch the sunset the night before.  In the bright sunlight it was empty now. With flipflops it was a bit of a challenge.  Drew packed up the car by the cabin.

 View from the top of the hill. 

How do these sandhills withstand the rain since it's so crumbly.  I could scramble up to the top but then slid down little slides to the bottom.  Look at this soil.

There were many colors from the minerals in some of the areas.

We saw some Prairie Dogs along the way.  I don't think you can see these little guys, but you can hear them.

Then we saw the big horn sheep at the side of the road.  The curly horns are the males and girls have little straight horns.

Continued Badlands.  No one for as far as you can see.  The drive through the area is about 1 and a half hours long.

Now to Minnesota where those accents really do exist, a-huh.  Ooh yah, kinda
The impressive rest stop with the recycle.  These should be everywhere.  so easy to do.

Minnesota was another one of those states doing a lot of wind farming.  You have to look closely but there were about 150 propeller blades going in wind towers.  And I can't help but think this is our view of the future.  Certainly there are some states far ahead of others in encouraging this technology away from fossil fuels.  We'd see a lot covering acres and then cross a state line with none.

It was hard to find a place to stay 6.5 hours from SD.  I researched a state park in Albert Lea, MN at Myre-Big Island State Park off route 90 with a cabin on Albert Lea Lake.  Well, we didn't even take a picture.  It was the setting for a scary movie, dark, foggy even in the heat, dripping trees, no view of the lake whatsoever.  We arrived at night.  I got out of the car to get the key from the park ranger and she said, "Stay inside! The mosquitoes are terrible.  I wouldn't even let you tent here, but you have the one cabin.  You'll be alright.  The bathroom is 75 ' away from you."  These were the first mosquitoes we encountered since we'd left New England.  The cabin was nice enough, and we had an amazing view of lightening bugs from the window that just filled the woods with dots of slow blinking lights.  Slept then up early for a long drive to Michigan through Wisconsin. 

We like to eat local so in Wisconsin we saw Heath Farm Market in Wautoma, a lunch spot with whimsical Mexican sculptures, a small nursery, clothes, delicious food, cards, and gifts with amazing taste.  I bought a ton. Holly and Janice, owners for 25 years  winter in Florida.  They piled us up with good food.  One of the sandwiches was named "I survived a weekend in Wautoma, WI."

We continued up toward Saute St. Marie at the Canadian border with an overnight first in Escanaba, Michigan, on the edge of Hiawatha National Forest and on the shore of Lake Michigan.  It is an 8 hour trip with stops for gas and lunch.    See pix in next blog.