Day 7 Hannibal, MO to Springfield, IL

Tuesday August 11, 2010

Our hotel in Hannibal was real close to a bridg, so we headed down the street, gassed up, turned right and headed over the Mississippi river and into Illinois

It was a short 2 hour drive across the western half of Illinois on US 30 / I 72. This drive was very typical of what we've experienced here and unlike any driving in Oregon, Washington, or California. The speed limit was 65 so I set the cruise control on about 67 and just headed across the state. I passed 2 trucks, a pickup hauling a trailer and a sedan in 80 miles; in turn I was passed by 2 cars. When it came to passing a car, I'd see the car in the distance and slowly, ever so slowly gain and pass. In Oregon it seems as though when you are coming up on someone they speed up for a while. Not here, everyone just maintains their speed.

After a couple of hours we hit Springfield.

Notice the sign says "Route 66"; tomorrow we'll be taking the Mother Road into Chicago.

We spent the day at the various Lincoln sites. First we went to Lincoln's house where he, Mary Todd and the kids lived before he went to Washington, DC. If you've seen a picture of the house, odds are it is from this angle. There are marks on the street showing where most photos are taken.

Here is Carla outside the front door.

We also toured other old homes in the neighborhood and learned a bit about the Lincoln's neighbors.

Then we headed over to the Lincoln museum which was fantastic.  There were separate displays for his Illinois days and his Washington, DC days. Pictures were not allowed except i the opening.

What's that I hear? You want train pictures? Well, downtown is surrounded by two train tracks and we heard trains while we were in the museum. And we sent to the recently restored Union Station; but trains don't stop there anymore, because the tracks don't go by there anymore.

But I did capture a picture of the old depot where Lincoln gave his farewell address before he headed to Washington DC to be sworn in as our 16th president. They say it was a cold rainy day but over 1,000 people showed up.

We then checked into our hotel, the Statehouse Inn which was billed as a historic hotel. We are in Springfield, Illinois, where everything is related to the nineteenth century so we were thinking of a quaint brick hotel. What we got instead was a hotel built in the 60's and there is no mistaking the vintage.

We had dinner at Cafe Brio which was rated high on yelp; but we weren't impressed. Wilted greens, salty soba noodles and sour guacamole.

Tomorrow morning we head up Route 66 to Atlanta, IL and then take a state highway to Heyworth where we visit my mom's last remaining cousin, Barbara May. She is fixing up a picnic for us. We'll share stories and pictures then finish our eastward trek at Andrew's place in Chicago.

Day 6 Omaha to Hannibal

Tuesday August 10, 2010

We we passed through parts of three states today. Leaving Omaha we crossed the Missouri river and immediately turned south through southwestern Iowa. As we drove we listened and sang along to "The Music Man" sound track. After less than an hour we hit Missouri; we went south to St. Jo, turned west and drove clear across the state to Hannibal on the Mississippi river.

Carla started off driving today; she did 4 hours and I did the last 2+.

We've tried to capture the "Welcome To" signs as we enter each state; either we missed Iowa's or they don't want to welcome us. But on the first overpass, just over the river, we saw some work on four sculptures. Here is one of them

After heading south, I found we were paralleling railroad tracks; looks like we've crossed over to BNSF territory.

We did capture the "Welcome to Missouri" sign a little later.

If you know me, you know I love to eat pork. As we were driving down the road we saw this truck and for a few minutes and couldn't figure out what the heck it was carrying; I had the camera at the ready and snapped a few pics. Most show the whole truck, but I like this one because it is the best pig picture.  I've never seen anything like this driving to work.

We've been driving for days, but apparently haven't gotten far from home! Carla figures some of the early pioneers on the Oregon trail just stopped here and called it Oregon so they could write back saying they made it!

We pulled into Hannibal shortly after 2:00. We found a nice Best Western hotel with a great view 

of the Mississippi (and train tracks were a bonus). We walked through the historical Mark Twain part of town seeing the museum and Mark Twain's original home:

And here is a shot of part of downtown

Sorry for the picture quality; the pictures taken with the Panasonic Lumix camera are all very blue.

Then we got on a river boat cruise where we went up and down both the Missouri and Illinois sides of the river.

It was incredibly hot in Hannibal. 95* with the humidity raising the heat index to 115*. But it had just sprinkled a bit and the breeze on the river made it bearable.

After the cruise we went swimming in the hotel pool then went to Lulubelle's for dinner. It was the best dinner yet. It is a little B&B that serves dinner to all comers at night. We had a pasta dinner for 2 - boiled shrimp, a great mixed great salad with a nice vinaigrette then grilled chicken and artichokes over some pasta. For dessert I had a piece of bourbon pecan pie.

Statistics
We hit 2,000 miles today when we went through Lentner, MO. Our stats for car time at this point shape up like this

• Miles: 2,046
• Total drive time: 37:08
• Average speed: 55. This has dropped dramatically since we hit Nebraska. At the end of Wyoming our average speed was 64.
• Average miles per gallon: 31

Tomorrow

We have a 2 hour drive to Springfield on tap for tomorrow. Carla has been pouring over the guide book figuring out which Lincoln sites to see. Then Thursday we take Route 66 up to Chicago, stopping in Heyworth, IL to visit my mom's cousin Barbara May.

Day 5 North Platte to Omaha

Monday August 9, 2010

Nebraska is a wide state; we spent our third day getting almost all the way across. We again travelled on US Highway 30 rather than the Interstate; it is so enjoyable; very little traffic; speeds up to 60 MPH and we passed through a bunch of tiny, small and medium cities.

We drove without stopping until we got to Grand Island - a fairly good size city. We've been craving DQ milkshakes all week, so about an hour before we got to Grand Island I got on the iPhone and searched for one. Good thing we didn't leave it to luck, this little spot was off the main drag.

It wasn't a full on DQ with burgers but they did have a choice between Barbecue sandwiches or hot dogs and potato chips instead of fries. We went for the barbecue, which I think was a mistake judging by the noises coming from my stomach this afternoon. But we did get a couple of nice cold milkshakes which is why we went. They were very refreshing as the temp at 11:00 in Grand Island was 85* with high humidity.

We were of a more "get there" than "be here" mentality today; we wanted to get a picture of a small town, but our picture of the best looking building is marred by the rearview mirror. Sorry.

We saw a LOT of trains today. We learned yesterday that there are 36 loaded coal trains heading east out of North Platte every day and 36 empties coming back. Add to that the manifest trains, the grain trains, and container trains and you have a train about every 10 minutes.

US 30 parallels the railroad; as we pulled out of North Platte we went by 4 stopped trains headed west waiting for space in the yard.  Continuing east we saw at least 5 more empties running by. It was tough to get good pictures in the morning because the light was in front of us.

But later in the afternoon I got my favorite picture so far. We were on the southside of the tracks, talking with Andrew on the phone when I saw a set of headlights in the distance. Just after that there was a railroad crossing where I could pull of the highway jump out of the car and get the camera ready. It was a high priority container train rolling by at over 50 MPH with horn blaring. This is a sight I never get to see in Portland; trains just don't roll through P-Town that fast.

Driving next to the river the last couple of days we wanted to dip our toes in. After passing Fremont we found a state park on the river. We pulled in and drove around a bit until we found a nice little beach on the North Platte river. The water was very warm; not like stepping into the Sandy River near home. There weren't many people around so we had to take pictures of each other instead of getting a "couple" shot. I hope you can get a sense of how wide and slow the river is here

From there it was a short drive to Omaha - a big city: we had to get used to traffic again. We took a dip in the pool and then asked around for dinner recommendations. We ended up at the Drover where they specialize in whiskey marinated steaks. After you order your steak they dip it in a sauce of bourbon, soy sauce and garlic for 15 minutes then grill to order. One of the things we wanted to do on the trip was have a great mid-western steak, so we shared a rib eye; it was deilicious. 

We really are spoiled by the quality of restaurant food in Portland. Don't get me wrong; the steak was excellent, but the salad bar was a bowl of iceberg lettuce, some grated carrots, shredded boiled eggs, and that hard red "bacon bits".  The grilled summer squash and snow peas with the steak was good though.

I wish I could share sounds as well as pictures. The insects I thought were cicadas last night I think are crickets. OMG they are incredibly loud; there must be thousands of them in each tree. As soon as you step out you hear this incredibly intense, loud click/buzzing sound. It is like nothing I've ever experienced at home.

Day 4 Cheyenne to North Platte

Sunday August 8, 2010

We had a pretty short day today; so slept in a bit. After a weird breakfast where we had fun people watching, we  hopped back on I80 and it wasn't long before we were in Nebraska

At about milepost 1 in Nebraska we turned off I 80 and found US 30; part of the Lincoln Highway

We've been looking for a DQ everyday for a milkshake; found one in a small Nebraska town; but it wouldn't open until 11:30; after church I suppose. The handmade sign in the door says "Clean carpet; pleas clean your boots

When we were imagining our drive across Nebraska, we envisioned driving down a long corridor dwarfed by corn stalks on both sides. While we did see lots of corn, we saw a lot more. One of the prettiest was a field of sunflowers; proof that we didn't stop just for trains.

We were close to the tracks most of the way. The train speed limit seemed to be 50 MPH while ours was 60 or 65. We caught up to one train, got around front and took a picture; then back in the car to get to the next spot. 

We ate lunch in Hoke's cafe in Ogallala (sp?). Funky place. We got in just as they were getting ready to close. Everyone was paying their bill and leaving as we arrived. The waitress wasn't all too pleased to see us, maybe she was just having a bad day. The guy in the booth next to us was raving about how good the ribs from the buffet were. We just split a BLT, an order of onion rings and a couple of chocolate shakes.

We stopped for a couple of historical markers; one was in honor of the first irrigation farm. The one in this picture was for California hill. Just south (behind us looking at the marker) is the location the emigrants crossed the South Platte River on their way to California and Oregon. Just north of of the marker (on the other wide of the marker) is California Hill which the emigrants climbed. Apparently there are still wagon ruts visible on California Hill 

Once we hit North Platte it took a little hunting to find the Golden Spike Tower and Visitor Center. It wasn't that hard to see; it's the tallest thing around, but getting to it proved a little tricky. 

This is one of the largest freight classification yards in the world. There are two complete yards; one each for eastbound and westbound traffic with a whole locomotive shop for each. One locomotive facility is for the EMD units; the other for the GE locos. The tower is on the EMD side. The 7th and 8th floors are viewing centers; the 7th floor is open air and looks north; the 8th floor is enclosed and circled the entire tower. There were a couple of retired Union Pacific employees there to talk with. One guy was a diner car steward on the City of Portland run in the 40's and 50's. This was the first class train between Chicago and Portland. We talked a bit about Portland; he had chosen that route because he had family in Camas, Washington

This is looking northwest from the tower

Here I am in train heaven. I was very thankful that it wasn't storming as we had expected. 

As we looked east out of the tower we saw a cornfield with some designs cut in. I thought it was writing at first then figured out it was a corn maze. Carla had wanted to go in one on this trip, but this wasn't open for business yet. We'll have to come back for Carla's birthday in September.

As we continued around; we saw what the maize maze will look like. It is done by the local boy scout troop.

After checking in to the hotel, we went to the movies to see The Other Guys; pretty funny. We had heard an interview with Will Farrel and the director on Fresh Air during our drive and heard a couple of stories about how they had to cut the film at just the right moment before the actors started laughing.

Coming back to the hotel we drove with the windows down and heard a huge racket of bugs (cicadas?) in the trees all over. They were loud. Walking from the car to the hotel there were little jumping bugs about the size of your pinky fingernail everywhere. Just outside the door to the hotel was the largest praying mantis I've ever seen with one of the little bugs on top. We ran up to the room, got the camera, came back and took a picture.

Tomorrow; more of the Lincoln Highway into Omaha. It's a longer drive than today so we probably won't stop so much.

Day 3 Ogden to Cheyenne

Saturday August 7, 2010

Seemed like a long drive today; probably because it is day 3. Lots of construction on the highway. But OMG it was fabulous. Driving up into the Rockies out of Ogden then in Wyoming it seems as though you are on top of the world; and we did get up pretty high: the highest summit was over 8,000 feet.

First train of the day (don't worry, I won't have too many):

A little while later we cross into Wyoming and then a big plant of some sort south of I80; maybe it's a power plant? Anyone know?

Late morning or early afternoon we need gas and drive into Green River. We had planned to gas and dash but got caught up in how nice the town is. Got a nice picture of The Brewery; an old building capturing the big rocks in the background. Then we turn around and a train is rolling into town

Back on the road we are captivated by the Big Sky; the clouds were gorgeous and we were almost so high (in elevation, thank you very much) we could almost reach up and touch them.

We pulled into Cheyenne about 4:00 and we had just enough time to get to the Cheyenne Frontier Days museum. The Cheyenne Frontier Days is a big ol' rodeo that takes place most of July, we just missed it. There are a lot of videos and memorabilia regarding Cheyenne. I found a Fire Truck and Carla found an old overland stage coach. Outside was a statue similar to the profile on the Wyoming license plates.

We wanted to walk around downtown and have dinner before checking into the hotel, so we went to the Union Pacific depot. Guess what! Another train; this one coming in from the west for a crew change.

All around town there are decorated boots. Portland did this a few years ago with cows I think, as has Chicago. We got someone to snap a pic of us in front of one.

We ate dinner on the sidewalk at the depot restaurant. There was a live band on the town square playing some good blues music. In the background we heard the trains coming and going. I had brisket; Carla had a Hawaiian  burger; we both enjoyed a local brew Kolsch style beer. As we finished dinner the rain was coming into town; we beat it to the car just beating a short downpour.

We headed for the hotel and checked in. Good thing we made reservations last night; they were sold out; lots of motorcyclists staying over going to or coming back from Sturgis. The guy in front of us had just left Sturgis but was heading back tomorrow. Our hotel is a Days Inn; not as nice as the Best Westerns we stayed at in La Grande and Ogdent. But it is across the street from the Union Pacific mainline, and just down the street we can see the bridge where the BNSF crosses over. We've seen two trains so far.

Tomorrow we get off the interstate and on to US 30 and meander toward North Platte. 

Day 2 La Grande to Ogden

Friday August 6, 2010

We didn't have a wake up call scheduled so just slept until we woke up.Went to the lobby for breakfast; Carla brought her home made granola; I had an English muffin with peanut butter. We finally pulled out of La Grande at 8:45 (yes I'm keeping a spreadsheet). She tried to pull a trick on me saying "you go check out and I"ll finish loading the car." I knew she'd try to get the jump on me behind the driver's seat, so I loaded the car, then headed over to the checkout desk after making her promise she'd stay in the passenger seat.

We pulled into Boise around noon and I wanted to try to find the old Bob's Big Boy that was downtown; I couldn't find it; I think I should have stayed on Orchard instead of cutting over to Vista - but it might just be gone now. We parked downtown and walked over to the Basque district and had lunch at the Bardenay. It's a distillery that we had visited with the Boise crowd a few years ago. I had excellent fish tacos and Carla had salmon. It was a beautiful day and we ate out on the sidewalk. 

Before we left I grabbed a picture of the old still or whatever

On the way back we walked by Pengilly's saloon. Man I've spent more than a few hours in there. Last time I was there was with a huge crowd that gathered for Bob Reidelberger's funeral.

East of Boise we passed three GIANT oversized load trucks hauling enormous concrete I-beams. A semi-truck with large flat bed was hauling the front, then a big gap we could have driven under followed by an unattached trailer. We stopped for gas in Eden, Idaho then proceeded east of Eden :)  Now Carla was behind the wheel and before long we came upon the vehicles again. As we passed the first one, I did a double take; the unattached trailer was  driven by a guy in a cab slung between the wheels. Kind of like a hook-and-ladder truck. I'm glad there were 3 of them; I didn't get a decent picture until the last one.

Late in the afternoon we hit the Utah border

All afternoon we could see we were headed toward a storm. I'd say lots of lightening but that is because we hardly ever see any; it was probably minimal by Big Sky standards. We saw a couple of places where there had been lightening strikes starting brush fires; saw a crew managing a bit next to the freeway. We also had a long stream of smoke streaming up from the south over the highway.

We pulled into our hotel at 6:10 - another Best Western; then headed over to Jerimiah's (a restaurant Herb had told me about) for dinner. After dinner we went for a little walk behind the hotel and I got a dramatic picture of the clouds over the nearby mountains. It's amazing how the mountains seem to change in the evening as the sun went down.

No wake up call tomorrow; we have a shorter drive to Cheyenne where we'll take in the historic district and railroad museum.

Carla and I eating lunch at Bardenay in Boise. Bummed my picture post didn't seem to go through