Nov.17th -19th Home again, home again, jiggity jig

great to be back in NY? 

       To market, to market to buy a fat pig.  In this case, a fat turkey as Thanksgiving is just around the corner. But before I get to that let me finish my travel saga.  The last day of the journey dawned in Staunton VA ....sunny of course! It was a long drive without a lot of romance to it. I did get off the beaten path at one point and was in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland all in one mile as I crisscrossed the Potomac River. I sat in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel in Mt. Holly NJ and fast-forwarded thru my John Grisham novel so I could turn it in. It was lousy anyway.

     Pulled onto Ferncliff Road about 5:30 and there was a deer waiting in the middle of the road for me. He looked just like the fellow I saw at Yellowstone with the Bearman about 5 weeks ago. I tried to take his picture and he waited patiently but unfortunately it was too dark. You'll just have to take my word for it.

     Riley and my friend Meg who has been watching him for me were there to greet me. Riley did not greet me with the wild cartwheels and backward flips I had so hoped for. More of an "oh, shes back" and a look at Meg as if to say "so now the fun is over." I'm plying him with treats and long walks so I'll soon be his favorite again.

     

     Yesterday Lucy hosted a reunion lunch with the local ladies who had hoped to join me in New Orleans but weren't able to. All was made right with a great afternoon of stories, music and wine. I made them listen to my road trip music cd. and gave them each a "necklace wineglass holder" straight from Chateau Elan winery in Georgia. It takes a certain type to appreciate a gift like this and they didn't disappoint as you can see in the picture. Why didn't I invent the hands free wineglass holder?

Jean, Lucy, Carol, Rosannah, moi and Susan

     This is the part where I'm supposed to write about what I've learned on my travels and the meaning of life, etc. I often turned the music/tape off and thought "okay, lets think about things." Within five minutes my mind usually wandered and I'd say oh hell, and turn the music back on. Not that I'm incapable of serious thought but there were no thunderbolts. Maybe just a sense of calm and simplicity, and peace. Not that this trip hasn't been the most unique thing I've ever done. This wasn't a "drive." It was an adventure. The freedom to do whatever, go wherever, stop or not stop, eat, get lost, was empowering and liberating. I'm proud of myself, I don't think many woman my age could do this. But thats not the point. Heres a quote from Mark Twain which explains it  "twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Explore. Dream. Discover." So, to those who said they'd like to do something like this....just do it. It doesn't have to be 8 weeks. Get a map, figure where you haven't been that sounds like fun, ask a friend, change your oil and go. 

     I have no answer for what I liked best, what was my favorite. The vastness and beauty of the United States is indescribable. All right, maybe my very favorite experiences were the times driving across the wide open desert, plain, or prairie with mountains in the distance, sun and blue sky and a train going by. Indescribable. 

     I feel like an author writing the "acknowledgments" at the end of his novel. I'd like to thank my Toyota for never running out of gas even when the needle was way below E. I'd like to thank my GPS and Iphone for always knowing where I was, and lastly my ipod for hours of inspiring tunes. Oh, can't forget the cooler with a bottomless supply of peanut butter crackers when my right hand went rooting around in it on the back seat. 

     "A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles." (Tim Cahill.) I am a lucky lady and blessed to be able to take a trip like this and have the wonderful friends to do it with. To all my good, good friends who opened their homes to me, Dale and Dan, JoAnn, Al and Toni, Steph and Bob, Betsy and Andy, Taylor, Kathy and Marty, Meg, Blair and Warren......you are each so special to me. As they say on the rez, "pilamaya." (Thank you!)
     It took courage to ride shotgun with me. On a rare occasion as I tossed them the map, I was known to snap at my partners "which right? what? jeez, tell me sooner..." "Connie, the maps upside down!" I'd go anywhere with these women and am sure we will take more trips together.  Thanks Dale (Louise), Connie, and Lynn and Hats. What happened on the trip stays on the trip.
     MILEAGE CONTEST!!!!   And the winner is.......Lynn Murray.  I drove 9,199 miles. Lynn was closest at 9360 (missing by 161 miles).Tom Yobage is runner up at 8950 (missing by 249). Lynn wins a lovely Navajo blanket from Santa Fe. Tom wins my sincere thanks for participating and maybe a latte at Starbucks. Woops, Pete is actually runner up but he probably cheated.
     So, till next time, happy trails to all of you......I can't wait to get on the road again...  Jane

      

     

      

Nov 12 - 16th Atlanta and North 8600 mi or so...

The "Chateau"

Yes, by the fire, in our robes. What a world!

     Oh, what song should I dedicate to Meg and my four days in Georgia? So many great ones to choose from...The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, Sittin on the Dock of the Bay ..... neither event happened fortunately. Ah, Georgia On My Mind, perfect. While Meg earned her living at Coca Cola on Thursday I tended to the mundane tasks of oil changes, car wash, grocery shopping. I actually cooked dinner for the first time in eight weeks.  Friday we were off to the "Chateau Elan" in Braselton about 40 minutes northeast of Atlanta. Point of trivia, this is the town that Kim Bassinger "bought" in 1989.  Anyway, its a lovely spot with hiking and bike trails, winery and spa. We partook of all these activities. The wine tasting was unique in that the wines were pretty awful. I think every state in the country has gotten on the wine bandwagon in hopes that fools passing thru will taste, get giddy and buy it up. We weren't so easily fooled. The group went wild for the "muscadine". I'm getting mean. The pampering was lovely.

     So we had several fun days of furniture shopping (at the" Savvy Snoot", great name) and dining together and with Megs buddies. Sunday was the kickball league at Piedmont Park followed by brunch with friends. It wasn't tough to tear myself from the bottomless mimosas but I was sad to hug Meg goodbye. The visits to  Meg and Betsy are what I hung this trip around. So glad the holidays are around the corner and all the kids will be home.
     Off I went on a three hour drive to Aiken SC to visit with my cousin Blair and her husband Warren Koehl. They live in this lovely town for most of the year. It is just over the border from Augusta GA and is both horse country and golf. The leaves were still changing and it reminded me of New England but for the occasional field of cotton and palm trees. Our two days together were full of great dining, seeing the sights and most importantly, catching up with each other lives.

  If you've been paying attention or just counting the days until this is over and you don't have to read the friggin blog anymore, you know that this is my last night on the road. Tomorrow my road music playlist will surely be blasting loudly, esp. the song "Six Days on the Road and I'm Gonna Make it Home Tonight."(Sawyer Brown). In my case, 56 days and nights. Fifty days of sunshine, four days of clouds, two days of rain. It poured today as I was driving up from Aiken SC to Staunton, VA. where I'm staying at my last "historic" hotel, the Stonewall Jackson. There was a major accident just as I crossed into Virginia because of the dense fog.The highway was closed in both directions and all the traffic diverted to one tiny side road. As I sat tapping my fingers on the window sill I got to chatting with a lady observing the chaos from her yard. Fortunately she headed me off on a shortcut (thru Fancy Gap VA)  back to the highway and the delay probably added an hour to the trip but it could have been much worse.  I googled it to find out what had happened:

     WYTHEVILLE, VA. — Police say two people are dead and 20 are injured following multiple crashes involving about 50 vehicles on a     foggy stretch of Interstate 77 in southwestern Virginia.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said dozens of troopers and emergency workers were working to clear vehicles from the interstate. She says some were stacked on top of one another and tractor-trailers jackknifed or turned on their sides. At least half of the vehicles involved were commercial.Geller says heavy fog reduced visibility to zero.

   It was pea soup and Blairs advice NOT to take the Blue Ridge Highway was very wise. I'd still be up there. The weather gods seem to be taking revenge on me on my last 48 hours. There are actually tornado warnings here in Staunton tonight although it seems quite calm outside. (Am I in Kansas?) It seemed fitting to be driving on a gloomy day as frankly I'm very sad my trip is coming to an end. Certainly I'm weary and looking forward to home, Riley, seeing the kids at Thanksgiving,  but I will miss this adventure. Anyway, I will write more about that later.

The bridge!

    Just a few more stories before I say goodnight. I stopped in Charlotte for a cup of coffee with Peter....it was that or the National Nascar Museum. (Just kidding, couldn't resist.)  My only other stop but for traffic jams was at the Natural Stone Bridge near Lexington VA. As I wrote way back when I started this trip, I owe my love of driving and road trips to my Dad. On that infamous drive from Syracuse to Dallas in 1959  I was told to "look it up " as we drove by the Stone Bridge. I don't think I ever did "look it up" so in honor of Dad I stopped in the rain about 4:00 and took a peak. I'm sure he was watching it with me.

Nov 8th - 11th 8050 Miles. Random Thoughts on Javelinas

     Driving up from Biloxi yesterday thru Mobile and on to Atlanta I got musing about some little items of questionable import that I haven't included in any previous postings. Pistachio trees grow in abundance in southern New Mexico and this is a picture of the worlds largest artificial pistachio nut. I was in too much of a hurry to get to the White Sands so I didn't stop for a photo so had to steal this from google images. Check out the link on the lower right of this page (scroll down)....its amusing and may help with your Christmas shopping!
      One item on my bucket list for this trip was to stop at a Cracker Barrel restaurant and rent a book on tape.....and then return it to another Cracker Barrel somewhere down the road. Lame but it seemed important at the time. So I stopped way back in Sept. in Michigan, rented a trashy novel set in Nantucket (trashy place)  and returned it in Sioux Falls SD. The book I've really enjoyed though was lent me by my friend Kathy Gagliardi, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. Its long, almost 23 hrs. and I have only two cd's left. I start the car and its like having a friend waiting for me!

     Allright. Next, I haven't told you about the javelinas. This animal resembles a wild pig and is prevalent in Arizona.  Hats, Lynn and I stopped to explore Walnut Canyon enroute to Winslow. This is a cool place where you can hike a mile around the rim and actually go thru 700 yr. old Sinagua Indian cliff dwellings. Well, a warning sign at the top explained what to do in case of meeting some animals: bear - don't stare at them, no eye contact, walk away; mountain lion - do stare at them, make yourself "BIG", don't run; javelina - they can't see very well so if you startle them they may run at you. Run out of the way. Well,  this was way too much info and we couldn't keep it straight between the three of us. "Stare at the bear...no,no, never stare at the bear." We just got back in the car and left.
     I could do an album of just pictures of rattlesnake warning signs. The sign below was in Chamberlain, Missouri. Dale and I didn't walk down this path either.

"Roam Free" may be a misnomer here!

Amen Dr. Scott

     I've had no trouble whatsoever on the trip and only one nervous night. That was at a not so great Rodeway Inn at the Carlsbad Caverns.  It was 30 mi. back to civilization in the town of Carlsbad (in the wrong direction) so I stayed here. It was a little reminiscent of the "Bates Hotel" and I had my airhorn and pepper spray with me in the room.  All was fine.

     This past Tuesday I drove along the gulf coast from New Orleans to Biloxi. The only people on the 32 mile beautiful white sand beach were cleanup men from BP. I waded in and took a photo with a timer just to prove I've touched the southern most body of water on my trip. Didn't see any tarballs.
     Happily I'm with my daughter Meg now in Atlanta and looking forward to four days of adventures together. 

Nov. 4th-7th Who Dat in the Big Easy !

      As Pete said "Mom, you are just flyin across Texas!" Indeed I did.... heck, the speed limit was 80.  Having spent almost 9 days in New Mexico I felt like I could run for office there. And after watching their campaign ads for all that time I felt I was probably as qualified. Anyway, not as much sight seeing in Texas but what has been even better is stopping by to see friends. Betsys good friend Taylor  Bowles was so nice to let me join her, her mom and daughters in Austin for lunch last Thur. (Nov. 4th).  She only has 3 darling little girls under the age of 4 and was wondering what to do with her time.

     Not wanting to delay nap time for the Bowles little ladies, I hit the road for Houston and arrived at Marty and Kathy Goossens in time for a glass of wine and out for great Tex Mex. Kathy and I met  at an event at the American Club in Tokyo in 1984 for newcomers.  We were seated at tables by our birthdays and we two Aquarians have been friends ever since. Lots of gossip to catch up on. Marty, their son Matt and his fiancee Lacey joined us for dinner.
   A quick tour of River Oaks on Friday and I was off to Covington, Louisiana. That was another looong drive. Minnie the Mooch stayed with my sister-in-law, Mary and Michael Cannon. Their

daughter Allie is is getting married next weekend so they didn't  have much to do either and were happy to entertain me.  We dined at "Rips" onLake Pontchatrain ( the 23 mi. wide lake north of New Orleans) where I tasted my first crawfish. "Mudbugs" as they're known. Sort of like shrimp not too horrible. Best to drown in hot sauce. My knowledge of this area is almost nil so it was neat to check it out... like all the homes on the north shore have to be raised 8 feet in order to get flood insurance. It makes sense after Katrina but what an undertaking.  Mary said that the company that did most of the houses was able to lift them up without spilling a drop of tea from a teacup. I take her word for it.  The only disappointment was the armadillos didn't show.  They come out at night and dig up the garden but maybe like the bats, they've gone to Mexico for the winter.

       My visit to New Orleans seems to be the only hiccup in my travel plans. My original group couldn't make it and then my friend Barb Stark had to bow out due to a wicked virus. But I love the city and have walked all over, taken a few tours and enjoyed muffulettas, beignets and po'boys. The city is jumping... not the sad place I expected. Since LSU and the Saints both won their football games this weekend, the natives  have more excuses to run around screaming "who dat." It offended my east coast sensibilities. Toured the 9th ward today and it is startling. Obviously its all "cleaned" up but every other house that is standing (and there are many empty lots where the houses were torn down) is still boarded up. Some number like 150,000 people left New Orleans and never returned. 

     I'm staying at a chic little hotel in the French Quarter, the "Soniat House." Brad Pitt supposedly lives around the corner when in town.  To give him his due, he is behind a major rebuilding project in the 9th ward...and the houses he has helped fund make up the "greenest" community in America right now. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

     Did you know they have drive-thru daiquiri bars here? The driver isn't allowed to take the paper off his straw until he arrives at his destination. No, Miss Jane isn't trying this when she heads to Mississippi tomorrow.

Oct. 30th - Nov.3rd On the Road to Texas

Rio Grande Gorge near Taos

     I've covered a lot of distance since I wrote last Friday. Tonight (Nov. 3rd)  I'm  in Fredericksburg, deep in the heart of Texas, about 1000 miles from poolside in Santa Fe. Oh yes, for those in the mileage contest, I've gone about 6900 miles so far! Six weeks down, home two weeks from today. I confess to being a little tired but still loving every minute of this trip. My song of the day is the Haley version of a favorite Irish ballad  Its a Long, Long Way from There to Here .

Jack, Edwin and the girls

     The "Three Amigas", Hats, Lynn and I had a couple more laugh filled days in the area before I bid them adios Monday morning at the Albuquerque airport. Drinks with friends Friday night, a drive up to Taos on Saturday and the Rio Grande Gorge, and Sunday spent visiting the art galleries on Canyon Road. And church at the beautiful Basilica of St.Francis.

White Sands New Mexico

     On my own again for the first time in 3 weeks, I decided to "go rogue" and deviated a little from my original itinerary. Pretty much in the center of  New Mexico (Alamogordo if you're putting pins in a map) is the White Sands National Monument which is actually a 275 sq. mile "desert" of white gypsum. It looks like snow and some kids were actually going down the dunes on flying saucers. Several times a week there are test missiles fired overhead from the nearby air force base but I didn't have to dodge any bullets on my visit.

Cloudcroft Resort

     Really getting off the beaten track, I took a gamble on another "historic" hotel, this being the Cloudcroft Lodge, situated at 9000 feet in the Sacramento Mtns. Very quaint, rustic and...... as I lay reading about 3:30 am ( not that unusual, eh ladies?) I heard the coyotes outside howling in the night.  I wish I could have stayed longer...the lodge has a spa, golf course, ski lift nearby( no snow)  and its supposed to be haunted which is enough to put it on anyones bucket list. And best of all, only $109!
     Yesterday afternoon I rolled into Carlsbad Caverns in time to wander around for awhile and get ready for the "famous" (their description, not mine) bat exodus from the cave which happens around dusk. Well, why not? Its a cloudless afternoon, I'm staying nearby, so I settled in. At the peak summer evening they have about 400,000 of the little furry darlings come flying out. The day before they flew out at 4:43.
I got to the spot about 4:30.  The cute little ranger is telling funny bat stories as 5:00 passes, 5:15, 5:30. Where are the friggin bats? They do migrate to Mexico so I gave up at 5:45 and assumed they heard I was coming and hit the road to Mexico the night before. Damn them.

The Sonic!

     I took another little tour of the caverns this morning which was actually pretty cool...just 10 of us with  candles which really gave a different perspective on the whole cave thing. That said, I'm done with caves for this trip. A long drive cross West Texas past Fort Stockton and Pecos brought me to this "hill town" where I hunkered down in a familiar La Quinta Inn and dined at the Sonic Drive-In which are big out here in the west. A glass of wine, "Modern Family" on TV and a good night sleep and I'm off to Houston.
  

Note the bullet holes

   

      

     

Oct. 26 - 29th Sedona to Santa Fe

Bell Rock in Sedona

     "On the road again, just can't wait to git on the road again...".  Thanks Willie.  Once again I am writing from poolside. This time at the lovely Inn of the Governors in  Santa Fe where it is sunny, beautiful and 66. I confess I have all my clothes on plus a jacket as its a "dry heat" don't you know and chilly.  I'm taking a break from looking at turquoise bracelets. Its like coming up for air. But I'm getting ahead in my story. Let me catch you up.
     Last Tuesday (Oct. 26th) I drove from Palm Spgs. to the the Phoenix airport and picked up  my two high school buddies, Lynn Murray and Harriet Averill (to be referred to as Hats from here on).  We've known each other for ever and back at Nottingham HS in Syracuse we were members of "Sub Deb", a high school sorority. Nothing like sharing in the hazing and loss of self esteem one gains by joining a high school sorority to form a life time bond among us. We have a nice group of "subdeb" pals we get together with frequently...heres a shout out to Susie M. , Susie B, Kristin D. and Linda M. We wish you were all here.

     Our first night was spent in Sedona followed by an early rising and 3 mile hike around Bell Rock. If you have never seen Sedona, it is just a spectacular place with canyons of "red rock." So, hike, take a picture, move on.  We drove up thru Oak Creek Canyon towards Flagstaff and then east to Winslow, AZ. Its good this town was right on the way because if I'd detoured even 2 miles I think I would have felt duped. Other than standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ the only other option is to have lunch in the Turquoise Room of the La Posada Hotel. It was built in 1920 by a famous hotelier named Fred Harvey at this location as it was the headquarters of the Santa Fe Railroad. (Judy Garland starred in movie "The Harvey Girls. Call netflix). The trains literally pass by 30 feet out the backdoor. Its full of memorabilia of all the stars that stayed there. See the link if you want more info.
     We were hoping to drive down Rte. 66 but had a little trouble finding it. It runs parallel to Interstate 40 but tends to turn into dead ends frequently so we pretty much stayed on 40. Our destination was Gallup, NM and the ....drumroll please...historic El Rancho Hotel. Gallup is not a pretty place. Nor was the El Rancho. I've been trying to go native when I could but this was one historic hotel too many. We were given the key to the "Marx Bros." room (quickly arguing amongst ourselves over who was Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo.) The decision to move on was made when Hats referred to the bedspreads as slimy.  We stayed at the boring Best Western without bedbugs or slimy bedspreads.

     Our spirits recovered yesterday after breakfast at the El Cafecito somewhere in New Mexico where I did have the huevos rancheros.

Rt 66 motel....hmmm

This was also near the Continental Divide which I last passed going west thru Yellowstone. After a couple more false turns and dead ends we did manage to travel down Rte 66 for quite a few miles. We passed many a hotel that was down on its luck. The pink flamingos had lost their luster. We were humming along to the theme from the old TV show on my ipod. It was fun. Out in the middle of nowhere, we could see for miles, mountain ranges off in the distance. All we needed was a corvette and Tod and Buzz in the car with us.  As I  took the picture of the train headed east from an overpass, the engineer waved and blew his whistle. Cool.

     A small aside here. I always assumed there were three mountain ranges in the U.S. The Adirondack, the Catskills, and the Rockies. There are mountains EVERYWHERE !! This is a beautiful country.
We took the "Turquoise Road" from Albuquerque to Santa Fe passing thru some funky and fun towns. Stopped for refreshments at the Mineshaft Tavern and arrived here in Santa Fe late afternoon. Lynn has spent some time here before so she is playing alpha dog for this part of the trip. Her choice of hotel and restaurants has been supurb and if there is any screwup, I can blame her. Off to Taos tomorrow.

PS Still accepting entries for mileage contest until Nov. 1. Then I'll post my distance updates. And stop asking what the prize is.

The Turquoise Room "Rte. 66 Cadillac Margherita!"

Oct. 21- 25 Santa Monica

          Its official. I touched the Pacific or at least it touched me, now I can turn around and drive home!    The ocean was in sight for most of this week but I felt I needed to stick my toes in before I could head back East. The last few days have been spent with Betsy and Andy (and Scout and Journey, their two dachshunds) in Santa Monica. The time here felt like I was home. Time to relax and stay put for awhile.

Kids and dogs

We walked the Santa Monica boardwalk and beach, shopped a little for house stuff, nice dinners, and generally did what moms do when they are lucky enough to spend a little time with their adult children. Its the best. We had family over for a barbecue one night....Betsys cousins Ben Cady  (who teaches  nearby) and his sister Janie Pirtle and family (last seen several weeks and postings ago back in Edina, MN. Where will they show up next? Sort of a "Wheres Waldo!").  I did a little R&R work on the car. It was starting to look like a homeless person had been camped out in it.  Got the "check oil " lamp turned off, the car cleaned, and shipped my sleeping bag, etc.  home that I've been carting around since the "rez." All set for the trek home.

Spooky palms

     The time flew by there and after a final dog walk, Betsy and I headed out to Palm Springs yesterday (Oct.24th). Its only about a 2 hour drive east thru some urban sprawl. But then you're in the desert and boom, green lawns and golf courses. We're are staying at the Colony Palm Hotel which I guess used to be a hangout for the "rat pack." Definitely no rats here now. Its a delightful little spot where we've treated ourselves to facials and massages. To clear our guilty consciences from this decadent lifestyle, we drove out of town this morning to Indian Canyon and did a little hiking. Once again a beautiful day and we went about 4 miles.  Pretty little  "oases" of  towering palms in the midst of a canyon surrounded by mountains. Can you beat that?

My only goal was to be poolside by 1pm  and we missed it by a few minutes. At the moment we are both in our spa robes, sitting by the outdoor fireplace (once the sun starts to set it gets chilly quickly) enjoying a glass of wine and playing with our computers. I have tried to upload a picture of us but it ain't cooperating. Will add it if I get a chance. Sadly Betsy is flying off tomorrow to home and work and I am off to the Phoenix airport. Talk to you from Santa Fe.