Back in Tomahland

March 16th we get home-little snow .........................March 5th we left with lots of snow

Guess what the weather was like in Iowa when we woke up this morning? That was an easy question to answer considering our track record on this trip. Right....fog and then rain in Iowa, which lead into Minnesota. We weren't surprised. I did want to show you some pictures of trucks that we found constantly in front of us in "BOTH" lanes. And if there were 3 lanes, you can guarantee they were side-by-side in all three. What really amazed me was when you have a truck following another truck, they will pull out right in front of you in the left lane on a hill because they don't want to have to slow down....but yet they can't make it up the hill and have a line of cars behind them in the left lane! I know they carry the necessities of our country; but come on! How about a little courtesy on the highway? Usually I'm quite patient on the highway; but this old teacher used some gestures that would have put her in the corner for a very long time! Guess what? As we got closer to Wisconsin the fog lifted, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine. Can you believe it, it was so warm we could have put the top down on the Mustang! We felt like we had left Wisconsin and arrived in California. So much for El Nino. Our trip ended a little earlier than we had planned; but it's nice to be home. With the sun shining and the temps in the 60's, spring fever set in quite quickly. Bill and I sat on our front bench and I could tell he was thinking of all the things he wanted to do and I was thinking of all the things I wanted Bill to do too :-) It was a fun trip; but it's great to be home again.

Nebraska is slowly killing me....help!

The day started out with fog; luckily we weren't in the high mountains! It still made me a little nervous wondering if there was a slow semi around the next corner. Hey......worry is my middle name. The sun came up and finally melted away the fog and I could talk again :-) Made our way across Nebraska without raising our blood pressure. In fact, if you have traveled across Nebraska you can easily drift into a comatose state of being. I don't know what keeps the Nebraskans from jumping off a cliff! Looking around....they can't even do that. Guess they would have to think of another way to end the boredom! We didn't even see many oil wells... so I'm curious what the attraction is. Maybe all of them were just born here and haven't traveled and think that everywhere is like Nebraska. "BYPASS" is the word I am entering in my future travel notes. I do have to give Minden, Nebraska a little hype though. There is a place called Frontier Village that we have been to numerous times and enjoy it. Oh...maybe that is what keeps those Nebraskans from moving. I'm sure they would wonder what we see in Tomah. I'm okay now because we have crossed the border and now are in Iowa and Iowa is next to good old Wisconsin!

From Nevada, through Utah, into Wyoming

We woke up in Nevada, drove across Utah and are going asleep in Rawlins,Wyoming. Crossed the Continental Divide. The weather was cool again, a few flakes, a few drops of rain and some sun along the way. It's amazing how the landscape changes in such short distances. It's all beautiful in it's own way; but I have to say...."there's no place like home." Trying to take our time in getting home. Tomorrow we're going to look for some antique shops to visit and some sites to see.

Donner Pass

Woke up to a nice sunny day finally! We had to cross Donner Pass and I was so happy the sun was shining and we wouldn't have to worry about driving in snow. All of a sudden we were passing car, every so often, with lots of snow on top of their car! It had snowed a lot the night before; but fortunately the roads were clear. The scenery was beautiful and saw people skiing and tubing. Then our thoughts went to the Donner party that crossed this pass years ago and got stranded for the winter. Kind of killed our appetites for awhile. Spending the night in Battle Mountain, NV before we have to cross another pass tomorrow. Listened to the weather and it is warmer in Tomah than it is here..... oh well.

Sunny California?

The Mamas and Papas were totally wrong when they sang..."it never rains in California!" Pretty nasty day today while we drove from Monterray (where the Pebble Beach golf course is-green fees start at $495) to Santa Rosa. Went across the Golden Gate Bridge, which was neat, but hard to see very far. Going out to dinner tonight with the best man that was in our wedding almost 40 years ago, WOW!

The Hearst Castle

Bill and I went on a tour of Randolph Hearst's vacation home that took a mere $150 million to build in the early 1900's. He also had 6 other places he called home. There was original works of art, statues, and furniture that cost hundreds and some thousands of years old. It was interesting and I enjoyed seeing it; but it made us think.....how much is needed to make one happy. We then drove up the coastline on Highway 1. The scenery was absolutely beautiful! We even saw some Elephant seals lying on the beach sunning themselves. We are spending the night in Carmel (that's where Clint Eastwood was mayor). Tomorrow onto San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Made it to the ocean

Bill and I left Paul and Helen's on Wednesday. The weather was suppose to be nice; but turned out to be, on the most part, cool and rainy. We stopped to see some neighbors from Tomah that spend their winters in Yuma. From there we headed west and went by some beautiful sand dunes. An atv sure would be fun on those hill! From there we made it to the Pacific Ocean and headed north because of the weather. We ended up in Ventura and spent the night. Oh.....LA traffic can not even be described without using some pretty vulgar language!

At the Biosphere

Paul and Helen and Bill and I went to the Biosphere today. The initial purpose of it was to see if man could live in this environment and be self-sufficient without any help from the outside. Eight scientists were to live in the biosphere for two years; but they ran into problems with the oxygen levels, the calorie intake, and friction amongst themselves. They were in there for only 16 months when it was decided that the project needed to be discontinued due to numerous problems. A $150 million dollar project from the 80's, is now a tourist attraction that cost $20 to view. It was very interesting to see such a monstrous project intended to learn if man could control his environment to survive; but it makes you wonder, in reality, what was learned to help mankind.

Help...we're in a blizzard!

In Winslow Arizona we visited the spot where a meteor hit the earth. I thought it was beautiful and Bill agreed if....you like looking at a big hole in the ground. :-) They had a great gift shop and of course I had to buy more rocks to add to my collection. Back on the road and heading to Flagstaff and onto Sedona.

As we approched Flagstaff, it began to snow so we stopped to eat and find out the weather. We asked two people if they heard any reports on the weather and one said, "I don't know, I just took a nap and I woke up and it was snowing." The other person said, "I don't know, I just get up in the morning and dress appropriately." So much for the weather report. We got back on the interstate came upon an accident right away and the snow was coming down even more. Things looked pretty dangerous on the interstate so we decided to take the scenic route to Sedona. The road conditions deteriated quite quickly and if I could have gotten in the trunk, I would have gladly done so. Going down a mountain at 6,000 feet with switchbacks was seriously a white-knuckle ride! We made it to Sedona and it wasn't even snowing and in less than an hour we would be in sunshine again. It was a bipolar weather experience. It went from rain to sun to snow to rain to sun! CONFUSING!

We finally made it to Paul and Helen's safely. Will be spending a few days here in Florence, Arizona enjoying their company. Can't wait to see Nicole's family and their new baby.

In Santa Rosa, New Mexico

I have this thing about taking pictures of signs with our name on it. The picture on the right is the beautiful sunset in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. The weather was in the 60's today and felt so good. Kansas, Oklahoma, and top part of Texas not the most exciting scenery. Finally we're starting to see the beautiful rock formations of New Mexico and tomorrow Arizona. Remember I mentioned the young girls that checked in next to us at the Best Western last night? I told you that we had a poolside room and they were pretty loud.....well that was an understatement! Now what I'm going to tell you will definitely put Bill and I in the category of "Senior Citizens!" We complained to the desk and they asked if we would like to move to another room. We did and it turned out to be a beautiful suite with two rooms and a hot tub! It was great! The next morning we went to breakfast at the motel's restaurant. Guess who occupied half of the tables? About 30 young girls with wet hair, some with no shoes, and of course most of them undecided of what they wanted for breakfast. Watching them, I had forgotten that teenagers rarely sit down through a whole meal. Bill and I did get our order in and sat there for over a half hour waiting for our breakfast. Finally the waitress came over and said that our orders were given to someone else and it would take longer. She gave us cinnamon rolls to shut us up until our breakfast arrived. We ate and I have to admit it was very good. What made it better was that the waitress told us that our breakfast was free. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....are we truly senior citizens or what!

Off to Arizona

It's 7:30 in the morning and Bill and I are out the door, heading to Arizona. We're taking the Mustang because it's so nice to put the top down and enjoy the warm Arizonian sun. It does have it's downside though.....it has a small trunk so that means a smaller suitcase, that also means I can't buy much to take back home, and the back seat has very little room for legs, so that means Helen and I always get stuck in the back when we go for a ride. Highway 35 from Minnesota to Kansas is not all that exciting and I had a hard time not dozing. We made it through Kansas City before rush hour and that was good. A "Good" is a rating is when less than 5 obscene words and gestures are use. We got to Emporia, Kansas about 5 and got a poolside room. We were the only ones in the pool and hot tub when about 20 girls about 10-12 years old came and guess where their rooms are? You're correct....right next to ours! They are in the pool right now, enjoying themselves to the utmost. Bill says it's like being in gym class with a bunch of girls. Sure hope they go to bed quietly....right! Don't think we'll be going to bed too early tonight. Heading to New Mexico tomorrow.

Valentine's Dinner

Valentine's dinner at home was delicious! First time making lobster was easy and Bill even helped....he cracked the shell. Steak on the grill...dinner couldn't have been better...besides getting a tip! Yum!!!

nice walk in the bluffs

Nice picture of Bill and I. It's hard to find someone up in the bluffs to take your picture so this is the best I could do. Looks like I'm standing on the snow when I'm actually standing on the bench because the snow is still about a foot deep. Beautiful walk up here today with the weather being 46 degrees. It felt like we should spread a blanket and have a picnic. Had to enjoy the snow before we head off to Arizona. Don't think the snow will be there when we return.