Our Week in Cleveland

We belong to a camping club called Thousand Trails. We bought a membership when we got our motorcoach. We get to stay at all affiliated preserves across the country. The properties are well-maintained resort campgrounds and include a clubhouse, swimming pools, golf, tennis, restaurants, fishing ponds, game rooms and various other amenities. The Thousand Trails outside of Cleveland is great - it's one of the largest ones we have been to. They have several lakes in addition to the other amenities listed above. It's a park we will hopefully visit again.

We will be staying here for two weeks. Andy has a travel week – so we will do as much as we can in the first week.

We spent Saturday at Lake Eerie in the town of Geneva-by-the-Lake. Had a blast skimming stones and beach hiking. We got caught in a hearty thunder & lightning storm. Don’t get those in Oregon – so we thoroughly enjoyed it. Henry got freaked out by the thunder - so we rushed back to the jeep before we were thoroughly soaked. Since our beach day came to such an abrupt end we headed into town and found a Thai restaurant and got some tom yum to go.

Sunday we headed into the city center to tour the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The museum shares a parking structure with the stadium for the Cleveland Browns – our bad luck – home game for the Browns. No parking close-in, so we coughed up $25 bucks for parking in an annex lot. Bummer! The museum was great – we spent several hours enjoying the roots of rock and roll. Lots of memorabilia and there was a video wall constantly playing music by the Beatles, Elvis and The Rolling Stones. Had a nice section on the blues – which is Andy’s favorite music. It was fun seeing the handwritten lyrics, outfits and instruments from the early days. The museum was featuring an exhibit on The Grateful Dead. We had a good time – learned a lot – saw a lot - If your ever in Cleveland I say it’s a must do!

                                                                                          

Andy flew out on Monday for a meeting - so the next few days were pretty low key. Lots of walks and talking to the neighbors in our park. Everyone here is really friendly. Met a couple from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We used to take our kids to Dollywood/Gatlinburg every October when we lived in Kentucky. It was enjoyable reminiscing about those days. Made a note to possibly add that as a stop in the spring. Went into town to a farmers market and chatted it up with a few of the locals. People from Ohio are extremely friendly. The Midwest is definitely underrated. 

It rained ALL DAY on Wednesday – so that day was a bust. Picked Andy up at the airport that evening then went to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant we heard about from a fellow camper - it was delicious - we never get tired of Asian food.  Got back to the park and stated packing up the rig to leave on Thursday.

Almost forgot - we visited the nearby village of Austinburg. They claim to have THE WORLD'S LARGEST ROCKING CHAIR! I may have to ask Dr. Kelcey why her mom has such a fascination with large world oddities - hmmm.

Ohio

Sunday morning bluegrass - and away we go. Heading to Cleveland today - Andy has to travel this week so we need to be near the airport. It's a slight delay on our 'Quest for fun'.

As we pass the town of Monroe, MI - I can't help but think of my Mom. She attended St. Mary's Academy here her junior and senior years of high school. She had great memories of her time there. She & I took a road trip to visit St. Mary's several years ago. We got permission from the principal to walk the halls of the school one last time. I'm so happy we took that trip - she loved it.

Our first bucket list item is to see the fall foliage in Maine. As I stated in my profile - this past year was a bad one. Reason #1 for this trip. Reason #2 -our itinerary was formed when my nephew Matt called and told us he was getting married in Maine at the end of September. That phone call put our plan into motion for the first leg of our adventure. Matt's plans have been delayed - but we decided to continue with the trip.

I won't post as much while parked. Looking forward to staying in one place for a week and discovering the Cleveland area!

MICHIGAN!

While Andy was on a conference call I ran into town in an attempt to get my nails done. The owner of the shop I popped into in Huntington had these words of advice for me … ‘early bird get worm – we have no appointment for you.’  Jackass - your shop only opened 10 minutes ago!

We decided to make an unplanned detour into Michigan to see our son Reid and his girlfriend Gabby. It’s just a few hours out of the way and I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to see them. Can’t wait to see our family!!!

I always get a thrill being in my home state – it feels great when we see the Welcome to Michigan sign. It  does feels a bit strange being here and knowing we won’t be able to see Andy’s parents and sister Sheri and my sisters Marise & Denise, brothers Ned & Marc, Aunt Mary Jane and lots & lots of nieces/cousins. We'll be back next summer for a nice long visit with everyone!

Reid & Gabby came over and we had a great visit. The next morning we met our neice Kristina over at Reid & Gabby's and headed out to lunch.

There was a home game for University of Michigan - what craziness! The streets are packed with people - driving is impossible. All Reid's neighbors have fans parked in their yards and charge them for parking a mile away! There were planes filling the sky with advertising banners - also skywriting fans!

We had a fantastic visit with the kids and heard all about Kristina's experiences in dental school at U of M. Reid & Gabby are taking a month long trip to Japan- they leave in two weeks - and we heard all about their plans. It's going to be the trip of their dreams!

Hated to say goodbye - but we need to get back on the road - we have a schedule to keep!

                                                                   

Illinois to Indiana

Today would've been my Mom's 86th birthday. She has only been gone a year - but it sometimes feels like forever. I miss her every single day. Andy was working this morning so I took Henry for a nice long walk - and had a nice conversation with my Mom. Happy Birthday Mama!

We packed up and hit the road around 1:00. We decided to drive to Huntington, Indiana.

We had a nice scenic drive through Illinois cornfields.We did have a laugh while traveling through the town of Hoopston - the Sweetcorn Capital of the World. There was a big sign promoting the high school football team – the Cornjerkers. That just cracked us up - what an unfortunate name for a sports team! Can't even tell you how many times we've worked that into a sentence.

Travelled through Fowler, Indiana with its hundreds of wind turbines.

Got to Huntington - the RV park is on a several manmade lakes. Really well kept with lots of hiking trails, swimming, fishing hole and a boating lake. We pull out our camp chairs and sit on the fishing dock overlooking the pond. We met a nice couple and shared travel stories. She (Paula) is from Salem, Oregon and went to help in Louisiana after hurricane Katrina. She fell in love with that area and stayed. She met her husband while volunteering down there – he is from Alabama. She had an adorable accent – not quite southern, just soft and sweet. She thought she still sounded like an Oregonian! I just love all the different people we meet while traveling. They are here vacationing and visiting relatives while trying to escape the heat of Louisiana. The mosquito's started to bite so we had to go inside. I always forget about the mosquito's – we don’t have them in Oregon. We sure don’t miss them!

Hannibal to Rantoul, Illinois

On the road again, now heading to Illinois. We’ve been traveling on two lane highways instead of the interstates. It’s such an enjoyable way to see the country. You really get the presence of an area when you travel through it. Small town after small town show us what they're made of when we pass on by. Farm stands pop up every few miles – but the RV is too big to pull over for a stop. Definitely one of the negatives of a big rig. Bales of hay with gourds and scarecrows tell us fall is coming. We still get a kick out of seeing large farm equipment coming at us on the road. It seems like all the cars, trucks & tractors we pass give Andy a wave. Each waver has his own flair. Andy is so amused by this (road weary?) that he starts waving back – but not your typical wave. He has made a compilation of each type of wave he has received so his wave is him making a gun out of his hand and shoots at everyone we pass. Funny, funny Andy.

After a nice, easy day we pull into Rantoul, Illinois. We are just outside of Champagne/Urbana. This particular park is on a donated piece of land given to the city from the now closed Chanute Air Force Base. It's a beautiful piece of land - lots & lots of room for SuperDog to chase squirrels. It was a nice, easy stay.

                                                                           

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We're Not in Kansas Anymore

We leave Marysville on the Pony Express Hwy and head into Missouri. We stop in St. Joseph, MO to feed Andy’s girlfriend. While filling up at a Conoco station a man in a truck pulls up and asks us what part of Oregon we are from. Turns out he is from Forest Grove – same area as we are. He moved his family here 2 years ago. It's a small world after all. (Disney reference for our dinner club!)

Back on the road – Andy is interrupted by so many phone calls from work that he needs to pull over and take care of some business. He works for a Design Build/Engineering firm based in Lexington, KY. He's been with them for a long time and now gets to work from home ... or ... RV. The downside is he has to travel ... alot. All he needs is a desk to read plans, phone, internet and easy access to an international airport. We know and appreciate what a unique situation we have.

On the road again for awhile and then BAM! We hit a wild turkey - or a wild turkey hits us. Andy sees this bird out of the corner of his eye – it's headed right at us. There is nothing he can do but yell at the turkey to 'pull up pull up!' -  but then BOOM -  it was so LOUD! That turkey hit us smack in the side of the RV.  We pull over to inspect the girlfriend. I feel so bad for the bird - it didn't make it. Andy wants me to write RV 1 , turkey 0. Poor turkey.

We pull into our destination for the night – Hannibal, Missouri - the birthplace of Mark Twain. The Mark Twain RV Park is a beautiful park with lots of big trees and plenty of space. We unpack and take Henry for a walk. It's slightly humid here - a nice change from the scorched and dry State of Kansas. There are quite a few travellers here & lots of activity. The park is a bit of a tourist trap -  a rock shop , a winery (no local wine?) a candle shop (I watched a girl dip and carve a beautiful handmade candle) - and yes - I bought it.

We unhook and make a trip into town. This is an old, old town - and it looks it. Very run down.There is a Mark Twain paddle boat docked in the mighty Mississippi River. We visit the boyhood home of Twain - see the whitewashed fence in Huck Finn - and the home of Becky Thatcher. The whole town is themed in Twain - but in a very sorry state of disrepair. Makes us kind of sad. 

     

We googled the Hannibal park maps and head up to Lover's Leap. There is a 9/11 memorial here and we pay our respects. It's a beautiful park on a rock outcropping overlooking the Mississippi River. What a view! The legend of the park is that an Indian Princess and a young warrior from an opposing tribe fell in love and were chased to the top of this rock by the girl's tribe. Her father offered an otter skin to anyone who would kill the warrior. Realizing their fate - the lovers held hands and jumped to their death.



                                                                                                 

                                                         

We head back to the park and I throw together a quick  curry for dinner.

It's nice outside - warm and a little muggy - so we decide to eat outside. Our neighbors across the way begin playing one of my favorite Christmas songs, 'Mary did you know". They had a mandolin, guitar, autoharp, bass, harmonica and fiddle. Can't begin to express how enjoyable they were to listen to. They played us a mini concert of traditional country, bluegrass and gospel music and had quite a crowd gathered around them by the time they finished. They are the Jacob Austin Band and are based in College Station, Texas. It's Jacob & his Mom & Dad and they travel in an RV and play churches and festivals across the US. So happy to have met them - they made our stay in Hannibal so memorable!

                                                                       

Marysville, Kansas

Continuing onward from Cawker City - we travel another 3 hours and decide to look for a place for the night. We choose Marysville, KS as it has 3 parks for us to choose from. Its always a little risky traveling without a solid travel plan - but most of the fun happens in the unplanned! I'm in  charge of calling ahead and making reservations while Andy is driving. The first 2 parks I try are closed for one reason or another - so our 3rd choice wins by default. 

As we arrive into town we are thrilled with our choice of towns - Marysville is a gem. It has cobblestone streets and looks like a place out of a different era. Our host at our intended RV park meets us at the road and waves us into his driveway. It's not really an RV park after all- it's a field behind this guys (Dave) house! Andy & I do a doubletake - but we don't really have a choice so we pull in. He leads us to a spot and we park. There are 2 other travelers here - and he has hook-ups for 5 more. It all seems a little strange - but we go ahead and pay and unpack. Dave could not be a nicer guy. Turns out he is a local celebrity - head of the fire department - and he penned the national slogan "check your smoke detector battery once a month". He gave us the lowdown about the town ... which was the first pony express stop in Kansas. We are anxious to check out the town so we unhook the jeep and head out before night falls.

The town is so nostalgic - with it's brick streets and ancient storefronts. This downtown seems to be thriving - we saw lots of people out and about. People greet us as we pass on the street - gotta love that. We located the Pony Express Museum, beautiful County Seat Building, and famed Pony Express statue and mural. We popped into a local restaurant for dinner and saw that they were having a book signing for a local author. This community has great energy - I may have to consider it for my list!

We go on back the the RV and are greeted again by Dave. He hands us a basket full of fresh tomatoes out of his garden. (When we were talking earlier he asked us what we missed from home and we told him our garden had been bursting with tomatoes and we had eaten all that we had brought with us.) I try and pay him but he won't take it. He tells us to just pay it forward and we assure him we will. I believe that Dave is one of the reasons this town has such a good feel to it. We learn that he's lived in Marysville his whole life, married his high school sweetheart and has raised 3 girls.

Then he tells me the most disappointing news ... we are going to miss the Kansas Statewide Garage Sale! The entire state of Kansas participates in a border to border garage sale and it this weekend! I look at Andy and he says absolutely not - we are not staying! I can't believe I am only 4 days from seeing such an event - I love the whole community effort aspect of it - not to mention it sounds like fun! Andy insist it would be a travel nightmare - and unless I want to see him using a 38,000 pound vehicle in a road rage incident then we better get going. My heart sinks a little knowing I'm going to miss it. Dave wishes us a goodnight - he will be unavailable the following day as he will be participating in a Sept. 11 tribute. I almost forgot the date - time slips away on the road. We'll have to make time tomorrow for some sort of remembrance ourselves.

                                                         

A Visit to Cawker City, Kansas

I am beyond excited this morning! Last night I googled Kansas tourist attractions after seeing the giant Van Gogh painting. Hold on to your hats everyone ... I am going to see THE WORLD’S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE!!! I know – I can feel your enthusiasm. This is so awesome – I can hardly contain myself. It is located on our current travel route – but it wouldn’t matter – I would ask (nag) Andy to take me to it wherever it was.  It is my idea of the ultimate tourist attraction – and I can't wait to see it! As I mentioned before ... it's all about the small stuff  :)

We leave Goodland around 9:30am – and we hit central time zone soon after. It’s about a 3 hour drive to THE WORLD’S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE!!!

Andy is afraid that I will be disappointed - but I assure him that is not remotely possible. After all – I do know what a ball of twine is. We used plenty of it making Andria’s table decoration for the wedding! My excitement does not diminish.

I try hard to keep my thoughts off THE WORLD’S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE!!!

We pass several small towns with tons of character – but I will not choose these towns for my list. It is so dry here – my skin feels like it is falling off. I don’t know if it’s because we live in beautiful, rainy Oregon or what – but it’s even hard to swallow it’s so dry. If we lived here I would buy stock in some sort of juice or drinking water company - we are going through lots of liquid to help quench our thirst.

We pass through the town of Hoxie - and hear the noon fire whistle. Now that isn't a sound you hear everyday. Growing up in St. Ignace they blew the whistle at noon - as well as the church bells at 6:00. Sometimes I sure do miss living in a small town. 

The landscape is getting prettier. We enter more of a rolling hill topography. Coincidently – it begins at a town called Hill City. Here is an interesting factoid about Kansas from our buddy Bill. All the small towns on these rural routes are between 7 – 10 miles apart. That is the distance a horse & buggy could comfortably travel in a day. He told us that most of these towns have less than 50 people living in them today. I wish I could stop and listen to some of the oldtimers stories. I’m sure they have many interesting tales to tell.

We near our destination of Cawker City, Kansas. As we drive into town we see it - Ta Da! It is magnificent! There is an information plaque out front and a roof covering the ball protecting it from inclement weather. I rush out the door before Andy can get his flip flops on.

There it sits – in all its glory. THE WORLD’S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE!!! 

 I can’t believe there aren't crowds & crowds of people here to see it –  but it’s just us. We read the plaque – here are the facts:

The Twine Ball story began in 1953, when farmer Frank Stoeber, like thousands of his rural brethren, found it tidy and efficient to roll spare bits of sisal twine into a small ball in his barn. But over the years, instead of re-using or disposing of the twine, Frank kept rolling. By 1957, his twine ball weighed 2 1/2 tons and stood 8-ft. tall. By 1961, when he turned it over to the town, Stoeber had over 1,600,000 feet of twine rolled into a sphere 11 feet in diameter. Stoeber died in 1974.

Afraid of another town (Darwin,MN) surpassing the record - the town of Cawker organized an annual Twine-A-Thon, where anyone can step up and wrap more scrap twine onto the ball.

Today, the ominous sphere squats at the center of a whirl of twine ball-related boosterism and activity. Current caretakers Linda and Jack Clover break out the twine spools and wrapping apparatus at a moment's notice, and police for improper wrapping (string and yarn are not allowed). After 2006's Twine-A-Thon, total twine length was recorded as 7,801,766 feet. It weighed in at just under 18,000 lbs.

Andy takes my photo – several photos – and then I walk around the ball a couple of times to revel in it's greatness. We take a walk down Main Street and notice that most of the nearby businesses are closed – maybe it’s a 'closed on Monday' sort of thing. Hope it's not a "nobody cares about THE WORLD'S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE' sort of thing. No souvenirs for us so it's back into the RV to contiue on our way. 

Before we take off Andy turns and asks me if it’s everything I thought it would be. I answer - "Of course, it's THE WORLD’S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE!!!"

Enough said.

Ft. Collins, Colorado to Goodland, Kansas

Andy & I have this game we play - when we visit a place we like we tell each other if we could live there or not. Andy likes warm (hot) weather - he wants to live in Palm Springs or the Florida Keys. He is seriously trying to talk me into moving back to Santa Barbara, Ca - where we lived from 1980 - 1986.

I like small towns that have lots of character. On my list is Las Cruces, NM - Ludington, MI - New Hope, PA and Driggs, ID.

Ft. Collins appears to be a town for my list. Home to Colorado State University - it is surrounded by beautiful landscapes. The downtown area is as quaint of a place as I've seen. Art galleries, cafe's and mom & pop shops line the streets of College Ave. It's a place I wish we could spend more time. As we are just beginning our travel day - I persuade Andy to stop for a coffee. We grab a coffee and walk Henry down the tree lined streets. There are lots of people having breakfast/brunch alfresco. We get a few greetings from diners as we pass on by - mostly aimed at Henry. This is a dog friendly group!

Yes, I would really like to get to know Ft. Collins. It gets too cold here for Andy to put it on his list - even though he was ecstatic when he bought fuel for his 'girlfriend' and only paid $3.93 a gallon!

As we move on down the road - we commence with our Sunday ritual - Bluegrass Sunday. We fell in love with bluegrass music when we lived in Kentucky (1986-1995). This morning we are being treated to the Del McCoury band playing a tribute to Bill Monroe - yeehaw!

We head east on 34 through Greeley and beyond. The view flattens out in eastern Colorado. There isn't much to look at. We do pass an enormous beef feedlot near Kersey, CO - the largest we've ever seen. So many cows - so little space. The smell is overwhelming. We can't get THAT SMELL out of our nostrils for nearly 10 miles. I feel sympathy for a cyclist that passes us heading toward the feedlot. He's going to smell THAT SMELL for a very long time. Poor guy. Poor cows.

Eastern Colorado turns into western Kansas - not much of a difference in the view. Flat farm fields forever.  This part of Kansas looks to be greatly affected by the drought. Miles and miles of half grown corn & sunflowers dead in their fields. Kansas is the sunflower state - and their sunflowers look to be in bad shape. This is not the prettiest state we've ever visited. We call it a day after 6 hours on the road and land in the town of Goodland, KS. Their KOA has a 3 acre dog run - a nice bonus for SuperDog.

It's hot here - 95 at 4 in the afternoon. Goodland will not be one of my choices for towns to live in - too hot & dry. My throat feels like it is clogged with dust. Andy strikes up a conversation  with a fellow traveler (Bill) parked next to us. He tells Andy that if we stay in this town for more than 24 hours then you've wasted time. He's been here 4 days - visiting his sister. He has been full timing for 3 years. A full timer is someone who sells their home and takes to life on the road. We meet  lots & lots of full timers. Andy would like to be a full timer - he has wanderlust in his soul. I love my family & friends & home. It is a constant conversation!

So our new neighbor Bill informs us that Goodland has a famous tourist attraction - and we are parked just down the road from it. This gets me very excited - as I am a fudgie at heart.

For those of you not raised in St.Ignace, I will explain. I grew up in the best small town in America -  St.Ignace, Michigan. It is  a Mayberry kind of town and I am proud to be from there. It's spectacular - surrounded by water and sits at the north end of the glorious Mackinac Bridge in Michigan's upper peninsula. A popular thing for tourist to do in my hometown is to purchase homemade fudge - hence the nickname 'fudgie" substituted for tourist.. I am the ultimate fudgie when I travel!

So Bill tells us about the World's Largest Easel in Goodland, KS. It's 80 ft tall and has a replica of Van Gogh's "3 Sunflowers in a Vase" painting upon it. It faces the highway in the hopes that tourist will stop to visit. As far as Bill knows it hasn't worked - he claims the town is dead. I can't wait to see it - so Andy & I & Henry  have dinner and then head out on a quest to find the painting. It is only a few blocks away - I think you must be able to see that easel from anywhere in this small town as long as you are aware to look up - its enormous! And awesome! I'm so happy we stumbled upon it - can't imagine being here and not seeing it. See for yourself:

                                       


 We end our adventure  by walking over to the Dairy Queen for blizzards - after all - it is Sunday. Goodland was a good stopover. Thanks Bill for the heads up about the Easel!

                                             

                                                               

           

 

 

Driggs to Ft. Collins

Drove from Driggs, Idaho to Jackson Hole, Wy and then traveled south - we took a 2 lane winding highway that rewarded us with a view of a herd of bighorn sheep and hundreds of pronghorn. We try and take the road less traveled whenever possible.

We passed by an unusual cattle crossing over the highway - we figured this was the most expensive cattle bridge ever!

On the way we pass the Continental Divide sign - but I was too slow with the camera. We did see a semi on it's side on the westbound lane - hopefully nobody was injured.

So as the miles go by we pay attention to the changing scenery. Wyoming begins to flatten out and we can see across large expanses of valley - easily a hundred miles across. Gorgeous. We cross into Colorado and motor through beautiful red rock formations in the Poudre Canyon area. We soon arrive in the Ft.Collins area and stop at a local KOA for the night. We make a quick dinner, take a nice walk & have a cocktail or two before calling it a night.

Our Stay in Driggs

We love the town of Driggs, Idaho. We've adopted it as our second home. It's been my sisters home for over 20 years. It's nestled at the foot of the Teton Mountains - a stone's throw from Jackson Hole, Wy. The people of this community are amazing - so warm and caring. If you ever get a chance to visit - please do.

At 6200 ft - the air is fresh and clean - if not a little thin! The sun feels hotter and the stars are brighter at this elevation. My brother-in-law Jeff was an amateur astronomer - he taught us all about the night sky. He built telescopes for a living and he showed us things in the sky that we never new existed. You haven't lived until you've seen a globular cluster! He is sadly missed - and we can't look into the sky without thinking of him.

Our week here went way too fast. We had huckleberry milkshakes at the emporium. We hiked up Darby Canyon and  saw a bear. Henry chased a skunk and to our surprise did not get sprayed! Jane threw a dinner party and invited some of our favorite people - Karen & Curtis and Kelly & Allen. As usual the food was amazing - spring rolls, mahi & cod, corn cakes, seasoned rice and crepes. Jane - come live with me and cook every night please :)

We had a bug crawl into our electrical adapter and short out out our electric - we are thankful for our surge protector!

We visited with Guch & Chuck at Guchiebirds - a beautiful gift shop that sells artisan gifts made in the US - a real treasure in this small town.

We had drinks with the girls (Tanya, Jan, Margaret, Ginny, Gretchen & Cloe) at Forage - Tanya's beautiful restaurant. Dinner again with Karen & Curtis & Ginny - Ginny I will never again visit a botanical garden without thinking of you :)

Our week flew by and we hate to leave - but winter will soon come to this valley and Andy HATES winter - so travel on we must. We'll miss you Driggs - Jane I love you!