And the winners are!!!!!

Eric and family win one prize for 4 way stops. Yea! for the rellies!!!

Patti won for the white decorated car--Webb Pierce and the Marine sticker on the bumper of the SUV.

Fran won 3 contests. She came up with the Route 66 gas company, Phillips 66, and Sheb Wooley's song, One eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater. A little closer to home was her answer Grand Forks.

Kelli had an amazing 6 correct answers: Wawa is the big goose town; an interesting and descriptive answer for the elk; Albuquerque's hot air balloon festival; potatos from Idaho and Boulder Dam predated Hoover Dam and the merle corgi not the blonde queen's preferred colour.

C&P (Chris and Patsy) had a whopping 9 correct answers! John Steinbeck's Grape's of Wrath was about the using the mother road, Route 66, to escape the dustbowl and poor times with the onset of the depression and the big drought. They also got Idaho potatos, the Columbia and Mississippi River. Martin Luther King who was killed in Memphis by James Earl Ray, was the King that made Memphis infamous. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings in the Latter Day Saints temple in Salt Lake City Utah.

The Joshua Tree is pictured above along with street decorations for Roger Miller and Sheb Wooley.

Elvis has left the building!

Thanks for following along. I am checking out the wifi connections on board the ship for the cruise around Hawaii. It leaves port on November 29. How does taytercruises sound?

Cheers.

Nov 17 and I am sitting in my living room and cannot get a wifi connection!

Frosty start to the day which made the road up the pass seem treacherous even before we were on the road.

The road and pass were excellent but the climb up and down were long. The pass was very narrow; one lane each way. The rest of the road was a piece of cake. The weather was blue sky but cool.

The border crossing was a breeze. We both fessed up that we were over the limit and gave our totals in American money. The fellow said, “Okay, drive on.” Terry, silly girl, asks the man, “We can go?” and he says yes, and off we went merrily on our way.

We crossed the Okanagan Lake Bridge at about 4:00 pm and headed home. Sally was glad to see us and even Felix showed he missed us. The house was still standing.

Thanks for keeping us company along the way. Your prizes will be sorted out soon.

Cheers.

November 16, let me check my L.L. Bean watch. Yup.

We are in Ellensburg and everything is still on the mh; nothing appears to be gone due to those high velocity winds in our sitting duck position on the plain. We woke up to a blue sky sunny day which lasted all day. The warmth in the wind was nice, but unusual for this time of year.

Surprise, we drove up and down hills all day. The hills were disguised as a dessert. Again the valleys were wide, where the cows and the orchardists played. Now if we put that to music, what would be playing on the range? Lots of wineries around Yakima and I was astounded at how high the apple orchards were into the hills.

The spaces seem wide open until you get into the hills and because you can see mountains on either side of the valleys there is not the big sky feeling all the time.

Drove into a great lookout and the first thing I saw was a sign that said, “Watch out for Rattlesnakes.” Well I did and I didn’t!

Crossed the Yakima River several times. It was not the biggest river we crossed. That one, we share with the USA and it is a border between Oregon and Washington states. Can YOU name that river?

C&P were first in with Idaho spuds. Sorry, Kelli and Utah Lake is not correct; thank goodness for Boulder. Try again, folks. There are a lot of unanswered questions still out there.

Have to go to the laundry room to get on the net. Okay, you say but we are the second to last site way down the road and it is cold out tonight—give me back that warm wind.

We have a pass to go over to get to Wenatchee and then a few hills, a border crossing and a leisurely drive passed a few lakes. We could be home tomorrow or Saturday in time to garage sale.

I will post one more time to let you know that we are at 609 Buck Road.

Cheers and tears of sadness for a great adventure coming to a close.

Yee haw and that comes from Pendleton OR. We arrived in time to take in the Pendleton Mill and then headed for the campground. Set camp and then took a breezy walk to the casino. Marg is there right now, but it is not looking good. I am ahead now and so I have quit. Wild Horse Casino is spotting me a big $20. Dinner was good.

The campground is on an open plain and we will be rocked asleep by the wind and the rocking will continue through the night.

Heading for Ellensburg in Washington tomorrow and then it could be Kelowna the next day depending how much time we spend with the border guards.

I am using the the Casino complexe computer; sorry no pictures.

Come on down and bring a kite. The problem with the wind is it keeps changing directions.

Cheers and hope your numbers come up.

November 14

Driving today reminds me of when I golfed. I could never go up the fairway. I always zigged and zagged. Okay golfers and all my other fans, what would zigged and zagged be in golf swing language. The wind was mighty strong and we drove further due to steering corrections and we lost gas mileage, too. The price of diesel is rising as we come northwest.

I am trying to figure out why all the motor homes we saw today were heading in the opposite direction. There were oodles of semi’s again.

The sunshine was warm; the breeze was bloody cold and the scenery was enjoyable.

We started driving with slushy snow on the side of the roads. Old SOL took care of that once he came around the clouds and out from behind the tall snow capped mountains with icing sugar sprinkled to the base.

We encountered the Snake River which is an old s river and we crossed it about 4 times in our travels. The first time we caught the slithery Snake R. it was just a normal river flowing between its banks. Eventually we caught up with the Snake when it was in one of its canyons. The Snake is a river of many skins.

Utah is a land of wondrous geography and when sunshine, blue sky and snow are added the scenery is magnificent.

Idaho has vast valleys and mountains in the distance. Use of the land is paramount. Hay is grown in huge fields, cows are roamin’ the range and of course one cannot forget that other in ground crop. So, all you farmers out there in blog land, what is that crop?

Our camp spot is in an industrial area which was disclosed. The description forgot to say that it is the 5th lane of a 4 lane highway!

Well, it’s getting to that time. What did I buy and what have I forgotten to add to my list because I forgot I bought it (hee, hee). What did I buy in Canada and what in the States?
My uncle in Kingston gave me a bottle of wine which he made. I wonder how that will be handled.

Cheers from Boise Idaho and heading to Oregon.

November 13

Wrong turn, that must be it; sounds like we are in Vancouver. Rain is okay when the mountains are so near one could touch them, and they have snow on them. No ducks tonight. We are the only people in the campground. There are a few cars around because this is a hot springs camp ground, but they are just here to use the hot springs.

Marg hit two scrap book stores and the cashier was smiling as Marg left the building. I walked to get a new battery for the cell phone and had to go through 4 traffic lights between country blocks to find the battery store in the farthest corner of the last mall. I did get to see Utah Lake but I was not prepared for the cold weather.

Salt Lake City was a blip as we bypassed it. I did get one glimpse of the big church and its mighty spires. I guess I’ll have to buy a cd.

No wifi again. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. There is a big salt lake that Salt Lake City has spread to and so I ask, what is the name of the lake?

Boise is our goal tomorrow. We will stay at Pendleton the following night. There is a great wool mill there. I hope to visit it. Maybe they have rugs or saddle blankets I could use beside my bed. Mind you the last time I was at the mill, I put my hand in a huge wheeled canvas tote to look at buttons and when I brought my hand out I noticed I wasn’t wearing my tri-diamond ring. We spent quite a bit of time emptying this 3 x 4 x 3 foot tote and did not come up with my ring. My first stop will be the lost and found even if it is 9 years since our fun time at Pendleton Woolen Mill.

Thanks for riding along, folks.

Cheers.

November 12

and we are nestled beneath the snow capped mountains surrounding Provo UT. Some of these big hills rose to 13 000 feet. That’s a lot of shoes and some of them could be snow shoes! We have had a reality check and it is cold. It snowed here last night and some of the road had melted snow or frost on it

Highway 15I is a good road and offers spectacular scenery. Snow on the peaks was a surprise, but give our heads a shake—it is November. We drove up to 6100 feet today and are at 4 200 of those feet in Provo. We just kept driving across valley after valley after we had risen up to the summits and down into the next valley.

Risen up. We are in Utah and the LDS make up 70% of the population. St. George, last night’s stop was the head honcho’s winter home because St. George has the best temps for all of Utah. We drove by a private university named after him on the way to camp in Provo. Who is this man? There was a wonderful whiter than white temple in St. George
on a bluff and backed by very deep red hills. It was the first temple in Utah. I am hoping to sit in on a rehearsal at the big temple in Salt Lake. They allow people to come in to listen as long as you are seated by 12:15. Who will I be listening to and where will I listen to them.

No gambling in this state and not very much Sunday shopping either. Marg has to regroup and wait until tomorrow to shop for scraps.

The desert can span a whole valley or share the valley with cows and hay fields. Don’t forget that long eared rabbit you saw today, Terry. Yes, it did have extremely long ears. I was taking a picture and scared him out of the brush.

Provo is near Lake Utah and we are camped on the Provo River. We drive into to camp to see about 20 ducks. Then there are 30. It is closed until 4:00 pm. We discover we can’t shop and so I grab a Krispee Kream doughnut or three and we go back to camp to wait.

A truck drives in and the ducks get quite excited—quack, quaaaack, quaaaaack. No one gets out of the truck. Guess how many ducks are there now? At least 75 ducks have gathered at the registration office. Ten minutes later another truck drives in and these ducks are really getting excited. A man gets out of each truck and enters the building. There was a couple ahead of us and they go in to register. Before they come out, one of the men comes out with two large plastic pails and feeds the ducks. He returns to the office and the couple ahead of us comes out. We go in. The bucket man is sitting on a stool breaking bread. He gets day old bread from a store near the highway, breaks it and feeds the ducks that are spending the day on the river because at the lake it is hunting season. He claims the ducks go back to lake at night and then return in the morning.

Cheers.

November 11a day of gray skies and wispy clouds with about 11 drops of rain. The desert we traveled through could have used a few buckets. I am amazed at how a plant can grow in the soil we are passing by. I have a new respect for cacti and other drought tolerant plants that exist in this no man's land.

Somebody cut a channel through a mountain and we got to drive through it this aft. It was amazing. It is the top picture.

Name this type of tree; it loves high altitudes.

We slipped into and out of Vegas in 25 minutes by taking the bypass. Marg and I had already gambled ourselves out at the gas and lunch stop which just happened to have a very smokey room full of slots. Marg spent $5 and made it back, and I left $2 behind out in the middle of the desert. The roads and surrounding surfaces are very pretty and cost a few pennies—concrete. Signs all over the place tempting you to step into their wonderful life. There was a very heavy yellow smog cloud over the city. We could see it for miles and from miles away.

The big excitement of the trip was the Hoover Dam. The bridge that will bypass the dam is coming along nicely. We had to pull off the road to have the mh searched for hazardous materials—a bomb maybe, Iraqis. We opened all compartments and they came aboard. One of the nice officers was going to charge Marg with interstate smuggling of coke!

The dam looks smaller than it is because much of it is down below and one cannot see its depth. It is in a narrow canyon. The area is spectacular as one winds down the road and across the dam and then up the other side to the lake lookout. The craggy sides of the canyon are many coloured. One can park and walk around for $7. There is also a parkade which has food and souvenir shopping on the north side which is tres modern compared to the old single-wide mobile home building on the south side—wrong side of the dam. So, sports fans, what was the dam called before it was called Hoover Dam?

Lake Meade is huge with little hill tops in it that were too tall to be covered by the flood. There is a lot boating activity there as it doesn’t have much competition in the desert. The only river we saw was Virgin River. There are lots of dry river and creek beds that are bridged and you drive over. In Arizona they call these a wash.

We are in Utah tonight. Don’t even mention the g word. Marg could be within reach of a few scrap book stores tomorrow—hold on to your wallet, Marg.

CBC was our source for a few minutes of the Remembrance Day Service. One can choose whichever city has a station. So what station did I choose?

We went into the Pacific time zone for 40 minutes and then out of it again.

Cheers.

This for yesterday as it is part of a question.

November 11

Got the boot just as I was going to post it; lost all the pictures and the text—in Arizona cyberspace.

November 10 and we are nestled at the base of flat and pointy top mountains. The desert is still around us and we are only at 3 300 feet. Can the sky get any bluer? It is short sleeve weather but the wind hinders one from exposing one’s knees.

It’s opry night on the radio; Saturday, too. I hope you are tuned into WSM, Nashville on the net—enjoy.

I looked at Native blankets and did not get lucky; even looked at saddle blankets but could not find one to fit the décor.

We saw some wonderful red rock mountains surrounding Sedona. There are many trendy shops their, at least 369 suave galleries and no junky souvenir shops. I had to take the situation in hand and dropped in on a garage sale—yee-haw. I walked away with a few cd’s, some stationery for the computer printer and a roll of ribbon for Marg to use in scrap booking—I am a genuine brown noser.

It seems strange not to have the Legionnaires’ selling poppies at the entrances of stores. I saw one lawn covered in American flags. So many businesses and individuals fly the flag; it is difficult to know if Remembrance Day is tomorrow. I am asking Barbara, my cousin whose Dad Don is my father’s brother, to thank her Dad the next time she talks with him, for the effort he put in as a member of the Air Force during WWII. Thanks Uncle Don!

We are on our way to Vegas tomorrow. I’d like to drive the mh down the main drag as we pass by, as we are not intending to stay but pick up a few more miles down the road. Vegas, the Grand Canyon and the Death Valley are another trip.

Now one of the pictures from the skies above Sedona will bring to mind a famous dog fighter. What is his name?

We had lunch in Williams, a very prosperous town from the days of the 66er. This town did not shrivel when the I-40 went in because it is the gateway to a canyon. Name that canyon to win a grand prize.

Thank you for taking a moment of your time to celebrate the courage of the men, boys and women who took responsibility to defend democracy.

Cheers.

November 9; we came down to Sedona—from 6000 ft to 3200.

It was a windy ride today. The sun was warm, but the wind took charge. The sky was blue and huge, but began to shrink as we approached Flagstaff which sits at the base of the first mountains we have seen in a long time.

The ride was tiring as I had to keep correcting the path in the wind and for just about every truck that passed. Now, talk about numbers, a gentleman at the City Electric Shoe Shop answered my question about trains and said that 14 trains pass through Gallup NM in an hour. We did not count them during the night, but I believe him.

The shoe store was a wonderful source of leather, all sorts of slime green colours in pigskin, buttons, conches, belts, cowboy hats and of course shoes and boots. It was an old family store that will continue to be a family business. It was around in the heydays of Route 66. Down Coal Ave. was a wonderful old movie house. The façade seems to have incorporated turquoise into the design. Again today, there were lots of remnants of The American Road.

The mountains appeared through the ozone fog and grew as the day moved us closer to Flagstaff. We avoided this city and headed to Sedona. The trip took us south through a very windy road and gave us a stop that looked into a chasm that had a dry bottom. I espied two young men preparing to go down a cliff face. They did not look prepared to make the descent—no shirts or shoes. I ventured over to visit with them in an attempt to discourage their descent. The boys were very polite and appreciated my concern. While conversing with them, I espied climbing gear and felt much better. They assured me that they would be careful, and no, they had not called their mothers and said I love you. They had made the descent before and started to change into their climbing gear.

The red soil is amazing. The erosion is proof that nature is its own artist. The shades and shapes are intriguing.

There are lots of souvenir sellers at gas stops and even at the lookout stop we made.

I am thinking about a woven Navaho rug for my bedroom. I saw some from a store near Sedona and the store is on the net. Well, I may have to rethink that idea as some of the rugs I saw were $3 500 for a 5 X 4 ft. Gee, I only want a short runner-- 30” X 40”.

Cheers; you get a night off. Kelli not known for being full of hot air got hot air ballooning. Sorry, P&C you were a tad slow in responding.

November 8 and I am ticking. (not because there is no wifi)

We passed by Grants a large uranium mining area since gone the way of 66. Coming up soon or behind me in the rear view mirror is the place in the desert that the first atomic bomb went boom. I can see why the bomb was exploded here in the miles of cactus and rubble called soil. The irony is that this area is so very pretty with its miles of cactus and rubble. Looking for a place to hide for the rest of your life? Come on down. People just take over deserted places and that becomes home.

I feel like a split personality; we crossed the great divide today. Marg says it’s all down hill from here. Where is here you ask? Here is Gallup, NM. Our target for tomorrow is Sedona AZ cause Marg wants to see it and with all the time I’ve wasted being zoned out 66, how can I tell her it is south of Flagstaff and Canada is north.

We experienced the latest take on Burma shave signs today. They came in bright yellow billboards advertising Bowlin’s Trading Post. The topics varied on each sign and when another sign was needed to keep one’s attention, a topic would be repeated. The horse trader advertised, firecrackers, pottery, blankets, jewelry, t-shirts, leather-- shoes, belts, jackets, rattle snake artifacts. These were all separate billboards! Okay, I was swayed and we went in. Thank goodness there was a Dairy Queen there or the stop would have been a bust.

There were some layers in the desert today and some very pretty exposed red earth and I found a pink adobe bar called Tomahawks.

The trucks have found out where we are as they are back with a vengeance. The road had been calmer for a few days. I thought one truck was going to smack the front end of the mh and flip us.

There are lots of rail lines. We have been near a rail line I can remember from song. The Acheson, Topeka and the Sante Fe is the name of the rail line so what is the name of the song. Think in the 30-50s time frame.

Fran did well on Purple People Eater and Phillips 66 (was the gas company).

Cheers.

November 7from Santa Rosa New Mexico. The cities are just whizzing by and so is the 66er.

We had a real treat today. Yup, we drove on the original road which is red dirt and the mh is now red dust. Several bridges had to be attempted and the gross weight the bridge could hold was 8 tons—so, I made Marg walk across and she met me on the other side so dust would not get in her face. Driving the 66er is at least a whole year’s drive that should be started in Chicago mid August to beat the cold. Today was shorts weather! We had another gorgeous sunset. The ground is so flat and so this area is a sunset paradise.

A ranch was on the itinerary this morning. This is a rare ranch. Your job is to guess what type of car is in the picture which is a ranch of cars!

Albuquerque is on the map for tomorrow and then there are not many big cities or towns until we reach Arizona. Now, can you guess what activity has put Albuquerque on the map internationally?

The Rio Grande River has to be forded west of Albukirky—that is easier to spell. How do you think this town name is pronounced—Thoreau; yep, named after that famous guy. Are you ready? You get a choice: Thru or Thuh roo.

Cacti are afoot. There is a juniper tree (bush) that makes me feel the fields are full of cattle when the field is full of the juniper. One of the cacti is the source of that squished diamond shaped looking branch that is used for decoration on frames and in gardens.

Some of the campsites have small restaurants and so we dined out tonight. Last night’s site did not but advertised no Interstate noise. There was no interstate noise. Half a block down the road was a 5 lane road, a short hop away was an airport that launched jets and down the street the other was a train line.

You do not want to hear about how our sewer line went in the ground and then promptly spewed up out of the drain—a gusher! A nice guy called Tim came over to help us and did so in a quick and efficient manner. Gee, is it possible that fellers named Tim are good guys.

Cheers.

November 6 and in the Lone Star state in Amarillo, TX.

I was not impressed with the National Rte. 66 Museum in Elk City. It is a collection of museums. My interest was the 66er but there was nothing in it that one couldn’t find in any museum on travel or cars. I can only hope the one in Clinton, OK is better. We did some more clicks on Rte 66 and hit some more towns along the way. Some of 66 is the right side of the 4 lane highway (40 I) when heading west. We visited a small transportation musem as part of the 66 conglomertate and that was fun. We sat in a pink Cadillac of the 66 vintage and a movie of parts of the 66er played on the screen in front of the windshield and they had recorded the sound of going over the seams in the cement slabs. There was also a red 59 chev to sit in at a drive-in movie and a movie in black and white called something The Creature Returns played on a screen.

Tomorrow I hope to travel some of historic Rte 66. We pick up another time change and move into another state as the panhandle of Texas is narrow. One of the towns we were in was Eric looking for gas; no diesel. This was the birthplace of two musical fellas. One was Sheb Wooly and the other was??????? Here is another chance to win, if you can tell me the song Sheb Wooly wrote and recorded.

The sky is so big here. We were traveling at 3000 ft across a plain; not a mountain or serious hill in sight. Cows are abundant. Cotton is a crop I did not expect to see in Texas. The sunset was incredible.

I think our destination is Santa Rosa NM unless we can make it to Albuquerqee.

Cheers.

Marg and I have found a cosy little place in Arkansas. It is pictured above. Will yawl come and visit if we move up on the ridge near Valley View Road?

November 5 near Elk City, OK; home to the national museum of Route 66

The mh started okay and sounds great. We are going to be like our big brothers and sister, the truckers, and let the engine run for short stops.

Gray and rainy all day; the sun came out at sunset and so we hope that is good sign.

Talking about good signs; we drove on Route 66 today. We started at Bristow, and then went on to Chandler, Acadia, Luther, Davenport, Stroud, but not in that order. Quite a few remnants of the 60’s but mostly old gas stations. Steinbeck named it the mother road and sent his migrants down it in his book, The Grapes of Wrath. Way to go Pats!

The road goes through beautiful country. One has to try to imagine what was there and what is new. Many of the towns are only 7 or 10 miles apart. The stretches of Route 66 that one can drive are mostly short. Tomorrow when we head off to Elk City, apparently we can drive to there from our campsite. We were on 66 just before camp and did not even know it.

Tonight’s stop served dinner; so we dined. This morning I went for pancakes. Speaking of food, the dairy case the store carries whipping cream and heavy cream. One time I thought I was picking up heavy cream and I picked up baker’s sweet cream—to sweet for this ole gal.

Oklahoma is one of the rare states that celebrates its Indian ancestry in its state flag. The mh has done many hills and dales in OK. The soil is as red as PEI’s. Oklahoma is known as the Sooner State. For a nice prize, tell me why.

You name an Indian tribe and it had territory in OK—Chickasaw, Arapaho, Apache, Choctaw, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Osage, Comanche and Creek.

Here is another chance to win a prize. What gas company takes its name from Route 66? We tried visiting a decoy showroom but it was closed as it is Sunday.

Cheers.