Home Sweet Home

We left Harrisburg this morning and came down the home stretch just in time for Sarah to catch the Giants game(not that she was really happy to watch the end).  We came home to a very happy puppy and were quickly visited by Nicole, Rob and Annelise.  We passed out some gifts from the road(mostly for Annelise) and visited for a bit before they had to go.  All told, it was 9,663 miles, 25 states, 10 national parks, countless national forests, miles and miles of scenic byways, and some of the most beautiful countryside in america.  On our drive back the fall colors were really starting to pop through PA,NY and CT.  The mums by the driveway are in bloom and the garden is all but gone, a few peppers and some butternut squash are all that remain of the jungle we left behind.  As much as we enjoyed the past three weeks and wouldnt trade them for anything, its always good to come home again....

Mountaineering

The day began well, as did the game.  The mid-day sun bathed the stadium and made it really hot in the stands(we both ended up with odd sunburns).  The boys moved the ball well and controlled time of possesion in the first half, traded field goals and kept the game close.  Then the second half started.  It looked like it might go the same way as the first half, but when McEntee decided to try and run it in to the end zone on a keeper midway through the third quarter, the ball got knocked loose and was almost run back all the way for a TD, they scored quickly thereafter and then it all went off the cliff for Uconn.  Geno Smith found holes in our defense, corners slipped and fell, interceptions bounced off their hands and chests and WVU rattled off 23 points in under 7 minutes in the third quarter.  The fat lady began to clear her throat and a fair number of the home crowd departed the stadium, confident that they had this one in the bag, and they did.  So we left and headed to Harrisburg, for one final visit to a local brewpub.  A very ill timed lane change to pass a truck brought about a scare on the trip to Harrisburg.  As I came around the truck to pass I saw too late to change course a large piece of metal in the road, I kept it from hitting either tire, but it lodged under the truck and was grinding the road terribly.  As I went to pull off the road I saw that it was the fender off a trailer that was sitting in the shoulder a few hundred feet up, in much worse shape then my truck was.  I pulled over and dislodged the very large piece of aluminum to find, much to my delight, only a small amount of paint missing from the lower control arm on the passenger side....thats it, we got lucky on that one.  Hopefully tomorrows trip home will be much less eventful.

My little pony

So with Mempis in the rearview, we set off for the green rolling hills of Kentucky so that Sarah could ogle more horses.  She also wanted to tour Churchill Downs.  When we arrived, we were surprised to see the parking lot so full for a non-race day, not realizing that there are always plenty of people using it simply as a place to bet on the races happening elsewhere.  We wandered around the facilities and eventually found a clear path to the rail so that we could ge a good look at the track, the finish line and the two steeples.  There is also a Derby Museum onsite which we paroused, but only briefly.  Once Sarah had her fill, we headed off to Lexington in search of dinner and some scenic drives through the countryside.  Sarah found a nice place for dinner called the Merrick Inn, aparently, it was built before the Civil War and was a thoroughbred farm in the early 1900's.  I learned only after I had valeted the truck that it was a much fancier place then I had counted on.  While they didnt give me any trouble, I felt quite underdressed being the only man in the establishment without a collared shirt, and most certainly, the only one with a Ford t-shirt on.  Dinner was great, and desert was even better.  A banana cream and toffee pie that Sarah and I devoured from each side toward each other until it was gone.  From dinner, we made our way into West Virginia so that we have an easier drive to the game in the morning.

Packing it in

It seems that the last few days on our trip back are going to be jam packed.  Today being a prime example.  We started the day in New Orleans, walking to Cafe Du Monde along the Mississippi River.  Sarah actually passed on Chicory coffee and didnt want beignets until she got a taste of mine.  She was green around the gills from last nights partying.  She did want food though, so we wandered the streets until we found a place for some great french toast, made with fresh french bread.  We hopped in the truck and headed straight up 55 to meet up with some family friends who live in Jackson MS for a late lunch.  We sat outside on comfy couches at a nice little tapas restaurant.  Good food, good friends, great weather, just a really good time.  They took us on a brief tour of some of the highlights Jackson had to offer, including a Frank Lloyd Wright house and a historic plantation house owned and renovated by the local neighborhood and currently being used as an art gallery.  Then we pushed on to Memphis, headed to Beale street for barbeque and blues.  We enjoyed a great band at BB Kings and then stopped in a few other places as well to take in as much as we could.  Tomorrow its off to KY to horse country

Category 5 Hurricane, or 6, or 7........

Finding ourselves in the quarter, we did the only reasonable thing, we ate great creole cooking and then went on a bar crawl down Bourbon St.  Sarah was determined to run her own taste test comparison on who made the best hurricane.  Something she is regretting this morning, continually saying...'hurricanes are bad...'  We made our way to a few recommended places, among them Pat O'Briens, the originator of the hurricane, apparently some time in the 20s-30s, he was forced to buy to much rum from his liquor distributor and he came up with the Hurricane to sell as much as possible.  I took Sarah from one end of Bourbon St to the other, we stopped in to a European Jazz club, listened to a fantastic quartet with a banjo player who had some amazing solos...no really.  When we got to the far end, Sarah found a karaoke bar, one with a Golden retriever bellied up to the bar.  After we had been there for about an hour, and Sarah had already sung one of her songs, she realized it was a gay bar.  I had known for quite a while, maybe it was the fact that she was the only female in sight, or the men cozied up in the corner, or the MC running the karaoke hitting on me......what can I say, she was well on her way to getting really drunk.  We had a great time, hit a few more bars and then stumbled back to the room.  Its a fun town.  Now its off to get some very much needed Coffee.

Homefield advantage

The plan worked, we arrived early enough to let me change the oil on the truck, after a few adult beverages, I had to let it cool down after all.  After a tasty dinner, we were entertained by the boys dancing to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Tyler looked a little like Ray Charles as he had borrowed my sunglasses.  I really did try a few times to capture a good shot, but laughing, with a beer in one hand, the one at right was the best I was able to capture before the song was over.  Once the boys were tucked into bed, we started up some friendly competition, or something one might call competition.  They pulled out the lights and their cornhole set(beanbag/tailgate toss in some regions) and they dominated.  We tried to give them a good game for the first one, but whether it was that they had just played at the Cowboys game a day earlier or whether it was their set.....it could be that they're just way better.  Apparently, the tailgates we play at are the minor leagues.  We were skunked in the next game and had a poor showing in the third.  At 0-3 we decided our chances werent any better, so we challenged them to a game of pool, and the tide turned.  We went 3-0 and decided that a split of the games was a good place to stop.  We traded some stories and stayed up late, especially for a weekday when they're both working.  All in all, a fantastic time.  We're already trying to plan a trip back.  Now its on to New Orleans, the land of Hurricanes, Jumbalaya, Beignets, and Chicory Coffee...aka a good time.

Indian reservations and Mexican food

We set out for the four corners, travelling mostly through Indian reservations to get there.  We got a peek at Monument valley as we drove along the Southern edge of it.  When we stopped for breakfast, it was obvious that two of these things were not like the others.  It was 90+% native americans who all looked at us knowing immediately that we were tourists just passing through.  We arrived at the four corners, I stood in four states at one time, but for some reason, Sarah didnt want to.  There were Indian vendors encompassing the entire outside of the monument and I found Sarah a nice pendant that she liked(a horse, obviously).  We ate some Indian frybread and then cut a path straight Southeast across New Mexico to head toward Austin.  Along the way, we pulled off the interstate onto a historic part of Rt 66 for some Mexican food.  The food was fantastic, there was a lot of history on the walls, and it was a friendly place.  I'd recommend it if you're passing through Santa Rosa NM.  We pushed on a little farther after dinner so we can make good time to John's house.  He who runs with beer(his indian name) probably has a few cold ones waiting for us and is kind enough to let me change the oil in the truck there and possibly do some laundry, the back of the truck is filling up.

Horses, Mules, Donkeys and Beefalo

We started the day with a ride through Bryce Canyon.  When we arrived at the corral, they paired up the horses, or mules in some cases with their riders.  They seem to have had our numbers.  Sarah rode Sassy, the gassy girl, and they gave me Tony, a stubborn jack-ass.  We had a good time, seeing a new perspective on the canyon, the skyline and the hoodoos(spires of rock).  After we were done, we headed off to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  On our way in, we read about two native, or sort of native creatures that we wanted to see.  The first, was the native squirel, but no ordinary squirel, this is the Kaibab squirel, native only to the North Rim and surrounding Kaibab forest.  It has really large, almost bunny like ears and a very bushy tail.  We did see one, but I couldnt get a photo.  The second was an animal called the Beefalo, a local rancher back in the 30's decided would be a good tasting cut of meat.  A cross between the Buffalo and ordinary cows, they grew in number and wandered into the Kaibab forest area where water and food were more abundant, but alas, we could not spot any, just more mule deer.  We arrived late afternoon and decided to enjoy some local brews at the Saloon.  That could be the subheading to the title on this blog, 'supporting local breweries across America'.  Also, we had to stop in the lodge for Sarah to see Brighty, a storied mule about which she had read a book as a child(and bought again in the gift shop).  Legend has it that if you rub the nose of the bronze Brighty statue in the lodge, it brings good luck, Sarah had to give it a try.  After we finished at the lodge, we headed down a long narrow winding road, among more Aspens in their fall glory, to Cape Royal.  It had the best views of not only the canyon, but also of sunset, which was approaching.  So we hiked out to the point, and stayed for a magnificent sunset over the canyon.  Then it was off to grab a late dinner and push towards the Four corners, a perfect touristy cross country stop if there ever was one.

Angel's Landing....not so bad

We rose before the sun to get a jump start on the day and beat the rush into the park, since both parking, and the chain section of Angel's Landing can get congested during the morning hours.  As we departed on our hike, a couple with a 2 and a half year old daughter were leaving with us.  I told Sarah that it was a matter of pride, that she had to beat the little girl, but alas, she was beaten to the top by a toddler, albeit in a pack on her fathers back.  We reached the chained section of the hike after already ascending some serious elevation via seemingly endless switchbacks.  Sarah was undaunted.  She tackled them without incident and seemingly cool as a cucumber.  She said that it wasnt nearly as bad as the ladder trails I took her on in Acadia.  Once at the top, we found a great spot to recline, soak in the view, and enjoy a snack.  Someone else was very interested in our snack.  A pack of chipmunks scurried around, through and over us to see if we had anything they wanted.  Sarah accidentally dropped a piece of her trail mix bar, and one chipmunk definitely wanted more.  He came right up in her lap and gave her his best cute face.  The trip back down was much quicker and uneventful.  We toured the remainder of the park, doing some shorter hikes around the Virgin river valley.  From Zion, we headed over to Bryce Canyon, took the scenic drive and stayed for sunset at the aptly named sunset point.  Tomorrow Sarah gets to ride a horse once again, this time into the canyon.  Then its on to the North rim of the Grand Canyon.

Canyons, dirt roads and bees

Last evening at our campsite, we were immediately greeted by yellow jackets, they grew in number and were even more interested when we broke out the food and beer.  They wouldnt leave us alone.  Sunset shortly followed by moonset was a sight to see.  The picture depixelated at right doesnt quite get it right.  The moon was crescent, but you could see the remainder of the moon in the low ambient light of the Utah desert.  The stars and some planets were visible as well.  I swear the real photo looks much better.  We awoke shortly before sunrise, I made us coffee, bacon and eggs, our standard camping breakfast fare on this trip, and then headed into Canyonlands.  The scene is similar in many ways to the Grand Canyon, but wider and with more plateaus.  Its cut by both the Colorado and Green Rivers.  We asked at the visitors center about slot canyons in the area, and the woman spoke with confidence about one on the way to Zion, well, sort of on the way.  So we set off looking for some adventure and we found it.  A 30 mile dirt road, some mild off-roading, what turned out to be a detour, since we did cut off about 18 miles of Rt 70 in the process, turned out to be nothing but a chase for wild waterfowl.  There were no slot canyons, nothing even closely resembling slot canyons.  There was some beautiful scenery, and a lot of dirt/dust, an enormous cloud kicked up by the truck as I barrelled down the straighter, flatter sections as fast as the terrain allowed.  When we got to the far side, and stopped for lunch, we found a 1/4 inch of multicolored dirt collected on most of the truck, including the rims.  We pushed on to Zion, camped just outside as the inside campgrounds were full(it has showers, Sarah was very happy) and are prepping for an ascent of Angel's Landing tomorrow.  Sarah is not looking forward to another long hike, or the steep drop-offs, but will appreciate the views, when she opens her eyes that is.

Arches abound

The park really is aptly named, we entered fairly early as they warned us that parking at Devils Garden fills up fast this time of year.  We started down the loop, Sarah was less then thrilled, since I planned to take us all the way out, and back the primitive loop which was more strenuous hiking.  The landscape was all wonderful formations of water carved sandstone, from high points you could see plateaus and other formations dotting the scenery in all directions.  I climbed and scrambled, while Sarah waited patiently, most of the time.  We did get separated one time, making us both little nervous, some confusion about where to go and where to wait while I galavanted up and across the Double O Arch.  I realized while jogging back down the trail trying to find her that I had left the walkie talkies in the truck.  I spotted a as of yet unidentified type of snake along my journey and then eventually met back up with Sarah right where she thought I would find her all along.  After the 6ish mile hike, I tried talking her into the 3 mile hike to Delicate Arch, but no dice.  We compromised, hiking to the viewpoint for that arch, along with the windows, double arch, and turret arch(picture at right).  It was a long hot day of hiking and by the end, both of us were glad to be back in the AC of the truck on our way to another campsite outside Canyonlands.  We have spotted quite a bit of fauna on this trip, adding lizards, snakes, and a coyote to our tally today.  Tomorrow is a trip to Island in the sky, then pushing on to Zion.  Im off to grill us up some steak and peppers...mmmmm.

Headed to Arches

I find that my posts about our travel days are a little lackluster, but here goes anyway.  We headed out from Boise to Arches today.  Found a great place for lunch on Rt 6 along the way, instead of serving bread, they had what they called scones, but what was closer to fried dough puffs, served with honey butter, they were delicious.  The had good soups and good food as well.  We made it to our campsite along the Colorodo River a little before sunset, set up camp, made dinner and enjoyed the view and our Growler of beer from North Country Brewing Company in Montana.  The site was a lovely tucked away hollow, private, surrounded by trees and close enough to the river that it lulled us to sleep with its babbling.  Tomorrow holds the promise of hiking and arches.

Water, water, everywhere

It was a watery day, more rain, a drive along the bottom of the sound to get to the Pacific coast for a scenic drive south toward the Columbia river.  The road was peppered with fishing towns, canneries, fish hatcheries and beach drives.  A long bridge with a tall trestle at either end across the wide mouth of the Columbia river brought us into Oregon.  We followed 30/84 along the Columbia river gorge past Portland along another scenic byway into a cute little town seemingly with a brewery every mile or so.  We ate at the Trillium Cafe, enjoying some of the local brews and some fine cuisine, with one gripe.  Who puts mayo and cheese on a meatloaf sandwich??  Sarah and I had to swap lunches as a result of the aforementioned faux pas.  We pushed on to Boise and plan to head straight to Arches tomorrow, hopefully getting there in time to enjoy a relaxing night at the campsite and then heading into Arches to start our all Utah tour.

A trip over the Cascades to another rainy day in Seattle

I had hoped the rain would hold off for our trip to Seattle, but we were not so lucky.  Although, as we were driving up over Washington pass, we noticed the rain slowly turning to snow and then all to snow, with a few inches falling at the higher elevations.  It was a nice surprise and a beautiful scene.  Over the far side, there was lake after lake, with Dams and Waterfalls abounding.  It was a gorgeous ride.  The water, tinted almost turquoise from the silt washing off the mountains was truly amazing.  We then made our way into downtown Seattle to meet up with Sarah's cousin Kris, who is a nuclear technician for the Navy at the base here.  We enjoyed some cocktails and a very good seafood dinner and then some more cocktails before he had to make the last ferry back.  'Cool cousin Sarah' tried to maintain her reputation, and probably managed to do it, though she realized shes not 22 anymore.  Tomorrow we head off to the western coast of Seattle, down around Puget sound and then make our way to the Columbia river for a scenic drive through Oregon.

Just horsing around

No elk calls this night, though there were quite a few dogs.  One thing Sarah noted in Glacier, versus Yellowstone is that all the campers were owned, not rented, from Northern/Midwestern states, and most people had a dog.  That was our wake up call, barking dogs.  We enjoyed a quick breakfast and then headed down to the lake just before sunrise.  The calm lake surface acted like a mirror in the early morning light, reminding me of our trip to Yosemite and May lake.  We went on a short hike and then made our way to the corral for our horseback ride.  Sarah enjoyed it immensely and loved the fact that her horse, Dunny, always wanted to go faster and take the lead, my horse, Chuck, was a little pokier and we had to run to catch up quite a bit.  It was just the two of us and the guide, making our way along Lake Macdonald and then up a stream bed past some waterfalls and over a bridge to a huckleberry patch.  That put us in the mood for huckleberries and we enjoyed some local fare at the lodge including locally brewed huckleberry beer.  It was so good, we looked up the brewery to see if it was close and it was indeed.  We made our way there and enjoyed all that they had to offer on tap, then bought some for the road.  Our goal that night was to make it to Grand Coulee Dam as we were taking a detour up and over the Cascades on Rt 20.  A sleepy little town, as it turns out, everything was closed by 9, dinner was Roasted turkey and microwaved vegetables on our bed, bought from the local Safeway, the only thing open past 9.

Glacier national park...under construction

The day started a little rocky.  Just out of Great Falls, I was busy looking at the map and failed to notice that the speed limit had dropped from 70 to 45, but a state trooper did notice.  He brought it to my attention but took pity on me as he said that he didnt like giving two pieces of bad news.  The second being that we were off course, we had missed our turn miles back.  As we approached glacier, the scene was set by falls early colors showing in the blazen Aspen forests in the foothills of the Continental Divide.  We made our way in the Eastern entrance to the park to make the approach to Logans Pass.  The going to the sun road is closed for a good portion of the western part of the park.  What I did not know is that they are also doing paving work on the Eastern side of the park as well.  So we sat parked in a long line of cars waiting for our turn to go up and back on the one open lane.  Regardless of the construction, the views, just as I remembered them were magnificent.  The snow capped some of the taller peaks and added to the view.  On our hike over Logan Pass to Hidden Lake, we came across a small pack of Long Horned Goats having a lovely meal of meadow grass.  We headed back to the Western side of the park to set up camp and have dinner, a wood fire grilled entree of teriyaki steak skewers and grilled asparagus, who says you can eat well while camping.  Tomorrow morning we head off to ride horses down a stream to Lake Macdonald.  Sarah is giddy with anticipation.

Mating calls and hot springs...Yellowstone, the sequel

Overnight, we were roused a few times by the mating calls of nearby Elk.  Apparently, its the start of mating season, and there was love in the air.  We were also made aware that a Grizzly and her cubs had recently wandered through our campsite.  Alas, we did not see them, I was dissapointed, Sarah was relieved, probably the more sane reaction.  We drove North past the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, which is enormous, to the upper and lower Yellowstone river falls.  They were set deep in a valley and had some spectacular landscape surrounding them.  There was a path, that led to a series of metal staircases leading 3/4 of the way down into the valley that I couldnt resist.  Sarah was less then thrilled(a series of switchbacks, her favorite, leading to 300+ stairs), but it did offer an up close and personal view of the lower falls.  Just past the falls, there was artists point, which was inspiring, an array of colors coming out of the valley walls.  We then passed through the Mammoth area, with terraces of hot springs, pools, even a hot spring waterfall.  On our way through the town of Mammoth, we were suprised to see a crowd of people gathering around a town park area.  They were all there to see a male and a half dozen or so females, right in the middle of town.  But it was time to continue on our journey, so we departed for Great Falls MT and tomorrow, on to Glacier National Park.

Yellowstone, part 1

The day began a little slower and colder then I'd have liked.  We woke up to frost covering everything, the temperature was a balmy 27 degrees.  I managed to start a pot of coffee on our camp burner and purcolator with shivering hands.  After we had warm java in hand, we struck up a conversation with the older couple adjacent to us, commiserating about the cold, only to find out that they were Connecticut natives...go figure.  We enjoyed some good conversation while finishing our coffee and then set off to tour America's first national park.  We ambled through across the park, taking a southwesterly path, touring waterfalls, lakes, meadows and finally into the active geyser area.  We were even lucky enough to spot quite a bit of fauna.  We saw a few Elk, plenty of Bison, and even a Coyote.  Of course, we had to stop and see Old Faithful, and while it may be faithful, it certainly is a tease.  We sat, patiently awaiting the next eruption, and she would sputter and steam, making you think she would erupt, but no, she took her sweet time, finally erupting about 10 min after the foreplay started.  We then made our way to our campsite, a little earlier this time, and relaxed by a roaring fire, enjoying a well lit dinner and gazing at the stars after dusk.  I hope that tonight is a little warmer, but from the precipitous drop in temperature right now, I'm not going to hold my breath....which I can already see.  I make this post fireside....oh the wonders of modern technology.  Now I go to enjoy the last embers of fire before tucking in. 

Devils to Beartooth to Tower

Away we went, leaving South Dakota behind us, in all its resplendid glory.  We decided to forgo the interstates for a nice day of flying down two-laners in the expanse that is Wyoming and Montana.  It was a pretty ride through the black hills, then the custer forest, then the black hills......  We thought we would be remiss without a stop at Devil's Tower since we were so 'close'.  It truly was striking, even off in the distance.  Then it was on to Billings to replenish our supplies at the local Walmart.  From there it was a truly spectacular ride up the Beartooth Highway leading to the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone.  It was a series of switchbacks and snowcaps leading down into a high elevation meadow.  We arrived at the Northeast gate just a bit before sunset and only after we were inside the park did we realize that what I thought was offseason here truly wasnt.  Most campsites were full, so we had a longer ride inside the park to get to the first available site that had vacancy, the Tower Falls campsite.  Adjacent to, you guessed it, Tower Falls.  We arrived there shortly before dark, quickly set up the tent and grilled some pork chops and asparagus in the dark for a lovely, if not dark and late dinner.

Holy Wind Batman!

Shortly after tucking in for the night last night, we heard a howling wind arrive out of nowhere, it had been dead calm when we arrived, but overnight, 40mph winds blew in and gusted north of 50-60mph throughout the majority of the day today.  It was buffetting the truck and moving us around like ragdolls while we made our way around Badlands National park.  The views were spectacular and some of the most unique landscapes either of us has seen.  I lost a pair of sunglasses down a ravine during one of the stronger gusts, the wind blew them clear off my face.  Did I mention it was windy?  The colors were fantastic and some of the formations were rainbow like.  There were herds of Buffalo and Prarie Dog 'villages', they scurried around even with the wind.  We managed to get a good day of hiking in and still finished early enough to make it to Mount Rushmore for the lighting ceremony.  The monument was truly inspiring and the ceremony evoked patriotism and pride.  We were glad to have been there to experience it, cold, but glad.  Tomorrow will hopefully be a few scenic drives, one taking us past Devil's Tower, and the other a trip up Beartooth Highway as we enter Yellowstone for some more hiking and good camping.

I can see for miles

Today was another long day in the truck, starting in Chicago, fighting our way out of the rush our traffic, and ending in the apparently oft visited town of Wall SD.  We travelled through the land of Cheese and lakes through seeming endless bugs to find ourselves in South Dakota.  Forget about miles per gallon, we were tracking BPM, Bugs Per Mile.  The windshield looked like it had been through a war and was barely translucent by the time we stopped for gas in South Dakota.  Miles and miles of corn fields kept us company all the way through Minnesota and into South Dakota.  We couldnt resist stopping at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, and though it was closed, the photos speak to the corn-tastic appeal.  We enjoyed some sweets from a local shop and then pushed on to Wall.  Tomorrow holds the promise of a good breakfast at Wall Drug, apparently a huge draw(if you buy the local propaganda, it hosts 20,000 visitors a day in peak season).  There were signs starting in Minnesota and were quite frequent.  Then off to Badlands National park, finally some hiking...

The rainy city

The day started well, a lovely breakfast at Ann Sather's(thanks Kim and David).  I tried Swedish pancakes with Lingenberries and the cinnamon rolls, Sarah had eggs Benedict.  We then made our way up Sheffield Ave. to give patronage to the finer establishments along the way.  We quickly discovered that many of the bars were team themed.  We noticed a few, but were unprepared for the trip we took into the Dark Horse bar.  As we made our way to the bar, we noticed that it was a complete black out, every single solitary person in the bar, which was filled to capacity, was wearing a black steelers jersey.  They all turned to look at the two of us in that odd hushed slo-mo fashion, and we then decided it was best if we left.  There was a colts bar, a browns bar, a few Iowa hawkeye bars, a Bronco's bar.  It was like nothing either of us had ever seen, each was absolutely filled with fans in the appropriate gear.  As we enjoyed a few adult beverages at an Irish pub on the way to Wrigley, we were briefly confused to see football being played at noon, then remembering we were on Central time.  It was nice to see some football before heading in to the ballgame.  The seats we procured were fantastic, right behind home plate, there were a dozen ceremonial first pitches(some kind of charity thing, I think) and a barbershop quartet sang not only the national anthem but also God Bless America.  It was all shaping up nicely, until the game started shortly followed by the rain, which got heavier as the game went on.  We had neglected to bring ponchos or an umbrella and by the late innings we were chased away and fairly soaked.  We decided to spend the remainder of the day indoors to dry off and prep for our next long day of driving tomorrow.

It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses....hit it

Okay, so it was 870 miles, no cigarettes, and it was light out, but we were wearing suglasses with a full tank of gas.  I just couldnt help myself.  We left the house in our rear view mirror this morning and about 14 hours later, arrived at our destination in Chicago.  There was a short detour along the way to grab some good grub and better beer at a local brewhouse in a historic building in the town of Slippery Rock PA.  It was a long day of driving and as of yet, no good snapshots to share.  I'll be sure to take some tomorrow at the Cubs game and/or lakeside for your viewing pleasure.

Testing the payload on the pickup...

On the eve of our departure we've loaded nearly all of our camping gear and clothes into the truck.  I think we took advantage of the roomy interior and bed.  Last year, when Sue posted about their packing, she mentioned packing 10 lbs of you know what in, but fortunately for us, we have a 20 lb bag.  Both of us are anxious to get underway and even happier to not be working for the next three weeks.  Sarah is in disbelief.