Okay, we're finally home from our giant field trip. So many thoughts are rolling around my head trying to get out that I thought I'd better just plunge into a blog.
We traveled over 8000 miles altogether going through Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri (just a short detour), Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, then back through northern Idaho this time, and finally home. Wow!
It amazed me how each state had its own feel as we drove along taking in the varying landscape and each town or city we passed through. Utah was amazingly spectacular - you'll just have to look at the pics that I'll upload soon (hey, check out the pics Morgan and Hendel have posted (on MySpace), too!). The sweeping prairies of South Dakota were awesome, too. It gave me a fresh perspective as we arrived back in Washington after seeing so many places.
We met so many awesome letterboxers along the way, too! I'm guessing at least 100. They were all so friendly - now I have some faces to put with those names I see on AQ! Thanks to all of us for making us feel so welcome!
Here are some of the places we saw:
- Salt Lake City and the temple square
- Arches Nat'l Park, Utah
- Dead Horse Point (awesome!), Utah
- Mesa Verde Nat'l Park, Colorado
- Durango, Colorado (had great food at Francisco's)
- Aztec Ruins, New Mexico
- Route 66 in Albuquerque, NM
- Carlsbad Caverns, NM
- The Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas
- The French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
- The Gulf Coast of Mississippi (loved little Lucedale and the southern hospitality!)
- Steinmart in Mobile, Alabama
- The Coast Guard Aviation Training Station in Mobile (thanks, Jeff!)
- Stone Mountain, Georgia (great carving of Confederate leaders there)
- A cute, little Confederate cemetary in Clinton, Louisiana
- The Chatanooga ChooChoo in Chatanooga, Tennessee
- Drove through Nashville!
- The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri
- The Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL (awesome!) - my sister, Kamisha, got to go through it with us!
- Lincoln's home and restored neighborhood in Springfield, IL
- Maidrite - America's first drive-up window in Springfield (Hendel ate some beef!)
- The Prairie Learning Center in Iowa ( really interesting!)
- Little Town on the Prairie in DeSmet, South Dakota (awesome!)
- Pa's homestead in DeSmet, SD (got to ride a horsedrawn wagon to school!)
- Wall Drug, South Dakota (everyone has to stop there!)
- Mount Rushmore, South Dakota - wow!
- Crazy Horse memorial, South Dakota
- Devil's Tower in Wyoming (truly amazing!)
- The Western Heritage Museum in Wyoming - very well done!
- The Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming (awesome - saw a moose on the side of the road!)
- Yellowstone Nat'l Park - loved the hot springs and all the bison!
After all that, we just drove through Montana and Idaho without much stopping till we decided to spend the night in my old hometown, Spokane - best hotel of the trip!
We certainly experienced some interesting food trying to sample local fare when we could. Chili's is one of our favorite places now! I sure like southern sweet tea now, too.
Overall, everyone got along well considering the tight quarters and long days - I am so thankful for such a friend as Liz to travel with (not many could put up with me for that long...). If you can believe it, we're already wanting to travel again soon - who'd have thought I'd love to travel so much!
We traveled over 8000 miles altogether going through Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri (just a short detour), Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, then back through northern Idaho this time, and finally home. Wow!
It amazed me how each state had its own feel as we drove along taking in the varying landscape and each town or city we passed through. Utah was amazingly spectacular - you'll just have to look at the pics that I'll upload soon (hey, check out the pics Morgan and Hendel have posted (on MySpace), too!). The sweeping prairies of South Dakota were awesome, too. It gave me a fresh perspective as we arrived back in Washington after seeing so many places.
We met so many awesome letterboxers along the way, too! I'm guessing at least 100. They were all so friendly - now I have some faces to put with those names I see on AQ! Thanks to all of us for making us feel so welcome!
Here are some of the places we saw:
- Salt Lake City and the temple square
- Arches Nat'l Park, Utah
- Dead Horse Point (awesome!), Utah
- Mesa Verde Nat'l Park, Colorado
- Durango, Colorado (had great food at Francisco's)
- Aztec Ruins, New Mexico
- Route 66 in Albuquerque, NM
- Carlsbad Caverns, NM
- The Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas
- The French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
- The Gulf Coast of Mississippi (loved little Lucedale and the southern hospitality!)
- Steinmart in Mobile, Alabama
- The Coast Guard Aviation Training Station in Mobile (thanks, Jeff!)
- Stone Mountain, Georgia (great carving of Confederate leaders there)
- A cute, little Confederate cemetary in Clinton, Louisiana
- The Chatanooga ChooChoo in Chatanooga, Tennessee
- Drove through Nashville!
- The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri
- The Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL (awesome!) - my sister, Kamisha, got to go through it with us!
- Lincoln's home and restored neighborhood in Springfield, IL
- Maidrite - America's first drive-up window in Springfield (Hendel ate some beef!)
- The Prairie Learning Center in Iowa ( really interesting!)
- Little Town on the Prairie in DeSmet, South Dakota (awesome!)
- Pa's homestead in DeSmet, SD (got to ride a horsedrawn wagon to school!)
- Wall Drug, South Dakota (everyone has to stop there!)
- Mount Rushmore, South Dakota - wow!
- Crazy Horse memorial, South Dakota
- Devil's Tower in Wyoming (truly amazing!)
- The Western Heritage Museum in Wyoming - very well done!
- The Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming (awesome - saw a moose on the side of the road!)
- Yellowstone Nat'l Park - loved the hot springs and all the bison!
After all that, we just drove through Montana and Idaho without much stopping till we decided to spend the night in my old hometown, Spokane - best hotel of the trip!
We certainly experienced some interesting food trying to sample local fare when we could. Chili's is one of our favorite places now! I sure like southern sweet tea now, too.
Overall, everyone got along well considering the tight quarters and long days - I am so thankful for such a friend as Liz to travel with (not many could put up with me for that long...). If you can believe it, we're already wanting to travel again soon - who'd have thought I'd love to travel so much!
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