Road Trip Days 17 and 18 - Pocatello with Family

Tower of family

Salt & Pepper at Duck Ugly's

The drive from Elko was only about four hours.  It was really pretty once I got to Idaho and the beautiful green farm land.  Again, I was trying to get to Burley Idaho by lunch time.  Friday was the last day of school for the Michael and John.  Michael is now officially a high school senior and John is a junior.  They all seem to be getting older and I am not.  How does that happen?  We had lunch at Duck Ugly's.  No duck served here - just lots of duck decor.

Cell phone at age 2??

Then we all headed east to Pocatello for two days with Greg, Brooke, and Paige.  May 31 is John Robert Dayley's 16th birthday!!  Happy birthday, John!  We celebrated with breakfast at IHop and again with dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  Why is it that celebrations seem to always be with too much food?

Eureka!

Jen and I managed to squeeze in trips to two quilt shops, The Gathering Place in Rupert and Sages in Pocatello.  At Sages, I found the pattern I have been searching for.  Eureka!!  And, of course, a few other treasures, too.

Metal roses

Greg, the oldest grandson, has a metal fabricating shop and is so very talented!  He made me fifteen more quilt rack bases for the Bloomington Quilters Guild.  He saved our bacon last fall with 85 bases at the last minute when we discovered the ones we were going to use would not work.  Greg can do just about anything with metal.  Amazing!!

Day 19 will take me north and east into the Tetons and Yellowstone and then on to Cody Wyoming.  Should be some fabulous scenery!  I know that I could spend a week in this area and still not see it all but this will be good enough for now.

Onward!!  Odometer will pass 4,000 miles today on the Epic Road Trip!

Road Trip Day16 - Orangevale CA to Elko NV

Buckley purple front door

It was time to leave my friends in Orangevale and move on.  Day 16 took me up Hwy 80 out of Sacramento and north of Lake Tahoe to Reno and then eastward across some amazingly boring scenery of northern Nevada.  I have driven this road so many times and it has never been a favorite.  So I decided to try to find some treasures along the way.

Donner Lake

Just before the summit coming up from Sacramento is Donner Summit and Donner Lake.  It is really spectacular!  The Sierra Nevada Mountains are very special.  The line across the mountain in this picture are covered train tracks so the snow does not slow or stop the trains during the winter months.  Donner and Truckee are some of the coldest places in the US most winters.

Covered train tracks at Donner Summit

I have actually ridden a train up to Reno on these tracks and it is a very fun trip!

Winnemucca quilt shop

Next stop was Winnemucca Nevada.  The quest was for quilt shops in unexpected places.  I found a gem of a quilt store in Winnemucca.  Who would have imagined!  It was the Comfy Cozy for You Quilt Shop.  Very fun stop.

Baby Juliet Buckley

When I got to Elko Nevada, I could not find a quilt shop.  Bummer.  Tomorrow, Jennifer Surra-Dayley and I are planning to hit the quilt shop in Rupert Idaho on our way to Pocatello after lunch.  I will spend a couple of days with family in Pocatello before heading up to Cody Wyoming by way of the Teton National Park and Yellowstone.  Almost 4,000 miles so far.  Very fun!!

Onward........

Road Trip Days 13 and 14 and 15 - Orangevale, CA

Buckley backyard oasis

The trip from San Luis Obispo to Orangevale was a quick one with few stops.  This entire trip I have been trying to avoid the big 70-mile an hour highways but I needed to get to Orangevale for a BBQ by 12 noon so took the easiest route up Hwy 5.  The hills are golden brown.  There were a lot of fields that were not planted this year and many orchards being taken down because of the lack of water allotted to the farmers.  I imagine the price of food that comes from the California farms will be a little more expensive this year.

Anyway, I am so very glad to be back here in Orangevale where Joe and I lived with the girls from 1974 until I moved to Indiana in 2005.  And to spend some quality time with my very best friend and Sista, Karen, is priceless! The Buckley house is like Grand Central Station with family and friends coming and going constantly.  So much fun!

Joe's Marlin

Mountain Lion

Besides this beautiful yard, the Buckley big game room is unbelievable!  Brian is a big game hunter and has just about every kind of wild game represented in this room.  He has hunted all over the world.  The marlin was caught in Cabo San Lucas the November of 2000 by Brian and Joe.  I call if "Joe's Marlin".

Kathy, Me, Sib and Suzie!

I went by my old house on Mississippi Bar Drive just to see how it looked.  The trees have grown so much and the house still looks fabulous.  Good to see that the new owner is loving it as much as we did.  Also got to connect with some dear friends from the Fair Oaks Swim Team days and a special little sewing group we had that met weekly.  We have lost some from the Sewing Group but what serendipity!  Suzie Harms, Sibby Cramer, Kathy Sullivan and I were able to get together and catch up with our lives.  It is such a treasure to have friends who never change but for the better.  We picked up as if we were still meeting regularly when, in fact, we have not seen each other for many years.

This has been a fabulous oasis for the 3 days and a wonderful trip down memory lane.  Also, a great chance to do some laundry.  Thank you, Karen and Brian!!  Tomorrow, Day 16, I will leave and head north and east up through Lake Tahoe, Reno and on to lovely Elko Nevada.  Not because Elko is a destination but because that is as far as I want to drive tomorrow.  Maybe there are some fun quilt stores on the way.....

Over 3,000 miles so far!  Onward ho!!!

Road Trip Day 12 -Bakersfield to San Luis Obispo, CA

Cholame CA tree that James Dean ran into in 1955

Day 12 was a very leisurely drive for this Epic Road Trip.  Bakersfield is less than 3 hours drive from San Luis Obispo.  As I left Bakersfield heading west, I noticed that the orchards of almond and citrus trees looked quite healthy in spite of the severe drought that California is experiencing.  I suspect that the farmers have become very good at irrigating the orchards without wasting much water.

On Day 11 I was amazed at the miles and miles of wind mills producing electricity just west of Death Valley.  Today, I saw miles and miles of oil wells!  And a solar farm that was huge!  The oil wells were in a town called Lost Hills.  Very appropriately named, I might say, because there were absolutely no hills in Lost Hills!  Just lots of oil wells.

I was traveling on Hwy 46 westward to Paso Robles and Atascadero.  On the way is a tiny little place called Cholame.  There is only one restaurant and wine tasting room at Cholame so it would be real easy to drive right by without notice.  But, right there in Cholame is the very tree that James Dean ran his car into and died on the evening of September 30, 1955.  Dean was only 24 at the time.  His movie star fame is from his role in "Rebel Without a Cause."  There is quite a shrine surrounding this tree.

Between Cholame and Paso Robles, the land is covered with grape orchards.  They were just starting this wine and grape production when the girls were going to Cal Poly.  It is huge now!  It would be fun to plan a wine tasting trip to this area and see how it compares to the Napa and Sonoma wineries.


My destination in San Luis Obispo was to see my friend, Janet Mease, and her new quilting store endeavor, SLO Creative Studio.  Jan used to own Shiisa Quilts in Bloomington.  Oh my gosh, it was good to see Jan again!  Her place is just what the name says - a Creative Studio.  She has 3 HandiQuilter long arm quilting machines set up and rents out time on them and teaches people how to use them.

Since we lived here in SLO from 1971 to 1974, I thought it would be fun to go see the house we had here.  This was a tiny little tract home with maybe 1400 sq ft built in 1963 and in a lovely little neighborhood just west of the Madonna Inn.  Here it is:  1512 Balboa Street.  Not nearly as cute as it was in 1971.  The estimated price for this little gem in SLO is now over $500,000!!  Unbelievable!!  It last sold in 2000 for $249,000!  Wow!  In 1974 it was worth $45,000.  That is California real estate for you!

I have gone as far west as I am going on this Epic Road Trip.  Day 13 will take me up to the Sacramento area to spend a few days with my very dearest friend, Karen.  Can't wait to see you, KB!!

Road Trip Day 11 - Las Vegas to Bakersfield, CA

Red Rock Canyon Las Vegas

Oh my!  It was so good to be leaving Las Vegas!  I drove down the strip and looked at the magnificent buildings and decided I did not have to stop. I did not even want to take any pictures of it.  Too much opulence and decadence!

Just north and west of Las Vegas is the Red Rock Canyon National Park.  There is a 13-mile drive through the beautiful rock formations.  This was such an amazing and breathtaking contrast to Las Vegas.  God does so much better at creating beauty!  The rocks were different from the red rock formations in Utah and Arizona.  And there were so many people running, biking and hiking the loop!  Thank you to Lorie Rheams for suggesting this scenic drive.

Sand dunes

Still heading westward, I decided to drive through Death Valley.  In the 61 years I lived in California, I do not think I ever saw Death Valley.  Wow!!  There is nothing there!  I took Scotty's Castle Road thinking maybe I could find it.  The signs said that there were no services at Scotty's Castle.  I am sure that is true.  I drove over 60 miles and never could even find Scotty's Castle!  Probably should have done a little more research but it was kind of a whim when I got there.  Again there was no cell signal and my GPS could not find it either.  Oh well.

The floor of Death Valley is below sea level.  Climbing up out of the valley, the road rises up to over 4,000' elevation.  My extra driving trying to find the Castle ran my gas below my comfort levels so I was kind of anxious to find a gas station.  Holy cow!  Gas prices in the middle of nowhere are astronomical - $4.95 a gallon.  $30 for six gallons, but I was back within my comfort zone!

I think the mountains on the west side of Death Valley are the Tehachapi mountains.  It is mostly desert so not too exciting except for the wind farms!  Mile after mile of wind mills on the mountain tops.  Biggest wind mill farm I have ever seen!  Check out the reflection in the rear view mirror.  The entire hillside behind me was covered with wind mills!

Finally, I have arrived in California!!  This was a long day of driving - over 400 miles.  Bakersfield is not the most beautiful spot in California.  I was reminded that many refer to Bakersfield as the "armpit of California."  I would choose Bakersfield over Las Vegas any day!

Day 12 will take me further west to San Luis Obispo, CA, where we lived for 3 years in the early 1970's and both Jen and Cindy graduated from Cal Poly there.  I wonder if it has changed as much in the 45 years as Las Vegas did.  Going to meet up with my friend, Jan Mease, and check out her new SLO Creative Studio.  Maybe she will let me play with one of her long arm HQ machines there........

Road Trip Day 10 - Flagstaff to Las Vegas

Flowers of Sedona AZ

Day 10 started in Flagstaff, Arizona.  I headed south on Hwy 17-89A to Sedona to see the red rocks there. Flagstaff is a beautiful city of about 63,000 people located at 7,000' elevation.  It is surrounded by Ponderosa Pines and reminded me of Lake Tahoe.  Absolutely beautiful!

The road to Sedona was very interesting.  It was very, very curvy and dropped me down about 2,000 or 3,000' in elevation to an world of incredible beauty.  Kind of like the red monuments of southern Utah but with some green, too.  Very much a tourist destination with the historic district filled with people checking out the scenery and the shopping.  Sedona has the only McDonalds in the world with turquoise arches instead of "Golden".  Seems that the only way the town would allow McDonalds to open a restaurant was if the arches could be turquoise.

I found a fabulous quilt store in Sedona and left with some "Sedona Colors" in a bundle of batiks.  It was one of the top ten stores a few years back.  Very nice!!

From the quilt store I headed further south to take the Red Rock Loop for an overview of the area.  Absolutely stunning beauty!  I can see why people go there for vacations!

Next stop was to be Las Vegas, NV.  I had not been in Las Vegas for at least 50 years.  When I was here last, it was a dusty little town.  We would come to Vegas for weddings, mostly.  We could not afford much and I do not remember much except getting extremely sick from drinking too much Ten High and 7-Up.  That is probably too much information but, just for the record, it does not take much Ten High and 7-Up with no ice to make anyone sick.  Not a very good memory.

Hoover Dam

On the way to Las Vegas is the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.  I had the time so decided to take the little detour and check it out.  Way too many people there but managed to get a few pictures.  This would be a fun place to come in the winter and take the tour of the dam.

California and the Southwest US are having an extreme drought.  The water level in Lake Mead was very low and this is only the beginning of the summer.  Very concerning!!  Check out the dark tips of the little islands in the lake.  That is usually all that is showing above the water.  And the boat ramps are about a quarter mile long.  The white part of the shore lines are usually under water.

I have decided that Las Vegas and places like Las Vegas are definitely not my cup of tea!  This town is crazy.  First of all, it is too crowded.  Next, I am not a gambler.  I just went to the Mandalay Bay Casino so probably have not seen some of the grandeur of the town.  The hotel lobby at the Mandalay Bay reminded me of an airport check in desk with people lined up waiting, waiting, waiting.  This is a holiday weekend so maybe that is it.  I will drive up the strip and maybe stop at one of the other monstrosities here and see if it is any better.


The gambling machines are so elaborate now that I am not sure I want to figure out how to use them.  We used to walk up to a machine, drop in a coin  and pull the lever.  Now all one has to do is sit there and push a button now and then and wait for the machine to decide how much of the credits (real money but just referred to as credits) is there for more button pushing. Even the roulette wheels were automated with each person sitting in front of a little touch screen placing their bets with just the touch of a finger.  No more of the excitement of those silver dollars and half dollars weighing heavy in your pockets.  

There was a bright spot in this adventure to the casino.  I found the Starbucks and got a new mug!  

It only took an hour at the casino to know that this is not a place I need to return to.  Especially, now that I have my Las Vegas Starbucks mug!!  

Day 11 will take me up to another Red Rock Loop (thanks to Lorie Rheams for the suggestion) and then through Death Valley on my way to Bakersfield, CA.  

Still heading west!  Ho!

Road Trip Day 9 - Bluff Utah to Flagstaff Arizona

Bluff Utah view from Desert Rose Inn

Cabin at Bluff Fort

First thing when I looked out of the window of the room at the Desert Rose Inn, I saw this beautiful view.  I decided to spend a bit of time in Bluff to check out some of the history there. First stop was Bluff Fort.  The fort was built by Mormon settlers after a grueling wagon train trip through what they called the Hole in the Rock Trail.  They literally had to carve the rocks out to get the wagons through to the San Juan River area where they were to settle.  Instead of a six week trip, it took them six months to get there!

The fort has some of the original cabins and a very nice reproduction of other cabins showing how the fort was arranged and how the people lived.  Again, I am so very thankful that I was born into an age of convenience and comfort!  But... there were quilts on the beds!

The next stop there in Bluff was to the Sand Island Petroglyphs.  This is a huge sandstone wall that has petroglyphs from 3000 years ago.  Diana took me there in the evening and I had trouble seeing the drawings on the stone so decided to try in the morning.  I must confess that no matter how hard I try, I cannot see the drawings on this stone.  Sure wish they had used a little more contrast.  Maybe it is my old eyes.

Next stop was Monument Valley.  The drive there was spectacular.  The drivers out there on the desert are crazy, though.  There are some people in cars who are in such a big hurry that they do not care if it is a double solid line, they try to pass anyway.  Lots of very stupid drivers out there.  I remember driving through southern Utah many years ago and thought it was Monument Valley but it was just the beautiful rock formations of the desert.  The actual Monument Valley is located on Indian land and is where John Wayne filmed his western movies.  The fee to see the museum, information center and drive the loop is $20 per car.  I almost turned around but decided I had come this far, I had to do it.

Three Sisters

Oh my!  Again, I thought this would be a quick drive through with lots of photo ops.  It is not a quick drive through!  There is a dirt road that loops through the valley around and among these beautiful rock formations that is about 10 miles long.  It is not a trip for the timid driver or anyone who wants to keep their car clean!

Left mitten

The pictures do not do it justice.
The Indians consider this area to be a sacred place and I can totally see why.  It is amazing!

It was time to head down to Flagstaff to meet my goal of not driving after the sun goes down.  There was absolutely no cellular signal in this area of the country.  Since I rely heavily on my GPS and cell phone to guide me, it was kind of a guess for a while.  My total lack of a sense of direction can be quite a handicap at times.  Well it is not a total lack.  If it feels like I am traveling north, chances are I am really going south.  So I do have a sense of direction - it is just wrong almost all the time!

Anyway, the drive to Flagstaff was about 170 miles through more desert and stupid drivers.  At one point I looked out and saw what I thought was dust being kicked up from a truck out on a dirt road.  Not!  It was a dust storm!  The sand and dust were blowing across the road and it was so thick, I could not see more than 20 yards in front of me.  Hurdling along at 65 mph it was very scary.  This lasted about a mile then it started to rain!  Oh my, is my car ever a mess!

Flagstaff is a beautiful city located at about 7,000' elevation in a Ponderosa Pine forest.  Reminds me a lot of Lake Tahoe area.  By the time I got to my hotel, I was ready for a very big glass of wine!  The Olive Garden was just next door and they have wine!!  All was well!

Another day in the Epic Road Trip Adventure!  And, I got the binding sewn down on the Seven Brothers Log Cabin quilt!  Life is good!

Day 10 will take me to Sedona Arizona just south of Flagstaff and to the Meteor Crater just to the east of town.  Then I will head toward Las Vegas and see what I can find on the way.

Westward ho!

Road Trip Day 8 - Durango CO to Bluff Utah

As I left Durango Colorado, I decided to head a little south and go to the Mesa Verde National Park to see some of the cliff houses or pueblos there.  Little did I know that to really get to see some of the bigger ones, I would have to buy a tour ticket, drive over an hour into the park, climb a rickety looking 80' ladder and crawl through 18" tunnels.  Somehow, I thought it would be an hour drive and then I would be on the road again.  Oh my gosh!  This park is fabulous!  It is about an hour drive up onto the mesa and then down again to the cliffs where the Indians built these cliff dwellings.  I think the top elevation on the mesa was about 10,000'.  The view from the mesa was spectacular.  I could see the snow covered Rocky Mountains in the distance.

This is the museum at the entrance to the park.  There was a statue in front of the museum of an Indian climbing up the sheer side of the cliff as they used to do to get to the cliff houses. My picture of the statue is not very good from a detail perspective but with the sun behind it the sky looks amazing.  This is a spire with a climber on it.  

The first stop was at the Spruce Tree House.  It did not require a tour ticket and was self guided.  The trail down to the cliff house was quite steep dropping probably 1000' down to the dwellings.  Oh my!  I was going to have to get back up that trail.  No worries!  If those other travelers can do it, I can do it!

Spruce Tree House

All I can say is that I am so very thankful that God put me in this life now and not back when these people existed.  What a harsh life! 

Spruce Tree House up close

My next stop was the Four Corners Monument.  It is run by the Indians and they charge $5 per person to go into the little area where the Four Corners marker is.   There is no where else in this country that you can stand on four states at one time:  Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.  There were some really nice Indian artwork and booths around the monument but the stuff was very pricey.

From Four Corners I headed to Bluff Utah.  Bluff is a little town of only about 150 people.  But it is situated in some of the most beautiful desert I have ever seen.  The Mormons originally settled here and built the Bluff Fort.  My reason for coming to Bluff was to have dinner at the Cottonwood Steakhouse which is owned by some friends of my sister and brother-in-law.  Rick and Diana bought the steak house 9 years ago and transport themselves from the Philadelphia area to Bluff every year from April through October.  They have a steady stream of diners from Europe and Japan and all over the world who come to see Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.  Now I can say that I have dined at the Cottonwood Steakhouse in Bluff, Utah!  By the way, it was very good!

Diana took me on a tour of Bluff just before sunset and up on Cemetery Hill the bluffs were absolutely breathtaking.

Words cannot describe it.  

I am now off to Flagstaff Arizona by way of Monument Valley.  Maybe will have time to go a little south of Flagstaff to see Sedona.  Day 9 of the Epic Road Trip has begun.  Westward ho!!