Saturday, July 27, 2013

THE BIG TRIP MOVIE

This is a movie slide show of our trip in small screen format set to a few songs that we listend to along the way.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

FAVORITES - PART 2 - FAVORITE MEALS

Favorite Meals:
Cattleman's in Oklahoma City, OK – best food and next best deserts
Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen in Louisville, KY – best deserts, went twice
Brown Dog Pizza in Telluride, CO – best pizza
Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis, MO – best BBQ
Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ in Kansas City, MO – next best BBQ
Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque, NM – best breakfast
Cheesecake Factory at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV – best atmosphere
DuPar's in Beverly Hills, CA – good food, better deserts and we saw celebrities
Dough Trader Pizza Company in Spearfish,SD – good pizza
Red Rock BBQ in Sedona, AZ – good BBQ and better banana peanut butter pie
Teddy's Deli in Keystone, SD – good sandwiches
Spaghetti Works in Omaha, NE – good Italian
Phillips Avenue Diner in Sioux Falls, SD – good breakfast for dinner and the Cuban sandwich was decent

FAVORITES - PART 1

Now that we are back from the big trip, everyone has been asking what was our favorite place.  So I asked everyone in the family and here it is listed in order:

Cole:
Yellowstone
Disney’s California Adventure Park (Cars Land)
Grand Canyon
Disneyland
Mt. Rushmore
Zion
Bryce Canyon
I Found Rhode Island License Plate
Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood
Hollywood Sign
Santa Monica Beach
Bellagio Fountain Show
Gateway Arch
Durango-Silverton Railroad
Route 66 Roadside Attractions and the Tucumcari Car Show
Grand Tetons
Crown Center in Kansas City
Mammoth Cave
President Statues in Rapid City

Elle:
Disney’s California Adventure Park (Cars Land)
Disneyland
Yellowstone
Mt. Rushmore
Grand Canyon
Cattleman’s Steakhouse in Oklahoma City
Zion
Bryce Canyon
Olympic Park in Park City
Grand Tetons
Bear City USA
President Statues in Rapid City
The Hill (Italian District) in St. Louis
Gateway Arch
Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory Tour
Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles
Mud Island
Cody Rodeo
Santa Monica Beach
Las Vegas Casinos

Cara:
Tetons
Zion
Yellowstone
Randy’s Donuts
Disney’s California Adventure Park (Cars Land)
Santa Monica Beach
Homemade ice Cream and Pie Kitchen
Hollywood
Grand Canyon
Cattleman’s Steakhouse in Oklahoma City
Las Vegas
Hotel in Cody
Mt. Rushmore
Bear Country USA
Durango-Silverton Railroad
Salt Lake City/Park City
Gateway Arch/City Museum
Frontier Restaurant
State Capitols

Ken:
Time with the Family
Disney’s California Adventure Park (Cars Land)
Beartooth Highway
Hollywood Sign Hike
Yellowstone Wildlife
Jenny Lake at Grand Tetons
Zion
Bryce Canyon
Disneyland
State Capitol Buildings
Mt. Rushmore Lighting Ceremony
Bear Country USA
Snake River Raft Trip
Las Vegas
Upper and Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Million Dollar Highway Loop in SE Colorado
Route 66 Roadside Attractions
Falls Park in Sioux City
Durango-Silverton Railroad
Santa Monica Beach/Venice Canals

Saturday, July 13, 2013

JULY 12: MIDDLESBORO KY to RALEIGH NC

Miles: 376

Today we drove from Middlesboro, Kentucky to home to complete our 24 state, 38 day, 8720 mile trek across the United States. We drove through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel from Kentucky into Tennessee. We followed the Daniel Boone Trail Highway and past the Natural Bridge State Park through Kingsport and Johnson City, Tennessee. On our way to Watauga Lake, we stopped in Elizabethton, Tennessee. At the lake, we had lunch at Watauga Point Park where we ate whatever random food we still had in the car. The kids loved it and gave the “killer” geese some of their leftovers. The drive from Boone to Raleigh was one I have made many times. We stopped for gas, a few groceries and some take-out dinner on our way home.

The weather was nice. For the entire trip, we had rain the first day while driving in Tennessee, about three minutes of steady rain in Wyoming and about 75 minutes while driving out of St. Louis. We had as perfect weather as could be expected throughout the entire trip. We feel extremely lucky.

The entire trip went well with very few disappointments along the way. We are glad to be home but sad that the “Big Trip” is over. We started planning this trip 3 years ago on the way home from our 2 ½ week trip to New England and Eastern Canada. During this trip, we discussed what might be next. It's time to unpack and start planning the next one!

Friday, July 12, 2013

JULY 11: LOUISVILLE to MIDDLESBORO KY

Miles: 330

In the morning we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory Tour. The kids are not in to baseball yet so the history of the players was lost on them but we all enjoyed seeing how the bats are made. I am no longer a big baseball fan myself but it was cool to see all the old names I knew. Afterward we stopped at Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen again to get something to go and then hit the road.

We drove to Mammoth Cave National Park and took the Historic Cave Tour. This was the kid's first time in a cave and they seemed to enjoy the experience. Cole also found the elusive Rhode Island license plate that finally let us complete the 50 states license plate game we have been playing since the very beginning.

Behind schedule, we got back on the road. Along the way stopped at White Castle, a place we had never eaten before. Later we stopped in Corbin, Kentucky to see the location of the first KFC. We jumped on the Cumberland Gap Parkway and drove to our final destination of the night in Middlesboro, Kentucky.

Once again we did not experience any rain but it seemed like everywhere we went it had just rained. Our luck has been bizarre on this trip and we are glad for it.

The reality that our trip is almost complete has made us all a little sad this evening. As difficult as traveling for this long can be, it has been very rewarding. We have even considered bypassing home to spend tomorrow night at the beach just so we can say we went coast to coast but it does not look like the weather forecast will support it. Tomorrow we will be homeward bound.
 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

JULY 10: ST. LOUIS MO to LOUISVILLE KY

Miles: 359

We left St. Louis and drove to and toured Louisville, Kentucky. We had about 75 minutes of rain leaving St. Louis but had clear skies the rest of the way. Around lunch time, we stopped in Evansville, Indiana to take a quick tour and have lunch. Once in Louisville, we stopped at Churchill Downs (Kentucky Derby), University of Louisville, Millionaires Row in Old Louisville and Riverside Park. We were impressed with the university. We went to the Highlands Neighborhood for dinner at Impellizzeri's Pizza and for desert at Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen. The pizza was ok but dessert was fantastic.
 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

JULY 9: ST. LOUIS MO

Miles: 76

We spent today in St. Louis. We started by going to the top of the Gateway Arch and then walked to the Old Courthouse. It was a hot day so we retreated to the car instead of walking too far. We saw the three professional sports stadiums, Union Station and the Cathedral of St. Louis. Lunch was at the local favorite and very busy Pappy's Smokehouse. After lunch, we spent over two hours at the City Museum. It is an over-the-top children's museum. The kids had a great time. Highlights included a school bus cantilevered over the 11th floor roof, a Ferris wheel on the roof, a 10-story tall slide and multiple crazy slides.

We visited Forest Park, their version of Central Park, and saw the 1904 World Fair Pavilion and Art Museum. For dinner, we went to Italian Hill and also stopped at local favorites Donut Drive In for tomorrow's breakfast and Ted Dewes Frozen Custard for desert. On the way back to the hotel, we made our last stop at Laumeier Sculpture Park. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit Grant's Farm to see the Budweiser Clydesdales.

The kids went swimming at the hotel pool before getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we will drive to Kentucky.
Old Courthouse from the Gateway Arch


Gateway Arch


Old Courthouse


Dred Scott Statue


Home of the St. Louis Cardinals


Driving the bus...


JULY 8: KANSAS CITY to ST. LOUIS MO

Miles: 314

Tonight we arrived in St. Louis after spending the day crossing Missouri. We got off to a slow start because I had to spend a couple hours taking our rental car for maintenance. (Alamo is just sad, avoid them at all costs.) We spent the late morning and afternoon touring Kansas City. We made stops to see the National World War I Museum, Crown Center, Nelson-Atkins Art Museum outdoor sculpture park and Loose Park gardens. We topped the day off by eating at one of the best known BBQ restaurants, Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ.

After lunch we started our drive across the state after a quick visit to Arrowhead and Kaufman (Royal's) Stadiums. We stopped in Columbia to see the University of Missouri. We dipped down to Jefferson City to see the Missouri State Capitol and got some ice cream.

We arrived at our hotel in St. Charles, just outside St. Louis, just in time to check-in and put the kids to bed. Tomorrow we will investigate St. Louis.