Monday, April 19
Today dawned at normal time, 730am, originally. I woke up with a migraine at 6a, so by the time Chris woke up, I was still trying to get rid of it. He let me rest until 8a, then had to get up. Got breakfast at McD's (lovin the bagel sandwiches!) and headed out. We decided to skip the Kansas City Zoo because I wasnt feeling well with my headache. We headed south to Arkansas. I had looked up a couple things to do in Eureka Springs. If youve never heard of, or been to Eureka Springs, it is famous for its Passion Play (the story of Christ). Eureka Springs is set deep in the Ozark mountains and I remember seeing the Passion Play when I was a kid.
On our way there, we found Promised Land Zoo, a drive through animal refuge. They had some free roaming animals, and some animals in enclosed areas. We drove through and fed the ones that would come close to us. Some just looked at us warily, wondering what we were doing or might do. Quite a few didnt even look our way. It was a nice leisurely drive through the area though.
We headed to our next destination, ES & NA, Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway. They had a short excursion train through the Ozarks, something that would be beautiful this time of year. We got into town and found out the train is closed on Sunday and Monday. So, on to our next destination, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. They specialize in big cats, rescued from around the country. It was a nice walk around the grounds to see cats, bears, and even a monkey!
After the refuge, we decided to call it a night and go to the train the next morning. We got settled and wanted to order some dinner in. Found a restaurant that sounded interesting ... Eureka Road Kill Cafe. Until we found out they were closed. Oh well! So, no real dinner. I am a little tired, my migraine was finally gone but, the affects were lingering. Calling it an early night. Tomorrow we get to sleep in a bit!
No rain!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday pictures
Im a cute meerkat
Peccaries
Aardvark
Underground caves where bats and night creatures exhibits are
Porcupine (my first in a zoo!) and directly behind him, the thing that looks like a rock is an armadillo
Momma gorilla and baby
Im a lazy bear
Female peacock, standing right in front of me
MO landscape
Disclaimer on Canada A&W drinks
Sunday
Sunday, April 18
Today dawned early for me, 615am. Chris slept until 7a. We got up and got our staple, McD's for breakfast, where yay!, they had bagel sandwiches! Bummer that they dont have them at home anymore. :( Oh well. Treat when Im on vacay. On the road by 830a. Our destinations today were Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE and the Kansas City Zoo in Kansas City, MO.
We got to Henry Doorly about 10a. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people out enjoying the zoo and the nice day. We took our time and visited almost all the exhibits in some fashion. The zoo has a train that goes around part of the zoo that allows you to see parts of the zoo from the train. You can walk to these exhibits also. The zoo is huge! We were there for about 4 hours! We spent so much time there, we did not make it to the Kansas City Zoo, so that will be our first destination for tomorrow.
So, it was a pretty quiet day with just the zoo and some driving. Saw lots of wildfires in MO as we were heading down here. One was burning right off the freeway! We got a hotel and ended our day super early, just outside Kansas City. Got some dinner and watched The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Ultimatum on TV. Will probably call it an early night tonight.
So, I wanted to mention that we stopped for lunch today and our cups were filled to the top with ice. We probably received less than 20 ozs of soda in a 44 oz cup. In Canada, we visited an A&W where they put no ice in the cup! There is a disclaimer on their cups that states they are able to cool their soda to the correct temperature, so there is no need for ice. And besides, they state, it just melts and dilutes the soda anyway. Finally! A restaurant that gets it! Wish all would take notice and maybe not discontinue ice all together, but at least dont fill the entire cup with ice!
No rain today, but overcast!
Today dawned early for me, 615am. Chris slept until 7a. We got up and got our staple, McD's for breakfast, where yay!, they had bagel sandwiches! Bummer that they dont have them at home anymore. :( Oh well. Treat when Im on vacay. On the road by 830a. Our destinations today were Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE and the Kansas City Zoo in Kansas City, MO.
We got to Henry Doorly about 10a. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people out enjoying the zoo and the nice day. We took our time and visited almost all the exhibits in some fashion. The zoo has a train that goes around part of the zoo that allows you to see parts of the zoo from the train. You can walk to these exhibits also. The zoo is huge! We were there for about 4 hours! We spent so much time there, we did not make it to the Kansas City Zoo, so that will be our first destination for tomorrow.
So, it was a pretty quiet day with just the zoo and some driving. Saw lots of wildfires in MO as we were heading down here. One was burning right off the freeway! We got a hotel and ended our day super early, just outside Kansas City. Got some dinner and watched The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Ultimatum on TV. Will probably call it an early night tonight.
So, I wanted to mention that we stopped for lunch today and our cups were filled to the top with ice. We probably received less than 20 ozs of soda in a 44 oz cup. In Canada, we visited an A&W where they put no ice in the cup! There is a disclaimer on their cups that states they are able to cool their soda to the correct temperature, so there is no need for ice. And besides, they state, it just melts and dilutes the soda anyway. Finally! A restaurant that gets it! Wish all would take notice and maybe not discontinue ice all together, but at least dont fill the entire cup with ice!
No rain today, but overcast!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Saturday pictures
The "show" General Lee. A real General Lee, but only used for showings and pictures
'67 Mustang, my dream car
The first ever motor home
A couple lived inside this motor home for 3 years (1921-1924) ... its very small
Why can't we find room rates for this amount anymore?
Where we had lunch today
South Dakota forest fire
Mmmm, my carrot is good
Brown bear
Turkey showing his feathers ... to a peacock
Saturday
Saturday, April 17
Happy Earth Day!
So, I forgot a couple things along the way.... On the way to Mt Rushmore the other day, a sherrif passed us, lights flashing, racing along. He quickly was out of sight. A couple miles down the road, we found out where he was going. We were in the mountains and anyone who has driven in the mountains knows, even in the best weather, mountain driving, which can be winding curves and steep grades, you need to be extra careful. Well, someone obviously was not watching and lost control of their SUV going around a curve and flipped over the guard rail. The SUV was on its side and the EMTs were attending to someone. Everyone who was in the SUV was extremely lucky it didnt roll down the embankment. Im kinda glad I grew up in Colorado where I learned to drive in the moutains, snow, rain, sleet, you name it!
I also forgot to mention ... I saw a porcupine! OK, so it wasnt in the best conditions ... but.. I cant remember having ever seen one, even in a zoo. And ... speaking of wild animals, on the way to Murdo, there was tons of antelope! Saw very little deer, but lots and lots of antelope. Very cool!
Officially, after 8 days, we have driven 3930 miles. We started at 46700 and ended last night at 50630. Well on our way to the estimated 5900 round trip!
(Shhhhhh...... dont tell anyone, but today dawned late!) We scheduled a wake up call for 830am. It didnt come, and we woke up at 845a. Yet another strange thing about Chris, his internal clock. He just knows when he has to get up, no matter what time it is, or how long he wants to sleep. So we try to quickly get ready and get some breakfast. Luckily, the Auto Museum was right next door to the hotel. There was lots of interesting cars, tractors, motors, toys... The owner said he had been obtaining items since 1954! Wow! Some items were classics, some collectibles, some just interesting. We spent about 1.5 hours walking around the 10 acre museum. Before leaving, we visited the gift shop (danger, Will Robinson, danger!), and I see a small gold mining kit. Well, I already bought my dirt to mine for sapphires and garnets, why not try to see if I can find some extremely small pieces of Black Hills Gold? lol Just for fun.
We head out to our only other destination for the day, the Sioux Falls Zoo. It is Earth Day and they had lots of tents up with information about animals and wildlife and converservation. We even got a free "green" grocery bag! We saw lots of animals, including bears, tigers, and ostriches! It was a nice day and it was great to spend time outside.
We head south, our destination for tomorrow is Omaha, NE and the Henry Doorly Zoo. We find a hotel, find a Walgreens (I need a script refilled), grab some dinner and get settled for the night. I spent most of the evening looking for things to do for the next couple days as we didnt really plan for anything for the next week, other than where we were going and where we need to be at the end of each day. Found a couple things and am looking forward to doing a couple of them! Probably an early night tonight as I think we have an early day tomorrow.
No rain today!
Happy Earth Day!
So, I forgot a couple things along the way.... On the way to Mt Rushmore the other day, a sherrif passed us, lights flashing, racing along. He quickly was out of sight. A couple miles down the road, we found out where he was going. We were in the mountains and anyone who has driven in the mountains knows, even in the best weather, mountain driving, which can be winding curves and steep grades, you need to be extra careful. Well, someone obviously was not watching and lost control of their SUV going around a curve and flipped over the guard rail. The SUV was on its side and the EMTs were attending to someone. Everyone who was in the SUV was extremely lucky it didnt roll down the embankment. Im kinda glad I grew up in Colorado where I learned to drive in the moutains, snow, rain, sleet, you name it!
I also forgot to mention ... I saw a porcupine! OK, so it wasnt in the best conditions ... but.. I cant remember having ever seen one, even in a zoo. And ... speaking of wild animals, on the way to Murdo, there was tons of antelope! Saw very little deer, but lots and lots of antelope. Very cool!
Officially, after 8 days, we have driven 3930 miles. We started at 46700 and ended last night at 50630. Well on our way to the estimated 5900 round trip!
(Shhhhhh...... dont tell anyone, but today dawned late!) We scheduled a wake up call for 830am. It didnt come, and we woke up at 845a. Yet another strange thing about Chris, his internal clock. He just knows when he has to get up, no matter what time it is, or how long he wants to sleep. So we try to quickly get ready and get some breakfast. Luckily, the Auto Museum was right next door to the hotel. There was lots of interesting cars, tractors, motors, toys... The owner said he had been obtaining items since 1954! Wow! Some items were classics, some collectibles, some just interesting. We spent about 1.5 hours walking around the 10 acre museum. Before leaving, we visited the gift shop (danger, Will Robinson, danger!), and I see a small gold mining kit. Well, I already bought my dirt to mine for sapphires and garnets, why not try to see if I can find some extremely small pieces of Black Hills Gold? lol Just for fun.
We head out to our only other destination for the day, the Sioux Falls Zoo. It is Earth Day and they had lots of tents up with information about animals and wildlife and converservation. We even got a free "green" grocery bag! We saw lots of animals, including bears, tigers, and ostriches! It was a nice day and it was great to spend time outside.
We head south, our destination for tomorrow is Omaha, NE and the Henry Doorly Zoo. We find a hotel, find a Walgreens (I need a script refilled), grab some dinner and get settled for the night. I spent most of the evening looking for things to do for the next couple days as we didnt really plan for anything for the next week, other than where we were going and where we need to be at the end of each day. Found a couple things and am looking forward to doing a couple of them! Probably an early night tonight as I think we have an early day tomorrow.
No rain today!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday pictures
Our "drive by" of Sturgis. All I got was this billboard!
Chris' warning ticket
Mount Rushmore!
Mountain goat
Albino burmese python
Wall Drug
South Dakota Badlands
South Dakota Badlands
King Cobra, attacking the enclosement
Friday
Friday, April 16
Happy Birthday to me! : ) And I had a new little cousin born today. Welcome to the world Ella!
Today dawned at 730am. Seems to be the normal time we have been getting up. Up, out the door, breakfast eaten by 930a. Destination, Mt Rushmore! Waaahoooo!!! Neither of us have been there. Excited to go. We are also planning on visiting Reptile Gardens, and wanted to visit Bear Country, but they do not open until May.
On our way, we drove through (literally, we did not leave the highway), Sturgis, SD. Hello bikers! Just on the east side of Sturgis is a little area called "No Named City". I am still trying to determine if that is actually a city (?) or .. an area of Sturgis...... Outside of Sturgis, we see two state troopers. Check of the speed, only a couple miles per hour over. He pulls out behind us. Does not speed like crazy to catch up with us, but does. He pulls along side us and we thought he was going to pass us. Nope. He was pacing us and got behind us and pulled us over. Twice in less than 12 hours! Eeeeps. He tells us he pulled us over because we were going a couple miles per hour over the speed limit and because the license plate frame obscurs the state. Gets Chris' drivers license and tells him to join him in his cruiser. Chris comes back and says he was only given a warning. Trooper asked a bunch of questions, and tells Chris they are sticklers for the 75 mph. Chris was going 77. Guess we will keep that in mind!
We get to Mt Rushmore and do our viewing. The weather was very nice. Only a teeny bit of snow on the main observation deck and very people. Chris asked me if I wanted to hike up the stairs ... uh, no. lol If you want to, have a ball, Ill meet you at the car. He didnt. On the grass right outside the entrance as we were walking in, there were some mountain goats grazing. They are tagged and number so their movements can be tracked. They are used to humans so do not move when you get close. I stood about a foot away from one! Wow! Ive never been that close to a wild animal (and not been protected). The Game Farm in Washington doesnt count, we were in our car. lol
We head to Reptile Gardens. We get there right as they were starting a new snake demonstration. The guy is showing different kinds of snakes. We saw a albino burmese python, a viper, a rattlesnake, a king cobra and a mangrove snake. The king cobra was in a locked enclosure (check out the video of him!). We walked around and saw some amazing snakes, crocs, gators, lizards, and birds. One snake had just been fed. Its just amazing how wide they can get their jaws when they unhinge them.
We skip Bear Country :( and head to our last destination for the day, Wall Drug in Wall, SD. They have free ice water and 5 cent coffee! Wall Drug was the only place that gave out free ice water during the '30s. And originally, it was just a gimmick to get travelers to come to their store! An awesome idea that still works, more than 70 years later. Very interesting to walk around and see the shops that are included inside Wall Drug. You can even do some "mining"! Unfortunately, we did not find it until we left. If we go back, I am definately doing that! If youre interested in the history of the area and the country, it is a must see.
On the road to somewhere for the night. We see a billboard for an Auto Museum. Chris loves muscle cars (all cars, really, but muscle cars the most), so we decided to stop in the town where it is located, Murdo, SD. The only restaurant in the town is a little diner called GTO Cafe. We have dinner there. Good food! We will probably have breakfast there too. Hmm, no McD's. What will we do? lol Museum doesnt open until 10a on Saturday so we take the "extra" time to relax and watch some TV. And I have time to catch up on my blog! : )
No rain!
Happy Birthday to me! : ) And I had a new little cousin born today. Welcome to the world Ella!
Today dawned at 730am. Seems to be the normal time we have been getting up. Up, out the door, breakfast eaten by 930a. Destination, Mt Rushmore! Waaahoooo!!! Neither of us have been there. Excited to go. We are also planning on visiting Reptile Gardens, and wanted to visit Bear Country, but they do not open until May.
On our way, we drove through (literally, we did not leave the highway), Sturgis, SD. Hello bikers! Just on the east side of Sturgis is a little area called "No Named City". I am still trying to determine if that is actually a city (?) or .. an area of Sturgis...... Outside of Sturgis, we see two state troopers. Check of the speed, only a couple miles per hour over. He pulls out behind us. Does not speed like crazy to catch up with us, but does. He pulls along side us and we thought he was going to pass us. Nope. He was pacing us and got behind us and pulled us over. Twice in less than 12 hours! Eeeeps. He tells us he pulled us over because we were going a couple miles per hour over the speed limit and because the license plate frame obscurs the state. Gets Chris' drivers license and tells him to join him in his cruiser. Chris comes back and says he was only given a warning. Trooper asked a bunch of questions, and tells Chris they are sticklers for the 75 mph. Chris was going 77. Guess we will keep that in mind!
We get to Mt Rushmore and do our viewing. The weather was very nice. Only a teeny bit of snow on the main observation deck and very people. Chris asked me if I wanted to hike up the stairs ... uh, no. lol If you want to, have a ball, Ill meet you at the car. He didnt. On the grass right outside the entrance as we were walking in, there were some mountain goats grazing. They are tagged and number so their movements can be tracked. They are used to humans so do not move when you get close. I stood about a foot away from one! Wow! Ive never been that close to a wild animal (and not been protected). The Game Farm in Washington doesnt count, we were in our car. lol
We head to Reptile Gardens. We get there right as they were starting a new snake demonstration. The guy is showing different kinds of snakes. We saw a albino burmese python, a viper, a rattlesnake, a king cobra and a mangrove snake. The king cobra was in a locked enclosure (check out the video of him!). We walked around and saw some amazing snakes, crocs, gators, lizards, and birds. One snake had just been fed. Its just amazing how wide they can get their jaws when they unhinge them.
We skip Bear Country :( and head to our last destination for the day, Wall Drug in Wall, SD. They have free ice water and 5 cent coffee! Wall Drug was the only place that gave out free ice water during the '30s. And originally, it was just a gimmick to get travelers to come to their store! An awesome idea that still works, more than 70 years later. Very interesting to walk around and see the shops that are included inside Wall Drug. You can even do some "mining"! Unfortunately, we did not find it until we left. If we go back, I am definately doing that! If youre interested in the history of the area and the country, it is a must see.
On the road to somewhere for the night. We see a billboard for an Auto Museum. Chris loves muscle cars (all cars, really, but muscle cars the most), so we decided to stop in the town where it is located, Murdo, SD. The only restaurant in the town is a little diner called GTO Cafe. We have dinner there. Good food! We will probably have breakfast there too. Hmm, no McD's. What will we do? lol Museum doesnt open until 10a on Saturday so we take the "extra" time to relax and watch some TV. And I have time to catch up on my blog! : )
No rain!
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