Retired and Trippin

Poonie was rolling away from our hotel in Estes Park at 7:30. It was sunny and a chilly 37 degrees. We rolled south on 7 to Lily Lake where we found more aspen gold and a pretty setting. Highway 7 took us back north into Estes Park and then we took 34 west into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). We saw plentiful aspen gold and a herd of elk in a huge meadow. Trail Ridge Road through RMNP revealed some beautiful views and we were above 12,000 feet in elevation. On the way down the west side of RMNP we stopped at Irene Lake for a short hike. We continued westbound on 34 to Granby and then took 40 west to Kremmling, where we stopped at the Moose Cafe for a satisfactory lunch. Highway 9 south was our final leg to our destination of Dillon, where we landed at 2:00. After unpacking we enjoyed a soak in an outdoor hot tub before calling it a day. We drove 147 miles today and our high temperature was 73 degrees. It was a beautiful day but the wind on Trail Rid...

At 7:20 we were scooting out of Burlington, CO westbound on I-70. It was sunny and 63 degrees. Our route today was I-70 westbound to Seibert, north on 59 to Cope, 36 west, 71 north to Brush, and I-76 and Hwy 34 into our destination, Estes Park. Just south of Cope, a heard of turkeys crossed the road in front of us causing us to stop. A car coming the other way also stopped. The turkeys acted as though they owned the road. Just west of Cope we spotted two antelope in a field. As we turned north on 71 the temperature also reached 71 so the top came down. Somewhere west of Wiggins on 34 the temperature dropped from the high 70's to 64 all at once and when it dropped to 61 the top went back up. We stopped at the Loveland, Colorado visitor's center and walked around the grounds. They had an amazing little robot moving around that cut the grass for them. I took a video of it working so you can check it out by viewing photos with the link below. At the end of the video it appe...

Chris and I love to see the aspens when their leaves turn to gold in autumn. We've been checking the reports from Colorado and it looks like this might be a good time. So off we go. We left home at 8:00 under cloudy skies. It was 61 degrees. Our route was I-70 all the way to Burlington, CO. West of Salina it started to rain and it rained off-and-on with varying intensity all the way to around Elllis, KS. Chris was happy to have a roof over her head. At Victoria, KS we stopped to check out the "Cathedral of the Plains", Saint Fidelis Church ( Cathedral ). I couldn't tell when the church was built. One cornerstone showed 1880, another had 1909, and web sites said it was dedicated in 1911. In 1971 the church was voted as one of the 8 wonders of Kansas ( 8WondersKS ). We would have gone inside but there was a wedding or something going on. We enjoyed lunch at Vernie's Hamburger House in Hays, KS. The burgers were delicious but they were stingy with their tat...

On Day 12 (8/28/19) we hung around with Deb, Tim, Myrna and their family. That evening we all celebrated Timmie's 48th birthday with some LARRAPIN good chow. We drove zero miles today. Day 13 (8/29/19) we were back on the road. After saying our goodbyes, we took off west on county road J62, north on 218, west on 2 and north on 1 to Keosauqua, IA. Chris' grandparents, on both sides of her family, are buried here and she wanted to do some cleanup on one of the headstones. It started raining well before we reached Keosauqua and it was still raining while we did our cleaning. Before leaving town we enjoyed an ice cream treat from world famous Misty's. We left Keosauqua southbound on Hwy 1, west on 2 (where the rain came down extremely hard), and south on 15 to Memphis, MO. My intention was to take 136 west all the way to Bethany but west of Lancaster, signs indicated that 136 was closed to through traffic. The detour sent us south on 63 so we decided to take 63 all the way ...

As we were loading the car this morning, the top was up and Chris just opened her car door when a bird dropped a load of crap right into the doorway onto the seat. How it missed Chris is a miracle to me. So I had to start the day cleaning bird doo off the seat and the convertible top. Our travels today started at 8:30. As we departed our hotel in Onalaska, WI it was sunny and 65 degrees. Our route was Hwy 35 south out of the Onalaska/LaCrosse area to Prairie Du Chien, where we took 27 across the Mississippi River into Iowa, 18 west, 52 south, 13 south, 30 west, I-380 south, 218 south, J-62 east to 245th Ave south, to Deb & Tim's Ranch. We arrived at 3:20 with 275 miles under our belt. The high temperature was 83 degrees with low humidity. A great day for top down cruising. Our first stop was at a roadside scenic view area on a bluff north of Genoa, WI on Hwy 35. There were some short trails to walk on and scenic views for picture taking. Mississippi River viewed fr...

It rained in the night and it was still cloudy and 63 degrees when we left our hotel in Bimidji. It rained most of the day, sometimes hard, so this is the first day of the trip with no top-down time. Our high temperature today was 76 degrees and we drove 376 miles. Our route today: 71 south out of Bemidji, 200 east (for a very short distance), 64 south to Motley, 10 south and east to Monticello, I-94 east through Minneapolis and most of St. Paul, 10 south to Prescott, WI, 35 south, and 53 south into Onalaska, WI. When we started the day we didn't think we'd have much sightseeing to do so we took pictures of roadside oddities and attractions. Here's an example in Leader, MN on Hwy 64. It seemed appropriate - a huge pig and "Clark" We stopped briefly in Motley, MN for more roadside photos and then again at Treasure City on Hwy 10 in Royalton, MN. It was time to stretch our legs and Chris wanted to explore. All sorts of treasures were waiting to be discover...

Another great day! We departed our hotel in Virginia, MN at 8:00. It was mostly cloudy and 60 degrees. Our route today was 53 south, 37 west to Hibbing, 169 west to Grand Rapids, 38 north to Effie, 1 west to Northome, and 71 south to Bemidji, where we arrived at our hotel at 4:15. The high temperature was 71 degrees. We drove 283 miles. Our first stop was at the Old Central School in Grand Rapids, MN. The building is closed on Sundays so we could not see inside so we just walked the perimeter. The school was built in 1895 and used as an elementary school until 1972. A community effort restored the building in 1984 and today it is managed by the city and used as a multi-tenant location for commerce, culture and community events (according to the City's web site). We drove the Edge of the Wilderness Scenic Byway (Hwy 38) from Grand Rapids to Effie. It was a beautiful and enjoyable drive with plenty of hills, curves and lake views. We stopped for lunch at Lazy Jack's Bar...