9-28-06 Road Trip to Boston
Stan and I are taking a road trip from Denver to Boston. John and Rachael will be married on 10/6/06.
My job moved downtown so I pop on the bus each day instead of driving for an hour in the rush. It seems the right time for us to give the Jeep to John and Rachael, so it wouldn’t be collecting dust in my garage. Plus it makes a great wedding gift.
Driving across the country is entering a different zone. On Thursday, 9-28, we started on I-76 heading toward Boston. Denver development stretches eastward toward towns such as Kersey and Keensburg that were only a side in the road a decade ago. Now they are filled with housing developments, large swatches of land spring up like weeds to hold mega Targets, hospitals and schools. No wonder the farmer’s are fighting for the municipal water demands.
Signs along the road to Sterling are telling: Correctional Facility. Don’t stop for Hitchhikers.
After passing through Ft. Morgan the housing booms quiets. There are rolling hills of sage brush mixed with prairie grasses. Cottonwood trees follow the bank of the South Platte. Mega farms replace the developments. There are multiple barns filled with turkeys or chickens that help keep a nation fed.
We stop at most rest stops until we get in the driving groove. Stan and I switch to music or radio every half hour to add variety. I found this simple peppy country song about “I’m going to get on the ole turnpike” to start the day. Then switch up with rock and roll, classical or tango every 15 minutes. Stan is mostly talk shows, polka tunes or silence.
Around Kearney Nebraska the stress of preparing for the trip lift to move us into the present to notice the day. The skies are robin egg blue with pools of lakes here and there along the roadside that reflect the light aqua colors. The country side is wide open with a few trees or farmhouses dotting the landscape. You can see the horizon from this expansive view that shows off the curvature of the earth. Contrails from planes crisscross the sky through billowy white clouds.
We zipped through Omaha towards the end of the afternoon on a tip from a fellow traveler at a rest stop to buy gas in Iowa. We should all buy gas in Council Bluffs, Iowa as it is $2.14/gal. Ohio was good too at $2.04.
We drove on the first day to Des Moines, Iowa. My mom’s family was from Iowa. There are terraced fields of corn planted on rolling hills. The green grass in the median indicated a high rainfall as I can’t imagine irrigating the crops on the hillsides. If Colorado farmers could count on rain for their crop the water tug of war with the cities would end. My brother Alan confirmed that the Iowa farmers just plant the corn and it grows from rainfall. Rainy years the crops are great. Low rainfall could mean no crops. This year the state is wall to wall corn. The farms are well-kept with no broken down cars strewn about.
We have heard that people from Iowa polka. The closest we came was to notice a vanity license plate from Polk County Iowa that said “I Polka”. I guess Stan will need to wait to dance his polka’s in Denver when we return.
Highway I-80 is a trucker’s paradise. There are hardly any cars and the semi-trucks rule the highway as they move goods across this great nation of ours. On the road banks, there are smatterings of new growth sumacs with leaves that have turned hues of red. The trees are just starting to change with hints of gold and yellows emerging at the tips of the branches.
Day 2 9/29/06 We headed to Chicago which everyone calls Chicago Land. Must be a mid-west branch of Disney Land. Traffic is appalling after the leisure jaunt through Nebraska and Iowa. Stan and I resorted to playing the license plate game and then naming of the capitals. Good he had that road atlas handy as neither one us could remember Oregon. Better visit there sometime – it makes it easier to remember Salem is a capital when you see the places too.
There were construction zones along the south part of Chicago. It took 30 minutes to go about 10 miles. It seems that they are rebuilding the toll gates to make it faster. Traffic was backed up for miles and miles to pay a 60 cent toll to the toll gate operator who made change slowly and talked to everyone as they went through the gate. Not very efficient. We all sure burned a lot of the $3/gal gas waiting in line to pay our 60 cents. Progress I suppose.
Grey white skies fill the air with a chill in the air that requires all those layers of clothes we tossed in the car at the last minute. If there is sun up there you never see it and moods change accordingly. No wonder we like Colorado with its mostly blue skies day after day.
We just kept driving until be stop at the eastern side of Toledo. Our experience there does warrant a Holy Toledo remark. There are interesting barns and corn growing along the highways, but when you get off it seems to be a different story. Advertised hotels are abandoned as if there was an apocalypse. The exit we took was dominated by truckers. Its all good.!.
There were only two restaurants. One called the Iron Skillet served extra greasy food with everything on the aluminum skillets, hence the name. The truckers congregated around the counters. It similar to what you would find at Johnson’s Corner around Loveland although Colorado now has that smoking ban statewide. The smoke was thick as you walked through to non-smoking. No smoking bans in Toledo. We noticed an abundance of people around us carrying an extra two hundred pounds or so. It must have been the $8.99 all you can eat buffet that perpetuated the weight. The economy might be a bit depressed also.
In the morning it was raining and added to Toledo’s gloom. We stopped at the motel restaurant to grab some breakfast. We were the only people in there. The crowd must be back at the Iron Skillet down the street. I had seen our waitress the evening before when we decided to try the Iron Skillet instead. I was checking out the deserts in the glass cases. She was trying to sell me on staying there to eat. She said “The lemon cake is good, I’ve been looking at is all week.”
We were surprised to see her again so early. She said someone had quit so she was called in. At 36 she had this job, 4 kids ages 17, 14, 7 and 17 months and was going to school. She said she had a good husband that helps with the kids when she is called in like that. She is studying for her GED, and then wants to be a nurse. Everyone has hopes and dreams.
We stopped back at the Iron Skillet/convenience store to pick up some coffee for the road. A guy in a van noticed our license and remarked, “I lived in Colorado in the 60’s.” Then he followed with, “on Larimer Street on Skid Row.” If he would only see Larimer now, with all the upscale restaurants and trendy night spots. I guess skid row moved to Toledo.
September 30, 2006
We had quite a cultural experience in Toledo as I mentioned. We were wondering where Holy Toledo came from. There is also Holy Cow, Holy Mackerel, Holy Sh–. It just boggles your mind to realize the trivia you don’t know.
Along I-80 each state; Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and PA run their own toll roads. You pick up a ticket as you cross the state line and deposit your toll, about $3 – $5, as you leave. The country side in Ohio and Indiana flatten out, but still lots of corn that is probably irrigated. Big barns and silos along the highway indicate the ruralness of our nation. From time to time we saw large dairy farms with the progression of milking cows in the corrals next to the milk barn on to large fenced pens that hold younger animals with the youngest in their own white plastic looking Quonset huts.
The trees have changed from the majestic lone pines and cottonwoods to stands of trees so crowded that individually they are trunks with some leaves on top, but grouped they are a dense forest with under brush so thick you would have trouble walking through it.
Seems like that is about how people are too. In Nebraska and Iowa individuals stand alone with casual interfaces with neighbors and friends. As the population increases the interfaces are less chosen and more required due to the denseness of the people.
Stan remarked what a diverse and beautiful rich geography we have in the US. When we told his friend George from the Polka club about our road trip he said, “What an experience you will have. Each day will be a new view for you. It will be a lot more interesting than the inside of an airplane.”
New it is. We saw a tanker truck that puzzled us. It had a couple of chickens as logos with the tag line “Inedible poultry”. What on earth is in this big vat of chicken – Maybe lips, feet or feathers? Oh as my Uncle Daryle pointed out, the feet are shipped to China for upscale Chinese restaurants as a delicacy.
Outside of Chicago on the radio we could pick up what sounded like Polish. Outside of Cleveland it was French probably coming in from Canada.
There is a faint hint of color on the leaves with some oranges and deep reds cresting on the tips of the trees. In northern PA and NY the fields are full of vineyards.
We paid a 75 cent toll at the edge of Buffalo NY. This was the entry into one of the bridges to Canada and to the city of Niagara. Buffalo is smart to collect that fee for a two block toll road from every car entering this great attraction. It was still misting off and on and the eastern chill kept us in layers consisting of sweaters, jackets and now gloves. We hugged the river and found the entrance to Niagara Falls State Park. We parked for $8 and walked a short distance to the Horseshoe Falls. The breeze held a chill and on went the hood of my jacket. We were told the Canadian side of the Falls is prettier. It is hard to beat these views. There were a few tourists, but not what I would say crowded at all at this time of year.
We got on the $2 trolley that takes you around although walking would have been great on a warmer day. It went through part of the quaint town along the river back into the park to the American Falls. This view was also interesting. You could pay a few more dollars to the Cave of the Winds, which is not the same as the cave around Colorado Springs with stalactites and mites. It was a cave you went through to walk along the base of the falls on a wood catwalk. There were also boats that took you out close to the falls. All passengers dawned bright blue rain gear for the trip. Some were wringing out their T-shirts after the trip. We skipped that.
There is a monster tall rectangular casino on the US side. Most other buildings are a respectable size. Across to Canada there are high rise hotels and a domed casino right along the waters edge. We crossed the border to Canada which is the longest un- guarded border between two countries in the world.
We found a mediocre motel within walking (3-4 blocks) distance to the falls. It is another world on the Canadian side. They have figured out how to make it a Disneyland type experience along with inflated prices. This much commercial approach to tourists takes away the pristine nature of the falls.
We ventured inside the mammoth casino to take a look. In the lobby there is a two story glassed in dome that holds a sculpture version of the Tesla coil with water falls cascading into a pool. It was impressive. Upscale shops line the walkways and the crowds were prolific. Inside the casino the noise from the slots was deafening. There were 1 cent slots to hook you in. There were odd games of dominos that mostly Asians played along with variations of poker and 21. We kept our hands in our pockets and observed for as long as we could stand the noise.
The casinos probably keep the railings along the falls less crowded with tourists. What a lot of money we saw exchange hands mostly, back to the house not the players.
The next morning it was warmer and the drizzle had stopped although it was still cloudy. We walked down to the falls. The Canadian side is beautiful as you have a panoramic view of the falls cascading toward you instead of beside you. You can see all falls;
Horseshoe, American and Bridal Vail from one vantage point.
The sun wasn’t coming out for a long time so we crossed back to the US and stopped off at the New York Power Authority exhibit about the hydro electric plant. Stan was in heaven. There were very few people (I mean almost empty) visiting this very well-done hands on exhibit. One couple we talked to were visiting from Colorado. He worked for Public Service. It was interesting to learn the progressive insights by Robert Moses that were made to provide energy for both US and Canada along this powerhouse river while still maintaining the tourist appeal.
We heard about a cabbage festival in NewFane a small community about 15 miles north of Buffalo. We followed the seaway road which skirted Lake Ontario, the quaint neighborhoods and apple orchards. The grass was spring green with nice set backs for the homes. Porches were decorated for fall with bright orange pumpkins and scarecrows.
We didn’t find anything called the cabbage festival, but stumbled across an Apple festival in NewFane held by the historic society. There were barns full of farm implements and tables of working two cylinder antique engines. One was an old sewing machine head pulling a miniature saw mill cutting a log. Another engine ran a fourteen inch Ferris wheel.
There was hot apple cider for a quarter and music played by a blue grass band to include instruments like antique accordions, spoons and a wash board. “You are my Sunshine” never sounded so good.
October 1, 2006 More New York
Around 10/1/06 after we left the local apple fair in NewFane with the antique working corn shuckers and women selling apple butter who I thought were dressed in authentic period costumes but were Amish and were dressed in their normal every day clothes, we stopped off in Rochester for the night.
I think we were about a day a head of schedule. Next we had planned to stop off at Stan’s cousin John and his wife Mary Ellen to pay a visit. They live in Chestertown, NY close to Lake George in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains pretty much in the middle of no place. John was born six days before Stan and for years they were close cousins until they both grew up and moved on. Stan’s Mom, Alice and her brother, Stan (John Jackowski’s) father lived about 15 miles away from each other in New York and moved to Florida and lived a block away from them. Stan hasn’t seen his cousin for 15 or more years and infrequently before that once they were adults.
It was too early to pay them a visit so we stopped off at the finger tip lakes (several are about 30 miles long and 2 – 3 miles across) around Geneva and Seneca. In Geneva we took a break for lunch and found this most charming cozy restaurant when we walked around the block call Four Petals. Judy Domcek ran the place and served fresh sandwiches on soft bread in a tiny place with high ceilings and interesting treasures on the walls. The Boston cream pie which you all know is really cake filled with vanilla pudding was to die for. Judy lived there all her life and loved to cook. She made deserts for all the restaurants in the area. I can see why they bought them from her. They were delicious.
She had walls of strawberry, wild raspberry and black berry jams and canned peaches that she made right in her shop. She said she always teaches her girls (employees) to make jams and deserts so they have a skill to take with them their whole lives. I’ld stop there again if I were in the area.
We drove through the country side and found signs that marked the trail for wineries. We stopped to visit several, one of which caught my eye call Swedish Hill. Their wines had that extra hint of vanilla and spice with the sweetness to take the edge off that puckery taste.
We were having way too much fun when one of the car windows went pop as if it had come off the track. Once we get over the shock of the window being half down on a road trip while you are in the middle of nowhere we came to our senses that a car full of things with the window open in a parking lot is not going to work out in the best of places.
Stan borrowed some duck tape from a trucker to keep the window up just long enough to get to Syracuse. He popped into a Holiday Inn to clip out the Jeep dealerships from the yellow pages. It was about 4 o’clock. One guy we called said that it would be Friday before he could get to the job (I’ll be at the wedding by that time), but maybe the body shop could help us. Nick at the body shop said if he had the part he would fix it and gave us some cryptic directions to his shop. We drove toward his shop not really knowing where we were going and having maps with limited details of streets. Well, by the time he called to say he had the part we were on his door step. He had us out of there by 5. Another guy was having the very same thing fixed on his Jeep. I guess the windows give out at about 55K – 60K miles. John and Rachel will need to fix the next one.
Well we were back on schedule and certainly used up that extra day.
Now the leaves are all a glow. The groupings of green along the roadside have turned to shades of red-orange, bright yellows, rusts and reds with each seeming to call out the vibrance of their colors. It took the next morning to drive through this splendor in the Adirondacks to Stan’s cousin. What a lovely place hidden away in the mountainside on a 50 acre plot backed into the national forest. We had such a nice visit and seemed we had known these people forever.