Nov 1-4, 2009
Nov 5-11,2009
Nov 12-15,2009
Nov 16-Dec 2, 2009
Dec 3-6, 2009
Dec 7 -, 2009
We would have fantastic weather on this segment of the trip - clear, sunny days with temperatures up close to 70 each day. In fact, the sun was almost a problem - all afternoon, we’d be driving straight into the sun, which isn’t comfortable. And, since Carl was on the south side of the cab, he was in the sun almost all day long.
He soon discovered that the visors didn’t rotate in the truck...
Sunday, November 1
We spent a mostly relaxed morning, taking our time getting ready. We took the time to read the newspaper and have a leisurely breakfast.
I had spent a day earlier in October planning our route. Knowing that we’d be driving a 14 foot box truck and pulling an auto transport with my car on it, I planned our route around Cracker Barrels! Almost all of their restaurants have parking space for buses and RVs, so I knew they could accommodate us. Each “segment” (a half day) was planned for around 200 miles, since we’d be traveling slower than if we were driving a car.
I also planned motel stops where they mentioned bus and/or truck parking. The thinnest part of the trip was from Hays, KS, on into Colorado... So, that dictated a single “segment” for the first day, then full days, putting us into Denver by early afternoon a few days later. So, I had planned on us leaving shortly after lunch.
We took our time, packing our suitcases with our travel needs. The two suitcases, my briefcase, our pillows, and the bag of drugs (prescription and over the counter) would ride in the front seat of my car on the transport. My computer case would ride in the cab of the truck with us.
The only other thing we needed to do this morning is to connect the truck and car... So, we backed up the truck and hitched up the transport. We nailed the connection on the first attempt!!! My car had been backed into the garage on Friday, ready to load onto the transport. Carl drove it straight on and we loaded our travel gear into the front seat, fastened it down and got into the truck.
Here’s some photos showing what the combination looked like:
We drove out of the driveway at 12:45. Right on schedule. The rest of the drive this day was almost completely uneventful - just what we wanted.
We stopped for gas at one gas station and Carl almost forgot he had the trailer on the back - he stopped before the trailer would jump the island where the pumps were.... It took a little maneuvering, but he managed to get back on the road without further embarrassment... He's promised to do better.
We stopped for the night at a Comfort Inn near the Opryland Convention Center in Nashville. It's a decent hotel and the restaurant next door (Santa Fe Cattle Company) had some really nice food. Carl had beef fajitas and I had a chicken fajita quesadilla. Yum! We had ordered margaritas, expecting normally sized ones and planning to add a beer with dinner. But the margaritas were served in quart mason jars.... One was sufficient.
Monday, November 2
After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up and headed north.
Lunch was at a Cracker Barrel in Mt. Vernon, IL. This is one of the few Cracker Barrels I’ve ever been to that didn’t have any vegetable soup! So we had sandwiches instead.
From there, it was on to St. Louis. We’d driven through the middle of town before, but that was with a nimble car. The route requires several lane changes. Not a good idea with the size and weight we were handling. So, we took the bypass north of town, crossing the Mississippi at a new point. Much better.
Onward to Columbia, MO, where we were to spend the night at the Best Western. We’d stayed there before, but it had been a few years and I didn’t think Google had given me the correct location. We exited the interstate and, nope, it wasn’t where Google had said it was. I got out my cell phone and activated Google map and, this time, it found the motel and we drove straight to it.
Not only was their parking lot large enough for us, by morning, there were three semis and another rig the same size as ours parked there with plenty of room to spare.
Dinner that night was at the adjoining TGI Friday’s. Since we’d eaten so much the night before, we ordered salads. They were huge... We each managed to get around two thirds of ours....
Tuesday, November 3
After a good night’s sleep and a quick breakfast at the hotel’s breakfast area, we were on the road again.
Approaching Kansas City, we took the bypass again - south of town this time. I’d driven through Kansas City before and it’s a nightmare in a car... Many lane changes. It normally takes both of us watching traffic and signs to navigate successfully. The bypass was, again, much easier.
Lunch was at a Cracker Barrel in Topeka, KS. Finally, veggie soup! However, for the first time in a looooong time, we were asked if we wanted the smoking or non-smoking section!
We had a wonderful waitress here. Meg is salt of the earth (g). She reminded us of a character actress from the 30s or so. We finally figured out who. The actress who placed the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz - not that role, but other roles that the same actress has played over the years. Wonderful!
Carl asked for some honey for his cornbread and she came right back with a quip about his honey sitting across the table from him, but she’d get something for his cornbread... She brought the honey immediately...
So, we continued west.
We stopped at one rest area here in Kansas. They have rest areas about every 30-40 miles, but they're small. Unfortunately, we pulled in right behind a bus of tourists. The line for the three seater ladies room was pretty long. And the only word I understood in the gaggle of tourists was "Da". Slavic of some sort. What a mess..... We almost went on to the next one, but decided to wait. Carl got some exercise walking around however, while waiting for me. And I was fairly near the front of the line.
We spent the night at a Comfort Inn in Hays, KS. We’d stayed at this motel before and remembered it. However, last time we stayed here, we had pulled off the interstate because of a blizzard and took the last room in the place... That time, we walked across the street through the sludge to an Applebee’s to eat dinner at the bar...
This time, we also walked across the street to Applebee’s, but the street was dry and the weather was lovely.
During the evening here, I logged onto the Qwest website and made arrangements for phone and dsl service. At the end, there was a place to make arrangements for installation - next Tuesday... Well, I had sort of hoped to be heading back east Tuesday morning. So much for that!
I had a meltdown about this one. Shouldn’t have, but I did.
Wednesday, November 4
After breakfast at the motel, we continued on our way.
Somewhere along the boring Kansas road, we were passed by two large, colorful semis. They were the stage crew for Celtic Thunder, on their way from a performance in St. Louis to a performance in Denver! Neat!
Lunch was at an Arby’s in Limon, CO, which has a very large vacant lot next door. We pulled in next to a very large RV and another truck pulling an auto transport.
On this journey west, we spotted 38 other box trucks pulling auto transports. We didn’t count those pulling half transports, where only two wheels were off the pavement. The country is on the move...
We pulled into our hotel in Thornton a little after 3. We spent our first two nights in Colorado at a Sleep Inn, giving us time to unload some of the stuff without having to rush into the apartment.
After checking in, we backed the car off the transport and unloaded it. The room got a bit crowded, but we could see out the back window... However, we did get a few odd looks from the hotel staff at the plants and stuff that we brought in (g).
And now we could turn in the auto transport. They asked us to park it against the back fence, so I walked down to that area, past a couple of donkeys... Carl drove down.
The problem with putting it where they wanted is that we couldn’t maneuver correctly to get it into place. So, we placed it as close to another one as we could, unhitched and drove off. They can put it where they want...
We returned to the motel to switch to the car and drove to the storage unit where about half our stuff will stay for a while. We had a reservation and finalized the paperwork and found out all the details. Nice place!
On the way back to the motel, we stopped at a grocery store for a few supplies.
With that, we decided to call it quits for the day and drove to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner.