A quick trip to Minnesota

I'm running up to Minnesota to take my skeet guns in to the expert for repair/update/etc.  So, here I am in Willmar, MN & here's how I got here (& what I saw along the way):

Left at 6:40 AM via MO-13 north.  At Polo, MO-13 becomes the Zack Wheat Memorial Hiway, and there's a monument to baseball HoF player Zack Wheat.  In town, there's the History House, Cooty Farm Service, and the Red Rooster Cafe.  A bit further north, there was the Won By One Community Bank.    At Hamilton, took US-36 to Cameron, then north on I-35 toward Iowa.  The MO welcome center near Eagleville looks pretty fancy, with a herd of buffalo & a cowboy (all metal, of course) on the hillside behind it. 

Crossed into Iowa at 9:16 and stopped at a welcome center in Lamoni.  It was in a big "Amish Country Store" which also had a Maid-Rite cafe in it.  On its lawn were displayed cattle made from fuel tanks and a historic schoolhouse.  As I proceeded north, I passed New Virginia, IA (could some Southern folk have settled here?).  Exit 52 leads to alot of attractions - Madison County covered bridges and John Wayne's birthplace the most prominent among them. 

Passed Des Moines at 10:30 and picked up IA-141.  Near Granger saw a sign for Jester Park - wonder if it's any fun?   Picked up US-169 at Perry, would be on it for almost 100 miles.  This area is mostly flat, with endless corn & bean fields.  The barns almost all have roofs curving down from a point rather than a constant slope.  Roads good modern 2-lane, with a frustrating 55 mph speed limit.

Lunch & gas at Ft. Dodge from 1147 to 1205, and back on US-169.  Humboldt has the BackSeet diner & drive in.  Roads north of Humboldt aren't as good, but they're straight as they look on the map.  Algona has a railroad overpass painted with an 1870s locomotive & the words "Algona, on the Right Track."  Picked up US-18 here.  Passed Cylinder, IA, and the Wild Rose Casino in Emmetsburg.  Area is more hilly like NW MO, and some more northern trees start to pop up in plantings.

Took IA-4 to Estherville, and switched to US-71 (a familiar number thru MO, AR & LA).  Saw a Softail Saloon in Superior, IA, and a group of old railway passenger cars deteriorating nearby.  Crossed into MN about 2:05, but saw no welcome sign.  Adopt a Hiway signs featured the Sleepy Eye Garment & Pottery co and the Germantown Livewires 4-H club.  Jackpot Junction Casino  is outside Redwood Falls, MN.  Near Olivia, couldn't initially figure out why there were porta-potties in a corn field - until I saw the stand selling hand-picked sweet corn.  Olivia also has the Sheep Shedde Motel, and not far from there was held up by a TC&W train (look it up). 

Got to Willmar, a town of about 20,000, at 4:19 PM, 537.4 miles, averaging 32.3 mpg & 57 mph.  Temperature pushing 100.  Downtown has a statue of an Indian on the Kandiyohi County courthouse lawn - yep, it's Chief Kandiyohi.  Downtown lightposts have cages on them that I think are the type used in Frisbee golf.  Couldn't find a local cafe, so ended up eating at El Tapatio - which doesn't hold a candle to the one in Sedalia.  Came back to the Comfort Inn, and enjoying a PBR.  Tomorrow, it's on to Spicer to leave off guns, then about 550 miles home!

5-11-12, Home in Warrensburg

Yep, we finally got home.  4433.7 miles over 18 days, covering parts of 8 states.  We hit town about 1:30 PM, topped off the tank, picked up the cats, and pulled in at home at 2.  Another hour to offload, get the laundry going, rearrange the cars, reconnect all the electronic devices.  Then a trip to town for supper and some groceries. After supper, Bill got the books caught up so he can reconcile all the charges, and start downloading pictures so we can get them processed if necessary.  Still have a lot of emails to deal with, not to mention the mail.  May get to the magazines & papers by Monday.

Next step is to redo the trip plan to reflect the actual travel, and Sandra will get started on her trip journal.

5-10-12, Santa Rosa to Pratt

Mostly a travel day - first stop was Tucumcari to take  a picture of  the Blue Swallow Motel for the NM Centennial contest.  It's an old Rt 66 motel & is set up to look period with some murals & old cars.

Then it was on to Dalhart, where we bought an 18 pack of Lone Star - we'll take it home intact as we finish our Happy Camper IPA from Santa Fe tonight.  Next stop was lunch at Liberal (refer to day 1 for details), and on to visit M.T. Liggett, the folk artist, at Mullinville,  If you've ever driven past Mullinville (about 10 miles west of Greensburg on US-54), you've likely seen his "totem poles" whirling along the fence lines.  This is our third visit with him, a real character.  Here's a story about him.

Stopped at bustling Greensburg for a snack (& more antifreeze), then drove to the new HIE in Pratt.  Dinner at Playa Azul (mediocre) and a dip in the hot tub.  Tomorrow we go home!  Today 403.9 mi /4115.5 for the trip.  30.7 mpg/53 mph.  330 mi to go!

5-9-12, Las Cruces to Santa Rosa

Never let be said Bill has no flexibility in his travel plans.  The 245 mile trip for today ended up going a very different route for 375 miles.  We did go to Ft. Selden, bought some green chile at Hatch, then headed north to TorC (that's Truth or Consequences), talked to a nice Brit lady at the welcome center, then had a great lunch at Maria's Cafe.  Next it was up I-25 to the El Camino Real memorial - have no idea how they packed so much museum into that space.  Next stop, Ft. Craig, near the Battle of Valverde site; the BLM runs this site and had arrows pointing to the centennial picture site.

By then, Bill was concerned about overheating (again!), so we took a 20 mile detour to Socorro for gas & anti-freeze, and returned to US-380 for a cross-country trip to Carrizozo - forget painted ponies, pigs, cows or hound dogs, this town is full of painted burros, appropriate for a town near an old mining district.  Finally, we drove the last 120 miles to Santa Rosa.


For the day, 375.8 miles, 3711.6 for the trip.  Tomorrow it's Tucumcari for a photo, Dalhart for Lone Star, Liberal for lunch, Mullinville for 'totem poles' and Pratt for the night.

5-8-12, Tombstone to Las Cruces

No time to post pictures today, but maybe I'll be able to process some & add them tomorrow.  Left Tombstone for Chiricahua National Monument at 7:10, MST, via back roads.    Very scenic, rhyolite pillars & weird formations high above the deserts.  No wonder the cavalry couldn't catch the Apache warriors  in here.

Then, it was on to the interstate to get to Las Cruces.  First stop was Lordsburg, where we had an excellent lunch at a 6 table cafe, Ramona's, recommended by a lady at the welcome center.  On to Deming, for some pictures for the NM Centennial contest.  We got to Las Cruces at 4 PM, called Sandra's Uncle Murray Kugler (Wbg College High, 1949) and picked him up to go to dinner at the famous La Posta in Old Mesilla (hint - Ramona's was better).  Also met his son, Darren, Sandra's 1st cousin, at dinner - Bill talked general politics with him as he's running for judge.

Oddly enough in this desert region in the middle of a drought, a series of heavy thunderstorms blew up and deposited lots of water around the area.  We even drove thru a hail core between Lordsburg & Deming.

Today 's mileage - 346.5, 3335.7 on the trip mpg down to 27.9/48 mph.  Tomorrow we'll jaunt up to Hatch and Ft. Selden, then to Alamogordo, Carizozo & Santa Rosa.

5-7-12, Phoenix to Tombstone

We really felt safe at dinner in Tombstone - about  a dozen guys in period clothes and wearing 6-shooters came in to join other Masons & half-fill the restaurant.  We 'slept in' until 6 AM, and were rolling about 8.  As it turns out, we had only about 200 miles to go, so we took a detour thinking we'd stop at Kartchner Caverns, but found that tours were $22.50 each - as Emily Littela said, "Never Mind."  Had lunch in Sierra Vista and got to Tombstone about noon.

Tombstone sure knows how to be a tourist trap.  It's set in 1881 and at least 4 different groups stage gun fights (including one at the old O.K. Corral location).  They also have tram rides, stagecoach rides, mine tours, bordello/gambling hall tours (with pictures/short bios of the main participants in each activity).  Not to mention an old courthouse with a gallows.  Most of the locals downtown are dressed to period. 


For the day 197.5 mi/2989.2 for the trip; 29.1 mpg/50 mph avg.  Tomorrow we go to Chiricahua National Monument (where Cochise & Geronimo used to hang out).  Then it's on to Willcox, Lordsburg (think "Stagecoach"), Deming & Las Cruces to see Sandra's Uncle Murray.  We're on the way home, at last.

5-6-2012, Las Vegas to Phoenix

Here we are in Phoenix, with the LP convention over & done with.  Pretty much a house-cleaning, but it took forever because the old guard didn't want to let go.  Bill had hoped all would be done by noon, ahead of the 2 PM official end time, but it took til 3, followed by a 300 mile drive in 6 hours (including stops for gas, a traffic jam at Boulder City, and a slight case of overheating).  The area we drove thru between Kingman & Wickenburg, was spectacular in an arid sort of way - lots of saguaros and even a joshua tree forest.  Anyway, here we ar eon the south side of Phoenix, 319 mi on the afternoon, 2791.6 on the trip.  MPG raised to 29.7, speed to 51 mph.

Tomorrow we sleep in a bit, then on to Tombstone for the rest of the day.