I got home Thursday November 11 -- driving the 700+ miles from San Francisco to home with only brief stops for food and restrooms. The homing instinct is powerful and I was enjoying a beautiful drive up 101 to Crescent City, then over the beautiful 199 to Grants Pass and then lots of straight freeway home.
I'll add the final numbers sometime soon, but the trip ended up being around 4500 miles -- and the Smart Car was outstanding and fun. As I often say, it's not much as a car, but as an all-weather motorcycle it is great. Other than the nail in the tire in St. George, Utah -- the only other malfunction was a broken piece of plastic latch for the back tailgate. The only symptom was that it was difficult to open the tailgate for a few days -- and as I was passing through Santa Clara on my way to San Francisco, I stopped at a Smart dealer and was treated royally. I was back on the road within an hour with the warranty fix -- and enjoyed free coffee and wifi while at the dealership.
Deb returns home from the east coast on the 21st and we are already talking about where we might make our next Smart Car trip -- the Alaskan highway to Anchorage is on the list!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wed-Fri, Nov 3-5 - LA/Solvang/Morro Bay
Descended into Los Angeles basin from Big Bear on Wednesday to connect up with and spend day/night with son Neal and daughter-in-law Anna and their first baby (due in February). Enjoyed a fantastic day of visiting including on the grounds of "The Huntington" library, art collection and gardens. Spent the night at a hotel near the LAX airport where they had a 6:15am flight out on Thursday back to the east coast. Truly a highlight of the trip -- family always trumps scenery!
The Smart Car held her own on the nasty/clogged freeways of LA -- but she is definitely not designed/built for them. She is always fun to fit into tiny parking spots that no one else can get into. The freeways of LA reminded me of some of the less-fun parts of when we lived in Los Angeles in the 80's -- where too little law enforcement allows outrageously aggressive driving and speeding. I usually drive 6 to 10 mph over the speed limit -- but in LA that's the equivalent of standing still.
We left LA on the coastal route (highway 1) and enjoyed a leisurely pace to the fun, touristy destination of Solvang where we stayed at another Worldmark that we've stayed at before.
Deb posted a few photos from our stay in Los Angeles and drive to Solvang here.
This morning (Friday, Nov 5) we are driving to my home in Morro Bay -- and will be in the "central coast" area of California staying with family until Tuesday, November 9. As prearranged, Deb has a flight out of the nearby San Luis Obispo airport on Tuesday morning to visit in Neal/Anna in Williamsburg, VA; one of her sisters in Richmond, VA; and then her dad and other family in West Virginia. After dropping Deb off at the airport -- I'm going to continue the drive solo back home -- with a couple nights in the downtown San Francisco Worldmark.
The Smart Car held her own on the nasty/clogged freeways of LA -- but she is definitely not designed/built for them. She is always fun to fit into tiny parking spots that no one else can get into. The freeways of LA reminded me of some of the less-fun parts of when we lived in Los Angeles in the 80's -- where too little law enforcement allows outrageously aggressive driving and speeding. I usually drive 6 to 10 mph over the speed limit -- but in LA that's the equivalent of standing still.
We left LA on the coastal route (highway 1) and enjoyed a leisurely pace to the fun, touristy destination of Solvang where we stayed at another Worldmark that we've stayed at before.
Deb posted a few photos from our stay in Los Angeles and drive to Solvang here.
This morning (Friday, Nov 5) we are driving to my home in Morro Bay -- and will be in the "central coast" area of California staying with family until Tuesday, November 9. As prearranged, Deb has a flight out of the nearby San Luis Obispo airport on Tuesday morning to visit in Neal/Anna in Williamsburg, VA; one of her sisters in Richmond, VA; and then her dad and other family in West Virginia. After dropping Deb off at the airport -- I'm going to continue the drive solo back home -- with a couple nights in the downtown San Francisco Worldmark.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Mon/Tues/Wed - Nov 1-3: Big Bear and Southern California
Took as many backroads as we could find, across the Mojave Desert out of Las Vegas but ended up with about 60 miles on straight, boring I-15 into Barstow before being able to climb into Big Bear, CA where we will stay 2 nights at yet another Worldmark condo. Here is the route we took. Here are the few photos Deb took.
We will watch election returns here Tuesday night and then head into Los Angeles on Wednesday to connect up with our son and daughter-in-law who flew out from their home in Williamsburg, VA to attend a friend's wedding.
We will watch election returns here Tuesday night and then head into Los Angeles on Wednesday to connect up with our son and daughter-in-law who flew out from their home in Williamsburg, VA to attend a friend's wedding.
Sun Oct 31 - People Watching in Las Vegas
A free day off the road -- so we took the shuttle to the Las Vegas strip and enjoyed walking a bit and people watching a lot. It was especially entertaining because today being Halloween, many of the casino staff and tourists were costumed. I added about $17 in gambling losses to the local economy and Deb took $7.50 in winnings. There was certainly no visible evidence that the US economy is still struggling from the amount of activity on the part of the strip that we visited. In fact we were astonished that many of the shows were sold out especially when considering the exorbinant show prices ($82 for cheapest seats). We passed on attending any shows because one show would have cost about what we've spent on gas for the entire trip so far -- or more than two nights accommodations. But there is no doubt that Vegas is definitely a great place to watch people.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sat Oct 30 - Nail In Tire -- Then Sin City
It was wonderful to awake to the warmth of sunny St. George, Utah -- and enjoy a couple block walk to a great cafe followed by a visit to a local farmer's market. Because we knew we didn't have far to go today and no stops we wanted to make -- we had a relaxing morning that gave us time to enjoy watching the first hour of Jon Stewart's "Rally for Sanity" in DC. Of course I was delighted to see the opening musical act of rap and rock music to include a guy playing a sousaphone (I took this photo of the TV with my phone).
We got out the door a little before check-out time and were only a few blocks from the motel when I noticed the tire pressure monitor warning light. Good thing I don't believe in jinxes but it was just a little odd luck to realize that I had just posted on this blog about how the Smart Car had given no problems and even specifically mentioned the tire monitoring system. Anyway, a quick check of all tires led to the discovery of about 1/2 of the proper pressure in the front passenger tire -- and a nail right smack middle of the tread.
We used the GPS to guide us to a nearby and busy Big O Tire shop. The friendly salesman explained that I would have an up to a 2 hour wait unless I was interested in going to another Big O shop just a few miles away. He even called the other shop to make sure they had no wait time. So, off to the other shop where a very friendly staff immediately took care of the punction. $17 and about 1/2 hour later -- we were on the road again with a patched tire.
Taking some scenic route advice from the manager of the Big O -- we proceeded on the freeway so we could traverse the Virgin River gorge -- the most expensive length of freeway in the country through a beautiful gorge. Details of the passage and the construction are here in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_15_in_Arizona
After getting through the gorge, we continued on the freeway in very windy conditions until we exited to take a backroad along Lake Mead Recreation Area into Las Vegas where we had prearranged a Worldmark condo for two nights.
Friday, Oct 29 - Zion National Park and St. George, UT
Deb and I were both pretty confident that we'd been to Zion National Park when the kids were small but after today's visit there, we've lost some of that confidence. Seems like we would have better remembered the sheer cliffs and spectacular beauty. Now we're thinking that perhaps we'd only been to Bryce! Oh well! We'll figure it out from old photo albums at home. One thing is definite -- we had never been on the Scenic Highway 9 access to the park -- built in 1930 including a mile long tunnel called the Zion-Mt. Caramel Tunnel.
Here is our route for the day. We started the day with a side trip through the Dixie National Forest. It was here that we pulled into one campground looking for a rest room -- but upon not finding one, returned to the main road. When approaching the main route, I noticed a car coming at a pretty high rate of speed -- so elected to await its passing before getting back on the main route. Within a mile after getting back on the road, we rounded a corner to see the same car that had flown by us turned around and up on the hillside in what was an obvious spin-out. We, along with another car with a solo male occupant pulled over to see if we could be of assistance. The car that spun out was driven by a female who appeared to be in her mid 20's. She was able to move her car to a safe spot -- dragging some plastic -- whereupon she exited the vehicle, broke into tears -- and explained that she was rushing to and late for work and the cars' failed shocks made it difficult to control. I noticed a baby's car seat in the rear of the car -- and asked her about any other occupants -- and she explained that her baby was at home. I checked all the tires, confirmed her observation about bad shocks by watching the car bounce when I compressed them, and put the dragged body part into the trunk. As she tried to calm herself, I learned from the driver of the other car that stopped that he was a solo tourist from Hamburg, Germany who had actually observed the car go out of control. He was appreciative that we had stopped because he felt his command of English was not good enough to have been helpful. Shortly, the woman expressed her appreciation for our stop/help and continued on her way. We too shuttered thinking how lucky the woman had been to spin out where she did as elsewhere along the road the outcome would not have been favorable.
With that excitement behind us, we arrived on the very scenic entrance to Zion and traveled into the park where they are well equipped for crowds by limited all exploration of the valley to free shuttle busses that run every 8 or so minutes. We rode the shuttles to the furthest point in the park -- took a short hike -- and then back to the museum and our parked car. Zion is truly amazing and I must add it to the "not-to-be-missed" list.
As planned, we continued our journey into St. George, Utah -- and found one of the top rated (tripadvisor.com), inexpensive motels for the night.
Here is our route for the day. We started the day with a side trip through the Dixie National Forest. It was here that we pulled into one campground looking for a rest room -- but upon not finding one, returned to the main road. When approaching the main route, I noticed a car coming at a pretty high rate of speed -- so elected to await its passing before getting back on the main route. Within a mile after getting back on the road, we rounded a corner to see the same car that had flown by us turned around and up on the hillside in what was an obvious spin-out. We, along with another car with a solo male occupant pulled over to see if we could be of assistance. The car that spun out was driven by a female who appeared to be in her mid 20's. She was able to move her car to a safe spot -- dragging some plastic -- whereupon she exited the vehicle, broke into tears -- and explained that she was rushing to and late for work and the cars' failed shocks made it difficult to control. I noticed a baby's car seat in the rear of the car -- and asked her about any other occupants -- and she explained that her baby was at home. I checked all the tires, confirmed her observation about bad shocks by watching the car bounce when I compressed them, and put the dragged body part into the trunk. As she tried to calm herself, I learned from the driver of the other car that stopped that he was a solo tourist from Hamburg, Germany who had actually observed the car go out of control. He was appreciative that we had stopped because he felt his command of English was not good enough to have been helpful. Shortly, the woman expressed her appreciation for our stop/help and continued on her way. We too shuttered thinking how lucky the woman had been to spin out where she did as elsewhere along the road the outcome would not have been favorable.
With that excitement behind us, we arrived on the very scenic entrance to Zion and traveled into the park where they are well equipped for crowds by limited all exploration of the valley to free shuttle busses that run every 8 or so minutes. We rode the shuttles to the furthest point in the park -- took a short hike -- and then back to the museum and our parked car. Zion is truly amazing and I must add it to the "not-to-be-missed" list.
As planned, we continued our journey into St. George, Utah -- and found one of the top rated (tripadvisor.com), inexpensive motels for the night.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Smart Car - Status Report - October 29
In two days (October 31) we will have owned the Smart Car for exactly one year -- and today we rolled past 12,000 miles for the year. It continues to be a blast to drive -- and it has performed great during this trip. Tonight I added up our gas stats -- and we are getting an average of 43.3 miles per gallon for the 2,621 miles we have completed on this trip (it does require premium fuel so those extra few cents need to be calculated when comparing to a car that gets by on regular -- the average cost of fuel to date has been $3.24 per gallon). It is probably worth mentioning that we have had zero problems with the car -- have been pleased that the automatic tire pressure monitor alerted us to low pressure because of the altitude and cold weather -- and the only service we've ever had done to the car is an oil change. Because the car comes with and uses synthetic oil, the oil changes are at 12,000 mile intervals -- but we had the oil changed before we started this trip just so we wouldn't have to be bothered with it during the trip.
The car is lots like a motorcycle in that it attracts attention and begins conversations at almost every stop -- and its little engine has easily managed the wide range of roads we traveled.
The following photo of "Nuggle" was taken today at the same spot I took a photo of my motorcycle on October 17, 2009 and posted here: http://ontwotires.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-44-whole-lotta-nothing-that-way.html
The car is lots like a motorcycle in that it attracts attention and begins conversations at almost every stop -- and its little engine has easily managed the wide range of roads we traveled.
The following photo of "Nuggle" was taken today at the same spot I took a photo of my motorcycle on October 17, 2009 and posted here: http://ontwotires.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-44-whole-lotta-nothing-that-way.html
October 29, 2010
October 17, 2009
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thur Oct 28 - Torrey to Panguitch, UT - including Bryce National Park
Today was the completion of the second half of the route that I did in one day last year on the motorcycle -- and completed what I termed the "Best Ride." Here is a link to today's route: http://goo.gl/maps/W31B . The experience was very much the same (clear beautiful skies and almost no traffic) only better because Deb shared it with me and because in doing the trip in two days instead of one, we had plenty of time to stop at the many scenic and historic sights along the way -- including something I had foregone last year -- actually entering Bryce Canyon National Park and stopping at every overlook. Deb again snapped photos all day -- and has posted a bunch of them here -- but for those with limited time, this one photo might be representative of a little of the beauty we enjoyed.
We found a room at the same little motel I stayed in last year -- at the same $49 price. On to Zion National Park tomorrow.
Wed/Oct 27 - Best Ride of 2009 Redone!
For those of you who followed my blog of my 9000 mile cross country motorcycle trip last year, you may recall that I declared Utah Highway 95 and Scenic Byway 12 from Blanding to Panguitch as the "Best Ride of This Trip" in my October 16, 2009 posting here: http://ontwotires.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-43-oh-what-day.html . Today was the main focus of this Smart Car trip -- to revisit that route with Deb so that she might enjoy what I had enjoyed a year ago.
We were treated to a similarly beautiful day and nonexistent traffic -- and as prearranged we reduced the distance by splitting the trip into two days stopping overnight enroute in Torrey, Utah. This is the route we followed today: http://goo.gl/maps/PEKn
The route was just as good as I had remembered -- and we got a chance to enjoy even more of it with side stops/scenic routes at Natural Bridges National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park . Capitol Reef is, in my opinion, one of those "bucket list" places that everyone should try to visit. Because it is relatively "new" as a national park (established in 1971), it doesn't have the name recognition of a Yosemite or Grand Canyon, but to me it is a "must see" place. I was delighted to be able to visit it for the second time -- this time with Deb. Deb took over 300 photos during our 200 mile journey today -- and has posted around 100 of the best ones here: http://picasaweb.google.com/debtog/20101027?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-A6-KF6KiTLQ&feat=email#
We arrived in Torrey without a reservation -- and happened upon these darling cabins http://goo.gl/maps/eqKN and decided to live-it-up a little after having spent the last two nights in a Motel 6 and Super 8 respectively.
We were treated to a similarly beautiful day and nonexistent traffic -- and as prearranged we reduced the distance by splitting the trip into two days stopping overnight enroute in Torrey, Utah. This is the route we followed today: http://goo.gl/maps/PEKn
The route was just as good as I had remembered -- and we got a chance to enjoy even more of it with side stops/scenic routes at Natural Bridges National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park . Capitol Reef is, in my opinion, one of those "bucket list" places that everyone should try to visit. Because it is relatively "new" as a national park (established in 1971), it doesn't have the name recognition of a Yosemite or Grand Canyon, but to me it is a "must see" place. I was delighted to be able to visit it for the second time -- this time with Deb. Deb took over 300 photos during our 200 mile journey today -- and has posted around 100 of the best ones here: http://picasaweb.google.com/debtog/20101027?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-A6-KF6KiTLQ&feat=email#
We arrived in Torrey without a reservation -- and happened upon these darling cabins http://goo.gl/maps/eqKN and decided to live-it-up a little after having spent the last two nights in a Motel 6 and Super 8 respectively.
Mon/Tues Oct 25/26 - Salt Lake City - Green River - Blanding
I've been negligent about posting -- and will try to catch up now.
We had a superb weekend at home getting in some time with the grandkids and catching up on the mail (and voting!). I even played in a gig with the Power Pep Band and we attended a condo auctiion (nope we didn't buy one). We both agreed that it was nice to break up the trip with this quick trip home.
On Monday we were at the airport for a 6:45am flight back to Salt Lake City where we retrieved our car and luggage without incident and headed south. The weather had turned much colder over the weekend and Salt Lake City was covered with a dusting of snow -- but it didn't interfere with our travel plans. We followed this route (http://goo.gl/maps/49WK) which included more freeway than we prefer -- but it worked out fine both because there were not many choices and because of the snow.
After a brief, fun stop in Pleasant Grove to meet the brother and mother of a great friend, we arrived in Green River -- a pretty ordinary transit point but a good place from which to begin our journey into the first of the southern Utah national parks. Here we checked into a very inexpensive Motel 6 and enjoyed a much needed rest.
On Tuesday we headed directly to the spectacular Canyonlands National Park and then to Arches National Park on this route (http://goo.gl/maps/msxc) -- first time for both Deb and I to visit these parks. We were treated to beautiful blue skies and an easy, comfortable drive onto Blanding, Utah - a town I described in a posting last year as "ho-hum" but the place I started the "best ride" of my cross country motorcycle trip. More on that in the next posting.
Deb posted many photos from these two days here: http://picasaweb.google.com/debtog/20101026?authkey=Gv1sRgCOHovsyO1NL21gE&feat=email#
We had a superb weekend at home getting in some time with the grandkids and catching up on the mail (and voting!). I even played in a gig with the Power Pep Band and we attended a condo auctiion (nope we didn't buy one). We both agreed that it was nice to break up the trip with this quick trip home.
On Monday we were at the airport for a 6:45am flight back to Salt Lake City where we retrieved our car and luggage without incident and headed south. The weather had turned much colder over the weekend and Salt Lake City was covered with a dusting of snow -- but it didn't interfere with our travel plans. We followed this route (http://goo.gl/maps/49WK) which included more freeway than we prefer -- but it worked out fine both because there were not many choices and because of the snow.
After a brief, fun stop in Pleasant Grove to meet the brother and mother of a great friend, we arrived in Green River -- a pretty ordinary transit point but a good place from which to begin our journey into the first of the southern Utah national parks. Here we checked into a very inexpensive Motel 6 and enjoyed a much needed rest.
On Tuesday we headed directly to the spectacular Canyonlands National Park and then to Arches National Park on this route (http://goo.gl/maps/msxc) -- first time for both Deb and I to visit these parks. We were treated to beautiful blue skies and an easy, comfortable drive onto Blanding, Utah - a town I described in a posting last year as "ho-hum" but the place I started the "best ride" of my cross country motorcycle trip. More on that in the next posting.
Deb posted many photos from these two days here: http://picasaweb.google.com/debtog/20101026?authkey=Gv1sRgCOHovsyO1NL21gE&feat=email#
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday to Sun - Oct 21-25: Salt Lake City and home
On Thursday we drove over some more beautiful and curvy backroads over Snow Basin on in to Salt Lake City. We continued to be treated to beautiful autumn leaves against a background of clear blue skies. As planned, we stopped at the attraction rated number one by people who use "tripadvisor.com" -- the Red Butte Gardens on the campus of the University of Utah. More beauty all around.
Our research on Salt Lake City also revealed that we could attend the weekly rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir -- and we did just that after happening upon the Mexican restaurant that is rated number 2 among all 753 Salt Lake City restaurants on tripadvisor.com.
Thanks to the size of the Smart Car, we snagged a tiny parking spot that no other car would have been able to fit -- on the street outside the Temple Square and enjoyed a quick tour of several of the buildings there (all open til 9pm) before attending the choir rehearsal which was a treat by itself.
A few weeks before this trip started, we concluded that we wanted to be home this weekend to tend to some personal errands and business -- and we prearranged to stay at a motel near the Salt Lake City airport where we could leave our luggage and car and purchased tickets on Southwest to fly home. So that's what we are doing. We're flying home on Friday morning and returning to continue our "Nuggle" trip on Monday, October 25. We'll continue the blog on Monday.
Our research on Salt Lake City also revealed that we could attend the weekly rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir -- and we did just that after happening upon the Mexican restaurant that is rated number 2 among all 753 Salt Lake City restaurants on tripadvisor.com.
Thanks to the size of the Smart Car, we snagged a tiny parking spot that no other car would have been able to fit -- on the street outside the Temple Square and enjoyed a quick tour of several of the buildings there (all open til 9pm) before attending the choir rehearsal which was a treat by itself.
A few weeks before this trip started, we concluded that we wanted to be home this weekend to tend to some personal errands and business -- and we prearranged to stay at a motel near the Salt Lake City airport where we could leave our luggage and car and purchased tickets on Southwest to fly home. So that's what we are doing. We're flying home on Friday morning and returning to continue our "Nuggle" trip on Monday, October 25. We'll continue the blog on Monday.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tues-Thurs/Oct 19-21: More Utah Beauty
After leaving Bear Lake, Utah, we traveled over the Logan Scenic Byway and enjoyed a leisurely 90 or so miles getting to our next destination -- another Worldmark condo at the foot of popular recreation destination near Eden, Utah (map of our route here). This condo sits at the foot of a popular ski resort (Powder Mountain) in the Ogden Valley northeast of Salt Lake City. Spectacular beauty of full autumn colors surrounded our trip.
Another fun stay in a superbly equipped condo for $30 a night -- and we even made $50 and got a free breakfast while here. Deb and I have become pretty adept at taking advantage of timeshare promotionals when our schedule allows. At some locations, Worldmark offers various promotionals (usually between $50 and $75) to attend what they call an "owner's update" but is in reality an opportunity for them to attempt to sell additional points. For many reasons, including our own personal beliefs about sleeping on all financial decisions, we find it easier than many to just give the required 45 minutes of our time in return for the promotional. Of course, it doesn't hurt that we consider the whole exercise a game -- even setting my cell to alarm at the end of 45 minutes to give me an opportunity to begin inquiry about "time management" of the presentation. It's not a game for everyone -- but we have a high tolerance for the conversational discomfort attendant to saying "no" and/or saying "time's up."
Anyway, after getting the free breakfast and $50 -- we headed off for a fun day of sightseeing around the area including a visit to a local Trappist Monastery. We stayed two nights at this location and are headed into Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct 21 over more scenic byways and passes.
Another fun stay in a superbly equipped condo for $30 a night -- and we even made $50 and got a free breakfast while here. Deb and I have become pretty adept at taking advantage of timeshare promotionals when our schedule allows. At some locations, Worldmark offers various promotionals (usually between $50 and $75) to attend what they call an "owner's update" but is in reality an opportunity for them to attempt to sell additional points. For many reasons, including our own personal beliefs about sleeping on all financial decisions, we find it easier than many to just give the required 45 minutes of our time in return for the promotional. Of course, it doesn't hurt that we consider the whole exercise a game -- even setting my cell to alarm at the end of 45 minutes to give me an opportunity to begin inquiry about "time management" of the presentation. It's not a game for everyone -- but we have a high tolerance for the conversational discomfort attendant to saying "no" and/or saying "time's up."
Anyway, after getting the free breakfast and $50 -- we headed off for a fun day of sightseeing around the area including a visit to a local Trappist Monastery. We stayed two nights at this location and are headed into Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct 21 over more scenic byways and passes.
Monday, October 18, 2010
First 10 Days
The weather and scenery continue to be fantastic as we headed into Idaho Falls on Saturday night (Oct. 16) and we were able to find the top rated motel on "TripAdvisor.com" for $66 a night. We arrived early enough to take in the Museum of Idaho that included a special exhibit on DaVinci's art and inventions (including 60 working models). A very informative and fun stop.
On Sunday, October 17 we diverted from our planned route so that we could proceed over the Teton Pass into Jackson, Wyoming on our way over several scenic byways through Soda Springs, ID and our eventual destination - a Worldmark condo on the shore of Bear Lake, Utah (gotta love the off season price of $41 a night).
In addition to keeping us on our selected route, my GPS allows me to record the exact "track" of our trip including elevation along with exact time/location information. I always enjoy reviewing the resulting data and charts -- and have included a couple below which I have annotated to show our stops:
On Sunday, October 17 we diverted from our planned route so that we could proceed over the Teton Pass into Jackson, Wyoming on our way over several scenic byways through Soda Springs, ID and our eventual destination - a Worldmark condo on the shore of Bear Lake, Utah (gotta love the off season price of $41 a night).
In addition to keeping us on our selected route, my GPS allows me to record the exact "track" of our trip including elevation along with exact time/location information. I always enjoy reviewing the resulting data and charts -- and have included a couple below which I have annotated to show our stops:
As previously arranged, we are staying two nights here in Bear Lake -- so today, Monday, Oct 18, we took a leisurely trip around the circumference of the lake. It's an interesting and beautiful area but we found it odd that the supposedly "lake-front" homes and camping sites that surround the lake are some 100 yards or more from the actual lake with clear indication that the lake is not at its normal level. We wondered if this result was seasonal or indicative of a changing environment. I stopped and spoke with a couple of locals and learned that a drought in this area beginning around 2002-2004 caused the lake to drop to its current level and while there is hope that it will someday recover -- it hasn't happened yet. Lakeside residents/vacationers have adapted by now using tractors to haul their boats and water toys to the waters edge. We couldn't help but wonder what it might have done to property values to have these luxuriously built "lake-side" homes that are no longer lake-side! Here's an easy way to see what I'm writing about on Google Maps.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thur/Fri Oct 16-17 - McCall and Ketchum
Since we were staying two nights in McCall, it gave us Thursday just to explore and relax. McCall is located on beautiful Payette Lake -- and I took this shot from a view point inside the nearby Ponderosa State Park:
Fridays trip was spectacular -- traveling over the Sawtooth Mountain range to Ketchum (map here). As I have described in prior blogs, traveling in this part of Idaho provides real life examples of Thomas Kincade's beautiful mountain scene paintings. Deb caught me here getting a snack from the hidden and convenient tailgate compartment:
We got into Ketchum early enough to do some exploring including a visit to nearby Sun Valley -- a resort developed in 1936 and celebrity destination for many years. Both McCall and Ketchum give Deb and I the same feeling that Bend, Oregon gives -- except on a smaller scale. Popular -- upscale destinations. Ketchum definitely has lots of "upper crust" shopping opportunites which don't interest Deb or me in the least. Thankfully, rolling into town without a reservation -- we were able to score a reasonably priced motel room on the main drag near the center of town.
During our travels today we listened to the audiobook "Earth" by Jon Stewart which we both loved. Of course we are avid fans and regular watchers of Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" but I think anyone with an appreciation for sarcastic humor would appreciate this book that purports to describe our planet, people, cultures, religions, traditions, etc to aliens AFTER the end of human life on earth.
Tonight we ventured out to the local theater to take in "The Social Network," based on the book "Accidental Billionaires: the Founding of Facebook" which has been getting great reviews. Deb and I found it to be delightfully interesting entertainment without regard to its accuracy though it did prompt me to want to do some research into its accuracy both regarding the beginnings of Facebook AND the depiction of Harvard's secretive "Final Clubs" societies.
We're headed to somewhere between Blackfoot and Idaho Falls tomorrow -- again without reservations.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wed. Oct 13 - Reminded of Why I Love Idaho Roads
With only about 140 miles to go today to get from Orofino to McCall, we decided to take a 50 mile detour on a wonderfully curvy mountain climb to the plateau where Lewis and Clark first made contact with the Nez Perce tribe members that were crucial to the success of their journey. For a motorcyclist, what's not to like about a road that looks like this on the GPS:
The Smart Car continues to be a blast to drive -- and though I miss the "uncaged" view and addictive cornering on a motorcycle, the Smart Car's easy transition between automatic transmission and five speed shifting (complete with steering wheel paddle shifters) makes for a fun drive. The detour rewarded us with spectacular views:
and led us to the small town of Weippe and another interesting "Discovery Center" about the Lewis and Clark expedition. From there we backtracked over the same curvy road and continued our journey on a wonderful riverside journey to our destination (map of entire route here). For much of the trip, the views were like this one:
Most of the route was familiar to me because of prior motorcycle trips in 2008 and 2009 through the area. I loved Idaho roads when I wrote about them in those blogs, and today reminded me once again.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday/Tuesday Oct 11/12 - Couer d'Alene to Orofino, ID
On Monday we enjoyed exploring downtown Couer d'Alene and retraced our route back to Post Falls to attend a Buck Knives factory tour (street view photo of factory here). Both fun and interesting, as was a stop at the nearby Cabellas store.
On Tuesday we visited both Princeton and Harvard as well as several other small rural towns on our 140 mile journey (map here) from our condo in Couer d'Alene to Orofino, Idaho. I'm sure there is a story behind the naming of those two little hamlets but I haven't researched them yet. Orofino, on the other hand, is full of interesting history as the place that Lewis and Clark left their horses for the winter and built 5 dugout canoes departing downstream on October 5, 1805, just 205 years and 7 days ago! Within 55 years gold was discovered in the area which led to the initial growth/popularity of the area. We arrived in Orofino early enough to visit the local museum -- and had a good laugh watching many locals at the nearby Napa store staring out the window at our diminutive car.
The beauty of the scenery and the sunny weather was spectacular but we did have a minor scrape with some road trash today. On a straight section of roadway, I noticed a tent-shaped item in the roadway without sufficient time to avoid it and hoping that I would clear it. Well, I didn't clear it and it lodged underneath the frame of the car necessitating an immediate stop and some on-the-ground time retrieving it. Not exactly sure what this hard plastic item was -- though it does have a toll-free number inscribed on it (I'll call tomorrow just out of interest). No permanent damage was done and we were on our way pretty quickly. I posed this photo of the item in front of the car so you can see what I am writing about.
On Tuesday we visited both Princeton and Harvard as well as several other small rural towns on our 140 mile journey (map here) from our condo in Couer d'Alene to Orofino, Idaho. I'm sure there is a story behind the naming of those two little hamlets but I haven't researched them yet. Orofino, on the other hand, is full of interesting history as the place that Lewis and Clark left their horses for the winter and built 5 dugout canoes departing downstream on October 5, 1805, just 205 years and 7 days ago! Within 55 years gold was discovered in the area which led to the initial growth/popularity of the area. We arrived in Orofino early enough to visit the local museum -- and had a good laugh watching many locals at the nearby Napa store staring out the window at our diminutive car.
The beauty of the scenery and the sunny weather was spectacular but we did have a minor scrape with some road trash today. On a straight section of roadway, I noticed a tent-shaped item in the roadway without sufficient time to avoid it and hoping that I would clear it. Well, I didn't clear it and it lodged underneath the frame of the car necessitating an immediate stop and some on-the-ground time retrieving it. Not exactly sure what this hard plastic item was -- though it does have a toll-free number inscribed on it (I'll call tomorrow just out of interest). No permanent damage was done and we were on our way pretty quickly. I posed this photo of the item in front of the car so you can see what I am writing about.
As prearranged, we easily found a newish Best Western and settled in for a comfortable evening with wonderful view of the Clearwater River off our balcony.
It was fun to think of what it must have been like for Lewis and Clark 205 years ago -- though for sure it was much different as the area didn't yet have the nearby 3rd highest dam in the US.
On to McCall, Idaho tomorrow -- another easy 140 miles -- where we have yet another Worldmark condo reserved for a couple nights (off season rate of $46.50 a night).
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Sunday, October 10 - On To Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
We finished up our visit with Staci and Martin by both making a jack-o-latern and enjoying lunch together before pointing "Nuggle" towards Coeur d'Alene, Idaho -- about 50 miles away. We stopped enroute for a brief visit with a friend from Noel's work days and then enjoyed the scenic drive around Lake Coeur d'Alene to the Worldmark condos where we had reservations for two nights.
A word about Worldmark because we have planned this trip to take advantage of several Worldmark locations. Worldmark is a point-based time share organization which some may also know by the name "Trendwest." Rather than "owning" a particular unit and swapping it for others, one "owns" points that are used to reserve time at any of the many complexes developed by Trendwest or swapped. As a practical matter, allow me also to offer my opinion that timeshares are generally a tricky, problematic way to spend one's vacation dollars -- deserving of the poor reputation their high-pressure marketing techniques engender. However, in our case, we had the opportunity to learn the details of the tricks/benefits/shortcomings because a dear friend was an owner (a former husband had been a Worldmark salesman). Through her membership, I committed myself to studying the ins and outs of Worldmark. The result of my study has prompted these OPINIONS: (1) Worldmark is NOT a good deal for anyone who only has only traditional holidays, weekends and summer vacations. Weekend, holiday and summer availability of units is tricked up with complicated rules and reservation requirements that limit availability to only those willing to learn and play the reservations game some 13 months ahead of time AND desire minimum 7-day vacation; (2) Worldmark can be a good deal for someone who has weekdays available for vacation time AND who is willing to learn their complicated reservation rules AND who is willing to make and change plans on relatively short notice AND who prefers to vacation off-season. The buy-in can made incredibly affordable IF one is willing to buy in on the secondary market (craigslist, ebay) rather than at a timeshare presentation. I'll spare you further details in this blog -- but am always delighted to share my opinions if you are interested. Bottom line is that during this trip we've been able to score many high-end, fully equipped condos at Worldmark locations for less than we would pay for cheap motels. So, Sunday and Monday nights we have enjoyed a gorgeous 2 bedroom condo overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene.
A word about Worldmark because we have planned this trip to take advantage of several Worldmark locations. Worldmark is a point-based time share organization which some may also know by the name "Trendwest." Rather than "owning" a particular unit and swapping it for others, one "owns" points that are used to reserve time at any of the many complexes developed by Trendwest or swapped. As a practical matter, allow me also to offer my opinion that timeshares are generally a tricky, problematic way to spend one's vacation dollars -- deserving of the poor reputation their high-pressure marketing techniques engender. However, in our case, we had the opportunity to learn the details of the tricks/benefits/shortcomings because a dear friend was an owner (a former husband had been a Worldmark salesman). Through her membership, I committed myself to studying the ins and outs of Worldmark. The result of my study has prompted these OPINIONS: (1) Worldmark is NOT a good deal for anyone who only has only traditional holidays, weekends and summer vacations. Weekend, holiday and summer availability of units is tricked up with complicated rules and reservation requirements that limit availability to only those willing to learn and play the reservations game some 13 months ahead of time AND desire minimum 7-day vacation; (2) Worldmark can be a good deal for someone who has weekdays available for vacation time AND who is willing to learn their complicated reservation rules AND who is willing to make and change plans on relatively short notice AND who prefers to vacation off-season. The buy-in can made incredibly affordable IF one is willing to buy in on the secondary market (craigslist, ebay) rather than at a timeshare presentation. I'll spare you further details in this blog -- but am always delighted to share my opinions if you are interested. Bottom line is that during this trip we've been able to score many high-end, fully equipped condos at Worldmark locations for less than we would pay for cheap motels. So, Sunday and Monday nights we have enjoyed a gorgeous 2 bedroom condo overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Saturday, October 9 - In and Around Cheney
Enjoyed a fun, beautiful trip to Cheney yesterday -- most of the way on Highway 14 along the shore of the Washington side of the Columbia River. Martin posted this photo of our arrival on his blipfoto site: http://www.blipfoto.com/view.php?id=761154&month=10&year=2010
We took an early morning tour of Eastern Washington University's campus,
We took an early morning tour of Eastern Washington University's campus,
followed by visits with friends and a trip to a few of the many local pumpkin/apple farms that populate a nearby mountain -- and are set up this time of year to provide a range of entertainment and seasonal delights.
We capped off the wonderful day with lots of great conversation -- both reminiscing about the past year that Staci and Martin spend in China (and our visits there) and their plans for the coming two years in Cheney/Spokane.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Friday, October 8 - The Trip Begins
The "Nuggle" trip got underway today! Our first destination -- the home of daughter Staci and her husband Martin on the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, about 25 miles west of Spokane, Washington. Cheney is about 360 miles from our home so today's drive is expected to be the longest of our entire trip. Staci and Martin moved to Spokane in August so that Staci could begin a two year program to obtain a Masters in Social Work.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Smart Car - Dispelling The Myths
Myth 1: Size matters.
The most frequent question I get about the Smart Car is whether it is all-electric. The answer is "no." It's not even a hybrid. It's a regular 3 cylinder Mercedes built gasoline engine that gets around 40 miles per gallon.
The second most frequent comment/question is whether it is safe. People in the USA have been conditioned by the USA automobile manufacturers to associate size with safety. I've found it very interesting that sometimes the person asking the question about safety is himself or herself driving a vehicle that has failed or gotten low marks on standardized US Government and Insurance Institute tests. The answer for the Smart Car is that its design meets or exceeds US Government crash test standards including a 5-star side crash rating, and the highest scores for front and side crash worthiness and roof strength. The details are on the Smart Car web site. And for those of you who might have seen the rampant internet forward that purports to show a Smart Car squished between two semi's for gas-guzzling propaganda purposes, just know that the photo is NOT of a Smart Car.
I won't wax on and on about the Smart Car -- and I fully admit it's not for everyone. I'm happy to admit that it does have it's drawbacks as a car -- but none of the drawbacks relate to its safety, especially not for me/Deb who essentially use it as a motorcycle subsitute.
In addition, contrary to popular misconception, the Smart Car does NOT have a small passenger compartment. The passenger compartment (for two only) is very large -- larger than many other cars. The cargo compartment is on the smallish side -- but still larger than people assume when first seeing the car.
Deb and I are very light packers anyway -- most often backpackers in our travels -- but in getting ready for this trip we decided that we could easily pack our regular carry-on rollers -- as the photos here show.
Don't misunderstand me -- I do notice the size difference when passing a semi on a freeway -- but like my motorcycle riding -- the awareness only makes me remember that I'm traveling on roads that I'd rather not be traveling on -- freeways/highways. That's why this Nuggle trip has been planned to avoid freeways just as I do on the motorcycle.
The most frequent question I get about the Smart Car is whether it is all-electric. The answer is "no." It's not even a hybrid. It's a regular 3 cylinder Mercedes built gasoline engine that gets around 40 miles per gallon.
The second most frequent comment/question is whether it is safe. People in the USA have been conditioned by the USA automobile manufacturers to associate size with safety. I've found it very interesting that sometimes the person asking the question about safety is himself or herself driving a vehicle that has failed or gotten low marks on standardized US Government and Insurance Institute tests. The answer for the Smart Car is that its design meets or exceeds US Government crash test standards including a 5-star side crash rating, and the highest scores for front and side crash worthiness and roof strength. The details are on the Smart Car web site. And for those of you who might have seen the rampant internet forward that purports to show a Smart Car squished between two semi's for gas-guzzling propaganda purposes, just know that the photo is NOT of a Smart Car.
I won't wax on and on about the Smart Car -- and I fully admit it's not for everyone. I'm happy to admit that it does have it's drawbacks as a car -- but none of the drawbacks relate to its safety, especially not for me/Deb who essentially use it as a motorcycle subsitute.
In addition, contrary to popular misconception, the Smart Car does NOT have a small passenger compartment. The passenger compartment (for two only) is very large -- larger than many other cars. The cargo compartment is on the smallish side -- but still larger than people assume when first seeing the car.
Deb and I are very light packers anyway -- most often backpackers in our travels -- but in getting ready for this trip we decided that we could easily pack our regular carry-on rollers -- as the photos here show.
Don't misunderstand me -- I do notice the size difference when passing a semi on a freeway -- but like my motorcycle riding -- the awareness only makes me remember that I'm traveling on roads that I'd rather not be traveling on -- freeways/highways. That's why this Nuggle trip has been planned to avoid freeways just as I do on the motorcycle.
And we love the expansion moon roof, shown below.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
What's This Blog About?
So we're taking a road trip -- a nearly 4000 mile circular route on the backroads between southwestern Washington and southwestern Colorado with bunches of Idaho, Utah, California and Oregon thrown in.
This trip was originally conceived as a backroads automobile trip which would be similar to the motorcycle trip I took last year to Williamsburg, VA and back (blog here) but this time Deb would make the trip with me. However, the more I thought about the scenic highlights of the motorcycle trip, the more I became motivated to want to avoid the flat, straight roads between eastern Colorado and Kentucky, and focus more time in the west - specifically Idaho and Utah. In fact, I declared the "Best Ride of This Trip" as "Scenic Byway 12" in this blog posting on October 16, 2009. So this trip plan morphed into the current circular route (map here) with these goals:
1. Avoid, when possible, all interstate freeways and other straight highways.
2. Keep the daily driving distance under 250 miles.
3. Give priority to roads listed in Reader's Digest's "Most Scenic Drives in America" (50 of the 120 detailed here and the book shown here); National Geographic's "Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways," (detailed here and book shown here); and, those roads highly rated for scenic quality on the website www.motorcycleroads.com (which calls itself "America's Best Guide to Motorcycle Roads and Rides").
4. Drive Utah's "Scenic Byway 12" and visit as many National Parks as possible on our route -- an inspiration we got from the wonderful Ken Burns documentary on the National Parks .
Now, in order to understand the title of this blog and the vehicle we are taking on this trip, you need to know this story: While traveling the magical roads of the Smoky Mountains during my motorcycle trip, I happened to meet an older couple who were obviously having a ton of fun traveling the same curvy and scenic backroads in a Smart Car. I visited with them at a couple different scenic overlooks -- and even got them to snap a photo of me in their car which I emailed off to Deb with a note that suggested we might want to take a look at these cars when I returned from our trip. This chance encounter with this happy couple in the Smart Car prompted me to wonder whether a Smart Car might be a way to enjoy the backroads with Deb (since she no longer would ride the motorcycle) and in all types of weather (with the comfort of heated seats and air conditioning).
Shortly after my return from the motorcycle trip, we rented a Smart Car for a day and gave it a good workout to the top of Mt. St. Helens and back -- and both Deb and I came to love the little car: me, because of its fun handling in the curves and Deb because it was "cute." So, on Halloween 2009, we purchased our own Smart Car . I commonly refer to the car as our "clown car" but Deb immediately named it "Nuggle" after the way our then 3-year old grandson pronounced "snuggle" -- as in "will you 'nuggle' with me." She said the car just looks like it needs to be "nuggled." Now after 11 months of ownership, we both still love riding and driving Nuggle. Even as we were buying it, we were already planning for it to be our vehicle of choice for this road trip.
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