Crossing America

So what do you do when you are trying to travel 1500 miles in two days? Listen to XM radio, first a little country, then music from the 70's, then the 80's, the soccer match between Germany and USA, and an audio book. Having Billy Crystal talk about aging and his life and trying not to laugh so hard you run off the road is rather entertaining.  Thursday, time to wake up and start our epic road trip.  1500 plus miles in 2 days and we arrive at Lisa and Darren's place in Cheyenne Wyoming.  Many more miles to go to reach Oregon and then eventually northern Alberta, back to Wyoming and later in the summer we will travel across the plains once again to visit friends in Clayton, New York.

As always, while traveling across Kentucky I am reminded of my childhood and growing up in southern Ohio.  I see the road signs with the name of Carter Caves or Natural Bridge and it takes me back to camping with my family.  We were big campers, going every year to either a state park in Kentucky or  Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  Occasionally we would go to a place like Virginia Beach or even the deep south.  We always had a car full of people, a tent with cots and army blankets and a mom who loved to cook over an open fire. We would stop at rest stops to eat our meals, never going out to eat at a restaurant.  Mom could make the best camp toast and bake anything in the dutch oven.  After my dad died, we continued to camp, venturing out west for the first time.  I think that early exposure to the great big blue sky of the Rocky Mountains is what hooked me to loving the west.

Rick and I started camping while we were dating, went to the back country of Yellowstone for our honeymoon and even tried to camp in Texas (a disaster).  We would camp any chance we could when we got back to Wyoming and started camping with Nick when he was about 4 years old.  We finally started camping in earnest when we moved to Colorado in 1990, buying a little pop up camper and pulling it all over the west and Canada.  But it has been 10 years since we camped, so it like going out for the first time all over again.  We still have the little pop up,  Darren and Lisa have been using it and were nice enough to let us take possession of it once again.  So after spending a couple of days getting it set up and ready to go, we head out tomorrow morning (after a stop at the Vital Records office to obtain our marriage certificate to prove we are married for our Australian visa) to Oregon.  Planning on camping 3 nights before arriving Eugene.  Kona is with us and we are looking forward to spending a day in Bend, Oregon one of the top dog friendly towns in the country.

It is a beautiful country and traveling over the roads (even the ones falling apart) to take it all in is a wonderful experience.  Hopefully, I can get Rick to slow down and if I want to stop and see the world largest ball of string he will humor me.

Kona, ""are we there yet?  1st hour into the trip.

Going over the Mississippi River in St Louis, brand new bridge.  Pretty cool.

We stopped at this rest stop in Nebraska, right smack in the middle of farm country and this is the notice in the bathroom.

Almost to Wyoming

Birthday celebration for my sister Carol at her favorite restaurant in Centennial Wyoming
Katelyn, Liz, Lisa, me and Carol

Food prep for our camping trip and the week with the kids in Oregon.

Hmmm, think we can trade campers with Lisa and Darren?

 This is Maya, Ethan's new kitty.

More thoughts on Brugge

We are sitting in the airport in Brussels waiting for our flight to be called. As always, the day before a trip is over, I am ready to go home.  I have been thinking about everything we did on this trip and my favorite places, which got me thinking about Brugge. I really can't decide how I feel about Brugge.  On one hand it is a beautiful and well preserved historical city, but on the other hand it feels almost "Disney" like.  Talking with a few other people, you get the same message.  It feels like you are being  "nickel and dime" to death. 15.00 euros for a world class museum in Amsterdam is reasonable, 11 euros for a chocolate museum that take you about 30 minutes to go through is not.  Tourism is the primary industry, over 5 million visitors a year. Definitely worth a visit, not sure it is a place to stay more then a night or so.   I am not complaining, I am glad I got a chance to spend some time here and I wish I had checked a few things off my list,  but I decided the city does not have that connection or soul that you find in so many places.  Maybe they have sold out in the chase for tourism dollars. Here are a few more photos.

 Many buildings had niches with Madonna or other religious figures

 White asparagus in the farmers market

 Inside city hall where TTRA had a reception

 10:30 in the evening walk along the canals

 Nancy, Whitney and Lori at  TTRA conference

 House I saw on my bike ride to Damme

 Windmill near Damme, Belgium

 Some of the ruins from Our Lady Church in Damme

 Bike ride

 Poppies

Boat going through lock in Brugge

In Bruges

I am sure most of my film buff friends have seen the movie In Bruges starring Colin Farrell.  I saw it several years ago, Rick is pretty sure he slept through it.  Funny how I keep hearing references to the movie from other people attending this conference.  I remember thinking it was a decent movie, but I don't remember many details of the movie, so guess I will need to watch it again.
Rick's conference started on Tuesday, with an all day board meeting and a dinner in the evening.  Needing some down time before attending the board dinner with Rick, I spent the day roaming the streets of Bruges on my own.  Geoff and Linda went off exploring on their own as well and later when we compared notes realized I had been pretty much following them most of the day, I was just about an hour behind.  Bruges is a small city/town, very walkable with lots of crooks and crannies to explore.  The architecture is beautiful, the town is clean and well maintained.  It is a tourist town for sure and can get really busy in the main areas, but once you are off on the side streets you only see locals or school kids scurrying around.  Beer, chocolate and waffles are every where.  I love the huge displays in the windows.

 Our room at Bed and Breakfast Bariseele

 Beautiful buildings in Bruges

 Beer and more beer!

 Market Square

 The main canal through town

 Love the dog with this lady buggy driver

 And the cat in the window of this dress shop

 We saw this swan family the night before on the canal and today they were in the garden of this house.  They even had a ramp they could use to get up from the canal to the garden.

 More houses

A waffle with chocolate, afternoon treat.  No wonder I have to walk all day.

 Last night after the board dinner, Rick and I went to a small pub, located in this tiny little alley and had local beer.  The beers are strong and I was just a little tipsy.  We paid, walked out of the pub and since the stairs are steep, I was slow going down the stairs and getting out of the pub.  Thank goodness for being slow, because I had left my purse on the chair.  The bar keep ran out the door with my purse.  I should have given him a kiss!  Rick very seldom will leave a tip in Europe, but our two beers were 8.50 euros and he gave the guy a 10 euro bill and told him to keep it.  He had been nice helping us pick out our beers from the 100's offered - all in Flemish! I am sure he would have chased us down even if we had not left him a tip, but maybe the tip impressed him....lol.
So so far on this trip;  I have left my bath puff in Lauterbrunnen, face soap in Amsterdam and my nice black raincoat on the train from Amsterdam to Brussels....ugh.

Two days in Amsterdam

I think I read once that people from the Netherlands are some of the happiest people in the world. I don't know what it is about Amsterdam, but it does put a smile on my face.  It is urban, a little dirty, busy, but beautiful at the same time.  Walking along the canals and cobbled streets is a soothing experience, but at the same time you have to always be on alert for all the bicycles.  It is busy, but not unbearable.  People are pleasant and helpful and seem not to mind that you can't speak a lick of Dutch! The food is good, the architecture fascinating and the museums are top notch.  I hope I get back to this wonderful city, just to eat pancakes again!

 Walking along the canals in the Jordaan District, note the garden on top of the houseboat.

 Rembrandt's famous painting, the Night Watch at the Rijksmuseum

 The Merry Family by Jan Steen

 Loved this painting, but now I can't remember who painted it.

 Evening lights on a canal

 Cheese!  We went in and sampled many cheeses..

Cannabis Starter Kit in a Can....Geoff looks happy to me!

 Or what about a tulip in a can?
At the Flower Market in Amsterdam.

 Geoff and Rick had a giggle over the Magic Mushroom store.

 The bulbs were huge.  This is a Amaryllis bulb the size of Rick's hand.

 We saw evidence of "football" everywhere.

 And in Dam Square, beach volleyball tournament

 Drinks and dinner by a canal

 Geoff and Linda Crouch

 a few black and whites

 Tiny gardens between the houses and sidewalk

 A bench in front of a house.  We saw a few that had signs on them from the owners.

 Love the gables on the houses

Morning commuters