Tomorrow's route: https://goo.gl/maps/u57subG5AK5SdW8i6
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Day 11 - Indiana to Ohio to West Virginia to Pennsylvania
Slept a little later today and did not get away until after 8am but there was not a lot to see or write about other than having started in Indiana and visited a total of 4 states today. Am in Washington PA, about 5 hours from Schnecksville to tomorrow will be the last leg for this trip. The last phot shows my entry into Pennsylvania!
Friday, July 24, 2020
Day 10 - Indiana Bob
Today's blog will be pretty short. I'm past the adventure phase of the trip and am primarily driving. To make better time its mostly on interstates so you all know what you see. The good news is there are well marked places to get gas, food and hit the restroom. It was about 7 driving hours. Got away about 7:30am and arrived in Terre Haute Indiana at 5pm Eastern Daylight time.
I'm about 10 driving hours from Schnecksville but will break it into 2 drives with a stop in Washington PA. The route: https://goo.gl/maps/wjhLXXtn2zzAzgDP6
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Day 9 - Getting outta Dodge
I forgot to include a picture of the two dudes that were right above the toilet in the room. Kind of like they were watching me...a little creepy but then it was the "Old West"..... right!
Today will be a short blog. I am past most of the National Parks areas I wanted to see and since I'm avoiding museums I am driving primarily just to get to Pennsylvania. I got away about 8 but had to make a stop at the Post Office and to gas up. I was riding around town on their brick streets of which there are about 16 miles put down between 1912 and 1925. I happened across this hot rod truck. Since there was no traffic I just stopped in the street and took the picture...obviously I should have rolled down the window!
After I left town it was pretty much the same scenery all the way to Pittsburgh KS.
Somewhere along US 400 I did come across this unusual folk art display on the roadside. I pulled over to take a photo. There were hundreds of these things all lined up along the road!
The other exciting events during the trip were the road construction and flaggers.
Yes, I am right next to another casino tonight but no, I won't be going in!
I went to Chatters restaurant in Pittsburgh to get some dinner. They had a nice outdoor patio and there was a pleasant breeze to keep you comfortable under the umbrellas. I spent about an hour there having a turkey sandwich with apple slices and iced tea.
Tomorrow will be a trip of mostly interstate to Hilton Garden Inn in Terre Haute Indiana with the following route:
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Day 8 - the Santa Fe Trail
The first order of business this morning was to get the Jeep washed. It was pretty dirty from the trail in Moab. Now at least the dust and dirt is gone. It will get a good washing when back in Pennsylvania!
Today is mostly just driving again. The scenery was not much to look at but always changing. Much more irrigated farming and cattle raising here than I have seen before.
I did have to do a bit of detouring. Part of US 50 was closed for some reason.
I only stopped at a couple of places along the way. One was the Amache Japanese Internment site in Granada, Colorado. There is a series of interpretive displays but not too much of the camp remains. There are roads, a few foundations and the foundations of the guard tower. In the town there is a museum but since I'm avoiding museums at the moment, I elected to pass on that. Here's the Jeep in the parking area where the majority of the exhibit pieces are. Its pretty isolated but there was another family that came along after I got there and someone else arriving as I left.
The Santa Fe Trail, a 19th century route between Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico, runs in part along US 50. It was primarily a commercial route, supplying the west with eastern trade goods. There were a number of markers along the way. I stopped at a few. The second of these photos was at a spot where you could still see the tracks in the ground where all the wagons traveled. It was difficult to see but was a depression in the ground that could be seen if you looked carefully. It did not photograph well so the photo just shows the grassland that they traveled through. They could make 18 to 21 miles a day, taking 6 to 10 weeks to make the 900 miles.
The last trail marker was just west of Dodge City, Kansas where I was stopping for the night. My hotel is right next to the Boot Hill Casino, but no...I'm not going in.
Here's a shot that was a just for fun shot. I could see the Jeep in the back of the truck in front of me. Most trucks are not that shiny.
Tomorrow is a drive to Pittsburgh..wait for it...Kansas. Just a spot that is about 5 hours east and has a less than 10% increase in its Covid numbers. Some places I looked at were up 60% in the last week so I avoided them. Not sure this makes sense but I have to decide somehow!
The route is: https://goo.gl/maps/ugbTYcLX58eSip1b8
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Day 7 - On the Road Again...
Up a bit later this morning and I did not get moving until about 9am. Missing my little buddy Elmer
The scenery changed throughout the drive east with the big cliff like structures giving way to more open spaces.
By the way, if you haven't discovered it already, you can click on the pictures and they should expand in size to get a better look. I did take one scenic tour in the Black Canyon National Park. It was right off US 50 so I decided to take a look. To be honest, you really need to hike into the canyon to experience the best of the National Park but there were some scenic viewpoints.
..but even here it could get a bit crowded!
From the National Park I was simply driving to get to Canon City, Colorado. A few examples of the driving views....
I did come across some scattered rain showers. You can just see one in this photo as a dark shadow reaching down to the roadway.
Along much of the way there were state park or forest service rest areas which made the traveling very convenient. Almost all had some people in them (some included boat launch areas) but they were never crowded.
As I approached Canon City, I was climbing in elevation. Canon City is just over 5,000 feet in elevation just like Denver. The road had some interesting rock formations.
Just before entering Canon City there was a mess of fire trucks, police and ambulances on the other side of the road. Of course that slowed down our side as well. As I went past I could see some of the fire rescue guys 3/4 of the way up the side of the cliff. I did not hear anything on the news about it tonight so don't really know what was going on.
That's a wrap for tonight. I plan on making more miles east tomorrow and am headed for Dodge City Kansas. Putting my spurs on! Here's the route:
Monday, July 20, 2020
Day 6 - Arches and Elmer the Rubber Duck RIP
We got underway about 7:45am this morning, headed for Arches National Park for a day of touring. Arches was just 10 minutes down the road from Moab. Moab is Jeep heaven. I saw more Jeeps here than the rest of the trip combined. That's because of the National Parks and lots of BLM land for off roading. They rent Jeeps for tourists or you can go on a tour where a driver will take you off road. The massive columns and rock features started right away.
Then we came to a feature known as "Balanced Rock" for obvious reasons. Elmer didn't think it was so much of a big deal.
I did not do a lot of hiking although there are many hiking trails and you can walk out to some of the arches. I did walk out to one known as the Sand Dune Arch. It was not too long of a walk but my claustrophobia was tested a bit with one section of walking through a narrow section.
I never expected to see a women in a long gown walking around the arches but I came around a corner and there she was. By the time I got the camera out she was walking away from me but I got the proof! To be fair I believe it was for wedding photos since there was also a fellow in a suit and a photographer.
...and finally the Sand Dune Arch.
One of my goals for the visit was to do at least one off road adventure. The Tower Arch trail is well traveled and from all that have I read was a trail that would be something I could handle. Not too long after the Sand Dune I came to the unpaved road section that lead to the trail. Any vehicle could handle this section.
After a few miles it came to a point where one path continued to a point where folks could walk about a half mile to the Tower Arch and the other started the 4 wheel drive section.
After a bit more it turned into a dirt and rock road that definitely took 4 wheel drive, high clearance and careful driving to navigate the rocks. The trick was going slow and taking your time at picking the right line. Nothing was dangerous but you could scrape up the jeep if you didn't pay attention. I made it through without damage.
Some sections were very sandy and you needed to maintain a nice steady forward motion to swim through it.
I got to the point where you could view Tower Arch. Here we are at the stop getting ready to go look at the arch.
....and the Tower Arch....
Lunch time!
From this point there were about 9 more miles of off road trail to get back to the main Park road. There were still columns and scenery to look at but for me the fun was driving it.
We did come across a particularly gnarly tree that we stopped to photograph.
This one sort of reminds me of the "Lonliest Road" in dirt....
I did come across several other people traveling the trail. Two of them were Jeep loads of people using a commercial tour driver and Jeep. The others were either in their own Jeep or a Jeep rental.
Unfortunately somewhere on the trail I had put Elmer on the back roof of the Jeep to take a picture and then had gone around the front to take more pictures. I got back into the Jeep and drove off. Elmer is now somewhere in Arches National Park. Hopefully someone will come across him and give him a good home! I reached the south end of the trail and stopped to air the tires back up. While doing this there were 5 Jeeps that passed me going one way or the other. The each asked if I was alright or needed help...very friendly!
Tomorrow I am headed east to Canon City, Colorado. Nothing special about it other than the Covid count for that county is lower than others and its about 6 hours worth of driving.
update on 8/2/2020: I completed a video on Youtube for this drive. It can be found on my Bob's Jeep Drive chanel or at this specific link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgudp-DzHwA
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