The trip home (and sunrises)

I document most of the sunrises we see when traveling. Unfortunately, both of our travel days coming home dawned a bit cloudy and overcast so the sunrises weren't very spectacular.

We described this one as the "Sun Break-Through" which occurred "somewhere over Iowa" about 8:30 a.m. when the clouds finally started breaking up. It really was pretty - just not as bright and colorful as a normal sunrise.


Again, the second day, the sky was quite overcast which makes for easy driving when you're heading East. By the time the clouds broke and we really had glare from the sun, it was high enough in the sky to not be so blinding to the driver.

This shot was taken somewhere near Toledo.

Believe it or not, we found yet another casino on the way home!! Actually, we really didn't know about this one. As we approached the Ohio/Pennsylvania line we discussed possible side trips. We consulted Samantha, our GPS traveling companion. (Yes, our GPS has a name and personality! Doesn't yours?) She suggested the Mountaineer Casino in Newell, WV.

She then guided us through this winding route that took us from the Pennsylvania Turnpike onto some tiny little country roads that carried us through the towns of Industry and Shippingport in PA and eased us back through a tiny corner of Ohio right to the Old Newell Bridge. (It looks a lot bigger, and newer, in this pic!) At the end of the bridge you make a sharp right and drive through some of the most beautiful countryside around, then through the tiny town of Newell and brings you, suddenly, to a large, beautiful modern casino, resort and conference center.

(Yes, I DID paint that shirt The Big Guy is wearing.)

We spent a few hours here and enjoyed a tasty dinner before heading out on the road again. This would make a great weekend destination for us sometime. The area is absolutely beautiful and the surrounding town had oodles of interesting looking shops featuring antiques, collectibles and gift items in their windows. In addition to many enticing looking restaurants in town, the casino features something like 5 restaurants on the premises, a salon and spa and an indoor pool, as well as a showroom. Oh, and there is a factory outlet for Fiestaware in this town, too!

We made a point of leaving before dark as we knew those country roads might be challenging after the sun went down. We really wanted to be back on a highway by then.

Along the way we came across a few new sights for us. We had never seen portable traffic lights but they had them on this little country road where they wanted traffic to form alternating single lanes around construction. This one was in the area of Raccoon Creek State Park (I just loved that name! I also loved the names of some of the roads in the area, like "Potato Garden Run".) Of course, we live in an area where they'd probably try to steal the portable lights so maybe that's why we've never come across them before!

My camera was still processing that shot when The Big Guy burst into laughter over a sign by the side of the road. Handpainted on a piece of plywood and tied against a pole, it advertised "Far Wood For Sale" and gave a phone number. I guess this guy really does "write like he talks." He refused to go back to let me take a picture of it!

That wasn't the last weird sign we saw! On our way toward Pittsburgh and the Turnpike, we saw this sign directing us to the correct exit to get to the Moon !



Speaking of signs, two of the cuter ones I saw on the way out were one on a collision repair center in Western PA that claimed "We're always happy to meet you by accident!" and featured a little cartoony car that was quite smashed up. A big sign on a restaurant (I think in Indiana) advertised "Breakfast, lunch, dinner or anything else we can cater!"

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the sign on a donut shop in Davenport, Iowa that claims "Diets are overrated!"

Don't you just agree with that last one?!?

Glimpses from our Midwest Tour...

Of course, I took a picture of the sunrise. (Don't I always?)
This was somewhere on I-680, close to the western border of Iowa on our trip home on Wednesday.

It's what we saw shortly after crossing the Missouri River on the Old Mormon Bridge.
This was the first time we had entered and exited Nebraska using I-680 which cuts across the corner of the Omaha metro area as opposed to I-80 which trucks right through the center of town. We can't believe we missed this easy route for so long ! This is about the volume of traffic we saw both ways. The I-80 route is quite congested crossing right through the downtown business district. Traffic is fairly heavy on that highway 24/7.

Okay, continuing this backwards travelogue, Western Iowa has embraced the concept of wind energy in a big way. There are stretches of road where you can see windmills lined up for acres and acres. I think they look impressive and rather majestic.
It was really quite breezy on Wednesday and those big old blades were spinning quickly. Looking down a long line of them, I imagined a group of synchronized swimmers moving in perfect choreography. (Okay, it was very early and I really did get that image in my head. The Big Guy suggested I should nap a bit when I said that.)
Backtracking to the beginning of the trip, we made it to Davenport, Iowa the first day. Davenport, one of the Quad-Cities is on the far eastern border of the state and sits right along the Mississippi. We arrived on May 5, Cinco de Mayo. The riverboat casino, Rythym City, (part of the Isle of Capri casino corporation) was celebrating in a big way with a Mexican buffet, party beads and a Mexican dance band so we spent a few hours there after our long 13 hour drive, dining, listening and (yep) gambling a bit.
Well, I'm still recovering from the long drive, so I'll stop there for the night. I can't wait to show you the unusual squirrels we found in Bayliss Park in Council Bluffs!!

Home again!!

Of course, you KNEW there'd be a vacation sunrise pic, didn't you? This was the only morning I actually got out there early enough to catch the sunrise. I took this right from our porch. What a way to get up in the morning!

We arrived home in the rain last night after eight hours in the car (we did stop for meals along the way). Since the only perishables we had were the left-over pizza slices from dinner, we each grabbed an armload to carry in and the rest waited to be unloaded in drier weather today. About all we had the energy for was to wade through the mail pile before flopping in front of the TV to doze before hitting the sack!

We started the week off a little rough. That's our friends' vehicle on a lift 15 minutes after we left home! One new tire and our little caravan was on our way again. So, running an hour later than planned , we headed down the road to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. All in all, it was another great week at the beach! Our gang consisted of only four couples this year but we had some terrific meals and lots of laughs. We had the best weather we've had in years although Friday was rainy and we did drive in light rain most of yesterday to get home. The house we rented was fabulous and the ocean view was great. We watched the dolphins right in front of the house several times a day and they weren't just passing through. They'd stop and feed for a bit, close to shore, putting on a real show for us each time. Unfortunately, the zoom lens on my camera just isn't good enough to get them for posterity. We had numerous kite boarders each day and a couple of surfers came out each morning although the sea was so calm most of the week they pretty much used their boards like rafts to lie on in the sun. Last time we were in Nags Head, we were disappointed to learn one of our favorite restaurants had closed. The Big Guy and I had eaten there for many years and had introduced our gang to it the year before. So we were really excited to find it had reopened after a short hiatus to regroup and it is still run by the same family. The owner actually took time to come out and chat with our crowd and thank us for returning. If you're ever in the Outer Banks and want some terrific seafood, take the time to drive over to Wanchese on Roanoke Island for lunch or dinner at The Fisherman's Wharf and be sure to say "Hi" to the Daniels family for me. They serve fresh seafood direct from their own fishing boats which you can watch through the windows. The view of the sound is fantastic from their dining room. (Oh, and they have the absolute BEST hushpuppies known to mankind!)

Another surprise returnee was the original Christmas Shoppe in Manteo (also on Roanoke Island). Two years ago, this humongous house filled with all things Christmas (and a little Halloween) closed their doors after many years of year-round holiday cheer. Well, they're back!! Many, many rooms on the first floor feature tree ornaments, Christmas decor, paper goods, china, jewelry, collectibles, an art gallery of original art - many created there on the Outer Banks, and so much more that will fascinate you for hours. The second floor has the largest assortment of Halloween ornaments, decor and such I've ever come across. Be sure to allow plenty of time to roam through this attraction. We hand fed the seagulls and grackles on the deck. The grackles stayed close whenever they saw someone on the deck, often hanging over the edge of the roof above us and, literally, begging for handouts.

Like all vacations, the time passed much too quickly and there were so many things we didn't get to before it was time to pack up again. In past years, we've visited the northern part of the island to climb the lighthouse at Corrolla and see the wild ponies, played mini-golf , some among us have also played real golf on the island, gone off-roading on the lower beaches, and a few of the hearty have climbed Jockey's Ridge (the largest living dune on the East Coast). We've visited the Wright Brothers Memorial and toured the museum there, too. This year, we mostly sat and relaxed. But then, isn't that what vacations are for?

Tomorrow, I'll announce the winner of the funny caption giveaway from last week and tell you what they're winning. That was fun and I hope to do it again. Believe me, with some of the strange photos I take, I'm bound to come up with some others appropriate for strange captions!

Good morning!!

I just wanted to share a pretty sunrise with you as it is gray and dreary here again this morning. Supposedly, it will clear up a little later. I love to take pics of sunrises and sunsets. This one was last Monday. somewhere in Iowa, west of Des Moines on I-80. I know this becasue once we approached Des Moines, there was snow on the ground all around us!

No Takers ??

This is just a little quickie, I'll do the real post for today a bit later. I'm just really surprised that I haven't had many takers for the free give-aways with the Craft It Forward program. Honest, the only gimmick is you need to be willing to post the same idea and give away five handmade somethings to your readers, too. If you only guarantee that you'll do it before the end of the year, that gives you eight whole months to get that together. C'mon gang - show me some love and take a freebie!!