steve-and-carols-excellent-adventure

This morning, we got up, checked out of our hotel, and picked up Michael at his fraternity house. The three of us had a stupendous breakfast at Ritter's Diner . After so many mediocre hotel breakfasts, it was wonderful to have an honest to goodness diner breakfast. And the coffee was just perfect. After breakfast, we drove Michael back to campus, dropped him off, and headed towards home. Please note that I said "towards home" not "home". Rather than plugging our home address into Google maps, we plugged in Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown PA. We had talked to our son Luke who was helping us out by staying at our house in West Chester. We thought it would be fun to meet at Victory before arriving home. Once home, neither Carol nor I wanted to turn around and leave our poor dog home alone again.  So Carol, Luke, and I had a nice dinner and a few of these: After dinner, we once again got back in the car (but just for ten minutes) and finally arriv...

Today, we didn't drive a single mile. Our car rested peacefully in the hotel parking lot. This morning, we found a local Dunkin and had coffee and doughnuts. Then we hoofed it from the hotel to the tailgate. (Not really that far. Like a mile or so...) We were then met by Michael and his friends. We had so much fun meeting and chatting with the other Delta Chi members and their parents. Eventually, we made our way to Heinz Field for the game. The score was kind of touch and go, but Pitt ended up winning in the end. There was much rejoicing! Afterwards, Carol and I met MJ and his friends (Gracie, Isaac, and Matthew) at a local restaurant for dinner. We had a good time chatting and sharing stories. Tomorrow's plan is to hook up with MJ and have some serious breakfast. Then, finally (Oh thank God!) our next stop is our home in West Chester, PA.

We are finally back in Pennsylvania! We left Terre Haute this morning around 8:30 and arrived in Pittsburgh around 4:00. On our way, we passed through West Virginia (The 18th state/province on our trip) We met our son Michael and walked around town and grabbed some dinner at Fuel and Fuddle . Afterwards, we dropped Michael off at his fraternity house and then found our way to our hotel, the Westin Hotel . On our entire trip, I can't recall being any floor in any hotel higher than four. Tonight we're on the sixteenth floor! We're getting up in the world. We stopped in Pittsburg because this weekend it parents' weekend. Tomorrow, the plan is to watch Pitt play University of Delaware. Looking forward to tailgating with Michael!

This morning, we had bagels and coffee at Panera, checked out, and hit the road. Back on I-40E. After a while, the terrain started changing. It was getting more and more hilly, and I thought we might be in the Ozarks. A hotel-room Google says that's exactly where we were . We reached St. Louis. Of course I kept calling it " Martahn San Looee ".  Carol sure did enjoy that for a couple of hours! Last night, I Googled "best place to take a picture of Gateway Arch", and my friends on the internet did not disappoint. We crossed the Mississippi and went to Malcom W. Martin Memorial Park  in Illinois. The view definitely did not disappoint! We ate lunch in the parking lot. Leftover restaurant chicken, crackers, and apple slices (Thanks Les and Sue!!) Shortly after St. Louis, we got on I-70. This will take us all the way to Pittsburgh. We took 70 straight across Illinois. Upon approaching Indiana, we saw a farm with several bison grazing. I thin...

This morning, we got up, had a SHB (Standard Hotel Breakfast), and got on the road around 9:30. We once again hopped on I-40, which we had take all the way from Los Angeles. By 11, we entered Oklahoma (State #15 on our trip). The Oklahoma landscape was beautiful. We were no longer in sagebrush desert. We were now in rolling grasslands. "I like Oklahoma!", Steve was heard to exclaim. After Oklahoma City, we finally said goodbye to our old frenemy I-40. Then I-44 became the first toll road we encountered since our westward journey through Indiana a few weeks ago. We reached Missouri (State #16) around 5:00 and continued on to Joplin . We had dinner downtown at The Red Onion Cafe , and then found a hotel near I-44. Tomorrow's plan is to get to Terre Haute , Indiana. That will be our last stop until Pittsburgh and parent's weekend!

Today was another long day of driving. We took a long day today, which will leave the remaining few days with more reasonable drives. We drove East across Arizona, entering the Painted Desert and drove through the Navajo Nation . Around 9:30, we entered New Mexico. In New Mexico, we entered Mountain Time and lost an hour. As in all of our drives, we keep coming upon new and different landscapes. New Mexico was full of stark rock formations. We could not believe how around every curve the vista changed. And, as we said several times today: I just keeps going ON AND ON! This trip has impressed upon me just how enormously, gigantically, stupefyingly HUGE the country is! In New Mexico we also crossed back to the Eastern side of the continental divide. Elevation 7,275 feet!  So, we drove clear across New Mexico and entered Texas. In Texas we crossed into Central Time, so we lost yet another hour. Upon entering Texas, I saw what I thought were high-rise buildin...

Today is going to be a pretty short blog entry, because today was a pretty boring day. We got up in LA, had breakfast with our hosts, and hit the road. And we drove until we hit Flagstaff, AZ. It seemed as if we continually drove up hill. And that's because we were pretty much driving uphill the entire time. The elevation in Flagstaff is 6,900 feet above sea level. Isn't that higher than a mile? The drive was interesting. Leaving LA, we drove east through southern California. We eventually entered the high desert, with cactus all around us. At several points, we were driving in the sun, but in the distance we could see thunderheads and the actual rain. And massive lightning bolts. Pretty cool. We crossed the Colorado River into Arizona. I could not believe its turquoise color! It was beautiful. Arizona was also desert, with red rocky outcrops. Eventually, as we were approaching Flagstaff, we were surprised to see a snow capped mountain. Turns out it was Humphrey...

Today we had so much fun hanging out with our hosts Will and Emily. In the early morning, Carol and I walked to a coffee shop and had coffee and croissant. When we got back, Holden was up, so we played for a while. Like this: We then took a drive to Venice Beach. Here's one shot of the boardwalk. I could have taken 7,459 similar pictures, but I figured everyone would get the idea: We stopped for a lunch of tacos. Everyone was happy to get a bite to eat: My man Holden and I decided to try and see whose sunglasses were more awesome. Obviously, his were: Carol and I learned something interesting today. Venice Beach is so named because there are actually man-made canals in the town: After Venice Beach, we went back home and then walked to one of Will and Emily's favorite dinner spots. Emily's brother Mitchell joined us for dinner, which was a special treat, as he also lives in LA and we don't get to see him much: And also, it w...

After last night's blog entry, around 10:00 pm, I took a walk over to the coast where we had seen the beautiful sunset. Since it had been a clear day, I had expectations of some good star gazing. Even though there is a half-moon, it had not yet risen, and there was no light pollution, so I saw ALL THE STARS. Plus, the Milky Way, plus several shooting stars. I was not disappointed! This morning, we grabbed a cup of coffee at the hotel, packed up and hit the road. We had an early appointment for a tour at Hearst Castle. I really knew nothing much about this place, other than that it was a "must-see". And as it turns out, it really was a "must-see". I won't bore you with all the history, but being there made me feel as if I was literally in Renaissance Spain or Italy. Well into the tour, I mentioned to Carol that I wasn't even taking pictures because they would completely fail to capture the scale, grandeur, and sheer beauty of the place.  ...

We got up early this morning and drove into downtown Monterey in search of coffee and breakfast. But first, we stopped at Fisherman's Wharf  to look at the water. We walked out onto the quay, scanning the water for critters, and we heard the barking of sea lions. There were dozens of them sunning themselves on a jetty about a hundred yards from us. Not close enough to take a photo, but plenty close enough to hear. However, on our way back off the pier we noticed this fellow lying in what appeared to be the most uncomfortable position ever. Pretty much lying on top of some submerged rocks: We grabbed some delicious coffee and breakfast (including veggie quiche) at a coffee shop called Plume's right in downtown Monterey, went back to the hotel, packed up, and hit the road. Our first stop was to visit the John Denver Memorial  in Pacific Grove (which is an adorable little city). It was in a scenic spot right on the bay near where his plane crashed. From the...