Pittsburgh to Home

Almost home - Hartford, near the end of the 2.5 hour state of Connecticut traffic jam.

Finally here.

Difference in suspension compression between full and empty.

And the final statistics: 5274 miles (the trip counter wraps at 999.9). On board computer claims 32.0 mpg. Calculation says 31.8. Garmin claims 5228 miles (it wasn't on all the time), with a moving average of 58.5 mph and a max of 91.6.

Morris, IL to Pittsburgh

More rain and another motion shot.

Ditto.

A triple trailer. We saw a few to the west, but many in Ohio.

Finally Pennsylvania.

Kearney to Morris, IL

Another strange vehicle placement for the Toad to ponder.

Most of the day was like this.

The only goal Jim had for Iowa was to visit Wallace Winery, mainly because his mother was a Wallace. No relation it turns out.

A rotten, through the windshield in the rain picture, but at least it documents the state line.

Why Morris? Because there was a motel there, and we were tired.

Missing Day

On August 25, Jim woke up with vertigo. After a brief visit to a clinic in Kearney, he got a shot in the rear for nausea, a prescription for Antivert for the dizziness, and went back to bed.

Denver back to Kearney

Just so we could say we visited another state and also to avoid interstates, we headed back to Kearney via Kansas. We decided that Kansas corn, Colorado corn, Nebraska corn, Iowa corn, and even Wyoming corn all looked about the same.

Mr. Toad got to admire himself for a while in construction traffic.

And CL got to drive during a period that turned out to be the grain elevator type scenery period.

As Dorothy said, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."

Just before this was shot, the reading was 97 degrees. And, yes, that's almost 3,000 rpm in sixth gear (about 75 actual mph) on a two lane Nebraska road.

Denver Day 3

The main activity for Sunday was a Colorado Rockies game, but someone forgot to put a memory card in his camera, so there are no pictures. The temperature during the game was in the mid-90's, and we were in the sun. The only shade was from the right field foul pole that was between us and the mound. Other than the heat, it was a good game; the Rockies won 4-2.

For dinner, we went to the oldest restaurant in Denver, probably a tourist trap, but one with very good food (Jim had buffalo and elk, both delicious).

The theme put Cabela's to shame.

Denver Day 2 (Pike's Peak and Garden of the Gods)

We had last visited Pike's Peak on our honeymoon in June of 1969, so it was a must see for this trip. Also, the original 1962 Mini climbed it then, so Mr. Toad wanted to have the same experience. It didn't disappoint; we were all (Jo came with us) thoroughly impressed with the scenery and the lack of oxygen.

After the trip down, we stopped in Manitou Springs for a quick lunch; can't remember all the choices, but Jim had buffalo pot roast, and it was delicious,as were the beers.

Ice cream cones for desert.

Along the road from Manitou Springs, we spotted the motel that we had stayed in 40 years ago!

Then we visited the Garden of the Gods, a Colorado Springs city park.

Denver Day 1 (August 21)

Jo had to work Friday morning, so we met for lunch at a little vegetarian place (the beer and wine were vegetarian, too).

Then we went to the Denver Art Museum.


This is supposedly the Native American equivalent to Picasso's Guernica.

After the museum, we checked out a couple Colorado wineries . The first was Bonacquisti Winery,
and the second was Verso Cellars, which makes only Cabernet Sauvignon wine. We sampled (and purchased) their 2003, 2004, and 2005 and wished that Mr. Toad had more storage space.

And we also got something for Mr. Toad.

For dinner, we went to Assignments, the restaurant run by students of the Culinary School of the Denver Art Institute.
The view from the dining room was the kitchen.
Steak Diane, for the next table.