ontheroadwithchrisanddonna - Tumblr blog

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

We drove 7,955.8 miles during our 33 day trip!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 33 - 10 / 22

WE DID IT!!

We arrived home about 9:30 tonight - exhausted and happy to be here!

Our last day consisted of a guided tour of ‘Old Friends Farm.’ A 100+ acre horse farm for retired thoroughbred race horses. We met some famous (Silver Charm - the 1997 Kentucky Derby & Preakness winner), the horse that portrayed Seabiscuit in the movie and some not so famous horses. But they all (currently about 240 horses) are guaranteed to live out their lives at this farm. Average life is about 25-30 years. We fed carrots to about 20 different horses on the tour.

This 5 weeks has really gone by quickly for us and we had an unbelievably interesting and great time!

Thanks for following along our journey - we look forward to sharing more of our stories when we talk to you or see you in person!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 32 - 10 / 21

We spent the day in and around Louisville, KY - which is known for baseball, horses and bourbon. We did them all!!

We toured the Louisville Slugger Museum. They’ve been making baseball bats since 1880. We watched a computer controlled machine lathe turn the bat. Then it is entirely manual to put the label, the finish and packaging each bat.

Next we went to Churchill Downs and went on a tour. (It is adjacent to the University of Louisville.). We saw the twin spires and the 25 foot deep track of dirt and sand. No horse races till November, so no betting. The place looked very grand.

We couldn’t find a distillery tour as there was a big convention in town. We did find an authentic bar and enjoyed an old fashioned made by a self described bourbon nerd. She was very informative and enjoyed sharing her knowledge.

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 31 - 10 / 20

Another long drive through MO, IL, IN and KY, ending in Louisville.

Not much to show other than the sunset from our hotel.

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 30 - 10/19

Today was a travel day - 9 hours on the road - almost all in Kansas. The 1st 3 pics are indicative of the entire drive.

We ended the day in Kansas City, MO. Therefore, of course, I suggested BBQ! We went to Joe’s KC BBQ, which was on all the ‘best of’ lists we could find. Donna had the ‘burnt ends’ and I had pulled pork and brisket, along with some cole slaw, fries and Texas toast!! It was really good and quite an experience as this place is still attached to the gas station where it started 30 years ago. I’m glad we walked the 2 miles there and back from the hotel!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 29 - 10/18

Today we took a cog train ride to the top of Pikes Peak! The options to the top were the train (8.9 miles in about 70 minutes); by car (19 miles in about 90 minutes) or hiking (depends on the hiker😊).

It was a neat experience, saw some waterfalls, the tree line and just rocks above it. We went from 6,200 feet of elevation to 14,115 in that 70 minutes!!

We also visited the Broadmoor hotel. A turn of the century (1918) luxury resort, spa, golf course, etc., at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain. There are rows and rows of dusty wine, whiskey and gin’s bottles that were stockpiled before prohibition and the consumed at the hotel during prohibition!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 28 - 10/17

We drove an hour south of Denver to Colorado Springs. We visited the rock formations ‘Garden of the Gods.’ These were similar to what we saw in Arches near Moab but rock climbers are allowed and Pikes Peak is a back drop for the park.

Pikes peak is in the background in the next pic. Then zoom in on the last pic to see the climbers in action!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 26 - 10/15

(The earlier post for Day 26 was inadvertently deleted, so this is a bit out of order.)

We took a 2 hour walking tour of Denver, primarily historical and architectural. Denver was founded about 1859 as a gold rush occurred.

The big blue bear is a sculpture outside their convention center wondering what is going on inside!

We saw the Rockies baseball field and stumbled onto a Navy color guard and band performance.

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 27 - 10/16

We were lucky to have Sam and Erin take us on a tour of Red Rocks Amphitheater and the town of Golden, CO - home to Coors brewing company.

The amphitheater is built into the side of a mountain and has been used as a stage for thousands of music and comedy acts for over 100 years. We took a cool hike to the top of a rock formation, saw a snake from a distance!

To get to Golden from Red Rocks they took us over Lookout mountain - another white knuckle drive with amazing views of Denver and the Rockies. Golden is a quaint western town filled with unique shops, bars and restaurants!

Thanks again to Sam, Erin and Murphy for showing us a great day!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 25- 10/14

We left Grand Junction, CO for the 4 hour drive to Denver - all on interstate 70, should be no problem!

It was raining when we left, it quickly turned to flurries and then to heavy snow. After 2 hours we got through the 1st set of mountains and it was dry on the other side. Then there was an accident, and route 70 was closed! We switched drivers and Donna took over. Then we, and everyone on route 70, had to exit and climb over the continental divide at 11,200 feet through another snowstorm on a narrow road. Five miles up and five miles down at about 5-10mph. Stressful but we made it. We hit 6,000 miles today!

We met Sally, Mike, Sam and Erin for dinner in Denver and all is good again!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 24- 10/13

It was an interesting day, starting in Salt Lake City, then on to Moab to see the Arches National park. In Salt Lake we checked out the Mormon Temple which is going under a 4 year renovation. Still impressive though.

We took 2 hikes in Arches and saw some amazing rock formations and vistas. There are 2 people in the picture with the arch, to give a sense of the size.

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 23- 10/12

This was a long driving day. We left Lakeview Oregon heading towards Salt Lake City. The first 3 hours were on back roads that advised the next gas station was 100 miles! Not only no gas stations but virtually no other cars, trucks or houses. It was high elevation desert into Nevada then the Salt Flats in Utah.

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 22- 10/11

Leaving the Oregon coast is hard for beach people like us, but time to go up into the mountains. Before leaving I checked the forecast for our destination, Crater Lake National Park. The weather was to be cold and chance of snow!! We got both - 22 degrees, wind gusts up to 40mph and 4-6 inches of snow!!!

It was white knuckle driving again, up the mountain to 6,178 ft elevation, and in the park as the east rim around the lake was not plowed, but the west rim was - we went west.

The day ended in a the small town of Lakeview in a dive hotel with no restaurants for miles, literally 50+ miles - we had microwave dinners…but watched the Ravens win in overtime!!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 21- 10/10

Today we explored the authentic fishing town of Newport. We saw many boats, and equipment. On the docks and a rock island there was 100+ sea lions! On the docks we saw crabbers, fisherman and a lady who filleted and deboned the fish.

Tomorrow will begin week 4 of our trip and we will begin the trek east. We’ve put more miles on the car than anticipated so far, 4,300!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 20 - 10/9

We drove due west from Portland and visited the Oregon coast towns of Cannon Beach, Manzanita and Newport. We’ll spend 2 nights in the latter.

The pacific coast is so different than what we are used to, the mountains and cliffs butt right up against the ocean. Which is very cold!!

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 19 - 10/8

Portland propaganda says it’s famous for donuts. We had some and respectfully disagree. OCNJ had better ones than Voodoo donuts.

However, Willamette Valley has apple, pumpkin and sunflower orchards. And some great wineries, we visited two and had a fun afternoon.

Then dinner in NW Portland, about 2 miles from downtown has a neat community of Shops, Bars and Restaurants.

[ontheroadwithchrisanddonna]

Day 18 - 10/7

Drove 3 hours down interstate 5 into Portland, Oregon.

We went directly to the International Test Rose Garden - over 10,000 plantings of roses! The season was almost over, but still was very cool.

The next stop was an authentic Japanese Garden - 1st one we’ve ever experienced. It was amazing!!The amount of time and energy to upkeep must be huge. We saw a volunteer replacing some moss one small piece at a time!

Then we went to our funky hotel, and hopped on the street car for a tour of the city. Then back to the hotel for a short walk to a fantastic dinner !!