Back in January, I called my sister Gaylyna and told her I had bought two tickets to see Shane Smith & the Saints at Red Rocks Amphitheater for their show there in May.
I wasn’t sure she would be able to go, but figured if she couldn’t and I couldn’t find anyone else to go, I could probably sell the extra ticket. She called me back a few days later and told me she was onboard.
The original plan was to make a mad dash to Utah first and visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and cut back to Denver for the show on Tuesday, May 7th. Four months of planning and that was revised to just stay visit three parks in Colorado, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, oh and a day long train excursion from Durango to Silverton.
Well, we saw what we set out to see, except the show at Red Rocks.
I drove from Smithville, TX to my sister’s house in Skiatook, OK. Along the way I stopped by and had lunch with one of my favorite uncles (and people), Uncle James who now resides near Dallas. It was great to catch up with him for a bit, he’s had a tough road health wise the last few years and seems stronger than when I saw him at Christmas.
Friday, May 3, 2024
After Gaylyna got her kids off to school, and husband off to work, we left Skiatook and headed west towards Raton, New Mexico, our stop for the night.
Along the way we stopped at the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Jet Oklahoma. I remember going there when I was a we lad with my grandparents, parents, and brother possibly 1979. I found a couple of pictures from that trip. I remember stopping in a little town and us buying the bucket and shovel I am holding in the picture.
My grandparents, Orpha and Johnie Briggs
Me and Brad
And here are some Gaylyna and I took.
In Raton, we stayed at the Raton Pass Motor Inn. The owner was cool at check in, and the rooms all have a theme. Our room was the Santa Fe Trail room, complete with a creepy picture Gaylyna thought would haunt us at some point during the night.
Great Salt Plains Photo Album
Raton, NM Photo Album
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Great Sand Dunes National Park
We left Raton and headed for Colorado, with the first stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park. You’re just driving along looking at a mountain range and bam, there is a whole lot of sand in front of the mountain. During the trip to the visitor center, a ranger mentioned a road being shut down near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We took note as we had hotel reservations in Gunnison. This is foreshadowing for something to come later in our trip.
Treasure Falls/ San Juan National Forest
The first 50 miles or so from Great Sand Dunes National Park heading west is not real exciting, a lot of flat sandy, fields. After stopping for lunch in Del Norte, the road took us southwest through some beautiful scenery, we saw a few snowflakes, and made a few stops, including Treasure Falls which is not far from Pagosa Springs, CO. Gaylyna hiked the trail up to the falls, I admired it from the roadside view.
Durango, Colorado
After getting checked in at our hotel and refreshing a bit, we went into downtown Durango and had dinner at the Diamond Belle Saloon, which is located inside the Straiter Hotel. According to their website, Louis Lamour used to rent a room above the saloon while writing some of his books. The night we were there, championship ragtime piano player Adam Swanson was entertaining with his talents. After dinner we headed back to the hotel.
Sunday, May 5, 2024 Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
The original trip plan had us going to Mesa Verde on Sunday morning and spending the day exploring there, before heading to Moab, UT. I had been hearing about the Durango train for a few years, and after looking at their schedule realized we would need a full day to devote to it, so we changed plans and decided to not go on to Moab, so we could do the train, and still have time on the trip to see Mesa Verde without feeling rushed. I’m glad we did.
The trip we took was a steam train from Durango to Silverton, which takes 3.5 hours each way, with a stop in Silverton. I’ll let the pictures and video speak to if it was worth an all-day commitment (it was). Along the route, a gentlemen kept popping up flying a Colorado flag, and he became the where is Waldo of the trip, with everyone wondering where he would be spotted next.
In Silverton, we ate lunch in the building of a former brothel, Natalia’s 1912 Restaurant. It was basically the first we walked to that was open, and their first weekend open for the season.
After lunch, I didn’t go too far away from there and looked at a shop across the street and was also able to get a good look at a Galloping Goose. Gaylyna walked further around town.
Gaylyna called to let me know she had met Colorado flag man and had taken a picture with him. His name is Curtis Williams.
She then came back over to where I was waiting for the return trip on the train, and Curtis ended up over there too, so I was able to get my picture with him as well and talked to him for a few minutes. We told him we had been trying to find him on social media on the train ride up, he said he wasn’t on social media, but said he was going to get his grandkids to help get him set up. He really did add to the experience that day, and just for the fun of doing it, and entertaining people.
The train ride back was a little chilly, but we survived, we had the same seats on the return trip, and the scenery was great facing west, but for the east side view is the better of the two options, with better looks at the Animus River. We saw Curtis several more times on the ride back, including as we pulled into the train station in Durango.
Mesa Verde National Park
The drive from Durango to Far View Lodge, our lodging for the night inside of Mesa Verde NP, took about an hour and 20 minutes. The drive into Mesa Verde is quite spectacular. By the time we arrived at Far View Lodge, the sun had gone down, it was dark.
Monday, May 6, 2024
Early in the morning I looked out and could see stars visibly. Mesa Verde is known for being a dark skies park, with great views of the park at night. I tried to get a few pictures of the night sky, but it had snowed during the night, so our patio area was cold and icy, guess I could have put some shoes on.
We drove around the park for a bit before the only breakfast place opened at 7AM. Gaylyna had cleaned the snow off the car windows before we left our room.
After breakfast we spent several hours exploring the overlooks and trails where you can see the cliff dwelling sites. It’s remarkable to think of people 800-900 years ago, carving out cities inside the side of cliffs. We headed out of the park a little after noon, with a stop at the visitor center on the way out.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
After lunch in Cortez, Colorado we headed towards the south rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It took about 4 hours to get there, and we arrived just after the visitor center shutdown for the day. However, we were able to drive the scenic route and made several stops along the way. Gaylyna did a few quick hikes. We drove as far as the road would take us, then turned around and headed out and towards our stop for the night, Grand Junction.
Last year for my birthday, Gaylyna gave me a poster that lists the US National Parks. With this trip we crossed off the three we had not been to in Colorado (we visited Rocky Mountain a couple of years ago)
Remember earlier I mentioned foreshadowing. The original plan was for us to stay in Gunnison for the night, but due to construction on a bridge to get there, the road was shut down. The good news is we found out about it beforehand and were able to adjust our plans. The bad news is because of changing our plans, it affected our plans for the next day. The drive to Grand Junction was scenic, we saw the Grand Mesa on the way. We made it to Grand Junction a little before 8PM.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Breakfast was had at Denny’s, they were short staffed, but the three ladies working were doing their best to take care of a full restaurant. We weren’t in any hurry, a four-hour drive to Denver was in front of us, we would get there by noon, chill out around Denver, check into our hotel, and make it to Red Rocks by 5PM to get a good parking spot, and enjoy the concert.
Well… about halfway to Denver, we ran into heavy snow and ice in Vail. I-70 came to a complete stop, and we mostly sat in the same spot for over 2 hours, by this time it was after noon. Eventually they cleared the road enough for us to turn around and head back in the other direction. Google maps started saying our estimated time of arrival in Denver would be after 6PM. We could make the concert in time with no more delays, but that didn’t seem likely being the route we were diverted too was literally through the mountains as well, the roads were sanded and plowed a little better in some spots, but it was stop and go, and treacherous driving in direction, cars sliding off the roads and into each other. At one point I didn’t think we were going to make it through the day without being in some kind of accident. Google led us to the town of Leadville, looking at the map now it was obvious we should have turned to go back north before Leadville, but that’s not what Google said at the time. We stopped at a store there to use the facilities and get some snacks and food, as well as clean the ice and snow off the windows. After leaving the town, Google led us in a big circle back to the same store. Finally, we figured out we needed to go back in the direction we originally came from. We saw more cars that had slid off the road, along with blowing snow coming in spurts making the driving even more fun. A couple of thoughts, a person should have a road atlas or physical map no doubt, but the map also wouldn’t have shown if roads were closed. With that said, I am getting a Road Atlas like my grandad and dad always kept in the car.
We made it back to I-70 and there were only a few cars on the road, but snowplows were out, so we drove slowly. The roads were bad until about 30 miles west of Denver. Then the sun was out, and skies were clear, but it was close to 7PM we were wiped. We had already decided to forget the concert. Could we have made it? Probably so, I was bummed about it, but also needed to decompress after being in the car for 10 hours. Before we ran into the snowstorm, we both remarked how great of a trip we had even before going to the concert. Which we did. If the road had not been shut down to our original hotel in Gunnison, we probably would have made it just fine in time for the show, but in the grand scheme of things, getting through the snowstorm safe with no damage to life or property is nothing to complain about. Shane Smith and the Saints are based out of Austin, Texas, and I am sure I’ll be able to see them soon, just not at Red Rocks this year. Next year though….
They streamed the show on YouTube, so we were able to enjoy the show from the warmth of the hotel room.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
We decided to go visit Red Rocks before heading back east. First, we had breakfast at a cool restaurant in Morrison called The Cow An Eatery, it is just a few miles away from Red Rocks.
The show we went to in 2018
I think going to Red Rocks and taking in the scenery helped provide closure for missing the show. We stayed long enough for the Trading Post gift shop to open and bought some souvenirs. Also there were some signs left over from a tailgate party the day before. Gaylyna grabbed it for me.
I saw a hat I liked but didn’t like for $40. Gaylyna ended up buying it for me for my birthday.
We headed east and stayed in Salina, Kansas for the night, and drove the rest of the way to Gaylyna’s on Thursday morning.
I would love to do a trip with all my siblings, but it’s hard to get the logistics of that between jobs, family, and money to all line up at the same time.
The trip was a lot of fun, and I am glad Gaylyna, and I were able to create the memories.
“Your life is a canvas, you paint some everyday And when you think you’ve got it all figured out in your head You know the Man’s got your final say And look back on all your memories, if we go our separate ways Don’t forget your life’s a canvas, we might get painted back someday” -Lyrics from ‘Canvas’ -Shane Smith & The Saints
Prologue: I was very fortunate to spend two weeks in Ireland with my brother Brad. Many thanks to him for the airline ticket and for sitting in the middle seat on an airplane next to me for 24 hours or so (going and coming). He also did a lot of waiting on me to catch up on our daily excursions.
It was the trip of a lifetime, hopefully not the only trip of a lifetime. That might sound greedy, but I would like to think I have more left to see before the sand runs out of top of my hourglass. However, if it was, it was spectacular. Below is the daily recap I posted on an unnamed social media site. Forgive the bad grammar, and typos as I am sure I didn’t catch them all. I have linked to the picture album for each day, if you click on the image for the album it should open up so that you can view all of the pictures in the album.
August 31, 2023:
Ireland: Day 1-Shannon to Glenbeigh
We touched down in Shannon about 7:15 AM, and drove from there to Glenbeigh, our base for the week. We have a two-bedroom apartment (very reasonably priced) that has a view of the bay from the front door. The owner was nice enough to let us check early. After a trip to the grocery store for sandwiches and snacks, we both took naps as we didn’t get much sleep on the flight over. After the naps, we had pizza from a little place in Glenbeigh, and sat outside to eat. Now we’re back at the apartment. Plan on sleeping well tonight! Plan to visit Blarney Castle and Cork tomorrow.
September 1, 2023
Ireland: Day 2
You’ll never guess what we did today? Well, you already know if you are following along, but I will probably reference these posts when I get back to write up another infamous trip review to post on my much-neglected website. If you are Irelanded out, then why are you reading this? Hit the unfollow button and have a happier life, free of Randall and his Ireland posts.
Ok, for those about to rock, we… I mean for those still reading. Brad is doing the driving. I’m just sitting on the left side of the car thinking I should be doing something. I haven’t tried my hand at left side driving yet, the car rental is the most expensive part of the trip. We didn’t want to add anymore charges by adding another driver.
This morning we went to Blarney Castle and spent a few hours there, after that we went to Cobh. In Cobh, we did the Titanic experience at the White Star Lines office. You are assigned a passenger that left from Queenstown (now Cobh) and you find out at the end if you made it. I believe they said 123 people left Queenstown on the Titanic, only 44 were rescued. A ticket of 8 pounds for the cheapest passage was the equivalent of 1/3 of what most Irish people earned annually at the time. There were 10 first class passengers in the group, their passage was the equivalent of about $70k. The tour takes about an hour, is very educational. Brad was a 2nd class passenger, I was 3rd class, neither of our people made it.
After that we had lunch across the street, then sat outside and listened to Derek Burke. He played a lot of covers, and some of his own. He is in a band with his brothers. There was a pretty good size crowd on hand, most from the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship. We stuck around for a bit after he was done just taking in Cobh. On the drive out we saw the cruise ship leaving. It took about 2 hours to get back to Glenbeigh. We are heading to Dingle tomorrow.
September 2, 2023
Ireland: Day 3
‘As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin’ man
I have chalked up many a mile.
Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks
And I learned much from both of their styles’ -Jimmy Buffett
Our plan was to explore the city of Dingle and drive the Slea Head Drive (part of the Ring of Kerry). Upon arriving in Dingle, we soon realized a marathon was about to take place and they were shutting down a lot of roads. We did get to see parts of Slea Head Drive and did a lot of improvising trying to stay away from the marathon route. In the words of my Grandad, ‘we saw a lot of country we hadn’t seen before’. Which is pretty much true everywhere I go in Ireland. While Brad has seen a lot here, he saw some places he had not seen before either. Driving over to Dingle this morning was foggy, so on the way back from Dingle the sun had burned a lot of the fog, so we saw a lot of amazing scenery. Of course, you can say that about almost anywhere you look here.
The afternoon we spent driving down to Waterville, a favorite vacation spot for Charlie Chaplin. Along the way we took a short ferry ride to the Island of Valentia.
While waiting for the ferry I saw the news of Jimmy Buffett passing, so we listened to his music for the rest of the day. It kind of fits the mood since we’re driving along the ocean. We saw the site where the Transatlantic cable initiated on this side of the Atlantic that allowed telegraph communication with New York. Here it is referred to as the 8th wonder of the world. Guess that makes the Astrodome the 9th wonder?
We were on the road for most of the day, so after dinner we just returned to our place. Tomorrow, we have a wildlife cruise booked in Dingle. They have been seeing lots of whales and dolphins, hopefully we will too.
September 3, 2023
Ireland, Day 4:
We arrived in Dingle close to noon and were the first customers at Murphy’s Pub. We both had the fish and chips , which was excellent. Maybe the best meal since we have been here.
After lunch we looked around in a few of the shops in Dingle, before our 2pm Great Blasket Island and wildlife tour. The tour was a little more than 3 hours. A three-hour tour…. Except the weather was exceptional. While we didn’t see any dolphins or whales, we saw lots of sheep, and seals on Great Blasket Island. After the tour we went back and did the Slea Head Drive, which is like driving the 1 in California along the PCH. Some scenes from the latest Star Wars films were done out there. Brad got a workout going down a cliff. I have pictures to prove it. I mounted my action camera to the roof for about 45 minutes of the drive. I’ll share that when we get back. We made it back to Glenbeigh about 8:30pm and grabbed pizza at a place down the street from where we are staying. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Killarney national park, about an hour away from us.
September 4, 2023
Ireland, Day 5:
Originally, we were going to Killarney today, but switched it up.
We went back to Valentia Island, and just drove around for a bit. There was a road that said ‘Lighthouse’ with an arrow, so we followed the arrow. Every direction you look going down to the lighthouse is spectacular. Along the way we stopped for a bit to take pictures, then went all the way to the lighthouse. I did climb the steps to the top, but the doorway was a little tight, and I have what’s known as a weight problem, I used to eat bear claws two at a time and they would get lodged in my chest. Anywhoo, Brad did go out there, I snapped a few pictures from the opening. The road was sparsely traveled so I did try my hand at left side of the road driving and managed to keep the car out of the ocean.
We drove up the road from the lighthouse to a quarry, from which the rocks for the Parliament house in London were built. I took a couple of small rocks, don’t tell anyone. It took a lot of stones… Badumpum.
After that we went to the top of Geokaun Mountain and enjoyed some more amazing views.
From there we left Valentia Island and drove the Skellig Ring. Between the 6th and 8th century, Gaelic monks built a monastery there. More recently, some scenes from Star Wars, the Force Awakens and the Last Jedi was filmed there. I haven’t seen either, but there is a lot of tourism generated from it.
We completed the Skellig Ring and then got back on the Ring of Kerry. We had lunch/dinner in Sneem at a little cafe on the river.
From Sneem we asked Google maps to take us back to Glenbeigh, and the drive did not disappoint. Ballagbeama Gap compares with some of the drives I’ve been on in Wyoming, Montana, and California.
One thing Ireland has taught me in a few days, is that the whole country of Ireland is the attraction, while there are tours and attractions you can take, all you really have to do is drive around and keep your eyes open.
September 5, 2023
Ireland, Day 6:
This morning we headed to Killarney, which is about 45 minutes away to the east.
After a fancy lunch at McDonald’s, we went to Killarney National Park. It was the first national park in Ireland. We did a walk along Muckross Lake to Dinis Cottage. It says at the start of the trail it is a 15-minute walk, let’s just say it took me longer than 15 minutes, but I did make it. I told Brad to go ahead as I knew it would take me longer. They have a little cafe at Dinis Cottage where you can get tea, coffee, sandwiches, or a dessert. After waking all that way (1.6 km), I had a piece of Nutella cake. Brad had carrot cake. I decided to take the boat across Muckross Lake. There was another 1km walk from the boathouse to Muckross House. Brad walked back to the car and met me at Muckross House. Queen Victoria stayed there for a couple of nights in 1861.
There is a waterfall Brad wants to hike to tomorrow, it was pretty crowded so we are going to go back earlier tomorrow.
Since we are returning tomorrow, we came back to our place for a little break. Brad has figured out how to operate the washer/dryer combo. It required both of us to read the manual. It’s not so straightforward, there are dials with letters and numbers. For dinner we went to Towers Pub, which is right down the street from us, the reviews of the place are not great, but it was fine. It’s what you would think an Irish pub would look like, there seemed to be a mix of locals and visitors. The staff were friendly, and the food was decent.
After dinner we went to Rossbeigh Beach and watched the sunset.
September 6, 2023
Ireland, Day 7:
We went back to Killarney National Park this morning. Brad did the hike from the Muckross House parking lot to Torc waterfall. I think he said he did about 5 miles. I did the hike from the parking lot to the gift shop, to the front of Muckross House (actually a little bit of a walk, just not near what Brad did). You may have seen my post from this morning of my meeting with the little sparrow.
I hung out for a bit at the front of the house taking in the view and people watching. Brad met me there, and after he took a little break we went back to the car and went into Killarney for lunch. We ate at Supermac’s, an Irish fast-food place that has been around since the 70’s. This was our second time eating at one (first time in Cobh). If you are looking for a foodie tour of Ireland, we are not the droids you are looking for. Supermac’s has burgers, chicken, and chicken sandwiches. They also seem to have a link to Papa John’s, as each one we have seen has one with it. By the way the chicken tastes like KFC. Maybe Col Sanders left the secret recipe laying around on a visit to Ireland?
After lunch we looked around briefly in an outlet mall. I spent 3 euros at a military surplus store on carabiners. You can’t have too many of those.
We then went to Ross Castle; they do offer tours but there was not one for another few hours. On the way back to the car, we met Jess, a Jaunting Car driver/tour guide. For 50 euros he gave Brad and I a 45-minute tour around Lough Leane. He was a funny guy, but also very knowledgeable about the history of the area and Ireland. I posted a clip from the tour earlier.
After the tour we came back to Glenbeigh to rest for a bit at our place.
For dinner we went back to Towers Pub. It had nothing to do with the pretty Irish women working there, it was for the food.
We did learn that they don’t come to the table to get your payment. We were sitting there for a bit, and when Brad asked if we could pay our bill, she had us come over to the server stand to pay.
We have one more night in Glenbeigh, then start heading north up the west side of Ireland. We will be in Lahinch for two nights, which is near the Cliffs of Moher. Glenbeigh is a nice little town and was perfect for our excursions the last week. I could see coming back here in a return trip to Ireland.
September 7, 2023
Ireland, Day 8:
We left Glenbeigh this morning and took the Tarbet Ferry across a channel, and on up to our next stop for a couple of nights.
We arrived in Doolin in time to do the 12pm Cliffs of Moher cruise. The boat we were on with the Doolin Ferry company seats like 200 people. The arrangements of the seats were not the best, and with the sun behind right above, the lighting for pictures wasn’t the best. However, we were on a boat off the west coast of Ireland. It was still awesome.
After the cruise, we ate lunch in Lahinch, not far from the place we are staying the next two nights.
We checked into our place and hung out for a couple of hours. The couple whose Airbnb studio we are staying at, are very nice.
We headed back towards the Cliffs of Moher but had not been in the official entrance yet. Brad found a private road just south, where he paid 10 euros and we basically drove right up beside the trail that goes along the Cliffs.
From there we did a bit of off-roading and went down some paths we weren’t sure if we were supposed to be on or not, it was cool!
Then we went to the Doolin Hotel Restaurant to check out the live music they had. We had to sit in another part to eat but listened in for a bit.
Now we’re back at Airbnb, and about to call it a night. We do have a great view, from the top of a hill looking towards the bay.
September 8, 2023
Ireland, Day 9:
This morning we went to the Cliffs of Moher Experience, it’s the official visitor Centre (spelled how they spell it).
We arrived shortly after they opened at 8AM. After viewing the exhibits inside, we went out to view the Cliffs. Pictures do not illustrate the magnitude. I wish everyone could see it in person.
After spending a couple hours there, we went to Doolin Cave. Brad did the tour, but I did not, as my legs were still burning a little from the stairs and inclines at the Cliffs. While he was doing the cave tour, I got a crash course on the left side of the road driving. I went and found a store to get some stamps for postcards.
I made it back to the cave with me and the car intact.
From there we had lunch at McGann’s Pub in Doolin.
Then it was back to Airbnb for a break.
Brad decided he wanted to do a 2-hour portion of the Cliffs coastal walk, so he picked up a deli sandwich and I dropped him off south of the visitor Centre. While he was doing that, I had dinner at The Bloody Cranesbill Gastrobar at the Cliffs of Moher Hotel (which is about 5km from the Cliffs). I drove around a bit and went back to the visitor Centre to meet Brad. I only waited a few minutes before he came walking out. I think he said he did 3.5 miles.
Now we are back at Airbnb, and I am typing this out on my phone with a view of the countryside.
Tomorrow, we head north and will leave the Republic of Ireland and stay the night in Northern Ireland near Giants Causeway.
September 9, 2023
Ireland, Day 10:
Well, we are over half way through our trip and I am trying not to think about that too much. Last night I had a brief chat with our host, Áine at the Airbnb (Her name is pronounced like Sonia without the S). She asked about where we were headed to next and how we liked Ireland. I told her I have really enjoyed everything, the people, and seeing beauty everywhere you look. She said she has been here her whole life and still is in awe of how green everything is.
We had such a great time down in the southwest side of Ireland, it was a little sad to leave this morning, but we have more great places to visit.
We left Lahinch about 7:30am and headed towards Galway. On the way we came across the ruins of the Kilmacdaugh Monastery. It was built in the 7th century.
Galway is the biggest city we have been to, it was raining a little and there was a lot of traffic. Originally we had planned to spend a little time there, but decided to keep moving north.
We stopped in Charleston and mailed some postcards. If you don’t receive one, I either didn’t have your address, or it was lost in the mail (they couldn’t read my handwriting).
We stopped for lunch along the way to our favorite Irish fast food restaurant, Supermac’s. I really am going to miss it!
After lunch we saw Castle Classiebawn from a distance and drove as close as we could, stopped and took a few pictures.
We crossed into Northern Ireland, but there is no border or even sign that we noticed. Brad noticed the license plates on most of the cars were different and I looked up where we were on Google maps and saw it was listed as the United Kingdom.
The original plan was to go to Giants Causeway this afternoon, but it was close to 4 when we checked into our place, and the visitor Centre closed at 5, and we had a 30 minute drive still to get there.
We decided to just take it easy in Portrush, where we were staying in a bed and breakfast that is three stories tall. When you walk out of the building, there is a view of the Atlantic Ocean.
Now from our room, we see a wall and a window of the house/building next to us.
We had supper at a place called Kracken, just a short walk from us. They have these pods you sit in to shield the wind.
After eating we went out to the waterline and observed Oceanview for a bit.
Now we’re in our room listening to our neighbor come in and out very frequently (4 times in the last hour).
September 10, 2023
Ireland, Day 11:
This morning, the owner of the Prospect House Bed and Breakfast cooked us an Irish Breakfast (2 sausage links, ham, a poached egg, and stewed tomato). We left there about 8:45 and made it to the Giants Causeway visitor Centre just a few minutes after they opened.
We spent a few hours there and then went to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. It was a couple of miles to hike out and back, Brad did the hike, I stayed back and took pictures. From there Scotland is 13 miles across the bay. It was cloudy, but you could just make out Scotland.
Then we started heading back south, along the way saw the sign for The Dark Hedges. Basically, in the late 1700’s some rich folk decided the road to their house wasn’t impressive enough, so they wanted a bunch of Beech trees on both sides of the road. A few years ago, it was just another beautiful road in Ireland, but was used in a scene of Game of Thrones. Now tourists flock to it and pay 5 pounds to park, and walk in the opposite direction of the Dark Hedges, and coincidentally by a deli and gift shop that just happens to have Dark Hedges merchandise. We did pay the money to park ( or Brad did), but we didn’t buy anything from the gift shop! As a matter of fact, we didn’t even go in. Anyway, you take a considerable walk to th Dark Hedges with hundreds of other people and take pictures. Hey, we can say we did it!
We drove through Belfast, and south out of Northern Ireland back into Ireland. We’re no longer under the rule of King Charles!
We are staying tonight and tomorrow night in Portmarnock, just North of Dublin. Tomorrow we are taking the train into Dublin to explore.
September 11, 2023
Ireland, Day 12:
Dublin
We took the train from Portmarnock to Connolly Station in Dublin. From Connolly Station we walked to stop 1 for the Big Bus Tour, a hop on hop off tour.
We were sitting up top, and it started drizzling rain, but we stuck it out until the Guinness Storehouse stop. Guinness is very highly regarded in Dublin as they have had a history of donating a lot of money to keep local churches in good repair, they also have and are good to their employees.
The tour of the storehouse is mainly interactive with lots of videos and tablets explaining the brewing process, but no actual viewing of anything going on in the brewery.
Level 7 provides great views of Dublin in any direction.
After spending a bit of time up there taking in the views, we went down to level 5 and had lunch at one of the restaurants.
From there we caught a Big Bus to complete most of the tour and got off at the Jameson Distillery stop. I sat this tour out and hung out in the waiting/bar area while Brad did the tour.
After he finished the tour, we looked around in a souvenir shop for a few minutes.
It had been raining for most of the day, and originally, we had planned to do the night tour of Dublin on the Big Bus but decided we had experienced enough for one day. We took a taxi back to Connolly Street train station and took the train back to Portmarnock.
We had dinner at McDonald’s, we are high class.
We were very fortunate with the weather for this trip with sunshine and temps in the high 70’s every day. Today all day cloudy and rainy is what we expected it to be every day. Perhaps if it had been better weather, we would have stayed in Dublin a little longer, but we were there about 7 hours. It’s a busy city, with people hustling and bustling everywhere. There is a lot of history, and things to see and do, but it is a different place than what our experience has been this trip where we just did things on the fly for the most part. I wouldn’t tell someone to not visit Dublin l, but I would say make sure Dublin is not all you see here.
We have one more day before we fly back on Wednesday morning. The plan is to leisurely work our way down towards the hotel for tomorrow night which is close to the airport.
September 12, 2023
Ireland, Day 13:
We pulled out of Portmarnock and we were feeling ’bout half past dead.
We were pretty well rested, and got on the road a little before 8.
We (Brad) drive through rush hour and a wreck going into and out of Dublin. Once we got through that, it was smooth. Unlike most of the small roads we were on most of the trip, the M18 highway is what you might expect to find in the U.S. driving through fly over county (if you were on the opposite side of the road and spotted an occasional castle).
We ate lunch at Supermac’s, I think that brings our total for the trip at 4 times.
After lunch we went to Bunratty Castle and spent a few hours there. Along with the castle they have a village with buildings that have been moved in (a poor farmers house, a blacksmith shop, and much more).
Durty Nelly’s a pub founded in 1620 is across the street from the castle. We went there and had cappuccinos. It seemed like the European thing to do.
From there we came to our hotel, easily the nicest place we’ve stayed on the trip.
I took all of my stuff in to get it all packed up for tomorrow. I must have looked like John Candy in Summer Rental, with my two pieces of luggage and a bunch of little shopping bags. I didn’t buy anything big, but all the little stuff adds up!
I only dropped stuff a few times between checking in and the room.
We just returned from dinner at the onsite restaurant/pub, Shannigan’s. We both had fish and chips. I think I have had more fish in the last two weeks than the last two years combined. There are blackberry bushes all over Ireland, so it made sense to have the Apple and Berry Crumble for dessert.
We’re back in the room settled down for the evening, with a long day tomorrow to get back to Texas. I managed to get all my stuff back in my luggage including the stuff I bought.
One more sleep in Ireland.
September 13, 2023
Ireland, Day 14:
Well, not everything goes to plan. If it all did, we would be driving away from Houston towards Smithville right now.
After the flight from Shannon was diverted to Montreal due to a medical emergency, we missed our connection in Chicago. Now we are waiting for a flight back to Houston that leaves at 7:53 and arrives in Houston at 10:43pm. The flight crew on the flight from Shannon was under a lot of stress with the medical emergency and keeping everyone pacified. We had a great vacation and am not going to spoil it complaining about the apathy on the ground by United in Chicago, but it could have been a lot better. The positives, as much as we like Ireland, we’re back in the US. We saw Greenland. The medical emergency wasn’t one of us.
It will probably take me the weekend to get all of the pics and the total trip journal written up.
Many thanks to the Sharps for getting us to the airport at the beginning of the trip and letting us park at their place, picking us up late tonight, and letting us crash at their place when we get there!
We made it back to Houston a little before 11pm, and did indeed crash at the Sharps house.
I moved into apartment 1911 at 10601 Six Pines Drive in April of 2013. This was after living with my brother and his wife for a couple of years. I had lived with them for a stretch a few years prior, had an apartment, then moved in with them to save money for a potential move to California. My mother was also in the last few years of her life and if I had saved up enough money to move to California, I most likely could not have left her behind as deep down I knew she didn’t have much longer with us. Thus I never moved to California. I don’t regret for a minute that I didn’t move when she was alive. While I think I made a great effort to see her as much as I could, I often feel like I didn’t. If I had moved off, I definitely would have felt guilty the rest of my life. I can honestly look inside myself and know that I tried to do what was right by her.
At the same time of moving into 1911, I left a job I really hated and went back to one I had left a year before and had thought I hated. A couple of things I learned/confirmed. Making less money doesn’t necessarily make you happier, and sometimes you get away from something you don’t like and figure out it wasn’t that bad after all. When I went back to the old job, not a lot bothered me like it did before I left.
When I moved in, I think the name of the complex was ‘The Parkside’. It’s changed names and management over the last ten years several times. The current name is ‘The Biltmore’ although I don’t think anyone who has been to the Biltmore Estate is going to confuse my 574 square foot living space for anything remotely close to living in luxury.
The location has been great, during my time in The Woodlands, I’ve been to around 30 shows at the Woodlands Pavilion which is .75 miles down the street from my apartment. I could ride my bike down there, and be home in bed before people who were at the same show made it out of The Woodlands. Going to shows at the pavilion were often therapeutic. While I fully understood my failure to read signals from women, there was one I kept chasing after that I finally figured out wasn’t a connection. However, I was having a hard time moving on. Sitting on the lawn at the Pavilion during an Aerosmith show, something just clicked, and I moved on.
After Mom passed, my Dad moved away from this area, and a few years later my brother moved. Aunt Pat is/was still close by and although we didn’t visit a lot, we did have some dinners together and she came to my rescue several times when I had car troubles. I’m thankful for her and the kindness she has shown me.
By now you’ve figured out the conclusion to this. A lot of things have changed over the last few years, and now it is time for me to make a change. By the end of the month I will be moved out of 1911 and on to Smithville, Texas. My brother is out there. Maybe we’ll be like Robert Duvall and Michael Caine in Secondhand Lions. Be the two mysterious brothers everyone wonders where they came from. Perhaps we’ll find and hide a fortune in a secret room under the barn just like the movie.
It’s not like I am moving to another country, I’ll get back over here on occasion. Maybe to check in on Ward at my home away from home. He gets to Twin Peaks every morning at 11 AM, 7 days and stays there for a few hours taking a break from caring for his mom with Alzheimer’s. He and his Dad take turns watching after her. I’ve made a few other friends there, including some of the girls that work there. It was kind of hard to break the news to some of them. Not often you get a broken heart on your receipt.
A lot of the workers at Sonic know me by name too. Over the last week or so I’ve started telling them about the move. I didn’t want to be presumptuous and think they would care, but I also didn’t want them to wonder what happened when I all of the sudden stopped going there several times a week. Change is always hard, even if it’s a good change. I have lived in this apartment longer than I have lived anywhere in my life.
The apartment is nothing special, a small living room, not so spacious kitchen and dining area. It does have a great view of the pool, and I’ve spent a lot of time in it. Although at the new place I will have even better pool access, it will be right outside my door.
Since I can’t write anything without quoting a song lyric of some sort, here is one from the Avett Brothers song, November Blue: And I don’t know why I have to, but this man must move on
I loved my time here, didn’t know ’till I was gone”
I leave here with one question, should I tell the neighbor that’s been calling me ‘Travis’ for the last three years, that my name is not Travis, or just leave a sign on my door that says ‘Travis has left the building’?
Late last year my brother Brad mentioned going on a road trip this summer. I had one in mind, but really didn’t think he would be interested as it would go almost all the way to Canada. The top of my list of places to visit next was ‘the crown jewel of the continent, Glacier National Park’. While it is a pretty place, perhaps once of the reasons it has that name is it not the most convenient place to get to and will cost the price of several crown jewels to see. Without invading his HIPA personal space, he also had some health issues right after mentioning it to me, so I didn’t even bring it up again.
Surprisingly he brought it up to me sometime in January, I then mentioned it to our sister Gaylyna, who had some similar health issues to Brad in December, that also required her to have surgery. I was in the odd position of almost trying to talk them out of the trip as I knew it would be a long haul, but after everyone said they were onboard, I commenced to planning a road trip that would take us to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. We completed our journey this past Sunday, as I was pulling out of my brother’s driveway to make the last 100-mile leg to my habitat, I snapped a picture of the trip meter. We had covered 4762 miles over two weeks from south central Texas to Babb, Montana, and back with a stop on the way back in our native Oklahoma for the annual Jones reunion on our mother’s side. Who would have thought as kids we would have both volunteered to subject ourselves to 4762 miles in a car ride with each other? While you can’t stop father time, and all of us will get old if we live long enough, the positive side is you usually drop the childhood issues of not being able to commute without punching each other in the arm and enjoy the company of siblings as you don’t have the luxury of childhood, time.
This is the tale of our 4762-mile summer road trip, where we managed to hug each other at the end of it, without being coerced by our parents to do so.
If you just came here for the pics, below are links to my Flickr albums. This includes ones I took, some of my sister’s, and some taken by her daughter/my niece Addisyn. If someone wants to license one of the photos for thousands of dollars, we can figure out who took it so they get the royalties. Hopefully that person will share with the rest of us.
July 15, 2022 We left Brad’s house about 4:30PM and drove to Abilene, Texas
Saturday, July 16, 2022 Before heading to Amarillo where we would meet my sister Gaylyna and her family, we had breakfast at the Dixie Pig, Abilene’s oldest restaurant. After learning from our Uncle James that our grandparents were married in Abilene, we marveled at the idea that they may have eaten at the same restaurant some 81 years earlier. If you ever find yourself in Abilene, I highly recommend having a meal at the Dixie Pig. Just bring cash, the don’t take credit cards. Fortunately, Brad was stocked up. They do have an ATM onsite too.The waitress didn’t even yell at me when I spilled a glass of water on the counter right before we left.
On the way to Amarillo, we made a quick stop in Amarillo and paid homage to Buddy Holley.
We made it to Amarillo in the early afternoon and met Gaylyna and her family at the hotel. Well Motel maybe, the doors were on the outside. The plan was for us to eat dinner at the Big Texan Steakhouse, but they were quite busy and we didn’t not want to wait out in the West Texas sun for over an hour to get seated, so we ended up at a BBQ place run by the parents of a lady my sister knows in Oklahoma. I think the name of the place was Spicy Mike’s BBQ. It was pretty good.
Sunday, July 17, 2022 Before leaving Amarillo and heading to Loveland, CO. We stopped by the Cadillac Ranch and did a little spray painting.
Our nephew Caleb joined us for the ride. We passed through part of New Mexico, driving by the Capulin Volcano National Monument. He texted his buddy back in Oklahoma to let him know he had just passed by a volcano. We for lunch in Trinidad shortly after entering Colorado.
Denver traffic was surprisingly heavy for a Sunday afternoon, but we made it to our hotel in Loveland, CO around 6PM. We roughed it for a night at the Embassy Suites.
Monday, July 18, 2022
The journey north continued to Wyoming, after stopping in Rawlins for lunch and provisions, we headed for our destination, Dubois, WY with a stop along the way at Split Rock National Monument. Split Rock was used as a landmark by the pioneers on the Oregon Trail and was also a relay point for the Pony Express.
We made it to Dubois, a little after 6 and checked into the Stagecoach Inn, our lodging for the next two nights. We had dinner at the Cowboy Café, which was a short walk from the inn.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
It was time to introduce the rest of the group to Grand Teton NP (I visited in 2017), which was about an hour and a half from our hotel. For reference, it cost us $148 a night to stay in Dubois. It would have cost over $350 a night to stay closer to Grand Teton in Jackson, and that would have been a place like Motel 6.
Our first stop inside the park was Oxbow Bend which is close to the Moran entrance in GTNP from the east side.
At 10 AM, we did the Jenny Lake Scenic Boat Tour, which is a 1-hour trip around the lake. Our guide from Jenny Lake Boating was Travers. He was knowledgeable, and I actually picked up on several things I didn’t catch when doing the same tour in 2017.
After the boat tour, we found a picnic spot with a view of the mountains. From there we made a quick trip into Jackson and decided it was way too busy for our liking, so we returned to the park and snapped pictures by the Grand Teton sign. Then we visited Mormon row, and the Snake River Overlook, the same spot Ansel Adams captured his iconic image of the Snake River. It doesn’t look the same as the trees have grown considerably in the last 70 years since Ansel stood there, but it’s still cool to look at the river from the same spot as him. We then headed back to Dubois for our second night there. We also returned to the Cowboy Café for a second night.
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
We left Dubois and headed back to Grand Teton, arriving at Jenny Lake about 8AM, which made our prospects for parking a lot better than the day before as we were able to find parking close to the Jenny Lake Visitor Center. While the rest of the group went to take the hiker shuttle boat across Jenny Lake, and go on a hike to Inspiration Point, I decided just to chill out near Jenny Lake. After a few hours of waiting for them to return from the hike, I decided to attach my action camera to the top of my Rav4 and get some footage driving around Grand Teton. I drove around the Jenny Lake Scenic Loop a few times and drove down roads I had not been on before. While I am under no illusion anyone is going to watch all the raw video I took during the trip, I am sharing it all. At some point I will try make a condensed highlight reel, but you can see it all right now for the low price of nothing.
After the group returned from their hike and made contributions to the economy at the gift shop, we headed north for the journey to Yellowstone, stopping first for a last look at Jackson Lake, and a picnic near the Colter Bay general store.
We officially made it through the south entrance of Yellowstone a little after 3PM. Traffic was not too bad, but there was some construction going on with 1-way roads where you had to wait and follow a pilot car. We made it to Old Faithful Lodge around 5PM and got checked into our cabins.
It took a lot of trying but several months ago, I looked every day for availability at Old Faithful, finally two cabins popped up (1 double bed, 1 twin bed). I knew we would be cramped, but it’s all about the location and if you can stay inside the park, it saves a lot of windshield time if you plan on spending more than 1 day in the park, which I highly recommend. Eventually I was able to add on a second night in the cabins in June. Stating the obvious here, but if you are planning a trip to a place like Yellowstone, book as far in advance as you can. If there is nothing available, find lodging outside of the park (unless you plan on camping, then just reserve a camp site), and keep looking every day. Something usually pops up, at least it has on my first and this trip to Yellowstone.
Once we settled into the cabins, we went for the short walk to Old Faithful and didn’t have to wait but about 15 minutes until the next eruption.
Then we had a very lackluster dinner in the Old Faithful Lodge cafeteria. Not that you are visiting for the food, but the food by the park vendors is not the highlight of the trip. After dinner we sat outside our cabins, the temperature quickly cooled off when the sun went down, going from being warm, to being chilly and everyone grabbing a hoodie. One by one, our group retired for the night, I wanted to stay out and see the stars, but it gets dark very late (after 10pm), so I eventually gave up and went to bed myself.
Thursday, July 21, 2022
While I mentioned that the food is not great by the park vendors, we did have a good breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn. Even if you aren’t staying at the inn, it is worth a visit. The breakfast buffet at $15 (including beverage) was a bargain compared to prices we paid at other places during the trip.
After breakfast, we headed to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It is a must see on a trip to YNP.
From there we traveled north over Dunraven Pass towards Mammoth Hot Springs, stopping for a picnic along the way. Side note, my sister Gaylyna made sure we had picnic supplies for all our days in the parks. We would have been some pretty grumpy people without her planning.
Mammoth Hot Springs was packed, it was one of the few places in YNP that we had a really hard time finding parking. Gaylyna’s family was able to find a parking spot, but I was not. I ended up driving a few miles up to the upper terrace while they explored the lower terrace. When I drove back down, I was able to find a spot and met up with them.
We then headed back up to the north terrace and did the drive through there, it was about 3PM or so and everyone was getting pretty worn out.
Along the way back to Old Faithful, we made a few stops at Beryl Springs, Gibbons Falls, and Firehole Falls.
After having dinner at the Old Faithful Grill, we went back to the cabins and eventually all ended up out at the Old Faithful viewing area again to take in another eruption at sunset.
Friday, July 22, 2022
The rest of the group did some hiking in the Old Faithful area to the Morning Glory Pool. The pictures they shared were very nice! You will never guess, but we took in Old Faithful for one last time before checking out.
We made a stop by Yellowstone Lake on the way out and stopped at the Fishing Bridge village where Caleb was able to get his Yellowstone Junior Ranger badge.
Then it was time to leave YNP and head east to Cody, Wyoming, our stop for the night.
We had lunch at Buffalo Bill’s Irma Hotel, it was built in 1902 or so and named after his daughter. Cody was founded and named after Buffalo Bill Cody.
After taking a break at our motel, we returned to the Irma at 6PM for the Cody Gunfighters presentation of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, their rivalry for Etta Place, and apprehension by Doc Holiday (who was filling in as the law for the vacationing Wyatt Earp).
While it may not have reached the bar of Redford and Newman, it was entertaining. We had some ice cream at the shop across the street when it was over, I tried Huckleberry Ice Cream for the first time, it was good! It tasted like the Blue Bell southern blackberry cobbler flavor.
Then it was back to the hotel for rest.
Saturday July 23, 2022
We had breakfast the Irma Hotel and perused the gift shop for a few minutes. Then we continued heading north to Montana. The drive out of Wyoming and Montana is beautiful, you get a little spoiled with scenic overload, but it’s a wonderful drive.
Our stop for the night was in Great Falls, MT. While checking in, we noticed signs about an air show going on. When we got in our room, we saw the Air Force Thunderbirds flying by the window. I was able to snap a few pics, but not great visibility on short notice.
Sunday, July 24, 2022
It is only a few hours from Great Falls to East Glacier. We arrived there before noon and stopped at a grocery store for more picnic supplies. Our introduction to Glacier NP was through the Two Medicine entrance. A few miles in, we stopped for a hike to Running Eagle Falls (that Brad found on all trails app). I think it was like half a mile in and out. Running Eagle was a female warrior in the Blackfoot tribe, and the falls are named after her.
After the stop there we drove down into Two Medicine and had a picnic by Two Medicine Lake. The views were amazing, of course everyone in Glacier is like looking at a post card.
After lunch, the rest of the group rented a couple of canoes, I hung out by the lake and watched them from afar.
After the canoe excursion, we headed for our lodging for two days in Babb, Montana at Hooks Hideaway Motel. We were only 13 miles from the Canadian border but never made it up there just to say we ‘saw Canada’. We would have considered visiting Canada, but not everyone in our group has a passport (I renewed mine recently and didn’t have mine either until we got back), and they are strict on showing vax papers. That’s a no from us!
Hooks Hideaway Motel is in a beautiful location, the motel itself is about aa no frills as can be, but it was clean and a place to stay that didn’t cost $300 a night ($140 a night for those keeping score).
Once we checked in, we drove back to St. Mary and had some very overpriced sandwiches at a ‘Café’ that only served cold sandwiches. After ‘dinner’ we drove into the St. Mary entrance of the park and made it a little over halfway, just past Logan’s Pass we pulled over at a spot and saw a few Mountain Goats.
We made it back to our motel around 9:30PM and turned in.
Monday, July 25, 2022
The rest of the group did a 2-mile hike, while I went to the St. Mary Lake, Rising Sun boat dock to get our tour tickets at Glacier Lake Boat Co. I stopped a few places along the way and took some pics.
The boat tour on St. Mary Lake was an hour and a half and stopped for about 30 minutes for an optional hike to Virginia falls.
Our boat captain was Pixie, a young guy not to far out of high school, living the dream all of us, running boat tours in Glacier National Park while he figures out what he wants to do in life. The other boat was captained by a girl from Kentucky, I think her name was Samantha. I could be wrong, but think her and Pixie might be an item, or just close friends.
Once the boat tour was over, we drove west and stopped at Sun Point for a picnic.
Then it was time to continue our journey west over Going to the sun Road.
Probably the best way to describe Glacier and Going to the Sun Road is like you are in Jurassic Park, without the dinosaurs. The beauty is immense! We couldn’t find parking at Logan’s Pass but kept going and made several stops along the way until we got to the west side of the park.
We stopped at Red Rock Point, a beautiful swimming spot (for those prepared for the frigid waters). Caleb took a dip, but it was a little chilly for him, he didn’t stay in long. I would have given it a shot, but it was a little treacherous to get down to the water and I am not so agile but do love to swim! I also didn’t have my swim trunks on. If I ever go back, will be prepared!
From there we continued west to Lake McDonald. It looks like a big mirror! We all got our feet wet there, and the water wasn’t too cold. Caleb took another dip.
We then turned back east and headed back up Going to the Sun Road, making stops along the way. Logan Pass wasn’t as busy, but we still had to drive around a bit to find parking. In our car, I let Brad out and I drove around until finding a spot. The climb of the stairs to the top of the Logan Point Visitor Center took some effort, but the views were worth it.
Several more stops as we headed back to St. Mary, and while we had good fortune the whole trip with weather, it did start storming and some pretty heavy rain came down as we made our way out of the park.
In St. Mary, we made a stop at a gift shop and deposited some more money into the local economy. We were going to get pizza at the local pizza shop, but they said it was going to be over an hour wait. There is a place in Babb, called the Cattle Barons Supper Club. Their regular menu is a bit pricey, but they also have a little part of the building that serves pizza. All I know is it tasted pretty good at the time! Then it was back to Hooks Hideaway.
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
It was time to start the long journey south. Before leaving Babb, we stopped at Thronson’s General Store, it reminds one of the stores on The Waltons. Along the way we passed by the Little Bighorn Battleground (or at least the exit for it), looking at the landscape, I imagined the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne Indians roaming around the land, as well as Custer and his troops riding to meet their fate. With that said, the landscape of the area is quite scenic, maybe just not as scenic as the places we had just come from. This was one of our longest driving days, and we made it to Sheridan, WY around 6:30PM.
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
We drove from Sheridan, WY to Denver, CO.
Thursday, July 28, 2022
I would say we took one last look at the Rocky Mountains before pulling out of Denver, but the east side where we were was not that scenic. Although Brad did have his eye on a classy motorhome that was sitting on the hotel property. Let’s just say Cousin Eddie’s RV would have been an upgrade compared to this one.We drove from Denver to Salina, KS for the night. Probably could have pushed it on in to Gaylyna’s, but I had already made the reservations and it was too late to cancel.
Friday, July 29, 2022 We drove from Salina, KS to my sister’s house in Skiatook, OK, arriving at noon. We didn’t go anywhere the rest of the day. Uncle James joined us for dinner and played a little guitar for us.
Saturday, July 30, 2022 Our family reunion on our maternal Grandmother’s side of the family was being held near Tulsa in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. Although the reunion is a different format than what I grew up with, and I really enjoyed, it was good to see everyone. After the reunion we went back to Gaylyna’s, and Brad and I prepared for the final leg of the road trip.
Sunday, July 31, 2022
Brad and I left a little after 6AM, and made it back to his house in Smithville, TX about 3:30PM. I made it back to my apartment in The Woodlands just before 6PM. This was an amazing trip, and two weeks in a car is a long time for sure, I don’t think I could have done it with few other people than my brother, or sister’s family. Sure, we were all road weary after the journey, but I would do it again this week if I could, not sure the rest of the group would agree! I read a book a few years ago called Honeymoon with my brother, it’s a true story of a guy getting stood up on the weekend of a destination wedding, and the families from both sides have already arrived. With the resources already allotted for the reception, he turned it into a party with family and friends. The honeymoon was also paid for, rather than cancel, he took his brother. They ended up traveling around the world together for a few years and reconnected during their travels. Not that Brad and I are that out of touch with each other, but this may be our version of that, except with our sister’s family too. Maybe we call it, the Never was going to be a honeymoon with my brother, and sister, and her family? Not that I have any kind of ownership over Yellowstone or Grand Teton, but it was great to share an experience with family, that I felt the first time I visited. We also have Glacier now that we all visited together. A surprise from the trip is with Brad being so well traveled around the world, I was thinking he would kind of shrug off what we saw in the parks. However, I heard him say a few times that “I’ve been all over the world and never seen anything like we’ve seen on this trip.” That was cool to hear.
One thing I have found is I always get melancholy when a trip comes to an end, if time and money were not obstacles, I think I could live on the road for a while. Of course, I am coming back to an apartment, the rest of the family is going back to their homes. I heard a George Carlin comedy bit where he was talking about the homeless problem. He said, ‘home is an idea’, houselessness is the problem needing to be solved’. I am very fortunate to not be houseless, but I do struggle with the idea of where ‘home’ is. I think that is why get a little sad when a trip comes to an end (besides the obvious of going back to work for the man). With all that said, we made a lot of new memories, talked about old ones, contemplated about how our mother would have enjoyed the trip and would be glad we went on it together (despite not everyone from the family joining us). No doubt it takes considerable planning, and money to do a road trip from Texas to almost Canada. One day when I am loaded with cash, I’ll bring the whole family along. Where to next? I’m not sure, but I am ready to go there.
Last year we said, ‘Things can’t go on like this’, and they didn’t, they got worse. -Will Rogers
Well we are almost 23 days down in this new year of 2022. I want to get back to writing some things this year as it’s been a few years. Maybe I’ll start writing the story of my life and post the rough drafts here. Of course then no one will want to buy my book when/if I publish one, as they could just read my story here for free. Maybe, I’ll just stick to posting random thoughts here.
Taken 12.30.21, I snagged a room for $50 in Galveston (Not here, but down the street)
I have wanted to see The Black Crowes for a long time! I think I bought the Shake Your Money Maker CD back in high school through Columbia House or BMG Music. Remember those days? Pick 7 CD’s, pay shipping and handing and pay full price for a few more to fulfill your club membership.
I digress.
When this tour was announced last year (before 14 days to slow the spread), I knew I wanted to go. Well it happened a year later, but it did happen! They played the Shake Your Moneymaker Album in order in it’s entirety, along with a handful of songs from other albums, and closed with a cover of Hey, Hey What Can I do by Led Zeppelin.
Setlist courtesy of Setlist.fm.
The Black Crowes Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion The Woodlands, TX, USA Tour: The Black Crowes Present: Shake Your Money Maker Tour
August 14, 2021
Setlist:
Twice as Hard
Jealous Again
Sister Luck
Could I’ve Been So Blind
Seeing Things
Hard to Handle (Otis Redding cover)
Thick N’ Thin
She Talks to Angels
Struttin’ Blues
Stare It Cold
No Speak No Slave
Kickin’ My Heart Around
Soul Singing
Wiser Time (followed by band introductions)
Thorn in My Pride
Sting Me
Remedy
Encore:
Hey Hey What Can I Do (Led Zeppelin Cover)
Not my video, but someone else uploaded the whole show to YouTube
My oldest niece Brynleigh graduated from high school a few weeks ago, back in January when preparing to take the trek to Oklahoma, I had the bright idea to see if some of the family wanted to head over to Colorado the day after her graduation party.
It was probably a bit short sided on my part as my sister’s family had a lot going on with the last week of school, the graduation, and party for Brynleigh. However, anytime I take a trip anywhere my brain starts spinning trying to figure out the feasibility of bundling the travel. Our plans changed a little from the original plan, my dad and his wife Joan were planning on going but backed our due to Joan’s sister in-law having a rough time with Covid. They decided they did not want to be away from home longer than a few days. We missed them on our trip but respect their decision. I guess I did a decent sales job for the trip, because on Monday morning, May 24th, we rolled out and headed for Colorado.
We stopped in Salina, Kansas for lunch at a place called Spangles. You must respect a place that makes Elvis part of their décor. I was sold. The food was decent too.
We arrived in Burlington, Colorado before 5PM (Mountain time), the time zone changes just before you get to the Kansas/Colorado line if you were wondering.
I only stay at high-class establishments, so the Chapparal Inn was the choice, and it cost $60 a night. The owner Danny Patel is friendly, and his establishment is clean, and they are working on upgrading the property. We did get a kick out of the instructions for getting on the internet.
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Burlington-Red Rocks-Georgetown-Estes Park
We left Burlington a little before 7 AM and kept heading west to Denver, for a quick stop by Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I am kind of a geek for the place, this was my third time to visit (once before to check it out, and in June 2018 with Gaylyna to see the Avett Brothers). I do not think the kids were as impressed as me, but I love the place.
Then we headed for Georgetown, CO, where he had tickets for the 2:25PM train ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Before the train ride, we lunch at The Happy Cooker, and then walked across the street to the Georgetown Valley Candy Company for ice cream.
The gentlemen working the store were friendly, the ice cream was great, they told us to tell all our friends about them, so I have done my part. If you are not my friend and you are reading this, then, I have spread the word even further.
After exploring the main streets of the old mining town, we headed over to the Georgetown Loop Railroad. When I was planning the trip. I really had my dad in mind as I thought this would be something he would like. I think we all enjoyed it, the train ride itself is just an hour and fifteen minutes long. The track going up from the Devil’s Gate station to the Silver Plume station is only a few miles I believe. In the 1800’s it was used for mining, and tourists, and was considered an engineering marvel for the time given the mountainous terrain it covers. The highlight is going over the high truss bridge going out, and even higher one coming back. We enjoyed it and would recommend as something to do near Denver.
A group of hobos waiting on a train
Now it was time for us to head to Estes Park where we would be staying for three nights. There is a quicker was to get to Estes Park, but we opted for the Peaks-to-Peaks Scenic Byway. It takes about two hours to go 80+ miles, through winding roads and a few little towns, but the views are worth it.
We made it to Estes Park about 6pm and went to eat at You Need Pie, we (Gaylyna’s family and I) ate there in June of 2018 during our one night stay in Estes Park (which was the inspiration for wanting to come back and spend more time). Even though they have a big variety of pies which are great, they also have a decent menu selection from breakfast to lunch and dinner. There is a grocery store right up the hill from the restaurant, before going to our lodging destination, Gaylyna got us stocked up for breakfast and lunch for the next few days.
Our home for three nights was a four-bedroom cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies. It is not your typical YMCA; this is a resort founded in 1907 with a wonderful view of the Rocky Mountains and Rocky Mountain National Park. Elk are in abundance on the property. As we were checking in, a whole herd was taking a rest on the fields near the registration building. We stayed in the Bald Eagle Cabin. The cabin is huge with two levels, lower level had a living room, bedroom, and bathroom. The top level has three bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and two bathrooms, with a huge wrap around porch. While we were able to get out and explore a lot, it was also nice just sitting at the cabin staring out at the mountains.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Rocky Mountain National Park-Estes Park
We were greeted by a bunch of mule deer outside the cabin, at one point a coyote came running by (I missed it, but Gaylyna and the kids saw it).
We went into the park a little before 9AM and the first stop was Hidden Valley. During the winter you can go sledding here, there used to be a ski resort. There was still some snow present, but not enough for sledding.
There were a few park rangers in the area and my nephew Caleb received a Junior Park Ranger badge. He (and us adults) took the Junior Park Ranger pledge. Basically, we are supposed to tell you to pick up your litter, leave only footprints, and take only pictures. I did not get a badge, so do not know if anyone would listen to me.
From there we went up as high as Trail Ridge Road was open which was Rainbow Curve about 11 miles inside the park. When open (it opened the morning, we left) you can take it all the way through out of the west side of the park, and back to Denver, we did this in June of 2018). They were still plowing out the snow at the top of the road. However, you could walk up 5 miles or so on Trail Ridge Road. Jonathan, Gaylyna, Addisyn, and Caleb walked a mile or so up the road. I walked about 100 feet past the gate, that high altitude was giving me some fits.
We had planned to have a picnic in the park but decided to go back to the cabin to eat lunch, it was windy. If the view from the cabin was not so great, we probably would have toughed it out for a picnic.
After an afternoon respite, we went into Estes Park to check out the downtown shops. This is the place to go for Colorado/Estes Park/Rocky Mountain NP themed t-shirts, hats, hoodies, stickers, etc. There are also plenty of places to buy ice cream, candy, caramel apples, caramel corn and about anything else you can think of sweets wise. However, if you come across a place that says they have fresh squeezed lemonade, take a hard pass! For $5 I received some water with lemon flavoring. The Country Time Lemonade mix tastes better!
For dinner we went to The Big Horn Restaurant. The reviews were good for the place. Our experience was somewhat mediocre, and I will just leave it at that. Back to the cabin we went for the night.
Thursday, May 27, 2021 Rocky Mountain National -Estes Park
We were back in the park before 9AM, this time we opted to go out Bear Lake Road. We did not figure it out until we were out that way, but this is one of the most heavily trafficked areas of the park. Most of the trailhead parking lots were full, the Bear Lake parking lot was full, but we managed to get a decent parking spot. I brought a hiking pole, which seemed like overkill getting out of the car, but as we walked closer to the trailhead, we saw it was covered in snow and several people were stopping to put on spikes on their shoes. The trail to Bear Lake itself is only 256 feet or so, but there were plenty of opportunities to slip and fall on ice/snow. I managed to make it (up and back) without falling thanks to the assistance of my hiking pole. Bear lake was still partially frozen over, it was a beautiful site. People more equipped than us were hiking further up the trails, several people coming in and out wearing packs with camping supplies. We took our pictures of the lake and turned around. Jonathan and Caleb went up one of the trails about a mile while we waited outside the trailhead.
The next stop was the Sprague Lake area, the parking lot was crowded, but we found a spot and opted to go check out Glacier Creek instead of the lake. While there a couple of trail rides came through.
We stopped a few more times along Bear Lake Road, and then visited the Rocky Mountain Conservancy gift shop. One of the ladies there recommended with visit Sheep Lakes. She had seen several big horn sheep and a moose earlier in the week. We headed there next.
Along the way out Bear Lake Road, we saw several elk, at one point we thought we had spotted a moose, but the pictures did not prove us right.
There were no sheep at Sheep Lakes, but there was a lone coyote running across the meadow.
We headed back to the cabin for lunch.
After lunch Gaylyna, Jonathan, and Caleb decided to go to the Wild Basin Trailhead and hike to Ouzel Falls, it is a close to six-mile hike round trip. The nieces and I decided to relax at the cabin. They left about 2:30pm and were on the trail by 3:15. The original plan was for us to meet them in town for dinner, but they had no cell coverage where they were, so the nieces, and I went into town for dinner, texting them updates of where we were in case, they came back online. We finished dinner at 7:30 and still had not heard from them. I did not want to be a worry wart, but was a little concerned, so we drove out to the trailhead to make sure they did not have car trouble or something. It took about 40 minutes to get out to the trailhead and right when we pulled up, they were walking out. They were pretty worn out but had managed the hike just fine. Caleb had taken my hiking pole. I told him it was now his as he had earned it going on a six-mile hike with it. We arrived back at the cabin about 9pm.
Friday, May 28, 2021 Estes Park-Pikes Peak-Garden of the Gods-Burlington
Addisyn, Gaylyna, and I drove back into the RMNP about 6AM to see if there were any sheep at Sheep Lakes, there were not, but we did see several elk and deer.
We drove in a little further and turned off on Endovalley Road which takes you to the entrance of Old Fall River Road. It is still closed for the season. It usually opens mid-summer and if you have a high-profile vehicle can take it as a route up to meet with Trail Ridge Road at the top near the Alpine Visitor Center. During peak times, this area is crowded with people, but at 6:30AM we almost had the place to ourselves. This road also takes you through the Alluvial Fan area, Gaylyna got out and walked up near the cascading water coming down from Roaring River.
It was an impromptu trip into the park, but neat to be able to explore with no crowds. Then we returned to the cabin to pack up.
We had breakfast at You Need Pie, they might have the best biscuits and gravy I have ever had. The biscuits were so big that it may be the only time in my life I did not finish eating a biscuit. We reluctantly left Estes Park and headed south for Colorado Springs.
Getting through Boulder and Denver was not too bad traffic wise, but I-25 south of Denver to Colorado Springs was stop and go for most of the way. People familiar with Houston traffic would probably relate it to traffic on I-10 West.
Pikes Peak Miles 16-19 of Pikes Peak are closed until mid-June, but we did go up to mile 16 where there was a big muddy parking lot, with lots of cars and people.
There was quite a lot of snow and if you were so inclined you could walk up higher on the mountain and play in the snow. We opted to get pictures and start the descent.
At mile 13 coming down they do stop vehicles and check to see if the brakes are too hot. We stopped and visited the gift shop before continuing back down the mountain. There was another gift shop at mile 6 we stopped at.
I had parked my car near the bottom, so we did not have to pay for two cars. After Pikes Peak we had lunch and then went to nearby Garden of the Gods.
Garden of the Gods
Garden of the Gods is free to visit, which means the best time to visit is probably not at 5PM on the Friday preceding a holiday weekend. There is a rather large overflow parking lot with plenty of parking, which also required a substantial hike to get to main features (big red rock structures), and if you were going to be spending the day there would well be worth it. We still had a few hours of driving to do, so were going for the fly by picture opportunities. Since we were traveling in two cars, it was hard to find two parking spaces together, so when I spotted one, I motioned for Jonathan and Gaylyna to park. They and the kids went and explored a little while I continued to drive around looking for a place to park. I ended up driving all through the park and did find a spot near balanced rock (quite a way away from where they had parked). I managed to get some pictures although one lady and her daughter monopolized balanced rock. Which means a lot of other visitors have the same girl in their pictures because she would not leave the rock. I met back up with the family and we started our trek back east.
We arrived in Burlington, CO just before 8PM and Danny Patel was there to greet us at the Chapparal Inn.
We drove back to Gaylyna’s house in Skiatook, OK on Saturday, and I drove back to Texas on Sunday. The trip was great, and I hope the rest of the family enjoyed it like I did.
Returning from a trip always leaves me a bit melancholy for a few days, I may get tired of it at some point, but I really do think I could live out of a suitcase. Until I can figure out how to do that, I will be scheming the next trip for when time and money allows. Glacier National Park looks really nice…
Today I visited the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge for the first time. Most weekends, I am usually looking for some kind of respite from the madness of the city/suburbs. This is a perfect spot to get away for a little while. It’s only about 20 minutes from Surfside Beach too.
I saw one big alligator and a lot of pretty birds. It’s a place I will definitely visit again.
The Shamrock on 
