Made it back from the "Wild Wild West" 16 day road trip vacation. Read the below blogs for an update of our previous travels. We left on Wednesday 7/21 for a LONG 3 day treck from San Francisco to Northern Wisconsin. I caught a combination of a cold and slight ear infection while experience the cold and the winds of Pier 39 in San Fran. Well worth the pain as this is quite a place to visit....not live...just visit thank you.
On the way how, we stopped and saw "Independence Rock" in Wyoming. This is the place that nearly 500,000 pilgrims passed in the early/mid 1800's as they travelled from Nebraska to the West Coast. Names of some of the pigrims were stilled visibly carved into the rock. You could just feel the history of that rock as you walked around it.
I would say that the highlights of our 2 week trip was:
.....Alcatraz Prizon in San Fran
.....Ghost Town/Mining Town in Bannack, MT
....Seeing the bears at Bear Country USA in Rapid City, SD
....eating my first whole crab on the pier in San Fran
....an incredible ravioli/lobster/prawn dish at the a seaside restaurant in Pacifica, CA
....the unbelievably scenic drive through a small portion of Yellowstone National Park
....Walking a cavernous shoreline on the upper Pacific Ocean coastline of California
....seeing the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, ID....the sight of Evil Knievels Snake River Canyon jump.
....and the number one thing was all the memories we made for our 8 year old son Blake....a trip that he will never forget!
7/15/10
I am very blessed to be able to have 2 weeks off and take an extended trip out West with my family to experience this great country.
Halfway through the trip, and we have already experienced:
California - San Francisco is filled with history, beautiful victorian mansions and lots of seafood! But, there are way too many jammed into a small area for my taste. I feel like I'm in a foreign country because pretty much everybody you walk by is speaking French, German or Spanish. Took a 2 1/2 hour bus tour of the city, and it was wonderful (and very cold - 58 degrees with a stiff cold wind). Also took the Alcatraz tour. Amazing history and well worth the money. Also ate a whole crab for the first time in my life. $32 and worth every penny!
South Dakota - The Black Hills, Badlands, Mount Rushmore and Bear Country USA. Blake's favorite part was the "neon" glow in the dark mini-golf. And, of course, we went to Wall Drug and The Corn Palace.
Montana - Yellowstone is amazing and HUGE! It takes several days to take it all in. We saw "Old Faithful" and some of the sulfur eruptions. We spent the better part of 2 days driving through this incredible part of our country.
Idaho - I don't think I've ever known anyone from Idaho and now I know why....there's very few people here! We drove nearly 60 miles on a major interstate without a note-able exit. In Twin Falls, ID we did see the Snake River Canyon, the site of Evil Knieve's infamous rock jump.
From here, we are on our way to to the West Coast and ending up in San Francisco, highlighted by a tour of Alcatraz.
It amazes me that speed limits are 75 mph on interstates, and 65 mph on the winding back road 2 lane highways. In the west, they apparently don't believe in the "speed kills" theory.
South Dakota is the craziest state I know....and I can say this because I lived their for one year. Fast speed limits, any Fireworks you would like to buy, casino's everywhere and the most over-rated sight in America....Wall Drug.
I hope all of you are doing well....I will be back on the air on Monday, July 26th. I look forward to sharing stories with everyone at our 2nd annual "Taste of Flambeau Rama" on Saturday, July 31st!
