#10, Georgia GA (Been There, Live Here)

My wife and I never imagined that we would end up living in the South. It seemed inconceivable (just thought I'd slip in a Princess Bride reference) that we'd ever live there. People in the North look at the South as another country, and those in the South are not so fond of the North or people from the North. I know, they've told me. But you know what? Seeing as the move came along as I was getting close to sixty I will tell you that it has been a great retirement place. The weather is more mild than the in the North and the cost of living is better.

Packed up and heading for Georgia

As many other seniors, focus in life now more centers on family than during the work years where one normally goes where the jobs are located. For me the jobs were located in Illinois so my entire married life work resume consisted of locations around the state, much to my wife's chagrin. While all my immediate family was in Illinois during the 1970's they all started moving on to different parts of the country. During the summer of 2016 while living in Rockford we were overjoyed to find out that we would be grandparents for the second time, though this time there would be twins! We ended up making the choice to leave Illinois and head down to Atlanta, Georgia. Even though it's been just a few years we've taken the time to discover some of the places around the state.

Tanker truck landed after full-air somersault

I decided to start driving for Lyft right away, and did so for six years as we slowly adapted to life in the South. One of the most notable differences was the crazy traffic we had to navigate in Atlanta. Since I drove nearly every day for hours upon end I got to witness all kinds of speeding events and horrendous accidents. There were even explosions and car fires happening often on the freeway which stopped traffic in its tracks. One time I was the first in line at an intersection waiting for the light to change to green, and I watched as a small tank truck sped towards the intersection without slowing down. The driver steered toward the right to try and avoid all the cars but hit the curb of an island, somersaulted into the air, and land on its side without hitting any vehicles. He also just missed the car across the intersection from me, who was also the first in line and had a good view, but he was the sheriff. Thankfully there was no explosion. But events like that happen dozens of times each day.

World of Coca-Cola Store in Atlanta

Penguins at the Georgia Aquarium

Atlanta is the headquarters for the Coca-Cola company and is often a tourist destination when one comes to town. The World of Coca-Cola Store is open to visitors but the visit is not free. That hasn't seemed to slow down the long lines though. While I took the photo of this location I did not go in. My wife and I had just gone through the Georgia Aquarium and that cost way more so I was not in the mood to visit soft drinks. I had gone through the Coca-Cola Store at Disney World (read about it in the Florida blog) and didn't figure there was that much more I needed to know. Right across the way is the Georgia Aquarium which we did visit with our granddaughter and that was fun to see through her eyes. However, on the whole, I'm not a big fan of aquariums. I had several during my teen years and they were a whole lot of work.

The new stadium for the Atlanta Braves

As a baseball fan I was interested in watching the final months of the building of the new SunTrustPark (edit: now Truist Park) which would become the new home of the Atlanta Braves. As a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan I was not a big fan of the Braves as they always seemed to have our number every time we met to play. Nonetheless I had to bring a Lyft rider to the new stadium and I parked there for a moment and took a few photos. Still have not attended a game what with all the traffic and no place to park. Most people think that heading to the ballpark for every home game would be on the mind of every rideshare driver but I kept as far away as I could. I once got pulled into the area and it took me an hour-and-a-half to make it to the rider. It also took a long time to work your way back out of the area. In the end it just wasn't worth the hassle for a few extra bucks. A year after this experience, I discovered that Lyft was no longer giving drivers a bonus for these types of events. I drove someone from about twelve miles north of Atlanta into the city to the also-new Mercedes Benz Stadium for a Taylor Swift concert and that turned into a three-hour ride that netted me about $15, while they paid $90. Life in the big city.

Shops and apartments along the Savannah River

Paddleboats still run on the rivers

Night time on the Savannah River

Savannah was one of the first places my wife wanted to visit, mostly because of the history and tradition of this town. John Wesley (1703-1791) came to Savannah as the minister of the Church of England (1736-1737) and became known as the Founder of Methodism. We spent a few days walking around the Historic District, taking in many different sights, and eating at The Lady And Sons which is Paula Deen's restaurant in the Historic District. But if you thought that John Wesley's influence was weaving it's way up and down the downtown streets you would be sorely mistaken. On the "Visit Savannah" website (www.visitsavannah.com) they make this statement: "Savannah is widely known as the most haunted city in America." That simple sentence kicks off the article that lists the six most haunted placed you can visit in Savannah while maybe even seeing ghosts and spirits yourself. For me that explained the reason we felt a spiritual darkness as we walked around, though it was nowhere near as strong as that felt when visiting Amsterdam.

The Dwarf House Chick-fil-A at Hapeville GA

I suppose it's fitting that Chick-fil-A gets its own paragraph before I bring this to a close. I'd like to quote this early history from the Chick-fil-A website so I don't get anything wrong:

Chick-fil-A, Inc., Founder S. Truett Cathy died Sept. 8, 2014, at age 93. Cathy started the business in 1946, when he and his brother, Ben, opened an Atlanta diner known as The Dwarf Grill (later renamed the Dwarf House). Through the years, that restaurant prospered and let Cathy to further the success of his business. In 1967, Cathy founded and opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta's Greenbriar Shopping Center.

So there you have it. While the Dwarf House (pictured above) was the first restaurant Truett Cathy opened in 1946, the very first Chick-fil-A location was opened in 1967. Sadly (for Chick-fil-A fans) this original location in the Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta is now closed for business (May 2023). However, the original diner he opened is still going strong in Hapeville as a Chick-fil-A. Last time I was in there (I got around a lot driving for Lyft) there was a special menu item only at this location. So if you're going to be there sometime just check it out.

Those are some of the highlights I've been to around the State of Georgia. I'll finish up with a smattering of other photos I've got for a few bonus locations, but I'll make them bigger!

The Little White House in Warm Springs GA for President Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Wall of Helmets" at the Collegiate Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta

The Atlanta Motor Speedway south of the city in Henry County

"Stone Mountain Park" located near Stone Mountain GA (literally a huge deep rock)

Obviously when you live in a state you will have a lot more to write about, so if there are any other highlights that we stumble upon I will add them.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#9, Florida FL (Been There)

My first trip to Florida was when I was fifteen, and what I most remember was that it was ridiculously hot in Miami Beach. Having spent life in our family in the more northern states I was not accustomed to such heat and humidity. Living in Georgia means I now live in heat and humidity but there are two things in my favor. One is that I am older and I more enjoy the heat than the cold. Second is that the heat and humidity in Georgia are nothing compared to what you'll find in Florida. And for that I am thankful.

Our love of this view (Myrtle Beach) reminds me of our week in Florida 1973

It was August 1973 and we were taking a trip from Illinois to Miami Beach, Florida, for a ministers convention. I was fifteen and that meant I was itching to drive but unable to do so. It was a long trip made worse by the fact we were driving in the family Buick, all six of us. Yep, that was before minivans and SUV's took over the automobile landscape. We first stopped at the motel that my parents had reserved for us for this event. We had been shown pictures of it as our parents sought to make the stay exciting, but those photos must have been fifty years old as the place looked like a dump in real life. We got the key to look at the room and the first thing that jumped at us were several cockroaches. It was one long room with beds and cots and a sink that passed for a kitchen. My dad went back to say he wasn't taking the room and the desk clerk was incensed and insisted there were no bugs and wanted to be shown. As the clerk walked in the door. the cockroaches jumped at him as if on cue and he turned all apologetic, but refused to give our money back. My dad said that was fine as they didn't have any of his money. We got it the car and drove to the convention. There my dad met up with a fellow pastor who was all excited about his accomodations and asked if we had a place to stay. Dad told him the story and his friend told him to run right down there and get one of the suites. Well that sounded expensive and dad wondered how much more it would cost him than the $30 a night the cockroach place wanted. The place was beautiful, like a resort, and was right on the beach. Would you believe they wanted $30 a night for a living room, dining room, kitchen, master suite, and balcony? Neither did my dad but that's what he paid. We were on the 14th floor, which everyone who frequents hotels knows is really the 13th floor and they just skip that number in the elevator. We didn't care since we are not one bit superstitious (and not even a little bit "stitious") and we enjoyed that place for the week we were there. I don't remember any place as nice as that in all the years I was home. Perhaps that's why we've sought out resort-type places that are on the beach as I've gotten older.

Years later we look for places like the one in Miami Beach

Many years later, we had access to a resort and my wife decided it was time she got to go to Disneyland. We stayed at a resort in Orlando and drove in each day to Disneyland. That is quite the place and I took a lot of pictures as it is colorful and amazing. My favorite was the great places to eat and we took in several I remember to this day. Probably won't go back but there are some trips you enjoy once and live with that memory forever. This was one of those places.

You can't visit Disneyworld without stopping at Cinderella Castle

Hangin' out with the spice girls

Since Disneyworld we've been back to Orlando several times, especially since we're closer since living in Georgia. We've visited friends nearby in Kissimmee, stopped at St. Augustine, been down to Delray Beach to visit our nephew, and enjoyed Panama City Beach a couple times. But we always look forward to Orlando, with the idea we may try a trip down to Miami Beach!

Until next time,

Arktander
(aka David Andreasen)

#8, Delaware DE (Been There)

Delaware is one of those states that you really have to plan to visit if you want to see the state. It's pretty much blocked off by water and a couple bridges but you do pass through it if you are travelling along Highway 95 up the east coast. So while we didn't stay overnight or buy the t-shirt we definitely weren't sleeping in the airport. So, this one counts.

I remember one trip in particular where we had left Illinois for Myrtle Beach in the summer of 2009. Following a few days there we decided to drive up to Connecticut where our oldest son was finishing up his final months of his doctorate at Yale University.

Map used by fair-use permission of Nations Online Project

Since it was our first time driving this route my mind thought we would be heading up on Highway 95 which went somewhere into the middle of the main part of New York, then we'd hook a right and head into Connecticut. Some of you are smiling right now since you already realize the absolute nightmare that was the coastal drive through "The City That Never Ends." We drove all day for what seemed like New York City over and over and over again. We drove through Richmond, Fredricksburg, and Arlington Virginia; then through Washington, D.C. which is its own little nightmare; then the greater Baltimore, Maryland, area; then we made it through the northern tip of Delaware which includes Wilmington; next through the greater Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania; then Trenton and New Brunswick, New Jersey; and all of that before reaching what I thought would be the main problem, being New York City, New York. You'd think that I'd avoid the city at all cost, and that was certainly the plan, but in the crazy traffic that is New York City at rush hour we missed our turn and ended smack dab in the Bronx. It was getting dark and we just kept moving along as we passed through Greenwich, Norwalk, Bridgeport, Milford, and then finally New Haven as our final stop in Connecticut. And it was still like New York City. Maybe there's a reason we haven't been back that way since.

We made it through the Highway 95 corridor of Northern Delaware
Map used by fair-use permission of Nations Online Project

So yes, I was in Delaware. I suppose there was a silver lining to that trip that I learned where Delaware was on the map. It's the second smallest state in the United States (at 1,982 square miles), right behind Rhode Island which is the smallest (at 1,214 square miles). For a state that is just 96 miles long it may surprise you to find that the Delaware River, off the east coast of the state, runs 330 miles from Hancock, New York (where the Eastern and Western Branches of the Delaware river meet) through five U.S. states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Delaware. It then becomes the Delaware Bay which funnels into the Atlantic Ocean.

There's more traffic as you head into "The Extended City"

So there you have your little history lesson for today. I could have added a lot more Delaware facts but I didn't. Let's just say that every state has its share of interesting history and places and the like, not the least of which you have access to the Atlantic Ocean!

Until next time,

Arktander

(AKA David Andreasen)

#7, Connecticut CT (Been There)

While I was born in Long Island, New York, we took a number of family trips along the East Coast. We did visit Connecticut but there were a number of times while living in Illinois that we made the trip back there since my parents moved from Illinois to New York upstate and later to Connecticut.

Before retiring my parents moved to Waterbury, Connecticut, for a couple years. We probably stayed there a week or less so my wife and I took one day to make a run through New Hampshire. I'll share that on the New Hampshire page. Another day my dad had to make a quick run to Boston and we tagged along with him to get a quick view of that city. I guess you could say Connecticut became home base for a number of treks including a late afternoon run along the coast to find a beach to go swimming for an hour or two.

But, for the most time spent in Connecticut, it would have to be the trip we made to New Haven in August of 2009. I described the trip here from Myrtle Beach in the Delaware blog. Our son was finishing his doctorate at Yale University and it was a chance to see the picturesque East Coast. There are plaques and memorial markers all over New Haven, and the East Coast for that matter, giving one a chance to seek out the history of the area.

One of many historical markers

While on the campaus of the University we took a tour of the many buildings, including museums, library, and a rare book collection. We were amazed at the history all around us, which was a much better way of describing everything as simply old. It's old because it's survived much over the centuries and it a reminder of how much life moves on.

On the campus of Yale University

My son and wife wanted to have pizza at Frank Pepe Pizzeria, where the "New Haven-based pizzeria is famous for its signature coal-fired White Clam Pizza featuring fresh clams, grated pecorino romano, garlic, oregano and olive oil." That was a quote from The Daily Meal, who as recently as 2020 had declared this "one of the greatest old-school restaurants of all time." You can see the open coal-fired oven and watch as yours gets baked. Even in 2009 it was on everybody's radar as a fantastic pizza and a pizza destination to visit, which is why my son mentioned that we should go try it out. I take those kinds of proclamations with a grain of salt since everybody's tastes are so different. Living in Illinois I have had my share of deep dish Chicago style pizza, and love it, so I personally was none too impressed with the coal-fired pie. But it was a nice experience nonetheless.

Well known around the country for its coal-fired pizza

Students heading to classes at Yale University

From the sign on the table it looks like the original was usually right here

It was truly a memorable trip while traveling through Connecticut on our way back to the Midwest. I"ve got hundreds more photos in my files, and on my DSLR no less as I had just purchased my first smart phone and was none too thrilled with the resolution and clarity of those pictures.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#6, Colorado CO (Been There)

Family played the biggest part in ending up at Colorado, considering the distance for us to travel from Illinois. My sister and my wife's sister both lived out there (still do) so it is not surprising we did a few touristy type things.

Let me take a moment to mention that at this moment I am nearly halfway through writing up a story about all the states. Nine of them are those I never visited so those were short. Then I starting going through the list a second time and worked on all the easy ones that had just a quick visit to the state. Now I'm going back through again working my way in numerical order and doing the best I can with the trickier ones. What can be tricky about some? Well, maybe tricky isn't the word but the point of this for me is to back up my state visits with pictures and I am coming up short on certain states. Which ones, you might ask? Mostly it's the ones that are before 2005 as that is the year I finally bought a simple digital camera to go on a trip to New York City. Now I lived in New York for twelve years so that one's doubly tricky in that I also need to keep it short. It would not be difficult for me to write a novel. But the trouble I'm having before 2005 is that there are no digital photos on my computer to easily sift through and find applicable photos to the stories. At the moment I have right around 38,000 photos from Spring 2005 right up through today. They are all organized by date and all I need to do is sift through the right years. All my smart phone photos are in another folder and usually I can remember if I brought along the DSLR to take great photos, or if I just figured I'd make do with the okay photos of the mobile phone.

Everyone has a stack of these, right?

So, when Colorado came up next as the one to start, I had to think long and hard about when we were there and it turns out it was the 1980's and 1990's. All I needed to do was pull down the right photo album and scan a few photos. Easy Peasy. So I asked my wife where the albums were stored and she pointed up to a shelf in the storeroom. They weren't even organized or marked with dates and I counted thirty of them. If you're one of those who have to go and count yourself, I will tell you that there are a couple not up there and that left stack has a bunch of little ones vertically stacked behind the front ones. So I pulled them all down, lined them all up on a table, and started going through them one by one. After several albums without finding anything about Colorado, I noticed a particular theme going through the books. Almost 100% of the photos were of people, no matter whether they were family or friends or dead. Apparently I limited myself to photographing the people we decided to visit or who decided to visit us. Who needs a photo of scenery or something random! Taking photos of anything and everything would have to wait for the smartphone and its built-in camera. I also wasn't that into photography and didn't have a whole lot of time with a growing family. I must have snapped a few photos and then went back to the matter at hand. Plus, the cost of film and development cost real money and that was in short supply as we started married life. So I just kept going hoping to find a few scenic shots among all the group photos.

I know you're just giddy with anticipation about this photographic conundrum, so I'll get to the point. I did find a few photos of Colorado, even one of Pikes Peak. At least I hope it's Pikes Peak as I really did drive up that mountain. I grabbed every scenic I could find and scanned them into a file for later. I still imagine I will come up short as I near the end, but we'll face that when the time comes.

Pike's Peak in the distance

We took the Pike's Peak Highway and it was not the smooth highway drive I was expecting. There were sharp turns where there was no guard rail and it was so crowded that cars were bunching up making it hard to move. We did stop somewhere on the way up to do something, I don't remember. I was too shaken up by the drive. I looked the Pike's Peak Highway up online and it was very clear that "the entire 19-mile journey is along a smooth, paved surface." That was not how I remembered that drive but nonetheless we made it up one side and down the other. I do remember saying I was glad to have done that, but wouldn't be doing it again.

A tunnel dug through the mountain rock

Wagon wheel ruts from the Santa Fe Trail

Even the drive along the main highways can be breathtaking with endless rock formations and even tunnels bored right through the mountain rock. We also stopped to see wagon wheen ruts from the Santa Fe Trail used by early settlers in the 1800's. They have been pounded so hard and for so long that the dirt is as hard as concrete and is still visible today.

Casa Bonita in Lakewood, Colorado

I also did take a drive into Denver on another trip to Colorado and met my sister at Casa Bonita in Lakewood. It is famous for its pink paint exterior and for the deep pool inside with divers entertaining the diners. I was great to connect with her seeing she is so far from Illinois, and the entertainment of the divers was the cherry on top.

My wife has been back there by herself for other family events so I have heard many stories of her exploits but I don't have an many stories. But I have been to Colorado.

Until next time,

Arktander

(AKA David Andreasen)

#5. California CA (Been There, Sort of)

As I mentioned in my introduction page, my time with California was limited to time spent in the airport on a trip to the Philippines. Pretty much all flights from the Midwest (Chicago was where I flew out from) will stop on the West Coast before heading to the Far East. On our trip out we were supposed to have a layover in Hawaii but nobody needed to be dropped off so, ironically, I didn't have the chance to add that hardest state to my list. But I still count California!

Nighttime at LAX

As I mentioned in the overview of trying to visit all 50 states, there are those who don't feel a layover at an airport is enough to qualify as visiting a state. As I also mentioned, I don't particularly agree with that line of reasoning. I flew a perfectly valid flight on a perfectly valid airplane to the perfectly valid city of Los Angeles which hosts the perfectly valid Los Angeles International Airport. My son and I spent overnight right there in the airport that is right in California. We had to exit the plane with our luggage and hang around for over eight hours. If that's not a visit I don't know what is. After that short "visit" we were on our way to our next destination.

Not very restful

Anyways, I see my total of states visited at 41 while there are some who would only acknowledge 40 of them. Whatever. On my list, the state of California has been visited.

Later,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#4, Arkansas AR (Been There)

Considering how long we lived in Illinois and how close it is to Arkansas this one doesn't seem like a stretch. We did travel through a number of times we had a number of family events that brought us to that state.

We came to Conway to be at the wedding for my brother and his fiancé in 1987. All the family was there. The thing I remember most about that day was going on a hunt for something smelly that was put in their belongings. Don't really remember if we found anything.

While we were at the wedding of my wife's sister in Colorado (see the Colorado page) we did visit them in Paragould for a few days sometime in the 1980 decade. We did a lot of visiting of family back in the day when it was easier to travel, though Arkansas was not all that for from Illinois where we lived at the time.

We also visited a good friend and his wife and family in Hot Springs as he had worked with my dad in the early 1980's. I think my parents were there at that visit and I remember our boys and their boys playing together in park that we enjoyed.

Some pretty fancy stone work

A very nice rest stop

I'm pretty sure my family is not interested in seeing their wedding photos as representing the State, and I just don't have the time right now to peruse the 30 (give or take) photo albums for pictures to scan. That's a project for another day.....or year. So what pictures am I showing from Arkansas? A rest area! Go ahead and laugh if you must but I have endured pathetic rest stops in Illinois for most my life traveling that state. So whenever I find a rest area that is well-done and among the best I've seen, then I take photos of it. You'll find numerous of these rest areas sprinkled among the states and I'm always glad to see them wherever I go. This one has beautiful post and beam lumber, stone work, and a green metal roof. Then there's the Arkansas sign set in granite trying ever so hard not to be a tombstone.

What is the Natural State you say? From the State Symbol website, here's their description: "The nickname for Arkansas is The Natural State. Arkansas is famous for its natural scenic beauty, clear lakes and streams, and abundant wildlife. Arkansas has 52 state parks, three national forests, five national parks, and the nation's first National River (the Buffalo National River, which meanders through the heart of the Ozarks, is America's first federally protected stream)."

https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/arkansas/state-nickname/natural-state

That nickname is also displayed on the state license plates and probably numerous other locations.

Another memory from my younger years was riding in the car with members of the family while my dad was driving. I remember that there were some very winding roads and tight turns along these back roads of Arkansas. I seemed far more scary when driving at night, but I ended up thinking those were some of the most dangerous roads in those earlier years. Or maybe it was just that dad was driving far too fast for conditions. Not sure which one is correct but I no longer see it as any different than any other state as I have gotten older.

Until next time,


Arktander
(aka David Andreasen)

#3, Arizona AZ (Been There)

This was another state that we've only made once but we tried to pack a lot into the two weeks we were there or traveling. This means we made it to the upper Northwest and the Southwest. The trip included the funeral of my nephew but I won't go into detail on that. We spent some time with my sister's family and others who had come for the somber occasion. The year was 2012, the month was August, and the temperatures were sizzling. At least part of the trip had these great views.

Now that's a sunset!

We also had the chance to visit our son and daughter-in-law, now married almost three years. But since we were in Arizona for the first time we all decided to visit the Grand Canyon. I mean, that's one everyone does, right? My son and I came up with the plan to check out the Grand Canyon West Skywalk that was fairly new, a steel and glass horseshoe that extended out over the canyon. It didn't look to be too far from the other Grand Canyon entrance so we headed out on the road early that morning. I don't remember who was driving but when we saw signs for the upcoming Hoover Dam we figured we might have missed our turn. Sure enough it was a couple hours back. But since we were so close to Hoover Dam we decided to push on another half hour. It is amazing to see the sheer size of the dam close up and we of course drove over to the Nevada side since that counts as visiting Nevada (much like me going to the New York and Canada sides of Niagara Falls counts for both places).

Hoover Dam

The Dam Angels

As we drove out of this tourist site we saw signs for Las Vegas saying it was less than an hour away but the wife was upset and we'd ruined her day already. Little did she know what was ahead. We got back on the road and found our turn to get to the Skywalk and within a short time that paved road gave way to a rutted dirt road. We drove on that for an hour or more and finally found what we were looking for. Sort of. First of all, we discovered this was Indian land. Second, we found out this was not a quick free walk out on a glass horseshoe. Third, we had to go through a tour of Native American history. Fourth, a bag lunch was included at the end of the tour. Fifth, you had to leave everything behind before going on the Skywalk because YOU COULDN'T TAKE ANY PICTURES! For that you have to ask the photographer onsite to take them for you and charge you a bunch more money. If I sound cynical, you are right, and I think a lot of us have a right to feel cynical and even angry for being taken advantage of. And sixth, it cost $80 per person! In 2012 dollars which would be $130 in 2023 money! My son and I refused that highway robbery and told the wives we were leaving, which infuriated my wife even more. So the trip to the other canyon entrance took over six hours of angry silence. Would I have gone on the tour anyway, if I could go back? No, not ever, but I should have researched that Skywalk a bit more. My wife called this "The day of which we will no longer speak" and it continues on in family lore.

Better yet I should have headed to the Four Corners Area where it is the only place in the country that four states meet up in one spot. Utah joins Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico with a copper disc marked out in quarters (the mathematical equation, not the coin money). Technically you could cover all four states with one foot. That photo opportunity alone would get me to head down in that direction. Although, I was horrified to find out that they have chosen to charge $8.00 to see a gold disk on a rock. What a crock! No, not the footware, it's the horror. Well, I guess I would have paid for one person, namely me, to go in and get a couple pictures on the disc. That is unless they make you leave your camera behind while they charge you for a professional photographer to do it.

Beyond the barbed wire fence lies the elusive Skywalk

The cow seems unfazed by the dust devil

At least we had a hotel reservation right near the main Canyon entrance, so the next morning we headed into the National Park. This definitely was worth the price of admission. We were on the southern edge of the canyon and we probably walked just a mile or two after dealing with the August heat. Pictures just don't do the view justice and you just can't get it all into the camera frame. But it is at least a reminder of being there.

Welcome to the Grand Canyon

It really is immense

The initial areas near the entrance had hand rails to keep you from the edges but farther away you were on your own. Every year you hear about someone falling to their death at the Grand Canyon and I can see how easily it can happen. The picture below is one place I watched for awhile as others looked over the edge or sat down on the point. As it cleared out I gingerly crept out to the safest place I could find, as far from the edge as I could. It doesn't look that bad as you look at the picture but my legs were shaking the whole time I was out there, especially when the wind picked up. My wife took a bunch of photos to prove I was really out there. A big thanks to all those who encouraged me out there, and I appreciated that applause on a safe return. I don't think I would do it again.

No rails on this stone point

We started back to my son's home later in the day and drove through Sedona and the stunning red rock formations. Again, we took enough photos to wallpaper a house but this was the first time we'd been seeing all of this beautiful landscape. There was a park that we drove into and walked around the lake. Many more pictures.

Red Rocks of Sedona

You may wonder if we saw any cactus plants. Well, wonder no more, as they were everywhere. It's possible that there are some places where they might be considered a nuisance but they were always interesting to see. It's hard to imagine how they can live coming right out of the rocks, but they are a hardy bunch.

Cactus

We spent time together with family and checked out both Tucson and Phoenix. My wife made an excited announcement that we were passing an IKEA store that was between those two cities, in Tempe. I don't remember if we made a stop, but it was the only IKEA store in Arizona in 2012.

More cactus

Let me comment on the heat as I close this post. Everyone told me that it's a dry heat in Arizona so it would be fine. When I mentioned that to someone there they told me that in August they are in monsoon season so it could be very humid. In fact on our trip to the Grand Canyon we ran into a rain storm that turned into rapid streams of water on the roads and in the ditches. When the rain was over it all dried up within minutes but it sure got humid. So I can't give you any sense what what dry heat even means. I imagine hot is still hot. We saw 117 degrees one day and it was incredibly hot. I can see how you could easily fry an egg on the hood of a car. And no, we didn't try it. But our air conditioning went out on the trip and we are thankful to have found a shop that would fix it before our trip home.

117 degrees, not a dry heat

So after a couple weeks of investigating some of Arizona it was time to head back to Illinois. We sadly said our goodbyes to family and drove off into the sunset. For reference, the New Mexico post precedes this time in Arizona.

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#2, Alaska AK (Been There)

This may seem like an outlier considering I've mentioned I haven't really been out West but I would consider Alaska and Washington to be more northwest. It was only one trip out that way but it was to fly out to Seattle, take a bus to Vancouver, and then go on a week's cruise up through Alaska's Inner Passage. Taken together it was a great trip to all the places and we did discover we really like cruises.

There's always a sign

We had received a gift certificate from work towards a cruise and my wife decided she would like to take a cruise to Alaska. Our initial plan was to drive from Illinois up through the northern states states on our way over to Washington, adding as many of them as we could to our states list. We would then drive up to Vancouver where our cruise would begin and end, the drive down to California catching Oregon on the way. We would then head back to Illinois, visiting the Grand Canyon and as many other states as possible, for at least a three week adventure. It sounds exhausting now as I write this but the cruise was for April 2004 so we would have been nearly twenty years younger at that time. Alas, between the time we set up the cruise and the time we were set to leave, we had bought a smaller house and the closing date got moved up so we had only enough time to fly out to Seattle, take the cruise, and fly back. A prime opportunity to visit more states was gone. But we did have a great time on the cruise. 

That's all I got looking for whales

Taking off from Vancouver, this cruise was made through the Inner Passage for a smoother experience. We were on The Radiance of the Seas which was a Royal Caribbean ship that held about 2,500 passengers. I thought that one was big but Royal Caribbean is near to completion on The Icon of the Seas which will be the largest cruise ship around. It can hold 5,610 passengers and 2,350 crew and I'm only aware of all these things because friends we met on this particular cruise in 2004 will be going on a cruise next year on this newest Royal Caribbean ship. I thought it a bit ironic that there will be six water parks aboard the Icon while they float......on the water. As they say, whatever floats your boat. I spent some of the time looking for whales while the ship was out on our journey, and the photo above shows the extent of my success. We had three stopovers on the way there and back, in Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Considering that this was in April we expected very cold temperatures but we had 75 degrees and sun during the whole week.

Meeting new friends at dinner

I will again bring up that this trip was in 2004, which was remarkable only in that this trip was pre-digital camera ownership. I bought a small Canon Powershot A95 for the New York trip in 2005 (those photos are on the New York state blog) but I probably brought my film camera. There were way too many photo albums to go through so it was just easier to use Craig's photos. Who is Craig you might ask? He is the guy seated on the left, and he and his wife Missy were on this cruise and had been assigned to the same table as us. Serendipity. They are from Australia and we had a great time sharing stories. And he had come with digital DSLR in hand and was a great photographer. Missy asked for a lemonade when they took our drink order, but then nearly spit it when the glass arrived. Turns out that she was looking for Sprite, which they call lemonade in Australia. We also discovered (because our waiter mentioned it to us) that you could have anything off the menu as many times as you wanted. And here I was spending so much time trying to decide what to have. So we had it all, a feast every night. That was when I could really put away the food. One day I ended up eating five separate times, from breakfast first thing in the morning to the chocolate spread late at night and everything in between.

The scenery was breathtaking

There was a lot of things to do on the ship, like miniature golf or shuffleboard or even watching a movie or taking in a comedy show, but I was more impressed by the scenery off the side of the ship and we slowly floated by it. Craig's camera was working overtime for sure.

Mountaintop eagle at Juneau

Since the ship docks at port three times (on this particular cruise anyway) there are a multitude of shore excursions that one can purchase to entertain while on land. We saw Jeep offroad trips, helicopter rides, whale watching boats, and so on. But those were the expensive ones; we bought the cheap trips but we did one on every stop. The first we took a tram ride up the mountain at Juneau to see these eagles on display (not in the wild). It was really cold up on the mountain. The next stop at Sitka and we road a train on the track used for the Klondike Gold Rush and heard stories along the way to the Canadian border. We liked riding the train. The last stop was in Ketchikan and we went to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show and laughed our heads off. So good.

View out the dining room window

Somewhere along the way we took a side trip into Glacier Bay, a small body of water where you could see glaciers. Our ship got very close to one of them and did a full 360 degree spin around in the water so everyone could see the glacier no matter where you were on the ship. We grabbed the very front of the ship to see it head-on, as we watched chunks of ice falling into the water. My wife had insisted we get a room with a balcony (which was more the size of a sideways diving board) so we went to our room next to continue watching the glacier and getting more photos, and then we went to Craig and Missy's balcony as they were on the other side of the ship. You try to make the best of every opportunity. Nature put on a show that day.

The glaciers at Glacier Bay

Turns out taking a cruise combines a bunch of my interests. Since you take a week to do it then you must be on vacation and what's better than a vacation? Since you're going somewhere new there are tons of things of which to take photos. There's all the food you can imagine and every imaginable kind of food, an aquatic buffet. There are opportunities to meet new people and share the memories with them. There's the points you get for finally taking your wife to a place she actually wanted to go to, so there's that. There's the calmness of sitting outside on one of the decks just enjoying the boat ride in the great outdoors. There's the excitement of going to places you've never been to before and seeing new things. There was the hilarity of watching Craig shooting golf balls so hard in miniature golf, airborne into the ocean. And, at least for this cruise, there was chocolate. More kinds of chocolate than you knew existed as far as the eye could see. What more could a guy want?

Chocolate Buffet

At the end of the trip we exchanged phone numbers and addresses with Craig and Missy, and they came over to America to visit us several times.  In fact, on one of those trips they got engaged on a Sunday, asked me to marry them that coming Saturday (I am a minister), spent five days getting a wedding gown, securing a photographer, putting together the wedding venue and wedding cake, sending out announcements, and then coming together on that Saturday with other friends to celebrate their marriage. You don't get to say that every day.

Looking down several levels of the ship

Would we take another cruise? Most definitely, if we could ever get the money together. Would we go back to Alaska? Most definitely, especially taking a wilderness trip as part of it. And then there's the money thing again. But, most importantly, did we enjoy ourselves on this trip to Alaska? Emphatically, yes!!

Let's do this again,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)