The Long, Long Train (Ride)

After a couple of suspenseful days in Rhode Island waiting for my passport card to arrive, we were finally able to board an Amtrak train. 

The train ran west through Connecticut, with nice views of water, spring greenery and many towns.

Soon we spotted the New York skyline.

And arrived at Penn Station in Manhattan. It's an amazing modern space. 

We had a three hour layover, so we walked around a few blocks and saw Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, and much more.

We found a cute Irish pub for lunch, with a waitress who was really from Ireland.

From there, the train headed north through the Hudson River Valley and even more beautiful scenery. 

We got off the train in Syracuse, New York, rented a car and drove to Kingston, Ontario.

Where we were welcomed by our good friends, Gord and Linda.

They have an amazing home they built themselves. 

It's on a lake north of Kingston and it was warm enough to take a tour on their pontoon boat.

We also toured downtown Kingston and the locks.

Ate some awesome poutine and crammed a lot of fun into two days! I'm so glad we were able to visit. 

On the way back down Lake Ontario, we found a cute lighthouse and walked along the beach. 

We took the train overnight across Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

Ending with a layover at Union Station in Chicago, a gigantic and gorgeous building. 

Once again, we walked around on a quiet Sunday morning and found a busy home-cooking restaurant for breakfast.

The Sears Tower was a few blocks away. It was the world's tallest building when I lived in a Chicago suburb in the 1970s, and I have been to the top. It's now called the Willis Tower.

After Chicago, the train went through Milwaukee and Wisconsin farm country, arriving in St. Cloud, Minnesota at 2 a.m.

Our friend picked us up later that day and had a rough few days ferrying us around because he also still works full-time! What a guy.

My friend and I talked and pulled carrots from the garden. We walked the dogs and went to visit her mom. It was a wonderful visit. 

There's still ice on the lakes that far north. 

Late Thursday night (actually, 1 a.m. Friday morning), we boarded the train for our longest stretch of the journey. By morning (with very little sleep), we were in North Dakota, which was pretty in spots, and a lot of open plains.

Eastern Montana was more of the same open country and we saw a lot of huge farms and fields. We also met some pretty cool people on the train and everyone was wondering if we would reach the mountains before dark.

We made it! At East Glacier, Montana the rail cars began snaking up through deep river valleys surrounded by towering peaks, and we enjoyed an hour or so of changing scenery before night descended.

We spent hours in the observation car, with views in every direction. 

Saturday morning we were halfway across eastern Washington and were soon following the Columbia River and other tributaries west and northwest.

Until we finally reached the apple orchards around Wenatchee and the mighty Cascades!

By 10 a.m. yesterday, we were safely delivered to Everett, north of Seattle, and look forward to a few days with family. 

Gotta go. To be continued!

Just About as Far East as You Can Go

 

After Cleveland, we headed to Dayton, Ohio to explore the history of aviation, starting with the surprise discovery of the bicycle shop that started Orville and Wilbur Wright on their road to flight. 

Next, we spent a few hours in the Air Force Museum. Sam wore his F-16 Hawaiian shirt, which seemed to match the exhibits. 

There were aircraft from all eras and included the Memphis Belle, a space shuttle, the Bockscar plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, and Air Force One, which carried the body of President Kennedy home from Dallas. It was sobering to walk through that one.

They had experimental aircraft. 

And a few fun things, too.

Sam's last visit here was as a young boy, after which his Mama took them to Spaghetti Warehouse to eat. We continued that tradition!

Driving across Pennsylvania, we detoured through Punxsutawney, home of the famous groundhog. 

It's a bucolic small town with other interesting residents, and we even saw the real groundhog, who lives in a burrow at the library. Funny story: just like in the Groundhog Day movie, we found ourselves returning to the same groundhog gift shop three times!

Next, we unexpectedly met up with Sam's driving buddy and I experienced four hours in a big rig on a real run. That truck is big, and I was glad to let Sam drive.

Also in the same area of Montgomery, New York, we found the old headquarters of one of the first motorcycle TV shows, Orange County Choppers. We hear the star, Paul Sr., moved to Florida a few years ago. 

We had just seen one of their builds, the Air Force bike, at the Air Force Museum. 

Unfortunately, since we wanted to deliver the car within a week, we just didn't have enough days to visit all of my Greenough family on Long Island. We hope to remedy that some time in the future. 

We continued to follow the path of spring blooms as we headed northeast. I'm really enjoying all the colors we don't see much in the desert. 

Our road trip ended in Westerly, Rhode Island where we were enthusiastically greeted by Kathie and Bill, and treated to as much seafood as we could enjoy. Which was a lot.

Bill showed us around his longtime home town, where he has worked and contributed to renovation of many parks and golf, maritime and military installations. 

We enjoyed hanging out with them where they graciously shared their home.

We also visited Sam's cousin George Allen in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where Sam's Mama grew up.

This is where Sam picked up a load at Gorton's Seafood in his semi-truck in 1999, the last time he saw George. 

We visited the Paper House in Rockport, which Sam visited as a boy. You can see the rolled up newspapers that make up the walls and furniture of almost the entire little home.

Finally, we connected with Fran and Brent in Mystic, Connecticut. Sam and Fran got to know each other when they both worked in the motorcycle industry, selling motorcycle parts. Facebook has kept us in touch, and we really enjoyed getting to know them in person.

Mystic was a fun little town, too.

That's it for today, folks. Next stop, New York City on an Amtrak train!

 

Road Trip!

 

Sam ended up staying out on the road for two and a half months. 

He drove safely through many, many snowstorms. 

And slimmed down as he went!

Meanwhile, I put up ceiling trim in the bedroom. 

Visited a donkey rescue.

And enjoyed the beginnings of spring at the ranch.

Then a few days ago, we headed out on our big Road Trip! We're driving our friend Kathie's car to the East Coast. 

Through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas panhandle (where we spotted the giant cross in Groom, Texas) and Oklahoma.

More than 24 hours on the road brought us to a beautiful spring day in Arkansas. 

Our first stop was Bull Shoals Lake, where they've had so much rain, they're releasing thousands of gallons of water into the White River. 

It was great to see friends Don and Linda and enjoy a cruise on their new pontoon boat. 

The warm weather brought spring blooms all the way up to Kansas City. 

Where we spent a good time visiting with Uncle Henry. I painted him a small picture of the tractor he gave us in 2015.

The following night found us catching up with the whole Keller gang in St. Louis, where they treated us to local favorite foods from that fair city.

We even met some of the younger generation.

And had a good view of the Gateway Arch on the way out of town. 

Our next stop was Cleveland, a city Sam has driven a big truck through many times, but I don't think I've ever been here. 

This may get me in trouble with Aunt Anne for posting this photo, but I want to commemorate our wonderful visit with her today. We haven't seen her since 2004.

The weather has turned cold and rainy with some snow, so I don't have a sunset tonight. But earlier today we spotted this fun Cleveland landmark, the Malley's Chocolates factory and store. My kind of place!

We hope to bring you our further travels in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Hopefully spring is coming in your neighborhood!