Tuesday, February 11, 2003. We are leaving early today for Jackson Hole, Wyoming in our little VW Cabrio convertible. We have been to all of the planned destinations, just not in the Winter. On skyauction.com, we rented a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for $317 for a week. I think we got a good deal. We are planning to ski. We found ski jackets for $5 at the local Beulaville thrift shop and new waterproof pants for $10 at Target. We already had hats and gloves. Now if we can just find cheap skis and boots to rent. Nancy is on Weight Watchers and will eat healthy on this trip-we will see! We don't expect any different food, except for a Bison Burger!We expect to make the 2,200 miles to Jackson Hole in four days. First night we stayed with Doug's niece and family in Nashville, TN.Wednesday,
February 12, 2003. Nice visit with family, then on to Lincoln, Nebraska. We drove all day and made it to Lincoln just in time to go to bed. Lincoln is one of the biggest cities in Nebraska (there aren't many) and is surrounded by farming and the plains. Not much to do there but go to bars, drink and wait for summer to arrive.
Thursday, February 13, 2003. We left Lincoln headed to Cheyenne, Wyoming. We arrived late afternoon and stayed at a nice Days Inn Motel with an indoor swimming pool. Motels have been about $40 per night with tax. We had supper in Cheyenne at the Plains Hotel, right downtown. It is on the national register. They had a Cowboy poet and singer entertaining in the lobby. We went to see Cowboy Jake, but enjoyed ourselves so much we stayed for dinner. They served us at a table in the lobby so we could continue to enjoy Cowboy Jake's singing and stories/poetry. Doug had french onion soup and OSSO BUCCO which is a lamb dish. Nancy had Salmon and Halibut. Seafood seems to be popular in the western states, even though the ocean is not nearby. Guess they are health-conscious!
Friday, February 14, 2003. We made it to Jackson Hole, Wyoming today and checked into our condo. Of course, I ran over another animal in Nebraska-it was already dead in the road when I hit it. I thought I had problems for 1,000 miles but when I had it checked out in Jackson Hole, there was minor damage. A oil change and a nail in a tire were the only problems. The condo is nice and clean. But, only 20 TV channels. But, we have a VCR so we can rent movies. No unusual food, but some good restaurants to try. We will cook in as well so NKO can stay on her Weight Watcher plan. This afternoon, NKO is out regaining her ski footing after 15 years absence. We have no plans for after Jackson but we still hope for Great Falls and the west coast. Of course, I can not find any cheap auctions.Nancy skied yesterday (2-17-03) and managed to stay upright, except for a fall on the ice in the parking lot. She is okay, just sore. Also, very reasonable-$9.00 ski rentals for 1/2 day and $15 lift ticket. It is nice to ski only the afternoon and not feel obligated to ski the whole day! Skiing comes back, just like riding a bicycle, after such a long absence. We had snow all day yesterday, light and fluffy. Also, lots of snow on Sunday which made for a scenic postcard picture in Jackson Hole. Another day of skiing for Nancy tomorrow after resting her bones today. Had lunch at "Junction 89" restaurant-real good. Nancy has lost 3 more lbs this week and is following her WW eating plan. We even brought the scales along to check on progress. We have been eating lunch out, spending about $12-15 per day. We have fixed several dinners at the condo. We even stopped at a Walmart Super Center before checking into our condo and stocked up on groceries. On 2/15, we went to a classical guitar concert at the Teton Village Musical Center. They have a small symphony and several music programs throughout the year for the Jackson Hole folks. In the afternoon on 2/15, we went to the "Cutter Races" sponsored by the local Shriner's Club. They raced "horse-drawn chariots" to race money for charity. It was real nice. On 2/17, we attended a lecture on Civil War Music at one of the Teton Village lodges. The director of the symphony prepared the lecture and played Civil War music from both the North and the South. It was a very interesting lecture. On 2/19, we attended the Jackson Hole Historical Society Potluck. We made banana pudding which was a real hit with everyone. After supper, they told stories about life in Jackson Hole in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Very fascinating and hard to believe how folks survived the rough winters in the mountains in those days. We ate at one especially good restaurant in Jackson Hole-Sweetwater's-we split a huge steak and had wonderful soup and appetizers. A nice restaurant in a log cabin with a fireplace-real romantic and cozy.
Friday, February 21, 2003. We left Jackson Hole this morning and headed to Great Falls, Montana. It was snowing and we only hoped we would get through the Teton Pass without being asked to put chains on the car. Of course, we had no chains for the car! We made it through the pass and drove on to Great Falls in the snow. We had lunch in Bozeman at a real good diner-good tuna noodle casserole. We arrived in Great Falls late afternoon and found a motel with an indoor heated swimming pool-only $45 a night. However, there was a casino attached to the motel and Doug had asked for the "players rate." He felt compelled to play some cards later in the evening. Not sure how much he lost (maybe $18), but the "players rate" was not as cheap as we had hoped when checking into the motel. We had the best dinner in Great Falls at Eddie's Supper Club. They had a piano player in the lounge, we sat in the dining room in a big circular booth and listened to the music. It was like something out of the 50's. The food was delicious. We again shared a steak and tried a couple of kinds of potatoes. A great evening in Great Falls!
Saturday, February 22, 2003. We got up early and headed to the Charles Russell Museum, our purpose for driving to Great Falls. The museum was wonderful. Charles Russell painted around the same time as Frederick Remington, another great western painter. Charles Russell lived in Great Falls most of his life and we saw his actual studio where he painted along with much of his work. We also visited the Lewis & Clark museum in Great Falls. A very nice museum dedicated to the Lewis & Clark expedition to find a passageway to the Pacific Ocean during Thomas Jefferson's presidency. One of the guys who worked at the museum grew up in Pink Hill, NC, about 5 miles from Beulaville-his name was Billy Maxwell and he has lived in Great Falls for about 10 years-went there to get a graduate degree and liked it so much he stayed. It was fiercely cold in Great Falls-10 below zero. The car lock on the driver's side of the car froze and we had to pick the lock to get it open. Of course, we broke the lock and now have to lock the car from the passenger side of the car-but at least the lock works. We drove through snowy mountains and snow-covered roads all afternoon headed to Washington state. We were the only car headed in our direction for 160 miles through the Beartoon and Bitteroot mountains-no one passed us and we didn't pass anyone-we made our own tracks on the snow-covered road. But, we finally arrived at Clarkston, Washington and stayed there for the night.
Sunday, February 23, 2003. We got up early and headed to Portland, Oregon. Once in Oregon, we put the top down on the car and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful scenery. We arrived in Portland in the afternoon and drove around. Found a nice Ramada Inn with a special rate of $40 per night. We drove by our old apartment where we lived in Portland in 1994-95. We attended a concert by the Portland Symphony in the evening and ate oyster stew at a favorite restaurant in downtown Portland.
Monday, February 24, 2003. Nancy weighed herself this morning and lost another 2 lbs. We headed toward the Pacific Ocean and turned the car south at Lincoln, Oregon (on the coast). We drove all day up and down the winding coastline of the Pacific Coast Highway and arrived in Eureka, California late that night. We stayed in Eureka for the night-Motel 6-about $40. We stayed in several Motel 6's and like them in that they are always the same, clean and inexpensive. However, since they are usually located near freeways and interstates we have to make sure we get a quiet room "in the back" without traffic noise. Doug was very sensitive to the road noise in motels on this trip, but we were able to block out all noises with the fan and a/c units.
Tuesday, February 25. We left Eureka and continued to drive next to the ocean on Pacific Coast Highway 1. It is a beautiful drive and we saw places there was no one for miles around-only us, the ocean and the mountains-so beautiful! We stayed in Watsonville, CA (just south of Santa Cruz) after enjoying a spectacular dinner at a restaurant in a small town just off PCH1. Artichokes are grown in this area and we had fresh artichoke soup and lamb chops with artichokes. The restaurant, Duarte's, was out of the way, but a great find in our "Road Food" book. This book was written by a couple who travel all over the US looking for good local food and we ate at several of their recommendations and were never disappointed.
Wednesday, February 26, 2003. We drove all day again, enjoying the scenery. We stayed at the Motel 6 in Carpeteria, just south of Santa Barbara.Thursday, February 27, 2003We are now in Los Angeles. Stopped at Nancy's favorite restaurant in Malibu-Gladstone's for fish tacos and chowder. Visited the Getty Museum, a beautiful museum overlooking Beverly Hills-a real architectural beauty. Also, went shopping at Century City shopping center. Had dinner that evening with Doug's niece and family. It was great to visit with them. We headed out from Palos Verdes (near Long Beach) about 10:00 p.m. and drove to Carlsbad, about 25 miles north of San Diego. We stayed at a Motel 6 and rested up for our big day in San Diego.
Friday, February 28, 2003. We drove to San Diego and went downtown to drive by our old apartment. We stopped and visited with the folks in the rental office. Two women we used to know from the rental office still work there. They told us our old apartment had just become available and we could rent it for $1,600 a month for a minimum of 3 months. When we left San Diego in 1998, we were paying $950 a month. Seems that everyone wants to live in downtown San Diego and our old apartment complex is one of the popular places to live. We had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Chula Vista (just south of San Diego). The shrimp burritos are still delicious at Karina's, but the restaurant has grown bigger, with a new menu and of course, higher prices! Seems everybody has discoverd our old "hole in the wall" Mexican restaurant and it is no longer a "hole in the wall."
After deciding not to stay in San Diego for an extended period of time, we headed east to Tuscon and El Paso, TX. We made it all the way to El Paso rather late that night.Saturday, March 1, 2003We got up in El Paso and Doug asked me if I would like to go to the Copper Canyons of Mexico, enticing me with talk of a beautiful resort with honeymoon suites with fireplaces. Of course, I say "yes." We stopped in El Paso and got Mexican car insurance for $15 for two days and headed south of the border.
About 30 miles into Mexico, we had to stop and register the car (a legal requirement if you plan to travel into Mexico's interior). Well, it took about two hours of waiting in line to get the car registered. At least we were able to sit on chairs while waiting and it became comical watching how slow the three clerks could go processing each person in the line. Finally, we were on our way to an adventure. Doug had picked up a brochure in the tourist office that had pictures of a gourmet restaurant in Guerrero, Mexico, about 2 hours from our destination of the Copper Canyons. We arrived in Guerrero about 7:30 p.m. and proceeded to ask directions to the restaurant. We could not follow the directions given at the local gas station, so we went back and a local taxi driver told us to follow him (for $2 US)) and we would take us to the restaurant. We drove back into the country, along a dusty, bumpy road and finally to the gates of the restaurant. A man was just closing the gates and said the restaurant was closed. But, he then said to drive onto the property so we did. At the door of the restaurant, Doug talked with someone who didn't speak English and they said the restaurant was closed. Then a woman came to the door who spoke English and said she would open the restaurant for us. So, we were treated to the best meal cooked just for us. Homemade goat and cow cheese, homemade bread and rolls, apple soup, chicken breasts with different apple sauces. It turns out we were in the area where all the apples in Mexico are grown, the state of Chiwahwah. The meal was fabulous and only $40, including tip. The woman who managed the restaurant recommended a local motel in town as it was now too late for us to drive up into the mountains to the Copper Canyons. We checked in to the Hotel Alicia, which was clean and comfortable and only $24 US for the night. While NKO was watching TV in the room (DAC was in the bathroom), the TV channels started changing. We found out the satellite dish was connected to all the TV's, but the remote control for all the TV's was in the lobby and the night clerk was changing channels while watching TV. So, we watched whatever he watched! Of course, we had no remote control in our room-not even sure the TV was a color TV!
Sunday, March 2, 2003. We got up and headed to the Copper Canyons, about a 2 hour drive from Guerrera. It was beautiful, but we had to go through several small towns without paved roads and big bumps in the middle of the road to slow traffic down. The Copper Canyons rival our Grand Canyon, but are not as easy to see unless you take hiking trips into the mountains. We visited the nice resort with honeymoon suites and fireplaces in the room that Doug had enticed me with to visit Mexico, but at $200 a night for a room, we didn't stay there. The area is frequented by wealthy Americans who take a bus from Chiwauhwa to the Copper Canyons and pay upwards of $700 for the privilege. We had seen the Copper Canyons for a fraction of the cost-our $24 motel room and gas for the car! After touring the Copper Canyons, we were anxious to get back to the US. So, we drove all afternoon and through the evening, finally arriving at the border in Presidio, TX at 10:30 p.m. We drove on to Odessa, TX and stayed at the Motel 6. Our little VW was starting to chug and made a creaking noise. We weren't sure what the problem was, but we wanted to get it home to fix it rather than be stranded along the way waiting for parts.Monday,
March 3,2003. We woke up in Odessa, TX and drove all day until 1:00 a.m. all the way to Nashville, TN and stayed at the Motel 6 near the airport. The care was chugging and creaking more and more so it was imperative we get home. But, if it had decided to stop on us, at least we were in a big city where it might be fixed or towed easily.
Tuesday, March 4, 2003We drove all day and arrived in Beulaville around 7:30 p.m. The VW had made it even though we were exhausted. Nancy lost 6 lbs while we were gone, a total of 15 lbs since January 9, in spite of all the good food we ate.Wednesday, March 5, 2003We took the VW to the local mechanic and found out we had a busted right front wheel bearing-no wonder it was creaking and crunching! It was fixed and is as good as new. Also, we have to replace the windshield as several stones hit us while traveling through snow country in Montana and Wyoming and caused a big crack on the driver's side of the window. As previously mentioned, the lock on the passenger side of the car froze and broke in Montana so that is still to be fixed. But, all in all, after 6,000 miles, the little VW Cabrio took us on another fun trip to see some beautiful sites!
The cost per day was:
Housing $42
Resturants and Grocery $30
Admissions $12
Gas $30
Additionally, the car required about $600 in repairs from the trip. A rental car would have been cheaper but:
1.Could not go to mexico
2. Some of the damage may not be covered by insurance
3. No rag-top sunshine trip down the California coast
