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Kugs on the road

49 Blog Entries
5 Trips
158 Photos

Trips:

Pacific NW 2011
Florida 2011
Texas 2K10
Gulf Coast 2014
Appalachia 2013

Shorthand link:

http://www.blogabond.com/rowt




Donner, Party of 5... oops to late, 4

Carson City, United States


Folsom Prison
Back to a little hit & run tourism today. First stop was The Folsom Prison Museum. Not the best prison museum I've been to, Yes, I've been to others. One of their big displays was a 9 foot tall Farris wheel that a prisoner made with over 250,000 toothpicks. I guess he had some extra time on his hands.


Bonnie & Clyde Death Car
Next was the Bonnie & Clyde Death Car. Yes the actual car they were driving when they were killed by a Police ambush in Louisiana. In hindsight it probably would have been better if I took the picture of the side with the bullet holes. Trust me, they're there.


Donner Party Memorial
So, did you hear the one about the cannibal that passed his Mother in the woods... sorry, I had to make the joke. On the site is the monument and a small museum. There is also a large construction project going on next to the museum. Perhaps they're building a diner or snack bar, about 150 years to late for that. Seriously though, the memorial is well done, there are plenty of artifacts on display found at the site. As well as plenty of historical information to explain what led up to what happened here. One interesting note, the base of the monument is 22 feet tall. The snow that stranded the Donner party was also 22 feet deep.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on September 17, 2011 from Carson City, United States
from the travel blog: Pacific NW 2011
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A quiet day driving through the mountains

Weed, United States


Pacfic Ocean
I started my day stepping out of my Motel room and walking over and watching the Ocean for a while. Then I spent the rest of the day driving through the mountains into northern California.


Entering Weed, CA
I stopped for the night in the town of Weed, CA. Although the town does have a sense of humor with slogans like "weed like to welcome you". There are some serious issues here. It seems that about 95% of the town suffers from Glaucoma, but they do have a doctor here that will write them a prescription for that. I think the desk clerk at my hotel had really bad Glaucoma. I had dinner at a family BBQ restaurant next to my hotel, probably the worst meal I have had on this trip. I had the Ribs; they were dry, full of fat, just awful. The odd thing was the waitress never asked how things were. I think she knew. I also think the cook may have had Glaucoma too.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on September 16, 2011 from Weed, United States
from the travel blog: Pacific NW 2011
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The Spruce Goose

Yachats, United States


Spruce Goose
First stop today was at The Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, OR. The Centerpiece of this museum is Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. Centerpiece is a bit of an understatement; The Spruce Goose fills the entire building. It has a wingspan larger than a football Field. The tail of the plane is as tall as a 5 Story building. The cockpit is 30 feet off the ground. The silver plane in the lower right of the picture is a DC-3 that is parked under the wing of the Spruce Goose. There is also a B-17 (same plane as the Memphis Bell) parked under the tail. Basically, This plane is Huge. Sure there are other planes made now days that are bigger, but remember 2 things. First this plane is made of wood, not some lightweight alloy like aluminum. Second, this is a seaplane, this plane is designed to take off and land in the water. Not some smooth runway. The rest of the museum was fairly cool also. One thing they do that I haven't seen in other Aviation Museums is for a few dollars more you could climb inside the B-17 display. I was fortunate enough to get about a 15 minute one on one tour of the plane. Standing inside the plane gives you a new appreciation for how difficult conditions were for the crew of the Memphis Bell and the other B-17s.


45th Parallel
Next stop was the 45th Parallel, Why? Because it's there... I've stood on the Artic Circle, The Center of the contiguous United States, The Southern most point of the contiguous United States, So why not the 45th.


Oregon Sunset
I ended my day watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. I know this isn't the best sunset I've photographed, but anytime you can end your day walking 100 feet from your hotel room and watching the sunset on the Pacific is a good day.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on September 15, 2011 from Yachats, United States
from the travel blog: Pacific NW 2011
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Mt. St. Helens

Newberg, United States


Mt. St. Helens
I spent most of my day driving through the Cascade Mountains. Of course the highlight of the day was a stop at Mt. St. Helens. Most of the way there it wasn't looking good, the skies were overcast and the clouds were hanging low. The closer I got to the Mountain the thinner the clouds got. As I pulled into the parking area the Sky opened up and it became clear and sunny. I was extremely surprised both by the amount of area that is still devastated 30 years after the eruption, and by the amount of new growth that has been planted in the blast area around the Mountain.


Burried A Frame House
To show you how much rock, ash & mud came from the eruption. This A frame House was built before the eruption at ground level about 30 Miles from the Mountain. After the eruption the lower level of the House was several feet below what is now ground level.


Bigfoot
Of course one of the strangest Phenomena is how the hot ash from the eruption petrified this Bigfoot.



permalink written by  Kugs on the road on September 14, 2011 from Newberg, United States
from the travel blog: Pacific NW 2011
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Breakfast, A Henge, Jimi, Ships & a Bouncy Bridge

Olympia, United States


A Henge or not a Henge
I think this is a Henge. It dosn't call itself a henge, It in fact has no name, no plaque to explain it's existence. It's just a group of squared arches sitting in the middle of an office park. It's the office park Henge.


Greak Hobo
But Before the Henge was the breakfast, I stopped at Voula's Offshore Cafe. Yup, Another DDD stop, Where else would I eat. I ordered the Greek Hobo. Greek sausage, onions, mushrooms, hash browns, and eggs scrambled together and topped with Feta cheese. It was good, but not great. I thought about ordering the Chinese Pancake, which is a plate sized pancake with an egg and chopped ham dropped into the uncooked side then flipped. But after my Florida trip, I'm still not ready for pancakes.


Jimi Hendrix Grave
When I started out for the Cemetery I selected the Jimi Hendrix folder on my MP3 player. As I turned into the Cemetery Purple Haze started playing. I wasn't surprised that it was a very peaceful and tastefully done memorial, But I was surprised by the 70 year old couple from Minnesota that were taking pictures of each other at the memorial. As they drove off I swear I heard Foxy Lady blasting from their car.


USS Turner Joy
Then I took a drive up to the USS Turner Joy A Destroyer commissioned in 1959, Same year I was Commissioned. The Turner Joy's claim to fame is that it sank the first enemy ship in the Vietnam war essentially bringing the US into that fight.


USS Independence
On the way back from the Turner Joy I drove past 4 decommissioned Air Craft Carriers that are in storage as the "Ready Fleet". The one pictured here is the USS Independence; next to her are the USS Kitty Hawk, The USS Constellation and the USS Ranger. There have been requests to have the Ranger and the Kitty Hawk donated as floating Museums, but so far the constellation and the independence are scheduled for scrapping.


Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Do you remember seeing the footage of the bridge in 1940 that twisted so bad in the wind that it destroyed itself. Well I ended my day driving over the replacement for that bridge. It seemed fairly solid.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on September 13, 2011 from Olympia, United States
from the travel blog: Pacific NW 2011
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Hitting The Road Again

Seattle, United States


Pacific NW 2011 Map
Well, I'm back on the road again. I flew to Seattle this morning by way of Newark, NJ (Why do I always end up in Newark?). The plan is to tour parts of the Pacific North West, as well as a few other area's along the way. Some of the highlights of this trip should include Mt. St. Helens, Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, The Bonneville Salt Flats, The Great Salt Lake and lots of good food. Of Course I have a few surprises up my sleeve too.


Space Needle
My Flight landed in Seattle at 12noon, I picked up my rental car (a 2012 Cadillac Escalade with 8 Miles on it). Then I headed to the Space Needle, I'm sure in 1962 this was an engineering marvel. Today, not so much, but it is still cool. It just seemed dwarfed by the surrounding buildings.


View of Seattle
You do get a nice view of Seattle from up there. How many Starbucks can you spot in this photo?


Bizzarro Italian Cafe
Then I checked into my hotel and went to diner at Bizzarro Italian Cafe. You know your in for a unique experience when your greeted with a sign that says "Nobody is Fine with water". Then you start to notice the rest of the decor, including a fully set table hanging upside-down from the ceiling. I believe this restaurant was started by a bunch of theatre actors that found they were getting more experiance running restaurants than they were at acting. So they opened Bizzarro.


Clams with Linguinie
WOW, What a diner. This has to be one of the best meals I have ever eaten. I had the Clam Linguini, fresh Manila clams From the Puget sound tossed with House made linguini in a white wine butter sauce with crispy House cured pancetta and roasted jalapeno. I normally would shy away from someting with jalapenos, but this was the perfect amount of heat.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on September 12, 2011 from Seattle, United States
from the travel blog: Pacific NW 2011
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Back home again

Syracuse, United States

Well I decided to skip the submarine tour and head straight home. So after a quick 6 hour drive I arrived home about 3:30. Unloaded the car, picked up Sebastian, and returned the rental car.

The Final tally was: 4125 Miles in 75 hrs 28 min of drive time averaging 55MPH

I Hope you enjoyed following my trip. I’m sure we’ll do it again.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on May 8, 2011 from Syracuse, United States
from the travel blog: Florida 2011
tagged NY
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It’s cold, The sky is gray, and it's starting to rain, I must be near Syracuse.

Columbus, United States


It is what it says on the building....
The final stop on our tour... Maybe. I've wanted to make a trip to this museum for several years. I've always heard it is the best Air Museum that there is, and I do agree. I have been to a lot of other Air Museums and this one dwarfs them all, including the Smithsonian and the Naval Aviation Museum. I swear they must have one of every plane the Air Force has ever flown, and a few that they shot down. There are three hangers full of planes. To give you an idea of how big these hangers are. In one hanger they have a B52 Bomber (a huge plane) plus about 200 other planes, all in the one hanger.


B29 BOCKSCAR
In the WWI - WWII hanger they have the B29 Bockscar. This is the plane that dropped the second Atomic bomb on Nagasaki that ended WWII.


B2 Stealth Bomber
In the Cold War hanger they have a B2 Stealth Bomber. I have never seen one of these up close before. I was surprised of how big this plane really is, and considering the shape of the plane it's hard to believe this plane could fly.


Apollo 15
They also have a section for Rockets and Space exploration. They have the Apollo 15 capsule on display because that was the only Apollo mission with all Air Force pilots.
After about 4 hours of exploring this museum (and I was hurrying through it) I hit the road again. I am now about 6 hours from Syracuse. If the weather is good tomorrow I might make a quick stop in Cleveland to see a Navy Submarine, But then it's back home.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on May 7, 2011 from Columbus, United States
from the travel blog: Florida 2011
tagged OH
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Some Civil War History

Loudon, United States


Andersonville Prisoner of War Camp
Once again I started my day at a closed Museum. Don't people in the south know that when the sign on the door says you open at 10am someone needs to be there to open the door at 10am. So I drove an hour down the road to the site of the Andersonville Prisoner of War Camp. Although the picture looks like an empty Field, on this site was the largest Civil War Prisoner of War Camp. Andersonville was only operated for about 15 months, but during that time it held 45,000 prisoners. Due to the overcrowding and the lack of sanitation and food, during those 15 months 12,920 prisoners died. Those that did survive were not in very good shape. One of the survivors, Sgt. David Kennedy of the 9th Ohio Cavalry wrote that "... it takes 7 of it's ocupiants to make a shadow". (his spelling not mine)


Andersonville National Cemetery
Of course with a 29% mortality rate, they needed a cemetery next to the prison. This cemetery is not only the resting place of the nearly 13,000 prisoners from Andersonville. There are also over 800 other civil war veterans interred here.



CSS Ram Jackson
After Andersonville I drove to Columbus, GA. To the Civil War Maritime Museum. The centerpiece of this Museum is the recovered Hull of the CSS Ironclad Ram Jackson. Confederate soldiers scuttled this 223’ Ironclad ship in 1865 to keep the Union from getting a hold of it. The remains of the ship were discovered and recovered in 1963 and are now on display in the museum.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on May 6, 2011 from Loudon, United States
from the travel blog: Florida 2011
tagged GA
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Heading North

Ashburn, United States


Mini Mt. Rushmore
First stop today was the Presidents Hall of Fame in Clermont, FL. It was closed. Fortunately they had a few displays outside. The Mt. Rushmore, Lincoln Memorial, and Statue of Liberty were well done. The Limo of President Regan was not so good. From what I've read though they have some very cool displays inside. Their replica of the White House has been on several national TV shows including Today and GMA. It has also been displayed at the Smithsonian. But I didn't get to see those things... They were closed.


"Big Daddy" Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing
Next stop, Big Daddy's. The Museum of Drag Racing is not just about Don Garlits, It's also the Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Although a lot of the dragsters here are Don's There are Dragsters and funny cars that have been donated by a lot of other drivers. The Dragster in the picture is the one that almost Killed Don when the transmission exploded. That incident was the inspiration for the development of the rear engine Dragster. I also got a very cool souvenir from the museum, a used rear wheel bearing from Don's 1940 Rat Rod, Personally engraved with his autograph.


Peanuts!
I then drove several hours North Crossed into Georgia and settled for the night in Ashburn. The home of a really big peanut. I have a busy day tomorrow. I want to hit three museums in Southern Georgia and then head North and try to get to Dayton, OH by Saturday night at the latest. Saturday morning would be better, but I have to be there by Saturday night.

permalink written by  Kugs on the road on May 5, 2011 from Ashburn, United States
from the travel blog: Florida 2011
tagged GA
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