Paint, Lovely Paint

Oh, how I love interior house painting.

I really do want to update this daily.. Maybe when all the painting is done.

In the meantime, you can pass the time by browsing over the entries from our trip.. Found under July Road Trip on the right.

4,761 Miles & 12 States

Today we woke up in Indianapolis to this wonderful weather..

On the way home, we stopped for lunch in Springfield, Ohio..

It continued to storm most of the way home.

Pulling in the driveway, we drove 4,761.1 miles and hit 12 states.

Ohio:

Indiana:

Illinois:

Iowa:

Minnesota (no photo)

South Dakota:

Wyoming:

Montana:

Colorado:

Nebraska:

Missouri:

Kansas:

It was hard to judge color and sharpness on the laptop I had with me on the trip. Over the next few days I plan to go through the photos and re-edit them at home. Once I’ve got my favorites from the whole batch, I’ll post them.

St Louis

Today we woke up in Hannibal, Missouri.

We went and visited some Mark Twain historical sites. Then it was off to
St Louis to see the Gateway Arch.

As the sun sets over Indy..

..we get ready to head home tomorrow.

Missouri

Today we woke up in Lincoln, Nebraska. After breakfast, we headed up to the Strategic Air and Space Museum. .

They had some pretty nifty stuff, like this SR-71..

..and a B-17..

..and a B-52, including a cockpit you could climb into..

They also had some nifty old SAC comm and missile silo launch-control consoles..

..and some other nifty stuff..

After the museum, we headed for Missouri, but we had to cross this toll bridge from Nebraska first..

We drove completely across Missouri..

..to Hannibal, the home of Mark Twain.

Sorry, no sunset photo tonight.

Kearney

We woke up in North Platte, Nebraska.

As I gassed up the van, I noticed a sign hanging at the gas station..

Indeed.

We headed east from North Platte towards Kearney. The view from lunch at Applebee’s was a bit different than we’re used to..

After lunch, we headed over to a train and trail museum. They had a neat old locomotive and caboose..

Then it was off to the archway museum..

From Kearney it was on to Lincoln..

Another city, another sunset..

Tomorrow we head towards St. Louis.

North Platte

Today we left Estes Park and headed for North Platte, Nebraska. Nothing too exciting to photograph.

We stopped in Greeley, CO and saw a neat old Union Station train depot..

Once we got to North Platte, we headed into town for dinner. On the way we passed a Nebraska hobby shop..

We decided to eat at the A+W.. We don’t have these around us at home..

The interior decor is pretty nifty..

Here’s tonight’s sunset over North Platte..

Tomorrow it’s on to Lincoln.

Rocky Mountain

Today we woke up in Estes Park, CO. We spent most of the day in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The skies were overcast, but I was still able to get some interesting shots.

Once again, my penchant for all things flowing water is evident..

As we made our way up into the mountains..

..there were many opportunities for nice shots of the mountains..

..and some wildlife..

I wish this one came out better.. she was about 8 feet from me.. oh well..

It was quite scenic at Sprague Lake..

After a long day in the park, we headed down out of the mountains back into town for dinner..

And located the doggie park so Ike could run around like an idiot with other dogs for awhile.. (sorry, no photo)

Another day, another sunset…which we tried to capture back up in the park, but the clouds didn’t cooperate..

..not too bad. Tomorrow, we start the trek back east. First stop, North Platte, NE.

Colorado

Nothing too exciting today. We drove from Cheyenne to Estes Park, Colorado.

We stopped in Ft. Collins for breakfast..

Once we got to Estes, we walked around the town looking in the shops and admiring the scenery..

Again, another city, another sunset..

Tomorrow we head into Rocky Mountain National Park.

Cheyenne

This morning we woke up in Casper, WY. We slept in a little later than the past several days.. driving around two large national parks for 4 days wore us out a bit. Happily we only had a relatively short drive today from Casper to Cheyenne.

We stopped a few times along the way to snap some photos of the scenery..

Ike is becoming quite the well-travelled puppy dog..

Once we got to Cheyenne, we found out there wasn’t much to do. There’s an Air Force base here that was home to one of the first ballistic missle groups, but they don’t give tours anymore.

There’s also a big Union Pacific railroad depot in town..

..but they’re renovating the museum, so that’s closed too.

In a park near our hotel, they have a Union Pacific Big Boy on display..

..said to be one of the largest steam locomotives ever built.

They had an old west shootout in downtown Cheyenne..

Tonight we’re at the Hitching Post..

Another city, another sunset..

..tomorrow, Estes Park, Colorado.

Early Morning

This morning we decided to get up at 0445hrs and try and get some photos of the mountains at first light. We weren’t disappointed..

Then, after going back to sleep for a few hours we headed out for Casper, WY.

We stopped for lunch in Dubois (doo-boys, not doo-bwah), WY..

We went a little out of our way to see the hot springs in Thermopolis, WY..

It was ok.. difficult to photograph.

Then we continued on towards Casper.. What a pretty drive..

Except for the road construction.. and in Wyoming, when they say road work, they mean it..

So tonight we’re in Casper (no photos, sorry). Tomorrow it’s on to Cheyenne.