Day 8--Aurora, CO

Started our day for the first time at a reasonable hour (9am) with a perfectly delightful breakfast in Hays at The Paisley Pear which we scoped out last night after dinner at Gella's. Then on to another very straightforward drive of 300 miles. That seems like exactly what we can handle. With another time change under our belt we arrived in the Denver area around 3:30 to the warm and welcoming arms of Penny and Dennis Lyon, longtime friends of Linda's. Unfortunately, I immediately fell prey to the dreaded altitude sickness! I didn't even make it to dinner. Penny and Dennis' son, a doctor, was so kind to come check me out (clear lungs, normal heart rate) and off to bed I went and stayed until 7 o'clock this morning. Not completely cured, but well on my way. Now we have to see if Linda's body is going to fight this or not. That remans to be seen. We'll keep you posted! We planned on staying an extra night here in Aurora and what a good decision that was! Today we will do our laundry and plot the rest of our trip. The hot springs at Glenwood Springs, CO seems like a sure bet for our next stop, after that we're game for anything (except perhaps not any further altitude!)

Welcome Center

Beat out these storm clouds just before Denver!

Day 7--Hays, KS

We left Patty and Steve's about 11am, (hours after they both left for work--thanks again for your warm hospitality!) and made a quick visit to the GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) headquarters which happens to be in Lawrence, KS. Linda's husband, Steve, has his name all over this place, having been a past president as well as the current recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. A beautiful spot that was recently renovated. We then spent the next four hours or so pushing on through much of Kansas. And while the rep for Kansas is flat, flat, flat, we did drive thru a bit of the Flnt Hills which are soft and rolling and so very very green...that coupled with the big sky and giant cloud formations made for an all around pleasant drive. That, in spite of the 95 degree weather! Arrived in time to actually enjoy the town of Hays, a small but charming college town of approximately 21,000. Dinner at Gella's, where we enjoyed a Kansas City strip steak. I know I know, I don't usually eat steak, but when in Kansas, right? BTW, it was absolutely delicious! And Linda, who has never ordered a beer, broke from tradition and enjoyed a Lemon Beer straight from Gella's own in-house brewery. Also, very tasty!  Today, we cross into Colorado, to our evening's destination in Aurora, where we will be staying two nights with Linda's dear friends, the Lyon's. Oh, we will also hit the 2000-mile mark today! So far this trip has been a piece of cake, colds and all! (Though we have subtitled the trip: Wheezing Across America!!)

GCSAA 

With Steve...

Grandma Hoerner (organics)

Dinner in Hays, KS

Local lemon beer!

Day 6--Lawrence, KS

Hard to drag ourselves from our spa accomodations this morning, but were finally successful by 12 noon! Spent the entire afternoon crossing the state of Missouri (and the Missouri River) from St. Louis to Kansas City with occasional 30 sec bursts of rain and a quick stop at DQ for old time's sake! Arrived on Patty and Steve Metzler's doorstep in Lawrence, KS by 5:30pm. Just in time for the delicious spread Patty had prepared for us! Kansas is a big state, we hope to cover most of it today, stopping in Hays tonight. See you there!

Missouri River

Big sky, big clouds

Getting close!

The Metzler's 'hood'--Lawrence, KS

Old friends...

Thank you!

Day 5--ST. Louis, MO

We really moseyed our way into St. Louis today, stopping to see the World's Largest Windchimes (made in Woodstock, VT) and the World's Largest Golf Tee (with a nod to you Steve Cadenelli!) both in 

Casey, Illinois. Then on to Mile High Pies at the Blue Springs Cafe in Highland also Illinois, which is funny as we were unaware that our day's trip even had us in Illinois at all! Finally arrived in St. Louis at 3 pm which was our first time change. We headed right up to the Gateway Arch. Quite the impressive structure, hard to believe it was designed in 1947. And the view from the top! The Mississippi, the Eads Bridge, all a big wow! We had to make our first itinerary adjustment though, since we were both far too tired to push on to Rolla tonight. So thanks to Priceline, we stayed in a fabulous five star Westin right in town. (Our room window overlooks not only the Arch but the Busch Stadium where the Cardinals were playing the Yankees last night!) Don't even ask how I figured that out, but Linda knows a lot mre than I do and she picked right up on all th Yankee tshirts in town! Alas, stayng here meant canceling our trip to the Truman Library in Independence, we'll just have to do that another time. Now, onward

and westward to Kansas and a quick visit with Patty and Steve in Lawrence where we will spend the night...

Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie--Blue Springs Cafe, Highland, IL (as seen on the Food Network on Best Thing I Ever Ate))

World's Largest Windchimes--Casey, IL

Below...

Gateway Arch, St. Louis. MO

Linda at the very top!

Day 4--Terre Haute, IN

Everyday we get a little closer to being able to post our photos--honest! Alas, after spendng far too much time on this, we have to put our blog to bed again without a single photo...We did have a fantastic day though, photos or no. After some trial and error and the guidance of a very helpful local, we did indeed find the Rankin House, a special spot completely worth the effort. You'll see if we ever do get said photos to post! Thanks to Eleanor Gottesman for the tip. (Without which we would NEVER have even known to get off the beaten track to look for ths place, let alone find it.) After a very peaceful hour or so on the high perch of this historic site, we spent the next 50 miles driving the Ohio River Scenic Byway. Our next stop was an Apple store in Cincinnati where even though we spent nearly two hours, we didn't have much success. A bit drained from the airless mall environment, we drove right through Indianapolis and straight on to Terre Haute, our final destination for today. A quick stop at Best Buy (before dinner) left us certain we'd licked the photo problem, but as is often the case between computer savvy folks and those of us a little less so, once we arrived back at the hotel the photos were nowhere to be found! Ah well, tomorrow's another day...

Day 3--Maysville, KY

Somehow our 'Morning in Morgantown' lasted until noon and we couldn't even tell you how! But we had an even lighter drive today (300 miles and even less traffic) and arrived at our destination in Maysville, KY at 7pm. Never heard of Maysville? Neither had we until my sister, Eleanor, recommended The Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio. This historic site was part of the Underground Railroad and overlooks the Ohio River where we arrived too late for a tour, but hope to rectify that in the morning. Our beautiful drive across southern Ohio followed the Appalachian Highway nearly the entire way. Heading to our hotel in Maysville, we crossed a spectacular bridge, pics of which we hope to post tomorrow after we've visited the Apple Store in Cincinnati or Indianapolis and get our phone camera and our mini iPad synced! Running out now for a bite of dinner at someplace called the Tumbleweed Grill--probably the McDonald's of KY, but for now, ignorance is bliss! 'See' you tomorrow...

Day 2--Morgantown, WV

Left Philadelphia on the late side after a wonderful visit with the cuzzes. (Thanks Marc, Bonnie, Sarah and Mark!) and then a two-hour visit with the Mayers' Aunt Miriam. Left at 1:30pm with our Philly cheesesteaks in hand, the quintessential Philadelphia send off! Had a much lighter drive today (less miles and considerably lest traffic!) through western PA (lots of beautiful farmland) into a little snippet of Maryland where we very quickly slipped into West Virginia. Spent the night in Morgantown. (Yes, Joni Mitchell's 'Morning Morgantown.') Still working on the photo connect and getting into our evening stopping place before 8pm! It will come...

Linda loved Miriam!

As do I!

Western PA

Maryland

West VIrginia

Day 1--Philadelphia

It's the first day of the holiday weekend, so what did we expect? Took us 12 hours of driving to go a mere 300 miles or so, but we made it to our destination (Naomi's cousins' house) where we happily collapsed after a yummy Thai meal. We will do tomorrow differently as far as hours in the car and all. This trip will evolve as we go along, for sure, right now Linda and I just can't believe our good fortune to be taking this trip at all. Uninterrupted 'us' time--what could be better?! We'll post a host of photos once we consult with Tara Cadenelli and figure out why we can't seem to access the photos we're taking!

Portland to Boston, first leg...

Louise waiting for her Thelma!

Made it!

Reunited...

First stop with the cuzzes! Thank you, Marc. Bonnie, Sarah and Marc!

Join us on our journey....

My high school friend of nearly 50 yrs, Linda Cadenelli, is moving to Indio, CA and needs to get her car  there from Massachusetts. Hence the 'purpose' of our trip, though not the real reason, since Linda could have hired a driver to transport it, but then what fun would that be? Driving across the center of the United States for 2+ weeks seemed infinitely more interesting--so off we go! We are leaving Friday, May 23, and must reach our destination no later than June 8, as I've booked tickets back to Maine on June 9. So wish us luck and follow along if you are so inclined. We'd love to have you along for the ride!