Roadside Oddities and Attractions
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| Bishop's Castle |
Bishop's Castle in Rye, CO is one of the largest roadsides we have been to, and oh what fun it was. Up on Cripple Creek we found fun mining memorabilia, Dinosaurs in Cañon City, and beautiful Murals and Art Sculptures in Pueblo, CO. (all covered in the Pikes Peak link in National and States Parks)
In Boulder, CO we watched a Unicycle Riding Juggler and saw the house from Mork and Mindy. In Lyons, CO we hung out with a Banjo Player, and one of the things we found in Longmount, CO was a Muffler Man holding a pitch fork. (covered in the Rocky Mountain link in National and State Parks)
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| Mt Rushmore ~ Utah |
In Salina, UT a Guard Tower is a memorial to three German POW's killed there. The Home of the "Ho-Made" Pies is in Mt. Carmel, UT and replicas of Mount Rushmore and Stonehenge were found in Salt Lake City, UT. Plus a few others. We also visited the home offices of doTerra and Young Living Oils. (covered in the Three stops in Utah link in National and State Parks)
The
Hole in the Rock gift shop in
Moab, UT is quite unique and was once the home of
Albert and Gladys Christensen. The
Movie Museum at the
Red Cliffs Lodge was fun.
(covered in the Arches National Park link in National and State Parks)
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| Ramona |
A fun roadside in
Portland, OR brought back memories of when Katrina was little. The sculptures of
Ramona, Henry, and
Ribsy The Dog are beloved characters of
Beverly Clearly. A more serious one was
The Grotto, Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother. We also found a
Giant Candle in
Scappose, OR. (covered in the Worked our way to Alaska link in National and State Parks)
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| Heavy Metal Band |
Reno, NV offered up lots of fun neon signs and we found a
"Heavy Metal" Band in
Truckee, CA. Just outside of
Beatty, NV is the ghost town of
Rhyolite and the
Goldwell Open Air Museum (covered in the Nevada link in National and State Parks)
Pie Town, NM is a roadside oddity all in itself, and delicious
pie to boot. A Knight in Shinning Armor, the Statue of Liberty and the House of Pain were about all we found in Truth or Consequences, NM (covered in the Arizona and New Mexico link in family and friends)
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| Blarney Stone |
Lubbock, TX was one of our stops through
Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. It is where
Buddy Holly was born and buried. You can also kiss a piece of the
Blarney Stone here. The
World's Littlest Skyscraper and the
Wee-Chi-Tah Sculpture is in
Wichita Falls, TX and you can find the
Eiffel Tower in
Paris, TX, wearing a cowboy hat of course!
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| Colgate Clock |
The
Colgate Clock and the
Louisville Water Tower were the biggest of the eight oddities we found in Indiana and Louisville.
The Schimpff's Candy store was the tastiest.
(covered in the Indiana, Louisville, Michigan link in Family and Friends)
While in
Florida we found the
Four Freedoms Monument in
Madison, FL which resembles a headstone and just down the road in
Greenville, FL is the birthplace and childhood home of
Ray Charles.
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| Knight in the woods |
Bamahenge, Dinosaurs and Knights were a few of the things we discovered in
Foley, AL (covered in the Alabama link in Historical places)
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| Tree Carving |
We found beautiful tributes to
Hurricane Katrina in
Pass Christian, MS, along with
Tree Carvings, Crazy Store Entrances, a Giraffe, a Giant Rocking Chair, an
Old Car Museum, a
Train Museum and of course
Lighthouses.
Out of the half dozen or so oddities we found from our stop in
Hattiesburg, MS, our two favorites were the
Medicine Wheel Garden and the
Grand Canyon of the Mississippi.
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| Windsor Ruins |
The
Windsor Ruins in
Port Gibson, MS, are what is left of a plantation home that survived the Civil War but burned down due to a negligent guest at a dinner party. Plus, you will find a
Submarine that was used to smuggle whiskey during prohibition at the
Grand Gulf Military State Park.
(covered in the Vidalia. LA link in Historical Places)
14-story murals are something that Nancy dreams of and a
19-foot Dalmatian could be a dream come true or your worst nightmare. The
Shreveport Waterworks Museum was very interesting. We found these along with a number of other fun things during our stop in
Simsboro, LA.
During one of our
three stops in Texas we visited the
State Line Post Office and Courthouse in
Texarkanna. The st
ate line of Texas and Arkansas runs right down the middle of the building.
The
Iron Man Billboard that we found while in
Athens, AL is a 100-year old iron cut out of a man advertising medicine.
Historical Places
Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park in Appomattox, VA was the first National Park we hit on this trip. General Lee surrendered to General Grant here, ending the Civil War. We also explored Red Hill ~ Patrick Henry National Memorial. We do think if history classes could come to all of these sites it would have made learning much more fun.
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| Les and Jefferson |
James Madison Montpelier in
Montpelier Station, VA is a 240-acre complex with his home and 8-miles of trials for hiking. We continued our history lesson at
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in
Charlottesville, VA, Les was thrilled as Jefferson is his favorite President.
Woodrow Wilson's Museum and Library in
Staunton, VA was a must visit as Nancy's grandfather changed his name to Wilson when he came to the U.S. from Finland because Wilson was president at the time.
We made a pit stop in
Dodge City, KS, on our
Mad Dash to Colorado. We were expecting a little bit more but still an interesting place.
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| Hanger - Tuskegee Airmen |
Our travels through Alabama took us back to Montgomery for a second time. This time we were able to tour the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.
We made two more stops on the Mississippi Mound Trail during our stay in Vidalia, LA. Across the river in Natchez, MS we found the Emerald Mounds and the Grand Village of Natchez. Plus a number of Civil War era homes and plantations.
National and State Parks and other Natural places
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| Natural Bridge |
Natural Bridge State Park in Natural Bridge, VA is one of the oldest tourist destinations in the U.S. We could certainly see why it is still so popular, it is a beautiful park. The Swinging Bridge is Buchanan, VA's claim to fame and dates back to the 1850's. Nancy couldn't muster the courage to conquer this one but Les and Mielikki did. (covered in the Appomattox Courthouse link in Historical places)
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| Crabtree Falls |
Crabtree Falls, located in the
George Washington National Forest, in
Virginia is the highest vertical-drop cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River. The series of five major cascades and a number of smaller ones create a total distance of 1,200-feet.
(covered in the James Madison Montpelier link in Historical Places)
Raccoon Creek State Park in
Hookstown, PA was a favorite of our son-in-law Steve, as he grew up in nearby
Beaver Falls, PA.
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| Pikes Peak |
Pikes Peak National Landmark in Colorado was amazing, all 14,115-feet of it. Nancy had to sit in the backseat for some of the drive up and down - but Wow what a place.
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| Rocky Mountain NP |
From
Estes Park, CO we explored the
Rocky Mountain National Park, this is one we would like to go back and explore some more.
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| Dinosaur National Monument |
While we visited the
Dinosaur National Monument from
Rangely, CO it is actually in two states, Colorado and Utah. We spent three days exploring all of it.
The Rock Art in the
Canyon Pintado was pretty impressive, stories that have lasted for 100's and 100's of years.
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| Four Corners |
The first of our
last two stops in Colorado was
Montrose, CO where we went to the
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a last minute decision that we were glad we made. The next was
Cortez, CO where we toured the Cliff Dwellings at
Mesa Verde National Park, stood in four states at once at the
Four Corners National Monument and Nancy just about had heat stroke on a hike at
Hovenweep National Monument.
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| Arches National Park |
Arches National Park was our first stop in
Utah, the entrance is just outside of
Moab. There is so much more in the area to see and do.
Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse State Park, Newspaper Rock, Wilson's Arch and Faux Falls at Ken's Lake are some of the things we did.
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| Zion National Park |
Three stops in Utah were covered in one blog post and we visited lots of parks.
Freemont Indian State Park was discovered while I-70 was being built.
Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park - another one we want to go back to, the
North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Cedar Breaks National Monument and the
Red Canyon in the
Dixie National Forest. So much unbelievable beauty.
Bridal Veil Falls in
Provo Canyon, UT, was the easiest hike of them all.
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| Latourell Falls |
As we
worked our way to Alaska we experienced the
Solar Eclipse in
Hagerman, ID. Also in this link are our hikes to the
Bridal Veil Falls, Latourell Falls, Horsetail Falls, Middle Oneonta Falls, Triple Falls and the famous
Multnomah Falls, all just a short drive from downtown
Portland, OR.
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| Mt Shasta |
Cape Lookout State Park, Kilchis Point Reserve, and
Cape Mears Lighthouse were great hiking places while we stayed in
Tillamook, OR, the first of
four stops down the western coast. From the second stop in
Sutherlin, OR we finally made it to
Crater Lake National Park, and even though we were in shorts and sandals we encounter snow, and a lot of it. The third stop gave us a little bit of snow at
Mt. Shasta, but perfect weather for hiking at
Lake Siskiyou.
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| Mosaic Canyon |
It took us two days to drive around
Lake Tahoe while we were staying in
Nevada. Most people think the lake is in Nevada, but it is actually in both
Nevada and
California. Death Valley National Park is very much like what you think of based on the name! Our hike through the
Mosaic Canyon was our favorite part.
We encountered some winter weather in
Birmingham, AL while we
headed south to Florida, 3" of the white stuff fell while we were there - no we did not venture out on the roads to see how they drive in snow!
Driftwood Beach on
Jekeyl Island, in
Brunswick, GA is beyond imagination. It was one of our favorite stops through
Georgia and South Carolina.
Alaskan Adventure
Our adventure started on September 5 and ended on September 17, 2017 and involved planes, trains, automobiles, buses and a cruise ship. We spent two nights in
Vancouver, BC. The
Granville Public Market was our favorite place in Vancouver.
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| Savage River - Denali NP |
We spent one night in
Fairbanks, which is small enough to walk the entire town. The
Riverwalk was very pretty and we caught a small glimpse of the Northern Lights.
Denali National Park was spectacular, we wish we had more time to explore it. The train ride to
Anchorage took us through amazing scenery. A bus took us from Anchorage to Seward where we boarded the Holland Cruise ship, the
Zaandam.
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| Mendenhall Glacier |
We cruised
Glacier Bay National Park and our port stops were in
Haines/Skagway, Juneau, where we hiked to
Mendenhall Glacier; and
Ketchikan which was our favorite.
Cemeteries
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| Jesus in boots |
Evergreen Cemetery in Paris, TX is where we found Jesus in Cowboy Boots. (covered in the Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee link in roadside oddities)
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| Wooden Marker |
Both the Old Biloxi Cemetery, in Biloxi, MS and the Bay St. Louis Cemetery, in Bay St. Louis, MS have wooden headstones - something we hadn't seen before. (covered in the Pass Christian link in Roadside Oddities)
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| Jewish Headstone |
There is a beautiful Jewish Section in the Historic Natchez Cemetery in Natchez, MS. (covered in the Vidalia, LA link in Historical Places)
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| Friendship Cemetery |
Old Aberdeen and Odd Fellows Resting Place are filled with unique headstones and are right across the street from each other in Aberdeen, MS and the Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, MS is where Memorial Day got its start.
Family and Friends
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| Grant and Luke |
We love hooking up with family and friends as we travel. Our stops in
Warren, OH and Belleville, MI gave us much needed time with Nancy's sister
Linda and her niece
Becky along with her family - husband
Jeff and two boys
Luke and
Grant. Our timing was perfect as we got to celebrate Grant's birthday with him.
Our time with
Katrina and
Steve is always precious and never long enough but we enjoyed every minute, hitting up some of our favorite places with them.
The
Bryson family came for dinner one night, it has become a family tradition to not get a picture. Another birthday was celebrated, this time Nancy's nephew
Mike as he turned 40-years old.
Being in Michigan always gives us a chance to reconnect with friends. Les enjoyed lunch with "the girls" from his office and Nancy and Katrina had lunch with the "gang",
Mary Ellen, Erika, and
Lee Anne one day and
Gail and
Lynne another. Nancy had coffee with
Terry and even got a little art time in with
Connie.
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| Fox Family Picnic |
Les got to visit with family in
London, Canada while Nancy enjoyed a Fox Family picnic.
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| Shirley and Nancy |
While in
Pueblo, CO we visited with Nancy's cousin
Shirley and her husband
Lee, we hadn't seen each other for close to 20 years.
(covered in the Pikes Peak link in National and State Parks)
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| Nancy and Gabi |
From
Estes, CO we went to
Fort Collins, CO to visit with
Gabi Aelabouni, Nancy met him in Michigan when he was just a young intern at Antioch Lutheran Church. We toured the
New Belgium Brewery which was a blast.
(covered in the Rocky Mountain National Park link in National and State Parks)
We were lucky enough to visit with
Michele Brinkert twice, once in
Boardman, OR on our way to Alaska and again in
Tillamook, OR, where we got to see
Eric too, as we headed south back down the coast. Forgot pictures both times.
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| Nancy ~ DJ ~ Sue |
While in
Gig Harbor, WA, we spent time with our sister-in-law
Sue, nephew
David John and his wife
Rebecca and finally got to meet their son
DJ. They also helped us out on our trip to Alaska by storing our RV and keeping Mielikki for us while we were on the cruise.
(covered in the Worked our way to Alaska link in National and State Parks)
We always love spending time with
Jan and Dave Leap in
Sacramento, CA. Nancy and Jan worked together in Michigan and we always pick right back up where we left off the last time we were together.
(covered in the four stops down the western coast link in National and State Parks)
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| Les, Nancy, Chuck, Gina |
While heading through
Arizona and New Mexico we made a stop in
Cottonwood, AZ and family came to see us. Nancy's nephew
Chuck and his wife
Gina came up from Phoenix for a couple of days. We had so much fun. This was Les's first visit to the hospital with concerns of a heart attack. He was told he didn't have one - but.... we found out later that he actually did.
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| Fox Clan |
Our
Indiana, Louisville and Michigan stops were all about family and getting Les healthy. We stayed in
Clarksville, IN while Les had a stint put into his heart - he was misdiagnosed in Cottonwod, AZ and actually did have a heart attack that day. The care he received at the
Robley Rex VA Medical Center in downtown Louisville, KY was outstanding. While we were here we spent time with Nancy's niece
Sherrie, her hubby
Eric and daughter
Lilly. They also kept Mielikki for us while the RV stayed at the campground and we drove the car to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with
Katrina and Steve and the Fox clan. We also got to have lunch with Nancy's niece
Lillian and
Larry on our travels to Michigan.
We spent Christmas in
Silver Springs, FL with Nancy's brother
Bob and
Bonnie.
(covered in the Florida link in National and State Parks)
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| Wally and Janet |
In early January, Les stayed at the campground in Greenville, SC while Nancy headed to Asheville, NC for an eye doctor appointment and was treated to great hospitality by Janet and Wally. (covered in the Georgia and South Carolina link in National and State Parks)
Our stop in Foley, AL allowed us to have dinner with Peggy and Paul, Nancy and Peggy went to high school together and it had been years since they had seen each other. (covered in the Alabama link in Historical Places)
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| Beads galore |
Katrina and
Steve flew into
New Orleans in February, for a five day visit - we had a blast celebrating Mardi Gras and eating and drinking our way through town. We watched a number of parades with our favorite being the Nerd Parade and we received well over 500 strands of beads. We were able to donate those to a worthy cause.
(covered in the New Orleans link in Zoos and Gardens)
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| Emily and Barrett |
Our three stops in Texas included the wedding of our great-nephew Barrett and his lovely bride Emily. Then we got to spend some time with them again when they came to visit us in Asheville. (covered in the three stops in Texas link in Roadside Oddities)
Well, no wonder we were tired when we got back to Asheville at the end of March! There were still places we didn't get to and things we didn't see. As they say, you should always leave something to come back for.
Till we meet again...
Happy Trails to You!
Tips and things we have learned along the way.:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”― Mark Twain
Nancy and Mielikki got a mile in every morning walking all of the trails.
Breakfast at Fractals Coffee Shop and Cafe was an experience. As if pancakes made by a robot wasn't enough, they have giraffes inside and out, and a Tardis! Nancy was in her glory.
The views are spectacular as you walk around the patch - every direction offers something new and we never get tired of the blue ridges that go on for miles and miles. 
Nancy solved that problem with the help of some fabric markers.
Using flower and leaf shapes cut from paper she determined the placement of the painted flowers.
The finished product turned out better than expected and has added some fun color to an otherwise drab area.
