November 28-December 1, 2009 The Long Road Home
Saturday morning we said our “good-byes” to the Long Beach family and headed north to Karen’s brother Eric and his wife Carol in Plymouth, CA. (east of Sacrament) It was a bit of a drive, but again the traffic was pretty light and was moving quickly, so we made good time and arrived before dinner time. We had a good time visiting and enjoying Carol’s home-made corn chowder.
Sunday we walked to the nearby Dead Fly Diner and had a marvelous breakfast – oh my! This has been a trip of gastronomic proportions (can you spell get back on the wagon and diet after the holidays?) The afternoon was spend enjoying some more nice sunny weather and visiting with some friends of ours Tom and Mary Trana and their two cute grandsons. Dinner was another celebration, we were joined by Carol’s sis Sandy and husband Bill. We enjoyed a marvelous Kahlua soaked tri-tip steak topped off with a surprise birthday cake for Karen. Does the fun ever end?
Monday we headed north, getting to Redding by early afternoon. We went out to dinner for a final “ta da” celebration. The meal was exceptional. We finished the evening off with a walk along the illuminated Sun Dial Bridge over the Sacramento River.
Tuesday morning we took off knowing that this was the last leg of what has been a “most wonderful expedition”. We both have enjoyed this American Safari of ours and are already talking about the next “big trip”. We have had such a fantastic time going some 15,000 miles in 110 days and seeing so much of this amazing country of ours. After much discussion, some arm twisting and several glasses of wine our compromised TOP TEN List of Memories for this 2009 trip are:
1. Glacier National Park, Montana - The Road to the Sun and the fantastic scenery.
2. The State of Maine, the lobster, Acadia National Park, the lobster, the beautiful country-side, the lobster, Bar Harbor, the lobster, the incredible sea shore, the lobster.
3. The Bourbon Trail – Kentucky: Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Tom Moore, Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark, and Jim Beam Distilleries.
4. Route 66: Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California……
5. The UPPer – the upper Peninsulas of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan – enjoyed our days along Lake Superior.
6. The Connecticut Experience: New London (Kris and Laura), Mystic Sea Port, Barn Island, Mystic River, Good Speed Opera House’s production of a Funny Thing Happened on the way to Forum, Kris in the dunk tank, the list goes on and on…
7. The Outer Banks (OBX): Kill Devil Hill (the Wright Bros. Monument), Dirty Dicks, fantastic colorful lighthouses, The Ferry Boat Rides from the islands back to the mainland.
8. Lake Placid, New York –Adirondack Brew Pub , the Olympic Experience: Cloud Splitter Gondola Ride up White Face Mountain, K120-Olympic Ski Jumping Tower Complex, and of course the Bobsled Ride ½ mile ride in 40 seconds – phew…
9. Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota – amazing park lands, with many Plains Bison, wild horses and much memorable scenery.
10. Last but certainly not least --- The Arch in St. Louis Missouri – Incredible structure, amazing view and the beginning or our #4 favorite Route 66.

November 24-27, 2009 The End of Route 66
Tuesday we saddled up the MoHo and headed west from Barstow, across the desert and into the metropolis of Southern California. We were fortunate to be ahead of the Thanksgiving Holiday traffic and made the trip to Long Beach in good time. We were greeted by (this is getting boring) amazingly warm and clear weather. The weary travelers spent the afternoon enjoying a cold one on Steve and Elena’s (Mike’s middle brother) beautiful patio.
Wednesday we enjoyed visiting with family; our son Marq (from San Francisco) and our grandpup Kahlua joined the So.Cal. Wraights, (Steve, Elena, Morgan, Marina and Mia) for the Turkey Day Celebrations. Let the partying begin!
Thursday was spent enjoying family time, drinking, cooking, feasting and generally having a marvelous time. The meal was a fantastic one, of turkey and all the trimmings, thank goodness for elastic waist bands.
Friday we went to Santa Monica on the Pacific Ocean and saw the END (or it could be the beginning) of Route 66. There, just a few hundred feet from the sand was a bronze plaque marking the culmination of our western travels. It was a bittersweet moment knowing how far we had come and that our trip was nearing its end.

November 22-23, 2009 --- Ghost Towns along Route 66
Sunday morning we took a run up to Oatman, Arizona. The 25 mile road was quite narrow, steep and twisty, we were glad we left the MoHo behind and gave the Prius a good run This is a two block long vintage mining town, big on the Ass Theme. Many donkeys roam the area; we saw a momma donkey and her two new babies up on a near-by hill. We had breakfast at the 1902 Oatman Hotel, the location of Clarke Gable and Carol Lombard’s honeymoon in 1939. The décor of the old restaurant/bar was highlighted by the $65,000 of single dollar bills that are stapled all over the walls, and ceiling. We added our touch, along the bottom step leading from the bar into the restaurant. We joined back up with our home on wheels and headed west across more of the Mojave Desert and on to California. We stopped for the night in Barstow.
Monday was another Ghost Town tour; we spent our morning touring the old Calico Silver Mine Town. This had been owned by Walter Knott, of the Knott’s Berry Farm fame, until early in the 1960’s. Mike remembers coming here when we was a kid about that time. We also visited it back in the early 1970’s, camping in our old VW Van. A fun re-visit, beautiful weather, and only a few others doing the same. This marks about the end of our sight-seeing on this wonderful trip. Tomorrow we head west toward family and Thanksgiving Celebration in Long Beach, CA.

November 18-21, 2009 Route 66 West Trek continues….
Wednesday and Thursday we took it easy in our camp in Albuquerque. We were in a holding pattern, while the little green Prius got her treatment at the local Toyota Dealership. Too many $$$$ later she is a new “gal”, our wallets are a bit lighter, but we are ready to get back on the road. We have been off the trip itinerary for over a week now and are itching to re-start the trip.
Friday morning bright and early we left Albuquerque and headed towards the last part of New Mexico seeing Gallup and the sights of the beautiful old El Rancho Hotel. We stopped for coffee and a mid morning donut at the Eagle Café, a family run diner on Main Street, a sort of “down and out” town, but everyone was very friendly. The road heading toward Arizona was heralded by an area of beautiful red rocks, a nice contrast to landscape of sand and sage we had been seeing for many miles. We made camp mid-afternoon in Meteor Crater just east of Windslow, Arizona (famous for the Eagles song). We made a mad dash up the hill to catch the last tour of the day of the Crater ---- wow it was quite a hole that was made some 50,000 years ago, can only imagine the “BOOM” it must of made. This crater is some 550 feet deep and about ¾ of mile across. We took a hike out along the rim, with a very informative tour guide who explained the difference between volcanic craters and the meteoric craters. The old folks continue to learn new things every day. This location continues to provide NASA Astronauts with a realistic training sight and a great film location as well.
Saturday we drove through Flagstaff and onto a fun stop in Williams Arizona. Williams is where the train can take you to the Grand Canyon, think this could be a fun trip to take some time. A few more miles down the road we stopped in Seligman for lunch, what a “Kitchy” town—Route 66 is the theme. We ate lunch at the famous Sno-Cap drive-in. The owner/wait guy was a real “wise guy” Every possible joke and pun were in his repartee as he took our order. This was our choice over the other tourist dive the Road Kill Café. We went a few more miles to Kingman for our night’s stay.

November 10-17, 2009 – a short break from our safari
Tuesday morning, November 10th, we flew home to Ashland from Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a sad trip, Mike’s mom had died the night before and we didn’t get to say good bye. We knew at the onset of planning this adventure that this might happen, but none the less it was difficult to deal with. We took the week to make the necessary arrangements, make plans, deal with paper work and gather up loose ends. Mike was able to spend some quality time with his brothers Steve and Chuck, to remember their mom. The family will be together for the holidays this year and we will set some time aside to remember the senior Wraights and what they meant to our families.
Monday, November 16th we flew back to Albuquerque – long day, but we were glad to get back to the MoHo and restart our adventure
Tuesday morning we bailed the “Boys” out of their kennel and discovered that our “Towed”, the Prius was ailing and in need of some TLC. A visit to the local Toyota shop revealed her in need of a new fuel pump, water pump and some work on the hybrid system. Not good news. We know that she has 93,000+ miles on her, with over 3,000 we have put on in this trip, and we have had to do little to no work on her, BUT the timing could have been better. Oh well with our familiar mantra “it is only money” we left her for the needed repairs and went to rest up at the campground in Albuquerque. Hopefully we will be back on the road in a day or two. Our plans are still to be in So. Cal. for Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for next installment: “Will they make Turkey Day?”

November 7-9, 2009 -- Route 66 the adventure continues through Oklahoma, Texas, and into New Mexico
Sunday morning we drove through Tulsa, Oklahoma enjoying the sights, sounds and eats along Route 66. We arrived in Oklahoma City mid afternoon and went into town to have a look around. We made our way to the Oklahoma City National Memorial - an incredible place of remembrance of the bombing of the Federal Building; April 19 1995. We spent quite a bit of time walking around the grounds, absorbing the events that must have occurred there; the reflection pond, the walls that mark the boarders of the bombed facility, and the 168 chairs that sit looking over it all. We both think that this was one of the most moving sights we have visited on our trip. From this solemnity we walked around through some of the downtown, enjoying the sights of the old and new buildings intermingled between each other. Dinner was in an area called Brickstown, old brick buildings that once were factories and warehouses have been retrofitted to be a fun and active dining and entertainment area. We ate some more good southern cooking – barbequed brisket, pork, ribs….. What a feast.
Monday morning we left OKC (Oklahoma City) could definitely have spent more time there. We continued west, stopping in Arcadia to see a 100+ year old round barn, which has survived many tornados, due the design. The afternoon was spent traveling to and going through the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK. We enjoyed the displays – rooms with themes for each decade since the 1920’s. Each decade featured a sound track, vehicles and many collectibles of the time. The MoHo then motored on into Texas. We stopped for the night in Mclean – quite a stop to remember, rural and nothing to see or do. Oh ya, it is Texas

November 4-6, 2009 -- Heading West Along Route 66
Wednesday morning was our day in St. Louis Missouri, a return visit for Mike and I after visiting there 41 years ago as part of our tour with the Kingsmen. We remembered walking around the block from the Greyhound Bus Station where the corps busses were getting worked on, and seeing the amazing Arch that had just been finished in June ‘08. Today was “SPECTACULAR”. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm and the stainless steel arch sparkled from top to bottom. We walked through a park to the base of it, such an incredible view. The official name for this land mark is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial established to celebrate the roll that St. Louis and the Mississippi River played in the westward movement. The ride to the top of the 635 foot span was an experience in itself. You ride in these small little pods that zip up the arch much like a basket on a Ferris wheel. The view from the top was fantastic, the windows are quite small, but the town down below was quite a vision. We were able to see the Mississippi River, Illinois, Busch Stadium where the Cardinals play, the Rams’ Football stadium, and much of the varied architecture of the old and new down town. From the arch we walked a couple of blocks to the St. Louis County Court House, what a beautiful classically styled building. This was the location where the initial Dred Scott Trial (he was slave who believed he should be freed) was held and where he and his wife finally received their freedom some 11 years later. We enjoyed a great lunch at a local eatery named Calicos, and followed the day up with Ted Drew’s Frozen Custard—they call it concrete because it is so thick. Pretty darn yummy!
Thursday saw the MoHo and the 4 of us heading west through some of the Ozark Mountain Region and along the Historical Route 66. It is really quite a challenge to actually drive for any length of time along the famed road. We spent the day going back and forth from US Hwy 44 to the “66” and back again. After we left St. Louis we headed to the Merrimac Caverns where we took a nice tour of the caves. They had some amazing geological structures in this big ol’ limestone hole in the ground. The most beautiful area was the “Theater Room” Where the stalactites looked much like theater drapes, with the addition of lighting and music it was quite a show. From there we drove through the town of Cuba, seeing their interesting colorful murals on many building this small town. With a few more stops to enjoy the Route 66 feel, we stopped for the night in Marshfield, MO.

November 1-3, 2009 More roads through Kentucky all the way to Missouri
Sunday- We left the Bourbon Trail area after 3 wonderful days and continued east toward the Mammoth Caves. Leaving Louisville, and the rolling hill horse country we stopped and visited a National Historic Site – the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. One generally thinks of Illinois as the place of Abe’s birth, but he was born on February 12, 1809 on the Sinking Spring Farm near what is now Hodgenville, Kentucky. There has been built quite a remarkable replica of the Lincoln Memorial that holds a replica of the Lincoln Cabin. From Hodgenville we headed to Cave City where we set up camp and headed to the Mammoth Caves. There are over 365 surveyed miles of passageways. The Ranger that led our tour thinks that there could be more than 1000 miles. We went on two tours, the 1st being the Frozen Niagara tour – it was area in caves with quite a few stalactites and stalagmites, flow stones and what we think of when we tour caves. There was one wall that really looked like what Niagara Falls might look like when frozen over. Our next tour was the Mammoth Passage , about ¼ of a mile into this huge limestone cavern. No stalactites or stalagmites but still pretty impressive none the less. We enjoy touring caves, and plan on visiting some more in Missouri.
Monday we continued west through more of Kentucky, our itinerary was to reach the area known as the Land Between the Lakes, but the navigation system, both Karen and the GPS were not very dependable and we somehow missed the turn off and ended up miles away from our intended destination. We were tired and decided not to back track and stopped for the night in a small burg called Murray Kentucky. The evening was pleasant, we had a nice campfire, barbequed burgers and made s’mores -- real enjoyable camping evening.
Tuesday we woke early, the change off Day Light Savings Time and moving from the Eastern Time Zone to Central has messed with our sleeping patterns. We continued the eastward push, finally leaving Kentucky, briefly crossing into Illinois, crossing the mighty Mississippi River that showed some signs of flooding from the recent rains, and finally into the state of Missouri. We headed north aiming for St. Louis and the beginning of our tour west on historic Route 66. We made camp in Eureka, MO about ½ hour out of St. Louis.

October 30-31, 2009 Louisville (LOO-avil), Kentucky
Friday we left Lexington and headed west to Louisville, Kentucky. Pronounced “Loo-avil” by the locals. We completed our Bourbon Trail by going to the Jim Beam Distillery. We were happy to have completed our goal of visiting all of the distilleries. What a great adventure it has been. Our next stop was the famous Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. We took a short tour of this amazing horse racing venue, seeing the track up close. The seating area can hold upwards of 50,000 race fans. On Derby Day there is close to 90,000 with 40,000 or so standing in the infield. Mike wants to come back for a race sometime, think that this would quite an experience.
Saturday morning we went back into town and visited the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. This was a very interesting tour. We watched how they used make bats with lathe operators hand trimming the bats to the pre-described size. This method took about 30 minutes per bat; the new mechanized lathes can kick out a bat every 30 seconds or so, quite a process. We also watched them dip the bats into stain, and burn/brand the name into the wood. It was interesting to see the famous baseball players that use and have used the “Slugger” bats. This company produces about 80% of the bats used by professional ball players. Next we went to the American Publishing House for the Blind. There was a very interesting exhibit starting in the early 1800s to the present covering the growth of the education and materials for people who are blind or vision impaired. This company supplies Braille books, recorded books, and materials for the blind all over the world. The APH was a big facility, but being that it was Saturday, the place was pretty quiet. This was another great visitation on our trip.

October 27-29, 2009 The Smokey Mountains to the Bourbon Trail
Tuesday morning we drove through the most beautiful display of fall colors that either one of us have ever seen. This “leaf peeping” was what we had thought we might see up in New England, but we were there a bit early for their leaf display. It was nice surprise and wonderful drive. We stopped for the night in Corbin, Kentucky; this is the home of Colonel Harland Sanders of the “Kentucky Fried Chicken” fame.
Wednesday morning we headed to Lexington where we set ourselves out to travel the infamous “bourbon trail”. Our first stop was at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. We had a great tour of the plant with a very informative and entertaining tour guide, Freddie. He is a 3rd generation employee, his grandfather worked for 50+ years and his dad for 42 years. We learned a lot about whiskey making and bourbon in particular. The tour was followed by a tasting of the product – pretty darn good. To be a called a bourbon it must be: made of at least 51% corn (the rest rye or wheat and malted barley), aged for at least 2 years in a virgin charred white oak barrel, use no artificial ingredients to color or flavor the elixir and must be made in the USA. 95% of bourbon is made in this region of Kentucky because of the water that becomes just right for distilling by flowing through the ever- present limestone in this area.
We then had bourbon tour # 2 at Woodford Reserve. This was smaller distillery that was a bit more stogy, they charged (only $5.), wouldn’t allow photographs on the tour and were quite secretive about the process /recipe of their brew. The tasting was good, Karen thinks she really does like bourbon; Mike was already a big supporter.
Thursday morning we set out bright and early to get to the next 5 distilleries on our list. This was quite a long day as they are located quite a few miles apart. We covered at least 200 miles over the last two days of tastings. Stop number one was at the Four Roses Plant. This bourbon was produced by Seagram’s for many years, was not a very good one at that. In 1992 Kirin the Japanese Beer producer bought it and changed the recipe and emphasis to high quality bourbon. We had a very personal tour, just the two of us plus Katie our guide. We were able to walk all over this small plant, take pictures and really see the process. The tasting was great also; we were sipping bourbon at about 10:30am. The next stop was Wild Turkey; we missed the tour, so we visited the gift shop and purchased a glass and small bottle of their spirits. Tom Moore was next on the route; they were not able to work us in, because their tours are small. We moved on to Heaven Hill for another nice tour, with new and different information about the making of this magical tonic. We had a very informative tasting with information on how to smell, taste and compare their 8 year and 16 year old bourbon. The 16 year old was very smooth and GOOD. We ended the day at the Maker’s Mark Distillery. This was another great tour and good tasting. Their bourbon is made with red winter wheat instead of rye, so the taste is a bit different. Another interesting thing about M.M. is that they only make one type of bourbon, all small batches, all aged until the distillery master says it time to be bottle. Of course we got to watch them dip the bottles in the red wax. We also dipped a bottle of our own in the gift shop. Oh my, what a fun day. We were short one last distillery – Jim Beam. Tomorrow is another day.

October 24-26, 2009 Asheville, North Carolina
Saturday we left Georgia and headed north to Asheville, N.C. What a beautiful journey our drive was; quite a bit of fall color and a lot of lush forests. We arrived at camp in the mid afternoon. We got set up and then went out for a fun and funky evening on a “Trolley Ghost Tour”. The ride took us through downtown Asheville with an interesting actor on board to give the scoop on local hauntings, a bit on the hokey side, but fun none the less. At a couple of the stops we were greeted by poor souls who were in some very dire straits. This fun got us in the Halloween spirit, ready for next weekend.
Sunday morning we got up and headed to the famous Biltmore Estate, home of George and Edith Vanderbilt. This 250 room (complete with 50 bathrooms), 175,000 square feet house was quite amazing. The audio tour walked us around and through many of the grand entertainment spaces, family bedrooms, sitting rooms, the servant’s quarters, the kitchens, pantries and even an indoor swimming pool and bowling alley. What was perhaps the most interesting were the innovative things like the indoor plumbing, the electric lighting, telephone and calling system in each room as well as a heating system that worked up from the basement to the 4th floor. This was quite advanced for a project constructed in the late 1800s. After our tour we drove through the beautiful grounds and out to the winery. We enjoyed a nice tasting of some of the Biltmore wines (most made with California grapes). Late lunch/early dinner was in the bistro, a nice rest and re-charge after a busy morning.
Monday morning we went back for day two at the Biltmore for a “Behind the Scenes Tour” It was a very interesting look at some of the areas that we only got a glimpse of yesterday. We got to go up in the pipe organ loft and see the workings up close. The most intriguing part was the sub-basement where all of the “machinery” that runs the house was displayed. We saw the old coal burning furnaces, now replaced by natural gas, the electric turbans, and all the electric panels that took electricity from many sources to run the house. George Vanderbilt was definitely a man ahead of his time. We then took a walk through the gardens and green houses that Fredrick Olmstead (designer of Central Park in NYC) designed. What a beautiful setting and it didn’t hurt that the weather was cooperating and the trees were in their glorious fall color display. In the afternoon we went into the town of Asheville and walked a few blocks to take in the flavor, it appeared to be an artsy and diverse place, much like our own Ashland. This has been a great stop, would love to come back at Christmas some year and see it all decorated, maybe we could stay at the nearby Inn??