Across North America in Five Weeks! (1 Viewer)

[hsumbal]

Reading this is fun and viewing the pics is even more fun.....kindly add another post per day so we get to see five more pics of this beautiful country...

Thanks for taking us along...

 

[Jetlander]

Reading this is fun and viewing the pics is even more fun.....kindly add another post per day so we get to see five more pics of this beautiful country...

Thanks for taking us along...

^^^This

Thank you for taking all of us on your journey!

 

[Bluegrass40]

These daily updates are the best! I wait for the email alert every night and always look forward seeing the adventure of the day.

What has been your favorite part of the journey thus far, and what has been different then a you expected going into it?

-Chris
Louisville, KY

 

[hecrod]

Tires wearing ok? Did I read you had vibration ... Is that resolved?

@JohnnyC Tires are wearing OK... still aligned. I'm sure the vibration is still there... I just haven't taken it North of 55 since!

Reading this is fun and viewing the pics is even more fun.....kindly add another post per day so we get to see five more pics of this beautiful country...

@hsumbal OK! I'll add more pictures... whenever it makes sense to do so... thanks for the encouragement...

What has been your favorite part of the journey thus far, and what has been different then a you expected going into it?

-Chris
Louisville, KY

@Bluegrass40 Oh this one will be hard, and I will spend some meaningful time on this after the trip is finished, but I would say the Icefields Parkway... so far. Parts of Grand Teton were incredible as well... Southern Montana / Idaho, on the Western side of Yellowstone were... unbelievable, in a "normal sort of way." Just a regular road, that looked like a postcard to me for miles on end...

I'll definitely spend some serious time thinking about this question later on... Thanks for it Chris...




The day started in Pella Iowa, and from an update perspective it almost ends there, as it is the most impressive "normal" (meaning not like Jackson Hole / Jasper / Banff, which are awesome, but sort of touristy) town I've visited so far. This is a town of ~10,000, very Dutch, pristine, beautiful, with a seemingly strong economy... I WILL be back here someday in the not too distant future...

Some pictures follow...


The Royal Amsterdam Hotel(remember, 10,000 residents!) See the Amsterdam Canals?!!! This was like EPCOT and Las Vegas together, but in a nice small town in the Mid-West!

An authentic AND operational Dutch wind mill. We went through a detailed tour and walkthrough of the mill up to the platform. Very impressive. See how neat everything looks???

40+ preserved structures in town...

Including...

Genuine, historical, beautiful... all here in Pella, Iowa.

This town was by the way founded by 800 Dutch who immigrated from Holland in 1847. Pella Windows??? Yes, they come from here too... this is a great American Story...

To be continued...

 

[hecrod]

And of course we had to try the local delicacies for lunch... at In't Veld Meat Market... in Main Street, Pella Iowa...

Meats, sausages, cheeses... in a great environment... they even had an upstairs seating arrangement...

We had planned for an hour, we stayed about 3!!!

It was good that we did, because the next two planned stops were a bit disappointing. The Amana Colonies, towns of German ancestry, came across as just about your regular outlet or higher end mall. Buildings may have been original, but the feel was not.

We also drove down to Kalona, looking to experience the Amish way of life a little, it was not there... not in a way to experience anyway. Or at least I didn't find it. Of course the Amish were there, but while visitiowa.org sells the place as one to experience their way of life, the setup does not enable one to do so... it's OK though...


And look who came speeding by... The Iowa Inter State!!! Another screen saver perhaps??? I actually raced this train a little, to get to the crossing before it did, so that I could take this picture... have a few others!

A more typical town... Riverside, Iowa.

Tonight we rest in Muscatine, Iowa... by the Mississippi River... North of St. Louis, before the River becomes the Mighty Mississippi. That's Illinois in the far side.

Relaxing by a nice local park in Muscatine, by the River...

To be continued...

 

[hecrod]

I think we may come across some bigger Paddle Boats later on...

Sadly, we have already seen quite a bit of this... evidence of the economic challenges of the Mid-West???

And the smells coming from some of the manufacturing sites? I'm not kidding when I say this, makes you gag... the cow farms??? Kids play... this here, in the Southern part of town... cannot be healthy. Check this out... they say Muscatine has the worst air quality in the State... I believe it! I'm smelling it right now... it's stuck in my nose!

Sorry to have to end on this note, but this writing is chronological... so...



This is where we are... the Mountains are long gone... home feels closer... although a slight detour to the South is on the Horizon!

Tomorrow? I should end near Springfield! Home of Abraham Lincoln...

Read and ride along!


Hector and Alex

 

[Solace in Solitude]

As always... great pictures Hector... and your narrative captures the essence of the places you visit!!

Drive safe!!

 

[brian]

We also drove down to Kalona, looking to experience the Amish way of life a little, it was not there... not in a way to experience anyway. Or at least I didn't find it. Of course the Amish were there, but while visitiowa.org sells the place as one to experience their way of life, the setup does not enable one to do so... it's OK though...

save the amish/menonite experience for pa.

 

[ErikinSC]

@JohnnyC Tires are wearing OK... still aligned. I'm sure the vibration is still there... I just haven't taken it North of 55 since!



@hsumbal OK! I'll add more pictures... whenever it makes sense to do so... thanks for the encouragement...



@Bluegrass40 Oh this one will be hard, and I will spend some meaningful time on this after the trip is finished, but I would say the Icefields Parkway... so far. Parts of Grand Teton were incredible as well... Southern Montana / Idaho, on the Western side of Yellowstone were... unbelievable, in a "normal sort of way." Just a regular road, that looked like a postcard to me for miles on end...

I'll definitely spend some serious time thinking about this question later on... Thanks for it Chris...




The day started in Pella Iowa, and from an update perspective it almost ends there, as it is the most impressive "normal" (meaning not like Jackson Hole / Jasper / Banff, which are awesome, but sort of touristy) town I've visited so far. This is a town of ~10,000, very Dutch, pristine, beautiful, with a seemingly strong economy... I WILL be back here someday in the not too distant future...

Some pictures follow...


The Royal Amsterdam Hotel(remember, 10,000 residents!) See the Amsterdam Canals?!!! This was like EPCOT and Las Vegas together, but in a nice small town in the Mid-West!
View attachment 1284656

An authentic AND operational Dutch wind mill. We went through a detailed tour and walkthrough of the mill up to the platform. Very impressive. See how neat everything looks???
View attachment 1284660


40+ preserved structures in town...
View attachment 1284664


Including...
View attachment 1284666


Genuine, historical, beautiful... all here in Pella, Iowa.
View attachment 1284670


This town was by the way founded by 800 Dutch who immigrated from Holland in 1847. Pella Windows??? Yes, they come from here too... this is a great American Story...

To be continued...

Let me tell you, we have ALL been enjoying OUR journey with you !

I am glad that you made it to Pella. Not only is that the home of Pella Windows, but also of Vermeer Manufacturing....

Their logo was :

They make farm equipment, like this hay baler (sp?) :

Big earth / rock trenchers :

Utility trenchers :

And my personal favorites, horizontal directional boring machines :

I have had the opportunity to visit Pella 3 times, now. It is quaint and peaceful. I even had dinner at Veld's meat market ! Hope that you grabbed some Dannish Letter (their cookies) to take with you while you drive.

Keep up the history and geography lessons ! Your journey has been amazing!

 

[hsumbal]

You are coming to the end of your journey....that kinda makes me feel sad.....

I eagerly wait for the updates every day....

Thanks...

 

[Weber Sarge]

Too bad you didn't go a bit further east of the ol Miss...I'm about 60 miles east of the river in Illinois . Want to see economically defunct region - this is it . We lost 7/10 factories around here due to NAFTA/CAFTA , no decent jobs around here anymore and our State budget issues are the laughing stock of the Nation . Even most all of our road projects are sitting idle for now, a lot of people out of work .
Pella is such an odd place in the middle of Iowa, it shocks quite a few people .

Sarge

 

[Bluegrass40]

@hecrod. Sounds like you may be headed toward my neck of the woods (Louisville). I'd love to caravan a hundred miles with you in my sky blue '78 but its out of the game right now since I pulled the rear axle to rebiuild it.......

 

[handcannon]

Again, many thanks for posting the pictures. These are probably places I will never have a chance to see in person.

I found the pictures of the covered bridges very interesting. They are not at all like the covered bridges here in western Oregon. Western Oregon has somewhere around 50 covered bridges, and I have been across at least 5 of them, most likely more. Western Oregon covered bridges are featured in Wikipedia. Use this link when you have a chance: List of covered bridges in Oregon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . I cross Hannah Covered Bridge every time we go out to my wife's parents place.

Keep the pictures coming!

Don

 

[cbmontgo]

I was in Virginia City, Montana today and had to replicate your pic of the old blue 40. Excuse my Tahoe in the subject matter.

Love the thread.

 

[sggoat]

Immediately to the left of the 40 you will see a small white stick in the ground. This is a headstone pinpointing the location where a soldier lost his life. If you look closer throughout the picture, you may be able to see many more of these headstones throughout the Battlefield. Red headstones, which are hard to see here, demarcate locations where Lakotas lost their lives...
View attachment 1281327

This is a very sobering place to be. The top of the Hill in the back has dozens of headstones, where "The Last Stand" took place, and where Custer lost his life. I have by the way all of these pictures in much higher quality, so if you want it, let me know... I can email it...

Beautiful Montana landscape right? If you look closely, you will see several headstones, if you look closer still, towards the ravine on the right... you will see dozens more. Many of these can be seen throughout the five mile road that demarcates the battle lines...
View attachment 1281328

Park personnel have done an amazing job at documenting and respectfully maintaining this place... visit if you can.

The irony is that Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull won the battle, but by Custer losing in the way he did, it accelerated the final concentration of all remaining Tribes in the Reservations. The Lakotas and Dakotas lost a significant percentage of their original Reservation (in South Dakota)... although the Crow now occupy a HUGE expanse of Southern Montana territory as part of the Crow Indian Reservation.

I know it is a novel, but if anyone wants to learn about life in those days, to include Montana... read Lonesome Dove... or better yet, read the entire series of three books. Can't be put down...




And I finally left for a loooong drive towards Gillette, Wyoming, leaving Montana for the last time. I took the back roads whenever I could, spending a lot of time on US14... it is by the way the way to travel. If one takes the Interstate, one cannot stop!!! Where's the fun then??? The risk? No cell phone signal for a good portion of the ride... oh well...

The picture below is a good representation of today's drive...
View attachment 1281338

And so is the one below... notice the population, and where I was standing... no traffic for looooong periods of time!
View attachment 1281340


And also a lot of this... terrain that I frankly did not expect to see in this part of the country. Seemed like I was in Arizona at times!
View attachment 1281341


And that's it for today... Some of Gillette (self-described as the Energy Capital of the World) and Devils Tower tomorrow...

On the technical side: the temperature in the 40 climbed out of its normal range for the third straight day. It was in the normal range the first few hours, but rose slowly after that. No over-heating... at all... when I shut it down it cranks back up, but the bottom line is that the gauge is settling in a range that it hasn't before. The first two days I assumed it was the altitude, with the misfiring and all that... but now I'm not sure (temperature was in the high 80's today here in the Plains). Something to worry about??? I'm monitoring it like a hawk...

Read and ride along!


Hector

This is beautiful scenery, and filled with some violent history. Sad for the Lakota(and other Native Americans)
Read "Crow Killer", an account of the Mountain Man "Liver-Eating Johnson"--Insight into some of the native Indian philosphies

 

[hecrod]

@pngunme @brian @hsumbal @cbmontgo

Thanks for the comments!

Let me tell you, we have ALL been enjoying OUR journey with you !

I am glad that you made it to Pella. Not only is that the home of Pella Windows, but also of Vermeer Manufacturing....

I have had the opportunity to visit Pella 3 times, now. It is quaint and peaceful. I even had dinner at Veld's meat market ! Hope that you grabbed some Dannish Letter (their cookies) to take with you while you drive.

Keep up the history and geography lessons ! Your journey has been amazing!

@ErikinSC I did come across Vermeer Manufacturing... they seemed to be an engaged outfit in the community, which was nice to see. Two relatively large corporations in such a small town, and which have stayed in town. Quite unique nowadays...

Too bad I didn't see Veld's cookies!

Too bad you didn't go a bit further east of the ol Miss...I'm about 60 miles east of the river in Illinois . Want to see economically defunct region - this is it . We lost 7/10 factories around here due to NAFTA/CAFTA , no decent jobs around here anymore and our State budget issues are the laughing stock of the Nation . Even most all of our road projects are sitting idle for now, a lot of people out of work .

Sarge

@Weber Sarge Yeah, I thought about heading East from Muscatine, but veered South instead. We have all heard of the region's economic problems, and wanted to see it myself... but it wasn't to be. Hopefully things get better at some point soon...

@hecrod. Sounds like you may be headed toward my neck of the woods (Louisville). I'd love to caravan a hundred miles with you in my sky blue '78 but its out of the game right now since I pulled the rear axle to rebiuild it.......

@Bluegrass40 Man! That would have been the most awesomest thing!!!! Two "Blue Sky's" together??? I should be in Louisville on the 6th or 7th... are you sure you're not going to be done by then?

I found the pictures of the covered bridges very interesting. They are not at all like the covered bridges here in western Oregon. Western Oregon has somewhere around 50 covered bridges, and I have been across at least 5 of them, most likely more. Western Oregon covered bridges are featured in Wikipedia. Use this link when you have a chance: List of covered bridges in Oregon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . I cross Hannah Covered Bridge every time we go out to my wife's parents place.

Don

@handcannon That is good to know... never knew Oregon had so many of those... your turn go out and take some pictures crossing them!


Drove early in the morning towards the Quad Cities, five cities (yes, five not four ) neighboring each other around the Mississippi... Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline in Illinois.

This is at the base of the Rock Island Centennial Bridge. Remember the floods of '93 and '08? The high-water mark from both of those would have been over the top of my 40... think about that! The high-water mark from '93 is actually painted on one of the columns on the bridge... Both of the floods covered a significant portion of the Quad Cities...

And I came across another Iowa Interstate Train, tagged with a Rock Island engine... so I took another picture of that! Beautiful machines... all of them...

And we spent a few hours at the Mississippi River Visitor Center Lock & Dam 15... that was a fun time. If you ever wanted to go watch the Panama Canal, but can't... then come here! Same size locks (at least the width), and the operation is basically the same. There are more than 20 of these in the Upper Mississippi River to help create depth, due to a drop of ~400 feet between Minnesota and St. Louis. The Missouri and Illinois Rivers join the Mississippi just prior to St. Louis, so that these locks are no longer needed after that. The mighty Mississippi becomes really MIGHTY in St. Louis I guess...

Here the Government Bridge is open for car and train traffic... closed for river traffic...

Here the bridge rotated to allow for a tug boat pushing ten barges to go through... these barges carry coal, fuel, oil, chemicals, grain... you name it. It is a "barge highway..."

This process has been going on pretty much unchanged for the last ~80 years.... really, really neat...

Not much else today, other than a visit to the John Deere Pavilion in Moline... boy, tractors have changed in size and technology! Computer screens, toggles, knobs... truly amazing...

By the time we were done here, it was almost 2 PM... we had traveled ~30 miles... and had ~170 to go! Driving through small towns? It takes a long time...



And there wasn't much, other than miles and miles of corn, soybeans, wheat? Miles, and miles, and miles... unbelievable. Left and right, front and back. This part of Illinois is even flatter than Iowa. Pardon me for saying this, but Illinois, to me, before today, used to mean Chicago, with maybe a little bit of Springfield due to the history ... not anymore!!!




Will be here in Springfield tomorrow visiting Abraham Lincoln's Museum (it's open on 4th of July!), and will then head on South towards St. Louis... We'll see how far South we get. Did I mention I am getting really tired???

9-10 days left to get to Boston...


On the Technical side: You may remember that I changed to "ethanol free" fuel 3-4 days (or was it a month? I forget...) ago... well, it started "pinging" a bit under hard acceleration, so I switched back, and all the "pinging" went away. Not sure why. It may not make sense, but I'm staying with the 10% ethanol fuel from now on. Running smooth and strong, but it is leaking / burning a little more oil... about 1/2 quart every day (6-8 total driving hours). Hopefully it won't deteriorate much more from here on out...

That's it for today... Read and ride along!


Hector and Alex

 

[White Stripe]

So is that where Wyatt Earp used to live? I know several of the Earp family. Most of the Earps dont live in Iowa. His descendants are awesome people.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Some of those Deere tractors actually drive themselves for planting - all gps driven system that knows planter/crop width and placement . They will even control the bins/drills individually and shut them off when crossing the grass waterways and turning at the end of the rows . Basically, the driver turns the tractor around , aligning it with the display screen gps lines (like a rear parking camera) and engages the system . Put it in gear , and go to sleep on long runs . As long as it has seed , no problems and those rows are laid out perfectly aligned , pretty amazing to watch . In spring/fall you have to be on guard for moving equipment - some guys are dragging those huge planters around and in the fall some attempt to move from field to field with the head installed on the combine - taking up the entire road and parts of the ditch on both sides at night . Grain operations at times due to weather never stop - we've ran 24hrs/day harvesting to prevent losses . I helped a few local operations a few years ago driving a Cat 55 tracked Challenger pulling a 1,000 bushel cart and a few times driving one of two tracked Deere units . Amazing power and amazing price tags to boot ...

That flood and others in the Quads have been devastating , but they always rebuild...hearty people here .

Sarge

 

[Jdc1]

Some of those Deere tractors actually drive themselves for planting - all gps driven system that knows planter/crop width and placement . They will even control the bins/drills individually and shut them off when crossing the grass waterways and turning at the end of the rows . Basically, the driver turns the tractor around , aligning it with the display screen gps lines (like a rear parking camera) and engages the system . Put it in gear , and go to sleep on long runs . As long as it has seed , no problems and those rows are laid out perfectly aligned , pretty amazing to watch . In spring/fall you have to be on guard for moving equipment - some guys are dragging those huge planters around and in the fall some attempt to move from field to field with the head installed on the combine - taking up the entire road and parts of the ditch on both sides at night . Grain operations at times due to weather never stop - we've ran 24hrs/day harvesting to prevent losses . I helped a few local operations a few years ago driving a Cat 55 tracked Challenger pulling a 1,000 bushel cart and a few times driving one of two tracked Deere units . Amazing power and amazing price tags to boot ...

That flood and others in the Quads have been devastating , but they always rebuild...hearty people here .

Sarge

Friends of the family farm 3500 acres in NE OH. He runs the tracked CATs ($300k plus) and his planter spaces the rows with +/- 1/8" accuracy over a mile. They are incredible.

@hecrod , this is an amazing trip, thank you for documenting it for us.

 

[hecrod]

So is that where Wyatt Earp used to live? I know several of the Earp family. Most of the Earps dont live in Iowa. His descendants are awesome people.

@White Stripe This is where he spent his formative years... 2 to 16 I believe...

Some of those Deere tractors actually drive themselves for planting - all gps driven system that knows planter/crop width and placement . They will even control the bins/drills individually and shut them off when crossing the grass waterways and turning at the end of the rows . Basically, the driver turns the tractor around , aligning it with the display screen gps lines (like a rear parking camera) and engages the system . Put it in gear , and go to sleep on long runs . As long as it has seed , no problems and those rows are laid out perfectly aligned , pretty amazing to watch . In spring/fall you have to be on guard for moving equipment - some guys are dragging those huge planters around and in the fall some attempt to move from field to field with the head installed on the combine - taking up the entire road and parts of the ditch on both sides at night . Grain operations at times due to weather never stop - we've ran 24hrs/day harvesting to prevent losses . I helped a few local operations a few years ago driving a Cat 55 tracked Challenger pulling a 1,000 bushel cart and a few times driving one of two tracked Deere units . Amazing power and amazing price tags to boot ...

That flood and others in the Quads have been devastating , but they always rebuild...hearty people here .

Sarge

@Weber Sarge Thank you a lot for this commentary! It adds a lot of color to my incomplete note...

Friends of the family farm 3500 acres in NE OH. He runs the tracked CATs ($300k plus) and his planter spaces the rows with +/- 1/8" accuracy over a mile. They are incredible.

@hecrod , this is an amazing trip, thank you for documenting it for us.

The day started with a powerful breakfast... at the Hen House! Clearly a popular place with the Locals in Springfield, Illinois. Good that it started that way 'cause we had another 12-hour day in front of us!!!

We went straight into Abraham Lincoln's Museum in Downtown Springfield. And what a Museum it is... designed and implemented as if it was done by Disney. Professional, impactful, gave me goosebumps a couple of times. Very, very nicely done.

The museum focuses on Lincoln's life, with heavy focus on his time in the White House, and how he dealt with the Civil War and Slavery...


A volunteer gentleman representing the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry... this is a person whom I asked if I could take a photograph of, not a mannequin!

Poignant representation of a family being broken by a slave "sale"...

Original picture of my favorite historical figure of all time...

Quite relevant for a day like today, July 4th 2016...

To be continued...