We have arrived safely home from our 4,690 miles road trip, through eleven states in southeastern US. We saw a lot of beauty in nature, and beauty in the many friends and family we were able to visit. We are grateful all went well, and we had a great time!
There have been unusual weather patterns all across the country. It was warm here in Minnesota during February, with little snow fall. And it was cooler than normal in the southeast, where we were.
February 26, 2024 in Iowa.
In Iowa Monday night, February 26, it was 72* and we ate dinner outside on a restaurant patio.
February 28, 2024 in Minnesota.
But our welcome home present was a cold snap. As we drove closer to Northfield the next day, the temperature kept dropping. When we arrived home we unloaded our car in 25* temperatures. It also started snowing. Sigh. We woke up to 5*!
It is predicted to remain cold for one day and then the temperatures will start climbing back up again. What a roller coaster. I wonder what kind of weather March will bring?
It hangs like icicles dripping from the trees…not a certain type of tree, but any tree. And it’s everywhere in Savannah, Georgia, where we took a mini road trip from our base in North Carolina.
The grey-green moss dripping from southern live oaks.
I admit it took me awhile to come to appreciate the appeal of these plants but I now think Spanish moss is a beautiful sight. It is not Spanish, nor is it moss. Its name is derived from French settlers naming it Spanish beard and later it became Spanish moss.
Spanish moss is a member of the bromeliad family, an epiphyte, or air plant. It uses trees only for support, but gets its nourishment from air, sun, and rain. It does not hurt the trees it grows on.
A majestic southern live oak tree.
And even more beautiful is when you see the Spanish moss hanging in the southern live oak trees. The Southern live oaks are majestic trees. Although usually identified as evergreens, because live oaks retain their leaves nearly year-round, they are not true evergreens. Live oaks drop their leaves immediately before new leaves emerge in the spring. The leaves do not resemble the oak leaves we find in Minnesota.
Spanish Moss on a southern live oak.
Southern live oaks grow to about 50 feet in height, with large looming branches hanging low and spreading far and wide, its limbs may spread out 100 feet or more.
A beautiful, sprawling southern live oak tree.
They can grow to be several hundred years old. They are the official state tree of Georgia. Southern live oaks are magnificent trees, and found all over Savannah, and the deep south we’ve read. They are picturesque.
Orleans Square in Savannah.
At one historic place we visited, Wormsloe, there was an avenue of southern live oaks lining each side of the road for one mile, forming a canopy overhead. I was in awe as we drove through this exquisite scene.
A mile long avenue of southern live oak creating a canopy overhead.
This is one of the prominent features I will remember about our enchanting trip to Savannah, Georgia: Spanish moss and Southern live oaks.
Dubuque is Iowa’s oldest city. It was founded in 1833, 13 years before Iowa became a state. The French-Canadian fur trader names Julien Dubuque was instrumental in settling the area, thus its name.
The city has designed a lovely river walk in Port Dubuque, along the Mississippi River. On my recent trip there, my friend and I walked along it several times.
The River Walk along the Mississippi River.
We also sat on benches and watched a lot of river traffic…barges, tugboats, speedboats, etc. I always enjoy watching the “boats go by.”
This recreational boat looks so small next to a long barge and tugboat, on the Mississippi River.
The Shot Tower.
The Shot Tower is located one end of the river walk. It is a national landmark, being one of only a few remaining historic shot towers in the United States.
A visual of how the shot tower made lead shots.
I recently learned what a shot tower is, and found it interesting. According to the plaque, “The Shot Tower was constructed in 1854 to manufacture lead shot ammunition. Molten lead was poured from the top of the tower and passed through a series of sieves to form the shot into its proper size. The shot then landed in a tank of cold water at the bottom of the tower.” Thus, making the ammunition.
“Solidarity” mural.
There are 30 murals around town, resulting from an event called “Taking it to the Streets”. We noticed several of the murals. I assume there would be a map at the chamber of commerce so one could locate all of them and learn about them. We did not look into this, but there was one mural directly across from our hotel. It was titled Solidarity. It was painted by 75 volunteers, painting side-by-side in one- hour shifts, on this paint-by-number style public art piece; 105’ long X 25” tall.
The Town Clock.
We walked by the Town Clock. This Town Clock was originally erected in 1873 on top of a building on Main Street, then the clock was moved to the Town Clock Plaza in 1971, where it is today. The clock supposedly maintains accurate time within half second. It stands 110’ tall.
The Grand Opera House, still offering live performances (pre and post Covid of course.)
We also walked by the Grand Opera House which was built in 1890. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Closer look at the Grand Opera House stone design.
A super moon was scheduled to rise on our last night in Dubuque, so we purposely went to find a bench on the river walk to sit and watch the full moon rise over the Mississippi River. It did not disappoint!
The full, super moon rising over the river.
We had a wonderful time in this historic river town…There is so much more this city has to offer. We’ll be back.
We have returned from a road trip to Colorado, to visit our youngest son and his family. We had a great time and good weather (hot but dry).
We were happy to watch the kids while our son and his wife took off for a few days. The first day of our time alone with the grandkids, we planned to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. Because of COVID-19 one has to make reservations to drive into the park, which we did long before we left for Colorado. This made the park less crowded than normal. What a perk!
The Rocky Mountains
Our time for entering the park was 10 am (with a grace period). It would take an hour from our son’s home to get to Estes Park, the entrance to RMNP. That morning, we were on our own to get the kids ready. After packing a picnic lunch, finding jackets, getting shoes and sunscreen, loading up the car and getting the kids settled in their car seats, our first stop was at the neighborhood gas station. We pulled up to the pump and stopped. After the busy morning I turned to the kids in the back seat and asked, “OK, how are you guys doing? Are you comfortable?”
Zoey (5) said, “yes” and Ezra (4) said – in all seriousness – “yes, but I’d be more comfortable with a donut!” It made us laugh out loud and we went into the station and bought some donuts!
The Old Fall River Road…one-way, gravel, narrow, along the edge, nine miles long.
The day went well. It was sunny with spectacular views. We drove on the Old Fall River Road, a one-way, gravel road which twists and turns its way up through the mountains.
At 12,005′
At the top we stopped at the visitor’s center and hiked the remaining Alpine Ridge Trail to 12,005’. We had brought some children’s binoculars for the kids and they were a big hit.
Zoey looking through the binoculars.
On our way down the mountain we drove along the Trail Ridge Road, a two-way, paved road. We stopped for lunch in a picnic area, and hiked on another trail along a river.
Forging a creek on a hike.
We had a lot of fun playing in Rocky Mountain National Park with our grandchildren.
Our planned route for our road trip to the East coast took us close to Delaware. I have never been to Delaware so I thought it would be a good idea to drive through the state and add it to my list of states I’ve been in. When I mentioned this idea to our host the morning we were leaving Washington D.C. heading to Pennsylvania, he suggested we go to the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware. So we did.
The Visitor’s Center.
The Hagley Museum is along the banks of the Brandywine River and is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E.I. du Pont in 1802. The du Pont company became the largest American manufacturer of black powder.
A side view of the Visitor’s Center and museum.
The Visitor’s Center and museum, in a beautiful brick building, includes three floors of exhibits.
More beautiful and interesting brick building walls.
Outside the museum, there are 235 acres with historic buildings to explore, and tour different parts of the gun powder operation, including the the Powder Yard with live demonstrations.
One of many buildings along the Brandywine River used to manufacture gun powder.
A demonstration of gun powder being ignited.
You can walk up to Worker’s Hill where the worker’s lived on site, and tour Eleutherian Mills, which was the first du Pont family home.
The du Pont’s first family home. – both ends have been added on since the original was built.
I especially like touring older homes…like the Rockefeller’s in Williamsburg, and now the du Pont home in Wilmington. This was du Pont’s first home in America (they immigrated to America from France)…a few miles away is Winterthur, another du Pont home where the family lived, with 175 rooms. It is now open to the public but we didn’t have time to go see it. (Maybe another trip to Delaware – who knew there were such interesting places to visit in Delaware?)
I liked this wrought iron bench painted turquoise, and the yellow pansies and the lamppost at the entrance to the house.
The du Pont company went on to become the country’s largest chemical firm. The exhibits in the museum showed many examples of their inventions: nylon (including nylon stockings), Teflon, Kevlar to name a (very) few but there are so many more.
We enjoyed this museum a lot and I said to Gary, “It’s interesting that this morning we never even heard of this place and now, here we are this afternoon, touring it and enjoying it.”
