Road Trip: Through the Rockies

Last night when we got to the hotel, to top off the day we had, we found two crickets in our room - that were still alive!  We thought if a cricket on the hearth is good luck then one (or two!) in your hotel room must mean your luck is going to change.  Mike rolled up a towel and laid it by the crack under the door because he figured they were coming in from outside.  It worked because we never found anymore in our room - and we had a much better day today! We packed up to go load the truck and as we were walking out the door, we noticed lots of dead crickets on the ground outside the door and around the base of the building.  It got colder than it had been the previous nights, according to a worker we talked to, so he thought they died because of that.  We thought maybe the hotel management hired the Orkin man because of complaints by the hotel guests!  

 Just next door to the hotel was a Goodwill store.  So before we hit the road for the day, I had to hit the Goodwill!  Nothing like looking for stuff when you are fresh - I scanned the shelves and was out of the store in one half hour - Mike was so proud!!  (Note the sarcasm!)  I actually found some wonderful things at great prices!  Just a note: the internet in the hotel went down half way through downloading my pics so a few are missing until I can get more service!
(picture of Goodwill finds)
A vintage medicine cabinet with glass shelves for, a two tiered metal serving piece, a David Frykman Santa, a light green depression glass egg dish, a Scarlett O'Hara figurine, a vintage cut glass honey pot, and a cute seahorse brooch - total cost: $24.78!  Feeling successful, I packed the treasure box with all the goodies and we hit the road.

We passed field after field of corn in Nebraska - the fields are planted right on the rolling hills and amazing to see - corn grows so fast the weeds can't compete so the fields look really clean! No wonder Cornhuskers are so proud of their state!

We also passed a few fields of alfalfa hay.  In our neighborhood, the hay is cut, dried and then baled.  Here, it is rolled into huge rolls.  The rolls sit in the field until time to load and deliver.  If there is a surplus of rolls, the farmer rolls them to the side of the field so he can harvest his next cutting.

(picture of Sweet BBQ Lays chips)

Hay is not the only thing that is a bit different.  During one of our stops, we noticed a few snack foods we have never seen before in California - but it could be because we don't eat chips often! First, we saw this one in Missouri - Sweet Southern Heat Barbeque.  We bought a bag to taste - too hot for me, but Mike loved them!

Then we saw these Ruffles Hot Wing Potato Chips in Nebraska.  Again - too hot for me, but Mike loves the heat.  I wondered if these were the same chips the call 'chipotle' in California and 'Cajun' in Louisiana! That would be pretty smart marketing - same chips, but different regional packaging! Maybe these small towns are test markets . . .

It wasn't long until we were over the Wyoming State Line.  Again we had to stop at a truck scale, but this time, we had a seasoned scale officer.  He checked out paperwork and we were on our way in minutes!

Just into Wyoming, we saw these traditional haystacks!  Being a first grade teacher for years, they reminded me of the story of Little Boy Blue, asleep in the hay!

The terrain started to change and things started looking a little drier again.  We had been driving through so many lush corn and soybean fields it was a pretty stark contrast.

The skies were full of fluffy white clouds - and there is a lot of sky in this part of the country!  I could take picture after picture of beautiful cloud formations but one will have to do here!

We made it to the capital of Wyoming, Cheyenne.  We chose not to stop because we needed to catch up after the challenges we had yesterday.

(picture of rocky mountains)

The hills turned to mountains as we traveled along, and again we were seeing some gorgeous rock formations.  It was a steady climb in elevation out of Cheyenne along Interstate 80.  We are only getting about 10 miles per gallon now with our 25,400 lb load!

When we reached the summit at one side of the Continental Divide, we saw this 13 1/3 foot tall statue of Abraham Lincoln.  It was made by an University of Wyoming Art professor Robert Russin out of 10 tons of clay and 11 months of work to create. Passing it by as we moved over the backbone of our country gave me a sense of pride.
The elevation at the summit was 8,640 feet - and what goes up, must come down! Mike was concerned about what downward grades lay ahead for us as we had never driven this road!  The road started with a gradual grade down and then we reached a part with a 5% grade and the truck started making scary grinding noises - was our transmission going out?!  Westopped the truck and got out the owner's manual and Mike re-read the "Tow/Haul Package" section.

Having read the specifics about how the electric tow/haul package works part on steep downward grades, since we live in the flatland, we felt a little better and continued down the road.  Luckily, it was a gradual grade all the way down to Laramie, and we needed a break after driving 250 miles!

Laramie is one of my favorite towns I visited so far on this trip!  It is a college town and the University of Wyoming students had just come back to school this Monday so the town was hopping.

 This is picture of main street - it looks like a typical western town out of the movies like Gunsmoke!  And it has lots of cowboy bars as well!

Before we got to Laramie, I had checked my GPS for 'Antiques'.  We forgot to update our GPS before we left and it only offered one store - Ann's Antiques and Pawn.  We drove into town and found it immediately since it was on the main drag.
But the sign only indicated 'Pawn'.

My curiousity told me I had to check it out. The front of the store was classic western - wagon wheels, a front porch, vintage signs, an Adirondack style bench out front and the running horse weather vane on top!

I walked in and this was clearly a pawn shop - behind the counter were rows of guns, the glass case contained knives, and watches.  Another glass case contained vintage china, tea cups, depression glass, and some jewelry.  Not seeing any sales people, I stepped up to the counter and got a fright!

This is Huck! According to Anne, the store owner, he is the 'greeter'!  He 'paws up' to the counter to welcome guests as they step up to the counter - and he gives high fives on command! He was a sweetheart but we all know why he is really there!

SECURITY!!
Anne was great and gave me some suggestions for stores to visit in town with antiques.  I thanked her, gave Huck a pat, and was on my way.

As I walked around downtown, I saw numerous painted murals.  This is one on the side of a Cycling Shop building!  I love  how the bike hangs out like a sign - definitely eye catching!

Anne had suggested I find the store called Mimi's. 

 I walked around a few blocks at all the cute little shop but couldn't find it so I went into this store "Back of the Wagon Antiques".  As soon as I walked in I could tell they dealt in vintage western antiques.  I had so much fun walking around the store and seeing vintage Roy Rogers bedspreads and Dale Evans dolls!  

Beautiful antique furniture from the old west anchored every vignette.  This chest of drawers was one of my favorites!  I just love the grape motif pulls - but I wasn't in the market for a chest of drawers!

They also had lot of vintage kitchen tools and tools you would use around the campfire, and lots of vintage and antique tools.  This stove was in perfect shape and anchored the kitchen tool section!

(picture of tiny glass bottles and vanity tray)

I talked to the girl working, who was a third year U of Wyoming student.  She was a business major from Iowa and she did lots of the displays - I told her they were beautiful!  I bought some tiny glass bottles for a client, and a vintage vanity tray.  She gave me a map of downtown Laramie, showed me where Mimi's was and told me she loved Mimi's - the anticipation was killing me!

I found it and it did not disappoint!  The store was a lot like Melange, the store I am a vendor in.   Look for my complete post on the store in about a week! But, as always, here is a sneek peek!

 Mimi's is a consignment store that specializes in vintage dresses and hats - and oh the hats she had! Absolutely funky and gorgeous! They are also in perfect condition! Anyone who loves vintage hats and dresses needs to go visit Mimi's!  She carries lots of other consignment items as well. 

(picture of china plates)

I found a mid century tea cart and a set of 9 vintage china dinner plates I could not leave behind!  As soon as I get home I will add pictures since the hotel internet is down again!  I just don't think big sky country is big internet country!!

Mike had been reading up more about the Tow Package on his truck, checking the straps and chains on our load, and surfing the internet for hotels on the road ahead.  We both we starving since we had nothing to eat since breakfast, except to taste the bag of chips and it was 5:30 pm.  I had passed some cafes when I had been walking around to find Mimi's, so we chose Lovejoys' Bar and Grill.

We ordered the asiago cheese and artichoke dip to appease our growls right away. It was delicious! I thought to myself, "pretty smart appetizer for college town - carrot and celery sticks for the girl on a date and the focaccia bread and bowl - great for a guy - and girl to share!"  We both ordered sandwiches after our appetizer and gobbled them so fast I didn't get a picture - but his Ruben and my Patty Melt were both delicious - I recommend this place if you are ever in Laramie!!

Back in the truck again with full bellies, we were prepared to spend another 2 hours on the road. We made up a lot of miles today and had some great stops.  I'll leave you with a Wyoming sunset until tomorrow - I've got to get some sleep!

Road Trip: Challenges and Successes!

Our day started in Missouri and ended in Nebraska and along the way we had quite a few challenges! First, I didn't wake up until 8:30 am because I had a diet Pepsi too late last night and couldn't go to sleep!  I told Mike, next time wake me up!  He said he just figured I needed to sleep. 

 I dressed quickly, packed my bags and my laptop, and took a few pictures of our loaded rig and then we went to the breakfast room. Well, we missed the breakfast!  All the other hotels we have stayed at closed their breakfast at 9:30 and this one closed at 9!  Challenge Number 1 - no breakfast!  Mike grabbed a cup of grade 'B' coffee - he said at least it was strong though lacking in flavor!  All of you who know Mike, know he makes his coffee strong and he likes dark roast robust coffees!

We climbed into the truck and got on the road.  We decided to head north out of St. Joseph, Missouri up Highway 29 through Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska to hook up with Interstate 80 to head west - instead of following the majority of the traffic which seemed to be heading west on Highway 36 to go west through Kansas.  

The road was great - hardly any traffic!  We came across a cornfield with a bunch of windmills in it. Mike was thrilled the road was uncrowded as it took a lot of the stress of driving the loaded trailer down the road.  

Despite it taking a little longer to get to Omaha than we had planned, the route was gorgeous!  Rolling hills covered with just-about-ready-to-harvest corn and lush deep green soybeans, spotted with immaculate farm houses and grain bins. 

 We settled in and enjoyed the ride . . .until we started looking for diesel again!  Exit after exit went by and no stations!  Challenge Number 2!

We pulled off at one intersection to get diesel and the turn into the station was too tight for Mike to take with our rig.  So we drove down the road a little bit, turned around, and went by the station again. He looked at the station again and thought he could probably make it and our gauge was down to 2 miles of fuel remaining!  He slowed the rig and began to back up to park and I heard a car honking so I told him to stop - a car was honking! There was a car behind us that we couldn't see - an elderly lady had pulled up so close to the back of the trailer we couldn't see her in our mirrors!    We ditched the plan to go to that station and  started out to the road when I noticed she had got out of her car and was looking at the front grill.  We must have hit her so Mike parked the truck and we went down to talk to her. 

Sure enough, the plastic hooks on the very back of our rig had sliced open her front bumper like it was butter! 

 Challenge Number 3!!  At least no one was hurt and her car had very little damage and of course, our heavy rig had no damage.  She was very nice and we apologized and said we just didn't see her which was the truth.  We both went on our way but we still hadn't fueled up!

We got back on the highway thinking there would be another gas station at the next exit.  We still had our jug of diesel in the back of the truck in case we were desperate and it was looking more that way than not with each exit we passed.  We checked our GPS and it said there was a station 6 miles down the road so we prayed we would get there - we did! Finally a success!

(I'm missing pictures for next paragraphs - see end of post!)

We pulled into the gas station to refuel and there was an Antique Mall at the gas station!  Success!  So as Mike refueled, I hit the mall running!  I didn't want to hold up our trip too long, but I hate to miss even one row of these malls, thinking I probably will miss a great deal!  Again, I was on the hunt for the mysterious purple chicken and other treasures!  I scoured the booths and saw amber chickens, and lots of white chickens, but no clear purple chickens.

The sales lady reminded me they had an upstairs so I climbed the stairs to the loft.  It was in the loft I found another great treasure!  Standing tall in a back corner of one of the booths was a vintage metal bird cage with it's original stand.  Birdcages sell out of the store as fast as we can get them in and birdcages on stands are hard to find - particularly when its an original pair!  It's easy to put a mismatch set together when you find a stand in one place and a cage in another but this was an original set!  I reached over to check the price tag and I almost fell over!  $12.  I read it again thinking it was marked wrong - nope - I read it right - $12!!  It was coming home with me!

Then just down about four more booths, I found a gorgeous Scarlett O'Hara type Southern Belle dress in my favorite color - tiffany blue!  This dress has ruffles all the way down the skirt and even little ruffle cap sleeves with a fitted bodice.  I pictured my friend's daughter, Rebecca, in it - perhaps dressed up as Little Bo Peep for Halloween or wearing it for a Cotillion-themed sorority party!  I took the dress and the birdcage down to the counter.  The price tag had fallen off the birdcage somewhere on the way down the stairs before I got to the check-out - Challenge Number 4!

I told the lady it had been marked $12 but she said I would have to find the tag.  I don't blame her - I couldn't believe it was $12 either!! So I traced my steps back to the staircase and went back up the stairs, and then scoured the booth - the tag was no where to be found.  I went back down and told the lady I couldn't find it and she said she would go look.  So we both repeated the same search - nothing!  She said she would call the vendor.  None one answered - Challenge Number 5!  She called the vendor's sister with whom she shared the booth and the sales lady described the birdcage set.  The sister said she didn't know what the price was and we would have to get a hold of the vendor.  So again the sales lady called the vendor - no answer.  She started writing up the dress and told me she would try one more time - she answered!! Yeah - but the vendor said she was just in the night before and bought she had just reduced the cage to $15 -not $12!  "I'll take at $15" I whispered to the sales lady - but the sales lady told the vendor that I knew the tag said $12 so perhaps we should split the difference - the vendor agreed!  Final price - $13.50! Still a deal - I told the sales lady thanks so much and she said, "I watch American Pickers - you never should pay full price!"  Wow! What a great sales lady!  Another success!

Mike had been really patient and had bought himself a donut while he was waiting for all of this.  He came over while I was checking out and the sales lady asked, "So where are y'all headed from here?' We told her and she said, "Oh no you're not!" Challenge Number 6!  She explained that the Missouri River had reached flood stage back in May and the Army Core of Engineers had blasted the levee, leaving part of Highway 29 impassable!  She explained not a lot of travelers know because they have not had any press coverage.  She explained that over 150,000 acres of corn and soybeans were under water in the bypass due to the flood.  Lots of her farming friends were under duress and she said she felt so sorry for them.  We looked at each other, understanding her story, and then we realized that must have been the reason the road was so empty!

We grabbed our map and she showed us how she got around the road closures on a Highway 59 the weekend before to get to Omaha.  We thanked her profusely and headed north on Highway 59.

There was a John Deere dealership about a mile down the road and Mike thought he'd just check with them about the status of the road to be sure we were headed in the right direction.  They confirmed we were on the right road.  Then about five miles down Highway 59 we came to a road closure sign!  Mike sighed and said, "That guy I talked to was a tool!"

Challenge Number 7 for the day and we had only been on the road for a few hours!  There was no option but to turn around and go back to the last spot we saw we could get on the main highway.  We backtracked and then decided we should just follow all the other big rigs in front of us!  We stopped one more time in a little town where we saw a bunch of big rigs parked and Mike went in and talked to the good ole boys sitting around a table shooting the breeze.  They all confirmed we were now on the right road and it was the only way to go 'unless you got an airplane!' Success!

We passed through Iowa and all of it's corn fields and then finally made it to Omaha, Nebraska and onto Interstate 80 where we will be all the way through Reno and almost home.  On the road for about three hours, Mike said he needed to stretch his legs and we might as well find diesel.  This time, we were not going to wait too long so we pulled off at another gas station which had an Antique Mall next to it.  We got out of the air conditioned truck and the heat was unbearable - it was 97 degrees and 95 percent humidity!!  I quickly went into the Mall.  Mike filled up and then joined me in the air conditioning!!  The Mall had a little cafe inside so Mike sat down and relaxed a bit - it had been a pretty stressful day to that point!

I started the search for the elusive purple chicken, the small little bottles for another client and any other great finds I may uncover.  Then I saw it - what I thought was the holy grail!  I had never seen so many glass chicken dishes in one place!

 I looked carefully at the dealer's collection - but still - no purple chicken!

I was able to find a few tiny bottles for my other client and saw all kinds of vintage farm equipment and mid century furniture but nothing really excited me.  I was a little off my game - probably due to the stress of the morning.  I ran back into Mike and he showed me one of his finds - a belt buckle with the Sacramento Northern Railroad emblem on it!

 The Sacramento Northern Railroad used to go right by our house in East Nicolaus.

Mike's Uncle Jim lived in East Nicolaus during that time and they used to play outside and watch the trains come through.  Mike got the buckle as a gift for his uncle - so don't breathe a word about it if you see him!  He also found a small bottle with 1930's Crude Oil from a well on a Nebraska's School site - he wanted something to remind him of Nebraska for his desk,  Mike has a whole collection of small objects on his desk from his travels - so I thought I'd surprise him with something as well.

 I found a plastic scale model of the St. Louis Gateway Arch in one of the booths and bought it for him.  In order to look at the harvester tracks before we bought them, he had flown into St. Louis, Missouri. He rented a car and drove downtown to visit the landmark before proceeding onto Divernon, Illinois and the Dowson's farm to view and purchased the tracks. So now he had a souvenir of that trip as well!

Before we left the store, Mike said I HAD to see something. I followed him to the back of the store and he pointed to this -

It was probably the single most cheesiest picture I have ever seen of Elvis!  Do you just not love that wide lapel?! Mike's mother loves Elvis so I said, "You don't want to get this for your mom do you?!"  "NO!" He exclaimed. "I just wanted you to take a picture of it so we could show her!  It's amazing!  It's like a memorial!  Half picture, half shrine with the light on the frame that shines on it!" I was sooo relieved!  Not only is it a cheesy picture, but the tacky brass frame adds to its cheesiness!  We thought about getting it for our White Elephant Christmas - but we were too cheap to pay for it!  Like I always say, you can find anything in an antique store!!

Back on the road, we drove through more and more cornfields and soybean fields.  At least on Interstate 80  the speed limit for all vehicles is 75 miles per hour.  We decided just to eat at Taco Bell tonight since we had so many challenges today. Sometimes you just have to call it quits when the day doesn't start just right.  We pulled into our hotel about an hour earlier than usual and I started working on my blog. Then along came Challenge Number 8 - I couldn't get my pictures to load!  I loaded the first batch and then bam!  The wireless went down and I couldn't load anymore.  So I'll add the rest of the pictures to this post later - I'm calling it quits for today!