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: Destination Reached!

Since I couldn't work on my blog last night, I ended up getting some much needed sleep.  Both of us woke up early and we got on the road right away. Today was a big day - only about an hours drive to our destination, Divernon, Illinois to pick up our harvester tracks!

We drove through St. Louis Missouri and saw the St. Louis Arch in the distance . .

right before crossing over the Mississippi River!

As we continued north, we drove past some beautiful farms

and lots of fields of corn!

The Dowson family farms 50,000 acres of corn and just built a new dryer to dry it.  Mike said I would know we were there when I spotted the big dryers, as we had bought the tracks from the Dowsons. Corn harvest has already started back here so truck after truck rolled in to unload while we were there. These dryers are the biggest I have ever seen and they still can't hold their entire crop!

As we drove into the dryer yard, I saw our tracks sitting off to the side next to a pickup.

We parked our rig and walked over the check them out again while we waited for Chris Dowson to come with a front loader so we could load the tracks onto the trailer.

Mike dug the chains he brought out of the lock box . . .

and measured out and marked placement of the tracks on the trailer, while we waited.

Chris arrived shortly thereafter, along with "Big Mike" - a 6'8" young man who was driving the front loader.  The guys proceeded to chain up the tracks to the front loader as I snapped these pictures!

The first track was carefully lifted and placed onto the bed of the trailer.

Then the second track was placed next to it.

Chains were run through the tracks

and then hooked onto the bed of the trailer, then tightened with binders.

For extra safety, we added strong straps through the top of the tracks to keep them from tipping during transport.

Finally, Mike toenailed in four boards around the base of all sides of the tracks.  The load was secure but Mike wanted to find out what his load weighed so we drove up the road one exit.  Mike dropped me off at an antique mall while he went to the scales to weigh the load.

The antique mall was out in the middle of nowhere and it didn't look like much but when I walked in, there must have been 200 booths - a whole mall of antiques to treasure hunt in!  I have a whole list of things I am looking for - both for friends, and for clients!

 One client collects these glass chicken/nest dishes and she needs a purple one - I found this one, sent her a picture from my phone, and got a message right back from her that the one she needs has a beaded edge instead of this edge!  So if anyone out there knows where I can find one - let me know!  Until then - I'll keep searching!

I went around the corner to another booth and I was met with this whole case of Candlewick glass!  My friend Margaret inherited some Candlewick from her aunt and she is always looking for unique pieces.

Margaret once told me she was looking for a special cookbook for her mother.  I found a booth full of vintage cookbooks and sent her a text!  She confirmed I had found the one she was looking for - her mother had received a copy of the cookbook for a wedding present and five years later, she and her husband lost everything, including the cookbook, in a devastating flood.  Margaret wanted to replace the cookbook she had received for a wedding present!  But shush if you know Margaret or her mother - it will be a surprise gift!!

Another client is looking for vintage hats with veil netting and I was able to find three for her here and great prices!  I found some miniature bottles for another client, some vintage wooden spools, a vintage birdcage, some piano player rolls,  a dainty rosary, a vintage wedding dress, an off white demi-lune table, and a Catalina Pottery Vase - all for a grand total of $126.00!!  THAT was a great day! 

As I walked out the door with my hands full, Mike told me I had to go into the next building.  The sing on the building said "Crafter's Mall" but he said he went it and found a booth with some vintage stuff he thought was pretty cheap.  He led to one booth filled with antique oak furniture and other home accessories so I started checking price tags - he was right - really good prices - then I saw the find of the day!  A vintage double laundry tub - perfect for filling with ice and beer bottles, or other beverages for a party and the price tag - $22!!  In California, this tub would have cost $150!  We also bought a vintage gateleg table, in excellent condition for $65!!

We loaded up everything without taking pictures because it was about 98 degrees with 75% humidity and we had to get on the road because we had been treasure hunting for about 3 hours and we had to start heading back home.  Look for my posting "Opening the Treasure Box" when I get home to see all these treasures!  We left Illinois, passed back over the Mississippi back into Missouri, and turned west.

Once the air conditioning in the truck had cooled us off, we realized we had not eaten anything since breakfast at our hotel!  So again, I got online, checked Trip Advisor for restaurants in a town called Hannibal - the number one listed was a place called Fiddlesticks.  GPS told us we were just about there so we pulled in.  The service was unbelievable! Our drink glasses were never empty, our salads came within 3 minutes of us placing our order and the main course was not much further behind.  We were in and out of there in about 30 minutes! Pretty good for a sit down dinner and the food was pretty good!

It had been a full day.  Back on the road, it wasn't long until the sun started setting. Now we were heading into the sun towards home, and we still have room in 'the treasure box' so who knows what we'll find on the way home?! Now our cry will be - Westward Ho!!