Summary day 5 to 8

 Long and longer driving days.  Day 5-8

I could not blog until now because the battery of my computer does not last long anymore, and I needed to be on power constantly to be able to write. Therefore, I do a short summary about the last days now.

We came out of the cold weather area as soon as we crossed the Mississippi. 

St Louis, IL/MO

4 C (39F) to 19 C (66F). Amazing that a mighty river can bet such a climate divide.

Our day on the roads needed in Marshfield, MO

Dixie especially loved the nice grass around our parking space.

Next morning right after sunrise we went on. Nothing special. 

Lots of traffic in and we were battling headwinds which

slowed us down extensively and brought down our gas milage. 

We had planned to take I-40 to Albuquerque, NM, but changed

plans again and went Hgw 60 and 70 via Clovis NM, towards Alamagordo NM. 

That way we got to drive with much appreciated tailwind.

I-40

It would have been pretty boring hadn’t I decided to take photos of birds along the road. 

I scanned power pole and fence post. Many hawks I saw and the occasional falcon. 

This night we stayed again on a Walmart parking lot 

and Dixie encountered for the first time the dreaded “goat's head” weeds

with its tumbtack like thorns. 

After getting the first into her paw she plain refused to go for her evening business. 

Poor girl.

Just before we turned off the lights Peter walked her again and found a grassy spot 

without “stickers” and she finally was successful.

Muddled up by the time change we got up an hour too early, I

t was still dark when we got back on the interstate. But sunrise

finally came and with it I saw a big flock of white pelicans on a pond along the road. 

Too bad, otherwise I could have taken

photos of them. 

Apropos taking photos. It is a constant challenge because I have to decide 

whether to take landscape shots

with the small lens, or close ups with the 200mm lens. 

So, I am sitting and changing lenses all the time and of course, 

sometimes there is an interesting bird flying by or sitting on a pole 

and I have the wrong lens on! 

Miles and miles of open grassland, high mesa, passed by. 

Here traffic was very light, and I did not have to concentrate on the 

road as much as I had to in the cities. 

How 60

We climbed an and climbed and reached the highest point 

at Apaches Summit with 7591 feet (2313m). Briefly I saw antelopes

Hgw 70

in the early morning sun. Sorry, no photos, we drove by too fast

and I had the wrong lens on anyway. 

Prickly Pear Cacti along the road

Downhill we went for miles and miles until we finally reached 

Alamamogordo White Sands Monument 

where we stopped fora short time only. 

We did visit those chalk white sands earlier in 2011 and took awesome photos. 

But today Peter was not in the mood. He wanted to push on towards our goal. 

2 More days.

On we went towards Tuscon AZ another long day of driving. 

By now I was really tired and worn out, not to mention Dixie,

who rode in the back without seeing the beautiful vistas. Poor thing. 

I-8 Saguaro Cactus along the road

She looked at times really depressed.

We did not make it all the way to Tuscon before dusk was over us and we decided 

to stop at a know place, the "Red Barn Campground” In Benson AZ. 

Not a fancy place, but good for a one nights stay. Again, finding a place without

sticker weeds for Dixie took a while. 

By now I thought she found out that it was not us that were punishing her for something 

she did not know she had done wrong, 

but that it was something in nature she had to accept. 

Gingerly she walked on each grassyarea anticipating a thumbtack in her paw any time.

 

I was looking for more birds in the meantime and found some interessant

doves and a hummingbird at the neighbour’s feeder in the morning. 

Peter had to wait a few minutes so that I could take 

A decent photo. He rolled his eyes at me and remarked: 

“You and your birds. If you would stop at any bird that you see and 

take photos I (Peter) would already be on my way back home

 before you ( Bea) even had reached our winter destination.”

Talk about clashing interests.

Day 4 - snow and rain

The I-80 brought us first further north and west 

before we could turn down on I-70 in a more southwesterly direction. 

And, of course, another weather system approached. 

Typical for the area south of the Great Lakes at this time of the year. 

Another Canadian cold front with snow and strong winds. 

At times there was nearly white-out conditions. 

And needless to say, people were driving as if it was the nicest summertime weather. 

No time for taking photos, my attention was on the road. 

 Since we headed into the system it passed overhead pretty quickly 

and after four hours precipitation went over 

into drizzle and the snowy fields were soon green again. 

But this kind of weather, and lots of road construction sides,

hampered our speed and we did not reach St. Louis, MO as planned. 

At Terre-Haute, IN we called it a day and turned into an older campground for the night. 

Within an hour after we had checked in it was already dark. 

I am not complaining because tonight we are protected 

from the wind among tall trees, have power and plenty of hot water.  

Such luxury. 

Another bonus: we will be driving around St. Louis in daylight and after a good nights sleep. 

Warmer day temperatures are also beaconing.

Translation

_____________________________________

Über die Interstate 80 ging es nun erst einmal in nordwestliche Richtung bevor wir auf eine südwestliche Tangente abschwenken konnten. Zu dieser Jahreszeit ist das Wetter hier in dieser Gegend dann auch ziemlich ungemütlich.

So auch heute. Vier Stunden lang kämpften wir uns durch Schneeschauer und Wind in Richtung Indianapolis, Indiana. Unser Ziel war eigentlich St. Louis in Missouri, doch das Wetter verlangsamte unseren Vormarsch erheblich und wir gaben drei Stunden vorher auf.  Besser morgen früh gut ausgeschlafen durch die Millionenstadt St Louis fahren als  abgekämpft nach einer langen Fahrt.

Der Wind wurde auch immer stärker, der Sonnenuntergang war schon wieder bedrohlich nah und es war an der Zeit Unterschlupf zu suchen.  In Terre-Haute, Indiana fanden wir einen geöffneten Campingplatz für die Nacht.  Hier stehen wir nun ganz angenehm vom Wind geschützt. 

Als extra Bonus haben wir einen Platz mit Strom und Wasseranschluß gemietet.

Der reine Luxus. 

Wärmere Tagestemperaturen sind auch in Aussicht.

Day 3 - westwards

 

After breakfast we made up our minds.

We would not take the I-81 South!

The surface of that road is so dilapidated 

it would have destroyed our camper trailer 

and relocated all our internal organs. Not kidding.

We decided to go back to our original planned route

and take the I-80 West instead.

And it was the right choice, though colder and windier.

Mostly less traffic and good pavement.

Beautiful views over Pennsylvania's valleys.

But the mountains seemed endless today.

We joked at one time that surely they must have multiplied 

since last time when we travelled through here.

Many farms here are run by Amish People. 

Once in a while a snow shower drifted by.

After another long, mostly grey day, 

climbing seemingly endless mountain tops, 

we finally we made it into Ohio. 

Translation

___________________________________

Nach dem Frühstück entschieden wir uns lieber nach Westen als nach Süden zu fahren.

Die Interstate 81 war in einem so schlechtem Zustand, daß wir sämtliche Schrauben aus unserem Camper verloren hätten und alle unsere inneren Organe furchtbar durchgeschüttelt worden wären.

Wir nahmen stattdessen unsere ursprünglich geplante Reiseroute in Richtung Westen wieder auf. Lieber Kälte uns Graupelschauer durchstehen als durchgerüttelt werden.

Die Interstate 80 war sehr angenehm zu fahren und auch nicht übermäßig von Verkehr überlastet. Schöne Aussicht über die Täler. Viele landwirtschaftliche Betriebe werden hier von der Amish Bevölkerung betrieben.

Ab und zu zogen Schneeschauer durch. 

Doch die Berge kamen uns heute so vor als hätten sie sich seit dem letzten Mal vermehrt. Es dauerte scheinbar endlos bis wir endlich die Grenze zum Teilstaat Ohio überqueren konnten.

Nach einer kalten Nacht wird es dann Morgen weiter in Richtung Süden gehen.