Draper, Utah Delivery in September 2010

We picked up a Navion Itasca motor home at Forest City, bringing it to the Prairie to be packed for an early take off the next morning. It has a Mercedes Benz diesel getting 12 to 13 mpg on a Sprinter chassis with a compact & attractive interior.

Our foggy, cool drive to pick it up turned into a hot muggy, sunny afternoon of packing.

Early AM, Tuesday, we headed south & west avoiding bridge reconstruction thru rain and lightening.

Daylight on I-80 west through rolling hills covered with golden brown crops waiting for harvest with occasional green pastures for contrast.

We discovered that Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J Travel Centers are one company and points are interchangeable. No more cash discount on gas, but the points for purchases will apply to meals and other purchases from their store.

Drove thru fog and rain for several hours on Wednesday heading west. Passing fields of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, & sunflowers; pastures with cattle; irrigation rigs; and long trains.

Into Wyoming under a sunny blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

Views thru the windshield:

Cattle grazing around oil wells scattered over the rolling pastures. Tall white windmills lined up along the ridges. Refineries, storage tanks, oil wells, power plants, tall poles carrying electrical wires, & communication towers scattered over the landscape. The tall peaks of the Rocky Mtns with splashes of white snow provide a backdrop. The leaves on the aspen trees are turning gold making a brilliant accent to the brown grass and green pines along the water ways in the valleys. New wooden snow fences are lined up in formation like soldiers waiting for the battle to start. Signs giving warnings about the dates of the closings of certain rest stops. Areas with prairie dog mounds. Herds of antelope grazing.

The rolling hills turn into pine covered mtns and rocky cliffs. Each curve in the road provides a different vista of the country. The fluffy white clouds turn into dark clouds and drop rain and strong winds. “Strong Wind next 5 miles” sign is frequent for the rest of the day. Over the Continental Divide. Past a large area that had recently been burned. We could still smell the acrid odor of smoke & ashes.

Thank-you, Walmart, for allowing us to stay overnight on your parking lot!

Good Eats: Wendy’s Apple Pecan Chicken Salad. ½ of a salad is generous and just right with a baked potato for a meal. The salad also contains cranberries and blue cheese chunks and is served with a Pomegranate Vinaigrette Dressing. The Spicy Chicken Caesar was not so good.

D-day: We living in mountain time, but our bodies are programed for central time, so up early and driving under a full moon. Know we are missing some beautiful scenery. The moonlight highlights mountain peaks as we climb and curve through the valley but also will miss some of the morning commuter traffic near Salt Lake City.

Our printed directions contained street names, but the streets are actually numbered. Thanks to "Gertrude," our Garmin, we found the car wash & dealer. Fast check-in.

Scenic Drive (Our First Fall Colors of the Season!)

In the Saturn and headed south on I-15 out of Salt Lake City to SR 89 for a scenic drive. Utah is definitely using our “stimulus money” for road construction! They even have a sign to let us know that we are paying for it! The mountains in the background are covered with shrubs with red leaves.

Thru the windshield:

Lots of mountain wilderness with occasional small homes until the valley widened. More small and large ranches. Interesting businesses: Ranch Rental for small or large groups. Commercial Pheasant Hunting.

Lunch at the Home Plate Café. We parked our little Saturn between the local four-wheel drive pick-ups with deer antlers on their dash! Enjoyed a good, but not outstanding meal while listening to the conversations of the local people

Two lane Highway #31 curves thru the canyon with spires of green fir and spruce trees and neon yellow/orange of aspens.

Our first fall colors of the year! What a treat! Not only did God create trees for our use, for our protection, but also for our enjoyment year around!

Signs seen: “Snow plows operating both directions in your lane”

“Frequent Deer Crossing”

“Cattle Grazing” because this is open range.

We did see a flock of sheep walking up the middle of the road and around the curve was a sheep herders trailer parked under the trees in the pasture. It looked like a wagon on wheels with a curved roof. His horse was tethered to the side of it.

Many trails for ATV’s and hiking.

Streams and lakes for fishing.

Wasatch Plateu: Transition between Colorado Plateau on the east and the Basin & Range province to the west. At the timberline.

Mammoth bones discovered in August 1988 when digging a dam to control the flow of water thru the mtns. An area museum has the bones. The mammoth probably died in Noah's flood?

We drove past several lakes formed by dikes. The water level is very low. They have had very little rain in Sept. this year. One lake covers an abandoned coal mining town from the l870’s. A vein of coal was discovered and coke huts were constructed to burn impurities from the coal making it burn with a higher heat to use for making steel. Coal mining is still taking place in other areas of the valley. It is used for the power plants.

Spruce Beetle is killing trees. The Forest service is removing the dead and dying trees to encourage aspen growth. Aspens are a natural fire resistant tree.

Out of the canyon and into the wide valley surrounded by rock mountains. It looks like the inside of a super gigantic gravel pit! Small ranches & farms with grazing livestock, hay, wheat & clover fields where irrigation is available.

Took the Interstate to Salina to find a motel for the night. $3.14/gal for gas. One of the highest prices on the trip.

Hwy 24 east is an excellent road taking us past a gypsum plant, rocky mountain peaks, drilling rig for natural gas, oil wells & equipment & pipes are scattered along the valley along with ranches.

In the Fish Lake National Forest the yellow blossoms on the creosote bush mingle with the soft greens of the sage, the shades of brown grasses and splashes of neon yellow aspens in the high peaks in the distance! This area was known as Grass Valley when Brigham Young and the Mormon settlers arrived. Such contrast.

Driving along the top of a mountain we can see a patchwork of fields with ranch buildings resembling toys set in the corner of each area! All irrigation systems are running in the valley! We stopped at a local gas station convenience store for a cup of coffee. It also sold fishing poles, lures & horse bridles! The owner said that it had been very wet this spring. The second cutting of hay was a foot tall before the bales from first cutting could be removed.

Along the valley near Bicknell, Utah we found the Nielsen Grist Mill built in 1893. The water was channeled from the Fremont river and dropped 27 ft into the mill wheel. They ground grains into flour, gemade (could not find out what that was), bran and shorts(?). A farmer received a sack of flour for 3 bags of wheat. The sacks were sewn by hand. They could not grow hard red wheatin this area. It makes the best flour so eventually trucked in the four rather than wheat and closed the mill. All the equipment is in usable condition now.

Capitol Reef National Park

What is the Capitol Reef? It is a giant buckle in the earth's crust that stretches across south-central Utah. It is called a waterpocket fold, forced upwards probably during Noah's flood, which has eroded into colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, twisting canyons and graceful arches. The basalt rock, which makes up most of the ocean's floor weathers to a reddish or greenish tint. In this area it is mostly reddish.

The Fremont River flows through the area creating some grass land and large trees. We saw two huge cottonwood trees.

The early Morman settlers planted orchards which still produce cherries, apricots, peaches, pears, apples and plums as well as almonds and walnuts. You are welcome to stroll into any of the unlocked orchards and pick and eat for free or pick and take for a fee.

Are the petroglyphs left by the early Fremont Culture from 700 to 1250 the first Facebook profiles or the first blog or first "tweet"?

Awesome formations and canyons.

Headed home

It was time to head home. Back to I-70 east, 80+ temp, clear blue skies with only a few small white fluffy clouds lined up in formation over the distant mountain peaks.

Interesting signs: "Eagles on Highway"

At some of the exits: "No Services" "Ranch Exit"

Facts about Utah:

State emblem is the beehive which symbolizes industry and the pioneer virtues of thrift and perseverance.

State insect is the honey bee.

State tree is the blue spruce.

State Mineral is Copper. Kennecott's Bingham Canyon mine in Utah is the world's largest open-pit copper mine.

State Bird: California Seagull. It saved settlers by eating crickets destroying their crops in 1848.

The people of Salt Lake City consume more Jell-O per capita than any other city in the Untied States.

The federal government owns 65% of Utah's land, including 5 national parks, 7 national monuments, 2 national recreation areas and 6 national forests

Personally, I had always considered Utah as desert country, but was amazed to see all the mountains, canyons and irrigated farm land.

We chose Hwy 50 through south western Colorado. Good road curving through the Rocky Mountains with ranches in the valleys. The leaves on the bushes are shades of pink, red to purple & green with occasional neon yellow gold aspens. Velvet covered mountains with gold jewels! A nice farewell before we enter the brown fields being harvested in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.

Life lesson: Notice the mileage signs along the Interstate. They are located every so many miles to keep you informed of what is ahead. They always list the closest town and then a city far in the distance. My "mileage signs" are in God's word. Reading daily to let me know where I am in my spiritual life, strength and guidance for the day, focus for now. But also what is ahead in the future, the promise of what He has provided through faith in Jesus shed blood. Eternal Life with Him! Thank-you, Lord!

Thank-you for traveling with us!

Prairie Schooners

Lakewood, NJ

Finally after many days of phone calling there was a Winnebago that needed to be delivered. (Sales are still down making the drivers compete to get one to deliver) Since Papa is teaching a weekly Bible Walk-thru we needed to be able to pick up on Tuesday, deliver and get back to the Prairie by the next Monday. Another driver was picking up an identical unit to go to another dealer in Lakewood and gave us some traveling tips!

Navion iQ Features:

This is a Navion iQ. One of the smaller units with a diesel engine that gets about 14 mpg when you tow a car. Steel grey with black accents on the outside. Inside is an attractive khaki color scheme with cherry wood. Very comfortable leather adjustable seats. There is a bed across the back of the unit. It will be comfortable when you put the slide out. (something we are not allowed to do when we are transporting). So it has been like climbing into a cupboard for me. Papa’s feet extend over the edge supported by pillows on the floor as we lay crosswise! An adventure for 2 nights!

Another interesting feature in this one are clear covers for the kitchen sink and 2 burner stove, making some worktable space. The sink has faucets that fold down to accommodate the cover. The bathroom has a 8 inch round sink in a shelf behind the stool with shower opposite. You would have to remember to back in and walk out! No couch, just 2 short bench seats, one with a built-in table. Very compact! Price-$110,000.

On the Road:

It was a drizzly day hooking up, checking the unit and driving southeast through farm land and past small communities headed for I-80. The corn and bean fields were various shades of green & brown Some areas still showing the effects of all the flooding this spring. Near Davenport, Iowa we spotted the first combine in a bean field. Several more across Illinois. Trucks were hauling ears of seed corn to the seed processing plant.

Chicago is always a challenge, but seemed almost too easy today. Turning off at Gary, Indiana planning to stay at the Flying J we saw water over an intersection and sand bags. The restaurants in the area were closed due to flooding from Hurricane Ike. We drove on to the Toll Road Travel Plaza at Portage to stay. On the way we saw stacks of sandbags & cement dividers plus the detour signs. Talking to another driver we found out that the traffic on I-80/90 was detoured to Highway 30 and it took him over 5 hours to get through that area last week after the 8 inches or rain fell one night.

Driving through northwestern Ohio we saw fields of soybeans, corn & vegetables (cabbage, pumpkin, & squash) ready to be harvested. Some crops had been harvested and the fields were already tilled. Large grain elevators on the horizon. Turkey buzzards floating on the air currents reminded us of our little Prairie! We have had over two dozen floating above and around our home for the last month. Will they still be there when we get back??

Listening to audio books help make the miles go faster when we are not in “new” territory. This trip we let our minds travel out West with a couple of stories by Louis L’Amour. It was interesting to listen to the news about our economical crises and then listen to David McCullough’s book Truman. The author gives a balanced view of the history during that era. I wonder if we will ever learn from past lessons! It was interesting that Mr. Truman wrote so many letters through out his life with his thoughts and daily experiences. Now our thoughts and daily experiences are shared via cell phone or email. How do we preserve those for the next generation?

Fall Color!

Into the mountains in eastern Ohio and the Pennsylvania Wilds. I enjoy the graceful overpass bridges. Straight on top for the highway, but a graceful arched supporting curve with ends resting on high rock ledges! A warm sunny day with a treat for us! Color! Large areas of goldenrod with accents of purple & white asters and wine red sumac bushes in the ditches and on the hillside meadows! Leaves are changing to their autumn colors. As you look across the mountains you see them covered with a dense thick fleece quilt of shades of green, red, and gold. What a spectacular show God gives us to enjoy!

An email from our granddaughter gives a "life lesson" from the fall colors:

I know you are on your way out east right now, and maybe just in time for some good fall leaves to enjoy? Fall always makes me want to travel too, to go see all the sights and colors and activities before the winter kills it all. That's the kind of funny things about the outdoors during the Fall. You don't stand around looking at nature in the spring and summer -- it just seems the perfect vibrant backdrop to the hundreds of run-around activities which we rush to and fro with, trying to squish it all in before the weather changes. The weather and the colors and the plants are all energetic and growing and all that, but you don't sit and notice it, or maybe I should say that at least I don't. But then, during the Fall, you just want to stand there, and look at the trees as they subtly change, or at the fields as they mature and ripen for harvest. And you just want to sit there and soak it all up. Enjoy it. Like what I am doing right now in the campus library, seated comfortably by the huge wall of picture windows, and close enough to some of the huge trees on campus to see some of the subtle changes in leaf coloring. And it gets me thinking about how subtle God's changes in us are, little bitty ones that slowly make our lives, our produce, our leaves, more beautiful and more vibrant -- showing off more and more of Him in us.

Oops, looks like we are going to miss a tour of the baseball bat factory at Exit 86, again! But we did drive over the highest point east of the Mississippi River on I-80 (2,250') and entered the Cheaspeake Bay watershed. Wind is getting stronger as we drive into the edge of the storm off the coast. Weather band stated that the coast was having 40mph winds and the waves were dangerously high in the inlets. Color fades as we go South to find a bridge over the Delaware River & a highway into Lakewood.

Lakewood, NJ

From their website:

Lakewood, New Jersey Brief History: In 1814, way before this area was known as “Lakewood”, the town was named “Washington’s Furnace” by Jesse Richards & William Irwin, who moved here from Washington Township. They set up an iron company, which began to fail in 1832. A local investor by the name of Joseph W. Brick purchased the company and was successful in its revitalization. When Mr. Brick eventually passed away, the town was renamed “Bricksburg”.

During the 1860’s, five and ten acre tracts of land were advertised in various papers throughout New York. The streets of the village were laid out, and many large homes were constructed. One of the grander homes, the Laurel House, hosted such families as the Vanderbilt’s, Rockefellers and Astor’s.
In 1880, the town’s name was changed to “Lakewood”. The town’s promoters did not find “Bricksburg” to be a favorable name. The following decade saw the construction of many large hotels. One of the larger hotels was “The Lakewood Hotel”, which stayed open long after the tourist season to enable President Cleveland to spend his final days as peacefully as possible.
Just ten miles from the beach, today Lakewood boasts 1,200 acres of parks, 2 golf courses with a third on the way, as well as The Lakewood Blue Claws baseball team.

The city was interesting to drive through as we looked for the dealership. We drove through a large Jewish community with schools, banks & businesses. Past a Russian Orthodox Church and a city park beside a small lake which gave us a place for a picnic lunch. No left turns are permitted. If you had to turn left you would look for the corner on the right that permitted you to turn off and circle back to the left!

We stopped at a Wawa Market to get gas. I had to "google" that unusual name! It is a chain of convenience stores in the mid-Atlantic region. The name comes from the site of the first milk plant & the corporate headquarters in Wawa, PA. The name of the town is derived from the Ojibewe Indian word for Canadian goose. An imaage of goose in flight is corporate logo.

Because the dealer told us that their area was predicted to receive 4 inches of rain that evening along with 40 mph winds we decided to not try and do any sightseeing in the area. (Maybe we will find something in PA or OH) We headed north & west to get away from the storm.
What an experience on the New Jersey Turnpike as we got closer to New York! Drivers speed, cut in and out close & sharply, honk their horns and in one area they separate the cars from the trucks, each having 3 lanes going parallel to each other!!

Pocono Mountains

We found a Days Inn in Tannersville, PA, which is in the Pocono Mtns. The main road was the valley and any road branching from it went "up"! The motel was on one of those "up" side roads. Each of the sections was a little higher than the other. It was comfortable, clean, and quiet. It is near the Pocono International Speedway which was having a classic car show that week-end. We had our own show at the motel. What fun to walk past all of the "classics" sitting in front of their rooms when we did our "evening stroll"!

There was a restaurant featuring Indian cusine, we were going to try, but the fragrance of the spices was overwhelming when we walked in. We decided we would experiment with those spices at home in our kitchen first to see if we wanted to pay the price for a whole meal at a restaurant. (We found a Friendly's and enjoyed clam chowder, a chicken salad and their great ice cream.)


It was raining in the morning, drizzle off and on most of the day as we traveled west on I-80. Heard that there was some flooding in NJ without the 4 " of rain. We followed a little classic sport car that did not have any fenders and wide tires. In the rain it made water spouts on each side of the vehicle! The colored leaves on the trees are brilliant red and gold even in the rain. Low clouds cover some of the mountain tops. We are resigned to not doing side road trips. Most are scenic drives that would be hard to enjoy in the rain, but I do have an itinerary for next time, Lord willing, we are driving through this area.

Travel Tip: Get the State Tourist Guide and a State Road map at the Welcome Center or order on line of each state you are traveling through. It will show the areas of the state, the attractions for that area, and motels, campgrounds, etc. It is easy to carry. You can "google" for additional information, hours open, admission & etc.

Signs warned of Fair traffic as we neared Bloomsburg, PA. They average 60,000 people at their 8 day fair. It started in 1855 as a one day county agriculture fair and grew to 8 days in 1989. It covers several acres and has stage shows as well as displays and contests. Perhaps next time it won't be raining when we are in the area and we can check it out!

Cherry Springs Sky Preserve

A sky preserve was a new concept to us. Cherry Springs Sky Preserve is a 48 acre park in rural Potter County Pennsylvania surrounded by 200,000 acres of the Susquehannock State Forest. It is located far from cities on a plateau allowing a spectacular view of the night sky for observation and photogaphy. One observer said, " When the sky is clear and the seeing is good then people can actually see their shadow cast on the ground from the starlight alone." This will be added to our "to do & see" list for next time!

Elk Run Scenic Drive

A four hour scenic drive through the Pennsylvania Wilds makes a loop between I-80 exit #111 and exit #147. If the weather cooperates this will be part of our next road trip to this area. The elk poplulation was decimated until the early 1900's when 100 elk were brought into the area from the Rock Mountains. Now a herd of 600 roam the area along with other wildlife. Did you know that an elk can run for 30 miles and trot for much longer? I know we have elk just over the fence, here on the Prairie. We enjoy their bugle in the fall and their graceful movements across the pasture, but seeing them in the wild plus the beauty of the mountains would be a great experience.

Another Life Lesson on the Road:

I'll have to confess to some whining & complaining about the weather preventing some "scenic drives", seeing some historic places, & doing our usual "exploring" the area until I remembered Romans 8:28."All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose" & Philippians 2:14--"Do all things without complaining...." & Philippians 4:11-- Paul states.....I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be content."

It looks like we will have time to stop at the Baseball Bat Factory at exit 86 today! It is inside & we had to take I-80 back because of the weather. What other blessings will the Lord have for us along the road ahead? Actually, because we got home earlier we could enjoy a visit on the week-end from some special people.

BWP Bats

Take exit#86 off I-80 near Brookville, PA and follow the signs through the country to the BWP Bat factory. Brookville Wood Products has been in business for over 40 years producing furniture squares, stair parts and flooring parts for manufacturers as well as billets for baseball bat manufacturing. They are located in the hardwood capitol of the world.

To expand their area of production they researched manufacturing their own baseball bats and started their company BWP Bats. They still sell over 30,000 billets to other bat manufacturers each year besides the 40,000 bats that they manufacture themselves.

What is a billet? It is a piece of square hard wood about 37 inches long and 4 inches wide that is the base for making a bat. This billet is marked on the bottom with its weight. It is made from hard maple, ash or red oak. It is inspected to be sure it is free of defects.

The billet is placed in a special lathe and the specifications for the bat is programed in. The bat is cut. Each of the major, minor & independent league players (presently over 100 professional players) that purchase their bats from BWP have their own specifications in the computer. Or they can send in a bat and it can be copied on the lathe. As it is cut on the lathe a rough sanding is also done. 4 pounds will be removed from the billet as it is made into a bat!

Sanding is done on several machines with careful examination at each one for defects. The last sander smooths the bat to a "glass finish", preparing it to be painted or stained.

Bats are dipped to paint or stain and hung to dry. They are dipped 3 times in a clear finish and then dried before going to the pad printer. This machine applies the logo on the less strong side of the bat, helping the player to know which side of the bat NOT to hit the ball with.

The next step is hand painting the decorative lines on the bat. It is then ready to be placed on a shelf as stock. When purchased it is engraved with the model number or customized according to the buyers specifications which can include a saying or a name/and or date! They sell bats to schools, little leagues and individuals besides professional players.

If requested the bat will be cupped. This is when the end of the barrel of the bat is cupped out (a little cupped space is taken out of the end). This lightens the weight of the bat by about 1 ounce. It also strengthens the "sweet spot" and adds balance to the bat.

They give tours 6 days a week from 8 - 4. They are busy from January through the spring & summer with 12 employees. Do you know what the "sweet spot" is?

Back to the Prairie

We drove out of the cloudy drizzle into sunshine across Ohio. A night stay at the Comfort Inn at Fremont, Ohio. A long drive across Indiana & Illinois. Finally back in WHO wave length so we could hear the Hawk's get beat. Then through Hawk fan traffic and north. We enjoy "going" and we enjoy getting back "home"! Is that contentment?!

Thanks for joining us "along the way"!

Prairie Schooners