Saturday - November 5, 2011

We left Nashville this morning, heading back home to Toronto. The leaves were turning in Kentucky as we drove through and it was very pretty. Stopped in Cincinnati for the night, but before we checked in at the hotel, we had to stop at another 3D place - Terry's Turf Club for a take out dinner. It was a busy, busy place - a line up to get in. Nothing fancy but the food was good and the place was very eclectic as you can see from the pictures. Lots of stuff on the outside.

Thursday, Friday November 3.4

We traveled east down I-40 from Memphis for about 120 miles, to Nashville, booked into a hotel in downtown on Broadway which just so happens to be the street of the Honky Tonk Bars. Singers and groups play in the various bars from about 11 in the morning to closing time making their money on tips, not salary. There are some excellent singers, in the various bars. The neat thing is that you can go from one bar to another to listen to each group. Just drop in. You don't necessarily have to buy any drinks but the tips are appreciated. Years ago we visited the Grand Old Opry and stayed at the Opryland Hotel with the kids, so this time Brenda and I decided to spend the time in downtown Nashville.

Thursday, we visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Walk of Fame. About 8 we went out to the bars and listened to the country music.

Friday we took a hop on hop off tour bus to get a good view of the city, music row and the other sites. We have found these tours in a whole number of cities when we were doing the Loop and found them to be an easy way to see the sites and find the the sites that might be worth a visit. We had lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Place and listed to live music for about an hour. Saturday night we went to more bars and ended up at B.B. King's place on 2nd St. hoping to hear some blues. We found out there is a real big difference between the music played on Thursday night and that on Friday. Thursday, the bars played country, on Friday it was rock, because the younger people are out to party. Same thing at B.B. King's, no blues just rock. Something to remember when we come down again. Come during the weekdays, if you are interested in country music. However it was all good.








Best Honky Tonk Bar









Inside Roberts Tave








The Tennessee Capital

Wednesday - November 2, 2011

As I mentioned yesterday, real deciduous trees are all song the highways in fall colour. We were setting a goal of Nashville, but unfortunately highway construction held us up for a period of time so we decided to stop in Memphis for the night.






















In Memphis, we visited another 3D called Cozy Corner restaurant another one closer to a dive than a diner. Best BBQ sauce I have ever had on ribs. Brenda had chicken with the same sauce and she agreed.

Tuesday - November 1, 2011

Traveling on I-40 parallels the old Route 66 along most the way from Arizona to Oklahoma City. You see the road from the highway right beside the Interstate. A two lane highway, that has seen better days but is used and can be used. We ran across a plaque at a roadway rest stop that explains a little about Route 66. There are a whole number of websites that go into far more detail. The difference between the Interstates and Route 66 other than speed and size is Route 66 goes through every small town along its route from Chicago to LA. Another thing added to the bucket list. It would be a facinating trip. The rest area also had an area to hide in in the event of Tornados, which occur quite frequently in the spring and sometimes in the Fall.





















We traveled through the rest of the Texas panhandle and across Oklahoma today. As we left Texas, we started seeing deciduous trees again with some fall colour. As we are quite a bit south of Ontario, the trees turn later.We did stop in Oklahoma City for lunch - at another 3D. The place was called Mama E's and it was closer to the dive description than the diner, but it was the best wings I ever had. The wings were delivered with a waffle which while it sounds strange was a great meal.








We crossed into Arkansas where there were a lot more trees and it reminded us of Ontario in the Fall.

Monday - October 31, 2011

The eastern side of New Mexico flattens out quite quickly after Albuquerque with the only hills in the distance. We crossed into Texas Panhandle and immediately got into ranching and farming country. The land is flat, much like the Prairies and there are grain silos and large cattle farms. Passed by a large stock yard where it was obvious cattle were waiting for shipping. However, we could smell the yard a ways before we actually passed. Stopped overnight in Amarillo.

Sunday - October 30, 2011

We left Flagstaff this morning driving to Albuquerque in New Mexico. Interesting how the terrain changes as you leave the Arizona desert. The mountains disappear for a while, but then rise again but without the tops. It seems as if someone has taken a knife and cut the tops off - they are all flat, but still pretty. Took a side road to see the Petrified Forest National Park but once we got off the road found out it was 18 miles away, so we decided to stop at a local retailer of petrified wood. Apparently the whole area has petrified wood under the soil. The retailer petrified wood rights from a landowner. They then dig for the wood much the same as for minerals, recover it and cut and polish it up for sale. Some of the stumps are very beautiful and the grain really stands out. Brenda wanted to bring one of the stumps home.

We then moved on to Amarillo, New Mexico where we stopped for the night. Found another 3D diner - Standard Diner and went to diner. I had chicken fried tuna (a 3D tested meal) which was unique and delicious. Brenda had soup and calamari, a little more pedestrian.



Red Soil - Sandstone










Petrified Wood

Saturday - October 29, 2011

Decided to stay in Flagstaff for another night and drive up to the south side of the Grand Canyon. The drive up to the Canyon again went through some interesting land, with the changing vegetation as we went higher. The Grand Canyon is around 7500 feet above sea level and you can feel the relative thinness of the air compared with the that at the ocean. The Grand Canyon is breath taking and you stand at a spot and look at it forever. The quiet and stillness is mesmorizing. It is a little disconcerting when you look over the side and see how deep the canyon is. We took in an Imax film on the Canyon which gave a little history of its discovery and some amazing aerial views down the middle of the Canyon.










Three idiots that took a walk beyond the path. People have fallen off doing this stuff

Friday - October 28, 2011

Just outside Las Vegas is Lake Mead, a man made lake created as a result of the building of the Hoover Dam in 1935 and blocking the flow of the Colorado River. The Colorado River starts in the mountains of Colorado, flows through the Grand Canyon flows and then into The Gulf of California in Mexico. We decided to see the Hoover Dam and it was impressive. A big project undertaken at the height of the Great Depression, it gave work to a lot of people. Based on the number of electrical towers around the dam, it produces a huge amount of electricity. Probably couldn't build it today, as every environmentalist in the world would would protest its construction no matter how many people would be employed.













Lake Mead above the Hoover Dam





Looking down from the top








Lake Mead










Anyways, after this we decided to travel along I 40 going east. We originally thought we would go along I 15 and visit Zion National park and Bryce Canyon National Park and then the Grand Canyon because friends had suggested that they were extremely beautiful. However the former two parks will have to wait another trip. Going along I 40 we traveled through the everchanging desert to Flagstaff, Arizona. We found another 3D restaurant, a Mexican restaurant called Salsa Brava. Excellent Mexican food and according to Brenda it was here favorite so far.




This place is on Route 66 of the old TV series and the song's fame. Route 66 still exists in spots but not as a regular highway running from Chicago to L.A. but rather as other highways with signs indicating Route 66.













The road is fenced off with openings to allow the wildlife to cross under the road.

Thursday - October 27, 2011

From Bakersfield we went east along Highway 15. About 50 miles along we hit the Mojave desert. Lots of mountains all along the route and lots of sand and rocks. In its own way the desert is very beautiful. Lots of colour in the hills and with some the bushes that grow in the desert. Very few places to stop and with the traffic, difficult to pull over to take pictures but I do have a few.

Highway 15 leads to Las Vegas. The traffic along 15 was very heavy, probably as a result of a lot of people going to Las Vegas. We knew we had hit the Nevada border because right at the California/Nevada border were a number of Casinos built right to the edge of the border. Going into Las Vegas traffic was heavy and we passed by all the major casinos. We decided to only stay one night in Las Vegas and neither of us was interested in gambling and while there were a number of shows in the casinos, none of them were attractive enough for us to stay. However we found another 3D place very close to our motel called the Four Kegs, a nice sports bar. Watched a bit of game 6 of the World Series while we ate. The bar also had a map they asked guests to indicate their home city on.







Obviously more than a few people are following 3D and doing the same thing we are.






Notice the windmills on the hills. There are lots of them but I would like to know why only about 25% of them are operating when there is lots of wind. Seems to me yo want them to provide electrical energy to replace that obtained from coal plants. If there are too many, why build them? I saw several big trucks heading down the highway with parts of the windmills. I wonder if that energy is factored into the CO2 emissions of the windmills. These things are not really very attractive and with the concentration of the windmills on the hills and valleys, you can see why a lot of birds are being killed.






















Amazing how the terrain is constantly changing in the desert!