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An Annual Event For Riley
June 11, 2005
June 12, 2005
June 15, 2005
June 15, 7:45 PM, 2005
June 16,2005
June 17,2005
June 19, 2005
June 20, 2005
June 21,22, 2005
June 23. 2005
June 25, 2005
June 26, 2005
June 27, 2005
June 28, 2005
June 29, 2005
June 30, 2005
June 30. 2005
June 9.2005
Makin' Friends
Watching TV
une 26, 3005
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Takin' It Easy: A Journey West On Route 66
Friday, 1 July 2005
Springfield, IL
Topic: June 30, 2005
We started our trip on Route 66 in Springfield , IL. And this is where we return,to the same Cozy Dog Diner, 5,267 miles later. Buzz has his jacket full of pins from the many stops we made west through this beautiful country. He and his friend, Link, will be a part of the learning going on in our third grade classroom this new year. (Boy the dog needs a bath!) I'm building a web quest around all of the pictures, artifacts and friends we've gained along our journey. (Hidden within the web quest will be state standards.) It will be published for children interested in learning about their country through the internet. To think that you can travel that far, never being stopped when crossing borders, and always with a sense of safety is a wonderful thing. Something I don't think is possible on many continents.

We met many groups of people traveling on their motorcycles. They were eager to share they stories and enthusiasm for our country. The sights, smells, sounds, and climate of a community is strong when you are out in the open, upon a motorcycle. All of your senses are keenly aware of your surroundings and for your safety, so it should be. There are still places in our country where few people live, and then places like Los Angeles where millions live. Because you're American you have the freedom to choose how and where you live. I wouldn't choose anywhere else but Indiana. The communities that stand out as being exceptional seem to have one thing in common, the people of that place share a common goal whether it's protecting the natural land, changing the land through new farming techniques, or building monuments that teach others about who they are. The places that stand out for Larry were the Grand Canyon, The Sierra Nevadas, and the vast desert lands. For me the best thing was meeting and learning about people and how they adapted to the land, and for our good friends the Fords, I think it was getting to see a little girl named Ellen. Thanks for sharing our trip with us and let us know how you liked it by e-mailing me at: dmyers@svcs.k12.in.us Have a great summer and...Take It Easy!







Posted by Mrs. Myers at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Saturday, 2 July 2005 10:13 PM CDT
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Thursday, 30 June 2005
Hannibal and Home
Topic: June 30. 2005
The waterfront here in Hannibal has lots to offer the tourist. The old town is well taken care of. You could easily spend a long week-end seeing everything. There are great restaurants and ice cream parlors. Even if you aren’t a Mark Twain fan it’s a great place to relax with friends and family. The river boat, Mark Twain, leaves the dock for river tours 4 times a day and serves dinner. There is a tournament for mud volleyball going on this week. We will have to start up a team! We had sandwiches called maid-rites, yum! This amazing trip will come to an end soon for this Tom and Becky. This peaceful spot on the Mississippi is a great place to gear down.

Posted by Mrs. Myers at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Friday, 1 July 2005 9:33 PM CDT
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Wednesday, 29 June 2005
Missouri Along the Pony Express Trail: Highway 36
Topic: June 29, 2005
As we continued on Highway 36 I was to learn that it is called the Pony Express Trail. The original Pony Express ran from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. We have taken the same path for much of the way back to Indiana. In Marysville there is a museum which used to be a stable/station for the Pony Express. (We saw the remains of three stations when we were in Nevada.) This outdoor statue used to stand on a hill close to the highway but because of the rerouting and resurfacing of the highway it is being stored in town. Each year in June, the Pony express journey is recreated. St. Joseph was the starting point for pioneers and the Pony Express. It’s also where the notorious Jesse James lived and met his end. Do you know what Highway 36 is titled as it goes through our community? Hint: a famous person from Dana!

Today our odometer reached 5000 miles. 5000 miles, it seems like we left Indiana just yesterday! To celebrate we were comparing raccoon faces to see who had the best one! I’m the one taking all of the pictures so Nancy has to be the one to show her racoon tan! I'm not going to tell what she was laughing about. It's one of those things you had to be there! Buzz took a spill from the bike. It scuffed up his jacket and he's pretty dirty but he's good to go. We stopped at a Harley shop in St. Joe. Buzz is checking out the pinball machine. with the new gameboys and Play Station games this is pretty obsolete. That's me playing on Larry's bike. Kids, I hope you are reading my blog!

Posted by Mrs. Myers at 10:23 PM CDT
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That Nancy!
Topic: Makin' Friends
No matter where we are Nancy makes friends. Here she is answering questions about the fatboy!

Posted by Mrs. Myers at 12:51 AM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, 29 June 2005 1:28 AM CDT
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Tuesday, 28 June 2005
Kansas
Topic: June 28, 2005
Our trip through Kansas was interesting. Farmers were busy getting their crops of wheat and hay out of the fields. Long ago Kansas was desert. Because of irrigation techniques and wise land management it is now called the “bread basket of the world”.




We stopped at a museum in Colby. It is called the Prairie Museum of Art and History. Several families from the area shared their family histories living in Kansas and they also donated their collections of artifacts to the museum such as this doll collection. It was most unusual. We walked through their buildings: The largest barn in Kansas, the Cooper Barn, a school, a church, a farm house, and the earliest pioneer home, the sod house. The large barn loft was where barn dances were held. The museum documented the families’ stories. One child wrote about his family homesteading in the 1800’s. He said his parents arrived on the 160 acres with 35 cents and six kids to feed. It was 50 miles to the nearest town. They were given rights to the 160 acres if they lived on the land for 5 years and improved it. They planted 10 acres of trees and were given another quarter (160 acres). Living in a house made of sod, or hard dirt, had to be difficult! We have gone from cold weather to very hot weather. It was over 100 degrees at the bank in Montrose. Because of the intense heat there was a strong wind (hot air rises pulling in cooler air) making it difficult to manage the bikes. We were hot and tired when we got to the Super 8! We were so tired we weren’t hungry! That ’s not natural. We will take Highway 36 home. It is comforting to know we live only 6 miles north of 36.

Posted by Mrs. Myers at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, 29 June 2005 12:51 AM CDT
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Monday, 27 June 2005
Rocky Mountains
Topic: June 27, 2005


We went through the Monarch Pass and saw a beautiful part of the Rockies. The Monarch Pass is on the Continental Divide. We will learn more about this in school this next year. From that point in the mountains the water flows in two different directions, towards the Pacific and towards the Atlantic Ocean.






There was snow! In the valleys as you travel down we saw many horses. It’s easy to tell why horses are important to the ranchers here.





Mining is still an important industry in the west. After lunch we continued our drive down through the mountains.









We were surprised to see a beautiful lake called Blue Mesa. It was large with many places to camp and fish. In one of the mountain towns, there was a rally of people riding mountain bikes. They were everywhere. How they could ride those bikes in the thin mountain air was amazing to me. I struggled just walking! Here we saw a wagon loaded with antlers.










We did see some deer and antelope but I didn't get a good picture of them. On one ranch we saw many goats grazing on the mountainside. Among them was a dog. As he heard us drive up, (Harleys are loud!) he placed himself between us and the goats. I guess this is his job. He looks a lot like Jake. We are beginning to miss Jake, Molly, Lucy, the cats, and the chickens back in Indiana. We'll be home soon though and this amazing trip will be over. It's been a dream come true for us.


Posted by Mrs. Myers at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, 29 June 2005 1:28 AM CDT
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Sunday, 26 June 2005
San Rafael
Topic: June 26, 2005
Today we saw some beautiful mesas and mountains. We traveled through The San Rafael Swell, seeing the Reef, and the Desert.














We found some rock lizards, a poodle named Buddy, and Buzz found my favorite son-in-law’s name, Jim, carved in the rock.


Look close on the side of the steep side of Ghost Rock. It says, “Wife I love you.” way, way up high. That guy really loves his wife or he’s just crazy!


We stopped at the Spotted Wolf Canyon and took pictures of the road below. There are two men walking out to the tip but they are so small in the picture you can barely see them! Rabbit Valley was very flat. Here are pictures of Buzz riding on the back of the bike. He likes the way I pack him in better than the way Larry does it. When he rides on back everyone smiles! All he sees is road when Larry straps him down! We stopped at McInnis Canyon which is a favorite area for those with 4-wheelers. We talked with a nice Ranger for quite a while. We saw antelope. The ranger said they have two speeds, absolutely still and very swift so I missed the picture. We were rained on a little but it felt good! We lost Chuck and Nancy when we stopped to take pictures so Nancy and Chuck got to the gas station before we did. See her waving us down? When we were getting gas, we met some men going to Utah to relieve the firefighters in the battle against the forest fires we passed yesterday.


The evening news said over four hundred firefighters were called to help. We crossed the Colorado River on the way to Montrose, Colorado, which is at the base of the Rocky Mountains. This is where we will start tomorrow.

Posted by Mrs. Myers at 10:59 PM CDT
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Saturday, 25 June 2005
From Nevada to Utah
Topic: June 25, 2005
Today we took off from our motel in Ely, NV worried about the long stretches of highway we would be traveling today. The great distances turned out not to be our biggest worry for the day! You are very aware of the weather conditions as you drive along on a motorcycle and we had been very lucky dodging bad weather along Route 66. Was our luck going to hold out? The sky seemed foggy when we started out.As we started driving Southeast, we began to smell smoke. What we thought was smog or an overcast sky was smoke from forest fires. We had learned earlier that the dead trees sometimes covering a mountain side were caused by fires started by dry lightning. In Ely we had seen several emergency rescue trucks from various communities filled with young men. I thought maybe there was training classes going on. Now I know that they were there to help put out fires. (We had not watched the local news.) The smoke became strong enough that it was stinging our eyes but we did not see any fire. We drove through the Great Basin National Forest covering about 70 miles. We stopped to top off the gas tank at the state line station called,Border Inn, and I bought a Shaman's medicine rattle and a medicine bag made by local Indians. The manager told us that his gas tanks were in Utah and his building was in Nevada. As we started through the Spring Valley it began to lightly rain. That rain cloud moved around us for the rest of the day with us barely missing the big down pour. We skirted around the large snow-capped mountain shown here. It was another 83 miles to the town of Hinckley, Utah. The wind was very strong. We ate in Delta while waiting for the storm clouds to go over us. There were several other bikes trying to get across the mountains the same time we were. As soon as we got to the motel in Salina, the storm broke, lightning and all. We we glad we weren't caught out in the storm for there was no shelter along Highway 50. Back in Nevada we were able to see Sevier Lake which is a dried up lake with only salt left behind. We also saw this elk farm. The entrance is made of elk and deer antlers. They make things for people from antlers. P.S. The fires wre in Gunlock.

Posted by Mrs. Myers at 7:42 PM CDT
Updated: Sunday, 26 June 2005 8:13 AM CDT
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Today we continued our journey east along Highway 50, the Loneliest Road in America. One thing I have found interesting are some of the roadside traditions out here in the west. One is spelling out you name with rocks in the sand ridges along the road. The first chance I got, I added M for Myers and B for Buzz. In the hills by the towns, people have added the towns’ initials or at Carson City, a flag. In the morning we went from Fallon, NV to Austin, NV. It was 111 miles between gas stations! Always fill up when you’re out here! We saw this tree from a long distance. When we got up to it we noticed hundreds of shoes hanging in it. The story goes that someone wore out their shoes getting to this solitary tree in the Highland Desert and threw them up into the tree. Years passed. Then other people started throwing their worn shoes into the tree top. Now it’s a famous landmark. Some of the elderly of the community do not like this landmark tree in the desert being treated this way but things are the way they are. The Salt Flats look like a lake from a distance. When you get close there are large areas of land totally barren of life. I can only imagine what the pioneers went through as they tried to find their way west! We took pictures of the pony express stations that were along the road. In Austin they had a Pony Express Museum. As we were getting close to Austin, we began smelling something musky along the road. Almost stinky, musky!


Then we noticed the hundreds of crickets or locusts all over the road! They were hopping everywhere (Except those squashed by cars!) Thousands of them! They were all over the town of Austin. There we stopped at a Jewelry Shop. I bought turquoise stones for my class and a beautiful necklace made by Loretta Cox. Her friend in this picture cut and polished the stone. The turquoise stone came from the Blue Gem Mine which is no longer open. I got some other neat things for my class there about the area mining business. It was another 60 miles to Eureka. (This is where I left our initials.) We’re spending the night in Ely, NV. I read where 80 % of Nevada is public land. There were places posted free range and had placed up caution signs for wild horses. I have lots of pictures for my class so we can study the different types of land we are seeing as we travel. We love you all. As we often say, love, peace, and chicken grease!

Posted by Mrs. Myers at 5:48 PM CDT
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Lake Tahoe
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: June 23. 2005
It was time for good-byes this morning and it was difficult for some. We headed north through San Francisco and picked up 80 going across the Bay Bridge. The bridge is two levels, each going a different direction. We then made it to Highway 50 which we followed through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. For most of the trip it was cool; the ocean keeps the bay area cool and then the elevation of the mountains keep you cool. (Echo Summit is 7300 feet above sea level!) This is a beautiful way to travel west. Again I noticed the smells; the orchards of fruit, vegetables, hay, and clover. Water irrigation is very important in California and Nevada.
As we traveled through the El Dorado National Forest the smell of pine was very strong. Highway 50 follows along the South Fork American River. Some of the series, Into the West, on TNT takes place in this area. At a small place called Silver Fork, we stopped to see this totem pole and bear. Buzz kissed the totem for good luck and the wooden bear held Buzz in the air so he could get a good view of the river. We traveled on to State Line, NV, elevation: 6300 feet, before finding a place to stop and wade in the aquamarine water of Lake Tahoe, the most beautiful lake in the world! People can snow ski on the mountain top and then swim in the water of the lake! We moved on to Carson City, elevation: 4600 feet. The historic city would take weeks to explore but we had little time. We spent the night in Fallon, NV and ate at the Depot.



Posted by Mrs. Myers at 5:31 PM CDT
Updated: Saturday, 25 June 2005 5:37 PM CDT
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