Westward Ho - A cross country travel log

[LynnW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close LynnW]

Boca I have really enjoyed reading about your journey and seeing pictures of some of the places we have visited. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It is not often that you hear anything about Hemet! Several couples from our golf club spend the winters there and we have driven up there from Palm Springs to golf a few times. It is a beautiful area.

Lynn

[Suzy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Suzy]

I have relatives who lived in Hemet until about two years ago. I visited them twice and also toured Palm Springs. Another relative lives in Idlyllwild. It does feel like a small world when reading posts.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Rocky Mountain National Park...Awe Inspiring

We just finished our day driving, hiking, rock climbing and experiencing Rocky Mountain National Park. It is truly magnificent in every sense of the word. We took 77 pictures today, so when we get a chance, we will post some of them.

Our trip was cut a bit short since a cold front came through the area about 2 pm. So, we had to return from the Alpine Vistor's Center instead of continuing on to Grand Lake like we originally planned. That's okay, we need to leave something for when we return next.

We started the day by driving up the mountain to the first major rock formation. It was a great place for the boys to do rock climbing and run around. When you've got 3 of them, you love to give them an opportunity to tire themselves out.

Then, we went up the Old Falls River road which is a 9 mile, unpaved, one way trail that is closed in the winter. We were hoping to see Bighorn Sheep which where I come from are called Rams. But, we didn't find any. We did, however, see a bunch of squirrels, chipmunks, elk and even a small pack of coyotes. It's a real thrill when you get to see such animals in the wild. You can tell where they are because all the cars are pulled over with people pointing their cameras out the door.

We saw Chasm Falls and Alluvial Fan which was flooded in 1982 when an old dam burst. What was really cool was how the temperature dropped 3-5 degrees with every 1000 ft in elevation until it was 44 degrees at 11,700 ft at the Alpine Visitor's Center.

The different ecosystems. The great variety of trees, tundra, and rock formations makes every part of the trip very enjoyable. We can't wait to come back here because you need several days to really take it all in. I feel we got a great taste of it all.

Oh yeah, many of the roads are frighteningly close to drop offs of thousands of feet. It's amazing that I haven't heard a lot about cars tumbling down the side of the mountain, especially when the weather is bad.

At the Alpine Visitor's center, there is a nice shop and place to get (very pricey) food. Lots of great souvenirs there. And, of course, the visitors center. My kids did the park ranger presentation on lightening and got their junior ranger badges, as always. It was great to see some of the pictures they drew. My oldest son drew a picture of lightning and a person ducking it in a fetal position. My second son drew a picture of a person laying down getting struck by lightning with the words, "dead" next to him. That's was really funny and fits his personality perfectly.

I wish we had more time, but we didn't, so we need to come back for a longer stay.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Downtown Estes Park

Late yesterday afternoon, we spent a few hours in downtown Estes Park doing some shopping. As always, I was able to blow through all the shops in less than an hour and my wife needed more time since she loves to take her time looking at things in detail.

As I was shopping, I kept thinking that this was a great vacation shopping area. It made me think of all the great places I've been that had great shopping and I wondered what they all had in common. Certainly material for another thread.

Anyway, downtown Estes Park is marked by a lot of ice cream stores. More than I've ever seen. Also, the river runs right through the town and under one of the buildings. No wonder the town got flooded out in 1982. There's nowhere to escape.

Aside from many restaurant choices, two that stuck out in my head. The first was a hot dog shop that was literally the size of a closet. Only opened form 11-6. I was there at 5:30 pm, so I guess the owner decided to call it quits early that day. Too bad, because I wanted to try it out. The second was an Indian/Nepalese restaurant called "Nepal." My wife and I are probably going there for dinner tonight. Can't wait. It's a great setting for such a restaurant being in the mountains and all surrounded by 14000 foot peaks.

In addition, there were a few rock shops that my wife and son loved. She is very knowledgeable about rocks and loves to collect them. Don't forget emeralds, rubies, diamonds and sapphires are all rocks.

I liked the stores that had animal carvings and mounts. There were a few of them and the skill of these artisans never ceaseds to amaze me.

Also, as expected, there were a lot of hiking, biking, outdoor supplies type stores as well. All mini version of Bass Pro Shops. Great to see in such a mountainous area.

This town area fits nicely into the resort area and really adds to the overall experience.

I didn't have a chance to get taffy per JLB's recommendation. But, I did get an ice cream... chocolate on a small waffle cone.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Wow, this page opened in ten seconds this time. Those pictures make a big difference.

You're making me jealous! Except for Fall River Road, which was never open yet when we've been there, we've been all those places. We've seen bighorns a lot, but it was normally by accident rather then design. We have also seen a bear and a mountain lion there.

You really do have to try the taffy. Vanilla pecan.
- - - - -
You missed the fun weather here. The last three days it has been 99, 101 and 101. The surface water temp is 92. The cold pockets below the surface that were there yesterday were not today.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

The Taffy Shop

Wow, this page opened in ten seconds this time. Those pictures make a big difference.

Your making me jealous! Except for Fall River Road, which was never open yet when we've been there, we've been all those places. We've seen bighorns a lot, but it was normally by accident rather then design. We have also seen a bear and a mountain lion there.

You really do have to try the taffy. Vanilla pecan.
- - - - -
You missed the fun weather here. The last three days it has been 99, 101 and 101. The surface water temp is 92. The cold pockets below the surface that were there yesterday were not today.

JLB,

Okay, I bought a box of taffy from "The Taffy Shop" It is right next to the rock shop that my wife and son love. Actually, I bought the taffy at the rock shop since that is where the sign says to go when they are closed. They were closed since i got there at 8 pm.

Is that the right place? They were closed at 5 pm, so I couldn't get a box of the vanilla pecan. In fact, all I saw from the window was Texas Pecan and Vanilla. No Vanilla Pecan. Did I get the right or wrong place? From WorldMark Estes Park, I took a left on Elkhorn and the shop was on the right side.

Okay, I just ate a white, green, yellow, red.... oohh, the red one is fantastic. Oh, here is a white one with a pecan in it. That must be it. Hmm, okay, tasty.... crunchy..... yeah, that's it. I like the red one best. Light and fluffy. You can't eat just one.....

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Nepal's Cafe

Okay, my wife and I had dinner at Nepal's cafe. The owners are actually from Nepal, so I suppose the food is authentic. It has both Indian food and Nepali food.

I asked the waiter to recommend something from Nepal. He recommended the chicken dumplings. So, I got them. My wife got the pork and chicken noodles. When the food arrived, I was surprised at what I saw. It looked chinese to me. Chinese noodles and chinese dumplings. As I ate it, it seemed chinese except for the dipping sauce which was very spicy.... mmm, mmm good. I love spicy.

The owners names are Sujan KC and Shiva Shrestha. The address is 184 E. Elkhorn Ave. Unit H in Estes Park. They have been there for 3 years, so there is a good chance that next time you are here, they will be too. Just something different.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Yeah, Texas Pecan. Yeah, there's a rock shop next, with lots of glittering rocks.

We like to buy it fresh (the taffy, not the rocks), just after it gets made.

Have you been to the Bald Pate Inn, if it is still open for lunch?

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

BB,

As I was shopping, I kept thinking that this was a great vacation shopping area. It made me think of all the great places I've been that had great shopping and I wondered what they all had in common. Certainly material for another thread.

Shopping is an art form......I am most attracted to the unique items known to each area. The ones that are either difficult to find or very expensive at home.

However, I also like to find bargains, and things that are useful, or just too pretty not to take home. And, what about the things that just seem to fit perfectly. Or, the ones you buy just because you feel like it. Oh hell, I just love shopping.....

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Wolf Creek, UT

We made the 520 mile journey from Estes Park to Wolf Creek, UT today. We are only staying here one night on our way to Reno.

We drove through Colorado and Wyoming on the way to Wolf Creek. I must admit that I haven't driven Wyoming before, but there really isn't much here. It's a good thing that Yellowstone park is there. We were so close that we wanted to go. But, we are on a tight schedule and we couldn't do it this year.

The drive in Utah was uneventful as we bypassed Park City and Salt Lake City. We headed straight to Ogden which is pretty much a residential area. Then, as you head up the mountain and take a quick left at the lake, a magnificent area opens up before your eyes. I have quite a few unbelievable pictures already of the area. What makes it so beautiful is that the hills are rolling enough where you can see things for miles and miles away. Really, really great place.

Our room is very reminscent of Sedona Summit, the Sunterra resort. It's a very roomy 1 bedroom with a murphy bed in the living room. I love those murphy beds.

It is decorated in the typical WorldMark fashion. As much function for as little $$$.

The pool area is really nice and the setting is perfect. It is another resort within a resort. I am really beginning to like it when timeshare resorts do that.

More later. I've got to get some dinner.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

More on Wolf Creek

Woke up early this morning. Tried to find a hotspot for broadband internet for over an hour. I couldn't find it, so I drove around instead. This area is a picture perfect setting for a ski resort area. The houses here have magnficent views in all directions of the lake, mountains and valleys below.

Lots of horse ranches and 3 ski lift areas. I'm not much of a skiier anymore, but I'll bet it's pretty decent here. I drove around the mountain roads taking in the sights. This place reminds me a lot of the movie "Roxanne" which is one of my favorite all time movies. It certainly helped that I had Mozart playing in the background... the same music from the movie.

The evenings and early mornings are really great. Low 60's I believe when I woke up. There was a hot air balloon floating around and as I was walking around, a reddish lab retriever started following me around. It could have been my dog. Even when I went inside for a cup of coffee, the dog waited outside for me. No wonder Dog is man's best friend.

I wish I had more time here. I could certainly get used to it.

[iceeu2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceeu2]

Boca, I am so enjoying taking this journey with you and yours.

Thank you.

Donna

[Steve Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve]

Jim,

I'm glad you enjoyed your short stay here in Utah! I think the Wolf Creek area is very beautiful, too.

Steve

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Back home now.

I've been so busy that I didn't have time to finish this thread. I still have a ton of pictures to load. But, to save space and make it easier on people to view, I need to come up with a different way to do it. I'll do it as soon as I have time.

After Wolf Creek, we headed to Reno. We got a late start since I wanted to spend some additional time in the Wolf Creek area. On the way to Salt Lake City from Wolf Creek, we saw another one of those Del Taco signs, so we stopped for lunch before getting to far on our trip. This time is was really good. One thing that stuck out in my mind is how many Mexican restaurants and fast food places there were in Utah.

We went on our way and decided to stop at the great Salt Lake. It smelt like an ocean and there were seagulls and lots of bugs. I'm glad we saw it. But, I'm not sure we would come back for one of those boat tours. There is a copper factory right next to the lake. We would have liked to see the copper mines if we had time.

By this time, it was about noon and we only had travelled about 50 miles. We knew we were in trouble. So, I put the pedal to the metal and did my best to keep the speedometer at 90. The change from Mountain time to Pacific time helped a bit, so we ended up in Reno at 6 pm PDT. 8 hours to go about 560 miles when we stopped 3 times. That was good time.

We checked into the WorldMark Reno. Our suite was nice. The area surrounding the resort seemed to need some upgrading. It is right near the Sands Casino.

My relatives asked us to stay with them. So, we did that instead of sleeping in our timeshare. The rest of our trip was spending really quality time with relatives in Reno, Sacramento, Dinuba and Hemet. It was really great. Almost like a mini family reunion every place we went.

We did spend a few hours at USC walking around campus and reminiscing. That is where my wife and I met and fell in love. It was really great. We went to the bookstore. Met with one of my best friends and checked out all the places we used to go hoping for a glimpse of anything we could see that reminded us of when we were there. The single best thing we found was a little Korean BBQ restaurant in University Village that was still there after over 20 years. We couldn't believe it. I got my Beef Bulgogi and my wife got the Kalbi. The owner said that the business had changed hands multiple times in 20 years, but the menu had stayed pretty much the same. That was a fantastic time. The funny thing is that as we walked around campus, we kept seeing people that could have been friends of ours when we went there. It was eerie.

In any event, that concludes my cross country travel log as I am now back in Boca Raton after arriving about 1:30 am. Our journey took 4934 miles from Boca Raton, Fl to Hemet, CA.

My favorite timeshare was the Bluegreen Wilderness Club at Big Cedar. My favorite location was Rocky Mountain National Park. Wolf Creek is the place I'd like most to own a home. The cheapest gas was in Wyoming at $2.65/gallon. The most expensive gas was in California at $3.19/gallon. The traffic in California has gotten a lot worse in 20 years. I wouldn't want to have to deal with that on a daily basis. Reno is a lot nicer than I remembered when you go outside of the city center.

All in all, I think it was a GREAT and very memorable trip. If I had anything to do over again, I would have scheduled more time at each location, extending the trip to about 4-5 weeks and adding in Yellowstone.

Thanks everyone for experiencing this cross country trip with my family and me. We enjoyed reporting it to you and look forward to doing it again sometime.

Ciao.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Glad that you are home safely, and that you and your family got to experience such a wonderful trip....what great memories your family will share.

It was fun reading about your travels, and seeing all the pictures of the beautiful places that you visited. Be sure to post the remainder of the pictures for all to see......