Not many words today. Instead, a story in pictures, sponsored by the color red.
We had an errand to run after school, and on such a sunny, crisp October afternoon, who can blame Team Gimlet for choosing to stay outside and play instead of returning home to do homework?
So we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Ballard Locks.
After a relatively quiet weekend, we left Albuquerque to drive to the Grand Canyon. We would spend nearly the entire day driving on Interstate 40, which has largely replaced the historic Route 66 through New Mexico and Arizona. We could see remnants of 66 as a frontage road along the interstate, disappearing as the two roads merged, then reappearing again.
The billboards advertising roadside attractions helped keep the drive interesting. Sometimes it seemed like the smaller the town or souvenir stand, more and larger billboards announced its impending appearance. (Who wouldn’t want to visit Jackrabbit, Arizona with its promised photo opportunity astride a giant jackrabbit?)
We’re slowly catching up with photo uploads: watch Philmont gradually appear in the Gimlet Gallery.
After spending a night in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, we were up early so we could check in to Philmont by 2:00 pm. Most of the drive was through winding, mountainous terrain. We stopped at the visitor’s center in Chama to get our bearings (and make a souvenir penny), but after that we didn’t stop until Taos. As we approached the Rio Grande Bridge we were stopped by a police roadblock. The officer was friendly and we soon realized that a movie shoot was taking place: a large, old, boxy RV drove back and forth over the bridge, swerving in and out of its lane, as a helicopter equipped with a movie camera swooped and dove around it to capture the shot. After a few back-and-forth passes with the RV and helicopter, we were permitted to drive over the bridge ourselves; the bridge was scenic, but our passage over it was nowhere as exciting as the RV.
After a quick stop for gasoline the Gimletmobile crawled along the very picturesque (but very narrow and congested) road through Taos to begin a corkscrew journey of about fifty miles along the Enchanted Circle to Cimarron. The narrow, winding road was beautiful, but not very forgiving to the easily motion-sick. Luckily Thing Two slept through most of the drive. At 1:30 pm, a woozy Team Gimlet pulled in to Philmont Scout Ranch and the fun of settling in began.
How do you tell the story of a week at Philmont? We’ll try to give you an idea by giving each Team Gimlet member’s perspective on the week. First, The Gimlet will share his Strictly For Scoutmasters program, followed by Thing Two and Your Humble Narrator’s experiences. Thing One’s Mountain Trek will finish out the Philmont blog posts. After that, it’s time to get back on the road again and turn west to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the Grand Canyon, and points beyond.
More travel photos in the Gimlet Gallery!
We spent the next morning in Moab shopping for souvenirs. We found a delightful quilting shop across the street from our motel (more details are forthcoming on Sinister Craftiness), and a bookstore that would be an excellent resource for local maps. Team Gimlet definitely wants to return to Moab, perhaps on a school break, and spend more time exploring.
After lunch it was time to get back in the car and drive, drive, drive. But wait! A few minutes out of town we were lured to stop by large signage for “Hole N The Rock”, and we remembered it was the location of a penny machine, so of course we had to pull over.
The day after Uncle J and Aunt L’s wedding, Team Gimlet spent the morning strolling around Old Town Sacramento, a historic district commemorating the era of the California Gold Rush and Transcontinental Railroad.
Old Town features several museums or historic attractions, most of which are free; several restaurants and snack options; and lots of shopping. The latter category housed several souvenir penny machines, almost all of which were in order and produced nice elongated coins. By way of information for fellow squishers, we were able to find machines at the following locations:
Not bad!
As history buffs, we both enjoyed the little museums scattered throughout Old Town. When it was time for lunch, we chose the Rio City Cafe on Front Street, looking out over the Sacramento River. After a leisurely and delicious lunch (perhaps all the more delicious because it was leisurely – a quality best appreciated by other parents) we left the 19th century and drove to the airport for our return flight home.
Thing One’s school spring break is always a pleasant time to visit Cache Valley, and as Thing Two grows older, we’re starting to feel adventurous again. On this trip we sampled a few dining and shopping treasures and visited a popular local walk.
Two restaurants worth noting are Café Sabor and Hamilton’s. These restaurants share an owner and are enjoying well-deserved popularity. Café Sabor is located in the old Logan railroad depot at 600 West Center Street. Its “Mexican bistro” atmosphere is casual, lively and busy (there will be a wait on Friday/Saturday nights) with very generous portions and reasonable prices.
While Maddox is still Team Gimlet’s steakhouse of choice, a local option is a quick drive to North Logan for Hamilton’s Steak and Seafood (2427 North Main Street). Hamilton’s versatile setting is suitable for casual dining, business lunches, or a special night out. It’s pricier than Café Sabor (or Maddox, for that matter) but an excellent choice if time or weather prevent a trip to Brigham City. Both restaurants are child-friendly (Café Sabor more so thanks to its ambiance and prices); unfortunately, Thing Two is not yet restaurant-friendly, but generous grandparents made our nights out possible.
Our search for penny machines led us to Magical Moon Toys (1451 North 200 West). The store is in the process of remodeling so it was a little disarrayed (we know how that is) but we found a great selection of puzzles, games, puppets, a section devoted to all things dinosaur, and what looks like a very promising source of train supplies — both the wooden Brio/Thomas sets and various scales of model railroads. The hand-cranked penny machine was between the dinosaur and train areas; it was a little difficult to properly align the die but the machine produced four site-specific designs. Other machines (fortune-tellers and such) are located throughout the store.
Saturday we drove a short distance up the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway to Second Dam for a walk on the Logan River trail. The boardwalk along the dam was dotted with fishermen who were happy to show the kids the trout they had caught or point out fish swimming in the shallows. Thing Two usually insists on walking, but after climbing a slight uphill on the trail, he was willing to give up a little personal space and join his cousin in the twin stroller.
After the walk we stopped at the ranger station at the canyon entrance to take a few photos of Cache Valley and the Wellsville mountains. It occurred to us that we haven’t taken many photos of this lovely little town, so we’ll remedy that in the future. Utah State University and its creamery are not far from the ranger station, providing the perfect end to a crisp, sunny morning. Check out the gallery for all the photos from the hike, including Your Humble Narrator’s Radcliffe-induced reverie on the picturesque.
Ultimately our visits are about spending time with family. Uncle C has been converting old family videos to DVD, so we traveled back in time to watch The Gimlet and his brothers’ band. Although much has changed with the passing of twenty years (Uncle T, playing keyboards, is not much older than Thing One), the lead guitarist and drummer still remembered nearly every detail from the performances and had quite the animated discussion about misheard lyrics and technical difficulties. (“We’re playing too fast. Dang kids!”) We’re working to bring a clip to the blog, but for now a screencap (featuring The Gimlet on bass rather than his usual guitar) will have to satisfy your curiosity.
As much as I love living in the city, it’s always a delight to spend time in places where there are more trees than people, the air is clean, and you can see the stars at night. And with the plumbing finished, The Gimlet was willing to make our oft-postponed trip to the northwest coast. We left town mid-afternoon after school. There are two ferry routes from Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula: Bainbridge and Edmonds-Kingston. Leery of downtown traffic, we decided to head north to the Edmonds-Kingston ferry. Traffic was light, the line was surprisingly short for a Friday afternoon, and we were able to board the first available ferry. (more…)
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