Great Circle Tour of the USA and Canada itinery

Well, our plans are pretty much set. The shake down cruise to Florida worked extremely well and the rig is in the shop for some new oil and lubrication and is going for a new awning and fancy new radio/MP3/XM complete with dual remotes next week. The rig has some neat maps of the USA and Canada on the outside, complete with little stickers for each state and province visited. To date we have filled in the states from Maine to Florida and the states south of Ohio including Arkansas and Louisiana. So.... One of our objectives on this trip is to fill in everything else. While we will do that for the USA, Canada will have some substantial gaps. Hmmm... perhaps "Great Circle tour II". Anyway this is our current plan:

THE TRIP WEST

Leaving 5/16/09 for a four day trek through WV, KY, IN, IL, MS, KS, OK, TX, to Tucumcari NM then a night in Albuquerque to visit my aunt FAE, an honorary "REID". 2000 miles.

THE SOUTHWESTERN PARKS

Arriving Durango CO, 5/21/09 to ride the steam train to Silverton then on to Zion, Bryce and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Then we will hook up with Tom Allen in Washington UT, somewhat near Zion national park

Then on to Circus Circus in Las Vegas on the 29th. 1000 miles.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

We leave on Jun 1st for San Diego with a short stop at Cahon Pass, a famous railroad location then we go up to Teachapi railroad loop on our way to Morro Beach, north of Fort Ord on the coast. Then we travel up to the Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Monterrey, ending in SF on the 10th. 600 miles.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

We depart for Yosemite on June 15th and then swing up to Tahoe and then Down through Keddie to see the famous railroad wye on our way to the fantastic railroad museum in Sacramento on the 22nd. 450 miles.

LIGHTHOUSES, OTTERS and THE PACIFIC COAST

We then leave on the 23rd for a leisurely stroll up the coast to Vancouver. We make seven stops with most of the campgrounds located on the cliffs/beach overlooking the ocean. We should arrive in Canada on July 5th. 800 miles.

CANADA and the ROCKY MOUNTAINS,

We depart Vancouver on the 7th and then go across the Canadian Rocky's to Banff then down to Coeur D'Alene ID. Should see some spectacular scenery on the leg. 800 miles.

YELLOWSTONE and MORE!!!!

We arrive at Yellowstone on July 11th for 4 day then on to Teton for 3 more. We continue to Badlands and Rushmore and depart for North Platte NB on the 23rd. North Platte is the largest freight yard in the world and they have built an 8 story observation tower just for train nuts like me:) 1700 miles.

GREAT LAKES

We depart Nebraska on the 25th and arrive at a wonderful RV park at La Crosse in the Mississippi River between MN and WS on the 26th. Then its off to the upper peninsula to see Lake Superior, then down to see Michigan and Huron winding up at Niagara Falls between Ontario and Erie on August 2. 1700 miles.

HOME SWEET HOME

We then wind our way home through NY an PA stopping twice along the way just because. Arriving 8/8/09. 500 miles.

Total 10100 rig miles and another 2000 or so in Patti's new Ford Escape we will be towing for sightseeing, dinners out and neato photo ops.

I'm off to the basement/workbench for some great structure building, track laying, and scenery building on my beloved Allegheny and Shenandoah Railroad. Stay tuned for more blogs from the road!

Patti's son's home

A lovely spot just to the north of Huntsville.

Fort Screven

No, that's not a typo, that's fort Screven complete with the Tybee Island Shriner's hall on top. Apparently a Spanish American War relic that has been "recommissioned".
We are now in Huntsville visiting relatives and will be traveling home over the next three days. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this trip to end or not. I guess that a good thing because the next one will be twice as long timewise and three times as long distancewise. Sometime next month I plan to post the itinary for it so stay tuned.

Central of Georgia

Well.... Finally a real railroad! This is the Savannah roundhouse and shops of the long defunct CoG RR. They are restoring the facility and this is a shot of the turntable, roundhouse, a restored 44 toner and an old coach. The CoG was acquired by the Southern and these repair facilities closed in the early 60's I think. This was a the main repair shop of the CoG and locomotives were even designed and built here. The smokestack in the rear served the entire complex and underground tunnels were used to carry the smoke from all buildings up the stack. The base of the stack was ringed with privies for the workers thereby giving new meaning to heat treated.

Tybee Island and Savannah

Tybee island light, the "Crab Shack complete with gator, and old town Savannah.

Views from St Augustine

The St augustine light, the new bridge over the inland waterway (the harbor is on the near side of the bridge) and the "Conch House" complete with tiki huts.

Atlantic beauty

This is the ocean side of the North Beach "resort". I'm not sure why they are all called resorts unless its because its your last:) The Reef restaurant is across the street. Wonderful food, great views. The local castle is just up the street. People actually live in it. I guess its the only home here that's pretty much hurricane proof.

Victory

Well... we've starting our trek north and have finally seen the Atlantic. That makes one gulf, one straight, one lake and one ocean so far and are now ensconced in St Augustine, FL. Seems hard to believe we are starting our fifth week. This campground is one of our favorites. The photos are from the inland waterway side. Capn Bob all decked out in his retirement presents busy declaring "Victory" at last. I always knew I would get there:) The other shot is from the beach along the waterway. It is very large and the waterway is also impressive, about a half mile or so wide at this point. We are just up from the main St. Augustine inlet.

Okeechobee

This is an interesting place. The lake is bordered by several hundred feet of swamp and a gihugic levee/lock/canal system that surrounds/contains? the lake. The city of Okeechobee is located on the north end of the lake. We drove up from the south on Saturday past 40 miles of levee. Its 30 - 40 feet high and 200 feet wide. I assume it goes all the way around. The locks and canals occur every ten miles or so and ??? Don't know why. I assume they provide water to Miami. The Seminoles have a large reservation and they run the obligatory casino. This a very inexpensive area. The campground is beautiful and has a golf course with a $15 greens fee. $25 with cart.

Downtown Key West

We were here early in the day without much going on. The "Grandeur of the Seas" was in port and we had some great weather. Patti found some fudge to die for. We have moved to Okeechobee and a front came through yesterday and while we had some wind we missed the foot or so of snow I hear some folks got - smile.