To Wisconsin and Back Again, Chapter 2

Being the Telling (Much Abridged) of our Road Trip from California to Wisconsin and Back Again
 Chapter 2, in Which We Get a Surprise and Another Surprise
Our room in the Oak Tree Inn was fine.  It overlooked the parking lot and we could open the window, which was lovely.  But trouble soon ensued....
Within a short time Frances and Doug were fast asleep.  Things were not so simple for Ted and Myself.  After being so wound up to get everything in the office wrapped up and get ourselves on the way, we had a difficult time relaxing enough to fall asleep.  The road noise was quite loud.  Ted finally got up and shut the window, but then the room became very stuffy. Frances awoke and reopened the window, which helped with the stuffiness, but not the noise.
Then Doug began to snore. Surprise!!
Oh No!  What to do?  By this time we were very tired and very cranky. It was almost 1AM! I started swiping pillows from their bed, hoping to cause a change in position. No luck. Finally I placed a pillow on Doug's head. That worked-probably because it woke him up - although he didn't say anything until the next morning when we were recounting the story to Frances. I took the pillow off Doug's head.  Ted rummaged around in his luggage and finally found enough ear plugs for both of us.  The road noise had finally quieted and the room was mostly cooled off. At last we fell into an exhausted slumber.
The Oak Tree Inn had no continental breakfast, so we did a few warm ups, breakfasted in our room on our brought items, and then hit the road.
At Wells we turned north on SR93.  I felt pretty groggy.  We pulled off to switch drivers at a very nice little wayside before crossing into Idaho.  It would have been a perfect place to eat breakfast.

Pleasant wayside on Salmon Creek where we stopped for a driver switch.

On we continued into Idaho.  There was some confusion at Twin Falls, as it seemed like the road map didn't reflect the highway, but we managed to get through town.  Frances had Doug's smart phone out and pleaded for a coffee stop.  She navigated us down a commercial strip with all the common shops of suburbia to "A Shot in the Dark" where we spent $9 on two chai teas and one house coffee (for me, Ted disdaining these overpriced offerings). I must say though that the coffee was quite tasty and really helped me feel much better. Soon we were on our way again, back on Hwy 93 and heading for Craters of the Moon National Monument.  As we left town the highway went over a bridge and Surprise! over a fantastic gorge!  It was the canyon of the Snake River.  Somewhat reminiscent of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. 

Surprise!

 There is a very nice overlook right after you cross the bridge, and hot drinks and cameras in hand we clambered out of the car to go ooh and ahh.

The overlook extends under the bridge to the other side.

View from the overlook.

Some of the falls that give Twin Falls its name?

I could not get over the sight of the oh-so-mundane commercial strip perched at the top of this fantastic gorge.

At the beach

Have barely gotten started on my road trip report, but thought I better interrupt to post something about our wonderful week at the beach!  The weather was flat out gorgeous, if a bit windy, until the last day or so, when we got some fog which lingered for a good bit of the day.  However, it would seem odd to go to the beach and not have any fog, so I liked the change.

As usual, bogie boarding, walking, and biking were my prime pursuits.  For once I seem not to have gained any weight.  I had to work hard to resist temptation of all the "see-food" that was about.  However, the Sisters had toned down the chocolate act considerably! Chocolate only came out at lunchtime, and when it was gone they didn't put more out.  There were plenty of other snacks about, like pretzels and pita chips, etc.  I took ingredients to make bread, but with all the other food about I never made any.  As per usual, there was left over food that had to be disposed of as we prepared to check out on Saturday morning.  

This year we solved a Nancy Drew mystery: The Tomb of the Lost Queen.  Mac hooked his laptop up to the TV so we could all get in on the act.  It was most fun.

Frances catches a wave.

Nine miles round trip from our house to the rock, but took about 20 minutes longer than our normal 11 mile trip, thanks to the sand.

This year I took my bike, and Ted and I rode down to Morro Rock every day on the sand.  Low tide was happening in the morning hours for most of the week, so we were able to get around the rocks in the sand without having to haul our bikes up over the headland.

Dolphins playing with our whale watching boat.

Mac looked into the arrangements for a whale watching trip, and four of us, Mac, John, Ted, and myself had a wonderful morning out on a catamaran. We didn't see any whales, but did see otters, sea lions, dolphins, and lots of birds.  We enjoyed fish and chips for lunch after.

 Frances's friend Doug came down for a few days and camped in the state parks.  Here they are, walking back to our house after striking Doug's campsite.

Maybe because of all the biking and walking, I found myself totally worn out when I got back home. Spent most of Sunday lazing about, watching golf, doing wash, and packing up the wetsuits.  Didn't even join Ted for our usual bike ride. Maybe it is all the energy of the ocean that revs you up and then leaves you feeling tired when  you get back inland.