Final

Final score.
WMU 32
Purdue 37

The silver lining is that the Big Ten is 1-0 in bowl games this year.

Pizza Bowl

Before today, I'd been to five bowl games in my life, all with the Michigan Marching Band.  Today, I made it to my sixth bowl. Though UM isn't involved, another team from the state is, Western.  I picked the Broncos in my pool so I'm cheering for them.  It doesn't look good. My team is down by 12 at the half. 

One other thing: also this is the time I've seen a football game in a dome.

I've been everywhere, man!

At 11:03 MST this morning, I entered Nebraska, the 50th state  that I have been to this year.  If you've been following my travels, especially my last trip you may have questioned if there was a rationale to where I was going. 

I did not start the year thinking of visiting every state.  I suspect the idea first popped in to my head driving the Uhaul from Philadelphia.  By that time, I had the Northeast pretty well covered and was planning to go to Florida for the final shuttle launch, which gave me the chance to nail down that quarter of the country.   When I was able to add a visit to Hawaii on to the end of my Alaska trip, thus collecting the two toughest states, I thought I might actually be able to do it.

Some states got more attention than others.  I spent the most time in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado.   Oregon, West Virginia and Missouri were very brief affairs.  I don't even think I got out of the car in Missouri.  I had an airport layover in Washington in August.  I couldn't quite convince myself that that counted as a  "visit" so I went back to shore up my Evergreen State bona rides.

While Nebraska is the last state I visited this year, I have been here once before.  Depending on how you come down in the layover debate, the last of the nifty fifty that I saw for the first time is either Texas or Washington.

I'm glad I made the extra effort to see the last handful of states.  I was pretty apprehensive about spending the money, but I'm pretty sure it was worth it.  Now, I have a common theme to connect all my adventures.  2011 will always be the year I saw all 50 states, regardless of whether I'm able to make the Denver relocation stick.

The Green Mountain State

Yesterday, I finished up my time in New England with some scenic driving in Vermont.  In the early morning, I crossed through the snow-covered fields and frost-covered woods of the Connecticut River Valley enroute to Chester Arthur State Historic Site.  The actual site of the 21st president's birth is a bit of a mystery, but this site is as good as guess as any.  It is a reconstructed parsonage in the mountains northeast of Fairfield, the town where his family lived while his father was a minister.  The museum was closed but I could read some of the panels by peeking through the window.  I also found a short trail to walk that wound through the snowy woods.

I spent most of the afternoon around Lake Champlain.  Coming out of the mountains, I lost the snow and the scene became somewhat dreary.  I stopped at St. Anne shrine on one of the islands in the lake.

I didn't intend to go to the Ben & Jerry's Factory, but was in the right place at the right time to join the last tour of the day.  It was a pretty good way to spend $3.

I went a little bit out of my way to visit the town of Middlebury, another recommendation from my hosts.   It is a quintessential New England hamlet, with cute white churches, historic inns, and a small college.  It was dark when I arrived and many of the buildings especially the inn on the town square glowed with Christmas lights.   I had dinner at a wonderful tavern and then began the long drive back to Manchester, made 25% longer by an inconvenient road closure.

New England Coast

I left Boston this morning and headed up the coast to Maine.  Along the way I stopped at a couple historic forts and lighthouses, most notably Portland Head in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  About halfway in to my drive up the coast, I stopped in the picturesque town of Ogunquit, a recommendation from my hosts the last two nights.  I took a short walk along the Marginal Way trail, which weaves along the rocky coast south of the main village.  It was was pretty pleasant for December and of course not very crowded in the offseason. 

Back on the road, I made it as far up the coast as Bath, home to the state's main maritime museum.   I arrived too late for a complete visit, but the attendant let me in for free and I was able to peruse a couple galleries for about a half-hour.  I did leave a small donation on my way out.   Then, I found a nice restaurant in town.  I practically felt obligated to enjoy a lobster while in the state.  

It was well past dark when I left the restaurant.  I turned inland and drove through the state capital, Augusta, back to New Hampshire.  Along the way, especially the first half, the Christmas decorations were splendid, glimpses of a modern real-world equivalent to the Normal Rockwell ideal, with small towns, salt box homes and quaint white churches all decorated up.

Boston

I flew from one corner of the country to another,  Seattle to Boston.  Today, I stopped to visit my friend Andrew Lanoix from my UM days.  He now lives in Cambridge with his new wife Maureen.  It was my first visit since their wedding in May.

We went to Church in the morning at the same place they were married.  Then they took me to lunch at a favorite local restaurant.   In the afternoon, Andrew & I took the subway into downtown Boston.  We walked around for an hour or two.  I've been here a couple times so I've seen a lot of the city, but it was neat to see it decorated for Christmas.

Biking Seattle

After the museum, I had the option of going to a couple more museums included with my CityPass, but the weather was so inviting I decided stay outside instead.  I rented a bike for the rest of the afternoon.  I first rode to Kerry Park, which I read provided the best skyline view in town.   It was a terribly steep climb up to the park, but well worth it.   As an added bonus, Mount Rainer was visible behind the city.  It was faint through a haze so you won't see it in the picture, but was quite a sight with the naked eye.

Having ridden up the steep hills I wanted to get a little more for my effort and rode north through the Queen Anne neighborhood.  Some sections of the coast down the backside of the hill were so steep I was more comfortable walking the bike.

I made it as far as Gasworks Park on Lake Union before it was time to turn around.  I took a much flatter route back along a series of bike trails.   One section led passed a working railroad switchyard.   The last trail followed the shore of Elliot Bay back in to down town.  It was just after sunset and Rainier was still visible.  Across the Bay and Puget Sound were the outlines of the Olympic Mountains silhouetted against an amazing sunset.

Museum of Flight

I left downtown today to visit the Museum of Flight.  I figure the city that is home to Boeing should have an aircraft collection worth the 20-minute busride .  The best part of my 3-hour visit was the guided-tour of the World War  I & II galleries.  I was on my way out when I joined the barely-started tour. I'm quite glad I stayed.  The early part focusing on the technological development was especially informative.   Probably the two most famous planes in the whole museum are the original Air Force One user from Eisenhower to Nixon and a Concorde jet..

Afloat, Underground & Aloft

I continued my exploration of Seattle yesterday with a couple of unique activities: a harbor cruise, a walking tour of Seattle's underground, and a nightime visit to the city's most recognizable symbol, the Space Needle.

The cruise was part of the CityPass package I bought at the Aquarium.  It lasted about an hour.  The first half provided splendid views of the downtown skyline.  Then we entered the working harbor which had a shipyard, coast guard vessels and huge container ships being unloaded by towering towering tantrums cranes.

The underground tour took me into a couple sections of Seattle as it existed before 1907.  That was the year the city raised the streets a story or two to address a host of problems.  Today, sections of the old sidewalk still exist under the new above-ground ones. Our group had a great guide who really enjoyed her job.  She employed great expressiveness in telling humorous stories to explain the underground and not to the detriment of communicating the fascinating history of early Seattle.

The space needle was also part of the CityPass package.  I headed over there after attending mass at the local cathedral.  I took the monorail part way to get there.  Up top the views of the city were so good I hardly noticed the cold.  Signs of Christmas were evident all around, such as a boat decorated up in Elliot Bay and a radio tower with lights on it.

Emerald City

I'm on the move again. Yesterday, I flew from Denver to Seattle. Flying to Seattle in the dark there wasn't much to see until we reached the Cascades. The moon reflected the snow on the tops of the mountains a cool blue, but left the valleys deep black. A couple of strands of fog hovered  over and snaked through the range like ghostly ftentacles.  It was a scene enhanced by the fact that I knew it couldn't possibly be captured in a picture.

This morning, I poked around the oldest section of downtown, walking through the two historic train stations.  My first major site was a museum run by the National Park Service that is devoted to Seattle's role in the Klondike Gold Rush.  Then, I scouted out the tallest building in town which has an observation room on the 73rd floor. 

I walked over to Pike Place Market to find lunch.  The market is an expansive warren of stalls and stores that spreads out in three dimensions.  I ended up eating at a pizza shop a couple blocks away.  I had about an hour to kill so I hopped in the aquarium.  The highlight was probably the sea offers.  I don't know that I've ever seen any in person before.  They're a lot bigger than I expected.

Black Mesa

The only significant hike during my recent weekend trip, Black Mesa, in the extreme western end of the Oklahoma panhandle, is, at 4,973 feet, the highest point in the state.  I planned to hike to the highpoint Saturday afternoon, but a flat tire 20 miles from the trailhead obliterated that plan.  Once I did find my way to the remote trailhead, the hike to the highpoint was fairly easy.  Except for a short section the trail is fairly level, the top of the mesa exceptionally so, with only a slight rise perceptible leading up to the obilesk that marks the official highpoint. A couple hundred yards to the south of the monument, the views from the southern rim of the mesa were worth the hike by themselves.  Immediately below the mesa is the Cimarron River Valley. While on the hazy horizon, I could discern the outline of Sierra Grande and Capulin Volcano.


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Black Mesa

Black Mesa Trail

Hiking atop Black Mesa

Oklahoma Highpoint Marker

Cimarron Valley

Trip Statistics
Length: 8.5 miles
Time: 3 hours 5 minute
Elev. Change: 638 ft.
Max Elev.: 4,973 ft.

Elevation Profile

Capulin Volcano Rim Hike

One of the highlights from my recent trip was a stop at Capulin Volcano National Monument. The small park centers on a cinder cone volcano, the easternmost such feature in the US. Once in the park, I drove the two-mile road to the top of the volcano and hiked trail that the loops around the rim of the volcano.

The winds that day were some of the strongest that I have ever experienced. My hat blew off shortly after starting the hike and knew it would be pointless, counterproductive if I wanted to keep it, to put it back on. Later in the hike when I lost my sunglasses to the same force, I drew the same conclusion.

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Rather than detract from the experience, the winds augmented the stark beauty of the landscape. They certainly didn't impede the spectacular views across the landscape. To the west, more volcanic features stretched out toward the snowcapped mountains resting on the horizon. To the east, one imposing mountain, Sierra Grande, marked the far edge of the volcanic field. Beyond it, dry grasslands dominated. The trail was only a mile. After finishing the counterclockwise hike, I reversed course and doubled back to enjoy the views in the opposite direction. In between, I hiked the short trail in to the interior of the crater, which offered a short respite from the winds.

Capulin Volcano

Volcanic Landscape from Capulin Rim

Capulin Rim Trail

Lonely Pinyon on Capulin Rim

Capulin Volcano Interior

Trip Statistics
Length: 2.3 miles
Time: 2 hours 33 minute
Elev. Change: 410 ft.
Max Elev.: 8,200 ft.

Elevation Profile

Amarillo Recap

During my visit to Capulin Volcano National Monument, I bought a book about the dust bowl during the depression era.   I thought it a peculiar offering for a park in New Mexico as I associated the dust bowl with regions further north and east.  However, the book's narrative centers on the southern plains, particularly a number of towns I drove through on my trip like Clayton, NM; Boise City, OK; and Dalhart, TX. It's a very interesting, if very somber, book. Moreso because it gives a detailed backstory to places I gave only brief consideration on my trip.

The trip itself was pleasant with a number of intriguing, though it was longer than planned on account of the flat tire I encountered Saturday afternoon in New Mexico.  I was able to get it replaced, but not for two days.  I still managed to visit most of the places on my itinerary: Trinidad, Colorado; Sugarite Canyon State Park and Capulin Volcano NM in New Mexico; and Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma.  I also visited Texas for the first time. Checking that state off my list now means that I've now been to each of the fifty states at least once in my life. My last stop on the trip was Bent's Old Fort in southeast Colorado.  Unfortunately it closed an hour earlier than indicated on the brochure I picked up over the weekend, but I was still able to walk the scenic grounds which border the Arkansas River. 


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Statistics
Miles: 1,444
Days: 4
States: 5
Total Counties: 33
New Counties: 28
Pictures Taken: 183
Pictures Archived: 86
Fuel: 42.0 gallons
MPG: 34.6
Cost: $611.93

Sangre de Christo Mountains 
along the Highway of Legends

Capulin Volcano

New Mexico Highway 370

Cadillac Ranch

Oil Field in Hutchinson County, Texas

Cimarron Valley Railroad

Bent's Old Fort

Highland Square

I slipped in a short bike ride earlier this week before Denver got hit with its second significant snow of the season. Rather than drive to lunch, as is my typical routine, I decided to save the gas and use peddle-power. I targeted an appealing Chipotle that I spotted a couple days earlier. It is located in a small business district west of downtown Denver that I have since learned is called Highland Square. I almost was able to ride on account of a flat time, my second in the month, but the leak was slow enough that I was able to ride so long as I stopped a few times to pump up the tire. On my way back I circled around Sloan Lake, which is in a large park with partial views of downtown and full views of the mountains.

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Denver Skyscrapers over Sloan Lake

Sloan Lake Bike Trail

Green Mountain

For Thanksgiving, I took a three hour bike ride to a large open space park in Lakewood, Green Mountain. It wasn't a long ride but it was a very steep ride. In about 8.5 miles I climbed approximately 1,400 feet. The last section was on a dirt trail. My hybrid bike is design to allow off-road riding, but this terrain was at the outer limit of what it can do. I walked several of the steeper section or those covered with rocks and loose gravel. The reward was grand views of the Rockies and Denver.

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Trip Statistics
Length: 19 miles
Ride Time: 2 hours 6 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 54 minutes
Avg. Speed: 8.8 MPH
Max. Speed: 29.2 MPH
Total Ascent: 6,873 ft.
Max Elev.: 817 ft.

Elevation Profile

Approaching Green Mountain along Mississippi Avenue

Radio Tower on Green Mountain

View Northwest from Summit

West Base of Green Mountain