Birds I'm Watching: Point Reyes (July 27, 2009)

I went bird watching today at Point Reyes. Three new species for me--northern harrier, pigeon guillemot, and Eurasian collared dove. Other birds I saw included: American goldfinch, great egret, willet, brown pelican, Heermann's gull, California gull, Western gull, common tern, white-crowned sparrow, common murre, barn swallow, turkey vulture, and scrub jay.

Interesting rock formations (conglomerate) out at the old lighthouse. Saw the harrier at Limantour Estero, the rest mostly at the two points--Chimney Rock and the lighthouse. The doves were at Chimney Rock. I wish I better understood how these formations were deposited.

Birds I'm Watching: Whimbrels and Willets at Bodega

Haven't felt much like writing in the past week, but had a fruitful day of bird watching yesterday out at Bodega. Near the Tides Restaurant (from the parking lot, actually) saw Western sandpipers (I think), a whimbrel and a Willet. Later spent some time looking at seagulls, which usually go in one eye and out the other, so to speak. Saw Western gulls, Heermann's Gull, and ring-billed gull. The latter two I've certainly seen before, but this is the first time I've actually stopped to figure out what any of them were, so I count these as first sightings. Same for the Western sandpipers, if that's what they were. First sighting also for the whimbrel and the willet. While at the parking lot an Osprey flew over carrying a trout-sized fish. Down closer to Bodega head, on the road that leads out to Campbell Cove, past Spud Point Marina, saw many other birds. Saw these birds on the day:

Osprey, *Whimbrel, *Willet, *Western sandpiper, Western gull, *Ring-billed gull, *Heermann's gull, Black oystercatcher, Snowy egret, Great egret, Marbled godwit, Brown Pelican, White Pelican, Turkey vulture, American Goldfinch, Mourning dove, Western grebe, Great Blue Heron. Birds with asterisks are ones that I've definitively identified for the first time as an adult--not that I've necessarily never seen them before. All in all, a productive day--18 species, four first sightings.

Theater I'm Watching: The Importance of Being Earnest

Just got home from a good performance of The Importance of Being Earnest in San Rafael. It's still funny after more than 100 years.

On the Road: Home Again

I arrived home late in the afternoon yesterday. I was out 22 days and traveled 6,928 miles, from Santa Rosa, California to Oberlin, Ohio, and back--with a lot of detours. That's more than a quarter of the way around the world.

Tidbits: Walter Cronkite--RIP

Just to note the death of Walter Cronkite. I can hear few other voices so clearly in my head.

On the road: Roads with no Names

It's amazing how many places are criss-crossed by roads that have no names, or names that indicate that people gave up trying to think of names. On this trip, I've been down and across countless roads with names like G Road, 124 Road, JJ Road, 39 3/10 Street, or G 7/10 Road, as in the picture here (in Palisade, Colorado). This seems very uncharacteristic of people. We always like to advertise or commemorate something. Then again, we're lazy, too.

Tidbits: Hotel Shower Heads

Why is it that hotel shower heads either gush like Niagara Falls or they're stingy and hiss and spit like an angry cat?

On the Road: Salt Lake City to Reno, Nevada

Made it into Reno, Nevada late last night. It was a long drive from Salt Lake City, via I-80, but the alternative would have been to head south, by way of Las Vegas, and that would have left me in Los Angeles and added another day of driving just to get somewhere, so Reno made more sense. I plan to do some bird watching today near Lake Tahoe, but expect to be home late this afternoon--after more than three weeks of driving. America is a big country.

On the Road: Grand Junction to Salt Lake City (Summer 2009)

Headed off this morning (the 15th) to Palisade, which appears to be the center of Colorado winemaking. I visited Canyon Wind Winery and tasted some good wines. They make a Tempranillo, in addition to Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and other wines. All solid. The vineyards in the area (and orchards, especially peaches) are planted on the floor of a big canyon, the name of which I have yet to discover. Cool winds blow through the canyon, providing cool nights, which is good for the grapes.

I had hoped to get quickly to the Moab area and then to head north to Salt Lake City, or even into Nevada, but a late piece of work came in, which set me back a couple of hours. I made it to Salt Lake City nevertheless. On the way I stopped briefly at Arches National Park before heading north on 191, through Price, to Salt Lake City.

On the Road: Pueblo to Grand Junction, Colorado (Summer 2009)

Crossed the Rockies today, from Pueblo to Grand Junction, by way of Independence Pass--a very pretty route recommended to me by my waitress at lunch, at Twisted Cork Café, in Salida, which has a pretty historic core. The cafe had been recommended by the people at a winery I pulled into on the spur of the moment as I was leaving Pueblo. The café turned out to be quite good.

Clearly, serious wine is being made in Colorado. Most of the grapes appear to come from the area around Palisade, just east of Grand Junction. I tasted a good Cabernet. Here they have the great advantage of being able to grow vinifera grapes, rather than the hybrids wineries are forced to use in places like Missouri. Twisted Cork Cafe is itself associated with a winery. I tasted their wines as well. Again, solid, including an interesting raspberry-flavored Merlot. Sounds odd, but it was surprisingly good--a merlot with 10% raspberry wine blended in. Not my thing really, but I'm glad I tried it.

The road took me north, through Aspen, which turns out to be a smaller town than I imagined--clearly a ski resort. It has the look of places like Whistler. The aspens along the road approaching the town were beautiful. I stopped along a marshy area to look for birds, but saw only chickadees. I HEARD a lot of birds. That has been a frustrating pattern on the return leg of my trip from California to Ohio. Maybe I just got very lucky on the way out. Birds were everywhere. Lately, I can't seem to see any.

Independence Pass takes you over the continental divide at 12,095 feet. It was hard to breathe at that altitude and I experienced the headache and ringing in the ears I know from skiing at high elevations. The car was having trouble, too--very little acceleration. The thin air made me dizzy, but the wildflowers were beautiful. It was refreshing to see a variety of plants again after the endless corn and roadside weeds of Kansas. The terrain on I-70 at the end of the day, between Rifle and Grand Junction was right out of an old western--banded rocky tablelands and canyons.

On the Road: Oakley, Kansas to Pueblo, Colorado

Made it to Pueblo, Colorado today, which isn't at all bad, considering I worked until around 2:00PM. Gaining an hour as I passed into the Mountain Time zone helped. Before leaving Oakley, I stopped in at the local fossil museum. There are signs advertising the place all around town. It turned out to be in a corner of the library, on the edge of town--a small collection of fossils and rocks not very well displayed. The woman at the museum seemed to feel the most interesting thing to see was not the fossils but the "art." The art turned out to be garishly colored pictures embellished with things like fossilized shark vetebrae for tree trunks and the like.... I'm afraid it wasn't worth the detour.

Then I headed out toward Monument Rocks (chalk formations in the middle of the plains), which would have been interesting I'm sure, but they turned out to be seven miles down an unpaved road. I decided to save the time and wear on my tires.

I headed west on Highway 40, through Sharon Springs and into Colorado by way of Cheyenne Wells and Wild Horse. I then took SR94 straight through to Colorado Springs before diverting south to Pueblo. Eastern Colorado was rather flat and uninteresting, like Kansas, but eventually the terrain got hillier. Just west of Cheyenne Wells I passed through a town called Firstview. I imagine that from here the rockies first come into view as you head west, but the sky was dark and I didn't see the mountains until the following morning. Much of the drive across eastern Colorado was spent outrunning huge electrical storms that were a bit scary. I think I would have felt safer in a car with a hardtop. I got lucky. My route headed between two big thunderheads and then by driving very fast, I put the last of the big ones behind me. I have no photos to post today, because there wasn't much worth photographing. I would have photographed the storms, but wasn't really equipped to.

On the Road: Kansas City to Oakley, Kansas (Summer 2009)

I got a slow start today. I went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum, but, today being Sunday,  it didn't open until noon, so I lost several hours in the morning. As a result, I didn't get as far west as I had hoped to. I am now in Oakley, Kansas. I arrived in the middle of another severe thunder storm, having woken up to one in Independence, Missouri this morning.

I'm glad I got to the museum, though. It's an excellent collection, strong in American art of the region, but also with a good collection of European painting, Asian art, and Near-Eastern art. The painting here is by Victor Higgins (1884-1949). Higgins was a member of the Taos Society of Artists. The painting dates from around 1926. It's a good example of the excellent regional art in the collection. I enjoyed seeing Thomas Hart Benton's Persephone, a funny painting that I've seen reproduced many times over the years. The museum opened in 1933, so it would have been new when my father knew it.

I left Kansas City at around 3:00PM. I had hoped to get to Colorado Springs, Colorado tonight, but, because of the storm, I decided to stay in Oakley. Just before Oakley, in Victoria, Kansas, I stopped to see St. Fidelis Church, known as "The Cathedral on the Plains." Tomorrow I'll start to cross the Rockies.

On the Road: Hermann to Independence, Missouri (Summer 2009)

Waiting out a major thunderstorm in a hotel in Independence, Missouri. The museum in Kansas, City doesn't open until noon on Sunday, so I'm in no hurry.

The photos here are from yesterday. One is a shot of the thick layers of limestone near Washington, Missouri, but I saw this rock along the highway pretty much across Missouri. The building is in Hermann, a town that still shows its German roots very obviously.

In Hermann, I toured Stone Hill Winery, one of the oldest in the state--in the country, for that matter. At one time it was the second-largest in the United States, they tell me, but no one seems to know which winery was on top. The extensive underground cellars carved out of the limestone were interesting. The guide said they are the most extensive vaulted stone cellars in North America. Impressive, but I have seen much bigger in Champagne and the Loire. I tasted a range of the wines made. All solid, but none exciting.

On the Road: Crossing Missouri (Summer 2009)

In Sedalia, Missouri, heading west on US 50. I gave up trying to get to Kansas City in time to see the Nelson-Atkins Museum today. I will try tomorrow and then start across Kansas, heading toward Colorado. What to see? Hmm.... Any suggestions?

On the road: Lebanon, Ohio to St. Louis

I made the drive today from just north of Cincinnati to an area a little west of St. Louis, on my way back west. I mostly took the backroads--Highway 50 across Indiana, through Seymour and Bedford, and then diverting at Oolitic, to State Route 58, through Doans and Scotland to Newbury, then southwest on 57 and 67, ending up in Vincennes. I traveled across Illinois mostly on Highway 50 again. I got into St. Louis quite late, but I already had a hotel picked out and I had my dinner in a bag beside me, so I didn't mind.

Near Seymour, Indiana, I stopped at the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge and took a short hike through the woods, but didn't see any birds of special interest. Most of the drive was flat and only mildly interesting. One section in Indiana was along railroad tracks and transmission lines of some sort on old wooden poles with multiple cross pieces and strung on old-fashioned insulators. I got to thinking how much work it was to construct lines like that. The poles couldn't have been more than about 120 feet apart. That's 44 poles a mile. I figured 24 insulators a pole, so 1,056 of those each mile. The poles stretched for many miles. It's a testament to the strength of the human craving for communication.

I detoured at Oolitic because the name on the map intrigued me. I knew it had to have something to do with rocks. It turns out to be an area where they quarry limestone--one of the biggest limestone quarries in the world, apparently. Although I couldn't find any actual rock-cutting to look at, the stone was apparent all along the roadsides.

Vincennes was rather interesting. There were a lot of older buildings to look at and there is a huge monument to General George Rogers Clark (the older brother of Clark of Lewis and Clark fame) on the site of Fort Sackville, a Revolutionary War fort. The monument commemorates the taking of the fort from the British, in 1779. I'm sure that was important, but the monument seems a bit out of proportion. The best view was looking back, from the bridge that crosses the Wabash River taking you into Illinois. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop to photograph from that vantage point.

On the Road: Golden Lamb Again

Ended up staying at the Golden Lamb again, this time in the Harriet Beecher Stowe Room, which was quite a bit bigger than the Grant Room. I'm hoping to see the museum in Kansas City on the way back, so I'll mostly be backtracking now until I get there, although, for variety I think I'll go through Indianapolis rather than Louisville.

On the road: Goodbye Ohio--almost

Haven't been able to write much because of work. I've been stuck in my hotel rooms in the morning the last two days. Since I last wrote, I've been mostly in Oberlin, where I stayed last night. I went to Oberlin in the hope of seeing a copy of a little booklet of views of the Oberlin campus that my Grandfather, Warren R. Laity, published and illustrated with his own photographs, but Oberlin doesn't have a copy. I remembered there was one at the Ohio Historical Society Library in Columbus, so made plans to go home through Columbus. I was also hoping to see the Columbus Museum of Art, but work got in the way. I'm now having a late dinner in Centerville (decent Mexican), hoping to get as far east as I can tonight.

I enjoyed seeing the campus at Oberlin. Judging from the photographs in my Grandfather's publication (which I saw and copied this afternoon), it hasn't changed much since he was here, in 1923-24. I especially enjoyed the art museum on Campus. It's a small space, but the quality of the work is excellent. The large addition was closed for renovation. I assume they usually show more than what I was able to see, but there was an interesting special exhibit of German Expressionists and one of Japanese prints as well. As a souvenir, I picked up an Oberlin T-shirt. Stayed at an inexpensive B&B in Oberlin.

I didn't get back to Columbus until 4:00PM, but the OHS is open late on Thursdays, which was lucky. Actually, it's closed on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so it's very lucky I hit it. I found and had them copy the book of views of Oberlin and also found some family records in their collections while I was waiting. The OHS is huge. I had no idea. You could spend a week in the place looking things up. Wish I had known when I lived nearby.

Then headed south and east, hoping to make some headway. I was hoping to see Corinne, my old friend from Japan, in Dayton, but it didn't work out. I have no idea where I'll stay tonight, but I suspect I'll stop driving earlier rather than later.

On the road: Millersburg and Winesburg, Ohio

Worked in the morning, but spent most of the day with Scott driving around Millersburg and Winesburg, Ohio. I went to the library in Millersburg and looked through the genealogy library, mostly marriage, probate, obituary, and cemetery records. I found records for all the people we already know about and some others, which may or may not be relatives. I went to the Millersburg Oak Hill Cemetery. I found the graves of Godfrey Heinig, Ernestine Heinig (as the stone reads), and right beside them a Julia A. Heinig, which must be a relative, but that’s a name I’ve never seen before. According to the stone, she died on Dec. 19, 1903 at 50 years, 5 months, and 24 days, which would mean she was born around 1853. There are two other Heinigs in the cemetery, in different plots, that probably are not connected with us—oddly, both Julius Heinig.

The records showed that Abraham Kratsch and his wife Caroline are buried in Winesburg, in the old cemetery behind what is now Zion Reformed Church. Sadly, about 70% of the monuments were made of a very soft stone and they are entirely unreadable. I DID, however, find Abraham’s stone—barely legible—but, it definitely says “A. Kratsch.” There is a nearly identical one next to it that I have to assume is Caroline, but I couldn’t really read it. Both stones are at the back of the cemetery (furthest from the church, on the left with the church behind you). I asked around town, and I was told that records from the church have all been lost, so there’s nothing to be found there. Two Amish women in a store suggested I talk to the local historian, one Glen Wengerd. I found him and he took down the information and offered to see what he could find. Maybe that will turn up something.

I talked to a librarian at Oberlin today, too. I plan to go there tomorrow. She said they have a student file on my grandfather, Warren R. Laity (and Harold, his brother) that I can see, but they don’t have a copy of the Oberlin Campus Views book I was hoping to find. There appears to be a copy at the Ohio Historical Society Library in Columbus. I may swing back there on my way home. I plan to start back tomorrow.

On the Road: Dayton and Columbus, Ohio

In Dayton, spent the evening last night with friends from high school and college. It was a lot of fun to see them again after about 12 years, and nice to be among friends for the first time in many days.

This morning I ran over to Woodland Cemetery to see the family plot. I cleaned off the stones a bit, but everything was in order. Now that some time has passed, the broken stone cross doesn't look that bad. I left a few flowers at my Grandma's grave and sent her greetings.

I drove around a bit, but really didn't look at much. It was rather sad. So much of the area I knew is run down and overgrown. I did go to the old house. It's for sale. It looked empty, or as if someone was camping out on a mattress in the living room. The redbud tree I planted all those years ago is giant. The plum tree has been cut down. There were many shoots from where it stood, but I couldn't pull one with roots. So, I guess my quest over the years to get one going in a yard of my own is hopeless. Too bad. I drove by the Forrest Avenue house in which my Grandmother was born. It looks in good shape. It's been painted red, but someone seems to be keeping it up.

The downtown area looks very different. The arts center looks good, but I just drove by it. Without Rike's being there, it was very hard to get my bearings. Looking at things was rather depressing, so I moved on quickly. I went to the Dayton Art Institute, but it had closed already. So, I missed that. It's a small collection, but there are some things there I like very much and wanted to see, so that was a disappointment. I particularly remember a small painting of Charleston harbor (I think) in a beautifully hand-carved frame that I had looked forward to seeing. There's a good Hopper, a small Modigliani portrait, and a fun Bouguereau. I remember those at least.

It was a short drive to Columbus. I arrived at about 6:00PM. I spent an hour or so walking around my old neighborhood, on Highland Street and King Ave. (photo above). The houses are still very interesting. I'd like to spend a month here, drawing them all again. There just isn't time on a trip like this. The church on the corner of King is now an Eastern Orthodox church, otherwise little has changed. The trees are bigger. It was fun to see some of the places in my old drawings. The Ohio State campus, however, has changed quite a bit. There has been a lot of new construction. Also, the area called the Short North, which is just north of downtown and well south of campus, has been developed to an extraordinary degree. It looks attractive now.

I found a hotel north of campus. Tomorrow I'm going to have lunch with Jon, a friend from high school that lives in Columbus now, and then I plan to head north, to Honeytown, initially, which is where my friend Scott's family farm is. He's offered to put me up. It should be a good base for a night, or perhaps two, to visit Millersburg and Oberlin. After that, I plan to head home as quickly as practical. It's been fun, but rather tiring after 3,000 miles and with the thought that there are at least that many miles still ahead of me. That said, I am well. I hope everyone at home is too.

On the Road: Yellow Springs Ohio

I've been busy with work as I travel, so haven't been able to write much. That and a very long drive from St. Louis to Covington, Kentucky left me very tired. I finally feel like I've caught up on sleep a bit now. In Ohio, I'll be traveling much shorter distances before heading west again.

After my stay in Washington, Missouri, I headed out to see if I could taste a little Missouri wine. I went to Balducci Vineyards and Montelle Winery, both nearby. I tasted a range of wines at both. My impression is that Seyval Blanc makes the most successful whites from the perspective of someone used to dry vinifera-based wines, and Norton (also known as Cynthiana) seems to make the best red wines. A couple of the port-style wines I tasted were quite good. I have to say that the wine we make in our backyard is better than anything I was able to taste, but I doubt I tasted the best Missouri has to offer. Montelle is in a beautiful setting with a large outdoor deck area to eat and drink wine on.

I started late on my way to Ohio and didn't arrive in the Cincinnati area until almost 2:00 in the morning and had a very hard time finding a hotel, the first time that has happened so far. The places listed in the hotel list on my GPS either weren't there or were scary-looking, so I headed back to Covington, thinking there would be something near the airport there. I was forced to have dinner at an overcrowded Denny's, although the turkey sandwich I ordered wasn't bad at all. I stayed in a Holiday Inn in Covington. I spent most of the morning working in the hotel business center before heading out again. I went down to see the Roebling Bridge, which the locals appear to call "The Suspension Bridge." I drove down to the water near the Kentucky-side tower and looked around a bit. There is a whole neighborhood of old brick buildings there. According to a plaque near the bridge, the area was heavily fortified during the Civil War and was a point at which Union forces held back an advance from the south.

Next I went to the Cincinnati Art Museum, which has a small but attractive collection. There were some beautiful portrait miniatures, a special show of Winogrand photographs, a contemporary glass exhibit that had some interesting examples, and, of course, the regular collection. The museum has a good Sargent. I saw the Art Museum in St. Louis, too. It was smaller than I remembered it, but I enjoyed seeing it again. They have a good Holbein (pictured). I last saw the place when it hosted a huge Monet show, in 1978, while I was at Webster College. I Stopped by Webster on my way out of St. Louis. The place has expanded a great deal, but the buildings I knew are all still there. I walked through Loretto Hall and Maria Hall. I waved to my old dorm room--although I couldn't remember what floor we lived on.... I strolled the halls on all four floors, to be sure.

Heading north, later in the day, after my visit to the Cincinnati Art Museum, I headed for Dayton, but was tired and, now in familiar territory for the first time on this trip, I decided on the spur of the moment to have dinner at The Golden Lamb, in Lebanon, as I was hungry. Turns out the rooms there are no more expensive than the cookie-cutter hotels I've been staying in, so I stayed at the Inn. I stayed in the Ulysses S. Grant room. I didn't realize so many famous people had stayed there, although I knew the inn was very old, dating from 1803. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Horace Mann, Charles Dickens, Henry Clay, and presidents such as Grant, Taft, Harrison, Harding, and others all stayed there, not to mention Ronald Reagan and George Bush, more recently.

Now having lunch in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It's hardly changed in the 25 years since I was last here. The rebellious mood is unchanged--first thing I saw driving into town was an anti-war protest. People still stand around in the streets discussing politics. It's amazing how many of the shops are still there, just as they were. One or two are new, and the Winds Cafe has expanded and moved across the street, but otherwise, little has changed. With my eyes closed I could have listed the stores along the main street.

Off now to visit my old haunt, the Outdoor Education Center, at Glen Helen.

On the Road: Hannibal, Missouri to Washington, Missouri

I ended up spending most of the day in Hannibal, Missouri, working. It was a nice break from driving, actually. Finally finished work at about 3:30 and then took a walk around the town. A kernel of the place as Mark Twain must have known it is left. His childhood home is there (pictured). Becky Thatcher’s house is there. Twain’s father’s office still stands. There is a large stone barn from the period as well. It is enough to get a sense of the scale of the place. What has grown around it is built on a somewhat larger scale.

Up a long flight of stairs to the north of town is an old lighthouse with a good view over the Mississippi (see photo). Halfway up are the ruins of a bridge across the river (replaced by a newer bridge). A plaque notes that Franklin Roosevelt opened the bridge (with a young Harry Truman in attendance) in the 30s. The walk up the stairs gave me some much-needed exercise. Up on the hill I saw a Baltimore oriole, a cardinal (haven’t seen one since I lived in Ohio), and an indigo bunting (ditto).

After lunch at Lula Belle’s I headed south on Highway 79, along the river and the rail lines (stopping to refresh myself with an iced latte and a scoop of coffee ice cream, which I plopped into the coffee. Along the highway, I stopped at a nature preserve that was closed. Mostly saw killdeer and the ever-present swallows and red-winged blackbirds. I’m getting the impression these are the two most common birds in America. I decided to stop for the night near Defiance, Mo, in the heart of the Missouri wine country in the area west of St. Louis, along the Missouri river, an area mostly settled by Germans, many of them interested in winemaking. Had dinner in O’Fallon. Depending on work, I plan to see a couple of vineyards tomorrow morning, see the St. Louis Art Museum after that, and then get as close to Ohio as I can before it gets dark.

[That was the plan anyway, none of the hotels I originally headed for was open, so had to divert. Ended up in Washington, Missouri, considerably further south than I had intended, but still in the wine country.]

Tidbits: Karl Malden--RIP

Just heard that Karl Malden died today. He was 97. One of the last of his generation. RIP

On the Road: Manhattan, Kansas to Hannibal, Missouri (Summer 2009)

I left Manhattan, Kansas late in the morning and headed for Kansas City (I learned that Manhattan was founded by abolitionists from the East Coast--hence the name). The scenery on the interstate was not much to look at. Got off a couple of times to look around, once at Alma, which was a tiny town, interesting for its old stone buildings made from the local limestone. Later I stopped at a winery, that turned out to be making mostly elderberry wine. I searched in vain for a place making vinifera (true wine grape) wines from locally grown grapes.

I went through Topeka, to Kansas City. I wanted to see the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, but it was closed. My father remembers this museum from his youth, as it is right around the corner from the high school he attended, Rockport High School, which I had a quick look at. Decided to move on to St. Louis but then reconsidered and diverted north to Hannibal by way of Highways 54, 19, and 61.

A big chunk of work has just come in, so I may stay here in Hannibal a second night, as I will have to do this and get it off to Tokyo as my top priority for tomorrow. When I can, I will head down the Mississippi on Highway 79 to St. Louis before heading further east.

On the Road: First Impression of Kansas (Summer 2009)

This was about ten miles into Kansas, on Route 77 South, heading toward Manhattan, Kansas, which turned out to have a nice little Holiday Inn with an attached restaurant called Houlihan's that offers real food (at last).

On the Road: Iain Nicholson Audubon Center (summer 2009)

I happened to see a sign on 1-80 advertising the Iain Nicholson Audubon Center, near Kearney, Nebraska. It seemed worth stopping at. I'm glad I did. In about half an hour of walking and talking with the very helpful and friendly staff, I saw Baltimore orioles, a willow flycatcher (probable), dickcissels, bobolinks, bobwhites, a great blue heron, a catbird, a common yellowthroat, and a number of others that, ultimately I was unable to identify, including some sort of raptor with a very pale underside. Part of the problem is that I'm so far east now that my Western Birds is quickly losing its relevance. A very nice place this was. Well worth a visit. The dickcissel, the yellowthroat, and the flycatcher were first sightings for me, and I haven't seen a Baltimore oriole since the 1970s.

On the Road: Take the High Road (Summer 2009)

I was slightly taken aback this morning when, while bird watching, I realized that a lot of the weeds growing by the roadside were Cannabis. It seems to be everywhere in this part of Nebraska--apparently not cultivated. One man I spoke with referred to it disdainfully as "ditchweed."

On the Road: Ogallala, Nebraska to Manhattan, Kansas

Left Ogallala, headed east later than I had intended and made slow progress at first. Stopped at Sutherland Reservoir, but saw nothing of interest, except cliff swallows nesting under a bridge over the Platte River. Much of my route today followed the river, which runs in numerous shallow channels. The road crosses and recrosses many forks.

In North Platte, stopped at the Golden Spike Tower, which is an observation tower Union Pacific has constructed for tourists. It allows a bird's-eye view of the Bailey Classification Yard, the largest rail switching and classification yard in the world, so they say. Frankly, it wasn't much to look at, but interesting enough that I don't regret the detour (see photo).

Much of the rail traffic here seems to be coal trains bringing coal down from the area around Casper, Wyoming. They get routed here, mostly to power plants in the east, in places like Cincinnati, and Boston, and New York, and Washington. For the past two days I've been seeing the trains everywhere, some of them with as many as 200 cars.

Last night, coming into Ogallala from Scottsbluff, the road ran parallel to the North Platte River and more or less to the rail lines. I happened to start on the road just as the sun was going down. In the rear-view mirror, it was no longer visible, but light was coursing over the horizon, as various objects in the landscape were still catching the last glow. One of the coal trains appeared ahead of me at a point where the track was at a slight angle to the road. The coal cars are typically polished aluminum (or so they appear to be) with vertical, beveled ribs. Each car was neatly mounded with coal. The cars look like hundreds of perfect, but perfectly burned pound cakes in baking tins. The ribs on the cars began to catch the pink light and the whole train was lit up as if with hundreds of neon tubes standing on end--actually the bevels of the ribs reflecting the last pink rays of the sun at me. It was rather extraordinary. It lasted only about seven minutes. The first minute or two I wasn't able to understand what I was seeing. It reminded me of the gaudy neon lights at the casinos in Reno.

On the Road: Rock Springs, Wyoming to Ogallala, Nebraska

I spent most of the day today driving east on I-80, which is a fairly boring drive. Got off the highway in Laramie, lured by a sign advertising an art gallery at the University of Wyoming (Laramie Campus), but it was closed. Moved on to Cheyenne, and from there further east into Nebraska. It was more of the same, until I came to my senses and left the Interstate. I turned north on State Route 71, from Kimball to Scottsbluff, hoping to do some birding at Scottsbluff National Monument.

The scenery was immediately more interesting. Rolling farmland, vivid green, except where just mowed. Harvesters were cutting hay and making giant green rolls of it. Soon the bluffs appeared--big, eroded outcroppings of sand-colored stone. As it was late in the day, the light was very pretty. I got to the monument and took a walk of about a mile up into the bluffs. Saw a spotted towhee, hundreds of swallows, a pair of black-billed magpies--beautiful, big birds in iridescent black-green with flashes of white in flight. Also saw a mountain bluebird for the first time. I had seen the western and eastern varieties before, but not the mountain bluebird--a beautiful, all-blue bird. The other varieties have rust on the breast and sides. Then drove southeast from the bluffs to Ogallala, on highway 26.

[Update: Recently (in January 2011), I read Desperate Passage, a book about the famous Donner Party that was stranded for months in the Sierra Nevada mountains near the end of their trip across the continent. I realize in retrospect that I followed much the same route as the Donners and the families traveling with them (albeit in the opposite direction). Scottsbluff was an important landmark for wagon trains heading west.]

On the Road: Cheyenne, Wyoming

Now in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

I feel like I'm not getting anywhere very fast. Colorado turned out to be a good deal south of the road I'm on, so I think I'll try to go back home through Colorado rather than diverting now. The distances are a bit daunting. I can see now that the way to really do this would be to pick a region of the country of interest, fly into the nearest big city and then explore from a base rather than trying to fill in the spaces by car. Still, it's been interesting so far. Likely to end up in North Platte, Nebraska tonight.

Met a friendly local woman in Starbucks, who recommended a Chinese place for lunch, the Twin Dragon. She also mentioned a few interesting old buildings in town that I will try to swing by on the way out. Partly because it's Sunday, very little is going on here. I was able to stand in the street downtown for several minutes to photograph the State Capitol building--not a moving car in sight. The food at the restaurant turned out to be barely edible. I skipped the buildings and headed east.

On the Road: Antelope Island, in the Great Salt Lake (Summer 2009)

Later in the day, went to Antelope Island, which is in the Great Salt Lake, but connected by a causeway. Very pretty. Saw thousands of avocets and gulls along the causeway. On the island proper, I walked out to the overlook by Egg Island, a raucous nesting site for California gulls, and what looked like cormorants. Saw four great blue herons by the water below the cliffs I had walked out onto. I flushed a pair of chukar partridges--a first sighting for me.

Had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant I took a chance on. Had ceviche of fish with onions, potatoes, corn, and yams. Simple, but very tasty. The first real food I've had in days.