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Author Archives: Joe and Sarah Gill
Guess where we slept last night
After miles of beautiful farmland, we stopped at a river-side park in a small village to cook dinner. Frogs, cicadas, and crickets were our orchestra and Shasta had a grand time romping in the mud flats of the river. Happy Birthday to Sarah’s sister, Kelly!
Joe wanted to get more miles behind us, so with a prayer to keep the deer off the road, we pushed east into the dark. Shasta dozed off first and Sarah crawled into the bed beside him around 11 pm. A few hours later, Joe pulled into Wayne and found the ONLY parking lot where workers report for morning construction at 5:49 am local time!!! Can you guess which parking lot we were in?
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On the road, again!
Thanks to Dave (and Ken in Seattle and FedEx!), we are back on the road, again!
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Do you know which hotel we are in?
Watch Sunday’s movie to guess which hotel we are staying in until our replacement “drag link” arrives tomorrow via Fedex. Mechanics should have us back on the road by noon on Monday!
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Stranded
So, after spending 5+ hours in the state archives, researching a particular artifact currently at Mayfield Junior, we heard a peculiar “clunk” when the steering wheel was turned to the right.
Possible diagnosis? Mike needs a new swing bar (?) and there are no junkyards in this town with old VW bus parts. We are settling in for a looooonnnnggggg weekend.
Where are we?
P.S. we found an outdoor music concert (free!) with ’80’s music! We are feeling fine!
P.P.S. Apparently, women in this town do not often wear head scarves to ward off the light rain and evening cold. Aleikom Assalam!
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Good Morning!
We camped last night in an empty church lot, at the suggestion of a friendly local. The winds buffeted the van so much, Joe got up to re-park on the north side of the building to afford us some protection from the gusts. This morning dawned clear and calm.
We drove with the rain for most of yesterday through some beautiful National Forest lands. With recent local fires, the rain was welcome especially to the firefighters. As we ascended to over 10, 000 feet we crossed the Continental Divide and through montane, sub-alpine, and alpine eco-regions. From wildflowers to snow, we were treated to postcard views in every direction.
During the spring of 2011, a landslide destroyed a 1,000-foot length of the highway, and the road was closed to through traffic for several weeks. As a result, a temporary one-lane detour was constructed. Reconstruction of the road where the slide occurred was ruled out after geologic investigations found the slide is likely to continue moving in the future. We decided to skip the scenic overlook by the destroyed section of the road, in case that embankment was the next to fall down the hill!
GILLS GEO-QUIZ #6
Originally created as a forest reserve in 1902, this National Forest is named after the Native American powwows in which numerous tribes would congregate here in search of mountain mahogany, which was an excellent wood for the manufacturing of bows, and to perform rituals hoped to cure diseases and thus make “good medicine.” Where were we yesterday?
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License Plate Game Update
Day 3
MD
MS
Day 5
NJ
MN
Day 6
ID
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Independence Day
GILLS GEO-QUIZ #5
Watch the video to figure out where we spent the 4th of July! Leave your guess in the Comments Section. Remember, the person with the most correct guesses by the end of the summer will win a prize! (Danica – you do not need to be the first to guess….answers will not be posted until the end of the trip!)
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Mike is almost an iron horse
GILLS’ GEO-QUIZ #4
Today, we felt like a million bucks driving the scenic highway as we left this former mining town of 500 year-round residents. Now a National Historic Landmark, gold was discovered in this area in the 1860’s. Mining peaked between 1900 and 1912, with millions of dollars of gold and silver extracted from the booming mines. We stopped for lunch at an old saloon that now caters to tourists. Where are we?
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Where in the world are the Gills? 