I've added a new blog to my blog roll – the list on the right titled Blogs I Always Read. The new blog is about the creation of a company called the Tucson Tamale Company. The blog is written by Todd Martin, the founder of the company who also happens to be the guy who hired me at Intuit. Todd left Intuit a few months ago. He used to manage restaurants and is one of the best leaders I have ever worked for. I have great expectations for the Tucson Tamale Company. Following his blog should be fun.
Lots Going On
I haven't posted a lot lately but I have had a lot going on. My daughter and my grandson were here last week. It was really fun to have them here. Aidan is just over two and he talks and laughs a lot. Laughing with a baby is an experience of pure joy. He especially liked our new truck. Every time we turned on to our street or went outside he pointed out Papa's truck.
Friday we took Aidan and Shannon home and then went into San Francisco and joined friend to visit the new Academy of Science. It was very crowded but it is was fascinating. My favorite parts were going up on the living roof and experiencing the show at the planetarium.
We had a good rate on a hotel room at the Hyatt bought through Priceline. I know that parking in San Francisco is expensive but having to pay $57 to park overnight at the Hyatt was still a shock. Having to pay for internet at the Hyatt wasn't a shock but it still really bugs me.
Our friends all had dinner with us at a wonderful Basque restaurant in San Francisco. Piperade was the perfect place for us to have a long leisurely dinner with wine and lots of good talk.
On Saturday we took a leisurely drive up to Petaluma including stopping to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. Duke's daughter had a crew race on the Petaluma river on Sunday morning. She was in one of the two Saint Mary's boats in her race. They came in first and second. Very cool!!
From Petaluma we headed home to Reno. The very tops of the peaks around Donner Pass had a dusting of the first snow of the year.
James Monroe – The Quest for National Identity by Harry Ammon
Just over a year ago I decided to read at least one biography about each U.S. President. So far I have read the following.
His Excellency George Washington by Joseph-Ellis- John Adams by David McCullough
- Thomas Jefferson by R.B. Bernstein
- James Madison a Biography by Ralph Ketcham
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
On my recent road trip I finished reading James Monroe – The Quest for National Identity by Harry Ammon. Monroe served in the revolutionary war, participated in the formation of the United States, was an ambassador to France, a senator, secretary of state and served from 1817 to 1825 as President of the United States. Reading this book I gained an enormous admiration for Monroe's dedication, his hard work, his intelligence and his leadership.
According to Ammon, Monroe lived in an "age of reticence (and of much prudery as well)…. in Monroe's day it was customary for political figures to destroy papers of a personal character. Only one letter from Monroe to his wife survives, and the only specimens of her hand are in the form of signatures on legal documents…………..Therefore, a biography of Monroe must be essentially political in nature"
It is disappointing that nothing can really be written about Monroe's personal life. But I still liked this book. It is a political history of the U.S. during Monroe's life. It is a credit to Ammon that he can make politics so readable.
Road Trip – Estes Park, Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park to Grand Junction Colorado and Colorado National Monument to Arches National Park to Delta, Utah to Great Basin National Park to Home
If you would like to see all the pictures from our trip they are available on Flickr here.
Day 22 - Sunday, September 14 - Estes Park, Colorado to Grand Junction Colorado – today 358 miles – total miles 5177
When we left Estes Park on Saturday morning and headed west into Rocky Mountain National Park the ranger at the gate told us that the road through the park was still closed because of snow. We stopped and made a breakfast picnic of the donuts we had picked up at the Donut Den in Estes Park (yummy!) and then headed up to where the road was supposed to be closed. We were going to turn around and head south around the park but we lucked out. They must have just opened it because we did not have to turn around. The highest point on the road is 12,183 feet, the highest point of the trip.
Heading west from RMNP we stopped briefly in Georgetown, Colorado. To quote The Colorado Guide "What separates Georgetown from many other historic mining districts is the sheer number of old Victorian Homes still standing." But for me the most fascinating part of the town wasn't even mentioned in the guide book. The Georgetown Energy Museum is hydroelectric power plant that has been generating power with the same basic equipment since 1893. It was the second AC power plant in Colorado. In addition to seeing the plant we learned its history and how it operates. They had several old appliances that still work. Here you can see our guide turning on the washing machine and below that you can see the generating unit.
Sunday night we camped in Colorado National Monument. It was a perfect night. The temperature was about 65 degrees and we had a full moon. The camp ground was only about half full and we had a great choice of sites. Ours overlooked Grand Junction. After going into Grand Junction for dinner we sat in the chairs next to our tent and just enjoyed the view and the perfection of our setting. The picture below is the view from our camp site.
Day 23 – Monday, September 15 - Grand Junction Colorado to Delta, Utah – today 335 miles – total miles 5512
We left Grand Junction fairly early and stopped for a hike on the Trail Through Time on the Colorado-Utah border. We were the only ones there. The trail is about 1.5 miles long and you get to see dinosaur fossils still in the rocks. In the picture below you can see some backbones.
In eastern Utah we stopped at Arches National Park and did a bit more hiking. The pictures below are of Double Arch and Duke sitting under Double Arch. The larger opening of the two arches has a span of 144 feet, the third longest in the park and a height of 112 feet the highest in the park.
There was quite a bit of traffic so we decided to take a different route out of the park. Most people back track on the paved road back to the main entrance. We decided to take a dirt road that went the other way. The road was very rough. We saw only three other cars. It probably didn't save us any time but it was fun and scenic.
Monday night we had thought we might make it to Ely, Nevada but instead we stopped in Delta Utah. There are very few towns with motels in western Utah and eastern Nevada.
Day 24 (The last day of the trip) – Tuesday, September 16 - Delta, Utah to Home in Reno, Nevada – today 501 miles – total miles 6013
On our last day of the trip we stopped in Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada took a short hike and toured Lehman Cave.
I think we will come back to Great Basin in the future and do more hiking. Someday I would like to do the hike to the top of Wheeler Peak the second highest mountain in Nevada. From Great Basin we kept heading west. With only a few food, fuel and road work stops got home to Reno about 8pm. It was a wonderful trip .
Road Trip – Manchester, Iowa, Correctionville, Iowa, Estes Park, Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park
Day 18 – Wednesday, September 10 - Manchester, Iowa – Today 0 miles – total miles 3850
Day two of our visit to Manchester. We finished mowing today, visited with Duke's Dad and enjoyed the perfect weather. We saw several deer in the trees at the back of their property.
Day 19 – Thursday, September 11 - Manchester, Iowa to Brian and Joanne's farm near Correctionville, Iowa – Today 376 miles – total miles 4126
Thursday morning we loaded up the truck with a few pieces of furniture from Duke's folks house, some for us and some for Duke's sister in western Iowa. We drove from Manchester to their farm. On the way we stopped to see the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University, Duke's and my alma mater's respectively. UNI and ISU are two of the most beautiful universities I have ever seen. Of course maybe I am biased.
We drove by the places we lived and walked through a few of our old haunts. I'm sure the computers have changed but I don't think the computer science building at Iowa State has changed at all in the last 34 years. Even the benches and colors in the ladies room were the same! It is the white building in this picture. It was supposed to look like a punch card. Back then we used punch cards for our programs.
Day 20 - Friday, September 12 - Brian and Joanne's farm near Correctionville, Iowa to Estes Park, Colorado - Today 638 miles – total miles 4764
We had a nice visit last night with Duke's sister and her husband and son. We stayed at their farm between Correctionville and Moville, Iowa. We got an early start and headed southwest out of Iowa and through Nebraska. Most of the way across Nebraska we stayed off the interstate. We even took a couple of dirt roads. It wouldn't be a Marion and Duke road trip without dirt roads.
Our route joined the interstate at North Platte, Nebraska. This summer North Platte opened an eight story viewing tower called the Golden Spike Tower overlooking the Union Pacific's switching yard. The Bailey yard is the largest classification yard in the world . It is 8 miles long and covers 2,850 acres, They handle 15,000 rail cars every 24 hours. They had a retired Union Pacific guy who used to work in the yard on the viewing platform answering questions. It was fascinating to see all the activity and learn something about how the railroads work.
After North Platte we drove through some really heavy rain and eventually got to Estes Park, Colorado about 8pm. This was by far the most miles we have driven in a day. The furniture in the back of the truck is wrapped in plastic. It looks like it stayed pretty dry.
Day 21 - Saturday, September 13 - Estes Park, Colorado - Today 55 miles – total miles 4819
Today we are staying Estes Park. We stayed here on our vacation 2 years ago and liked it so much that we are staying here again. Today we went into Rocky Mountain National Park and did a hike and then listened to a ranger talk about beavers. I learned that beavers jaws are made so that they can hold logs in their mouths and that up until 1980 the park used to get rid of beavers because they backed up streams. Now the park administration realizes that beavers are an essential part of the ecosystem and encourages them. The views today were stunning. All the rain we went through yesterday covered the mountains in snow. The road through the park was closed but is supposed to open tomorrow.
Marion's Blog 