After having breakfast with my sister and brother-in-law at a local Cracker Barrel, we left Nashville headed for home on Wednesday, September 1. As usual, here are the stats:headed for Dallas, TX. Here are the stats:
Depart Nashville, TN, Sep 1 at 9:08 a.m.
Arrive Salisbury, MD, Sep 2 at 1:36 a.m.
Actual driving time of 13 hours 2 minutes
778 miles at 59.6 mph average
The trip was fun, but I’m always glad to be back home. The dogs were also happy to see us. We got everything in from the minivan, put away the milk we picked up at a Royal Farms just outside Salisbury, got ready for bed, and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
I’ll have a total time and miles, complete with an overall map, in the next day or so (for those who might be interested). I will likely also include some thoughts on how well the Droid X did with navigation, how the iPad worked out, etc. Stay tuned…
We left Dallas, TX, early on Tuesday morning, August 31, 2010, headed for Nashville, TN. Here are the stats:
Depart Dallas, TX, Aug 31, at 7:30 a.m.
Arrive Nashville, TN, Aug 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Actual driving time of 10 hours 24 minutes
653.4 miles at 60.4 mph average
We arrived at the hotel in Nashville in time to check into the hotel and then head for the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry is currently being performed at the old Ryman Auditorium – its original home – due to the flooding that Nashville got back in the spring. The Opry started at 7 p.m., so by the time we got there it was intermission, so we missed the first half of the show. The second half was very good, though, with Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens, Little Big Town, and Montgomery Gentry. Only one night in Nashville – and then only because there is no way to drive from Dallas, TX, to Salisbury, MD, in one day – so the next morning we headed for home (after having breakfast with my sister and her husband at a local Cracker Barrel).
We left Roswell, NM, early on Friday morning, August 27, 2010, headed for Dallas, TX. Here are the stats:
Depart Roswell, NM, Aug 27 at 8:10 a.m.
Arrive Dallas, TX, Aug 27 at 7:20 p.m.
Actual driving time of 8 hours 32 minutes
486 miles at 56 mph average
Attending OpenCamp Dallas 2010 was really the original reason for the trip. OpenCamp was the first conference dedicated to the three (major?) blogging platforms: WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. By the time it was finished, a .Net track and a Multimedia track had been added as well.
I was primarily interested in the WordPress talks, but also wanted to get some exposure to Drupal and Joomla. I learned a lot, met some of the folks I’ve seen on some of the popular tech video podcasts, and met some folks in the WordPress community. It was a great conference; perhaps there will be something similar in the coming years that is closer to Maryland’s beautiful Eastern Shore.
The conference began on Friday evening, Aug 27, and ended on Sunday, Aug 29. We stayed in Dallas until Tuesday morning (no need beginning a 660 mile 10+ hour trip after 6 p.m.) And, yes, we could have left on Monday morning, but there were a couple of things near Dallas that we wanted to see: Southfork Ranch, in Parker, TX, and the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, TX. Actually, we really only wanted to see Southfork, or at least that all I really wanted to see. I was a huge fan of the show Dallas, and saw every episode, so visiting and touring Southfork was a no-brainer given that we don’t know when we’ll be back near here.
Southfork Ranch, Parker, TX (near Dallas)
We also visited the Cowboys stadium to pick up a couple of things for our son-in-law Ryan Simms, his daughter Taylor, and his soon-to-be son Logan (Ryan, and by association Lauren (his wife, and Nancy’s daughter), Taylor, and Logan are all huge Dallas Cowboys fans).
We left Pagosa Springs, CO, and headed for Roswell, NM, which is where we decided to spend the night on the way to Dallas, TX.
Depart Pagosa Springs, CO, Aug 26 at 8:45 a.m.
Arrive Roswell, NM, Aug 26 at 3:30 p.m.
Actual driving time of 6 hours and 9 minutes
342.7 miles at 55 mph average
I’d wanted to visit Roswell since I watched – and liked – the Sci-Fi series that aired on The WB called “Roswell.” We made it into town in time to make a leisurely visit to the International UFO Museum and Research Center. I’m not going to say whether or not I think that Extra Terrestrials exist, but the museum and night in Roswell were certainly entertaining.
After the UFO museum, we had a great dinner at Cattle Barron’s Restaurant; if you’re ever in Roswell, I highly recommend it.
Only a short evening and one night in Roswell, then on to Dallas, TX (well, actually, Addison, TX) for OpenCamp 2010 Dallas!
While in Colorado Springs, there were four things we really wanted to do: visit Focus on the Family; tour the Air Force Academy; see the Garden of the Gods; and drive up to the summit of Pike’s Peak. We managed to do all four!
Pagosa Springs
We traded a week at our timeshare in Myrtle Beach, S.C., for a week at the Wyndham Pagosa Springs. The trip from Colorado Springs to Pagosa Springs was not nearly as arduous as the first two days travel, but here are the stats anyway:
Depart Colorado Springs, CO, Aug 21 at 3:30 p.m.
Arrive Pagosa Springs, CO, Aug 21 at 10:30 p.m.
Actual driving time of 4 hours and 25 minutes
238.0 miles at 53.5 mph average
While in Pagosa Springs, we trekked up to Piedra Falls. I say trekked because it was a pretty arduous journey: mostly dirt roads with a lot of washboard-like sections, and one small gravel-bed stream to cross (yep, we crossed a stream in the minivan!). On the way to the falls the stream was bad enough, but it started raining while we were at the falls (about 1.3 miles from the stream), and the area guide book says to not even attempt to get to the falls in bad weather because the road gets treacherous. Well, we were already there, so we really didn’t have a choice. We were the last ones to leave the parking area, and I told Nancy that I’d seen a Hyundai sedan in the parking area, and if they could make it back over the gravelled stream, we might have a chance, too. At about that time, we got to the stream to find the Hyundai stuck; the fellow was out pushing it and his wife was driving. Just as we got up to the stream and I was about to get out and help push, they got the car free, so I just rolled on through what I thought would be the best place to cross. Luckily, we didn’t have any problems getting across it. The rest of the trip back was a bit of a nail-biter as the twisty dirt roads were very slick. We did make it back to the time-share, although the minivan was a bit worse for the trip.
After a trip on a wet dirt road
The following day we went to Treasure Falls, which, thankfully, has a paved parking area just off the main highway! See my video on YouTube!
After Treasure Falls, we found a coin-op car wash and got most of the mud off the minivan. Then we ate dinner at a place just east of town called the Branding Iron. Very good food and reasonable prices. By the time we finished eating, a storm had come over the mountains and it was raining pretty hard. We made a dash for it and got in the minivan (you gotta love those remote power locks!) without getting too wet. We drove out from under the storm and got back to the time-share just a few minutes before it got there. Once it did get there, it brought along some pretty impressive hail, along with the heavy rain and customary lightning.
Altogether, we had a really good time in Pagosa Springs – it really is a beautiful place. We also got some much appreciated rest. Then on Thursday, August 26, we headed out bright and early for Roswell, NM.
