Radically Retired

Tag: Road Trip

  • 2026 Road Trip Home Day 4 – The Longest Day

    2026 Road Trip Home Day 4 – The Longest Day

    At 10 hours, yesterday was our longest day on the road.

    We had a couple of short stops for fuel and walkabouts, but aside from that, hubs was determined to make miles.

    As a result, we’ll complete the trip with a 4.5 hour drive today.

    This was a good plan because arrival at home involves unpacking the truck, sorting and putting everything away, and doing laundry. Both hubs and I have ocd-ish personalities that wouldn’t allow us to leave those tasks for the next day.

    The roads have been excellent so far, despite now seeing “that white stuff” in the fields that has been foreign to us all winter. Thank goodness the final melt isn’t far away and our summer is around the corner.

    My feature photo is near Thedford, Nebraska.

    North Platte, Nebraska is home to a revitalized downtown project called “The Canteen District”. We only drove by but after seeing this sign which resulted in researching, we’ll definitely stop for a walkabout here next time we’re through.

    I wasn’t quick enough with my camera, so this is from Google Images

    Our first stop was here.

    Although luck wasn’t with us, it was a fun 30 minute stretch, and a Google search told us that Bob Barker, the long time host of the TV game show, “The Price is Right” was a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Nation here. His mother was apparently a school teacher on the reservation.

    Our next stop was at Pierre, South Dakota. Pierre is the state capital. Although we’ve driven past the city many times, we’d never stopped to see the capitol building, so we decided to fix that.

    Completed 116 Years Ago
    It was a tad breezy but no snow yet!
    A little lake sits adjacent to the Capitol
    Statue of Joe Foss – WWII Marine Flying Ace and one-time governor of North Dakota stands at an arena across from the Capitol

    A few miles down the road, we were greeted with this

    At least the highway is dry … so far

    We booked into a lovely big room at Bismarck ND La Quinta. Comfy beds, extremely clean room in new condition and a great price for a holiday weekend Saturday.

    Happy Easter everyone ✝️

  • 2026 Road Trip Home – Day 2

    2026 Road Trip Home – Day 2

    Yesterday was all about bucket list hits.

    Along the way from San Angelo, TX to Amarillo, TX we saw some varied and beautiful scenery and enjoyed a couple of breaks from driving to check out attractions.

    The weather has been more than cooperative with sunshine, warmth, and clear blue skies.

    Breakfast and road snacks from our hotel
    Near Sterling City, TX
    Red Soil at Ackerly, TX. The white specks are debris from the cotton harvest

    Our first stop was Lubbock, TX – birthplace of Buddy Holly.

    After touring Clear Lake, Iowa on our way south this past fall, which I posted about here , we were interested in visiting Buddy Holly’s hometown.

    Lubbock Texas has streets named after their favourite son.

    There’s also the Buddy Holly Center which is a museum tribute to his life, and includes an art gallery inside an old attached train station.

    Across the street, is The Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza which includes the West Texas Walk of Fame – with inductees from the area named in plaques along a curved wall. Among the many inductees were Tanya Tucker, Merle Haggard, Roy Orbison, and Dan Blocker.

    We also toured the house of JI Allison, the first drummer for Buddy Holly’s band, The Crickets. In his bedroom was a piano and a drum kit and this is where “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” were written.

    I was in Rock n Roll heaven here.

    Entrance to the Buddy Holly Center
    Me with the famous glasses
    This courtyard can be rented out
    Inside the entrance
    Lots of reading involved
    Doorway to the Art Gallery
    Three large sections for exhibits
    Original doors to the old train station
    Hubs was most interested in the history of the train station
    JI Allison’s home
    JI’s room in the home
    Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza
    Front of the old train station
    Dedication Plaque

    From Lubbock, we made the 121 mile (194 km) drive to Amarillo, TX where we checked out our first stop on historic Route 66.

    2026 is the hundredth anniversary of “The Mother Road”, so over the course of this year we plan to see as much of it as we can.

    First stop: Cadillac Ranch

    There’s spray paint everywhere
    Even on the pavement alongside the entrance
    Spray painted locks on the fence
    This truck pulls the souvenir trailer
    Every souvenir you could want is in here
    The famous interactive art installation, created in 1974
    I took my turn at spray painting
    Hubs did some tagging too
    The Second
    Amendment Cowboy with a neon sign (one of many on Rte 66)
    A diner and gift shop behind the cowboy

    For those of you wondering about fuel prices:

    This is per US Gallon (3.75 liters) We saw it as low as $2.99 and as high as $3.99

    Yesterday was a ten hour day, worth every enjoyable second.

  • 2026 Road Trip Home – Day 1

    2026 Road Trip Home – Day 1

    Yesterday was take off day and we logged nine hours on the road with only quick rest stops.

    Texas is a big state and because we’re headed up to the panhandle, we’re taking the longest route from south to north.

    It’s bluebonnet time in Texas and the state flower was abundant on the roadsides and in fields along the way. My feature photo was on the way by, so more blurred than I like but it gives you the idea.

    Here are a few more “on the way by” photos.

    I had to do a white balance correction on them, because of the tinted windows in our truck.

    Check stop at Encino, TX
    One of many overpasses at San Antonio, TX
    Coming to Comfort, TX
    Comfort TX
    Fredericksburg, TX
    Many great old buildings in Fredericksburg

    Mason, TX Courthouse

    My Moment 58 mmTele Lens for iPhone does a pretty good job of bringing things closer and at the same time, reducing blur. It’s my favourite attachment for shooting from a moving vehicle.

  • A Telling Sight

    A Telling Sight

    When I see “Arnie” (our golf cart, named after the famous golfer, Arnold Palmer), all wrapped up and sitting on wooden planks to keep the tires from melting onto the concrete in the extreme summer heat, I know we’re leaving the next day.

    As we always try to do, we have a new route home to Canada in the plans, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

    It’s going to be a bucket list hit for me, so I’m pretty excited!

  • And That It Is

    And That It Is

    Last Saturday, we took a little road trip to nearby towns to explore their main streets. We were also on the hunt for an infamous roadside tavern.

    Many people we know here in south Texas had told us about the uniqueness of an establishment called “The Junkyard Bar”.

    We’d passed the location several times over the years but had never spotted the bar.

    This time, because we were paying attention, we spied the sign (feature photo)

    There were no vehicles in the parking lot (except, of course, for the truck on the post) but we could see a young fellow cleaning inside so we asked if we could come in and take some photos. He told us that the bar didn’t officially open until 3pm but we were more than welcome to come in and take a look around, and he even offered us a beer.

    We’d been told that this place is wall to wall people during opening hours, so our arrival time was perfect to explore and get some photos of things you’d never see if the place was packed.

    I don’t know if you’d call it “atmosphere” but its decor (or lack of it) certainly lives up to its name.

    I laughed at “No outside food or drink or drink”
    Stage is reminiscent of the old west
    I wonder how many actually pay
    A tribute to a football team
    The Bar
    The tables have seen better days
    It makes one wonder
    Would hesitate to visit if it was raining
    Tiniest sink I’ve ever seen
    Corrugated metal stalls in the ladies bathroom
    Budweiser is famous for their ads
    The fence on the hill behind hubs is a part of the border wall
    The top of the original bar sign says EST 1957

  • Home Grown

    Home Grown

    This mural, on the side of a roadside service station in Saskatchewan, Canada – although weathered, depicts some history of the pioneers and farming in our province.

  • 2016 – Gal Pal Road Trip

    2016 – Gal Pal Road Trip

    Carrying on with the incredible travel year that was 2016:

    After hubs and I returned from the all-expenses paid vacay to the Mayan Riviera, things calmed down for a couple of months, and then I headed out on a road trip to Salt Lake City with two long time friends who had joined my MLM team.

    The purpose of the trip was to attend the annual conference of the MLM company I had signed up with.

    In addition to being a learning and team-building experience in SLC, the road trip itself both to and from the conference was fun and interesting.

    Even though none of us belonged to the Mormon faith, Temple Square in Salt Lake City provides a great history lesson about the settlement of the state of Utah.

    Lenna and I just “had” to pose with this fun sign
    The parent company to our MLM company Sherry, Lenna, and Me
    I tasted French Macarons for the first time
    Temple Square is always an interesting visit
    The famous Mormon Tabernacle
    The amazing pipe organ inside the Tabernacle
    How the Mormon Temple was constructed is a fascinating history lesson
    I spied these “on the way by” and commented about the skinny horses
    An unusual way to make a topiary
    Idaho Falls was a great stop on the way home
    My pals, Lenna and Sherry, hamming it up – “posing” like models
    The falls are in the middle of the city

    My dear friend, Lenna passed suddenly and unexpectedly just four years after this trip.

    I’m so happy I have this trip in photos and in memories.

  • Ho-Ho-Ho

    Ho-Ho-Ho

    We’re enjoying a new route south this year.

    Our bucket list hit yesterday was the town of Blue Earth, Minnesota – the home of Green Giant Vegetables.

    We enjoyed visiting the giant statue of the Jolly Green Giant, as well as a visit to the museum on the same property, which told the history of this well known brand of canned and frozen vegetables.

    That’s me standing between Jolly’s size 78 feet!
    Great info about the statue
    Hubs and Sprout
    Lots of old processing equipment was on display in the museum
    Green Giant Merch from the past was endless!
    I was surprised to see the Pillsbury doughboy there
  • 2016 – A Scenic Detour

    2016 – A Scenic Detour

    After touring my cousin around the Las Vegas area for a week, we took her to the plane and then made our way home via a different route than usual.

    My feature photo is of a portion of Arches National Park near Moab, UT. We didn’t take any side roads to see the actual arches, but even without that, the scenery “on the way by” was spectacular.

    We’d hoped to drive from there to Denver, Co.

    At Grand Junction, Co, where we spent the night, we were advised the next morning by the hotel clerk, that there had been a rockslide ahead, so the road we planned to take was closed. We were also informed that roads out of Denver (from our direction) were closed for the winter.

    Enter Plan B:

    We drove on as far as Aspen, Co, toured the place and watched some skiing. Neither of us had been there before, so it was a fun little “been there done that” trip.

    One of the many Aspen ski runs

    After Aspen, we turned around and headed back to Grand Junction.

    From there, we headed north to and through Wyoming and more incredible scenery.

    Hoodoos in South Wyoming

    After Wyoming, it was South Dakota and then North Dakota (which I’ll cover in a future post) and then home.

  • 2016 – A Cacti Forest

    2016 – A Cacti Forest

    The Saguaro National Park just out of Tucson is an incredible place to see.

    During our visit, we learned that it can take a Saguaro Cactus up to 100 years to grow the “arms” that we’ve come to recognize from old western movies. Those arms are needed to store extra water for the cactus, which can reach heights of 50 feet and weigh 6 or more tons.

    One truly has to experience it to get the full and awe-inspiring effect of a forest of these giant old fellas, extending as far as the eye can see.