Eastcoast Postcards

They say our 5:20 train is delayed getting out of Seattle due to signal problems.

Mon Oct 3 22:15:01 2011

Leavenworth. 10pm Monday night. Running about 2 hours behind schedule.. They say we'll make it up in Montana. There are no speed limits in Montana.

If any fools tell you that Amtrak has Wi-fi, tell them they are fools to believe such nonsense.

Tue Oct 4 09:04:22 2011

Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 09:06:00
From: Lori Stevens
Subject: Re: Virtual postcard

I hear there are a lot of bears out and about currently due to berry season being late this year. Enjoy!

Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2011 09:30:00
From: Ken Lowe
Subject: Re: Virtual postcard

Fortunately none of them tried to take on the train.

We may see some bears yet, though, if we swing past Wall Street in Manhattan.

-Ken

Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2011 11:59:48
From: Lori Stevens
Subject: Re: Virtual postcard

You are all over the place. Is there a final destination? are you touring the entire US?

Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 09:27:45
From: Robert Salnick
Subject: Re: Virtual postcard

Sleeping in the seats is uncomfortable, isn't it? Having trouble holding your head up?

Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 18:58:13
From: Ken Lowe
Subject: Re: Virtual postcard

Seats? We've got a room w/shower.

-Ken

Tue Oct 4 14:01:26 2011

Darlene and I are on our way east via Amtrak. If all goes well, we'll be in Washington DC on Thursday. Will check out the Smithsonian for a couple days and then get a rental car and check out some fall colors in Vermont, some lobster in Maine and maybe some chowdah in Boston.

We catch the return train on the 20th, and roll back into Everett on Sunday the 23rd.

Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 15:33:56
From: dave.lowe
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Clickity Clack...Clickity Clack off you go on the railroad track.

Sounds like fun. All those Fall Colors.

I looked up BNSF 4002 on Google. There are a lot of pics of this particular engine.

The headliner of GE's 1993 freight locomotive line was the 6 motor, 4400hp C44-9W "Dash 9." Slightly longer than its predecessors at 73 feet, 2 inches, the C44-9W used a new HiAd, bolsterless low-weight truck that was designed for better grip on the rails no matter the weather. A split cooling system lowered engine temperatures and fuel consumption as well, granting these locomotives a longer operation life and lower overhead costs.

In HO scale they run between $60 and $170.

Teri and I went to the train show at the Lynden Fairgrounds last Saturday. There were the usual displays and lots and lots of rolling stock and buildings. All my engines are diesel. I was looking for a small-ish steam locomotive that would handle the tighter curves of an 18 inch radius track.

I found a Tyco Royal Blue with the right price tag. The motor is housed in the coal car and it runs well. It's also a smoker and 1/2 way around my layout it started puffing out cute little clouds of white smoke. But it didn't last long so I will have to pick up some smoker fluid.

-Engineer Dave

From: chipsmom
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 17:50:07 -0500

Boys and their toys....

Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 00:03:01
From: A Lo
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Big boys and little toys - :)

Could use that 4400 hp engine in my car - look at the faces of those ferrari and lotus sports fans off the stop lights here in Europa - YooooooooHahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Diesel is cheaper than super, good eh?

Drive carefully and say "hello!" to Obama for us. Looking forward to the pics.

-Andy

Wed Oct 5 08:13:07 2011

They tell us we're now three hours behind schedule. So much for making up time in Montana. If this keeps up it might cut into the two hour layover we have to change trains in Chicago.

Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 08:17:03
From: RL 'Bob' Morgan
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Just like I've always dreamed it would be. So (ever)green!

- RL "Bob"

Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 12:25:15
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: FW: Virtual Postcard

What's the route after this? I presume you go through Chicago. What's the route after that?

Do you stay in the same "car" throughout?

I'm getting a mental image of Laurel & Hardy in the train, which is quite different from the 36+ hour ride I took from Calcutta to Madras. (I didn't think to pack any food. The locals had hot food in those stacks of metal containers which they brought from home. They opened them and my taste buds went through the roof. Like the Hogwarts Express, I was in a "compartment" with space for six people, three per side, and I had to sleep sitting up. I bought food from the vendors who came to our window at every station. I ate lots of those little bananas and also they would slice open green coconuts for the "milk" inside. But hot food was not a viable option.)

Walter Lowe

From: Ken Lowe
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 4:58 PM
To: Walter Lowe
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

We take the Empire Builder (train 8) from Everett to Chicago and the Capital Unlimited (train 30) from there to DC. Unfortunately that train left at 18:10 and it's now 18:50 and we're not in Chicago yet. There was a garbled announcement on the P.A. system about a "motor coach" (aka "bus"). We'll know more when we get to Chicago.

I didn't get a picture of our room with my wide-angle lens (will get one on the way back), but we had a triple-width couch facing one way (to the rear of the train) with a small single chair facing toward it on the other side with a round porta-potty / airplane sized head/shower combo unit with a small sink on the outside near the door to the hall that ran along the "starboard" side of the sleeper car. There were about six such rooms on the upper half of the train car with a stairway in the middle of the car leading down to a second level below us -- each car is two-layer (the dining car was aft of our car and its lower half is the kitchen/galley). At night, our triple width couch laid down flat to be a "full" sized bed with a smaller "single" above it with a small ladder/stair that reached across to where the single chair sat. You had to squeeze past the edge of the lower bed to get to the door to the hallway.

The aft half of the top half of our car had a hallway down the center with smaller rooms with no private shower/head on either side of the train. In the day they had two seats facing each other. At night the seats slid together and laid back to form a single width bunk and an upper single width bunk came down. You could picture Laurel and Hardy sharing one of those upper bunks.

We did not go into the lower half our our car to check it out. Way-way back Darlene and Melissa and I flew down to Disneyland and took the Starlight Coast train back. We had a "family" room on that trip which took up the end of the lower floor on the sleeper car. In the daytime we had a long four person couch along the back with two smaller seats facing toward it on either side with a window on either side of the car. At night the large couch folded down to a queen sized bunk with two smaller bunks above, one full size and one single above it. Darlene and I took the large bunk while Melissa got the larger of the two upper bunks. The third bunk remained closed and out of the way. I recall that the rest of the lower half of the car was shared showers and maybe another room or two.

When Paul and I were in Italy we took the night train from Genoa to Frankfurt to spend some time with Andy. We got the Hogswartesque room on one side with a narrow hallway down the other side of the car. There were six people per room, facing each other like your Calcutta to Madras trip. At night the two couches folded down to form single bunks. The middle backs of the couches folded up to form single bunks above them and the way-upper backs of the couches folded up to form a third tier bunk bed. Remembering the old Laurel and Hardy movies, Paul and I took the upper bunks. A lady and her husband, who smelled like a distillery, took the two bunks below me and a younger lady and her two kids took the lower two on Paul's side. She put her little kids with their feet in the middle and their heads out each end of the bottom bunk. Throughout the trip the old guy kept yelling at the single mom in German, but that's another story.

-Ken

Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 17:00:20
From: Walter Lowe
To: 'Ken Lowe'
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Ah! Love those recliner seats on the bus, where they leave all the fuss to us!

Wed Oct 5 14:10:52 2011

Greetings from somewhere in Wisconsin, 180 miles from Chicago where we're supposed to be right now.

Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 14:15:11
From: Brian Arkills
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

What is that? A poorly camouflaged duck blind? A firework stand in the middle of nowhere? :)

Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 14:20:36
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

It's cheeseheads in between games.

They just sorta melt into the background, but don't try to take anything there; they'll say "That's nachos!"

Walter Lowe

Thu Oct 6 05:09:58 2011

Greetings from the middle of a fog bank somewhere on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 150 miles out from the capital. The "Motor Coach" (aka "bus") will probably get us there ahead of our original train. Waking up in the sleeper car with our private shower would have been preferable, however. Cf: Salnick's earlier comment about sleeping in upright seats.

Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2011 06:16:23
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Hope they treated you well in Chicago. I imagine it wasn't headline news there, but the Sounders beat the Chicago fire 2-0 in the Open Cup final on Tuesday. (Francine and I went to the game after her team beat Kentridge 2-0 as well. The only smudge on their record was the 3-3 tie with Kentridge the first game. Tahoma JV hasn't allowed a goal since.)

Walter Lowe

Fri Oct 7 11:48:40 2011

I have a strange feeling that I've been here before. There were some mutants in the basement of this building, I'm sure of it!!

Fri Oct 7 13:18:11 2011

Had lunch with Barack and Michele. Taking in the sights and checking out some museums this afternoon.

Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 13:22:17
From: Jim Fox
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Nice house you're staying in.

Jim

Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 13:25:51
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Did you go with Victor Borge and have a few crackers during the white house tour?

Walter Lowe

Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2011 14:12:58
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: White house RE: Virtual Postcard

Annerose was in the area recently as well. She very much enjoyed visiting Mt. Vernon and historic Alexandria, Va.

On your drive north, you might want to angle left and pass through Stockbridge, MA out in the Berkshires. It's the home of Norman Rockwell and has splendid fall colors. We used to take day trips up there regularly when we lived in the NYC and Albany areas. It's also eye-opening to swing by Plimouth on the way back down from Boston. The Mayflower replica is quite fascinating. I think Dave had more space inside on Miles! Go over to the plantation and talk with the people "living" there in 17th century reenactment. They are careful not to say too many negative things about the king. Look closely in their eyes, and you'll wonder whom you're really speaking to!

Fri Oct 7 14:43:07 2011

I snuck in from this side and found a bunch of mutants in there. There was a big one in the rotunda that took a couple of mini-nukes to put down.

Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 15:24:09
From: Mark McNair
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Dart gun... They go down easy after that.

Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2011 09:36:56
From: Thomas Baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Wow, I thought I had killed it. Are the trenches still there and how are the Freed Slaves doing at the Lincoln Memorial?

Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 14:52:28
From: Bob Jamieson
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Hmm.. I think I've seen it too. A place where folks speak to empty chairs and say a lot of really stupid things. I think it was related to a 1938 radio broadcast...or was that Lord John Whorfin
Or Emilio Lizardo...

Perfect Tommy: Emilio Lizardo. Wasn't he on TV once?
Buckaroo Banzai: You're thinking of Mr. Wizard.
Reno: Emilio Lizardo is a top scientist, dummkopf.
Perfect Tommy: So was Mr. Wizard.

Oooooookay.
Zemenkeyboy

Sat Oct 8 15:32:10 2011

Had fun at the zoo today. My little footsies are sore from all the walking we did.

The perfect solution to the population problem is just to send anyone thinking of starting a family to the zoo. After observing all the other people's little monsters, how could you even consider having any of your own?

Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 08:24:48
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Looks like you had more than one zoo to choose from!
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/8/standoff-protesters-closes-smithsonian-museum/

Sun Oct 9 14:04:45 2011

This place is nuts. The line goes into the street with people standing in the middle of the intersection.

This part of town is all one lane, one way streets with parallel parking on both sides with no spots available. Each intersection is an all-way (both ways) stop, but we seem to be the only ones silly enough to actually stop.

Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 15:17:32
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Well, happy eating, sure sounds good. Interesting state you are touring. Is Darlene showing you where we lived for a while? Eastern Pennsylvania is a real interesting area and beautiful. Have fun and take care.

Marilyn

Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 17:11:00
From: Melissa Frey
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

So you send me photos of food I can't eat! That's soooooooo cruel.

Mel

Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 08:39:59
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Ken and Darlene,
Thanks for sharing your virtual postcards of the day (VPOD). They're the perfect snapshot (get it?) of your vacation.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!! Glad you're having fun!!!! It's raining and cold here, in case you were wondering ;-)

- anne

Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:32:29
From: Ken Lowe
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

NB: Oct 8th is/was also my mother's birthday and she loved pink flamingos so it seemed fitting to wish her happy birthday on that message (in case you were wondering whether my siblings on the recipient list would have been confused by my including your birthday wishes at the end of it).

Oh, and yes the weather here is as beautiful as the postcards would suggest.

-Ken

Mon Oct 10 15:52:21 2011

Attempted to spend the night in Bethlehem PA, but there was no room at the inn. Continued on to Easton where Darlene went to High School. Nothing looks familiar.

Drove through the Pocono "Mountains" but all I ever saw were some rolling hills. Lots of purdy colored trees, however.

Now we're across the border into New York. The "Steak Stromboli" has the Philly Cheesesteak beat hands down -- in my opinion.

Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:34:59
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Are you bringing back a steak stromboli for me? I can't seem to find a great cheesesteak in seattle.

Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:35:09
From: Ken Lowe
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Try the top three on this list:

http://tinyurl.com/3pzuutg

and let me know what you think.

-Ken

Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:41:25
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Thank you. I may try #5 on the list, Sarducci's, since it's in the u district (which is really what I meant by 'seattle').

Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:30:49
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Evidently you had the same impression of the Pocono's as I did when we lived there. Always surprised me that they had good skiing in the wintertime. I can imagine how much Easton has grown since we were there in "75/76" but apparently you were on the wrong side of the highway because we have it on pretty good authority that nothing changes in Old Orchard, Wilson Township. Have a good one, Marilyn

Tue Oct 11 08:09:32 2011

Greetings from Grammy O's coin-op, somewhere in New York. After a week on the road it's laundry day.

Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:42:50
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

I believe that might be Batavia NY?

http://start.cortera.com/company/research/k7m6rvp7s/grammy-os-laundry/ [start.cortera.com]

If so, you're taking the "scenic route" around the Poconos!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4152+W+MAIN+STREET+RD,+BATAVIA,+NY,+140201235+US+&z=14&iwloc=addr [maps.google.com]

Walter Lowe

Tue Oct 11 12:37:30 2011

Greetings from Niagara Falls. Got the rest of the laundry done here. Lots of rocks to bang the clothes on.

We took the Maid of the Mist into the spray. Luckily I brought my underwater camera. Unfortunately we left it in the car. There's not all that much to see when you're in the middle of the mist anyway. You know what they say, "A firsthand experience is worth a thousand pictures!"

Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:51:12
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Great photo. Ron has been there but I never have. On our trip throughout the northeast, we had planned to go see the falls but we were so worried about the Winnebago we rented that we just wanted to get it back to Easton, PA. We had to have repairs done on it in Caribou, Maine, and that ate into our limited funds for our trip. Sounds like you are having a great time, Marilyn

Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:06:32
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

If you go through Lackawanna, 1662 Abbott Road probably hasn't changed, but Lincoln Junior High was closed down when we drove through the town in August 1991.

Walter Lowe

Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:21:42
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Lovely - yes memories better than pictures many times

Wed Oct 12 18:25:19 2011

Darlene loves to drive in NYC. The pedestrians here have a sixth sense or something that lets them anticipate the traffic lights so they all* step out into the crosswalk 5 seconds before our light turns yellow. That's okay, we weren't going anywhere anyway.

We thought about parking and walking around, but the only spot we saw -- short of double or triple parking like the rest of them -- wanted $7.60 for up to a half an hour. Better to just keep on driving.

Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:37:32
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

My favorite is to go south on 5th Avenue and turn right on 33rd to go "behind" the Empire State Building. You can't turn right on a red light. So you and the pedestrians wait together. When the arrow for the right turn comes on, the pedestrians also get a "walk" sign. All the drivers can do is wait for that 10 seconds when the "don't walk" starts flashing but the turn light is still green. Unfortunately, the pedestrians don't pay attention to the "don't walk" sign.

But at 6:00 and 7:00 pm the street parking is free, especially on those side streets (like in mid-town on 35th between 7th and 8th Avenues). However, getting back to the vehicle safely after dark is another issue. So just park for free in Queens, The Bronx, or Brooklyn and take the subway all around town! You can get an all-day token pass and ride the buses, too.

PS. Don't forget to add Annerose to the original list so she can see the photos, too.

Walter Lowe

Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:19:20
From: A Lo
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

I remember walking in NY and all the talent on the streets at night doing their song and dance routine, playing an instrument or juggling or something. Was really great entertainment for free, and the performers were great. No need for Broadway for this country boy, bought a NY steak sandwich and wandered the streets. Great fun.

-Andy

Sun Oct 16 07:29:43 2011

I swear I've driven along this highway countless times. Right, it goes along the west side of the central island in Liberty City in GTA IV!! Times Square was a little less recognizable. Traffic was such that there'd be no way to get enough speed to make the jump across the lanes there.

Thu Oct 13 13:02:31 2011

Finally got my lobstah and chowdah here in Portland. They tried to pass something off as chowdah outside Boston, but it was just that thick white stuff. Had some real Manhattan clam chowder in Albany Tuesday night as well but it's not the same.

The weather finally caught up with us. We had a bit of a drizzle coming out of New York and into Connecticut and Rhode Island (all 43 miles of it). Spent the night outside Boston in Framingham (there must have been some sort of convention or something in Boston as all the hotels were booked solid in a nine mile radius (yes, we called every single one of them). Woke up to a downpour that hasn't let up.

Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:59:56
From: Tom & Carolyn Greinier
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Beautiful picture and thanks for sending. Looks like there won't be a state that you haven't visited by the time you are done with this trip. Appreciate you sending your comments and pictures while we sit here and watch the snow levels come down on the mountain tops.

Tom and Carolyn

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:10:24
From: Leanna Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

If you make it to the Hamptons, swing by and say Hi to Ina Garten for me.....

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:25:35
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Saw the weather forecast for that area last evening and noted that you were going to have rain. Pretty good price for that lobster and we know how good all that fresh seafood is in Maine. You both take care. Marilyn

PS: Take a few photos of the lighthouses?

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:26:15
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Of course, idiot that I am, should have looked at the picture first.

Fri Oct 14 11:11:06 2011

The rain in Maine falls mainly down the drain. Spent the night in Bangor; two lobsters for $26. Now traveling west toward New Hampshire. The weatherman tells us it will be clearing up for the weekend.

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:54:34
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Well I hope you know how to pronounce Bangor like the locals. (will test you upon your return).

Did I mention I also lived in Maine (during high school years) and have a very soft spot in my heart for the state.

Fri Oct 14 11:39:47 2011

What a difference!! The road is dry here. I like this state better. On the lookout for moose.

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:52:05
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

OMG - this photo could be of my short drive home from work every day when I lived and worked in Nashua, NH and then again in Chelmsford, MA. Thanks for sharing. Autumn in New England is my most favoritest time of year, yet I haven't had a good chance to visit there in Oct since I moved out here 13 years ago!! Really appreciate the photo.

Fri Oct 14 12:00:40 2011

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:12:51
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Perhaps it would have been better to stay in New Hampshire? However, this could cure any homesickness you might be feeling.

Walter Lowe

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:23:03
From: RW Salnick
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Hmmm... Raining in Maine and Vermont but not New Hampshire.

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:19:20
From: Leanna Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Heavens, you could have stayed home and had the same weather!!

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:20:53
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Yes, but Vermont cheese is not the same as Tillamook cheese! Once they get back, they can appreciate the traditional northwest nachos again.

Walter Lowe

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:27:44
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

I like the segue from weather to cheese.

And, not to start a fight or anything, but Cougar Gold is the only cheese I've been able to find in the NW that embodies the character of the vermont cheddar I grew up with.

;-) ;-)

Sat Oct 15 15:46:43 2011

It was raining cats and dogs or maybe it was cows and horses when we visited the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory last night, but it looks like everything has cleared up this morning. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Sun Oct 16 08:56:15 2011

We visited the Vermont Teddy Bear factory in Shelburne Village, VT, got some cheese at the country store in Weston, VT, and headed across the border into NY. Went up to Saratoga and my horse naturally won.

We've got our sights set on Deleware now. Our earlier adventures in NY were all on the freeway and the tolls were eating us alive. Found the "Avoid Toll Roads" setting on the GPS after we left Boston. Much more scenic now, like this one lane winding gut wrencher.

Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:30:24
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Beautiful picture. Is that a sample of the "no toll roads" you are driving?

Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2011 17:09:24
From: Ken Lowe
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

The GPS seems to get upset with us when we don't follow her instuctions to the letter. If we miss a turn she'll find the windingest road to get back at us for not listening. We ended up on the pictured road a little after Darlene took a wrong turn.

It could have some AI (artificial Intelligence) built into it to "choose more roads like the one you chose" when you disobey her instructions. I missed a turn in Philadelphia and I swear she took us around in circles through all the back roads she could find. You'd expect her to just take us up an extra block and then turn back onto the original route she had plotted out earlier. Not so. We bounced around on trolley tracks and one lane roads winding around until we eventually ran into a road that was closed due to construction. The detour had us turn 160 degrees from our original course and there was a major highway right there that took us directly out of the city. We continued on major roads all the way to Delaware.

-Ken

Mon Oct 17 11:49:07 2011

We've now got Delaware on our "Been there, seen that" list. We probably won't make it to Mississippi on this trip, but we've got the rest of the nursery rhyme down.

* The locals pronounce it differently than the way our GPS says it. We're going to take her to Sequim when we get home to see how she mangles that.

Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:59:38
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Did you see Misty from Chincoteague?

Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:41:32
From: Darlene J. Lowe
To: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Anne,
We saw a bunch of birds, a light house and a lot of marsh lands.

-Darlene

Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:04:10
From: Rick White
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

And salutations -- this must be Assateague Light House? Nice shot...
-- Rick

Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:21:55
From: Leanna Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

You have to take a street called Avinida del Oro to get to our house and our garmin doesn't do so well on the Spanish pronunciation....must be the Australian accent.

Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:27:19
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Thanks for the lighthouse photograph. Sure like them. Bet you will be glad to get back to Washington, D.C. I bet Darlene doesn't remember spending a New Years eve at Brandywine, Delaware. when we lived in Easton, PA. Have a good one, Mairlyn

Tue Oct 18 05:56:25 2011

It's a little after sunrise near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where three rights make a left. We'll go fly a kite this afternoon.

Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:36:54
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

I hope you got one of those rental cars with no extra charge for the mileage! How are the gas prices out there?

Walter Lowe

Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:42:34
From: Ken Lowe
To: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Indeed. We'll be up to about 3,000 miles when we turn our Hundai Sante Fe in. Asked for a mid-size, but they only had the SUV when we got there. It gets reasonable gas mileage, tho.

Gas prices are lower than at home. We've spent $3.31 to $3.65 depending on the state.

While in North Carolina we encountered another potential solution to the population issues (cf: a visit to the zoo in an earlier postcard). I wasn't fast enough to get a picture myself, but Google Street View got a good picture:

http://g.co/maps/6u23n

If you have a short browser window you may need to scroll the picture up a bit to see the sign there. It's a "School Zone, 45 MPH on School Days" sign that appears a few hundred feet before an elementary school. The curious part is that it's normally a 35 MPH zone.

-Ken

Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:07:13
From: A Lo
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Good there's a double-double yellow line. 45mph - hey, they mean it - Short Cut Road: it's faster!

Thanks for the update. -Andy

Tue Oct 18 08:12:07 2011

Tue Oct 18 09:12:30 2011

Tue Oct 18 13:22:10 2011

It's another exciting day at the laundromat, or "washeteria" as some may call it. I won't tell you where we are so Walt can have fun looking it up.

Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:54:40
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Isn't it amazing that while traveling, you can always find a laundromat. Walt isn't the only one that looks up where you are. It has sure been fun. Thanks for the lighthouse photos. Printed all of them out and hung them on my wall. Also saved them to my photo program. Just have to see if it worked. Marilyn

Wed Oct 19 13:42:14 2011

Wed Oct 19 13:47:31 2011

Yes, all the trenches are still there. No sign of the freed slaves, but we might be at an early phase of the game because the marble dude in the chair still has his head.

Thu Oct 20 09:09:47 2011

The first person to name the source of the noise recorded in the attached sound bite will win a prize.

Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:17:10
From: Robert Salnick
Subject: Re: Team Demo (canceled)

At first, I thought: cows. But then it sounded more like someone pushing furniture around.

But knowing Ken, that won't be it.

Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:41:54
From: Nathan Dors
Subject: Re: Team Demo (canceled)

It's another tollbooth on the West Virginia turnpike. Ken pulled into the lane for subcompact cars, and you're hearing his decision to squeeze thru.

Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:02:16
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Dewey Photos USA trip

If I had received the sound bite, I would have guessed it is Ken's stomach reminded everyone he has not had a bite of one of those lobstahs or hawt dawgs or even a cuppa cawfee.

Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:19:23
From: Ron & Marilyn Baptista
Subject: Re: Dewey Photos USA trip

How about switch engines and trains being moved around at the depot especially since you are probably in the train station at that time?

Marilyn

Sounds like a moose in rutting season. Wonder if he made out? I'm a little in the dark though as to when and where you recorded this sound? Were you by any chance in Maine or New Hampshire?

Or second guess, is Obama groaning because he figures the Republicans are going to win the Presidency?

Ron

Thu Oct 20 12:55:01 2011

We're getting ready to hop on our westbound train. They say we're supposed to depart from platform nine and three quarters, but we're having problems finding it. Hopefully they won't leave without us again.

Thu Oct 20 18:09:32 2011

Fri Oct 21 07:14:35 2011

Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:05:31
From: dave.lowe
To: Ken Lowe
Subject: Re: Choo choo

Cool mon.

The Emd SW 1500 Diesel locomotive was intended for switching service. Built by GM's Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and Jan 1974. Overall length 44 feet, weight 248,000 lbs. The engine was a 12-645E, V12 Roots-blown diesel. (Not sure what that is but if you had one under the hood of your car I'll bet you would win bragging rights with the guys on Saturday night) It produced 1,500 hp.

-Dave

Fri Oct 21 11:11:15 2011

Our train came in just a little over an hour late. Of course they blame it on freight traffic. We're not complaining this time, tho, as it just takes some time off our six and a half hour layover. We'll check our blood pressure again after we see how behind schedule our next train is when it departs.

Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:59:01
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

That picture just makes my spirits soar as I remember those days back in Lackawanna, when I would go down by the shores of Lake Erie with the smoke billowing from the steel plant, the flotsam and jetsam bobbing on the waters, and the stuff decomposing in the nearby landfill.

Ah! Breathe deeply and appreciate life as it is!!

(I could have gone further down the coastline near Cleveland where the lake once caught on fire, but I never felt down enough to make that necessary.)

Walter Lowe

Fri Oct 21 15:02:25 2011

Our train left Chicago on time and here we are outside Columbus, Wisconsin about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:53:00
From: Anne Hopkins
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Grand photo from the heartland. It must be quite stressful to be running ahead of schedule

Sat Oct 22 06:56:54 2011

It's a little frosty this morning at 30 degrees here. We woke up to an eerie sunrise coming thru the fog.

The picture is of Lake Irving that looks more like a flooded field at its south end. Check it out on Google maps. In "hybrid" mode you'll see an intersection of two roads. In "satellite" mode you'll see the roads are under water. I imagine that the little shack in the picture is dry at least part of the year.

Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:56:24
From: marilyn baptista
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Amazing color on that photo. Guess you will be home tomorrow. Going to miss the travel commentary. Marilyn

Sat Oct 22 13:40:49 2011

Greetings from the middle of nowhere, Montana, Big Sky Country, Oct 22, hour unimportant, Mountain time.

When we were at Ben & Jerry's our tour guide told us some cow jokes while he waited for everyone to catch up.

There were these two guy cows having a conversation, which is weird because all cows are female but stay with me here. Anyway, during the conversation Dave turned to Earl and said "Moo" and then Earl thought "Dang, I was just going to say that!!"

It gets somewhat monotonous out here watching the same scenery go by repeatedly.

Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:18:30
From: Walter Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

Been there. It's not the middle of nowhere. The middle of nowhere is several miles south.

When I was in Alaska, I thought I saw my eye doctor, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

Walter Lowe

Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:35:54
From: Leanna Lowe
Subject: RE: Virtual Postcard

When we came to Colorado, we drove through part of Utah and then cut along the bottom edge of Wyoming to get here. I have to say that trek across Wyoming was nothing but miles and miles of absolutely nothing broken up by the occaisional herd of windmills sitting on a hill...talk about monotonous. Not even the landscape was mildly interesting, it was monochromatic and flat...we actually started looking forward to the next set of windmills.

Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:55:34
From: Tom & Carolyn Greinier
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Welcome home or close to it on your trip. Thanks for all the wonderful pictures and was totally entertained with all the comments. Was nice to follow you across America. I looked on my Washington webcam site to see what your weather was and it was hard to tell if it was raining or not. Looked worse the further south I got. Anyway, love to you both,

Uncle Tom and Aunt Carolyn

Sun Oct 23 09:24:28 2011

We managed to get an hour behind somewhere in North Dakota or Montana but they made it up in Spokane where the train splits and half goes to Seattle while the other half goes to Portland.

Made it into Everett on time where we found my car quietly waiting for us after twenty days parked under the overpass and now we're home.

Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:01:14
From: Nathan Dors
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

Welcome home! We all enjoyed the sneak preview of your upcoming slideshow.

Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:21:22
From: RL 'Bob' Morgan
Subject: Re: Virtual Postcard

What, no dirty laundry pix? We're addicted now ...

- RL "Bob"

Thu Oct 27 07:30:00 2011

Back at work I find that I may have stayed away too long -- or perhaps that it's a bad idea to be on vacation near the end of October. I'm guessing the beginning of April would be a poor choice as well.

Mon Oct 3 18:49:35 2011

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