Tag Archives: #roadtrip

Luxembourg 2017

Posted by mishafesto on

After our late arrival in Stuttgart, we pretty much went straight to sleep, and were up even bright and earlier Sunday to continue our #EuroHoman vacation road trip! We took the Autobahn, yes there are stretches with no speed limit, but around 170 kph (kilometers) and with luxury cars and Smart cars FLYING by still, Paul turned off and took some amazing side roads. Germany is leading in the renewables department, with fields of solar panels. Nearly every roof, including cow shacks and abandoned barn ruins, has solar. There are also wind turbines everywhere.

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We had to have a family picture, as well as caffeine (this is the first anything-not-Coke Classic I’ve seen in all of Europe) (yes, really).

Luxembourg, although small, was very modern. At least in its buildings. We drove through Luxembourg City, and the entire main road was modern architecture or construction of.

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We walked around the city center, which included the Royal Palace,viewed several ancient bridges, some war memorials, had lunch, bought Diesel Bear a pin, and continued on.

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We drove through a bit of Belgium as we continued north. Saw several signs with familiar names, some of the worst battles of WWII having been fought in the forests.

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After clipping The Netherlands and getting to our nightly destination of Aachen, Germany (the western-most city in Germany), we ventured about 10 miles out of town to the Three Countries Point. Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany all meet there (like our Four Corners), complete with viewing tower and restaurant. There was a marathon going on, so we didn’t explore much, having already driven through all three countries today.

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Vacation Day 2

Posted by mishafesto on

After spending a restless night in Tucumcari, NM (why must hotel A/Cs be so loud 🤔), I was up bright and early and on the road by 8:30. Took a quick spin around the town, as it is on Historic Route 66…but it is definitely past its prime. Not even a cafe! Nothing but dilapidated and abandoned roadside hotels and disintegrating billboards 🙁 So after a McGriddle and OJ, I hit the highway. The real highway.

Running parallel to Interstate 40, but to the south, is Highway 60. It’s actually a very nice route! Two lane, but with a lot of long passing lanes, nice blacktop and zero traffic! I mean, (proper use of) literally no other vehicles for 30 or 40 minutes at a time! It’s 65mph, too, although every little town drops down to 35 😑. But all the neat things are down there! The V.L.A (Very Large Array) of Radio dishes. You can read about it here.

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And Pie Town! A town that literally consists of two pie restaurants and a campground! 😍 It was a small kitchen and three family dining tables. The owners, a couple, were extremely friendly and conversed with all of us as we ate. One couple was hiking a well-known trail, having started at the Mexican border 8 days before. Another couple made a Dorothy joke, but I let it slide because he said he was actually from Ozawkie, a town near Topeka! But he had become a snowbird, fleeing to Arizona, forty years earlier 😂 They serve food as well, and I had a homemade chicken pot pie, before my amazing Pear-Ginger dessert! 🍐🍰 Read all about Pie Town here.

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After a few more fuel stops, I made it to far east Phoenix about 6:30pm (they’re on Pacific time right now). The sun was setting and I couldn’t see where I was going, so I just exited and found the first decent hotel I could. 😂 Paul will fly in tomorrow night, and we’ll have Friday to explore Phoenix, then a friend’s wedding on Saturday!

Vacation Day 1

Posted by mishafesto on

Woke up with a headache. At 5:30am. Because of course. So after laying around all morning, I got on with my final, procrastinated chores and actually drove away at 3:30pm. 😞

The drive west was uneventful, and by that I mean boring. It was cloudy, which was nice for driving into the sunset, and the traffic was non-existent! The two lanes nowadays are so much better, both surface and passing-wise, anyway. After a quick stop in Liberal, continued south on 54, through Guymon, OK and Dalhart, TX. Managed to shoot the gap between two thunderstorms around the OK/TX border, but did get a nice lightning show! 🌩

Made it to the near-halfway point of Tucumcari, NM about 10:30 Mountain Time. So a solid 8 hrs on the road. Tomorrow, gonna check out the downtown here…it is on Historic Route 66! Then taking highway 60 across NM and into Arizona. It runs parallel to Interstate 40, just to the south. It also goes through a place called Pie Town, which I saw on a PBS travel show 🍰

Random Fact of the Day: Interstate numbers go up as they go north and east. Also, even numbers run east/west, and odd numbers go north/south. I knew this already, but this link explains it in more depth.

You can read about the Interstate system here.