Well Germany was not what we expected. Tim’s cold turned out to be COVID and so we saw a lot of a nice Hamburg basement, thoughtfully provided for us by our good friends Wim and Anette. Jeri succumbed two days later. Ten days of isolation meant we skipped our planned trip to Stuttgart to see Jurgen and Melli. On Monday May 23rd we headed out on our journey to France by taking a train to Mannheim then onto Paris Gare De L’Est. After an overnight stop in what was for Paris, a decent sized hotel room, we took the train to Thiviers and were picked up from the station by Patrick and Carole. Interestingly, we found the German trains comfortable but rarely on time and the ICE ones rarely exceeded 200km/hr. But the French TGV trains were even more luxurious and sped along at an amazing 300km/hr. and arrived well, on time.
Yesterday was a long one; we had dinner in Brugge and when we went to leave, we found that the train back to Brussels was delayed by an hour, so we didn’t get home until after eleven. As a result, we slept in this morning and cancelled plans for Ghent. Instead, we headed to the Place Sablon for lunch (quiche and salad) and visited the Museum of Old Masters. The Breugel collection was amazing and the Bosch was just plain weird. Tim was getting a bad cold so after another coffee at the Galerie Hubert, we grabbed some groceries from Carrefour and headed back.
Winter Landscape 1565 BruegelThe Census at Bethlehem 1566 Bruegel
Caught the 8:30am train from Brussels to Brugge. Pleasant one hour journey across flat farmland. Our scheduled time at the Groeningemuseum was 10:30 but we got there early and they let us through. Smallish museum with a collection of medieval Flemish masters, neoclassicists and modern art. It was nice to focus on styles we don’t normally pay attention to. The colors in the medieval stuff were amazing. Today was a big town walking day, about 17K steps in all and Brugge is perfect for this; very few of the buildings date from the 20th century or later. We had lunch in the Markt, sitting outside. Flemish beef stew and chicken with tarragon. We decided not to climb the 366 steps up the bell tower (using the excuse that Tim did this already in 1975). After an afternoon coffee and some purchasing of Belgian needlework we took a trip along the canals in an electric boat. Brugge is historically a wealthy merchant city and it shows; beautiful stepped facades and hidden gems of small squares. The canal boat driver was fluent so we saw a number of unique features of the canals and the city that we may not have noticed otherwise – and it was a great chance to rest our feet.
After a somewhat jet lagged night, we hit the streets at 10:00am and breakfasted in Place Rouppe on delicious coffee, fresh orange juice, bread, ham, cheese and a croissant before heading for the metro and the one change ride to the European Parliament. Unlike other metro systems, Brussels obliges you to complete your journey within 60 minutes, so exiting via the turnstile to change lines was not a problem. The Hemicycle of the European Parliament was impressive and Tim was particularly saddened to witness Britain’s absence. Noticeable was the lack of the Union Jack and indeed any trace that it was ever there; in the large entrance lobby, the base from which grow all the EU member states flags did not have an embarrassing hole, but instead some bright spark changed the base back in 2021. Clever; beyond all the costs we think of resulting from the UK’s departure we forget about the little things. The Parlamentarium had a great museum outlining the history of the EU with fantastic interactive displays, including a place where we could leave our photos and send messages.
Lunch was taken in a café near the Jardin Du Mont des Artes where we continued to enjoy the street theater of life in a European city, It’s not that you can’t do that in Santa Monica, but its just so much more prevalent here.
After a visit to the cathedral, we strolled along the Galerie Hubert and stopped for a late afternoon coffee and a bit of chocolate shopping at Neuhaus. Dinner took just a few minutes; fresh ravioli and tortellini bought earlier in the day at the market in the Place de Luxembourg. Sleep came easily.
Curious sculpture in the garden next to the European Parliament. Only one ostrich is looking up.Who does she think she is? Einstein??
Left Cedar City around 8.30 after breakfasting in the hotel. Baymont was comfortable and spacious. Again, I-15 was a route we’d driven many times before. Lunch at Whiskey Pete’s in the parking lot was cold pizza (the line for food was too long anyway). We all had a flutter. Waze took us along Pearblossom highway, and we were home by 4.45pm. After unloading, Jeri and I returned the Santa Fe to Burbank airport.
I-15 south of Cedar City
How did the cars do? The Fiat was almost trouble free; the windshield washer stopped working and the trunk latch locked, but apart from that the car gave great service; average mileage over 2,984 miles was 39 mpg. The surprising thing is that for a subcompact, all three of us found it comfortable despite our varying sizes. Not too bad for a nine-year-old car with almost 100K on the clock.
The Sante Fe was very good indeed. Spacious, wide cabin with loads of rear room for all of Beth’s stuff. Good tech; adaptive cruise, Apple Carplay etc. 8 speed transmission with a 2.5L four cylinder gave 30 mpg. Effortless and smooth with a good ride. Thank goodness we managed to swap out the Mitsubishi Outlander for the Sante Fe.
Sante Fe
How did we do? Well, doubtless we could have got Beth’s stuff back a cheaper way, but given we had to move the Fiat back to LA and that it can only seat two people with very little luggage, the only option would have been to ship goods via UPS and only have one of us accompany Beth. Not so much fun as taking time and having the three of us share a travelling holiday. The stops in Chicago and the Rocky Mountains were spectacular and a lot of fun. Seven days to do the trip makes sense; you could do it in four, but that is a tough drive with consecutive 750-mile days and no stops. Our way was better.
Rose, not too early, to see a mule deer browsing in front of the cabin, Then a largely familiar drive today at least from I-70 onwards. Left Grand Lake at 7.40am and headed down 34 and 40 to the interstate via Berthoud pass (11,307 ft). Then another big climb up to the Eisenhower Tunnel (11,158) which the Fiat seemed to struggle with. The altitude certainly was impacting performance, but also perhaps we should have used higher octane gas. Modern cars should adjust to this, but the confusing thing is that altitude allows lower octane to be used, so I guess more research is needed?
Fiat runs out of puff on I-70…
We found a small patch of grass in Grand Junction to have lunch, then it was back on I-70 to tackle the beautiful San Raphael Swell. Stopped at the Salt Wash rest area to retake the iconic tree-in-the-wind picture.
Salt Wash rest area on I-70
We arrived at Cedar City at 6.35pm, checked into the Baymont and walked over to Centro Pizza for our long awaited, and much repeated, best pizza in the world.
Our plan for this cross country trip was to avoid driving every day, so that we could enjoy a slightly less frenetic pace and get to see more, thus the two night stops in both Chicago and Grand Lake.
Woke early whilst Jeri and Beth slept and made a pot of coffee. No sign of moose or elk around the cabin, to my disappointment. For breakfast, Jeri cooked French toast for herself and Beth and scrambled eggs for me. Lovely.
After a lazy morning reading, we headed out to the East Inlet trailhead and did a short 2 ¼ mile out and back hike to Adams Falls and beyond. The falls were spectacular – a deep chasm of rushing water. We stopped upstream under a shady tree by the water and had our snacks. Later in the afternoon in town we had ice cream and wandered along the boardwalk again.
Dinner was penne alla bolognese, served on the table outside our cabin. A game of Jenga tired us out and we went to bed early.
Into Colorado and the Rocky Mountain National Park
North Platte to Grand Lake – 343 miles
Woke at a reasonable time today because we didn’t have to drive over 750 miles! Breakfast in the La Quinta was taken downstairs on the patio outside. Left around 9.45am, gassed up and hit I-80 west. Stopped at Greeley for lunch in a small park. Got to Estes Park at 2.30pm and immediately gassed up and shopped for a few things in the Safeway. Because we had no permit, we couldn’t enter the park anyway until 3.00pm, so the timing was perfect.
At the Rocky Mountain National Park entrance we showed our annual pass, but because we had two cars we assumed we would have to pay for the extra one, but no! The ranger let Jeri and the Fiat in for free.
Highway 34 was fantastic; awesome views, with a lot of areas to pullout. Snow, in abundance above the treeline. We climbed to 12,183 feet, the highest continuous paved road in the contiguous US.
Our cabin in Grand Lake was basic but comfy. 550 sq ft in total! We went to dinner at the Sagebrush BBQ place in town and afterwards strolled along the boardwalk looking at the shops.
Left Chicago at 6.10am, headed to I-80 and stayed on it all day until we got to North Platte Nebraska at around 7.30pm. There isn’t much to say. The rest areas in Iowa were very clean.
Spent longer in the aquarium than we planned; 6 hours altogether. Very, very good displays with crystal clear tanks and a fantastic variety of animals. Managed to time it so that we got to see the sea otters and dolphins being fed. Had lunch in café overlooking Lake Michigan with great views of the city.
Later, walked along the shoes of the lake next to Grant Park, through the wonderful Millennium gardens, including the Lurie wildflower garden. Visited the ‘Bean’. Then after drinks with some friends, had dinner at Volare, a classic Chicago Italian restaurant.
