santa cruz wharf

25 May 2009

I missed you guys! (back at catching up….)

2009.05.02 weather checkAs many of you know, The Teamster has been on  his "Five-O Tour”…a three week motorcycle ride followed by a golf trip with his brothers to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.  A full month of five-o frolic and festivities.

2009.05.02 away He launched phase one of The Tour on May 2nd taking off from his home in the central valley of California, heading to the south west United States.

Phase one of The Teamster’s Five-O Tour was a solo ride including stops in Tehachapi, Laughlin, The Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Salt Lake City.  (for those of you across the pond… that includes the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.)

I had been invited to join him for phase two… which is where I have been for the past eleven days. (I have so missed you guys!) I had hoped to be able to post “from the road” but we didn’t quite get the hang of a single laptop. Not that we don’t share well….it was the time constraints of time on the road and all the fun destinations.

The Teamster wanted his tour to be as unplanned as possible… to be able go where ever the bike might take him.  The one real requirement was that he be in the city I was flying in to…on the actual day I was flying in.  Given my schedule and his route, he determined Twin Falls, Idaho was a good place for us to meet up.

As I started surfing the internet for the lowest airfare available…I was having a difficult time finding flights.  I went to the Twin Falls airport website to check which airlines fly into it.

One.
One airline.
A small regional carrier called
SkyWest…an affiliate of Delta Airlines.

I learned a few other little tidbits about the Joslin Field, Magic Valley Airport of Twin Falls.

There are over 28 domestic flights out of Twin Falls each week…serving more than 840 passengers.  (Imagine…over 840 passengers each and every week !!! ) The longest flight from Twin Falls is 174 miles. The smallest commercial aircraft flying out of Twin Falls is an EM2 with 30 seats. A nice little plane…. all things considered. (remind me to tell you the story about the crew on my flight.) It was after 10pm when I landed….so no pictures.

Our first leg was all Idaho, from Twin Falls to Boise via Ketchum and Mountain Home. For the most part we wanted to stay off the major highways and keep to the roads less traveled.

Ketchum was a destination recommended by The Teamster’s son, who is active duty AirForce, stationed in Mountain Home.  Ketchum peaked my interest as the place where Hemingway spent many years…and ultimately his tragic last two years. The landscapes are beautiful, and the town is an upscale art community full of galleries and boutiques.

2009.05.14b ketchum2009.05.14a ketchum

A few raindrops fell as we came into town.  We decided to have lunch to let the weather pass. 2009.05.14c ketchum

The Kneadery was a great choice.  Not only did they serve breakfast and lunch…they had plates of free brownies and cookies to snack on.2009.05.14d ketchum

2009.05.14h hemingwayWe stopped at the chamber’s visitor center to get directions to Hemingway’s grave.  There are no signs or indications of where he is buried. 

Just go to the back road of the cemetery and look for the grouping of three trees.

2009.05.14e hemingway 2009.05.14f hemingway
Ernest Hemingway is buried amongst his wife Mary, and other family members.  His gravestone is covered in pennies.

2009.05.14g hemingway 
I looked up why people leave pennies on grave stones…there are several theories on how it began. In our time, it seems to be a way to note that people have visited the grave…and have not forgotten.  Hemingway had a great talent…and battled many demons in his life.

2009.05.14i storm a
We headed out towards Mountain Home. About 50 miles in, the weather turned threatening.

2009.05.14j storm b 
2009.05.14k storm c

We could see a storm approaching and the wind was getting a bit too strong. We stopped in a tiny town called Fairfield.  It was a good thing. For sixty miles past Fairfield there is nothing.  No towns, no services. not even a barn to take shelter under. Down the road, just before the horizon…the rain was pouring.

We hung out in a cafe frequented by local cattle ranchers and cement plant workers.   Ordering a piece of their delicious red raspberry pie we fired up the laptop to find out what the weather was doing. 

Those of you who read The Teamster know while we were waiting…the wind was so strong it blew my helmet off the bike and broke the face shield screw. That was while the bike was parked next to the building.  You can imagine how strong the wind was on the open road.

The Teamster checked their little motel to make sure they had a room available…just in case. The beauty of The Tour is that we can alter our plans at a moment’s notice.  I started tracking the storm using various county Doppler maps. Periodically one of us would go outside and stand out in the middle of the road to check the horizon.

I love the internet! We knew how many miles to the next town.  With Google we could see the terrain and the type of roads.  Via Doppler we watched the storm moving in the opposite direction of our path.  As soon as we saw it start to break we headed out.

2009.05.14l storm d

It was beautiful to see the blue sky break though with all the silver linings. The wind was a little strong…but it was a blessing moving the storm away faster!

2009.05.14m storm e

2009.05.14n storm f
By the time we got to Mountain Home, the wind was just a breeze and we had blue sky all around.  Originally we had hoped to visit with The Teamster’s son.  However he was out of town at a top secret location practicing maneuvers in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan.

2009.05.14o g 
We hit Boise just about dinner time.  We drove through downtown looking for a interesting restaurant, possible accommodations, and the best place to park.  It was a true example of unsuccessful back seat driving…smile. We spotted “Cool Hand Luke’s Steakhouse and Saloon” with designated motorcycle parking right across the street! 

2009.05.14q lukes

See the little tower lookin’ place on the left side of the building?  That is where we were seated…watching the city at dusk.

2009.05.14p lukes 

2009.05.14s lukes

2009.05.15r lukes 
We split a wonderful meal.  Cool Hand Luke’s has delicious food and very friendly people. It was the perfect place to relax and end our day.

12 comments:

Dana said...

How wonderful! Brings back the memories of my and Cam's trip out west last summer!

I'd have rather done it on a bike!

Desert Songbird said...

I've only ever driving cross country in a car via major interstates. Still, Idaho is as beautiful as I remember.

Thom - - Dr. John said...

So cool that you were a part of the Five-O tour. I'm sure there are memories a-plenty.

Mel said...

Oh! OH!! And there was a Starbucks there!

*sigh*

Beautiful skies--thank goodness you stopped to let the storm pass.
And gosh.....what fun.
Pure FUN!

Lucky youse guys!

Mel said...

You left a couple pennies--right?

Just sayin'.....

Linda said...

So it sounds to me like leaving pennies on a grave is the same as leaving small stones - just as a sign that someone came and visited. This, however, is the first time I've heard of pennies being left!

I got hungry reading through this but that's because it sounded like you stopped at so many great places to eat! Seems like they all had an abundance of personality, too!

Great pictures! Thanks so much for sharing part of the 5.0 Tour with us - looking forward to more when you get the chance!

The Teamster said...

it was great to have YOU join the tour and i'm glad you enjoyed the ride....

katherine. said...

Dana: a couple more years and you guys can take bikes!

DS: I had forgotten how pretty Idaho is.

Jeff: many very fond memories...and over 2700 pictures...there will be quite a few posts.

Mel: pure fun....you know how roadtrips are dontcha?

I missed the starbucks...being a peets kinda gal...(I DID pack my own coffee for the trip!)

Linda: I knew the jewish stone tradition...but thought that had a different meaning? Apparently the penny thing started back in the Roman times...and was reinstated for Benjamin Franklin??

We ate frequently...and a great deal! This was not a weight loss trip.

thanks for reading along...

Teamster: thanks for inviting me...smile.

I, Like The View said...

that all sounds so amazing!

brilliant fun!

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Welcome home...It looks like an incredible trip...Thanks for sharing your side...

But the question needs to be asked...when is Katherine going from the back seat to her own seat?

Mimi Lenox said...

Love the pic in the window (I didn't notice it until the second time I read this) and the chair pictures. You two are a riot. I have one question: Were you holding on as you snapped photos on the back of that motorcycle!!??

P.S. I may have to rethink the wisdom of not dating men who ride bikes. This looks awesome....but my crown would fall off.

Travis Cody said...

I really enjoyed following along with the trip. He really did a good job with the photos and the information.

And this was a great recap.