Vining, Minnesota, pop. 68

June 28, 2008

On our way through Minnesota, this morning, after a quick North Dakotan visit (20 minutes), we were headed to Duluth, via Minnesota Highway 210. I asked my sister, Aunt Diane, to take a quick look at the map when she noticed, ( Oh My God, We're Passing Through Vining!), that we were traveling through a town where her friends, John & Karen Mack, have a summer home. Now, Vining is not a normal summer destination. There are sculptures, astronauts, prize cattle, beautiful lakes, purple pubs, Lutheran churches (Missouri Synod), watermelons, and the Granddaddy of all convenience stores, The Big Foot, all here for the Norwegian vacationer.

Diane's friends took us for a grand tour of the town. We saw lots of cool sculptures and actually met the artist, Ken Nyberg, at his studio. Ken was chatting with a misguided local who was sporting a Minnesota Twins shirt. It's hard to explain but they love The Twins here. Ken was very nice and had LOTS of cool welding equipment in his shop. Here is an example of his work. You may also have a piece of Ken's work in your yard but you'll have to get with him on the price. Nyberg Park (next to the Big Foot) is a magical place, especially during Watermelon Days!

Vining only has a population of 68. That is, until The Habitat for Humanity House is completed. Then the population will swell to 71.

Ken Nyberg's daughter is an astronaut! How cool is that?!!! She was up in space recently trying to talk sense to the Russians. She succeeded and is now back on Earth and waiting to return to Vining.

Thanks to Karen and John for showing us Democrats around their little corner of Minnesota. Russell and I are thinking about getting some boats, dirt bikes, a few cows, and a Bobcat, then moving to Vining every summer so that we can do a complete political re-adjustment of the town. We will also hang out at The Purple Palace. Aunt Diane is looking forward to again manning the info booth at a Watermelon Days celebration soon.

Vining Rocks!

Russell, Grace, Aunt Diane, and John Alger

Day Nine

Day Nine

June 28, 2008

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008

Hello Everyone,

500 miles from Sioux City, SD to Duluth, MN via the southeast corner of North Dakota today. We spent a grand total of 20 minutes in ND but it is now officially racked up as a visited state. Spike is now up to 8 states. Grace and Russell are up to 28. Aunt Diane is now at 42. California John is stuck on 48. Here are today's state entering photos.

 
Today was very windy on the plains and I thought The Big Rig was going over a couple of times. Luckily we arrived safely at our destination. Now enjoying a tasty Guinness on the banks of the mighty Lake Superior.

We also visited Vining, Minnesota today of which I'll later devote a super-special blog entry to exclusively.Vining is where the Big Foot Convenience Super Center is located. More to come. Hope all is well, wherever you are.

met vriendelijk groetjes,

Uncle Captain Holland UK California John 

Day Eight

Day Eight

June 27, 2008

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008

Drove 400 miles across South Dakota today. Lots of wind, grass, and road. That's about it. See for yourself.

We did make a stop at Wall Drug though. The mother of all tourist traps. They only got us for $40 bucks though. I'd say we did pretty good. Aunt Diane only got nicked for a 5 cent cup of coffee. She knows a bargain when she sees one.

More to come,

California John

Photo Update III

June 27, 2008

Photo Update III

Talked to Aunt Deb on the phone today and she wanted to see more pictures of mountains so, here goes.

Here's a shot of the Lower Falls at Yellowstone.

Here are the kids at The Grand Tetons.

Russell "Buck" Alger high atop Beartooth Pass.

How's that Aunt Deb? More state line pictures tomorrow.

See 'ya all soon,

California John

Day Seven

Day Seven

June 26, 2008

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America

Hello Everyone,

Today, we drove from Harden, MT to Custer, SD. Lots of pronghorn antelope on the way. Here we are entering South Dakota ( no fireworks! ).

Mt. Rushmore puts the "awe in awesome!" There were workmen on Teddy Rosevelt's head!

We met Don Nick Clifford who worked on Mt. Rushmore. He gave us two signed copies of his book.          

For those of you who were wondering Grand Tetons is French for big boobs.

see you soon,

Russell Alger.

Photo Update II

June 26, 2008

Photo Update II

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America

WiFi works real good here in South Dakota. Here are some more Yellowstone pics. Hope you like them.

Grace and Russell on top of the world!

All three children at the Upper Falls.

Get off the road you stupid buffalo!

Cowboy Buck with his new hat ... and a few hundred bison! Look real close.

More to come.

regards,

The Road Trippers

Photo Update

Hello Everyone,

Was able to post a couple of pics after all. Hope to send more tomorrow.

Welcome to Montana!

The Intrepid Travelers at Old Faithful.

tot ziens,

CJ

Days Four, Five, & Six

Days Four, Five, & Six

June 23, 24, & 25

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008

Hello Everyone,

The WiFi connection here at The GrandView RV Park in Hardin, MT is real slow and it doesn't look like we'll have any pictures for you tonight. Shucks! At least there IS a connection unlike radio-free Yellowstone.

Since we've last posted, we've travelled from Jackson, WY to Hardin, MT. Our drives through I The Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Beartooth Pass were all spectacular. The Grand Tetons are truly grand. Yellowstone is real cool too. 

Day 4 saw us taking a short drive from Jackson to Yellowstone via The Grand Tetons. Russell wonders if you all know what Grand Tetons are. Let us know if you are hip to the English translation from the French. Monday was our first day in Yellowstone and we visited Old Faithful and she was 7 minutes late. No buffalo sightings!

Day 5 was spent touring all around Yellowstone. Russell wants you to know that we saw mud volcanoes, stinky hot springs (think deviled eggs Barry Bonds style), and The Upper and Lower Falls. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was real beautiful. We also saw Mammoth Springs and they were dry and hot. Animal sightings were numerous. Buffalo, elk (way up close), yellow-bellied marmots, pikas, geese, herons, and many badly dressed tourists. The afternoon ice cream stop was great!

Day 6 - Leaving Yellowstone we saw a fox, a grizzly juvenile crossing the parking lot real close to The Big Rig, and the mother lode of buffalo herds. Hundreds of the stinky creatures were tending their young in The Lamar River Valley. Just when we thought things couldn't get anymore Westerny, it would! We then drove up through Beartooth Pass on our way to Montana. Lots of snow still up there at 10,500 feet. Thank the Good Lord for guard rails. We even saw yellow-bellied marmots and pika up there. Traveling was slow on the switchbacks. 6 hours to go 120 miles. It is absolutely beautiful here and it was worth every minute.

Grace, Russell, and Spike got two new states chalked up - Wyoming and Montana. South Dakota tomorrow on our way to Mt. Rushmore. Aunt Diane really misses Uncle Dick and Spike misses Heather! Try to get some pictures to you tomorrow night.

your friend,

Uncle Captain Holland UK California John

Day Three

Day Three

June 22, 2008

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America

On the road again. Fruitland, ID to Jackson Hole, WY. 425 miles or so. More beautiful country. Lots of potatoes being grown in Idaho. It seems like we crossed the Snake River about 50 times. Found a good place for lunch today in Pocatella, ID. Had some potatoes, of course. Aunt Diane also had deep-fried, breaded, Steak Fingers. Yum Yum!

The mountains are very pretty.

Welcome to Wyoming! State #4 for Spike. Number 25 for Grace and Russell. Number 38 for Aunt Diane. I've already been here. I'm up to 48 states now. We're off to Yellowstone tomorrow. More posts to follow.

'til next time,

Uncle Captain Holland UK California John

Welcome to Idaho! Day Two

We had to stop in the middle of the road (on a bridge!) to get this shot. Good one, huh?

your friend,

California John

Day Two

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America

June 21, 2008

Day Two

We drove from Klamath Falls, OR to Fruitland, ID via Crater Lake National Park today. 400+ miles. Crater Lake was real cool. Literally. They still have tons of snow up there. Aunt Diane found out that they average about 44 feet of snow every year! It snows from October to July! It takes them 2 months worth of plowing just to open the road up to the park. They start in April and just got the North Entrance open yesterday. See for yourself.

Here are a couple of good shots of the kids! It is 1000 feet from where the kids are down to the lake.

The Road Trippers are signing off now.

Day One

June 20, 2008 

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008

Day One

Well, we hit the road this morning at 4:58 AM and drove through the agricultural Central Valley, up through the mountains past Mt. Shasta, on our way to Klamath Falls, Oregon. We saw lots of rice fields and olive groves. We even got to see some aerial rice seeding. Way Cool! Mt. Shasta and Shasta Lake were absolutely beautiful.  Take a look.

Here we are crossing into Oregon. It was the first time for all of us to visit this lovely state. Spike really likes it. So does Aunt Diane. "The Big Rig" developed some problems with its propane tank so we spent all afternoon finding someone to fix it. Eventually, we found Randy at Frontier Trailers and he happily took care of the problem. Whew! Now we won't blow up. That would not be good, not at all.

Aunt Diane, and the kids went swimming at the campground tonight and Aunt Diane then cooked up a tasty dinner. Thanks Aunt D! We're off to Crater Lake on our way to Fruitland, Idaho tomorrow evening. Wish us luck.

Happy Anniversary Heather.

your friend,

California John

One Day Before the Trip

June 19, 2008

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008

One Day Before the Trip

As you can see, we picked up "The Big Rig" today. Here's Grace and Russell making sure it doesn't roll out of our driveway. Spike was real glad to see that the RV has vinyl floors. Me too! Aunt Diane has been lots of help as we pack her up. Off to Crater Lake, Oregon tomorrow. Give us a wave if you see us breeze by.

Aunt Diane, Grace, Russell, and I went and got Aunt Sheila yesterday and took her to the big Giants/Tigers matchup at AT&T Park in lovely downtown San Francisco. The Tigers won, of course, 7-2. Thanks Barry Zito!

Grace, and Russell made some new friends and we all ate ourselves silly. Nice place to see a ballgame.

As mentioned earlier, we hit the road tomorrow. We hope to hear from you as we navigate from "sea to shining sea" ... and back again. Wish us luck!

your friend,

Uncle Captain Holland UK California John

Counting Down

Well, others are gonna post on the blog occasionally and I, Grace, have the honor of doing it before the other non-dad people. Yeah.

So it's a couple days before we get the motor home. Aunt Diane came today. We went to Marin and had food. Now, we're watching the Lakers - Celtic game. Go Celtics, I guess. But isn't basketball a winter sport? Winter is over before June, isn't it? Ah, whatever.

Spike wasn't feeling that well yesterday. He had gotten his hair cut on Saturday but they didn't get the hair in his ears. Thus, both ears got infected. He's feelin' a lot better today.

As you may be able to see, Russell is still being Russelly. Yeah. Not much else to say. You can see my shirt.

LOOK! It's Aunt Diane!

We're going to a Tigers - Giants game tomorrow. Spike gets to visit the breeders. Two of his brothers will be there. One was bought by a Japanese couple who went to Japan for five weeks and he's staying with the Sherrys. The other brother who'll be there was sold for shows (I think) but broke his leg. So Spike'll see his sib. Russell, Dad, Aunt Diane, Aunt Sheila and I are all gonna go with an extra ticket cuz Mom's not here. She's in Texas. Totally.

Well, I'll see ya when I see ya. Uh, signing off? Geez, that sounds bad. I'll just be simple.

Bye,

Grace

1 Week Before the Trip

One Week Before the Trip

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008

Hello Everyone,

Here we are already, just a few days before the big trip. The itinerary is set and we are just getting through the last few days of school before we start packing and making all the necessary arrangements here at home.

Our Stationary Home: 3764 Via Granada, Moraga, CA   The beginning and the end.

I'll post pictures of our Mobile Home as soon as we pick it up next week on Thursday, June 19.

As you can see, I've been busy planning our route and making campsite reservations. It has been fun calling and talking to folks from all over the country. Most campgrounds nowadays have internet reservation systems but a few did not so I actually had to pick up the phone and talk to some real people for some of the reservations. One nice lady in Greenville, Mississippi told me that she never takes reservations for her little campground next to the Mighty Mississippi River so I then asked her what would happen if the campground was full? She quickly informed me that "If you show up with the necessary $29 fee, then I will let you park your RV in my own backyard and let you watch the TV through my kitchen window. Don't you worry none, Mr. Alger, I want your money and I will make sure I get it!" Believe me, I'm none too worried about that particular reservation.

Remember to follow us across this lovely land of ours and if you like, please, leave us a comment or two.

Counting down,

Uncle Captain Holland UK California John

2 Weeks Before the Trip

Two Weeks Before the Trip

Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008

Hello Everyone,

Heather has graciously consented to allow the children and me to criss-cross this great country of ours in a rented motor home this summer. Russell thought the whole thing up, Grace and I agreed the boy had a great idea, and Heather okayed the financing - thus, The Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America 2008 came about. I've been very busy planning routes and booking campsites for the trip which will start on June 20, 2008 here in Moraga, CA and end on July 25, 2008 also here in Moraga, CA. The trip will be composed of three separate portions with three different guests or sets of guests on each leg.

Leg #1  California to Michigan

One of my wisest and best-looking sisters, Diane Beecher, of Davison, MI will be joining Grace, Russell, Spike (the dog), and me on the first part of the trip as we travel on a northerly route cross-country to Higgins Lake, MI. We will pick the motorhome up in Vacaville, CA on June 19, bring it home, and pack it up with all the necessary provisions. Then, we will set out on June 20 with stops in Crater Lake OR, Yellowstone WY, Mt. Rushmore SD, Duluth MN, and St. Ignace MI on our way to Higgins Lake in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, arriving on June 30 where we will spend a few days at my Mom's cottage with another of my wisest and best-looking sisters, Shelley Alger of Davison, MI. The kids and I will drop Aunt Diane off at that point, picking up an extra-special guest for Leg #2 of the trip - the lovely Heather Alger.

Leg #2  Michigan to Atlanta

Setting out once again, with Heather, on July 3 towards Wheeling, WV. We plan to arrive on The Illustrious Fourth in Philadelphia PA. Or at least at a close-in suburb of Philly, Kennett Square PA, the home of yet another of my wisest and best-looking sisters, Deb Tageson. We will then all tour the sights in Philadelphia and visit my niece, Melinda, and my great-niece, Morgan. Mindy and Morgan will then join us on the motorhome for a tour of Washington DC. After putting the Philly girls on a train (what a great idea!) back north, we will proceed to visit Monticello, and the Sharps in NC on our way to GrandMa Karen's place in Atlanta GA. After visiting GrandMa, we will put Heather on a plane back to CA.

Leg #3

Atlanta to California

The first four or five days of this portion of the trip will see the kids and I rambling 'round the South before we pick up an old friend, Uncle Horton, and his girls, Maggie and Alice, in Oklahoma City. Loaded up once again with guests, the kids and I will move on to The Four Corners, The Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and Yosemite before returning home on July 25. 

At least, that is the plan.

If you would like to follow us this summer on our Coast to Coast to Coast USA Alger Tour of America, we would enjoy looking at your comments as we travel along. Wish us luck! We may need it.

your tour guide,

Uncle Captain Holland UK California John