August 2017 - Day 3 (to Oklahoma City, OK)

Sunday, August 6, 2017 - Chesterfield, Missouri to Oklahoma City, OK - 491 miles (7 hours 15 min):



I awoke to do my blog, and have breakfast with Uncle James, then it was off to church:

Last Thursday (3 days ago!), the speaker at our Thursday Morning Mens Breakfast in Boston was a "new guy" - Dr. Tom Pfitzenmaier. When I did his bio for the weekly email, I saw that he had been Pastor of the Bonhomme Presbyterian Church in CHESTERFIELD, MISSOURI - I said to him that I was going to be in Chesterfield on Saturday night! It turns out they have an 8:30am service, which fits into my travel plans PERFECTLY! Thank you God - I guess I know where I'm going for church on Sunday.

After church, it was 485 miles down the road to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum - got there at 4:50pm - 10 minutes is Plenty Of Time!:



I had previously visited the Museum a few times, and mentioned in "this blog". At that time I saw the wonderful HUGE Albert Bierstadt - Emigrants Crossing the Plains, 1867. It is currently out on loan to the Denver Art Museum for their exhibition "The Western", but the Denver Art Museum "returned the favor" by loaning this museum some of their paintings by Worthington Whittredge, Sanford Robinson Gifford and Albert Bierstadt:

Albert Bierstadt - Wind River Country, 1860:

(where I'm going to be in a week!!)

After the museum, I filled up with gas and got to the Super 8 - showered and shined, and had a nice phone call with my Wonderful Wife! Then off to the concert:


I was nice and close:


The Crows were in fine form:


and Rob Thomas/Matchbox Twenty did a great set:


At 1:33 this afternoon, as I was having 1/2 of a chocolate-chip-cookie, I passed a road sign advertising a "Sweets Shop" up ahead:

"Road Trip Calories Don't Count"

Thank you God for this lovely adventure "driving+art+rock-and-roll" day!

Music for today was albums from my purple nano:

Bill Charlap - Live at the Village Vanguard, 2007


and then, because I had the windows rolled up, I listened to a "book-on-tape" (although now it is "book-on-cd") - Terry Tempest Williams The Hour of Land 1/9, 2016:

It is a collection of very nicely written stories of some of our National Parks - both personal stories, and historical/scientific background. I enjoyed it (well, at least the first-cd-of-9).

Grateful Dead - Live/Dead, 1969


David Gilmour - Live in Gdańsk, 2008


after those two double-albums, it was time for some Neil Young

Neil Young - Neil Young (first album), 1969


Of course, the primary reason to listen to this album right now is the song "The Last Trip to Tulsa":

"Well, I was driving
down the freeway
When my car ran out of gas.
Pulled over to the station
But I was afraid to ask.
The servicemen were yellow
And the gasoline was green.
Although I knew I couldn't
I thought that I was gonna scream.
That was on my last trip to Tulsa
Just before the snow.
If you ever need a ride there,
Be sure to let me know."

Diana Krall - Live in Paris, 2002

August 2017 - Day 2 (to St. Louis, MO)

Saturday, August 5, 2017 - Weston, West Virginia to Chesterfield, Missouri (629 miles):



There are NO POSTCARDS in West Virginia, so this wall poster from Super 8 is as close as I could get:


After I got down out of the twisty-turny mountains of West Virginia, it was a BEAUTIFUL day in Kentucky - not a cloud in the sky:


9 hours after I left the Super 8, I pulled into the Saint Louis Art Museum:



I had previously visited the Museum a few times, and mentioned in "this blog". At that time I saw about a dozen pieces I was interested in (i.e."in my app"), plus another dozen really cool pieces (Jackson Pollock, Van Gogh, Canaletto, plus Rodin and Frederic Remington sculptures). It is WONDERFUL to discover that this Museum rotates their collection, and, of the 15 pieces I could not view before, 10 of them were ON DISPLAY! They include:

a large William Trost Richards - Shoal Water, 1900:


a sublime Robert Scott Duncanson - View of the St. Anne's River, 1870:


William Trost Richards - In the Adirondack Mountains, 1857:


an early Albert Bierstadt - Olevano, 1856-57:


Canaletto - An Island in the Lagoon with a Gateway and a Church, 1743-44:


Giovanni Paolo Panini - Interior of St. Peter's, Rome, 1731:


my selfie with an old favorite - Claude Monet - Water Lilies, c. 1915-26:

sometimes everybody gets a little tired at the museum:


I went out of Forest Park to Washington University, and their Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum:

Thomas Cole - Aqueduct near Rome, 1832:


Frederic Edwin Church - Twilight: Mount Desert Island, Maine, 1865:


Filled up with gas, then 10 miles west to Chesterfield! I had a WONDERFUL evening with James, Caroline and Sarah!!! Thank you God for this lovely adventure "driving+art" day!

Music for today was albums from my purple nano:

James Taylor - Gorilla, 1975


lyrics to "Wandering":

I've been wandering early and late from New York City to the Golden Gate,
and it don't look like I'll ever stop my wandering.

The Kinks - Greatest Hits!, 1966


Van Morrison - Hard Nose The Highway, 1973


Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hard Promises, 1981


Neil Young - Harvest, 1972


The Rolling Stones - Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass), 1966

"When I'm drivin' in my car ..."

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy, 1973

"Many times I've gazed along the open road."

Jamie Cullum - Interlude (pre-release), 1979


The Doors - L.A. Woman, 1971


Jackson Browne - Lawyers In Love, 1983


Dave Matthews Band - Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95, 1997

August 2017 - Day 1 (to Weston, WV)

Friday, August 4, 2017 - Home to Super 8 Weston, West Virginia:



No museums today; no hiking today; nothing but driving from Point A to Point B. 686 miles took 11 hours 10 minutes. I REALLY WANTED TO STAY AWAY FROM 95 (and the George Washington Bridge), so I took 84 all the way west, then kind-of looped around. It worked great - driving through Pennsylvania just felt calmer than New England. Thank you God for this lovely adventure driving day!

Music for today was albums from my purple nano:

U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind, 2000

The album starts with "Beautiful Day", which was the PERFECT way to start the day!

Ke$ha - Animal, 2010


Todd Rundgren - Anthology


I really like the lyrics to "Just One Victory":

Somehow, someday,
We need just one victory and we're on our way
Prayin' for it all day and fightin' for it all night
Give us just one victory, it will be all right

various artists - The Big Chill soundtrack, 1983


Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde, 1966


Jamie Cullum - Catching Tales, 2005


Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes, 1979


The Doors - The Doors (first album), 1967


"waiting for the summer rain"

Taken by Trees - East of Eden, 2009


Snow Patrol - Eyes Open, 2006


R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985


Grateful Dead - Europe '72, 1972 live triple-album


It was SOOO COOL going through Cumberland, Maryland listening to "Cumberland Blues" (Gotta get down to the Cumberland Mine.)(I don't know if Cumberland, Maryland is the "Cumberland" in the song, but it is mining country, so maybe.)

August 2017 - Wyoming hiking, plus other stuff!

My "trip west" this year will be the next 3 weeks in August!


The Main Focus for this trip is hiking in the Wind River Range in Wyoming, specifically 2 separate 3-day/2-night trips - Cirque of the Towers 3-Day Backpacking Loop (down south) and a nice triangle from Green River Lakes trailhead (up north). The Cirque hike:

Starting/Ending at the Big Sandy Trailhead (at the bottom of the map), I'm doing the pink "short-cut" line (which are still trails, so don't worry!)


At the north end of the Range (or "The Winds", as they are referred to) - starting/ending at the Green River Lakes trailhead (at the top of the map):


And of course there will be Art Museums:

Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO Sat 10am-5pm
Kemper Art Museum, Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO Sat 11am-5pm
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, AR 72712 11am - 6pm
Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 South Rockford Rd, Tulsa, OK 74114 10am - 5pm
Woolaroc Museum-Wildlife Preserve, 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd, Bartlesville, OK 74003 10am - 5pm
Ulrich Museum of Art/Wichita State Univ., 1845 Fairmount St, Wichita, KS 67260 11am - 5pm
The Madden Museum of Art, 6363 S Fiddler’s Green Circle, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 9am - 5pm
American Museum of Western Art - The Anschutz Collection, 1727 Tremont Pl, Denver, CO 80202
Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center, Gardiner, MT - 2 pm Tour 307.344.2264
Sheldon Museum of Art, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (Albert Bierstadt - River Landscape, 1867) Mon 10-5
?Spencer Museum of Art, Tues 10am-4pm? DCD sent 7/30/17 email
Doris Ulmann Galleries, Berea College, Berea, KY Wed 8am-6pm


and a SOLAR ECLIPSE !!!! in Arnold, Nebraska
41.379, -100.199 Road 797 & Hwy 40 in Arnold, NE
Totality Start*: 12:54:38PM (CDT)  Duration of Totality*: 2m 33s




and a Thurs 8/10/2017 Colorado hike to Lake of Glass and Sky Pond


Oh - did I mention TWO COUNTING CROWS SHOWS!!!:
The Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, OK (Sun 8/6)
The Walmart AMP, 5079 W Northgate Rd, Rogers, AR (Mon 8/7)


I know its August, but I'm real tired of being in Leadville, Colorado and waking up to see snow on my car in the parking lot. I figure the mountains will be cool (in more ways than one).