ROAD TRIP . . . Notre Dame to San Francisco

[Melensdad]

Leaving late June, in a rental mini-van.

Dasha will be starting a job with Apple Computer in Silicon Valley, the lovely Mrs_Bob and I will be taking her out there.

Day 1 we have reservations in Mason City, Iowa. There is a hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright called the Park Inn. We will be staying there. I have a contact who owns 2 homes in the Rock Crest/Rock Glen neighborhood, both designed by the architect Walter Burley Griffin, the same architect who designed my home. We plan to visit both of those homes, and walk the neighborhood to find the original plot of land where our home was to have been built.

We leave there for the Badlands. Going to see Wall Drug and the Corn Palace too.

Then Mount Rushmore. Maybe Crazy Horse too?

On to Yellowstone for a couple days.

Then Salt Lake City for a night. I like that city, go there for fencing events occasionally. Neither the lovely Mrs_Bob nor Dasha have been there so I will be the tour guide for the downtown district.

Followed by Reno for a casino visit and good meal. If we had more time I'd go to Lake Tahoe instead, it is much nicer than Reno. But we will likely not leave the casino property once we arrive. Not to gamble, but rather to eat, rest and use the spa.

Then on to California's coast north of SF. Driving the coastal highway. Staying in a little inn in a small town. Finishing up with a couple days in San Francisco. Leaving Dasha with her real mother, they will look for an apartment for her.

The lovely Mrs_Bob and I are flying home on July 4 because we have to pick up Kobe on July 5.


Is there anything else we should see or do along the route?

 

[Doc]

Sounds like an awesome road trip. In 2018 we did a similar trip. Mt Rushmore, Sturgis, Yellowstone, Idaho Falls, Salt Lake City, Vegas then LA.
I loved it. Would like to do it again to spend more time in southern Utah.
No suggestions. Sounds like you have a full agenda already. I love a road trip like this. Enjoy.

 

[EastTexFrank]

I haven't been on a road trip like that since 2016. We used to do a big one every year and then we got out of the habit or rather, we started taking long RV trips instead. I hope you guys have a lot of fun and post photos please.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

We were at Mt Rushmore in 2019 (I believe). We stayed at the Koa resort 4 nights. Mt Rushmore itself was meh....it was under construction and we couldn't get much past the gift shops at the beginning of the fancy promenade walk towards the monument. The needles highway was definitely impressive though. Coming out of a tunnel only inches wider than the mirrors folded in and looking straight across the valley at the Mt monument before turning hard left and zigzagging back down along a narrow road cut into the side of a mountain was a sight. We also did crazy horse which was actually more impressive than the clip joint they turned Mt Rushmore into.

 

[waybomb]

You might want to go south a bit and drive highway 33 through the mountains starting in Ojai. Was my favorite road when we lived there.
And Hagerty just named it the best road of the year.

 

[Melensdad]

You might want to go south a bit and drive highway 33 through the mountains starting in Ojai. Was my favorite road when we lived there.
And Hagerty just named it the best road of the year.

Dasha really wants to drive south into SF on the coast. That is the main reason we are coming in north of SF

 

[300 H and H]

The needles highway was definitely impressive though. Coming out of a tunnel only inches wider than the mirrors folded in and looking straight across the valley at the Mt monument before turning hard left and zigzagging back down along a narrow road cut into the side of a mountain was a sight.

I did the Needles highway at sunup in our Corvett at a speed that had her getting car sick and worried. No traffic at all early on a weekday. It was for me one of the highlights of our trip!

 

[Melensdad]

Looks like we will miss this event at Yellowstone by a couple weeks! I’m sure it would be fun to watch.

 

[m1west]

Going to Tahoe isn't really out of your way hardly at all and it is much much nicer and cooler than Reno. There is a highway out of Reno that will put you in Incline village ( Tahoe ) in an hour and then you can head to the Bay Area on I-80 or I-50, both pass through the Sacramento on the way to the Bay Area.

 

[Melensdad]

Just a quick check in.

Went to Mason City (details later, but awesome), Iowa.

Then Corn Palace, Wall Drugs and the Badlands. Badlands were AWESOME

Then to Mt Rushmore, which was incredible. On to Crazy Horse, which is less impressive but still worth a visit. It is under construction, the face and the hand are done but so much more needs to be done.

Then the Grand Teton National Park and 2 days in Yellowstone! WOW

Stopped in Salt Lake City, the lovely Mrs Bob and I have been there before (multiple times) so we gave Dasha a driving tour, sadly the entire Mormon complex is being renovated so much of it is fenced off, so we didn't even bother to walk the downtown. Stayed in the EVO hotel, which is a hippie commune sort of place, but very upscale, so we actually loved it, despite the nose rings and tattoos.

In Reno now at a suite in the Peppermill Casino. Spa reserved for tomorrow. Then on to the California coast, which is fairly close. We will stay at a small inn on the coast. Then on to San Francisco for a couple days. We meet up with Dasha's real mom, who will stay with Dasha for a couple weeks in SF. The lovely Mrs_Bob and I fly home on July 4 so we can pick up Kobe from school on July 5.

Just a few photos.

And before you say I belong in the Darwin club for being so close to that buffalo I did not approach it, I got out of its way and was in between 2 cars as it entered the parking lot. I was probably 8' away from it, but the hood of a car was between the 2 of us. Damn impressive beasts!

 

[NorthernRedneck]

You should do the needles highway. That....is....impressive.

 

[Melensdad]

Made it to the Pacific Ocean this evening. San Fran tomorrow after lunch.

 

[Melensdad]

Made it to San Francisco. Such a beautiful city ruined by homelessness, crime and drug abusers. Graffiti and trash is everywhere.

The lovely Mrs_Bob and I reunited our adopted Dasha with her actual mom and sisters. Dasha will stay with them for a couple more weeks while they apartment shop. We are staying in a suite about 5 minutes away from them at the Mansion on Sutter Hotel. I think we deserve a break for ourselves. We will be here for a couple days and will spend the time with 'our' Dasha and her 'other' family.

We have already offloaded Dasha's belongings into a storage unit she gets a real apartment.

 

[Melensdad]

You'll hit so many iconic spots and create great memories together. I'm sure the architectural sights in Iowa will be fascinating. Safe travels, and enjoy every moment, taking the coastal route in northern California will be breathtaking.

We ran the coastal road (1) from about 3 hours north of SF to SF and then down to Santa Cruz. Beautiful views. Made several stops, including Shark Fin Beach. I'm a bit sunburned. We fly home tomorrow. Honestly glad to be going back home to roads that are wide, straight and sane. She is with her 'natural' mom for the next couple weeks, looking at apartments, visiting neighborhoods, trying to figure out the best area for her to live.

 

[Melensdad]

BACK TO IOWA.

Specifically Mason City, Iowa.

My home was designed to be built in 1912/13 in Mason City, Iowa by an architect named Walter Burley Griffin. He worked with Frank Lloyd Wright. W.B.G. as actually in charge of the project in Mason City and his influence on the development apparently led to the breakup of their collaborations. WBG went on to become the architect who designed the capital city of Australia, and many very important projects in Australia. He is as famous in OZ as FLLW is famous in the USA for architecture.

Walter Burley Griffin also designed a couple other famous houses in Mason City. BLYTHE and MELSON houses. I was given private unfettered access to those 2 homes by the owners. Out of privacy to the owners, the images are all exterior photos. It was a highlight of our trip.

Below is the Melson house. My home, which is referred to as the Holahan house, was to be on the steeply sloping lot next door to this home. This home is considered one of the most stunning private residences built by any architect.

 

[Melensdad]

Here is the BLYTHE house. It is directly across the creek from Melson House, and would have also been adjacent to the Holahan House, the design of which my home is based.

The design of the BLYTHE house is much more similar to to my home than the Melson house.

 

[Melensdad]

"Mansion on Sutter Hotel" in SF.

Highly recommended. Not cheap, but not as expensive as it should be given the personalized service and the amazing care we received here. Pretty sure we will be back! If you are in SF and want a spot for quiet luxury, this is your temporary home. All cares are gone, all services are deluxe++. Not sure how many guests they accommodate but maybe a dozen or so at a time.

 

[Melensdad]

Definitely out of sequence, but we started with the SITTING MAN, followed by the WORLD'S LARGEST WOODEN NICKLE.

After seeing these two highlights we went on to Mason City.
Then to South Dakota after passing through the corner of Minnesota.
Clearly Dasha thought it was a fun drive!

 

[Doc]

Sure looks like a fun road trip. Great pics.

 

[Melensdad]

This is my roadtrip from the past couple of weeks, as mapped out by my SPOT X satellite communicator.

SPOT X did come in handy. It has a dedicated phone number so I can send text messages, but it bounces directly from the unit to a satellite then down to earth again to the recipient's cellphone.

Zero cell signal in large parts of Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Badlands and even along the California coastal regions north of San Fran. Always good to be able to send out a message to family for a nightly check in.

 

[Melensdad]

FWIW, if I would have shared the "live view" of the map it would have let you click on any of those pin drops on the map, you'd get the LAT/LON and time of that pin drop. So while we were out in the wilds of Yellowstone or Grand Tetons had there been a problem, SAR would have a pretty solid idea of where on the trail I dropped the SPOT X on the ground shortly before falling off a cliff