Author: Daniel

Day 7.  On to Benson, Arizona. 116 miles driven this day has been published.

US_89 from the Mexican to Canadian Borders: Part 4 Benson – Nogales

Day 6. On to Benson, Arizona. 266 miles driven this day has been published.

US_89 from the Mexican to Canadian Borders: Part 3- Benson/Tombstone, AZ

Days 2-5 of this 10,555 mile journey has been publish.

US_89 from the Mexican to Canadian Borders: Part 2- Canyon Lake, Texas

A few years  ago (2014,) my wife and I fulfilled a boyhood dream of mine to drive the mountains and desserts of the west in a two-seat convertible roadster (Pontiac Solstice). There is very little room in this car once the top is down. Heck there is very little room when the top is up.

As part of our luggage we hung shirts over the back of the seats, attached hooks behind the seats to hang clothing, and packed judiciously into small duffle bags which would fit behind the gas tank when the top was down. BTW, the gas tank sits in the trunk of this car.

I have published Part 1 of this 10,555 mile journey taken 2014.  I have never previously  published any part of this journey with the exception to selected email friends during that travel.  If you would like to follow along in this journey, then be sure to subscribe to my blog.

Eight weeks and 10,555 miles (but whose counting) later we completed that dream by driving from Florida to the Mexico-Arizona border at Nogales up US 89 to the Canadian border across to Washington State, down the Coast Hwy (US 101) to Santa Barbara, across California to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and back to Florida. .

Mapping the route took several weeks, because traveling US 89 is not like driving on the interstate. The road twists and turns through small cities and towns as well as major cities such as Phoenix and Salt Lake. Those of you who were on my email list during the trip may notice familiar scenes – I hope not to produce the same ones that were shown in those emails.

Come along for the ride if you wish, but this journey may take 2-3 months. We visited 11 National parks and 17 lighthouses on this journey. Some places we didn’t intend to visit, but because I programed my GPS incorrectly, we found some real jewels during this excursion.

All aboard – he,he, he 😂

I will try to publish each weekend a part of this journey.  When we started the US 89 travel at the Mexican-Arizona boder the temperature was nearly 100.  When we reached the Canadian border the temperature was below freezing and in heavy snow

Time frame for this trip was April – June.  This is the link to part one- Preparations.

US_89 from the Mexican to Canadian Borders: Part 1- Preparations

I have published a flipbook of photographs showing the 42 species of birds I have photographed during the past year.  This flipbook can be seen on this page.  https://alyeskeea.com/backyard-birds-of-florida/

Calico is a  restored Ghost town straight from the pages of the silver rush era.  It has been restored to look from the time when it flourished as a silver mining town.

“In 1881 four prospectors were leaving Grapevine Station (present day Barstow, California) for a mountain peak to the northeast. Describing the peak as “calico-colored”, the peak, the mountain range to which it belonged, and the town that followed were all called Calico. The four prospectors discovered silver in the mountain and opened the Silver King Mine, which was California’s largest silver producer in the mid-1880s.A post office was established in early 1882, and the Calico Print, a weekly newspaper, started publishing. The town soon supported three hotels, five general stores, a meat market, bars, brothels, and three restaurants and boarding houses. The county established a school district and a voting precinct.  The town also had a deputy sheriff and two constables, two lawyers and a justice of the peace, five commissioners, and two doctors. There was also a Wells Fargo office and a telephone and telegraph service.   At its height of silver production during 1883 and 1885, Calico had over 500 mines and a population of 1,200 people.   Local badmen were buried in the Boot Hill cemetery.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico,_California

To get you started on this trip click this link

It has been a while since I last posted any trip information here.  It has been more than 14 months since I started posting information about my 5 days traveling the Natchez Trace.  Well, with this pandemic going on I decided it was time to finish that journey.   There are some amazing sights along the way, interlaced with a lot of history.

“The Natchez Trace Parkway is a national parkway in the southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Natchez Trace and preserves sections of that original trail. Its central feature is a two-lane road that extends 444 miles (715 km) from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. Access to the parkway is limited, with more than fifty access points in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The southern end of the route is in Natchez at its intersection with Liberty Road, and the northern end is northeast of Fairview, Tennessee, in the suburban  community of Pasquo, at an intersection with Tennessee State Route 100. In addition to Natchez and Nashville, larger cities along the route include Jackson and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Florence, Alabama.^[5][6]”

— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace_Parkway

To get you started on this trip click this link

” Humbolt County is home to hundreds of artist, and this fact is apparent when one notices the numerous murals that adorn many of the Eureka buildings. ”  The humbolt County Convention & Visitor’s Center has produced a self-guided tour to spotlight some of these beautiful and gorgeous murals.  Many of them show off the history of the area whereas others are quite humorous.  Click this link to take to the Eureka mural page.

San Marcos has a very vibrant mural painting program. I have seen painted Pelicans in Pensacola, painted cows in San Antonio and Chicago, painted cowboy boots in Wimberly Texas, but unique are the painted mermaids of San Marcos.

Like the mural art programs in New Braunfels, San Antonio, Eureka, or other cities, the program provides funding for artist to help beautify the city with works of art. In concert with San Marcos’ program are businesses that also beautify their property with murals.  Those murals sponsored by the Mural Art’s program can be identified by the “Mural Arts” logo painted near the bottom of each mural the program has sponsored.

As previously mentioned, One can find painted mermaid statues scattered around the downtown area.  Why mermaids might you ask.  Well, click the Mermaid link to learn the fascinating history of why these mermaids are found nearly 200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico; then click statue link to see these Mermaids.

Mermaids

Statues

To see multiple views of five of these statues click on my Mermaid photos (23 images).

To be transferred to my San Marcos Mural page click this link.