LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL – September 2012
Kicking for a cause!
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A New National Monument is Born
The spires of Chimney rock and their location in Southwest Colorado.
A new National Park Service site joins the ranks today. Chimney Rock Archaeological Area in Southwestern Colorado will officially have its status upgraded to National Monument by President Obama under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The area was previously added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and is also part of the San Juan National Forest. It is known primarily for being an important prehistoric settlement of ancient Pueblo Indians and is named after the twin rock spires that rise 315 feet above the surrounding mesa.
The remains of 200 homes and ceremonial Pueblo buildings built atop the mesa have been extensively studied since their excavation in the 1920s. It was a sacred site for the native people of the region because they observed that for 30 months every 18.6 years, the moon rises between the two rock spires (known as the lunar standstill). People from the surrounding area made pilgrimages to observe this phenomenon. Today, daily walking tours are offered during the summer season to visit the ruins of the ancient walls and observe the 75 mile panoramic views.
Adding the monument designation will help permanently protect the important cultural area and could potentially double the number of visitors to Chimney Rock in the next few years. This news worries some, as they feel it could disturb the peaceful nature of the site, but it also will expose the educational opportunities to a greater audience and increase tourism in the local region.
Check out this great article about the upgrade from the Durango Herald: Chimney Rock Headed For Big Time.
Kick of the Week: New Glarus, WI
New Glarus, WI – September 2012
Our favorites:
Do: Bike the Sugar River and Badger State Trails (inc. the 1,200ft-long Stewart Tunnel!)
Eat: Glarner Stube and New Glarus Hotel Restaurant (traditional Swiss cuisine)
Drink/See: New Glarus Brewing Co. (great beer, only sold in Wisconsin)
Beer supply running low: Return to New Glarus imminent
Remaining Stock. New Glarus area bike trails.
Our good friend and double road trip veteran Emily called with a proposition last week. “Want to meet in New Glarus?” Hell yeah. My supply of the New Glarus Brewery‘s precious “Only in Wisconsin” beers is getting dangerously low, so what better excuse to head north and re-stock. This will be our second visit to the town and its namesake brewery this year. It’s an easy 2.5 hour drive from Chicago, but this time we’re bringing alternate transportation along, the kind with pedals.
Wisconsin has an excellent network of long-distance bike trails and two of them pass through or very near the town of New Glarus. The 40-mile Badger State Trail connects Madison, Wisconsin with the Illinois border and trails beyond. The 23-mile Sugar River Trail connects New Glarus with Brodhead to the east. From our starting point in New Glarus, we’ll be able to experience parts of both, including the 1,200 foot long Stewart Tunnel on the Badger State Trail just northeast of town. Flashlights required.
While in the area this time, we’ll also try to hit up the New Glarus Bakery and find some traditional Swiss cuisine for lunch. Wienerschnitzel anyone? The only question now is how to transport our beer purchases by bike …
Kick of the Week: Nottoway Plantation, Louisiana
Nottoway Plantation, White Castle, LA – April 2011
When planning our Rollin’ on the River road trip in 2011, we thought it would be fun to spend a night in a plantation. Based on positive online reviews, we decided on Nottoway Plantation, right on the banks of the Mississippi in White Castle, LA (we combined our stay with a highly worthwhile swamp tour near Breaux Bridge, LA). Our stay in Nottoway ended up exceeding all expectations and to this day remains one of our favorite hotel experiences (our room was in the Boys’ Wing, part of the historically intact 1859 mansion). Room rates include breakfast and a guided tour of the estate. With a pool and a restaurant Nottoway really has everything you need on-site, and after the daytime tour groups leave you feel like you own the place.
Booking busy park lodging for summer 2013
National Park lodging can start to sell out up to a year in advance.
It might seem too early to be thinking about next summer, but that hasn’t stopped us from peeking at potential lodging for a road trip in the works. At many of the busiest national parks, it’s a good idea to book your stay up to a year in advance. It sounds crazy, but a lot of rooms in the lodges of Yellowstone and Glacier parks are filling up, especially the more reasonably priced ones. For dates in June through August, those parks’ busiest months, we found some of the cheaper rooms to be sold out already, and limited availability even on pricier options. It’s important to note that because most of the lodges accept cancellations with only a few days notice without penalty, you can always book now and change your mind later. So if you have your eye on a 2013 national park vacation, it can’t hurt to start looking now.
There are two major vendors (along with many independent establishments) that provide lodging options within the National Park Service. They are Xanterra and Forever Resorts, check out their websites for locations.
Kick of the Week: Toronto
Rental Car Rate Tip
Rental rates compared for same company, same time period picked up at different locations in the same city.
Last weekend we were killing some time on a rainy day by going over scenarios for making our Seattle to Chicago road trip a reality. One of the largest costs (if not the largest) on that trip would be the rental car. It would require us to pick up the car in Seattle and drop it off in Chicago.
We found through trying out various dates and locations on car rental sites that the pickup location has the largest influence on price, much bigger than the length of rental or drop-off city. Instead of picking up a car at the airport of your destination, try taking public transportation or a shuttle into a central city rental office if it’s convenient. For example, with one company, picking up the car at SeaTac Airport nearly doubled the weekly rate as compared to receiving the car at a central Seattle neighborhood location. With most major cities offering transportation to and from airports via rail or shuttle bus, it’s well worth sacrificing the convenience of going directly from gate to rental counter if you’re keeping costs down.
Another thing to consider, the car rentals originating in major cities were much more reasonable than rentals beginning in smaller towns. You can forget about trying to get a reasonable rate in Kalispell, Montana FYI.
Kick of the Week: Devils Tower
Devils Tower National Monument, WY – July 2009 (note resemblance to our logo)
Happy 96th Birthday to the National Park Service!
In honor of this occasion, here is an early hick-kick photo taken during our Great Western road trip in 2009. A sci-fi icon since Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Devils Tower was actually declared our nation’s first National Monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. It is now one of the 397 units overseen by the National Park Service, who safeguard these natural, cultural, and historical wonders for all to enjoy. Thanks again NPS!
MyTripCalculator: Comparing travel prices.
A trip to New Glarus in Neil’s car, Nick’s car and a Bugatti Veyron … for comparison’s sake.
Often, people assume road trips like ours would be cost-prohibitive for them to take, given the current cost of gas and the long distances traveled. However, even with the price of fuel at or above four dollars per gallon, we’ve still found driving to be cheaper than paying for two airline tickets. Of course this depends on many factors, like how far you’re going, what vehicle you drive and how many people are along for the ride, but it’s worth comparing. I recently came across a tool for just that occasion.
Fueleconomy.gov has a great calculator for estimating potential gas costs before you even turn the key. It’s called MyTripCalculator. It allows you to select your start and end points, make and model of car you’re driving, percentage of city versus highway miles and current cost of fuel. It then maps your route and calculates your expected mileage, gallons of fuel you’ll use and cost based on the local price you provide. It’s not an exact science, but it puts the cost of gas in perspective with air travel (check average gas prices across the country here). I’ve input a few of our previous routes (nerd alert: I always keep track of gas mileage), and MyTripCalculator is quite accurate to our real world results. You could even put in a daily commute and estimate weekly gas costs if you are curious. It’s also very interesting to compare two different car models on the same route, a handy car shopping tool.
On a side note: we’ve also checked Amtrak ticket prices for the sake of comparison and they are usually worthless. Unless you really want the experience of train travel (or you’re in Europe), driving will almost always save you money.
highkicktravel 
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