I’ve been to Galena before, but it is a very different town in winter. There are still plenty of visitors but things are not so crowded. The main shopping strip is only a couple of blocks long so with a nice mug of something hot, it’s a very pleasant stroll. As you may imagine, the after-Christmas sales there offer pretty good deals if you are looking to buy.

Unfortunately, we ran into a big snowstorm about half way there. It dropped a lot of white, but it did make the overall experience more picturesque.

We stayed at the Annie Wiggins Guest House, which is right across the Galena River from the main tourist area. In the summer, this would be a good place to leave your car and simply walk over.

This particular bed and breakfast is not necessarily my thing, but I’m sure it provides a cozy home base for a lot of other travelers. There is at least a small private bathroom in each room. There’s no need to share.

In our room, we had a large two-person soaking tub, which we enjoyed very much. Both it and the linens were very clean. That’s always appreciated.

Before settling in for the night, it was pizza at Cannova’s for dinner. From the outside and the limited menu, I was not expecting a lot. Man, was I wrong. Their pizza is delicious! The pepperonis taste like aged and dried ones, and there are tons of spices in the sausages. The veggies balanced well also.

Afterwards, we grabbed some hot chocolate and window-shopped our way back to the soaking tub.

The next morning, the Annie Wiggins proprietress served us a very filling breakfast. The coffee could have been thicker though. It was too watery for me. Her French toast has cream cheese and bananas in it. I couldn’t finish all of mine. The fruit salad along side did not feature the ripest of fruits, but with the richness of the French toast, I came to enjoy the less sweet taste of the fruit.

Once we checked out, it was one more turn around town and lunch at Durty Gurt’s. I have a feeling that every restaurant in Galena is a can’t miss. They have to have quality service and food to be able to compete with everyone else. So I’m giving another thumbs up to Gurt’s for burgers and other greasier offerings.

And thus ends our quick get-away. Now it’s back to work, work, work.

I’m very impressed with this chain. I don’t remember Holiday Inns being this nice.

It seems like every hotel (at least all the random ones in the numerous states through which I traveled) has been completely redone.

The rooms are clean and well designed. The front desk personnel were all very nice. And the free breakfast offerings (bagels and pastries, cereal, yogurt, hot cinnamon rolls, eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy) are certainly added values.

There is usually a pool and a workout room. Always, there’s free wifi. I also appreciated the free coffee and tea in the rooms—along with the mini-fridge. No microwave though. I found that strange.

Anyways—Good job, Holiday Inn Express people. I think you’ve made some good choices here.

At $99 a night (rate I received regularly), these hotels are higher than their competitors next door, but if you’re looking for a clean, comfortable, and reassuring place to sleep, they are a good bargain.

There are a lot of campsites available, but they do get filled up on the weekends.

On the weekdays though, you’ll have your choice of sites.

Electric sites are available for $25 a night. Fishing enthusiasts can get non-electric tent sites ($12 a night) right on the edge of the man-made lake.

I saw plenty of people pull up, set-up, and put their poles in the water.

There are convenient water pumps, trash dumps, and pit toilets in the non-electric area. You can even walk to the free showers at the RV stations.

Each tent site has a picnic table and a fire pit. All the facilities are very well maintained.

The main down side I see with the set up is the proximity of one site to the other. Unlike Starved Rock, where trees and bushes isolate and separate each site, many of the tents are going to be right on top of each other. On a full weekend, I don’t think this would be very quiet or relaxing.

• It really floors me sometimes that more people do not know about Patty Griffin. It seems like such an unjust oversight. Of course, someone just sent me over to see this. The Dixie Chicks have been long-time supporters so it’s really nice to see Natalie Maines join in on this classic song. Two great voices.
  
• While I’m at it, let me plug Cheryl Wheeler’s newest CD as well.
• As a history nerd, I’ve always advocated those simulation/strategy games. It’s nice to know that real historians, like Naill Ferguson, also agree.
  

  Ferguson discovered something that fans of war-strategy and civilization-building “god” games have realized for years: Games are a superb vehicle for thinking deeply about complex systems.

  So the next time I’m engrossed in Civ? Please leave me alone. I’m thinking deeply about complex systems.

spoilers for “A Disquiet Follows My Soul” (4.12)

I caught some weird bug that laid me out all weekend so I don’t feel as if I was fully emotionally or intellectually connected with this episode. I’m sure it will play differently for me in future viewings.

For today, all I have are some quick hits:

• I think the webisodes fall in between “Sometimes a Great Notion” and “A Disquiet Follows My Soul.” That placement makes a significant difference for the Hoshi character.
• The prophetic characters (Roslin, D’Anna, Starbuck, Leoben, Baltar) are feeling the weight of their failures. It seems that Six has been spared so far because her future is growing within her. She’s still able to see the beyond. My question is, why do the rest of them all seem to think that their prophetic leadership ended with Earth? Those interpretations seem to be of their own dreams and wishes. Was that really the gods’/god’s/universe’s message?
• Athena, Helo, and Hera supplied the only happy moment in the pervious episode. Perhaps everyone really should get down to the business of making babies.
• The installation of Cylon-technology may be beneficial, but it is not politically possible at this time. It’s also not immediately urgent. It may become so once they face a Cavil scouting force or become in danger of being stranded, but until that time, you just can’t sell this. This is not a smart stand on the part of the Adamas. Everyone’s judgments are clouded at this time, but this just doesn’t seem to be a good fight to pick. I wonder why they think it is.
• Oh, Cally. Even after you’re gone, they still can’t give you just a little bit of importance in the grand scheme of it all.
• Dear Tigh, if you develop that chart for Tyrol, could I please also have a copy?

Nashville is a great destination for anyone interested in the American Civil War. The Virginian battlefields get all the glory, but the war in the western theater was just as compelling. Many argue that the North won the war because the North won the west. (They had a heck of a time defeating Lee in the east.)

Nashville is a great jumping off point for many points of Civil War interest in Tennessee. Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Stones River (Murfreesboro), Franklin, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga are all within a few hours’ drive. Of course there are also plenty of sites within Nashville itself.

(Ask about the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust of honor in the Capitol Building. It makes the guides nervous.)

One of the great things about establishing a central headquarters in Nashville is that you don’t have to keep packing and unpacking every day. For those in your family or group who are not enamored with this period of history, there are plenty of other places to explore. Also, I didn’t find Nashville to be that expensive for travelers. For me, the cost-convenience scale was definitely in my favor.

A Civil War buff is definitely going to enjoy visiting these sites. The topography of Tennessee helps make the events of these battles understandable. Highlights include:

• the river locations of Forts Henry and Donelson
• the railway at Stones River
• the bullet strewn houses from the urban fighting of Franklin
• the almost insignificant swell on which Thomas and his men made their stand at Chickamauga
• the little central hill on which Grant stood and watched his men go up and over the Chattanooga mountains

Even if you don’t understand all these references, your friendly neighborhood Civil War geek will. And he/she is going to want to see them all.

• Packing
• Getting to
• Moab, Utah
• Silver Sage Inn
• Arches Tips and Trails, part 1
• Arches Tips and Trails, part 2
• Canyonlands Tips and Trails
• Salt Lake City, part 1
• Salt Lake City, part 2

An outing to Canyonlands National Park is much more straightforward in its options than one to Arches. There are many distinct areas of Canyonlands, but only the Islands in the Sky section is practical for a day trip when you are already in the Arches/Moab area. Even though it is just forty minutes down the road, the geographical features are completely different.

This section of the national park protects an area of mesas. These flat-topped plateaus rise in layers. This makes activity choices fairly obvious. Either you can explore the relatively flat but short area atop the mesas or you can tackle the steep climbs and descents of the sides. There are long hard hikes and short easier hikes. Nothing is in between.

Up this high, there are even fewer resources than in Arches. Besides the bottled water available at the visitors center, there are NO water or food sources within the park. Two of the easier trails I would recommend are the Mesa Arch and the Grand View Point Overlook.

Mesa Arch is a short half mile round trip. It reaches an accessible and breathtaking arch right on the edge of the mesa. I was surprised that there were no guardrails or protective features, because the cliff is right in front of you. I walked towards the falloff and became really light headed. When I visited, there were a number of small children running around. A mom was at the point of a nervous breakdown. I didn’t blame her one bit. It’s a nerve testing site.

Grand View Point is a longer trail of two miles. This one is interesting because it extends out towards a narrow end of the mesa. On the early part of the trail, you see the Colorado River side of the formation. Then, unexpectedly, you will turn and the Green River side becomes visible. At the end of the trail, there’s a high rock crag. Climbing up it, you may be able to follow the edge of the mesa all the way around.

It’s Jabba the Hut. At Arches National Park. Sure, it looks like that middle part is missing, but wouldn’t this draw visitors?