Furtek's Top 10 Places To Stop On A Cross-Country Trip
April 2, 2001 | Women's Rowing
10) Cabela's High Plains Cache, Sidney, Neb.
An in-store trout stream, 500 stuffed animals, and more outdoor gear than you can shake a stick at. Search out the bargain cave for the lowest prices on returned items.
9) Sierra Trading Post outlet, Cheyenne, Wyo.
See above, minus the fish and game. Notice a trend? Coaches, rowers, and coxswains spend an inordinate amount of time in the elements, so we always have a keen eye for good deals!
8) Al's Oasis, Ouacoma/Chamberlain, S.D.
Situated high above the Missouri River, good, cheap, plentiful food!
7) Any Major Truck Stop
Out west, the truck stops aren't glamorized quick-stops, they're full-fledged cities, everything that happens in a city happens here. There's an eerie, post-apocalyptic feel to a true truck stop late at night: the rumble of the idling trucks, lined up for what seems like miles, the all-night eatery, offering more calories per dollar than anywhere else on earth, the incredible selection of items to make road travel safer, or more like home, and the wide range of accents, clothing styles, and patterns of behavior that signal a crossroads. A treat for any student of human nature.
6) The National Coin-op and Arcade Museum, St. Louis, Mo.
In the shadow of the Gateway Arch, trace the history of coin games and arcade play from the earliest days, through Pong, to Space Invaders, and on to the present day. For anyone who grew up in the '80s, this one shouldn't be missed.
5) Devil's Tower National Monument
If you've seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind, then you've seen Devil's Tower. Rising up out of the middle of nowhere, the stark beauty of what the local Native Americans called Bear Lodge is unbelievable. Walk the trail around it, or make like Richard Dreyfus and climb the boulder field up to the vertical walls.
4) Little America, Wyo.
What if you could build a traveler's oasis without needing a city there in the first place? Try Little America.
3) The Rockies from The Plains
I'm sure many of you have visited the Rockies, but there's nothing like driving for hours on end across the Great Plains, only to see the majestic peaks rise in front of you -- and to drive toward them for hours more. I can only imagine how that felt to the pilgrims on the Oregon Trail, or one of the other routes west. It hits me every time I see it.
2) Breaux Bridge, La.
Not only the home of the "Dorito's Girl," Ali Landry, this town just outside of Lafayette is also home to some of the fieriest Cajun cooking you'll ever find. Justin Wilson would come back for seconds, "I garon-Tee!"
Laura Fogt feed a giraffe at the San Diego Zoo during a past trip to San Diego. |
That's where we're headed, after all! San Diego was my first taste of California, when I visited as a coxswain for the Yale lightweight crew in 1988. I've been there three times as a competitor, once as a novice coach, and twice as a head coach. With four wins here, I feel like it's my home.
The regatta is exceptionally well run, we stay at very hospitable U.S. Navy facilities in the area, we head to the beach, and to beautiful Coronado. One year our athletes went on a VIP tour of the San Diego Zoo, including a chance to feed the giraffes! It is, all in all, a spectacular city, regatta, and experience for our women.