Getting Lost In America ... The Highs & Lows of Travel in America - Part One

Getting Lost In America ... The Highs & Lows of Travel in America is a four-part series to help you discover America. Click any of the links for more information about that location or attraction!

You're the top, you're turkey dinner,
You're the Kentucky Derby winner.
I'm a toy balloon that’s fated soon to pop,
But if, baby, I'm the bottom, You're the Top!*

So let’s get to the bottom of what’s tops in America. We will begin our four-part Highs & Lows Tour of America with the category that probably first came to mind - Elevation - how High can you get in America? And just how Low can we go???

Part One - Elevation:

Geographical points:

• Highest Elevation - Denali (Mt McKinley) Alaska at 20,320 feet is the highest point in North America and guaranteed to take your breath away ... and in more ways than one! Most climbers do it without supplemental oxygen, but just seeing Denali from the valley floor will make you gasp!
• Lowest Elevation - Bad Water in Death Valley California 282 ft below sea level. No need for extra O2 on this adventure ... but don’t forget to bring your own water!

States - No red states...no blue states, just the top and the bottom states:

• Highest Average Elevation - Colorado 6800ft - Celebrated in legend and song - Rocky Mountain High - and with over 70% of the U.S. landmass above 10,000ft it is little surprise that Colorado is the highest state. It is home to the Mile High City (Denver) and the Two Mile High City (Leadville). The lowest elevation in Colorado (3315ft along the Arikaree River in S.E. CO) is higher than 18 states’ highest altitude.
• Lowest Average Elevation - Delaware 60ft - The First State may not give a big rise for some people, but it holds plenty of colonial and early American history.

Cities:

• Highest City – The historic mining town, and one-time home of the “Unsinkable Molly Brown”, Leadville Colorado at 10,430 ft is known as the Two Mile High City. (note: the town of Winter Park CO is sometimes listed as the highest town in North America at 12,060ft after annexing the Winter Park ski area in 2006; however, the actual town is located at the base of the ski area at only 9100ft and no one actually lives at the top of the ski area! This title is also claimed by nearby Alma CO at 10,578ft, which is a “statutory town” of less than 200 residents with no city services.)
• Lowest City - Calipatria CA at 184 ft below sea level near the inland lake known as the Salton Sea 150 miles to the east of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Man-made Structures:

• Highest Building - 1,450 ft - Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. At 110 stories, the Sears Tower is the tallest building in all of the Americas, and the third tallest in the world.
• Highest Bridge - suspended 1,053 ft above the Arkansas River - The Royal Gorge bridge near Canyon City, Colorado.
• Tallest Structure (not just in America, but in the world!) - 2,063 ft - TV Tower in Blanchard, North Dakota
• No lowest for the above categories since the lowest bridge is one that has collapsed or is flooded and not providing much use under water ... and the lowest tower is ... again, not of much use for this article! However, humans have burrowed deep into the earth. The Homestake gold-mine near Lead, South Dakota is over 8000 ft deep. The mine closed operations in 2002 and in 2007 the Homestake was chosen as the future site for DUSEL (Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory) where things like dark matter and neutrinos will be studied, as well as providing a site for biology, geology, and mining research. There is another old-mine-turned-research-facility that you can visit - The Soudan Underground Laboratory - in Soudan, Minnesota. While part of the Minnesota State Parks, the Soudan Underground Laboratory, operated by the University of Minnesota, is currently the leading deep underground science and engineering laboratory in the United States. The 2 hour tour will take you 2341 ft below the surface of the earth.

You're the top, you're the Tower of Pisa,
You're the smile, on the Mona Lisa
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop,
But if, baby, I'm the bottom you're the top!*

Wherever you go, be it High or Low, this summer - Happy trails and happy travels, and enjoy yourselves, your family, the sites and sights, and of course your summer vacation!

Read the whole series!

* Song lyrics from “You’re The Top!” by
legendary American songwriter Cole Porter.

Baggage People Lug Around

How many bags do you have

to pack for your vacation?

Do you adhere to the One-Bag/One-Person philosphy of vacation travel? We're talking checked-baggage here. Some folks do...however, some others (who will remain nameless as long as their checks clear) carry around a lot more BAGGAGE! 2, even 3, or more suitcases ... come on folks! It's just a vacation - you're not moving! To those that plaintively queried ?what's a vacation? we can only suggest - !Get a Life!

My travel-pack has a detachable daypack that I do not check-in and instead take on the plane with me filled "essentials" - money, passport, camera, paperback book. Even though I have to take them off at security, I wear my hiking boots on the plane and check my Tevas in my luggage. Sometimes I take a second bag - a medium sized duffel - that I stow my snorkel gear in. I usually toss a change of clothes in too, to take up a little space on the out-bound flight.

I could very well pack my flippers and snorkel in my travel-pack, but the real purpose of the extra duffel is to have a bag to fill with trinkets for the folks back home! If I know I won't be snorkeling, I have a nylon stuff-sack that is supposed to be for a sleeping bag that I take for extra goodie-space. Coming home I will pack my stinky clothes in the stuff-sack and fill my travel-pack with the good stuff!

An Eye On London

Ferris Wheels have always drawn a crowd. In fact,
they were specifically conceived to be spectacles.


The original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by the American civil engineer George Ferris, hence its name. The Ferris Wheel was conceived as the centerpiece of the Columbian Exposition (World’s Fair) held in Chicago, Illinois during 1893. The promoters of the Columbian Exposition desperately sought an engineering marvel to rival the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle’s iron girder tower designed by Gustave Eiffel. Ferris’ original wheel was 80 meters (260ft) tall and carried up to 2100 passengers at a time. The original Ferris Wheel was twice moved and reassembled after the Columbian Exposition. Its last performance was at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

At the time of its construction in 1999, the London Eye was the largest wheel type ride in the world. The term Ferris Wheel is now not generally applied to the gigantic wheels, such as those larger than 100 meters in diameter. The largest wheels are now called Observation Wheels to differentiate them from the smaller Ferris Wheels.

The Eye, also known Millennium Wheel, took its inaugural passengers of illuminati, glitterati, and politicos for a ride on December 31, 1999, just before midnight New Year’s Eve, to welcome in 2000 and the new millennium. The Eye opened to the public in March of 2000. London previously had the Gigantic Wheel. A wheel built in Earl’s Court in 1895 and modeled on Ferris’ original design.

The London Eye is135 meters tall, about 40 stories high, or 450 ft in diameter. The Eye takes 3.5 million riders for a spin annually - an average of almost 10,000 people per day - there are 32 capsule shaped cars each with room for up to 25 passengers. The wheel revolves at 1 kilometer per hour. The capsules slowly spin in relation to the revolving wheel to keep the floors level. The London Eye affords its riders a bird’s-eye view of London, and on a clear day a range of view up to 40 kilometers.

The spokes of the London Eye not only look much like spokes on your bicycle, but they also support the wheel in much the same manner.

My photos of the London Eye were taken from the vantage point of looking south across the River Thames from the Victoria Embankment and the Westminster Bridge, just a stone’s throw from the House of Parliament and Big Ben.

This shot is in high contrast, exposed for and focusing on the Eye, to capture the silhouetted image of the Boadicea statue on Victoria Embankment. Boadicea appears quite capable of “holding up” the Eye; after all, the statue depicts the Celtic Queen Boadicea charging in a chariot to fight the Romans who were invading England circa 60 C.E.

The London Eye has been surpassed in size by the 162 meters tall Star of Nanchang in Nanchang China which opened in May 2006. However, the Star’s reign as the biggest of the big wheels will be short, currently under construction the Great Beijing Wheel is to be unveiled with the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games will be 208 meters high.