CONCLUSION

We put the finishing touches on our journey last night as we arrived home, finally, after 21 days on the road. We had a long drive yesterday, coming all the way from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Kansas City. We decided it would be better to sleep in our own bed so we just kept driving past Souix Falls, SD, Souix City, IA and Omaha, NE. It is good to be back.

We traveled 5,477 miles since leaving on September 7. Counting Missouri and Kansas, we crossed 11 states—and came within a few miles of two others— and visited five national parks and lord only knows how many national forests. By my count we crossed five major mountain ranges and a bunch of others, including a lot of prairies and deserts.

Traveling in the fall was spectacular because the fall colors were out almost everywhere. With all the kids back in school, there really weren't any big crowds at all the sites, but Orange Barrels became our constant companion on nearly all the highways and byways.

It is difficult to select a best but both of us agreed that Jackson Hole and The Tetons would probably be our top pick with the drive down the Mendocino Coast finishing a close second.

We'll save the rest for "The Slide Show!"

Heading Home

(upper) Crazy Horse Memorial.

(center) Mount Rushmore

(right) Deadwood, where cowboy legends were made!

After 20 days on the road and counting, living day-to-day out of suitcases—packing and re-packing on a daily basis—we are heading home tomorrow morning from Rapid City, South Dakota. It will take two days to get there, but there will be no more stops for tourist sites, mountain overlooks and gourmet meals. Jump in the car with junk food, diet coke and books on tape.

Today, arriving in Rapid City at mid-day from Sheridan,Wyoming, we wrapped up the tourism sites by visiting Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. These are two places we wanted to see and Mount Rushmore just overwhelmed us. Four great Americans—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln—carved into the face of a granite wall in the Black Hills National Forest. The figures, who in different eras literally shaped our country, cover a span of rock that stretches 800 feet wide by 500 feet high. It's a National Park and very well done.

When you first walk into the memorial, you feel a great sense of American pride, marveling at how and what these workers did to take a design by Gutzon Borglum in 1925 and turn it into this wonder of the world that took some 14 years to complete. The tools the workers used compared to today were ancient antiques of chisels, hammers, air drills and early-edition jackhammers, workers hanging on the side of cliffs and using model masks of the figures and hanging pointers from the top of the cliffs to make faces that are remarkably like the individuals they depict. Borglum selected the four leaders of our country to place on the face of the mountain and they all changed the history of our country.

Mimi and I hiked the Presidential Trail part way up the mountain where you can get a closer view of the faces and see the remnants of rock and shale from the granite. Ninety percent of the memorial was carved using dynamite, which is incredible that someone could form a nose or a mouth or a mustache by blowing up part of the mountain. You talk about American visionaries.

Then, we drove about 25 miles to the Crazy Horse Memorial, which has only just begun the task of carving one of America's best known native Americans into a granite mountain. the finished product will include Crazy Horse on his horse and pointing to the land he once defended. This memorial will be a great tribute to Native Americans and the task—inspired by Indian Chief Standing Bear and sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in 1947—is being undertaken without any government help and through all private funding. The current status of the mountain sculpture is the front of the face of Crazy Horse and a rather small hole to begin his pointing arm are the only distinctive features completed. Ziolkowski and Standing Bear have since passed away but the sculptor's family is continuing the project with little funding. When finished, and who knows when, the memorial in the mountain will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. It will be awesome to see and the workers are using modern drilling systems to get the task finished as soon as possible.

As we drove to Rapid City, we made a quick stop at the famous western town of Deadwood—you all remember the "Deadwood Stage" don't you—now refurbished with an attempt to take it back to the days of 1875. The city, now a national historic landmark, calls itself the place where cowboy legends lived and died. This town made famous the likes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (the real ones not Paul Newman and Robert Redford) and other famous cowboys and outlaws. The restored buildings are terrific, but most of the town is full of casinos now to draw tourism so we didn't stay too long. It's just neat to say that we visited Deadwood!

Anyway, look forward to seeing everyone soon and can't wait to show you all our slide show. I know you can hardly wait for that!!!

Happy Trails.

Yellowstone & Beyond

Animal Day at Yellowstone—A moose as we were departing. An Elk casually eating along the highway and Mr. Bison and his buddy walking down the center of the road.

Unable to get on the internet at our "lodge" in Yellowstone last night, we are catching up with a day-and-a-half at Yellowstone and our journey toward Rapid City today. We won't discuss our lodging at Yellowstone, but, simply put, it wasn't what the pictures showed. It really didn't matter all that much because we stayed in the park late, drove to our hotel in the dark, passing elk along the road, and just hit the sack for an uncomfortable night of sleep in a room that was less than nice.

It's not easy to explain Yellowstone, except that it's millions of acres of land that literally has a little bit of everything, including the animals you see above.

We are driving down the road today in the park and, as the traffic slowed and eventually stopped in front of us, two huge Bison are walking down the center stripe of the road between the cars. They are just meandering right down the middle, barely missing the cars with their horns sticking out and really, could care less that there were people and cars around. It's their road, you know.

Anyway, I leave a little space between me and the car in front the Bison makes a left turn in front of our car, gives me a look like "thanks for the space" and walks off into the trees. It was truly a classic moment and Mimi and I were laughing so hard we couldn't move for about 30 seconds. There are thousands of Bison in the park and they don't care about roads. We were stopped three times today to let Bison cross the road. They are really big uglies and between the car and them, they'd win in a walk! We saw a whole bunch of elk in the park, including a big bull elk that wouldn't come out of the trees. I got a brief glimpse of him but not enough to take a photo, unfortunately. Then, as we leave the park and head for Cody, Wyoming, there are two moose right along the road. The one, in the photo above, was huge with a big "rack" on him. The momma elk just kept eating away right at roadside, unbothered by the people that started to gather along the highway.

Didn't get to see any bears, unfortunately and sadly, but we sure saw everything else, including a coyote chasing a field mouse in a field of Bison.

Yesterday we started Yellowstone with a beautiful drive from the Tetons and got some brand new views of the Teton peaks that are so majestic and saw incredible fall colors of the aspen along the way. After entering the park, we headed for Old Faithful, the most famous of the geysers but not even close to the only one. We sat on the porch of the Old Faithful Inn and watched Old Faithful erupt. There are more than 30 other geysers and steam pools all around Old Faithful and a boardwalk to walk around all of them. The whole park is full of these geysers and mud volcanos and hot springs. They pop up everywhere, including right next to the streams and rivers that run through the whole complex and they are amazing.

The temps of the water from them is about 160 to 200 degrees and you stand there watching water bubble like a hot tub. They worn you to stay on the boardwalks because the ground is crusty and you can easily sink into oblivion and scold yourself to death. Over a dozen people, who didn't take heed to the warning, have died by falling into these pools and surrounding areas. More than 100 have been severely scalded. When you look at these pools bubbling, you don't dare even think about stepping off the boardwalk.

History lesson No. 1. Some 650,000 years ago Yellowstone was a total volcano and the huge eruption caused all kinds of rock formations that, over time, have worn their way into canyons and gourges and geysers. The ground underneath is still boiling but, above the ground, is a beautiful park full of wild animals and forests and mountains that stretch forever.

Our newest surprise came this afternoon as we headed east in Wyoming where we ran into some of the most amazing terrain we've seen on the whole trip in the Big Horn National Forest. Heading over Granite Pass (9,000) are some of the most amazing rock formations you've ever seen and a geologists delight, I'm sure.

We drove through a limestone canyon that was only about 30 yards wide with steep walls that reached some 600 feet-plus into the sky, straight up! Signs near these cliffs said the walls of rock were anywhere from 330 million to 500 million years old. One granite wall was 2.5 billion—yes, billion—years old.

It was a phenomenal drive and, though we were tired and looking for a place to park for the night, we kept stopping to take photographs. We had no idea we were going to be driving through this kind of terrain so it was a very pleasant surprise and most enjoyable.

We stopped in Sheridan for the night and will take off in the morning for Grand Rapids, which is about three hours away. From there we'll check out the badlands, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Hopefully we can head for home sometime Monday and aiming to reach home by Tuesday night.

Home? Where is that? Is it still standing?

Happy Trails.

Tetons-Day II

(left) these erie little clouds hugged the valley floor this morning and the peaks of the Tetons were shrouded in clouds. (center) This is the kind of views you get from the golf course on nearly every hole. (right) Yes, I did get to play golf and the scenery seems to distract a little bit.

We had a full day of activity today in Day II of the Tetons. We didn't return to the hotel until 9 o'clock tonight.

We awakened to 34 degrees this morning and there was this little cloud formation hugging the valley floor and creeping up the little foothill right across the valley from us. The Teton peaks were covered by clouds as well and it looked as if the peaks caught the clouds and wouldn't let them go. Finally, later in the day, the skies cleared and we enjoyed a perfectly blue sky and a really spectacular view of the mountain range.

We drove over to the expensive side of the mountain—Teton Village— where Four Seasons has a lodge along with some other big name and high rent places. We decided that we had the better deal all the way around. We have a much better view of the Teton peaks and the whole mountain range. Teton Village is located at the base of the Jackson Hole Ski Area, which looks like a really difficult place to ski. Very steep and narrow runs. The hotel guy told us that it is about 50% expert, 40% intermediate and 10% beginner. Doesn't sound like my kind of place, especially now! These hotels and lodges are so close to the mountain range that you miss the full view of the peaks.

Jackson is about 6200 feet in elevation and our hotel is about 500 feet or so above that. These Teton peaks are like 13,000 feet so you can imagine how huge they seem.

We visited the National Wildlife Art Museum just outside Jackson Hole. It is really nice, some great paintings of all kinds of wildlife and some sensational sculptures, including one of a group of elk at the entrance to the building, which is constructed of natural rock.

After that we spent some time in downtown Jackson, just walking around and looking at the shops. The town is pretty compact, especially the shopping area, and is loaded with t-shirt shops, leather stores and art galleries. Most of the gallery places are way over-priced. Walked into one gallery full of some really nice photographs. There was a nice shot framed of Yellowstone. Cost—$10,000. Or you could buy a print of it for $625. What a deal, huh?

And, as you can see from the photos above, I did get to play golf. I played nine holes at the Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis Club with Mimi in the co-pilot's seat. Actually, we played late in the evening and had the course to ourselves. The views were spectacular and the course was very nice. We took our time, took photos of the mountains and then went to dinner at a mexican restaurant before we headed up the mountain to the Spring Creek Ranch.

The Hotel is just wonderful and you've seen the views we have from our back deck. You could spend all day looking at the Tetons. They are rugged, rocky and beautiful, very different from any of the mountain ranges we've gone through.

Tomorrow we visit Teton National Park and then head on to Yellowstone, which we are really looking forward to seeing. We have Yellowstone, then Mount Rushmore, the Bad Lands and Crazy Horse and then, believe it or not, we head for home. It seems like we've been gone for months. Miss you all.

Happy Trails.

The Tetons

(left) The colors at the top of the Teton Summit (9,700 feet). (Center) The Grand Teton from the Jackson Hole Valley. (right) Another great scenery golf course I didn't play.

If you are describing luxury and majestic scenery, you might start with where we are tonight—Spring Creek Ranch at Jackson Hole. So, just where do we go from here!

What an inspiring and beautiful place we have landed today, driving from Twin Falls Idaho, north through Pocatello and Idaho Falls. We took the long road over the Grand Teton Summit and believe me, it was worth the extra time to see the terrain and the colors of the aspen and willows and sage turning bright yellow and golds. This is the season for the turning colors of the aspen trees but everything else turns as well and it is a true kaleidoscope of colors enriched by a a dark green forest of pine trees and steep mountainsides.

When you reach the top of the summit, an incredible valley appears before your eyes full of green pastures and aspen trees that literally glow in the sunlight as they turn into their fall colors. Below lies Jackson and Jackson Hole, actually one in the same communities and a delightful view of the Teton Mountain Range, which is so different from anything we've seen.

Our room looks out on the Grand Teton range and you find yourself just standing on the deck looking out over the valley and onto this magnificent mountain range that was formed thousands of years ago by glaciers. The Snake River, which we followed all the way from Twin Falls, winds through the valley where aspens and popular trees change from green to yellow to gold in large groves.

I found another great golf course shadowed by the Tetons and could only take photos at the course because we have so many things to see. Tomorrow we explore the Teton National Park and get a closer view of the Grant Teton, a towering pointed piece of jagged rocks that climbs some 13,000 feet into the sky. The view in the evening from the restaurant at the hotel was simply magnificent and it was hard to believe that we were where we were, enjoying the view and wonders of the world.

As much as I would like to play golf, the National Park should be awesome and we'll most definitely get a closer look at this range of mountains that is like no other. There are lakes and rivers and creeks and forests that surround this range and the exploration should be something else.

We haven't even reached Yellowstone yet and already we are awed at what we've seen.

Happy Trails.

From Nevada to Idaho

So, you walk to the middle of

this bridge, see. Then you jump

off the bridge, pull the rip cord

and float to the ground or the

river or wherever. Maybe you

float to the golf course, which

is at the bottom of the canyon!
Listen up guys, I've got a new sport for us to add to our golf games, cigar smoking and wine drinking. It's called parachuting and, unlike Georgia Lynch, you don't need a plane. You just walk out to the middle of the Perrine Bridge— which spans the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho—and jump off. Don't forget to pull the cord and you need to do it rather quickly. It's about 500 feet down to either the river or a little tiny parcel of land near the river with huge rock walls flanking the sides.

About 5,000 young, crazy people do it each year and it is the only bridge in the world where it is not illegal to do it. They don't arrest you when you do it, they just look at you funny and hope you don't date their daughter or grand daughter.

Watching this is unbelievable. I only wish I had a really good camera to capture a close up of them climbing over the railing and flying out into the thin air with that treacherous canyon far below. We watched five people go off the bridge, one time a twosome. One of the guys didn't quite make the landing spot and wound up in the bushes at the side of the river.

We arrived in Twin Falls late this afternoon and I wasn't even going to do a blog because we had spent most of the day driving through my home state of Nevada (straight for 26 miles, slight left turn, straight for 32 miles, slight right turn, couple of mountains, lots of desert) and there really wasn't much to report.

We drove just under 500 miles today but, honestly, it really wasn't bad. There are parts of Nevada's terrain that are pretty awesome, especially the Ruby Mountain rang near Elko. Rugged mountains and there is still snow at the top of the highest peak, which I think is about 9,000 feet. I pointed out all the little towns to Joan as we drove, places I played football and baseball in high school, usually driving there in a school bus for a long distance. We were from the big city and the little town boys really didn't like to lose to us. Anyway, I'm pretty sure Joan was impressed! I didn't take photos of the ball fields so they won't be in my slide show when we get back.

You come into Twin Falls from the South on Highway 93 and it appears rather flat—they call it the Snake River Plains— and you can make out in the far distance to the north some mountains, which are near Sun Valley some 80 or so miles away. You are up about 5,000 feet or so, but it looks flat and there was a haze in the air that screened the mountain views. Then you drive to the Snake River, which runs through Twin Falls and you come upon this beautiful (and deep) gourge and it takes your breath away, particularly driving across this bridge and looking down into the canyon. Then you see those crazies leap off the bridge and you are amazed that people do that.

Twin Falls is a fairly big town (about 130,000) and pretty spread out. Two golf courses are located at the bottom of the canyon and they are simply gorgeous looking (nope, didn't play it or get close to it but it sure looked good). What you do is set your tee time and then tell the starter you'll literally be "dropping" in on the first hole.

Just when we think we've seen it all, we head for the Tetons, Jackson Hole and Yellowstone the next three days. Ought to be awesome, don't you think?

Happy Trails.

The End of the California Road

On the Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore.

We hit another bonanza today!

There was bright blue sky above as we woke up in Bodega Bay after a day of rain and thick fog. This morning, the fog was creeping in at the top of the water on the bay but the sky above was blue and the sun was shining. It was a rather incredible scene, but we knew we were in for sunshine after the morning fog burned off.

We headed down Highway One, knowing this would be our last day on this wonderful highway along the Pacific Coast. It was a short drive to the Point Reyes National Seashore, passing by some really neat little towns—Tomales Bay, Point Reyes Station and Oleam. Tiny little burgs right on the bay with houses that stood on wood stilts out and just above the water. Talk about your ocean front place!

There was a point when we weren't sure we were on the right highway as we hugged Tomales Bay, which looked this morning like a sheet of glass. There was a big mountain range between us and the ocean when we got closer to Point Reyes and found out that that's what Point Reyes is a mountain that literally folds into the bay on the east side and the ocean on the west side.

What a beautiful place, quiet as a mouse with slippers on, perfectly calm, wonderful cypress and oak trees and fields of marshes, tall grass and scrub bushes that looked like manzanetta bushes. Inside the park, after a visit to the Visitors Center, we drove up over the mountain to the Dunes Beach where you could see for miles. At the start, we were the only ones on the beach and then others started arriving but not very many. The sun was out and the fog was hugging the high mountains and the cliffs to our north. The beach was miles and miles long and the waves were flowing onto the beach, not crashing like they were yesterday. The water was so blue you could almost see to Hawaii (well, maybe not that far). Anyway, it was something else.

We were sad to see the end of Highway One when we headed east toward San Rafael so we could cross the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. We traveled some 150 miles on Highway One, seeing the ocean in its entirety, and we spent three days at some great places with very little traffic in our way. We won't soon forget the ocean and the rugged rocks that jut out of the ocean floor, nor the wavy, curvy road or the redwood groves or the cypress trees or the little towns we stayed in.

The Golden Gate Bridge looked like we've rarely seen it. The fog was coming under the bridge and you could see blue sky and the San Francisco skyline over the top of the fog. There were thousands of people walking across the bridge, basking in the sunshine with little wind and looking at the fog cover below them.

Then we headed down 19th Avenue, passing by San Francisco State, where the three of us went to school. We didn't have time to stop but I doubt we'd have found a parking place because school was in session. There weren't any parking places when we were there and I'm sure things haven't changed in that department. Anyway, it was good to drive by the place and it conjured up some memories of our days in The City when we were all broke and happy.

So we leave SF on one of those great days in the city and tomorrow, we head east, through the Nevada desert and then north into Twin Falls, Idaho. We'll be close to seeing the Tetons and Jackson Hole on Wednesday. For sure, though, the road will be straighter than the one we've been on for three days.

Happy Trails.

Heading Toward SF

(left) waves hitting the rocks near Sea Ranch. (above) Mimi and I at Jenner where the Guala River runs into the ocean. (right) A rather abrupt dropoff at Bodega Bay.

We are in Bodega Bay this morning (couldn't get on the internet in our room last night) after a day of fog and drizzle most of yesterday in the drive from Gualala. We awakened to a drizzling rain and some pretty thick fog so the coastline was somewhat blurred most of yesterday but it gave the rocks and ocean and surrounding areas a rather erie feeling, kind of like you were on a movie set.

The drive from Gualala to Bodega Bay doesn't appear but a three wood shot on the map but it is anything but that. In miles it's short but in curvy road and steep cliffs, it is anything but a quick hop down the road. The scenery is something else and the terrain changes to some degree from the upper North Coast. From a place called Stewart's Point you climb some huge cliffs and the narrow road literally hugs the side of the mountain with dropoffs of 1,000 feet or so to the ocean below.

It is rather dramatic to say the least and in some places on the road, you don't even want to look down. There are spots where your stomach kind of drops to your toes because there are not guard rails....just your car, the road and sky. The fog was rolling and out of the coastline and it was quite a scene. There weren't any places to stop along the road because the mountain climbs higher than the road but you can surely see the ocean expanding into the beyond where Hawaii is probably the next stop.

We took a couple of little side trips along the way. We went inland along the Russian River to Guerneville where Mimi used to spend some summers with her folks at a little cabin and camping grounds along the river. The river is beautiful, wide and the foliage of cedar and pine trees and some redwoods cover the hillsides along with so much underbrush that you can't see the rocks and dirt. Everything is so deep dark green.

Guerneville used to be a sleepy little town where families from the Bay Area went for summer vacations. It is only 20 miles or so from the ocean. When you drive into the main street of the town it is literally a time warp back into the sixties. People are dressed in hippie-like clothes, there are a number of homeless and waywards wandering the streets and it's a little creepy and scraggy, if you know what I mean. We did have a late breakfast there at a longtime (80-some years) place called Pat's. The breakfast was really good and we even had to wait to get a table or booth. It is out of the fifties and sixties, though, and you definitely would not have liked the bathrooms. We don't think they had done a thing to them since they opened.

After getting to Bodega Bay we took another inland trip to Sebastapol and Occidental. The guide books talk about how quaint and neat Sebastapol is, but we certainly didn't find it anything but a small town with little junk shops so we never stopped, moving on to Occidental. Occidental is a much neater place, nestled in the heart of redwood forests and there is one little strip of stores and hotels that are pretty cool. The main hotel on the strip was built in 1879 so you can imagine how old the town is. There are orchards and vineyards scattered on the hills leading in and out of Occidental and we did stop to check out the wine in one of the general stores. They had an amazing selection of wines.

The Russian River produces nearly as much wine as the Napa Valley (not quite really but a lot) and their Pinot's are excellent. I've had some Navarro and Gualala Pinot's the last couple of nights at dinner. They were ones you can't find in KC because they don't produce enough to stretch across the country.

Bodega Bay sits right on the ocean with a huge inlet bay surrounding the little community. We drove out to the point of Bodega Bay yesterday afternoon and stood on the cliffs watching the ocean collide with the rocks far below the cliffs. The fog had lifted somewhat but was still hanging around. We could walk right up to the dropoffs and it was a scary feeling standing near the cliffs and seeing the ocean broiling below us.

We are about 50 miles from the Golden Gate bridge and will try to hit Point Reyes National Seashores before we cross into San Francisco and then head to the airport for Uncle Donn's flight this afternoon. We are thinking of staying near Tahoe tonight before heading across Nevada tomorrow and on to Idaho for the Tetons.

It is a gorgeous morning today with just a touch of fog blanketing the bay and blue skies above. It should be a good day to finish off Highway One and the Coastline. I think we are going to miss the ocean scenes as we head east this afternoon.

Happy Trails.

Highway One

(left) A truly typical view along Hwy 1 as we headed south of Little River. (right) The "lighthouse boys" at the top of the Point Arena Lighthouse.

One more time, we experienced a totally different environment and terrain as we headed down Highway One today from Little River to Gualala. The distance we traveled today was only 91 miles, the least amount of miles we've traveled since leaving KC 12 days ago, but it took us nearly all day to make the trek.

Highway One is a unique road to travel. It literally hugs the Pacific Coast,winding its way around the cliffs and craggy ocean inlets that make up the north coast area from Mendocino to San Francisco. It is quite a highway and the scenery is incredibly beautiful, to say the least. Picking the right photos for the blog was not easy, that's for sure because at every turn in the road we saw a rugged coast line of ocean and cliffs with huge rocks jutting out of the ocean floor and creating some wonderful views of the coastline. It is absolutely striking and your mouth falls open in awe every time you turn a sharp curve. You have to slow down to 25 and 15 miles an hour on some of the curves.

A number of rivers run into the ocean on this north coast, including the Navarro and the Gualala, creating a wide opening and huge inlet bays in the ocean terrain. The view reminds you of Big Sur, but it is so noncommercial here and so quiet that the little towns you go through come and go so fast you're not sure you went by them.

The highlight for us today was climbing the 145 steps of the Point Arena lighthouse. We were standing at the top of the lighthouse, 115 feet in the air, and had a incredible 360-degree view of the surrounding coastline that was simply magnificent. We could see for more than 50 miles and while we didn't see any whales, we did see many sea lions lounging on the rocks out in the ocean. The lighthouse is the tallest one in California. The stairway wound around the inside of the lighthouse and it was a workout for all three of us. Going down the stairs was much easier than going up, we all agreed. But, it was sure worth the trip when you saw the view.

The other highlight was visiting the Botanical Gardens just south of Fort Bragg. The Gardens border the Pacific Ocean where the view is spectacular. We saw hundreds of different plants, flowers, ferns and trees. Mimi, of course, was in her glory looking at all the plants and wondering why the ones in her backyard didn't look like these. The flowers were huge and when I show you the dahlias and begonias and the colors of the heather in my slide show, you will truly be amazed. (you didn't think I forgot about my slide show did you???) Really, Uncle Donn and I were amazed at the flowers. The Coast provides the kind of weather and fertile soil to grow flowers like no other area of the country. The flowers were huge and the colors were so vivid and so brilliant, unlike any color you could produce artificially.

We are only 100 or so miles from San Francisco, but it will take us the better part of two days to reach The City the way the road twists and turns along the coastline. We probably will stay at Bodega Bay or around there tomorrow and then on Monday will hit Stinson Beach—where we took Sam and Hannah last summer— before we take Uncle Donn to the SF Airport and begin heading toward Idaho. We are looking forward to our trip to the Tetons and to Yellowstone. We have seen so many different terrains on the trip so far that it boggles our minds. It would be hard to select the best but we all agree that this country is incredibly beautiful and there is so much to see.

It has truly been a lifetime trip for us and it isn't even close to over. We still have to drive through most of Nevada in the next couple of days to get to Idaho, but we'll get through it and try to find some kind of beauty in the desert.

Since leaving Calistoga, we haven't had any cell phone connection or reception and doubt we'll find any until we reach the SF Bay Area. Mimi has been texting the grand kids but I don't think they've gotten any of them because of lack or reception. We still don't know how Jack did in his soccer tournament in Des Moines last weekend. T-Mobile doesn't seem to be anywhere close to the Pacific Ocean. Uncle Donn can get some cell phone reception in the parking lot of our hotel in Gualala but not in his room. Figure that.

The hotel is really nice. Our room has a deck that looks out on the Ocean and the waves are really rolling tonight. We have the windows open and can hear the sea crashing against the rocks and sandy beach just below our room. We are just above the beach and the ocean smells wonderful.

That's all for now, more from Highway One tomorrow.

Happy Trails!

Heading For The Pacific Ocean

(left) Jordan Winery on the way to the

ocean. (right) Some of the redwoods we drove through on the way to Mendocino.

Being the computer whiz that I am, I had all kinds of trouble getting to my blog last night when we arrived on the Mendocino Coast at the Little River Inn. Google would not accept my pass word and the frustration grew and grew through the night since we were trying to get to dinner and all, so I am writing this on Saturday morning as we get ready to leave to head down the coast. 'Nuff of my problems, though, huh.

This morning, I went on the password worked so here I am blogging away, just like I knew what I was doing!

When you leave the wine country of the Napa Valley north of Calistoga, you don't really leave wine country. You just run into more vineyards climbing up the mountain range and more wineries, many of which I had never heard of. On route 128, a little but good two-lane road, you climb a big mountain range that separates the coastal country from the Napa valleys. The drive is incredible, past Healdsburg and Cloverdale. Forrest's of old oak and pine trees surround green vineyards where huge purple grapes hang from the vines, nearly ready to pick and begin making more wine for all of us.

As we are climbing the mountain, near Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, we came upon Jordan Cellars, one of my favorite wines. The notice at the gate said tours and tasting by appointment only but we drove into this beautiful, oak-laden estate anyway, with the idea that we could sneak a peak. The ancient building, which looks like a monastery, was covered in ivy and nicely manicured green lawns and old rock walls surrounded the estate.

We didn't get to tour the building or taste any of their sumptuous wines, but I did get to buy a couple of bottles they no longer sell outside the winery. I got 2000 Jordan Cab and a 2006 Jordan Cab that Harold and Lynch and I will devour as soon as I get back. The gentlemen from Jordan, talking with us, said to hold the '06 for another three to five years, but that's a risk when you are nearing 70! The winery was just gorgeous and we all were happy we stopped to see it, even though Bernie and Mimi don't drink wines. Honestly, they really enjoyed the stop!!

We stopped in Healdsburg to see where Uncle Donn's summer family home used to be. We found the area near Fitch Mountain and along the Russian River but we couldn't locate the actual cabin his family had for years. Uncle Donn had many great memories of his time as a child with he and his sister Margot, so it was neat to go there and it's wonderful countryside. I remember all of these little burgs pretty well from my SF Examiner days when I was covering high school sports. I used to keep track of the whole northern California area for high schools, so the names of towns were familiar.

The wine country has its own sense of beauty, for sure, unique in every way, but that drive over the mountain range to Highway One, was something else. On the west side of 101, the main freeway (which we are on for only about five miles), 128 meandors through an unbelievable number of groves and huge redwood trees. These groves barely let in any sunlight. They are a 100 or so feet high and stacked together like rows of pencils. They are magnificent to see and the foilage under the trees is incredible with huge dark green wild ferns and patches of clovers. We stopped in one of the groves to observe these redwoods up close and take pictures. The little two-lane highway runs right next to them and some of the trees literally grow right into the road as your car barely misses them, especially when another car is coming the other way.

Then you hit the coast line and highway 1 and wow, the ocean socks you right in the face with its rugged coast line, high cliffs and big rocks that stick out of the water. It was foggy when we arrived and again this morning, but it appears the fog is clearing today so the views should be spectacular. I'll save the good shots for my slide show when I get home (aren't you looking forward to that!). I may pour good one.

I escaped the wine country, buying only four bottles of wine, which is pretty good. May add to the list today. That's the problem of having your own car. There is always room for more stuff!

The Little River Inn sits nearly right at the edge of ocean and there are great views of the rocks, ocean and cliffs from our little cabin (bungalow) this morning. Last night it was darker than heck as we drove down highway 1 to a restaurant called Ledford's that sits right at the edge of an ocean cliff. It was so dark, you realized you were on the edge of the cliff, but couldn't really see anything. The food was wonderful.

One thing we've done well on this trip is eat eat eat. We are only two meals a day but the breakfasts are usually outstanding (we had the best ever at Sol Bar in Calistoga yesterday morning with the Henderson's) and the dinner's are filling, to say the least. Conditioning programs will be on our agenda when we get home.

We miss everyone, especially our grand kids and love you all.

Happy Trails.

The Wine Country

Napa Valley and America's premier wine country.

When you travel through the wine country of the Napa and Sonoma valleys, you quickly realize that there are definitely enough grapes for our wine consumption. For miles up either of the valleys is all you see are beautiful vineyards stretched the mountain's edges and even up into the mountains at times. The grapes are ripe this time of year and hang in bunches off the vines that around about five to seven feet tall and grow in even shapes and sizes in distinct and accurate rows as if someone meticulously planted each one.

The harvest season was due to start this week but the earlier weather and rain has delayed the process a few weeks so we weren't able to see all of the people harvesting grapes in the fields so they can be crushed and made into the sumptuous wine that we all love to drink.

Seeing all the vineyards makes you want to go buy a bottle or two....so we did! It was late in the day by the time we got up into the Napa Valley so many of the wineries were closing for the day. But, we found Ehlers Estates winery open and dropped in for a tasting. I bought a bottle of Carbenet Franc, which I tasted for the first time and really liked. then we went by Twomey Cellars, which I had read about and bought a bottle of Russian River grown Pinot Noir. Hope I can save both until we get back because Allyson will love both vintages, I know!

We left Walnut Creek in the morning and stopped in the little historic town of Sonoma at the foot of the Sonoma Valley. Had lunch with a good friend of Uncle Donn's—Jim Lynch (not the football player and famous golfer). Jim was a student at and in a fraternity at UC Santa Barbara when Donn was the school's SID (Sports Information Director). For some reason, and you would have to question their sanity, they asked Donn to be their adviser. So Donn, as usual, got to know personally all the kids in the fraternity and has pretty much kept in touch since.

Jim is the publisher of the Sonoma Index Tribune in Sonoma, a small paper that services the valley. The paper has been in his family for four generations and, like all the newspapers in the world, is suffering from readership to a degree and low income from advertising. But, they are keep in alive with internet and who knows what else. What a fun job that would be running a small town newspaper. He and his brother, Bill, run the paper and so far have kept things going in this economy-strapped industry.

At the suggestion of Jim Lynch, we drove over the old Oakville road from Sonoma Valley to Napa Valley, an absolutely beautiful drive up over the mountain range that separates the two wine valleys. the winding road zig zagged through the most gorgeous oak trees that had to be hundreds and hundreds of years old. When you get to the top of the mountain range you look out over the Napa Valley and fields and fields of vineyards on the valley floor. A picture would have been good but the road is so narrow there is no place to pull over to take the picture.

We hooked up with Mike and Pat Henderson, our former neighbors who drove up from Lafayette. We had dinner together in Calistoga (home of Dick Vermeil) at Brannan's Grill, a neat little restaurant located in the heart of this little city. We are staying at the Clarion Lodge in Calistoga. Calistoga is located at the north end of the Napa Valley and, after a brief visit in the town of St. Helena and breakfast, of course, we'll head for the coast the Mendocino country with Uncle Donn on hand.

I do have to give belated credit to Pat—who we all JJ— for delivering our hanging bags to the hotel in Walnut Creek. We had the Cedar City, Utah, motel ship them to the Henderson's house to make sure they got their and JJ drove over them first thing the other morning so I could get over any anxiety about leaving the bags behind in Utah! Besides, it gives me a chance to tell you that, when we lived in Lafayette, JJ and I were undefeated in tennis, usually thrashing Mike and Joan on a regular basis at the Lafayette tennis courts.

It was great to see our old neighborhood in the Walnut Creek area and to be back in northern California and see that beautiful part of the country. The wine country, north of S.F., is something else and when you come you need to see it and try those great California wines. It's a lot different now in this wine country. You used to be able to drive up to the wineries and drop in for a taste and a tour. Now, many are by appointment and most charge a fee to taste wine. Times have changed.

Happy Trails.

Pac-8 PR Reunion

A golf outing Wednesday at Castlewood Country Club followed by the reunion dinner that saluted our newest member Jim Muldoon.

The Pac-8 PR Guys Reunion concluded last night, ushering in the newest member of the Pac-8 Geezers Club—Jim Muldoon. Jimmy served gloriously as the Pacific-10 Conference's public relations director for some 35 years, through two-plus commissioners. Uncle Donn presented he and Jim's wife, Rose-Meri, with a photo montage as the welcome and we told Jimmy, no more honors after this. You are officially a "Has Been."

Eleven of the PR guys I worked with in the conference were on hand for the two-day reunion and it was a great time with a lot of memories being tossed around. These guys here worked at some prestigious universities from Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, California and Stanford. Now, we make our jobs sound so glamorous, but this truly was a terrific and talented group of public relations people, who worked in an era without cell phones, computers and e-mails, got along with the media that covered us and even were able to talk to our head coaches and advise them on PR situations. Not sure that goes on today. We all agreed last night that we were most definitely in the right place at the right time.

So, after nearly four days in the same hotel—a real rarity on this journey—we are departing today for the California wine country and Mendocino Coast. Uncle Donn will be riding along with us for the next four days as we explore some of our most favorite parts of America. The weather has been spectacular and is expected to stay that way.

Time to pack the car and find a way to make room for Uncle Donn to fit into the CRV. That should be interesting since we've collected new stuff along the way and it might be a bit crowded. But, what the heck, were looking forward to the visit and the company.

More later. Happy Trails.

Day VII & VIII -Shopping With Uncle Donn

THE COSTCO EXPRESS — STAND CLEAR!

Took the day off from the blog yesterday because we had Bernie in tow while we shopped for the cocktail party at Costco and Safeway. He wheels the cart like he does a rental car and it was truly an experience. I'm throwing food into the cart and he's taking it out and replacing it with something less expensive.

We are hosting cocktails for the Pac-8 Reunion group tonight at Donn's brother-in-law's place in Alamo, a wonderful home up in the hills near Walnut Creek and Lafayette. The weather is superb, about 75 tonight, and so it should be a good night to be out on the deck.

It will be good to see some of the old gang from my Pac-8 days. They were all good people, fun to work with and very talented. Now, we are all just old, but what the heck.

Spent some time shopping in Walnut Creek yesterday before going to dinner with Bernie and Mike and JJ Henderson, our former neighbors in Lafayette. It's kind of old home week and should be fun before we head off into Northern California for the wine country and Mendocino Coastline. We are really looking forward to Mendocino, which is a place we've always enjoyed. It is just like Big Sur only not as commercial or populated.

the hotel here, Embassy Suites, is very nice and a great place to relax.

The best news yet is that our hanging bags arrived today so we are back to full gear again and don't have to wear the same clothes over and over.

All for now, more on the reunion later (bet that will be exciting for you to follow).....

Happy Trails.

Day VI — California Here We Come

No photos today.

Difficult to follow our sites in Utah.

Today was a short drive from Reno to Walnut Creek, site of our Pac-8 Reunion, which starts on Tuesday.

Because it was Sunday, the traffic to S.F. Bay Area was pretty heavy with the California crowd coming down from the mountain. It took us about 4 hours plus to get to Walnut Creek, plus a quick stop at the outlet mall in Vacaville to find a couple of golf shirts to wear until our hanging bags arrive from Utah.

In Reno, we had a visit with my sister's grandson and wife, Mal, who just celebrated a new baby girl. Josh's mother, Kathy—our niece— was there at the house and it was difficult to look at her and call her grandmother. I remember when she was just a little rug rat running around the house in Reno. My sister, Barb, of course is a great grandmother and proud as heck about it. The baby is really cute and Josh and Mal are so excited about the birth and addition to their family. They are living in the same house I grew up in, which is weird to walk into. Lot of memories in that house, for sure.

Bernie's nephew Douglas hosted us for dinner along with the Henderson's and Bernie's other niece, Susan, and their spouses. They live in Lafayette and we enjoyed some of the freshest and best BBQ salmon I've ever tasted.

We've had some long travels so for the first time we can sleep in tomorrow and park ourselves at the same hotel for four days, a real rarity. The weather is great and we are back in our old stomping grounds, so it should be fun the next couple of days before the reunion starts.

Happy Trails.

DAY V—The Longest Day

I tried to get Mimi to buy this place

and renovate for a bed & breakfast in

Milford, Utah. No mints on the

pillow.

This is the stretch

in Nevada they call

the loneliest road

in America.

If you are keeping score at home, mark me down for the biggest screw up of the trip (so far). I know that does not surprise anyone reading this blog.

Knowing it was going to be a long drive from Cedar City, Utah (nice Holiday Inn Express) to Reno, so I am pushing Mimi to get her little fanny out of bed and on the road through the beautiful countryside of western Utah and all of Nevada this morning. "Have you got everything," she asks me as we are leaving the hotel. "Absolutely, I reply."

So we get to Reno and the Fairfield Inn and start unpacking the car, only to find out that I left the hanging clothes bags in the hotel closest in Cedar City, Utah. Nice going, huh!!!

The good news out of this is that they found the bags and are sending them to us pronto but not until Monday, which means we get them Tuesday in California. I am ready to commit suicide and Mimi is saying "not to worry, they found 'em and they are shipping them."

So score me as the leader in the screw up department. Do you think there is a chance I'll do something again before this trip is over?

Yeah, me too.

Anyway, a long drive today through most of Utah, which is not too bad for scenery, and then through Nevada, which has the longest stretches of straight road in the world. We odometered one stretch at 34 miles and another at 26, then gave up. You go over some mountain ranges along the way and then hit these valleys of desert that seem to go on forever and look exactly like the one you just went through.

But, we made it in good time (minus the hanging bags of course), arriving in Reno about 5 o'clock. We are having dinner with my sister and her husband tonight, will see Barb's new great grand daughter tomorrow morning and then take off for California. Oh yes, I think there is a shopping trip somewhere in there to get clothes to wear until the bags arrive. it's good we have suitcases full of some clothes. I have some nice t-shirts and shorts, which is all I need.

There are no good landscape stories today. But the last two days in Utah at Bryce and Zion were just simply wonderful and something we will never forget.

I'll keep scoring points!

Happy Trails.

DAY IV—Bryce Canyon Final & Zion National Park

(left to right) A view from Rainbow Point, where you can see over 100 miles into New Mexico and Arizona. Black Birch Canyon in Bryce. The faces of Zion's rock mountains.

WOW! What a day for Mimi & Papa on Day IV of the Journey.

A brilliant cloudless blue sky and a rather chilly 39-degrees greeted us this morning at the Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel (not as great as it sounds but not too darn bad, really). Our alarm didn't make the grade this morning so we got a bit of a tardy start— since I slept in— and our design to watch sunrise at Sunrise Point at Bryce failed to come to fruition. But, we did get a pretty good start and departed the hotel parking lot at 8:15 am, which is pretty darn good in Mimi-Time!

You would not believe this day we had. The sky was a brilliant blue all day long and the temps began moving up the scale pretty rapidly. We started with jackets and ended with short sleeve shirts and the air condition on in the car. Today, was a full day of site seeing and what we saw was just plain....well.....incredible.

We finished off the pieces of Bryce Canyon we hadn't seen the day before, including catching the Natural Bridge (the hole in the rocks) with the morning sun catching it full tilt. Then we went to the end of the canyon to take in the panoramic views at Black Birch Canyon, Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point. The latter two are the end of the canyon and the view today was absolutely spectacular. First off, you are 9,300 feet high and at the 18th mile mark of this fabulous canyon. Today we could see beyond 100 miles. The photos do not do it justice because you could see peaks and mountains that are in New Mexico and Arizona and, with the blue sky as a backdrop for the "hoo doos' and this huge canyon made it a picture-perfect viewing day. We stood at the end of Yovimpa Point, all by ourselves on this viewing platform, with this reverent feeling as we looked south into Arizona at some magnificent mountains, valleys and meadows that stretched before us. It was unbelievably inspiring and, I think, really set the tone for the day. These spires (hoo doos) reach from the canyon floor some 2,000 feet and you can't believe what you are seeing. At the top of them, sits these boulders, precariously atop these sandstone rocks. You can see castles and church spires as you look at them and one even looks like a poodle dog—I thought it looked like a duck. You see pinks and reds and rusts and greys and pure white mountains of spires and you just simply can't believe what you are looking at.

We zipped out of Bryce past Ruby's conglomerate commercial development. This Ruby has a hotel, camping ground, RV park, gas station, restaurant, diner, general store, grocery store, bike rentals, ATV rentals, a laundromat, horseback riding stable, fake western town and gift store....all of it in one little complex at the entrance to Bryce Canyon. I think she also owns the Bryce Grand Hotel we stayed at but not sure. Oh yeah, I forgot about the western country show dinner pavilion she has as well. (we skipped the opportunity to see that last night)

Then we headed toward the town of Tropic where Mr. Bryce built a home for he and his wife back in the 20's. We stopped off at Mossy Cave, which is the backside of Bryce Canyon and in addition to a waterfall and cave offers you the opportunity to view these hoo doos and spires from part of the valley floor. It is a totally different perspective viewing these rocks from the ground floor and our walk into the back of the canyon was most inspiring and enjoyable.

I haven't even gotten to Zion. We headed there after a great lunch in Tropic at Clark's restaurant. The Clark family, mormons, were early settlers of the valley, which is rich in agriculture and mixes these red-faced mountains with green pastures that provide an amazing contrast of landscape. The homemade blueberry pie with ice cream that Mimi and I split, was out of this world (hey, we didn't have dinner).

Then came the drive to Zion National Park, south of Bryce on scenic highway 12, which is a beautiful drive through a number of farming valleys and high mountain scenes. As you drive in the east entrance toward Zion, you are overwhelmed with walls of rock mountains that flow right into the edges of the two-lane highway. These rock mountains are incredible sites, thousands and thousands of years old and marked with numerous stryiations and scars of years of weathering and erosion. Photos again don't do these justice. They are mammoth in size and climb some 1,000 feet literally from your car door. Pinion pines and junipers jut out of the rock mountains defying any agricultural rules known to man. They grow sideways from the rocks and you think of glaciers and prehistoric times.

And, you aren't even at the National Park yet. You enter the park and the Visitors Center is 12 miles away. They don't allow car travel so you take shuttles to seven site-seeing stops in the canyon and each stop, as you weave your way around these huge rock walls, just knocks your socks off. We got out at nearly everyone of the stops and viewed these gorgeous mountains on paths and walkways that go part way up the rock mountains. Most of the trails were too severe for Mimi and I but we did trek many of them and saw some spectacular scenery that is not only hard to photograph and but hard to explain.

Let me just say. Put Zion on your "bucket list" as well as Bryce. They are so different but they both make you realize what a beautiful country we live in.

Tomorrow, we drive through the Nevada desert (ugh).

Happy Trails.

DAY III—Utah & Bryce Canyon

(left to right) Natural Bridge in Bryce

Inspiration Point in Bryce

Ghost Rock in Black Devil Canyon

OKAY PEOPLE LISTEN UP!

If you haven't been to Southern Utah, in particular Bryce Canyon, put it on your "Bucket List." I mean it. Don't even think about not going there.

Day Three was truly a day we'll never forget as we departed from a not-so-good Comfort Inn in Green River, Utah. There was so much to see. In the first 45 minutes, we traveled only 16 miles, stopping at every view area on the way and being blown away by the magnificent terrain and some rather incredible rock formations. I never thought rock formations would ever turn me on but these vistas were incredible.

I know we've used the word incredible a bunch of times on this blog, but this time we really mean it.

We stopped along the way to Bryce Canyon to see the San Rafael Reef, Black Devil Canyon, Ghost Rock, the San Rafael Swell and Castle Valley. After awing at all of those sites, we coasted into the little burg of Salina, Utah, to have a late breakfast at Mom's Famous Cafe. A great place and the best breakfast we've had since we left KC (I have pictures).

Thinking that we've seen magnificent sites, we then took a scenic route Highway 89 south along the Seivern River and between mountain ranges to Bryce Canyon. Just before you hit Bryce, you go through Red Canyon on Highway 12. The dirt and rocks are a pinkish red with spires that jut out of the rock formations like church towers. The mountains are lined with pine trees and manzanetta bushes and dotted with yellow sage bushes they call Rabbit Brooms. It was outstanding and we wondered how it could get any better than what we saw.

Then we hit Bryce Canyon National Park. The best news is we paid $10 at the ranger stand and, as a senior citizen, got a free card to any National Park in the country for the rest of our lives. How about that!

Bryce Canyon has about 12 viewing points that you drive to through a forrest of pine trees. It is some 8,000 feet high on a plateau and when you walk to the first view point, it simply knocks your breath away. Each view point after that does the same thing with the most amazing rock formations and colors you have ever seen in America, unlike anything you have ever seen. These spires, which are called Hoo Doos, stick up some 500 feet each or so and the valley below is filled with caverns and slices of open space cravasses that you could barely fit into. All the view points are guarded by railings and they warn you to watch your kids because of the giant drop offs. I would say that the bottom of the canyon is some 1,000 to 2,000 or so feet below us and these hoo doos shoot up out of the ground like rock trees. When you look in the distance, they appear spiritual, looking like church towers and castles.

The natural bridge viewing site is literally a hole in the rock formation about 40 yards in circumference and it just is awesome. We are going back there in the morning because the eastern sunrise should make it sparkle in the red glow of the earth. Each viewing site is different and you can walk like ten yards up the hill and get a totally different perspective of the view.

Wait til you see my slide show!

My only regret is that I didn't have a real good camera (or Rod Hanna) to take the photos. Our little camera, I'm sure, won't do it justice. But we will never forget what we have seen and you should see it, too.

Who knows what Day IV will bring, but it will be incredible, you can bet on that.

Happy Trails.

Day II - Colorado/Utah

Driving through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado
First off, there is an easier way to get to the blog:

http:/travelingwithmimiandpapa.blogspot.com

Today we saw artifacts more than 3,000 years old and viewed some incredible scenery we had never seen before. So, it was a pretty good day for the old codgers in our drive across Colorado and barely sneaking into Utah. We hit the 1,000 mile mark on the trip already and boy, did we see some new and wonderful sites today.

The morning started off with the King Tut Exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, which in itself is something to see. This Egyptian king, who died mysteriously at the ripe old age of 19, was buried in his own fashionable tomb with all the pomp and circumstance you could ask for. Archeologists discovered his tomb in 1922 and, except for some grave robbing, it was incredibly intact, including his mumified body, which was wrapped in more than 100 yards of linen, placed in two jewelry-cast encasements and then buried in four different boxes, all of solid gold. The Egyptians believed that the Pharaohs would live on in after life so they buried the kings in huge tombs with all their wealth and goods that would fit. No, we didn't see his body, except on video.

It is an interesting exhibit and when you see some of the jewelry, solid gold masks and protective statues for the various gods they worshipped it is rather amazing. The exhibit is not totally complete but there is a lot to see and amazingly interesting when you consider this king was born in 1333 b.c. Anyway, we should have one-hundredth of his wealth and we could build our own golf course....

Then, we headed for the mountains, leaving behind our luxurious suite at the Hyatt. The Rocky Mountains are always fascinating, even the parts we have seen many times. We stopped off in Vail for a late lunch in the village and ran into, unbelievably, an old friend from Steamboat—Bob Milne. It was a huge surprise to both of us and we had a nice visit. Bob was one of the guys on our eightsome golf trips to Arizona during Super Bowl weeks, a trek we made something like 15 years in a row.

We hit some big rainstorms in Vail and heading west but, for us, the scenery was new and incredibly outstanding. The Rockies change so much from one geographic place to another and today, we really saw some walls of rock that literally knocked our socks off. The photo above driving through Glenwood Canyon on the way to Grand Junction doesn't do the scenery justice. The White River National Park canyon is jaw-opening spectacular. The White River has carved its way through this canyon and somehow they put a highway in there to capture the beauty.

We decided not to stay in Grand Junction because it was too early and there isn't much to see and do there. Getting there is something else. The vistas and the mesas are sensational at every turn. Then we hit the Utah line and the landscape changes drastically into rolling hills and rocky cliffs. We took a detour in the evening to Arches National Park, where the Colorado River meanders through some incredible canyons and sheer rock walls. The road gets very narrow and it started getting dark as we drove through these canyons, but it was well worth the detour. We jumped back on I-70 to Green River, arriving pretty late after a long day. Even the Comfort Inn looked good but no bottle of wine or fruit at our door.....

Tomorrow we head for Bryce Canyon and we think it is going to be spectacular. I keep forgetting to take a bunch of photos but will do it starting tomorrow when we check out all the new stuff.

Happy Trails.

Driving Through Kansas on the first leg of our journey.