Travels in the northwest states
Intuitively, I know we had a great year this past year. But, as always, it is not until I go back through our journals that I recognize just how beautiful, complex, and in some areas stressful it was. I know many of you are expecting the crème de la crème this year to be our… Read More 2022 in Review – Dec 2022
This will be a short post, not for any bad reason – just because we quickly move on, and basically off the grid. We spent a few days in Great Falls – kind of as a gathering point, partly as a laundry/chores stop, but also partly to gain a little western art and Lewis &… Read More Montana: Part II – Sept 2022
After several amazing weeks in Idaho, we departed Idaho and almost immediately became enamored with Montana! Traveling down a 2-lane road, no other vehicles in sight, we were in a “valley” (albeit at +/- 6,000 feet elevation), with massive mountains on one side that must have topped 12,000 feet, and on the other side for… Read More Montana: Part I – Sept 2022
Last but not least… Part III. This will be the last post from Idaho – at least for a while. We will be moving on, as we always do. We made our way further north from Riggins to Heyburn State Park in Plummer, ID. On our route to Heyburn, we spent hours simply amazed by… Read More Idaho: Part III – Sept 2022
You know where Riggins, Idaho is? It is halfway between the north pole and the equator. So there. We departed Stanley heading northwest on the Ponderosa Pines Scenic Byway. We stopped by the ranch, but Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe were out mending the fence line. Just as well – Karen still has a crush… Read More Idaho: Part II – Aug 2022
Wow. And I thought Wyoming was pretty! At first, I thought I would post one session about our trip to Idaho. Not so fast, big boy. This state is turning out to be one hell of a beautiful state, with so much to share! So here is our first post of several about Idaho. Based… Read More Idaho: Part I – Aug 2022
Wyoming – what a beautiful place! And we only covered a tiny slice of the state… we’ve got plenty more to see. Now what makes me a bit nervous is showing you a few of our locations – we think they are beautiful, but you may view them as desolate and lonely. To each their… Read More Wyoming – Aug 2022
Since this is (arguably) a travel blog, I thought I might talk about… travel. You can be forgiven if you have already forgotten what “travel” is. Perhaps this is where you queue the Dave Matthews Band, The Space Between… or the Eagles, Taking it Easy. This post in particular is about tweens. No, not teens,… Read More Tweens – May 2020
Many people are not aware New Hampshire has a seacoast. I mean, let’s face it – on a map some people would be as challenged to point out New Hampshire as they would the Sudan. It’s kind of like me and Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska… it always takes me a little orientation to figure out… Read More New Hampshire Seacoast – May 2019
It doesn’t seem possible, but at the end of this month (technically a month later for Karen) we will have been retired for 5 years! What the hell have we done? Retirement, for those uninitiated, is when you shovel your driveway down to bare pavement two hours after a major storm. Being anal retentive helps. Retirement is… Read More 5 Years Post Retirement – Mar 2019
Sometimes, the little things are the big things. Originally, we were going to continue heading north from Oregon into Washington State, but we got a better offer, and as a result are heading a bit east, and quickly found ourselves in southwest Wyoming. But not before first stopping in Garden City, UT just a hop,… Read More Rock Springs, WY – July 2018
If someone can cover an entire state the size of New England and New York, in a single day, on a single road, while barely leaving the vehicle, I mean, who better than us for such shortsighted, inaccurate, and cursory coverage? Hey, if you wanted accurate and insightful information, you wouldn’t be reading this blog.… Read More Oregon – July 2018
We have just wrapped up a few days in the Deschutes National Forest in western Oregon, perhaps an hour drive west and south of Bend. I know I sound like a broken record, but two words describe this place: pretty freaking cool. Freaking is not a word, I think we all know that. Deschutes National… Read More Deschutes National Forest – July 2018
Once again keeping our (my) priorities in order, we arrived in Bend for the purpose of tasting some local craft beers. Or bust. Well, we got a little bit of each. But before I get into that, you need (“need” might be an exaggeration) to know about our trip heading into Bend, OR. As a side… Read More Beer or Bust in Bend – July 2018
Continuing in our all-volcano, all-the-time channel, this installment is Crater Lake National Park. What a stunning area – holy crap! Now remember, even though this is a lake, it is really a volcano, caused from the collapse of a volcano that then filled with water. The volcanoes here are over 400,000 years old. Don’t lie to me… Read More Crater Lake NP – July 2018
We’ll get to Glacier in a moment; and you can see our previous visit in May on our way to Alaska. One of the nice things about being on the road is you meet cool people. The other day we were driving up the Going-To-The-Sun Road (hard not to in this park) and we saw… Read More Glacier NP – Aug 2017
We crossed the border back into the United States at Sumas in Washington State, a bit east of Bellingham. The customs/border patrol inspected our truck and trailer, and lightened our load by a few tomatoes, some melon and some other dangerous vegetable. Thankfully they did not find the ivory tusks, the rare exotic birds, or… Read More Washington – Aug 2017
Valdez. We visited Valdez briefly about a month or so ago, but this time we spent a little more time here and got to see Prince William Sound. This really is a spectacular place. Even the drive in to Valdez is spectacular. We sprung and stayed at the Bayside RV park, which is in a… Read More Alaska (7) Valdez – July 2017
McCarthy Road. I have a close friend Jerry (I don’t really have a close friend Jerry, but it sounds cool) who says my entire blog is subject to low moral standards. He also says my blog has no redeeming value. I love that guy. Finally, someone with integrity! We continue our journey in the Wrangell-St.… Read More Alaska (3) McCarthy Road – June 2017
Nabesna Road. I am beginning to think we may suffer from visual overload on this trip. Driving south from Tok, AK, we arrived at the northern portion of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. I will be honest – I had never heard of this national park before arriving. This is the largest national… Read More Alaska (2) Nabesna Road – June 2017
Top of the World. It only took us a month, but we made it to Alaska! Now it certainly didn’t have to take us a month, but we had a most delightful trip, as you may have surmised if you followed any of our previous posts. We could have done this trip in two weeks,… Read More Alaska (1) Chicken – June 2017
British Columbia. You are now entering the world famous Alaska Highway! Yes indeed, we have crossed out of Alberta (which was unbelievable), and entered northern British Columbia (BC) just south of Dawson Creek. Now keep in mind that while I title this post British Columbia, that is inherently unfair to British Columbia because we have… Read More British Columbia – May 2017
Alberta. We exited Waterton Lakes, Banff and Jasper National Parks after four days, but we will be back; these are simply stunning parks that we have at this point only lightly touched. As we left the parks, we were not suddenly faced with unrestrained commercialism; in fact quite the opposite. We spent hours yesterday driving… Read More Road to Dawson Creek – May 2017
Alberta. We exited the US at the Waterton crossing – in Glacier National Park, and across into the Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada – Alberta, to be more precise. After dutifully instructing my bride not to answer any questions at the border crossing, we were (surprisingly) admitted into Canada. What were they thinking!?! We… Read More O Canada – May 2017
This will be a short post. We are sitting in a campground in Glacier National Park in northwest Montana and about to transit across into Canada later today on our trip to Alaska. As available we will try to post chapters of our journey. But for now, let’s not forget how unbelievably beautiful Glacier National… Read More Glacier National Park – May 2017
Yup, we are prepping for a trip to Alaska, making our lists and getting things ready! Just call us preppers. I am not new to this; I used to be a preppie. Pressed khakis? Check. Pink, button down cotton shirt? Check. Penny loafers? Check. Izod sweater? Check. Honey, I think we are ready to go… Read More Alaska Prep – May 2017