NW trip chapter 2 part 2

At the northern end of the coast route is Olympic National Park which includes rain forests, coastline and mountains with glaciers. Then we visited Betsy's friend in Seattle, donned our thick eyeglasses and visited the Science Fiction Hall of Fame + Experience Music Project.

NW trip chapter 2 part 3

Driving east across Washington we checked out Cascades National Park then hit the panhandle of Idaho and visited some of my friends who have a sweet timeshare on a lake. Spent a day just sitting on the beach and riding logs. Then headed to Glacier National Park for a few days, then down to Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

In Grand Teton we saw some interesting wildlife including this caterpillar and Moose. On the way home we stopped at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Las Vegas. Next trip is still up in the air at this point since we need to start planning around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

NW USA trip

We’re back on the road again. This time to the northwest US up thru Oregon and Washington, over to Idaho and Montana. Traveling up the coast is proving to be a bit tougher as it seems half of America is doing the same thing. Most campgrounds are booked out from May thru September well in advance. Fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style camping seems to be an endangered species these days. Don’t people work anymore?!?

On the way up we hit Pinnacles national monument (1), then spent a day in San Francisco and stayed at the RV park next to Candlestick stadium (2). Coke, meth and wireless internet are cheap in the adjacent lot. Tons of great coastline (3) along hwy 1. Found some wicked manzanita bark on one of our trails (4) and then drove thru some redwood groves dotting the coast.

Up next, Oregon and Washington coastline.

SW USA 2007 part 0

Forgive the lengthy delay, friends. We've been travelling around the southwest US including Kansas and Texas.
To do that we bought a used truck and camper that on the surface appeared perfect for our needs. However, it
took us a better part of a month to deal with various mechanical issues before it was ready to go.

A good chunk of our time was spent visiting friends and family in 4 different states so we didn't have much left over
for leisurely sight seeing. In summary, we did a circle through Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico
then back through Arizona and California in time for my Dad's 70th birthday celebration. On the way out and
back we did stop at a few places to camp and hike.

These are those pictures.... [Law and Order double chime here]

SW USA 2007 part 1

1) Sunset Crater, Arizona
2) Wukoki ruins, Arizona
3) Monument Valley, Arizona
4) Mesa Verde, Arizona
5) Artsy sunbeam in a Mesa Verde kiva copyright 2007

SW USA 2007 part 2

6) Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado
7) Great Sand Dunes, Colorado
8) More sand dunes
9) Betsy's Aunt and Uncle's farm in Kansas
10) Collared Lizard, Kansas

SW USA part 3

11) Slot canyon in Tent Rocks, New Mexico.
12) The tent rocks
13) El Morro box canyon, New Mexico
14) Petrified Forest, Arizona