Mount Rainier

Today we went to Mount Rainier. Though located in a state with two mountain ranges, (the Cascades and the Olympic Range), Mount Rainier is known by locals simply and affectionately as, "The Mountain."It is approx. 14,411 feet high and towers 8,000 feet above surrounding Cascades peaks, such a behemoth that it creates its own weather. The mountain and the surrounding area is Mount Rainier National Park. The mountain at its base covers 100 square miles and ranks fifth in height of all mountains in the contiguous U.S..
The landscape out here is so different than that of New England. Even with the Green and White Mountains that we are so used to. In one of these photos, Jaimie is standing on the 75 plus feet of snow to see Mount Hood to the left.
Tomorrow we head off to Olympic NP...

Mount Saint Helen's

Today we traveled out of Portland to Washington state. Our destination was Mount Saint Helen's. It is most famous for its catastrophic eruption in 1980, which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Many people, homes, Bridges, railways, etc. were destroyed. I am certain that we all remember this. The eruption caused a massive debris avalanche, reducing the elevation of the mountain's extensive summit and replacing it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater. As we drove up the mountain we hoped that the sky would clear so we would have a better view of this powerful mass, but visibility was limited. We saw an exhibition in the visiros center that really put hings in perspective for us.

Potland, Oregon

Well, I have to admit that throughout my life I have not really been much of a "city person" so when J said that we should experience Portland Oregon, I wasn't overly enthused. Much to my surprise this city has a very unique "style" and personalty. We toured the city first by "Lead Sled" and decided it best to rent a mini car to tour instead. Much better! we saw some sights to say the least. The city is awesome and quite pedestrian friendly. There were small cafes and street side entertainment everywhere. We pulled up a chair at a local cafe and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the street. There was an entertainer right in front of us. The weather was mid 70's and a light breeze with no humidity. Does it any better than this? After touring the city we ended up at the Dechutes Brewery where they had closed off the street for the night and had entertainment and a BBQ. Good times...
The next morning we visited a "Farmers Market" on the Courthouse common. We have never seen anything quite like this. It offered fresh vegetables as expected and much more: Porchetta sandwiches, Bakery products to die for, homemade candies, etc. we enjoyed the morning sun, ambiance and aromas and made our choices for purchase and moved on. We then experienced the Chinese Gardens which were smack dab in the middle of the city, crazy.

Washington Park Rose Gardens

As all of you know, I love a beautiful landscape. We visited the Washington Park Rose Gardens in Portland Oregon. I have seen many in my years but never have I seen such an an abundance of absolutely beautiful roses in my life. There were gardens of the old standby varieties and the experimental up-and-coming varieties. Acres of them... The sun was at about 4 PM so not exactly great for photos but the views and aroma were outstanding.

Canon Beach, Oregon

As we continue north on route 101 on the beautiful Oregon coast, we drove through many small villages. The scenery was breathtaking and we needed to stop to stretch our legs so we parked and walked around the town of Canon Beach. The beach is recognized by its well-known landmark, Haystack Rock. This igneous rock has an elevation of 235 feet, and is accessible at low tide. Near Haystack Rock are the Needles, two tall rocks rising straight out of the water.
Downtown Cannon Beach is filled with many small businesses and happily no chain stores like Walmart etc, are allowed.
We stayed the night just outside the town and will move on to Portland for Deschutes Brewery 22nd anniversary bash in the streets. Jaimie will need a GPS chip attached for sure or the address of our campground written in ink on her forehead.

Continuing on the Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast has about 320 miles of sandy and rocky shoreline and contains a wealth of habitats such as sand dunes, coastal rocks and sand spits that provide breeding and haul-out sites for seals and sea lions. We stopped at Sea Cave on the coast where we took an elevator down to an area where we entered a cave. There were literally hundreds of sea lions perched on rocks, barking as if they were dogs. I have never seen so many of these in one place as we did here. After we left that area we walked a bit to another seaside area where the sea lions were basking in the sun awaiting for the tide to come in. They looked like a bunch of brown dogs lying in the sun.
The coastal views continue to awe us. Spending the night in Newport continuing up the coast in the AM.

Oregon to California Redwood Forest & Back to Oregon

After leaving this AM en route to the Oregon coast we decided to take a detour to California to see the Redwood Forest. A couple hundred miles verses a lifetime of visions on the TV doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference. The Redwood Trees are unlike anything that you will ever see anywhere. These things are absolutely huge. See J in the picture... After driving to the forest we drove to the coast to pick up route 101 in California and Oregon. We traveled many miles on the Cali/Oregon coast in awe of the natural beauty that the good old of USA! The coastal route is everything that all boast about and much more. What an awesome experience...

Crater Lake National Park

After leaving an absolutely spectacular campsite (if one could call it that) last night we headed off toward Crater Lake National Park. It wasn't far from where we were (maybe 175 miles or so) but so worth it. I was shocked at the amount of snow that was there. It was higher than the motor home which is 12feet high! We traveled up the mountain and stopped to see the absolutely spectacular showing of nature from this volcano. Tomorrow we will detour towards the northern tip of CA where the largest redwood trees are in the US. After that... who knows...

Boise to Bend, Oregon

Not much to say about Boise... There was a waterfall in the center of the city and that's about it, so we moved on to Oregon. 400 miles later and lots of mountain views and then desert until we drove into Bend, Oregon. This town is one hopping place to be with many breweries, and an abundance of hiking and camping activities year round. It is a rebuilt mill town with something to offer everyone. We arrived late at our campsite and the owner was about to close for the night and offered to take us to town to visit a pub/brewery for dinner, etc. We quickly transformed ourselves and we were off to an evening in town. We visited two breweries that were awesome: DESCHUTES and McMenamin's Old Saint Frances Pub. Tomorrow we head toward Crater Lake. Stay tuned-

Grand Tetons

The Grand Tetons are located in northwestern Wyoming, The landscape is spectacular and the view is rich with majestic mountains, pristine lakes and extraordinary wildlife. The abrupt vertical rise of the jagged Teton Range contrasts with the horizontal sage-covered valley and glacial clear lakes at their base, creating world-renowned scenery that is only appreciated if seen in person. I had no idea... It is just as you see on postcards. We saw more animals in Yellowstone NP, but the Tetons were absolutely awesome non-the-less. You be the judge...

OLD Faithful

Oh ya, can we say that this is awesome? Yup, it is. We arrived to see the predictable and spectacular view of the famous geyser. Me, Kath and J sat and waited, and it was obviously going to do some sort of regurgitation at some point, but when was not as predicable as they say. While we were waiting a Bison just moseyed on through the area as if we weren't even there. They are humongous and, in my opinion, ugly! Spectacular to see though! After driving through Yellowstone for a couple days (with a rental car and J at the wheel) Jaimie is less than impressed with these enormous animals. They often parade down the streets and block traffic for hours. The bears were less friendly but an awesome sight. We saw: Black Bear, Elk, Wolf, Bison, American White Pelicans, Bald Eagles, Trumpeter Swans, Mule Deer and Moose. There are obviously more animals in there than that, but that is what we saw. I love nature and this park was absolutely wonderful. The high altitude was a bit challenging but worth the discomfort.

Yellowstone National Park

For as many years as I can remember, I have always wanted to see the infamous Yellowstone National Park. Well today the dream became a reality. After a stop at the "Old West" type town of Cody (thanks Nanna Flash). Wild Bill Cody was well know in my generations a a gun slinging cowboy. The Irma Hotel in Cody was just that... A walk back n time. Due to the bad weather we opted to tour the hotel/cafe. Without disappointment I might add. The original bar is an extensive cherry wood bar donated by Queen Elizabeth. The place was packed at 11:50 AM. We were going to have lunch on the outside porch but the weather was like something out of the "worst of the weather channel".
We next traveled to Yellowstone: this park is enormous and absolutely naturally beautiful. We saw Bear, Moose, and a rare sighting of white Pelicans. We will return to the park tomorrow...

Rushmore, Custer, Crazy Horse, & Wind Caves

We have all seen the photos of Mount Rushmore: Well the actual sculpture is a spectacular display of what man can do with a few basic tools. You be the judge... Next we move on to Crazy Horse. This is a partially completed monument carved into the mountain that was less than impressive. Possibly when it is finished, but not a place i would recommend going to for a long time. Next was Custer State forest. The experience of driving through this wonderland of nature can only be felt on a personal level. I love nature so it was an absolutely awesome sight. We saw much wildlife simply driving through the park. For example: Bison, bighorn sheep, deer, pronghorn, prairie dogs, and burrows. Many of which we were able to stop at roads side and see. As we were leaving the park one of the Bison actually was close to the exit. I got out to take a picture, of course, and the humongous thing started to quickly move towards me. RUN!!!!
Nature is so awesome....
The Wind Caves were deep and unique. They actually are an architecture that is only found in these caves called box-wood. It has a honey comb like texture to it. Very different...
Off to Coty Wyoming tomorrow, stay tuned

Badlands National Park, SD

Well, all I can say is that this great country of ours never ceases to amaze me. We visited the Badlands today where people are drawn to its rugged beauty. The park’s 244,000 acres protect an expanse of mixed-grass prairie where we saw bison, bighorn sheep, deer, pronghorn, and prairie dogs. The most impressive was the extensive array of formations in which we were able to view and walk through.

Green Bay Packers and Wisconcin

Today was a day of many miles of travel. Although we drove many miles we were able to visit the famous Green Bay Packers Stadium and take a tour. The tour was awesome and left us with a new founded respect for the sport of football. After visiting the stadium and the state of Wisconsin, it was quite obvious that the state was dedicated to "CHEESE". We will pursue the cheese option in the coming day as we continue across the state.

The Locks of Lake Superior

Since I was an adolescent I have wanted to revisit the locks of the mighty Great Lakes. A couple of years ago me and Kath took a trip to the "Finger Lakes" and attempted to see the locks while we were there. Sad to say, we were unsuccessful.
On a good note, we were able to visit the Soo Locks from Lake Superior to Lake Huron this afternoon and a ship was ready to enter the locks. What a great site to see technology in a rudimentary way be so successful.

Mackinack Island

After a day of travel we were able to get a campsite early enough to be able to get the ferry to Mackinac Island where we spent the afternoon in yesteryear. This is an island that has no cars or motor vehicles, only horse drawn buggies. We toured the small 8 mile island via buggy while "J" rode her bike around the island. The most prevalent highlight is their famous Mackinac Fudge. This is also found on our local Islands, the Vineyard and Nantucket. We had an awesome experience and loved every minute.

A Day in the Double D's: Detroit/Dearborn

OK, you all know that I have owned a GM vehicle for as long as I can remember. As soon as we arrived in Detroit the GM building was obvious yet uninviting. I expected it to be somewhat more spectacular (a little disappointing) So, we took some photos and moved on. We had to go to the Hard Rock of course and then to the famous Coney Island. The experience was what one expects from a Coney Island, unique and memorable.
After visiting the city proper we drove west to the Heidelberg Project. OMG what can I say... this was shocking to say the least. See for yourself.
MOTOWN was absolutely awesome as expected. Such history and to be able to experience the same steps as so many awesome entertainers was awe inspiring.
The last stop for the day was the Ford Museum. As expected this area was huge and included so many exhibits in motor vehicle changes. I would have loved to have seen the factory tour, but we had missed the last one of the day. Ford has a huge presence here and it is obvious in all aspects of the area, both financially, socially, and physically. I think the most humbling exhibit was the exhibit of the car that the late John F. Kennedy was shot in. Sad...

Spectacular Niagara

Our first night was spent in spectacular Niagara Falls. If any of you have been here before you know that pictures do not do it justice.
As we approached the border of Canada and the US (of which we had an extensive wait) we had the time on the bridge to get some photos that only depict the falls in the end of the days light. Spectacular... Anyways, after we spent the night just over the border, we arrived at the falls in the early AM to get a rare view of the falls in the morning light. The only word I can use is simply awesome...

The Lead Sled is about to Roll!!!

OK, it's been way to long since the Lead Sled was on a "road trip" so we are about to embark upon our next adventure across the country. A few years ago we went cross country and "J" flew out to Phoenix to meet us. This time J will be joining us for the entire trip.
The last time me and Kath traveled approximately 10,000 miles and saw many fantastic and remarkable sights along the way. This time we hope to see the high side of the country, Vancouver and Alaska. We shall see... Stay tuned for updates.
~L