One Last Thing

(Sorry about the graphic- once a teacher always a teacher)....
I forgot to mention that we played the license plate game across country and found all but Arkansas and West Virginia.  We found 32 the first day on the road. We travelled through 16 states- 2 countries and some beautiful scenery.

Just thought I would throw that out there- I'm having blog and travel withdrawal....

Last Leg Of Our Trip

So....... we spent two days in Ottawa because it seemed like a cool city----IT IS.  I took lots of pictures but there is no way to transfer them from my phone to computer without using the internet with  which I will be charged outrageous sums for international rates.  I turned my phone and roaming off at the border and will turn it back on again in the US.
We were enthralled with Ottawa and spent the day, 18,000 steps walking around the city's museums, cathedrals, government buildings and cute little boutique shops. (didn't have to go to the fitness room this AM--  though I did----but made up for a day in the car yesterday.)   There is a canal with 8 locks to get to the river and a greenway that runs right through the city.  In the winter the canal freezes and people skate to work (so they say) but today  it was full of boats and paddle boards and people riding the bike path or walking.  I like how when you walk up to someone to ask a question they first say hi, then bonjour- trying to gauge which  way you will go.  A few times I almost answered bonjour but after that- I have no French so never took the chance.
Not just French here- a very international city ==we heard a multitude of languages- like being in NYC.  We went to the National Art Gallery-2+ hours- very interesting- a history of Canada through it's native art to contemporary art.  For those of you in my book group or that know I am reading The Goldfinch-  thought more than once about that story while touring the museum.....
Beautiful cathedrals in the center of the city and the tours of the government buildings were interesting and informative.  It appears that Canada was not so treacherous to the indigenous tribes but it may have been revisionist history  we were reading.  A very GOOD two days here.

Pictures will follow tomorrow.

North of the Border

On our way through South Dakota of course we had to stop at Wall Drug.  What a crazy place

Last night, after the drive from Hell, we stayed in Sault St. Marie and toured there this morning.
This is the famous lock  making it possible for ocean vessels to travel into the great lakes- an interesting history of the N. American waterways.

Now we are winding down and heading home.   Tonight we had THE MOST FABULOUS  Italian dinner in Sudbury, Canada.  After 2 long days of travel with no dinner (except vodka and scotch because we had to drink it before crossing the border...) we had a shorter driving day and ended up in Sudbury-- a cute town between Sault St. Marie and Ottawa.  Turns out there is a geology museum and Sudbury had an early history in mining and is quite mineral rich.  We have passed SO MANY geologic formations and mining towns.  Good thing Bill has a Master's in geology- I have been treated to  a cross country geology class.  I tried to share my knowledge of grammar by explaining the reasons for nominative and objective case pronouns and principle parts of a verb ---but he wasn't interested.
We are heading to Ottawa tomorrow till Monday.  Looks like lots of museums and hopefully cute shops.

Many days in the car.....

OK---- I haven't had a post in a few days because we have been on the move.  Actually the last day in S. Dakota was a fishing/reading day.  Bill fished up one end and down the other 30 mile stretch of Spearfish Canyon.  Beautiful spot and lots of time to read 76%  ( on kindle)  of The Goldfinch.  Can't wait for book group- interesting story.  We left S. Dakota (goodbye Wild Bill)  and traveled to Minneapolis/St. Paul a 10+ hour trip--then crashed.  Today we left Minnesota to head to Sault St. Marie,  Michigan  a 12+ hour trip.  We decided to ignore the GPS and follow 2 different maps to take what looked like a more direct route....
WE COULD HAVE BEEN IN NH BY NOW....

We drove every back road in Minnesota, Wisconsin  and Michigan.  I drove the last 7 hour stretch  and kept hoping to be here by dark and was getting antsy when we came upon a detour on a major highway.  My whole thing was NOT TO BE ON A BACK ROAD IN THE DARK so I went out of my way to be on a major highway-------only to have a detour into the Hiawatha National Forest.
As we are driving on the detour, I read a sign that says, " DO NOT STOP FOR HITCH-HIKERS-- PRISON ZONE-- now I am really FREAKING OUT.
We are finally in the hotel (American side) trying to drink up all our scotch and vodka before we cross the border... OK signing off for the night...

LARGER THAN LIFE

I'm not sure I can capture on film the grandeur and panorama of the landscape,  nor  the emotional
reaction to some of the sights we saw today.  First stop was The Crazy Horse Memorial which was begun in 1948 and will not be finished in my lifetime.  The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski,  wanted to build it without government funding only private donations and admission fees.  Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear asked him to  to do the work so that," My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes also".

We drove through Custer State Park which had three scenic highways each one more beautiful than the next.  The Needles Highway was incredible but hard to replica in a picture.  Glad I wasn't driving- way harder than Hurricane Mt Road.

And to top off the day, we stopped at Mt. Rushmore, thinking we would snap a few pictures and be on our way---two and a half hours later, I had 100 pictures.  The museum alone was an hour, then a walk around the grounds gave different perspectives for pictures.  Truly impressive.

The road out of the park was called the Wildlife Loop and we finally saw  the buffalo that we didn't see in Yellowstone.

The Wild West

Yesterday we toured the Homestake Mine in Lead, SC--interesting IF you're a GEOLOGIST...
Then we wandered in and out of stores in Deadwood, SD---interesting IF you are ME....
Deadwood is a very cool town with lots of saloons and live music on the street.  We got to see a gunfight in the street and Saloon #10 where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed.  It's easy to imagine what it must have been like in  the 1870s.

Little Big Horn National Park

After walking through the cemetery, seeing the battlefield and watching the historical re-enactment film, I can honestly say I was cheering for the Indians.  Shortly after touring the battlefield, we stopped to get gas- we were on Cheyenne Reservation land.  The juxtaposition of the proud and noble Chief Sitting Bull as portrayed in the film and pictures  at the museum and the people we saw sitting along the street  was striking.

BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!!!!

Hard to believe that I have been too busy on VACATION to attend to this blog --but there you have it....Today is a slower day, a run in the park, shopping, mani/pedi and packing for the third leg of the trip--on to South Dakota and The Badlands.
I thought you would enjoy these photos taken at Yellowstone.  We had some nice short hikes through a geyser field, up a trail to 8K feet (we started pretty high anyway) and through the walkways at Old Faithful.  Unfortunately we didn't see any wildlife except for some elk, grazing on the lawn at the post office in Mammoth Hot Springs.   At one geyser field it was pretty evident that the grizzles have been very active.  The bear scat here is  much bigger than anything in NH.  Glad we didn't see any bears.....
Bill is fishing again today- hope we are eating trout for dinner.

We're Here- Bozeman, MT

Ready for new adventures in Montana.  The trip from Oregon was through  some very beautiful
countryside. We made a detour for a picnic lunch at the Sacajawea State Park.  I am sure that in a prior life incarnation,  I WAS Sacajawea so it was totally appropriate to visit this beautiful spot.

Leg # 3 of the journey

The ride from Portland to Spokane was a mix of beautiful scenery- The Columbia River Gorge, views of the Rowena fire in the mountains, and excitement about the third part of our trip- arriving in Montana.  For those of you who know me well, I haven't exercised- I mean really exercised other than running with a three year old-- for two weeks.  On my way to the gym here in the inn and the pool.

Heading out today to Spokane, Washington and ultimately Montana.  We were trying to get to  Sand Point,  Idaho because I wanted to go to the Coldwater Creek  outlet- which is now out of business. so I guess we'll have to go fly fishing instead.

The Goonies

A trip to  Cannon Beach at Haystack Rock in Astoria, Oregon to see the best scene from The Goonies- when the pirate ship comes sailing out into the open ocean.  We have watched The Goonies two nights in a row to get in the right mood.

Picnic at Mt Hood, Oregon

Great adventure today to Mt Hood to watch the racers.  Too early for a "ski jones" but fun to throw snowballs at each other..

Made It

We reached Portland- Wednesday afternoon at 3214 miles.  A long but interesting trip.  I was amazed by the variation in scenery along the way.  This picture heading  down into the Columbia River Gorge was spectacular but of course a picture never captures the vastness of the scene.

Portland is a unique kind of place.  Had a chance to visit with some friends from Westford- the Loughlin's who moved here 24 years ago.
And finally the reason for the vist.....

Tuesday July 29
Well, after 2 days of  of 11 hour drives, we took a break and toured Cheyenne and Laramie.  On Monday,  we stopped at Chimney Rock (pic included).  This was the point that the wagon train settlers knew that they were half way across the country.  It was an interesting museum and stopping point.
Today we did a 12 hour day and have covered 11 states-- beautiful and different scenery but then so is NH.  So far EVERY interstate highway has been under construction....

So glad we are not tenting-- that was the original plan-- would have added 3 days to the trip.  I like Hilton Garden or Hampton INN.  Tomorrow on to Portland and a week's respite from being in the car.
BIG FUN VACATION

Feeling like we are almost West....

Saturday-Sunday, July 26-27
So, if you saw the pictures of the parking lot at The Quality Inn in Joliet, IL you'll know that it was short of QUALITY..Very scary- spent the night worrying about the car in a parking lot of burned out school buses.  Everything was  fine in the AM-- thank you Universe..
We went to dinner in a very bizarre place  and went down to the pool for a late night swim and there were 20+ kids ages 5=15 in the pool.   Good thing I had enough vodka to get through the night....-- a very long night....

Tonight we are in North Platte, Nebraska-- much nicer .  Buffalo Bill Cody had a trading post next to the hotel-- great junk...-- look out grandchildren.....

TWO MORE SLEEPS

Beyond excited---
The more travel brochures I look at, the more places I want to stop.  We've added Laramie and Cheyenne to the itinerary.

Testing out the blog
It works

Westward Ho

We are heading WEST.  After asking for places to visit in numerous states  (thank you for your suggestions) and buying a new Atlas, we are ready to go.  We did a dry run of packing the car so we don't have to haul a trailer or buy a roof rack.  I will post  a link on FB -often-  you can choose to read it or not.
We are beyond excited.....