Arrived!

Last night around 8 pm I arrived at my destination: Hayward, CA.  I will be house-sitting for the next two months, and it worked out that I arrived about 2 hours before the homeowners left for their trip!  So I got to meet them before they departed, which we didn't think would be possible -- they were originally going to leave on July 1 but events conspired to keep them here until last night. 

So now I am settled in and a lot more rested than when I arrived last night.  I unloaded the car this morning and hope to get everything arranged in the next day or two so I can begin exploring the area and looking for work next week.

A lovely welcome!

This reminds me of my aloe plants  of long ago...

The back yard.  Yes, that is a lemon tree on the left!

The Blue-cific Ocean!

Here are some photos that I took yesterday at various places along the coast, from Crescent City to the Klamath River estuary...  (When I was little we called the Pacific the Blue-cific!)

This is at Crescent City, the first place I saw the Pacific Ocean on this trip.

I LOVE pelicans!

The laughing gull and the serene pelican.

So peaceful...

I am not sure what these are for -- anybody have an idea? 

Trying to decide whether to do a cannonball, a swan dive, or just jump in...

This is a little further down the coast...

The waves were not too big 

Thar be WHALES down thar! (They're a little camera shy.)

This is near the mouth of the Klamath River

"From the redwood forests, to the gulf stream waters This Land was made for you and me!"

Yesterday's travels began in Grants Pass, OR.  I left there and headed southwest on US 199 to US 101, a route that took me through several redwood forests and along the coast.  It was a beautiful drive, and I couldn't resist stopping along the way and taking lots of photos.

Not long after I crossed into California I came to an Agricultural Inspection Station.  I had known of this but forgotten about it and was caught off guard.  I disclosed that I had one nectarine and some dried mango, which didn't seem to cause any alarm.  But with some prompting from the interrogating officer, it came out that I also had some fresh cherries in the car -- I had forgotten to mention them;  wasn't trying to conceal anything.  I was informed, for future reference, that "cherries are contraband" but allowed to keep my small stash just this once.  That's good, because by this time they were one of the few healthy snacks left in the car, and I still had a long way to go!

Pretty soon I came to Redwood National and State Parks -- I gathered that it is actually a series of parks connected together.  The first visitor's center I came to was Hiouchi Visitor Center, and I stopped there to gather information for my trip through the forests.  The volunteer guide who helped me was very well-informed and gave me some great information about where to stop and what to see given my time limitation.  Turns out she and her husband, who are from Florida, volunteer somewhere every summer, and it just happened that they chose Redwood to work at this summer.  (I am always interested to know about ways that people find work, whether paid employment or not.  This was a program I wasn't aware of.)

Anyway, to make a long story short, here are some of the images I shot in the forest...

(Coast photos will be in a separate post.)

This little guy was hopping around behind me...
when I turned around he didn't fly off, but
kept on hopping nearby in a friendly manner.

So much exquisite beauty in this place!

If a tree falls in a redwood forest...
the ferns keep it company. 

There isn't any way to capture
the bigness of the trees...

I couldn't resist this beautiful arc. 

This is part of a redwood tree root

Some people came along and we took pictures of each other...  

Hello from Grants Pass, Oregon!

Well, I finally pried myself loose from my uncle's house near Lake Ki and Arlington, Washington, and got on the road early this morning.  Except for a lengthy detour to eat lunch and (simultaneously) view Mt. St. Helens from Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center, I came more or less straight down I-5 today, arriving at Grants Pass a little after eight p.m.  No photos from the hotel this time... a few from Hoffstadt Bluffs will have to suffice.  There was also some spectacular scenery -- beautiful, tree-covered mountains -- the last hour before I got to Grants Pass, but I don't have photos of that. 

By the way, the veggie burger I ordered at the Hoffstadt Bluffs Cafe was one of the two best from this trip!  They make their own.  The salad and huckleberry tea were great, also! 

The exhibits about the Spring, 1980, disaster were very informative, but I didn't get to read much of them.    

Toomorrow:  California!

 

Mt. St. Helens from the Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center

At the Memorial Grove

The Memorial Grove

Another view from the Memorial Grove

Paradise

Yesterday I came through here...

...today it felt like Paradise to me near Arlington, WA... with Uncle Fred and his grandson Sam and beautiful surroundings

Music for the day:  bird songs, rain on the metal roof of Fred's shed, the puttering of the motor on Fred's saw...

Montana

What can I say?  Montana has to be seen to be appreciated...  The landscape is ever-changing, gorgeous, inviting...  lush grasses, clear streams and creeks, rippling lakes, horses everywhere...

I visited Little Bighorn Battlefield National Park yesterday.  A park ranger/storyteller gave (without notes!) an excellent talk on the history of the battle and its significance, as well as the other issues surrounding the event.  I wish I'd had more time to spend there.

The rest of the day I drove and drove and drove, finally stopping to rest for awhile at Rockford Coffee in Bozeman, MT.  The barista and I got into a running conversation (between customers) about life and plans and nearby beautiful spots to visit. We finally settled on a plan for me to take a scenic route off I-90 on the Pintler Veterans Memorial Scenic Highway between Anaconda and Drummond.  It was truly beautiful, and I was glad for the chance to get off the beaten path.  Not longer after that I pulled into Missoula for the night.

I don't have my camera in the hotel room with me this morning so will add more photos to this post later, I promise!  In the meanwhile, here's a link to some photos. I didn't go into Phillipsburg or the Granite Ghost Town but I did see the same scenic views.  Also the very last photo is something I saw but didn't get a photo of -- very curious yard decoration!

It's quite cool here this morning -- I feel guilty enjoying this cool weather when my friends out East are sweltering in a heat wave.  Wish you all could be here with me!

Music for the day:  David Wilcox, John Hartford, Appalachian Journey, Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger (More Together Again)

Rushmore to Montana

Yesterday was a wonderful day!  Well, all the days on this trip have been full of great surprises and wonderful times, so... what can I say?

The day started with an early morning side trip to see Mt. Rushmore.  I figured I'd beat the rush by getting there at around 6 a.m., and I was correct.  It was as amazing and quirky as I always thought it would be... I took a few photos and went back to the hotel, the lovely and comfortable Big Sky Lodge up on a ridge overlooking Rapid City.  (I highly recommend it.)  Repacking the car was helpful and fun -- I discovered some things I'd been looking high and low for, like the chargers for my Sansa Fuze (tiny mp3 player with a ton of good music) and my camera, and a lot of empty space that could be put to better use.  On my way out of town I checked out some sculptures that I had noticed on my way in on Thursday night.  They are placed at the street corners in the downtown area, and the first one I noticed on Thursday as I was stopped at a light looked like it could be JFK.  I was right, and it turns out that Rapid City is considered the City of the Presidents (probably because of Mt. Rushmore being nearby?) 


















The next part of my travels took me winding around the edge of the Black Hills (beautiful!) and then north on state and US highways to North Dakota. I made a couple wrong turns but discovered them quickly.  The scenery was beautiful... at one point shortly after I got into North Dakota I saw two or three horses standing way high up on a hill, looking like they were posing for their portrait.  Also passed some deer (or...they had interesting markings so I thought maybe antelope?) along the way, and lots and lots of horses and cows of course. 

My goal was to get to Theodore Roosevelt State Park (hereafter TRSP) and then get as far as possible into Montana, and both of those were achieved. TRSP was amazing!!  It is in the North Dakota Badlands, and is full of wildlife and color.  There are several prairie dog towns which are so funny to stop and watch for awhile, and horses lots of places along the way...

The third and fourth photos of the park, above, are taken from a place called Buck Hill, which is about halfway through the 36-mile South Loop through the park.  (You can access a map of the loop here.)  There is a place to park at the bottom of the hill, then a short but steep climb leads too a flat, rocky top with a 360 degree view of the park and points south.  It was the quietest place I have ever been, when the wind died down.  I could have stayed there for hours.  And when the wind blew, it really blew, and made me feel so alive and energized.  I needed that, because I wasn't even in Montana yet...  Anyway I highly recommend a visit to TRSP -- it's a gem!

The rest of the trip was uneventful (by comparison) but the views continued to be stunning the whole way to Forsyth, where I am now.  Frances helped me find a hotel, and the Restwel Motel is quiet, clean, and cheap. 

Today:  more of the Montana adventure!  I've wanted to see Montana all my life, since my dad brought me back a copper horse bank from here, and sent postcards as well. 

[Music for the day:  Liz and Tom's wedding mix tape, George Winston (Montana: A Love Story), Joshua Bell, John Denver, Arlo and Pete (More Together Again)]

Wall Drug

Hello from the Gold Standard of Tourist Traps, Wall Drug, in Wall, SD!  A truly phenomenal experience.  Plus they have wi-fi in the Prairie Food Parlor,  in the "backyard." (It's closed for the day -- no food service -- but the wi-fi still works fine.)   Now headed to Rapid City with hotel booked :-)

It's been a beautiful drive today through southern Minnesota and across South Dakota.  This is a beautiful country with very friendly people.  I stopped to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD -- that was interesting!  I never saw so many weird corn and popcorn products in one place!  Plus the Palace itself, with its motifs made from real corn and corn silks, was pretty amazing.  I didn't realize they do it over again each year, which made it that much more awesome.

Towards the end of the day, I began to be driving through the Badlands, which are quite beautiful, in a desolate and mysterious sort of way.   I'll try to post photos of this tomorrow as I didn't get any real good ones today. 
  

Minnesota!

Hi, all!  I've had so much going on (lots of driving and visiting) that I haven't had a chance to start this blog until now.  But hopefully I can keep it updated from now on so those of you who expressed interest in hearing about my trip can know where I am and enjoy the trip with me.  Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.  (I will have my comment security settings rather high to avoid being spammed but if you post a comment it will show up within a day.)

So far I have traveled about 1630 miles.  I'm currently in Duluth, Minnesota, visiting folks here and basking in the mostly cool weather.  I've been staying with Katie and Bob -- this is the view out the window of the room I am staying in.  (Yes, that's Lake Superior in the back yard.  By the way, this house is for sale -- spread the word, it's a beautiful house due to a lot of sweat equity and superb decorating!) Yesterday we made a side trip to my father's hometown, Two Harbors, which is just up the road a little ways. It was great to be back there again.  In addition to walking around and seeing some of the new things they have done near the lighthouse, and visiting the Edna G. and so on, we spent some time in the archives room of the library, where they have the actual newspapers from the town for the past 100 years or so, and we looked for articles about my dad and his family.  I wish I had a week to explore them; I have been there one other time and found some really interesting stuff.  Yesterday's search didn't turn up much but it was fun to look through the papers anyhow. 

I'll have to work backwards in my posts, I guess -- I need to get on the road now for one last visit with folks here and then a visit to my mom's hometown, Pine City, on my way to the Twin Cities to visit friends and family there.