DeanandShelley

I write this final blog, sitting in an Airport Hotel, a few hours out from catching the shuttle to the airport and sitting around for a few hours more before we catch the flight home. During the last few days, we have traveled from San Francisco, alternating between highway 1 and the 101, down to Los Angeles. We stayed at Santa Cruz, THE most expensive campground we stayed at during the whole time we have been away, and Pismo Beach, before making the run to Los Angeles and staying for 2 nights out at Pomona. The road down the coast is definitly worth the windy drive, with amazing switchbacks, coastal views, Seal colonies and vistas as you curve high around steep cliffs and wind down to small bays and longer beaches. Switching back to the 101 ... read more

After cruising down the Oregon coast for the last few days, we have crossed the state line into California. This part of the region is home to the Redwood forests and we have spent a few leisurely days traveling in the area, pausing now and then to explore the different parts of the Redwood National Park and the attractions that lie within. Of course, there are trees, BIG trees. After spending the night at Crescent city, we headed for an attraction called,'The Trees of Mystery', No mystery there really, once you know a few facts about Redwood Trees and they way they grow and how they support each other in that growth. Trees like the 'fallen Giant', a massive tree that fell 300 years ago, yet is still alive in that it supports the growth of ... read more

Our visit to Seattle luckily coincided with 2 of the average 65 days a year that are sunny. Add to that the fact that it was weekend and you have a recipe for a very busy time in town! Coming in from the North, after a long wait to get through the border between the USA and Canada, the view over Puget Sound with the space needle rising in the centre of the city, was pretty special. We got one of the last spots in the camping ground and the next day headed by train into the city, about a 20 minute ride,(which took 30 because of track maintenance and because service had been cut to every 15 minutes) Still a pretty good service if you ask me. We got off at the Chinatown stop and ... read more

Mother nature appears to have decided that our last month on the road in both Europe and North America will be rainy. The rain started with a few showers in Banff, steady rain in Whistler and intermittent rain, drizzle, mist and cloud as we made our way down the Sea to Sky Highway from Whistler, through a night in Squamish and down to Horseshoe bay. From there we caught the Ferry to Vancouver Island and have spent two rainy nights in Nanaimo. Consequently, I would have taken more photos, but how many photos of cloud and fog can you have? The road through to Whistler from Lake Louise passed through Marble Canyon. Very scenic and a bit of change from the mountains and forests. We also had our only up close encounter with a bear. Unfortunately ... read more

Big Sky, Big Mountains. That sums up Montana. Its amazing that the places where you spend the most time are sometimes the places that you expected to just pass through. It happened for us in Germany and now appears to be happening here in Montana. After leaving Yellowstone we decided to observe Independence Day in Missoula. As it is a holiday, we spent the day relaxing in the sun/shade (that was me), reading a book cover to cover (that was me too) and generally chilling out. For Dean, it also meant relaxing ( but in full sun) and reading a book (he got through half a book), and turning pink in the process. Admittedly it was a longer book than mine but i have already read it! I expected more of a to do around the ... read more