Day: 118 Miles: 7,018 It sure didn't feel like Christmas this year! Our Cornish hens in the Dutch Oven were good but they didn’t replace an at home feast, and most of all family. We did see some family for a few minutes via web-cam, but everyone else in the country must have been doing the same thing so it was quite slow and cut out frequently. It was still a nice touch of home. It seems so strange to hear Christmas music here when there is no snow and Christmas lights are strung on saguaro cactus. Our metal detecting at Buckskin Mountain State Park was successful and netted us $7.87!! along with numerous tent stakes, washers, a spark plug, a bullet, a crappy cheap ring and countless bottle caps and pull tabs. This also ... read more

Day 98 ; Miles Driven 6,662 Well, our time in Vegas showed us once again what hicks from the sticks we really are. The strip part of Vegas pretty much overwhelmed us the one day we went there. We literally walked in circles trying to get oriented. There was Christmas music playing in the background at the same time the slot machines were ringing out the winners; 'Little Drummer Boy' and ads for escort services. We felt much more comfortable at Sam's Town - a 'blue collar' casino and campground northeast of the strip. Just an hour from Vegas but still in the Mojave desert was a Nevada State Park called Valley of Fire. This place is only 50+ miles away by distance, but worlds away in atmosphere. This is an area of red sandstone which ... read more

Day: 78 miles: 6000 Mendocino was our last Pacific Ocean location. Ron got to fly his glider on Casper Beach and I collected gobs of beach glass and then we were off to Vacaville. We had hoped to avoid crossing mountains by going farther south, but evidently there is no way to avoid mountain crossings. We were on highway 128 most of the way; a windy, twisty two lane road with plenty of hairpin turns that was hard on the driver and equally hard on the passenger. Folks who are nervous about driving by edges (Doreen!) would have a very rough time along some of this ride. The views can't be beat. We drove through Alexander and Napa Valley where vineyards went on for miles and miles and every few miles there was a winery and ... read more

4,985 miles Day 64 Our last few days in Oregon were quite dramatic. A storm in the Pacific brought enormous waves to the coast line. The largest were 30-35 feet and when they crashed against the rocky shore giant plumes of spray shot up in the air. There were warnings on the local news stations about staying off break walls and jetties, so we headed out several times to watch the action from a safe distance. We took some pictures but it really is hard to capture the energy and power of the ocean. On the 7th we left Oregon and headed down the coast to California. Highway 101 is marked by mile markers like A1A is marked in the Florida Keys. Mile mark 270 to the California border at mile 363 is one beautiful ocean ... read more

Day 50 We left the Seattle area behind on Sunday the 25th after having an excellent adventure with Mark. This visit was great timing for us since Mark will be leaving this area himself on Nov. 6, for his new job in Philadelphia. He got a call offering him a terrific job while we were driving along the shores of Crescent Lake. This has to be one of the most scenic areas on the Olympic peninsula - it is a huge lake surrounded by mountains. As he was ending his call a perfect rainbow appeared that spanned from one mountain peak to another - no kidding - it was like a good omen. We had to pull over and celebrate! The Olympic peninsula is a temperate rain forest- it gets 11 feet of rain a year ... read more