May 10, 2011 Lincoln Rock State Park 9:30 57 degrees, clear and not windy 6453 starting mileage. Deep snow completely covers all the Cascade Mountains. Still going through orchards of apple, cherries and pears on whatever flat space they can get to. After miles and miles, turned away from the Columbia River and went up the Okanogan River Valley and picked up the Cariboo trail. Gold was discovered in 1858 in this valley and US cattlemen thought they could make a fortune selling cattle to the miners so, they used this trail to drive cattle up into this region. When gold gave out, and the railroad was being built, in the late 1800’s, cattlemen used this route again to drive cattle up to sell the beef to the railroad workers. I guess Hollywood wasn’t aware of ... read more

We saw lots of wildlife, especially birds. Here is just a sample. Unfortunately, we saw no bison and several other specimens were where we couldn't get a good picture.... read more

May 3, 2011 Three Island Crossing, Glenn’s Ferry Cloudy—rained last night 50 degrees Started day at 10:00 with mileage at 5489. Three Island Crossing was where the emigrants crossed the Snake river by going from bank to island to island to island to bank. Every year in September the town holds a re-enactment of the event. Took picture of Glenn’s Ferry. Several murals on various walls. Chairs made of branches and city banners make it look festive. We were startled by a few buildings that were labeled, “Academy of Equine Dentistry.” Gassed up at town of Mountain Home off interstate 84. $3.699 per gal and took 20 gals. 5521 mileage. Drove on interstate 84 toward Boise, ID. Sagebrush land—no trees some cattle on hills. Lunch at Welcome Center as crossed into Oregon. Pretty tulips blooming and ... read more

Sunday, May 1, 2011 Holiday Inn, Lander, WY Clear—thank goodness. 4967 mileage start. Had breakfast at the hotel and worked until 11:30 on blog, e-mails, and such. Extremely steep climb out of Lander into a gorgeous red canyon. Had to drop Rosie II into a lower gear. Area reminded us of Bryce and Zion canyons in Utah. Snow on ground and on the Wind River Mountains. Watched a herd of about 100 elk on a grassy hill through our binoculars. Spotted a golden marmot the size of a cat which thankfully decided not to argue with Rosie for the right away. Came up and over South Pass at 7,550+. This is the continental divide where all water on the western side flows to the Pacific Ocean. This low pass, which was about 20 miles wide was ... read more

April 29, 2011 Friday North Platte, NE. Weather clear, 56 degrees and very windy. Mileage 4379; got gas at $3.789 per gal. Buffalo Bill Cody had a ranch in this town, which was a surprise to us. We expected Montana or Wyoming, but not Nebraska! One of the biggest freight yards for the Union Pacific Railroad is located here. Drove interstate 80 to Brule (not to be confused with Buhl, which we go through later), and then on Highway 30 (which seems to be THE old Oregon Trail road) to a dirt road to see the California Hill ruts. This was the typical directions that we were following. “Drive west through Brule on US 30 for about 4 miles. Watch for a granite 1912 Neb. State Historical monument for the Oregon Trail on the north side ... read more