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Published: October 7th 2018
Elephant Butte, New Mexico
Our first camping area after leaving Tucson June 10th
YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT, THEN GO BACK TO THE BLOG OR GO THROUGH THE PHOTOS (170 TOTAL - CLICK ON NEXT OR PREVIOUS) IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT. I PUT LOTS OF INFORMATION IN THE PHOTO CAPTIONS SO YOU CAN SKIP THE NARRATIVE, JUST LOOK AT THE ENLARGED PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS AND YOU'LL STILL GET MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU EVER WANTED. TO RETURN TO THE BLOG ENTRY, CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON OR ON THE NAME OF THE BLOG - BELOW THE NUMBERS ON THE LEFT.
As you have probably figured out, these travel blogs are a way for Bernard and me to keep track of our adventures. I can't tell you how many times we've referred back to one of our almost 70 travel blogs looking for various details, maps, dates, etc. That said, feel free to enjoy the photos and just skim or ignore the text.
Summer 2018 - (Arizona) New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, S. Dakota, N. Dakota, Canada, Alaska, Germany, Poland, Canada (again), Washington, Oregon, Wyoming (again), Montana, Utah, (Arizona)
Summary: 13,000 miles driven; nine states; seven national parks; five Canadian provinces; three countries: Canada, Custer State Park, S. Dakota
Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park, S. Dakota
Germany & Poland; gone three months and five days
See two photo maps at end of photos for our route.
June 10 - September 15, 2018
It was already hot in
Arizona when we hit the road on June 10th heading north, eventually to Alaska, for the summer.
It was also hot in most of the Lower 48, so we spent only one night in
New Mexico (Elephant Butte state park
), another at
Trinidad Lake, Colorado state park, and another at
Guernsey, Wyoming state park. In all three we camped on lovely lakes.
When we reached
South Dakota the temperatures were doable so we stayed three days at a private camp area just outside
Custer state park, went into the park every day and from there also visited:
Mount Rushmore National Park, Crazy Horse Indian Monument, a mammoth excavation site near the town of
Hot Springs, and also
Wind Cave National Park.
At Wind Cave we toured the cave, naturally, but the above-ground area was chock full of buffalo (bison) and very picturesque.
Badland Nat'l Park, S.Dakota
Lush grassland abutting the sedimentary formations - the contrast was lovely
On my birthday we stayed in
Custer state park at a lovely old lodge on
Sylvan Lake and ate at their highly-rated restaurant. After a hike on the Devil’s Peak trail, a nice room and scrumptious meal were much appreciated. Extremely nice birthday.
Our next stop was
Badlands National Park in South Dakota, which was surprisingly green because of the rainy spring they’d had. We got to ‘enjoy’ some of that rain camping there. It POURED!! We were scheduled for two nights, but the deluge continued and we packed up and headed to nearby
Rapid City and a warm, dry hotel. It rained cats and dogs for two more days, so we stayed holed up catching up on our email, doing laundry, etc.
When the rains let up we headed to
Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. It is a two-part park - north and south sections - and not as popular as other parks. It is, however, very pretty with lots of nice hiking. Loved the ‘Beware of Buffalo’ and ‘Buffalo Can Be Dangerous’ signs on the hiking trails - gave one pause. The park encompasses what was once
Teddy Roosevelt’s ranch.
Canada Manitoba We entered Canada from North Dakota and our first campsite was in
Manitoba, Kiche Mantiou Camp, Spruce Woods Provincial Park where they have sand dunes that were fun to hike. Next to a campsite on
Lake Manitoba, then to Winnipeg.
Winnipeg, Manitoba Our route to Alaska was a bit circuitous as we were going to the high school graduation of our
Brazilian daughter’s (Camila’s) daughter, Bia. Bia's year-long exchange in Winnipeg had ended, and after graduation she was returning to Brazil with parents
Camie and Nielson, who had flown from Brazil for the ceremony.
We rented a three-bedroom house in downtown Winnipeg where Camie, Nielson, Bernardo and I stayed. Bia continued to stay with her host family as they were loath to let her go. She was beloved by all, but the young boys, 4 and 6, were losing their ‘sister’ and it was quite traumatic for them.
The diploma awarding ceremony, dinner and then dance made up one of the most elaborate graduation days EVER. There were only about 100 graduates and lots of award
winners. The head of the school gave wonderful introductions to each student. Each student had submitted comments (thanking teachers, saying what they were going to do after graduation, etc.) and as a teacher read what the students had written, their photo was projected onto a huge screen behind the podium as they came up to the podium to claim their diplomas.
As you can imagine, the ceremony took quite a while. It was followed by a formal, sit-down dinner for family and guests. But before dinner, the students had changed into formal clothes and were reintroduced as they strolled down a cat-walk and joined their families for dinner. Numerous students and teachers gave speeches leading up to dinner. A 'year in photos' slide show was shown as dinner was being served.
After dinner there was a formal/prom/dance for the graduates and other students. No cell phones were allowed and that was because many of the students were 18, the legal drinking age in Canada, and libations were being served. The school did not want photos of inebriated students going viral. Smart.
After Winnipeg, Manitoba, we headed more directly toward Alaska, heading
west toward Jasper National Park, staying one night each in
Blackstrap, Saskatchewan Provincial Park and
Vermillion, Alberta Provincial Park before reaching Jasper, on the Alberta/British Columbia border.
Alberta We ran into torrential rains again in Jasper and ended up in a motel in Hinton just outside the park rather than camping. We were heading through
Jasper National Park toward Prince George, British Columbia and eventually to meet my sister
Mary Jean and husband
Buzz at the start of the Cassiar Highway to Alaska - in Kitwanga, B.C.
The rains had let up and as we headed from Hinton into Jasper and the clouds were lifting. Jasper is exceptionally beautiful - in the Canadian Rockies - with magnificent views of mountains and lakes.
We drove slowly through Jasper on Highway 16 enjoying the vistas until multiple emergency vehicles caused us to pull over. Just ahead of us, just over the B.C. line, a major accident (semi-truck and two passenger cars) had left two dead. They told us the road would be closed for about four hours, so we went back into Jasper park to enjoy the scenery as it
Stone Sheep
Obviously ready for her close-up; isn't she beautiful? had become a clear, sunny day. We had lunch in the cute little town of Jasper and then headed out to the accident scene again. At that point we were told that the road would likely be closed for 12 more hours because the coroner had to come from Prince George; the accident scene couldn’t be touched before that, nor could they remove the bodies.
For us to get to Prince George that day was now impossible. We were hearing on the radio that more rain was forecast for the whole week. At this point I phoned MaryJean and Buzz who were near Prince George. They were tent camping and weren’t crazy about camping in the rain. Bernie and I, since we couldn’t go west at this point, decided to head north out of Jasper on Hwy. 40 and pick up the Alaska Highway (97) at Dawson Creek; not meet MJ and Buzz who were going to continue up the Cassiar if the rain wasn’t too bad.
Turned out the rain didn't let up and while MJ and Buzz continued their trip up the Cassiar, then ended up doing resorts and hotels more than
Liard Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada
One of our favorite places in the world - natural hot springs; hot at source, cooling as it goes down stream so easy to find your 'sweet spot' they'd anticipated. We were disappointed that we hadn’t connected with them, but knew that we’d be visiting them in Washington state on our way south.
Ah well, our best laid plan for a fun four-some camping trip on the Cassiar fall through. We thought we’d connect somewhere in the Yukon, but turns out I didn’t have cell coverage with AT&T in the Yukon. When we finally managed to communicate via wifi, turns out we'd just missed each other in many places, including Whitehorse and Dawson City.
The Alaska Highway We stayed another night near Jasper, in
Switzer, Alberta Provincial Park before heading north on Hwy. 40 toward Dawson Creek, British Columbia and the beginning of the Alaska Highway.
British Columbia Our first stop on the AK Hwy. was
Ft. Nelson, B.C., a nice town and the largest in the areas, so a good place to stock up and have a nice meal. Found a nice RV/camp resort (Triple G Hide Away) with a lovely little restaurant and great shower facilities.
Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park is one of our favorite places in
Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada
It's claim to fame is a huge vehicle license plate park - really huge as more are added every year the whole world; we try to stay there every time we drive the highway. A natural hot springs in a beautiful setting is right next to and within walking distance of a camping area. They have a boardwalk to the hot springs with signage about the marsh and hot springs. The really hot water enters at the higher end of the pool and cools as it flows down - you can find any temperature that you like just by your position in the pool. There is a nice wooden platform on one side with dressing rooms and steps w/railings down into the pool.
And this is Canada, so everyone is friendly - had fun chats with at least six people. One woman came to the pool without a swimsuit and when the woman I was chatting with heard that, she offered to loan her a suit - the one she was wearing! Off to the dressing room they went to swap clothes. Too funny.
Yukon Territory We entered the Yukon Territory at
Watson Lake (Alaska Highway becomes #1 here) whose claim to fame is a vehicle license plate park - huge
Brown/Grizzly Bear
Notice the hump - that is a grizzly. If you could see the face, you'd see it was longer than a black bear and deep. Folks nail their license plates to posts in the park - the weirder the better. We always stop to take a look and see the new additions.
For safety purposes, the sides of the Alaska Highway have been cleared of trees and brush pretty far back; grass and wildflowers thrive. The idea is that you are more likely to see animals along side the road and thus avoid hitting them. On our drive from Liard Hot Springs to Watson Lake we saw
eight black bears and two brown/grizzly bears - all grazing alongside the road. They seemed to have found some plant they loved - perhaps a delicacy? Several folks have asked me if I got out to look at the plant the bears were eating, well, NOOOOOO, there were BEARS present. I had a hard time getting a photo of their faces because they were grazing constantly. We also saw a black bear that had been hit by a car - dead. Several herd of bison were very close to the road making them easy to photograph.
Whitehorse was our destination for the night - a B & B (Midnight Sun
Diamond Tooth Gerty's, Dawson City, Yukon
Nightly Can-Can shows @Gerties. We brought all our exchange students here in the 1990s and they still remember what a hoot it was Inn B & B) this time as we needed a shower. The hot springs had been nice, but you can’t wash your hair there. Whitehorse is the largest town in the Yukon, on the Yukon River and where you first encounter the history of the Gold Rush of 1898. The gold and silver mined in the area went up the Yukon River from Dawson City to Whitehorse and then by train to Skagway, Alaska and from there by ocean-going boats to the Lower 48.
From Whitehorse we diverted from the Alaska Hwy. (#1) to the Klondike Hwy (#2) and headed farther north to
Dawson City - the center of the ’98 Gold Rush mining activity. The entire historic town now belongs to Parks Canada which has restored many of the old buildings and houses. The tours are wonderful in that the main guide is very knowledgeable, but as you visit different venues you are introduces to actors in costume and in-character who represent people who lived in Dawson City during the gold rush - for example a female news reporter who told funny stories about the goings-on in town and her trials and tribulations being the only
Dawson City Hotel, Circa 1989
Notice the tin siding on the left - after a bad fire destroyed much of the town, building code demanded tin siding so fires wouldn't spread as quickly woman reporter in the gold fields. Most enjoyable. Also attended a Robert Service poem reading; the Parks Canada ranger who did it was superb - she had memorized many of the poems. Between poems she gave the history of Dawson City and also information about Robert Service, a banker-turned-poet who hadn't been in Dawson during the gold rush, but somehow managed to capture its essence.
We stayed in a cabin at Klondike Kate’s and found MANY great restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries. I can’t imagine **spending a winter there, but it sure was fun in the summer!
**Actually Dawson City is at about the exact latitude as my home town of Fairbanks, Alaska, so I guess I really COULD imagine what a winter in Dawson City is like.
If you are heading into Alaska from Dawson City you have to take a little ferry across the Yukon River (free, runs constantly in the summer; river freezers in winter) and then it is a fairly short drive to the border over the Top of the World Hwy. (#9). Of course there is a time change between Canada and Alaska, so we arrived
Kathy, Bernie & JJ @Spenard Lake
We stayed with our younger daughter, JJ, in Anchorage when we first arrived. Had lunch one sunny afternoon on Spenard Lake, which is near Lake Hood - the busiest small plane lake in the world; Spenard is no slouch in that area either - fun to watch them take off and land an hour before the border opened. Oh well.
Poker Creek border crossing is the most northerly land border crossing in the USA - pretty desolate too. The road from Dawson City to the border had been pretty rough - not paved, lots of hair-pin turns, pot holes and ruts. As we approached the border, a few miles out, the road had been straightened and newly paved. Eureka - it was going to be smooth sailing from here into Anchorage!! We cleared the border easily and headed SW toward Anchorage (AK Hwy. 5/Taylor Hwy); about five miles out the pavement stopped and the curvy, pot-holed, rutty road resumed. Shoulda known. Wasn’t paved again until we hit Tetlin Junction (AK 5 & AK 2), but then it really was smooth sailing to Anchorage.
Alaska Anchorage Since we hadn’t met up with Mary Jean and Buzz, we’d gotten to Anchorage a little early, but
daughter JJ was ready for us anyway. We stayed with JJ for three fun days before switching over to friends Tim & Linda MacMillan’s. JJ has a roommate and also had a friend’s daughter staying with her;
Tim & Linda have
High School Reunion, Fairbanks, Alaska
Sisters & husbands: Gary & Diana, Larry & Donna, Bernie & Kathy a lovely, large condo w/ensuite guest quarters - FABULOUS accommodations and the most wonderful hosts ever.
For the next week we reconnected with friends - lunches, coffees and dinners with wonderful, long-time friends. People often ask us what we miss most about Alaska and of course the answer is our friends.
On July 20 we drove to
Fairbanks where two of my sisters live; we were all attending Lathrop High School Class of '68's 50th reunion. The Class of '68 (sister Diana) generously invited students from '67 (sister Donna) and '69 (me) to attend also. What a hoot!! Saw folks I was still in contact with, but also reconnected with old friends I’d been out of touch with. The reunion coordinators, of which my sister Diana was one, did an amazing job of putting three well-attended and fun events together; one per day: Friday evening mixer, Saturday dinner & dance and Sunday picnic.
Be sure to look at all the photos at the end of the blog for many more of the reunion. Bernard and I had to drive back to Anchorage (to Tim & Linda’s) on Sunday as we
Usedom Island, Germany/Poland
From Berlin we drove to the Baltic sea coast to an island half German and half Polish. We stayed on the Polish side. Those are swivel seats you can rent for the day - top can go down for more sun needed to repack; we were headed to Germany on Tuesday morning.
Germany & Poland Every year Bernie lectures at the German Red Cross summer school in
Berlin. I don’t always accompany him, but hadn’t been in awhile, so decided I could handle a nine-hour flight from Anchorage to Frankfurt - flying over the Pole is FAST.
As we are wont to do, we planned side trips in Germany. First, instead of flying to Berlin from Frankfurt, we flew to Dusseldorf where a friend (Robert) picked us up and drove us (approx. one hour) to
Bochum. We’d lived in Bochum for two years (2002-04). Friend (and B’s colleague) Heike has an apartment there where Robert was staying at the time. In fact the next morning Robert did some work in Bochum, but then headed back to The Hague where he lives. Heike arrived the next evening by train from Berlin, where she works. Every weekend Heiki takes the train back to Bochum and every Sunday night or Monday morning she takes it back to Berlin.
We had a wonderful few days in Bochum with Heike and another friend, Philipp.
Quedlinburg, Germany
My favorite half-timbered home from 1400 Notably we visited a Roman ruin near the town of
Xanten - amazingly well done archaeology site. The town of Xanten was old and beautiful too.
The following day Heike, Bernie and I drove to
Berlin, taking the car Heike normally leaves in Bochum. She has one in Berlin too. After the summer school we were doing some touring before driving back to Bochum - so Heike’s BMW would be back in Bochum where it belonged.
The Red Cross summer school is a week long, but Bernie was finished with his part by Thursday, so we headed up to the
Baltic Sea coast. We’d been in that area before, but had never visited the
island of Usedom, which is
half German and half Polish. We stayed on the Polish side so B could get good Polish food like his mother used to cook, or more recently, like his cousin Karolina used to cook for him when she lived with us in Alaska for several years.
From Usedom we drove to the UNESCO town of
Quedlinburg, Germany. With over 1,300 half-timbered buildings and houses, it is one of the most extensive and
Tim & Linda
Our gracious hosts in Anchorage - can't thank them enough well-preserved medieval towns in Germany. Be sure to look at all the photos at the end of the blog for more fabulous half-timbered buildings.
From Quedlinburg we drove back to Bochum, spent one night at Heike’s apartment and then
flew out of Dusseldorf back to Anchorage on August 9 - we’d been gone 17 days.
Alaska, Again Back to
Tim and Linda’s (who you’d think would be TOTALLY tired of us by now, but swore they weren't) for ten more days - seeing more of daughter JJ and other friends. Had a nice kayaking/camping trip with JJ planned, but for those final ten days in Anchorage we didn’t see the sun at all. The weekend we'd chosen for camping with JJ had probably the worse weather of the whole trip - high winds, torrential rain, very cool temperatures. As the weekend went on and the weather continued crappy, we weren’t sorry we’d bagged it. Instead JJ brought over (and Linda & I prepared) king crab legs (lightly steamed), fresh salmon (grilled) and halibut (beer-batter sautéed). Would you believe there were still a couple of king crabs legs left over??
Kathy & Deb
Deb was my best friend in Alaska - she & I had lunch twice and another get together at her and husband Martin's house with JJ and still didn't catch up on everything Yeah, we had eaten until we were bursting. Good times, good times.
We hit the road heading south on August 20 - first night camping near
Tok Junction/Tetlin: Lakeview Campground on Deadman Lake about 30 miles from the Canadian Border. Crossed the border into the Yukon Territory at Beaver Creek; camped at Cottonwood Campground on Kluane Lake.
Back into Alaska: Skagway We decided to take a little side trip to Skagway, Alaska. We’d been there years before and had fond memories. So we crossed from Canada back into the USA and drove about an hour to Skagway only to find that there were several cruise ships in the harbor and the town was completely and totally full of tourists - it was terrible!! We could barely drive the streets as the tourists swarmed the streets, crossing helter-skelter, not looking, stepping out in front of us to take photos and then giving us dirty looks. It was horrible - I feel so sorry for all of the Southeast Alaska towns when the cruise ships put in. The merchants LOVE it I’m sure, but for the residents and non-cruising folks it is a
Skagway, Alaska
We had to cross the US border again to get to Skagway where were'd hoped to have a nice lunch in this charming town, find a B&B and enjoy the ambiance of this gold rush town. NOT!! Two cruise ships were in port and the place was aswarm with tourists. We drove through, out and back into Canada pain.
Canada, Again So, back across the border (no, we don’t have any rifles, handguns, flame throwers, pepper spray or brass knuckles - all illegal for us to have in Canada) and up a shortcut (Tagish Road) to the AK Hwy.
Tagish was a wonderful little road. Found a great resort,
Six Mile River Resort, with a camping area plus a great little bar/restaurant - fun night talking to fellow travelers. Wonderful shower facilities. Happy campers.
At this point we had to decide whether we were going to drive the AK Hwy. or take the Cassiar Hwy. We’d come up the AK Hwy. and so were leaning toward the Cassiar. In the morning on the campsite wifi I checked the road conditions and it made up our minds for us - the AK Hwy. was closed in spots because of fires near and actually jumping the highway near Watson Lake.
So down the
Cassiar Hwy. we go and it was just beautiful, albeit very smokey in spots. The fires in B.C. were raging and the wind was doing us no favors. We spent only one night on the
Seeley Lake, Cassiar Hwy, British Columbia, Canada
Because of the fires along the AK Highway, we decided to take the Cassiar Hwy. south. Truly a lovely highway; glad we did it Cassiar at
Mt. Shadow campground as we’d driven more hours that day than we’d intended - trying to find a less-smokey place to camp, which Mt. Shadow was. We’d stopped at a few other campgrounds, but they were pretty smokey; could feel it in our eyes, noses and throat.
Seeley Lake B.C. provincial park was our next stop - a little campground on a beautiful lake - we were the only campers. It was getting downright cool (highs in the 50s and lows in the 40s) and we noticed a dramatic drop-off in number of RVs and campers all through the Yukon and into B.C. In fact, many RV/camp resorts had closed for the year - that surprised us.
In B.C., as we neared Prince George, the traffic picked up (no more road-side pee stops) - we’d returned to civilization. We stayed one night just outside
Prince George (Dee Lazee Campground) and had a much needed shower.
After Prince George we switched to
Hwy 99/Sky Hwy. which is breathtakingly beautiful, albeit windy and steep. We didn’t get far that day - camped in a roadside camping area (Cinnamon pp). It had
Sky Highway, British Columbia
We very much enjoyed his windy, slow but incredibly scenic road; this was north of Whistler, British Columbia been raining pretty much all day and didn’t let up for us to cook dinner. That was our first night we couldn’t cook. We’d had lots of rain along the way, but it always stopped in time for us to cook dinner, and if it resumed, it stopped by morning so we could have breakfast. In Cinnamon we had to have sandwiches for dinner - I know, soooooo terrible.
Back in the USA The following day we drove the Sky Highway through Whistler - beautiful area - and then through Vancouver and crossed back into the USA at Blaine, WA.
Washington We lucked into some beautiful weather in WA so camped for two sunny, warm, wonderful days at
Deception Pass Bay State Park. We could walk to the ocean from the campground so joined folks taking advantage of the lovely weather to take a dip in the ocean (only the very brave or dumb - water is COLD) or like us, walk along the shore.
Port Orchard was our next stop to visit long-time friends
Stuart and Susan. Bernie and Stuart went to law school
Port Orchard, Washington
Stuart & Susan at the 'beach house' we often stay with them at their lovely home in Seattle too together; Bernie was in S&S’s wedding in TX where Susan hails from - they’ve known each other for over 50 years. S&S have a home in West Seattle, but in the summer spend the lion’s share of their time at the beach house - ocean views, Vashon Island in the distance with Mt. Rainier peaking above on clear days. We saw Rainier every day.
From Port Orchard we drove over to visit my
Aunt Betty in Port Angeles. At 91 she recently moved into assisted living even though all she needs are the meals now - has tired of cooking, otherwise she can live independently and had been doing so. Betty walks every day for about an hour; people think she is walking to stay fit, but she says she is trying to wear out her heart as she is ready to meet her maker. 😊
My bother
Cliff and his wife
Terri live in
Sequim near Port Angeles so we visited with them as well - always fun.
From Port Orchard we drove into
Seattle one morning to have lunch with
Alicia Cohen, daughter of our good friends
Larry & Sequim, Washington
My brother Cliff and his wife Terri live in Sequim - had a lovely, if short, visit with them Mara - we all got to know one another when we lived for a year in the Netherlands (Leiden) at the same time (2001-02). Had a delightful lunch with Alicia and friend Ben.
Next to my sister
MaryJean and husband
Buzz in
Olympia. Their youngest son
Matt drove over from Seattle and we got to meet his girlfriend
Elaine. Matt had been in Africa with us in 2015 (as had MaryJean & Buzz) and is ready to go back - Elaine jumped right on board!! The week after we saw them Matt & Elaine went to Iceland together. Guess Matt inherited the travel gene from his parents, who are great adventurers.
Daughter
Christina and grandson Evan were supposed to come to Olympia and join us for the weekend, but Evan caught the flu. Nothing will keep us old folks (who haven’t gotten a flu shot yet) away like the flu. Terribly, terribly disappointing.
Oregon We left MaryJean and Buzz and headed to
Crater Lake National Park in Oregon - wonderful visit. The color of the lake is just incredible. We stayed in the park and were glad we
Olympia, Washington
Finally connected with my sister MaryJean and husband Buzz - not on the Cassiar Highway to AK as we'd planned, but at their lovely home in Olympia saw/photographed it on a clear day as the next day smoke blew in and the lake was obscured.
Montana/Wyoming. OK, so we didn’t drive DIRECTLY home as we wanted to visit
Yellowstone National Park. Since it was September and school had resumed across the country, we thought the park wouldn’t be crowded. WRONG!! The crowds were horrible. Had to camp outside the park the first night, which turned out fine as we had a lovely campsite only about three miles from the west entrance. We had a reservation in the park for the following night and after a day of touring the park, it was much appreciated. The parking had been so horrible we missed several ‘must see’ geysers. We didn’t even eat lunch because finding a place to have a picnic was next to impossible, or the parking was anyway.
The next day in the park was much better. We got up before light (got to use our lantern for the first time), made coffee, had a quick breakfast and drove to the Old Faithful Geyer area. Others had thought of that too, but only a handful. Turns out we
Crater Lake Nat'l Park, Oregon
It was a long drive from Olympia to Crater Lake, but so very worth it. Crater Lake, a volcanic caldera, is the USA's deepest lake at almost 2,000 feet; it is 6 miles across. It appears so blue because other colors of the spectrum are absorbed, but blue wavelengths are scattered and can be seen by the human eye. BTW, Bernie is the one who suggested I sit so he could get more of the lake in the shot - hence my 'glamour' pose had just missed an eruption, so we walked around the area where there are so many wonderful geysers until it was time for Old Faithful to blow again. It was wonderful.
Our early start continued to serve us well as we got to see some other sites in Yellowstone without running into crowds.
We had to get some miles under our wheels that day, so mid-day we headed south, this time truly heading to AZ.
Grand Teton Nat'l Park abuts Yellowstone, so we drove through it - BONUS.
Utah Stopped for a night at
Steinaker State Park - tired as we'd driven many miles that day and it had been an early start. The weather continued sunny and dry so dinner that night was lovely and it was finally warm enough to sit out after dinner and enjoy the sunset.
Arizona Seems we always stay at
Lyman State Park just before returning to Tucson, and this time was no exception. It is a lovely lake and the campsites overlook the lake - another night warm enough to spend some time after dinner enjoying the
scenery.
Tucson - we drove six hours from Lyman Lake to Tucson, arriving about 2:00 p.m. most grateful to be home after being on the road for three months and five days. We'd driven 13,000 miles!!
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Dee Sullivan
non-member comment
Thank you
for including me on your Summer travels - as always I enjoy your photos and blog. Made me want to jump in our car and head North.