Yesterday Willow and I had the pleasure of driving through Yellowstone National Park. While I wish I had been able to spend more time and plan some hikes or possibly camping in the park, getting to just see it was great. The views were spectacular. Again I have many many photo’s but have not fixed my uploading problem at flicker. Mostly because I’m too tired from driving to tackle the issue and Willow refuses to help until I switch to a Mac. Cats. Go figure.
So here are a few Yellowstone shots:
a view from the road
After a long day driving in Yellowstone Willow and I spent the evening in a town even smaller than Brown City.
Today’s journey returned us to I90 East which took us past Mt. Rushmore. It was cool to see but I refused to pay $10 to park in a lot so I could stand 100 feet closer to take my picture. I’m sure I missed out on some great souvenir opportunities but I’ll just have to survive. There is so much touristy STUFF around this giant carving that it is ridiculous and I have decided I am done done done with tourists. Willow and I will now be defining ourselves simply as travelers.
a view from the road
After our detour we got back on to I90 east and drove till I got tired and Willow woke up. Now we are relaxing in yet another random hotel room. This time somewhere in South Dakota. And this is the view from the room:
Today Willow and I didn’t do anything but drive drive drive. Fortunately we were driving through some very beautiful country. We passed from Washington, briefly in to Idaho, then into Montana (I think I saw a real live cowboy!). Here are a few pics of our view as we put nearly 1000 miles behind us over two days.
Sorry for the delay in updates, but Willow and I have now resumed our journey and are somewhere in the middle of Oregon. After spending a couple of enjoyable days visiting a friend at Stinson Beach California the need to get back on the road struck. We cruised up Highway 1along the coast enjoying the view.
Then we turned inland where we could see the Redwoods and drove through the Avenue of the Giants. These trees are amazing, but it was actually getting rather late so it was dark and I didn’t feel inclined to walk around at any of the pull offs. We also stopped to see Lady Bird Johnson’s Grove. I actually took Willow with me on this trail in her little black carrier, but it was raining steadily so we did not walk the entire 1 mile loop trail.
We crossed into Oregon and into yet another landscape. Further away from the coast and more mountainous. It is a very beautiful area.
I am having trouble uploading pictures to flickr so until I figure that out there wont be any pics posted. Hopefully tomorrow I will find time to figure it out.
Our week long stay in L.A. has been an adventure for me and slightly less exciting for Willow. She has stayed in the hotel (without HBO no less) while I have gone off sight seeing. Since my last post I have visited Universal Studios Hollywood and spent a day at the beach getting sun burnt and beaten by waves (damn those things are big!) Willow has been showing a great deal of interest in the hallway and occasionally attempts to sneak out when I open the door. This I think is a sign that she is ready to move on from this place. Fortunately I am in agreement.
After some soul searching and a number of calls to friends and family I have decided to continue my journey rather than stay in L.A. There are a number of reasons (not just the traffic which is as terrible as people say), but mostly I just want to keep traveling and can’t convince myself to hunker down and start working just yet. Despite some very wonderful people I have met out here (thank you Walter) there is just too much still to be seen!
So tomorrow Willow and I hit the road again. With all the world before us.
I will continue to take pictures and post to the blog as internet access is available. So keep checking back for updates and sending good thoughts to Willow and I as we hit the open road once again.
You are all with me in my heart… be glad you aren’t with me in my tiny car with a cat and open litter box. doh!
As I’ve already posted, Willow and I have arrived at our destination in California. We have settled in and Willow is very happy to not get back in the car everyday for awhile. But she has finally come out from under the bed so maybe she is ready for more adventure. I certainly am and have begun doing some sight seeing in the area.
Day one I went right to the Pacific Ocean and stuck my feet in the water. It was warmer than I was expecting and when I get a chance I plan to do some swimming. I also went for a long bike ride in the Venice Beach/Marina Del Rey area and got nicely sunburned. Welcome to the land of fun and sun.
The edge of the world...
Day Two, while Willow snoozed back at the Hotel room, I went to see the La Brea Tar Pits. These were first brought to my attention in that great natural disaster movie Volcano when molten lava bombs begin spewing out of the pits.
Pretty much this movie is all I could think about while wandering around the La Brea area. So I distracted myself from various disaster scenarios by going to another major tourist attraction: Hollywood Blvd. Mann’s Chinese theater (location of many movie premiers) and the Kodak theater (where the Oscars are held) are both located here. As I wandered around this little American Mecca of Movie Commercialization I was please to spot the famous HOLLYWOOD sign in the distance.
I have posted the drive photo’s from Arizona and all of the pics I’ve taking in California so far. As usual they are all at the Flickr site.
Willow and I arrived safely on saturday afternoon. We are both ready to stay in one place for a few days. In fact Willow refused to come out from under the bed this morning for fear I would make her get back in the car. Fortunately she didn’t have to. I however got in the car and drove down to the beach. Because what else do you do when you go to California? You go to the beach of course! I put my feet in the Pacific Ocean and took more pictures. I’m to tired tonight to get them off my camera though so come back tomorrow for a more complete update.
My original idea for Grand Canyon Day was that I would book a hotel room for two days so that I could leave Willow behind while I went off sight seeing without having to worry if she was roasting to death in my car. Then the cost of the hotel was rather expesive and they made a point of saying I couldn’t leave her alone in the room. So I figured what the heck, packed up and drug Willow along to see the Canyon with me. We had done everything else together. Why leave her behind now?
As it turns out the weather was both a blessing and a curse. The entire day was cloudy with rain storms. The storms made standing on the edge of the Canyon a little scary, but the clouds kept the temperatures down. After the first couple of stops Willow didn’t even look up from the pillow she was sleeping on when I got in and out of the car to take pictures.
We took Interstate 89 north into Navajo lands out of Flagstaff. A right turn on I64 takes you toward the Grand Canyon, but the first stop was Little Gorge. This is a much smaller canyon within Navajo territory. I really enjoyed this stop. Maybe because it is smaller it is easier to appreciate. This is also where the first of many huge rainstorms rolled in. I sat in my car for 20 minutes before it let up enough to go out with an umbrella and not drown.
After taking many pictures we set back off on I64 toward the Grand Canyon State Park entrance. A mere $25 later and we entered the park. You drive along I64 stopping at various pull offs to ’see the view’. And each view is AMAZING. It really is a natural wonder. Many more pictures were taken at the five or so scenic views within the park. To add to the excitement more storms rolled in periodically. I even saw lightning strikes in the Canyon! Good thing storms don’t scare me or it would have been a very bad day indeed!
All the pics have been posted at the flickr site. Check out the Grand Canyon (GC) pic with the rainbow in it, and be sure to scroll down to see the ones of Little Gorge (lc). There are a lot but they were all so nice I just had to post them all… and yet no where near what seeing it in person is like. Absolutely worth the trip.
And now this is Willow and I’s last night before reaching our destination. It has been a great trip. But don’t be sad for I shall continue to post about our adventures.
We are still traveling through the southwest and I am in awe of the beauty of New Mexico and Arizona. Neither words or pictures do it justice. That didn’t stop me from snapping dozens of photo’s out my car window though. And there was plenty to see as we made not one but TWO detours today.
Why have I always wanted to see Albuquerque? Because of Bugs Bunny.
And it does not disapoint. It is absolutly beautiful here. This is the view from my hotel room:
The Southwest is beautiful so far. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I always thought that Michigan had wide open spaces but it has nothing on New Mexico. The road and horizon just goes on and on and on. It really is amazing to see and I wish the pictures I took did it justice.
Today was the first day we really pushed it to make some time. We drove all the way across Arkansas and half way across Oklahoma. I’ve decided two things. 1. Arkansas has bad rest stop bathrooms and 2. Oklahoma has bad roads. Other than that…. it was a long dull day.
It started badly with Willow hiding under the hotel room bed while I packed the car. And she refused to come out until I finally had to flip the materess off and lift the frame up to scoot her out. Once in the car she was most unhappy for the morning. After our lunch break (in the shadow of a nuclear power plant!) she finally fell solidly to sleep for the rest of the day.
I arrived late to the hotel and I’m too tired to upload todays pics so they will have to wait till tomorrow.
Posted by esryck8 
Posted by esryck8 
Posted by esryck8 
