Friday, November 30, 2007


After 6,636 miles, I'm finally home. On Monday I'm off to the Prince Edward Islands. Just kidding.

Thursday, November 29, 2007


Almost home! Stopped in K-Zoo to see Elizabeth.
I drove like a banshee from Dodge City, KS. east through Topeka, Kansas City, St. Louis, and then north through Springfield to Pontiac IL. All highway.

Sounds like a personal problem.

Son of a witch! This must be the real Oz museum.

I think I'm in the middle of the country, again.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I made it as far as Dodge City (my bad) and the Bel-Air Motel ($24.00 plus tax), which doesn't have internet. But the parking lot at the Comfort Inn up the street does!

I went two hours out of my way to visit Liberal, Kansas, home of "Ozfest". This was the most rewarding image of the detour.

Ah, Kansas. No place for a vegitarian.

Monday, November 26, 2007

I made it as far as Canon City, the gateway to Rockies. Cheap eats, cheap sleeps.

By the end of the day, I had cleared the Sangre De Cristo mountains. The huge billowing white cloud on the left was the blizzard I drove through at Monarch Pass.

The Blue Mesa Reservoir was frozen the last time Zac and I came through here.

A nice look at the range from the north.

Traveling north on Highway 550 between Durango and Montrose, Colorado is the San Juan range.

Don't tell me thirty-five dollars can't put you in the lap luxury. I can call for more TP right from the throne.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Just inside the S.E. corner of Colorado is the city of Cortez, a great place to call it a night.

The four corners of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado meet at this point. It was closed.

I drove through Momument Valley at dusk.

The ancient dwellings of the Anasazi Indians.

The Colorado river as it winds to the Pacific Ocean.

The breathtaking vistas of the Grand Canyon.

I was in time to catch Williams' tree lighting ceremony.

Driving through Arizona by the light of the full moon.

Route 66 through the Mohave desert was expansive and quietly beautiful.

Nothing brings the anticipation of nearing a destination as much as a milage marker. My spirits were lifted when I saw this.
It was time to make the journey back home. Los Angeles north to Barstow, and then west to Williams AZ, 50 mile south of the Grand Canyon.

Friday, November 23, 2007


We're wondering around Hollywood...and Judas H. Priest, if we don't see Tobey Maguire just hanging out right in front of us!

In some type of sarcastic comment, Judy Garland thanked Mr. Grauman for leaving an exposed area of wet cement, which she stepped in.

My brother Tom took me down Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills. Yes, those are Baccarat crystal chandelier street lamps.

What trip down southbound US-5 through California would be complete without a stop in Santa Nella for a bowl, or three, of Andersen's famous split pea soup.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

The scenery is the the star of the show at Yosemite.

A view of Half Dome in the afternoon.

The valley floor as the sun starts to burn off the frost.

El Capitan at sunrise, a 7569' tall wall of solid granite.

All the comforts of home, if your home happens to be a tent.
The drive into Yosemite was breathtaking. I'll be roughing it for a few days.

Yosemite by sundown.

While looking at the facinating mineral deposits in Mono Lake, I couldn't but think of...pancakes??? (lenticular clouds) Thanks, Tom.

Lake Tahoe reminds me of Claude Monet's Normandy coastline.

I think this was the "Park Your Ass Here" hotel.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Today I drove from Delta, UT. to Carson City, NV. down highway 50. The scenery was rugged, didn't see any wildlife.

The long shadows on the road end another day of driving.

Redneck radar detector....but it works!

I found out where they put all the sand that people have in their shoes when they leave the beaches on the west coast.

Traveling across Nevada gets pretty lonely; fortunately, I met someone who needed a ride. I can probably use the orange jumpsuit he left me if I ever go hunting.

Nevada offers some great places to win enough money to buy breakfast. This morning I just had coffee.
I decided to go south and chase some sunny, warm weather. Going from Jackson Hole south to Evanston, west to Salt Lake, and then south to Delta, which gets my vote as the best location for a "slasher" movie. The internet at the Bates Motel didn't work so I'm catching up today.

I found the nastiest dive in the most obscure, joyless, forbidding town in America. They wouldn't let me in.

You can always tell a hotel by the bathroom. This was the best of the three I checked out.

I drove past the Great Salt Lake, it smelled like dead fish...salty dead fish.

Sinclair gets their gas from dinosaurs, like this one.

Here's an idea for Berkley's Downtown Development Committee-parking directions at gunpoint.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Low clouds and drizzle kept me at Jackson Hole for the day. No point taking chances on icy roads. The townsfolk are extremely warm and helpfull. Everything is a little pricey.

The tracking and shooting of "Jackalopes" is big business out west, and a trophy mount can command a premium bounty.

At the Million Dollar Saloon, you have to climb into the saddle before you can have a cold one.

Jackson Hole has more antlers than a Wolfgang Puck restaurant.

The Tetons were socked in with a low cloud ceiling.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Todays driving took me from Hot Springs, SD. south to Lusk, WY. and then west through Casper, Riverton, and then resting my boots in Jackson Hole. The scenery was varied, with a combination of praries, bluffs, platues, red rock canyons, snow covered mountain passes, and rugged mountain ranges. The wildlife was just as varied: antelope, elk, deer, hawks, and golden eagles. The openess of this state is almost incomprehendible

At last. The Grand Tetons at dusk; a long day of driving is rewarded.

The lack of humanity in this state certainly allows you an unobstructed view of the dramatic scenery.

I stopped for lunch in Shoshoni, apparently the warning to "get out of town" hadn't made it to me!