North Dakota is the least visited state, or so says the perky park ranger at North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Those that strive to see all fifty states often leave North Dakota for last. The eastern border city of Fargo even issues certificates for those that are completing the …
Marching east, snowy Montana mountains yield to undulating scrubby plains. Highway signs mark turns to Yellowstone, but I conquered that national park on a previous trip. Infrequent billboards advertise Live Grizzly Bears, the World Famous Gem Museum, and town where cowboys and artists meet. I find that about an hour …
I hit the unavoidable middle part of a trip when everything turns a gray shade of blah. I’m just driving and driving and driving. Scenery merges and passes by like the backdrop from a 50’s road movie. The film I wanted to see got switched last night at Missoula’s historic …
I am bereft. With much roaring and flapping (it’s a long story), I drop Greg off at the airport. He flies back today to San Francisco to resume his work and life. I stay another night in Seattle with his wonderful friends so I can drive out east early the …
I’m sleeping more. Working the past six years, I woke at 7:30 regardless of the day in a fit. Hurry, hurry to race out the door and into the threatening traffic. Now that I can pick what I want to do, I pick sleep. My month with my parents may …
I fall in love all over again for new cities. Architecture is exciting, people are fresh, there is much to fascinate and explore. Portland is especially easy to love. Unlike in San Francisco, Portland has quiet streets, small houses, and serene spaces. Long rains and the invention of sun cause …
Departing Mount Shasta, Greg and I stop at Stewart Hot Springs for a mid-morning soak. This secluded wooded establishment by a creek reminds me of Harbin Hot Springs, the grand dame of northern Californian hippie hot springs. Arriving when Stewart Hot Springs opened, we were lucky enough to get time …