Nice winter day!

On the way to the Minneapolis airport on a nice winter day! It is 13
degrees today. It was 20 the day we got here and yesterday - the rest
of the time it was either below zero or in the single digits! And that
wind was blowing too! Wind chills got down to -35! It was a nice
visit. Too bad it was too cold for Gus to play out in the snow very
much. Still, it is fun to travel!

Amtrak!

Here I am, just west of Tacoma, on an Amtrak train! We have traveled
from Portland today, on our way to Seattle, then a train change and on
to Wisconsin! I like train adventures!

Astoria Column #2

Here is a shot from the top of the Astoria Column. Awesome!

Astoria Column

Here I am at the top of the city of Astoria! We are at the Astoria
Column. What a neat place! You can see both bridges, the town, and
distant mountains. I can't believe more people don't live here!

Pill Box

Can you see me? I am hiding in the lookout hole of a 'pillbox' at the
Bonneville Dam. These concrete structures were used during World War
II as lookouts to guard the dam. It seems so long ago, but it really
isn't that long ago. Neat.

Bonneville Dam, again!

Here we are again, back on the Bonneville Dam! This time we came in on
the Oregon side. Stopped and looked at some waterfalls this morning,
and took Dad to this side of the dam to look at more fish! At the
outside observing area by the fish ladders. We just met Joe on his
bike! He is riding a big 80 mile loop around the waterfalls today,
too! I wonder who will get home first?!?

Old Stove

Here we are outside restaurant/gift shop/gas station near the Bridge
of the Gods. As we were waking out, Anne's mom noticed this old stove,
which was very similar to the one that her mom cooked on when she was
a little girl on the farm. Mon were come a long way in less than 100
years! What a great time to be alive!

Bridge of the Gods

Hi everyone! Here I am on the Oregon side of the Columbia River,
looking out at the Bridge of Gods. Today, we went to the Bonneville
Dam on the Washington side of the Columbia with Anne's parents and
Gus. We had a great time watching the fish and going across the high
bridge. What a fun day of sightseeing!

Union Station #2

Inside Portland Union Station - very fancy! It was built in 1896. That
is about the same year that Anne's mom and dad's home in Merrillan was
built! Very neat!

Union station

Hi! Here I am in downtown Portland at union station to pick up Anne's
mom and Dad at the train station! It is so neat to think they just
took the Empire Builder almost the whole way! It is going to be a
great visit!

Elephant!

Here I am near the elephants area at the zoo. If you look carefully
through the bushes, you can see a neat elephant. They are also massive
creatures!

Polar Bear!

Need I say more? We saw the polar bear right away in our observing. I
can't believe how large his head is! It is massive!

Oregon Zoo!

Here we are at the Oregon Zoo! Joe, Anne, and Gus met some of Joe's
coworkers for some family time. I found a neat place to ride in Gus'
backpack. I like the animals in the zoo!

Hopworks Urban Brewery

Hi! Here I am outside of Hopworks Urban Brewery on the east side of
Portland. We are meeting some of Joe's coworkers for dinner. We had a
good time. The food was good and there was a nice play area for Gus!

Camas Days!

Hi! Here we are at our neighborhood festival, Camas Days! We took Gus
here for the parade. Behind me you can see the first entry. It was a
so-so parade. Joe and Anne thought the parade in Merrillan was better,
if you can believe that! There just wasn't too much imagination put
into the entries with the "outer space" theme. We also noticed the
band was smaller than Anne's high school band, and dare I say Anne's
HS band was better! So we watched half of it and then went to have Gus
play in the blow-up jumper and slide!

Holy Sheep!

So we are almost to the Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Road when
we pulled off to look at some bighorn sheep. There was a female to my
left, so everyone, including Joe went off about 60' away to look/take
pictures of her when all of a sudden this male came down the mountain.
He was coming pretty quickly and making a bee-line right to the Jeep,
staring at me and Anne the whole time! Anne is sitting in the car
while she is taking this picture. He must have been about ten feet
away! How neat is that?!? Joe came over to take a picture and then a
bunch of sheep started showing up all around us. The ranger came
flying over in his truck, jumped out and yelled at everyone to stay 25
yards away. He was very rude about it - it wasn't like we rolled up on
them...they rolled us on us!

Going to the Sun

Here we are on the Going to the Sun road, traveling to our campsite on
the east side of the park at Saint Mary campground. It is beautiful
any way you look! I don't think that Anne's mom would like this road!

East Glacier Park Amtrak train stop

Here we are near the entrance of Glacier Park where we noticed the
East Glacier Park Amtrak train stop. This is where we (me, Anne, Gus,
and Anne's mom & dad) will be passing on our trip next month! How neat
will it be to pass through here again!

Glacier national park

Here we are just starting to enter Glacier National Park. We are on
the east side now, driving through on US highway 2, then driving back
through on the northerly route (Going to the Sun Road) to stay in the
campground on the east side tonight. So pretty here!

Missouri Headwaters State Park

Hi! Here I am in the AutoHome. We ended up not driving to Glacier
after our detour and thunderstorms yesterday. Instead, we stayed at
the Missouri Headwaters State Park, about 30 miles east of Butte off
of I-90. Here is where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers all
combine to form the start of the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark names
the three rivers after the President, Secretary of State, and
Secretary of the Treasury at the time. Because the main river
(Jefferson) was not named the Missouri, it makes the Mississippi River
technically the longest in the US. A note to all - if you don't want
to be eaten alive by mosquitos, don't camp where three big rivers
confluence! I still like rivers and camping, tho...

Yellowstone River

Here is a shot of the Yellowstone river from the Old Yellowstone
Trail. It is a straight drop off down to the flooded river below.
Back in Gardiner, the river was crystal clear, and here you can see
where the debris flow and sediment laden flood waters have turned the
river chocolate brown. Our detour on the gravel road was about 15
miles. When we got to the end, there was another cop turning people
around and not letting them on the gravel road. I think we reached the
mudflow on the highway right after it happened...and made it through
the old highway just before they shut that down, too. We could see a
loader roading down 89 on the other side of the river as we were on
our detour. Probably going to help remove the debris. I wonder how bad
the road was and if they ever got it open?!? What an adventure!

Mudflow!

So here I am on "Old Yellowstone Trail" on the west side of the
Yellowstone River about 10 miles outside of Gardiner, Montana.
Gardiner is the first town outside of Yellowstone's north entrance. We
were traveling north in US-89 when all of a sudden it started raining
big drops. Then we saw a cop with flashing lights up ahead and he road
disappeared...you could tell there was debris in the road. We didn't
drive all the way up to the cop, but it looked like a flash flood
caused a mudslide/debris flow from drainage off the mountain to the
east. Cars stated turning around, so we looked up on our iPad map to
see if there were bridges to cross the river and and alternate way
through. Fortunately, there was a bridge just a few miles back, and
the old Yellowstone Trail on the other side of the river. It was a
gravel road that had crazy deep washouts on it, too, but we made it
just fine following a local in our Jeep! I wish we would've gotten a
shot of the mud bogging we did, but we were too busy watching the road
and deciding if it was safe to continue! And watching crazy people in
cars - we are sure some didn't make it! Our biggest fear was that cars
would get stuck in the road on either side of us, trapping us in the
middle. How exciting that we got to really use the Jeep!

Buffalo!

So we are driving along on the road inside Yellowstone and all of a
sudden there is a buffalo walking right down the centerline of the
road! Anne hurried to take a photo and didn't quite get all of me, but
she got the buffalo just a few feet from our Jeep! About time we ran
into some wildlife! We also saw a momma bear and three babies in the
north part of the Teton NP. How awesome!

Silex Spring

Took a break at the Fountain Paint Pots pull-out in Yellowstone and
walked the whole boardwalk with Joe and Gus. Here I am at the Silex
Spring. What a neat place! I never get bored here...it is always just
as cool as the first time I came here.

Jackson Lake

Hi! Today we are driving from Jackson to Glacier National Park. Here
we are this morning on a picture break at Jackson Lake on our way
through Grans Teton National Park heading to Yellowstone. What a
beautiful day!

Tetons

Here I am outside of the visitor's center in Moose (the name of the
town:-) in Grand Teton National Park yesterday. It was mostly hot and
sunny and the mountains were beautiful!

Twin Falls - Snake River

Hi everyone! Driving to one of our favorite places right now, Jackson,
WY! Stopped at Twin Falls, ID at Target to grab a few things. We
missed the exit due to construction ad had to backtrack on some local
roads to get there, and we went past this! The land all around is flat
- you wouldn't know that a 400' canyon was there until you came right
up to it! There was an historical marker telling about the suspension
bridge that was built in 1919 to help settlers get across the snake
river canyon. We have been near the Oregon Trail for a lot of our
drive.

More interesting is the geological history about Lake Bonneville that
flooded out around 14,500 years ago that helped cut out the snake
river and went on to the Columbia River (essentially our whole drive).
This wasn't a glacial lake like Lake Missoula, but it flooded around
the same time. It just overflowed the banks and cut away at the
alluvial material holding up the lake. It was huge and the Great Salt
Lake is the remnant of the larger old Lake Bonneville. Pretty neat!

Another roadside photo op

Here we are near exit 224 off I-84 in eastern Oregon. We just started
climbing up a grade as the sun was setting, so Joe found a nice place
to pull off to take a picture while Anne fed Gus. I'm pretty sure
Joe's picture will be much better than mine!

Starbucks - Pendleton, OR

Hi! Here we are on our first gas stop of our trip in Pendleton, OR. We
couldn't make it to Idaho to pump our own gas! Oh well...we stopped at
a Starbucks and stretched our legs. This is the first Starbucks we've
noticed that must have been converted from a fast food restaurant! On
our way to Jackson, WY to visit the Tetons/Yellowstone and then up to
Glacier for a few more days. Yeah! I can't wait to see it all!

Happy 4th!!!

Hi all! Here I am at Camas Heritage Park on a nice 4th of July. Anne
and Joe took Gus for a run and now it is time for Gus to play at the
park. If you look closely, you can see Joe and Gus heading towards the
slide. What a nice day! Go Anerica!

Kenai Lake

Driving from Seward back to Anchorage we pulled off to take some
pictures of Kenai Lake. It looks like I have legs, but those are Joe's
legs behind me, along with a tripod leg emanating out from my arm:-)
It is fun to stop and take pictures!

Exit Glacier

Here we are at the end of a short, mile long hike to Exit Glacier
overlook. It isn't quite as impressive as we thought it would be, but
a neat glacier all the same! You can see the beautiful blue color in
the glacier near the top of what is behind me. That is where the
glacier spills out from the Harding Ice Field. If you look closely,
you can also see a waterfall trickling down the face of the glacier.
Still haven't seen any bears, moose, or elk...but mountains and
gaciers are neat! ❄

Seward/Lowell Point

On our way on a nice Saturday morning! Took a drive south of the town
of Seward to a state park near Lowell Point. The view is pretty nice
here! On our way to Exit Glacier!

Snoopy ski suit

Here I am in the gift shop at the top of the Alyeska ski resort. They
had an exhibit of a 1971 ski suit worn by the US ski team. Outdoor
clothing has come so far since then! I thought it was neat that there
was a snoopy patch on the official uniforms.

Alyeska ski resort

Here I am at the top of the tram at the Alyeaka ski resort. You are
looking down at the Turnagain arm with the Kenai Peninsula mountains
in the distance. It is crazy that the tram starts at 250' and goes up
to over 2,000'. Doesn't seem right that there would be a snow covered
mountain at just 2.000' in elevation! Nice day out, and nice to be
outside!

Flattop mountain

Behind me is Flattop mountain. There is a spur off of our trail that
leads to the top of it. If you look closely, you can see people
heading up. Looks like a great trail, but maybe not one while carrying
Gus!

Blueberry loop #2

Another panorama from the blueberry loop trail. The mountains here
remind us of the Sierras. The trail is a little muddy and snow covered
at times, but overall a very nice hike! No mud or snow would equal no
snow covered mountains, and that is no good!

Blueberry loop trail

Going for a hike on the blueberry loop trail from the Glen Alps
trailhead! What a beautiful day! 60 degrees and sunny - it is 6 pm,
but seems more like noon! I like Alaska!

Alaska!

So it is 11:08 pm in Alaska...how crazy! There aren't really any stars
and no northern lights because it isn't dark enough. Joe went to
Wasilla today. We looked at some maps and discussed what we will do
with our time. More to come!

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport

Here I am in Anchorage, Alaska! We (I, Anne, and Gus) are here with Joe as he is here for work. Just landed at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.  It is 

9:15 pm outside, but seems like mid-day! Very interesting! You know the days are long in the summertime, but it doesn't seem real until you live it. Can't wait to check things out!

Sent from my iPhone

Metlako Falls

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! This is Metlako Falls, a neat waterfall
on Eagle Creek. Just got done hiking there, and a little further to
Pothole Falls with Joe, Anne, and Gus. Joe took some pictures there.
It rained pretty much the whole time and altogether we ended up hiking
about 4.5 miles. Joe waded in water almost up to his butt to take some
pictures! He was actually cold! Gus had a great time looking at all
the trees, birds, waterfalls, and rain.

Baby Lucas!

Here we are at the Neillsville Clinic saying hi to Baby Lucas! We are
here with Anne's sister, Kathy, for an ultrasound. He is doing great!
With a chunky belly and a little turkey gizzard:-) almost six
pounds....not much longer now!

Foundation Trail

Here we are on another warm and sunny morning at the foundation trail
in Black River Falls, WI. Anne and Gus are going for a run on the four
mile trail. I'm doing some observing of the park from the van. I
really like coming here.

Cape Horn

No, we aren't in Chili...we are on the highway 14 in southern
Washington, near our home, heading towards Beacon Rock. Cape Horn is a
nice lookout onto the Columbia River Gorge. If you look closely at the
river, you can see a barge - reminds us of Minneapolis a bit:-) I love
road trips.

Super Elephant

Car wash, that is! Happened upon this neat sign as we were driving
back to our hotel. The sign is neat and pink, like me. I've noticed
many very neat car wash places all around our country. A neat ending
to our downtown trip.

Full moon over Seattle

You can see the full moon now! It was neat to see the city during the
day and watch the sun set and the city turn to night! The city lights
here look terrific! I especially like how the port has a pinkish glow
to it.

Just being here for a little while, I really like this city! So
beautiful and clean (at least the parts we've seen so far). Some neat
modern buildings, too. I think I could live here...

Mt. Rainier!

The view from the top of the space needle is amazing! There aren't
many days each year that you can see Mt. Rainier, but today is one of
them...you can also see downtown Portland and the port behind me. It
is really neat light, too, as the sun is going down. There is actually
a full moon coming up to my right, but it wouldn't show up in this
photo. Very nice!

Space needle!

Hi everyone! Can you guess where we are off to? Seattle! Joe had to
come for work, so we came with:-) From this angle, the space needle
looks so fake with the trees all around! It is like it is photoshopped
in! We haven't gone on any adventures lately, so it was fun to go on a
small road trip yesterday! As you know, I love road trips!

Multnomah Falls

Of course, we stopped at multnomah falls! We even all hiked up the
trail to the bridge at the top of the lower falls. It was nice and
misty when we got to the bridge. I like waterfalls and bridges and
when there are both in the same place, it is awesome!

Chanticleer point

After settling in our home for a few weeks, we have a visitor! Joe's
mom is here for a few days...we are doing some sight-seeing along the
Colombia river gorge today and stopped at Chanticleer Point. You can
see Crown Point off in the distance behind me and a neat view of the
Columbia River Gorge. What a nice day! Gus had a blast running around
this place!