September 26 Thursday - Drove from Barstow, California to Arroyo Grande, California
There were lots of oil wells pumping as we drove through the area around the town of Taft, Ca. Missing the McKitnik turn-off we continued south around the Monument mountains. We arrived on the coast at about 5 pm and found a Motel 6 in Grover Beach and after settling in we drove down to Fins Seafood Bar and Grill at the beach. Accompanying our very tasty dinner was Jane's Gang performing music from a number of different genres.The songs I knew were the 70's and 80's.

September 28 Saturday - Grover Beach to Livermore, California
After spending a day visiting cousins outside of the town of Arroyo Grande we left and headed north on the coastal highway. That route was not speedy but very beautiful. Given options I would choose to do this going southbound rather than northbound as there are lots of pull-outs with exceptional views. Parts of this road are windy, twisting along the crags of the coastal hills but there are sections where the state has spent time widening the road. We arrived in Livermore around 6 just in time for dinner made for all by my aunt.
We would spend the next couple of days visiting cousins, having lunch at the golf club and relaxing. There are lots of vineyards around Livermore that produce very good wine.

October 1 Tuesday - Livermore to Bodega Bay, California
After a beautiful breakfast we left my aunt and headed north. There are tolls for all bridges in the San Francisco area and with the morning commute hour decided to avoid going into the city. We took a northern highway paying a toll on one bridge and headed to Beringer's Winery in Napa Valley. Once again I missed a turn so we headed north on one road out of Napa and came to Calistoga. I was kind of glad to have missed the original turn-off as the ride through the valley was filled with the colours of fall. Calistoga is a small unique touristy town with the old buildings. Circling through the town we headed back south and eventually found Beringer's Winery. The estate is amazing. The drive into the parking lot takes you under some huge old trees that shade the lawns and gardens from the intense summer sun. Buying 2 bottles of wine there and taking some pictures we left. A short distance north is the Culinary Institute where one can indulge in food created by students. Due to time we decided to forgo that pleasure and head to the coast. Choosing a more direct west route we took a narrow road that had a number of washouts where the road was slowly slipping away down an embankment. I do like adventure but this was almost scary. Arriving on the other side of these hills we breathed a sigh of relief as we were now on a well paved 2 lane highway not worried about deer in the road as we came around corners. Our nightly stop was at Bodega Bay where we got a nice room at the Bodega Harbour Inn. Bodega Bay was the town used by Alfred Hitchcock in his famous film THE BIRDS.


October 2 - Wednesday - Bodega Bay to Fort Bragg
As mentioned before the coast highway can be windy and sometimes quite narrow. Do not be in a hurry. Some drivers know the road and I pulled over to let those in a hurry pass. Enjoying the scenery is really not possible if you are the driver and needing to concentrate on keeping your vehicle on the road. Traveling north falling into the ocean seemed unlikely but there were areas that had road fixing after rock slides so no matter which way one was driving danger could be right around the corner. California has spent a lot of money on road upgrades along with bridges to make this very scenic drive safer. This route is an absolute must see for all those visiting this state. Allow 4 to 6 hours to travel between these two locations mainly if you stop and visit the small hamlets and villages along the way and the many viewpoints. We saw elk in a field of cattle along the way. Arriving in Fort Bragg we settled into the Beachcomber Motel. We were given a room with a huge hot tub where I would spend some time relaxing and soaking. We decided to spend 2 nights here and then headed for a seafood dinner on the Noyo River looking out toward the Pacific. We sat at a picnic table, ate and watched the sun go down. Delicious food!


October 4 - Fort Bragg to Brookings, Oregon
Leaving the next day from Fort Bragg I decided that someone else drive. We got some edibles from the motel and fuelled up. Climbing up the coastal mountains going north is a challenge. I had done all the driving and I had driven this part of the highway a number of times. The road is narrow and windy, winding between large Redwood trees. It had been mentioned that roads heading inland from here were all narrow and windy so it really didn't matter which route we took. It was nice to sit back and enjoy the ride and be the navigator. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get to Highway 101. The #1 was a beautiful route but to be honest I was glad to be back on a wider road with gentle corners. The trees along Highway 101 take your breath away: tall sturdy and old. We did not drive along the Avenue of the Giants, but we had a glimpse of the lives of these magnificent trees. We came across a large herd of elk ( maybe 100 ) grazing in a field. Northern California has it's beauty with the beaches, animal life and plant life. We went through Eureka and Crescent City before arriving in Brookings, Oregon around 4 pm. We found an Oceanside motel with a room with 2 king beds and a small balcony where we could sit and watch the waves crash against the rocks and logs that laid on the beach. I was itching to consume some Mexican food and we were directed to a restaurant in the town center. La Floras Mexican Restaurant had a kind of 50's look to it. The food was great, A+, and so was our waitress.

October 5 - Brookings to Wilsonville south of Portland
Our vacation was slowly coming to an end and getting home seemed to be on our minds. We headed east from 101 to connect with Interstate 5 making it to south of Portland. The car needed an oil change and a Jiffy Lube was spotted from the highway. Making a number of turns we arrived just before they closed and had the car attended to. Across the street was spotted a motel and a restaurant. We got a rather small room in the ma & pa motel and headed for dinner next door. I had never heard of the Black Bear Diner but they are located in the central and western US. The restaurant houses a lot of old items and time could be spent browsing around looking at old newspapers, pictures,etc. like a museum. The food was presented like artwork and very tasty with the waitress being most accommodating.

October 6 - Wilsonville to Home
Today was our last day on the road and traveled up Highway 5 with a stop at a roadside rest and when we arrived in Bellingham a major grocery purchase was done. Looking back over the travels I was glad to have some of my bucket list emptied. As imagined the trip took it's toll. Having done cruises the financial and health goal is far less. Packing daily, finding places to eat, sleep, and washrooms take time and I spent more than I would have spent on a cruise. The positive aspect is being able to stop and take pictures and stay in an area that feels good. Cruising might leave you behind but it is a great way to see many places, then you plan where you want to stay on your next vacation. HAPPY TRAVELS FOLKS!
( my apologies for the delay in posting )








Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad

September 21, Saturday -Dillon to Montrose, Colorado
Today we left Dillon and continued on our journey exploring the routes of Colorado. We traveled West on I-70 to highway 24 heading south connecting with 285 south to Poncha Springs and west on highway 50 to Montrose. Many of the highways overlap one another and this day's journey was very scenic as marked on our map. Montrose is a lovely town and bigger than we expected. Arriving about 3:15 we got the last room in the Country Lodge. Each room has a theme, beautiful gardens, and well-maintained, family owned lodge. We could tell they were proud of their establishment. Our first night we were in the John Wayne room and deciding to stay another night when we were moved to the Wildlife room. Both room themes backed up the pictures that hung on the wood walls. Today was sunny and we ended the day with dinner at the Ted Nelson Steakhouse. Excellent food and service!

September 22 - Sunday
We spent today relaxing, reading, playing scrabble over-looking the swimming pool and the hot tub. There were still a lot of blooming flowers and green grass making the area very inviting. A sunny day added to that enjoyment.

September 23- Monday - Montrose to Kayenta, Arizona
Leaving Montrose about 10:15 after picking up a quick breakfast at McDonald's, we headed south. We needed to get to Cortez to pick up more quilting goods before the store closed. Montrose Is spread out over 3 or 4 miles. We took 550 south to Durango enchanted by old buildings that had been built in a bygone era. Ouray is one of those towns and other than all the tourists milling around you can almost picture the miners bringing their gold and other found minerals into the assayer for payment. The road south of Ouray was a bit of a challenge. It was narrow and windy with a cliff drop-off so far down that one could not see the bottom. There were no guard rails so the driver needs to concentrate on driving while the passengers enjoy the view. We passed old ghost towns and shutdown mines. The Durango-Silverton train had been used in mining but now the narrow gauge rail line is a tourist attraction. We followed a stream that was yellow and assumed that it came from a shut down sulfer operation. Leaving Durango we traveled west on 160 to Cortez. As we left the greenery of the mountains the vistas opened up to orange/pinkish sand and geology that was a wonder to see.
After our stop in Cortez we hit the isolation of the desert. A 15 minute downpour drenched the earth and the miles of cactus plants with no motels caused a little panic in my mind. There were small communities and "Four Corners" had tourists. Four Corners is where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona meet. We finally arrived in Kayenta, Arizona in the Navaho Reservation. We stayed at the Monument Valley Inn. The room was overpriced but was comfortable but the dinner we had was very good with a delicious salad bar. The hotel and restaurant as well as every business has native employees all of whom were very accommodating. Our day had some rain but mainly overcast.

September 24 - Tuesday - Kayenta to Williams
We picked up coffee at the chevron station after checking out of the Monument Valley Inn and headed to the Grand Canyon on the south rim taking 160 to highway 89 south to highway 64 west into the south rim of the canyon. Needing to buy some fridge magnets we stopped in a souvenir shop as we took in a number of viewpoints along the route. The sun played on the canyon walls giving colours of yellow gold to violet purple hues. We took a number of pictures and drove into the village. This is probably like West Yellowstone: if you want to spend the night here book ahead. There were many people enjoying the national park and many animals: squirrels, chipmunks, and a lot of elk. The day was very warm but at the end of it we found the Canyon Inn and RV Park in Williams, Arizona. After settling into our cabin we learned that this is Route 66. This place is unique in the collection of old vehicles. A caboose from the ATSF rail era sat ready to be slept in all decked out as a motel room. We saw an old fire truck and other machinery from long ago. Unable to climb the caboose steps we had opted for a cabin with less steps.

September 25 - Wednesday - Williams, Arizona to Barstow, California
We left the Canyon Inn about 9:15 and drove through Williams along Route 66. I stopped and took a picture of a road sign of Route 66. Another realization occurred in Williams where we pulled in to a rail parking lot and took pictures of the Grand Canyon Rail Train which runs from Williams to the Grand Canyon. While we looked why there comes a train totally devoted to UPS parcels and it made me realize just how much internet shopping has taken over our life. We followed 66 until it hit US 40 westbound. We stopped in Kingman for fuel and brunch, and headed north on 93 to see Hoover Dam.
There was no charge at the dam but there is a security check. It was a very hot day but there was enough desire to take many pictures in the sweltering heat. Getting some magnets and cold drinks we left Hoover Dam, and missing a turn off, we ended up in the afternoon commute hour of Las Vegas with bumper to bumper freeway traffic. Despite the traffic we looked over the casino row of hotels. Once out of the city we made for Barstow, California via 15 where we got the last ground floor room in a Motel 6.

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October 27, 2019 – at home and recovered from a very exhausting trip. I will now go back in time and bring you all up-to-date with our adventures taken from my journal.

Monday September 16 2019 – Belle Fourche, South Dakota to Wheatland, Wyoming

      We left the Ace Motel about 10:00, fueled up, picked up a Stonehenge quilting pattern and headed back through town on Highway 85. We then headed west on Highway 34 to see Devil's Tower in Wyoming. When we crossed the state line the highway became highway 24. Devil's Tower is a volcanic cone and has nothing to do with Hollywood alien movies or quaint native myths. The earth around the core eroded away leaving the existing monument. We have seen many motorcycles in the past few days from Mount Rushmore area to Devil's Tower. The Harley Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts congregate yearly at Sturgis, South Dakota and 100s ride to Devil's Tower. We did not see the rally of the motorcycles but there sure were a lot of them hanging in the area. Stopping and taking pictures of the monument, buying some magnets and enjoying a huge ice cream cone we continued along route 24 to 14 and south to Moorcroft. We then headed southeast on 16 to Newcastle and enjoyed a drive straight south on 85 to Lusk and west on 18/20 until we hit highway 25. The east part of Wyoming has rolling hills with lots of grassland. We saw pronghorns in great numbers feeding on these grasses and wondered if they are wild or are being farm raised. Pronghorns are known by a more common term- the American Antelope. Lots of oil drills in the east part of Wyoming along with wind turbines. The day was long and very warm so we were very glad to settle into the All American Motel in Wheatland on US highway 25.

September 17, 2019 – Tuesday- Wheatland south to Denver

Today was going to be a day of errand shopping as promised so we headed into Fort Collins to a quilt shop for another pattern. The drive was warm but overcast and after leaving Fort Collins we headed straight to Parker, south of Denver on it's outskirts, for another pattern. With some time spent driving around looking for the store we did finally find it., got the quilt kit and headed back north into Denver for accommodations. We settled into a Motel 6 after a nice dinner at IHOP.

September 18- stayed in Denver area

We visited a cousin and shared some family history with one another, had a wonderful meal and just general chit-chat and left with great memories as we returned to Motel 6.

September 19, 2019 – Denver to Dillon, Colorado

Leaving Motel 6 we gassed up, got coffee and drove south on 25 but there were no signs to indicate Pike's Peak and I drove passed the turnoff about 20 miles. We got directions but noticed the sign northbound that indicated the route. Highway 87 took us to the road to Pike's peak. There were no view points and upon arriving at the park entrance I made a decision not to pay 30$ for entrance to drive up the peak when really all I wanted was to take a picture. Maybe someone will come up with a way to take a picture while being on the peak. So we left, went back to 87 and traveled west to 24 and then north on 9 to I-70. We went through Alma said to be the highest town in the continental US, crossed the continental divide at Hoosier Pass (11,547 feet), and dropped into the Rocky Mountain Basin about 30 miles wide. I had never seen this huge wide basin expanse as it is south of I-70 which I have driven a number of times. We drove through Beckenridge reminding me of Whistler. It had few motels but lots of condos and a lot of ski areas. The day was beautiful and the journey ended with a two night stay in the Super 8 in Dillon west on 70 from 9.

September 20, 2019

Today we drove to Vail to visit another set of cousins. We shared our family exchanges and enjoyed the view from their mountain home, ate munchies and shared stories but then returned to Super 8.

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Saturday, September 14, 2019 - Casper, Wyoming to Custer City, South Dakota

     We left Casper from Motel 6 about 10:15 and went south on 25 to Douglas, Wyoming, north on 59 to Wright and east on 450 to Custer City. We found a very nice older motel decked out 50s style: the Rocket Motel. On our drive we saw miles of rolling hills: some with pronghorns and some with cattle. Lots of natural resource development: oil processing, natural gas, and nuclear energy plants, The day was sunny and warm,

Sunday September 15, 2019 - Custer City, South Dakota to Belle Fourche, South Dakota

     Today we left Custer City, a touristy old-western town, and headed to Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills are a sight to see. The rock formations carved out by wind, rain, and ice are impressive indeed! Mt. Rushmore had many vehicles going and coming from parking areas. After snapping a couple of pictures of the presidents we carried on and eventually getting ourselves lost on a very narrow and windy 2 lane road. The speed was 25 mph with lots of hairpin turns at 15 mph. We went through 3 tunnels cut out of the stone that sparkled with mica. I will say that it was an interesting drive. We finally got ourselves re-oriented so we could head north on 385 passing through Deadwood, South Dakota and on to 85 north to Belle Fourche. We retired into the Ace Motel run by a very chatty lady who gave directions for everything. Now some may wonder how or why we ended up in Belle Fourche. Well, we promised a friend that we would try and collect some quilting patterns for her from certain cities,