Colorado to Oregon

WY Cattle move

Grand Tetons, WY

Grand Teton National Park

Nuclear Rods by Breeder

First nuclear powered electricity facility; Idaho

Doug & Twila Wright Ward, Roger Wright, Christine

Craters of the Moon, Idaho

We arrived at my brother Gary's home in Newburg, OR yesterday. We dipped our feet in the Pacific Ocean this afternoon for the second time since the beginning of our trip and have enjoyed riding through beautiful forests of the Oregon coastal and Cascades ranges and the agricultural diversity of the Willamette Valley. We have traveled around 8400 miles so far on this trip and will have logged close to another 4000 miles til we get back to Virginia in another month. We have visited between 15 and 20 national parks and monuments, spent the night in at least 20 Walmart parking lots, and a dozen or so national park service managed campgrounds. A half dozen or so times we have camped at roadside pull offs or vacant lots. We have used motels about a half dozen times. We have stayed at the homes of relatives and (or) friends a dozen times and counting. We have yet to use a KOA or other privately owned RV campground and probably never will.



Highlights of the past two weeks have been a weekend spent at a Mennonite Central Committee Bolivia reunion where we reconnected with friends we haven't seen for 40 years; hiking and viewing snow fields, a profusion of wild flowers, and elk herds on alpine tundra above 11,000 feet altitude; several nights spent in the homes of friends; and chance encounters with local folks in small towns, learning about local events and issues. We have learned a lot of history about diverse things like the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity in Idaho, the hardships of wagon travel along the Oregon Trail 150 years ago, and the realities of modern day cowboying and range management. It's these kinds of things that make an extended trip personally enriching with lots of cherished memories.

CO, Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Black Canyon