Retired and Trippin

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Rosie, Chris' mother. She is ?? years young today. We hope your day was great! It was cloudy again this morning, almost like fog. It was 53 degrees when we departed Ocean Shores, WA at 9:20 and headed north on 101. About 25 miles up the road the sun peaked out and before the day was over it was sunny. Most of 101 was not along the shore of the Pacific but there was a stretch where we could see the ocean through the forest and a couple of times we had a clear view. Chris did a little shopping at a variety store in Forks, WA and then we continued on. Our final destination was Sequim, WA. We had a bit of a problem, however, at Lake Crescent. Hwy 101 was completely blocked for road work. Evidently, we missed warning signs along the way. After a picnic lunch on the shore of Lake Crescent, we had to back-track 22 miles to catch Hwy 113 north and Hwy 112 west where we eventually hooked back into Hwy 101. The bad news is we drove an extra 50 miles. The good news is ...

Departure today from Seaside, OR was at 8:45. It was cloudy and 54 degrees. Our first stop today was a short distance north at Fort Clatsop, a Lewis and Clark National Historic Park just south of Astoria, OR. This is the place where Lewis & Clark and the Corp of Discovery spent a long winter before heading back east. The fort is a replica of what they lived in. The area around the fort is heavily wooded with amazing Sitka spruce trees. From Fort Clatsop it was a hop, skip and jump up to Astoria, OR, where we spent a good part of the day. Astoria is situated on the Columbia River, an impressive body of water. Our first stop was at the Astoria Visitor Center where we were provided a map and information on where to go and what to see. Our next stop in Astoria was the Astoria Column, located on a hill overlooking the town and the river. It was 164 steps up a spiral staircase to the top of the column, which provided great views. My brother, Carl, and friend, Gary, would no...

Another beautiful morning and day! It was clear, sunny, and 59 degrees as we drove out of Madras, OR at 8:30. On the way north to Mt. Hood, however, it got even cooler than that. A short distance north of Madras there was a single, large, snow-capped peak on the horizon. I couldn't believe it was Mt. Hood already, but I had no idea what else it might be. Later, another snow-capped peak showed up on the horizon. A flag man at a construction zone told us which one was Mt. Hood. He said the other was Mt. Jefferson. According to our map, Mt. Jefferson is 10,497 feet tall and Mt. Hood stands at 11,240 feet. Even further up Hwy 26 we got this view of Mt. Hood. By this time we could barely see the mountain for the trees. We turned off Hwy 26 to drive up to Timberline Lodge, which provided an excellent view of Mt. Hood and a beautiful smoky panorama of the surrounding area. We had reservations at a motel in Gresham, OR, located just east of Portland and near the Columbia Ri...

Another beautiful day in the life of Charlie & Chris. When we departed Baker City, OR it was 57 degrees and sunny. We drove west on Highways 7 and 26. Hwy 7 was initially labeled as the Elkhorn Scenic Byway but both 7 and 26 were labeled as the "Journey Through Time, Oregon Scenic Byway". We enjoyed the drive. Chris spotted this store as we drove through Dayville, OR so we stopped for a brief shopping spree and a bathroom break. Just west of Dayville we stopped at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Sheep Rock Unit where we took a few photos. Thirty two miles further east on Hwy 26 we stopped in Mitchell, OR for a picnic lunch. Just west of Mitchell we did some hiking and photographing at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Painted Hills Unit. Our oldest son, Eric, told us about this place so we decided to check it out. It was definitely worth seeing. From Painted Hills we continued our way west and north on Hwy 26 to Madras...

Today is an interstate highway day. I-84 all the way from Ogden, UT to Baker City, OR. We left Ogden at 8:00 under blue clear skies (again) with a temperature of 65 degrees. As you'll see from the photos, the scenery is not quite as good as it was in Colorado - good enough to keep us interested, however. We made it to Idaho, which would be the only state so far on our trip that we did not spend a night in. We did stop in Boise for lunch at Freddy's and at Boise State University for a walk around campus. We walked almost completely around the stadium trying to get a glimpse of the blue turf. We eventually got a peek. While in Boise we also stopped by the state capital for a couple photographs. Chris took this picture in Oregon using my iPhone looking through the buggy windshield. We arrived in Baker City, OR and checked into our motel around 3:30 (Pacific Standard Time). Our high temperature today was 89. We drove 430 miles. To see all the photo...

We left our motel at 8:00 this morning under blue clear skies with a temperature of 57 degrees. Another beautiful and cool morning. The night before we decided to check out Rifle Falls State Park located just north of Rifle, CO. I called the park before we left to make sure water was coming over the falls. We didn't want to make the detour to find a dry hole. We were not disappointed. The falls were beautiful and we enjoyed a hike around the Coyote trail, which took us to the top of the falls. Today we decided on a two-lane highway route so we drove north on Hwy 13 to Meeker and then Hwy 64 west to Rangely, where we enjoyed a lunch at the Main Street Cafe. In Dinosaur, CO we caught Hwy 40 westbound into Utah. This area is known for the dinosaur fossils discovered. Fake dinosaurs were photographed in Dinosaur, CO and Vernal, UT. East of Salt Lake City we caught I-80 and I-84 to go north to Ogden, UT, which was our stopping point. We drove 375 miles, experienced a high ...

Another sunny day! When we departed Colby, KS westbound on I-70 it was 56 degrees. Our plan was to take I-70 west all the way to Rifle, CO. Chris drove from Colby to about 30 miles shy of Denver and then I took the wheel. Before we reached the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel we exited I-70 at exit 216 and drove south and west over Loveland Pass on Highway 6. It was cloudy here but there was also a haze you can see in the distance. I've heard it is from the forest fires in Montana and other places north. I did not know it at the time but, as you'll see in the photos, I parked in a no parking zone. I discovered the violation when going through photos. West of Loveland Pass we discovered a pretty grove of colorful aspen trees and stopped for some pictures.  The aspens are just starting to change and they are already beautiful. Highway 6 took us west into Dillon, where we saw Lake Dillon and where we hopped back on I-70. In Vail we stopped for lunch and a walk. Chri...