Home, home on the range...

Photos of Montana... LOVE IT!!! We spent hours at Little Big Horn. I'd read about the "lone survivor" of the Battle of Little Big Horn years ago, and had been intrigued with the place ever since. (The story was about Custer's horse 'Comanche' which turns out to be not Custer's horse, and not the lone survivor, but it made for a great story for a horse crazy kid back in the day.)

The markers are those for fallen US Calvarymen. There are very few markers fallen Indian warriors because they won, and carried off their dead to bury them.
OK, have to run, more photos later!

OK, let me try again...

So I tried to start posting photos this morning, but that didn't turn out so well. I am starting over! The blog posts are in order from newest to oldest and I have not figured out how to fix that, so the photos in individual blogs are a bit out of order. You'll just have to start from the end and work your way backward!

So, on to leaving CA. And yep, I got to eat at In-N-Out before I left the state!

OK, a timeline and photos...

Monday 6/9/08 - I flew to CA

Tuesday - Pasha and I left on our travels. We went up to Redding via the 5, then across to the coast and up the 101. We hit the coast at Arcata and drove up through Redwood National Park. Can you say beautiful? Into Oregon and up to Coos Bay along the coastline was AMAZING. We spent the night in Coos Bay.

Wednesday - Up and at'em... We hit the road running from Coos Bay to Reedsport through the Oregon Dunes. Then it was across to Eugene and all points west. We went through the Willamette National Forest and Three Sisters Wilderness Area. That gave us our first taste of having to re-route due to weather. The road we were planning to take was closed due to snow. Did I mention I only packed tank tops? I have one pullover that has gotten quite the workout so far. Once we got turned around and headed the right direction on open roads, it was off to Sisters and Bend. Can I just say that Oregon is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen? It's just amazing. Anyway, we made it to Boise ID that night.

Thursday - the plan was to hit Grand Tetons and Yellowstone on our way to Sheridan WY. We made good time through Idaho, though it was a rather disappointing drive after Oregon. Into Jackson WY and onto the Grand Tetons. Again, a beautiful place. Off we went into Yellowstone. How much beauty can a person really handle in one day? Though it still didn't quite measure up to Oregon. After finally making it out of Yellowstone, we headed to Cody. If you've never been there, there is nothing in Cody WY. Or Powell WY. Nothing as in NOTHING. It had taken so long to get from Yellowstone (snow, rain, yadda yadda) that it was late and we were hoping to get to stop before Sheridan. No such luck. So off to Sheridan we go. Halfway up the next mountain - and I am not kidding about the halfway up part - there was the sign saying the road was closed. Couldn't they have put that at the BOTTOM of the mountian??? I called the Wyoming State Police and asked if it really was closed. Yep. Well, what about this other route? Closed. There was no way to get from where we were to where we needed to be. And this was at 11:30pm. What fun. So I broke out the road atlas and decided we were heading for Billings MT. We made it there at 2am or so.

Friday - Montana to South Dakota. We didn't get far at all because we didn't hit the road until about 2pm. And then we only made it to the Little Big Horn National Battlefield. Spent 3 hours there. Then we headed off to SD. All I have to say is that I fully intend to one day live in MT. It is beautiful, stunning, amazing, breathtaking...

Saturday - who knows - our planned route is under water. We are going to see Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument in the morning though.

Sunday - hopefully home, but at the rate we've been going... we'll just have to see.

It's Photo Time!

From the beginning (because I don't even want to look at photos of Wyoming right now!!)...

The welcoming committee...

View of the SF Bay on the way to Pasha's...

By the way, these are all from my phone.

Leaving Pasha's...Oh, and when you ask someone "Will we get hit if I stop here?" and they say "Yes", you should probably believe them. Not that we actually got hit, but it was a pretty darned close call...

I'll take Montana for $1000!

Oh. My. God. I thought Idaho was bad. It took us - I kid you not - 12 HOURS to get out of Wyoming. There was snow, there were road closures - which of course they don't post until you are more than halfway up the darned mountain - and there were buffalo (excuse me, BISON according to Officer Baker at Yellowstone), elk and moose. I will give the state some stunning scenery, but it ain't no Oregon. And that was all back on the far side of it, in the Tetons and Yellowstone. The rest of it just stinks. Literally. The stench of sulfer just does not go away. And I suppose the Raven that followed us from the entrance to Yellowstone to the exit of Yellowstone should have been a warning....

OK, now onto the promised photos!! (Finally!!)

Idaho - Not so much!

Idaho not as exciting as Oregon - kinda crappy. But we have reached a little storm that has made this part pretty. Will post a lot of pictures but we are losing our connection via auto. On our way to the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone and hope to end the day in Sheridian WY. SNOW!!!!

Catching up...

It's been an interesting few days. We've been on coast roads and back roads through some beautiful country. I made the flights to CA with no incidents or accidents, and survived the takeoffs and landings. Did have a hysterical moment in the Phoenix airport when these three yahoos started talking about film and their working in the industry...

The two guys had been in Myrtle Beach filming the National Jet Ski Championships. Woot. The girl was a wanna-be that was going to be different because she was going to college before going to Hollyood. Yeah, like that is going to make a difference to casting directors. Or not. But I do give her props for thinking of the future when her big acting gig doesn't work out.

Well, we are getting ready to hit the road for Day 3. We are going to try to blog from the road today, so more to come!

Heaven

Since I mentioned it, I thought I'd show you my little slice of heaven on Earth...
(taken on 6/7/08)

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Tomorrow afternoon I am flying to CA to join a friend on their drive to my little piece of heaven in VA. Said friend helped me set up this blog so I can share my travels with everyone. I hope you all enjoy!

(and one of these days I'll tell ya where "Air Angela" came from!)