We visited friends and took in the sites in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico!

From Yosemite to Yellowstone and to see Bub's Mom in Chadron, we searched out old cars, hot springs, buffalo, deer (we did miss the deer, but only by inches!) and old railroad hotels!
We also found we still liked each other's company.

The full set of photos can also be seen by clicking here

(and...this page is still getting created so the other pictures will be in soon :>) but here is the travelogue

June 20:
We got out of town at about 4:30 on Sunday! We drove across I-8, the turnoff south of Casa Grande and headed west. We got to Yuma about sunset and stopped to get gas because it was about a quarter cheaper in AZ! Pretty dry across that stretch. We continues on 8 past some amazing sand dunes outside of Yuma-just big rolling dunes as far as the eye could see in either direction. We turned north at El Centro onto a lesser highway that was still 4 lane most of the way and then became 2 lane but still separated. We made pretty good time and ended up  in Indio, right outside of Palm Springs about 9:30. There was a Holiday Inn Express that seemed a good and economical choice so we stayed there.
June 21
Had some great cinnamon rolls as part of their breakfast spread and then hit the road about 9:30. I had a coaching client in the morining before we left and then did two more calls in the car with Bub driving.
>From Indio, we headed west towards LA and you could see the smog blowing out from the city. We passed truck after truck loaded with garlic.
We turned north again in San Bernadino onto a lesser highway towards Bakersfield, where we had lunch at an In-N-Out Burger. Bub got a T-shirt. We continued to head north towards Visalia. The land was pretty dry out there, but there began to be a lot of fruit and other crops and lots of cows. We learned that the county around Visalia is #1 in cattle, citrus and cotton producers in the country.
We went through Visalia towards the Sequoia Forest and found the Wicky-Up Ranch Bed and Breakfast that we had reservations for. We got there about 4...
Monica and John were our hosts and she welcomed us and gave us some history of her family and the house. They had a PT Cruiser Wood they had just bought that was silver! Her great uncle Fred had comer out with his brother in the early 1900"s and built the house in 1902. The walls and ceilings were cedar and just beautiful. We stayed in a bedroom with a lovely old bed and lots of comfy pillows. We pickniced in the evening under there tall old trees in a really beautifulk garder. A pair of oleanders was the entree into the front garden. A couple of fountains were running continuously and it was very tranquil. The front of the house had a screened porch that ran the length of the house and was a comfortable place to read and hang out. Bub found a couch with a reading light and was right at home. I took a nice hot bath in the old tub and then we went to bed fairly early
June 22
I had an early morning coaching call (7)and then we enjoyed a candlelit breakfast with our hosts. Fresh orange juice, Blueberry bread and sweet grapefruit began the meal and then we had French Toast that was nut encrusted with a wonderful maple syrup and lots of coffee. I had another coaching call and then we packed and hit the road at 10:30.
We drove east to the Sequoia National Forest and spent the next 4 hours winding through the Mountains from an almost sea level elevation up to over 5000 feet
Most of the driving was  slow mountainy, curvy roads. We stopped at the Sequoia Museum and at the General Sherman Sequoia which is supposed to be the biggest tree in the world. Some of these trees are 2200 years old. The trees were really really tall and wide and driving through them was an awesome site. We took a few pictures along the way but mostly just enjoyed the ride.

Then we headed back west towards Fresno and then up the road to Yosemite. It was 4:30 by the time we made it to Yosemite's south entrance and we had about 35 miles to Yosemite Village. Again we went from sea level to about 5000 ft., slow, windy roads through mountains with views that stretched for miles. There was an old hotel we passed with the golf course, which looked like it probably got overrun with deer. As we progressed through the Park, the granite cliffs rose thousands of feet up and we saw 2 waterfalls that were incredibly big and beautiful. One of these, Yosemite Falls is the tallest Falls in the Northern Hemisphere-over 2200 feet high!



  We checked into the Awahnee Hotel at about 5 PM. We missed high tea but had a nice glass of wine in the bar and walked around the hotel. It was built in 1927 and is beautiful. We got a little cabin behind the hiotel set in the woods and have been cautioned to be careful of the bears but haven't seen any yet.


June 23
We left Yosemite mid morning after enjoying the sunrise and morning fresh air. We drove the back roads of California to Sacramento through rolling hills, gold and wine country. We got on Interstate 80 and then to 5 for a bit and then took the west road 20 through the mountains to CA 101. For the rest of the day, we saw giant Redwoods along the 101 and the Pacific Ocean. I wanted to stop to put my feet in, but Bub wasn't game...so we just looked

These first days seemed to be all about the trees....The Redwoods continued in groves up through the Oregon part of the drive.
We stopped at Holiday Inn Express, north of Eureka for the night and got a hot tub in the room! It felt good after driving all day


24-25 Portland Embassy Suites
On the 24th, I did a couple of coaching calls and then we hit the road about 11. We traveled up the Oregon 101 for several hours, enjoying the ocean view and the forests and rivers. Coos Bay was a neat little town and the Rogue River flowed into the sea. We stopped and ought blueberries and there were wildflowers in bloom all along the sides of the road.
We headed inland at Florence to Eugene, through hills and forests and got on a faster road (Hwy 5) to get into Portland in time for the opening reception.
The Hotel we staying in in Portland was built in the 1920's and was really cool. Now an Embassy Suites, they gave us a HUGE suite with a living and dining room (with a table set for 8) and great views. Bub walked around town and got oysters while I went to the Reception.
On Friday, Bub drove out to see Karen and play golf while I went to meetings all day.
Lots of fun to connect with WCR friends from all over the west...
On Friday night we took a cruise up the River for a dinner. 140 Real estate agents made quite a din! There were many opulent homes on the Riverfront and dinner for me of Salmon was yummy.
Saturday morning was more meetings and connecting ending with a lunch with the National President Brenda Ghilbaudi
Bub and I hit the road again to get to Karen Freeburgs house in Bengin WA
It took us along the Columbia River

east from Portland toward majestic Mt Hood


26 With Karen Freeberg
Karen threw a party for us and invited several friends over and we drank wine and ate! Bub and Karen went out the next morning and played another 9 holes of golf while I cruised the Antique store and took a nice long walk up the hills behind her house. Wildflowers were everywhere and cherries were in season.
27 Some where between Spokane WA and Missoula MT
We hit the road about Noon and headed up through Washington to Spokane. One of Karen's friends had said the Washing side of the Columbia was the road less traveled and much prettier and it was---so we drove almost alone on the 2 lane road on the north side of the mighty Columbia for a couple of hours before heading north.
Lots of cows and rolling hills. Mid-afternoon we got on I 90 for the rest of the day until we hit Missoula about 8 PM
The drive through Idaho at Coeur de Lane was mountainous with a very large lake and lots of boating. Pretty area. Missoula had a downtown with a mixture of old buildings and new. We looked for an old hotel to stay in but couldn't find one, so settled for chocolate chip cookies at the Doubletree. It was right on the River.
We enjoyed a breakfast on the deck watching the flyfisherman below and watching the birds
Bub was hunting for trout and eggs, but we didn't find any but I had a great breakfast of some fancy Eggs Benedict with crab and filet mignon with Hollandaise....

2

Montana was absolutely beautiful. Wide valleys and high mountains and good roads.