From Washington to Oregon to Idaho to Utah to Colorado we have traveled some of the most beautiful parts of the country and no picture can capture what we have seen. We have sought out the back roads when possible moving through canyons, valley’s, foothills, and mountain elevations. We seen apple groves, peach groves, wineries, farm lands, ranches, small towns, ski resorts, mountain chalets and fly fishing sanctuaries.

We have crossed the Chief Joseph Bridge and the Columbia River, passed Sun Dry Lake, Dry Falls State Park and Dead Man Pass in Oregon. At or near North Powder, Oregon we crossed the 45th parallel which is half way between the North Pole and the Equator. From Idaho to Utah to Colorado we have passed through the Strawberry Reservoir, the Salvation Reservoir and the Stagecoach Reservoir. We went through Rabbit Ears Pass, Muddy Pass Lake and so many Canyons I won’t bother to name.

Thursday, we stopped in Salt Lake City, at a REI store to buy a Seniors National Parks pass (we have lost our $10 card bought years ago). Unfortunately, REI didn’t have the Senior pass. We did find a nice little park behind the store where we had lunch, i.e., peanut butter and jelly, grapes, a protein bar and water for the third day in a row. Then, we drove on until a weird stop in Duchesene, Utah where the visitors center women representative told us the time of 4:20 pm was correct even though it was only 2:20 pm. That town was so strange. We may have been in the twilight zone.

Today, Friday was a particularly interesting day. We started our day in Vernal, Utah with the intent to visit the Dinosaur National Monument which is a 200 acre park in Utah with portions in Colorado. We were on the road by 7:30 am. We unintentionally missed the turn to the main entrance in Utah. So, we drove on to find ourselves at the Colorado entrance by 8am. But, we had a problem. I needed to make a scheduled phone call to my client, L’Arche St. Louis, by 9:30am. If we drove 31 miles up the mountain to see the most interesting parts of the park I was afraid to loose telephone reception. So, we bypassed Dinosaur National Monument driving on to Maybel, Colorado a town of 2 gas pumps, a tiny convenience store, a grade school with eight students some of which drive 50 miles each way to get to school.

I stood under the only shade tree I could find to make my conference call. Madeline and I had a brief conversation before we were back behind the wheel.

After Maybel came Craig, Colorado which provided the photo opportunity above. We, then, arrived in Steamboat Springs in time for lunch on the Colorado River waterbed. We had more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc., etc.

We decided to continue our adventure by driving highway 40 headed to Idaho Springs, are so we thought. Along the mountain road drive we arrived in Winter Park, Colorado another magnificent popular Colorado Ski town, We had to stop there just to try a local beer and to buy my souvenir t-shirt. Oh, btw, we learned how to use our voice commands on the car GPS system for the very first time. It only took me 7 weeks to discover how to use this thing.

Then back on the road until we arrived in Idaho Springs. One look around at the available accommodations in this town and we headed for Golden, Colorado where we stayed for the night.

We jumped onto highway 84 headed east to Boise, Idaho looking for something new and different to do without a specific destination in mind. We stopped for brunch at a little park right in front of the Idaho State Capitol building where we enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grapes, and chocolate/almond bark. Then, after an unsuccessful attempt to find the Boise Information Center, we were back on the highway. At some point I decided to jump off the major highway to a smaller scenic highway 30 that took us to beautiful canyon lookouts and then, Miracle Springs, where we had a private hot minerals springs bath.

We had two spectacular moments this afternoon sightseeing in and around Twin Falls. The first was a visit to Shoshone Falls with waterfalls in greater length than Niagra Falls. The second great moment is where we ate an outdoor dinner. The restaurant name is Elevation 486 and it sits on the canyon rim above Snake River. This was a spectacular view, wonderful meal and the highlight of another great day on the road during this pandemic.

Thanks to the generous hospitality of Mark and Kelly we spent four restful days at their cabin/house on Lost River Road in Mazama. The little town of Mazama is located off Highway 20 East of Anacortes. The three-hour trip includes elevation through the North Cascades National Park near Mount Baker. Mazama sits in a mountain valley so it is much warmer in climate than Anacortes or Guemes Island from which we came. The temperature this morning when we had coffee sitting outside on the deck was a cool 62 degrees. This afternoon the temperature hit 87 degrees.

Brian, Emily, Amaya and their dog, Sallie, spent three of the four days with us so we had lots of time for games with Amaya. I think Sandy and I played more games of Uno and Go Fish and Tic Tack Toe than we were accustomed to but Amaya’s smile was worth it. Most of those days were spent just relaxing and hanging out. Brian is always interesting because he has a plethora of thoughts, considerations and observations to share. He likes to nudge you along until you finally come to believe he was right. Emily is progressing well; her foot seems to be healing on schedule. Walks with Brian, Sallie, Sandy and Amaya usually ended up at the river so Sallie got to chase sticks into the water until she was worn out. Tuesday morning, we left the hammock life style headed out for places unknown and roads less traveled.

We started our day at 62 degrees and ended it at 102 degrees. And, talk about the roads less traveled, try Highway 20 East to 79 South, to 365 South, to Highway 84 ending up in Baker City, Oregon. We saw some beautiful parts of our country. Most of the day we were in foothills and mountains. There is lots of land and very few people in South Eastern Washington and North Eastern Oregon. Tomorrow we plan to explore parts of Idaho we have not yet seen.