Flatlands Road Trip

Work sent me to Kansas... I arrived early enough to do a little sight seeing in the history-rich area around Kansas City, largely based on 1838 Missouri Mormon War sites. Then the road trip to central Kansas started... with stopovers in Topeka and Salina. 

Spring Wanders at Washington Park

I was browsing my photos from the past few months, and was reminded that we've been on an adventure or two since the rain stopped and the clouds cleared... From different days, here are a few snapshots of our spring wanders about Washington Park. 

The sunset tree finally died... now just a gnarled silhouette.

Bend to Boise

We skipped breakfast in Bend and hit the road early, pointed towards Boise. It turns out that there isn't much along SR 26... and Brothers, OR is nothing like Sisters, OR. We made our Camp Oats at a pull out which asked us to not camp on their lawn. I couldn't find the lawn, so I don't think they have much trouble with people camping on it.

Brothers, OR

Black Butte Hike

From the Willamette valley, we drove up and over the Cascades towards Bend. Detroit, Oregon looks a little difference than Detroit, Michigan! There was still a little snow on the pass, but we dropped down towards Sisters in the sun. After a stop for roadside grilled cheese sandwiches on a nearly-empty logging road, we wound up the side of Black Butte and parked at the trailhead.

Highway 101: Oregon Coast

We drove over the towering ribbon of a bridge that links Washington and Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia river. After a brief stop to refuel at one of the old cannaries on the Astoria waterfront, we continued along 101 down the coast. 

Highway 101: WA coast

A few weeks ago, we went on a springtime road trip. You would think that I would know better than planning a road trip through several rain forests in April, but that's exactly what I did. Sunday morning, we loaded up the Toyota Adventuremobile and headed south to the Pt Townsend ferry.

First stop: LaPush. And really big driftwood logs!

Joshua Tree

One of my Swedish friend’s wishes while in LA was to visit one of our national parks. Aside from the Channel Islands, the nearest national park to LA is Joshua Tree. After sitting in traffic on Thursday, we thought that Friday would be a great day to ditch the city and head to the desert. Luckily our mustang agreed, so we hit the road.

Route planning (Thanks, Ruth, for the photo!)