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| Detail from the Hayden Valley meadow, Yellowstone |
The planning started.
I talked months, then it became weeks and now its down to days...
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travelled 9722 miles,
(15646 km)
•
northern most point of the
road trip, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 47 degrees 41’ N
•
southern most point of the
road trip, Salton Sea, California, 33 degrees 31’ N
•
been in 8 US states –
California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
•
explored 10 National
Parks - Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Yosemite, Golden Gate Alcatraz,
Lassen Volcanic, Redwoods, Lava Beds, Crater Lake, Yellowstone
•
visited 7 State Parks
- Big Sur, Salton Sea, San Jacinto Mountain, Hearst Castle, Red Rock, Red Rock Canyon,
Humboldt Redwoods
•
National Forests; 7 Sequoia, Sierra, Tahoe, Lassen,
Fremont Winema. Mt Hood, Gallatin
•
slept in 21 beds; 6
hotels/inns, 6 motels and 8
timeshare units, 1 private home (make it 27 with Bahamas)
•
Shawni and Craig joined us
for nights 10 nights
•
ate Ben & Jerry
ice-cream, 13, Cherry Garcia; Chunky Monkey; Triple Caramel Chunk; New
York Super Fudge Chunk; Americone Dream; Cheesecake Brownie; Everything but
the….; Coffee. Coffee Buzz Buzz!; FroYo, Half Baked; Pistachio, Pistachio;
That’s my Jam, Core; Red Velvet Cake; Scotchy Scotch Scotch
•
added 52 birds to my
US bird list which is now 216 and my world list is 1499, top bird Roadrunner
•
popped into 5 museums,
Palm Springs Art, Cable Car (SF), De Young (SF), Maritime Museum (Lake Tahoe),
Latimer Quilt and Textile
•
farmers markets, 3; Oakhurst, Ferry Building (SF),
Portland
•
decaprio 4 movie catch-up, Aviator, Gatsby, Departed,
J Edgar
•
Oscar 6 movie catch-up, Dallas Buyers Club; Nebraska; August: Osage
County; Zero Dark Thirty; Charlie Wilson’s War; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
•
relished organic extra
virgin olive oil, 3 farms
•
walked 200 miles;
beaches, mountain trails, coastal meadow, high altitude lakes, golf courses,
climbing red rocks, national park trails, canyon rim, valley trail, desert
paths, Las Vegas Strip, mountain hikes, many city blocks
•
walking on schedule, 6 miles credit,
(for each 50 miles driven we want to walk 1 mile)
•
longest hike 10 miles on Four Mile Trail with 3200’ climb on steep switchbacks
•
took a bike, cycled along
the Truckee River for 16 miles, (26
km)
•
canoed 9 miles along the Upper Klamath Canoe Trail
•
rode a horse on a high
altitude trail for 4 miles in Montana
•
watched 7 episodes of
Game of Thrones, season 4
•
lowest driving elevation, 214’ below sea-level at Furnace Creek
Golf Course, Death Valley
•
highest driving elevation, 9945’ Tioga Pass, Tioga Road, Yosemite
•
got cold at the lowest
temperature below 40 degrees F in Tehachapi (3 degrees C)
•
was hot at the highest
temperature of 115 degrees F while walking in Death Valley (46 degrees
C). Car registered 125 degrees F at one point – over 50 degrees C
•
wine tasting, 2 at
Tablas Winery, Paso Robles and Souza Family Vineyard
•
modes of transport, 12, helicopter over the Grand Canyon,
ferry to Alcatraz, cable car, bus, metro, streetcar, bicycle, paddle boat on
Tahoe, canoe, Big Pink Trolley in Portland, ski-lift at Timberline, Mt Hood,
horse
•
shows/events, 5, in Las Vegas, O Cirque du Soleil; in San Francisco, Beach Blanket Babylon, SF
Giants baseball in San Francisco; in Reno Extreme Bull Riding, in Reno, Rodeo
