The Pacific Northwest

Our day started in the fog again with some light rain. We were in the Rogue River Valley and it is beautiful country. The fall colors were gorgeous.

When we got into the Willamette Valley there was more agricultural land. Going down the road we came up on a pickup hauling a giant pumpkin. The photos are not altered in any way. The pumpkin was really that big!

What a huge jack-o-lantern that will make.

Crossing the Columbia River on the north end of Portland puts you into Washington.

The skyline of downtown Seattle from the Interstate is always beautiful. All these photos were taken out the window again so there is a little reflection from the windows.

We were in Mt. Vernon for dinner. This morning it is raining but our plan is to go to LaConnor for the day. It is always a treat to go there as they have lots of wonderful shops.

Across the Siskiyou and Into Oregon

Today was a travel day on the freeway from Madera, California, to Grants Pass, Oregon. For most of the day we were driving through central California where much of the produce in our country is grown. The weather was sunny and pleasant, mostly around 70 degrees. At one of the rest stops there were lovely trees planted which I believe are olive trees. After we went through Redding, we drove through the Shasta-Trinity Recreation Area. We crossed a portion of Shasta Lake. The scenery photos were taken through the window, so there is some glare, and those out the windshield have a few bug spots.

The trees changed to predominantly pine trees. As we got closer to the Mt. Shasta area the skies clouded over, it cooled off, and began to sprinkle a bit. That meant no mountain photos.

As we crossed the highest point we ran into some fog.

Although it blocked the views, it had a beauty of its own.

I was reminded of another trip we made across the same pass at the beginning of February several years ago. We had been to a car auction in Phoenix and Marty made only one bid on a car, but that was enough. He was the new owner of a 1966 Mustang. Well, we had flown to Arizona, but now we had a new car that we needed to get back home. We decided to drive it back to Seattle and store it there until we could get it back to Alaska. However, when we got to Yreka, there had been a great deal of snow and a semi had overturned blocking the roadway. So we waited at Yreka half the day until the road could be cleared and they allowed traffic to go across the pass. We had to purchase chains as they were required. So we headed out, and chained up when we got to the chaining-up area. Many, many semis had also been held up as this is a well-traveled road for the big rigs. There we were, one of the few cars going over the pass, in our little blue Mustang, surrounded on all sides by semi trucks.

It was quite an adventure. Today the road was clear with only a light rain and we were in our Ford 350 crew cab pickup. It was perhaps a bit anticlimactic in comparison, but I was quite happy to have an uneventful trip over the pass. Tomorrow we are on to Mt. Vernon to my son Brian's house.

Sequoia National Park

We traveled today from the Mojave Desert into the San Joaquin Valley. When we drove into Bakersfield, we began seeing orange groves and grape vines. We saw acre after acre of orange trees, as well as other citrus trees, olive trees, and palm trees. The weather was sunny and a comfortable 60 degrees. We then drove up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Sequoia National Park.As we drove into the park, the narrow and curvy road rose to over 7000 feet. One of the landmarks is Moro Rock.

From Amphitheater Point you have a stunning view. The drive was gorgeous, but just a little difficult for a person such as myself who has a problem with heights.

After the climb to 6500 feet, we finally reached the growth of sequoia trees. Sequoias grow naturally only on the west slope of California's Sierra Nevada range. The giant sequoia has a massive trunk, huge stout branches, and cinnamon-colored bark. The taller and more slender redwood tree grows in a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast. The sequoia grows to 311 feet, 3200 years old, and 40 feet in diameter at the base. The redwood grows to 367 feet, 2,000 years old, and 22 feet in diameter at the base. The tree below is the Sentinel Tree.

The General Sherman tree is the largest tree in the world. There are taller trees, and trees that are bigger around, but the General Sherman tree has the most wood. The top of the tree is dead but it continues to grow in volume. Marty and I are standing in front of it in the photo below.

It is an awesome sight, and I was not able to get the whole of the tree in one photo.To reach the tree we walked down a .4 mile trail that dropped 200 feet. Going down was much easier than coming back up. It was a bit brisk at 29 degrees but by the time we finished the climb I was quite warm.

Along the walk we saw several tree squirrels and chipmunks.

As you drive out of the park you see mainly pine trees. The descent on the north side into Fresno is an easier drive, with a wider less curvy road that runs through the trees with only a few areas with sheer drop-offs.

I was even able to let go my tight grip on the arm rest!

West to Barstow, California

We left Holbrook this morning in cool, windy weather. The wind stayed with us all day, but we did see the warmest weather we have on our trip. At Needles, California, the temperature hit 78 degrees, but was down to 60 degrees by the time we got to Barstow. The whole western section of the country had very windy weather today, but it is supposed to lighten up tomorrow and be a little cooler. We stopped at Kingman, Arizona , and went to another Route 66 Museum located in the Powerhouse Visitor Center. It has displays covering the 50s. It has a typical street mock-up with items that would have been used at that time.

A favorite hangout was the soda fountain.

One section was devoted to the dustbowl era, with quotes from the Grapes of Wrath. During the Depression there were over 200,000 people who went west hoping to find a better life in California. Most ended up in migrant camps, and only about eight percent stayed in California. The rest went back to the Midwest within a few months.

Another display showed the early settlers and the wagons they used to travel west.

A display case had a collection of amethyst glass. Clear glass is naturally green and before World War I magnesium from Germany was added to the glass to bleach it. When exposed to the sun the glass turns purple. After the war selenium was added to the glass which will then turn amber when exposed to the sun.

Across the road from the museum was another old locomotive. It was a steam locomotive built in 1927 and converted to oil fuel in 1941.

We had lunch at Mr. D's Route 66 Diner.

We visited the Bonelli House a few blocks down the street. It was built in 1915 and was only lived in by the Bonelli family. It is filled with original furniture, clothing, and personal items.

It is a very interesting house with many innovations. I'll do a more complete post on it after I get home.

We'll be heading north tomorrow and will leave Route 66 behind.

Route 66 Views

We started out this morning in Amarillo, Texas. Our first stop was at the Cadillac Ranch right out of Amarillo. It was never located along Route 66 even before the cars were uprooted and put at their present location in 1997. However, it is a fun icon to see. There are 10 Cadillacs planted nose down in the dirt, and they are covered by graffiti.

It was 39 degrees and very windy, so I didn't linger too long.

Our next stop was down the road in New Mexico. We got off the Interstate and onto Route 66 at Santa Rosa. There we went to the Route 66 Auto Museum. We rarely bypass a car museum!

They had many lovely old cars and lots of Route 66 memorabilia.

They had a map showing the route that 66 followed, Chicago to Los Angeles.

We had lunch in Santa Rosa at the Silver Moon. It has been open on Route 66 since 1959.

Santa Rosa has several old abandoned buildings that lined Route 66. You can see remnants of the old buildings even from the Interstate.

We decided to limit our travel on old Route 66 to the Santa Rosa leg and those portions that run along the same roadbed as the Interstate and save Albuquerque and other attractions for another time when we could spend more time. We traveled on through New Mexico on Interstate 40 to the Arizona border and stopped at the Visitor's Center which is nestled among lovely brown cliffs.

We stopped tonight at Holbrook, Arizona. We'll continue on west tomorrow morning.

Route 66 Museum

Today we started out just south of Springfield, Missouri, and traveled to Amarillo, Texas. We traveled all but a short portion on the Interstate, but it roughly follows old Route 66. You are able to drive along portions of Route 66, especially through Oklahoma. You can purchase guides to help you drive along the still existing portions of the "Mother Road", and in places the old surface is still intact. Other places it is gone completely, some places the Interstate follows the same pathway, and other places it is dirt road or dwindles to a bike path. You weave back and forth across the Interstate, and the speed limit is much slower. On a trip about 8 or 9 years ago we did drive for quite a ways along 66, but it is time consuming to do that, so today we stuck to the Interstate. We did get on Route 66 at Elk City, Oklahoma. On our last trip through we had stopped at the Route 66 Museum in Elk City, and we stopped there again today, although we only had about an hour before their closing time. We made a quick trip through.The Museum is set up to show scenes from all eight states that Route 66 ran through.

From Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, Route 66 is a cross section of the U.S. and there is something magical about it.

At least 85 percent of Route 66 is still available to be explored. It was pieced together in 1926 from an existing network of trails and unnamed roads, most of which were dirt paths at the time.

The road gained attention in 1946 when Bobby Troup sang "Get Your Kicks on Route 66" and from the Sixties TV series "Route 66".

There are many groups in all eight states who are working to save the as much of the road and roadside icons that remain. There are many books, videos, and publications available that are devoted to Route 66.

There is a certain nostalgia about traveling along any portion of the "Mother Road" and even driving a small portion can be an adventure. I think that's what Route 66 was all about--adventure. People traveled it for many reasons, but it was always an adventure.

At the same location as the Route 66 Museum, there is also an Old Town Museum depicting early Oklahoma life. There are several buildings set up with many historical items on display.

There is a church, gas station, doctor's office, general store, blacksmith shop, etc. There is also a Farm and Ranch Museum.

I of course stopped in the gift shop, and I purchased a Route 66 sign for Marty to hang in his new shop. Of course Alaska is a long ways from Route 66, but the magic stretches all the way to the Far North.

Cruising in Branson

We spent yesterday afternoon and today in Branson, Missouri. There is so much to do there that it's very hard to choose what you want to do, especially since we were only spending a limited time there. Cruising down the Strip is very interesting and as usual I took photos from the truck. Unintentionally I captured myself taking a photo of a mini golf course, and since I've taken so many photos on this trip that way I thought it was appropriate to include it.Today was a beautiful sunny day around 70 degrees so driving and walking around was very pleasant. One very interesting building we passed is the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum.

I know many of you will remember Dick Clark's American Bandstand and he has a theater in Branson too.

We did manage to see three shows, the Baldknobbers Jamboree Show, the Dixie Stampede, and the Roy Rogers show. Below is the building for the Dixie Stampede. It's one of Dolly Parton's enterprises, and features trick riding, music, comedy, and dinner.

The Roy Rogers Museum and Theater was a must-see for me as he was one of my heroes when I was a little girl. They are closing the Museum in December but they intend to still perform at a different venue in Branson. Roy's son Roy Jr. and his grandson Dustin both sang in the performance today along with their group the High Riders. I'll post some more on the show and museum after we get back home.

There is a Toy Museum in Branson and we stopped there. Unlike the Toy Museum in Kansas City, I was able to take lots of pictures and will post some of those later on.

We also made it to the Car Museum and Marty was drooling a bit.

A very interesting museum was the Titanic Museum. No photos were allowed inside but I'll post more about it later too.

We headed out of Branson this evening and went about 20 miles up the road. We'll be heading west from Springfield tomorrow along old Route 66 to make our way back to the Pacific Northwest. We will be mostly on the Interstate as we are getting to the point we need to be heading home, but I'm sure we'll find a few places of interest along the way. I'll have more photos from the farm later and some of the sights around there.