Travels of author, soprano, researcher, and road diva Randye Jones
Visit US states in the northwest, May 24 through June 6, 2014
This is the map of my 16-day, Goin’ West 2014 trip: This surpassed my previously longest car trip from Grinnell to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, by a whole 17 miles!! I stuck pretty closely to my original route, with some new additions–especially Little Bighorn National Park and North Cascades National Highway–and only two major deletions. …
Final day of Goin’ West 2014, which was a 1000-mile dash for home.
Interstate 80 runs from San Francisco to Teaneck, New Jersey. This highway will be very prominent in my now two-day dash to get home. The short drive from Carson City to Reno brought me to a casino in town. I’m not a gambler–I hate to lose and can think of fewer, more ridiculous ways to …
While my vacation time was fast drawing to an end, I still made time to visit Yosemite National Park. I chose a route that took us through Modesto and the Napa Valley area. The prominence of vineyards I passed in this famous wine region weren’t surprising to me, but the significant presence of almond tree …
After a great night’s sleep Wednesday, I got up, packed, and bade Dan farewell. I had some time before I was scheduled to meet two of my “California cousins,” so I took RB back to Fort Point in the hope the fog would have lifted from the San Francisco Bay so I could get a …
Tuesday turned out to be a recovery day. I didn’t even make it to see the San Francisco Opera’s production of “Show Boat,” which was a disappointment because I was looking forward to meeting several people backstage after the performance. Wednesday, however, my host–a gentleman named Dan–and I did some sightseeing around town. I actually …
Read More “Days 11/12: The (Foggy) Streets of San Francisco”
Got RB all squared away, then we completed the trip towards Redwood National Park. The sign leaving Oregon looked more welcoming than the one we passed on arrival. I actually stopped to get pictures of the California welcome sign. This is far from my first visit to the state, but I’d always flown in before, …
Sunday morning. Before leaving the Portland area, I went to a Missouri Synod Lutheran church to worship. On one hand, it was wonderful to be able to sing very familiar hymns and to be able to sing as I have been unable to do in a while. On the other, it was a curious thing …
Saturday morning, but I got off to an early start in the hope of beating the crowd into Mt. Rainier National Park. First things, first, though. I discovered you don’t enter one of these parks low on gas. There’s usually no gas station inside, and you can potentially be miles away from one. So, I …
Got off to a later-than-usual start. What the heck, I’m on vacation, aren’t I?! Any way, I decided to try to get in two national parks that day since both were near the Seattle area (greedy state–four national parks?!?). Really, the plan was to see one and complete the drive to the other so I …