Afterthoughts about Goin’ West 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. After the magnificence of Yellowstone, I didn’t feel the need to deviate 250 miles from my westward trip to see Glacier National Park in Montana, although I’d heard many wonderful things about it. I also didn’t cross into Canada to visit Vancouver. The trip included visits to seven national parks: Little Bighorn (Montana), Yellowstone (Wyoming), North Cascade, Olympic, and Mount Rainier (Washington State), Redwood, and Yosemite (California). The parks were fantastic and more than worth the cost of the annual season pass. My favorites were Redwood and Yosemite, but none disappointed. There were other parks…
Day 13: Things Don’t Always Go As Planned
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 picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. It had lifted enough to get a few pictures of the base of the bridge and its surroundings: Unfortunately, the plan to meet my cousins fell through, so I began my trek east. The route through San Fran took me close enough to the Haight Ashbury district that I was able to briefly detour. The neighborhood is best known as a focal point for the American counterculture that arose in the late 1960s, including 1967’s “Summer of Love.” Even today, the shops there still seem to take on that…
Days 11/12: The (Foggy) Streets of San Francisco
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 let him drive RB–something only my parents had done before this–and my teeth were gritting the entire time. We started at the Presidio and made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Yes, hidden amongst the fog is the infamous bridge, as well as Alcatraz. If you squint your eyes ju-u-ust right…. Dan, who loves to grill, prepped a lunch of brats, stuffed chicken, carrots, sweet potatoes and mushrooms for us. Yum!! I’d not had grilled mushrooms before, but I must do so again. Even the carrots, of which I’m not a fan, were delicious…
Day 10: Talk about Big Trees!
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, so… Upon reaching Redwood National and State Parks, my first order of business was to stop by the visitors center at its entrance. (I also had to do a quick clothes change–anything that can spill on white will spill on white.) The rangers there gave me a map of the park and a couple of suggestions on routes based on the amount of time I had available to visit. I was surprised there was no admission charge into the park (nor did they ask for my national park pass). I found out why.…