40 Rock Springs to Drake, CO

Another day of driving a lot, but the sun was out and it was beautiful!!! We got off to what I thought was a late start (10 am) this morning. Last night I had reset my watch and clock ahead an hour, so that I would be in the right time zone when we got home. I couldn't figure out why all the cowboys were going in to breakfast as I was pulling out. We had an easy drive thru southern Wyoming on I-80, and I pulled in for gas and lunch at 2 pm in Rawlins and discovered it was only noon!!!! What a treat, I got an extra 2 hours added to my day.

As I turned south on I-25 at Cheyenne, the temperature felt like 70 and the sky was blue. When I turned onto Hwy 34 toward Drake the sky was blue, but too hazy to see the mountains. But the further I drove west I found them & they look great. The Big Thompson Canyon is still beautiful. Storm Mountain Drive is a bad a road as any I have driven in the last 6 weeks!!!! It's good that it is only a 2.7 mile drive to my house, and it's great to be home.

So that, as they say, is that! Now, just the cleaning and the putting away of things. Organizing pictures and mementos and maps, and talking about my wanderings with my friends. What a great adventure, it will be fun to see what all I learned along the way. Thank-you again for coming along for the ride.

39 Mountain Home, UT to Rock Springs, WY

Another day of driving!!! I did get my hair cut today & that feels better!! All the pictures that I took were while I was driving. Yes those are bug spots on the windshield, I guess it's about time for the Sprinter to get a bath, too.

I suspect I will be home sometime tomorrow & I am excited!! This has been an amazing adventure. I seen a lot, met lots of great people & learned some about myself. I wish that you all could take such an adventure. I know that I am very lucky. Thanx for joining me!

Ann(ie)

Day 37 From Happy Mountain, WA to Mountain Home, UT

We had a nice romp and sleep in the Beach RV Park. Again there was a lot of land and not too many grumpy campers, so the dogs could exercise. As you can tell by the distance we traveled, that's what we did all day.

I did stop in Mountain Home early enough that I have WiFi & I am caught up on my BLOG!!!! I stayed up mighty late last night, so please look at what I have done. I have the get home fever, so I'll try and make a few stops on the way today. I do need a hair cut, a pedicure and I had two showers in the last 8 hours. This is a very new place and the showers are right next to the Sprinter. I felt a need to break them in!!!

Day 37 pictures

Day 37 Tacoma to Seattle to Roslyn & Benson City

Boy Howdy, the traffic is AWFUL on Interstate 5 between Tacoma and Seattle!!! I got to the downtown Market around 11am on a Monday morning. Parking was difficult, so I found a lot, took up 2 spaces with the Sprinter & walked down hill to the Market. It was packed with people & it is WONDERFUL!!! the collors and the smells and the sounds create an energy that you move with thru the crowds of shoppers. Next to the brass pig is the Pikes Place Market. If you wait long enough, someone with buy some fish. When that happens the men selling the fish call out to each other & then begin tossing a huge fish around to each other. WHAT A SHOW!! I, too, bought son king salmon and some smoked salmon & was able to entertain the crowd.

I had lunch in a restaurant that Tom Hanks ate in while filming Sleepless in Seattle. Bought some raspberries and blue berry's to snack on while driving, then headed back to the RV and headed for Roslyn, WA. For those of you who watched or continue to watch the 1990's TV series, Northern Exposure, this is the town that it was filmed in. Being a Northern Exposure addict, I just had to go, as I know it helped me be interested in Alaska, which is where the story is supposed to take place. The community is small, caring and diverse, and I love community! So I got to drink a beer at THE BRICK, which is part of the show, see the KBHR radio studio where Chris in the Morning waxed poetic about the towns goings ons. I saw Joel's office, Ruth Ann's store, Maggies house and the church where all the town meetings were held. I had a blast!

From there I drove thru the Yakima wine country. There are LOTS of vineyards & it is a very pretty drive. We spend the night in a nice place called Beach Front RV Park in Benson City, WA.

Day 36 pitures

I'm not sure what happened to the pitures that I took of Poulsbo or Bainbridge Island or Tacoma.

Day 36 Port Townsend to Tacoma

Roxy and I went to breakfast at this little funky place she had read about called Point Hudson Cafe which sat right on the harbour. Another great meal!! I had a seafood omelet with red potatoes and many cups of strong tasty coffee. Roxy enjoyed french toast made from a cranberry walnut bread that was Divine!!

After breakfast, we toured the beach front, the lighthouse and returned to take pictures of Fort Warden. It began to rain and it was time for Roxy to head back to Olympia & I decided to head out of town, too. I drove to Poulsbo, another pretty town on the water, then on to Bainbridge Island. The ferry to Seattle had just left, so rather than wait, I decided to drive around the water to Seattle. RAIN RAIN RAIN!! We spent the night in Tacoma.

Day 35 (not 34) pictures

Day 34 from Victoria, BC to Port Townsend, WA

What an early morning in Victoria. Fortunately I figured out how to work the alarm clock that I had brought along. I set it for 4:45am. The customs lady came to our RV at 5:15am. We had no trouble, but it sure was an early rise.

What a chilly, and lovely ferry ride away from Victoria...in to the sunrise and the mountains of Washington. It was a 90 minute trip, like the one from Vancouver, but we got to see Port Angeles when we arived & it made navigation much more fun. We had a short drive to Port Townsend to meet a firend who used to work at the Estes Park Medical Center with me, but now, Roxy Haus is working in Olympia, WA. We met at 10:30am, visited and decided it was time to park the dogs in the Sprinter and take her car into town and eat an early lunch. What a cute down town. This place is filled with history and old Victorian style buildings that have been kept up & many are now shops that you can go thru. At the recommendations of a friend, we ate downtown at a great restaurant called the Public House Grill & Ale, on Water Street. Yum!!!! I ate a crab cake sandwich with fries & Roxy enjoyed a piece of grilled halibut with asparagus and a cheese sauce, which came with fried mashed potato balls................The service was great and the old building had a variety of wood boats of different colors and sizes hanging from the ceiling. We then shopped downtown & enjoyed ourselves.

In our search for a place to park the Sprinter for the night, we visited Fort Worden in the far northeast end of town. There were no RV spaces available but Roxy realy liked it & plans to return...We later discovered that it is where "An Officer and a Gentleman" was filmed. We stayed at the fair grounds. Parked the RV, then went wine tasting at two of the local vineyards.
After dinner in the Sprinter of wine and cheese and fruit, we all slept.

Day 34 pictures

Day 34

What a day in Victoria!!! We slept well last night & headed out for Butchart Gardens this morning. I got directions from the campground host & the route was very interesting. I missed most of the busy streets, and got to see the neighborhoods. I was taken with the hand written signs at the end of driveways that advertised things for sale at the residences!!! Eggs, fresh produce, gladiolas, blueberries, hand made pottery etc. How delightful!! I guess you don't have to do computer work or house work to work at home. Also, what a fun way to shop...

Butchart Gardens is amazing, just like everyone says. I took about 300 pictures of flowers and people surrounded by flowers and I won't show them all to you. We went to down town Victoria for a late lunch, and to look around town. We ended up spending the night in the Ferry Lot, with lots of others who planned to leave for Port Angeles, WA at 6:10am Saturday morning.

Day 33 pictures