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June 30, 2006

Winthrop and Northern Cascades

We were in old western Winthrop, WA...authentic western town where every new building must be built according to the old technologies and the western look and feel...the nearby town of Twisp is the center of 400 miles of biking and hiking trails...heaven for Justin and Marcel...we investigated a couple of the trails on Sun Mountain near Winthrop...of course the Northern Cascade mountains are heaven for Mountain pass onroad cyclists and we saw a good deal of them on our way up and down...take a look at the vlog in the extended entry...tomorrow we make the ocean...

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June 27, 2006

Tuscany in Canada?

We went for the weekend to British Columbia to visit our friends Sue and Praj at their lake house in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. It was not what we expected to find 4 hours from the coast in British Columbia. Take a look at the vlog to see for yourself. We felt like we were in southern France or Italy. The weather was beautiful, the landscape dry, steep and covered in vineyards and apple and peach orchards. The wine from the region - including the red wine - was very good.

It was nice to sleep in proper beds and speak to people that are not gypsies or campground operators. We were definitely tempted to stay longer. Thanks very much to Sue and Praj for the great hospitality.

Once again, here is a hight quality version - not as big a difference this time but I'll probably keep posting this High Quality Version.

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June 24, 2006

Whitefish, Kootenai and Osoyoos

Washington surprises just like Idaho before it. Green turns into desert and sagebrush is the most prolific plant in Western North America. Karin is getting sick and tired of mountains and some of the most beautiful mountain countryside is starting to look boringly everyday. Oh woe are we ;-)

Next time - Tuscany in Canada?

For those of you who have very high bandwidth, you can try the higher quality version...its 35MB but at least you can see the details of the landscape and the boys faces in the second half of the video...High Quality Version.

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June 19, 2006

Lakes, Mountains and White Water

Went North from Salmon to Missoula and up into the Flathead Indian Reservation...not many Indians around here...mostly white folks with their boats and their trailers. Spent two nights in Big Fork, Montana...lovely little tourist town on the largest natural fresh water lake West of the Mississippi - Flathead Lake - on Saturday afternoon I could see one boat on the lake (ok weather was crappy)...on Sunday there were a few more. Still for a lake the size of Lake Constance it is very, very quiet...our campsite was 100 feet from the lake from where we could watch the beautiful sunsets over the lake and the Blackroot mountains on the other side. (See vlog for a splash of what we saw)...Today we made the trip North and East to Glacier National Park...loads of bears and clouds and rain and the pass is still closed so we could only explore about 1/4 of the "Going to the Sun" road...

Tomorrow we will try to see more of Glacier National Park before continuing our journey West...

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June 16, 2006

South Idaho, Craters of the Moon and in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark

Idaho is potato country, thats all I knew about it before we left...I was expecting this really flat boring farming landscape...farm, after farm, after farm...Idaho could not be more different...at least from Yellowstone to the Craters of the Moon and then up north on Idaho 75 and 93 towards Glacier National Park...

There is desert, lava lands, green mountains, brown mountains and red mountains...there are fast flowing rapids...everywhere the rivers run really fast and there are plenty of rivers...the place is so mountainous that you are always driving next to rivers...probably because that is the only place they could easily build roads...

This is the land of the Nez Perce and the Flathead Indian tribes...the land of Chief Joseph and Sacajawea. Lewis and Clark passed through the Bitterroot mountains on their way to and from the Pacific...Idaho was a place of great difficulty for the party (mountains and starvation) as well as great relief (fast flowing rivers that the Indians had said would, and which did, lead to the ocean)...have a look at the vlog in the extended entry...

Tomorrow we move on towards Montana and Glacier National Park...

Today is also the 30th anniversary of the Soweto uprising that culminated in the downfall of the Apartheid regime with the release of Nelson Mandela and free elections on April 27, 1994...Amandla!

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June 14, 2006

Yellowstone

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...this definitely applies to our time in Yellowstone...never before in my life have I spent one day where I was so amazed and awed by such tremendous beauty so many times...every bend in the road brings a new wonder..."wow" is the word I used most often...

I also used the word "Ow"...the day we arrived, after dinner we all went to bed early so we could get an early start...it was a beautiful clear evening when we turned in and were soon fast asleep...only to be woken at 1am by a loud crash as the awning was bent backwards over the top of the RV...we looked out the window to see our tent blowing across the field like tumbleweed...

it is difficult to do justice to Yellowstone with photos and video...let me know what you think of the vlog in the extended entry...

On to Idaho and the craters of the moon...

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Big Horn to Yellowstone

Snow in June...freezing cold at night...over 8000 feet above sea level...the Woming landscape is varied and very beautiful...tomorrow Yellowstone...

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June 13, 2006

Deadwood and Devil's Tower

On the way out of the black hills we passed through Deadwood, South Dakota. Really pretty old Western town...but badly abused by the tourist industry...its still worth a visit though and definitely beats Vegas...although the ladies are not real (see vlog)...we said goodbye to SOuth Dakota and its creepy road signs that show you where people have died in an auto accident...its one thing for family members to put up flowers and crosses like they do in Michigan...but for the state to erect official road signs...creepy...but effective...

Wyoming is amazing...driving along flat land all around...and what look like (to someone who has lived in Switzerland) avalanche protction barriers...but in Switzerland these are never placed on flat ground...hmmm...they seem to be located on the West side of the roads...oh!! Winter must really SUCK here if they need to put up snow barriers along the roads...

I learnt something about dandelions in Wyoming (this one is for Jeff Terrell)...they can look great when an entire open field is covered in them and some other white and purple wild flowers...don't look so good in my lawn though...

Devil's tower is difficult to do justice to...you have to go there and see it for yourself. I tried in the vlog...spent the night camped below Devil's Tower...tomorrow Big Horn

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June 08, 2006

The Black Hills and Crazy Horse

Everyone has heard of Mount Rushmore...and it is quite impressive with its 60 foot high faces and 18 foot long noses - quite an accomplishment. What most people have never heard of is the largest sculpture on earth...and it is just around the corner from Mount Rushmore...its called Crazy Horse mountain.

I suppose its pretty typical because this one is a Native American...Crazy Horse...and is a private project funded entirely by the sculptor and charitable donations that they receive...

The black hills are spectacular in a subdued kind of way...large chunks of granite that stick straight up out of thick pine trees. This is tourist central...lots of touristy things to see and do...the gold rush town of Deadwood, the 1880 steam engine train, Jewel cave (the second longest in the world) etc., etc...

Tomorrow its on to Wyoming..watch the vlog in the extended entry.

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June 07, 2006

The Badlands and Mount Rushmore

Finally we made it...into the meat of South Dakota...we can take it easy today...no pressure to put the miles behind us. At first we thought we would stay the night in the badlands national park...but around noon...with not a tree in sight, the thought of the cool shady slopes of the black hills was much more enticing.

And so on to Mount Rushmore and the black hills after a short stop at the "World famous" "Wall Drug"...so famous that they advertise in Kenya and China...for the video (vlog) see the extended entry...

We arrived at our campground near Mount Rushmore and...hoorah!!...WiFi Internet...no cell reception though...oh the bane of the Internet...we could download our email and see that our house sitter is bailing on us after 2 days due to an alleged allergic reaction to our cat...just what we needed...NOT!

next stop - unknown...

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June 06, 2006

Mitchell to the Missouri

Day 1: 600 miles later we arrive in Des Moines Iowa. We have travelled through Michigan from East to West. The Northwest corner of Indiana, Illinois from East to West and half of Iowa. We passed the birthplace of Ronald Reagan in Illinois and the birthplace of John Wayne in Iowa.

Day 2: after another 300 miles we reach the town of Mitchell, South Dakota. The first mildly interesting stop so far. We visited a prehistoric native american village and the corn palace (see the vlog in the extended entry)...we had a rather typical day for early spring in the Great Plains - Tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings - luckily we were a couple of miles south of the really bad weather. On the vlog you will hear what happens on your average midwest US radio station during a tornado-spawning storm...the radio station is supposed to be playing "cool music"...

Next stop the badlands and mount Rushmore...

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