Skipping Over the Lily Pads

Although I was headed into Washington I drove up through Idaho to enter by Moscow, Idaho. I've heard reports of the areas beauty for years... time to check it out. Moscpw, to Pullman, Wa. and head west. Many beautiful bottom valleys.

Imagine yourself walking down the street minding your own kind of business. Perhaps you are one of those who like to pull on their ear as they walk, or stroke the soft fur there. Perhaps you like to pause now and then and twitch your whiskers at everything.

So I decided to scoot over to Washington... First I had to get across Idaho.

I headed west into Manti-La Sal National Forest, there was a long, twisty route that was just about what I was looking for. Manti-La Sal National Forest, is a well-kept secret and the locals want to keep it that way. It offeres a wide variety of terrain from jush forests to arid canyon lands. One ot the swell bits is the Dark Canyon Wilderness, still a largely unexplored area.

The Distance from Blanding, Utah to Bluff Utah is only about 25 miles but if you plan carefully you can make it in 200. I had planned carefully... I had planned to be responsible, put in a day and and drive from Blanding to Torrey. After all The previous day I had driven 120 miles and landed 21 miles from my starting point... I needed to make "progress" gol darn it! and 175 miles farther down the road was furthering my cause. I was less than two blocks down the road when I saw a sign that read "Mexican Hat 50 miles."

After leaving Gunnerson, Colorado I took a detour through the San Juan National Forest.

Sometimes it's good to stop. All of those places you've been driving through... Well. People live there... Yes, they spend weeks at a time in one place... Years even, I hear tell. So if you want to feel like a real local, you have to spend at least a day in one place. I decided to settle down in Buena Vista it seemed like a nice place to call home.

I crossed the Continental Divide just to the northwest of Fitzpatrick Peak on a little dirt track called forest road 267 that runs between St. Elmo & Tincup, Colorado.

A dirt road is not the interstate. You can't pretend you are on the autobahn with the countryside flashing past at 150kph. You've left the fast lane, speed is an impossability. Relax, take your shoes off, roll down the windows and sniff the perfumes offered by the crisp, country air.

From Limon, Colorado I headed west. Back across the plains, through the forests of Ponderosa Pine. There was a bit of business to conduct in Castle Rock and then onward to the West. A dirt road "short cut" surpriosed me with this formation... Upended strata , almiost free standing!

"The Windmills of Colorado" sounds poetic doesn't it? There are a whole lot more windmills in the Midwest since the last time I wandered through the area, Two of these pictures were taken from the ground... the rest from the air.

Wyoming?" You ask... "Weren't you just in Canada?" Well, um, yes... but you see... There was something I needed to get done in Wyoming,so.... "What about Montana?" You coninue, "What happened to Montana?" Montana? I love Montana, but I needed to get to Wyoming so I drove through it.

Mosquito Lake... sound like just the place you would want to go to on vacation.

I am driving through the stunning landscapes of the Canadian Rockies. They are huge! Not just in stature, but in the volume of the area, If you are looking for an "Endless Summer" experience try driving all of the roads up here. You will discover that there will be a lot of roads yet to cover by the time the Aspen & Birch trees begin to turn.

Coming into Canada the second time I was asked a lot more questions. Was I headed home? Was I going to be staying down there for a while? Whatcha got in the back of the vehicle? I almost felt I was going to be given a limited hall pass: "This guy has five (5) days to get down to the States or else we will find him and ship him south ourselves." But, after all of the questions, I was allowed in with a cheerful, "enjoy your trip."

OK, so you took a ferry to Alaska, spent a few days around Haines and drove up through the Yukon to the big part of the state. What now? Well... sha... drive around, find backroads, what else?

So Where was I? Oh yeah, I was getting on a ferry to Alaska. That was three weeks and a few thousands miles ago. Ah, the romance of the high seas... "Just give me a tall ship and a star to sail her by"...