Bob & Lisa's Great Alaska Adventure

Home Sweet Home! Back in Colorado At Last! Today we completed the final leg of our journey, uneventfully-- it being Friday the 13th notwithstanding. We left Ogden, UT bright and early, and decided on a route of I-80 through Wyoming, then a scenic back roads drive (to avoid Denver traffic) starting near Saratoga Wyoming and hopping back onto I-70 in Dillon, CO for a bit, and then taking the back roads home through Evergreen. It was a long day, but not without some fun along the way.  We stopped for lunch at the Moose Creek Cafe in Walden, CO-- a place Bob knew well from his travels between power plants. Moose Creek Cafe, in Walden CO (That's M parked in the foreground) While I was in the ladies room, Bob apparently decided to catch up with an old friend. Bob and His Buddy Moose, at the Moose Creek Cafe Other than gas for M, and to switch off driving-- Bob took the first and last leg, and I took the middle--lunch was our only stop.  But, we still didn&#

Driving, Driving, Driving... Caution... Construction Zone...Slow Down to 70! Today was a beautiful day for a drive-- bright, sunny, and not a hint of rain or snow anywhere along our path.  That was a good thing, as we pretty much spent the whole day driving except for short stops to feed ourselves and/or M. We split the fun work today with Bob taking the first leg, and me taking the second.  We began the day in Ontario, but quickly left Oregon for Idaho-- within the first 10 minutes of driving.  We then learned that the speed limit on I-84 in Idaho is 80 mph-- and Bob and M were pleased. We did run into quite a bit of construction, but as you can see from the main picture in Idaho (and Utah too) you are forced to slow down to all of 70 mph to protect those construction workers. You'll have noticed from the video that the drive was pretty boring, with large expanses of open space and mountains in the background. (We love those mountains-- as they mean home!)   We

Cars, Airplanes, and Snow! Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, Hood River, OR As we checked out of our hotel in Astoria, OR this morning we watched our last ship go by. Kaimon Galaxy: Inbound in Astoria, OR Then we hit the road, bright and early.  The drive to Ontario was about 500 miles and was supposed to take a bit over 7 hours.  If all had gone as planned, we'd have arrived around 6PM while it was still light and we had plenty of time to grab dinner and relax before our next leg tomorrow. Not long after we left Astoria, we came across this giant Weyerhauser papermill in Longview, OR. Weyerhauser Papermill in Longview, OR Here's how the rest of the trip went: You'll probably have noticed that part of the trip took place in the dark, and part of it included driving through snow.  Clearly the best laid plans can go awry, as ours did-- thanks to mother nature, arbitrary variances in time, and car museums. As we were driv

Boats, Boats, and More Boats Boat Passing Under Bridge & Rainbow with Bird (likely a seagull not a bluebird) Flying Today was a big day for boats, or more accurately ships.  In the morning we watched the Pacific Logger head under the bridge and up the river. Pacific Basin/Pacific Logger, Inbound from Japan (Flying the Hong Kong Flag) The Pacific Logger flies the Hong Kong flag, was built in 2000, is 580 feet long and has a gross tonnage of 19, 717.  It began it's journey in Japan, and is presumably heading up the Columbia to pick up a load of wood that is headed back to the far East. How do we know all this?  Bob got that ship traffic schedule from the front desk last night AND this morning, and augmented it with very detailed information from Marine Traffic website . After the Pacific Logger show was over we headed over to the Columbia River Maritime Museum . The museum is largely dedicated to material about the Columbia River Bar, one of the most d

A Column, a Cannery, and a Castle (well a big old house) Astoria, OR (Taken from Viewing Deck on the Astoria Column)     We woke to a beautiful day in Astoria, OR today and once again spent the morning looking at the boats go by out our window.  They were still lined up in the harbor, and I guess waiting their turn to head under the bridge and out to sea. Ships Waiting to Head Out to Sea  (Taken from our hotel parking lot) Our first stop today was a local glass studio where we picked up a couple of Christmas ornaments (one in Hokie orange and maroon of course), and a nice drinking glass.  We have stopped at several glass studios on our journey, but this one was definitely the best—the owner and chief artist was right there and we had a nice chat.  The glass shop was in a re-purposed car alignment shop that was just perfect fr glass blowing, since with the garage doors it, the ventilation was excellent.  Our next stop was the Astoria Column .  This 125 foot tow