Ontario - home in 1 day

Yesterday - June 28th, 2017
We left Ontario, OR around 8:30am I believe and got on the road. I set my Google Maps to Burns, OR and then after that to Redding, CA. When we got to Redding, we just figured it was daylight and what's 4 or so more hours home to Aptos, CA.

I drove quite a ways, I believe all the way into CA. We passed a few Alkaline lakes, one was pretty large, but the landscape was a bit strange. Obviously no one swims or has any fun activities in this lake. Lake Abert. The road was a bit curvy around the lake and there was lots of green shrubs and big boulders here and there surrounding the lake and hillside. Some were black, some were red in color. I don't have any pictures. Actually, here's one I found online. It was like the boulders rolled down the hill into the lake.

Then we passed Goose Lake it went on both sides of the border of Oregon and California. I don't have any pics of it.

After here, we did pass a Border stop, but they just waved us through. 

We stopped somewhere after the lake at a Subway. There is literally a NAPA Auto Parts and a Subway in almost every town we stopped in. Not the little towns, but most of the mid-medium size towns. Also, there are Dollar Generals everywhere!

The clouds again were amazing. I love clouds!

Then Mom drove down quite a ways, I fell asleep for a bit. When I woke she said, "Look at Mt. Shasta!" I tried to get a pic out of the car. Let's see how it looks. Not bad. 

We saw some other mountains along the line of Mt. Shasta, not sure what they were. We should know this, right? Might have been Lassen Peak as we were close to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I don't know. There were a couple mountains that had snow on the top.

After here we made it to Redding. Stopped for gas and then I drove as I think Mom was frazzled with the amount of traffic. I drove just a little way as she said she could drive for awhile. I think she figured if she drove now, she wouldn't have to drive later, when we go through San Francisco traffic and Hwy 17. We stopped at a Taco Bell for a pitstop and then Mom drove for a good hour or so. The sun was slowly coming down and she was tired so we traded spots. I drove the last 1 hour 1/2 home. Lots of traffic, you know you have to keep up or you'll get run over. Construction on Hwy 17 at night, not so fun. 

Anyway, we made it home, just after 10pm. Unloaded what we needed immediately and off to bed for both of us. 

June 29th, 2017

This morning, Mom & I got up and we divided up our loot from our travels. I took a pic of her odometer. We drove close to 3K miles, well a bit shy of it, but that I would say is a good road trip!

We said our good-byes and thank you's and she headed out back to her home town of Visalia, CA. Yes she made it safe and all is well.

I've spent most of the day cleaning, unpacking, doing laundry, tidying up the house. It's amazing, I believe I did all of this before my trip and yet again (almost) 2 weeks later I'm cleaning again, even though I haven't been home all this time. Oh well! The house is clean, laundry is done and now I can put my feet up and watch some Netflix!

So thank you to everyone who followed my blog through our Mother/Daughter RoadTrip2017idwy! Thank you to my Mom who was a trooper and didn't mind my weird behaviors sometimes. We had a lot of fun, lots of silliness and laughter. I have a couple days off to relax and regroup and then off to the cabin for 4th of July! 

Much love to you all. Happy Summer!

Idaho in 1 day

This morning we were in Jackson, Wyoming and tonight we are in Ontario, Oregon. We crossed the entire state in 1 day!
We left Jackson this morning at 9:30 am and got to Twin Falls, Idaho about 2:30pm. We went a different way from the way that we came to Jackson. We went up through Wilson & Victor up a steep grade, then down the mountain back into the valley of Sun Valley. The clouds were amazing. When we woke up it had rained and there were lots of dark clouds. It looked like it was going to start raining again.

I got some great shots of the clouds with the landscape. There were tons of pretty wildflowers along the side of the road, purple, yellow, white, pink. Very pretty.

It did rain on us when we stopped for a pit stop. We continued on and the further west we got, the bluer the skies. So the parks might have gotten some lightning and thunder today.

We passed through Idaho Falls and kept going until we got to Twin Falls. We skipped this city on the way from Boise the first time, so this was a new experience for us. The Perrine Bridge we've heard about, so we stopped after we crossed it, near the Visitor Center and there's this walkout area to look down to the Snake River Canyon. I was a bit scared walking out to the edge to look down. I took lots of pics on my good camera but here's a few that I can access now.
https://visitidaho.org/things-to-do/natural-attractions/snake-river-canyon/

This is also where Evel Knievel tried to jump the canyon in 1974.
http://evelknievel.com/866-2/

After here, we drove to Shoshone Falls just a few minutes away from the Visitor Center. This is like the Western version of Niagara Falls. Beautiful and you could feel the mist coming up all around you. At one point you could see a double rainbow in the falls.

Here's a video, let's hope it plays. OK the video didn't play, but I will post it on FB or Instagram. (edited June 29th,2017)

After here, we went to the local Twin Falls, but it was way smaller than Shoshone Falls. They are both hydroelectric power plants.

After Twin Falls, we filled up with gas, cleaned our windshield and headed to Ontario, Oregon. So, 2 1/2 more hours from Twin Falls. Mom drove the first part and then I drove to Ontario, Oregon.

Mom wanted to continue driving to Burns, Oregon so it would be closer to drive tomorrow, but I had to put my foot down and tell her we should just stay in Ontario tonight and then we could get up early and drive to Burns and beyond to Redding, CA. (Last roadtrip Mom & I went on, we kept driving, I kept driving, and then it became dark, we were both tired and driving the windy roads of Humbolt county and ended up staying in what Mom likes to call, the Bates Motel.) Given that Burns only has 2 hotels, and Ontario has multiple, we are staying here.  

See on the map below where Burns is from Ontario. It was almost 8pm when we pulled into Ontario, so we wouldn't have gotten there until after 10pm. So happy we are staying in Ontario.

Even though we have gotten hotel rooms every night (and not slept in our car!) we have saved money on food. By having an ice chest and the hotels we've stayed at have free breakfast, we usually have only gone out for a late lunch and then for dinner we just have snacks or leftovers and wine. 

Lots of driving today, but we still had a good day seeing some new things that we wouldn't have seen. Some of the driving was backtracking from what we say before, but a lot of it was new.

Tomorrow we will be heading towards Redding, CA.

Goodnight everyone! See ya tomorrow.

All day in Grand Teton

We woke up early this morning, and headed out to Grand Teton National Park. Mom got a Senior Pass for $10 - lifetime pass for any National Park. Where as a regular pass for the car is $30, $50 to include Yellowstone. What a deal!!
We took the loop through Grand Teton. Passed Grand Teton Village and kept going to Jenny Lake.

We made it to the Jenny Lake Visitor Center and then we walked a little way and got to the boat dock. We paid a round trip ticket $15 for me, $12 for Mom. Took a 7-10 minute cruise over to the other side of Jenny Lake and then we hiked to Hidden Falls. Beautiful views of the Tetons, as well as a great hike/path to Hidden Falls.

It was so nice up at the Falls, the mist cooled us down from the hike to get there. There was an upper hike to see Jenny Lake, but we had gone far enough. There were people way up the mountain - crazy people!
Here's some more pics of Jenny Lake and the surrounding area.

After the hike, we took the boat back to the other side and headed back up on our way. We stopped at the dam of the Jackson Lake and Reservoir. See below. Great views of the mountains beyond.

Next stop was Jackson Lake Lodge - lots of people here. Different rooms with different food choices. Great views from the top too. This was right when you came up to the top floor.

Here's some more views.

I have a ton of pictures and will probably make a book or print out some canvas pics as I have some great shots of the Tetons.

I'm going to jump now to Grand Teton Village.
We went up on the Tram to the top. https://www.jacksonhole.com/summer-tram.html

Great views at the top of the mountains. Lots of snow still up there. This tram, the skiers and snowboarders can take up. I believe it goes up to 10k feet.

It was an amazing day. Great hike and great views.

I'm signing off as I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow is our last day in Jackson and we will be heading home too. We are still winging it and will figure out a way to get home as we don't want to go through the desert like we did on the way here.

Oh! one more -- we saw buffalo and antelope!

We been talkin' bout

JACKSON - ever since the fire went out! I'm going to Jackson!
Love that song by Johnny Cash.

We made it to Jackson! It was a short drive from Alpine. We stopped at our hotel but we were way early, so we just parked the car and headed downtown. Lots of cute shops and restaurants. There were several stores that we have back home, Eddie Bauer, Starbucks, Pendleton, Pandora, but more Wyoming-based clothing stores. Lots of knick-knack stores. I did buy a magnet to bring home. Nothing major.

We went to The Bunnery for breakfast. It was pretty tasty.

Here's the antler arch that is a must-see in Jackson!

We went into Jackson Mercantile and there was so many animals on the wall - big buffalo heads, bears, squirrels, raccoons, etc.


In the front there was this big moose and I had mom stand near it so I could get a picture of it.

We were walking and came across the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. Here's where the bar stools are saddles. We stopped in for a drink. I think that's all you can stand sitting on a saddle. 1 drink. 

We checked into our room and it's very cute. Here's some pictures below. There's seating areas around the premises and in the lobby they have coffee and lemonade. Cookies in the afternoon and there is breakfast in the mornings. Pool & spa on site too. 

Meet Lexi - this cute little stuffed animal is yours for $25 + tax. The card says, "Hi, my name is Lexi Wolf. I am here to watch over you and make sure you have pleasant dreams while staying at our den."

We had dinner at Liberty Burger. Mom had a salad and I of course went for the Turkey burger with arugula, avocado and pickled cucumbers and sweet potato fries. So good!

Great day today walking around Jackson. Tomorrow, we plan on being in the park most of the day. We need to get up early so we can get in as much as possible. 

Off to bed!

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