Day 23 - The Kootenai River is great!

Captain's Log - A thing of beauty!

It's late so I will be rather brief tonight. Sorry. At least the pictures uploaded! Anyway, we were traveling along, not taking any pictures (cause Dawn is really tired of me stopping and said if I stop one more time she is going to take off without me! Like, I'm gonna stop after that threat? No way!) So her butt is sore, right? She now wants to stop. So I pull into a Newport, Washington, a quaint little town near the Idaho border. At the visitor center they had this gargantuan old steam engine. I mean look at the size of that flywheel, would you?! This sucker was the sole energy for an entire sawmill (belt drive) for over 50 years! Ohhhh, to stand next to such shear power!

So we ride all the way through Idaho - couldn't get any pictures sorry, Dawn was holding a gun to my head at that point. No way I'm stopping with that threat!

But then we came to this pullout along US Highway 2 in Montana that is advertising a scenic overlook, waterfalls and a swinging bridge. My Captain's training immediately took over so I overpowered Dawn, disarmed her and insisted that we hike down to these fantastic attractions. Little did I know, she had a sore butt again and wanted to take a break! When we got to the falls, there were kayakers filming each other as they jumped off the falls. We didn't know that, so we basically had a heart attack when we saw the first one go over then disappear. (They would paddle to a cove out of our sight and climb back to the top to do it again - how would we know?) They were CRAZY! Dawn wouldn't let me try... something about the fact that she doesn't know how to drive the bike so how would she get back home. Oh well.

This really was a worthwhile stop and one which I would recommend to anyone traveling through this area. It is out of the way and very undeveloped. Dawn felt like a real explorer and thought she was the first to discover the place! [I didn't want to break it to her, but there was a big bridge built over the railroad tracks, a trail to the falls and a cool cable suspended bridge over the river downstream!] By the way, Dawn braved the suspended bridge over this raging river which spanned about 75 yards and hovered about 40 feet above the river! All kidding aside, she really surprised me with her bravado. Don't worry, I took a movie of that too.

Then we came to this small town, Libby, Montana. They had all kinds of artwork through the town as giant sculptures. As you can see, they have dubbed themselves the "City Of Eagles". I know my dad and Dawn's Uncle Dan really like eagles, so guys, this pictures for you. There were cool eagle sculptures on the way into town and out of town as well. There was even a really cool 20' fishing rod with a 3' fish on the string.

We finally stopped for one last break for the day at this peaceful little lake. The lakes and streams throughout the area were all crystal clear and beautiful. They all called to me to take their picture, but, like I said, Dawn was armed and dangerous so you will have to use your imagination!

Tomorrow is Glacier National Park, Montana, so before we leave, I will make sure that Dawn is unarmed so I can stop and take as many pictures as I want. That way, you guys will be able to see ALL the great views that we got to see. I know that you are dying to see all 5,243 of them! See you soon!

Day 22 - 4 in 1!

Aye, Captain!

Arrr, hoist the sails, ye scurvy dogs! I'll catch this wind and put on a good run to the isle in the sun!

Aye, aye, Captain!

Captain's Log - Day 22 - 4 in 1

It looks like I am going to have trouble posting the pictures this morning, so you might not get to see any of the other sights of the day. Sorry.

As we traveled across Washington, we couldn't help but be very amazed at how diverse this state is in it's various looks and obvious climates. We left Port Angeles and the very lush green area at the base of the mountains in the Olympic Peninsula and headed up to Hurricane Ridge. Now you might be thinking that we ran into the wind on Hurricane Ridge, right? No. The weather there was chilly (we were in the snow again) but beautiful and sunny - no wind at all. The mountains, once again, provided an opportunity to praise God for all he has put in place - they were quite majestic!

Then, after pointing the bike east, we were off to the next adventure. A couple hours of beautiful riding put us right in the middle of the Seattle/Tacoma CRAZY traffic! It was packed and made even worse with the various construction areas... [HOLD ON TIGHT DAWN, HERE WE GO!]

After getting through that area, we began the run through the Cascade Mountain range. Yet another great sight. The mountains begin with a nice, heavy cover of trees that began thinning as we made our way to the other side of the mountain range. By the time we got through the pass, it looked like a radically different place! Few trees and much more brown. In the rain forest they get an average rainfall of 140 inches. Yet, just on the other side of the mountains they only get an average of 20 inches! Crazy!

Thus began our run through the Washington desert. Rolling hills and WIND! The great news - it was a 90mph tailwind! That's when we hoisted the sails and moved. It was like we were sitting still, no noise, we could talk without all the extra noise we normally have and the speed limit was 70mph so we really made some time. NICE. The trees were really something, they were radically wind blown. The prevailing wind had shaped them into two sided trees - facing the wind they had no branches at all and the other side had branches hanging on for dear life!!!

The next part of the state was rolling fields of crops. They use the giant sprinkler systems of pipes and wheels so most of the crops are grown in gigantic circles. Dawn was excited as she got to read signs posted on the fence next to the highway indicating what the crop was. "Ohh, there is potatoes!" "Weee, there is some peas!" "Woo-hoo, look at the sweet corn!" You get the idea.

Finally, as we came to the eastern part of the state, we got into the rolling foothills of the northern Rocky mountains. Trees are actually starting to reappear.

We ran across I-90 for most of the day. Tomorrow, it will be Rt 2 heading for Glacier National Park. More mountain riding! Until then, God bless!

Day 21 - Vampires?

Captain's Log - Day 21 - Vampires?

As we got ready to leave this morning, this was parked outside our hotel. We figured that the authorities finally caught up with us! We were out of there before the agent saw us, don't worry! I wanted Dawn to go ask what the story behind the car was, but she was chicken. Surprised?

Next - the temporal rain forest of Washington, the Olympic Rain Forest. We spent several hours hiking the trails and Dawn really made me pay for taking her on the long hike to the waterfall the other day. She is such a baby sometimes! Haha. You should have seen her as we hiked through the forest - she was really jumpy every time something would move in the brush. Like, when was the last time an anaconda hurt anyone, right? Aren't they more afraid of us than we are of them?

Next stop, Lake Quinalt, WA. More hiking and lunch. Peaceful. Crystal clear water. What more could we ask for?

Next stop, the largest spruce tree in the world. This sucker was huge! I'm standing on the trunk of this thing, right against the tree and you can see that my 6' wingspan doesn't even come close to reaching the edges of the tree! On our hikes today, we saw some pretty magnificent old growth trees.

Next, we had to take in some of the beaches in the area. You know me, the ocean always has a unique calling on my heart so I have to spend some time there. This is Beach 4, in Olympic National Park, WA.

On the beach we found some tide pools where all kinds of creatures can be seen. Here are some sea anemones and a starfish. Quite the amazing creatures!

Next stop, Forks, WA, where the Twilight series takes place. They have a booming business surrounding the story and of course we had to stop in to get something for Jackie. No vampires around though - at least we didn't see any of them glistening!

Finally, after a pretty cold ride, we landed in Port Angeles, WA., a very nice, quiet town. It too, is part of the Twilight storyline so you see things here and there in relation to the story. But, again, no vampires here. Don't worry though, we plan to sleep with garlic around our necks and a huge crucifix hanging over the door!

God has continued to shower his blessings on our trip! He has created so much around us that brings awe and wonder and the more we look, the more we are amazed at what he has done! We pray that he will continue to grant us safety and good weather all the way home.

Tomorrow we officially begin our trek back in an easterly direction. Hard to believe we have been on the road for three weeks already! Looking forward to seeing you guys again soon. Take care!

Day 20 - The Heat Is On!

223 miles today - easy! 4916 total miles to date. Fun, fun, fun!

Captain's Log - Day 20 - Look, Jackie, A Lighthouse!

It is beyond belief! Yes, that's right, the HEAT is on! Literally, the heater is on in our room tonight because it is only in the 60's outside! It is like we have gone to heaven or something. We can turn on the heat and not have to pay the bill or feed the fire... imagine that! I know that Adam and Jackie are jealous!

Now, it is important for me to set the record straight. I did not make Dawn hike 500 miles yesterday to see some tiny little waterfall. In fact, it was only 425 miles and the waterfall was quite substantial! Alright?! I know that my kids would have loved to hike back into the woods to see such a beautiful sight - especially since I got to take 230 pictures along the way!

So, today we left Oregon and entered Washington, traveled north on I-5 and jumped off onto Wa. Hwy 4 west. It was a nice ride along the Columbia River and Dawn let me know what the fishermen along the way were fishing for. Of course, she knew this because her dad is quite the outdoors man and he told her that the Columbia is a big salmon and steelhead river. Well, you were right Mel, I asked one of the fishermen along the way and he confirmed it - he was after steelhead. Wasn't having any luck though. Poor guy, I stopped and rubbed a bit of the ol' Peters' fishing (un)luck onto him.

We pulled into South Bend, Washington, a bit chilled - we were even wearing our full leathers, too! So we thought that some dessert and coffee sounded good. Well, this little restaurant didn't serve any dessert but they did have some pretty incredible clam chowder and delicious fried oysters. That's right, I actually ate some oysters. Sorry Dad, we couldn't send any home for you and decided that carrying them all the way back in our saddle bags would make everything else smell too bad. Guess you won't get any this time around! Haha.

This was across the street from the River View Restaurant. There were all kinds of docks and fisheries where they unloaded their catch. Down the road a couple miles was a yard where they had tons and tons (literally!) of oyster shells piled up - like, several piles 20' high and 50 yards long! It was crazy! Dad, you will have to tell us what they use them for. It looked like they had a couple huge piles all ground up, too. Why? One of you very wise readers will have to know the answer to this very puzzling question.

All along the roadways we have been enjoying the wildflowers. They were all through the desert and every other road we have traveled. These were flowers we named "Dawn's droopy yellow flowers." They probably have a real name, but that one works for us. These buggers were really tall - as you can see they were over my head! And they have been everywhere as we traveled through Washington so far. My Mom would probably pick them and plant them in my yard, only to find out that they are a protected plant and illegal to move! Way to go Mom!

Man, can you believe how bald that guy is?! Holy smokes!


So we decided a stroll on the beach and a little dip was in order. After all, we are at the Pacific ocean! So we put on our trunks and headed for the water. Problem was, I couldn't get Dawn to take off her coat to go in - instead, she just went wading in the salt water. I told her she was going to ruin her leathers and she said, "Cows go in the water all the time and it doesn't hurt them! I really don't think it will hurt me either!"

The sand dollars were all over the beach. We thought about bringing some home with us, but thought the odor might clash with the oysters. What do you think? Maybe Will has something in his car cleaning kit to get the dead fish ocean smell out of the bike.

Well, Adam, what do you think? We thought Jackie would absolutely love to go explore this lighthouse. After all it is the tallest one in the state of Washington! We were inspired to go exploring as many lighthouses as we can just to get the pictures for Jackie - make her jealous or something!

Well, tomorrow we were going to go to Forks and La Push, but might get distracted by lighthouses.

For those of you who are wondering what in the world I am talking about, Jackie loved the Twilight series that was centered in the town of Forks, Washington. Part of the story takes place in La Push, Washington. Both of which are located about an hour north of us and we are planning to stop in there tomorrow. On the other hand, it drove Jackie crazy when we would vacation on the coast and have to stop at all the lighthouses along the way. It was always her opinion that one looked just like the next!

So, Jackie, hmmm... Forks or lighthouses? Oh, what a tough decision! Help us out here Adam, would you?

HIJACKED

Co-Pilot's Log - What's this?!

Hello to all, this is Dawn and I'm your official guest blogger today. I did say guest, but really I hijacked this from Greg so you could finally get the truth about our days! First thing bright and early Greg rolled me out of bed and made me hop on the back of the bike to go on a 60 mile uphill hike straight up the mountain to see a long lost water fall. It was so extreme we had to use repelling ropes and everything. This was the sight that met us at the top. I wanted to sit a while to catch my breath but off we were to the next sight.
Now we were off again to the river gorge, the wind wasn't as bad today, but at one of the picture spots it did blow my helmet off the bike seat and it started rolling down the road. We both took off running after it and Greg snatched it up right be for a semi ran it over (my hero!)

After our 500 mile trek along the river, remember this was our down day we ended up going over to Edgefield which was about 5 miles from the hotel. This was a great place, little shops, a brewery, restaurants and lots of flowerbeds to walk thru. It truly was relaxing and we had a very nice meal. We asked the waitress about the place while we were there and she said it was once a poor house for those down and out. So I guess you could say we ended up in the poor house here in Oregon.

Hope you enjoyed this post, I'm sure Greg will be back tomorrow. We will most likely get in the hotel much later than tonight. I tend to get in at night get a shower and am asleep within the hour. I know that is a big surprise to many of you, but I fall asleep early.

Love you all, Dawn

Day 18 - More of God's Wonders!

Captain's Log - Day 18 - Wondrous Creation

We got our oil changed today. The folks were very helpful, but ohh was it expensive. I guess when you are bumped to the front of the line in a shop you have to pay for it.

In Bend, OR, you can see some pretty spectacular mountains to the west. If fact, there is an entire mountain range that is snow covered of various sizes. Dawn wanted to stop at a Target store to pick up a new comb [she left hers at a hotel a couple days ago and simply couldn't go on without one... go figure. Makes no sense to me, but somehow, a lady needs a comb! So I stopped.] and while she was in the store, I hiked across the street and off into a field with piles of fill dirt/concrete, etc. and got several shots of the range of mountains. Tourists!

About 60 miles north of Bend, OR, we came to a scenic overlook. The area didn't look like much so I almost didn't stop, but the signs made it sound like something nice - besides, I wanted a really good look at the snow covered mountain range [never get enough pictures of snow capped mountains, I say!].

What a surprise this stop turned out to be. In fact, there were signs along the parking area telling us to leave our pets in the car. No pets were supposed to be withing 70 yards of the gorge because many dogs have died from jumping over the edge. Hmmm... "There might be more to this stop than meets the eyes!" I thought.

This was the Crooked River Gorge which was carved over 300 feet deep! The placards along the walkway talked about the difficulties of building bridges over the gorge and had some old pictures of the building process. Impressive!

The picture above, is the railroad bridge that was build in the early 1900's. This picture is one of the original photos of the men building the bridge. Due to railroad wars of the day, they were in constant danger of night raids, vandalism, getting shot, and random explosives. Some of the natural challenges they had to overcome was the depth and width of the gorge. In order to get up and down to set the iron, they used rope ladders. Here is a picture of a bunch of them climbing one along the side of the gorge. Yeah, right! How would you like to be one of these guys? I think I'll stick with teaching music, thank you! One of the other pictures they had was these guys walking a "plank" across a 15' (or thereabouts) span across the two sides of iron works before closing the gap between them... NOT THIS KID!

We crossed another desert on our way to Mt. Hood and Dawn made me use our "neck coolers". They are little gel filled bandanna type things that hikers use to stay cool. [Yes, she read about them online from other motorcyclists that said they helped keep you cool in hot weather riding!] You soak them in water and their little gel beads retain the water. As they are soaking up the water, you can refrigerate them too. So we have kept them in a zip lock bag expecting to use them as we crossed Nevada. Of course, as we were riding through hail in Nevada, we didn't need to stay any cooler! So this was the first time we used them for a long distance and they really did work well!

Then as we approached Mt. Hood, OR, there came a point when we didn't really need them any more. Can you guess why? Haha! Snow again!

We watched the mountain for over an hour as we cruised across the desert. It is mammoth! Truly, it dwarfs the other huge mountains in the area! I kept wanting to stop for pictures, but Dawn finally asked me, "Don't they all begin to look the same after a while?"

But every turn brings a new view that is different! In the end, we rode on without stopping for many pictures. And honestly, yes, the pictures do begin to look similar. But they are sooooo majestic!

They are still skiing on Hood and we found out that it is the second most climbed mountain in the world second only to Mt. Fuji! From where I took this picture, some of the extreme climbers can literally RUN to the summit in three hours then run back down in less than two. CRAZY! It would take me days to do the same!


This is the historic Timberline Lodge, on Mt. Hood, OR. It was build during the depression by men and women of the WPA (Works Progress Administration). Incredibly, they completed this massive project in just 18 months! Not only building the structure, but hand carving wood throughout, blacksmithing all of the ironwork, hooking their own rugs, weaving their own material, hand fashioning their own furniture, etc.!

This was a really cool stop! Rooms are actually pretty reasonable, starting at $125 per night. Not bad for the location, eh? No, we didn't stay there but we truly thought about it!


I couldn't help another stop and look at this majestic mountain. It is one of the volcanic mountains in the area and one day, Mt. Hood could explode again because it is still active. Mountain climbers have come across its bald spot (an area that never collects snow because of how hot is stays - that area has been dubbed "The Devil's Kitchen") and actually had the bottoms of their boots melt due to the hot rocks they are standing on. And there was a mountain climber that was overcome by the sulfuric fumes and subsequently died because of it! It is still active indeed.

After a nice, winding ride through the forest and along various rivers on Rt 35, we crested a hill and saw a huge body of water out in front of us - it ended up being the Columbia River! IT WAS HUGE! Way bigger than we ever dreamt it would be. So we made our way along the gorge and enjoyed the scenery, but were nearly blown off the bike! The wind was crazy!!!! We were driving into a tremendous headwind at 60mph that made me feel like we were running at 115 mph!

We pulled off on the historic drive next to I-84 to see the waterfalls. Definitely worth our time for two reasons: Get a break from the wind and to see some really cool waterfalls. This one was the Horsetail Falls.

This is the Multnomah Falls. God simply has a way of carving really cool things into His creation that awe and inspire us. His work is GREAT!

That is the state of Washington across the Columbia River. We should be able to cruise around that area tomorrow. We plan to stay in the area exploring for a day before moving on.

My question for you... what should Captain Lizardhead do about his crazy hairdo? I have already gotten one suggestion. Any others?

Until tomorrow, God bless you guys!

Captain's Log - Day 17 - Spectacular!

Again, I can post a past video because of our high speed connection here in Gresham, OR (just outside of Portland) in a Days Inn.

Captain's Log - Day 17 - Crater Lake, OR. Simply spectacular!

Day 16 Capt Log and Swallowed by a Tree

Finally, a hotel with a good internet connection! We paid a little more so we could get a place that had the capacity to upload the videos, sooo... if you would like to contribute to the "upload" fund... Just kidding! [But Dawn may not be. haha]

Captain's Log Day 16

Swallowed by a Tree!

Day 17 - Crater Lake!

Once again, we are in a hotel that will not let me upload the videos, so you will have to wait to see the Captain's Logs till we can upload them. Sorry.

So, we went for a walk this morning before leaving Crescent City, CA. It was a beautiful morning and a great way to start the day. The lighthouse was nearby, so I was drawn to it - you know, the photo thing.


Then we headed out of town and quickly jumped onto Hwy 199 east. Another fantastic squiggly road full of twists and turns. For a long time it ran alongside the Smith River which was a fantastic emerald color - so clear that you could see down to the bottom of the deepest of pools. I kept trying to find the right spot to stop to capture it, but passed most of the opportunities before actually seeing them.

Then we got onto Rt 62 heading toward Crater Lake, OR, and found that it ran alongside of the Rogue River for quite a while. What a fantastic river! At this point, it is near the headwaters and still running very fast, but as it goes through this volcanic rock section, it ducks under the rock for about 75 feet and comes shooting back out of the rocks to continue on its way. We could feel the power of it as it moved under us.

Finally, we made it up to Crater Lake, OR, and it was truly as spectacular as everyone had said. God has carved up some pretty incredible wonders for us to see and appreciate, no doubt about it! This is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the deepest in the world! It is a deep blue and full of history as it rests in a crater caused by a collapsed volcano. The rim of the old volcano totally surrounds the lake.

Yes, that means we spent a couple of hours in the snow again. There was snow everywhere up there. In fact, only about 1/3 of the rim road was open, the rest was still closed due to snow - and we are talking about late June! Right?

Of course, someone forgot to tell us that the bugs hatched in force today! Every time we stopped to look at and appreciate the beauty of the lake, the mosquitoes came in with blood-suckers primed and ready! I mean to tell you they were not afraid of anything and landed with every intent to do bodily harm! We had to get out of there before they ganged up on us and carried us over the edge to drop us in! Crazy. I know!

As we left Crater Lake, we ended up on Rt 138 east. That is when Dawn took this picture. Kind of looks like Nevada with pine trees, don't you think? We then turned north on Hwy 97 toward Bend, and it was flat and straight. Wonder what Kansas would look like with pine trees? We saw it today. Both of us were surprised at how much flat land there is here.

Don't misunderstand, there are some serious mountains here, but they lie mostly to the west and nearer the coast. We are spending the night in Bend, OR, and just west of here is a huge mountain called South Sister whose summit is over 10,000 feet! The odd thing is that Bend is about 20 miles from it and is flat as could be.

Tomorrow we aren't sure what we are doing. We are thinking about running up around Mt. Hood and along the Columbia River to Vancouver, WA. Quite honestly, we simply have not made up our minds. Who knows, maybe we will try our hand at white water rafting or something!

Quote of the day: As Dawn was trying to get pictures of some of the mountains on the way out of Crater Lake from the back of the moving motorcycle, I asked if she got a picture of one of the surrounding mountains. She said, "I don't know what I got, but I got something!"

Day 16 - Magnificent!

Captain's Log - Day 16 - Magnificent! 238 miles - 3994 total!

[Will be posted later due to a slow internet connection]

Alright. What would you do if every time you looked in the mirror you saw a lizard looking back at you? Really, what would you do?

That is what is happening to me. My new helmet is super comfortable - I mean to tell you my head has not itched one time on this trip. I mean it, NOT ONCE! Dawn and I picked up a couple of GMAx helmets before leaving on the trip. Mine is a GMax 17S and it truly is a very comfortable helmet. Good airflow through it for ventilation, the visor and shield swap out with ease, etc., etc. BUT... I take the helmet off and I have what looks like dual rows of lizard bumps running from front to back on my head! Now they have become permanent! [or so it seems, haha] I suppose that I will be able to live with it. Dawn thinks it's funny - go figure!

So today we left Redding, CA, just after 9am and pointed Black Beauty west. We started out on 44 west then quickly jumped onto 299 west toward Eureka. Simply put, another great motorcycle road! Twists and turns galore! We ran into a few construction areas that had us stop three times, but we never waited more than five minutes before we were rolling again.

We ran into a small group of friends that were headed for the coast to spend the week camping. They were all from the same church in Redding and were already experiencing blessings and answered prayers! Way cool. We chatted for a while and they asked lots of questions about our Great Adventure. It was really nice meeting them and talking with them. I know, I know, "there he goes again - talking to strangers!" I can hear Jackie now, "Dad! You don't even know those people!" Well, Jackie, I do now. Haha. Hope you guys have a great week of blessings on the coast with your families! God bless!

So not long after leaving the rest stop and talking with those folks, we came across this pull off and decided to stop for some pictures. This is the Trinity River in CA, which was flowing next to Route 299 for quite a distance. It was this really cool shade of blue-green and really clear! There were fishermen up and down the river but it was flowing so fast, I don't know how they could have caught anything.

We talked with a couple Canadian bikers at a rest stop along 299 and they were really friendly. They were experienced riders and log thousands of miles a year on various adventures of their own and they offered some suggestions of roads to try out. Of course, we all came to the same conclusion - there could never be enough time to ride all the places we would like to see! They definitely agreed that Crater Lake is a must see! Jerry was the first to highly recommend that, and he was right on with the Durango-Silverton Railroad so off to Crater Lake we go!

Anyway, after quite a ride on 299, we hit the Pacific Highway 101 and headed north. When I got a chance to jump off on a public beach, you know that I couldn't resist! Oh, what a feeling! Did you know that I love the ocean?


We ran into a guy at this beach who lived in the area and claimed to have personally seen five bigfoots - he was quite serious. He told us that the last one he saw was within 30 feet from him. When it saw him, it grunted and took off running. In just three strides it was moving at about 30mph and bounded up a huge incline with no problem! When I asked if he had gotten any pictures of them, he said no. It seems that he never had a camera while he was out looking for them. Seems unfortunate. I think he was hinting that he could be a guide to go find a bigfoot or something. Yeah, right!




Dawn said the water was freezing! I walked in it and it wasn't freezing, she is a bit crazy. It was a chilly ride again today, so she put on the chaps for a while but was confused as to why they felt funny and were long enough that she was walking on them. That's right, she was wearing mine! Sometimes I have to worry about that girl! I'm gonna keep her though, so Mel, you don't have to worry about getting her back. Haha.






The Redwood Forest. Simply magnificent! It is so hard to capture how big and majestic these trees are but we gave it a try. Check out the video, "Swallowed by a tree." Maybe that will help give you a feeling of how huge these things are!





Quote of the day: Dawn was talking to a couple from Michigan and they asked how much longer it would take to get around the Lady Bird Roosevelt hiking loop. Dawn said, "I don't know," then pointing her thumb at me said, "he's like a dog. He has to stop at every tree... to take a picture!" Haha - real funny, Dawn, real funny!

So, if you consider how big the base of the tree is that Dawn and I are standing in front of, then look at this stand of redwoods you might start to put the image together in your mind. The redwood groves here are simply humongous! With all the ferns and undergrowth it seems very prehistoric. In fact, many of the ferns grow four feet high or so and the rhododendrons grow like trees well above my head. Crazy! But definitely cool.

"Swallowed by a Tree!"

[Will be posted later due to a slow internet connection]

To cap off the day, we got to see a bunch of Roosevelt Elk in the parks meadows. They really don't pay a lot of attention to people so it was kind of like seeing the elk in Pa., but hey, I got to see some wild Roosevelt Elk! They are beautiful creatures, especially when they are still in velvet.


God is good all the time. He has richly blessed this Great Adventure from the very beginning right down to the smallest of details. Tonight we are staying at the Travelodge in Crescent City, Ca., and the owner/manager is simply fantastic! She told us that the weather has been crummy the past couple days with really high winds, but today was great. In fact, all the way through the mountains was really nice. No surprise, really, God has done that for us all the way across.



And His creation - WOW! Tomorrow? Crater Lake. The adventure continues!