Back In Vail, CO

Well my west coast trip has ended as of Monday where I got back into town. After AK, I returned to Seattle where I relaxed for a few days before heading north to Vancouver, BC. A Real nice town but expensive by Canadian and US standards! The weather was nice and I saw the good and the ugly of the city. I met very nice folks from Vancouver as well as other tourists. I hope to return there at some point to see more. After that, I returned to Seattle for a few more days to chill out and visit with Katrin whom is from Germany but living in Seattle, we were part of the same AK trip and enjoyed getting together while the opportunity was there. She will be doing her own west coast trip in Oct.

Next on the trip I headed down to Portland with a side trip to Mt Ranier. Portland was a great stop for me, very nice town and friendly folks as well. I saw the rose gardens as well consumed plenty of the local brews they make. The hostel was one of the best I have stayed at too so it was a real treat to be there. I could def go back and consider living there in the near future.

Now it was time to drive down the OR coast to Northern CA on HWY 101. I drove over to Tilamook from Portland and drove down to Florence and then back inland to grande pass, or. The coast was very nice but cool and breezy, not the warm beaches I am used to back east. I camped two nights along the beach while on my way to Ca.

Next I headed back down to the coast via the red wood highway into N CA arriving in Trinidad, ca as the sun set (pics are the real nice sunset ones in the west coast folder). I ate dinner in Arcadia and camped along the coast torward Eureka. The next day I drove south torward Napa but took the Ave of the Giants redwood road which parallels hwy 101. I then headed on Rt 1 to the coast and drove down past fort brag before heading back through the Russian river valley. I saw many vineyards along the way but was holding out for Napa which I was heading to meet up with friends from the AK trip.

Napa was a blast, went out for drinks after a quiet dinner with Laurel. The next day, we met up with Jennie from Sonoma and headed in the heart if wine country to begin our tasting! Went to a bunch of different places but really enjoyed the stops at Stag Leaf and BV! I was fairly buzzed as the designated driver only had a sip from each sample and gave me the rest so I was drinking for two at times, but not always! Finished the day at an awesome restaurant. Spent the evening practicing my salsa dancing which didn't go so well but was fun!

Left Napa for lake Tahoe where I stayed at our company condo we have for business. Saw some coworkers there as well as visited width a few clients to say hi and show my pics of my trip. Drove around and gambled a little too but basically relaxed and enjoyed being in the mountains again.

Time to move on so I visited with Cousin Marie (my mom's cousin) in Fallon, NV and also with Jim her boyfriend. Saw the ranch side of living and enjoyed all the farm animals too. We went into town where I saw the old and new sides of town. Was impressed how much was there as the road map I had was about 10 years old and showed fallon to be a one horse town but it really isn't.

Packed up and headed to Park City for one night before going to Jackson Hole again for a wedding. Park city was typical... Beautiful and very relaxing. This is also a place I am considering living for a ski season for some fun and change of pace. Has breakfast with Jennie and headed to JH. JH was more busy this time around as there was an outdoor art festival in downtown that weekend. I stayed in town and saw some more of the area and met some locals whom seemed to have the same issues with JH as long timers have with Vail... Over developed, expensive and full of tourists! The wedding was in the Teton park at one of the chapels (the secrete heart). Saw some more folks from work at the wedding whom I didn't see in Tahoe which was nice. The reception was a very nice down home affair. Had fun dancing and catching up with friends and meeting new ones.

JH was my last stop before returning home and I headed out that Sunday and drove all the way to Craig before camping out there at nightfall. Got up early the next day and made back to Avon by 1 pm after having a filling lunch at the Wolcott Yacht club (bar and grill no club).

so here I am in CO for now and will be planning the next phase of my fall trip soon!!

More Photos are up on my photo site

I have been real busy traveling since AK. I will be adding detailed blog entries shortly, but encourage you to see more photos at http://photos.yahoo.com/judgenh

Alaska Parts 3 and 4

Ok so week 2 was just as busy and interesting as the first week. We went from Denali up to Fairbanks and took a dip at the chena hot springs and had a late dinner. this was the hottest weather we had all of our trip... 90 ish. We then headed overnight to Homer and got there a bit late and very tired. The over night trips are called miracles when we stay on the bus all stuffed in. Homer was like valdez, rainy and cool until the last day and a half when it was sunny and warmer. Did my fishing here as 4 of us did a small charter and caught our limit of Halibut and some salmon. I caught more fish in one hour than my entire life before hand. I will def fish again when I go back. camped on the spit which is a long rocky penesula between town and the docks. After some late nights with local riff raff crashing our parties, we headed to seward. We arrived too late to find a viable camp spot so we were homeless in the bus crashing in the safeway parking lot... they got more business at 4 am than usual that night. So the next day we all split up and did various things. I choose to chill in town and met up with some former tortoise folks whom played music down by the pier where the cruise ships sail into. It was nice to do nothing for the day! Next we packed up and headed to Hope where we invaded this cute semi rustic town of 200. It was the nicest friendly town we went to. They loved us and the pub was open late for us. I signed up for the six mile creek raft trip the next day so I went to bed early... 1:30 am! The next day we hit the river which required a swim test and some crash tests prior to the big water. The creek was all class 4/5 rapids. The weather was wet ands cloudy so it was a cold day on the river even in our dry suits. They treated us to hot chocolate and a hot tub at the end of the trip. I bought some photos and some funky cloths they were selling. That night was the last night in hope and the official last night of the trip. we had a big bon fire and savored the moment of our new friendship and all that sappy stuff. Got back to anchorage and camped in the hostel backyard for 2 days. They were the longest two days stuck in a dim sea city that offered almost nothing interesting to do. many folks caught earlier flights and others got stuck because they missed check in times etc. Got back to Seattle safe and recovered for a day or so before I was heading to Vancouver, BC.