From Sea to Shining Sea

Sunset, Crescent City, CA. 10/13/2021

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For Amber waves of grain

For purple mountains, majesties

Above the fruited plain.

America, America

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountains, majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

Sunset Key West, February, 2019

OUR TRAVELS

One week of traveling in ideal conditions; picture perfect weather, and perfect weather

for walking and being a tourist in

Cleveland,

Chicago,

Minneapolis,

Sioux Falls (Art Walk)

And Sioux Falls (the Falls)

The pleasant weather continued through a short stop in Omaha,

and after a quick walk through The Corn Pslace

We had to stop at the famou Wall Drug

A stop at Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument were on our list so

we spent four nights in Rapid City where we also visited the Badlands,

The Black Hills,

drove The Needles,

and visited two small throwback western towns, Keystone and Deadwood.

We drove through Sturgis (quickly!)

And then pushed on to Yellowstone to pay homage to Old Faithful and the amazing show Mother Earth puts on every day.

A few other geysers were worth a stop as well.

A two night stop at The Wapiti Lodge outside Cody, WY was a pleasant respite from major tourist attractions and we enjoyed a beer (or two) at the bar with locals.

Our stay was shortened to one night due to a weather system headed east that brought snow to South Dakota after we left.

But We stayed ling enough to enjoy a home-cooked meal and down home western hospitality.

Back on the road early we headed west again toward Portland, OR.

We stopped in a small fishing town, Ennis, on the River hoping to have trout for dinner, but ended up having a chicken pot pie in a place called “The Alley Bistro”. To our surprise, it wasn’t a French bistro, but a small strip mall type restaurant next to …A BOWLING ALLEY!

Hence “Alley Bistro”.

We then stopped in Spokane, WA for a delicious dinner at The Falls and a stroll around a Riverfront Park before crashing in a hotel.

A stark difference from the wide open prairies,our next destination was Portland, OR.

It is a busy city, definitely marred by the Pandemic and the political events of the past few years.

Although our Wyndham Resort was beautiful, real life events have hit this city hard. We decided to leave a day early and spend an extra day traveling the Pacific Highway down the Oregon Coast into California

But not before taking a ride along the river and enjoying a delicious lunch with a beautiful view interesting artwork and unusual homes.

We’ve enjoyed some delicious meals, visited a few museums, admired different architecture, been mesmerized by the flat, rolling brown and green landscapes along the Highway, encountered some bison close-up, and of course taken in a few sights along the waterfronts of lakes and rivers.

The expansive Pacific Ocean lies to our west. Deep green, lush Forests full of tall pine trees, fast flowing rivers and streams, are at every turn.

David is a tireless driver, and I’m the tour director, planning the route, making hotel and dinner reservations, and suggesting things to visit along the way.