Coronado, California

My sister lives in Coronado, California.  Coronado is home to a United States Naval Base.  The Coronado Bridge spans the San Diego Bay and is just a little over two miles long....and 200 feet of clearance below.  It also can withstand an 8.3 on the earthquake Richter scale.  The clearance of the bridge would allow an aircraft carrier to go beneath the bridge.  It is quite an impressive bridge and that is an understatement! .....let alone noticing all the ships anchored in port.....

The following pictures were taken by my sister from her balcony view.....

The city of San Diego is located across the bay.

(Notice the position of the lamp post in each of the pictures)

A "Sailboat" Regatta

A Sunny Day in Coronado 

Sunrise

A Lazy Hazy Day of Summer

Flowers

Leaving my little flower garden and pots to Mother Nature's devices......

Garage Wall Garden

"Farewell My Lovelies"

I always have lots of pots of red geraniums!  This is what is left.....

Hydrangeas are in bloom 

Trail Mix

We have a friend who made us bags of Trail Mix for our trip West.....

Trail Mix with M & M's, nuts, pretzels, dried fruit, anything that is good to munch on.....I wonder if the pioneers had trail mix?  So, with that thought I looked up what the pioneers ate on their journey.....

They packed flour, dried corn, dried beans, molasses, bacon, baking soda, dried fruit, chickens for eggs and to eat and maybe tied a cow to the covered wagon for milk.

I found this interesting web site about what the pioneers packed to travel the Oregon Trail.      www.oregonpioneers.com/FoodChoices.htm

Modern Trail Mix

Besides Trail Mix.....I am packing fresh fruit and veggies, crackers and cheese and pretzels.  We will have a cooler of water.  Our breakfast plans are to eat the offered breakfasts at the motels we will be staying in.  We have discovered when we travel that we eat breakfast, skip lunch and munch instead and then stop early for a nice dinner......it works for us.   Are there Dairy Queens out West?   :-)

Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse City, Michigan is located in the Northwest portion of Lower Michigan.  We have traveled to T.C. for over 35 years. We honeymooned there......took our boys when they were barely walking and have gone to T.C. every year since...... And now, all of us go with big kids and little kids in tow....a family affair, with a boat, kayaks, bicycles, fishing poles and golf clubs......it is our Northern Michigan Sanctuary.  When we visit, we "traverse" the area and drive around the smaller inland lakes....and dream of a cottage of our own.......

A dream cottage on Intermediate Lake

Intermediate Lake

Intermediate Lake

Elk Lake

Elk Lake

East Bay, Travese City, Michigan

West Bay Marina, Traverse City, Michigan

Sleeping Bear Dunes

If you want to be awe-inspired, travel to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore along Lake Michigan, in the Northwest section of Michigan.  The Sleeping Bear Dunes is located between Empire, Michigan and Glen Arbor, Michigan, a half hours drive from Traverse City, Michigan.  We have gone to Sleeping Bear Dunes many times over the years and never tire of the grand vistas and the quiet and stillness of that place......it is Spiritual.....

Mt. Shasta, California

We will be traveling to Mt. Shasta, California mid-September.  My niece and her family live In Mt. Shasta.  My sister and her family will be flying up to Mt. Shasta from San Diego.  We all will have a wonderful 5 days together!   Can't wait!

Straw Bales

Traveling on Old Road 30 in Northern Indiana

Devils Tower - Vacation 1965

 When I was a young girl we were fortunate to take a family vacation almost every year.  In 1965, my Dad, Mom, sister, and I traveled West to visit, 

Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, and Devils Tower National Monument. (a laccolith formation). Devils Tower is located in the northeastern part of Wyoming.

We were all excited to go.  Mom thought it would be fun to try camping.  We bought a tent that slept four.  We bought a Coleman Stove and sleeping bags.  We had a Ford Woody Station Wagon and it was packed!  Dad had built a "topper" for the car.  We kept the tent and sleeping bags in there, plus any camping stuff.   I remember seeing Mt. Rushmore, traveling to Devils Tower.  The Devils Tower is very impressive.  We arrived early in the morning....not sure if there were too many things to do at Devils Tower....so, we took the hike around the base.  It was lovely...everything was dew covered with the sun shining, cool temperatures, not many people walking the trail.....a perfect time to be there.

As a kid, it seemed one heard a lot about Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful.  We stayed in the Old Faithful Lodge......And, Old Faithful was amazing.  One night we stayed in a cabin.  On our way out of the park, we decided to grill hamburgers in a small picnic area....a little farther away from the Lodge and geyser.  We were able to pull our car close to the picnic table...While our hamburgers were cooking....we noticed a couple of small bears wandering our way...they were checking out what might have been left behind and kept coming closer to our site....they crawled up on the picnic table and knocked our Coleman stove over and enjoyed our hamburgers....(we were in the car watching them tear up the hamburger bun bag and trying to open the baked beans in a can....) they sauntered off searching for the next picnic table....true life Yogi Bears!   We picked up the mess and ate saltines.  I remember driving higher in the mountains and finding snow in July!  On this same trip, we drove to the Redwoods, Yosemite, Salt Lake City and saw the Great Salt Lake.  It was a " quick" two week trip!  

Phil has not been to Yellowstone or any of these places that I had gone to, but, we plan on Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, foregoing, Yosemite and the Redwoods and Salt Lake City....seeing, the Sequoias and Southern California....

Will we see a scene like this?

Route

This is a map of our route.....leaving from Winona lake, Indiana.  The little yellow boxes on the map are "way points" where the route changes.  (The boxes are not points of interest.) We will be traveling west through Chicago.  Our first major stop is in Mitchell, South Dakota.  Mt. Rushmore.  Working our way to Yellowstone National Park, traveling north through Montana, visiting Glacier National Park.  We will cross into Canada driving through the Canadian Rockies, stopping at Banff and Lake Louise,driving back to the south and crossing into Washington, visiting Olympic National Park.  We will travel along the coast of Oregon, traveling to Northern California and staying in that area for several days.  We will be traveling south on our way to San Diego, seeing Pebble Beach and Monterey and the Sequoias.  We will be staying in San Diego for several days.   Heading back home via the southern route, stopping at the Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde (Cliff Dwellers National Park)..... Continuing home through Kansas City and then......'Back Home Again in Indiana' !!

That was a quick trip....wasn't it?   (32 trip days)

Will we see a scene like this?

We will be traveling with a Toyota 4 Runner... not a 24' Skiffcraft

Do you see an Indiana Moon?

Moon over Coronado Bay Bridge

Moon over Coronado Bay Bridge

Picture taken by Linda from her patio. 

Curt's trip to Atlanta

Grand Canyon

We will be seeing the Grand Canyon on our way home, the end of September.