A Long Drive

1966 L’Angelus

Neena’s 41st birthday celebrated in grand style. A snowy drive along the river. 1737.9 miles into the long drive. (Map this!)

Finding a restaurant in Dawson Creek that had a corkage policy proved difficult. The best establishment in town, connected to the local Super 8, seated us at first but then server came up a few minutes later saying that “according to the manager our liquor license doesn’t allow it”. Given that the bottle was a 1966 L’Angelus that we had been saving for Neena’s birthday we decided to try else where. The second restaurant we tried the server said “I don’t think I have ever been asked about a corkage policy”. Bad sign. It was time for take-out, some pizza and Sicilian pasta.

Read Full Post »

The drive has been pretty spectacular even though we took I-5. (Map this!)

We simply love California and Oregon, even though our stay has been brief. Tall snow capped volcanoes framed by foothills, beautiful fall foliage of red and yellow, serene rivers, and ocean side ports.

Read Full Post »

The philosophy of traveling

Staying connected with technology – The philosophy of traveling

We are driving along mountain highways among fall colors. The beautiful snowy cone of Mt Shasta occasionally peeks through the colorful trees. The vista dissolves into the pastoral plains of Portland spectacularly crowned with Mt Hood in the east and Rainier towards the north. A gentle shower greets us on crossing the Columbia river. We are driving to the strains of “Amadeus”.

Read Full Post »

Contemplative.

A reflection on mountains and friends. 829 miles into the long drive.

Every time I pass Mount Shasta I feel a bevy of emotions. When we climbed it in 1998 we trained like we had never before and that was the beginning of our workout ethic. The training was long and hard and the climb was long and hard. In many ways Mount Shasta has given us our health and the discipline to maintain it. It is a gift beyond measure. The ice blue crevasses and the tumbled lego blocks of the ice falls were an added bonus. It is here where we discovered that we didn’t much like ice climbing, and how to travel on glaciers, and that a baggie filled with snow buried deep can almost hold the weight of 8 people.

Read Full Post »

Man in a Yellow Jacket

A late start from Mill Valley and successful innkeepers. 253 miles into the long drive.

What a surprise, we got a late start from Mill Valley. While parked in Barbara Kosnar’s driveway we added the shovel mounts from Fourtreks and slipped on the cable buddies to protect the parking brake cable. By the time we were underway our favorite Buddhist Cafe was closed so we had to satisfy ourselves with a solidly mediocre Chinese Rest. next to it. NO CHAIN RESTAURANTS!!!

Read Full Post »