I drove some 13,000 miles around the North American continent during September and October 2013. Beginning in Nova Scotia with the closing of the family home there, I headed west across the top of the US, hitting ME, NH, VT, NY, Quebec, Ontario, MI, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY, MT, Alberta, and BC. I then headed south along the Pacific coast to LA and then east again to AZ, UT, CO, KS, MO, IL, IN, KY, OH, PA, NJ and back into New England. It was an amazing, if long, trip that whetted my appetite for seeing more of the country in depth. Six weeks for 13,000 miles only allowed me to get a glimpse of what is out there.

Niagara, not new to me but always a favorite.

Castle Mountain, Banff, Alberta, Canada…gorgeous!

Banff

The coast of Oregon was alive with fish and their pursuers.

Kelly’s Brighton Marina, Wheeler, OR

California coast

Just east of Colorado Springs…winter was in the air and some of us stayed in the car.

The Haystacks on the northern Oregon coast…by night.

Sunrise in Klamath Fall, Oregon

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

One of my main reasons for the trip…being with my son in his world.

Bigfork, Montana on Flathead Lake

I’ll be back!

One of many tunnels to negotiate in the mountains of the west.

Starky

My only view of Yellowstone.  Between snow and the government shutdown, I missed a bunch of national parks.

The University of Oregon in Eugene is a fun place to visit.

The waffle iron base pays tribute to the birth of Nike shoes.  Bill Bowerman and Pre made the first soles on waffle irons.

Portland, OR’s central square is full of international food vendors.

Steve Prefontaine, 40 years later, is a dominant presence on the University of Oregon’s campus.

Heading north from the Grand Canyon into Utah the escarpments are exploding with color.

The Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota dwarfs Mt Rushmore by some 19x.  I got to go up to Crazy Horse’s head…the view is spectacular.

The little guys are in the Badlands National Park in South Dakota.  They were amazingly friendly.  I suppose I looked like an easy meal.

Pretty impressive.

GW from the west.

This isn’t the reason they are called, The Badlands.

I just hope when they change my oil they get the espresso in the right container.

My first experience with Alberta, Canada.  It looks beautiful but the cross winds on the road are notorious for their strength.

A lone house on the Alberta prairie.

Just after crossing the continental divide from BC into Alberta I realized I drove right passed a pot of gold.  Just my luck there was no turn around.

Aligator Hill, overlooking Sleeping Bear Bay, Michigan

The AquaBus in Vancouver, BC’s harbor shuttles commuters and tourists around the old 1986 World’s Fair site that has now been redeveloped with the most expensive real estate in Canada.  It costs $10,000 just to be able to look at a unit in the Erickson Building.

Vancouver by night

Vancouver by day.

Vancouver by taste…blech!

Vancouver by art.

A nipple on the landscape of Wyoming

The Wyoming prairie

Yellowstone before the snow.

Rain squall in the Canadian Rockies.

At Arches National Park.  I have had to do some balancing acts but nothing like this.  I wonder what would happen if I pushed it over to protect future visitors to the park?