It's A Wrap

As promised we thought we'd start to wrap up our trip in a series of lists. It seems to be the simplest way of summarizing our odyssey the 13,000+ miles we've traveled over the last 2 months.

Start date: January 11th
Home date: March 15th
Total days on the road: 64
Total miles: 13,608 miles give or take a hundred or so of 'in town' driving
Total gallons of gas: 558
Average MPG: 24.3
Rubber worn off tires: 2mm from front; 1mm from rear
No. of pictures taken: 3,676
Ski injuries: none (woohoo)
Car problems: none (woohoo again)
No. of car washes: 1 (San Antonio, TX)
Coldest temp: -12F in Laramie
Hottest temp: ~85F in Death Valley (but it was a 'dry' heat)

Most interesting sighting: sled dogs on the road to Kit Carson pass, CA although foxes in the elementary school yard in Laramie was pretty cool too.

Best side trip: Vadeawoo mountains east of Laramie while on the way to Cheyenne, WY.

Best hike: The Generals trail in Sequoia Nat'l. Park...what's not to like lots of big trees, snow & quiet. Thank goodness we bought snowshoes or we couldn't have done this hike through the largest trees on earth...y'all reckon this is a best purchase? Maybe, but it could be Dansko shoes at half price and no sale's tax in Kalispell, MT or may in fact be yarn purchases!

Favorite area: Kalispell / Whitefish / Glacier Park all in Montana (Laramie, Bozeman and Death Valley ain't bad either)

Best view: Top of Whitefish mountain looking towards Glacier Park when the fog lifted and the view of the Canadian Rockies to the north.

Favorite road: Laramie to Bozeman by way of Thermopolis and Cody. How about prairie, mountains, gorges, rivers all in one drive.

Scariest road: CA 49...real skinny road, hundreds of feet up on the side of a mountain, innumerable blind turns and switchbacks, NO guardrail. Thankfully Cindi was driving.

Virginians we met: Taos Ski Valley: Bill from Henrico; Snowy Range Ski Area: Tiffany, her son, Liam and Fiance, Souman from Roanoke; Whitefish Ski Resort: Glenn from Norfolk; Solitude: six skiers from Richmond; Salt Lake City: Bob from VT class of '77 (same as me).

#Days of Bad Weather Driving: 2 with drizzle/rain, 3 with snow/snow covered roads
Location: Drizzle/fog
Spokane, WA to Boise, ID way back on February 23rd. Then again as we headed home as we reached Ohio then all the way to Richmond...the last 8 hours or so of the trip. Welcome Home...

Location: Snowy conditions
Unbelievably we only drove in snowy conditions 3 times the entire trip...the first time as we set out for a drive to West Yellowstone, MT...we went from sunny to snow in under an hour. Let's just say that there is a reason that Yellowstone is closed for the winter to cars...not snowmobiles or feet though.

The second time occurred as we left Reno through the Mount Rose area & on to Carson Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on our way to Fresno, CA. Our last time driving in snow was when we were hit by "powder fever" and bailed on Laramie, WY to head up to Bozeman, MT for the second time. Although it was after most of the snow fell the roads still made driving interesting and added significantly to our car's new look.



Number States visited: 26...it counts even if we only drove through it:
Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky...

Favorite state(s): Wyoming and Montana. Why? The beauty of mountains which was so different from the Blue Ridge here in Virginia. The bright endless blue skies, the snow...light, airy and dry. How can snow be dry? The skiing/boarding in honest to God real snow. Being able to see so many animals/birds not seen around these parts. Finally the quiet...no planes, cars or people along with all of the associated noises produced. Loved it!

Least favorite state: Washington...why? Well, to be fair to Washington we had just left Montana & Wyoming so the shock of traffic and people in Spokane didn't help make a good 1st impression. The second thing was the weather...dreary drizzle & fog. Finally the scenery along the road to Pullman, WA just looked too 'manufactured'.

The animals:
Thankfully one of the great side benefits of this trip was the fact that we were able to see at fairly close range quite a bit of wildlife. Sometimes the wildlife cooperated with our photography and sometimes we didn't get the shot off in time...talking about those darn bald eagles again.

We are always on the lookout for birds that are unique to an area. On this trip we did find one that showed up in the countryside & in the towns...the black-billed Magpie seemed to be everywhere. Cindi tried to get a decent picture of the bird, but never quite pulled it off. The most remarkable feature was the tail...extra long at 9-12" according to our birding book. Too bad we never got a shot at one in flight...black and white plumage along with that tail was a pretty neat thing to see flying. Why such a long tail? We have no idea.

Since we're talking about birds we also were able to see quite a few bald eagles, one golden eagle and numerous hawks. Still trying to figure out which hawks (mainly red-tail, rough-legged, sharp-shinned, & Cooper's), but we did get some fantastic pictures of a red-tail hawk outside of Fresno, CA. He seemed to be posing for our camera.

On the other hand, for all the eagles we saw while on the trip we never got close enough for good shots. It would seem that the bald eagle is camera shy. While in Montana we also saw some of the largest flocks of wild turkeys we've ever seen...good luck for the Hokies, maybe? The first group of 30 or so birds was along the road at a gas station in Casper, WY just pecking away in the fresh snow.The second group of 100+ birds was literally attacking the stacked hay in pastureland on our way into Bozeman. The ranchers stack up their hay and enclose them in fencing to keep the deer and cows out...must not have thought about the impending turkey invasion.

We were also fortunate to see coyote (Idaho & Wyoming), big horn sheep (Colorado & New Mexico), red foxes (Wyoming), buffalo, (Wyoming), elk (Wyoming & Montana), prong horn (Wyoming, Montana, & South Dakota), white-tail deer (everywhere), mule deer (most of the West), prairie dogs (South Dakota), a few ducks swimming along the rivers & glacial lakes (Wyoming, Montana), vast numbers of ducks & geese migrating along with ring-necked pheasants (South Dakota, Iowa) and various lizards (Death Valley, CA).

Most unusual sighting was that of a horse being ridden along the highway in a Bakersville, CA gas station...don't see that along Hull Street. As we walked back to the hotel the cowboy and his horse were stretching their legs...learned one thing...always have a camera on you. You just never know what you will see.

Total Ski Areas Visited: 9
No. of days skiing: 19
Favorite ski run: Moose at Whitefish (Cupp at Snowshoe is really nice but the snow is so much better out west)
Coldest ski day: -5F at Bridger Bowl (we really expected more cold)

Snowshoe...the 'start' of our trip, but to be honest the official start for us wasn't until we were out on our own, January 24th.

Sipapu and Taos Ski Valley both located outside of Taos, NM and were our first ski resorts visited in the West...in this case the Southwest. Our first ever powder skiing in 10+ inches at Sipapu was really eye opening, exciting and way more work than we were used to on skis. Taos was terrific...our 1st "bowl skiing". Only wish we could have skied a 2nd day, but Bill decided he'd rather be sick with "allergies"...not.

Snowy Mountains Ski Area: outside of Laramie, WY in the Medicine Bow National Forest. It was pretty small operation, but Cindi regained some confidence on the board which would enable her to become the Boarding Queen by the end of our trip.

Bridger Bowl: only 16 miles from Bozeman, MT recommended by Tom H. as a terrific place for 'skiers' not one for 'pretenders' as it were. He's right we met more true skiers here than anywhere else. Way more men & women over 50, heck over 70 than anywhere else...they skied in the areas of the mountain that we dared not go...maybe next time we'll venture out with our own avalanche beacons. Maybe.

Whitefish at Big Mountain: beautiful scenery...all 360 degree of it when...or better yet if you can see it. We loved the 'personal tour' provided by Glenn on our 2nd day on the mountain and all the extra information gathered during our conversations. Now we know what 'fog balls' are and just which parts of the mountain to revisit...next year. Cindi was also able to finally figure out that she could manage a toe side every now and then on the beginner hill while at Whitefish.

Mount Rose: two things we will always remember about our day at Mount Rose...wind and lots of it make for a very unpleasant day on the slopes and the second thing is that Cindi managed to become a boarder and switch from heelside to toeside on a INTERMEDIATE hill...once again proving me right.

Solitude: after what we would call an icy day on the slopes we were once again blessed to find 12 inches of powder on our second day. One of us starting thinking that boarding beats skiing...at least if it's a powder day. We also have video proof that Cindi can in fact make it down the intermediate slope without a single stop or fall. Major accomplishment...another "knuckledragger" in the family.

Bridger Bowl redo: just 'cause it snowed and we wanted another opportunity to ski in powder. A first occurred for Cindi...she pulled out her board for an entire day...no skiing at all. Too bad we headed back to Spring in Virginia because the area has been hit several more times since we've packed up our equipment for the year. Next year we won't be making that mistake again...

Well that about does it for this trip. We're in 'discussions' about our next one...a trip back to Wyoming and Montana during August or possibly a trip north through Canada along the Alaskan Highway to Alaska. Hawaii has been mentioned too...we've only canceled that trip 2 times during the last 12 months. Any suggestions? Anyone?