Lake Tahoe, Big Blue, Final Destination

Well folks, 5,600 miles later, I have arrived in Lake Tahoe. I didn't want to brag on her for fear of karma, but my Jeep in an amazing vehicle. I had doubts through the entire trip, always kept an eye on the gauges, slept in her about 10 times, and gave her an affectionate pat on the dash about every 1,000 miles and she saw me through flawlessly. Even in single digit temps. The only time I had a problem was when I left her with the Marriott valet guys who managed to kill her battery....or maybe she was just mad at me for leaving her with someone else. In fact, she got stronger the entire trip. I got the best gas mileage out of the last tank of gas. I hadn't stretched the Jeeps legs in years and it did her good. She is now 160,000 miles old and looks a little worse for the wear but she's 100% american and i'll keep her as long as I can. I think I am in love with my vehicle.

Anyway, after Portland I headed straight for the 101 or Pacific Coast Highway and what a glorious road it was. Winding its way along the coast through cute little towns, beautiful forests and amazing coastal vistas. It was a little fogged in for my trip but I thought it added to the dramatic rocky cliffs falling straight into the thrashing pacific. I spent the next night in the Jeep just outside Redwoods national park which the 101 runs through. I did a few short hikes to get immersed in the enormity of the giant redwoods and it is indescribable. It felt like a scene from a sci fi movie. Some of those trees are over 1,500 years old. After the redwoods, I hit the next main road through the coastal mountain ranges heading east toward lake tahoe. I was pretty burnt on scenery at this point so I didn't take too many photo ops but I did make it safely to Tahoe in time to grab dinner at the local pub and watch some late night TV with dad. Now the job search begins. And as a follow up to the "best beer in the house" story from Spokane. I now ask for the "Cheapest Beer" in the house and people always seem to know exactly what I want.

Freedom

Portland

Well well well, here it is much later than I would have liked to get you another update. Internet access and free time has been difficult to come by. My Trek into Canada was fantastic. Funny thing is that I had more hassle at the canadian border than any border in South America. Nevertheless, I made it to Calgary where I met with an old college girlfriend. We spent the next 8 days between Banff and Jasper national parks in the Alberta Province of Canada. The canadian rockies were seriously amazing. Winter had settled in a little early so many of the hiking trails were snow packed. We spent our first 3 nights at the Banff Springs Fairmont Hotel which was a truely amazing hotel. The hotel had an amazing feel and kicked off our visit with a bang. With the unseasonably cold weather we spent a lot of time exploring the bars and did we ever explore them. I think we checked off nearly every bar in the town of Banff and knew many bartenders by their first names. We did a little hiking, a lot of driving and a lot of picture taking. After canada I sped back through Calgary and crossed the border back to the US via Idaho with Bruce Springsteen blaring on the radio. I made it to Spokane, WA for my first night back. I have hit a lot of bars on this road trip. Right now Sioux Falls, Bozeman and Banff are tops on my list for great small town bars. In particular nearly everyone in Canada was super nice. We were continually amazed at the level of friendliness, sincerity and kindness extended by all of our canadian hosts and friends alike. However, the bar I hit in Spokane, the Red Lion BBQ, was atrocious. By far the worst friendly experience ever. And I don't mean the patrons, the owner and the bartender included. I asked the bartender (one of which was the owner) for his best beer in the house....getting tired of asking for "anything on special". He gave me gruff...blah blah blah. I mean, how hard is that proposition, I told him he could feel free to give me what he thought was his beer in the house. He couldn't do it. He wanted to know what I liked. I think he had a self esteem problem. I ended up just telling him to give me a Guiness. He then walked behind the bar and started complaining to the guy sitting next to me about how much he hates that question. Right in front of me...bitching about....well me. I tried to interject and they both ignored me. It then became obvious to me the other reason the guy next to me was a real DB was becuase it seemed like he was "involved" with the other "hot" bartender. You know the type...the guy who can't leave his hot GF alone because he is afraid someone better than him will scoop her up so he sits at her bar and hawks over her. Yeah, he just sat there milking a beer, not talking to anyone and creepily leering at any guy who checked out his girls jugs. This was the first bar of my entire trip I came out of drinking less than 3 beers and not having at least a cordial hi how are you type of convo with someone. Save yourself some time, go to Bozeman, MT instead. I couldn't stop having amazing convos in that town.

Tomorrow is down the coast and probably one more night on the road before heading inland to Lake Tahoe...I am looking forward to getting to a bed that I can call my own, that is not the back of my Jeep.

Snow snow snow

Ok, so I am leaving some huge holes in my Blogs which I promise to fill in with a monster post in the near future. For now, this is one of those updates where just in case no one hears from me you can use this information to tell people where to start the search. Just kidding, I don't think today is going to be that hairy...but this is Montana, and it is snowing and I am driving to the mountains and they are calling for record breaking low temperatures tonight. So....anyway, I am in Bozeman, MT right now which is really an amazing little town. I love it. Its a college town, a ski town, a rancher town all wrapped up into one. The downtown area was very nice. I found a great coffee shop with honor system coffee, and believe it or not a Fraternal Order of Eagles club right next door. I bellied up to the bar, watched the Nebraska vs Mizou game and made some great friends. Hell, they were ready to drink all night. I even ran into some Nebraska fans who as always were great people. I woke up to several inches of snow on the ground and still snowing. They don't even really bother to plow the roads here which makes for some slippery predicaments.

Plans today. I was going up to Whitefish, MT to stay near Glacier but the snow is going to make that difficult. I am taking the interstate route, especially with those sub zero temperatures on the horizon. This means I will most likely miss out on most of Glacier and the great little town of Whitefish but I still have plenty of mountains ahead of me in Banf and Jasper up in Canadia. SO, I'll be staying in Great Falls tonight at the Quality Inn and heading for the Marriott in Calgary early the next morning. Wish me luck.

Pierce

Wow!!!! Ok, I have a lot of catching up to do for everyone...and.......today is not the day. Big day of seeing some american icons is on my plate and the sunlight will melt away faster than an untended ice cream cone. So, the quick update, I am in Rapid City, SD. I've slept in my Jeep for the last 3 nights...and no I haven't showered. Its liberating..nothing but open road, fresh air and a compass rose holding steady on the big W. I plan to have a down day soon, to do laundry, shower and catch up on this blog including posting some pics. Today, its Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Black Hills, then on to the least populous state in the union...Wyoming. I need a cowboy hat.

P