#WanderingDorks

My favorite thing is to go where I have never gone - Diane Arbus The fun and history of the Rock is a must see stop in the grand city of San Francisco. The boat ride out and the cell block tour, everything is just great. - John

Wandering the streets of the city were one of the great fun moments of the trip. Granted the girls were a bit tired and not ready for the walk to start it off. But once we found some breakfast at Joanies things moved along nicely. We then sandwiched our walks around a trip to Alcatraz. In the afternoon we managed a stop at Boudin Bakery and  trolley ride. There may have been some long wanders in there too . . silly cable cars were hard to get on it seemed. . . -John

It really is a pretty crazy thing to see something like the Golden Gate in person. I mean I have seen it destroyed a kazillion times in movies. Seen the San Fran skyline on TV and in pictures over and over. But there it really was in all it windy glory as we were sitting up on the Marin Headlands looking down at this piece of iconic America. Amazing. - John

Wandering down Highway 101 you come across Patricks Point State Park. One of it's best vantage points of the Pacific Ocean is called Wedding Rock. The views are pretty spectacular. -John

Highway 101 through the Avenue of the Giants and down along the coast is a beautiful drive. The fog this morning really added to the mystique of these great massive forests. - John

So a wonderful breakfast and dinner spot at Good Harvest Cafe bookended our stay in the area. Crescent City KOA was amazing with just such great camping areas. The Redwoods just wow. - John 4648.8 miles total traveled. 221.5 for the day

So we headed out of Klamath Falls KOA and hit a Starvin Marvin(AMAZEBALLS Breakfast) and then the Oregon Vortex before drifting into Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Filming of Return of the Jedi took place in the park and yeah maybe I felt like Luke Skywalker on speeder bike a few times roaming these woods. -John

A random billboard brought us to this place. Off the beaten bath we went. Begone science . . this was something crazy and unnatural . . stunning mysterious . .oh yeah the tour and vortex were cool too. - John

Klamath Falls was home to C&D Burger Shoppe where not only I partook of a great burger but an amazing Huckleberry Shake!!! Was introduced to the greatness of huckleberries earlier in our trip at one of the KOA pancake breakfasts. Oh what I had been missing!!  As for the girls and their sleeping bags. . when I finally gave Erin the mummy bag her life seemed much more complete. Why I dont know . .something about being a snausage...   -John

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step- Confucius This morning we woke up to a great KOA panacake breakfast again. Man I love these things. Made decent time and ended up in easily the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I have never seen something like Crater Lake National Park. Oh yeah and there was lots of snow. Just enjoy the pictures. .  it was amazing. -John

When we started this trip I honestly did not think that in under two weeks I would be sitting on a beach watching the Pacific Ocean send waves sliding across the sand. I can only try and put into words each part of this trip and how much it actually meant to us. So many things happening. So many amazing sites. Cannon Beach was awesome and getting to see Haystacks Rock was great. But finally being on the west coast finally was just amazing. - John Day 10 - 371.20 miles day 4040.90 miles total

I wish I remembered the name of our server. He was simply awesome. He was friendly and helpful. He treated us like royalty even though we looked like we had just came in after 5 hours on the road. This was our first stop on the west coast of our road trip and it was amazing. My oldest daughter and i had the HOT DUNGENESS CRAB SANDWICH and my youngest had the fish and chips. We had a Dungeness Crab appetizer as well . . it was worth every single penny!!! The look on Erin's face as she looked out at the Pacific was priceless. - John

Driving along the Columbia River is one of those things that is just hard to put into words. Hills and mountians loom to the side, massive windmill farms dotting them all over.  A few other notes to pass along form this day. Oregeon loves coffee shops. Or more accurately coffee shacks. There seemed to be one along the roads every quarter mile or so. Perhaps they are using it to lure out Sasquatches.  And finally . . Powell's City of Books in Portland. This is one of the greatest places I have ever been. Level upon level of books. Heck they even had a place where you could publish your own. It was great! -John

I have been a wanderer among distant fields. I have sailed down mighty rivers. -Percy Bysshe Shelley Mount Hood rises over 11k feet above the Oregon wilderness and is prominent miles away as the shots here can tell. Was pretty awe inspiring when it just suddenly was there. My boss and I had talked about how it just shows up prior to the trip but damn. Just do not get it till you get it. I was pretty proud of Cara on this part as she drove the entire way up the mountain. - John

A flurry of dive bombing mosquitoes and flies assaulted us as we made a stop her along the way down form the mountains and into Washington state. The story behind this little out of the way place is pretty darn cool though and well worth reading up on. Love creation mythology - John

What a beautiful drive . . oh wait hi officer . . Cara what have you done??? Ha ha. Officer Aaron Day of the Montana Highway Patrol was super nice as Cara got her first speeding ticket. It was a good time and she would end up being more careful the rest of the way. Montana, Idaho and Washington state all in one day. Busy day. A few other notes that I recall. Granieries in Washington look like castles from a distance. US 12 has lots of shattered barns. Strange random tunnels. And oh yes let us not forget, well we shall call him "The Bard", a red baseball cap and shorts wearing ,guitar playing troubador on the side of road. Yeah just shorts. - John

Going to the Sun Road was closed for four more days. We were so close. But we did get to explore the area around McDonald Creek and the Johns Lake Trail area. Was worth it lots of good shots here. -John Day 8 - Montana 284.4 miles

Part of the fun of this trip when the unexpected glorious stuff happened. We were trying to get to one side of Glacier and the next thing you know we are at this amazing picturesque post card lake. I feel if we ever go back that way we will spend more time hiking around the lake. It was just glorious. - John

Every park, every day, another most beautiful thing we must leave behind, So many things in this country are messed up right now but this trip made me see so many things are so great about this amazing nation.  - John Day 7 - Wyoming, Montana 515.5 miles

We did not see many animals on our first day of Yellowstone but boy oh boy did we see some leaving. The Park Ranger had said Hayden Valley was the best place to see animals grazing in the morning or at night. He was so right. -John

This was one of those days that just held so many surprises. We made a stop along the North Rim and Cara got the hiking bug under her bonnett and off we went. It was wonderful and well worth every step! - John

Our evening stay and morning was at Lake Lodge in Yellowstone. It was really pretty scenery. And the food was actually not bad.  -John

Old Faithful while we had to hang out for a bit was well worth the wait. I wandered the Upper Geyser Basin while the girls rested their weary feet. -John  Day 6 - Wyoming 149.6 miles

One of the places I was looking forward to seeing. I used filters on some of these pictures just to make the colors pop. There is a trail behind the area I want to go to next time to look down upon the spring. -John

This was one of my favorite trails. I just loved how the "pots" were bubbling and crazy blue pools. Plus the geyser eruption was a big win! -John

I honestly felt like I was standing in a post card as we wandered up to the point. The views into the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone are just downright amazing. Was well worth the entire visit. -John

Yellowstone National Park has so much to offer. . our first stop after the visitor center was the amazingly bad smelling Mud Volcano. The amount of sulfur coming out of the various springs, geysers and other assorted geothermal activities gave the area a grand odor to the hike. - John

Wyoming really is beautiful country. Over forty eight percent of the state is Federal land. While those that live there might think it is a bad thing. It has led to some of the most beautiful pristine landscapes I have ever visited. The drive into Yellowstone from Greybull KOA was gorgeous. -John

So as we rolled through Big Horn Scenic Byway to Greybull KOA all I can say is wow. The views along this road are truly stunning. Just click through and take a look.  Oh also ..  "Sinclair Dinosaurs" . .they are a thing. We kept seeing them but kept forgetting to take pictures. They would be in random spots out west. Oh and we did see real Wyoming cowboys riding along a pasture as cows grazed. - John Day 5 - SD, WY 363.9 miles

Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, SD. Home to the final resting places of Will Bill Hickcock and Calamity Jane. We even saw someone have a drink at Wild Bill's grave and leave the rest. You can see that in the pictures. Downtown Deadwood is just a bunch of old buildings becoming a tourist trap. We managed though to find a busy but good place to eat. We ate at the Buffalo Bodega Gaming Center/Complex. Yeah crazy name built around one of the oldest bars in Deadwood. I had a buffalo burger of course. But one can not talk about Buffalo Bodega without talking about the singing Cowboy. Our waitress said he had been around from the beginning of time and all his jokes were the same. Was fun to hear crazy songs as we ate. -John

One of my favorite things on this trip was getting to see some of our nations most iconic places. While the wait to get into Mt Rushmore was the same as an amusement park. It truly is pretty awe inspiring. -John

An early morning pancake breakfast at the KOA and then a stop at the ghost town of Scenic, SD. I think the population might be 20, maybe 10. I didnt see any people around but did see some cars. I think some strange church owns the town now. The main street was pretty cool though. - John

A long beautiful day finished off with some popcorn fun. - John Day 4- IA, SD 455 miles , 1871 miles total

Do not go where the path may lead go instead where there is no path and leave a trail -Ralph Waldo Emerson I have honestly not been to National Parks other than Shenandoah in VA. The stunning vistas that greeted us as were mind blowingly beautiful. I do not think there are words for me use to describe just how amazing this day was. This was what I wanted the girls to see. This was the point of the trip to see amazing things that we had no idea were actually out there. This day I think the girls got the first glimpse of what this trip was going to truly be like. - John

So we woke up to an almost flat tire at Onawa Blue Lake KOA. So we had to make a pit stop in Sioux Falls, SD for a couple hours of down time. It was horrible but we survived. The ride though from Sioux Falls to Wall, SD out I-90 .. the views .. this is why we came out west. This is what we needed to see. - John

Today was by and far the worst driving day. We were on the road a lot. It tooks its toll on us and the car. We did not know the extent of the car problem till later. But construction in MO managed to get a nail in the side of a wheel that would lead to unexpected downtime the next day. Dinner at Trails End in Rockport MO was actually really good. And the girls impressed me with their record tent setting up abilities when we hit the KOA. - John Day 3 - IL, MO, IA 638.6 miles (1416.5 total)

We left Casey IL and out west we went. There was a lot of driving across the state of Missouri but before that happened we made stop at Gateway to the West and Malcom Martin Memorial Park to get a good look at the famed Archway in St Louis. -John

A sleepy Monday morning in Casey, IL was the start of day three of our trip. I have nothing but great things to say about our breakfast spot. The wonderful Whitling Whimsy Cafe. Amazing service, great food, awesome prices. Plus we got to share the cafe with the table of locals that included the Sheriff. I mean how much more small town could we get. Everything in the cafe as far as decor started with a W and that was cute. After a great meal we wandered around the town and found more of the big things in little Casey. -John

This was our first KOA on the trip. I had not been camping since the Boy Scouts. I do not count my Army days. And this would be the first time with the girls. They did an amazing job and were willing to help with everything. It was a fun little campground and there were crazy amounts of lightning bugs in the evening. - John  Day 2 - WV,OH,IN, IL 518 miles

Okay, so maybe cute is an understatement. With nothing open we had the whole town to roll around and check out. So of course the home to so much of the biggest and some Guinness official world's biggest we had to see. The idea of this town spawned from one man's brain and its great. - John

From West Virginia to Casey IL day two of our trip was a haul. Through Ohio and Indiana we cruised and on in to Ohio. Over nine hours of drive time was rough on all of us. Throw in a time change and the fact that it was a Sunday and the little town of Casey was shut down. But the KOA was cute and the town itself was neat. -John

I remember looking up this place before our trip and realizing how much fun it was going to be to wander around it. The real thing exceeded expectations. A great tour guide, a very drunk tourist and creepy feels all over lent to the vibe. Trans Allegheny was hosting the West Virginia Almost Heaven BBQ Bash so the places was hopping and very crowded. A return some day to with less people is on my list. - John  Day 1- VA, WV 259.5 miles

It had been years since I had driven through the mountains of western Virginia and even more years since I had rolled into wild wonderful West Virginia. The very first "mountains" we navigated were gorgeous. Our lunch at C&J's was great. Ohh those Apple Dumplings with ice cream for dessert. A quaint little place along the road to west. And then there was that phone booth . . what appeared to be a working phone booth in a small hamlet in the middle of valley. The place was called Head Waters, VA and it had well a phone booth. should have taken a picture. It was a great start. - John The trek begins!!! It was amazing scenery as we sped through the "mountains" of West Virginia. C&J's was a excellent little hole in the wall place. It was a such a cute little home grown restaurant that served up amazing homemade food. The greenery was everywhere!!! I had never seen so much green in my whole life. 'Le Gasp' it was absolutely beautiful. It made wan...

"Adventure is worthwhile"; - Amelia Earhart  Update 2023 - When I first started this blog I had hoped it would be a place where my kids and i would share our adventures. Where they would write what they felt as well. Sadly It was not to be. My youngest Erin did her best for a bit but then it just disappeared like so many things do. Well here we are. . .we had no idea what we were doing or how it would all turn out. We had a plan. Well I had a plan. The girls had .. "OMG Dad stop. Can we just explore!" Okay maybe I had a bit laid out but man it was huge trip. But hey the first great part was somehow the Emerald Aisle allowed us to drive out with a brand new Buick Escalade. If we were going to go cross country we were going in style! So it begins. . . - John The start of the trip of a life time. It was well worth the wait and the energy was through the roof. We kicked it off right and this montage of #selfies was just the beginning of the fun that was to be had. -Erin