Monday, October 31, 2011

Vancouver to Syracuse



At the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Leaving Alaska to escape winter and travel across the Rockies and northern US in late October may not be sensible, but it has been uncrowded and fabulously beautiful. Since leaving Vancouver we've been on the road for a month in our little camper van IRV with travel cat Vesta. Anyone reading this blog probably knows we spent weeks in Vancouver to celebrate and help after the birth of grand-twins Chloe and Claire to Camille & Alex. Willow came too, from Scotland, yay! She drove down The Highway with Craig while I first helped with the babies.
Gail, Willow, Zoe, Camille and Chloe & Claire
We're presently at the end of a great stay with Craig's brother Glenn and partner Theresa near Syracuse, NY. Upstate New York has subtle and seductive charms.  We never knew it to be so rolling, trees so monumental, grounds so spacious, homes and villages so dear. Urban sprawl is not a part of this rural scene.

Aidan and Caleb with Craig & Glenn on the Erie Canal

After experiencing snow in awe-inspiring Yellowstone with some harrowing blizzard driving, we decided to hunker at Glenn & Teresa's to avoid a much greater snowstorm. More than 2,000,000 are without power due to  a record early snowstorm in the NE. Oddly it is clear and beautiful in Upstate New York.IRV's rear-wheel drive and no snow tires suggest we head to the deep south before long. But first a stop in Boston to visit nephew Galen and fiance Miya in Cambridge, and cousins Steve and Susan Owen and children Kiley and Julia and explore the city.

Sapsucker Woods at the Cornell Ornithology Lab in Ithaca


The autumn foliage remains devastatingly beautiful, and a recent light snow added to the drama. Some birds remain, such as the red-bellied woodpecker, cardinals, cedar waxwings and bluejays. The famed Cornell Ornithology Lab in Ithaca is a bird haven, even in the late fall.  We plan to catch up with some of the departed ones later in Big Bend NP, Texas.

We're learning delicate dance moves in our small rv as we prepare each meal on board.  We're getting the routine down, read books aloud from the extremely helpful iPad, and may watch a movie for the evening entertainment.  One backing-into-a-ditch experience at night on a deserted road taught us a lot about the dimensions of our wheel base (and the kindness of mortals).  After having leaky windows and  luggage compartments repaired in Syracuse, we feel increasingly at home in IRV.

A few highlights of our journey:
North Cascades National Park, Washington
Pronghorn antelope in the Shortgrass Prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Bison in Yellowstone & Badlands
We inadvertently came between a few bison and their herd.  While we contemplated diving over a steep bluff into a creek, they decided to take the high path and avoid a confrontation. Whew!



Chimney Bluffs on the shore of lake Ontario look like a mini Badlands.  Just in front is a woodland  plateau giving way to vineyards and apple orchards. Very dramatic with the lake behind! These Ice age remnants, clay drumlins 150 feet high from lakeshore, erode a foot or more per year.

The real Badlands National Park, South Dakota


Description not required.  Giant graffiti or high art? (no pun intended, really).  Great for surrealists at heart.



Hot pools of endless depth and clarity, colorful bacteria (thermophiles) and boiling temperatures over the active super volcano which is Yellowstone. There are more geysers and other thermal features here than all other sites in the world combined.  Who knew?  We didn't and were happily blown away (luckily not literally!). PUS gigantic waterfalls -  300 feet -  falling into a world class (yellow) canyon. Oh, yes, and a huge lake, and....mountains and animals and rivers..... 

Eastern Montana Big Sky, Big Country
Listen to Tom Waites "Burma Shave" for an atmospheric accompaniment
 Glacial erratics in the Adirondacks.

We daily learn many things, especially what a magnificent planet we live on, and how fortunate we are to be able to see so much of it, along with the kindness and generosity of people along the way. 




draft
9:22:00 AMby Craig & Gail

6 comments:

  1. Wow! These are amazing photographs Craig and Gail. Some of it looks very familiar, too, since Tom, Kate and I traveled some of these same roads on our way to Illinois. I'm delighted to see your kitty on the front dash. She's doing much better than ours did. I guess she'd better since she's now a traveling cat. Good luck negotiating the your new lifestyle and your road trip adventure. Please email if you're going to be in the Chicago area. We have a guest room that we'd love to offer you. We're a few blocks from the Metra station, which you could hop on to do Chicago things and hop back on to come back to the quiet suburbs. All our best. Kerri Morris.

    ReplyDelete
  2. From Alaska... we are settling into our 1st snowfall. What is different about this snowfall was the new neighbors have not followed your past traditions, i.e., your old driveway is full of snow. How we miss our old neighbors!

    The blog and pictures were wonderful and news of the twins was good to read. I am glad the ipad is meeting your expectations. Have you upgrade your Ipad to OS 5? If not, when you do, you will be able to text from the Ipad to friends who have upgraded? Please do, it would be fun to drop you a text now and then. All is well on Copper Dr., well except for the neighbors we miss dearly! Happy Halloween! RL

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a great blog Gail. I wish I were traveling with you. The snow is falling and the idea of taking off on the Great American Road Trip sounds like a fine idea. Great to hear your grand twins are doing well. My twins are already in 4th grade, man how the time goes by! If you get the opportunity while in the East, spend some time on the Maine coast. It's a part of America I think you will feel right at home in. I can't wait for your next blog installment. If you ever need a place to crash in Anchorage don't hesitate to call. Happy travels, Scott

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely unbelievable photographs - as good or better than you find in professional photo-calendars. We, too, wish were able to join you for some of the adventure - we're going through withdrawal after selling Cliffy the CamperVan. And, we know how great traveling in the fall can be - mostly great weather and the crowds are non-existent. We'll look forward to reading more. - The Nehrings

    ReplyDelete
  5. Craig and Gail, What great adventures you are having. Thank you for sharing them! We never seem to have enough time with you - and this past summer was especially tough. We look forward to sharing our (your's and our) winter adventures in person when we all return to Lake Clark. Richard and Alison

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awesome pictures and what a great adventure! I had no idea you had picked up stakes and "have no home to return to." Breathtaking indeed! Please keep up the posts; you'll be the great escape for us all. Cheers, and safe travels,
    The Long-Frasers

    ReplyDelete