Rogue River | Wing's World

Almost…there: the tulip fields of Skagit Valley

Road Trip XI …by the numbers:
8 weeks.
10,000 miles (best guess).
26 states.
62 far-and-dear friends and family members.
14 national parks/monuments.
20 state parks.
6 post-season Tarheel men’s basketball games (5 victories + 1 almost!)

One of these was waiting for us in our pile of mail. Order yours at johnnytshirt.com 🙂

…and by the category:

Best hike: Custer State Park, South Dakota, Needles region

Best bike ride: Colorado National Monument rim road

(Honorable mention: Bizz Johnson trail in Susanville, CA …but it doesn’t win because it gave The Mate a flat tire)

Best waterfall: Sioux Falls…even though conflicted feelings arose when I read about its blasted, quarried history

Best trees: California redwoods

I mean…c’mon. What’s going to beat a redwood?

Best wildflowers: Rogue River National Recreation Trail, near Merlin, Oregon

I didn’t even know larkspurs came in scarlet!

Best wildlife: tie between javelinas in Arizona…

…and [not pictured] wild burros spotted in Utah off I-70 (a first for us)

Best sunset: outside our Virginia motel on our loversary

When God says, “Happy anniversary, y’all!”

Best restaurant meal: sushi in Chapel Hill with my parents

Mom, in her natural habitat [not pictured: sushi]

Best home-cooked dinner: our friend Ben’s roast lamb with chimichurri

Our friends Lynn & Ben in the Blue Ridge [not pictured: lamb w/ chimichurri]

Best gift from our hosts: kumquats/avocados/oranges from our Hollywood cousins’ trees

Biggest detour: dropping south all the way to Las Vegas in order to avoid dangerous, truck-toppling winds

The sand-filled sky, seen from our motel room, blotting out the mountains [not pictured: 2 toppled semi trucks we passed on Rt. 395 when we finally escaped the winds]

Best silver lining: getting to hike & clamber in Red Rocks National Preservation Area (or whatever it’s called) just outside of Vegas, just before the winds hit

Some people like casinos. I prefer rocks.

additional bonus to silver lining: the desert in bloom!

Longest day’s drive: Moab to Las Vegas (460 miles)

good excuse for one more Canyonlands picture!

Scariest drive: crossing the Cascades on snowy lil’ Rt. 89 past Mt. Lassen in California

The cute lil’ motel we stayed in at Old Station, CA [not pictured: next morning’s snow; too busy helping The Mate watch for ice patches]]

And now for a couple of less-traditional categories.

Best basketball game: UNC vs. Duke in the national semifinal (81-77)

South Dakota Black Hills, I’ll always associate you with that game!

Best dog: Ramses in Olympia

Also best-DRESSED dog–thanks to Dia Tornatore for the photo & the hospitality!

And finally, the Grand Travel Blog Award for Best New Discovery goes to…Oregon’s Rogue River Trail!

I never could catch my breath on this hike–just too much beauty!

We’re already talking about how to get back there.

Waterfall over the trail? Eh…time for a photo.

…but for now, oh my goodness–it’s good to be home, safe and sound and grateful as all get-out for this long, LONG getting-out. And now, as Wing’s World morphs back into its non-travel mode…thanks for traveling with me anyway!