So what was the highlight of the trip? In the category of sights, it has to be the stunning scenery in the Snowy Range, in Wyoming as we crested the 10,800 foot pass at Medicine Bow mountain. It was 5 in the afternoon as we ground our way upward. And we had 3 or more hours of driving time yet to go. But near the pass, the forest sideroads emphatically beckoned. We turned onto the dirt tracks, crossed the North Fork of French Creek, passed a beautiful mountain meadow, backed the bus into the woods, and popped the top. It wasn't hard to determine that we were there for the rest of the day. Just before climbing that grade to the pass, we had gone through Saratoga, WY, and visited their municipal hotsprings. Through that town, the North Platte River is a small stream just beginning to gather momentum to later join with the South Platte in Nebraska. The little stream sported a riverbed hotspring at Saratoga. The town built a swimming pool next to it, but they also built a hotsprings pool behind the swimming pool. They rocked in some pools in the stream bed for the hot water, too. They called the hotspings part the "Hobo Pool", and did not charge anything for using the changing house or that hotwater pool. And it is open 24 hours a day. That seemed very hospitable to us! And the price was right. So we waded a bit down in Saratoga before climbing to 10,000 feet, 40 miles away. Up there on the mountain, there were still snow patches up on the summit (and even in the pass). There were natural lakes. Meadows. Wildflowers. Dark forests of fir. Rock cliffs. Rivers of rockfall, (obvious avalanches of boulders following a crevice of land). We cooked, ate, then hiked until nightfall. Meadows look pretty, but they are actually lakes that are drying up. "Bog" is a better word to describe their surface consistency. Yes, I tried to take a meadow shortcut to get to the creek. My advice: don't do that. When we did get to creekside, we marveled at the sight and sound. Later, I tried to jog up the road at our 10,000 foot elevation. What heavy legs I have! At twilight the mosquitos came out. We retreated to the screened bus, parked so that the view out the pop-top was dramatic. And then we froze. Our coldest night. Colder than could be handled with anything which we had brought or bought. My brain must have been frozen, too. I never thought to put on the only chamois shirt I had packed. Nor even my jeans. I was sleeping in shorts and t-shirt and wondering why I was freezing. And then it got worse. In the middle of the night, a serious and immediate trip into the woods became necessary. I stumbled out of the bus, dressed as though I was on the beach, grabbed a small handheld flashlight, but forgot my glasses. Now where shall I go? Over there. No, too much ivy-looking undergrowth. Maybe over there. No. Too many downed limbs in the way. And so I zig-zagged into the woods. Fast forward about 15 minutes and I was ready to return to the bus. Ready to return to the blend-into-the-woods green bus. The dark, parked-in-the-woods bus. So where was I in the woods, anyway? Feeble light. In any event, I don't see too well into the distance without my glasses. Hmmmm. That opening straight ahead looks like a meadow. Don't want to get bogged down there. Anyway, we parked in the woods, not sunk in a meadow. If I can find a road, I ought to be able to track to the campsite. That sounds like a stream to the left. I thought it was to the right of the bus. I should maybe turn around. Or was the bus turned around? And so I tramped about here and there, casually dressed for the 45 degree temperature but enjoying the clear air and moonlit ambience of the deep woods (but not really seeing much). And eventually, my feeble flashlight returned to my squinting eyes an amber reflection from a sidelight marker on the bus.

The next morning we had a delightful breakfast at streamside. And then we moved out to view the rest of the sights from this summit land. And too soon we descended a grade back to the high desert. We had just visited a beautiful place. And we will return again!

Well, there you see how I can go on for a page or more describing an afternoon from our month of traveling. And I doubt that you want to read 30 more pages. So the following is a chronological listing of how the trip fared. The listing may go on for a couple of more pages, so you might want to fast forward on to other email. But as you move on, we do want to leave just one concept. This was a loop trip west, north, east and south. Except for a couple of dead-ends where we had to retrace back out, we only deliberately backtracked from Mt. St. Helen to Portland and the 3 miles in Tennessee on SR 60 to get to our house from Route 58. We spent a lot of time on state routes and smaller US highways. We tried to avoid Interstates absolutely every bit as much as we could. Of the 8500 miles, I estimate less than 300 were spent on Interstates (and the biggest part was in Wyoming in an area where there were NO other roads than the Interstate). Even so, we could tell the difference when traveling the Interstates. They go fast and they isolate you from the countryside. If you can, travel the "blue highways". You see the towns, the farms, the people, the wildlife, the natural lay of the land. And you see the other vintage VW pop-top buses. And on those backroads, most of the pickup drivers wave, too.

Chronological highlights:

Overlooking the Sequatchie Valley in Tennessee.

Salt rising bread and cinnamon rolls at Tracy City bakery.

Bulk marbles for sale at antique shop in Fayetteville.

Dinner in roadside cemetery.

Flooded US 64. 8" rain. Road closed. (4 people died).

Widespot camp alongside backroad turned out to be a creek ford.

80-cent coffee in Hohenwald filled thermos and 2 cups.

Rear brakes rebuilt in Jackson, TN.

Reelfoot Lake Park housed crippled eagles and owls. Big birds!

Hickman, KY, has ugly flood wall on Mississippi River..

Ferryman quit in Hickman 5 years ago.

Gotta get more recent road atlas.

Cross Mississippi directly from TN to boot-heel of MO at Caruthersville.

Roadside watermelons for sale everywhere.

Weathered twin to GGB along roadside in Frisbee, MO.

MO Ozarks seem to be just woods. No parks. Camped in woods.

Bathed in roadside creek.

Ferry across Bull Shoals Lake into Arkansas. No fee.

Back into MO to Branson. Walked downtown.

Found Kamp Kanakuk. Much bigger. Camp on both sides of road.

Looked at Branson strip and headed for OK.

Tracked across northern OK to Bartlesville, then north to Kansas.

Stopped at site of Little House on the Prairie.

Then to Independence, KS.

Looked for any signs of a president. Was in wrong state.

Picnic lunch at Elk City Lake overlook. A high point in KS.

At Medicine Lodge, KS, turned south to OK.

Out the panhandle on US 64. This one not flooded out.

Locals lamenting high humidity (35%).

Found first shower at Beaver State Park in Beaver, OK.

Missed road turn in Guymon, OK, and ended in Texas.

Found first road back north to OK.

Road went through Rita Blanca National Grasslands.

Nothing there.

Went out end of OK panhandle directly into New Mexico.

Stopped at Philmont Boy Scout Ranch.

Museum had carefully preserved copies of old BSA Field Books I used to use.

Philmont on both sides of Cimarron, NM.

Cimarron Palisades are rock bluffs from Cimarron River up to 8000 feet.

Taos brewpub and vegetarian burritos. Best meal of the trip!

Walked bridge over Rio Grande gorge.

Camped at 9000 feet on San Juan Mountains backroad. Cold and clear.

Chipmonk got into bus food supply that night.

North to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Durango was an attractive town.

Mesa Verde National Park. Toured "Long House" cliff dwelling.

Saw much lightning from atop mesa.

Visited wind-swept 4-Corners Indian flea-market.

Into Arizona to Kayenta to Indian-run Burger King. Nothing else there.

Page, Arizona, is booming recreation center.

Bathed in Lake Powell just behind Glen Canyon Damn. (sic)

Escaped increasing heat by heading to Utah.

Through Kanab to Cedar Breaks National Monument at 10,000 feet.

Lightning kept observers off overlooks.

Hail while we heated soup and hunted for chamois shirts in parking lot.

Beautiful wildflowers, meadows, and Bryce-Canyon-like views from overlooks.

Down to Cedar City, UT.

Into Nevada through Caliente. Storm cloud covered us through heat zone.

Joshua Tree cactus fields along road.

Used SR 375 adjoining artillery range to cross NV.

No fence, power lines, nothing for 95 miles.

Warm Springs at junction of SR 375 and US 6 looked like a direct hit.

Near rest area some kids asked for information, then asked for marijuana.

Saw large scorpion cross road.

Now that's big if you can see it and ID it at 65 mph.

At Tonopah, NV, gas cost $1.44, the most on the trip.

To Bishop, California, then down to Independence, CA.

Looked for John's place.

Saw Mt. Whitney on the right (which used to be the highest peak in the US).

Finally found the "hot and dry" of our trip as we skirted the Mojave Desert.

At Mojave, turned to Tehachapi to see Dae and Jean.

Noted "wind farms" windmill power generators near Tehachapi.

Greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies and root beer float at the Lantzes.

Enjoyed talking with Dae, Jean, Todd and other Lantzes.

Learned about wind farms. Dae does some pilot car driving for wide loads.

Took back road through big "wind farm" to Lancaster.

1st time on Interstate Highway took us from Newhall to San Fernando Valley.

Mom, the Gilberts and the Sitarzes greeted us at about 7 pm in Reseda.

Getty Museum, swimming, wallpapering, and friend and family gathering for a week.

Getty Museum is a remarkable establishment. A "must see" to really appreciate.

Bus ride on LA backroads to Dr. Quinn movie set and excellent meal with Pickens.

Great food for a week with family gathering multi-meal (and dessert) exceptional.

Lori's corn-on-cob better than found anywhere in the mid-west.

Spent 7 days at Mom's.

Left San Fernando Valley through Simi Valley to Ojai and on to Santa Barbara.

Cruised downtown Santa Barbara as had done in decades past. It has changed!

North on US 101 to Buellton for cup of split pea soup.

Then into Lompoc. It has changed!

Saw Ocean Avenue rental house. It hasn't changed.

Out to "Surf", where Ocean Avenue terminates at the Pacific.

Followed Highway 1 out of Lompoc to Pismo Beach.

Walked to beach. Clam digging illegal. That has changed.

Found McClintocks and signed on for hour-plus wait.

Didn't wait.

Ate at fish house in San Luis Obispo.

Liked San Luis Obispo.

Were hassled in pull-off area by police in Morrow Bay after parks were full.

Moved on.

Were hassled in pull-off area by police in Harmony while looking at map.

Moved on.

Found overflow space at state park near San Simeon.

At daylight, returned 6 miles to Cambria for gasoline before San Simeon stretch.

Dropped drive axle leaving Cambria at 7 am.

Walked to 3 shops finding VW specialist as he reported to work.

Got bus towed to him. Boots and bolts ordered from San Luis Obispo. Walked Moonstone Beach finding agates during rest of morning.

Left Cambria in mid-afternoon.

Just past San Simeon, parked and walked in strong wind to beach.

Mating Elephant Seals were defending harems from each other on beach.

Harems showed little interest in who might be winning.

They just laid about in the sun and flipped sand on their beautiful shapes.

(Anyway I guess those biting, honking, fighting males thought they were beautiful).

At Big Sur took "Coast Road", a dirt one lane road up the coastal mountain.

Grades estimated at 25%. Later grades marked at 18% were not as bad.

Glad axle had been fixed. Glad brakes had been fixed. Wished engine ran better.

Dropped down other side into redwood grove. Dark and beautiful.

Saw deer in road.

Back up. Back down. Joined Highway 1 at that scenic bridge over Bixby River.

Bolted Highway 1 at Monterey and headed to Salinas.

Looked at camping at Laguna Seca Recreational Area.

Found out this was a race track and moved on.

Saw two-story John Steinbeck photo on his museum in Salinas. Camped beside US 101 outside Salinas.

Joined morning traffic towards San Jose, San Francisco.

In mid-morning, stopped at Golden Gate Park to use rest rooms.

Back on Highway 1 after crossing Golden Gate Bridge.

Turned into Muir Woods and hiked a couple of miles amongst redwoods.

Much construction, flagmen, and delays along Highway 1, even one detour.

Was run off road on narrow Highway 1 detour by oncoming logging truck.

Blocked logging trucks going uphill whenever possible after that.

Turned off Highway 1, up Navarro River to find state park.

Logging truck in hurry on that road, honking and finally passing on double lines.

Tsk. Tsk.

Camped in beautiful redwood grove. No park showers. Bathed in Navarro River.

Back to Highway 1 to follow to its end.

Back on US 101.

Tried to drive through Chandelier redwood tree. Suitcase on top didn't clear.

Removed suitcase. Water bags on top didn't clear. Took picture anyway.

Backed out rather then letting air out of tires.

Traveled parallel "Avenue of the Giants".

Blown-down tree being salvaged for bridge planks.

Walked among the trees and the fallen one. Impressive to look straight up a trunk.

Bought blanket in K-Mart in Crescent City.

Crossed into Oregon.

Found great roadside camp near Gold Beach.

Picked monster blackberries before leaving camp.

Did laundry in Gold Beach.

Picked more monster blackberries at Humbug Mountain rest area.

Hiked Umpqua dunes near Florence.

Interesting how dunes are wet sand about 1 foot below surface.

Enjoyed again the area around Yachats. It has grown a bit.

Ate great clam chowder at Mo's at Devil's Punchbowl (Otter Crest).

(These last two were return visits from earlier coast trip years ago).

At Lincoln City, turned inland to Portland to visit Murray Johnson.

Great salmon dinner (and beer) at Murrays. Then a splash in a hot tub.

Bus running rough.

Murray reminds us that he has worried about how the bus might make the trip.

Next morning, I-5 out of Portland to Castle Rock, Washington.

Met with Matt at exit 49 after he drove his Mustang down from Seattle.

Parked bus part way to Mt. St. Helens at campground.

Up Toutle River in Mustang to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

Hiked through blast zone from crater observatory to overlook of Spirit Lake.

5 mile hike round trip with absolutely no shade.

Learned a lot about the volcano. Back to campground.

Entire party camped in bus, Matt "upstairs", Bob and Joyce "downstairs".

Next day, drove through forest on backside of mountain to lava tube cave.

Hiked a couple of miles in "easy" section of cave with only one flashlight..

Matt returned to Seattle.

This marked the north and west turnaround.

Bus traveled back down I-5 to Portland and on to Salem.

Spent evening with Eustroms while all three daughters were also there.

Enjoyed the time to chat with all.

The family dispersed in the early morning.

Found a VW mechanic nearby and new points were installed. $25 charge.

Bus ran well.

Left Salem on SR 22 up the Santiam River through the Cascades.

Traveled through Sisters, Prineville and John Day to Nyssa.

Waded in John Day River. Stayed away from snake also wading in river.

Into Idaho to follow Oregon Trail along Snake River (area is actually a desert).

Grocery shopping included 4 12-packs of Henry Weinhard beer.

Decided to leave drylands and head towards mountains.

Battery cable jumped off at gas stop in Bellevue. No particular problem.

Passed through Craters of the Moon lava fields.

Never got to mountains.

At Blackfoot, I-15 south through Pocatello to US 30.

Then into Lava Hot Springs for evening soak at their commercial hot springs.

110 degrees. Hotter than a hot tub.

Looked at accidental man-made geyser in Soda Springs at 11 pm.

Camped in wide spot of back road out of Georgetown.

On to Wyoming.

Desolate.

Found I-80 near Little America on western side of state.

Joyce was puzzled. She didn't recognize the place.

She realized she'd earlier visited Little America outside Cheyenne on the east side.

Had to take I-80 through Rock Springs and Rawlings to Walcott and SR 130.

No other roads out there.

Headed south to Saratoga and their municipal 24-hour hot springs.

And then up the grade on SR 130 to the Snowy Range and Medicine Bow Mountain.

Great but cold camp.

Sighted Laramie from mountain.

Through Laramie to Wheatland dropping off front range of Rockies.

And into northwest Nebraska.

Crossed Niobrara River and on to Chadron.

Camped at State Park, took 4 mile hike atop bluff looking out over sandhills.

Showered and did laundry.

South to Alliance.

Visited "Carhenge". Cars upright coming out of ground like England's Stonehenge.

Visited Woolrich factory store. (Had missed Pendleton factory store in Portland).

Back north to Valentine.

Finally found white western straw hat for Bob.

To Winner, South Dakota. (Hint: stay in Valentine).

Camped on bank of Missouri River.

Full moon rose over river. Beautiful night.

Many wild turkeys and ring-neck pheasants.

Hit ring-neck pheasant. Dent above right headlight on bus.

Toured DeSmet, SD, as the "Little Town on the Prairie".

Laura Ingels Wilder actually lived a lot of places.

Into Minnesota.

Straight across to Mankato (where Laura also lived).

Camped near Mississippi River above Zumbro River.

Crossed Mississippi at Wabasha into Wisconsin.

Through Stevens Point to Appleton and on to Two Rivers on Lake Michigan.

North to Kewaunee to find ferry across Lake Michigan.

No ferry.

It had moved to Manitowoc.

Vow to buy a newer road atlas.

Head south to Manitowoc.

Stop and bathe in Lake Michigan. (Others nearby are simply swimming).

Buy the $100+ ferry ticket at Manitowoc for 12:30 am departure.

Buy groceries and seek out movie.

Watch The Mask of Zorro.

Back to ferry dock at 9:30 pm.

Eat picnic supper. Nap. Watch strange crowd.

Too many friendly (with each other) women going over for a "music festival".

And then the bikers roared up having been to their own "festival" in Sturgis, SD.

No one noticed the aging hippies in the green bus.

Ferry ride was hot, noisy, smelly and generally unpleasant.

Rolled off ferry in Ludington, Michigan at 5 am.

Headed for the nearest woods.

Fog in Baldwin, MI, where we found coffee.

Bus running poorly.

New points outside Grand Rapids. Timing had been set too high. Burned up points.

4 times the Salem cost ($25) for points.

And on to Kalamazoo. Bus running great.

To Sturgis, MI, where George Reed had housed his Michicraft/Blue Hole operation.

Joyce receives lecture on narrow avoidance of bankruptcy.

(The above two items probably only mean something to young Bob).

And into Indiana.

Through Fort Wayne at 5 pm, their time.

(It would be 6 pm everywhere else, but IN has no daylight saving time).

Through the Amish country to Berne, a Swiss burg.

(Which is what we had at a McDonalds, there: 2 triple cheese burgers for $2).

Camped at Whitewater State Park outside Liberty.

The Whitewater River is damned here. Park is on lake.

On to Ohio.

Picked up I-275 to bypass Cincinnati.

Dropped into Kentucky.

Took SR 20 along the Ohio River.

Picked up US 127 to take through Kentucky to Tennessee.

Through Frankfort (a strangely situated capitol city).

To Harrodsburg (founded by Daniel Boone).

Purchased local cheese there.

Drove out to Pleasant Hill to Shakertown to look at the wares.

Back to US 127 south.

Through Jamestown, Kentucky, heading to Jamestown, Tennessee.

Over Wolf Creek Damn which holds back Lake Cumberland.

(This also backs up the lower part of the Big South Fork in Tennessee).

Through Albany, KY, and into Tennessee.

Through Pall Mall of Sergeant York (WWI) fame.

Past the turn off to Wolf River Cave for those that might follow me anywhere.

And on to Rugby, Tennessee.

Visited with Barbara Stagg and John Gilliatt.

Hughes Martin from Park City, Utah, was also in town.

Hughes test drove the bus. He offered to buy it on the spot.

Tommy Martin gave us a tour of Oak Lodge he had furnished.

Tommy has retired from his furniture factory.

But not before he custom made a sleigh bed and awesome poster bed.

Barbara and John provided pizza and ice cream on their porch.

Camped in their yard as our last night out.

Over to US 27 and north to Robbinsville hillside for honeysuckle.

Picked many honeysuckle vines for basket weaving.

South through Sunbright to Wartburg to visit Don Todd.

Joyce learned more about quilting from Elgiva Todd, Don's wife.

Through Harriman, Spring City to cross Tennessee at Watts Bar Dam.

Through Decatur and down SR 58 to Georgetown to SR 60.

Completed loop and retraced 3 miles to house.

Front lawn had been mowed and all looked OK.

Great trip. Great companion. Great Green Bus.

We visited 24 states in 31 days with 20 nights of camping while traveling 8500 miles with very little Interstate driving and less than $50 in overnight lodging/camping fees. But be sure to use adequate sunscreen on your left arm (if driving)! We never plugged into external electricity, so we used candles for light and the old Svea camping gasoline stove to heat water and soups.

Again, thanks to all who greeted us so warmly at our various stops and destinations along the way. We enjoyed all the visits. And we grew to enjoy the look of our pea-soup-green vehicle!