Pictures!

I know you guys are all like looking at pictures more than reading, right?  Okay, some of you might like to read, too.  Anyway, I thought this might be a better way for me to tell you about the summer.  THIS is why you should all make travel a part of your life, even if it's only in this country!

Warning--VERY LONG post of mostly photos to come.

We left Eugene on June 20th, 2012--just a few days after school got out.

Lone tree in eastern Oregon somewhere.  There wasn't much else.

Yes, I documented each state line.  You'll see I got good at it, and it gives a nice narrative of where we are geographically, as pictures are in order.  It was harder to do when there was no interstate.  Idaho was my first state sign.

Gravel roads, dust, and traffic meant the Wyoming sign didn't turn out great.

Jackson Hole, WY

I saved the Grand Teton/Yellowstone pictures for another time.  Otherwise this would be overwhelming.  Imagine a bunch of pictures of Yellowstone here.


This is the Beartooth Highway, which is closed much of the year (look at the snow in late June!), which winds from the Northeast end of Yellowstone, to Red Lodge, MT.  Worth the drive, but hard on older engines as it climbs to about 12,000 ft.  Sarah (our car) was having trouble cooling down.  Popping the hood and letting icy winds do the trick while we looked at the mountain goats was a good plan!

Montana is called Big Sky Country for a reason.  It's big, empty, and you can see for miles--further than  anywhere I've ever been.  The sky just keeps going.  The pictures below were taken hours apart.  It was an endless drive through nothing.  Occasionally a ranch house.  It was pretty, but it was VERY big and VERY empty.

 The occasional geological formations broke up the long drives of nothing.

As you can see, not much changes once you enter South Dakota (unless you take the detour to Mt. Rushmore, which we skipped because we'd both been and it's out of the way).  That's why they create their own fun.  Wall Drug is a kitsch store that is advertised on signs like these for hundreds of miles.  We spent a half hour there (we spent the night in Wall).  It's a must-see.

Plains like this were once buffalo as far as the eye could see.  These are cattle.

 Like I said, they create their own fun in SD.

 We weren't in MN very long.  I drove for most of it, though, so not many pics.

A true midwestern storm (thankfully no tornados).  This was pretty much the only bad weather of the trip, and it didn't last long.

 Crossing the Mississippi River is quite a milestone after so many miles in the car.

 Yep, there are cornfields in IL.

Up until this point there had been trees, but no forests.  Driving through Illinois and beyond it was easy to understand why they say that once upon a time, a squirrel could go from the Atlantic to the Mississippi without touching the ground.

Indiana was my least favorite state.  The heat (Sarah had no air conditioning) may have unduly biased me.  The lack of scenery compared to previous states didn't help.  However, pictures show that I am, perhaps, being a bit harsh on a state whose capital is India-no-place.  Oh, I meant Indianapolis.

This picture was actually taken on the eastern end of the state (the next day), but I included it in the Ohio bunch for the sake of geographic clarity.

 Cincinnati lies along the Ohio River, which forms the state line with Kentucky.  We spent the night in KY with a friend, but we didn't really get any pictures of the state.  We did walk along the river.  It is a lesson in pollution.  Sad.

 We crossed just a tiny snippet of WV.  We were only there for maybe 30 minutes.  Anyway, this is the last of our states (other than our side trip to Alabama) which didn't border the Atlantic Ocean.

Okay, a future post will include the rest of our adventure--we're almost in PA!  However, since we moved to Germany and that's what you all want to see, I included the section below.

Germany is the land of castles, but the most famous is the iconic Neuschwanstein, inspiration for Disney's Cinderella castle.  Built by Bavarian King Ludwig II ("Mad King Ludwig"), this fairy tale location was built before Bavaria belonged to Germany.  It isn't old like many casltes--it was built during the American Civil War.  Look for a READ poster from this place--one of the CY teachers came here with me!  Do you know who it is?

The best views of Neuschwanstein are from this bridge, but it was crowded (and the castle's exterior is under repair).  It wasn't worth the effort to get a good shot.  Next time!

 From the walk (and it's a walk!) up the mountain to Neuschwanstein--the bus only takes you part way anyway, so we walked the whole thing.

One of Ludwig's other castles from the trail to Neuschwanstein.  You can visit this one, too.  Haven't done that yet.

 Hope you weren't too bored!  Still to come:  pictures of geysers, buffalo, waterfalls, Gettysburg, Duke University, and Florida.  I may be kind and include a few more pics of Germany.

Ms. K