17 days, 5 states, 3,554 miles

In March we were not sure about a 2020 trip.  With the COVID pandemic and stay at home recommendations and then the protesting, we wavered about where to go and even traveling at all. The original 2020 plan was to go to Alaska to check off our 49th state. That was scratched early on since we could not get through Canada. In the end, a road trip was just what we needed. After being home for the equivalent of a long summer vacation, it was time to venture out. It was wonderful to explore some new places and visit a few of our favorites. Some were just as we remembered and others were unrecognizable given the development over the 5 years since we had been through. As we meandered we realized that we have now thoroughly explored the Western mountain regions. We knew it was time to come home no one had any place else that screamed: "visit now". 

As always, we are grateful for the people we met along the way who shared their favorite restaurants, ice cream spots, and information about the places we were visiting, but they call home. Unlike other trips, we deliberately did not visit friends even when we were close by. During these strange times, we chose to keep our traveler germs to ourselves and not put anyone in the awkward situation of feeling obliged to open their home to us. It definitely changed the tone of the trip and we hope we can visit sometime soon!

On the last stretch of road before home, we played our usual game of trip trivia (with M&M prizes). Throughout the conversation, we reflected on the trip highlights- McCall, kayaking on the lake, Swimming in Thermopolis, biking and hiking in Zion (specifically the Narrows), the bears, the ice cream and other food adventures! We loved exploring so many of the roads that are fantastic on a motorcycle even though we were in the car. Ali is, without a doubt, Jim's girl. She can't wait to trade vehicles and go back to experience the curves!

While we love to travel, it's nice to be home. The girls love rasing their rabbits for 4-H and we are eternally grateful to the Bruegger family for taking care of the 6-pack while we were away. It's strange to be looking ahead to so many weeks of summer and time at home. With that, we are already planning a few weekend adventures to add some exploration to the coming months. Until then...

PS For those of you who have been following our game of license plate bingo, we came up 2 states short. Unfortunately, we did not see plates from Rhode Island or New Hampshire. A strange outcome in strange times!

Home

Traveling is nice, but so is home! The girls have been eager to get here and see the rabbits, especially the ones that they are raising to seel at the county fair. I think the rabbits were also glad to see the girls and run in the yard!

Clark, Colorado

We turned off Wyoming 70 onto a small dirt road that goes over the border and eventually to Steamboat Springs. As we have found on many of these trips, there was no "Welcome to Colorado" sign on a road this small. The girls were glad to avoid the stop and the photo, but it is a bit anti-climatic to be back in our home state without a proper welcome! We know we are closer to home because we stopped at the Clark store in Clark, CO. We have been here as a family before, and I have been many times. There is a ranch nearby that used to be a hotel that my parents liked to frequent.

The store is also the Post Office, and pretty much the only building in town (besides the ranches).

It was a perfect last ice cream stop for the trip.

Colorado View

We are looking south into Colorado from one of the overlooks on Wyoming 70. It is a peaceful spot with very little traffic. Everyone is excited to be closer to home!

The Snowy Mountain Range, Wyoming

To complete the tour of great motorcycle roads, we decided to spend the night in Saratoga (one of our favorite stops in Southern Wyoming) and come home via Wyoming 70. It is a beautiful winding road through the Snowy Mountain Range on the border of Wyoming and Colorado. 

This marker was tucked away at one of the turnouts. You never know what history you will find when exploring the backroads!

Independence Rock

Our route has overlapped with many historic trails over the past two weeks. Today we are following a portion of the Oregon Trail. There are several stops along the way- we paused to enjoy the scenery and history. The most significant would be Independence Rock. It was a landmark for the travelers in many ways. Not only did many carve their names to mark the journey, but they knew their chances of beating the winter across the mountains were best if they arrived here by the 4th of July. While the spot is marked, we were disappointed that most f the history is lost. It's difficult to find any inscriptions left on the rock. Even the ones that were carved have been worn away by 200 years of weather. The oldest inscription we found (of the dozen or so that sare still legible) was 1811.

Sam had to climb!

Can you find the rabbit in the photo? He was on the rock and then hopped into the grass. His camouflage is very good!

Wind River Canyon

This is a wonderful winding road south of Thermopolis. The road and the train tracks follow the river. That's about all there is room for at most points! We stopped at the narrowest part. There was a dam here, but it did not work out so they blasted it and built a new one upriver.