Day 15 - Eugene, Oregon

A sunny but cool day today. After a little French conversation over breakfast with some hotel guests amazed to find someone who could speak their language, I set off northwestwards along the very rural US-20 - it's 130 miles from Burns to Bend and scarcely anything between but sagebrush. I saw a small cougar bounding across the road, but I couldn't see what it was chasing. About half-an-hour down the road there were a couple of deer, but they skipped away before I could get a photo. I also saw a few hawks flying (but couldn't identify them), a yellow-headed blackbird, and an amazingly bright Steller's jay down by the Mackenzie River.

One last mountain - actually this is the Three Sisters, part of the Cascade range in Oregon. Then it was downhill all the way, following the course of the very beautiful Mackenzie River, listening to Elgar's Cello Concerto played by Jacqueline du Pré (who had the same music teacher as I did!) on KWAX, the University of Oregon classical radio station. Bliss!

A slightly easier day's driving today, only 260 miles, so I reached my destination at 4 pm - to find the folks in good form. We're now just settling down with a glass of wine before dinner!

Day 14 - Burns, Oregon

Well, I thought I did a lot of driving yesterday - but today I made 460 miles. Actually it was easy driving today - cruise control, iPod, like sitting in my armchair at home but with moving scenery!

Back on the I-80W into Nevada, all the way to Winnemucca (where all the potatoes for Pringles crisps are dehydrated!!); also The Sundance Kid (but not Butch Cassidy) was part of the gang that robbed the bank there in 1900. There is a heritage here in northern Nevada from the Basque country - rather a similar landscape. I never realised how many mountains there are in Nevada - lovely to see them and drive through the mountain passes.

Had a quick lunch at Sid's Family Restaurant, then headed north on US-95 into Oregon and beautiful high green rolling hills all the way to Burns. There has been exceptionally high rainfall this spring, so many of the roadside verges are flooded; so more waterbirds to see - ring-necked duck, white-faced ibis, and long-billed curlew - and other birds too: several eagles and a western meadowlark (beautiful).

Day 13 - Wendover, Utah

All driving today - heading north-west to Wendover, at the very western edge of Utah, 350 miles!

The start of the drive, north out of Moab, took me back past Arches national park - I was tempted to go and have another look but managed to resist. Eventually the red rocks gave way to ochre and a sort of grey-green, and I was delighted to find more mountains on the very scenic road between Helper and Provo; the road runs alongside the river and the railroad through the Soldier Summit pass.

The Provo to Salt Lake City section has reminded me why I hate freeway driving - 60 miles of roadworks on I-15N was no fun at all. I managed to negotiate my way around the Salt Lake City road chaos to the I-80W, and then I was alongside the Great Salt Lake. It was very overcast this afternoon, so sadly the water was a dirty jade colour. Unsurprisingly, the industry around here is largely to do with salt.

Before getting to Wendover, there is a 50-mile stretch which is absolutely dead straight - no chance of falling asleep today though: there was a 55-mph side wind, which made for interesting turbulence when the trucks roared past at 75 mph! Obviously practising for Bonneville Speedway (where all the landspeed records have been set), set on Bonneville Salt Flats, which is part of the Great Salt Lake Desert.

Wendover itself is a set of budget hotels - West Wendover, just over the border in Nevada, is where all the action is: there are five casino resort hotels (which I am unlikely to visit - I hate casinos).

Day 12 - Moab, Utah

Another hot day - it was 85degF by 9 a.m.! Headed west on the I-70, and driving into Utah, the first surprise was a sign saying: 'Eagles on Highway' - I didn't see any though. The second surprise was more snow-tipped mountains, this time the La Sal range - I thought I had left those behind in Colorado. I decided to take a shortcut through the ghost town of Cisco to reach 'The River Road' - as Highway 128 is known in Moab. A glorious road, twisting down through the canyon alongside the Colorado river again - pictures here.

Then I took a little trip to Canyonlands, first passing Wilson Arch, then going on to Needles Overlook - this is a little-known vantage point 22 miles from the main road, and not actually in Canyonlands national park itself but giving amazing views of it. I was the only person there for well over an hour as I wandered around the rocks with only birdsong and the occasional lizard for company - blissful! Apart from the moment when a vulture was hovering over my head trying to assess if I was easy meat, that is! You can see for miles across the canyons, and also get a view of the Colorado river about 1,600 feet down (vertigo-sufferers, don't go here) - and some lovely wildflowers too. Pictures here.

And finally to Arches National Park - saving the best till last! I thought Garden of the Gods in Colorado was magnificent, but this - this is sublime! I'll let the pictures tell the story for me - click here.

Tired and hot (100degF this afternoon!), but exhilarated by so much extraordinary beauty, I drove into the very cute town of Moab - pretty much Main Street and nothing else - to the very pleasant Silver Sage Inn for the night.

Day 11 - Grand Junction, Colorado

What a difference a day makes! A long (300 miles +) drive has left the Rockies behind me, though not before yet more rollercoaster roads (and tunnels too) - this time on the I-70W.

Wildlife sightings today include a snake on the hard shoulder - not sure if it was dead or merely sunbathing, but it was a good 5 feet long and as thick as my arm! I think it might have been a coachwhip snake. Also saw four magnificent eagles wheeling high above the road between Lookout Mountain (where Buffalo Bill's grave is) and Idaho Springs.

All along the road near Georgetown are waterfalls cascading down the northern rockface - fortunately they drain behind the road, not across it! The road goes through the Eisenhower Tunnel at over 11,000 feet, and crosses the Continental Divide - but there are still plenty more mountains to go, through and past Vail, a major skiing area.

All good things must come to an end, and eventually the mountains give way to the Grand Mesa of western Colorado, but not before traversing the majestic Glenwood Canyon, twisting and turning as the mighty Colorado river has carved its way through the rock over eons. The river is running very high at the moment swollen with all the spring snowmelt.

At Glenwood Springs, a very strong smell of sulphur was apparent - the Rockies are mineral-rich indeed! Fortunately I found a little rest area near the river which was odour-free, so I could enjoy my cup of coffee sitting at a picnic table outside in the 85degF heat!

And this is a very quick snap of the rock formations on the way into Grand Junction - a charming town with a southwestern flavour.

Day 10 - Fort Collins, Colorado

Spent the day at the Rocky Mountain National Park - even though the two high mountain passes are both still closed because of exceptional snowfall over the winter. So much to see there - the plants, the wildlife, the mountains, the rivers, all beautiful!

Here is the view from the Moraine Visitor Center, and also some grazing elk, for your delectation.

Day 9 - Fort Collins, Colorado

Another beautiful day in paradise! Spent the whole day pootling around in the mountains, up to the pass, down the other side, several times! Including one short cut from Rand to Gould, a 13-mile stretch of gravel road up and over Owl Mountain, which saved me a good few miles!

Here's a picture of the Colorado River (which ends up going through Utah and Arizona (and the Grand Canyon) and on to California and the Pacific) - I followed it for many miles, through this very wide valley near the source where the water spreads lazily over the meadows, up to the pass, then down through narrow canyons where it was in full spate, and through pine forests where the whitewater rafters were having fun in the sun.

Also drove down the beautiful Cache La Poudre river canyon - I'm running out of superlatives to describe this amazing landscape.

Up in the heights it was around 70degF - Fort Collins is the first time I have been down below 5,000 ft for about 4 days, and the temperature here was 93degF when I arrived at 5 pm! Unfortunately, when I got to my motel, their Wi-Fi was not working so I couldn't update this blog until now (Friday morning here) - at the local iHOP, where they serve an excellent breakfast. I am staying at the same place tonight also, so might have to pull the same trick tomorrow morning. ShouldagotaniPhone!

Day 8 - Silverthorne, Colorado

An easy day today - only a hundred miles and two high mountain passes!

I stopped off for a little wander around Aspen - where property values run into 8 figures! That's right, tens of millions of dollars. Many celebrities live here, and the stores and prices reflect this clientele. It's all beautifully kept, and frightfully nice, but not quite my cup of tea (or Jamaica Blue Mountain skinny latte at $7 a pop)!

Then back over Independence Pass - just as beautiful as yesterday, and almost no other cars going my way. The weather is not so good today - high white cloud with the occasional flash of sunshine, and too hazy for mountain photography. On to Leadville, 'the two-mile-high city' - a much more traditional mountain (and ex-mining) town, full of outfitters for mountain pursuits, along

with a really nice historic town centre, very interesting to walk around.

Just outside Leadville, the road splits - I took CO-91 and the Fremont Pass - more lovely views! - all the way to Copper Mountain, a ski resort looking a little sad and lonely now the season is over. Stopped at the very pleasant resort town of Frisco for lunch at the excellent Log Cabin Cafe!

And so to Silverthorne - my hotel is close to a Factory Outlet mall, so some shopping might occur tomorrow ;-)

Day 7 - Snowmass Village, Colorado

A cloudless sky this morning pulled me back to the mountains, the lakes, the snow - many miles of driving, but such wonderful scenery, including the amazing overlook at Pioneer Point (where I saw someone stretched out on one of the overhanging rocks looking down - I thought it best not to disturb him!).

I drove up to Crested Butte (rather chi-chi for my taste), hoping to drive through Kebler Pass, only to find it was closed. However, it did mean that I could drive over Independence Pass, which was only opened 3 days ago after clearing 25-ft snowdrifts. Amazing views both on the way up and the way down!

The sun seemed to have brought out the wildlife today too - I saw a Red-tailed Hawk, a Tree Swallow, a Black Rosy-Finch, a Hoary Marmot peeping out from the grass verge, this deer munching by the roadside, lots of cattle grazing in the water-meadows in the high valleys, and also some very large bison.

After driving through Aspen (which I will spend some time visiting tomorrow), I reached my extremely nice hotel, the Silvertree, in the very pretty Snowmass Village. I wouldn't normally stay somewhere this expensive, but I got an incredible deal from booking.com ;-)

Day 6 - Delta, Colorado

Wow! What a windy day! Heading west from Pueblo it was like being in a sandstorm - complete with tumbleweed blowing across the road; like something out of a Wild West movie.

First port of call today was the Royal Gorge cafe for an excellent breakfast, then a little train ride to get this great view of the Gorge itself, and the bridge built across it. The river at the bottom is the Arkansas River, and the road west (US-50) follows its course for many miles, in fact most of my journey today. The river is running pretty high just now, as the snow continues to melt, and there were lots of whitewater rafters scaring themselves silly!

I was treated to a very scenic drive indeed, winding through the canyon formed by the river, then up over Monarch Pass (11,312 ft), and back down the western slopes of the Rockies, where you can see clear over to Utah. The mountains are covered with sagebrush, spruce, and juniper, interspersed with aspen trees, which are at varying stages depending on the elevation - on the lower slopes they are a wonderful bright light green, but higher up they are still leafless.

At the bottom of the mountain (but still at over 7,000 ft), the road runs alongside 3 beautiful lakes, the largest of which is Blue Mesa Lake - all covered in ripples today because of the wind. There are some cute towns too - Gunnison, Sapinero, Cimarron, and Montrose, before the attractive city of Delta itself, my destination for tonight.

Day 5 - Pueblo, Colorado

An even better day than yesterday, if that were possible! Sunny all day (in fact 92degF by the late afternoon) but not humid, so it felt very comfortable.

Up early this morning, thanks to a truck sitting outside my window revving its engine at 6:30 a.m. But it meant I got to the Garden of the Gods by 10 a.m., before it got too hot. What an amazing place this is - and free! It's a geologist's delight, with evidence of many different landscapes (and in fact seascapes at one point) and climates over the millennia. It must also make life difficult for creationist visitors ;-) The characteristic vertical red rock formations are stunning (this formation is called The Three Graces), and nicely spread out among 13 miles of trails, at least half of which I walked today.

After a restorative caffeine infusion, I set off to see Cripple Creek, the last Gold Rush town. It's now full of casinos, though the old buildings have been well-restored, so I didn't stay long. I headed for Victor, a much more authentic looking mining town. This miner's shack is on the pretty road between Cripple Creek and Victor.

I left Victor by what was marked on the map as a scenic road ... they weren't kidding! Phantom Canyon Road is also gravel for most of its 30-mile length, and drops about 5,000 feet to the high plain, so it makes for very exciting driving. Only 1 little (and controllable) skid - don't tell the car rental company! So exhilarating, I really want to do it again!

Day 4 - Pueblo, Colorado

The day dawned cloudy and cool, so I was a little worried that my planned excursion for the day would not happen - but while I was having breakfast the sun put in an appearance and the clouds (mostly) melted away. So off I went, heading north, to drive up Pikes Peak - 14,100 ft above sea level is probably the highest I have ever been in my life (and almost halfway to the summit of Everest ;-) ).

It's extraordinary that there is actually a road right up to the top of this beautiful mountain - the views all the way up are breathtaking (and not good for anyone who suffers from vertigo). It was a little hazy at the top, very windy, and 46degF (it was 75 at the bottom), so my pictures are not as good as I would like, but let me assure you that as well as being able to see a great swathe of the Rockies to the south, west and north, the view of the plains to the east (which don't end until you get to the Appalachians on the other side of the country) is astounding.

The air is definitely thin up there, and by the time I had walked all the way around the summit, taking in the amazing scene before me, I was quite breathless and a little giddy - so I had to have a coffee and a special Pikes Peak donut to recover!

Driving back down is just as spectacular, and there's even a brake check a few miles down - if your brakes are too hot they make you wait 30 minutes before you can continue.

After getting my breath back down on the high plains at Manitou Springs (pretty!) I drove on to Seven Falls, a lovely set of waterfalls in South Cheyenne Canyon, falling from 7,200 ft to 6,400 ft. The top of the falls is accessible by a 224-step staircase, which I duly climbed (today's exercise), and was rewarded with fantastic views, more breathlessness, and a sense of self-satisfaction!

Happy day ...

Day 3 - Pueblo, Colorado

A glorious, sparkling day! I avoided the interstate all day - and my reward was lots of wildlife - a yellow-bellied marmot munching in a suburban garden, an eagle soaring over a canyon, a coyote wandering across the road, 2 magpies (1 for sorrow, 2 for joy ...) flitting over the grassy plain.

I was heading more-or-less south, but meandered around to take in some interesting sights - Red Rocks at Morrison, the aptly-named and very attractive town of Conifer, a wonderful road (CO-126) running down the canyon beside the river through Pine and Buffalo Creek - though somewhat marred by extensive fire damage to the pines for many miles.

I stopped at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument where I got my exercise for the day! There are 14 miles of trails here, but I only had time to do 2; it's over 8,500 ft above sea level here, and there's a distinct effect on breathing (though not enough to slow me down much). The trails wind around petrified sequoia trees, which were a great deal larger than the currently-common trees, the Ponderosa Pine; these are all around the trails, and smell wonderful!

All the way along my route today, I had intriguing views of the snow-capped Pikes Peak from the north, the west and the south - I plan to visit it in the next couple of days!

And so through Florence (full of antique shops) and out to the grassy high plains passing the very blue Lake Pueblo on the way to Pueblo, where it is 20degF hotter than in Denver!

Day 2 - Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Cool and a little cloudy today, so I decided to drive towards the mountains and see where I ended up, with the option of retreating should it rain. Fortunately the sun shone at intervals, so I pootled through the very cool town of Nederland into Boulder - to which I will return later in my trip. A very attractive town, giving views of the Flatirons through the side streets.

The road north out of Boulder winds its way up through Boulder Canyon - a wonderful twisting road climbing 2,000 feet to 8,500 feet, with the river burbling beside the road all the way. Perfect for climbers and walkers, there are some extraordinary rock formations. At the top of this road is Estes Park, a great base for exploring the Rocky Mountain National Park (which I intend to do in a week or so).

Local architecture tends to the 'log cabin' style - some houses really are very small log cabins, others are much larger and very elaborate takes on the style, with steeply-pitched roofs, wooden walls, verandahs and patios - all tucked into the landscape.

Heading east, I took a back road to Glen Haven - even twistier, and again following the river - and then through Loveland (a pleasant looking town with a lake in the middle of it!) to the I-25. Back south to the Denver area on cruise control with the local C&W radio station playing at full volume!

Day 1 - Wheat Ridge, Denver, Colorado

Scored a free trip on United using up the last of my airmiles, but it meant a very late flight into Denver. So I ended up being awake 22 hours :-(. Then had to get up to pick up my rental car (a rather chic little Elantra) and get my first sight of the Rockies. Checked into the Motel 6 at Wheat Ridge and spent most of the day reorganising bags, doing laundry (the joys of travel), planning my itinerary, and dozing! The weather perked up later in the afternoon, so went for a walk around the neighbourhood (they actually have pavements [sidewalks] here! Dinner at Margarita's (with, of course, a margarita ...) and early to bed. The rest of my travels should be a little more exciting - weather permitting! Fortunately there have been no tornadoes around here, but the locals are mystified at the lack of sunshine ...

Day 76 - Plaka, Crete

Home sweet home!

Spent Sunday with Jenny, Rosie and Adrien 'doing brunch' at Cafe Chino, then visiting the Science Museum - there is so much to see you couldn't absorb it all in a week, let alone an afternoon. It was great to be able to spend some time with my lovely daughters!

Got myself organised in good time on Monday morning, only to find that there had been a 'customer incident' (this sadly usually is a euphemism for a suicide) at Hounslow tube station, so no trains beyond Acton Town - which meant that I ended up taking a cab to Heathrow. My cabbie told me he actually lives in Thailand, working in London for 6 weeks then going back there for 2-3 months at a time!

Flights to Athens and on to Chania uneventful, just a little turbulence leaving London. Rosie and John met me at Chania and drove me home, where my wonderful housesitters, Blue and Willow, had made supper for us all.

They left very early this morning, and Mitzi is now wandering around wondering where they are! Also, I have apparently acquired another cat in my absence - Pippa, as she has been called, looks as though she has been a housepet - the feral cats here don't just walk into your house and curl up on the couch! And she looks like she's pregnant ... anyone want a kitten? So off to the vet we will have to go later this week ... Life is what happens when you're making other plans, it seems.

But it is good to be back; it's sunny and warm, the sea is sparkling, there's a tiny bit of snow on the mountains (there will be more later in the winter); now to start unpacking ...

Day 73 - London, England

A steady sort of day today - popped into M&S and Boots to get stuff that's either unavailable or very expensive in Crete, and then spent the afternoon reading the Guardian (I do miss the actual paper, even though I can read it online).

An early and delicious dinner at Couscous Darna (special offer 50% off food before 7 pm) - lots of lively conversation in a beautifully intimate Moroccan environment - followed by drinks at the King's Arms.

Day 72 - London, England

Got an exit row seat on my flight back to England, with lots of legroom, but it was right next to the galley, so difficult to sleep - gave up in the end and watched Twilight and The Ugly Truth - both quite entertaining for a plane ride!

Staying with Rosie and Adrien in Kensington. Had a little nap, Jenny came over, then Mike popped round for drinks before going out for a very yummy dinner at Riccardo's. Highly recommended - great food, excellent service, buzzy ambience, and the best vin santo outside Italy.

This morning, a trip to the bank to see my financial adviser, then we had trolley dim sum at New World in Chinatown, followed by a wander round the Photographers' Gallery to see the Jim Goldberg exhibition, then the Ed Ruscha exhibition at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank and cocktails at the Skylon! Finally, dinner at Tampopo in Chelsea, with lots of what Jenny calls "merry philosophising" (some people call it drunken rambling), mostly on the nature of scientific proof using flawed instruments (our brains and senses ...).

Day 70 - San Francisco, California

Great breakfast at Granzella's this morning - probably the best Eggs Benedict I have ever had! Then an easy drive into San Francisco, though with some trepidation on the Bay Bridge even though I know it's been mended. Staying at the Ramada near the airport, so got checked in, then took the BART train to downtown, and went to the Hilton to see friends at the AMIA meeting.

I felt a bit like an alien, as I didn't recognise any familiar faces to start with, but by the end of my wanderings, I had spoken to Stephen Morgan, Hamish Fraser, Mark Weiner, Melinda Jenkins, Dave Kaufman, Jos Aarts, Peter Murray, Suzanne Bakken, Darius Jazayeri, Andy Kanter, Bill Lober, Burke Mamlin, Chris Seebregts, Jason Mitchell, Alan Zuckerman, Paul Biondich, Martha Adams, Charlene Underwood, Don Nelson (though not necessarily in that order), and also chatted to several other people whom I had not met before!

Day 69 - Williams, California

Off on my travels again! After a delicious dinner at the Cafe Soriah in Eugene (and a fabulous bottle of Brick House Gamay Noir 2008) with my parents plus friends Dorothy and JoAnn, it was an early night for me, and an early start this morning, as I had over 400 miles to drive today. Always hard to say goodbye to my folks!

The weather was cool but at least it was dry this morning; I set off down the I-5S and made good progress. I was surprised at how little traffic there was on a major interstate on a Monday morning. The road steadily gets steeper and twistier and higher towards the Oregon-California state line, and the highest point on the whole of the I-5 (which reaches from Mexico to Canada) is at the Siskiyou Summit, 4,310 feet, just north of the state line. It was misty up here, swirling around the road and giving only glimpses of the volcanic peaks beyond.

The road then drops dramatically into California (well, a thousand feet or so) to the state authorities, who ask whether you have any fruit, plants or produce (it's forbidden to bring even an apple across the state line in case it is carrying some kind of infestation ...), then heads back up into the Shasta Mountains and Lake. It was very windy all through the mountains, and just past the lake, I spotted a wonderful stacked lenticular cloud formation hovering near Mt Shasta, a little like that wonderful picture of Mount Fuji that goes the email rounds every now and again. You can see how at night or in bad light people might mistake a cloud like this for a UFO!

Day 67 - Eugene, Oregon

I've been here in Eugene for two weeks, but the weather has been pretty bad - rain almost every day - so I haven't done much other than swim three times a week (the redhead in the picture is my Mum!), drink a lot of coffee, visit friends, have breakfast with Joan Ash at the Hilton, and listen to a wonderful seminar on a trip to archaeological sites in Turkey by Vivienne, one of my parents' friends (she is 75 and this is the first time she's been out of the US for about 40 years).

However, today dawned fine and sunny, so after a great breakfast at Elmer's, we drove north on OR-99W through small Western towns: Monroe, Corvallis, Monmouth, Rickreall and Amity to historic McMinnville (home of the Evergreen Aviation and Aviation Museum, which houses the "Spruce Goose", built by Howard Hughes' aviation company), then on to Carlton. This road is in the Willamette Valley between the Coast Range on the west and the foothills of the Cascades on the east, so the broad fertile plain is full of the marks of agricultural activity - fruit orchards (particularly apples and blueberries), nut orchards (hazelnuts and walnuts), and vineyards, especially once we were past Monmouth and at higher altitude. There are also lots of cows and sheep, and some rather chubby goats (they don't have to work all that hard for their food here); also some alpaca, which look distinctly out of place here.

All the way up this highway, there are signs for wineries and winetasting, but we had a goal in mind: Cana's Feast Winery! We really enjoyed tasting the six wines on display today - Rosato, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, Riserva, Two Rivers, Syrah - and drank a toast to Bev, who introduced us to this winery but is sadly no longer with us. And of course we couldn't resist buying a few bottles (Rosato, Pinot Noir and Syrah)!

There are olive trees in the garden here, and they made me quite homesick for Crete!

Home by a different route - through Lafayette and the very charming and historic Dayton, and thence to Salem, capital city of Oregon, and onto the I-5S. There's a Ducks football game tonight, so there was a lot of traffic bearing green and yellow flags, scarves, etc.

Day 52 - Eugene, Oregon

The day started cool and cloudy, but I decided to take a chance on the mountains, in hopes that the weather would improve. It was still overcast when I got to Klamath Falls (where my parents used to live), but once I got onto US-97N, suddenly the clouds were gone, and this is what I saw in my mirrors! Luckily there was no traffic, so I could just stop, hop out of the car, and take a couple of quick shots of Mount Shasta.


Then on to Crater Lake, through beautiful pine forest and twisty mountain roads, with the sun slanting through the trees and making the snowmelt on the road steam gently. Quite a bit of snow already up at the southern lake rim, and only 43 deg F, so I didn't stay long. I wanted to do the West Rim Drive, but both it and the East Rim Drive are already closed for the winter. Hey ho. Back to OR-230, then OR-138W all the way back down the mountain - this is a wonderful road, dropping 500ft every 2-3 miles, so steep and curvy, really fun to drive!

Finally, back on the I-5N all the way to Eugene, where a very welcome cup of tea awaited me. The folks are in fine fettle, I'm glad to say (for those who don't know my parents, my dad is 89 and my mum is 83). I'll be here for a couple of weeks, and probably won't post every day - depends what we do and where we go!

So this is not quite the end of my trip, but I think it's a good moment to thank all my hosts and hostesses along the way - Svetlana (Chicago), Ron & Laurel (Cape Cod), Matt & Terry (Boston - and of course the Gnassi crowd, also Hamish), Melinda (New York), Vonn (Poughkeepsie), Nancy C (Tallahassee - and good to meet up with Meredith again), Moon & Norma (Fairhope), Nancy L (Nashville), Martha & Richard (Raleigh), and Svetlana again - it was great to see you all and have time to hang out a little!

Day 51 - Yreka, California

I really hate getting up at 5.30 a.m. - specially if I then have to add another 2 hours to my day by flying to San Francisco! However, when I got there it was a gorgeous day; helped by the ease of getting to the car rental centre via the AirTrain right out of the airport.

But there was one small problem! The Bay Bridge was closed because on Tuesday night bits of cable started to fall off ... So I crossed via the Hayward-San Mateo bridge instead: the Golden Gate Bridge is always a traffic bottleneck. Eventually making my way to I-5 N, I stopped for lunch at Granzella's - this has always been a favourite of our family, since the girls (then aged 14 and 10) almost had hysterics at the size of the portions of beef ribs. As well as the restaurant and deli, there is now a very chi-chi souvenir and gift shop full of nasty frilly things, but the food is still good!

Then on through Corning (olive capital of California) and up into the mountains at Shasta Lake - I love this road, with its wide sweeping curves around the lake (currently sadly depleted of water, but I guess winter rain and snow will fix that), past Castle Crags, and through the volcanic peaks set in a wide plain. These mountains are so different from the Appalachians, where I spent a lot of time earlier in my trip. Clouds were coming in fast now, and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in as many miles. By the time I got to Yreka, an old California gold-rush town, I had driven 350 miles ... busy day!

Day 50 - O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois

Spent most of the day wandering contentedly around Oak Park, admiring the Frank Lloyd Wright houses, and having a tour of his own home and studio on Chicago Avenue. I can't believe I lived in Chicago for over a year without getting to see this before! You can see the seeds of some of his later styles of architecture and design, and the movement from the Arts and Crafts style to the more geometric abstractions of natural themes, and the very clever use of space and light in what was a rather small house. Pictures here.

Oh, and pictures from Indianapolis Speedway here.

Early night tonight, early flight tomorrow!

Day 49 - Chicago, Illinois

Spent the morning visiting the Indianapolis Speedway Hall of Fame Museum - including a bus tour round the track (the driver said that an Indy 500 car would have lapped us about 15 times in the 12 minutes we took to go round). They have some wonderful cars in the museum; photos tomorrow.

By the time I left it had started raining, so after a quick sandwich lunch I decided that the interstate with huge trucks thundering past kicking up oceans of spray was not going to make for a happy afternoon, so turned off to US-52W, which is dead straight for miles and miles; for long periods of time there were no other cars visible! Thousands of acres of cornfields. Then onto US-41N, which goes through increasing numbers of small towns as it approaches Chicago.

Met up with Svetlana for dinner at Karyn's Cooked - a good and delicious vegan antidote for all the fast food I've eaten on my trip (though I have tried to eat salad and fruit as often as possible!).

Day 48 - Speedway, Indiana

After a terrific omelette at iHOP just north of Louisville, I pointed my car north on the I-65N and sat there with cruise control on 55 mph for the next 110 miles, all the way to Indianapolis.

For the first time in ages, I visited a zoo - I've spent a long time avoiding them, as I really dislike the idea of wild animals in captivity, but Indianapolis has done a pretty good job of making really good environments for the various animals in their zoo. They focus on conservation of endangered species, as well as taking animals of which there are too many in their native environment - like the White Rhino, which was close to extinction until South Africa implemented strict conservation measures; too strict, as they now have too many for the environment to support!

The dolphin tank is amazing - with a dome where you are underneath the dolphins! The dolphin show was not bad (though not as good as San Diego SeaWorld), but too dark for decent photos. Such smart creatures, I do worry about their restriction to a tank when they should have a whole ocean, but the zoo works hard to keep them stimulated and entertained in a world where bottlenose dolphins are at risk.

I took lots of pictures, which you can see here. And here's some more fall foliage!

Day 47 - Shepherdville, Kentucky

A beautiful sunny day, with a few very high streaks of cloud, that eventually became a 'mackerel sky'. I set off westwards past Lexington, through rolling hills and meadows, along the Blue Grass Parkway; then set off down country roads to Shakertown in Pleasant Hill, a beautifully restored Shaker village, complete with costumed guides. Our guide, Lauren, did a great job, giving us lots of information about the main house and its artifacts, and the Shaker way of life, with a gentle sense of humour.

After the house tour, I drove over to the Jim Beam distillery, just south of where I'm staying. Advertised as open Sundays 1-4 pm, I arrived to find that in this county (Bullitt County), alcohol cannot be sold or served on Sundays! Also they do not have a distillery tour as such, just a brief video of the history of Jim Beam products in the Beams' house. There is no mention of the Sunday ban on their website. Hmmm, I wonder why they bother to open on a Sunday? If I had known, I would have spent more time at Shakertown!

Day 46 - Lexington, Kentucky

Another wet start to the day today, but it brightened up later. Headed back to US-60W (the Midland Trail), and had a quick look at the longest arch bridge in the world, over the New River Gorge. The clouds were boiling out of the ravine, making it difficult to take a good picture, but I tried!

Most of the rest of the day was spent driving up and down the ridges of the mountains, through endless forest; oh, if only it had been sunny, it would have been absolutely spectacular! As it was, there was a kind of pleasant melancholy driving through the dripping trees, with their flaming colours dampened by the steel-grey skies.

By the time I crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky (my 46th state! Only missing Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii and North Dakota now), the weather was beginning to perk up. Us-60 goes through many pretty and historic small towns, and the landscape was beginning to smoothe out - fewer trees, more meadows and pasture, and of course Kentucky's famous horses!

Day 45 - Beckley, West Virginia

Just a quick post to let everyone know where I am - the wireless in my room isn't working so having to use the hotel lobby machine :-(

Not such good weather today - started cloudy and ended pouring with rain - but still an interesting drive through rural Virginia. Starting with Staunton itself, a very beautiful city with a small-town feel steeped in American history (birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, among other things). Then down through the Deerfield Valley looking at the Blue Ridge to my left, then up and over the Alleghany mountain ridge into West Virginia (where petrol is REALLY expensive 30-40 cents more than everywhere else!). Today's wildlife - a Cooper's Hawk sitting on a fencepost by the roadside (but too shy to be photographed), a blue jay down by the river, and several groundhogs (mostly deadlife, I'm afraid, but 2 live ones skipping across the road) - and lots of squirrels!

Also stopped off to look at Falling Spring Falls, and ate my lunch listening to the sound of the water mingled with the rustle of falling leaves. Pretty!

Day 44 - Staunton, Virginia

Off to an early start today after breakfast with Martha - she had to see patients at 8.15! Driving west through the rush-hour traffic reminded me how lucky I am not to have to do that any more. Unusually, I backtracked today, as I wanted to get back to the Blue Ridge Parkway to complete the final, northern, section through Virginia. As I drove, the weather improved from its rather cloudy start, but it wasn't quite as gorgeous as Tuesday and Wednesday - however, there were some interesting cloud formations!

This section is not as dramatic as the southern end of the Parkway, with much more gentle curves and gradients; and not so high either - between 1,900 and 3,200 feet. There are many more access roads and farms right next to the Parkway, so lots of meadows, pasture and cattle. I haven't seen all that much wildlife - but there was a flock of wild turkeys that decided to cross the road right in front of me, and also some hawks diving and swooping over a hayfield looking for small rodents.

All the time I've been on this trip, I have been chasing the fall foliage - I was too early in New England, but it's at its peak here; it's difficult to get a really good photo as the effect of the sunlight moving on the leaves increases the intensity of the effect - those pointillistes guys might have been on to something!

Day 43 - Raleigh, North Carolina

I do love mountains! Back to the Blue Ridge Parkway today, starting with Grandfather Mountain. Sufferers from vertigo: look away now - there is a footbridge suspended over a ravine, and it's a mile above sea level. And yes, of course I walked across it! It does sway slightly, but if you keep moving you'd never notice. The picture shows the shadow of the bridge on the side of the ravine (you can see the bridge itself on the website). The views all around are just wonderful, and the weather was again perfect, absolutely crystal clear, with not a cloud in sight, and really warm - no sweaters today.

It seemed that hardly anyone else was going north, so I mostly had the road and the views to myself all the way up to Virginia. The road is not quite as dramatic as the southern end, but the fall foliage is just about perfect right now.




I turned off the Parkway at Fancy Gap, to drive back south-east and again into North Carolina, past Mount Airy and Pilot Mountain down to Winston-Salem, a major centre of the tobacco industry, then back on the I-40 to Duke Medical Center at Durham, where Martha Adams gave me a tour of her department before we headed back to her house in Raleigh for a delicious supper and to admire her hammered dulcimer and her husband Richard's beautifully restored tractors.

Day 42 - Lenoir, North Carolina

I can't believe I've been 'on the road' 6 weeks now! Another lovely day again today, and much warmer. However, it turned out to be a rather frustrating day in the end! It took almost an hour to get through Gatlinburg - though that did give me time to look at the tourist town with its mountain theme on the way through. But then I was in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which has been on my hitlist for about 30 years. It had been very cold overnight, so the frost on the grass was gently steaming in the sun - a very pretty effect. I find American drivers to be rather nervous of sharp curves and steep inclines - but I guess I am inured to them after living in Crete - so progress was steady. But such gorgeous views over the mountains! On the way up it is very thickly forested, and the trees grow together over the road, so it is like driving in a leafy tunnel, and the sun makes the red, gold, green and bronze leaves translucent. Also there are aspen trees here, and their leaves go a bronzy-pink - gorgeous!

Then onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, mostly up between 3,500 and 5,500 feet; it was so clear today that everything seemed to be sparkling. But suddenly - the road was closed at Balsam! So I had to find my way down, and then guess where the next open part of the Parkway would be. Fortunately I guessed right - south of Cruso, but it all takes time, having to stop and look at the map and (as Nancy's GPS would say) 'recalculating' ... And then about 15 miles on, the road was closed again, so I had to come down via NC-151! So more 'recalculating' was needed ...

I gave it one more try east of Asheville, and made another 30 miles or so, but it was getting late by this time, so I needed to come down again - US-80E is almost more spectacular than the Parkway, running alongside and across the bubbling river all the way down to Marion. Signposting here was minimal, so it took a while to find the right road out of town, to Morganton; signage even worse here, so I ended up on US-70E going through Valdese where the whole town was out waiting for (I think) the local college football team. So at last to Days Inn at Lenoir! And then to Ruby Tuesday and a well-deserved large margarita with my dinner ;-)