Back to the Emerald City

Roadtripping back to Seattle! Read more

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Trip start
September 6, 2019
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Everything goes!
September 6, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
The packers are making amazing time packing everything up for the big move!
TravelerI expected the movers to be in tuxedos, but at least they’re on time.
9/6/19Reply
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Time to hit the road!
September 6, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
First stop: Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes.
TravelerI love Find Penguin!
9/6/19Reply
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Christmas sighting @ Frankenmuth
September 6, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
Well, we *are* heading north!
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Racing the sun @ Sleeping Bear Dunes
September 7, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F
Up before dawn to try to catch the sunrise at Sleeping Bear Dunes. We did the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive and hiked the trail to Empire Bluff Overlook.. well worth it!
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Spelling fail @ Tahquamenon Falls
September 7, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
Well, it's official. I cannot spell Tahquamenon Falls without electronic assistance. About 50 spelling fails later, we made it to the Upper Falls. Awesome view!
TravelerThat is an awesome picture!
9/7/19Reply
TravelerThanks! They are pretty cool!
9/7/19Reply
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Great Lake #5 @ Whitefish Point
September 7, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
Finally made it to the UP! It really is gorgeous here AND Whitefish Point let me check off the final Great Lake. Off to Pictured Rocks next!

The shoe tree is evidently a Michigan thing. We saw it on the way and had to go back to check it out.Read more
Traveler Did you leave a pair...lol
9/7/19Reply
Traveler I was not prepared, darn it!
9/7/19Reply
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Sunset @ Miner's Castle
September 7, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F
After a fun day exploring the east side of the UP, it's west to Munising, where we'll crash tonight before heading out on a boat tomorrow. We got our first glimpse of the famed pictured rocks when we headed to Miner's Castle Overlook to catch the sunset. Can't wait to see them closer tomorrow!

PS: Val - the Garmin has been incredibly helpful. You for the win! The Pink Flamingo pic was in your honor. 🦩Read more
TravelerYou guys have seen more of Michigan than I have and I’m from here. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️
9/8/19Reply
TravelerIt’s gonna take you forever to get to Seattle if you keep stopping to pick up souvenir rocks every 5 miles. 🤪
9/8/19Reply
TravelerWhat? I need tons of cool rocks in my living room!!
9/8/19Reply
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Ducks tour UP style @ Pictured Rocks
September 8, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F
We slept in a bit today and took a leisurely 3 hour tour (ok, 2.5 but go with it, k?) to check out the pretty rocks. The boat captain/tour guide must have gone through the Ducks school of goofiness but we had a good time checking out the sights. Well, I enjoyed it more than Alexis who was seasick pretty much the entire time. Note taken for no more boats!Read more
TravelerSo cool!
9/8/19Reply
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Touristing @ Da Yoopers Tourist Trap
September 8, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F
Fun little stop before we left the UP and hit the "drive like a bat out of hell* phase of the road trip.
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Signing off for the night @ Grand Rapids
September 8, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
We pushed on a bit to hit Grand Rapids today. Tomorrow is a long driving day - aiming to get to Wolf Point MT to be within 5 hours striking distance for the Trini pick up in Great Falls on Tues. Then the great parks lightning fast tour begins!

Good night, peeps!Read more
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On the road @ Somewhere MN/ND/MT
September 9, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F
"On the Road" (shout out to Jack Kerouac) was the theme for today. We saw a lot of middle America today, with some interesting sights, some alarming ones (Alexis isn't as convinced as I am that it was a noose we saw in scarytown ND), and Carter desperately needs a bath after some off-road action on US 2.

We're in for the night in Wolf Point, MT. We pick up Trini tomorrow afternoon in Great Falls and then the National Parks adventures begin!

The pics show the variation in what we saw today. Went front the forests to the corn fields to the prairie. And seeing the oil fields in ND was pretty cool!Read more
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Rendezvous @ Great Falls
September 10, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
Made it to the Trini pick up point in Great Falls...and we had time to fit in an emergency bath for Carter. Now just waiting for her flight to land and we're off to Wyoming!

Included a few scenes from the road...lots of rolling prairie land today, with a few dinosaurs and vultures thrown into the mix.Read more
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Knocking on Teton's Door @ Jackson Hole
September 11, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 45 °F
After the Trini pick up, we beat feet to Jackson Hole, WY, our jumping off point for a long day of exploring Grand Teton NP tomorrow. The scenery change was dramatic, as was the lightning storm we encountered as we headed into the Teton Pass.Read more
TravelerC-Lou am I the last black person you’ve seen?!?!?😆😆😆
9/11/19Reply
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Camera fail @ Grand Teton
September 11, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 41 °F
Well, we definitely made it to Grand Teton today. Unfortunately, so did the rain, fog and even frozen rainy slush at times. My phone camera decided to go on strike for most of the day, so you'll have to imagine the amazing vistas.

Managed to find a few photos from yesterday!Read more
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Just poolin' around @ Yellowstone NP
September 11, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
After a fun-filled, but very wet and cloudy, day at Grand Teton NP, we headed NW through the South entrance of Yellowstone NP. We didn't have a ton of daylight left, but we had enough to check out the Biscuit Basin Trailhead on our way to our hotel in West Yellowstone.

So! Cool! We couldn't wait to check out the other wonders of Yellowstone NP the next day!Read more
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Keeping the faith @ Yellowstone NP
September 12, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F
We got off to an early start and headed straight for Old Faithful, as the timing worked out well to catch the next eruption before the crowds really swarmed the place. What a show! I have to figure out how to edit the video on the phone, so you just get a screenshot for now.

Grand Prismatic Spring!! I've always wanted to see this in person and it didn't disappoint. The Yellowstone gods saw fit to bless us with a lovely, sunny (mostly) day to visit this amazing geothermal feature.

Check out the pic of Yellowstone's version of Bison rush hour. Traffic was stopped for a good 30 min while the herd meandered slowly across (and back across) the road.

Way too many pics today to fit into one footprint... Look for more soon! Tomorrow, we'll check out Mammoth Hot Springs as we head north to Glacier NP and Going-To-The-Sun Road.Read more
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The Second Chapter @ Yellowstone
September 12, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F
Day 1 in Yellowstone continued with a trip to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Artist Point. Such amazing beauty here!

Next, we're headed back to West Yellowstone for the night. We're saving Mammoth Hot Springs for the next morning, as we'll head north towards Glacier.Read more
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The Third Chapter @ Yellowstone
September 13, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 39 °F
This morning, we headed back to our old friend, the Yellowstone West entrance, and then north to Mammoth Hot Springs. Today's drive was interesting, as we got a glimpse of a young male elk dancing to his own inner soundtrack (okay, it actually looked like he was clearing off his antlers) and quite a few bison.

Mammoth Hot Springs was fascinating - it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie set! We stopped in Gardiner to check out the Yellowstone North Entrance and grab lunch before heading north to Glacier.Read more
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On the road again @ Montana
September 13, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
We dropped off Alexis at Bozeman to hop a flight back to Seattle and then continued north to reach Browning, MT - our jumping off point for Glacier and Going-To-The-Sun road (so excited for this drive!).

We took the back roads for most of the drive and saw some gorgeous country...even fit in a visit to Manhattan along the way. Now that's trip planning for you! 😂Read more
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Follow the yellow dirt road @ St Mary
September 14, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F
Carter seems to have a knack for finding unpaved sections of the road this trip. I think she just wants to come home with that "I've just been on a cross-country adventure!" patina...a combo of dust, bugs and mud. Here's a peek at our trek to St Mary, gateway to the East end of Going-To-The-Sun Road (which shall henceforth be known as GTTSR).

We were stopped at a one-lane construction stop for about 20 minutes to let traffic from the other side go thru, but the view made it no hardship.

We had fun checking out the sights on the way and getting a look at St Mary's version of the wildlife traffic jam (these aren't your Yellowstone bison!). And the views! OMG the views! And we weren't even to Glacier NP yet!Read more
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Speechless @ Glacier National Park
September 14, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F
So. Many. Pictures. And I can only choose 10 per Footprint. So you'll have to deal with me posting a couple of footprints for this awe-inspiring trek on Going-To-The-Sun Road, cutting across Glacier NP.

Carter wanted to show off her "Carter in the Wild" look, so she's making an appearance in this footprint. She's the star of several scary mountain pass road videos, if I can figure out how to get them uploaded.Read more
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Following the sun @ Glacier NP
September 14, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F
The turnouts were...interesting...but we persevered and pulled off in a number of places to explore.

You can follow our route on the map...GTTSR cuts right through the park from the East to the West entrance.Read more
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Just swingin' along @ Kootenai Falls, MT
September 14, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
We decided to push on a few hours after Glacier to reach Sandpoint, ID so that the last push to Seattle wasn't quite as long. Cue more dirt sections of US 2.

I'd read about Kootenatai Falls and the "rickety" swinging bridge in my trusty "Road Trips USA" guidebook (it came in handy, so there!) and eagle-eye Trini spotted the turn out and whipped into it. What a fun excursion! We hiked about .3 miles to the recently upgraded swinging bridge and headed over it to grab a view of the falls from the other side. What's not to love about swinging bridges over amazingly blue-green water and a great view of a lovely waterfall?! The hike itself was gorgeous as well.

After I pried Trini away from the very cute lab puppy, off we went to Sandpoint, ID, our stop for the night. Once again, ol' eagle eye spotted one of the critters we'd been dying to see on the trip. The fuzzy antlery thing in the 6th pic is a moose! So cool!! We have one last chance to see a bear tomorrow. "Hey Bear!" (It worked for the moose...why not a bear?).

One more sleep before Seattle!Read more
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In the home stretch @ Seattle
September 16, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 57 °F
Today was the final leg of our epic road trip. We took our time and stayed with US 2 most of the way, with a jog over to check out the Great Coulee Dam (pretty darned amazing engineering feat!). I'm always amazed at the changing landscapes between Eastern and Western Washington...hard to believe this is the same state!

After dropping off the Trini, Carter and I had some alone time on the final leg to Seattle. She's definitely running with her pack now in the land of the Subaru.

Sorren is currently sleeping at the foot of my bed, ending a fantastic week on a high note.

This is the final chapter of the "Back to the Emerald City" saga. So long, and thanks for all the fish!Read more
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Trip end
September 15, 2019