Way out West

Until this summer I have visited 46 out of the lower 48 states. So this summer I wanted to see the two that were missing from my list, Oregon and Washington. I know it is strange that they are the last to be visited by me when I grew up in California. Here are a few highlights of a fantastic trip:

We flew to Salt Lake City. Cal's mom drove up from her home in St. George, Utah and met us there. We visited with her brother Harry and took a picture of him with "The Trailboss," a statue that he's had for many years.

From SLC we headed north through Idaho and Montana. Butte, Montana was an unexpected treat. It is a true mining town with mines all over the place. Some are abandoned and some are not. One place mom wanted to visit was Glacier National Park in northern Montana. The pictures don't do it justice. We also enjoyed our two night stay in Missoula and the fresh cherries from roadside stands.

A visit to Pike's Market is high on the list of tourist attractions in Seattle. We enoyed the hospitality of my cousin Greg's family in Shoreline, just north of the city. Cal took many pictures of the skyline and I joined in for a couple of pictures.

Next stop was British Columbia. Our son-in-law, Rick, grew up there so we were able to get to know his parents while we were in this beautiful part of the world. They were experiencing many wildfires in the area so it was a little hazy during our visit. Tony and Annie Strong are from England so we had to have some fish n chips with mushy peas while talking about England the 1960's (Cal was on his mission there from 1966-68).

Another part of the west I've not seen before is northern California. I was impressed with the beauty of Mt. Shasta.

We like to visit my dad and Lois when we get out west. Lois had an operation on her foot and is still recovering. We ended the trip with a couple of days at Lake Elsinore with my sister and brother. Mom dropped us off at the airport in Las Vegas then we all headed back home and I started school two days later.