West To Wyoming

The thousand or so miles of corn and beans between Chicago and western Wyoming looked great, especially as we neared some of our old stomping grounds, way out West. We enjoy scenic driving, but this was also nostalgic driving, revisiting favorite and storied places. All this in mid-July.

Weirdest truck-stop cacophony ever...a large truck filled with chicks,
thousands of them, tweeting away over the din of the 18-wheelers

Interesting rocks in far western Nebraska

At the Walmart by the U of Wyoming

We got stuck once, probably 1972, trying to get to the Winds (Wind

River Mountain range in Wyoming) on the Muddy Speedway

Gateway, miles down a very rough road, to the southern bit of the 

Winds, the Cirque of Towers, Warbonnet Peak, where we had some

good times

Winds in the background, Cirque of Towers in there somewhere

New-fangled critter crossings that weren't there in the 70s;
varmintalism...

On the gravel road to the Green River Lakes, in the Winds; and the cut-off
to Union Pass...in the winter, snowmobiling, we'd often be on it to get back
to the motel near Union Pass; had an interesting mishap and dig-out there
once....

Upper (Lower?) Green River Lake, with Squaretop in the background

The plan, in 1995, was for me to climb Squaretop, but the
melt stranded us on the wrong side of the flooded river, with
1400 calories between us...and an apparently territorial bull
moose who persuaded us to try a river crossing...the full story
is here; spoiler alert: Vicki survived

Way downstream, the Green, major tributary of the Colorado

Not so nasty in high summer

Good fishin'

Beetle-kill, doing a number here as elsewhere in the forests of the
West and Northwest

North By Northwest To Chicago

We set forth from Cary July 8th...

Ready to depart

Departure pic by Rebecca

Farewell to Norm and Marie, Knoxville, July 10th

Arrival in Chicago...gotta' like a place that once gave discounts
to union members...

And has tons of interesting architecture

We thought we'd spend a day at the Art Institute of Chicago

But quickly discerned the AICs warrants more than a day...

Adam, by Mr. Big Hands; cast by someone other than Rodin

The Impressionist collection is huge, and warrants more time

All the usual suspects

Morisot

Said to be an oil on panel, 1425, by an unknown south German
master; if so, one of the earliest known European oil paintings; 
no acknowledgement of this in the description...

Botticelli

Very ample decorative arts

And more Impressionism, post-Impressionism...

And the architecture in the neighborhood

Odysseus trying out something new...

Homage to van Eyck

Mary Cassatt, Bull Durham, 1877

Not our route, but in the spirit...

Farewell with Tawana and Wes

Interim Update #1,289: Or, North By Northwest To Alaska

We are just north of Beaver Creek, Yukon, about to enter Alaska tomorrow morning. There is much to recount.

Recounting...we left Paris June 27th, spent a week or more in Cary (Rebecca and Jeremy; grand-daughter Penelope off at Green Cove camp), continuing the "build" of our camper and otherwise preparing for the road trip that is now underway. We spent another couple days in Knoxville (Marie and Norm), then several days in Chicago (Tawana and Wes). After several days of corn and soybean scenery, we camped at Green River Lakes in the Wind River mountains in Wyoming for a couple nights, then the Tetons for a week, mostly at Jenny Lake (!). From there, we drove on to former home Missoula and a week with Kim and Dave, continuing work on the camper, seeing friends, etc. From there, we spent a couple nights at the Powell campground, adjacent to Lochsa Lodge, on the Lochsa River. After that, we continued through darkest Idaho, spending a night at a motel in Bonner's Ferry before crossing into Canada. 

Our stops in Canada have included Cranbrook, Banff National Park, Dawson Creek, BC, Grand Prairie, Fort Nelson, Watson's Lake, the aforementioned Skagway (which is not in Canada), then Whitehorse, back in the Yukon, and tonight, as I continue writing, at a rest area just north of Beaver Creek, Yukon.  We'll cross back into Alaska tomorrow. Persons acquainted with this itinerary will perceive that we are following the Alaska Highway, recreating a trip we did in 2002. Our goals are three-fold: 1) seeing, in person, the northern lights, 2) ascertaining the feasibility of traveling/camping/road-tripping in our Sienna mini-van, and 3) seeing friends and family. After Alaska, we'll turn south to do the Cassiar highway, which we much enjoyed in 2002, Vancouver and Victoria, which we much enjoyed in 1970, and then work our way south along the Pacific coast, which we've always enjoyed. And then, just after seeing Bob and Beth near San Diego, we'll turn back east. 

Mostly the posts I'll be doing will be scenes and out-takes from this and that. The seeming millions of miles of black spruce and quaking aspens we have driven do not lend themselves to much of a narrative...

Oh, so far we have seen a big herd of American bison, 2 small herds of woodland bison, 2 caribou, and 3 yearling black bears. 

Camping at Jenny Lake campground, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Paris Out-Takes, 2025, Part The Third

"I swear it said it was a 72-hour deodorant"

Postcard photo of the annual Montmartre server's race, c. 1910

Woke creche...

Art nouveau urinal in the Bois de Boulogne

Frequent flyer eye masks

At the Grand Epicerie de Paris, Bon Marche

"But Google Maps says Emily's apartment is right here"

Marais attitude, 2025

Church flea market

Stanchion covers, Marais

Ditto

Awaiting the arrival of a celebrity, Hotel Lutetia

Crossed the Atlantic more than 60 times, lived in Paris for a decade;
first woman to win a Pulitzer

Anything goes...

Boy scouts and girl scouts returning from a weekend camp-out

Children's philosophy/poetry bookstore; seriously

Right in the middle of the Latin Quarter

Knife-making artisan

Moveable baptismal font

Place Vendome...much history

Business opportunity: because Costco never gives you the jus

Leisure suits definitely are back: proof that history
does repeat itself

Anything else goes, too