NEXT Please

Now that we have arrived back home and everything here is OK. We need to start planning our next trip. We are actively soliciting suggestions for our next trip. Please give us your suggestions by commenting on this post.

Day 26, Abilene, TX, to Austin, TX, Home Again

We left Abilene after a good breakfast. The drive from the big country through the hill country to Austin was uneventful. We were amazed at how green the hills and fields were -- this is August in Texas, everything should be dry and brown by now. After weeks of cooler weather, it seems quite hot to us. We arrived home shortly after 1:00pm and unloaded the car.

Day 25, Raton, NM, to Abilene, TX

It was cool this morning as we left Raton after a full breakfast. It warmed quickly and was hot by the time we reached Clayton, NM. We then crossed into Texas and continued to Amarillo under sunny skies. We stopped for lunch in Amarillo and then took off for Lubbock. There is a four letter word which is often used in describing the high plains area around Lubbock ---- flat. We stopped at a new rest area on I-27 which included a tornado shelter. Arriving in Lubbock about 3:30, we decided to drive on to Abilene.

Day 24, Fruita, CO, to Raton, NM

After a light breakfast, we headed to Grand Junction to pick up US-50. The drive down the Grand Valley was beautiful under partly cloudy skies with darker clouds in the distance. At Montrose, we had a second breakfast. Then we drove to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We spent a couple of hours stopping at some of the view points and enjoying the views. The rock wall in the picture is about as tall as two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the other. We then drove on east on US-50 to Gunnison and had a quick lunch. After lunch we drove over Monarch Pass in intermittent rain. The other picture shows the rain and storm clouds as we approached Monarch Pass. We followed US-50 down along the Arkansas River to Texas Creek where we took CO-69 toward Walsenburg. Unfortunately I made a wrong turn in Westcliffe and we went about 10 miles before I realized my mistake. We drove back to Westcliffe in a heavy thunderstorm. It was so heavy that we almost had to stop. We took the correct turn in Westcliffe and continued on CO-69 to Walsenburg. The drive on CO-69 was beautiful. In Walsenburg we picked up Interstate 25 to Raton, NM, arriving late for us (about 7:00pm).

Day 23, Richfield, UT, to Fruita, CO

Nice clear skies greeted us this morning with the temperature in the mid 60's. After a big breakfast at the motel, we drove over some small mountains to reach the road to Capital Reef National Park. The drive to the park was quite lovely, going over a couple of passes. We spent a couple of hours driving and hiking around Capital Reef. It is an amazing place. If you haven't been, GO. If you have been, GO AGAIN. We then drove back to Torrey, UT, for a lunch at Brinks Burgers -- good food. The drive back to and out of the park was almost as beautiful as the park itself. However, the drive from 12 miles west of Green River, UT, to about the state line was through some very desolate country. We drove about 20 miles into Colorado and stopped for the night in Fruita.

Day 22, Mountain Home, ID, to Richfield, UT

A nice but smokey morning greeted us in Mountain Home. The temperature was about 65 degrees and the air was dry. We had a light breakfast at the motel and took off east on I-84. Initially, the landscape was mostly flat and brown. After a short time we were greeted with rolling hills with small canyons. We stopped in Twin Falls to see the Snake River and took a couple of pictures. We grabbed a second breakfast (to go) and continued on to the east. We went over some small mountains and entered Utah. The smoke cleared as we entered Utah and the drive down I-15 was very nice with the Wasatch Range to our east and the Great Salt Lake to our west. We had some rain just south of Salt Lake City but it dried up for our drive on to Richfield. We had a good meal at a local restaurant and went back to our room.

Day 21, The Dalles, OR, to Mountain Home, ID

We stayed at the Shilo Inn Suites which included breakfast in their restaurant. After breakfast we continued along the Columbia River Gorge until I-84 veered off to the southeast. We continued through the much drier eastern Oregon until we came to the Blue Mountains which are not blue but a richly forested green. Climbing over the summit (about 4100 feet elevation), we were glad not to be worrying about whether the Passat would have been overheating again. The drive through the Blue Mountains was very pretty. Dropping out of the Blue Mountains, the blue skies and clouds disappeared in a hazy, smokey condition. The smokey condition continued into Idaho all the way to Mountain Home. The smoke we passed through was blown across from fires in Oregon. We stopped in Mountain Home and had a salad for dinner.

Day 20, Vancouver, WA, to The Dalles, OR

We decided to sell the car and rent a car to drive back home. I called Hertz and reserved a car (AARP rate helps). We went over to VW and sold the car to them. They gave us a ride to Hertz, we picked up the rental, went back to VW and transferred everything from the Passat to the rental, and handed over the keys to VW. Then we drove out of Vancouver over the Columbia River and out through the Columbia River Gorge. We took the historic highway where we say majestic views and beautifull waterfalls. Then the historic highway merged back into the interstate and we continued through the Columbia River Gorge to The Dalles.

Day 19, Lincoln City, OR, to Vancouver, WA

A leisurely morning, waffle with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, a little shopping around, and then we set off down the Oregon coast. We had decided to alter our planned route and head back to the VW dealer to decide whether we should try to make it home in the Passat or sell it and rent a car to get home. So we only drove about 30-40 miles down the coast. It was really beautiful, with rocky shoreline, sandy beaches in some places, quiet coves, and points of land into the Pacific. We then turned inland and drove back over the Coast Range mountains and turned north to Portland/Vancouver. We went back to the VW dealer and talked to the service advisor and the technician who worked on the car. The technician said he would drive the car to Texas, but he also said check the coolant flow occassionally by checking to see if the heater was putting out hot air. That was not very encouraging so we talked to the used car manager about selling the car to him. Then we went back to our motel to make our decision about what to do with the car.