there and back/ east to west

[jjrgr21]

my wife, 2 dogs, and I completed a 9,763 mile cross country trip from Frederick MD-the west coast and back. stopping at around 15 national parks, the oregon coast, and an epic drive through Utah.

teton WY

devils tower WY

yellowstone WY

Leavenworth WA(awesome place)

Half Dome/Yosemite CA

mine and my friends dogs after 3 hours at Tahoe

Arches NP UT(klondyke bluffs ORT)

rock climbing/Reno

balance rock/Arches

Taco strikes a pose @ RMNP CO


best and longest road trip for me so far.

i wish i would have found this site before the trip!!

 

[Brett M]

That's a long drive! Glad to hear it turned out well and that you enjoyed our little epic state of Utah Welcome to ExPo!

 

[Grim Reaper]

Awesome trip. More details and pictures!

Leavenworth WA looks a LOT like Helen GA. http://www.helenga.org/


Welcome to the Forum.

 

[J_wings24]

looks like a great trip. Any more info on Leavenworth WA? I'm planning a trip up the west coast for the summer & looks like a cool place to check out. Did you do any of your trip off highway?

Thanks,

 

[paulj]

Leavenworth WA looks a LOT like Helen GA.

and Kimberley, B.C.

I smiled at the 'awesome' description

Leavenworth has done a pretty good job of transforming itself from logging town to a Bavarian themed tourist town. The area is pretty good for outdoor sports as well. A couple of weeks ago we were thinking of taking a day trip over there to do a bit of snowshoeing - ended up with a nearby hike. Also not too far from some backroads exploration.

paulj

 

[Streakerfreak]

Looks like you had a great trip and saw some great places. Not being a fan of touristy places, Leavenworth kind of frustrated me. Its like a free theme park, but the surrounding area is really fantastic and has a lot of places to explore. Very beautiful area.

 

[paulj]

Leavenworth has a good web site, with info on lodging, restaurants, and recreation in the area (hiking, ski, snowshoe, mtn bike etc). Most of the surrounding forest is in the Wenatchee district.

'Washington Byways' (Wilderness Press) has 8 backroad routes in the general area (Blewett pass to the south, Lake Chelan to the north), more if you wander north to Winthrop (as western themed town), or south to Yakima.

The Wenatchee River flows through Leavenworth. It originates in a good size recreational lake, and flows through a narrow canyon (along with US2). The town is where the canyon opens up. Icicle Ck joins here also. Downstream the river flows through heavily irrigated orchard country, joining the Columbia at the town of Wenatchee. Since this is on the east side of the Cascades, the forest is dryer and more open than the wet Seattle side. Unmaintained roads survive longer on the dry side of the mountains, so there are more driving options (though they will be dustier). Closer the Columbia, forest gives way to open grasslands.

paulj

more at http://www.pbase.com/paulj3/eastcascades

 

[One Arm Steve]

I think this ones great! :26_7_2:

 

[stick]

Thats a long drive. How long were you gone?

 

[jjrgr21]

Rt

we were gone for about 29 days

leavenworth is right on the wenatchee river, good fishing there, i caught around 6 rainbows in an hour. waiting for leavenworth to open up at 11am. there must be some trails around there, we ended up sleeping on a trail the night before. there is a great beer garden with the best beer brats i've ever had. most of the town is dog friendly, and there is a really good odd sauce place just west of leavenworth on RT2. it sits right on a lake and has killer sauces, and candy.



we did some wheeling in arches and moab, reno-tahoe area, and teton. we didn't stay on back roads very much, but stayed away from the interstate as much as possible. mainly state and US routes. i would love to do more "off highway" driving, just like gravel highways or something.

our next trip is gonna be in about 2 years, from MD to alaska and back.

any suggestions on that one.

 

[jjrgr21]

Rt

i'm gonna have to check out Helen GA, i lived in columbus for about 5 years and never heard of Helen.

 

[jjrgr21]

RT pics

osprey w/trout--teton

bald eagle-yellowstone

me fly-fishing/ Glacier

Ticker and the wenatchee river

Rock creek NF campground-Oregon coast/ great place to camp

me and 3 grey whales in the background/Oregon coast

goonies style lighthouse/Oregon coast

shooting near Pyramid lake NV

the Truckee at my friends cabin( you can spit in the river from the deck)

wife striking a pose with the Taco/Rocky Mtn NP

 

[jjrgr21]

RT pics

Kings Canyon NP/ great place one of my favorites on the trip