Farewell Tour- last full day- Idaho and Oregon

Like a horse headed to the barn at the end of the day we have traveled straight and fast (as much as legal) to get this final load delivered. We finished Idaho as the sun was rising and had a beautiful drive along the Columbia River into Portland this morning. It was windy in the Columbia Gorge and the sailboarders were out in force. Zipping across the river in seconds flat.
There are sailboarders in the distance of the far away shot...

And if you look carefully you can see one sail in this shot....

We arrived at our delivery at noon and Kurt made perhaps his last back-up to a dock.

Farewell Tour- two days to go!

We woke up in Wyoming this morning-after a night that was cool enough that we didn't have to run the air conditioning. Kurt started driving before sunrise and I vowed to stay in the bunk until the sun was in our mirrors- So here is my first morning view.....

We crested the high point on I-80 in Wyoming- about 8600 feet in elevation. The Lincoln head pass cuts through these cool looking rocks. They are so weather-worn and tilted it looks like several of the boulders are going to fall at any moment.

We stopped for fuel and showers at Little America. This might be our last fill-up so I took a picture. Sure glad we don't have to pay that fuel bill!.....

We made a stop for groceries during the day and then feasted on grilled hamburgers and salad in the truck for dinner. I used an extension cord so I could set up the George Foreman grill outside beside the truck- cooked enough burgers for tonights meal and lunch tomorrow. Kurt was a happy camper..............

Big Red Farewell Tour- FINAL leg

Well folks, only a few days left of Big Red stories. We loaded our final load in Denver on Monday morning-Here is big red backed up to the loading dock. Our destination is Portland.

And here is the Denver skyline in our rear view mirror. We were feeling both happy and sad. Happy to be headed home- but sad that we won't be coming back to see our kids for quite awhile.

Last Colorado picture, this Buffalo stands guard over the last hill before you enter Wyoming on I-25.....

Big Red Farewell Tour- third leg

Okay, so we left Tacoma on Saturday, delivered and reloaded in Denver on Wednesday...and we were back in Seattle Friday morning delivering our load of WATER! To our complete amazement our next load was already ready. We dropped one trailer, picked up another trailer and by 9 am on Friday we were HEADED BACK TO DENVER!

They were harvesting the wheat crop in Eastern Washington- here is a combine going through a field near the interstate.

Coeur d"Alene Lake was looking spectacular on Friday afternoon.

We trucked on through Montana and Wyoming on Friday and Saturday and we were parked in Denver by noon on Sunday. Just in time to attend Mark's FIRST BIRTHDAY. This time LOTS of pictures were taken by others- so I only got a few. Here is one taken during the party.

Big Red Farewll tour- quick stop in Denver

We arrived in Denver on Tuesday afternoon. We had dinner with Lisa, Amy, Tim and Mark and then went back to the truck (and beleive it or not- NO pictures were taken!) Wednesday morning we made our delivery and immediately reloaded and we were headed back to Seattle by 9am. Amazingly- we were carrying a whole truck load of WATER to go to SEATTLE! Funny, isn't it!?
We went north to Montana and west on Interstate 90. No outside pictures of note but here are a couple from the interior. We mostly parked at rest areas at night so we made coffee in the truck as we went along. Here are our french press and coffee mugs

And on this same day I took a picture of our bunk- I even made the bed this morning...

Steamboat Springs visit

On our way from Salt Lake City to Denver we traveled a back road- Rte 40- That took us right through the tourist town of Steamboat Springs Colorado. There was no place to park a 65 foot long truck so we had to settle for taking some pictures as we passed through. Here is the welcome sign as you enter town.....

This was a hoot.... If you look to the right as you drive through town you can see a ski hill and a ski jump that comes right down to town at the end of this side street.

After Steamboat Springs you have to climb a mountain pass in the Rockies to get to Denver. It was a very pretty drive up the hill. Here is a view looking back towards Steamboat Springs....

One amazing and sad thing is the plight of the trees in the higher elevations in the Rockies. In this picture almost all the trees in the distance are dead. The whole hillside is brown. Don't quote me, but I think the problem is bugs. Bugs are killing the whole forest. (Seems like I also heard that lack of water was a problem too-maybe in combination) Whatever- it is very startling and disheartening.

Here is the sign at the top of the Rabbit Ears Pass. There were two summits with a long flat stretch between them- hence the name. (note the dead trees)

We did take a little hike at the top of the pass. We found this beautiful meadow that was full of wild flowers....

Farewell Tour for Big Red- first leg

We departed July 19th for our final two weeks in Big Red. We picked up a load in Tacoma WA and made deliveries in Salt Lake City and Denver on the 22nd and 23rd. Here are some pics from the first leg of our farewell tour.
We drove into the evening on our first day out and I took this picture of the sunset in our rear view mirror.....

Then the next day we were driving again at sunrise- "getting on to the day shift"

On Monday we made the first half of our delivery in down town Salt Lake City. Meaning we were driving our truck across Temple Ave and Main Street. We went by this great looking municipal building- can't remember now what it was- but here is a picture to prove we were truly in the heart of town.

Leaving Salt Lake we saw a rainbow off in the distance....

We decided to take a new route to Denver from SLC. We traveled for nearly 300 miles of Utah and Colorado on Rte. 40. It was one lane in each direction and covered a variety of terrains. At night we were the only vehicle at this rest stop. Here is big red in the morning before we got going....

Quick UPdate

Howdy to all our faithful readers. Here is what we have been up to lately. We came off the road on June 28th for a well earned three week vacation at home. We had a fantastic time visiting with and hosting visits from over 40 kith and kin during that time.
Also, while at Kettle Falls, Joanie interviewed for a job and has been hired as the Program Manager for ECEAP (our state funded preschool) in Colville. The job starts August 12th.
So, Kurt has given a two week notice to the trucking firm and we will be coming off the road by August first!!
We will post some pictures from "Camp Matter" and some farewell shots from our last two weeks on the road soon.
Joanie and Kurt