September 24, 2006: Paris, Illinois.

We went to visit Grandma Noni and Grandpa Bill. They're doin quite well and still turn heads in their Sunday best.
The Honeybee Festival was in town and we placed some bets at the tractor-pull...

... but mostly hung out at the lake house.

September 21, 2006: Chicago, Illinois.

Loved the Institute, hated the deep-dish. That ain't even pizza.

September 21, 2006: Chicago, Illinois.

We enjoyed many of Chicago's fine offerings. We went to Millenium Park and saw the gigantic bean. We also walked along the Chicago River and saw the Wilco towers.

Later we went to Wicker Park/Bucktown where we met up with Stacey's friend, Vicki, a graphic designer who moved to Chicago seven years ago.

September 16, 2006: Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We went to the Mill City Museum to see the remnants of what put this city on the map: Gold Medal Flour.

Thank you to Janis. You treated us right.

September 16, 2006: Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We went to see our good friend, Janis Greenspan, who arrived here a few weeks before us to start a new exec career at Target.

We went to see Gehry's gefilte fish at the sculpture garden, but we liked the big spoon the best.

September 13, 2006: Rochester, Minnesota.

We went back to Thom's birthplace. By a miracle of luck and coincidence, the Widgers' Norwegian neighbors from 1975, Petter and Eldri Steen, were back in town revisiting old memories at the same time we were there. At left, we are in Thorbjorn's and Thom's old playground at Homestead Village.



This is the Widgers' last home in Minnesota before coming out to California.

September 12, 2006: Black Hills / Badlands, South Dakota.

We went to see Crazy Horse, the work in progress up the road from Mt. Rushmore (we saw that too [yawn]). All 4 of the Presidents' heads could fit within Crazy's head. It's been 60 years and they still have the rest of his head, his arm, and his horse to carve. Oh, and there's gonna be a university and medical center for Native Americans under him when they get done. Uh huh.


The Badlands are somethin else. They get their name from the homesteaders who had to trek across them with their horses and wagons on their way to Montana and their 160 acres.

September 11, 2006: Deadwood, South Dakota.

Wild Bill was shot in a saloon here. Pretty little town.

September 11, 2006: Spearfish, South Dakota.

One of our blog commentators has requested an additional view of the RV. Here you are, big fella.

September 8, 2006: Yellowstone Nat'l Park, WY

The wildlife here is so abundant, it frequently congests the roads. At left, we await a bull elk to pass our RV.


We decided to take the scooter around the park and cut thru the congestion to make sure we got to see all the animals we could. We ended up only 100 feet away from this black bear feeding on pine nuts up a tree.

September 8, 2006: Yellowstone Nat'l Park, WY.

This park is not overrated. We cannot say enough about the things we saw here. A week here might be described as a visit to a zoo on Mars.

Much of the park sits within an ancient volcano, which exploded and left a crater about 40 miles across. The "thermal areas" all over the park spew boiling water, sulfur, silica, and other minerals, and breed large bacterial mats (on which, as you can see, wild buffalo graze).

September 4, 2006: Missoula, Montana.

We came to get a glimpse of Caeli Wolfson Widger's alma mater. It was about 90 deg. out and everyone was either in the river or at the Old Post saloon. Guess where we went.

August 31, 2006: Glacier Nat'l Park, Montana.

We finally left the Pacific coast and raced all the way eastward to the Rockies.

We stopped for a long break here for more camping.

August 31, 2006: Glacier Nat'l Park, Montana

We took a casual 13-mile hike in order to stand on top of one of the many fast-receding glaciers here. Notice Stacey about 100 yards in front of the camera along the trail. The view from the peak was incredible.

August 26, 2006: Victoria, BC

We boarded the ferry and crossed over to the capital of British Columbia.

The sound is dotted with small islands where Canadians maintain weekend cabins. It is also home to the largest bald eagle population outside of Alaska. Sure enough, some flew overhead while we rode the ferry.

August 26, 2006: Victoria, BC

Victoria has a very English flavor to it. The tearooms are a little touristy, but downtown feels very young and hip. Music is everywhere.
The Butchart Gardens are amazing, and are alone worth the voyage to Vancouver Island.

August 24, 2006: Vancouver, BC

We crossed the border and spent a few sunny days in this great city. It felt very foreign/European despite being only a few miles north of Seattle.