West...

Out of the 50 states, we had visited 46...the final four being Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska.  This road trip would take us to two of those...Washington and Oregon...bringing our total visited to 48!  Woohoo!  I love the traveling lifestyle :)...

I mentioned before that we were headed for the Pacific Coast...Brookings, Oregon, to be exact.  We had formed a rough plan to start at the bottom of the state and head north(ish) to the top then into Washington.  But first, we had to get there...from North Dakota, across Montana with a peek into Glacier NP, through Idaho...first north to within shouting distance of the Canadian border...then back south, cutting across the corner of Washington, following the Columbia River west through Oregon...then the Willamette Valley south...before finally turning west again, towards the ocean.  My favorite.

To get from Grants Pass, Oregon, to Brookings, Oregon, you have to dip down into California.  There is no straight west road.  We have visited California numerous times, but never have we seen a state welcome sign quite like this one...

HAHA!  I think it's my favorite of all :)!  Funny.  Anyway, we stopped to get a picture of the sign and while I was doing that, my husband heard some turkeys chattering in the trees.  He chattered back at them to see if they'd come out and THEY DID!...

I am SO glad that I wasn't standing outside the car when these things came up.  Turkeys can be mean! 

Well, they strutted right up to our car...then circled around and around.  Chattering and looking for their turkey friend that had called to them ;).  I have never seen anything like that! 

I took a few more pictures of the sign, the turkeys had walked away from the car, and it was time to go.  Uh oh...

super blurry, but that EXPRESSION!  HA!

Hahahahaaaaa!  A wild turkey chase ensued!  Welcome to California, ya'll ;)...

and yes, I am easily amused...just in case you hadn't already figured that out.

Ok, so crazy birds behind us (we hope!) we continued on our way towards the ocean.  We were following the Redwood Highway and it proved true to its name.  Redwoods, indeed...

There is something so completely magical about a Redwood forest...

the Smith River

It doesn't matter how many times I find myself among these giants, each and every time I am stopped in my tracks.  Head thrown back, mouth agape in awe...and I'm not the only one :)...

We slooooowly made our way through the beautiful woods and on towards our destination:  the ocean.

Go West...

After weeks of being gone for work, my man came home with a chunk of days off.  Needing a change of scenery, he told us to pack our bags and be ready to ride early the next morning.  Time for a road trip (yippee!), we were heading west...

We left North Dakota behind before the sun had even shown it's face.  By the time the sky was regaining it's color, we were well into Montana...

With no definite destination in mind, we just drove.  Following the Hi-Line as it snuggled up close to the Canadian border...

This old church caught our eye and we spun back around to get a closer look...

Enchanting, isn't it...

Into the afternoon, the terrain started to change.  We were finally leaving the plains behind and entering the mountains.  So pretty :)...

The road followed along the most beautiful stream...

...and led us straight to Glacier National Park! 

Mmhm, sure did :).  Only a tiny bit of the park was open due to the season, but that's ok.  It was Glacier National Park!  And we were there! Hahaha...yes, I was pretty tickled to be there ;).  More to come ya'll, check back later...

Before the snow...

Winter comes early in the far north...  Knowing this, we made an effort to get out and enjoy every last ounce of warmth we could before the freeze set in.  Bet ya'll can guess one place we went...

The lake :)!  Of course, hahaha...we love the lake :)...

see the lights in the distance?  flares...

Fishing, sunset watching, building with sticks and rocks...it's all fun at the lake...

That flare again, I just can't get over how enormous it is...

Another day, another fish...

These kiddos are getting pretty good at catching those things :)!

Bountiful Baskets...

The kids LOVE to go early and volunteer with me...

This site is really (really!) early in the morning.  Before daylight early.  Our reward, besides the awesome fresh veggies/fruits, is this:

A gorgeous sunrise that reminds us to stop everything and just breathe it in...<3.

Loads of fresh foods means fun new recipes up in here.  Two keepers...the first is a Honeydew Smoothie.  Sounds weird, but it's very good.  Honeydew melon, vanilla yogurt, a little fresh apple juice, a bit of raw honey, and some ice...

The second is a pesto that is super simple and super delicious.  Fennel fronds (the feathery part that usually gets thrown away), sunflower seeds, parmesan cheese, fresh garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper if you need it.  Great on pizza...

We just had to sneak down to the North Unit of TRNP one last time before the interior roads closed for the season...

It was c-c-c-old the day we were there, the wind was whipping.  We ate a fast picnic lunch then went for a scramble on the rocks.  Our favorite part of the park :)...

checking out a little cave...

the cannonball concretions are so cool :)

When we were driving back into the farther part of the park, we spotted a Bighorn sheep!  First and only one we have ever seen in there (or anywhere in Nodak)...

He saw us, too, and headed down into the shade to "hide".  We still see you :)...

Brown, brown, brown...

The wind was shoving him forward.  If only we had wings, we could have taken off ;)...

One lone buffie...

We had planned to hike down to the river and back up, but it was just too windy (sand blowing) and cold.  Instead, we just monkeyed around at the top for a while...

Back to the car and back to Williston...

My girl with her new (to us) treasure...

Williston has a couple of really good thrift shops.  I try not to go in unless I have something to donate, because we ALWAYS find at least one treasure.  For any of you folks that like to read...all books at the Wise Penny are free.  Yep, free!  The kids love going in there to look at the books and always come out with something good :).