Golden Gateway to Spring

SanFran5

When the Bug crossed into California, sun broke through the clouds. The evergreens thinned out, and sticky chartreuse sprouts appeared on the hardwoods. The temperature gauge crept toward seventy. We hadn’t felt seventy degrees for six months. In Sacramento, we stopped at a Black Bear Restaurant for lunch. Harry parked the Bug in front of…

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Bugging over Donner Pass

Nine miles outside Truckee, Donner pass is a mere seven thousand feet in elevation, but the road to the summit is steep. Cars are required to use chains in bad weather. And the weather is usually bad. Donner Pass is considered one of the snowiest places in the United States. The all-time record low temperature is forty-five…

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Trucking to Truckee

In Truckee, Nevada, the River Street Inn was originally a gambling hall and brothel. The antiquated Inn is now run by Wendy and Mark, a cute couple in their thirties who moved near Lake Tahoe to ski. I’m not much of a skier, but the skiing here is reputed to be the best in the…

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Route 50 ~ Loneliest road in America

Route 50 through Nevada is lonely any time of the year, but in March it’s particularly desolate. On our left the White Pine Mountains of Humboldt National Forest guarded us, followed by the Monitor and Toquima ranges, and then the Shoshone and Toiyabe Mountains, snowy sentinels that kept their distance. On the right, hills gave…

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Utah’s Mystic Mike

Utah5

Harry and I said goodbye to Boulder and pointed the Bug west along Route 70 into Utah’s hilly desert. Beside the road, bulbous outcroppings grew from treeless hills looking very much like the crusty flesh of giant warts. In the distance ochre mountains stood bare and wind sculpted. Atop buttes, stony crowns laced by wind…

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Wall Street, Boulder Style

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In 1972 I bought my first ten-speed bike at a shop in Boulder. There are nothing but mountains around Boulder, but I had gotten into shape hiking with my boyfriend Rick for the previous weeks and thought I was ready to roll on two wheels. We didn’t wear helmets in those days, and I had…

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Cadillac Ranch

Cadillacs2

“We have to go to Amarillo,” I told Harry. “Why Amarillo?” he asked. “Cadillac Ranch, of course.” I’m not sure what my fascination has been with Cadillac Ranch, but since I first heard of the art installation years ago, I’ve been longing to see it in person. It’s not about the Bruce Springsteen song from…

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Oklahoma City (the German version)

OklahomaGermans

So far on our March Bug Trip we had encountered a snowstorm, sleet, freezing fog, and a chill that required layering on as much fleece as I’d packed. By the time we approached Oklahoma City, I was ready to uncork a bottle of wine and sit by a fire. The Oklahoma capital spreads miles from…

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The Ole Sawmill

A week into our Bug Trip, Harry and I found ourselves cruising through Arkansas. I was hoping to flash along Route 40 without stopping. Not that I have anything against Arkansas. Like my home state of Virginia, Arkansas was part of the Confederacy during the Civil War and relied on slavery for its economic stability. Mostly…

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