Category Archives: It's a Dam Big Country

I’m out to prove that it’s a big dam coun­try. This morn­ing start­ed out rainy in Duvall. Made the first route call based on which dam I want­ed to see. Grand Coulee, very cool, very big, but I’ve Seen It. So I chose a new (to me) dam whose name I liked. Priest Rapids Dam near … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “it’s a big dam coun­try — day 1”

There were no dams today. There’s a fab­u­lous one on tap for first thing tomor­row but my plans to shoot at sun­set were over­whelmed by my need for din­ner, a show­er, and sleep. What there was today was US 12 which fol­lows the Clear­wa­ter Riv­er between Lewis­ton ID and Hele­na MT. Total­ly won­der­ful. Except for the … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Big Dam Coun­try — Day 2”

A late start this morn­ing. First up the Canyon Fer­ry dam about 20 miles south­east of Hele­na MT. The lake behind it is huge and full of boats and fish­ing and stuff. From the ‘front’ it’s not a very impres­sive dam. To reach the vis­i­tors’ cen­ter (closed) and an entire sub­urb of Hele­na you dri­ve across the dam. It … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Dam Big Coun­try — Day 3”

From Roundup, MT to Mobridge, SD. Not much hap­pened today. I got up. I had break­fast at the local din­er. Sat at the counter and talked to the locals. Two of three had fam­i­ly in Seat­tle and envi­rons. Fun­ny old guys.  Put gas in the Shark. Drove. East­ern Mon­tana, a chunk of south­west­ern North Dako­ta, and … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Dam Big Coun­try — Day 4”

Yipes, it’s a late on tonight. A big day. Three dams and approx. 400 miles. Start­ed in Mobridge, SD. (Left my pil­low behind in the motel — not a good start) Then missed the first turn. From hwy 12 to hwy 83. But I found this in the lit­tle turn around… Click on the image to read the full … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Dam Big Coun­try — Day 5”

I’m tak­ing a day off from dri­ving. I arrived in Pano­ra, IA yes­ter­day after­noon much in need of rest. I’ve done laun­dry, washed my car, sort­ed some pic­tures, played with my moth­er-in-law’s dog, and eat­en way too much. It’s all good. Here’s were I was and what I did Tues­day the 19^th (Day 6). I start­ed the … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Dam Big Coun­try — Day 6”

I think I should decide whether it’s a big dam or a dam big coun­try… Today was a rest day (on the sev­enth day and all that) I spent some time explor­ing Pano­ra. There’s a neat lit­tle his­toric vil­lage. The orig­i­nal rail­road depot was moved down here when the rail­road left in the 60s.  Here’s a glance … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Big Dam Coun­try — Day 7”

Most­ly dri­ving today. A few inter­est­ing detours. Some planned some not. I left Pano­ra around 9. Made my way to West Des Moines via some love­ly park­ways to nowhere. Found a Barnes and Noble with a Star­bucks and got an iced lat­te. Offi­cial­ly sum­mer now. Tried to plan a rea­son­able route for gen­er­al east­er­li­ness and failed. … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Big Dam Coun­try — Day 8”

I’m get­ting a lit­tle ner­vous about mak­ing my date in Pitts­burgh. Today I did 350 miles. The first 200 miles took 6 hours. The last 150 miles about 2.  So here are the high­lights of the first 200 miles. I start­ed on the west side of Decatur and head­ed through town on Hwy 36. At the cen­ter of the old­er section … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Big Dam Coun­try — Day 9”

A day late — because the inter­net con­nec­tion isn’t con­sis­tent. Final­ly home. Old home that is. I rode the inter­state from Colum­bus to Pitts­burgh. The first unbro­ken inter­state stretch of this trip. Ugh. I just want­ed to be here (Pitts­burgh) rather than there (Colum­bus) as fast as pos­si­ble. No road pic­tures today. Instead a few shots from around … 

Con­tin­ue read­ing “It’s a Big Dam Coun­try — Day 10”