Reader’s Digest Condensed Version here (since I already posted this in a separate thread):
We did the Great American Roadtrip this summer. More than 3,000 miles, covering a huge chunk of the Western U.S. First we headed up 101, rambling happily through the wine country and the redwoods and along the Oregon Coast to my in-law’s place near Lincoln City, where I promptly fell on my nose (figuratively speaking…had a fever of 103) and ended up in the emergency room with acute bronchitis. I must say, if you’re going to be sick, the Oregon Coast is a beautiful place to convalesce! I’d had lovely visions of playing the whistle on the beach, but couldn’t breath well enough to play until near the end of our week-long stay, and had to settle for a quick tootle on my Elfsong C on my in-law’s balcony overlooking the Pacific.
From there we headed toward Portland and took Highway 84 through the Columbia River Gorge, then cut north through the rolling wheatfields and wine plantations of Central and Eastern Washington to my old hometown of Spokane, where I played for family and friends (all of whom were fairly impressed, as none of them, with the exception of my Dad, have ever played any instrument). While there, I took my Oak to Manito Park…a beautiful park on Spokane’s South Hill…to serenade the Koi in the Japanese Garden and the flowers on the Rose Hill.
After a week in Spokane, we headed east again, crossing the Idaho Panhandle and cutting down through Southeastern Montana (through some of the most gorgeous countryside I’ve ever seen), stopping briefly in the old Western town of Virginia City (a place I remembered fondly from my childhood) enroute to Yellowstone National Park. We stayed for two days in the Yellowstone/Grand Teton area, which I fell in love with all over again. I serenaded the Tetons (and a few Japanese tourists) on my Elf Song D near Jackson Lake (“Dallas Skies” seemed particularly appropriate, even though we were in Wyoming).
After spending way too short a time in some of the most beautiful territory on God’s green earth, we started west again, crossing Southern Idaho (and seeing more potatoes growing than I’ve ever seen in my life!), then cutting down into Nevada (a beautiful state which, I’m sorry to say, has the worst roadside rest areas I’ve ever seen in my life. They really need to put some of that gambling wealth into making it more pleasant for visitors to answer the call of nature enroute to the casinos). On our last day out, we stopped for lunch in Reno, stopped briefly in Truckee, teased our daughter about looking very young and tender as we stopped in Donner Pass 
, fought insane traffic through Sacramento and the East Bay, and finally returned home, three weeks after we’d started.
Other than my being sick the first week, it was a dream vacation, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat! 
I’ve already posted lots of pictures, but for the purposes of this thread, here’s one of me playing in Grand Teton National Park:
but here you go:
![http://www.geocities.com/lancebeeson@sbcglobal.net/meandgeneralsherman.jpg[/u]](http://www.geocities.com/lancebeeson@sbcglobal.net/meandgeneralsherman.jpg%5B/u%5D){kind=link}