No blue like the blue of Crater Lake! Thanks for the pictures.

Well, we made it to Salt Lake City. It's the first time we've seen rain or clouds since before August 20th.

Pictures at 11.

Can't wait to see them!

Jodi

You guys have just passed through some of my all-time favorite locations. Did you, by any chance, go through Ashland, OR? Great Shakespeare Festival there. Mr. Nina and I used to go there every summer BC (before children).

Maybe if you hit it big in a casino, you can turn around check it out!

(Mr. Nina and I once spent 3 HOURS trying to get rid of $5 in nickel slot machines--every time we'd almost get rid of them, we'd hit the jackpot! Probably worth at least $4!)

Improv likes Nevada.

Look who has top billing at Lake Tahoe.


Thank-you. Thank-you. I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

The drive from Reno to Salt Lake City is a loooooong 525 miles. I did see a great place to stop, but was told I'd be walking the rest of the trip if I did.

Aren't you a cad card.

Improv, you crack me up.

Hey, you'll be in great shape to walk a few hundred miles after one of those Bar-Jacuzzi-Massages.

I'm trying to get a bit more caught up with photos. You guys are gonna be sooo sick of me and my pics after I get home and get more organized!

I'm rewinding a bit to cover our visit to the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. We went there to visit a friend of mine that I first met on a classical music forum in 1999. We discovered we both loved the piano, began corresponding, and further learned we might as well have been separated at birth we had so many shared interests. So, while I've visited there 8 times in the past, the last time was in 2003, and Chris had never been, so it was a nice reunion.

First, the drive to Canada from Spokane was interesting, and not just for the Grand Coulee Dam visit that Improv already posted.

Outside of Spokane are miles of wheat fields and nothing else. I commented to Improv that if I didn't know it was wheat, I'd think we were driving along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, heading for Hatteras...the wheat looked like sand to me!



More scenes that caught my eye en route:





Finally, along the banks of Okanagan Lake, in BC:



Here I am, after weeks away from a piano, trying to do justice to Laurie's magnificent Petrof IV:





I failed miserably, but really loved hearing how much the tonal quality of the piano has evolved since I last heard it in 2003.

dinner with Laurie and her husband Bruce:



We visited Laurie's brother and sister-in-law, two extremely talented artists, in their studio:





Their back yard had lots of lovely plants and trees. Here's one shot:



Next time I'll try to post some Seattle photos...or better yet, ones of us having lunch with CHAS...which we are doing tomorrow!

quote:

Originally posted by plays88keys:

Great photo. i love the black dot.

jf

Gorgeous! Plays, you really have a great eye for photography.

More pics, please!

I am really loving the travelogue, and am delighted to have been even a minor participant!

And plays, if JF says you have a good eye, that's high praise indeed! I have to agree with him, too.

quote:

Originally posted by plays88keys:

What a great photo.

Keep posting them!

Met the lovely Plays and her husband, Improv, at the famous Ray's Tavern in Green River, Utah for lunch today.
I was knackered from antihistamines. They are probably certain that I am retarded.
Both them were great. They are holding up well from the travels. It was a short, but wonderful time. Wish they would come by often.
We got to talk about the NYC party at jon's and the forum members that we have met.
Plays took pictures of Improv and I in front of Ray's Boneyard. She may post them soon.
Some of the pictures will rival those posted by Kenny.

Told them they would see the mountains where I live as they drove east. However, the mountain range was covered by a rainstorm.

We had so much fun with Chas! We met in Green River, a very small town in Utah near the Colorado border. We got there about 30 minutes early, so we cruised the town...all three or four blocks of it. There were a *lot* of great vintage signs, which I photographed and will post another day.

Turns out Green River is some sort of melon haven. There were melon stands all up and down the main strip, so we picked one that looked good and pulled in. The lady running it had a wall full of ribbons she'd won for her melons, which was pretty impressive. I asked her to select a couple of canteloupes and a watermelon for me which she did...and only charged me $5.

Her ribbons:



We found the appointed meeting place, a joint called Ray's. I fell in love with it's funkiness immediately.



Check out this amazing vintage sign:



Turns out Chas is fan of melons. kenny, eat your heart out!



Not to be outdone by Chas, Improv had to show off his too. Men. Sheesh.



But if you ask me, mine are the best of all.




Chas is so funny and easy to talk to. There was a lot of laughter coming from our corner at Ray's, and we had some interesting discussions about some of you guys over lunch.

Thanks Chas, for a great afternoon diversion. I hope we'll get to see you again in the near future; meantime, have a great trip to Prague.