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I'll try to put a few pictures here, and describe the trip as I go along.
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Missouri
Since my first destination was in southeastern Missouri, I didn't go through Memphis -- if I had, perhaps I wouldn't have seen this:
It's visible from the road as you go through Hayti, MO.
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Tennessee
The MidSouthCon convention was great, in Memphis, but I got so busy talking to students and convention-goers that I never got a chance to see the masquerade contestants, which is where I usually take the most pictures. However, I did get some shots, and I put them in the gallery of convention pictures.
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Arkansas
The trip to Little Rock was uneventful, and my students there showed up ready to work. We took advantage of the good weather to work outside, since Sage House (at White Wagon Farm) has a nice porch. It was a small group, and everyone finished more quickly than I expected, so we ended up doing bracelets and rings all in one day.
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Texas
(Denton)
We were in a beautiful old house, and worked on a porch again. The ladybugs were out, or at least their larvae were, and turned out to be pretty annoying, but we still got everything done in one day, so I could head down to San Antonio. I went by way of a few rural roads, to see if I could find the Regency Bridge, a wooden suspension bridge. The weather got worse and worse as I got closer to it, as though the weather gods were determined to prevent me from seeing it.
(San Antonio) No ladybugs, even though we were out on another porch. The weather, other than the rain that was beating down on me between Denton and San Antonio, has been glorious. I taught for two days at a house in the King Williams area, and then for another day at a small studio a few miles north of there. Now I need to go on a crash diet, because everyone's been feeding me far too well...
I got a chance to see some bluebonnets along the way:
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Arizona
Since I arrived a bit early, I got some down time, to shop for supplies, visit favorite haunts, and find an Apple Store to get them to look at my laptop and determine what ails it. Got a good meal at the Silver Saddle, a steakhouse that's right next door to the Lazy 8 motel, where I have stayed several times in the past.
The workshops were southeast of Tucson, a few miles from the Saguaro National Monument, so I went through there again and took some pictures.
I stopped in Yuma on my way down I-8, and had an "Orange Dream" smoothie at the deli a block north of the Arts Center there. I highly recommend them, if you're in the area.
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California
It was really sandy, west of Yuma, and it looked like there were a lot of off-roaders and dirt-bikers out, Saturday, raising rooster-tails of sand alongside the freeway.
The trip through the mountains was interesting -- nothing but rocks, all sizes of rocks, quite barren-looking.
I stayed in Oceanside for a few days, and got to see the flower fields.
When I got to Van Nuys I stayed at the same yard that I was at last August, but this time I discovered that they have a cat -- not one that the owners knew about, it seems.
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Oregon
Moving north, after a few more workshops and visits, I managed to reach Oregon. I didn't do a lot of photographs this time, since I took quite a few a couple of years ago, but this one appealed to me:
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Washington
The workshops in Seattle were great, as expected, and then I moved on to my most distant stop, Lopez Island in Puget Sound. My host lives in a remote area, and I found the surroundings very peaceful. Beautiful views, too; here are a couple of pictures, one looking out toward the Pacific, and another looking up a slope in the local woods.
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Oregon (again)
I drove back down to meet students in the middle of Oregon. Driving along, I noticed a sign:
I was in too much of a hurry to stop and watch them whale on each other while wearing period garb, but it was nice to see that they're an active bunch.
I saw some nice scenery, going across the mountains.
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Yellowstone
Since I have extra time on my hands, I decided to visit Yellowstone National Park. I put just a few pictures in the directory, and here's one, of a very hot puddle:
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Wyoming
Moving south, still. I couldn't get all the way through Yellowstone, because the southern entrance is still closed, but I zig-zagged in so I could see Jackson Hole.
The next day I headed west, back over the hills from Wyoming into Idaho. Nice little pass, near Freedom, WY.
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Idaho
I decided against one rather undeveloped-looking road, and missed seeing Bear Lake, but when I came over a hill and saw Blackfoot Reservoir, I felt somewhat better.
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Utah
Well south of Salt Lake City, I turned east on I-70 to head for Denver. It got pretty dry, after a while, but there were enough clouds to make the scenery interesting.
Later on, I saw a beautiful tree.
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Colorado
It was late when I got to Glenwood Springs, so I waited until morning to take more pictures. Here's a view from one of the little rest areas almost in town.
I went over Vail Pass, a bit more than ten thousand feet up.
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