Samwise Gamgee, otherwise known as Sam the Wonder Dog, and I just completed a journey by car of 4,947 miles. Sam was a trooper, rarely complaining as he was hauled in and out of cars to visit family and friends, then national parks and humongous western scenery for all those miles across 24 days. On the last two days, when asked to get back into the car, he'd look up with this "really, Nancy?" kind of mild glare. A couple of times he nudged me to stop the car for a rest wherein he did not pee or poop, just walked. Good dog, Sam.
Our route took us from Tucson to Los Angeles, to Napa, to Grants Pass, to Portland, to the Oregon beach, to Vancouver BC, back to Portland, then to Crater Lake, to Lake Tahoe, to Elko, to Promontory Point, Zion, Bryce, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then via Flagstaff back to Tucson.
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| Nancy Charak photo c. 2014 |
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| Nancy Charak photo c. 2014 |
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| Nancy Charak photo c. 2014 |
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| Nancy Charak photo c. 2014 |
These particular photos were taken with a GoPro Hero. I originally had the camera mounted on the dashboard of the car only to realize that I was mostly taking pictures of the hood of the car at 60 second intervals without any control. So, I took to hand holding the camera, which has no viewfinder and no feedback until it is downloaded back to a computer, out the window of the car when I saw scenic views, in burst mode, three at a time.
Parenthetically, I should add, that for huge portions of the road, it was the phenomenon of "oh look, there's another scenic vista," and another, and another.
