Driving Cross North America

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Itinerary Map, More to Come ......

Our itinerary map, a incredible 7,450 miles cross north America ...... I've taken about 1435 photos along our driving, surely will show about 347 photos here.
...... Please check out later ...... Thank you for visiting ......

Photos Upload: 347/347; Caption: Updated ... :-)

#1 August 20th, 2002
Just before my family started the trip I was hurrying to buy a "Canon G2" digital camera and practicing loading the photos onto my laptop. We left Fremont at about 12:45 P.M. on August 20, 2002.

While crossing the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, we stopped for a break at Donner Lake. After we got going again, my family quickly passed Reno, Nevada. Right after we passed Reno we stopped for gas and ate at a Mcdonald's in Winnemucca, Nevada

I enjoyed driving in the desert which covers about 350 miles starting from Reno. I set my Nissan Xtera on "cruise control" and just lied back and admired the beautiful scenery of the desert. Out there, it is just my family, the car, the sky, and the desert.

When it got dark we decided stop at West Wendover, Nevada. Guess why we stopped? Because my wife wanted to eat at the delicious seafood buffet located in the Peppermill Casino Hotel.

#2 August 21st, 2002
The next morning, we got up early and drove from West Wendover to Salt Lake City.

On the way to Salt Lake City we saw giant mounds of salt at a Morton Salt factory. (You may have an impression of the girl holding an umbrella and a box of Morton Salt on a rainy day.)

One thing we noticed about big businesses in Utah was that they displayed three flags; The American flag, the Utah flag, and the company flag.

After we reached Salt Lake City, we went up to Park City which was a major spot for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

When we stopped at a big Rest Area in Wyoming, we are very glad to see that the extremely clean facility had a Mormon Pioneer Trail Introduction and Exhibition.(it was very educational)
It also had a huge Statue of Lincoln.

#3 August 22nd, 2002
On August 22nd, we crossed the big plains of Nebraska. (96 percent of the land is occupied by farms and ranches) As we were driving, we saw a small airplane spray some liquid over the crops. Interstate highway 80 is the nation's busiest east-west highway.

When we passed Iowa, it was so hot and humid. There were also huge bugs everywhere when we stopped for gas and windshield cleaning.

And then we saw the Mississippi River over the Iowa-Illinois border. The Mississippi River was so peaceful there. It was a little bit different from the description in the novel of Mr. Mark Twain.

#4, August 23rd, 2002
After spending the night in Juliet, Illinois(just outside of Chicago), we were heading to US-Canada border. There was heavy rain until we approached Detroit.

We were deeply impressed with all the trees along the highway. Almost all the houses were located within the deep green trees, that's different from the west coast, I think.

The Ambassador Bridge is a funny border. We spent about half an hour in line and it took only 30 seconds to pass the Canada Custom Check. Hamilton, Ontario was our destination. It is where my younger brother immigrated to.

#5, August 24th, 2002
On August 24th we saw the famous and majestic Niagra Falls from the Canadian side.(The view was much better than the one on the American side.)

It was a spectacular scene from the tall Skylon Tower next to Niagra Falls. We also took a "Maid of the Mist" boat tour to reach the bottom of the fall. You'd be amazed at how different (possibly more beautiful) the Falls look from below!

In the afternoon we went to Montreal, Quebec. We spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what the traffic signs were saying because they were all in French! Every place in Canada provides signs in both English and French... But not Quebec!

Canada has an overall dazzling natural sceney and beautiful views...We Love Canada!

Saturday, December 30, 2006

An Incredible 7450 Miles (2)

Our itinerary map, a incredible 7,450 miles cross north America ...... I've taken about 1435 photos along our driving, surely will show about 347 photos here (done).
...... Please check out later ...... Thank you for visiting ......

#6, August 25th, 2002
Finally, we got a good night's sleep in a hotel near Doval airport. We visited a very nice looking shopping mall in Montreal, Canada, bought some school clothes for my daughter, then went back to Hamilton, Ontario. Montreal is an attractive and beautiful city, there are a lot of people coming from southern states especially in weekend. (they are looking for fun ...)

#7, August 26th, 2002
We crossed border back to United States through Rainbow Bridge on August 26th, 2002. We drove from Buffalo to Syracuse to Binghamton to Scanton tp Spring Valley then tp Tarrytown. Around Syracuse there is heavy congestion, other drivers say it's very common there. We chose Tarrytown to stay at because of the advice offered by two couples from New York City that we met at a McDonald's outside of Scanton, they said the Hotels in Manhattan Island was very expensive at that time. So we decided to go on. At suset we were enjoying the sight provided by the Hudson River.

#8, August 27th, 2002
We took commuter train from Tarrytown to Grand Central Terminal, then got on a subway (MTA) to Wall Street to see New York Security Exchange. We did see it but could not enter the building which was heavily safeguarded. After seeing the security Exchange Building, we took ferry to the Statue of Liberty Island (1, 2) and the Ellis Island Immigration Musuem. With high spirits, we recongnized that the United States is one of the few nations on earth still welcoming immigrants (others might be Canada, Australia and New Zealand). When we visited the Empire State Building(ESB) I almost lost my didgital camera but thanks to the security screener there, I did not. Afterwards, we had a very nice and expensive chinese dinner very near the ESB.

#9, August 28th, 2002
It was a rainy day when we drove from New York City to Washington DC, also an hour of congestion on the road. We stayed at a Day's Inn about 5 miles to Union Station. August 29th, 2002, we had a very good tour at the capital's vista points. Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Arlinton National Cemetery. A very impressive phrase we glimpsed was"Freedom is not free!" We need to visit DC again. Next time we would like to stay even longer ......

#10, August 30th, 2002
We drove a lot today(August 30th, 2002), passed Virginia all the way to Dickson Tennessee. We very appreciate what we bought at a small Virginia town. A whole Virginia Ham! It was a real ham and tasted so delightfully mouthwatering....

#11, August 31st, 2002
We were enjoying the dazzling scenic views on the road while passing Arkansas, Oklahoma,and Texas on August 31. My family was hoping to stop at a big city to spend the night but we were too tired to drive to a big city. Fortunately, we stopped at a historic motel right by Old Route 66 in Alanreed, Texas. (1, 2, 3, where we stayed) Secretly in my heart, I was very happy to stop there. I got a little taste of the past when I laid my eyes on the furniture in that motel. There was even an old black/white T.V. with a dial to change channels. I hadn't seen those for many, many years. The real Alanreed sunset views are better than what I can show you here. Texas is too great to be seen just on a computer!

#12, September 1st, 2002
We had a great time during the drive through New Mexico and Arizona. Before we got to Laughlin, Nevada, the bright hues of the setting sun with majestic dark mountains in the background is breath-taking, I mean really ... even though we had seen many sunset views along the California Pacific Coast, Big Sur, Pacifica, Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, Gloden Gate Bridge, we were still moved. I didn't try very hard to take a picture of that particular sunset. I knew there was no possible way to capture the beauty that engulfed my mind at the time... where stayed in Laughlin, Nevada.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

* Sierra Nevada and Desert

#1 Just before my family started our journey, I was hurriedly practicing how to load pictures from my "Canon G2" digital camera. We left Fremont, CA at about 12:45 P.M. on August 20, 2002.

#2 While crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges, we stopped a while at Donner Lake, and then passed Reno Nevada, ...

#3 Besides a break we also got pictures of some spectacular sights...

#4 A McDonald's in Winnemucca, Nevada. A while after passing Reno we stopped to buy gasoline at Winnemucca Nevada, and eat at a McDonald's.

#5 I enjoyed driving in the desert which covers about 350 miles starting from Reno. I set my Nissan Xtera on "cruise control" and just lied back and admired the beautiful scenery of the desert. Out there, it is just my family, the car, the sky, and the desert.

#6 Here is the McDonald's in Winnemucca, Nevada.

#7 A view of the wide streets of Winnemucca, Nevada.

#8 Flying J Store in Winnemucca, Nevada.

#9 McDonald's at Winnemucca Nevada.

#10 Winnemucca Nevada.

When it was getting dark, we decided stop at West Wendover, Nevada. Guess why? My wife liked the delicious, fresh Alaskan Crab Legs of a buffet restaurant located within Peppermill Casino Hotel!

Monday, January 31, 2005

* Salt Lake and Park City, Olympic

#1 The next morning, we got up early and drove from West Wendover to Salt Lake City.

On the way to Salt Lake City we saw giant mounds of salt at a Morton Salt factory. (You may have an impression of the girl holding an umbrella and a box of Morton Salt on a rainy day.)

One thing we noticed about big businesses in Utah was that they displayed three flags; The American flag, the Utah flag, and the company flag.

After we reached Salt Lake City, we went up to Park City which was a major spot for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

When we stopped at a big Rest Area in Wyoming, we are very glad to see that the extremely clean facility had a Mormon Pioneer Trail Introduction and Exhibition.(it was very educational)
It also had a huge Statue of Lincoln.

#2 Lily was driving......Background is "Newfund Land", it's a "No-Man" basin.

#3 Almost to Salt Lake City (about 50 miles west of )......

#4 a big plant of [Morton Salt] (you may have a impression of the image: a girl hold a umbrella in a raining day), which is used for us everyday.......