My Drive

  On my drive up from Albuquerque to Cortez to Salt Lake City to Boise then into Oregon I really felt like I was kind of reenacting the Lewis and Clark expedition.  As you know once President Thomas Jefferson bought the LA purchase from Napoleon for $10 million he sent two men to go on a journey and explore the land that was just bought.  Besides sending samples of all kinds (animal species, tree specimens, etc) back to Washington something that Lewis and Clark constantly complained was the number of mountain peaks that they had to climb.  They were unhappy after going over one that there were several more that they had to climb if they were to reach the Columbia River/Pacific Ocean.  That effort to climb one peak after another became a little easier once they made friends with some Indians around Northern Montana who provided them with horses and a bit of advice that they must return by fall otherwise they would have trouble making tracks with heavy amounts of snow.
  I went through several mountainous areas: Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, Uinta National Forest, Sawtooth National Forest, and so on where I experienced different temperatures.  Besides going through various wilderness areas, I also went through several reservations areas.  Those that tried to call me may have experienced difficulty reaching me as I was going through several windy high elevations roads where I was extremely careful as I was making my way.
  Lewis and Clark were also noted for their brilliant record keeping and I am no different where I shared what I encountered while I was en-route.  The topography was awesome.
  One of my hobbies I like to notice are all the different license plates I saw.  Besides seeing the usual I was surprised to run into a few that I wouldn't expect.  Saw a car from Florida, Virgina, Alaska, Montana, Hawaii, as well as a few from Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba).  It helps to have your eyes alert.