The continued journey of leaving King Salmon, Alaska for an unknown destination.

The very beginning of the journey is found here: Destination Unknown Part I: Alaska and Western Canada.

Below is an approximate map of the 5,000 or so miles from Anchorage, Alaska to Yuma, Arizona. Yuma was not our final destination. It was our furthest southwest. Where we will settle has yet to be determined.

MISSOULA

Wednesday-Friday, October 25-27, 2017

It isn’t often that a waitress is so wonderful that you drive thousands of miles to visit her. We were eager to see the young woman we met several years ago as our server at King Salmon Lodge. Now she studies Sociology and English at the University of Montana and volunteers at a local homeless shelter. She took us to her favorite Thai place and we had the opportunity to catch up and continue a friendship built on a mutual love for adventure travel.

We read the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who spent time in a concentration camp during World War II. His big insight is that human beings can withstand and face anything, even painful death, even cheerfully, if they believe that it has a purpose. Frankl applied this realization in his psychotherapy, helping patients to find purpose in order to achieve personal wellbeing.

Larissa reminded me of one of Frankl’s metaphors. A little gas or a lot of gas, it fills every part of the room. Likewise, a little or a lot, suffering completely fills the soul and mind. It is a reminder that everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about and the battle completely fills the soul and mind of each person.

We noticed an interesting tower on our way toward Butte, Montana: the Anaconda Smelter Stack. It is a brick smoke stack that was built in 1918 by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Its height is 585 feet. Today it is on the US National Register of Historic Places and there is a state park around it.

YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND TETON

Saturday, October 28, 2017

For more about the journey through Yellowstone and Grant Teton, go here: Wyoming.

A TRAIN RUNS THROUGH IT: Wyoming

Sunday and Monday, October 29-30, 2017

For more about Jackson, Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming, go here: Wyoming.

TRAIL THROUGH TIME: Colorado

Monday, October 30, 2017 through Sunday, November 5, 2017
Find out more about our week in Colorado here: Trail Through Time.

ELDORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

Monday, October 30, 2017

In the early 1900s, my great grandmother Pansy RePass Stockton grew up at the hotel owned by her parents: the Grand View Hotel in Eldorado Springs, Colorado.

The hotel no longer exists, but the stunning canyon, red earth, bright pines, and burbling stream still do. It was here that my great grandmother first collected natural items to use in the art form she created and named sun painting. It was here that young Pansy and Roscoe climbed and fell in love.

The area is now a state park with a small community living just outside of it along with a seasonal outdoor hot springs resort.

Magical and peaceful, we enjoyed our afternoon among the red rocks and aspirating pines.

Read Roscoe’s poem set to Pansy’s paintings, a gift from Pansy to Roscoe for his birthday just prior to their wedding here.

For more about Pansy Stockton: Pansy’s life story, Pansy’s gallery of artwork, articles about Pansy’s art and life, watch an episode of This is Your Life from 1953.

David and Jennie RePass were the proprietors of the Grand View Hotel. Pansy and her brother Paul grew up at the hotel in Eldorado Springs, Colorado.

UTAH

Sunday, November 5, 2017 through Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Find out about our hikes and discoveries in Utah here: UTAH.

ARIZONA

November 8, 2017 through November 14, 2017
BIG canyons, BIG saguaros, BIG rock, BIG horses in Arizona: find out more here: ARIZONA.