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Gizmo's Odyssey Part One

39K views 116 replies 50 participants last post by  solstice1319 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have so many photos from my incredible tour of the western United States and Canada in June and July of 2006.

I didn't post most of them last year after the trip, I didn't want to compete with those incredible photos taken by solli4me on her wonderful Coast2Coast trip, which was before, including, and after the First North American Solstice Meet in Kansas City, MO. For those who might have missed her fantastic collection, there's a convenient link to her thread at the bottom of this post.

So, I hope you enjoy this presentation.

And don't miss solli's thread either, at this link:

http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20928

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#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Left Houston June 13, 2006, heading west on Interstate 10 to San Antonio:


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We have the best speed limits in the country, right here in west Texas:


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This scene reminds me, I need to get me a navigator:


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Spent the night in Alamogordo, NM. Next day visited White Sands, NM:


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On to catch a photo in front of the capitol building, Phoenix, AZ:


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Arrived in Sin City late the second night:


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I spent the night at the Flamingo, but I used to stay here at Caesar's Palace on all my previous trips:


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Next morning had the great pleasure to meet Solitud in front of her business shop:


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#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
Next day, June 15 I continued on to the lowest point of elevation in the United States, Death Valley, CA:


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They don't want a million people walking on the sand too near, so they built a boardwalk:


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MARiSOL enjoyed her visit to Death Valley:


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They built a beautiful hotel right there in Death Valley:


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After a WONDERFUL drive on California 178 through Kern Canyon and past Lake Isabella, I turned north to Sequoia National Park:


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The famous General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park (took 3 photos from bottom to top):


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MARiSOL was waiting for the Park Ranger to park next to her, she's such a flirt, but he never showed up:


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Such a short visit to Sequoia, time to leave, but I'll be back:


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#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Here come the Sols to the first Lake Tahoe meet. MARiSOL was the first one there (well, if you don't count the hotel where most were staying at!):


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We had several cars there the first night for our pizza dinner:


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The next day 15 of us lined up along the Mt Rose Highway on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe:


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Bumpguy, my good buddy and resident of Reno, NV and his beautiful girlfriend bumpgal:


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I was honored to have jimbo riding with me during the meet:


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We all stopped at Squaw Valley, CA, host to the 1960 Winter Olympics, which had the FIRST Miracle On Ice as the hockey team beat the Russians and took the gold medal, 20 years before Lake Placid, NY repeated the impossible:


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At Squaw Valley they were celebrating the summer solstice:


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Spent the night at Caesar's Tahoe (oops, now called Mont Bleau). Valet parked MARiSOL in front of two Ferraris:


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#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
Sunday I cruise up Geiger Grade to Virginia City, NV (remember Bonanza?) I passed several groups of two-wheelers, but a pair of them zipped past me and led me on a merry chase up that incredible road to the old town:


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Another photo of the main street of Virginia City, NV:


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I believe this beautiful building used to be a schoolhouse, but now used for school administration:


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And here's the famous and equally beautiful Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, NV:


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My cousin Dan got a photo of me passing in front of the Capitol Building in Carson City, NV:


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Attended the annual Reno Rodeo:


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These rodeo guys are tough hombres:


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Another Capitol Building, this time in Salt Lake City, UT:


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And here's the famous Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, UT:


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A good Texas dinner at the Lone Star Steakhouse in Pocatello, ID:


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#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
Up close with a wonderful animal in Yellowstone, our first national park:


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You know I HAD to catch a photo of Old Faithful:


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Hurry, cousin, take the photo. I'm in a no-parking zone!


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What a beautiful Lake Yellowstone:


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A very interesting canyon near the northern exit from Yellowstone National Park:


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Another photo of the canyon:


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And here's my cousin Dan. Note the interesting geological formation behind him:


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An interesting bucking bronco statue in Butte, Montana:


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Here's the Capitol Building in Butte, Montana:


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The entrance to Glacier National Park. The road across to the other side was blocked by a landslide, so we had to take a raincheck. Really HATED to miss that one!


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#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Oops, what no Solstice driver wants to be forced onto. A road under construction, and no alternative available:


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Some pretty big equipment on this huge project:


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Capitol Building in Boise, Idaho:


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Happened to come across an interesting VIN on a Mysterious Solstice:


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And underneath the hood was an autograph of Mr. Bob Lutz dated 08/05/05:


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OH, that must be the Solstice owned by VINNY#000001, who took delivery of the very first Pontiac Solstice, and got the keys directly from the hand of Mr. Bob Lutz in Chicago, IL on 08/05/05:


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Here's Clark (VINNY#000001) with the first Solstice on the right of the photo, next to his second Solstice which gets a lot more use:


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Here's Clark's son sitting in MARiSOL:


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#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Dropped my cousin off in Carson City and headed down to Yosemite National Park, CA the next day. Couldn't resist this beautiful waterfall:



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The famous Half Dome in Yosemite:


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And the equally famous El Capitan:


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And the very famous Yosemite Falls:


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Beautiful Yosemite River:


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El Capitan from the other side:


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Another view of Yosemite Falls:


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And another view of Yosemite Falls:


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Zoomed in photo of the top of Yosemite Falls:


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An outstanding feature of Yosemite Falls is how it falls, goes horizontal, and falls again:


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#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
Still in Yosemite, here's a closer view of the "double" waterfall of Yosemite Falls:


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One of the worst situations in snow country during the winter is to have heavy rainfall in the mountains. Not only do you have excessive rainwater coming downhill, a tremendous amount of snow melts and adds to the flood. Look how high the water level got:


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This is near the entrance to the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park:


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On my way out of the most beautiful place in the United States, one more look at Half Dome:


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Down to San Bruno, just south of San Francisco, to visit my parents at Golden Gate National Cemetery. Too bad I arrived after they closed:


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Up to the Capitol Building, Sacramento, California:


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One of the many huge volcanoes in the western United States, this one is Mt. Shasta, CA:


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Even with Mt. Shasta many many miles to the rear, you can see how huge the volcano is:


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#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Arrived at the Pacific coast of Oregon, where this river meets the sea:


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Returning to central Oregon from the Pacific coast, I had an encounter with the Oregon Vigilante. Three Oregon state troopers were waiting for me in Corvallis. After that encounter, I continued on to catch a photo in front of the Capitol Building in Salem, Oregon:


Gee, I didn't think there was ANYTHING boring in Oregon:


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Here's the beautiful Mt Hood, Oregon, another huge volcano:


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A closer view of Mt Hood, Oregon:


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Leaving Mt Hood far behind, but it is still visible:


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I believe that's Mt St Helens, WA in the distance:


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But first I had to visit the Columbia River Gorges between OR and WA:


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Not a tall damn, but quite wide, located on the Columbia River:


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One final look at Mt Hood, OR from the Washington side of the Columbia River:


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#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Arriving at Mt St Helens, WA:


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See the steam coming out of Mt St Helens? I didn't want to hang around too long:


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This is Spirit Lake, WA, down quite a bit from the summit of the volcano:


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What was that brown substance on the surface of the lake? Looks like about a million tree trunks, blown off the mountain surface so many years ago:


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Even after the total devastation of the volcano explosion, leaving ash everywhere, life begins anew. See this beautiful purple flower growing here:


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After wonderful twisties to and away from Mt St Helens, I arrived at the Capitol Building in Olympia, WA:


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After being the FIRST customer of ClearImage for long tube exhaust header and hi-flow catalytic converter in Auburn, WA (suburb of Seattle), I continued on into Canada. Here's the border crossing:


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That's downtown Vancouver, British Columbia up ahead:


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I continued on to Kamloops, British Columbia, and met up with Blasterd:


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The next day headed for Banff, Alberta, and saw this beautiful hotel on a gorgeous river:


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#75 ·
The next day headed for Banff, Alberta, and saw this beautiful hotel on a gorgeous river:


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Three Valley Gap FYI
 
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#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well, had to leave beautiful Canada behind, crossed the border into Montana. These are the hunting grounds of the greatly feared Blackfeet Indians:


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Thanks to the warm hospitality of rlc222, I spent the night in Hot Springs, SD. The next morning we headed to Mt Rushmore and crossed paths with a beautiful Solstice from Michigan:


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Here's the 3 of us Solstice owners: rlc222, the Michigan visitor, and Gizmo:


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A close up of the interior of our Michigan friend:


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I'm following rlc222 through one of the tunnels leading to Mt Rushmore:


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Here's MARiSOL with the four Presidents in the background:


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Here's a better photo of the four Presidents:


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Here's Gizmo with his good friend George. Well, you have to look way up high and behind MARiSOL to see George:


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Zoomed in photo of George's profile:


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One last look at George:


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#71 ·
My deep gxp is in the Shop having ghost flames done on the hood. While looking through the painters book of photos of work he has done , there is the car that gizmo took pictures of out at mt. rushmore. with the fire on it. Sure enough its the same guy that painted that car is painting mine . Lives less than a mile from me. What a small world
 
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well, on the home stretch, heading south to see the Capitol Building in Cheyenne, Wyoming:


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The next day stopped by the Capitol Building in Denver, Colorado:


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A little farther south to visit the US Air Force Academy:


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More of the USAFA:


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What a beautiful plane, a B-52 bomber:


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And a front view of the bomber, count the jet engines on this baby. The two smudges on the right side of the photo are rain drops. The thunderstorm is arriving!


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South to see the Capitol Building in Santa Fe, New Mexico:


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The next day continued on to UFO City, also know as Roswell, NM. This alien didn't have a driver license so I didn't let him have the keys to MARiSOL:


Spent the night in west Texas and visited the Nimitz Museum Bookstore the next day in Fredricksburg, TX. Continued on to the most impressive Capitol Building, in Austin, Texas:


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#17 ·
Well, I left Houston on June 13, 2006, got back home July 5, 2006. I spent 23 days on the road, drove 11,071 miles, burned 442.05 gallons of gasoline which cost $1,424.73.

This was the most wonderful vacation of my life. I saw the most beautiful places in the United States and Canada.

I learned to get off the interstates and see the US, hear the US, even smell the US. The national parks are truly the treasures of our country.

All during my trip, I kept looking over at my passenger seat, wishing there was a geologist there to answer my hundreds and hundreds of questions. Why is this, why is that, how did that happen?

I met some of the most wonderful people, all of us drawn together by our love for the Pontiac Solstice.

In conclusion, I can only say:

WHAT A RIDE!

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#18 ·
Wow Giz, really nice photos and comments. Looks like you had a great time! I know what you mean about getting off the highways and visiting the "real" parts of the US. Did that on the way from Arizona to Pennsylvania a few years back and had fun.

On my way back from the nationals I plan on taking my time and visiting some nice places.
 
#28 ·
Was part of that AZ to PA on Route 66? I'm sure you saw plenty of special places along the way. How about the Ozarks? Incredible.

After Nashville you should join the group doing the Tail of the Dragon. Not sure what to see after that, but let me know where you're headed.

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#29 ·
:cool: WOW!!! You know how I love to look at others pictures and these were incredible!:cool: Thank you so much! I must go to Crater Lake - that is my favorite place in your pics! BTW - I never knew you could be speechless! LOL:lol:
As to solli's trip - I posted on here thread many times! Loved her pics, too!:cool:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Yep, took my breath away even! You will love Crater Lake. I intend to spend more time there next time. I've heard you can go down to the lake and take a boat cruise! :cool:

Yes, I still return to solli's thread to enjoy her photos as well.

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#20 ·
Great shots, Giz!
Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
 
#31 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful country when I get back to the Atlantic, maybe the Boxwood Plant tour in your state! :cool:

I would love a tour of our very own Mecca. Thanks for originating that term for us, Slicer. :grouphug:

Awesome! Thanks.:dthumbs:
Thanks, mcurrier. You just gotta take the time and get out on the road. Freedom!

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#32 ·
Thanks, Giz! :thumbs:

Karen and I are already planing future trips in Muirne. You've certainly given us lots of places to go!

See you in April, Lord willing, in Lubbock!!
Hey, guys, be sure to check the regions where you plan to visit and try to be there for Solstice meets, makes the trip even better! :cool: :cool: :cool:

I originated my trip to coincide with the Lake Tahoe meet, which worked out great. I had hoped to make the Columbia River Gorge meet two weeks later, but I ran late, missed it by ONE day! :brentil:

But I also met up with Solitud, Blasterd, and rlc222 along the way, missed whitefang because he was out of town. I'll plan better next time.

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#57 ·
:agree: Ditto the whole response except "Muirne"!

My Karen and I are also planning the next few years road trips and hope to see you in April! :seeya:

Thanks for the inspiration! I'm already :willy: thinking of the road trips planned for this year.:thumbs:
 
#23 ·
Great pictures !!! By any chance were there any of you driving through Angels Camp on or around June 16th while heading up to Lake Tahoe ?? I think there were 5 or 6 of ya'll. If so, saw you guy's in a gas station in Angels Camp, I wanted to turn around and say Hi, but had a boat behind me and it would have been difficult to turn around. I was heading up to New Malones Lake where a bunch my friends and I were renting a houseboat for the week. Anyway,, just wondering if that could have been ya'll.
 
#33 ·
I came up from Sequoia National Park to Lake Tahoe, had to make it quick to arrive on time. So I didn't see Angels Camp, but I was there many many years ago.

You probably saw some of the southern California Forum members there. Check the Lake Tahoe meet thread.

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#25 ·
Thanks For Sharing, Giz.....Great Pics!! Great Trip!!

Gizmo,

I think that ALL of us here on the Forum just love your pictures. Your final, overall thoughts of your trip gave me the answers to the questions that I had jotted down during my trip through your trip. WATTA TRIP! Makes me want to get that agenda on my list of “Things To Do When I Retire”.

Can’t believe that you went alone. Wasn’t it lonely sometime? Do you think you would have had more fun with a buddy? Also, I noticed that your ‘top’ was down when the snow was on the ground. Did you drive with the top down all the way? Or, was I just not paying attention to some of your pics that might have had the top up?? My head is spinning so I just can’t go back to your pictures right now to review them.

Thanks for taking the time to show us how great and beautiful our Country is!! U.S.A.!!
 
#36 ·
Gizmo,

I think that ALL of us here on the Forum just love your pictures. Your final, overall thoughts of your trip gave me the answers to the questions that I had jotted down during my trip through your trip. WATTA TRIP! Makes me want to get that agenda on my list of “Things To Do When I Retire”.

Can’t believe that you went alone. Wasn’t it lonely sometime? Do you think you would have had more fun with a buddy? Also, I noticed that your ‘top’ was down when the snow was on the ground. Did you drive with the top down all the way? Or, was I just not paying attention to some of your pics that might have had the top up?? My head is spinning so I just can’t go back to your pictures right now to review them.

Thanks for taking the time to show us how great and beautiful our Country is!! U.S.A.!!

Well, I did have my cousin Dan with me for five days, from Carson City, NV through Salt Lake City, Yellowstone, across Montana to Glacier National Park, down through Boise, ID, and back to CC. Let me tell you how special that was:

I had not seen Dan for about 50 years, we lost all communication. I got a call from him and his wife in Feb 2006 and flew out to visit in April. But those 5 days together in the Solstice were fanTAStic. Gave us time to share so many stories of ourselves. I'll always treasure those 5 days. Saw him again for Christmas, he'll be coming out to Texas later this year.

As for the Solstice top, if it is not raining and the temperature is at least 50 degrees, the top is DOWN! OK, I cheated for a few hours in southern Arizona. I put the top up and turned on the A/C. :willy: :willy: :willy:

I left Houston June 13 and did not see a drop of rain until July 1. How's that for good luck? :cool:

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#26 ·
Fabulous pics, Love the Canadian Rockies, they're a whole different feel than the Colorado Rockies, or Wyoming, even Montana! Now I *have* to get out west this year, it's been far too long, you're making me go into withdrawal now!!!
 
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