Leisurely packing for the past week so the final push this morning was a walk in the park! We rolled out just after 6am on our way to Whiskey Thief Distilling in Kentucky.

A truly bucolic spot, sheep & lambs to one side & rolling meadows to the other. We took little T Rex for a stroll over to the tasting room where he was greeted by a chorus of adoring fans calling out “Oh look at the PUPPY!” (The whiskey tastings MAY have contributed to the enthusiastic greeting…!) But I prefer to think the bouncy floofy pup truly spreads happiness with his sparkly eyes & joyful smiles! He is happiness personified & everyone he meets is his new best friend! Such a lovable goofball!

The weather has been wonderful! Last night was Gothenburg Nebraska, where we spotted our first Sinclair dinosaur! Teeny tiny T Rex loved walking thru the lakeside park at the end of the day!

Today we rolled on thru high plains of Wyoming seeing high mountains capped with snow and our first herds of antelopes. We also spied our first Kum & Go minimart which always brings a laugh! Clearly we ARE easily amused!

We’re using Waze as our gps, with Red from Fraggle Rock as our voice! It’s a gamefied gps that rewards you for reporting road hazards. Pretty cute, and we’ve progressed from Waze baby to Waze adult so far!

The hardest, most boring days across America are the high plains of Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, & Idaho. Fortunately highway speeds are usually 80 mph. Once the pronghorn herds are spotted there really isn’t anything else of interest. Miles & miles of exits with nothing there…

Thursday is a short driving day so we can stay at our favorite Harvest Host – Copper Belt Winery in Baker City, Oregon! We started the day at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. Very cool place!

There was a massive utterly unexpected waterfall crashing down from a brown butte, a partial rainbow, and the Snake river scenic overlook! Very pretty valley!

We took a detour to Glenns Ferry, Idaho to visit their Oregon Trail museum detailing the three islands crossing,

Then it was a stop at The Cheese Fairy & Copper Belt tasting room at Baker City where Travis’ sister set us up with delicious cheeses & his mother gave us a wine tasting! Six bottles in the wine backpack & one for tonight! Yum!!!

Ahhh! Wide open spaces, peaceful solitude! Copper Belt winery is always good for the soul! We have the whole place to ourselves also! Pleasant temps, nice breeze, great wine, absolute perfection!

And just like that our trip TO the west coast is accomplished! Yay us! We’ve earned another Waze promotion!!! We’re now Waze Warriors! I feel SO accomplished – LOL!