Nine Great Driving Destinations

Irv Gordon and his multi-million mile Volvo were in Lindsborg recently as the Volvo Car Club held its annual gathering in conjunction with Lindsborg’s Midsummer’s celebration last June. Juliana found this press release and I wanted to pass it along; Lindsborg is in some good company in this listing! Here’s the quote about Lindsborg; the full article follows below the fold:

Lindsborg, Kan. (a.k.a. Little Sweden) “Lindsborg is a real taste of Sweden hidden 150 miles west of Kansas City. The town is beautiful, neat as a pin and the townsfolk are just as friendly as can be. Swedish pancakes and other specialties are served in almost every restaurant in town. Swedish Midsommer celebrations with Swedish folk dancing take place in June each year. Don’t forget to stop by the bison ranch nearby and check out the wildlife.”

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On Sunday we remained closer to “home”, first visiting the Palo Baylands Preserve followed by a stroll through the Elizabeth F. Gamble garden. Photos below and on Flickr.

On Saturday we went to San Francisco; taking photos was definitely part of the plan.

We started out at the bottom of “crookedest street”, Lombard Street, took a few pictures and then drove around the block so we could drive down Lombard. That’s always fun, and the last time we did it, our cousin was visiting, and she rode down Lombard with her head stuck up through our sun roof!

I also took photos of Alcatraz from a few different locations in the area, and then we got to Fort Point in time to get some pretty good photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, which was nicely illuminated by the morning light.

Our drive up the coast towards Bolinas was beautiful, but I didn’t take too many pictures.

Below are interspersed images of Lombard Street, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, followed by a few photos of the coast north of the city. Flickr hosts a larger set of my San Francisco 2008 images.

Friday afternoon we drove down the coast from Highway 92 down to Santa Cruz. It was a beautiful day, with no wind and warm temperatures. We had a nice drive and ended up back in the valley in time for dinner at Krung Thai.

Here are a few of the photos from the afternoon; more are available on Flickr.

View above Pescadero beach.
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It’s nice to see the ice plants making a come-back.
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Bean Hollow State Beach.
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Greyhound Rock.
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On the Santa Cruz pier.
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The roller coaster at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
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Seal performing for treats.
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On Sunday we continued west, passing through Pagosa Springs and Durango before taking a left at Cortez.

In Pagosa Springs we found a bakery that had a cinammon roll I’m going to try and recreate when I get home. The dough wasn’t overly sweet and had a taste like Sally Lund bread. The old Chuckwagon restaurant in Lindsborg used to serve dinner rolls that were similar to those found in Pagosa Springs, though smaller and with a more “normal” bread taste, not the richness of Sally Lund.

After leaving Cortez we passed through Four Corners, where we did a little shopping at the trading posts that surround the monument marking the intersection of 4 states. We then spent the late afternoon north of Kayenta, Arizona, photographing and exploring Monument Valley.

Monday morning we passed through the Grand Canyon on our way down to interstate 40. We made it to Barstow before stopping for the day and arrived in Palo Alto on Tuesday afternoon.

On both Saturday, Sunday and Monday the air was hazy, reducing photo quality, but I managed to take a few images worth sharing. The first few pictures are from central Colorado, followed by some images taken around Monument Valley and finishing with the Grand Canyon. No surprise, there are even more pictures on Flickr:
central Colorado, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon.