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Alaskan Burrito Quest 2005
Alaskan Burrito Quest 2005
12000 miles, 13 states, 4 provinces, 1 territory, 6 national parks,
2 continental divides, 5 time-zones, and 3 Taco Bells. Also 12 grizzlies,
5 moose, 2 porcupines, 1 Bald Eagle, 8 million flies, 1 fifteen foot
tall beaver, and a plethora of black bears, elk, caribou, mule deer,
bison, Canadians, mountain goats, Dall sheep, red foxes, wild horses,
arctic ground squirrels, pika, marmots, harbor seals, sea otters,
salmon (bitch and otherwise), golden eagles, hawks, falcons,
ducks, geese, and miscellaneous other critters.
(Click on photo for larger version, or select "medium" or "large"
links below each image).
Hitting the Road
Left Baltimore on Aug 22, heading roughly "up and to the left".
Corn Palace (SD):
The Corn Palace is a big brick building whose exterior is decorated
with corn, sort of like paint by numbers, with a new design every
year. They have a bathroom, so they got that going for them.
There's also an auditorium inside, and two weeks later, the band
Loverboy was scheduled to perform there. I wanted to wait.
We also stopped at Wall Drug in Wall, SD, which also has a fine bathroom.
This is a genuine piece of Americana which, like every remote rural
tourist attraction west of the Mississippi, appears to be staffed entirely
by 20-year-old Russians.
Badlands NP (South Dakota)
Mount Rushmore
Devil's Tower, WY
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(medium,
large)
| gave their lives so that I might eat a 7-layer burrito in Alaska
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Glacier NP (Montana)
Two years ago I met a nice older couple in a motel laundry room
in Cody, Wyoming who said I simply had to go to Glacier NP.
OK. It was real purty.
Banff NP (AB, BC)
Crossed the US/Canada border into Alberta on Aug 28.
We were well below the allotments of 48 beers and $10000
in cash, and didn't look too threatening to Canadian homeland
security, and so were mostly just waved through. As always,
an initial flashing moment of confused, short-lived elation,
followed by embarrassment and eyes-rolling, at the sight of
the first "110" speed limit sign, or $1.35 at the pumps.
Friggin' metric system...
Lake Louise
Banff NP (a second time), Jasper NP
Moving right along...
The cleverly named "Giant Beaver Statue" of Beaverlodge, AB.
Hey, Dauphin,
your beaver's Beaverlodge's beaver's bitch!
Continue to Page 2.
Harry Mantakos /
harry@meretrix.com
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