All the Way

On August 10, I was on a Pacific beach on the west coast of the United States. 

On August 11, I was heading east on a road I had never traveled over terrain I had never seen. This phase of my adventure would take me through thirteen american states and four canadian provinces, literally from one ocean to the other.  

I was excited. I was ready. And my camera batteries were charged.

Nevada (2), just beyond the Oregon (1) border.

Stop the Car moment.

Actually, it was stop the truck, u-turn into the desert, go back a couple hundred feet and THEN get out to shoot...

...because chances are there won't be a "next time".

 Made it to Utah (3) on day one and spent the night at the Sinclair Truckstop on the Lincoln Highway. I was sleepy, and it was dark, so I was super-shocked to wake up and find I had slept... HERE. 

Did you know Utah has salt flats? Because I didn't know Utah has salt flats.

Mildly entertaining side story: everything Canadian about me expected this surface to be slippery. There I was, penguin-walking across what is probably the least ice-like surface imaginable. I know... it's salt. Salt flats, Salt Lake City... duh. And yet, in my head, forty years of life experience had taught me walking would be slick and my brain was having nothing to do with actual logic.

 Then, just a little further down the road: this. For miles.

Just beyond that?

 Great Salt Lake.

Stop the Car.

Again.

The Echo Reservoir, still in Utah along the I-80 Lincoln Highway, just shy of Wyoming.

And there it is: Wyoming (4). 

Green River, to be precise.

Nebraska = corn. And corn = Nebraska (5).

Iowa (6) is windmills and gorgeous farm land.

It was nighttime in Illinois (7) so there wasn't much photo-taking, but in Indiana (8) at the Indiana Dunes National Park I got my very first glimpse of the Great Lakes.

 Lake Michigan.

And I did get a photo of Illinois after all. Hello over there, Chicago!

Up through Michigan (9) and across the border into Ontario (1) where I realized I was a 45-minute drive from one of Canada's biggest tourist attractions. I spent that night in Hamilton and the first few hours of the next day walking the border between Ontario, Canada and New York, USA - better known as Niagara Falls.

Pretty flowers...

...and I'm on my way again.

The Long Sault Parkway on the Saint Lawrence River.

Moving back south of the border into New York State (10).

"No Parking, Private Property"

But... but... but... scenic random stone walls!

 

Small town New York.

And even smaller town Vermont.(11) 

I was tired. 

I hit New Hampshire (12) and Maine (13) and continued back into Canada all in one day only stopping for gas along the way. I slept in St Stephen, New Brunswick (2) and started fresh the next day. During my first rest stop in Saint John, New Brunswick though, I met up with a friend who kindly took me on a bit of a photographic tour of the city.

Martello Tower

and the city of Saint John from the tower.

"You haven't been to Saint John unless you have this picture." 

Reversing falls, eh?

The rapids (or falls) of the Saint John River reverse direction and flow north to south or south to north dependent on the level of the tides in the Bay of Fundy. Despite the depth of the water, boats traveling through the area are required to wait until the tides have peaked on one end or the other for the water to be calm enough to be properly navigated. 

Speaking of the tides of the Bay of Fundy, my next Stop the Car moment was in the tiny fishing village of Alma, where I was able to take my camera out onto the ocean floor.

Then onto another east coast tourist attraction on the Atlantic: Hopewell Rocks.
Again, a little out of my way, but it was well worth the trip now that I no longer live only a 3-hour drive away.

I spent way more time in New Brunswick than I had anticipated so I had to cut out some visits in Nova Scotia (3) and make very few stops at all in order to make my 11 pm ferry. But by the night of August 21, I was on my way to my most eastern destination: the town of Stephenville on the island of Newfoundland. (4)

And here it is:

Gift shop and cafe.

Imagine this was your view every morning!

Blue Beach, on the Port Au Port Peninsula was a great spot for shooting, and for reflecting on a journey that had taken me all the way across an entire continent.

On August 22, I was on an Atlantic beach on the east coast of Canada...