It was hard to capture good lighting in a lot of the areas, but these are some of the better ones!
Prairie Dog Adventures
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Beatin the Heat in the Southwest!
As we approach the state line into Texas, I can honestly say that the Southwest has blown me away and been my favorite part of the trip. Starting with the Hoover Damn, to the Grand Canyon, to Santa Fe then Carlsbad Caverns – it’s all been absolutely beautiful and a part of the country that I have had little exposure to. The heat has actually been bearable, especially since it is so dry here, the humidity is not an issue so it is way more tolerable than the same temperatures back east.
We took a detour to see the Hoover Dam as we left Vegas and it was really, really incredible. What an enormous project that took so many years and took some lives of the men who were working there. We honestly felt like our car was going to blow up from the amount of power cables and towers everywhere. I think this was our hottest stop at 110 degrees. I now understand why Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings – I wouldn’t want an extra hour of that intense heat either!
Our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon is something I will never forget. This has been a place where I have wanted to come for many, many years – for obvious reasons. The scene doesn’t even look three dimensional, it looks like a beautifully painted landscape. We decided to head to the campground to set up our tent and eat some sandwiches before heading back to the lookout point to watch the sunset. From that point we couldn’t see the actual sun setting, but the colors that reflected off of the rocks was awesome. Mather Point was very crowded though, so we decided that the next night we would venture a little off track and go to a point further east so we would have a better view of the sun.
We obviously wanted to take complete advantage of our only full day in the park – which we knew would be semi-difficult in the middle of July because of the heat. We kicked it off bright and early by going on a 7am ranger-guided hike about a mile and a half into the canyon. This was from the South Kaibab trailhead, and although the size of the group was huge, we decided it was time to do a ranger guided activity. Ranger Rob pointed out several things that we would not have noticed on our own, and gave us a lot of history behind the canyon and the current wildlife. The hike down to the river would have been an additional 5.5 miles – and not a terribly intelligent hike to do during the day in the middle of July. We were quite satisfied with this length and difficulty level of the hike. It got hot fast – so we were glad to be done climbing out around 10am.
We spent the afternoon on the Rim Trail on the western side of the park. We would generally walk about a mile, then hop on the shuttle for a few stops, then hop back out to continue walking. It was a great way to see a lot of views from the rim, without overworking ourselves and staying cool/hydrated.
After heading back to the campsite and having some dinner/washing up a bit – we hopped on a shuttle to Yaki Point (on the east side near where we had been early that morning). This overlook gives an awesome view both of the sun and the canyon, so it was perfect and we had PRIME seats – definitely the best seats in the house (probably because we were perched on a rock and people did not want to get that close to the edge). I think I took about 50 photos of the sunset – of course these are the best of the best.
Early to bed, early to rise as usual. We headed out the eastern entrance to make our way over to Santa Fe and saw some great just after sunrise colors from Desert View. My time at the Grand Canyon absolutely lived up the expectations that I held – if not surpassed. I would LOVE to do another trip there in the future and backpack down to the river and stay down in the canyon for a few nights. It is certainly in the works.
On to Santa Fe!! So this stop originally made the list when my friend Steve was kind of contemplating joining us for this trip and he mentioned that he had family in Santa Fe. Well, after he bailed, he still kindly asked his cousin Sandra if she would host us for a night in Santa Fe. She graciously said yes! As it turned out, she was going to be in Vegas the night we were going to be in Santa Fe. She STILL said we could stay at her house and make ourselves at home – so we did just that! It was such a cute house and Aly and I fell in love with Santa Fe. The architecture is so unique to that region and the downtown Plaza area of historic Santa Fe was precious. We now understand where the state motto “The Land of Enchantment” comes from. Sandra had some great suggestions for shopping and eating, and we took them and ran with it. The jewelry made by the local Native Americans is absolutely gorgeous – but unfortunately most of it is out of my budget range. We did find some reasonable things that we bought which made us super happy.
After shopping (and lots of window shopping) we settled down for a few beers at the Marble Brewery then headed to Hall of Fame Cowgirl for some authentic New Mex Tex Mex. We both thoroughly enjoyed the food and drinks and headed home thereafter to throw in some laundry and take showers. After 4 short hours of sleep, we were on the road around 5am and saw an awesome New Mexico sunrise.
We had reservations for a ranger guided tour at Carlsbad Caverns at 11am, and it was about a 5 hour drive so an early departure from the lovely Santa Fe was necessary. We were dead tired in the car this morning, but after a crucial stop at Sonic for some coffee and shakes, we were good to go. Arrived at Carlsbad Caverns around 10:30, perfect timing for the tour- which was AWESOME. Ranger Amy was great and we got to see the King’s Palace – the original section of the cave that was discovered by Jim White in the early 1900s. The rooms we got to explore are only open for ranger guided tours and they were absolutely beautiful. The formations were so cool and knowing the history and stories behind the cave really added to the experience. Super glad we did the guided tour - and then we did the self guided 1.2 mile tour through the Big Room, which is open for everyone to browse. Each time we turned another corner we were wowed by the cave formations. Super, super awesome place – and just so different from other stops that we have made on this trip.
So far our marathon day has been successful – we are hoping to arrive in Austin by midnight. Literally just a sleeping destination, and possibly breakfast in the morning. This will be our longest driving day – probably 14 hours total. We are planning on stopping for a solid dinner at some point in Texas – looking forward to that!
HIGHLIGHTS:
The free shuttle system at the Grand Canyon was awesome – we definitely utilized it and it made seeing the park way easier and it was super convenient.
Ranger Rob at the Grand Canyon – what a freaking character. His sq
uirrel imitations were quite hilarious…
We were pleasantly surprised that the Grand Canyon was not as crowded as we were expecting. I guess because every single lookout and viewpoint is epic, that the crowds are more spread out rather than all clustered at the same main spots in the park.
Since we didn’t make it to Death Valley, we decided to insert the Petrified Forest on our itinerary – so we stopped there for a quick visit en route to Santa Fe! Pretty damn fascinating.
Sunsets, sunsets, sunsets.
Shopping, drinking and eating in Santa Fe! Cutest little downtown area.
Winning $5 on a lottery ticket!!
Guided tour at Carlsbad Caverns – Ranger Amy was great. The pictures are awesome. I also accomplished what I consider to be my most successful plank yet.
As we were leaving Carlsbad Caverns, a huge thunderstorm was rolling in and we could see the rain just sweeping across the field towards us. So cool.
NOT SO GLORIOUS HIGHLIGHTS:
We unfortunately did not see a California Candor. Of course, we knew that would be a rare sighting, but it would have been epic to see a bird with a 9+ foot wingspan.
Packing up the tent and sleeping bags for good! I think about 1/3 of the total trip was spent camping and besides the night in Yellowstone where we were terrified of getting killed by grizzlies, we slept very well in the tent!
Getting a little lost while trying to find LilMoos after having dinner at Hall of Fame Cowgirl. Obviously we weren’t paying too much attention. Thanks Andy & Chad for picking up my calls and guiding us in the right direction!
We’ve been collecting the WPA (works progress association) lost art postcards, which are the original art pieces from the Federal Art Project that were rediscovered. We have not found the Crater Lake one! Badlands never had one that was recovered, but we are determined to somehow find the Crater Lake card.
We wish we had more time at Carlsbad Caverns to see the bat migration that happens at dusk. I have seen one before (in Lake George about 8 years ago) and it was awesome.
Thank you SO much to cousin Sandra for your generous hospitality and letting the two of us stay at your place when you weren’t even there! It is greatly, greatly appreciated – and hopefully you won when you were in Vegas!! Loved the Southwest! I will be back!!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
A Day in the Life
A lot of things go on daily that aren’t really associated with a place or stop, but are just kind of ongoing. Let me clue you in to a few::
We have some trip songs:: When arriving at a destination, we play “Hello” by Martin Solveig
When we need a pick me up, we play the Free Willy Theme Song – “I Will Be There” by MJ
If we had a version of it, we would play Willy Nelson’s “On the Road Again” – but we don’t, so we just sing it instead.
We basically live off of turkey and cheese sandwiches. Sometimes we get crazy and get a new kind of cheese or bread – like bagel thins or pitas, so exciting.
The cheapest we’ve paid for gas was $3.39, the most expensive was $4.47.
We mostly use the Atlas for our driving routes, then we plug in Penny (GPS) when we are in cities since our maps aren’t small enough scale. Only once (en route to Yosemite) did we get turned around. Some detours here and there, but Rand McNally has been treating us well.
We have far and away paid off our National Parks Annual Pass – we each paid $40. Average entrance fee is $20 per vehicle, so that was a worthy investment.
Hopefully lots of you have been receiving all of the postcards that I have been sending! If you want some, give me your address! I still have plenty of stops coming up…
We have felt way more “at home” in National Parks than in any city. We are good at navigating them and are super efficient. Did you know that park rangers go to the same academy that FBI agents do and they hold the same authority status that agents do? Yeah, neither did we. We have made some pretty sweet park ranger friends along the way. They are their own breed.
We buy a lottery ticket (or something equivalent – like gambling) in each state. We have only won in Illinois – where we just got the money back haha. One of these states….
I’m sure there’s more, but for now those are some solid snippets into my everyday life on the road.
SoCal - A Vacation from a Vacation
This leg of our trip proved to be incredibly enjoyable – largely in part because we weren’t traveling long distances between the different stops so we had lots of time to relax! Well…once the Price is Right experience was over that is. I’ll start with LA!
Arrived to Joel’s apartment – showered up then went to In & Out Burgers for Aly’s first experience. Tatenda joined us which was fun and the burgers and fries tasted as I remembered - animal style. We took it east that night and just hung out at Joel’s apartment with him, Bree and Tatenda just catching up and relaxing. I got about 3 hours of sleep once my alarm went off at 3:45am. And the adventure to the Price is Right began. We got down to the studio around 4:45 and got in line with a bunch of other people – we were surprised how few people were there in comparison to other stories we had heard. But we got out our blanket and continued our epic game of war that had been going on for about a week and a half. We made friends with a couple who was on the same roadtrip as us just in the opposite direction. We traded stories, gave each other tips about upcoming stops and wound up spending the whole day with them – Andy and Maddy. They were great. Eventually we made it into the gates around 8am. We were told by friends who had gone in the past that once you get your actual ticket, then they give you about two hours until you have to be back in the studio – giving you time to get breakfast, etc. Well apparently this process had been changed and we were in there for good.
Needless to say it was another 4 hours of sitting and waiting – getting our nametags written, checking our IDs, taking our photos, etc. My nervous really started getting the best of me when it was time to get interviewed. The producer took groups of about 12 and went down the line and asked each of us a question. Well our group’s question was “what do you do?” how boring. And of course I blew it. Instead of saying something crazy and out there I did say that I was a student. I stuck in a bit about traveling and such, but the 10 seconds of opportunity didn’t really go my way. Oh well, we were convinced our friend, Melvin, that we had met would get on because he killed it.
But once we got into the studio – OH MY GOD. Magical – everything that I had imagined and more. So bright, so loud, people everywhere on stage scouting out the crowd. It was literally a party in there – everyone was up and dancing and singing. The crew seemed awesome – so energetic and George was out talking to us and telling us all of the rules and the layout of the show. The next 90 minutes flew by. It was so loud in there, and there were so many cameras swooping above the audience and around stage that it was difficult to even follow what was going on. Drew was awesome – he talked to the audience during every commercial break and was hilarious and personable. AND SO SKINNY! Needless to say, when we walked out of the studio around 230 I was exhausted. Barely had a voice after yelling and cheering and shouting out numbers. Hadn’t eaten a thing since In & Out the previous night – and was running on 3 hours of sleep. But I would have done it again the next day in a heartbeat. I cannot wait to go back.
After grabbing lunch with Joel, we hit the road to Newport.
It was so great getting to see Jeannie and spend time with her and see her new place. It was been a few years since the last time I was out to Cali to see her. We relaxed and showered and caught up for a bit. Then headed to Café Rio for Taco Tuesday! The tacos were awesome and I got to meet a lot of her friends that I have been hearing about for years. So that was fun – then we moved on to Blue Beet – a bar where they play 80s music on Tuesdays. Did lots of dancing and mingling with friends. It was an interesting feeling being out at the bars with a whole group of people who are in AA – quite a different scene than I’m used to but it was fun! Jeannie said that AA is taking over the bar scene in Newport which is pretty funny considering.
When Jeannie left for work the next morning, we headed to the train station to pick up Meg! She has been in San Diego for about a week – she’s in the process of moving out there for grad school. Her annual family vacation with her Dad & Stepmom was in Dana Point this year, which is right by Newport! Dates worked out perfectly since a lot of the family wasn’t coming out for a few more days – they were gracious enough to invite us to their rented house for a night! While we waited for her family to get to the house from the airport, the three of us went to the beach for a few hours heard about her past week in SD – starting work and apartment hunting. So fun seeing friends from home on the other side of the country!
When we pulled up to the house we were so excited – IT WAS HUGE! And absolutely gorgeous – everything you would ever need. We had our own bedroom since some of the family wasn’t arriving for a few days – pool and hottub, great kitchen, bar, pool table. Now this, was a vacation house. We spent the next 24 hours with the Kennedy’s doing everything from grocery shopping, drinks at the house, an awesome dinner out, hottubbing, and beach time. Jeannie joined us after she got out of work on Wednesday night – and we are all so thankful and appreciative to Meg’s family for having us! It was great seeing you guys and being a small part of your family vacation!!
Next Stop: VEGAS! We were so excited, but the stop turned out to be rather anticlimactic and low key for us due to logistical dilemmas. We were supposed to stay with my friend, Chris, from Semester at Sea. Although we did meet up with him after work – it turns out that he lived about 25 minutes from the strip and had to work at 6am the next morning (none of which I was aware of). So by this time it is about 9pm and we are deciding whether to just sleep in LilMoos for the night or get a hotel. Since it was still 102 degrees at this hour, we decided a hotel would be the best option. We did walk around for awhile – saw the Bellagio Fountains, walked through a few casinos and had been having some drinks since we got there. Finding a hotel proved more difficult than we imagined, but eventually we landed a room at Circus Circus around 1230am. A place that I realllllly wouldn’t recommend to anyone, haha. But it was cheap and we went forth with the decision. Sadly, we crashed when we got to the room. We were still salty/sandy from the beach and were really just exhausted. Vegas = Fail.
We did get up pretty early the next morning and saw/did what we wanted to see. Went to the Venetian, got some breakfast, and hit a few casinos. Good News:::: I hit in Roulette! #24 comes through!!! So all in all, I think I spent about $10 in Vegas – covering hotel, food, drinks, etc. Not too shabby. I know I’ll be back to Vegas again in the future – with a good crew and with proper planning. So I was OK with this stop. I’ll do it big next time!
So basically, this was a vacation during our vacation. Price is Right (which I’ve been waiting to go on for about a decade), beach time, more awesome food, family time, etc. It was awesome. But – we were ready to hit the road from Cali when it was all said and done. Thank you Joel, Bree, Tatenda, Jeannie and Megan for being awesome hosts. It was great seeing you guys in your new places and areas – glad to see you are all loving life in Cali!
GLORIOUS MOMENTS:::
-In & Out with JoelyStrombole and seeing his life in LA – can’t believe you’re out on the left coast Roomie!
-Someone getting called down right in front of us – and behind us during the show so we definitely got some face time.
-Meeting some awesome, some wacky people on line and seeing the wide mix that the Price is Right draws in. Andy and Maddy were great. Swapping tripping stories with them was super fun.
-The whole time I was there I could not stop thinking about my grandfather – the one who introduced me to the Price is Right when I was a little girl – and watching it with him every morning down at the shore. He would have been so proud that I actually made it to a recording!
-Café Rio and Blue Beet with Jeannie and friends for a solid Tuesday night out. And having to take birthday shots FOR the birthday boy since he’s sober and convinced me that SOMEONE had to do them since he couldn’t. Can’t say no to that!
-Beach time at Dana Point and Laguna Beach – finally got some good sun!
-Drinks at a rooftop bar followed by dinner at a Tapas bar with the Kennedy’s – Jeannie, Timmy, Jim (Meg’s brother and stepbrother) and I shared all of our dishes and it was so delicious.
-Late night drinks and hottub session back at the vacation house.
-Seeing Vegas for what it’s worth and knowing that I’ll be back for an epic time in the near future (hopefully with Jeannie!)
-HITTING #24 ON ROULETTE. THAT ONE’S FOR YOU DARREN!! We always play it, and it finally PAID off! -The weather was pretty awesome. A little overcast, but totally great – sunshine, warmth, yessss.
NOT SO GLORIOUS MOMENTS:::
-Actually having tickets to the afternoon recording of the Price is Right – but convinced the guy checking tickets that we were only in LA for the morning and HAD to go to this taping (nonetheless we had been standing in line for 3 and a half hours already). He was great and let us in! phew!
-Blowing my 10 seconds with the producer to make a claim for myself.
-Not hearing “Arianne Templeton – come on down! You’re the next contestant on the PRICE IS RIGHT!!” I’ve been waiting to hear that for years – it’ll happen one day!
-No cameras allowed in CBS studios, so couldn't get any documentation. bummer.
-Tolls and traffic in California – not a fan.
-The HEAT driving to Vegas – hit 112 in the desert and then it was about 104 in Vegas. Thankfully it was dry heat, but still – DAMN.
-Getting kind of stood up by Chris – or rather just misinformed I guess. But if we had that info/realization earlier we could have planned more accordingly. Ohhhh wellll.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Cali Part One!
Going to attempt to recap San Fran and Yosemite – but we crammed so much in that I might forget some spots here and there. After driving through the Redwoods (which was awesome), we arrived in San Fran right around dinner time. Dropped our stuff at Heather’s, found some street parking and went out to dinner. I hadn’t seen Heather since last summer, so it was awesome catching up with her and hearing all about her new life out in San Fran. It was a perfect first night of great Thai Food, froyo for dessert and heading back to her apartment reasonably early to get settled, showered, and a good night’s sleep since we planned on doing a lot of walking and exploring the next day.
We new the biggest hassle was going to be finding street parking and then moving the car around all day. Most spots are 2 hour parking and for those of you who have been to San Fran and know the hills are KILLER STEEP I was a bit intimidated, but it worked out well. We found 4 hour parking down by the piers and spent that time down at the Fisherman’s warf and the piers. Saw some sites, ate some chowder, got some good exercise – solid morning. Then we called up Heather around 3 because she said she would try to get out of work around then – and we met her down in Chinatown and walked around there and did some shopping. Eventually went to dinner, and then grabbed some drinks afterward in the Marina. By that time we had more or less seen the majority of the neighborhoods downtown and felt pretty oriented with San Fransisco. We headed back to her apartment (on Russian Hill) and got ready to head out for the night with some of her friends. Took a bus down to Mission and we thoroughly enjoyed the bar scene down there. A) It was cheap. B) Music was great C) Everyone was super nice and friendly – except for the bartenders. Made me miss my bartender boys in Ithaca!! And we ended the night at a place called Double Duchess (sp?) where it was basically DJ Jazzy Jeff beats. Awesome.
On Saturday morning we went down to the Haight and had a great breakfast and did some shopping and exploring that area. Very cool part of the city and I could only imagine what the Summer of 67 was like there. For the remainder of the day we did a driving tour of the rest of the city that we didn’t see – Alamo Square and the Pink Lady Houses (traditional, classic, beautiful Victorian homes), Golden Gate Park, Chrissy Park and the coast, etc. Unfortunately the weather for most of the trip was overcast so we didn’t get great views. But coming over the Golden Gate Bridge was awesome. San Fran was definitely way colder than we anticipated. People in fleeces and boots and they said that was normal! We had no idea – silly me assuming that all of Cali is warm in July.
After our goodbyes with Heather, we headed across the Bay Bridge over to Oakland to head to Jeff’s house! Jeff and I went to Ithaca together and he is out in Oakland doing Americorps and working for Habitat for Humanity. Another friend, Liam, who also went to Ithaca (and then transferred to Cornell) lives out in San Fran and would also be joining us for the next two nights. After a wonderful dinner at the house, we all piled into LilMoos to head to Yosemite. It was quite a cozy ride for the boys in the backseat once we rearranged all of our stuff to attempt to clear two seats in the back for them.
It was quite an entertaining car ride that took a little too long, but we eventually made it to the campsite at 1230am. We actually had no idea if it was the right campsite, but we were fairly sure, so we set up the tent and were probably rather disruptive to the others, but the whole scene was just silly. Low and behold in the morning, all of Jeff’s coworkers were up and about so we were at the right site. Around 9 the rangers came along to lead the group up to the campground for the volunteer project and we all piled into the cars and followed him up there. The views were epic (which of course we couldn’t see during the drive in the previous night). After getting to the site and seeing the assignment, we realized there were way too many of us for the job, so several of us pretty much just wandered that area for a few hours until they were done. Having very little porch building experience, and the site being overcrowded as is, I didn’t even do as much as pick up a hammer. Oh well – I was willing to! In the early afternoon we packed up and the rest of the group strolled down to the lake to go swimming, but Jeff, Liam, Aly and I were more interested in going on a hike. We made our way back across the park to go see Vernal Falls, about a 5 mile round trip hike. It was called the Mist Trail for a reason. We ascended about 1400 feet total, and the highest point was around 8500 feet. The waterfall was gorgeous and the climb was steep so it was a great hike. There were a ton of people on the trail though so that took away from it all, but we took a different route for the descent and that was much more peaceful.
Back at the campsite we had an awesome kinwa salad and some sausages followed by smores. The leader of the trip whipped out the guitar and the remainder of the night revolved around drinking some beers, singing some songs and looking at the stars. We packed up our tent when we woke up this morning and headed back on the road – almost so Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks now!
HIGHLIGHTS:
We had some great meals in San Fransisco. Heather really hit the nail on the head and brought us to places that were awesome.
Riding on a cable car (kind of expensive, but a cool experience)
Taking a tour of the USS Pampanito Submarine. Quite amazing to see the quarters that the men lived in and the all of the machinery and design of the sub.
Attempting to do photo booth pictures at a bar with Aly & Heather, but when we discovered it wasn’t working, using our own camera and doing a photo shoot anyway.
DJ Jazzy Jeff beats at the last bar of the night in San Fran
Dinner and car ride with Jeff and Liam on the way to Yosemite
Cramming the four of us into LilMoos – and then into our 3 man tent the first night of camping. The second night, Liam opted to sleep outside ‘in the wilderness’.
Solid life chat with Jeff while sitting upon a log that crossed a nice creek – talked about past, future, jobs, location, friends, etc. It was awesome to catch up with him and reconnect with life a year post-grad.
Hike to Vernal Falls at Yosemite – loved the Mist Trail
Beers, food and music around the campfire with the Americorp folks
Seeing a pretty awesome night sky with endless stars
Avoiding carmageddon by a day when we head to LA
NOT SO GLORIOUS HIGHLIGHTS
Spent a whole lot of money in San Fran, but it was totally worth it – also they don’t really take credit cards anywhere? Weird.
The weather was much chillier than we were expecting – in the high 50s/mid 60s. (currently we’re in mid 90 degree weather en route to LA though so….one extreme to the next of summer weather)
Gas was $4.50 in Yosemite!
Sequoia National Park was cool – we’re only a few hours away from LA! Excited to see Joel, Bree and Tatenda! We won’t be around for too long because we have to be at the Price is Right tomorrow at 430am! All nighter anyone? I think maybe….
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Home Sweet....Oregon
Since I had been in Hood River, OR all of June…I was quite excited to come back to a familiar place. We actually were less productive than we intended to be, but this was partially due to weather. Our main agenda for the Hood River stop was rest, relaxation and some maintenance. We did lots of laundry, took more showers than we needed to, washed LilMoos and got her an oil change. We also hit up some breweries and a winery and we ate like queens. Chad made a great home cooked meal upon our arrival of grilled chicken, steak, vegetables and some roasted potatoes. We went out for dinner the second night, and before our departure, our last meal was grilled salmon, cous cous, zucchini and caprese salad. Absolutely delicious.
We spent an afternoon in Portland – went to a local Farmer’s Market and a sandwich shop called Buck Sandwiches, which has been featured for their wonderful creations on Dives, Diners and DriveIns. It lived up to its expectation to say the least. We got some great food from the farmer’s market – fresh raspberries and cherries and of course Chad’s favorite – some massive Snickerdoodle cookies. Portland was a cool city – very artsy and hipster. It wasn’t very busy or noisy at all, just a quaint little west coast city.
We also attempted a drive up to Mount Hood with the intention of going up the Magic Mile Chairlift to the summit. It was overcast in Hood River when we left, but once we made it up to the base of the mountain, it was raining. We decided that the ride up the lift would not be worth it because the view would not be visible and we would get soaked and be cold. So we opted out and just went down to Government Camp instead. It was weird to be back there – where I used to spend a few weeks every summer when I was in middle school. I hadn’t been back there in 9 years. Although the Huckleberry Shakes at the Huckleberry Inn were twice as expensive now, they were just as delicious as I had remembered them.
We left Hood River bright and early Wednesday morning for our trip to Crater Lake, about 5 hours south. Chad took off work for Wednesday and Thursday so he could join us since he hadn’t ventured down there yet. We successfully claimed a campsite in a partially opened campground where there was still a decent amount of snow on the ground. We were also informed that only two hiking trails were open in the park, and that the eastern half of the road around the rim were open. Albeit a little disappointing that they didn’t tell us this on the phone when we spoke to someone there the previous day, we did not let it put a damper on the absolute epicness of Crater Lake. The views from the rim were nothing short of spectacular and the water was so incredibly blue. We bundled up for our first (and would later realize only) hike of the afternoon up Garfield Peak which climbed up to over 8,000. The trail technically “closed” at some point, but we just continued up the path that had been established by footprints in the snow. We just wandered around the top of the peak for awhile in the snow and got awesome views not only of the lake and the rim but also of the valley surrounding the crater. Chad had fun pack sliding down a few of the faces and it was just awesome up there.
Of course as we attempted to hike the other “open trail” the road was closed. That one would have descended to lake level which would have been awesome, but oh well. Nothing we could do about it. We explored a few parts of the rim a little more and then headed back to the campsite where we made some chicken stir fry over the fire and roasted some marshmallows. The fire was necessary because the high of that day had been 50 – so as it was starting to get darker the temps were dropping. We attempted to see a sunset, but it was very cloudy so it wasn’t as awesome as we were hoping. But it was really cool and eerie driving around the rim through the cloud. Little to no visibility. After a cold night’s sleep we were up and out of Crater Lake by 7am in 33 degree weather. It was sad saying goodbye to Chad since we have spent so much time together this summer. But it was fun having him come on a short part of our trip and it was great staying at his place for a few days and reenergizing. Thanks for being a great host, Chad!!
HIGHLIGHTS:
Good food and drink – between home cooked meals, a dinner out, a brewery and a winery.
Open Mic Night at Naked Winery – good wine, good talent from local musicians and got to hang out with some of Chad’s friends that I got to know last month
Seeing Multnomah and Horsetail falls on the way to Portland
Every aspect of Crater Lake – it’s unbelievable that a place that looks like that exists in our country. The water is so blue and the view from the rim is something else.
Making our first meal over the fire at a campsite! (due to Chad’s presence). We have just been eating turkey sandwiches or eating Ramen because we are never at the campsite until it is time to go to bed – but it was great to make a fire and roast marshmallows!
NOT SO GLORIOUS HIGHLIGHTS::
The overcast weather which deterred us from getting to the summit of Mount Hood or going on a local hike. We took it as a sign though to actually take the afternoon off and relax.
Being slightly unprepared for sub 40 degree camping weather. Also that we were not warned the previous day about the condition of the park when we had called. Oh wellllll
Some pictures are on Chad’s camera, so I will post those once he emails them to me! More to come!
We just drove through the Redwoods which was quite a sight. Actually, we just drove THROUGH a Redwood. Not sure if it was worth $5, but it was a treat for LilMoos – gave her some excitement. Did a short 1-mile loop at one point and now we are en route to San Fransisco! Looking forward to some warmer weather and getting to another city!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Montana: Resistance is Utterly Futile
Beautiful Montana. So perhaps I loved this state because it was the first one on our journey that I had not yet ventured to previously in my life. However, I’m convinced it has been the most beautiful by far and we got to spend time with locals, which was also a pleasant change from the previous few stops.
After departing Yellowstone on Thursday afternoon, we took the quick hour and a half drive north to Bozeman. We stayed at Montana’s house – her brother and mom were so hospitable and it was nice to see them again. Dylan showed us a good time in Bozeman on Thursday night – there was a small street festival downtown with live music happening to we strolled down there and started the night off with some pizza and beer. We just wound up staying downtown all night – met lots of locals, drank beers and learned out to country dance. It was a fun night and the people there were all so friendly. It was cool to see where Montana grew up and it was a fun, young town. Thanks Dylan and Mrs. Mogk for having us! (Montana, your bed was comfortable, just wish you were there too!)
We departed for Glacier National Park pretty early in the morning (a tad bit hungover but bearable) with about a 7 hour drive ahead of us. After receiving advice from locals the previous night, we decided to head to the west half of the park. Generally, we would have started on the east side and traveled west on the Going to the Sun Road which is considered to be the most beautiful highway in the country. However, due to excessive snow fall this year, the middle of the road was still not cleared of snow – making it difficult for us to see both ends of the park in just a day and a half. We set up camp in Apgar campground which is right near the west entrance to the park. Then we drove up as far as we could go from the west side (16) miles and it was absolutely beautiful. The mountains were still covered in snow above us and Lake McDonald was gorgeous. We decided to do a short 5 mile hike that only climbed 500 feet to Lake Avalanche. The trail went along Avalanche Creek and had lots of great mini falls on the way. Once we got to the lake we could see six or seven small waterfalls in the distance coming down the face of several huge peaks. It was an awesome, awesome view. Also a nice easy hike – a little busy, but not steep so it didn’t tire us out. We saw the rest of the sites back down the Going to the Sun Road and returned to Apgar to see an awesome sunset from the south end of Lake McDonald. We couldn’t actually see the sun since it was beyond the mountains, but the colors were awesome. We both slept pretty well that night – bearspray right next to us in the tent.
After waking up early and seeking some advice from a volunteer who worked at the park that morning, we decided it was worth it to trek to the part of the Going to the Sun Road that was closed off to cars. They had shuttle buses taking visitors up an additional 10 miles to what is known as the Loop where views were said to be more amazing and there were a couple trailheads. We were told the hike to the Granite Peak Chalet – the only information we received from the volunteer was: ‘I met an Irish guy yesterday who said he did the whole four miles in two hours and it was awesome. He said there was some snow, but he had tennis shoes on and said it was fine. A short and steep hike.” With that information, we set out – luckily we had several layers because it was freezing in the morning (around 40 degrees) and we were wearing our hiking shoes. I had a granola bar and an apple and about a liter of water. GOOD THING. When we got to the trailhead (after taking up the shuttle with our packs), it said the trail would climb 2200 feet. I rationed that it would have to be a terribly steep trail to climb 2200 feet in only two miles. I soon realized that the guy only told the volunteer about the ascend – and that indeed the hike would be 8 miles round trip instead of 4. We planned on doing a long hike that day, but we thought it would be a different one in the afternoon. Oh well – here we were. It turned out to be an amazing hike – lots of deer along the way (one who guided us up the trail for about 15 minutes), amazing views and we met a lot of awesome people along the way. We soon realized that the majority of the people on the trail who were more than 2 miles up were either planning on staying the night at the chalet, or were coming down after staying up there for a night or two. After 3.2 miles in, the trail turned to snow – so that last part took a little longer, but the snow was soft and easy to grip. The final view was absolutely worth the hike up there. Absolutely breathtaking – it felt like I was standing on top of a mountain ready to ski down. And it was equally as cold – and exceptionally windy. We were as bundled as we could be but just sat on a bench in the sun and took it all in. Talked to a few families up there who were staying and it looked like an awesome side trip while at Glacier. The rooms were primitive – metal framed bunk beds and quite pricey ($89 for the first person, then $79 for each additional person in the room). But you are paying for the view, which is spectacular. We allowed about an hour and a half to get back down to catch a shuttle and by the time we sat down on the shuttle we were exhausted and starving. It took about 5 hours round trip with the stop at the chalet – so it took up most of our day. We drove around the west side of the park for a good chunk of the evening seeking out grizzlies and taking a hiatus at Lake Bowman, but nothing too exciting. Back at the campsite we wrote some postcards, organized the car, and read in the tent for a bit. It was an early, early night – but we figured we would be able to get up early to start the drive down to Oregon in the morning.
Which is what my status is now! Currently in Washington state, which is barren as can be. We had no idea – but it was been flatter than many of the Midwest states (we are on 395 running south from Spokane). Idaho was uneventful – not even any potato stands to be found.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Dylan attempting to teach me how to dance to country music – lots of spinning and dipping, but for those of you who know the story – NO DIPPING!
Drinking two dollar PBRs with a guy named Ezra who gave us so many good pointers about Glacier and what to do/where to camp/how to get there
Entering a $2 raffle for a Rifle at the Legion – of course I wrote Emily Mogk’s name and address down on the ticket, but my phone number
A guy at a bar attempting to hit on Aly but asking her if her necklace was made out of elk teeth.
The drive from Bozeman to Glacier was absolutely beautiful
The hike along Avalanche Creek and the view of Avalanche Lake with many huge waterfalls in the distance.
The sunset on Lake McDonald (and eating Ramen while watching)
The view from the Granite Peak Chalet and the fun people we met and talked to along the hike
The good night’s sleep on Saturday night
The neverending casinos that line the roads of Montana and Idaho (never knew these existed) – all computerized slot and poker machines. We figured we gambled enough in Montana by entering the rifle raffle.
NOT SO GLORIOUS HIGHLIGHTS:
Montana not being home when I was visiting her hometown =(
The middle of the Going to the Sun Road being closed, but it actually worked out since we were only there for a short time, we got to see a lot of the west side of the park.
The Glacier Park volunteer giving us inadequate information for the Granite Peak Chalet hike, but having a great time nonetheless with no casualties (we were some of the only hikers without hiking poles and crampons for the snow section)
Once returning to the car, Aly was getting out contents for lunch and she said, “Ari, do you want Cheez-Its or Roadkill with sandwiches?” She literally meant to say goldfish. We were clearly delirious from barely eating all day. Maybe you had to be there? Maybe not. We were dying of laughter.
All in all Montana was awesome. Had highly successful hikes and met awesome people. Thank you to our gracious hosts the Mogks for showers, food, beds, and great company. We had fun in Bozeman!
We are looking forward to showers and a home cooked meal at Chad’s house. It will be a few days of rest and relaxation – laundry, cleaning the car (LilMoos is DIRTY), getting an oil change. Also heading to Portland for a day and going up to Mount Hood. Then to Crater Lake!
PS along with planking in each visit, we also added buying a lottery ticket (or some type of gambling) and trying local beers in every state. We broke even in Illinois! And my favorite beer was actually in Cleveland at the Market Bier Brewery. Oregon will be some good competition.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Day 8 from the road and it just keeps getting better! Currently in Glacier National Park in Montana right now, but I’m going to backtrack a few days and share with you all my adventures in Badlands & Yellowstone.
Both parks were awesome and breathtaking – just as I remembered them from years and years ago during our family cross country adventure. Of course this time around I am appreciating it a lot more and we are really making the most out of each day.
We got into Badlands the night of the 4th just around sunset. We established ourselves at the Cedar Pass campground and got organized for the next day then hit the hay since we had been driving since 530am that morning from Chicago. Parts of the drive were awesome – the land around the Missouri River was beautiful and seeing windmills across Minnesota was a fun sight as well. Other times, not so exciting – but we made it! We woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning and had a full day planned out that the campgrounds keeper had recommended to us. Lots of driving and pull offs to the side of the road that we stopped at and did some mini hikes – then we set out to Sheep Table Mountain which was a steep climb up a windy road and then we were told it was about a 2 mile hike out on top of one of the rocks to a point with an awesome view. Well, we walked just about two miles and didn’t see an end in sight, we were also getting absolutely eaten alive by mosquitos – we have the bites to prove it. So we surrendered and decided to jog back to the car to avoid more blood being sucked from our bodies. It was nice getting out of the car and exercising, but could have done without the mosquitos – and we never saw “the” view, but saw many awesome ones along the way. We also stopped by Wall, SD midday to check out Wall Drugs, which we had seen billboards for roughly 300 miles before reaching the area. It is a massive everything you could ever imagine under one roof store which is also a eatery that seats 500 people. Had to see it and we bought some famous donuts! We ended our exploration part of the day with a hike up Notch Trail, which wasn’t too long, maybe 3 miles roundtrip but ran through a dried up waterbed of a river and waterfall from hundreds of years ago. Really cool rock formations and an awesome view of the valley at the end of it all. After getting back to the campsite we cleaned up a bit and packed up some sandwiches and headed to one of the lookout points to watch one of the most amazing sunsets I have seen (from land). We brought a blanket out to the point and ate our sandwiches in such serenity it was amazing. An older gentleman joined us for some of it and he was awesome. Lives in a motorhome (with a home base in Vancouver Island, Canada) and just explores the country and makes his itinerary as he goes. He had some great stories and suggestions for Yellowstone and other points of our itinerary. Great ending to a spectacular day at Badlands.
The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to make our way to Yellowstone. We didn’t have campground reservations so we were kind of going on a whim. Let me first introduce the Mogk Family to make this less confusing. They are from Montana. I go to school with Emily, but we all refer to her as Montana. Her brother – Dylan – worked with Chad last winter in Vail and I had met him when I was out there over spring break. His parents were also visiting that week so I met them as well and fell in love with the family – they are awesome. SO Emily was going to be in Yellowstone the same night as us, but due to no cell service there, we were unable to get a hold of each other. So we played it “safe” and set up camp about 16 east of the east entrance of the park. Tents were allowed at this campground because apparently the grizzly frequency wasn’t high enough to only allow RV and trailer camping. We quickly setup our site and made friends with the Colorado family next to us. Then we decided to go do some exploring. We headed up to Canyon Village and saw the upper and lower falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Very, very busy – but a beautiful sight. We then were planning on venturing to Artist’s point, however the road was closed off and that was when we were graciously told that there had been a bear malling earlier that day and it wouldn’t be open until the next morning at the earliest. Well this was just a LITTLE unsettling to say the least. We drove a lot that day and saw awesome stuff – then returned to Yellowstone Lake for yet another mind blowing sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous and weather was perfect. Neither of us slept too well that night for obvious reasons – and also it was quite windy. But we woke up alive and well and hit the park again at 730am. We had an ambitious itinerary (surprise surprise) to see all of the big sights along the western loop of the park and up north to Mammoth Falls. We saw it all – the hot springs, the geysers, the mud pots and they were all awesome. I remembered some of them from my past trip, but the colors were just gorgeous and even our photos won’t do justice. Our English friend that we watched the sunset with in Badlands had told us about a gem Geyser called Lone Star that was off the main path from tourists – about a two mile hike into the woods. Rumor had it that he erupted every 3 hours – so we calculated being there based on a time that had been posted the previous day. Well, apparently the geyser was off schedule because we missed it by about 45 minutes. Oh well – we still went to see the cone and it looked like a beautiful place – and VERY nice to get away from the crowds. The park was just crawling with thousands of people. We left the park around 430pm to make the trek up to Bozeman, MT to stay with the Mogks. This adventure I will write about next time – but I absolutely LOVE Montana. The people are super friendly, the scenery and landscape is unmatched like anything I have seen and they have awesome license plates. We have another full day in Glacier tomorrow which we are super pumped about.
HIGHLIGHTS::
Sunset at Badlands and meeting our English friend who we exchanged adventure stories with
Moose, Bison and Elk sightings in Yellowstone
The family who comforted us and restored confidence that it was OK to sleep in a tent (they had small children so we figured we’d be safe…ha)
Sirius Radio magically starting to work in LilMoos again
Purchasing Bear Spray JUST IN CASE we get into an encounter
Donuts from Wall Drugs
Driving through Cody Wyoming – the cutest western town
Driving by Mount Rushmore & Crazy Horse Monuments
NOT SO GLORIOUS HIGHLIGHTS::
Terrible amount of bugbites from Sheep Table Mountain hike
Man being malled by a grizzly bear – read the full story here. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43662053
Breaking our rule and getting Wendys today (I was craving chicken, and Aly was craving burger) womp womp
Realizing that Books on Tape are not our thing
Missing the eruption of Lone Star Geyser
Failing to meet up with Montana in Yellowstone
The massive amounts of Asian tourists with sun umbrellas and sun visors
Paying our highest gas price yet $3.99 (we’ve been averaging around $3.50)
Until next time – let’s hope grizzly encounters don’t happen between now and then!
More pictures to come!
Monday, July 4, 2011
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