wyoming

Wyoming is a beautiful state. I have enjoyed both Montana and Wyoming due to the fact that we can constantly see horses and cows and buffalo right from the freeway. It helps keep me smiling along the drive.

From Montana we journeyed to beautiful Yellowstone National Park, one of the most (if not THE most) visited parks in the U.S. When we entered the park, it was snowing so hard we couldn’t see any of the landscape. I was a bit nervous we wouldn't be able to see anything through the entire park!  Luckily things cleared up shortly thereafter. The scenery was the most beautiful by the Yosemite Lake, since the western half still suffered loss from a huge fire in 1988. My favorite part of this park was definitely the animals, since we were able to see and get remarkably close to deer and bison. The shooting geysers, steaming hot springs, and bubbling pots of multi-colored mud that looked like something out of a science-fiction movie were also fun to see. We decided to check out Old Faithful, to see if it was worth all of the fuss. The most amusing part of Old Faithful was the huge crowd that gathered around to watch with cameras poised and ready to go. It was neat to see, but I thought a bit overrated and definitely wasn’t as interesting as a lot of other things we saw.  Here are a few of my favorite pics from Yellowstone:

We traveled to Cody, Wyoming that night to stay with our second “couch surfing” host Pat. She put us up in her R.V. with a space heater (lows in the upper 30’s that night). We found out that Pat had been a backpacker for 22 years, and recently lost her husband to cancer. She was a very interesting woman and I’m sure has more stories than I’ll ever have in my lifetime. As was the case with our other couch surfing host, Pat was a great host, and I just can’t get over the fact that people are willing to put complete strangers up for free in their homes on an ongoing basis. We have certainly experienced a lot of generosity from many people along our journey, and I am very touched and grateful to them all  (Read Guy's blog for more about Pat: http://choosingmyownadventures.blogspot.com/2010/05/latest-from-haitivia-wyoming.html)

The next morning we had a chance to pet Pat’s three horses (pure bliss for me), and then head across the state of Wyoming for a long day of driving. The only other point of interest along the way in Wyoming was our stop at Devil’s Tower…a big ol’ rock jutting almost 1300 feet into the air, named the first national monument in 1906, and a sacred site of Native Americans.

montana

Oh Montana. The site of some wonderful, good days. Its also the setting for one of the most somber days I’ve had thus far.

Sitting in Seattle, we decided to skip staying the extra day, skip Vancouver, and drive through the entire state of Washington. We ended up driving through Idaho, and ended the day (a very long one at that) just at the Montana western border. The next day was day #2 of making and changing plans. We were going to spend a few days going up to Glacier National Park and back, but luckily received a phone call from my uncle Jim letting us know that the weather was treacherous and dipping down to 14 degrees at night. Definitely NOT suitable for camping! So we decided to switch our route to head straight to Darby, Montana, to visit my uncle Jim and aunt Mary (the ones we stayed with back in Tuscon, Arizona).

Jim and Mary have a lovely resort called Traveller’s Rest where we were treated to one of their cute cabins. Of course we loved the chance to see them again and spend more time together. It was also a wonderful time to slow down a bit from our somewhat frantic pace. One of the days we went for a bit of a bike excursion. Mary showed us around their charming town before we headed out for the bigger portion of the ride. Now, when I was much younger, I LIVED on my bike. But since then, many years have passed. My aunt and uncle are pretty much Lance Armstrong level, and Guy of course is obsessed with biking and commutes regularly to work, so I was a bit tentative in joining the athletic trio. I obviously survived the journey, and think I did ok, (although I definitely “discovered” some muscles I had forgotten about a long time ago), and it really was a beautiful place for a ride, complete with a rushing stream, forests and mountains. Besides the ride, we enjoyed some delicious meals with Jim and Mary, got trained in on the game Skip Bo (which I will be purchasing when we complete this trip), petted their cat Misty, and had some good laughs.

During our time in Darby, we took a daytrip to Missoula, home of the University of Montana. Why go there? Guy’s great-grandfather, Rollin H. McKay, has several thousand photos housed at their library. It was a very neat experience to look through books full of photos that he took of Native Americans, cowboys, some family members, and local landmarks and landscapes, such as the Bitterroot Valley.

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Saturday was a sad day. Even the weather knew it.

On our way driving to Bozeman, we decided to stop at Big Hole National Battlefield. Over a century ago the Nez Perce were camping on this field when they got attacked and 90 of their members were killed. It was yet another sad example of Native Americans being pushed out of their land and forced either into reservations or death. Big Hole National Battlefield was created to honor all who were there. As we went to take a walk on the path leading out to the sacred land, it started snowing. We could hear a few Native American men down on the field singing, which was very neat. When we actually arrived at the field with several framed tee pees, the wind picked up and snow fell heavily on us. Although it was a somber experience, I’m so glad we went.

We continued on towards Bozeman; where Guy’s parent’s previously lived, where he had lived with his niece for a few months, and where his sister and her husband currently live. Just over two years ago, Guy’s parent’s tragically died here in a car accident, along with his nephew. He had not been back to the city since that time. I had never been to Bozeman, and more importantly, never met his parents. I think we both felt a bit nervous and full of emotion as we drove into town that evening. Guy drove me by his parent’s old house, and then to the site of the accident. I can’t really put into words what I was feeling as we came upon that site, but it was powerful. The next morning we went to the church where Mr. & Mrs. Still attended. I had no idea what to expect. The pastor and his wife played a big part in the lives of Guy’s parents, and then later with the family in dealing with their loss. They both recognized Guy immediately and were excited and surprised to see him. They were warm, wonderful people with a great spirit about them. The service itself was really beautiful, inviting and incredibly touching. There were a lot of tears throughout the small congregation during the service, Guy and myself included. Without trying to sound cliché or contrived, it felt like we were supposed to be there at that very time. I feel like this was the closest I would get to meeting Guy‘s parents, and it really felt like their spirits were present that day. It was an emotional but very special experience for me.

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So...there is no easy transition from such a heavy topic...I won't even try. 

After church we met Guy’s sister Mary and her husband Shatan for lunch at The Soup Garage, a place that Guy enjoyed when he lived in Bozeman. They had excellent soup or which you ordered from their very own “soup nazi” (he really was pretty stern, too). It was fun to have four Minneapolis “Northsiders” all together in the middle of Montana. Later Mary joined us for a swim at the Bozeman Hot Springs. None of us had ever been to a hot springs before, so it was a new experience for all of us. They had nine pools, plus a sauna and a “rainforest room” that was basically an incredibly hot steam room (and what I imagine hell to feel like). We went around testing everything, seeing what temperatures we could bear. Guy was happy as a clam going into the tortuously hot sauna, while Mary and I were much more content in the “medium” temps. I got the gumption to dive into the hottest pool (if Guy could do it, why couldn’t I?), till I could no longer stand it, promptly dunking into the ice cold waters of the neighboring pool. As I stood there looking at Guy, I noticed that the room started shifting back and forth, and realized I needed to get out of the water NOW. As I sat on the side of the pool, everything started going black, and told Guy, “I think I’m going to faint.” Well luckily I didn’t end up unconscious, but realized at that point what I did was incredibly stupid, due to some past experiences I’ve had with heat and fainting that I had apparently blocked out of my memory. Despite that experience, the hot springs were a lot of fun, and glad we got to share it with Mary.

Montana was a beautiful state, full of meaningful experiences.

pacific northwest

I have to admit what I had read about Portland before we arrived didn’t excite me terribly. When we drove into the city on Friday, I was forced to re-evaluated my poorly informed opinion. Since Portland is proclaimed the micro-brewery capital of the U.S., we decided to have lunch at a corner bar enjoying one of the local brews. I had been eyeing folks coming in and out of the gelato shop right next door and knew I had to have some. Afterwards we went to one of the best thrift stores I’ve ever been to - the Buffalo Exchange, (located across from a well-known-gigantic-block-wide bookstore) where I proceeded to haul an armload of ridiculously cheap dresses into the dressing room. It was hard to choose just one, and it was fortunate I had a time limit, because I spent every last second there before leaving with my purchase. I thought the city was charming, and definitely could’ve spent more time there then we did.

That night we camped very close to Mt. St. Helen’s, where we decided to spend the day on Saturday. What we hadn’t realized before we arrived was that we were visiting the mount on the 30th anniversary of the “big explosion” weekend. The sites we normally would have had access to through our national parks pass we ended up having to pay for, so didn’t end up seeing everything we hoped to see. Despite that, I was blown away by our beautiful surroundings. Although 30 years is a significant amount of time, biologically it isn’t a huge amount of time. And while you could definitely see the damage the eruption caused years ago, it was beautiful to see all of the new growth still making its way through. There were even a few lakes created by the erupting volcano. I was a bit surprised to feel so touched as we drove around, thinking about how even after destruction occurs, life always prevails.

Saturday evening we pulled into a rest stop just outside of Seattle. Even in the short amount of time we’ve been on this trip, its interesting to see the variety in the quality of rest stops from city to city and state to state. In Texas, there was free wi-fi and beautiful restrooms with automatic everything. In Seattle, there were crowded dirty bathrooms with just the basics. We also took note of the number of what we determined to be homeless people, parking there cars there for the night before heading out the next morning.

The next morning we headed straight to Pike Place Market in Seattle. I would like to spend every day of my life here. One of our first stops in the market was Pike Place Fish - the “famous” seafood shop where the workers toss fish to one another. It was certainly amusing, and the employees looked far happier than any I’ve ever seen. We passed through aisles of fresh produce, huge displays of flowers, and several stores and eateries. Since we were in Seattle, I had to buy my cliché cup of coffee (I passed on the original Starbucks- figured they were getting plenty of money already). For lunch we ate at this delicious place called Piroshky Piroshky for some delicious Russian delicacies. We were also fortunate to be at the market during a cheese festival, and thus stuffed our faces with plenty of it. We encountered several street performers - far more than any city we’ve visited thus far. Some were pretty pathetic, others quite entertaining. One man in particular caught our attention…the Cat Whisperer. He donned a furry cat hat complete with ears, a mini booth (think Lucy from Peanuts), and was giving out advice for cats while accepting donations for his cat sanctuary. He even brought one of his own cats along, who was surprisingly docile. While the Cat Whisperer was a little crazy, he captured my heart, as did Seattle.

norcal

We started off Friday morning by driving through central California, continuing along the Pacific Coast Highway. During this leg of the trip, there were the most breathtaking views for miles and miles. Dramatic cliffs dropped right into the bright blue waters below, and the narrow twisty road dipped back and forth creating a rollercoaster effect that was both thrilling and sickening after several hours.

We stayed the night camping at Mt. Madonna State Park. I woke up Saturday morning to Guy looking at me with a distressed expression, letting me know that we had a flat tire. Luckily for me, I was with someone who had a lot of experience changing tires, so not only was it a swift fix, but we also got the tire patched for mere $20. What turned out to be a much bigger deal was the stench growing significantly stronger within the van. The previous day a few gallons of water had seeped onto the van floor, and while we gave our best attempts at vacuuming and airing out the vehicle, the smell continued to grow. Although Guy can tend to be a bit…hmm…particular (maybe more like obsessive) about cleaning, I was very appreciative that he was adamant about getting everything aired out and sprayed down with some industrial Febreeze. A few days later, “that smell” was completely gone. Either that, or we just acclimated to it. You can let us know when we get back.

With the van all better again, we headed towards San Francisco. We had time to do a little exploring that evening, so went to the Haight neighborhood, known as a hippy haven in the 60’s. Although it is has a bit more of a grungy feel to the place, there is still a bohemian vibe. The greasy look made it a bit difficult to determine who was homeless and who just liked to sport the “rolled out of bed” look. That night we looked at some shops, tried on a some clothes, and ate at a Thai restaurant for dinner.

Sunday was spent with the entire day devoted to the sights of San Francisco. We went to Chinatown, which holds the world’s largest Chinese population second to China itself (and North America’s oldest). Though there were plenty of tourists here, I still felt like we stuck out in a huge way as the minority. It was fun to look at all the food markets with interesting unidentifiable treats, the red and gold Chinese lanterns dotting the sky, and charming little shops - such as this little hole in the wall where they made fortune cookies by hand and gave out samples of the “bad” ones. I decided to try some bubble tea, which I was surprisingly disappointed by, which I sipped on while we walked towards Fisherman’s Wharf. Its funny how distinct the neighborhoods in San Francisco are…as we walked from Chinatown to the Italian neighborhood of North Beach, I was shocked by how abruptly I was cut off from one world and dove head on into a completely different one.

At Fisherman’s Wharf we wondered over to Pier 39, saw Alcatrez from a distance, watched the ships sail by and seals sunning themselves on the dock. We stopped for lunch at a great Italian/seafood restaurant with an unbeatable view of all the previously mentioned items. Since I am such a huge chocolate lover, we walked over to Ghiradelli square, where they have a huge gift shop and café, but sadly, I wasn’t feeling well and decided not to partake. Finally we walked to Lombard Street, the most windy, steep street you could ever imagine. Luckily, we approached it from the top, because walking up that steep of an incline just does not appeal to me. All in all, I thought San Francisco was a beautiful city, with lots of things to see and do. However, I am just too lazy of a person to ever imagine living there, as it feels like a bit of a fun house, since there are virtually no level streets in the entire city!

On Monday we took another go at San Fran, heading to Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately, when we got there it was raining…hard. I was determined to see (or smell, rather) the Fragrance Garden - a garden designed for the visually impaired. I thought the concept was so neat where all the plants/flowers were included for either their strong scents or appealing textures, so those who cannot visually enjoy the flowers would be able to enjoy the garden with their other senses. Since the rain would not let up, we headed to the conservatory which was closed for the day. Just as we were about to give up, the sun came out and we went to the Japanese Tea Garden which was well worth it. After strolling through the very serene place, we sat and enjoyed some tea and snacks. Before meeting Guy’s peace corp friend Alex for dinner in Berkely, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped for a few photos. Alex suggested a great pizza place for dinner and graciously let us stay at her house for the night.

The next morning we headed out for a three+ hour drive to Yosemite National Park. Yosemite, not unlike the Grand Canyon, is a bit difficult to describe, because it is so incredible. The word that comes to mind for me is “majestic.” The huge valleys, powerful waterfalls and magnificent granite cliffs were all stunning. Though we were only there for an afternoon, it was well worth the time. The following day was spent driving and looking for a campsite. The highlight of the day was definitely trying out our camp showers from Guy’s sister and her boyfriend. Guy had an elaborate set up involving the van, the hanging shower, a tree, and a large tarp. Although we had attempted to warm up the frigid water gathered from a nearby stream, it just didn’t happen. Cold shower it was! The whole process was very comical, and I’m sure we’ll try it again someday.

Our final day in California was spent at the Redwood National Forest. While we entered the forest together, we decided to have some much needed “alone time” and enjoy our hikes separately through the forest. Its amazing seeing the size of those trees in person! I only encountered one other person on my hike and was impressed by the absolute silence I experienced when I stopped to listen. I came across a quote from Lady Bird Johnson, whom this grove was dedicated to “One of my most unforgettable memories of the past year is walking through the Redwoods…seeing the light filtering through the trees so far above, feeling the majesty and silence of that forest…all our problems seemed to fall into perspective and I think every one of us walked out more serene and happier.“ I couldn’t have explained it better.

While I was incredibly sad to be leaving the state of California, I have to admit, the insanely curvy mountain roads we were on for hours before leaving the state made the process a bit easier for me. That, and I look forward to what lies ahead.

socal

I was so excited to get to California. For years I have been dreaming of taking an extended trip up the Pacific Coast Highway, and am elated that I am able to get the opportunity to do it now. So, I thought it was quite fitting to begin that trip by going to of my favorite places, San Diego, on my birthday. Though a majority of the day was spent driving, it was fantastic to step out of the van, smell the salty air, see palm trees sway and catch a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Oh, how I love the ocean. Since we were both so exhausted, we decided to check into our hotel in La Jolla and lay low for the night. We walked to “The Shack” down the street, a local bar for one of my other favorites, fish tacos.

Wednesday I was feeling pretty tired when we headed to La Jolla Cove to do some walking and just hang out at the beach. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was for me just to take in the sights, watch the sunning seals, the soaring gulls and pelicans, feel the sand under my feet and waves crash on my legs. I could spend endless days just doing those very things. That evening we went out for my birthday dinner at a great seafood place called The Anchor where I had some scrumptious butter-drowned shrimp scampi, clam chowder, fried potatoes and apple crisp for dessert. I may have paid for all of the delicious fat-laden food when I woke up sicker than a dog at three in the morning, although I’m not entirely sure of the cause.

Thursday our plan had been to go to the fabulous San Diego Zoo, although I wasn’t certain I’d have enough vigor to make it. We decided to go a little later than planned, and I’m so glad we did. I think that the Minnesota Zoo is a very good zoo (as far as zoos go), but San Diego far surpasses it in size and quality. We went on a bus tour of the entire place (which takes 6 hours on foot), saw a bird show, and then looked at several of the exhibits. Although I would like to mention every animal I loved, it would take a whole page, and really, no one wants to read about all that! All I know is that there was a whole lot of “luscious fatties” (as I like to refer to my animal friends) in that zoo. We left just before close and high-tailed it to Palm Springs, where my good friend and former co-worker David has a beautiful home with his partner Larry and they graciously offered it up to us. We happily accepted! Their abode is unbelievable…designed and decorated to perfection, and has a private terrace with a view of the mountains. Liberace’s former residence is located just across the street, and David tells me that movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe used to stay in these villas before they were owned as residences.

That being said, we spent most of the day on Friday enjoying the house, leaving to go look at the city a bit, run some errands, and get groceries (we were very excited to have a full kitchen to make food). Later we enjoyed the pool and hot tub, and watched the documentary “Good Hair.” It was nice just to not only enjoy this beautiful place, but have a bit of “normal life” just watching TV and making dinner.

Saturday we decided to be a bit more active and visited Joshua Tree National Park, about an hour drive away. The park has a very visually interesting landscape, with what looked like huge rock piles of gigantic boulders, surrounded by smatterings of the very unique looking Joshua trees. We visited a few viewpoints like “skull rock” and went on a short hike. After spending the day lounging around the pool on Sunday, we hit the road towards Hollywood on Monday. Since this was kind of a transition/travel day, we didn’t do much other than locate our hotel in “The Valley” and go to dinner at an amazing Thai place for dinner.

Tuesday we made our big venture into Hollywood. We started by going to NBC studios in the morning to get tickets to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. From there we headed over to Hollywood Blvd to check out the “Walk of Fame” and saw other famous landmarks like the Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater, the Capitol Record building, and of course the Hollywood sign itself. As we walked the boulevard we got swamped by people trying to sell us on getting a bus tour of the area. I was quite irritated, especially after one man sarcastically muttered “ooo…going to look at a bunch of stars on a sidewalk - that sounds like a whole lot of fun!” after we rejected his offer. But things definitely got interesting when Guy noticed some commotion taking place across the street where we had started to turn around. He thought we should check it out so we did. It turned out that we landed right at the prime spot (early) for the revealing of Julia Louis Dreyfus’ star! We decided to stay, and got to see not only “Elaine”, other Seinfeld stars Larry David, and Jason Alexander. The cast of “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” including Eric McCormack (from Will & Grace) were also there. Unfortunately the place that we had parked the van was about to “expire,” so Guy volunteered to let me stay while he moved the vehicle. I got to hear Larry David’s hilarious speech to Julia, as well as hover over her family who was right in front of me.

When the ceremony came to an end, the crowd started to get a bit antsy, yelling for the different stars to come and sign autographs. I’m pretty sure I merely blinked and all of the sudden Eric McCormack was standing directly in front of me. I had zero things in my possession him to sign (and really, I’m not into autographs), so I preceded to take photos right in his face which was about a foot away from me. Next Julia came right to the same spot, just inches from me. The crowd went nuts. I can still hear the echos of “Julia! Julia!” being screamed into my ear, and feel the security gate being pushed into my chest from all of the shoving. The guy behind me kept thrusting his DVD over my head and saying “Its for my daughter!” Frankly, I felt like I was ready to throw down and punch somebody. I thought it was great when Julia stopped, saw what was going on, and said “hey guys, back up, you’re crushing these girls!” When the commotion finally died down I made a break for it, and felt not only claustrophic, but a bit frazzled. It took me awhile to settle down from the whole mob scene.

We raced out of Hollywood to get some late lunch, then on to the taping for the Jay Leno show. We waited in lines to get into the show for quite awhile, but were next to the two most hilarious and talkative ladies in the whole place, which kept us very entertained. The guests featured were Scarlett Johansen, comedian Frank Caliendo and singer Michael Bolton (ha ha). It was pretty fun to be there and see how everything operates. The band was definitely a highlight - they still seemed enthusiastic after what must get boring day after day, and Guy and I even got a moment on the mic when the lead singer ran by. She was signing “Rollin Down the River” by Tina Turner, and when she put the mic in our face to sing the echo of “Rollin’” (without saying a word to one another) Guy sang really high and I sang really low. It was pretty funny. Jay’s monologue wasn’t too funny - especially considering the “warm up” guy who came on before him told us to laugh and clap no matter what. He also seemed pretty disengaged with the audience and crabby during the commercials, but I supposed after doing so many shows maybe you just don’t care about things like that anymore. Overall, it was a fun experience, and I’m glad we went. We were both completely exhausted after our big Hollywood day!

On Wednesday we took a ride through Beverly Hills, mainly to see what all the fuss what about at Rodeo Drive. It was a bit comical rolling through this upscale neighborhood in our slightly “worn” conversion van. Of course there were other tourists, but you could practically smell the money on the majority of shoppers walking down the street. BMWs and Lexus seemed to be just an “average” car, and we saw several drivers sharply dressed waiting for their clients to return from their shopping sprees. While we were too intimidated to shop in any of the stores, Guy wanted to take me to Sprinkles, a very trendy cupcake place that stars sometime visit. I, of course, was in heaven, and had a difficult time coming to the decision to purchase the chocolate coconut, while Guy had Red Velvet. While they were a whopping $4 a piece, it was fun to splurge. Next we drove to Santa Monica, where we walked on the Pier. Although touristy, it was fun to see the shops, street performers and rides. Its also the official end of Route 66, and setting for several movie scenes. That evening we met up with Guy’s peace corp buddy Ravi and his Dea girlfriend for dinner at Home Restaurant, and had a great time chatting with them and eating great food. They heard that we had eaten at Sprinkles, and suggested that Crumbs cupcakes were superior, so we or course had to find out for ourselves. We raced to get to the shop just in time. It was located in the Americana mall, which looked all magical - an outdoor/open shopping center with a lighted fountain in the middle, Frank Sinatra blaring in the background, and with a second round of cupcakes in hand, it was a great way to end the night.

Thursday was our final day in Southern California, which included a drive to posh Santa Barbara to lounge at the magnificent East Beach. Since the beach is one of my favorite things in the world, I was in heaven just to snuggle into the warm soft sand and sun-bath, nap and relax for a few hours. We both ventured into the icy water for a quick dip, then decided it was time to go. We ended up “beach camping” that evening at El Capitan State Beach. Although we weren’t really on the beach, we had a beautiful view of the ocean, and a fellow camper called me over to show me a mother and baby whale passing only a 100 yards from the shore. They put on a great show of spraying water into the air and popping their heads out for just a moment.

Southern California is one of my favorite places on earth (so far). Oh, how I didn’t want to leave…