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…

arizona

After staying two days in Albuquerque, we spent that Saturday driving and driving and driving some more. The highlight of that day was definitely the fabulous local grocery store that had lots of authentic Mexican foods - sweet breads, huge piles of peppers - and happy Mexican music pulsing through the store. Other than that we attempted to visit a place called Acoma Pueblo, which basically an ancient city perched a top a giant rock - but would have cost something like $50, so we decided to skip it. We also passed on the kitschy wigwam hotels we later passed on Route 66 when we were looking for a place to stay that night. Although it was tempting, they looked a bit run down and also a little spendy. Instead we stayed at “OK” RV campground in Holbrook, AZ. As we have found in several of the smaller towns we’ve visited and stayed in, the people are very eager to send us lots of places and pile us up with brochures, and this campground manager was no exception. Not only did he give us loads of reading materials, we also received a very large poster of a Native American girl feeding a goat!

As we headed out Sunday morning with our armload of pamphlets, we went straight to the Petrified Forest National Park. There we saw the beautiful reds and browns of the “Painted Desert“, the cone shaped structures of the “Teepees” with beautiful layers of blues and purples, and of course all of the petrified wood you could ever want to see in your life. As I was taking pictures of the “Teepees,” I turned to notice that Guy was missing, and saw him rapidly climbing one of the structures. For someone who got so nervous about me pretending to jump from “Lover’s Leap” back in Missouri, I was a bit surprised to see him attempting this somewhat nerve-wracking (and I think against the rules) feat. When we safely returned, I asked him what that was all about, and he said, “you told me climbing one of these would prove my love to you.” Oops, I guess I had jokingly said a passing comment about that, but didn’t think he had even heard me, let alone think I was serious and do it!  Can you find him in this photo?

As the afternoon passed we learned how much of the petrified wood is stolen from this lovely place equal to one ton per month! Apparently so many people feel guilty about doing it, though, that they end up sending the stolen wood back, with letter of apology attached. All of the beautiful quartz and crystals that were embedded in these pieces of wood are long gone, though, so I was a bit saddened when we got to the “Crystal Trail” and the “Rainbow Forest” (which I imagined as this beautiful glittering and magical place glimmering with jewels, and found nothing of the sort!).

After stopping at one of the cheesy local stores "Geronimo,"selling the most hilarious souvenirs, we decided to stay at the Kaibab National Forest just south of the Grand Canyon, where we would spend the following day. It would be our first dispersed camping experience, with no showers, bathrooms, lights, or people anywhere in our vicinity. I boldly announced how excited I was to do this, and we even played some catch before sunset in our private little utopia. While playing cards, Guy turned out the lights, to show me how pitch black it would be that night, and believe me, it was dark! When nature inevitably decided to call, I swung the door wide open, only to hear what sounded like a large animal just feet away from me! Only after lots of noise was made, headlights turned on, and all flashlights, headlights, and lanterns were in use, did I venture one foot out of the van to take care of business. Oh, I am embarrassingly such a city girl.  Although there is so much more to this bathroom story, I will refrain from telling it to you, although I'm sure Guy will divulge the full details on his blog.

Well, somehow I survived the depths of the untamed wild, and we headed to the Grandest of Canyons the following morning. There is no way to describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon, and so I will not even try it. My feeble attempts of capturing it on film are exactly that - feeble. But it far exceeded my expectations, and I savored every minute we spent there. It is by far my favorite experience I have had thus far on our journey.

After much, um, “discussion” that night we ended up pulling into a Walmart in Peyson, AZ, to get some rest. Under the right circumstances I can see how sleeping in a Walmart parking lot could provide an adequate and free place to stay, but this was not the case for me. Because I was rattled and the parking lot was noisy, bright and full of activity (not to mention exhaust fumes) I got about an hour of sleep that night! After a rocky morning start, we headed to Guy’s sister Margaret and her boyfriend Tom’s house in Tucson for what turned out to be a great day. Not only did they provide a much-needed shower, but lots of laughter and good company. They have three darling rescue dogs, a coop full of chickens, and Tom made us a delicious stir fry dinner followed by the most decadent chocolate brownies I’ve ever tasted!

Wednesday morning we headed down the road about fifteen miles to where my Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary live, also in Tucson. After we spent some time chatting, we took a fantastic hike by their house, where we got to see all types of cactus and local flowers and plants. We returned for an outstanding dinner made by Mary and got to hear all sorts of great stories from Jim and Mary about how they met and the many travels and experiences they’ve had. Thursday morning Jim took his turn in the kitchen and whipped up a great breakfast and generously gave us passes to the Desert Museum just down the road. I absolutely loved it there. It was full of beautiful landscaping, animals, snakes, reptiles and birds, and had historical, geological, and ecological elements to it as well. We spent several hours there, and my favorite part had to be the hummingbird exhibit, where I got to take some close up photos of hummingbirds, as well as see tiny little hummingbird nests! That evening Mary made another great meal and we got to hear some more adventure stories. If anyone could write a book about their collective stories, these two would be the perfect candidates!

Friday morning we headed back to Margaret and Tom’s and spent the afternoon at Sabino Canyon. Unlike the Grand Canyon, where we looked down over the land, here we took a shuttle bus winding through the canyon grounds. The scenery was beautiful and a great way to spend the day. After another delicious dinner we had fun hanging out playing games. Margaret and Tom caught wind my birthday was coming up and were very generous…they gave me a large iron skillet for campground cooking and two portable showers! I’m very excited to try both items out. Margaret also made me a dream-catcher fashioned from her chicken’s feathers that I promptly hung in our van. It was very thoughtful and I love it (especially because I love the chickens so much!).

After being fed chocolate chip pancakes (yum!) Saturday morning, we headed towards Phoenix, where my other uncle Jim (my dad's brother) lives in Tempe with his wife Vicki. I was ecstatic that my sister was able to fly down for the weekend to be with us there. It was great to meet my cousins Fawn and Landon, whom I had never met before. After visiting by the pool at their beautiful home, Amy, Guy and I headed out to get some pub food and walk around town. We ended up walking by the “fake lake” as we called it and then went to meet back up with the fam where they treated us to an incredible Mexican dinner at Los Sombreros. After dinner we drove up to New River to meet up with our friends Brad and Graham (who had also flown in for the weekend, like my sister) for the evening.

Sunday Guy headed out for a testosterone filled-day of playing in the dessert with the boys, while I spent time hanging out with my family. My sister and I later hooked up with her friend Shawn at Chuy’s, and then it was already time for her to leave…time goes by so quickly! We joined Brad and Graham for some dinner before crashing into bed. Monday morning we headed out for a two hour drive to the city of Sedona, where we spent the day. We drove around to see the beautiful red rocks, a unique church built right into the rocks, and hiked a trail in the blistering heat of the day (due to my bad planning).  We had intended to take an "easy" route, but accidentally veered onto a "moderate" trail which really should have been "difficult!"  There was one one point I felt as though I was going to pass out, but so glad we went on the hike despite that fact.  We walked past the cute shops and restaurants (albeit expensive), had lunch and just took in the beautiful sights of the town.

It was sad leaving Arizona this morning - but we have been able to spend time with a lot of wonderful family members.  Thanks to all the Arizona people for your wonderful hospitality, generosity and wonderful meals! 

I am ecstatic to get to currently be in state I have been longing to get to most on this trip...California.  More to come.  :)

Tulsa was dumb. There is just no other way to say it. I’m sorry if you have deep feelings of affection for this town, but really, it was just pointless. I will say it was nice to spend time in the library updating my blog, but other than that, nothing happened in Tulsa worth repeating.

That Monday night, we stayed in Walnut Creek State Park, just west of Tulsa. It was a huge park and we found an incredible campsite with absolutely breath-taking views of the lake, and made it just in time to witness a stunning sunset. While there were no working bathrooms anywhere near us, the next morning we drove a bit to find one. When I opened the door, I knew I was going to have to be really brave to get through this experience. This was by far the most disgusting shower situation I have encountered yet. You know those lovely butterfly gardens you can visit? I felt like I was at one of those except instead of butterflies, there were a million disgusting ones. As I stood under the “stream” of water (more like trickle) I had a large moth swoop in on me, a four inch unidentifiable bug dive bomb me, and several other bugs, including a few wasps circle my head. But, at least the water was hot, and I managed to get cleaned up.

Tuesday morning we headed to Oklahoma City where we stopped at the National Memorial. Its crazy for me to think that happened 15 years ago already. It was still a very powerful place to visit: seeing memorabilia hanging on the fence for loved ones and the field of chairs that stood to represent the 168 people lost in the bombing were very moving to see. There were even smaller chairs to represent the children lost, and that was definitely the hardest visual for me to see. After the memorial we just walked around the city a bit, and hung out at a park. We ate dinner at a Mexican place in the city and had some scrumptious enchiladas. I’m glad that Guy suggested a motel for the night, because it was definitely time for a break from the van. Plus, its amazing how nice it is to have a working toilet feet from your bed and not have to go outside!

Wednesday we left Oklahoma City to head towards Amarillo, Texas. We drove. And drove. And drove some more. I got a bit car sick, and during one of our gas station stops, some old men stopped Guy to talk. They were sitting at a card table in the middle of a gas station and asked him where he was from. They told him he “sure had a pretty daughter.” When Guy relayed this story to me I died laughing. He claims it’s a common saying, but I surely hadn’t heard it before, and really think its kind of creepy. Right around Amarillo, we stopped at this place along Route 66 called the Cadillac Ranch. Its basically a row of old Cadillac’s buried headfirst and covered in graffiti. Totally the type of thing you would expect to see on Route 66.

Though we had reached our destination for the night, we decided to keep going, so we could drive less the next day. We kept our eyes open for rest stops, and pulled into one just west of Santa Rosa. I couldn’t believe the line up of semis, trucks and cars at this place. I was worried we might get “busted” trying to sleep at one of these places, but obviously that was not going to be an issue. This morning we woke up and only had a two hour drive left to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I loved seeing the landscape change with the mountains and desert-like grounds and wide open sky that you could see for miles across. When we got in town all the adobe/spanish-style houses were so cute and bright colors were in abundance. Guy said he had a great place in mind for lunch, so I obliged. I indulged the most incredible huevos rancheros I have ever tasted and was in total and complete food heaven. From there we went to the “Old Town,” which is essentially, well, the old part of town. There we saw a beautiful old Catholic church and quaint little shops selling mostly pottery, jewelry, art and turquoise. It felt a bit like a tourist trap, but was pleasant either way.

Now here we are at our house in Albuquerque, staying with our first Couchsurfing host, Bob. (For those of you not familiar with couch-surfing, its basically a “service” done via the internet where you sign up to either stay at someone else’s house or host someone else at your own home.) He has a very typical Spanish-style house with beautiful landscaping and just a short walking distance to downtown Albuquerque. He took us to a delicious pizza place and then gave us a tour of downtown before heading home for the night. He has been an incredible host - totally opening us his home to us and even giving us a key to the house so we can come and go as we please while we are here. Now that’s trust!

Today we ventured out to Petroglyphs National Monument to view the ancient drawings made by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. It was certainly interesting, many images were very recognizable, others…not so much. That being said, there is presently much debate from Native America members what the interpretation of such images are, so who am I to begin to have a clue? The landscape was beautiful, weather outstanding, and overall it was a very neat experience. Later in the afternoon we headed to Asian Noodle Restaurant (which was rated the best noodle place in America by some food magazine). Yum! After that we took a walk to the downtown plaza and headed home. I am hopeful that we will home out once more to get some yummy dessert before calling it a night…