Cornwall, NY

Once in Cornwall we saw our Grandmother and Linnea. They were going to be leaving on a super-special surprise birthday trip for Grandma the next day so we wanted to see them before they went. We caught up a little bit (both had read the journal and seen the pics up so far so that made it easier). Then they took us to lunch at Woody’s which is a place that had delicious food that they get from local sources. We ordered sandwiches and shakes, Aunt Laura’s treat (thanks again!). The food was awesome, even with a misunderstanding. We all ordered and then went to sit near the window to wait for it. They said that when it was ready they’d let us know. I guess for some reason they thought that we were doing pick-up and let our food sit to the side. Eventually we went up to see what was happening because it looked like everyone around us had gotten their food including people that had came afterwards. They informed us that it had been there for awhile, so it was a bit cold when we ate it, but still delicious. And luckily the milkshakes were still cold, so they were great as well. Between the two things everyone was full and happy.

When we got back to the house Caleb Dan and I laid down for a nap. Caleb was out in the yard and Dan and I set up our bed (mats and sleeping bag) on the back screen porch. It was a great temperature and a beautiful day which made for very nice napping. Dan and I woke up when Linnea and Laura got home a little after 5 and then Caleb came in a little bit later.

That evening we had a delicious grilled dinner on the back porch with the Mowats and then hung out and watched the Sox vs. Yankees game. Unfortunately this one went pretty badly for the sox so it wasn’t a lot of fun watching it with Yankees fans. Yes, Linnea, we’re talking about you!

After the game we went to bed. In the morning we had breakfast and said our goodbyes. We ended up getting out at a good time, though not quite as early as we had though. The drive to Andover was a pretty good one. The only part that wasn’t was getting onto and the beginning of the Masspike. I was driving… so wasn’t really appreciating the traffic. It’s annoying that a car on the side of the road doing nothing in particular can back up traffic for miles. That and getting into the tolls which I think was also due to bad driving. People finally realize that they have to be on the other side of the highway just before they get there. Anyway, that’s all for my rant on bad drivers…

We got back to MA safe and sound and the car held up just fine. We ended up returning it on Monday morning just to make sure we were there and didn’t get charged extra for anything that we shouldn’t have.

So there you have it. Thank you for following along with us. I think that soon we will start an Australia blog. We’ll post the address on facebook/here when that happens. And I can’t promise that we’ll update as often but you can check and see what we’re up to. See you there!

Epic Drive

Though this may be boring there really isn’t too much to say about this one. We started around 10pm from Grand Rapids, MI with a destination of Cornwall, NY. We had the back seat set up so one person could lay across the whole thing. We had whoever was going to drive next back there. It wasn’t a bad set-up and we made it to Cornwall early afternoon the next day (which included a couple stops for gas and quick food).

Last Grand Rapids Day

Once we found out that Josh didn’t have his classes we decided that a good plan for the day would be to check out the Meijer Gardens. We headed over to Meijer (the food store) and got some delicious lunchy things (cheese, bread, meat). When we got there we sat outside at one of the picnic tables and enjoyed our feast (which we also supplemented with things we had left over at josh’s house).

Josh had two free tickets to the gardens which Caleb and Dan used and then Josh and I used our college ID’s to get the student discount. Yes, I still have my UMass ID and they don’t have an expiration date on there so it comes in handy sometimes. The gardens were awesome. Part botanical garden part sculpture garden. We checked out the plants first inside, then went into the children’s garden, then went to see the sculptures. All were pretty awesome.

We spent a few hours there and saw probably ½- 2/3 of it. There was a really awesome greenhouse which was a butterfly exhibit which we were catching the tail end of, so there weren’t a ton of butterflies but it was this very tall glassed-in area filled with a rainforest complete with waterfalls and a little creek.

At some point we decided that we should probably go onto the next place as we needed to be leaving that night and still had a lot to do. Josh took us over to the Calvin College campus where he showed us around the different buildings and places where he used to live and had classes. We also sat in the big cheese which was a must-do. Josh had to get his running shoes from someone who he had called a couple times but hadn’t been able to get in touch with. Luckily on the way back to the car we happened to bump into her, almost literally. She was coming out of a building as we were walking by it.

From the campus tour we went into Grand Rapids to check out a special that Josh had heard about. It was at a placed called the Hop Cat and it was burger and a beer for $6. I didn’t expect too much but it turned out to be a great meal. Big delicious hamburgers, really good and unique beers and “crack fries” (The fries so good that you’ll steal a VCR to get them). It was awesome and you could get any Wisconsin beer which gave you a lot to choose from. Then, after 6pm they had a beer special where they had 2 choices which were $3 each. The guys each got a special as well and I tried a bit of each. I was driving and the first beer seemed strong so I didn’t really want to have a second one that soon.

From Hop Cat we went back to Josh’s house to get our stuff packed. It didn’t take too long as we had tried to keep it all together. It was getting later, though.

Our last order of business in Grand Rapids was to see the wildlife reserve where Josh works. We got there with some daylight still left (which was good because it closes at dusk). Our walk included standing on a floating platform, standing on a deck with a cowbird baby under it and then going to a super-secret place where only authorized personnel is allowed. Dan and I were wearing flip flops while Josh and Caleb had sneakers on. Because of this Josh was hesitant to take us there but we decided we’d go for it and just turn back if it got too difficult. The way brought us over path of increasingly smaller logs half-submerged in a swamp. It was a lot of fun, I think we all like that kind of things and our destination was pretty awesome. We ended at a tower which seemed fairly sound with a rickety ladder which we really hoped would hold up to all of us going up and down it. We made it, though. Once we got up there we all sat on top of the platform and looked over the wetland. In a nearby tree there was a sleepy raccoon chattering at us. He was pretty cute but unfortunately hard to get a picture of in the dusk with the camera that I had with me. We also saw a muskrat swimming around to complete our animal experience.

When we got out again it was officially dark. We went with Josh over to the campus center to get a cup of coffee. Well, I got a cup, nobody else wanted one for whatever reason. But it was a free cup that Josh had a coupon for. And you couldn’t be a Calvin student so he wasn’t able to use it. After the coffee we said our goodbyes and Josh went to study and we started our epic drive. It was sad saying bye to Josh but hopefully we’ll see him soon (and in Australia!).

Cinco de Mayo

So the next morning Josh had a couple classes. We spend the morning relaxing and Dan cooked up the burrito mix so we’d have it ready. When Josh got home we started on the Coronas. One nice thing about hanging out over the course of the day is that you can have a few beers but not be drunk. So we hung out, ate food and dip and listened to Spanish music. We started with chips, salsa and guacamole. An aside about the guacamole: It was a mix we got as part of a wedding present, just add avocado. It was AMAZING. I would highly recommend it to people. Unfortunately I can’t remember the brand at the moment, but probably the best guacamole I’ve had. It helped that the avocados were huge and ripe as well.

Mid-afternoon we borrowed bikes and went for a bike ride down to a lake whose name I don’t remember at the moment either. Meade maybe? We had 4 bikes, 2 of which were perfect, one which was way too big for anyone, and one which didn’t have a seat. I had Josh’s bike at first which was too big for me but then swapped with Caleb who had Tim’s bike where you could adjust the seat height without and allen key. Josh started out on no seat and Dan on Zach’s bike and then they switchen on the ride home. We threw a Frisbee and football at the park and then sat around in the sunshine on a beautiful day. On the way back we got Jersey Junction ice cream, which was great. Dan and I split a banana split, which is something he’s been wanting all trip.

That evening we grilled at ate burritos and made horchata. That was a pretty awesome idea that Josh had that turned out great! It is a rice/almost/vanilla drink that we had in Mexico. When we went to Harvest Hands to help out one day of the week they’d take us to a place to get aguas frescas. The Horchata was the special/unique flavor. It consided of blending rice, almonds and cinnamon then stirring that powder into water. From there we strained the mixture (took a long time) through an old shirt. We didn’t have cheesecloth and tried using a coffee filter but nothing was going through that at all. The whole process was fairly time-consuming but very well worth it. After it was all finally strained we added more water, sugar and vanilla and it was done! The by-product we mixed in with honey, cranberries and chocolate chips and made cookies out of. The horchata was perfect. We had it with our meal which we ate out on the front porch. It tasted just like I remembered and is this awesomely slightly sweet and refreshing unique drink. At some point Zack and Andy came home and got to partake in our Mexican feast. An interesting thing that we learned (thank you Wikipedia) is that most of mexico doesn’t even celebrate cinco de mayo and it’s not their independence day. It is more like St Patrick’s day where Americans use it as an excuse to celebrate.

That evening Josh took a break to do more schoolwork (very enterprising of him) before we hung out and played queens. We taught Dan who ended up liking it. The loser of each round had to take a shot of tequila. Again we were hanging out in the attic for awhile until everyone was too tired to carry on.

Josh was supposed to have 2 classes the next morning so he got up early and went into school only to find out that they were both cancelled. One he had already known about but had forgotten, the other the professor was sick. It was great! So he came home much earlier than expected and we had the whole day to hang out. Which was great especially for us because we won’t be seeing him again before we go. But hopefully he’ll be able to come visit us in Australia. He’s the only family member who hasn’t been there yet! And I think he’d like it. And he’s awesome so if he did come visit it would be a lot of fun.

Grand Rapids

The drive back to Grand Rapids wasn’t too bad. We went to Josh’s house where he finished up a presentation that he had been working on and had to give in a class that night. We dropped Josh off at campus and then left to go explore Grand Rapids.

The city of Grand Rapids was nice. It was great because it’s not very large and easy to get around. We parked just outside the city center on a side street and walked in from there. For dinner we stopped by the Pita House and got some delicious pitas which we took across the street to Rosa Parks circle. We sat on the grass along the side and watched people setting up a band. We learned from Josh that it was going to be swing dancing. After eating and sitting around for a few minute we decided to head on towards the river.

The river had a few (grand) rapids which were basically where the water dropped slightly across the whole river. On one side there was a walk down at river level and on the other the Gerald Ford museum (Gerald Ford eaten by wolves today, senselessly, we showed Dan that clip later on) and a grassy park with some interesting things in it. There were a lot of sculptures, which I love because they’re fun to look at and even more fun to take pictures of. Some of them were a group of people who I think were on strike, an Indian with a peace pipe, an astronaut and a huge button (which we got on and in)! From there we walked along that side of the river and made our way to the dancing which was in full swing. It was great how many people were out there dancing away. All ages and all abilities. Some people were great, others were just having a great time. The band was pretty good as well. It was nice to sit in the grass again and watch and listen. The last dance we saw before we left was a line dance. Dan was blown away by the fact that everyone knew the steps. We learned from Josh later that a lot of Calvin students go to the dancing every week so I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the people that were there went all the time.

Before it was time to get Josh we wanted to do some shopping as well. Using our trusty GPS we asked him where the closest Meijer was. This is a huge food-everything story kind of like a super walmart but apparently they do good things in the community and treat their workers well. Dan and I went in while Caleb stayed in the car. We bough everything we could possibly want/need for the next day’s cinco de mayo celebrations. Things for vegetarian burritos, cheese, avocado, salsa, chips, corona, tequila, limes, etc etc. Needless to say we ended up leaving Josh with a lot of food but he’s a college student so he assured us that he’d eat it. We also ended up leaving a lot of our food that we brought on the trip with us and bought along the way for camping. He was pretty sure it would get eaten. Which is nice for use because then it would be appreciated and not go to waste.

By the time we got out of the store it was much later than we realized and we arrived at Calvin a couple minutes after Josh had gotten out of class. We went back to his place and hung out in the attic for awhile before heading to bed.

Their attic is awesome it used to be full of junk but they cleaned it all out (Caleb was actually there for the original beginning of the cleaning). It is funny because the door to the attic stairs is through the bathroom. It’s ok when you’re coming from downstairs but when you’re coming out of the attic you have to make sure you enter cautiously so as not to disturb anyone who may be using the bathroom. In the attic they have a bunch of blacklights and things to react to them (paint, easter eggs, fishing line dipped in blacklight paint). They did a great job with the decorating. By one set of windows there is a hammock which was my favorite place to be up there, but a bit anti-social as it was away from the rest of the seating. The other area had speakers mounted to the ceiling as well as further away connected up to an amp/record player (except the record player needed a cord which we didn’t have so we didn’t get it working). There is also a sitting area with a couple couches and coffee table. It’s a great open space as well. Just generally cool.

Chicago

We met Josh in Chicago. It took us a few hours to get there with the inevitable traffic. Our hotel turned out to be right off Miracle Mile, which was nice. We only had one bed in the room so Dan and I checked in and then we parked the car in a nearby garage to go and explore the city. We were worried about getting all 4 of us into the room that night when we wanted to be asleep. The only way up to the rooms was directly past the reception desk in what seemed like a small hotel but was actually normal sized I’m sure.

We started by walking up Michigan Ave towards Millenium park. We walked past the river and to the bean. Which was really cool. We took the obligatory bean pics (coming soon) and walked around the rest of the park which was really nice.

From there we walked a bit further south to Buckingham fountain which gets bigger every hourish for an indeterminate amount of time. We saw it get big which Josh said he hadn’t seen before. We bough an older copy of the onion from a homeless guy who wanted donations which turned out to be a good purchase. There was a “what’s on” section which we used to try and find some music for later on.

We got some ice cream in the park which I’m sure had inflated prices because of it’s location right next to the fountain but it was great. Finally we got our ice cream!!

From the park we crossed the street over to Lake Michigan and walked along the water to Navy Pier. Navy pier was full of stained glass and geese. One goose, to be exact. He was behind a little fence (he had put himself there) and was quite brave because of it. He would stick his neck out looking for food (we found out he doesn’t eat tic-tacs though he’s willing to give them a few tries). The stained glass was inside in an exhibit hall. Some of it was pretty cool. So we walked the length of the pier outside then back inside, stopping for some Goose Island 312 wheat beer, which was tasty and refreshing. It was also our first beer with a legal Josh! Funnily enough he didn’t get carded that time or any of the others that I was with him in Chicago.

On our way to Gino’s east we walked along the lake where we found a beach. The day was nice but not hot enough for a swim and the water was cool. It would be a great place to swim in the summer, though I wonder how clean it is. Beach on one side, skyscrapers on the other.

Gino’s was delicious. We decided on that over Giordano’s because it’s “the original”. The inside was black chalkboardesque walls full of graffiti. Graffiti was encouraged everywhere but a couple places where they specifically had signs that said no. We sat up on the second level and ordered a pitcher.

We agonized over the menu for awhile and eventually ordered an appetizer to share while our pizza was being made. Our waiter quickly told us we had ordered the worst thing on the menu so we reconsidered and he was happy with our second choice of spinach and artichoke dip (pretty much always a good choice). The pizza was half pepperoni and half Gino’s supreme. It was amazing. And personally I didn’t need the appetizer, beer and 2 pieces of deep dish. I tried my best on it and ended up ending my night. Between the 4 of us we did manage to finish it all, which I thought was quite a feat.

From there we walked, trying to figure out where we wanted to go for music. We ended up at the fanciest McDonalds in the world. We originally went in just to use the bathroom but ended up going upstairs where we found a great little spot. There were cozy leather chairs set in their own section with jazz playing. That seemed like a good place to continue our plan of action and we got some coffees to combat the lethargy brought on by a ton of food.

From there I flaked out and went back to the hotel to put up pics and update things while the guys went out to find music. I felt bad being lame but I was exhausted and detrimentally full.

Here’s Dan now to write about what came next:

We took a train across town to the colourful area of the city, right next to the Cubs stadium. The first pub (called “Cubby’s) had some really loud and interesting rock. After one song we decided to venture elsewhere. After walking for what seemed like a long way and encountering some interesting characters we decided on a bar with a hockey game on. The Chicago Blackhawks were beating some other team so the bar was very lively and in good spirits. After paying too much for some pretty wild beer we decided to move on. We passed a small bar with a sign on the sidewalk saying “Hamm $1”. We decided this was probably a beer so we went in to find out. On entering the all but empty bar I asked the bar tender what Hamm was like. He informed me it was a dollar so I ordered three. We sat on the in their outside area in the thick heavy smell of baked ham. We weren’t sure whether the smell was coming from our beers or whether it was totally unrelated. After there we headed back towards the train station. We soon found ourselves at another bar that had $3 dollar draft beers and great mash-up music playing (Girl Talk). We sat in the big window overlooking the street and watched out over the nightlife for a while before catching the train back the area the hotel was in. We discussed strategy for sneaking Josh and Caleb into the room. It turned out that there wasn’t anyone at the desk as so it was a moot point.

The next morning for brunch we decided to go to Hot Doug’s. This is a hot dog place that Caleb had heard about and it was definitely a good choice. It wasn’t anywhere near where we were staying so we went on our way out of the city. We got there around 10:20 and it turns out they don’t open until 10:30. When we got there there was already a line of people waiting for them to open. I don’t think I’ve ever stood in line waiting for a restaurant to open. Once the doors did open they had a steady stream of people the whole time we were there with a line out the door. I guess that’s how it always is according to the girl that was bringing the hot dogs out to tables. Caleb started with 2 dogs and the rest of us started with one. I got chicken and gouda smoked hot dog with some sort of cubed cheese on top and some mustardy sauce. They were all very interesting like that. Caleb got a classic Chicago one as well which Dan and I went back for to split. Josh ended up with 2 veggie dogs of which he saved half of one for later.

Madison, WI

So Madison was awesome. Lee got us to Mark and Missy’s house early afternoon. We pulled up to Mark sitting on the front steps in his farmer hat and open shirt playing his guitar. Nice entrance ☺ They have a great place, 2 bedroom, lots of space and a great deck where we sat around for a bit, drank lemonade and talked.

Destination number 1 was the garden via the lake. We walked to the lake which was just a couple blocks away. I guess there are festivals in the different neighborhoods and one is held right there. It had a volleyball net and a great grassy area around the side. Perfect for hanging out or throwing a disc.

Next off to the garden to sow some maize. The garden was awesome. There were already about 8 people there working at different parts. We helped Mark plant his cornfield (his goal is to be able to stand in the middle of it and look out once the corn is grown). There were already 2 rows in so we helped with the other 2 rows. After that we sat around and chatted. It’s a great atmosphere with a bunch of cool people. There was a dog as well, Ruby the part coonhound. Before we left we picked a bunch of greens that Cindy recommended. Dandelion green, some garlicy/oniony/chivy things, some kale and a few others who I would recognize but whose names I can’t remember.

From there we went back to the house to drop off the greens then over to the market to get food for our feast. We came away with salad stuff, cheese, beer and every type of interesting sausage that they had. This all went back to their house across the street where we started the fires. One a campfire and the other the grill. We marinated portabella mushrooms and those went on first. We ate them with cheese because they were too hot to pick up on their own. They were amazing. Next all the sausages and chicken went on. Caleb and I continued the cooking while Dan and Mark went upstairs and had a really good jam.

We had quite the feast complete with interesting beers from the beer cave. Jess from downstairs had been at the garden earlier as well and picked a bunch of rhubarb. She made an amazing rhubarb crisp that even those who didn’t like rhubarb liked. Personally Dan and I are huge rhubarb fans, so that made it even better. We sat around in their living room with the intention of getting ice cream at some point but alas it wasn’t to be. By the time we thought about it the place was closed. Mark’s friend came over and we went out to a nearby bar while Missy did some studying. She had been gone all day doing work for the end of the semester. She had a little bit more to do so we got out of her hair. We had some interesting beers that we hadn’t tried before and mostly had the bar to ourselves. The night ended not too long after we got back.

The next morning we got up early and luckily got to say bye before we headed off to Chicago.

Mt Rushmore, Badlands and Sioux Falls

Today was a much more exciting day. We woke up and had breakfast of coffee and toast downstairs in their nice breakfast room. We’ve decided that Super 8 is the way to go. They are usually cheap, the rooms are nice, they have free breakfast (not usually too exciting but fine) and wifi.

So we drove up to Mt Rushmore which was about half hour from Rapid City. It was great. The sky was blue with interesting clouds and it was very windy. We took a ton of pictures (or at least I did) and did the presidential walk which is about a .6 mile loop that brings you closer to the mountain and has little blurbs about each president. Though I’d already seen it, it was still cool (it was awhile ago) and Dan liked it as well. It’s so well done. A lot of detail went into those carvings the most impressive of which may be Teddy Roosevelt’s glasses. We got a patch there, to add to our collection and then headed on our way again.

Quick stop before the Badlands was to get some food which ended up being 2 hot-and-ready pizzas from little Caesars. I didn’t know they even existed anymore. Pizzas in car we headed for the badlands. The way that we went put us on a whole lot of unpaved road. Which was scenic, but very slow. One thing that we did get to see that we wouldn’t have seen if we had come from Wall was the buffalo. Which were pretty cool. I guess not as special as they would have been if we hadn’t gone to Yellowstone though. In Yellowstone the buffalo were the things that you saw constantly and other animals were more special. One cool animal that we saw were the prairie dogs. They’re so cute! Other people weren’t too interested in them, but we loved them. I have a ton of pictures (of course).

So we drove through the park which they were repaving to most of that road was dirt as well. The scenery is pretty awesome. As far as the badlands craggy mountains/hills/formations go most of those occurred after wall, so maybe next time that’s what we’d do.

We stopped at a few overlooks to take pictures and then at the visitor center to get a map. We had picked out a hike that we wanted to do. At the visitor center we talked to Paul who was back for his first day this year but has been working there for the past three years. He was quite friendly and talkative and we chatted with him for a little while. Last stop in Badlands was the door and window parking lot, which had 3 trails coming from it. We did the Notch Trail, which was great. I think it was 1.2 miles altogether. It was a nice little walk which included climbing up a wire and log ladder and walking through some ravines and along and within the interesting rocks. The end of the hike gave us a view of the valley.

On the walk back we tried to take interested jumping pictures off rocks. We got some pretty good ones, and a lot of failed ones. Dan kept trying to take pictures of me jumping and taking them too early or too late so it just looked like I was doing weird things.

From the Badlands we drove for awhile. We originally had a destination of Mitchell, SD but decided we should just drive the extra hour because we had time and go to Sioux Falls, SD. We stopped in Mitchell anyway for gas and to see the corn palace which had signs for miles before we got there. It was actually a whole lot cooler and less tacky than I thought it would be. I’m not sure why exactly it was there but it was definitely the number one attraction. All road signs about Mitchell told you where it was located by how far from the corn palace it was. The other cool thing was the gas station had wifi so I looked up hotels in Sioux City and booked a hotel from there. I think we were all glad that we didn’t stay in Mitchell. It was a strange town that seemed like it would be sketchy after dark and may have had some sort of drug problem.

In Sioux city we checked into our Motel 6 (not half as nice as a super 8) and asked the woman at the desk where a good place would be to go for dinner. She gave us directions to a street that had a lot of restaurants on it and I asked if there was anything in particular that was good. She said something along the lines of “they’re all there, there’s McDonalds, KFC, etc). Funny that when we asked for restaurants that’s what came to mind and what she thought we’d like.

We ended up going next door to the Roll’n pin restaurant which actually turned out to be pretty good. They had a bit of everything in a diner-esque menu with a slightly more up-scale (than a diner) atmosphere. The waitress was nice and we all liked what we got, and it wasn’t too expensive so all in all turned out to have been a good choice.

It was pretty late by this point so we went back to the hotel room and read until bedtime.

This morning we woke up early so we could get to Madison at a good time so we’d have more time there to visit. It’s pretty exciting. The drive through Minnesota was just a lot of farmland but as soon as we crossed into Wisconsin over the Mississippi river there were suddenly trees and hills. It’s a pretty area and a beautiful day. It’s spring again! I’ve missed spring. I really wasn’t expecting it to be so cold and snowy in the places that we’ve been recently. I mean… it’s may! The fact that it’ still snowing places was surprising though maybe I should’ve known.

Anyways we should be in Madison around 2:30 with plenty of time to enjoy this beautiful day! Hopefully we can see some cool things and have some time hanging out. It should be pretty great! Then tomorrow off to Chicago to meet up with Josh!!

I just have to reiterate how exciting it is to be back in warm spring weather again. It’s really invigorating J

To Rapid City

This was a long day of driving. We did top at the Pita Pit which was great. Tasty and fresh. We decided against Devils Tower though because the weather was pretty bad when we got close to it. The day alternated between cloudy, rainy and snowy. We made it to Rapid City when it was still daylight and checked into our hotel. We made the choice to go eat at the Firehouse which according to Urban Spoon was the best restaurant in the city.

It was alright, the food was pretty good and the beer was ok. We got a Hefenweizen which is usually great but this one was a little bit watery and not very tasteful… Oh well. We went back to the hotel room and that was the day.

Livingston/Yellowstone Montana/Wyoming

The Super 8 in Livingston, MT was great. We got there and I posted a bunch of blog entries. We got a room with 2 beds this time, so Caleb got a bed to sleep in. The room was great, until I went into the bathroom and flushed the toilet. Water started pouring out of the tank like a waterfall. We told the front desk and the gave us another room, this one had 2 queen beds (instead of doubles) and a minifridge. The beds were really comfortable, which was also nice. We stayed up late (probably 1ish) trying to plan out our next few days. The plan had been to go up to Glacier NP but they were supposed to get a lot of snow. The weather generally didn’t look good anywhere close for the next few days. Caleb had a plan to stay around this area longer and try to wait out the weather so we could travel in nicer weather for the rest of our trip. The plan consisted of staying the night in Yellowstone the next night, then driving through the part of the park that was open and spending the next night in Jackson WY. From there we’d go up towards Keystone, SD (Mount Rushmore) and spend a night near there. Then spending one in the Badlands and therefore effectively letting the weather pass us by.

I just realized that a lot of that I had written in the last entry, oh well. So now on to what we did. We got subway right by the hotel but then decided that would make a good dinner so stopped at a pizza place and split a pepperoni/green pepper pizza for breakfast/lunch. It was a great pizza, and we ate the whole thing! I drove into Yellowstone and we went straight to Mammoth to make sure we could get a campsite.

We shouldn’t have worried about that. There were a couple sites taken but we had our pick for the most part. We paid and left our marker on the site saying that it was taken then headed down to Boiling River. Dan and I went in and Caleb went for a walk (he didn’t want to get his cast wet, probably a good idea). Because the water level was so high the river was spilling into the hot part a lot more than it had last time I was there. This made it really nice to sit under the hot water coming in, but every so often there were these really cold currents that came through. Even so it was pretty awesome. I like that place a lot and would highly recommend it to those going to Northern Yellowstone. Sadly the batteries on my “good” camera were dead and the others were in the car so I wasn’t able to use that one to get good pictures of the bison and mule deer that were close. It’s ok though, cuz I got plenty later.

When we were done sitting in the water (while it snowed around us) we got dressed and dried off quickly, it was cold outside! While walking back up the path we spotted Caleb coming back as well, perfect timing. This was the best walk back to the car we’ve had. The buffalo had decided to take the path that led back to the parking lot, and it wasn’t a wide one. We slowly walked behind the herd. When we got close to them they’d move down the trail a little bit. It was pretty awesome being that close to them.

From there we went up to Mammoth Hot Springs and visited the visitor center and walked around the boardwalks for the terraces. That was an interesting and snowball-filled walk. It’s funny to think that we were in the south a couple weeks ago and wearing summery clothes. At the visitor center we found out that the road we had though we could take out the northeast entrance was closed just after the park. We had planned to drive out that way this morning so were forced to change our plans again.

From Mammoth we drove out along that road that was open because we would no longer be doing it the next morning in hopes of seeing wildlife. When we first went into the park the woman at the guard station told us that was a great place to go to see animals. And see animals is exactly what we did! We drove a ways down, ate some of our Subway, then turned around and went back.

On the way out we saw many more buffalo/bison including a few groups in the road. It was funny though, they know what to do with cars. We drove slowly around them and they would get off the road. One group was walking up the road in the opposition direction and when we came to them they got in a single file line to pass us. It was great.

We found a nice pull-out near the meadows and the river to sit and see if we could see any interesting animals. We sat for awhile and saw a pronghorn (deer?). After a bit we decided to go back. I spotted a coyote, which we stopped and watched until he went into the bushes. A little ways down we saw more pronghorns. Then around a corner right next to the road there were a bunch of bighorn sheep grazing. I took a LOT of pictures of them. Our last pretty cool animal sighting were a couple elk who were also quite close to the road. Well, one was right next to the road conveniently next to a pull-out so I took his picture as well and the other was a little ways down the hill.

From our animal expedition we went on a search for firewood. For this we drove out of the park into Gardner (the town that’s right there). 2 gas stations and an RV park later we got a bag of sopping wet firewood that Dan had on his lap the whole way back to the site.

As we got back to Mammoth campground it started snowing, so we put our tents up in the snow. Then it was campfire time. I’d say a good 45 minutes and a lot of paper later we finally go the fire going. We all worked on it but I think Caleb’s perseverance with it finally is what made it work. The fire was very smoky and it was still snowing and quite cold out. We huddled around the fire drinking a couple beers for awhile, then it got too cold and it was late and my eyes were burning from the smoke. It was time for bed. Dressed in many layers we got in our tents. I had Dan for warmth (which is very helpful, cuz I was freezing!) and Caleb wore I think he said 7 layers.

This morning we woke up to a few inches of snow and still going strong. We got everything into the car and took the poles out of the tents while they were still up. Then we unstaked our tent and picked it up and shook as much snow as possible off of it. We picked up the tent, fly and footprint at once. This all got stuffed into the tent bag to take care of/dry out later. Which we’ll have to do at some point.

Now we’re driving to Rapid City via Billings and Devil’s Tower. In Billings we’re getting gas and Pita Pit for lunch (dan and caleb got pita pit the other day in Bozeman but I really wasn’t hungry, even though it’s great. So I went online at the hotel that night to see if we’d be coming across any others. I found the one in Billings, on the way!) Devil’s tower also isn’t far out of the way, and should be cool. Without stops the GPS is saying ETA of 6ish so I’d say it probably will be more like 7:30 or 8 which is pretty good for another longish day of driving! Tomorrow Mt Rushmore, Badlands and then maybe/probably driving a little ways towards Madison where we’ll catch up with Mark and Missy!

Livingston, MT

Just a quick one. We made it to Montana. This is a live post!!!! Wow Boiling River tomorrow and I'm pretty excited about that one :)

To Seattle

The drive to Seattle was nice, as well. Just a few hours through pretty countryside. When we got closer there was a lot of water. First stop was Quinn and Jenn’s house. They lived on Troll ave, a very aptly named street. Quite a few interesting things about their place. 1) it was under a bridge. Which sounds sketchy/unpleasant but it really wans’t and 2) there was a troll at the top of the street. Who I’ve seen a picture of before. Dan thinks maybe he was on Orsm.

Quinn does trail maintenance for Olympia National Park and Jenn works at a restaurant. We drove downtown and went to the Pike Place Markets famous for throwing fish (which we did see some of). They also have lot of crafty type gifts and food places (stalls and restaurants). From there we walked down to Pioneer Square home of the Underground Tour. We had a little while so we meandered our way over and hung out until 5. On a personal note when we woke up in Portland it was pretty warm so I wore capris, the rest of the day I spent being pretty cold. The tour was awesome.

So I would definitely recommend the underground tour. It really gives you a lot of good history of Seattle. The city used to be 15’ lower than it is. They had a lot of issues, so instead of filling in the tidal flats that they had built the city on they just built large retaining walls and moved the whole city up a story. While this was happening it led to some awkward times for all involved. They also had a lot of sewage problems. So there were 3 places where the tour went underground to what used to be street level of old Seattle. Our tour guide Jim was great as welllllll. (Dan just reached into the backseat and pressed keys on the keyboard and it just happened to be the whole bunch of l’s at the end of the word there) He was pretty funny, and knowledgeable. The two things you really want in a guide.

After the tour we got some Cuban sandwiches from a place Quinn really wanted us to try which were amazing. We drove by it this morning and if it had been open I would’ve gotten another to keep for lunchtime. We at the sandwiches back at their house and chatted. Before bed we went for a little walk down to see a little bit of Freemont (the area that they live in). First stop, Lenin statue. Pictures taken. Second stop, river and google building, more pictures. There were two other things that we had driven by a couple times at this point that I had really wanted pictures of that we ended up walking by as well. One was a bus stop with a stone group of people that people dress up every so often. The other was a bronze(ish) statue of two clowns. Pretty scary actually.

Back at their place we all went to bed in preparation for an early morning. Quinn had to leave at 3:30am to get to work at 7am. He goes out for 8 days at a time then is home for 6. In the morning we got up around 7:30 but then took our time packing the car and found a coffee shop that Jen had recommended nearby. Hoping they had wifi (they did, of course) we brought our computers in to try and plan our next course of action.

The original plan had been Glacier even though only a little bit was open. Unfortunately in the next few days they’re expecting a lot of snow. And rain in Flathead lake which is just south of there. We made the executive decision not to go up there… but that left us with no plan of where to go. We sat in that coffee shop for awhile trying to figure out a route. The decision, to go to Livingston, MT. Originally I was thinking Bozeman but the goal was to be able to go to Boiling River in the morning. Caleb and I went there when I visited him at Big Sky but Dan hasn’t been, and it’s an awesome place. So Livingston is about a half hour closer, and will only give us an hour drive in the morning.

Today has been an epic day of driving which, coupled with the fact that we got a late start leaves us getting to the hotel around 10 (and we’re stopping for gas and a bite to eat in Bozeman… so it’ll be even later). But that’s ok cuz we have about an hour of driving left!! Tomorrow is a new day and one I’m really looking forward to at boiling river. We’ll drive towards Rapid City and tonight I’ll have a look to see where we might want to stop (and what the weather will be like). We’re trying to avoid camping in rain/snow which, unfortunately, has us doing a lot less camping than I had originally planned on. But it’s ok because this is the vacation of a lifetime, and we’ve saved for it so we’ll be fine. Until next time….

PS Dan just pointed out that a week from tomorrow (or the next day) we’ll be in Cornwall. That’s crazy. The past couple weeks time has gone so quickly. It all blurs together as well. It’s hard to keep track of the days sometimes. Fun though. It’s pretty liberating to think that we don’t have work to go back to and that the future is wide open. Exciting indeed!

To Oregon

I had hoped to get up to Eugene to catch up with Kelly who is one of the people, originally from Minnesota, who studied with me in Lismore. Unfortunately she was working the day that we would be going through. She had some great suggestions about hot springs in that area but we had a long day of driving so unfortunately couldn’t really go that far out of our way to check them out.

The drive up through the Sierras was beautiful. We drove up 44 to 89 to 5, past Mount Shasta. The woods were beautiful and we did a lot of climbing and descending (as we have many times this trip). Even 5 was really niece. It was pretty straight but went through valleys full of evergreens. The coolest thing by far that happened is we saw a bobcat. It was running all out across the road. It was pretty awesome. Like a big really muscly house-cat.

We got to Portland around 4 and drove straight to the restaurant that we had chosen for dinner - Pok-pok. It was a Vietnamese place that had covered outdoor setaing so we sat outside. It was awesome. And nice that it was covered because it was pouring. They didn’t serve their dinner menu until 5 so we got a beer and some award-winning chicken wings which were amazing. It was interesting how they did them as well, they didn’t separate the top part from the bottom part so each wing was the entire wing. We all got different dinner dishes after 5 each of which was great.

From there we found our hotel and checked in. I had booked it on Priceline, which I had never used before. We got a good deal for the doubletree but only ended up with a queen bed (when I was booking it it said that the room was only guaranteed to sleep 2 people, so we couldn’t gotten lucky with two doubles or something, but didn’t). From the hotel we checked out the internet in the Lobby to see where Amnesia Brewery was (something that had been recommended by a few different people).

It was 2 ½ miles away on the same side of the river. It was a little bit rainy but we decided to walk it anyway. So we walked there while it was still light and got to see some of the residential parts (not the city center, officially North Portland, I think). And walked back in the dark. A pretty good walk and much longer would have been too long. The brewery was fun. It’s a big warehouse type building where they brew beer in the back and have a bar/food in front with picnic tables. The beer was great and we tried a few kinds. There was a Blazers game going on which had a bunch of people there watching it. When we got there it was really close, by the end there were only a few people left watching and they were down by a fair margin.

We walked back a different way than we walked there which turned out to be a great thing. We stopped outside a bar that had a trio playing by the front window. A girl said, “you guys can come in” which was pretty obvious I guess but was enough for us to check it out. They were awesome. They were playing folk music to a captive audience. We got a drink and sat and watched the end of their performance. The restaurant was a pizza restaurant so afterwards we grabbed a slice for the walk back to the hotel. When we got a few blocks from the hotel it really started pouring so by the time we got back to the hotel we all had soaked bottom halves (the top halves were protected by raincoats).

The next morning on our way out we went to Voodoo doughnuts thanks to Man vs Food re-run that we saw in San Simeon. The doughnuts were great but unfortunately they were out of the bacon maple which is the one we were most interested in trying. We ended up with one voodoo doughnut (shaped like a man, raspberry filled, chocolate frosted and a pretzel stuck through the heart) and an old dirt bastard (doughnut with oreo on top and peanut butter drizzle). Outside the shop there were a lot of people begging. There was a guy right in front of the door and a girl who asked to borrow one of our cell phones “to call her mom”. I’m not sure if she was going to take it, or call someone sketchy but we said sorry. There was also a woman in a bathrobe and a cane who was either yelling terrorist or having it yelled at her by the other vagrants. That’s one thing that I really don’t like about cities. I like the idea of helping people out but really really don’t like being accosted for money. I feel bad saying no. Or not saying anything at all as people have advised me to do.

Caleb had his heart set on biscuits and gravy so stop # 2 was Pine State Biscuit. Dan and I split a biscut and gravy, too. He was determined to rectify his bad first impression of them that he had gotten in Florida. Luckily it worked. Biscuits and Gravy are awesome. We chose shitake and that was definitely the right choice. Unfortunately I was pretty full already from the doughnut so only had a few mouthfuls. Later on I was wishing that we had gotten a second just to take with us for later.

Herlong, CA

Luckily Herlong is only about 45 minutes away. We called Nonna and Grandpa to let them know we’d be interested in making dinner when we got there but they already had it under control. We made a salad when we got there and warmed up the bread. The name of the game was to do as much as we could while we were there so they could take it easy. It was really great to see them, as always. It had been since the wedding but I feel like we didn’t really get to see anyone during that time. I mean we did, but it was all very brief because there were so many people to see.

Per Dan’s request here’s what Herlong is for those who don’t know. Up until the mid 80’s it was a thriving military base which employed a great many people. Since then the base has been largely decommissioned and all of the services and most of the people who used to live and work there are now gone. This leaves an interesting ghost town-esque desert town. If you go down a couple blocks to the end of their street the pavement ends and the desert begins.

We spent until Monday morning in Herlong. On Saturday Margie and Dennis came up and we had a bbq, which we started going pretty early. There were 2 racks of ribs, beef tri tip, pork tri tip, corn and potato salad. It’s interesting how much longer things take to cook at high altitude. Caleb learned that lesson the next day when we grilled again with chicken. The breasts cooked well but the thighs and other pieces took forever and weren’t done by the time we took them off, even though Nonna and I had boiled them first.

Saturday we did some chores, Dan dugs out some weeds next door and I vacuumed the house. Margie and Dennis stayed that night and until mid-afternoon the next day. Sunday we went down to the shed for a little while to check it out with Margie and Dennis. Grandpa stayed up at the other house and fixed our camping chairs for us. One of them was broken from the time we took it out of the garage and we didn’t realize until the first time we tried to use it camping in Shenandoah.

I had been planning to catch up with the journaling there but it just didn’t happen. They had wireless and everything, but I decided to spend the time visiting instead of sitting on the computer. When I was on the computer I felt pretty anti-social like I was wasting the time that we had visiting them, so here we are updating days later. Better than nothing, right?

The time up there was great and it was pretty sad to be leaving. We got to talk to Nonna a lot, I wish I had as good a memory and was as good of a storyteller as she is. To all who read this, all prayers for her are appreciated. She is battling lung cancer (she hasn’t smoked for 40 years and used to walk all the time, it isn’t fair, is it?). They were going to do surgery to take the tumour out but the day of the doctor took another look and though it wasn’t feasible. She will be starting on chemo and radiation now. Like I said, please pray for her. She’s a very strong woman but every little bit helps.

Lake Tahoe

We left their place to drive around Tahoe before going to Reno to pick Caleb up. My mom originally was going to fly out, too, but then because they didn’t end up doing Nonna’s surgery she decided not to. We drove around the lake starting from the south and stopped at Emerald Bay for a break and to admire the view and take pictures. It was all very pretty with the green trees, white snow and very blue water. Just before we got to Tahoe city Caleb called to tell us that he was getting on an earlier flight from San Francisco. We had started by going south through the more built-up portion so unfortunately instead of doing the north part of the lake we got back on major highways and got to Reno with time to spare for the flight.

After picking up Caleb we met up with Danielle. Dan and I were going to do that and then get Caleb but it worked really well that he got an earlier flight because he got to see her as well. We met her at her apartment which she shares with her boyfriend and 2 cats Pete and Al. The apartment was pretty cute and not as tiny as she insisted. I’m pretty sure it’s bigger than the one we had in Malden.

We talked about life and Coachella that she had gone to (the lineup looked amazing, it would have been pretty awesome to have been there). She had a few hours before she had to be at work and we had some time before we should leave for Herlong so we went to the nearby park and did a hike. In Reno (as in many other places) they had a letter on the hillside. In this case it was an N for Nevada. We hiked up to the N and sat down on its purple rocks for a little bit. The last few hundred feet I had to take a rest. You may find this surprising but sitting in the car for hours on end doesn’t seem to have helped my getting in shape effort. Plus the altitude… so that was nice, and there was a great view of Reno from up there. The beginning of the hike was through the park where we saw a lot of dogs. Someday……

Afterwards we drove Danielle back to her house, said our farewells and drove up to Herlong.

To Carson City

I started the drive to Carson city and Dan finished it. When I drove it was sunny and nice. Pretty soon after he took over it got cloudy and rainy. Poor Dan. We drove out over the Bay bridge which I had originally mistaken for the Golden Gate bridge. Stuart had told us that they are working to earthquake-proof the Bay bridge and a couple days later in Herlong we saw a 60 Minutes special on the project, which was pretty interesting.

We drove through a lot of farmland and then up into the mountains. In the mountains it was snowy again (they had gotten snow overnight) but the road was fine. The parts that we could see were quite pretty but between the torrential rain and clouds we weren’t able to see all that much.

Once in Carson City we went straight to Margie and Dennis’ house and soon after left for dinner. Dinner was the grill at the Casino Fandango, a nice tropical themed casino. There were tracks on the ceiling for the big robotic parrot that goes around (possibly only on weekends) squawking and dropping cash. There was also the rumbling of the volcanoes every so often.

That evening we got back in time for survivor and Dan and I learned about the good vs evil teams and saw them combine. I should let Lisa (former workmate) know, she was always wanting people to watch survivor so she could talk about it!

The next morning Dennis left for work early but we saw Margie a little bit before she had to go into Reno for Nonna’s consultation. Dan made some breakfast and I posted some older journal entries (I think) from their wireless that I figured out how to use.

Up the Coast to SFO

The morning started out in an amazing way. There was a sign for elephant seal viewing with some binoculars on it. I was thinking maybe we should take out the binoculars but first we should just check it out and see if we could see anything.
We parked and walked over to look down on the beach (you couldn't go on it, just look over it) It was amazing. There were groups of seals laying around with each other, or scooting along the sand, or playing/fighting. And these were elephant seals, so sea lion sized. We thought that was really impressive. Then we went to the boardwalk. There were more seals than I've ever seen of one animal in the same place in my life (if that makes sense). The beach was covered in them. Check it out! And as you can see, this isn't even all of them!

The drive up route 1 was windy and beautiful. And that’s full of winds (like twists), not wind. I just told Caleb and Dan that I’ve never noticed those words were the same before. It was stormy, but not rainy for too much of it. The stormy ocean was on one side while we hugged the cliffs and steep green slopes. I was excited for Big Sur thanks to Jack Kerouac. That area was pretty great. There was forest and big trees that seemed like they would be a great place to explore and hike around. It was more accessible looking than the interior of the rest of it.

The rest of the drive up to SFO was fairly uneventful. It got much more populated. We arrived outside Denise and Stuart’s house around 4:30 and had decided we’d park there and take public transportation into the city. I had checked out maps and fares back in San Simeon so we knew which line to take and where to catch it. We talked to Denise while waiting for the train and found out that they would actually be home earlier than they had though but we decided to go into the city anyways, as planned.

After some minor mishaps (not knowing where to find the F line, then taking it the wrong way for a little while) we made it to Fisherman’s wharf. We walked around the first wharf then went and got some food cuz we were both starving. We ended up sitting under a huge Foster’s poster. Of course Dan got a picture with it.

As an aside:
When we took the train too far and got out to cross the street we saw an interesting character. He was wearing his flannel pants and sheepskin slippers. We were waiting for the light to turn red so we could cross. He didn’t mind the traffic and walked out into the street. As cars came up to him he would shoot at them with his fingers and make machine gun noises. He did this all the way across the street and made it safely. When we saw Danielle she told us about another person she had seen that she called the bush man. I guess he hangs out (or at least used to) around Fisherman’s wharf behind a fake bush from where he jumps out at people.

Our trip back we went way too far on the F line (they don’t announce stops) and then not quite far enough on the N line back to their house. So we did more walking than planned. Finally got to their place around 9 and rang the doorbell. The dog that barked in response was pretty exciting. We sat and talked with everyone for a little while as Sonny sat on my lap and tried to lick my face. Sonny is a golden doodle, awesome dog, but not a lap dog. I don’t mind, of course, I love dogs. Especially goldens (or mostly goldens). After some catching up the kids went to bed and Denise set us up for the morning. We didn’t see anyone the next morning but we had keys, and our car moved into the garage and a park map for Golden Gate Park as well as some museum cards.

We got up and made coffee at ate cold pizza (we called Denise to make sure it was ok to eat) in the back garden. The housekeepers were cleaning so we tried to stay out of their way.

We had a leisurely morning and went over to golden gate park. We wandered and saw some of the gardens and just generally enjoyed it. We only saw a small part but it’s an awesome park and they only lived a couple blocks away. Unfortunately we didn’t get to try to get into any museums. We talked to Margie and she suggested that we probably wanted to leave sooner rather than later because they were getting snow in the pass.

Not long after we talked to her we left the park and San Francisco to head to Carson city.