New Hampshire & Vermont

The combination the weather and having done most of what we wanted to do, we decided to head back towards Rochester and get an early start. We made it to New Hampshire in about four hours. Where do you go when you go to New Hampshire? Of course you go to the White Mountains. Craig highly recommended a restaurant there. He raved about their chicken parmesan and their homemade cheesecake. There was no chicken parmesan on the menu, the cheesecake was bought from down the street, they messed up my order and their food, although tasty, made me sick. Nice. Just nothing of what I expected, nothing. Erin was a sweetie and pretty much drove the rest of the day. I could barely sit up in the passenger seat. We made our way to Mt Washington. Being extremely scared of cliffs (shall we recall the Hidden Lake hike at Glacier?), we thought it was a good idea to take the train up. It was $62. Sixty two. And THEN, the woman had to get snooty with me and say “do you know how much fuel it takes to get up there?” Well as a matter of fact, I do, and it’s not $62 per person. I quickly learned most everyone in New Hampshire was snooty, all the ones we met anyway. Anyway, it was $25 if you wanted to drive up the mountain, using your own car. It’s a private road… surprise, surprise. I knew I wouldn’t drive up there, or even be in the passenger seat. I would just have my head in my lap on the way entire way up and more so on the way down. Looking up at the sky though, it was still cloudy and foggy. So even if we did go up, we would’ve seen nothing but haze. So we chugged along. We made it to Cathedral Ledge and Diana’s Bath (waterfalls). Of course we’d see waterfalls. Erin was the one who got me hooked on them. So now it’s double trouble. Both sites were beautiful. I really wanted to see a climber coming up Cathedral Ledge. I even wanted to throw something to see if it hit someone. I know better, but it’s the devil in me, let’s call him curiosity.

We got our fill of fog in New Hampshire and decided to keep going. We took the scenic Hwy 112 drive out. It was beautiful with all the trees and changing colors. We didn’t get to see about half of it though because it got dark. The rest of the drive wasn’t very good. I started driving at this point. Both New Hampshire and Vermont are of full of little towns out in the middle of nowhere. The roads, or rather hills, wind like a path a child draws on a piece of paper when first learning to hold a pen. The rain wasn’t helping, nor were the lack of street lights. The towns were dead. Nothing was open. Not even lights were on. The houses seemed vacant and everything was just eerie. My fear was getting a flat tire, or something breaking down. God knows I’ve given my car a good beating the last couple of months. And since most of these places didn’t have reception, AAA would be of no help. We eventually made it to a major highway (phew! Or so we thought…), got off on the first exit. Hanover, where Dartmouth is. Yes, say it through your nose holding your pinky up. Daht-mouth. Any hotel within a 10-mile radius was booked. Yay for the Special Olympics. I was tired, hungry, had a rough drive and I really needed to pee. After roaming aimlessly and googling and calling hotels, we eventually found a place in the middle of nowhere that only took cash. I forgot to ask if they charge by the hour as well. It didn’t turn out to be a bad place though. I stuffed my face with leftovers, took a shower, and passed out.

Vermont wasn’t much different. We went to Ludlow to see Buttermilk Falls. We attempted to take the Skyline Drive in Manchester, but again, it was foggy, so it wouldn’t really be scenic in the least. I guess the weather didn’t work in our favor for most of this trip. But the one thing I enjoyed most about New Hampshire and Vermont is the trees. I think we drove through the perfect time of year. The red and yellow and orange and green… all over the mountains. They’re a Bob Ross painting. Happy trees. They’re not like the other trees I’ve been seeing along the trip. Evergreens are pretty and elegant, no doubt, but there’s something about the deciduous trees that are mesmerizing. It made me happy. Before, I felt like I had become… numb? Jaded? Incurious? Bored? I was never good with words. (I have the SAT score to prove it.) Anyway, seeing the trees like that made me think there’s still all kinds of beautiful out there and I haven’t seen it all. I just have to look for it.

 On to Rochester. Dropped Erin off and headed back home. I chanced Canada once again. Getting into Canada was what I was used to. I chatted with the guard for a while. He was very friendly and curious about my situation. I almost had him convinced to go to Australia with me. The drive through Canada was easy and I breezed through. Getting into the US was more of what I was used to. A power hungry a$$wipe. I think it pissed him off that I wasn’t scared of him. I knew he couldn’t touch me. He wanted specific answers, but when I started giving him specific answers, he wanted general ones. He finally asked me if I was on medication. And all I could think was “no, but you should be.” Again, I knew better, but I really really really wanted to. I think I may have said it with a smirk on my face. And I think that annoyed him even more. That was good enough for me. Welcome to America. Now I gotta get ready for my nephews birthday and then it’s off to the west coast with mom. 

09/23/11

Acadia NP & Bar Harbor, ME

The first full day bee-u-tee-ful! The sun was out, it was warm, and we were ready to start the day. We had planned to do one side of the park the first day, the other side the second, and the other side of the island the third day. Well, we did most everything the first day. We took a hike up the North Bubble. It’s just a mountain with a silly name. It was a good hike though. Once again, I cursed most of the way up. It was pretty, I guess. We continued down to Jordan’s lake, walked around for a little bit and climbed back up to the parking lot. Again, me cursing on the way up. Although it was a teeny bit like scrambling as opposed to just hiking upwards, so it was more tolerable. We drove up Cadillac Mountain and saw the water and all the islands. And a lot of old people. Old, rich people. They were everywhere. And they were doing all the hikes too! I hate to admit it, but a couple of them were quite faster than both Erin and I.

The park was beautiful. Very unorganized, and not very well labeled (sorry, a tree trunk that has a name carved on it is not a good label for direction. Especially when different maps show different things and you can’t find anything anywhere), but nonetheless, beautiful. From the waters, to the cliffs, to the rocks and the mountains. A lot of the coast line looked like it was from a commercial. Maybe something for sea salt or something. Particularly along the cliffs, when the water came crashing against it and spewed everywhere. All you need is a whale somewhere off in the distance. We did see a sailboat and Rod Stewart’s song popped in my head. “Where the ocean meets the sky, I’ll be saaaaiiiling.” And it wouldn’t leave. It left, but only to be replaced by a really annoying song. As Pepe Le Pew would say, “Le sigh.”

Day two. It was rainy and gross. I wanted to get a couple of hikes in that day, but it wasn’t going to happen, even though we tried, multiple times. Even when it wasn’t raining, granite doesn’t have the best friction coefficient. Luckily, some of the stuff we wanted to do was touristy and inside. So we pretty much spent all day drinking samples. We went to two breweries and a winery. The winery did not make the wine from grapes that were growing right outside. Those were used for… I don’t know. It seemed like a waste. Being at a winery, it was only natural that I bought some cheese and chocolate and Erin bought some jam. The air cleared a bit and the sun peaked out for the late afternoon/evening. We went to a lighthouse. There was a team of Asians there with really big, spiffy cameras. They had set up camp were taking pictures like crazy. I had no idea what was going on. And they would get so mad if you got in front of them, like they owned the rock you were standing on. But the view was stunning. I love lighthouses. But a lighthouse with a gorgeous sunset in the background? Spectacular.

Honestly, I don’t remember much else of what happened or many of my thoughts. (I should write immediately! Or put some kind of recorder in my head that I can play back later.) I do remember the smell of our towels at the hotel: non-bleachy. Like they were washed in someone’s home. I loved it. I remember asking Erin if we had met today, if we’d still be friends. Something I often think of a lot of my other friends. I decided that we would’ve been anyway. It’s Erin! And I now know that I should turn left when Erin says to turn right. Sorry Erin. It doesn’t make me love you any less. If anything, I can relate. I remember most people on the east coast (also in NH & VT) seem to not bother with the letter “R”. It’s at the cohnah, if you go outside, you’ve gone too fah.” But they know it, and you can buy t-shirts and such that say things like “lobsta” and “bah ha-bah”. I remember thinking about east coast towns. There’s something about them. They’re very… quaint. They are old. The houses are old, and a lot of them haven’t been really… kept up. But there are a lot of them these towns, everywhere. And every town has at least two or three antique shops. I guess it’s the oldest part of the country, there’s where all the antiques are. We’ll see what the rest of the rest of the eastern states have to offer.

09/21/11 

Maine-Bound

The drive to Rochester, NY was rough. It was raining the whole way. Enough to make me nervous. I hadn’t felt stressed for the past two and half months and all of a sudden it seemed like I couldn’t get rid of it. It started with the computers going down at the testing center that didn’t allow me to take the GRE. Granted, I didn’t study much as I usually don’t for useless, yet required, standardized tests. But I was mentally and emotionally prepared. After waiting for two hours for them to fix the problem, I was turned away and given a ticket number so I could reschedule. That threw everything off. I sort of planned things around that day. And then the stop in Canada. Usually it’s easier to get into Canada than the US, but this time was not the case. The guy at the border had something up his butt. He wanted to know “other than the clothes I’m wearing right now, what am I bringing with me?” After telling him all the strange junk I had in my car, he sent me to immigration. On the slip he gave me, under things I claimed, he wrote “sleeping bag”. Why that’s an issue, I don’t know. After waiting for about 40 minutes, a new person asked me some questions and let me go. The rain didn’t help my situation either. I started feeling knots and form and a soreness around my shoulder bones. I daydreamed about the stress-free life I had not even a week ago. It’ll come again.

Next thing I know, I’m at Erin’s. As soon as I saw her, I knew the next couple of days would be a lot of fun. It’s always a fun time with Erin. The word no seems to disappear when I’m with her. “Wanna do this?” The reply, either from me or her would always be “YEAH!!!” like we were little kids being asked if we wanted ice cream for dinner. I took a rest and we got on the road again to get a head start to the 11 hour ride to Maine. She wanted to know all about my trip. She claimed I would have some details that I didn’t share in my blog. I ended up talking for two hours. My throat was dry, I started getting light headed and I started getting times, places and events mixed up towards the end. Being exhausted from driving so long and talking her ear off, we stopped in Bennington, VT for the night. The next day we continued our way to Acadia National Park. There was much construction on the way. Apparently New Hampshire had been flooded. The towns we were passing had a lot of character to them. We finally made it to Acadia.

We decided to drive through the park and check it out. It was a weird park in that it had one main one-way street, and you don’t really pay to get into the park until you’re half way through that road. It’s not by any entrance, just out in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know how they figured that one, but I’ll spare myself the agony of trying to answer what is most likely unanswerable. The day had been rainy, and the clouds lingered into the evening. So everything was hazy and gloomy. The park had potential though. We saw a beautiful sunset even though it was behind the clouds. We tried driving up a mountain along the way, but it got too foggy at one point. The scenic overlook was just a light shade of gray in every direction. We didn’t make it to the top, but we figured it was moot to go any further. So we drove back down, and went into downtown Bar Harbor. Had some delicious food, shopped around for a little bit and picked up maps and brochures so we could lay out the rest of our visit. She’s an early sleeper, so now I’m kind of stuck, wide awake, in a cute room with spotty internet because the building is made of metal. I guess I can organize some pictures so I can post them, like the CO ones. Maybe I can study some too… I’ll think about it.

09/19/11 

Washington, DC

The Megabus was awesome! Getting to New York was a breeze, and the Megabus was easy, convenient and way cheap. I slept almost the entire way. I was exhausted from the night before. Like I said, always a good time with Miranda. But I also had to stay up and write. I’m slow at posting. Anyway, I got to DC, called Miranda’s sister, Nina, and she told me to take the red line over to her place. Again, super easy transportation. She picked me up, we had lunch, and hung out for a while. She lives in Bethesda. A lot like Stamford, nice, cute, but nothing really new. I called Mike to see if he could hang out while I was in town. Crazy enough, he lived right across from Nina. Small world. I hung out with Mike and Sun that night and talked about what to do the next day. There’s a lot to do in DC. A LOT. I’ll definitely have to come back for a week or so just to do all the stuff I want to do.

The next day I woke up and took the train into DC. I saw the Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, National Archives, the White House, Jefferson Monument, Old Post Office, and… I guess I don’t remember any other sites. I walked a lot that day, from the capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, and back. That’s about 2.5 miles each way. Thank goodness for my Keens. I started off at the botanical gardens. Not very impressive. The one in Chicago is much better. Perhaps because nothing was in bloom at the time, and everything just looked like green shrubbery.

I haven’t taken many pictures on this trip, but I feel like I more made up for it today. I was a little upset that I didn’t have the Kroeschell truck with me though. I could’ve gotten so many good ones! It’s ok though since I’m planning on going back. Most pictures I took were of monuments and such. I don’t know why I didn’t go into any museums. I guess I thought I’d see the monuments then go into the buildings. But everything closed at 5:30. I did walk into the national archives. I saw the thin, faded, and unreadable Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. And a lot of other stuff that was uninformative. I guess I should have known better. Such a big building with little of it you can see on the inside.

The Old Post Office was pretty cool. I went up into the self guided tour of the tower, got to see a good overview of the city. I wanted to go inside the Newseum, but I thought I’d get it on the way back. And the newspapers from all 50 states posted outside made me want to cry. 9/11 sucks. The White House was… white. 

At this point, I grew a little bored. I was by myself and it was boring. If at any point I found something interesting, I couldn’t share it with anyone. But I walked on hoping for something worthwhile. The Washington Monuments was closed because of the big crack in it from the earthquake. It’s ok though, I didn’t feel like going in it anyway. The Lincoln Memorial isn’t as cool as I thought it would be. It’s huge, and empty. Maybe I don’t get the point of it, or maybe I was still bored. The reflective pool was under construction, so I couldn’t picture Jennay and Forrest. It was clear as mud. Hah! Now I sound like Barry.  

One the way back, I stopped at the Korean War Memorial. That made me really sad too. Thinking of all these people that went to all these wars, whether by choice or by draft. I thought of how they left children fatherless and mothers to bury their children. It all felt wrong. The fountain said “Freedom is not free”. Well why not? Why does it have to be fought for? Why do people have to die for it? It shouldn’t be that way. Do we make it that way? I don’t know. But I felt saddened by the idea and sorrow for everyone involved. DC left me sad and lonely. Next time I go I’ll just look at cool stuff like the international spy museum and air and space museum. Yep, I’ve got nerd written all over me. I just like proving it over and over again.

On the way back to the metro, I couldn’t help but see all these huge buildings that did… well, a lot of nothing. Huge building for agriculture, or printing, or god knows what. They were pretty though. I ended up at the capitol again and asked a guy to take a picture of me next to the capitol. He happened to be Asian, and I happened to get 6 or 7 photos from him. At least I’ll get to pick the ones I like. I should’ve taken a picture of him. And then a creepy guy came up to me and started chatting, started being more creepy, so I decided it was time to head back and call it a day. I met up with Mike and Sun again for dinner, had some delicious cupcakes and then packed up for the flight back home.

By the way, I got through security with a huge bottle of eye contact solution. Not that I was trying to clean the pilot’s eye contacts or anything, but jeez. They make this huge fuss about security and liquids and shoes and nail clippers and then I get through with what I had. I don’t know about you DC… I’ll have to give you another whirl.

09/12/11

Stamford, CT

Before I go on my rambling, I would like to apologize to everyone reading this blog. When I write, I write to myself and mostly for myself. It’s more like a journal to help me remember what I was doing and what I was thinking. Sometimes I forget that others are reading this. My thoughts are scattered, random, and probably insignificant. I wonder if I’ll look back at this one day and probably think how silly I was. I feel I’ve become repetitive and uninteresting. I think too much, and sometimes thinking is depressing. I'm sure things will light up, hopefully. I’d also like to apologize for the first post on this blog. Those are not my words. I’ve gotten comments on it of how good it was. It’s not mine. I should have credited the person who wrote that poem. It was on the radio back in 1999, and I’ve never forgotten about it. I still don't know who it was by. However, I’m glad that people like it, and I hope it’s meaning to them doesn’t change, because it’s great advice. That’s why I used it. But I apologize for deceiving anyone that didn’t already know that song.

That being said… back to the over thinking. I took the train from Jersey to meet up with Adam in NYC before I head over to Stamford. While waiting at the station, I did what I usually did, I people watched. This was different though. They were all kinds of people. Artists, people dressed up in suits, always on the go and in a hurry, homeless people, travelers, and I guess what you would call “average” people. I wondered what kind of people they were. If they were trying to make it big or just trying to make it through. Either way, it sort of saddened me. Going through life either way is just not… fun. I looked at one guy in a suit. Thought he might be a big shot. Then I looked at his eyes, and they were very humble. I figured he was one that was trying to make it though. I hope I’m right, but only because I’d like to think that I can’t be deceived.  

I got to New York in a heartbeat. New York City always seems to bring out the worst in me. Not always, just sometimes. And that day, it did. I’m not sure what it is. The people aren’t really that mean, the streets aren’t really that dirty. Maybe because it’s so busy? Maybe because I’m trying to get somewhere at a certain time? I don’t know. But I become not such a good person. Like the poem said, leave before it makes you too hard. 20 minutes is kind of short. Ha. I’ve been to New York plenty of times. It’s a great city. Guess that just wasn’t my day. I did meet with Adam and his girlfriend, had dinner and caught up a little bit. It’s always good seeing a friend. Even though we hung out for a few hours, it felt like it was a couple of minutes.

I took a taxi to Grand Central Station. Best cab driver I ever had. He was so much fun to talk to. He was from Idaho. Who’s from Idaho? He said there’s nothing there, maybe a few potatoes. Anyway, Grand Central was beautiful! I took the train out to Stamford. Have I mentioned how awesome the public transportation is out east? It’s awesome. You never need a car. It’s organized, reliable, and pretty cheap. Not just in New York, but the surrounding areas. It’s fantastic. Anyway, Miranda picked me up from the station and we started our weekend. I hadn’t seen Miranda for a couple of years. But when I saw her, I immediately became 17 again. I don’t think she did though. Ha, that’s ok. It was great couple of days with her. It’s always a great time with her. I feel like she’s changed, but maybe not. Maybe she just matured and I went back to being my immature 17-year-old self. I am quite happy for her. She seems to be in a good place.

Stamford was nice. It didn’t have anything particular or anything that stood out. Definitely not a touristy town, but it was nice town, much like home. If I go there again, it would only be to visit Miranda. But then again, that’s pretty much the only reason I went there in the first place. And it was a lot of fun. Tomorrow is an early day. Going to New York to catch the Megabus to DC. Maybe I should’ve have planned things out better. Who would go through those two cities on 9/11? I guess I’m going to. It’s ok, it’s not like I’m Middle Eastern or anything…

09/09/11

Long Island, NY & Clifton, NJ

This trip hasn’t been like the other two. The past few days haven’t been so much about seeing new places, but more about catching up with old friends, and that I did, and it was great.

My wonderful sister dropped me off at a rest stop by her house early Labor Day to meet up with Jo and her dad. I was driving out to Long Island with them. I figured I’d help with the driving and we could keep each other company. It was more like Jo driving and me playing with the cat pretty much the entire way. I don’t know how she does it, and she did it in the rain. Her father did it in a moving truck in the rain. But I really did enjoy my time with her, even the silence. It was a comfortable silence. I guess that’s how you know you have a good friend vs a friend. Driving through Ohio wasn’t bad. Pennsylvania was long, very long. The rain didn’t help. Although I did drive for about a half hour. We stopped in some weird place off the highway to spend the night. They had been up since 4am and the rain wasn’t helping the situation. I, on the other hand, was wide awake. But I wasn’t the one driving, so I was okay with stopped for the day… at 3:30pm.

That night I pondered the gift Jo had given me earlier and the card she wrote. The gift was very thoughtful and her words extremely kind. In a way, I wanted to give the card right back to her. I wished she would see what I saw in her. She tends to over think things and in the process, lose her confidence. Perhaps she looks too much behind her, the woulda’s, coulda’s and shoulda’s. I’m guilty of doing the same, but I feel like hers is more extreme and sometimes crippling. There’s nothing more than I can do than tell her everything will be fine, but those are just words. I wish I could show her what I see.

The next day we got up early, had breakfast, and got on the road again. Another rainy day, but it was light out and everyone was well rested. Drove the last hour through Pennsylvania. There’s really not much to see off the road there. Lots of pretty trees and greenery, but I’m pretty spoiled nice views by going out west. But I-80 through Pennsylvania felt like they just stuck a road in the middle of nowhere for people to get from Ohio to Jersey. Yeah, Jersey…

We stop in the Bronx for a bathroom break. Ugh. Grossest McDonald’s I’ve ever been to. I usually like McDonalds because they have very clean bathrooms, but not this one. And the Bronx was so hectic. It was too much fo me. Apparently, Jo didn’t like it either. We finally get to her house. I get to see where she grew up! We unpacked the truck (and by “we” I mean her and her father while I watched), and ordered pizza. Apparently, it’s called pie on Long Island. I must say though, it was delicious. Everything has been delicious the past few months. I’m going to get fat. Anyway, her brother came home from work, we all had pizza and then played a game of Phase 10. I’m again reminded of all the wonderful people that come into my life. She has such a great family. They are very fun, and lovable, and warm, and playful, and sweet, and… I could go on and on. I felt at home. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more comfortable at another person’s house. They treated me like one of their own, no different.

The next morning I had cereal and waited for Jo to take me to the train. As I had breakfast, I watched her father clean and improve the air conditioner. It was quite intriguing as he was very meticulous. I didn’t know if I liked it because I appreciate it when people take the time to do something right or because I could relate to him in how I do things. I then realized that that’s how he did everything, he was meticulous about everything. It’s something Jo picked up from him. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the table watching him do a simple task.

Shortly after, Jo took me to the train station so I could head to New Jersey to see family. As I waited for the train to arrive, all I could think about the night before. Jo’s mom gave me a kiss goodnight and said “Joanne is very lucky to have you.” But I think it’s more so other way around. I’m very lucky to have her in my life.

Just arrived at Penn Station. I’m off to New Jersey.

******************************************************************************

Well, I haven’t had the chance for internet since I’m writing everything on the train. I’m quite impressed with the transportation system out here. Not just New York, but the surrounding states as well. It’s very easy and convenient, and relatively cheap. It’s actually kind of exciting being lost in a big city. I thought I’d be a little scared, but I’m not really. Kind of exciting exploring on my own.

Anyway, I made it to New Jersey. There’s really not much to see. I heard you get a great view of NYC from Hoboken, but we didn’t get the chance to do that. Pretty much rained the whole time I was there. We did attempt to go to Time Square, but it poured, so we came back. I’m ok with that though. I’ve been to NYC so many times. The purpose of this trip was to see family. One of my cousins came out from the Middle East. I haven’t seen him in seven years. We were close back in the day.

When I saw him, I felt like I was 12 again. I didn’t realize how much I missed him, and his family. I started crying at the dinner table, tears of joy. There might have been a tear or two of sadness. How could I not keep in touch? In an age of so many communication technologies, it’s not that difficult. I hope I can hold on to this feeling and hold true to what I’m promising myself I would do to keep in touch with him. But I had a great time. We caught up, and joked, and made of fun each other, and shared stories and experiences. Normal stuff cousins do. It was really good seeing him. It was good seeing the entire family of course, but we were close friends when we were younger.

Well, out of Jersey and back to NYC to have a drink or two with Adam.

09/05/11 – 09/08/11

Jeff & Katie's Wedding

Guess who showed up late? Don't worry, it was just me. As usual, I’m never on time. I felt horrible, but I snuck in without anyone knowing. Jeff and Katie were standing up there, side by side, as usual weddings go. But they seemed to have a sense of comfort, like that’s where they belonged, naturally. I noticed Jeff did very well with his plan on slimming down for the wedding, and Katie looked absolutely gorgeous. Now I know everyone says stuff like that to bride anyway, but let’s face it, it’s what you’re supposed to say. Katie, however, was truly and genuinely beautiful. Maybe because I know how sweet of a person she is (sheesh, she married Jeff for Pete’s sake). I kid Jeff, you’re pretty awesome. Anyway, the wedding was short, or maybe because I got there late it didn’t seem long at all. But I did enjoy watching their wedding while I was ignoring everything the priest had to say. Why start listening now? As the wedding ended and the wedding party went back, I thought “holy preggers!” It looked like half the bridesmaids were expecting, a couple any minute now. But Katie had picked very flattering dresses whether you’re a stick or got another human in your belly. By the way, the dress I wore was the exact same color as the bridesmaids’ dresses. Not sure why it’s a big deal, but I felt like it was. Luckily, there were a couple of hours between the wedding and the reception. So I found a mall and went dress shopping. Like I need an excuse to buy a dress. I bought two.

Made my way over the reception. It was a very nice place, as most country clubs are. Everything was set up elegantly. I decided to sign the guestbook even though I know they’ll never read it. Who had time for stuff like that? Let’s talk about important stuff. Food. The appetizers were delish! Mmmm… cheese and fruit, and pizza, and veggies, and meatballs. Mmmm. Going into the hall, we got to congratulate the newlyweds and their parents. I was a tad disappointed that Jeff’s dad changed his bowtie to a regular tie. Yeah, I’m weird about irrelevant details. Dinner music was mostly Sinatra. And the table behind ours knew every song, and they sang them loud and proud. Dinner was super delish! I felt like a total pig stuffing my face while all the other ladies were taking their time eating their small bites. I need to hang around more girls more often. This whole engineering thing makes me feel like an outcast sometimes. Whatever. At least I got to sit at a table with other nerdy fellow engineers. This was the first wedding I’ve been to in a long time that I haven’t been in, and I was a little worried about not knowing anyone else there. But I had nothing to worry about. Everyone there was extremely kind and fun. Looking back on it, I had nothing to worry about in the first place. Good people draw other good people.

Dance! Not going to lie, I can do without the first dance and the Daddy/bride and Mother/groom dances. Although Jeff and Katie looked wonderful and having a great time. But I get antsy and I just want to dance. And I danced. Even by myself, I didn’t care. It was good music, I was in a good mood, and I just wanted to dance. Unfortunately, I was pretty tired from my travels the day before, so I left pretty early. I looked for Jeff to say goodbye, but I couldn’t find him. I’ll admit it though, the candy table got my attention, like I need more sugar with the week I just had. But it was good candy, and it was pretty too. They had little baggies and jars of all different kinds of candies. That was basically your favors from the wedding. Best idea ever. Jeff had told me about it, but I forgot. It made a nice surprise though. Mmmm… what a delicious wedding. How can you go wrong with great people, great food, and great music? It an awesome way to start a life together.

Congrats Jeff & Katie

08/27/11

Denver, CO

Denver was… fun. Really, REALLY fun. It’s definitely not what I was expecting. Just coming back from an outdoorsy trip, and going to an outdoorsy place, I expected a lot of hiking, mountains, and whatnot. There was some of that, but it was just fun. And I think I know why. There’s a lot to say, but I don't think I can say it all. A lot to remember, maybe I'll have to go back to the mile high city and recall a few things, but I'll do my best, so…

It started off with calling my friend that I met while living in the Chicago area. She moved a couple of years later to Denver. Let’s call her Charlie. I told her we would be in the her neck of the woods and hoped we’d meet up for a couple of events. Well, that’s not what happened. She was the most generous exquisite host. She picked us up from airport, gave us a place to stay for all ten days, and even biked to work so we could have her car, and showed us around the fun stuff in Denver. She even made us breakfast most of the time. Not only did she do all that, but she was excited about all of it. I honestly believe if it wasn’t for her, this trip would have been vastly different.

Denver. I thought there were a lot of hippies in Ann Arbor and a lot of homeless people in Chicago. Not so much anymore. It’s like headquarters for both those groups in Denver. Wow. I also figured Denver to be a bigger city. It was a good size, but maybe I’ve been spoiled by big cities being like New York and Chicago that make Denver look like a small town. Although I just came from small towns that had a populations of 10, a few hundred, or as much as one of the Ann Arbor high schools. I guess expectations change the way we see things.

The touristy things we did: firefighter museum, a tour of the Coors Brewery, and a tour of Hammond’s Candy. The HUGE REI, and of course the bars, restaurants. We attempted to visit the mint, but… let’s not talk about government now. The firefighter museum was pretty cool. I really wanted to pretend to be a firefighter and slide down a pole. There were six of them! But they wouldn’t let me. Bah. Coors tour was not so good. They didn’t really show you much of anything, just a lot of boards and reading. They only thing they really showed you is the packaging of the cans in a case. On the other hand, they gave you three free beers. Three! Why would you need three beers? I don’t even like beer, but I had a Bluemoon… or two. The candy factory tour was cool. They make all their candy by hand. It takes three years of training to know how to do everything they do. Of course I bought a ton of candy, and of course I ate it all. Mmmm.

Before going on the candy tour. We stopped to eat at a Mexican place. It food was alright, but I had a Coca-Cola, from Mexico, in a glass bottle. My goodness was it delicious. It didn’t have any of the preservative crap, and it didn’t have any taste from its container. How wonderfully delicious it was. I was definitely savoring every sip. Craig said I looked like I came out of a commercial for it. Maybe those commercials were made with the original recipe and they really weren’t faking. I’d be addicted to pop if it tasted like that all the time. Thankfully, it doesn’t. It’s crap.

Other than that, there weren’t any touristy things. We went on a couple of small hikes and had delicious Korean and Vietnamese food here and there. The food I had in Denver was by far the most flavorful and delicious I’ve ever had in my life. Just sayin… so yeah. We actually avoided most museums, except the Tesla “museum”. I’m not going to talk about that any more. Anyway, I was actually sick of history museums. I feel like they’re all just sob stories of how this one poor guy came from god knows where and started some kind of cult that is now a great city of blah blah blah. And there’s a lot of arrowheads too. Yay, history. Don’t get me wrong, I like history, but I like true history. The whole story, the deep story. Tell me where this guy came from and what he was thinking and what he was trying to do. Tell me what he ate for breakfast and the people he met along the way. More about wonderful Denver…

Like the weather. It's awesome... all the time. Snow today, gone tomorrow. And not too much heat, and 300 days of sun. What else can you ask for? There was a an even called the biker cruise. Every Wednesday, a ton of people, and I mean a ton, go out onto the streets of Denver in their bikes, meet at the “circle of death” and ride around for hours. Most people just sit around watching them. There’s a different theme every week. We went to two of them and didn’t dress up for either. But it was a lot of fun. I feel like it would be something I would do every Wednesday if I lived there. And no problem if you don’t have a bike. They have bike stations where you can rent one. They’re everywhere, and they’re a great idea. Silly tree hugging hippies have something going here. But I realized how much I loved riding. They’re not mountain bikes or street bikes where you constantly bend your back to grab the handle bars. They’re cruiser bikes, the kind you had when you were little. A comfy seat, wide handle bars, and you just ride like you’re going to your friend’s house to play. It even had a basket and a bell. All I needed were streamers and the wheel decorations.

We also drove up to Mt. Evan, a “fourteener”. It was gorgeous. It was a short hike up to the tip, but my dislike of inclines combined with the thin air due to elevation, I didn’t care for those two hundred feet. But it was a great mountain. On one side you can see nature and mountains and all kinds of cool scenery, on the other side, you can see Denver lit up just like any other city from a distance.

Denver was pretty close to other cities too. Boulder wasn’t too far away. And once you go there, you know exactly why you call it Boulder. There was a natural amphitheater not too far away either, Redrock. That was a site to see. I would love to go to a concert there. And I will, even if it’s a band I don’t like. It would be amazing. The last night we were there, we went to a club with a dub step thing going on. I’m not too fond of the music, but by the end of the night, I couldn’t stop dancing. I was quite energetic and having a lot of fun. This may have been my favorite night. I watched everyone enjoying this horrible music. I saw Charlie jamming with her workout clothes and pigtails. And I saw Craig dance. This was invigorating. Craig never dances, and when he does, he’s being silly and makes fun of how he can’t dance. But he was moving with such comfort, and he was having fun. It was great to see. And Charlie. She’s one of a kind. She doesn’t give a damn about anything, she’s just enjoying herself. And she’s like this all the time. I guess I can’t say enough good things about Charlie. She’s fun, kind, generous, and heaven help anyone who gives her shit. And she’s fun to be around because of that. She loves to have fun and it reflects off of her. I often wonder how lucky I am to have so many good people in my life. Not only Charlie, but my other friends, my family, and even strangers I meet. I come to this realization again at Jeff’s wedding which I’ll write about later. But Charlie in particular is my hero. She’s who I want to be, or at least what I’m working towards being. Her motto: Less stress, more fun. And I think that’s great. There’s so much fun to be had, and I had a ton of it in Denver.

August 2011 

Colorado Springs, CO

Sigh… I’m not sure where to start on this. There were two attempts at this, and they were both failures. There were a few things I was told about to see in Colorado Springs. Seven Falls, Garden of the Gods, and Pike’s Peak. But my main interest in Colorado Springs was the Tesla museum. The first day we went didn’t work out so well. No one has heard of the Tesla museum, there was nothing online for it, there was one phone number you could call that went straight to voicemail, and the address on the internet lead nowhere. We left a message on the voicemail hoping for anything. Then there was the Garden of the Gods. I was expecting it to be a garden, like with plants and flowers and such, but it was a lot of rocks. Not a big deal, it was beautiful, but it was closed. There was a bike race going on and the roads were closed. They weren’t to be open until after we left. We did make it over to Seven Falls. If you ask me, it’s just one fall with seven turns. It was pretty, just like all the other falls, but it was expensive to get in there to see it. However, there was an elevator that was built inside the mountain. I walked inside a mountain! How cool is that? Oooh, speaking of inside of mountains, I heard NORAD was in Colorado Springs too. I highly doubt we could do anything about that though. I’m sure we needed to apply months in advance and have a thorough background check. Anyway, it started pouring while we were at Seven Falls. I didn’t feel like getting wet, so we waited under shelter until the rain stopped, but it didn’t. There were a ton of chipmunks in the area. And boy were they friendly. I fed them. They actually came up to my hand, put their hands on mine and took the food out of my hand! They were so cute. They seemed pretty desperate. If you hold the food just above their heads, they jump up and try to grab it. It looks like they are clapping. How adorable. Sadly, this was the best part of the day. It was quite amusing. Once I decided the rain wasn’t going to stop, I put my sunglasses on and strutted over to my car. At this point, I didn’t care, I just wanted to get back to Denver. It was too late to go up Pike’s Peak anyway. And there was no way I was going up a narrow road on the side of the mountain when it was raining.

On the way back, the guy from the Tesla museum number called back. He was a bit… crazy. He was really excited that we knew who he was and asked how we knew and if we were engineers. We set up a time to go see this stuff and demonstrations. It was would be a minimum of $35 to see this. I figured it would be worth it. A Tesla fanatic, a personal demonstration, this could be good. So we drove the hour and a half again on Thursday to the address given. It was a bed and breakfast. It was cute. Got down to the basement to see a guy that had an Amish looking haircut. He started his “presentation” which is more of a lecture… in the dark. He kept talking, in the dark. I had no idea what was going on, but I was being patient hoping it would get better or the presentations would make up for it. This guy was a total waste. He lectured about everything we already knew, the stuff he had he wouldn’t let us really look at or read, or touch. He was very protective of it. His lecture was sporadic, sometimes going off on tangents relating to UFOs or nutrition. Then he showed us an informational video from 1983 and his “demonstrations” which was the same thing over and over, but with different light bulbs. Needless to say, I was PISSED. I left that place cursing. Sailors would say that they had a mouth of a Shaza. Oh my dear lord. What a waste of time. Three hours of mind numbing nonsense. I can't begin to describe how insane this guy is. Apparently he's coming out with 25 books, a couple of movies, and he warned us to search for the truth, but to keep it to ourselves because people will take advantage of us. Really? Can I have those five hours and few hundred brain cells back? On the other hand, I’m glad we went so that I would no longer crave it and satisfy my curiosity about the Tesla museum in Colorado Springs. Tesla, you have once again been duped. On our way out, we drove through the Garden of the Gods. It started raining again, so we couldn’t do any hikes there. It was truly beautiful though.

I definitely have to come back here one day. Maybe go see the wind cave there. Only because it reminds me of South Park. “I can’t kick you just have to save me!” Either way, if and when I do come back to Colorado Springs, I think it would be something that I have to plan. It wasn’t completely bad, but it could have been a lot better.  

08/22/11, 08/25/11

Homebase

Made it home after two weeks of traveling. It seemed a lot longer. Maybe I was paying more attention to details and living in each moment. The drive back definitely wasn’t as thrilling or eventful, but it gave me time to soak in these past two weeks, especially the small details that I wanted to hold on to.

The absolute silence I heard at the mountains only to be disturbed by a breeze blowing at the trees in the distance. The people that were incredibly patient with all the tourists. The disgruntled look on people’s faces when they were hiking. I couldn’t tell if they were tired or mad, or they just had that type of personality. But as soon as they looked up and saw someone else, the scowl faded away into a smile and a nod of acknowledgement. I probably looked even worse. I hope that I smiled back at them. They were white, most of them were white. Whether it was the people that lived out there or the people visiting. Quite a difference than what I was used to, but it probably took a while for me to notice that. Was that bad? I decided it wasn’t. People are who they are. And I noticed their kindness and their love of nature before I noticed their heritage.

We drove through North Dakota. Not much there. Went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Not much there. About a half hour drive through. Not much in Minnesota or Wisconsin either. Maybe there was, but at this point, I was itching to get home, so I didn’t feel like stopping anywhere. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the sunflower fields along the way. And the huge rainbows, one which was a double rainbow. Must admit, it was pretty cool.

Going through the pictures, I was slightly overwhelmed by many how I had. (800 pictures for Glacier alone! Still haven’t posted them, but I will… maybe only 100 or so of them though). It was my poor attempt of trying to capture the feeling out there. Craig did a much better job though. He took amazing pictures. He took a lot of me that I am very thankful for. Those memories I will have because of him. He actually made the trip very enjoyable. We got along very well, surprisingly. I say that because I usually get sick of people that are constantly around, and for two weeks nonetheless. But it was ok with him. And he helped with the driving. We decided to split up the driving evenly, but I won’t lie, he did most of it. And he kept my road rage calm when I drove. And he kept me safe from bears. One night I confessed that I was scared of the bears and he says “it’s ok, you got me.” And he flexed his arms. And although I knew he couldn’t really take on a bear, it made me feel safer and calmed my nerves a bit. I let out a nervous laugh, but it was a real laugh too. And it was a lot of little things like that that made these past few weeks enjoyable and as wonderful as it was. And I thank him for that.

More memories… the glaciers. The melting glaciers. How people are freaked out about them melting. That’s what they do. That’s how those mountains were formed. As the sign in Rae’s office at work says, “pull up your big girl panties and deal with it”. Don’t stop it from melting if that’s what it’s going to do. What else? The huckleberries. Oh, the huckleberries. Or any type of fruit for that matter, but especially the huckleberries. The fruit had such flavor. It must’ve been local. Even the beef, and the bison. Everything is more delicious out there. More flavorful, more real. It makes even the organic stores around here seem inadequate. Thank goodness my mother makes delicious food. I’ll learn one day.

I have to admit, I miss my family. I couldn’t wait to see them and share these past two weeks with them. And the huckleberry flavored things I brought with me. Yes, I’m obsessed. I went to my sister’s house for most of the time. I was pleasantly surprised at how well we got along. Was I more relaxed? Was she? It seemed like we both didn’t have a care in the world. It made for a good time. It’ll make me miss her even more. I went to my nephew’s soccer game. He’s a freshman in high school now. Wow. A long way from his games when they looked like bees buzzing over a hive merely trying to kick the ball in one direction. Now there was passing, planning, heading, faking… a real game. I miss being a part of their lives too. Sigh… I’m the aunt from Chicago. Well it’s a little better now. I’m the crazy aunt that’s going everywhere. 

Glacier National Park, MT

I’ve contemplated for a while what to say about the past few days. But there are no words. For me to describe Glacier, or at least how I saw it, would not due. It’s a place everyone needs to see for themselves. It’s a place that doesn’t look real, it’s just a postcard, or a picture out of national geographic. Where there are mountains, there are waterfalls, especially if the mountains are covered with glaciers. Taking pictures was more frustrating than ever. I continuously took pictures trying desperately to capture a fragment of its grandness, but alas, no justice. If there was any way to describe Glacier National Park, it would start with “Wow”.

The first day was pretty laid back. Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Lake hikes. Those may have been my favorite hikes. Avalanche Lake was like a hidden treasure. It’s the moment that made me realize that this place is indescribable. The Trail of the Cedars I especially enjoyed although it was an incredibly easy walk. It was a half mile long, no elevation gain, on a boardwalk. It made me realize a few things, a couple of them about myself. I realized that I liked these hikes because I didn’t necessarily have to watch where I was stepping. I could merely enjoy my surroundings without having to worry about tripping or slipping. I noticed colors, shapes, growth patterns, animals, sounds, and other minor details. I was immersed in my surroundings. It was something I hadn’t enjoying so much before. My entire life I’ve had goals, and I’ve attained many of them. I got from point A to point B. But what I failed to do is enjoy everything in between. I didn’t miss everything, but I didn’t take time to live in the moment. It brought the phrase “stop and smell the roses” to a whole new meaning. Perhaps I have new eyes on the world, or at least a little better.

Next day was mostly dedicated to the west side of the park. Bowman Lake, Apgar Lake, Poleridge, and then headed to the east side on Going-to-the-Sun Road. The lakes are gorgeous. They looked like one of those challenging 1000-piece puzzles. Everything that day was surreal. I constantly had to remind myself of where I was and what I was looking, and that everything around me was, in fact, real. They say Going-to-the-Sun Road is the most beautiful road in the U.S. I don’t have a single doubt that it is. It was the one time where road construction was an advantage. It gave me more time to soak up the falls, the mountains, the lakes, the valleys and everything else it had to offer.

More hikes the next day – Hidden Lake overlook, St Mary’s and Virginia Falls, Eagle Falls, and Appistoki Falls. The Hidden Lake hike was awful. It was a short climb, but it was on snow. Yes, in the middle of summer and there’s snow everywhere. Going up the only real annoyance was snow in my shoe (hiking sandals). I got to see marmots and mountain goats. Loved the mountain goats and the hike was OK. On the way down however, it was a different story. Going down a slippery trail where you have a steep snow covered hill was something I couldn’t handle. After going over a “tough spot” I broke down and cried. It wasn’t like the Corbin Cabin hike where my body gave up. This burst of tears came from an overwhelming fear that I hadn’t felt before. I sucked it up and moved on. There was only one way off this path and it was down back to the car. Carefully continuing the hike, as people passed me with ease, I started to cry again. It didn’t bother me that I others didn’t share my concern of falling off a mountain, but it was the realization of why I had the fear to begin with, and the feeling of helplessness that I wouldn’t be able to change this about myself. I cried almost the rest of the way down, still being tactful about each and every step. Luckily I was wearing my sunglasses and it was difficult to notice my state. I wanted to be alone even though I was surrounded by many. This made the rest of the day drag, and left me emotionally and mentally exhausted. The hike to each of the falls was rejuvenating though. The hike to St. Mary’s Falls and continuing to Virginia Falls offered a surprise. A no-name falls in between, which also happens to be more beautiful than the other two.

The final day at Glacier was interesting. I went up as far as I could on the Swift Current hike. It was a good thing I didn’t go up any higher because it started raining on the way back, and I would have had another breakdown if I was on the side of a mountain while it was raining. Just saying. It was a beautiful hike, especially on the way back in the rain. The rain had washed away all the dust and shown the rock of its true nature. It was called Red Rock Lake for a reason. It was so different on the way back that it made me question if this was the trail taken on the way to the mountain. It was beautiful, and it was a great way to end the Glacier trip. I think this would be a place I would go back to. I’d like to be in better shape for the more difficult hikes, and hopefully be less fearful of heights and these monsters that people call mountains. And perhaps I will see more sights that make these past “wow’s” seem like “ehh...”

08/02/11-08/04/11

Drive through Montana

What a day. It rained all night. I know because it kept me awake. In the morning it kept raining, and raining, and raining. I was hoping to wait it out. But it didn’t stop. Now the inside of the tent is wet. I shrugged and decided to not waste any more of the day. It was going to be a driving day anyway. I shoved every loose item into my sleeping back and put it in the back seat. The tent was a lazy fold and put it in the truck over a blanket so it wouldn’t get everything else dirty. Although we came in the northeast side of the park, we drove down the west side of the park. On the way out, we decided to drive through the east side. Which was great, because there were two other falls I wanted to see. Surprise, surprise.

This was a great idea, because it was the best waterfall I had seen in my entire life. Some falls are like Fairy Falls, small but a lot of character. Some are like Niagara Falls, big with a lot of power, but a little plain. These falls were the perfect hybrid of both. The Canyon Falls. Stopped at the upper falls first, which was the better of the two. An 1/8-mile hike from the parking lot to see it. When I got there, I was winded. Not because of the hike, but the beauty of the falls. I honestly couldn’t breathe. It was fast and powerful yet graceful and elegant. The water was hitting the bottom so fast that it spew out into splashes of mist. I could stay here forever. But alas, I had to move on. Saw the lower falls on the way out. They were nice, but now nothing can compare to the upper falls. The thing I did like about the lower falls location was that the views of the canyon were beautiful there.

The drive through Montana was much like the drive through Wyoming. A lot of nothingness. Perhaps I had become accustomed to the beauty of the west. The rolling hills, the forests, the wildlife… This is what everyone should see every day. It makes me dread going back to the Midwest. It seems pale, bland, and maybe even boring the scene out here. Again, the long drive gave me time to think and reflect on the past few days.

How can I write all this down again? I thought about myself and how relaxed I had become. I didn’t mind that there might be a molding rotting tent in my trunk making everything else in there stink. I didn’t mind the rain coming down all day. It was just another form of nature. I was lucky so far in the weather. I’m glad I was introduced to sleeping pads. How did I ever just sleep on the ground? Where is all this construction coming from??? This is the middle of nowhere. Sheesh. I’ve worked my car pretty hard. That’s ok, that’s what it’s for. No Honda Civic has ever been on such an adventure. Uphill, downhill, it’s all good. Although I wish my car would’ve have roared going up as opposed to whine. It’s a good car. My little bat-mobile. I desperately need a shower. It’s weird how showers have become a perk out here. I hate showers, but I miss taking one. It’s so beautiful out here. These small towns are really starting to grow on me. Maybe because they just seem so friendly.

Desired destination for the night: Kalispell, MT. Finding a hotel was difficult. Made reservations at a Motel 6. Took all my information over the phone only to take it down again once I checked in. Seriously people… Going to a Motel 6 reminded me of when I first moved the Chicago area. It was an exciting time in my life, just like this one. Got in the non-smoking room that stunk, but I was glad to be in a room. I yearned for a bed, a shower. Well, not a shower, but just to be clean, or at least feel clean. I couldn’t tell if I had acquired a tan or layers of dirt. Turned out to be a little of both. Set up the tent in the tiny room to dry, laid out all the other wet things to dry, put the laundry in a pile in the corner and took that fantastic shower that I had been looking forward to. Now the bed, a real bed, is calling. I think I’m going to answer.

08/01/11 

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton! They didn’t look like Tetons to me, but they were gorgeous. Mountains have a special personality about them. They stand tall and proud, and they have a story to tell. The glaciers on the mountains gave them a little more character. Driving through the park, a different point of view of the same mountain range was like seeing a whole new scene. Continuously breathtaking.

Driving to the first hike, I decide to summit mount signal using very special gear. My 2004 Honda Civic. The road was windy and elevated, but it wasn’t like driving on the mountains to Yosemite National Park back in March. Here the road was wide, and not on a cliff. On top of the mountain, it became clear why it was called Mt. Signal. There was a huge tower right there. I looked at my phone and saw that I had great reception. So I took the opportunity to call my parents.

The flowers on the mountain were beautiful. In fact, all the flowers I have seen on the way have been beautiful. There’s something about wild flowers that you can’t get from a delicately arranged flower bouquet from the florist down the street. They were vibrant and placed randomly about each hill or mountain. It’s as if god was eating seeds and sneezed on this mountain he was creating. I could say the same thing about the trees and forests. These trees are ground on mountains. Rocks. What kind of soil are they hanging on too? Nature is just awe-inspiring like that.

The first hike was at Jenny Lake. Took the pansy way there, the ferry. Then hiked the half mile to hidden falls. Gorgeous, as usual. I don’t know what other ways to describe waterfalls. It’s like an unattainable goal to truly describe a waterfall. Anyway, hiked up another half mile to Inspiration Point. Wasn’t very inspirational, it didn’t make me want to write a book or anything, but it was beautiful. You can see plains, mountains, forests, a lake and a river, all in one picture. On the way down from Inspiration point, a 71-year-old man passed me. I struck up a conversation with him and found out that until about three years ago, he was a college basketball and football referee. Wow. He makes me feel lazy and lethargic. He inspired me to be more active. Maybe that’s what Inspiration Point was about afterall.

The weather was crappy and I was feeling sick. I took a nap and had a bite to eat. I felt a little better, but not good enough to do the entire next hike. Phelps Lake. I had it in me to hike there, but not around it. The hike there was nice. Very woodsy and outdoorsy. Once at Phelps Lake, I felt like I was looking at a post card. Was this real? It was beautiful. It was still a little hazy out, but I definitely got the feeling of what it was. The lake with the foresty mountain behind it was numbing. Sat there for a little bit then made way back to the car.

On the way to campsite, there was moose. A moose! It was clogging up traffic of course, and I made traffic worse by getting out and taking a few pictures myself. Unfortunately it didn’t have the antlers, but it’s face was just as funny-looking. I filled up on gas at the park. I thought it would be more expensive, but it wasn’t too bad. A little under dollars per gallon for 85.5 grade. Stopped to have dinner at the lodger there. Best food I had ever eaten in my entire life. Mmmm… And now back at the campsite, looking forward for more days of adventure and surprises. I hope this feeling never goes away.

07/31/11 

Yellowstone NP - Day 2

Woke up, had a quick breakfast and immediately went to the next desired campsite. Stopped at the one right before it, just in case. It was full. It wasn’t even noon yet! On to the next one, the one I was hoping for. Driving over, I crossed the Continental Divide. And then again. The third time I declared Blair Whitch. I stopped to look at the map to confirm I wasn’t nuts. I wasn’t, not for this reason anyway. Took a picture and continued on. Entering the campsite, I saw most of it was flooded, but I spotted one right at the beginning, and luckily, it was shady. I don’t know if I can handle a sauna in the morning. Set up camp and went out to discover Yellowstone.

I had gone through the map they give you upon entering the park. I circled anything that was labeled as a fall. I know… I can’t get enough of them. They’re all different, and they’re all mesmerizing. And I can stare at each and every one of them for hours on end. I hopelessly take tons of pictures, with each one reminding myself of my hypocritical tendency. I know I can’t get the picture I want, no matter what camera I have. Even taking videos isn’t sufficient. I do my best. But nothing compares to being there, standing by the waterfall, hearing it’s decent upon the rocks, feeling its mist, even better if there is a slight breeze, watching each drop fall to join the flow below.

The first waterfall was Mystic Falls. That was a hike. Of course before getting to the trailhead, there were geysers and hot springs and all that happy stuff. The one that caught my eye was the Sapphire Pool. Coming to a fork in the road, there was a path to the Mystic Falls 1.7 miles to the right, and 0.7 miles to the left. Going to the right, it was 0.7 mile hike to a scenic overlook. Stopping every 25 yards to catch my breath, I constantly questioned myself why I was doing this. The mountain is steep, the path is narrow and how will I ever get back down. The scenic overlook was good, but the falls were still a mile away. The people going the other way said it was steeper. Yep. Going back the way we came. The hike down was much quicker, but in a way much scarier. Part of the path were sandy, I slipped a couple of times and swore like it would save my life or something. Got back to the fork and hiked the other 0.7 miles to the falls. Very much worth it. As agonizing as it was doing that hike, at the end of the day, I’m glad I did it.

Got to Old Faithful just in time to see it erupt. It was pretty cool. There were an incredible amount of people there, especially for something that happens every 90 minutes, give or take. It made me wonder why Yellowstone doesn’t blow up entirely. There are hot springs and geysers everywhere.

I was told that I had to walk into Old Faithful Inn, just to see the lobby. It was the oldest building in the park and it was beautiful. Indeed it was. It was all wood. I had noticed a fire hydrant and multiple pumps outside the building. That no longer seemed odd. Next was dinner. Walked across the street and had the best tasting driest broiled chicken sandwich I’d ever eaten. Everything tastes good after a good hike.

Speaking of hikes… Fairy Falls was next. It was about a 5 mile hike. It was easy though, no elevation gain. The trail was beautiful and the waterfall was breathtaking. I daresay it was the perfect waterfall. Noticing a raspberry bush, I got a little freaked out about bears. I soaked up the waterfall and moved on.

I really wanted to see Grand Prismatic Spring before the sun set. I made it just in time. Walking on the walkway to it, I felt like I had just gotten out of the shower, but not in the clean sense. I would feel a gust of hot humid air and then a cool breeze would blow. Just like getting out a hot shower and opening the door to the bathroom. Since the spring was constantly letting off steam, I couldn’t actually see it. But every now and then I would get a glimpse of the colors. I tried catching it then for a picture, but I figured the aerial pictures on line would have to suffice.

Got in the car, snuck into a nearby hotel to use the bathroom, brush my teeth and recharge my computer so I could write about the day in the tent. This handwriting stuff is not as convenient. I wish I could sneak into a shower too. The dusty hikes have made my feet dirty, even my legs. It reminds me of John’s black foot during our fubar trips. I feel like calling him up and setting up some kind of challenge. “Black foot? It has NOTHING on my black leg!” Oh the stuff I come up with when I’m tired. Tomorrow… Grand Tetons. Get your mind out of the gutter. ;)

07/30/11

Yellowstone National Park

Yay! Pancakes were delicious. And I got to recharge my camera and computer batteries. The internet was slower than I liked it to be, and at one point it stopped working. So I only posted three of the four entries. I wanted to post more and perhaps post some more pictures as well. But I would like to get into the park and find a site, so I packed up and headed to Yellowstone. It was recommended to go through the northeast side, through Cooke City, MT (another cute town). Stopped there, stalked up on ice and filled gas at $4.35. Yikes! The grades they had were 85.5, 88, and… I forgot what the last one was, but the first two were odd enough.

Yellowstone National Park, finally! These campsites fill up fast, going from one campsite to another, got the last spot at Indian Creek. It’ll do. Headed over to Sheepeater Cliff. It was interesting. The rocks had broken off into columns. Climbed over to the top, which wasn’t too bad, it’s not that high. What I didn’t consider is the way down. I’m like a cat in a way, I can climb up a tree, but climbing down scares the day lights out of me. The drive up to Mammoth Springs was very windy, as the road tended to be entering the Yellowstone area. Around one curve, there was a beautiful waterfall that cascaded in a way to look like a wedding cake. Of course I took a picture. This one wasn’t even labeled on the map. I had a feeling I’d like Yellowstone.

Mammoth Springs. Now Yellowstone is full of hot springs and geysers. They are everywhere. But Mammoth Springs are the most famous, and for a reason. They were beautiful. At first, I thought it was a pile of snow. But it was just a lot of springs, bubbling, making noises, flowing, there was even a little hot spring waterfall. Sorry, I don’t get over waterfalls. They’re my favorites. Anyway, I see all these people taking pictures. Some with super duty cameras and lenses and things I don’t even understand about cameras. And all I can think is FOOLS! You can’t put this in a picture. Pictures never do justice, no matter how good your camera is. You can’t capture the feel of the sun beating down on you, or the breeze that blows bringing that disgusting sulfur smell towards you. Ewwww. You just can’t get it. Doesn’t matter though, it doesn’t stop me from taking endless pictures. I feel like I’ve had this thought before and I’ve mentioned it. Perhaps. But it’s true. You just need to experience something as beautiful as nature for yourself.

Went into Mammoth Spring Inn too use their facilities. On the way, there were elk and bison, and all kinds of fun animals. I like being able to see wildlife in their true environment. It’s not like the zoo. Of course I took pictures, but one elk with huge antlers started moving towards my car so casually sped away from it. I’m not messing with any of that.

On the way back to the campsite, I had to stop at a couple of falls, of course. Undine Falls and Wraith Falls. There was a short hike to Wraith Falls whereas Undine Falls was a lookout from the road. They were both cute. I love how all waterfalls are different. I hope to see better falls in the park. But I’m satisfied with today. Tomorrow is dedicated to seeing more Yellowstone and going on hikes.

07/29/11