We made it to the coast!

Location: Seattle
Mileage: 5,529
Music: Singalong mix featuring such favorites as Ace of Base, Destiny’s Child, and David Brent

After over 5,500 miles and 42 days we’ve literally made it from sea to shining sea! We’re now on the Pacific Coast, ready to enjoy the beautiful city of Seattle after having had a great time in Vancouver and in Idaho with Jim and Margie. Last Sunday night, after watching the Redskins choke in the game against Dallas, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner of fresh Alaskan king salmon and some good conversation before hitting the sack. The next morning we took our time starting the day and enjoyed an enormous breakfast of crab benedict and fruit salad before Jim and Margie drove us up to Priest Lake, nestled in the green mountains near the Canadian border. Jim took us to some of his favorite views of the lake, repeatedly lamenting the view-obscuring rain even though Alina and I both felt that the mist gave the lake and mountains a majestic blue tint that looked like something straight off of a post card.

Beautiful Priest Lake

After we returned back to their house, Jim took Alina and me, along with their two huskies, on a hike around their property of nearly 400 acres. I can’t believe that anybody could have so many great views on their own property, but I suppose that’s part and parcel with living in such a mountainous and beautiful place. Along the way Jim taught us a lot about forestry, showing us places where he has had his forests logged. Before that I had never realized how much private property owners worked with state agencies and logging businesses to log in a way that provides lumber while maintaining, or even improving, the quality of the forests. Having enjoyed a bit of exercise we returned to the house for more than a bit of really good food and wine. Margie had cooked up a great crab cake feast, and after enjoying that we sat around the table for a long time talking and drinking good wine. Alina and I have been extremely lucky to have a few hosts and hostesses who have spoiled us with incredible food and drink, and Jim and Margie were certainly standard setters. It’s been really great to take the occasional break from our regular fare of trail mix and cheese sandwiches.

View from the top of our hike around Jim and Margie's property. You can see their new house's shiny roof on the right.

The next morning was spent doing logistical things like laundry, post cards, and eating another huge breakfast (salmon omelets!). After we got everything cleaned and packed we said our goodbyes to Jim and Margie and hit the road, heading north towards Canada. We passed through the border without any problems except that we had to forfeit all pitted fruits, so those fresh apples and pears that we had gotten at the organic farm in Montana had to stay in the USA. The drive across the southern portion of British Columbia featured some of the most beautiful scenery that we have seen so far on the trip. The mountains were green yet snowcapped, and our drive down Route 3 offered many stunning views. We drove until it was almost dark and then camped in a Provincial Park outside of the tiny mountain village of Greenwood.

One of the many spectacular views on our way to Vancouver.

The next morning we let ourselves sleep in a bit since we knew the second day of our trip to Vancouver would involve lots of driving, partly because of mileage (or kilometrage, since we were in Canada, eh) and partly because of the slow mountain roads. The second day's drive was just as beautiful as the first, although as we approached Vancouver the weather turned and it began to rain. The rain continued all evening, as we got a bit lost in the city and eventually made our way to the trendy Davie St. area of downtown where we split an order of veggie fajitas for dinner. After that we read in a café until our hostess got out of choir practice at 9 and we could make our way to her house to meet her.

Having enjoyed more than enough Motel 6 nights on the trip, Alina and I had decided to try out a site called globalfreeloaders.com, where you sign up to host freeloaders or to become one. We used this site to meet Katrin, our hostess in Vancouver, who turned out to be a very friendly twenty-something with a nice apartment on a hill that offered a view of both the city skyline and the surrounding mountains. We spent the rest of the evening getting to know her. She and I had a lot to talk about since she is part Estonian and is planning on moving there next year and I had been there after studying in St. Petersburg and am thinking of pursuing an EFL job in the Baltics. After showing us pictures from her Estonian folk dancing days, she gave us keys to her apartment and told us to make ourselves at home!

The view of downtown Vancouver from Katrin's street.

The next day, Alina’s 22nd birthday, was spent walking all around the city to get a feel for it. We browsed through the shops and cafes in the Commercial Street district near Katrin’s place, wandered around China town, and ate at a tasty but cheap Mediterranean place downtown. After that delicious lunch we spent some time strolling through downtown before making our way to the quaint neighborhood of Granville Island, home of many quaint shops, eateries, cafes, and the kids' market. After strolling around for a little while, we watched the various ships come in and out of the bay for a while before hiding from a passing rain shower and enjoying some coffee (me) and tea (her) in a little café. Then we started the long, long walk clear across the city to Katrin’s house, where we planned to regroup and figure out what we would do to celebrate Alina’s birthday.

Vancouver view while crossing the bridge to Granville Island

Vancouver street scene.

When we got back to the apartment, Alina went online to see what was going on that night and discovered that the University of British Columbia had a Shastakovich concert that evening played by the Jerusalem Quartet, the sixth of a seven concert series during which the Jerusalem Quartet would play all of Shastakovich's quartets. Alina threw together a quick but tasty pasta dinner while I looked at the map to find the quickest way to get to the University, and we ate and then took off for the concert. Though we arrived a few minutes late we were able to get in after the first piece, and the show was absolutely amazing. We both sat spellbound for the entire performance and then drove in silence on the way home so that we could reflect on it. How perfect that we had the opportunity to go to such a fine musical performance on Alina’s birthday!

Friday we decided to check out the university by daylight. We drove out there but could not find free parking, so we drove waaaaay out past a park and into a residential area to park for free, and then embarked on the 30 minute walk back to our point of interest, laughing at ourselves for being such cheapskates, but actually thinking ourselves quite clever. Who has $6 for parking?!?! At ay rate, we enjoyed seeing the university. We also had the opportunity to check out the university’s impressive Museum of Anthropology, which featured a huge collection of art and artifacts from the North Pacific Native Americans, who the museum dubbed the First Nations. We also enjoyed rummaging through the museum’s off exhibit storage, which they open to the public, or at least the portion of the public who gets excited about looking through index books and then searching the cabinets for certain anthropological artifacts. Having had our fill of that kind of excitement, we set off for a little hike through the park and down to the beaches that surround the university. We were surprised to find these beaches to be clothing optional, but the naked old men, try as they might, could detract only slightly from the beauty of the bay and the hazy mountains of Vancouver Island from the stony beaches. By this time we realized we’d blown right through lunch time, so we made our way back to the car and set out for food. Being cheapskates, we settled on the best value in the area, a huge eight dollar pizza at a little hole in the wall place. Tired from so much exploring and the ingestion of so much grease, we decided that we would spend the evening relaxing and watching a movie. Katrin only had a couple of DVDs, but she did have The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I had never seen and Alina wanted to rewatch. We had a nice uneventful evening of movie watching and a full night’s rest for the next day’s planned hike.

In the anthro museum.

The beaches of the University neighborhood.

The next morning we ate a hearty granola breakfast and headed for the mountains looming over Vancouver’s skyline. After just a 20 minute drive our surroundings transformed from cosmopolitan Vancouver to rustic Lynn Valley Provincial Park. We set out on our hike, 3.5 miles up Lynn Mountain to a view which Katrin’s hiking guidebook promised to be a spectacular spread of Vancouver and the surrounding bays and mountains. The view was incredible, as promised, though the hike was very steep and extremely tough, especially considering that a month and a half of sitting in Speedblazer has done nothing good for our leg muscles. Despite leg struggles, we really enjoyed our first tough hike in a long time, and returned to the apartment that evening ready for a big dinner, a stroll to the gelato place down the street, and a solid night’s sleep.

Hiking takes a toll on both one's sanity and one's supply of fruit leathers.

The view from the top of the hike was fantastic. Like most pictures of great views, this one falls short of capturing how great it really was.

Sunday morning we gathered all of our things and hit the road, headed towards Seattle. The drive went smoothly except for the congestion at the border, which took us over an hour to get through. We arrived in Seattle in the early afternoon and drove to the home of Jerry and Whitney, our generous hosts with whom we were connected with once again through global freeloader. They are an extremely friendly couple who live a bit north of downtown Seattle in a charming house with their 3 cats. We’ve been very interested to get to know them a bit because they spent the past year traveling around the world, hitting up destinations in Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. They are also Prius-driving vegetarians so we feel like we fit right in here!

Having put our stuff in our room at Jerry and Whitney’s, we set out to do some exploring in Seattle. Alina had read about a music festival in a nearby park, so we made our way out there to see if we could find it. We have very bad luck finding that kind of thing it seems, and though we walked around most of the park, there was no music festival to be found. That’s okay though, we took the opportunity of being back in the States on a Sunday to call our families and then had a very nice stroll around a lake in the park, where many Seattleites were out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather by biking, walking, running, and skating. After a nice walk we made our way over to the trendy Capitol Hill district to find something to eat, which we found in the form of a surprisingly cheap but tasty Chinese buffet. Full and happy we made our way back to the house, where Jerry and Whitney were entertaining dinner guests, and relaxed in our room for a bit. Alina read while I tried to catch up on this blog, which we have absolutely got to be better about updating because these huge posts are no fun to write and probably less fun to read, sorry! Also, the DSL here is just not allowing the uploading of pictures, so when we get some high speed internet we’ll do a major photo dump. Until then, best wishes!

Fondly,
Paul

Idaho or Paul da ho?

Location: the most beautiful ‘middle of nowhere’ in the world (Priest River, Idaho)
Mileage: 4829
Sets of heads seen with dreadlocks since last post: too many to count

Dear friends,

We have not traveled particularly far, geographically, since our last post, but we certainly have traveled extensively in terms of locale and people. We parted Bozeman Tuesday afternoon after picking up Speed Blazer (it sounds and feels like new; thanks to all of you for your concerned phone calls and post responses) and sharing one more lunch with Pam. We were sad to leave her after our many days of getting to know her; she gave us lots to think about in topics ranging from the education process to spirituality, from philosophy to alternative medicine. I know that the car ride departing Bozeman was silent and – for once – it was not out of a lack of conversation but more because we were thinking about and reflecting on many of the issues and topics Pam introduced to us.

We pulled into Missoula, Montana – “the last best place in the world” – late Tuesday afternoon. Missoula is home of the University of Montana and a really fun, young, and hip town with an amazingly accessible recreation lifestyle. It seems that everyone there bikes, hikes, climbs, or kayaks, if not all of the above. This little gem would likely have gone unnoticed had it not been for the fact that one of my best friends went to college there. In planning the trip, though, I called Josh to ask him if he knew anyone still in town that we could stay with, since he was presently living and working in Oregon. He referred us to Oriana, a very fun and sweet girl, who lives in a great big ski house-esque (Bavarian style?) place with a few other students. We called Oriana on our way into town and found a place in the downtown area to meet up with her. She quickly sketched out paths and parks around town that she recommended checking out before she had to run off to work. Paul and I walked for some time along a river, hoping to see some kayak surfing, before checking out the campus. It was strange to be surrounded by young students again, but we enjoyed overhearing conversations excusing bad behavior.

“Yeah, I mean that could be bad, but you’re still in college, so it’s okay.”

Whatever they were excusing, we’re sure that they’re right. Drank too much last night? It’s okay, you’re in college. Slept in till 3 PM? It’s okay, you’re still in college. Locked your roommate out for the night? It’s okay, you’re just a jerk. (Thanks Jen and Gaby, for never being jerks.)

The campus is surrounded by mountains endorsed with college letters, which boast good hikes with beautiful views. We had big plans to check it out, but never ended up getting around to it. We discovered the “voted #1 theatre!” on our walk around the downtown area, which rang true to us as Tuesdays are its discounted days and it was playing “Little Miss Sunshine,” a movie that both Paul and I have really wanted to see. We grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to the theatre to catch the early show. Well, we ended up spending the money we saved on the discounted tickets on concessions, but honestly, can you blame us for being surprised and pleased to see a movie theatre that sells (good) beer? We both tried the Summer Ale, a spiced and honey infused beer brewed in Missoula; it was good, but it just made me eager to make mead at some point. Honey deserves more accolades than that beer could provide. Anyhow, the movie was very good. It literally made me both laugh and cry. Although that’s one of those phrases that movie critics often attribute to movies, it might be the first time that I truly did both. Good soundtrack, phenomenal acting, interesting (and intense!) characters, and just a good dose of black humor. We both recommend it, if you haven’t yet seen it.

The end of the movie sent us off to find Oriana as she ended her work shift. We made a stop-over at the house she lived in last year to meet and chat with several of her friends who now live there. In one regard, we felt sort of bad telling them about our trip as they expressed envy over our traveling and regret over their reading assignments of Kierkegaard; but, envy like that goes both ways and Paul and I felt the need to get some good reading in that night before hitting the sack.

The next morning we headed into town to get breakfast at the Shack, a relatively inexpensive restaurant with probably the best buttermilk pancakes I’ve ever had. We ate too much... My old and dear friend, Josh, actually ended up getting back to Missoula from Oregon that evening prior, so he met up with us at the close of our breakfast and quickly became our official Missoula guide. Our first day with him, we toured more downtown and campus activity (seeing the tallest building in Montana, which is all of 11 stories) and then made some plans for our time in town. For that day, we headed up to Black Foot River to find a swimming hole and potentially some cliff jumping. Well, we did find a beautiful stretch of river with an extremely deep swimming hole (none of us could hit the bottom, despite many efforts) but boy was it cold. Lots of dedication and slow moving was the only thing that got me in the water but it was worth it – the snow-melted water was lovely and invigorating. Unfortunately the river level was low enough that the bottom of the river was not deep enough in front of the cliff ledges to dive into, but we had fun nonetheless. The drying off and warming up part was pretty great as well. :)

We spent some time back at Oriana’s house, getting to know her roommates, before heading off for a delicious Indian dinner and heading to the house where Josh is staying while he’s in town. We enjoyed getting to know Josh’s housemates and to spend some time just relaxing and getting to try more Missoula-brewed beer. Especially for me – a non-beer drinker – you have to imagine that they do a decent job if I’m willing to try a beer two days in a row!

What's cooler than being cool? ICE COLD!!! Our (invigoratingly icy) swimmin' hole.

The next morning took us back to the same restaurant – this time determined to split the pancakes in order to reduce the bill and our stomachaches – and then off to hike with Josh. He drove us out to Swan Front Mountains, near Sealy Lake, to get our legs moving. There was some drizzling and mist obscuring the view and diminishing the pleasure of the hike towards the beginning, but, as we hiked, it became clearer and drier. We enjoyed the sights of several waterfalls, beautiful foliage, and great education from Josh about forestry and the area. We grabbed a quick dinner and then drove Josh home so we could split ways (he had some mountain biking to do while we wanted to catch up on emails.) We were sure to take advantage of the Coke factory on the way home from his place, though, and appreciated $.25 cans of soda. From there, we headed into the downtown area to find a café with wi-fi. Liquid Planet had both free wi-fi and really great tea (Red Lavender.) We sent emails off to our hosts in Vancouver and Seattle and got some good reading done before meeting back up with Josh. His roommates and he had a get-together that evening, so we enjoyed more relaxation with young people of the area.

Our Missoula-area guide Josh and the with some of the falls that where we hiked.

Friday morning was even rainier and colder than the previous day and pretty much killed all plans of hiking. It even snowed in parts of town with higher elevations; it was wild to see snow decorating the mountains in our view. We had wanted to take one of the hikes that we read about that purported to give a great view of the town that, but after breakfast at the Raven, even a little walk around town chilled us to the bone. We went for more lavender tea and the cozy couch to read for some time before heading back to Oriana’s. She and her roommates were planning on hosting a big dinner that evening, so Paul quickly went to work helping prepare the huge batches of papusas while I wrapped myself up in my fleece sleeping bag and dozed off with my iPod and the sound of rain. The preparation for the dinner went on all afternoon and much of the evening as friends poured into the house, bringing musical instruments, scrabble boards, side dishes, and good conversation. Paul and I had been really impressed by how friendly and open the people of Missoula appeared and that evening did nothing to diminish that idea. We had a lot of fun talking, cooking, eating, and getting to know the young people of Missoula. It was also nice for me to have a long stretch of time catching up with one of my favorite people.

We lazily packed everything up the next morning, while breakfasting and conversing with the remnants of the previous evening’s guests. We gave our biggest and sincerest thanks to Oriana and her housemates as they trickled out to work and chores and the such, and got acquainted with Jessica, who works at a farm 30 miles north of Missoula. She often hitchhikes home, but as it was cold and rainy, we were happy to offer her a ride back to her farm on our way out of town, so long as she didn’t mind sticking with us while we ran some errands. (Josh was kind enough to get us into Costco with his card, so we are now pretty set with granola bars and fruit leathers.) We then gave our sad goodbyes to Josh and set off for Jessica’s farm, where we met her roommate/co-worker, a sweet wolf-dog, some sheep, and lots of fresh veggies. Jessica generously assembled a box of fruits and veggies that they grow on their farm to thank us for her ride home. And so on we went, Idaho as our goal. Originally we planned to go up to Glacier National Park for two days and a night, but the rain and coldness prohibited ideas of camping and it was simply too far away to drive for a day trip. I, for one, am content to have it as an excuse to come back to Montana again some time.

View of the snow covered mountains from the farm where we drove Jessica and drove away from with lots of goodies. On the right is the tipi where she lived for a year!

We arrived late Saturday in Priest River, Idaho, home of Jim and Margie, two of my parents’ oldest friends. Our drive from Jessica’s farm to Idaho was the most beautiful drive to date, as we passed through Lolo National Park and through many sets of mountains, but we were tired by the time we got out of the car (and we had taken several wrong turns on the way.) Jim and Margie immediately set us at ease with glasses of champagne to celebrate our arrival and a cheese and cracker plate to please our stomachs. We discussed our plans for the next few days and soon hit the pillow.

Sunday morning, we awoke to good coffee (and a great little lesson on the process of roasting one’s own beans and different ways of brewing) and a very hearty breakfast of strawberry pancakes and tarragon scrambled eggs. It was from that moment on that I realized just how well-fed Paul and I were going to be at Jim and Margie’s. (Not that I should be surprised, as the basis of my parents’ and Jim and Margie’s friendship was their mutual love of food and drink.) It was a slow start that morning, as we sat around and discussed our trip, future plans, how Jim and Margie ended up out in Idaho, and so on, but we eventually made our way out of the cabin. First, Jim drove us up to their actual house, which is still under construction. They live on 396 acres of breathtaking land (they have 20 miles hikes that are entirely on their property!!) and are presently living in their cabin as the house (complete with great porches, a beautiful kitchen, an indoor sauna, and an exquisite wine cellar) is being finished. They’re hoping to move in within a month. I hope so, too! Their house is amazing but it really is only a result of all of the hard work and meticulous planning they have put into it. I’m sure their first night in the sitting room, in front of a fireplace with a >180 degree view of mountains, will make it all worthwhile.

Can you believe this is the view that Jim and Margie will have from their living room in their new house?! Idaho living looks better and better.

From there, we swung back down to the cabin where we are all staying, picked up Margie, and set out to see the surrounding areas. We drove to several lakes and up a mountain (where, in the colder months, there is much skiing) to some amazing views. We enjoyed a glass of wine with Jim and Margie atop the mountain before heading home to catch the Redskins v. Dallas game. The nice thing about the Pacific Time zone is that Sunday night football games become Sunday early evening football games. Well, I say this as if it makes a difference to me, but, in truth, the reason this post is getting written at all is mostly because the other three are watching the game. I, for one, am happier to write than to watch football (read: get angry at the TV.) Presently Dallas is winning, so I think I’m the only one still smiling in the room! Dinner preparations are being made though – the corn is shucked, the coals are on the grill for the salmon, and the squash is sliced up – the wine is flowing, and the fire is roaring, so I’m sure we’re in for another great evening. Tomorrow, we take a good, long hike around the property. And I tell you what, after just 24 hours here, I truly believe that I could happily live in North Idaho (if only I could find a job here…) We’ll be in touch!

Love,
Alina

Big skies and geysers and bears, oh my!

Location: Bozeman, MT
Mileage: 4,029
Favorite Quote: "Slooow down, Virginia" - mean looking man we drove by in a campground at a speedy 7 mph.

We’ve been bad about updating over the last week simply because internet availability and down time have failed to coincide. It’s been an eventful week. At our last posting we were awaiting Speedblazer’s appointment the next day in Rapid City, having been referred to the Chevy dealership after the place we’d originally taken it couldn’t help us. We got up early the next morning and had the car in by 7:30. They took it right in and after a while came out and said that our catalytic converter was “dissolving.” The guy there was one of the friendliest car mechanics I have ever encountered, and said that they would charge about $800 to fix it but we could go to a place on the other side of town and have it done just as well for $200. This is a very out of character thing for a mechanic to do, but he continued to surprise me by calling the Exhaust Pro place and making our appointment, and then drawing me a very detailed map to it before charging me a modest amount for the inspection and a new fuel filter. So we quite happily went on our way to Exhaust Pros, where they fit us right in and replaced the aforementioned catalytic converter. Unfortunately it was still starting hard and idling poorly, so he recommended we take it back to the Chevy place, which we did. Our friendly mechanic was again extremely accomodating and took a look at it immediately. He said that he thought it would just take a while for it to get the accumulated backup out of it. Give it some time, he said, and it will fix itself.

Having had plenty of time to see Rapid City, SD, we hit the road. Since we’d lost some time and money we decided that Theodore Roosevelt Park would be bypassed in favor of a free campground that was right on our way to Bozeman. So we drove for a few hours, immersing ourselves in our new novel, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Tolstoy, like Austen, has been very enjoyable to read to each other in the car, although instead of adopting his literary style, like we did with Pride and Prejudice, I basically just try to guide us in developing an ability to say the Russian names out loud (ex: “oh that letter…just pretend like your coughing.”)

By late afternoon we arrived at the eerily empty (but free!) campgrounds in Southeastern Montana’s Custer National Forest. We took the afternoon to relax and get some reading/writing done before spending the evening relaxing with a bottle of wine (thanks Mr. Harway!) by the campfire. The next morning we got up, ate an oatmeal breakfast, and hit the road. En route to Bozeman we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, site of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, one of the last efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to fight Westward expansion. It was there that Custer’s troops were defeated by a combination of Lakota and Cheyenne Indians, an event you may remember from grade school history as Custer’s last stand. We both learned a lot in the visitor’s center and had a very pleasant stroll around sun the baked battlefield. After a few more hours of driving we made it to Bozeman, where we are staying with Alina’s sister’s mother in law, Pam. She very warmly welcomed us into her house and made us a delicious dinner. She’s a very friendly and interesting woman, so we spent the rest of that evening sitting around and chatting until Alina and I, having risen early, were early to bed.

The hilltop where Custer's Last Stand took place at the Battle of Little Bighorn

The next morning, item one on the agenda was to see to Speedblazer’s persistently sickly condition. By this time we had driven over 600 miles and thought that if things were going to work themselves out they would have. We couldn’t make any reservations to have the car worked on until Monday, however, so we decided to give working things out one more chance with Speedblazer’s exhaust system and head to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. The trip from Bozeman to Yellowstone was a beautiful excursion through Big Sky country, and then Yellowstone itself was as breathtaking as its reputation had promised. We entered in at West Yellowstone and made our way down the Western part of the park, stopping at pretty views, waterfalls, and to view the geysers, mudpots, and other assorted seismic activity the park is so well known for. By late afternoon we made our way down to Old Faithful and had a great time watching the geyser, but an even better time watching the crowd of hilariously stereotypical Midwestern tourists watching it. Just imagine 15 minutes of the same people saying “Oh here it goes! Here it goes! WOW! Oh it was just warming up….WAIT, now here it goes! Look at THAT! Oh wait....”

A sulfur pot bubbles away

Despite many false starts, Old Faithful didn't let the crowd down.

After watching Old Faithful send steamy water 150 feet into the air we decided it was time for some mountains, and made our way south towards the Tetons. After a stunning drive through southern Yellowstone, over the Continental Divide, and past Yellowstone Lake, we exited Yellowstone. Grand Teton National Park is a truly stunningly beautiful part of the planet, with mountains of the classic rocky look towering over glassy lakes. We made our way to Colter Bay, where we set up camp and made dinner, and then turned in early to tell ghost stories.

The next morning the cold woke us early and we got up, thawed off with some hot oatmeal and tea and a tiny little fire, and then packed up Speedy to do some more touring of the park. The morning was sunny and gorgeous and we pulled over after a few minutes of driving and took a nice hike through some prairie flats along Lake Jackson, with the mountains towering over the other side of the lake in front of the crisp blue morning sky. After that hike we drove down to lake Jenny for another short hike, this time through an evergreen forest that offered the occasional view across the glacial green waters of the lake to Grand Teton, the peak that gave the park its name and apparently some lonely but imaginative French explorer some excitement (the name means “large breast” in French). Having hiked our share, we made our way back up to Colter Bay and made a little picnic lunch before renting a canoe and paddling for a few hours on Lake Jackson. I think for both of us this was one of the highlights of our travels so far, the day was still very beautiful despite a few moments of scattered rain, and the mountains on the other side of the water offered a constant stream of dramatic views.

View of the mountains during our morning hike in Grand Teton National Park.

Canoeing on Lake Jackson.

By the time we finished canoeing it was getting to be late afternoon so we decided that we had better make our way up to Yellowstone quickly so that we could partake in the dusk wildlife that Yellowstone is so renowned for. The drive up the east side of the park was even more beautiful than the drive down the west side had been. Along the way we were able to observe lots more seismic activity, stunning views, and some cool wildlife including lots of elk and bison, and even a few black bears. We were less impressed with the herds of deer, but apparently we were the only ones who had seen them before because people kept jamming the roads to get lots and lots of footage of Bambi & co. We forgave the people from LA of this transgression, they don’t know any better, but people in Wyoming, the least populated state in the country, should really get over deer. At any rate, the wildlife was fascinating and abundant, and along the way up north we got to stop at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, one of the most beautiful parts of the park. We took in the stunning views of the brightly colored canyon walls and the river below for a while. The weather, however, was worsening, and while we were enjoying the view the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and it began to rain. Then we began to see snowflakes so we jumped back into the car. Though we’d originally thought we would camp in Yellowstone, the bad weather and the prospect of the comfortable beds at Pam’s house in Bozeman quickly changed that decision, so we kept driving north, stopping only for a few views and to make a pasta dinner before arriving back in Bozeman later that night and retiring after a very full day

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Us with aforementioned canyon.

Making dinner at one of Yellowstone's many scenic overlooks.

The next day, Sunday, we spent the morning relaxing after our extremely full days at the Parks. In the afternoon we went to Montana State University’s Museum of the Rockies, which was offering free admission. The museum was very enjoyable, particularly the exhibits on paleontology (they have the world’s biggest T-Rex skull!) and Native American cultures. After the museum we returned back to Pam’s and just spent the evening with her, enjoying a delicious salmon dinner and relaxing.

Monday we got up early and took Speedy to its appointment, where the mechanics were very friendly and asked for the story of our car problems in meticulous detail. Leaving our chariot in their *hopefully* trustworthy hands, Pam took us out to Townsend for a corn maze, appropriately named the Maize!, that we had seen an article about in the Bozeman paper. We had a great time winding through the 15 acres of 11-foot tall corn and then found the designer of the Maize who was working the admissions stand to be an exceedingly friendly and fascinating woman. We talked to her for a good while and learned a lot about the importance of doing original things (like the Maize) to getting by as a farmer. We left the Maize and headed towards Virginia City, which suddenly came into being when gold was discovered in the area in 1863 and just as suddenly turned into a ghost town when the gold deposits of the surrounding hills had been fully excavated (some $100,000,000.00 of gold was found there at 1860’s prices!). On our way we had lunch at a little café in Ennis, and then had a good time walking around Virginia city, enjoying sweat treats at both the old fashioned candy store and then the homemade ice cream shop.

Alina atop the Maize with our generous hostess Pam.

Virginia City

Having fully satiated our appetites for adventure, history, and sugar, we made our way back to Bozeman. Along the way we could see towering clouds of smoke from nearby prairie fires, which have been the most severe fires to occur in the region since fires ravaged Yellowstone in 1988. It was quite surreal to come over a hill and get a view of Bozeman below with huge plumes of smoke in the background behind the mountains. Also on the way home we got news of Speedblazer, which having had most of its fuel injector system replaced was now “running like a dream” A very expensive dream, but at least we’ll be on our way. At any rate, we made it back to Pam’s house and enjoyed another night of good food and conversation.

Smoke rising over the mountains from a huge prairie fire.

This morning we are just trying to get things packed up and in order for our trip to Missoula. Soon Pam is going to drive me to the shop (I can’t believe we're going to double our credit card debt at a place called Mr. T’s) and we’ll be on our way. We hope to be much better about posting regularly after this, so that we keep in better touch and don’t have to write mammoth sized posts when we do get around to it. So more to come soon!

Cheerio,
Paul

Location: Rapid City, SD
Mileage: 3159
Music: We’ve both been singing, discussing, and analyzing Joni Mitchell all day. I think we miss writing papers or something.

Salut amis!

To pick up where we left off (as apparently we’ve left some of you hanging) we shall return to St. Louis. After a nice run Friday morning, Paul and I headed back, yet again, to Forest Park to check out the one attraction we had yet not seen – the zoo. We considered passing it over since we stumbled into the one in Chicago but, really, can you ever see too many animals? We concentrated most of our time there in the snake room, which was both exhilarating and terrifying. They must have had at least 3 dozen types of venomous snakes, including the biggest, fattest Burmese Python that I could have ever imagined. It was 18 feet long and most certainly wide enough to fit an Alina-sized person and still be hungry. *shudders* It was strange to read up on the locales of where the snakes lived – we saw lots of snakes that reside in places where we, ourselves, are headed on this trip (and a few that are in Turkey, so be on high alert Harway family!)
We again spent a lot of time viewing and laughing at the primates and also got a good chuckle out of the ‘big cats’ section. The amusement from there, though, was not so much from the cats as at the New York family standing next to me at the tiger pit. As I watched an angsty tiger pace back and forth I hear them call, “look at him! He’s just running back and forth!” I thought it bizarre that they would call his stride a run but soon discovered that they were ignoring the awe(some/ful) cat and were instead fixated on a rabbit above him. I suppose they don’t see many of those in the city? (But I can’t imagine they see a lot of tigers there either…)

one of the snakes we hope to be lucky enough not to stumble over

Upon returning to Denise and John’s, they informed us that their dear friend Bev was coming for dinner and that they insisted on us staying to eat with them. Amidst the hilarity the three of them produced (such as telling us about their Halloween costumes of the previous year as “an open bar,” with each member dressing as a different drink – for example, Taya (their daughter) was a bloody Mary, decked out with her lamb and blood spots) we somehow allowed our wine glasses to be refilled quite a few times. Once we left for the blues festival, we had a hard time finding it. (Imagine that!!) We missed the festival, but we enjoyed another evening of night views of the arch.

Did you know that the arch can turn into an obelisk?

The next morning, we packed the car, took a stroll around to check out the Greek Festival (it was a very festival-oriented weekend there) and look, again, for the blues festival. Well, St Louis festivals: 2, Paul and Alina: 0. The Greek Festival was exclusively food and the blues festival (which had actually ended the previous evening before we got down there) started later on Saturday than we planned on staying. Dommage! From there, we said our goodbyes to John and Denise and hit the road, knowing that we had a full two days of driving before us (our next destination: the Badlands of South Dakota.)

About 20 miles into the drive I noticed that Speedblazer was driving strangely. From time to time it felt as if, for a split second, the gas would disengage. And I wasn’t taking my foot off the accelerator. I shared my concern with Paul (who was busy reading more Jane Austen aloud) and he listened for and felt it also. Well, it apparently felt like the EGR valve needed replacing. This was a problem Speedy had had before and, although it was a concern, it didn’t seem too pressing (and a good thing, as it was Saturday on a Labor Day weekend and so we wouldn’t be able to take it in until Tuesday.) So, we drove on. We actually really enjoyed the scenic drive (although we both agree that it’s a nice place to visit, probably not to live) and finished Pride and Prejudice. We were both so happy (spoiler alert, although not really since it is a plot that everyone knows) that everything worked out for Elizabeth and Darcy and, although we never doubted it once, for Jane and Bingley. We stopped in Omaha, NE for the night after driving many hours. The car problem seemed to getting more severe, producing a car that was very difficult (without pumping a bit of gas as you turned the key, the car wasn’t going to start.) We stayed in a little motel right off the interstate which turned out to be, to date, the sketchiest place where we have been on this trip. We were pleased with the cheap price but soon discovered just why it was so cheap. Loud noises, thin walls, small rooms, and angry neighbors were part of it. We actually preferred the angry neighbors to Nick, a neighbor we had the fortune to never meet, but unfortunately got a few phone calls from him, as he looked for couples to “talk” with. After I had sweetly answered the phone and then angrily hung up the phone on the first call, we agreed Paul should answer, in his deepest and manliest voice, the next one. That seemed to do the trick as Nick stammered and stuttered and professed to have thought that “you mean you guys aren’t the couple I was talking with earlier?” That seemed to end the matter. We slept with a bolted door and an open ear, only comforted in the fact that no one could steal Speedy, as our trusty Blazer wouldn’t start for just anyone at this point, only those of us in the know to his quirky start-up requirements!

We continued on, despite the car problems, as it still wasn’t Tuesday and there really weren’t any garages around where we were. A long day of driving finally put us into Western South Dakota, where we wanted to be. We made a few stops on the way. The first one was at “the only Corn Palace in the world!!” (I wonder where else one would be?) It was a cute little town that takes corn seriously – the local radio station is called “Korn Talk” – and the Corn Palace has a bunch of murals all over the inside and outside that are made with 13 different colored corn cobs. It really was something.

patriotic Paul and the Corn Palace

On we continued. The whole way through the state, there were signs for Wall Drug, a “South of the Border” sort of phenomenon – this store in Wall, SD, is a drugstore that “got its start during the Depression years by offering Free Ice Water to thirsty travelers and by building its reputation on friendly service.” Sure, but now it is a kitschy, touristy place that boasts a giant T-rex that roars and steams every so often, old time photos, big rabbits that you can ‘ride,’ and sells about everything you can imagine. It was certainly interesting and we picked up our free ‘Have you dug Wall Drug” bumper sticker. From there it was just a few miles south to the Badlands. We arrived pretty late and had to set up camp (at our FREE campground) by car headlights. A long day of driving (and a restless previous night’s sleep) put us quickly to sleep.

Wall Drug

Do you really think I'd pass on the opportunity to ride a rabbit?

We awoke the next morning to the sight of bison roaming free all around our campground. Boy, are they big! We spent the morning driving the 31 mile loop around the scenic part of the Badlands, stopping off at several of the viewpoints. The Badlands are named by the French trappers who called it so because of “la terre mauvaise” that they had problems passing through. They are lovely, though, with their interesting layers of coloration in the rocks and a wide variety of rock formations. The area was carved out, over time, by the lakes and glacier water rivers that used to pass through that area, creating what is aptly named “Grand Canyon’s little sister” (or maybe it was its little cousin?) We also did the Fossil Walk, admiring some of the fossils found in the area. I was told by Peter that the Badlands were where the book Jurassic Park claims to have been the site of several of its dinosaur bones. That was exciting until I remembered learning that there were no dinos (or at least, to this date, no evidence of them found) in that part of the country. The Visitor Center museum was also very good and well laid out, complete with a video of different people who live in the Badlands and how and why it is that they choose and enjoy living there.

Bison are bigger than you'd imagine

the Prairie Dog Field

Badlands, baby

Beautiful Badlands
Badlands and a bucking breed
Okay, I've run out of alliterative things to say about the Badlands.

From the Badlands we took a quick drive over to Rapid City and the surrounding Black Hills, home of the famed mountain sculptures. We stopped first at the site of Crazy Horse, now many decades into the project of carving the Lakota leader. Crazy Horse is well known for leading forces to victory at Little Bighorn, attempting to halt European encroachment on Lakota Lands in Black Hills (where gold had been discovered.) The monument is going to be huge – 641 feet by 563 feet high. It is quite impressive and neat to see as a work in progress. After that we headed to Mount Rushmore but, honestly, it seemed quite a let down after Crazy Horse. All four of the heads could fit into just the head of Crazy Horse, which is only one part of the sculpture of the man on his horse. We also were just being cheap and didn’t want to pay for the parking. J We instead got a good view from the road and were happy to continue on our way. Thanks to Dana, who got online at our request to scout out hotels and Chevrolet repairs in Rapid City for us since we had been out of contact with the internet for quite a few days, we found ourselves at a very nice (and such a good change from the previous motel) Thunderbird Lodge. We got good advice from the kind check-in man about where to take Speedblazer the next morning and we went to sleep, reassured by his raves of the local TMA.

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse through his 1/34 model sculpture

Up early Tuesday morning, we called the garage and got an appointment. We spent the morning taking advantage of the hotel’s wifi, pool, and hot tubs, before taking the car in for his 1:30 appointment. As the car was looked over, we set out on foot to check out Rapid City. And it was, well, you know, a South Dakota city (read: there was nothing to do.) But we got some good exercise and returned to the garage to discover that they had given us our requested oil change but they had to send us elsewhere for the repairs that the car necessitated. Apparently it’s not the EGR valve at all (as if I even know what that means…) but the Chevrolet dealership where the TMA people sent us, which is equipped to deal with the problems that the garage found, was helpful and kind and, after we hemmed and hawed about waiting in Rapid City until Thursday when they had an opening, offered to take us in early tomorrow morning. They seemed confident that the repairs would be a relatively quick fix. Ah bon! We headed back to the hotel for postcard writing and some TV before heading out for dinner and errands. We finally discovered the way to make Rapid City entertaining, though. At the local Wal-Mart, in deep Southern accents, Paul and I set many brows a’furrowing. Example:

Stopped in front of a 10” TV, advertised for $90

Alina: Awww, honey, I’ve been waaantin one of these!
Paul: We can’t afford no fancy TV like that.
Alina: But hooooney, you’ve been promisin’ me one of these since we got married at age 14!
Paul: Yeah, and you’ve been promisin’ to have a kid without a tail!

I won’t be surprised when Rapid City, as a whole, kicks us out and bans us for life.

And now we are at our lovely Thunderbird Lodge for another night awaiting Judgment Day – that is, tomorrow’s visit to get Speedblazer repaired once and for all. (Oh please let it be once…)

Love,

Alina

putting the oui in St. Louis

Location: St. Louis (I don't think we ever want to leave!)

Mileage: 2000
Music: Lady Day

Well, St. Louis is much more than I, at least, could ever have dreamed of. We have had so much fun so far!! Tuesday morning we set out to explore Forest Park, a big park about two blocks from Denise and John’s house. Forest Park houses a zoo, 3 museums, and is the site of the 1904 World Fair. We wanted to check out all of the (free!) museums, but only got to the Art and Science Center on Tuesday. We started the Art museum by viewing the Pacific and African art, which was really impressive and very educational. Although, gosh, I’ll tell you – it gets hard to read so much and try to retain it all! We really liked the mummy rooms, though, and they even had the urns which contained the innards of one of the mummies (ew, yet cool) next to his coffin. The Impressionist exhibit was decent but after the Philly and Chicago art museums, we were pretty hard to impress. A break for some homemade sandwiches (and mmm, thank you Delaplane Farm Store, for selling that chipotle spread) before heading off to the Science Center which was sooo cool. If you have kids (or plan to have kids) take them there. It is very hands on and has lots of educational games. Paul and I played there, especially in the 5 senses section until the museum closed. They literally had to come over the loudspeaker three times before we got out. Oh, and downstairs they had a life-sized robotic T-rex who would look around the room and periodically let out a roar to, I guess, prevent anyone from going after his ‘dying’ triceratops prey. Very cool. I reverted back to age 10 and would squeal with delight every time he let out his roar when he was looking up to where Paul and I stood.

St. Louis Science Center -- more fun than Chucky Cheese's

We walked back to Denise and John’s, as they wanted to take us out for dinner. On the way there, Denise told John to detour over to a little wine bar that they’re very fond of that has the most interesting things on the menu (watermelon salad with feta?!) for a drink. They also ordered a salami and fig dish for appetizers. And oh my, those fresh figs were a delight. On to dinner at a restaurant which also served some interesting pairings; my beet salad had bittersweet chocolate shavings on it! Denise and John’s two sons and a friend of theirs live upstairs, so we viewed a bit of the apartment life in St. Louis and I’ll tell you: I am impressed. Paul and I both agree that this would be an enjoyable city to live in.

The next day took Paul and me to Eastern St. Louis where the famed arch is. It is striking. It is 630 feet tall (and 630 feet wide) and provided many great views from different parts of the city. We did a bit of touring around the area (note: the visitor center in St. Louis has the friendliest and most informed workers of any one we have visited yet) before catching dinner at Imo’s, home of St. Louis’ famous thin crust pizza (and apparently “receives shout-outs from rap superstar Nelly.”) While it was very good, Paul and I still have memories of that Chicago deep dish, which pretty much prohibits any pizza from being looked upon too favorably. Imo’s is also where we picked up a new friend, whom we like so much that we’ve invited him to travel the rest of the trip with us. He has graciously accepted and so we have gone from two to three!

The Mississippi River was not all that impressive, or so my facial expressions would indicate

We headed back towards the Arch and were accosted by people looking for change who either gave me a compliment or a really nasty insult, depending on how you look at it.

“Hey brother, can you spare some change?”
“Sorry.”

“Psh. I see the lady you’re walking next to. I know where you’re spending your money!”

So either they think I’m worthy of a man spending money on me or… they think I’m a prostitute? It gave us plenty to laugh about as we made our way to the “Westward Expansion” museum at the base (actually underground) the Arch. The museum was interesting, presenting opinions from explorers, politicians, Indians, farmers, and so on, but it was really nothing compared to the “Gateway to the West.” You have to cram into very small, futuristic-looking pods to get to the top, but it is so worth it. The windows are small, but provide extraordinary views. It was particularly beautiful when we went up, as we got up before it got too dark, so we were able to see the city as it is, yet the sun did disappear completely while we were up there and all the lights came on. It was like two views for the price of one!

Our new friend, Chubby Buddy, in front of the arch

Those pods were smallll

view from the top, in all its splendor

We had some fun playing around in front of the arch and taking lots and lots of picture (ohh, night shots…) before trudging on home.

Arch and arched

Night shots

Thursday morning was a lazy, laid back day. Originally we were going to head out to the Ozarks for canoeing and camping for a night, but, not finding what we were looking for, we decided to check out the third museum in Forest Park that we had missed the first day. The history museum was great; we really had no idea just how impressive and filled St. Louis’ past is. We spent our time in two exhibits; one on the 1904 World Fair that was held in our very own Forest Park (also the location of that year’s Olympics) and one on Charles Lindbergh. I think it might be time to check out a bio on Lindbergh; he is a fascinating human being, who accomplished so much (in such a variety of fields) and, before, all I really knew about him was that he was the first to fly across the Atlantic. Well, that and the isolationist viewpoints about the war, but – again – I learned more about that than I had previously known. It’s impossible to know the true sentiments behind his opinions about WWII, but it worth reading that there was at least some basis behind it (he had flown and viewed the German air force a few years before the war and believed, at that time, that there was no way that the US could beat Germany if ever in a war against them.)

After the museum, Paul and I found a little café that boasted its status as the place for “best mid-day drinks!!” At $2 per martini, we were pleased to enjoy (I think for both of us) our first lunch with a martini. We felt like we were in a different decade.

We took some time that afternoon to laze about a bit more before cooking a dinner for Denise and John to thank thank thank them for being such incredible hosts. After dinner, Paul and I headed into another new part of the city (University City) to try to find some good blues. Well, that ended up being a bust, but we got to check out the walk of fame strip – gold stars boasting the St. Louis famed (Scott Joplin, Maya Angelou, Tennessee Williams, Chuck Barry, Miles Davis, and Yogi Berra, among many others.) We weren’t too disappointed, either, as tomorrow starts the Muddy Blues festival, so I’m sure we’ll get our fill of good music. A nice walk home through Forest Park (we’re rebels – the park closes at dark!) put us back, happy and tired for bed. And so now I do believe that it is time for us to take our repose, so that upon the morrow we might have the inclination and cheered countenances that will provide for a most pleasant day. (We’re on Volume III of Jane Austen; it is great.)

Love,

Alina