Louisiana

We went to Louisiana - to the French Quarter and got "Bourbon faced on Shit Street" (a saying on my favorite T-Shirt). Bourbon Street is a party EVERY night of the year. People are Always rying to get you to show your stuff for beads thrown off the balcony! It is really fun, sober or drunk! We had great food (Bryan ate lots of gumbo - which is basically anything that has ocra in it!)The French Quater is fill of so much history, it is fascinating! We went on a Haunted Tour and learned about the hotels and other haunted spots. The next day we went on a Swamp tour and saw alligators (they get them close to the boat by feeding them marshmallows!) and the bayou (an old Indian word for slow-moving water) with cool looking cedar trees and lots of neat stuff!


Beware of the swamp beasts though!

Here is a link to some more super cool Louisiana pictures!!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.4h0dfdbf&Uy=spz4tg&Ux=1

getting tipsy on Bourbon Street

my favortie T-shirt on Bourbon Street

swamp

Louisiana Swamp - this is at campground we stayed at in Louisiana!

fort walton hermit crab

Bryan and I went swimming on this Awesome beach in Fort Walton, Florida. The sand is soft and white. The water is clear and warm. The jellyfish are stinging (poor Bryan - it really hurts to get stung by one of those guys!). The hermit crabs are abundant, too!

Here is a link to more Florida pictures including Enchanted Forest, St. Augustine, Fort Walton, Bryan's grandparents house, and some miscellaneous:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.7jcujk4r&Uy=3ndu5v&Ux=1

the new Annie Oakley

Today we got our oil changed. Well I should say that we got Miles' oil changed. Yes, I think we have named the car Miles. I wasn't sure at first, but it is growing on me... and it sure fits considering the trip he is taking us on! Miles of Smiles.

Then we headed to the Gainesville Target Range where we met Ray who was our ticket in as guests. Bryan's grandpa is a member here and had a few guns for us to try. I got to go first. We all put in our earplugs and put headphones over our ears. Then announced that the range was "hot" and I got to shoot my first five bullets EVER... I was kinda nervous because I had no idea what to expect, but wouldn't you know it - I hit two right on the bullseye and the other three were pretty close! I kicked ass. Bryan's grandparents even offered to frame the target - COOL! The gun I used was a .22 caliber and had a very handy red light that you used for aiming.

I got to try a .45 next - again I was nervous because .45 sounded a lot more intense than .22 - and it does have a kick! The other gun I tried was a .9 caliber. I did great with all of them, even without the handy red light, though it does take a bit of effort to keep your arm steady. I could hit the people-shaped targets pretty consistently, with a nice PING sound each time. Then I tried to hit the round ones that flip down when you get them, those PING and flip! Very gratifying... my first try was 3 out of 5. Not too bad :) So, they all seemed to be a bit impressed and gave me a new nickname, Oakley, and teased Bryan that he better behave. ;)

Daytona, Space stuff, Enchanted Forest, St. Augustine

We got up this morning and headed to the next rest area to cook breakfast - it was quite fancy, we made fired eggs, sausage, anbd even pancakes! Then we headed north and stopped in Daytona for a quick lunch break. I finally had Chickfila and got some pictures of the Racetrack for my mom (she has become a very big Nascar fan!)Next we stopped at the Kennedy Space Center - but it was like $40 to get in. And we were off by one day to see a blastoff! BUMMER. So we left there and checked out the nearby Enchanted Forest. We went on a mile long walk in the woods - SOO releived to find no mosquitoes here! We did see more spiders (which I learned are called Golden Silk Spiders) lots of butterflies and even a baby armadillo!!! He was soooo cool. He was in the trail, sticking his nose into the sand to find a dinner of ants, and seriously couldn't have cared How close I got to him. I probably could have touched him, though I didn't dare. Bryan said he looked like a well protected rat. He was super neat!


armadillo in enchanted forest

Our next stop for the day was at St. Augustine Beach, where we went swimming. It was a bit choppy and the water was a tiny bit cooler than in the keys - but still super warm. I tried body surfing, but only ended up with water up my nose and sand in my bathing suit. We went into the town of St. Augustine and checked out the fort there. Sadly it was closed, so we couldnt go in. The town is awesome though. Historic Old Town with lots of cute cobblestone streets and shopping. We then left for Gainesville with homemade ice creams cones in our hands - yummm, banana fudge.

Florida is difinately a place I would like to visit again. There is so much to do and see here. So much water, be it ocean, lake or river. The flora and fauna here are so uinique. Of course tons of touristy thing. I hope to come back and see Biscayne National Underwater Park - to go snorkeling in the coral reefs! And to come back for Disney World. Someday.

Florida Pictures!!

Link to more Florida pictures (The Keys and more):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.btrohiar&Uy=vxsbt5&Ux=1

WARNING: It is MOSQUITO season! Oh yes, it was baaad. This is THE worst time to go to the Everglades. But we did it anyway.


Mosquito coat

We first went all the way to Flamingo (the farthest point west in the park) with the plan to take our time coming back out and walking around. On our way down, we met the welcoming committee. An alligator was laying in the middle of the street! He was so cool. Totally just chillin' in the road.Our stop in Flamingo was cool, as we got to have a snack and watch some thunder and lightning! The mosquitos weren't bad here. Next we went to do a 1/4 mile hike around Eco Pond - this is where the insanity began. The minute we got out of the car we were surrounded. Bryan was wearing long pants and my raincoat with the hood sinched around his head, but still just couldn't take it. He retreated quickly and I decided the only way I would see the trail was if I ran. So I did. But if I stopped for a moment to take a picture I was doomed. Those darn mosquitoes!

When I returned to the car and took one look at Bryan I realized he was NOT having a good day. Every bite was swollen, his neck and face - even his lip - had bites. He just looked miserable. Lucky for me I wasn't being biten as much and didn't have the same reaction as he (which I believe is probably because I used bug spray with deet, and he used natural stuff from Whole Foods).

I pulled off again just to see what the forest looked like there, but didn't dare get out. The trees are very unique - with interesting bottoms, as it appears many of the roots are above ground.We managed one more walk in the park before leaving, where it was more out in the open. We walked on boardwalks around water. I saw HUGE brightly colored grasshoppers. I also saw a sign "Nesting Area. Do Not Disturb". So I took a peek and saw an alligator head peaking out of the water about 2 feet off the trail! So exciting.Then I dared enter the forest - again I ran on a trail, this one actually IN the forest - but I had to run FAST because those mosquitoes are vicious! Didn't really get to see much, excpet the rufffle of lizards scurrying away from me. Gladly no spiders webs to walk into as well!

After the Everglades, we drove north. We took a turn to go see what Miami Beach is all about, but found ourselves in TRAFFIC and never even attempted to get out of the car. It looked like a big Santa Monica, but with a bit more diversity on the beaches, and with grass on the beach sand.

Once we finally got out of this traffic, we headed north and slept in the parking lot of a Howard Johnson motel. We tried a few rest areas, but Florida has that pesky law about not sleeping overnight - AND they have secutiry patrolling the area all night. The parking lot turned out to be ebtter anyway... no truck or traffic noise, and no obnoxious lights in our face! Still too hot to get a good nights sleep though.

everglades gator

for more pictures of the Everglades. click here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.1oghkhgr&Uy=-w1vj1y&Ux=1

Florida Keys!!

We made it today!! We made it to the very tippity tip of the southeastern end of the country - Seattle to Key West!


Us at the Southern Most Point in the Continental US

This morning we had a snack at the KOA pub and grub and I got a very neat lizard souvenir. Our drive today consisteted of a couple stops on the beaches to go snorkeling and swimming in crystal clear and very WARM water. And I must say that I am very proud of the fact that I have remained sunburn free... certainly have a lot more freckles than I did 23 days ago though ;) When we went snorkeling at Sombrero Beacj in Marathon, I saw a LOBSTER! He looked at me with those beady little eyes and off I went - for some reason I suddenly had a fear that this lobster had some vengence against people and I would be his first claw victim. Silly I know, but to see a lobster that close up - they are Creeeeepy looking!

We also stopped at Mangrove Mama's for a snack and got to Key West in time for Hemmingway Days - so there were boths and food and things all along Duval Street. We walked by Hemmingways House, but it was $11 bucks to tour, so we decided we would spend our money somewhere else. Then, we went to the Southern Most Point in the USA! Very very cool. So monumentous! This really felt like the biggest destination yet... as all you can do is turn around... no going any further!

We walked all around Duval Street and Bryan got a fancy hat. We ate at wo Friends Padio Restaurant and then went to Mallory Square to see the sunset, as it is THE place to do so. I was surprised that the view of the sunset is actually over another island - the guy was right at the KOA, their sunset view is better. We even had a boat full of pirated block out view at one point. But it was still very cool to be there, among the zillions of other people and all the street performers. We made it to a motel outside the Keys tonight - for the same price as a campground outside Key West! And here we are now - with actually High Speed Internet Access! Amazing!!

Sunset on the Keys

Key West sunset from Malloary Square

Ichetucknee in Florida

Florida is awesome!

We got up to bacon and eggs made by Grandma Doris and then drove to Ichatucknee Springs State Park where we put a canoe in the Ichatucknee River! The water was crystal clear, and apparently very high. Bryan began in charge of steering, and steered us through a quiet river, with a few people tubing down. We saw tons of mullet fish! They often jumped out of the water in front of us too - some a couple feet in the air! We saw various birds, turtles, of course zillions of dragonflies, even a few landed on my knee (thankfully they were little guys, otherwise I may not have been able to handle such a thing). Which reminds me of the huge spider with various colors on it that I nearly walked into on an attempt to pee in the woods… not going to try that again in Florida ;) . Half way down the river, Bryan and I traded positions, and I got to steer the rest of the way. Suddenly it was like we were on the 405 in LA. There were a bazillion people tubing down the river, swimming, jumping off trees, snorkeling! Quite the obstacle course to steer around! I got maneuvering skills. We got to the end at the same time as Bryan’s grandparents (who had gotten in half way and swam down with the fins and snorkels). Bryan and I got to get IN the water at this point, and it felt oooh so good, as was a very hot and humid day! Bryan’s Grandpa Joe then offered to get me a souvenir of a t-shirt with a gator floating down the river on a tube, playing his banjo, with a little turtle in the background. It is pretty sweet!


floating on the Ichetucknee

Next Bryan’s grandparents took us for to Mayo for some southern BBQ. Yumm-ee! I filled myself beyond normal stomach capacity with ribs, chicken, green beans, and deep fried corn on the cob (which is super good, and I am sure very good for you too).

With very full bellies we went to the Suwannee River for a quick swim. It was Clough State Park water times 100! The water is sooo orange, from the tannin from the trees. It took me a while, but I finally worked up the guts to submerge myself – check out the picture! And with a still full belly, I had to eat even more, as Grandma Doris cooked up some more yummy food for us and made chocolate mousse. I lay here now, with the biggest belly I have ever had. That’s it, I am fasting for the rest of this trip. At least we have no more of Bryan’s family until we are back up in Montana, so no more stuffing myself silly. Oh boy oh boy – I Hear thunder!!! Cool! My first thunderstorm this trip. And we are safely nestled in a house, how perfect!

Quote of the day: “The theologian asked his apprentice to name the first women, to which he replied ‘Eve.’ He then asked where Eve lived – ‘The Garden of Eden,’ he replied. Then he asked what were the first words that Eve said to Adam – “Hmmmm… that’s a hard one.” One of the many jokes Bryan’s Grandpa has shared with us the past two days. :)

jenn in the suwanee

Georgia to Florida

We woke up nice and late today and then spent the morning playing with Jarrod and Gavin. Learned Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game, which is pretty fun actually. Then after some coloring, we said goodbye to the Smith family and ventured down to the state that marks our furthest point from our starting point, Florida!! We arrived in Gainesville Florida at Bryan’s grandparents’, Joe and Doris, house and had some more scrumptious burgers and salad.

Quote of the day: “Mom, it is 8:00 My time, and 8:00 Your time – we are in the Same Timezone!!”

Georgia Pictures

Link to Georgia pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1&Uc=9gc0q893.88z1dpsz&Uy=5zfe18&Ux=0

Georgia

Today began with a trip to one of Bryan’s Appalachian Trail town- stops, in Hiawasee, Georgia. Yup, made it to Georgia! Sadly, there was no way to celebrate our arrival, as there were no convenient welcome signs, nor a welcome center – we kinda snuck in on a back road. After our stop in Hiawasee and some Dairy Queen (sadly, Hiawasee does not know how to make a Mud Pie Blizzard) we passed up a few hours journey to find the beginning of the Appalachian trail, and headed toward Atlanta. We never did actually go into Atlanta, but we certainly got to experience its traffic – UGH. We felt like we were in LA again. YUCK! It was baaad. We did make it to Kim and Kevin’s (Bryan’s cousins) and there little guys Jarrod and Gavin and their new baby Selina.

Ice Water Shelter, Charlie's Bunion, Fontana

I woke up this morning super early due to the intense need to pee and found myself looking out over an amazing sunrise!!


Great Smoky sunrise

I tried to lay down a little longer, but the hustle and bustle of early risers in the shelter and the increasingly pink sky forced me out of bed – the earliest morning for me yet! The sunrise was just so pretty over the Smokies. The coolest thing I got to see was the creation of the Smokies... As I watched the sunrise, the mountains were visible and the sky was filled with clouds of color. Slowly, as the sun got higher and higher, from the valleys of the mountains grew what looked just like smoke, of course it was fog. But before I knew it, the Smokies were covered in this “smoke”. It was pretty neat to see.

We then hiked to the Bunion of Charlie for some pretty nice views, and a good sense of the AT. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be hiking the very same trail with a backpack on – it got me excited! But there were also some parts of the trail that really seemed to be a bit treacherous – narrow trail on a cliff, rocky and wet. Yikes.

We got back to the car and took some pictures of the Tennessee/North Carolina border, one with Byran in NC and one with me in TN.

We then made our way through the rest of the park. We discovered the reality of being in the MOST visited National Park in the country – there were sooo many cars, so many people everywhere. This frustrated Bryan greatly, so we got out of there as quickly as we could. But before leaving we did find a nice pull over spot and got to go swimming in the river by ourselves. Brrrr! It was cold, but so refreshing. It took me Quite a while to actually dunk my head under, but I did it!

On our way to the Foothills Parkway, which takes you along the Western edge of the park, we say lots of tube rentals, as the Little River is quite popular for lazying down. We almost took our raft and went for our own river adventure, but decided to carry on and get away from all the people. We made it to Lake Somethingorother below the park. The further we traveled down the road, along the lake, we started to see fog above the water. There is a dam up stream that causes extreme temperature differences between the air and the water, so the fog gets quite intense! It was soo cool. We stopped in one area with a little field near the lake and took some pictures. While we were there the fog started to come out of the water and reach for the road… seriously, it could have been part of a horror movie as I swear the fog was reaching like a giant hand, you can see what I mean in one of the pictures. We also took some silly pictures with bark while there. We came to a place to finally use our raft. We floated on the lake for a while, which would have been longer if not for the little Pffftt noise we heard coming from the boat. It seems to have a very slow leak, but we weren’t going to risk going to far into the lake. It was nice though.

We then made a very good decision to NOT hike in a mile and a half to a backcountry camping site, but rather kept driving and happily found a great campground near the Fontana Village Dam. This campground was perfect! We got a site near the creepy foggy water, there was a trashcan right in our site, we had a small “padio” for exercising, FLAT land for the tent, and … a SHOWER!! Hooray for showers! It was a good nights rest!

Link to more Great Smoky Mountians National Park pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.9xwbwkpv&Uy=rh6sss&Ux=1

Go Cards! Nashville. Entering the Smokys.

While in St. Louis, we met two of Bryan's gradeschool friends and went to my first ever professional baseball game! It was a very exciting game (so I am told - as I didn't honestly find it all that exciting) - it went into the 13th inning! We finally left at the top of the 13th, thinking it was over because the other team scored. We found out the next day that the Cards ended up winning - right after we left. Good for them :)


The next day we headed to Nashville. We stopped in a NO cover bar and listened to a quite good band and had some beers. Fun! Nashville was just as I had remembered it - music coming out of EVERY door you walk by. Bars galore. I think it is a fun place and nice to revisit. Sadly, I couldn't find the other bars I had gone to with Tim on my first road trip... our favorite human jukebox was no where to be found :(



nashville art

We next headed to Gatlinburg, the EXTREMELY touristy town outside of the north entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains. There was sooo much traffic. It was insane. I have never seen a place as touristy as this! They had everything you could possibly imagine - from Ripley's Believe it or Not, to ghost tours, to minigolf, to ski lifts... just everything. We went in to the park - and I learned that this is the MOST visited National Park in the country. Everyone was there.

We hiked to Clingman's Dome and saw rolling mountains covered in clouds. We then went on a 3 mile hike to the Ice Water Appalachian Trail shelter! Bryan was so excited to be on the AT agiain! The hike was great and we arrived to the shelter just after the sunset. There were quite a few people there. We met some folks celebrating their one year anniversary with a road trip. They were from Texas and warned us that eastern Texas will be like breathing through a straw because it is so hot and humid! Yikes. We went to bed in the shelter, which was very nice. The ranger claimed it would be rodent free, but that was not the case. I coudl hear scurrying about throughout the night. Luckily I never saw or felt any mice though!

Link to Kentucky and Tennessee Pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.9kqd2qsj&Uy=-j0kc6s&Ux=1

my first ever pro baseball game - the cardinals

St. Louis

We arrived in St. Louis in time to celebrate Bryan's grandmother's birthday. And since the dinner of spaghetti and dessert of chocolate flake cake, this has been an exercise in how much food one can consume in the shortest period of time. Beginning this morning with bagels, the best mocha latte I have ever had, to St. Louis style flat crust pizza, toasted ravioli, mozzeralla sticks, fried mushrooms, then to a huge Fireman's Chief sundae at Crowne Candy (but we all know ice cream just slides on in to your tummy regardless of what else is already in there. There is always room for ice cream!) ... but my BLT is still waiting for me in the fridge. I think it will have to wait until tomorrow! We have also been able to take a break and clean the car, which I think is taking a big sigh of relief from the huge load it has been hauling for the past 13 days!

We have also been blessed by being in the presence of the little bundle of energy named Maya, Bryan's 3 1/2 year old niece. She is awesome!

Quote of the day: "Do not laugh too much or too loud in public." 24th Rule from George Washington's book Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior, which I purchased in the Mt. Rushmore gift store. I think that if George were ever in the presence of Maya, he would second guess this Rule!

Missouri Pictures

Link to Missouri Pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.5uqic2eb&Uy=-j8ybz3&Ux=1

Chicago. Body World. Roger Ebert Day.

We drove into Chicago this morning and had some somehow necessary Dunkin Donuts and made our way to the Museum of Science and Industry. Bryan's grandfather knows the man who took part in this amazing exhibit we saw, Body World. The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies. All bodies were donated for this specific purpose - to be displayed in various poses, or in pieces and parts - showing us the muscles, bones, ligaments, blood vessels, nervous system, organs - everything in the human body - right there in front of you, with nothing between you and these exhibits. It was incredible. I cannot deny that I felt slightly unnerved at times, realizing what I was really looking at, but it was fascinating.


body world - man holding his own skin

The rest of the museaum was aslo pretty cool, and we got free passes by chance for a tour of the German U 505 submarine, which was captured in World War II. Such cramped quarters for 50 men, 2 months - taking turns sleeping in bunks in the torpedo room, eating food cooked on three small burners in a kitchen the size of my bathtub, and bathing in alcohol! Yikes!After the museum we saw a bit of Chicago, taking in, of course, traditional Chicago style deep dish pizza (which was thinner than I expected) and then inadvertently discovering the beautiful Grant Park fountain (which is the one shown at the beginning of Married With Children) and an outdoor viewing of Citizen Cane! We got free Thumbs Up souvenirs for Roger Ebert Day and watched the long beginning of the movie before heading back in time to catch the end of the synchronized music/fountain show! Very cool. Off we headed, down 55 toward St. Louis, staying in a rest area just outside Pontiac, IL.

Quote of the Day: "Fortifications must be upheld at all costs." U 505 submarine Eniga code.

Click on this link to see more Illinois pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.3styvtez&Uy=-k2ef1z&Ux=0

jenn on the tractor

Spiced Pork and hAM

Minnesota was going to be a drive-through state until we saw this glorious sign: “SPAM Museum next right.” Paddy, JT – you would be in heaven! This place was not only FREE, but also as tongue and cheek as it should be, and only a few years old so very clean – and lots of buttons to push and things to do. This was one great surprise in Austin, Minnesota. Of course after the museum tour, which was complete with a Make Your Own Spam Station to Quiz Show Room and more, we had to go across the street to have Spam and Eggs. Surprisingly, Bryan had never had Spam before. Hawaii would likely shun him, as they are the biggest consumer of the stuff in the whole world. I hadn’t had it in a while myself, so it was a bit of an experiment. Not too bad J Paddy and JT have their own SPAM story that I hope someday will be shared at this wonderful Museum! I got to be a part of the documentary they are putting together too (they videotaped me at the camp – somehow convincing me that SPAM has played some cosmic role in my relationship with Bryan – sure, why not). Guys, your story would be the highlight of the museum! You HAVE to bring it to them.

After purchasing our very own can of SPAM (which does not have any odd ingredients that one expects!), we continued on the 90 into Illinois, where we got our first motel room at a Motel 6 north of Chicago, had dinner at TGIF’s (I highly recommend their Strawberry Filed salad – it is the perfect salad!!), and went to sleep on a real bed made for two for the first time in 11 days!

Quote of the day: “Yes, we have dial up internet,” Roy at Motel 6. HA – no such luck. Still had to wait for service another few days! Bah.

SPAM

SPAM museum

For more pictures of the wacky SPAM museum, click here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.5w9ua1t7&Uy=-eowpur&Ux=1

the jolly green giant

Being a tourist

Yup, you got it, Wall is indeed the home to the infamous WallDrug, a Mecca of western shopping and silly picture taking opportunities. From purchasing George Washington’s favorite cologne (which I think they should be selling at the Mount Rushmore gift store for sure) to taking a picture atop a jackalope to paying a quarter to have Sam the gorilla sing us a song on the piano… Wall Drug entertained us for an hour or so. Got a great shot glass there too! My collection is going to be quite enormous when I get back home!

Next we stopped at the World’s ONLY Corn Palace, in Mitchell. Not as “palacy” as I anticipated, but lots o’ corn for sure. Got some yummy caramel popcorn, corn muffin mix, and had some Milky Way Ice Cream before we continued down the 90 and into Minnesota. Slept in a Minnesota Rest Area tonight.

Quote of the day: “The worse thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist,” Russell Baker. This is pretty fitting as today Bryan was wearing his Hawaiian shirt with a very obnoxious Mexican theme, cowboy hat, huge camera with big lens and backpack – and that darn moustache really adds to the affect! He looked quite the tourist part!

For pictures of Wall Drug, Corn Palace, and other random spots in South Dakota, click here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.a6zvphez&Uy=-lw5l06&Ux=1

good times in wall drug

corn palace

Pictures - Washington to South Dakota

Here is a link to pictures from the beginning of the trip. CLick on the link to a view a slideshow of 4 albums. Or, at the top of the link you can click on (4 albums) and view them separately:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.73ol8dz7&Uy=-g786rj&Ux=0

Enjoy!!!

prairie dog!

The Badlands

Today was the day of insane heat and lots of unintentional driving. We ended up at Wounded Knee Memorial an accident, and very nearly entered Nebraska. We met some Lakota Indians who told us the story of Wounded Knee and has some hand made goods that we now regret not purchasing. They were a bit pricey, but passing up the porcupine needle Medicine Wheel was definitely a mistake. Darn! We finally go to the Badlands, which is really a drive through park, with only a little bit of hiking available. You can go backcountry hiking if you like, but we weren’t into that. It was after all 114 degrees!!!!!!!! The Badlands (which may have been originally more aptly named by Indians the “White Hills”) were ... hot. I think I may have been a bit jaded and not as interested in them after the hours of traveling in the hotness, but they were what I expected. I think they got better as the sun went lower and it “cooled off” to the 90’s. We ended up eating at the Badlands Lodge because it was too hot and windy to attempt cooking outside. The hiking we did do was awesome though. We got to climb up one of the hills (sadly those pictures too have been lost) and walk around the formations, and watched the sunset.


the Badlands

For more pictures of the Badlands, click here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.89epk3ez&Uy=-h4u2x9&Ux=1

After such a long and hot day, we drove into Wall, South Dakota with the intent of getting a motel, but they were all full, or camp, but the poker motorcyclists were karoking too loud next door… so we just snuck in to take a shower (a trick I learned from my previous cross country road trip with Tim) and went on to spend the night in a rest area just outside Wall.

Quote of the day: “The thing I do most is look at maps. I study them. If I’m going to a place, I get all the maps and look at them. There’s a lot of information on a map.” Daul Theroux. This would have been good advice for us today – especially the part about looking at all maps… especially ones that are Drawn To Scale so as to avoid hours of extra driving to the Badlands!

Happy Birthday Michaela. Myt. Rushmore.

Today I got a message from my mommy telling me that Mikaela was born. My cousin Lisa had her baby girl!! Happy Birthday Mikaela!!!!!! We started off the day at Mt. Rushmore and had their “Monumental breakfast” of bacon, eggs, hash browns and biscuits for just $4.00! We ate under the great stone faces and then went on a park ranger guided tour and learned all sorts of interesting facts. Originally the idea was to create carvings of Western Figures such as Sitting Bull, Lewis and Clark, etc. When they contracted Gutzon Borglum to do the carving, he thought it would be better to do Presidents. He also chose its current location (the original idea was to do it in the Needles in the Black Hills). The first president chosen was Abe Lincoln, then George Washington, then Thomas Jefferson, and finally Theodore Roosevelt. Originally it was only going to be the first three, but the layout had to be changed secondary to the non-carvability of some of the rock. They actually had to blast off the original Thomas Jefferson face! Miraculously no one got hurt when carving this – which took years to do!


Mount Rushmore

I got myself a great souvenir from Mt. Rushmore!! George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.

Well, after checking out the guys, we were feeling pretty grubby (no real shower in quite a few days) so we decided to go to a Water Park in Rapid City. Which happened to have free unlimited mini golf. Bonus! We had some fun going down the slides for a little while, I dared to go down the speedy one, but Bryan opted out. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be! Hmm, I seem to becoming more daring with speedy water activities these days! We took a shower there and then decided to go to one more National Park that we hadn’t planned on originally seeing, Wind Cave.

We got there just in time for a guided tour (which is the only way to go inside the caves). We learned the cave was formed from standing water, so it was quite different from your typical cave formed from running water with soft walls and stalactites and stalagmites. Instead it had TONS of boxwork crystals (check our the pictures). They said gazillions of years ago cracks formed in limestone rock, and inside these cracks oozed a substance. Then years and years after that, standing water gradually deteriorated the limestone, leaving only the substance in the cracks behind – which formed these boxwork crystals. It was also nice and cool down there, as we had spent a few days in hot hot temperatures! After cave exploration we drove through the above-ground part of the park and saw lots of buffalo crossing the street and many prairie dogs, which I instantly fell in love with, as they are so cute when the stand up on their back legs and look around. I was so intent on getting a picture of them standing up and was bummed when we drove too quickly past a trio of them having a conference. Little did I know I would have many the opportunity another day for prairie dog pics!

Then I remembered from our Mt. Rushmore Tour, that they had originally wanted to carve thee heads in “the Needles”, and I saw something on the map called the Needles Highway. So we thought we would try our luck and race against the clock to get back up to Mount Rushmore via the Needles Highway in time to see the great 9:00 show. Well, we will never know if we would have made it in time to see any of the show as we ended up traveling through one of the coolest places we had ever been in!! The Needles in the Black Hills are so freakin awesome!!!!! Very curvy and hilly drive, much longer than we expected, but the views were fantastic. We saw rock formations all over the place and came upon Sylvan Lake just in time to watch the sunset! Check out those pics!! Very pretty. We tried to camp near the lake, but everything was full L. We traveled a bit further down the road and ended up at Horsethief Campground. We are still to this day regretting that we didn’t spend more time in the Needles and on that lake. We may just have to go back there some day!

Quote of the day: “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving,” Lao Tzu. Will have to remember that one and stay longer in cool places like the Needles!

Bryan and I stopped in Rapid City for ome fun on water slides and a mini golf game. I got a hole in one here!

wind cave - boxwork crystal

For more pictures of Wind Cave National Park, click here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=9gc0q893.1v251b9n&Uy=-hbxher&Ux=1

sunset in the black hills of south dakota

Devils Tower. Crazy Horse.

Today we saw Devil’s Tower! Way cooler in person than in pictures or the movies! It is even more impressive when you see it from afar! One of the legends of the Tower says that people trying to escape from a bear stood on this land, and it grew up like a tree to keep them away from the bear. The bear tried and tried to climb up the mountain, creating the stripes you see today from his claws. There has been some conflict with the name of the Tower, as many Native Americans feel it is a sacred place and “Devil” has too negative a connotation. They have tried to change it’s name to the original name of Big Bear Lodge, or something similar to that. After touring around the Tower, we headed toward South Dakota. Western South Dakota is awesome!

We did a quick little detour to see Deadwood, and just in time to see a gunfight show. This town is very touristy, but in a BEAUTIFUL spot!! Lots of fun cheesy things to do.

We went back up to the 90 and continued on toward Mt. Rushmore. Again, seeing this from the distance is quite remarkable! It is up high and quite immense! Once we arrived there (and paid $8.00 for parking) we had a decision to make – do we watch the Mt. Rushmore 9:00 show or the 9:00 Crazy Horse Laser Show. We decided to go for the Laser Show. So we zoomed off to Crazy Horse and were very surprised to be asked for $20.00 to enter. The laser show started late, but it was pretty cool - I am still not sure if it was $20.00 cool though.


crazy horse monument

I think I will forever wonder how the Rushmore show was. Crazy Horse Memorial still has quite a lot of work to be done, so far the face is completed, and a slight outline of the horses head. It was nice to sit in our Crazy Creeks and listen to the music in the cool night air though! We ended up spending the night at the parking lot of a trailhead/campground in the Black Hills National Forest.Quote of the day: “Whoa Pardner! Gun Fight Ahead,” street sign in Deadwood.

Bryan and Jenn at Devil's Tower

Montana

Having decided not to go up to Big Fork and the Ranch yet, we continued on toward Bozeman, Bryan’s land of his alma matter, Montana State University (MSU). We stopped for lunch at McKenzie River Pizza Company, one of Bryan’s favorites. Bryan had one of his two favorite sandwiches and I had a yummy thin crust pizza. We continued our drive and stopped at Little Big Horn, previously known as Custer’s Last Stand. Sadly, we lost many of the pictures from here.

We carried on and entered Wyoming. There was a handy pull-off on the highway next to the Welcome Sign, so we were able to pull over and celebrate our arrival easily… and then toss out our trash in the convenient trash bin. Wyoming felt very welcoming, as the Welcome Center had one of the greatest inventions ever – Spring Toys! And swings. We spent the night here, and the following morning we had cereal and spent a little time on the playground!

Quote of the day: “The world is a great book… they who never stir from home read only a page,” St. Augustine. I think I will be reading quite a few chapters this summer :)

Montana bug storm

Happy Birthday Chris! Happy Anniversary Sarah and Steve.

Today I got my prize for the Rich Uncle win - “fresh” 4th socks! We got up to finish the Mini Golf tournament today. Chris, JT, Kelly, Chad and myself (Ed was to play later that night as he had to go to work). It was a good game… and I managed to come in second again!! Poor Chad had a “meltdown” on the last hole. JT came in first. I still don’t know where Ed came in… so I may really be third in the whole thing in the end. We played one more game of “SkipaTee” before we left, and I got my last hole in one.

And of course, before we went, I got to go on the green machine! Wave Runners are so much fun! I will never fear speed again. Krisianna was saying we may have to have a Wave Runner competition next year, since I brought some skills to the arena.

Well, Bryan and I finally had to drag ourselves away from the fantastic place and carry on with our road trip, so we left today and headed for Montana, beginning our long trek on the 90.

Somewhere between Missoula and Butte we hit a storm – of BUGS! I have never seen such a thing, but it was seriously raining bugs on the car, before long, we couldn’t see out the windshield and the wipers only made it worse! We ended our day at a rest stop just south of Butte, MT.

Quote of the Day: “Jenn Biron: Rookie of the Year.” I know this one is a bit self-centered, but I am pretty proud of such a title J

Happy Independence Day

Made the mistake of having a Café Mocha from the local C-store! Yikes, those things must have had a lot of caffeine in it, because I felt shaky and off kilter all day. Regardless, we started off the day’s events with the Great Mini Golf Tournament. I was in the first game with Paddy, Paddy’s mom, Judy, and JT’s dad, Ed. Ed came in first. It was done to the last few holes, Paddy and I were neck-n-neck. It was a close game, but I put some oogady boogady spell on him, and BLAMO – I took second with just two strokes! Sweet! So, I made it to the finals – Yahoo! Bryan played after me, and sadly did not make it to the finals, 13 strokes on one hole and he was a goner.

The rest of the day, we lounged about and I watched the Wave Runners some more, feeling crappy from all the caffeine and bad candy. But finally I got myself on the red Wave Runner with Bryan in front to show me how it works. Within 20 seconds – SPLAT – we both go into the water! Yup, he tipped the untippable! And it wasn’t so bad! So, I dropped him off on the shore and took it for a spin on my own. And low and behold – IT KICKS BUTT! It was so much fun to speed around and spin around! It cured me of my ails! Then I wanted to try the green one, the more tippy one, the Faster one, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. We also took a group photo today, of like 20 people, all wearing various 4th of July hats and headbands!

Bryan and I made Tiles that will decorate the Sitty Club! I painted the “Loop Trial” and Bryan made one with his lucky number 13, as well as Padre! Throughout the weekend, Bryan wore a red, white and blue serape with a big brimmed hat, and not to mention he has been sporting a silly mustache! He said Grace one night and was asked to offer his advice on many accounts.

Tonight we sat around the fire and on the docks (Bryan and Paddy went out on the boat – much to Paddy’s future dismay) to watch the 4th Fireworks! There were fireworks Everywhere around the lake! The Hennessey’s were the next door neighbors and they had quite the display. Ed brought out fancy red, white, and blue glow sticks and blinking light pins for us all. We got out some sparklers and the boys sent off bottle rockets. Once the fireworks were over, Paddy and Bryan headed back into shore, only to be ambushed by JT and Chad’s water balloons – water balloons of STEEL that is. Yes, either JT or Chad (they are both sharing the victory for this one) sent one balloon directly too Paddy’s special place. BLAMMO! Paddy was pretty much gone for an hour after that. Poor poor Paddy. It sure did make for a good 20-30 minutes of pun making however… and now Paddy will be known as “Pegnuts Paddy”.

I tried my skills with spinning the glow sticks and then we went inside for another game of Apples to Apples – which I won! Every time someone wins something, they get to unwrap a prize from the prize box! I got catchable bubbles! Some of us still hadn’t had enough playing yet, so Bryan, JT, and I went to plat “Rich Uncle” – the predecessor board game to Monopoly. Mark sat in as Rich Uncle Pennybags and I managed to win my second game of the weekend! Woohoo.

Quote of the Day: “Bryan, I need you to take over.” Paddy, just after the water balloon attack.

Newman Lake frisbee golf

Idaho's Anniversary

I woke up this morning to an awesome sunrise over the lake. We started off this morning with a game of FOLF (Frisbee Golf) in the course on their property (basically various trees and what-not around the driveway, on the hills, etc.). I have never played before, so I do not know how it compares to any other course out there, but it was hard, and it was fun! I somehow managed to get “hole in one” once even! JT, Paddy, Bryan, Ed, Chad, Mark and myself played three games, the final one going into super overtime, and folks had to create new goals. Next we played a backyard mini golf warm up game. Yes, mini golf! They have a rustic course handmade by the lake. Their yard has various rocks, roots, caves, trees, etc. Most people would smooth things out, put in some grass or a patio, but not the Bocks, they turn it into a Mini Golf Course and make it a yearly tournament tradition! The first 5 holes were made quite some time ago. Again, I somehow managed to score a hole in one! This was good practice, as the big tournament is tomorrow!

Next was the annual Corn on the Cob eating contest. JT came in first place (his mom was the judge ;) ) Second place tie between Krisianna and Paddy. I have never been in any kind of eating contest before. It is easy to bite the corn off fast… but then you forget … you have to swallow all that is in your mouth too. I was also introduced to “Sitty Club”, the family two-seater outhouse complete with Furbies and talking toilet paper. We also spent some time on the docks by the water, while others zoomed around on Wave Runners and I watched with nervousness in my heart. They go fast and spin around. Looked pretty scary.

Tonight we played Apples to Apples with everyone. A great game, Bryan’s new favorite actually! We also sat out by the dock and around the fire to watch the 3rd of July local fireworks.

Quote of the Day, “Brontosaurus,” JT to Krisainna. The word that led to his win of Apples to Apples.

North Cascades to Newman Lake

Bryan and I drove through North Cascades National Park via Route 20. We ended up not hiking, kinda by accident, and decided to just take the scenic route to Newman Lake and try to arrive there tonight. We did take a quick pit stop in Winthrop, as it looked too cute to drive past, and there was a little boy and his older partner playing some electric guitar tunes on the street. Then we headed to Eastern Washington, to Newman Lake just outside of Spokane, traveling on 155 to 174 to 2 to 90 to 290. Of course, our arrival did not go unnoticed, as we were ambushed by Paddy, JT and Ed! Massive water guns from all angels. Bryan and I thought we would be in the clear because it was a cool night… but NO! So we ran back up to our car to get some of our own ammunition! I wish now that I had gone ahead and purchased the $30.00 reservoir tank gun the prior day, as my little guns were quite measly next to their weapons. Even though I couldn’t quite fight back, I am glad they didn’t “spare” us the attack. Paddy and JT knew Bryan and I would be up for it regardless. Next year though, they better watch out!!

We were also welcomed with plates of spaghetti, thus beginning the pig out for the next few days. Luckily we also arrived on the night of the Annual Bad Candy Poker Game. This was pretty excellent, I must say. The girls seemed to be the most daring that night, as we all tried many of the candies. The worse was BY FAR “Toxic Waste”, which Paddy miraculously managed to eat FIVE of in 1 minute! There is no way to really describe this stuff… they are like War Heads, the little sour candies… but they have this powder on them that is just painful! And it stays with you for a while! I am honestly amazed Paddy did that! He is the ultimate bad candy pro! There were many interesting things to try, including jelly corns, which were the other scary candy of the evening (but I must say, I think I almost enjoyed it). Poor Mark couldn’t stand them though! I lost only one hand and had to try some spicy chewy straw things, which weren’t as bad as they looked. Thank goodness. So, this was a great welcome and introduction to the traditions at Bock and Bock’s Shady Shanty on Newman Lake! We spent the night in a twin bed on the upper floor. It was pretty cold, but we had LOTS of blankets!

Quote of the Day: “My pooh is going to be weird.” Paddy, after Bad Candy Poker.

Washington greenery

our first night on the trip

Leaving Seattle

Our trip began on July 1st, 2005. 62,309. The starting mileage of the trip. Bryan and I drove north from Seattle on I5 to North Cascades National Park. We left pretty late (3:00), so we got there just in time to get a campsite in Newhalem, near the entrance of the park. $12.00. Bryan made a fire and of course I toasted marshmallows – the best way to start off a trip! We opened a bottle of wine (1998 Ferrari Tresor) tonight, which Bryan has been saving for a special occasion for a very long time.

Quote of the Day: “The best thing about this trip is that it's a Loop Trial,” Bryan.

mileage on day 1