Sept Journal

A new month......a new journal page!!!!

Even though we arrived in the festival early afternoon, we didn’t manage to pick up the free wristbands that allowed you entry to see the headline performer on the main stage – R.E.M. Seeing that my parents had little interest in the concert, they gave up their early-acquired wristbands, but we were still two short. Rick and Jay were quite entertaining to watch as they tried to piece together some home-made wristbands. It turned out, though, that many people were giving theirs away, so I managed to snag two more allowing us entry into the performance. After giving hugs and kisses and parting ways with my parents, Jay and Jen, their two friends who met us, and Rick and I went in to watch the performance by R.E.M.

After an absolutely fantastic Labor Day spent in Bumber Shoot, we drove back to Jay’s place where he graciously let us crash on his futon.

On the road again, going places that I’ve never been! We had such a terrific time the past couple weeks visiting family and friends, and now, once again, it was just Rick and me and the highway. We packed ourselves back into Millie and drove off headed toward Mt. Rainier. Most of this day was spent stopping in a few stores, getting Millie stocked with food and driving out to Mt. Rainier, which is a couple hours southeast of Seattle in Washington. We set up camp in the park by early evening, had a wonderful smoked salmon dinner (I had to put that in for those who think we eat tree bark all day long) and read. It’s amazing how quickly a day is filled!

Today we took a day hike on the Burroughs Trail to get a good look at Mt. Rainier. We were a bit sluggish and lazy this day, but we became glad we took the hike. At one point we happened upon a few mountain goats who even looked as if they were posing for us to take their picture. To the north of the mountain in a valley over there was a forest fire, so once again we found ourselves hiking in the smoke-filled air and staring at a hazy looking mountain. Still, Mt. Rainier is such a bold-looking mountain of 14,440 feet, but it looks even more impressive because all the mountains surrounding it are at least 6000 feet lower.

After our short day hike, we drove down toward the southern entrance to the park of Mt. Rainier. We heard the visitor’s center had the only shower facility in the park, so that became our destination. I just have to laugh at the lifestyle that we’ve become accustomed to when getting excited over a bargain means a quarter that will get you a seven-and-a-half minute shower. Once the dust from the day was washed away from our bodies, we set up Millie in her site for the evening and relaxed the night away.

On our way out of Mt. Rainier we stopped to check out a museum of metal creations. Apparently, a man decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life sculpting and creating objects out of metal scraps and displaying them on his property. It was truly amazing to see what he has created. Most of his works displayed in his yard are bigger than me and made of things such as horse shoes, wrenches and old metal tractor seats.

The bulk of this day was spent driving to see Mt. St. Helens. It was really remarkable to see the volcano with half its side displaying an enormous gaping hole from the May 18, 1980, eruption. In all directions of our vision we could see the effects from the blast, such as hundreds of thousands of downed trees lying in the same direction and very little new, green growth.

Because the road to Mt. St. Helens is so long and winding, our day was spent driving in the dry, hot weather. We decided to set up camp in the town of Battle Ground just outside of Portland, Oregon. The place turned out to be a real gem because after trying to fend off an overheating body with a headache during the day, the best medicine was the swim we took in a nearby lake. I enjoyed spending the evening at this campground because its features reminded me much of a campground called Potato Creek, which our family and friends stayed at many times when I was growing up.

This morning we were up earlier than usual because Millie had a check-up with some super friendly people at the VW dealership. During her oil change we had breakfast at a mom and pop pancake house where I tasted the best blackberry syrup on this planet. On the walk back to the VW shop I could practically hear Millie getting jealous over Rick’s affectionate staring at the cars in the Mazerati dealership.

The next stop was Portland, Oregon, a great city with some areas that really reminded me of home. We took a browse through the fantastic Powell’s Bookstore, the largest used and new bookstore west of the Mississippi. I could have spent a full day in there getting lost in the world of books. We then walked around the shops of Nob Hill, much like Lincoln Park, ate tasty crepes and got Rick an overdue haircut. It really was a splendid afternoon.

We high-tailed it out of the city to avoid rush hour and pushed out a few miles toward our next destination, Crater Lake. We parked Millie in a camp site along the gloriously moonlit Umpqua River located in an immaculate Oregon State Park and began plotting our next few weeks’ travels. It’s amazing how much we’re missing even with four months to travel!

The road from the campground to Crater Lake traveled through a superb National Park along the Upper Umpqua River. As I was staring at the rapids I noticed a fish jump and then another, so I urged Rick to stop for a closer look. For the next half hour we watched these humongous spawning salmon jump clear out of the water, and some even were sailing from the bottom to the top of some ten-foot falls and upstream! No doubt some of these fish were longer than two feet! What a treat to see the creatures of nature hard at work in the cycle of life.

I had to tear myself away from one amazing sight to get to the next. Crater Lake was truly awesome!! Basically, 7000 years ago Mt. Mazama, which stood 12,000 feet high, massively erupted depleting all its lava leaving a five-mile wide crater. Over time, water and snow has filled the crater that exists today making it the deepest lake in the U.S. at 1,945 feet! Cliffs roughly 2000 feet high surround the crystal blue lake making it a wonderful sight to see. We trekked up to the highest peak abutting the lake, Mt. Scott, and were afforded a take-way-too-many-pictures type of view.

I have to admit that we sure didn’t do enough justice to Oregon on our travels, but we have to make sacrifices along the way because we just can’t see everything. Hopefully someday we’ll get back there because from what we’ve seen it is such a beautiful state, barring the barren southern end.

When we bid farewell to Crater Lake it was around 3:30 p.m., and we drove straight on through the boring and desolate northeastern part of California. Even amidst all the endless mounds of desert-like terrain, we found such beauty in the sky turning shades of purple, orange and fire red from the sunset. During our five-and-a-half-hour drive we discovered the random button on our CD changer, which can liven things up when you’ve been playing the same CDs for two months straight. It was pitch black when we passed the colorful city of Reno and set up camp next to the Boca Reservoir in a California state park. No doubt we had a full but extraordinary day.

I’ve always said that no one should EVER be up before the sunrise, but after this morning I may change my mind. We awoke to view outside our window of a superb, deep orange sky reflecting its colors on the reservoir water. I couldn’t have asked for a better sight this morning.

We got on the move early and arrived in the Lake Tahoe area within a half hour from where we camped. Lake Tahoe was no doubt a pretty place, but it’s apparent that many others think so too by the amount of houses that line the shores. I think both Rick and I were a bit surprised by the commercialism of the area, even though we knew it’s a ski town. Nonetheless, it was good to see it.

At the last minute we decided to change our plans a bit and skip our stay in Lake Tahoe and head into Yosemite, the place where Rick proposed to me nearly two years ago. The drive from Tahoe to Yosemite was a winding and beautiful one, except for the $2.90 a gallon gas gouge. Even though we both have been to Yosemite before (Rick more than I), neither of us have entered through the western side, Tioga Pass. This entrance was definitely more stunning than the others, in our opinion. It’s funny to see Rick giddy with delight over seeing the awesome Half Dome and its surrounding nature.

The sensational scenic drive of the day ended early evening at a campsite inside Yosemite National Park. The campground we chose was remotely three miles off the main drag, and I was relieved to finally turn off the engine after driving through the immensely potholed road that led to the grounds. The rest of the night was dinner, passing the volleyball and leisure activities.

Today we decided to join tons of other crazy hikers and hike Half Dome, an enormous granite rock dome that extends 4800 feet from the valley floor where the trailhead began. By the time we got ourselves packed up and situated, we arrived at the trailhead by 9:20 and started on our nine-hour, 17-mile hiking day. For half of the trip we hiked on the John Muir Trail up a moderate incline for about three miles. Once we passed Nevada Falls, where Rick proposed to me, and Little Yosemite Valley, the only flat part on the trail, we started up the Half Dome Trail, two miles, 3000 feet in elevation further. At one point we reached some steep, grueling stairs which eventually spilled out into the beginning of the cable section of Half Dome.

Since we have no true information about the distance from the base of the dome where the cable handrails began to the top, we can only guess something like 500 feet in elevation literally straight up. There are two, thick, steel cables running parallel from the bottom of the dome to the top, like handrails on both sides of you. The posts that suspend the cables are drilled into the rock face, and a two-by-four is resting on the rock and bottom of the poles to create a step. (See the picture) I can’t imagine anyone trying to ascend the dome without the cables because the rock face is pitched so steep that it felt like walking up a playground slide, and at times even steeper. I’m not generally afraid of heights, but at one point my nerves got the better of me and I waited a few minutes to regain my courage and continued upward. It was worth the effort because the views on the top of Half Dome were spectacular!

The descent from the dome was fairly easy but tough on the knees. After reaching flat ground again, we breathed a celebratory sigh of relief and started the eight miles back to the trail head. All the way down we talked and greeted our fellow adventurers. We hiked down at top speed not because we’re such great hikers, but because duty was calling and we were trying to reach the bathrooms situated along the trail.

By the time we hobbled to Millie we had just enough energy for a long, long overdue shower and a dinner of whatever was easiest to grab. The day was lengthy and grueling, but the payoff was well worth all of our efforts.

Once again we were on the move. By mid-morning we arrived in the city of Fresno, California to finally update the website, check email, grocery shop and give Millie a major bug-removal wash. By mid-afternoon we were on our way to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park located on the eastern side of California.

Our original plan after leaving Crater Lake was to explore Tahoe for a few days and then pass the eastern side of Kings Canyon and Sequoia Ntl. Park to go to Death Valley. What that meant was basically not seeing the Sequoia trees or what Kings Canyon is all about. Since we left Tahoe much sooner than expected, that gave us more time to take the long drive to the western side of the park. There’s no road that cuts across the park from the west to the east, so you have to drive a really long way around it. I expressed to Rick that since we had a bit of time, I’d really like to check it out.

From Fresno to the park entrance, the landscape gradually forms higher peaks with very dry soil and small shrubs everywhere. There were also many fruit farms along the way, so we stopped and I tried a tasty dapple dandy, which is a cross between a plum and an apricot. Once finally entering the park, we decided not to drive the only side road into a bit of Kings Canyon and just go south into Sequoia. Around 5:00 p.m. we got a camp site but decided to take a drive to see what the Sequoias are all about.

Now, I’m not some crazy tree-lover or anything, but there’s something about these trees that is so magical to me that I can’t explain. To me, this is the kind of forest that mystical tales take place in, such as the Hobbit. For one thing, Sequoias are the largest living thing on this planet. We stopped to see the General Sherman tree, which is the world’s largest tree, and what a sight! We have a great picture of the two of us standing in front of it which gives a fantastic gauge on how big the tree is compared to us. These trees stand as tall as the Statue of Liberty!

Now I don’t really have a mind for remembering statistics, so as I stared at the plaque listing all the dimensions of the astonishing tree I wondered how in the world I would ever remember them. Just as I’m thinking this, a lady much older and apparently much smarter than myself took a picture of the plaque. I laughed out loud saying, “Duh! Here I am trying to remember these statistics and it never occurs to me to take a picture of them.” So much for my brains on this trip.

We took a side drive through the giant forest and everywhere you looked you saw various different pines and then some HUGE, auburn-trunked Sequoias interspersed. At one point we stopped to take a picture of a cluster of Sequoias called Parker Group and I touched the tree. Wow!!! It seemed as though the tree was more like an animal than a tree. The bark is so soft to the touch, it feels like a sponge with tiny bristles of hair. Years ago I had the opportunity to touch an elephant, and the feel of this tree reminds me of how the elephant felt, only the hairs on the tree are softer.

Further down the road we came upon a dead Sequoia lying on its side with a tunnel carved in the middle of it where you could drive through. Of course we had to take a picture of Millie driving under the opening. Even Millie, being eight feet tall, had room to spare. We also walked up the steps of Moro Rock where we saw just how uninformed we were of the beautiful mountains soaring higher than 12,000 feet in Kings Canyon with Mt. Whitney in the distance at 14,494. One night driving in this place and all at once I found another top-of-my-list national park!

Sequoia National Park and Death Valley are actually very close geographically, but there’s no direct road, so you have to drive a circuitous path which takes about six hours. Knowing we had a long drive ahead, we got to the Sequoia Museum at 8:00 a.m. to learn about the glorious, majestic trees and then began our long journey to Death Valley. When we reached the valley floor of the Sequoias, we stopped in a small, rustic, used book store/coffee shop nestled next to a river. I told Rick that if there was a salmon hatchery next door, it would be my ideal summer home heaven.

The ride to Death Valley went quickly despite of the hot, dry, barren desert views. When we finally turned on the road to head into the park, it looked as though the road led straight into the mountain in the middle of nowhere. I just had to take a picture.

Rick made a statement about Death Valley that summed it all up. He said, “Anybody who describes Death Valley as hot, dry and barren would be absolutely correct. However, they would be missing the beautiful, colorful and magical landscape.” Around every corner the terrain changed drastically.

We started out driving through mountains of rocks colored black, pale yellow, purple, red and tan. Once we reached the valley floor on the tummy tickling road, we saw flat, compacted, cracked sands that stretched for miles. (I put a shirt over Rick’s head and made him appear as though he was dying of thirst in the middle of the desert.) Soon we were ascending again into the pale red, brown and white mountains to return to a valley of the Sahara Desert type of sands stretching mounds and mounds away. Even further still, we stopped in what’s known as Devil’s Golf Course, a valley full of ancient lake salt deposits piled in knee-deep crystal heaps. We stopped quickly to visit the tiny pool of Badwater Basin sitting 282 feet below sea level! Next we saw Artist’s Drive where mounds of sands appeared the colors of Neapolitan ice cream with whites and tans. Not to mention, we saw a mule, which Rick believes was wild, a coyote – and I got a chance to see tumbleweed.

By the time we finished this amazing drive, it was time to see the sunset over the 11,000 foot mountain range. We hurried to the top of an overlook to take pictures and enjoy the view. If that wasn’t enough, as we drove to our camp site, an ENORMOUS full moon began to show its face around a mountain range. Once again, we tried hard as ever to capture this awesome sight and feeling in a photograph.

A ranger from the park’s visitor center really hooked us up by telling us that just outside the park’s boundary was some BLM land (Bureau of Land Management) to camp on. Basically, BLM land is public land, so you’re allowed to camp where you please for free (No facilities, of course). It just so happens that this place used to be a miner’s camp, so there are bunches of flat concrete slabs to park on. We were the only people for miles around as we watched the moonlight creep toward our mountain-shaded camp spot. Once the full moon was high in the sky, a dim light lit up the desert as we sat in the comfortable 75 degree night temperature. It doesn’t get any better.

Except for a few awakenings in the middle of the night by the howling winds, the sleep in the solitude campground was satisfying. We got a quick chance to walk around the campground in the morning and got the feel of the days when miners used to squat there.

We continued our drive eastward out of California, past Las Vegas, NV and drove straight to Zion National Park in southwestern Utah to undergo another canyoneering adventure. Even though Rick and I have been there a few occasions already, we didn’t want to pass up visiting our favorite canyoneering guide, Jonathan, and maybe doing a little canyon trip of our own.

Once we arrived in Zion, our first order of business was to wash some filthy laundry and our own bodies too. After scoffing down cool ice cream on a hot desert day, we went to seek out Jonathan, our trusty Zion Adventure Company guide, to ask him his recommendations on a good canyon to explore and to rent some gear. We chatted for a while with him and his sweetheart of a wife, Catrin, and headed off to camp at Mosquito Cove, another BLM site just outside of Zion.

By the time 11:00 a.m. rolled around, we had picked up our gear and canyon backcountry pass, ate a high-fat-but-tasty breakfast and were being dropped off by the park bus to begin our next exploration. After and hour and a half of steep hiking, we found our way to the opening of Echo Canyon, put on our harnesses and rappelling gear and started on our tour.

Most of this slot canyon was what’s called down climbing (just scrambling over big boulders) but there were also a few rappels about 30-35 feet down and a bit of thigh-high wading in a few debris-filled pools. The rock formations in a slot canyon are unbelievable. Over time, water has carved its way through the ground making at least a 200 ft. deep slit in the earth with wavy walls and beautiful colors. The spaces inside can get so small, at times you can stretch out your arms and touch both sides of the canyon’s walls. Sometimes you can find fabulous, huge rooms where water has obviously circulated for a bit of time before continuing on. To me, there’s nothing more fascinating than the power of water and what it creates. If you think about it, all of the earth and the fantastic formations we see in national parks are caused by amazing water.

We spent a couple hours working our way down the marvelous canyon where it eventually spilled back into the hiking trail, and we hiked back down to the bus satisfied with another cayoneering day.

After returning our gear and showering in town, we met up with Jonathan and Catrin once again. Jonathan graciously treated us to an Italian meal as we chatted the evening away with them. I especially enjoyed learning about Catrin’s healing work with Qi Gong (the root of all types of Yoga) and picking on Jonathan a little.

We said bye to our friends and set off to spend the night in a quiet, little hideaway recommended by Jonathan.

Once again, we got on the move early. With our satisfying Zion visit behind us, we focused our travels toward Arches National Park in the east central part of Utah. During the five- to six-hour drive we mostly listened to a Stephen King book on tape, which surely helps pass the time away quickly when you’re in a car, and watched the desert canyon lands go by. In no time, we reached Arches National Park. Since there was no room in the sole campground in the park, we found a pay BLM site to stay in and then went on to see the park’s sights.

The best way for me to describe Arches National Park’s landscape is to imagine a whole bunch of giant skipping rocks standing up on the edges with some of them that have a big hole in the center. The whole park is the color of deep burnt red with a smattering of green shrubbery, and due to this “hot” looking terrain, many of the main features has the word Devil in it. We basically spent the afternoon driving along the park’s 18-mile road, stopping at viewpoints to get some photos. We eventually set up camp before dusk and rested the night away in Millie.

The morning hours we spent walking around Devil’s Garden getting a view of some of the natural sandstone arches the park’s famous for. We carefully walked along the desert floor avoiding the cryptobiotic soil that is so old and fragile that it would be extremely damaging to the desert’s preservation if it was trampled on. As I scanned the suitable hiking soil ahead, I watched tiny lizards scattering about leaving teeny footprints in the sand. We found it amusing that the park labeled this 11-mile hike a very strenuous hike because it paled in comparison to Yosemite’s “very strenuous” rating of Half Dome.

The day prior, we purchased a backcountry pass to explore Fiery Furnace, a rock scrambler’s playground. We spent a few hours in the early afternoon, climbing, jumping and squeezing our way through the giant maze of red sandstone. Since the park is absolutely insistent on avoiding the cryptobiotic soil at all costs, hopping from rock to rock and traveling only in sandy washes made the exploration a bit more challenging. We exited the Fiery Furnace after three hours, and we barely touched the surface of all the cracks and crevasses to see.

Satisfied with our visit in Arches National Park, we entered the neighboring town of Moab to shower up at a Hostel and wander in a few outfitters shops. The rest of the evening was spent making dinner and lounging.

Our destination from Arches became Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. The drive basically took the whole day, but it went fast because we had a book on tape and there was beautiful scenery to pass the time.

Since it was around 5:00 by the time we entered the park, our main goal was to find a campground. The temperature between Arches and Rocky Mountain was a drastic change, so immediately we put on a huge layer of fleece and made some Boboli pizzas while we listened to the elk talk all night long.

The morning was a bitter cold one; a far cry from the desert heat we had just left. After consulting with a ranger about some backcountry options, we decided on the Tonahutu Trail. Our three-day hike would consist of a 27-mile loop beginning around 8500 feet, ascending to Flat Top Mountain at 12,324 feet and back down. We hadn’t anticipated such a quick start, but in no time we were packed and ready to go at the trail head.

This first day began mild enough as we walked mostly through thick groves of pine trees and occasionally passing by some small, straw-looking meadows. A few times we caught young deer checking us out and then scampering away. It was a steady, gradual incline during the day, but by the time we hit about the eighth mile, we began to ascend some really steep switchbacks. By the end of the 9.8 miles for the day, I was extremely relieved to put my pack down. Soon after we stopped hiking, our cooling bodies required much fleece to account for the chilling temperature while camping at 10,700 feet.

While preparing our food, a fellow camper from Philadelphia stopped to chat. He was a gabby one telling us of his travels that he and his friend have done, and this was their newest adventure consisting of five days on our same trail. I guess we decided on a little more aggressive schedule.

Darkness came really early, and by 7:30 we were sitting in the tent squinting to read our books. After it was no longer possible to read, we let ourselves drift to sleep even at such an early hour, mostly because our games were forgotten in Millie and we had one head lamp to conserve.

Around 11:00 I was startled awake by the sound of Rick swatting at the tent and asking, “Did you hear that?” Obviously in my deep sleep I didn’t, so I responded with a no and quickly fell back asleep. Around 1:00 a.m., again I was startled awake in the same manner, only this time I woke fully from my slumber. I quietly laid there with Rick and listened for his waking culprit, when all of a sudden I heard a swooshing on the tent and a biting sound. I slowly zipped open the tent to take a peek. There is a vestibule on both sides of the tent where we store our emptied backpacks, and all I saw oddly placed was a strap of my backpack stretched beyond the shelter of the vestibule.

Rick determined that maybe an animal was searching for the salt left from sweat on our gear, so to keep from waking him again, we pulled our gear inside the tent with us. Unfortunately, I was wide awake at this point, and here is where the worst part of camping comes in – going to the bathroom. Rick had to replenish his water supply, which he had forgotten to do before bed, so we both ended up putting on our shoes and coats and braved it out into the cold, animal-infested night together. It’s a bit humbling of an experience to have to do your duty in a toilet that is surrounded by thick-slatted, chest-high wooden walls on three sides and wide open on the other.

Once we snuggled back in our bags, within five minutes the swooshing noise was back again, but we managed to put it out of our minds and fall asleep.

I awoke from a decent night’s sleep, but Rick was worse for wear due to his paranoia of animal movement in the night.

As we began our trek for the day, we passed by our fellow Philadelphia hikers who informed us of their similar experience, only this time the culprit had gotten what he wanted. These guys were informed by the ranger ahead of time that the porcupines are intent on finding salt on your gear, as Rick had guessed. Even though they had taken the precaution of hanging their hiking poles on a nearby tree, that didn’t stop one porcupine from knocking them down and making smooth, rubber hand grips look nappy and fuzzy. To further identify the invader, a small pile of porcupine needles lay where the poles were.

With our night invader mystery solved, we trudged on up the steep mountainside to reach our highest ascent of the trip, Flat Top Mountain, 12,324 feet. The views were spectacular from the top, but the unforgiving wind was the kind of cold where it’s difficult to catch your breath. I found relief by using one gloved hand to cover my nose and mouth to warm my breathing air. After taking shelter behind a big boulder to have a snack, we continued along the ridge and began to descend leaving the fierce, cold winds behind us. It was as if we hit a brief wall of warm air, so once again we shed a few layers of fleece.

Our eight-mile hike for the day ended at about 1:30 p.m., so we stopped at a camp spot to have a long, leisurely lunch. We then continued another mile to our camp that was situated by a beautiful meadow where we spent the remainder of daylight setting up camp, reading and making dinner. (Our dinner was a new experiment of Stove Top, canned chicken and gravy.) Once our camp was all animal-proofed, we hopped into the tent just in time to miss the beginning of the falling rain and sleet.

This time I have to admit that I got much more than I bargained for on this hike, and I was to be one moody chick for half the day. After a terribly restless night of battling a constant chill in my body, I awoke to find about a quarter inch of snow covering the trees and the ground! For a while now, Rick has attempted to urge me to try winter camping, and I have always insisted that’s where my girlyness will draw the line. So needless to say, I began the day with a frozen-hand, frozen-feet crabbiness. I must admit, though, the white and green views were breathtaking.

Thankfully, it didn’t snow enough to cover the trail, and within a mile or so our hands and feet warmed up and the mood got better. Unfortunately, though, my mood shifted once again when we found out we had taken a wrong turn and traveled a mile out of our way. By 1:00 p.m. I was embracing Millie with a wonderful sigh of relief. What should have been a nine-mile day turned into a twelve-mile day, and we sure had the aching feet to prove it.

After packing our gear away, we headed down the street to buy a wonderfully reviving shower. Soon we were once again refreshed and on the move headed toward the other part of Rocky Mountain National Park. We traveled the beautifully scenic road that took Millie to her highest elevation yet: 12,183 feet.

We set up camp on the Eastern side of the park where we prepared dinner and pasta salad for the next day’s lunch and treated ourselves to a warm fire with roasted marshmallows.

This morning clinched the understanding that it’s just too damn cold in the Rockies in September. It sure didn’t affect the elk wandering the meadows surrounding us by the sounds of their bugling all night. Either that or they were crying out in agony over the cold.

We soon discovered that the camp sites for the weekend were booked, so we decided to leave the park and spend the day in Boulder. The drive through the National Forest outside the park was another superb drive because of the Aspens’ leaves changing colors to paint a dab of yellow interspersed between the pines. The nice, deserted campground we chose was about 20 miles west of Boulder in the town of Nederland.

We had stopped to grab Nederland’s visitors’ paper, and one of the stories featured was the town’s annual event, the Frozen Dead Guy Festival. Apparently, a Norwegian man named Bredo died of a heart attack and his daughter had him cryogenically frozen in case some day there was a cure for heart disease and she could revive him. Aud and her son brought Bredo back to the U.S. and kept him frozen in a shed for years. Eventually Aud was to be evicted from her house and she asked the local newspaper to plead to town hall for help keep her father frozen. Word soon got out, and the frozen dead guy was shown to all the world. Eventually Aud was deported back to Norway, but a man decided to maintain Bredo’s frozen temperature. Now, the town has a Frozen Dead Guy Festival every year where they feature Bredos in caskets, have races and Bredo food and drinks. It’s amazing what people will make into a festival.

We drove into Boulder to walk into the shops for a while, then stopped in the library to check a bit of email. Soon after, we were joined by Rick’s friend Dan and his wife Julie for a fun evening of eating sushi and cheesecake and chatting the night away.

Our plan originally was to go for a morning hike, but it turned out we were too lazy for that and decided to be city people instead. We went back into Boulder for their Saturday Market to pick up some yummy Boulder specialties and checked out a few more shops.

We predictably ended up at another REI flagship store in Denver where after two hours I had to take Rick’s hand and lead him out the door. I’m quite sure he could live there if I let him.

By mid afternoon we were at the doorstep of my friend Laura’s house in Englewood, a suburb of Denver. For the next couple hours we sat and talked, sharing all sorts of fun stories. We decided an evening of dinner and a movie was the most enticing thing for us, so we went out for a yummy Mexican dinner and then veg’d on the couch watching The Two Towers. It was a great “down” day (meaning not constant on-the-go).

What a nice feeling of staying indoors to get to a bathroom! Laura and Scott have two funny-faced cats that are so entertaining. One of them makes a squeaking sound every time you call its name. When I had gotten up early in the morning to go to the bathroom, that cat followed me, squeaking with every step. It just made me laugh.

We made a superb breakfast of pancakes and eggs and then drove to a nearby State Park to do a small day hike. With Denver being on the fringe of so many mountains, the hiking choices are wonderfully endless. It’s awesome to spend a day in nature with Laura because her major is in geology. I learn so much about the land every time I see her.

Rick and I are adventure eaters, so we like to try almost anything. Luckily, Laura and Scott are much the same way, so our choice for dinner was Indian cuisine. The restaurant was a favorite of theirs, and definitely we weren’t disappointed.

And so ends the western chapter of our trip in the U.S. After thanking Laura and Scott profusely for letting us invade their home, we soon found ourselves driving again in the familiar, boring flat lands. Our next destination was to be Kansas City to visit a friend.

We decided to camp by Cedar Bluffs Reservoir in a Kansas State Park, which was a far cry from the Rockies. Even though there’s barely a tree in sight, it’s utterly amazing that there are over 800 camp sites surrounding the reservoir.

Our trip out west was no doubt spectacular. It’s amazing that three months is not nearly enough to do the western states justice. It would take more like three years to do everything. The time sure flew by, and we have gathered some fantastic memories.

Our plan from this point is to drive to Chicago and spend two days there, then fly to St. Louis for a friend’s wedding, fly back to Chicago for a day, and then off to the east coast. We’ll be spending a month traveling the coast seeing the beautiful fall foliage sights, visiting family and friends and exploring the Appalachian Mountains. We decided long ago on traveling a fourth month in the east, and even that seems too little of time. Nonetheless, we’re still entering our final month of travel and then back to the world of working.

Today was six hours of driving through the boring lands of Kansas. We arrived in Kansas City in the mid afternoon and stopped into our friend Jack’s office. Walking in there was a little too much of a dose of the working life, so we dashed out as quick as possible and drove to Jack’s place to freshen up. Soon he was giving us a tour of the Kansas City area.

The nearby suburbs have huge, gorgeous new homes going up at alarming speed. As we drove toward the plaza area, we caught glimpses of numerous mansions and all sorts of impressive, expensive dwellings. As we walked along the plaza, I stared longingly in the fancy boutiques that lined the walkways.

It didn’t take long for the wafting smells of food from the local restaurants to make our stomachs growl. Jack’s friend Mary soon met us in a restaurant where Rick and I scoffed our food down. The way we eat, you’d think we hadn’t had good food in a while.

In too short of time we had said bye to Mary and were ready to crash in “Jack’s Hotel.” Of course, Rick loves any opportunity to show off the literally hundreds of pictures we have, and Jack became a seemingly willing victim.

Yea!! Another shower without having to wear flip-flops!!!

By 9:00, we had been out to breakfast, thanked Jack for a splendid time and were on the road back to the Chicagoland area. Our visit to Kansas City was brief, but it was a nice chance to spend time with a distant friend.

The drive took all day and we busied our minds with the remainder of the book on tape. As we neared my parents’ home, we decided to make a surprise visit to see my brother and his family. We spent a fun couple of hours catching up and sharing stories and then drove on to my parents’ house to relax and sleep in my home bed.

Spent the day at Mom and Dad Andrews’ home relaxing and cleaning Millie. Rick drove to our apartment and picked up some items we’d need for the next month. I didn’t want to go with him because it felt too much like we were home for good already. We had a fantastic home-cooked meal by my mom and hung out with the P’s and Scott in the evening.

More errands and cleaning. We went to see Kevin and Monique’s new home and she made us a yummy taco dinner with brownies for dessert. I took a wonderful spa bath in their whirlpool tub. We slept in their comfy bed.

Up way too early, 5:00 a.m., to catch a flight to St. Louis where my college friend, Pam, and her husband, Joel, picked us up. We went out to breakfast and ran some errands with them. We took a badly needed siesta, then got ready for my friend Karen’s wedding. Karen looked soooooo beautiful. I had a fantastic time visiting some rarely seen friends.

Pam and Joel took us back to the airport and we flew back to Chicago. We drove to Mom and Dad’s where all the family started preparing Mom’s birthday meal of hamburgers and homemade fries, of course. I got to see my pumpkin of a niece, Annabelle, for a couple hours. We played the cup game and laughed a ton at dinner.

Back on the road again! We packed up and headed toward my cousin Heather’s to spend the evening with her, Paul and Hadley. The drive to Michigan was a familiar and uneventful one. We reached Heather and Paul’s by 5:00 p.m. and proceeded to eat the rest of the night away. Going to Heather’s is like being at home with a home-cooked meal, so I’m pretty sure our visit made me add on a few extra pounds that I had hiked off previously. Besides eating, we spent the evening chatting (her friend Sara joined us as well as her boyfriend) and ogling over Hadley, that cutie baby of theirs.

Our plan was to wake up, have breakfast with Heather and head east, but with very little prompting by Heather, we found ourselves staying an extra day. I let Rick decide that one on his own because I’m sure he knew my thoughts about staying another day.

We brought Millie in for a check-up and an oil change while we wandered around the mall. After we finished our errands for the day, we met Paul at the house and packed up ourselves, the baby and the dog, and we headed to Pete and Sue’s (my cousins also and Heather’s parents) for a perogi dinner. The day wasn’t packed with adventure, but I was happy as can be visiting with some of my most favorite people in the whole wide world.