WHERE HAVE I BEEN?!

So you're probably wondering... all three readers....where I have been. Or, you probably don't because you know me in real life and know exactly what I've been up to.

But for those who don't...

Let's start with where we left off... Yellowstone. We had such an amazing time. From there, we spent the night with two family friends who have a beautiful house in Missoula, MT. (The picture is their view of the Clark River!) Even though it was a year and a half ago, I still remember the delicious salmon for dinner and the scrumptious Russian creme for dessert!

We drove across the Idaho panhandle the next day and stopped for some dinner at Coeur d'Alene. There, we solved the mystery of where Santa goes when he's not working at the North Pole. We had to be stealth about it so Mickey's shoulder is taking up most of the picture. This is the only picture we took in Coeur d'Alene.

Then, into Washington! We both agreed we were surprised at the landscapes around us east of the Cascades. We drove through rolling wheat fields to a campground at the banks of the Columbia River. Our BEST camping experience to date! It was so warm and dry that we didn't need our rain fly! (Much different from our Wisconsin experience!) We kept on chugging west until Seattle. We stayed with another set of family friends (Mickey's family is super popular) and we got a fly-by tour of the city courtesy of Michael, our host. We also set out on our own in the beginning of the evening, our first stop being--where else--Pike Place Market. We saw the guys catching the fish and everything.

Seattle was a cool town. So hilly! And very sunny when we were there!

The next day, we drove up to Anacortes for the ferry to the San Juan Islands. On the way, Robert popped out of fifth gear. Uh oh. We got an estimate at a garage in town and they said $1200. Yikes! Mickey and I both telepathically agreed to protest this, ignore the estimate and proceed to the ferry and escape our problem.

Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands was an amazing highlight of our trip. We stayed with MORE of Mickey's family friends! They bought an old farm house and are in the process of renovating it. It's in an old orchard and the plums that we had were unlike any plums I'd ever tasted. Our hosts, Terrilyn and Will, showed us an amazing time. We went to an alpaca farm, had life-improving fish and chips, ate honey-lavender ice cream and got to see the Orca park. (But, alas, no orcas!)

We had to press on and Friday Harbor was hard to leave. We drove down (South! We'd made a big left turn! No more West!) to Oregon that evening (holding Robert in fifth gear the whole way. Ugh.) and stopped at the Rogue Brewery! Believe me, with Robert issues, we needed a beer. OR three.
We camped that night at an Oregon State park by the ocean. We had gotten there after dark (we'd switched over from the 5 to the 101 because we'd given up on fifth gear). As we set up our gear, a strange noise echoed in the distance. We were so tired and angry with Robert that we just went to bed and paid no attention. The noise continued through the night. Upon waking, we had to figure out what the heck was going on. We asked the ranger and she said it was a SEA LION PARK! Well, we had to see this. And you need to, too.


So our Oregon adventure continued on to Portland for a quick overnight stay with Mickey's cousin, Shawn. Portland was great! Even hippier than Seattle! We really only spent the night but this is definitely on my return list!

From there, we made it to CALIFORNIA! Yay! Even though our best camping experience was in Washington, our most beautiful has to be the Redwood Forest camping night we had in CA. I swear, I thought I was going to wake up with Ewoks....So I'll stop here for now. Our story of Robert's demise is one for a full blog. There were much tears and even some new-found friendships because of it! Be back soon!

At

No Yogi sightings

From Lander, WY, we drove on to Yellowstone National Park. Because of the government's stimulus package, Yellowstone was re-paving/expanding their roads. All five of them. (And this park is bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.)
So we thought it was exceedingly ironic that we hit the most traffic thus far in our trip (including the May leg) in Wyoming, the least populous state. There is one town, Buford, that has one person. We seriously contemplated setting up our tent in this dude's backyard and messing with the town's numbers but we found out it actually is somewhat of a kitschy tourist stop with a general store and museum--totally not worth it.
Like I said, Yellowstone was a construction zone but we got there in good time and got to explore the hydrothermal phenomena our first night. It really is truly incredible. Even just driving around the park and seeing steam in the distance rising sporadically from the pine trees is so cool. The Shoshone Tribe (of which Sacajawea was a part) believes that they evolved from that very spot.
Our campsite, Grant Village, wasn't too far from Old Faithful itself. (The Geyser pictured is the Riverside Geyser, which actually erupts into the river.) We got there early the next morning to beat the crowds and it was worth it because we got to see all of the major attractions by early afternoon.
The drawing we snapped was a warning all over the park. The ground around the geysers is extremely unstable so the park wants everyone to stay on the boardwalks. We just think this picture is downright hilarious.
One sensory memory I will take with me from the hydrothermal sites was the smell. The springs, the mudpots, the geysers, and the pools all smelled like sulfur. (Obviously, because the majority of Yellowstone is inside of an old volcano.) It smelled so much that our clothing smelled. Though I bet all of the steam was really good for our pores. The picture to the left is Yellowstone's Grand Canyon.
Another aspect of Yellowstone that I really appreciated and wished there was more time for was the wildlife. We got some really great pictures. We passed a young buck on the highway and Mickey got so close and managed a really great shot. We saw baby bison with their herds and many solitary bison causing traffic jams! On our last day, an elk walked through our camp ground!
Speaking of elk, we saw a whole herd on our awesome horseback trail ride. I was so happy and so grateful that we did it in Yellowstone (especially considering our current situation which is for another post). I got to ride a horse called Bluedot and Mickey rode Mort. On the ride, I got to learn Bluedot's story. He was rogue horse who was missing for months from the pasture the horses live in during the off- season. They'd just found him a few weeks ago! He was such a gentle horse and all of my riding experience came back to me (though my forte was always English saddle) and it reminded me how much a really loved horseback riding.
On our last day, we headed up to Mammoth Springs (still in the park) to see the terraces. From there, we headed into Montana.....

Rocky Mountain High....Colorado

So upon leaving good ol' Nebraska, we headed to Denver to stay with our friend, Chris, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. He is living in the city for the summer. We immediately found parking in front of his condo, which is a rare occurrence in ANY New Jersey town with a substantial population. Having visited Denver once before, this overnight stay cemented my good feeling about it. It's such a pretty, clean city with spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains.
They have a nice, walkable downtown with a pedestrian marketplace they've carved out of their 16th street. You can even hop on a free bus to get there! Chris took us to Falling Rock, which had some really great brews. (I enjoyed their Spaten.) He also took us to Snarf's, where I had a delicious banana, peanut butter and honey sandwich.
Like Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, Denver had a few hip, pretty neighborhoods with gorgeous old houses right in the heart of the city. It's hard to pick a favorite place that I've visited so far because they've all been so different (so I won't) but I could really see myself living in Denver.
After lunch on our second day, we headed out and dropped off our resumes at the Arvada Center (and dropped off the props Theatre West used for South Pacific!). From there, we drove to Golden and took a free tour of the Coors Brewery. We even got free tastes of beer! Neither of us even really drink Coors but hey, it was free. I must say that I was impressed by the fact that the entire tour was free. We even got a mini tour of the town. Because we hadn't spent any money, we did drop $40 on souvenirs. I mean, but come on, we had a free tour and free beer.
After our 'free' afternoon, we camped at Golden Gate State Park where it rained (AGAIN) and the campers next to us were smoking pot. We made spaghettios for dinner.
The next morning, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and camped in Moraine Campground. On the way, we stopped in a GREAT little town nestled in a valley called Nederland. Filled with hippies and Subarus. (By the way, I think it may be a law that in order to live in Colorado and be cool, one must be the owner of some sort of Subaru station wagon, preferably with a ski rack on top and lots of left-leaning political bumper stickers.)
Oh, and our Annual Park Pass really was worth it's weight. The admission for Rocky Mtn was $20 alone! There were, alas, no showers but the compost toilets around the corner from our site were kept spotless!
We hiked up Deer Mountain (elev. 10,007) and it was long and steep but I can say that I hiked up a mountain in the Rocky Mountains. That night it rained (AGAIN!!!! We are FOUR FOR FOUR!) and we were confined to our tent.
This morning, we breakfasted in Estes Park (which, my mother tells me, I visited in utero) at Egg & I. Normally, I get poached eggs and corned beef hash whenever I go out for breakfast but since Colorado seems so healthy, I went for their Berry-ola Oatmeal. Amazing.

On our way out, we nearly got rear ended pulling off into Colorado Cherry Company because of their sign that said "Free Samples". (We get really excited about free stuff.)
And so, after a long drive into the rolling, velvety hills of Wyoming, here we are, in Lander. Not much to report except that I've had my first real shower (with water and all) in two days. Tomorrow, we leave for Yellowstone.

Nebraska and beyond

So it's been a while since I last posted. We've been working 14 hour days, 7 days a week so I haven't had the chance to really sit down at a computer. Now that South Pacific is halfway over, I have some breathing time.... so let's Tarantino it, shall we?

So let's just start with our hike up 'the Bluff'. We got some great views of the area once we got to the top. Our friend Sam even pulled out a bull snake and annoyed it for a while. It was a steep incline and I was really glad for the water that I remembered to bring. I must say that the best part of the whole deal was that we (and everyone in our car) got in for free because of our Interagency Parks Pass. Otherwise, it would've been ten dollars. We plan on going up again (driving this time) before we have to leave.

A great little surprise during our stay was George. George visited us two nights in a row in our common room in our dorm. We were watching TV one night and Mickey whispered to me "Oh my God, Alex, look". And in the front doorway from the lobby, by an empty spackle tub, was George. He was cold and shivering from the chilly night (it was easily 54 degrees in May at night). We ultimately had to chase him back outside.
The next night, Jaime and Titus were over watching TV with us in the common room when I saw something out of the corner of my eye by the arm chair. I brushed it off at first but then there he was! George! He darted across the floor, hid underneath the couch and the armchairs and the pool table until finally Mickey and the night R.A. caught him in Jaime's blanket. This is George...
We never saw him again. We do hope he's ok because there were some nasty thunderstorms with hail not too long after we set him free the second time.

A few weeks later, during the run of Over the River and Through the Woods, a large portion of the population of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation descended upon the front lawn of the Western Nebraska Community College campus for a POW WOW. Yes, my friends, a real live POW WOW. I was so psyched. It was a weekend event and they set up a tipi and had food and sold wares. (A porcupine quill bracelet went for $35 and a walking taco went for $2. Guess which one I bought.) I was so moved and touched to see such a vibrant celebration observed by those who are completely and wholly poverty stricken. From my Native American II (yet again) I learned about the Pine Ridge Reservation. It is among the poorest reservations in the country where, I believe, unemployment is 90% and nearly everyone lives below the poverty line. Yet everyone was celebrating and chanting and dancing.
We were so excited for this event yet many of the locals did not share our views and went so far as to express their displeasure at this event even taking place. It was a shame that they could not celebrate as well and appreciate a wonderful cultural event that was occurring in their own backyard.

Besides powwows and baby rabbits, another thing that we never came across in everyday life in good ol' NJ was TORNADOS. Woooo! Tornados. There were a lot of warnings this spring/summer. Everyone said that this was a really crazy season. Warnings of any sort in the northeast aren't much of a worry but in NE they are taken seriously. A siren goes off all over town, telling people to get into their basements. Everything becomes really still and the temperature drops 20 degrees in 30 minutes. (We watched a scrolling marquee drop from 78 degrees to 57). The sky gets really dark and the clouds turn a mint green. All wind stops and, in the sky, the clouds start to swirl. At the college, we had to congregate in a hallway by the gym. They had people with emergency vests on who were communicating with walkie talkies. Some even had hard hats with little lights on them. There was also a massive Bloodhound being lead around by one of the emergency personnel. We mentioned this to a few of our friends later on and they knew exactly who he was. Turns out the pooch was a cadaver dog. Why he was at the tornado shelter (as opposed to out looking for bodies) , I'm not sure, but I've seen him around a bit. He's famous. A famous cadaver dog. Everyone knows him.
The first time the siren sounded, three tornadoes had touched down and it was hailing something fierce. Mickey, of course, was outside. He snagged one picture on his phone. And then, the thunder. I've never heard anything like it. It wasn't particularly loud or cracking but the thunderclaps never seemed to stop. I remember once it thundered for a good 20 minutes without stopping. If I ever come back to Nebraska, it will be for green clouds and tornado warnings. The picture of the clouds was just something I shot one evening after a storm--not a tornado. They were a little swirly, though.


So, we leave next Monday and we're off to Denver!!!

Black Hills, Badlands, and Mt Rushmore

We have landed safely in Nebraska! But first, let's Tarantino it.


So, upon waking, we headed out from Murdo, crossed the into the Mountain Time Zone, and hit up Wall Drug. There was really no question whether to visit or not. There are signs EVERYWHERE for it. Old-timey, particle board signs ALL OVER I-90. There was also an amusing sign (which, alas, I didn't get a shot of) on the highway that ardently 'rejected' animal activists because hunting, fishing and fur trapping was vital to their economy. Apparently South Dakota thinks its 1804. But anyway, Wall Drug. It was fine, I guess. I got a key chain and lip balm made from bison tallow. Mickey made a friend.

From there, we took a right turn and headed south into the Badlands. The trip sort of went something like...
Me: OMG. South Dakota is so flat and boring.
Mickey: Agreed.
Me: Boringest place ever.
Mickey: Yup.
*An interesting piece of topography catches our eyes to the left*
Mickey and Me: WHAAAAAAHAHAAAAT?
*BADLANDS*


I've got to say that I think this was my most favorite part of our May Trip. The Badlands were incredible and I truly urge people to visit because it's a cheap vacation and the scenery is spectacular.
Apart from their name being a buzz word in my 5th grade Social Studies class and Badlands Tacos in Oradell, NJ, I didn't know much about them. Apparently, they were formed when the prairies eroded. The view from the Park was absolutely amazing. Let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Badlands (which is a National Park) was filled with wildlife. It was the site of our first encounter with BISON. We also saw Prairie Dogs!!! They were everywhere. You can't tell from the pictures but the main road through the park was the dividing point between 'Badland' and prairie. So on our left for a lot of the drive we had these eroded, lunar mounds and, on the other side, there was a peaceful, green prairie filled with grazing bison and burrowing prairie dogs. It was surreal.
Because we had been such early birds (and we gained an hour jumping time zones), it was only about 10 o'clock when we headed further west. As the Badlands gave away to more rolling prairie, black, Mordor-esque crags of rock filled the horizon. The Black Hills. This place was a sacred area to the Lakota and other surrounding tribes (and I'm just pulling this from Nat. Amer History II class) and it was where they believed all of life began. It's interesting that we plopped one our our most recognizable American landmarks right in the middle of it.

Around one o'clock we got to Mt Rushmore. (So named after...a ....lawyer.) It was a cool place and a little bit smaller than we had expected. (But hey, doesn't everyone say that about the Statue of Liberty?) The tour guide was probably the best tour guide I've ever had and he really knew his stuff. From there, we found our little camp site and set up our tent. Maybe this night would be better than our last experience?

We needed matches to light a fire so we drove up to Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park (which we spuriously entered) and found a little general store. From there, we got LOST. Mandy, our GPS, was at a loss. But we found our way back and had a freezing night in the Black Hills!


The next day, Mother's Day, we had a nice South Dakotan breakfast and called our mothers. From there, we headed south to Nebraska!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day of Driving/Murdo, SD

So today was our longest day of driving since getting out to Pittsburgh. It wasn't too bad, though. We had a nice morning in the Twin Cities and breakfasted at Mickey's Diner in St. Paul. It's a pretty famous place where a lot of celebrities have been. It has also been featured in Arnold Schwarzenegger's holiday classic JINGLE ALL THE WAY. We sat at the counter to get the full diner experience and found out that the diner itself was actually built in Elizabeth, New Jersey! We had to drive all the way to Minnesota to get a down-home Jersey diner meal! All of the diners in Jersey have gone from "authentic" to "tackily mirrored" (Somerset Diner) or "ironically retro" (Skylark) so it was nice to see something that wasn't new or had been garishly redone. The counter guy/waiter was a hoot and I swear he made my eggs over easy perfectly, which is an extremely challenging feat.
After breakfast, we got back in the car and made the extremely long trek to South Dakota. The terrain was very flat for the first half our the ride. The weather wasn't too great either. We were driving right into a storm and, being on the prairie, there's no shelter from the wind. Robert was not happy about being blown all over the highway and neither were we because we had to steer him back on course through pelting rain and unfamiliar road conditions. To take a break we visited the Corn Palace. Weird place. The locals are very enthusiastic about it. The facade of the entire building was made of corn. They've been making new designs for it yearly since the 1890's.

Upon crossing the Missouri River, we stumbled upon rolling hills that can only be described as Tolkien-esque. I kept on checking the map to see what Reserve or Park we were passing through but there was nothing--just ten miles of verdant, steep hills with no trees to be seen for miles. This picture does not fully capture the majesty of the geography. I took some pictures with my film camera--hopefully I can scan them onto the blog eventually. It was an absolute gorgeous surprise and a nice change from the flat prairies of Minnesota and eastern SD. You can see a good picture here. South Dakota's speed limit (on I-90) is 75 mph. Granted, there were not many cars on the road at all but it was scary at times. I've also noticed that Wisconsin has some speed demons on the interstates. But damn, did we make good time!!
The town of Murdo has about 600 people and is literally a cluster of hotels and houses a half a mile from I-90. And that's about all there is to say about Murdo. The End.


Tomorrow we go on to Wall Drug, The Badlands, Mt Rushmore and the Black Hills!!! Excitement!

Wisconsin, Iowa, Minneapolis

So, on from the Windy City, we traveled northwest to Blue Mound, WI, pop. 432. Sweet. Blue Mound doesn't seem like it would be a tourist spot except for the Cave of the Mounds and Little Norway. Cave of the Mounds became a National Landmark in 1939 after people accidentally discovered it because they were blowing stuff up. Awesome. The result? Fraggle-freaking Rock. These caves were really cool and we got a full guided tour. Being that it was the middle of the day on a Wednesday, we were the only "grown ups" without kids. The only other people on our tour were Brownie Girl Scouts. These are actual pictures we took during the tour. This makes me really excited to see the Carlsbad Caverns in August!

Little Norway really made me reminisce simultaneously about IKEA Swedish meatballs and about the overpriced doll I so loved, Kirsten, the Swedish immigrant American Girl. Built by a Norweigan immigrant family in the mid 1800's, Little Norway was a homestead farm until Isak Dahle, some rich Norweigan American guy, bought it in the 1920's. He then used it as a summer home for a few years until it was opened to the public. His descendants still live on the property. Our tour guide was hardcore 2nd generation Norweigan American and it was obvious that he loved his job. The whole 'museum' really piqued my interest about the whole Scandinavian immigrant experience. The grand finale of the tour was a peek inside the "Norway House" which was built in Norway. The interior was reminiscent of the Rohirrim and Vikings. (I'm a geek, I know.) That's me standing on the steps as Eowyn, peering out over the rolling hills of Rohan, awaiting the return of Aragorn.
That evening, after having a hearty meal at the Grumpy Troll (complete with the gotta-have cheese curds), we spent the night at Blue Mound State Park---in a thunderstorm. Setting up the tent for the first time went well but starting a fire with wet wood did not. We settled for a quiet night of Pente in our sleeping bags. Thunder was steadily rolling in throughout the evening and there was a full-on downpour earlier while we were having dinner. Being in a warm, dry restaurant munching on amazing fried things during a thunderstorm is one thing but huddling in a sleeping bag while forks of lightning illuminate your teeny tent is another. But, for the most part, we stayed fairly dry. We lived to see the morning and we were off for Iowa. On the way, we got to see some Amish!!! YAY! The picture on the left is the back end of an Amish man's wagon. He was selling flowers.
Iowa was not originally on our itinerary. We figured we'd just go from Wisconsin straight into Minnesota but the Little Norway tour guide recommended the Effigy Mounds National Monument on the banks of the Mississippi River in Harper's Ferry, Iowa. So we went. Turns out that the Effigy Mounds are part of our America the Beautiful Parks Pass so we got in for FREE! Always a nice bonus. Even Robert was happy. (Remember Robert, our car? He got a nice break as we went on a hike.) The effigy mounds (which are in various animal shapes) are ancient burial grounds of hunter gatherer Native Americans from around 1000 B.C. They still pose various questions to today's archaeologists. Their mysteriousness may not translate from the picture but there was a certain sense of wonder I felt as I trekked over their sacred ground. It was a really nice spontaneous side trip.

Around 5 pm we arrived in Minneapolis or, as my mother acerbically put it, "Mini-no place". Of course, she visited for a business trip many years ago. Still, I wasn't really expecting much even though Minneapolis is second only to New York for theaters per capita. That should have been a sign. This city is great. We stayed in the International Hostel in the city. (I also must admit, I'd had a preconceived bias toward hostels. I always thought they were filled with hippies and bedbugs.) It is in an old mansion right across the street from the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. Just like quaint bed and breakfasts, it has charming Victorian architecture and creaking wooden floors. It's very clean and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves being that it's "off season". It's really close to downtown, which was a major plus.
After wandering around, we stumbled upon Dakota and had some delicious Pumpkin Gnocchi. After wandering around some more, we had some iced hard cider at Brit's Pub (also delicious). We made the nice walk back to the hostel neighborhood (which was in the heart of a Vietnamese and African enclave -- sad I can't stay and try out the cuisine!!!) and stopped by a retro 60's mod coffeeshop called Spy Coffeehouse. Minneapolis turned out to be a really nice city and I would love to return here to see some theater (Prairie Home Companion??).


Next stop? The middle of South Dakota somewhere.....