After 26 Days in the Car...

We decided to hike 15 miles. We did the perimeter hike.. a few bridges were out and we found ourselves on detours that lengthened the trail! Luckily we had our GPS tracker with us. The last sign a hiker wants to see nearing the ten mile mark is a detour sign lenthening the hike! My body still aches two days later!

Blogger: Behind The Scenes

Someone recently asked how Carl and I had time to write blogs after driving 10,733 miles and see everything there was to see... Well, Carl and I had a wireless card enabling us to blog from the road as we drove from place to place. If you looked closely at the blogs, you noticed that they were unedited. Sure, we used spell check, but when you are driving on roads that feel like roller coasters, it can be hard to read and edit what you've written, especially when you are tired. So please forgive improper grammar and half written words. Maybe someday I will go back and edit them, maybe not.

Each blog, though short, took approximately two hours (sometimes more) to produce. Mainly, this is because we had to select photos to represent our experiences from thousands of photos taken. Yes, that is right, we have nearly 8,000 photos from vacation. Sorting through these can be and will be challenging.

Another astute friend asked what we would do differently on the next go-around. Carl and I had gear for camping, hoteling, and staying with friends. Next time, we think it may be best to stay with one mode rather than prepare for three. Camping on the east coast was challenging and we had so much gear that we didn't use that it may have been better if we had brought less... I don't know about you, but this could be said by almost every vacationer I have ever met. On the other hand, we were prepared for anything and everything and did not find ourselves in a bind anywhere (except for the car trouble, which was not so bad).

Our last question for today's blog asks for cross country roadtripping advice.

Carl and I found what worked and what didn't as we went along. For example, we found that cold coffee and cold food worked best for us as it allowed us to get on the road faster and utilize our cooler to the best of it's ability. One piece of advice every road tripper should take: never ever keep uncooked eggs in your cooler. It just doesn't work.

If you find yourself looking for a hotel, spend the money and get a room that won't have you up all night worrying about a serial killer or cockroaches and bed bugs. Trust us on this one.

Finally, don't plan your cross country road trip, planning is futile. Just wake up and decide where you'll drive next.

Have more questions or want to hear more abot our journey? Ask! We'd love to share!

Home, Sweet Home

Downtown Portland, view from the East side Esplanade.

After 10,733 miles of driving, I am happy to report that Carl and I have arrived home safe and sound.

Upon our arrival into Oregon, we had to refuel. Our car takes diesel... and in Oregon, you cannot pump your own fuel. Well, the attendant put the regular gasoline nozzle in the pump. Gasp!

Worry not folks, I was so used to pumping my own fuel (Carl was in the store), I got out of the car (to hand him a debit card as we had exhausted all of our funds), and corrected him. Talk about a close call...

Let the vacation from vacation begin...We are both off until September.

What's next from Carnny now, you ask? You'll just have to stay tuned!

Denver, Colorado

Old, comfortable friends are the best friends. Carl and I went to visit Alina and Aaron in Denver, Colorado. The best thing about old friends one has not seen in a long time is that your friendship picks up where it left off.

The way we picked up where we left off was to laugh about silly happenings, go out to dinner, and chat about the life we had in Utah and why Portland is the number one place to live.... Oh, and have an ear candle party at random. Again, Google University will take you to places you never knew existed should you not know what an ear candle is.

It's always hard to leave people who make you feel your best and let you be yourself. There is something to be said about tenured friendships. Alina and I have known one another nearly fourteen years. We've both found the best of the best men for relationships who both get along as if they were there alongside Alina and I all fourteen of those years. Luckily, this latest separation will be one of our last as Alina and Aaron are planning to move to Portland (unless Aaron lands a killer job which he interviews for tomorrow) this spring. At long last, we'll be in the same city yet again!

We had such a fun time chatting that we forgot to break out the camera, not even once did we reach for it.

Alas, we head west and once again. Who knows where the wind will blow us.

We've Landed in Denver

We've landed in Denver via our space shuttle of a car. As of today, Carl and I have decided we miss home. The sweet taste of everything comfortable and all that we know is so desired that we've decided to return. Fancy that.

We can't wait to be in our own bed.

We can't wait to be in our comfortable house.

We can't wait to have an day without an agenda.

We can't wait to smell the clean air of Portland.

We can't wait to see the smiling faces of friends and family we've missed.

But first, we will visit Alina and Aaron (once they get home from work). Ever determined, we will make our way back to the Pacific Northwest where we belong and aspire to be.

I'd never thought I'd say this while on vacation, but I simply must confess, I am home sick. I think Carl might be catching it too.

Fort Collins, Colorado

Carl and I arrived in Ft. Collins just after one in the afternoon. On our drive in, the clouds were ominous and we could tell there was heavy rain near the Rocky Mountains.

Our mission in Ft. Collins was to see my sister and her family. Carter is the newest addition to the family and we had yet to meet him until yesterday.

Kristin and Bill went all out for our arrival. We had an awesome lunch from Five Guys after which we needed a nap to recoup. We played with the kids... Logan showed us all kinds of bugs, spiders, frogs, etc from the backyard while we sipped lemonade on the back deck.

Bill and Logan in the Lucho Libre masks showing off their muscles.

Logan and his Disney cars. He LOVES cars.

He loves planes too!

We had a photo shoot on the stairs. It was quite entertaining really. At first, Logan wouldn't show his smile. I had to show him the photos I took of him to prove he looked better when he smiled. He liked smiling after he saw how cute he was.

Too funny.

Logan trying to teach Carter how to walk while Kristin spots.

Handsome little guys, eh?

Sharing Tonka trucks.

Carter looks up to Logan in a big way.

Kisses.

Carter. He is such a smiley baby!

Chewing on the baseball.

Taking down the frog chair.

Kristin and Carter. He is such a mommas boy.

After the kids went to bed, we had an scrumptious steak dinner that Chef Bill made. It was nice to catch up over drinks and laugh about the silliness of life. We old folks called it a night before eleven.

We woke up to the smell of dawn (at least Carl did... the rest of us smelled breakfast) where Chef Bill had made french toast, and a yummy breakfast casserole from scratch. We won't need to eat again for five more days.

Just as the clouds caught our attention as we drove in, they held our attention as we headed

south to Denver, Colorado.

We had a great time. Thanks Bill, Kristin, Logan, and Carter for having us over!

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

Hello everyone!

In case you've been wondering, we're doing well. We've been on the road for twenty -three days now. All in all, it's been fairly wonderful. However, this morning we had a near miss head on collision in the Back Hills National Forest inside of Hell Canyon. If you've never been, picture this.. two lane hairpin curves with no shoulders. The road only lasts a few miles, but it's a dangerous one.

We were coming around one of the hairpins on an uphill when a Toyota truck crossed the center line and was taking up nearly half of our lane. Carl, being the defensive driver, moved as far over to the right as he could. Luckily, the truck driver corrected his mistake and did so in the nick of time. His face was filled with horror, as were ours, and our hearts were in our throats. Whoever is watching over us, thank you!

Back to the sights.

We took I-90 into Sturgis, South Dakota. In Sturgis, our sole

mission was to do a friend a favor.

From Sturgis, we drove south to Mt. Rushmore. It was surprisingly empty.

I expected to see more people.

Double Click the photo for information.

Mt Rushmore

As you walk up to the memorial, you pass through columns. At the top of each column

four state flags are attached. Near the bottom, the dates of when each state

joined the union are inscribed.

So what does it all mean?

Our Campground friend. He's a little Shy.

The Camp. Though it looks spooky and was nearly empty,

it was not haunted.

Drive toward Crazy Horse.

Just south of Mt. Rushmore, there is another memorial being carved

into a mountain.

It's still in the works, but will look like the entrance sign above.

Crazy Horse was a Native American who fought for his

tribe's rights and was murdered doing so.

Sadly, the US government failed to honor land treaties (as well as many other agreements).

The Crazy Horse memorial is being built without any state or federal funding.

The project began in 1956 and continues today.

One of many painted buffalo found throughout The Black Hills.

You know you've always wanted to camp out with The Flintstones.

Now you can.

Old farm house.

It appears that at some point in time, the Black Hills National Forest was on fire.

We're currently in Wyoming, driving south to Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Jenny and Carl have a nephew they'd like to meet and one that they'd like to see.

I must confess, once our eyes saw we were in the west again, they melted. This is definitely where we belong. This place has magic and adventure written all over it.

I do believe we are both looking forward to returning home.

I-90 South Dakota and Minnesota

Carl and I are becoming very familiar with I-90 through Minnesota and South Dakota. In case you've ever found yourself wondering what I-90 looks like, well, it looks like farm land. It looks like farm land because it is farm land. Fancy that. To spice it up, the small towns around here put up fancy billboards and crazy statues. Worry not faithful readers, I have been documenting through photos. The only caveat here... I will keep adding photos as I take them, so check back to this post every now and then.

Water tower. At first, Carl and I were worried it might be an alien head, but we took liberty in the fact these are all over the country and surely, if they were indeed aliens, somene would have notcied by now (fingers crossed).

One of many farms. Double click for a closer look.

Bull head sculpture.

The funny part about this is the placement of the sculpture.

It was in the middle of hundreds of cows!

I suppose it helps remind them to behave?!

Tractor pulling a shed. Love that.

The fun will continue shortly.

Rochester, Minnesota

Part of the fun of taking a road trip lies in the unexpected happenings that occur just when you think you have everything under control. Today for instance, we discovered through a warning light on the dash that we needed to take the car in asap or risk waving a white flag from the side of the road later on. We found ourselves at the nearest Volkswagen dealership in Rochester, Minnesota not more than an hour after we discovered our problem.

The folks at the dealership, Kevin and Paul were so awesome. They got our car right in, diagnosed the problem and sent us off with a lender vehicle (an Audi A4... who lends an Audi for the day?) while they hustled to get our car fixed by six or risk us having to stay in Rochester through Monday! So, you ask, what's in Rochester? The Mayo Clinic and that's about it, but it's not insignificant in the slightest.

How about a virtual tour?

Ha, Ha! If you thought this was the Mayo Clinic, you are wrong! It's just one of several parking garages. Actually, the Mayo Clinic takes up the same amount of space as three Mall of America's.


Meet the Mayo brothers (and Carl). Together with their father, they created the Mayo Clinic and the systematic way of conducting health care (there were more people involved too).

Read this plaque by double clicking the photo.
It'll tell you about the photo above.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center lies behind these glass sculptures.

Sculptures from around the grounds and gardens.

Mathews Heritage Dome

Apparently there is a Shriners convention this weekend.
Of Course, we stopped to listen to them play and I asked them to line up for a group photo :)
Yes, those are bag pipes!

Adam, one of the Shriners, invited us out to the bars.
We decided not to take up the offer as we have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.

Of all places in the country Carl and I have found ourselves, we landed an unexpected day less than one mile from one of the top hospitals in the country. A top hospital who also happen to be number four in the country for cancer care. I told Carl we had to go to the Mayo Clinic and fold Damina cranes and mail them to her. So we folded cranes in her honor and mailed them to her.

For those who don't know, I am folding Damina a thousand cranes for my wish, which is for her health to return. Refer to Sadoko and the Thousand Cranes at Google University for more information.

I'd have to say that our unexpected day in Rochester lead to unexpected joy. The people we encountered were all very wonderful and welcoming. The overall feel of this city was fabulous. People were not only professional, but they truly cared and went the extra mile to help us out. Moments such as these helped me to solidify how important it is to be warm to others and how vital family is. I was truly touched as we ate dinner.

A family sitting across from us had a son who had some disabilities and was unable to feed himself. The mother fed him while the three of them talked about their doctors. As I watched them walk to their car, all three holding hands, I turned my head toward Carl and let a tear roll down my cheek.

Damina, this blog is dedicated to you. I love you so very much.