Oregon Coast, Bulldogs, & Comptche

Odometer: 210,579

What a trip! We’re at the very tail end of it now – just a few hours from home. I bet 3.5 hours will go by in the blink of an eye considering what we have behind us. Yesterday was a long drive day: 9.5 hours (without stops). But nevertheless, enjoyable!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up a bit.

After leaving Chris & Nat’s in Idaho, we drove west toward the coast. As we got into the Columbia River/Gorge area, I felt like my soul was refilling, refreshed. Montana and Idaho were super cool – absolutely! But it turns out I was designed to live on tall, green trees and wet dirt. Some people love the city lights and impressive skylines, some people love the beach, some people love wide open plains and big skies – I love the big trees. It’s just built into my hardware.

So we drove and drove, stopping occasionally here and there. I loved the trees and the views, and felt refreshed just by looking out the window.

Eventually, we hit the coast. Cannon Beach, to be exact – the perfect jumping off point to our Oregon coast adventure! Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach is (apparently) one of the most photographed features of the coast. So we walked along the beach to the rock, took some pictures, enjoyed the view and the fresh sea air, and continued on our way.

We continued down the northern portion of the Oregon coast in much the same fashion – stopping here for a walk on the beach and there for a hike through the woods. It was awesome and beautiful. One of my favorite parts was when we did a little hike through the forest that ended at the beach.

 Much of the drive hugged the beach, and when it deviated from the coast, it just dipped deeper into the woods for a brief moment.

Lots of beaches, lots of woods, lots of happiness.

One of our last stops of the day was a little winery off the beaten path. The person offering that tastings was what you would describe as “a character”. . . by which I mean, a little crazy – but charmingly so. We had a delightful time, tried at least a dozen wines, and left with two bottles. One that makes bomb apple cider and one that tastes like honey. I didn’t even know wines came in such a large variety!!

We spent the night in a cheap oceanfront hotel in Lincoln, OR. “Cheap” and “oceanfront” seem to be contradictory, I know, but everything is oceanfront on this road – plus we didn’t have a view. But who cares? We had soaked up the view all day!

The next morning, we were up early and had walked down to the beach and explored for a bit.

Then, we hit the road for the central Oregon coast portion of our trip. Our first stop of the day was Depoe Bay – the whale watching capital of Oregon! Within probably (literally) 30 seconds of leaving the harbor, we started weeing whales. I have never seen SO MANY whales on a whale watching trip. It was INSANE! You practically had to have you head on a swivel to see all of them!! It was very, very cool.

More beaches, more woods. More happiness. We had lunch in Newport, OR – which is apparently the Dungeness Crab capital of the world. Ken, of course, had crab. We wandered around the town, watched the sea lions off the dock.

Then we headed inland for a special addition to our trip. If you’ve spoken to me at all within the last 6 months, you probably know that Ken and I are extremely excited to get a puppy – and English Bulldog puppy, to be exact. There was a breeder in Oregon that we were eager to meet, and we thought we’d take this opportunity to go and see her and her dogs.

It was even better than we could have hoped! All ten (!!!!) of her bulldogs were happy and healthy. Brenda (the breeder) was awesome. And we had such a fun time playing with the bulldogs. For literally nearly three hours! What a fantastic evening!!

We had dinner with Brenda and her husband Joel, and we hope to come back up in December to pick up our new puppy and bring him home. (yay!!)

Then, it was back out our scheduled programming, so to speak. We left Brenda & Joel’s probably a little after 7, and drove the few hours back to the cost and a bit south to our campsite right on the other side of a line of trees from the beach.

We set up our tent and sleeping situation in record time, and were asleep before you could say “bulldogs are awesome”.

Woke up and had breakfast on the beach. So fun! Such a great way to start the day.

Then we drove a bit south, and went on a hike through the tall spruce trees that I really enjoyed. I’m convinced that in a perfect world, everyday would start with a hike through tall trees. Especially when you're still wearing your jammies and carrying coffee. Recipe for perfection.

And so, our day continued in much the same way! We never drove for more than 1.5-2 hours without a break. Our main break was frisbee. Truly, it’s the PERFECT way to break up long car rides. It gets your legs moving, your arms moving, your heart rate up – just the perfect break!

So that’s how our day progressed. Drive through beauty, take a break to play frisbee on the beach, drive a bit more, play frisbee in the forest, repeat.

A couple other stops where sprinkled throughout our day: the Sea Lion Caves (with no sea lions, but we bought fudge!), an old diner for lunch, a quick stop to look at the elk(!!!??) in Northern California, etc.

The drive was stunning. I'm always surprised at how big the really, really big trees are. It felt unworldly to drive down the 101 (named Redwood Hwy where we were) and just feel dwarfed completely by the giants towering above. I loved it.

Then, eventually, after stringing together all those short drives and refreshing breaks, we landed at our last stop: Comptche.

Comptche is a little town in the woods of Northern California. My parents have a house up here, and we come up here basically as often as we’re able. Ken proposed here, and it holds a special place in our heart.

We got in late last night and threw together a quick dinner, then slept like the dead. This morning we had a delicious dinner with my dad, who is also up here, and then walked the property as he told us some of his plans.

So now here we are. One of our first lazy mornings – it’s 11:25am and I’m still in jammies and in the same place as we woke up. We’ll put our stuff together and mosey home within the next hour or so. . .  maybe.  

Overall, it’s been such a fantastic trip. I really couldn’t have asked for anything better. . . It feels weird to be ending this blog post. I feel like it should end with some great, exciting conclusion! Some super climatic ending! But this whole trip has been pretty low key. Very relaxing. Very refreshing. Very awesome.

I loved every minute of it, and I can’t wait for our next great adventure.

Signing off for now! Thanks for reading!!

Kenny’s Thoughts: The coast is way prettier than I expected! I’m really glad that we drove along it. Also, I had no idea that we had elk in California! That was a huge shock. But overall, I highly recommend the drive. It was beautiful and a lot of fun. I loved all the dogs! And I couldn’t be happier with the two parents of the upcoming litter – I really want one of their pups. All the bulldogs were freakin’ adorable, and were such characters. I’ve been around bulldogs along – just petting other peoples’ dogs – but it’s still surprising just how heavy they are for how small they are. But the trip couldn’t have made me more excited about getting a bulldog of our own! I’m sad the trip is over, but honestly I don’t think it could have been better. In reflection, I think that every leg of the trip was better than I expected – and I had pretty high hopes for a lot of the parts. I think my three favorite parts were the Zion river walk, exploring Yellowstone, and meeting all the bulldogs. I think that’s all my thoughts. 

Moscow with the Fam

Odometer: 209,709

We’re just coming off a few days in Moscow, Idaho. It was wonderfully lazy and relational. My brother Chris and his wife Natalie live there, and I had never yet been to visit (whoops!), so it was the PERFECT keystone to our trip. We stayed for three nights (our longest time anywhere), and it all blurs together in a haze of easy-going-ness (is that a word?).

The town itself is super cute, as are the surrounding areas. Although abbreviated, I feel like we got a good taste of Moscow! I tried to write out what we did on each day, and even with Ken’s help, we were hopeless trying to sort out what happened when. So here’s a (probably mixed up) list of our Moscow adventures (…and relaxations):

•          Farmers Market lunch
•          Tour of the town
•          Church with Chris & Nat
•          Apple Cider Making & Apple Picking
•          Played a LOT of 7 Wonders
•          Wandered around downtown
•          Homemade steak dinner
•          Out to BBQ for lunch
•          Taco night with friends of Chris & Nat
•          Walked the arboretum 
•          Got spoiled by Chris & Natalie
•          Played Outburst
•          Lots of reading and lounging

This seems like a disproportionately short post for how long we were thing, but I think what was so lovely about our time was how simple it was. There aren’t any big complications of flat tires, or even any tiring (yet exhilarating) adventures to detail.

But here are some pictures of our delightful trip:

Overall, it was an incredibly pleasant and wonderful time! It was great to spend some quality time with Chris and Natalie, and it’s awesome to see how well they’re thriving in their little neck of the woods. I hope we can make it back again soon!

Ken’s Thoughts: It was really fun being able to spend time with Chris and Natalie, since I hadn’t really had the opportunity much. I really enjoyed getting to know them better, and playing board games and seeing their fun life in action. I really felt welcome and well taken care of. They were more than generous. I was shocked at how good the honey is out there! I think that’s all my thoughts. 

Yellowstone, and Bison, and Bears - Oh My!

Written Yesterday, 9/21

Odometer: *Ooops, I forgot to check. And now I’m in my cozies – so there’s no way I’m going outside.*

Today was YELLOWSTONE! And what a magical Yellowstone day it was!!!

Late last night we got into our cabin on the outskirts of West Yellowstone, then this morning we woke up to. . . SNOW!

The snow was beautiful and fun! But also a little nerve wracking. We didn’t have tire chains, and Yellowstone roads had been closed the day prior due to snow.

But oh well – nothing we could do about it except bundle up! So we did.

And it ended up being a glorious day.

I want to write this blog, but I don’t know where to start. . . or what to say after that. The day was beautifully lazy and wonderfully filled with buffalo, geysers, mochas, snow, and elk.

And unprecedentedly people free roads – probably due mostly to some of the entrances being closed (thanks to snow!), some of the roads being closed (thanks to snow!), and it being just overall not your typical idea of the “perfect” Yellowstone weather day (thanks to snow!).

But it ended up being just perfect for us. It was absolutely beautiful. The animals are happy in the snow (apparently because predators can’t track them), and we saw bison and elk everywhere. The geysers looked especially steamy and awesome. There weren’t crowds anywhere. Road closers shrunk the park significantly, so were able to do literally everything we wanted to (and could reach) in one slow pace, fun filled day. I wouldn’t have changed a single thing.

I’m a little pooped and don’t feel like writing, so I’ll let the photos do most the talking. But I will say that Ken was awesome – he drove like a stud in the snow, and he found me lots of buffalo. I love that guy.

Now, without further ado, our Yellowstone day:

Our first wildlife: Elk!

Close Up Buffalo!!

Ken with Mud Pots ("muddy" geysers)

Gibson(?) Falls

Ken in front of geyser

Old Faithful

Black Sand Geyser 

Kenny’s Thoughts: I really enjoyed it! It was so beautiful! I loved just the contrast of everything. The light fluffy slow, with the animals serenely walking around. The quiet, idealic ponds. All contrasted by all the volcanic activity, with the geysers erupting, their sulfur pools, and the smell of rotting eggs all around. It was something I won’t forget. Also – I really liked seeing all the bison up close and personal. I think that’s it.

Written 9/22

Odometer: 209,142

Today was another great one. Man, they just keep stacking up.

We started by going to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. It was incredible. All of the animals wouldn’t have made it in the wild – either because of injuries or because there were getting too comfortable around humans and would have been euthanized.

I’m now convinced that no visit to Yellowstone is complete without a visit to this place. It was super fun watching the bears and the wolves, and I was continually impressed with the measures that the center go to in order to mirror what life would be like in the wild.

Really, really cool.

Then we hit the road! And drove to Ninepipes Lodge, where we currently are. We showered (…for the first time since leaving home), and had a fantastic dinner with an amazing view.

Life couldn’t be better. Tomorrow, we head off to our half way point: Chris & Natalie’s! It’s crazy how quickly the trip is going, but I’m excited to forge on ahead.

Thanks for reading!!

Kenny's Thoughts: The bears and the wolves were so cool! I really respect how that place took the well being of the animals so seriously, in that they prioritized rehabilitating and taking care of animals would have previously been put down - as opposed taking healthy animals out of their habitat. The drive across the state was really pretty. And I really enjoyed our delicious dinner of prime rib and huckleberry crisp. I am now in a food coma. I think that's all my thoughts. 

The Southwest: Grand Canyon, Zion, & Bryce

Odometer: 208,110

Wow! It’s been a whirlwind since that initial anticipatory entry. Holy moly.

The First Night

We got into Williams, Arizona around dusk. Williams is a fun little cowboy-themed tourist town. . . think Capitola meets cowboys meets that part of SF where they sell all the SF theme junk. So there you have it! We had dinner at an underwhelming brewery and stayed the night at a cheap motel a bit outside of town. A perfectly easy ending to a long day of driving.

Ken’s Thoughts: I thought it was a quaint little town that was surprisingly happening. I enjoyed walking around the shops. . . but I don’t think that it needed more than a day.

The Grand Canyon

We woke up around 3:30am the next morning, because I had gotten it in my head that I wanted to see the Grand Canyon for sunrise. So we woke up well before the crack of dawn, and were in the car by 4:02 to catch the 5:30 shuttles from the Grand Canyon visitor center to the Yaka Point (… I think that’s what it was called).

But the thing was, we had hustled pretty good to get on the road. The Grand Canyon was an hour away, and the shuttles left every half hour. SO, if we were able to get there by 5, we could get on the first shuttle instead of the second.

So that’s exactly what we did. Kenny hauled it (safely) to the Grand Canyon, where we blundered our way through to find the parking lots (none of the signs were lit!). We could see the bus approaching – but we couldn’t see any of the roads or signs, and we had no idea where it would stop to pick people up. So we started running in the general direction it was going, determined to board the bus.

And we did! Just in the knick (nick??) of time!

We shared the shuttle with just one other couple who was geared up to hike the whole canyon. We, meanwhile, were wearing jeans and sweatshirts and hardly carrying anything at all.

The shuttle dropped us off at Yaka Point still in the pitch black darkness. Truly – you couldn’t see anything. With our headlamps, we could see the end of the walking area and cliffs – but we couldn’t tell if beyond was a 5ft drop of a 100ft drop.

We settled into a spot that looked right.

Then, we waited. We read the bible and sang worship songs, and just soaked in the wonder of the creation. Slowly – very slowly – what was once a blanket of stars from horizon to horizon started to lighten to reveal a silhouette skyline.

Then – again, extremely slowly – we could see a bit more and a bit more, but still in black and white.

The shuttles dropped off a few more people – but not many. Sunrise wasn’t “technically” until 6:15, so that meant most people would be showing up just before then.

But we revealed in the slow reveal.

We could start to see the other edge of the canyon, what actually lie beneath the drop off our cliff, and the in-betweens get slowly shaded in with black and gray hues.

Then finally, at 6:15 the sun crested over the horizon and the canyon was filled with golden sunlight. Finally, we could see between the shadows the red color of the canyon you see in all the pictures. It was magnificent, and such a cool way to see the Grand Canyon for the first time.

We stayed for a while longer, soaking it up and looking from different angles and viewpoints, until finally we felt like we were filled to capacity. Not that we had sufficiently appreciated the canyons for all it was worth, but that we had no space left to fill up with the beauty of it.

Very cool.

So we took the shuttle back to our car, and then started driving up north to Zion – stopping at a few lookout points along the way.

Kenny’s Thoughts: It really was one of the highlights of our trip, and I’m so glad that we got there early enough to experience the WHOLE sunrise – not just the sun cresting, but from starry sky to sun up. I feel like we got the whole experience, and I felt thoroughly satisfied by the time we left. It was really stunning. I think that’s it.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

*Note added at time of posting (9/21 @ 8:52pm): I talk about pictures in this portion, and I wish I could share them with you! Unfortunately for some weird reason, I can't get them off the GoPro. So they'll just have to wait. Sorry!!*

After a few hour drive (you have to drive around the Grand Canyon), we arrived at Zion National Park. We had made some sanity/stretch stops along the drive, so it was later then we had anticipated – but no worries! We didn’t have a strict schedule to keep, and there was nothing we had to do.

Just driving into the park was breathtaking. It was WAY cooler than I expected it to be!! HUGE rocks with crazy patterns, a SUPER long tunnel , crazy switchbacks down a steep road. Super cool!

We scored a spot in a parking lot that was supposedly full (woohoo!) and then we suited up for our day – water shoes and clothes we didn’t mind getting wet.

Because we were going to hike the Narrows.

We took the shuttle up the scenic drive to the top of the park. It’s a 40 minute shuttle, and you get a view of the whole park through the windows – really, such a fun way to see so much!! At the last stop, we got off and started our “hike” down the River Walk Trail. I put hike in quotes, because it was more of a leisurely walk.

Super beautiful! We chose this walk primarily because it ended at the Narrows, but also because it showcased a lot of other features characteristic to Zion: weeping walls, hanging gardens, super huge rocks. It had ‘em all!

So the river walk was lovely, but now we come to the part that has so far been the highlight of the trip for me: THE NARROWS!!!

The Narrows is the name for the trail that doesn’t actually have a trail – at least not in the normal sense of the word. The trail is the river. You literally walk into the river, and then continue walking upstream for as long as you want (well, up to 8 miles, I think). It is incredibly. The beauty is STUNNING and the FUN of it is unmatched.

Ken and I super lucked out, because as we were entering into the river, the people we cross paths with as they were finishing offered us their walking sticks. Walking sticks seemed to be a big deal on this hike (nearly everyone had them!) so we gratefully accepted.

Our gratitude grew as we went!

I really am having a hard time expressing how cool this was. You just felt cool doing it. The water varied from ankle deep to nearly waist deep in the places we went. If you kept going, it could get so deep that you had to swim.

Essentially, you just walk as far as you want until you’re ready to turn around. We walked as far as time would allow. Thank goodness we got pictures, because I don’t think I can sufficiently explain it. 

Seriously one of the coolest things I’ve done – not just on this trip, but ever.

I would love to go back to Zion just to hike the narrows all day.

But, eventually, the weather was cooling down, the wind was picking up, and Ken made the (smart) call that we should turn back. So we did, and we enjoyed our hike back – ready to be done by the time we reached the trail head of the Riverwalk. We’re trying to be conscious of being in this trip for the long haul, and not going too hard or too long on any one day at the risk of wasting the next one with exhaustion.

The walk back to the shuttle was lovely, the shuttle ride was beautiful, and then we were back at our car. Ken was my hero went back to the souvenir shop to convince them to sell us a Narrows magnet after they had already closed – and then we were on our way!

Kenny’s Thoughts: I’m just even trying to think of how to articulate it. . . It’s beautiful and utterly unique. You feel like you’re constantly surrounded by amazing vistas of precariously perched rock walls. And it looks like there’s different canyons just spider-webbing in all different directions. By far my favorite part was hiking up The Narrows. Trudging through the water and looking at the huge rock walls and getting up close with the plants hanging out of the wet walls – it was a really special experience. I think that’s it.

WEIRD DAY

The next morning, we woke and got to see in the light where we had stayed the night before. We had stayed in a trailer on a farm in Glendale, Utah. It was pretty! But it looked out of place – like we could have been in Southern Oregon. Surprisingly a lot of green. Regardless, we got ready, ate, had coffee, and read the Bible together while being visited the farm’s peacocks.

Then we were ready!

Unfortunately – our car wasn’t.

We had a flat.

We also had no service.

While Ken changed the tire to the spare, I walked about a quarter mile down the farm’s long driveway to the main road to see if I could get service. I could barely get service sometimes. Enough to text the owner of the trailer to see if he had recommendations, as well as text my family to see if they could find something. The owner pointed us to a town 3 miles south.

So I walked back to Ken, and now we were on our way.

Kinda.

3 miles south, we found the only shop: Roger’s Sinclair. It was the quintessential small town experience. Not rushed. One man (Roger) doing all the jobs at his little shop/gas station. Helping people with the pumps, ringing up customers, and when he could, checking out our tire, looking for a new one, and eventually replacing.

Effective? Yes! Efficient? Nope.

But that’s okay! We had nowhere to be. So we waited patiently and chatted, and an hour and a half or so later – we were on our way!

Kinda.

Because part way to Bryce, I realized I couldn’t find my glasses. Now, they aren’t essential, I mostly only use them for driving at night. But they are helpful, and I’d rather have them then not have them, so I gave Roger a call to see if he had seen them. He hadn’t.

Oh well. There are worse things to lose.

So we’re on our way! Well over half way to Bryce Canyon when Roger calls back to say that yes, he had indeed found my glasses.

Bittersweet. Hurray – the glasses are found! Oh no – they’re in Orderville. . . .

So we continue on to Bryce Canyon in hopes of finding a campsite with the intention of me turning around while Ken sets up. The sites are mostly first come first serve, so we couldn’t afford the extra time to turn around just then. We needed a campsite!

So onward to Bryce Canyon! Once our campsite was chosen (woohoo!) we unloaded and I started the 1 hour trek back to Orderville wile Ken was left to set up the tent and campsite.

The drive was easy, the glasses were found, and the return trip went seamlessly!

Kinda.

Part way back, Ken called me to tell me that our campsite had moved. Apparently the one we found that we thought had been vacant had been reserved, but not to worry, he had found a different one.

So about an hour later, I met Kenny back at our beautifully set up new campsite! It wasn’t until then that I learned that Ken had CARRIED all of our stuff from one campsite to the other – and they weren’t even on the same loop! Now, keep in mind that this includes stuff like our Yeti Cooler, which weighs a LOT and is hard for me to carry EMPTY! My husband is so strong. J

Despite all the small hurdles that day, we were actually really thankful throughout!! The car troubles could have been so much worse than a flat tire! I could have lost something actually important! We could have been kicked out of the campsite and not found another! (They were all full by the time I got back!). So – really – we felt blessed all day!

Kenny’s Thoughts: Even though so many things went wrong, I still think it was a pretty good day! Especially since all the things that went wrong could have been so much worse. Roger was nice and very patient with us. Though it was a reminder that I don’t think I could live in a small town – everything just moves so slow. Carrying heavy things at 8000ft altitude is apparently very exhausting! Haha. I was shocked at just how quick I got winded and dizzy. But everything worked out! We got a great campsite.

BRYCE CANYON

I think Ken described it best when he said that Bryce Canyon looks like if Gaudi (Spanish architect most famous for the Sangrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona) designed nature. The hoodoos (new word!) looked like the drip sand castles my dad used to make a the beach – and they were everywhere!

We decided to do the Navajo Loop trail. It was a shorter trail, but one of the most intense in terms of difficulty. It essentially had switchbacks that brought you straight down into the canyon, then walked along the canyon floor, then more switchbacks to bring you out of it.

Switchbacks with trees

My favorite parts were one of the first sets of switchbacks that were dotted by pine(?) trees, and then a part of the walk called Wall Street – named for the high walls on each side. Similar to the Riverwalk in Zion, we liked this walk because it showcased a lot of the features characteristic to Bryce: hoodoos (the sand castle towers), windows, fins, etc. We got to see a lot in a short (intense!) hike. It was great!

Ken on "Wall Street"

We soaked it in as much as we could. From the Grand Canyon through Zion and into Bryce, we’ve felt like we have these little cup-size capacity to appreciate the grandness and beauty of these places, and that we’re “full” far before we’ve really taken it all in. Like when you’re overwhelmed with lots of people talking to you at once and you can’t hear it all – you just take in what you can. So we took in what we could, thoroughly enjoyed the hike, and then headed back to our campsite.

Our awesome camping mugs from my aunt Sherri :-)

Typical camping night: hot dogs, chili, reading by the fire. We went to sleeping looking at the stars through the window in our tent. . .

. . . and we woke up looking at the same thing.

Because it was another early morning for us! We were out of our campsite by 7:15, and ready for the Bryce Scenic tour! Essentially, we drove all the way to the end of the park (it’s not a large park – 18 miles long), and then moseyed our way back – following the guide in our Lonely Planet guide book. 

Some places were just lookouts, some were little hikes/walks. All of it was beautiful! We ended with the grand finale of Inspiration Point, and by the time we left the park around 9:30, we felt like we had done a great job experiencing Bryce!

Kenny’s Thoughts: I loved it! I loved walking through and in-between the fins and the hoodoos. I loved getting up to a high vantage point in the morning and seeing all of them from a far. It’s a really breath taking place. But I also feel like we didn’t need more there than the time that we gave it. I’m really glad that we worked it into our road trip. And that’s all my thoughts.

Note: I think Ken brings up a good point. It seems like we’re really rushing through things when you read it all close together like this – and I suppose we are – but I also feel super satisfied! I think I could have spent maybe another day at Zion (we could spend a full day hiking the Narrows, then another doing a few other hikes), but overall – I’m super satisfied! While this is all super crazy looking and beautiful, I’m confirming was I already suspected: I am a forest person far more than a desert person. I like the shade covering of big trees, the smell of wet dirt, and having dewy mornings. I’d go back to Zion in a second (…maybe because the Narrows are all in the shade?), but I’m not sure if I’ll go back to the Grand Canyon or Bryce. . . I already feel so satisfied!!

Now, we’re closing the chapter on the Southwest portion of our trip and are on our way to Yellowstone! We’re taking a leisurely drive today, making a few stops along the way, and we’ll stay just outside the park tonight. We haven’t quite worked out what we’ll do. Luckily, we still have hundreds of miles more of road, and another trusty Lonely Planet guide book!!

And So It Begins: Bakersfield & The Great Road Trip of 2017

Odometer: 206,797

And we’re off! Another adventure is officially underway! As I type, we are hauling down Highway 5 – still a little north of Bakersfield. This morning, the odometer read 206,791. Now, it’s at 206,976. 

Nothing to brag about, but hey, it’s only been a few hours.

We started early this morning. Wake up before the sun. Shower, breakfast, dishes, hit the road. Then I immediately fell asleep (great help I am) and Ken has been driving like a champ.

Ahead of us lies great adventure! Of what kind – we are yet to find out. Already there have been a few missteps just leading up to this exciting trip. Our main camping excursion (Grand Tetons) apparently has some rain coming in. So camping was out. I threw a pity party, and Ken had the soundness of mind to re-route us . . . to the Grand Canyon!

It’s an logical change. Just swap one grand for the other. No grandness lost.

If all goes according to plan, we’ll be watching the sun come up over the Grand Canyon tomorrow morning.

I’m super excited about this trip! It’s been exactly a decade since my last “big” road trip. In 2007, my friend Katia and I took a road trip up to Oregon. She was 18 and I was 17, and looking back, I’m amazed at the faith my parents had in me!  . . . It ended up with us breaking the car and taking the train back.

So here’s to higher hopes for this trip! At least for our car. J

Despite the unpredicted ended to that trip – actually including the unpredicted ending – that was one of the best memories I had in high school. I think road trips have a way of encouraging adventure and exploration, and I look forward to making more road trip memories on this one!

Well. . . that’s all I can think to write for now. We haven’t done much, and being just north of Bakersfield isn’t really a landscape worth describing. So I’ll sign off for now. And hopefully continue to add more throughout the trip!

. . . Although, I have to admit, this is all a big experiment. Who knows how often I’ll be able to type in the car like I am now. I (sadly) don’t have the steel stomach of my youth that could read in the backwards seat of the corolla sedan while going over highway 17. Nope, I’m becoming more sensitive in my old age.

But I’ll do what I can! And when I happen to get a long stretch of nothingness like this, I promise to write. And when I happen to come across free internet, I promise to upload.

Bye for now!

KEN’S THOUGHTS: I’m excited to finally be on vacation and on the road! I think that’s it.

9/17/2017 at 8:52pm

We’ve made it to Arizona! Grand Canyon for sunrise tomorrow.

Me and my grandpa husband and heading to bed. . . pre-9pm.

Goodnight all!

Better Late Than Never: Honeymoon Video!!!

Better late than never!

Finally presenting: our honeymoon video!!

Closing Thoughts and a Few Pictures

We're in the Panama airport now. I wouldn't recommend it. Our tickets say "Stand By", despite us buying them a few months ago and arriving at the airport a handful of hours early because we had an early flight in and then a long layover. Still, nobody will help us until 45 minutes before our flight. Apparently they only have one person who is able to help with questions like this for each flight. So. . . that's a good time. So we're camping out near our gate (at least what we hope is our gate. It's already changed once, and the screens that say what gate is for what flight have broken and keep flashing the destinations beginning with "A" & "B") in hopes that we can be first in line for seats. "On the plus side," says Ken, "at least the air conditioning works over here." What. A. Punk. The hot, humid air streams in every time a gate door is opened, and we're at a cul-de-sac of the airport so there's no hope for air conditioning coming down the hall. It's moments like these that make going home a little bit easier. Emotionally, I mean. Logistically, not so much.

But this seemed like an appropriate time to add a few more thoughts and pictures! Eventually I'll post a video from the trip, but for now, these will be my closing thoughts. Ken's too, if he cares to chime in.

Crazy Cathedral Ceiling

I'm making this picture extra big in hopes that you can see it well. This picture is from the ceiling of the Cathedral in Granada. Any idea what it's representing? Ya, we have no idea either. Maybe Noah's 

Ark? That would explain the bear and the sloth, I suppose. What about the cherub? The guy cuddling the tiger? Ya. . . we didn't know either.

Crazy Market Items
There were two super weird items we kept seeing at the markets in Nicaragua. The first were these super odd toads holding alcohol bottles. The horrifying thing is that these oddly posed toads are real. Somehow inflated or stuffed to look fat and grumpy, and then posed to entertain you and hold your alcohol. Weird.

The other weird thing was so funny, we almost considered buying one. Everywhere we went, there were humorous paintings of people on the toilet. All types of people doing multi-tasking with all types of activities. There were so many different ones, it was incredible! 

Ken's Thoughts on His Favorite: It was a picture of a lady holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand and with a wad of toilet paper in the other hand. She couldn't have seemed happier about it. 

Ken's Thoughts: Crossing The Border
Crossing the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was extremely surprising. I've always thought of a border as a thin line - either you're on one side of it, or you're on the other. Between these two countries, there is quite a large no-man's-land that is neither Nicaragua, nor Costa Rica. To leave Costa Rica, you pay a flat $8 fee, but to enter Nicaragua, which is a few hundred feet ahead, you have to pay an additional $14 fee. On both sides of this no-man's-land, there are barricades and on the Nicaraguan side, there are armed soldiers. But in between, there is an unorganized maze of people going from one parking lot to another parking lot to speak with a different uniformed agent and submitting a different form, trying to get across. There also seem to be tented areas of people that had been there for awhile. It was extremely odd to me because I couldn't imagine what would happen if you didn't have the money to cross both. It seemed like you would be stuck like Tom Hanks in Terminal. And the lack of organization of it was utterly surprising, too. You'd think there would just be a clear order of operations or line to go through, but it was all very disjointed and a lot of people were looking around, just confused as to what to do next. I was thankful that our bus that we were on handled most of the leg work and made it very easy for us. To give an idea of what our instructions were from our guide's after submitting our forms and submitting our passports was for us to go around this building and "stand by the first mango tree" and they'd bring our passports back to us after an unstated amount of time. I'm glad to have that done, and I'm glad everything worked out. I think that's all my thoughts. 

Ken's Thoughts on Getting the Painting:
I'm shocked I forgot to talk about this! I'm also really excited about a nice painting that we found a purchased in Granada. It was a really talented street artist that had done a beautiful painting of Ometepe Island, the island that we had stayed on for two days. I thought it was incredibly beautiful, and was very excited to have closed the deal after a good amount of haggling, since I didn't have enough cash on me to be able to purchase it. I got him down to a low price, but I was still too short on cash and I didn't want to pull anything else out of the ATM as we were still within budget for the trip, so I threw in my cheap, digital travel watch - and he agreed. It was pretty funny because it was all the cash we had left on us, as we had budgeted for everything else. So I paid in two forms of currency, and a watch. I think that was money well spent. I think that's it. 

A Few More Pictures:

After Zip Lining in Monte Verde

Kenny in the courtyard at Hostal Matilda, our beach hostel

Cactus - Justin, these made us think of you

Our lovely hostel in Granada. This is what you enter into. $35/night!

Cool old church in Granada

View from the Bella del Mar Island tour

Early morning, waiting to catch the 4:30am bus from Monte Verde

Description of the volcano we saw - notice the underlined portion

Packed ferry to and from Ometepe Island

Nicaraguan public buses are re-purposed school buses

Entry path to Monte Verde

Ken's Closing Thoughts: That was a really great trip, and I'm really thankful for it. I look forward to future trips with my wonderful wife.

My Closing Thoughts: Ditto. . . except with my wonderful husband. :-)