7/24/2018-8/2/2018
I seem to always end these blogs terribly, as in I never finish them. The rest of the trip was somewhat low-key and not new stuff, so I didn't feel as creative or motivated to write. I explored campus with Alex, met up with my study abroad homie Kelly Towle, and hung out with the boys again at night.
The next day we headed to Michigan to meet up with the parents, grandparents, and Kevin and Dante to enjoy the greatest place on Earth for a few days (I think it was 5 days?). On the last day I found out I got a job with the organ donation agency in New York! After an amazing time in Michigan we started towards Niagra Falls, but then both decided we were over it, and headed to NJ to see Manny and Alex's mom Ingrid. We stayed there for a few days before heading to the Alex's lake house with Manny, Alex's dad Doug, and a bunch of her family. We spent a bunch of time there before I started my job in NYC.
Our last weekend before moving in was amazing and relaxing at the lake. This trip went by so quickly, and to be honest at this point (4 months into living in NYC) it feels like forever ago. Looking through pictures however, do bring up a lot of emotion, which reminds me this trip really did happen and really was amazing.
All that being said, and as amazing that trip was, it's always nice to come back home. Having a place to call home (besides a car that's constantly moving) can be very relaxing, even when you have the "stresses" of normal life. I could have traveled for another couple months, but I'll save that for another time.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Tour Guide
7/23/2018
It was great to wake up in an air conditioned home with nothing on the agenda. We woke up slowly, ate a small snack before heading out. Alex went to yoga while I got my haircut. It was getting to the point where my head was starting to look like a mushroom.
Alex and I then grabbed breakfast at Uncommon Grounds before realizing it was almost noon. We took quick showers and then headed to meet Spencer for lunch he was waiting for us and was likely starving.
Spence gave us an office tour, which was still being redone, before heading to a salad place. We got all caught up on his life and our lives and he gave us some stuff to do in the afternoon. We were able to find the Birds that we rode around in LA! They're the highlight of every trip to be honest, aside from the people obviously...
We rode to the Yellow Room at the Guthrie Theater, rode across the Stone Arch Bridge, and checked out St. Anthony Main, some of the oldest parts of Minneapolis. After plenty of wandering we headed back to the car and back to Pete and Spencer's place. We hung out in the AC for a bit before Marv came over and the five of us grilled out and chilled out on their back patio until it got dark. We hopped inside and threw on a thriller to watch before bed. It was a V average movie, but it was about people backpacking that got eaten by a bear. Fortunately, we don't have any more backpacking to do this summer...
I don't have my phone back, so I didn't really take any pictures today - hopefully it comes tomorrow and I can start taking photos on my own phone again!
It was great to wake up in an air conditioned home with nothing on the agenda. We woke up slowly, ate a small snack before heading out. Alex went to yoga while I got my haircut. It was getting to the point where my head was starting to look like a mushroom.
Alex and I then grabbed breakfast at Uncommon Grounds before realizing it was almost noon. We took quick showers and then headed to meet Spencer for lunch he was waiting for us and was likely starving.
Spence gave us an office tour, which was still being redone, before heading to a salad place. We got all caught up on his life and our lives and he gave us some stuff to do in the afternoon. We were able to find the Birds that we rode around in LA! They're the highlight of every trip to be honest, aside from the people obviously...
We rode to the Yellow Room at the Guthrie Theater, rode across the Stone Arch Bridge, and checked out St. Anthony Main, some of the oldest parts of Minneapolis. After plenty of wandering we headed back to the car and back to Pete and Spencer's place. We hung out in the AC for a bit before Marv came over and the five of us grilled out and chilled out on their back patio until it got dark. We hopped inside and threw on a thriller to watch before bed. It was a V average movie, but it was about people backpacking that got eaten by a bear. Fortunately, we don't have any more backpacking to do this summer...
I don't have my phone back, so I didn't really take any pictures today - hopefully it comes tomorrow and I can start taking photos on my own phone again!
Audible
7/22/2018
Woke up after the crazy night of on-and-off pouring rain and insane winds. Fortunately it was a calm enough morning for us to make eggs and bacon for breakfast before heading out on the town. It was already getting hot and humid, some knew we wanted to get on the trail quickly.
We drove back into the park and headed to the Deer Haven Trail. The parkway just as beautiful this morning as it was yesterday. We got out of the car and started hiking in. This trail was really cool because instead of looking at the rock formations from the top down, we were able to walk amongst the mounds prairies.
The trail was actually really hard to follow because of the washouts the night before. There were a few footsteps we could follow, but there were definitely sections that we were kind of guessing the trail. We made our way up towards the juniper trees, through the washed out sections before finding some shade to take a break and turn around. It wasn't clear where the trail was at this point, it was getting hot, and we had seem what we wanted to see, so we turned around.
We got back to the car and headed back to camp so Derek could leave in time to make it home at a reasonable hour. Alex and I talked about heading to Minneapolis at the same time, instead of staying the night since we had already seen what we wanted to see (and we didn't want to just hang around in the campground the rest of the day). We all packed up and jumped in the pool one last time before saying goodbye to Derek and heading out for MSP.
It was about 1:30 when we left for our 10ish hour drive (with stops). We stopped for surprisingly good Vietnamese food at Lam's in Sioux Falls and finished the drive with a beautiful sunset and lots of lightening bugs on the windshield :'(. Pistol Pete and Spence Diesel was both somewhat awake to welcome us to their home for the next few days. We both took showers and called it a night around midnight. It was great to be back in a home and in a city with some best friends!
Woke up after the crazy night of on-and-off pouring rain and insane winds. Fortunately it was a calm enough morning for us to make eggs and bacon for breakfast before heading out on the town. It was already getting hot and humid, some knew we wanted to get on the trail quickly.
We drove back into the park and headed to the Deer Haven Trail. The parkway just as beautiful this morning as it was yesterday. We got out of the car and started hiking in. This trail was really cool because instead of looking at the rock formations from the top down, we were able to walk amongst the mounds prairies.
The trail was actually really hard to follow because of the washouts the night before. There were a few footsteps we could follow, but there were definitely sections that we were kind of guessing the trail. We made our way up towards the juniper trees, through the washed out sections before finding some shade to take a break and turn around. It wasn't clear where the trail was at this point, it was getting hot, and we had seem what we wanted to see, so we turned around.
We got back to the car and headed back to camp so Derek could leave in time to make it home at a reasonable hour. Alex and I talked about heading to Minneapolis at the same time, instead of staying the night since we had already seen what we wanted to see (and we didn't want to just hang around in the campground the rest of the day). We all packed up and jumped in the pool one last time before saying goodbye to Derek and heading out for MSP.
It was about 1:30 when we left for our 10ish hour drive (with stops). We stopped for surprisingly good Vietnamese food at Lam's in Sioux Falls and finished the drive with a beautiful sunset and lots of lightening bugs on the windshield :'(. Pistol Pete and Spence Diesel was both somewhat awake to welcome us to their home for the next few days. We both took showers and called it a night around midnight. It was great to be back in a home and in a city with some best friends!
Monday, July 23, 2018
Thunderstorms
7/21/2018
We woke up around 6 and slowly made our way out of the wagon for a relatively quick 2 hours drive to the Badlands. We stopped on the way at a grocery store to get food for the next day or so. We picked the campsite we wanted based on the fact that there was potable water and a pool. It was right next to a motel, but the view of the Badlands was unreal.
Once we checked in we set up our tent and hopped in the pool. This is the moment we realized that this campsite was the best choice hands down. We hung out by the pool for a bit while we waited for Derek to join us.
When Derek showed up, we all hopped in the pool before exploring the park a bit. We drove through the park and stopped at a number of different stops to take pictures and look at the prairie dogs and burrowing owls. These are both the cutest animals, but they’re tiny, and somewhat far away, so we couldn’t really capture the them on our phones.
We finished the drive and headed back to camp to make black bean and sweet potato tacos, which was a great break from all the meats we’ve been eating. After dinner we made a fire and watched the sunset until a thunderstorm ended our night early. We quick packed all the necessary things into our cars, and quick hopped in our tents.
Sleeping at night was insane. Our tents were actually falling down and hitting us when the wind would gust, then go back up to standing (sideways) when the gust would end. It was actually kind of crazy, somewhat scary, but mostly worrisome that we would get super wet because the fly was pushed against the screen of the tent. fortunately when the wind was at it’s strongest, the rain wasn’t coming down too hard. All three of us actually got out of our tents in the middle of the night because Derek’s tent was in rough shape. It’s a bigger, so more tent to fall on him.
In the end, we were all alright, but it was just a bit alarming for a while.
We woke up around 6 and slowly made our way out of the wagon for a relatively quick 2 hours drive to the Badlands. We stopped on the way at a grocery store to get food for the next day or so. We picked the campsite we wanted based on the fact that there was potable water and a pool. It was right next to a motel, but the view of the Badlands was unreal.
Once we checked in we set up our tent and hopped in the pool. This is the moment we realized that this campsite was the best choice hands down. We hung out by the pool for a bit while we waited for Derek to join us.
When Derek showed up, we all hopped in the pool before exploring the park a bit. We drove through the park and stopped at a number of different stops to take pictures and look at the prairie dogs and burrowing owls. These are both the cutest animals, but they’re tiny, and somewhat far away, so we couldn’t really capture the them on our phones.
We finished the drive and headed back to camp to make black bean and sweet potato tacos, which was a great break from all the meats we’ve been eating. After dinner we made a fire and watched the sunset until a thunderstorm ended our night early. We quick packed all the necessary things into our cars, and quick hopped in our tents.
Sleeping at night was insane. Our tents were actually falling down and hitting us when the wind would gust, then go back up to standing (sideways) when the gust would end. It was actually kind of crazy, somewhat scary, but mostly worrisome that we would get super wet because the fly was pushed against the screen of the tent. fortunately when the wind was at it’s strongest, the rain wasn’t coming down too hard. All three of us actually got out of our tents in the middle of the night because Derek’s tent was in rough shape. It’s a bigger, so more tent to fall on him.
In the end, we were all alright, but it was just a bit alarming for a while.
Full Day Drive
7/20/2018
At 5am our alarm unfortunately told us we had to wake up. So we did. We both showered quickly and packed up the car before starting the long drive. Our first stop was coffee. The place we went into wasn’t technically open yet, but they said they would make us some coffee. The worst part was that they didn’t even have decaf. Who doesn’t have a decaf option? What about people like me who don’t do caffeine, or even people who do love caffeine that just want the taste of coffee in the afternoon, or with a scoop of ice cream. I’m not salty at all tho.
The drive was really really long. We stopped plenty of times for gas and bathroom break. We also stopped for breakfast, which had pretty good breakfast sandwiches. For lunch we were in Billings and found a cafe where I grabbed a wrap and ate it on the road. At this point we were ready to be there, and wanted to just keep trekking along.
We rolled into Custer a little before 8pm and checked into our HipCamp site, which was a covered wagon. Alex said this may be her favorite spot we’ve stayed, and I may agree. It was this wagon in an open field with a bed, and some benches on the side. Definitely the coziest spot we’ve stayed in.
On our drive in we saw how bumpin’ Custer was, so we made sure to head back into town after checking in. Our host told us about a spot to hit up for food, beer, and music, so we obviously went there. We ate some sliders, a local beer, and listened to a really fun band. It was a cool environment where everyone seemed to know each other. After a few hours of this, we headed back to our wagon, read, and called it a night.
At 5am our alarm unfortunately told us we had to wake up. So we did. We both showered quickly and packed up the car before starting the long drive. Our first stop was coffee. The place we went into wasn’t technically open yet, but they said they would make us some coffee. The worst part was that they didn’t even have decaf. Who doesn’t have a decaf option? What about people like me who don’t do caffeine, or even people who do love caffeine that just want the taste of coffee in the afternoon, or with a scoop of ice cream. I’m not salty at all tho.
The drive was really really long. We stopped plenty of times for gas and bathroom break. We also stopped for breakfast, which had pretty good breakfast sandwiches. For lunch we were in Billings and found a cafe where I grabbed a wrap and ate it on the road. At this point we were ready to be there, and wanted to just keep trekking along.
We rolled into Custer a little before 8pm and checked into our HipCamp site, which was a covered wagon. Alex said this may be her favorite spot we’ve stayed, and I may agree. It was this wagon in an open field with a bed, and some benches on the side. Definitely the coziest spot we’ve stayed in.
On our drive in we saw how bumpin’ Custer was, so we made sure to head back into town after checking in. Our host told us about a spot to hit up for food, beer, and music, so we obviously went there. We ate some sliders, a local beer, and listened to a really fun band. It was a cool environment where everyone seemed to know each other. After a few hours of this, we headed back to our wagon, read, and called it a night.
Going to the Sun
7/19/2018
I woke up at 6:30 for my 8am video interview. I made sure the internet was up and running, ate a small snack, and put on my shirt and tie (thanks Chuck!). I was recommended to wear a shirt and tie for this interview from the Assistant Director, who I interviewed with earlier wearing just a dress shirt. I explained our traveling situation, which she totally understood, and said to try to get at least a shirt and tie for the interview.
At any rate, after the interview Alex and I made some breakfast and slowly made our way into the park. Our plan was to drive the Going to the Sun Road today, and possibly stopping for a hike. the drive is absolutely insane. Most of the pictures of this drive will be at the bottom of this post because there are too many to add right here.
We stopped at a few spots to take pictures and soak in the ridiculous beauty of this place, and didn’t end up hiking. We went all the way through the road and stopped at the Ranger Station to get some postcards before heading back through. There wasn’t anywhere to lunch in the park, so we did the drive East and back West before hitting up a grocery store for stuff to grill. By the time we got back to the Airbnb, it was basically dinnertime.
i started cooking the corn and steak while both of us were chatting with people. By the time we started eating our lunch had turned into dinner at 5pm. We were both pretty tired, I think just generally fatigued from the backpacking, but also the non-stop moving that is our road trip. We were planning on just staying in tonight, but it was recommended that we go to Loula’s Cafe for pie in Whitefish. The drive is 30 minutes one way, but we decided it had to be done. On the way there we also ran into an amazing Farmer's Market that had TONS of food, live music, and beer. Super fun stop.= before amazing pie.
We hopped in the car, drove to Whitefish for our AMAZING slices of pie (you MUST go here if you’re anywhere near Whitefish ever), and headed back to the Airbnb to call it a night. We packed up the car as much as possible before going to sleep. Tomorrow we take the long drive to the Black Hills - it’s a 12ish hour drive so we’re leaving at 6am (5am wake up).
I woke up at 6:30 for my 8am video interview. I made sure the internet was up and running, ate a small snack, and put on my shirt and tie (thanks Chuck!). I was recommended to wear a shirt and tie for this interview from the Assistant Director, who I interviewed with earlier wearing just a dress shirt. I explained our traveling situation, which she totally understood, and said to try to get at least a shirt and tie for the interview.
At any rate, after the interview Alex and I made some breakfast and slowly made our way into the park. Our plan was to drive the Going to the Sun Road today, and possibly stopping for a hike. the drive is absolutely insane. Most of the pictures of this drive will be at the bottom of this post because there are too many to add right here.
We stopped at a few spots to take pictures and soak in the ridiculous beauty of this place, and didn’t end up hiking. We went all the way through the road and stopped at the Ranger Station to get some postcards before heading back through. There wasn’t anywhere to lunch in the park, so we did the drive East and back West before hitting up a grocery store for stuff to grill. By the time we got back to the Airbnb, it was basically dinnertime.
We went swimming too
i started cooking the corn and steak while both of us were chatting with people. By the time we started eating our lunch had turned into dinner at 5pm. We were both pretty tired, I think just generally fatigued from the backpacking, but also the non-stop moving that is our road trip. We were planning on just staying in tonight, but it was recommended that we go to Loula’s Cafe for pie in Whitefish. The drive is 30 minutes one way, but we decided it had to be done. On the way there we also ran into an amazing Farmer's Market that had TONS of food, live music, and beer. Super fun stop.= before amazing pie.
We hopped in the car, drove to Whitefish for our AMAZING slices of pie (you MUST go here if you’re anywhere near Whitefish ever), and headed back to the Airbnb to call it a night. We packed up the car as much as possible before going to sleep. Tomorrow we take the long drive to the Black Hills - it’s a 12ish hour drive so we’re leaving at 6am (5am wake up).
Our back patio for the day
Protein Pancakes
7/18/2018
We woke up around 7:30-8 and made some pancakes. The pancake mix we picked up was advertised at Paleo Pancakes, and we didn’t look at the ingredients before we each ate probably 5-7 pancakes. Later in the day we looked at the packaging and they’re mainly made our of nut flours and have 17g of protein for two pancakes. No wonder we were full when we felt the need to eat lunch…
We ate breakfast and hung out by the lake for a couple hours before packing up camp and heading back to the car. The hike out was easy, but definitely hotter than our hike in. We got to the car, jumped in Bowman lake for one last swim, and drove back out.
On the way out we stopped in the town of Pole Bridge because our Virginia friends recommended stopping at the Mercantile for a pastry and other chochkies. We also grabbed lunch and a beer while enjoying the shade and views.
Our drive to Martin City was only about 45 minutes, where checked into our Airbnb, showered, and made some salads and leftover pizza. We were exhausted, so we tried to watchman episode of WestWorld on the slow internet before falling asleep.
Tomorrow is my last interview with the Director of LiveOnNY, so I’m very hopeful it goes well and the internet works out. I’ve tested Zoom Conference and loading Youtube videos, and it seems like it should work well enough for the interview - wish me luck!
We woke up around 7:30-8 and made some pancakes. The pancake mix we picked up was advertised at Paleo Pancakes, and we didn’t look at the ingredients before we each ate probably 5-7 pancakes. Later in the day we looked at the packaging and they’re mainly made our of nut flours and have 17g of protein for two pancakes. No wonder we were full when we felt the need to eat lunch…
We ate breakfast and hung out by the lake for a couple hours before packing up camp and heading back to the car. The hike out was easy, but definitely hotter than our hike in. We got to the car, jumped in Bowman lake for one last swim, and drove back out.
On the way out we stopped in the town of Pole Bridge because our Virginia friends recommended stopping at the Mercantile for a pastry and other chochkies. We also grabbed lunch and a beer while enjoying the shade and views.
Our drive to Martin City was only about 45 minutes, where checked into our Airbnb, showered, and made some salads and leftover pizza. We were exhausted, so we tried to watchman episode of WestWorld on the slow internet before falling asleep.
Tomorrow is my last interview with the Director of LiveOnNY, so I’m very hopeful it goes well and the internet works out. I’ve tested Zoom Conference and loading Youtube videos, and it seems like it should work well enough for the interview - wish me luck!
More Flies
7/17/2018
We woke up to our alarms at 6am and ate a quick bowl of oatmeal before packing up for the day. On our way out we dropped our packs at our friend’s campsite. Our NYC friends had the best campsite, right on the water, and told us we could leave our stuff there to reserve the spot for when we came back from our day hike. They weren’t awake yet, so we didn’t get to say our goodbyes, but we had a long hike ahead of us so we left.
The hike started off flat, with a ton of very high grasses right on the trail. It also didn’t help that there were a million flies and mosquitos everywhere. As we made our way higher the wind picked up, and therefore the bugs left us alone. We were told the bugs up at Brown Pass campground were absolutely awful, but they were worse for us on the hike up.
When we got to Brown Pass, we skipped the campground and continued onto the pass for the view. It would have been an additional 2 miles to Hole in Wall, but we didn’t really want to make it a 18 miles day, so after a quick snack we headed back down.
The views in this valley are insane! We saw a number of birds and small animals running around the open areas, but no bears or other large animals. We hiked down much faster than expected, but that final mile or so always feels the longest. When we got down we moved our tent and other items to the new campsite and found a really nice note from our friends Nick, Sal, and Cyrus saying that they had a lot of fun hanging out.
Once we moved our stuff we very quickly ate lunch and jumped in the lake. No one else had shown up to the campsite yet so we were wondering if we would have the spot to ourselves. Not too long after we said this, a number of different groups showed up. One couple from California, and a large group of women from NE Arkansas (they raved about Arkansas, which I didn’t know had a big outdoors scene).
We hangout the rest of the day by the water, we built a fire to help get rid of some of the bugs, and chatted with our new neighbors. The group of women and one Navy guy were our favorites, and the women in the California couple, but the guy in the couple was a man-splainer. He thought he knew everything, including that bear canisters can be broken by Grizzly bears…why would bear canisters exist if they only stopped black bears from getting into your stuff? Come on now.
We missed our friends from the night before, but it was still a fun night chatting with the other groups by the fire before heading to bed. Tomorrow we’re having a slow morning before hiking out and finding our Airbnb for the next few days of exploring Glacier National Park.
We woke up to our alarms at 6am and ate a quick bowl of oatmeal before packing up for the day. On our way out we dropped our packs at our friend’s campsite. Our NYC friends had the best campsite, right on the water, and told us we could leave our stuff there to reserve the spot for when we came back from our day hike. They weren’t awake yet, so we didn’t get to say our goodbyes, but we had a long hike ahead of us so we left.
The hike started off flat, with a ton of very high grasses right on the trail. It also didn’t help that there were a million flies and mosquitos everywhere. As we made our way higher the wind picked up, and therefore the bugs left us alone. We were told the bugs up at Brown Pass campground were absolutely awful, but they were worse for us on the hike up.
When we got to Brown Pass, we skipped the campground and continued onto the pass for the view. It would have been an additional 2 miles to Hole in Wall, but we didn’t really want to make it a 18 miles day, so after a quick snack we headed back down.
The views in this valley are insane! We saw a number of birds and small animals running around the open areas, but no bears or other large animals. We hiked down much faster than expected, but that final mile or so always feels the longest. When we got down we moved our tent and other items to the new campsite and found a really nice note from our friends Nick, Sal, and Cyrus saying that they had a lot of fun hanging out.
Once we moved our stuff we very quickly ate lunch and jumped in the lake. No one else had shown up to the campsite yet so we were wondering if we would have the spot to ourselves. Not too long after we said this, a number of different groups showed up. One couple from California, and a large group of women from NE Arkansas (they raved about Arkansas, which I didn’t know had a big outdoors scene).
We hangout the rest of the day by the water, we built a fire to help get rid of some of the bugs, and chatted with our new neighbors. The group of women and one Navy guy were our favorites, and the women in the California couple, but the guy in the couple was a man-splainer. He thought he knew everything, including that bear canisters can be broken by Grizzly bears…why would bear canisters exist if they only stopped black bears from getting into your stuff? Come on now.
We missed our friends from the night before, but it was still a fun night chatting with the other groups by the fire before heading to bed. Tomorrow we’re having a slow morning before hiking out and finding our Airbnb for the next few days of exploring Glacier National Park.
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