Camping

We decided to stay in some of the National Parks as we drive across the states. It is an excellent way to stay inexpensively and really get to see the country. Car camping has been super fun. First of all, you can carry much more than a standard backpacking trip (please refer to previous 6 months). Also, you don't have to work nearly as hard to get to the camp site.



However, there are some drawbacks. The neighbors are pretty close and sometimes the facilities (3north) aren't so clean. I won't even talk about how many days we went without a shower.

There have also been bear sightings near some of the campgrounds, so we had to lock all of our food and be very careful about cooking. This is typical bear prevention camp maintainence when wilderness camping, but when it felt odd with the car so near. In fact, I must have felt pretty at ease, because I left the door of the car open one night and didn't know it until a park ranger shined her flashlight into our tent to inform us of such a rule violation. Eek!! Erin is now telling strangers we meet at gas stations about how much of a doofus she thinks I am.

Glacier

Glacier National Park is stunning. Erin and I have seen some incredible geological sights on our trip, but Glacier ranks in the top five. It is so ancient and untouched looking (except for the road and all the tourists - but, seriously. it is). I can't imagine what Lewis & Clark must have thought on their expedition of the area in 1806.

The wildlife appear docile, but we kept our distance. On one of our hikes, we wandered upon some mountain goats and big horn sheep.

The roads go to pretty high altitudes, and into some pristine alpine forests. The road construction is also impressive, because it was built so high and in such remote locations. According to the Glacier web site:

Even today, visitors to the park marvel at how such a road could have been built. The final section of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, over Logan Pass, was completed in 1932 after 11 years of work. The road is considered an engineering feat and is a National Historic Landmark.

And it is well worth the drive.

Biking in Coeur d'Alene

While in Coeur d'Alene, we rode our bikes on the Centennial Trail with one of Erin's school-mates (Andy), and on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes with her folks. I can't say enough about how beautiful it is here in the summer time (Erin says "just wait for the boating post!").

Also, I have missed my bike so much while we were away. It was nice to spend some quality time with ZR.

Birthday Party

Erin's mom, Judy, had a birthday and we were in Coeur d'Alene in time to celebrate with her. Erin's sister, Erica, was here too. Ben was here over the weekend, but he had to miss the party because of work (stupid stupid work!!).

Here are a couple of photos for Ben & Kim and the rest of those who couldn't make it.

Driving - Washington

I love the drive across Washington state. Leaving Seattle, you have to go through the Cascade mountains and then there's a lot of desert and then some farming. Erin has done it so many times that she is kind of bored by it, but I get all giddy about seeing the Columbia river gorge and the Wild Horses Monument - and that's just two sites along the way.
I also like seeing the labels that the farmers put up next to their fields to indicate what is growing at the time. In the picture below, you can see (if you have a magnifying glass) that this farm has peppermint. There was a tractor passing through the field doing something, and it smelled incredible.

It only takes about five hours to drive from our house to the Carlsons. I hope the rest of our drive across the country is as exciting.

On the road again

We leave today for a trip across the US of A, and we are both pretty excited. Our first stop is Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to visit Erin's folks. Then we are going through Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks on our way to Denver to visit Erin's sister, Erica. Our final destination is Louisiana to visit my family, and then we will loop through the Southwest to see more family on the way home. We are also going to see the Grand Canyon, because neither of us have been there before. We will be gone until the first week of August.

It is actually kind of bitter-sweet to leave now. We are just getting used to being home again and seeing friends whenever we want, and now we have to go. I'm almost tempted to bring our coffee machine with us.

The funniest thing about this trip is that we are packing more for 5 weeks than we did for 6 months. Of course we have our car, so it isn't a big deal but it is remarkable how much different this trip is from our 'around the world' trip.