Glacier National Park, Wyoming, Colorado (part the second), and homeward bound

So, after Seattle we headed off to Big Sky Country (Montana) and the awesome, awesome Glacier National Park. We've been listening to The Shining on audiobook (unabridged, so 21 hours of goodness) and the idea of hotels/motels, while convenient, has definitely been veto'd for the time being. That means, camp! Yes! And we arrived early enough to find a decent (though unshaded) spot and even make HOT food! No more PB&J for dinner, this time it was Morningstar Grillers for maximum tastiness.

Montana was pretty warm, however, and this would be the first time we had to camp in above 60-degree weather (it was...85-90 during the day and luckily in the low 70s at night). We decided at Rising Sun campgrounds, which were near the other side of the park, allowing us to drive through most of the park (well, on the road we were on) in the beginning so we could decide which parts to revist. Logans Pass, the continental divide and highest point, was a definite must but all the views and terrain were unsurpassed in their beauty. It was amazingly gorgeous and completely different than anything else we had seen. The fact that there was still snow on the ground was awesome and it got pretty cold up there.

At one of the stops along the way, we (and a bazillion other tourists) got to see a few mountain goats (and fawn) and extremely friendly marmots cavorting around looking for a hand out.


It might be a marmot or a squirrel. Either way, these things are everywhere.

After we ate dinner, we went back to Logan's Pass and did a nice 1.5 mile hike up the mountain to a lake-side view that just stole our breath. It was a pretty arduous trek as the atmosphere thinned significantly (I believe we were up 8000+ feet) and the entire hike was up. We ran into even more mountain goats (some less than 2-3 feet away) and saw a wolverine crossing the snowbanks (though it moved too quickly for me to snag a photo). Despite the grandeur of the Grand Canyon (no pun intended), this was the single most amazing sight of the entire trip for me. Devastatingly brilliant.


Oh yeah...

We had planned on hitting Yellowstone in Wyoming as well but we ran out of time, unfortunately. After getting up at the crack of dawn (well, more like 7am), we began our long drive through Wyoming to make it back to Denver. The rest of the drive through Montana was really, really boring. It's like they save all their best stuff for one area and then the rest is just grassland with nothing on it. Also, we locked our car keys inside the car at a gas station and that was no fun.

I forgot to mention that we stayed in Missoula, Montana before hitting the park and that was pretty cool. It's got a nice, small, art-town feel (thanks to the university presence), and we had a really nice dinner. I actually had some organic, free-range Bison (is there any other kind?) which was excellent and they gave us colored pencils and I drew robots all over the paper "table cloth." And we actually did stay at a hotel, despite my overactive imagination (regarding The Shining). I kept thinking a dead, bloated corpse would crawl out of the bathroom and strangle me but whatever.

Anyway, so while Glacier National Park rules (and Missoula was pretty neat), the rest of Montana can jump off a cliff. No, that's too harsh. But it made for some boring driving and an embarrassing memory.

Wyoming was just a drive, really. But it was damned more interesting than Montana. The road was also red. What? It looked like it was made of clay almost. But while the drive through Wyoming was very pretty to look at (until it just became pitch black), there's not much else to say. The Super 8 was nice? Well, it was.

And then we come full-circle as we returned to Denver the next morning. There, our buddy Mait showed us the biggest goddamn REI I had ever seen and we had some drinks before we headed off to meet my friend Lafe for the evening.

Lafe is an old, old friend of mine from high school whom I haven't seen for years. Currently he's working for some government agency as a physicist and spends the rest of his time doing judo and jiu-jitsu. Despite the number of years, it was very easy to fall back into the familiar rhythm of friendship and that was great.

Now we're sitting in Dallas/Ft. Worth awaiting our flight to take us back to Hartford where we'll drive up to Boston and I go to work the next day. Woohoo! Fun fun fun.

And I just remembered that I didn't get a chance to snag a photo of any of the Seattle crew NOR Lafe and that sucks. Oh well. I'm sure Rebecca will give a great closing post for this entire trip after we get back so I'll end it here. At the airport!

--Eric


Sunset in Wyoming

Redwood National Park, the Oregon Coast, Seattle

So, in case you didn't read through Eric's entire post the other day, we are engaged! It was very romantic, the ring is beautiful, and we are so excited! Can't wait to get back to Boston so I can start all that fun wedding planning that I have seen my friends go through lately.

We are still having a great time - I am just going to pretend that the drive from Napa to Eureka, CA didn't happen. We were somehow magically transported and the horrible drive through the mountains late at night with fog just was some sort of nightmare.

When we woke up the next morning everything was better. We slept in a little bit in Eureka, and then got started up the coast. It was a pretty short, and very beautiful drive up to Redwood National Park. Eric keeps telling me that the redwoods are much taller while the sequoias are much thicker. Well, they both looked pretty tall and wide to me, but I can see that the redwoods maybe are taller. We got out to take a couple very short hikes and walking through those old-growth forests produced an awe totally different than any other form of awe the sights on this trip have previously inspired. There was fear too... it is hard to imagine that the Grand Canyon could be destroyed (although of course it could), but it is pretty easy to imagine a timber company coming in with a chainsaw and felling a tree or two.


Rebecca feels guilty about destroying nature

The rest of the drive up the Oregon coast was also very scenic, although it is extremely misty up there, so we could see the ocean a lot, but it was always various (quite pretty) shades of gray and purple. Then, almost much as soon as we arrived at our camping destination it cleared up. So we were treated to a gorgeous sunset over clear seas (well, actually, over a Howard Johnson in a parking lot ... the campsite was not exactly as described on the internet). And we saw sea lions! We stalked them for at least 30 minutes trying to get a closer look, but all we could see was the tops of their heads as they swam.


The Oregon coast is like nothing else we'd ever seen

The next day we drove up to Seattle. We had been hoping to stop in Portland and check out the city, but there was some bad traffic and we had a teensy bit of car trouble (turned out to be nothing, don't worry). So we went straight to Seattle where we ate huge mountains of food with Derek, Mike, and their friends Matt and Logan. Then we got a behind-the-scenes tour of WIZARDS OF THE COAST (where most of these guys work), which will make some of you insanely jealous and will make some of you shrug quizzically. I know Eric will be cruising their jobs website in the coming months. It was great to hang out with Derek and Mike, who we haven't seen for months, and was fun to meet some new people too.

We somehow managed to not take a single picture while in Seattle, so you all will have to make do with this horrible/awesome sign that we saw many times on the Oregon coast:



Your best chance of surviving a tsunami is running into a cliff apparently

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them

One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them (it was at night after all).

Monterey, San Francisco, and Napa.

Our trip from the giant Sequoia's to Monterey was uneventful and fairly long. However, the scenery was still beautiful and when we first got a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, it was a moment of elation and celebration (and other words that end in -tion). Rebecca's parents had suggested (almost demanded) we head to Monterey for the 17 Mile Drive - a stretch of road that runs through some of the most amazing coastal scenes I'd ever had the pleasure of seeing. Nestled among the sandy beaches and cyprus trees were world-famous golf courses that I only ever heard of from video games (Pebble Beach anyone?).

As we approached the first strip of white-sand beaches, we hopped out and spent a good half-hour walking it, hiking up our jeans (well, me only as Rebecca was wearing capri pants or something) and feeling the cool but not freezing Pacific on our feet (and ankles and calves and almost thighs - yeah, I ended up soaking wet). It was awesome and I had to call some friends to brag that while they were at work, I was on the beach! Suckers!

We continued the drive and each stop beat the previous for excellent vistas of the ocean. In one location, squirrels had gotten so acclimated to people that if you just looked at them, they'd amble right up to you and stand up on their incredibly fat haunches, hoping for a tidbit or a goodie. We both decided it was much better not to get them any fatter (and besides, I doubt they wanted the last of our gross, veggie burgers anyway).


Fat Squirrel

We stayed in the area, driving up to Palo Alto and checking into a European-style hotel called the Cardinal. It's European because there was one shower and one bathroom on the floor and the rooms had to share them. However, not many people were staying there so it wasn't a problem. The hotel itself looked like it came straight out of a Bogart movie. The lobby was very stylishly decorated and the rooms were very nice. It was also the cheapest hotel we'd stayed at (probably will stay at as the Quality Inn I'm writing this from cost $30 more). A very elegant place to say the least.

In Palo Alto, I was in geeky delight as I saw the headquarters for Adobe, Intel, and various other tech-companies driving around. I wanted to get a picture in front of the Adobe building but it was not to be. As we looked for dinner that night, we found out that both of the suggestions in a guide we saw were not available. One (Original Joe's) was under renovation while the other (Picasso's) simply ceased to exist it seems. Suckage. Boo on that guide!

Driving back to the hotel dejectedly (and also very hungry), we finally just stopped at a 50s-style burger joint a block from our hotel and had the best burgers ever. Honestly, these were amazing. Coupled with *real* Cherry and Vanilla Cokes it was a welcome end to a great day.

--

Our next destination was San Franciso but we decided to have a nice, leisurely start. We had breakfast at this small French crepe place right next door (I had a fantastic spinach, goat cheese, and mushroom crepe) and both decided that Palo Alto was a great place (but probably extremely expensive due to its close proximity to both Silicon Valley and Stanford University). Either way, it made for a great stop (though I wish we could've gone BACK to the Adobe building and maybe stop by Cupertino so I could pay homage to Apple).

San Franciso started out cloudy and a little rainy, which was too bad as our first trips over and then back over the Golden Gate were a bit dreary. I saw a Porsche Cayman and a Maserati (one of two this trip) driving around, with endless amounts of other high-end cars mingling with the VW bugs (old ones, mind you) and other relics. We had lunch at R&G Lounge in Chinatown, a true Cantonese restaurant that boasted some excellent shrimp and Hong Kong-style pan fried noodles. Was it better than Boston? I'm not sure. All I know was that it was welcome compensation for the limp and illness-inducing Chinese we had in Las Vegas.

We then headed to Haight-Ashbury and decided to locate the Giant Robot store. Another mecca for me! A store opened for the magazine of the same name, it carried t-shirts, books, and little Asian toys, all impeccably designed and very, very cool. I love the magazine because it has such varied content and also champions the idea that great design can also be art - an idea I heartily agree with. Rebecca got this wicked Kozyndan bag (one of our favorite artist teams) and I picked up an Ultraman t-shirt, just to show off how bad-ass I am. Space monsters better step off before I wreck they ass!

The remainder of the afternoon was spent in a sweet coffee shop and driving around the hills of San Fran before heading to Napa for the evening.

While in Napa, we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast called The Napa Inn. We'd never stayed in a B&B before so it was an interesting experience (never cancel a room too late, it doesn't work like a hotel). I definitely believe we were the youngest people staying there - the Victorian decor and frilly surroundings spoke volumes about their intended target audience. However, the room was near opulent (fireplace anyone?) and the service was beyond excellent.

That evening I had arranged a meal at the Auberge du Soliel restaurant, deep in the heart of Napa Valley. It was a dinner for our anniversary (we had both forgotten when it happened last month) and quite possibly the nicest restaurant we had ever been to. Seriously, it's not often we eat at a 5-star French restaurant (or stay in a 5-star hotel like in Vegas). Not often? Make that more like never.

We had seats on the terrace, overlooking the valley, and enjoyed some of the best food I'd ever had (this trip has been very good to us food wise I must say). And that was when I proposed to Rebecca. It was something I had been planning for quite some time, but I couldn't do it quite too soon because of the noisy table behind us (not a fan of big scenes and such).

Well, yeah, Rebecca said yes so no worries there. That would certainly make the remainder of the trip awkward and uncomfortable, heh.

The following day was spent driving. Driving, driving, driving all the way to Eureka, California. Seriously, we did not arrive at our "Quality" inn until midnight. We had a very beautiful drive through Lassen but ask us about that some other time. It was a long and arduous day. And right now we have another long drive ahead of us, but we'll be hitting the Redwood National Forest for more big trees and then a stop in Oregon before hitting Seattle.


Auberge du Soliel...with the gaping void behind us

Viva Las Vegas! Giant trees from another planet!

We're currently in Palo Alto, resting up before our jaunt to San Franciso tomorrow (and Napa Valley as well). We've also been without internet access so I apologize for the delay, but regardless...

So, Las Vegas. What can I say? It was absolutely scorching (I've never felt breeze that felt like it burned my face off) - I think it was around 110 degrees for most of the day. But we decided to live it up and stayed at a Junior Suite at the Signature at MGM Grand. Dude, talk about a swanky room! We had a kitchenette, seating area, jacuzzi and shower...the works! We both figured if we were going to stay in Las Vegas, we'd stay in style.

What was also nice was that there was a walkway between the Signature hotel and the MGM Grand where we were going to see the Cirque du Soliel show 'Ka.' So, yeah, we spent the majority of Las Vegas inside getting the full, artificial experience.

We kind of missed dinner as it was nearing time for the show when we arrived and unpacked (a long and winding drive from the Grand Canyon without much to look at) and had to eat some gross, mall-style Chinese food. The only consolation was that we decided to each spend $5 on the 25cent slot machines to whittle away the time before the start of the show and I won a nice $75. All I did was just hit the "pull" button over and over - it was neat to watch the things spin but I wasn't expecting much, just a 30min diversion. Very nice! (as Borat would say)

"Ka" was amazing. There was the giant stage on this huge, hydraulic arm that spun, twirled, and tilted it as the actors and acrobats lunged, raced, and climbed all over as it moved. There was actually a story to this performance as well, which was a nice change from just tons of high-flying maneuvers (of which there were many). But we were totally wiped and by the end, we could not wait to hit the sack and sleep for several hours.

We completed our casino experience by having the buffet in the morning before heading out to California. Not too shabby for mountains of food! It was a nice break from a steady diet of PB&J and pretzels. A good start for our long and arduous drive to California and Sequoia National Park.

--

The drive through the desert was long and boring. Seriously, we had had enough. It was impressive the first time around but, as Rebecca most elegantly put it, "If you've seen one mesa, you've seen 'em all."

The sand, scrub, and giant cliffs became almost monotonous and the heat was punishing (107 most of the time, sometimes dipping to a cool 98). There's so much sun out there, it's crazy! I'm working up a helluva trucker tan. Sans wife-beater and mullet.

When we hit Sequoia, it had changed drastically to forest and lush green - a very welcome change. The Mojave Desert just wasn't doing it for us anymore. But what worried us was the idea of camping in this sweltering heat. We also found out that many of the campsites were full. Suckage.

But we soldiered on and the temperatures dipped dramatically as we climbed higher and higher along treacherous roads and fantastic vistas. As we hit the Giant Forest and started to see our first giant Sequoias, it was a chilly 64 degrees out and any idea of being hot flew out the window! We had visited a few campsites, only to find them either full or unsuitable and almost went to a lodge as it was nearing dark.

Balking at the $250/night price, we went on to our last stop (Dorst Creek) and luckily snagged a campsite just as the ranger was leaving for the evening. What we hadn't counted on was a warning that bear activity was high there - two were seen in the area that had been acclimated to humans (and their food). Yes, I am a boy of civilization and the idea of bears chewing on my head left me nervous. Who knows? Perhaps they are fond of Chinese food? I didn't want to find out. But Rebecca was more adamant (and a good deal braver than me) and we decided to set up camp at dusk, just when it was ripe time for a bear to come and maul me. You know, for fun.

We had to stash everything that smelled strongly into a bear-proof storage box (one came with every site). I wondered if that meant shoving me in there either as I had definitely smelled better before but I decided not to bring it up. After a lovely dinner of PB&J yet again (we didn't want to set up the stove in the dark), we went to sleep where I stayed awake, terrified at every sound. And just so you know, I distinctly heard two screams late that evening. From what? God knows. But that kept me up for a good long while before I nodded off.

As you can see, nothing happened to us as I am typing this with both hands and an intact cabeza. But it could have! Anyway, I survived a night in bear-country and now I feel unstoppable!

Our morning was also pretty kick-ass as we saw three stag-deers walking around everyone's campsite and getting into their stuff. I got some nice pictures as they seemed to not care about people and we packed and headed off to Monterey and the 17 Mile drive.

Now, Sequoias are the worlds largest tree, I'm led to believe. By volume I think. They're certainly gigantic (40ft in diameter? Goddamn!) and very, very tall. They also have a weird, spongy bark that I wasn't expecting. I've seen the giant redwoods as well and I remember them being much taller, but not quite as thick around? We'll see. I think we'll be hitting that in two days time.

Anyway, I'm beat and it's going to be another early day. So stuff about Monterey, San Jose, and fat squirrels later on. And San Francisco, hopefully!

--Eric


Sequoia's are Effing Huge!

From Utah to the Grand Canyon

On Friday morning (I had to consult the calendar, I am already losing track of the days) we set out from Moab for the Grand Canyon. A grueling 8 hours later, we were there. More about the arrival in a minute.

Most of the drive through Utah was breathtaking - although I never thought the phrase "you've seen one mesa, you've seen them all" would ever come out of my mouth. When we hit Arizona, it turned into desert very quickly and got REALLY HOT - well over 100. No more cool geological features, but it was still fun because I could drive fast on the fairly deserted (get it?) roads. Also lots of neat animals - we saw cows, goats, lots of horses, and I think I spotted some bighorn sheep.

I loved approaching the Grand Canyon from the north, because we kept seeing the Colorado River (and crossing it), giving us a series of teasers that the Grand Canyon was coming. We had decided to camp on the North Rim - we'd miss some of the classic views of the Grand Canyon, but we'd also miss the crowds. This turned out to be a great idea. The views were still spectacular, and it turns out that the North Rim is heavily forested, with much the same makeup as the forests of Canada. On a sunrise drive this morning, we spotted wild turkeys, tons of pretty swallows and other birds - I think a few Stellar's Jays (I need a bird book!), several Kaibab squirrels (black with very striking white tails), and -- a bobcat! At any rate, the temperature on the North Rim was between 50 and 75 the whole time were there, which was so nice after our drive through the desert.

Then yesterday afternoon we drove to Las Vegas... but that is a subject for later on!

--Rebecca


View of the Grand Canyon

Moab is beautiful!

We have made it to Moab. Actually, we made it to our campsite around 7pm or so. Well, more of a cabin than a campsite, but the bathrooms and showers are in a separate building so we're still roughing it, right? Right, nevermind then.

Anyway, we got in and got a little settled before heading to Arches National Park which rules so hardcore. Everything out here is on such a different scale than back east - you really feel quite small and insignificant surrounded by these huge towers of rock and gigantic mesas. It's really quite humbling. I hate to say it, but I even started to feel a little patriotic, mostly because I have never witnessed anything like this and here it all is in the same freakin' country!

But anyway, we only got to see about half of the park before the sun set (which was awesome) and we had to head back. Dinner was less than stellar for Rebecca as there were lots of bugs attracted to our lamp-light (note for future: cook when the sun is out) but I enjoyed it just fine (more protein!).

Another thing of note is that the heat here really is different. It was consistently 85-95 and yet I didn't feel that bad. Yes, it was hot as hell, but in New England that kind of heat is debilitating. Here, at 89 degrees as I was perfectly comfortable. Not the greatest tempurature, but I felt fine, I wasn't sweating, and I could've stayed out there forever. There was no rush to get to A/C'd interiors at all.

It's almost 6am right now and the sunrise was awesome. We're headed back to Arches to catch the rest of the park and then packing up to go to the Grand Canyon next. We'll post again when we get a chance!

--Eric


Sunset at Arches National Park