Cheese Curds, Music Festivals, and Family Fun

And of course our amazing road trip wouldn't be complete without stopping for few days in the land of the cheese heads in good ol' Wisconsin! We first stopped in Madison to see Dan's cousin, Erin who showed us around the area and her amazing office a bit. From there we headed to see more of Dan's family, the Landi's, in Waukesha.

On Sunday, we went to Summerfest in Milwaukee, which is the world's largest music festival- 11 days, 11 stages, and over 700 bands. We got to see some great band's like Better than Ezra, The Airborne Toxic Event, and Rodrigo y Gabriela. Last week Keith Urban was there and this weekend The Fray and Guster will be there. It was so much fun. I wish they had festivals like this back at home because it's such a great way to kick off summer for people of all ages, and it's cheap too!

Today we spent some time trying the different foods this state has to offer like cheese curds and custard. I had never even heard of cheese curds, but wow they were pretty good! We also went to the downtown and walked along the river for a bit. This area is just beautiful. I never knew what to expect of Wisconsin, except for it being incredibly cold, and I am very pleasantly surprised (especially because it's actually really hot in the summer!) It's actually really green here with lots of trees, farmland, and rolling hills. I can see why the Landi's like it so much.

This has been such an amazing experience traveling across the country, and we have been so fortunate to have great family and friends who have been more hospitable than we could have ever imagined! Last stop: my cousin Carol's house in Cleveland, OH. I can't believe it's almost over!

Relaxin' in Minnesota

Well we made it through the Badlands and the cornfields of Minnesota to arrive in beautiful Owatonna, MN to see my Uncle Rich and cousin Shauna. (Unfortunately we didn't get to see my Aunt Tracy and cousin Kelli.. but Tracy was off taking on the Rockies in a backpacking trip and Kelli was finishing up working at a camp in northern MN... so we hope you both had great experiences too!)

We were lucky to have some beautiful weather while there, and got to spend some time relaxing and visiting by the pool. My Uncle Rich took me golfing in the afternoon while Shauna and Bri hung out by the pool, which I think was great for both of us! I hadn't been golfing in almost a year so it was great to get back out there, and Bri got to enjoy some time relaxing in the sun with Shauna.

It really is bizarre for us to think that we have been on the road since May 15th... and things are now beginning to wind down. A few more days of driving is all that we have left, with one more big stop in Wisconsin to visit more family near Milwaukee!

South Dakota

After our exciting night of camping in a teepee.. we set off for Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota... This was one of our stops that was planned from the beginning, mostly because we simply felt we had to see it with the nature of our road trip. The ride through eastern Wyoming was less interesting than driving through the mountain scenery we had been.. but eventually we made it to the Black Hills of South Dakota. On the way to Rushmore we went by where the Crazy Horse Memorial is being carved out into a giant rock mountain, and we were perfectly content with saving $10 and getting pictures of his face (the only part that is currently distinguishable) from the highway. Then after about 6 hours we made it to Mt. Rushmore, where we did have to spend $10 to park because for some annoying reason our US National Parks pass isn't valid even though it is part of the National Parks family. We did enjoy seeing the monument and it was impressive to see how the faces were carved into the side of a mountain... but it is only somewhere that you need to spend about 20 mins. We continued on toward Badlands National Park a couple more hours down the highway where we were supposed to camp, but we actually ended up staying in a motel in Wall, SD down the street from the world famous "Wall Drug". (You can look it up if you don't believe us..)

The next day we were to set off on another 8 hour drive to Owatonna,MN... with a detour on the way to drive a long loop through Badlands National Park. The Badlands was very cool to see, and it was a park that we were just fine with driving through unlike some of the others we have been to that you really have to get out and hike or stay a couple of days to fully appreciate. Some of it reminded us of the parks in Utah, just not as tall. As we have come so far along in our trip we even talked about how we think it is pretty cool that we have seen so much and have the experience to compare one place to another... places that we didn't even know existed a month and a half ago.

Teepee talk!

Hey all! So we are about to get on the road right now but just wanted to write a quick note that we are WAY behind on uploading to our picture site, but we got a couple more albums up this morning, so check it out. We will have a few more done in the next 2 days until we are caught up!

We had a great time staying in our teepee last night in Cody, WY.. the rodeo capital of the country. On our way to Mt. Rushmore and the badlands of South Dakota now!

Happy summer to everyone :)

Glacier National Park

Dan and I spent the last few days really getting a feel for the great outdoors in Glacier National Park. We first arrived there on Friday morning and yet again it was pouring and cold. We wanted to drive down the "Going-to-the-sun-road" but it was closed because they were still trying to get snow off the ground, so we decided to head 2 hours to the east side of the park to see the big glaciers and do some hiking in hopes that the road would open by our last day. On Saturday we got up early to start our 10 mile hike to Iceberg Lake. It was one of the most amazing hikes I have ever done. We started off along a path through a field which then turned into forest where we were a little nervous about seeing some bears, but lucky for us none were found. As the hike continued the temperature actually dropped, but the sun was shining and it was incredible. We saw some waterfalls, and a few mountain goats from a distance which were funny to see because they look like huge white puff balls. The reason it got cooler was because we were heading for snow. We actually ended up hiking through tons of snow, which I was not prepared for, but it was so cool. When we got to the lake we had our lunch and relaxed for a bit. The lake was almost completely frozen still and it was definitely the coldest water I've ever felt. It was just an awesome day overall, and I wish I could describe better how beautiful it was.

The next day we did a little hike in the morning and then headed back to the West side of the park only to find out that the road was still closed unfortunately. But we made the most of our day and found a place to go whitewater rafting. It was a 2 hour trip down the Flathead River in 30 degree glacier water. The rapids weren't too big, and it actually was pretty relaxing, which I didn't mind because I certainly was not about to fall into that water! Later that night we drove to Avalanche Lake where we decided to camp for the night. Of course, yet again, we woke up to rain!! I couldn't believe it. So instead of being able to do a hike to the lake we ended up hitting the road and heading to southern Montana just outside of Yellowstone.

We ended up finding a great little town called Livingston, where we stayed in a hotel that was built around 1903. It is such a cool hotel, very historic, just like the town. Now today we are heading to Yellowstone to drive through the park and see as much as we can before driving to Cody, Wyoming where we are camping in a teepee! How cool is that? I'm so excited... I bet none of you ever thought you would hear me say that.

We will try to put up pictures tonight. One week left :/

Washington The State

After leaving Portland, we drove up to Dan's Uncle Paul's house which was right on a really beautiful lake. Him and his fiance were great to us, and allowed us to really feel at home for a few days. We played ladder golf, did some karaoke, went fishing, ate lots of fish, and made some smores. It was great spending time with Dan's parents and Joe and meeting some more of Dan's family.

Tuesday night we left Paul's house and went over to the Snoqualmie to spend a few days with the rest of Dan's family. We met them at a pub where we played trivia, which was a great time despite losing terribly. For the next few days, we just relaxed at Dan's cousin, Adam's house, and were able to spend some nice quality time with his Aunt Rosie who is just awesome. She took good care of us making smoothies in the morning (and adding 5 hour energy which I don't recommend doing if you've never had it- wow!) That night we went out to a casino where we had dinner and there were about 13 of us. It's so nice having a big family. I also watched Dan do some gambling after I put a $20 bill in the machine and lost $2 but then gained it back and won 4 cents haha.

The next day we did a little bit of hiking and saw the Snoqualmie Falls which were really amazing to see. Then Dan and I decided to head out a night early to break up what would have been a 13 hour drive and headed to Idaho to camp for a night before heading to Glacier National Park which we are about to do now.

The Oregon Trail!

Hey everyone!! So we can't believe how fast time has been flying as our trip has progressed. Tomorrow (Friday) officially marks our 4th week on the road and although we are still thousands of miles from home the end is very much in site... which is kind of a bittersweet feeling. We are looking forward to getting back and being able to settle down after such a rapid beginning to our summer with finals, graduation, then hitting the road. But it has been fun and exciting to wake up every day and look forward to whatever the day would bring, so we will miss that a bit..

So anyway.. what's new with us?? Well we left San Francisco a week ago (which seems incredible, because it feels like yesterday..) headed for Portland, OR with a brief stop in Redwood National Park to see some reaaally big trees. My parents and brother Joe flew out from Boston to meet up with us in Portland at my Uncle Brian and Aunt Tracie's house. We spent 3 nights in Portland visiting with family and checking out some of the local sights, as well as Brian and Tracie's farmhouse outside of the city in beautiful wine country. We loved walking around the land and driving the tractor! :) The house is gorgeous and full of character and the views from the porch were incredible... even without being able to see Mount Hood because of the high cloud cover. We also spent some time driving around the Colombia River Gorge, and viewing all of the water falls that feed into the river before making their way to the Pacific. On our last evening, we went to check out the Portland Rose Garden and walked around getting plenty of pictures of.......roses. Portland was a really beautiful city where you could drive through downtown and see trees, grass, and parks everywhere. We also had the opportunity to enjoy some delicious home-cooked meals, so that was a really great treat for us having been on the road for so long!

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying summer! Thanks to everyone who has been a part of our journey so far by giving us places to stay, things to see, and keeping up with our blog and pictures.. we love being able to share a part of it.

Next up... Washington, the STATE!

-Dan

The San Francisco Treat

It has been quite some time since our last post, but that is because the past week has been absolutely packed with different things that I don't even know where to begin.

SANTA CRUZ:
As we continued our drive up the incredibly scenic coast, we decided to stretch out our time a little bit and call my friend Eliza, who I also met in Paris, and is from Santa Cruz. Luckily and thankfully, Eliza was able to have us for the night and it was so wonderful catching up after not having seen each other for a year and a half. This trip has been full of surprises.

The next day we got up and drove up to Half Moon Bay where we spent some time walking along the beach and trying to find the sun. I don't understand this whole June Gloom thing still... but apparently it's usually overcast in Half Moon Bay anyway. It was still a beautiful area.

SAN FRANCISCO:
Our few days in this city seemed like just a complete whirlwind of events. It is an amazing city, and Dan and I got to know it quite well. When we first arrived, we had no idea where to stay and we knew that most places wouldn't be quite in our budget, so thank you once again, GPS! We called a few places listed and found a Travelodge for only $62, which for that area is incredible. If you need any advice on how to find inexpensive places to stay, Dan and I can certainly help you.

That night we walked to Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf. We ate at the famous Boudin Cafe, and then had enough room left for a hot fudge sunday from Ghirardelli's, which was amazing!

The next day we managed to take almost every form of public transportation the city has to offer. We took a cable car to Chinatown, then a metro to Golden Gate Park, and then the bus back to our hotel at the end of the day with the locals. We honestly felt like we were locals, and could definitely see ourselves living there one day. In Golden Gate Park we walked through the Japanese Tea Garden which was very unique and something worth seeing.

We were also able to spend some time at Pier 39, where we watched the sea lions playing in the bay while we ate our lunch. Over the few days we were there though, we had a great time meeting some JMU Alumni who helped us feel at home in the city. Thank you Mr. Paul Holland and Matt Langan for all of your help and making our trip a more unique experience.

Overall, we really loved this city and hope to come back some day. Now, we are in the gorgeous state of Oregon spending some time with Dan's Uncle Brian and Aunt Tracie in Portland. Check for more updates again soon, and you can click the link on the right to find our new photos!

Cruzin' The Pacific Coast Highway

Dan and I have spent the past few days driving up the coast of California. We spent one night camping in Malibu, overlooking the ocean (not too bad). It was gorgeous- much nicer than the smog that greeted us in LA. Oh, but LA was pretty interesting... or at least the people were. I have never seen so many people that look like they just went to a Halloween store, bought a costume, and said "Hey, I think I will be Elmo today" or some other character. It was funny to watch. We also drove down Rodeo drive and saw a photo shoot taking place and so I took a picture and then realized as we were driving by that I took a picture of Michael Kors in front of his store (most girls will know who I'm talking about).

Then we met up with our friend Sean that night and went out to dinner in Malibu and took pictures of the sun setting which will be posted soon. Yesterday, we just laid at the beach for most of the day and it was so beautiful out finally- we did not bring the rain for once. After we got our fill of sun for the day, we kept driving up the coast and walked through Santa Barbara. I love that city! It has everything you could need in one town- the mountains in the background, the ocean in the foreground, tons of shopping and restaurants, and amazing weather. I would definitely go back there to visit, and if it wasn't so expensive, live there. I can see why people go to school there.

Last night we camped out in Buellton, and little city inland. It's a really great campground here- affordable, friendly, and well-maintained. We would like to spend another night, but we must press on. Now, we are going to head up to Santa Cruz and probably spend a night there, and then it's off to San Francisco!

All New Updates

Don't forget to read all of the updates below of where we have been in the past week and a half. We didn't have internet for all of that time so we did some major updating since then. Hope everyone is enjoying summer!

California Dreamin: Good food, great friends!

We arrived here in the beautiful San Diego, CA on Tuesday after our 6 hour drive from Vegas where we are visiting one of my best friends Jenna and her fiance, Chris. Jenna and I met when we were in Paris together, and she also went to JMU so it's great to see the different places we have been together. It's funny to think that in order to see her in her new home town, we had to drive across the country, but it truly is the best way to do it!

Jenna had a whole list of things for us to do and see when we got here. She welcomed us with dinner that she had made which was delicious and a great change from the food we have been eating on the road. Then we went to the beach to watch the sun set- a bit of a change from what Dan and I are used to. It was truly beautiful and we got lots of pictures. The next day we spent some time at Coronado Beach and La Jolla, again taking pictures and seeing as much of the city as possible in the short time we have. That night we finally got to meet Jenna's fiance, Chris and we all went out for pizza which was a lot of fun!

Today Dan and I went to the San Diego Zoo which was awesome! We love doing stuff like that, and although somewhat pricey, it was definitely worth it. The Sea Lion show was the best part- they were so cute!

And now, for our last night here we are having another home-cooked meal with Jenna and Chris... good old fashioned meatloaf and mashed potatoes- mmm! It has been such an amazing time being here, truly a great place to visit and live, especially when there are great people to see. Next stop: LA!

Vivaaa Las Vegas

What a place! Bri and I both decided that Las Vegas is about what we expected it to be based on all that we had heard, but it still is hard to comprehend until you are there. Just checking into our hotel we had to get used to the Vegas mentality... everything is free as long as you tip and gamble! Haha we were very pleased with the location of our hotel being right on the strip and next to the New York, New York. We couldn't believe how big and nice the hotel was for the $30/night that it cost. After we figured out how to get the car parked(free!!) and check in, while avoiding all of the time-share salespeople, we walked around the casino of our hotel and eventually made our way to the pool to bake in the Vegas heat for a short while.

(Dan left, now it's Bri writing)
After we spent some time lounging around, we decided it was time to do a little gambling, and by that I mean playing slots and cashing out as soon as I broke even or lost or won $5. I am clearly not the big risk taker in this relationship. We walked through all of the hotels though, which I really enjoyed. The water show at the Bellagio was my favorite! They put the show to the song by Lee Greenwood: "Proud to be an American," and it was so great- very touching. We also walked through the Paris hotel which reminded me of the little shops and restaurants from when I studied there. We ate at a boulangerie (sandwich shop) which was delicious. The rest of the night we spent time just walking around doing people watching and little bits of gambling. It was a lot of fun, but when are they going to make smoking illegal there? Yuk!

The next day we pretty much did the same thing. I mean there really isn't too much else to do besides walk around and gamble when you're on a budget. Hopefully next time we go we will be able to go to some shows. Luckily, however, we didn't lose any money, in fact we may have even left with a few extra dollars which is always nice.

The last thing we did before leaving was get a picture with the "Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas" sign which you can see with the rest of our photos. Overall, great city, but don't stay too long!

A quick detour

So after a great 3 night break from driving, and adventurous stay in Zion National Park.. we left Saturday morning set out to arrive in Fabulous Las Vegas!! We were both excited to see Vegas, as neither of us had been.. and it was only a short 2.5-3 hour drive from where we were, a nice change! So we set off due to arrive in the early afternoon. However, the one thing that still remained for us to do was finding a place to stay... in planning the trip I had been amazed and relieved at how cheap it was to get a decent hotel in Vegas, anything from 25-40 dollars. What I didn't consider, was that our dates of arrival could shift enough to cause us to arrive on a Saturday instead of a Sunday... We stopped at the information center when we crossed into Las Vegas and I used a free service they have there to try and find the range of rates for an available room that night.. Being that it was a Saturday night, the cheapest room was around $95, and that was for something a mile from the strip! Anywhere else this wouldn't have been a surprise, except it was 3+ times more than we were expecting to have to spend for a room there...

SO, in the spirit of road trips and after some research about rates and my moms help on the internet back home.. we decided that if we could just arrive in Vegas on Sunday night we would be able to find a room on the strip for a quarter of the price. Instead of driving all the way to Vegas, we drove through Lake Meade National recreation area and found a campground near the lake for $10.. that's the kind of budget we like! The detour ended up working out well, as we got to see Lake Meade which is a gorgeous, crystal blue lake surrounded by deserty-looking mountains.. a very different view from the lakes we are used to seeing surrounded by forest and cottages. The campground also happened to be just 5 miles from Hoover Dam, so we took a quick trip in the evening down to see that. Other than that, we just got to bed early again in our extremely hot tent and NOW were looking forward to getting up in the morning to head for Vegas, less than an hour away.. and with a room already booked for two nights at the Excalibur right on the strip!

The Outdoor Life - Zion National Park

What a place these Utah parks are... each is so unique in it's own way and truly make you appreciate the rugged beauty of our land! We arrived at Zion National Park after a short 2 hour drive from our stop in Bryce Canyon... the only problem we faced was after driving all the way through the park to where the only two campgrounds are, they were both full! We could tell Zion was a popular place, because it was probably the busiest place we had been.. although it still wasn't too crowded. We found from the ranger that there was a campground just a mile outside the park in a small little town of Springdale, and they had plenty of tent sites available. So we set up camp, made some dinner and just took a short walk around to get a look at the place. The campground was right by the Virgin river, which is what has carved out Zion Canyon over millions of years.. and we could look right out at some of the tallest sandstone cliffs in the world.

We got as much sleep as we could the first night, because we finally knew we had plenty of time and didn't have to get up and GO... but this was only partially true. We actually did get up in the morning and pack up our camp again, to move the extra mile back into one of the campgrounds in the park where we now were able to get a spot because they are first come first serve. The first campground was really nice and we both enjoyed it, but by moving to the park campground we saved half of the cost of camping each night.. enough to total a hotel room in Vegas for a night!! And now we literally had a "window view" from our tent straight out at the cliffs of Zion.. so still another really great campground. We spent the morning moving camp and then gradually making some breakfast to get ready for some afternoon hiking. After leaving Texas, we had lots of cold and rain.. so we finally got we we asked for in Zion with plenty of HOT sun! A great thing about staying here is the lunchbox got some rest too, because the park runs a free shuttle up to all of the viewpoints and hikes in the canyon to help with car pollution and traffic.. you aren't even allowed to drive up the scenic road anymore unless you get a special permit. We picked out to explore the Emerald Pools, and ended up doing about another 3 miles by combining the three hikes together to each pool.. the upper, middle, and lower pools. While the pools themselves were not that spectacular, the actual hike was still really cool as we walked along cliffs overlooking Zion Canyon and the Virgin River below. After hiking we took a LONG nap back at the campground.. this was great because it was the first time we didn't have to set right off for something else! And the hiking and heat definitely got to us, so it was very relaxing to know we had nothing else planned for the evening. We spent the night by the campfire and made a couple of smores after our pasta dinner. The nice thing about the climate here is that while it heats up to high 80s and 90s during the day, it still drops to a cool temperature at night to make sleeping comfortable.

THE NARROWS at Zion
On our second full day in the park, we were determined to hike the Narrows, as its called. This is consistently rated one of the top hikes in the country and it consists of hiking a mile up a paved trail along a river.. and then the adventurous continue to hike right on through river for several more miles in the middle of a huge slot canyon with rock walls hundreds of feet up on both sides. Thanks to Bernadette for telling us to definitely check this out, because we otherwise might have missed it! Not sure what to expect and how serious of a hike it was, we decided to go to one of the adventure companies located near the park where we rented some equipment.. because we wanted to have fun but also make sure we were prepared and safe. Our equipment consisted of special "boots" with neopreme socks which were designed to hike right through the river and along the walks, and they definitely made it MUCH more comfortable and warmer than it would have been. We also got some dry pants for Bri because they said at some places the river would be up to our chests, and that the temperature was 49 degrees.. and they provided hiking sticks which were crucial when it came to fording the river at some of the areas where we were going straight through rapids.

When hiking through this slot canyon.. the biggest safety issue is flash flooding which could be extremely dangerous since you are surrounded by hundred foot cliffs on each side.... and so of course as we are taking the bus to where we begin the hike a black cloud moves in on us with some thunder and lightning off in the distance. :/ Luckily we moved on slowly and cautiously, and waited on a high point in the canyon for about 30 mins when it was raining to make sure the other signs of flooding didn't occur.. and finally it cleared up and we even had some sunshine later! The hike was INCREDIBLE. We went about 8-9 miles total up and back, taking between 4 and 5 hours. It was really fun to hike right through the river and up to the area called wall street, where the river takes up the entire canyon with huge cliffs on each side, and you have no choice but to go right through it. Our pictures of the hike really don't do it justice, but check them out anyway! (We had to take out the camera periodically because it was in a zip-lock, inside of a dry gear bag to make sure it didn't get wet.)

Feeling very accomplished and adventuresome after hiking the narrows, we went to our first campground to take showers and get all cleaned up for the first time. Our intentions were to go to an Elvis act that was at a theater in the town, because we had seen the flier for it and one of the items on our nationwide scavenger hunt is to see an Elvis impersonator. Little did we know that the 8:30 start time was actually for a closed show, that started at 8:30. We thought it was a bar where someone performed and you could come and go as you pleased. So we didn't get to actually see Elvis, but we could hear him through the walls a little bit. :/ Instead we spent a short while at a small bar nearby, then walked back to our campground to get to bed early.. looking forward to heading for Nevada and Las Vegas the next day!!

The Land of Magical Hoodoos!

Hey everybody! So after we left the beautiful serenity of Colorado where we drove through 8,500 ft green plains dotted with ranches, horses and wildflowers and surrounded by the majestic white peaks of the rockies.. we were pretty amazed when we arrived in the rugged, alien-like landscapes of Utah and Arches and Capital Reef National Parks. As it turns out.. that was still only the beginning!

From Capital Reef we set off for Bryce Canyon NP, which was about a 3 hour drive (just like going to the grocery store and back for us now!) and we were looking forward to finally getting in a good hike more than just walking around a bit. For those who have never heard or seen pictures, take a look on our Shutterfly picture site (link on the right called Road Trip USA Photos) because the scenery of Bryce Canyon is something that I didn't know even existed in our country.. or planet for that matter! We drove through the park after stopping by the visitors center for maps and some quick info, and decided on a 3 mile loop that we would hike around what is called the "amphitheater". The park service claims it is the "best 3 mile hike in the world" so we had to check it out.. and it would give us a couple of hours of exercise before driving on to Zion National park later in the afternoon. While we definitely haven't tested enough 3 mile hikes to verify the parks claim.. we both agreed that we can understand why it would be in contention at least for what they say. It is a truly unique hike that you can't find anywhere else.. the "hoodoos" as they're called just leave you in awe and wonderment as to how they ever came to be.. and WHY?! The hike also had us climb down 580 feet and then back up again, at an elevation of between 8 and 9 thousand ft! And the Denver Broncos think that what they do is tough at a mere mile high..

After spending a couple of hours hiking and then taking our typical PB & J lunch, we hopped back in the car to scoot on down to Zion National Park where we would finally stay put for 3 whole nights! Our longest stay yet...