Everything is bigger here ... crazy peoples!

Here we be ! In the fine city of Austin Texas ! We've made it to our final destination !

It's only been 2 days ... got signed up at our housing complex. Found out there isn't a workout room ... :*( sad ... but swimming, biking to zilker park, and plenty of establishments around to play and explore! It's gonna be a great time here, visitors are always welcomed, but give us a little time to round up some furniture. Our new place is huge by comparison: three huge rooms with two closets, two sinks, two people to use it all up.

We're excited! We can't move in until Saturday/Sunday but alas, we will make do. The job hunt is on. Got a lead for us? Nicole is busy applying for food and beverage licenses and I'm debating what I need to do ... per usual. Wish us luck! We'll be posting again soon I'm sure ... here's a little snapshot of our new territory. Time to start learning the streets .. and the lingo!

Check out the youtube channel for other videos ... will be uploading continuously through time and space ...

YouTubeMe

Mountain View Arrrr Kansas

Oh Arkansas ... what a beautiful place! Full of good people, good flea markets, and poisonous copperheads! Ahhh! It was such a great time visiting my old buddy ole pal Travis and his lady Miss Rachael Kay ... we toured the city of Mountain View and saw so many cool things. This place is labeled as the Folk Music Capital of the World! Crazy! But unexplainably its true!

A man by the name of Jimmy Driftwood was born very close to this lovely place in Timbo, AR. He wrote a song by the name of "The Battle of New Orleans." May of heard it eh? I sure do know that catchy tune! But really, it was a trip to go down to town square about 11 at night and see all the oldies hanging in their "drum" folk circles playing music into the early morning hours. It seemed as if you're over 50 there is a 90% chance you play music and are down in the square hanging with their homies, putting back some ice cream and cokes, and having a great time.

We ate some delicious grilled cat fish at Jo Jo's with some hush puppies on the side. MMMM, man I love food. No matter what it is you have to try it, cause you never know how much you're gonna like it! That's my philosophy! I had my staple country fried steak and it was danky as well. They have this cool all inclusive resort service to go fishing, rent cabins, and feed you till you roll down the road 20 feet to your housing unit. All that fishing can make a grown man hungry, and whadya know, there is some great food right there so you don't even have to sweat too much thinking or moving to get it!

The next day proved to be even more interesting. We met the local owner of Stone County Ironworks. They are a modern day blacksmith shop that makes some amazing stuff all with straight blood and sweat. They had some beautiful works that I wish I could own, but I have to wait a couple years when I am actually making money! They provide some products for Anthropologie but usually sell straight to the consumers. I'm down! Luckily they weren't working so it was relatively 'cool' in the manufacturing plant. Thanks to Corky for giving us a tour of that beautiful establishment!



All this happened just while sitting in the beautiful Turner Coffee Tree having a doppio with two tons of sugar in it ... least I can say is that I was pumped up!! Rachael has got a beautiful place there complete with some beautiful wood furniture made by her family. Purdy cool! Later that night we ventured to the local drive in to watch Despicable Me. Sitting out, no thunderstorms luckily, eating some Tommy's bbq rib pizza that, and watching a couple fire flies cruise by ... oh yeah, and the movie. One thing that was hard to believe, but was inevitably true, is that Stone County is a dry county. No booze! Ahhhh! I know I love a drink now and then but to live somewhere it doesn't exist (except by other measures) I say you're crazy! It's not really that bad but just weird ...



Our last full day was a trip to the Blanchard Springs Cave. One of the biggest living caves in the US it was pretty fun to go see some new caverns that were completely different then the Lewis and Clark caverns we saw just a couple of months ago. It had some big rooms where they sing christmas carols, do some valentines day stuff, and just have a good time in! I know all Trav and I wanted to do was put on some boom boom music and have a dance partay! Whooo whooop! The springs that carved the cave were located on a different level, but they were a rushing spring that was gushing over 7000 gallons of water a minute out of the mountain. That results in some seriously cool rooms that are carved relatively fast in Earth history time (aka only millions and millions of years).



It was so nice to see Travis and Rachael. They gave us a great place to stay, took us to some good eateries, and kept the poisonous snakes at bay. We made it to Rachael's parents house outside the city for some good beef burgers, baked beans, baked potatoes, and bean queso dip. Did I tell you I like food? Cause it's true! On our way to the cars they were pretty serious when they said that we should be aware of the copperheads that lurk in the yard late at night. Yikes! Dangerous ... very dangerous!

We're off on our final legs to Austin. The weather is keeping us from getting very far. Better safe than sorry. It will be nice to get into a place for real. We got many new adventures to go on in the future and we are still on one, but it's gonna be so great to see our new place! But not yet!

We've gone over 5600 miles. Whew. Car has held up, feel like I shouldn't drive it for weeks once we get there. Thankfully we've got some bikes waiting for us. Even though SOME people think not so fondly of them ... of all the nerve ... :)

quick clips

got a new video up from Minnesota ... the lovely lady holding the funny fish


-outside minneapolis


-the corn palace


-got caught in this damn storm after a lovely breakfast

The Jingle Jangle

The beautiful city of Branson, Missouri. What a crazy place that is in the middle of nothing. This entertainment capital of ole Mizzoura is a sight to see! Given that it is pretty much geared towards the oldies and non-partying type, we read a description of it as - Las Vegas, if Ned Flanders ran it. Amen to that!

Branson, as I know it, was first brought to my attention when I moved to Sheridan, MT. We were doing our 7th grade play or something of the sorts and it was a Christmas musical about something, its all pretty vague, except for the part where we sing ... "We're going to Branson! Miiisssouri !" So I figure we go check it out while we were travelling down, as it was on our wall and all. I'm sure glad we came to check it out! There are numerous famous attractions like Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, Dick Clark's American Band Stand, the Hollywood wax museum, and on and on ...

One of our favorite sights was the Titanic hotel/theater. It had an almost life size boat with a big ole glacier next to it as the entrance. The feature show at this place was, "The Dogs of the Titanic", a show about the 10 dogs that were known to be on the Titanic on its maiden/last voyage across the deep blue sea. I bet it was a fantastic show that we wished we could waste money to see! But we're cheap now, as we are on the last legs of our trip. We found a hotel room for $30 a night and that's our entertainment ... cable television and microwave dinners!

There were so many odd ball attractions here, tons of miniature golf places, and our favorite ... good, cheap buffets! We managed to go to the Grand Country Buffet, which was $7 for all you can eat! If you plan it right (10:00 am) you can eat right into their lunch buffet which gives you even more options and pretty decent food! Right up our alley, even though it doesn't compare to the Bellagio's buffet but the price is right and the food is hot and filling!

As we weren't able to do much as way of attractions, Branson is a place where all the good people come to see a good show and spend some good money while doing it. They had plenty of cheap motels and buffets like Vegas, but no debauchery and people of the night lurking around. If you need a job, go to Branson. Everybody was hiring, and we figure if worse comes to worse we can just move there and have steady work forever!

Going to Arkansas next. Time to see an old friend and meet some new people! Apparently Mountain View, AR is the folk capital of the world! Can't wait to see it, and dink around in the Ozarks ... so until then ... keep it in perspective.

The Land of the Simpsons

"D'oh!"

We're stuck in Springfield, IL! There are storms all around us, lightning crashing down, rolling thunder for minutes at a time ... Ahhh! It's crazy! We're a little stuck ... trapped by storms all around at a motel 6 ... at least they left that light on! haha ... ok not really. It's exciting to see and hear these crazy storms, as its been so long since we've both seen an amazing lightning storm.

The weather out here is so outta whack! We'll be driving along then all of sudden you see the storm right in front of you, and then BAM! it's right on top of you. Crazy rain that makes driving very iffy. We hydro-planed for a second, long enough to just be like, "ehhh, ok maybe I will pull over next time." I am confident in my driving but you never can mess with something as fierce as a raging storm banging on your car.

So with Springfield come and gone, we are going to a crazy state park called the Johnson Shut-Ins. A recommendation by Joe, and it looks like a great time for some swimming and rock diving!

Miles travelled : around 6000 ! ahhh !

It's like I was telling Ingrid

My hair is uncontrollable, I haven't had mascara since LA, I'm always sticky from the heat, all my clothes are stained forever, I've been eaten alive by vicious mosquitos, I've had hay fever so bad that I can't remember a few days on the Northern plains and I'm happy, so happy.

The truth of the matter is that our journey changed so much after the Grand Canyon. Up until then, our pace was much slower, spending a couple of days at each location and driving not too far distances in between. We were truly camping, waking up snuggling in our tent, bathing out of a chip bowl and enjoying the outdoors in a capacity I had only seen on the cover of REI's sale catalog. 

I felt like we were doing what we were supposed to be doing on this journey. Our pictures and 

posts were full of nature, accomplishment and discovery. We plotted out our trip a year ago based on two things, that outdoors experience and the people we love. After the Grand Canyon our destinations really changed from places to people. The landscape has changed too. After Colorado, things got flat. Things got hotter, it's mid-July all over America and we've been feeling it. It's all changed our trip isn't the Levi's commercial it was shaping up to be. It really isn't the way we planned. 

Well Nicole, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." Thank god.

We're finishing our time in Chicago. As I type, Andrew's looking through his city loot of vintage shirts and new NES games. We may be poor in Texas but, we'll have each other and his Nintendo collection. We came to Chicago to visit Andrew's Auntie G and cousin John and Ing, my best friend. 

Right before we were here we visited Andrew's sister and brother-in-law in St. Paul. Malia and Jim put us up for a couple of days too. It's always nice to see a friendly face and have a hot shower. But, with Andrew's family it's beyond that. You always know that you'll get a big hug and good conversation. We really showed up outta nowhere with Malia and Auntie G. But, without skipping a beat there were clean towels, concern for our laundry situation and praise for our journey thus far. 

I am so thankful.

Ingrid and I have been friends since basically, high school. We both had a thing for punk rocker boys, black and white stripes, Chuck Taylors and good grades. I wish I had our senior pictures to post. We were awkward to say the least. It was a couple of years ago that we were sitting outside of Dairy Queen in White Center when we had the conversation that would change everything. 

"Ingrid, I'm just so tired of knowing which way is North."

We were both single at the time. We were both working jobs that were not really taking us anywhere. We started talking about other cities. We started talking about how to get there. That was really when we realized that we wanted to move. The details have changed for the most part but that's where the ball started rolling, in the outskirts of Seattle on a curb eating a chocolate dipped cone. 

Fast forward two years and Ingrid just finished a masters program at the University of Chicago and I am on the last leg of the "great american road trip" headed to Austin, TX. We are still navigating the long distance relationship and still getting used to our changing contexts but, still, we have a way of bringing out the best in each other. 

I've only talked to Ing a couple of times on this trip. She mostly keeps track of me here on this blog. So, you can only imagine that we had some catching up to do.

Talking to your best friend is a lot different than posting on a blog. If I could write the way I talk to Ing there would have been a movie deal six states ago. But I can't. People are involved now. That's why I think I've been so blog constipated. Since the trip has changed gears so much it's been harder to blab about it. Everything has gotten so much more personal. Every story has at least 2 important details that I can't write about for one reason or the other...

Andrew and I pulled off of the side of the road and into the small town of Luverne, searching for a place to stay. It was at the height of my hay fever meltdown and a night away from the comforts of Malia and Jim's house in St. Paul. One more night of camping and we'd have a shower. Andrew went to pay the overpriced camping fee and I started to set up to make dinner. I pulled out the faithful korean grill and started to cook. I began to swat the flies off of my face and cutting boards. "Gee, seems like a lot of flies", I thought. At this point in the trip I'm not thrilled with flies but I'm used to them. It was okay until I realized that the flies wern't flies at all and instead it was a 50/50 mix of strange small and insistant beetles and mosquitos. All through preparation they plagued the picnic table and about halfway through eating I had to stop. I looked over at Andrew and he was covered like a knight in metal mesh, with beetles. He didn't really seem to mind but they were seriously grossing me out. Plus, the mosquitos decided that I would make a fine meal for the evening, I was getting miserable fast.

*Insert mystery detail

The next thing I knew I had been Truman Show-ed. Andrew and I we're six feet off the ground looking through a set of government provided binoculars trying to see the buffalo that were promised to be on the horizon. We sat in silence for what could have been three hours on our prairie fort listening to the zooms of birds diving into the tall grass. They could have been kamikaze bombers. They could have been UFOs.

The lavender light fell across the world around 8:00pm. I watched every inch of the night crawl towards us. I could hear a family down at the swimming hole. If they wern't worried niether was I. We saw a couple, in biker leathers or goth club ready, heading towards the stairs. Time to go. We headed out the back way. I knew it was a bad idea to walk through the tall grass. But, I didn't care.
We thought long and hard for a while.
"So, let's pretend that we came back in time from the future to now. We came back to now because something happens now that is significant to the future. We just don't know what it is...start pretending."
We were laughing so hard and talking about nothing important until we arrived back at the dam. There between the trees and across the water we could see the lights of the ranger station. It looked like a picture. No seriously, I was pretty sure Thomas Kinkaid had come out and painted the ranger station. I was intently watching the waterfall and the lights. A deer and her fawn walked across the picture. It was perfect.
It was about then that I remembered. The bugs.
Night had fallen and quiet hours had come with it. Andrew built a fire to try and comfort me. We both knew it was too late. He even tried to convince me it wasn't that bad. I looked at him with my swollen eye and bubbling forhead. He knew then, I wouldn't know until the morning. I was itchy.
"I swear I'm really itchy." I was hardly buying it because I was uncontrollably laughing. I knew I had to seek cover.
I finally was starting to get comfortable in the tent when I started to remember something. Lyme's Disease.
"Andrew, is lymes disease really when a tick head enter's your blood steam and get's into your heart and you die."
"No, lyme's disease is when a mosquito or tick bites you and it causes you to get dehydrated."
(neither of these explainations are true)
"Oh, okay. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Uncontrollably, nervously laughing.
"Uh, how do you get ticks anyway?"
"In the woods. When I was in scouts one time when I got back from a trip I was peeing in the middle of the night and I found one, down there, hidden in the folds."
"what."
"Yeah, I found it..."
"what."
"I found..."
"Where's the flashlight?"
"Baby, we don't have ticks."
I frantically threw the covers around our 4'x8' sleeping space looking for the LED light. Andrew tried to convince me we were safe, but I knew we couldn't be too safe."
"Okay, (as I held the flashlight at my chin like a crazed camp counselor telling a scary story) I'm gonna check you and then you check me. Come here."
Andrew struggled. He knew it was a lost cause, I wasn't going to giv e up because I wasn't going to sleep until I knew for sure there were no ticks. Like a spotlight on the prision blacktop I shone that white light into every hiding place on Andrew's pale Montanan body.

*insert second mystery detail

"Okay, now check me." As I passed the flashlight, there in the crease of the tent...I knew what it was but I didn't really know what it was. "What is that?"
"It's an earwig."
"Why do they call it that? Do they get in your ears? Are they like ticks. We have to get it out of the tent. Andrew come on get it out."
I had the sucker cornered with the light. All Andrew had to do was swoop it up with one of my Kleenexes. The earwig wasn't gonna survive this one.
"Why'd you do that?!" Quiet hours or no quite hours. I was still laughing loudly and nervously. On top of that Andrew dropped the little charlie into the abyss of sleeping bags and clothes.
"Are you kidding me why'd you do that?" As if he did it on purpose.
"What you think I did that on purpose?"
"What are we gonna do?" I'm already considering pulling out the iphone to ask Jeeves if earwigs really wig in your ears. By then Andrew had caught him and thrown him out of the tent. Phew.
Almost safe.
"Thanks for letting me check you for ticks. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, baby."
...
"I have to pee."
"Seriously?"
Andrew knows that I would rather not roam the woods at this point looking for a good place to pee. We're both dressed to nothing post-tick checks and there's no way that I can get myself dressed.
''Just go outside the tent."
"Okay, but you have to close it up right after I get out so the bugs don't get in."
"Okay."
I grab the flashlight, and ready myself for the big jump. I unzipped the tent and went for it. i'm sure I looked like a special effect at a rave, Me, stumbling of of the tent rolling on the ground, flashlight in hand. Before I could abort the mission, Andrew had already closed her up on me. Before I could make it far enough I started to go.
"Jesus, baby, not that close you're basiclly peeing on the tent."
I knew that I had failed. I turned off the flashlight so that I didn't have to look at Andrew's dissapointed face. He was an Eagle Scout. Here he is stuck with a failed Girl Scout who can't manage to pee three yards from the tent. He let me back in.
"I'm sorry."
"Goodnight."
No ticks. Bathroom, check. I was ready for bed.
"Goodnight."
The conclusion to this story is a lot less colorful. We woke up the next morning and as most people do. We didn't talk about it. Not at first.
"I really was itchy though."
"I know."
At this point I know that I'm usually over reacting and Andrew's cool and calm demeanor generally falls closer to the voice of reason than my crazed city girl, half Korean rants. I was itchy but, it wasn't as bad as I thought the night before. the night before i basically though that I had been eatin' alive. I was sure my butt was going to be covered in bites and I could have sworn that my face was getting bigger. Andrew assured me that wasn't the case, I knew he was right.
Before we left the sight I headed over to the restroom. I did my business and as I looked up from the handwashing sink, I realized. Andrew had lied. Just as I thought, I was convered in red welts, from head to toe. My eye was swollen, I couldn't count the number of bites on my rear. There in the center of my forhead was a glistening mound of skin and bug bite.

I got into the car. I grabbed the iPhone. Wikipedia..."mosquito borne illnesses."

Meeting Wild Bill and Calamity Jane

Hey all y'all !

I know its been a bit since our last post. But our trip has been full of company and fun, therefore harder to post up some of our madness!

The last time we talked we were leaving Custer, SD on our way to the rough n ready town of Deadwood, SD. What a time that was! The actual saloon were Wild Bill was shot was closed for renovation, but we visited the temporary spot of Old Saloon No. 10. It was a true old western bar, full of drunks, gambling, and women of the night (not really). I was able to get in on some reasonable blackjack games, and ended up winning a little money. Apart, naturally, from any money that I had sitting on the table and Nicole came back around for her next ration for slots, or drinks. All in all it was a great time though. Everyone there was having a good time and it became very contagious!

We were fortunate to stay in a town about three miles from Deadwood called Lead. The hotel was the old city hall, and we stayed in the defense room. The high vaulted ceilings and thin walls gave great character to this little abode that we called home for two days. It seems everywhere we have been going we tend to refer to as home. No matter if its hours or days, we build camp, go explore, then say, "Shall we return to our homestead?" Its been a crazy adventure measured by days at a time, seeming as if we left Seattle years ago. But that's the way it is, we have been living out of a small car moving towards a final destination that will offer us things unknown.

Surprisingly in the Lead/Deadwood area there are these amazing services called taxis! We were unsure staying in the neighboring town but for a cheap fare (non-sharable between two groups going to the same town) you can get a ride to Deadwood and vice versa. Good quality service with a smile and an occasional mohawk.

We had a great time in Deadwood, it was a great place to unwind and let loose and not feel like we were blowing our wad on gambling and drinks. Highly recommended to anyone in the area. Surprisingly close to Sturgis as well if you want to ride your bike over and stay in an old western spot, this is it! We stayed in the Bullock hotel, a great reasonable place that kept me thinking of the HBO series and raised my interesting in gold mining once again.

Next stop : Wall Drug and The Badlands
Money lost in Deadwood : $20 bux

Enjoying the hot, humid Minneapolis St Paul

Greetings to you all! We're here at the lovely abode of my sister Malia and Jim's house ... enjoying some hot, humid weather ... with an occasional tornado warning. Its been a pleasant day out on the St. Croix river, canoeing and finally breaking in my new fly rod! Boy oh boy was I excited! Sure enough those trusty rods from the ruby valley hold up to their world known reputation! Caught 5 fish today, only kept two ... a couple of nice small mouthed bass, not to be confused with small fish ... they were about 15" long and weighed about 8 lbs each! Yippee! Good times, and thanks to ole Jimbo for showing off his great fishing holes!

I wanted to share our great adventure today. We're in the process of cooking those little gems right now! Its been an adventurous time from Custer, SD to here. We'll be sure to post all about it here pretty quickly!

Cheers to all! And if you can ... GO FISHING!

Animals seen today alone : 4 bald eagles, 20 blue herons, couple of momma and fawn deer, and a big a** turtle

Quick note on Custer, SD

Aww how I love the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. A place infamous for so many things, such as, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Mountain, Deadwood city, Wall Drug, the Badlands, Custer St. Park, the Wind Caves, the Jewel cave, and a plenitude of miniature golf courses!

After a lovely night spent at Fred Flintstones palace in the city of Bedrock, and a round of miniature golf across the street at "Grizzly Gulch" there was an amazing shot Nicole had on hole #3, aptly named "Rock Slide." Even though we scored a 58 a piece on a par 39 course, this shot, in my opinion, gives her the edge!

She stroked the ball with her usual extreme power and managed to get it to bounce off these rocks on the left, multiple times, then trickle down back to the green, across the hole, hits the right bricks, bounces back and drains it for par. Absolutely astounding shot! I wish I got it on film but, holy mooley! I'll never forget that shot!

Sippin' on some SoDa

We spent some time checking out the grounds at Wind Cave National Park yesterday. We were going to camp there but on the way in Andrew spotted a sign for a Flinstone's themed campground in Custer. Complete with it's own mini-golf course, theme park, and fast food we surely had our own yabba, dabba, doo time!

But, before we rested our beads in Bedrock, there was still much to see. We stopped at Crazy Horse Monument that was begun and the 40's and is still only inching it's way to completion. It's pretty interesting and very extensive in it's collection of contemporary Native American art. I was also pretty expensive, $10 per person. I mean it's not even done yet. Mount Rushmore down the road is $10 per card though, it doesn't have it's own after dark laser light show. What? Yep, that's right. Utilizing three of the largest lasers in the entertainment industry Crazy Horse Monument has a historically, historic, after dark, laser show complete with soundtrack and popcorn. We tried to get video but the lasers didn't show up. The show doesn't start till nightfall so that gave us a chance to swing by Mount Rushmore and grab a bite back in Custer.

Mount Rushmore would have been a lot more enjoyable if I was not in the height of being sick.

It's really awesome being sick at a National Monument. I guess no family vacation is complete without someone whining at a historically significant place. Luckily my partner is a good sport.

We decided to eat at a place back in town. After a historic game of mini golf, we headed toward a sign advertising dinners starting at $5.95. We followed this sign. We followed it to where we thought it directed to an in-back and upstairs joint called "Darkhorse." Note: Don't eat at a place called "Darkhorse." Think "Kitchen Nightmares" that boasts a selection of over a hundred beers. We actually left after sending our meals back with empty stomachs. Not only was there no $5.95 dinner, everything was old. Including the food. We later found out that the restaurant we thought we were going to is the "Cattleman's" up front. We had no appetite to give it a try.

Overall, the last few days have been great, minus the sickness. I was concerned about being on the road with no real destination. But, so far, we've really gotten lucky. Plus, we've got each other. Seriously, Andrew makes everything enjoyable, we laugh a lot, we laugh at ourselves a lot. Regardless of where we're headed at the moment I'm sure that every mile will be full of something, love and adventure mostly. 

Wish us luck in Deadwood the Las Vegas of South Dakota!

just in time for the unexpected

It was bound to happen. I'm not sure if I'm actually sick or if it's my allergies. I know the constant climate change isn't helping. We went from sleeping in 90 degree heat one night to sleeping in 40 degree cold the next. We've been on the road a lot this last week, we're not looking the healthiest. Due to my sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes, and misery we cancelled a four hour cave expedition a Wind Cave National Park today. I'm pretty bummed but at the same time I know that Andrew's just looking out for me. Yesterday, I realized that we have not been without one another for almost a month now. I was trying to imagine if it was going to be weird the first time we're apart after this. It'll be much welcomed to spend some time doing some girly things. It's little awkward tweezing my eyebrows in front of Andrew. Though I will say we are strangely comfortable around each other and separately we are both hygienically unique people.

Andrew's beard is really growing out. I had to trim the hairs that hung over his lip. I was getting a scratched up when he kissed me and my skin's already pretty dry from all of the climate change.
So, here we are back in the North and actually not far from where we started. I can't but have this feeling that we could head West and stop by home for  day or two. South Dakota isn't that far from Seattle unless you've just driven over 3500 miles to get here. Speaking of home... I've really started to feel unsure about where to say that I'm from. It's a bit worrisome that I have no problem telling people where I'm going but when it comes to where my roots are I get all tongue twisted. "I'm from Seattle, well actually Tacoma, my parent's live south of there, but I'm kinda from Seattle, that's where I went to college, Tacoma is thirty-ish miles from there, I mean I'm a military brat, but I was born in Edmonds, that's near Seattle...blah, blah, blah" For Andrew it's easy, he's from Montana. Even though he's a military brat too, he's very sure that he belongs to Montana. I get jealous of that. People aways love people from Montana. When you say you're from Seattle people always say something about the rain, maybe Starbucks, and usually "Sleepless in Seattle" and it's never followed by "I here it's really nice there."  I usually just let Andrew answer and ride that train until I can't.
Let me tell you, time doesn't really run the same out on the road. First off, we cross through time zones pretty often, so I don't really know if we're an hour ahead or behind. Second, there's nothing to really make you think about time. It's kind of nice I guess. Grand Canyon was the last place, we really had a time and place destination. We have a few stops that were planned ahead, but very loosly and they are pretty far apart. So, we've really just been filling in the gaps on the fly and trying to make good distance while having time to experience things. I take a lot of pictures from the passenger seat window. There are things I wish we could have stopped the car for, but sometimes you gotta make that mile mark.

Some treasures though, you thankfully stumble across at the right place at the right time. I was so ready to be out of Colorado. I enjoyed Mesa Verde and also really was interested in some "street art" we saw on the drive through Tuba City and the rest of the Navajo reservation.

By the way excellent radio stations out there: Tuba City radio 91.3fm and 104.5fm through Marcos Valley. I don't know why, but it felt like Colorado was never going to end. It's also where I started feeling sick. Our last night in Colorado was spent shivering in a middle of nowhere state park campground that we didn't find until 10pm. I don't do well in situations like that. After Andrew had to zip me up in my sleeping bag, I spent the whole night with our hunting knife close at hand and pinned up against Andrew who was pinned up against the side of the tent. I was scared. I was very excited once we got out of Colorado. Denver was pretty much a blur. We stopped in Fort Collins which screamed Bellingham so we were excited to get our hands on some Kombucha at the co-op there. We drove 20 miles out of our way to find out that Kombucha has been taken off of the market for a while. Something about a higher alcohol content than expected. That explains a lot.

We chose to drive through Eastern Nebraska rather than Western Wyoming even though it was a bit further. We cut through Cheyenne on our way over. As a reward to ourselves after the long night we decided to treat ourselves to a thrift shop and lunch. I suggest both. Havens Treasure Flea Market at 312 W. 17th ST, is full of great finds much that might be found at an interstate gas station but also a lot of cowboy themed vintage stuff. For the most part it's all really reasonably priced. Just down the street is "Pizzaria Venti" at 112 E. 17th Street. "America's only authentic sliceria" totally hit the spot.
We were welcomed by presumably the restaurant's matriarch. She knew that we had never been in so gave us the whole spiel. "Look at the board, choose some things from the case, order, get you drink and silverware and we take care of you. You can sit anywhere you'd like." We watched the staff bumble about the floor, everyone friendly. I told Andrew that I thought it must be a new restaurant, because it seemed to be running so efficiently with such a large staff. We later found out they've been there for six years! We found out why too. The pizza is so good. I love a crust where you can taste the cornmeal. The "Grande Max" was a rectangular slice with green peppers, onion, pepperoni, and homemade meatballs. "Mama" informed us that everything is homemade, from scratch. A meal like this, a la fresh ingredients is well needed for the weary traveler and we were very excited to have found it.
As we left Cheyenne, all evidence of the Rockies began to fade and we headed across the plains to Alliance, Nebraska. Alliance is the home of the infamous "Carhenge."

That's right! It's a nearly perfect replica of Stonehenge created from old cars.I got abut 398924347 bug bites walking around the grounds but it was well worth it.

We had found a semi-large town near the South Dakota boarder called Chadron where we figured we'd find a cheap motel. I asked the Carhenge lady if she knew anywhere to stay there. She said she'd stayed there once but with the festivities didn't know how affordable it would be. Festivities!?

That's right not only was it Chadron's very popular annual coming of Fur Trader Days but also the towns quasquicentennial! That's it's 125th anniversary.

We were lucky enough to get a room at the Grand Westerner Motel and spent some time with the locals that night. There was even a carnival in town. The next day we headed to Fort Bordeaux which is now the site of the Fur trapper Museum. Andrew inherited from his father a love of all thing fur trapping. We spent a good amount of time looking at old trading artifacts. We saw everything from old Green River knives to small beaded pouches used to store umbilical chords. We would have liked to stay another night but couldn't find a room. We made a reservation for the wind cave tour instead.

This Native American Life

Its been an adventurous past couple of days here on our beloved journey across the US of A. We last left you at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We made it to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado the next day. A beautiful 'green desert table' in SW CO, that is home to the Anasazi Indians who have relations in the Hopi, Navajo, and other tribes that surround the area. It was a very interesting place that offered ranger guided tours to many of the main attractions for $3 bucks a head. Well worth it, as its close to nothing, unlike the campsites that are there, which are very poorly laid out and costly (almost $25 for one night, tax included)! More than the Grand Canyon even, but only due to the fact that it is run independently from the actual national park.

We made it to the Cliff Palace, the largest of the dwellings. It housed about a hundred people back in the 1200s with around 120 buildings in the cliff. A beautiful site, and very interesting how they made the city stone by stone. Each person was responsible for building their own house, carving each stone with stronger stone tools that were obtained by trade with other tribes and nations. They would mix water and mud to make the mortar, and occasionally would use their own urine (AWESome!)! The Anasazi had ceremonial pits called Kivas where many of the woman would give birth, and the recently passed would be laid upon them for their spirit to return to the third world. I found this part very interesting. Native Americans believed that this was the fourth world that they lived in. There is a small hole dug into the bottom of the kivas, apart from the fire pit, called a seepapu (see-pa-pu) which means, 'Place of Emergence.' It is believed that the ancestors arose from inner caves of the Earth (the third world), emerging onto the surface of the Earth (fourth world) through the seepapu. So it is natural to see why they would give birth down in these kivas, as well as lay their dead upon them so their spirit may return to the place of emergence.


Native American people are my favorite people to learn about. They were masters in the art of using their surroundings to establish a rich life style, not of material wealth of course.

If we had more time, it would have been great to explore the area more. All of the cliff dwellings around the area represented a whole community of people working together. Their main harvests were of corn, squash, and beans, the staples of many cultures who were to survive. They kept domestic dogs and turkeys that were their dependency for food and well being. Not just one group used the dwellings either, they past on from people to people, eventually being abandoned around 1300. There was a twenty year drought in the area that forced the pueblo peoples out to new areas so that they may survive.

So much vibrant history! I love it! Then again if I had it my way, I'd live in a shack in the woods and trade with people around the valley for survival. Who needs half of what we have today? Conveniences are nice, yes, but not necessities. I do love myself some technology, but if I could go back and live in the wild, wild west, I say "Hell yeah!" I'm sure my other half would willingly oblige, as long as I provide and she feels safe of course.

If you're ever in southwest Colorado, go check out Mesa Verde. It is an amazing place, and hopefully you won't encounter all the traffic we have been running into left and right. One of the biggest let downs being the fact that we specifically drove through four corners to leave our mark on four states at once. But alas, all we find is this:



We must venture on! The next night we spent at a 'shady' campground by Dillon, CO. It was an alright spot, but nobody was there! Nice in my opinion, but a little scary for the lady. I'll bring her around though. She's got that adventure spirit in her, I just have to build it up a little more! Spent a lot of time driving so we can keep the schedule somewhat on track.

Next stop : Nebraska
Miles traveled : 2800
Ankles Nicole's sprained : 2
Days Andrew's gone without a shower : 4
Love shown between the two of us : infinite x2

Grand Canyon ... Mule Rides Anyone ?

Hello from one of the biggest cracks known to mankind! Aside from the usual joke that can be played over and over about this place, it is rather amazing to see what time and a little mix of water and rock can do! By far some of the oldest stuff we've seen so far, our stay was full of relaxing and taking in some serene mother nature. I've thrown another clip on for you to have that 'imagine you're here with us' moment. Since we know most of you would love to be but alas, not everyone can quit their job and take an adventure!

We've been here three days now. When I arranged the reservation for a campsite (highly recommended) I asked the guy Ryan to hook up a good spot. So he put us a good distance from the bathroom and close to the main thoroughfare road. Thanks bud! Next time I'll just look at the map myself ... although we did have a nice big 8 x 7 bull elk that roamed around the campsites.



I'll throw another video up later ... a little closer and better !

So aside from checking out nature, finally having some campfires to appease my inner Boy Scout, and walking around the big hole in the ground, the Grand Canyon is its own little self propelled village. The south rim is very populated, and has a fully operational grocery store. You don't have to leave the GC village area if you don't want to for anything! Kinda odd, but appropriate. Next time the north rim will be calling, along with a couple day hike through the canyon up onto the south rim.

As chance would have it, a team of photography teachers being sponsored by Canon were holding photography classes at the park. You just register for the class (three offered daily) and they give you a complete setup with some nice $$$$ *ss cameras. That was quite fun! Just meandering around taking high quality pics, then they setup a link to your photos online so you can download them in 7 or 8 days. I thought that was a great idea! They are a travelling group that are going from Yosemite to Grand Canyon to Teton NP to Yellowstone to Acadia. What a job! Dang!




So thats the canyon! Peaceful and serene (minus the roadway). Met some good people from Tennessee and some late arrivals next to us on the other side. They pulled in around midnight with some noisy kids and some frustrated parents. Ugh ...

Next stop : Mesa Verde ... where the ancient cliff dwellings are!

Miles travelled : idk ... about 2100 or so

unfortunately no Javelina's encountered ...

Land of Hippies and Sidewinders

While we were in Los Angeles I was able to meet up with a great friend of mine, Mr. Andrew Dane. You probably know him from a few feature films and he's got a few more coming up too! I told him our next stop was Joshua Tree. To which he replied, "Ah, yes! Joshua Tree, that's where all the LA hipsters and Hippies go and take a bunch of mushrooms and freak out." Interesting I thought. But a valid statement at that!

We arrived later in the evening as we were put back by a couple hours of Nicole dozing off in the car as I stared at the same, non-exciting license plates of California in the traffic jam known as greater Los Angeles county. The sun was starting to preform its magical setting sequence over the mountains as we got camp set up and pondered what was for dinner. Winner was chicken noodle soup with sandwiches, a common winner at that. The moments I'd been wanting to take part of soon came upon us. We took a chance and went through the south entrance of the JTNP, but as it turns out the campsite we stayed at (cottonwood) was the darkest and best spot for taking some night photography. Finally, I'd get my star shots I've been wanting!

Unfortunately, the camera we have requires you hold the button to do a prolonged exposure over 30 seconds. So I couldn't get exactly what I was hoping for, but still, some nice shots none the less! Nicole gave me a little photo 101 on the do's and do more often of night time shooting and we were off!

The following morning we got a bright and early start, as we had to make it to the Grand Canyon to not lose our camping spot. We traversed the national park seeing some absolutely amazing flora and a couple exotic insects/birds. Some of the personal favorites were :

• the "teddybear" cholla
• the ocotillo plant
• the joshua tree

	The "Teddybear" cholla was a crazy cacti that looks all warm and fuzzy with mixes of brown, orange, white, and black coloring. Truly amazing plant that will really put you under for a couple of days they say.
	The Ocotillo plant is actually a deciduous tree that can shed its leaves up to five times a year. Its leaf cycle is completely dependent upon the amount of water in the area during the year. Quite interesting eh?
	The Joshua tree is what we came for, naturally. It's also known as a Yucca tree, and is very dependent upon Yucca moths to fertilize the seeds as to allow for future growth and expansion throughout the desert.

There were a lot of interesting things to see at Joshua Tree, and we wish we had more time to experience them all. We stumbled upon this flowering weed type of plant on the side of the road. It was early enough in the morning during our trip that we frequently just roamed the road slowly, stopping for new sights and plants (recommend!). Once we got out of the car, we saw them. They were GIANT ant like creatures with wings, buzzing around collecting pollen. They measured about 3-4 inches long, a metallic blue in color with orange wings. Pretty wild creatures! Check out this video to see what I mean ...

Days spent over 99 degrees : 4

Water consumed : 90 metric tons

Ant related attacks : 5

We're off to the Grand Canyon next! It should be warm and gigantic! Just gotta hope we make it without any hitches ...

Greetings from Canyon Cafe: Koreatown

I'm not sure how clear it has been to you all how much Andrew and I have planned out our trip. Let's put it this way, the only place we had booked before leaving Seattle was here, the Grand Canyon. Everything else has been pretty on the fly. You know, I wouldn't advise people to "plan" like us, but it's worked out pretty well. It also allows for us to take breaks, and if you know us you know that we are the kind of people that feel entitled to a break even from vacation.

As we left Vegas, we knew we were headed to LA. We knew that we were staying with my friend Alex and her roomie Phil. That was about it. It was about when we passed the world's tallest thermometer in Baker, CA that I pulled out the iphone to start researching what should we do. In my minds eye, I imagined Andrew and I as the young actors from My Girl 2, wandering around a 1970's celebrity playground, watching the freaks, dodging Hare Krishna, getting my ears pierced, coming of age at the Chinese Theater and finding the meaning of life at the La Brea Tar Pits. Iphone did not offer up any such "LA in a Day" but, I did note though a large section of the city called Koreatown. I figured I may as well take the opportunity to pay homage to my people and grab some grub while I was at it.

I didn't really know where Koreatown started and stopped but everything I had read had led me to believe that you would know it when you saw it. Andrew was finding no comfort in such a navigation style as we drove through the city, feeling familiar with all of the "as seen on tv" street names. "Maybe it's on Melrose, or Rodeo." I felt like I knew my way around simply based on Clueless refrences. I recited Alicia Silverstone's lines obsessively throughout out visit. "Lucy! Where's my white collar-less shirt from Fred Segal?!"

Anyway, we drove and drove until, "oh there's one!" We passed a sign with the familiar Korean writing I knew from food packaging when I was a kid. There was a hair shop and a Korean BBQ. I asked Andrew to go around the block. I knew there must be more. We passed some Carniceria and taco trucks intermingled with Korean Fried Chicken restaurants and Korean cell phone stores. Then it happened. Suddenly, English began to disappear and the one Korean BBQ turned into thirty. Every street corner offered "all you can eat Korean BBQ" or "Lunch Special Korean Noodle." There suddenly were no more white people. There were plenty of Latinos but also, as far as the eye could see, there were my people with no eye lids and high cheekbones. I was pretty excited to find a grocery store. We stopped at the Koreatown Galleria. I've been to Asian markets in the US, but never one just catered to Korean people. Honestly, Andrew was the only not Korean person we saw for the couple of hours we hung out there.

It was like being in Korea. There were no menus in English. Andrew ordered his lunch by number. I luckily knew the Korean name of my lunch choice, even though I was ashamed to have my pronunciation corrected. We ate upstairs in the food court. I looked from vendor to vendor deciding what I wanted and where I wanted to get it from. Yuke Jang- Spicy Beef Noodles soup. Andrew ordered Spicy Chicken Teriyaki. Now, when you order a meal at a Korean restaurant come hungry. You not only get a large entree of whatever you ordered but you also get an entire meal of Banchan, or side dishes. These ban chan can be anything from vegetable pancake, to jap chae, to kimchee, fishcake, anchovies, coleslaw, potato salad, to steamed eggs. They are delicious.

As, we waited for our food a lady wandered up to us in dirty clothes and a quite but high pitched voice. "Do you hap a dorra or a couper pen-ni?" She was probably homeless but surely hard up. We said no, apologized, she asked again and I against my gut still regretfully said no. I was in shock. I had never seen a Korean person in this state. I turned to Andrew and said as much. I explained that Korean people are too family oriented for that to be a usual thing. Even if it wasn't out of love I can't imagine the pride that Koreans have letting that sort of thing happen. But, I didn't grow up around Korean people much. Koreatown is very big and unlike the Korean circumstances I knew growing up not everyone is the same socioeconomically.

By the time I had finished my beansprouts, I had really started thinking about being Korean and being, uh, Korean-American. The thing is I don't often think of myself as being Korean. I'm half. Half is white. I never understood it much before this food court experience. My experience with Korean people for the most part has always included some sort of prejudice. When I was growing up there was usually always some Korean group at school. They probably didn't know that I was Korean, nor did they care. They spoke Korean, dressed in name brand clothes, drove nice cars, and kept to themselves. It was always very obvious that even if I wanted to I couldn't hang out with them. Being Korean is like being in a secret society. When my Mommy and I go to lunch they always bring her tea and bring me water. I'm sure the assumption was made because I'm white I prefer water, but I don't see it that way. I think that getting tea is a privilege. It's like why I'm never going to be able to bargain down a Korean salesperson as much as my mother. It's why every time I'm with Mommy we get way more banchan than I do if I'm by myself. The more Korean you are the more privileged you are. I'm only half.

I have some disdain for that. That's why I have an American Flag bikini and not a Korean one. I'm American. But, here's the thing, I'm not really welcomed to the other side. Koreans fly under the radar here in America. Unlike any other culture I've known, they have maintained a very specific and secret life here. We halfies are one of the few ways in, marriage, and business are probably the others. You don't really meet a lot of full Koreans around, unless they work at Nordstrom or are selling cell phones. I think I know why. Privacy is key to Korean people. They don't like to be watched, they don't like being in pictures unless they're prepared, they don't like being asked questions. Now, I will admit these statements are based on assumptions that I have because of my Korean mother, but she's always been right about most things. Americans are nosy. Now, I think Americans are friendly, but to my mother, Americans are nosy. I believe this is why Korean people have not really assimilated into American culture. I mean think about it, if you live in an area where there are a lot of Korean people, there is something like a Koreatown.

Koreatowns are so interesting to me because, it's like being in Korea. As an American they could care less if you like the way they do things. The businesses in Koreatowns don't care about white business. They don't need it. They don't play by white rules. They don't need to. Korean people take care of there own. That's why in Koreatowns you can have five restaurants that serve the same things on the same block and none of them have English on the menu. They stick to their own. Until recently Korean culture has been a well kept secret in this country. I think if they could they'd keep it that way. For generations Koreans have just fine keeping it Korean. Koreans go to Korean mechanics, they go to Korean markets, they go to Korean travel agents, have Korean lawyers, buy Korean facewash. No wonder they are such a proud people. They have for all this time managed to stay true to they're values and to they're own. Korean people may not be very welcoming but they are loyal. I know from the outside they seem stuck up but think of it like this. When you are in a Koreatown, you are the visitor. Though you didn't get your passport stamped you have left America and found yourself in a culturally rich and secret place. Be respectful and thankful for what experiences you can get and savour the feeling of being a visitor in your own country.