Seattle..

Alan and I explored Seattle today. The weather was beautiful drizzly and dismal. Last night we ventured out to a nearby pub so this morning was a bit of a late start. When we finally found the motivation to get out and explore this beautiful city it was around lunch time. We headed directly for a tea tasting tour near the market. After our tea education, which was highly enjoyable, we wondered towards old downtown. We opted out of the common Seattle tourist option of going up into the space needle and we decided to head for the tallest building in town. We climbed to over 1000 feet in the air for the most amazing view of the city. Unfortunately the fog had completely consumed Mt. Ranier but what view we were able to glimpse was exquisite.

Here in Seattle it seems as though there is a coffee shop on every corner. I'm not sure if coffee is so popular because the people in this city depend on caffeine due to the lack of sunshine or if coffee companies are trying to give Starbucks a run for their money (Starbucks started in Seattle). Either way we couldn't turn down the urge for a mid-afternoon latte and we stopped for one of the most delectable coffee's I've ever had. We passed through pioneer square and my eye was caught by a very unique retro clothing store. I tried to resist the urge but I was unable to. I unfortunately had a compulsive shopper relapse and I was forced to purchase myself a new outfit while Alan was shopping for a kilt next door. Silly, I know.... After our trip around the old part of town we headed for the market.

When we first started our journey we complained about the walking. Now, we look forward to walking around in new places. We would both rather park the car and walk simply because in most metropolitan areas transportation is much less stressful when you're walking. Our cities weren't designed for the amount of cars that now travel on the roads so usually the cities are a mess.

Anyhow, we walked about a mile and a half back to the market. The constant hustle and bustle of the market is enough to excite anyone. Our senses were overwhelmed. One minute we were watching the locals make cheese and the next minute we were eating dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). A little further into the market we indulged in some amazing curry. Where else but Seattle can you enjoy Afghan, Greek, American, Indian, authentic Chinese and Italian and French all in the same block? We were in foodie heaven. Everywhere we turned people were handing us free samples of fresh fruits, jerkies, and fish. I learned about new fruits and veggies and listened to some live street music. I tried a lychee for the first time. We rummaged through old book stores and we bought imported fresh loose leaf teas and dried fruits and fresh bread. Nothing compares to the Pike Street Market. The sights and sounds and smells of the market are so entertaining and intriguing that being there just makes time fly by. Once our senses were overwhelmed and our bellies were full so we headed back to our hostel for a quick time out. We refreshed with a cup of hot lychee tea.

That evening we walked back to the old area of Seattle and we took Bill Speidels Seattle Underground Tour (http://www.undergroundtour.com/). We had such a great evening. Our tour guide had a great personality. We laughed and we learned so much about Seattle's dirty little secrets like 87% of the city's money was funded by the 2500 prostitutes in 1888 thanks to a lovely pimpess named Madame Lou Graham. (http://www.historylink.org/index.cfmDisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2762). We also learned about Seattle’s terrible crime and drug problem that was all taking place in the city that remained below Seattle. After our tour we wandered into a really cool bar ate some tater-tots and headed back to the hostel.

I feel like I'm walking down
the street smiling at everyone that I meet simply because I'm so happy at this point in my life. I love all of these new experiences and I'm definite that Alan does as well. This trip has taught us a lot about ourselves and each other. We left Seattle with happy faces and bellies. Seattle was everything we thought it would be. Our hostel was amazingly clean and the unique artwork everywhere was awe-inspiring. (http://www.cityhostelseattle.com/) We had great roommates, a movie theater, a hot tub and a kitchen on every floor. The resident chef Brian was the bomb and everyone we met was super friendly and helpful. This is one place we definitely will return to soon. Next stop, Portland Oregon.

Wyoming, Yellowstone, Montana

So we left the Black Hills of South Dakota and we headed straight for Yellowstone National Park. What we didn't know was that every place within the park is booked out for over a year. We drove and we drove. We both really enjoyed the scenic route. South Dakota is an amazing state. We even stopped off at a helicopter tour company that ended up offering Alan a job! After about 9 hours we decided to stop for fuel at a little town right outside Yellowstone's east entrance. We ended up over paying for a hotel but everything worked out for the best. After we got checked in we walked a couple of blocks down the street to the Cody Nite Rodeo! We made it there just in time for the National Anthem. We drank beer and cheered for the bull riders. Alan said he felt like a real American with his cowboy hat and his beer; I was so proud.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and walked across the street to a little western diner that advertised their $.25 coffee. The place was packed and we ended up getting seated with two people that we didn't know. Luckily none of us are shy and soon the morning conversation got really good. As we ate our eggs one of the boys asked, “do you think life is given or taken”. I was blown away by the fact that such an abstract question such as that came out of the stoner kids mouth. I smiled and contemplated the question for a while. Needless to say the morning was quite interesting.

We left directly from breakfast to hop on a bus for our white water rafting tour. We took a 12 mile river rafting tour down the Wyoming River. A big storm was rolling in overhead which blocked the sun. We were sitting in the very front of the raft so as we cascaded over the rapids we were getting soaked. When the breeze blew down the canon we soon became chilled to the bone. The views from the canon were amazing. To my surprise Wyoming had more of a red rusty desert appearance rather than a huge green mountainy feel. We watched several families of deer grazing as we floated by. We watched the little bird families that had made their homes out of mud flutter by. White water rafting was such a great way to spend the afternoon.

The best part of the entire day was meeting the mother and son that sat next to us on the raft. They were so generous and kind. We were planning on leaving after the trip to drive into Yellowstone. With the storm rolling in and the sun setting we figured that we wouldn't get to see too much of the park. Lisa and Justin were staying in Cody for a summer vacation and they invited us back to their place for the night. Now this was an offer that we couldn't refuse. Although staying an extra night in Cody put us a little behind schedule it was the best plan. We were able to make some new friends and we had a great evening relaxing and eating a nice home cooked meal. We couldn't be more grateful for their hospitality. I never expected to meet such wonderful people on the road.

We had a great night's sleep and we awoke refreshed and ready for Yellowstone. 8/7 The drive into Yellowstone National Park is amazing. As we climbed into the park huge dark clouds covered our car and we were intensely pounded with gumball sized hail for about 10 minutes. Someone turned off the light switch and the clouds disappeared. We watched Old Faithful do her thing. We admired the continental divide and we got and education on geysers, paint pots, and calderas. On our way out of the park we were stopped by a baby grizzly bear and a herd of elk but other than that the sightings of the wild animals was sparse. I was expecting herds of buffalo and bear everywhere. What I didn't realize is that Yellowstone is a HUGE park which is over 3,400 square miles of wilderness and over 1300 miles of trails. If you really want to experience the park and all it has to offer you need to spend time off the roads. Camping in Yellowstone would be a great family vacation. Staying in one of the overpriced lodges or inns would be a HUGE waste of money.

Once we got tired of looking at steam coming out of the ground we started driving for Missoula, Montana. The boys we had met at breakfast in Cody were telling us how cool the town was. We arrived in the early evening, checked in and walked downtown for a beer. Missoula is a quaint little college town that seems like it would be a lot of fun when school is in. Things were kind of quiet for a Sat. night but we enjoyed each others company, good nachos and good locally brewed beer. We had planned on touring a couple of the micro-breweries in town but we forgot that the next day was Sunday. Once we returned to our hostel we met our roommates for the night. Jason had been traveling all day from Portland on his motorcycle to staff a camp there in Missoula and our new German friend (I don’t know his name) who is traveling across the country looking for a job as a biologist. These guys had great energy, we had great conversation and I left the boys to chat while I headed off to bed.

This morning we departed Missoula with our new German friend. As it turns out he was planning on taking a bus to Seattle. We figured that we had plenty of room in the car so we invited him to ride with us. I've taken the bus long distances before and I wouldn't wish that hell upon anyone so I felt obligated to invite our new friend to join us on our journey. Today was a great day of traveling. Alan had a new buddy to chat to while I dozed in and out of sleep. We arrived in Seattle early this afternoon and Alan and I walked down to watch the ships sail out of the sound. Our hostel is amazing and tomorrow we plan on exploring this beautiful sea side city!

South Dakota Black Hills

The Black Hills of South Dakota. We left Nebraska yesterday 8/3 and we drove about 10 hours to reach our destination. We left Fremont in the late afternoon (it's always hard to leave family) and we were blessed with the most amazing sky show I think I’ve ever seen. As we drove across the plains of Nebraska headed west I initially was pissed because we were driving into the setting sun. Once the sun began to fall below the sky line the huge blue and white sky that blanketed our heads turned into the brightest ever changing neon painting. The evolution was almost instant. I became so fixated on the sky that I almost forgot that I was supposed to be driving. My gaze was fixed upon this marvelous transforming art. The bright blue from the east faded into turquoise and creamy whites and where the sun had just slipped away a neon tangerine color shot up from the ground that faded into the brightest pink that was smeared with purple and grey. I wish at that moment that I could have stopped time, pulled over and painted what I witnessed. That experience was like ecstasy for our eyes.



We had no trouble finding our cabin even though we arrived at about 1:30 am. When we awoke this morning to go check out Mt. Rushmore we were astonished by the scenery that surrounded us. The air here is crisp and clean. I find that I'm appreciating every breath that I take into my lungs. The ponderosa pines that surround us have a sweet cream smell that is unlike any other. We actually spent about 20 minutes today smelling the trees (people were looking at us like we were on drugs). The roads twist and turn and just when you think you're in the middle of nowhere out from behind a bend pops a little western themed town. I'm kind of glad that we drove last night because when we stepped out of our cabin this morning the South Dakota scenery was such a nice surprise. The landscape here is so different from Nebraska and really we aren't that far away.


As we were driving I couldn't help but pull over to tour Bear Country U.S.A. Touristy I know but, I love animals and I think it's super cool when they have free reign to wonder and we get to stay in our cars and drive through their habitats. We soon made our way to Mt. Rushmore.

Honestly I thought it was going to be bigger ;) I appreciate the six years of hard work that it took to carve the monument but we were soon ready to move on. We walked a trail around the monument and took off driving to see what else we could find. Wouldn't you know we found a winery! Prairie Berry Winery with FREE wine tastings! We sampled very unique wines. Strawberry rhubarb, pear wine, black currant wine, cranberry wine, sweet plum wine. Yep, we were forced to buy some. We cooked our dinner over our fire outside of our cabin.
Right now I'm setting outside our cabin with the brisk night air biting the backs of my arms while the hot fire warms my little toes.

The motorcycles are already starting to pile up in the small towns, next week is Sturgis (largest bike rally in the country). Every once in a while a gang of bikes will pass by our little camp and I cant help but think about my dad. Tomorrow we'll head off for Yellow Stone National Park where we plan on doing a bit of white water rafting.

NEBRASKA!!!

After a long nights sleep we hit the road for Nebraska. At this point we were a little ahead of schedule so we took our time and we arrived in Fremont, Nebraska in the mid afternoon. We both were just so burnt out from the past two weeks rush up the east coast. If you're wondering why we were in such a huge rush to get up the east coast the answer is my dad.


He was so excited to take Alan to the tractor show and the demolition derby that he almost demanded that we get to Nebraska before the weekend. It’s nice to take a few days to take it easy, hang out with family and chill out. Our first day in Nebraska was laid back We spent time with grama and my cousin Brian. We went and fed Alan the best steak he'd ever eaten and we hung out and drank beer until we all passed out.


The next day was the demolition derby. The Midwest culture is far different than anything I’ve experienced in the rest of the country. I never clearly understood what it meant when people said that the Midwest is the heart of America. Now, I think I have an understanding. People in this part of the country have their own farming lives, they reproduce here and they never go too far.


Honestly it's like stepping back in time or being in a different world. Being at the local county fair drinking beer while laughing at the demolition derby reminded me of some bad 80's movie. People here don't necessarily seem happy but they seem content. Youngsters were running around eating their half cooked hamburgers on white bread buns and the overweight parents pounded down the Budweiser. Although I find it hard to relate to the majority of the people in this part of the country I appreciate them simply because our country depends on these people. If it weren't for them who would plow our fields or take care of our cattle and swine?




So I sucked up my snottiness and I just enjoyed the county fair. The more I drank and the more the guys in the derby crashed the happier I was.


On Sunday we hit the dog track with dad and grama thinking that Alan was going to make us a ton on money with all of his greyhound experience. Unfortunately, none of us won. He kept saying “ if only his grand dad were here we'd be winnin'”. We had a great day even though we just threw our money away. After our nice long relaxing weekend with the family we began to prepare for our next trek.

St.Louis!!!

ST.LOUIS!! Finally we reached St. Louis after driving through some severe storms and pulling over a couple of times to take night time naps.

We only had one day to rush around the city but St. Louis is definitely somewhere we'll return to. We toured the famous arch which is the nations tallest monument (I learned something new). I suppose it was designed to symbolize westward expansion.

Alan got quite a history lesson as well. Afterward we headed directly to the city zoo ( which is totally free!). We spent the hot hot afternoon wandering around admiring the animals and being big kids riding the zoo train. The zoo was much larger than we thought. There were several exhibits that we didn't have time for. Once the zoo closed we headed to the trendy part of town near the university.

Young tattooed and pierced kids wandered around the area of St. Louis called “The Loop”. Alternative clothing boutiques and funky restaurants lined the small streets.

We had dinner at one of the most trendy restaurants in town called Blueberry Hill. What made this a unique experience was we were surrounded with genuine original memorabilia from the 1950s era. Neither of us were ready to leave. I love how even though St. Louis is really in the Midwest it has a very cutting edge alternative feel. Most likely this is because we were near the University.

We were starting to get burnt out from all of the running. By this point we had driven over 4000 miles in not even two weeks. Unfortunately we had to hit the road but we didn't make it too far before we decided to make it a night. I'm not sure if we were tired of driving or if we were just tired of smelling each other. I never appreciated hot water and soap more in my life.

Niagara Falls!!!

The drive to Niagara falls was so much fun. I drove Alan to Allentown and then we went to sandwich for sandwiches ;) New York State was beautiful. I always think of NY and picture the city but the truth is that there is so much to see and the majority of the state is comprised of pristine country side. We drove all day and night to make it to Niagara Falls, Ontario.









I again was surprised to learn that Canada isn't much different from the states. I expected to see mountains, snow, and Canadian Mounties once we crossed the border but if I didn't know any better I would have said that we were still in the states. It's funny how we sometimes create assumptions about people and places that we've never experienced.


We stayed at a Hosteling International hostel. The staff was great, the hostel was nice but quite crowded. We had a nice breakfast and then we were off to see the sights. We decided to take a tour that left directly from the hostel. We spent the day riding around the country side, we bought fresh vegetables for our dinner and we toured some of the historical sights in Niagara.















We stopped by Niagara on the Lake and we drove through the major tourist area near the falls. I'm so glad that we decided to take that particular tour. There were only three of us, the tour was very personal and we were able to see that Niagara has so much to offer other than the falls. Although I had a great day, our anticipation was growing and growing to see the falls.
Once we returned from our day tour we whipped up a quick tikka masala with the veggies we had just purchased. We sat together outside eating our delicious dinner while drinking some cider that we had purchased from the micro-brewery in Boston. We checked out of our hostel and moved to a smaller more personal hostel which was much closer to the falls.
Our evening was spent on the Maid of the Mist.


We donned our body condoms and we rode into the falls. The falls were so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes. As our boat inched it's way closer to the falls the drops of spray became heavier and heavier. The seagulls were swooping overhead and as we looked up a beautiful rainbow instantly appeared over our heads. I couldn't help but think about how lucky I was to be right there, right then. I felt so fortunate to be soaked as we approached the falls. As we went into the falls the speaker over head blared “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Niagara Falls”. I smiled and laughed to myself. After our boat ride we both stood in awe admiring the amazing natural beauty of the falls. We stopped by a local pub on our way back to the hostel for a quick drink. We returned to our hostel tired from the long day so we showered and called it a night.
The next day's adventure in Ontario was even more exhilarating than the first. We explored the countryside, the small town of St. Catherines and Niagara on the Lake. We went for a hike and stumbled upon a waterfall.



We had to take advantage of the opportunity and hop in for a swim. The cool turquoise water was perfect on our hot sweaty bodies. We walked behind the falls and felt the blast of wind from the powerful water. Our hike back up became quite difficult when we discovered that we had to do a bit of rock climbing. I felt a rush of adrenaline when I turned and looked down. I realized at that moment that if my wet hands slipped from the slippery rock that I would fall quite a distance onto sharp rocks below and no one would be around to help me. My shoes were off, my toes were gripping the best they could to the small crevices and my fingers struggled to pull me up over the rock ledge. Once we made it to the top I had a chance to reflect on what I had just experienced. I realized that I love rock climbing.


When you're trying to figure out where to put your fingers and toes and you're contemplating your next move you're challenging your mind and your body. I forced my self to focus on the moment. You cant think about anything other than what you're doing because if you let your mind wonder you'll screw up, you'll fall and you could get hurt. Not only that but, once you've finished your climb you get to look down and admire your accomplishment. When I get home I'm definitely taking up a new hobby.
Our clothes, hair, fingers and toes were covered in the clay from the river bottom and our toes and feet were sore from walking bare but we jumped into the car and drove 12 hours to St. Louis to see the arch.

? Witchy Salem ?

I knew that we were on a tight schedule but I couldn't resist stopping by Salem since the town is less than an hour from Boston. Salem is somewhere I've dream t about visiting since I was a child. I always thought of Salem as being a witchy little town with a few hundred years worth of history. My mom is a witch fanatic and a Halloween nut so I suppose my fascination was somewhat bred into me.
I am extremely glad that we didn't drive far out of our way to get there. I try not to get too excited about anything simply because I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment. I couldn't help but get a little worked up about finally getting to see Salem Mass. When we arrived my stomach sank. As I looked around and realized that what used to be an amazing little settlement town has since been turned into another version of Disney World. The natural historical draw which brought me there was used to create wax museums, recreated dungeons, and witchcraft reenactments. To my dismay there was no longer any historical draw. It saddened and disgusted me. The lives of 19 people were taken in the most unpleasant ways for something that they didn't do and now corporations are profiting from treachery by selling witch t-shirts, fake brooms, and what amounts to year round Halloween decorations. I wanted to leave.


We walked around the town of Salem for maybe half of the day. I spoke with people who lived in the town as well as national park service employees and they all gave me the same story. What I didn't realize was that the state was so ashamed of how they had treated the innocent people that were accused of practicing witchcraft that they began to destroy the town of Salem instead of preserving it for historical purposes. If I would have known this we wouldn't have gone. Even as late as 1992 the state legislature made apologetic comments about the 1692 hysteria.


I must say that there were a few things about Salem that I enjoyed.


We took a stroll through one of the old cemeteries to admire the gravestones. We also toured the only building that remains from the time period (1692). The location of the town is amazing, I wish that I could have experienced the town about a hundred years ago. We enjoyed a beautiful lunch while looking out at the bay. We grabbed a latte at a LOCAL (if you can believe that) coffee shop and we hit the road to Niagara.


This small field trip was a learning experience. I realized that you should never set your expectations too high or you'll just set your self up for disappointment. I also learned that our country is one big disappointment. We've completely commercialized everything that is pure about what we have here in America. I hope that the other destination points we have on our trip don’t turn out to be tourist traps.