Day 28-30 - Greenwich, CT to New York, NY and back again

Rob dropped us off at the train station early in the morning so that Pete and I could try to get to a box office early for discount Broadway tickets. I was hankering for some musical production (I had The Producers playing in my head non stop) and discovered that Pete had never seen a Broadway show (again, it's a time for firsts!) so we decided to see a show since you can only do it in New York (thank you Greg and Osa!). We ended up not getting tickets that morning because they didn't have any to Avenue Q, our top pick, but we did walk around Wall Street and meet up with Alex to see the Bodies exhibit. If you haven't seen it, it's plasticized humans cut up so you can see all the interesting things on our insides! Totally worth it.

Alex had a dinner with friends that night, so Pete and I went to see Inception on IMAX. OH MY GOD AMAZING! Go see it, it's a great movie. And the IMAX was actually worth it this time. We all met up and decided we were pretty tired, so we headed back to the apartment that Alex was squatting in/house-sitting in East Harlem. It smelled just like Guatemala, that sweet rotting fruit smell with flowers and gas. The neighborhood was really cute though, and the apartment even cuter, decorated and owned by the very chic, fashionable friend of Alex's.

In the morning we woke up extra early (8 am!) to go to the Box Office of Avenue Q to get cheaper tickets (full price ones are still over $100 each), which turned out to be way too early and we were totally the first ones there. After scoring our tickets for that evening, we all went to Central Park to reminisce about college and life before college (as Alex and I tend to do sometimes). Alex was working briefly for a gourmet desert bar as a waiter, but now is anticipating a solo trip to Europe before continuing to work on his writing. I may be able to convince him to move to San Francisco yet! Alex then took Pete and I to a cafe at Columbus Circle, which is apparently owned by the same guy who owns the French Laundry, except for $15/person instead of $500/person. Delicious! Alex went back to take a nap, and Pete and I headed to the local Salvation Army looking for leather scraps to make him a leather journal cover. Instead, Elena just found lots of cheap cool clothes and Pete found nothing (surprised? :) Pete and I went back to Central Park to relax and lie on the grass, then met up with Alex at the theater that night. Great show! Totally raunchy but adorable, catchy and clever, and especially appropriate as it's about a recent college grad meeting the "realities" of life. We could take a lesson I suppose :) And with puppets!

Alex invited Pete and I to join him in Fredericksburg to visit high school friend Jeremy in the coming days, so Pete and I took off the next day back to Greenwich with promises to see each other soon.

Rob and Marjorie were generous enough to host us another night after Rob picked us up at the train station. They are such kind and energetic people! They took us to dinner at this fusion Mexican restaurant, where they had items such as lobster tacos and served Patron tequila! Not your typical Californian fare, but totally delectable!

Day 27 - Bloomfield, CT to Greenwich, CT

The Mountains are family friends of mine, and were dear friends of my grandfather in Greenwich. We had decided to call them in hopes of leaving our car at their place while we went to visit New York City. Elena and I had such a wonderful time staying with them! Their home is beautiful. I am an especially big fan of their pond behind their house that is full of fish, and dragon flies. Rob also was kind enough to show us their boat, "Upwind", which was a lot of fun. I'm so glad that we were able to spend some time with them before we left for New York City.
-Pete


The Mountain's beautiful home


The pond behind their house.

Day 25-26 - Bloomfield, CT

Grandma was nice enough to let us sleep in, so we didn't even have breakfast until 11 or so. We decided it was so awful hot that we would go to the swimming hole, which of course is what one does in Bloomfield during any visit in the summer time. (Picture #1) It's an old club that my grandparents have been members of for a long time, and the location of many a story relating to my brother and my childish antics. We both remember it as one of the best things to do while visiting Grandma and Grandpa. We all had such a good time lounging around (and Pete and I diving off the platform) that we stayed until 6pm, to our surprise! Then back to the house for dinner and more talking on the porch. What a great invention! The temperature and humidity were almost unbearable, so sitting on the screened porch is really the only relief. Pete and I took the requisite walk around the neighborhood and watched a movie before bed. We both love watching movies so much that it was really a treat to do so, since we had internet and Netflix!

The next day, Grandma took us into town to take a boat cruise down the Connecticut river in Hartford, which afforded a nice view of most of the main buildings of downtown, as well as effects of heat on the many small children on the boat = children slippery as soap and totally disinterested in the boat. Afterward, she drove us to Trinity College to check out the truly majestic buildings (we West-coasters are always awed by the semi-gothic stone structures of Eastern colleges) and the truly amazing chapel (Picture #2).

The night, Pete took us all out to dinner at a local restaurant (quite the gentleman!!!). It was good food, which was even better because of the air-conditioning. After dinner, we watched Forrest Gump because Pete had never seen it (what?!) and we both agreed it's one of our favorite movies.

Day 24 - Buffalo, NY to Niagara Falls, NY to Bloomfield, CT

We woke up early (as per usual in a Walmart parking lot, as the noise of people banging around and cars passing usually starts around 7am) and headed to Niagara Falls. The park is mostly on the US side, which is nice because neither of us brought passports anyway. We walked around the two sides of the falls, but didn't feel like paying the extra money to get totally soaked just before the long car ride to Connecticut. However, the views are definitely satisfactory from the edges of the cliffs.


View of the crazy people who pay to be crushed by the tons of falling water... :)




Then we headed to Buffalo again to test a Lonely Planet recommendation for buffalo wings - it was phenomenal! We didn't have time to eat it but on the road, so we tucked paper towels everywhere and slobbered away on the best chicken wings we've ever had! Not much else to the afternoon except driving, and general frustration with paying tolls (how come the rest of the country doesn't bleed every driver for $.50 every 20 miles?!)

After spotting a feisty black bear running around in a cabbage field somewhere north of Bloomfield, we arrived at my grandmother's house around 8pm just in time for dinner. Gma cooked us delicious fish with cracker crumbs and some of Wade's famous yellow corn! We sat on the porch and listened to the bugs, ready for a couple days of sleeping in beds and relaxation.

Day 23 - Chicago, IL to Buffalo, NY

Long drive, not much happened except that we started to see fireflies alongside the road, and we arrived really late in Buffalo. We found out (the hard way) that not all Walmarts allow overnight parking, and it wasn't until the third one that we were finally able to make our bed in the back. The problem was it was so hot we cracked the windows, and then a thunderstorm in the middle of the night rained on our faces! I guess you get what you pay for...

Day 20-22 - Chicago!

Home of the Grant Park Orchestra


Happy in Chicago at the bean!

I love Chicago and since it was Pete's first time, we tried to do everything that I were my highlights from trips past. So, with the aquarium already checked off, we decided to explore downtown a little bit. First Sasha took us out to this incredible little restaurant called Xoco, which is owned by Rick Bayless, winner of some cooking show I guess. Fantastic and reasonably priced! Then Pete and I took a walk through downtown to Millenium Park, where we saw the giant bean and the amazing ampitheatre where we stumbled upon an open rehearsal of the Grant Park Orchestra. Then we took a bus up to Lincoln Park to see the FREE zoo, which seemed to house more rabbits than exotic animals. Must be a paradise for rabbits in the middle of the city, because almost every exhibit had a rabbit in it. The highlights were the gorillas, which sparked a conversation about how human they are, animal treatment, and the fact that Pete's mom Dede worked with the mother of Coco (remember, the gorilla that learned sign language) during her college years. Very cool and humbling.

We made dinner again that night and I got a chance to try out a Peace corps recipe I picked up when I was in Guatemala - mix tomato paste with cream cheese and it makes an incredible pasta sauce! We added some fresh tomatoes, onion, fresh basil, and to top it off, I learned out to fry basil to add some crunchiness! Quite good if I don't say so myself...

The next day, Pete and I did the architecture tour that Joan took me on the last time I was in Chicago. It was just as good as the first time, and totally worth every penny. Afterward we met up with Sasha for a free concert at Millenium Park ampitheater, this time the real show of the Grant Park Orchestra. It really struck me that if I had to live in Chicago, I think I'd be quite happy. I guess I have only been there when it's beautiful in the summer though...A dinner of salami, cheese, and bread topped off an excellent visit.

-Elena

Day 18-19 - Rapid City, SD to Chicago, IL!

Views from Mars...






Electric eel! I said ooh babe....shock me like an electric eel!


Growing coral, pretty cool. If only we could do it to replace all the crap that BP put in the ocean?


It's a rock, it's a booger..no! It's a toadfish!


Soft-shelled turtle


Apparently Pete took a lot of these ones, perhaps trying to catch me making faces at the wildlife...


Drive drive drive!

On the way out of Rapid City, we hit up Badlands National Park, which is so weird and spacey! We didn't really want to get out and take a hike for fear of being attacked by aliens, but we took plenty of pictures!

We have been enjoying the lovely company of Stieg Larsson in the car while we listen to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, along with the half of the nation that's currently reading it. Really great on audiobook, but basically we drove for two days, and ended up staying in a wonderful Wal-Mart parking lot in Onalaska, Wisconsin. Thank god they allow you to legally sleep there (although we're not convinced that all Wal-marts allow this, we checked for signs and this one did. There were also a bunch of other people doing the same thing as us!). We learned the hard way that it's worth it to blow up the mattress in back rather than be lazy and try to sleep on the seats...We were able to do this by the way because Russell had left us after Yellowstone, so we don't need to get campsites anymore.

We arrived in Chicago on Monday fairly early in the day (around 3pm) and managed to see the Shedd Aquarium, which is supposedly one of the best in the country. Unfortunately, it's really geared toward children and actually not that big, so we both agreed that Monterey Bay is sooo much better :) We made it to Lincoln Park afterward and got to make dinner for my friend Sasha. I know Sasha from studying abroad in Moscow, and she's currently working for BCG in Chicago, being very successful.She was so nice to let us stay in her apartment, and there was even a bed! We didn't do much that night be relax and watch a little bit of, "So you think you can dance!"...such a guilty pleasure to relax and watch TV!

Day 16-17 Black Hills Forest, SD to Rapid City, SD

We took off in the morning to see Jewel Cave, but unfortunately all of the tours were already booked at 9am! So we continued on to Crazy Horse, where we got an excellent view from the highway, and therefore didn't feel the need to pay $30 to see it up close. From there, we continued to Mount Rushmore, which although amazing, is somewhat smaller than expected. One great thing about South Dakota gift shops though is that they have this really reasonably priced opal jewelry, my favorite stone!
(Pete- I was suprised to learn that there is a partialy completed vault for important documents behind Lincon's Head!)

Unfortunately, we ran into some more car troubles in Rapid City and ended up having to spend a couple days waiting for parts :( Sigh, if only the Blazer didn't already have 118,000 miles on it! But, it's good as new after our short delay.

Day 15 - Yellowstone to Devils Tower to Black Hills National Forest, SD

What a long drive! We left camp kinda late and therefore made it into Cody by lunchtime. At that point, I was seriously hankering for some Mexican Food, so we lunched at a great place (and by great, I mean we were so hungry it didn't really matter what we were eating) that served the typical Americanized Mexican cuisine. Gotta love those chips and salsa! We made it to Devils Tower by sunset, and then had to find a place to sleep in the Black Hills, just across the South Dakotan border. We thought that would be easy, but we were so late that we ended up having to stay at a KOA campground close to Jewel Cave. Kinda expensive, and kinda kitchy. They have some great ammenities like real toilets and a small shop, but then there was also a giant trampoline and an arcade. Not really camping...


Devils tower at sunset...


View while driving across the plains...

Day 14 - Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park and back

We woke up early on our second day in Yellow Stone and made it to Old Faithful as quickly as we could. We missed the first eruption, so we made breakfast by some picnic tables while we waited for the next one. It was magnificent. We then saw Midway Geyser Basin (where the Grand Prismatic Spring is) as well as Firehole Lake road, and by then we were all geyser-ed out.

Old Faithful


Grand Prismatic Spring

The next stop was the Grand Tetons National Park, which we drove down to see. Our mission was to find a moose, which we asked about and were given some good spots to look for them at dusk. The Grand Tetons were amazing! Far less crowded and had stunning views. We found a short day hike around String Lake which was breath taking. On the hike we saw plenty of yellow bellied marmots which was fun.

Grand Tetons


marmot!

We continued South to the bottom of the park and pulled over where other people had gathered. There was a bull and female moose lounging in the tall grass on the other side of the river. We pulled out our chairs and opened a beer and waited for them to get up. The bull moose was beautiful! It really in inc readable how large their antlers are. We also saw a beaver swim by.

On the way back North to Yellowstone we saw a heard of elk acting strangely. There were wolves attacking the herd trying to separate one of the calfs, but ultimately failed. Further on we saw a bald eagle. We then stopped at the Jackson lake Lodge to watch the sunset over the Tetons and were amazed by how plush and luxurious the Lodge was.
-Pete


Animals Seen:

Yellow Stone:
Elk
Mule Deer
Pronghorn
Grizzley Bear
Bisson (Lots!!)
Blue Heron
Cannadian Geese

Grand Tetons:
Bison
Elk
Pronghorn
Moose!
Beaver
Wolves (attacking Elk!)
Bald Eagle
Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Day 13 - Bozeman, MT to Yellowstone National Park, WY

We woke up around 8:40 after hitting the snooze a couple of times and got up to head to Yellowstone. Just outside of the park Elena and I stopped by the "Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center" to see both Giant Grizzlies that had been deemed dangerous as they were too comfortable with human contact as well as a captive bread wolf pack. It was both awe inspiring and a bit sad to see such beautiful animals housed in enclosures. The most disturbing part was how the bears would run for food when a bell was rung to get them to leave the enclosure.
We drive through Yellowstone to see the Mammoth Hot Springs and then drove the Northern loop and saw amazing Wildlife. We saw mule dear, elk, pronghorn and even a grizzly! We stopped to make dinner (macaroni and seasoned chicken breast, mmmm) while overlooking a herd of bison with young. The herd slowly meandered across the open area and even crossed the road in front of cars, which caused quite a traffic jam! We eventually rolled into camp and settled down after a satisfying day of spotting wildlife.
-Pete


Paint Pots


Mammoth Hot Springs


Big Bison!

Day 12 - Glacier National Park, MT to Bozeman, MT

A somewhat uneventful day of driving all the way to Bozeman (about 10 hours) during which we had to figure out where to stay on the fourth of July! We figured some small town in Montana would be kinda fun, so we shot for Bozeman and called every place we could find. We settled on a private camp ground that had showers (!!!) and wifi (!!!!) although we found we were so exhausted we hardly had any time for the blog or emails.

Just when we were going to make dinner, a lovely couple named Jill and Gilles (french) invited us for dessert with their family (they had two young sons) and explained that they were embarking on what they considered to be the closest modern equivalent to a nomadic lifestyle. Gilles worked one day a week as a psychiatrist over the phone, and with that they intended to travel the world, seeing six continents they hoped, for the next 2-3 years. Amazing! It was really inspiring to meet a 30-something year old couple that had not given up on their dreams of living abroad and travelling. We found out they both had several connections to Stanford and San Jose, so we exchanged blog info and maps as they were headed to Glacier and coming from Yellowstone (our next destination). Great couple.

Having not had dinner, we realized it was time for fireworks, and upon the recommendation of the campground attendant, headed to the Wal-mart parking lot with the rest of Bozeman to catch the fireworks. I picked up some Wendy's (the first fast food of trip) as it was so late nothing else was open, and we had lost the opportunity to cook dinner for ourselves. Nothing like watching fireworks on the 4th of July eating Wendy's in a Wal-mart parking lot...very American. We collapsed soon afterward in anticipation of waking up early to get to Yellowstone.


Part of the fireworks show.


The boys at the fireworks show.

Day 11 - Glacier national Park

One of the amazing views from Going-to-the-Sun Road.


The group in front of Jackson Glacier (that white triangle way in the distance).


The group at Avalanche Lake for lunch.


Very cool stream on the hike to Avalanche Lake.

After sleeping quite soundly at the community center in Flathead National Forest, we sped over to Glacier National Park (about 30 miles) and quickly figured out that we would drive the only road in the park, Going-to-the-Sun Road (what a name!) We stopped at the Avalanche Lake trailhead for a short 4 mile hike and some lunch, and continued until we saw Jackson Glacier from the road (about 2/3 the way up the road). If you haven't been here, driving the road is really incredible, and the park guide is really good and directing you where to look.

We got back to camp around 7pm in time to cook a delicious dinner of sausage pasta with corn (we are learning to use canned vegetables more and more - so easy!) and attend a presentation by the ranger entitled "Birds of Prey," a slideshow that was more meant for 10-year olds, but enjoyable none-the-less. By this time, we discovered that Russell had left his sleeping pad at the community center, but we improvised with some blankets and such so that everyone, again, slept quite soundly.
(Elena)

Day 9-10 - From Hood Canal, WA to Lake Chelan, WA to Flathead National Forest, MT

We woke up early and left the canal to visit Elena's good family friends: Bill and Marilynne Lilly. We left the canal by 10:30 and just barely made (or should I say timed perfectly) our ferry from Kingston to Edmonds. It was the first time for some of us driving onto a ferry. It was pretty fun.
The drive through the Cascades were inc readable. There were beautiful forested peaks and a rushing river that followed the road we took. We finally came up upon a unique little town called Leavenworth. Apparently some time ago the residents of Leavenworth had decided to give their entire town a German Spin! All the houses had wooden shutters and German looking decoration and signage on all the buildings. Even the Shell station!
After driving through the Cascades, we made it to Bill and Marilin's beautiful house! They have an infinity pool and a breath taking view over Lake Chelan. They were incredibly welcoming and made us feel at home. We then went out for dinner at Cambells as well as for a tour of the growing town. The wonderful day was finished with a relaxing evening in the hot tub which Bill was thoughtful enough to heat for us beforehand. The view was increadable from the hot tub and infinity pool over the star and moon lit Lake Chelan. (Pete)

Side Note: Bill and Marilynne are great friends of Grandma Betty's, and Elena had the chance to befriend them as well when she lived in Hawaii in 2001.




After a lovely breakfast, we left very early in the morning in anticipation of driving all the way to Flathead National Forest, which is right next to Glacier National Park. We had rented a fire lookout tower for the evening, which ended up being about 12 miles away from the Canadian border. Unfortunately, the directions led us to the top of a mountain ridge where we were supposed to find a trailhead - alas, no trailhead to be found! We hunted around for a bit but gave up as it was getting late, and ended up spending the evening in the backyard of a community center back down in the valley. What a bummer! We at least got to see the views that the lookout would have offered, but I will be calling the reservations system that is for sure! (Elena)

Day 4-8 - Cedar Lodge, Hood Canal, WA - June 26-30

Wow! We have had an awesome time up at the Canal. We spent five days there, from Saturday the 26 through Wednesday the 30th. Being at the Canal is always one of the highlights of summer, and is one of the things I look forward to the most. Among the many things to do include intertubing, wakeboarding, and kayaking on the Canal, digging for clams and schucking oysters to be cooked that same night, playing board games on the porch, helping around the house with various little projects that need to get done, and, last but not least, shooting Gordy's Potato Gun.


Eric-"Explosion!!!"

Elena's dad and step mom came to visit while we were there. It was great to meet them and show them around the Canal.

This time we also took a trip to Seattle where we visited the Market on Pikes Street, explored the Science Museum, and finished off the day with some Clam Chowder from the famous Ivar's Restaurant.



Pikes Street!

Midway through our stay, Eric's family came to town and on the last night we had a big dinner together at their house where we ate good lasagne, had a guitar jam session, and set off some incredible fireworks. Pete, Elena, and I were urged to stay through the Fouth of July - Mark even wagered the number of days we would stay based on if we could keep track of a designated card that he flipped around in a few of his clever magic tricks. We're going to stick to the plan, however, as we have a reservation to stay at a fire tower in Glacier National Park on Friday the 2nd.

One last experience I'd like to relate has to do with a particular phenomenon that occurs at night on the canal. If you walk down to the water after night fall and swish your hand through the waves, you will sometimes see your hand lit up in a neon green light by microscopic algae that give off light when they are agitated, aka Bio-Luminescence. The more you move your hand around in the water, the greater the light that's given off. Pete and I decided to jump in and swim around on the very last night when it was particularly powerful. It was surreal to see our every
movement followed by a trail of light in the water, almost something out of mythology. It was an incredible experience and a great exclamation point to another fantastic stay with Dede and Gordy at the Canal.