Mileage: 240,120

I have this grand plan of keeping this blog going so that people know where we are and what we are up to. Hmmmph.

If only I could actually keep blogging so you guys stayed interested! Wouldn't that be helpful?

So, to get to where we started -in Evanston, IL - took us 11, 189 miles.

Can you believe it? We drove 11,189 miles. Yikes-o. Damn. Didn't seem like that much - but hey. It's been like a month since we've been on the road now.

Here is a beautiful outline of a 'rough' version of our route. Notice the green highlighter. Now, remember the route wasn't exactly planned to look so silly, like a weird outline of the state of Oklahoma. It was supposed to stretch up into the Northwest. But, then again - none of you sent us MONEY like we asked - so we took I-80 all the way home. :) Te, he.

When we got home we met up with friends and ate and drank and were merry. We still are (merry). More in the next few blogs..... (I promise because I'm doing them right now.)

Decision: Come home.

In the midst of navigating the California interstate system, we decided very truthfully that we needed to come home. Our bank account was looking very, well, sad. Our truck was acting very tired. And, we honestly felt a little worn out ourselves. So we hopped on I-80 and set out for our 3 day trip to Iowa.

Hey -- just cause we decided to come back didn't mean we couldn't enjoy ourselves along the way, right? Near the border of Nevada and Utah we stopped in Wendover, NV. We thought we were just getting diesel and some snacks but it turns out there was a car show going on.

We walked around and got some good shots of BATMAN's car, some sweet old cars, and this HUGE MONSTER truck that Wren deemed 'not that great'. Wendover is near the famous salt flats where they have big races - Woo Hoo. Pretty cool to see.

That night my Mom put us up in a hotel in Evanston, Wyoming. We thought that was kinda funny so we had to take a picture. Thanks for the room, Mom!

Santa Cruz - we love you.

We don't know how to surf yet, but we still enjoyed Santa Cruz. So did Bowser. I mean, can you see the size of that dog he got to play with? And, in the Pacific Ocean nonetheless. F-U-N.

We were in Santa Cruz for a day. Ate a lovely little breakfast and headed over to the dog-friendly beach. After Bowser got all of his energy out we walked back to the truck and along the way - found a dog-friendly WATER FOUNTAIN. OH, my. How thoughtful!

We walked around the boardwalk and watched 12's, 14's, 16's and 18's girls sand volleyball. I was so jealous! Maybe if I grew up in California I would have been a beach volleyball star? Or, at least it's fun to pretend huh??

We also ran into my friend from high school - Roya! What?! It was so random!! And awesome - I was so awe struck that I forgot to get a picture of us! Dang! Good to see you Roya! Way better than seeing a celebrity in California!!

Bears, Tigers, and SEA lions!

Hi, Hola, Heyooo!

After Bowser romped all around the coast of Big Sur - we continued our drive up Highway 1 to Monterey, CA. What a drive! I highly recommend it!

When we got to Monterey, I had no idea what I was in for --- That's right folks - Sea Lions!! I didn't even remember that there is such a big population of them there until I got there.

We got to the Fisherman's Wharf and let Bowser get out with us. There was only a couple at that pier. Far away on a rock. Bowser barked at them and they barked at him. What the hell are those things? The dog of the sea - Bowser.

The best part was when we pulled up to the second pier in hopes of seeing MORE sea lions, Wren made me close my eyes as he led me up to a PILE of them laying on a boat ramp! Best surprise ever! I think I counted 19. That was including the tiny baby who had made it about 20 feet past the pile to the sidewalk - I guess that was a secret place to be. No chances of being woken up by your SNORING neighbor!

Big Sur in a nut shell....

Three Rivers, CA

So, we were pretty sure that we had been showing Bowser a good time all trip. He met Mica and Marley in Colorado, Hank in Texas, got to hike and play in Montreal, got wet in the Atlantic ocean and barked at every horse and cow along the way. But then... we didn't know what was waiting for him in Three Rivers, CA......

...... Tulsa. His best dog friend. (Sorry Dex and Abbey)

That's right - Bowser found his true love. A couple times while we were staying with our friends Carson and Dark, the dogs got it in their puppy heads to run off. I'm pretty sure they were busy building a "boys only" tree house somewhere above the cow field that lined Carson's property. They would be gone for a good thirty minutes at a time and when they came back they would be panting, huffing and puffing like they had just gotten into the biggest bout of mischief. These dogs!

They are around the same age, Tulsa just a couple months younger than Bowser and they have exactly the same mindset. Lick each others faces, bite each others necks, take a nap, get up and do it all over again.

We had a good time while staying with Carson and Dark. They took us to an amazing granite wash on the way up to Mineral King (a part of Sequoia National Park that was more recently added) It's hard to describe and I don't know if the pictures really do it justice, but when glaciers cut through here they left this beautiful slide of granite. We hiked around waterfalls, cliffs, and little pools of run-off. The water was clear and beautiful but OH was it COLD. Carson and Wren were braver than I - I could only stand it for a couple seconds!

We also met Carson's dad, Bill, who was kind enough to invite us to his telescope viewing of the night sky! Hadn't been around a telescope since 9th grade, so it felt good to get back into it! We looked at the Hercules Cluster, a Ring Nebula, a double star, and many other things I said I wouldn't forget the names of but now, of course, HAVE indeed forgotten. Needless to say, it was so GREAT. It really gets dark when you aren't in a huge metropolis.....

Carson and Dark are managing some properties near Sequoia National Park and it was fun to see those. Little vacation cabins (some not so little) in the middle of the forest would be such a peaceful spot for a weekend or a week.... Maybe next time we come out we can rent one of these places!

Wren and I went to Sequoia on the 3rd day of being in Three Rivers. We left Bowser with Tulsa at home due to the amount of wildlife said to be in the park....

What would Tulsa do if Bowser got eaten by a BEAR??!??

Flagstaff, AZ....Who Knew?

Top Three Things about Flagstaff, AZ:

3. The Weather - ?? Wait, Arizona being livable? Yes, it's true. At least the day that we were in Flagstaff, it was a breezy 76 degrees instead of the blazing 96 degrees it had been near the Grand Canyon the day before.

2. Good Food! We heard word that Diablo Burger was the place to be. Thank god we did! It's a tiny little nook of a restaurant tucked behind this huge mural (see number 1 for more). We sat in the wrong place, on the wrong patio, didn't understand the whole process of the place (you are supposed to order at a counter and pick it up at a counter but we resisted and sat on a patio and forced table service) Yet, despite all of our slip-ups, our 'server' was the friendliest guy who served us a beautiful salad with homemade vinaigrette and a juicy burger on an ENGLISH MUFFIN. So fun. He also gave me a book about the mural (see number 1) and let me keep it! Best thing ever.

1. The ART! I was completely floored by the amount of mural work all around the downtown Flagstaff area. It's just out-of-nowhere and GOOD. Really good. The piece I keep talking about that is located near Diablo Burger is a mural by Joe Sorren titled "The Veridic Gardens of Effie Leroux" I love this mural! I took so many pictures ( 3 posted above) of it and like I said, I now have a book all about the fictitious life of Effie Leroux - she designed these gardens supposedly all around the world. :) The characters are a little eerie, dark, creepy - oh, I just love it! How about the little bear boy with the red suit on?!

Illegal Camping at the Grand Canyon

Dear Parents, Adults, Grandparents, and all responsible law-abiding citizens,

Although we may have broken the 'no camping rule', I would argue that it's not exactly camping if you are sleeping in the back of your parked truck and all of you and your belongings are safely stored away inside. Right? Right. Plus we were very respectful about trash, noise, etc. I'd say more people should camp this way! (See picture of Bowser and I being MODEL citizens.)

So, we slept overnight at the Grand Canyon in hopes of seeing the sunrise. We set 2 alarms for 5:00am. Our plan was that this was WAY earlier than the sun would actually be up - so no matter what, we wouldn't be able to miss it. Ha! Live and learn, I guess.

Throughout the course of the night, both Wren's phone and mine died from no charge leaving us without an alarm. That's okay though, because the sun woke me up at 5:14am. Whaaa!?

Other people who had the same idea as we did, were leaving the parking lot by the time we were climbing out of the truck. I say - my pictures are still good. And, it was damn early. We did pretty good for the first time I think. It was super windy and cold, so after 15 minutes are so we climbed back into our bedroom and slept until 9am. Our normal waking up time. :)

Spent a couple of half days around the Grand Canyon. It's pretty mind-blowing....

Sincerely,

Jessie (oh, and Wren and Bowser helped with spell check and editing)

a little town in the mountains....

Well we had a couple contacts in Colorado but decided to stay with Wren's friend, Warren in Crested Butte, CO. And boy, we are GLAD we did.

Crested Butte is tiny. It's in the middle of a huge gathering of mountains and let's just say our advice is - drive during the DAY to get there. We left Denver around 2pm and followed our lovely TOM TOM's directions on how to get there. Then, about 20 minutes away (or so said the TOM TOM) we stopped at a local BBQ place. We have found that if a sign says BBQ - we really CANNOT pass it up. It's physically against our nature. (See BBQ picture, and you will understand why)

So we are eating BBQ and having a grand ol' time when we mention to the waitress that we are in fact going to Crested Butte. "Crested Butte? Well, honey, you are about 2 hours away at least. You can't get there from here."

Oh, really? So we get the handwritten directions and are off. 2 hours my ass! We left the BBQ around 7pm. And, by 11pm we were pretty sure we were going to die. No lights, no houses, just miles and miles of the curvy-est, steepest gravel road you've ever driven on. Oh, and no worries if your tire hits the marked "soft shoulder" you will tumble down into one of many RAGING rivers and for sure it will be the end of your days here in COLORADO. Scared yet? How about all the tiny white Aspen trees as far as the eye can see. Many good hiding spaces for scary-movie-type things!

Finally - we come over a hill... and there it is. A little town. Houses. Lights on. Speed limit signs. Stores. Restaurants. OH MY GOD - civilization! It was a very happy moment.

Above are all the pictures from the weekend. After the hellish drive, we really enjoyed everything about this place. Hiking, 'caving', dogs playing, dogs swimming, dogs climbing?, spaghetti and meatball night at Warren and Taylor's. Everything after that drive was beautiful.

Sorry for the amount of pictures - when you are in a place like that it's hard to pick which postcard scene you want to post! Thanks for the good times Taylor and Warren! We'll be seeing you again soon, we hope!

Bolder Boulder

HEYYYYOOOO. We love it here.

It's amazing. It's beautiful. They have a good school. There are mountains. There is a city. And, most of all there are DOGS. Very friendly dogs.

Didn't take too many pictures because I was in awe of being where we most likely want to LIVE.

Great music scene, great community scene, cute shopping scene. Gotta run and look up apartment prices :)

A night in Arlington, TX

Thanks to Wren's uncle Doug and aunt Vicki we had a fun night stay in Arlington, TX. We arrived at their beautiful house - got fed, chatted, watched some TV and then went to our little apartment over their garage to PASS OUT. Texas makes me HOT, and when I'm HOT I have to SLEEP.

Bowser was very happy to stay up there with us since he'd been being a 'country dog' all throughout Texas and wasn't inside at all. He very much appreciated the air conditioning and comfort of carpet!

In the morning, Doug showed us around Arlington's hot spots - the Dallas Cowboy stadium, the Texas Rangers ballpark, Six Flags and a huge water park. They are all within what seems to be less than a MILE of each other! I think that calls for another visit (when it's not so hot) and we can go to a GAME and maybe ride a couple rides?! What do you say Jerri, Charlie and Emma?