"Like no place on Earth"

Hi everyone!

First off, thank you for all of your awesome comments on my blogs and pictures - it really is a great feeling to know that I have such great supporters. :)

Wow, where do I begin? This'll be a long one....I realize its been about 3 days since I last posted, and we have experienced so much from then 'till now. The days are starting to run into eachother, my eating routine is off, and my sleeping pattern is non-existent! It's Sunday night & I'm currently sitting in a lovely lodge in Utah right outside Bryce Canyon. Unfortunately I came down with a fever today, and spent most of the day resting in my king size bed (ok, not the worse thing I could be doing). I think the trip is definitely catching up to us, so some rest was more then needed. I'm feeling better now...just a little fatigued. We pulled out some chairs & sat overlooking Bryce Canyon around dinner time tonight, and I think the fresh air and scenery helped cure me.

So before I rant and rave about what I've done and seen the past few days, I think it's necessary for some self-reflection (please excuse my sappiness). I have appreciated every little thing I've come across in each state I've seen, and it's all beautiful in it's own right. It wasn't until we were driving in Wyoming on route to Yellowstone National Park that I felt a shift in my perspective on life. Do you realize what a magical country we live in!? Take away the materialistics and the nonsense, and we're left with Earth's gift to us. The trees, the air, the smell, the mountains, the water, the ground, the sky, the animals....all are taken for granted far too often. At the risk of sounding cliche', we should all be in tuned with nature and truly appreciate the beauty we live in. When you realize how "little" you are in comparison, the feeling is unreal. I could not believe my eyes, and I could not believe it has taken me 25 years to see such amazing sights. As we were driving through this scenic drive, I felt myself lose my breath and my eye started to water. It feels so good to be in constant company of natural life without any human interference...it's refreshing to say the least. During this trip, I have forgotten to look at the clocks, check my cell phone, and my worries seem far too insignificant to even give it a second thought. So on that note, if you haven't had the chance to feel the way that I described above, my advice is to get out there and discover all these hidden gems. It is pure joy. :)

Ok now onto my days. We arrived in Yellowstone on Thursday evening and were getting nervous because we didn't have a place to stay. Actually, we never know where we are staying, we usually rely on my GPS to find us a place last minute. We were so unbelievably lucky on this night; we pulled up to a little lodge with log cabins called Pahaska Tepee & they had 3 rooms left! We accepted the room without a second thought, and had the experience to sleep in a log cabin for the night minutes from the entrance to Yellowstone! Before we walked into our cabin, a deer was about 20 feet away from our front door. What a welcome-very appropriate-and it was just perfect! We ended up taking our dinner into the park and finding a quiet beach to eat, watch the sunset & soak it in.

I must mention that we were so unbelievably lucky to see the animals we did during our stay. We saw 2 moose, a grizzly bear, deer, elk, bison, and a brown bear and her cub! It was just amazing. Some people were getting frustrated because they've been there for days and hadn't seen 1 wild animal...we saw all of the ones listed within just 2 days!!! I should probably give a shoutout to the people who actually "allowed" us to see these animals; whenever we saw a line of cars on the side of the road with people frantically grabbing their cameras, it was a good indication that you'd probably see something and wouldn't be disappointed. At one point, a bear crossed the street steps away from where I was standing!! Don't worry, I know not to approach a bear, especially with her cub in tow. I was safe - but some idiots just don't know when close is "too" close. Helloooo- this isn't a zoo, did they forget they are wild and not in cages!!??

Anyway, another piece of amazingness is that we got to witness Old Faithful erupt. It occurs every 90-120 minutes, so we were able to time it right. It was the coolest thing ever...thinking that the boiling water comes from miles below the Earth. It's just crazy!! We also stopped by Artist Point to see the waterfalls. There was a ridiculous hiking trail called "Uncle Tom's Trail" that you could take to get a closer view of the falls. The stairs that took you down to the bottom were wicked steep, and made of metal with holes in them so it was hard not to get discombobilated while walking vertically down. Needless to say, this wasn't the best idea for someone with a fear of heights, so I only made it half way down. :( Oh well - the effort was there! & the falls were still outstanding from where I stood.

The end of the day was near and again we needed to figure out where to stay. We decided to head 20-30 miles north and stay in Montana. It was a good way to add to the list of states we've been to. :) Ended the night with some pizza and ice cold bear, yum!! The Inn offered a free hot breakfast so that was a plus. Let me just say, there's nothing like eating your vegetarian breakfast with about 9 or 10 dead, stuffed animals staring at you. They are very proud of their taxidermy work there in Montana; I guess I should've known considering we were eating at the "Antler Room."

After finishing up Yellowstone, we headed south to Grand Teton National Park and awed at the humongous mountains before us. The Teton peak reached 13,000 feet high- crazy! We sat in a pretty spot, had lunch, and continued on 'till Idaho. We didn't have to go thru Idaho to get to Utah, but again, figured it could be another state to add to our list. I admit I was slightly uncomfortable going thru this little town in Idaho at first. I felt like we stuck out like sore thumbs with our Massachusetts plate and our non-farmer ways. Once we were cruising though, the scenery was beautiful and my discomfort quickly dissipated. We drove to Utah and ended up driving thru the Rockies at night (my mom drove this leg, I was too much of a wimp). It was so cool!!! The sky was a big blanket of stars as we were winding around the mountains. Our goal was to drive straight thru the night to our next destination which was Bryce Canyon. After many yawns later, we finally made it to Bryce Canyon around 4:00 this morning. We slept for an hour in the car 'till the sun rose, then we made our way into the park and did a little hike around the canyon. It was only around 6:30am, and not many people were out so it felt like we had this vast canyon to ourselves. It was at this time I started to feel sick...not sure if it was the lack of sleep, something I ate, the high altitude(8000 ft. plus) or just exhaustion, but that is when we got a room and this is where I am now. :) Mom is currently sitting next to me eating doritos and putting off a shower (she should probably get on that- our feet were nasty from running through woods and marshes trying to get a good picture of a moose. What we won't do for a picture!!)

The trip is almost over- however I don't know what's in store for us from now until San Diego...gotta love the anticipation! My mom joked today that we are on "scenery overload". It's so true. It's to the point where there is just too much to look at and take in. I admit, I'm starting not to be phased by seeing deer and mountains here anymore, and thats when I know I need to step back and remember where I am. OH one thing we're doing tomorrow (Monday) is visiting Best Friends Animal Sanctuary!! I am so excited. This is where all of Michael Vick's poor dog-fighting dogs were sent to be rehabilitated. We're able to take an hour and half tour, then give the animals some lovin'. :) Right up my alley!!!

Thanks for reading!!! I'll post more pictures soon, but I can't tonight. My bed is calling my name, and I decided I can not forfeit my valuable sleeping hours any longer.

Until next time,

Ang (& Mom) :)

Thought of the day: I want to own a cow

"Dust in the wind"

Hi everyone!
Greetings from Wyoming!!! Well, its Thursday, but I'm going to discuss yesterday since I wasn't able to last night...so here goes:

We entered South Dakota yesterday morning and began chasing pavement on the pink highway....no really, the highway looked pink!! Either side of us consisted of endless green land, beautiful black cows, and cinnamin rolls (what I call rolls of hay). I was driving the first leg and let me start by saying that the speed limit was 75mph and we barely had to share the road...this is when I discovered cruise control, and boy it was fabulous!!!

We first stopped in a town called Mitchell, got some ditties, and walked around the Corn Palace. It's been there since before the turn of the century, and there's mosaics and murals made out of corn!!! It was too cool. That was a minor detour, and we hopped back on I-90 on route to the Badlands. After much cruisin', we needed to make a gas stop. We ended up seeing a gas sign (that looked hand-written) so hey, why not stop! We pulled down this dirt road in silence, both wondering where the heck this was sending us too. All of the sudden, thumb-sized grasshoppers were landing on my windshield, and hopping all over the place, to the point where I started to drive slow so I wouldn't hear them crunch under my tires. We arrived at this ghost-town gas station made out of old wood and only had 2 pumps. I drove a little further and saw run-down saloons and even a post office! I opted to stay in my car and risk looking for another gas station then take my chances outside with the grasshoppers. Oh, I must mention that after we got back on the highway, there were still 3 or 4 grasshoppers clinging to life on my wipers....it was actually quite funny. (Sandy- I know you'll appreciate this!)Poor things couldn't catch a break!

Ok now the most important parts of the day: entering the Badlands!!!!! We got out of the car and were in awe of what was before us. Rock formations resembling hills that seemed to go on forever, and as we drove along the scenic bypass, they only got better and better. At one point we stopped on the side of the road only to see hills with purple and orangey-yellow sand (you'll see what I'm talking about when I post the pictures). It was UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I can't wait for you to see it!!!! We spent about 2 hours touring around, then needed to get some dinner. We stopped at On the Border and finished around 7:30. We were still about 45 mins from Mount Rushmore, and the sky was looking glorious at this time of night. I couldn't wait to get there - and we were almost in a race against time to get there before dark.

When we were driving up the mountain road, I saw the President's faces between the trees. AHH!! I couldn't believe it. I was nearing a place that I have been wanting to see since I was a kid. Seeing it in person was just the icing on my cake-filled day. We stayed about a half-hour staring at the amazingness to try to let it sink in, then decided to try and find Crazy Horse Nat'l Monument. It was about 25 miles away, but it was dark. The park ranger said we could still make it to see the laser show, but to be careful of the windy mountain road and watch out for deer! My mom and I looked at eachother, and without hesitation, we booked it to the car and headed towards Crazy Horse. (Speaking of crazy...)
We made it in time for the last 15 minutes of the laser show (they put lasers on the monument, which is a gigantic carving of a mountain (even bigger then Rushmore!) of an Indian chief on his horse. Yay- we accomplished our goals for the day!

By this time, it was around 10pm and we debated on what to do next. We could either drive straight thru the night, or stop and sleep. We did a little of both. Please envision this setting: just me and my mom on a dark mountain road only lit up by the full moon and countless stars above us. We could go 65 mph but we remained at 40mph because there was a good chance we'd see some animals (we saw a deer by the way :) ). I just put on one of my favorite songs, "Dust in the Wind" when all the sudden my mom comes to a full stop right in front of the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign. We made it to another state and the timing was perfect. We drove for about an hour thru complete nothingness and I honestly thought I would be a little creeped out, but I felt the complete opposite. I was hanging my head out the window staring at the sky and out of nowhere I saw a shooting star!!! My mom ended up pulling over and shut the lights off so we could get out of the car and stare at the sky together. Now that was cool.

About 30 mins later we arrived at our motel for the night. We wanted to drive thru the night, but both of our batteries died in our cameras so that was reason enough to drop $75 and sleep somewhere with an outlet for the night. The bed and shower were just a bonus.

Ok I am sitting in McDonalds in Wyoming (free Wi-Fi!!) and I need to go see some more of this beautious state. It is un-freakin-real. There are seriously not enough words in the dictionary to describe what I have seen so far today & it's only going to get better.

Will be posting pics tonight....keep an eye out!!!
LOVE to y'all

Ang (& Mom)

"It's a sea of green..."

Hello again!

Wow, 2 updates within 24 hours.... that's impressive. After a finishing a long day yesterday (over 5oo miles and 3 states) I am resting at a Motel in Minnesota...about 20 miles east from South Dakota - woohoo! My mom was a trooper and drove about 11 hours while I sat passenger and took the pictures. (Thanks Mom)

As ya'll know, we reached Wisconsin yesterday morning and ended up finding a scenic byway rather then the Interstate. Sidenote: I saw a sign on the highway that said "Amish cheese, exit 15" so naturally we got off the highway on a mission to find it. No such luck. We found a convenient store, but the girl stared at me like I had 5 heads (might've been my accent) when I asked her about it. Oh well! Anyway, the scenic byway ran along the Mississippi River and we were able to stop along the road, sneak in a campsite, and put my feet in the water. So...now I can say I was in Niagra Falls, Lake Michigan, and the Mississippi River. Do you see a pattern here? :) Not gonna lie, I did feel like Tom Sawyer.

We pulled off on most of the overlooks which were also historical sites. It was really cool to imagine that Indians were fighting the Whites back in the 1800's exactly where I was standing today. From here we crossed a bridge and landed in Iowa on the otherside. We were only in this state for a few miles...but hey, now I can say I was there. Minnesota was next and this pretty much took up the entire day. It was gorgeous!!! It was a 2-lane road, with green pastures on either side full of cornfields, silos, cows, horses, and hay. It was real hot, almost 100 degrees, so my car definitely got a work out, and we on the other hand, just looked like we did. We were hot messes to say the least....but it was all worth it. We stopped at a little gas station and to my excitement- they sold slush puppies! Perfect way to cool off, however, my mom somehow choked on hers and needed to pull over. Like really, who chokes on a slush puppy? (She's fine by the way, but thats more then I can say for her toe that she jammed at the truck stop earlier. It's still black and blue and looks pretty deformed. Like I said, she's a trooper).

We finally got back on I-90 and drove into the sunset. But that wasn't the best part. We pretty much had the highway to ourselves, with the never-ending scenery on either side of us. To make this even better, there was also a storm in the distance, which made for an awesome sky, and crazy lightning, which in turn made for awesome pictures! (See above).

We hadn't eaten a meal since breakfast, and it was 9pm so we stopped at Subway. Shoutout to the Subway in Adrian, Minnesota for making the best veggie delight I ever had!!! (and I usually eat there once a week... huge compliment).

Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and Crazy Horse are where we are headed! (if you never heard of the Badlands....google it. It's nuts!!!!!!)

Till next time,

Ang (& Mom) :)

PS. Some pics are up on facebook!

OH and thank you for all the nice comments and encouragement!!! I love it! :)

Thought of the day: Why are barns always red or white???

"STOP & SMELL THE ROSES"

Hi friends & fam!!!

So it's been a couple days- but I'm finally able to record our trip so far. We are currently sitting at a truck stop in Wisconsin on route to Minnesota! We just mapped out a route that will take us on a scenic byway near the Mississippi River and through a forest rather then staying on I-90. Oh boy!!

So far it's been an amazing adventure. We left early Sunday morning and drove 9 hours to Niagra Falls and arrived around 4pm. It didn't even feel like 9 hours! It must have been the adrenaline and excitement. I gotta say that Niagra Falls exceeded my expectations. It was so beautiful! We went on the Maid of the Mist (for those of you who don't know, its a boat that takes you up close to the Falls). When I felt the mist of the Falls hit my face, I tried to let it all soak in....literally. It was my shower for the day, lol. But in all seriousness, this is when it all became real for me. We stayed until dark to see the Falls lit up...again, SO amazing!!!

After I-90 we cruised until we felt like stopping. I was driving this leg, and was determined to make it to another state before I fell asleep. I did it! I drove through Pennsylvania and ended up in Ohio. This is where we parked it at our first truck stop and got some shut-eye in the good 'ol eclipse.

Monday - woke up at 6am, had a yummy "trucker" breakfast, and bounced out of Ohio onto Indiana. There were never-ending corn fields and silos, but it never got old to me! I still couldn't believe I was in the mid-west. After about 5 or 6 hours of driving, we decided to get off the highway and explore Indiana a bit. We saw Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore on the map and started heading that way. We came across an organic farm stand and met 2 very nice fellas who sold us tomatos, basil, cucumbers and blueberries. They suggested we head 2 miles north where we'd cross state lines into Michigan and hit up that beach. SO glad we did!!! We ended up getting to swim in the great Lake Michigan for the day!!! The water was so blue and it was at least 70 degrees. I can't tell you how good it felt to jump in that water and marvel at it all.
After a few hours of fun in the sun, we continued off the beaten path and found the sand dunes we were originally looking for. The sand was soft like powder- and it was like a hidden paradise. The views from the top of the dunes were amazing, and the water looked like it should have been an ocean rather then a lake, it was huge!!!
As we were leaving, my mom said "see this is what I mean by taking the time to stop and smell the roses." Well said mom!!!

It was about 7pm and we felt satisfied with our exploration thus far, so we high-tailed it through Chicago. This was probably the only stressful time we encountered. I was driving in an unfamiliar city, and my mom had the map in one hand and my camera in the other. It was obviously very difficult to accomplish both, so she opted to take pictures rather then give me directions. Therefore, we took the "scenic" route through Chicago....which now looking back, I'm glad we did.

We decided that after 2 days of driving and exploring that we could treat ourselves to a hotel. We stayed in Rockford, Illinois....and we couldnt have been more excited to shower and sleep in a bed!

Ok guys, we're outta here and off for another unplanned adventure. Keep ya posted--stay tuned!

OH and PS. This blog site doesn't have a picture thingy...so I guess I'll try to post some on Facebook when I get to it. BUT, I cant post all of them yet, but I'll give you a glimpse :)

Until then......

Ang (& Mom) :)