Meet me at the Dancing Shiva

We had frozen our butts off in South Dakota and decided that heading south would be a good idea. Then we remembered that south meant the Rockies which were covered in snow.  Fortunately, as we drove into Denver we got in touch with our little angel Amy. Amy and I met in Thailand through our mutual friend Katie Sadowski. We went climbing last year out west and then connected again this cold dark night as she offered us her parents lovely home outside Denver as long as we wanted. They were out of town and she told us how to get in. Turns out that we also were fortunate enough to receive a project from my work buddies, Sustainability Partners.  So for 4 days we both worked morning to late night on a tight project out of a comfortable home!  We paid off most of the trip and then headed out of town to visit Amy herself at her cabin in Leadville, CO.  Oh yea, and we got a hike in at Rocky Mtn National Park before we left.

Signature portrait in the Rocky Mtn National Park

In Leadville we cooked great food and had great company.  And we went on an epic 13 mile hike in snow.

I am perplexed by how I have gotten myself into this snowy situation.

Somehow Jake is not phased by the snow that is up to my knees!

Next we headed to the vast and huge desert landscapes of southern Utah.  This is a playground full of too many national treasures to experience in a lifetime.  We picked a few top ones for this trip knowing that this is one area of the country to which we must return.  Keep in mind, Jake and I met on a spring break service trip to the Grand Canyon so A. We did not feel compelled to go to the Grand Canyon and B. We have a special love for visiting the desert landscapes.

First we visited Moab, UT and went mountain biking, hiked nearly every hike in Arches Natl Park, and stayed in town long enough to watch the election!

This is one of so many spectacular arches.

This is a dinosaur track, one of many on our mountain bike ride on Klondike Bluffs near Moab, UT.

In the middle of our mtn bike ride we could hike into Arches NP and overlook the northern end of the park from Klondike Bluffs.

This was Jake's first mtn bike ride and it was pretty burly. He did an awesome job! Another hobby we can share

The Delicate Arch is the icon of Utah and the National Park system. It is even more beautiful in person than you would expect. It is not any easy walk (uphill though short) to get to it but well worth it at sunset especially.

Then we decided to go backcountry camping in The Needles, part of the Canyonlands National Park just south of Moab. By backcountry I mean we set up a site .5m from the car and subsequenly packed completely inefficiently. It was worth it considering the sub-freezing temperatures every night. Makes for an amusing picture of me. Sherpa Suze.

We hiked over 45 miles in the Needles over 2 days. We did something like 65 miles of trail in the Moab area. But this was a very cold day that included snow!!!

Over our 45 miles of trail we saw very very few people and tons of great vistas and variated landscapes. The Needles have some really unusual and beautiful rock formations.

One of the coolest rock formations was a tunnel like slot in the rocks. Much like a slot canyon but without the creek running through it. This picture has not been modified.

Our base camp in the Needles for a few days. We bought a new tent in Denver at REI, thank goodness!

We finally left the Needles and headed to Bryce Canyon NP in time to catch a glimpse of the hoodoo formations at sunset. These are unique formations to this canyon. If you look at them long enough you start to see figures, families, faces.

So we took an interest in being off of the computer and outside as we crossed the Mississippi.  Therefore, we took way more pictures and spent less time writing.  I will take you down a quick summary of the midwest and Rockies by way of the highlight picture tour.

Not actually as cool as it sounds; in nowhere South Dakota

The murals inside and out change every year.

Jake in the Badlands, SD; We spent a few days here. Interesting formations but windy and depressing...except for...

except for Buffalo! This huge herd came through camp while we ate our oatmeal one morning! They were beautiful and their size shook the ground as they picked up speed and trotted away.

Devil's Tower is truly spectacular, esp on a day like this. It is a sacred native american site.

Can't escape the midwest without some prairie dogs!

We paid the ridiculous parking rate and saw Mt. Rushmore on a stormy and blustery day. It really was spectacular and the ranger led walk was worth our time. Then we took funny pix.

Can't imagine why that little face is not immortalized as such with the others!?

Pretty goats hanging out in the parking lot as they do...

Sadly we do not have pix of the 40mph snowstorm we slept in without a proper tent (missing a pole) or the spectacular depths of Jewel and Wind Caves but we do have my hair after a week without showering and keeping it tamed under my hat until this moment of freedom. No products were used in the making of this hairstyle.

Enough for this post. Next we made it to Colorado for 4 days of work to pay off the trip, hiking, freezing, and continuing west through more parks….

Here are our thoughts on many of the states we passed through in our first half of the cross country road trip.  The pictures are in the second half.

DC – Taxation without Representation OR the American experience
Traffic, expensive transportation, and cars are all the quintessential American Experience.  I had never really had to get around DC during the week with a car- there is NO reason to have a car in DC during the week.  We left DC with a $100 parking ticket.
We also had the Native American experience, sort of.  There is much debate about the Native American Museum.  I found it worth the visit and especially enjoyed the landscaping and dining hall.  Please cast your opinions here about the museum but be sure to say when you visited as it has changed a lot since opening.

Virginia – Virginia is for lovers.
We reentered VA as we moved west toward St. Louis.  “VA is for Lovers” has always perplexed me.  Maybe I should visit the office of tourism and get a good explanation for this slogan or you could help me understand with your perspectives.  Perhaps VA is for lovers of many different things – mountains, the Bay, the Rivah, history, wine, privately out-of-state funded public education (UVA!), history, tobacco, capital of the confederacy, democrats and republicans, the meeting of the north and south, history, seasons, humid summers, history, fertile family farms, hospitality, my home state.  Did I mention “history?”

Maryland – Seize the Day Off
I have no idea.  Maryland drivers suck…they all seem to drive like it’s Sunday, the day off?  Any ideas?

Pennsylvania – State of Independence
Beautiful farms, rolling hills, and coal.  It independently holds the highest gas price of our trip so far at $2.99. We budgeted for $4.00 so we’re not that upset.

West Virginia – Open for Business (not anymore)… Wild and Wonderful
For a period of time, WVA switched their slogan from Wild and Wonderful to Open For Business. Anyone that cares about fresh air (anyone in their prevailing winds to the east, thank you very much) knows that this was despicable and was happy when they reversed it a few months later.
I’ve visited the wild and wonderful area of WVA many times to climb and play in the New River and Gauley River gorges.  I never saw a place on the east coast quite as beautiful as Summersville lake – climbing next to crystal clear blue waters on a hot summer day is blissful.  But this visit was for only 10 miles across the “finger” of WVA.  I found out that I am not as dexterous with my left hand as my right in describing the shape of WVA.  See below that I cannot flick someone off with my left hand…I mean I cannot describe the shape of WVA.

Apparenlty I cannot make the WVA symbol with my left hand.

Ohio – So much to Discover
So much to Discover…..you just have to look really really hard to see it and we did not.  It was the longest state of our day.  We discovered vast expanses of concrete and corn; and contrary to popular belief there were some undulations in the land.

Indiana – The Crossroads of America
And yes there were…many intersections though we only took one to get gas.  Wait, nope, too expensive.  Lots of trucks and lots of roads.

Illinois – got nothing to say here. Obama?

Missouri -  “The Show Me State”
St. Louis certainly had a lot more to show us than we expected.  We were both blown away by the size and beauty of the Arch.  We excitedly bought our National Park Pass ($80 for the year) and got discounts on a ride to the top!  I had no idea you could go all the way to the top of the arch.  We were whisked to the top in a pod the size of the Apollo return modules.  It was a cool experience to look down out the viewing windows and know nothing was below you.

Touching the Mississippi under the Arch

Then we scooted down to the Budweiser brewery were we ended our free tour after the first stops at the Clydesdales (Aren’t all beers brewed the same?  You’ve been on one tour, you’ve been on them all) and went to the tasting room.

Suze and Jake with a Budweiser Clydesdale

Let’s be honest folks, isn’t the tasting room the entire point of a brewery tour?  First, the tasting room had about as much ambiance as my elementary school cafeteria.  And the pretzls came in 100calorie packs – sad.  But we got two free samples; high marks for that much free bear.  Did you know that Budweiser makes a wheat beer called “Shock Top?” We were impressed (and should be since they are now Belgian owned) but that’s where it ended.  The American Ale was moderate but then we decided to branch out.  The Michalobe Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry excuse for a beverage and the Amber Boch where horrible.

Suze and beer

Jake and beer

After a little afternoon brew we were primed to cross town to the City Museum – the reason for our visit to St. Louis.  Many have asked why we decided on St. Louis as our mid-west stop over Chicago.  Well, first off, this trip is about going places we will never go again because I don’t plan to drive cross country anytime soon.  So, I will likely go to Chicago sometime for a visit.  I will not likely visit St. Louis for any reason again.
Thus, the City Museum beckoned us at the suggestion of a few friends who had recently visited.  The City Museum is an enormous playground.  It is a creative wonderland of tunnels, slides, jungle gyms, ball pits, and secret passageways.   It is in a portion of an enormous warehouse which still holds some museum collections and large spaces for weddings or other parties.  I really can’t describe it accurately with words so a few pix will help and you’ll just have to visit.  They even has a fire pit for roasting marshmallows.

Jake in space

and this is just the outside! look for the little people crawling and playing around!

Iowa – “Field of Opportunity” – Yes, field after field.  Still has a pastoral beauty.   We stopped for gas in Iowa afternoon. What’s wrong with this picture?

Apparently this is what ethanol does to the gas pump?

Read carefully

We finally packed the last bits on Tuesday, Oct 14th at 5pm and headed north.

Car's packed and ready to go on a beautiful day!

Leaving Monument Ave, sad feelings

Yes, north, not west.  I had to see friends in DC one last time before we left the east coast and it’s only a short 2 hour drive to commence the journey.  Without any traffic (a good omen for the rest of the trip) we made it in time to catch some friends and family, visit the museum of native American Indians and the National Portrait Gallery, watch the debates, and stop by the Botanical Gardens.

Suze and Jake at botanical garden in DC

flower at botanical garden

At 1130 pm on Tuesday night, we decided to go all the way to st louis the next day.  All 835 miles.  So we got up at 6.  Fortunately, I don’t wake up/have awareness until 9am, so the first 3 hours were ‘free’.  Jake’s introduction to driving included mountains, rain, trucks, and flat boring expanses, over 7 hours of driving.

We pushed through 14 hours of driving on the first day, on my birthday of a quarter century, the celebration of which we postponed for obvious reasons.

Day 1 – 14 hours, 8 states

Here's the beautiful start at 6am.

50 states in 50 days says the presidential campaigns at the time? I think we can do better than that!

Next post will include state slogans and comments on our often brief experience driving through many of them.

So months ago now, I embarked across the country (yes, traveling once again) to make my new home in Portland, OR.  I actually did keep track of my journey a good bit of the way and have pictures to prove it!  I am now in Portland but about to leave for India so my stories fall far behind on date.

I will post slowly so as not to overwhelm. Pictures are going to be on Picassa soon. I’ll put up a link when I have it

Pre-departure

Packing never seemed to end.  I think we could have stayed in Richmond indefinitely packing more things to ship or fit in the car.  Jake had a good handful of things to take with us but nothing compared to me.  Having grown up in the same house for 25 years, there is a lot of stuff that is mine.  And then there is a lot of stuff that my Dad wants to be mine.  This scene was common in the last few months (you’ll appreciate this if you know my Dad and I and our house):
Dad: “Suzanne, don’t forget to leave your SmartPass.  Oh, are you taking this very old and very fine piece of furniture? What about this one? And this lovely box of tissue? How about these boxes of stuff in the pantry or this jar of jam?”
Me: “Thanks Dad, I will be sure to leave you the SmartPass (when I leave in 2 weeks).  No, I am not taking this very old and very fine piece of furniture that has sat up in the attic for 20 years waiting for me to take it.  You may eat the jam and use the tissue yourself.  I am driving a VW Jetta Wagon, not an 18 wheeler.  But maybe next time…”
One of the things that absolutely had to occur before leaving VA was Jake getting his driver’s license.  Having lived in a place that did not require one (Singapore) to get around as a teenager, he never had one.  Fortunately, while I was in India our dear friend Jonney taught Jake to drive my car on a driver’s permit.  Sadly, since then, he had not then gotten the license.   So on Tuesday morning, Jake passed the in car test at DMV (first in line at 8am and did not leave till 10!) and now has a license to drive me across the country…cough….I mean so we can split the driving

Jake's ID (this is a joke from a movie for all you non Gen Y)

This is actually my car in a ditch and having just hit a telephone poll. This was pre-departure. Ask me for the full story sometime