Trippin' with an Aussie

Buenos días and welcome back trippers! It’s the holiday season and 2020 is almost over. We have safely made it home to Tampa and the total mileage count was 17,020! We still have a lot to cover here, and I’ll continue to cover the whole trip. Once we catch the trip up to the end, I’ll do a post or two going over the math of it all. Gas, food, maintenance etc and try and break it down a bit into tangible info to be used for our next time out (possibly as soon as next spring!) But in the meantime…

We last left off as we were approaching Sin City and leaving Utah behind us. I-15 follows the Virgin River as it flows out of Zion National Park and through the Northwest corner of Arizona where it meets up and mingles with the Colorado River in Lake Mead. Our trail parted from the Virgin River around where Arizona gives way to Nevada just north of Virgin Peak, and we arrived in the city of lights just as the sun had set.

We put it into park at a Planet Fitness on Sahara Blvd. about 1.5 miles from Las Vegas Blvd. and got quickly cleaned up and ready for a walk. Neither of us had been to Vegas before, but we had an idea of what to expect. There was a laundry list of things that we both wanted to see and do, but we also didn’t want COVID so decided it would be best if we kept our sightseeing to what we could see outside. It kept spending, gambling and drinking to a total minimum, and it meant we could bring Ali with us to see all the sights and smells.

Open container laws meant I could have my bevy with me while we strolled and legalized recreational Marijuana meant it could be smelled wafting through the air wherever we went. Although, a bit more discreet about our consumption, we did legally purchase some at a dispensary and learned if you go a bit out of town and on the Reservation land, you don’t have to pay the absurdly high tax. Colorado’s was up around 25%!

We had an awesome, fun and fairly pandemic conscious time. The crowd was a bit thicker than I expected, all-things-considered. The inside main-event shows were all cancelled, so we would have to come back anyway to see Penn and Teller.

The hike ended up being a bit far from the south side of the Strip, back to Sahara blvd and back to the van, but we made it and without having to resort to anything too seedy.

Later that night after some impulsive and brief deliberation we decided we would more than likely be making a back-track into a state and region we had already been. Planning a trip around and through Death Valley, I noted that we were pretty reasonably close to Yosemite National Park, and we had missed it as we were passing through Lake Tahoe. The only thing keeping us was time, which we were no longer on constraints with, so decided it would be a fun couple day adventure into the desert and back into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to see one of the prized jewels of the National Park System. Plus, this way we could do a full loop around Death Valley National Park and really allow us a chance to see the whole thing.

We got an early morning start from Vegas and headed north out of town on US 95 towards Amargosa Valley and the Area 51 Gift Shop and Brothel that serves as the only point of interest in a very lonely stretch of highway.

We’ve entered alien country. Just south of the mysterious Groom Lake AFB, the gift shop highlights the variety of myths and stories that are associated with the area along with a basic map of the various testing grounds and air force bases that are scattered between Nevada-375 (Extraterrestrial Highway) and US-95. Weird, alien mysteries aside; A cool thing about the testing area is the amount of craters left behind as evidence plus it was serving as a location for the testing of and filming old bomb footage that some of us grew up seeing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwotdheQCGo

For those Google Earth enthusiasts. Check out:
37°10’36.67″N 116° 2’46.29″W

What you see is Sedan Crater, and as you go south you get an idea of the amount of munitions that used to be tested there.

We all love a bit of the unknown, and I was ready for the unknown when we got out at the Brothel. Sadly though, it was closed due to the pandemic, as were most brothels in the state. So we would have to save being probed for another time.

We got back into the van after snagging some cool alien swag and continued our trip through the north side of Death Valley. Although, I made an error here that could have ended worse. I didn’t fill the tank. A note of caution for anyone headed out of Vegas towards California. There aren’t many service stations or much of anything. I thought surely there were small towns on the map that we would be crossing through, but many of the stations were out of business or simply seasonally closed. We didn’t run out, but it got closer than it had the entire trip. I’ll play it safe from here on out and never go anywhere west of the Mississippi River under half a tank. You don’t know how long until you’ll see another station.

Our trip through Death Valley and back into California took us through a magnificent and huge sandstorm that loomed like a giant beige shadow monster, devouring the land as it blew across the desert. Once inside, visibility was eerily low and tumbleweeds blew about. It was here we had a sighting of a majestically large red coyote. He was crossing the road, and he stopped to have a gander. He was curious and was looking inquisitive, and we slowed down to a crawl to get a good look at him. Grey and red fringed he looked regal with the reddish brown dust blowing about. Wind and dirt seemed to not phase him much. Where he was coming from and where he was headed was a mystery. Aside from the whirlwind of dirt and sand that covered tens of miles in all directions, it was a featureless terrain. Was this everyday life for him?

We didn’t take any pictures or video, it was a single, acute moment we all shared and the memory of him and the hostile landscape will continue to linger long after we left him there.

We finally climbed back into the back-end of California and found ourselves at Lake Mono. A unique feature, at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the eastern entry of Yosemite National Park. A stunning teal lake set into dry arid sand. It was a wonder there was a lake there at all considering the surrounding terrain. It was like someone forgot to tell it that the surrounding area was desolate desert. But the snow run-off from the mountains it neighbors keeps it well-fed, even in the dry fall season.

Which we were in. Speaking of it being late fall. It was getting dark and cold quick, the gas tank was on E and a bit tired from the long drive. We angrily paid our expensive gas tab in Lee Vining and went for a rest area on US-395, about 40min from the park entrance. A cold evening with temps below freezing was in-store for us, due to the elevation and late in the season. We had done cold so night prep had become a routine but wearing 2-3 pairs of pants every night to sleep is fun for no-one.

The following day was a quick drive back up the highway and before we knew it, we were in Tioga Pass. 50ft shy of 10k in elevation, it gives an amazing view of the Sierra high country. What was a nice contrast to the hours of desert to the east, was rolling steel boulders set against glacial lakes and towering conifers. Yosemite valley shared a theme with Zion in its sheer cliff faces and tall waterfalls. The granite gray gave it a distinctly different character than its crimson counterpart and despite the double Yosemite falls being dry during our fall visit, the impressiveness of the park was ultimately worth the back-track to me.

We spent a couple of days driving through Yosemite and doing a couple of the day hikes based out of the bottom of the valley. Before too long, we were back in the van and descending back down into the valley of death from whence we had come. The trip back was going to be broken up a bit more, so we had that to look forward to.

We had passed on actually going into Death Valley National Park until our return trip, assuming sheer maddening boredom would take hold having just done the pass through fairly recently, breaking it into a couple day trip would give it a bit of leisure. What I didn’t know was we were stumbling into a very underrated, bizarre and uniquely featured part of the country that had a varied history reflecting the harsh setting in which it was part of.

Coming back from Yosemite, we originally tried to cut through the valley and enter near Scotty’s Castle. Scotty’s Castle is a two-story Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style villa built in the 1920s. The road through was closed to a flash flood the previous year, it had been washed away. So we were in for a bit of a detour to get into the Beatty Nevada entrance. But we didn’t waste the trip to that side, and found a salt flat to get out and hang out for the afternoon.

We eventually made it into the valley itself, and we were not disappointed. Not the featureless landscape I had expected! Rocks that looked like they were scooped out of a marbled ice-cream tub, a variety of colors and pallets on display in a dazzling and flamboyant manner. An area literally called Artists Palette had a variety of hues from different minerals. Greens, oranges, blues, purples and pinks were all visible. It is truly amazing what rocks can do if you give enough time. We learned about the intensive heat and what used to be an area for Borax mining. The owner, once the mines weren’t as profitable, felt the land was still something special and pushed to had it made into a park. It was made protected land and eventually into a national park in 1994.

We had an amazing day kicking around Bad Water Basin, Artists Palette and some small day hikes that were available. It was nice to be back in the warm again (although grateful we didn’t have to do Death Valley in all its 120 degree glory). Our goal that evening was to make it back to the Area 51 gift shop, as they also had a rest area as well. Maybe we would get to see some UFOs that night! We stopped at the ghost town Rhyolite as well. It’s not easy having a community in the middle of nothing!

Well, the Area 51 rest area on US-95 near Amargosa Valley was the goal that evening, but we got a little distracted. On the south side of the highway we saw rising in the distance some very large sand dune hills. We saw a side-road turn off, saw that it was Bureau of Land Management land (Read: Free Parking) and decided to go on a side adventure before the sun set.

It was a dirt road and being in a heavy camper gave me some immediate concerns. But why stress bad ideas when you can just live in the moment! We continued along the 5 mile or so dirt road closer and closer to the sand dunes. A very rough ride wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for but its what we got.

Our belongings rattled about like a cocktail shaker being prepped for a martini. The frame shook, the pots and pans comically smashed into each other giving us an entire percussion section, and the cabinets rattled almost to their freedom of being attached to any solid frame. Finally, we arrived at a flat, level, area that appeared to be a parking lot, but with no pavement. It was just flat leveled off sand with some fire-pits. What a good spot to stay! The highway is only about 5 miles back. We made it this far without issues, we should be able to return to the highway as well if we went back the exact way we came…

But the Sand-dune hills were still a couple miles off. Seems like a long hike from here if we stop. The trail continues! I think the van will fit… Oh boy, this sand got real deep and soft, perhaps we should turn around… Uh’oh… I think we’re stuck…

After a bit of panic and some attempted ‘rocking’ us back and forth to attempt to dislodge from the sand it was time to cede that the dunes ate us, the van was simply too heavy to have taken that far in and its traction and ability to ‘dig-out’ were nonexistent. The sun had set at this point. So there we were, in the middle of the desert, far from the highway, stuck in the sand, and it was dark. A little bit of frustration was the first thing to pop up. I knew better, this was a silly error to make. It wasn’t a disaster though. We did have a special RV-travelers insurance for these exact kind of scenarios. We had enough water and food. It would simply be a matter of waiting the several hours for them to find us. Provided we could even get a call out. Oh shit, no reception? Well that sucks.

On the bright side, I saw some campfire lights in the distance, perhaps some other nomads hanging out in the middle of the Nevada desert would give us a hand? Well, after a brief run in with the owner’s 5 Belgian malinois (Security/police dog breed) we had a brief exchange and for the low price of smoking and sharing some stories with him and his significant other, they would gladly come help dig us out.

So we were saved and made some new friends in the process. We had a wonderful evening and following day playing in the sand before we slowly made our way back to Vegas. We did end up spending another evening at the Area 51 rest-stop… Sadly, no probing to be had or funny lights to be seen.

We emerged back in Vegas after our Death Valley adventure, but we didn’t stay long or do much else in the city. We just had a couple of things to see on our way to Arizona. Lake Mead and Hoover Dam were the extent of it. Security was a bit tight, and they had to search us for explosives before we could drive over the dam. Thankfully we didn’t have any currently so, we had a chance to see the giant feat of engineering.

Lake Mead was bigger than I thought and didn’t realize people’s pension for boating. There seemed to be boats everywhere! We crossed the Dam and into Arizona. We weren’t done with the wild-west yet, we still had a while to go.

Join us next time for the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Snow in Show-Low and our trip through New Mexico, including a trip into the womb of the earth!

Ahoy there Trippers! Welcome back aboard. Thanksgiving has come and gone and so has most of the warmth from anywhere north of the 30th Parallel. Which rules out a lot of places in the US except for New Orleans and Home… The Big Easy will have to be patient for now because we last left off just as we were leaving Tahoe and crossing into The Great Basin.

Reno to Salt Lake City is a long desolate drive and takes you through some pretty monotone terrain. Arid, scraggly, scrub brush dotted beige and maroon mountains for what seemed like 500 miles. We broke the trip up with an overnight in Winnemucca which according to Johnny Cash, means we’ve been officially everywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov4epAJRPMw

After a long morning of driving the basin, the tumbleweeds gave way to pearl white salt and our visibility of the horizon increased drastically as we leveled off into the Salt Flats that lie west of the Great Salt Lake. We were told you could drive out on to it and before we could get a couple miles further east on the highway we saw several cars off of the interstate and wandering aimlessly about the salt. As flat, level and as far as one can see on a (allegedly) round planet, it would be a wonderful place to stay for a couple of days if one had the time and water to do so. We had neither at this point on our trip, our water pump has been on the fritz since our run-in with Iowa sheriffs, limiting us to our gallon jugs (which were mostly empty) and our time-frame to meet a friend for the weekend was narrowing. But we did get a great afternoon and evening to stretch our legs and get Ali out for a good run.

Also, Autumn had taken some time while in California to expand on her inventory turning out some pretty amazing pieces, and the salt flats gave a perfect backdrop for a quick photo-shoot.

What was of particular frustration about accessing the flats in the best possible spot, legally, was the almost 70 mile backtrack we had to do to get to the west-bound rest area. We were headed east to Salt Lake City and the side of the flat that didn’t have the railroad and private fencing was on the north side of I-80 accessible only by west-bound traffic. The UDOT did their due diligence in giving plenty of turn-around spots along that portion of the desert, but they were only legally accessible to emergency vehicles… There were no towns or exits for about 35-40 miles. Which gave us little choice if we wanted out of the van to see it. I’d be one to gamble the legality of the highway U-turn but traffic was oddly high considering the location and also, I was not keen on meeting Utah State Highway Patrol just yet having been in the state for maybe an hour, that would have to wait a couple of days.

We left the flats with the departing light and made it to SLC on time for our rendezvous with Autumn’s school friend. The days that followed were pretty adventure packed and exciting as we settled into the Mormon capital for a bit. We explored most of the city and the surrounding area including some amazing day hikes. Wind Caves near Logan, The Living Room near The University of Utah (it had rocks that were stacked like furniture) and Ensign Peak, where Brigham Young declared that this is where they would settle down.

We did eventually get a chance to catch up with the local police when we got pulled over early one morning heading to a hike, for not having any back running lights. The brake lights, headlights and turn signals all worked fine however. A blown fuse and circuit issue that would continue to be an issue for the rest of the trip. We were now limited to day time driving only, which didn’t shake up our routine all too horribly but gave a level of anxiety to the setting sun and the timing of where we needed to be to finish our day.

SLC was a beautifully clean city, accessible and with light traffic. The only regret was that Temple Square was under renovations, so there was no going inside. We enjoyed our time and the atmosphere so much we filed SLC to the list of potential candidates for future house shopping, and we headed south to start the long chain of gorgeous national parks that make up the southern part of the state.

Starting with Arches just south of the I-70 corridor, to 4-corners and down to the Grand Canyon. Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Glen Canyon, Grand Staircase, Brice and Zion fill the middle, just to name the top few. There was no possible way to tackle all of it in any sort of timely manner and still have any of 2020 left. So we had to make some cuts. We got some of it but Arches didn’t make our list this year. I know how passionate some of its visitors are but it’ll be the main hook for our next trip to the area.

This part of the country is an absolute must, and we intend to be reoccurring visitors as often as possible. The power of erosion, water and wind have profound and mesmerizing effects on the terrain and form unique and breath-taking features. Bryce Canyon offered a dazzling display of sheer canyon bluffs spiked with weirdly shaped stone hoodoos. A fun word that you won’t quickly forget after seeing a thousand little spires cast a thousand little shadows on flaming orange and red rock.

Zion was aptly named and king of jaw-dropping. Checkered mountain faces eroded by wind and prominent sheer cliffs cut through like a knife by the Virgin River.

It was by the time we were finished with Zion, did the writer Michael Frome began to resonate a bit more. “A national park is not a playground. it’s a sanctuary for nature and for humans who will accept nature on nature’s own terms.”

It’s hard to not feel inspired or passionate about these sanctuaries after passing through Zion canyon. I had been going to the Grand Canyon often since I was young, which gives you at least a base level of what is ‘Awe inspiring’ but Zion took the crown, bested or maybe tied by only Glacier National Park. While we got a couple of days and almost 4 drives through the park, we were sadly limited due to very little/no dog access on any of the trails. Had it not been that one snag, it would have been #1 for both of us.

We got no pictures that do it any justice, it’s not easy getting that kind of experience limited into a single box frame.

Zion gave us goosebumps, and we stayed the night nearby in the town of Orderville, due to its rock shops that we saw as we passed through on our way to the park. We ended up getting a nice lesson on hospitality and history during our stay in Orderville.

Summary from the wiki entry: Orderville was established at the direction of Brigham Young in 1875 specifically to live the United Order, a voluntary form of communalism. Orderville was settled primarily by destitute refugees from failed settlements on the Muddy River in Nevada. Under the United Order, no person in Orderville could have private property, as it was all considered to be God’s land. Each person was made a steward over some personal effects, and every family a steward over a home. During the first two years, the settlers worked without receiving income. They were allowed to use supplies and take food as needed. The bishop of Orderville oversaw the distribution of goods. Credits were recorded for all work done by men, women, and children and used to obtain needed materials and keep track of the labor done in the settlement. In 1877, the Order began a price system to replace the credit system, and monetary values were assigned to all labor and goods. At the beginning of each year, debts were forgiven, and those who had earned a surplus voluntarily gave it back to the Order.

The community was quite successful and prospered for well over a decade before a change of local laws and flash flooding changed the dynamic of the community.

We had a cool side adventure while we were here that was covered on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-QHTwXfPe0

Utah was the epitome of Godliness, in its nature, its community and its history. It is now in both of our top 3 states, and we will be returning. But it was time to put Godliness aside and cross into Sin City… Vegas lights are on the horizon!

Join us next time as we check out The Strip, Alien Brothels, Area 51 (ish) and our adventure into Death Valley and back into California for one of the top crown jewels of the national park system, Yosemite.

Welcome back aboard Trippers! Halfway through November and the spots where it isn’t cold at night are starting to dwindle. We are currently in the great state of Texas! We’ve had a Texas time too, big guns and big cows! But I’m ahead of myself.

We last left off as we were leaving Seattle and headed south. We had obviously reached the furthest North-West we could go (For now…) and had a very long coastal drive to look forward to. Southbound on I-5 out of Seattle takes you directly to Portland. I decided to skip Portland this pass through, with a fair amount of regret. Most of the things to be seen in Portland were mostly inside affairs, and we had some mail and people waiting on us at our next couple destinations. Just south of Portland we cut over to US-101, which is THE coastal highway, until US-1 takes up that job just north of San Francisco.

We wound our way through the mountains of Oregon with stunning views of the Pacific as it crashed into the rocky coastline and made our way to Coos Bay. We spent a few days hanging out with family and seeing some unique spots including a literal hole-in-the-wall….

Leaving Coos Bay we crossed east over the Cascade Mountains and descended into Bend to spend a day or two with a cousin before we wound our way south along the ‘Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway’. A long highway in Oregon that follows along the Cascade Mountains and numerous Volcanos, the ‘Byway’ took us to a couple of really intriguing destinations. We took a couple of days to check out Obsidian Flow, a mountain littered with thousands of obsidian boulders and shards from a large explosion and what would quickly become a favorite spot of ours, Crater Lake National Park.

Crater Lake caught us totally off guard. What used to be the large Volcano known as Mount Mazama, the lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot-deep caldera with sparkling blue water. No rivers flow in and out of the high cliffs, so it is an isolated ecosystem. Also, what was of notable interest to me, was it seemingly emitted its own local weather patterns. Deep rolling fog moved about in thick patches along the drive up the rim. Where the rest of the surrounding region was temperate and calm, the top of the caldera was incredibly windy and cold (An occurrence we would later experience at Meteor Crater in Arizona) and had spots of snow.

We fell in love with the park and spent the entire day seeing all the different views of the quite magical looking and aptly named Wizard’s Island. Which is actually a smaller Volcano made of leaking magma that came up through the deep lake and created what is called a ‘cinder cone.’ With another rock formation called ‘Phantom Ship’ which is, as it sounds to look like. It truly was a mysterious and breathtaking place.

We zigged back west over the Cascade Mountains… again… and over our 10,000th mile milestone since leaving our house in Tampa! We arrived back at the coast and to Coos Bay, to snag our Jackery which we got exchanged due to a damaged USB port, and continued south along the coastal highway. Lots of neat little shops and themed places dotted the highway.

Apparently Bigfoot is a big deal in the area and also Oregon is a pretty big rock collecting state. Which makes sense due to the amount of volcanic activity and apparently numerous amounts of dinosaur fossils that have been recovered. Autumn was particularly fond of all the dinosaurs we kept seeing along the road, literally everywhere, and we made a fun game of yelling “DIINNNNOOOOooosss!!!” every time we would see one. Which then resulted in the difficult decision of whether we needed to investigate the shop. They have been an invaluable source of resources for her wire wrapped artwork. (Found at www.etsy.com/shop/castlekeepofdreams )

Speaking of Dino’s! We have been actively chasing Sinclair gas stations by this point. Which are dinosaur themed and usually feature a green brontosaurus on the sign and sizeable green figure somewhere on the property. With the app giving us an extra .20 off of each gallon, it was a bit of an incentive to single them out specifically making it worth our time. I’m not one to hype a brand but Sinclair at least allows me to ironically pump $50 worth of dead dino’s into my tank.

The dino became much welcome sight for the rest of our time in California due to gas being north of $3.50 a gallon ($4.20 near the west entrance of Yosemite, congrats to Lee Vining, California! The highest price of gas on the trip.) It was obvious, through some simple math, we would like to keep our driving in CA to a minimum and with an active pandemic, we would just skip the large cities. No San-Fran, LA, Sacramento, or San Diego! Major bummer… but! There were cool things to be found still in The Golden State.

Redwood National Forest was first on our Menu. Trees with bases the size of a house! Big enough to drive through!… Well, we tried but was told that the van was too big, so we had to skip that experience. Regardless! We had a wonderful time seeing all the different elder trees, some towering over 360 ft tall! We cruised the Avenue of the Giants and learned about the sheer amount of biomass that exists in the redwood forest and also about Flying Squirrels!

Basing ourselves in Eureka for a couple of days, in a Winco parking lot, we took in what the giant trees had to offer. We then continued our journey south along the coast into another change of terrain. The large trees and cool dampness of the Northwest, dried up and gave way to the wine region of central California. A stunning patchwork of vineyards dominated a lot of the drive leading up to the Golden Gate Bridge. “But you just said no San-Fran!” Well… We were headed through anyway to Vacaville to visit my Mother. Might as well get those Golden Gate Selfies in!

Settling into Vacaville for a weekend was a nice break from the road. Autumn took some much-needed time to be productive and made a beautiful pendant, while I kept it quiet and got some rest before our trip back east. We had an appointment to meet with a friend in Salt Lake City that weekend, so our time in California was kept pretty trim.

The drive east from the San Francisco Bay Area over the Sierra Nevada’s was charming and scenic, and we took a detour for a pleasant afternoon stop at Lake Tahoe. Surrounded by a series of resort communities, Lake Tahoe is the west coast lake resort of choice. It was peppered with activities of all sorts and sports crystal clear water with a slick Sierra Nevada back-drop. Mark Twain was avid about Lake Tahoe and wrote about it often:

“…the Lake burst upon us—a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft full three thousand feet higher still!”

“As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords.”

Our trail along the north shore of Lake Tahoe in The Golden State turned into The Silver State, and we climbed out of the lake basin, and over the last bit of mountain range before being quickly dumped into the desert on the I-80 corridor. Reno shimmered in the evening twilight and gave us a hint of what to possibly expect in Vegas although we didn’t stay long, we had a lot of ground to cover to Utah.

I think it was worth looking at a map here and noting the distance of Lake Tahoe to Yosemite National Park. An error in haste that has us backtracking to the area several weeks later! But for now Yosemite waits…

Join us next time as we travel across The Great Basin, wander off into the Salt Flats and press further into The Beehive State with all the grandeur, adventure and allure the great state of Utah had to offer.

Welcome back friends! I hope everyone is having a spooky time! (Edit note: I wrote this on Halloween… picture editing took a bit) We are currently in Scottsdale, Arizona. With a perfect view of Four-Peaks Mountains and an expected full moon tonight should make for a stunning evening.

Last I checked in we had finished up in Colorado, and we were headed for Yellowstone, the first and original National Park! For this part of the trip we would be going through Wyoming. I don’t know what a Wyom is or how one actively does it but it seems to be the only state that is also an active verb.

We took to I-25 headed north out of Denver, and we went through Cheyenne, Casper and then west over to Cody, the “Rodeo Capital of the World”. Most of this part of the trip was pretty uniform in how arid the environment was, clearly vast amounts of pasture land and rolling hills lead us up into the mountains right outside of Yellowstone.

We stayed the night in Cody before heading into Yellowstone. It was obvious this evening that fall was becoming less ignorable and that we would need to start to prep for colder weather. We had some pretty cold moments in Colorado, so we had gotten better at wearing layers to sleep. It’s not ideal or realistic to leave the van running, so we ended up getting a small electric heater to plug into the Jackery, not more than 200w, so my expectations of it were pretty realistically low. But with enough clothes and sleeping bags, 2 people and a dog can keep a camper warm enough. At least for now, it’s obvious we won’t be attempting to winter-over in some northern climate.

Yellowstone had a lot of hype but justifiably so, stunning mountains surround the lake that is the center of the old super volcano. Geothermic vents are found everywhere around the parks which give it unique and exotic features, combined with a stunning abundance of wildlife, it really was everything it was hyped to be. I think being a fall visitor had its perks in that the crowd was pretty slim, compared to what I have heard about the summer months.

We spent the day going to and from the parks main features and had many wonderful encounters with Buffalo, Deer, Antelope, Goats and Elk. Including a couple traffic jams and an amazing Elk Buck who was serenading the hills from the center of one of the main Yellowstone villages. We stayed the night and listened to them into the evening and was greeted by a couple large herds in the morning.

With much regret we skipped The Grand Teton National Park, but we were headed for Glacier National Park in Montana and decided it was an ok compromise to have something new to see next time we passed through.

After Yellowstone, we were headed north on the Lewis and Clark trail highway (US-89), through Bozeman MT and up to the north border of Montana with Canada. We slowly rolled into the Blackfoot Reservation and decided to get lunch in Browning. Browning was a struggling community and heavily effected by COVID-19, it seemed most stores were closed or were closed most of the day except for small windows of time.

We didn’t stay long and attempted to enter the park from the East entrance. It was about 45 min from the middle of Browning. It had amazing views of the backside of the range that makes up Glacier National Park, and we could see the very stunning Saint Mary Lake shimmering like a sapphire… but something was off. There was no traffic and for it being one of the top-rated parks in the country I thought something was afoot. Well, it was as we soon found out. The East Gate was closed for the season, with a chain across it. Also, we had no internet at this point. So we backtracked our way back out to Browning and found our way around the south end of the valley and into the West Gate, a detour of about an hour or two. It was a nice drive between East Glacier Village and West Gate along US-2.

We got in just as the sun was starting to set, and we managed to settle into a nice spot for the evening along the shore of a very stunning Lake McDonald. We walked the shoreline and enjoyed a very moving sunset before sleeping for the night. The following day was our trip over the Going-to-the-Sun road. A very long route through Glacier that takes you up the mountains and along sheer cliffs with some of the best scenic views on a drive in the entire continent and if not anywhere in the world. I am usually only prone to minor exaggerations but I would argue it gave more to see in its small round trip drive then we had seen the entire trip through the Rockies and even our trip through the Alps in 2019. A stunning must-see destination and will be one of my top spots for the foreseeable future.

With the beautiful Lewis and Clark Ranges behind us, we’re finally headed for the west coast. Montana was a gem that we wouldn’t forget, but a shocker spot along the way was the Idaho city of Coeur d’Alene. It sits in the I-90 corridor, in the top panhandle of Idaho. A lake city with an amazing view and lots going on in the center of town. Also, a hub for events and festivals, it was a nice place to stay the night as we pressed west.

Without too much delay we crossed the arid and oddly flat and boring terrain of western Washington and zigzagged our way to Mt Rainier for a quick selfie on our way into Seattle.

For those unaware, Mt Rainier is a stunning standalone large active stratovolcano that sits kind of on its own outside the Cascade Mountains. It stands at 14,411 and has very noticeable permanent glacial ice that adds to its already eye-catching profile. We stayed the afternoon and got to see a variety of angles, including a trip up to ‘Paradise’, which sits at the base of the mountain with various national park swag and a visitor center.

After some pretty dope selfies we packed into the Van and made for Seattle at last. We didn’t get far before the fog of the northwest coast ate us. What started as a bright sunny day near Mr Rainier, ended in overcast, heavy-hanging fog for our evening. We went to an awesome outdoor Bavarian themed pop-up spot for dinner and finally put it in a park in downtown Seattle, across from the Ferris Wheel. We were ready for Pike Place Market in the morning.

The morning came quick with the city waking up around us. Traffic and the usual noise of a downtown area had us out of bed pretty early. Thankfully the original Starbucks was our first stop spot. We got in on that merch and started to browse the market. It was quite the spot even during a pandemic (with masks and most inside places closed or limited) we strolled through the open market and watched the show as shopkeepers and patrons interacted with all sorts of fruit, flowers, fish, and fashion. We learned at this point Seattle is a very dog-friendly city. Milk-bones materialized from the pockets of almost everyone we said hello to and were eagerly devoured into the bottomless hole that is our Aussie.

I’d love to return to Seattle when there’s a bit less of a pandemic threat. The amount of neat shops, artisan goods and interesting restaurants was quite alluring and could keep us entertained for weeks if not months.

Join us next time as we travel along the pacific coast. Sinclair Dino’s, Oregon with its volcano alley and stunning ocean views, and into ‘The Golden State’ with its giant Redwoods and and even larger gas prices!

Greetings Comrades! Thanks for tuning back in!

7777 total miles driven this trip, and we are seemingly only halfway through! Actually, the trip read 7778, but give me an inch and I’ll take a mile…

Where does that place us currently? On the opposite corner of the continental U.S. Seattle Washington! About as far from Tampa as we can get and still be in the lower 48. Which, we are still stuck in, thanks COVID!

(edit on this took a bit, we’re in Oregon now!)

There is a lot of content to go through, we do apologize for the lack of updates but constantly moving and without access to internet means we get stockpiled with pictures, videos and events, it’s hard to cover them all.

When I last updated, we were leaving the Midwest for the Rocky Mountains, with a small (not so small as it turns out) problem. The central plain states. I had been through them before, so I kind of knew what to expect, but we ran into the slightly unexpected…
We left Madison Wisconsin after snagging the (2nd) ‘best’ cheese curds in the state, and crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa and starting making some good time.

I wouldn’t normally focus on the negative of a given state, but they didn’t give us much else to focus on, Iowa sucked. It smelled like poop and there was literally nothing else to see except for corn and windmills. Food (notably corn and its byproducts) has to come from somewhere I suppose and it is obvious that Iowa is productive in this manner. However, we fell into a trap along US-20…

We’ve had a rule about no driving at night, it usually avoids a lot of problems but I broke that rule hoping to make time, and we paid the price. It had been nothing but corn and 65MPH for quite a while and I had (in error) settled in around the 70 MPH mark. Well, as this very predictable situation plays out, the speed dropped to 55 for about 1/2 of a mile in front of a truck stop and went back to 65. I missed this slight change, and we had a not-so-pleasent encounter with Ida county Sheriffs. I won’t go into the gritty details of the couple of hours that followed but needless to say, it ended with Harmony (Van) being ransacked and trashed and myself in cuffs being booked. This is still a pending case so that is where I will leave the details but I got bailed out, and we tried to find a place to put our life back together. (Edit, i’ve decided to wait until we’ve reached a conclusion on the case before I send this update to press!)

(edit #2, seems like it will be a while before we have an update so… meh.)

We left Iowa with a fair amount of haste and crossed over the Missouri River into Nebraska. It is very obvious at this point we were in beef country. The corn faded and gave way to arid pasture land and this would be the rest of our drive until the front range of the Rockies. Nebraska had a couple surprising gems. The first being Toadstool geological park. It is named as such because the rocks that form the gorge between the mountains are made of a mixture of granite and sandstone. The harder stone forms the ‘caps’ of these mushroom shaped formations and the softer sandstone is easily eroded away from the wind. It created some very stunning looking features and it was tucked so far away from any main highways that the utter silence of the place was a unique experience in-itself. We spent the afternoon skipping about with doggo and decided to spend the night. Bright and early we were off and headed for Chimney Rock! A monument that should be familiar with all of those Oregon Trail enthusiasts, it serves as a point marker and ‘Entry’ into the wild-west. We did a small hike up to the base to get our pictures, and we proceeded for the great state of Colorado.

Crossing down from the north left a fair amount to be desired, and the haze from the western wildfires covered the first leg of our trip into Denver. Dry, flat, featureless… I was told the mountains rise up like a steel wall, but we had no such experience, I’ll toss it up to timing.

By the time we arrived in Denver it was dark, we did a couple minor things down-town, some of which are illegal in the state of Iowa, so I will not be mentioning here.

An inventory of samplings of local products, including a very expensive Bison steak, and we slept at a scenic pull-off to sleep before taking to the curvy mountain roads.

We woke up with a fair bit of excitement, the mountains did exist! It had been so long with featureless terrain that the peaks of the front range was a thrilling change of pace. We pulled over and cooked breakfast with the Jackery at a scenic pull-off overlooking the Mosquito Range. ‘Why is it called that?’ We asked… Well, apparently the mountains were owned by a mining company and the owner, who I guess was pretty inventive (not), was struggling to name his company. Sitting late one night at his table with the documents laid out, a mosquito landed on the empty name spot, and well… now Colorado has a Mosquito Range.

We were Durango bound for a family visit, but due to a plan on a whim (which always ends well) we were headed into quite the adventure. While in Colorado I was quite determined to at least claim one 14’er (mountain summits that are above 14,000 ft) with a minor amount of reading I determined that a hike into the San Juan range, up into the Chicago Basin would permit me a base camp with access to 4 different peaks to choose from. Mount Eolus, North Eolus, Sunlight Peak and Mount Windom. To do all 4 in the same day is known as the Grand Slam… an accomplishment that my ego thought might be do-able. I am in confident physical condition and WAS quite assured in my mental fortitude to handle the task. Well, I learned some hard lessons along the way.

Mt. Windom was the only peak that was rated Class II (difficult) which means nothing more than some good poles, is all you need for the summit, the rest required a bit more experience and even some rope (Sunlight was rated Class IV). So I set my sights on Windom, and we started into the Basin.

Now, I had originally read the best way into the basin was via a train that ran from Durango to a stop that would put you within a day’s hike of the basin, but due to COVID, the train was not running this season, and we had to hike in from the road. I originally quoted my brave partner that it was only 8 miles until the basin but realized my error after around the 7-mile marker that we were only half way and it was the length of the first trail that I misread, and it would be another 8 miles on a second trail…. With an elevation climb of just over 2700 ft. We followed the Animas river up and up until we couldn’t up anymore and emerged into the stunning basin at just about 11,000 ft, greeted by some Elk that went scattering. We quickly made camp as the sun had already begun to disappear.

The three of us ended up staying a couple of days in the basin and I proceeded to tackle at least one of the 4 peaks surrounding us. The hike up to the Twin Lakes basin was steep and stunning, but also not for the faint of heart. I was quickly learning the hard way that all 4 peaks were rated ‘Considerable’ for their exposure rating, which is the openness to sheer drops and wind. Twin Lakes was an additional 1900-2000ish from the Basin itself, and I had quite the view of the surrounding valley.

A large goat family was spending the afternoon by the glacier lakes that make up the top of the Twin Lakes area and I had a couple paths before me. With some help with directions from a fellow hiker, I found myself on the last couple legs of my climb to Mt Windom. Which is where it took a turn for fearsome and my ego quickly gave way to almost paralyzing fear. Mt Windom and Sunlight share a ‘saddle’ that needed ‘scrambled’ up to. Which means steep boulders that made up a 300ft sheer wall up to the saddle. The saddle was fairly steep on both sides and with about 4 inches of snow but it was fairly manageable compared to the previous step. I followed it until I got to the last leg of the trip, the scramble up to the peak. Which, while kind of frightening, I was only exposed to the saddle side, so the 40-50ft (which would have still proven fatal) didn’t seem AS intimidating as the previous 300ft leg, that almost did me in mentally.

The top plateau of the peak was fairly flat and without snow, although I did not go far. I stayed long enough to cower down and get my phone out for a shit picture and quickly proceeded back the way I came. It is worth noting that going down is infinitely more frightening than going up, as you have to face the sheerness of your irresponsible choices that got you into this mess head-on. Going up you can look into the side of the mountain you are climbing and zone out of the steep behind you.

No such luxury this direction and the first 300 ft scramble presented itself with a vengeance and wouldn’t you guess it? I lost the trail of boulders down. I had to slowly, and almost on my ass, go down a series of rocks looking straight into the 300ft drop ahead of me. It was at this point I admittedly had a moment. Never have I really had an issue with heights. I’ve done these kinds of things before. The Himalayan and Alps ranges under my belt, I felt ok with myself and my relationship with sheer drops.
But I got paralyzed. I sat for a couple of minutes unable to move and was quite visibly shaken, which if you have to rely on the steadiness of your feet for survival, is a bit unnerving. After a couple of minutes unable to move my inner Paul Areides (Dune, ‘Fear is the mind killer’) guided me slow step by slow step until I was able to find the trail markers again and I could continue my trip back to solid ground.

I think I lost more than I gained on that mountain. I had no epiphany, nor was the view that much more amazing than Twin Lakes. What I did get was a substantial fear of heights that persisted for the rest of the trip and even slightly as I write this. It was a good check for my ego, and a reminder to read up a bit more on the adventures that I shove myself (and those close to me) into.

The return to the parking lot was a long slog back but at least it was mostly downhill! We were about 1 day from the car when we started to get service, which is where we also got some unfathomably bad news. A near and dear friend of ours was shot and killed in his home the night previous. It was news that was hard to accept but the serenity and silence of the surrounding wilderness gave us a little time to process before back on the road. Asa Semp was a sunbeam and fire of a personality, and he will be sorely missed by so many people.

We returned to Durango a bit tired, dirty and emotionally rocked but none-the-worse for wear. We cleaned up and headed back to Denver to stay with a friend for a couple of days.

It’s been almost a week or two now since we emerged from the Chicago basin but this post is already running on the ‘long-winded’ side. So! I will wrap here. Look forward to the next post and I’ll be covering our trips into Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, the wasteland of southern Wyoming, stunning Montana and through the panhandle of Idaho to our current location in the ‘Emerald City’ (Seattle). Pike Place Market, Original Starbucks and the Space Needle! Oh, My!!!1one!1

Hello wherever you’re reading from! Co Pilot Jay here! Last we left off, we had headed into the Ohio valley, where I had grown up for the first 20ish year or so. Maine was postponed due to some COVID-19 restrictions and future plans to return to the Canadian east coast. It’ll still be there hopefully…

We spent a couple of weeks in the central Ohio area. This was particularly difficult for me due to the pandemic because of the number of friends, family and public places that I usually like to visit while I am in the area. We spent most of our time just north of the city, near where we attempted to buy a house last year about this time, in Waldo Ohio, which is a little north of Columbus.

Autumn spent her time cranking out a handful of stained-glass succulents for her online store Castle Keep of Dreams, while I did some day hikes and waited on our inflatable kayak to get delivered to our gracious host’s home.

On the bright side, while I was in town I became a great-uncle! My niece gave birth to a baby boy, which I didn’t get to see but I did get in on some snap chats. We got to spend some brief time with my immediate family but kept the socializing to a minimum. I took the opportunity to visit some of my favorite state parks in the area. Most of the Cbus metro parks (Highbanks is the best!) and of course some time down in Hocking Hills and Old Man’s Cave.

After about two weeks we headed up to the Port Clinton/Sandusky area for a couple of days and stayed at a camp site along the Portage River at a campground called Chet’s Place. We got a great tour of the area, including Johnson’s Island, It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War.

After Labor Day weekend, we headed westbound finally! We went through IN. and stopped to get some famous Sugar Cream Pie! We stopped in a small town called Shipshewana and picked up meatloaf takeout from Blue Gate Restaurant. It became our new favorite dessert, and we will be getting full pies on our way back through.

We came to a stop a bit south of Chicago, in the suburb of Oswego. Where I am typing from currently. Our stay was with a crafty couple and the purpose was to exchange artistry knowledge. Autumn shared her stained-glass know how and our host David spent some time wire wrapping with her. There was a good amount of family bonding over resin as well!

While their artistry flowed I got to go out and stretch my legs with some fantastic Illinois parks and wildlife preserves. Including a run in with some (Chicago) Bulls that I found myself inside a fenced pasture with!

Our time in Illinois was very memorable, and we made some wonderful friends. Some deep-dish pizza and super awesome Portillos made the food list, and we are headed up to Madison Wisconsin to find the best cheese curds in existence!

Then, west into the Rockies at last! Goodbye Midwest, it’s been lovely.

Good evening Internet. First post by me… I think I do better here than in video, I’m not nearly as cute as the two ladies I’m lucky enough to travel with.

First, I’d like to say how admirable I am of Autumn. The ability to stay productive on the road is an achievement of note. I am also grateful of her drive to connect with (and stay connected to) Family and friends, and to document all the cool things we see and do.

When I first started traveling, it was suggested to me to keep a journal. Which is a wonderful suggestion! It is an excellent tool if you can find a way to keep a log of not only the physical pictures but to record your emotions as well. A chance to capture not only the image but the way you felt, your inner dialogue and interpretations of the things you have experienced. I naturally indulged this desire, as do most, but I started to notice a pattern with my logs after the first handful. I eventually had to let it go because it was a hilarious tragedy that plays out over the pages until I just stopped and this was some years before I got into this van life adventure.

They had started pretty complex, describing the various buildings or parts of town or village I would see, or a park and how it made me feel. Or perhaps a social interaction, but inevitably mixed in was an entry about needing to retrace my steps to find a lost item, usually quite vital to the continuation of my travels. It was this exact reason I never made solo videos or blogs about any of the things I had done by myself. As they all would have seemingly had the same frustrating (for me only), absurd ending. You can see it at work in our second YouTube video.

Eventually all my posts would be the same with a slightly different location, and I can even make a chart randomizer to help visualize what kind of fun game my life is sometimes and what trippin’ on my own would consist of:

“Greetings friends! It’s Jay again; here I am in the great State/Country/Province of Random! I spent (1d6+1) hours today backtracking to find my misplaced (roll 1d4) Keys/wallet/passport/phone. I think I have it narrowed down to the last (1d4+1, min. 2) locations; Parking-lot/Restaurant/Mountain-top/Body-of-water/5-acre-open-field. If I can find the thing and make it back by sunset, I can prob make it (roll %) miles, due (roll d8 for direction; N,NW,NE,E,SE,S,SW,W) I sure do hope I make it somewhere comfy before I (evens/odds) Heat-Exhaustion/Freeze-to-Death.”

It doesn’t help that I take pretty garbage pictures. Like, I get photography and I used to love taking pictures of different Flora and Fauna, but like… with people. And myself? My enthusiasm deflates pretty quick. So, I’m very grateful to have a productive and m o s t l y organized travel partner to keep me from doing silly shit like seeing how sea-worthy this van is.

Has van life been perfect so far? No, I go outside often (and with dog, obv) so there’s sometimes leaves, sand and other fun debris where we sleep. Showers come when we can get lucky enough to get them and you are kind of up in each other’s personal space. Stinky shoes and changing emotions can be sour at times, but my respect, love and appreciation for a good and enthusiastic travel partner has grown more from the combined good and not-as-good experiences.

As far as navigation/geography is concerned, we cracked the 2k miles mark just outside of Washington, PA. We had spent a week in the hills of Appalachia, near my grandparents hometown of Salisbury, and near the cemetery of the 8 generations of Blocher dudes that came before me. After having driven up through Virginia > West Virginia, the area sits in a tri-state region, as it’s the northern part of western Maryland and southern PA. West Virginia sticks its weird little spike in and comes within a pretty close reach as well. It is beautiful country, rolling hills, small towns, farms and weather that is just perfect when it’s not winter. It is never seemingly too hot, which coming from FL, was a much-needed reprieve. Also, the pitcher Lefty Grove is a great uncle of mine, it was cool to see he had a statue and a park!

We’ve now gone down into the Ohio valley, an area I called home for the first 20 years or so. It seems our next move will be back east and then north up to Maine, just got a couple of things I need to find before we leave…