july 14: black hills (and eventually => casper, wy)

we woke up in the 2nd largest koa in the country- apparently the largest one is in florida and has a golf course (in case you are confused, this is NOT camping)- and headed out to breakfast where we met up with lukes parents.

then we went to mt rushmore. it was really cool. busy but cool. little did we know the crowds here would be a little foreshadowing of what was to come. (i hate people). we also found the state outline magnets and bought the ones that we drove through on our roadtrip.
















these guys are awesome.

we said our goodbyes to tom and marsha and started off on our hike up to harney peak. its the highest point in the u.s. east of the rockies. we decided we were gonna hike up there and then camp somewhere along the trail. well, the trail was busy busy busy (have i mentioned i hate people?) and the trees along the way were either destroyed by beetles or cut down to prevent being destroyed by beetles. i lost the urge to camp. i decided this at the top after we had carried our packs up. i freaked out at the top (i hate heights more than i hate people)















harney peak. notice i'm not anywhere near where luke is.

















so we hiked back down and decided to get as far west as we could within a reasonable time. this ended up being casper, wy. we also picked up the rest of the state magnets of places we had been together, but we forgot to buy texas. apparently everyone else had the same idea about casper, though, because every single hotel was booked. we got the last room in a days inn, which we discovered hadnt been cleaned. we ordered papa johns (i think i even paid) and sat in the desk chairs while they made up our bed and scrubbed the bathroom.

and just like that, im 30.










this is us at thirty.

july 13: ft. peck, mt => hill city, sd

sqeaks was a nice road companion through the trip

we got up early to head out.

luke and i had brought along a bottle of wine to hike in with but we had forgotten a bottle opener, so we decided to open it before we left and pour it into one of our many water bottles. i did the honors. and then i pinched the SHIT out of my finger. there were hard fought-back tears. it STILL hurts. stupid wine. we never did drink it, either.











100k baby!

this part of the road trip was accompanied by tom and marsha. its marshas favorite part of the country and she thought she would have too hard a time saying goodbye after only one night, so they decided to come along.










this used to be t.r.'s backyard.

we saw all kinds of badlands. and teddy roosevelt national park and finally ended up in hill city for dinner at the alpine in, where the only thing on the menu is filet mignon for 10$.










black hills ahead.

july 12: ft peck, mt

the view from the back porch

luke's parents live on the lake in ft peck. its a teeny tiny little town in the middle of nowhere that happens to be overlooking one of the largest man made lakes in the us that NOBODY seems to know about and its awesome.

we showed up to a dinner of salisbury moose steak, and a warm hot tub to alleviate the aching muscles from the ridiculous hike.


we went to see the dueling dinosaurs which were effing incredible. heres the scoop about fossils. 1. when you see them in museums, 99.999% of the time they are cobbled together from various people's collections-= a rib here, a jawbone there. 2. they are casts of fossils, not the actual fossils themselves. but these- THESE- two almost entirely complete dinosuars, entwined in battle and preserved in a way that has probably never been seen before- i mean tendons were fossilized, there were skin impressions. it was nuts. and they were real. the actual bones. and i got to touch them. 65 million years later. there is so much drama around them that we werent sure if we were allowed to take pictures so we didnt. ill write more someday on the drama of these guys. but OMG. so effing cool.

then we went and shot guns.
















pow. pow.

and then marsha threw a little meet mandy bbq with all their montana friends. it turned into a mini birthday party- she made me a cake.











what could it MEAN?!

we were well fed, well rested and ready for the next stop...












duck face.

july 11: glacier => ft. peck, mt

awwww...


we woke up that morning and decided against the hike up to the top of the glacier that was nearby (i couldnt take another hill) and started down to the car. i enjoyed this version of the hike SO much more than the one on the way up, though it did kill my knees.









deer posed for us after blocking the trail.
















hiker luke

and then we
drove the rest of the "going to the sun" road and headed out of the park and on to fort peck, montana.












puuuurdy







a bear a bear! a little black bear. thats how close he was to us- no zoom.













the only sign picture we have. glacier national park in formal wear.

july 10: glacier national park

so the whitefish koa was only about 20 minutes from glacier. made putting up with fritz and his fiance a little more worth it.

we got in there- glacier is effing incredible- and headed straight to a ranger station to see about our hike-



some river along the way



a little background on the hike.... we somehow managed to get a room up at granite park chalet- it was the last room available in july and just so happened to be the night we were there. *serendipity* the chalet is one of two remaining in the park (of 5 i think?) and you have to hike in. i guess back in the day people would ride horses from chalet to chalet as they made their way through. welp, the hike in is 8 miles with an 800 foot elevation gain- easy peasy- except that its scary cliff face and i had been freaking out about it all week.

we asked the sweet old man ranger where we should park for the hike, as we were planning on taking the "loop" hike out (4 miles, 2200 foot elevation change- out is all downhill). he tells us the loop is the only hike open. the highline still had snow (thats right. mid july, still closed due to snow). hello relief! but i also realized it was 4 miles uphill. and BOY was it the longest 4 miles of my life. (im pretty sure i nearly died of exhaustion. the beer and wine he packed in were almost worth it).











view on the way up




so, 4 miles uphill and we FINALLY make it. and the guy that runs the place at the tops goes "so did you come across the highline trail? it opened yesterday"

asshole old man ranger.












at the top


but holy incredible. amazing views. good camaraderie. just stunning. not to ruin the rest for you but this was both our all time favorite part of the whole road trip....









my road trip hat and glasses and a cup of wine


















my toes and heavens peak














snow. mid july.











my partner in climb (see what i did there)

july 9: seattle => whitefish, mt

woohoo. vacation!




new tires, new shocks, new oil, new battery. whats that radio? you only want to stay on a radio station for 15-30 seconds. this is gonna be a looong drive.

LETS GO ON A ROADTRIP!














lukes roadtrip hat




we drove out to montana and stayed at a koa that night because it had showers and was an easy destination, also, cheap. we wanted to get as close to glacier that night. our little camp site was located next to a group of i dont know how many college students who were silent (because they were gone) all night, until the bar closed. then they came back and made a ruckus. we thought they had lost their dog (this was probably inspired by a loud group of folks that HAD lost their dog and woken us up previously). anyway, fritz kept running away from the kampground. turns out fritz is a guy. a drunk guy. "we've got a runner." he left his fiance at the bar because a group of guys wanted to fight him. she had naturally assumed it was because he was with another girl. i dont know about you, but its TOTALLY the first thing i would think of MY fiance... huh.





sleepy luke makes breakfast. tries to make as much noise as possible to wake up fritz and co.

9 days B.M. (before Martha)

we had a little surprise shower for kara... here are some pics. there should be more but i got a little wrapped up in the cuteness that is a pregnant kj and a three pig-tailed toshi (that girl loves her picture taken- toshi, not kara)

(i love this last one)

lets back it up a little- all the way to june...

luke and i went to sf in june...
to see this lady

and meet this guy

and the lovely miss anna banana there on the right

we went go karting

and played ski ball

and basketball

and watched lisa turn 30!

it was awesome!

ok OK

when i get back from vacation, i PROMISE, there will be blog. (see what i did there? kind of sounds like there will be blood... see? SEE?!)

but for now, i work. then i vacation.

OH! and in the meantime...

GOOD LUCK KJ!!!!

i cant wait to meet baby mealy 2.0!

7/7/10

first day of summer

huh.

remember when i said id blog everyday? that was weird.

counting down the final minutes til i head to the airport. helllllooooo sf! so a few more days of radio silence from this end. hopefully pictures to follow.

COUNTDOWN!

30 days left in my 20s.

WOOT!

whoa

remember how i told you all about tubing memorial day weekend?
well, the river flooded last week...













this is the place we rented our tubes. it had a big, wooden counter that wrapped 3 sides, a big fence with hundreds of tubes and several picnic tables.













this is the bus we rode back to our cars.


EESH.

i count this past weekend as a vacation

so its not like i have missed THAT many days of blogging.

just so you know, GOLDEN GARDENS is fucking crazy.
its the weirdest people watching i have ever experienced.



















a big thank you to the cast of characters:

• goth guy with the iguana and a human bite mark on his leg.
• band of bikini clad preteen girls who refused to put on clothes well into the night.
• old hippie drum circle with your promise of an old christmas tree blaze.
• wedding party that backed up to the volleyball courts.
• engagement photo taking couple and camera loving assistant.
• tight sweatpants, fanny pack wearing guy who set up his tripod to take pictures of our little camp.

and ariana made her way to the west to witness it all...

sometimes

i really like being a girl.

everything is trashier in texas

and i love it.

4 day whirlwind tour of austin spent a considerable amount of time OUTSIDE the city itself.

friday==>

-flew in, landed at 4:30

-straight to chuy's where we have heard they have the best: tortillas, chips, queso, frozen margaritas. we tried all of them on an appetizer platter. they lived up to the hype.

-off to hill country where they live- holy gorgeous. i thought texas was flat. nope. limestone cliffs. (whats the difference btwn a bluff and a cliff?)

-we tried the oasis. its a bar with a different number of levels depending on who you talk to. "and its got food." apparently the view is impressive. the lot looked like festival parking. we retreated.

-that landed us at rudys for second dinner. its a bbq place attached to a gas station. its a chain and they are all 1/2 gas station. texas is classy like that. it was goooood.

-then off to the hideout (bar) that reminded me a lot of christys outdoor patio in cincy. a table of 10 drank for $30. i like texas prices.

saturday==>

-brunch tacos at torches. more queso. this was my favorite tex mex place.

-then tubing... ooooh tubing. ok, so the lazy river at the water parks is based off of this thing (i dunno if its exactly THIS river, but you get the point) except you rent an inner-tube for your cooler too. you fill your cooler with lonestar. its texas pbr. it was a mixture of lazy river, rapids and a bar. think frat party meets river. everyone is excited and friendly and then 2 hours later everybody is puking. well, everybody but us bc we arent 20 anymore.

-then dinner at texadelphia. cheesteaks. fries come with a side of queso. i kid you not.

sunday==>

-breakfast tacos at gueros. queso. and really good frozen margaritas.

-shopping on south congress. it was too hot and dresses were too short. we topped it off with a snowcone.

-then we went swimming at barton springs. its the local waterin hole. GIANT pool fed with natural spring water- think 3 or 4 giant pools long. it was too green for my taste. i was also nauseous from the heat and sugar combo.

-dinner was out at salt lick. you bring your own beer and sit on their patio while you wait 2 hours to be seated. but everybody does this, and they are with their families, so you feel like you are at a really crowded high school graduation party. it was all KINDS of good people watching. i was told i need to go to dallas to see the sights bc there were some drag queen looking ladies that were, in fact, ladies. i was fascinated.

monday==>

-breakfast at kerby lane. srsly. if it isnt barbque, it comes with queso.

-home

i took 3 pictures on my phone the whole trip. i am only allowed to post 2 bc the 3rd involves luke in my swimcap and he has vetoed any posting of it... ill show you in person id you ask.

*view from the apt*

















*luke mid sentence at salt lick*