My view at work!

Vermont, Our New Home

No updates for quite some time as we have been extremely busy and not really sure where to go with the blog since we are no longer traveling.

We arrived in Vermont and spent one night with our good friends Meg and Ben in Chelsea, VT.  Unfortunately they don't live close enough to Burlington for us to take advantage of their home to look for a place of our own.  Enter Bridgette and Wayne.  Bridgette and Wayne are great family friends from New Jersey who moved up to Vermont to take teaching jobs.  They live in Jeffersonville, which is right at the base of Smugglers Notch.  It is a great area for outdoor activities. and most cars there have a roof rack full of sporting equipment.  There is an abundance of Subarus and pick-ups driving around with canoes, kayaks, and road and mountain bikes on their roof racks, leading us to wonder if Vermont is the most active state in the country.  Bridgette and Wayne were so nice to us, allowing us to stay in one of their spare bedrooms for about 2 weeks while we tried to find a reasonably-priced rental apartment within 45 minutes of Burlington.

We did not realize how hard this would be.  Apparently the rental market in the greater Burlington area is pretty competitive.  We looked at a few places that were horrendous, dirty, and gross considering what the landlords were asking for in rent.  We found what we thought would be a perfect place in the mid-sized town of Vergennes.  A small studio apartment right in the middle of downtown.  It was newly renovated with a good amount of charm for an old city building.  We signed a lease on the apartment and waited for a week until we could move in.  We moved in to the apartment last Monday.  It is possibly the world's tiniest apartment, but after living in the back of the truck for 4 months (40 square feet), it seems absolutely palatial.  After spending a few hours moving in, we realized we had made a mistake.  We did not realize how busy the main street of Vergennes is.  It is a major trucking route connecting upstate New York with Route 7, which runs into Burlington.  It is incredibly noisy, and since it is summer, we have to keep all the windows open.  I am sure after a few weeks we will get used to it, however, it is quite a shock after camping on Forest Service property for so long, where the only noises we heard at night were animals doing their nightly routines.

On other Vermont news, Misa is taking full advantage of her new schedule of being a teacher.  This means she gets to wake up and enjoy herself every day.  She is spending a lot of time exploring our new area with her running shoes as she trains for a few upcoming races, doing lots of yoga at the studio next door to our apartment, and hanging out with Tucker.  I (Colin) am working, which is very hard since Misa gets to enjoy herself every day.  Within a few days of arriving at Bridgette and Wayne's house, I had gotten two job offers.  I ended up taking a job with a design/build firm based out of the Mad River Valley.  I am actually lucky enough that the job I am working on is based in Vergennes.  I have never had a job where I could walk to work and it is pretty nice.  Misa actually walks with me every morning to the job site with Tucker.  This firm does their work in fabric-formed concrete, something only a few companies in the world deal with.  It is interesting work as it is not a material that I have any experience with, but the carpentry work is sometimes complex, as you are actually thinking about everything in reverse.  The project I am on is building a pedestrian access and viewing platform for the Vergennes Falls so I have the most beautiful job site I have ever worked at, right next to the falls.  When the wind is blowing, it actually can send a cooling spray off of the waterfall.  This probably won't feel so nice come October, but for now it is great. 

I get to work on the left side of the falls

  We have found a great real estate agent who seems very happy to put on his rubber boots and go tromping around the woods and fields to help us find our new home site, where we will build our next house.  We have several properties that we are interested in and we are meeting with our expert Vermont homesteaders tomorrow to get their professional opinions on one of them.  Exciting things are to come I am sure.

We have loved our time in Vermont so far.  People up here are so friendly and eager to help.  It is such a refreshing feeling.  More to come later!

Denver

After spending the long weekend with Curt and Claire, we were faced with the choice of driving straight back to New Jersey or driving down to Denver to visit friends before heading east. We chose Denver and made the 9-hour drive in one day. (And with just one rest stop!)

In Denver, we hit traffic for the first time since L.A., and got blasted back into the reality of summer with 96-degree weather. But it was all worth it as we arrived at the Larimer Lounge to meet Christel (Misa's first roommate from college) and Paul and see Slim Cessna's Auto Club for the second time on their tour. It was very sweaty fun. We hung out for the next few days at Christel and Paul's house in Denver, trying to gather up the will power to make the long 33-hour drive home. There were many places in Colorado and Utah that we wanted to check out on this trip, but since we now know we are moving to Vermont, it seemed silly to spend any more time exploring other states. We will definitely have to return to CO and UT on our next big trip...

Sadly, we took no pictures in Denver! Are we pictured-out?

More Montana Pics!

Because Montana deserves more pictures ...

The view of the Absaroka Mountains from the Beartooth Highway

Colin hiking up

Colin and Curt reviewing what Colin just snowboarded

The wildflowers behind the lodge

Big Montana

Driving on the Beartooth Highway

We spent several nice days with the Lindberg parents in Bozeman and Red Lodge, Montana, poking around town, shopping, eating, hiking, and ... driving. Colin got to snowboard on something off the Beartooth Pass while Misa, Curt, and Claire watched like paparazzi with cameras and binoculars.

If you can find the small dot in the snow, that's Colin snowboarding.

Later, we  drove off in search of wildflowers and wild horses, ending up hours away from Red Lodge and nearly out of gas without seeing much besides sagebrush and dust. Upon returning to Red Lodge, we went for a hike behind the hotel after dinner and found the most gorgeous wildflower meadow we've seen on the whole trip. Who would have guessed?

The Crowds!

Lining up to see Old Faithful. Notice how far the benches curve around.

The Mammoth boardwalk

Yellowstone

Our first of many encounters with ... BISON!!!

We woke up at 6 am and got into the park by 7 am. It wasn't early enough. The park was having a free-entry day and it was packed. But in between the traffic jams, we got to see awesome things, including Old Faithful, on our one-day speedy drive-through. 

Old Faithful spouting!

View from Mammoth Hot Springs

Tucker, unfortunately, isn't allowed on any trails in national parks, so we couldn't stray too far from the pavement. It was very cool to see the earth so active, bubbling and boiling and steaming. It reminds that there is a lot more going on than what we see humans doing on the surface.

Much of the interesting springs were so shrouded in steam it was hard to see. 

Glacier National Park . . . Sort of

We don't seem to be having much luck with national parks this trip. Yesterday we drove up to Glacier National Park. With gray, rainy skies we didn't see much besides clouds, and the park was already filled with summer crowds. Realizing it wasn't going to be much of a beautiful hiking day, we opted for something more unusual for us. We rented a small motorboat and explored Lake MacDonald on the water. The two-hour ride was worth every penny. With no one else on the water and the trees blocking the road from sight, it felt like we were the only people in the park.

Dual battery working again!

We have our second battery system up and running again after it was out of commission for 3 weeks. The dealer that bought it from was great to deal with for the aftermarket support. The system is made in South Africa so getting parts wasn't that easy.
It will be very nice to have our fridge and lights working again.

Turning Point

We decided that this may be the quintessential photo of our trip. A dirt road, forest land, and snowy, jagged mountains. That's basically what we've been up to. 

Hours before this photo was taken, however, our trip hit its turning point. Misa (having jogged three miles into town in order to find cell phone service) received a call from the Burlington Public School District in Vermont offering her an ESL teaching position for the 2011-2012 school year. She accepted and so we will be moving to Vermont. We will still continue to explore Idaho (because you never know what may lie in our future), and then head into Montana to meet Colin's parents in Bozeman, but our traveling now has a known final destination--Vermont. EXCITING!!!!!

Return to the Boat Box and Stanley, ID

We loved Stanley, ID when we came here two years ago in July. We still love it. A small town of 100 people, it has some of the nicest scenery in the United States. It may take a few Vermont winters for Misa to get used to the kind of cold that Stanley gets though. It holds the number one spot for most number of days with the lowest temperature in the contiguous United States from 1995-2005.

Even big houses look small compared to the mountains 

Our return to the Boat Box, a hot spring along the Salmon River. We found that the box itself had changed (no longer wood, now metal), but the water was still just as hot and perfect.

Driving up to our campsite along Iron Creek Rd.

Colin on his way to go snowboarding

The view

In a park downtown

Boise and Butterfly Hot Springs

After our failed attempts at soaks in White Licks Hot Springs, we retreated to Boise, where we were welcomed into the home of Colin's old college friend, Angela, and her husband Bob. Both Angela and Misa were registered to take a Praxis exam in Boise on Saturday, so the timing worked out perfectly. We got a tour of the Eagle Fish Hatchery, where Bob is a fish culturist taking care of Idaho's endangered Sockeye Salmon. It was fascinating to hear about how Idaho Fish & Game cultures these fish, tags and monitors them, and releases them into the river.




On Sunday we headed east toward Stanley, stopping by what will now be known as the Butterfly Hot Springs, located between Garden Valley and Lowman in the Boise National Forest. Our pictures don't really capture how many they were because some flew off when we approached with the camera. The yellow ones (not shown) were especially shy.

The butterflies lining up for their soak

From the panhandle to Boise

Our journey from northern Idaho to Boise is perhaps best told through photos.

Driving through a thunder storm at sunset, Moscow, ID

Wildflowers the next morning, Moscow, ID

A roadside rainbow over Lewiston, ID

The view along our 4-hour hike in search of hot springs on the wrong road, McCall, ID

The hike certainly wasn't fruitless for Tucker, who found himself a nice toy...

... and kept himself very busy for the next few hours

The start of a long trek that was supposed to be a cross-country ski/hike to hot springs (this time on the right road), but turned into a 14-mile roundtrip journey to a tub of black sludge...

Wild Things

No doubt other creatures have stealthily passed us, but here is a list of interesting wildlife we've seen so far on this trip:

(not our photo)

Bobcat--Yosemite National Park, CA

Black Bear--Methow Valley, WA

Bald Eagle--Boise, ID (in its nest!)

Coyote--CA, OR, WA

(Our photo!)

Pronghorn--Stanley, ID

Pika--Stanley, ID

It's Pretty Country Here

This is our view as I write this. We are in Coeur d'Alene, the city that is incredibly hard to spell but has amazing forests and mountains around it. After spending some time in Sandpoint, ID, we arrived here today to pick up a package. Colin is now fixing our second battery set-up. I don't really know much else about what went wrong or what he's doing, but I'm really glad that he knows how to figure out all that electrical stuff!

A beautiful campsite in western Washington

So how did we get to Idaho? Well, we drove east from the Methow Valley. We took Highway 20 for quite a ways and then headed up to Metaline, a small town not far from the Washington/Canada border. A while ago we had filled out an online questionnaire together that was to magically determine which town in the United States is best for us. It was divined that Metaline was the place for us. I'm sorry we didn't take pictures because it was quite cute. Huge cliffs provided a dramatic backdrop for the small downtown and the Metaline Falls was not too far away.

After that we headed down through Spokane and then up to Sandpoint, Idaho. We explored Sandpoint's downtown for a while and then headed up into the forest to camp.

On Saturday, the first thought I had upon waking up was: "This is what I have been waiting for." A strong beam of sunlight was shining into my forehead and when I emerged from the truck, I could see the whole round sun. Not part of it. Not the general idea of it behind some clouds--the whole thing. We drove back to town to visit the farmer's market, strolled around the city beach park, and then headed back to the national forest to camp. We spent the rest of the hot, sunny afternoon splashing in an icy river and laying around with books and yoga mats. It was the perfect Saturday.

City Beach Park, Sandpoint, ID

Now we are in Coeur d'Alene. Somebody needs to buy me a bumper sticker that says I HEART IDAHO.

Another rainy day in Washington!

I tried to bring the sunshine from New Jersey back to Washington, but it didn't work. 50 degrees and cloudy yesterday, and 40 degrees and raining today. Great! It made me jealous for one second of everyone enjoying the weather in NJ until I remembered that jealousy doesn't help me enjoy the present moment at all. I think I also visited NJ during my favorite time of year--when everything is tipped with fresh, spring green, flowers are blooming everywhere, and the returning heat of summer makes you forget you spent the last 6 months cold. Bike riding with my dad through the wooded hills of Mendham and the wide-open farm fields of Cranbury reminded me that NJ has its pretty parts too, and the towns in which Colin and I grew up are some of the nicest places in NJ. But I also realized that I miss family more than I miss NJ itself.

Vermont was gorgeous and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for the job in Burlington. It would be funny if we drove across country and ended up back east, but in my opinion we wouldn't be settling for anything if we ended up in Vermont. Curt and I got to drive into the Jeffersonville area as the sun was setting and thick, gray storm clouds were lifting after a violent and crazy rain. The mountains were green, the ground was all mud and puddles, the locals were out with chainsaws clearing the road of fallen trees for fellow townsfolk.

Last night we drove from Seattle to Marblemount and this morning we headed into the Methow Valley across the newly-opened-for-the-season North Cascade Scenic Highway. There were still impressive piles of snow lining the road and fresh ski tracks on the trails. We were a little sad that the skies were gray, as the North Cascade Scenic Highway is supposed to be one of the prettiest drives in the United States! We mostly saw fog. At least it was pretty fog. We had lunch at the cute Mazama Store and are now in Twisp as thunder rumbles and rain falls. Tomorrow we make our way closer to Idaho!

Look Misa, I'm eating green things while you are gone!

I know, you must be so proud of me, it is not multiple cheeseburgers from an establishment that we won't name here. Olive oil, garlic, broccoli, spinach is what's in the frying pan along with spaghetti in the other pan.
This is also a shot of how we cook on our Coleman double burner stove. This stove is around 30 years old. It used to be my parents until I adopted it. I wonder if this is what they used on their trip around the country in their Audi Fox?

It's kinda pretty here

 

I found this great spot along Chuckanut Drive about 10 miles south of Bellingham.  I pulled over to eat lunch at a scenic overlook and saw a trail that dropped into the woods and headed towards the water.  Tucker and I plunged down this incredibly steep trail and found ourselves at a set of train tracks and then the water.  Hidden between the train tracks and the water was a great little camping spot that has been  shown a lot of love.  There was a bunch of stone walls that were ringing the camping area with a bunch of artsy rock cairns and a great little firepit.  I am guessing that it is mainly used by sea kayakers as there really isn't any access besides this.  It was nice to find such a gem with absolutely no garbage around it.  Tucker went for a swim for a little while and got to see his first freight train go by within 20 feet.  He wasn't really sure what to think about it. 

New Jersey Morning

Am I allowed to post on the trip blog when I'm technically on a trip from our trip?

For the past month or so I'd felt that the days were passing more quickly, and as it seemingly got closer to the end of our trip (with summer approaching), I found myself looking more to the future than the present. What will we do when our money runs out? Where will we end up? What kind of jobs will we find? Rather than letting these questions pass through my mind, I clung on to them, probably causing distress to both Colin and myself.

Then last night I experienced culture shock upon returning to New Jersey. Is New Jersey really so different from the rest of the country or have we been visiting just the unusual pockets of the United States? The shock made me realize the greatness of our trip and reminded me why we set out on it in the first place. New Jersey is not the norm and the lifestyle most enjoy here is not a standard to force yourself to live up to or maintain. It is simply one way of life. And if that way of life doesn't feel right to you, you find ways to change it. On our trip, we have been inspired by so many people and so many different landscapes that it would be impossible to ever return to New Jersey as the same couple we were living the same life we did.

For example, my shower last night in the home I grew up in did not feel as magnificent as the $0.75 four-minute shower I took two days ago at a campground outside Seattle. My bed did not feel as soft and comfortable as I imagined it would. I missed the woods and I missed Colin & Tucker terribly. And sadly, despite having everything I need in life, I went to sleep with a complaining voice in my head. I was trying to compare the beauty our trip to the sudden feeling of returning to a life in Mendham, New Jersey that is no longer mine.

Today I woke up at 5:15 am when the sunlight came streaming through the window and went downstairs to find a yoga mat. Instantly I knew I couldn't practice inside. Days and days of practicing outside had gotten to me in a good way. I laid down a mat to practice on the back patio and listened to the chatter of birds mixed with the rush of cars as I sat down for meditation. I didn't have snow-capped mountain views, but I was grateful for the sun, the warm humid air, and for not having to wear furry boots and a down jacket to keep warm during savasana. I was humbled by this simple pleasure, and the negativity of last night washed away.

This morning's practice made me remember that you can be content anywhere and you can complain anywhere. I trust that wherever we end up will be perfect.

You should take a trip!

I have had more time today to reflect upon our trip than I normally do.  I had to drive the 2.5 hours back to Seattle to pick up my debit card.  I was a bit annoyed at myself for doing something stupid like that and generally I prefer to stay as far away from big cities as possible.  I don't like the noise, the crowds, the people, the expenses related to cities, I tend to shy away from the general hipness of cities.  So I guess I was being punished because I had to go back.  Once I got back to the area where the restaurant was I spent 30 minutes driving around trying to find a parking spot for the truck.  Cities are not made to park full-sized trucks.  After cramming myself into a spot and walking the 10 blocks back to the restaurant, I hightailed it out of the city.

Then something started to change, I was making my way out of the city, it was around 8:30pm and the sun was setting behind the Olympic mountains.  I saw about 30 sailboats having a regatta.  It was a very peaceful scene.  My mood started to do a one hundred and eighty degree turn.

Driving up I-5 to get back towards the mountains I realized what a great trip this has been.  Misa and I are so lucky that we are able to make this happen.  We have met a lot of great people, seen a lot of great and amazing places.  I am not sure where we will end up when the trip is over, but the whole experience has been amazing.  It hasn't always been perfect days and sunny skies, but looking back over the past 3 months, it has been such a great journey.

I think a trip everyone should take a trip like this at least once in their lifetime.  We all make so many excuses about why we can't do it: whether it is work obligations, family, money, time, etc.  It is possible if you really want it.

We are in the beginning of creating our own life and this trip is really the start of all of it.

 

Sometimes we run into roadblocks on our trip!

Whoops!

Misa headed back home for a visit with her family this week and I stayed in Washington with Tucker.  I figured while she was gone I could get in a lot of snowboarding.  The weather report looked promising for exactly one day for the entire time she is going to be gone, today!  I dropped her off at the airport at 4:30 am and then drove the 2.5 hours to Mount Baker.  The weather called for partly sunny skies with a high temp of 58.  Sounds perfect for a day in the mountains.  About 50 miles from Mount Baker I stop to fill up the truck with gas.  I reach into my wallet and discover that I don't have my debit card that we are using for all of our trip related purchases.  hmmm, where could it be?  After looking around the truck for a while I end up using  my credit card to pay for the gas. Good thing I kept that in my wallet at the start of the trip.  I continue on the road towards Mount Baker and then it starts to drizzle.  As I continue on the drizzle turns into a steady rain.  What is happening to my one good day of weather?  As I am driving up the access road to Mount Baker, I realize where my debit card is.  I had left it at the restaurant that we ate at last night in downtown Seattle.  Big Whoops indeed. 

So I guess I earned myself another trip to Seattle tonight or tomorrow to pick up my debit card.  Did I ever mention that I don't like cities at all?
  I blame this all on Misa,  I must have been distraught over her impending absence and forgot my card.  I am not normally like this...

Happy Birthday to Colin!

Happy Birthday, Colin! 

If we were at home I would have baked you blueberry muffins and a birthday cake. We will have to have a belated second-birthday celebration for you when we find our new home :) 

Methow Valley

Kumi, come back! You left and the rain has returned!


We spent the past few days exploring the towns in the Methow Valley: Mazama, Winthrop, and Twisp. Winthrop is the largest of the three and has an old Wild West theme going on. We had wonderful warm, sunny weather and clear skies for the first time in a long while. On our first morning, we hiked to the Cedar Creek Falls to check out the hydraulic forces. More and more wildflowers are popping up each time we step on a trail, and Colin got a plants of the Pacific Northwest guide, so now we are able to identify them, which is fun. After Misa comes back from her interviews, hopefully we will return to the area and get a few more beautiful days to explore the impressive trail system there and visit the one yoga studio.

The rolling huts were a nice change to the truck for a few nights. They are comfortable, clean, spacious, and have nice balconies. We recommend them to anyone passing through the Methow area, although there are a number of cabins you can rent as well for a similar price. And with a cabin you'd also get a full kitchen...

The Rolling Huts in the Methow Valley

We had a change in plans yesterday and we ended up in the Methow Valley.  Misa's sister, Kumi, came out from New J ersey to visit us for a few days.  We arrived at this unique place just as the sun was setting last night so we haven't had too much time to explore.  It is definitely a neat set-up.   Kumi also brought us some nice weather for the rest of the week.