A little catch up!

Our trip to date:
July 6 – Spokane, WA
July 7 – Cabin 32 miles south of Big Timber, MT
July 8, 9 – Billings, MT
July 10, 11 – Yellowstone National Park, WY
July 12 – Casper, WY
July 13, 14 – Boulder, CO

I just realized I haven’t posted in earnest since Spokane, so I’m going to try to catch myself up from the cabin (which I promised a week ago) through Casper with this post, which means I’m not going to give everything from Billings to here nearly enough time or attention; on the other hand, this post is epic in proportion. In related news, nobody knows exactly how much beer is left in Colorado after we hit the bars on the 13th, but let me assure you, it is a noticeably smaller amount than existed before we arrived. Oskar Blues and Avery 4 lyfe.

Instead of writing a piece by piece description of everything that happened along the way, I’ll try to highlight some of what has really stood out for me and reflect a little bit upon the trip experience so far.

We’re only a bit over a week in, and I think both of us can already feel what I’ve taken to calling ‘trip exhaustion’ starting to set in. We’re on the move in a way I haven’t been in a good long time, up early and in bed relatively late, with little time to rest in between. We have a few major stress factors, like my driving experience, our money situation, and our plans for each night along the way, that certainly could have been alleviated with better planning (a.k.a it would have been impossible for us to prevent them). It’d be a fool at best who complained about spending their summer the way we are, but I’m tired – that’s all. I wouldn’t have it any other way but it’s already VERY apparent how important it is to frequently take some time to chill out, drink a quart of water, pound down a couple hundred calories, and live in the moment for a bit. To borrow the old cliche, it’s the little things that make all the difference in the world. The simple act of cleaning out and reorganizing the car has me feeling infinitely better about the road ahead than I did while it was still messy from camping for a few nights.

The other part of that trip exhaustion is the dawning realization that our budget and time limitations simply aren’t enough to do justice to the many places we’ve traveled to already and the many more we have to look forward to. We knew this going in; experiencing it is something else entirely. I find myself constantly having to reign in a very real sense of disappointment: I want to do the trip we set out to do, but every time we stop somewhere new, I want to stay there a bit longer. We’ve already cut a ton of stops, and it feels downright criminal to be looking forward to driving through Chicago or Minneapolis in a single day. That said, I’m constantly amazed at how much we’re managing to cram into a single day, and even more amazed at how much we’ve done this last week. Something that’s come up in Jeremy’s and my conversations has been the idea that these United States we live in are home to people living in VASTLY different places with VASTLY different needs. The sheer scope of the different experiences I’ve had so far makes it easy to remember that this summer is an opportunity to skim the surface of as many different places as possible, not an immersion or even a particularly great education in any single one.

Forgive me for waxing a little bit there; I’ll stay on task for the next few paragraphs.

We spent the first night outside of Washington at Jeremy’s family’s cabin south of Big Timber in Montana, and man oh man was it hard to drag myself away. It reminded me of my grandma’s house, except if her house had been in the middle of a beautiful valley, next to a rushing river, and far enough away from the neighbors so as never to be bothered by anything other than the occasional mosquito. We rolled in pretty late – 11:30 pm or so – so we slept in too, but I honestly couldn’t say where the rest of the morning went. A week or two there alone sounds entirely doable, doing a little bit of hiking but probably just a lot of reading and napping outside with the sound of the river to soothe my soul. I’m sure I’ve romanticized western Montana a little bit, but my experiences with Mariah at Flathead Lake and now at the cabin just stand out as some of the most peaceful and tranquil times I can remember.

All good things must end, of course, so off we were to Billings for more good things, where Jeremy’s uncle Mark and aunt Tina put us up while they, his uncle Dave, aunt Julie, and his cousins made sure we were well fed, well entertained, and ready to head off for the rest of the summer. I’ll throw Kristen, Ryan, and their wonderful children in Casper, Wyoming into the mix here too when I say that it was a real joy to share time with the Standish and Urbanec families on the way to Denver. Everyone I met along the way was just a thousand times more generous than they needed to be with their time, their money, their possessions, and their advice. More than anything, though, it says something that I never once felt out of place in Montana or Wyoming, even as the ex-Californian Seattlite with no ties other than my friendship with Jeremy. I didn’t know quite what to expect – obviously I didn’t think I was going to be excluded – but what I found certainly exceeded all expectations. Mark, Tina, Dave, Julie, James, Rosa, Arabella, Ryan, Kristen, Danica, and Alex: thanks for everything. There’s not enough words here to say it well enough, so I’ll stick to those simple ones.

Outside of three nights of simply wonderful company, a few other bullet points:
-Flying from Montana to Wyoming is not by itself particularly cool. Flying from Montana to Wyoming in a beautiful, ultrafast plane built from the ground up by two brothers, both of whom clearly know everything there is to know their baby, is REALLY cool. Shutting up and listening to them talk about what was going on mid flight was neat. What an unplanned for and welcome pleasure, even if I think I almost lost my mind when Dave put us into a dive without warning ;).
-Bayern continues to impress as far as Montana beers go. We did some solid work on a variety case while we were in Yellowstone, and their Dragon’s Breath in particular is a helluva beer.
-Wyoming from the reservation to Casper had a few bleak moments. I think the sign that read “Joebfnowhere, population 10” was the most bleak, though. It was posted next to the highway with about a house and a half in sight.
-Coming from Sunnyvale, CA, I clearly have no idea what a small town is. I definitely thought of Sunnyvale as being on the smaller side of things for a long time which couldn’t be further from the truth. 180,000 people in the South Bay is, uh, not a small town. It’s suburban, for sure, not necessarily urban/metropolitan, but as far as population goes, it’s an order of magnitude bigger than Casper or Billings. This realization has garnered no small amount of laughter and earned me some light to moderate mockery so far, which I’m fine with. A major reason I’m so happy to be on this trip is the Socratic realization that I just really don’t know dick all about life outside of major, coastal population centers.

As for the time spent in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, wow. We took about 600 pictures, I believe, so that ought to give you some idea of how much there was to take in. I’m usually rather philosophically opposed to picture taking, because I think it dramatically cheapens my ability to experience special moments in time, and also because sentimental bull shit like pictures of myself are not something I have historically valued very much. Maybe this trip is already changing that, or maybe I’ve changed a bit over the past few years, but I’ve had a lot of fun both in front of and behind the camera so far.

The parks themselves were awesome in the true OED sense of that word. I don’t have a whole lot of use for religion these days, and even less for the narrow concept of ‘God’ I was brought up with, but I only ever very briefly flirted with total rejection of any sort of higher power. Sitting next to Jenny Lake under the towering Tetons, watching the geysers at Yellowstone, standing a few hundred steps down the edge of a canyon across from the massive Lower Falls… there’s no way to describe that, for me, other than as a religious experience. It’s really clear that there are powers in this world far greater than us, that have been around for far longer and will be around far after we’re gone. The fact that we can explain our world better now than we could in days gone by is excellent, but it doesn’t change the fact that on a geological time scale, we’re really quite tiny. It helps to remember that from time to time, for me, because it really puts the day to day worries into perspective. While I was in Yellowstone, I didn’t think once about what the f— I’m going to do with my life when we get back from this road trip. It didn’t matter.

Let me know if you find anything particularly interesting or heinously boring. I’m still getting into the swing of things here, and trying to figure out exactly what I ought to be sharing. This post was way too long but c’est la vie. We’re driving through Nebraska, so I’m sure the Boulder post will be up soon. It’ll be a fun one.

Beer Post #1

Boulder CO gets a passing grade on beer.  Tomorrow will be better for everyone to hear about why.

Rocky Mountain National Park and Boulder

We are leaving Casper right now and we will be staying in Boulder tonight.  Posts are coming tonight or tomorrow.

Yellowstone/Grand Teton Here We Come!

Pics are up and we are not bear eaten.  In the interest of getting down the road you will have to wait to hear about it.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106357759851902669348

We will be out of internet range for the next couple days as we go bear-dodging in Yellowstone.  We will take approximately a million pictures and let you know how it goes when we get back to an access point.

Hey Michael, remember that time that we hopped over to Wyoming because gas was cheaper?

Cabin/Billings

Odometer 204,516

Live from Billings, MT!

This is just a placeholder for now, expect an edit with a full post later. Sorry for not blogging earlier, but there was no place for the internet at Jeremy’s family’s cabin, so perhaps not that sorry. As it happens, we’ll be off the grid from Sunday through Tuesday, too! Turns out even idiots who wait until the day before can find camping in Yellowstone, so that is where we will be. Then on to Grand Teton! We’ll spend today shopping, mapping, drinking beer, and relaxing with good company and then head out early tomorrow.

I’m thoroughly sick of typing on my phone and am in no rush, so more to come when Jeremy wakes up and I can steal a computer… yes, my crappy little one already gave up the ghost. Big surprise, right?

On Leaving Home

(Odometer – )

Now that we are on our third solid day into the trip I must admit, without surprise, that I am already behind in my promise to keep up to date with blogging everyday. So, on that note, sorry, here we go.

I suppose the most reasonable place to start is at the beginning. July 6 was day one, and it was a glorious way to start the trip. After getting all (or at least most) of the things loaded in the car Michael and I drove down to what seemed the best official place to begin our journey, Safeco Field. The on-ramp for Interstate 90, where it begins in Washington is at the corner of our home stadium. We hope in a few weeks to be driving off of the other end of I-90 in Boston. Down at the stadium we parked in what could only be described as questionable “parking place” hoped out, snapped a picture and then hit the road. At exit 2b we headed north on I-5 for the North Cascades Highway and buckled down for an all day drive.

For those of you who have never had the chance or taken the time to drive over WA State Highway 20, let me be clear, do it. It is beautiful. We spent hours driving through shear rock faced mountains, glacial lakes, snow, and just amazing view-points. We took our time, stopping every 10-15 miles to walk around and snap pictures. Played some snowball baseball, and had two snowball fights (Jeremy 1, Michael 0). At the end of the Cascades section of the drive we stopped in Winthrop for lunch. Winthrop is its own special little place, by ordinance or some sort of agreement the town resembles a town of the old west, and does, to a certain extent feel like walking around the set of a John Wayne movie. Our next stop, though brief, was at Grand Coulee Dam, now the 3rd largest dam in the world. Odongo made his first appearance here after throwing a fit at our neglect earlier in the day. From there is was a straight shot to Spokane for some famous Dave Ulmen beer and a little loving from Mom and Dad.

For me the first day was interesting. One never knows what exactly to expect in a trip, especially a prolonged one. I found driving through the North Cascades that I really had no nerves, I was relaxed, and generally worry free. That all came to a screeching halt when I laid down to go to sleep in my bedroom at home. I guess leaving home to go home does not really count as entering into a “new” space. I laid there in bed freaking out about where we were going and how we were going to get there in a way that in the months leading up to the trip I never encountered. In the morning, Michael and I talked about our plan and realized we had some things to figure out. Luckily, we found most of those things were not that hard to figure out. Though, they probably should have been done weeks ago, but hey, that sounds suspiciously like work. We spent the morning plotting out where we would go, what teams were home when, what national parks were open and after an hour or two both felt relieved. We decided to skip Glacier, a decision that we weighed for a long time. Going-To-The-Sun Highway is closed still due to heavy snow and we decided that venturing that far would put to much stress on the middle section of the trip. We decided instead to hop back onto I-90 and put some miles down. Last night we stayed at my Grandparents Cabin on the Boulder River a ways south of my Mom’s hometown of Big Timber Montana.

The trip to the Cabin was fun, due to the planning session and having no particular goal in the morning, we got a late start leaving Spokane. We were further delayed in Coure d’Alene. Not wanting to totally skip Idaho we decided it best to stop at Tubs hill and jump in the lake. Who knew Odongo was so good at cliff Jumping? Add in a lot longer than it should have taken to buy gas and some groceries and we did not leave CDA until near about 4 p.m. PST. The rest of the drive was window pictures and one more gas stop in Bozeman. We pulled into the Cabin around 11:30 MST, and piled into the bedroom my Aunt Dianne had graciously prepared for us. Of course before going to sleep we had to have a glass of scotch. To anyone who may flinch at the picture of Oban 14 being poured into Styrofoam cups, let me assure you, as a scotch snob, whiskey should be so lucky. This Cabin is one of my very favorite places, just under a mile high in a breathtaking river valley surrounded by mountain peaks in the 9-10k foot range and a river running just under flood stage. There are few better places to sit and have a drink and even a nice scotch should consider itself fortunate to be consumed in such a setting.

As I write this post, during the morning of day 3, I am sitting on the screen porch, in full sun, feeling bad about being near something as silly as a computer. We will probably spend the next few hours reading, hiking, or just soaking in the surrounding and head off to Billings this afternoon of evening. But more about that next time.

Day 1

MORNING UPDATE:

To nobody’s surprise, day one was a stunning success. In response to Dad’s question in the comments: no, there weren’t any near death experiences. I’m a simple man, and that alone makes me pretty happy. However, as if it wasn’t enough to simply get through the day without doing anything criminally or life threateningly stupid, we also managed to enjoy a truly beautiful drive through a part of Washington that I’d never seen before. The north Cascades, as the two panoramic shots included in this post will show, set a pretty high standard of beauty for the rest of America to live up to. There were plenty of overlooks, and we tried to stop at as many as we could – a drive that usually takes Jeremy between three and four hours turned into a solid eight hour day. Highlights included the last major overlook at the top of the pass on Highway 20, which is where the second panoramic shot is from (the one with all the snow!), and the Grand Coulee Dam. Water levels are so high right now that the dam was open all the way and there was still even more pouring over the top. The overlook we stopped at was probably a mile away and we could hear the water roaring as if it was right next to us.

The picture of us standing in front of the car with Jeremy’s hand in my face is perhaps technically the start of our journey, but the one of us and the car illegally parked at the start of I-90 is the symbolic start. We’re going across America and back, it goes across America… so yes, I guess that doesn’t bear much further explanation.

For now, I’m going to go do some WWF moves on Jeremy to wake him up, and soon we’ll have to drag ourselves away from the Ulmen’s hospitality and get back on the road.

Check the google picture site for more pictures! https://picasaweb.google.com/106357759851902669348

Email us your address if you want a post card! barbaricyalp@gmail.com

So yeah, not much to say other than that the drive through the North Cascades Scenic Highway 20 was beautiful and we aren’t dead. A better post will be coming tomorrow before we leave Chateau Ulmen. Jeremy’s computer is being fussy, so no pictures for the moment, but they’re safe on the camera. Rest assured, fair readers: Odongo loved every moment.

Heckling Across America: Angels Stadium

I’ll edit this with a picture later – it’s on my phone and my phone is more than an arm’s length away from me.

A bit over a week ago I had the opportunity to go to an Anaheim Angels game with Patrick. We couldn’t bring ourselves to pour money into the Dodgers organization, so the Angels seemed like a decent alternative. Fittingly enough, it felt like most of the Angels fans at the stadium thought the same thing.

First things first, and most importantly, I had a really good time. The bros I met in the beer line were more friendly than I deserved, given that I was proudly sporting my Mariners hat at a game between our division rival Angels and the Washington Nationals. Our seats in the bleachers were comfortable and there was plenty of leg room in the empty row in front of us. The game itself was a 3-2 win for the Angels, which was unfortunate, but there were a few lead changes and it (obviously) stayed close all the way through. Much to the chagrin of everyone seated around me, I got to yell at the left fielders for both teams.

The most interesting thing for me, though, was observing the fans out to see the game. The stadium itself was certainly more full than Safeco gets for a weekday game, but the vibe was eerily similar. Patrick agreed with my general assessment: the fans there were, for the most part, nice people who didn’t know a whole lot about baseball who were just out to have a good time on a sunny day. Baseball was incidentally being played where they were hanging out, but the entertainment between innings was more loudly lauded than the home team. Sound familiar? It should – it feels like just yesterday that I was writing the same thing about our beloved Mariners. I find myself eagerly awaiting a Dodgers game, to see whether or not there’s actually a ‘baseball fan’ vibe there. I suspect there will be, but it might also be that there’s a whole slew of people, running around an L.A. area with two teams and a lot of other fun stuff than baseball to do, who just aren’t that interested in anything other than winning.