So even though I have been home for a while I guess I should officially post that I got home.
After Yellowstone we drove to Montana and went down a mountain in a snow flurry in 16 degree weather. that is a first for me. When we finally crossed into Canada, it was just was we expected no fun and humorless. that homeland security show on TV made it look a little more exciting, but some people take protecting a country from rogue tomatoes (and my dad's imaginary gun collection) just a little too seriously.
Once in Canada it was a lot of flat farm land - growing oil wells, haha. On Friday we went to the West Edmonton Mall. Supposedly one of the largest in North America. It has 800 stores, a water park, amusement park, and an ice rink. although it had some nice stores it really ran the gamut from a Coach purse store to Zellers (Canadian Walmart) and dollar stores. some of the clientele seemed kind of seedy too. It was still a fun evening, and we went to a great dinner place called Brewsters. We all cleaned our plates and mom and I enjoyed the local brew.
On saturday mom and I tried to clean up our infected computers. we both got infected with different viruses, so by the time we were done messing with computers I only had a couple hours until my flight home. So I suggested we play a few games and then go to A&W for lunch. We got out the dominoes - an Alaska vacation must have! - and Uno. We got very competitive and silly and couldn't breathe because we were laughing so hard. A&W was also delicious and then it was off to the single terminal international airport.
I walked to the ticket counter and the woman greeted me with "going to Phoenix?" yeah, that is how busy the airport was - it was the only afternoon flight the airline had that day. coincidently a different airline was boarding a flight to Phoenix at the gate next to mine. Apparently it is a very popular destination for Canadians, who knew!?
The flight was nice and I ended up sitting next to some young canadian guy who was vacationing in AZ for a week of golf. he was quite the world traveler and we talked the entire flight. he told me about cool places in canada to vacation at and I told him about the phx area.
I finally got home and spent my entire sunday lounging around catching up on my DVR. then hung out with one of my old college friends, Ryan. he came back for the weekend to see everyone - it was good timing too since he is a grad student at UCSD now and they had 100 degree weather last week.
now it is back to work and 16 voicemails, and 5 school visits. woot!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wildlife Bingo
Today we went to Yellowstone! After a couple hour detour back through Idaho, we entered Yellowstone from the western entrance, which is actually located in the tip of Montana - before we even saw any animals in Yellowstone, we had gone from Wyoming to Idaho to Montana to Wyoming! All in about 3 or 4 hours. It was all snow covered with some green patches and lots of hot springs and geysers to heat things up!
Once in Yellowstone we couldn't go 20 minutes without seeing some sort of wildlife! So we decided to play wildlife bingo! First person to see five of the following: deer, elk, bison, wolves, grizzly bear, black bear, or a moose got to yell bingo
Mom or dad was first to see elk and buffalo eating together right at a pullout. We took pictures and the animals were so oblivious to us (or just didn't care) that they seemed tame. Although I have no desire to touch wild animals, I can definitely see why some people are stupid enough to try - they are right there! without fences!
We went up the road and I saw two coyotes. at first we thought they were wolves but upon binocular inspection they were in fact not. We went up the road and lo and behold more buffalo. more elk. buffalo in the road. more buffalo in the road. some elk. It became clear to us that the buffalo and the elk had been told it was their time to be on parade and they took every opportunity to be seen.
We then headed to Old Faithful and waited about an hour to see her blow! the sign in the visitor center said "we don't schedule we only predict. next eruption 10 minutes of 3pm" So we figured that was a 20 minute window. We headed out to the geyser - which is just outside the visitor center (how convenient of them to put the geyser right by the buildings, haha) and there is a boardwalk and benches in a half moon shape around Old Faithful. It was obvious that in the summer time this place was a tourist madhouse. all day long we were thankful we came to the park at this time of year - not everything was open, but there weren't any crowds and we saw everything we wanted to.
Sure enough at 2:55pm Old Faithful erupted! it was pretty cool and amazing to think that we were mere feet from a hole in the Earth's crust. Just like any tourist attraction, within seconds of the eruption's end, everyone got up to leave. We stayed behind to make sure there wouldn't be a second show, the same way you might sit through the credits of a movie to see if they put bloopers or a last scene after the credits.
As we headed out the north side of Yellowstone (since only the west and north sides were open) we came across one of the main attractions - a Grizzly Bear! We knew something was around because there were about 15 cars pulled over with people sitting with telephoto lenses. There was the bear, not 70 yards away! the funny thing was that while we were at Old Faithful, one of the park rangers said another ranger saw a grizzly at Roaring Mountain that morning. Sure enough, 3 hours later we see the sign for Roaring Mountain and immediately see the train of cars pulled over and there is the bear.
We definitely started thinking maybe the animals were in a union or something and had specific times they were to be out near the road (and always by a pullout - they are so polite) so that the tourists could see them. in the morning it was bison and elk, in the afternoon bears and wolves. who knew, but we saw so many animals, so often it defintely seemed like it was all orchestrated to be the perfect visit.
After the bear we saw a lone wolf out in a snowy meadow hunting mice. again, upon closer inspection it seemed eerily like a coyote, but dad was insistant that it was a wolf. perhaps more out of desire than truth? as we left the park we figured a moose would round out our Yellowstone bingo quite well! here moosey moosey. After all we had seen elk, bison, bears, and wolves, a moose would really be the only other thing we couldn't really find back home. but alas, I guess the moose were on a union strike or something because we still haven't seen one.
As we drove out of Yellowstone it was almost dusk (about 6:30 but with DST it was going to be light for another 2 hours) so we kept seeing elk and deer everywhere! the elk were literally in people's front yards and the deer where in huge herds in fields like cattle. in fact most of the time they were in the fields with the cattle! hahaha.
We were amazed that by the end of the day we had seen at least 1,000 deer - and none of them had been inside the park! they were all north of the park in the farmers' fields. in huge herds too.
Today we are camped in southern Montana, and may even cross into Canada tomorrow. Dad says it depends on the time of day. if we get to the border in the early afternoon we will cross, but if it is after 5pm he just wont have the patience for their lack of a sense of humor. (I am paraphrasing his reasoning, but I am sure that is why).
We will have to see. only a couple more days before I am back home. but I have enjoyed being cut off from the internet. I am much less likely to answer work email, so it is much more of a vacation from everything!
Once in Yellowstone we couldn't go 20 minutes without seeing some sort of wildlife! So we decided to play wildlife bingo! First person to see five of the following: deer, elk, bison, wolves, grizzly bear, black bear, or a moose got to yell bingo
Mom or dad was first to see elk and buffalo eating together right at a pullout. We took pictures and the animals were so oblivious to us (or just didn't care) that they seemed tame. Although I have no desire to touch wild animals, I can definitely see why some people are stupid enough to try - they are right there! without fences!
We went up the road and I saw two coyotes. at first we thought they were wolves but upon binocular inspection they were in fact not. We went up the road and lo and behold more buffalo. more elk. buffalo in the road. more buffalo in the road. some elk. It became clear to us that the buffalo and the elk had been told it was their time to be on parade and they took every opportunity to be seen.
We then headed to Old Faithful and waited about an hour to see her blow! the sign in the visitor center said "we don't schedule we only predict. next eruption 10 minutes of 3pm" So we figured that was a 20 minute window. We headed out to the geyser - which is just outside the visitor center (how convenient of them to put the geyser right by the buildings, haha) and there is a boardwalk and benches in a half moon shape around Old Faithful. It was obvious that in the summer time this place was a tourist madhouse. all day long we were thankful we came to the park at this time of year - not everything was open, but there weren't any crowds and we saw everything we wanted to.
Sure enough at 2:55pm Old Faithful erupted! it was pretty cool and amazing to think that we were mere feet from a hole in the Earth's crust. Just like any tourist attraction, within seconds of the eruption's end, everyone got up to leave. We stayed behind to make sure there wouldn't be a second show, the same way you might sit through the credits of a movie to see if they put bloopers or a last scene after the credits.
As we headed out the north side of Yellowstone (since only the west and north sides were open) we came across one of the main attractions - a Grizzly Bear! We knew something was around because there were about 15 cars pulled over with people sitting with telephoto lenses. There was the bear, not 70 yards away! the funny thing was that while we were at Old Faithful, one of the park rangers said another ranger saw a grizzly at Roaring Mountain that morning. Sure enough, 3 hours later we see the sign for Roaring Mountain and immediately see the train of cars pulled over and there is the bear.
We definitely started thinking maybe the animals were in a union or something and had specific times they were to be out near the road (and always by a pullout - they are so polite) so that the tourists could see them. in the morning it was bison and elk, in the afternoon bears and wolves. who knew, but we saw so many animals, so often it defintely seemed like it was all orchestrated to be the perfect visit.
After the bear we saw a lone wolf out in a snowy meadow hunting mice. again, upon closer inspection it seemed eerily like a coyote, but dad was insistant that it was a wolf. perhaps more out of desire than truth? as we left the park we figured a moose would round out our Yellowstone bingo quite well! here moosey moosey. After all we had seen elk, bison, bears, and wolves, a moose would really be the only other thing we couldn't really find back home. but alas, I guess the moose were on a union strike or something because we still haven't seen one.
As we drove out of Yellowstone it was almost dusk (about 6:30 but with DST it was going to be light for another 2 hours) so we kept seeing elk and deer everywhere! the elk were literally in people's front yards and the deer where in huge herds in fields like cattle. in fact most of the time they were in the fields with the cattle! hahaha.
We were amazed that by the end of the day we had seen at least 1,000 deer - and none of them had been inside the park! they were all north of the park in the farmers' fields. in huge herds too.
Today we are camped in southern Montana, and may even cross into Canada tomorrow. Dad says it depends on the time of day. if we get to the border in the early afternoon we will cross, but if it is after 5pm he just wont have the patience for their lack of a sense of humor. (I am paraphrasing his reasoning, but I am sure that is why).
We will have to see. only a couple more days before I am back home. but I have enjoyed being cut off from the internet. I am much less likely to answer work email, so it is much more of a vacation from everything!
playing catch up
Ok, so no updates for 3 days because we have been dry camping or been without WiFi. And so much has happened! I will try to recount what I remember.
Monday
We left Flagstaff at around noon and headed north! We saw the Little Colorado River, and the actual Colorado River! Then I finally started my vacation, because it didn't seem real until we crossed a state line. We got into Southern Utah and noticed all the church steeples in every town! Ward after ward of LDS, so we were surprised and happy to see Big Rock Candy Mountain! Although not the original mountain, it was still a very nice restaurant and RV park as the only patrons of the restaurant and the RV park we definitely saw that 3 was a crowd for them! hahaha, we never saw anyone but the staff the whole time we were there.
This was also the day we experimented with me sitting in the passenger seat and mom sitting in the back seat of the truck. We had mentioned trying that out since this trip was originally a father/daughter road trip and mom's presence meant I no longer got the passenger seat! (I have never ridden in the front of a car on a road trip with my family). If you know me at all, you know that as a passenger I am very easy going - you can listen to whatever music you want, have the AC at the temp you want, and I will sit quietly in the back reading a book, or listening to my ipod.
Well, we put mom in the backseat and it was nonstop "turn the AC down" "change the balance on the speakers" "Turn the AC vent off of me" "Turn up/down the volume" "let me see the ipod" "can you hand me this" "will you take this and put it there?" It was funny but we all realized that mom was not a backseat passenger and after a couple hours we put her back in front. She claims she was content back there and liked all the room, but you would never know it because she never stayed quiet. It was really funny, and the next morning mom offered to sit in the back again but dad decided she would be a better hood ornament than backseat rider.
Tuesday
We left Big Rock Candy Mountain (we didn't have any candy but the cinnamon rolls were yummy)and headed north! again! This time we got through Provo, Salt Lake, and Ogden - it definitely felt like a megalopolis and it was the only time we stayed on interstate. We got out of Utah and entered Idaho - this was also the day we saw our first deer, and maybe elk, so it started to feel like vacation. We saw lots of snow capped peaks and even started driving in some very snow covered areas! we saw vast open meadows of snow that were covered in snowmobile tracks and it definitely got cold! I think we even saw it dip into the 40s in the afternoon. We were laughing all day long and were glad to have a bathroom attached to the truck.
We left Idaho and got into Wyoming, spending the night in a podunk town named Alpine. Dad looked at the map and called the Yellowstone road hotline to see which roads were open. Turns out we were planning to enter from the south entrance (which would let us go through the Grand Tetons too!) but it was closed. So Wednesday started with a detour back into Idaho to come into Yellowstone from the west entrance.
Monday
We left Flagstaff at around noon and headed north! We saw the Little Colorado River, and the actual Colorado River! Then I finally started my vacation, because it didn't seem real until we crossed a state line. We got into Southern Utah and noticed all the church steeples in every town! Ward after ward of LDS, so we were surprised and happy to see Big Rock Candy Mountain! Although not the original mountain, it was still a very nice restaurant and RV park as the only patrons of the restaurant and the RV park we definitely saw that 3 was a crowd for them! hahaha, we never saw anyone but the staff the whole time we were there.
This was also the day we experimented with me sitting in the passenger seat and mom sitting in the back seat of the truck. We had mentioned trying that out since this trip was originally a father/daughter road trip and mom's presence meant I no longer got the passenger seat! (I have never ridden in the front of a car on a road trip with my family). If you know me at all, you know that as a passenger I am very easy going - you can listen to whatever music you want, have the AC at the temp you want, and I will sit quietly in the back reading a book, or listening to my ipod.
Well, we put mom in the backseat and it was nonstop "turn the AC down" "change the balance on the speakers" "Turn the AC vent off of me" "Turn up/down the volume" "let me see the ipod" "can you hand me this" "will you take this and put it there?" It was funny but we all realized that mom was not a backseat passenger and after a couple hours we put her back in front. She claims she was content back there and liked all the room, but you would never know it because she never stayed quiet. It was really funny, and the next morning mom offered to sit in the back again but dad decided she would be a better hood ornament than backseat rider.
Tuesday
We left Big Rock Candy Mountain (we didn't have any candy but the cinnamon rolls were yummy)and headed north! again! This time we got through Provo, Salt Lake, and Ogden - it definitely felt like a megalopolis and it was the only time we stayed on interstate. We got out of Utah and entered Idaho - this was also the day we saw our first deer, and maybe elk, so it started to feel like vacation. We saw lots of snow capped peaks and even started driving in some very snow covered areas! we saw vast open meadows of snow that were covered in snowmobile tracks and it definitely got cold! I think we even saw it dip into the 40s in the afternoon. We were laughing all day long and were glad to have a bathroom attached to the truck.
We left Idaho and got into Wyoming, spending the night in a podunk town named Alpine. Dad looked at the map and called the Yellowstone road hotline to see which roads were open. Turns out we were planning to enter from the south entrance (which would let us go through the Grand Tetons too!) but it was closed. So Wednesday started with a detour back into Idaho to come into Yellowstone from the west entrance.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
On the Road Again...
I am updating simultaneously as my mom creates her first blog entry (so check it out under Peggie & Bill's Adventures)
We left for our road trip today - well for me it is a road trip, for my parents it is a 6 month summerbird trip. I am only along for the ride for a week. and of course the adventure started last night when my parents realized we would already have an "adventure" (read: delay due to repairs) because part of our air suspension broke. so we are chillaxin' in Flagstaff until tomorrow when the truck gets fixed. Hopefully this is the only setback, since I only have a week and I want to be out on the open road.
We had lunch today with the extended family and friends. it was really nice to see everyone! of course, now that I have a car to use, I can see everyone whenever I want, but mom and dad will be gone for so long I guess they figured they are worried everyone will forget what they look like if they don't get one last get together in there. no, actually, we are just close with the family and it will be a long time not to see them. I am actually planning on coming back up to the verde valley to visit Jerome with a friend of mine - hopefully we will stop by my grandma's house, she isn't quite over the river and through the woods but she is through old town and past the moose lodge, so that is still and adventure right?!
I just want you to know the last time I made this trek with my parents, not only was I nine years old, but in order to communicate with friends, we either had to use a pay phone or mail a letter, and here I am blogging on my laptop accessing the free wifi from the RV park...talk about a hard life out on the road.
We will see what tomorrow brings. hopefully we will be in Utah for the night and not stuck in Flagstaff - I am not sure it is a true road trip until we cross a state line.
more later.
We left for our road trip today - well for me it is a road trip, for my parents it is a 6 month summerbird trip. I am only along for the ride for a week. and of course the adventure started last night when my parents realized we would already have an "adventure" (read: delay due to repairs) because part of our air suspension broke. so we are chillaxin' in Flagstaff until tomorrow when the truck gets fixed. Hopefully this is the only setback, since I only have a week and I want to be out on the open road.
We had lunch today with the extended family and friends. it was really nice to see everyone! of course, now that I have a car to use, I can see everyone whenever I want, but mom and dad will be gone for so long I guess they figured they are worried everyone will forget what they look like if they don't get one last get together in there. no, actually, we are just close with the family and it will be a long time not to see them. I am actually planning on coming back up to the verde valley to visit Jerome with a friend of mine - hopefully we will stop by my grandma's house, she isn't quite over the river and through the woods but she is through old town and past the moose lodge, so that is still and adventure right?!
I just want you to know the last time I made this trek with my parents, not only was I nine years old, but in order to communicate with friends, we either had to use a pay phone or mail a letter, and here I am blogging on my laptop accessing the free wifi from the RV park...talk about a hard life out on the road.
We will see what tomorrow brings. hopefully we will be in Utah for the night and not stuck in Flagstaff - I am not sure it is a true road trip until we cross a state line.
more later.
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