thankful - a trait (aka ... kick-ass skills)

i've always thought i was a travel agent in a past life. i loveeeee planning trips. love. love. love it. sometimes, i love the planning stage more than the actual trip. when i was gearing up for my 15 day, 5200 mile road trip along the oregon trail, i realized that there's three components to a vacation:

- 1/3 of the trip is the planning stage. here's where you think about your dream plans, where you jot down your wish list and the "don't miss" sights and tastes and sounds.

- 1/3 of the trip is the actual traveling to your destination, the getting from point a to point b, seeing the sights, eating the food, smelling the smells and hearing the noise.

- 1/3 of the trip is the destination. some might say the "relaxing" part of the trip. i beg to differ, but to each their own.

once i figured out that there's more to a trip than the destination or even the actual travel, trips become that much more fun. plans become that much more elaborate. lou has backed down from anything more than offering a suggesting on what music to listen to in the car and left me to dig through the details.

so today, i'm thankful for my kick-ass trip planning skills. in my ripe old age ... i can finally say that i can set up one hellva a good trip. i got a bit of a knack for it, a talent if you will. yeah, there will be bumps and there will be headaches and quite possibly some snide comments but in the end, we all come out unscathed and better, no less worse for the wear.

i like to think there's a wee bit of organization required (alright, more than a wee bit). a wee bit of creative interpretative for the sights, sounds and tastes one may encounter. and a wee bit thriftiness - 'cause the shady motels always make the best stories.

so, anyone planning a trip anytime soon? maybe i need to tag along?!

i'm trying something new this month - i love me a good challenge - and joining Chasing Happy for The Thankful Project. while i can't promise a post-a-day, maybe i'll get close? today's prompt - an experience.

in which i do something ... a little bit creepy

and it was creepy ... super creepy.

three days

one van

five bags of candy

one-half working cell phone

nine geocaches

four state parks

seven relatives

one last minute (stolen) campsite

two delicious breakfasts

seven gun shots

one fingee in the door

zero bowls of booya

three ice-creamless hours

...

countless memories

i do believe our #freecandyvan adventure was a smashing success

so where'd we go:

• lake maria state park
• zoomski's midtown cafe
• charles a. lindbergh state park
• mille lacs kathio state park
• father hennepin state park
• czech booya festival

let there be sun ... flowers

they made me slam on the brakes. cut amanda off mid-sentence. pull the van over and do a u-turn. it was beautiful. they were beautiful. rows and rows of sunflowers. picture-perfect puffy clouds overhead. blue sky. all looking so prime and proper. facing to the east with their faces gently bowed. and the humming. the constant buzzing and moving and life.

here's what you may have missed - in photos!

photos!

and photos!

and more photos!

the last few potsts have been courtesy of my cell phone and one can only type so much on a wee little keyboard. but, han and i are camped out at roy's old roommate's place in spokane (super random, i know) and watching hoarders on netflix ... so let's do some photos!

we played peek-a-boo with mt. hood all morning while driving from the dalles to along the barlow road. fyi - the barlow road was the option for folks who weren't up to floating/rafting down the columbia. they could wind around mt. hood and take the toll road (built by mr. barlow). after han and i took a look at the columbia ... we'd probably would have done the toll road too!

 

the unknown pioneer woman's grave is one of the more haunting sites along the trail. so close ... she was so close. uncovered in the 1930s when road crews were working on a road near mt. hood, people today keep adding roacks to the ever-growing pile. han and i took one of the rocks roy gathered from south pass to add to the collection.

laurel hill ... and yes, it's just as terrifying in real life as it looks in this photo. when the settlers chose to take the route around mt. hood, climbing this hill (wagon and all) was part of the deal. usually, they would rig up ropes around tree tunks and pretty much pull the wagons up the hill. i was pretty good just standing at the bottom looking up ...

then we had a picnic and, per usual, it was delicious.

i tried to cross the barlow toll gate but hannah was a poopy-pants and wouldn't let me ...

 

 

and then ........

 

WE MADE IT !!!!!

 

oh, you know ... just 2000-some miles along the trail.

and all was well in the world ...

hannah was just as happy.

we pretty much took photos in front of everything we could get to ... everything ...

i think this pretty much sums it up ...

 

 

---

 

and because it's super pretty ... here's some of the awesome-ness that was seattle ...

 

poppies from the market

it's a mountain and a needle

and yes, we went to an all-you-can-eat fancy cheese buffet ... all.you.can.eat

 

 

whew! the days are counting down. we are heading to great falls tomorrow where i'll leave han on friday (nooooo!) ... then bismarck friday night ... and home ........... on saturday!

 

Go East! Go East!

alright, it's official ... we're heading home. last night we made our "first" eastward turn. we left portland yesterday morning (after voodoo donuts) and went further west to the coast. we followed the 101 north and took hwy. 12 east to tacoma.

after nine days of always heading west ... always watching the compass for the 'w' ... it was bittersweet to shift directions and finally realize our trip is winding down. granted, i still have five more days of travel ... but only three with hannah!

what i do know is we still have three days of ridiculous photos to take ... beer to drink ... food to inhale ... sites to see ... and boy band pandora stations to sing to!

how does one handle the tailend of a kickass vacation?! any ideas?!

ps - the other picture is the haystack rock along the northern oregon cost. i'm sure you've seen similar (but better) photos of the same thing!

now i must be off to enjoy this tacoma sun!

one more day

one

more

day

 

one

more

day

honestly, these last eight days have felt like months. now, i'm not complaing at all. these last eight days have been amazing. but lordy, they've been long. we think it's this balancing act we've been doing. we're in 2013 but we're thinking like 1851. we're crusing over hills and meadows and mountains and valleys in the mighty honda pilot but we're thinking in terms of wagons. and the graves! so many graves and stories of graves and dying and death and cholera.

anywho - here's some photos of cool shizz we saw in the last couple of days! per usual, them internetx is being uber slow ... so you only get a couple ...

 

number nine

ten! ten states!

 

 

and then we had lunch with this guy ... cuz alex

 

and then we stood in the oregon trail ... in oregon ...

 

and then we're back to two

greetings from boise! we're camped out at roy's temporary home, doing some laundry and watching community. the perfect mid-trip break ... more so for the laundry ... it was time. so, photos ... here's some proof how awesome our trip is:

you gotta have at least one picture in old-timey clothes! i'm sure it'd look loads cooler in black and white ... 

we've come so far ... sooooooo far! as of boise, we're just over 3/4 of the way (or 1450 miles). does that sound crazy to anyone else?!?!

roy driving the wagon 

 

see, you see that over on yonder hill? those are legit oregon trail ruts swooping down to glenn's ferry and the three crossings.

 

oh, you know, just eating our weight in french fries ... with 10 different flavored salts and dipping sauces. and that's a beer float in the background! beer float!  

and now we leave one of our party behind. we're leaving roy in boise to tend to the farm (ie - start his new job). what a fun three days though! it was nice to have an extra driver and someone equally interested in nerdy history :D

 

the key! we found the key!

and then we crossed south pass.

 

for all you folks not immersed in the oregon trail history land ... the discovery of south pass was key to "unlocking" a way west. it's a 20-mile wide stretch over the rocky mountains that allowed the "safe" (ie - a hair easier) passage for wagons heading out west. imagine miles and miles of wagons hauling it through this passage way. crazy to think about. we got lucky and just beat the rain!

 

 

roy exploring south pass

and this morning, kayla took out hannah's thumb stitches

took.out.stitches

 

you know you're on a road trip when your car pockets look like this -

notebook / maps / trail guides / chocolate-covered raisins / pepto / college degree

and then we went to utah ... and it was cold

and then we went to idaho ... and it was cold

ps - state number eight ..... eight!!!

don't forget about the national oregon/california trail center!

where's roy?!

 

ps - you all should google the soda springs in idaho. see that pool of water in the photo? we drank that. and it tasted like club soda. of course, we forgot the gin and lime. next time ... next time.

 

i had a delightful video to show you of roy chasing gophers ... but alas, them internets is being touchy ... so video will have to wait ... i will say, i am having a blast with roy and hannah. i get to road trip with my two favorite people in the whole wide world to road trip with. and it's awesome. there's always snacks. there's always good music. there's always a camera clickin' away. when you're in the car for 8+ hours a day, you gotta have folks you like with you!  just a little nugget for future planning ;0)

 

a recap for today:

3 states

12 historic sites

2 discs of the da vinci code

1 ice cream stop

2 pizzas

$3.55 gal/gas

12 bowls of ceral ..................

3/4 of the way to oregon!

 

oregon or bust!

 

oregon trail - there's nothing in nebraska

a common sight along the trail - han navigating with map/pen/paper/guide book/map #2/guide book #2. props to her for carrying the wagon trail through the last seven states ... yes, seven states.

 

sorry for the slow updates. lack of cell phone is throwing me for a loop. i'm all backwards on my time. i have no idea where we're at and no idea where we're going. west. go west. we're camped out in casper for the night ... mooching off some friends (thanks emily and mark) and will be westward bound in nine hours.

how about some photo updates!

in no particular order ...

crossing trail

wagon ruts!  so deep!

ayres natural bridge - not sure why we're so slanted ...

what's that?! a free pass into all national parks?!

and then we picked up a hitchhicker!!
 

okay, off to bed. i got a warm, cushiony bed 'a calling ...