I had a moment in the car as I was driving home from work: suddenly I was in PRESENT TIME. I began to eerily acknowledge the fact that I am no longer a gloomy California dreamin’ teenager itching to prove to myself that I am capable of living on my own. I am living on my own. In California. Daily grind, paying bills. I’m not bored and gloomy anymore… I’m boring and slightly glum but definitely more reasonable and I make more to-do lists.

I was slightly surprised to watch my hands driving a car I bought with insurance I pay for driving on a road in California towards my very own apartment. How exactly did I get teleported here, and where is Ashton Kutcher hiding to tell me I’ve been Punk’d?

Then, there was another sobering meta- realization: I’ll be having these freak outs for the rest of my life.

WTF I’m married. OMG I’m pregnant. FML my kid is bigger than me and talks like an adult. FTW im retiring.

One Word.

SURREAL.

Damnit.

I guess no one can really avoid getting sued (unless hes gotten a one way ticket out of the country), but Ive only been living with Craig for a week and I’m already giving him reason to keep my security deposit.

What the fuck is an American anyway.

Read: too much snow.

However, in order to survive the winter onslaught of fluffy white “Fuck You”- I have bought many expensive things and have taken up many hobbies.  I have also planned a trip to the sunniest city in Europe: Madrid.

This may sound financially irresponsible. It is. But at the same time, I live in America, and if there is one thing I’ve learned about being American, it is that my pursuit of happiness overrules all- including such abstract concepts as “saving for the future” and “spending less than I make” and “just because I have a 5,000 dollar limit on my credit card doesn’t mean I should max it out”…

yadda yadda yadda.

I live in Alaska. I’m sorry- MARYLAND.

Where I am spending my all American tax return.

The past week has been Seattle, Portland, and Novato.

Seattle: Pike Place Market! So many sounds, colors, smells, and personalities. Sensory overload! Blocks of fresh local produce, aisles of gorgeous flawless aromatic flowers, and fish mongers throwing huge slippery salmon.  Russian pastries, two dollar tacos, the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had..and did I mention that each booth has someone announcing, singing, calling out “FRESH SALMON!” “GET YOUR NECTARINES AND PEACHES! PEACHES AND NECTARINES! WE HAVE A LONG WINTER OF APPLES AND PEARS AHEAD OF US!” “CHOCOLATE LINGUINE! HAVE A TASTE YOULL BE CONVERTED!” Seriously-  I love this place.

Portland: We spent four days with Lukes aunt in beautiful Oregon with it’s wealth of evergreen forests and, geez, soo many waterfalls! Mt Hood stands bold nearby- it is so lovely to see the sunrise next to it.  Luke’s aunt Pam and her boyfriend Loran are just fabulous (and oh so adorable) hosts as they take us to see Hood and the Timberline Lodge.  Loran buys little porcelein squirrels and Pam gets cute little trinkets to add to their house abounding with disneyland momentos, lizards, giraffes, and the occasional dinosaur hiding in every drawer and cabinet.  We also got a taste of the famous Voodoo Doughnut– the maple bacon bars are MMM so fantastic. Luke and I also got a fun visit with our friends Colin and Kate from back home who were in town for a wedding!  We all spent the day walking around a gorgeous moss covered forest, bouldering in a nearby gym, and ending the day with a lovely italian dinner and gelato.Lke and I also did a little climbing at Smith Rock. It was a loong drive, but fun climbing and great people.

Novato: We are currently in a town just above San Francisco in Marin. God it is so beautiful here. Just next to the shore, wonderful weather, and there are so many neighborhoods built right into these enormous hills that look over the city.  Lukes aunt and uncle, Elizabeth and Craig, live in one of these houses and the view is just awesome.  The fog rolls in in the morning and the city is gleaming at night.  It always smells like salt water.  It doesn’t hurt that Craig and Elizabeth also have two of the most adorable children ever!  Yesterday Luke and I took a ferry into San Francisco and walked around Pier 39.  Lots of fun, especially the hundreds of seals honking and biting nearby.

Things are going great- soon we leave for Yosemite! It’s hard to believe we have been driving around for a month now. I can’t wait to have somewhere to live.. my car is a little too small to live out of.

Photos soon..

This is the most beautiful country I’ve seen yet.  I can’t even begin to describe it. Not only is the scenery perfect, but the town is so so adorable (though muy expensive), and the people! Everyone we have met has been fun, happy, happy to talk to us, happy to be alive, unreserved and unabashed.

It feels cool and crisp.. the aspen leaves are turning brown flecked gold and give off the sweetest smell.

We turned out of our campsite this morning and hundreds of wild bison are galloping towards the mountains. This place is surreal.

No More!

Frommer (you bastard) had laden my imagination with quaint pictures of snow covered log cabins, churches and temples.  Well, I have to say that my experience in this beat up town is um.. lackluster.

My first impression coming into the city was of sterility, depression, ugly.  The roads are awful, there is construction everywhere, and the buildings have little character- just concrete blocks and warehouses. There are also a lot more seedier areas than I would have first thought.  Lots of places that are run down.

Ugly or not, though, I needed to find a place to stay, so I plopped into a big chair at Barnes and Nobles and researched all (5) of the hostels in the city.  I was irritated and a little shocked to find that none of the hostels got really god reviews- all have horrors stories that made me nervous:

“my room smelled like some one pissed on the wall the night before there was a used syringe on the floor under my bed and many of the residents appear to be homless I also think someone drugged me I woke up in a stupor and some one was touching me but i was to out of it to know what was going on, I left New York for this????? what the f is wrong with these people”

Yikes.

I sucked it up and started driving around to find some of these hostels.  I found one called “The Avenues” and walked in to ask for a bed. The place was shady. There were a lot of questionable people (likely homeless?) hanging around and the building smelled like cigarettes.  The host showed me where I’d be sleeping, and the room was covered in other people’s belongings.  It looked like the room had been lived in for months at least- the host had to clear off the bed I would be sleeping in.

Yeeahh.. I mumbled some excuse about a “friend” who would let me stay with them and cleared out of there.

Fortunately, a hostel I called earlier (The Jefferson House) called me back to let me know they had private rooms in a house for $25 a night.  I drove by, and the neighborhood isn’t the best- it’s on the outskirts of the city and a little run down.  Most of the houses in the neighborhood have rottweilers and the like chained in the backyard. But, the house is nice, surrounded by sunflowers, with a kitchen, internet, etc…

I reserved a room and was so relieved to find an impeccably clean house with my own adorable room in the attic with slanted walls and a little pop out window.

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For the remainder of the day I went to a bouldering gym a couple blocks away from my house.  It’s a nice gym- all high ball problems, a nice overhung section, and a small section of top rope that is really just more high ball bouldering.

I tried to, you know, make conversation and find friends in this lonely city.  The first couple times I tried were dud city. Mainly, cliques of people glued together and a couple girls giving me stink eye and such.

Finally, I meet a few people who are really super nice and we end up having awesome conversation.  They invite me out for the night, so I tag along and meet a fantastic group from the East coast (Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, North Carolina).   It truly was a stroke of luck to meet so many like minded, genuine, and fun people after such a disenchanting morning.

Today, I try to tame the mane.  Hair cut day!

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The stats are in!

7) hrs of driving solo from vegas to salt lake city.

5) hrs of sleep in a truck stop

7) hrs trying to find a hostel that did not look like a halfway house

40) minutes in a glorious cold shower

6) hrs in a local bouldering gym

8) new friends!

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Nothing terribly exciting has happened– just the usual tourist bit and so on. Learned something very adorable about black bears, though: If they feel threatened, usually they will run away. However, they have been known to do a “fake out.” They might run straight for you, stop inches from you as you piss yourself, and then run away. They may even do a little head butt and knock you down, then run away. Cute, right?

Luke and I now have a definite game plan for the next month and a half. Today, we leave for Vegas/ Red Rocks. Luke leaves to go back to MD tomorrow, and for the next three days I drive to Salt Lake City and hang out.

Then it’s Tetons and Yellowstone! Seattle… Portland..finally arrive in San Rafael, CA for 3-4 days and hang out with Luke’s family (and adorable baby cousins Ryan and Samantha). Then, the rest of September is spent ambling around California looking for jobs, etc.

Here is the exciting part: from October 1st through October 31st, Luke and I are going to be working at a hostel just outside of Yosemite in return for a place to stay! I’m really excited, it’ll give us a chance to meet a lot of new people and have a “home” for a little bit. Also– it means showers! Showers Every Day!! Aaahhh….

Anyway, I cannot wait to get out of the desert- I crave fresh water and thick forests and rain!

Part 1:

We attempt to drive to Lake Powell via a roundabout scenic road called “Burr Trail” with a short 5-10 mi dirt road section. We drive through some amazing canyons and red rock for 30-40 mi and slowly arrive at the dirt road.

It isn’t too bad. Very wash-boardy, but otherwise okay. So, the Oregon Trail option pops up and asks: “Rocky Trail Ahead! Do you decide to A. Try to pass, or B. Find a different trail?” and I’m adventurous, okay? I say Conquer the Trail!

Well, my car decided he’d had enough and just turns off. Just turns off! I’m driving down a hill, he’s got loads of oil, and he’s not overheated.. he just quits, and won’t start again.

Ooookay.  We are 30-40 mi from the nearest traces of other human life, on a dirt road, with no cell phone service, and a dead car. Oh, and we’re in a desert. It’s hot, dry, and hot. I panic a little- I’m a city girl.  I ran 4 miles once, and after I thought Jesus was going to come and take me.  Now Luke is telling me we are going to bring 4 liters of water (all we have) and an emergency blanket and bike 40 mi to the next town.

Part 2:

I duct-tape a HELP sign to the car and slowly resign myself to the next 8-9 hours of worry and misery.  Literally just as we pick up the bikes to go, a US government tagged truck comes around the bend!  We flag it down and tell the driver our story, and he tells us hes camping around the area and will give us a lift to Hanksville (a town 60 mi away) the next morning.

We were incredibly lucky. This guy is about 30, soft spoken and so genuine and nice.  He is a biologist in graduate school in University of Missouri, working on saving the prairie dogs and its predator, the black footed ferret.

He drives us to a gravel lot off the road and we set up our tents, and of course, my faaaaavorite weather comes along: Lightening storm.

Lightening is hitting all over the mountain in front of us, and a few miles to the left and right of us.  A couple strikes start brush fires on the mountain.  Luke and the biologist (I wish I could remember his name!) sit and calmly eat their dehydrated space food while I am white-faced, staring at the mountain getting pummeled and feeling the thunder vibrate through the ground.  Luke tells me to eat something and I mumble “no thanks” giving him a look that screams “HOW CAN YOU EAT AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!”

Agh, I am SUCH a wuss, I know- the rest of the night was spent inside the biologists truck in a fetal position making my amends to God and counting the seconds between lightening strikes and thunder.

Part 3:

The next morning in Hanksville, an elderly man, Robert Brian, drives us in his tow truck to retrieve the car.  During those 147 miles, I learned so much about the towns and the area.  It was a fantastic drive-  he was driving 50-75 mph the entire duration of the drive, most of which was on back roads and hairpin turn switchbacks- and that country was truly beautiful.

The car gets towed, and put in the shop, and the employees at the shop call the owner of an inn nearby to get us a room.  Then, Robert’s wife gives us a ride to the inn!  Everyone was just so nice and eager to take care of us.

To top it all off- the car just starts working again.  Just turns on and goes.  No check engine light- nothing.

A definitely epic 24 hours.

Ill add photos tomorrow:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/american_art