Wyoming...Yeee Haaaw...

The Wyoming part of this trip has been the most...hmm...adventure so far. Flat tire, cracked holding tank, delayed flight, grizzly bears and okay there were no grizzly bears...but I did buy bear spray. That's a first.

I picked up Liz in Denver on Saturday where she was greeted by the Democratic National Party volunteers. What a warm welcome!

We made our way to Cheyenne to find a flat tire. Fortunately it was at the BOC/Linde distribution location and Chuck (no coincidence I believe) helped us change the tire and we made our way to Rawlins, WY.

After a somewhat crooked night's sleep we traveled across the very large and very empty state of Wyoming. A WHOLE lot of nothin'. The long and winding road over the mountains brought us to the most impressive Grand Teton National Park where we were for the last few days (see photo above for impressiveness).

We hiked, drove and boated around the park and made it up to Yellowstone to see the very on the beaten path Old Faithful. Even more impressive were all the other geysers and hot springs...felt like walking on Mars or something. One of the most unique landscapes I've ever seen.

After a brief stop in Jackson Hole to take a look at the leaking tank, and do nothing about it. We are re-fueling at the local organic grocery and making our way to Glacier for more wild adventures.

The music compilations have been a big help in filling in the void of the wide open spaces we've been driving. Much thanks to all the contributors.

Glacier National Park here we come! Wyoming will never be the same...

Cheers!

Kelly

Nebraska - The Big Suprise

Well I just spent the last few days in Nebraska, and I have to say something I didn't ever think I would say, I really liked it. Heather - one for your team, it's really not so bad. The state park facilities are awesome, really well done. I stayed yesterday at Lake McCounaghy and it was beautiful. Beaches and this stark landscape that was beautiful. And field after field of sunflowers. Enjoyed my time in the corn land. The day before I was in another state park between Omaha and Lincoln.

Could have spent another night or 2 at each park...but the road calls.

I am in Cheyenne tonight and picking up the next travel companion, Liz. We are off to the Grand Tetons and up to Glacier National Park. Internet may be sporadic so this blog may be even shorter than it already has been.

Hope all is well and will try to update again soon...

Cheers.
Kelly

Illinois-Wisconsin-Iowa

Yesterday I dropped Dan-O off at the airport, I will miss my first travel buddy. I didn't get to write so much while he was with me but we had many "great success" moments, saw some beautiful sites, interesting places and he was an understanding, flexible guinea pig who introduced me to some good new music too. Thanks for bravely being the first Dan. "Come on sucker, lick my battery."

I then managed to get myself a few hours of pure relaxation and had a wonderful massage. After a week of driving and the I know hard to believe, stress of this new adventure, my back was a giant knot. A Jamba Juice after that and some lunch and I was off to Wisconsin.

It was too brief but wonderful to see my former RNSDP, Timmy and family. Along the way I saw two towns that really stood out...

Harvard, IL - Home of Milk Day

Darien, WI - Home of Corn Fest

After having passed through the Tomato Capital of Canada last week, I think I've got a new list to keep...

It is really beautiful up there and it was really a great landing place to visit with Meg and her generous and fun family.


Meg's nephew Xavier was one of the highlights of the day. Last I saw him he was just a baby, but now he's a full grown toddler and a very cute one at that. This is his "signature look", let's call it Blue Steel if you will.

Another highlight, watching the fire department of Troy, WI practice loading up the water tanker from the nearby lake. :)

Thank you to the Zei family for the warm Wisconsin welcome and I am glad it all worked out. Lots of love to all of you.

Hitched up the trailer today with help from the campground crew and took off for Iowa. Staying outside Iowa City and have met some very nice campers here. Jane and Buzz have been full timers for 11 years and were very warm welcomers to my new temporary home.


First full solo flight = great success!! Bring on the corn...

Cheers!

Kelly

Da Bulls, Da Bears

Spent the weekend in Chicago...

...hit up the Art Institute, wandered a bit downtown, took photos of the fountain, saw a wedding party (actually 3 of them) with hot pink bridesmaids dresses and matching vests for the guys, watched Pinnapple Express, beat Dan mercilessly at Gameworks (just some of the time), got the oil changed and alignment done for Chuck, visited with Emily and Debbie, and now heading up to WI to visit some friends...

All in all the pit stop here has been a really good one, campground here is nice and quiet today. Heading off tomorrow through the great states of Iowa and Jewbraska, I mean Nebraska...

It's been good to be stationary for a few days but looking forward to moving on.

Cheers!

Kelly

Great Success!

Here's the Bridget Jones version of the trip so far:

miles travelled = 1013;
CD's listened to = 34;
logs burnt in campfires = 16;
construction zones passed through = 25;
palm trees made of christmas lights = 1;
states passed through = 6
borders crossed (barely) = 1
bugs sacrificed to chuck the truck = countless

It's been a good long week. We are now 50 miles northwest of Chicago. The road to here has been an interesting one.

In some respects I've been on the trip since Tuesday, making this Day #4 of travelling but in many others I've been on this trip for many months. The past few weeks have been the process of putting the pedal to the metal. These past few days, the rubber to the road.

The route so far has been NJ to Niagara to Detroit to Chicago, more or less. We will be in this site for a few days and I'll be able to write a bit more. The last few days have been filled with figuring out. Figuring out how to work the water, the waste, the electricity, how to back in (in the dark between two trees - thank you Jim and Nancy - see photo), hitching, un-hitching, leveling, cooking. That sound is okay right? Do you smell propane? Am I going to hit the "tree", "car", "insert object here"? But it's going and they are all interesting problems to have. It's been a very internalized process so far. Me and my brother Dan making it all work.

I'll have more details for where we've been but wanted to put something out there for curious minds who want to know. Hope everyone out there reading is doing well.

To borrow one from a cousin across the ocean...

Wheels Up!

Kelly