road trip pictures

Click HERE to see pictures of my road trip.

I'll write more on it later.

road trip: part 2

Day 5 of the tremendous journey. Boy has it been a long one already, but I've seen some AMAZING things.

On monday morning I got to Glacier National Park sometime in the morning. I took the East entrance in at St. Mary and then took the Going to the Sun Road.

The road was slow going, but it was so beautiful and absolutely breath taking.

I finally made it off the road and got a campsite on the south side of Lake McDonald at Apgar campground.

I was exhausted, so I made some lunch and took a little nap before i headed out again.

I ended up taking a road outside of Glacier back into Glacier to Bowman Lake (very close to Canada)

I came back down, made a campfire, ate some dinner, read a little then went to bed.

TODAY was a totally different matter.

I woke up early, packed up camp, and headed out, looking for a shower.

I didn't have to look long, there was a KOA campground in West Glacier and paid $5 for a shower. Best money I ever spent.

I realized that I really wanted to see a lot of places on this trip, but I also really want to see my husband, and I had a TON of ground cover.

So, today was a travel day. I drove 750 miles and was on the road for way to many hours.

I am currently in a super 8 in Woodburn, OR about 20 miles N of Salem.

The best part of this trip scenery wise was 84 West along the Columbia River and the Columbia River Gorge. 170 miles of pure gorgeous.

Enjoy the pics below, sorry you can't click on them to make them bigger.

Scene from the road along the West side of Glacier.

Fire damaged trees.

St. Mary Lake in Glacier

View of  a Glacier (sorry not sure which one)

On Logan's pass in Glacier

Woo Hoo! Self portrait!

I got hungry during a traffic delay, so I got some strawberries out of the cooler and ate them the rest of the way.

In lieu of Jason, I have my trusty companions, my cameras.

Lake McDonald

Back country

Bowman Lake

Not a self portrait. This was taken by a photography seminar instructor named Neil.

Self portrait

Windmills on the Columbia river. (p.s. Windmills are probably one of the only sources of energy that virtually have NO impact on the environment and do not pollute the air, or damage the land around them)

Columbia river.

Columbia River. (I waded in the river up to my knees to get pictures!)

road trip: part one

My rental car at the campground in Cut Bank, Montana

The river my campsite was on in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND

Bison blocking the road in TRNP

Wild horses in TRNP

Miles and miles of train on 200S N in Montana

My view for most of the 1100 miles, lots and lots of fields.

North Dakota Bad Lands. A welcome site after one day of almost 600 miles driving through farms.

I am sitting in a Mc Donalds in Cut Bank, Montana. I am about 50 or so miles from Glacier National park. It is still early here, and I am clean, and got a full night of sleep last night, so I am a happy camper!

I'm sure some of you know, but there was a little trouble with my car just west of the Twin Cites. There is a valve that needs to be replaced and will take a week to come in. I couldn't drive my car, so I had to figure out what I was going to do.

I called my friend Samara who lives in the Suburbs of Minneapolis and she was wonderful and rushed right over to pick me up and gave me a bed to sleep in that night while I figured out what to do. I needed to rent a car, but there is a little trouble with that when you don't have a credit card.

But, after about a million phone calls to my dad and after trying every possible thing to get a car, I finally got one and was on my way on Saturday about 1pm.

I drove and drove and drove about 600 miles that day and finally made to Theodore Roosevelt National Park just as the sun was setting. The scenery was just what I needed to restore my faith in the trip.

I got one of the last campsites, set up my tent, made some mac and cheese, had a beer, read, journaled, and then tried to go to bed. That did not work out so well and I was up at 5am the next morning when the sun rose.

But I didn't care, I enjoyed it. I made two batches of coffee, read my book and tore down my campsite.

A nice couple offered me breakfast and I just couldn't refuse. When i asked her what we were having she said steak, eggs, and potatoes. I thought it sounded like heaven! She told me that she was afraid I was a vegan, she said it was because of my car, my nose ring, and because i was camping alone. Crack me up I thought it was hilarious.

After breakfast I took the scenic route out and saw a ton of prairie dogs, bison, and wilds horses. I got back on the highway and headed North west. After I was on US 2, I had planned to find a campsite and call it an early day. But there weren't any campsites. I finally found a place in Cut Bank. They had showers, a TV lounge room, and lots of traffic to lull me to sleep.

This morning I am clean and ready to head out on the road!  I can't wait to get to Glacier. I will post again when i find some internet!

p.s. if you click on the pictures they should get a little bigger.

Jason has 3 new updates

www.mybrokenclock.blogspot.com

going "naked"

Being on my own these last couple of weeks has made me realize a few things about myself.

The most obvious one is that I am really messy. Seriously I'm not sure if I've always been this way or if I've just repressed the slob urges all of these years. I'm afraid of what my house will look like if I actually "let go!"  So, I'm just going to do it here and there and pick up whenever I can.

I have also realized that I am a scatter brain. Okay I'm pretty sure that I have known that for a long time, but for some reason, not having jason around has made me even more so. It's possibly because I feel lost without him, or because I feel like I'm purgatory waiting for my sentence of 3 more weeks of school to be over so I can join my husband on the road.

I've also realized about myself that I don't really enjoy wearing makeup all that much. I don't know why I decided to try and "go naked," but I did and honestly it feels great!  I think what I am trying to do is to look at myself, really look and make sure that I know that I am beautiful just the way I am. I think makeup is a great thing and I'm not giving it up entirely, but I have spent probably more than half my life trying to make myself look older, or prettier, or make my eyes sexier, or impress someone other than myself. I'm pretty sure I did a disservice to myself my never actually taking the time to look in the mirror with out the mask and think...yeah you're beautiful! So i am going naked (at least while I still have a tan...a girl's gotta have a little vanity...it's only healthy!)

The really important thing I realized though is that I really miss my husband. It took almost a week (gasp) to kinda freak out and realize that I wasn't going to see him for a month. Really a month. What was I thinking? It has been great though, I think it is always wise to take a little time out to make you realize just how much you need the other person.  Whoever said that absence makes the heart grow fonder knew what they were talking about.  Only two more weeks to go!  I can't wait to get to LA!!  California here i come! (p.s. If you do not know what I am talking about....let me know)

summer

It finally happened!  Summer finally arrived in Marquette.

The lilacs are finally blooming, and the tulips in my yard just died.

I have been keeping the doors and windows open all of the time.

I've been keeping  busy while Jason is gone.

But I can't wait to be on my way. Only a little over a week left!

I included pictures from a few things.

These first two are from the sun rise I watched the other morning when I couldn't sleep.

These are from a hike in Big Bay on the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve to see a couple of water falls.

These are from Memorial Day. We had a great cookout and a ton of kiddies around. I loved it!

oh how i love the fog