Day 18: The last leg

Didn't get going as early as we would have liked, but at least we didn't have a crazy long day in front of us. North Dakota has its beauty, but that sure wears off after a while. It started to seem like the state that wouldn't end. Pit-stopped for lunch in Jamestown at Subway to bookend our trip. Dairyqueen in Fergus just about sums it up.

All in all, this was another outstanding trip. We definitely had a couple low points (Attn: Olympics), but what trip doesn't. It was so cool getting to see so many people we knew and take in a good mix of cities and nature. Glad to be back. And glad to still have a few weeks to kick around before we're back to the grind like everyone else.

Day 17: really headed home now

Before continuing our trek east, the Nefzgers wanted to bring us to Crystal Lake- a national forest campground with trails not too far from their house. They had been here prior to moving, but it was their first time returning. It's absolutely gorgeous- tucked away from the state highway, which in itself doesn't get a lot of traffic, and its still a 30 min gravel road drive from there. We had wanted to get a run in, so Tim pointed us towards the trail head of the Ice Caves. I knew this would be a good amount of up hill, but went for it anyway. It was 11 miles round trip, with 2000 ft elevation gain up to 8700. I broke down and walked for a couple of the middle miles once it got really steep- but it was actually pretty easy running once you hit the mountain tops. The view was outstanding; you could see for 100 miles both north and south. Kate didn't quite make the top- but really enjoyed the run/hike as well. Still made it high enough up to get some good views. At the top, there is a series of caves still with snow and ice in them. Evidently it is there year-round. The last hike we did this trip was probably the best.

We lingered around for a late lunch, then hit the road, bound for however far we could get. There aren't a lot of towns between Lewistown and the interstate, it's sparsely populated rolling hills. We were surrounded by massive thunderheads with lightning on most sides and fairly heavy winds, but experienced very little rain. Nothing quite like watching Thunderstorms whip up on the plains.

Glendive had a good pizza place for a late dinner, and we decided to push on a little further to shorten the drive for tomorrow. We were able to make Dickinson and settled for a nice, but cheap hotel off the interstate.

Day 16: deeper into the guts of mt

Ate some breakfast with Mel at a local bakery before she headed off to work. I guess people have to do that most mornings. We lingered around a little, letting the food settle, then hit a run, Helena being probably one of the last places with good trails until Fargo. There's a super large city park in town, like 680 acres. It's also incredibly hilly. I did maybe two miles before throwing up the white play and heading back to city streets. There's another flatter bike path paralleling railroad tracks in town as well as Carroll college for a little barefoot running. I always love learning something about another town.

Back on the road, we made for great falls. I 15 links up with the Missouri River for a beautiful stretch in between the two.

Next up, we swung east on highway 200, bound for lewistown, mt. A former colleague of ours just moved there and while it's a little out of the way, we figured now was as good a time as any to visit and really not much more driving on the grand scheme of things.

This is a desolate highway. Not a great place for the car to break down. We've already gotten that out of the way for the trip, so we were alright. As well exited the Rockies, I wondered what the heck drew him out here. He's a big trout fisherman and hunter, but it seemed like we were entering the plains. Every so often though, you'd see a small range pop up on horizon. By the turn off for his house, we had three or four surrounding us and the hale fields that 200 cut through.

The nefzgers live 15 minutes off the highway down a gravel road, butting up against the foothills of the big snowing mountains. They are renovating a log cabin on 20 some acres with fantastic views all around. They are a few years out from retirement yet, but they'd been eyeing a move for a while and specifically had lewistown on the list. When a science and facs job popped up this spring, it was their calling to go for it.

They took us into town for dinner at mint. It's a surprisingly good restaurant with everything from steak and ribs to ahi tuna or fresh walleye. Very unexpected in central Montana. We swung by the school and caught up way into the night. I think we're both glad we made the effort to see them.

Part of the town tour included a stop at this bar. A trout stream literally runs underneath it. It was cool, but we all agree they need to run this the length of the bar.

Day 15: deviating from the grind that is I 90

Laundry and a run slowed down the start to our day, but we were only trying for Helena. We had debated the quick, no nonsense return, but settled on visiting a couple friends off the beaten path in Montana. We pit stopped at kettle house brewing again (get there if you are ever driving through) and struck off for Helena. It's fun, it didn't seem that far away from where we were camping, but is a really big freaking state!

We made it in time for some tacos and a stroll around town. It's definitely a lot sleepier than Missoula. It seems very small, but they have a cool pedestrian only street downtown and a lot of historic buildings. Also a very good homemade ice cream place. Which is good because I really try to maintain a healthy intake even if I'm on vacation.

Mel seemed like she was doing well. She had some kind of a contracted government job teaching employees how to use new software. Her apartment was in walking distance of downtown and she could afford a 2 bedroom by herself. Probably a little daunting moving to a new city by yourself- especially a rather small one at that, but there are worse places in the world to get stuck in. She was in the right mindset, beginning to collect backpacking gear and purchasing her Montana hiking guide. Probably not a half bad life.

Day 14: the long trek back

Our last morning in Seattle started with a hike up mount si. This is a super popular hike, and right near the city, so there were a lot of people, but it was kind of cool to partake in what seems like a Seattle right of passage. Lunch at the top held a good view, but the most agressive ground squirrels and gray Jay's I've even experienced. The ground squirrels were literally at the feet of your boots. I could easily peg then with a couple small pebbles, but that didn't even deter then. In a moment of non vigilance, one made off with the top of our Tupperware peanut butter lid. It's not as much the financial loss, or even the inconvenience, there's something infuriating about getting bested by a punk little fur ball that's not a half pound soaking wet. Oh well.

We hit the road there after looking to cover as much ground as possible. Spokanes campground was full, so we held on for coeur d alane and it paid off. A nice spot on the lake with showers and laundry.

Day 13: Seattle day two

Mercer island is a wealthy inner ring 'burb east of Seattle surrounded by lake Washington. Rachel and  her fiancé didn't have a super large place, but decent with a cool view of the mountains and bellvue downtown. It was super interesting hearing about Rachel's job and bens was well. Rachel works downtown with advertising. Ben is a cop in a rougher suburb south of Seattle.

It was a work day so we were on our own for the day. Post run, we drove into capital hill for some coffee and a doughnut. Not all of us got doughnuts, but I suppose that's alright. I found Andys place (no help with directions or address!) and we set off for the chihuly glass museum at the foot of the space needle. It was a bit steep in price but we sucked it up and went for it anyway. Totally worth it. One of a kind exihibts to wander through. Really cool.

Next up was the sculpture park. There's isn't as cool as ours, just saying, but the view is pretty dang nice over the sound. They have a dead tree that's been decaying the last 7 years I wanted to revisit, but it was closed. Sad. We peaked in the window though, and it didn't look like a whole lot was left. Mainly ferns by now. We skipped the theo chocolate tour after paying 27$ for the glass, but didn't skip the factory store. Each of us probably put down the better part of a bar in samples. Don't worry, we bought stuff too.

Ben lives right in bell town, which is the equivalent of losing park. They live in a 10ish story condo that you could probably throw a rock from and hit the space needle. It also has a roof top patio. The views were absolutely amazing. It was really cool catching up with him. It had been a while and while he was the same old Ben, he has changed a lot as well. We had a drink at bathtub gin and co, very cool hole in the wall prohibition esque place. Dinner was at "list". It's place plates and a little fancier, but Monday's are half off. The total bill with drinks was something like 56$ for the 4 of us.

Another great day in Seattle.

Day 12: back onto good times

no one can deny our good fortune during city stays this trip. The day started, as it often does with a good run- this one in Seward park on lake Washington. I've been here before, but it's a great path with good views.

From there, we met Kate's friend Rachel and hit the town. She was actually into browsing pikes place market with us. I've seen most of these places before, but it's Kate's first trip to Seattle and you gotta do it. We had a lot of great samples and lunch at breeches(?) cheese. From there, we perused the Ballard locks and strolled through the neighborhood. Stopped at peddlers brewery for a beer and kavu for a little shopping.

Cooked Rachel and Ben (her fiancé) some pizza for dinner to cap off a fine recovery day.

 

Day 11: tough times in the twilight zone

as stated on yesterday's post, this one didn't start too hot. After checking with the auto guy in forks, we hauled back to port Angeles to get the brakes fixed. There's actually a fabulous running path if you run east of town right now the ocean. Kate found it, somehow, I convinced myself that it wasn't there. Not many neighborhood connections so I instead ran sidewalks around town. Not a great run.

Didn't get a lot better from here. Rather than haul all the way back out to the coast, we decided to find a camping spot on the east part of the park, bordering the sound. On Saturday. In July. Less than 3 hrs from Seattle. again, I know, I'm in the future as well.

Needless to say, it did not go well. Every single campground was full. National forest campgrounds were full. Mom and pop motels were all booked. Emptied handed, we threw in the towel and decided to cut our losses. **(although it is important to note that we did stumble upon an awesome mountain lake to swim in on one of the dead end campground roads).

Driving towards Seattle was the logical option to get a better start on our time there. We stopped at a nice brew pub for dinner in Olympia. That definitely helped. Kate was very patient as, to put it lightly, I wasn't in the best of moods most of the afternoon. We ended up staying in south Tacoma and setting up plans for our next days in Seattle....and watch Ben dery do the 10:00 news of course. : )

Day 14: the long trek back

Very behind on the journal right now. For now: tough time in olympics, great time in Seattle, headed home via northern mt to visit friends. Nice campsite on lake coeur Delane to end the day. More tomorrow

Day 10: taking in the olympics

started the day with a run along the sidewalks/ bike path of port Angeles harbor. There's a spit of sand the path goes all the way out to, but you run through a couple paper mills to get there. Interesting at

least, if not gorgeous. Post run, we made the drive up to hurricane ridge to check it out. Not a ton of hiking up there and tons of people but great views of the mountains and a good lunch spot.

Wish I would have read up a little more on sol du sec hot springs before we drove down out next dead end park road. It was 14$ to get in and more like a pool than a natural hot spring. Kate wasn't super hot on the idea of hiking up here at first, but it ended up being a good alternative to the hot spring. We ended up with a nice hike up for a mountain lake. Only saw 2 other parties in a grand total of 5 miles.

Our problems for the day started there after. We had planned to camp at mora campground near the coast, but even arriving reasonably early, they we full. We tried la push camping next, but they had just sold their last site. Ironically, we were debating heading there first and had we done that, we probably would have gotten it. Emptied handed, we drove back into forks and looked into motels- all full.

It's also important to note right around here that the Jetta was increasing making grinding noises when we were stopping. Possible brake problems that made us increasingly worried.

 There isn't a whole lot down coast from here save a state park with 20 sites. We figured we might as well start driving anyway and swung by the state park just in case. Luck turned and they had a few sites still left. Cooked up some leftovers along with a hogie for a reasonable recovery of the evening.

We were in luck in the morning as forks had an auto repair open on Saturday. A youngish guy took a look and confirmed the need for new brake pads. They did not have anything in stock, but he was confident we could make it back to port Angeles. We called ahead and found a place that would take a look today.

So, here we sit, at a coffee shop, getting our brakes fixed. Kate's out for a run with some nice views of the paper mills again, I had to wait for the call from the auto shop. It's looking like the extent of our Washington coast experience will be forks and port Angeles.

Sometimes life gives you port Angeles. And you just need to squint really hard on your run and pretend that the smoke coming off the mills is just mist circling some tall mountains off in the distance.

And hey, we could have been stuck in forks.

Or Lemmon, sd

Or probably many other places without a view of the ocean.

Day 9: back to the u.s.

I once had an education advisor in college claim that there weren't bad days in teaching, just "learning days". Today was definitely one of those.

one last run along the Vancouver coast today and we checked out of our hostel room. Both of us are not quite excited about staying in the hostel, but it was fantastically cheap and had great running.

Our last Vancouver activity may have been the best. The n.y. times had featured a dim sum place in Richmand, a suburb south of the city. Evidently, this city has even a larger proportion of Asians than Vancouver proper does. More or less every business had bilingual signs. Even the McDonald's. The dim sum was actually in a large rose dale-esque mall, of all places. Save a handful of other patrons, we were the only non Asians in the mall. If you're looking for anime action figures or crumby Asian hard candy, this is definitely your place. And Kate was actually medium height. Probably a good place to shop for her. Not so much for me.

We didn't exactly know what we doing for ordering, but Yelp pics helped us through it and we ended up with a good selection.

The border crossing back was a learning experience we'll say. We had the bright idea of spending the last of our Canadian money at the grocery store before crossing. I know, I'm in the future too. I also made the mistake of telling the truth. In my head, it crossed my mind, but it was a Safeway for crying out loud and I guess it just seemed too similar to be a big deal. A half hour later at the border, we parted ways with a tomato and green pepper and headed for the ferry.

(Near) Learning experience #2: you should definitely make a reservation for the port Townsend ferry. We ended up getting there with an hour before the next ferry, and thus got on, but I bet there was a good number of cars that had to wait. funny thing, I didn't even bother to look back once we made it on. Forward moving only I guess. You'd think we'd get sick of the ferry at some point, but it was still awesome. Something about being out on the ocean with the breeze, headed somewhere new.

During our wait for the ferry, we hedged our bets, folding our idea of camping, and reserved a hotel in. Port Angeles for the night. Funny thing, after we got across and were a half hour out, the sun was shining and it looked like great night for a camp fire under the stars. Sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry I guess. Funny that we seemed to be off on all of those gambles today.

But hey, we are at the edge of the olympics, have a good running path to run on tomorrow, and a nice place to shower afterward.

Chalk it up to another day of learning.

Day 8: Bowen island day trip

another breakfast in the hostel basement of granola and bananas. We had bought some fresh blue berries at 2$ a lb yesterday at the market that were amazing as well.

Kate took the morning off of running, but we stopped in Stanley park on our way to the ferry so I could get mine in. This park is awesome. I remember liking it last time I was here and it didn't disappoint. The outer loop along the seawall is probably close to 6-7 miles. The middle is a maze of dirt paths under dense groves of 120 ft tall trees. There's a lot of people clustered around each south end on the edge of downtown, but otherwise, you can have decent stretches of seeing no one.

We cut it close, but made the 12:10 ferry to bowen island just a couple miles off the mainland. It's a decent sized island, maybe 9 miles long, with a population of 4,500 or so. The ferry was proportionately enormous. You could probably fit the entire population on it if you had to. Though it was amazing how many cars were transferring between the 2. I'd estimate they crammed 40 cars on it plus foot traffic. And the ferry runs on the hour. People must just ride it back and forth all day.

Bowen island is a great network of hiking trails to explore. I really wanted to get to mt gartner, and at 2400 feet, it didn't seem hardcore, but it proved to be quite the undertaking. The first couple miles were relatively flat, then some pretty rugged/crazy up hills after that. We ended up throwing in the towel maybe a half mile from the top, eating lunch, and heading down again. The last mile was almost scrambling up super steep switchbacks to this point of hoisting up over rocks. Despite the set back of not finishing it, we considered it a decent day trip. Very cool to get outside of Vancouver and checking out how those people live. Dinner was good again and the banana leaf- a Malaysian place in our neighborhood. We got the 8 course tasting menu and I'm now stuffed, but we ended up both enjoying it. A few apps, followed by 4 types of curry, with a coconut dessert wrap in a crepe. Another good dinner in the books. Loved our time in Vancouver, but I think we're both ready to move on and do something different.

Big, but not that big. That one was headed for Victoria.

Day 7: first full Vancouver day

started the day with a run along the sound over looking Vancouver. I had intended to do some speed in the massive park by ubc, but quickly gave up on that idea after it started with a 500 meter long hill. Turned back to the sea and had a good one along the dirt path.

From there, Kate and I took the bus to the ferry to north Vancouver. We've been using mass transit quite a bit here. It's a lot easier than driving, and much cheaper than parking. It was cool taking the ferry across the bay. Very quick and smooth. The Lonsdale quay market is right at the ferry terminal. We browsed around a bit and got some lunch. Kate had a reportedly great cup of soup. I had a decent 3 cheese grilled sandwich. There's not a ton to do immediately in north Vancouver, but we walked the neighborhoods a little, then had a drink at tap and barrel over looking the harbor.

Laid down for a little after so much walking, then headed to the museum of anthropology at the university of British Columbia. There's discounts on Tuesday evenings and while we were initially hesitant if we actually wanted to go, it was awesome. Lots of sweet totem poles and other amazing artifacts from First Nation tribes all over the world. Of course they had the largest selection of bc tribes which was really cool to see and learn about.

The campus was gorgeous as well. Actually a lot of modern architecture which I'm not often a fan of, but they had well placed brick malls and lots of tall conifers (like everywhere else up here). Dinner was a pizza joint in the kitsano neighborhood. This definitely seems like a happening area just across the bridge and south of downtown. Great pizza, wine, and beer. Wood fired.

Day 6

one last morning in Bellingham. Scott took us over to rocket doughnuts in fairhaven, WA. Great way to start the day. We drove up to and over look or the sound near his work to take it in before heading on our way.

The border crossing was probably the fastest I've ever had it. Easily less than 5 minutes. We couldn't

check into the hostel until 3 so we headed towards the calipano swinging bridge until we figured out it was 40$ to get in. Didn't want to see it that back, so we took a route change and found a nice trail to run on in burnaby - a Vancouver suburb. Really nice trails, all dirt through the woods. Huge grass fields to barefoot run on. And maybe the best barefoot Surface I've ever been on. Super soft grass over firm dirt.

Found a Vietnamese place in Chinatown for some post run pho. A 20 minute wait was definitely  worth it, fairly cheap as it was, but the dollar is buying well right now so it was less than 30$ for 2 entrees, a drink, and tip.

We also saw at least two guys literally in he act of shooting up heroin when we were walking around Chinatown. Talk about a weird, accepting culture. People don't even seem to notice.

The hostel is great. It's in the middle of a large park near the university of bc. The room is tiny, but well kept. Busing to the city center was quick and easy. It's amazing how smart phones have changed the game on that.

We ended up at allegedly the same Japanese fusion place (keeper bar) that Andy and I went 4 years ago for some happy hour cocktails. After that was dinner at the fish shack for some seafood. Kate went with tuna fish tacos( okay). I had the Dungeness crab. My first I believe. All in all, a great first day in Vancouver

Day 5

First full day in Bellingham. Was really excited to start it with a run, but it ended up being greet. Stated the first few with Kate down to whatcam falls park. Lots of dirt trails here through the woods. These eventually Hooked in another dirt trail that took you to the edge of downtown. Looped a little there before heading home. Not a bad 15 mile run.

We met Lyndsi and Ryan downtown at the copper pig for a late brunch. The food was great, but there wasn't table service outside and we ended up waiting 45 minutes in line at the bar. Kind of rediculous but what can you do. We checked out there place, then they came back to Kate's relatives for some more host cruising, swimming, and burgers. Cool to see them and hang with the family again.

This has been an awesome couple of days. Not that I was aprehensive about it, but you never quite know how it's going to go staying as guests at another's house.

Looking forward for Vancouver tomorrow.

Day 4

Woke up to a steady light rain on your our tent in the mountains west of Missoula. Waited for a delay, and packed everything up really quick. It held off long enough for some granola, but we smartly did not haul out the stove for coffee, as it got going again and much more intense. coeur d'alene was the first formal stop for the day for a cup of coffee. I did actually have a little gas station coffee after filling up earlier in the day, but I'm not sure you can count that. When in Rome though.

The coeur d'alene place was pretty awesome, and they made a mean cinnamon roll so, we had the last laugh at the rain I guess.

Eastern wash was way more ag and less desert than I remember it. Not sure if they've added more fields or my perception changed. Lots of potatoes, corn, and alphalfa for miles. Made a decent lunch in Moses lake on the lake. Great park right on the lake if you find yourself in need of a break.

It's actually pretty crazy how far Bellingham is from Seattle, we hit the burbs and had this feeling that you're almost there, then you drive clear out of Seattle and keep going.

Kate's relatives are awesome. They live right on lake whatcam in a great house and have been amazingly hospitable the entire stay. We cruised the boat the first evening, which actually started with dumping me on a running path on the far side of the lake for an hour. I literally dumped out of the boat in 3.5 ft of water and waded in with my shoes over my head. Great dirt path along lake though.

We were treated to bbq and hot tubbing later in the evening. An amazing first day at our destination.

Day 3

well, Montana was the only goal today, and man this state is a beast. You hit billings and feel like you're getting somewhere only to find that Bozeman is still 100 miles away and Missoula isn't even on the big board yet. We stopped at pompeys pillar for the heck of it and though it's not unlikely I've been before, I didn't remember it. We actually made good time, powered by a book on tape from David sedarus and the indescribable Magnet generated by the mountains on the horizon. We made Missoula by late afternoon, and stopped for a run along the river and some beer at kettle house brewing. I had stopped here 4 years ago and returned my growler for a refill. Still great beer.

We had a bit of Trouble finding the first forest service campground, but then ran into one literally off a rest stop down a road. The freeway noise wasn't great, but it was cheap, not filled with obnoxious campers, and covered with majestic pines. Brats and beans are never a bad option camping. Throw in some Montana beer and s'mores and you've got yourself another great day road tripping.

Day 2

Hit an early run in the vid before setting out on the broad west. Took us 14 for the good part of the morning which was a welcome change from the routine of 90. Lots of lakes in eastern sd. Pics below to prove it. lake pontchartrain Doesn't have anything on sd.
Aberdeen was nice, if not isolated. Had a lunch in a city park then hit the true west. Somehow crossing the Missouri always makes you feel like you're getting somewhere. Mobridge, sd wasn't much, and there weren't too many towns there after. Took a pit stop for ice cream and bad lattes in Lemmon. They also have the worlds largest petrified wood park if you were wondering where that one was.

Montana proved the best stretch of the drive in terms of scenery. Rolling hills with pines, very desolate. Turns out, the miles city campground is now a Koa. No thanks, we drove the extra 40 miles and had a great site along the Yellowstone river for 12$ in Forsyth, mt. A solid first full day in the road.

Day .5

 

We commenced our road trip today with a pleasant drive through central Minnesota. It took quite a while to leave the burbs- tons of stop lights out after yesterday's storms. I'm still coasting off my subway gift card from a race last year, so we stopped in hutch to split a foot long. It's amazing how far you can stretch $50 if you only get a basic sandwich.

Apparently this subway has a ton of big news items. Or the Mexican entree is looking for employees...

Vitals:
Bird species: 10ish nothing crazy, but Pelicans are cool and a kingbird.
Miles: 124
Plates: MN although we weren't looking too hard