Good Week

Turned 27 on Tuesday. Got a smorgasbord of giftcards. Was surprised by some of my dearest friends at what I thought was a dinner, just Cliff and I, at J's. Spent some much-needed time turning a few personal projects around and getting some work done. We've also been plugging away this week preparing for a week (plus a couple of days) away. And today, it is upon us.

Our trip, that is.

From Nashville to Yosemite (by way of Sacramento)... then to Redwood on the coast... then up into Oregon to Crater Lake... rounding back down into Lassen... and back home (again, by way of Sacramento). It'll be quick and long in the way that days spent playing in the woods are - perfect for rest and exhaustion and everything in between. I'm dying to throw up our hammocks by the river and just hang in the glory of it all.

This trip includes a few milestones for Lil' Turkey: first flight and a string of consecutive entries in the travel journal we've been keeping for him/her. So that's fun!

Over and out!

Our Next Big Adventure

I'm probably stating the obvious when I say that we love adventure. We like the thrill of discovering new places, being challenged, finding beauty, and being with each other. It's the reason we own rock climbing gear, kayaks, backpacking goods, and mountain bikes. It's the cause for our monthly savings plan for vacations and marriage getaways - the removal of ourselves from the common into the not so common.

It's the reason we've been to California twice, on an across-the-country roadtrip to Wyoming with friends, all over Washington, to dusty Texas, on a ski trip to Utah, down to the shimmering gulf coast of Florida, up to bustling New York, crusing through the Caribbean with stops in Grand Cayman, Belize, Honduras, and Mexico, and honeymooning in St. Lucia. It's the reason we got engaged on the top of Big Frog Mountain, camp with friends in the Smokies, have hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail in three different states, kayak the waters of the Harpeth, the Hiwassee, the Gulf, and the Puget Sound, have rafted the Ocoee, and so much more.

Not a month goes by that we're not planning some sort of adventure. These days it's been planning a see-the-leaves day-trip on our weekend visit to Massachusetts in mid-October for my cousin's wedding. And talks of what a visit to Mt. Hood or a Columbia River winery while in Portland in late-October.

And now, we face a new -slightly unexpected- and entirely uncharted adventure of a different sort. One that has a lot of the same elements yet requires a stationery sort of discovery, challenge, and wonder. One that will be incredibly beautiful and difficult in a variety of ways, but so very rewarding and a blessing beyond many we may have ever experienced.

We are buying a home.

A beautiful ranch-style brick home on an unbelievable lot in a great part of Franklin with lush trees, a fenced-in backyard with two quaint storage barn-sheds and a patio, three darling bedrooms, a great kitchen, and bonus room I can't wait to turn into our office/reading room.

Our-First-Home adventure. I think I can handle that...

On Our Trip Out West

Getting There
Well, what else can I say but that MapQuest logged our trip at just over 24.5 hours, so we knew it'd be a long one. I was particularly excited about driving through three states I have never been to before, bringing my total up to 37 out of 50. Not so bad, eh? Our route, as I mentioned in the previous post, involved seven states, including our own, and a fair share of iPod clickwheel spinning, musical chairs playing, and out the window watching. Oh, and Slurpees in Missouri which was, of course, a winner. I would have to say the drive was particularly enjoyable in Nebraska, where I-80 parallels the North Platte River coursing through farmland for most of the drive through the state and Wyoming, which is a land of varied geological formations and none too many people. Ah, and the world's largest jackalope.

The Destination(s)
Oh, my word. Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park are two of the most spectacular national landmarks I have ever visited. It is astonishing that for miles and miles, there is so much untapped natural beauty and that it is here, in our country. Not some other exotic place, but the United States of America. If you ever find yourself anywhere near the northwest corner of Wyoming, say on a trip to Montana, Idaho, or Jackson Hole, WY, please, for the love of all that is good and beautiful in this country and world, go.

Accommodations
Let me just say, we love camping. It helps that we own really great gear, which adds to the overall experience, but there's nothing like the rustic simplicity of falling asleep under a blanket of stars and then waking up, zipping open your tent door, and stepping out into nature (and a great view of it, at that). Well, we thought Grayton Beach was awesome back in March, and we were blown away by our stay at both GTNP and YNP.

For Grand Teton NP, we ended up at Signal Mountain Campground, which is rather central to the elongated park. We found an elevated site (#30, in case you were wondering) with a view of both Jackson Lake and the Teton range. Perfect and sheer luck (or blessing, really) because of our late arrival. We easily self-registered at the visitor center and soon settled into our temporary home. With space for two two-person tents, a picnic bench, a parking spot, and a grated firepit (on which we skillfully cooked pancakes and bacon, thankyouverymuch), you couldn't really ask for much else. The bathrooms and water pump were just a short walk down the hill, which gave us some good practice with the elevation on our later hikes. There's a campground convenience store, a gas-station, plenty of bear boxes in which dump your odorful garbage, and an incredible spot to watch the morning sun light up the Teton range across the lake. Exquisite.

For Yellowstone NP, we ended up at Norris Campground, which is also rather central to the vastness that is Yellowstone country. At the juxtaposition of the southern and northern loops, Norris campground is at the edges of the Norris Geyser Basin (this made for unique sounds throughout our evening there). I had chosen Norris not just because of its convenient location but because of the grassy meadow with the stream running through it. Beautiful. Well, again, thanks to divine intervention, we ended up at a site (Walk-in #2, again, in case you were wondering) with an incredible view, close parking, another picnic table and firepit, and the bathrooms just a short walk away.

Word to the wise: showers are not found at each restroom (we used Colter Bay Campground in GTNP and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in YNP) and they cost money, but they're worth it.

Places to See... Things to Do
Driving is necessary to the experience of getting to the important places, so it's good we got some practice in on the way over. There's probably not a bad place to go in either park, nor a stupid thing to do, except doing nothing. I had done a lot of research (surprise, surprise) on both and felt I had come up with a pretty good itinerary for a mixture of both leisure, adventure, inspiring views, and must-sees.

In GTNP, we headed down early to Jenny Lake, rented two two-person kayaks, and set across her frigid waters to the opposite shore, where we hiked the Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point/Cascade Canyon Trail up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. Good hike (2 miles total, 1 mile in, 1 mile out, with some good elevation change) and really great views from the perch of Inspiration Point. After hiking back down, kayaking back across, and taking a much needed lunch break, we headed over to String Lake to hike the 3.5 mile String Lake Loop and take an unbelievably cold post-hike dip in String Lake. Other GTNP moments/places we enjoyed include: sunrise on the range at the shore of the campground, early morning, calm-water picture-taking at Oxbow Bend, a view of the sunset and the Snake River valley atop Signal Mountain, hearing elk bugle, the bald eagle and chipmunks at Jenny Lake, and the delicious feasts of Hormel chili we enjoyed one evening and campfire breakfast in the morning.

In YNP, we managed to see and do far more than I had ever expected. Considering it's such a large park, it's suggested you take plenty of time to see it all. Well, plenty was not quite in our bank of time for this trip, but it was still incredible. We attempted a strategy of attacking the southern loop first, giving us some time to see breathtaking canyon, waterfalls, and a plethora of geothermal oddities, do minimal walking/hiking (after our adventures in GTNP), and cruise along the Yellowstone River and Yellowstone Lake. Oh, and of course, see wildlife. Southern loop highlights include: the grand canyon of Yellowstone and upper falls from Artist Point, Old Faithful, the Middle Geyser Basin, Yellowstone River and Lake, the "Lord of the Rings" soundtrack, and lots and lots of bison. Our time on the Northern loop was a tad more active, with a stop at the Norris Geyser Basin, a 5.5 mile hike (roundtrip) up 1,500 feet to the 10,243 foot summit of Mt. Washburn (where we saw lupine, marmots, and all of Yellowstone), a short visit to Tower Fall, a visit to Mammoth Hot Springs, and a detour up to Montana (38!!!) to soak in the Gardiner River where it meets the hot springs of the Boiling River and generally acts as a hot tub. Oh, and we totally saw moose (topping bison, coyotes, elk, and mule deer any day), thanks to my strategic eating of Moose Tracks ice cream at a parlor earlier in the day and a subsequent prayer for a sighting. Okay, and because the Lord is good and we all insisted on going to see the Petrified Tree who was out-shined by these guest performers.

Coming Home
Leaving was the hardest part; forget not showering, hard hikes, and road work. We headed out late in a rainstorm, which was rather fitting. The sky was crying for us to leave such beauty. Our way back through Wyoming was slightly different than our way there, and we looked forward to our late-night diner stop in Cody (named, come to find out, for William Cody or "Buffalo Bill", the town's founder). Well, our late night diner (named "Granny's Kitchen") had closed by then, but a kind shift manager offered us to-go meals, which we greedily ordered, purchased, and devoured in the diner's parking lot. Best patty melt of my life.

Rain and slumber continued throughout Wyoming, where I took the Cheyenne, WY to Lincoln, NE shift and happily so, for my path was lit by the sunrise over Nebraska's flat lands. Nebraska was pretty much the same as we had left it, just less foggy, and we very much looked forward to Missouri, where we certainly did cry "Oh! Thank Heaven!" for that beacon of orange, green, and white on an exit somewhere in the middle of the state. Fueled by gasoline, an incredible adventure, and Slurpees, we arrived home late on the day after Labor Day, mourning the gem of our country we left 1700 miles behind and cherishing the memories we now carried with us.

Here, Not There

Well, we're back.

We've been back...
...since 1:45AM on Tuesday, September 2nd.

We spent our Labor Day cruising back from some of our most favorite days ever. Through Wyoming, then Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and finally home to Tennessee. And as much as I love the green we returned to, thanks to the rain we took off from when we left, I miss it out west. We all miss it out west.

When we stopped in Mound City, Missouri for lunch, you could have cut the humidity with a knife, where as in Yellowstone that day they were calling for snow showers. We went from summer to fall to winter back to summer all in a span of days. And not just the weather, but the grandeur and simplicity of it all. Life like that, lived spontaneously and adventurously in the midst of sheer natural beauty, really has a way of tainting every way of living but that.

But it was incredible, and without a doubt, one of the best trips I have ever taken in my lifetime. Maybe not the absolute best, because there are definitely a number to compete with, but definitely one of the most memorable. Road trips seem to suspend time, and it felt like we were there forever. But, definitely, not long enough.

I plan to share our itinerary and thoughts for further trips out there in a later post. Because, well, once you go I feel like you can't help but go back. Or at least, that's the case with us. And I echo the thoughts of a man I met on the banks of Oxbow Bend, who thought it should be required of all citizens of this great country to visit Wyoming if not for the beauty of its two national parks.

I'm also working on uploading pictures to our flickr accounts, so stay tuned for those!

End of Summer

I always think of summer being pre-Labor Day and non-summer (not exactly fall or autumn) being post-Labor Day. (Growing up in a city that runs their school system's calendar this way could certainly help to perpetuate this feeling.)

That being said, we are about to have our last "Hurrah!" of the summer in the form of a rather spontaneous and last-minute road trip with our friends Natalie and Ryan. Yes, road trip. A glorious 1600 mile (plus) stretch of it, with two full days spent in the car.

But when you're on your way to these places...




...I guess it's hard to complain.

The Sun'll Come Out

I know I'm just repeating the choruses of everyone in Middle Tennessee's praises for the weather the last couple of days, but it's been awesome. For serious. There's nothing that lifts the gloom of rainy outside in the world and rainy inside the heart kinds of days like the sun.

Last week was hard for me, in a lot of ways. And hard for Cliff, too, as both a catalyst and a companion through some difficult challenges. But we're surviving, and we're thankful for God's provision of warmth and sunlight to remind us that there are reasons for both rainy and sunny days.

The weather got us out on Saturday, cruising around Franklin on our nine-mile training run. I'm running a lot less and walking a lot more on these long runs, I must admit. I started to figure out that I run only a little faster (13 min/mile) than I walk (14:30/mile) when I go long distances and walking saves my knees a whole lot of pain. But even mixing up nine miles can hurt. We're still sore, but it's the good kind. That, mixed with my new dance yoga routine courtesy of a recently purchased workout video, has me recognizing feeling in muscles that have probably never been worked out... ever.

Sunday was class and church, which were both really great, and then a quick lunch at home and paddling the Harpeth. We decided after trips all over the place, we might as well check out the portion of the Harpeth practically in our backyard. So we did, and it was nice. We put in across from the Franklin Country Club and went 4.7 miles to the Williamson County Rec Center. Lucky for us, we had our first experience portaging, as we came upon an unfortunate discovery on the river close to Pinkerton Park. If Cliff has ever had a fantasy of seeing me mud wrestle, it came true on Sunday. I ended up hip deep (only on my left leg) in the mud as we struggled to get out of our kayaks and up a slippery slope - it was me against nature. We laughed it off, though, and quickly found our way to the other side of the bridge, rinsed off in the cold water, and continued on our way. We saw Canadian geese, a great blue heron that led us all the way down the river, a bunch of kingfishers, and even a huge beaver that just eyed us from the bank. There was so much evidence, though, of the damage the growth in our area has done to the river. I only hope we can work to continue to preserve such a great addition to the landscape and enrichment of our area.

So we're back at it again, Cliff hard at work and me hard at preparing for what's next. I have my last class of my masters career this weekend which will involve a presentation of our group marketing plan, and then in two and a half weeks, that marketing plan, along with my Practicum binder and paper are due. And then that's it. I'll be done with grad school and will graduate two weeks later. ...crazy.

Please continue to pray for me, if you are already, as I prepare for what's next. There's been some changes in my perspective lately, and with Cliff's leadership and the wisdom of a close mentor, I'm re-evaluating my heart and the motivations I've had through this whole job search process. I'll probably have more to write on that later, but God's still dealing with me and I'm okay with that.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!