Island Time

Yesterday we crossed the border into Canada. After a few brief moments with a very serious and intent crossing guard who wanted to make sure that we were not going to leave anything in Canada, we headed north to the ferry that would take us to Vancouver island. The ferry was two hours, and we had a great time watching the amazing views of mountains and water. This place is awesome!
We camped the night in our first walk-in campsite that is basically a large conglomeration of tents in a field that you have to carry your stuff to. It was really interesting and surprisingly quiet. We spent the afternoon driving around a small part of the island. Naturally we assumed that because we had not really heard of Vancouver Island, it was empty. Oh contraire. There are several sizable towns along the coast, and there is water everywhere. We stopped and walked along the beach where I had the serious misfortune of breaking my Choco sandal strap. While this does not seem to be too terrible these are basically the only shoes I wear unless I am forced to don socks, and they also take weeks to break in a new pair. I guess I'll be venturing out to find new ones.
We actually came to the island to housesit for some people that we found on the internet, so this afternoon we landed at their house. They are a delightful couple with a very pretty cat and live on a little lane with a cedar-shingled cottage surrounded by gardens that they practically begged us to eat out of. Tough duty. We had a great dinner with them and chatted about everything from books to computers to camping to their grandchild. :)
They also told us about places to go around town, so hopefully this week will include some hiking at Mount Washington and perhaps even a little kayaking. Who knows...I'm just glad for a kitchen. While I certainly don't miss our apartment (like I thought I would), I do miss cooking. So here's to a week of better food and indoor plumbing.

Hippie Moment

I realized today that maybe I am an actual hippie. Now, I know the term is broad, the meaning is varied, and using it is probably not even correct, but bear with me. It wasn't really the tie-dyed shirt I was wearing, the jeans with the holes, or the only every-so-often washed hair pulled up hastily in a messy pony-tail that clued me in. No, those are only outward manifestations. It was instead a very simple and ordinary brown paper bag.
This afternoon I headed to the Bellevue, WA Whole Foods in search of some gluten-free snacks (other than Fritos and Reese's peanut butter cups)to sustain me on this on-the-road eating adventure. After taking my time perusing the store, and realizing that Boulder actually isn't the most expensive place in the nation, I loaded a few things into my basket and headed to the register. The items sailed dutifully past the laser with the assistance of a burly, talkative cashier as the price of my being nutritionally-challenged soared higher on the screen. "That'll be [alot]," the burly (but not really the good kind of burly) guy said. I scanned my card, took the receipt, said "thanks," and grabbed my bag.
But wait...there in my hand were not two little delicate brown paper handles, but four. Yes four handles, two bags, and one rather confused gluten-free shopper. Let me check the receipt. Yes, this was Whole Foods, and yes, I had two bags with one inside the other.
With my mind still trying to sort all this out, it dawned on me that no one had even asked if I needed a bag. And it was then and there that I realized...I'm from Boulder. We don't ask "paper or plastic." We ask "bag or no bag (wink, wink)," and you know what to do.
So maybe I'm not a hippie. And maybe two bags are better than one. And maybe I'm just from Boulder. But in any event, it made me think...just for a moment...that maybe the tie-dyed, ever-so-slightly grungy-haired, living in a tent by choice, eating weird grains, and sometimes not taking a bag lifestyle really is me. Maybe...(wink, wink)

Go West Young Man

The last week has been full of all different kinds of adventures. We visited Yellowstone National Park, and after several hours of "racing" through the park (at 45 mph), we finally procured a camp site. This is not a feat easily accomplished and one we will not quickly forget. After driving for several hours, we drove up to the last recommended "perhaps" open campground, and we were given the last available site. Let's just say, we were grateful to not be camping in the distant Montana wilderness. :)

Yellowstone was beautiful. It reminded me so much of Disney movies from my childhood, and I have a sneaking suspicion that several films were made in that canyon. Old Faithful was her faithful old self, and during the walk around the geyser basin, we saw several more awesome eruptions, including Grand geyser, which is apparently the tallest predictable geyser in the world often reaching 200 feet into the sky. It was definitely an amazing sight! Go to Yellowstone!

From Yellowstone, we headed West. After 20 years of wanting to go to Montana, I finally crossed the border, and I was not disappointed. It is a wonderful state full of great mountains and valleys. Idaho was also beautiful. As we passed through Cour d' Alene, our Josh Ritter music played loud and clear.

We are now in Seattle, and have enjoyed driving around this beautiful city. We had no idea what a huge area this would be, but we have been surprised by it's great layout, distinctive neighborhoods, and incredibly scenic views. After a visit to Pike Place Market, we are now official fans of Beecher cheese curds. We only had a very short time here, and now we have to hurry on to Vancouver island for a housesit, but to all our friends in the Seattle area, we should be back at the end of the summer, and we look forward to seeing you all.

On the road...

We are excited to finally be on the road. After extensive packing and serious consideration about the amount of stuff in life, we left Boulder and headed North. Today we spent time in the Grand Tetons. I don't know how I had lived in America so long and never made it to this beautiful place. Thankfully Rodney knew that I would love the juxtaposition of water and mountains, complete with lots of wildlife. We went on a hike around one of the many crystal clear blue lakes and up a little ways into the mountains to see a waterfall. We saw a lot of marmots, a few squirrels, one snake, and a large bull moose right near the trail. Pretty awesome!