A year ago...

A year ago today we were taking in the sights, sounds and tastes of Rome.  And in a week, my friend (in real life and on the interweb) Maddie will be enjoying some vita italiano.

Like she has kindly reminded me/us, jealousy is a sin, so I'm taking a mini vacation (also known as re-living with the help of photos) starting... now.

Via Margutta, Roma

Firenze

Monterosso al Mare, northernmost of the Cinque Terre

yes, please.

Monterosso al Mare

Vernazza

Venezia

The White House

Count 'Em

This is so impressive. Japan's Kumi Yokoyama scores the game winner and gives a free clinic for at least 7 defenders from DPR Korea. Japan plays South Korea tomorrow for the championship.



Did I mention it's the Women's U-17 World Cup?

Tour Break

Just a quick pause in the oh-man-we-had-so-much-fun updates.
Because I love the fall.

Not so much the days getting shorter or the cold bathroom floor or the weird adjustment to sleeping with 3 blankets on the bed when Dan's at work.

But I so enjoy watching the trees on my street change day by day, planning my Halloween costume, pumpkin or gingerbread lattes, and scarves.

Not that we need scarves here, but you know what I mean, right?

game on...

Grand Tour Oh-Ten (part II)

Days 4-6:
Drove West from Mallard's Rest through Bozeman (deja vu) to Butte, then on through Anaconda and Phillipsburg... all the way down dirt road to the Askea Homestead at Rock Creek.  We arrived within a MINUTE of my predicted arrival time and found a note left on the well-house door.  That was a first.  Two firsts, actually:  1. arriving on time and 2. a handwritten "gone fishin'" sign.  I know there can't be two things first, but you know what I mean...

Glamping.  

Since we'd been in the car for about 30 out of 66 hours, we opted to walk to find everyone rather than risk getting the car stuck on the dirt road.  but the note didn't say how far everyone was or whether they were up- or down-river.  we guessed we hadn't seen them yet and took off down the creek.  (point of contention, when is it a creek and when is it a river?)  What a fun reunion to come across familiar faces miles down the road as the rest of the crew returned from their fishing trip!

The Bunk House

Had a blast with several days of hanging with family, reading, sitting in the creek, hammering a few nails building a bunkhouse/cabin (okay, I only hammered a few, but Bill, Roger, Graham and Dan did a lot more than that!), playing with the dogs, enduring a hailstorm, and just generally living the glamorous camping lifestyle.


Thank you, Askeas, for a wonderful spot, fantastic food, and great company!  We are looking forward to another visit.

Trusty Taj pulled through for us.  Dry despite the hail!

Day 6:
Heading North toward Glacier National Park.  From Rock Creek to Kalispell by way of Flathead Lake.  Sweet scenery.  oh, to have a lake house....

Flathead Lake, Montana

Day 7:
Glacier National Park.
We snagged a campsite near Avalanche Creek and proceeded across the park on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Saw some kids and some glaciers.  The glaciers are said to be gone by 2020.  But don't worry, they will still call it Glacier National Park, not The Park formerly-known-as-Glacier.

Saint Mary's Lake

We hiked from Many Glacier Hotel to Grinnell Lake, hoping to make it to the big overlook, but it was closed due to "Bear Danger."  whatev.

Grinnell Lake.

The colors of the glacial runoff lakes are amazing.
And then the heavens opened with a massive thunder storm, so we hiked 2.5 miles back to the car in the POURing rain.


Remaining states to cover:  ID, WA, OR.

Grand Tour Oh-Ten

Here it is, folks, the what-I-did-on-my-summer-vacation summary (Part I).  

6am and I couldn't wait to get up!

Day 1:
A classy beginning: sleeping 4 hours in our car.  
In Mesquite, Nevada.  
Wal*Mart parking lot.


It was 95 degrees at midnight when we drove through Las Vegas.  Dan wanted so badly to stop and put all our money on 17-Red, but I was firm and said, "Maybe on our way home, honey."





Day 2:
Drove through Utah to Wyoming.  

Utahhhhhhh

Wyoming with my Travel Buddy.

Jackson Hole surprised us, saw a moose and bison outside of town, camped at Gros Ventre across the creek from an Elk Preserve, ate dinner in the car with a hundred bugs during an awesome thunder storm. Hooray for a cozy tent!


Day 3:
wow.  Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. gorgeous scenery, fun photography day.

Tetons and lupine

Jenny Lake - please don't judge me by my shoes

We didn't know what to expect from ol' Yellow.  

Confirmation: amazing vistas, Old Faithful spits water, black bear/grizzly sightings, there is a Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with a cool waterfall, and it's difficult to snag a campsite.  We were mostly driving tourists this time, complete with mastering the art of, "Quick, roll down your window and take a picture!"  Turns out Dan's pretty good at the gopher maneuver through the sunroof.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls

Camped at Mallard's Rest fishing access site along highway 89 in Montana, slept to the sound of cattle lowing across the river. Have to admit that at first we thought the sound was a cell phone on vibrate... a sad mindset!  There is nothing quite like a dip in a creek to start your day. 

With utmost appreciation and respect, I believe Montana can be summed up in 3 words:  

Fishing, 

Homestead, 

and Trucks.

More to come!!