A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to Agua Fria National Monument

I guess a few funny things happened on the way. For starters, I never actually went to Agua Fria Monument. Well technically I did. I turned at the exit. I even passed the sign that said "now entering..." But the next sign discouraged me. That one read "Not recommended for passenger cars". I assume that meant I was supposed to walk. Given the 100+ temps, I decided to get back on the road.

The "funnier" thing that happened along the way was that I felt peace. After 2 1/2 weeks of up and downs with the ex, I needed to wander. I needed to see if I could do it on my own and enjoy it as much. Just driving to the unexpected brought a sense of calm. The last week had included a text/email war/lovefest that bounced between happiness and complete mental exhaustion. The last 24 hours finally pushed me to the breaking point. The only option I could think of was to go wandering on my own to get my mind straight.

I decided to start small. I wasn't quite ready to try a lonely weekend in a tent without the person who I kept warm at night. Agua Fria seemed logical since it's only 45 minutes outside of Phoenix. But yet another funny thing happened while I was headed that direction. Along the way I thought maybe I had zoned out and passed the exit. Strangely, I thought "who cares?" and determined that I was just going to keep driving. Of course it would turn out I hadn't missed the exit. Luckily, I had already mentally prepared myself to keep going when I saw the passenger cars not recommended sign. Montezuma Castle was only another 45 miles and had been on my list of sights to see for a while. The choice was pretty easy.

At Montezuma Castle it felt strange getting out of the car and not having someone to wait on and put my arm around. I went back to the car twice once just because it seemed like I needed to and the second time to get my hiking bag and water. I entered the tourist center feeling awkward. I approached the person taking fees feeling awkward. I walked around the visitor's center feeling awkward. I would walk out onto the viewing trail feeling awkward for the last time.

For the first time, I could stroll the trail at my own slow pace. I could sit on the benches and stare at the ancient cliff dwelling for as long as I wanted. I could reflect on the knowledge that ancient peoples lived their daily lives in the very spots I was standing. It was peaceful and reflective even with all the kids complaining to their parents about the heat around me.

After touring the castle, I walked back into the visitor's center to look for a poster to frame (my newest hobby). I saw the poster for the castle and was thrilled that it matched the drawn likeness theme of my other posters. I noticed the Montezuma Well poster in the batch and knew I wasn't done wandering for the day.

Montezuma Well is a very interesting geological area. I won't go into the details because you can visit yourself or just Google it. The biggest takeaway and somewhat mind blowing revelation for me was that species exist there that have never been found anywhere else in the world: an odd shrimp, a water scorpion. An ecosystem like nowhere else in the world is only 90 miles outside of the "normal" world I inhabit every day. If I wasn't curious and I wasn't a wanderer, there is no way I would have learned such an intriguing fact.

I left the area only a few hours after I had entered, but I believe this trip may have been as significant as the trip I took to Payson with the ex. It was life altering because this was the day I realized the wandering spirit in me doesn't need someone else to bring it out. Although some day I hope I will find another woman who gets as much enjoyment from it as I do (or can at least tolerate it), I was capable of this type of spirit without any push.

Campground Hunting Part 2: The Sad Part

From my favorite campground ever!

We left off in Part 1 terrified by the Pioneer Cemetery somewhere in Eastern Oregon. I assume the majority of the Donner Party was buried there, but I have absolutely no desire to fact check that statement. That evening turned out to be one of our two drive straight through night's on the trip. With a long stop to shower and relax for a bit at a truck stop, we were able to cover the 16 driving hours trip from Redwoods to Yellowstone in about 19 hours. We were exhausted by the time we reached the Yellowstone gates around 5:00 PM that day, but we had come so far we were at least going to get a sneak peak of the park before searching out a campground. Within a few miles we saw a huge buck galloping across a field and a family of bison enjoying a relaxing day in a meadow.

Given our experience at Yosemite, we were pretty nervous about finding a campground near the park so we called it a really early evening and started our search for the night's home. We turned at the first campground sign we saw for "Madison Arm Resort". After driving for what seemed like forever on a gravel road, my only thought was "I hope we didn't waste precious time driving out here." Luckily, the campground wasn't full on a Wednesday.

Just as we began to set up our tent, rain started hitting for the 4th time in 6 campgrounds. This was the first time we had been at a campsite early enough to still have daylight. It would be the first time we got to sit in the tent holding each other and just enjoying the sounds of the rain. It was intimate, private, and beautiful. It was also one of my favorite moments of the trip. When the rain passed we got out of the tent to finish retrieving our stuff from the car. One of the near by groups of campers yelled to us that we had to go down to the lake to see the rainbow. I had to avoid my desire to sound like "the double rainbow guy" in that viral video after witnessing this:

My photography skills are weak, but you can see the hint of the double-rainbow

We gasped as we turned from that view to the contrasting sunset over the Rockies (the top picture). We marveled at all the colors and contrasts of the scenery around us as we spotted a family of deer across the lake. I don't know if I have ever been more awe-struck by nature's beauty than I was in those moments.

We spent the evening doing washing clothes in the resort's laundry facility. Sadly, this had to be done rather than sitting around a campfire enjoying some marshmallows. But we made the most of it. We sit up our camp chairs outside the door and watched the sun go down while we ate microwave chimichangas from the general store. I'm sure the camping purists will hate that, but it was a special time in my eyes.

After spending the day in Yellowstone and the evening stopping to take in the amazing landscapes of our trip down the Rocky Mountains, we were on the road for the second drive straight through night. I felt terrible that we had spent so much of our Thursday in Yellowstone because my parent's expected us to arrive early Friday morning. We were still 9 hours away at 8:30 at night! As much as I just wanted to set up camp, I knew that wasn't right to do. We managed to get 3 hours of sleep in the car at a rest stop near Glendive, MT. I have to say sleeping at rest stops is EXACTLY as creepy as I thought it would be. I tried to park all the way at the end of the lot so cars wouldn't come near by, but for some strange (suspicious) reason cars would keep parking just a few spaces away. Add that to the list of near horror movie endings to our lives. 

Since the next two nights were spent sleeping in my high school bedroom, I won't expand much on them. For me these were actually the two worst nights of sleep. I remember waking up throughout the night and muttering "We can't sleep now. We have to get to the next stop." This happened several times during the night. My copilot had her odd sleep moment too, as she was laying in bed staring up at her two hands clasped together, trying to scroll the page on the phantom phone she imagined was in her hands. I'm still not sure if she was sleep texting or sleep snapchatting, but the phone was about 3 feet away on the nightstand. 

Our next camping stop would come in the Black Hills just past Mount Rushmore. We set up at Oreville campground near Custer, SD. There's not a lot to say about this stop either, except that the stars were so clear! We kept the tent roof open while we laid on the air mattress staring up at them. The copilot was always quick to fall asleep once her head hit the pillow. I was content to just lay there in the dark, staring at the universe in all its' glory, while I held her in my arms. If only I had known this might be the second to last time this ever happened, I would have held a lot tighter.

The final stop came after a long day's drive from Custer to Moab, UT. There were so many times during this section that I just wanted to stop and set up camp. The only problem was that we were heading into the last day of the trip and Moab was still 7 hours from Phoenix. The copilot drove for a while through Colorado and I took over somewhere near Grand Junction. I pushed on late into the night until we reached Moab. 

We found a campground at Slickrock Recreational Area around 2:30 in the morning. The campgrounds were pretty empty because it was a Monday night (Tuesday morning). I was nervous about setting up in an empty campground, so I searched until I found a few RVs in the same area. We pitched the tent and were stunned to see the Milky Way. Sadly, we are iPhone photographers so the pics didn't work out. We began to lay down for the night. Suddenly, we both thought we heard someone walking around our tent. We yelled to back away and got out to try to track the perpetrator down. We found nothing. The copilot made me throw a big rock into the nearby bush to try to scare anyone out. Nothing. I think the lack of sleep had gotten to us because it was probably just the sound of the tent roof flapping.

This was the truly sad part of our campground hunts. It was the last one we would do on the trip. We got to the campground at 2:30 and left by 7:30. Other than staring up at the Milky Way and being terrified by the tent roof, nothing special happened that night. This is sad because it might be the last night we ever spend together. Just like at Oreville, I wish I had hugged her tighter while we slept. Had I known where things were headed when we got back, I'm not sure I would have ever let go. To think these moments were so uneventful is such a terrible truth. 

In Design Mode!

I was expected to put out a new article today, but I got way to wrapped up in designing three new and awesome elements to the site. Once I'm in design mode, it's just too hard to flip the switch into writing mode. I've spent the day revamping the Rogue Wanderer Store, Rogue Recommendations, and Rogue Reads sections of the site.  The new sections were built using the incredibly easy to navigate Amazon aStore format. I think most people will like the new set up. Ordering products is much more simple now. Here's what you'll find in each section:

Rogue Wanderer Store

The store now houses a much wider variety of products for anyone who is proud to say they are a wanderer in life, but definitely not lost. The section currently includes:

• Men and Women's T-shirts
• Bumper Stickers and Decals
• Coffee Mugs
• Cell Phone Covers
• National Parks Posters

Expect to see a lot of new and interesting products to be added to this section!

Rogue Recommendations

Items I own, store in my car, and need around the campsite. Everything in this area is something I keep in the truck of the car ready to go in case the mood to wander strikes. It includes my favorite item ever, a tent that cost less than $100 that somehow changed my life forever

Rogue Reads

This was probably my favorite section of the site to work on today! I guess it's because it offers a little bit of insight into the kind of weird things I love to read for "leisure time" reading. Want a peek inside my head check out the "From My Kindle" area. Of course if you don't own a Kindle yet, you can buy one through there as well. My favorite feature of this area is going to be my monthly recommendation book. This month it's Flash Boys by Michael Lewis. Check back monthly to see what's next in my slightly odd reading preferences. Hint: next month will either be about running, creative thinking, or the interconnections of the current networking structure of the world. We'll see which way I lean on August 1.

I loved designing all of these sections, so I hope all of my regular readers love them just as well as my articles. Whether it's painting, writing, entrepreneurship, webdesign or wandering, creative inspiration is an amazing thing. Today I channeled it in to webdesign. I've got my fingers crossed that tomorrow it will manifest itself in the form of writing. For now, please check out the products of today's work and if the mood strikes buy a few things :-)

Thanks! - RM

Highlights and Lowlights from the Rogue Trip

Is there such a thing as a good fight? Yep, when it leads to this :)

If you've been following the stories on this page for the last few weeks, you know that I just completed at 13 day road trip consisting of: 12 states, 5 national parks, 1 national monument, 1 national recreational area, and 2 'other' monuments. The trip was amazing and in many ways life-altering. I did it all with the help of a co-pilot, my recently designated ex-girlfriend. Although the relationship hit the rocks, I can't tell these stories without mentioning her so with every one, I do have the not so enjoyable experience of reliving some tough times. That being said, I still haven't worked myself up to telling the truly sad stories I expect out of the second part of the campground hunting experience so we'll keep it a little light for now. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights from the trip:

Best National Park Experience (Redwoods National & State Parks): Let me start by saying that every one of the parks that we visited was gorgeous. I would recommend each of them and hope to revisit them all some day for a longer stay. This is solely about the experience. Redwoods was amazing. I'll admit I'm a little biased because I nerded out a little during this stop. I have wanted to go to Redwoods since I was in elementary school and read about it in one of those weekly news handouts we used to get (I'm sure they're on iPads these days). This was the part of the trip I was waiting for and it exceeded my expectations. I'm pretty sure I weirded the co-pilot out a little when I just stood there with my hand on one of the tree roots for about five minutes just breathing the air and thinking about how long the tree had been here before me and how long it will stand after I'm gone. I've already decided I will be making a trip back sometime within the next year to spend more than a few hours among the giants.

Worst National Park Experience (Yosemite): Again, nothing to do with the beauty of the park. I hope to go back again some day to visit again. The drawback to this stop was the day we chose to see it. The Sunday of 4th of July weekend probably wasn't a great choice. The park was too crowded and the added issue of one of the lanes in Yosemite Valley being restricted due to firefighting activity led to a terrible experience. We were able to get out for a quick hike to view Bridal Veil Falls, but couldn't find any parking to view Yosemite Falls. We spent hours just trying to get through the loop on the valley floor. I tried to get some enjoyment out of the experience by stopping the car before we exited the park to set up our camping chairs in a meadow and eat some sandwiches and Doritos. I loved the view during this time, but the co-pilot was so frustrated by the experience it was impossible to salvage.

Best Stretch of Road (Entering Colorado): Alright so there might be a reason I enjoyed this stretch so much and that reason is that the stretch from Mount Rushmore through South Dakota and Wyoming until Colorado is terrible. Driving through the Rockies after coming out of deserted areas was spectacular. The mountain view were gorgeous. We zig-zagged across the Colorado River at least 4 times by my count. Every time it was beautiful.

Worst Stretch of Road (South Central and Southeastern Oregon): To be fair, South Western Oregon is quite beautiful and from previous travel experiences I loved the Northern half of the state. The South Central Part and Southeastern part are desolate wastelands. This was also one of the biggest surprises for me. Growing up in North Dakota, I thought I knew boring roads but these areas made ND look great in comparison. At least in ND there is a farmhouse near the road every 5 miles or so. These areas of Oregon don't seem to show any sign of human life, but plenty of rabbit life. I'm proud to say I didn't hit any of them but I did find myself driving extremely slow to avoid all of them at points.

Best Outside of Park Experience: After leaving Yellowstone, I have to say I think the area outside of the park may be more beautiful than the area within. Exiting on the Cooke City, MT side of the park we saw a family of 4 bison calmly strolling next to the road. But that was just the start of it, we would discover our own private waterfall, mountain goats, beautiful snow runoff lakes, snow patches and a gorgeous sunset over the Rockies.

Worst Outside of Park Experience:  I hate to pick on Yosemite because it really is an amazing place, but trying to find a campground outside of the park was a nightmare. Again, this is probably our fault for going over the 4th of July weekend. But every campground within 20 miles of the park was full. After searching for hours, we finally just set our tent up in the woods just outside of a campground that had posted the "Campground Full" sign. Never go to Yosemite on a holiday weekend without a reservation, unless you're willing to put up with some terribleness.

Worst Fight of the Trip:  A couple on the road for 13 days is going to fight. I think there might be something wrong with the two people involved if they didn't. For us, I think the worst fight came on the 3rd day, when I didn't stop at a Chevron to get coffee. She claims I hadn't passed it yet. I still claim that I was already getting on the freeway when she even brought up the topic. Honestly, I don't know who was right. It occurred while we were leaving Valley of Fire in Nevada and heading to Las Vegas. I figured everything would be fine because I planned to stop at a Starbucks in Vegas (less than 30 minutes away) so we could use the WiFi. The 30 minutes of incredibly uncomfortable silence would prove me very wrong. She got mad. I asked why. I said we passed it already. She said we didn't. I called her a "nutcase" and immediately wished I could take it back. We sat quietly across from each other pounding away at our laptops until we had calmed down. We both realized we have 10 more days to survive together.

Best Fight of the Trip: How can there be a "best" fight? Well this fight led us to the "private waterfall" I mentioned earlier. We got stuck in traffic at Yellowstone. I got a little road-ragey when drivers started getting out of their cars in the middle of the road and yelled "Don't get out of the car!" I still don't really know if I was directing it at the other drivers or at her because she was getting ready to get out of the car. Either way she took it as me yelling at her, yelled back "I'll do what I want!" and I replied "Okay, yeah go ahead" because I recognized the tone in her voice. When she got back in the car the awkward silence set in again. It continued until we left the park. Finally, I broke it by asking what was wrong. She said it showed my angry side and she was afraid it might get worse in the future. I apologized but the silence continued. Finally, I pulled off to the side of the road and got out of the car. I asked her to stop looking at the dashboard and start looking at the scenery around us. My point was to stop dwelling on the negative, but I will say I probably didn't do a great job of not being upset while I was doing that. I'm pretty sure my statements included "Look at all this beautiful f***ing scenery!" and some other expletives. I decided to take a cool down walk while she stayed in the car. That's when I discovered the "private waterfall" with a bridge that overlooked it. I still can't believe no one else was there. When she finally joined me, it was a special moment. I don't know of too many times in life when I've seen something so beautiful and I was glad she was there with me.

Best Relationship Moment: A road trip like this is obviously not just about the sights. There is a certain level of bonding that two people will go through. We may not be together today, but I have to say some of the happiest moments of the trip were shared childhood experiences. The first came when we ended up in Merced, CA, a city where she had spent her middle school years. After she told me she lived there I wanted to find something that would bring back memories. We tried finding her old home, but it no longer stood. We were ready to leave town when by chance we came across her old middle school. The look of happiness on her face and hearing her talk about happy childhood memories isn't something I had experienced much during the relationship. I'm not too macho to say it brought me to tears. On my end, I loved showing her my hometown. We drove up and down the streets and with every turn of a corner there was another memory. This isn't something I've ever been able to share with someone I was dating, so it was special to me.

Worst Relationship Moment: Let's also call this the Biggest Shock. As anyone who knows how the story ended would probably suspect, the worst moment came after the trip had ended. The end of the trip spelled the end for us. For 13 days we spent almost every waking hour side-by-side. In the end it only took a few hours of not being in each other's presence for things to come unraveled. This kind of sums up the relationship the co-pilot and I had. When we were together the relationship was strong, but as soon as separation was introduced the struggle began. I don't know why it was so tough to hold it together when we were apart. Most people would think 13 days together would be the relationship kiss of doom. For us, it was half a day apart.

Campground Hunting Part 1: The Silly Part

I'm sure when most people heard we were planning on driving across the Western U.S. without any reservations for our sleeping accommodations, they thought we were crazy. I'm also sure those who know anything about camping knew we were crazy when we decided to do it during 4th of July weekend.

For 13 days we crossed 12 states and logged nearly 5800 miles. During that time the only place and time we knew we had a guaranteed place to sleep was at my parent's house for two nights. The rest was all up for grabs. I went into the trip with a plan for the places we were going to see but that was pretty much it. I didn't know the days we'd hit each spot. I didn't know how much distance in time or mileage there was between each spot. I certainly didn't know which roads we would have to take other than the first few that got us out of Arizona. But for 12 nights we made it work. Our homes for those twelve nights included 8 campgrounds, 1 rest stop, my childhood bedroom, and the car. 

Before the trip, I can't say I ever paid attention to this sign on the side of the road:

Prior to April when camping and random road trips suddenly became such a big part of my life, I'm not totally sure I even knew what that sign meant. While we are the road that symbol became the most spectacular beacon I could see near the end of a long tough day on the road. 

The first campground was one of the easiest to find and most hassle free of all. We set up the first night about an hour away from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at Lee's Ferry campground in Northern AZ. We had left Phoenix around 2:30 that afternoon so this was our latest start of the trip and one of the shortest distances we covered. The fear of storms and the desire to see the scenery leading up to the Canyon in daylight forced us to stop pretty early. Lee's Ferry was great. We were able to hear the rushing waters of the Colorado River while we slept. The canopies above the sites were a life saver on a rainy night. 

The same would not hold true at our second stop at Valley of Fire State Park just outside of Vegas the next night. Once again we found ourselves caught in storms. Google maps provided Valley of Fire as the most reasonable option we had for where we were and the time of night. As I drove through miles of empty desert to try to find the campground, I have to say the thought of mobsters burying bodies crossed my mind. I was glad my copilot was asleep because she couldn't see the look of fear on my face. This wouldn't be the last time I was glad she was asleep on the way to the campground through sketchy areas. The monsoon storms were generating some heavy winds but luckily we were able to find a site sheltered from the wind by the rock next to it. That is at least for part of the night. The winds would shift and we would find ourselves battling to secure the tent roof and filling like we were going to be carried off by a rushing wash. One bright spot to this was that I battled the storm while in my boxers. I don't care how silly it might have looked there's nothing more invigorating than taking on a storm in your underwear. 

Night 3 would be another night of scrambling to find a spot. This would actually turn out to be the worst. It was the Saturday before the 4th and we were just outside of Yosemite. We must have checked 10 different campgrounds around the park and at the nearby lakes, with all of them ending up full. Again my copilot would get some rest, while I (stupidly, I must say) took us 20 miles the other direction toward Mammoth Lakes, CA. Mammoth Lakes would pretty much prove to be a bust too, with all campgrounds being full. Finally we were able to find a secluded area in the woods near a campground to set up for a few hours. This would probably have been the most dangerous choice we made and not something I would recommend for those not ready to engage in combat with woodland wildlife. Thankfully, we survived and even got a fairly decent night's rest.

After spending a long day basically just driving a very short distance around the Yosemite Valley for 4 hours, we didn't make a ton of progress the next day either. We were closing in on the San Francisco area. This time around we started actually calling for reservations. I doubt anyone is shocked to find out we struck out on every call on the night before the 4th of July. We took a gamble and drove toward a state park near the beach. Again, I'm very glad the copilot slept so she wouldn't see us drive through creepy California farm areas late at night before finally hitting the industrial section of Watsonville, CA and eventually our campground. This one hit several levels of creepiness because Google maps led us down some eerie back roads before hitting the industrial area. We could have crossed off horror movie farmyard murder or inner city violence victims as our method of departure from this Earth. Instead we made it safe, spent the night at the campground and woke up to go see the beach before heading off to San Fran.

After a day at Golden Gate, my goal was to get us somewhere to watch the 4th of July fireworks. I failed miserably. Needless, to say the copilot was not happy when we reached Eureka, CA for the final 5 minutes of their fireworks display. On the bright side, we had no trouble getting a camping spot at Clam Beach a few miles down the road. We would wake up to a cool, foggy morning. We set up our camp stove on the beach and made coffee. It was beautiful and peaceful until the tide came in higher than we predicted causing me to jump from my chair knocking over the camp stove and giving the rest of the coffee to the ocean gods. I would later see a sign posted warning about coming in contact with local lagoon or ocean waters due to contamination. I didn't mention it to the copilot because she is a little bit of hypochondriac and I still have the open wound on my leg from the Grand Canyon spill. She hadn't been in the water, so I didn't see the point in worrying her. 

The next night would be our only stop-free night as we tried to rush from Redwoods National and State Parks to Yellowstone starting to feel the time crunch of the trip. The drive through Southern Oregon toward Boise goes down as one of the most terrible sections of the trip. This drive actually led me to a concept for a novel I hope no one steals from me: Land Pirates. This section of Oregon is so deserted that I was literally terrified every time a car pass me because I was waiting for them to turn around and come back after me, land pirate style. There was an opportunity to stop at a campground that I had considered and even exited the road to check out. It was in Eastern Oregon and I don't remember the name. But I do remember the sign that said it was 6 miles away down gravel roads and the sign that followed shortly after: "Pioneer Cemetery: Established 1853." I promptly turned around and drove the rest of the way to Boise, ID that night avoiding yet another opportunity for a grisly demise. I'm glad the copilot never realized how many times we had come close to being a "based on actual events" movie. 

I already have the concept in mind for the second half of the campground stories, which is why I titled this section "The Silly Part". The next section is the part that will probably bring me to tears. Tonight, I'm having a good night, so I'll skip it. Also, I'm out of generic brand zzzquil and I'd like to be able to get some sleep so I won't be tapping that well of emotion. This were the fun nights. The hunts for campgrounds throughout Arizona, Nevada, California, and Oregon led to some ridiculous situations, funny moments, and of course horror movie fodder. 

The Final Check-in: The Stories Still Need to be Told

The trip has ended and I'm slowly settling back into normal life, with one large exception that I'm just not quite ready to address yet. The final 3 days of travel were some of the craziest times of the whole trip. We covered an additional 1866 miles and managed to hit four more monuments/parks during the final days. For the part of the trip I planned to be slightly uneventful, it far exceeded my expectations.

We left my hometown Rugby, ND early Sunday morning and headed South to meet up with Jenn's brother for lunch in Bismarck, ND. It was great getting a chance to meet him, since somehow we became snapchat buddies an app that to this day I still do not understand the appeal of. I was happy that Jenn got a chance to see someone she wanted to see during the trip.

After lunch we were back on the road toward the Black Hills area where we had decided we planned to set up camp for the night. The trip from Bismarck to Rapid City takes a high spot in my worst stretches of travel ever. The only highlight along the way was coming across a powwow in Dupree, SD. This one seemed much more authentic than the one we had been to at ASU a few months back. We got there just in time to witness the fancy shawl dancing contest. I loved that we made it then because she used to be one of these dancers, so I know it brings back memories for her.

After spending a little time at the powwow we continued on our way. After arriving in the Rapid City area, we realized we still had time to get to Mount Rushmore before the visitor's center closed. To be honest, I came into it with really low expectations. I'm not really a fan of the modern man-made monuments. Because of this it was probably fortunate we arrived for the last show of the evening which included the lighting ceremony. The ceremony included a portion honoring U.S. veterans, that brought out such patriotism from the crowd, that nearly everyone around me was singing along to the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful. There was even video of me singing along in my terrible voice, loud and proud. Thankfully, it was a snapchat video so it shouldn't make YouTube anytime soon.

The next morning we took man-made monuments to the next level by hitting the Crazy Horse Monument. The monument was massive and will dwarf Rushmore (if ever completed). I was amazed that the building of the monument has been going on since 1948 and was started by one man alone. Now with a crew of 12 it still sounds like it won't be completed within my lifetime. You have to admire the kind of dedication the workers have, knowing they probably won't be there when the final touches are added. It was an awe-inspiring monument that I plan to check in on periodically during my life to see the progress that is made. The only thing I wasn't really happy about was the visitor's center video which talked about the sculptor more than it did Crazy Horse or any of the tribe members who commissioned its construction.

After Crazy Horse was another stretch of drive through South Dakota and Wyoming that nearly brought me to tears. I don't want to see another stretch of highway that goes for miles until fading off in the horizon for a very long time. Thankfully, Colorado saved the day. Too bad it was already almost night time. I didn't get to enjoy much of the splendor of the Rocky Mountains before the sun set. What I did see was enough to make me want to go back. We set up camp in Moab, UT around 2:30 that morning. I'm still a little sad to think of all the beautiful scenery we probably missed during that part of the drive.

In Moab, we crossed off the final National Park of our trip at Arches National Park. Arches seems to be a park that is best hiked not driven. Sadly, we didn't have the time to hike more than one trail. The double arch trail was fast and easy, so at least we got to see something. Add Arches to the list of parks that I cannot wait to go back and visit soon. 

Arches was meant to be the final stop on our trip, but I think we were both feeling the need to extend it out longer so we added the Four Corners as a final stop. There is nothing particularly scenic about Four Corners, but the novelty is still something worth the trip. The only question that constantly crossed my mind was 'could someone legally smoke recreational weed on the Colorado side?'. Personally, I don't smoke weed but that seems like a brilliant business opportunity for someone to set up a pot bar if you can.

The final stretch home to Phoenix seemed to take forever. We laughed and talked about all the things we had done. We recalled some forgotten memories. I'm sure we mixed up some of the spots that specific events happened at but we laughed. I was so happy to have shared this experience with the woman I loved more than any in my life. Things hadn't been perfect the whole time, but there was no one in the world I would have rather spent 13 days no more than 2 feet away from nearly every minute of the day. In those moments, things were perfect. 

This is why the last section of this story is the most difficult to write. I had to muster up everything I had inside me to write any of this story. The stories still need to be told because they were happy moments I will never want to forget. However, there isn't a happy ending here. It doesn't end with us driving into the sunset of the mountains of Flagstaff and living happily ever after. It ends with broken promise that was the tie that held our relationship together. I don't know if the return to the 'normal' life was too much for her to handle, but she made a choice to break that promise. Sadly, this broken promise meant I had to hold myself to a promise I had made and broken in the past. I broke off our relationship. I wish her nothing but the best and I hope she can find what makes her happy some day. I will continue to tell the stories of the trip because there is so much more to tell, but it will be a struggle every single time. But she was there and I was happy and that is something that cannot be overlooked in the story of the greatest trip of my life. 

Abnormal Becomes Normal

This morning I woke up alone, in my bed, in my apartment in Phoenix, Arizona. This seems like it should be the most normal a 32-year old Phoenix resident could possibly feel starting the day. Given the experiences of the last 13 days, it could not feel any stranger waking up under these circumstances. There was no tent roof above my head. Jenn wasn't laying next to me. I wasn't thinking about making camp stove coffee, or where the next stop was, or where we could get a shower that day. I just laid there trying to piece together where I was. I rolled over to check my phone for the day's news and finally hopped in the shower. This was all part of the routine I have been familiar with for years, but today it feels so alien to me.

My mind is still racing trying to remember and capture all the things we did, all the places we saw, and life-altering experiences we had. I know that it may take weeks, months, or even years to complete the process of introspection that needs to follow an experience like the one we just went through. I expect that I will be writing about this trip for a long time to come. I expect there will be recovered memories, forgotten experiences, and the occasional day dream that I'm back in Redwoods just taking deep breaths and truly living in the moment.

I know that I should give a recap of the last few days because so much happened that I shouldn't let it escape my mind. Right now, I'm digesting the experience. Trying to make sense of everything that happened and where to go from here. I knew this trip would be life-altering in many ways. There is no way a person can see the majesty of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, The Golden Gate Bridge, Redwoods, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Arches National Park, and the Four Corners in such a short span and be able to return to 'normal' instantly. My mind is still busy processing and making sense and trying to figure out how to integrate this experience with the life I was leading prior to it. With time I know this will all come.

But today I'm just trying to re-orientate myself to my new (old) normal all over again. 

Millions of Beautiful Places, Only One Hometown

For 8 days we hit the road with four stops in mind before eventually landing in my hometown, Rugby ND. As amazing as it was to see some of our nation's most beautiful national parks, there is still something special about laying eyes on your hometown for the first time in years. Although we were only able to spend a little less than 2 days here, it was a refreshing experience. Even in the town where I spent the first 18 years of my life, one college summer, and countless week-long and weekend trips and vacations as a an adult there is still much that I haven't seen.

We tend to take things for granted in our hometowns. For Jenn, it was things like never having visited Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ. We are still planning on making that trip in the near future. For me it was small things like visiting the Prairie Village Museum (formerly Pioneer Village), or watching a sunset over the fields of North Dakota, or even just paying attention to the wetlands in the drive up to the town. 

Photo Credit to Jenn

Sometimes it takes showing someone new the town you grew up in for you to gain some additional insight on all the things you missed while you were there. I'm sure leading up to the trip, Jenn had a little bit of dread in her mind. I can't blame her, because I'm sure my descriptions of North Dakota winters and summer time mosquitoes made the place sound like the outer layer of hell. Showing her the town, brought back so much civic pride. Sure it is a small town and we completed pretty much the entire tour in less than a 30 minute drive. But I gained a nostalgic feeling I haven't had in a while. 

I started with the silly tourist things: taking a picture by the Geographical Center Monument, "dragging a main", showing my high school. As our trip expanded, the memories got deeper. I showed her my grandfather's house where we used to pick crab apples. I showed her my great grandmother's house where the wishing well on the side still stands. We drove by the dirt race track where I told her my father used to race his #53 Trans Am. These were still the surface level memories for the most part. Then things got even deeper, as we turned down each street, there was almost always a story to tell. The alleys we played in as kids, the stores that used to stand that have been replaced by newer businesses, the businesses that have somehow weathered the storms of time, the places we used to ride bikes, the time a friend and I mistakenly stole soup from Cenex for 3 months before realizing it wasn't a 'free' offering and feeling terrible. 

These were the old memories, but there was still plenty of room for new memories. In 18 years of living here I don't remember ever touring the museum. We walked through all of the displays. It is amazing to realize there is so much history, even in a small town like Rugby, and a small county like Pierce County. These relics were not tourist traps, like those you'll find in Goldfield Ghost Town in Arizona where everything is a money grab. Everything we saw at the museum were things that Goldfield tries to replicate and in my opinion exploit. Here they just leave it open for people to explore. They don't even have security on site to make sure you don't break an exhibit while taking a picture with the world's tallest man statue. It certainly is not 'about the money' at a place like that. 

I went to the Centre Cinema movie theater for the first time since I was probably in Junior High.Today, it is run by volunteers who feel that a small town should never be without a movie theater.  I watched the new Ninja Turtles movie like I was 8 years-old all over again. The place still has the same paintings on the side and the same flooring from what I can tell. This part of the weekend was truly one of those life coming full-circle type of moments that I doubt I'll ever forget. The only difference between this trip to the movies and my younger days, is that this time I did kiss the girl I brought as my date. 

As we start the final portion of our journey, the truly unscripted three day trip back to Phoenix, I find myself thankful that Rugby, ND does still hold a special place in my heart. I had this dread that I would come back and feel nothing as I went down those old roads. I'm happy to say that was not the case. We spent the last week at the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, San Francisco, Redwoods, and Yellowstone. For the next three days the stops will be random, and the sights unexpected. Despite all of this experienced and still to come sensory overload, Rugby is special. 

Bison, Elk, Waterfalls, Double Rainbows and Snow in July?!

Today I check in from a warm room, sitting on a bar stool at my parents place in Rugby, ND. Not exactly the exciting locations of the last couple check-ins, but it feels amazing to be clean, dry, and not smelling like a year-old pile of compost baking in the desert sun. Since the Idaho truck stop the sheer awesomeness of this journey has only increased.

After our 16 hour one-stop drive from Redwoods to Yellowstone, we were able to see the park for nearly a whole 30 minutes on Wednesday night before realizing that we still needed a place to set up camp for the night. The amazing thing about Yellowstone was that in that 30 minutes we were able to see a large buck scampering through meadows without a care in the world (I know my ND hunter friends would be drooling to see such a sight. Along with the buck we saw two bison grazing just feet from the road. Bison have always held a special place in my heart. As a North Dakota State University alumni I am a proud Bison (pronounced Bizon in this case only). Also, I kind of feel like they are my personal spirit animal. They are big, look cuddly, peaceful, and content just grazing and enjoying the day.

Once we realized it was time to set up our tent for the night, we turned at the first sign we saw exiting on the Bozeman, MT side of the park. The campground was the Madison Arms Camping Resort. After not spending more than $25 for camping during the entire trip, the $32.50 fee seemed high but for laundry, on-site showers, and this amazing scenery:

it was worth every cent!

Yellowstone was our best stop for wildlife. Bison, elk, deer, beaver, and even a bear sighting made were the portion that really set Yellowstone apart. The geysers, hot springs, and other volcanic activity sites were incredible as well. I had heard in the past, that Old Faithful was overrated and I couldn't disagree more. It may not be the most powerful geyser but the show it puts on is nature's rival to the highly choreographed fountain show at Bellagio in Vegas.

The surprise of the trip was what came after we left Yellowstone. We exited on the Cooke City, MT side of the park. Within minutes, we were met by a group of 4 bison casually strolling beside the road. A few minutes later we pulled off to take some pics of a valley further down the road and discover this:

After fighting the crowd just to get a few far away shots of Tower Fall inside the park, finding this and getting to enjoy it by ourselves was worth a few hundred mosquito bites. 

From there things only got better. As we continued the drive we truly had no idea where we were headed because we had no cell service for mapping on our phones. I guess this was the purest form of wandering we had done during the entire trip. This is the moment where my catch phrase "Not Lost, Just Wandering" could not have been more true. The result was the best views we would have of the Rockies during the whole trip:

Despite this beauty, we were nearly alone on this stretch of road. It was so isolated that we were able to stop in the middle of the road to take these pics and even observe a herd of mountain goats roaming freely on the side of the mountain. Seeing the mountain goats was one of those moments that really put the trip in perspective. Just as the redwood trees had stood hundreds of years before I walked this earth, these mountain goats had descended from ancestors who had roamed the Rockies for centuries. They were here first and I hope their descendants will roam the mountains for centuries to come. 

I am still amazed by how fortunate we were to witness everything we saw after we left the park. It came from keeping our eyes open and still seeking adventure. Others may have left the park that afternoon so focused on their next destination they may have not even noticed the things that were so stunning for us. I have to admit I was completely lost to the moment when I looked at my clock and realized it was 8:30 at night and we still had 10 hours to reach the final destination, my hometown. All I could think was:

Enjoy the moment and worry about the consequences once the moment has passed. 

In this case, the moment was nature's beauty so stunning I cannot put it into words. The consequences were 3 hours of sleep at a roadside rest stop followed by a long boring driving through the Montana/ND countryside. Worth every bit!

Beautiful Sights and my First Truck Stop Shower

The first of many important life lessons this trip has taught me is how amazing showers are! I think most of us take that for granted until we haven't had one for a few days. One of the many new life experiences this trip has brought to me now includes showering for the first time at a truck stop. For those who have some sort of bias against the concept of showering at a truck stop, it is actually pretty amazing. I was blown away when the cashier told me it would be $12 for a shower, but after seeing the Flying J facilities it was worth every penny. Having your own private bathroom on the road kind of feels like being VIP in the showering and bathroom using community.

But I'm sure no one is reading this to hear about the Flying J bathroom, recapping the last four days is going to be pretty much impossible without posting way more than the 1000 or less words I set as a personal guideline. So here goes nothing....

Since I last checked in from Vegas four days ago. We have been to June Lake, Yosemite, the Golden Gate Bridge, Redwoods National Park. Sadly, I feel like the tight time table has cost us more beautiful sights than we will ever get a chance to see. We have camped at Sunset Beach in Watsonville, CA, Clam Beach near McKinleyville, CA, and roadside in the car for about 45 minutes in rural Oregon. At the moment we are finishing the last bit of the trip to Yellowstone and hoping to set up camp somewhere near the park for the night. I'll keep it very brief with my impressions so far:

Yosemite National Park

I think our favorite sites from the Yosemite area came outside the park. Based on a Facebook National Park's group suggestion, we took a scenic drive around the lakes near the Yosemite area. We stopped at the beach of June Lake and captured some beautiful pics.

Yosemite itself taught us an important lesson about traveling on 4th of July Weekend. The park was packed so we pretty much just spent out entire time there driving around the loop at Yosemite Valley. We couldn't even find parking so our only views of Yosemite Falls and Half Dome were from the car. In the end as we were exiting the valley area, we just decided to set up our camping chairs in an open meadow to enjoy a quick bite to eat surrounded by mountains on all sides. In the end, I will say it wasn't the scenery that ruined this section of the trip. It was the people.

San Francisco

The first thing I wish I would have known about Golden Gate is if you are driving up from the San Fran side, be sure to turn off to the right of the bridge, not the left if you want to walk on it. The left gives great views of the bridge, but gets so filled up that hiking down and up again would have taken hours. Instead we lost about 45 minutes going to the highest overlook, standing in line for the bathroom and then deciding to try the other side. On the right side we were able to park and walk an nice trail that was less than a mile to the bridge. It was cold, windy, and foggy or just a typical day in San Fran as I've heard from everyone else who has traveled there. 

I won't say anything about our trip to Fisherman's Wharf, except that it was the 4th of July, so again the people ruined the experience not the attraction itself. Parking ranged between $50-$80, so we hit the road without a stop. We did get to see the interesting architecture of the city. 

Redwoods National and State Parks

My apologies here, but I'm going to completely nerd out about this one. When I was in elementary school, I remember reading a story in one of those weekly news handouts they give to the class. I think it was Scholastic News but that really doesn't matter to the story, so I won't investigate to make sure that's accurate. The story talked about redwoods can be hundreds or thousands of years old and supply a large amounts of oxygen. I have dreamed of seeing these giants, touching them, and breathing the air of the forest. To be honest, this was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to. It did not disappoint! So much so that I'm willing to post this vid, that kind of reminds me of the double rainbow guy. Sometimes, things are so amazing that you have no control over how ridiculous you sound.

I'm sure Jenn thought I was crazy because at one point I put my hand on one of the Redwood burls and just sat there for 5 minutes or so breathing in the air and reflecting on how long it had been on earth and how it would survive long after I am dead. This was probably the closest thing I've ever had in my life to a truly spiritual experience. I know I need to go back someday and spend more than a few hours. I think the Lady Bird Johnson quote engraved on the plaque in the grove named in her honor:

"One of the most unforgettable memories of the past years is walking through the Redwoods last November – seeing the lovely shafts of light filtering through the trees so far above. feeling the majesty and silence of that forest, and watching a salmon rise in one of those swift streams — all our problems seemed to fall into perspective and i think every one of us walked out more serene and happier." - Lady Bird Johnson

Serenity and happiness pretty much summed up exactly how we felt on our way out. 

Day 1 1/2 Check In: No Grand Canyon Falls this Time!

We've technically been on the road for two days now and so far we're less than a 1/2 day trip from Phoenix. This check in is coming from Vegas, a city that was never on the original route. So far, I would say camping plans haven't been working exactly as hoped. But my the theory I posted in one of my early blogs continues to hold true: Things don't always work exactly the way you expect but the worst case scenario is rarely the end result.

Despite only being 4 hours away from Phoenix using the direct route, we've covered a lot of ground so far. We were able to get out around 2 PM on Thursday afternoon. This was pretty much a solid driving only day. We watched as storms started rolling in around 7 PM. Jenn was able to get some great shots of the clouds overlooking Highway 89 in Northern Arizona. I was basically just terrified that we were going to hit some rough weather for the night.

When I was reviewing the details of the trip, Jacob Lake seemed like the logical stop to try to camp, since it is the last stop before the North Rim. Jenn pointed out that we were missing some beautiful scenery leading up to Jacob Lake. Thankfully, she mentioned Lee's Ferry as a spot she knew from her childhood that also had a campground. Lee's Ferry turned out to be a perfect stopping spot. The canopies at the campground shielded us from the storms and we were able to keep the tent roof open to enjoy the fresh air.

The next morning we were up early and off to the Grand Canyon. Using a recommendation I had received from a Facebook group on Grand Canyon hiking, we decided to hike Widforss Trail. I have to say I was hoping for a 2 or 3 mile round trip hike, so the 10 mile round trip might not have been the best call. But just like all the other times in the past, when I asked Jenn she just answered enthusiastically: "Let's do it!". Hindsight being 20/20 a 10-mile hike before hitting the road for what was supposed to be an 8 hour trip to Yosemite may not have been the wisest choice. 

The views from Widforss were amazing and the smell of the forest is something that no Febreeze or Glade lab manufactured scent will ever be able to replicate. I will admit that it was a tough hike and the time crunch didn't help. The downside was that by the end we were both just looking forward to the beautiful sight of my 2008 Chrysler Sebring in the parking lot. Flipping back to the positive, I didn't nearly fall into the Grand Canyon this time so if you chose Grand Canyon in the 'which part of the trip will kill him' pool, you're out. Double down on Yosemite now. For those who have a full day to dedicate, it is a great place to just take in the contrasting views of the Canyon and the Kaibab Forest. 

We hit the road again around 3 PM headed toward Yosemite, but with a pretty good understanding we would not be making it there. If we could make it half way that would have been ideal, but we made it exactly 2 hours away. Lesson learned, travel first, hike second on this trip. One highlight of this section of the trip was the first town (of many I expect on this trip) that I would consider moving to some day: Hurricane, UT. Considering a move to Utah would have been blasphemy to my old beer-loving self. Now that I've laid off the bottle and picked up the joy of travel, Utah doesn't seem as bad as it used to. Hurricane felt like the small town I grew up in just a little bigger and with gorgeous mountain views on every side! Seeing an older style "main" street is something that always makes me nostalgic for home. 

We managed to set up camp at Valley of Fire Park about 30 miles outside of Vegas. We rolled in right as a storm was hitting. Thankfully, we were able to claim a site next to a large rock which was able to shelter us from most of the weather. This held true for most of the early part of the evening, but around 1 AM the real storm hit. We made the mistake of hoping the small canopy would be enough to protect us from the rain. Under this assumption we left the tent roof open again. That turned out to be a pretty big mistake. At different parts of the night Jenn and I both found ourselves poking our heads outside of the tent attempting to seal it up. We ended the night a little damp and the tent has been packed away a little muddy, but we're back on the road with this stop in Vegas to relax for a bit, then back on the way to Yosemite. Hopefully, we are done bringing the rain with us for the next few legs of this trip.