Straight to Hart

July 28, 2005

Well, last night at about 12:30 (so technically you could say today) I got back from a little trip to the west side of the state. Rudy (yup the one that lives in Denver) is vacationing over in Hart, MI with her mom’s side of the family. And what a wild bunch of people they are! I was only with them for two and a half days but they made me feel like a part of the family in no time. I got to spend a day at the beach, eat wonderful food (including some of the best sweet corn I have ever had!), sit around a camp fire and make smores (Rudy thanks for teaching my how to make the perfect smore!), go for a boat ride, go to a soft ball game, eat ice cream and play with some of the cutest kids that ever walked the face of the earth (Logan, Tori, and Austin pictured above). Oh and to top it all off, Rudy’s family loves to play cards. Could I ask for more? Cindy (Rudy’s mom) and I kicked some serious butt playing euchre and I learned a new card game called Polish Poker. Man, life is good.

Side note: While I was there I got a phone call from Lynette (my roommate from college) and she is officially filling Gary Swyers’ old job working at Indiana Wesleyan University (where we went to school) as the Director of the Center for Experiential Learning. You go Girl!

A Strole Through the Garden

July 16, 2005
One of my main reasons for returning home was to help my mom with her Garden walk. You see she is trying to raise money to go and see her Compassion child over in Uganda, Africa. My mom has been supporting her for about 14 years and has always wanted to meet her in person.

I am very proud of my mom for putting this whole event together. She put a lot of hours into planning and making crafts to sell. The walk consisted of 5 houses along Anderson Ave. All of the garden owners did a wonderful job and each garden was beautiful with the layout and vibrant colors.

Unfortunately, the day didn’t start out the best. The overcast of clouds was thick and you could tell that rain was coming. And it rained and thundered and yet people still came. It wasn’t a flood of people but little by little people came to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

In the end, at about 3 o’clock the walked ended and the sun broke through the clouds. The walk as a whole was by no means a failure. People came and gave out of the goodness of their hearts

The Road to Indy

July 15, 2005

Well my time in Denver had to come to an end. I had a wonderful time. It is hard to believe I was there for 34 days when originally I was only going to be there about 36 hours. Well, God is still in control and so I have made my way to Indianapolis, Indiana.

On July 11 at 4:30am I hopped on I-70 in Denver. 4 states and about 1100 miles later I got off I-70 and made my way to Jamie Smith’s house. When I first arrived I wasn’t up for much conversation. After sitting 17 hours in a car I still felt like I was in motion and I was very tired. The following days of rain were just what I need to get my energy back. After a movie marathon, some card playing, and visits to old college friends; I was off to visit another college buddy in Indy, Sheena Knotts.

The weather has not been the best during my. It has rained pretty much everyday and the humidity has been out of this world. Especially for a girl who was living in the nice dry west for the past 9 months. Sheena didn’t let the rain get us down though. As a belated birthday present, Sheena (pictured) treated me to dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

My 4 days in Indiana are up and now it is time to keep moving. The next stop…Home.

Leaving Denver with a Bang…no wait…a CRASH!

July 10, 2005

My last day in Denver was not any less uneventful than the rest. I thought at the beginning of the day that it might turn out to be a nice relaxing, normal day that I could enjoy to the fullest. I don’t know why I allowed that thought to run through my head. I should have laughed when they first entered my mind.

I drove to Church that beautiful Sunday morning. Upon arrival, Rudy told me about her rough morning when she discovered that her car had a flat tire. So after the service I was going to drive her back home to get her fabulous jell-o that she was going to bring to my going away BarBQ back at the house were I was staying.

Well, things took a turn as we headed to Rudy’s house. I was just driving along when a car two cars ahead of me decided to turn on a dime and cause a fast chain reaction. The SUV in front of me was suddenly at a stop. I hit the break hoping to stop in time so I didn’t crash into it. Well we stopped just in time. But unfortunately the car behind me couldn’t say the same thing. A split second after I thought we were in the clear… SQUEEL! CRASH! BANG! THUD… impact.

Well, God was watching out for us because we all walked away without a scratch. I was a little shaken; this was the first accident that I had ever been in. Fortunately the lady was really nice. So we exchanged information and went and filed a report at the police station.

Rudy and I were fashionably late but the food was great and the jell-o arrived still in its jell-o consistency.

The Day I Caused My Mother Great Pain

July 5, 2005

This will forever be the day that I caused my mother great pain, especially in her back. A little confused? Well, 24 years ago on cinco de Julio I was born. And like almost all my birthdays, this was another good one.

The day started out with Rudy, her friend Natalie, and I going to Boulder, CO to do a little bouldering on some boulders. I didn't do very much bouldering. I was too busy taking pictures and doing some easy climbs and a little exploring to see the great view of the city.

After a little shopping in downtown Boulder, we headed to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We didn't get to far into the Mountains before we had to turn around and make our way back to Denver. But what we saw was so Beautiful! I don't know how anyone couldn't love the mountains.

For Dinner, we met up with Dawn and Laura and Casey and Tim and Liz at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I love that place! If you have never been to one, you need to go. Check out www.osf.com to see the closest location near you.
(Left to Right: Dawn, Rudy, Me, Laura, Natalie)

The Road Back to Denver

Still Sunday, June 26, 2005

There were some low clouds rolling in over the Tetons. A few looked like rain clouds. The Grand Tetons were breath taking. I drove through stopping at quite a few look out points and turnouts on the side of the road. It was just a magnificent mixture of mountain peaks, lakes, rivers, and grasslands. After a while the sun started to break through the clouds but I knew that it was time for me to head back to Denver.

I arrived back to Denver at about 10:30pm. The trip as a whole did not turn out the way that I expected. (What did I tell ya, the Original Plan went out the window.) Without a doubt I learned a lot. I am still glad that I took it. It was definitely quite the adventure with plenty of stories and amazing sights (America is such a wonderfully diverse country). I can definitely see myself going back to some of these places in the future but next time I don’t think I will do it by myself.













There is my car ready to head back to Denver.

Yellowstone

Sunday, June 26, 2005

I allowed myself to sleep in. I was still thinking about all that happened the day before and the other issues that surfaced because of the prior days events. Nothing seemed right anymore. I was trying my hardest to enjoy all that was around me. I had a beautiful view of the lake from my campsite. There was plenty of hiking to do but I just didn’t feel up to it. (Plus they don’t recommend hiking by yourself because of the bears.) So I decided that that was the only night I would stay in Yellowstone. I did the drive by tour with the occasional pull over to get a picture. I knew I couldn’t leave without seeing the famous Old Faithful. When I got there it was experiencing abnormal activity and they weren’t sure when it was going to go off. (For some reason I really didn’t find it to be all that strange that the most predictable geyser in the country was off schedule while I was there.) Well, it finally went off and I decided to keep moving south into the Grand Tetons National Park.

Picture above: Even though it looks like there is a fire , that is actually steam coming from all the geysers.

The Best Way to Start Your Day

Saturday, June 25, 2005

I woke up and decided that today I really was heading for Yellowstone. No more detours. I continued south into Oregon (another state that I had never been to). It was about 5 am Pacific time when I crossed the state line. I was driving through Hells Canyon when I pulled over on the side of the road to get out of my car and take a picture of the mountains.

I took a couple of pictures and went to get back into my car. Only there was a slight problem. The door was locked and my car was still running. Trying my hardest not to freak out, I went around to all the other doors to see if any of them were unlocked. Nope, not a single one.

So there I was on the side of the road at 5:20 in the morning in the no mans land of Oregon. About 5 minutes late, a white pick up truck came around the bend and I waved them down. It was an older couple who God sent to save me. There was no service to use a cell phone so I was very fortunate that the people I flagged down had a satellite phone. To make a long story short, they called the local locksmith and about 2 hours later Mike got me back in my car. It was a good thing I filled the tank the night before. So the picture you see is what I call the $50 shot because that is how much I had to pay to get back into my car after getting out to take that picture (and it didn't even turn outthat great). All I ask is that you learn from my mistake and put a spare key in your wallet, purse, or hide it somewhere on the outside of your car because I don’t want any one to go through that experience. Trust me, I wasn’t laughing at the time.

After that experience, I decided not to get out of my car no matter how beautiful that sight was. All sights were set on Yellowstone. I found my way to I-84 and headed east, never looking back. Well I would love to say that it was all smooth sailing from then on, but that wasn’t the case. The day just got worse from that point on. Everything from construction to unexpected encounters and delays to closed roads to questioning why I even decided to go on this trip.
When I finally made it to Yellowstone, I was so emotionally drained that it was hard to even enjoy where I was. I saw a lot of wild life as I drove through the park to find a campsite. When I finally found one, I did the same thing I did the night before, made dinner and went to bed.

A Slight Detour

Friday, June 24, 2005

With another early start, I decided to keep moving and head towards Yellowstone. I was feeling good and was rolling with a good momentum from the day before. As I was driving through Montana, an idea popped into my head. Why not drive to Washington? I had never been there before, I was ahead of schedule, so why not.

And that is were the great detour began. Montana (picture above) I absolutely loved! It is such a beautiful state. The mountains were so amazing. I kind of forgot when I decided to go to Washington that I had to drive through the continental divide, but in the end that was absolutely fine because the scenery was just breath taking.

Idaho was still in-between Washington and me. I was optimistic about it. I had this idea that Idaho was pretty flat. Well, I thought wrong. I decided to take Highway 12 right through Clearwater National Forest in the northern part of Idaho. I should have known better than to drive 173 miles through a national forest on the last part of the drive. It was absolutely beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but the road followed a river through the mountains. Rivers don’t usually run straight when they run through a mountain and this one was no exception. 35-45mph curves the whole way.

I finally made it to Clarkston, Washington as the sun was beginning to reach the horizon. I couldn’t find the original campsite that I was going for, so I had to travel south on 129 to get to the nearest state park about 30 miles south of Clarkston. By the time I got there I was so tired and annoyed that I just made dinner and went to bed.

North Dakota

Still Thursday, June 23, 2005

There weren’t too many hiking trails and it was so hot that after about an hour and a half of driving around the park I decided to keep going and try to make it to North Dakota before dark.

I made it to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (the south unit) just as the sun was setting. I had no idea what to expect. I have never really heard much of anything about this National Park. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised. North Dakota in general was nothing like I expected. This area is also known as the Badlands of North Dakota but just coming from the Badlands of the south, I enjoyed seeing more color.

South Dakota

Thursday, June 23, 2005

I got an early start the morning of the 23rd of June. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to explore and see all of the Badlands. As I hit South Dakota, it dawned on me that Mount Rushmore was in South Dakota. Not sure in what section of the state it was located, I pulled out my ever-so-handy atlas to see what I could find out. To my great surprise, I was going to drive right past it. So naturally I wasn’t go to pass this opportunity up so I stopped to check it out. It was pretty amazing but I think my favorite part was that as you walk towards it that had all the flags from the 50 states hanging above you and there a president Lincoln look-a-like that you could get you picture take with. Too cute.

Well I made it to the Badlands around 1:30pm and went to check out the campsite area to make sure I could still get a spot. The Badlands is so huge that the only way to see everything was to drive. There were a lot of Bison and there was a field with tons of prairie dogs. What I didn’t expect to see in the Badlands were the Yellow Mounds near Dillion Pass. They were such a beautiful highlight against blue and grey tones of the rest of the lands.

Peanut's Birthday

June 22, 2005
Among the people I am staying with in Denver there is also a dog that is a part of the family. Peanut is his name and he is a miniature doxen. His beloved owner, Laura, decided to have a birthday party for him. So on the 22^nd of June, friends (Left to right: Dawn, Shannon, Casey, Brian, me and Peanut) gathered to celebrate Peanut’s 12^th birthday. I will admit that at first I had trouble getting used to Peanut. But after a while he and I came to an understanding and we have become friends. Although he has mistaken my room for the backyard twice, he is a good dog and brings great joy to Laura and comfort to all that he meets. Happy Birthday Peanut!

The Road to Discovery

That one week rolled into the next, and I was still in Denver with no idea what I was going to do. I was getting a bit anxious and antsy. I started to look at my options and my atlas. That’s when this crazy idea popped into my head. Why not see a little bit of the country while I was trying to get some direction for my life. I had a little cushion to play with financially so I went for it.


The Original Plan:
Day one – Drive to Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Explore and stay the night.
Day two – Drive to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Explore and stay the night
Day three – Drive to Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Explore and stay 2-3 nights.
Day five or six – drive to the Grand Tetons National Park. Explore and stay one – two nights.
Day six or seven – drive back to Denver.

From how things were going in my life at that time, I should have known that the minutes I started driving the Original Plan was going to fly out the window. And let me tell you, it flew about three days and a thousand miles out the window.

The Road to Denver

Tuesday, June 7, 2005












I must say that I-70 east through Utah is one of the prettiest drives I had been on in a while. I didn’t really know what I expected Utah to be like but it was pretty amazing. The drive was a long one but I could not have asked for better surroundings.

The Original plan was to stay in Denver for a day and a half. That plan was definitely in for a change. Rudy’s sister and brother-in-law were kind enough to let me stay with them for 5 days. After that I was planning on working my way east back to Michigan.
Well, as the week went on, Rudy told me that and old friend and co-worker from our college days was moving to Denver that weekend. Dawn (who was also my RD my sophomore year) and a bunch of her friends from Grad School were moving to downtown Denver. Still not sure what I wanted to do or were I wanted to go, they invited me to stay with them for the next week. So I moved all my stuff into this huge house and claimed the closet as my room. (It was a big closet) Still I continued to think about what my next move would be.