Yesterday...

Okay, Sierra here, beginning with yesterday. We woke up in the Walmart parking lot once more, but this time it was extra early due to the fact that we had to bring the van into the shop. We hung out in town for a little over an hour while it was getting all fixed up. We wandered with sleepy eyes into some old book stores, and cafes, trying to waste time, essentially.

Once the ol' van, (also now known as Ms. Frizzle), was ready for take off, we hit the road for Glacier. We drove for about 3 hours, feeling happy and content to be on the road again, when Adam stopped the van, in a curious manner, and stretched his arms out with a big yawn, (and a big smirk), saying, "Man...I'm tired of driving...I wish there was somebody else who could take over for me..."
That is when I learned how to drive the van. I had a little practice, thanks to Val, but for the most part it was all new. I did all right on the highway, and coming to stops to get onto a new road, but reverse was a little tricky, as well as driving in town, and after my first redlight, I frantically looked at Adam and told him it was time for his expert driving skills to take the wheel once again. It was fun, and quite funny actually, Adam got a kick out of it. :)

By this time, we were only an hour outside of glacier, and before we knew it, we were driving in the mountains. It was breath-taking, and we giggled with every swooping curve. The air was so cold, but we just couldn't roll up the windows...it was like having them down made us feel even more alive than we already did...it was, simply, amazing. We pulled into the first camping area we stumbled across, and quickly got a site.

The water was blueish green.

Once settled at camp, we got a fire going, cooked up some pasta, and readied ourselves for the next day...planning where we would go and what we would see, as our days are now numbered and we have to get more of a plan together. We hit the hay early, and fell asleep after much laughing, and scary story telling, and other 'would you rather' type questions. It was a very good day, filled with joy and anticipation for the exploration of the park...

Expect to hear about today, tomorrow...we are falling asleep just trying to type...so, good night!

-Sierra

Mised a day

Sorry no blog till tonight, service is sketchy and dont have time to stop and write a blog. We r burning daylight here in glacier. will fill you in tonight with pictures and stories

Humanity

Awoke today around 9:30...its ruff. As we were climbing out of the van and mindlessly starting our routine, (rearranging and organizing the van so it's useable and not sleepable), out of the corner of my eye I noticed a car pull up and stop in front of the van; a man said, "Hey Adam." I looked up startled and surprised to see Don and Mary, some nice people we met at our campground outside of Gardiner 75 miles away. They live right around the corner from the Walmart we slept at. We chatted for a bit, and they gave us their number and told us to call with anything we need, they also invited us to spend the night at their house. It's amazing how many hospitable, and genuinely kind people we have met on this trip. People who are willing to let relative strangers sleep at their house. Gives you hope.

After some breakfast we spent the day in downtown Bozeman walking into as many antiques shops as we could find. And that was pretty much it. We went back to Walmart and Sierra made some phone calls and I watched the thunderstorm.

Oh yea, we also went to Carquest and picked up the parts for the van. They would have cost $400, but the employees were willing to jump through loops to get me my employee discount so it was $185. Can't beat that.

Tomorrow we drop the van off early to get fixed, and hopefully get on the road as soon as possible to Glacier. It will be nice to drive a quiet van, we have been trying to minimize driving lately because it's pretty loud. Also, while the van is getting fixed we may walk to Don and Mary's and socialize a bit.

We hope to hit the road as soon as possible and make it to Glacier by Wednesday morning...we will make it to Glacier by Wednesday morning... After this delay, we have so much to do and sooooo little time. We've still got half a trip left and roughly two and a half weeks to do it. Theres gonna be a lot of late nights and early mornings.

Wish us luck!

-Adam

Roadtrip Bath Time...

Well hello to all!  Today has been another lazy, hazy day, but a little more eventful than yesterday, I suppose...We woke up to a massive yellow sun rising over the mountains, the skies were already bright blue with gigantic fluffy white clouds, showing promise of a thunder storm later on in the day.  After some bagels and a little "camp clean-up", we headed into town for some 25cent coffee. : )  After milling about for a while, we decided that we had been stuck in that small town for long enough, and so, we decided to dive to Livingston.

Our "bath"

Once in Livingston, we found that there was really no rest areas or Walmarts right in the area, but, the nearest one was in Bozeman, 25 miles away, so we decided to go there.  Lately, we refer to Walmarts as "home", who knows, maybe when we're back in Maine, we will decide to simply live at the Walmart...but probably not.  So, anyways, once we were "home", we hopped on the laptop and attempted to find hot springs in the area.  We found one only a few miles away and set our sights on a good ol' bath! : )  To our surprise, however, the hot spring was directly next to the road where everyone would be able to see us...needless to say, we decided that was not an option.  Instead we wandered down the bubbling little creek aways, decided to dive into the cold water, and scrub-dub!  The road wasn't too far away, and we spent most of the time just laughing at what the passing cars, that may see us, must have been thinking...please just imagine with me here, two people in their swimsuits, bathing themselves in a stream that you can sort of see from the road...it must have been quite the sight!

After we felt good and clean, we quickly got out of there, and went back to Walmart where we got changed, and ate some lunch.  Then, we searched for a Barnes and Noble, and that is where we now sit. Relaxing and enjoying being clean, warm, and simply content...free.  I must say, the roadtrip surely demonstrates the definition of free...I would recommend it to anybody looking for a little escape.  It allows you to learn how to enjoy life on a whole new level.  But for now, until you are actually on the road, I hope the blog satisfies your hunger for the adventure...or maybe it intensifies it?!  Who knows?  Either way, we hope it makes you smile... : )

Home Sweet Home

Slow Day

Last night we sat around the campfire for about two hours. I sipped on Huckleberry wine which was delicious. Before going to bed, a camping neighbor walked by and struck up a conversation. We talked to her for about an hour, once again exchanging life stories with a complete stranger.

Not much to report on today. Got up made breakfast, eggs and cheese if I recall. After a morning fire, we set off towards the river to do some dishes. After dishes, (that sierra braved freezing cold water to wash), we headed into town and did some laundry. We made some lunch in a parking lot and then made a quick stop at the grocery store. I'm trying to suspend a tin disposable cooking container in our cooler so that our food doesn't get soaked...we will see. Theres no hardware store around or even a store to buy a baking sheet at...Otherwise I believe we could have a system. Man we miss Walmart...

After the grocery store we headed back to camp, where I enjoyed a nice nap, and Sierra...did whatever she does, played with butterflies, counted rocks, or wrote in one of her 15 journals...I don't know. After the nap we tried to find the hot spring again. After bushwhacking for about 45 minutes through bison and bear country, and picking up plenty of thorny seeds in our feet and ankles, we decided to quit. On our way back, some guy came up from his house and stood on a rock I believe at his property boundary...and just stared at us. Then he pointed up the hill as if motioning us to get out...even though we were standing on the other side of the National Forest Boundary Line... So we just waved. He actually followed us some more, I guess just to make sure we didn't walk on his property. We thought about inviting him over for dinner....but food is so expensive these days with the economy and all.

Now we go back to camp...still haven't found a place to bathe...I've lost count of the days.

-Adam

Good place to be stuck.

Hello out there!  Today, we woke up bright and early, packed up camp, and hit the road into town.  Once in town, we sat in a little cafe on main street and Adam made phone calls, and looked online for auto repair shops as well as Car Quests, trying to find parts, and good people to work on the ol' van.  After a while, he had it all figured out; we would spend the next two nights in Gardiner, head to Livingston and pick up the parts, and then take it into the shop on Tuesday.  So, today, because the van doesn't like the start-and-stop lifestyle of Yellowstone, we went and got a campsite, and then moseyed around town, meandering in and out of the little cafes, gift shops, and ice-cream parlors… 

Around lunch time, we somehow got to a little street cafe, I can't remember how we got there, but before I knew it, we were ordering some grub!  Oh well, it's been a rough couple days.  After lunch, we headed back to our site and tried to get on the internet and make phone calls, etc, but the service was really bad, and so we drove around till we had full bars.  We also spent a good portion of the day looking for places to swim, we found a few good places, and think we might venture out there either later tonight, or tomorrow.  When we had service, Adam also found some good websites that list hot springs, which is very helpful.  We got the latitude and longitude for a couple in our area, and set out looking for one.  It proved to be a tricky thing, and so we just drove up a mountain, enjoyed a beautiful view, and some elk, and decided it was time to head back to camp and cook dinner. 

And that, is where we sit now…at camp, Adam cooking, me writing the blog…it has been a slower day for the road trippers, but we enjoyed the relaxing aspect of it, as well as the exploration!  : )  Who knows what tomorrow holds?!


-Sierra

Angry Elk

India

Mud Volcano

Well, to start, I would like to say that our blog says we are in New Delhi India right now... not exactly sure why.

Old Faithful

Today, we drove through most of Yellowstone, which is truly beautiful. We stopped at a few hot springs along the way and walked around, enjoying the history of them, as well as the many vivid colors that they possess.  We had a great phone conversation with the wonderful Suzanne Goulet who gave us some awesome advice on the places to go in the park, and so, from the small springs, we headed to Old Faithful, planning to see when it would erupt next, and, lucky for us, it was within the next 20 minutes...so, we watched it erupt, slowly, but surely, which was pretty cool. Basically, today we just drove around the park, stopping to see different springs..which were very beautiful...but after awhile we decided that they all look the same, and they smell so strong of sulfur that we didn't need to stop at any more....

Tomorrow, we were going to hike a mountain...but the van was having a rough day....to start, the muffler and cat. converter are now disconnected because the pipe broke...muffler cement applied last night lasted about an hour. Also, a problem that we have been dealing with the entire trip, the van stalling, has gotten worse. It looses power and sometimes we stall...then it doesn't start again. Needless to say, the 10 percent grades were challenging... We decided to go towards camp after awhile which was a long trip with a lot of frustration, but we managed to still laugh and have fun, which was good...the 30-40 elk that sat right in the middle of town definitely helped us out in maintaining the positive attitude! : )

At our campground we met Manny who has a 71 VW Bus. We talked with him a while and he gave me some advice on the van. Very nice guy...He also gave us his number because he lives in Colorado Springs, and told us to contact him if we have any problems, which was extremely kind of him...He knows what driving a VW Bus can be like, exciting, and frustrating all in one...

So, tomorrow, as opposed to exploring and hiking, we will drive the 10 minutes into Gardiner, Montana and try and get the van fixed....hopefully as cheap as possible...then maybe back to Yellowstone, or maybe just head to Glacier. Who knows...

Wish us luck!!!

-Adam