Yo dawgz.
Well, I am no longer living out of my backpack. My two week adventure has come to an end. It wasn't the adventure that I was anticipating but none the less, it was an adventure. Tamara (a.k.a mom) and I left WI two weeks ago to start are journey to Seattle. After driving through the night and sleeping in a creepy parking lot in the car in Montana as tractors were driving by at 4:00 in the morning, we made it to Yellowstone National Park around 11:00 AM. It was so beautiful! After driving through the park with some hiking, we finally set up camp and went to bed. At 5:00 PM. In the pouring rain. However, we woke up early Wednesday morning and did some more exploration which included more hikes, various geysers, and more rain of course! Oh, and a plethora of bison. Initially, they were so cute. But then they caused one too many traffic jams because they would stand in the middle of the freaking road. Camera Tamara couldn't handle the rain anymore so we peaced out of the mountainous Yellowstone and made way for Idaho. We stayed in a sketchy motel 8 in Couer d'alene at 2:00 AM waking up early again Thursday to continue our travels. With our luck, we found a great campground outside of Sandpoint, Idaho. Mom slept in the tent and I spent my nights under the stars in my hammock. A dream come true. Friday night, our waitresses from lunch that day lent us her two kayaks and we spent the afternoon kayaking on the lake. A true dream come true. THEN MOM HAD THE NERVE TO TELL ME SHE WANTED A KAYAK AFTER I'VE BEEN SAYING I'VE WANTED ONE FOR YEARS. Anyways. We then left for Seattle at 3:30 AM Saturday morning and got there by 9:30. Once in Seattle, we met up with some Alaskan peeps and spent time at the Pike's Place Market, on the Harbor Cruise, and at the aquarium. To top of that day, there was a Taylor Swift concert! Holy nuts. It was an incredible performance. Taylor just gets it. What a woman. Then Sunday we went to the zoo, grabbed some lunch, and then I said goodbye to mom to start my week in Juneau while she road tripped home hitting up all the places on my bucket list. But mostly, I'm just mega jealous that she went to Utah.
People. Juneau was almost a nightmare. My friend Margaret came with me and Monday we spent the day downtown and just relaxing. It truly was a great day. Then Tuesday, we hiked one of the mountains in the rain. Did both of our phones get water damage? Absolutely. Mine at least kind of works, but Margaret's was toast. Then Wednesday, we were driving in the rain, and the windshield wiper of my friend's truck that we were using for the week just snapped off on the driver's side. In the rain. Thursday after my camera broke, we went on a bike ride and got milk shakes. We also drove out to the Shrine of St. Therese which as always, is absolutely stunning. Then Friday we hiked East Glacier, frolfed, saw a bear, and went camping. Then Saturday we spent all day downtown again. And Sunday we just chilled and said goodbye to people. Monday was our flight home. My phone was stolen on the last lag of our trip. But then Tamara and Gary pulled a Liam Neeson and hunted down the dude that stole it. So good news: I do have my phone! Everything hit me on my flight back to Minneapolis and I spent a lot of time crying throughout the day on my flights. I feel good about it though. However, despite all of these things that happened, I still know that I want to move there when(ever) I graduate because I truly feel like myself when I'm there. I'm one with the nature. And I love the rain. It can't stop me.
On this two week trip, I resolved a lot of things and feel good about them (mostly). I had the soul searching that I didn't get when we went to South Dakota. I'm glad to have been able to have the bonding time with mom and I'm so happy that Margaret was able to join me in Juneau to meet my friends, eat her fair share of gluten-free waffles, and experience everything I've been talking about since I first got back in May. Hopefully I can return there soon. Or just go to Utah.
Love and hugs!
- A
