Utah

I am the absolute worst at keeping up with this blog. Trying to keep my own personal journal up to date is a struggle. Half of this was actually written a year ago... somehow didn't finish it. Now I have more trips to add and getting behind is not helping. Sorry for the delays, hopefully I can get it together. Hope you enjoy!

What a week we had in Utah. We drove a lot of miles and hiked about 8 miles a day in the scorching summer heat.

Day1: We left home at 5pm when everyone was off work and drove straight through the night to Zion Nat'l Park in Utah. We got there about 6am and pulled off on BLM land for a nap before exploring the park.

Sarah, Alicia and Maggie all packed up and ready to go

Day2: Our nap was short lived as we woke in a sweaty daze from the already hot morning. We were now running on excitement. We explored a little ghost town nearby and accidently took a 4x4 road in the little CRV. We drove into the park and decided to do the Canyon Overlook hike first which was a short 1 mile hike to a view of Zion and Pine Creek Canyon.  We then decided to make our way up to Angel's Landing. At about 3pm we started out ascent, I highly suggest hiking at a cooler time of day. We were just excited to break some ground and see some epic views. I have to admit I was very out of shape for this hike and being easily dehydrated called for tons of water breaks, which slowed Sarah and Maggie down.
Side note: earlier this week Maggie was in a motorcycle accident and had sprained her ankle and had road rash so bad, she decided to hike without any shoes from the descent of Angel's landing onward for the rest of the trip. She is the true beast of this trip!!
 Anyways we hiked upward and upward to a landing that was unfortunately not the top. I could see the pathway to the top, a narrow trail on the mountains edge that you had to support yourself by hanging onto chains in order to not fall the 1500' to your death. Did I mention that I am afraid of heights!! Ok I had come this far already I had to complete the trip. I was worried because I was fatigued by now and sweaty, I didn't want to slip off the chains. I just focused on each step and made my way to the top for the most beautiful overlook. It was so worth it. The view overlooks Zion Canyon with the Virgin River carving its way through. It was one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. I really didn't want to climb down, I was seriously wishing I had a parachute or something for a quick escape off the mountain, anything but climb slowly down the steep cliff. After catching our breaths and enjoying the view we made our way back down the mountain and now enjoyed the cooling shade of the canyon. We got down and decided to cool off in the river, we swam around until we felt cool and energized. We refilled our waters at the station then hiked out to Emerald Pools. We hiked along the Kayante trail to Emerald Pools. We stopped at the middle pool and found a secluded area away from the other tourists, and we were able to hear the bleating of the Canyon Frogs. Someone told us that the upper pool wasn't worth the hike and based on the middle pool not being as we had imagined, we decided to head back. We stopped at the lower pool where Maggie and Abe (a stranger at the time) took turns letting a waterfall shower over them. We hiked back to the shuttle talking with Abe's family about their trip, we learned they were from North Carolina so I conversed with them about the Blue Ridge Parkway which brought back tons of memories from last years road trip. We were luckily able to get the last campsite available in the park and set up camp for the night. After cooking up a delicious meal of chicken and fresh veggies from Maggie's farm I passed out exhausted from the long drive and day.

Angel's Landing acent

Resting at the top of Angel's Landing

Day 3: We woke early and cooked up some breakfast burritos. We had to switch campsites as someone had previously reserved ours. We headed to the South Campground for first come first serve and found a perfect spot. We dropped our stuff then headed out for another long day of hiking. We took the shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava to hike the Narrows. This hike is throughout the canyon following the virgin river. The path crisscrosses the river which is achieved by wading in the water. We came upon a jumping rock where kids were enjoying the thrill. Maggie decided to jump off, she said it was only about 5 feet deep max and was a sketchy jump. We continued on, swimming in the deeper pools, and pushing our way against the stream. We hiked about 4 hours into the canyon and decided we should head back. Back near the start of the trail we heard a boy crying, turns out he had broke his ankle on the same jumping rock Maggie had leapt from hours prior. He was with boyscouts, they had fashioned a gurney from 2 hiking sticks and their t-shirts. His foot was wrapped up and the boys were trying to get him downstream. We continued on and passed Search and Rescue marching to the hurt boy's rescue. We reached the trail head and I could feel the blisters on my feet from hiking in wet sneakers all day and sand getting into my shoe and rubbing my feet raw. I hobbled onto the shuttle. We got back to camp and cooked up dinner and set up the slack line. We listened to some music and attempted slack lining across our camp. After dinner we set up a corn hole game and invited our neighbors over to play. After some time a couple other neighbors joined in. We ended up playing Cards Against Humanity with the neighbors into the middle of the night until we got a noise complaint then we said our goodbyes and headed to bed. It was fun to catch up with people and hear of their adventures too.

Hiking the Narrows

Day 4: We had another early morning and packed up to head to Bryce Canyon to check out some Hoodoos. The drive didn't take too long. Our first stop was the Visitor center where we ran in Abe. He was visiting the parks with his family and decided to hike with us for the day. We decided to do a shorter hike then to make our way to Arches. My feet were also dead from the blisters and 16 miles of hiking we had done so far this week. We decided to take the Sunrise loop into the Navajo loop for about 3 miles of hiking. The decent was nice into Hoodoo land. We saw some major rock formations that looked like Thor's hammer and a queen. We picked out different shapes and named some Hoodoos ourselves. The hike out of the canyon was tiring. A mix of the heat, the grade, and my blistered feet made for a tiring trek up. At the top we got a great view overlooking Bryce Canyon. We then went to Inspiration point for a quick upward hike to get a better of the National Park. We drove back to the visitor center and created a little picnic area with our mats and broke out a mix of our remaining snacks. We rested, ate, played Frisbee and talked for hours before saying our goodbyes to Abe. We invited him to come to Arches with us but he had a family reunion near Provo. He invited us to stop by on our way through. Leaving Bryce Canyon we decided to take the scenic route to Arches. Our first stop was a Petrified Forest near Escalante. The park ranger talked us out of wasting our time there but informed us that Hwy 12 that we were on is the 2nd most scenic route in the world to New Zealand. I definitely had my doubts, wondering how there could be a road here more beautiful than the Blue Ridge Parkway on the east coast. The drive left us in awe. The landscape changed so much in such a short drive from red canyons, white canyons, meadows and aspen forested. I understood how this had beat the Blue Ridge Parkway. As beautiful as it is, the roadway was 500 some miles of roughly the same landscape. This Hwy we were on had so much variety, every turn lead to an amazing view. We drove into Capitol Reef NP where we admired purple and pink hues in the rocks. We snuck into the fruit gardens to pick apricots and  cherries. After a quick stop to check out petroglyphs we were on our way again. There was a huge forest fire we passed through. Driving along we notices a couple people riding dirtbikes in the hills and a bunch of campers set up so we turned in to check out what was going on. We were stopped by security, turns out they were filming the opening scenes for Point Break 2. A couple of workers told us a little bit about the shoot and technicalities they faced. It was really interesting to hear about. We turned back onto the road and decided it was getting late so we needed to make our way to Moab faster. We turned up Hwy 24, saw the famous "cock rock" and drove along the straight hwy. We decided we should make some music while driving. Sarah driving and on flute, me terribly on bongos and Maggie in the backseat played guitar.We rocked out up the highway and laughed till we cried. We got into Moab late, got a campsite and fell asleep reminiscing on our driving band.

Selfie stick for the win.

Bryce Canyon

Day 5: Today we made it into Arches NP. We happened to get the very last campsite available, unloaded some things then headed to Delicate Arch trailhead to hike before it got too hot. This hike was less occupied than it had been the previous year which was strange it was almost the same time of year and day of the week. We were able to get some great shots of the arch without having strangers in them too. We drove into Devil's Garden to do the loop hike here. I'm pretty happy I finally got to see this section of the park as it was closed last year. We hiked to all the arches. My new favorite being Partition Arch because you can walk through the arch lay on a cliffside in shade while looking out over the NP. The summer day heat made the hike difficult, blisters and minimal water made for a hard hike back. We drove back to camp for lunch and I changed into flip flops to check out some remaining arches in the park. After dinner we hurried to view the sunset over the park then drove into Moab to check out some bars and night life. We met some locals and listened to mediocre karaoke. It was getting late so we drove back to camp and fell asleep after promising to wake early for a sunrise.

Hey look an arch!

Sunset in Arches Np

Day 6: I woke to Sarah telling us we had to get up for the sunrise. I wanted to go back to sleep, it was to early. Then Sarah said "omg, we might miss it" I jumped out of bed, eyes partially sealed shut, slipped my sandals on and bounded through the desert brush. Sarah and I ran as fast as we could to a big rock by our camp and climbed up it just in time to see the sun break the horizon and illuminate the desert around us. We enjoyed the suns glow. Sarah laughed at me saying she has never seen me move so fast, one second I was asleep in the bed and the next i was sprinting through the desert. After breakfast we walked the loop to Tapestry arch. The walk was nice with cool morning sand and no other hikers. We got back to camp, cleaned up and got on the road. After a  quick stop at a craft store for Maggie we were on the road home. After a couple hours into our drive we had to pull off for the restroom, Maggie realized she left her shoes at the craft store and had to call the store and pay for them to ship the shoes back to California. As we passed through Provo we messaged Abe to see about saying hi. He happened to be in Arches with his family till the evening. We headed on to the Salt Flats where we frolicked around on the pure white salt. I read Desert Solitaire out loud as we headed back into California. It was getting late and we were tired so we stopped at Sarah's families cabin in Tahoe city for the night.

Sunrise in Arches NP

Day 7:  We made the short trek home, said our goodbyes and promised to do another trip to Colorado next year.

Utah Here We Come

The Dolphin has been sold but that doesn't mean the adventures stop. Myself and my two friends Sarah and Maggie will be taking a week long road trip to Utah to explore some more national parks. We will be going to Zion national park, Bryce Canyon, and Arches National Park. The good news is we have AC in the car! The plan is to tent camp and to see as much as we can see in that week.

I have missed the Utah landscape and can't wait to get back there to explore some more. I will get to see the arches in Moab that I missed last summer due to road construction. I can't way to hike in Devil's Canyon at the back of the park.

Utah here we come!!

Burning Man

Burning Man- a week long event in Black Rock City, NV for "radical self expression" ART

I had planned on going to Burning Man subconsciously almost my entire life. From the first time I heard about Burning Man ( as a child in the 90's) it seemed like this great adventure, a place where magic was real and people could just be themselves with no restraints. Throughout my teens I knew someday I would make a trip to the desert to see all it had to offer. I really starting planning on going to Burning Man for about 2 years. I knew I was going to go an epic road trip and it seemed like Burning Man would be the perfect close to it.

My desires to go to this place that is deemed uninhabitable grew in me until I knew that I couldn't not go. I did my research and read up on the precautions and rules and personal experiences of burners to prepare myself. I knew it would be hot, I knew it would be dusty, I knew it would be a lot of work but I also knew the rewards of going. No reading, no stories, no documentaries can prepare you for your experience on the playa.

The art culture that was built around Burning Man has stemmed to this bucketlist challenge and become something one just goes to to say that they have been. Many people my age, older and younger attend for drug experiences, to attend the largest rave. I can say that neither of those were my reasons. Again the reasons behind Burning Man is for the art itself.

I wanted to experience life, I wanted to see the art installations that are burnt and never seen in person again, I wanted to let go of my inhibitions and run wild in the desert and feel the hot sun on my back, feel the dust exfoliate my skin,  really feel the dusty coat left covering my body, my mouth, my nose, and my eyes, I wanted to feel the energy of 70,000 people pouring their heart and soul into one week, I wanted to feel alive!

And alive I did feel.

I purchased our tickets through the official Burning Man site, the tickets sold out in 45 min, I did it! 2 tickets, Natalie and I were one step closer to Burning Man. Yes it's expensive ~$425 a person for entrance fees and parking fees for the entire week. You can arrive as early as Sunday and leave as late as the following Tuesday.

We planned on getting to Black Rock City on Monday morning. We picked up a friend's cousin along the way and drove through Nevada. Along the way we saw signs saying the gate was closed, and after looking it up online we saw that they had closed the entrance due to the rain. When it rains the playa dust becomes inoperable. You cannot drive, ride a bike, and barely even walk through the mud without becoming absolutely stuck and messing up the natural ground. We stopped in Fernley, NV at the Walmart to wait things out. We got some last minute supplies and then drove to a park to hang out at. We drove back to Walmart where tons of other Burners had gathered to wait. A community formed and someone made dinner and trinkets for everyone. The update on the gate was that it would open Tuesday and there were some 30,000 people waiting in line to get in. We stayed the night in the parking lot and woke at 3am to get in line for Burning Man. Luckily in the middle of the night the line had cleared and we had a smooth straight drive into Black Rock City with no wait.

Entering the Souk

At the front gate we got initiated since it was all of ours first burn. We made sand angels and rang a bell and chanted then danced around. We dropped our passenger off at his camp and made our way to our camp. We set up an Arabian style tent with plush cushions and sheers curtains. The theme this year was Caravansary. We then explored the city on our bikes. The week at Burning Man was spent going to planned events and even better finding random events. We started the week off with an Old Gregg- Baileys and Tutu party, we had a wine and Oreo pairing, and a twerkshop, and attended a lemon party. We had grilled cheese at midnight and found the traveling PB&J cart in deep playa. We looked at tons of art installations where we played and rested. We rode art cars to mysterious places and met amazingly beautiful people. I stayed up till the sun rose singing songs with strangers, and dancing to  whatever music spoke to me. The people at burning man are some of the best people I've met, the conversations I had were on another level than I have had with some of my friends. The walls were down and everyone was inviting and accepting. I made friendships with people I may very well never see again, and that's ok. Burning man is about temporary beauty. We did a billion bunny march and a butterfly migration.  We did so many strange and wonderful things, we did not hold ourselves back. I climbed tall towers to rid my fear of heights and woke early find donuts and pancakes. We also baked in the sun, thank goodness for SPF 100. We had dust in  and on everything and tried to shower but we were immediately coated. Our hair was mudded into dreds. We woke up burning hot in a death

Natalie angel resting on an art installation

sweat. We literally experienced the elements: wind, rain, earth, and fire. It was miserable and beautiful all at the same time. We watched the temporary installations burn, the beautiful art that is only in memory and picture, and splinters left in workers hands. We did so much and I cannot even begin to explain how it has changed me. I can say I am a burner for life, I will try to attend as much as possible, and I will bring my children there some day to see the magic this place holds.

Alicia with the umbrella art installation

Alicia and Natalie at the Billion Bunny March

We were unable to stay to watch the temple burn, which we had heard was the most emotional and rewarding experience at burning man, but I will be back and I will see the temple burn, I will watch everyone's emotional baggage be turned to ash.

On the last day we were there we went out to watch the man burn. I could feel this energy in the air, tears of happiness running down my face in the dark. I did it, this was it, I had done everything I had set out to do this summer. I had my eyes opened to the world. I was so happy that I had accomplished my dream and knew that many more dreams will be met in the future. Watching the man burn was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It represented everything and everyone that had tried to keep me from my dreams. They all burned to the ground. I was full. I was alive!

The man burning

Trip Stats

Final- most accurate mapped route

We drove ~13,000 miles and spent about $4200 on gas. The cheapest we found gas for was about $2.20/ gal and that was in Colorado near 4-corners. We went to almost 30 states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho.

Our favorites:

Alicia- I really enjoyed the National Parks, Arches and Rocky Mountains. Colorado was my favorite state because it reminds me so much of home. The Rocky Mt really blew my mind on its beauty. The lush greenery and the transition to snow caps. I also loved driving through green valleys to get to Sand Dunes Nat'l Park. As far as night life goes Austin, Tx was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed our river float in Austin. I also thoroughly enjoyed my relaxation time on the Florida beaches with Mexico Beach being my favorite.

Natalie- She loved the desert the most. Arches Nat'l Park had been her dream location since reading about it in Desert Solitaire. She was most excited about the drive through the Painted Desert, Monument Valley, and Arches. She also really loved the artsy town Taos, in New Mexico. It had so much beauty in the buildings and landscape.

Nick- He loved Moab and Arches NP, he had a lot of fun running around and climbing up the rock formations. He also really loved Colorado and could see himself moving there some day. He was most excited about seeing Yellowstone NP and Wyoming state. He definitely wants to revisit Colorado and Wyoming to see more each state has to offer... and to try some Rocky Mt Oysters :)

Homeward Bound

Map Route

We woke early in Billings, Montana and drove west through the grasslands. The further west we drove the denser the trees got. We stopped in Livington for lunch then drove south to Yellowstone National Park. Along the way we stopped at the river to try to swim but the water was freezing. In the park we saw tons of elk and drove east through a part of the park. We went on a hike to Wraith Falls, a short hike through wildflowers to the waterfall. After playing with the flowers we drove on and stopped to see Tower Falls. The waterfall was a lot larger and we hiked to the base of it which flowed into Yellowstone River. The river smelled of sulphur and the stone walls across the bank were colored yellow. After our hike we spent some time in the gift shop then drove along the main road through the park. We saw our first bison and were thrilled. We exited the park into West Yellowstone where we found a lot to stay in for the night.

Entrance into Yellowstone

Wraith Falls

Nick enjoying the wild flowers

Alicia at Yellowstone River

In the morning we drove back into Yellowstone where we saw our first geysers. We saw tons of crystal blue pools that contrasted beautifully with the yellow and white soil. We hoped that Steamboat would go off, it is geyser that erupts every couple of years and lasts only minutes. The great thing about Steamboat is that it is three times larger than Old Faithful. It didn't go off while we there :(. We found a spot along the river for lunch, Nick and I waded in the cool river and Natalie showed our pet turtles off to a couple little kids. We drove to Old Faithful and got seats right up front to see the geyser go off. Within 5 minutes of waiting the geyser went off. It was really cool to see it in person and to feel the mist hitting us. After the eruption stopped we drove back towards West Yellowstone. We stopped just inside the park to eat dinner and watch the sunset. After dinner we parked for the night.





Hot springs at Yellowstone NP



Yellowstone Nat'l Park



Old Faithful



Alicia at the geysers in Yellowstone NP

We headed back to Yellowstone to finish checking out the park. We drove to Yellowstone Lake, along the way we saw a large bison making his way down the middle of the street. At the lake we had lunch and spent the afternoon laying in the sun, skipping rocks, and swimming. We left Yellowstone National Park and drove south to the Grand Teton Nat'l Park. We got to see the amazing mountain range reflecting off the lakes. We continued on into Jackson, Wyoming. We drove through the town and then headed west to Victor, Idaho for the night. We stayed at a campground and I finally got caught up on Orange is the New Black show off netflix.

Up close and personal with a buffalo in Yellowstone NP

Alicia, Natalie, and Nick in Grand Teton NP

Grand Teton NP

Nick enjoying the view at Grand Teton NP

We woke up early and thoroughly cleaned the motor home, then we drove south through Idaho to Utah. We stopped in Wellsville, UT to see Natalie's grandma. We told her grandma all about our trip and then we cooked up dinner. There was so much food we ate till we were sick. We left and drove through a crazy rainstorm to Salt Lake City, UT.

Nick riding shotgun 

We woke up and explored downtown Salt Lake City. We got to see Temple Square and look at the beautiful Mormon Temple. We left Salt Lake City and drove west past Salt Lake. We stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The races were supposed to be going on while we were there but the rains earlier in the week flooded the area. We waded in the salty water and were blinded by the pure white salt reflecting the sun. We kept driving through the "loneliest road in America" through Nevada. It started raining and hailing really hard, we had to pull off for a minute until the storm passed because we couldn't see. We decided to drive through the night and we made it back home at midnight. We decided to spend our last night at our hometown Walmart because we had stayed at Walmarts all across the US.

Alicia at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah

Quote:
    " A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step" ~ Lao Tzu.

Lowlands, Highlands, and the Badlands

Map route

We woke up and drove north through Iowa into South Dakota. We headed west towards the Badlands Nat'l Park. Our first stop was a cowboy store in the middle of nowhere. We looked at buffalo hides and skulls and tons of fireworks. We got to see his domesticated bison in the fields. There was some strange animatronic machines that we put quarters into and watched some really creepy shows. At the store was Sturgis Motorcycle Rally stuff, we looked it up and the rally was going on this week. We decided we should check it out. All of the bikers on the road made a lot of sense now. We left the store and continued on, however it was getting late and I wanted to see the Buffalo Gap Nat'l Grasslands in daylight so we pulled off at a truck stop for the night.

The amazing sky at a rest stop

In the morning we drove through the grasslands, no buffalo in sight. We made it to Badland's Nat'l Park. It's a grassland with some rock formations/ canyons of beautiful reds and yellows. We hiked out into them and played around on some rocks. We stopped at the visitor center where we got to see some fossils being uncovered. When we finished at the Nat'l Park we drove to Wall, SD. We had seen billboards for Wall Drug since we got into South Dakota. We looked up Wall Drug to find that it was a huge store that had gained business by offering free iced water in a dry desolate area. We had to see it. The store is so large there is a map letting you know what each section has to offer. We browsed the various items before finishing up in a corridor full of taxidermy animals and strange statues. Out on the patio was an animatronic monkey and a huge Jackalope that I climbed onto its back for a picture. Two bikers that we saw yesterday at the cowboy store took a picture of me on the Jackalope. It was a little strange. We ended up in Rapid City for the night.

Alicia and Natalie frolicking through grasslands

Alicia at Badland's Nat'l Park

Nick at Badland's Nat'l Park

After a refill on ice we drove to Mount Rushmore. The drive was through lush green forests, we rounded a corner and saw the president's faces on the mountain side. After parking we hiked around the mountain and got to learn about the carving process. There were miniature faces that the carvers used for comparison. After leaving Mount Rushmore we drove south to the Wind Cave Nat'l Park and paid for the Fairground Cave Tour. We had to have our shoes "decontaminated" since we had been in another cave in the last 5 years We were in Ruby Falls cave just a couple weeks ago. Turns out there's this fungus outbreak on the east coast that is waking up bats from hibernation and causing them to leave the cave in search of food. The bats are dieing and it turned out Tennessee had a really bad outbreak. Ruby Falls is in Tennessee, so the rangers were really happy that we told them. After the shoe cleaning we walked on a 1 1/2 mile tour of the upper and lower level of the caves. There was some box work going on, it's where the limestone has gypsum in it that expands and contracts causing the limestone to crack. The cracks are filled with calcite and the limestone breaks away leaving a negative of the cracks. It looks just like a wasp nest and is really cool and a little too fragile looking to be making up a roof of the cave. We finished our tour and drove back to Rapid City for the night. We stayed at a campground after haggling for a lower rate since the rates were raised from Sturgis Rally. We spent the night watching Noah, a crazy movie with Russel Crowe and some cannibalism.

Alicia at Mount Rushmore

Alicia at Wind Cave Nat'l Park

After we got ready for the day we headed into downtown Sturgis to see all of the motorcycles. We walked through the biker crowded streets looking at all of the booths. We ate lunch, Natalie finally found a corn dog to celebrate her sister Kim's birthday. We stopped into a restaurant for the restroom and saw a lady passed out on the table. Not only was she out she was topless and her boobs were resting on the table as well. We left the restaurant to see more biker women wearing next to nothing. We went back to the motor home that we parked at the city park. We laid around on the grass looking at magazines and Nick went for a run through Sturgis. When he got back we cooked up some kabobs for dinner. After dinner we drove to Deadwood to go out with a friend. My friend from home, Cacia, happened to be in Sturgis working the rally. We went out to a karaoke bar where Cacia and her coworkers belted out rock and rap songs. We ended the night at a live band and danced the night away.

Sturgis, SD

Natalie and her corn dog

Alicia at Sturgis

Alicia and Cacia in Deadwood

In the morning we woke up and drove out of South Dakota to Wyoming. We drove through grasslands to the Devil's Tower National Monument. This was the first Nat'l Monument ever. The Devil's Tower is a large rock formation in the middle of grasslands. We hiked all the way around the tower, and we were able to see ladders bolted to the rock. The ladders had been there since the 1890's when the tower was first climbed. We drove on to Billings, MT for the night.

View off lookout near Devil's Tower

Alicia at Devil's Tower

Quote:
      "What if it's the there and not the here that I long for. The wander and not the wait, the magic in the lost feet stumbling down the far away street and the way the moon never hangs quite the same."

Heading out West

Map route

We woke early in Cleveland and headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I dressed accordingly, with a black bra top that was studded and had chains hanging off of it, and some tight brown leather pants. We got to the Rock Hall of Fame and took an intro picture of us looking like a rock band. We got to look around the museum at all of the guitars and clothing of some great rock stars. I really enjoyed Janis Joplin's hippy car. There was a section of modern pop stars and we got to see some of Beyonce's dresses which were amazing. When we finished the museum we went to the gift shop where some people took pictures with me because they loved the way I was dressed. Outside of the Hall of Fame we took a tour of Johnny Cash's travel bus. It was pretty awesome inside, definitely more spacious than our little dolphin. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was something I was really looking forward to but it paled in comparison to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The organization at the Rock Hall was lacking and made for a large eclectic mess. Still there was tons of cool stuff. When we finished at the museum we drove to Toledo, Ohio for the  night.

Natalie, Alicia and Nick rocking out at the Rock and Roll  Hall of Fame

Jimi Hendrix guitars

Led Zeppelin outfit/ guitar

Beyonce's costumes

As soon as we woke we drove to Chicago, Illinois; we drove through Indiana to Illinois. Once we got into Chicago it was really busy. Traffic was heavy and it had started raining. We came to the cause of traffic, a cement truck had tipped onto a car and smashed the driver's side- there was definitely no survivors as the truck was still on top of the car and they were working on lifting the truck up. We drove into the heart of Chicago where we miraculously found some outdoor parking that we could stay at for the night. After a nap we got some deep dish pizza at Beggar's Pizza then got ready for the night. After managing New York's subways we decided we could tackle Chicago and we rode the train to Michigan Ave to experience Chicago nightlife. Lollapalooza was going on the weekend we were there and had just got out so the streets were full of festival goers. We could only find small hotel bars and walked the streets until we settled at Miller's Pub. The bar was packed with people from Lollapalooza. We made our way down the bar to find an open seat. At the end of the bar some girl pointed at me and the guy sitting next to her offered his seat to me. I would have been sitting between the girl and her guy friend with the guy that gave up his seat standing behind me. I declined their offer and thought how weird it was. On the other side of those people were two seats available and a man at the very end gave his seat up to us. I sat closest to the group and they immediately turned and chatted with us. They had just come from Lollapalooza. The girl got up to leave and the guys asked if I knew her, I told them I didn't and obviously they didn't know her either. While we were chatting with the group we told them we were from NorCal and had been on a road trip for a month and half. One guy immediately asked if we knew where P-ville was, the old hangtown. All of our jaws dropped, no one knew where our small town was. Turns out this guy had family in P-ville and had spent his summers there while growing up. The guy told us he was from Connecticut and that growing up the girls he knew ranked about a 5. He said he thought hot girls only existed in movies and didn't think much of it until he came out to NorCal for the summer. He said "Holy Shit!! Every girl was hot as shit." He had wanted to live there and enjoyed his summer visits. We were all rolling at his story telling. He had many adventures to tell and told us some things to check out on the rest of our trip. The group of guys left, and then another guy sitting there scooted down to sit with us. He had also been at the festival and said he was coming down off acid. He said some really trippy things, he changed his name on us from Chris to Change. We just went with it. He was a bartender in Kentucky and got dragged out to Lollapalooza with some friends that he had lost earlier in the day. Another guy joined our group, Cory. He was a super muscular army man that was on his way back home. He talked just like Sylvester Stalone in Rocky. He gave us some movie quotes which was amazing!!! He said he had never seen the movies until everyone told him he talked like Rocky. We all got our fill of entertainment for the night and found our way back to the subway station and back to our motor home.

Pizza in Chicago

Nick and Natalie with friend in Chicago subway

We slept in a bit in Chicago then headed for Nauvoo, IL- a Mormon town on the Mississippi River. Along the way we ran out of gas :( and puttered into a rest stop. We were about 3 miles from the closest gas station so we asked some rest stop workers if they could help. They gave us 2 gallons of gas from the lawn mower gas can and we made it to the gas station to fill up. The hwy to Nauvoo crossed the Mississippi river into Iowa then back across the river to Illinois into Nauvoo. We checked into the campground and then drove into town. We walked the streets to the Mormon Temple and then down the hillside to the visitor center where we learned about the early settlers. We happened to be in town when the yearly pageant, a play about early Nauvoo, was going on. After eating dinner we sat in a huge field to watch the play. It was a highly technical play and you could tell had been practiced for a long time. It was very good and kept our interest the whole time. When it had ended we went back to the campsite. While laying in bed we could hear our neighbor's phone call where he was yelling at someone and threatening their job by saying he had connections. Then another phone call to his son telling him to throw our someones stuff and to piss on their pillows. The phone calls ended and we finally fell asleep, only to be woken in the middle of the night to the same man hacking for hours. It was probably the grossest sound I have ever heard. Finally we all fell asleep.

Joseph Smith and Hyrum statues outside of the Temple

Sunset over the Mississippi River in Nauvoo

A band playing at the Pageant in Nauvoo

We woke up and did laundry then headed into old Nauvoo. We got to see the old bakery and try some gingerbread cookies. We then went to the Family Living Center where we learned how to weave, make a barrel, do pottery, make rope, cook bread, and make a candle. We got to keep the rope we made and to eat some freshly cooked bread. After that we headed back to town to the real bakery for some pastries. Back in old Nauvoo we learned how the bricks were made and got a small Nauvoo souvenir brick. We drove along the trail of hope and read plaques of journal entries from the Mormons when they were escaping prosecution. We drove all the way to the Mississippi River where they crossed the frozen river and we put our feet into the Mississippi for the first time. Once we had finished up in Nauvoo we drove to Carthage to the prison where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered. We got the last tour of the day and got to see where they were held and murdered, with the bullet holes still in the door. After we finished our tour Natalie drove for a bit while I napped. When I woke up I took over the driving through Iowa where we stayed for the night in Des Moines.

Nick at the Mississippi River

Sun setting in Iowa

Quote:
     "The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." ~ Christopher McCandless