Leaving Home

We began this undertaking full of feelings.  Anticipation, excitement, nostalgia, worry, and fear; however, the most prevalent feeling as we left was gratitude.  Gratitude for all of the people that have helped along the way, even in the smallest way.  So before we get down to it, we want to say: Thank you.  Thank you to the family, the friends, and the coworkers that gave advice, time, and stuff to help prepare us and send us off.

We left REI-Southside bound for REI-Seattle and the going was smooth.  Old friends extended a welcoming hand in Minneapolis. A day was spent going for a walk, getting a drink, taking a stroll, getting another drink, perusing the local city parks, followed by more drinking.  Our thanks to Matt, Brooke, Norah, for popping the couchsurfing cherry.

The following few days and nights were spent on the road and in shady walmart parking lots, respectively.  Enter our first National Park stop, Theodore Roosevelt South.  Right away, the untamed wild welcomed us by blowing our gifted parks pass out the window and into grassy no-mans land.  After a half hour furitive search of the adjacent meadows with Stacy in tears, we walked back to the car, to find the pass in the roadside ditch.  Great start.  We spent that night and the following day in the petrified forest, and the badland wilderness.  Fun was had.

Back on the road, we hit another walmart, and another BLM campsite.  The final day of the first driving stint was only an hour so we killed time by hiking up to snow lake in Snoqualmie pass.  Feet of snow kept us from reaching the farther lakes but it was gorgeous none the less. Backflip? Ok.

Onto the hotel.  We have arrived, smelly, tired, and uh...smelly.  We seriously stank, no showers for a week.  The remainder of this trip should be fun...

-K