This Wild Wonderland

26.10.17 Summer Roadtrip Part 3: Hello, Utah

Finally! After a late night of traffic jams and mountain driving, we settled on sleeping at the Colorado Welcome Center off I-70 in Fruita, CO, only about 20 minutes from the CO/UT border.

[SIDE BAR: Sleeping at Visitor Centers and Rest Areas can be a lifesaver when you're on the road - I'll write more about this in another post.]

In the morning, we used the restrooms in the Welcome Center, bummed some ice for our cooler from the Subway nearby, and headed back on the road. About an hour later, we stumbled in at the Thompson Welcome Center, where we grabbed a few pamphlets that we probably didn't need (sometimes you just can't help it) and checked out a short trail that leads up to a vista with some nice views.

While we were out exploring we saw some interesting plants, which I, unfortunately, can't name, and a couple of prairie dogs. I should also mention that it was BRIGHT, I mean, eye-meltingly bright. When in Utah, bring sunglasses. Also, sunscreen.

After about 30 minutes or so, we headed back out towards our first National Park of the journey, Bryce Canyon. At the advice of the woman working at the Welcome Center, we decided to take UT-24 W, followed by UT-12 W once we reached Torrey.

This provided us with some AWESOME views, honestly, every time we rounded a bend the view changed. From bold orange rocks to deep reds, soft beige-yellow plains to white canyon dappled with dark green plant life, the nearly 5-hour drive from the Thompson Welcome Center to our camping spot for the night just outside of Bryce Canyon was rarely, if at all, a bore.

To add to the perks of taking the less traveled route from Colorado National Monument to Bryce Canyon is that you drive right by Goblin Valley State Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Kodachrome Basin State Park on the way.

If you're making this journey with a bit more time on your hands, I'd recommend stopping in Capital Reef to take in all that gorgeous red rock.

When we got to Bryce, we found a nice free campsite to set up for the night, and then headed into the park to explore. Find out more about Bryce and the awesome hikes we found there, here. ;)

All in all, it was a great day, and Yaz and my very first time in Utah - which, to be honest, was much more exciting than I had expected.

STATS:
Date: July 29, 2017
Location: CO to Bryce Canyon National Park
Length of Stay: 1 day
Time from last stop: 4.75 hours, 9 hours from Longmont to Bryce
Miles from last stop: 290 miles, 540 miles from Longmont to Bryce

Accumulated # of Days: 12
Accumulated Miles: 2,279 miles

Highlights: Colorful rocks, constant change in view, heat, sunshine
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

24.10.17 Summer Roadtrip Part 2: Colorado

thewoodlandfern 12:38 AM roadtrip , travel 0 Comments

With three drivers and two fur babies desperately ready to stretch their legs, we flew through the rest of the Midwest and found ourselves at our first "real" stop of the trip, Colorado, in record time.

This was meant to be a short stay, where we were planning on dropping off Inali and Gomez, visiting Leo's parents, reorganizing, and grabbing some produce before heading out again.
But of course, life is always full of surprises.
The day after arriving we discovered that what we thought was a minor problem with the jeep, turned out to be major. We spent some time weighing our options, talking with mechanics, researching vehicle reliability, and looking at cars.
(It turned out that the transfer case needed to be rebuilt, and in our possibly foolish optimism, we hoped we could cheat fate and take her on the rest of the journey anyway, only to have the engine misfire just when we reached the Wyoming/Colorado State Line).

Fortunately for us, we were stranded in Colorado, which isn't much like being stranded at all.
We were able to make the most out of our extended stay with Leo's parents, going to the Longmont Farmer's Market, visiting Boulder and Denver, enjoying restaurants, hiking, shopping, and hanging out with family on the farm. This gave me a nice opportunity to get some shots of all the lavender at sunset. Nothing beats Colorado sunsets over the mountains.

While we were visiting, one small hike we did was at Pella Crossing (aka: Pella Ponds) in Hygiene. This park has two short, easy hikes, and is located just outside of Longmont. This space is awesome for wildlife watching, especially birding, and offers a nice escape from the business of town, without heading into the mountains.

Leo's mom, Yasemend, Inali, and Leo checking out the wildflowers on the path.

I was so excited to see a bat house on our hike! Bats are incredible and completely misunderstood. I'm glad to see initiatives like these spreading to lend them a helping hand.

[Eastern Kingbird]

One evening we went out for dinner and drinks at Samples in Longmont. They have an extensive beer list, but I was very disappointed to see only one vegan item on the menu, a small-portioned Spicy Peanut Noodle Bowl for $14. The bowl was spicier than I prefer and overpriced for the size. If you ever go there, I'd recommend just going for drinks and then eating elsewhere.
We treated ourselves to some Illegal Pete's on Pearl St (Boulder) to recover from lack of dinner at Samples and grabbed a vegan cake from Whole Foods before heading back to the house.

Finally, after a few days of research, test driving, anxiety, and money spent, we decided it was time for something a little more reliable and bought a new car.

Goodbye Delphi the 2003 Jeep, hello 2005 Toyota 4Runner!

It was such a relief to finally be done with car shopping, and to know that we got something that was going to be a lot more reliable.
Unfortunately, we lost a few days we had anticipated being on the road, so we needed to revamp our trip plans a little.
To my great disappointment, we decided to cut Washington, Oregon, and Northern California from our plans. However, we were able to add a few places in Colorado that we otherwise wouldn't have visited, so that was at least somewhat of a nice compromise.

On Friday, the 28th of July we headed back on the road.

As we were headed westbound towards Utah, we quickly found ourselves stuck in a 2+ hour traffic jam. We could have looked at this as more bad luck, but the fog rolling over the mountains was so moving, it was easy to appreciate our surroundings despite another setback.

After finally getting past the traffic, straining to keep our eyes open, we managed to make it to Colorado National Monument, where we car camped for the night.
What a journey so far. All in all, I can't complain. We love every minute we get to be in Colorado, whether it's planned or not.

STATS:
Date: July 20, 2017
Location: Longmont, CO
Length of Stay: 9 days
Time from last stop: 15 hours
Miles from last stop: 1,024 miles

Accumulated # of Days: 10
Accumulated Miles: 1,739 miles

Highlights: Mountains, Sunsets, Food, Shopping, Heat, Wildflowers, Wildlife, City
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Colorado, you never let me down)

19.10.17 Summer Roadtrip Part 1: Pit Stop in Indiana

thewoodlandfern 11:46 PM roadtrip , travel 0 Comments

After much anticipation, working, packing, stress, and excitement - we finally headed out on our journey westward in mid-July.

The business of the days leading up to our trip is still somewhat of a blur, but it can be summarized as something like this:

Knowing we would be changing schools and cities when we returned, we looked for a new apartment to come back to and ended the lease at our previous one in Saranac Lake, NY.

We booked showings while Yaz drove to go see them, and luckily, we found something that worked for all of us without Leo or I seeing it in person.

I was busy finishing up my job at the Paul Smith's College VIC, which I left with quite a lot of sadness - it was a wonderful place to work, and I had such awesome opportunities to work on projects that I loved. I have a special place in my heart for the VIC and the people who work there...but this isn't the post to get sentimental about that in.

Leo finished up his job working at the Brewery, and then we had a day or so to really get ourselves organized, packed, and completely moved out of the apartment.

My grandparents were kind enough to let us store our furniture and belongings in their basement, and we packed our essentials, food, and camping gear into Delphi (the jeep).

We celebrated my gramma's birthday, packed Inali, Gomez, and the three of us into Delphi, and headed out on the road.

Our first real stop was in Indiana. We didn't plan much for this, as it was really just a stop to stretch our legs, but we were able to enjoy a beautiful, and hot, morning near the Indiana Dunes National Seashore.

Lake Michigan is gorgeous. It's incredible how much it resembles the ocean, but considering its size, 22,404 sq.mi (58,026 sq. km), I suppose it shouldn't be very surprising.

We were even lucky enough to spot an American mink!

And of course, we had a chance to get our feet wet. Yasmend enjoyed a dip, while Leo and I watched little fish swim around our toes.

Indiana offered a nice little pit stop for us to stretch our legs and get some fresh air after being crammed in the jeep for 12+ hours. It was Leo and my second time being here and I definitely think it's one of the nicest places to stop and rest when we make such long trips E - W or W- E.

STATS:
Date: July 19, 2017
Location: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Length of Stay: 1/6 of a day
Time from last stop: 12 hours
Miles from last stop: 695 miles

Accumulated # of Days: 1
Accumulated Miles: 695 miles

Highlights: Sunshine, Lakeside, Sandy beaches, Swimming
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Until next time!

<3

Fern