The Finale; Park City

I have been dragging my feet writing about our last stop. The last stop. How sad that makes me to write. How neatly it sums up one of the best years of not only my life so far, but surely of my life in entirety.

Jordanelle

We pulled into Park City on an unusually warm day. We came through Salt Lake before climbing the hills and it was the first (and only) time our truck started to overheat. We had had all the windows down, music blaring, but still it got too hot so we rolled up the windows and switched on the AC which is when the temp. gauge began to climb. I was sure we needed to find some water to dump on the engine, but Chris, my steady and calm partner, knew to turn on the heat full blast, pull over, and keep the truck turned on. Add in a little patience and the temp. gauge dropped back to normal and we carried on.

Cozy in the front seat with this guy

My beautiful aunt and her beautiful backyard

Our site was in a campground we had traveled to over a year ago, located at the Jordanelle Reservoir. I'm not sure if there is a bad campsite in this beautiful park that offers hiking trails, views of the surrounding hills, and of course the water. We dropped the camper and headed over to my aunt's house for dinner. It was a wonderful coincidence that my cousin from CA was there celebrating her baby-to-be and I got to go to the shower the next day.

Going to make camp

They are somewhere on the other side of that lake

The week in Park City was spent hiking, biking, visiting with family, going to a museum in Salt Lake and visiting old sites that I remember as a child as I lived in Salt Lake for a couple of years and have celebrated more than a couple of family gatherings over at my aunt's old place. The boys would wander far off to create "camps" as they played, going much further than I am comfortable with, though they were perfectly safe in doing so. They requested "delivery" for their dinner down to their camps, and I happily carried their dinner to them so they could dine lake-side as this is not something they can do in our backyard at home.

Finding creeks

Toward the end of the week I had it in my mind that on our last day I wanted to do something out of the ordinary, to have a memory of the four of us doing something new. My aunt and cousin who lives in Utah helped us figure it out and we all drove to the Homestead Crater Hotsprings. There, we got to float in hot water located on the inside of a crater that is around 65 feet deep. It was a day of "new" that I had been hoping for! After the float, we hugged our goodbyes with my Aunt Jean and Brenda and headed back to pack up the camper.

Crater Hotsprings

In the deep

Driving home, we created a playlist of our trip that will still bring tears to my eyes as I remember those songs we sang and dances we danced. We created a slideshow for the upcoming welcome back party we were having in a couple of days, and we talked about all of our "favorites."

That night, we pulled over in Laramie, WY for the night so we could have our first reunion with family the next morning in Cheyenne. Chris' family was waiting with open arms to welcome us "home." His grandparents had a great get together for his mom, brother, sister, and all of the accompanying families. All the cousins got to play in the backyard as the adults caught up on the past year and it felt a little like the cheering chute after ending a race, when people line up and greet you all the way to the finish.

Hellooooo Hulse's and Nelsons!

Home!

That afternoon we crossed over into "Colorful Colorado" and headed to the second set of open arms of my parents. We landed at their house, full of food, comfortable beds, and new bikes for the boys so they could continue their adventures, here at home.

It's a party!

Lake Tahoe

Saying goodbye to the ocean did not mean we were saying goodbye to the water! Our next stop was Lake Tahoe. Chris and I spent our 5 year anniversary on the North side of Lake Tahoe, so it was time for us to explore the South side!


We arrived to a spacious and empty campground in the trees that seemed to be back in bear country, however the dumpsters were more of an invitation for these woodland animals than a deterrent. The super moon greeted us on our night of arrival and though we could not see the moon due to a thin layer of clouds, the sunset was unreal. It looked like they sky between the tree tops was on fire. "Tomorrow night we are going to the lake to watch that!" I said, not knowing we wouldn't see another sunset like that until the night before we left.

Two weeks spent in Tahoe let us enjoy some of the last weeks of camper life as though Tahoe seems to be a resort town, there are things for regular life as well. The new bike park that had opened two weeks before we arrived was a place we kept landing. The kids learned about BMX tracks and how to get both of their tires off the ground in a jump. They pedaled for hours and then came home and pedaled some more. The campground was huge and offered acres of play space. So many acres it turned out that I actually could not hear or see the boys as they ventured further and further from home. I let them have a pretty long "leash" as I knew life in suburbia with fences and HOA's was ahead, so they trampled all over creating bike jumps and pretending they were spies leaving little dirt holes and tire tracks behind them.

Plenty of space to roam!

Our "backyard" for two weeks

Our weekend was spent biking, getting a hair cut (I no longer resemble a shaggy beast!), and a hike to a beautiful lake. The hiking day dawned gray and rainy. Chris and I were a bit bummed but the kids had a blast as their favorite days were "camper" days that we were all just hanging around the abode. Finally around one in the afternoon the parents said it was time to zip on some sweatshirts and hit the trails. We drove to Angora Lake and the clouds literally parted as we got out of the truck, the last of the rain falling off the trees as we passed underneath. It was 45 degrees, but the fall colors were in their glory and it let us crunch some leaves beneath our feet and explore an empty hiking trail as the kids ran off energy and we chilled ourselves in the mountains. The trip home included stopping at a local coffee shop for some hot chocolate and cider topped with whipped cream.

Oliver at the water

Austin in the hills

Rainy days make for private hikes

 

We were there too!

 

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On our last Friday we decided to celebrate by going down to the lake for dessert. We sat right next to the beach and crossed our fingers for a brilliant sunset, I think our wish was granted!

From orange fire

to warm pink

The 101

West Coast

Three weeks ago we made the decision to take the scenic route to South Tahoe and visit some places along the coast. It was a beautiful decision, but one that would leave some knuckles white as we creeped our way through steep mountain roads that provided unending switchbacks. The views? They were worth it.

 Starting in the Redwoods, we drove among the giants as they towered over us showering us with sunshine that peaked through the canopy. After making it to the coast we had to pull over and take in the shoreline as the mist and waves begged to be stared at. Finally we reached Glass Beach, a place that months ago Chris put on our "must do" list. This beach is covered in sea glass and as the water comes on and runs off, they all sparkle in the light like a beach of jewels. It is gorgeous. Then we learned that this place used to be a dump and quite simply all of the other trash has washed away leaving behind the glass, and like any pretty place, people have come along and started taking home the best pieces as souvenirs, so the beach is not nearly as impressive as the pictures online had us believing. Without naming any names, I will say that some of us were not as impressed as others, so while the boys and I sat and picked through the glass (we did not take any!), Chris opted to walk the dogs along the shore. The day was a win for everyone!

Treasure Hunters

Another man's trash is another man's treasure...

A quick lunch at the camper had us back on the road heading for the California desert and mountains, where we would stay for the next two weeks!

A must have

If somebody wants to take on a trip like this, I must insist that they find a Chris. Without this man, I cannot see how this trip would have, or could have, been possible.

"Dada" by Oliver

I watch him get up for work every day and head out, walking the dogs before he leaves, and he texts in an hour to see how our morning is going. He watches all of the gadgets and gauges that keep us safe and operational. He knows when to replace the propane and a hot water stick that I didn't even know existed, he knows when tanks need to be emptied, and he never leaves a dirty hose to be cleaned out later. He's replaced countless bike tires, fixed bike brakes, and adjusted all things hard for little hands to be able to use. He backs our trailer up in the dark and walks me through a 15 point turn in the middle of a frontage road at night telling me I can do it. He takes the trash out at night when the bears are out roaming around.

When blowouts happen as we travel down the road, Chris calmly pulls over and replaces the tire. When truck tires have leaks, they disappear and he hands the truck back to me with new tires. When the belly of our camper filled with dirty dish water, Chris climbed under the camper to empty it, smiling for my pictures and when the truck started to overheat on the highway, Chris knew to turn the heat on, slow down, and keep the truck on to let it cool down. Yes, if somebody is going to take on a trip like this, they must find themselves a Chris, as it will be the best investment of their life.

A couple of days ago I spent hours putting together our end-of-trip slideshow and as I sorted and watched the thousands of pictures we have, I think, my god, I love this man who didn't blink an eye when I said "let's go." When life gets measured by bank accounts and hours clocked, this year has been measured in memories and experiences, and I can't help but think, "CHRIS! Look at what you provided your family! Look at what all of your hard work has helped us experience!" People who meet us jokingly ask us where we go to fight if we live in this little space, if we get sick of one another, and I think not in the least. After nine years of marriage, it has been so much fun to go on adventure with my best friend. To learn more about him when I was figuring I knew all there was to know. Some of my favorite things about this man I have learned on this trip, such as that he loves to take pictures, and I love his photography. He likes bluegrass music. That he loves a bike ride in the morning to wake up, which was something he learned about himself. That he is actually far from apolitical, but his beliefs are just so concrete he doesn't really see a need to talk about them because they are just facts in his head, not opinions to be debated. He is quite simply blown away by our children who he can watch for hours, and watching your love, love your children, is a feeling quite similar to unequivocal happiness.

As our trip comes to an end, we fall asleep talking about our dreams for the future, trying to figure out how we take the lessons we've learned on the road and apply them to a stationary life. We have both learned that now, just as it was nine years ago, our life goals match one another's, and I am confident that as long as we are by one another's side, we can go and do just about anything that we dream up. 

Quiet in Trinidad

Truth be told, we hadn’t made it quite all the way to Trinidad yet, but we were south of whatever other little town we were next to. After a crazy busy month of travels and exploring (let’s recap for a moment because holy wow, this month has been action packed. We entered September in Portland and moved to another campground in Portland, then moved to Bend, Crater Lake, Grants Pass, Cave Junction, and were now somewhere south of Trinidad before ending the month in Tahoe. When Chris is working full time, we have two different sets of visitors, are coordinating flights for visitors AND Chris, this month has seemed insane. It was FUN, but a bit crazy, and planned so. I figured if Chris and I were both feeling sad about ending this trip then traveling us to the point of exhaustion would be a good way to get us to want to go home, and hey! It worked! After my parents left we looked at each other and figured all the big exciting stuff was out of the way, so we could just head home, except! We have one last great visit with my aunt and uncle in Park City and Chris’ plane trips are already purchased) so, I digress, after a crazy busy month of travels and exploring, we found ourselves in a VERY quiet place in the middle of nowhere. And that felt nice.

The week spent in the middle of nowhere was cool because we were right next to the Redwoods, a mile from the beach, and surrounded by elk. It was also the YEAR anniversary of us leaving Colorado which was perfect as San Francisco was only 350 miles away, which was the point we had made it to on the first leg of the trip so we had made it all the way around in the period of year (excluding Texas) which felt like a milestone. We spent Sunday evening watching the sunset on the beach as sea lions played in the waves and we hurried home when the temperature dropped. There was NOTHING where we were for at least a half hour, which was where Chris would be working so for the first time this year we had run into a situation where the kids and I would be at the camper the entire week. I felt fine with this until Tuesday when it was the second day in a row where the temps did not climb out of the 50’s, the air was damp, and an unmoving fog surrounded us. Chris would get home in the evenings and we would all watch the elk and listen to them bugle or go hiking in the Redwoods, but I wasn’t sure how the rest of the week was going to pan out. It was a bit of an eye opener when I felt like we were doing nothing this week and there we were, experiencing these beautiful elk graze right in front of us and listen to them as I’ve never heard them before, hiking in the redwoods and watching sea lions play in the waves. 

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny and had us up and out of the camper checking things out. There was an old school house on the grounds that was used in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and the manager saw us checking it out so he came and unlocked it for us to explore. It was pretty cool to pretend we were back in the day and we left our little school house headed for the beach. We rode our bikes down to the beach passing some grazing elk along the way. The beach was beautiful and we climbed rocks and met some beachcombers collecting agates, so we joined them unsuccessfully for a while and retired on our blanket to read our book before heading home for lunch. Thursday the kids rode bikes, I read my book and we soaked up the cool sunshine, One of our favorite nights ever will go down on the beach that Thursday as we went there for sunset and when we arrived we saw a huge herd of elk! Seeing these creatures throughout the week has been incredible, but having a huge herd standing on the beach with the sunset and crashing waves as a backdrop was beautiful. A large male was surrounded by approx. 15 females. We walked far down on the beach around them to grab some pictures, and even with our distance he watched us the entire time. When two of the females wandered closer to us he circled around them, bugling to get them in a tighter herd. What responsibility he must feel! Later two more males appeared and they all stood around bugling at one another until the other two faded back into the tall grass.

Friday had the kids working more on their "mine" (a game where they pull out shovels and saws and the hatchet and dig and chop wood and arrange it into piles) and we readied the camper (meaning I wrestled with the sewer hose that was running uphill...my how far things have come since the days when I wouldn't touch it) for when Chris got home so we could continue on our way!