Bittersweet and relief - I have mixed feelings about our trip ending. Eric is more of a traveling gypsy than me. I was tired of living out of a car and tent and not having access to faucets and showers. We've been in Sandy, Oregon outside of Portland for a week now. My brother, Greg, and sister-in-law, Anja, rented a house in Sandy and invited us to stay with them until we can get back on our feet. It is so nice sleeping on a mattress and having a warm home with family in it!! We are always blessed whereever we go. Hopefully, we can make it back East by the holidays, if not shortly after the New Year. We are excited to be near our families again. We plan on settling in Asheville, North Carolina.

On September 18, we left Southern California and enjoyed Joshua Tree National Park. Heading north, we skirted Phoenix, Arizona and headed north. Agua Fria National Monument was right off the highway and a great free place to camp with some cool petroglyphs. Arriving in Oak Creek just outside of Sedona, our heads swiveled around in the car at all the red rock. Eric was amazed at the exact hues of the rock and how that hue was complimentary of the evergreens dominating the area. Then we splurged for a hotel room! Slide Rock State Park was a cool place for a splash in the creek. We went out to dinner at the Oak Creek Brewery in Sedona and visited the Church of the Red Rock the next morning.

Moving further north, Flagstaff was a cool town. We walked all over admiring the historic blocks. Old Crow Medicine Show was playing at the Orpheum two nights away. We devised a plan to camp outside of town to wait for the show, but decided the money is better spent to continue traveling. Off we went to the Grand Canyon...

South Kaibab Trail was some hot steep going. It was neat to camp at Bright Angel Campground and visit Phantom Ranch. Our second night in the Grand Canyon was at the Indian Gardens Campground, and then we hiked Bright Angel Trail up to the rim. About a mile from the rim, I had left my cell phone on and got a call from my Dad. He wished us a happy 1st anniversary for the next day, September 26th. He had just picked up tickets for a UT football game that weekend, and was excited. Eric and I drove east towards the Navajo Nation when my cell phone rang again. It was my parents' neighbour and our good friends, Kerry and Holly. They told me they thought my Dad had a heart attack.

As of today, my Dad is recovering beautifully. It's been two weeks since we were in shock and panic on a dark road in Arizona. Dad is going to travel across the country in a U-Haul with my brother Greg so he can complete his move to Oregon. Greg is really looking forward to this time spent with his father. And I can't wait to see Dad again. (I can't wait to see Momma too!)

Eric and I spent our 1st anniversary in Springdale, Utah near Zion National Park. We stayed at a nice hotel and had a great romantic dinner compliments of Momma Laurinda, Eric's Ma, and my Dad. After hiking a few trails in Zion, we explored Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks. We buzzed Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho, on our way back to Oregon. Our car chugged along the Columbia River and to the home of Greg and Anja.

Which brings us to the present and my last post about our 2009 Travels. We've been applying to jobs like crazy this past week - all four of us! Eric and I found a great group of people to fellowship while we are here - Calvary Gresham. A few folks at Calvary invited us to go bowling, and made us feel right at home. I miss Mom and Dad in Tennessee, and Laurinda, Rob, Phil, Lexi, and Gabe in Cincinnati. Our time with family is precious, but it also is important for Eric and I to finally have a physical place to call home that is our own. So I am excited to get to Asheville and live with Eric alone.

Thank you so much for keeping up with me, for thinking about me enough to visit this website, and even keeping in touch with me. Traveling across the country was such a blessing in so many ways. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do something I've longed to do since high school. At times, it was hard and I didn't appreciate it. And other times, I was soaring absorbing all the different environments. Eric and I have lots of funny stories to remember and interesting moments. There's not much else to say right now except, God bless you.

A somber day marking the anniversary of a terrible tragedy in US history; a happy one because we made it to Southern California after sweating out the 100+ degree heat of Death Valley and the Mojave. Now we are at a crux of the journey: where do we go now? Do we continue on to the Southwest and maybe settle for western North Carolina? We could go back up to Portland and postpone our Southwest yearnings for another year? Sigh... we are looking, praying, and discussing. 

Anyhow, I left you with the Oregon Coast. We visited Redwood National Park after crossing the California stateline. We hiked a nice 12-mile dayhike through several great stands of coastal redwoods and a nice walk along the beach near Gold Bluffs. So many little stories and funny details when you are on the road! I could write a book... but won't here. Keeping to an outline, we drove down Highway 1 to Sonoma County where we spent a Sunday morning with the good folks at Calvary Chapel Santa Rosa, and a few stops at the wineries as well! Heading back towards the coast down to San Francisco, we camped at the Haypress campsite in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in what they call, "Tennessee Valley." Ahhh....

After touring San Fran and the great SF MOMA (Modern Art Museum), we beelined it to Yosemite where we secured a 2-night backpack permit. Our first night in the Yosemite Valley was at Camp 4. We hiked out of the valley on the Mist Trail all the way past Little Yosemite Valley to Merced Lake High Sierra camp. Was a tough day, but the next day was shorter hiking back to Little Yosemite near Half Dome. Our last day, we hiked up to the cables at Half Dome where Eric continued up to the spectacular top! Having down the cables and summit before, I remember being terrified hanging on the cables looking down into Tenaya Canyon so I opted to sit it out and let him have his own experience.

Leaving Yosemite, we spent a night in Tuolumne Meadows before we toured the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the Inyo National Forest where the oldest organisms in the world live - 4000-year old trees. Very gnarly looking! In another part of Inyo National Forest, we secured a permit to hike up Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States. That was a 2-night backpack in the land where you "pack out your own poo." I do not like this part of the experience and of course, will not elaborate here. So... Eric liked the idea of doing the highest point and the lowest. After recollecting ourselves, we drove over to Death Valley National Park where we panted out a drive to Badwater, 290 below sea level. We did see a few hikers that we met on Mt. Whitney so we weren't the only ones with this grand plan! Our temp gauge in our car reached 114 degrees! We drove out to the Mojave Desert to Baker, California where we indulged in a cheap motel room. It took til 5 in the morning for the air conditioner to get our room a comfortable temperature, but we slept good. We felt much bravado for driving through the Death Valley and the Mojave without the AC on in the car.

Which brings me to, Carol Ann Lawhon, who is getting married January 16th! I am so happy for her and Brett!! Oops - here she comes biking in from work so I must post this and give her hug! We haven't seen each other in years!! Yay!! God bless you who reads this!  

Oh happy day!! We cross into California today! Another state down... What? Of course, I will fill you in!

 Leaving Greg and Anja in the Columbia River Gorge was a sad day indeed. We had alot of fun and relaxation with them eating well and enjoying good beer and wine. We went to Full Sail Brewery in Hood River, which was neat, and watched all the windsurfing that the area is so famous for.

Eric and I drove through Portland and took Route 26 to Tillamook. Once we got into town, we went to Tillamook Cheese Factory and ate cheese and ice cream. Wooo! Then we found the Air Museum at the lil airport where a makeshift campground was available for five bucks a night!! A sunsight drive took us around Cape Meares and to the hamlet of Oceanside. It was Saturday night and everyone was having beachfires. We walked around the beach a bit and continued on. We woke up in the morning to a small jet taking off. Was pretty neat. The next day, we joined the Mi-We-Wa Christian Church congregation - a christian camp and small chapel right on the beach. It was a slow-going day.

Continuing on Highway 101, we stopped in Newport and bought fresh LingCod and some salmon jerky. We also caught a lecture at the Visual Arts Gallery about Conde B. McCullough and his beautiful bridges. A handful of the bay and river bridges in this area were managed by him and his hard-working team in the 1930s to "bring Oregon up out of the mud." His bridges are special because they feature "Art Deco" artistry on the pilons, spires, and railings. Sure enough, after we were educated we crossed the bridge to the Rogue River Brewery and noticed the beautiful lines and flutes. (And Greg was right, Rogue River Brewery wasn't as nice as Full Sail, but I tried the Chipotle and Juniper brews!)

A sidenote: The People's Coast is a good name for this oceanfront. With all the state parks preserving the beaches, there isn't much room for big resorts and chain hotels gobbling up the sights. Lots of camping and RVing to be had here instead. We noticed that the towns reminded us of the atmosphere along the Gulf Coast in Florida although the coastal terrain is entirely different with neat rock formations called sea stacks sprinkled along and nice open beaches in between with not much traffic. However, we noticed that without the resorts and other establishments that tend to saturate coasts in Florida, it affects the economy of the towns too. Good thing and bad thing, but interesting.

We stayed the night at Carl G. Washburn State Park. The Heceta Head and Lighthouse was beautiful! All the sea lions that sometimes hang out in the largest sea cave in the world were actually hanging out near Heceta Head below the wall next to Highway 101. So you could pull off and look down at them curled up on the rocks below barking and making strange noises. There is a private establishment owned by a family since the 1930s where you can pay to take an elevator down to the sea cave, but we didn't go down. Arriving at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, we stayed at the Myrtlewood Campground. When we were watching the sunset over the lagoon there, a woman walked up that was also traveling like us in a Ford Explorer, but sleeping in the car each night. Eric and I had been discussing where we want to be for the winter months. I've been frustrated with living out of our car lately and not sure where God was going to lead us. Maybe He is going to allow us to make a decision and bless it? Am I listening and praying enough? All these things have been worrying me, which I know I shouldn't do. I fried up the fresh fish with parmesan and flour, and we ate.

The next day, we sat on the beach listening and watching the waves. Eric sculpted a really neat slug out of sand. We kept waiting for the incoming tide to flood the slug, but decided to leave and canoe the Siltcoos River to the lagoon. Maybe we would see the nesting Snowy Plovers? Later on that day, we camped outside of Coos Bay at a county park, which was one of the worst sites in a while. I won't describe the behaviour of several neighbours at that park on this blog. Coos Bay has a neat farmer's market on Wednesdays. We used their library extensively to apply to a small moutain lodge in Colorado of which we are pretty excited about.

Sooo.... that brings us down the People's Coast to Gold Beach, which is a great town at the mouth of Rogue River. We crossed another beautiful Art Deco bridge and will be crossing across the stateline into California in about an hour. I just got off the phone with my sweet Pa - he will be mailing me my laptop to my girlfriend's, Carol Ann, place in Orange County. She is getting married January 16th - I am so excited for her and I hope to help out with any details she needs while we spend a week with her. Our immediate plans is to visit the Redwoods National Park, drive along Highway 1 along the California Coast for a bit. I miss all my special people and you should know who you are! God bless you and keep you and protect you!!  

Seven years ago, when I was a technical writer and the company I was working for had not adopted strict rules yet, I used to listen online to KOHO radio out of Wenatchee, Washington. When you listen to a radio station, you start to imagine what the area would be like. When we drove from Dry Falls State Park in eastern Washington state towards Wenatchee, we listened to KOHO radio with our car antenna! We popped into Leavenworth (it was 105 degrees that day!) and listened to German polka music as we walked down the sidewalk. Leavenworth is alot like Helen, Georgia - a German/Swiss Alpine-themed town outside of Atlanta near the Appalachian Trail. It was a neat town, but Eric and I favored Helen a bit more. After leaving the Wenatchee area, we drove north to the Methow Valley where we slowed down because of the heat. We stayed in the tiny town of Twisp for about 3 days with a sidetrip into Winthrop. One day we spent the entire afternoon in the Twisp River with a few other town folks due to the heat. We loved Twisp and visited the Calvary Chapel there Sunday morning to worship. That experience was very special to me as we were invited to walk down the dusty footpath from the church to the river after the service to support two baptisms - a 5-year old and a 50-year old. We then had potluck lunch with everyone afterwards. The paster and his sweet, sweet wife and seven children (I wish I would have wrote down their names) were all wonderful folks as well as the other people we met. I didn't want to leave!

We spent the night on Diablo Lake in the North Cascades National Park. The water was so green and very cold - perfect for triple digits. Moving along, we looked up a hostel in Seattle because the ferry north of Seattle to get to Olympic Peninsula was broken down. Eric and I strolled Pike Place Market several times and walked all over the downtown area. I think we drank 10 dollars worth in coffees and we only stayed one night in Seattle!!

Which brings us to the first time we experienced the Pacific Ocean together. We drove to the Makah Indian Reservation on the very westerly point of the contiguous U.S. It was a 2-mile hike to Shi Shi Beach. We camped, had a bottle of wine from the Okanagan Winery in eastern Washington to celebrate, and made some friends sharing our fire with nice folks. Since our honeymoon on the Outer Banks in North Carolina in September/October of 08, we traversed the North American continent from Atlantic to Pacific. It was a good feeling... The next night, we camped a mile up from Rialto Beach outside of Forks and La Push where the Twilight craze is currently going on (I hesitantly admit that I bought the third book of the series in Forks and was so mad at myself!!). We also backpacked 5 miles into the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park.

Mt. Rainier National Park is a beauty and is top on our list if we had to rate the lands we have seen so far on this trip. We backpacked 3 nights there and waded through wildflowers and marmots and marmots eating wildflowers and glaciers crumbling before our eyes. I don't think we saw the peak of Mt. Rainier the entire time because the clouds continued to obscure it. No matter - the mountain folds around it and the tips of the glaciers provided a feast for our eyes enough. We grabbed a motel in Packwood, and after that, we headed down to the Columbia River Gorge at Cascade Locks with a sidetrip to Mt. St. Helens. We crossed over to Oregon.

After a quick visit to a Super Walmart for an oil change, Eric and I made a quick afternoon trip to downtown Portland to Powell's City of Books and Voodoo Donuts. I liked Powell's Books. We enjoyed Portland's atmosphere and reflected on the different sides of downtown.

Our two-night backpack up Ruckel Creek along the Pacific Crest Trail and down the famous Eagle Creek Trail was fantastic. Tunnel Falls was a sight to see, and we were tickled to have our four feet and backpacks on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Which brings us to meeting up with my brother Greg and sister-in-law Anja. After Eric and I caught up on our laundry across the river in Stevenson, we hurried to Ainsworth State Park between Cascade Locks and Portland along the Columbia. There they were with their truck and pull-behind camper with their dogs Jessie and Alex. I couldn't believe it! All of us took the risk of following our travel dreams and traveled across America - following our own routes and now we meet at the Oregon/Washington stateline in one of the prettiest big river gorges I had ever seen. Big hugs all around. We celebrated with local brews all around and home-cooked dinner compliments of Greg and Anja!

So here I am, in the Stevenson library using Greg and Anja's laptop. Saturday, the 22nd, we will all part ways. They will be headed where we been, and we will be headed where they have been. Only God could allow such timing. We fished at Lost Lake yesterday near Mt. Hood and the day before we walked the International Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. The four of us talked to Mom and Dad this morning on the speakerphone too! We are all so blessed to have each other. Anja and I miss Tennessee and we talked about how beautiful Tennessee is. I do miss being around family and I cherish this time with Greg and Anja. Sorry it took so long to update you, but thanks for checking in! God bless.

The mountain scenery of turqoise- and milk-colored rivers, of dusty roads through hillsides of fragrant sage, elk roaming through small-town main streets... Of wildflower bouquets growing among rocks at the foot of glaciers, petal-heads looking down into emerald valleys. These are no longer from stories told, but real memories that Eric and I have of Montana and Canada. What a beautiful country we have! Our sidetrip into the Canadian Rockies was fantastic as well!

After leaving Yellowstone, we meandered through Montana with a stop in a ghost town, a paddle on Clearwater River and the North Fork of the Flathead, fishing on a glacier lake (not good fishing), and a drive on the famous Going-to-the-Sun road - not even mentioning our exploits of Canada! Starting with our hike in Jewel Basin, south of Glacier National Park, we marveled at how green Twin Lakes were. The town of Polebridge on the west side of Glacier NP was sweet and off the grid. The mercantile there teases tourists by baking cookies and pastries all day long that you can smell as soon as you open the car door! We camped on Bowman Lake - a primitive park campground. A grizzly had been wandering the campground for a few nights we heard, but we didn't see him. We crossed Glacier park at Logan's Pass and walked around mountain goats. Their coast were snow white and seemed pretty tame to all the tourists passing by and snapping photos. I got a photo of a baby goat snoozing in the rocks. Our campsite at Cut Bank Campground on the east side of Glacier was excellent.

After passing throug customs and a short stop in Fort Macleod, Alberta, we buzzed the city of Calgary, then shot west through Banff to Yoho National Park. Our home for two days was Takkakka Falls Campground - at the base of the largest waterfall in Canada. Or one of the largest... From Takkakka, we hiked around 12 miles along glaciers on the Iceline Trail and along milky rivers swollen with summer snowmelt. Yoho was fantastic and magestic. Not overshadowing Glacier National Park in Montana - but just different both having unique character that mountain ranges do. I can't make this a long post as the library here in Colville, Washington has a 30-minute limit on the computer. Plus, we need to get back on the road heading west to the North Cascades. I must say I am thrilled to be in Washington State!! I used to listen to an Americana radio station out of Wenatchee and always wanted to set my eyes on this part of the country. Eric and I are reading "Blue Highways" together by William Least Heat Moon. It's his journey of driving on the backroads around America and the account of Kentucky and Tennessee this morning made me a bit homesick. But, as my Pa says, you're having the trip of a lifetime so enjoy it! That I am and will. Enjoy the pics!

www.angelfire.com/freak2/kristinadean/thetoombspctpics/index.album

Our first stop in Wyoming was Pinedale. We gave in and bought our first hotel room. It was right on the river and we could hear it all night so it was still close to the outside! The Wind River Range was majestic and if I could rewind, I would have spent more time there. There are so many snowy peaks and naked green foothills. I get too ahead of myself and want to move on and see new things. Anyway, the overlook into Long's Lake in the Bridger-Teton National Forest outside of Pinedale was breathtaking.

We didn't spend much time in Jackson at all but to get gas and drive through to the Tetons. Before we buzzed Jackson, we soaked in Granite Hot Springs Swimming Pool. A formal pool filled with warm water flowing out of Granite Creek right into the pool. We camped for free along the forest road.

Grand Teton National Park was beautiful. It's a small one, but the peaks do rise out of the valley floor. No foothills there like Wind River, but Wind River Range went on and on. We paddled Jenny Lake to Cascade Canyon, which is the most popular thing to do. No matter - we were tourists seeing the Grand Tetons for the first time. We camped right outside at Lower Slide Lake, Afton Creek National Forest Campground. The next morning, we put our canoe below Jackson Lake dam into the Snake River. Was a great paddle with lots of wildlife. We hitched a ride back to the car, and in no time, we left Grand Teton and headed north for Yellowstone.

Our days in Yellowstone were more amusement park-like than a wilderness experience. We drove from one area of the park to the next getting in and out of the car walking along wooden boardwalks with hundreds of other folks oohing and aahing over each spring, geyser, mudpot, and fumarole. Looking back, my favorite part of the park was Mammoth near Montana. The mountains were dramatic there and I like the historic feel to the park village there. So this morning, we soaked in the Gardiner River at the confluence of the Boiling River where 160 degree water meets, probably, 50 degree water. You could feel the hot and cold streaks of water. It was lovely.

On a personal side and non-sightseeing side, after we entered Wyoming, my mom called me to tell me my Uncle Horst passed away. It was around Rock Springs, Wyoming. My Uncle Horst was like a grandpa to me. He taught me how to play tennis, and used to sing the Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-dotted Bikini song to me since I was a little girl. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see him in the past two years because he and my Tante Karin live in Bremerhaven, Germany. So as we drove through the beautiful countryside, I am often very sad. God bless you!!

www.angelfire.com/freak2/kristinadean/thetoombspctpics/index.album.

"This is the most beautiful countryside I've seen so far on this trip!" Eric announced. We were 20 miles east of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. When we dipped down into Colorado from South Dakota, we headed straight for Ft. Collins and stayed with my cousin Page Peters. Page, her husband, Michael, her son Michael, and her two daughters, Abby and Nicolette were as sweet as could be. During our stay in Ft. Collins, we took an afternoon to visit the Denver Art Museum. They had a great collection of modern and contemporary art. After visiting the New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins with Page and Michael (we had a great private tour with their family friend), we left the Peters and headed for the mountains.

The backpacking in Rocky Mountain National Park was extreme! Our hike out of Bierstadt Lake on Boulder Brook to Boulderfield below Longs Peak was a new experience. We crept up out of treeline and headed for Granite Pass. Staring at the impressive rock faces and curves jutting up into the cloudy sky, we thought that was Granite Pass! No, it was Long's Peak! We tried camping at above 12,000 feet at Boulderfield campsite, but the winds ripping across the table lands below the Keyhole flattened our tents into our faces. At around 11 o'clock pm, we could no longer stand to hold our poles. We just wanted sleep. "You ready to pack it up and git?" I flicked my flashlight on and nodded. Nighthiking down back below treeline took us several hours picking our way across the boulder field and down to Granite Pass again. Wrapping up our backpack, the next day we enjoyed stepping across a small snowfield to Chasm Lake. Each day brought at least two thunderstorms! We camped at Moore Park below Estes Cone and climbed Estes Cone to 11,000 feet. Up on the Cone, we ran into a nice couple from Knoxville, TN!! Chris and Beth Ann were traveling for a month out west before heading back to Knoxville to continue their PHd's at the university. She is an English major too! After talking with them, we resumed the Storm Pass back to the park-and-ride. Driving Trail Ridge was scary and fantastic at the same time.

Rewinding a bit, South Dakota was impressive. The Badlands were unique! We zipped across South Dakota through the night arriving at 3 in the morning... well 2 in the morning because we crossed into Mountain Time Zone. We dayhiked the Notch Trail and drove through the park viewing prairie dogs and buffalo from the car. Rapid City provided some quick grocery shopping and then we zipped back out into the Black Hills where we buzzed by Mount Rushmore before we found a the National Forest Campground of Ditch Creek. Beautiful! The morning before we arrived in Ft. Collins, we drove through Custer State Park. The buffalo were practically milling around our car! There were burros too that would try to stick their heads into your car window begging for food! A couple we befriended in Isle Royale National Park, Jenny and Marty, suggested Custer State Park - great tip! After Custer, we toured Wind Cave, which was interesting. There weren't many stalagmites and tites in that cave, but lots of "boxwork." It was 53 degrees in the cave, which was a nice break from the mountain sun.

So now, we are in the Steamboat Springs Library and will be, hopefully, in the Wind River Range, Wyoming tonight. I have been reiterating me and my brother Nick's ski trip about a decade or so ago when we drove across Kansas and to this very town for a fantastic ski trip! I love those memories... Turns out my folks had a great trip to Alaska. Dad said they ate salmon and halibut each night, they walked on a glacier, and drove to Denali, but didn't really get to see it. Nonetheless, the trip up to Denali was neat. I better sign off! May God bless you who is reading this - thanks for catching up with us!

Tina & Eric Toombs

P.S. I tried posting the pics on this blog, but they are too gigantic and unwieldy so sorry for that inconvenience. All pics are in the album at: www.angelfire.com/freak2/kristinadean/thetoombspctpics/index.album.

Hello from Mankato, Minnesota! We will be in South Dakota tonight! Wrapping up our five days canoeing and portaging in the Boundary Waters, we had a fantastic trip! It was very hard what with 23 miles and 13 portages total. Not much ground covered, but we got alot of fishing in. The mayflies filled up most of the fish so it was hard getting the fish to bite. Eric pulled out a smallmouth out of Sawbill Lake (the Tofte district) the first day. Another smallie the second day out of Cherokee, and hooked a Northern Pike in beautiful little Sitka Lake... and he caught a Walleye on Smoke. I was jealous... I just pulled a smallmouth out on the last day out of Smoke. Most areas were very very buggy and we spent 80% of the trip with bug nets around our heads. I am scratching a mosquito bite right now! Our last night was wonderful on Smoke Lake. We found a great campsite with the wind coming right through - great firewood, and we even had a little wine to celebrate the fourth of July! At around midnight, a bear came and wouldn't leave us alone. He stole our food and ate all of it - I didn't do a good job of hanging it properly. That will change in the future because he really scared us! Finally, we allowed him to drive us out of the campsite at around 5 in the morning.  Big bad bear wasn't afraid of us at all!  The Boundary Waters is fantastic - saw a few more cow mooses with babies, and Mergansers with their babies.

After leaving the BWCAW, we headed to Duluth, after speaking with a nice fisherman at Sawbill put-in who suggested we buzz the town.  We loved Duluth - they really did a great job revitalizing the downtown area. Had such an interesting character. We dropped into the Duluth Pack Store to check out the hooplah. Spoke to a young man about doing the Appalachian Trail. We also thought of the couple that we met on the Isle Royale ferry ride, Marty and Jennifer who said they lived in Duluth. We could see why they were proud of living there! Sharing a shelter in Windigo due to the unexpected delay on getting to mainland, we talked alot with them - they are getting married this September!

Heading south, we arrived at Bunker Hill Campground outside of Minneapolis. We also buzzed Minneapolis downtown and visited the Walker Art Museum sculpture garden. Bridge Spoon to Cherry was pretty crazy - most of the sculptures were of the 80s. We mused. Changing the entire mood, we scooted over to the Mall of America and rode a little coaster inside. Hilarious!

The traveling has been great and the folks we meet have been so nice! It's hard too what with missing family and friends. My uncle in Germany is not in good health - lung cancer and two strokes. I've been thinking and praying alot about him... My folks are headed to Alaska tomorrow for a nice trip! I am so excited for them! And they promised to call as soon as they land...

Thanks Pa for posting the June 23rd post for me!! That sounds just like you! I miss you and Mom already!!! We did love the area around Carp River in the Michigan Upper Peninsula, but we were glad to move on. Pukaskwa National Park was stunning - take a look at the pics and of our pics of Isle Royale on the picture gallery link of Footpounder.

Well... I am reeling from this morning and yesterday. Our trip to Isle Royale National Park in the northwest corner of Lake Superior contained every emotion and feeling within 6 days to last one many months of experiencing. I have only 9 more minutes on this computer at the library in Grand Marais. We did our laundry and did some grocery shopping here after stepping off the ferry in Grand Portage this morning. We were supposed to arrive yesterday, but Lake Superior tossed the Voyageur II around like a toy boat. At one point on the ride from Rock Harbour to Windigo (with the intention of going mainland), I was staring out the foggy window of the cabin focusing hypnotically on the land. My stomach was so queasy I had to concentrate on not letting my cookies loose. Two people behind me and three or four beside me were vomiting uncontrollably as the boat rocked side to side and up and down in three- to five- and even a few nine-foot waves. (The ferry, I was told through hearsay, was designed for up to 10- and 11-foot waves!) The captain, a very talented man, maneuvered the Voyageur II into the safety of Washington Cove, Windigo. We all clapped we were so happy. The green-faced group we were stayed one unexpected night in Windigo because the ferry was not to go out again until 5 the next morning. I was so relieved.

 Anyway, enough of commenting on the scary drama even though we thought the ferry ride back to mainland from Rock Harbour was the most interesting part of our trip.

Before that - we enjoyed 4 days of exploring the length of the Island on the Greenstone Ridge, the Minong, the West Chickenbone, the Lake Richie, and the Rock Harbour Trails. We saw big hares, many loons with their babies, two cow mooses (one with her baby in Washington Creek at dawn). Bugs chewed on every part of our bodies and for three days we sweated our clothes and gears through. We kept having flashbacks of the north woods in Maine in June, but this was on an island!

Ooops.. gotta go. Gonna get mean mugs if I don't get off this computer!

We have resumed our nomadic adventures out west !!

Left Cincinnati Sunday June 21^st , summer solstice, heading north on I 75 driving 440 mi. to Carp River campground which is 10 mi. north of St Ignace, Mi. (45 mi. south of Sault Sainte Marie Canadian border). The mosquitoes and flies at the campground were awful and caused us to burn our noodles and made us eat inside our tent. Camping is Great!!! Thought we would cook pancakes for breakfast but ended up eating breakfast bars and GOT THE H outa there. We got a Gitmo type interrogation at the Canadian border after the customs agent asked us where we worked and we told him we didn't. Alas! They let us go, we exchanged some money bought a Cuban cigar because we could and headed off to Wawa and Pukaskwa National Park. We set up camp in the National Park and took a hike because it was still light at 10:00PM. The park is on the north shore of Lake Superior so we decided to canoe the lake to see what we could see. To our surprise the lake felt more like the ocean with it's major swells when we got very far from the shore. We got smart and turned back. Today, after finally enjoying a pancake breakfast, we are enjoying the beach at Terrace Bay, Ont. and heading toward Thunder Bay. Tomorrow, June 24^th,we will be hiking on the Isle Royale Nat'l Park Island in Lake Superior until June 28^th PM with probably no cell phone reception. The next adventure is canoeing MN boundary waters and leave MN by July 5^th.