There were oil derricks everywhere, but we finally found a road that didn't have one at the end. We found a spot and pulled over, then let the cats out. The day was gorgeous, so we worked for a little bit, then decided to go for a bike ride farther down the road to see how it looked. The road ended at a large field that overlooked the nearby river. We walked down the hill to the river, then worked our way back up the hill to the bikes and back to the RV. Unfortunately, during that time, I got quite a nice sunburn on my back. Apparently I'm not used to that part being exposed now that I have short hair... Ooops.
The cats were super happy that they got to hang out outside a lot, so we stayed there the night. We left the next morning and kept working our way down Highway 2. We got to Havre, MT and stopped for dinner. After leaving there, Joe noticed some little girls standing outside on the sidewalk and realized it was an ice cream shop, so we stopped there and got some ice cream. We then continued on our way and made it all the way to the continental divide between East and West Glacier on the southern border of Glacier National Park. We stayed at a rest area there. The hope was to check out some of the forest this morning, but it was pouring last night and still pouring today, so we just drove on through and made it to Kalispell around 11.
We don't know how long we'll be here, but we have some work we want to do on the RV, so at least until that is done.
-Miranda
The spot we stayed at in the national forest in Minnesota.
A double rainbow we saw while driving through the rain.
The kitties following us outside at the national grassland in North Dakota.
Happy Lucy.
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Yesterday we finished packing and left the house a bit before 12. We stopped in Duluth to pick up the surf boards, then worked our way out of town to Highway 2. Highway 2 actually goes right through Kalispell, so we decided to try that route (it's shorter in miles than the interstate) since we hadn't taken that way yet.
Our aim yesterday we for the Chippewa National Forest. There looked like there were probably lots of spots we could have stayed. We picked a road and went down it. At the end, it was close to the lake in the area and a nice clearing that even had a fire pit. Unfortunately, there was also some garbage there, but not terrible. It's probably a popular place on the weekends. The cats had fun playing outside and we even used our little triangle chairs we bought at REI last year, to eat dinner down by the lake.
This morning, we left by around 10ish. We stopped in Bemidji and had a wonderful lunch at a cafe in, what I assume was, downtown. The food was excellent. They even had a homemade veggie burger, which is not always easy to find.
We're on our way again now and hope to make it to a patch of National Forest in North Dakota, but don't know if we'll make it. My allergies have been acting up a lot, so my eyes are heavy and Joe can't drive too long anymore. Who knows, we may end up at a rest area tonight. We'll see.
-Miranda
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We were talking about heading home to visit people and deal with some things, but weren't quite sure when or how. We were leaning towards taking the train and staying for only a week or two. That would have required that we leave the cats with Pat and Nancy.
After much thought and debate, we decided to just take the RV home. We had to leave immediately though because the tabs expired March 1st. So, we left Friday evening, drove until 3am and stayed that night in a rest stop near Bozeman, MT. We left in the morning and got on the road again.
North Dakota was crazy! Not only was it super cold, but it was foggy and everything was covered in frost. A gas station was creepy with how much frost there was.
We ended up running out of gas about 3 miles from exit that had gas. We might have been able to get there, but it was about 1am, so we thought it best to just stop at the rest stop that we were just passing. It was 16 when we got up in the morning (9am) and that felt warm, so I don't think I want to know how cold it was while we were asleep.
Joe talked to a guy that worked there and he just happened to have some gas in his pickup. So, we made it to the exit with the gas easily. We basically drove straight home from there and got back around 7pm.
We'll probably stay for a couple months. Once it warms up we'll most likely be heading out again.
-Miranda
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Well, we spent Monday in San Francisco. We just drove around and ended up in downtown... We even drove through Chinatown on accident! The road was super narrow, very slow and up a steep hill. Very neat looking area, but not someplace I ever want to go in an RV again... We found a small Chinese place for dinner (not in Chinatown). We then went to Golden Gate Park and spent a few hours in the Science Academy. It was very neat. Their aquarium and rain forest exhibits were very interesting. We left there to head back towards downtown for a meeting Joe had with a guy that works for Adobe. He was going to see if he could help Joe with the game any. After they got some work done, Jenny contacted us (just in time). So, we went to pick her up, then found some dinner.
We left by heading over the Golden Gate bridge. Not only was it sort of necessary when you're in San Fran, but it turns out that was the best way to avoid having to pay any bridge tolls!
It was already pretty late, so we didn't get very far. We were super tired, so couldn't make it to a rest stop. We found the first exit that looked pretty dead and stayed on the on ramp. It was cold! We left right away in the morning, had breakfast out (just a quick Subway/Starbucks stop) and found a little place in Grants Pass for a late lunch. We made it to about 50 miles south of Portland. We could have gone farther but any east of Portland, the weather was saying super cold. We left right away in the morning, only to hit the beginning of Portland's rush hour traffic. For some dumb reason, we drove through town instead. We needed gas and breakfast anyway... we found gas, and ended up getting milk for breakfast there.
While stopped at one gas station (around Spokane) we noticed there was coolant dripping out from the truck. When Joe checked it, it was really frothy. Upon looking that up, he found out that there was a high chance the head gasket was going. Since there was nothing we could do about it, we just kept going. We made it without a problem. The roads were mostly good. It's snowing lightly today and it sounds like it's supposed to snow this weekend, so apparently we have good timing.
Since we're in Kalispell now, just working, we probably won't be updating the blog very often. Just for a heads up.
-Miranda
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Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I kept meaning to get the photos uploaded before doing an update, and that kept taking longer to do than anticipated. So, this will be relatively long...
On Thursday, Laura had the day off, so she drove out to us to spend the day. We drove to a national forest nearby and climbed around on some really neat rocks. We then drove a bit farther to a man-made lake. Laura had to gt back to LA that night because she had to work early, but it was a blast having her come see us.
We left Connie's the next morning to start working out way towards San Francisco. Connie and her mother were wonderful hosts. We felt very comfortable there and had a good time being able to visit and work. That night we just found some place on the side of the road to sleep.
On Saterday we left and had decided we would just drive along Highway 1 to see the coast. We had missed that section the coast the last time we went this way because we were inland checking out the national parks.
We stopped in a cute little town for breakfast. We stopped at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon and looked around the small museum type area they had. We were too cheap to pay the $48 it would have cost for both of us to go on the tour. However, there was something much cooler down the highway. There was an Elephant Seal viewing area. We figured the chances of there actually being any around were pretty slim. Boy, we were wrong! There were a ton, everywhere! It was very neat. I took far too many photos.
One of the males was enormous! There were lots of other, smaller males that were sparring. Apparently this time of year is when they are on the beaches sparring for practice and dominance.Not long after leaving that area, we saw a couple hitchikers and stopped to pick them up. The next section of Highway 1 was following the mountainous coast. So lots of winding and hills. The views were amazing.
We stopped at one neat spot to look around. We then continued on our way and started looking for some place to stay the night. Once State Beach cost $65 per night!!! Apparently it was just a parking lot on the beach too. So crazy. We knew there was one more place just down the road, so we crossed our fingers and hoped that it was $35, which is more standard for state beaches. It was. So, we stayed there lst night.
Sam and Daniel were going to just leave from there, but it was already dark. They left, and were back within 10 minutes. Apparently they just walked in a circle and decided it would be better to just stay in the site (as Joe had offerred they could do). We spent some time chatting with them, which was fun.
This morning we stopped at Home Depot to buy them a tarp to help keep their sleeping bags from getting soaked during the night. We then found a place to drop them off in Santa Cruz. We drove around a little and ended up going to the Saturn Cafe, which is a completely vegetarian restaurant. It was quite good. Far too many options.
Our plan for the day has been to work our way towards "The City" and find a park to stay at outside of it. We drove along this awesome, windy road through Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The town before the park, called Bonny Donn is a super neat looking community. A small road winds through the very forested area, filled with Madrosa's and Redwoods. There was a girl dancing on the side of the street with an elf hat on, holding a sign, so we stopped and bought 2 cookies and hot cocoas. The state park was gorgeous! It was so nice seeing Redwoods again.
We are now in Half Moon Bay State Beach. We expected it to be expensive. The only sites that are pricey are the ones closest to the beach, otherwise they are the normal $35. Also, there's barely anyone here, so we're excited.
-Miranda
Laura and I at the top of the rocks we climbed.
Laura and Joe throwing snowballs. In CA!
A very large pine tree.
Fran, Joe, Connie and I right before we left.
A large, male Elephant Seal. There was a larger one, but the pics aren't very good.
Two young males sparring.
Daniel and Sam. The hitchhikers we picked up.
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