Welcome to California

We made it to California! Yesterday we drove from southern Oregon to Northern California into the Redwood National Park. The redwoods are pretty amazing, one minute you are driving in a tall, dark forest and the next you are driving the coast of the Pacific. We got out at one point to see the ocean, it was quiet the view. 

We just drove through the redwoods yesterday because it was getting later in the afternoon and we wanted to set up camp. We stayed at elk prairie campground right in the redwoods, it was amazing! Guess what!? There were other tenters, quiet a few actually! This was because the temperature didn't drop below 44 last night. It was nice for a change. 

Hot dogs, beans and some cribbage made for a perfect night in the redwoods.  Planning for a hike in the morning! 

Crater Lake

We left burns kind of lazily. We didn't really have a long drive ahead of us. We took the opportunity to have a nice breakfast and have a shower. Our destination for the day was Crater Lake National park. We had heard about it from people and Seen some things on TV about it. We were there, so why not!?

It took a little while to get there and when we did, it was closed! Luckily only the booth where they take your money was closed :) we drove on through and got up  to the lake. If you haven't seen or heard of this thing take a look, it was absolutely breathtaking. 

            It's a freaking volcano!

This thing is 5 miles wide and about 7 long. It has two islands and is over 2000 feet deep. One of the deepest in the world. The only water it gets is from rain and snow melt. There are no rivers flowing to it or from it. We couldn't believe it. It was formed when a volcano fell in on itself and filled with water over a period of about 800 years. Crazy. There's also something called 'The old man of the lake.' It's a centuries old tree that has been floating and bobbing its way around the lake. The cold waters have preserved the tree. What?! I know. Crazy. 

We spent a while taking some photos and marveling at this things existence and started the drive to Klamath Falls for the night. After not having a fire the other night, we bought two bundles of wood and had ourselves a grand ol' time. We had some wood left over for the morning, which was nice because we woke up to 30 degree weather! 

Until next time, we're Maureen and Andrew. This is This American Drive. 

Stay with us. 

Oregon

We have entered the third and final time zone. We are know 3 hours behind our east coast friends and family. We drove from Idaho Falls to Burns, Oregon yesterday. A lot of farms and cattle on our way. We saw truck loads of potatoes and when we entered Oregon we saw truck load of onions. Driving through some farms we could actually smell onions coming into the vents. Seemed liked we owned the road yesterday, not many other cars. 

We stayed at a family owned campground in Burns with many other RVs once again. We made quesadillas for dinner and called it an early night because there were no fires aloud. Understandable because Oregon had just gotten over those awful fires. 

When we where going to bed we were greeted by the park owners black lab, presumably out for her nightly duties. She was very friendly and wanted to come into the tent badly, man she would have kept us warm. But in the distance you could hear her owner yelling "Roxy, Roxy" and then she scurried away. In the morning we were woken by Roxy's silhouette, nose pressed against the tent, and whimpering. Guess she liked us! 

Yellowstone National Park

We spent all day at Yellowstone yesterday and it was unbelievable! Wish we could have stayed longer. You could really spend weeks there, there is so much to do and see! We were both in awe of how beautiful it was. There was a little bit of snow on the ground here and there but it got up to the mid 60s during the day and not a cloud in the sky! We met some locals from Montana shortly after entering the park. When they saw our license plate they were so excited we came from Vermont. We were chatting with them and we said, "it is nice there are no big crowds here now" they replied, "you have no idea how nice!" If you ever want to go to Yellowstone, September and October are the months to go. 

We saw some wildlife, buffalo and elk. We were hoping to see a bear, but no luck. We drove just about a quarter of the main road and pulled off at every stop we saw. Did you know Yellowstone is the size of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined- that's big!

The geysers and hot springs are unreal! The pictures won't do them justice, you have to see them first hand. They are so cool to listen to and watch them bubble. We saw old faithful and the grand prismatic spring, one of the largest hot springs in the US. The colors of all the springs are amazing! 

After Yellowstone we went to a small local restaurant in Idaho called Boondocks. It was a real locals spot, everyone knew each other's name and then there was us! The food was delicious! Mo got the portobello and avocado sandwich and Andrew got the amindine rainbow trout. Of course we both had to get some spuds with our meals. 

There was a Massachusetts license plate next to an Amherst College flag hanging in the restaurant. We asked the owners about it, turns out their daughter went to school there. Crazy! Small world.   

Land of the Spuds

We reached potato land- Idaho. From Utah we drove through Jackson Hole, Wyoming to get to Idaho. Jackson Hole is a pretty neat cowboy town. We tried to go to the Snake River Brewery here, but guess what it was closed, for a staff party! So we decided to saddle up at a bar to grab a drink...literally. They had saddles as bar stools, it was pretty cool. The bar was called Million Dollar Cowboy. We were able to get a beer from the Snake River Brewery so it kind of all worked out.

 

We walked around town a little more and then we headed to our over night spot in Driggs, ID. We rented a little cottage in Driggs, which was perfect for a little recharge for the night. We rented it from an awesome couple who owned the cottage in their back yard, along with their glass blowing studio. We picked Driggs because it is only about an hour and a half from Yellowstone National Park. Here are some pictures of the cottage, it was perfect!

 

Yesterday marked one week since we have been on the road. We are thinking it will be 7 more days until we land in L.A. At the start of the trip we started listening to an audiobook, Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck. It is a travelogue about Steinbeck's trip around the country with his poodle Charley in his camper truck. It was a sad day today because we finished it, we didn't want it to end! It was fascinating to listen to Steinbeck's stories of his travels knowing that we were going to be traveling through the same places. It is a great book and worth a read, or a listen across the country!

Stay tuned for Yellowstone!

 

Utah

Yesterday we headed north, from Colorado to Utah. It was a beautiful drive heading out of the Rockies. We entered the plateau region of northwestern Colorado and then the red rock area of Utah. It was quiet the drive, we had to remind ourselves to check if we needed gas because it could be many many miles until the next station.

 

 

We landed in Vernal, UT last night at a KOA campground. It was pretty chilly, we got the usually "umm...sure, if you want to, it's going to be cold". We were pros by now and stayed plenty warm. We had an awesome fire last night and probably the best dinner so far. Chopped up peppers, onions, potatoes, and kielbasa. 

There it is before it went over the fire, sorry no after pictures it went into our stomach too fast. After dinner we played a wonderful game of cribbage (Mo won) and called it a night. We did wake up with a lot of frost on the tent, so we had to put most of the tent into the sun to thaw. Coffee and oatmeal then we hit the road. Vernal is known as dinosaur land, many of the streets are named after dinosaurs, there are fossils and tracks all around, along with dino statues. 

 

 

Breckenridge

We made it to Breckenridge. An awesome ski town just southwest of Denver. We made a reservation here before we even started the trek because we knew we weren't going to tent it in the chilly mountains. It was 28 degrees last night with a chance of snow. Since we have been averaging about $28 a night on camping we figured we would spurged for The Lodge and Spa. It was great! Absolutely beautiful view from our room, hot tubs, mountain decor, and free breakfast! 

In the morning we walked around Breckenridge, explored the many shops, and then tried to go to the Breckenridge Brewery but they were closed for renovation. We were bummed, but we found this awesome little crepe cart and we got a turkey club crepe for lunch. Deliciousness with a view! 

We have headed north now, on our way to Utah and Yellowstone, something we have been looking forward to for a while and we are glad it is open now! 

Our drive through Colorado has been amazing. I can't tell you how many times we have said "WOW, this is amazing, crazy!" If you haven't been, you probably should go! 

Colorado

We made it to Colorado and it is beautiful here! We camped in Sterling, CO last night at a state park. It was our coldest night yet and we woke up to frost on the tent. We were all bundled up and stayed plenty warm. Being a state park there was some wildlife and preserved land all around us. We had a couple visitors during the night including some deer and a little rabbit we named Jack. We were the only ones in the campground until the evening and that is just the way we like it. Nice and quiet. I still think people think we're crazy for tenting. SO BE IT! It's the real deal and a ton of fun.

We drove from Sterling to Longmont to visit the Oskar Blues Brewery the makers of Dale's Pale Ale. The drive was amazing because we moved from the beautiful prairie country of Colorado to the unbelievable Colorado Rockies. The mountains are snow capped and just gorgeous: a sight to see that is for sure!

The brewery was a lot of fun! We got a sampler of their 7 most popular beers. Of course Dales Pale is their most popular, but some of the other beers we haven't heard of that much. We loved them all. The stout was exactly something you would want in the winter sitting at a bar watching the snow fall. It was around 60 degrees today so it didn't quite fit, but it was still good! 

Some murch and some pictures later and we were on our way to lunch. Colorado holds some of the coolest and first micro breweries and we're excited to visit a few of them. Tomorrow we are looking to go to Breckenridge Brewery just down the road. 

Stayed tuned for more Colorado!

Corn, corn and more corn.

Not too much to post on today's adventures. In order to make a reservation in Colorado we need to put some miles behind us. Seeing as how there isn't really much to see in Nebraska we decided to drive right through. We were wrong. There is something to see: CORN! Miles and miles and miles of brown, dried corn. It's actually pretty amazing how much there is and how little civilization there is along the interstate. It's also cool to see all of the machinery harvesting the corn and all of the irrigation systems. 

Something I don't mind about driving out here? The gas prices!! We only paid $3.04 for unleaded today. Outrageous. 

We also took the time to replace our front tires. After our little incident in Chicago yesterday we figured it would be a good idea. We stopped in Omaha to get this done and quickly were on our way. 

Hopefully tonight we will be in Colorado. 

P.S.

These exist: it's a gas station all over Iowa. Yikes. 

PEACE!

The Windy City

We decided to stay in a hotel last night just outside of Chicago, instead of a campground an hour away. We felt like a King and Queen, sleeping in a real bed. Chicago is a really cool city and we were able to do quite a bit in just the short time we were there. First stop was deep dish pizza at Pequods in Lincoln Park. Paired with some Goose Island American Pale Ale, brewed right here in Chicago. The pizza might not look to appetizing but man was it good, layers and layers of cheesy goodness. 

 

Next, we thought we'd stop to see some blues, we were told it was the thing to do in Chicago. But we are on a budget and didn't want to spurge for the cover charge, so we went to bed. 

In the morning we got up early and did some sightseeing: Wrigley Field, millennium park, cloud gate aka "the bean", and searched for a Chicago style hot dog.

Cloud gate is something else! It's amazing to see the city reflected on the structure and it's fun to see all the people taking self portraits (or selfies if you prefer). A lot of hand prints on it, does it ever get cleaned? 

Before we hit the road we stopped for a Chicago Dog, which had more toppings than dog! There was meat in there somewhere and t'was delicious! 

Oh, forgot to mention in the middle of the excitement of the city we had to change a tire. Andrew went to park on a side street and went a little too close and POP. We were able to change it pretty fast with the full spare we had, now all is good. Also, we are proud to say we have only used the GPS once and that was to find the restaurant last night. We have been sticking to the old fashion paper maps, which are awkwardly large but a lot more fun! 

Sneak peak at tomorrow's post: Corn!