Colorado

It was very good to be back in Flagstaff last weekend. Besides crashing the Pinks Reunion, we got to stay at Tamie's for good conversation, youtube trading, and awesome biscuits with egg gravy. We saw Jonah and Erica briefly and hit up a couple of sorely-missed establishments like Macy's Coffee and the White Flag Laundromat. Does anyone else get that yummy community feeling at the coin-op laundromat?

Seeing the red rocks and immense diversity of the southwest is an eyeball shocker for sure, and you find yourself amazed around every corner. In fact, I-70 through Utah is the most beautiful stretch of US freeway we've ever seen. But, but, but. Getting back to the northwest (or northwest-esque terrain) is a homecoming. The mountains, the trees, the intermittent snow. Daydreams of buying a cattle ranch were prompted, it's true.

In Colorado Springs, we stayed with my cousin, Nathan, and his wife Lauren at their new place to exchange summer adventure stories and climb around on the wall they're building in their garage. Here's Nathan:

And here's Lauren telling the tale of their hairy climb in August up the famous Long's Peak wall, which included an unexpected overnight stay mid-wall and her middle of the night backwards fall-and-head-conk-trick (the rope held, which is what it's supposed to do and why she's alive). It's one for the books.

Now we're at Kelly and Amanda's in Pueblo, where we happened to cross paths with Laura, another co-worker from Anchorage who is also on a long road trip and stopped at Kelly and Amanda's. Yay for staying up until 2 am talking about Bizarre Office Life back home. Also, I'm not saying anything specific by this comment, but the girls beat the guys in team marbles.

Here are a couple shots of baby Ella figuring out Beth.

And Jason chillin.'

on the road

Traveling fools is what we are! It has been an absolute whirlwind this three weeks. I've longed to blog, but alas, it seems that all businesses with wireless internet in the United States have gone the way of "secured networks." Bah! And I will not pay tmobile $39.99 for a month's access, that's for darn sure. I digress. Here are the four of us (Jason's Mom = Barb; her cousin = Karen) in tiny Pole Bridge, Montana, near Glacier Park:

We four left Montana at the end of September. Here's visiting Jason's cousin, Mike, his wife Megan, and 4-day old baby Jack.

Then we hung out with my cousins in Sequim, playing music until the wee hours and exploring the Sequim Bay on a cabin-cruiser boat. Autumn flew down from Anchorage for the weekend to hang out. Yay! We had been on friend deprivation otherwise.

We drove down the Oregon coast on Highway 101, and hit the Redwoods in California. Then it was off to San Francisco, where it happened to be "Fleet Week." We got to see the Blue Angels perform from our vantage point on Alcatraz! One thing about not being big planners: you experience a lot of frustration, like trying to find a campsite at 10 pm, but then you randomly run into these amazing experiences you couldn't have planned if you tried.

There was one wild night in Las Vegas where we stayed at the MGM. Well, at least we were hoping it would be a little wilder. Jason and I drank a bunch of coffee and went walking down "The Strip" until 2 am, and would you believe we were some of the last people on the street?! I guess it was a weeknight, but still.

Now we've been exploring Arizona, including the Canyon, the wonderful town of Jerome, and the like. Karen flew back home Friday to get back to her real job, so it's just the three of us for the rest of the trip. And Bethy, naturally. As of today, we're in Flagstaff Arizona at Darrell's house. It happens to be a reunion after 42 years of "The Pinks," the intermural basketball team my dad and a bunch of guys were on in high school on Kodiak island, Alaska. You see, they were, in their words, "Dweebsville Central," and lost pretty much every game. Also, as the legend goes, their name was supposed to be "The Reds" but one of them accidentally dyed their white shirts pink instead, and they had no more money to buy new shirts. In a major upset, they miraculously won the intermural championship their senior year, even beating the official school team. My dad is second from left in the original picture and third from left in the modern shot.