Rocky Mountain

On Wednesday we pulled into Rocky Mountain National Park around 10:30 at night. It was already dark and I had previously reserved a campsite that you had to hike into. Thankfully it was a very short hike. In the dark it seemed to be an amazing campsite and I couldn't wait to see what it looked like in the morning when the sun came up. 

It was beautiful! Definitely one of the best campsites I've had before (in a public campground). The view was beautiful and the site was somewhat secluded from other sites.

We even saw some wildlife when we were packing up. There were several mule deer just hanging out in the campground. 

Once we got packed up, we went off to explore the park. 

We arrived at the Alpine Visitor Center about 20 minutes before the opened. This was fine because there was a challenging altitude hike up a large set of stairs to a viewpoint at 12,005ft elevation. I did this last year on my quick visit and wanted to show Donny the amazing views from the top. So we headed up the stairs making sure to take our time because of the elevation. 

The view from the top was amazing, as expected. Most of the pictures must be on Donny's phone because I don't have any on mine. Sorry! 

When we got back down, the visitor center was open. I couldn't wait to go in and get my National Parks Passport stamped. I stamped my passport and picked up a couple things to buy when all of a sudden I got super nauseated and almost passed out. Donny was standing behind me and the lady across the counter could see how pale I got real quick. She ran out and hurried me over to a seat. Donny was caught off guard because he really didn't know what happened. I just threw my money at him and told him to pay. Lol. After he paid he came over and I had him go get me some water. At that moment I started getting super hot and had to start peeling layers. I had on my down jacket, a long sleeve shirt and a TShirt. Yes, it was cold out. They still have snow mounds in the parking lots. A few minutes later an EMT came over and was talking with me to make sure I was ok. Turns out, he's from PA too! We talked and basically boiled it down to the fact that I only had 4 hours of sleep the night before and wasn't drinking enough water. He advised me to "get down" to lower elevation as soon as possible, even though I already had a couple hikes planned to do. 

We listened to him and went ahead and headed down to lower elevation. We did stop at Milner Pass, which is where the Continental Divide crosses the road. I had planned on hiking a mile into the trail and standing on the Divide there, but I still wasn't feeling well enough for that. So, we settled for a picture at the sign. 

Then we went down a little further to Green Mountain trailhead where I had planned a 3 mile hike on the Continental Divide Trail back to a big meadow that is supposed to be a great spot for seeing Elk and Moose. We hiked a few yards and decided just to go get lunch somewhere. 

We left Rocky Mountain Park knowing that we want to go back again. There is so much to do there! 

We stopped in the town of Granby, CO for lunch. Granby is the town of Killdozer. A man tried to bulldoze many buildings in the town in 2009. It was National News. You can find news videos on YouTube. It was a pretty interesting story. 

From there we drove through Colorado and into Utah. 

Next Stop: Arches National Park!

REIs Along the Way

The past couple of days have mostly been driving. We started out in Indiana yesterday morning and drove through Indy, Illinois and stopped in Missouri to see my best friend, Gretchen. Today we are driving from Missouri to Colorado. 

On Saturday we went to the REI in Pittsburgh, though not the one I work at. I wasn't planning on stopping at REI because I figured we had everything we needed. But at some point, we decided to stop at various REIs along the way. 

At this point we have stopped at REI Indianapolis, REI St. Louis and REI Overland Park (Kansas). By far, the best of those 3 was St. Louis. Indianapolis and Overland Park are very new and they have a completely different vibe to them. They are much more "retail" and give a very "department store" feel. St. Louis was more like the REIs in Pittsburgh and San Diego, which is what I am accustomed to. 

The REI in Overland Park is a stand alone building like REI San Diego. REI Indianapolis is in a plaza like REI Conshohocken (Philladelphia). The St Louis store is in a shopping center similar to the ones in Pittsburgh and Chula Vista (San Diego). 

Indianapolis

St. Louis

Overland Park 

The new REIs had a lot of really neat decor, despite looking like a department store. Their sleeping bag rack was really functional and organized, and their shoe wall was fancy with pegs, lighting and a wall display. 

Indianapolis

Indianapolis (say hi to Justin)

Overland Park

Overland Park (love the topographical map boards). 

I found it really interesting that St Louis has oars on their doors instead of the traditional ice ax. I'm going to have to ask my store manager about that and see if he knows the story behind that, as I believe he is from the St Louis area. 

As far as product goes, they all pretty much had the same things Settler's Ridge (my store) does. I did find that they all seemed to Cary Arc'teryx clothing, where as we really only carry their outerwear. And St Louis had some different snacks, which I got a few of to try. 

The Epic bar was disgusting. The olives were good. The honey stinger was predicable. 

I also liked this flyer that St Louis had at the registers. This would be great to stick into non-member's bags or staple to their receipts with a membership slip. 

I would love to stop at an REI in Colorado, but we are already pushing a 10:00pm arrival into our campsite at Rocky Mountain National Park. I'll save a visit to a CO REI store for another day. 

Good girl, Patsy!

Just want to give a super quick update on the Jeep. I had been having trouble with the transmission overheating for the past year. Whenever I drove on the highway at 70mph on cruise when it was about 80+ degrees out, the transmission overheat light would come on and my transmission would act all goofy. I had to deal with this on the entire road trip from CA to Pa last year. I had taken it into the dealership (actually, 2 different dealerships) last year and no one could figure out what was wrong with it. 

I went all winter with nothing going on, but as soon as it got hot out, it started acting up again. I took it to my dealership and they still couldn't find anything wrong with it. I did some research and called them with some ideas. Well, they didn't like that much, so I ended up calling Chrysler to put in a complaint. That got the ball rolling! 

Long story short, I took it to a mechanic at a Jeep dealership down in Pittsburgh. They had it for 2 weeks and were in constant communication with Jeep engineers. The final verdict: do a complete transmission flush. 

It must have worked, because I am currently in Kansas where it is 98 degrees and haven't had any issues with it acting up! 

So very very relieved!!!!  

From the start

I haven't had the chance yet to "back-blog" about the first few days of this trip. It's just been crazy busy. Right now we're driving through Kansas, so there is plenty of time to blog. We have 9 hours until we reach our destination for the night, and we've already drove 5 hours so far today. I think I'll finally be able to catch up to our current whereabouts. 

On Friday (June 19) I headed to work and worked a full 8 hour shift. That was probably one of the longest shifts I've ever worked. Knowing that I was about to embark on one of the most epic adventures so far in my life was just eating at me! 

Finally my shift was over just as Donny text me that he had arrived at the airport! I haven't seen this man for 6 months and I could't wait to start our trip together! I headed straight to the airport with a head full of ideas of things to do and see in Pittsburgh! 

We checked into our hotel and headed out for a night in the city. First stop: the original Primanti Bros in the Strip District. We drove around the city for a bit as I showed him some of the fun things we have: the Gateway Clipper Fleet, Station Square, Oakland/Pitt, Southside, etc. well, I showed him some of that stuff because I forgot to turn on my GPS and ended up driving too far east on 376. Haha. 

Finally, we got to Primanti Bros! No wait on a Friday night! Awesome! We got settled into our seats and the first thing I ordered was a Yuengling beer for Donny, as he has never had it before. The verdict? He likes it! Then we ordered our sandwiches. I forgot how insanely huge they are! 

It was a really great experience to eat at the original location and introduce Donny to traditional Pittsburgh food. Where else are you going to get French fries and coleslaw on your sandwich? 

Once we finished up there, we headed out for a walk down the Strip. It was surprisingly dead. I haven't been there since 2002. I guess I just thought it would be a little more busy. Most of the shops were closed and only the restaurants were open. We left there and drove around North Side. I showed him the Priory, which is where I had originally wanted to stay. 

Once it started to get dark, we headed in over to the Duquense Incline. It is an incline that takes you up the side of Mt. Washington to some of the best views of the city. There is so much history at the top in the little museum. We stood and looked at pictures and read information about the history of the incline and of the city. Really interesting stuff! 

The best part of the Pittsburgh portion of our trip was, by far, the view from Mt. Washington at night. I'd love to see it sometime during sunrise too, as the sun would be coming up from behind the city. 

The next day we headed to REI Pittsburgh and bought a few things for our trip before heading north to Mercer. 

We made a pit stop at McConnell's Mills State Park and did a quick little hike to Hell's Hollow Falls before going to my house for the evening. 

When we got home, we had dinner with my parents and then kicked back with my girlfriends from high school. They are the best group of friends anyone can ask for. Their love and support for me on this trip has just been incredible. They have encouraged me every step of the way and gave me a great send off that night. Knowing that they have my back gives me so much strength to go on this journey. Thanks girls! 

The next day, Sunday, Donny and I finished packing and set off on our trip west. First stop: Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We stopped by the visitors center to get my passport stamped (of course) and then grabbed some organic ice cream at Trail Mix, the little shop at the visitors center. Donny has never had a Buckeye, so we just had to get some of those too! 

Satisfied with our choice of snack, we headed off to do some hiking. There are a few waterfalls in CVNP to see, and with the amount of rain we had been getting, I knew they would be flowing full force. We saw the small Blue Hen falls and then the larger Brandywine Falls. There was even a rainbow at Brandywine Falls. 

Once we left CVNP, we headed into Harbor Creek State Park near Sandusky to set up camp. My last blog actually picks up from here, so that's where I will stop for now. Well, that and I am getting car sick from typing this all out. I need a break! 

Vomit, Tornado and Mosquitos

Today is day 4 of our 11 day road trip adventure driving from Pittsburgh to San Diego. I have wanted to blog for a while, but I just haven't had the time. We've been doing so much and I was mostly driving because we were in familiar territory to me. Tonight, Donny is driving so I can get caught up. 

Ever have a day that starts off well, but so much crazy stuff happens and it throws off your plan? That's when having a great travel partner who thinks in a similar way you do is fantastic. See, we are supposed to be at Cedar Point right now, enjoying the great roller coasters. Afterwards, we were to go back to our nice little camp for the night and hit the road in the morning. Instead, what are we doing? Driving towards Indiana thanks to a tornado and mosquitos. Yes, it has been THAT kind of day. 

It all started last night when we decided to get a campsite for two nights at Harbor Creek State Park in Ohio. It is only 25 minutes from Cedar Point, and since we were going to be there all day today, I figured it would be a great place to set up camp for a couple days. We get in last night and noticed right away how many mosquitos there were. We put on bug lotion and started a campfire. It helped...a little. 

This morning we woke up to beautifully clear skies; the first we've had since Donny arrived on Friday. We went and showered (more Mosquitos in the bath house...) and ate breakfast. When we left, I left some of our things out. I didn't really assume it would rain. The forecast looked promising for the day. We gathered our things for Cedar Point and set out. 

Once we got to Cedar Point, we were both pretty excited! I haven't been there since 2010, and he has never been there. 

We went in and were waiting for my friend Jessica and her boyfriend to meet us. While we waited, we went on one of my favorite rides: The Raptor. When we got off, Jessica and Joe were in line for The Gate Keeper, so we went over and jumped in that line, meeting up with them after we had all finished. The four of us ventured through the park riding more rides like Millenium Force, Rougarou and The Iron Dragon. 

One of the more hilarious parts of the day occurred while waiting in line for Rougarou. A guy in front of us sat in the coaster car and jammed the safety bar too tightly onto his balls. He desperately tried to get it loose and asked the attendant to help him. The attendant thought he was joking and told him that he couldn't do anything and the coaster was set. The kid begged him to get the coaster stopped and yelled "My balls can't handle this!"  Everyone, to include the kid's friend was laughing hysterically. I mean, yes, I felt bad, but it was pretty comical. It was rather mean for the attendant to not address the situation, but he seriously thought the kid was just joking around. 

Then it was our turn for that ride. I started to feel pretty nauseated after the first minute. Actually, I was pretty miserable. We rode Millenium Force before that and it is what initially made me queasy. After Rougarou, we rode The Iron Dragon. This is a classic, easy, no frills ride. Well, it was enough to make me heave while we were still on the ride. After we got off I went straight into the bathroom and hurled. That wasn't fun. Jessica was in there too and heard me. She went out and told Donny and Joe, so they all knew too. Gee. Thanks. Lol. After that we took it easy and rode the train and then got some lunch. 

Lunch. That's a story in itself too. Turns out the guy messed up our order and instead of 2 meals and a sandwich (this is between the 4 of us) he gave us 5 full meals. What!? That was $75 worth of food. It was really expensive, which is why we chose to just get a couple meals and split it. Instead, we all get a meal and had an extra. 

Once lunch was over we split up. Donny and I headed to watch some shows and they went to ride some water rides. In between the 2 shows we were going to watch, it started sprinkling. No bill deal. The rain would probably pass over while we were in the show. Right? Wrong! We came out of the show to a heavy drizzle and thunder. 

All of a sudden, huge lighting streaks come over the sky and the loud speakers come on saying that there is a severe thunderstorm warning and to seek shelter. Well, that's no fun. So we started walking towards the exit as I was trying to get ahold of Jessica. When I finally got ahold of her, it was starting to rain hard. We met up just as a tornado warning came up. Donny got a notification on his phone, and the loudspeakers came on again warning everyone to take shelter. We just started walking a little faster to the car. 

Poor Donny. He has no idea what is going on. He looks at me and asks "Is this ok? Are we supposed to be going to the car?" I just laugh as I reply "No."  We technically should have taken cover, but I could tell that we had plenty of time to get to the Jeep. We said goodbye to Jessica and Joe once we got to the parking lot, got in the Jeep and started driving. 

Once we started heading west, the weather cleared up. It turned out to be pretty nice. We get to our campsite and noticed one very big problem... mosquitos. I'm not talking just a few. I am talking a cloud so thick you cannot breathe. They attacked the Jeep as soon as we pulled in. 

Not only that, but our entire campsite and gear was soaked. 

I looked and Donny and I said something about how ridiculous the situation was. We both basically had the same idea of just packing up and getting the heck out of there. 

So now we are driving through Ohio on our way to Indiana. 

If I get a chance, I'll throw a picture blog up of our previous 3 days, though they were pretty relaxing, as we spent quite a bit of time at my house so I could finish packing up and get some things squared away before I left. 

Thanks for reading! Check back soon for another update!