Seattle-Bound: October 2010

Let me take you back to October 2010.  Emma and I had been dating for awhile, and she had two vacation days coming up in the middle of the month.  I had also been gone for a few weeks on a work trip, and we'd wanted to spend some time together.  We had travelled once together to Colorado, and thought it'd be fun to do another road trip.  After thinking about possibilites of where we could go, we decided on Seattle.  Emma's good friend from grad school, Maria, lives in the Seattle metro area, and we both thought it would be really fun to go see her.  Maria is *awesome* despite the foot-in-mouth comments I made (among others, calling her Gollum's wife was not really that funny).  Emma's other grad school friend, Nicole, decided to meet us up there sans husband (which apparently was fine with him until he heard about the delicious food we had there).  Because of the distances, Emma was to fly up Wednesday night after school, and I was leaving the day before to get the car up.  We were to drive home together on Saturday/Sunday.

Grande Ronde River valley

According to plan, I left earlier in the week.  Part of the reason I wanted to drive up was to 'catch' some counties in Washington and Oregon that I had as of yet been unable to hit, and that was the perfect excuse to do some back-roading through the Pacific Northwest countryside.  Since I'd been through Idaho, I beelined it on the freeway through Boise, and hit the Oregon border.  At Baker City, I departed from the freeway, and began to angle northward.  I was excited to go to the town of Enterprise, Oregon.  (Since I'm from Enterprise, Utah, I have a strange fascination with other towns of the same name.  I can't explain it.)  It was a cute town, nestled in a valley with mountains around it.  The drive from Enterprise northward towards Washington included one of the most beautiful gorges and descents to the bed of the Grande Ronde River (and back up) that I've seen.  I took a loop through the dry farming region of southeast Washington through Walla Walla and spent the night in Washington's Tri-Cities area.

Lake Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fall colors in the Cascades

The next day I headed northward to explore the Columbia River basin.  I drove up to Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake (which stretches from the Grand Coulee Dam into Canada) and enjoyed the beauty of northern Washington.  The dry grasslands gave way to beautiful stands of fir and pine as I headed toward Wenatchee, nestled in the Cascade Range.  I followed the Columbia River for a good distance of the trip, and saw miles and miles of fruit orchards lining the banks.  Crossing the Cascades at Wenatchee on Route 2, I saw stunning fall colors and rushing mountain streams.  It was pure enjoyment transversing the mountains, and although I hit traffic coming into the Seattle metro, I arrived in time to pick Emma up at the airport.

By Thursday, Nicole had arrived and we devoted the day to seeing Seattle proper.  We saw the usual touristy things -- Pike's Market, the waterfront, etc.  We had a really good time at Ivar's Seafood restaurant, where we devoured fish and chips and clam chowder, and played around with the seagulls.  Although the day was a bit rainy, we decided to brave the weather and take the ferry out to Bainbridge Island.  Along the way, we were really surprised to see dolphins and an orca in the middle of Puget Sound!  Even the Seattle commuters on the ferry came out to witness the sea life, which we were later told by the captain that they are but infrequently seen.  After wandering the island looking for some food that wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg, we settled for some surprisingly good pizza.  Although the ride back had turned cold and dark, I loved watching the Seattle skyline grow larger as the ferry returned from Bainbridge.

Upper Falls at Twin Falls State Park

The hike along the riverbed
at Twin Falls State Park

On Friday, Nicole, Emma, and I (Maria had to work) embarked on a journey southward along the Sound until we hit Tacoma.  I've heard disparaging remarks about Tacoma, but I thought the city was beautifully located.  We absolutely loved going to the glassblowing museum in town, where we saw a huge array of different pieces on display.  Our favorite part of the museum by far was the live demonstration of glass blowing.  We stared transfixed as the three glassblowers created colored stemware and other items, amazed that the hot glowing globs of glass could be blown and shaped into the exquisite creations they were making.  We also found a really good Greek restaurant in Tacoma, where we gorged on dolmathes and gyros, and made our way toward Twin Falls State Park near North Bend, Washington, where we met up with Maria for a hike.  One of us (I can't remember who) had the impression that the path was suitable for baby strollers, which we quickly debunked after climbing one hill ridge after another, but the hike was stunning as we meandered through the lush undergrowth, moss-draped trees looming over us.  We reached the falls, and Emma waded into the river to get better glimpses of the waterfall, while Maria entertained us with an amazing dance she'd created.  It was here that I'd labelled her "Gollum's wife".

Ross Lake

Ross Lake

The next day, Saturday, Emma and I started our trek home.  We'd decided to visit a few places on the way back, including North Cascades National Park and the Grand Coulee Dam.  We were stunned by the beauty of the North Cascades --- the drive up was through a windy canyon with breathtaking views of the churning river, and we were further delighted when we chanced upon the intense green waters of Ross Lake.  The view was absolutely spectacular.  We stopped at the ranger station in the park, where we found out that we didn't have enough time to really hike into the Cascades.  That adventure will have to wait for another day.

Grand Coulee Dam

Dry Falls Lake

Unfortunately, we made it to the Grand Coulee Dam about five minutes too late to participate in the last tour of the dam for the day.  However, the visitor center was still open, and we enjoyed learning about this massive structure, one of the largest dams in the world and the largest electric power producing facility in the United States.  It's truly a huge slab of concrete, which created the 150 mile long Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake.  After learning about the dam's history, we continued southeast, stopping briefly at Sun Lakes State Park, where we learned that the area had once been the largest waterfall the world has ever known (about ten times the size of Niagara Falls).  It's now called Dry Falls; currently, it's estimated that the falls' flow was ten times the current flow of all the rivers in the world.  It was definitely a fascinating stop along the way home.

Columbia River LDS Temple

As we pulled into Tri-Cities, we were faced with the decision of getting a place to stay, or to continue along the way a bit further.  We decided to keep driving until the next town, where the same scenario was replayed.  By the time we got to Boise at 2am, we'd decided that it really wasn't worth it to stop and stay the night when we were so close to being home (about 4 1/2 hours).  So, we continued driving through the night, arriving in Salt Lake about 6:30 in the morning, just as dawn was approaching.  I even added 18 new counties to the tally, one in Oregon and 17 in Washington.

Visiting the Brothers: March 2012

In March of this year, Emma and I decided that we had the time and means to go visit our brothers who lived in the middle of the country.  Her brother, Will, lives in Austin, Texas; my brother Bryce was living in Lexington, Kentucky.  Christmas was meant to be spent in Texas but finances prevented us from going, and Bryce was moving from Kentucky to Arizona in May, so we wanted to go see them one last time before they left.

Texas was first on the list, and we decided to visit Carlsbad Caverns en route to Austin.  I'd been there before, but it was a first for Emma.  Our grand plan was to speed to Albuquerque from Salt Lake as soon as we got done with work, sleep as much as we could, and get up early the next morning to drive to Austin, arriving Saturday evening.  After a late start from Salt Lake and getting caught in traffic for over an hour, by the time we made it to Albuquerque it was approaching 3am.  After a short consultation, we decided that it wasn't worth stopping to sleep for 3 or 4 hours before having to get going again, so we made the decision to drive through the night.  Emma and I traded off and the other would fitfully sleep as we drove through central New Mexico.  We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns Saturday morning and enjoyed a few hours worth of hiking and wandering through these amazing caves.

We continued our journey to Austin, ignoring the freeway a bit and going through the Texas countryside, including visiting the least-populated county in the US, Loving County, Texas (population about 57), and arrived absolutely exhausted in Austin that evening.  It was nice to spend the next few days recovering and visiting family, while I had a lot of work obligations to take care of (including a lovely family party and presentation about genealogy to our gracious hosts).  We also got to go boating on Lake Travis with some of Will's friends, which was a really fun activity.


After our visit with Emma's brother, we decided that a 'shortcut' was possible by going to visit one of Emma's friends who lived in Missouri.  After all, Missouri is sort of on the way to Kentucky, right?  It was a fantastic drive through central Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, and we passed by the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks and the Missouri state capital, Jefferson City.  It was really nice to meet Emma's friend and her husband; they are truly great people and were excellent hosts for us.

From Mexico, Missouri, we drove through St. Louis and again departed from the freeway, meandering our way across the southern Illinois and Indiana landscape.  As part of our trip we drove through the lovely Hoosier National Forest in Indiana, along winding roads through blossoming redbud and dogwood trees and the verdant growth of springtime in the forest.  Although Emma didn't care for the slower speed limit (55 mph), the lush landscape through winding valley roads made the drive worth it.

Once arriving in Kentucky, we spent some time with my brother Bryce and his family, as well as his in-laws who were also visiting from Arizona.  We felt bad about crashing my sister-in-law's party with her family, but were grateful for them letting us visit them before they moved.  We spent one day visiting Kentucky's Mammoth Cave, which is one of my favorite places to go.  The cave is amazing, as it's the largest cave system anywhere in the world at almost 400 miles of known passageways.  I try to visit the cave every time I go to Kentucky.  Even my two-year-old niece got excited about hiking, and kept up with us the entire two miles.

We also went to one of the premier race courses in Lexington (known for their horses) and enjoyed a morning breakfast watching the jockeys prepare for the day's races.  I loved hearing the horses thunder by on the track, and was amazed at how fast they were going --- and the race hadn't even started yet!  That afternoon, we went to the kite festival and enjoyed watching (and trying to participate), while being wowed at some people's abilities to fly a kite -- including one kite with approximately 25 smaller kites all tied together!  Our time in Kentucky was family-filled and fun.

On we went to Nashville, where my friend Jamon lives.  Here, Emma caught her flight back home so she could make it in to work by Monday, while I drove back across the US stopping at county archives along the way to do some successful on-site research for a client.  I spent Sunday with Jamon visiting Franklin, Tennessee, taking a slightly unauthorized tour of a Civil War cemetery and surviving plantation house.  Monday morning I proceded to Illinois, where my first county courthouse (Randolph County) awaited me, and got to cross the Ohio River on a ferry (*very* cool experience).

Also along the way, I stopped at Benton County Courthouse in Missouri, where I found a very strange set-up in the county's bathrooms.  Apparently eastern-central Missourians have a lot fewer boundaries than we in the Mountain West.  I drove around west-central Missouri for a while, hoping to hear from my aunt who lives in Cedar County, but when I didn't get a phone call back from her, proceeded on my way home, driving along the southernmost part of Kansas, staying in Wichita.  Kansas was flat, but the landscape, especially toward the west, became more interesting as I drove.  However, once I entered southern Colorado, it again became fairly flat and featureless.

That is, until I hit the Rockies.  I don't know what it is about mountains that takes my breath away and sends chills down my spine.  They're just inspiring to me.  Hitting I-25, I turned south until I came to New Mexico.  I was determined to swing through Taos on my way home, and although the twisty turvy road began to make me a bit carsick, I was so glad I did.  The mountain scenery was spectacular, and Taos is a very cute Spanish-mission-style town.  I turned north and followed the Rio Grande to its source, then headed across the continental divide into western Colorado.  After being gone almost two weeks, we managed to visit ten states, and I picked up 102 new counties (total: 1129).

A Florida honeymoon: June 2011

I proposed to Emma over Thanksgiving weekend at Zion National Park, and by the time we'd returned home we had a wedding date of May 31st. That gave me seven months to plan the groom's best job of the wedding: the honeymoon. We didn't have much fundage at all, and because of Emma's immigration status (applying for permanent residency after the marriage) we couldn't leave the country. We first looked at cruises to Alaska but they all had at least one Canadian stop. We couldn't risk it. I then compiled a list of places I thought would make a nice and romantic honeymoon. It was just coincidence that they were also places I'd never been. Among the candidates was a trip to the Northeast, another along the Pacific Coast Highway, and Hawaii. She chose Florida. Apparently when the British think of holidays in the US, Florida looms large.

 We found a great deal on flights to Orlando ($450 round trip for both of us) and as luck would have it, Emma's good friend had a condo in Fort Myers we could use. Or romantic and inexpensive honeymoon was set. One of our favorite trips was the drive down the Florida Keys to Key West. The drive down was slower than I thought - in a lot of areas the speed limit is only 35 - but e bridges and the keys were really different in character. Key West was a bit touristy and a bit bohemian. We'd decided to go on a catamaran ride to visit Dry Tortugas National Park, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. It's an old Civil War fort in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico that was used as a prison for a few years afterwards. It's also a huge bird and fish sanctuary, and we had a great time snorkeling around he barracuda. The catamaran only holds about 150 people, and it's the only official way to get to the park, so we had the island to ourselves.

Other favorites included Everglades National Park, where we took a boat ride into Florida Bay, seeing dolphins, manatees, and alligators swimming among the mangrove forests. We also really enjoyed the Corkscrew Nature Sanctuary near Fort Myers, which has a fairly extensive trail that winds into the swampy Everglades, and where we saw alligators, wildlife, and stands of cypress trees up close.

It wasn't just nature that held us in thrall - our two-day sojourn in Miami proved fun as we toured the mansion Vizcaya, saw south beach, and went to our absolute favorite fruit smoothie stand over and over. Two of the most unique things we did (for us at least) were the Florida Aquarium in Tampa and the Space Center on Cape Canaveral. The aquarium had an amazing array of aquatic and terrestrial life, and the best part was that we were actually inside the habitats. Emma was particularly drawn to the otter exhibit that afforded a close-up view of their den complete with younglings. At Cape Canaveral, we were able to see the last space shuttle on the tarmac preparing for its final flight to the International Space Station.


We also visited the fantastic white sand beaches of Sanibel, toured a lighthouse, ate delicious food including some amazing Cuban food and seafood, and visited the Orlando LDS temple. We also took it easy, watching movies and swimming in the community pool of the condo where we were staying.  We also drank a lot of chocolate milk (after the first one we bought, which was so horrible we threw it away and never purchased that brand again).  With about 2500 miles driven, our honeymoon was definitely adventurous, but it was also intimate and romantic. And the silver lining was that I got to visit 23 new counties, including all those south of Orlando. It was definitely a trip to remember!

Anniversary trip to Yellowstone: May 2012

I decided to go through and add the trips I've gone on (if I can remember them).  The most recent trip was to Yellowstone National Park with my wife for our first anniversary.  She's never been there, and I'm glad she doesn't mind going with me to collect my counties.  We left Utah on Friday night and returned on Monday night (Memorial Day), a total of three days.  Yellowstone was beautiful but cold; a huge weather system was going through the park when we were there and we had to deal with road closures.  

We spent two days in Yellowstone, seeing the Upper and Lower Falls, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Old Faithful, and a ton of geysers, mud pots, sulphur springs, and boiling water of all sorts.  It was really neat with the snow.  Both days (because of road closures) we drove through Jackson and the Tetons, but they were only visible on the first day.

After the second day of Yellowstone, we drove out the East Entrance (which closed shortly after we exited due to snow-covered roads; I'm amazed we got out in the Corolla with balding tires) and through Cody.  We'd intended to go over the Beartooth Pass from the Northeast Entrance but unfortunately it was closed (like almost all other roads out of the park at that time).  We stayed in Billings.  The next morning we went to Battle of Little Bighorn National Monument, on the Crow Reservation in Montana, and happened upon a memorial service (it being Memorial Day) to honor both US soldiers and warriors of the Lakota and other Indian Nations.  I enjoyed seeing the topography and learning about this Indian victory over Custer. 

And then it was home over the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming, including an amazing driving up the eastern side of the mountain, then down the Shell Creek ravine down to Shell.  Other portions of this drive were equally breathtaking, like the climb from Lander, Wyoming.  

It took us a fair amount of time to figure out what exactly was going on with South Pass.  South Pass was one of the most important passes across the Continental Divide, as the Oregon, California, and Mormon Immigrant Trails all went through here on their way west.  We finally found a barely-marked turnoff on the western side of the divide that explained the importance of South Pass.  I've become more intrigued with the early western immigrants' trek across the continent, and am interested in following portions of their trail.  

All in all, it was a beautiful and fun trip, and I added 8 new counties to my tally (total: 1137).  Driving on some of the roads we took was worth the extra few minutes' detour from the 'shortest route' home. 

Why do I do it?

I've always been interested in maps - even as a child, I'd pour over the atlas that came with the encyclopedias my parents bought (I read those too but that's another story), and dream of traveling further than the closest swimming pool to our town (about 20 miles away).
My first plane ride was when I was 18, and I traveled to the East Coast of the US - and saw so many amazing things.  New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Williamsburg, Niagara Falls, Newark... it was there that my travel bug really lit up.  I'd made it my goal to visit all 50 states.
Fast forward a few years to about 2007.  I'd been to about 35 states by then, and that goal was looking pretty doable - and non-challenging.  My friend Ryan told me about this program in Idaho where you could go to every county in the state, get a stamp, and when you were finished you got a certificate from the governor.  I thought - what the heck, a reason for a road trip - and drove up.
During the few days I spent driving around Idaho, I realized a few things.  1. I enjoyed 'collecting' the counties of Idaho.  2. I had no idea how beautiful some parts of Idaho were- I had only seen the Snake Valley in south-central Idaho and hadn't been terribly impressed, but I saw Bonners Ferry, Coeur d'Alene, Wallace, Salmon - all amazing places I'd have never seen if I'd 'checked' Idaho off my list.  3.  What else was I missing in the other states?  I'd been to the corner of Arizona, but what else was I missing in that state?  and 5. What about visiting *all* the counties in *all* the states?  Now THAT is a challenging goal!
And so my map coloring days began.