A Long Time Comin'

So now, here we are. Wisconsin.

Lots to cover…

After finally making our way away from the west coast with our drive from Vancouver to the Madame Dorion campsite in southeast Washington, we finally landed ourselves in Sun Valley, ID. Right up front, I want to send a HUGE thanks to my parents for treating us to our time there. The west coast was quite a social ride with meeting couch surfers, seeing relatives, and just plain happening by random folks so some solitude in Sun Valley was extremely good to have.

First day in Sun Valley saw some exxxtreme relaxation… The day was a good time to finish up with a Vancouver post and throw up some good photos from the first 25 days on the road. We also got a good high altitude run on the bike path and were both pretty satisfied with our abilities considering the difficulties of eating well on the road. Around the end of the day, we did the little drive down to Hailey for some groceries and to get some time by the Big Wood River. We had hoped to fish while we were around, but unfortunately found out all the nearby rivers were closed for the season. Too bad, as we had been really looking forward to making a camp dinner with some fresh catches...

Our first day of mostly relaxation had us pretty energized for day two. We decided to grab the bikes and ride up to Ketchum to check out the town and look for some outdoor apparel for Kyle's upcoming trip to Alaska. After checking out the sale racks at four or five outdoor stores, Kyle finally found his pick of a puffy jacket and me, a pick of a kickass cowboy/indiana jones hat. Finally we decided to make our way back to the house to get ourselves set for some racquetball and jacuzzi…

That night we were blasting The Replacements, and it occurred to me their song "Treatment Bound" was extremely simple chord-wise, plays in the key of C and therefore in the key of my harmonica, and fits somewhat with the new flannel + folk hat style I had just acquired for myself. I promptly put together a portable studio with my field recorder and microphone both attached to a hiking pole. The result of my efforts can be seen in The Wilderness Tapes section on the right. Hopefully I'll get some time to elaborate more on the setup soon.

After some more racquetball and jacuzzi time, we finally figured out some more of our travel agenda. Time in Sun Valley was ultra comfortable and it was about time we set ourselves back on the road for a bit more grit. Originally we had planned on doing Jackson, WY after Sun Valley, but due to bad weather and a car hardly set for such conditions, we decided to head south towards Salt Lake City. Kyle did some couch surfing there a few months ago, so we had a contact there. Jen, a friend of Kyle's SLC host, told us she was moving out and that there was a goodbye party for her set to go down at some couch surfing friends' house. Perfect for Kyle and myself as we had gotten our fill of being asocial in southern Idaho.

We arrived to Salt Lake City around the time of the party and immediately met Jen and some other friendly couch surfers and Westminster students. Lots of joking went around about Utah's 3% beer and explanation of our travels. Only very few of the folks at the party knew anyone, so we were by no means out of place.

Our hosts were four, though only two were really present for most of our time in SLC and involved in couch surfing. The first, Zak, has put in loads of effort to become the SLC Ambassador for Couchsurfing.org and has loads of friends and references on the site to back his efforts. The night before we left, he went through his list of friends on the site so we could have a clue of who to ask for couches if we went through certain places he'd been. Zak was a great find, as he is extremely easy going and a good talker -- when Kyle was speaking to him about our thoughts on staying a second night, Zak promptly interrupted with "whatever", taking no care about whether we wanted to stay longer or not. No obligation to leave and no obligation to stay -- pleasing to hear as leaving things up in the air is quite the style of Kyle and myself.

After one more night and an outstanding breakfast the next morning, we got to talking about where we were headed next. The second couch surfer host, Zak's roommate James, asked us of our plans to which we responded "Denver then Des Moines then Wisconsin." James is originally from La Crosse Wisconsin, is currently unemployed, and had a friend in Denver who had couch surfed with him before. He had been looking to do a road trip for a while and our route sounded so good to him that he decided 20 mins prior to our departure that he'd join in. Outstanding choice, as he'd get to finish off at home in La Crosse and treat us to his parents home for a night.

We set out for Denver a little later than planned and, fortunately, avoided severe weather along the Continental Divide but, unfortunately, missed out on seeing the pass through the Rocky Mountains by daylight. Too bad, but I'd seen it before on my drive after my sophomore year. A very highly recommended route. Along the way we made it past Vail, my Dad's old stomping grounds...

Finally we arrived at Courtney's to quickly meet her and her dad before going to bed. The next morning, James, Kyle, and I all drove out to Golden, CO to take a tour of the Coors Brewhouse while Courtney finished her last day of work. It was interesting as there is some extensive history involved with Coors, however, it probably doesn't quite match up to the New Belgium Brewhouse tour that we had originally wanted to see. Regardless, we did get three free beers before we left so no complaints.

Before leaving Golden we decided to see about finding a trail to hike. The most promising option sounded like the Lookout Mountain Trail that goes up towards Buffalo Bills grave. We found the trail and took it all the way to the top over about three hours time. It was nice and rejuvenating to get some activity in us after such a long drive from the day prior.

That night we met up with Courtney, her coworkers, and her dad at a bar back in Denver for a few drinks. Her coworkers left promptly, but the rest of us decided to sit for a few more beers and to discuss the significance of Osama Bin Laden's newly announced death. Finally, Courtney insisted we stay the next day since she hadn't gotten time to hang out with us because of work. With our plans being so up in the air still, we agreed it would be fine to make it out to Des Moines after another Denver day.

Our second morning in Denver saw a great meal at Illegal Pete's and a quick tour through the Tattered Cover bookstore with Courtney and her Dad. Kyle had been talking about Illegal Pete's since Sun Valley, so it was good to finally get it in our systems. Next we went out to Washington Park to throw some frisbee and get as much time in the sun as possible before seeing the documentary I Am at a local independent theater. After the day's activities, we made our way back to Courtney's and Kyle put together some great Chicken Alfredo for dinner.

In the morning, we gave our goodbyes and thank yous to Courtney and her dad and made our way to Des Moines Iowa. After the eleven hour drive, we met our new host and good friend of Zak's in SLC, Mark, in downtown Des Moines and went for a little bit of bar hopping. As it was Tuesday night, there was little activity going on, but more than enough energy for James, Kyle, and myself as Mark is a very energized guy and nearly all of the time. Practically nothing can slow the man down so we quite easily got a good fill of Des Moines despite our stay being such a short one. The next morning, Mark took us out to get some great tacos before then taking us back to our car to bid farewell. And off we were to La Crosse, WI…

Finally, after our drive through the rest of Iowa and then some of Minnesota, we came across the Mississippi River and into La Crosse, WI just yesterday. It was great to have another very relaxed, extremely comfortable spot at James' parents' house as the last one we had had was way back in Sun Valley. Couch surfing is really outstanding as a way to live cheaply and keep things exciting, but everyone needs a bit of a balance here and there to recoup and really homey places like James' parents' in La Crosse, my parents' in Sun Valley, and Cynti & Steve's on Bainbridge Island offer just that. Kyle and I promptly got some good exercise, a great lasagna in us, and a good night sleep. James' mom was a real joy to meet as well. It was great talking with her as Kyle and I were reason for James' unexpected visit home…

James was outstanding to have along our trip. We hit it off right away when we met him in Salt Lake City and we very much enjoyed our time talking music and film while we were there. We were extremely excited also to see him so quickly decide to extend our time together by joining in on the travels. And what's more, he had the patience to deal with the bickering, agendalessness, and long hikes Kyle and I like to spend our time with. So, props and peace out, James.

Now for Madison….