So Who's Counting?

Patrick is a "numbers" guy and I'm an organizational freak, so we're counting everything - miles, days, weeks, parks, and the beautiful scenery that just keeps flying by. We crossed into Canada this morning and have about 2000 miles ahead of us before we reach Alaska.

Glacier National Park

If you haven't looked at the tracker in the sidebar, take a peek.  It's pretty cool to see our path as we've wandered all over on our way north. Plus, if you continue to zoom in on it you can actually see our location down to our campsite when we're parked. (Which is actually a little scary, but I try not to think about it.) 

So it's time for a status update:

# of Miles Driven: 5286

# of Miles to Go: 1671 to Fairbanks, AK, but probably close to 2000 since we take all the scenic backroads
# of States Visited: 13 (FL, GA, AL, MS, TX, NM, AZ, UT, CO, WY, ID, MT, LA)

# of Days on the Road: 29

# of Selfies We’ve Taken Squinting Into the Sun Trying to Tell if We’re Looking in the Right Direction: All of them

# of Times Patrick ALMOST Drove Away from Gas Station with Hose Still in the Tank: 1

# of T-shirts Purchased: 8

# of National Parks Visited: 11

Patrick's Sticker Wall of National Parks Visited

# of NPS Passport Stamps Obtained: 7

Unfortunately, I didn't purchase the National Parks Passport book until after we had already visited the Grand Canyon and a couple of other parks.  I'm sure Patrick will be very understanding when I tell him we have to go back so I can get the stamp. 

# of Photos Taken Since We Left Florida: 5868

# of Photos Taken with the Side Mirror in Them: A Bunch

# of Double Rainbows Seen: 1

Moab, UT

# of Dinosaurs Seen: 3

# of Ice Cream Cones Eaten: Approximately 1 per person per night

# of Pounds We’ve Each Gained: 5-7

# of Electronic Devices We’re Toting: 4 laptops, 3 iPads, 2 iPhones, 2 mobile hotspots, 2 TVs, 1 Satellite Dish, 1 Wifi Booster, 2 GPS Navigations, 1 DeLorme Satellite Tracker, 200 miles of cords/chargers

# of Times Tanya has Told Patrick to Turn the Wrong Way: Countless

# of Times Patrick has Gotten Upset About Tanya’s Lack of Direction: 0

This face has never once gotten mad at me

# of Signs Seen Warning of “Animals in the Road”: A Million

# of  Exotic Animals Seen: A Lot of These:

# of Bears Seen in the Wild: 1

Our first real bear sighting - VERY EXCITING!
Patrick is now convinced another one is around every bend of the road

# of Rainy Days: 1

# of Sand Storms: 1

# of Friends Visited: 3

# of Bi-Plane Rides Taken over Southern Utah: 1

Completely Amazing - We highly recommend it!

# of Amazing, Astounding, Stunningly Beautiful Places We've Visited: Too Many to Count - Look for yourself:

San Juan Mountains

Rapeseed Field (used in Canola Oil) in Idaho

Arches National Park, UT

San Juan Mountains

Patrick and Tanya at Glacier National Park

We're counting all the miles and days and weeks and parks and amazing experiences, but mostly we're counting our blessings.

I've Got Some Words

It hasn’t escaped me that we’re very lucky to be gallivanting across the US, poking our nose into every nook and cranny and national park, and I’m seriously grateful for the opportunity.

We stopped in Tombstone, AZ and had a corny picture taken in old West clothing – it was a touristy clichéd thing to do, but for the princely sum of $39.95 we got a cool memento and a glimpse of who we might have been in the Wild West days. Conclusion:  Patrick would have been a total bad hat and I suspect I might have been the happy dance-hall piano-playing girl. We walked the streets in the 114 degree heat, browsed the shops, posed with the gunfight actors, Patrick bought me a necklace to commemorate our 5-month anniversary (he’s French…what can I say?) and I was super grateful to be with a man who is kind and considerate and thoughtful…..and smart enough to buy Le Bus with powerful air conditioning. 

 At Phoenix we met my friend Annette for dinner. We’ve been friends for 25 years and apparently our souls were BFFs in another life because from the moment we met we clicked. I love her because she has a gift for seeing right into a person’s soul… and she didn't run after looking into mine.  She loves me because I use correct grammar. (It's very important to her.)

We made silly fools of  ourselves screaming and hugging in the Costa Vida restaurant and then talked for hours until Patrick started pretending he didn’t speak English anymore. We were not deterred – we met the next morning for breakfast so we could have a pancake as big as a wagon wheel and then tearfully said goodbye.

I’m grateful for friends, technology that lets us text in the wee hours and send pictures of our lives, and this woman who taught me what real strength looks like.

We took a couple of days and lounged at the pool, did laundry, saw a movie, watched a sandstorm blow up, and watched some fireworks on the 4^th and I was grateful for America and freedom and the people who serve and protect it, and the opportunity we have to see as much of it as we want.

While driving in the middle of nowhere, Patrick said, “Mmmm…you know what I want? Some Indian fry bread.”  (If you don’t know what this is, it’s a yeast dough that gets stretched, deep fried, and then drenched in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar or honey.)  Five minutes later he pulled off the road, drove down a deserted street and there in front of us was a roadside stand selling fry bread.  I’m grateful for Google  (and I can’t believe he actually found it that way…)

We stopped at Williams, AZ just outside the Grand Canyon and went to Bearizona. First of all – I love the name - how clever is that? BEARIZONA. 

You drive through several acres in your car and see bears, elk, deer, wolves, buffalo, and more from the comfort of your front seat, and then walk through a habitat with smaller animals like otter, badgers, beavers, and best of all – 4 baby bear cubs that were hilariously chewing on each other's ears and climbing and falling out of trees.

It made me grateful for the people who devote their lives to rescuing animals and ensuring we don’t contribute to their extinction. Also…grateful for big metal cars with locks.

Picked up fresh tomatoes from a farm-stand for dinner and grateful for the miracle of vegetables that comes from seed, some dirt and sunshine.

We finally made it to the Grand Canyon and here’s the thing…. I’m a writer and I know some words. Patrick knows words in another language so between the two of us...? We've got a lot of words. 

And here are the words we have said over and over in the last couple of days.

“Wow.” 

“Holy Cow.”

“Oh my heck.”

“Wow.”

Oh yeah….we also said…”Look at that” and “Can you believe it?”

Sadly, the pictures don't begin to do it justice and it makes me want to invite ya'll over for dinner and then force you to look at 14,536 pictures projected on a big screen so you could really appreciate the grandeur. YOU should be grateful I'm probably a couple thousand miles away from most of you.

And after much reflection I still don’t have any better words.

Except these:

We live in a land where people and our government made it a priority to preserve such marvels for everyone to see and appreciate. Grateful.

Seeing the landscape change from desert cactus to towering pines to windswept red rocks and bleached white sand dunes will challenge anyone to doubt that a creator’s hand shaped and planned the universe. Grateful.

And I (Patrick) is very grateful to have met Tanya.

So Big. Texas Big.

  

Texas is big.  This is what is known as an understatement by we folks who consider ourselves writers.

Patrick and I both had work in Houston, so it felt like a slightly normal week except for when we ran out of laundry and Patrick said, “No problem honey – give it to me and I’ll have the hotel do it.”

They did it.  The Texas way…BIG. 

But in their defense, all my unmentionables were lovingly packed and folded in tissue paper and Patrick’s wadded up pocket contents were carefully preserved in a securely fastened bag.

 

  

We finally hit the road on our way to San Antonio, but lunch at the roadside Mustang Creek BBQ proved to be authentic and delicious. And BIG. No way I could finish all of it.

The San Antonio Riverwalk was gorgeous and surprisingly tropical with all the plantings and trees.  Dinner at Bella on the River was amazing as we sat outside right on the Riverwalk where passersby enjoyed looking at our dinner (salmon for me, paella for Patrick) and I’m pleased to announce that we are probably semi-famous now.  Bella on the River is located in an historic stone building and there is a darling tree growing right out of the wall dressed in twinkle lights.  We happened to be seated directly beneath the tree and as the gondola tours floated by in the river, every tour guide turned their passengers' attention to the tree.  Patrick and I went with it and began to add a little Vanna White arm flourish to point out the tree in conjunction with the tour guide.  Many pictures were snapped of us hamming it up.  We expect to be approached by agents anytime now. Our career is gonna be BIG, cause you know…Texas.  After dinner, some leisurely sauntering and ice cream - flavor of the day was Goat Cheese/Fig and it was pretty good.

We whipped through the Alamo the next morning; I may have forgotten most of my history but the exhibits of their weapons and uniforms were sobering; the guns were huge and long and I can’t imagine how they carried or even used them.  The uniforms were wool and heavy and wearing them in the Texas heat no doubt created a fragrant sweat soup for the soldiers, but it was a beautifully haunting place that I’m glad we put on our list.

Next stop was the Big Bend National Park that borders the Mexican border along the Rio Grande River. It was very….wait for it…BIG. We drove the loop inside the park and we logged about 200 miles. 

The Santa Elena Canyon is a beautiful gorge with Mexico on the left and the US on the right. In the middle is Patrick and Tanya looking cute as all get out.

We saw amazing cacti, gorgeous mountains, elk (or maybe deer) feeding in the valley. (I'm wildlife challenged but if you zoom in really close you can correctly identify them and then make fun of me for not knowing.)

 

And someone (not naming names) reached 130 mph (220 kph) on the wide open roads and verified that the 6-speed Mini Cooper is amazingly fast, stable, and handles nicely, thank you very much. 

We stopped at the White Buffalo for a cold drink and surprise…they had a White Buffalo. It was BIG.

Of course, on the way home we had to stop at Target. It was NOT SO BIG. But hilarious.

And we're having so much fun. BIG FUN. Because, ya know....Texas.