The Best Of!

This is my list of "The Best Of" on my trip.
Best State: South Dakota
Best Food: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Best People: Madison, Wisconsin
Best Scene: Portland, Oregon
Best Tourist Attraction: Crazy Horse, South Dakota
Best Couch Surfing Host: Arizona
Best Bar Crowd: Madison, WI
Best Micro brew: Madison, WI (Capitol Brew)
Best National Park: Glacier NP, Montana



The Number Game:

# of Couch Surfers: 19
# of Friends I stayed with: 7
# of Miles:11,173
# of Pictures: 1,560
# of Hiked miles: 25
# of Nights stayed in a motel: 3
# of National Parks: 8
# of Nights Camping: 12
# of Blog Entries: 15
# of Days Gone: 63
# of Animals I ran over: 1 Bird (not sure how long it was there under my car).
# of Nights slept in a Sheep Wagon: 1
# of CA Plates outside of CA: 2 (South Dakota & Wyoming)
# of Days without a shower: 4
# of Days bathing in a river: 2
# of States visited on trip: 23
# of States I haven't been too yet: 16
# of Speeding tickets: 0
# of Car accidents: 0 (but a few close ones [thanks for all your prayers])
# of New friends meet on this trip: 35
# of Times paid for laundry: 1

A semi accurate map of my trip.


View Ashley & Shiya Doin' America in a larger map
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107327870903071447213.00048c4f4b9aeeafb4929&ll=39.436193,-115.048828&spn=27.119959,86.572266&z=4



I DID IT FOLKS!!!! I REALLY DID IT!!!!!! Someone told me at the beginning of my trip "I'll be amazed if you finish this." Well sucker I did finish it! so :-P

This will be my last blog entry in regards to this trip. I know many of you are sad, disappointed and maybe relived?! That I had to pain you thru my misspellings, run-on sentences and horrible grammar. Again, I apologize. But I had gotten a lot of you that did enjoy taking this journey with me. So in that I am glad. Thankful even. But I can honestly say that this blog was quite challenging for me. Most of the time it would take anywhere from 2-4 days to complete. Most of the time, it was hard to find the motivation to do it. There was so much going on that it made it difficult to actually sit down and talk to you people. ;-) But I know that it was all worth it. Like I had mentioned before in blog # 11 "Officially Halfway" that I wanted this trip to inspire or empower someone to do something like this for them. Move beyond they're comfort zone. Even restore some faith that there are good people out there. People are inherently good. I really believe that.

So, I feel like this entry has to be sentimental and somehow moving, right?! Well, all I can say is that I reflect on the past a lot so I think pictures say a lot. They will have great sentimental value to me in the future. I'm so thankful that I have them.

To finish up my last stretch California:

On my way out of Portland my next stop was to Arcata (Humbolt County). I had planned to visit a couple of friends. I had never been there the only thing I knew was Humbolt University was there and people said it was beautiful. So, I was excited to see what it had in store for me.

I was pleasantly surprised that it was a lot smaller then I had thought. For being a college town. It was summer so there wasn't many students on campus. But, the town of Arcata was really cute. Very quaint. I knew this was an awesome place when there are more co-ops's and natural foods then there are corporate grocery stores. Also when the beautiful beaches have more dogs on them then people (there were 3 dogs on the beach). Now, that's nice! I felt so comfortable in Humbolt County that I ended up staying for a whole week. The people are really awesome. Very chill and laid back. Don't take thing too seriously and have a great sense of community. Every Saturday they have a farmers market in "The Square". This farmers market is a great chance to grab produce for the week converse with old friends, bring your babies to crawl on the grass and a chance to watch some hula-hoopers and jugglers too.


After a week hiatus I drove down to St. Helena/ Yountville (Napa) to visit my girlfriend Christina to stay the night and catch up with her. She lives is this beautiful old shanty on the Kuleto Wineries property. I totally regret not having my camera for this. I left it in my car while Christina drove. It was truly a beautiful place with 100 year old olive and oak trees. It was perfectly nestled in this valley surrounded by vineyards. It was adorned with old wood floors, counter tops and fringed light fixtures. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were outdoor showers. Saaawwwweeet! I wouldn't mind living here if you didn't mind not having a phone, Internet or cable. It's very rustic. Which is okay. But the one thing that really got me is the large two bedroom shanty was home of rats and bats at night. Not cuz it's dirty it just the floor boards and walls are thin or have gaps you can hear scurrying around and chomping . Thank god I fall asleep easily and sleep hard. On the property there are sheep, bunnies, horses and chickens. It was fun feeding the horses. If I had stayed longer it would of been great to ride the horses too. :-( My time in Napa was short lived because I was egar to get home.

Fortunately, the drive to Stockton from Napa was only an hour and a half. I was ecstatic! Once I got to Rio Vista I had a very strong feeling in my chest. It just overwhelmed me with such emotion and it almost hurt. As I was driving HWY 12 seeing the huge power lines and farm fields. Which is very uniquely Central Valley. It was a sense of belonging and familiarity. It was comforting and it really made my heart feel a sense or relief. Seriously, it was so strong that I had a smile ear-to-ear that I couldn't release. And I wasn't even home yet!!! Being on the road for a little more then two months and I got to see so many different places and so many different people. This is where I belong. California. Don't get me wrong I am soooo grateful for this experience and I wouldn't take it back for anything.

Once I got home there was balloons. I was thinking who's birthday is it?!? Well my Dad's birthday is tomorrow maybe it's for him? As I get out I see signs that say "Welcome Home Ashley & Shiya!". OMG!??! What a great welcome home! I called my Dad and say what is this all about and all he says is, "I'll be right there!" What?! uuuhhh mmm okay... he speeds into the the driveway says that he's missed me and to never do that sh*t ever again! All I can do it just laugh!

After finally settling -in the next day I look at my poor poor car Stella. Guh! This is going to be fun. Actually, I lie. I really love detailing my car. I tear into it and take everything out... my whole life of 63 days lay on the driveway floor. Woah! That was some trip girl. You be hella crazy. And you did it. And survived! And loved it! Yes! Success! Well, so I thought... my mom pointed out that this trip was to find a new place to live, a career and a man. "Did you find any of those?" she asked. "No" I replied relunctly. Damn... really?! Was that what this trip was really about???? The rest of the day I really thought about that. What did I get out of this trip? What was the purpose? I had to go back to my first entry to figure it out. What was it I was really looking for?! My previous blog reads:

"Now, I'm at a point in my life where I need to find some happiness again a life of purpose and passion. I need to move outside of my comfort zone and do things I would never do. Lotsa driving, being alone and talking to strangers."

I can successfully say I have done ALOT of driving........... (11,173 miles) , ALOT of alone time........... (solo camping, solo driving, solo hiking and solo bar hops) and ALOT of talking with strangers.............. (35 new friends). As far as the happiness??? Happiness is a state of being a state of mind. Happiness to me is having all my necessary basic needs meet make a modest living and having people who love me. I have all that..... I am happy! Purpose?????? I just want to be happy and be the best version of myself............. I'm full of purpose! What about passion? I'm passionate about traveling more. My fear of traveling has since diminished and I can't wait to do more. I am passionate! I would haveta say that this has been a successful trip. With or without a career, a man and a place to live.

Thank YOU, yes you!

The Most Beautiful Place I've Been Too on this Whole Trip.... Monnnnnntana!

Bozemen, MT the Big Sky state....yeeehaw! I don't know if I totally believe that fully, cuz South Dakota's sky was pretty astonishing. But, to Montana's credit they do have Glacier National Park! Out of all my travels this has to be the MOST beautiful place I've ever seen!!! That is a true bold statement. Because I've been to the beautiful red rocks of Sedona the huge Smokey Mountains and you can't forget our beloved Yosemite. Glacier National Park is truly a mystical treasure. You know the movie Lord of the Rings it opens in an aeriel view of these crazy mountains, dramatic mist that you could only find in CG (computer graphics). Well, Glacier has it. As you can see in the picture above it's breathtaking! Granted I arrived just at the perfect time. It had just rained hence all the fog/mist. Glacier was about 6 hours North of Bozemen. Again, I was rushed to get there so I can set up my tent before dark (like Yellowstone). You'd think I'd learned my lesson. Nope. So, I arrived at the entrance and ask were the free camping was. The ranger had told me that the whole park is surrounded by Indian Reservations and there is no Federal Land. Bummer. :-( She seemed I like she knew what we was talking about). I especially didn't want to sneak on some rez and pitch a tent. So I drove into the park on The Sun Road (http://www.google.com/images?q=sun%20road%2C%20glacier&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi) which is the main road thru the park. I ended up at the Avalanche Camp site, had to pay 20 bucks for one night!!! Outrageous! BUT, I do have to say that this was the nicest hosted campsite I'd been too. It's was super lush and well layed out. It was as close to nature to back country camping I'd seen. So it was almost 9pm and the sun hadn't gone down. Weird! I was like this is crazy business.

The next day I woke up about 11am which is a miracle. You know what I mean if you've ever been camping. You start hearing all the other campers rise about 7am banging pots/ pans, opening and closing car doors. So, it's really hard to "sleep-in." But I'm telling you the layout of the campsite was good. After that restful sleep I drove out of Avalanche campsite and started my drive to the visitor center to get tips and where to go camping for the day. About 5miles out I see two guys walking along side of the road and I was like "wait! I think I know them?" I flipped a U-e, stopped and yelled out the window "Wade!" He turns. It's my couch surfing host from Sioux Falls, SD! I knew he was going to be traveling thru but we didn't coordinate any meet up. I ask them what they're doing for the day and if I can join them. They were planning on doing Avalanche Lake. Which is supposed to be the most beautiful hike in the park. It's not very difficult 4miles. I was like hella yeah! Someone to talk to! Hang out with! Yes! We had a blast and it was cool to hang out with Wade again. He works at a company in Sioux Falls who are in charge of helping place and acclimate refugees to the US. Cuz apparently Sioux Falls is a huge hub for refugees. Which in my opinion is pretty F'd in the sense those SD winters would be a bit of a shock to those people who are from tropical climates. Anyway, we spent about 4-5 hours together and then we parted ways. My next thought is where I was going to sleep for the night.

This is a reoccurring worry of mine during this whole entire trip. I realized not having a plan to have a place to lay my head def causes me much much much worry. I guess I value having a safe place, somewhere to come home too. The next couple of hours was fiddling around I decided to stay in the primitive camp (Cut Bank) about 20miles out just cuz 1. it's cheaper and 2. I usually like the kind of people who stay there (more chill). It was nothing special and the people there were super quiet and it was super infested with mosquito's! I set up camp and went to bed as soon as I could. Woke up and then headed to the farthest West point of park to check out the scene. On our way there at Logan's Pass there was snow. So, of course I had to let Shiya out and get some "snow-time" in. I cruised into West Point which is the more popular area of the park. It's like an actual town w/ shops and restaurants on a very cutsie street. I had to go in every shop and get some souvenirs. By the time I was about to go on a hike. I was looking at the lake and was thinking awwww... wouldn't it be nice to just sun-bathe on the beach and just read a book. Yes! I think I'm going to do that. I checked into the Apgar camping site (motor home city) to park our car and then head to the beach. As we were walking, I saw "Huckleyberry Ice Cream!" Wha!? I've been seeing all this huckleberry nonsense all over Wyoming and Montana. I gotta try some. Got a scoop and headed over to the beach. Spent the rest of the day just soaking up the sun and then headed to camp to get a good nights sleep.

The plan was to drive to 3hrs to Standpoint browse around and spend the night in Cour d' Alene, Idaho with some couch surfers. Standpoint and Cour d' Alene are super yuppie lake communities. It definitely, had a Huntington Beach/ So Cal feel. It was really nice and very cute. The couch surfers I stayed with were a couple that both work at the ski resort during the winter and also do some back country skiing. I was super fascinated by this. I had heard of back country skiing but I thought it was only for the few crazies. You know the ones you seen in those Warren Miller films. But these two were just normal looking kids, just like me. I inquired about this more and was really curious about the logistics and REALLY how safe is it?! They told me that a normal day would be 4hrs of hiking in 3+feet of snow in their ski boots to ski about 10min down. WHAT!$%! Who the F would do that! They described to me it's like nothing else -you won't want to go down a groomed run ever again. They also pressed the point that IT IS very dangerous. They usually go with 4+ more people that they totally trust. There is usually a test guy that goes down first to check for avalanches and to rough up the snow and get a feel for it. I told them how would I go about getting into this. They just told me that you have to get the right gear and become friends with someone who does it. Thinking back at my gear, I still have straight skis (10 +years old) Guh! I'd haveta invest in some Alpine Touring skis were talkn about $700+ for boots, bindings and new skis. Well maybe I don't want to do that. :-) At least right now. But sounds fun, huh?

The next stop Seattle! A friend of mind suggested to take HWY2 because it's more beautiful and East Washington is super ugly. Of course this suggestion would take an extra two hours on mountain roads. I made an executive decision that I'll take I-90 and bare the ugliness. I mean, how ugly could East Washington be? It can't be uglier then Indiana or Central New Mexico?! Boy, I was sooo wrong! Desert! Dry! Barron! Nothingness. I'm sure Spokane is a nice city but I didn't stop to find out (shrugs). Getting into Seattle, I again didn't have a place to stay my couch surfer bailed on me so I was yet again without bed. I figured it's Washington worse case scenario I'll just find a campsite and camp it up in Seattle. LOL. Fate must be on my side cuz I just happened to just randomly call my girlfriend Christina to see how she's doing. She told me that I could totally stay with her friend Nate. Praise Jesus! Yes! I had meet Nate before when he came to visit her so I knew he was legit. He totally took me in and had the weekend off. So he told me anything that I want to do that he's down. He had been living in Seattle two years and hadn't done any of the touristy things and was going to move to Boston in a few weeks anyway. He was game to take me around before he leaves for B-town anyway. Score! We ended up doing the Space Needle, Pikes Place w/ the Fish Toss, Experience Music Project, Science Fiction Museum. I liked Seattle. Very cool city, it's a combination of hipster/ intellectual. Not my scene but had a good time. I should of done more outdoorsy stuff but like I had mentioned in my Facebook my battery is running low.

Ultimately my observation of this trip is that there are soooo many good people out there. So many people just willing to help me out a fellow traveler. I truly believe in karma. You put good out into the world and it'll come back to you. This is a true testament to this whole crazy experience. I also would like to thank my girl Shiya for sharing this with me. We also have become a lot closer as Mommy and Daughter. We trust each other more and can almost read each others minds. I'm just happy we got to experience this together. I really don't think I could of done this with out her. Mama loves you Shiya!

Next: Portland and my trip down Cali!

Yellowstone and Tetons you were pretty......pretty big

Yellowstone is supposed to be the most beautiful, popular and go-to place of all the National Parks! Vanessa a co-worker of mind was soo envious I thought she might just get up and leave just to join me. lol. Thankfully she didn't because I felt that the park was alittle played up. I know, I know! I'm going to get sooo much crap from that statement but... having already have been to Yosemite I was thinking it would be MUCH more awesome! Don't get me wrong it was pretty cool but I think my expectations well exceeded it's delivery. Weather was perfect and big open skies... I couldn't have asked for more perfect circumstances.



The drive thru Wyoming to get to the very west corner was a long one. Wyoming, is a lot more high desert and baron then I had thought. Actually, many of my expectations of places have been shot out of the water. For the better, mostly. Out of my normal character I didn't look ahead of time to where I would been staying for the night once I got to Yellowstone. I was just going to stroll up to the entrance station and just ask the Ranger where the "free" camping was. It has worked the last three times so I figured eh... no need to pre-plan. Unfortunately, I got the grumpiest worst communicating old man ranger possible when I pulled up to the Yellowstone pearly gates! After I gave him my Pass ( it's good for a year, lets go somewhere) I politely, ask "Oh, can I ask you were is the free camping on this map?"................. (long silence)................... With such disapproval, "We don't do that." Wait.... what? I mean what are you supposed to say to that? Really? "Actually, no sir there is designated Federal Land all over this great state of Wyoming that you live in. Now, where the F is it?" But really, that's what I was thinking. I replied, "nothing? I checked on line and I know that there is Federal Land in or near Yellowstone, I just need to know where it is." He just said "the camp sites over there behind you are $15 and they are attended (which means there is a host)." Uhhhh... okay well...I wasn't going to argue with the man. I just need to find someone who knew exactly what I was asking. Oh and I forgot to mention that I just drove 40miles to get to Yellowstone from the closest town (Cody, WY). So, there was no way I was going to drive 40miles back into town to do a hotel! No!



After finding a "nice" ranger I found that the closest "free" primitive camp is 50miles North on a dirt road. Guh! It's 7pm and the sun is going to set in an hour. Jesus! By the time I get 25miles in it'll be dark... on a dirt road.... setting up my tent...prolly with no one around.... and just my packaged ramen. RRRrrrrrr. Okay, okay...just think. What do I want to do? I was stressn'. I was hungry and tired from driving and I couldn't make a decision. The only logical thing that came to my hungry mind is to drive out of Yellowstone to Cody (40miles) and get some fresh cooked food. Okay. Cody is a super cute cowboy town. Lots of boot barns and cowboy shwagger with a saloon here and there. I'm lookn' for sumthn' good... Sushi! Yes! In Cody? Eh, whatever how bad can it be? I sit down at the sushi bar and hassle the cute little white sushi chef for a Vegetarian roll saying; with this, but not this... oh and this too! Come to find out he's my age and Mormon...bahaha that's just funny. We got to chattn and I figured we'd had built a rapport. Then I had asked him where there is free or cheap camping around here. He struggles to find an answer. Let me think about it. I figure maybe he'll let me sleep in his yard or on his couch. He comes back and says...................................... "You can sleep in my families sheep wagon!" WHAAAA? WTF is a sheep wagon?!?! He laughs and says "You don't know what a sheep wagon is?" An eyebrow raised. "No!" Then he goes on to tell me he'll get off in 20min and I can follow him to his folks house and check it out. If I don't like it I don't have to stay. I was like, F I don't care if they're sheep still in it. I'm down. The picture above is the sheep wagon that they had remolded into a guest bedroom that was place in their backyard. It's cute and was super cozy. The mom Suzie totally took me in and made the sheets for me..... remember, I just meet this boy at the Sushi Restaurant. Thank God this happened because there was a gnarly thunderstorm that night. :-D The next morning I woke up to a homemade breakfast and jam with the rest of Joe's siblings. All seven of them....LOL. I thanked them kindly and washed the dishes and then head out to Yellowstone for the day.



Okay, on the Yellowstone newsletter that they give you upon arrival it states "Old Faithful erupts on the hour +/- 10min. Schweeeet! That's first on my list. After driving 2hrs. I get to Old Faithful 1:30p. 30min before eruption, so I can go to the gift shop, bathroom, mosy around. Then 10min before the show I sit and wait with everyone else... 25mins goes by....30mins.. Okay! WTF is going on! Who turned off the valve?! Then I walk around like everyone else aimlessly. Suddenly, a ranger is walking around and says that the next prediction is at 3:00p. F! Are you serious?! That's not what it said on the paper!? I'm not waiting around for this to happen. I have to pick Shiya up from Doggie Day care in Cody in 3 hrs. And it takes two hours to get the the gates and another 40mins to go to Cody. Bah! Well I took a picture of it (not erupting). Yellowstone is flippn huge is a series of two large circles. Where each circle takes 4ish hours to drive w/o stopping to look at things. It's huge! Most of the National Parks I kinda got a sense in 2-3 days of being their. Or maybe it was just that's my camping limit. Bathing in a sink, constant bug-spray and cooking with my one burning MSR (thanks Maricar). But Yellowstone, I needed more time to just even complete the circles.



After seeing Old faithful and picking up Shiya that night I was going to meet up with Alison and Rich my homies from PA that I meet in Badlands, we planned on doing to do the Tetons (south of Yellowstone) together. When they got in we decided to head to the Famous Cody Rodeo. Hell why not?! I like horse, bulls and cowboys. It was a great time and we all made sure to wear our cowboy hats to look like we knew what the hell we were doing. hahhaha..yeah right. After the show I hadn't planned on staying in the sheep wagon again since they're in town. So, I made no plans again to where I'm going to lay my head. I figured now that I'm with two other people and Rich is pretty resourceful that I need not to worry. So, I thought! We meet up about 7p and get some dinner and then head to the local bar and shoot pool. It's getting close to 10p and then I start thinkin about where the hell are we going to sleep? By this time Alison and Rich had about 3-4 beers and were not in the same mind set as me. Rich was busy playing more pool with a couple of guys he had just meet. I pulled Rich over and said "Hey, ask your friends if we can camp on their lawn?" He looks at me glossy-eyed and says " Oh, yeah that would be cool." I just laugh.... OMG. This is crazyness.... sleeping in strangers sheep wagons and now asking to sleep on some strangers lawn that we meet playing pool at a bar?!?! Rich smoothly asks the guys "Hey where u guys heading tonight?" they reply "Oh prolly just back to out hotel and then party some more, you guys like to party right?" I grab Alisons arm and just shake my head. She reassures me it's cool "we got Rich." Rich is a pretty strong guy so I guess it's cool. Our new friends tell us that "hell you can sleep in our hotel room, no prob." I perked up! Sweet! Remember, we got Rich. It turned out these guys were super cool and totally let us take a shower and sleep in their hotel room no strings attached. Wow! Gotta love the Midwest!



We got up the next morning and carpooled to The Tetons (1hr South of Yellowstone) which is a series of snow cover mountains that kinda look like the Patagonia Logo . We all fit three people, two dogs and camping gear. It was very cozy! Our first day we backpacked into Shadow Mountain (Federal Land) and set up camp. It was pretty funny cuz none of us had backpacking gear. So our Jansport paks looked like pieces of u know what. Just orange nylon string held our sleeping bags, tents and food off of our packs. A total shame. We got to the top and then set up camp and made a fire pit and gathered some wood. The night sky was just like you'd seen at museum. Complete darkness. So beautiful.



The next morning we packed out and then headed to the lodge. A co-worked of mine at REI Tres hooked me up with one of his friends that works at the Siren Mountain Lodge in the Tetons. We got to shower up, eat pizza and just hung around the lake with good conversation. Later that day we headed South to Jackson Hole WY. where were camped at Curtis Park also Federal Land so the doggies can rome free. So, we spent the evening at the Nepalese restaurant and the Virginian Saloon. This saloon was very Wyoming! All locals, chaps, animal heads on the wall and the only beer options were Bud and Bud Light. Yeeeeah! They had live music where I insisted on just watching. Eventually, an old man pulled me onto the dance floor and was dancing with me... He was prolly 70. That was fun. After three nights together we headed back to our cars and parted our separate ways. I wanted to do the Northern Circle of Yellowstone and then head to MT and they still had to do the Southern half.


New Years:

Drove into Bozemen, MT. Well I'm in the land of the people who live for fireworks apparently (I was told). I guess the festivities had started about a week ago and there are firework stands on every block. I'm staying with my couchsurfer Mary (currently mowing the lawn). By the way being around her 4 roommates really makes me feel inadequate. As an empowered women. They're attire consists of dirty jeans, messy hair and a beer. These women are no joke. But they are also very beautiful and confident. They cook, clean, mow lawns, and cut wood for the bonfires too! Jesus! I look like a frickn priss from California. But besides me standing by and watching all of this go on Bozeman is a pretty cool town. Beautiful men everywhere and you know the country kind. :-D

Glacier National Park is next... boy it was a real treat.