My Last Blog...

Alex and I have been in Sacramento for a little over a week now.  I still don't totally feel settled in, but who knows how long it will take to actually really feel "settled in?" I'm not even sure what that means for us yet. We were able to sell our van while we were still in Illinois. I was really sad to see the van go, but it had to happen. We donated a good chunk of our things in the van to Salvation Army and a Women and Children's shelter. We only had four bags between the both of us when we boarded our train to California. It is actually pretty surprising how much you can live without. That's one of the things I learned while on the road.

I definitely feel like a different person now than when we first set sail on our across country adventure seven months ago. Maybe not totally different, but I have a different view on life. My traveling experience has made me appreciate the simple things in life and realize that building and maintaining relationships with the people around you is what will make life more fulfilling. I'm happy that I was able to see so many places, learn tons of history about our country and best of all meet new people and experience different cultures within our culture...if that makes sense.

I also really enjoyed going to a different church every Sunday.  Although, we were far away from our church in Sacramento, it seemed like we were close because of the faith we shared with Christians all across the country. It was neat to see how welcoming, friendly and loving people were to us who had only known us for a few seconds. We were the new people at church, "the strangers" and I was happy that so many churches made us feel at home.  I only hope that I can do the same for new people who attend my home church in Sacramento

I also enjoyed seeing old friends who lived in different parts of the country.  Seeing friends that I hadn't seen in years was really cool. I was very grateful for the kindness and hospitality they showed us. I hope that I can be as welcoming and hospitable to my friends and new people I meet now that I'm back in my hometown.

Traveling has grown Alex and I closer as a couple. We had good times and bad times. We learned things about each other that we could have only learned by traveling together and I think it has had us stronger individually and as husband and wife.

I wouldn't want to take back or replace any of the experiences I had on the road. I'm so glad that when Alex came up with this crazy idea that I said yes. I think that I will look back on the last seven months with fond memories for the rest of my life. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

This last week we have reconnected with old friends and spent time with family. It's been nice, but I think it's now time to start looking for jobs and getting back to regular old life.

The Death of Maander and Starting Anew

So, if you read my previous blog then you know that something happened to our van....and it wasn't a good thing.  Alex and I waited for about 2 hours on the side of the hwy for a tow truck to pick us up and take us to a car mechanic in DeKalb, IL.  DeKalb is roughly an hour from Chicago. We got to the mechanic shop and the receptionist sounded very positive and reassured us that we brought our van to the best place in town.  Well, it better be good if they charge 100 bucks an hour! Anyways, the shop seemed very busy, but the receptionist promised to have someone look at our van as soon as possible to get some type of diagnosis/estimated cost of repair. Waiting is the worst thing ever, especially for me since i'm not a very patient person.  After about an hour, the mechanic walked up to us and said, "Well, I don't have the greatest news, well actually it's pretty bad. I want both of you to come and see what the problem is." His tone sounded like he was a doctor that was about to tell me my loved one had some type of terminal sickness. Talk about a gut wrenching feeling..... He took us out to the shop area and showed us what was wrong with the van. It was like a foreign language to me, but the jist of what he told us is that Maander has died and the only way to bring him back is with a major organ transplant. In other words, a new cam shaft, if you know what that means. It's a really expensive fix and too large of a sum for our budget.

So, what do we do now?????? It still hasn't totally sunk in for me yet. I just imagined that Alex and I would ride into Sacramento with our VW van and then the end of our travels would be complete.  I guess I had thoughts here and there about the possibility of not making it back home with Maander, but I really never thought that would actually happen. I really don't know what to think.

We are going to sell our van in the next two days. We are getting rid of even more stuff than we started our trip with and we're taking a 49hour train ride back to Sacramento.  I think it will really start sinking into my brain that our trip has really ended when we get on that train.

Michigan and Chicago and Maander goes to the ICU

Alex and I had a really good week, despite some minor cold weather.  We had a great time with old friends, new friends and family.  We have gone from Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois. It was truly a wonderful week. Then it ended very badly....  After leaving Chicago we had a really good feeling, like we were on our way home and stuff. Our plan was to put in a really long day of driving to Des Moines, Iowa, but plans don’t always turn out the way you’d like them.  I’m writing this blog as we are waiting for a tow truck on the side of the road of interstate 88………………..Why???????? I don’t know, but the van completely lost power when we were driving at about 65mph on a busy hwy in the middle of farmland.  That doesn't sound good... Now all I can think about is what the heck we are going to do. We found a car mechanic shop not too far away, but I have no idea what kind of financial damage it will cost or if it will be worth it to even get it fixed. Thinking about all this negative stuff about the van is making me forget about what a great time I had in Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Chicago.  I’ll try to remember as much as possible.

Alex’s birthday was on May 14^th and we were in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the time. Ann Arbor is a really neat town. It’s a college town, home of University of Michigan. There are lots of unique restaurants and shops.  We had a great breakfast at a popular local favorite restaurant in the downtown area.  After that we walked around the town, browsed through a farmer’s market and little shops along the way.  The Farmer's Market had a ton of raw and vegan stands. it reminded me of being in California again.  We drove through the University campus and it seemed like a really nice college. The weather wasn’t so nice, it was cold and damp.  Ann Arbor is near Lansing, Michigan, which is the state capital of Michigan. So, we stopped by there and took a few pictures of the capital. The building was closed because it was Saturday, but the outside still was nice to see. 

State Capital of Michigan

We made our way to Grand Rapids, Michigan and stayed with one of our friend’s parents for two days.  His parents are Dave and Linda Eastway.  We had never met them before, but as soon as we arrived they made us feel so welcome like we were a part of their own family.  I wasn’t really expecting too much out of the city of Grand Rapids, but I was quite surprised.   Grand Rapids is one of those cities that has a small town feel to it, but it’s not a very small town. The Eastway’s gave us tons of tips on where to go and places to see.  We went to The Fredrick Meijer Botanical Gardens, had a great lunch in Downtown Grand Rapids and just walked around the city for a few hours.  The sun was out and spring flowers were in bloom.  Many of the old homes in Grand Rapids are Victorian style, which reminded me of Downtown Sacramento.  

Cool looking Cactus at the Botanical Gardens

Beautiful orchid flower. I had never seen one so blue.

Venus fly trap

Another type of insect eating plant

More beautiful orchids

A bearded man standing next to a bearded palm tree

Pretty tulips

Alex's wannabe Grandparents

Now that's a huge horse!

The botanical garden had a really cool sculpture park. This is a neuron.

The poet

We left Grand Rapids and stopped for lunch in Holland, Michigan.  We actually stopped in Holland because one of our old pastors from an old church Alex and I went to lives in Holland now. Well, two of our old pastors live there now, Doug Swink and Steve Rimes. We were able to see both of them, but only had lunch with Doug. It was neat to stop and catch up on life. 

After Lunch we continued on to Chicago to stay with some of Alex’s family that he hadn’t seen since he was about 4 years old.  We stayed with them for two days. That’s actually where we left from today.  His family lives in Willmette, Illinois, which is a little north of Chicago. They live in an absolutely beautiful home.  I would say the area they live in is kind of like the Land Park area of Sacramento; beautiful old big homes with nice trees and well kept yards. Each house has it's own unique style.  His cousin, Mary Beth and John, were so generous, kind and hospitable.  They bought us tickets for the commuter train into Chicago, helped us plan out our itinerary while in Chicago, introduced us to the best Chicago-style pizza ever, and just really made us feel comfortable and at home.   Our time in Chicago was short, but  well worth our while.

The only Baha'i Temple in North America. I'm not exactly sure what they believe, but it was a beautiful building

While in the city of Chicago we went to the Art institute and enjoyed lots of fine art. We didn’t get through the whole thing, but we spent a good three hours in it. After seeing so many paintings it can be exhausting.

At the Chicago Art Institute

I really liked this one. It was my favorite

I liked this one too

The downtown area of Chicago is really beautiful. All the buildings are made of brick or stone because after the Great Chicago Fire a law was put into effect that all new buildings had to be made of brick and not wood.  The fire destroyed 60% of the city. So, I can understand why it would be important to build with brick rather than wood. 

This was one of the buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire

The River in the middle of the city

Chicago Cityscape

Sears Tower. We didn't go to the top. There wouldn't have been anything to see.

There was a lite drizzle while in the city

This was in the Sculpture Park in Chicago. We had a ton of fun with it.

It's my twin.

Love:)

It’s actually pretty crazy how the Great Chicago Fire started.  You would be shocked. I was going to make up some elaborate story, but I’m really not in the mood since having the car problems, so I’ll just tell you straight up. A guy was milking a cow and the cow kicked over a candle, which in turn caught fire to the whole city destroying 60% of it. Pretty crazy!!! That’s actually the real story. Well, at least the story I heard.

A 100% Alpaca hat. I think it's a good look.

Well, we are still waiting for the tow truck to pick us up. Blah… I can’t post this blog at the moment because we don’t have any Internet reception. So, by the time I post this we will have already been towed.

We were towed. Maander(our van) went to the ICU. It was really hard physically and emotionally for both Maander and us. Read the next blog to find out more details........

One Day of Sunshine in Pittsburgh

Alex and I had one beautifully glorious sunny day in Pittsburgh.  It was sunny and 75 degree weather. We had a lightning and thunder storm the day before our sunny day, so to have a beautiful day was a true treasure for us.  We were able to explore the city of Pittsburgh and it turned out to be a pretty decent place. 

Pittsburgh Cityscape

Pittsburgh is full of trees and hills like the one behind this bridge

Downtown Pittsburgh Market Square

Pittsburgh is a fairly large city. There is a pretty good mixture of old and new architecture, which I always think is a neat contrast.  It has a beautiful river and tons of trees.  I love all the green hills and trees that adorn the city. It feels so fresh and full of life. The downtown area was easily walkable and we took advantage of that. We walked all over the place.  We walked a little on the river, but most of the river walk was closed due to winter and it was to be opened for the season starting the next day. That was pretty lame, but we still enjoyed the part we did get to walk by. Pittsburgh has a Cultural District full of museums, art, restaurants and parks which we walked all the way through, as well. 

Old Pittsburgh Court House and Jail

Old Court House and jail

Art and Fountain in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh

Staring into the biggest eye I've ever seen. And I thought I had big eyes....

Little History fact: Lewis and Clark started their exploration west at this very spot.

After about two and a half hours of walking, we decided to cross the river on the southeast side of Pittsburgh and watch a movie at the cinema.  The Southeast side of Pittsburgh was really neat and had a ton of character.  I think there may have been a college nearby that area because there were tons of young people walking all over the place.  It had a very young college age vibe.  All the buildings in the area looked like they were built in the late 1800s to early 1900s, I think that contributed to the character of the place.  There were a ton of unique pubs, bars, restaurants and boutiques.  Alex and I ate dinner at a place called “The Library” and the menus they used were a variety of used art books with the menu pasted to the first few pages of the book.  I thought that was a unique way to present a food menu.   For dessert we stopped at a little ice cream shop, but it wasn’t really icecream.  They served Old fashioned frozen custard and flavored frozen ice(a better version of an Icee).   Frozen custard is soooooooo good!  It’s smoother and creamier than regular ice cream.  I got their frozen dessert called Gelati, which is a combination of the frozen custard and flavored ice.  Seriously, it was the best frozen dessert I’ve ever had in my entire life!!  If we hadn’t decided to see a movie then we probably wouldn’t have experienced that cool little area.  I’m so glad we did! It kinda made me wish we had of explored Pittsburgh sooner. Before our trip back to Sacramento we had 4 days in Pittsburgh, but we just stuck to one area because it rained the entire time.  I’m glad we at least had one nice day.  I think Pittsburgh would be a great place to visit again someday.

The river in Downtown Pittsburgh

Enjoying Frozen Custard in a Waffle Cone

Gelati: Frozen Custard on top of Cherry Flavored Ice. Soooooooo Good!!!

Southeast side of Pittsburgh

So, Alex and I are continuing our journey west.  We drove to Cleveland, Ohio and stopped at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  It was a little pricey, but definitely worth it!  We couldn’t take any pictures of the exhibits, which I was really bummed out about.  The museum is full of all kinds of music stuff and history like famous music artists clothing, personal notes and song journals, biographies of their rise to fame, band memorabilia, and one exhibit of media propaganda portraying the “evils” of Rock and Roll.  I thought the exhibit about the “evils” of Rock and Roll was pretty hilarious.  Sure, there are some Rock songs out there that don’t give out the greatest moral message, but to say that all Rock and Roll is the work of Satan is pretty stupid and ignorant.  All in all, it was neat to see how far Rock and Roll has come.  

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

In the front lobby of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio

The weather forecast for this week looks pretty grim. It’s full of rain and thunder storms. It supposed to be warm rain. I guess kind of like the rain we had in Florida, which produces lots of scary lightning. That one day of sunshine in Pittsburgh was such a tease.  I’m hoping we get more sunny days during the next three to four weeks across the country, but we shall have to see.

On The Road Again

I'm going to make this one short....I promise:) Alex and I just got back from a nice little vacation in our hometown of Sacramento. I enjoyed time with friends and family, but it wasn't enough time. I think going back home just made us even more eager to get back to Sacramento. I think we are finally ready to settle down again. We are probably going to be spending the next 3 to 4 weeks driving across the country from Pittsburgh to Sacramento.

Our van is having some oil problems at the moment, so I hope we can make it back with our van. It seems like driving in an old car there is always something that goes wrong.

We went to Sacramento for my little sister's wedding. It was a nice outdoor wedding at a beautiful place called The Biblical Gardens. The wedding was very non-traditional and everyone dressed very casual. The weather was perfect; sunny with a few clouds. The reception was picnic style where everyone brought there own chair and picnic blanket. I had a really nice time.

I wish we could have stayed longer, but our van was waiting for us at the airport and I guess the quicker we left Sacramento the quicker it will take us to get back home.

I know there is so much more to see and traveling around the country like this is a once in a lifetime thing that many people only dream of doing, but after 6 months of living in a VW van and being away from friends and family traveling can become very tiresome.

I'm excited to come home and excited to see the places along the way.

Niagara Falls. A Wonder of the World

Alex and I made it to Niagara Falls!!!!!! It's one of the wonders of the world! And I saw it:) Our drive through upstate New York was very beautiful, too. From Albany to Niagara falls the quickest way to get there is taking a 300 mile toll road. Completely ridiculous! One thing I hate about the East Coast is all the freaking toll roads. The longer you drive on the toll road the more you have to pay. We opted out on taking the toll road and took a nice quiet country road. Well, it was quite most of the time. We had to stop for about an hour to avoid a really bad thunder/tornado storm. Anyways, the toll roads aren't even nicely paved or kept up to date. There are all kinds of cracks and potholes in the pavement. So, not only do you have to drive on a crappy road, but you also have to pay to drive on the crappy road. I'm sorry, but no thank you! So, back to the country road...It was so scenic and picturesque. Beautiful hills of fresh green grass, big old red barns with farm animals, old country towns with dozens of antique shops. I truly enjoyed every moment of the drive. Well, maybe not every moment.

Upstate New York

Farm land

Old house in an old town

Old red barn

The Country side

When we were about 80miles from Niagara Falls the weather started to get really bad. Lots of lightning and thunder. The clouds were dark and gloomy. We checked the latest weather report and saw that a tornado warning was in effect and moving straight towards us at 50miles an hour with winds of 70mph. We just so happened to be passing by the sizable town of Auburn, NY. We looked up the closest coffee shop, which was a small coffee/bookstore, and stayed indoors for about an hour and a half until the storm passed.

Driving in Gloomy weather

Rain rain Go Away, Come again another day

Once the storm passed we got back into our van and continued on the road to our destination, Niagara Falls.

I think it's so funny that the bad weather can come and go so quickly. I don't think California weather is like that at all. Once the storm passed and the clouds moved, there was sunny blue sky again. 

The next day we went to Niagara Falls. There were still tornado warnings for that day, but when we woke up in the morning it was sunny, hot and only a few clouds in the sky. We had to take advantage of every minute of sunshine. At Niagara Falls there are two different waterfalls, the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. The Horseshoe Falls is the one that people go over in a barrel. We really couldn't get a good view of the entire Horseshoe Falls from where we were at. The Canadian side has the better view. The American Falls is smaller, but still pretty magnificent. We still weren't able to get a full view, but pretty close to a full view. The main viewing area for the American Falls was closed due to the large accumulation of ice still present. I was pretty bummed out that we couldn't get closer to the falls, but I'm still glad I got to see them.

The River leading to Niagara Falls. Looks pretty strong

Looking over the Falls

The side of American Falls

That's a huge chunk of ice!

American Falls Viewing area closed due to ice

Horseshoe Falls area closed as well

The best view we could get of Horseshoe Falls

In my last blog I referenced the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" as contributing to my desire to see Niagara Falls. Well, the scene in the movie that inspired me so much to see Niagara was when George Bailey was walking down the street with that girl with the blond hair(I forget her name) and he takes her in his arms and says something like "Let's get married and honeymoon in Niagara Falls and climb the top of the falls in our bare feet!" She of course thought he was crazy and if you've seen the movie he doesn't end up marrying her. Anyways, I thought George's idea of climbing the top of Niagara Falls in bare feet sounded so exciting. For a long time I wanted to climb Niagara Falls in my bare feet. When I got a little older I realized that is very impractical and dangerous, but I still very much desired to see the actual falls. Now I have seen the falls and I would recommend everyone seeing them at least once in their lifetime. It was a real amazing and exciting experience. 

Top of Horseshoe Falls. The one people go over in a barrel

American Falls

More Ice

American Falls

American Falls

The actual town of Niagara Falls is pretty run down. The economic crisis really hit the town hard. The next town over is Buffalo and that isn't that great of a place either. It's now part of the "Rust Belt" in the U.S. There are lots of abandoned rusting factories due to moving factory production over to China and other third world countries. It was really sad to see towns in our country that once thrived on wealth and are now struggling just to stay alive.

Alex and I were planning on leaving to Pittsburgh the next day, but once again the weather got yucky. The next day there was a high wind advisory. Winds were anywhere from 30mph to 60mph all day long! When winds are 10 to 20 mph our van gets pushed around pretty bad when driving. So, it was way too dangerous to drive with sustained winds of 40 or 50 mph. Winds like that would definitely push us off the road and likely cause a major accident.

The wind was going about 40mph when this pic was taken. Alex said it felt like his beard was going to fly off his face:D

I am seriously absolutely sick, tired, annoyed, and disgusted with all this horrible weather. It puts a huge damper on our travels and makes me miss California that much more.

Well, yesterday we made it to Pittsburgh and we have one day of sunshine today:) I have to enjoy it while it lasts. Pittsburgh seems like a pretty nice city. There are lots and lots of trees and hills. It's really beautiful. We are flying into Sacramento on May 4th and will be there for a week because my little sister is getting married! So, we will be in Pittsburgh until then. I may or may not do another blog before we leave on our mini-vacation to Sacramento. I guess it depends if I feel like Pittsburgh is worth writing about. We shall see.