You'd better git yer orange on!

We arrived in Utah the day before hunting season started, which is a holiday in the state of Utah, the kids even get off school. We first visited Flaming Gorge, where the visitors center was full of families. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir is a beautiful red rocked canyon on a dammed section of the Green River in the northeaster part of the state. Thankfully we were able to escape the crowds and do a bit of hiking out on the rim which provided an excellent view. We were also very happy to see some sun and even almost feel warm for a while.





We camped that night just down the road towards Vernal, among bright yellow Aspen trees. In the morning we woke up to a family having lunch near the rest station, all dressed in orange and clearly out taking advantage of the hunting season. When we went to take Kiska for a walk along the path, they reminded us with a laugh: "You'd better git yet orange on so you don't get shot by the hunters..." Needless to say it was not a long walk, and we get in the car to head south and out of hunting range.

We had been noticing that the clutch was having a hard time again since being fixed a week earlier, and we made it almost as far as Price before it really started giving out. Luckily, we managed to land between a brewery and bowling alley, so we relaxed and enjoyed our Saturday night, knowing we would have to fix it in the morning. We deducted the problem to be air in the clutch line, same as last time, but this time we decided that we would try and fix it our selves. In case there is any doubt, neither of us have much in the way of mechanic skills. Thanks to the Internet and a VW Survival book Chuck bought us, we found some directions, bought a clutch/brake bleed kit at the auto shop, and proceeded to do our best. Nathan went under the car to situate the hose and then open and close the bleed valve while Kelsey pumped out all the hydraulic fluid and filled the reservoir with fresh clean fluid. We were pretty proud of ourselves when we started it up and the clutch worked perfectly again (and continues to as of posting this blog)!





Good thing Nathan's skinny enough to fit under the car!! That pair of jeans got sacrificed in the process however.

With Bones in working shape again, we were off to the Moab area, beginning in Canyonlands National Park for night one. This was where we really able to see what makes this particular area of the country so beautiful and unique to anything we had seen previously. We went to the Island in the Sky district, where we had an amazing campsite on the canyon rim and enjoyed the afternoon climbing around the rocks and getting butterflies in our stomach as we looked over the edge of vast canyons.





View down in to the canyons of the park





Climbing up the sandstone rocks





Love moments like this





Whoa, that's a long way down... Nathan's mom would not be happy

Kelsey got up just in time for the sun to rise the next morning (only because that wasn't until 8:00...), and took Kiska on a nice morning run, since she can't go on any of the trails in the park. Then we headed out to see more of the canyons.





Bones in the sunrise





Mesa arch





On the hike we took into the canyon





Kiska got to get out of the car finally, but we have discovered she doesn't really like heights

We left the park and spent the afternoon in Moab, where we enjoyed a Moab Mo-gasm Milkshake- blended mocha with ice cream and banana, mmm. We had dinner at the Moab Brewery, and took Kiska to the dog park to play for a while. On Tuesday we got up early and spent the day hiking in Arches National Park.





Landscape Arch





Kelsey channeling her days back on the playground





Double O arch





On top of Double O arch





Hiking among the rock "fins"





Delicate Arch with the background of the impending storm





The rain coming down, and snow on the mountains in the distance

We camped by the Colorado river that night, and had a nice evening before the rain started pouring down. After falling asleep we awoke in the middle of the night to discover there was a waterfall loudly coming off the canyon wall behind us, creating a small river which happened to pass right under our car. Needless to say, it was a long night where we got up several times to make sure we weren't being washed away. The rain did get our dirty water tub that Kelsey had set under the car, a twelve by twelve plastic rubbermaid tub that we found absolutely no sign of in the morning.

It was still pretty cold out and drizzling in the morning so we went into town to have coffee and lunch. Fortunately the sun came out in the afternoon, so we headed out to do a little hiking and camp up the Colorado River canyon.





On the hike to the Rock Bridge





Looking up at the Rock Bridge, too bad we couldn't get up on it





The amazing sunset





Our camping spot for the night. Bones looks most at home out in the wild

The next morning we only had to drive 3 minutes before we were at the trailhead of a loop that went through the amphitheater basin.






There were lots of fun little climbing opportunities






After our hike we put some miles in on the road and made it to Grand Junction, where we stopped to soak in a hot tub and take a shower, and then proceeded on to Montrose for the night. From here we are gonna go through Gunnison, where Kelsey's dad was born, and are just a couple nights away from Colorado Springs where we will spend a couple weeks with Dave and Heather, Nathan's parents.

Surrounded by color

The Vanagon is on the road again, and the adventure continues. The problem turned out to be air in the clutch line, or something like that, so we had the fortune of not having to replace the clutch, and were able to get back on the road last Friday afternoon. We made it about an hour south of Belgrade before pulling off at a beautiful creek campsite and calling it a night.

Saturday afternoon we arrived in West Yellowstone, which I'm sure is booming during the summer months, but felt almost deserted while we were there. We decided to do Yellowstone in two days, one day the upper part of the park, then come out for the night back to West Yellowstone, and drive the remainder of the way through to the south on day two. The hardest part about being in parks is that Kiska can't really get out of the car, so we do lots of little short hikes instead just a big long one.

Day One: A couple minutes after entering the park we passed two bison just off the road. Shortly thereafter We then ran into a heard of elk, and saw many more bison throughout the day.


Elk in the grass, his ladies were all close by


The Bison were plentiful in the park


And elk crossing the road, with traffic stopped all around, in what we pictured to be a common Yellowstone experience

Besides the wildlife, the first day was full of waterfalls, geysers, steam vents and gurgling mud pots. We visited the Norris Geyser Basin, the Artist Paintpots, and finally Lower Yellowstone falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.




The one waterfall close enough to pavement that Kiska was allowed to walk with us to see


Paintpots, the photo only barely captures the colors


Mineral and mud buildup on the side of a hot spring


Geyser


Kis with a stick we brought her back from a hike so she wouldn't be so pouty about being stuck in the car... Yes, she's a spoiled princess :)


The warm steam from the geysers and pools felt so nice on the cold afternoon!


Grand canyon of Yellowstone, at the brink of the lower falls



Day two: We woke up to a cold morning, and bundled up to head back into the park. We only made a couple stops, seeing some more paint pots and small geysers, before the downpour started, and really didn't let up all afternoon. We did arrive at Old Faithful just as it was erupting, which was perfect, and then explored the visitor center and lodges a bit while staying dry and getting warmed up. We had planned to camp between Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks, but when the ranger told us there was a 90% chance of snow and the weather wasn't looking up, we headed clear down to Jackson. The rain made the colors throughout both parks beautiful, but we unfortunately didn't spend much time out of the car exploring after seeing Old Faithful.


One of the geysers


Brilliant blue of the spring water, it looked so tempting to take a warm soak in!


Old faithful, near the end of it's performance


Meadow in Grand Teton, in front of Jenny Lake


Mountains trying to peek out from behind the clouds in Teton

After a cold wet night in Jackson, we awoke to a marvelous day, barely a cloud in the sky! We did some hiking just outside of Jackson proper, and then explored Teton Village, Jackson Hole ski area, and went a little ways back up into GT park.


Yay for the sun!


Hiking in the beautiful autumn colors


Bones was happy to be in the sunny weather again too





The ski area with no snow and no people, can't imagine what this is like on a packed winter day!


Snow covered peaks of the Tetons!

We spoiled ourselves with a shower on our last evening in Jackson, and then went out for the night to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for a drink and some pool. The unique thing about this bar was that the bar stools are actually saddles, complete with stirrups to.

The next morning we headed south from Jackson to the small town of Pinedale, where we have spent the last two nights and wonderfully sunny days camping at Half Moon Lake. We were the only ones at the campground and had a private beach on the very peaceful lake. We spent yesterday hiking around part of the lake and up to a nice little creek, and then just relaxing and reading for the afternoon. It was so nice to bring out our chairs, set them up on the beach, and feel warm and relaxed looking out on the water and mountains. Kiska also got plenty of entertainment from chasing all the chipmunks nearby.



Nathan fishing at our little private beach on Half Moon Lake


Creek where we had a snack on the hike

The nights here at 8000 ft have been quite chilly, and we awoke both mornings to Kiska's water bowl being frozen over and a thin layer of ice instead of condensation lining the inside of the camper. Time to head further south!

The weather finally breaks... and so does the Vanagon

After leaving Missoula we stayed at Kelsey's great uncle Jay and his wife Donna's house for three nights in Corvallis, MT. The days are definitely starting to get cold so it was great to continue having a bed and warm shower! We spent the first night having a dinner party at the house along with Jay and Donna's good friend/yoga teacher and his brother who was visiting from California. It was a fun night of eating, drinking, telling stories and talking about life.

The next day Jay and Donna took us out for a hike at one of the nearby trails that followed along Bear Creek. It was a good day weather-wise, one of the first non-rainy days we had for about a week, so it was nice to get out and put some ground under our feet. Plus, thanks to the weather clearing, we finally got a view of the surrounding mountains and were able to see how truly beautiful it was. Kiska was also really excited to get out because she hates the rain and gets real pouty in bad weather.



The hike up Bear Creek

Later in the day we were putting together plans to go out for dinner, but Donna got a phone call from three bicyclists who were doing a cross-country ride and needed a place to stay for the night so we ended up having another dinner party! It was fun to talk to the other travelers who had started in Virginia 4 months earlier and were biking all the way to Astoria, OR. We swapped adventure stories and got to see some of the videos they had made along their journey, and were sure to provide them with contacts in Sisters and Bend in case they needed a place to stay.

The cyclists left the next morning and we went with Jay and Donna to float the Bitterroot River and go fly fishing. A quick background, Nate has virtually no fly fishing experience while Kelsey has had a little more experience but still is still a beginner. Thankfully Jay and Donna were great teachers and helped both of us get our casts figured out a bit. It was another gorgeous and fairly warm day, and regardless of what the fish were doing we had such a fun time floating River and spending time with Jay and Donna.



On the Bitterroot



A quick stop for lunch



Jay giving Kelsey some pointers

We were able to get a few bites on the line, but actually catching the fish proved to be a bit more difficult. Jay landed two fish quickly which was fun to see, and then he and Donna decided they would let us take turns fishing off of the front of the boat as we floated. This was a ton of fun and with Jay and Donna helping to point out the best areas to put our lines, we were both successful in catching fish! Nate caught two, it should have been three but the big one caught him off guard and snapped the line, and Kelsey landed one just as we finished the trip. We didn't keep any of the fish, but loved catching them.



Kelsey casting off the boat



One of the fish Nate hooked, and now he may be hooked on this whole fishing thing too



Kelsey with her fish

After leaving Corvallis on Monday afternoon, we had plans to make it to Dillon and then keep heading southeast to Yellowstone, unfortunately however, as we were coming down Lolo pass, it became almost impossible to shift gears. We carefully rolled through Big Hole National Battlefield, an incredible historic site where almost a hundred Nez Peirce were killed in an early morning attack. As we drove through, the setting was particularly haunting with dark clouds and rain drops setting on the endless orange fields.

We were able to ram the shifter into place and use the little bit of engaging the clutch was giving us to limp to a stop in Wisdom, hoping that we would be able to fix it ourselves and get on the road. That proved to be beyond our capabilities, plus it was getting dark, extremely cold, and starting to rain. We had hoped that we would make it through Wisdom, because the night before it had been featured in the newspaper as recording the coldest temperature in the country, something it's well know for. But, alas, that would be our landing spot, and we hunkered up for the night with extra blankets, most of our warm layers, and Kiska happy to be cuddled on the bed with us.

Thankfully the next morning we awoke to lifting clouds, and headed over to see the local mechanic, keeping in mind that Wisdom is a town of dirt streets and a handful of actual businesses. The mechanic was a little stunned to have people showing up at the shop, and told us quite frankly that he had no idea how to do anything for us on the VW, and the best he could do was recommend us to someone who did, 50 miles away. We took a deep breath, hoped for the best, and jammed poor Bones into gear to get on the road. The first stop was in Divide at what turned out to be a very informative stop. Unfortunately the owner didn't do mechanical work anymore, just sold parts, but helped us diagnosis the likely issue and make an appointment to have it worked on in Belgrade on Friday (it was Tuesday). We bought a clutch kit, and headed to the nearby town of Butte for the night to pass the time.


Bones at the autoshop in Divide, very nervous he was going to end up lined up with the others in the background.

Butte was a pretty run down old mining town, we toured the historic uptown district and passed part of the afternoon at the local Quarry Brewing Co. Then the rain started to set in, so we decided to go to the movie theater, in first gear all the way, to pass some more time.


Sampling beers at Quarry

Wednesday morning we headed towards Bozeman, which has turned out to be a great place to spend a couple days while waiting for our appointment with the mechanic tomorrow. Thanks to Chuck, we are also perfecting the double-clutch technique which allows us to shift gears slightly more smoothly, and we made it over the two passes between Butte and Bozeman without too much trouble, and have been able to get around town a little here.

We found a great park yesterday where we spent the afternoon walking around with Kiska, and then decided to have a night out on the town. We walked down the main street for a while, which is really similar to downtown Bend, and then found a great little bar to spend part of the evening. We tried some of their more interesting cocktails, including jalapeño infused tequila, a drink featuring salt and fresh ground pepper, and a manhattan with ginger syrup.


A view of Bozeman from the hike.

We've spent today walking and running around, and then even got in a nice shower at the local pool. Now we're at the fantastic Bozeman Community Food Co-op enjoying a cup of tea and getting a few things for dinner. Tomorrow we'll get up early and drive the few miles to Belgrade to have Bones doctored up, and hopefully we'll be on the road again before too long!

A little end video- Kis has gotten much improved on her ability to walk around town with us and meet other dogs, but I don't think we'll ever get it through her head that she can't climb trees to get squirrels. It's ok though, because it provides endless entertainment for her, and us :)