Karl Comes to Cupertino: A Thanksgiving Visitor

Happy belated Thanksgiving, Zy! Our holiday in San Francisco was festive, full of food and friends. We had an SND-worthy potluck (I made green bean casserole à la Daring Gourmet) and we even got a special guest for the weekend. Brittany Whitaker just moved to California and has been staying with us the last few days.

That's us, all warm in our fuzzies because Karl the Fog also decided this is a great time to visit Cupertino. It finally rained (here and pretty much everywhere in California). Not enough to ease the drought, but enough to finally provide some relief to the parched earth. What a nice change of pace from our usual mild and sunny environs. 

Indoor activities are more suitable at the moment. These days are perfect for mulled wine, board games and puzzles -- all things I know you enjoy. I suppose you indulged in those things yourself at the Friendsgiving gathering last weekend. Wish we could've been there with all of you but at least we'll see you soon. Will you pick up a new puzzle? We can do it together when you get here.

Picspam: Hapgood Pond in the Snow

Hapgood Pond Recreation Area, located within the Green Mountain National Forest in Peru, Vermont, is me and AGP's go to nature trail in our area. Whenever we can't cross the brook, but feel a hankering to stretch our legs, we take the short trip to Peru to walk the one mile nature trail there. It's definitely an easy little walk, but there is a lot to see and explore all season long. And in the summer it's a great place to camp, swim, and BBQ!

So with the brook raging and a foot of fresh snow on the ground, we figured we'd take a chilly little stroll around the pond and soak up the winter wonderland while it was still novel. Take a stroll around Hapgood Pond in the snow with us...

Wish you were here?

Foto Friday No. 3

We had quite a bit of action with the frozen white stuff over Thanksgiving, but it has been luckily melting away since. Here we see some of it clinging to the bark of an ash tree. Did you know that morel mushrooms and ash trees have a symbiotic relationship? 

I am super pumped for this weekend - my friends are coming up from Boston to help celebrate a 30th birthday (not mine!) and the smorgasbord of other relevant holidays. Hooray for feasts!

Winter Road Trip Ideas: Vermont to Kansas

Since I finally completed me and Nessa's travelogue to California, it's the perfect time to start planning another trip! In just a short month, AGP and I will be embarking on an ultra cool winter road trip from Vermont to California! We are going to do like snow birds do and head off to watch the cactus bloom while the rest of Vermont waits under a blanket of snow for mud season.

To compile a list of winter road trip ideas, I started with a quick search of roadside attractions on the way to Denver if we drove that interminable Interstate 70 people always complain about. You know, in all my time zooming back and forth across the country, I actually have never been on I-70. Oh, happy day! Right? I'm pretty pumped to drive through Kansas.

I used Roadtrippers.com to search for interesting places to take breaks along the way, so if you want to read more, click on the picture and it will take you back to the site. Don't worry, I'm trying hard to keep in mind that we will be traveling through the dark of winter. *Shivers*

Here are my favorite winter road trip ideas so far, in geographical order:

Cuyahoga National Park - Brandywine Falls: Sagamore Hills Township, Ohio

Geology, National Parks, and waterfalls, all in one. The step-like formation of these falls are made of sandstone, which was used to make many of the canals that crisscross the park. I looked up some pictures of the waterfall in the winter and it seems like it will still be worth a visit even when frozen. Plus, it's only a short walk from the parking lot so it will probably be a good place to stretch our legs. Besides, I long to cross this National Park off my list!

Statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger: Columbus, Ohio

I put this on the list mainly for Nessa, who is an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan! I would definitely consider a pit stop just to snap a picture for her (maybe hang from his guns?), but it would also be a perfect time to take a break from motorway grub and Waffle Houses and grab a substantial bite to eat and of course some of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.

Kaskaskia Dragon: Vandalia, Illinois

If you get a token from the nearby hardware store, then this dragon will breath fire for you. How cool is that?

Giant Concrete Teepee: Lawrence, Kansas

I would consider this a worthy roadside attraction and a great place to (probably) grab some gas, snacks, and coffee, not to mention the photo op. If I am going to budget in time for silly roadside attractions, then this has to make the list, right??

Konza Prairie: Manhattan, Kansas

The Konza Prairie is the nation's largest unplowed tract of tall grass prairie. As an admirer of the prairie and overall eco-nerd, that alone is enough to make it high on my "Must See" list. The majority of the reserve isn't open to the public year round, but there a few loop trails that can hopefully afford a glimpse of the 300 strong bison herd that live there.

Mushroom Rock State Park: Carneiro, Kansas

Yep, another geo-nerd location here. Give me some interesting rock formations and I'm your girl. I envision this stop as a way to take a break from the highway a bit, snap a couple of awesome photos, and stretch our legs for a bit. These toadstools were formed by nonuniform weathering, as the "cap" of the formation is a more durable material than the "stem". This somewhat nearby park also has some interesting rock formations too.

High Plains Museum: Goodland, Kansas

What better way to get a better understanding of prairie life than to visit a museum! This one interests me because it's free and features exhibits on life in the high plains region of the country - which has the lowest population density in the continental United States! 

Does anyone have any other winter road trip ideas in the area? My goal is to do a little live blogging and updating while we are away. From instagram-ing cheesy roadside attractions to carefully documenting National Monuments and campgrounds along the way, I hope to take everyone on our adventure cross country!

The Nessa & Zy Road Trip Finale: Yosemite to Cupertino

Alas, the story of me and Nessa's trip from Vermont to Cupertino, California is coming to an end! From 24 hours straight to Tulsa, to harrowing adventure in New Mexico, to dodging tractor beams on the Extraterrestrial Highway, and much more, we are finally bringing Nessa home...

After the painfully early morning at Mono Lake, we headed up, up, up into Yosemite National Park, conveniently located en route to destination: Cupertino. I love entering Yosemite from the eastern access point in Lee Vining. It feels more removed from the impending tourist traffic ahead and it's always best to drive the road less traveled - the Tioga Road, so far away from the hustle and bustle of the oh-so-popular Yosemite Valley. It's a nice way to lean into a National Park experience before the overwhelming crowds, traffic, and then show stopping stunnery of Yosemite's most famous inhabitants. A night of primitive camping amongst the sage in the Inyo National Forest and a Mono Lake sunrise before a day at Yosemite? Yes, please! (and definitely get breakfast at the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining)

The first time I went to Yosemite with AGP, we had elected to skip the Valley in order to take a more accessible hike and then make it to San Francisco with time to spare. If you are heading into the Valley, especially after driving the Tioga Road, assume that your adventure will be daylong. I mean obviously, right? Most people save up vacation all year just to spend weeks frolicking amongst the granite domes and the glacial valleys dripping melt water from the upwards of 13,000 feet in elevation. So it was a clear choice for me and Nessa to spend a few hours exploring the beautiful Valley on this special trip.

Yosemite is pretty famous for having several Giant Sequoia groves, although Nessa and I spent our time exploring beneath the canopy of ponderosa pines along the Merced River in the shadow of El Capitan.






Ah, the infamous "Captain", illuminated in geology slide shows in lecture halls around the nation. The granite that makes up El Capitan was formed approximately 100 million years ago!

We cruised out of Yosemite in the golden afternoon, traveling from the crisp summer of the Valley into the bizarre alien scape that was the western edges of the park and the surrounding Stanislaus National Forest, which had very recently been on fire. Actually, Route 120 had only opened back up a couple of days before we had arrived! In the park, we were in awe of the ash colored trees where a low intensity fire had torn through the forest floor, burning up the trunks but leaving behind a cloudy pink canopy of needles.

And then - woah. We stopped at an overlook that truly put the devastation of forest fires into perspective for a couple of rainy day flatlanders like us.



The size consumed by the wildfire was three times the size of San Francisco! With high intensity fires like this one, it can take 20 years or more for the recovery process to begin in the forest. Lost are valuable homes and food sources for many animals and the soil will be at risk for erosion and nutrient depletion, not a pretty forecast for such a massive tract of wild space. However, it was nice to see that nearby Groveland was spared certain disaster, and the streets were lined with handmade signs thanking the firefighters for their hard work and sacrifice.

Before long we were ensconced in the eternal interstates of the Bay area of California, anxiously spiraling towards Vanessa's new life in Cupertino. We arrived just as the sun set, slowly creeping down the dead end that her rental cottage was situated on. Since Nessa's boyfriend had arrived in California a few months before her, he had scouted out this awesome home for the two of them. Greeted by a small front yard lined with fruit trees, flowering shrubs, darting hummingbirds, and a perfect oasis among the nonstop pop-op of urban Cali, we knew we were finally home.

Thanks for reading about our adventure!!

The whole tome is here:
Ready, Set, Tulsa!
From Oklahoma to New Mexico
Adventure in the Jemez Mountains
On Arches & The World's Oldest Living Organism
Dreamland & The Extraterrestrial Highway
Morning Over Mono: A Poem

November Wrap Up

Hello, Yuletide! I can't believe it's time to start Christmas shopping soon - like, right now! Here are some of my favorite posts from this month:

Accidental Light Painting: Streaks of pretty lights - why and how!

Morning Over Mono: A Poem: Dawn breaks and poetry is inspired

Orange Season: A girl dressed in orange stalks through the woods

Manchester Hot Glass: Glass blowing 101

Go: WWOOF-ing!: Adventures farming in South Dakota <3 <3

I have also been trying to utilize Instagram more these days to stay in touch with family and friends. No lie, I've been cheating a bit because my phone and tablet have pretty shitty cameras. You know, gotta keep it crisp!

 

Go ahead, follow me!

Despite the foot of fresh snow (and the impending forecast - whomp), AGP and I have a pretty packed December including plenty of trips to Boston, Maine, and Connecticut. And after new years we have an AWESOME road trip planned to while away the frozen months like some youthful snowbirds before jumping back into tiny house building in the spring. Woohoo!