Day 5

Last night had Ilana and I sleeping in this awesome B&B. The breakfast was amazing. A little fresh fruit to start with. Yogurt with some raspberry sauce thing they make, and home made granola. Then scrambled eggs and toast. All delicious. And organic, environmentally friendly, etc.
We drove from Boulder to Omaha, NE today. Good god it really is just clouds, sky, and corn fields. Since today was kind of boring, I'll post some pictures from the last couple of days.

I was impressed with downtown Omaha though. We went to this spot called the Old Marketplace. Many really nice restaurants, art galleries, boutiques. Kind of surprising considering the area surrounding it. Picture was a very cute Cinderella looking carriage. It had little lights on it and everything.

 I'm not quite sure what those pillars are from, whether they're man-made or just happen to be there by awesome happenstance.

 Some random graffiti on a boulder

 This ridge was called the Devil's Backbone. Had to take a photo.

 Something about the rock formation to the left makes me feel like it's giving me the finger. Like, "Fuck you! I hope you enjoy the S curves and crash into the river, sucker!"

 ....said river.

 Cheeky chipmunk mentioned in the previous post. It was weird, there were these tiny skinny twitchy chipmunks, and then these fat ones. Although, this one is a little trimmer.

 Water was soooo cold but refreshing after the hike.

 It's so green!

 This chipmunk- I narrated him. He kept approaching and bobbing his head and standing up, and skittering back and forth like an overexcited puppy so I said "Oo! Oo! Nuts?? Do you have nuts? Gimme! Want!"

 Dick joke

 Boob joke
They never get old.

 This is not a statute.

 I've seen cars before with the "clean me." Never one with :( before.

 Weird bales of hay formations.

 The corn, clouds, and sky.

Random dinosaur
Tomorrow- Chicago!

Day 2, 3, & 4

Will try not to make this too long.
So, Day 2 on Monday we drove from Salt Lake City to Moraine Campground just outside Estes Park, CO.

 Flat but pretty scenery

Yes, I'm 5 and bug guts on my car fender is amusing

Yes please?
Following are just outside the park

 

We got there early evening. After setting up camp on our way back into town to get some groceries, there was some serious rainbow action.

The rainbow on the left was full across the valley. The one to the right is a little faint, but it's there. Really want to say 'full-on double rainbow all the way across the sky' but I can't.
Monday night we started prepping for dinner kinda late. Starting the fire was kind of a task. It was windy. The lady who sold us the firewood was all "it's bone dry, you don't need kindling." Bullshit. We totally needed kindling. I finally got it after an hour. It was kind of a Cast Away moment, all Tom Hanks "Fire! I made fire!"
Amazing hot dogs, corn and s'mores later, we were satisfied.

Hiking Day 1. Classy, no? (and the hiking boots totally came off shortly. Ended up in my teva hiking sandals).

 Thank you Ginger for the coming from underneath shot idea. Makes for awesome photos.

View at the top. Pretty lake. Adolescent ducks kept approaching. Also cheeky chipmunks. I could pet one if I so chose they got so close.Tuesday night fire starting was easier- got kindling, and lighter fluid. Ilana had chicken/veggie kabobs while I had a piece of tilapia. So good.
We had planned to go on a hike that was a little longer than the first and a little higher in elevation, but me with the lack of physical activity, was so not able to. So, instead we went on a 2 hour horseback ride.

Then we took a shuttle to a short hike, about an hour round trip.

We had already packed up our campsite, so after lunch we made our way to Boulder, CO. This was dinner:

I find the heart rice to be amusing. It's sesame tofu. Pretty good.
Then, we walked around a little and came onto this most awesome downtown area. There was a beer garden, lots of shops. An 80s band:

And then a group of break dancing boys (and one girl). Some of their moves:

All in all, a great few days. Camping was awesome, and we lucked out with the weather. It always started raining after we finished whatever it was that needed accomplishing. Have to say though, gonna enjoy the soft bed. And the shower after we first checked in, was sooooooo needed.

Cross Country Part Deux, Day 1

So, Ilana flew out and landed in Sacramento Thursday night. Friday helped ship all my stuff back home to NY. Friday night was my goodbye party with all my friends. Saturday was cleaning. Left early Sunday morning. Our first trek was to Salt Lake City, UT. Not much exciting to report. It was a long drive so we didn't stop long to see much of anything. Here are some pictures:

Starting off out of Sacramento

I really want this one to say Death Star

Couldn't not take a pic of this one.

It decided to pour shortly after this shot

Salt Lake, Utah

And now, these are some of the pieces of jewelry that I made that I had to leave behind at school:

This last one was a commission project. My first real one, as it was for a stranger. Pierced out the copper design, soldered silver to the back, domed it, and then soldered it to another sheet of copper. They're going to engrave the back with something.

This was before I colored the metal. If it's a little hard to tell, it's a lotus flower on a pad with water rippling out.

Was able to get it to look like it's on water.