The End of the Road

Alas, after seven full weeks on the road, we arrived in Woodbridge, VA, at Kristen’s parents’ house, marking the official end of our cross-country roadtrip. It was a fantastic vacation, an impromptu whirl around the contiguous states, visiting family, friends and lots of beautiful, scenic views along the way. Here are some stats to put it into perspective.

49 days 11,559 miles 25 state lines crossed $1718.65 spent on gas 19 nights sleeping in a tent 5 nights in a hotel 15 National Parks visited 1 parking ticket 0 speeding violations

The first thing we did was reunite with our two kitties who’d been under the careful care of Kristen’s family. To celebrate our homecoming as well as Carolyn’s 24th birthday, we set out to shop for some quality dinner ingredients, which was tough in this neighborhood. (We suppose beggars can't be choosers?) After failing to find humanely-raised chicken at Food Lion (boo), we walked out and drove further down the road to Harris Teeter. Stocked up for the evening, we returned eager to let loose in a kitchen! The celebratory feast consisted of grilled chicken, sweet potato and coconut milk mash, and a delicious strawberry goat cheese salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

For dessert, Gary made a chocolate cake with rainbow chip frosting, with big “24” candles on top. Few things evoke childhood memories like rainbow chip frosting...

It’s always bittersweet when a trip reaches its end. For us, it seemed like we’d been gone for about a week. We couldn’t have asked for a better return. And we can't wait to hit the road again, whenever that may be.

Glacier National Park

Of all the national parks in this beautiful country, we had been itching to get to Glacier for years. This entire road trip formed around our visit to Glacier, because we had to budget enough time to be able to get a good feel for the park and its fast-disappearing namesake glaciers. (It is estimated that by 2020, all of the thirty or so remaining glaciers will be gone. See them while you can.)

Before we arrived, though, it was time to get the car checked, so we’d have peace of mind that we wouldn’t breakdown in the mountains! We landed in Kalispell, Montana, which is really at the foot of the mountains and a sort of gateway into western Glacier. Luckily, Kalispell is a big enough town that we could get the oil changed and all the major fluids topped off in the car, and the stop seemed quicker than ever (we had only enough time to post one blog using Valvoline’s free wifi). Then we headed into the Park, flashing our National Parks annual pass at Glacier’s southwestern entrance.

Lake McDonald

Since we arrived a little too late in the day to venture into the wilds of the park, we went straight to the first campground, near Apgar Village. After setting up the tent, we drove up the road a bit to check out Lake McDonald, exploring the shores just before sunset. Beautiful rugged mountains reflected in the pristine lake, and we were in disbelief that we’d finally arrived at this pinnacle of a National Park. Thankful for the warm, mild late summer evening, we returned to camp ready to cook up a storm.

Apgar Campground

We made a quick barbecue sauce again (sriracha, bacon fat, tomato paste, lemon juice, Mrs. Dash, and honey, to name a few ingredients), but we’d stepped out of our chicken comfort zone and opted instead to try our hands at campfire-grilled pork. As an accompaniment, we roasted foil-wrapped diced apple, onion and celery. It was our first time campfire-cooking real pork (this was no Spam), and it turned out alright, if a little dry from a bit of overly-thorough cooking. The cooked apples, which we nabbed from the hotel in Idaho, were tasty and complemented the meat nicely, but it wasn’t quite a slam-dunk. There’s always room for improvement! We stayed up later than usual, relishing the mild temps, which was a surprise given how far north we were!

Pork dinner

At some point, the temperatures must’ve plummeted, because we awoke to a chilly but sunny morning. Makes sense. Eager to see the park, we quickly ate some yogurt and a banana (again, courtesy of the Idaho hotel), and then set out onto Going-To-The-Sun Road, which famously winds its way through the park. At the middle point, we crossed over the Continental Divide at Logan’s Pass, which offers some outstanding views of the vast wilderness. Continuing on to the eastern side of the park, we set up our tent at Rising Sun Campground, and then hopped back in the car to go back to Logan’s Pass.

Glacier National Park - The faint line on the mountain to the right is the Going-To-The-Sun road!

Our first hike was the Highline Trail, which in its entirety amounts to about 15 miles, but instead we chose to do an out-and-back for about an hour. It was a little freaky in the beginning, because there was a group of people coming from the opposite direction, speaking of a grizzly cub that’d been following behind them on the trail, just seconds before we arrived. That could’ve been pretty amazing to see, but everyone was a bit on edge because the grizzly mother was nowhere to be found. After a few minutes of wavering (Should we? Should we not?), we continued down the trail. Highline Trail is pretty cool because you stay at around the same elevation as Logan’s Pass but cutting a high line (get it?) across the mid section of the mountain. At one point, the trail got pretty narrow, beckoning hikers to hold on to the wire lines at the inside edge of a cliff that dropped down at least a hundred feet to the road. We wondered how often someone accidentally kicks loose rocks that fall and damage windshields...

Highline Trail was also great for wildlife watching. We picked out several mountain goats, an easy thing thanks to their stark white coats, and we were surprised with how sturdy they looked. Much harder to see because they absolutely disappear into their brown rocky surroundings were a few huge and intimidating bighorn sheep. Just off the trail we briefly saw a pika, an adorable high-mountain member of the rabbit family that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a mouse, whose numbers are beginning to dwindle due to climate change (they are suffering from declining habitats, and have to head higher and higher into the mountains, chasing their native high rocky zones). We also saw a chipmunk, always captivated by their short, quick movements and beautiful little coats. There was also an abundance of wildflowers and amazing views down the valley.

Bighorn Sheep

Pika

Mountain Goats

One of many Ground Squirrels

After that short jaunt, we walked across Logan’s Pass and up onto another trail to Hidden Lake, again about a mile long. The first half of the trail is an elevated wooden boardwalk, with some stairs built in, to make it “easy” for people. It’s funny though, because we think it’s actually harder on your feet to walk on those planks rather than plain old dirt and rocks. At the end of the trail we stopped to snack on some jerky, taking in the amazing surroundings and always half-wondering what wildlife was out there hidden by the distance.

Overlooking Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park

Then we started back, and about halfway down the trail we experienced the most entertaining wildlife sighting ever. We were walking on the elevated boardwalk of a trail when we spotted a hairy animal about the size of a woodchuck. Unsure of what the creature was, Kristen started to ask and just before Loren could answer, a passerby said “Marmot” without breaking pace. This marmot was adorable and apparently not afraid of humans, eating the yellow wildflowers and their leaves, which cracked us up. See, he was not only the first marmot Kristen had ever seen, he reminded us so much of one of our cats back home, Wally. We’ve always said that he’s part dog, part walrus, part otter... Now we know he’s also part marmot! This little guy was so goofy and clumsy, we spent about 10 minutes watching him and giggling, until he was out of sight.

Determined to get in at least one more hike before the sun went down, we drove a few miles east, back toward our awaiting tent, and stopped off to do the 1 mile hike to the beautiful but not gigantic Mary’s Falls. We sat for a few minutes to take in its mesmerizing constant flow, then explored a bit more off the trail before heading back to the car.

Marys Falls, Glacier National Park

Back at camp, the drizzle that was picking up started to come down a little heavier, making it harder and harder to make dinner and keep up the campfire. We roasted one foil-wrapped yam and when it was ready, we split the package in half and each used a bit of butter for taste. Easy and delicious! A new camping tradition, perhaps. Next, we ate sardines in the car, right out of the can, to avoid the falling rain and also make sure the fish-smell stayed in the car and not near our tent (it is bear-country after all!).

Glacier National Park, Rising Sun Campground

Campfire sweet potatoes with butter

Lucky for us, the heaviest downfall didn’t start until we were safely inside our tent for the night. Great timing. Believe it or not, this was the first rain we’d received in over three weeks, even though we’d been traveling through Northern California, Oregon and Washington.

Olympic National Park

Even though it wasn’t initially in our plans for this trip, we’d heard great things about the Olympic Peninsula, a wild section of incredible rainforest, mountain and coastline in Northwest Washington. How could we miss out on that? We joined back up with 101, the first time since California, and soon realized that we’d hit the jackpot with weather: blue skies, warm sun - this isn’t the Olympic Peninsula we’d thought we’d encounter.

Blue hydrangeas

Without a clear plan of where we’d try to reach by nightfall, we started following the brown signs towards a Big Spruce tree, and were pleasantly surprised by the heavily wooded two-lane road lined with full-bloom blue hydrangeas that opened up to a small town strip and a magnificent lodge, at the edge of Quinault Lake. Practically entranced by the beautiful 1920s-era structure towering above us, we walked into the main lobby wide-eyed, snapping photos here and there, and made our way out to the back lawn which was dotted with Adirondack chairs looking out to the beautiful lake. If we’re ever looking to splurge on lodging, this seems like a perfect place. We glanced at a window sticker that proudly proclaimed the lodge had been rated as one of the “Best Places to Kiss in the Pacific Northwest”. Duly noted.

Driving around the small town, we decided we’d already seen enough incredible trees, so we turned back to 101 and made our way to a scenic beach turnout. We left the car at the roadside and paid a visit to the amazing expanse of smooth-stone and driftwood beach, a small hike through the wooded buffer from the road.

Olympic shore stones

Olympic shore driftwood

Finally deciding that we needed to hurry up and get to a campground, we anxiously walked into a ranger station asking about the status of the camps in the park. Her worried look didn’t put our minds to ease, and we took her recommendation (which fortuitously jived with the recommendation we’d received from a friend) to get to the Hoh River Campground as soon as possible. From there, it was strictly business. We drove a few loops of the campground, noting that some of the spots amazingly boast river access, before claiming one of the few remaining sites.

Hoh Campground

We needed to get some cash in order to avoid grossly overpaying for our site, so we again got into the car, unknowingly needing to drive another 45 minutes before reaching the next grocery store and ATM. We were losing sunlight, but Kristen got her wish of touring Forks. That’s right, the same Forks from the Twilight books. We grabbed groceries at the same store Bella shopped at, we drove by the Forks Highschool (the wooden sign which was replicated for the movie), and we drove by “Bella’s” house, which wasn’t the same from the movie but still photo-worthy. Armed with cash, wine, SoCo, and a couple of food items, we made the trip back into the forest to our home camp.

Forks High School

Unfortunately we’d run out of sunlight, so we didn’t get the chance to do any hiking that night, but we did get to make a yummy dinner. We reheated our Pok Pok chicken wings over the fire while roasting foil-wrapped yams (purchased at the grocer in Redwoods Natl Park), in the fire. Once they were soft to the touch, we pulled the yams out and mashed them into a pot with half a can of coconut milk (from Trader Joe’s in Corvallis). The combination of sweet potato/yam with coconut milk is Loren’s signature dish, which has become a staple in our home, though this marked the first time we’d tried the fire-roasting technique. Worked perfectly.

Sweet potatoes roasting in foil

Sweet potato mash

After dinner, we put the rest of the can of coconut milk on the fire grate and let it heat up. Then, we added some hot coco mix (courtesy of the hotel in Sedona), and passed the hot can back and forth for a sweet, silky, warm dessert drink.

The next morning, we were determined to get a hike out of the Hoh area, so we left our campsite on foot to do the mile and a half Nature trail, lamenting that we couldn’t do the 18.5 mile hike to the Blue Glacier on Mount Olympus (maybe next time...). But what we saw was enough to get us excited about the area. We learned about the different phases that the riparian rainforest ecosystem goes through, with winding riverbeds changing, literally paving the way for certain kinds of trees to initially thrive, which are then replaced by the towering Douglas firs and Western Hemlocks. It’s interesting to think about the different phases of growth that forests go through, which take decades upon decades to transpire. We as humans have such a warped sense of time; when we see forests of Ash and Cottonwood, they seem permanent, don’t they? But everything in nature is constantly changing, always.

Hoh River

As we left Olympic and drove through the northern peninsula town of Port Angeles (yes, also from Twilight) we realized we’d made our first big turn East, marking the end of the West-Coast portion of the trip.

Eugene, Corvallis, and Mary's Peak

Eugene offered us two things we desperately needed: coffee and wifi, courtesy of a cafe called Perk. Afterwards, we drove around a few neighborhoods, and once we didn’t get that warm cozy feeling from the town, we made a snap decision to head north to a campground near Corvallis, rather than stick around and have dinner in Eugene. (Sorry, Eugene. We’ll give you another chance someday.)

We barely got to see Corvallis but what we saw, we really really liked. We paid a visit to Trader Joe’s to stock up for the night, before driving to the nearby Mary’s Peak, where we were by now confident that we’d find a camp spot. And we were right! We were the second group into the 6-spot, tents-only campground. We cooked some of Trader Joe’s pre-marinated tri-tip steak with some roasted veggies. Another campfire cuisine success, and we even had some steak leftover for breakfast!

Steak Dinner

Breakfast

Camping at Mary's Peak

Boy did we need a hot breakfast the next morning. It got pretty chilly that night, probably low 40s, and the steak and eggs certainly hit the spot. We chatted it up with the ranger who came around, and he recommended the views from the top of Mary’s Peak (the tallest peak in the Cascade range), which we’d already planned on doing before leaving, but about which we were now even more excited.

Even though it wasn’t a totally clear morning, we were able to see the amazingness of Mount Hood and several other peaks. Apparently on a really clear day, you can see for about 500 miles. Other perks of the hike: it felt great to have a morning hike to get the blood flowing, and enjoy the warm sun at the top of the peak.

View from Mary's Peak, Oregon

A Quick Dip & Wild Blackberries

From lava fields to thick forests, Central Oregon seems pretty wild. We were also starting to resemble wild things: it’d been a handful of days since our last shower (in San Francisco)... we were in desperate need of some running water. On a whim, Loren pulled the car off the scenic road along the Mackenzie River at Silver Creek Boat Landing, with a semi-formed idea of bathing in the water. We changed into our swimsuits and hobbled down the boat launch to the shore where we tested the water. Frigid. Kristen was the first to dunk and Loren quickly followed. There are few things that take the wind out of you like cold water. It was instant relief to step out of the water, where we sudsed up while shivering. The second time into the water to wash off the soap didn’t seem quite as bad but it was still worth it to keep contact with that water to a minimum!

Now that we were clean and wide awake, Loren noticed some plentiful blackberry thickets, and went to town gathering as many as he could. These were perfect, big, ripe blackberries.

Wild Blackberries!

We ended up with at least a pound (filling both camping mugs we had) which would’ve cost at least $10 back east at Whole Foods, and immediately put them to good use by mixing them with sliced banana, cottage cheese (from Redwoods National Park grocer) and honey (purchased in Sedona). Best lunch yet. Central Oregon, you’re too generous!

Banana, blackberries, cottage cheese and honey

Redwoods (Last Hurrah in California)

About 4 hours or so from San Francisco, we retreated into the quiet, fragrant woods of northern California. We opted to drive the Avenue of the Giants, a scenic byway within Humboldt Redwoods State Park that basically parallels the main road and offers a free glimpse at these huge trees. If you’re in the area and passing through, absolutely do the Ave of Giants; it’s worth the extra time (and, again, it’s free). We explored a grove near a turnout, then went straight to the campground, with fingers crossed that we didn’t need a reservation. Our timing couldn’t have been better, because the campground would be closed for the season in just a few more days. We lucked out yet again, finding a great campsite that was tucked away, a short walk into the woods from the parking spot. It was almost like backcountry camping, a bit different than the normal tent/RV city. Also, we had the feeling that we were actually surrounded by nature. Yep, we awarded Humboldt the title of best state park.

The next morning, we stopped at the visitors center, which was surprisingly informative and entertaining. One draw was the incredible taxidermy exhibit, showcasing the variety of animals to be found in the area. Also, the eager-to-help volunteers gave us some great tips on what to do in the park with only a couple of hours to spare. Humboldt houses a bunch of the world’s tallest trees, and the trees exist in their natural glory (with the exception of Giant Tree, which had a bit of a walkway around it). It is incredibly humbling to stand next to a living thing so large, and with such a vast history.

Coyote taxidermy at Humboldt Visitor Center

Frog at Humboldt

Hugging Giant Tree (Humboldt)

Kristen and Loren are both lovers of trees, and Redwoods especially, after having read the fantastic book “The Wild Trees.” If you’re at all interested in climbing, trees, and/or biology, you should definitely read this book. The book details the recent attempts at finding and measuring the world’s tallest trees, and the ecosystems that exist at all levels of the tree - especially in the sky-high canopy. We both wished we had the book on hand to turn to pages mentioning the specific trees we were admiring. Unfortunately, the State Park has trouble keeping the book on its shelves, it sells out so quickly; it’s been backordered for months now (though the National Park had it...).

Not too much further north lies the Redwood National Park. Since we spent a bit longer than expected in the state park, our timing was a bit off: we arrived too late to grab a backcountry camping permit, which basically meant we needed to make it out of the park for camping. So, with limited time, we tried to explore what we could of the park in and not too far from the car. That left us a few options, and we did a couple of short hikes that gave us a taste of the park. Circle trail and Cathedral Tree trail were two favorites.

We couldn't resist stopping to take a photo of the giant statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe, at the Trees of Mystery tourist trap, just off 101 near the National Park.

Paul Bunyan and Babe (Loren in front for scale)

We also paid a visit to a small grocery inside the park and bought a few essential items, including veggies, eggs, avocados, sausages (for that night), and the best camping food choice yet: yams (more on that in a later post). A bit sad we were already leaving the park, we kept moving and arrived at Patrick Creek Campground, about 45 minutes north of the National Park.

Despite having beautifully mild weather, we had to bundle up because the campground was home to thousands of mosquitos, and we were being eaten alive. Every 10 seconds or so, one of us would say “hold still... got one.” Overcoming that slight annoyance, we made a delicious dinner of grilled sausages and fire-roasted veggies (red bell peppers, onion, and zucchini). We also made friends with our campground neighbor’s dog, a small little black dog (keeping in line with the all-black small animal theme) which we were told was a Chihuahua - Papillon mix. We almost stole her she was so cute.

Sausage, veggies and sriracha

That was our last night in the great State of California. We’d stayed a whopping 15 nights, and it was time to move on. Thanks, California! It’s been great. We can’t wait to come back.

Camping near Santa Cruz

When you think of Santa Cruz, California, you think surfing and skateboarding. That’s why we were shocked to find it windy, cold and heavily forested all around the city. A testament to the woodsy-ness of the area is the State Park we chose for the night, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Driving through the dense forest was beautiful and relaxing, but we grew nervous about finding a spot. Thankfully, we landed at campsite (lucky) number 20, and the campground itself was decent as state parks go. We bought some firewood from the ranger lady, then drove a couple miles north to do some grocery shopping to prepare for the night’s dinner.

Our campsite: Kristen was bundled... it got chilly!

Loren whipped up a barbecue sauce marinade using whatever we had on hand: bacon fat, olive oil, tomato paste, sriracha, honey, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper. It seriously tasted just like barbecue sauce. We mixed that with the chicken drumsticks, got the fire started, and threw them on the grate over the fire. For a side dish, we wrapped asparagus in aluminum foil, with some bacon fat, salt and pepper, and set the package on the coals.

By the time we’d finished all of the food, we were stuffed to the brim - it was arguably the biggest (and best) camp dinner we’d ever attempted - and getting sleepy. After a few sips of wine, it was bedtime.

The cool misty morning brightened a bit with the happy discovery of a few blackberries, which we promptly picked to have as a snack while Loren prepared our breakfast, which started the day off right: fried eggs with sriracha and sliced avocado (the fallen one we’d found on the sidewalk in LA). While sipping coffee, we were even afforded a bit of birdwatching, IDing both a Dark-eyed Junco and Acorn Woodpecker, along with the west-coast campsite usual suspect, Steller’s Jay. Then, it was time to head North.

Dark-eyed junco

Park Perfection at Zion

Instead of heading around to the Grand Canyon’s north rim (to which we said “next time”), we continued north past Lake Powell, stopping at the Glen Canyon Dam, where we were afforded some prime people watching. From there we made our way into Utah in order to check out at least one of the famous desert National Parks.

Glen Canyon Dam, behind which Lake Powell extends for miles

Sister wives, a sight almost as interesting as the dam

We opted for Zion National Park, conveniently in the southeastern corner of the state so not too much driving was required. We definitely plan to explore the other Utah parks once we're living in Colorado, with Arches and Canyonlands at the top of our list.

The drive through the east gate to the south gate, where the campgrounds are, is absolutely breathtaking. The eastern half of the park is lined with rocky hills that are home to big horn sheep (which we tried to coax out of hiding by calling “Here, biggie hornie!”, but no dice). Some of the rocky hills have patterns on them akin to paintings: it looks like someone dragged a gigantic brush along the stone while it was still malleable. One of the most interesting spots is a rock called “checkerboard mesa.”

The dividing point in the park is a mile-long tunnel, dug in the 1930s, which has three “windows” that slow down traffic a bit as car passengers strain to get a first glimpse of the fantastic views. The tunnel opens out to beautiful mountain vistas and switchback roads, bringing wide-eyed drivers down into the canyon.

West of the tunnel

We headed straight to the nearest campground to stake our claim, and while there were a good deal of campers in the 100+ sites, we didn’t have a problem (and we suspect the campground never filled). So, we set up camp and headed off to explore the park before nightfall.

Zion Campsite

Compared to the Grand Canyon, Zion is perfection. It is the kind of park that literally forces you out of your car in order to explore the grounds: the main road down the canyon is limited to the free park shuttles which pick up and drop off at about a dozen spots throughout the park and run well into the night. Also, the park is totally manageable: whereas it takes hours to drive to different spots along the Grand Canyon (5 hours from the south rim to the west glass overlook, which we couldn't do), it took us about 30 minutes to get from the visitors center to the riverwalk path at the end of the shuttle’s road. It’s a great place. On top of that, as with any park out west, the place is teeming with wildlife. We saw at least a dozen deer out eating before dark, including the mamas and their spotted fawns. “Little guys” -aka lizards- were parked near paths, keeping close watch on the visitors. We even saw a tarantula (thanks to the shuttle bus driver, who nearly ran the little thing over)!

Fawn

Orange wildflowers

Squirrely

Our daylight was pretty limited, so we ended up doing probably the most popular hike in the park, but it wasn’t overly crowded. The out-and-back hike was mostly paved, a little to our dismay at first, but it ended up being great because the flora and fauna held our focus. The squirrels, which looked more like a combination of prairie dog and squirrel, were hilarious and completely unafraid of people, holding down their ground in the middle of the path in a sort of man vs. beast game of "chicken". At the end of the hike is the start of The Narrows, another “trail” which literally uses the river instead of a pathway, and is so-called because the cliff walls close in on the river creating a more and more narrow river. We did a bit of The Narrows, enjoying tromping through the cold river water until it got a little too deep for us to risk damaging our expensive cameras. Plus we weren’t prepared...next time we will wear swimsuits!

The Narrows

It felt great to come "home" to our campsite, and we could definitely see ourselves returning to Zion, staying at the campground for multiple days, taking the shuttle to trailheads, and exploring more of the park by foot. Instead we moved on, to the call of flashy (and maybe a bit trashy?) Las Vegas.

The Grand Canyon: National [Amusement] Park

Located a couple of hours from Sedona, the Grand Canyon’s south rim has been turned into an amusement park of sorts. With parking lots full and people clogging the sidewalks and vistas, it’s a little overwhelming. We stopped in a few spots to snap photos, and while the immense canyon was incredible, we were a bit more focused on getting to the campground.

Kristen at the edge

Grand Canyon campsite

Luckily, we arrived in time to grab one of three campsites that hadn’t yet been claimed. By the time we set up everything and started on dinner, the sun was setting and there was a steady stream of cars looking for open campsites. The weather was cool enough to require long sleeves and pants, a first for us so far, so we cozied up next to our first fire on the trip, staying up in the dark hoping for another chance at the Perseids meteor shower before turning in for the night.

Fire starting

Camp dinner

We woke up after a fairly restful night and headed to the Desert View Overlook, which is normally choked with people but we arrived early enough to have a few minutes to get some good photos. Taking mental note that the next time we visit the Canyon, we want to a). see the less-traveled North Rim, and b). hike in and around the Canyon. Then we moved on.

Camping Oasis in West Texas

We made it through most of western Texas and arrived at Balmorhea State Park with just enough daylight to set up camp and eat a delicious meal of fried spam and veggies. The night sky opened up above us for some of the best stargazing we’d ever seen, and the moon waited to rise until about 2 hours after sunset, giving us plenty of time to play with the camera and tripod to get the settings just right for the star-filled sky: we could even see the Milky Way. Everything was perfect and wonderful until a few hours after we retired to our tent, which was when the coyotes decided to come out and wreak havoc and stir the dogs in a nearby campsite. The crazed barking, yipping, and yelping went on until about 5am, which is when Kristen decided she couldn’t listen anymore and tuned it all out with ear plugs.

The Milky Way

Morning brought peace again. We made a delicious camp breakfast of fried eggs, spam, and onion with some Sriracha, served with coffee. By the time we packed everything up, the temperature had soared into the 90s, so we opted to pay a visit to the Spring for which Balmorhea State park is known. The Spring has been developed into a pool, equipped with a 3m high dive (the water was approaching 30 feet deep on that end), lots of little fish, and a crowd of underwater adventurers: snorkelers and scuba divers. The cool water and high dive ensured we were wide awake before setting off on the road again.

Breakfast: Fried egg, spam, onions and coffee

Natural spring / pool at Balmorhea State Park

Soft-shelled turtle (first-ever turtle that Loren admitted was not cute)