Day 3: Grand Teton and first day in Yellowstone

I'm being lazy and waiting for Patrick to sort through the photos for each day before I write the blog posts. But he's slowed down a bit on that the past few days so I might have to step up and sort through some.

Our third day of vacation, we checked out of the hotel in Jackson and that night we would stay in West Yellowstone, about 125 miles away. The drive between Jackson and West Yellowstone (at least the one we took) goes through both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. So we spent half the day in Grand Teton, caught a couple things in Yellowstone to break up the drive, and then headed up to where we were staying.

We started the morning with a boat ride across Jenny Lake, where there's a trailhead for two hikes: Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. We hiked up to Hidden Falls, which was very crowded, but it was an easy half-mile hike so we didn't expect anything different.

From there, the trail usually is just another 0.2 miles up to Inspiration Point. But this summer they're doing trail maintenance, so the hike was about a 3 mile round trip from the trailhead. It was slow and steep. And it was really hot out. 

We met another family while hiking. They were from Philadelphia and had two teenaged boys. Their family had a list of national parks they were working through. The wife's favorite national park (so far) was Arches. I don't remember what the rest of the family said, but I know they had good things to say about Acadia, which will likely be our next trip.

But the view at the top was pretty excellent.

You can tell (or maybe you can't) that it was a little bit hazier this day. Apparently the wildfires in Washington were blowing smoke this far, so by the time we returned a week later you couldn't see the Tetons nearly as well. I'm so glad we took lots of pictures the first two days.

We  took a picture at the sign on the way out.

...and took a picture on the way in to Yellowstone!

We stopped in the Biscuit Basin to take a break from our driving.

We checked into our hotel in West Yellowstone at probably 6pm or so. No refrigerator. No microwave. No Internet. (Also precious little courtesy from the hotel staff.) But really we just needed a place to sleep so that's okay.

West Yellowstone is kind of like Gatlinburg or Myrtle Beach--mostly expensive and kitschy. There's about eight square blocks of restaurants and shops, all walkable. Out west there's not a lot of variety in food, though. Most offerings fall under the category of "American"--burgers, pizza, steak, no vegetables. So it was a challenge sometimes finding good food. But that night we ate at a taco bus (not a truck) and it was good and cheap.

We wandered around the shops and restaurants a little then turned in for the night. Next day: Old Faithful and a whole bunch more geothermal features!

the pre-adventure: Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks (days 1 and 2)

As a celebration of my graduation and having jobs and in recognition that soon we'll have to actually count vacation days, we decided to take a vacation this summer to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. We just got back from it a couple days ago. We're still going through all the pictures to pick out the best ones.

Overall--what an incredible trip. We had so much fun. It was really great to not check my e-mail or Facebook for two weeks. I brought my iPad but resolved to not touch either of those things for the time we were on the trip. Over the course of the summer I've been slowly disconnecting from both e-mail and Facebook to try to have a healthier balance--more of a check once or twice a day rhythm than a check every time you're bored or have a spare minute habit. To my delight, even after letting both go for two weeks, I look back and can say that I didn't miss much at all! Sure, there were e-mails to be answered but probably only 20 out of the 100 or so I got were actually important. And the important things that people shared on Facebook were things that people actually told me about through some other media (phone, text, news article, etc.). So my new resolution is to not waste so much time looking at things that just don't matter.

We left on the 23rd, flying from Charlotte to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We were really tired when we got in. We spent some time walking around Jackson and saw their nightly "gunfight" in the town square, then got some rest.

The next day, we went to Grand Teton National Park. We bought bear spray (which, thankfully, we didn't have to use). Then we started enjoying the scenery around us.

The Tetons were formed exactly like they look like they were (at least to me). The earth's crust just got pushed up above another section of the earth's crust. Then they were shaped by glaciers and weather. For scale, that brown dot in the middle of the frame below is me standing out in the middle of the plain leading up to the Tetons.

 Then we set off on our first hike, a round trip to Taggart and Bradley Lakes. We saw a mama and baby moose along the way.

 

The hike was pleasant. Along the way to Taggart Lake, we met a family who are missionaries in Istanbul through Cru, so that was kind of cool. The hike went through a lot of different kinds of terrain with views of the Tetons the whole time.

Taggart Lake was pretty and it felt good to stick our feet in the cold water after the hike.

We continued on to Bradley Lake, which wasn't worth the trip by itself, but there was a pretty good elevation gain so you could see down on Taggart Lake. 

 After that hike I don't think I've ever been so dirty in my entire life. We were covered in sunscreen, bug spray, and so much dust that it looked like our legs were three shades darker than normal.

We drove up to the top edge of the park, stopping several places along the way. Signal Mountain offered a near 360 degree view around the park.

About dusk, we went to Oxbow Bend (on the Snake River) to look for wildlife. The most wildlife we saw was mosquitos! I think they actually thrive on the DEET there. We did see an eagle from a distance, and a beaver swimming. The river was so still that you could see the reflection of the Tetons in it.

We drove back to Jackson and packed up--we would stay in West Yellowstone the next night. We were hoping to go out and see the stars. There was also potential of seeing the northern lights but it ended up clouding so much in the evening that we thought the likelihood of that was low. Plus we were tired from hiking, so overall I think the good night's sleep was the best decision.

Well that's it for the first two days! I'm trying to keep it bite-sized so I don't have to spend a half-day writing about anything. More updates later as I have time.

New Adventures: Q&A

Neither of us are great bloggers but a lot of people have been asking us about our upcoming adventures, so here we are to resurrect the blog and answer some questions! These are the ones we get consistently.

What new adventures?
Patrick and I are moving to Boston to work for Google as software engineers!

Why are you going to work for Google?
Honest to goodness, the opportunity just fell in our lap and we felt like it was where the Lord was leading us. The work seems interesting, the pay seems excellent (especially in comparison to graduate school!), it seems that Google cares for its employees, I didn't hate Boston when I lived there for a couple months, and our families don't hate the idea of us moving there. Our church also has a church plant up there and there is much work to be done for the sake of the Gospel in the northeast. Oh, and after all the hassle of the Ph.D., I decided I didn't want to be a professor. At least at the moment. So it just seems like all the pieces fell into place.

Why are you moving so far away?
We know, we didn't want to move that far either. But Boston's only a two hour, $75 dollar flight from Charlotte. And again, it just seemed like this opportunity was the right fit.

When are you moving?
The movers come July 29. Our flight to Boston is August 3.

Do you need help moving?
Nope! Google is taking good care of us and hiring movers that will pack and load everything, then unload it all on the other side. They're also shipping our car. And I'm going to hire someone to clean the house because I hate move-out cleaning and don't want to spend my final few hours in a place I love doing something I hate.

When are you coming back?
I have no idea. To visit, it will take a little bit of time to build up vacation days. Permanently, unless the Lord calls us to stay up there, we'd like to stay at least 4 years because part of our payment is in stock that vests over four years, then ideally we'd like to make it back closer to family.

Where exactly will you be living?
Google has graciously provided us corporate housing until mid-October. So for those ten weeks or so we'll be living in the Financial District in downtown Boston in a furnished apartment. After that we'll be looking for a permanent place to stay.

What kind of place are you looking for?
Well, primarily we're trying to find a place where our three closest communities will overlap the best--our neighborhood, our coworkers, and our church. We'd like something with 3+ beds, 2+ baths, a garage, and either a basement or a garage spot for a second car (so Patrick can have some space to work with his tools). It'd be nice if it were a less than 30 minute commute on public transit to the Kendall/MIT stop where Google is. A yard would also be nice. We're aware that finding all these things in a city might be tricky or impossible. However we're also confident that God will provide the right place for us.

Are you going to go to Redemption Hill Church?
(Redemption Hill Church is in the same network as our church here.) We're not sure because of the housing situation. The Boston metro area is large and depending on where we lived it could be a really long commute to Redemption Hill. It's hard to love and serve a community you don't live in--in college, both of us separately tried to be a part of churches 30-45 minutes away, and it's taxing. So we'll find some quality churches and settle down somewhere within reasonable distance to one of them.

When can we hang out?
We're going to plan a couple going away parties here in Clemson, so if you live in this area hopefully you can make it to one of those. If you live in Fort Mill or Columbia, we hope we can fit all of you in during the next few weeks! Also you are welcome to plan a trip to Boston to come visit us.

Home sweet home!

Obviously we gave up blogging as soon as the driving got boring. Really, there's not much to write about passing through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee. (Although we did enjoy our time in St. Louis with the Kerrs and will post some pictures soon.)

But! We are home safe! Unfortunately, my cell phone did not make the last half of the journey with us--it is in Denver. So if you need me, please call Patrick or e-mail me.

We're super glad to be home. I forgot how much I liked my household stuff. Not because it's super nice or anything, but just because I picked it out. Other things we appreciate right now:

- ceiling fan
- dishwasher
- air conditioner
- the ability to make it pitch black in our bedroom while we sleep (the only thing behind our townhome is an overgrown field; no streetlights!
- the sound of crickets at night
- rain (it only rained once our entire summer in LA)
- being in the same time zone as our family
- courteous drivers & interstates that actually have moving traffic
- carpeted floors

Thanks for reading about our trip! We'll continue posting pictures of our various adventures (and of course will update with the last few days of our trip soon)!

Safe in Kansas + Pictures from Day 3 (Arches NP, Rocky Mountains) and Day 4 (Denver, CO & KS)

Hello everyone! We're in for a relatively early night here in Kansas. Today was a pretty boring day--we spent a couple hours in Denver at the REI store and eating lunch, then went ahead and drove to our destination tonight. There is pretty much nothing but farm and prairie between Denver and Salina, so our only exciting pictures are from yesterday.

Like Zion National Park, I also have a billion pictures from Arches! Here is just a sampling of them.

They had some fun bronze animal sculptures. Here's Patrick riding a goat.

Sadly, we did not see a grasshopper mouse, but we still think the animal is awesome.

The rock formations were indescribably incredible. It's crazy to imagine that all this has been shaped by the gentle forces of wind and water!

This area is called the Fiery Furnace, because the formations look like flames leaping from the ground.

You can see Landscape Arch in the left of this picture. Better pictures are coming up.

On our hike to the Landscape Arch, we saw a lizard!

The cactuses were cool.

There's an arch above my head, if you look carefully!

Here are some better pictures of Landscape Arch:

This area was beautiful, with lots of plant life among the red rocks.

At every angle of this park, there was something incredible to see.

We only had time to do the short hike to Landscape Arch, but most of the other arches and formations are visible from the road winding through the park.

Here is Balanced Rock:

Given more time, I would have spent more time in this area (the "Windows" area of the park). Some of those arches you can walk up under.

The drive from Arches to Denver cut through several national forests, with steep slopes, beautiful trees, and a pretty river by much of the drive. Unfortunately, we were too busy enjoying the scenery to take many pictures, and even the pictures we took don't begin to capture the beauty of what we experienced.

This portion of the drive was honestly the first portion of our trip back home that I would consider beautiful. Driving through Utah was absolutely incredible and pretty in its own way, but the mountains, trees, and rivers were truly beautiful. Maybe it's because that's what we grew up with.

We arrived in Denver around 9pm and it was pouring down rain! On the recommendation of my boss in California, Dr. Krum (who had lived in Denver some time ago) we tried out a restaurant called Le Central. We were both very hungry so we ordered mussels as an appetizer, and then Patrick ordered duck, and I ordered trout. It was SO delicious. By the time we finished the mussels and fries we were already full! I'm not too enthusiastic about shellfish but I really enjoyed the mussels. The fries were some of the best I've ever had as well--perfectly crispy. We took most of our duck/trout dinner with us in takeout boxes and then enjoyed it for dinner tonight.

We slept in and decided to just spend a little time in Denver then get on the road. It sounds dumb, but we went to the REI store there, which has its own rock climbing wall and bicycle test path! It was neat to look at all the outdoors equipment. There was also a park surrounding it that was cute.

Since Dr. Krum had not led us astray for dinner, we also took his recommendation for lunch and went to Zaidy's to order the pastrami latke sandwich. It was gigantic and delicious. (Thanks Dr. Krum, if you're reading!)

We then drove from Denver to Kansas, which was mundane. This is what it looked like most of the time:

We were very disappointed to miss the world's largest prairie dog and the five legged cow that the signs told us about for 40 miles. Unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there.

We found a "Tillman" replica in the middle of Kansas:

Tomorrow we head to St. Louis to meet up with friends! We're excited to be headed back into civilization. Three more days until we're home!