A little red!

Look at all the goodies I scored at Charlotta's! Actually the picture does not show all I bought and there was also a lot more I would have wanted! I could say I restricted myself because I'm a good girl but the truth is, it was so crowded that day that I FORGOT some of the things I wanted since I wanted to rush it. Umh, good thing is Johanna wants to go to Charlotta's soon and I'll definitely accompany here. Oh wait! That could be the bad thing as well...No, it's not! I do NEED some robot fabric and some Michael Miller fabric too. Not to mention some more ribbon! Everybody NEEDS ribbon, right?

And guess what! I'm not only buying fabric... No, I'm also making stuff with it! Yes, it's true. I've been crafting. Unfortunately I can't show it to you yet because it's for the fabric button swap on little red caboose. I mailed my little package off today and will show you the contents as soon as my partner received them.

Las Vegas, NV - Victorville, CA - L.A., CA

Day 23:
Woke up to lots of sunshine, couldn't wait to get to back on the road. Drove along some pretty roads all the way to Death Valley N.P., enjoyed the heat until we took a short walk through the sand dunes and I thought my feet were on fire, were really thankful for our air condition inside the car. Drove to the visitor centor, watched the movie and looked at the exibiton, explored the park a bit more (definitely a favorite now!).Left in the late afternoon to get to Las Vegas, saw some casino road signs just minutes later and thought it was like at the beginning of our trip (got kind of sad 'cause that wasn't the case).Reached Vegas, checked into The Signature at MGM (the best hotel on our trip - the most expensive too), said good bye to our road trip.Went gambling and wished we didn't afterwards.

Day 24:
Stayed in our hotel room until check-out time, went shopping for the last time, had lunch at a wonderful Indian restaurant, bought tons of vegan donuts, left Vegas, drove to Victorville, checked into a hotel for the last time.

Day 25:
Packed our suitcases (which took forever), cleaned out the car, drove to L.A., returned our rental car, went to the airport, had to wait quite a while, flew back home!

San Francisco, CA - Oakdale, CA - Mammoth Lake, CA

Day 20:
Took a little walk at the beach of Mendocino.Looked at all the gorgeous gardens.Would have liked to spend another day but started to get scared we wouldn't make it back to L.A. on time, drove along the winding coast (I got car sick!) until we reached San Francisco.Had been there 9 years ago, remembered it all very differently, didn't like our hotel at all (even though it was sooooo much better than the first time - why is it so hard for us to find a nice hotel there when that wasn't a problem ANYWHERE else?!), went to Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.

Day 21:
Went to the Japan Center (awesome!), did some shopping (at Sweet Papery!!! Where I bought all the materials to make our own wedding anouncements, which I'll tell you more about soon), had some pizza, left the city and drove all the way to Oakdale so our next stop could be Yosemite N.P.

Day 22:
Had been warned by our book that it might be crowded at Yosemite but the receptionist of our hotel told us that this wasn't true especially not in May, had high expectations concerning wildlife viewing, reached the park and realized that our book was right once again: way too many people for my taste and probably because of that NO animals (not for us that is), instead some beautiful landscapes.Lots of wonderful viewpoints.Didn't feel like freezing temperatures, snow and ice anymore at all, left the park at the east entrance, took a short trip to Mono Lake where it was really stormy, were met by a seagull which agreed to be my model so I could try out the new lense we had bought.Drove to Mammoth Lake, found a hotel and hoped for sunshine for the rest of the trip.

Kerby,OR - Mendocino,CA

Day 18:
Drove to Crater Lake National Park (which meant kind of a long detour), didn't expect that much snow at all, watched the movie at the visitor centor.Took the road up to the lake, enjoyed the stunning view but were a little disappointed to find that many people up there with us who where all standing at the only accessible viewpoint (so it was really crowded!), were freezing, left again.Drove for a long time through the mountains to get back on our route. Were really tired when we stopped at a hotel in Kerby.

Day 19:
Reached the west coast, went for a little walk in Crescent City.Drove through Redwood National Park, took a couple of small hikes to look at all the amazing trees, thought of bringing one back home to my dad who would probably turn it into something amazing, decided that this was probably against the law and wouldn't leave enough room in our suitcase for all the other cool stuff we bought.Had to drive through the Chandelier Tree (twice of course!).Took #1, enjoyed a beautiful sunset.Were still searching for a hotel when it was already really dark, tried to distract myself with taking pictures (I hate driving at night because I'm always scared of running over an animal).Finally reached Mendocino, found a lovely hotel which also offered fine vegetarian dining in Mendocino but it had no rooms left, were sent to the Mendocino hotel were we got a cozy little room w/o bathroom, were too tired to go back to the restaurant at the other hotel, fell asleep.

Portland, OR - Cottage Grove, OR

Day 15:
Reached Oregon, stopped at the visitor centor, got advised to take the Historic I 84 as soon as possible to get to Portland, didn't regret it:a winding road, beautiful views, much less traffic than on the new interstate, wildflowers as far as you could see, old and lonely places,a rainforest with beautiful waterfalls.Reached Portland when it was getting dark, checked into our hotel, went to an all vegetarian Chinese restaurant with super delicious food.

Day 16:
Went to Herbivore and Food Fight!, had lunch at a nice little restaurant at the next corner, drove downtown, fell in love with Portland instantly, did a little sight seeing and a little shopping (I bought my very first blind box toy and a super cute side dish bento box at "Hello Portland - Where all the cool kids shop!" And you know that's so me, don't you?).Had dinner at a brewery, did a little more sight seeing, went to Powell's, could have spend the whole night there but weren't allowed to, headed back to the hotel.

Day 17:
Thanks to the lovely owner of Hello Portland we visited Hawthorne Blvd., had lunch there and did a little more shopping, had to leave Portland even though I didn't want to, got back on the road, realized we didn't take any pictures in this wonderful city (arrgh!), drove to Cottage Grove.

Yellowstone N.P., WY - Coeur D'Alene, ID

Day 13:
Drove to the east entrance of Yellowstone, got really exited when we saw our first bisons just a few miles into the park (they were walking right in the middle of the street and seemed to be in no hurry at all!).Got even more exited when we saw a black bear with her two cubs just a couple minutes later (this really made my day and Yellowstone became my very favorite park right then), took a short hike at Mud Volcano.Explored the park a bit more, were stunned by the scenery and the wildlife, decided we wanted to spend the night inside the park, were lucky enough to get a little cabin at Lake Village, saw more bisons.Went to check when Old Faithful Geyser would have its next eruption, came to find out it would be just a couple more minutes, headed towards the viewpoint and off it went:Decided it was time to go and look at our cabin, drove down the road, saw lots of cars parking on the sideway, went to check what that was all about, saw a grizzly with her two cubs:Watched them for a long time while they were playing and eating gras, finally had to leave, couldn't believe we had actually been this lucky, drove to the cabin and got settled and ready for bed (while I reminded C. every other minute that we had seen bisons, black bears and grizzlies all in one day until we finally fell asleep).

Day 14:
Enjoyed the park some more. Wanted to stay forever but couldn't, drove all the way to Coeur D'Alene, wanted to check into a nice hotel but decided against it when we heard the rate, found another not so fancy place and enjoyed it just the same.

Lusk, WY - Spearfish, SD - Cody, WY

Day 10:
Had to make up for the lost time, drove along a very scenic road at first, saw a badger, a marmot and lots of deer, then took I25 up north until we left it to go to Lusk where we found a cute little motel with the friendliest receptionist in the world, did some laundry.

Day 11:
Started the day rather early.C. went for a jog while I got to read MS Living, drove to Wind Cave National Park, took a guided tour, but were more amazed by the bisons, prairie dogs and pronghorns.Drove to Mt. Rushmore N.M., were not as impressed as we imagined (at least I wasn't, maybe because I was still so hyped that I had seen a bison up close...).Drove to Crazy Horse, watched the movie at the visitor center, explored the park, wondered if we will still be alive when it gets finished.Ended the day in Spearfish.

Day 12:
Started the day with a trip to Devils Tower N.M., walked all around it, watched the rock climbers, decided that we would never dare to try something like that, took lots of pictures (Can you spot C. in this one?)Saw hundreds of super cute prairie dogs, finally could take a picture of one of them (I think a pregnant one).Drove all the way to Cody, didn't think of all the mountains we'd have to pass, were quite exhausted when we finally got there.

Torrey, UT - Moab, UT - Rangely, CO - Grand Lake, CO

Day 6:
Headed back to Bryce Canyon, found it simply stunning, had to get back on the road, drove through Grand Staircase Escalante with lots of amazing views, could finally take a pic of a lizard when the weather got a little colder. Found a nice little motel in Torrey.

Day 7:
Woke up to a sunshiney day.Drove through Capitol Reef National Park, pretended to be part of a Winnetou movie, took a nice hike, rested in the sun:Drove all the way to Moab, saw a cowboy at work, took a crappy picture while passing him.Were amazed by all the space we had just to ourselves, enjoyed being all alone.Arrived in Moab, took a stroll along Main St., had dinner at a nice restaurant.

Day 8:
Visited Arches National Park, took a hike in the Devils Garden Area, got all sweatty cause it was so hot.Saw some more of the most amazing arches ever on our way back, were too exhausted to take another hike to see the Delicate Arch up close (all my fault... I admit it!!!).
Drove to Grand Jct. to look for a hotel, didn't find one because of graduation week, had to drive for a long time, finally found a hotel in Rangely when I was already really scared to run over a deer or some other animal in the dark.

Day 9:
Drove to Rocky Mountain National Park, talked to a park ranger and found out that the road through the park was closed due to snow, would have to go all around the park and therefore loose a day, decided to spend the night in Grand Junction, could only take a really small hike because of the snow (which you can't even see in this picture but it was there - I swear!).Found a nice hotel, got comfy, noticed that it started snowing (not included in our plans!).

St. George, UT - Tropic, UT

Day 4:
Left the hotel, drove to a big outlet mall, bought a hat for me and some sunglasses for C., drove to Valley of Fire State Park, were amazed by the beautiful colors, enjoyed the perfect weather, were a bit annoyed by an air-condition someone kept running in their sedan while attending a wedding inside the park (which made this otherwise peaceful place to a noisy one).Took a little hike, could still hear the air-conditon, tried to ignore it, took lots of pictures, saw a few more lizards, drove to St. George, UT, called it a day.

Day 5:
Drove to Zion National Park, parked the car, took the shuttle bus all the way to the last stop, walked the Riverside Walk along with lots of other people, saw quite few of these little guys:Water level was too high to walk to the Narrows, rested a bit, walked back to the bus stop, took another short hike, enjoyed the scenery, returned to the car.Drove to Bryce Canyon National Park, arrived there just before sunset, drove to Sunset Point and watched the sun go down in the most amazing setting ever.Drove to Tropic and decided to go back to Bryce Canyon the next day.