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.

L.A.,CA - Aqua Caliente,CA - Las Vegas,NV

Keeping it short...

Day 1:
Flew to L.A. (rather long and boring), picked up the rental car, drove to Aqua Caliente, CA (brand new hotel and casino, special offer, super low rates: perfect!), gambeled a bit (lost $2), fell into our bed, woke up in the middle of the night, couldn't go back to sleep for over two hours, finally did. No pictures taken! Stupid me!


Day 2:
Drove through Joshua Tree National Park, took a little hike, saw our first lizard (took a picture but the lizard was way too fast), visited the Cholla Cactus Garden. Took more pictures (lots more!).
Hardly saw any joshua trees, left the park, drove along some lonely roads, saw tons of joshua trees, wildflowers and beautiful butterflies.
Reached Vegas later than planned, checked in our hotel (West Wing at MGM Grand), were exhausted, fell asleep.


Day 3:
Had breakfast at our hotel, stood in line for a marriage license with quite a few other couples, didn't get married in a chapel but in the office of the Comissioner of Civil Mariages (not very romantic but still very exiting), went to have lunch in a vegetarian Chinese restaurant, had it all to ourself (not because C. rented it just for us - like we like to pretend now that we heard someone say that in a talk show), stopped at Ronald's Donuts where we bought vegan donuts like there was no tomorrow, headed back to the hotel, rested for a bit, went to the casino, gambled a bit, went to Paris (because that's where we got engaged last year... Paris, France that is!), gambled a bit more (lost $150 and won them back with the very last dollar we were willing to put into the machine).Spent quite a bit of money to get our picture to show up up there... kinda outrageous! (Oh, who am I kidding?!)

Back!

I can't believe it has been a week already since we returned. Our roadtrip was awesome! We really had a blast. I don't know where to start.The short version would be: We flew to L.A., picked up our rental car, drove to Vegas where we got married, then drove all over the country (5600 miles (it's important to C. that I mention that)), returned to L.A. and flew back home.Of course there is much more to it! We saw so many wonderful things along the way! I took more than 1000 pictures and I think I could have and should have taken even more. Now I don't think you want to see them all but I think I can't keep myself from showing any. So yeah, I guess that's what's going to happen here during the next couple of days. I'm going to relive the trip... day by day.(Yes, it's true. See?! I can't believe it either.)

Time flies!

It's been almost a month since my last post. Something rather sad happened over here and I didn't feel like sewing or blogging much. We decided rather quickly that we'll go on a vacation now soon. C and me.I finished as many projects, chores and tasks as I could and still there is quite a bit of stuff for me to do. I don't mind it though. I'm really looking forward to our road trip.

I believe I'll be back with tons of pictures and hopefully with a lot more crafting energy too.

I'll leave you with a pic of a bag. Finished just in time so Johanna can take it along as a birthday present. I waited until that last minute to make this one... just because.

See ya all!

Sugar!

I needed some badly! So I made the Hazelnut Cupcakes from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World". No time for complicated fillings or homemade ganache toppings. Instead a ready made nougat like topping (which tastes way better than you expect especially when topped with some toasted hazelnuts). Quick and good. Yum!How many times did I tell you now to buy Isa's and Terry's book? Did anybody actually follow my advice? You better, because you don't know what you are missing otherwise.

Huh?

Nothing. Nothing has been going on over here. I was super lazy and I feel bad about it.
Fortunately Sandrine showed me something super cute that involves some crocheting. So today I finally got out my yarn and now I'll give it a try. Let's see how this will work out.Hopefully crocheting will bring my crafting mojo back. I'd love that!