Dear Utah, I Love You (aka Arches National Park)

Arches National Park is one of those places that can be easily overlooked as a "driving tour" type of park.  The views from the main road which winds through the park are stunning enough to satisfy most outdoors enthusiasts.  Gonzalo and I were greeted by the friendly camp host, an aging redneck of sorts with passion for his job and a personal vendetta against "foreigners" (... mostly Europeans, he clarified, when he found out Gonzalo was from Mexico) trying to circumvent the U.S. National Park system to avoid paying.  He was very excited that we had booked three nights since most folks are in and out in a day or two.  It wasn't until we started hiking that we understood why it's worth taking a few extra days to enjoy this park.

The roads have not been kind to my rental car, but the view from the campsite is spectacular (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Exploring the base of one of a bazillion arches.  This is clearly hard work.

Sometimes its worth looking back to see where you've been. 

Sunset from the campsite.

Somewhere along the way, something happened to my rear hub.  My first reaction was to take the bike into Moab to the first bike shop I saw.  Bollocks.  I would not have a bike shop for much of my trip, so I pulled out my bible of bike repair, the Park Tool School blue book of bike repair, set up shop at the picnic table, and successfully did my first hub adjustment.  Thanks to Bill at Capitol Hill Bikes for having the foresight to include the appropriate wrenches for this task!

Best bike repair shop ever.

Success!  We rode our bikes to the trailhead later that day.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the Devils Garden trail, where we traversed ledges, climbed everything in sight, and otherwise made the most of the perfect weather we were blessed with for this portion of our trip.  Maybe this was Mother Nature's apology for the two winter storms I had to drive through.

I never get sick of this view (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Fun with shadows!

We made sure to take our time and not rush (photo credit: Gonzalo).

One of many exploratory climbs (photo credit: Gonzalo).

One of the last hikes later in the day... (photo credit: Gonzalo).

The one downside to the day was the possible sacrifice of my 17mm wide angle lens when I was descending onto a ledge.  The lens no longer allows me to take pictures, but luckily, I had different lens packed away in one of the boxes in my trunk.

RIP.

Even though we are staying in Arches National Park one more night, we needed to go to Moab to get provisions for Canyonlands and figured we could hit up some of the hikes that are closer to the entrance of the park since we've explored mostly the area near our campgrounds.  We decided to try out Love Muffin Cafe (from which I write this post), which Lauren told us was the best breakfast in town.  And holy crap was she right.  We had intended to stop just for coffee, and stayed for poutine and banh mi.  Now I'm off for groceries and more hiking.  

Winter Storm Tritan Plan B: Geeky Science Snow Day!

One thing I love about Colorado is the local reaction to the announcement of a snowstorm.  Washingtonians freak out, buy bread and milk (or booze), and plan to hole up until the storm passes.  Here, people pack their 4WD vehicles with snowboarding and skiing gear, go to bed early, pray to the snow Gods for 12" - 14" of sweet powder, and race to make the first chairlift.  Despite the joy of Winter Storm Tritan, it was pretty much unanimous that it would be foolish to attempt the near blizzard-like conditions with a fully loaded rental car with no snow tires and front wheel drive.

So instead of heading across the pass to hang out with my Mt. Kilimanjaro climbing partner-in-crime Lauren, we decided to stay another day in the Boulder area and make the drive when visibility was more than a foot.  

After brunch with a friend of mine from law school, we decided to explore museum at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.  Fortunately, Gonzalo and I are both slightly obsessed with geeky science things, and an otherwise disappointing cruddy weather day was saved (even if we discovered how little we know about cloud composition).

We thought the museum fit the weather conditions.

The cool spinning globe that allowed us to simulate the surface of a gas planet.

This museum had the BEST interactive exhibits. 

It's pretty much sacrilege to not spend at least some time outside in the Boulder area, so we headed out to the trails behind the NCAR to play in the snow before heading back to the house for hot chocolate and a nice group dinner with Kiki and Emil.

The architectural genius of I.M. Pei, better known for the Lourve Pyramid and the Javitts Center in New York.

Taking in the "view".

The next day, the clouds parted to give us sunny blue skies and clear roads.  The drive across the Rockies was beautiful and we rolled into Grand Junction, Colorado with a warm welcome from Lauren.  After a tasting of various craft brews I have managed to collect along the way, we caught up over a huge hunk of local free range magical beef and apple pie.

Exhibit at the potty n' Nutella and banana break in Georgetown, Colorado.  Not to be mistaken for any other Georgetown.

Snack break!

Reminiscing about my last trip to Colorado to visit Lauren.  My beer tasting glass magically turned into a wine glass.

Today, we are off to the Moab area where we will spend the next couple of days camping at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks before heading a bit south towards Zion National Park.

Rocky Mountain Squeeee!

One of my constant struggles is to find the balance between my Type A personality and, well, the side of me that quit my job to do this trip.  I've always hoped that the Boulder-Denver area would be my personal adventure paradise; urban enough for all the culture I want, but a haven for adventuresome folks of all ilk.  As a recovering BigLawyer, I view my time here as a bit of an experiment.

And so I invaded the home of fellow bike touring fanatic and former Washington DC area resident, Kiki.  I credit her bike trip across the U.S. as the genesis for bigger and bad-asser plans of my own.  That, and her gear list was the starting point for my own.

I arrived to 60 degree weather and took some time when I got in to relax, go grocery shopping at my new favorite organic grocery Sprouts (3 for $1 red peppers?  $1.50/lb asparagus?  Yes, please!), and make a leisurely dinner.  I also had the good fortune to have some furry company.

Morning photo shoot with Squeakers and Felix.

Apparently, Kiki is running a psuedo-hostel out of her house as a mutual acquaintance of ours was also visiting from the DC area beginning the next morning.  I spent the morning repacking the car trunk and was contemplating heading into Boulder to do a brewery tour at Boulder Beer Company, Colorado's first microbrewery, when Emil got in touch with me to see if I wanted to do a short afternoon hike.  It's a good day when my hardest decision was deciding whether to do a brewery tour or a hike.  The Flatiron 1/2 trail was a perfect afternoon hike, just challenging enough to make us feel accomplished, just enough rock scrambling to make it fun, and provided beautiful views of Boulder and the Rockies.

View from the trailhead.  The three peaks to the left are Flatirons 1, 2, and 3.

View from 1 to 2.  Or maybe its 2 to 3.  Who knows.

Some great areas to do rock scrambling and there are also climbing access points as well.

We found a friend who wanted to follow us!

Emil admiring the vibrant green moss growing on the rock formations.

Log surfing never had a better view.

Emil snaps a picture of me while I take in the view.

Emil scrambles for a better view.

In other news, my cycling partner Gonzalo arrives in Denver tonight... just in time for Winter Storm Tritan, which is supposed to bury my temporary corner of Colorado tomorrow in snow.  Don't worry, I'm tracking the road conditions so that if the pass is too risky tomorrow, we'll just stay in Boulder another day or so before heading west.

Nebraska State Of Mind

I expected the drive through Nebraska to pass by as a blur of farmland and a necessary evil to reach the promise-land of Colorado.  I have never been so happy to be wrong.

After emerging from the slushy snowy roads of Chicago and spending over 8 hours on the road, I arrived in Lincoln NE in a bleary state of mind and pulled up to the oh so classy Countryside Suites, located conveniently by the King Kong Restaurant.  The receptionist at the Countryside Suites welcomed me with a warm smile, a first floor room to make it easier to schlep my bike inside, a coupon for 2-for-1 cheesesteaks, and a barrage of questions about where I was from, where I was going, and why I would want to go to Argentina versus Spain.

Aside from the awesome decor, they had a pretty decent gyro greek salad thingy.

Despite the tempting 2-for-1 cheesesteak coupon, I ended up running across the parking lot to King Kong to get some dinner to go, and paired it with some boxed red wine.  Yup.  Awesome.  I had a wonderful date night with myself, slept in, took a long hot bath, and finally set out for Boulder CO shortly after 10am.  

After a couple hours on the road, I saw signs for an original Pony Express historical site in Gothenburg NE, and figured that was as good a place as any to stop for lunch and get a lil history.  It was the best decision I made all day.

My version of "Where's Waldo"?

It's easy to find yourself at the fast food joints that are clustered with the gas stations right at the exit to each of the small towns along the interstate.  However, it's always worth bypassing these faceless monstrosities to get into town.  Gothenburg is one of those classic small towns with a 3-block long Main Street that has exactly one bar, one diner, one bank, one law office... you get the drift.  I found myself wandering into Daylight Donuts, Gothenburg's local breakfast and lunch spot.

Daylight Donuts was empty except for a few regulars and the owners eating at a round table.  Their banter came to a halt as I peeked in and asked if lunch was still being served.  The proprietor gave me a sassy look and told me "well, we have chicken, chicken, or chicken."  "Well," I said with a laugh, "I guess I'm having the chicken."

  

For $7, I got to help myself to the salad, bar a plate of my choice of white/dark/mixed fried chicken, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, my choice of blueberry/lemon merengue/chocolate cream pie, and a huge coffee.  I also was asked put a note on their wall of fame!

A few wisecracks later, I found myself in hilarious company for the rest of my meal.  What was supposed to be a short stopover turned into a long leisurely lunch during which we chatted about the origins of my name, my bike trip, my shockingly youthful appearance, my untrustworthiness as a lawyer, the new trucks being delivered to the local dealer, and me taking over Daylight Donuts when I come back.   

The Gothenburg lunch crew.

I was sent off with hugs, a pair of handmade Gothenburg NE potholders, and two combo pen-flashlights inscribed with the address of Daylight Donuts, lest I ever forget this lunch spot.

Best.  Present.  Ever.

Washington DC to Lincoln NE: The Food Edition

I like to think of February as my month of "see you laters" ... this is not goodbye because I was sent off by the best of friends, the type of friends you keep forever no matter the time and distance spent apart.

Best "see you later pake" ever... buttermilk pie baked into a chocolate cake made by Robin which is on par with the birthday cherpumple by Phil.

The first week of March has ushered in the first 1500 miles of my cross-country driving trip, and the firm belief that my friends and family think I am somehow starving now that I am unemployed and traveling.  My last night in the Washington DC area was a quiet night of homemade carbonara, a couple bottles of red wine, and a few good friends (thanks Alex and Jeff!).  After a leisurely breakfast at a local Ethiopian cafe (thanks Robin, Lizzie, and Jeff!), I found myself battling traffic on I-495 with the biggest smile on my face and a full belly.

Since then, I have been plied with craft beer and lamb burgers (thanks Efrain!), homemade omelets (thanks Aaron!), homemade waffles and portobello burgers (thanks godparental units!), Belgian waffles (thanks Katy!), grasshopper pie and T-bone steak feast (thanks Sius!), Chinese roast duck (thanks Lorien!)...

The beer fairy leaves my host and good friend Efrain an early birthday present.  In return, I got a tour of the underbelly of the Cleveland craft beer and soul scene.

My hometown of Grand Rapids is home to several amazing craft breweries as well as  one of my closest childhood friends.  

I drove straight into winter storm Saturn as it hit Chicago, and then Lorien and I decided to go on a lovely walk to Lake Michigan.  Ouch, pokey snow in eyeballs!

I went for a short bike ride in Chi-town!  And made a snowman.  Because that's what you do when it snows... I was amused by the panic in DC about the snowquester.

Sun Wah.  Chicago.  Duck feast.  That is all.

Fresh steamed bun with roast duck, crispy duck skin, hoisin, pickled veggies, scallion...

Aaah, Rock Falls, the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.  Population 9000.  I love local diners like this one.

The Luxury Of Time

BigLaw is notorious for pummeling the souls out of their worker bees with grueling 70-80 work weeks.  Despite working hard for my work / life balance, I was not immune.  With a job that required my brain to function at 110% all the time, the last thing I wanted to do after work was anything that required me to stare at paper or at a computer.  So I pursued hobbies like dancing, martial arts, hiking, parkour, climbing, kayaking, whitewater rafting, and biking.  

This trip is not just a chance to explore the world, but it offers to me the luxury of time to do all the things that I wanted to do, but was just too damn tired after a 12-hour workday to do.  

Drawing

Little do many of my friends know, but once upon a time, I was voted "most artistic" in the mock elections both at the end of middle school and at the end of high school.  For many years, you would never find me without a sketchpad, and I remember losing entire afternoons to a piece I was working on.  Over the years, I would pick up my drawing pencils and paper every so often just to prove I could still do it, but that was mostly before law school.  Only one drawing remains that I haven't thrown out or given away, tucked away in a box to be stored at my parents' house.  

Circa 2009-ish.

As I was packing this past weekend, I found all my old drawing pencils and decided to buy a Moleskin notebook to embrace the artist in me that was sacrificed over the years.  Since I'm using mini-dry bags to compartmentalize my belongings in my already waterproof panniers, I'm not too worried about losing the notebook to the elements.

Photography

I've always had an eye for photography.  I can observe a scene, find the angle, picture in my head what I want a photo to look like, but I've never had the time to actually learn how to make my pictures look like the mental image I have.  Most of my amazing travel photos so far have been the product of naturally good lighting or an amazing subject that anyone with a decent point-and-shoot would get an amazing outcome.

Death Valley: The Racetrack

Death Valley

Tanzania: The Serengeti

Tanzania: The Serengeti

Sure, these pictures look nice, but that's only because I lugged around a pricey DSLR... and when I say lugged, I mean lugged... those things weigh a ton.  Now that I've traded the DSLR for a mirrorless camera, which provides me just enough options and lenses to get good results, but doesn't weigh 400 pounds, I'm determined to play around with the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed to get the pictures I want.

Writing

I've always like the idea of writing a novel.  I'm not a writer in the sense that I wake up wanting to write, but I've come to enjoy being a wordsmith of sorts.  A well written brief or research memo is probably the part of being a lawyer I find the most satisfaction from.  Usually, it is the combination of boredom and a desire to create that drives me to write.  But that's the thing... I haven't been bored in years.  I started a novel in college before I had figured out that I am happiest when pursuing a goal of some sort.  So I wrote three chapters that to this day, I still like.  I'm not sure if I will finish that novel, but I want to write something meaningful on the road.

Oh sure, this blog is "writing," but it was never meant to be anything but a way of keeping myself accountable and documenting the greatest adventure of my life for myself, my friends, my family, and possibly others cycling nuts.  And while I may find myself waxing philosophic on bike touring, gear reviews, and routes, it's really just a fancy journal.  Maybe this trip will inspire a separate book based on these ramblings, but that's something I think needs to be written with reflection after the passage of time.

And All Those Other Things

I have dreams of becoming a bike mechanic (oh Park Tool School blue repair book, you will be my new best friend), a fluent Spanish speaker (I'm good, really good, but always looking to be better), a scuba instructor, and a dozen other hobbies and potential career paths that involve gaining expertise.  I'll be keeping my mind open as I roll along for opportunities to better myself in whatever ways I can.

Frequently Asked Questions Redux (Or, Yes, This Is Really Happening!)

My friends have known for the past year about my trip, but now that I have less than a month until I leave, it finally feels real to them and all of a sudden the panicked requests for happy hours and dinners and questions about my trip have come pouring in.

How Do You Carry Everything?

For those who know nothing about bike touring, it seems unreal to carry everything you could need for a trip this long on a bike.  Hey, European backpackers have packed everything they need into a single backpack for their gap year trips.  Even though I have to take into consideration bike repair, camping, and food, in some ways it is actually easier because I have a steel beast of burden to portage everything.  Granted, I travel lighter than the average person because, well, I'm little... so my things are little.

My beauuuuutiful Troll!  And my beautiful panniers, thanks to Karim for making the splurge for me!

You can check out my gear and equipment list to get the full rundown, but this is basically it... although there are still things to do like trim down the kickstand (wheeee, fun with dremels!) and work out any random kinks or last minute additions (seatpost water bottle mount for my fuel!).  This setup has evolved several times from a traditional setup to a minimalist setup to a setup designed for the ultimate flexibility, and is the product of endless hours reading reviews, blogs, my own past touring experience, and doing test rides.

Also, check out this website dedicated to pictures of fully loaded touring bikes for the way others do it, with setups that range from milk crates and zipties, to setups that look like they weigh 200 pounds.

The cockpit with my tent riding up front.

Isn't This Dangerous?

Yes, some cycling tourists have had fatal accidents in other countries, but that doesn't change a thing.  Biking in DC is dangerous.  Believe me, I've gotten hit 5 times now by 3 doors, 1 taxi, and 1 pick-up truck... the most recent this past weekend 2 blocks from home. Yes, Mexico has some areas that have travel advisories.  But then again, most middle-class suburbanites wouldn't feel comfortable in my cozy corner of Capitol Hill, and I've never felt more safe.

I've lived, worked, or traveled through all of Central America and half of South America...  I've backpacked by myself through unrest in southern Thailand, and braved solo travel in Egypt.  The scariest incident I had was when I was studying abroad in Spain and a druggie made some threatening advances on a fellow student.  This awesome British couple driving from Mexico to Argentina says it better than I can... No, it's not really that dangerous, just be smart.

What About Insurance?

But I'm not stupid.  I'm a lawyer.  I'm a lawyer who has had some experience in insurance practice and who has a penchant for extreme sports and adventure... of course I'm getting insurance for my trip!  After an incredibly huuuuge amount of research and carefully analyzing policy wording, I found the closest thing to a perfect policy I could find.  I present, World Nomads!  No, this insurance will not cover my annual visits to the dentist or pre-existing conditions, but the policy will cover most everything else, including theft of my bike, repatriation of my remains, and rental car collision coverage (which is always outrageously expensive when purchased at the rental car counter).

For the grand price of $1211.78 per year, and renewable on the road, this policy covers all the good stuff.  Among countless other activities, it explicitly covers:

• Abseiling
• Base Jumping
• Cavern Diving
• Dirt Boarding
• Trekking in Antarctica
• Cycle Touring
• Flying an Aircraft
• Heli-Boarding
• Rock Climbing
• Shark Cage Diving
• Snow Rafting
• Ziplining
• Mountaineering

Are You Going Alone?

The wonderful thing about the world is that there are an estimated 7 billion of us out there, which means the odds of finding someone else out there as crazy as I am pretty good with resources like the Adventure Cycling Association, Crazy Guy On A Bike, and Warm Showers.  I put an ad in the "Companions" section of the Adventure Cycling Association website (which also was featured in the February issue of Adventure Cyclist!), and got a surprisingly large number of responses, but most folks were still in the dreaming phase rather than the execution phase of their planning.

Hey, look at me!  I'm famous!

That is, until Gonzalo de la Pena emailed me.  He has a ton of bike touring and travel experience, and so we agreed that he would come visit me in DC to meet, and he did!  We got along well, geeked out over Star Wars Legos and cycling gear, and he didn't seem like a serial killer, so we agreed to start the trip together.  He will actually be flying to meet me in Denver and joining me on my cross-country trip so we can get to know each other better, and share our love of the outdoors at various national parks along the way.

For those who worry, you can see his photo blog from his bike trips at: http://bicimundista.com/.

Dear Washington D.C.

Dear Washington D.C.,

It's been a good run.  We've had 15 long years together, on and off again, some years for the better and some for the worse.  I've played softball on the Mall, cried at the Holocaust museum, eaten gallons of Ethiopian food, witnessed election history in the making, eaten my way through your food trucks and multitudes of ethnic street food fairs, kayaked the Potomac, biked your trails, gotten nearly kicked out of the midnight showing of The Goonies at E Street, marched in the name of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, watched award-winning plays, discovered your artistic side, battled taxis on my bike, fallen in and out of love with you, discovered every nook and cranny of your four quadrants, paid my dues as a BigLaw attorney, and danced countless nights into the sunrise.

But it's time for me to go.  No regrets and no hard feelings, but it's just time.  There's nothing left for me here.  While a part of me will always cherish these 15 years, you aren't home anymore.

My datebook for the next couple of weeks is nothing short of a stunning show of the wealth of love, good memories, and laughter I've amassed here during our time together.  Here's to good food, Belgian beer, mussels, stogies, live music, growler hours, happy hours, kung fu, and the best of friends who, when it really matters, show up and help me realize that the best is ahead of me.

Nostalgically Yours,
LeeAnn

P.S.  I'm officially relinquishing my status as a D.C. resident and making my roots out west to your cousin out west... Washington State!