There and Back Again

Annnd we're back! It only took a 2.5 hour flight from Auckland to Nadi, Fiji, an extremely hot and humid 7 hour layover in Fiji, a 10 hour flight from Fiji to Los Angeles, a 45 minute shuttle to the downtown LA Greyhound Station, a 2 hour wait in the bus station, and a 2.5 hour bus ride from Los Angeles to Palm Springs where our friend Tom picked us up and drove us back to Joshua Tree. We got into LA at the same time we had left Auckland. Something about crossing the International Date Line. It felt like March 30th would never end. It all went pretty well until we retrieved our packs. Clay's pack looked like it had gotten in a fight with a wolverine and the wolverine won. Total bust. It was so busted up that he couldn't even wear it. The airline company initially refused to do anything about it. Awesome, great to be back. But apparantly there are still some angels in the City of Angels. Or maybe we just looked really pathetic sitting on the floor trying to figure out how we could get the pack to a point where Clay could wear it for a bit. But the guy who had just denied us came over and said he felt really bad about it and would put a claim in with the airline company. I am pretty sure there will still be a lot of paperwork in our future but hopefully we will get reimbursed for some of Clay's pack. But that being the worst thing that has happened to us in in three months of backpacking gives you an idea how great of a trip this was. New Zealand is an amazing country that we only barely touched the surface of. But we are stoked to be back in the States. Putting on a new (new as in the sense that I haven't worn them everyday for the last three months) pair of pants this morning was emotional. Well we are excited to see everyone and can't wait hear about all your winter adventures :) Cheers!

*Special prize to anyone who knows the original work of literature that I plagurazied for the title of this blog entry.

Going Out With A Bang

At the end of our last trip with Mt. Ngauruhoe in the background. You might recognize it as Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings.


With lighter packs, busted boots, and a full (4G) memory card, we walked out of the New Zealand Hills for the last time on Sunday. And what a finale of a trip is was. We were in New Zealands first and the world's fourth National Park, Tongariro National Park. It was the most diverse trail we have hiked here, and possibly ever. We hiked through alpine tussock, lush beech forests, desert, and 3 kilometers of paved road. We hiked around and on three separate volcanoes. One of which last erupted in 2007. Neat. Our second day of the trip was really just a treat. It started out with me braking a boot lace. This was merely just a minor inconvenience. It wasn't even a challenge for Clay's MacGyver skills, and he had me hiking ready in no time. But even his Eagle Scout skills couldn't help a couple days later when the side of my boot (same boot) ripped completely away from the sole. This is the same boot that has already been to the cobbler once on this trip. A couple hours after the boot mishap Clay had a spontaneous nosebleed. We eventually got that under control but not before creating a Haz Mat scene all over the trail. After another hour of hiking we found ourselves walking through the most hanus weather we have experienced in New Zealand. It pretty much just came out of nowhere. We had started off that morning with blue skies. But it was now sleeting sideways and the wind was making it impossible to walk straight. The wind was blowing so hard it was blowing snot out my nose completely unprovoked by myself. Just wanted to give you all a reference. Visibility deteriorated down to a couple meters. We just put our heads down and walked as fast as we could through a section of track that is regarded to be one of the most scenic in New Zealand. We couldn't see each other let alone the scenery. The weather did not let up and eventually we got to a very full hut. Although it was a pretty miserable day it was the only day of bad weather for the seven days we were out. Sweetness. So thankfully the next day we were able to do a bit of backtracking to see what we had missed. It was totally worth the extra hiking. We are now working are way back to Auckland to fly to LA on the 30th.* Then we will start retracing our steps and trying to gather back all our worldly belongings scattered throughout the Western United States.
Should be fun ;) Sunset behind Mt. Taranaki. Mt. Taranaki is another volcano on the west coast of the North Island. About 250 kilometers away from us in this pic. Mt. Ruapehu. Last erupted in 2007.
Mt. Ruapehu. Some pretty awesome weather.
That's just good advice.

*Just going to throw this out there any case anyone has any great ideas. Clay and I will be flying into LA on March 30th. And getting to and from our car in Joshua Tree National Park has proven to be the most difficult part of this trip. Anyone with any great ideas shoot them our way :)

Another Year of Breaths

I'm not going to lie. Aging is not something I look forward to. I get nervous that "living the dream" will become more difficult if not obsolete. But sometimes life lessons come to us in the most obscure fashions. A couple days ago Clay and I had finished our last backpacking trip in Kahurangi National Park. After getting a ride out from a very isolated trail head we find ourselves on a main road which although not as isolated still seemed a bit starved for traffic. We got pretty lucky though. After only several minutes a car slowed down as it saw us. The passenger side window rolled down and an elderly lady well past Golden Age Pass status asked us where we were headed. I answered, "Nelson." "Your lucky, hop in." The driver shuffled to the back of the car to open the boot. After coercing my backpack into an already full boot, and Clay managing to put his pack on his lap, we hopped in. As we slowly pulled back onto the road, " The lady said, "We older hitchhikers have to help out younger hitchhikers." That is awesome. They had just spent the weekend in Nelson Lakes National Park at a boat regatta. Still living the dream. As we rode with them for the next hour they told us about their 14 grandchildren spread all over the world. They talked about all their travels throughout New Zealand. They laughed at each other and gave each other a hard time for confusing street names. It was obvious that they had enjoyed many years together and continued to enjoy each other's company. Living the dream. When we got to Nelson they insisted on showing us some of the sights around the city. Amazingly generous of them. When they did eventually drop us off they both got out of the car to wish us well. Clay had mentioned earlier it was my birthday. So as they pulled away the lady asked me, "Well how old will you be?" I said, "27." She responded, "Yes, yes that's a good age." I have a feeling she would have said that if i would have said 27, 47, or 87. We didn't even get their names. But their smiling faces and obvious enjoyment of life and one another will be something that I remember for quite some time. No doubt the definition of "the dream" is different for all of us, and it will change with time and circumstances. But that is probably a good thing.

Well here are some pics for the last couple weeks. Right now we are in Nelson and heading out on Saturday to spend our last two weeks on the north island.

We traded in our hiking boots for a sea kayak. We kayaked for three days in Abel Tasman National Park stopping to camp along the beach as we went.

Said sea kayak. Tide going out in Anchorage Bay.


After sea kayaking we camped a night in Moteuka. And we found this amazing pillow thing. It was in the campground barely 30' from our tent. It was about the coolest thing ever.Then we did our last backpacking trip on the south island in Kahurangi National Park. Tablelands in Kahurangi National Park. Balloon Hut, Kahurangi National Park. Kahurangi National ParkClay hoping that a little dog will score us some sympathy points.

Lessons from a Dog

I got Bear back in August of 2006. I can't remember life without him. Many of you might remember what an agonizing decision it was for a seasonal park ranger to take on a 70 pound three legged dog... I remember calling my sister before his surgery saying, "What if I don't want a three legged dog?" My sister said, "But he'll be your three-legged dog and that will make him the coolest dog ever." Well, not to brag, but Bear is pretty cool, although I think I have very little to do with it. Wherever I go with Bear I get the sad pitty face. One lady in Tahoe actually bought Aimee and I coffee for "doing such a good deed". Admittedly I was homeless and jobless, so we took the coffee, but that's not the point. I guess it was sort of a good deed, but I feel like I have certainly been the larger beneficiary. Bear has taught me many things, but most importantly about priorities. Once I got Bear, all of the sudden I was on tripod dog web sites and consulting vets on how to keep him healthy and active, and buying dog life jackets and bike trailers! I never thought I would ever give up a ski day to hang out with my dog. Turns out, it's often pretty darn entertaining. Bear the wonder dog has truly been that... a wonder dog. Every day I am impressed with his loyalty (read: follows me to the bathroom and waits outside the door) his ability (the day he re-learned to swim, I was sold!) and how he has changed my life.


What is the point of all of this? Well, there's another tripod in this world that needs a home, as as I already have three dogs, I can't take him in (trust me, I did think about it-- even busted out the pro and con list!) If you know anyone who might have room in their lives for a special needs pup, please direct them to this website to meet Benji. He lost his front leg the same way Bear did- in a car accident. He's a five year old Golden Retriever and darn cute! Please pass this message on to anyone you know who might be up for a trip to Jackson Hole to check the little guy out. Thanks for reading!

A Seed is Sleepy

I have, over the last couple of years, said several disparaging things about my job. Who hasn't, really? But every once in a while, you have those moments that remind you why you like what you do. Now, I have also said disparaging things about other people's children. Why? I'm a bad person. Normally, other people's children are not my thing. Some of you may remember my brief stint as a day care "teacher"... Three months. And I wanted to pull my hair out every day. Except for the one day this kid was crawling around the floor and when I asked him why he said, "I'm going sniffing!" That was funny. The point? I'm getting there. So yesterday, I went to the library for story hour. I was the guest reader. The topic was springtime. Fitting as it was 63 degrees yesterday. I chose several books loosely related to the topic of spring. One was called An Egg is Quiet. I read the title to the kids and this four year old girl with a pineapple top ponytail looks up and said, "Of course it is, ranger. Its an egg!" Kids are quite logical. In all of the times I had read that book, no one had ever pointed that out. Hmmm... I found it to be quite amusing. I also read them A Seed is Sleepy. This met with a similar response, although I think it took them longer to realize what that one was all about. Sleepy seeds are very confusing. Maybe I didn't get to the point on this entry... I guess the point is that there is much joy to be found in reading to children. Even I found it. I hope to schedule more programs like that. It's good for me. And, we all planted seeds afterwards. It was about as much gardening as I have done it a very long time. I didn't decorate my pot nearly as well as the kiddos did. Anyways... if you get a chance, read a kid's book. If you can read it to a kid, even better!

Vino

As I get older, I'm starting to get picky. More picky than I was before. I'm picky about clothes left on the floor. I'm picky about toilet seats left up and dog hair drifting across the floor like tumbleweed. I'm picky about beer. Recently I have learned that I am picky about wine. Not saying that I have developed a taste to good wine, just that I'm picky about which cheap wine I will drink. In college, I remember many days drinking wine out of the box as if it were a drinking fountain on the playground. Then again, I also drank Jello shots out of ultimate discs (that were possibly also used as a game disc and/or and water bowl for the animals) and Keystone Light, so that is possibly not the best example. And that's right... I put Keystone Light in the same genre and dog water. But, as with food, everything tastes better when drank outside looking at the stars. Like a PBR found fortuitously wedged underneath a rock in an alpine lake. Or a magnum of Yellow Tail Merlot drank out of $2 plastic wine glasses purchased at Wal-Mart three hours into the trip. Somehow, it all tastes better outside. Word to the wise, however... once you make the switch from the Yellow Tail to the next price bracket, when you go back to the Yellow Tail, the first few sips have a bit of an acidic bite. :)