It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.

Every morning we woke before the sunrise, just to make it feel lazy really. There were no quintessential farm-rooster crows to accompany my alarm clock, but there was the smell of coffee in the french press, which I'm pretty sure is a better alternative (those rooster crows get old anyway). A chalkboard in the barn had a list of vegetables we were to harvest each day and we'd all go to town, working through the heat to get what we needed for the days' CSA shares. By the end of the week I had harvested peppers, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, tomatoes, corn, basil, tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, cucumbers and tomatoes. Did I mention tomatoes? After each harvest it was time to pack all the veggies into CSA boxes for home deliveries and The Good Earth Farm had 350 shares each week! To those who have no idea what I'm talking about when I say a CSA let me 'splain...it stands for Community Supported Agriculture and is basically like purchasing a share in stocks (or stalks in this case...GET IT?!). Individuals or families who purchase a share will receive produce from the farm each week for the entire growing season. It's pretty rad and if you're interested you should look up farms in your area and get your purchase on!

The Good Earth Farm was my first WWOOFing experience and I have to say it won me over. I had a fantastic week working on and living the farm life. Jeff and Nancy are the owners and I don't know that I can give enough props to the two of them for their hard work, generosity and overall awesome...ness. They took me in, fed me farm-fresh meals, and provided SO many animals to play with (especially my favorite cat Felix pictured right who would follow me around the farm and demand affection...uughhh FINNNEEEEE). Nancy also let me tag along on a goat farm tour and we sampled goat's milk, played with baby goats who were only interested in either eating our hair or showing off their jumping skills, and then we were each given a bar of homemade almond and goat's milk soap to take home. They ALSO took me around Sioux Falls to show me the town's farmers market, the falls from which the city is named, and a great brewery where they are given all the spent grain to feed their chickens and turkeys. I actually really felt at home there and already want to go back ("Can't I just work on the farm and live with you guys?! That's cool right?!") All around great week and despite the heat, weeds and hard work it only further solidified my love for local agriculture. Now check out these GOATS.

Nancy being mauled by Johnny the baby goat

 Sweet little goat jussttt trying to eat hair

This is Buck, the crazy and lovable farm dog. He would follow me in the fields and round up the animals (keeping Jack the nasty goose in line!)

Breakfast!

Jack and Jill...Jack is the bigger one in front, he's trying to pretend that he wasn't just running after me to do the ol' sneak attack butt chomp #ohgofetchapail

These guys would show off their plumage whenever I was around, not sure how I should react, but I was flattered

Cool farm view

FELIX!

How can you not love this cat?!

Jeff and Nancy!

After the week on the farm I met up with my two friends Ashleigh and Riley from AmeriCorps and drove to the badlands for some camping and hiking. We hit up Wall Drug (again...how could you not?) and then spent three nights in Custer State Park, took a sunrise hike on Harney Peak (the highest summit east of the Rockies dontchaknow), swam in Center Lake and took a cave tour in Wind Cave National Park which is the 6th longest cave in the world and it's estimated that only 5% has been discovered.

Boxwork in the cave, aka calcite deposits that were in between limestone, but the limestone has since weathered away

 Sunrise from Harney Peak

 South Dakota skkkyyy

On Wednesday we headed back to Sioux Falls to meet up with other AmeriCorps Cape Cod pals who were all convening for our friends' wedding. Maria, the bride, was a member my year and her now husband Keith was a member two years after us. In true AmeriCorps style we all helped set up the chairs for the ceremony, decorated the beautiful trellis Maria's dad made, put together the centerpieces and bouquets of flowers for the aisle, pieced together the tile dance floor (which was harder than we all expected because we didn't know there was a specific order the tiles had to go in...turns out duct tape really does fix everything). The wedding was at a place called Camp Lakodia and it was a BEAUTIFUL camp right on Lake Herman in Madison, SD. The bachelorette party was a blast (wine/paint night and photo booth pictures with costumes), the wedding was a gorgeous success and the reception was a slamming time where in order to make the construction debacle worth it we ALL made sure to cut a serious rug on that dance floor. I don't get to see this group of friends nearly enough, so this was a great way to end my adventures!

 Here birds were eating all the locusts during the wedding rehearsal...there were three clothing casualties #birdpoopisgoodluck?

 Sunset on Lake Herman

 It's almost time!

 Their favors were peanut butter M&Ms

Me and the Bride!!

The day after the wedding, Sunday September 8th, I got up early, packed up all of my belongings that had accompanied me on this crazy little trip (called Love) and waved a sad sayonara to the West and all the adventures I had. To get home I had reached out to a few people on this website called erideshare.com where folks post ride offers and/or requests and I found a girl named Emily who was visiting friends in Montana but is from New Jersey. She just so happened to be passing through South Dakota at the right time and she actually picked me up right from the lodge and 24 hours later dropped me off right at my door step back in Queens NY! We shared gas and driving time and stories and recipes and listened to NPR and the new David Sedaris book on tape and it was a glorious old time through South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and ultimately New York. It was surprisingly fast, and as each state passed by I felt more nervous and excited for my return to the city that never sleeps. Everyone keeps asking me how it feels to be back and I have to say I just don't know! I can't believe the summer is already over and this trip that was filling my brain, notebooks, google docs, to-do lists and maps for over a year of dreaming and planning is now behind me. With what I have seen, I know there's so much more to see, and the memories, pictures, stories, laughs (thankfully no tears!), drives, hikes, rivers, meals, mountains, swims, concerts, falls, wolves, bison, bears, farms, new friends and old will always be there for me to look back on. It's safe to say this was the best summer of my life thus far and if anyone is contemplating I would SERIOUSLY recommend a trip to visit the National Parks in this country. They are phenomenal places of extreme beauty and strength that just by nature challenge and inspire. And if you are thinking of going...TAKE ME WITH YOU!


In addition to the sights one of the things that amazed me time and time again was witnessing just how generous people really are, and I have to thank you all for making this experience all the richer! Thank you Mary Ellen and Harold for showing Jen, my mom and I all around Colorado and for letting us stay with you; thank you JEN for accompanying me on the first month of this trip and making me laugh uncontrollably way too many times, you really were the best travel companion I could've asked for; thank you Molly for leading the way up Longs Peak; thank you mom for the awesome cooler and ginormous bag of trail mix that took us a month to get through; thank you to Pete and Rick for dropping serious knowledge about the wolves of Yellowstone; thank you Natasha for showing us Seattle (and the TROLL) and letting us stay with you even though you had JUST moved in! Thank you Ashley for the super sweet peanut butter/book package and Erica for our awesome map package; thank you Joelle for being a great AirBnB host and for encouraging not only the hours of disney sing-a-longs but also the purchase of a bucket of VooDoo doughnuts; thanks to all those folks on the streets of Portland for helping us eat said bucket; thanks to the park ranger in the redwoods for pointing out that there are no gates; thanks Yvette for SPOILING us with amazing food during our stay with you in Berkeley; thanks to Rya and Marc (and Sophie) for being awesome hosts and encouraging two fro-yo trips in one day; thank you Erik for driving a girl you barely knew 16 hours across Montana and South Dakota so I could get my farm on; thank you Jeff and Nancy for making my first WWOOF experience so wonderful; thank you Riley for letting us drive your car back and forth across South Dakota even though Ashleigh and I knew you were ultimately going to have to go BACK that way; thank you to Maria and Keith for getting married; thank you Emily for bringing me back to NY, and thanks to YOU ALL (for reading this far) and for giving me the oh-so gentle reminders that I needed to keep updating the blog; it may have added an extra challenge to the trip but I know I am going to be thankful that I have it years from now.

I think it's safe to say the travel bug has bitten, and I will be happily infected for the rest of my life. On to new adventures!

VE(ry)NICE Beach and beyond

So there I was, just lazing on the beach watching two little boys spit on each other to pass the time (I wish I was kidding, but I have to say I found it entertaining) when their father yelled something in German and pointed to the water. There, perhaps 35 feet in front of me, were 8 dolphins swimming and jumping in and out of a lifeguard boat's wake. Needless to say THAT was more entertaining to watch...sorry boys.

These next few days I spent in Venice, CA where I was staying at my friend Rya's apartment that was literally a 7 minute walk from Venice Beach. I had some chill beach time, went for a few runs, had some drinks on The Standard's rooftop bar with Rya and her boyfriend Marc, had some quality Sophie time (an adorable Bichon poodle) and had an awesome Bison burger, sushi and fro-yo....twice. One of the days Rya and I went on an 11 mile hike just north of Malibu that overlooked the Pacific Ocean, winded around the desert-y hillside of La Jolla Valley and up Mugu Peak for awesome views of the west coast.

 Pictures pictures:

Santa Monica Pier

Running Rya

La Jolla Valley Trail

Is it Pineapple or Chris' hair from Nsync? Anyone remember that? Anyone...

Pacific Ocean

New-growth cactus among it's burned elders

 After a few chill days in Venice I took the early morning flight to Kalispell, Montana, where I met up with my friend Erica and her two friends Chrissy and Michelle in Glacier National Park.

Can I just take a moment here? Okay...Glacier is OUTSTANDING. The views were so crazy incredible and trust me when I say that no matter how beautiful you think it may be in the pictures, just know that the actual views are a zillion times better. Perhaps even a quadrillion times...unless zillion is more. Zillion.

The first day I arrived I took a van from the airport directly to Lake McDonald to meet up with the girls and then we headed straight for Hidden Lake where I was told we'd find some goats. And find goats we did! We also saw this (below)

Yeah, I know. (and check out that panorama...nice riiighhtt?)

Michelle and Billy...

goats gruff.

Someone had Pringles

Hidden Lake

Michelle, Chrissy and Erica

After our little jaunt we headed to our lodge (YES, this time I was staying in a lodge! Fancy right?) It's called Many Glacier which is the eastern section of the park and known for it's, well, many glaciers. The view from our hotel can be seen on the right, and we took that boat (also pictured below) the following day to check out all those glaciers in this picture. But when we arrived on Monday we simply ate dinner in the lodge and hung out with some of the seasonal workers there.

Swiftcurrent Lake

The following day we decided to hike to Grinnell Glacier which was about a 7-mile hike after the boat ride took off a few miles of the trek. We traded those miles in for some cool history on the boat about the Many Glacier Hotel and the park in general. Once we landed to the other side we then took one more boat across Josephine Lake and headed on foot to see us some glaciers and glacial lakes. The one on the right is called Grinnell Lake after George Bird Grinnell, the conservationist who convinced Teddy Roosevelt to make Glacier a National Park. Well done sir. 

That aqua blue color is from the glacial till, or rock sediments like mica schist etc, that run off the glaciers. Crazy right?

Here are some pics from that hike:

Jewel Glacier is on the top left and the big long one on the right is called Salamander. We were told that by 2030 there will be no glaciers left...get 'em while you can people because they're beautiful!!

Grinnell Glacier and Upper Grinnell Lake

I FINALLY saw my bighorn sheep, Jen knows I've been talking about seeing these guys since I started this trip.

"Can I help you?" 

This guy hung out there for a long time so I'm assuming butterflies can't smell. 

View of Many Glacier Hotel

The next day Erica and I decided to do a 16-mile hike on one of the most iconic Glacier NP trails called the Highline. That hike is 7.6 miles so we added mileage by taking Swiftcurrent Pass back to our hotel, and we also added mileage by getting lost around Swiftcurrent Lake. Winners. 

View from the Highline

That tiny house in the distance was our snack stop, a place called Granite Park Chalet. 

People often hike in and stay here, can you imagine waking up to those views? 

Leaving the Chalet for Swiftcurrent Pass

Bullhead lake is the front, and we saw a moose at that lake when we hiked down. We were also told that right around the time we took this picture there was a grizzly chilling in a switchback eating huckleberries. The group hiking above us saw the bear and saw us walk right by him twice. I'm just mad he got all the huckleberries.

Kind of hard to see here, but there's the female moose we saw on the other side

Glacier had a TON of purple and torqouise rock

The hike was so wonderful and I hadn't seen or hung out with Erica in a crazy long time so needless to say it was a great afternoon. We then met up with Chrissy and Michelle and two guys from the hotel and all went to dinner at a local spot called Two Sisters, which was awesome and they have huge huckleberry margaritas for $6. Oh Montana. 

The next day were supposed to hike a favorite trail among all the hikers called Iceberg Lake. The other girls ended up doing it and had a great time, but here my timeline diverges from their's because I ended up catching a ride to Sioux Falls with a guy who worked at Many Glacier and was heading home to Minnesota. This saved me a BUNCH of doll-hairs so in the end I didn't get to hike Iceberg, but it just gives me another reason to come back to this wonderful place. So I just had breakfast with the girls and said our goodbyes, I took a few last pictures of our glacier home, and headed east for an unexpected adventure. 

 

Grinnell Point in front of Many Glacier

Erik's car looking out on the water

One of the places he wanted to stop was the Devils Tower, which is the first National Monument ever! 

It is a pretty awesome piece of igneous rock and I was told scientists argue about whether it was an intrusion from the earth, or the inner remains of a large volcano. It's also a sacred Native American monument where folklore states that two little girls were running from a bear and the great spirits made the piece of land rise around them in order to shield them said bear. The large columns on the side are bears' scratches. Also, those scratches are very popular for great crack-climbing and many-a-folk head to Devil's Tower just to take a crack at it....HA...crack. 

Two peeps climbing..."look harder"-Rafiki

And two more

We also made our way through some cool towns in the Black Hills, learned about the human beaver (read below...seriously do it it's hysterical), swam in a lake in Custer State Park, saw Mount Rushmore and camped in the Badlands all before arriving safely at the farm.

Human Beaver

Mount Rushmore

Double Bison picture

Badlands

Can you see me?

Now I'm at The Good Earth Farm where I will be WWOOFing for a week. The couple who owns this farm is Jeff and Nancy Kirstein and they have...a cow, a horse, 14 turkeys, 35 chickens, 2 geese (named Jack and Jill), 3 ducks, 3 cats, 2 dogs and 3 bee boxes. Oh, and 26 acres for their vegetable CSA. They're awesome people and I'm excited to work, live, eat and breathe a farm for a week. 

Jack and Jill and the turkeys

honey honey

The bees!

roof rascals. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day, and I'll see you in September!