I spent the whole week around Glacier National Park. I stayed one night in Kalispell at a motel 6 with terrible internet connection. Then I spent a few days in a Super 8 in Columbia Falls. That place was a lot nicer. The internet connection was much better there as well. I had to stick around because I had been negligent in keeping my Mac OS up to date. I was still running Leopard. And the time had come when I needed to use apps for work that required the newer OS. I thought I could get the upgrade easily and cheaper when the newer OS came out. Unfortunately Apple took all the Snow Leopard discs off the shelf and there are no Apple stores in Montana. So the only way I could get it, was to order it from the website. Its a pain when you’re on the road and you don’t have a steady address. Not to mention more expensive, but I made the most of it.

I made a point to get out and enjoy the area. I drove up and down route 2 every day after work to see the sun set. I drew in my sketchbook each night while I ate my dinner. I tried to work on a painting, but it just didn’t come out well. The inspiration needs to stew a little longer I guess. I know there will come a time when I will have an artistic explosion of sorts and I will not want to put the paintbrush down. That time has not come yet.

The last few nights I stayed in my car. I had parked at various trail heads that was well off route 2 so the passing truck lights wouldn’t bother my sleep. There was no cell service in that area, so I had to spend my time reading and sketching. I was having a blast out there.

But the road was calling to me. The time had come to move on.

My next destination… Grand Teton National Park.

I got to the eastern side of Glacier National park around 9:30pm that Thursday night. A town called Browning, MT. This place really had no public wifi. So I decided to cross the forest and go to Kalispell. It was a great night for driving during that full moon. I got into Kalispell and saw a McDonalds where I will have breakfast and work for the first half of the day. I also checked my wifi finder app on my phone and saw a whole bunch of free areas. With that initial recon done, I had to find a place to park my car and sleep for the night. I saw a few areas back in the forest that looked perfect for that. It didn’t seem that far when I got there, but that trek is about 30 miles. And I will continue to go back and forth from the Park/Forest and Kalispell, that whole week. Many miles were added to my car that week.

I found a decent spot that looked good to park for the night. It was a few miles east of the turn off to the Going to the Sun Road (Glacier National Park). Since I was traveling by night, I had no idea what the area looked like and I was surprised to see this in front of me when I woke the next day.A really cool spot. I liked how the mist just clung to the side of the mountain that morning.

I got to do some exploring of Glacier National Park that weekend. The “Going to the Sun” road was closed for the winter 16 miles into the park. But I drove that 16 miles and saw some great views of Lake McDonald.

I went and explored the forest during the day and saw the setting sun hit the west side of the mountains. My favorite time of day. When the sun starts to cast an orange light and the shadows begin to get longer.

As I was driving back I saw a really great place to take pics of the sunset. It was too late that day, but the following day I got the timing just right.

My fourth week into my trip, I had driven over 3,500 miles since I started this expedition. And that means I had to find a Subaru dealer to get my 15,000 mile service done. I found one in Great Falls, MT. I went to the AAA website to find an affordable place to stay. I found one with a kitchenette so I can cook my meals and save on that expense as well.  I had to stay there for 3 days because my car appointment was for Thursday.

There is one thing I have to mention. When it comes to internet, there are two categories on the AAA website. One is free wifi and the other is high speed internet. When you’re looking for a place to stay, opt for the high speed internet.

Now this place I stayed at had neither of those things. I had to pay a $5 fee to use the wifi and when I logged on to the network, a secondary window popped up asking for an additional $3 a day to use the high speed internet (5MBps). I said no to that by closing that window. That  made me  suspicious. I did a speed test of the connection and it was 31kbps (dial up speed).A little better than my experience at DesMoines, but not enough.

I told the girl about the secondary fee and she didn’t even know about that. Her manager claimed that it was the cable company that does that. I decided to try to do one day with that painfully slow internet. Although my deadline was looming. I couldn’t work in that condition. I decided to find a new place. So I went back to the AAA site to find a place with high speed internet and called them up to make sure it was also free. And it was. Hoo Ra!

The rest of the week I worked and slept. Not much more to report there.  When my car was done being serviced that thursday, I headed northwest toward Glacier National Forest.
I watched the sun set and the full moon rise during that drive. And driving by the moonlight through a forest is always so much fun for me. There’s something about the bluish light casting shadows over the road and in my car.

That Saturday morning, I checked out of my room and headed to Wall Drug for some breakfast consisting of french toast and scrambled eggs. Their breakfasts are excellent. I liked their french toast most, because it was the big fluffy texas cut bread and cooked just right.

I had to do one last loop of the Badlands before I headed out and try to get some plein aire painting done. It was a gray gloomy day. Windy. Somewhere in the mid to low 40′s and sprinkling.

Not the best day to be out painting. Instead I chose to take pictures and draw in my sketchbook from the warm coziness of my car.

I drove from the Wall side of the badlands to the other and turned around to go and see it in reverse. On my last approach, I decided to stop at the Door/Window trails. I saw a platform trail that went around one of the buttes and something urged me to go see what was behind there.
I followed it to the end to see this sign:

Instantly, I felt compelled to do some backcountry hiking.

And it was wicked cool. I immediately lost site of the trail markers and went my own way taking pictures. I kept track of a distinct peak  of one of the buttes by the entrance  to make sure I don’t lose my way and  I just explored the place.

It was so much fun climbing around the baddest of the badlands. I eventually came across a trail marker and followed that to the end.

This place is amazing. To think that it was formed from millions of years of sediments from oceans and rivers and only 500,000 years of erosion. It’s the erosion that makes its so interesting looking. But Some day the Badlands will completely erode away leaving nothing more than a flat landscape.

Next stop, Glacier National Park.

For the first half of my 3rd week in, I stayed at the camp ground in the Badlands. I chose a site that had a great view.  The buttes behind my camp would get the yellow-orange morning light. That was very nice to wake up to. And it is amazing how easy it is to wake up with the sun when you’re camping.

My Monday was was spent at the lodge/gift shop/restaurant because they had free wifi. I worked most of the day there on a wood bench that would make my legs numb after sitting there for hours. It was sad that I spent most of the day there. But I got out when the orange sun was going down and casting the long shadows along the buttes. I took a nice long drive through the park and witnessed the sunset in the badlands.

Monday night I did a little painting. And went to bed. When I was trying to fall asleep, I heard what sounded like rain hitting the top of my tent. I looked outside to see, but it was just a little windy. I wrote it off as flies hitting my tent. Out there, the flies are relentless and love to buzz around everywhere and into everything.

Tuesday morning was a repeat of Monday. Waking up with the sun and watch the sun hit the buttes in the background as I ate some breakfast. That day they were doing maintenance on the water system. As a result the lodge was closed and I had to spend the first half of my day sitting in my car outside of the lodge leaching off their wifi.

Around midday the sun beating down on my car was getting to hot to just sit in my car. Not to mention, I needed to get gas. My power inverter requires the engine running. I took my job on the road. I got gas and stopped at various overlooks throughout the park to work on my project. When I needed to log back on to test stuff, I went to the lodge parking lot.

Tuesday night was really windy. I realized my tent was angled wrong and the wind was blowing on the broadside of my tent. I had to stake it down a little better. The wind was strong and was blowing the inside wall of the tent almost half way in the center of the tent.
When I got in my tent, I was amazed to hear the same tapping sound on the outside of my tent. I realized, finally, what that was when my hand brushed up the side of the tent and saw little sparks. That sound I was hearing is static electricity popping between my tent and fly. This sent my mind thinking of how flammable tents are and wondered if there was ever a freak incident where a spark could set the tent ablaze. I had that thought comfort me as I fell asleep.

Wednesday was my last day at the campground and work was getting hectic, so I headed to Wall, SD and checked into an Econolodge for the rest of the week.

I worked pretty much the whole time I was there. I only got out for buffalo burgers and a pretty exciting lightning storm in the badlands.

I had to try a beer because of its name. It was called Moose Drool Brown Ale. Pretty darn tasty, in my humble opinion.

The Badlands are Badass!!

Saturday, I woke up with the sunrise and observed the colors while I made some oatmeal and tea. Easy meal because I wanted to go explore. I drew in my pocket sketchy while I was eating breakfast.

I toured around for a bit. Stopping frequently at overlooks to take pictures and found myself on my way to Wall, South Dakota. I wanted to see what they have been advertising for like 100 miles away. With signs that say “Cowboy Up! Boots, Buckles and Hats At wall Drugs”. There were lots of signs. What caught my eye was the 5 cent coffee.

It was what I expected. An old western style tourist trap. But if you look hard enough, you can find what you need. I went and got some camping supplies. And had a much nicer brunch with french toast and eggs. And 3 cups of coffee Each time you drop a nickel in the box. It only cost me 15 cents for coffee!

Headed back into badlands, I stopped at a fossil trail, that was, eh, alright.
I saw sign for back country trails. I decided to go for a hike. I went back to my car to get a water and sunscreened up and got an extra bandana. I hiked for about 4 miles. It was in the high 80 to low 90′s that day and dry.

The sun was fierce and there was no shade.
It definitely gives you a better understanding and respect of the terrain when you’re walking through it, than just driving by it. I got to see the texture and colors up close and climb on it.

After that trek I went to check out the lodge and had myself a buffalo burger and sweet potato fries, mmmmmm. And there I worked on some more sketches while the hike was still fresh in my mind.

I had plenty of inspiration.

And thus begins the long journey west with no real planned stops. I wanted to get to the badlands by the weekend, so I took the diagonal route.

I was also covering for Erik while he was away on vacation and gave me an assignment that needed to be done by Friday. I had to learn some new things and when I got stuck, I went for a drive and stopped when I wanted to test stuff out.

I was stopping at starbucks and panera breads to get my internet connection for the first half of the week. As I headed further into the midwest, there were some areas that didn’t have any free wifi available except for McDonalds. I could only take that for a while, and decided to go to a hotel for the rest of the week to work on this project.

I ended up at a Comfort Inn in Des Moines. Unfortunately they had the slowest internet connection and made work really frustrating. I finally got the project finished on Friday and on Saturday morning left for the long journey to the badlands.

I made there by 8pm mountain time. Stay tuned for the weekend painting update =]

On Friday of my first week, I had to head out of Reading, PA because Erik and Nikki were going to be going to South Carolina for a week’s vacation. It was very nice of them for letting me stay there the whole week and do some work.

I wanted to make a quick stop in Lewis Center, Ohio to visit my friend Amol. He was going to be in Niagara falls with his wife and  his parents until Sunday.

So I had some time to kill before I went through Ohio. I Looked at the map and noticed a big green patch of forest in the north western part of PA (Allegheney National Forest). I had a destination chosen, now I just needed to figure the path I was going to take.
I remembered my friend Eva, who is a nomadic gypsy goddess, telling me to look into motorcyle routes listed on the web.
I googled “scenic drives, western PA” and found this site:
www.motorcycleroads.us
and that gave me a general path that was just the roads I like to drive. Curvy and scenic and the road less traveled.

Allegheney was perfect. The leaves were just beginning to turn orange yellow.

and every thing was just so peaceful.

I spent the night at a hotel and chilled.
Then I headed out to Ohio the next day. Taking more bike paths and scenic roads.

I decided to check out the Alum state park while I was waiting for Amol to get back from Niagara Falls. I noticed that there was camping available so went to investigate. I was able to go through the campground and choose my own site. I ended up choosing the best site there. It was right by the water.

When Amol got back, I was only 15 minutes away from his house and got there met up with his wife and parents. I felt kind of like I was intruding. But hey, I am just passing through and not sure when I will be heading back that way. Amol and I went out to a thai resturant and caught up a little. the food there was good. I had the drunken noodle w/ chicken. it was good. the noodles however weren’t the fat ones, but the dish itself was good and a good portion.

Camping out was fun because I got to test out all my new camping gear. Murphy’s Law was with me and I got to test it for the first time in the rain as well.

All was good  and water tight. My tent rocks. The next morning was raining hard at times and I had to roll my tent up all water logged. I stayed at a hotel that night and aired the tent  out in my room.

And thus begins the long journey through the mid-west to get to the badlands.

I started my trip off unofficially in Madison, CT. I had dinner at my Sister’s with her husband and my parents. I crashed at my parents’ for the night. In the morning we went to a diner for breakfast and then said our goodbyes.

I then visited my friend Steve to do one last paint session in CT before I leave. The day was 84 degrees and sunny and we went to a new place in Guilford overlooking Lost Lake. There were a bunch of egrets fishing. So, I decided to try to paint that. We were pressed for time, so my painting didn’t come out very well. Steve did a cool watercolor of the lake and rocks in his sketchbook.

The hike back was fraught with peril. I was totally unprepared for the trek in the woods and had to carry my easel and wet painting in my hands, when we came across a tiny little creek on the edge of the marsh. It looked pretty simple to cross, but when I jumped across it, my foot hit some slippery mud which made my foot slide back into the muddy creek, submerging my whole left foot in the mud. Now, if any one has played in a marsh knows, that the dark mud, under the surface, is the stinky mud. And boy did it stink!

I then drove back to my place and got some items I forgot like my passport (I may go into canada), and a dry pair of shoes. Then, at 5:00pm September 18, 2011, I drove off into the sunset with Connecticut in my rear-view mirror and the open road in front of me. Had a few reservations on how I will balance my work with the fun. But I am sure I will figure out as I go along.

My first stop, visiting my old friend Erik in Reading, PA where he lives with his fiancé Nikki at her mom’s house. We had a great dinner of portobello mushroom ravioli and salad with some red wine. mmmmmmm.

I stayed with them for the rest of the week and worked and hung out. It was nice to catch up with them. Thank you guys for letting me stay. You ROCK!!!