When I’m at the Hufford’s house, I’m always treated as one of the family. We hang around at the house, eat together, play games and just have a fun time. I take care of the supply of ice cream and also cook a meal here and there. Even though the two oldest girls of the family have moved out to their own house last year, they still stop by every day to spend time with their family. Everyone here is really close with each other and that’s very nice.
Montana to Idaho
On Thursday it’s finally time to continue traveling. The last weeks of the adventure have started and it’s time to head back towards California. In the morning I have breakfast with grandma and Josh and he also makes me a delicious smoothie for on the road.
Happy days with grandma
The days with grandma are always very relaxed, I’m quite at home at her place. In the mornings I work a few hours before she gets up and then we usually have breakfast together. Some days we go to the coffee place Vanilla Bean for breakfast, coffee or a game of Scrabble. Most evenings we watch our favorite comedy show ‘Last Man Standing’ until bedtime. The days fill themselves with several fun activities.
Visiting grandma
I wake up early, still feeling a bit tired from last night. Outside I can hear birds and squirrels around the tent. I go outside and break down my tent. Thankfully now at the third time I manage to pack the tent in one go. When the tent is in the bag I see a strip on the bottom of the back with the text “Remove to expand bag”. I laugh and wonder why I hadn’t noticed that before.
Yellowstone park
It’s very chilly in the morning, just like last summer when I camped here. Back then there was ice on my tent in the morning, today there is no ice, but still cold: 7°C / 45°F. I wait for the sun to come up to dry the outside of the tent a bit. When most of the morning dew is gone, I break down the tent and attempt to pack it back in the bag.
Relaxed day at Grand Tetons National Park
As usual, the alarm wakes me up at 5am and it’s about an hour til sunrise. I get dressed and drive about 15 minutes to a good viewing point of the Grand Tetons. Apparently I wasn’t the only one with that idea, because the place is crowded with photographers. People with big cameras, lenses and tripods are positioning themselves to get a good picture of the sunrise.
Long drive to the Grand Tetons
On Friday it’s time for me to continue driving and Jeff gives me some good recommendations for the route of today. We say goodbye and I drive to a cheap gas station that I found on Google Maps. I’m really happy that gas prices have gone down again since last year, my record on this trip is now $3.40 for a gallon of gas, which comes down to about €0,80 per liter and that’s about half the price as back home. It surely makes it easier to drive thousands of miles here.
Coffee, books and tea in Denver
When Jen and Jeff go to work in the morning, I drive to the cozy neighborhood Littleton. It’s one of my favorite areas in Denver and there is a great coffee place called Dirt. Last year when I was here, I worked at this coffee place for a full day. I don’t plan to work the whole day here today, but stay for a few hours to work.
A day of catching up with friends
I wake up by the alarm at 5am, get dressed and drive to a local Starbucks to post a blog and check my e-mail. In the parking lot I enjoy my breakfast with a view of the mountains before I get go inside to get my coffee. There are friendly baristas and I talk with them for a while. One of the girls recommends me to go to Pikes Peak.
Colorado roadtrip
Last night I got a text from travel friend saying she might be in Aspen, Colorado. I look at the map and see that it’s a nice mountain town about three hours from here. Even though I’m not sure if she’ll be there today, I think it might be fun to check it out. First I hang out with Wes and Amy in the morning until Wes leaves for a golf game with friends and Amy gets to work. I pack my car again.