2010

I always call chipmunks chippies now from a summer of hearing them being called that up in Northern Michigan. It is almost instinctual but after I saw it I always stop and wonder, did I really just call that chipmunk a chippy? Then I remember, yes, I have spent way to long using Yooper slang. Anyway, this cute little chippy was in Yellowstone out by the confluence of the Yellowstone River and the Llamar River. He was definitely the smallest chipmunk I have ever seen. You can sort of tell by the proportion of that piece of grass to his entire body. I just love how he is precariously perched in the bush just munching away. ...

My mom and I went on a beautiful hike at Mt. Rainier, Washington. We went through a field of wild flowers like these ones, along with many lupines, and others that I cannot begin to name. Flowers light up my life 😀

I went to my first ever concert yesterday with my lovely friends Golnoosh and Hailey. Lady GaGa is amazing! It was such a good show because it wasn’t just a singer doing their songs, or even just an amazing performer, it was that she interacted with the audience on such a personal level. She talked with the audience, at one point people where even throwing their clothes on stage and she made her own outfit out of all of it. She had such personality, and not to mention her dancing and singing skills that just made such an awesome concert. ...

This child was so beyond precious. Words almost can’t describe how cute she was. She truly was a baby of a thousand faces. The range of emotion ( and the range of positions of her hair) were phenomenal for that short amount of time. I found her at Mt. Rainer in Washington and she killed me. Even trying to post this photos makes me almost die of laughter. Just take a second, look at her hair. Then look at her face. Now back to the hair. And finally back to the face. How can you not laugh? You made my day, you are still making my day. Thanks for the hair, and the face, and the lollipop. You’re amazing. ...

Books are like life, with a new chapter every day. Books are like traveling, for you visit a new place ever day. Book are like a heart that hasn’t been broken. So here are Golnoosh and Monica’s conversation as I write… Golnoosh: Let me play With it!!! Monica: How do you like the underside of my bench? Golnoosh: I feel like a cat. I cannot sleep. Ok come on. I GOT IT. ...

My mom and I decided to dub North Dakota the sunflower state because all along the road we were driving on where rows and rows of sunflower fields. They were dazzling, just miles and miles it felt like were filled with the yellow faces of sunflowers. It really helped brighten up a long drive, because who won’t smile at a field of sunflowers.

This was one of the stranger looking animals that I stumbled upon on my road trip home. I nearly stepped on him while I was stalking the infamous white buffalo in Jamestown, White Cloud. I was trying to run away from packs of mosquitoes while also attempting to spy the elusive White Cloud who decided it would be a perfect to hide behind a bush as soon as I decided to show up when I saw a small movement on the ground. At first I thought it was a squirrel but it didn’t have a tail and had a bunch of these weird stripes on its back. Then I decided it had to be a chipmunk but I had never seen one like this, with that many stripes and no fluffy little tail. I started thinking that maybe it was a mutated breed between a squirrel and a chipmunk maybe with a third wheel prairie dog thing going on, just maybe. So I was confused and a little creeped out by his eyes. He had such weird black doll eyes that just sought you out no matter where you moved. It was fun though seeing an interesting and mysterious animal like this. My aunt Karen told me that it was indeed a 13 striped squirrel which was something I had never heard of before. So yea, I saw a 13 striped squirrel. Jealous much? ...

I just loved your hair, it had such a life of it’s own and really complimented everything about you. I saw you inside and didn’t get a picture of you and I was really sad but as soon as I walked outside there you were just sitting there eating your lunch overlooking Mt. Rainier. It was perfect. The wind kept throwing your hair around and making the red really light up. Anyways I just wanted to tell you, I love your hair and don’t change it. ...

Today was our last day on the road and we got home around dinner. It was a really long vacation starting on June 28, driving for a week to Upper Michigan, four weeks in Michigan one of which was in Chicago, then a week drive back. So it was a long trip and we are glad to be home. The experiences we have had are unforgettable and will stay with us forever. Glad to be home, but missing the adventures. I can’t wait to see what sort of adventures we go on next.

Yesterday we stayed over night in Aberdeen Washington in a nice location on Heron Street. It was very aptly named because in the morning behind the hotel on a really nice water way there were tons of great blue herons flying back and forth. I love looking at these majestic great blue herons but I have to say, blue herons make one of the most ugly calls I have ever heard from a pretty bird. It is like the sound of an animal being strangled and it is just so guttural and loud. It is a very gross sound for such a nice bird. ...