







Catching sunrise and sunset on the cliffs in the area. Waking up at 5am is not fun, but the resulting photographs hopefully outweighed the sleepiness.
Also that morning, on our way back to our campsite, we realized the camping area was surrounded by bison. We slowly maneuvered the car around the beasts, and sat in awe that we were merely yards away from the gigantic animals. (A sad side note -- in the mid 1800's, there were an estimated 40 million bison in the US. From 1870-1890, that number was reduced to 1500 due to hunting and the fur trade). Thanks to T. Roosevelt and other conservationists, the numbers are now around 500K. They were saved from extinction.)
Seeing God's color palette on the sunset sky, the golden light glistening off the wild grass fields. If you can remember what the wheat looked like at the end of the movie Gladiator, you wouldn't be far off.
Strolling into a valley populated by a prairie dog town, and settling in on the grass, watching the dogs squeak out warnings that humans were near by. Then realizing that once again, the herd of bison were moving into the valley behind us. We moved to the side, and once again reveled in the opportunity to be as close (yet still a safe distance) as we were.
Hiking to the third largest petrified forest... once there, the landscape felt alien. It was perhaps the closest thing I will ever experience to walking on Mars and the Moon.
All in all, the TRNP skyrocketed to being one of my favorite National Parks. I can not say enough about it. It is a hidden gem and worth every mile we drove to get there.
Rupert, the traveling food critic.
Upon entering, we were greeted by a white guy cashier and the owner, Aoy (no idea how to actually pronounce her name). She's apparently quite popular with the college crowd (Marquette is home to Northern Michigan University) and winter Olympic skaters (they have a training facility in town). Anyway, when she sees me, she asks with twinkle in her eye "Are you a spy from the Hong Kong Buffet? No, your English is too good boyfriend." Nice way to be greeted, huh? Apparently she calls everybody girlfriend or boyfriend. Anyway, we order the pad thai, and although she's swamped with orders, she whips up a couple entrees in a couple minutes. Then, having learned that we came because of the "best pad thai in the world", she wants to watch us eat it... The final verdict? Norman, who lives in Ann Arbor, gave it a 8/10 (admitting that he hadn't had pad thai for over a year). And me? Perhaps it's because I lived in Thailand for a year, or maybe that Seattle has some great places too, I rated the food a 4/10. But factoring in Aoy, it bumps up the experience to a solid 7.I'm off to Michigan for my "Great Road Trip" with my cousin. Looking forward to seeing the rugged beauty of the Midewest, and to find evidence there is reason to visit these often neglected states. I'll try to post messages and pics from the road, so you can share in a bit of the experience. Until then...