The Dolores Diaries

October - November 2017
A 35-day adventure by Eliana
  • 26footprints
  • 1countries
  • 35days
  • 122photos
  • 0videos
  • 4.7kmiles
  • Big Hole National Battlefield

    October 24, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 7 °C

    Farewell Big Hole. You've been an amazing home to me for the last few months. I've met so many amazing people and have learned so much. I will cherish the experiences I've had here.

    The Nez Perce people have a tragic but important story that not enough people know about. If you want to learn more visit the Twitter page @BigHoleNPS because I nailed it this summer.Read more

  • Day 2

    Yellowstone day 1

    October 26, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 -3 °C

    So we made it to Yellowstone last night and camped at Mammoth. It seemed fitting that my road trip filled with National Parks started here. However, my car was having issues starting this morning. Some nice young guys from Massachusetts tried to give us a jump but that didn't work either. We had to be towed to the nearest town where it started right up for the mechanics and couldn't find anything wrong. So hopefully it was just a weird fluke and won't happen again. First real day of road tripping and a car problem already. Hopefully we just got it out of the way and it'll be smooth sailing from here on out.

    After that whole debacle, we went to the Mammoth hotsprings boardwalk and saw some cool geothermal features. It's really pretty here.

    After out little walk it was getting dark so we tried to find a campsite but wouldn't you know it they're closed for the winter. So we ended up driving into a national forest in Idaho. At least I get to check another state off my list!

    More adventures tomorrow!
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  • Day 3

    Day 2 in Yellowstone

    October 27, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Last night was very cold. Got down to 20*. Thankfully my toes warmed up pretty quickly but there was a good amount of frost on our tent and snow on the trails. The day started off with a bunch of bison walking in front of my car. Always a good way to start the day, with 20 boofaloo. We went to the Grand prismatic (crazy beautiful colors but it was so cold this morning we mostly just saw steam) , old faithful (I got misted on by a geyser!), and then took a nice hike that overlooked Yellowstone lake (snow!). Pretty great day. We drove into Cody Wyoming where we are camped at Buffalo Bill State Park. It is gorgeous here. The sunset was incredible. I put my face in the water. What more could you ask for in a day?

    More adventures tomorrow!
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  • Day 4

    Devils tower/ Dead presidents

    October 28, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    After a 6 hour drive, we went to devil's tower national monument. That's a dope rock. It's 867ft tall! Someome climbed it in 18min! Also it's really crazy looking. Makes sense why it was in that one sci Fi movie. They know it was created by lava flows but aren't sure exactly how. The streaks are where the lava hardened and cracked. Most of the rocks cracked in hexagons because thats nature's strongest shape! Then it was a 2 hr drive to Mount Rushmore. It's smaller than I thought it would be. I remember learning about it when I was little and was excited to go. But Samantha Lynn Larson spoiled it for me by saying that it's located in the black hills of South Dakota, sacred Sioux land. Which our ancestors kicked them off of and then pretty soon after built a shrine to our favorite white people. An interesting symbol of patriotism. Other than that it's pretty cool?

    More adventures tomorrow.
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  • Day 5

    Wind cave/ Badlands

    October 29, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    After a night at Custer State Park (Custer ugh), we made the short drive to Wind Cave NP. Unfortunately cave tours don't happen on weekends anymore. But the cool thing about the park is that it's also home to cool things above ground too. We took a nice hike around and saw a million prarie dogs. Then it was off to the Badlands. So many really old rocks. The visitors center talked a lot about all the different kinds of life that used to live here millions of years ago when it was a much different environment. Fossils! We went on a bunch of little hikes where we scrambled up rocks and climbed ladders to get pretty views. It's so windy! Had to stake out tent down really well. We'll see how it holds up over night.

    More adventures tomorrow!
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  • Day 7

    Minuteman Missle / Pipestone

    October 31, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ -5 °C

    From the badands yesterday morning we took the very short drive to Minuteman Missle NHS. That place was really interesting. It was one site where a whole bunch of missles were located during the cold war. The guy working the front desk was a former captain for one of the crews that were stationed underground in charge of firing the missles when called upon. He wasn't really that old either. It was not long ago when children were still duck and covering. Crazy. The visitors center is really well put together. They have lots of music and sounds going that make you feel that fear and tension people on both sides must have felt back in the day. Then we made a 5 ish hour drive to Pipestone NM. Pipestone was a protected area that was established via treaty with the Sioux in the mid 1800s. They have special red rocks there that are really sacred to the Sioux and other tribes and are used to make pipes. The visitors center is filled with beautiful pipes and other things made from this stone. It was really really cold and windy and snowy so we didn't walk around much but it was still a nice place.

    More adventures tomorrow!
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  • Day 8

    Effigy Mounds

    November 1, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    It was 5 hours drive to Effigy Mounds NM from Pipestone. Pretty uneventful drive. The monument is located on the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa. There are mounds there in different shapes. Some are round, some linear, others bear shaped. They know some native Americans made them for ceremonial purposes something like 600 years ago I think. They aren't sure exactly who made them or exactly why but they have found lots of artifacts including human bone, thought to be the people who didn't survive until the annual mound building. It was a really nice place to hike. It's very much fall and there were a bunch of scenic spots that overlooked the Mississippi. Cool place. Then we camped at a near by state park where we made a fire and roasted hotdogs and drank some beer. I kept forgetting it was Halloween but I'm sure we'll buy a bunch of discounted candy soon.

    More adventures tomorrow!
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  • Day 9

    Chicagoooo

    November 2, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Yesterday we left Iowa and drove through a lot of Wisconsin where we bought too much cheese. You have to though right? Then we called up my Great Aunt Peggy who lives in Chicago who was more than happy to let us stay with them. We said we would take Peggy and Ray out to dinner but she said that wasn't necessary and then called back 5 minutes​ later to ask if we wanted chicken or pork. Very sweet lady. Super talkative. And so Brady in the way that she's always the perfect host. Forcing us to eat food and take things. She French braided my hair which she was really excited about because her granddaughters don't like it so much. She and Ray argued a bit about what we should see while we're in the city and how to get there. After a much needed shower and sleep in a real bed, Peggy dropped us off this morning at the L train and we headed downtown. I think we nailed Chicago. We saw Sears tower ( which is now called Willis tower) and the bean (which is called cloud gate), the Picasso sculpture, Birmingham fountain, the public library, lake Michigan, and walked around the downtown area. We had deep dish pizza at a place Ray suggested (delicious). It's a really nice city. I could stay here and look and shops and museums for days. Super shout out again to Peggy and Ray who have been so kind letting us stay with them, feeding us, and for their cheery hospitality. Made my experience in Chicago all the better.

    More adventures tomorrow!
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  • Day 11

    Indiana Dunes / Cuyahoga Valley / Pitts!

    November 4, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 13 °C

    After leaving Chicago (Peggy gave is so much food!), We headed to Indiana Dunes. A vote just passed unanimously in the House to get it promoted from national lakeshore to national Park and the people working there are super excited. Let's hope the Senate does the same. It was beautiful there. I kept forgetting it's a lake and not the ocean. Apparently there are actual seasons on the east coast. So many pretty trees. That was a recurring theme so today too. Cuyahoga valley had so many nice trees! So many colors! We did lots of hiking and then hit the road again and headed to First Ladies Library. Which I didn't love. It felt like it was supposed to be feminist but wasn't as much as one would have hoped. But now we're at Fiz's place in Pittsburgh for a few days. After months of not seeing her it's been so great to have her around.

    More adventures tomorrow!
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  • Day 16

    PITTSBURGHHHHHH

    November 9, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    I had such a nice time spending so much time with Fiz. It was a little gross and rainy so we spent most of the time inside which was fine by me and a needed break from a long trip. We watched all of The Good Place. Pretty good show. Fun and interesting. I did some cuddling with a cat. Pretty great. We realized a while ago that we weren't going to have a real thanksgiving this year for various reasons so we decided to do a really early one together. We made several trips to grocery stores and bought hella food. We invited Miriam, Fiz's sister, and Justin, Miriam's boyfriend. Us girls spent all day cooking and made a rediculous amount of food. TWO TURKEYS!!!! It was a great time. We had a lot of wine and far too much food and enjoyed each other's company. I had a really great time in Pittsburgh and I'm sad that I have to leave now. I'm also sad that my grandpa had a stroke. On fake thanksgiving no less. He's doing fine. He's talking and can move his appendages so that's a good sign. Scary stuff. Get well soon Papa.

    More adventures tomorrow!
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