It's Not My Imagination

Leave it to me, huge weather nerd, to move to the place with the least amount of severe weather in the continental US!

This is why I'm so fixated on earthquakes. Because what else is there? Thunder? Nope. Snow? Nope. Hurricanes? Nope. Tornados? Nope. Waterspouts? Nope. Even the rain is usually just a mist or drizzle (which is a good thing!). 

I miss thunderstorms. 

Jackpot Top 10

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Jackpot, NV:

10. It is in the middle of nowhere with very few people.

9. Rock hounding. 

8. It's only a 10-hour drive from Seattle.

7. The size of the casino (cactus pete's) is perfect in size: not too big, not too small.

6. Texas Tina slot machine at Horshu casino.

5. Kitty Glitter slot machine at Cactus Pete's.

4. Free drinks in the casinos. 

3. Earthquakes. Although I didn't feel any, it is near a swarm area.

2. The people-watching.

1. The landscape. The color palette and texture of the land are beautiful. The silver sage brush to the sculpted hills spotted with brown, yellow and green. Even behind the casino, it's all natural land. Apparently you can even hike and camp in the BLM (bureau of land management) areas according to some guy I met in Big Sky. There are owls hooting and doves cooing. It is a special place. And to think, I discovered it just by swiping around randomly on google maps. 

Note to self... Retirement plan: open an espresso stand or coffee place in Jackpot!

Jackson, WY

I really like the town of Jackson, WY. To be fair, I've had a distant crush on Wyoming since 11th grade. Maybe the lack of people? The under-the-radar status? The Martian landscape? Love those things. But also love the culture in Jackson. It's Wild West for sure with a touch of tourist and some real artistic culture. 

Take for example this taxidermy that holds Rocco's interest:

Or, more seriously, this show at the Art association for Borbay's paintings:

I like this bar:

And this is a great place to take Instagram photos:

I met up with friends in Grand Teton National Park (very exciting!!) and we all took the tram up to 10,450 ft at Jackson Hole/Teton village:

Gran Teton National Park

I find the mountains here to be memorizing, which I think is because of the shape of the peaks and the snow to rock ratio.

Lots of bison and moose here!

Yellowstone and Geysers Galore

This is one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

Old Faithful:

The best place for geyser photos, in my opinion, is the Geyser Hill walk by Old Faithful. Some highlights:

Grand Prismatic Spring, above, is big and has gorgeous colors. 

Bison just walking down the road. So close I felt him snort. 

Montana

Above: driving from Bozeman to Big Sky there are car pull out designated areas literally every 1/4 mile.

same spot, Rocco posing as a mountain goat (or big horn sheep?):

Dinner at Buck's Lodge... A delicious pheasant quesadilla! And a bee sting drink (whiskey and limonata).

Above: sculpture in downtown Bozeman, MT. I love this town. Stopped for coffee at Wild Joe's.

Construction in Bozeman. I like the textures and colors. 

Above: downtown Bozeman Main Street.

Above: Rocco gets comfortable in his bed at Buck's in Big Sky, MT! #sphinx

Earthquake!

I was asleep when this one hit... 75 miles away from me here in big sky. But a 2.95 is definitely one to be felt. The fact that this quake happened right by old faithful geyser makes me a little nervous because I am going there today! Maybe another quake will hit and I'll get to feel a shaker. Or maybe the super volcano will explode and everyone within a thousand miles will die? Nah, I'm sure scientists are monitoring it. Hopefully.

Coeur D'Alene

I couldn't stay in Coeur D'Alene without going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner! Country music, steak, summer beer, peanuts, and kitschy Texas vibe :) 

It hit 97 degrees today and man, I haven't felt heat like that in a long time. 

Here's a shot of Rocco at the rest stop just east of Ellensburg (where I did not stop to have a fake chocolate ice cream blizzard):

Also, it's safer but Rocco definitely did not like being on the floor of the car. Maybe too loud or the vibrations bothered him? I put him on the passenger seat and he went right to sleep, that little snoozy fox!

Cabin Fresh

My newest addition to the car... It smells like pine :) 

We're Off!

Currently stopped somewhere in central Washington near Ellensburg. 

I don't think Rocco likes being on the floor of the car...

He keeps scratching the seat. Good thing he can't jump :P

Ready, fox?

Who is ready for a road trip?!?!

Packing:

Boots!

Binoculars!

Bear Mace!

Party Like We're on Vacation

For day one of summer break, I am rollerblading at Greenlake. So far the sun isn't quite out (yay) so fewer people are here. I did have to tell two kids on scooters that the outer lane is one way. 

Cruising

It's cruise ship season here in Seattle! You definitely notice the uptick in tourists.

It's a beautiful Saturday: 70 degrees and sunny with crisp, clean air.

The Good Parking Spot

Today I got the good parking spot in my parking garage. This has only happened one other time in about five months. It's a big deal. Maybe because I've had a week of bad parking spots? I've had to drive all the way down into the depths of the garage to find middle spots (spots without a concrete pole or support next to them) all week long. This good spot is a single spot with a pole on the left and a wall on the right. But it's bigger than the other spots. And there is less of a chance of someone dinging your car with their car door. 

The other day, I had a stand-off with a person exiting the garage: I was approaching from outside/in the alley and this person in their giant Audi SUV was leaving. The garage gate is the style that opens side to side--almost like an accordion the two doors open up and fold up to the left and right sides. They close automatically after a few seconds so better not get caught between them! Anyway, this Audi was too big for me to pass by so I waited outside of the garage for her to exit. But she didn't! The doors closed. I waited for this driver to open them. Nothing. So I waited some more. Eventually she opened the door and left.

I was giving her the right of way, but she passively sat there ignorant of the fact that I couldn't fit past her in that narrow excuse of a parking garage. 

So yeah, I think I earned some good parking karma. Now I don't even want to use my car because I'll have to give up the spot when I leave :/

Uh Oh

Is it possible to bring your car to the dealership to check for spiders? I think there is a nest in the space where the door closes into the body of the car on the rubber material. There is a white web thing and it's really freaking me out. 

Or maybe they will think I'm crazy?