day 38

Coos Bay to Trinidad

Took another morning beach walk. It was much smellier than the previous day as tons of seaweed had washed up on the shore over night, but still a perfect way to start the day. Had some yogurt, showered, got things packed up, and started heading south towards California.

My friend Carlos had been telling me for a long time about Secret Beach on the coast of Oregon, and we made sure to stop there. The trailhead starts at a random pull off in Brookings along the 101. The trail goes down, down, down to one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. The last portion of the trail to get to the beach was a steep scramble down a rock. I was totally content not going down there but Jared cheered me on and convinced me to be brave and climb down. I am so so happy he did. There were just a few other people there, Vin was loving running around, the views were incomparable, and the water felt amazing on my feet - a real highlight of the whole trip.

Climbing back up the rock was a doozy! Jared somehow did it carrying Vinny at the same time (what), and I made it up but was full of anxiety, heavily breathing the whole time. At one point I had to look at my feet to find a good foothold and saw how high up I was and almost heckin’ lost it. But we all made it up in once piece, moseyed back up to the car feeling pretty dang good.

Pulled into Trinidad, picked up some things at the store, and dropped our stuff off at our AirBnb - a giant dome with an incredible outdoor shower. We were going to do dehydrated dinner and bag salad again but couldn’t pass up the opportunity for herbed waffle cones full of mashed potatoes and brisket at the Lighthouse Grill. After eating we went for a sunset walk around town, returned to the Lighthouse Grill for some French Toast ice cream (yum), then back to the dome to get cozy.

day 37

A whole heckin’ day in Coos Bay

Woke up before Jared and took a Vin on a walk down to the beach and around the property. Bay Point Landing airstreams and cabins available to book as well as some well-designed shared spaces: a small store, a couple of lounges, a kids room with a sit down Pacman game, and a gem of an indoor pool.

Spent the afternoon relaxing before driving to the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve for a 3ish mile hike through the forest and estuary. Portions of the trail were on wooden docks that passed over marshy areas that were absolutely covered in what a google search has me thinking is skunk cabbage? Whatever these plants were the leaves were massive, making for a very prehistoric vibe.

After returning back to our airstream and changing, we went to the 7 Devils Waterfront Alehouse for dinner. Our server was a bit icy, but the food was pretty good, we had a window seat with a view, and we laughed a lot.

day 36

Portland to Coos Bay

Woke up a lil early and drove to George Rogers Park in the Lake Oswego area for a nice morning walk and chilly plunge in the water.

We then headed over to Cornell Farm Cafe for brunch. We had to wait a while for a table, it being Labor Day and all, but the wait was well worth it. Plus the restaurant was in the middle of a large nursery full of beautiful trees, plants, and a chicken coop so plenty to walk around and look at. I got the blackberry grilled cheese (holy wow) : sourdough, a blend of Fontina, Gouda, and Gruyère, blackberry basil Jam and arugula.

Jared and I got the car packed up, said our “see you soons” to Val, Anthony, and Rocco, and headed south to our Airstream in Bay Point Landing. We got a late start so we kept it simple eating some dehydrated dinner and bag salad while watching some freakin’ Family Feud.

day 35

A whole heckin’ day in Portland

Woke up and had morning coffee talk with Val and Anthony. Once everyone was up and ready to go, we headed over to the Hawthorne area. First stop: Fried Egg I’m in Love for some yummy music punny breakfast sandwiches. We then did some good ‘ol Portland shopping! Portland is chock-full of great shopping and void of sales tax so it’s one of my favorite places to shop. I snagged some things, most notably three statement rings. I was hoping to find a great silver ring in New Mexico but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. No matter - Portland fucking delivered. Made a stop at Seven Virtues Coffee for a pick me up, did a little more shopping, and headed home for a nap.

Woke up from our naps and got ready for dinner at my favorite restaurant in Portland - LUCE. I love love love this restaurant because A everything is delicious, and B you can get half orders of almost everything so you can try 14 things. We went a bit early expecting to wait as Luce is a small restaurant that doesn’t take reservations and it was Sunday. The restaurant gods were shining upon us, we got parking right away and got seated outside after waiting only 5 minutes or so. I always mark down what to order and keep the menu so (no surprise here) I know exactly what we got…

ANTIPASTI
marinated carrots
sweet & sour peppers
radicchio & gorgonzola suppli
farro & parmesan pie (x2 cuz i’m not an idiot)
fried stuffed olives
salt focaccia

SALAD
mixed greens with herbs,
arugula with lemon & parmesan

PASTA
tagliatelle with beef & pork ragu
fusili with pistachio pesto
rigatoni with red pepper & cream
spaghetti with garlic & chili (the star of the pastas)

DESSERT
buttermilk panna cotta with pine bud syrup (the star of the whole show)
flourless chocolate cake
plum custard crostata
ricotta cheesecake

This restaurant is special. The food was amazing, the weather perfect, the company unparalleled. A 10/10 night.

day 34

Seattle to Portland

Woke up, got Bubbs around the block, and went to Lost Lake for brunch. Jared got a country biscuit benedict and I got a breakfast quesadilla with avocado - yum. On the way to the car we happened upon a vintage sportswear store called Throwbacks Northwest. We didn’t get anything but certainly liked a lot of what we saw and had some good conversation with the crew that worked there.

We headed back to the house, and caught up a bit with our hosting friends before driving to Portland. We definitely left later than we had anticipated so we met Val and Anthony at Hat Yai in Portland. We snagged a table where we could have both our dogs and put an order in, but were promptly booted out by a surly server on behalf of a bunch of ding dongs so we took it back to the house. We spent dinner catching up and gossiping before heading to bed.

day 30 - 33

A lil zip down to SF and back

Thea and I flew out of Seattle so I could attend a work event. Spent the next few days watching presentations, eating great food (Freddie’s, Fog City, Good Good Culture Club), catching up with work friends, laughing too much, and staying up way too late.

In a whirlwind of serendipity, the Missouri Lounge happened to be having a soft open that thursday night. I spent way more time at the work party than I had anticipated but decided to take a lyft to Missouri on my way home just in case. I tried the door and it was locked, but I could hear one of my favorite bartenders inside so I knocked. On first knock they got quiet and were like no way am I answering that. On second knock, she asked who it was and my voice got all high when I said “umm hi it’s Carolyn I don’t know if you remember me sorry just wanted to say hi.” She opened the door and welcomed me in with a hug, a shot, a cookie, and a catch up. I got a good look at the changes in the bar and am so excited to go back. We hung out for a half hour or so and when I thanked them for answering the door they so sweetly said it was a perfect way to end their first night.

Flew back to Seattle on Friday with Jared and Vinny in tow! Got back to the house in Madrona to put our stuff down and headed to Bongo’s for dinner with our friend’s Leslie and Evan who we hadn’t seen in far too long. I had a very good jerk chicken plate, but unfortunately Jared had a completely dry burger - mixed bag.

day 29

Vancouver to Seattle

This was the beginning of week 5 of my trip so I had to do a little bit of work. In preparation for my morning meetings Chac and I got some coffee at Revolver and split a breakfast burrito across the street. While I was in said meetings, Chac took some time to explore and get a couple things.

We packed up and hit the road. Crossing the border took much longer than expected but we made it to Bellingham in time to get some amazing sourdough pizza (their started is from 1971!!!) and aperol spritzes from Storia Cucina and two breve cortados (the perfect afternoon espresso drink) from Banter.

Made our way into Seattle and over to my friend’s house in Madrona where we were staying (beautiful house)! Walked over to a Madrona Pub with our hosts for a bite, some cocktails, and catching up before lyfting to Capitol Hill for some drinks. We started at Captain Jacks (got some very yummy chicken tenders there) and ended at Montana. Great night with lots of laughs :)

day 28

A whole heckin’ day in Vancouver

Started out the day by grabbing coffee and a variety of pastries at Purebread bakery - a cheese and pepper scone, a ham and cheese croissant, and a slice of passionfruit tea cake. We walked around town, got pretty lost, got found, kept walking around. Did a little shopping including an incredible book store called the Paper Hound Book Shop where books were organized by themes like Getting High, Books with Bears, or Nonsense.

Drove to a different part of town to do some thrifting, had a table full of amazing sushi at Sushi Kaido and an amazing cup of coffee at Modus

Really wanted to get some nice views of the water so we went over to English Bay, walked around the waterfront, and grabbed some margeritas and ceviche at Cactus Club Cafe.

Went to the hotel to change and headed over to Lunch Lady for an incredible Vietnamese dinner. We ordered:
• beef carpaccio with peanuts, crispy shallots, thai basil, mint, perilla, and lime viniagrette
• crispy soft shell crab served with lettuce, herbs, and green chili aioli
• garlic fried noodles with xo butter, aged parmigiano, and a slow poached egg
• pandan sticky rice cake with coconut condensed milk gelato, strawberry red bean puree, and mung bean streusel (absolutely INSANE)

Afterward we decided to check out two bars. The first was Key Party - a dark cocktail bar hidden behind a door in what appears to be a bookkeeping office.

The second was Narrow bar - a very narrow bar that is just completely hidden. Can’t believe we found it.

day 27

Revelstoke to Vancouver

Got up bright an early to start the 7 hour drive to Vancouver. Finished up Page Boy and started The Sicilian Inheritance and listened to some Vagabon, Boygenius and Beach House.

I decided before leaving to grab some breakfast in Kamloops at a place called Hello Toast. It was raining and cold for most of the drive which was torture as I was passing so. many. beautiful. SWIMMABLE. lakes. At least I was feeling pretty cozy.

Made it into the Victorian hotel (really small room, super comfy bed, large shared bathrooms) where the concierge was kind enough to help me empty the car. I had some time to kill since Thea’s flight was delayed. I took the opportunity to go for a jog along the water, which made for a great little intro to the area.

Thea, bless her heart had done some really good research and restaurants and bars for us. For night one we went to Pizza Coming Soon, an extremely cool Japanese spot with great art, orange pendant lights and booths, infinite kit-cat clocks, amazing food, and a killer highball.

We ordered:
• Japanese cukes with a sesame miso sauce
• An heirloom tomato salad with yuzu kosho whipped ricotta, impossibly delicious pickled onions, and sunflower seed pesto
• The smallest chicken wings I’ve ever eaten with yuzu garlic butter
• Fried rice with veggies and bamboo shoots
• Yuzu panacotta with milk crumble

We decided to walk back to the hotel with hopes of finding a place to have one more bevvie on the way home, but it wasn’t quite the neighborhood for that. We made it back to hotel safe and passed the heck out!

day 26

Twin Butte to Revelstoke

Lots and lots of driving today with a stop at a Subaru dealership. We drove North to Calgary, dropped the car off, and got a ride to the hotel the girls had for the night to swim in the pool. We said our see ya laters, had big hugs, and I got back on the road to Revelstoke. The drive started out very dry with the haze of nearby fires and ended with cool, crisp, humid, rainy forest. I was at a really nice campground for the night that had a hot tub (bless it). Spent some time in the tub and curled up in bed in the car. It was pouring all night which made for a very peaceful slumber.

day 25

A whole heckin’ day in Twin Butte

Woke up to this

Made some coffee, ate some breakfast, and packed some sandwiches in preparation for horseback riding! Made it out of the house early and drove into Waterton Lakes National Park to get to the stables. We were three of six riders led by an extremely chatty fella named Bryn. We learned a lot about Bryn that morning. Emily rode Charlie, a very tall horse with a tendency to follow the rules. I rode Tonka, a shorter horse (at my request) who had a tendency to follow Charlie. Ariel rode a big white horse with spots named Big Jim (aka biggus jimothy) who would not stop snacking. Despite all feeling like our legs might come off, the ride was super relaxing.

At Bryn’s recommendation, we drove over to the Middle Lake boat launch. There we found soft grass to take a nap on, a crystal clear lake at the base of a mountain, and dock perfect for jumping off. We ate our sandwiches, laid around, and went swimming.

After warming up in the sun we walked around the Waterton Park town area, grabbed a treat, and checked out the visitors center. At this point we desperately needed a nap. We went back to the silo, did some reading, chilling, napping, and played some zilch.

On the way home we stopped at the Bison paddock to hang out with the bison for a little bit.

For dinner we headed down highway 6 to the Smoke Shack, a walk up window with outdoor seating and a cool country band. We got friend pickles, brisket and slaw sandwiches with sides of mac and cheese, listened to the band and watched the sunset. The food was almost too good, the weather just about perfect. We left feeling really grateful for brisket, summer time, and friendship.

day 24

Banff to Twin Butte

Today was light on activities - our main goal was to get groceries and drive to Twin Butte, a very tiny town (actually a hamlet) a 10 minute drive from Waterton Lakes National Park. We were originally going to go to Jasper for the back half of the trip but had to pivot due to wild fires. Thankfully we were able to find a very unique AirBnb in the planning process, one of three silos on a stretch of highway 6. The silos were thoughtfully designed providing a small kitchen, a spiral staircase leading up to a really comfy bed, a communal outdoor kitchen, and endless mountain views.

We arrived at the silos and pretty much took the time to chill. We grilled up some hotdogs and asparagus, took a post dinner walk, and watched some standup comedy before crawling into bed.

day 23

Day two of two in Banff

We woke up and took our time getting packed up to move over to the Moose hotel, a hotel with two hot rooftop pools and a sauna(!). After moving our luggage over, we walked over to Bluebird for a delicious breakfast. The restaurant was very cute, with lots of nicely designed touches throughout. I got a basic breakfast, and we got one souffle pancake for the table.

After breakfast, we walked around downtown Banff, did some souvenir shopping, and rented a canoe for an hour. It took us some time to get our rhythm down (canoeing is hard with three people!) but we giggled our way through it, enjoyed the views, and even saw an elk. Our favorite store was Jolene’s tea house, where we all drank delicious tea and got plenty to take home.

We returned to the hotel for much needed hot tub time. I managed to get a load of laundry in, and we ordered some pizza and salad to the room before catching the bus up to the Banff gondola. We were all very excited to take the gondola (Ariel had timed it perfectly so we would get to see the sun set!) but we didn’t realize how scary it was going to be. The ride climbs almost 2300 feet in 8 minutes and was frankly terrifying! But we made it to the top, walked along the decks to the peak, talked, danced, and laughed. Despite thinking I might throw up on the way to the top, it was absolutely worth it and so, so special.

By the time we took the gondola back down, it was much darker. The dusk light made it feel like we were traveling under water - absolute magic. After getting back to the hotel, I spent about 20 minutes in the sauna, grabbed a shower, and passed the heck out.

day 22

Day one of two in Banff

We woke up and gave ourselves a very chill morning before heading up to Lake Moraine. It took a little bit to figure out the parking a shuttle situation, but we make it heckin’ happen. Once there we decided to do the 4.6 mile hike up to Lake Agnes. The hike takes you up 1260 feet up passed Mirror Lake up to Lake Agnes with stellar views of Lake Louise along the way.

Before grabbing the shuttle back to town, we plunged in Lake Louise! The internet said the temp was about 55 degrees, so very cold but it felt so good. Ariel and I went twice.

After making our way home, we did a dip in the hotel hot tub and got ready for dinner. We had walked past an unbearably cute Italian restaurant called Lupo, and were able to snag a late reservation. The restaurant was beautiful and the food undeniably delicious. We shared a burrata caprese, the crispiest focaccia I’ve ever had, an herby salad with preserved lemon vinaigrette, grilled broccolini with garlic confit crema, chili crisp, and lemon, marsala mushrooms with butter, and we each got a pasta. Ariel chose saffron bucatini with sausage, Emily a rolled lasagne with bechamel and ham, and a spicy rigatoni alla vodka for me. For dessert a bruléed torte limone with what we thought was a cherry crème fraîche.

We went back to the hotel happy and full, and crawled in bed to admire the moon before falling asleep.

day 21

Babb to Banff

Got up with the sun to get the car packed up - had to make sure there was space for Emily and Ariel! I had also agreed to give a ride to the campsite owner’s mother-in-law - a lovely Ukrainian woman named Valentina.

Got over the border, made a stop at Tim Horton’s, and parked at the airport to pick up the girls. What a treat! We had a quick hour and a half long drive to get into Banff.

We got to the Juniper Hotel, dropped our stuff off, and walked into Banff downtown Banff to explore. We stopped for a quick bite (happy hour hot dog, truffle fries, chicken caesar salad) at Park and walked around. On a whim we stopped at Last Temptation Vintage where we all found a lil somethin’

We walked back to the hotel, took some chill time, and headed downstairs for dinner in the hotel Bistro. Our server was a delightful man from Denmark named Clay. We shared a tomato and sourdough salad, brussels sprouts with birch syrup and sunflower seeds, roasted fingerling potatoes with leek puree, half a roasted chicken, and a pistachio cake.

After dinner we moseyed right upstairs to bed.

day 20

A whole heckin’ day in Babb

Woke up and hightailed it over to Glacier National Park! Checked in at the ranger’s station to figure out my plan for the day - a 7ish mile hike to Grinnell Lake. I was feeling low energy so I went to the lodge to grab a cup of coffee. The woman at the coffee shop was so sweet, I expressed feeling not excited about my day and she totally hyped me up.

Thank goodness she did because this hike did not disappoint! There was a fork in the trail - one to continue to Grinnell Lake, and one to Grinnell Glacier. The Glacier trail was about 10 miles and was mostly uphill, I decided to give it a shot. Only one day in Glacier, gotta go for it!

At one point I had to stop because there were some big horn sheep crossing the trail. They had been hanging out for a while so there were a lot of people waiting above. I kept my distance but they decided to cross the trail right next to me. One of them stopped about 10 feet in front of me and didn’t move for a few minutes - just stared at me. I was standing so still and breathing so shakily, so nervous that he would suddenly find me a threat and send me sailing down the mountain. Eventually he moseyed up the mountain and I was able to keep going.

I was doing pretty good, but about a mile before the top the trail started getting too steep for me. I am so afraid of heights! There was a small waterfall that ran over the trail that required going up a sort of stone staircase with a very long drop off to the side. I went up it feeling very shaky but made it. I kept walking and saw that things were only going to get sketchier as I walked up - something that would be very difficult for me coming down. I decided it would be best for me to turn around - can’t navigate down hip-height steps and gravel with shaky knees (especially alone)! When I approached the waterfall I went down on my butt, getting completely soaked in the process (worth it). There was a man waiting for me, who told me to take my time. At one point I stood up and started getting really nervous and he grabbed my hand and helped me down. I was sooooo grateful. Here are the views were I decided to turn around and the waterfall (which doesn’t look very intimidating in the photos).

The rest of the hike down was beautiful. Ran into some more big horn sheep, but was able to give them a lot of space. Chatted with a woman on the way down who was on her way up. She was from Montana and had gone up to the glacier many times. She said that while the glacier is beautiful, the last mile of the hike was much steeper and more narrow, and that I did the right thing. She also told me a crazy story of a bear encounter she had where she and her boyfriend were charged from behind and had to use two entire cans of bear spray to get it to back down. Yikes!

When I was almost at the bottom, someone had to wait for me to pass them in a narrow spot. I apologized for taking so long and expressed that I was totally beat from the hike. They looked at me and said “I’m just proud of you.” I responded, smiling, that I really needed to hear that because I hadn’t made it to the top and they said “Whatever you did was enough.”

Made my way back to my car, found a spot at Swiftcurrent lake to jump in, and drove back to my campsite feeling really accomplished.

When I got back to the campsite, I went swimming, took a super hot shower, made myself some dehydrated dinner - chicken and dumplings - and crawled into bed.

day 19

Helena to Babb

Took my time waking up, made myself some yogurt and coffee in the big kitchen and read my book for a while. I ended up talking to the owner of the AirBnb and another woman who works on the property for a while. She gave me a more in depth tour of the hostel sharing that Jeanette Rankin, the first female congresswoman, used to hold meetings in the front room (very cool).

I called the shop, who still didn’t know if the part had come in so I would have to wait and be patient. Went for a run at the big track/football field down the street. I did a Chappell Roan (so good) walk + run and it was TOUGH at 4000 feet, but did my best.

I got back and was about to hop in the shower when the mechanic called and said my car was ready!!!!! I walked right over to the shop, picked ‘er up, and headed back. I ate my left over curry, packed up the car and hit the heckin’ road.

The drive to my next stop was about 3.5 hours. I finished listening to Slow Horses while I packed up the car so I started Page Boy and listened to Sasami. Had to have the windows down quite a bit because while I have a new A/C compressor it still needs to be charged.

The drive was short with lots of heavy downpour, but overall I was just so excited to be on my way.

I arrived at the campground in Babb to a man and his wife buzzing around on an ATV - Abby and Anna. They showed me where to park my car and helped me get all set up. The campsite was beautiful - right on Duck Lake, equipped with a really nice super hot shower. I took a shower, made myself a sandwich, read a bit, and got in my car while the sun was going down because it was very cold! I finished Assassin’s Quest and passed the heck out.

day 18

A whole heckin’ unexpected day in Helena

I woke up early champing at the bid to call mechanics around town to see who could help me. After a few phone calls I managed to find one that had time to look at my car that morning. I took the car over to them, and they quickly noticed that the A/C compressor needed to be replaced.

I walked to Steve’s Cafe for a denver omelette, hash browns, and delicious sourdough toast with marionberry jam. While I was eating, the mechanics called and said that they could do it but would need to overnight the part meaning I would have to stay an extra night.

I went back to my room and wallowed for a while. I read a lot of my book and took 3 whole naps. I got my shit together, walked into town, and got some stellar green curry and a cucumber roll at Suki Café. Everyone working there was spectacular, so sweet, and wished me luck on my travels.

A storm came in, thankfully I missed the rain but it was so windy! I stopped at the Gold Bar for a few $1.50 whiskey sodas. I read a bunch, talked to a few people, and watched a few people stumble around who were waaaayyy to drunk. The bartender’s name was Gigi she had red wavy hair down to her butt and was tough as nails. Pretty sure she would have fought someone for me if needed.

Took my butt home and tried to keep it positive!

day 17

A whole heckin’ day in Helena

Woke up, made a little breakfast, and drove into town to see what was around. Grabbed a very delicious honey cinnamon latte at Montago coffee and read for a bit. Afterwards I spent a few hours walking around, shopping, and seeing what looked good for dinner later that night.

I headed back to my spot for a bit of a chill. I laid down to take a quick nap but ended up sleeping for an hour and woke up super disoriented with 15 minutes before the bang trim I had scheduled. I rushed out the door, and made it on time. After the bang trim (which was great), I grabbed some things at Target and the Natural Foods store nearby to prep for the 3 days of camping ahead.

When I arrived back at the AirBnb, the battery light came on on my car and it made a weird sound. After some googling and looking under the hood I realized that the serpentine belt had come completely off and I would definitely need to take the car to a shop immediately the next day before I could drive anywhere. Thankfully my AirBnb host was so nice, let me know I could stay as long as needed to and recommended a mechanic to me.

I ordered a Lyft and headed over to The Union for a steak dinner! I ended up being there for three hours or so. I had a bavette steak with bone marrow butter, beef fat fried onions with charred scallion ranch, a snap pea salad with radish, mint, and sheep’s cheese, a cup of s’mores (a chocolate mousse with graham cracker bits and tons of charred marshmallow on top), and some delightful sparkling rosé. I also had a lot of really great conversation with the bartender (an extremely talented ceramicist and fiber artist half way through a two year artist residency nearby) and the guy next to me (a respiratory therapist who loved hot tubs and music festivals).

After dinner, I grabbed a Lyft home with a super nice driver named Omar. He also had a Subaru in the shop and made some recommendations. I went up to my room, got stuff organized to leave the next day, and trotted off to bed.

day 16

Grand Teton National Park to Helena

Was struggling this morning to figure out what I wanted to do. Thunderstorms and a 5 hour drive were on the horizon. I had originally planned to drive through Yellowstone, but didn’t want to add that much time to my drive and plus I had only swam in 2 of the 3 lakes on my list!

I made myself some yogurt with fruit, and coffee (I also managed to spill boiling water and super fine coffee grounds all over myself and the table in the process) and drove over to String Lake. I jogged around the lake for about 40 minutes to warm myself up and made my way into the lake. Thunder and lightning was coming up quick so I had to be fast to be safe. I walked out about 30 feet and the water was barely knee deep so I basically had to lay down to get all the way in. It looked ridiculous but it felt amazing. As soon as I got out it started to rain - perfect timing.

I hurried back to the ranch to pack up my bed right at check out time. I made a sandwich and enjoyed it in the kitchen area while watching the rain. I snapped a pic of the library before leaving because it was such a perfect, cozy spot.

Drive was about 5 hours today - listened to my book, an ep of Normal Gossip, a couple eps of the Handsome pod, and lots of Angel Olsen.

This particular route was not the most dazzling, but the rain made for some epic views. Lots of what I think was wheat fields, silos, old buildings, and the tiniest of tiny towns.

Made it to my spot in Helena - a large b&b with 12ish rooms, a big shared kitchen, and lots of little spots to hang out. A longer term guest named Gerald showed me around. I asked him if it was okay to keep anything in my car and he said he wouldn’t chance it. SO I proceeded to take every single thing out of my car up two flights of stairs in the rain. It was humid and brutal but I’m not trynna mess around! I got settled in, took a shower, did a load of laundry (which included my white chore coat that I had spilled coffee grounds all over) and made myself some dinner.

For dinner I made half a bag salad I bought a couple days ago and roasted some asparagus. In an oven! I can’t really describe how good it felt to use a real kitchen. Made me miss home.