Colorful Colorado!

Here we are, in beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado. We had a loooong drive from Chicago, which included a pit stop at the original Field of Dreams (from the movie) in Iowa, and a quick overnight camp at Cody Park in North Platte, Nebraska. Along the way, we saw a ton of wind turbines, a wolf, lots of cows, llamas, several inhumane slaughterhouses, and the Colorado plains. Oh yeah, and we locked our keys in the car when we stopped to use the bathroom in Sterling, Colorado..that was awesome!

After we drove through Denver, we started climbing elevations, and finally reached about 10,500 feet in Breckenridge. I am unfortunately dealing with some off-and-on altitude sickness, which mainly includes headaches and fatigue. We're staying with Zach's friend Kyle McKenzie at an amazing lake house that he's house sitting for. Lucky us! This morning we hiked about 3 miles (and 2,000 feet in elevation) up to Lower Mohawk Lake. It was beautiful, and steep, and the trails were covered in snow, which might be hard to imagine. Tomorrow we'll be kayaking in Lake Dillon with the area's only kayaking tour guide service: http://www.kayaklakedillon.com/! Stay tuned for more adventures from the wild west!

~Nicole & Zach

On the road again

We love Chicago! After 2 days and 3 nights here, we know there's so much more to see, but we've got to keep moving west now or we might never leave. A couple highlights of this trip...we went to the Skydeck on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower (pretty crazy!), wandered around the Art Institute of Chicago for a couple hours, had dinner in Greektown, toured the huge and beautiful Botanic Gardens, and went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field! Oh yeah, and sat in CVS for an hour getting Zach steroids for his rampant poison ivy - don't worry, it's under control now. Unfortunately there were no parades going on that we could crash, but I'm pretty sure we did everything else that Ferris did.

Thanks so much to our amazing tour guides and hosts, Mara and Gerri Lane! Now it's time to hit the road and head towards Denver, Colorado! It's a long trip, so we'll probably camp in Nebraska tonight. The car is doing great, but we have yet to name her. Any suggestions?

~Nicole & Zach

Chicago

We made it to Chicago last night and are staying with our friend's parents for a couple nights (thanks Hillary!). The drive was perfection. No traffic, quick stops. We saw huge windmills in western Pennsylvania, lots of cows and fields through Ohio and Indiana and miles of power plants along Lake Michigan in Illinois. The Chicago skyline is impressive with the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) dominating. Driving into the city was a breeze thanks to our Garmin Nuvi 265 W GPS (thanks Demetrea and Maria).

The first stretch of our trip (Baltimore-Chicago) took 11.5 hours. Our gas mileage was decent, 25 - 27 miles/gallon but once we take the bikes off the back and put them inside the car, we hope to get 30 miles/gallon.

We're off to try to catch the next train into the city. Talk to yall soon.

Rocket

And we're off!

It's Monday, May 24th. Zach and I are all packed and ready to hit the road. First stop: Chicago! Thanks to Hillary's generous parents, we'll be starting off our trip in comfort - complete with beds, showers, and hot meals. I see a Cubs game in our near future...maybe a trip to the Art Institute and Sears Tower too. We'll be looking for opportunities to perform "Danke She" in the middle of the city. Stay tuned for pictures and videos!

~Olive

National Parks Road Trip

Hi all - plans are in motion and our road trip departure date is rapidly approaching. Late May in the desert sounds nice. There will not be an itinerary to be bound to but we will update you on our general course soon. Check in frequently for awesome videos and photos of America's best National Parks.

Rocket and Olive