USA Part I Odometer 219522 to 222375

After saying our goodbyes to my parents and Pete's parents (thank you for EVERYTHING!!!),  our trip started on September 16th at 8:30am.  It began with the easiest border crossing into the States, followed by the hottest day of driving which caused us to jump in every lake we saw!  Unfortunately Patience's heating system works even when it's hot out, uhoh, hehehe.  After meeting Beynon for lunch in Spokane, Washington we started heading East.  We spent our first night in Montana and woke up to a beautiful sky where we got our first shots with the van.  After a few days of driving we finally made it to our first destination, Yellowstone National Park, where we played tourist with the endless wildlife and scenery.  Two nights later we wound our way into Grand Teton National Park where we did an awesome 19 mile (30km) day hike up the Paintbrush Divide to Solitude Lake and down the Cascade Canyon.  Breathtaking!!  After our long day of hiking we said goodbye to the Tetons as they glowed in the setting sun and headed into Jackson, Wyoming.  We immediately found a place to scarf down some food and looked for a place to crash away from all the blinding lights of the town.  The next morning we woke up to frost on the windshield, welcome to Wyoming!  From there we headed to Sinks Canyon outside of Lander for a few days of climbing to get us back into shape before we headed to Ten Sleep.  Ten Sleep is a massive canyon with endless sport routes on both sides of the highway with virtually no one there (well except for a billion cows).  Paradise!!  We managed to get some 100ft climbs in and Karen did her first 11b/c (top roping).  We are now hanging out in Laramie with Pete's childhood friend Renny, his wife Jill and their baby Case while we waited for new front shocks which Pete is now installing so that our tires will make it down South.  Thank you for being awesome hosts and putting up with us for so long!  Next stop Utah!

LOVING VAN LIFE!!!

Hopefully this slideshow works. If you click on a photo, it will take you to the online album if you want to see full size pictures.