THE ADVENTURES OF JIM AND FLEISCH

We have been so caught up in what we are doing in Guatemala, I haven't found one minute to write. But, I want to write so we don't forget everything!

The last time I wrote we had just settled in at our one room cabana in San Pedro. Well, we spent a month in that little house, walking every night to the outdoor bathroom we shared with the Mayan family owners. We LOVED it. Every day was full of Spanish - one on one tutoring every afternoon, studying every morning, improving everyday. Our Spanish teachers became our friends and the Mayan family became our Guatemalan family. After an attempt at cooking inside our one room place with a portable stove, we gave up - after that it was three meals a day cooked by marta, our away mom. Meals were full of veggies, eggs, tomato sauces, refried black beans, and ALWAYS homemade tortillas. At night if you listen carefully you can hear the sound, "clap, clap, clap" of all of the local women making tortillas in their homes...it livens up the night, and is a wonderful tradition that is a lot harder and time-consuming than it sounds. Daily, you will see women walking the streets to bring their bowl of softened, soaked, cooked corn kernels to the place that mushes them all up into tortilla dough. In San Pedro, their is a small "gringo" area, which afforded us meals we were more used to from home, but we kept that to a minimum and mostly stayed on the Mayan diet, which of course, is much healthier than the Western diet. Our teachers started asking us medical questions early on and we were thrilled to help out. On our last day of classes, after the group dinner we shared, Jim's teacher, Magdalena, asked if we had any advice about her elderly mother who had knee pain. "Well," Jim said, "let's go see her." We walked through the lit, cobblestone streets of San Pedro, passing the traditionally-clad women in their colorful embroidered tops, bright belts, and beautiful, long skirts, carrying baskets of who-knows-what on their heads, and the men dressed like US men, and a few old men in traditional gear, through the cement basketball court in the center of town where 50 kids were playing crazy games of basketball mixed with dodge ball, up a hill where we ran into 100s of Mayans carrying a greater-than-life-size statue lit up of Jesus. The procession was stopped at a "station of the cross," composed of 10 Mayan women, a small card table, and 100s of fake flowers brightly lit, where the priest speaks a prayer in Tzutujil (the local Mayan language spoken by most and by some as their only language). We stopped, listened and watched. It was inspirational and very moving for us as during our time here we have come to better understand the example of Jesus and how helping others can be truly inspirational and meaningful. Anyway, as we were watching, a 3 year old strolled up to us and asked Jim's teacher for some gatorade - this three year old boy wondering the street just happened to be her son - different. After he grabbed a drink from mom, he pulled over and pee-ed on the side of the road, and ran off on his way to...who knows, and nobody bothers to follow because everyone knows everyone and everyone is safe. The procession passed and we proceeded around the corner to the big wooden door and brightly painted muraled cement house. We walked in and were greeted very warmly as always by 4 children, mom, and a grandchild, all living under one roof, with a hard cement floor, two twin sized beds, and a card-table alter with Mary on it. Through the back door, which opened into a dirt floored room, probably kitchen/play room, we could hear 4 more children running around. "Mom" was sitting in a chair (the plastic kind we use outdoor at BBQs). An elderly-appearing woman, with a weathered face and the smile of an angel, Mom was hurting. We spoke for a while in Spanish about her problems and we eventually settled on osteoarthritis. We learned mom was 55 (she looked 80) and had 8 children, all under one roof. She walked everyday up and down the cobblestone streets in flip flop shoes. We gave her some aleve and talked about changes she could make in her lifestyle. As we left, she thanked us as though we had brought her a million dollars.

Another touching moment during our stay involved an 11 year old Mayan girl, Luida. Tim, another gringo who had been staying with the family, had noticed that she had an eye that didn't seem to look straight. He asked us to take a look at it, which of course we gladly did, loving any opportunity to pretend we know more than we do! Luida is a polite, adorable, and sweet 11year old who is in the school that the owner has developed for underpriveledged (aka ridiculously poor) Mayan girls to help pay for their education. The Mayan girls are discriminated against because they are girls and because they are "indigenous." In poor families who cannot afford to pay the tuition for school (which is costly after 6th grade) the boys are given preference and the girls stay home to tend the house (which often leads to severe chronic obstructive lung disease in their 40s, but we won't go into that yet). So, Luida has been identified by Marta as one of the girls at risk of being under-educated, over-worked, and pregnant by 13. Marta is an angel in a community that needs many angels and much money. So after we identified that Luida did in fact have a strabismus, Tim took her across the lake with her mother (who only speaks Tzutujil) to the larger town of Panajachel where they have an ophthamologist. But, they were closed. Tim had to leave back to the U.S. and we had to take over. He had agreed to fund her journeys and her schooling and anything she might need to fix her eyes. So, we headed back over to Pana with Luida, her 6 year old sister, her mom, and Antonio, the father of our home-stay to see what we could do. I went into the room with Luida and Antonio and the doctor let Luida know she needed glasses and exercises but had hope of fixing her eye. We visited Luida later when my mom came, and her eye is improving. Something in the US which would never go unchecked or unfixed past 1 year had gone past 11 years. But now, thankfully, she will not be stigmatized as looking "weird" for the rest of her life! Little things here mean so much and inspire us greatly to come back.

At the end of our stay in San Pedro, Jim's parents along with his brother Justin and girlfriend Beth arrived to join us on our journey. After some issues with layovers, everyone arrived safely. We immediately hopped an a "luxury" van with three extra Guatemalans we weren't told about and headed out to Copan, Honduras (luxury = hot, sticky, overpacked, and hot). We saw some ruins and had a blast with the fam. After that we brought them back to lake, where we had been before, and relaxed, ate, drank, and enjoyed a few luxuries (hot showers, indoor toilets, meat). After their visit, Lauren's mom came, and we spent more time around the lake. Casa del Mundo was a hot spot where we spent a few nights with each group, enjoying the delicious family style dinners, jumping off the cliffs into the crystal clear tropical-like agua, sunbathing, and reading on the balconies. We were sad to see our families leave but excited to start at the hospitalito!

More to come later...

We arrived in Antigua last Thursday night to our adorable hostel with open air courtyard right next to our room. After a day of walking around this old city and checking out the architecture, food, and many plazas, we decided we would rather study in a different place for our Spanish classes. Antigua is well known for having classes but Jim found in our guidebook this place, San Pedro, which is cheaper and supposed to be great. So we hopped a shuttle (instead of traveling on a chicken bus which is what the locals do) and headed toward Lago Atitlan, the lake that has many towns on it including San Pedro and Santiago (which is where we will be volunteering in March and April). Of course they forgot to tell us we would be stopping midway along the journey to switch buses...always surprises with transportation! Anyway after the switch and some more driving we made it to the city of Panajachel which is also a place recommended for language schools. We were dropped off at the boat dock and walked with our packs straight onto a small motor boat which took us all the way to the other side of this massive lake. We got off and were immediately greeted by a man in a sombrero who said "welcome to paradise." We soon found out he was right! The next morning we awoke in our cabana, which is a one room cabin of brick and linoleum with a small stove and a bed. But, despite it{s small size we love it because we dont spend much time inside! This language schools property is lakefront so we can walk a short distance and go to the beach. Jim of course has swam many times and I waded and hope to swim soon! The lake is huge and surrounded by volcanic mountains! So goregous. The vegetation is tropical and a little bit jungle-y. Fruit falls from the trees in our yard. Since Monday we have taken spanish lessons and we are both loving them and improving a lot! The town of San Pedro is set up with a dirt walking path through it lined with bungalows and bars and restaurants of all kinds. While you walk through you feel like you are in a slice of nature that just happens to have places to eat and drink! WE LOVE THIS PLACE!! Anyone who wants to visit is more than welcome. It{s cheap to get here, cheap to live here, gorgeous and fun. We are taking four weeks of classes and then we will be visited by Beth and Justin, Jim{s bro and girlfriend! After that we will be volunteering in Hospitalito Atitlan!

We look forward to hearing from you! Happy minus four month anniversary to us!!!

After a couple of weeks of fun over Christmas with family and a few weeks of helping the Heddes move out of their Florida house, we are headed back South...this time - Guatemala! We fly from Boston to Guatemala City and then, quickly, onto Antigua where Spanish, Spanish, Spanish will be the theme for a month or so before we get to Hospitalito Atitlan, where we have been accepted as medical volunteers! We are soooo excited to get into some medicine and gain some killer Spanish skills! Back on the road again...

Keep us posted on what's going on with you...

After a 3 hour flight from El Calafate we landed at 1 am in B.A., capital of Argentina. We spent two nights in a hottttt hostel (at least the dorm rooms had A/C) and are now renting our very own little apartment in San Telmo. This area is very SOHO or the Village in NYC. Artsy, lots of boutique stores, museums, well known restaurants, antique markets, fresh food markets, and all in cute cobblestone streets lined with buildings that look straight out of New Orleans (or maybe France or Spain but I haven{t been there so I dont know!). Our apartment is a loft studio with 14 foot ceilings, plaster walls, tiles and bricks with little plants growing out of them because they are so old, huge doors that look like shutters, a teeny kitchen that does the trick, and an entire front room with a glass ceiling so all day we get beautiful light. All that for less than we were paying to stay at hostels! So we are very excited to be here and looking forward to all that BA has to offer.

We really missed our families on Thanksgiving - love to everyone!

Love, Lola and Jaime

Along with our new buddy, Elizabeth the Brit, we hopped the bus out to the Torres park. Along the ride we spotted a million lambs (apparently the Patagonian specialty food) and flamingos...who knew, they don´t live in tropical lands? As we reached the park, we began to understand why this hike is so insanely popular....the natural surroundings are incredible and rival anything we´ve ever seen before. Walking through the park on the¨W,¨ a hike so-named because of its shape, we had vistas of aqua blue and green lakes, reminiscent of tropical oceans. We spent an afternoon lying in a meadow looking straight up at the most jagged, tortuous, snow-capped, granite and sedementary rock mountains (gray with a dark color change at the peaks), while chowing on a lunch we packed of bread, cheese, and chocolate. The meadow was bright with greens and yellows and red flowers and the sky the brighest blue. We hiked to the infamous torres, three jutting peaks created by a volcanic uprising and sat at the glacial lake in front listening to mini landslides and spotting boulders pounding down the hillside and splashing into the lake. The whole time, we were carrying very small backpacks and poking fun at Elizabeth ¨ït might come in handy¨Bailey who brought everything but the kitchen sink in her enormous pack! We spent our nights in the comfort of the Refugios - quaint, rustic houses with beds for rent and warm fires. Our final day took us to the overlook of Glacier Gray (where we left Elizabeth to an ice climbing adventure) which was so gigantic it was surrounding and covering an entire small mountain. We scurried back to the ferry home, on which we were served complementary hot chocolates!

Words do not give justice to this experience or the beauty of this hike. Words cannot describe the ranges of weather we encountered in those four days. We hope pictures may help. Feeling the breeze in our hair and the sun on our faces, looking around at the overwhelming creations of nature, we felt humbled and grounded. It is the experience of those moments and the thoughts about life, our creator, and the importance of our families that comes from those moments that is priceless and is the very reason (though so hard to put into words) that we are thrilled about our decision to spend this year away from medical school. We grow stronger as a couple and as individuals with each step we take and we know this life experience will only strengthen us as future physicians.

One last thing that moves us deeply is the experiences with fellow travelers. In the US, if we met someone having lunch at the same restaurant as us, we would never think to sit with them if we didn´t know them well. Travelling, the experience is just the opposite. Just recognizing a face we have seen before is enough to bring a smile to our faces and a ¨join us¨to our mouths. That experience is powerful and forces us to reconsider the artificial boundaries we place in our regular daily lives. Just food for thought...

We are now back in Argentina and planning to see one more massive glacier before we head to the European style city of Buenos Aires. We appreciate your comments and emails because of course we miss you all!

We hopped on an enormous cargo-ship-turned-passenger-boat in Puerto Montt (a dirty port town), Chile and spent four days aboard the Navimag boat passing through fjords and narrow canals until we reached Puerto Natales, Chile. On the boat we lucked out and despite paying the cheapest rate (which was supposed to earn us a 20 bed dorm room with shared bathroom) we were upgraded to a private two bunk room with a big window on the sea. Our bunks were tight but comfy and the boat swaying made for some serious sleeping. The sights we saw are indescribable, but hopefully pictures will follow soon. Picture 1000s of meters tall Andean mountains capped in fog with green hillsides, narrow channels of deep blue water in a constantly hazy setting, and scenary out of ¨Lord of the Rings.¨ It was phenomenal. And the best part, we survived the 12 hour stint on theopen Pacific without throwing up -a feat that over 10% of the passengers cannot claim! Thank you dramamine...which of course Jim didn´t need because he´s a superhuman aquatic man. We passed one single town between P. Montt and Natales...we unloaded their weekly supply of food and watched the workers nearly knock each other off of their tiny motor boats using massive crane to lower the crates. The trip´s highlight (besides the delicious fresh fish meals) was the up-close visit to Glacier PioXI - the largest one in South America. As we approached, it took two hours of our faces in the beating harsh wind heading straight to the glacier (which was taller than the boat and as large as the city of Santiago, Chile) before we realized how far in the distance it actually was. Wind burned and frozen, we eventually reached within 100 yards of these monstrosity and watched in awe as massive aqua blue chunks crashed into the water. Then the boat turned around and nobody paid attention for the next two hours as the glacier faded in the distance.

We reached Pt Natales, a small town that survives on tourist dollars as it is the¨base camp¨for hiking the¨W¨in the national park Torres del Paine. We slept through a couple of nights of insane snorers in our dorm room and prepared for our big hike.

After an active few days in Bariloche, AR we jumped on a bus to Chile! First stop - Puerto Montt. We arrived late at night after multiple on-offs of the bus going through immigration and customs in AR and CH. Not knowing where we were, we had booked a place to stay. We soon discovered we had overpayed for our taxi to the hostal and for the hostal itself. You live, you learn. Chileans, unlike Argentinians, don´t speak much English which has been great for our Spanish speaking aspirations. Our only day in Pt Montt we walked through the Angelmo, which is a fishing market on the bay with 100s of fish vendors displaying rows of fresh caught salmon, king mackerel, locos (some kind of shellfish that tastes like conch), king crabs, mussels, clams, and many other unidentifiable fish. As we exited the market, 20 women began barking at us in spanish inviting us for lunch to their restaurants. Above the fish market are about 40 restaurants, each the size of a family room with benches and tables and a teeny kitchen. They all cook the same seafood dishes. So, it was hard to choose and the women hounding us didn´t help. We settled on Senora Teresa, local number 14, where we enjoyed curanto and chupe de locos. Curanto is steamed mussel, clams, chorizo (sausage), chicken, pork, potatoes and a few other unidentifiables. They provide hot seafood broth to steam the seafood as needed. The chupe de locos is a mix of bread, cream, butter, and locos...mmmm mmmm. Jim, being a Mystic native, prefers his mom´s mussels to the curanto!

The next day, after a fishermans strike had cleared up from the day before preventing our earlier visit to the island of Chiloe, we boarded a bus-ferry Chiloe-bound. First stop, ancud. We met Kara and martin, a couple of friendly Brits, who we immediately enjoyed sharing some vino with. We took a taxi tour of the island, saw an old fort from the last Spanish stronghold in Chile, visited a deserted beach where Jim of course had to swim, and explored the rugged and super green coastline of this large island. We topped the day off with a night at the pub with the Brits and dinner at the hostel Nuevo Mundo (home cooked quesadillas and guacamole) with our Swiss friend, Antwon. We then took a bus down island to Castro, the largest city on the island. The city is known for palafitos - colorful houses on stilts along the water, wooden colorful fishing boats, old world churches, and more delicious seafood. Today we hopped a bus to the fishing town of Dalcahue for the Sunday Market (which was crap) but salvaged our visit by discovering a boat shaped indoor market of 10 seperate bar-restaurants serving seafood empanadas cooked to order. deliciious!

In Chiloe, though we have not been overwhelmed by the scenery around us, we have learned how important it is to take a breather now and then. During life we seem to spend so much time running around and forget to enjoy our precious down time. This weekend we enjoyed just that. It is a good lesson for two people who are often so focused on accomplishing, doing, and moving. Throughout our journey, it has not been the sights we see, the people we meet (though it´s part of it), or the places we go that mean the most...it has been the conversations and insights on life and our future that are most meaningful to us. Traveling here helps us to appreciate even more the country we are blessed to be from and the family and friends at home that we are blessed to have in our lives.

Special shout outs to the newest additions to our ever growing family, Miles and Sebastian and their proud parents, Megan and Fritz. Also, we send love to Mystic and Medway, and especially to Holly & John - we are happy you are well, and to Kerrie & Joe - we hope the best for your surgeries, and to Maggie & Norm - we are so excited for another new addition!

Love, Lola & Jaime

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069014&id=2100064&l=5cb7379d8e

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069014&id=2100064&l=5cb7379d8e

After Bev and Richard said goodbye, we took a crash dive into backpacking 101. No more yummy dinners and vino, vino (at least not as often)...but instead lots of cheap home cooked meals at the hostel and long bus rides to Patagonia. We hopped onto a bus that evening to Bariloche, AR. 20 hours, an attempt at sleeping in a semicama (half bed sort of seat), 2 meals of crustless bread jamon y queso (ham and cheese), audio listening to the omnivores dilemma, and 4 cups of orange soda later...we arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed...or at least awake and excited...to Bariloche. Coming from Mendoza where temperatures were close to 90s the day we left, we had a rude awakening and probably looked pretty stupid, as we exited the bus in shorts-tights-flip flops-tshirts...everyone else had parkas and winter hats on! I guess we missed that memo. Luckily I soon found a used winter jacket that I love at a thrift store and some delicious empanadas right next door!

We decided to walk the few miles to town along the coast of Lago Nahuel Hapi (or something like that) which is an enormous lake with white capped Andes bordering three quarters of it and the town of Bariloche taking up the last quarter. A beautiful site. After accidentally passing by the town center, we back-tracked and found a hostel, 1004. On the 10th floor of a high rise building this hostel has views of the mountains and lake that should cost $100s per night...but at $10 per person we are loving the high life. Sleeping in dorm bunk beds in a room with 6 other people is...different...but fun! No honeymoon suite here! Just a lot of playing chess, a bit of wine, nights cooking in the kitchen surrounded by many others doing the same, and meeting some interesting people. Two days ago we hiked almost straight upward a 30 minute trek to Cerro Campanario (we could have taken the chair lift, but that´s for wimps haha)...and enjoyed the views at the top over a cafe and cubano (chocolate covered waffle cone with dulce de leche or caramel filling). Yesterday we walked the Circuito Chico around many smaller lakes all throughout the Andes on a road most people choose to bike. Maybe we should have too! It took us almost 7 hours on foot. It ended up mapping out at 15.5 miles (I voted 17 and Jim voted 18, so I win...not that I´m keeping track). Here is the route http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3296181.

Well, my legs hurt today and Jim, being superman (no broken bones, ever, or so he claims) is hiking again today...with the 19 year old he met in the hostel, Oliver, who seems to have more insight on life than your average 40year old. Jim´s probably gonna hurt later. This guy claims to be a speed hiker. Jim´s used to my slow hiking. Only time will tell... Meanwhile I am exploring Bariloche on foot, eating chocolate, admiring the Swiss Alps style buildings, the fog setting over the Andes, and the endless rows of outdoor gear stores and ice cream shops. Basically, spectacular for a chocoholic who likes the outdoors! Speaking spanish is fabulous and I can´t wait to head to Chile where we can do more of it (too many English speakers here). Ciao as they say, for now.

We flew into Mendoza with Bev and Richard Hedde (Jim´s parents in case you don´t know) on Tuesday morning )after a stop in Santiago de Chile which had a great duty free store ). We stayed at the Huentala Boutique Hotel...in a teeny room with a big bano (bathroom)...so the guys were happy! We spent our first couple of days whining...I mean drinking a lot of VINO TINTO! Mostly Malbec, the local grape that doesn´t grow well anywhere else in the world. We had a great meal at Azafron (Safron in english) where we had the carne (delicious steak) that Argentina is well known for. We then traveled in a rental car (don´t ever ask Jim about this...he might start yelling) to Maipu (pronounced MY POO hahahaha) which has about 25 world class vineyards and wineries called bodegas. We stayed with Hans and Alina at Posada Cavieres, an adorable rustic B&B in the Andes with a vineyard on site. We tasted wines at a few vineyards while riding our bikes from place to place. Picture humongous white capped mountains on one side, rows of grape trees as far as the eye can see, and the four of us on mountain bikes after our first stop where we tried all of the wines offered at CarinaE...hot sun pounding down, and Jim leading the way...to the wrong vineyard. Oh well, a short detour and we found Carolina at St Domingo Bodega waiting for us with a walking tour of the vineyard and more great wines. After our visit to Maipu we headed to Portrerillos Andino Spa where we had an interesting and hilarious day in the sauna and steam room...all four of us...together. Don´worry bathing suits were mandatory...but sweating was out of control on the mens side . I think we really changed Richard´s mind about the sauna...or not. Anywho we drove the next day to Uspallata pronounced ooospayjata where we saw Aconcagua in the distance, the tallest mountain in the andes at 22,000 feet...woah. We made the decision to drive the all dirt and rock road down the mountains back to mendoza, with jim driving, the whole way, and the four of us in a two door mini car! It was...a unique 2 and a half hours around 360 curves! We are back in mendoza now, recovering from our vino, vino, vino by having some vino. Not sure what´s next but we miss everyone back home. Special shout out to mamacita fleischer who is going in for knee surgery tomorrow. We love you!! Tell us what you are up to. Love, Lauren and Jim (Lola y Jaime with special guests Bev & Richard)

It's been a while since we entered a blog here but now we should have some more good stuff to share. We are leaving for Argentina Monday night for 2 whole months! The first week we will spend in Mendoza and the surrounding area with Jim's parents...and then off to Patagonia!!!! Stay posted...

After we left Glacier we drove south and ended up at Yellowstone late in the afternoon. We stayed over at a campsite there, had a fire, smores, and a camp pizza (not easy and not recommended...pizza is better in an oven). The next morning we drove through the Yellowstone "highway" where we saw some elk and buffalo and LOTS of wildlife...I mean people! People everywhere. It was so different from Glacier. People pulled over, crossing the street, standing with cameras. We went to the backcountry office in one of the "towns" and they were not helpful. We missed Glacier! We decided Yellowstone is made for driving through and car-camping but not really set up well for hiking and backcountry camping...so we decided, after a quick stop at old faithful, that we would head south.

South to...Grand Teton National Park. As you drive south from yellowstone you start to see on the west these enormous mountains rising out of flat land...incredible...the TETONS! Although Jim lived in this area (2 hours south in pinedale) for a few months after college, he always drove by the tetons and never stopped in. This time, we stopped! We love this place! We went for a three day backcountry hike and walked to the other side of the mountains. The views were incredible and the hike was strenuous. The nights were freezing! But, it was a wonderful experience.

After that we headed south to Jackson Hole, WY for my BIRTHDAY!!! Two luxurious (at least compared to a teeny tent and a sleeping bag on the ground) nights in a hotel at the base of a big mountain....we took the Gondola up to the top for half price drinks because it was the last night that the restaurant at the top was open. Then we descended for dinner at a place with a Top Chef (or at least someone who may be on the show). It was delicious. Jim surprised me at the end with cheesecake with a candle .

The actual "big day" involved a drive south to Pinedale, WY where Jim lived briefly in 2004. We checked out the outdoors of the shop he used to work in, had a mini beer at the brewery across the street, and drove up a long mountain road in search of the remains of an owl Jim had buried five years earlier - no luck. We then drove to Rawlins, WY where we decided to stay over because we were exhausted from our previous night of birthday celebrating. But, since it was the actual BDAY, we got Pizza Hut!!!

The next AM, we ended up in Denver, CO where we spent the day with Chris & Lauren Davis, friends from Newark, who luckily escaped as well. We went to three Dairy Queen's in search of the $3.99 chicken finger basket - the third had it and we indulged. Monday we flew home to Boston and saw Mama, Papa, and Keif Fleisch and then Tuesday returned to CT for a warm welcome from the Hedde family. It's great to be back...for now!

Check for more pictures!

We left Glacier N.P. yesterday and headed south. After another overnight in the backcountry and a 13 mile followed by 6 mile hike, we are exhausted and happy. Glacier is SPECTACULAR. Our final hike there was the best hike of Lauren's life and in Jim's top ten (he's harder to please ). We hung out with mountain goats. They would walk within a foot of us and come find us when we thought they had moved on. The word is they like salt and we are safe targets away from predators where they can get salt if we leave our bags out or pee on the ground! We have amazing pictures but I forgot the hook up to upload them so that will come later. In glacier, a picture definitely is worth more than 1,000 words describing what we saw.

So, now we head southward toward Yellowstone, WY, the Grand Tetons, and the Wind River Range...some of which Jim explored when he lived in WY in 2006 so he is excited to show me hot springs and explore for elk sheds! It is Lauren's bday in 6 days, so I'm sure there are big things planned :P.

We want to mention how important we think it is to spend time with your S.O. (that's medical school speak for significant other). Since this trip began, we have just grown closer and closer together and have been learning all the little things there are to know about each other. In this life, we only have so much time and usually in our daily routines we forget what is really important. We feel blessed to spend this time with each other and hope that we are inspiring others.

Favorite sighting: Mama Grizz and 3 cubs up the mountain from our campsite (seen with scope)
Favorite song: Coconut Skins, Damien Rice/ anything country on the radio, especially "Chicken Fried, Cold Beer on a frideee night, pair 'o jeans that fit just riiii, and my radio oonnnnn" (hopefully my dad can let us know who sings it!)
Latest food craving: STEAK
Body part in the most pain: calves
Worst off-trail activity: news channels, being away from it all makes you realize how most news is stressful and frustrating and creates fear while influencing your own life very little

Thanks to everyone who sent us comments - we love to hear from you! If anyone has any ideas or recommendations for spots in the Tetons, WY, or on our way down to Denver...let us know!

Love, Lauren & Jim (Sprinkles & Whitetail)

We left the comfort of Connecticut last Thursday AM to begin our westward drive. In three nights/three days we made it to Glacier Park, Montana. We drove through CT, NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, MN, ND, MT. The first day we went through 5 states, day 2 was 5 more, and the last day was ALL montana...huge state! We rotated driving responsibilities and slept in the back of the Subaru while the other was driving. I have never really driven a standard much so it was fun and sometimes tough for me (Lauren).

When we got to MT we went into West Glacier, the entrance to Glacier National Park. We drove through the park to the other side and saw a mountain goat - white, fluffy, bearded and strong - crossing the road in front of us. We drove to the St Mary's permit station and signed up right away for a backcountry trip starting at Chief Mountain. We hiked 11 miles to Elephant Lake where we slept in a tent, fished and caught a lot of Greyling trout, oh and by the way saw a GRIZZLY BEAR less than 100 yards off the trail from us stand up on his hindlegs and look right at us TWICE but then run away. Day 2 we walked 7 miles to our next campsite at Glens Lake...another beautiful, aqua/blue glacier-fed lake where we fished some more and saw a black bear across the lake flipping rocks and eating berries. We stayed one more night there and did a day hike over STony Indian Pass - a 2000 foot climb with vistas of cascading waterfalls, three huge lakes from above, glaciers on the tall mountains, and the most beautiful views we have ever seen. That night it rained...Lauren's first rain backpacking experience - as uncomfortable as it was, we actually enjoyed the rush of cooking in the rain, being cold and climbing into warm sleeping bags, and hearing the rain pour all night! On our last day, during our walk out, we ran into a male and female deer couple eating on the trail. They stared at us and kept eating as we walked within 5 feet of them! Our hike out to our car was so strenous and tiring that afterward we decided on a night in the St Mary's Lodge. MMM...shower!

Wildlife sightings in Glacier = 1 grizzly, many mountain goats, 1 black bear, many bear prints in the mud, 2 deer, 1 bald eagle soaring above Elizabeth lake, a few Elk on the cliffside with binoculars.

We'll take today off and organize our next trip!

We love you all and miss you. Let us know what you're doing.

Our Stats:
Day 8 - 17.2 miles to Eagles Nest Shelter where we once again shared the space with Kathy & Mark, who had smores for us! We heard the loud "hoot" that night of two owls calling back and forth to one another.
Day 9 - 8.6 miles to Port Clinton, PA where we talked with half of the town's population (the town is 2 blocks by 10 blocks), saw a Barber's shop from the 1920's (still working!), and walked 1.5 miles on a crowded and busy highway to get to the all you can eat buffet - which was not all we had expected and definitely not worth the walk. We received a ride back from the Cabella's staff to the Port Clinton Hotel, where we had a beer and slept above the bar.
Day 10 - After the all you can eat disaster in Port Clinton, we were ready to walk! 14 miles to the Eckville shelter which was an enclosed one room building. We met some section hikers, including Dr. Doom, and learned about their adventures hunting Elk in Oregon - we're ready to do it!
Day 11 - With Lauren's knees feeling better and the pain in the past, it was time to fly - 17.4 miles to Bake Oven Knob shelter. This shelter is the oldest on the trail and tiny!
Day 12 - 20 miles to Wind Gap shelter where we found some respite at the gateway motel - a seedy blast from the past with klondike bars and a generous staff who drove us around for food and resupply.
Day 13 - As we walked the 15.8 miles to the Delaware Water Gap we began talking about why exactly we were on the Appalachian trail. We had moved past the painful feet, sore knees, bear fears, difficulty sleeping, annoyance of bugs, etc. and were hungry and thirsty and feeling the good burn...but we realized that with these obstacles in the past, we were bored with our surroundings. The "wilderness" of the P.A. A.T. is, well, not so wild. Most areas you can hear the buzzing of a nearby highway. Our animal sightings totaled zero and our beautiful hard-earned views totaled one. So, with much consideration, we decided we were done with the A.T. for now. With areas like some of the Western US state parks out there for us to see, we felt that we should use our opportunity this year to see some more inspiring and spectacular wilderness. Jim's mom very generously came to pick us up that evening in the DWG and we are now back in CT/MA for a couple of days. Our next adventure is in the formation process but it appears to involve a trip Westward. We will keep you posted...

From Lauren:
So, if you read the above, you know that we decided to "get off the trail." This was a really tough but really good decision for us. We are proud of our accomplishment of completing PA. It may seem that we "just got on" but those two weeks on the trail felt like 1-2 months to us. I grew physically and mentally so significantly in those weeks that I feel like a slightly new and improved person. I learned that my fears were a waste of time, that many physical barriers can be overcome with a positive attitude, that living outdoors for two weeks is harder than most people could ever imagine living, that not having a car in this society takes away your control and makes you very helpless, that I am extremely strong and very capable both mentally and physically, that Jim and I can talk for a very long time non-stop!, that life is simple when you wake up everyday knowing that you have to walk, eat, drink, and then sleep, walk eat drink, and then sleep and that there is something very nice about the simplicity, that I absolutely love my family and Jim's family and being away from them is very difficult, that home is comfortable and it's ok to be comfortable but not complacent, and that I enjoy meaningful experiences more than I enjoy checklists of accomplishments. In the end, we chose to get off of the trail not because of pain, physical limitations, mental limitations, or inability to deal with the woods, but instead because we felt our surroundings for this year could be and should be as inspiring, awesome, and magnificent as possible - so onward and Westward! I am really glad I did the A.T. hike and I think everyone should do a piece of it just to understand this way of being for a week.

Love, Sprinkles and Whitetail