I last left you guys with my palpable excitement of going out to Montana to visit Brad for a few days. That already came and went. My time out there was way too short but I’ll take any time I can get right now. We had a really nice and extremely chill weekend which is exactly what I wanted since it was so quick.
I rolled into town on Friday and we went out and met some people for a beer right away. In between that and trying a new tapas place in town we stumbled upon a super cool little wine tasting room. This guy had just opened it and the space was super neat. He had a local photographer on display throughout the room and the photos were unreal. The wine was pretty tasty and he had quite a decent little snack menu. We ended up getting a mushroom spread that was SO GOOD. I told Brad he needs to tell everyone about that place so that it does well. Post tasting room we rolled next door to a new tapas restaurant called Barley and Vine. It wasn’t bad considering they had just opened. Our last dish was a pasta dish that a two year old could have done a better job on but I was trying really hard to be optimistic. Other than that failure the other dishes were both quite delicious – a salad and then a salmon dish.
Saturday we literally did nothing except take a drive up in the Bridgers. It was great. Sunday though we met up with Sam and Madison and ventured in to Yellowstone to soak in the Boiling River for a few hours. It was so cool! The Boiling River is a spot where a natural geothermal pool flows into and mixes with a regular old river creating perfect hot tub like water. It’s interesting though, because as the river flows depending on the current and also where the hot spring is feeding into the river you can either basically be burning your skin off or be freezing or both at the same time. So you kind of have to move around as the current moves so you stay in temperate water. It was a ton of fun though and it was such a nice day out. The four of us wandered through Mammoth Hot Springs afterwards and that was such a crazy thing to see. I am looking forward to viewing more of Yellowstone next year when the whole park opens again. I am hoping Brad and I can make it back in December when I am out there to see a little of it with snow. I hear it is pretty awesome.
Anyway, per usual it was a good weekend. I think at this point you all know I cried at the airport blah blah blah. I’m already looking forward to being out there for Christmas and New Years. 🙂
Did I talk about whale watching in my last post? I can’t even remember. I don’t think so. I am backtracking here but Casey and I went whale watching the weekend before I left for Montana. We ended up following a group of four humpback whales! It was so great! THEY ARE SO BIG! I was telling my mom the story this weekend of everyone sprinting back and forth on the boat between starboard and port side to see the whales. If anyone was video taping that from the upper deck the footage has to be hilarious. The ocean was pretty choppy that day too. So, someone would spot a whale and the captain would tell us which side and the boat would take off at 100mph towards the whales. Meanwhile we are all getting slapped in the face with eight foot waves while trying to sprint to the otherside of the deck and stay on our feet all at the same time. Hilarious. It was a fanstastic experience though and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We used 7 Seas Whale Watch in Gloucester, MA.
This past Tuesday I finally made it down to Boston. Michelle, Lauren and I went down to visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts! I was so excited! Michelle and I discovered that we both like to visit the art museum in whatever new city we are living in or near. There happened to be a Winnie the Pooh exhibit going on when we went. This sounds ridiculous but it was actually super cool. It was all the original sketches and art work. The history and story behind how this came to be is extremely interesting. A lot of it is based off the author’s real life. After the art museum we took the subway out to see Harvard. We just felt it was really necessary. Obviously the campus was beautiful and made me wish I could go there. We explored a little of Harvard Square and ended up eating at this really cozy little brewhall in a basement. Don’t ask me why but when I picture eating or drinking at Harvard I imagine all the places being cozy little brewhalls in basements or older buildings with exposed brick. So this was so perfect!
The following day I got up early and headed up to meet Casey in Bar Harbor. I got into town early and ended up going into Acadia to do a hike before Casey rolled into town. It was absolutely FREEZING. I did a nice loop around a lake and during the loop decided to do an off shoot trail up to Bubble Mountain. I had read about this “Bubble Rock” and thought it sounded so dumb but decided to check it out. Turns out it’s pretty darn neat. There is this HUGE boulder that is literally just hanging on by a thread on the side of a cliff. It looks as though you should be able to walk up to it and push it with your pinky and it will fly down the mountain but, nope. It doesn’t budge. I guess when glaciers were passing through this area it carried all these boulders with it and this one so happened to be left behind on this cliff and has somehow stayed like this!
The next day Casey and I got up at 4:30am to go watch the sunrise. Cadillac Mountain is the first to have sunlight in the US from October through April. So we planned on heading up to the summit for that. No such luck though. It was closed because of too much ice which was such a bummer. We ended up watching it at Thunderhole, another lookout spot in Acadia. We were very lucky and had a beautiful show for the sunrise. Immediately afterwards we went to hike Precipice Trail. This trail was recommended to me by a few people. It is known for how dangerous it can be because you are climbing up these iron ladders and inching along cliffs to get to the top. It was so fun to have to figure out how to maneuver your body to get up these boulders but we only made it about half way. We reached a ledge that was absolutely covered in inches and inches of ice. I made it up onto the ledge and at this point we decided to turn around. The ledge was at a downward angle and if we had slipped we would have fallen over the edge. Also, when we looked up it seemed as though this would probably be the problem through the entire hike. We were both pretty bummed out because it was so much fun to start.
Instead we went into dowtown Bar Harbor for breakfast and coffee at this cute little place and found an alternative hike. We actually made it through this whole loop that went up a mountain with beautiful views of the ocean at the top.
We left Acadia that afternoon for Camden. SUCH A CUTE TOWN. Also we stayed at the most adorable hotel. Lord Camden Inn. Check it out if you’re ever there. It snowed overnight so when we woke up to walk around we were in a winter wonderland. It was awesome. After this we headed on down the coast to Portland. Visited a brewery there and I finally got my donuts from Holy Donut. They used mashed potatoes in their donuts. Pretty tasty! We did a bit of shopping around and then ended our coastal get away with a drink at a cute little basement tavern.
This was the last time Casey and I will hang out for awhile probably! It was weird to say goodbye. We have spent the last two assignments adventuring together and it’s been the best! I am heading to Portland, Oregon for my next assignment. I start in January at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital. I’ll be on an epilepsy research unit. Pretty nervous about that since I have zero experience in that area but it also sounds extremely interesting and a great learning opportunity. The manager told me they actually get excited when people have seizures on this unit because then they can track their brain activity. She also told me I can be involved with the research if the opportunity presents itself. All around it sounds like a challenging but interesting assignment. I’m also excited to explore Portland and more of the PNW! This will probably be my last travel assignment so it has to be a good one!
That’s pretty much it for now. This upcoming Saturday I am going down to Boston again to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Aimee – a nurse from my UWM nursing class who now lives in Boston. I’m so excited to see that! Then that next week Brad is flying in on Thursday and then we head down to NYC on Friday for the weekend for his sister’s wedding. I’ll get to meet his whole family which will be nice. And also I get to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller so my life is basically going to be made.
Pictures below.
Happy trails everyone.
When you put this all together Jen you have a book. I think it would sell to the travel world. But the name suits a book too. Don’t you think?