copper mountain is closed for the season, and i'm back in minneapolis for a minute, after a rocky roadtrip from colorado.  we pulled into laramie, wyoming just as they were closing all roads out of laramie for dangerous winter weather.  and so it was that we spent a day in a pool hall in wyoming, and in a geology museum and then a bowling alley, and then took tequila shots and played baseball trivia at an applebees, and overstayed our welcome in the hotel pool.  we drove another whole day in unpleasant winter storms and only made it to des moines, where we ate chinese takeout in a motel 6.  finally back in minnesota, i say to you: stay the hell outta wyoming.

these photos are from the street in Cody, from the last time i was stranded in wyoming.

my road trip ended two hours outside of yellowstone, where my car died on the highway.
the AAA rep asked me for landmarks to determine my location, and i told him "mountain," "fence," "grass"...
he was calling from new jersey and has apparently never been to Wyoming.
the tow truck found me just fine though, and now i'm waiting around in cody, fingers crossed for an easy fix.

theodore roosevelt national park, north dakota
and
livingston, montana

last week my girlfriends and i crawled out of the forest and went on a roadtrip.

everything is so delicious and luxurious after a remote mountain summer. we went out for delectable breakfasts and drank espresso drinks at sidewalk cafes. we toured breweries in the afternoon, or went on waterslides. at nite we curled up in hotel rooms with wine and snacks and chickflicks (and internet! what a novelty!) we rolled into minneapolis with bags full of south dakota souvenirs, like my new ViewMaster.

at the end of it, i had to say goodbye to two of the best girlfriends i will ever have
(until we meet up in vegas at the end of this month!)

these are the last of the roadtrip photos. we spent several quiet days in washington and then parted ways. i got on a greyhound in seattle and went east sans partner-in-crime.

..now i'm in minneapolis for a bit, catching my breath..

morale was not great after the car fire fiasco, but northern california is UNREAL. we drove highway 1 in our awkward rental car, walked on so many beaches, cooked dinner and learned arabic with our wonderful bohemian queen of a couchsurfing host. i will go back.

and so it was that we left our burned up car in berkeley, sad and totaled, and headed up the coast in a rental car.

life after montana is just delicious. we ate our way across san francisco, and when the inside of cyndi's car caught on fire and left us stranded in berkeley, we ate some more. Injera and phở and veggie burgers and sweet potato ice cream!!

it's been a bizarre and traumatizing couple of days. we've imposed on some very nice californians and learned a lot about insurance claims.

but every story needs rising action ?

in sacramento we had dinner with the albuquerque roller derby team. they explained the rules to us over beers, sugar-packets and salt shakers as visuals. the next morning we watched our friends Led Zippyn and Brutalitaur skate against Sacred City and got pretty damned worked up about it.

i wished i had something sparkly to wear in reno.
my swimsuit and my flannel were more fit for lake tahoe.