Traveler's Rest

The Decemberists on stage

As I write this I'm sitting in a camp chair listening to Sylvan Esso rock out and watching crowds of people dance and get lost in the music. Here we are at Traveler’s Rest, the first ever music festival hosted by a band I've loved for over 12 years: The Decemberists. This is the reason we've traveled thousands of miles and encountered so many wonderful surprises along the way.

If you don't know them, I recommend looking The Decemberists up right now. If you don't like their music, at least look up the lyrics to their songs. It's poetry. All of the other bands here have been great, but nothing compares to seeing, in person, the people who've written songs that still make me stop and say, “Holy cow! Where did they learn to put words together like this?!”

The second day of the festival with the mountains behind me

Then, there's the venue. This festival is taking place at an amphitheatre nestled in the mountains of Montana. We're in a little oasis of sound. The food trucks aren't half bad either. At the moment, we're scoping out the various taco trucks for dinner.

Friends, there may be ugly things going on in the world right now, but if you surround yourself with sounds and sights that bring you happiness, you'll have strength to smile another day.

I love and miss you.

Swimming with Mule Deers in the Boiling River

Smokey skies in North Yellowstone

No trip to Montana is complete without a trip through Yellowstone National Park. Neither of us have ever visited this part of the United States, so we were eager to spend a few hours seeing the sights. We knew that there was no way that we'd see everything in Yellowstone. The park covers 3,471 square miles! Just to give you an idea of how big that is, a round trip from Indianapolis to Missoula, Montana is a mere 3,071 miles. So, we could have spent our entire vacation (6 days) in Yellowstone and it wouldn't have been enough time to see all parts of it.

Ideally, I would have liked to see Old Faithful, but it was too far to drive in the time that we had. Instead, we decided to visit the Boiling River near the North entrance of Yellowstone. The Boiling River is a natural phenomenon where hot water from a hydrothermal terrance nearby blends with cold water in the Gardner River. The mixing of the two water sources creates a natural hot tub comfortable enough for people to use as a soaking spot. This special spot is a short hike away from the road and is always packed with people. Mr. Lucas and I tried to find a secluded spot further from the source of the hot water, but the strong currents made it hard to relax. Luckily, a nice man made room for us directly under where the thermal river water was falling in to the Gardner River. It was quite an experience! The Gardner River is full of very fresh and extremely cold water, but the thermal river water is scalding! It was like soaking in a hot tub with an occasional jet of freezing water.

Look at the deer right behind me!

We didn't get to relax for very long because soon after we found a good rock to sit on, a herd of mule deer decided it was a perfect time to cross the river. At least, I think they were mule deer. They looked like the deer we see in Indiana, but twice the size and with darker coats. We couldn't believe how fearless they were around so many people. I mean, there were hundreds of bathers in the river and these deer acted like it wasn't a big deal. They were intent on walking right in to the crowd just like you or I would cross the street. A nearby Frenchman joked, "The deer are coming to their zoo to see the humans."

The "human zoo"

After our short visit to the Boiling River and a lovely drive through scenic North Yellowstone, Mr. Lucas and I had a nice dinner and then began our journey to Missoula, Montana. Missoula is where the worst of the wildfires are, and we kept hearing about how the smoke was affecting the city, but we were still excited. Being in Missoula meant that we were close to our final destination: Traveler's Rest.

Duckies in Bozeman

I'm sorry, friends, I might have to move to Bozeman, Montana and live there forever. We had such a great time and encountered many surprises. We originally wanted to spend a few days here because we had hoped to do some kayaking. We booked a white water “duckie” trip on Gallatin River for very early in the morning. We were worried that we'd be too tired from the LONG drive, but after fueling up with a delicious breakfast at a local cafe, we felt ready to take on the rapids.

I am not new to rafting and kayaking in rapids, but this was Mr. Lucas’s first time and I was anxious to see how he liked it. We decided to kayak in “duckies”, or inflatable kayaks made for one person. The water was cold, so our guide suggested that we wear wetsuits. I was really happy with our decision to go early, because we were the only people on the river and had a guide all to ourselves. Our guide’s name was Harrison and he was born and raised in Bozeman. He pointed out some interesting landmarks and taught us how to tell if trees had fallen due to a landslide, an avalanche, or a forest fire. There have been lots of fires in Montana in the last few weeks, so the sky looks really smokey. Just from where we were on the river, we could see thicker patches of smoke in the distance where a fire had just been. Apparently, it's worse in Missoula where we're headed next.

In between the rough patches of rapids, we were able to drift and talk with Harrison. He's a college student in Bozeman and lives in a tent by the river during the summer. I asked him if he worried about the fires, and he said that he was more worried about bears. It hit me then that we were actually in the wilderness, and that I might actually see something dangerous! He laughed at my surprise and told me that bears typically stay away from people unless they smell food. It also just so happens that Harrison is attending the same music festival this weekend, so we might get to see him again.

The rapids weren't as difficult as I expected, but they made for a pretty exciting ride. Before getting into the water, Harrison had to teach us how to strap ourselves into the duckie so we wouldn't tip over. But, just in case we did fall out, he showed us how to roll back in without flipping the duckie over and losing it. He warned us about jagged rocks and the importance of letting the water carry us to an “eddie”, or a calm section of water near the bank of the river. If you tried to stop yourself by standing up in the shallow water, you could get stuck in the rocks at the bottom and drown. Scary stuff aside, we had life jackets and an experienced guide, so we were confident that we could handle it all.

Harrison quickly realized that we were willing and able to tackle more challenging rapids, so he taught us how to “surf” rocks and “power through” rapids without falling out. At one point, I think he was disappointed that we were staying in our duckies. It wasn't until the very end of our trip when Mr. Lucas tried surfing a big rock and flipped over it backwards. I had already pulled my duckie up on the river’s edge when I saw the rapids quickly carrying him without his duckie. I was nervous that he would pass me and get carried downstream, so I ran into the water with my paddle for him to grab hoping that I would be strong enough to pull him in against the moving water. Luckily, he was strong enough to swim (still holding his paddle) to a shallow enough spot to stop himself. I guess it wouldn't be an adventure if we didn't have problem to solve, right?

Our trip down the river ended sweetly with a steaming cup of fresh coffee and the most delicious wild raspberries I've ever tasted. Since our trip was early, we had lots of time to take a nap afterward and then wander around downtown Bozeman through the evening. We were surprised to walk right into a street festival with music and food trucks. With our bellies full of poutine and ice cream, I thought to myself that I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Mount Rushmore and Motorcycles

After a long day of driving, we finally made it to Keystone, South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse memorial. Much to our surprise, Sturgis was going on at the same time. Sturgis is an annual motorcycle rally that takes place in South Dakota. On our way to Keystone, we noticed quite a few motorcycles on the highway, but just assumed that it was because the weather was nice. When we arrived at Keystone, we were welcomed by thousands of leather-clad bikers. I don't think I've ever seen so many motorcycles in one place! It made for fantastic people-watching. I almost asked a biker wearing a leather vest and top hat with a feather in it if I could take a picture with him, but I was too nervous.

Mount Rushmore is a short, but dizzying drive from the Keystone, SD shops and dive restaurants. I loved driving on the winding roads through the mountains (as did the GAZILLIONS of bikers we had to drive behind). We saw Mount Rushmore from the road, but decided to pay the $10 to park at the museum so we could stretch our legs and get a good look at the presidents' heads. It was totally worth it. When we walked through the entrance of the museum, we saw the "Avenue of the States". This was a walkway lined with all of the state flags and columns engraved with the date each state entered the union.

The Mount Rushmore National Monument is truly spectacular. It was created by sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, and took 14 years to complete (click here for a video that talks more about its history). Mr. Lucas and I had the opportunity to walk the trail around the monument and saw George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abe Lincoln from all angles. Along the trail, there are placards that talk about each president and their accomplishments. At the end of the trail, there's a small museum about the construction of the monument. In the museum, I found out that there's a vault built behind Abe Lincoln's head called, "The Hall of Records". Gutzon built this vault in hopes that it would become a safe place to store priceless documents important to our nation like the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, the vault was never finished and it is now just an empty space.

After Mount Rushmore, we visited the Crazy Horse memorial. This monument was built in protest of Mount Rushmore to bring attention to the terrible way Native Americans were treated as the United States were born. Crazy Horse was the leader of the Lakota tribe and serves as a symbol for the preservation of Native American culture and traditions. You can read more about this monument here.

We concluded our day by driving 6 more hours (yikes) in order to make it to Bozeman, Montana for our next adventure. Stay tuned for a post about whitewater rafting in something called a "duckie" on the Gallatin River.

The Roman Forum

I'm struggling to find time to sit and write new posts. This also means that I'm not writing in time to remember everything I've learned. There's so much packed in to each day that it takes over an hour and a lot of google searching to get my facts straight. 

Right now, we're leaving the center of Rome and we're on our way to Pompeii. It's a three hour bus drive, and I hope to use this time to catch up on my writing. For the last two days, we've explored the city of Rome. We first visited the Colosseum, a massive structure located in a part of the  city called the Forum. The Forum is the most historical part of Rome where many of the great monuments have been excavated and are now protected by a pricey entrance fee. I was surprised to learn that many Romans don't the Forum because the cost to get in is too expensive.  

Anyways, the main attraction of the forum is obviously the colosseum. I knew it was huge, but I gained a whole new appreciation for it's size when I saw it in person. It looks as big as Lucas Oil Stadium (I don't know the actual size), and it was built well over 1,000 years ago! I learned that it only took 8 years to complete. Remember when I wrote that the Duomo took over 100 years to build? Yeah, the colosseum dwarfs the size of the Duomo. 

  

These people are taking a special archeological tour on the floor of the colosseum. They reconstructed the floor partially so we can see what it would have looked like when gladiators performed. Under the floor, you can see a maze of walls and chambers. This is where wild animals like lions and tigers would be stored. Elevators using a pulley system (Romans invented pulleys) would bring the animals up to the arena through trap doors. Gladiators or unfortunate prisoners would be already on the floor of the arena either to fight them or wait to be eaten by them. 

The colosseum was built for games. It was free for the public to attend the games no matter their social status. Games also changed. Apparently, there were 3 or so different varieties. One was the gladiator fights. Contrary to what I thought happened, gladiators were actually professional fighters and the people they fought (and usually killed) were prisoners of war, criminals, or disobedient slaves dressed like gladiators. Gladiators were expensive to have around, and were treated like celebrities. Women would even collect their sweat after a show, and use it as perfume. 

Another game was gladiators vs. wild animals. Gladiators would battle with multiple lions, tigers, or bears (oh my!). The poor animals were imported from Africa or other distant countries and then starved before a fight to ensure that they were extra angry. 

The last (and most popular) game was theatrical public execution. If you committed a crime or were a prisoner of war, they'd stage battles or scenes from plays or historical events in which people were killed. You'd be brought to the arena, dressed in costume, and would quickly (or slowly) be executed. You might also simply be fed to one of the wild animals while thousands of people watched (50,000-80,000 people to be exact) 

Sometimes prisoners would survive the fights. If that happened, they were granted their freedom and would walk out if the colosseum through the "Alive Door". 

The corner where the Alive Door was located. 

Latrines. Fresh water ran through the floor. 

The colosseum itself was built by professional slaves. I learned that professional slaves were people owned by the wealthy, experts in specific trades, and treated very well. You'd only be punished if you betrayed your owner or committed a crime. 

20 professional salves would be in charge of each section of archway. Each group of slaves would work in unison so that when a work day was finished, it looked exactly the same the entire way around the colosseum. This explains why it was finished after only 8 years. 

After the colosseum, we walked through the rest of the forum. Here are some of the sights....

The Temple of Vesta. This place has an interesting story. Special women were selected from a very young age to live in this temple as a virgin until they turned 30. Men were forbidden to even touch it's steps. If they did, they were executed. The founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were allegedly conceived miraculously to one of these virgins. When it was discovered that she was pregnant, she was punished by being buried alive after giving birth to twins. The twins survived because a soldier could not bring himself to kill them. Instead, he left them in the wild. The babies were then discovered by a mother wolf, and she adopted them as her own. To this day, the symbol of Rome is a she wolf to honor the mother of Rome's creators. 

The senate house in beautiful condition. This is where Julius Caesar would hold meetings. 

Julius Caesar's alter. This is the location of his cremation. 

Outside of the forum there were more amazing sights to see. 

An ancient condo. This is like an apartment building. This picture shows the actual level of Ancient Rome. It sat 25 feet below modern day Rome. 

Basilica of Saint Peter. 

Temple of Hercules. 

Ciao! 

Florence in a Nutshell

We are going to be on a bus most of the day today, so I actually have time to post a little something about our day yesterday. 

We woke up very early and headed to Florence by bus. On the way, it was very hilly and we drove through the Apennine mountains. The landscape was dotted with villages, most dating back to the Medieval Era. People still live in these villages, taking very good care of their very old homes. 

The ride through the city of Florence was awful. Many of us, including myself, suffered from motion sickness. Traffic rules are very different there. Our guide told us that, despite the fact that there are lanes, people generally drive wherever they can find space. There's a major university in Florence, and students get around using scooters. They squeeze through spaces between cars at insane speeds. Needless to say, I was very happy to get off the bus when we finally arrived. 

We passed a public library, or biblioteca, on our way to the center of the city. It was a beautiful building right next to the water. Our guide didn't want to stop, but she mentioned that the river once flooded and reached the library, destroying many original texts and artifacts. 

Do you like my bright blue necklace? It's an earpiece called a "Whisper ". Our guide made us wear them so she could talk to us while we walked around. I thought they were dorky and screamed, "I'm an American tourist! Please pick my pocket!", so I rarely wore it. She tried lecturing me about it once, but I politely told her that I was fine without it. 

I liked Florence right away because it was less crowded than Venice. It was also very quiet. After we passed the University, there were mostly pedestrian streets, so there wasn't any traffic noise like we hear in Indianapolis. The atmosphere is very calm, and we were lucky enough to be there on a nice day. 

Lunch in the center of Florence. 

Streets of Florence. Look, no cars! 

Tourists put locks on a monument in the jewelry district to symbolize eternal love. 

Police making sure we don't do anything illegal, I guess. 

Our first stop was the church that houses Dante and Machiavelli's funerary monuments, Basilica of Santa Croce. Both men are incredibly important figures in literary history. I studied Dante's Divine Comedy in college. His writing vividly details a journey through the different levels of Hell after death. The modern Italian language originates from this text, and people say that the "most correct" Italian dialect is spoken in Florence because it is where Dante lived. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go inside. Churches close at 5:00, and our free time didn't start until 5:30. I did, however, get a picture of the outside. 

The main event in this city was the Duomo, the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower. This basilica is famous for it's dome, the largest in Italy. I learned that it took over 100 years to build the cathedral, but the dome didn't exist for 25 years after the cathedral was finished. Apparently, there was just a gaping hole open to the elements until a brave engineer named Brunelleschi proposed a plan during a competition between architects. I could go on forever about how it was built, but I wouldn't do it justice. It's just beautiful. First of all, it's enormous. You can see it from anywhere in Florence. On this inside, it's painted with incredibly realistic frescos that look as if their popping out of the walls. This perspective is unique to the renaissance. 

After touring the Duomo, we watched a leather demonstration. Florence is known for their leather goods and gold jewelry. It was neat, but I was more interested in the monuments and sculptures. It was hard for me to believe that I was walking around in the birthplace of the renaissance, a cultural movement beginning around the 1300s. Florence is where you'll see Michelangelo's sculpture of David and see where Dante and Leonardo Da Vinci lived and went to church.   

A private palace built where Da Vinci once lived. 

We spent a day in Florence, but we only scratched the surface. I wish we could have stayed longer because I spent most of college learning about great pieces of literature that were written there. I guess that just means I'll have to go back someday. 

Venetian glass, Gondolas, and Hemingway

Our second day in Venice started at a glass factory where we watched a very talented man demonstrate how to blow glass and sculpt it in to beautiful pieces of art. I learned that to master the art of glass blowing, a person must be an apprentice for 15 years. The glass in Venice is very valuable, as it is handmade, elaborate, and created using fine materials like gold or cobalt. The glass comes in a variety of colors, but the most expensive is red because they use real gold to create it. Purple is also very valuable because the materials needed to create the color are specific to the area. After we watched the artist sculpt glass in to a lovely horse completely free-hand, we were encouraged to go to show room to shop around. Here we saw that a set of red Venetian wine glasses  would cost 1,000 euros ($1,300). We also saw gorgeous chandeliers and other magnificent glass sculptures. I purchased a gift for my best friend and drooled over a red chandelier that would probably cover the entire ceiling of my bedroom. 

Next, we rode a water taxi to another island of Venice, where we visited the Doge's Palace. Now, I didn't learn as much as a hoped about this building because it was packed with tourists, which made it hard to listen to our tour guide. Also, I hate crowds, so I wandered away from my group a few times. Anyways, a "Doge" is the leader of the Venetian republic. From the 1300s to the 1700s, Venice was run very much like a state in the U.S. The Doge was like the president, he was a symbol of power, but didn't really make big decisions. Senators and counsel members ran the show for the most part. 

The palace itself acted like the White House except that it was also a court house and a prison. Criminals would come to the palace, sit (or probably stand in shackles) during a trial, and then go directly to the prison cells beneath the palace. 

Visiting the cells was creepy, but the actual palace rooms were amazing. The ceilings were covered with frescos and gold leaf. We walked up a set of stairs called, "golden stairs" because the gold leaf ceilings made it glow in the natural light. 

You can see in my picture that trying to pose without strangers invading the shot was impossible. 

It was against the rules to photograph the inside of the rooms because the flash would damage the paintings. So, I tried to get some shots of the architecture outside and some smaller frescos. 

Our guide told me that I was the easiest to remember because my coat was such a bright color. 

After the guided tour, we had the rest of the day to explore Venice. It is very easy to get lost because the crowds are outrageous, canals cut through everything, and all of the alleys' names are so long, that I forget them the moment my eyes leave the map. My goal was to find a place called Harry's Bar. Apparently, Ernest Hemingway  loved to drink at this place. Being one of my favorite authors (and one of the most famous in the entire world), I just had to find it and enjoy a drink in the same spot (maybe even in the same chair). 

It ended up taking all day to find it, but while we searched, we had a delicious lunch, watched gondolas float by, and discovered some other random treasures. 

Tomorrow we visit Florence. Ciao!