Last Night in Town

dah dah dahh Dah. Those of you who listen to Ben Folds Five will understand the connection, but enough of that.

Here I am saying goodbye to Wisconsin, again. This is the first time since leaving for college that I actually want to stay longer then the time I've alloted for myself in my hometown. Maybe my mothers right and I am getting old; or maybe it was the magic of the Amish pancake breakfast that I indulged in that has changed my attitude towards my cheese loving state.

My weekend was lovely. My Dad bought some land in Melrose a few years back, a town so small that gets combined with the nearest small town whenever you hear of it. The only information I had about Melrose-Mindoro before this weekend was that it's school district was always two hours late during winter storms. The radio listed them right after La Crescent, when I would lean in hoping to hear "La Crosse School District" next, and instead get "Melrose-Mindoro, Two hours late." What anyone hoped to accomplish in those extra two hours I will never know.

So, back to my last 48 hours in the rain drenched areas of Wisconsin. The Amish Pancake Breakfast was a highlight, along with the three hour bike ride in the hills that followed. To clarify, when I say "bike ride" I literally mean riding on the back of a motorcycle. It has always confused me why people refer to city biking as a 'ride', a word that invokes an image of enjoyable leisure time in my eyes, instead of the sweaty, leg aching workout it actually it.

Anyway, the back of my Dad's 700-cc Vulcan is in my top five favorite places to be. Sitting behind him I get to see the details of countryside lost in a car. No music for distraction, or awkward silence, it is one of the few places where two people can be enjoying the same thing for over two hours and never say a word. One of the best parts is watching the cornfields line up at just the right angle, so that the lanes they create are perfectly balanced. A racetrack for just a split second, that familiar view takes me back home every time I see it.

Dad took me around where he grew up, to the small ten pew church called Trout Run where he went to Sunday school. It's crazy to realize how close these places were to me growing up and never knowing they existed. That night we had a grand bonfire, one of the great midwestern things that I've really missed since moving to Montana. Living in an Amish farming community has it's benefits I discovered- that was the blackest night and brightest stars I've seen since Colorado.

Back in La Crosse it was time to catch up with old friends, (thank you Sophie and Sam (X2) for reminding me how much I hate scary movies/ love Blue Planet-Deep Sea), and say goodbye to family. My love goes out to all of you, and keep an eye on your mail boxes for exotic postcards. They will be coming your way, in varying degrees of appropriateness.

Well, my mom and I are heading up to Canada for the week. Sleeping Giant Chimney Summit and I have an old score to settle, and this time I am old enough to climb the trail even if it is raining. So there, Mother!

Goodnight.

Intinerary

Hello To All!

Sitting here, safe and snug at the kitchen table I grew up around back in grand old Lacrosse, Wisconsin. This being the first, and least glamorous, leg of my fall 2009 adventure I have decided to take advantage of the down time and let you all in on my plans for the next few months.

Here we go:

Now until Aug 24, I will be reconnecting with old friends and future travel buddies in the great state of WI

Aug 24-29: My mother and I are heading up to Canada to do some camping and general female bonding activities. Climb the Sleeping Giant, swim in Lake Superior, and enjoy some fine car camping cuisine. Some bacon grease pancakes are in my future, thank god!

Aug 29/30: Visit GPW and crew up in Minneapolis for a bit. Fly out at 5pm, arrive in Denver on Aug 30 at 6:15pm (NOTICE THE TIME CHANGE GORDON!)

September 1-September 13: Rejuvenate, restock, and repack in Cotopaxi, C.O. Visit with old rafting buddies, have a few drinks in Salida, and get myself back into river mode.

Sept 14: Magically appear in Flagstaff, A.Z. for rigging, introductions, and first look at the Colorado River.

Sept 16: LAUNCH! 21 days, 16 people, two pairs of sunglasses, and a giant leap of faith into one of America's most treasured natural areas.

October 6: Take out.

October 7-October 11: Meet up with Gordon's parents and drive to Los Angeles. Most likely do some camping on the way, maybe spend some time on the coast. Last minute look around at the United States before flying across the Pacific.

October 12: 3:15 pm. Fly out of LAX airport. Two hour layover in Taipei, Taiwan.

October 14: 1:05 am Arrive at Bangkok International Airport. Gordy and I have already booked a three night stay at the Buddy Lodge in Bangkok, which has airport shuttle service twenty-four hours a day.

October 14-17: Sleep off jet lag, visit some of Bangkok's shopping districts and search for tickets towards Cambodia.

October 17- December 10:

Alright, I know this is the part of the journey that has everyone holding their hat a little tighter. What follows is the tentative itinerary that Gordy and I have created through reading about the area, talking with friends that have traveled in this part of the world, and our own wishes on what to see while over there.

Neither of us are planning on traveling into areas that the US government travel site has deemed unsafe, and we intend on sleeping in hostels, B&B's, and family rooms for rent. Although some of you may have had the notion that 'backpacking' means 'hitch-hiking' or 'camping on the side of the road' (thanks a lot Karena!), I would like to assure you that Gordy and I will be staying only in places we have checked out against friends recommendations or that have been mentioned in one of the many cultural travel books we have read through.

That being said, here is our hopeful journey! : ) I am not going to go into details about the places that I hope to visit, because I would like to share my reflections and insights with you while I am over there.

From Bangkok, we will cross the boarder into Cambodia most likely by a travel bus, which will hopefully take us all the way to our first major destination: Angkor Wat in central Cambodia.

After spending a solid few days in Angkor Wat, possibly even a week, we will then travel south to Phenom Pen. On the way I would like to stop at "S-21" and the Cambodian killing fields for a period of time. During this part of our trip I will be paying especially close attention to where we go and not stray off the well traveled path. Not that I fear for our safety, but because I believe it would be disrespectful to go gallivanting into areas that hold such fresh wounds to the people of that country.

Okay, from Phenom Pen we will cross into Vietnam by bus/travel truck and go to the Mekong Delta floating cities in Tra Vinh. Depending on what we find there we will travel to Ho Chi Min city.

From there we will be traveling by sleeper train north to Hanoi, stopping at different whistle stops to explore a bit and return to the train. After some time in Hanoi, Gordon and I will travel to the coast of Northern Vietnam and visit HaLong Bay. I recommend googling "Halong Bay" to realize what a worthy side trip this will be.

After the bay, it's back to Hanoi and then a flight to the capitol city of Laos: Vientiane. Although a bus option does exist, I have it from a reliable source that it is 21 hours of misery over mountain roads. The ticket from Hanoi to Vientiane is around $50 US, and by this time in the trip I feel a little luxury is in order.

In Laos there are a lot of goal and areas that I want to see. A few days in the capitol will then see us down to Louang Phrabang, for some trekking, tubing, and a possible river cruise to Huay Xai.

Back to Vientiane and then tuk-tuk, bus or truck back into Thailand. I would like to then hop over to the Mae Ping National Park for some trekking/hiking time, but finances and general time left will determine that. Then it's back to Bangkok on a sleeper train, back to the Buddy Lodge and suddenly I'm standing in Portland, OR for my sisters last day of college and my mothers fiftieth birthday.

December 10: 5 p.m. fly out of Bangkok, another layover in Taiwan.

December 11: Arrive at 6pm in Los Angeles, catch connecting flight to Portland.

Well, there it is! The life of Athena Norton until Christmas. I will update this blog periodically during my travels, sans the Grand of course, to let everyone know of any changes.

The next entry will be more enjoyable and less business filled, promise. : )

Just getting started

Well, here it is.

In the last forty-eight hours I have learned to never attempt sleeping in a moving semi due to the laws of physics, truck-stops have children's book sections, Canadian talk radio shows loveto use puns and that coming home feels incredible regardless of how much love one has for where they are coming from.

Leaving Missoula was rather interesting, given the continual movement of my ETD (estimated time of departure). Anyone whose life has ever been touched by the long-haul trucking business can attest to its infuriating ability to ruin any carefully set plan. It was amazing though, to be able to watch as the mountains melted into the bad-lands; how the ground became saturated and green the closer to the great lakes we moved. No one from an area outside of the Northern Lakes can really appreciate the amount of moisture that is held in this region. Not surprising to find out that this area has the largest concentration of fresh water in the world, but sadly that interesting fact was left out of my fourth grade geography class.

Anyway, my wonderful Padre was willing to put up with my nonsense long enough to get us from Missoula to Plover, WI in less then two day. That's 700 miles per day; with two stops, for gas. It is amazing the discussion topics that can emerge between family members when there literally is no where else to go- makes one wonder why so few families choose to drive cross country smashed together these days.

We made it though alright with minimal bloodshed, and it is nice to be sitting at the round kitchen table of my mothers house once more. I have ten days here in LaCrosse until the real traveling starts, and a solid night's rest is my top priority.