HAPPY ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY FINDING NOWHERE!

abandon. explore. find.

it's been exactly one year since we started this online journal. we were hesitant that we'd be able to keep up with it...and keep the audience interested. it's been great laying down our thoughts for family and friends to read. thank you.

we remember driving across the country [kansas to be exact] this time last year, brainstorming names for our journal. we pulled an old arby's napkin out of the glovebox and started scratching down names. we just found that same napkin a few weeks ago; still in our glove box. here are the titles that didn't get used. we're very pleased with the name 'finding nowhere.' a close second was 'the world can wait.'


it's been one year since we've left cincinnati, and we've seen more then we could have imagined. we've taken some time to reflect on all the miles we drove, all the photos we've taken, national parks we've visited, events that happened and people we've met.

in the past year...

we've driven through 19 states. and 2 countries [usa and canada].
and seen 4 of the 5 great lakes.

visited 8 national parks: rocky mountain np, grand tetons np,
mount rainier np, yellowstone np, glacier np, pacific rim np,
badlands np, and theodore roosevelt np.

we've taken 4089 photographs.


driven 22,871 miles

9106 miles were for trips between ohio & washington and
washington & montana. we want to be better about this next year.

price of gas in 7/07: $3.09 per gallon
price of gas in 7/08: $4.50 per gallon
average price of gas: $3.80 per gallon

27,871 miles @ $3.80 average gas price = $4138.56 spent on gas.
we definitely need to be better about this next year!

we've gotten three nails in our tires. all of
which we ran over in our parking garage.

we've tried to eat better. andrea hasn't had 'fast food' once.
brooke's eaten taco bell three times.


andrea hasn't had starbucks once! brooke has had way
more espresso than he should!


felt freer than ever!


all this to say... we're not done yet! andrea still has many more mountains to explore and brooke still has a lot more espresso to drink! we feel we've changed a bit; we feel a little wiser...about each other and the world. but our core values are still the same: we love god, we love each other, and we have an unquenchable hunger for this creation. our travels continue...in search of 'nowhere.'

don't worry... we'll keep you posted.

bellingham airport -> ohio

we woke at 330am to make our way north to bellingham airport. after checking our bags at the skybus [double wide] terminal, which looked more like a small lodge then an airport, we made our way through bellingham's microscopic airport. ohio...here we come!

40 minute delay because there wasn't enough

room on the tarmac for two planes!

sorry mow, kansas still sucks...but you rock!

two years and finally fresh

after two years of camping, backpacking, and traveling, andrea and i decided to wash our sleeping bags. we are heading out to mount rainier this weekend and i said i didn't want to go unless i got to wash my sleeping bag. although i would have gone anyway, i really wanted to enjoy a good night's rest in a sleeping bag that didn't smell weird.

washing a down sleeping bag is a process...one too boring to go into detail. basically a little special down wash soap and then into the dryer with a few tennis balls to fluff it up. at least that's the way it should work. let's just say that mine is still quite wet! the smell of wet goose is not my favorite and i do not enjoy going to the dyer every 5 minutes to re-fluff.

fun evening spent eating mexican food and playing arcade games when letting our bags tumble "dry." 1945 and Bust-A-Move never seemed so fun!

the tools of the trade.

window into a wet sleeping bag's life.

kansas still sucks

other than my mom's friend mow, lawrence, abilene, and beef...kansas still sucks.

'the burden' still in tow.


we found this place...seemed like a place that ryan adams would write a song about. we like it!