I'm Back!

We have traveled all over the country for the past 38 days and have seen just about everything there is to see in the United States (that we hadn’t already seen.) We have had some hiking adventures, some snowy weather (IN JUNE!) and lots and lots of sightseeing. I’ve included a few pictures from our trip.

Bryce Canyon in Utah was GORGEOUS and they have great hiking there!  I highly recommend it, especially for you southern California folks. It's just a day's drive away!

Yellowstone National Park was a really great experience.  There are tons of bison and elk and if you are lucky you may spot other wildlife.  The scenery is beautiful, the geothermal activity is probably unlike anything you've ever seen, and the hiking was great too.  I also highly recommend going there.

Here is a picture of me on the "Maid of the Mist" boat at Niagara Falls.  I know the poncho looks ridiculous, but you'd get soaked if you didn't wear it!  One day was all we needed at the falls, and we had a really fun time.

On our trip we ate a lot of food and the most complicated thing I made the entire time was a graham cracker with peanut butter and m&ms. Restaurants and snacky foods get tiring after a while, so I have been very excited to get home and cook for myself. We did, however have some memorable dining experiences along the way, so I thought I would share a few of them with you.

Surprisingly the overall most satisfying meal I had was in Butte, Montana at Perkins Restaurant. For those of you who know Perkins, you are probably rolling your eyes, and those of you who don’t know it, well it’s kind of a truck stoppish place a little like Coco’s or Marie Callendars. Anyways, I was STARVING and ordered exactly what was on the cover of their menu: turkey slices with sage stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans. I even got pumpkin pie for dessert that was topped, to my utter astonishment, with Cool Whip! I love Cool Whip! I ate every bite and could not have been happier. 

The most entertaining meal of the trip was in Seattle, Washington at a restaurant called 13 Coins. It is described as a diner-style restaurant, but I think this is misleading. It’s actually quite nice. The only diner-esque aspect of it is that there is counter seating. At the counter, you sit in high backed leather swivel chairs and you are practically in the kitchen with the chefs. We had an amazing time watching them at work. I couldn’t get over how fast they worked and how many different things they worked on at once. I also thought it was funny that they had a giant drawer full of mostly cooked spaghetti that they would put in boiling water for just a few minutes before serving. It was so exciting to watch! 

The best dessert we had on the trip was in Boston, Massachusetts at a pub/restaurant called Elephant and Castle. We got bread pudding that was absolutely delicious! When I’ve had bread pudding before it has been obvious that there are many pieces of torn up bread. Not so with Elephant and Castle’s bread pudding. It was as if it were all one giant piece of warm, mushy, sweet bread with the most wonderful texture. Their sauce was amazing too. I’m going to attempt a bread pudding sometime this summer, but I know that there will be no comparison.

Needless to say that after that long on the road, we are glad to be home, and I am glad to be rejoining the blogging universe!