Back in Minnesota

We have arrived! After traversing across 8 states and 4 national parks in 5 days, we felt we completed a miniature "Amazing Race" rather than a relaxing road trip back to the Midwest. Thanks to Dustin's mom, Connie, we were able to divide & conquer the trek home. Although the national parks were awe-inspiring (Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon & Arches), my favorite moment came as we soaked ourselves in Colorado's natural hot springs. The "vapor caves" are natural underground hot mineral water steam baths believed to provide healing and rejuvenation. As a sense of well-being pervaded our bodies we were thankful our friends, Ed & Sheila, came up with the suggestion. Little did we know we would also be treated to a gourmet elk dinner from Ed's latest hunting trip. Refueled & rejuvenated we embarked on the last leg of our trip home. Our arrival to the Northwoods was met with white-out conditions, sub-zero temperatures, and frigid winds...nothing but the best.

Arches National Park:

A nice buck in Bryce Canyon National Park for all you hunters:
The truck with our surfboards in the snow at Ed & Sheila's House:

Backing up just a bit...

Prior to our departure, we made one last farewell trip down to Baja, Mexico. Dustin's brother, Cody, flew in from Alaska to join us in the search for the perfect wave...or at least a fun, empty point break. Through customs, military checkpoints, shanty towns, and fishing villages, we arrived 9hrs later and 400 miles south of the Border, to double over-head blown-out conditions. The next morning Cody and I anxiously watched as Dustin paddled into a 12ft face & made the drop. After a day & a half of fighting the narly conditions we decided to search for a little more mellow break. As we bumped 25 miles north along the dirt road & rounded the corner we found our home for the next few days. For the rest of the week, we enjoyed 2 to 3 surf sessions a day with waist to head high surf.

Rachel enjoying a nice, little Baja point break:

Dustin riding the board he made:

Baja Perfection:

Counting Down...

Six weeks to go!!! This blog is still a work in progress. We'll complete it soon...we might even update it a few times before we leave on our trip. Until then, just bookmark this page and check back once in awhile. As of last week, we have our tickets from Minneapolis to London purchased. We're leaving Minnesota for Fiji on January 5th. (See our full itinerary on the right)

My last day of work was November 7th. Rachel's last day will be November 26th. The Friday after Thanksgiving we're driving 10+ hours down into the Baja Peninsula of Mexico to go on a week-long surf trip with Cody. We'll return to Ventura for a few days of saying our good-byes and packing, and then start the drive back to MN around December 8th.

We're planning on taking about a week to drive back, stopping at the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and some other sites on the way. We'll spend the next 3 weeks or so over the holidays in MN until we leave on our trip the first week in January. Until then we're keeping busy planning the trip and trying to enjoy our last month in California.

The Itinerary

Fiji: Jan 5 - Jan 14
New Zealand: Jan 14 - Mar 26
Brisbane, Australia: Mar 26 - Apr 9
Perth, Australia: Apr 9 - Apr 27
Singapore: Apr 27 - Apr 28
Nepal: Apr 28 - May 18
Singapore: May 18 - May 19
Bali: May 19 - Jun 4
Bangkok & SE Asia: Jun 4 - Jul 14
Doha, Qatar: Jul 14 - Jul 15
Kenya & Tanzania: Jul 15 - Aug 3
Europe & Morocco: Aug 3 - Dec 13
New York City: Dec 13 - Dec 16
Peru: Dec 16 - Jan 5
Chile & Argentina: Jan 5 - Feb 26