While there we got to wander around the farm, feeding the miniature donkeys, staying away from the ornery sheep and petting the powerful and majestic horses. It was a very short stay, as we had to start our journey back home to pack and begin moving to San Francisco.

The beginning of our stay was highlighted by amazing meals at Michelin star restaurants for cheap, thanks to New York Restaurant Week. We also had a blast wandering around China town with Lauren’s college friend Clare, where we went to Pianos and a burlesque show with a guy in a Pan outfit.

Another day we met up with Paul, another college friend of Lauren’s. We went to his apartment on the lower west side where we played pool with a bunch of guys. While maybe feeling a bit old at almost 30, Zach still got a chance to represent on the pool table and win a game.

Even with all the socializing and running around, we still managed to catch a Sunday matinee of Memphis on Broadway. The show is about a quirky radio DJ who falls in love with a black blues/rock singer during the fifties. The musical numbers were energetic and done in a classic broadway style that was just what we wanted.

On our second visit, we got treated to two shows by Karen. The first show was Icons, a two man drag queen show where all the major iconic women singers were represented in a fun string of song and dance. The next was Naked Boys Singing, a funny set of skits performed by naked boys. Both shows were fun, and the mandatory drink didn’t hurt the good times.

We aren’t exactly sure if we would recommend driving far out of your way for Plymouth Rock, but since it was directly on our path we stopped. A bit underwhelming, apparently it was chiseled away long ago so that now it is no bigger then an address stone you might see in front of a suburban house. Still we had fun and Lauren even purchased a bobble head lobster souvenir that she named Lobsty.

Once we arrived at the house in West Harwich, we unpacked, got some groceries and awaited for more friends to arrive. Soon we were joined by more Michiganders Brandon and Lia and Zach’s west coast friends Phil and Mika. Fresh fish, lobster, laughs and cheer aplenty, our first dinner on the cape was epic.

After a few days Noel and Rose had to head back to Baltimore and Lauren’s parents arrived. Phil went deep sea fishing and shared his freshly caught blue fin tuna sashimi, never had we tasted such fresh fish. Some where in between it all we managed to go to Provincetown twice, so check the next post for pics of those adventures.

Our first night we went to Zach’s old job, Online Buddies and saw the office again and met up with a bunch of old friend’s at Lord Hobo, a hipster bar in Cambridge.

Our second day was spent wandering around town, Theo even got to ride on the T! Before dinner we even had a chance to see Zach’s cousin Oliver, his wife Kelly and their two children William and Maxwell. Later that night, we had Italian food in the North End with Lauren’s friend Leatha and her boyfriend Rett. Both the food and the cannolis were amazing; unfortunately, we did not feel so well after stuffing ourselves so we had to retreat to the hotel.

The next morning we went to South Station and picked up our friend’s Rose and Noel and headed down to the Cape for some fun on the beach.

Our second day in Vermont was a hot one so we all went to the Bolton Potholes to swim and chill out. Theo and his new puppy friend Wilfredo throughly enjoyed it. Upon arriving back in Burlington we headed to Nectars, once Lauren’s favorite music hangout, followed by dinner at American Flatbread with friends.

Our final day in Burlington we just wanted to chill. We decided to walk around church street and then met up with Lauren’s other good friends Jared and Sarah at a restaurant called Sweetwaters for dinner.

Burlington was a nice place to rest, eat good food and reunite and meet old/new friends.

We were excited and eager to arrive in Montréal. This was Zach’s first time in Canada and Lauren was delighted to be in a city with a European feel. Our first night started with grabbing a bite to eat during happy hour at the little restaurant which specialized in seafood. We ate at the bar and socialized with the bartender. After going to the hotel to freshen up and taking Theo on a long walk we started to feel a little peckish. We decided to check out China town where we grabbed a quick bowl of pho. While eating we met a fellow traveler, Laurent, who was visiting from France. With the night young, we all decided to go and check out some jazz at this place called Upstairs. The people performing in the Jazz club were singing classic French songs which Laurent would interpret for us. We left the club in the pouring rain and scurried our separate ways.

The next day, per Laurent’s suggestion we decided to check out the Italian market. Little did we know that there was a lot going on in the city of Montréal that day. Along with the fireworks and the U2 concert that were taking place that night there was also a Caribbean parade going on, which caused all of the streets to be blocked off. With Zach’s superb map reading skills and Lauren’s increasing ability to drive in a city we finally made it to the market. The smells of fresh baguettes, strong espresso and pungent cheeses greeted us upon arrival. We collected our items from the wide array of speciality vendors and ate lunch. After we picked up Theo and took a walk to the Gay Village. We then walked around old Montréal to find a place to eat dinner; however, with the fireworks every place was booked and no tables available. We finally snagged a late one on open table. We missed the fireworks but were able to eat delicious French food.

Before leaving town Lauren insisted on going to one of her favorite Jewish deli, Schwartz’s. We picked up a sandwich to share and ate it at the top of Mount Royal overlooking the Montréal skyline. It was a wonderful goodbye to Montréal.

We still had a chance to do lots of fun things while recharging our batteries. Lauren’s parents took us to a baseball game, the Detroit Tigers vs the San Francisco Giants. When the game started it was almost 100°, we were literally were cooking in our seats. But before we knew it the temperature had dropped considerably, and suddenly a thunder storm rolled in. The game had a two and half hour rain delay, but we stuck around and snapped some incredible photos of the sun setting behind the dark and dense thunder clouds.

Our stay was also filled with family. One night we went over to Lauren’s Uncle Dave’s and Aunt Chris’ house for home made pizza. Which was delicious might we add. While there we were able to see Lauren’s cousins Steve and Rachel, who were home for the summer from college, and Danielle. Our last night in town we met up with Lauren’s Uncle Don and Aunt Shelly for dinner who Zach was able to meet for the first time. Last, and certainly not least, we got to see Lauren’s grandma and grandpa, which is always a treat.

We also were able to have lots of fun with Lauren’s childhood friends: Jimmy, Brandon, Nick, Alicia, Ricky and Katie. We spent a night in Ferndale where we ate some incredible Mediterranean food at Anita’s Kitchen and then sang autotune karaoke at the WAB.

The first day we went out on the boat to hang out at a sandbar and did some tubing. That evening we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset, without a single cloud in the sky. Theo loved swimming and playing in the fresh lake water, a new experience for him.

The next morning we went Petoskey stone hunting on Lake Michigan, if you don’t know a Petoskey stone is a fossil embedded into a rock. Even Theo got in on the hunt, diving under the water to bring us rocks, however he didn’t find one.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

We got a chance to walk the river front and chill out with Theo while watching boats cruise bye. The Taste of Chicago food festival was going on and that was pretty fun too, but not healthy in the least.

Our first night we ended up eating at the original Pizza Uno, which was heavy and greasy, but a Chicago tradition in pizza making for almost a hundred years. The second and last night was even more fun, where we got to eat great steaks and went out to a Jazz club. Later that night we stumbled upon an underground reggae bar by heading down some “back stairs” of a bar called The Poynt.

We both wished we had more time to stay in Madison and explore the city more. Regardless we had a blast debating and discussing our country and other politics with like minded people.

Now the real creepy part, everything in the town was robotic mannequins and dummies. We felt as if we were in a scary movie. You would walk into a room and the robots would come to life, jerkily moving about in a barely living fashion. We swore one of the robots was going to step out of the displays and chase us back to the car with a knife like Chucky.

Well we can laugh about it now, since both are heads are still attached.

We woke up in the morning after not sleeping well and headed up to the main ranch. In the daylight and clearer skies we felt a little safer with our surroundings. We ended up talking a lot with the people who run the ranch. A husband and wife, their three children and their live in help. We felt at home, which was a nice feeling after the night before.

After some debate, we decided to back track to see the badlands, which we are extremely happy with. The terrain is beautiful and the prairie dogs adorable. We even had time to check out the ‘famous’ Wall Drugs which was interesting to say the least (some good people watching.)

We woke up early and started our Yellowstone Journey.  The park is extensive and diverse.  We were a little disappointed that Theo was unable to partake in many of the activities, since he was not allowed 100 ft outside of the parking lots, which also impeded what we were able to do, and for how long.

Considering this was our first time in Yellowstone we found it to be a good starting point to become familiar with the park.  We look forward to returning.
Our favorite spots were the bright orange bacteria mats along with all the wildlife throughout the park.

Sitting, looking out at the pond, we met a man named Bob. He was a Spokane native who also had a knack for the road.  We really enjoyed talking to Bob and he was able to give his perspective of the way Spokane used to be. From the World Fair of 1974 to cruising along riverside sipping on 50 cent root beet floats.

Well we hit the road early this morning and have been driving for almost an hour now. Theo was so excited this morning to get in the car and join our team for this adventure.

Wow, does the gorge look pretty in the early morning fog. We’ll be going through eastern Oregon, Washington and northern Idaho before entering Montana. There we will land in Missoula and spend the night at a cute Bed & Breakfast.