The Tangerine Time Bomb: Before the Breakdown

Okay, so we know we never explained how we went from the Tangerine Travelers to the Meandering Martians, and why we’ve been MIA for so long, so here it comes…

fullsizerender-1 — Tangerine Traveler: mid paint job

Rolling into Mendota, IL all the way from Cornwall Bridge, CT, we knew we were going to be staying a few days, but it seemed a bit longer than anticipated with the problems we kept running into. Alright, let me just give you the low-down on what went down:

We leave CT, everything is running pretty smoothly, and we end up stopping about midway through PA, to sleep for a bit.

Brad and I get up around 4am and take-off with Sugar and Kayleen still snoozin’ in the back. We drove till we needed gas.

Stepping out of the car, I put my hand on the hood and it felt like a hot iron. We kept our eye on the thermometer as we kept going, but later realized we forgot to put the overdrive on. Dumb asses.

So…after realizing our idiotic ways, we were back on the road, but not for long until it started pouring. “This will be a good test to see if the camper is waterproof,” Kayleen exclaimed. I was caught a little off-guard, expecting the truck we were traveling 3,000 miles in to be waterproof before we began the trip.

The floodgates opened, and we quickly found out that our roof was, in fact, not so waterproof after all. Rain was coming down hard in the camper now. Kayleen at the wheel, yelled back, “well, I guess we don’t need a shower anymore,” while Brad and I held up towels. We cleared the puddles, but no, it didn’t stop there. We had a couple more hours of showers, until we stopped for waterproofing materials (thanks Flex Seal!), and let the rain pass.

On our way again, we were soon at my family’s home in Mendota, where we worked on the camper for the rest of the week.

Kayleen, Sugar, Bronwen, Brad in front of the unpainted camper

As if we didn’t have enough problems, the first day working on it, I went to roll up the passenger side window and it shattered all over me. Quite disheartened, and covered in glass, I was about to say, fuck it, but Brad kept me cool, so I got up on that camper and waterproofed the shit out of it.

While in Mendota, we were able to get it all painted with that fresh tangerine coat, and spruce up the inside as well. Handy-woman, Kayleen, was also able to get the solar panel, inverter, and refrigerator all hooked-up. I’d say, it was coming along quite nicely!

Thinking it was smooth sailing from there, we began to cruise to Colorado, praying that the waterproofing would hold up. The camper was getting a lot of thumbs up, and everything seemed okay…for now. Little did we know, that was just the beginning of our troubles.That camper was a ticking time bomb.

Check out are unreal photos & Follow us on Instagram @meandering.martians

“In the Pines Where the Sun Never Shines”

My feet crunched over the covered ground beneath me. Peering down, I saw the trail of crushed twigs and leaves scattered throughout. I had forgotten I was inside, lost in this fantastic world of fantasy.

My wide eyes whizzed around the room, taking in all of the creatures that I had read about as a kid. The Princess Bride’s gown glistened in the glass case next to Inigo Montoya’s silver sword. Robin Hood’s tales of robbing the rich echoed throughout the halls. Everything appeared enraptured by Tinkerbell’s fairy dust. What more could a 5 year old at heart ask for? Oh, but there was more…

Weapons from the Lord of the Rings trilogy

Brad grabbed my hand and I saw it: the slender cane, drenched in the deepest black, holding up Saruman’s stone that gleamed in the light. He had used the staff to destroy almost all of Middle Earth. Legend. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, you’d understand, and if you’re not, don’t bother reading the rest of this blog because it’s about to get way nerdier.

I glanced over at Brad, who looked like he was about to break into the case and start flailing Saruman’s staff around. Seriously though, I didn’t think he was going to be able to control himself. What a nerd, right?

Well, we better get the hell out of this room before one of us goes bonkers. Also, we were on a time limit. I forgot to mention that. This fantasy land was about to close in an hour, and there was so much more to see. We had rushed here, just before closing time. And where is here, you ask? The Experience Music Project (EMP) Museum nestled underneath the Seattle Space Needle. This is not just your regular museum; it is the perfect culmination of pop-culture, featuring exhibits on Nintendo, music, horror, sci-fi, and more. Thank you, Paul Allen, for creating the most magical museum in all the land. And, big thanks to the guy in the tie-dye shirt at Three Sisters Café in Pike Place, Seattle, for encouraging us to venture to this stellar museum in the first place.

Anyway, we continued through the museum, stepping through the wormhole a little further with each room. I felt like little Alice, lost in Wonderland, waiting for Absalom to come blow smoke in my eyes, riddling words of wisdom that would dance around my dome.

Walking the halls, horror stories came to life. Meandering Martians, gremlins, human butchers, predators, terminators, and everything terrifying glared down at us from their glass cases. I had to remind myself that they weren’t real, or at least they were in captivity now.

Scurrying away from the scary stuff, we hustled to the hall of music, featuring

An image painted by Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain

Washington’s own Jimi Hendrix & Nirvana. In heaven, we read everything about the local rock n’ rollers, listening to their tunes, and excitedly turning to each other in wonder. We couldn’t contain our excitement, burying our minds in their music, until the security guards came to tell us EMP was coming to a close. Bummed, we begrudgingly left the exhibit, but stayed in their gift shop until forced to leave. We didn’t want the fantasy to end, so from there, we trekked further into Washington, toward Olympic National Park, the ominous home of Bigfoot. Would we find the mysterious Squatch? I don’t know, but we were willing to find out. And on we went, to find Bigfoot’s den.

Greetings From Glacier

We heard it rustling in the trees to the right of us, and before I could even look, it was already staring at us with its big brown eyes. I tensed up; every muscle in my body was tightening, preparing for the worst. I was searching her face, wondering what her next move was going to be. She didn’t move, just froze, gazing intently at my eyes, trying to figure out if we were a threat to her. Her massive silhouette terrified me, and I remembered what all of the signs said, walk slowly and do not stare into their eyes, so I quickly looked away, nudging Brad to keep walking.

Hiking these trails, you see signs scattered throughout, “Bear Frequenting Area,” along with warnings for various other species of wildlife, but it’s the bears that they tell you to be most cautious about. I had been begging to see a bear, but I did not want the encounter to be this close. Cautious, we inched foreword, unsure of what type of creature was lurking behind those trees.

At first glance, looking at this big girl, I thought she was a Grizzly, come down through the trail to get some water at the glacier lake. Her fur was thick brown, exactly matching my notion of a Grizzly’s fur. But, with a closer look, I remembered the coloring of the Grizzly and cub we had seen the previous day through a stranger’s telescope, and it didn’t match-up. The bears’ coloring was a lighter brown than this creature, and the cub almost fully blonde. The critter we were faced with now, using the trees as camouflage, was a rich, chestnut brown coloring. It couldn’t be a Grizzly.

My eyes adjusted after the initial shock of seeing this mammoth of an animal, and focusing on her face, I realized she was moose, eating leaves off the trees. I relaxed a little, but this big girl watching my every move still terrified me. Although moose are herbivores, they are still massive creatures that could stomp you into the ground in a second if they wanted to. Especially during mating season, a male moose will do anything in his power to destroy you if you’re between him and his female.

Brad heard another noise, and I feared it was the male. We just kept walking, very slowly and carefully, and they left us alone. But just when we thought our wildlife encounters were done for the day, a big mule deer stepped in our path. We knew, hiking the Grinnell Glacier trail, we’d see some wildlife, but they are literally right there on the trail with you. It was awesome!

Before our encounter with the moose, we bumped into a big horn sheep too. They are way bigger than you’d imagine, purely muscle, with huge horns, curling underneath their ears, giving them their name.

We were definitely in critter country now. But the critters weren’t the only cool aspect of Glacier; the breathtaking landscapes were the real reason we ventured up north after

Many Glacier Lake, Glacier National Park

Yellowstone. And we were spot on. Ten times more breathtaking than Yellowstone, Glacier is filled with icy blue lakes and rivers, naturally fed by the gigantic glaciers that are scattered throughout the park. The running waters were identical to the crystal lakes I had seen a few years back in Interlaken, Switzerland. Even the Many Glacier Hotel we stayed at was modeled after a Swiss Alpine lodge. Fittingly, they named the main lodge the Interlaken Lounge.

The view from our bedroom was breathtaking. I honestly do not think that it is possible to
have a bad view at Glacier. As I said, it is an amazing landscape, that captures you in awe, and hiking up to the glaciers is even more magnificent. Magnificent, that is the perfect word to describe these wondrous glaciers. It is sad to think that, due to global climate change, these glaciers are expected to be completely depleted by 2030. They have already gravely decreased in number; down from the original 150 glaciers in the park during the late 1800’s, now only 25 remain. The glaciers are the main water source that make up those icy blue rivers and lakes, so when they are gone, the ecosystem will be devastated, leaving all of the wondrous wildlife struggling to survive.

Environmental education is necessary if we want to prevent this devastation from happening. It all begins with education, and

then change can take place. Visiting all of these parks and forests has given us knowledge that we were without before; vital knowledge about our world that people need to grasp to fully understand this impending climate change problem. Without education, our world will never change, and it will be over before we even get the chance to see all its beauty. We need to work together to educate one another and make this change possible.

We encourage everyone to visit these amazing parks, not only for the adventure of it, but for all of the awesome experiences and wisdom you gain along the way. Thank you Glacier, for sharing all of your magnificence with us.

Next up: Washington! Check out the SlideShow below for more beautiful images of Glacier!!

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Bringin’ the Canons Cross-Country

Sitting here, getting pumped for the trip, Brad is laying out all of our photo gear! We just picked up a fixed 24 mm Canon camera lens at Hunts, and just a few days ago, his new GoPro Hero 4 Silver came in the mail. His passion for photography is getting me more and more excited, inspiring me to be a better photographer myself. We can’t wait to document all of the early-morning sunrises, fantastic views, and other spontaneous stops along the way. Get stoked to see the country through our eyes.

Featured Camera Equipment:

GoPro Hero 4 Silver
Canon 7D I
Canon Rebel T3i
Canon AE-1 35mm Film Camera
Canon 24mm EF Lens
Canon 28-135mm Lens x2
Rode Shotgun Microphone