V is for Vacation!

This could be the most well traveled blog entry yet! 3,411 miles, five states, many mountains and several pounds of ice cream later, the letter V has earned it’s victory as the most liberating activity in the alphabet.
In a post-vacation downer today, I sought alphabetical inspiration in Ken Burns´documentary on the National Parks. America´s Greatest Idea Ever, it seems! Don’t get me wrong, I am not taking for granted the fact that I got to see not only the breathtaking Grand Teton National Park but ALSO the awe-inspiring Glacier National Park in one ten-day journey. And surely these places have inspired many a writer, politician and tree-hugger. But where documentaries, pictures and words cannot do justice, I will just say that you must see these places. And hurry! The World’s Greatest Destroyer Ever, Global Warming is making the glaciers go bye-bye.
Besides the “ooohs” and “wows” and “holy mothers,” there were other highlights from this epic natural expedition. Montana, it turns out, is a heavenly place to be, especially in the summer. Now I truly understand the meaning of “Big Sky.” And the license plates! They have 135 different options! Talk about complicating the license plate game, sheesh! (We got 34/50 by the way.) Also, they have the tradition of slapping a giant letter on the town mountain in a very abbreviated Hollywood sign style. My alphabet brain was truly enjoying figuring it out, especially when there was an “M” in Butte and and “L” in Missoula. Perplexing.
Anyway, to conclude, I would like to give a special thanks to: The Salvation Army in Twin Falls, ID for the $.75 belt that held my shorts up; Libby Paglione, for not only reading my blog but for being the best tour guide in Victor, Idaho; The mechanic in Victor for fixing the headlights for free; The Bureau of Land Management for the free camping along Highway 50; The Sleep Inn, Idaho Falls for the first shower after four days of camping; Chris’ mom, Martha, for the GPS unit that persevered where the iPhone failed; Nick Hornby, for writing Juliet Naked so that we could listen to the audio book for nearly 8 hours; The voice actors on the Juliet Naked audio book for doing unintentionally hilarious American/English/Scotish accents; and last, but certainly not least, Doodle Jump, the best/worst iPhone game since Angry Birds.