This page is a diary of the extended trip of Karen and Tom Rosasco

This page is a diary of the extended trip of Karen and Tom Rosasco. They left Michigan in July 2003 in a Volkswagen campervan to travel North America and whatever other locales they decide to visit. As they send e-mails to Charlie (the web geek who keeps this page current) they will be posted here so friends and family can see where Karen and Tom have been, where they are and where they are going.

You can also click on those places in the diary that have web links to get more information from that place's web site!!

July 26, 2003 Mechanical Trouble. The traveling van needs a new head gasket or something similar. It's in the shop and we are using the Caravan for now.

August 1, 2003 Headed to Pukaskwa, Ontario, Canada for a week of kayaking and camping with 5 other friends. Pukaskwa National Park is approx. 5 hours north of Sault Ste. Marie, on the north shore of Lake Superior. Saw the Aurora Borealis (that's the northern lights) one night which was spectacular. Skeeters were terrible, but the weather was beautiful. Loons spoke to us every day. Lake Superior was very nice to us, giving us great weather and calm seas. The water however was cold, but quite invigorating in the morning!

August 10, 2003 Visited a very old, ancient cedar swamp. These trees are between 400 - 500 years old (actual age was measured). These are the most incredible trees we have ever seen. Talk about powerful. Can you imagine the wisdom, and the stories these trees could tell? Heard a loud crash in the woods. Our first thought was a bear, but we decided it was a tree falling.

August 12, 2003 Visited some friends in Grand Marais, MI. No word on whether Traveling Van is up and running again.

August 19, 2003 Heading to Vermont, via the Canadian route. Went through New York and the Adirondacks, where we stayed for 2 nights. Had a great kayak and overnight along the Bog Lake, where we camped on this little peninsula. The next morning greeted us with an incredible mist over the water, with the sun shining through the pines. We are meeting friends from Ludington at Gifford Woods State Park, near Rutland. Mark and Tom will stay there, while Kathy and I head to southern new Hampshire to the 15th annual Women's Herbal Conference. What a fantastic conference! A renewal for soul and spirit. (Sorry guys, but it's women only ;-} Rutland is a great place. Lots of organic farms and alternative building teaching school. Picked organic blueberries and raspberries for free, since it was after the season! Clean water, clean air and clean mountains. Beautiful people that are all really friendly.

September 5-7, 2003 Went to the Wheatland Music Festival. It was the first time we went to it. Did African drumming and dance on Saturday. Charlie and Brenda were there drumming with us.

September 9, 2003 YIPPEE!!! The VW is ready!! After 5 weeks and a new engine, we are ready to go. She runs great, purrs like a kitten! Will head to the UP (again) to put some miles on the car (between 500-700), then will bring the van back to GR on Mon 9/15 for an oil change and a final check for leaks. Then it's "head west young man"!

September 21, 2003 Well, we have finally crossed the MI state line and are officially heading West!! Yippee!!

As many of you know, we had a "little delay" in our original plans of leaving in July. Our VW van decided it would like a new engine! Fortunately, this was made known to us prior to leaving MI, so it actually worked out quite well. While we waited, w e had many great adventures. Kayaking in northern lake Superior, visiting the UP of MI, headed out East to Vermont and New Hampshire. I attended the Women's Herbal Conference in NH which was great!.

The van is running great, purrs like a kitten. We took the ferry from Ludington to WI on Thurs. Sept 18. We had a great day to make the crossing - sunny skies, warm weather and calm seas. We were seen off by our dear friends Mark and Kathy. It w as great! First stop was in St. Paul to visit friends. Since we are getting a much later start than we expected, we are shortening our stay in MN. We want to still take a northern route to the west coast, but will have to watch the weather. Don't want to be driving through the mountains in snow - we'll freeze!! Any way, we plan on heading out today. Next stop will most likely be the Badlands. Weather should be nice there - at least not 110 like in July.

Then we went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in ND - it's the Badlands of ND. These were beautiful! Saw lots of buffalo's, mule deer and prairie dogs. We bypassed SD badlands because the weather was somewhat cold - in the 30's at night. As we headed west into Montana, the weather warmed. We spent 3 days at Glacier National Park. That was wonderful. The colors were peaking and so the scenery was spectacular! We did 2 hikes (5 miles and 8.5 miles) and Tom did great. The longer hike was a lot of climbing. We came right up on a Mountain Goat mom and baby. They were just sitting there along the trail; we were 2 feet from them. So sweet! We also saw a grizzly - from a safe distance, - black bear, deer. We were driving in the par k at night and turned a curve and an Elk was running on the road. He started going faster, and slipped and fell. He got up right away and eventually ran into the woods. He was beautiful.

End of Sept:

Drove through the Washington Cascades, which were spectacular. There were 3 separate fires going on, so some hiking trails were closed. We were able to hike Cutthroat Lake, which was really pretty. The trail was really dusty, due to such long dry conditions.

We made our way successfully through the mountains, without bad weather. Unfortunately, as we got into western Washington, our headlights went out, as did some other electrical problems with the van. So, we were off to Portland, OR for repairs (as there is a good VW mechanic there). Our driving was only during the day obviously, but we made it. Along the way, we stopped at Mt. Rainier which was absolutely incredible. We had a clear, sunny day, and in the morning, as we drank coffee and ate breakfast, our view was the mountain. Clear from ground to top, snow covered and shimmering against a blue sky! We did a great hike that day, climbing a total of 2000 feet. It was beautiful.

We continued to Mt. St. Helens. A rather eerie place. It's a "ghost forest". After 23 years since the eruption, many dead trees still stand with just as many lying on the ground. About half of the area affected by the eruption has been replanted, but the rest is being left to return by natural means. It was good to see the power of mother nature, and just how fragile and unpredictable life is.

October 2003

Stayed in Portland OR for 3 days while the van got fixed. Rode our bikes around downtown Portland. Had my bicycle seat stolen while I was shopping in Whole Foods Market! (bummer, but went and got a new seat). Van is working great and we can drive at night again!! Headed back north up the coast of WA to the Olympic peninsula. Did a wet but incredible hike in the Hoh Rainforest. Saw a Roosevelt Elk - she was huge and beautiful. Did a great coastal hike to Hole in the Wall - timed it with the low tide just perfect.

Oct 15, 2003: At this point, we had been in rain for 2+ weeks and really wanted dryer weather. So we headed to the the San Juan Islands. Visited San Juan (had the best organic Latte there), Orcas (where we celebrated my birthday on Oct 17), and Lopez . Orcas was great, stayed at an 1800's farmhouse B&B for my birthday. It was great to get out of the rain. Hiked Mt. Constitution which is the highest point on the islands. Lopez has an incredible amount of organic farmers there. A rather lay back type of island where everyone waves to passing cars while driving!

Headed back to the mainland and spent a few days in Bellingham and Fair Haven. These are great towns. Saw a great band called the Dunton Sisters in Bellingham. They are bluegrass/folk music. Fairhaven has fantastic bike paths. Both OR and WA are so bike friendly with bike lanes and paths all over.

Oct 24: Seattle to have dinner with my 2 nephews Matt and Jason. Ate at Cafe Flora which is a great vegetarian rest. Visited Bastyr University - walked through their herb gardens - incredible!! Had a great vegetarian lunch in their cafeteria.

Oct 25 - 27: Camas WA visiting a college buddy of Tom's from MI Tech Univ - Bill and Audria. Really incredible people. Hiked Mt. Hood and walked around Timberline Lodge which is an incredible lodge built in 1936. Went to several great waterfalls and saw "The Gorge" - it is the windsurfing spot in the country in Hood River, OR. Tom has the bug again and hopes to windsurf tomorrow, if it blows hard enough!! The gorge is on the Columbia River which separates WA and OR.

Posted Nov 4, 2003. Well, we are on the Oregon coast, driving south, on our way to CA. We have meet some incredible people, and have had a lot of interesting experiences. Here's just a quick update:

After fixing some electrical problems with the van in Portland OR, we headed north up the WA coast to the Olympic Peninsula. This is an interesting place of 3 various terrains: coastal, rain forest, and alpine. We wanted to experience all 3, but missed the alpine experience due to the wet rainy and cold weather. The coastal region was beautiful and we hiked there on a beautiful sunny day. We made it to the "Hole in the Wall" and timed it perfect with the tide; the tide was low so we we re able to walk through it on our way back. The Hoh Rain Forest was incredible. We started out with a nice light mist which soon turned into a huge downpour! Despite this, we were given the rare opportunity to see a Roosevelt Elk cross right in front of us. She was beautiful!!

From there we headed to the San Juan Islands: Whidbey, San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez. They are each very different, yet beautiful. On Whidbey, there is an enchanting place called "The Earth Sanctuary". It is a place dedicated to nature and the spirit of the earth. Hiking trails lead you to a labyrinth, several stone circles, forests, bogs, and the peace and serenity we all need, including our mother earth! The ferry rides between the islands are short but give you an incredible taste of the beauty that lies there. Eagles abound over head, and crisp lush greenery surrounds you. Mt. Constitution, on Orcas, affords you the opportunity (on a clear day) to see for miles around you. We had some clouds, but enough clearing to get a taste of many of the other islands.

In Seattle, we spent a wonderful and fun evening with my 2 nephews, Matt and Jason. We shared dinner at Cafe Flores, which is a great vegetarian rest. It was great seeing both of them and being able to share into their lives, as they look ed into ours (be it somewhat unusual right now!). We also visited a college buddy of Tom's from MI Tech. They live in southern WA is a nice community called Camas. It had been about 20+ years since Tom had seen Bill and Audria. It was great, as we explored the Gorge, incredible waterfalls, and Mt. Hood and the incredible Timberline Lodge. We hiked Mt. Hood as far as we could, and viewed a beautiful sunset of pink and hot orange. The mountain had only a small amount of snow on it's pea k, but I understand it now has been transformed into a winter wonderland. Timberline lodge is something to see. Built in 1936, it's an incredible structure built rustic yet elegant. The carvings there are beautiful.

That brings us to the Oregon coast and our driving south. We plan on being in Mt. Shasta Nov 7, just in time for the Harmonic Convergence on the 8th. Not only is it the full moon Sat but also a lunar eclipse. A pretty powerful time for this planet and ourselves.

We will spend Thanksgiving in CA with Tom's family. Should be a great time with a lot of people, food, and fun.

November 2003

Nov 7 - 15 Mt. Shasta, CA
Arrived in time for the Harmonic Concordance and Lunar Eclipse. Unfortunately, it rained on Nov. 8 so we never got to see the eclipse. Spent the day hiking through the forest at Castle Crag State Park. Mt. Shasta is beautiful and covered with snow (snow line was around 4500 feet). We bought chains for the van "just in case" and did use them once on our way us to Bunny Flats (6000 feet). Made it up to Castle Lake - incredible blue water, snow surrounding it and crystal clear skies with the mountain in the background. Discovered an interesting town just north of Shasta called Weed. There was a great restaurant there, The Buddha Belly Kitchen and Village Oracle. Had great meals there and saw some great entertainment. A band called "Two is More" is a husband/wife duo from Cordova, Alaska. Great harmony together. Visited Pluto Caves just north of Weed. This is an interesting area of the country - Shasta and Weed. We will probably head back in the spring/summer, when more hiking is available.

Nov 16 - 20, CA coast
Drove south down CA coast. Went to Redwood National Park where we camped and hiked among some of the most incredible Redwoods ever! One was 1500+ years old, 23 ft in diameter, and 68 feet in circumference. WOW!! Stopped in Arcata, funky interesting town. Shelter Cove: excellent hiking when the weather isn't quite so rainy.

Nov 20 Santa Cruz
Arrived in Santa Cruz, CA where we will be staying for a while with Tom's brother. Thanksgiving was spent with many Rosasco's and Sullivan's (Tom's mom's side). 29 people in all celebrated and gave thanks. It was great.

Nov 28 - Dec 2 Napa and Sonoma Valley
Karen met friends from MI - Kathy and Mark - in San Francisco and Kathy and Karen headed north to visit the wine country. Napa and Sonoma were absolutely beautiful! We met up with Mark in Mendocino for a few days and hiked in Montgomery Woods, again among the beautiful Redwoods.

December 2003

Dec 8 - 14 Big Sur, CA
What an absolutely beautiful place!! Hiked Buzzard's Roost and saw the beautiful California Condor; Mckay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park: beautiful waterfall falling right into the ocean; Andrew Molero State Park has some beautiful hiking trails. We hiked the Valley View and found Bobcat and Cougar tracks and scat. Very exciting! We were blessed with meeting an employee of Esalon who
"guested" us to Esalon for a day. What an incredible place!! We spent the day in the mineral spring pools overlooking the ocean! Just being there in the energy of the place was fantastic. Meditation, reading, and just "being" was the theme for the day. We each received a massage and it was fantastic, perhaps the best ever!! Meals were good too!

Dec 17, Back to Michigan for the Holidays

January 2004

Jan 22, 2004

After spending about 5 weeks in MI for the Christmas holiday, we arrived back in CA. It took a few days to restock the van and re-acclimate to CA time.

Jan 28

Hit the road again! Stopped in Cayucos, CA to visit friends; hiked Valencia Peak where we saw 2 coyotes walking just ahead of us. Made our way down to LA in time to celebrate Tom's brother Charles' birthday!

February 2004

Feb 2

Anza Borrego Desert State Park, CA: It's beautiful here in the low desert, with warm days and cool nights. 2 hikes up different canyons led us to a beautiful oasis of palm trees and rich plants. Lots of coyotes here, 4 outside our v an one morning

Feb 5

Joshua Tree National Park, CA: This is a high desert, so temps are a little cooler. It's an incredible place with massive ancient boulders all around you. It feels "prehistoric" and we are sure we will run into Fred or Wilma Flintstone here. Having fun climbing the rocks and exploring the desert. Flowers are starting to bloom!

Feb 15

Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, CA: Day trip to listen to Thich Nhat Hahn give 2 lectures (Dharms's) on Mindfulness. An incredible place of peace and tranquility.

March 2004

March 11 - 14, 2004

Yosemite National Park, CA

This is by far the most beautiful place on earth! Spring is a great time to be here, as the waterfalls are running fast and the rivers are raging! It is unseasonably warm here, about 20 degrees war mer than normal, and the crowds are light! While sitting in the warm sun one afternoon, we heard and watched an avalanche fall from atop a mountain! It was incredible.

March 15, 2004

Traveling East across Nevada on Highway 50 dubbed "The Loneliest Road", I can see why it got this name! There is NOTHING around except occasional sagebrush, a cow, a car and miles of desert basin. Fortunately, there are beautiful snow capped mountains in the distance to look at. No towns to speak of.

March 17, 2004

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Often overlooked for other more "popular" parks, this is a beautiful park, home of the incredibly huge Lehman Caves. They are truly spectacular with stalactites, stalagmites, and beautiful formations. A must see for anyone interested in caves.

March 18, 2004

Zion National Park, Utah

What a remarkable place where red, orange, gold, yellow, white, and brown decorate the landscape! Favorite hike: Angels Landing, where the last 0.5 mile follows a steep narrow ridge where chains have been added for safety. You summit at 5990 feet. Most interesting event: Elisha (our friend) found a new dead lizard she wanted to care for. She brought it back to our van and put it in a small pot with leaves and grass in it, and covered it with a paper towel. We went for a hike and came back 2 hours later. When we checked on the lizard, it was gone! We checked all over the van, but alas, couldn't find it. For the next 2 days we wondered if he died somewhere in our van. But on the second day, Karen opened up the drivers door to get i n and there he was waiting to get out - very much alive and well!! I guess he just needed a little "R & R"!

March 23, 2004

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Drove the scenic road through the park and stopped at all the beautiful view points. There is still a lot of snow here, so not much hiking to do. Best to come back in the summer. But the scenery is gorgeous. Best spot: Inspiration Point.

March 24, 2004

Grand Canyon, Arizona

What an amazing place, and to think it only took 6 million years to get that way!! A must see for all people. The most spectacular hike is taking the Hermit Trail to Dripping Spring - a 1700 ft. elevation change, very strenuous hike, but the views are amazing!!

March 29 - Flagstaff and Sedona, AZ

Had a sad goodbye to our good friends Elisha, Ethan and 4-legged Frankie. We met them in Joshua Tree, CA and traveled with them for a while. They are from Maine, also traveling in a Westfalia van. We had a great time with them, and wish them well o n their travels back to Maine, and preparing for their marriage in Aug 2004.

Flagstaff has a great Frisbee disc gold course, which we played many times. If we had to sum up Flagstaff in one word, it would be "trains", as their are lots of them!

Sedona is filled with wonderful energy, beautiful scenery, great hiking, and challenging mountain biking. We really enjoyed the outdoors here, and the wonderful warm weather.

April 2004

April 18 - Bisbee, AZ

Noted for its "Best Climate on Earth", this is a great artsy mountain town in the very southern region of Arizona. It's historic and flavorful! The "Living Room" offers video viewing for a mere $3.00/person which includes popcorn, pop, or bee r. Older movies are shown, as we saw Michael Moore's "The Big One".

April 22 - Gila Hot Springs, New Mexico

Beautiful pools along the Gila river. One very hot pool is best experienced early in the morning or later in the evening. Visited the Gila Cliff Dwellings which are very interesting. The oldest dwelling dates to approx. AD 100 - 400.

- Silver City, NM

Saw a great comedy play at the university: "Slyvia" definitely worth seeing about a dog (slyvia) who has a new male owner whose wife is jealous!

- Jemez Springs, NM

Spence hot springs are incredible!! Beautiful rock lined pools which are deep and exceptionally clean. Driving up Hwy 485 off Hwy 4 along a river is beautiful: canyons, red rock and 2 incredible tunnels, built in the 30's for the trains - narrow but short and winding 1 lane road.

April 27 - Santa Fe, NM

Wonderful town, with the Plaza being the hub of the city. Tom was at a retreat with the Ishaya's, so Karen soloed for a few days. Beautiful hikes, great food, nice people. But somewhat expensive.

May 2004

May 10 - Canyon de Chelly, AZ

Very peaceful and calming place. Everything just seems to calm down. You can feel the sacred energy of the Navajo people here.

May 11 - Moab, Utah

Mountain biking capital of the world and home to Arches National park. The park is incredible with it's arch rock formations that seem to defy gravity! There is one area along the Klondike Bluff trail that has actual dinosaur tracks in the rock!! They are huge!!

Tome did some great biking, but unfortunately it was cut short due to a broken rear hub along Slick Rock trail! But no injuries incurred!!

May 14 - Golden, CO

Home of Karen's brother John and wife Elizabeth. Had a great visit here, doing some exhausting biking (just couldn't breathe at that altitude), but very fun. Showed Tom the town of Boulder. It was a great time of family time and reconnecting.

May 19 - Jackson Hole, WY home of Teton National Park and Yellowstone

As far as weather goes, we had it all - sun, clouds, warm, cold, rain, hail and even snow!! But it is a beautiful place. Mostly it rained in the Tetons, so hiking was cut short, but still beautiful. Found a beautiful place to camp in Jackson Hole, overlooking the National Elk Refuge with the Grand Teton Mountain in background. Yellowstone was great. Old Faithful is still erupting, holding true to its name! Saw lots of Bison (they are huge), deer, and a black beer. What great fun.

June 2004

June 10 - Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Spent a few days on this beautiful island. Victoria is quaint, historic and full of things to do and see. Went up to Port Renfrew on the Juan de Fuca Straight. Beautiful, saw eagles fishing for dinner. Stayed in Tofino, rainy little fishing town. Great surfing there, but conditions just didn't cooperate with us, so Tom had to pass this opportunity.

June 13 - Whistler, BC

We begin to make our way north, but stopping in this beautiful ski resort town. We haven't been here for at least 10 years and boy has it grown! There are so many lakes here, with bike paths everywhere for people to explore the area. We biked all a round, Tom swam in Alta Lake with snow capped mountains in the background. Cold water, but felt good after a day of riding in the sun. Took a nice hike to Brandywine Falls - about 210 feet of falls. Watched people bungee jump off a 160 ft. bridge. A little to scary for Karen. Played Frisbee golf at a very challenging course - so many trees, you couldn't see the baskets!

June 16 - Hwy 99 to Hwy 16, Whistler to Prince Rupert, BC

Beautiful drive on Hwy 99!! Stunning jagged steep mountains, snow capped. They go straight up, no foothills.

First moose sighting on Hwy 16 between Endako and Burns Lake! Huge cow moose looking straight at us!

Camped at Twin Falls in Smithers, BC. Beautiful falls. Met some people from the Chech Republic also traveling to AK. Unfortunately, we both had a "porcupine episode". We heard some noise during the night, sounding like it was a vibration throughout the car. Karen thought it was Native American drumming ceremony for the Summer Solstice, as it was intermittent. Tom thought something was "chewing" on the car. About 1 hour later, the noise started again and Tom got up to take a look. Karen decided to take care of a "nature call". As she was butt naked, a growl, somewhat friendly though, came from under the car. Tom shined light under the car and the animal ran away. We both jumped back in the car. The next day we understood what had happened. The outside tread of our brand new tires had been chewed some, but no real damage. The real damage was the chewed radiator hose. The other people had their brake lines chewed up! Both of us had to get towed out and spent the! night at the Smithers Hostel. A brand new hostel run by an Austrian couple. Beautiful setting and reasonable rates. Highly recommended!! Our repairs were done the next day - in time for us to still make the ferry ride from Prince Rupert to Haines on June 22.

June 22 - 23, Alaska Marine Highway System

Prince Rupert, BC to Haines, AK

It's a 32 hour ferry ride, stopping in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines.

Saw eagles, seals and humpback whales.

We got off for a couple of hours in Ketchikan, rode our bike around town, Creek street (an old brothel district) and ate dinner at the Ocean View - a beautiful Mexican rest. overlooking the ocean. There were 13 eagles sitting out on the rocks just outside the window. Spectacular! Slept out on the sun deck on a lounge chair, with our sleeping mats, pillow and sleeping bag - pretty cushy I must say!

It doesn't get dark here. Dusky around 11:30pm, darker by 12:30am, then light again by 3am. The sun comes up around 4am!! Pretty wild having some much daylight.

June 23 - Haines, AK

Sleepy little fishing village on the northern tip of the Inside Passage. Great town of about 2500 people. Natural food market with organic espresso, and an organic restaurant the Fireweed. Visited the American Bald Eagle Foundation - very interesting. Haines is home to thousands of bald eagles. They can be seen flying overhead throughout the day.

June 27 - Haines Highway

Decided to drive the Haines Hwy around to Skagway, as it is supposed to be a beautiful drive. Unfortunately, the air was so smoky due to many wild fires burning in the Yukon, British Columbia and Alaska, we couldn't see a thing. We were sure the mountains were there, but couldn't see them. But we had a special gift on the road anyway: As we were driving north on the hwy, between mileposts 88.3 and 91.4 we noticed a lot of cars pulled off to the side of the road. We had to stop too of course. There; just minding their own business, were 3 Grizzly bears - a sow and 2 cubs - grazing on the the fluffy dandelion tops!! They were beautiful and BIG - only about 20 yards away from our car. Then they came closer to the road, 10 feet from our car! We were snapping pictures, which they didn't seem to mind at all. They created quite a traffic jam, as one of the cubs decided that the middle of the road was a good place to sit down and take a break! It was quite an event, our first bear sighting.

We stopped in Haines Junction, Yukon Canada at the Village Bakery for a snack and found out that the fires were worse heading East, which is how we would have gone to get to Skagway. So we decided to continue towards AK instead.

Tok, AK is an interesting little town that you pass right through. Had a great Halibut burger at Young's Cafe (looked a little divey, but good food). Drove down to Wrangell-ST Elias National Park, where we camped. Had a horrific lightning and thunder storm which rocked our entire camper. Unfortunately, the lightning started more fires to the north.

June 29 - Valdez, AK

Met up with our friends Tomas and Jana from Czech Republic again, totally by surprise. So spent the next few days together. Hiked to Shoup Bay Glacier - a 14 mile round trip difficult hike. But the view was worth every step! The glacier goes right down into the bay - beautiful!! The vegetation along the trail was so thick and tall you couldn't see the path. Karen almost got lost in the 5 1/2 foot tall plants!! The path was steep, very narrow and slick with mud. But we all had fun and slept good t hat night. Camped at a spot on Port Valdez. Really nice. Met another new friend, Gale.

As of Oct 1, 2005, Tom and Karen are living in Ashland, Oregon. Still traveling a little but they have put down some roots there (posted by webmaster)

This brings you up to date as of today.

Follow your dream, and live your truth,

Karen & Tom