The DTRT

What's DTRT might you ask? Oh, you know, THE DUSTY TRAIL ROAD TRIP.

Once upon a time there was a guy named Phillip Anthony Wiese and a gal named Julianna Marina Aseltine. The two were young and in love and decided to embark on a 5,000 mile road trip. Testing not only the mechanic boundaries of David, Julie's faithful 95' Ford Ranger, but also the relationship the two recently dove into. Thinking, "If we can do this, we can do ANYTHING."

So they hit the DT, the dusty trail that is. It was now no longer Julie and David, but Julie, Phil and David. One Happy Family.



Phil took a redeye from Mammoth Lakes to LA, then landed in Boston, Mass. early Tuesday morning. Julie, wanted to document every minute of the DTRT, so she snapped this photo before any "Hi, how'cha do, how was the flight" conversation began to roll.

Then they hit all the East Coast hot spots: They visited world famous, Spanish teacher extraordinaire, Jeff Garretson.



And Nelle R. Pierson, the WABA bike events coodinator. Yes, she bikes because she's effing awesome.



Julie and Phil thought it would be a great idea to tour coffee shops on the DTRT. Unfortunately they didn't hit as many as they would have liked, but here was the first. It was called Something Farmer Something Cafe in Richmond Virginia. Other then their chic set up and feng shui-ed bathroom, their latte and espresso shot didn't have a whole lot to offer. Big bubbly foam, (tapping into my inner coffee-snob) doesn't really do it for me. But here are the fun pictures regardless.







And the whole reason we stopped in Richmond? Kristin Partin. She does a lot of things better then I do, from cursive writing to telling our love story. She is an accomplished wedding photographer now, coming a long ways from our aspirations of joining the Air Force together. Thank God we both never did that, right? Well here she is, cute little thing. As far as I'm concerned, she's the first famous person we met on the DTRT.



From Richmond, the amazing duo got a little R&R at Grandma Mohrman's House. Grandma Mohrman, the second famous person we met, is none other then Nelle Pierson's very own Mam-mah. The same woman who sent us countless sweets while we lived on Mathews St. and adorable calendars with photos of Nelle's family. Their 200 acre ranch in Kentucky was a travelers paradise.

Phil and one of the 20 horses that are on their property.


Phil sitting on the bed that Nelle spent countless summer nights in. Ahh. Complete with stuffed animals and everything.


Although the two spent 2 days climbing at the Red River Gorge, these are the only 2 pictures Julie has of the experience. But they are damn good pictures, aren't they?



Swimming at the reservoir with two local country bumpkins. They showed us a good time, and with proper Southern hospitality, invited us to, come on back now, yeah hear! And everything.



Stopping in Colorado was a tease. An absolute tease. Here is a photo of Phil's hands, taken at an IHOP somewhere on the DTRT. This photo is an homage to Kate Fallon, who has taken innumerable photos of her friends' hands. I love the idea. And I love her. So I'm-a-gunna be a copy cat.



And here she is, in the flesh. Well kind of. Kate and Phil riding in the back of Miles. Just another day of work at Sunrise.


Our third celebrity, Mr. Trevor Markel, BRC Route Setter. Phil and Julie stopped to visit the celebrity and rock-crushing counter part, Katie Pegg in Boulder, Colorado for an evening of gym climbing, beer drinking and burger eating. Let's do that again.



From Boulder the two continued on the DTRT to Denver. Stopping to taste Pablo's Coffee, reunite with La-Oot-Kah-Tassinah-Adamson and pick up our new friend Matt.



Not only was Pablo's the best coffee we had on the trip, they also served up a tasty bagel too!



From Denver to Norwood, Matt rode in the back of David, and upon arrival, we all exploded out of the little Ranger like one big care package for Fumie. She really does like mail.

As were most of the stops on the DTRT, Norwood and the Indian Ridge Farm visit was much too short.









Hitting the DTRT again.


Phil crashed out in Utah somewhere.


Flagstaff is looking to be the next place of residence for the two, so they thought they would check it out. Primarily, they wanted to check out the climbing. The Pit is located a whooping 20-30 minutes outside of town. I'm sold at this point. I loved it. But it gets better! There's a ton more climbing, but that will have to wait till this winter.

The Pit


Flagstaff Town Square. A Mexican Dance Group performs and somehow managed to drag awkward-dancing Julie on stage.


Flagstaff had the most beautiful clouds. Check out this shot, somewhat reminiscent of Phil and Julie. Can you guess who's who?



And the Holy Cloud. How do you sell this on eBay?





The last photo taken on the DTRT, just outside Palm Springs


Well, the two made it safe and sound all the way up to Rock Creek Canyon. Phil learned how to drive stick, David didn't break down, and Julie has managed to start blogging again. So, all is well.


View Larger Map