one of my biggest pet peeves

On our way to dinner tonight, we passed a big billboard, entirely in Spanish. Everytime I see something like that I get po'ed. The last I knew, English is still the official language in the good ol' United States. When immigrants moved to the States in years gone by, they learned English. That's just the way it was. There weren't ads or signs in Polish or German or whatever other language. But so many things now are written in both English and Spanish. Why? Because people who move to our great country think they shouldn't have to learn the official language? They want to keep their own customs? Ok, that's fine and dandy - keep your customs at home. Or if you don't want to be an American in ALL ways, stay in your own durn country. Americans speak ENGLISH!!

need more consistency

Tonight was volleyball night. Love it! But tonight just wasn't a good night for me, and I don't know why. Drives me crazy!!! You would think that after playing for so many years, I would be at least somewhat consistent, but NO. I'm thinking that maybe I'll try to pull together a co-ed quad team to start in January... now THAT's fun!

sometimes I forget

how much time can be spent planning a cruise. You'd think - sure, easy enough, just pick your itinerary. Well, that is the easy part. The hard part is trying to get a good price on air, hotels pre and post, figuring out what to do for insurance and for transfers and stuff. If we had unlimited funds, well, then it would be easy - but since we don't, we try to get the most bang for our buck. And that's still just the beginning. Since we prefer using local tour guides rather than being herded around with 100 other people on a ship excursion, I do lots of research on various cruise message boards to find out which companies are best, and which places to tour at each stop. It's fun, don't get me wrong, but yikes,it really does take a lot of time!

please excuse my negligence

Krista & Dave - please forgive me! I had separate little posts thanking both of our other hosts, and only a little byline thanking you two. How incredibly rude of me!!! It was so wonderful seeing both of you again - it seems like we've known you guys for such a long time... :-) And you made us feel so much at home. THANK YOU!!

B&Bs

We've stayed at B&Bs a bit throughout the years. Some definitely seem like you're staying in some stranger's home. Others are more like you're staying in a period show home - like a museum. And some are more like small inns. Some places have only one guest room, and some may have many. I always try to choose carefully by researching online, comparing them, looking at pictures, etc., to kinda read between the lines. KWIM?? (know what I mean??) And sometimes we're still surprised!!

We only stayed at two B&Bs this trip, and both were very enjoyable - neither one had the "staying in a stranger's home" feeling. Both had great hosts, wonderful breakfasts, etc.

The place in Sundance, Wyoming, Sundance Mt. HideAway, (http://www.sundancemountainhideaway.com/) has three cabins of varying sizes, and they are probably going to convert the Antiques store cabin into another guest cabin. We were in the smallest one, which was very spacious. We got to Sundance too late to really enjoy the property, but we had a nice chat with our host - that B&B seemed geared more towards people who aren't into socializing with strangers, because each group has their own individual cabin. However, breakfast is usually in the family home, but you could probably request to take it to the cabin if you wish!

The place in Interior, South Dakota (at the edge of the Badlands) is on a ranch, and was designed specifically as a B&B: http://www.bbonline.com/sd/circleview/ http://www.circleviewranch.com/guestrooms.htm. It's more like a small inn, with guest rooms on two levels. The ranch has a guest living room, kitchen and game room! We reached Interior pretty early, and had lots of time to socialize, play games (ping pong and foozball), hit the internet (they have a PC setup with high speed internet for guests), look at picture books, and walk down to the creek. We also enjoyed a pretty sunset from the deck.

Because Greg and I are both pretty social and sociable creatures, we really have no problem with most of the B&Bs we've stayed at. I usually pick them for unique qualities. A couple examples: In Newport, Rhode Island, we stayed at a big ol' historic home http://www.agincourtinn.com/. It was built in 1853 as a summer home, and is furnished with period pieces - it was kewl, like staying in a museum home. Near the Quad Cities, we stayed in a caboose: http://www.bbonline.com/ia/caboose/. That was pretty neat too.

how many photos???

Such a great question! I have no idea at this point how many pics I'm actually going to print. I can tell you I took over 650 on our trip!!! OMG LOLOL I just kept snapping away! (I probably would have had over 700 if Idaho hadn't been so blasted cold!) And with digital, that's ok. Now I just have to figure out which ones are worth the cost to print! Of course, I already have some of the best picked out, because they're the ones I put on this blog!

It was really great having the laptop on this trip, because I took my pics at 4 meg, and downloaded to the laptop pretty much every day or every other. When I started getting low on memory chip space, I burned the pictures to CD, JUST IN CASE something happened to the laptop hard drive, and then, and ONLY then, did I delete them from the memory chip!! I'm pretty obsessive about that - I've heard too many horror stories of people losing years of pictures when a hard drive crashed.

scrappin' lady

I've been ignoring most of the stuff I "should" be doing to scrapbook. As soon as I got back from Provo, I was spending every spare moment planning our bike trip. So I never had the chance to finish all those really kewl projects I started at CKU. I've accomplished quite a bit this week on what will be the best ever album - from my main album track, A-Z Personal Treasury! It is turning out oh so awesome. I can't wait to finish it so I can share it with those I love. (Of course I've been showing Greg pages as I complete them - as I told him, sometimes I need an ego stroke!) Once I finish my Personal Treasury, I can pull out the smaller albums and items and work on them. I have a weekend crop coming up in a few weeks; hopefully that will help me get caught up!

My challenge to myself: I'm taking the photo a day challenge. I thought it would be convenient to start it on our trip, since I was already taking pictures. But now at home, I'm not doing so well. I think it'll be fun to put together a "Year in the Life" album with my photos from each day - it'll be more of an everyday kind of album, versus the highlights I do now in my normal chronological albums. We'll see how that goes!

barely finish one trip...

gotta start planning the next. It looks like we're booking a Mediterranean cruise for next year - woohoo!! 12 days on Holland America's Rotterdam. The Rotterdam is supposed to be HAL's flagship - supposedly that means better service and stuff - we'll see! ;-)

I'm a little leery of HAL, not because of the ship itself, or the food, or the service. I'm leery because of our experience on Princess, where the ship basically shut down at 10pm. Now granted, we're not exactly the party couple, but we do like to have activities going on, like maybe a deck party, or whatever. And demographically speaking, HAL will probably be pretty similar to Princess. But maybe it won't be such a big deal on this cruise, because with 8 long port days, and only 3 days at sea, we may not be up to lots of activities ourselves! I'm definitely guessing the sea day activities will be very different from those on Carnival - I can't imagine HAL cruisers having the hair chest contest!! LOL

The itinerary is SO awesome - Venice (Italy), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Corfu (Greece), Cairo/Giza/Alexandria (Egypt), Ephesus/Kusadasi (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey), Constanta (Romania), Odessa (Ukraine), Varna (Bulgaria) and Athens (Greece). It'll be way expensive, but I think it'll be so very worth it! We've been pricing the cruise, airfare, hotels prior/post, etc. YIKES!! But Greg is ever the trooper, trusting my judgment on travel matters - apparently I haven't steered us wrong yet!

someone asked me today...

what was my favorite part of our trip? what was my least favorite? what met or didn't meet my expectations? any surprises? hmmmmm.... I really didn't know what to say. It was a great trip. And due to the variety of stuff we saw, it's really hard to compare. But I pulled together a quick set of lists (perhaps not complete) - I LOVE lists!! ;-) However, the items are not listed in any particular order!

things that exceeded my expectations:
1) the Badlands
2) the Sawtooth Mtns
3) certain "scenic roads" - denoted in our atlas with little green dots!
4) the weather - we usually managed to dodge the rain pretty well; yeah, there were a couple days that were kinda cold, a little snowy, and yeah, South Dakota was windy as all get out, but overall GOOD weather
5) the Navajo fry bread at Twin Rocks Cafe in Bluff, Utah - NUMMY
6) Custer State Park, S.D.
7) the Lehman Caves in Great Basin Nat'l Park - very kewl to see and walk thru, very educational - wish our timing would have been right for the 90 minute tour instead of just the 60
8) the teepee in Idaho - very unexpectedly nice
9) wildlife sightings - lots of bison, and several elk herds in Yellowstone, many many antelope in central to western Wyoming, some white-tailed deer, and TWO bighorn sheep herd sightings!!!

things that confirmed my expectations:
1) S.D. east of the Badlands is BORING!! Hot, dry, windy, flat, yuck.
2) Wall Drug is huge - bigger than I remember from many many years ago - very tacky, packed with tourists - they were expecting 21 buses on a Friday!
3) the U.S. has a fabulous park system!
4) 5,000 miles on a motorcycle, mostly in 14 days, is pushing my limits. (Greg did 6,000 in 17 days - thanx, honey, for suggesting I fly to Denver and meet you there!)

biggest disappointments:
1) After driving on a soft gravel road, we were not allowed by park staff to continue driving to see the Medicine Wheel (a Native American circle of boulders that represents many aspects of life to them, and is an important part of their life). We didn't have time to hike the 3 miles round trip, so we didn't get to see it. :-(
2) it was so cold on our beautiful ride in Idaho - I didn't get any pictures, and it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been
3) we didn't see the Sawtooth Mtns until almost dusk - too late!!
4) it was too cloudy and snowy to see and enjoy the Tetons
5) the corn palace in Mitchell, S.D. - my childhood memories are WAY better than current reality; the palace is in the middle of redecorating (?), and there wasn't much done
6) the "scenic road" in Nevada - yuck, boring
7) we didn't get to spend nearly enough time with friends and relatives:
Tim & Michelle
Krista & Dave
Maria, Dave, Katie & Shannon
8) the part of Minnesota that we drove across was quite boring - of course, that would have nothing to do with the great scenery we had been seeing for days previously!!

it's a small world

This is a little weird, a little freaky... now, to start from the beginning...

Saturday the 10th - When we stayed in the teepee in Idaho, it was at a lodge in the Sawtooth Mtns, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The closest town, over 30 miles away, is Ketchum, population 3800. That particular night, Ketchum hosted a concert by Willie Nelson (wow), which we didn't know about. The next morning, we were chatting with someone who stayed in the cabin right next to our teepee, and she told us all about the concert - that was the only reason she was staying there - it was the closest accommodations she could find available.

Fast forward to Thursday the 15th - we stayed at a B&B ranch on the edge of the Badlands, near a really teeny town called Interior, population 67 (no joke). The owners had gone to town that night to meet up with her sister and her sister's DH (dear husband), so we didn't see them until the next day. That next morning, after all of us had breakfast together, Greg and I were talking with the female owner and her sis and sis' DH about some of the things we did, the weather we encountered. We mentioned spending the night in a teepee in Idaho. The owner's sister blurted out the name of the lodge. We looked at her a little odd. She recalled the conversation we had with HER in Idaho. She was the person who went to Willie Nelson and stayed in the cabin next to our teepee!!!

OMG (oh my gosh/goodness) Unbelievable!! Here we were in a B&B pretty much in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota, talking with a girl we had already met at a lodge in the middle of nowhere in Idaho!!!

south dakota, part II, aka the badlands

I really liked the Badlands. To me, there was a lot of variety that some of the other Nat'l Parks didn't have. The first picture is what I expected to see. The second reminds me of Canyonlands in Utah. And the third shows some pretty kewl coloring: green, yellow, pink, purple and grey.

south dakota, part I

The Black Hills area and particularly Custer State Park were fun for driving on motorcycle, lots of twisty roads, and interesting scenery: trees, rock, cliffs, vistas...

What a monumental undertaking! (ok, yes, pun intended) Wow. It's kewl to look at, but to really get the impact, ya gotta see the movie and/or read up on the creation. The museum was pretty neat, too. It's interesting to think about the four choices - why each was chosen - not just because they were the most popular presidents - each one represents a specific strength.

Crazy Horse, hmmmm... in some ways, even more impressive. Way bigger, and "in the round" - meaning that it will be carved and viewable on three sides. It's been over 50 years in the making so far, and will probably be another 50 before its done. The most interesting thing to me is that the creator (now deceased) and his family who took over the management refused federal funding, not once, but TWICE! They feel it would detract from the meaning of the Crazy Horse Monument. They also feel it would be less likely to ever be completed if the feds took it over. There is also a very interesting plan for creating an entire complex of a school, medical facilities and more here.

quick quiz

Name the movie, based on the photo:

I think I'll always remember the scene where the father makes a model of Devils Tower, I think the first time it's with food??, while his wife and kids watch like he's possessed!! I guess I don't remember the details so much as the expressions on everyone's faces. ;-)

btw - the movie title is "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

the bighorns

Bighorn Canyon Nat'l Recreation Area

Bighorn Mountains and Nat'l Forest

BIGHORN SHEEP!!! what a great sighting! Again, going back to my younger days, I had quite a "thing" for bighorn sheep. If I remember correctly, for a while, my favorite t-shirt had a bighorn sheep on it - I bet mom remembers! This bunch must be young'uns, because the horns aren't distinctly "bighorn" - I had to verify online. LOVE the internet!

wyoming

As I posted before, it was cloudy and cold, and rainy/snowy while we were in the Tetons and Yellowstone. bummer. But we still enjoyed ourselves immensely, as you can tell by the photos. Lots of kewl things to see and do.

We spent the night of the 13th in Cody, Wyoming. Per the recommendation of our hotel staff, we ate at Bubba's. Popular barbecue place. The best part - I asked the waitress if they do anything for birthdays, she asked who it was for, and I replied Greg. The next thing we know, she brings a piece of pie over, stands up on the bench next to Greg and shouts for the entire restaurant to joining in singing happy birthday to RAY. hahahahaha I kept laughing thruout the entire song, as yes, pretty much everyone in the restaurant sang!!! Greg was the trooper, and thanked me for the piece of birthday pie!!!

Anyway, in Cody, the next morning, we went to the "old town" - whatever they call it - that is really a collection of old buildings and wagons set up as if a small frontier town. Most of the buildings were built around 1880-1910. Pretty interesting.

Bighorn - the Canyon Rec Area is neat - reminded us of Dead Horse Point State Park. The Bighorn Mtns are taller than I expected - and COLD, COLD, COLD!!

well... gonna go now. Greg's gettin' bored. Guess I should help entertain the guy!

headin' home

Well, we're headin' home. Our B&B in Interior, South Dakota has internet access, quite a surprise to me, so I thought I'd check in quick. I'm feeling pretty sad, I guess, that our journey is almost over. Ok... this particular journey. Life is full of journeys, some physical, some mental, some spiritual, etc. So this particular journey is coming to an end. It's been incredible; I'll have some great memories to last a lifetime. If we didn't have to go back to work (ugh, the four letter word!), I could just keep on biking.

Anyway, since I really only had time to post pictures a couple nights ago, and didn't have much time for comments, I guess I'll fill in some blanks now.

wildlife

We saw several herds of elk. These two fellas were in Mammoth. I'm guessing the "old guy" was showing the "young guy" who's boss. But it looked like an awesome choreographed dance!

Bison were everywhere!!! We saw some by themselves, and others in herds of more than 50. Quite a few times, we had to wait while they crossed the road, or meandered right down the middle. It gets a little weird on the bike, with nothing between us and them. When they're too close, we just hurried by.

more yellowstone

Anyone recognize Morning Glory Pool? :-)

Mountains in the distance - beautiful!

Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

yellowstone - ENJOY!!!!!

Yes, you got it - Old Faithful

Mammoth Hot Springs

???

needin' a warmup

Again, the last two days have been oh, so cold. Yesterday when we left Jackson it was cloudy and cold. We couldn't see the Tetons at all, the clouds were so low. Then it started to rain. Yahoo. Then as we went further up the mountains in Yellowstone, the rain became tiny little hail pellets. Then it became small snowflakes, then BIG snowflakes. It wasn't really sticking on the road at all, thank goodness, but the top half of the bike windshield was ice. Good thing we can lower the windshield, so that Greg looks over it!!

There was a little snow here and there throughout Yellowstone, but when we left out the east entrance today, the ground was mostly covered with snow on that pass. So Greg just couldn't resist taking this photo!!!!

the path, part II

Post "the path so far" goes thru Sept 8th, so here goes from there:

Sept 9 - rainy day, overnight at Maria and family's home in Layton, Utah - thanks again for the great time!!

Sept 10 - Oregon trail in Idaho, Boise, Sawtooth Mtn Rec Area, overnight in a teepee at Sawtooth City, Idaho. brrrrr

Sept 11 - more Sawtooth Mtns, Craters of the Lake Nat'l Monument, overnight in Jackson, Wyoming.


Upcoming, contingent upon weather, etc.:

Sept 12 - Teton Nat'l Park, Yellowstone N.P., overnight in West Yellowstone, Montana.

Sept 13 - Yellowstone N.P., overnight in Cody, Wyoming.

Sept 14 - Bighorn Mtns, Devils Tower N.M., overnight in Sundance, Wyoming

just for carrie ;-)

This is something I already wrote about in the post "what I've learned so far" - #3. We drove up that very stiff cliffside via switchbacks on a 3 mile gravel/dirt road.

That part of the road was created by the Mormons! They were moving from Salt Lake City to the southeast part of Utah (well, at least, that's as far as they made it!) to start a farming community. They couldn't find a way down from this plateau; it goes on and on and on.... So they made their own way down. They chipped away and did whatever it took, so that they could get down. Their 6 week journey turned into a 6 month journey.

So... Greg and I have traveled on a very small portion of the Mormon trail!

btw (by the way)

If you asked a question in a comment, I answer in a comment to that same post. So don't think I'm ignoring you guys!! I love reading comments!!!

more sights

Craters of the Moon National Monument - interesting place. Definitely worth a stop. And yes, that is Greg blending into the lava rock.

Jackson, Wyoming town square. Being the tourist geek!!

idaho

thoughts on Idaho...

1) Some parts are kinda boring, some parts are beautiful. I need to come back to explore some more!

2) The ride from Boise northeast then south east into the Sawtooths was amazing. Greg's putting this as the 2nd best drive we've been on yet. If it hadn't been so durn cold, I could have taken pics, but it was way cold, and I had my ski gloves on!

3) The Sawtooth Mtns - ok, this is corny, and I don't do corny - when I saw the mountains I almost got tears in my ears. They are overwhelming and gorgeous and awe-inspiring. If you haven't visited that area yet - GO!! I WILL go back.

4) WHEN you visit the Sawtooths, you need to stop for lunch or dinner in a town called Arco, famous for being the first town powered by nuclear. There is a very tiny little restaurant there, called something liked Grandpa's Southern Bar-B-Q, that had the best barbecue chicken sandwich I ever had. Now... take this with a grain of salt, with the knowledge that I'm not a big fan of shredded meat with barbecue sauce slathered on - it's ok, but nothing great. Now this place makes barbecue the good way - slow cooked, smoked, rubbed, seasoned... mmmmm.

oops

Gotta back up here for a minute. Wanted to let Maria's family know we enjoyed meeting them all, and thanks for having us over. That was Friday night, Sept 9th. It was great seeing some of Maria's scrapbooks (fellow addicted soul!) and seeing her hubby's amazing computerized miniature train setup (4 trains going simultaneously!).

brrrrrrrr

The first visible warning, in Boise - many trees had started changing to fall colors. This was Saturday the 10th. Hmmmm...

That night we spent the night in a teepee in the Sawtooth Mtns. And YES, that is snow on the ground. It snowed the night before we arrived - thank goodness the snow had all melted off the roads already!!!

AND.... get ready for this.... Saturday night while we were sleeping in the unheated teepee, the temps got down to 15!!!! Yahoo for electric blankets! Our bodies were toasty warm from the neck down, but it sure was hard to crawl outta bed to walk to the showers. Ack!!

historical interests

When I was younger, I had a "thing" about the pioneers and the Oregon Trail. I tried to imagine walking across the entire continent, and the hardships they endured - couldn't do it. So I made poor Greg drive us to a rec area where the Oregon Trail went through. Still can't imagine "walking in their shoes."

changes

Egads. Things can change quickly out here. Yes, I know altitude has a major impact on temps, but storms do too. Friday, all the way from Delta to Layton, Utah, we were chased, surrounded and captured in rainstorms. We had planned to goto Park City, and do some of the fun rides: the bobsled (on a metal track just like the snow/ice one used in winter) and an Xtreme Zipline (down the mountain!). But considering the nasty weather, we decided to skip the fun and try to get the necessary parts and fix the speedometer cable on the bike (nothing major, mom!). Thanks Maria and family for your patience and for letting us use your garage. The speedometer works again, and SO DOES THE CRUISE CONTROL!!

Anyway, Saturday we drove thru a big storm in northern Utah, southern Idaho. Ever since then, temps have dropped out here. And now that we're back in higher altitudes, brrrrrr cold.

So, long story NOT short, I haven't been taking too many pics on route. My hands are encased in very thick gloves that just can't work the little camera buttons. It's too bad, because we've seen more great scenery!

what I've learned so far

1) Utah has the most amazing diversity of landscape – as soon as I start thinking “oh, yeah, seen this…”, the topography changes dramatically. I anticipate cresting every hill, and rounding every twist in the road, wondering what’s coming up.

2) People love our bike (ok, already knew that one!) – people are always staring, smiling, asking questions. Fun, fun.

3) Greg and I actually agreed on this one – out of what we have seen and done so far in Utah, we think that driving on Hwy 95 from Mexican Hat to Hanksville is the must do. Even more than the national parks. However, there is a small 3 mile section of the road that is still gravel, very steep, all switchbacks – a tad bit scary, but very kewl nonetheless.

4) It is nearly impossible to capture the magnificence of canyons, cliffs, plateaus, mesas, mountains, etc. with a camera.

5) Plants are very tenacious and hardy out here. If there’s a tiny little crack in the face of a cliff, there’ll be a plant hanging on for dear life.

6) Nevada just isn’t a pretty state. We were on a “scenic road” today – egads, boring!! Dry, hot, blowing sand, gusting winds. Ugh.

7) Ok. Hot is hot. I don’t care if it’s a “dry heat” – it’s still hot, durn it!!

Great Basin N.P.

We drove most of the scenic drive at Great Basin, but weren't all that impressed. Perhaps it's because we're a tad bit tired. Perhaps it's because we've already seen such spectacular scenery. Who knows?! So anyway, we decided to tour the Lehman Caves - now that was kewl. I remembered the basics "stalactites hang tight" and "stalagmites are mighty," but sure didn't remember all the other neat stuff. Great tour.

Zion National Park

Zion's a pretty neat park too, but I'm so spoiled by driving through phenomenal parks and areas on the motorcycle, being able to look all around me, that it was pretty tough to sit on the mandatory shuttle and try to look thru windows that were open a couple inches. Not quite the same. Personally, I think the best part was the trip into the park - from the north, you go down, down, down... first on some winding roads, then thru a one mile long tunnel, then down switchbacks - awesome!!

Bryce Canyon N.P.

Hoodoos are awesome!! We took an "easy" hike down into the amphitheater to see hoodoos up close - coming back up was rough (for me!), but it was well worth it!

kewl places

Well, I certainly haven't figured out how to get these pictures in the order I want them!! One pic is Monument Valley - there were storms on both sides of us, as we booked down through and back, so we didn't take much time to admire - this pic is one of my moving shots! The big cliff pic is from Capitol Reef N.P. And the funky mountain and foothills pic is from Grand Staircase Escalante N.M.

the path so far

Sept 2 & 3 - Enjoying Tim's hospitality in Denver and Buena Vista, Colorado.

Sept 4 - Arches National Park, overnight in Moab, Utah.

Sept 5 – Canyonlands N.P. - Island in the Sky section, Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands - Needles section, Newspaper Rock State Park, overnight in Bluff, Utah.

Sept 6 – Monument Valley, Glen Canyon Recreational Area, Capitol Reef N.P., Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, overnight near Bryce Canyon N.P., Utah

Sept 7 – Bryce Canyon N.P., Zion N.P., overnight at cruising buddies, Krista and Dave, in St. George, Utah - THANKS FOR THE FAB TIME!

Sept 8 – Great Basin N.P., Nevada, overnight at Delta, Utah

amazing diversity

The first pic is from Dead Horse Point State Park, and the second is from Canyonlands National Park - Needles area.

it's a journey, part II

Because we’re on a journey, I decided to take photos en route, not just at specific locations. It’s quite challenging – I keep the camera hanging around my neck most of the time, so I can quick pull it up to snap the shot. Of course, with a digital camera, quick is a relative term – it takes several seconds for my camera lens to open. Even more challenging is trying to hold the camera out in the wind, kind of see what it’s pointing at, and try not to get an antenna or vehicle or big tree in the shot! But quite a few of the photos have actually turned out – yahoo!! And it’s great having pics of the scenery as we see it, driving along. (sorry mom – you probably shouldn’t be reading this!)

rollin', rollin', rollin'

Everything's going great. We haven't had internet access the last couple nights, that's why there haven't been any new updates. Tonight we're at the home of some friends we met cruising this past year. Well, actually, Krista and I "met" online prior. But that's another story.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to upload some new pictures and posts. I'm just WAY too tired now. We've had a very enjoyable evening with Krista and Dave in St. George, Utah, and I didn't want to take any time away from them to sit in front of the computer.

Blue Mesa Reservoir & Arches National Park

One of our scenic routes took us along a fabulous reservoir in Colorado - it seemed to stretch on forever. And it was gorgeous! The road twisted through the bottom of the canyon next to the reservoir/lake. I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys boating to head there.

Arches - Absolutely awesome place! Amazing! You go to Arches thinking you'd see arches, right? Well, it's way more than that. In fact, the arches were neat, but I think the rest of the landscape was just as kewl, if not better. And of course, being on the bike makes it just that much better - all these twisty turny roads, with great views in every direction - the scenery changes with every bend in the road. This is fab!

Tomorrow we're heading to Canyonland National Park, and hopefully we'll get to drive thru Monument Valley before resting our eyes in a little town called Bluff, in the southeast corner of Utah.

Oh, and for those who are concerned with our typical riding clothing - we've had our helmets on 99% of the time!!!

thanks Tim!!

It was great seeing Tim, and meeting his girlfriend Michelle. Tim has a great place in Denver, but his cabin in the mountains near Buena Vista is even better.

We had fun with Tim's "boys" Cody and Mason, both labs. This picture shows Tim with his boys a few miles from his cabin.

it's a journey

A motorcycle vacation isn't just a trip, it's a journey. Yes, the destinations are great, but what we encounter along the way is amazing. I wish I could have a teeny tiny camera attached to my sunglasses, so I could just snap photos along the way. And the people are fun too - so many people scope out our bike, ask us questions, smile and wave!

I can't speak for Greg on this, but during the many long hours riding and admiring the scenery, my mind wanders in many different directions. Today traveling from Buena Vista, Colorado to Moab, Utah, I was amazed by the wide variety of landscapes. It is such an amazing wonderful world we live in!!

Of course, it also makes me feel like such a tiny little speck of humanity. As I was gazing at the various mountain landscapes, I was absolutely unable to fathom, or even vaguely imagine, the cataclysmic activity that pushed solid rock so hard that the strata is completely vertical. wow

the trip

Greg left this morning on the motorcycle, heading westward. I'll be flying out tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully Greg has it timed right so that he'll get to Denver Airport just in time to pick me up, and neither one of us will have to wait too long for the other!

We'll be spending the first two nights with Greg's brother Tim. Our first night will be at Tim's place in Denver, and the second night will be at his cabin in Buena Vista, Colorado. I'm really looking forward to seeing his cabin - I haven't been there yet. 'Course I'm way happier to see Timmy - he's such a fun-loving guy, and we don't see him nearly enough.

Sunday morning early we'll be "on the road again." Hopefully we'll get into Utah early enough to spend a few hours at Arches National Park before it gets dark. We have so much we want to see and do on this trip we'll be taking advantage of pretty much every sunlight moment. I am so looking forward to this trip!!!

so here it is

Well, I finally decided to do it. A blog, that is. I've been considering it for a while now, but have never gotten around to it. I've just been too busy having fun and living life to write about it.

But now seems like the perfect time. People ask about our upcoming trip, and want to know where we're going, what we'll be doing, or they want to see pictures or postcards. I'm thinking a blog takes care of all of the above. So here it is.