cross your fingers

We are coming back to the states today. if you don't here from me in a while.... don't worry, they have to let us in eventually :)

Canada here we come

Lets just hope they let us back into the states!! After another long week with thousands of miles traveled we decided that we should make this trip an international one so we are heading north into Calgary today. Then we are going east into Saskatchewan, south into N. Dakota and S. Dakota. We have officially begun our slow journey eastward.

The last week we have visited Yellowstone NP and Glacier NP. Yellowstone was pretty crowded already but there was so much to see there we were able to see the tourist hot spots then steer clear of the masses of people. We saw Old Faithful erupt and many other semi-famous boiling ponds. The volcanic landforms are really neat and remind you of the power the earth has especially right under the park. Wildlife is plentiful too, who can blame the bison for wanting to hang out near the toasty warm mud pots.

From Yellowstone we drove north, stopping at Chico hot springs and taking a dip in the naturally hot water, into Glacier NP. Glacier was very pretty and probably my favorite park. The lakes were crystal clear greenish-blue placed in a backdrop of towering glacier sculpted, snow-capped peaks. We went on a hike to avalanche lake which had a great view of 4-5 waterfalls. We got out in lake McDonald on kayaks which was really fun but we did get splashed with the frigid water. The climate was close to New England in the summer...cool (40-50) at night and warm (75-85) during the day with just a touch of humidity. We came into the park at the right time too because they were just at the beginning of their season. They weren't too crowded and the snow was still melting strong so there were picturesque waterfalls everywhere.

ok that's all for now we have to hit the road.

Idaho

Ok it has been a long time but I am finally at a library that will let me sit on their computers for a while and give you the update. We stayed three nights in Flagstaff AZ. We visited the south rim of the Grand Canyon. There were a lot of people there and felt more like Disneyland than anything else. The canyon was pretty but we had seen so many canyons that it wasn't too exciting. On the way back to Flagstaff from the GC we stopped at a scenic overlook which in my opinion gave us a much better viewing of a canyon created by the Little Colorado River.

Flagstaff was pretty cold at night but we survived with a campfire and lots of blankets. Last weekend we went to Sedona to meet up with a friend of mine. We ate cactus, walked around the town and sipped on some of the local refreshments. It was a good time.

We left Flagstaff the next day, crossed the Hoover Dam and headed to Las Vegas...this is where I must pause and tell you that I am not supposed to tell you what happened in Vegas but here are a few words anyway. Fruity drinks, scantly clad men, neon lights and $$$.

From Vegas we headed back into Utah and Zion National Park. We did a few short hikes saw some trickling waterfalls and saw the canyon from the bottom up. It was pretty nice. We were there for 2 nights then we spent another 2 nights at Bryce Canyon NP. That was much prettier. We opted to see the sites on horseback or in our case on muleback. We did an afternoon trot down into the canyon dropping 1000 ft in elevation. We went up and down viewing several hot spots of the canyon. I am still a bit sore from being on a mule for 8 miles but I am happy it was the mule doing the hard climbing and not me.

We left Bryce and decided to head north. We stopped just north of Salt Lake City at Antelope Island State Park. We camped on the beautiful island for one night and then hit the road for the Grand Tetons. The last two nights we were in the Grand Teton NP. Yesterday we went canoeing on Jackson Lake and then took a 6 mile hike along Jenny Lake and partway up Cascade Canyon. The lake was rough so we couldn't go too far out but we had a nice paddle anyway. After the hike we went back into town and stopped at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and sipped on some local brew. The bar is neat because the stools are all saddles. When we turned back into the campground Tempe was lucky enough to see a black bear in the rear view mirror. I didn't turn around fast enough so I missed it. (we are in bear country now so maybe I will have another chance to catch a peak of one before we leave) We also saw some moose, antelopes, deer and a pine marten.

Right now we are in Victor, Idaho where I just learned that the schools here get what they call a spud week off of school in October for the potato harvest. We will be here for a night staying with Tempe's cousin then we are off to Yellowstone. We should be there for 3-5 nights and then we will head further north to Glacier NP. We are aiming to be back to TN the 1st of July.

I guess that's about all for now. I have to go look for some more books on CD so we can reload the Ipod. we have listened to 5 rather crappy novels so far.

AZ

We have covered a lot of ground the past few days. When I last left you, we were in Montrose spending a night with my cousin. We got a great home cooked meal, did some laundry and slept in real beds. It was a nice little break. From Montrose we drove north to visit the Black Canyon and then the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction. They were both great views of impressive canyons and landscapes. We continued west into Utah and then south to Arches National Park. We drove a scenic by-way rte 128 along the Colorado River. The weather was beautiful and the sites were even more so. I am sure Tempe will post photos but those wont begin to do it justice. It was spectacular. I am a big fan of water in landscapes so having the Colorado there was perfect.

In fact we camped along the Colorado on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. Don't worry folks we were in a designated campground and there were 4-5 other sites with people in them. There are certain perks to camping on BLM land like it is really cheap and certain setbacks like there is no running water...unless you count the mighty Colorado. It was no big deal though we had plenty of our own water to cook with and drink. This particular evening was very windy...a warm wind so at least we weren't cold, but the wind shakes the tent and it is difficult to sleep through the vibrations.

After a restless night and the wind seemingly getting stronger as we awoke, we continued into Arches National Park. We had planned a 3 mile hike but as soon as we stepped out of the car at our first overlook point our plans changed. Our legs were pelted with grains of sand and we started to feel a few rain drops. The rain never developed but the winds were around 30 mph with gusts around 55 mph. The day did not turn out as planned and after driving around the park and hopping out of the car in a few key places we called it quits around 12:30. We did get to see most of the sites the park has to offer. There were some real neat rock arches but even more exciting to me was to think about the geological processes that had to happen before the landforms even existed. Long story short...millions of years ago there was an inland sea --evaporation--erosion--the strongest of the rocks survive and create what we see there today.

We continued our drive south and took a detour to Monument Valley which is right on the border of AZ and UT in Navijo Nation. We skipped going into the park because the wind was still so strong (the sky was hazy with sand) we had seen some of the incredible landforms from the road. We took some back roads through Navajo Nation and into Canyon de Chelly. Apparently it is supposed to be a mini Grand Canyon. At this point it was just another canyon. We stopped at some of the highlighted view points which were cool and you could see the remains of old cliff dwellings (not nearly as cool as in Mesa Verde). We could have camped here but it was still really windy so we kept driving.

We ended up here in Holbrook, AZ in a little cabin because the wind was still gusting to 50 mph last night. Today the weather is supposed to be nicer with winds from 10 to 20 mph and the high is 78. We are off to Petrified Forest National Park today.

Side note- AZ is weird because they don't do Daylight Savings like the rest of us so we are now 3 hours behind those of you loyal east coast readers. It was confusing to go south and switch time zones.

Beautiful Drives

The last couple of days we have been on a few very nice drives. We went northwest from Santa Fe through the desert and Navajo Indian Reserve to four corners monument. While I have gotten quite familiar with deserts over the past year this drive took us through some very incredible scenery. The area was anything but flat with great mountains in vibrant browns and reds speckled with dark greens. Four corners was less than exciting but offered a spectacular view of 4 states. I can now say that i have been in 4 states (NM,CO, UT, AZ) at once...can you??

We continued on from nothingness to more nothingness while climbing into Mesa Verde National Park. We went hiking and say some cliff dwellings as well as petroglyphs.

Today we drove through some mountain range in the Rockies which has been compared to the Alps. It was a very nice but white knuckle drive. up and down and round and round. Well I am off for now...we are in Montrose safe and sound all limbs attached.

Peace

Santa Fe

I hope you all are checking Tempe's blog...she is posting photos and i am just too lazy to do that. Just wanted to give you a little update about the road trip so far. We arrived in Santa Fe last night after stopping in Oklahoma city for a night. We visited downtown OKC shortly to see the memorial to the bombing. It was a nicely done tribute to those who were lost on that tragic day.

We headed through Texas and stopped just outside of Amarillo at the Cadillac ranch which is a weird sculpture thing in the middle of a field. there are a row of 10 nose down cars that are routinely spray painted by locals and passersby. We made it to our campground which has wireless Internet and movies (really cheesy ones) every night. We cooked our own dinner then rested. It was a little chilly last night and will be tonight too but we have plenty of warm clothes.

Today we spent the day touring Santa Fe. We visited all the sites in a town where the adobe buildings make you feel like you should be walking around with a Barney or Fred from the Flintstones. We packed a lunch but ate really great guacamole and Mexican food for dinner. We went on an art walk this evening which was great not only because the museums were free but we got to see all forms of art. We stopped at the Georgia O'Keeffe, New Mexico Art and History museums. At the NM art exhibit we listened to a practice session for the local opera group accompanied by an orchestra. I love opera so I thought it was pretty great.

Over all we realized that Santa Fe is a pretty artsy city with lots of local Indian artists with hand made jewelry, pottery and paintings etc. Tomorrow we are off to 4 corners then Mesa Verde. Now it is off to bed to be rested for the trip tomorrow.