Headed to Kanab--April 7

Here is the link to the woman climbing Fisher Towers while we were there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIhMq4gqTyA&feature=g-upl&context=G254b1e4AUAAAAAAABAA

***MAP UPDATED---PHOTOS ADDED SINCE April 2 through today****

I thought I would warm up once we ate dinner and went to bed, but... NO!  It was the coldest night we have had so far.....there was ice in our water jug when we got up this morning (and a little bit of frost on the inside of the windshield!)

We said "Goodbye" to Zion this morning and headed to Kanab, Utah to try for a permit to hike to The Wave (a cool sand/rock formation out in the desert that they only issue 20 permits per day for hiking).  The office that issues permits isn't open on the weekends (of course not), so that plan was out for now.  Instead, we saw Pipe Springs National Monument was only about 20 miles away, so we headed out there to look around this afternoon.

It is an actual spring in the middle of the desert that was originally used by the Utah Paiute Indians and then taken over from them by the Mormon settlers, who built a fort complex over the spring and used the location to hide their plural wives and children from the authorities so the husbands wouldn't be arrested.  In time, the location (40 acres of land) was designated as a U.S. national monument (the Mormons had already sold it to an individual) and the surrounding 120 square miles or so was designated as a Paiute Indian Reservation.

It wasn't what we were expecting to see, but it was very interesting anyway.  We took the tour of the main fort house/buildings and then walked around the rest of the grounds.  I learned some historical things that I had never heard about before, which is always fun.

We are staying in a hotel (using free points again) tonight.  We did all of our laundry since we left home almost a month ago and are now completely up to date with the blog again-----INCLUDING PHOTOS!
Not sure where we will head tomorrow, but I wish everyone a Happy Easter and we'll write again as soon as we can.

The Narrows--Zion Page 3

The sun was shining and the winds were calm when we got up this morning, so we headed into Springdale to get wetsuit packages so we can hike the Narrows in Zion.  We got a great deal on the rentals ($50 total for both of us) and headed into the park.

I have to admit---I was pretty anxious about doing this hike.  The trail literally is the riverbed of the Virgin River that flows through Zion Park.  The water temperature was about 40 degrees and we had seen some people the day before hit some areas of the river where the water was above their waists.  I had also spoken to part of a Boy Scout troop that had completed the hike and a couple of their group fell completely into some deep holes in the river.  I'm not that great of a swimmer and I really didn't want to take a big dunk in that cold water.

The hike follows the river up the canyon about 2 miles, until the canyon narrows to about 20 feet wide or less in spots.  With the tall canyon walls on both sides, it showed how it got its name--The Narrows.  The hike entailed making at least 20 river crossings and several spots where there were only the rock walls along the water....you literally walk up the river.

After the first 3 or 4 successful crossings, my confidence level rose and I really enjoyed this hike.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful and we were some of the very few visitors to Zion that actually get to see it because taking this hike is the only way to get to it.  We got some really cool photos, so check out the map!

We spent almost 5 hours hiking up and back out to the trailhead.  I was pretty cold when we got out, but I have to admit that those wetsuits are pretty amazing at keeping out part of the coldness.  (They also have special water shoes that prevent your feet from feeling the sharpness of the many rocks.)  However, once we got out of the water, I got really cold.  We headed to set up the van for the night and I tucked in early.  Hopefully, a good night's sleep will warm me up.

Zion Park--Day 2

This morning after eating breakfast, we stopped at a couple of outfitters in the small town of Springdale (at the entrance to the park) to check pricing on wetsuits and water shoes (water temperature is about 40 degrees) for one of the signature hikes in Zion--The Narrows.  This hike begins at the end of one of the hikes we did yesterday (Riverside Walk) and follows the Virgin River up into the canyon until it is only about 20-30 feet wide (The Narrows--get it?).  We decided not to buy the packages at the outfitter and, instead, bought some water shoes, got our walking sticks, and rode the tram to the trail.  However, after watching several other people head up the riverbed (geared up in the wetsuits) and seeing that at the second river crossing, several people went in at least butt-deep, we gave up on that idea and decided to do a different hike today.  We are going to get the wetsuits tomorrow and take the hike then.

We went back to the campsite (we got one inside the park for tonight because it is supposed to be windy), ate some lunch, ditched the poles, and went back into the canyon via tram to hike the Hidden Canyon trail.  This trail goes 850 feet up the canyon wall in about 1.2 miles (meaning....steep!).  We got through the switchbacks and headed up some rock stairs built along the cliff wall (not so bad....) and then reached a section of slickrock that had a chain to hold while you climb (a little worse.....) and, then, at the top of the climb, the trail turned a corner and there was no more chain to hold!  That's right, the trail was just a rock ledge that went along the canyon wall until it turned again out of sight.  We decided that this Hidden Canyon could just stay hidden, turned around, and came back down.  I think it was a great decision, since not long after that, the winds picked up to 40-50 mph and I really would have had a bad time if we had been on that ledge when the winds came.

We took another short hike (about a mile) on the way back to the campground and cooked dinner.  While we were eating, we had two different people stop by wanting to see our little camping bus/van and talk to Chris about how he had fixed it up for camping.  I was already proud of the work he did (it really is great), but now other people were getting to see it and be impressed also......really great!

The winds seem to have died down, so I hope we have a nice calm night and the weather is good tomorrow.  Look out, Narrows, here we come!

Zion Park--Day 1

We packed up the bus after breakfast and drove into Zion National Park.  Because of the large crowds, they have implemented a mandatory tram system (you must park at the Visitor Center, campground, or outside the park and ride the trams to all of the various locations in the park.  (It really is easy and is completely free.)  The bad part is that I can't imagine how crowded this place is in the summer, as several of our tram rides have been standing-room-only and it's only the first week of April!  (Lots and lots of foreign visitors--along the trails we've heard some Aussies, French, German, Spanish, either Japanese or Chinese--maybe both, and a couple that I didn't recognize.)

Before we left on the trip, we saw a hike on one of the travel videos that we wanted to do here at Zion, so we headed for that trailhead first.  It's called Angels Landing, as it is a high pinnacle standing by itself out in the canyon that the Methodist ministor who named it thought looked like a place for the angels to land when they came down to meet on Earth.  Well, we made it to the lookout at the top (about 1300 feet up and 4 miles long) and took a look at the last section of the trail.  However, after looking at the narrow (2-3 feet wide), completely exposed (1400-foot dropoff on both sides), and no railings or handholds, we both decided that the view could not be worth the risk.  A lot of people didn't try it either, and a lot who did venture out, thought better of it, turned around, and came back down.  We did, however, get the same great view by hiking up another trail that branched off from the viewpoint, so I think we got all of the advantages without any of the life-and-death needless risks.  (I don't need the bragging rights that badly...**smiles**).
After that long, steep hike, we got some lunch at the Zion Lodge and went to do some smaller hikes in the park.  We went on the Riverside Walk (a nice 2-mile roundtrip along the Virgin River).  This fairly flat walk was a nice break from the steep hike in the morning.

We took the hike up another section of the canyon to see all 3 of the Emerald Pools.  The actual pools weren't really green (kind of brown), but they all had small waterfalls which formed them and it was fun to see them (except for the really beautiful Upper Pool, which had about 75 people standing all around it when we got there).  It was even hard to get a picture of it without somebody being in it, but I think Chris was successful.

The last hike for the day was a short (one-half mile total) walk to the Weeping Rock.  This section of the canyon wall has a spring in it where the water literally drips out of it year-round and ferns, flowers, and vines grow out of the cliff, making the Hanging Gardens.  It was really different than most of the rest of the park, as Zion only gets an average of 15 inches of precipitation per year and is extremely arid.

What a day--a total of 11 miles hikes and a lot of it steep vertical mileage!  We headed back to our free BLM campsite down the road from the park and settled in to get some sleep before heading in for more hiking tomorrow.  You can't see it all in a day, no matter what!

Bryce Canyon--April 3

We woke up during the night last night extremely cold, so we used our little propane heater, Mr. Buddy, for the first time in our van.  It was working very well until it ran out of propane, so....we tried to get some more sleep and woke up extremely cold in the  morning.

We left the state park and headed for Bryce Canyon.  It was still windy and kind of chilly when we got there, so we ate our lunch in the van and then headed out for the signature hike at the park--Queen's Garden, combined with the Navajo Trail.  This trail is about 3 miles long, but drops very steeply off the canyon rim down into the hoodoos (about 700 feet, I think).  The hoodoos are rock spires that have been formed by the wind erosion out of the orange and white striped sandstone in the area.  In some places, the trail winds through small openings in the wall, like little doorways, and in others, there are small rock bridges that are above your head as you walk along.  After the hike, we drove partway out on the scenic drive along the rim and stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks.  One of them, Bryce Point (named for the person who promoted the park for national park status), projects out into the area and you can see off 3 sides of the point at the hoodoos, the cliff walls, and the mountains across the valley in the distance.  It's really a beautiful place.

Because it was so windy and cool (and was supposed to get very cold that night), we left Bryce Canyon and drove to Zion National Park.  When you enter the park from the east side, your first view is of this massive rock mountain that is called "Checkerboard Mesa."  Seriously, it looks like a giant white checkerboard....the sand was laid down in large layers before it became rock, so there are huge horizontal cracks there, and then the water and snow have run down the rock vertically, forming cracks that way.  I've never seen anything like it at any of the other parks we have gone to.

The other fun thing on the drive into the park is the huge tunnel they built through one of the mountains...it is 1.1 miles long and was built by the CCC during 30's.  Because it was built back then, there are a lot of vehicles that won't fit through the tunnel and a lot that take up the whole tunnel when they come through.  We had a short wait on our side while a big truck and a big RV came through from the other side, but it wasn't bad.  The campground in the park was full by the time we arrived in the evening, but we found a free spot on the BLM land.  We ate some dinner, had a little campfire, and played a game of Trivial Pursuit cards in the van before we went to bed.  Tomorrow, we get to check out Zion and I can't wait!

April 2 -- Highway 12

When we got up this morning, it had cleared off, but hadn't really warmed up very much.  We didn't hurry getting out the door and it was about 10:30 when we finally checked out and got on the road.  We drove back into Capitol Reef Park and stopped at the restored Mormon homestead there which has a small store selling all kinds of homemade canned goods (jam, pickles, etc), as well as individual fruit pies.  We got an apple pie and shared it right there in the park.  I'm not sure it was as good as my Grandma Summers' pies, but it was really delicious!

We continued down scenic Highway 12 on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park.  The highway goes about 150 miles through the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument.  The highway goes through some truly beautiful forests and over a couple of big mountain passes.  There was still quite a bit of snow up in the mountains and all of the campgrounds there were still closed for the season.  We stopped at a lot of scenic viewpoints and took several pictures along the way.  We made it to the Visitor's Center for the Monument about 30 minutes before it closed and checked on the weather and camping for that night.
The ranger was very helpful and said that there was a beautiful state park about 8 miles down the road that had camping.  He even called them to see if they had any sites left and they did, so off we went.  The state park was called Kodachrome Basin (yes, named after the camera film because a National Geographic expedition that was working there used that film to capture the bright colors in the park area).
It was really so windy that the hiking we did after we got there was not very enjoyable at all, which makes my impression of the park a bit negative, probably unfairly so.  However, we hiked a trail named "Panorama Point," so you would think it would be extremely lovely.  Not so...it was also a horse trail and was covered in horse poop and didn't do anything very interesting, because it had to accommodate horses on it.  The actual Panorama Point was nice (no horses allowed up that steep, winding part of the trail), but the wind almost knocked us off the point!  We took some pictures and headed back to set up the van and get some sleep.

Again...hoping the weather settles down and gets better tomorrow.  We are headed for Bryce Canyon National Park and I really want some good hiking weather!

The Great Gallery

This morning, we woke up early, made breakfast, packed up the van, and hit the trail to the Great Gallery.  We were on the trail by 8:30 and didn't see anyone else all the way down, which was a real treat.  The only bad part was that the winds had not completely gone away, but they had subsided a lot, which was a big relief!

The trail went down the canyon wall pretty easily (a little steep, but no ledges or ladders).  Once we reached the bottom of the canyon, the trail followed the wash (creek bed), which had a lot of sand and wasn't very easy to walk in.  After a short distance, the wash had a small amount of water in it, so the sand around it was damp and packed down.  The walking was much easier in those areas.

We saw three smaller walls with Indian rock art on them on our way to the Great Gallery.  One of the areas is called the Alcove, and is basically a natural amphitheater in the canyon wall.  Voices and sounds were really amplified even if you were out in the creek bed facing the alcove (you didn't have to be standing up in it to get the effect).  Pretty neat.

At the end of the 7-mile trail, we reached the Great Gallery and were still the only people there.  It was even more amazing than I had hoped!  The panel is very large (containing a lot of different figures and animals), as well as having very large paintings.  The largest figure is 8 feet tall, and many of them were around 4-5 feet tall. This made these figures life-sized for the Indian groups that would have been painting them, which is very unusual in itself.

What truly makes this panel of art unusual is the subjects of the paintings.....not scenes of everyday life (like hunting, etc.).  One of the figures is called "the Holy Ghost," many of them appear to be some type of celestial or alien beings.  They have no feet or hands, and the bottoms of the figures kind of trail off, like some type of ghost.  A few of them have odd-shaped heads, with large round eyes (kind of like the 50's alien pictures).  One lone figure off to the side actually looks like a large angel, with wings at the shoulders.  Of course, nobody knows for sure what this panel of art means, but it really seemed to have a special meaning to the people who made it and it made me feel as if I was kind of intruding into something private (like walking into a church).

We stopped for a picnic lunch on the hike out and made it back to our van about 1:30 p.m. and headed out of Horseshoe Canyon.  The winds had picked back up and more sand and dust was blowing around today than there was yesterday.  Those 32 miles seemed just as long going out as they had coming in the day before.  I was really glad to get out of there.

We continued west to Capitol Reef National Park, which has some interesting rock formations, as well as a large area of fruit orchards (which are still maintained), as well as some preserved Mormon settlement buildings (blacksmith, school, etc.)  We were planning to camp near there, but a storm was blowing in when we arrived (down below freezing and 40% chance of snow before midnight), so we decided to backtrack a few miles to a nice little Rodeway Inn and hole up for the night.

Hopefully, the weather will improve for tomorrow (it's supposed to) and we are planning to head south where I'm counting on it being warmer as we go......fingers crossed (again)!!
 

Horseshoe Canyon (Canyonlands)

We left the greatest campsite ever this morning and headed for the north end of Lake Powell (Hite Marina).  We were going to put in the canoe and paddle up into the Colorado River, but the winds were coming up and the waves were too high.  We drove across the bridge to the other side, but the winds just kept getting stronger.  We decided to forget the lake for today and drive on up to the last area of Canyonlands that we wanted to see--Horseshoe Canyon on the west side.  This area is where the Great Gallery of Indian rock art is located--walls of life-sized paintings, some that are supposed to resemble alien-like creatures.

Well, to get to Horseshoe Canyon, you have to take 32 miles of dirt road.  This would be an adventure on a normal day, but add in the major wind (45-mph gusts) and blowing sand from the dunes along the way, and it was more work than enjoyment getting here.  The ranger on duty when we arrived, said that it was 750 feet of vertical and went "straight down over the side" of the canyon.  Because of the high winds, I chickened out on taking the hike because we only had about 3-1/2 hours of daylight left for the 7-mile round-trip hike (the ranger had also said to allow 4-6 hours for the hike).

So, we decided to hole up in the van to stay out of the blowing sand and eat some dinner.  After we ate, we decided to just go check out the first part of the trail so that we would get at least a little bit of exercise for the day.  We walked about 50 minutes (no, the wind didn't let up) and then got back in the van for the night.  The winds did start to let up as the sun went down, so maybe we will have a calm day to enjoy the hike tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Natural Bridges Monument--March 30th

We decided to leave Canyonlands and head for Natural Bridges National Monument.  Along the way, we saw a sign for some Indian ruins that weren't marked on the map, so, of course, we stopped to check them out.  There was a one-mile trail to the overlook for the ruins, so off we went!  The overlook was at a point across the canyon from the ruins on the other side, but there were several of them built into alcoves in the cliff (similar to Mesa Verde) so it was kind of neat that they were just sitting there, that close to the highway.
A few miles down the road, was another spot marked for some ruins, but these were re-constructed (cemented back together), so you could walk right up to them and even around some of them.  There was a residential building, a kiva (round ceremonial room built in the ground), and part of a tower.  They speculate that the tower was two stories originally and might have been used as either a lookout tower or to communicate with another community about a mile away.  I had never seen one of the towers before, so that was interesting to see.

We got to Natural Bridges Monument in the early afternoon.  There are 3 of the 5 largest natural bridges in the world located here along a 9-mile drive (Sipapu Bridge, Kachina Bridge, and Owachomo Bridge).  We decided to take the hike down to the canyon floor under Sipapu (the 2nd biggest bridge in the world), which went 500 feet down into the canyon.  You had to negotiate one staircase and 3 log ladders along the trail to reach the creek and stand under the arch.  The arch was impressive, but the view under it just wasn't the same as looking at it from the big viewing ledge right across the canyon.  The trail, however, was really something!  I'm glad I did it, but I'm not sure I would do it again (ladders aren't really my thing...)

We looked at Kachina Bridge from the overlook (we didn't take that hike), but when we got to Owachomo, we decided to hike down under it.  This bridge is the oldest of the 3 in the park and the hike was not nearly as long or difficult as the others.  Of course, the campground here was full, so the rangers directed us to a BLM camping area right outside of the Monument that had free camping.

We found the most awesome campsite ever (and not just because we were the only ones there).  It was in a forest area of 10-foot trees (I think they were junipers).  We had no wind, so we could build a great campfire in the big rock firepit and roast hotdogs for dinner.  It was peaceful and absolutely beautiful!  What a great end to a really nice day!

Day 2 Needles - March 29th

Today, when we got up, the wind was gone and the sun was up!  Time to hit the trail (all 11 miles of it)!  The Chesler Park Loop and the Joint Trail is the signature trail for the Needles section, as it winds through Elephant Canyon and into deep fractures in the rocks.  The large cracks give the appearance that you are in a slot canyon, but, technically it is just a place where the rock cliffs have cracked all the way through to the ground.  If you have seen the movie "127 Hours," then that gives you an idea of what the Joint Trail area looks like.

There is really no way to describe the trail or the great views along the way (please check out the photos and videos when we get the map updated--it's a fantastic place).  It made the eleven miles up and down rock walls all worth it--even the tiny slip I had which gave me a bruised knee and slightly jammed finger.  I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, believe me!  When we got back to our "bus", we had drunk almost all of our water and were pretty much spent.  Luckily, we followed the direction on the route that the ranger had marked on the map for us, and had hiked the loop with the big climbs in the morning and had the easier walking at the end.  We went back out to the BLM area, cooked some delicious Mexican Chicken & Rice for dinner, and got some sleep before deciding what to do on Friday.

Needles--March 28th

We left Moab and headed for the Needles area of Canyonlands National Park.  It was really windy and cloudy when we got there, but we took a few short hikes anyway.  The first hike was the Slickrock Trail which had four different viewpoint overlooks of the area:  the La Sal Mountains, the Colorado River basin, two buttes (Sixshooter and Molly's Nipple--we don't name them, we just list them), and the Needles.

The second hike was Pothole Point, which walks through an area covered with "potholes" in the rocks where rainwater collects and lots of different plants and animals live, even though the environment around is so arid--pretty interesting.  We then took the 2 shortest hikes, but they were 2 of the most interesting:  Roadside Ruins and Cave Spring.  Roadside Ruins led to an Indian ruin of a granary up under a rock ledge, where the farming tribes stored their corn, and squash seeds.  Cave Spring led to a dripping spring in a small cave, which ancient Indians and, later, cowboys used as a water source.  In other parts of this trail, we saw the remains of one of the real cowboy camps (used until 1975) and some Indian art painted on a rock wall in another location.  Really cool trail--we had to climb a ladder in one spot to get up the rock wall!

Since the campground in Canyonlands was full, we drove out to a BLM campsite (free camping), and settled in.  Hopefully, the wind will not be as strong in the morning and we will hike the big trail:  Chesler Park and the Joint Trail.

Hidden Valley and Indian Rock Art

Today, after breakfast and coffee, we headed south of Moab a few miles to the Hidden Valley Trail.  This trail headed out from the parking lot straight up the side of the mountain, with a lot of switchbacks and some bouldering (part of the trail is named "Barney Rubble").  At the top of the climb, there is truly a "hidden valley." We walked about a mile across a fairly flat, wide open valley with tall rock walls on each side of it.  It was really pretty and was full of small shrubs and short trees here and there.  At the far end of the valley, the trail went over a pass and headed down the other side.  We followed it until it hit the Moab Rim Trail (a 4x4 Jeep trail) and then turned around and returned to the parking lot.  It was a good 6-mile hike and we were ready for lunch!

We went back to our campsite, ate lunch, and went into the Moab Visitors' Center to see if there were any other trails or sights that we should check out.  On one of the maps in the lobby, we saw something about a canyon that sounded interesting.  When we asked the lady behind the counter about the canyon, she said that it had some good Indian rock art, but that it was about 38 miles from Moab.  We really didn't want to drive that far, so we asked if there were any rock art areas closer and she gave us a brochure that had a driving tour of Moab Rock Art in it.  

Off we went!  We stopped at several sites that are, literally, along the road.  I can't believe that they are just sitting there with no fences or anything around them!  (Of course, some of them have been badly vandalized because they are wide open, but it's pretty neat that you can just walk up and see them at eye level!)  There was one site, however, that was very high up on a cliff (actually inside the Arches National Park property), but along the highway at the edge of Moab.  We thought we would never find the panel of art....we took the wrong trail at first (had to backtrack out of that area), but we kept searching and finally found the right trail.  The trail is marked by cairns (little stacks of rocks) that you have to follow, but there just seemed to be rocks everywhere at first.  We pretty much climbed the wall up to the art panel by finding our own route up, but it was fascinating to see once we got up there.  We did find the cairns to follow coming down (quite a bit easier than our own route), but no harm done!

We spent the entire afternoon checking out the Rock Art sites and didn't get back to eat dinner until 7:30.  After eating, we sat down to work on the blog, pictures and videos.  I'm now caught up with the blog, but the photos/videos aren't on the map yet (as soon as possible, really!)   

Not sure where we are headed tomorrow, but I'll let you know.

Island in the Sky--March 26

Well, we got up and the wind was not one bit better.  We broke camp (our fastest time yet) and drove into Canyonlands.  The ranger at the entrance station said the wind would be around for the whole day (hurray.....)

We headed out to hike an area called Upheaval Dome.  They have a theory that a meteor hit (forming a huge crater), melted the rock under it, fell into the molten rock, and then, as the rock cooled,  it was pushed up in the center of the crater as a large dome.  After seeing this huge crater filled with small peaks, I would believe the theory.  The hike out to the pit was difficult (especially in the 40-mile-an-hour winds), but the crater was worth the trip.

We ate lunch and then went to take a hike at Whale Rock.  Yes, it is a huge, exposed rock that resembles a whale.  We made it to the top of the whale's back, but decided not to continue out onto the head because the winds were just too strong.

We drove to the end of the road in the park to Grand View Lookout and decided to take the Grand View Rim Trail.  Wow!  It was really great...views of the entire canyon area, with the Colorado River way, way down at the bottom.  We followed the rim trail to the end and actually had the view all to ourselves for about 5 minutes before anyone else showed up.  Amazing to see (like a small Grand Canyon), with beautiful coloring and layers in the rock.

Because of the winds, we decided not to camp another night there and drove back into Moab to a commercial campground, where we could take a shower.  After becoming somewhat human again, we went out to dinner to celebrate Chris' birthday (great Mexican food, highway robbery prices for margaritas..$8.95 each!!, and some surprise singing & dessert for the birthday guy!)  We slept in the great bus again and hope to take some local Moab hikes tomorrow.

March 25--Fisher Towers

We drove out to Fisher Towers (about 22 miles north of Moab) to hike.  (This is the tower that is in that new credit card commercial where the girl climbs up and stands on the tiny rock at the top of the very tall tower.)  The hike winds around a couple of small canyons to get out to the towers.  The area was beautiful and we had some shade on the trail, which made it a really pleasant morning for hiking.

After we stopped for pictures of the biggest tower (the Titan), we turned around and headed back out the trail. As luck would have it, there was a group of climbers scaling the tower (just like on the ad).  One of them was very close to the top, so we kept stopping along the trail to watch.  YES...HE STOOD ON THE VERY TOP ...just like in the ad!  To make this fun event even better, he came down, switched places with a girl, and SHE DID IT, TOO!   If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would still be thinking that the TV ad was just a big Photoshop job.  (Check out the video, because we took one.)

We drove through Moab, filled up with gas, bought a few groceries, and drove to the Island in the Sky area of Canyonlands National Park.  Their only campground was full, so we drove a few miles back down the road and camped at Horse Thief Campground (run by the BLM--Bureau of Land Management). The campground was very pretty, but was on the top of a large mesa and a front was blowing in.  The winds were about 30 miles an hour and the ground is mostly sand, so it was not very pleasant.  Needless to say, we spent the night in our bus.  It was nice and warm in the bus, but every so often it rocked back and forth, thanks to that wind!

Hopefully, the wind will die down before we head out to hike in Canyonlands.....

Arches--March 24

We went back to Arches and hiked the Windows area, including Turret Arch.  There are 2 arches (South Window and North Window) that are almost directly beside each other, so they resemble windows in the cliff face.  The hike goes all the way around the base of the rock wall and involves quite a bit of hiking on slickrock again.  We actually climbed up into Turret Arch and went through to the other side, which was a lot of fun.

After a picnic lunch, we stopped and checked out Double Arch, which is actually a large hole through the cliff face that the top and center have eroded away, leaving only the front arch and back arch in the wall (see the photo, as I can't really describe it in words, sorry.)

There weren't any more hikes in Arches that we haven't done before, so we left the park and went back to our campsite.  We started a campfire (with only a couple of pieces of leftover firewood from the people before us).  I guess it was looking a little lame, because the nice people next to us came over and asked if we wanted some more firewood.  (They had brought a lot with them from home and didn't want to haul it all back with them the next morning.)  It was 3 nice guys from Denver, Colorado who had come to Moab for the weekend to ride one of the big mountain bike trails.  We had a short visit with them and had enough firewood for the night, plus some extra to take with us to the next place....bonus!!

Tomorrow, we are going to hike at Fisher Towers and head for Canyonlands.

Arches Day 1

Friday, March 23rd, we got up, moved to a new campsite along the river (a few miles closer to Arches) and then went to Arches National Park and hiked the Devil's Garden area (after eating a picnic lunch and stopping at some of the scenic pullouts along the drive).  This area has 7 different named arches and a couple that have no names.  We hiked a total of 8 miles in this area (several of which were primitive trails).  We made it to all 7 arches and did some pretty gnarly rock climbing (up and down), as well as some narrow, exposed rock walking on ledges.  In between the climbing, there was a lot of deep sand on the trails, which really works your calf muscles!

After finishing this hike, we went to the picnic area and had dinner before heading to the signature hike in Arches.....Delicate Arch.  (This is the one that is on the Utah license plates and is a completely free-standing arch on a cliff shelf.)  This hike was another 3 miles round-trip and was pretty much straight up a slickrock trail and around on a ledge to the arch.  We made it there for sundown, which is the prime time to view this arch, according to the park brochure.  The sun did make it a pretty color, but there were also about 75 other people up there at the same time.  We didn't want to be coming down that trail in the dark, so we took our photos and headed back down ahead of the crowd.

That was, by far, the neatest hike in Arches and I'm really glad that we got to do it!  Tomorrow, we will tackle another hiking area...the Windows.

Thursday, March 22

We checked out of the hostel in Salt Lake City and headed south for Moab.  It was another bright, sunny day and the weather was warming up (supposed to be 70 in Salt Lake in the afternoon).  This was Chris' birthday and I was hoping to do something fun, but it was mostly just driving.  The scenery was pretty and we stopped at a rest area that had a train engine on display behind it.  We also stopped in Green River (at the river museum), but just looked at all of the outside displays instead of taking the full tour.  We got to Moab in the early afternoon, in time to stock up on groceries and hit the Visitors' Center to find a campsite.  (We had planned to camp in the Arches National Park, but that campground was full when we arrived.)

We found a campsite right along the Colorado River (on BLM land) which is just a few miles from Arches.  After we booked the campsite, we ate some dinner and took a small hike along a creek up a canyon across the highway from the camping area.  We set up the van when we got back and went to sleep for the night.  Tomorrow, we will go explore in Arches.

More Great Skiing!

***Map update with photos from past 3 days***    Today we skied Park City Resort.  This is the resort that hosted some of the 2002 Winter Olympic skiing events.  In fact, they were hosting a men's Masters giant slalom race today while we were there.

There are a lot of groomed runs (both green/easy and blue/intermediate) that are really nice to ski.  The grooming is excellent--there are no bumps or uneven spots on the groomed runs--and there are a LOT of them to ski.

We took a couple of fun little runs that cut through the trees and I did a lot better on the few runs that had  bumps on them this afternoon (I even made it down a full-length run of bumps without stopping in the middle today!)  The last time down this run at the end of the day, however, completely did in my legs and knees and I'm really tired.

Even though Park City was a lot of fun, of the resorts we skied in Utah, Canyons was still our favorite.  It just seemed to be a little less commercial than Park City and was definitely not as crowded.  I'm glad that we found out about the discounted lift tickets at AJ Motion Sports in town.  They have them for most of the resorts and both Canyons and Park City discounts were about $25 per ticket less than at the resort.

The weather is supposed to warm back up into the 70's starting tomorrow, so it won't be good for skiing after today, so we are heading to Moab for some fun hiking and camping.

Best Skiing Ever!!

This morning, we woke up and found that it had snowed in the valley overnight and everything had at least an inch of snow on it.  However, it was a totally sunny morning and the roads cleared really fast, so we packed up and drove up the mountain to the Canyons Resort in Park City.

What an amazing place....you walk from your car to the edge of the parking lot and step on a cabriolet (something I had never seen before).  It's a little open-air compartment that you stand in and it carries you up the mountain over the resort buildings and roads, up to the base of the ski mountain.  Then, you exit the cabriolet, walk over the loading area and get in a gondola to ride to the top of the mountain.  The gondolas seat 6 people (completely enclosed) and your equipment rides in racks on the outside.  That was also a first!

All of that was new and fun, but the skiing was absolutely awesome!  The snow was perfect (not frozen and not slushy), the temperature was around 40 (not too cold or too warm), there were more runs than you could possibly hope to cover in a day, and the lifts serviced 5 different peaks.  We skiied some groomed runs, some bump runs (I'm improving on these-- yea!), and one really deep powder run.  I fell twice in the deep powder and got really frustrated with that, for sure.  Powder skiing is a skill that is fairly non-existent in my skiing abilities, but I would love to learn how to do it.  It looks like so much fun when watching the people that know how to ski in powder go down the mountain.

At a new resort, we always try to take every lift at least once (if it has at least one groomed run!).  We really wanted to make it to the Iron Mountain lift, but it closed at 3:30 and was at the far side of the resort by itself.  We made it on the lift and checked the time after we loaded and it said 3:29.  That was great, except that the lift to get out of that area closed at 4:00, so we only had 30 minutes to get back down the mountain. That normally wouldn't worry us too much, except that when we got off at the top, the first 2 runs down that we passed had signs that said "closed," so we kept going and got to the last available run which had warning signs that said "thin cover."  No choice--we had to take it.  Not only was it thin snow, but it was the longest bump run that we found the entire day AND there was not another person in sight.  (By the way--we now know that "thin cover" means that rocks and small bush stems are sticking out of the snow.)  In addition to the big bumps and obstacles, there were a couple of places where we had to just traverse over flat sections following the one set of tracks that somebody left earlier.  We made it, but it was a little un-nerving to be that alone at the end of the day.

Even though that run was completely intimidating, this was, by far, the best day of skiing in my life!  We skiied until the lifts were closed for the day and I wasn't ready for it to end.....well, my legs were ready, but I wanted to keep playing.

Tomorrow, we are headed to the Park City Resort (home of some of the 2002 Olympics ski events) and I hope that it will be another fantastic day on the snow!

Monday--Snow Storm

We were going to go skiing today, but a snow storm blew in and the roads were not in good shape to drive up into the mountains to the resorts that we have tickets to.  So, we went to the Natural World Aquarium to spend the day (after the roads in town were cleared off).

We had a really good time at the aquarium.  They had a penguin exhibit, which had a lot of penguins to watch.  They were really active, jumping in and out of the water and swimming a lot.  There was also a large river otter exhibit, with 3 otters (brothers) who were curled up in a corner sleeping for the first couple of hours that we were there.  But, later, when they woke up, they were non-stop swimming, running, wrestling, and eating.  We spent quite a while just hanging out there watching them....really cute!  We got a few funny videos of them.

This aquarium also had a large pool with stingrays swimming in it that you could just walk up, put your arm in, and "pet" the stingrays.  They are very soft and a little fuzzy feeling (like velvet).  Yes--that means that we actually touched them!

There were also seahorses (I love seahorses! -- some of you will get that inside joke, I know), a beautiful coral reef tank, and we got to watch them feed the octopus.  That was really interesting and we also got a video of her (they told us she was female--I don't know that much about octopi!!)

We then did some grocery shopping (to replenish the supplies) at the weirdest Wal-Mart we have ever seen.  It is bigger than any Supercenter we know of...it has a 2-level parking attached parking garage AND an escalator.  Totally bizarre!  There were different shopping areas for different ethnic groups and the aisles went on and on!  We then went back to the hostel, cooked a frozen pizza, and, for absolutely no apparent reason, could hardly keep our eyes open.  So, we turned in early to rest up for a true powder day of skiing!

Sunday--1st Hostel Ever

***Map Updated with Photos***  This morning we had a nice breakfast, packed up and headed to the Museum of Natural History.  It has only been open about 4 months and is built in multiple levels to blend into the mountainside  It has terraces on the top level that you can walk out on and see across the entire valley below (including Salt Lake City) and the entire range of mountains on the other side of the valley.  Today, it was snowing lightly when we stepped out there, and the view kind of took my breath away.

While the building was very interesting on the outside, the exhibits inside were incredible.  The Indian exhibit and the dinosaur fossils were both almost at the level of the things we saw at the Smithsonian.  Most of the fossils were located right here in Utah, which made them even more interesting to read about.  (Maybe we will find something like that when we hike some of these remote canyons??!!)

On the way back from the museum, we also saw the Olympic torch monument and stadium from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games.  There's a good photo of it on the map.

After leaving the museum, we headed to check in at our first hostel ever.  We used the security code to get in and were successful checking in on the first try.  (Everything is self-checkin, so I wasn't sure that everything would work smoothly, but it did.)  The room is small, but clean.  We have a TV with cable and free Wifi, so it's all good to this point.  As of this evening, we have not met any other housemates, so in answer to any questions....this hostel does not have any "Techno Twins" to party with. ***laughing***

We are planning to ski again tomorrow (either Park City or Canyons).  We have bought tickets already to both resorts, just need to decide which order to tackle them in!  Either way, there should be some fresh snow, so it will have to be a lot of fun.  Can't wait!

St. Patrick's Day

This morning after breakfast, we went to the local SNAP Fitness and had a good workout.  Then we headed into downtown Salt Lake City to check out the hostel that we are going to stay out and do some sightseeing.

After looking at the hostel, we parked and walked to the Utah Museum of Modern Art.  It was really a great place, with lots of interactive exhibits.  One of them involved three wall displays with different shapes representing different sounds.  Each wall display was controlled by a different mouse control on a pedestal in the center of the room.  You could make your own musical composition and leave it playing for the next people to come in the room and hear....pretty cool!

There were also several different media art exhibits (computers, gaming systems, movies, etc.), including one movie called "Bear 71."  The movies were representative selections from the Sundance Film Festival and the "Bear 71" movie is one that is really good (based on real-life nature data collected from automatic cameras in the wild).

We then went to the Salt Lake Visitors' Center and just checked out other interesting things to do, especially inside, since tomorrow a big cold snowy storm is supposed to blow through for the day.  I think we have decided on the brand-new Natural History Museum at the University of Utah.  The website makes it look extremely interesting and it was highly recommended by both of the workers at the Visitors' Center.

We grabbed some delicious Tuscan grilled sandwiches for dinner and Chris practiced his guitar.  We picked up some beer on the way back from dinner and it's kind of nice to just be relaxing and not be as sore as I was the past two nights (from skiing)!  Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day!

Second Day of Skiing

***Map update--videos of Snowbird added***   I know---yesterday I said that we were going to give our legs a day to recover, but we got up this morning and our legs felt much better, so we headed back to Snowbird Resort to ski for the second day of our 2-day tickets.

We headed up and the runs that we had skied yesterday were completely frozen and icy.  So, we went to an area that we did not go to yesterday and it was pretty nice skiing for the entire morning.  We even took a couple of little runs through the pine trees.  We were almost the only two people in that area for most of the morning.

After lunch, however, we headed back up to the higher runs, hoping that they had thawed out.  Well, believe me, they thawed out!  They were sticky, bumpy, and the snow was totally inconsistent.  These conditions managed to completely burn out my legs again today, so we left Snowbird and headed out.

On the way out, we stopped at the ski shop in town and bought some tickets for one of the Park City resorts (the Canyons).  The weather is supposed to be extremely windy and then very cold (possible snow) over the weekend, so we will hopefully ski Canyons Sunday or early next week.

We don't really have set plans for tomorrow yet, but I'll let you know.....

Skiing at Salt Lake City

Happy skiers at top of Snowbird

Today we went to Snowbird Resort and skied all day.  We got to the lift when it opened at 9:00 and skied until 3:30.  This mountain was steeper and more technical than I ever expected and my legs (and skills) were not really up to it.  However, I hung in there and made it to the end, skiing all the runs without sitting any of them out.  We are going to give our legs a recovery day and ski another resort over the weekend.

The mountains were absolutely gorgeous.  We had a warm, sunny day and the snow conditions were great in the morning.  The snow did get soft and piled into bumps in the afternoon...typical spring skiing conditions.  Overall, I can't complain about the day, though.  It was a lot of fun!!

I did forget to mention in yesterday's post about Fossil Butte Monument that the fossils they have found are not just flat outlines of plants and animals.  These fossils are complete, 3-D animals, plants, and fish.  The fish scales are even preserved in the rock.  It was pretty incredible to see them.  I wasn't even aware that 3-D fossils existed.

Out of Wyoming into Utah

We packed up and left Rawlins behind.  It was sunny and NOT windy, so we were already in a better mood than when we arrived the day before. **smiles**  

We saw a sign for a National Historic Site called Expedition Island and decided that we couldn't pass by without checking that out.  It turned out to be a real island (small) where Powell and his expedition set off to chart the Green & Colorado Rivers from Wyoming, through Utah, into the Grand Canyon. We have now seen both the beginning point and ending site for that expedition....kinda cool!

We stopped for lunch and got back on I-80 (yes...still heading west) where I noticed another one of those brown National Monument signs that read "Fossil Butte."  We looked it up on the map and decided to take a chance on the extra 40 miles out of the way to see it (we didn't even know if it would be open or not, but this is what this trip is for....adventure!) 

When we finally arrived at Fossil Butte, it WAS open.  We saw a lot of interesting fossils and watched an interesting video about the area.  We attempted to hike the Quarry Trail, but I called it quits about 1/3 of the way up.  Between the snow in spots and the deep mud (from melting snow) in others, I wasn't game to see what was all the way at the top.

We took a different road back to the interstate and, once back on I-80, we entered Utah and arrived at Salt Lake City......right in the middle of rush hour traffic. (Boy, do I NOT miss that everyday!)  No big problems finding our motel and walked to dinner before holing up for the rest of the evening to check out the ski resort before tomorrow.  

Snowbird Resort, here we come!!!

March 13--Wyoming

After breakfast and watching the geese take off, we stopped at an original Pony Express station that has been restored.  It was not open to go inside, but we got to read all the plaques and take some photos.  (After discovering frost on the leaves when we got up, it was great to see that the bright sunny day was going to warm up quickly.)  Then, we got back on I-80 and headed west to the Ft. McPherson National Cemetery.  This was interesting, beautiful, and sad, all at the same time.  I'm glad that we stopped to see it.

Along the way, we saw a roadside stop that has a very old pine tree growing through the middle of a boulder.  The highways (old and new), as well as the old railroad that ran there, all changed their routes to leave this tree and rock in their original location, alive and growing.  Check out the photo--it's pretty neat to be in the median of an interstate highway!

Many miles down the road, we reached the highest point on I-80 and stopped to check out the view and monument to Abraham Lincoln.  (Confused?  So were we, until we learned that I-80 was the Lincoln Highway.)  In any event, there was a lot of snow at that elevation and we took a few photos before setting off again.

Sometime around a late lunchtime, we crossed into Wyoming and had a picnic lunch at a nice rest stop.  It had a visitor's center, a nature trail, and an Archaeological Hike to an actual dig site.  The signs said that the dig was closed, but we took the hike around the side of the mountain to it anyway.  We were slightly rewarded, as there was a stone shelter outside the locked building that houses the dig.  We got some fun photos of miscellaneous things along the road, but found the driving more difficult as the afternoon went on.  The highway emergency signs were lit up with "Wind Advisory--50+ mile an hour winds."  NOT a fun drive for us, so we pulled into Rawlins, Wyoming to spend the night.  Seriously, we almost couldn't open or close the van doors at the hotel, but when we got up the next morning, those winds were gone.  Thank goodness!  Off for another day of blue skies and warm temperatures!

Heading West--March 12

**Map update--with photos (check the map page)**   We said goodbye to the folks and headed west.  The first stop was outside Kansas City at a Wal-Mart, where we got the new laptop (yea!!).  That's where we discovered that our credit card company had put a "fraud alert" hold on our card, so I had to call them and get that issue resolved.  (It was just a phone call, though, so not a big problem at all.)  We also picked up some groceries, loaded up the little fridge, and began the drive.

We decided to take I-80 through Nebraska (instead of I-70 through Kansas).  We've driven across Kansas so many times, that we just didn't want to see it again.  Yes, I know, I DO have a bias against Kansas and it's not just because we root for Missouri teams (lol). I can honestly say that I have never seen as many geese as we saw at sunset.  The flocks were leaving the fields and heading back to the water to spend the night.  There had to be literally thousands of them.  It was awesome!!

We made it to Gothenburg, Nebraska and found a little campground in their city park.  When we went to check-in, the really nice woman at the desk said that they hadn't turned on any running water for the season, but we were still welcome to stay, if we wanted to.  We decided that since they did have an outhouse toilet, we would go ahead and stay in our van.  She registered us and then said that she was not going to charge us the $10 fee, so.....1st night FREE!!  The park was next to a lake and several hundred of those geese (and ducks) spent the night there and they make a lot of noise.  A hoot owl was also saying "hi" to us while we set up the van.  It wasn't that loud in the van, so no problem.  The next morning, we got to watch a lot of them take off from the lake and head out for their day, which is exactly what we did.  Off again....

Day Two-March 11th

We had a nice day hanging out with Mom and Dad.  It rained off and on all day, but we managed to get a short walk in early in the morning.  Later, we just visited and shot some pool with Dad in the afternoon.  It was nice to get to spend some time with them just relaxing.

We're Off!!!

Ready to Go

We loaded everything (I mean everything!!!) into the van--photos below--then ate lunch, said "Bye" to the kids,and hit the road!  I must admit that even though I'm going to love this trip, it was hard to leave them all behind.  (That new granddaughter proves that sometimes the curves in the road are figurative, not necessarily literal.)  

Stuff Ready to Load

Fully Loaded Van

We made it to Chris' folks, had dinner with them, and we all enjoyed seeing Mizzou take out Baylor to WIN the Big 12 Championship.  While that was good news, we also hit the first speed bump in

the road (figuratively) when we tried to fire up the laptop to show Mom & Dad the blog and the  new baby pictures.  That's right....you guessed it....the computer is DEAD. ***boohoo***   (I'm writing this post from the parents' desktop model.)  I guess one of the next stops is to buy a new laptop somewhere on the road.  I knew that we would have to be flexible and "go with the flow" to make the journey successful, but I can't believe that we are going to test that out this soon.  I'm going to say that this is a good sign and we've just gotten our big bad surprise out of the way and are ready for smooth sailing!

Friday

Yesterday was Friday, and things just went a lot slower than planned.  We went to visit Rowan (the new granddaughter) and it was simply too late to load up and take off.  So.....we had dinner and watched "The Devil Wears Prada" with our daughter, Amber, and later--watched the Missouri Tigers play a great basketball game against Texas in the Big 12 Tournament.  It was a nice evening **smiles**

Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday was spent running final errands, taking a 3-mile hike through some beautiful Missouri woods and bluffs, and going to see our first granddaughter--Rowan Amber-Lucille Oswald.  She was born at 4:22 a.m. and as soon as our son called us to go visit in the afternoon, we went to the hospital and spent longer than I had planned.  (By the way, she is the most beautiful grandchild ever born....seriously!)

Today was spent doing all the final laundry to finish packing clothes, pre-addressing envelopes that will have to mailed after we leave, cleaning out the purse/wallet, re-configuring some of the bins/bags, etc.  Tomorrow is Friday........wa-hoo!!!

Tuesday

We have officially begun the packing!!!  After dropping several items off at the recycling centers, we took a short (2-mile) hike.  (The weather was sunny and near 70, but extremely windy.)  Still, it was a really nice hike and fun to get outside for a little while.  We started loading the van and have the canoe (paddles, jackets, etc.) and skis (boots, poles, etc.) all in place.  Some of the storage bins and the backpacks now have items packed and ready to go (though not completed yet).  We took some photos and will get them posted tomorrow after we get the bulk of the packing/loading finished.

My good friend, Kelly, came over tonight.  We had pizza and did her tax returns.  Do we know how to have a "bon voyage" party, or what??  It was a really nice visit and it was good to see her before we hit the road.  Only 2 days remaining.......

Monday

Today we finished cleaning the house and putting things away before we leave.  My dear friend, Jen, came over for dinner after work to see the "bus" that she has been hearing so much about over the past couple of months.  We had a great visit and it was nice to see her before we leave.  3.....more......days....*smile*

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was not very productive after all, but we did manage to take a nice short hike and got a working mic for the laptop so we can Skype on the trip.  Amber (our daughter) did her first monthly bill paying (with me watching to give any help she might need).  She didn't need very much help at all and finished it in no time!!

Today (Sunday), however, was a fairly productive day.  After we hiked 5 miles in the morning, we got some last minute errands done and tested out the sleeping bag packing arrangement (vacuum storage bags were the perfect solution!) We bought the bedding for the new bed downstairs, washed it and got the bed made up.  I also got William's (our son) tax returns finalized and e-filed.  Time is flying and we still have all of the packing to do.  No Problem....we have a whole 4 days left!!!

Friday (Day 2 of prep)

Had a really good visit with my folks these 2 days.  We set up the laptop and Amber got to Skype with her grandma and cousin.  That was really fun (and funny!!)  We also found out that, apparently, the microphone on my laptop doesn't work, so we need to remedy that before we leave on the trip.  (Shouldn't be too hard, since we can just take one of the webcams from the house instead of using the built-in one.)  Good to know before we take off, though.....makes me wonder what else will pop up on the road??  Need to put in a good day's work on Saturday so that we can pack!

First Day Off

Thursday was the first day off work and it felt kind of strange, I have to admit.  For a short time, I felt like I was doing something wrong because I didn't even call in to the office to say I wasn't coming in.  It went away really fast!  LOL!   We went to the gym in the morning and then headed out of town to visit my Mom and Dad for a couple of days.  The "bus" handled the strong winds really well and the seat was actually more comfortable than I had anticipated.  It was a beautiful day and it was nice to see my Mom again.  I'm going to show her how to view the blog so that she can follow along....that seems to make her happy that she will be able to see what we are doing.

...1...........

Today was the last day of work.  They hosted a nice happy hour for me after work.  My friends gave me a gift, some nice cards and lots of warm wishes.  It was a little bit sad to say "bye" to some of my really good friends, but we will be staying in touch through e-mail and phone (and some messages on this blog, too!! lol).  It was a good place to work, if you have to go to work everyday.....but for now, I DON'T, so......HOORAY!!!  Turn the page......the next chapter begins......

 

...2....

Tomorrow is the last day of work...I'm not sure that I'm as happy as I should be right now.  There's a slight feeling of apprehension regarding the unknown, but I'm confident that it will soon disappear...as soon as we start laying everything out to pack!!!  It will be hard to say goodbye to my friends, but it will be really fun to visit them when we get back to town in the fall and I won't really miss the nasty humidity of the summer in St. Louis!!

....3.....

Today simply flew by!!  I finished packing up everything at my office for storage and sent several "good-bye" e-mails.  Tomorrow I'll clean out the desk drawers and review a few last minute items with the people who are taking over some of my duties after I leave.  I hope to catch up with some of my co-workers and friends who won't be able to make my going away party on Wednesday, but otherwise, it will be kind of a slow day at the office (hopefully!! :) )

...4...

Sunday was such a gorgeous day, it was hard to do any work at all.  We did some skiing in the morning and took a hike in the afternoon.  We also did quite a bit of work on the map, photo links, etc. for the blog.  I think we finally have everything designed and working properly (we'll do a few more "test posts" just to be sure).  Wow....only 3 more days of work for me... The reality hasn't set in yet, but I'm sure it will!

....5....

Bought a new bed for our son today and set it up in the basement for him.  That was the last thing we need to buy before we leave, so that list is complete (yea!!)   Now to stack everything in the garage, check it off and pack "THE BUS".  Almost time.......

......6......

Friday, and I didn't do anything towards getting ready to go.  It was a long day at work and I spent the evening working on my cross stitch, which I would love to finish before we go.  Doesn't look promising, but I'm going to give it a good try!  This weekend will be productive.....I can feel it!  The excitement is building.....!!!

.....7......

One week left (only 4 work days)...WOW!  Making final preparations to leave the kids in charge of the house (mowing, bills, trash, etc.).  I'm not really doubtful about it because our daughter rocks!!!  She begins the "test run" tomorrow...lol

...8....

Tonight we tested the new sleeping bags.  They are wonderful!  Soft, warm, fairly lightweight and very easy to use.  One more thing successfully checked off the list and one day closer to our great adventure.....

....9......

I think I have my list finished of clothes to pack...now I just need to actually get them ready to pack.  Lots of folding (rolling?) and stacking to do so that it all fits!  Hope to start on that tonight.....after the laundry is done! :)

T Minus 10........

February 20th.  How time flies!  The countdown has begun in earnest.  So much to do and so little time!!  Still need to do a test pack......better get on it!