Canyons, dirt roads and bees

Last evening at our campsite, we were immediately greeted by yellow jackets, they grew in number and were even more interested when we broke out the food and beer.  They wouldnt leave us alone.  Sunset shortly followed by moonset was a sight to see.  The picture depixelated at right doesnt quite get it right.  The moon was crescent, but you could see the remainder of the moon in the low ambient light of the Utah desert.  The stars and some planets were visible as well.  I swear the real photo looks much better.  We awoke shortly before sunrise, I made us coffee, bacon and eggs, our standard camping breakfast fare on this trip, and then headed into Canyonlands.  The scene is similar in many ways to the Grand Canyon, but wider and with more plateaus.  Its cut by both the Colorado and Green Rivers.  We asked at the visitors center about slot canyons in the area, and the woman spoke with confidence about one on the way to Zion, well, sort of on the way.  So we set off looking for some adventure and we found it.  A 30 mile dirt road, some mild off-roading, what turned out to be a detour, since we did cut off about 18 miles of Rt 70 in the process, turned out to be nothing but a chase for wild waterfowl.  There were no slot canyons, nothing even closely resembling slot canyons.  There was some beautiful scenery, and a lot of dirt/dust, an enormous cloud kicked up by the truck as I barrelled down the straighter, flatter sections as fast as the terrain allowed.  When we got to the far side, and stopped for lunch, we found a 1/4 inch of multicolored dirt collected on most of the truck, including the rims.  We pushed on to Zion, camped just outside as the inside campgrounds were full(it has showers, Sarah was very happy) and are prepping for an ascent of Angel's Landing tomorrow.  Sarah is not looking forward to another long hike, or the steep drop-offs, but will appreciate the views, when she opens her eyes that is.

Arches abound

The park really is aptly named, we entered fairly early as they warned us that parking at Devils Garden fills up fast this time of year.  We started down the loop, Sarah was less then thrilled, since I planned to take us all the way out, and back the primitive loop which was more strenuous hiking.  The landscape was all wonderful formations of water carved sandstone, from high points you could see plateaus and other formations dotting the scenery in all directions.  I climbed and scrambled, while Sarah waited patiently, most of the time.  We did get separated one time, making us both little nervous, some confusion about where to go and where to wait while I galavanted up and across the Double O Arch.  I realized while jogging back down the trail trying to find her that I had left the walkie talkies in the truck.  I spotted a as of yet unidentified type of snake along my journey and then eventually met back up with Sarah right where she thought I would find her all along.  After the 6ish mile hike, I tried talking her into the 3 mile hike to Delicate Arch, but no dice.  We compromised, hiking to the viewpoint for that arch, along with the windows, double arch, and turret arch(picture at right).  It was a long hot day of hiking and by the end, both of us were glad to be back in the AC of the truck on our way to another campsite outside Canyonlands.  We have spotted quite a bit of fauna on this trip, adding lizards, snakes, and a coyote to our tally today.  Tomorrow is a trip to Island in the sky, then pushing on to Zion.  Im off to grill us up some steak and peppers...mmmmm.

Headed to Arches

I find that my posts about our travel days are a little lackluster, but here goes anyway.  We headed out from Boise to Arches today.  Found a great place for lunch on Rt 6 along the way, instead of serving bread, they had what they called scones, but what was closer to fried dough puffs, served with honey butter, they were delicious.  The had good soups and good food as well.  We made it to our campsite along the Colorodo River a little before sunset, set up camp, made dinner and enjoyed the view and our Growler of beer from North Country Brewing Company in Montana.  The site was a lovely tucked away hollow, private, surrounded by trees and close enough to the river that it lulled us to sleep with its babbling.  Tomorrow holds the promise of hiking and arches.

Water, water, everywhere

It was a watery day, more rain, a drive along the bottom of the sound to get to the Pacific coast for a scenic drive south toward the Columbia river.  The road was peppered with fishing towns, canneries, fish hatcheries and beach drives.  A long bridge with a tall trestle at either end across the wide mouth of the Columbia river brought us into Oregon.  We followed 30/84 along the Columbia river gorge past Portland along another scenic byway into a cute little town seemingly with a brewery every mile or so.  We ate at the Trillium Cafe, enjoying some of the local brews and some fine cuisine, with one gripe.  Who puts mayo and cheese on a meatloaf sandwich??  Sarah and I had to swap lunches as a result of the aforementioned faux pas.  We pushed on to Boise and plan to head straight to Arches tomorrow, hopefully getting there in time to enjoy a relaxing night at the campsite and then heading into Arches to start our all Utah tour.

A trip over the Cascades to another rainy day in Seattle

I had hoped the rain would hold off for our trip to Seattle, but we were not so lucky.  Although, as we were driving up over Washington pass, we noticed the rain slowly turning to snow and then all to snow, with a few inches falling at the higher elevations.  It was a nice surprise and a beautiful scene.  Over the far side, there was lake after lake, with Dams and Waterfalls abounding.  It was a gorgeous ride.  The water, tinted almost turquoise from the silt washing off the mountains was truly amazing.  We then made our way into downtown Seattle to meet up with Sarah's cousin Kris, who is a nuclear technician for the Navy at the base here.  We enjoyed some cocktails and a very good seafood dinner and then some more cocktails before he had to make the last ferry back.  'Cool cousin Sarah' tried to maintain her reputation, and probably managed to do it, though she realized shes not 22 anymore.  Tomorrow we head off to the western coast of Seattle, down around Puget sound and then make our way to the Columbia river for a scenic drive through Oregon.

Just horsing around

No elk calls this night, though there were quite a few dogs.  One thing Sarah noted in Glacier, versus Yellowstone is that all the campers were owned, not rented, from Northern/Midwestern states, and most people had a dog.  That was our wake up call, barking dogs.  We enjoyed a quick breakfast and then headed down to the lake just before sunrise.  The calm lake surface acted like a mirror in the early morning light, reminding me of our trip to Yosemite and May lake.  We went on a short hike and then made our way to the corral for our horseback ride.  Sarah enjoyed it immensely and loved the fact that her horse, Dunny, always wanted to go faster and take the lead, my horse, Chuck, was a little pokier and we had to run to catch up quite a bit.  It was just the two of us and the guide, making our way along Lake Macdonald and then up a stream bed past some waterfalls and over a bridge to a huckleberry patch.  That put us in the mood for huckleberries and we enjoyed some local fare at the lodge including locally brewed huckleberry beer.  It was so good, we looked up the brewery to see if it was close and it was indeed.  We made our way there and enjoyed all that they had to offer on tap, then bought some for the road.  Our goal that night was to make it to Grand Coulee Dam as we were taking a detour up and over the Cascades on Rt 20.  A sleepy little town, as it turns out, everything was closed by 9, dinner was Roasted turkey and microwaved vegetables on our bed, bought from the local Safeway, the only thing open past 9.

Glacier national park...under construction

The day started a little rocky.  Just out of Great Falls, I was busy looking at the map and failed to notice that the speed limit had dropped from 70 to 45, but a state trooper did notice.  He brought it to my attention but took pity on me as he said that he didnt like giving two pieces of bad news.  The second being that we were off course, we had missed our turn miles back.  As we approached glacier, the scene was set by falls early colors showing in the blazen Aspen forests in the foothills of the Continental Divide.  We made our way in the Eastern entrance to the park to make the approach to Logans Pass.  The going to the sun road is closed for a good portion of the western part of the park.  What I did not know is that they are also doing paving work on the Eastern side of the park as well.  So we sat parked in a long line of cars waiting for our turn to go up and back on the one open lane.  Regardless of the construction, the views, just as I remembered them were magnificent.  The snow capped some of the taller peaks and added to the view.  On our hike over Logan Pass to Hidden Lake, we came across a small pack of Long Horned Goats having a lovely meal of meadow grass.  We headed back to the Western side of the park to set up camp and have dinner, a wood fire grilled entree of teriyaki steak skewers and grilled asparagus, who says you can eat well while camping.  Tomorrow morning we head off to ride horses down a stream to Lake Macdonald.  Sarah is giddy with anticipation.

Mating calls and hot springs...Yellowstone, the sequel

Overnight, we were roused a few times by the mating calls of nearby Elk.  Apparently, its the start of mating season, and there was love in the air.  We were also made aware that a Grizzly and her cubs had recently wandered through our campsite.  Alas, we did not see them, I was dissapointed, Sarah was relieved, probably the more sane reaction.  We drove North past the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, which is enormous, to the upper and lower Yellowstone river falls.  They were set deep in a valley and had some spectacular landscape surrounding them.  There was a path, that led to a series of metal staircases leading 3/4 of the way down into the valley that I couldnt resist.  Sarah was less then thrilled(a series of switchbacks, her favorite, leading to 300+ stairs), but it did offer an up close and personal view of the lower falls.  Just past the falls, there was artists point, which was inspiring, an array of colors coming out of the valley walls.  We then passed through the Mammoth area, with terraces of hot springs, pools, even a hot spring waterfall.  On our way through the town of Mammoth, we were suprised to see a crowd of people gathering around a town park area.  They were all there to see a male and a half dozen or so females, right in the middle of town.  But it was time to continue on our journey, so we departed for Great Falls MT and tomorrow, on to Glacier National Park.

Yellowstone, part 1

The day began a little slower and colder then I'd have liked.  We woke up to frost covering everything, the temperature was a balmy 27 degrees.  I managed to start a pot of coffee on our camp burner and purcolator with shivering hands.  After we had warm java in hand, we struck up a conversation with the older couple adjacent to us, commiserating about the cold, only to find out that they were Connecticut natives...go figure.  We enjoyed some good conversation while finishing our coffee and then set off to tour America's first national park.  We ambled through across the park, taking a southwesterly path, touring waterfalls, lakes, meadows and finally into the active geyser area.  We were even lucky enough to spot quite a bit of fauna.  We saw a few Elk, plenty of Bison, and even a Coyote.  Of course, we had to stop and see Old Faithful, and while it may be faithful, it certainly is a tease.  We sat, patiently awaiting the next eruption, and she would sputter and steam, making you think she would erupt, but no, she took her sweet time, finally erupting about 10 min after the foreplay started.  We then made our way to our campsite, a little earlier this time, and relaxed by a roaring fire, enjoying a well lit dinner and gazing at the stars after dusk.  I hope that tonight is a little warmer, but from the precipitous drop in temperature right now, I'm not going to hold my breath....which I can already see.  I make this post fireside....oh the wonders of modern technology.  Now I go to enjoy the last embers of fire before tucking in. 

Devils to Beartooth to Tower

Away we went, leaving South Dakota behind us, in all its resplendid glory.  We decided to forgo the interstates for a nice day of flying down two-laners in the expanse that is Wyoming and Montana.  It was a pretty ride through the black hills, then the custer forest, then the black hills......  We thought we would be remiss without a stop at Devil's Tower since we were so 'close'.  It truly was striking, even off in the distance.  Then it was on to Billings to replenish our supplies at the local Walmart.  From there it was a truly spectacular ride up the Beartooth Highway leading to the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone.  It was a series of switchbacks and snowcaps leading down into a high elevation meadow.  We arrived at the Northeast gate just a bit before sunset and only after we were inside the park did we realize that what I thought was offseason here truly wasnt.  Most campsites were full, so we had a longer ride inside the park to get to the first available site that had vacancy, the Tower Falls campsite.  Adjacent to, you guessed it, Tower Falls.  We arrived there shortly before dark, quickly set up the tent and grilled some pork chops and asparagus in the dark for a lovely, if not dark and late dinner.

Holy Wind Batman!

Shortly after tucking in for the night last night, we heard a howling wind arrive out of nowhere, it had been dead calm when we arrived, but overnight, 40mph winds blew in and gusted north of 50-60mph throughout the majority of the day today.  It was buffetting the truck and moving us around like ragdolls while we made our way around Badlands National park.  The views were spectacular and some of the most unique landscapes either of us has seen.  I lost a pair of sunglasses down a ravine during one of the stronger gusts, the wind blew them clear off my face.  Did I mention it was windy?  The colors were fantastic and some of the formations were rainbow like.  There were herds of Buffalo and Prarie Dog 'villages', they scurried around even with the wind.  We managed to get a good day of hiking in and still finished early enough to make it to Mount Rushmore for the lighting ceremony.  The monument was truly inspiring and the ceremony evoked patriotism and pride.  We were glad to have been there to experience it, cold, but glad.  Tomorrow will hopefully be a few scenic drives, one taking us past Devil's Tower, and the other a trip up Beartooth Highway as we enter Yellowstone for some more hiking and good camping.

I can see for miles

Today was another long day in the truck, starting in Chicago, fighting our way out of the rush our traffic, and ending in the apparently oft visited town of Wall SD.  We travelled through the land of Cheese and lakes through seeming endless bugs to find ourselves in South Dakota.  Forget about miles per gallon, we were tracking BPM, Bugs Per Mile.  The windshield looked like it had been through a war and was barely translucent by the time we stopped for gas in South Dakota.  Miles and miles of corn fields kept us company all the way through Minnesota and into South Dakota.  We couldnt resist stopping at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, and though it was closed, the photos speak to the corn-tastic appeal.  We enjoyed some sweets from a local shop and then pushed on to Wall.  Tomorrow holds the promise of a good breakfast at Wall Drug, apparently a huge draw(if you buy the local propaganda, it hosts 20,000 visitors a day in peak season).  There were signs starting in Minnesota and were quite frequent.  Then off to Badlands National park, finally some hiking...

The rainy city

The day started well, a lovely breakfast at Ann Sather's(thanks Kim and David).  I tried Swedish pancakes with Lingenberries and the cinnamon rolls, Sarah had eggs Benedict.  We then made our way up Sheffield Ave. to give patronage to the finer establishments along the way.  We quickly discovered that many of the bars were team themed.  We noticed a few, but were unprepared for the trip we took into the Dark Horse bar.  As we made our way to the bar, we noticed that it was a complete black out, every single solitary person in the bar, which was filled to capacity, was wearing a black steelers jersey.  They all turned to look at the two of us in that odd hushed slo-mo fashion, and we then decided it was best if we left.  There was a colts bar, a browns bar, a few Iowa hawkeye bars, a Bronco's bar.  It was like nothing either of us had ever seen, each was absolutely filled with fans in the appropriate gear.  As we enjoyed a few adult beverages at an Irish pub on the way to Wrigley, we were briefly confused to see football being played at noon, then remembering we were on Central time.  It was nice to see some football before heading in to the ballgame.  The seats we procured were fantastic, right behind home plate, there were a dozen ceremonial first pitches(some kind of charity thing, I think) and a barbershop quartet sang not only the national anthem but also God Bless America.  It was all shaping up nicely, until the game started shortly followed by the rain, which got heavier as the game went on.  We had neglected to bring ponchos or an umbrella and by the late innings we were chased away and fairly soaked.  We decided to spend the remainder of the day indoors to dry off and prep for our next long day of driving tomorrow.

It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses....hit it

Okay, so it was 870 miles, no cigarettes, and it was light out, but we were wearing suglasses with a full tank of gas.  I just couldnt help myself.  We left the house in our rear view mirror this morning and about 14 hours later, arrived at our destination in Chicago.  There was a short detour along the way to grab some good grub and better beer at a local brewhouse in a historic building in the town of Slippery Rock PA.  It was a long day of driving and as of yet, no good snapshots to share.  I'll be sure to take some tomorrow at the Cubs game and/or lakeside for your viewing pleasure.

Testing the payload on the pickup...

On the eve of our departure we've loaded nearly all of our camping gear and clothes into the truck.  I think we took advantage of the roomy interior and bed.  Last year, when Sue posted about their packing, she mentioned packing 10 lbs of you know what in, but fortunately for us, we have a 20 lb bag.  Both of us are anxious to get underway and even happier to not be working for the next three weeks.  Sarah is in disbelief.