Tag Archives: Vacation

Vacation

FST : Day 3 – Wheat Ridge CO to Moab UT (356mi)

Today’s trek took us from the green lushness of mid-Colorado to the extremely stark landscape of southeastern Utah. Along the way, we had some fun.

A few years ago, we crossed the high passes in Colorado, and really suffered for it. Apparently, I don’t do elevations above 10,000 feet very well. This time, we took it easy, drank lots of water, and took breaks as we crossed the passes. We even took a short hike at the Gore Range trailhead after we passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel. It seemed to make a big difference in how we felt after crossing through the big mountains.

Along the way, we stopped at the Glenwood Canyon rest area. This is a fantastic area, with access to raft the river, trails to hike, and plenty of space to ride a bike. (In fact, I think we saw more cyclists at the rest areas than I usually see on the Katy Trail. Coloradans really seem to enjoy pedaling.) This was a luscious area, and we could’ve easily spent hours and hours exploring it. Utah beckoned, and so we plowed on.

We arrived in Moab, and got checked in to the Big Horn Lodge. This is a classic-design motel, with the rooms filled with log-construction furniture, and wood plank walls. Really a step back in time, but still including color TV, high speed internet, fridge and microwave. Very nice place.

However, the temperatures were not. When we rolled into town, it was 103 degrees, and miserable. It’s hard to describe what the heat is like — maybe like a blast furnace, or a kiln. It just takes your breath away as soon as it hits you.

Since it was around dinner time, we went down the street, and stopped at Pasta Jay’s. This was said to be the best Italian food in town, and there was absolutely no argument from me! I had a portabella mushroom cap, filled with diced chicken and ricotta cheese, served over spaghetti noodles and smothered in a tomato cream sauce. This was amazing, and something I wanna try to replicate at home on the Egg.

Having arranged housing, and with full bellies, we headed back to the motel for a restful night.

Vacation

FST : Day 2 – Hays KS to Wheat Ridge CO (345 mi)

A little shorter leg today, and on this day, we began to see the mountains.

We had yet another uneventful drive today, with a few more stops to smell the posies. We once again stopped at the site of the world’s largest prairie dog. We’d stopped here some years ago with Siobhan, and while we didn’t go run through the animal pens, we did do a little shopping in the gift shop. Sometimes, you just need another rubber snake.

We kept expecting to see the mountains, and it seemed like it was forever before they finally showed themselves. In reality, we probably could’ve seen them sooner, but there was a fair amount of haze out there, so that kept us from seeing them until we were quite close to Denver.

Just seeing them makes my heart go pitter-patter, and reminds me of the first time I saw the Rockies, back in 1989. I’d gone to Cheyenne (from Omaha), and was driving down to Denver from there. I topped a hill and suddenly the Rockies showed themselves. I was smitten, and still am.

Tomorrow, we stab to Moab, where we’ll stay for five nights, taking short jaunts, and taking a whole bunch more photos.

Vacation

FST : Day 1 – St. Louis MO to Hays KS (500 mi)

The first day of our roadtrips are inevitably long and uneventful. It’s the first day out, and there’s always excitement in the promise of seeing new things… but that comes later. First comes the first day’s drive, and that usually means a long haul. For this trip, it’s a 500-mi jaunt into the middle of Kansas.

I don’t mind the drive much. In this leg, the landscape just starts to hint about changes from farming to ranching. The terrain gets a little flatter, and the hints of prairie begin. It’s a good leg, with a promise of what’s to come.

We saw a huge wind tower farm today. I just don’t get why this country can’t figure out that dual-purposing this wind-swept land is a terrific use of resources. Farming and wind power can definitely co-exist, and this part of the country sure gets plenty of wind to feed power back to the grid. And it’s plenty renewable.

BTW, I’m surprised at how much Hays reminds me of Kearney NE (last year’s opening leg). It was almost like we’d slept and gone to Nebraska! 🙂

Tomorrow — the mountains!

Space, Vacation

Roadtrip: Falling Star Trek (FST)

After several months of planning, we have decided on our summer vacation destination and route. We are going to go watch the Perseid meteor shower under very, very dark skies. And in keeping with our recent roadtrips, we’ve named this one: Falling Star Trek. After all, we’re trekking out to see falling stars. 🙂

Having the dogs’ lodging arranged, the grass mowing scheduled, and the neighbors lined up to take care of the house, we will set out this weekend. Right now, our plan is to take three days to get to Moab, Utah, where we’ll spend five nights playing in the desert. From there, it’s two nights in Bluff, Utah, again to play in the desert.

And then it’s showtime.

From Bluff, we head to Monument Valley for three nights of astronomy and viewing of the Perseid meteor shower in some of the darkest skies you can find in the US. Don’t take my word for it, check out the Dark Sky Finder for the area! I can just remember seeing really dark skies from my grandparents place in Bokeelia, and I can’t wait to see those skies again.

Watch this space for more as we trek across the southern US in search of flaming rocks in the sky!

Vacation

GAR: Day Twenty – Council Bluffs IA to Home (430mi)

This morning, we arose knowing that this was our last day on the road — the 20th day of our twice half-cross-country Great American Roadtrip — and that we when we slept next, it’d be in our own beds. We headed out early this morning, figuring that an early start would get us home mid-afternoon.

Truthfully, the drive was uneventful. We pushed as fast as we legally could, and made good time back to The Lou. I’d had no idea that Omaha was less than seven hours away, and I expect I’ll go back to visit again in the near future, spending a little time in my old haunts.

It was a great trip, crossing twelve states and covering 6275 miles in all, with most of that driving coming in the fourteen days of the first and third weeks. It’s funny that the driving was never exhausting, never boring, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I thoroughly enjoyed learning the idiosyncrasies of my new Jeep, and starting to figure out what functional additions I need to make to it.

However, the big thing that happened on the trip was that the three of us figured out a way of all living in the same hotel room every day for twenty days, and living in the same Jeep for twenty days, all without killing each other. That’s pretty cool.

For years, I’ve been talking about how I’d love to move to Idaho or Montana. For me, this trip was an opportunity to check out some of that territory — spending a week there between Glacier NP and Yellowstone NP — and see if Montana lived up to the images in my head. In a couple of words, it did, and probably has turned up the temperature on my desire to get up there just a little bit.

Another great realization is that Yellowstone NP is only three (kinda long) days or so away from here by driving. That accessibility means I will likely be making plans to revisit Yellowstone over the upcoming years.

Yep, it was a great trip…. sleeping in my bed tonight will be great too!

Vacation

GAR: Day Nineteen – Rapid City SD to Council Bluffs IA (530mi)

Once again, thunderstorms struck overnight. Nothing as big as the storms in Gillette, but still enough to wake me up.

Today was a driving day, along with two stops planned. Our first was Wall Drug in Wall SD. I lived in Nebraska for over seven years, and after seeing the many signs for Wall Drug, I never made it up there. I intended to change that on this trip.

How do you describe Wall Drug? Well, it’s the size of a full city block in a town with a population of just under 1000, and houses just about anything the weary traveler could possibly want. You can get film, coffee mugs, postcards, jewelry, free ice water, coffee for a nickel…. well, you get the idea. This place is a smörgÃ¥sbord of kitschy stuff, and well worth the stop. We spent almost two hours between breakfast, browsing and panning for gems. Yep, you can do just about anything at Wall Drug.

Pointing the Jeep eastward, we headed to our next corny destination — the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. Another place I’d heard about when I lived in the upper midwest, it was another classic destination I’d never visited. Basically, the exterior of this concert hall/basketball stadium is reworked every year using thousands of bushels of corn and grains. Impressive work! Inside was a cornucopia of Corn Palace related items for sale on the basketball floor. After picking up a few souvenirs and taking some photos, we got the Jeep pointed toward Sioux Falls SD.

We’d planned to only go as far as Sioux Falls, but I still had some steam in the engine, so we pushed on to Sioux City IA. And once we got there, I figured out that we could make an easier push to St. Louis tomorrow if we pushed on to Council Bluffs IA or Omaha NE. What we forgot about was that the College World Series was just wrapping up tonight, and that there were Olympic trials in Omaha. The nearest hotel we could find easily was well over 25 miles west of downtown Omaha, which wasn’t what we wanted to find! Somehow, Becky found a place in Council Bluffs, and was the only room they had — that seems to be a theme with us! We pulled in, checked in, and slept a sound sleep.

Vacation

GAR: Day Eighteen – Gillette WY to Rapid City SD (256mi)

Last night’s rains broke, and revealed a wonderful blue sky this morning. That was good news, as we had three stops on the docket for today.

This morning, we left Gillette, heading for Devils Tower National Monument. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid to see this monument… and way before Close Encounters of the Third Kind featured it as a landing strip! I can remember seeing a US stamp from the 1930’s with the Tower on it, and I was smitten.

We drove off the interstate, headed toward the Tower, topped a hill, and there it was! Out of this rolling farmland was this towering form, reaching skyward. It was a really cool moment for me. We drove on to the monument grounds, flashed our park pass, and headed to the welcome center.

As we learned, there are many Native American legends about the Tower, and the mythology associated with it. I also learned that this is a very sacred place to the tribes in the area, who see this as a holy site. I have a lot of respect for that. In fact, when we drove around to the other side of the Tower to get a better view, there was a sign warning us not to disturb prayer bundles left by the local tribes. Very cool, and very serene.

We also tried to fly a kite while we were on the backside of the monument — wide open spaces and some wind — but there just wasn’t enough wind to keep the big kite aloft. Sio had a tiny little fairy kite, and it flew like crazy. Go figure. 🙂

We left Devils Tower, and eventually crossed into South Dakota, heading toward our second stop of the day, Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. I don’t think I’ve been to a national park or monument that was so built up. I guess I figured it was like many others — you just drive up, take a walk, see the monument, and then leave. Not here. Rushmore has a vendor-run parking complex, an enormous front arch, and a sidewalk shaded with flags from the 50 states plus US possessions. Once you pass all that, there are several rows of bench seating for pondering the monument… and an entire open-air auditorium below for watching the nightly lighting ceremony. It looks like hundreds of folks could experience that from the valley floor. Unfortunately, our schedule wouldn’t accommodate hanging around for the lighting very well. Maybe next time.

The thing that struck me most was the size of the monument. It’s big, but I really expected it to be bigger. Don’t get me wrong — the heads are massive in size — but I was expecting heads on a gargantuan scale. Not a disappointment, but like most of the rest of Mt. Rushmore, it was part of learning about what must certainly be one of the most visited national monuments.

A short distance away from Mt. Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial. Aside from being a cool work-in-progress, it’s a great example of one man’s dream being borne out, one chip or blast at a time. I wasn’t aware of the scale and scope of this monument. This thing will be huge when it’s finished, somewhere near six times the size of Mt. Rushmore. That’s amazing. What’s more amazing is that this family operation has been carrying on for over fifty years. Just about ten years ago, the head of Crazy Horse was finished and unveiled, and it is amazing to see it across a huge valley and realize the enormity the sculpture will have.

The plans for this site don’t end with the monument either. There are big plans for a Native American university with a huge campus full of buildings. This is one impressive dream. I don’t know if I’ll live to see it completed, but it will be a very cool site/facility when they’re done.

Vacation

GAR: Day Seventeen – West Yellowstone MT to Gillette WY (462mi)

With Sio feeling better, we headed for eastern Wyoming today, leaving Yellowstone behind us. This was a glorious place, and I will definitely be coming back.

Once again, we were treated to a change in landscape today. The high peaks around Yellowstone gave way to the rolling hills of eastern Wyoming as we made our way east. I really hated to see the mountains dwindle in my rear view mirror — I really love being in and around them! — but I know I’ll be back in the mountains again.

When we got to Gillette, we realized we got in just ahead of a huge thunderstorm complex. That means lightning, and that means I’m out shooting. The hotel had a concrete canopy (an old drive through) that I used as a shelter, and shot some amazing lightning images. This is the first chance I’ve had to use the Lightning Trigger since the trip began, and it was great to be out there in the lightning again!

Vacation

GAR: Day Fifteen – West Yellowstone MT

This was a planned goof-off day. We started the day with some breakfast — blueberry pancakes! — and wandered about West Yellowstone, looking for souvenirs and gifts.

Today was the hottest day of our stay, and with no wind, the apparent state bird of Montana — mosquitoes — came out in droves. I have never seen so many, so large skeeters in my life. I truly believe that an unaccompanied child could be carried away by these swarms!

Becky and Sio decided to take in some local entertainment tonight, and saw a production of Hello Dolly at The Playmill. The Playmill is a tiny theatre in West Yellowstone, probably seating a couple hundred patrons, named after the windmill on the front of the building. Beck and Sio both seemed to enjoy the show. Me? I stayed “home” and packed, getting us ready for tomorrow!