Just sharing a link here. My brother's post about the trip is too good to not share! Lots of links to follow if you like. (there is a great benefit to traveling west with a geologist!!) :)
http://kvmagruder.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/dashing-pell-mell-around-the-colorado-plateau/
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Hays, KS to home!
We slept in a bit after all the 'adventure' from the day before. But, the 'horse was headed for the barn' so we didn't dally too long. It was a good feeling to cross the state line back into Missouri. I do love to travel, but I have to say that I love living in the great state of Missouri! What a lovely place to come home to.
We have seen so many incredible places on this trip - and created a ton of memories. What a joy to think back on it all and to look at the photos. So glad we were able to spend most of the trip with family, as well. That just makes it all extra special.
I know that I forgot to mention many of the things we did (I am already seeing photos from locations and wishing I had remembered to post about them) but will perhaps catch up on those at a later date. I will also post links to photo albums one of these days. Between me, Jackson and Jonathan we took almost 5000 photos. :) That is a lot to sort through and I am going at it very slowly. You will also notice that I backdated these last few posts to match the dates when they happened. Just to keep it uniform. :)
Until next time!
We have seen so many incredible places on this trip - and created a ton of memories. What a joy to think back on it all and to look at the photos. So glad we were able to spend most of the trip with family, as well. That just makes it all extra special.
I know that I forgot to mention many of the things we did (I am already seeing photos from locations and wishing I had remembered to post about them) but will perhaps catch up on those at a later date. I will also post links to photo albums one of these days. Between me, Jackson and Jonathan we took almost 5000 photos. :) That is a lot to sort through and I am going at it very slowly. You will also notice that I backdated these last few posts to match the dates when they happened. Just to keep it uniform. :)
Until next time!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Alamosa CO to Hays, KS
We began this morning knowing that we would lose an hour due to the time change. We had no idea how much more time we would lose due to totally insane and scary weather! Ahhh Colorado!
We left Alamosa in sunshine and 82 degrees. In Pueblo we stopped for a quick lunch and again had sunshine and warm temperatures. Then at Colorado Springs we turned off onto Hwy. 24 to get over to I-70 and almost immediately the temperature began dropping. In fact, it was dropping so quickly that I wondered aloud if there was an electrical problem with our vehicle. No... the temperature truly was dropping that fast. We went down 40 degrees in 15 minutes! Then we began seeing 'snow' on the highway and on the roofs of houses. Except... it wasn't snow - as we were to soon discover! In just a bit we noticed the wind whip up (as in white knuckle driving kind of wind) and the rain began. Big fat drops of cold rain. I was worrying about the possibility of it turning to ice (since our temp was low 40's and who knew how far it would drop!) when suddenly we were in the middle of a horrific storm. I had to pull off the road because I couldn't see the front of our car and the hail began pelting us with the wind rocking us. It didn't seem like a very good place to be so I managed to get turned around and head back the direction we had come from. In that short span of time there were now tree limbs on the road and parts of the road were literally flooded. We hobbled back to a little town (I think it was Calhan?) and stopped at the only gas station - along with about 40 other out of state vehicles and motorcyclists!! I knew it must be bad when the guy with the Quebec license plate jumped out of his van and started scooping up the hail in his hands in total disbelief. :) By this time the hail was about 3 inches deep in most places (more in some) and most of the highway was flooded. We sat in the gas station wondering what to do and lamenting the many miles we had yet to cover. Several snowplows went by so we finally decided to give it a try. We made it, although there were some hairy moments, even behind the snowplows! We thought we were done, little did we know....
We finally got to I-70 and stopped at a rest stop for a bathroom break. The rest stop had no power - it had been hit by the storm that we had come upon on highway 24. We spoke to a couple from Kansas whose daughter had told them there was another storm just on our tail and that everyone had best get moving. So we did. Unfortunately, we needed to go quickly enough to outrun the storm behind us (with 60 mph winds and walnut sized hail) but not so fast that we would catch up with that monster storm in front of us. It proved to be impossible. We got caught. In which storm, I am truly not sure - maybe both of them. We drove for 40 minutes at about 20 mph on the interstate through hail, wind and flooded lanes. We stopped a few times on the side of the road but were always about 20 cars back from being under the protection of the overpass so didn't really feel that was a safer bet. We saw the truckers were plugging along and thought they must believe there was a break ahead. Marvin said it was a good time to be blind so he wouldn't have to see the road conditions. I told him later that he could probably have navigated it as well as I did. I think we had similar visibility!! Yikes!
I will say this. Jackson's iPhone paid for itself on I-70. He kept service (amazingly) and was able to keep updating the radar to try to direct me on what was ahead and behind. (as you can imagine, we didn't get any photos from I-70!) For most of that 40 minutes on I-70 we had to shout to hear each other, though. Definitely not something I want to go through again.
Needless to say, when we finally got through that storm we were all exhausted. When we finally arrived in Hays, KS we were overjoyed to see our hotel room - and a hot cup of decaf coffee. Whew.
We left Alamosa in sunshine and 82 degrees. In Pueblo we stopped for a quick lunch and again had sunshine and warm temperatures. Then at Colorado Springs we turned off onto Hwy. 24 to get over to I-70 and almost immediately the temperature began dropping. In fact, it was dropping so quickly that I wondered aloud if there was an electrical problem with our vehicle. No... the temperature truly was dropping that fast. We went down 40 degrees in 15 minutes! Then we began seeing 'snow' on the highway and on the roofs of houses. Except... it wasn't snow - as we were to soon discover! In just a bit we noticed the wind whip up (as in white knuckle driving kind of wind) and the rain began. Big fat drops of cold rain. I was worrying about the possibility of it turning to ice (since our temp was low 40's and who knew how far it would drop!) when suddenly we were in the middle of a horrific storm. I had to pull off the road because I couldn't see the front of our car and the hail began pelting us with the wind rocking us. It didn't seem like a very good place to be so I managed to get turned around and head back the direction we had come from. In that short span of time there were now tree limbs on the road and parts of the road were literally flooded. We hobbled back to a little town (I think it was Calhan?) and stopped at the only gas station - along with about 40 other out of state vehicles and motorcyclists!! I knew it must be bad when the guy with the Quebec license plate jumped out of his van and started scooping up the hail in his hands in total disbelief. :) By this time the hail was about 3 inches deep in most places (more in some) and most of the highway was flooded. We sat in the gas station wondering what to do and lamenting the many miles we had yet to cover. Several snowplows went by so we finally decided to give it a try. We made it, although there were some hairy moments, even behind the snowplows! We thought we were done, little did we know....
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| just beginning to see what we thought was snow on the roadway |
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| and on the roofs |
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| snowplows on Hwy. 24 |
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| you probably can't tell but that right lane was completely flooded |
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| along Hwy. 24 |
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| just before that storm hit us |
We finally got to I-70 and stopped at a rest stop for a bathroom break. The rest stop had no power - it had been hit by the storm that we had come upon on highway 24. We spoke to a couple from Kansas whose daughter had told them there was another storm just on our tail and that everyone had best get moving. So we did. Unfortunately, we needed to go quickly enough to outrun the storm behind us (with 60 mph winds and walnut sized hail) but not so fast that we would catch up with that monster storm in front of us. It proved to be impossible. We got caught. In which storm, I am truly not sure - maybe both of them. We drove for 40 minutes at about 20 mph on the interstate through hail, wind and flooded lanes. We stopped a few times on the side of the road but were always about 20 cars back from being under the protection of the overpass so didn't really feel that was a safer bet. We saw the truckers were plugging along and thought they must believe there was a break ahead. Marvin said it was a good time to be blind so he wouldn't have to see the road conditions. I told him later that he could probably have navigated it as well as I did. I think we had similar visibility!! Yikes!
I will say this. Jackson's iPhone paid for itself on I-70. He kept service (amazingly) and was able to keep updating the radar to try to direct me on what was ahead and behind. (as you can imagine, we didn't get any photos from I-70!) For most of that 40 minutes on I-70 we had to shout to hear each other, though. Definitely not something I want to go through again.
Needless to say, when we finally got through that storm we were all exhausted. When we finally arrived in Hays, KS we were overjoyed to see our hotel room - and a hot cup of decaf coffee. Whew.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Mesa Verde
Way back when we had our 'family meeting' to determine which places we would visit (albeit quickly) on this trip (versus all the incredible places we would have to drive past due to lack of time and funds) Jonathan only had one request - that we visit Mesa Verde. He had to wait until the very end of the trip to get his wish, be we got 'er done! :) And he was just as enchanted with it as he had imagined he would be. A pretty good finale to our trip, I would say.
Since we spent the night in Cortez, CO, we were only about 15 minutes from the base of Mesa Verde. Of course, once there you have a long, winding drive up to the top with absolutely breathtaking views all along the way. At one lookout point we heard our names called and saw it was Hal and Beverly, Stephen's wonderful parents. What a lovely surprise! I just love these folks and can't wait to get to know them better. What a fun couple!
We headed up to the Visitor's Center where we saw beautiful wild horses running loose. Pretty cool. Following a quick lunch in a little picnic area we headed up to the parking area for the Cliff Palace hike. I decided to stay in the car and work on my postcards (that I had been collecting all along the trip but had never written on a single one!) while the rest went on the hike down into Cliff Palace. Truthfully, I had been a bit worried about that hike because of my extreme fear of heights. When Marvin got back he told me that I had made the right decision. It was a steep hike and there were several ladders that would have done me in completely. sigh. Oh well. I truly had a lovely day writing out my postcards and touring the museum. Plus, I didn't die on a ladder so that is all good, eh? ;D I was so glad that Jonathan got to see his favorite place and take a lot of photos. He was excited about it all.
We left Mesa Verde in the late afternoon to make the journey over to Alamosa to our hotel. We stopped for a quick supper at McDonalds in Durango, not because of the food choice, but to be quick... but 'quick' turned out to be 45 minutes at a fast food place!! We had a beautiful drive over Wolf Creek Pass but wish it had been full daylight in order to see it better. But I have to say that the area between Pagosa Springs and Alamosa is about as pretty an area as I have seen. Lots of horse and cattle ranches nestled in the mountains. Just beautiful!
Today pretty much ended the 'official' part of our trip. Kind of melancholy, yet we are all probably ready to be back home. Home is good. And isn't it wonderful to feel that way. :)
Since we spent the night in Cortez, CO, we were only about 15 minutes from the base of Mesa Verde. Of course, once there you have a long, winding drive up to the top with absolutely breathtaking views all along the way. At one lookout point we heard our names called and saw it was Hal and Beverly, Stephen's wonderful parents. What a lovely surprise! I just love these folks and can't wait to get to know them better. What a fun couple!
We headed up to the Visitor's Center where we saw beautiful wild horses running loose. Pretty cool. Following a quick lunch in a little picnic area we headed up to the parking area for the Cliff Palace hike. I decided to stay in the car and work on my postcards (that I had been collecting all along the trip but had never written on a single one!) while the rest went on the hike down into Cliff Palace. Truthfully, I had been a bit worried about that hike because of my extreme fear of heights. When Marvin got back he told me that I had made the right decision. It was a steep hike and there were several ladders that would have done me in completely. sigh. Oh well. I truly had a lovely day writing out my postcards and touring the museum. Plus, I didn't die on a ladder so that is all good, eh? ;D I was so glad that Jonathan got to see his favorite place and take a lot of photos. He was excited about it all.
We left Mesa Verde in the late afternoon to make the journey over to Alamosa to our hotel. We stopped for a quick supper at McDonalds in Durango, not because of the food choice, but to be quick... but 'quick' turned out to be 45 minutes at a fast food place!! We had a beautiful drive over Wolf Creek Pass but wish it had been full daylight in order to see it better. But I have to say that the area between Pagosa Springs and Alamosa is about as pretty an area as I have seen. Lots of horse and cattle ranches nestled in the mountains. Just beautiful!
Today pretty much ended the 'official' part of our trip. Kind of melancholy, yet we are all probably ready to be back home. Home is good. And isn't it wonderful to feel that way. :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Moab to Monument Valley & Four Corners
Wednesday morning we woke up and took Jonathan to the sand dunes across from Arches National Park. We had seen them the day before but didn't know you could actually climb on them until we listened to the audio tour CD we purchased at the Visitor's Center. Jonathan had a blast climbing on the dunes. And wow were they high!! I don't think the photos can possibly show just how large (and how cool) this place was for a kid!
We made a quick run back into Arches to meet up with Kerry and crew and ran into the younger four (Stephen, Rachel, Hannah and Anna) in the parking lot. Of course, that called for a photo, much to Stephen's chagrin. :D
We then got on the highway to head south toward Monument Valley. Again, the journey was as important as the destination - lovely scenery the entire way. Of course there was THIS spot where we all craned our necks (and probably drove in a decidedly unsafe way!) to see what the arrow was all about....
The approach to Monument Valley was stunning, although I wish we had arrived in the morning or at sunset to get the best light. Marvin, as an aficionado of all western movies, was especially looking forward to this place. It has been used as a backdrop for countless western classics through the years. It was fun to see it in person.
We left Monument Valley to head toward our hotel in Cortez, CO, but were able to make a quick stop at the Four Corners Monument just minutes before they closed down. It is a cool place to visit and get the obligatory photo. Plus, since we were so late in the day, we almost had the place to ourselves! :)
Arrived in Cortez (lovely town) in time to grab a bit to eat then head to bed.
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| Jonathan climbing up the dune |
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| It's quite a run down this thing! |
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| to help with the size perspective.... see that speck? That is Jonathan! |
We made a quick run back into Arches to meet up with Kerry and crew and ran into the younger four (Stephen, Rachel, Hannah and Anna) in the parking lot. Of course, that called for a photo, much to Stephen's chagrin. :D
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| cousins - Anna, Hannah, Jackson, Rachel, Stephen, Susanna and Jonathan |
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| Anna and Hannah with their "I climbed Angels Landing" t-shirts from Zion :) |
We then got on the highway to head south toward Monument Valley. Again, the journey was as important as the destination - lovely scenery the entire way. Of course there was THIS spot where we all craned our necks (and probably drove in a decidedly unsafe way!) to see what the arrow was all about....
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| big rock formation with arrow pointing to... what? |
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| WHAT is that arrow pointing to?? |
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| Oh! It is pointing to THIS! Which just happens to be on the other side of the painted rock and all by itself, quite visible!! If you don't wreck the car looking at that stupid arrow, that is! :) |
The approach to Monument Valley was stunning, although I wish we had arrived in the morning or at sunset to get the best light. Marvin, as an aficionado of all western movies, was especially looking forward to this place. It has been used as a backdrop for countless western classics through the years. It was fun to see it in person.
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| Susanna and Candace |
We left Monument Valley to head toward our hotel in Cortez, CO, but were able to make a quick stop at the Four Corners Monument just minutes before they closed down. It is a cool place to visit and get the obligatory photo. Plus, since we were so late in the day, we almost had the place to ourselves! :)
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| Jackson is in Utah, I am in Colorado, Jonathan is in New Mexico and Marvin is in Arizona |
Arrived in Cortez (lovely town) in time to grab a bit to eat then head to bed.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Arches National Park
We spent the night in Richfield, UT where we enjoyed breakfast together before getting on the road. The lady who ran the breakfast at the hotel was so sweet. She saw our table full of people and brought over a tray and a half of the sweet rolls to give to us. She said she would have to throw them away and would prefer to give them to someone who would use them. I think that clearly shows that she saw Jackson and Jonathan at the table. :D They were thrilled and decided that was the nicest Holiday Inn Express that they had ever stayed at. :)
The drive that morning was easy taking I-70 from Richfield over to Moab (and Arches National Park). Although it was interstate driving, the scenery was spectacular. We stopped at one rest stop in particular that had amazing views and rock formations. Jackson and I got tickled, though, at the two ladies who were selling their jewelry and other items at the rest stop. They clearly had this place staked out and had spread their stuff along the entire length of the sidewalk next to the parking area. Including right under the sign that said "No Vending or Soliciting". They must have a deal worked out with the state police because there is NO way they haven't been noticed! :)
We arrived in Moab in time to check in to our hotel, take a quick breather and then head over to Arches. We spent some time in the Visitor's Center first to get acclimated. While there we were able to purchase a driving audio CD tour and a little paperback book that went along with it which gave information about each of the scenic stops throughout the park.
One of our first stops was at the area known as 'Park Avenue'. Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw a rock formation that looked just like Nefertiti. To my delight the audio CD told me that it was indeed named 'Nefertiti'! Uncanny how much it resembles the hieroglyphs we saw in Egypt.
Balancing Rock was another favorite formation. We tried to get 'cute' shots here but I am afraid that I fail at being the photographer in that situation. Ah well.
Arches National Park has so many different areas with a variety of rock formations. It was a truly fascinating place. But, as the name implies, they are known for their arches. Delicate Arch turned out to be our favorite and we all saw it from different vantage points. Jackson elected to go on the long hike clear up to the arch itself in order to see it at sunset. He tagged along with Kerry, Candace and Susanna. Marvin and Jonathan took a shorter hike up the backside (not getting as close as Jackson but Jonathan used his zoom lens to get some close ups). I enjoyed Delicate Arch from a third viewpoint. All were quite lovely and unique.
As the sun went down Marvin, Jonathan and I drove out of the park and into Moab to get some supper, then ran by the grocery store and even got the car washed! We met up with Jackson back at the hotel and enjoyed seeing his photos and video from the top.
Wonderful day!
The drive that morning was easy taking I-70 from Richfield over to Moab (and Arches National Park). Although it was interstate driving, the scenery was spectacular. We stopped at one rest stop in particular that had amazing views and rock formations. Jackson and I got tickled, though, at the two ladies who were selling their jewelry and other items at the rest stop. They clearly had this place staked out and had spread their stuff along the entire length of the sidewalk next to the parking area. Including right under the sign that said "No Vending or Soliciting". They must have a deal worked out with the state police because there is NO way they haven't been noticed! :)
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| the famous sign |
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| see the line of jewelry, etc? :) |
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| Jonathan taking in the incredible view |
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| (I just love this photo!) |
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| what they were all looking at :) |
We arrived in Moab in time to check in to our hotel, take a quick breather and then head over to Arches. We spent some time in the Visitor's Center first to get acclimated. While there we were able to purchase a driving audio CD tour and a little paperback book that went along with it which gave information about each of the scenic stops throughout the park.
One of our first stops was at the area known as 'Park Avenue'. Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw a rock formation that looked just like Nefertiti. To my delight the audio CD told me that it was indeed named 'Nefertiti'! Uncanny how much it resembles the hieroglyphs we saw in Egypt.
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| 'Park Avenue' in Arches National Park |
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| Nefertiti!! |
Balancing Rock was another favorite formation. We tried to get 'cute' shots here but I am afraid that I fail at being the photographer in that situation. Ah well.
Arches National Park has so many different areas with a variety of rock formations. It was a truly fascinating place. But, as the name implies, they are known for their arches. Delicate Arch turned out to be our favorite and we all saw it from different vantage points. Jackson elected to go on the long hike clear up to the arch itself in order to see it at sunset. He tagged along with Kerry, Candace and Susanna. Marvin and Jonathan took a shorter hike up the backside (not getting as close as Jackson but Jonathan used his zoom lens to get some close ups). I enjoyed Delicate Arch from a third viewpoint. All were quite lovely and unique.
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| My viewpoint - I hadn't realized that Delicate Arch was in a row of formations like this. |
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| Jonathan on the trail with his Dad |
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| Jonathan's closeup of Delicate Arch |
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| taken by Jackson on the trail up to Delicate Arch. See how that formation looks like an elephant head? |
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| a ledge on the high trail with a pretty good little drop off to the side! |
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| along the rim at Delicate Arch |
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| Delicate Arch with the sun starting to go down |
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| see the people in at the base of the arch? (for size perspective) |
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| rock formation across from Delicate Arch |
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| Beautiful view! |
As the sun went down Marvin, Jonathan and I drove out of the park and into Moab to get some supper, then ran by the grocery store and even got the car washed! We met up with Jackson back at the hotel and enjoyed seeing his photos and video from the top.
Wonderful day!
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