Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 9/14/09

We woke up this morning to the sound of soft rain falling on the winniemobile and had anticipated a cool and rainy day. Au contraire! By the time we were up and about the skies were blue, there were wispy clouds hanging around the top of the Tetons and the air smelled that rich piney smell after it rains. Truly divine! (Picture of the day – Mr. Ned looking mighty fine in front of the Grand Tetons). We had agreed to connect up with the family at noon, so decided to make good use of our time this morning. We did a little site-seeing through-out the park, visiting Jackson Lodge and enjoyed a mid morning hike at Jenny Lake. My favorite morning so far! After we connected with the gang at noonish, Ned and I decided to forge ahead into Yellowstone Park and try and get everyone campsites for two days. Along the way we spotted a Bison next to the roadway – very cool. We had a fun late afternoon & evening, drinking wine and sharing a meal. We took a little stroll down to Yellowstone Lake and got some great shots of the cloud reflections in the water and dusk. A light rain begin in the evening, just in time for bed.

Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming 9/13/09

Today was action packed! We rolled out of the campground at about 10:15 (which was like herding kittens!!) and headed north up highway 89. It was absolutely stunning driving through canyons and rolling hills. The fall colors are just beginning to turn and it was one of those magical days where the temperature was between 65-70 degrees, the aspen were quaking and the clouds rolled overhead. We arrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at around 2:00, time for a lunch/dinner stopover at a steak house. After lunch we strolled around town and enjoyed the Cowboy Jubilee that was happening in the town square. Lots of arts, crafts and cowboy music to keep us entertained. (Vic we were thinking of you!). Even though the clouds began to look a little foreboding we decided to take the tram ride up to Rendezvous Mountain, which was over 10,000 feet. Although it was a little chilly, views of the Grand Tetons and valley were spectacular! (Of course the 40 mile an hour wind also got our attention. Note to self: next time don’t wear the girly sundress to top of mountain). We split up after the tram ride, Ned and I took the winniemobile through an 8 mile “shortcut” to the town of Moose. The rest of the family played it safe and took the highway. Both of us saw moose along the way! (Yes, we have photo documentation). After doing a quick drive thru Colter Bay Campground, the fam decided they didn’t want to “rough it” and headed for Moran RV Park. We opted for a night at the Grand Teton National Park. We hope to get in a bike ride tomorrow and meet up with everyone by mid-day. (No Scott, I am not purposely ditching the family). After looking at the 60 or so pictures of today, I decided to post the family picture taken this morning at Bear Lake State Park in front of the folk’s RV. How’s this for a classic family “what I did on my summer vacation” photo?!

Bear Lake State Park, Utah 9/12/09

Having arrived in the dark, it was nice to explore Willard Bay State Park this morning. We took a leisurely 5 mile bike ride around the park and discovered that the lake was fresh water. We assumed it was part of the Great Salt Lake, but it was a reservoir that drained into the Salt Lake. The campground was surprisingly lush, with some campsites located right on the water. We finally packed up and headed towards northern Utah at about 11ish. We took highway 89, also known as the Logan Canyon Scenic Drive. (Thanks Polly and Nancy for the book. It’s the first of many recommended scenic drives we will be taking). Even though we were only about 2 hours to the next destination, we took multiple stops along the way to investigate. The above picture is taken at the Bear Lake overlook. Bear Lake straddles both Utah and Idaho. We are camped at the southern tip on the Utah side at Rendezvous Campground. So named for the famous rendezvous of fur trappers and Indians held in the summers of 1827 & 1828. The gatherings were attended by a thousand or more Indians and mountain men, including Jedediah Smith. We spent the afternoon bike riding, playing games and making use of the new hammock. We connected with the fam at about 7ish. It was great seeing my big brother and Dru and especially fun catching up and retelling old stories. Tomorrow Wyoming

Willard Bay State Park, Utah 9/11/09

What a L-O-N-G day! We pulled out of Nevada City at about 7:15 this morning with Elko, Nevada as our destination. Our big plan was to eat at a Basque Restaurant and then call it quits for the day. Well, we managed to miss lunch by nine minutes and were 3 hours short of dinner. We took a quick tour around town and since I wasn’t interested in gambling and Ned wasn’t interested in “hoochie mama” parlors, we decided to blow this popcorn stand. I’m not kidding about the girlie joints. Case in point, check out today’s picture! (Diddling- really??). We decided to push on to Utah, baby! Our back-up plan was to stay at Antelope State Park, an island with lots of wildlife (birds, bison, shrimp & flies) located on the Great Salt Lake. When we arrived, a little after 8 pm the campground was full. Hmmm – onto Plan C. We located another State Park about 45 miles north; the lovely Willard Bay State Park, very close to the freeway, but it includes free hot showers and internet access! wahoo! Looking forward to tomorrow when we hook-up with my folks, brother Gary and his wife Dru. Let the good times roll.

Homeward Bound: Nevada City, CA 6/27/08

We got up really early this morning raring to go! It was great to hang out in Zion for 3 days and get a chance to relax, but I was ready to be on the move again. At 8:15 we turned on the engine, fired up the ol’ girl and…she wouldn’t shift out of park. Mmmm. After futzing with it for awhile Ned decided to call our hero, Rick, in Macon, GA. If you recall, he checked us out a couple of weeks ago and gave us the thumbs up. Well, he remembered us right away and even better yet knew exactly what the problem was. Apparently, VW has a recall on a “brake light safety switch” thingy and he told us how to trick the engine into gear. It was kinda funky, but it worked! So at about 8:45 we roared out of Zion and headed for Kolob Canyon, the north part of the park. We only stayed for a few minutes and decided to keep moving. Our next stop was Great Basin National Park, the least visited park in the U.S. We got there about 12:00, took a lap thru the visitors center and just weren’t feeling the love. (By this time we were pretty much done with desert landscape.) Our camping spot for the night was just up the road outside of Ely, NV. We drove in, looked at each other, and both said, “Let’s go home.” It just felt like the right thing to do. We knew it was going to be a L-O-N-G ride home, about 12 hours all together, but we didn’t relish the thought of waking up tomorrow and driving thru more desolate landscape on the “Loneliest Road in America”, Highway 50. So, to pass the time we decided to put together our stats and list of bests. Here goes: And of course, the best traveling buddy EVER my hubby, Ned. You’d think that after 9,000 miles, and being together 24x7 for 35 days we would be sick of each other. Au contraire, I’m more in love than ever. He’s not only the funniest person I know, but the best ever at solving problems, remaining calm and always up for an adventute. Thank you Mom & Dad for keeping an eye on the place and thanks to our friends for keeping in touch. It’s good to be back home! (10:30 pm)

Family Reunion: Zion National Park, UT 6/26/08

We had another relaxed low-key day in Zion. We got up the usual mid-morning, rode our bikes into town and hung-out at an espresso café. They have a great internet connection and we were able to upload the blog easily. It was so pleasant that we stayed for quite awhile munching on muffins and getting caught up on the news. I was wondering how all the wildfires were doing in Nevada County and was relieved to hear that they were mostly under control. (Hope that’s true and not just what was reported in the news). By this time things were beginning to heat up so we thought we would explore some new swimming holes. I don’t know what changed overnight, but yikes, the water was freezing this morning! Our last swim was the night before, maybe 12 hours earlier(?) and I swear it felt great then. We kept trying different spots but the water didn’t get any warmer. We finally decided that the best way to get cleaned up was to go back to the campsite and take showers/wash hair using the outdoor shower on Winnie. (We were sure trying our best to look presentable for the family get together this afternoon). It felt great to finally wash our hair and soap up. The funny thing is just when I finished washing my hair our water ran out! Hard to believe we’ve run thru that much water in just a couple of days. Fortunately, the campground makes it easy to refill up. The rest of the afternoon was taking naps and reading trash magazines, (again thank you Megan. I LOVE that you now work for Entertainment Weekly. The only problem is that Ned and I are too old and too out of it to know who most of the “celebrities” are in the magazines…) We finally met up with Polly and Eric at the Visitors Center at about 3:00. It was WONDERFUL to see them. (Nancy we really missed you. It would have been great fun to have all of us together). We thought there was some symmetry in that we saw Polly & Eric at the beginning of our trip and now seeing them again towards the end. We had a fun afternoon visiting the Human History Museum, taking the tram up the canyon and having dinner and drinks at the lodge. (See photo). Afterwards, Eric and Polly stopped by our campsite and checked out our set-up. It was quite fun having “company” at our humble abode. They are just beginning their road trip – happy trails to you both! Afterwards, Ned & I rode our bikes into town to stock up on drinks for the ride across the desert tomorrow. We also wanted to post the picture as soon as possible so Nancy could see it. We are almost home (2 days) – looking forward to getting together with friends and family. I’ve missed you guys! P.S. Hoping to throw a big barbeque on July 5th for Ned’s birthday. If you’re reading this – you are invited. (Do you think the Mayor of Ville Platte will come? Come on down y’all, we’d love to show you our neck of the piney woods).

Lazy Days of Summer: Zion National Park, UT 6/25/08

Today was one of those perfect summer days. We got up about 9ish, made coffee, hung out for a bit and then decided to ride our bikes into town to find an internet connection. The wind had kicked up a bit last night, enough to really cool things down this morning. It felt great to go for a spin before the heat of the day made the ride unbearable. Because we are in a remote location and in a canyon, it was a bit tricky finding a reliable internet connection. We stopped by several motels and coffee shops before we found one that would allow me to upload our picture and blog from yesterday. By the time we finished it was close to noon, we hadn’t eaten anything yet today and were starving. We rode back to the campsite and decided to make our first official pancakes of the trip. For the record, they were blueberry and scrumptious! We hopped on our bikes again and rode along the Pa’rus Trail that parallels the Virgin River. We found the perfect swimming spot and spent the next hour or so just swimming and playing in the cold river. It felt marvelous. We so appreciate a nice cool swimming hole. One thing that was hard to get used to in the South were all the really warm and muddy lakes – and find one without gators! Ned suggested we hop on a shuttle and head up the canyon to do the Narrows Riverwalk. What a great suggestion. We spent 3 or 4 hours on this adventure. (See photo of us as we start up the Narrows). After a mile hike on a paved trail there is a set of stairs that lead into the river. The walls of the canyon become narrow and it is so much fun to walk up the river, over rocks and thru the fast current. At some points the river was up to about my mid-drift. This is a very popular activity in the park and we had a great time watching the human masses. I would say the majority of the people were visiting from other countries (Sweden, Germany, Japan, Italy) and it was very entertaining to see their different styles of negotiating the trek. Our favorite was the group of older Swedes, at least in their mid-70’s, who took on this hike with great earnestness and vigor. They were dressed from head to toe in long sleeve pants and shirts, floppy hats, scarves tied around their neck, all with matching walking sticks. They were determined to venture up the river as far as they could go. Meanwhile, Ned and I were wearing swim suits, carrying improvised walking sticks, stopping frequently to swim, and taking a break to munch on sandwiches at the bend in the river. These old guys were definitely showing us up! We eventually headed back to the visitor center, disembarked from the shuttle, hopped on our bikes and rode into town in search of liquor. (All in all, we rode about 13 miles today). One of the more annoying aspects of Utah is that it is really hard to find “adult beverages”. Ned finally settled on a great beer called “Polygamy Porter”. The tag line on the bottle says “Why have just one” and “Bring some home for the wives!” HA. I finally settled on ice tea – sigh. Back at the campsite, I took a nap in the hammock, Ned made us omelets for dinner and then we decided to go for another swim in the river before heading off to bed. It’s great because it stays light to well after 9. Was this a perfect day or what?! Tomorrow we meet up with Polly and Eric. I guess this means we are going to have to find a way to get cleaned up for company.