Trying to get caught up on some our travels. Still some more updating to do.
All is well on the road !!
7/1/09
Moab, Utah
We spoiled ourselves last night and stayed at a luxury resort, which in Spanish is called Les Grandes Ocho Hacienda (english translation Super 8 Motel). Drove a few miles up the road to Arches National Park. Did a two mile hike to Landscape Arch, which has a span of 300 ft. Great hike. Then drove farther into the park and did a mile hike to Delicate Arch. Great scenery and awesome rock formations. We then retreated back to our fabulous resort for a swim at the pool. Moab has lots of rafting companies offering trips down the Colorado River that flows through town. I left the kids and Carolyn and drove into town and inquired about where we could swim in the river. First place I stopped said to drive twenty miles to a spot, second spot I inquired said don’t go in the river it’s dangerous and they are still looking for a body from a few weeks ago. Stopped in at a little art gallery and asked some locals, they said not to go in the Colorado River but gave me directions to a little place called Mill Creek. I went back to the resort and dragged the family out of the pool and said we were going to check out another place. Drove a mile down the road and then hiked along a stream up a canyon and after about a half mile arrived at this great little swimming hole. We had a blast jumping off the rocks into the water.
While the kids and I were jumping in the water Carolyn started talking to a 20 yr old girl
that was there supervising a few kids (please, let the record show that it was not me that started the conversation with the girl in the swimsuit). Turns out the girl, Melisa, was a camp counselor and was really into mountain biking. Carolyn mentioned that Katie had done the Dirt Divas mountain biking camp in Vermont last year. Melisa had gone to a mountain biking seminar by Nadine Budbill who runs the Dirt Diva camp. Melisa then said that she remembered seeing Katie on the Dirt Diva’s website. Small world !!
After our trip to the swimming hole it was back to the resort for another swim. We then went up the road to Canyonlands Nat’l Park. We did a quick mile hike there to Upheaval Dome and watched the sun go down. Back to the resort to get some shuteye.
Photos from July 1st ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_01_Moab?authkey=Gv1sRgCMit3ufHzYrMwAE
7/2/09
After our two day stay at the luxury resort we hit the road and headed for Capitol Reef National Park. We arrived at Capitol Reef and inquired about hikes in the park. We were told that there were flash flood warnings so it was not advisable to hike into the canyons. We drove around the park and checked out the sights. Then on the road again. Our next stop was Calf Creek Recreation area. We hiked for three miles up a box canyon before we came to a 120 ft waterfall and dove in to the pool at the base of the falls, quite refreshing !!! We then hiked the three miles out of the canyon and continued on Rte 12 in Utah. The road at some points had no shoulders and sheer cliffs on both sides of the road. We stopped at a campground that was about 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park. On the way we saw cattle grazing on the open range, no fences, highway is part of the pasture. After avoiding buffalo and bears on the road in Yellowstone it was odd to have to be on the lookout for cows.
Photos from July 2nd ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_02_MoabEscalante?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCBv4T3pOn7cw
7/3/09
Woke up and headed to Bryce Canyon. We did a hike to Queen’s Garden in the park . The hike is touted as the most scenic three mile hike in the world. Not sure who does the rating but it was a great hike with beautiful rock formations. A lot of great views of the orange rock formations in Bryce Canyon. We the took a short drive and stopped early at a campground with a pool and just hung out and played cards and had supoper over the campfire. We had driven in to ‘town’ to pick up some groceries, the groicery story did not have much, ie the meat section had hamburg, hot dogs and a few chicken breasts. I gues if you live in this part of the country you raise your own beef. Played hearts after supper, no need to say who won but his name rhymes with Mad.
Photos from July 3rd ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_03_Bryce?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGggav4qdG5lgE
7/4/09
On to Zion National Park. Arrived at Zion at start of day and Danny, Katie and I saddled up for a horseback ride. As we were waiting to have our horses selected we noticed that one was a extra strong one. The cowboys assigned that horse to me, must be they took one look at my broad shoulders and figured I was the cowboy that could handle such a strong horse. We had a good time with our horseback ride across the river and through the canyon. Carolyn took a hike, somehow she missed the horseback riding. She’s just no Annie Oakley. We net up after the ride and went for a three mile hike to the Emerald pools where we could jup in to the water, which was quite refreshing as it was 97 degrees. We the rode the shuttle bus up to another riverside walk into the canyon. After our hikes we pressed on to Mesquite Nevada and stayed at a hotel with a pool and watched the fireworks (all five minutes of them!).
Photos from July 4th ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_04_Zion_Mesquite?authkey=Gv1sRgCOqpqcuFxsiVAQ
All is well on the road !!
7/1/09
Moab, Utah
We spoiled ourselves last night and stayed at a luxury resort, which in Spanish is called Les Grandes Ocho Hacienda (english translation Super 8 Motel). Drove a few miles up the road to Arches National Park. Did a two mile hike to Landscape Arch, which has a span of 300 ft. Great hike. Then drove farther into the park and did a mile hike to Delicate Arch. Great scenery and awesome rock formations. We then retreated back to our fabulous resort for a swim at the pool. Moab has lots of rafting companies offering trips down the Colorado River that flows through town. I left the kids and Carolyn and drove into town and inquired about where we could swim in the river. First place I stopped said to drive twenty miles to a spot, second spot I inquired said don’t go in the river it’s dangerous and they are still looking for a body from a few weeks ago. Stopped in at a little art gallery and asked some locals, they said not to go in the Colorado River but gave me directions to a little place called Mill Creek. I went back to the resort and dragged the family out of the pool and said we were going to check out another place. Drove a mile down the road and then hiked along a stream up a canyon and after about a half mile arrived at this great little swimming hole. We had a blast jumping off the rocks into the water.
While the kids and I were jumping in the water Carolyn started talking to a 20 yr old girl
that was there supervising a few kids (please, let the record show that it was not me that started the conversation with the girl in the swimsuit). Turns out the girl, Melisa, was a camp counselor and was really into mountain biking. Carolyn mentioned that Katie had done the Dirt Divas mountain biking camp in Vermont last year. Melisa had gone to a mountain biking seminar by Nadine Budbill who runs the Dirt Diva camp. Melisa then said that she remembered seeing Katie on the Dirt Diva’s website. Small world !!
After our trip to the swimming hole it was back to the resort for another swim. We then went up the road to Canyonlands Nat’l Park. We did a quick mile hike there to Upheaval Dome and watched the sun go down. Back to the resort to get some shuteye.
Photos from July 1st ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_01_Moab?authkey=Gv1sRgCMit3ufHzYrMwAE
7/2/09
After our two day stay at the luxury resort we hit the road and headed for Capitol Reef National Park. We arrived at Capitol Reef and inquired about hikes in the park. We were told that there were flash flood warnings so it was not advisable to hike into the canyons. We drove around the park and checked out the sights. Then on the road again. Our next stop was Calf Creek Recreation area. We hiked for three miles up a box canyon before we came to a 120 ft waterfall and dove in to the pool at the base of the falls, quite refreshing !!! We then hiked the three miles out of the canyon and continued on Rte 12 in Utah. The road at some points had no shoulders and sheer cliffs on both sides of the road. We stopped at a campground that was about 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park. On the way we saw cattle grazing on the open range, no fences, highway is part of the pasture. After avoiding buffalo and bears on the road in Yellowstone it was odd to have to be on the lookout for cows.
Photos from July 2nd ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_02_MoabEscalante?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCBv4T3pOn7cw
7/3/09
Woke up and headed to Bryce Canyon. We did a hike to Queen’s Garden in the park . The hike is touted as the most scenic three mile hike in the world. Not sure who does the rating but it was a great hike with beautiful rock formations. A lot of great views of the orange rock formations in Bryce Canyon. We the took a short drive and stopped early at a campground with a pool and just hung out and played cards and had supoper over the campfire. We had driven in to ‘town’ to pick up some groceries, the groicery story did not have much, ie the meat section had hamburg, hot dogs and a few chicken breasts. I gues if you live in this part of the country you raise your own beef. Played hearts after supper, no need to say who won but his name rhymes with Mad.
Photos from July 3rd ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_03_Bryce?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGggav4qdG5lgE
7/4/09
On to Zion National Park. Arrived at Zion at start of day and Danny, Katie and I saddled up for a horseback ride. As we were waiting to have our horses selected we noticed that one was a extra strong one. The cowboys assigned that horse to me, must be they took one look at my broad shoulders and figured I was the cowboy that could handle such a strong horse. We had a good time with our horseback ride across the river and through the canyon. Carolyn took a hike, somehow she missed the horseback riding. She’s just no Annie Oakley. We net up after the ride and went for a three mile hike to the Emerald pools where we could jup in to the water, which was quite refreshing as it was 97 degrees. We the rode the shuttle bus up to another riverside walk into the canyon. After our hikes we pressed on to Mesquite Nevada and stayed at a hotel with a pool and watched the fireworks (all five minutes of them!).
Photos from July 4th ----v
http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtcas/2009_07_04_Zion_Mesquite?authkey=Gv1sRgCOqpqcuFxsiVAQ
This is way fun reading - I get to feel like I'm on a roadtrip - thank you for that. - Linda
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