Day 39... Got up early which has been the trend for this stretch. It has also been easy to get up on time because dad wakes us up around 5:45 which is generous because he usually jumps out of his tent between 4:45 and 5:00. I made breakfast, we had oatmeal and bananas tea and coffee a la annie and went back to yellowstone to finish the drive. Saw more thermal features but the sulpher smell was a little harder to stomach this early in the morning. We saw another buffalo, beautiful waterfalls and the yellow stones for which the park was named for. Then it was back on the road for a 7Hr drive through amazing mountains which were the big horn mts. (Which was the range that the battle of little big horn was fought at) the drive was as beautiful as being in the park making it easier to put the hours of driving in. We made it to mt rushmore area around 11pm, set up camp and mom called and told us about a meteor shower best viewed in the north central usa... Right where we are, Thanks mom! We were right on time for the peak and stayed up for a few hours to watch the beautiful light show. Then to bed to get up early once again :-)

Day 38... Woke up early had free waffle breakfast in the lobby of our wonderful hotel. Any hotel that has running hot water and a shower has become wonderful. Amazing how your perspective changes after 5 weeks of camping! We drove 8 hours to yellowstone and set up camp. i made a wonderful lunch wraps with rice beans, corn and tuna. It was great but we ended up being a lunch buffet for some aggressive mosquitoes i ended up finishing mine in the car. we were in the park by 5 saw old faithful, which erupts every 90 mins or so and we hit it with 10 mins to go, we saw sulpher vents, mud pot, elk and a buffalo, bald eagles and ospres after sunset we drove back to camp and set up a camp fire and just relaxed so we could get up early and see some more of the park. It is amazing to see and be reminded how active and hot it is just inches under our feet. All dad can say is wow this is so cool i love this stuff. This stuff is so unbelievable it almost feels like im looking at the moon or some sci fi movie. Can't wait for tomorrow

Day 37... Got up early to see rainier. We packed up camp and drove through the park taking selected short hikes at points of interest the mountain is a 14 thousand foot glacier that is covered in ice and snow... dad loved it and kept saying " ive never seen mountains like that before " we took a 5 mile hike with amazing views of rainier around noon and took in as much of that fragrent mountain air as we could. We had lunch at a restaurant on the river super yummie. Then we had a long drive to cour d alean, idaho. There was only one hotel room left in the town with two beds. But it was nice because we could get a shower and good nights sleep. We decided to do the old early to bed early to rise and get a move on in the am because we loose an hour between here and yellowstone.

Day 36... This morning was more sluggish than most. 2 days of drinking staying ur late and loud wonderful music takes a lot out of you . We Drove to bremerton washington to get some quick showers at pauls which was so wonderful and amazing. Them we beat feet to seattle to pick up dad. Our timing was wonderful as we pulled up and i jumped out found him he was getting his bag. I took the boys down town to have dinner at a pan african place that lori and i had gone to last year. Then we walked around pikes market, saw the puget sound and got gelatto then began our drive up to rainer. We ended up setting up camp in the dark but i guess if he learns in the dark it will be easy for him to do it with some light. It got cold quick but we stuck it out as long as we could to play cards but then it got to be too much we turned in and zipped ur into our sleeping bags. Thank god for mummy bags! Up early tomorrow to show dad the biggest mountain he's ever seen.

Day 35... Woke up to hot sun coming into my tent and other people moving around in the lot. We started the day w/ bloody marys and mamosas and took a walk around the Lot looking for someone selling breakfast food i had eaten before but matt and holly got pancakes. We did our best all day to stay out of the sun by making a shelter with the rainfly of the tents and a tarp. We played corn hole and ate and listened to music all day. Great day to recover and relax. At last nights i ran into a friend from college who had moved to northern california, it was a great surprise! The show was amazing the best Phish show i had seen this far purer fun and a great night. We all hung out at the venue a bit longer tonight to avoid the crazy crowd we fought through last night to get back to camp. We went down to shakedown to get some food but because we were late we got shut out so we ate a bit back at camp crackers and veggies tonight before bed.. Better for me but i like grease from time to time. Tomorrow we leave for seattle to get dad i can't wait!

Day 34 we drove to george, washington today to camp along the colombia river and catch 2 Phish shows at the gorge. This weekend still have our caravan of 10 and its wonderful to meet such great people and have an amazing week long adventure w/ them. Im also preping dad for his trip to seattle and to come home with us. we booked camp sites along our route excited for him to come out! We set up camp and pre gamed a bit before the show to avoid the 9 dollar (pbr) beers inside. the show was great we had a blast! This show and tomorrow nights show is at the gorge a natural venue totally open air with an amazing view of the river and hills around it . The music started at sunset and they played for about 3 hours. Steve and i got food from the lot after the show:-) jerry rolls, they are gigantic veggie eggrolls. With a head full of music and a belly of grease i climbed into my tent with dreams of doing it all over again tomorrow night.

Day 33... drove to massoula montana through a crazy mountain storm. The main part of it was off in the distance however we were close enough to get crazy winds and a good amount of rain the lightning was over the mountains and it was beautiful. We dropped off sara at the airport it was so small we dropped her right at the terminal and she was through to the plane in 10mins or so. We got a tip from matts friend about the kettle house brewery so we went for a visit and tasting at their newest pour room. We decided that we would make this our stopping point for the night and drive to the gorge tomorrow. We got some info from the bartenders about things to do and see and a cheap place to stay. We spent the night in the Bel aire hotel which was clean but by no means a hilton! I didn't have to clean the bathroom so i was happy. Steve matt and i walked around the town and went to their thursday night river fest to hear music and eat some food. Then once the fair ended around 9 we bar hopped until our other 7 stopped into town and we all had some drinks and played pool together. Went back to the hotel got a good nights sleep with plans to hit the road early.

Day 32... it was really cold this morning but we are at 9500 ft and our camp Hr by a patch of snow so its not too surprising. The weather has been in the 80's during the day and in the low 40's high 30's at night we cooked some oatmeal and a marmet stole some beef jerky in a bag while we weren't looking ...i tried yelling at it and chasing it but he just didn't care! We hiked 2 passes numerous steep snow fields and 5 of us did static peak but not me i was exhausted. we completed 13 miles in 7 hours. most of our miles were down hill but we still had our fair share of up as well. As we approached the end at the death canyon trail head our other 3 who had hiked out on day 2, were there waiting for us with cold beers and they had reserved hotel rooms for us in jackson hole :-) love my friends! An amazing Shower, and food at the the snake river brewery 4 pitchers and a ton of food in a private room made it feel like a family dinner. This trip made us a family.

Day 31...we woke up w/ an amazing view of the mountains which took away some of the muscle soreness and gave us the push to get going again. We have another pass to do today. We lost 3 hikers in our party they were just not about to do 2 more days of this but they did great! The 7 of us continued over hurricane pass at 10700 ft elevation to down to mirror lake. This wasn't in a campsite we were in a national forest not the park anymore so we had an area of a few miles that we could camp in. We set ur our camp, had dinner, and then before bed we had to hang all the stuff we put in bear boxes last night in bags and hang them from the trees 10foot from the ground and 4 foot off the tree. We had crazy storms pass over us with whipping winds, thunder and lighting. It got really cold and i didn't sleep all that great but we went to bed really early so i rested enough. This trip is amazing! Can't wait to send photos i can't do it justice just look up some of these places or Ill show you pictures when i get back.

Day 30... This morning we woke up to a heard buffalo it was amazing! They are huge majestic animals. We also saw a golden eagle it was beautiful. We parked the car threw on our packs and headed into the woods with 9 friends to cover 9 miles 4500 ft in elevation crossing snow fields to hike paint brush canyon and over paint brush divide we went down 2000 feet to campe just passed lake solitude it was beautiful! We had to eat 200 feet from our camp to prevent bears from bothering us. We also had to put all our food and anything that was sented in the bear boxes. Just as we were getting ready for bed a storm in the distance was passing and the sun was setting and created the perfect lighting situation which made the teton mountains glow a bright red. It looked like they were on fire an amazing way to end an equally amazing day!

Day 29...this morning we got up early and started driving up to wyoming w/ matt and sara. Total, we have a caravan of 10 people meeting up in teton national park. We have people from massachusetts, new jersey, pennsylvania, delaware, and virginia. As we drove in to the tetons we saw prong horn, buffalo, and elk and a beautiful view of the teton mountains. We set up camp and got to bed early the night before we set out on our 3 day back packing trip . Im so excited!

Day 28... Show day! I got up early to get my tb test checked. I drove 20 mins to downtown denver across from where the colorado rockies play. The city was extremely clean and the people were really friendly! Steve and i Went out to breakfast at a cafe/ yoga studio kinda weird but the food was great! We picked up matt and sara and headed to the largest REI store to get supplies ready for backpacking. The store had a climbing wall and a river through it so crazy! We went back to the hotel got our packs ready for our trip to make tomorrow easier. We opened our window to hear the pre show band pool side. Then we all met up out side to tailgate before the show. We met up with vidal and his crew from san francisco And the east coast crew that we are backpacking with. We all piled on the bus to get to the show at red rocks. What a great show and an amazing venue! It is in a natural theater between two giant rocks holding almost 10 thousand people. It was a great night!

Day 27... This morning we woke up and steve told me that a half hour after i fell sleep a bear came through our campsite thank god for ear plugs! We started driving to colorado to stay w/ matt and sara in denver. We are getting excited for our red rocks show tomorrow. We unpacked the car went for a swim, got a shower and napped so we could get up at 1am for the after show late night concert at the hotel. We had a blast and got a great nights sleep!

Day... 26 this morning we started driving to arches national park. We drove through the city surrounded by mountains, then through more desert like areas as we drove south. We ran into a thunder storm with heavy rain with the cray lightning but we didn't hear the crackling thunder because there wasn't anything for the sound to bounce off of. That was neat! Once we made it to arches we drove through the park and stopped at balance rock, took the primitive trail to the north and south window arches and explored a few others while we were in the area. These arches were created by the wind water and ice in the sandstone. It was truly amazing to see these structures defy gravity. We hiked 2 miles to see landscape arch which had a 180 ton chunk fall off of the arch 20 years ago. We hiked 4 miles to catch sunset at delicate arch which is the most photographed arch in the park. We hiked back to the car in the dark with our head lamps to light the way. We stopped back at balance rock to take photos of the stars they came out great! Our campsite was 27 miles away, what the internet didn't tell us was that it was up a mountain 27 miles up dirt and gravel roads. We got to our campsite around midnight super scary almost slept in the car. But we set up camp and turned in for a good nights sleep.

Day 25... Slept in a cold damp camp site but it was fine and super comphy in my sleeping bag. The alarm was set for 6 but both steve and i just couldn't bring ourselves out of the warmth of our bags. We finally gave it an "on the count of three.. heave ho" we were up and at work. Break down camp and get on the road, tonight we camp in salt lake city. Our camp is in a place called antelope island in the middle of salt lake. We stopped at a little general store in who knows where nevada for lunch. This was the whole town, thrift store, deli, and market all in one small store and they had a gas station out front. One of the local customers checked out pur order...wow! We have been driving forever passing countless dust devils, salt flats, and casinos. I think that's all nevada has. It is a beautiful drive tho, its flat but we are encircled by 6- 9 thousand foot mountains. We are looking at getting in to salt lake at around 10 but the clocks drop back an hour so we may just get a hotel. Not sure yet we'll just have to pibe it ( play it by ear).

Day 24... Slept in sonora had a great shower, did laundry, and got an oil change. We drove through the serra nevada mountains to yosemity. We hiked 5 miles up the half dome trail to see vernal and nevada falls. We made a quick stop so steve could take a dip in emerald lake it was amazing. We took a sunset bike ride through yosemity valley to mirror lake looking at the cliff side of half dome. As we were leaving steve heard a noise like something jumping out of a tree. he stopped to look and we saw a mountain lion approximately 25 feet away from us. I pointed and said "holy explosive, its a cat ". both the lion and steve and i were trying to leave the area unbothered by the other. Scary scary scary, but exciting since everything went well. They are truly magnificent creatures and it was cool to see her in her element. I do feel more relaxed when there are bars but it was epic. It was around 10pm by the time we got up to our camp site and set camp with in the hour. The weirdest thing was putting all our food and personal care products in bear boxes because if you leave them in your car they will rip it out ... Taking the yogi bear thing way too far .

Day 23... Slept in. It was great, had a warm shower and got coffee matte and breakfast w/ john. Breakfast was toasted bagels w/ cream cheese and tomato and avaccado super amazing! Steve and i left john who was making arrangements to get to his movie primere in la tomorrow night. Go see his movie paper hearts! Steve and i went sight seeing around the city . We went to upper haight, twin peaks, fisherman wharf, and the golden gate and bay bridges. We drove toward yosemity and made it to sonora to a hotel for the night. A bed what a treat!

Day 22...I Got the car unlocked by making friends w/ tom and bob from cali while everyone was sleeping, steve got a slim jim from the ranger the door was opened. We Hit the road drove through humbolt county, where if you turn down the wrong road a guy and his pitbull come running out of a shack to encourage you to go away. We found a great swimming hole in a redwood grove and swam in the eel river. We ate in point arena at phoenix a delicious italian place. Go figure. Chris drove like a champ along the coast in the fog. We got back to sf at around1am. I slept hard.

Day 21...our night got cold on the beach so waking up wasn't too hard but getting out of the sleeping bag was. Misty fog covered the beach and much of fern canyon. This was one of the places where jurassic park and the ewalk movie were filmed. The lady at the camp told me that the ranger reported a mountain lions sighting last week not too far from our site. I think i may do the anti lion dance to make sure he states far away. We had a picnic overlooking old growth red wood groves along a scenic drive. And then did a 4mile hike in redwood state park down the coastal range to the ocean. It was beautiful. We were hiking along the lost coast, which is the stretch of coast pch dosent cover. It was a great place for a nap on the beach while chris and steve climbed rock faces darting up from the sand while they yelled to 2 large male elk off in the distance. We went back to set up our campfire have dinner and john played guitar and fiddle music to sooth us after a day of adventure. We had redbeers which i thought would be gross but they were really good. Take a bud heavy or some cheap mexican beer drink an inch out of the can and fill the rest with clamato and enjoy! We got locked out of the car but no worries we will figure it out in the morning. Or Ill just live here on the beach forever.

Day 20... We slept in and i enjoyed every minute of it. We showered and had an amazing Sf brunch at the bean bag cafe. Everything here is super vegetarian friendly. By 3pm we packed in to the car, picked up chris at work and we were off to the red woods for the weekend. It was approximately a 7 hour drive up 101 passed eurika by about an hour. We didn't get up there till 11 30 or so and set up our camp on the beach and got up and out early to hike!

Day 19... This morning i promised chris i would wake him up to go to work, which proved to be much harder than i thought it would be. I started on the artichokes early so when we got back from Sonoma they would be ready. Steve and i snatched up john and headed up to wine country. We had beautiful weather once we got out of the fog blanketing the city. I did a complete outfit change to summer cloths. We stopped at the general store and got crusty bread, cheese, 2 amazing sandwiches, and an olive spread. We had a picnic in toe and all we needed was some wine, easily done. We went to 2 places with tastings and bought a bottle of wonderful california zinfendel. Outstanding! We had our picnic and then drove over to the russian river for a swim before our drive back to the misty cold city. We got dressed ate artichokes and headed out to the downtown area to see eclectic method. They are dvd Dj's they mix movies tv and music videos from the 50's to today. They were awesome! We walked all over the city popping into a few bars, parks and burrito stands to round out the night. It was urban hiking at its finest!

Day 18... This morning we woke up to the smell of red woods our camp site was beautiful. We got back in the car and headed up the 1 toward monarey bay. We had a foggy morning but it was clearing up nicely we drove through Pebble beach and saw a bunch of sea lions off the coast in the bay . Its really neat to see all the kelp beds blanketing the bay we drove through the canning district of monaray and continued on our drive to san fran. The 1 went from a ocean front drive to a tour of californias agricultural center. Which couldn't have come at a better time, veggie stands make a great lunch! I alms bought 20 artichokes for 2 bucks . Ill make stuffed chokes when i get to sf. We got to chris's house showered, which was glorious, and then went to dinner. We ate at a wonderful french seafood place steve had tuna steak blackened and i had mahai with a caper tomato sauce delish! We went out after dinner for some adult beverages with 5 people from howell, me, steve, chris, john, and megan. Crazy! We had a great night. Chris was a great host and gave up his bed for the night. It was the softest thing we slept on since vegas.

Day 17... This morning we packed up and got some breakfast and walked around beautiful santa barbara. It was exactly what i thought cali would look like palm trees cute little shops and high end eateries so high end that breakfast was subway. But it did its job and we continued up ''the 1'' on the coast to pierdas blancas to see the molting Elephant seals. This time of year the mature males and last years males beach themselves along pch in great numbers, about 100 that we could see. We continued our drive along the 1 and that's where it became the beautiful coastal highway you see in all the car commercials. We were in the breath taking big sur area. Cliff side roads with countless turns and switch backs with dramatic views of the powerful pacific. Needless to say we had to stop a lot and take many photos and say wow! We got to our camp site in phifer big sur among some beautiful red woods. We set up camp and ventured back out to rock up as much day light as we could. We drove to julie phifer burns state park and hiked out to see a waterfall off a cliff on to the beach. I didn't feel like i was still in cali, the beach looked polynesian. Beautiful. Then we went down to phifer beach to see sunset however it was so super windy that i had my hood up and my legs were getting sand blasted , i was actually getting blown over! But it was pretty, with big rocks rising from the powerful surf. Very cool. When we returned to our camp we started looking at photos and fell asleep by utah. Slept great and were up to start driving up to the bay area.

Day 16...Had a bad nights sleep steve and the guy next tent over were having a snore off so i slept in the back of the car. I did much better there. ear plugs are a must! I felt bad steve tried to stop but couldn't sleep in a good position because of the sunburn. We packed up and hit the road up to LA ... We drove on sunset blvd, rodeo drive (i thought it was great riding in the wagon down rodeo drive) through hollywood and beverly hills we had lunch in hollywood at a Crepe shop. then through the hills of malibu. its amazing to see the celebrity homes just hanging on the sides of these mountains with an incredible view of the mountains and the ocean. We set up camp for the night in a state beach along the pacific coast highway PCH in a cute town called carpinteria. We explored the town on our bikes played frisbee and had a sunset dinner a short walk from our tent. It was great to watch the pelicans dive into the water to get their dinner at sunset! Tomorrow we drive up to big sur .

Day 15... Just realized that the last post had a few spelling errors i was sleepy when i texted... t9 is not flawless. Our second day in san diego was great. lots of relaxation. We rode bikes up to the beach and had a large delicious breakfast at kono's. we waited on line half way down the block for 30 mins but it was worth it! We had to walk a bit after that meal so we walked along the beach and i bought a super cute dress for alan and sues wedding. Then a bike ride along the bay back to camp for a great conversation with our camping neighbors they were from ocean twp nj but relocated to cali in the 80's ... Super nice people. We took a tour of downtown san diego and had margaritas and chips in the gaslamp distric for lunch/ snack. Then we went to find some shade by the bay, steve got some nasty sunburn, so we took a siesta! Then back to camp for showers and out to a cool vegetarian burger dinner at vegin out in north park san diego. We saw sun set at the cliffs again went back to camp and watched the sea world fire works over the bay from our camp site. I really needed a few days like this just to relax and get caught up on some r and r !

Day 14... Last night we got to san diego. our campsite is in the primitive section at campland by the bay in pacific beach san diego. They weren't kidding when the said primitive overflow! The place was huge and filled with rv's our right was a parking spot with some dirt on top, a picnic table and a fire ring totally urban camping! But its close to the beach and just because its different from a majestic state park doesn't mean its bad. It was funny tho. Today we woke up and rode bikes to the broken yoke for breakfast and then to the laundry mat to do some wash, we were running out of under garments. Played some cards and then went to the beach for a while. The ocean is different not many shells and piles of kelp with lots of little flyS but they don't bite like the ones at home do. We went to ocean beach for dinner to get some super yummie fish tacos. They were amazing. Then we went to sunset cliffs to watch the run melt into the pacific. Steve showed me the sky line of the city by the bay. What a great first night in san diego!

Day 13... So we rolled in to las vegas looking like 2 bums neither of us had showered in 4 days. Walking up to the front desk hn the same cloths we hiked the river in just 6 hours earlier. I can just imagine what people must have thought. But i didn't care cause i was 10 mins away from a shower and a soft bed. We checked in and got our room key we payed for a room with a bed and ended up with a suite on the top floor with a jacuzzi some major karma coming our way... We ate a great noodle bar in the belagio which brendan and meg paid for thanks guys! We walked around vegas down to the lexor and back for some urban hiking. We walked around a bit today after we checked out but its way better at night! We are now driving through the mojave desert and its 111 degrees so glad we are staying the weekend in san diego 78. We will be camping right on mission bay time to relax a bit!

Day 12... Last night we went for a swim in the virgin river this is the river responsible for carving zion canyon. When we were in bryce we met a couple from boston who told up to do the narrows trail so this morning we threw on our flip flops and into the river we went:-) should have had water shoes but we will next time. We were hiking in the river mostly shin deep but waist deep in spots at the bottom of 2 to 3 thousand ft cliffs. totally epic! Such a great hike considering it was 105 degrees today. In total juxtaposition we are heading to vegas tonight to finally get a shower sleep in a bed and get some fancy grub. Tonight we stay in the roman tower in caesars right on the strip. Thank you hotels.Com!

Day 11...Yesterday started at sunrise with a hike down to the bottom of bryce canyon the hoodos are even more amazing close up. Because we started out so early in the morning it wasn't too hot till we were all packed up and ready to drive down to the high desert of zion national park . The last 3 parks we went to were part of the grand staircase starting with bryce. The bottom of bryce Hr the same elevation and geological make up as the top of zion and the bottom of zion is the top of the grand canyon. Zion canyon is so cool looking and very different from the outside to the inside of the canyon. To understand what i mean look up photos of the checker board mesa and the narrows or angles landing to get a feel for how diverse the landscape in just this park is. And on our way in i saw a big horned sheep it was wild! Tomorrow we hike the narrows!

Day 10... Last night we rolled into bryce canyon and the red canyon and all i said for the first 10 mins. Was wow wow wow wow . We set up camp and ran over to the canyon for sun set , super cool and totally different from the grand canyon. Bryce is a series of horseshoe shaped amphitheaters with colorful formations called hoodos. Erosion has shaped colorful limestone, sandstones,and mudstone into thousands of spires, fins,pinnacles, and mazes. After sunset we went to look for wildlife and found some mule dear and prong horn. So excited for our hike down to the bottom of the canyon. Early to bed early to rise . I think i may like this as much as the grand canyon so amazing!

Day 9... Yesterday we made it to the grand canyon. Epic. I can't even put into words how i felt. It was a jaw dropping sight that takes your breath away. The size is unbelievable it almost looks fake. After my first glimpse of the canyon we went to set up camp and make some lunch. We are really learning how to do this ... Roll in early around 3ish set up camp go see the sights around 5, the crowds start leaving, then have some dinner at 7, and go back for sunset, check out the stars and to bed, up early for sunrise back to bed for a nap and up well rested by the time we need to get back in the car to do it again:-) not sure how long ill be able to keep this pace up but im going to enjoy it while it lasts:-) i have never seen so many stars in the sky one of the most beautiful things ive seen in the night sky. We got up early and saw sunrise over the grand canyon. Today we are headed to brice canyon in utah, on the way we are passing the vermillion cliffs. What an amazing trip this country is so beautiful can't wait to keep seeing it over the next 4 weeks.

Mom and dad thank you both for all you are doing for me while im on this amazing trip. Thanks for making the phone calls and faxes i can't over the next few weeks love you both a bunch!

Day 8... This not working thing is wonderful, but i keep getting my days of the week messed up sorry ill edit the dates on the other posts when i get to a computer which may be a few more days. Last night i took a cold shower which was amazing for my sunburn and i even used sunblock, i need to get one of those goofy hiking hats, the sun is angry down here! camped in mesa verde last night made vegetarian hot dogs and soup for dinner , drove to the highest point in the park to see it. beautiful. This morning we woke up before the sun and drove 2 1/2hrs to utah to see monument valley in the morning light. That was steves idea, i must really love that boy 4:00am is early on vacation. But he was right it was a magnificent sight! I don't want to jinx myself but we only had 4 drops of rain all trip, extreme heat but no rain so far. Today we are heading to the grand canyon with plans to camp there tonight. Posting may not be daily because we are staying in national parks and remote towns most of which do not have cell phone service but ill catch you all up as son as i can.

Day 6... Last night we got in to durango tried to camp but got shut out. note to self don't try to find a camp site late on a saturday night. We got a hotel room that was closer to luxury camping than a hotel but it had a shower, which i cleaned and i used my shower shoes! But all kidding aside it was a good nights sleep. We got up early and went to mesa verde to See the cliff dwellings of the ancient puebloians. The park has over 600 cliff dwellings and ruins throughout. The history of these ancient people is still largely a mystery which adds to its mystique. It was so amazing i know i keep saying it but it was epic to see thunder storms over the san juan mountains while your dry 30 miles away watching the sunset. Our plan is to camp here tonight and go utah and arizona to see monument valley.

Day 5...Yesterday we drove into north east new mexico- the jemez mountains. Much greener than i thought it would be . We stopped in santa fe for some food for camping to fix our bikes and for an amazing dinner at the ore house. We had margaritas ceveche and poblano rellenos . Then up into the mountains for some camping. Look up photos of valles caldero. we passed it on the way to our site there were hundreds of elk grazing and bugling it was beautiful. We camped at the last site at the campground and were up with the sun to find the secret san antonio hot springs. We had some hand written directions from richard and from lori and our toothless hippie friend rick in la cueva. After a 5 mile hike in we enjoyed a 102 degree soak overlooking mountain cliffs. 5 miles back to the car wasn't as muah fun but it was beautiful and hot! Back in the car but the drive was breath taking the red rocks and mesas were an outstanding way to leave new mexico ... Now we are off to colorado to see mesa verde tonight we are staying in durango colorado.

Not sure what happened but that blog got messed up ill fix it as soon as i get to a computer :-) off to the mountains we go

starting. Oh and its kinda cool to be driving on the historic rt 66 since oklahoma.

topography has changed so much from va and its lush green 3000ft mts to the rolling hills of tenn to flat treeless texas and now the red rock formations

. Nice place to visit but i woulnt want to live there. Now we are back on the road in new mexico where our destination is up in the mts.of santa fe. The

realy a way of life. Those are tools to survive and do your job. You need a hat because it's hot ans there aren't any trees you need to get shade somehow

same time. As we drove through texas this morning i realized that the sterio types of texas the truck the hat and boots aren't just a fashion trend its

s by 12:30am . It was a long day. Everthing is bigger in texas, the sky the trucks and the bugs just ask the windshield! Its kinda funny and nasty at the

ad the Bbq sampler yummie. We switched drivers and steve got a rest for a few hrs. We drove through oklahoma onto texas and made it over to amarillo texa

ity, okc, local lingo. We ate on their down town district called bricktown at the bricktown brewery . I had cat fish and fried orka it was delish steve h

celebs name like carrie underwood and garth brooks oh and my favorite mickey mantle... All from oklahoma! We broke up our drive and stopped in oklahoma c

like cows and trucks which just about sums up oklahoma...but it is the birth place of some famous people they love putting up signs with their hometown

resting. we stopped in oklahoma at a gas station-rest stop- casino run by the semonal indians steve said it was smelly and sad inside. Outside it smelled

Day 5... Yesterday we drove and drove and drove, Through some of the flatest treeless places i have ever seen. And it was hot and humid! But really inte

Day 4... We rolled our first thousand miles yesterday and right now we are 360 into our next thousand. We checked out memphis on our way to arkansas took a total of 1Hr 11 mins . But beal st was cool kinda like a little burbon st. the street was filled with bars, eaterys, and blues for about 2 blocks. Then back in the car for 3 hrs to little rock. What a flat boring drive saw farms, crop dusters, and 18 wheelers. Got into little rock around 8 checked in to the comfort inn in the downtown area. They had a movie playing down by the river market district, lots of families out and about 3 blocks of bars and restaurants that were really alive on a random wed. night. we ended up at ernie briggs, a cool little piano bar with dollar beers, can't go wrong with that! Slept in till around 9 and filled up on free breakfast ... Thanks comfort inn! Walked around little rock in the oppressive heat to look for a LR sticker and the "little rock". After an Hr of searching and coming up short on both accounts we decided to hit the road. So now we are back in the car on a 9Hr drive through oklahoma to our planned stop in amarillo texas.

Day 3... Went out to the basement with john last night in nashville and saw theodore a band from st. louis . The basement is a gritty bar with the charm of the saint and the feeling that you are there to hang out with friends even if this was your first time there . The band was a mix of the frames meets sonic youth, using a saw with a bow, accordion, horns, and anything they could get their hands on to make sounds and it was surprisingly good. Went back to johns and got a birds eye view of the city from the roof. Cities at night are great! John and billy played some great music for us till 3am. This morning we repacked the car yet again added john and all his possessions to take them to the air port to go to jersey! Can't wait see him again in cali...Steve and i went downtown on broadway to do the tourist thing and take photos. We ate at a great microbrewery and split shrimp and grits and a pulled pork sandwich. This hiatus from vegetarianism isn't so bad. Now we are back in the car cause " im going to graceland, graceland, memphis tennessee im going to graceland" ~ paul simon

Day 2 quote of the day... "you know youre near a highway in the south when there is a 200 ft tall mcdonalds sign, a 100 ft tall arbys sign, a 45 ft tall waffle house sign, right next to a baptist church"~ steve dundas

Day 2 ... On the road to nashville tenn. 6:10 am Woke up to a beautiful morning with oatmeal and tea ala dundas . Finished a scenic drive out of the park and on to the blue ridge parkway. Finally got cell phone service after 24 hrs of the "dead zone" , not that i need my cell that bad but its nice to be connected once again. We stopped in roanoke for some essentials,lunch, and deep fried greenbeans... When you ask yourself why? I say why not ... They were yummie! Then john called steve and we called an audible ...no stop in the smokeys ...tonight we go to nashville.

Day 1 ...shenandoah national park skyline drive...We started with a beautiful 5 mile hike to a 94 foot waterfall, the tallest in the park. We had the opportunity to see alot of native virginia wild life our totals include... 10 black bears ... So many white tailed dear we stopped counting at 40 something .... 1bunny rabbit ... 1turtle and 1dayglow green caterpiller. Ended the day with a light walk through a huge meadow at 3535ft with a pink sunset. Set up camp by moon light and head lamps, soup for dinner and ear plugs to forget about the wild life all around me for bed - good night all catch you at sunrise - and yes mom i checked for ticks.

Day one . All packed and on the road ...we went down to delaware last night to get a good night sleep and an early start , just trying to get passed dc with out crazy wild traffic ...wish us luck first stop sky line drive blue ridge mts. Virginia

No photo? Ive done something wrong

Ok:-) so i set this thing up ok but i don't know how much i can type and still have it show up ... I also need to see if i can take a photo and send it ... Im gunna be so kick ass by the end of this

This is a test to see if this mobile blogging is to much for me

what am i getting in to ?!

i set up this blog page to give, you, my friends and family, an opportunity to take this once (or twice) in a life time adventure along with steve and i

... at any point through the trip if you can share any advise, "must see's" or well wishes , please please please post back, or text me.. i'll be blogging from my phone (thanks to brian my at&t superhero) thats right i am no longer in the stone age with my phone ... and i have figured out how to use the new one believe it or not...

the trip start date is set for July 6 th following a going away/ my moms birthday party at my parents house on the 4th with a rain date of the 5th ... so start thinking about what you want to bring for the potluck... summerstock 2009!


here is a general idea of where we are heading ... the blue line shows our route give or take...

our trip looks like a dove! neat

as soon as i have an update i will keep you in the loop !

hope you enjoy this summer as much as we do!

love you all

annie