Thursday: Still in Moab:

Well, we were planning to head down to Bryce Canyon today but we decided to stay in Moab instead. Rather than rush around to see things we want to really explore one area. Today was absolutely fabulous. We rented a Jeep and did some off-roading. We got a bright yellow jeep and were disappointed that we couldn’t take our top off. It was a bit chilly today though, so we weren’t that down about it. It had a bib and the back was open. The Jeep came with a cooler and ice so we packed up some sandwiches, strawberries, and chips to take along with us. We started out on the Gemini Bridges trail where we took a wrong turn and ended up on an advanced trail. It was amazing what the jeep was capable of doing, but Kevin got a bit stressed out about some of the rocks we were going over. We saw a beautiful canyon with a double arch. We saw this from the top and the canyon looked like a huge twisting hole. Then we headed down the road to Canyonlands National Park where we took the Schaffer Trail. We descended 1400 feet to the bottom of the canyon for an all day trail ride. The rock formations and river views were unbelievably fabulous. Now we have to buy a Jeep. Today was too fun! Kevin and I took a solo drive through Arches at the end of the day before we had to return the Jeep. We had dinner at the Moab diner before collapsing for the night! Tomorrow, we are supposed to head to Zion but I doubt we will end up there!

Wednesday: Canyonlands National Park

Wednesday: Right now, I am in the parking lot of the Mesa Trail Head in Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands only gets 9-10 inches of rain each year and it is happening today. It is very cold and tonight we may get a bit of snow. I find that my eyes are over stimulated with all the diverse beauty around me. Yesterday evening was absolutely fabulous. We pulled into Moab at about 2:00 and promptly took a bit of a nap. We then decided to do a quick drive through Arches for some photographs. It was cloudy and a bit drippy yesterday so the lighting for photography was perfect. We first went to Park Place viewpoint. I have been wanting to shoot Park Place forever and I finally got my chance. You walk out a little trail to a viewpoint that overlooks a small valley flanked with walls of red rock. In the distance you can see buttes and mesas for miles. The wind was brisk and we were all alone out there. Kevin and Chris descended into the valley and I stayed up top with my Pentax for some close up shots of the desert. We then drove through Arches to the North and South window trail heads. It was raining full out then so I decided to hang out in the RV while Kevin and Chris hiked up to the windows. There was a break in the rain so I grabbed my camera and found them at the huge double arch. The wind was cool, and the sun was just starting to get to that stage of twilight where all the colors glow. The huge red rock walls were shining in the evening light. We had the park all to ourselves and it felt like we were the only people in the world. The desert night life started to pick up and we saw a brown rabbit with huge white ears. As we walked the flat rocky trail to the double arch, the land glowing around us, I felt dwarfed by the sense of timelessness and majesty all around us. We got quite a few great digital shots and I hope that the Pentax photos will yield a sense of the atmosphere that evening. It was truly a magical moment in time.

Monday and Tuesday: The Drive from Colorado Springs to Moab, Ut

We are studying the Lord of the Rings while on this trip for our literature. I can’t believe how appropriate this story is for this journey. While we are technically cheating by doing the book on tape, we will still do the coursework which for us on this trip is good enough. This is a story of a journey. Bilbo Baggins talked about how roads are like rivers taking you from adventure or bringing it to your doorstep. Since we live on the Mississippi River, we understand this analogy. You can watch the ebb and flow of life as the river brings the world to your doorstep, or you can hop aboard for a ride. When you travel in an RV you carry your little house along with you like a huge snail on the open road. The world around you becomes your adventure. The drive from Colorado Springs to Montrose was so diverse, so surrealistic, so amazingly beautiful that I don’t think I will be able to describe it fully. I wish I were a poet so that I can do the wonder of the landscape justice.

Day 5 and half of 6: Colorado Springs....again.....

Wow, what a journey the last two days have been! We got stuck in Colorado Springs due to high wind warnings in central Colorado. We decided to rent a car to see the sights. Kevin and Chris went hiking again in the Garden of the Gods. Chris took this amazing photo of Pikes Peak through the rocks, what a great shot. We analyzed the weather and it looks like there is a good bit of snow heading in to Colorado and the only opportunity to drive through will be today (Monday). We decided to drive through Colorado and get back on track in Utah. We hate to miss Colorado but we will definitely come back as this area is too beautiful. When we got ready to go this morning we noticed the check engine light was on. Normally, we wouldn't worry too much about a light but we are going to be doing heavy driving so we had it checked out. We have definitely spent too much time on this trip at RV repair places! So we go to the truck place and learn that we have a sluggish something-or-other valve and it will be fine for the trip. Finally, we get on the road. We decide to take the scenic route through Colorado even though it will add a couple of hours to the drive. Boy are we glad we did! I will write more tomorrow about the magnificent adventures we had today. It is inconceivable that there could be so much beauty stuck in one place. Tonight we are checking the weather and hopefully we can backtrack a bit to Gunnison as it looks like something out of a Tolkien novel. We took lots of photos and I'll post them tomorrow hopefully. Wow, what a day! We have been doing school and the geology lessons are a big hit and she is really taking off with the digital camera. Soon, I hope to do some writing about some of the places we have seen and

Day 4: Colorado Springs

This morning we reviewed our trip plan. We are two days behind our schedule and we were thinking about abreviating our visit to Garden of the Gods in order to get back on track. It was suggested by a reader of this blog that we should take our time through the GOG. We decided to swing by the visitor center and then quickly walk the loop in order to try to catch up. The movie at the center was very informative about how the rock formations were created. Well, we spent the entire day hiking through GOG! The rock formations were beyond beautiful and the views were truly magnificent. We hiked the main trail and a couple of smaller routes. The dogs had a blast and so did we. This evening we went shopping at Safeway and worked on our scrapbook. We don't know how we will make up our time but it was a great day.
http://www.gardenofgods.com/home/index.cfm?flash=1

Day 3: Colorado Springs in the Evening

Yeah! We got our RV fixed! After an unsuccessful attempt at repair from Camping World, we went to Steve Casey's RV and their service guys got right on it. They had an "awning guy" who was able to bend our awning and free our slide! So we jumped back on the road to Colorado Springs. We are looking at Pikes Peek as I am writing this. Tonight we are going to decide how much time to spend here or if we want to zoom through the Garden of the Gods to try to get back on our schedule. For homeschool, this evening Chris will make a summary of our trip thus far and learn how to print photos from her new camera for her scrapbook.

Day 3: Denver in the morning

We have managed to snag an appointment at a local RV service place to fix our slide so we have the morning off. After driving for 2 days, we are taking a break and trying to catch up on school. We are doing math (Teaching Textbooks Algebra), Latin (Latin For Children) and grammar (GUM and Shurley). We are also doing mini units on digital photography and geology as we get to different places. We took a little hike and here is a picture of Chris taken by Kevin. This photo was taken near our RV park in Golden, Colorado.

Day 2: Shelby, Iowa to Denver, Colorado

Today was much better! We started this morning in Shelby and drove to Council Bluffs where we stopped at the Barnes and Noble to buy books on tape. We are studying the Lord of the Rings while on this trip so we got the tapes. Chris got a bunch of books about a dragon which is a series that she is reading. Kevin picked up a university course on CD about The Epic in World Literature. Looks good. Then we started the long, long drive through Nebraska toward Denver. Nebraska is much flatter thank Iowa. They also had gobs of snow (22 inches) on the ground. We stopped at a rest area and the dogs had a blast running through the snow! We kept going and stopped at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. http://www.archway.org/ This is a huge museum dedicated to the pioneering spirit in America. The museum straddles I-80 and is a fabulous way to spend an hour if you are ever in the area. Kevin drove us through Nebraska and I took over in Colorado where I finished the drive into Denver. There are so many lights in Denver which was truly beautiful after the flat snow drifts of Nebraska.

Day 1: La Crosse to Shelby, Iowa

We got of to a rocky start this morning. Finally, we were able to find a spot for the cats (our reservations got mixed up with our vet causing a last-minute scramble), and there were construction issues with our house that needed our attention. Kevin drove through Minnesota and I took over in the evening and drove most of Iowa. They had quite a bit of patchy snow in Iowa. The sun was low in the sky which created long blue shadows in the little valleys of the rolling hills. We found an RV campground in Shelby and decided to crash for the night only to find that we evidently hit a branch or something and our RV slide won't come out. We are definitely starting the trip under a dark cloud! These photos are of the RV at the Shelby campground

My New Blog

This blog is created to chronicle our journey.