Friday: Omaha, Nebraska

I woke this morning in Denver, Co expecting to be sleeping in my house tonight. We decided to stop early and spend the night in Omaha. My mother and her family all hail from the Omaha area and I feel a special kinship with this area. It’s like somewhere in my DNA I'm supposed to be connected to the land here. A few years ago, on a different vacation, we stopped by the little town in North (South?) Dakota were Laura Ingalls Wilder was raised. We saw the little schoolhouse (which is smaller than my tiny RV) where she taught and saw the trees planted by Pa Ingalls himself. We drove through miles and miles of corn to get there and slept in a campground surrounded by green stalks. The heat of the Midwest is swealtering in the summer and when afternoon finally yields to evening you can still feel the hot lurking in the cool breeze. So that evening Chris and I attended a play put on by the local community for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Festival that happened to be going on. We drove to the makeshift theater which was in the middle of the corn field that Pa Ingalls used to plow. There were booths selling cotton candy, roasted corn, and other summer treats. We rode a horse drawn wagon to our spot on the ground where we slapped huge mosquitoes as the sun set and the play began. We sat next to a couple from the northeast and together we were enchanted by the simplicity and profoundness of the play. I felt then the tugging of my Midwest DNA- earthy, rugged, hard working and joyful. When we stopped here today I was hoping to make a similar connection. It is a bit hard because in the cornfields sits an Outlet Mall with a Baby Gap, Bed Bath and Beyond and McDonalds. The homogenization of America is sucking away our simple beauty.

Thursday: Denver, again...

Woke up late today and got on the road around 12:00. We drove through Utah and half of Colorado to Denver. If I wake early tomorrow and have energy, I will drive the last leg home to Wisconsin. It absolutely broke my heart to drive past so much and not stop to visit. Chris spent most of the day watching Voyager cd's and I enjoyed the scenery. We started in the desert and rode through the Rockies. This time we drove through the Vail pass. Our country is so beautiful. I feel like I am just starting the journey we began a few weeks ago. I am definitely returning to Wisconsin a different person than I left. I wonder if that is a good thing. No photo today too tired.

Zion Photo..

This is a shot out the window I snapped while I was supposed to be driving.

Wednesday, April 12th (really)...Somewhere in Utah

As we were driving from Flagstaff to Vegas we hit a kamikaze bug with our windshield. My husband and I were floored. It has been a long, long time since we hit bugs with our car. Las Vegas was stuffy and hot and lots of bugs ended up smushed on our windshield. So, this morning I had to drop off the rental car early and we finally pulled up anchor and left Sin City. We really didn't have any plan except to head in the general direction of Wisconsin. If you are looking at a map, that means traveling up and to the right. Anyway, we head north out of Vegas and decide about the time we hit St George, Utah that we needed to get off the interstate. It was too pretty to stay on a Federal Road. So we went in a bit and ended up (quite by accident) driving through Zion National Park. Evidently SR 89 goes right through it. So, the park ranger starts explaining to me how I have to pay a tunnel fee so the rangers can stop traffic in the mile long tiny little worm hole these people dug through the solid rock. We survived despite my bit of claustrophobia and I am pretty sure I didn't hit the roof (the air-conditioner is still on top of the RV anyway.) So we drove north on 89 through some of the most beautiful scenery you will ever see and ended up finding a KOA to bed down for the night. Compared to the stuffy, dusty RV park in Vegas, this place is paradise. Green, grassy yards separate the spots and the air is cool but not cold. This evening, I sat outside and watched the end of "Magic Hour". Since my description of the colors at Arches, I heard a film director describing the phenomenon of twilight as "magic hour." This is a perfect name for the ending of a day and the beginning of the night. As the sun sets, all the colors glow then blend slowly into darkness. So anyway, I'm watching this big fabulous moon rise above the snow-capped mountains through a light powder blue horizon into the inky black darkness directly above. It reminded me of the scene in Mamma Mia when Sophie is walking into a beautiful moonrise singing about dreams and angels.

Tuesday April 12th: Still in Vegas...

Well, we had hoped to get out of town this afternoon and drive at least a couple of hours to St. George. If we did that, we would be within driving distance to Denver where we would rest up for the long drive over the ‘whole lot of flat’ that is between the Rockies and the Mississippi River. We never made it out of town. Alas, fatigue and the strong desire to completely clean every inch of my RV triumphed over the desire for distance. We took care of business and are set to leave early tomorrow morning. My daughter and I decided to go for one last drive to the strip and I see a bumper sticker that stood out. It read "Life's Too Short To Dance With Ugly Men." I've seen this saying many times before, in fact, quite pathetically, I think it was my motto for a while many years ago when I was in college. Tonight it struck me as a bastion of cruelty in a city known for its superficiality. It made me think (I don't know why because there really is no connection) about the Broadway shows we had the opportunity to see while we have been here. There is nothing more fabulous for the culturally deprived than to enjoy a moment with these talented performers enjoying the fruits of their hours of hard work. The feeling of sitting in an audience with the other patrons is odd- like you have all become a part of a single entity. Our job as an audience is to provide the laughter, tears, applause and appreciation that feed the energy of the actors. In turn, they provide the entertainment to keep us going in a weird symbiotic relationship that makes time stop and just for a couple of hours we all believe that there really could be a world where songs pop up as the result of a well placed cue. My 13 year-old daughter and I love to attend musicals together but on the way in she has to remind me of the rules... sit quietly in my seat, no dancing or any other physical gestures that might prove embarrassing and for God's sakes, NO singing. (What happened to the happy little girl that would let me take her tiny chubby hands in hers while we danced and sang all around the living room?) Really, the Broadway show is still a part of the same superficial illusion that surrounds Vegas like a mirage in the middle of a huge barren desert. So I'm thinking about the ‘Ugly Men’ bumper sticker, and I realize that life is kind of all about the dance it would be a shame not to participate simply because the aesthetics of your partner (or yourself) doesn't measure up. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder and mirages evaporate into thin air as soon as the music stops. I guess its time to put on my dancing shoes.

Tuesday April 12th: Las Vegas, Nevada

Viva Las Vegas?

We have been in Vegas for the last week. While Vegas wouldn't have been our first choice of destinations on our tour of the southwest, we came here for 3 main reasons. 1- To celebrate the marriage of my step-brother and his new bride 2- To mend a few holes in the fabric of our family quilt, and 3- For Chris (a HUGE Abba fan) to see Mamma Mia. If you would have told me a week ago how all three of these objectives would be met I never would have believed you. Let's just say, hopefully, whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! No photo for this entry because my Internet connection is unbelievably slow.

Friday and Saturday: Flagstaff, Arizona

We decided to head south to Flagstaff instead of heading further into Utah. We really wanted to get to Bryce and Zion Canyons but we did explore Canyonlands and Arches a lot and we were ready to head into a city for a bit. Friday, we mostly drove. Today, Saturday, we visited the Lowell Observatory in the morning and the Wupatki National Monument all afternoon. The observatory was forever old (late 1800's which is ancient by astronomical standards) so we got a really neat look at the history of astronomy. This is the observatory that found Pluto and mapped Mars for the first time. I realized that we need to do a unit on the history of space exploration when I asked Chris if she knew where the Hubble Telescope was and she answered "somewhere in Texas?" She knows functional astronomy and using telescopes pretty well, but she needs to learn how we know what we know. Sigh, there's a unit to plan. So after, we grabbed lunch and headed to the Wupatki National Monument. This is actually two monuments back to back. One, the Sunrise something or other, was dedicated to preserving the lava beds and debris found in this area. We felt like we were walking on the moon! The Wupatki part was formed to preserve the ancient Pueblo ruins. These ruins date around 1064 b.c. and were in remarkably good shape. All in all Flagstaff was a fun day, space and culture, how can you beat that? Tomorrow we head toward Vegas.

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