[2015-southeastern-us]

July 14, 2015–Day 9 Tim’s Ford, TN

This was one of our favorite days, and not just because it was our fourteenth wedding anniversary, but because we hiked, canoed, and had an incredible dinner and evening together.

[2014-colorado]

Day 20: August 2nd, 2014 Great Sand Dunes, CO to Clark State Lake, KS

This was our last morning among the mountains at 8,000 feet.  Sand Dunes National Park was such a unique landscape with mountains, forests, wetlands, and desert sand dunes.   It is so unique they even have a beetle that lives no where else in the world except here.  I’m not much of a beetle fan, the insects not the music, but this was one cool looking beetle.

[2014-colorado]

Day 18: July 31st, 2014: Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Curecanti National Recreation Area

Scott went for a seventeen mile bike ride along the park road up to Warner Point around seven am.

[2014-colorado]

Day 12: July 25th, 2014 Moab, Utah

Hittle Bottom Campground twenty-four miles northeast of Moab off of Route 128.

[2014-colorado]

Day 7: July 20th, 2014 Rocky Mountain National Park to Grand Lake, CO

Our second morning waking up in Moraine Park Campground. The site yesterday was far better, but we still enjoyed being inside Rocky Mountain National Park again. This morning Scott made French Toast. We chatted with a couple from Quebec in a lovely small RV that looked like a converted van. It was amazing. The couple backed into their spot, hit a few buttons to level out the vehicle, and they were set up for the night. Same thing in the morning. They finished reading in the sun, hit a few buttons, and waved as they jetted off. I looked at Scott, “You and me. Thirty years from now.” Not that I don’t enjoy sleeping in a tent, but the convenience factor of a converted van is extremely tempting.

[2014-colorado]

Day 2: July 15th, 2014: Anita, Iowa to Pierce, Nebraska

Good Morning Iowa!

We started the day the perfect way with a little family snuggle time.  Snuggle time today eventually ended the way most family snuggle time does these days, with a tickling and wrestling fest.  Neither Scott nor I got up to exercise.  I think Scott was politely waiting for me and I slept in way longer than my usual internal summertime clock of 5:30.  That may have something to do with still being a little too sensitive to the sounds of passing freight trains, dogs barking, and the ranger asking the dogs to leave.  As with all trips I will eventually get tired enough and learn to sleep through the new noises.

[2013-western-us]

Day 44: July 30th, 2013: Yellowstone Part 2

Old Faithful

We had impeccable timing for Old Faithful.  As we were nearing the visitor’s center we noticed the large crowd and discovered that the eruptions was “imminent.”  While we waited for a few minutes the kids worked on their junior ranger activities.  While parking in the visitor’s center parking lot we spotted a raven attempting to break into a motorcyclist’s bag.  The ranger program the other night on birds warned that the super smart ravens were frequently seen breaking into motorcyclist’s packs in parking lots.  In fact, one raven managed to open a pack, open the Ziploc bag to a sandwich and even took the onions out of the sandwich before flying away with his feast.  213 of the Earth’s geysers are in Yellowstone.  Yellowstone is actually a gigantic volcano that collapsed into a caldera.  (Does this theme sound familiar? Crater Lake, Newberry Volcano…)  The caldera of Yellowstone is forty miles wide and formed  640,000 years ago when a violent eruption emptied the volcano’s magma chamber.  Yellowstone is sitting atop an active hotspot.  Magma sits 3-5 miles below Yellowstone warming the water in the geothermal features potentially up to seven hundred degrees before the water comes to the surface. Norris is the hottest water feature in Yellowstone at 190 degrees on the surface. Even more than being hot, some pools of water in Yellowstone contain acid.  The sulfur caldron is so acidic it can dissolve flesh.  It is estimated that Old Faithful empties 4-8,000 gallons of water each time it erupts.

[2013-western-us]

Day 33: July 19th, 2013: Yosemite National Park

Our campsite just outside Yosemite National Park in National Forest land.

[2013-western-us]

Day 31: July 17th, 2013: Part 1 - Sequoia National Forest to Kings Canyon

Scott went for a bike ride this morning at 7.  He was supposed to go a little earlier, but it was a wee bit cold and he waited for the sun to warm the Earth just a little more.  I am not complaining.  Especially since the Valley of Fire was a just a few days ago, but this was the first time on the trip I woke up with frozen toes during the night.  Lucky for me I am sandwiched between two adorable sleeping space heaters.

[2013-western-us]

Day 26: July 12, 2013: Bryce Canyons to Posey Lake, Utah

Finally a really long uninterrupted night of sleep.  The kids slept in until 9.  They would have slept longer, but Scott was ready to start the day.  He had been up since 7:30 and already hiked in the canyon and back.  While I was off in the washroom brushing my teeth Brooke complained to Scott that she wanted to hike too.  So Brooke and I hiked the 1.3 Navajo Loop into and out of Bryce Canyon.  Bryce is still one of my all time favorite National Parks.  Its beauty is unlike any others.  Due to my extreme love of this area I took a few too many photos…