In my office, we sometimes take care of the switchboard calls, so we talk to everyone from sales people to random, confused tourists. On the note of random confused folks, there is typically at least one call a day from some one who says(in a very baffled tone, I might add) "What?! I really can't go to Old Faithful now(last week in November, for example)" and they are just heartbroken and confused as to why a National Park would every close. Well, I was that confused tourist for a day, when we decided to drive all the way to Mesa Verde National Park without checking first to make sure that the park at 8000 feet in the Rocky Mountains was open the last weekend in November. So, all I got of Mesa Verde was the sign.
Bryan was really excited for Canyonlands and Arches, and the drive from Cortez, CO to Canyonlands was do-able that night, so back to Utah we go!
The road into the Needles District of Canyonlands is a good haul by itself, so made it camp when it was already pretty late. We left the headlights on while we set up camp, and conveniently forgot to make sure that Martha was still alive! Yep, on dead car battery. Which is funny, because the last time I was in this part of Canyonlands(back in 04, I think...), my alternator went out in the VC parking lot. I am apparently not meant to hang out here!
It was easily the warmest night(plus we'd gone wuss by this point, and had picked up an air mattress at Wal-Mart!) and a great 40 degree morning. Unfortunately, a ranger came by and let everyone know about a storm coming in, and suggested we leave(she also found someone to jump the car!!). We decided to take her advice and head to Moab for the night. We headed out pretty early, as I was thinking we would stay a little hostel I've been to there, and we were slightly worried about it filling if too many other people had the same idea!
Turns out we had no problem getting into the hostel....a private room with a queen bed and heat for all of $26.00! Gotta love the Lazy Lizard in Moab :o) It was our first night in a real town in a few days, so we found the closest laundrymat and got a nice pile of clean clothes to put on after the showers that were coming up next. Once we were clean, clothes and selves, we fought the warmth coma and decided to indulge in being in town by going to watch football. As it rained outside all night, we were sure happy to have decided to stay in town(though Bryan wasn't very happy with the football results....)
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
It's a 3 hour drive from the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley.....
So 7 hours later, we arrived having seen just a tiny peek at what was around us, and knew it would be a cool place!
We left the Grand Canyon and headed towards the Navajo Nation. Once you leave the Grand Canyon area and get to the reservation, you almost instantly start seeing roadside stands of all shapes and sizes, selling crafts, jewelry etc. While much of it can be fairly similar from stand to stand, you can't tempt fate that the ONE you don't stop had might have had that perfect Christmas gift, accessory etc so stop at every single one we did! We did find some neat things, and some cool gifts for friends and family.
Just a short bit before Monument Valley is the Navajo National Monument, which we had read had some neat ruins that many people miss, so we stopped to check those out. You can only hike to an overlook without a ranger, and they only do tours on the weekend, so unfortunately we arrived a day early to get to walk all the way to the dwelling, but still very cool nonetheless! It was down in a great little valley, nestled into a beautiful bowl/cave in the side of a sheer rock face. It definitely got me excited for visiting more ruins!
We got to Monument Valley around sunset, so treated ourselves to dinner in a restaurant and tried homemade pork green chile with Navajo fry bread....pretty yummy and great to have a hot dinner you didn't have to cook in the cold! When we went to set up camp, the girl at the hotel said they had a "primitive" campground and told us how to get there. When they say primitive at Monument Valley, they aren't kidding....it was in a great spot with a beautiful morning view, but it sure was difficult to even figure out where the "sites" were supposed to be.
The next morning was absolutely beautiful, with clear blue skies....and a wind that surely would have given a penguin the shivers! So...more eating out. We are being very poor campers at this point, lol :o) Over breakfast, we hemmed and hawed a little about where to go next, and settled on Mesa Verde since I wanted to see more ruins, and I conveniently reminded Bryan that it was only Saturday, and still had until the following Sunday to be home!
The drive through Monument Valley is 17 miles, plus some side areas that you can only reach if on a guided tour. The road is pretty rough, and I wouldn't recommend taking a little car, though many people did. As you drive through, the formations are truly like monuments rising from the desert, definitely a beautiful place!
We left the Grand Canyon and headed towards the Navajo Nation. Once you leave the Grand Canyon area and get to the reservation, you almost instantly start seeing roadside stands of all shapes and sizes, selling crafts, jewelry etc. While much of it can be fairly similar from stand to stand, you can't tempt fate that the ONE you don't stop had might have had that perfect Christmas gift, accessory etc so stop at every single one we did! We did find some neat things, and some cool gifts for friends and family.
Just a short bit before Monument Valley is the Navajo National Monument, which we had read had some neat ruins that many people miss, so we stopped to check those out. You can only hike to an overlook without a ranger, and they only do tours on the weekend, so unfortunately we arrived a day early to get to walk all the way to the dwelling, but still very cool nonetheless! It was down in a great little valley, nestled into a beautiful bowl/cave in the side of a sheer rock face. It definitely got me excited for visiting more ruins!
We got to Monument Valley around sunset, so treated ourselves to dinner in a restaurant and tried homemade pork green chile with Navajo fry bread....pretty yummy and great to have a hot dinner you didn't have to cook in the cold! When we went to set up camp, the girl at the hotel said they had a "primitive" campground and told us how to get there. When they say primitive at Monument Valley, they aren't kidding....it was in a great spot with a beautiful morning view, but it sure was difficult to even figure out where the "sites" were supposed to be.
The next morning was absolutely beautiful, with clear blue skies....and a wind that surely would have given a penguin the shivers! So...more eating out. We are being very poor campers at this point, lol :o) Over breakfast, we hemmed and hawed a little about where to go next, and settled on Mesa Verde since I wanted to see more ruins, and I conveniently reminded Bryan that it was only Saturday, and still had until the following Sunday to be home!
The drive through Monument Valley is 17 miles, plus some side areas that you can only reach if on a guided tour. The road is pretty rough, and I wouldn't recommend taking a little car, though many people did. As you drive through, the formations are truly like monuments rising from the desert, definitely a beautiful place!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Grand Canyon, attempt at Mesa Verde, etc etc..This may be a long one folks!
So, my first actual stop to use the computer comes at our hostel in Moab, but back to that later...
After finding the campground full near Sedona, we headed south of town towards a state park, where we found a Wal-Mart, our first in a good while. An hour or so was spent shopping, after which we realized what time it was....our watches said 11:42pm, which was late enough as was, but we then realized that we were back in Arizona from Vegas, which meant it was actually 12:42am...ouch. We found the state park and a campground shortly after, and managed to sleep and get up in time to sleep for free(bad karma, I know, but why the hell should one have to pay to SLEEP? I mean, really??)
From there it was on to the Grand Canyon, which is very cool, but not a ton to do unless you are hiking. Not that I have anything against hiking, but Bryan was pretty set on hiking to the bottom, which I am in no shape to do in a day(and they don't recommend that, btw) and we didn't have gear to spend the night. We did spend the night in the campground though, and that was enough for us! We were there for Thanksgiving night and made ourselves a great campstove dinner of grilled turkey breast with instant mashers and beans, which is quite a feast for camping, but then froze our tookases off when the overnight low reached -3! No more camping in that, thank you! Off to Monument Valley and Colorado we went!
After finding the campground full near Sedona, we headed south of town towards a state park, where we found a Wal-Mart, our first in a good while. An hour or so was spent shopping, after which we realized what time it was....our watches said 11:42pm, which was late enough as was, but we then realized that we were back in Arizona from Vegas, which meant it was actually 12:42am...ouch. We found the state park and a campground shortly after, and managed to sleep and get up in time to sleep for free(bad karma, I know, but why the hell should one have to pay to SLEEP? I mean, really??)
From there it was on to the Grand Canyon, which is very cool, but not a ton to do unless you are hiking. Not that I have anything against hiking, but Bryan was pretty set on hiking to the bottom, which I am in no shape to do in a day(and they don't recommend that, btw) and we didn't have gear to spend the night. We did spend the night in the campground though, and that was enough for us! We were there for Thanksgiving night and made ourselves a great campstove dinner of grilled turkey breast with instant mashers and beans, which is quite a feast for camping, but then froze our tookases off when the overnight low reached -3! No more camping in that, thank you! Off to Monument Valley and Colorado we went!
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Big Ditch!!
We made it to the Big Ditch(no, that does not mean I left Bryan on the side of the highway ;). Left Death Valley yesterday, headed north to see Stovepipe Wells, Scotty's Castle and a ghost town before heading back to Vegas for car repairs(blew out a strut mount, no fun!!)
We ended up skipping Stovepipe wells in favor of getting to Vegas sooner, and headed to the Castle. It's a cool old desert mansion that looks completely out of place and pretty cool, but they charge a pretty good fee for tours and you have to take the whole thing. We didn't have time, so it didn't make sense to pay. Looked around briefly and headed out.
On our way, we passed through a small little town called Beatty, which was much more than I expected for no-where Nevada! And pretty yummy burgers at the Sourdough Saloon...nothing fancy or special, but only $3.25 and worth every penny plus a few! Then we made a quick stop at a ghost town called Rhyolite a few miles away. Nothing major, but some cool remnants of what was a pretty large bank, train depot and even a house made of bottles!!
After a quick viva las pep boys stop for a new strut mount, we headed on towards the GC with plans to stop near Sedona and camp. The drive was a little longer than expected, and then the campsites were full? Who'da thunk that in Nov?
More later!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
We ended up skipping Stovepipe wells in favor of getting to Vegas sooner, and headed to the Castle. It's a cool old desert mansion that looks completely out of place and pretty cool, but they charge a pretty good fee for tours and you have to take the whole thing. We didn't have time, so it didn't make sense to pay. Looked around briefly and headed out.
On our way, we passed through a small little town called Beatty, which was much more than I expected for no-where Nevada! And pretty yummy burgers at the Sourdough Saloon...nothing fancy or special, but only $3.25 and worth every penny plus a few! Then we made a quick stop at a ghost town called Rhyolite a few miles away. Nothing major, but some cool remnants of what was a pretty large bank, train depot and even a house made of bottles!!
After a quick viva las pep boys stop for a new strut mount, we headed on towards the GC with plans to stop near Sedona and camp. The drive was a little longer than expected, and then the campsites were full? Who'da thunk that in Nov?
More later!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
They sell Jaeger in Death Valley!
Though not exactly the focus of vacation, any other parkies out there will understand how entertaining it is to actually find jaeger in a park, since the NPS doesn't "trust" people to not get too rowdy if they're allowed to buy the stuff. The truly intersting part about this though, is why they can sell it here. I had never realized this, but apparently the Furnace Creek resort area is privately owned, so the NPS doesn't have nearly as much say in how things are run. I thought that concept was nice when we visited Waterton last year, but had no idea any of our parks were the same way.
We went to Badwater, the lowest place in the Wester
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Monday, November 22, 2010
All 4 Seasons in 2 Days!
It rained, sleeted, slushed and snowed almost all the way to NV, and once that stopped it was driving straight into a crazy windstorm. I'm pretty sure we used almost a half tank of gas between Mesquite and Vegas :o) But, we made it.
Spent way too long wandering around the Strip last night(9 hours of walking on pavement!) but didn't lose! I'm leaving up about $50 and Bryan is good too. No big wins, but up is better than down regardless.
Heading out to Death Valley for a few days and my first ever attempt a golfing!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Road Trip Countdown Begins....
Good mornin! Not exactly the time of morning for a chipper greeting but after a little too much tossing and turning, it felt like an ok time to get the new vacation blog up 'n at 'em!
For the next adventure, me, Bryan and my beat up old Nissan Pathfinder, Martha, are heading to, well, South. And probably a little West. Possibly even some East? I guess North will have to play too, unless of course we decide not to come back. If that's the case, you're welcome to come visit us on the Central American beach we'll certainly be lounging on.
All joking aside, that is actually the plan....that there is no plan(well, one, but were you going to pass up free rooms and golf at Death Valley? Nope, sure weren't!). So, that will be the beginning of the trip, and the rest is whichever direction we feel like driving that day, or not driving when we find a great place(or just don't want to drive because Martha doesn't really have A/C anymore...thank goodness it's November!)
Until then, back to tossing, turning, and adding to the pre-vacation to-do list.
For the next adventure, me, Bryan and my beat up old Nissan Pathfinder, Martha, are heading to, well, South. And probably a little West. Possibly even some East? I guess North will have to play too, unless of course we decide not to come back. If that's the case, you're welcome to come visit us on the Central American beach we'll certainly be lounging on.
All joking aside, that is actually the plan....that there is no plan(well, one, but were you going to pass up free rooms and golf at Death Valley? Nope, sure weren't!). So, that will be the beginning of the trip, and the rest is whichever direction we feel like driving that day, or not driving when we find a great place(or just don't want to drive because Martha doesn't really have A/C anymore...thank goodness it's November!)
Until then, back to tossing, turning, and adding to the pre-vacation to-do list.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)