Hanging out with family & friends

After this rainy Friday, it was so nice to have a sunny warm Saturday. We went hiking down in W.B. Umstead State Park with my friend Sonia, Carl and their two dogs. We had an awesome day catching up on the past few months, Sonia having all the good work gossip. Rosie loved hanging out with their two dog, Café & Latte, which BTW are two baby Rosies…black lab & chow mixes as well! All the dogs went swimming in the river and had fun hiking with all of us. We then had dinner at this BBQ place that allowed dogs! Yummy!

On Sunday we had breakfast with Keith’s sister Meghan and her friend Laura. It was nice to catch up on Meg’s life even though it was such a short visit. Thankfully we’ll get to see each other again over Thanksgiving, which is just a short ways away.

Only one more stop in Philly to see Mike & Courtney’s new baby before we go home to CT….then work starts next week!! Arghh.

K&T

Kodak Photo Album from Great Smoky Mts NP

Here are some beautiful pictures of changing leaves in smokies.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.2ns083bp&Uy=-uowxio&Ux=0

So much better on the NC side of the Smokies

We traversed the park and are now in Cherokee, NC. It is SO nice on this side. It is not crowded at all, we’re not battling traffic and people each turn. I highly recommend that you visit this side of the park. On Tuesday, we drove some of the Blue Ridge Parkway and then detoured to Balsam Mountain. We then did some offroading on Balsam Mt Road. Keith decided that he wanted to ride in the bed of the truck and get a full nature view of the trees. He’s crazy, the temps here right now are only in the 40’s! He was a bit chilly when he came back to the truck.

We hiked to Andrews Bald yesterday and it was an awesome trail. Just the right elevation change, sun/shade, wood hiking and mountain views…really all you could ask for in a 4 mile trail. I would definitely recommend to anyone this hike. Keith and I are sort of becoming trail connoisseurs as we’ve hiked so many miles over the past few months. We also hiked a bit of the Appalachian Trail over to Clingman’s Dome and the views from Clingman’s Dome by far topped the views anywhere else in the park.

Today we’re planning to hike along the river front (a trail Rosie is allowed to go on) and then we head over to the eastern part of NC tomorrow.

See you all in a week!

Great Smoky Mts (northern part)

We spent our last couple of days in Pigeon Forge, TN and its really a busy place, if you want peace and quite its probally not the best place. The traffic only travels at ~10 mph and it takes literally forever to get anywhere. Think of it as 10 times worse than the Silas Deanne Highway back in CT. So we’ve opted to get out of here and head down to the southern part of the park…hopefully it less busy down there.

But, for the park….wow! I started our stay here commenting on how silly it is for so many people to come to the park to see the Fall leaves, but boy was I wrong. It is so amazing, all the fall colors. The Great Smoky Mts is a Biosphere Reserve and there are more different types of trees in this one park alone than anywhere else on earth. So, when it comes to fall colors, you have more different colors and shades of colors than anywhere else on earth as well. It is beautiful and breathtaking.

The Cades Cove loop in the park focuses on life in the 1800s, with many houses built in the 1820s, grist mills and barns. You can walk in the houses and see what people lived in. [One thing that is so sad is that many people have written on the walls of the house…like I care so and so loved so and so…you are defacing a part of our history! Have some respect.] But other than that and the park traffic, they really need a public transportation system in the park, it is really neat. PLUS, we saw a momma black bear and three cubs while we were hiking to Elijah Oliver’s cabin. They were SO cute. I didn’t have my good camera with us so I was disappointed but we had the binoculars and the bears kept looking up at us. We could see them so well in the binoculars. I wanted to scoop them up and snuggle them.

We also drove the Roaring Fork Loop today. This trip brought you right into the woods. It was a really narrow road where the trees felt like they were going to swallow you up. So many different types of trees! This road brought you around another 1800s community but with more of a sense of trees and water…as they were so close to everything that this community held close. Plus this loop was more off the beaten path and not as many people were on this road, so it made it more enjoyable. Oh and did I tell you it snowed…just flurries but that makes it 5 parks now with snow! We'll let you know how the other side goes......

T&K

Seriously, do we all live on the same planet!

For the most part of our trip we have been pretty fortunate, having most of the luxuries we are accustomed to having at home. Our only struggle has been trying to find internet access on the road. My mom had been checking our mail and doing a great job of making sure we’ve paid all of our bills, but since we are paying our bills electronically it has become essential every few weeks to locate the internet. Up to now our biggest problem is that wi-fi wasn’t available at the locations we were staying but we still had the option of dial-up service. These past few days, I’ve been trying to find a place to stay in TN near the smokies and people here don’t even know what the internet is!! I tried to ask one guy 3 times if he has internet at his campground, after the third time I gave up. I should have asked him if he had a computer. I mean these are people who own business in 2006!! This other lady gave me a good laugh. I asked if she had wireless and she said “honey, I don’t have anything that’s wireless, I only have water, electric and sewer lines…none of that wireless stuff”. I practically choked laughing. I can understand not having the internet but not even knowing what it is?

Mammoth Cave National Park

I turned to Keith in the middle of cave tour and said “wow, this cave is huge”. He said “Taryn it is called Mammoth Cave”. Oh yeh! It is the biggest cave I’ve ever been in, which is great for me b/c I didn’t feel so claustrophobic…that was until we went through “tall man’s misery” and “fat man’s misery”. You had to walk hunched over for couple hundred yards and then squeeze through this long skinny passage. This path brought you to another level of the cave, to more huge rooms. I made it through with deep breathing techniques. Mammoth Cave, the longest cave in the world, was very different from any other cave we’d been in. It was missing all of the normal cave features, crystals, spars, stalactites, stalagmites…all because it was a dry cave, no water. This cave also had a mine in it where they obtained saltpeter in the early 1800's to mix with black gun powder. This was the only place in the US to obtain saltpeter since all imports had stopped during the War of 1812. Would we still be the US if they didn’t mine this important chemical from the caves? Thought to think on.

Only a few pictures...cave pictures never come out well.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.7t4p7qgl&Uy=-7xy6ml&Ux=0

Kodak Photo Album from Hot Springs

Here are some pictures of Vail Colorado, the bath houses in Hot Springs National Park and some pictures of the duck tour.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.9onddc9h&Uy=-2ljnzw&Ux=0

Surprising Fun in Hot Springs

So we’ve spent the last few days here in Hot Springs, AR…home of Bill Clinton…if you didn’t already know. There is a surprisingly large amount of things to do here. The first day, in the rain, we did the indoor stuff for Hot Springs National Park. Keith and I actually took part in a 1800’s traditional bathing. It consisted of a 20 min hot springs bath…in the original bathtubs, a sitz bath (which is a bathtub tub you sit in but your feet hang out), a steam room and a hot pack compress all followed by a massage. Let’s say we just went home and vegged after that was complete! Yesterday we took a “duck” tour…one of those boat/cars that go on land and in the water, went to the wax museum and toured the local Arkansas winery. Most of the wines here are VERY sweet. Keith referred to them as Boons type of wines…remember Boons from college. Then we inflated our two person kayak and went for a kayak trip (with Rosie) on Lake Ouachita. The lake was so clear. We even saw a few huge fish swimming underneath the kayak….one was a Spotted Bass and we think the other was a Blue Talipia, it was HUGE!

Today we are getting ready for some other adventures before we leave tomorrow, that is after we get some laundry done and food shopping. We are planning to go to Lake Catherine and maybe do some fishing or kayaking there for the day. BTW, the weather is 80 and sunny..making you jealous?!

Tomorrow we head up to Mammoth Cave NP in Kentucky. We are a little ahead of schedule, for those of you that have our schedule, but don't fret, we'll find more fun things to do! :)

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Keith & I decided to head right to Hot Springs, AR. A little ahead of schedule...but it was raining so there wasn't many other things to do. We are planning to hit up the national park today and maybe take a soak in the hot springs. Til later.

Back in Colorado

So we started heading back east today...a full day of driving east with no destination in mind. We took some back roads in Colorado to avoid the Denver traffic and ended up in Limon, CO. Tomorrow we are going to take in Kansas...hopefully there won't be any tornados. Our next destination is going to be a huge lake outside of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Keith wanted to get some boat & fishing time in before the trip is over. Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Kodak Photo Album from Arches & Canyonlands

Here is the photo album for Arches National Park.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.41rwdhid&Uy=enstcl&Ux=0

Here is the album for Canyonlands National Park.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.3fdwzqbp&Uy=-agd2wq&Ux=0

Canyonlands & Arches National Parks

Tuesday we spend the day sightseeing and hiking in Arches but didn't get to finish as some roads were washed away and we were tired from hiking all day. So we decided to give Arches some time to dry out and we hit Canyonlands on Wednesday and then went back to Arches today.

Canyonlands is actually broken up into three "districts". From Moab you can easily access the Island in the Sky District so that is what we accomplished. Canyonlands is appropriately named, as it is filled with canyons...everywhere you look. There are even canyons inside of canyons! The confluence of the Green & Colorado Rivers shaped Canyonlands into what it is today. Most of the roads, not only in Canyonlands NP but everywhere around us, require 4 wheel drive vehicles. Everyone is towing or driving a Jeep in the campground where we are staying. Or ATV's seem to be very popular as well. Keith and I tried to rent these touring vehicles but many of the roads are washed away that the companies use or their vehicles are in for maintenance...so no luck there. They actually call it "rock climbing" not even off-roading! We were going to hike the Needles district of Canyonlands tomorrow but truth be told we're tired of looking at red rock, canyons, spires and all these other great formations. After a week we're ready for some new explorations. Actually that brings to mind that last night K & I went on a night boat tour of the Colorado. There was a light and sound show as well where they choreographed a light show off of the canyon walls...but neither Keith nor I really "got" the light show. Apparently shapes and designs were supposed to coincide with the sound?! It was awesome anyways...really b/c of the stars. There is so little light pollution out here that we saw so many stars, the Milkyway Galaxy and even a passing satellite. It was really neat.

Arches was exactly that...arches everywhere you look. Big ones, small ones, ones that look like they are going to fall down on you, ones just forming. Arches everywhere. One thing we learnt that was pretty cool is that Arches & Canyonlands sit on a HUGE salt bed. They actually mine salt from here. But one really neat thing about the salt bed is that it absorbs shock from any earthquake....so the formations can keep growing year after year and are not exposed to potential earthquake damage.

Well, as I write this we are not sure where we are heading yet tomorrow....stay tuned!

Depressed :(

One more thing I forgot to mention...we are on our way back home. Actually since we left Las Vegas we've been heading east. The other day we finally took a highway and got on going east...that is when it really hit home. We are happy to come home to see everyone but our adventures only have another few weeks and we are sad about that. (well, until the next trip!)

Keith and I have been having so much fun on this trip. I really wish everyone could take some time off and do this for themselves and/or their family. It is not only amazing to see all that the US land and national park service has to offer in terms of geological features but it is also an incredible bonding experience between all members of your family. Keith and I joked at the start of this trip that we'd either be stronger or divorced. Thankfully this has made our relationship stronger and we've become more tolerable of each other's vices. Even Milo (the temperamental cat) is really turning out to have a sweet side.

We've definitely been the youngest couple in most of the parks, but we've seen wonderful relationships and adventurous spirits in so many of the people who have crossed our path. There are some really wonderful places and people in this world. Hopefully you can take some time in your lives to experience it as well.

Kodak Photo Album from Capitol Reef National Park

ayHere is the photo album from Scenic Highway 12 and Capitol Reef National Park.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.ahxgeurx&Uy=vr2dh2&Ux=0

Capitol Reef National Park

On our trip out to Capitol Reef, we took Utah’s Scenic Byway 12, which has been designated an all-american road for its one of a kind features which qualify as a destination “unto themselves”. This really was an amazing road with all the wonderful features it passed through. We traveled through the Dixie National Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and passed by Kodachrome Basin State Park and Boulder Mountain. It was well worth the trip, even considering we had to travel “The Hogback”, a ridge with steep dropoffs on both sides (quote from the scenic guide book).

Capitol Reef is a small but surprisingly cool park. In the middle of the desert, you have fruit orchards?! We picked a few apples but gave most of them to the horses. This park, also has old schoolhouses, petroglyphs, waterfalls (when its raining), hikes to large domes and hikes along dried riverbeds. Can you ask for anymore…well Keith would probably ask for a glacier.

Capitol Reef is known for its very unusual “Waterpocket Fold” formation. The waterpocket fold is a huge wrinkle in the earth’s crust extending for about 100 miles. There is not another feature like this in the US, maybe not even in the world. Many of the roads in Capitol Reef are dirt and mostly made for off-roading. Since this area just had the worst rain in about 65 years, we didn’t venture on too many of the backroads….just a couple. Some of the coolest hiking we did is along these riverbeds called washes. The riverbed is only flowing when there in rain in the area. Since a huge storm just passed the area, there were so many cool rocks in the wash. We saw old ancient coral, petrified wood, lava rocks and so many more. But probably the best part of the park was in the morning when we were leaving, there were HUGE waterfalls cascading off of the cliffs. With all the rain they’ve had recently, there is no place else for the water to go, so it just washed right off the cliffs. It was really neat. These same cliffs the day before we completely dry!

Kodak Photo Album links updated for 9-22-06

Mom, thanks for letting me know that the links for the Garden of the Gods/Great Sand Dunes and the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert required you to sign in. I updated those links and you should be able to see the pictures without having to sign in.

Kodak Photo Album from Bryce Canyon NP

Here are the pictures from Bryce Canyon National Park.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.as9rvxjx&Uy=ipf89n&Ux=0

Kodak Photo Album from Zion NP

Here are the pictures from Zion NP.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.b0yiy5dp&Uy=5tn0j1&Ux=1

Bryce Canyon National Park in the rain

Our stay here has been filled with thunderstorms, rain & hail. We've only had a few hours to spend in the park each day but in that time we caught two awesome sights, Bryce Ampitheater and Natural Bridge. Two sights like we have never seen before. They were incredible! For the most part we've been hanging out, surfing on the internet, readings books and watching the Lord of the Rings series over again. It has been very relaxing. Well, off to Capitol Reef tomorrow via scenic highway 12. Thankfully the weather is supposed to take a turn for the better. Til later.
Taryn & Keith

Zion National Park

We had no expectations going into Zion, it was a great surprise. First off, check out this camp site! The sandstone formations were nothing like what we had seen before. Also they had a great shuttle bus system so you didn't have to drive and could relax and hike from stop to stop. We hiked to a set of Emeral Pools and got some great views.
The highlight of the trip was hiking into the Virgin River to the Narrows. There was a river side trail for @ 1 mile then you had to go into the river to keep going. We went till our feet couldn't take the 50 degree water anymore. It was fun!

Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead & new tires for the truck

Vegas is always a good time, tons to see and do. Taryn started off sick the first 2 days but was quickly back on track drinking with me. We celebrated our anniversary with my parents, 5 years on Sept 29, I still don’t know how Taryn puts up with me…. ;) I visited a boat factory with my Dad and Taryn got a spa day. We all meet for an Italian dinner at Venice (thanks Mon & Dad).

Then T & I walked the strip in two nights, the casionos just get better and more expensive. We visited the Hoover dam and got the full tour. The stats are incredible, it creates 2080 megawatts of power, enough for over a million homes. Its 726’ high and goes from 660’ at the base to 1244’ wide at the top. Just looking down the dam from the top is an incredible experience, it always amazes me what we could build back in 1936!

Lake Mead was another incredible site, it’s the largest man made lake. It holds 9.2 trillion gallons of water and goes to 500’ deep. But what really got me going was what kind of fishing they do there, go old stripers up to 50 lbs, now that’s my kind of lake! We proceeded to drive the western shore of the lake and stopped at one of the boat ramps (the largest I have ever seen) and a marina, boy did we get a surprise. There is no fishing in this marina basin and the fish knew it. Huge schools of carp and stripers were hanging out right at the dock, see the pic below. People would just feed them and you could make them go nuts by just putting your hand near the water, I don’t think you would want to fall in, they were aggressive.


Also in Vegas I put 4 new tires on the truck, I figured I could make the trip on the last 1/3 of my tread life, nope, towing the big rig eats through tires quick. Also they wore unevenly, center wearing down first to the wear bars with the shoulders having 5/32 left, it probably means they were over inflated. I am a bit of a nut following exactly what the manual says for inflation pressures, they might not have it right. I’ve dropped 5 lbs off the rear, 80 to 75, I will try that for a bit then maybe drop to 70 and see how the rig feels. Also when not towing or with a heavy load I will drop the rears to the from 55 lbs. I went with Michelins this time and they feel good except they wander a bit when the rod is grooved longitudinally, time will tell…… One good lesson learned from this, on a big trip like this don’t cheap out on the tires, have the best on before you go.

Right now we are in Bryce Canyon Utah, it's pouring but at lest we have good internet!!

K & T

Kodak Photo Album from Hoover Dam & Lake Mead

Here are pictures of Hoover Dam and some of Lake Mead as well. There are some crazy carp pictures in this album.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.3xtk1arh&Uy=p5vqm9&Ux=0

Kodak Photo Album from Grand Canyon NP

Here are the pictures from the Grand Canyon and our hike to Mt Humphrey. The pictures from the rafting trip still aren't developed so you'll have to wait for those later.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.8ac1djb1&Uy=h36jc9&Ux=0

Grand Canyon National Park

We spent the last few days in Grand Canyon National Park and it is as grand and big as I remember from the last time I visited.

The park was really busy and we weren’t able to get a campsite at the place we wanted but we ended up staying in the park anyways but just without any hook-ups. We found that with a full water tank and some significant water conservation methods we can go three days without hook-ups no problem. The generator is coming in really handy as well…we charge the battery twice a day and we’ve not run out of juice yet. That means we have heat at night! With the night temps in the 30’s heat has become very important.

The first night in the park we caught the sunset over the canyon. Incredible hues of red and orange could be seen in the sky and on the canyon walls. We tried to take some pictures but none came out real well, guess you’ll just have to see it for yourself someday! The second day we walked the south rim of the canyon and Keith had fun hanging his legs off the canyon ledge. Not me, I stayed on way solid ground! We were going to hike the Kaibab trail down into the canyon but I came down with my first cold/flu of the season and really wasn’t up to the challenge. K & I spend the day just hanging out at the RV, readings books and napping. It was our first down day on the whole trip. We brought a ton of books and games with us figuring we’d have a lot more down time. But after a full day of running around the national park or hiking we pretty much eat dinner and then go to bed.

Right now we are in Vegas celebrating our 5th anniversary. My oh my time goes by fast!

Catch you all later.
Taryn