Sunday we headed out from there. Went thru the petrofied forest and painted desert. Always a nice site. From there we went thru new mexico onto texas panhandle. Stopped at a route 66 museum, it had some interesting history on the route. We stayed at a state park sunday night just off 40. Next we kept heading east to Okalahoma city.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Day 1 - 3 Galena, 2008.
Sunday we headed out from there. Went thru the petrofied forest and painted desert. Always a nice site. From there we went thru new mexico onto texas panhandle. Stopped at a route 66 museum, it had some interesting history on the route. We stayed at a state park sunday night just off 40. Next we kept heading east to Okalahoma city.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Vancouver to Victoria

In Vancouver we went to Stanley Park. I would say it is their version of central park. It is a huge park on a peninsula. We were going to the aqarium but found a water park with sprinklers and fire hydrens and water pistols that was more appealing. Quinn had a grand old time. After that we headed for the ferry to get to vancouver island. That was interesting you basicly wait in line and then they direct you from that line onto the boat. We were in the front fow so we had a ocean front view. on the upper decks you could sit and watch inside or go up another level and walk the ship. Very nice views, it was about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the island. We found a hotel last night and were planning on leaving today. But today is BC Day, i guess a celebration of British colombia as a state.

Sunday, August 03, 2008
West Glacier to Vancouver
Along the way we went thru some old growth rainforests. They are huge cedars that create a massive canopy. The ground is very lush and green even without the sunlight. Some of the furn type things have huge spikes on them, luckly they have boardwalks so you can watch at a safe distance. From the rainforest we went to a marsh area that had a number of bird watching areas.
Lake Louise to West Glacier

Next day we first went into kootenay national park. The only stop we made was marble canyon which was amazing. The river had cut this very narrow deep canyon. It reminded me of the slot canyons at lake powel. Aftr this slight detour we headed back to lake loise to see moraine lake, there are 10 peaks above this lake with the clouds and snow dusting it was a neat sight. From here we started our trek west. First stop yoho natuional park and takakkaw falls. The falls were massive when you were up close the camera could not even fit them all. It was a ridge at the top with tons of water pouring down. About athird of the way down the water seemed to hit a lip in the rock causing to have a huge spray zone. Forgot one thing right befpre these falls is a place they call the spiral tunnels. It is the tunnels for the canadian railway that takes a previus 4+ percent grade and cut it in half by having the train pretty much drive on top of itself. We were luckiy enough to see a train go through it, its a very strange sight. Next we stopped at emerald lake.
Next stop was a natural bridge. Now the main diffrenxebetween a natural bridge and an arch is natura bridges are caused by a river carving it out an arch is caused by erosion. Well i have seen alot of natural bridges but this one was diffrent its like a waterfall but it decided under was a less resitent path. The water is fearce running beneth this bridge.
We went for a real nice easy hike to some falls called w... It wasnt a high fall but real wide. Quinn had his bear walking stick that we picked up in glacier MT, normal stick but with a bell on it so the bears know your commin.
Its amazing how often "eh" is used at the end#of any sentence up here. We ate dinner tonight at an excelent restaurant in golden, BC. So we then stopped in glacier for the night but the first two capsites were full, we then stumbled across the third one and it was completely emty. Now normally im all over isolation but in an area where there are gient signs everywhere about bears we decided to take a sot closest to the road. Little bakward but the place is down right creepy.
Jasper to Lake Louise
Now i wish i had a thermometer cause it was dab cold last night. But when we woke up and stepped out of the tent we had two visitors. One was lying down taking a nap near our table the other was nibbling abush next to our tent. They were huge elk.
From jasper we drove down toward lake louise. The day started out much nicer. We did two falls hikes athabasca and sunwapta both very diffrent but neat falls.
After that we went to the columbian icefields and took a huge four wheel drive custom bus up onto one of the glaciers. To get on the glcier the first piece was to get down a massive hill tha even in a quad would be tough. So we had 20 minutes on the ice which was plent although amazing it was freekin cold. They said that they had had snow the day before.
We made it into lakeloise and stopped for dinner at an old railway station. The appetizers were wonderful but we had bison burgers for the main meal and they must hve been store bought reheated with all kinds of stuff in emm cause they were the worst burgers we have ever had. Yuck. After dinner we went toward banff and caped at a place caled protection mpuntain. Nice campground only noise was the occasional train.
Banff to Jasper
Next day we headed to jasper. It was raining on and off through out the day. We hiked johnson canyon first, it was an easy hike but extreamly busy. It had a cave on one side that let you get super close to the falls, all the way up into the spray zone. From the canyon we headed to lake louise.
The chatou there is impressive. We hiked up the fairview lookout and when i say up i mean 100% up. One at the top there is aprimative trail that goes down to the lake then along the shore. It didnt look to bad so we talked quinn into doing it and off we went. Since it was raining it was bit slippery but a fun hike.
We then went and checked out the hotel, definitly would be a nice place to stay but a bit pricey. Hard to beat the campground price of 27 witch includes flush toilets, bears, showers, and other animals. On our way to jasper we saw some real big glaciers. The main one whic we will hit tommorrow was dang cold. We made it to jasper aound 11 for the night.
Calgary to Banff
The next morning we got up and went to the calgary heritage park. It is and old town recreation with original building that were moved to this site. Everyone was dressed in period costume and had alot of interesting facts. In the wood workers shack quinn helped make a sign. The place had a large train running around the prrk and old amusment park rides.
From calgary we drove into banff. Its a bit dramatic a drive because you go from very flat plains into huge mountans. When I think candada I dont really think flat but Calgary is flat.
We camped in banff for the night. After we found the campground we drove into town. We first stopped at national park headquarters of some type. It has a huge beutiful garden.
From there we walked around downtown. It has alot of neat shops and restaurants. We ate at a greek place and just missing the plate smashing show. The food and service were excelent.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Canada 2008 - Day 1 to 3
So we head our of town late friday and have rain from cortez junction all the way past Flagstaff. Not looking very positive for camping out. But it did eventually clear up and then we just had to avoid the suicidal deer. Anyway we made it to Bryce and stayed the night in the Red Canyon. We rolled in about 2 am so no real pickings left on camp sites. It was a bit noisy in the morning because we ended up close to the road. But oh well.
The next day we slept in then headed to Manti, UT to see a friends second home. The town is very cute nestled up against the mountain with the big temple on a hill in the middle. It has a very layed back feeling. From there we headed more north thru provo then salt lake city into Idaho all the way up into montana. We next stopped at Deer Lodge, mainly because they had a car museum which ended up being part of a prison that was used before the place was a state. Never been in or seen a prison before so that was interesting. We stayed the
So finally we get to destination number one Glacier National Park. We arrived early found a camp site about 1/3 of the way into the park then backtracked a bit to check out the sites. There is alot of snow still up there so its hard to tell whats a glacier and whats a pile of snow. At around 7 we took an hour boat ride around Lake Mcdonald, it was a nice start with alot of information on the park. After the ride we went for a hike to one of the falls near the lake. The sun stays up till about 9:30pm so you have alot of time in a day. There are alot of rules in the campgrounds in glacier due to the bears so we ate at the lodge on Lake Mcdonald and just went back to camp to sleep. Luckly no bears this night.
It has an impressive hotel up on a hill over looking the late and the little town of Waterton. We just did a little driving and walking around then headed out. It seems like a very relaxing area not as impressive at first but once we went down one of the canyons it was picture perfect. On the way our we became part of a bear jam. A little ol brown black bear was eatting id assume huckleberrys (apparently they are in season and bears favorites) on the side of the road. That was a highlight. So now we are in Calgary, downtown and I feel like im in Phoenix. They have a few sky rises, everything is under construction and there are freeky people everywhere. So tommorrow off to Banff.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Last Days - Philly 2008
Dont remember if I mentioned the jelly fish Quinn and I saw when we walked the beach in the morning. Not many shells around but there were plenty of the clear funky looking round things on the beach. We drove thru Biloxi Mississippi but the road was still so torn up and the whole place still a bit of a mess we headed up to I-10 and took it into New Orleans. New Orleans was strange too there were entire neighborhoods that looked abandoned and this you could see from the freeway. We made it to the french quarter and walked around for about an hour. Its a very neat place with alot of live music around and very colorful painted houses. From New Orleans we took the mississippi road toward Baton Rougue and hit 3 plantations. The first one we stopped at was Oak Alley Plantation. The oak trees were an amazing site at this place. The house and history was interesting. We next stopped at Nottoway Plantation. The house was very diffrent from the last one and alot bigger. The grounds werent as impressive but the history was neat. The last one we stopped at was by far the best, Haumas House (http://www.houmashouse.com/). The lady who gave the tour was amazing she was walkin talkin historian with a loud humorous personality. She had some amazing statistics on the whites and blacks that owned slaves in the south. The grounds of this plantation were beutiful, flowers were in bloom, water flowing everywhere. The plantation is actually a residence so you can sit on the furniture and touch the stuff, she even played the ancient piano for us like it was nothing. The house had a spiral staircase that was amazing, to think they built it so well back then without all the technology of today. After the tour it was getting a bit late, they have a restaurant on the premisis that is reservation only. We asked if there was any availability and there was so we at dinner there. It was very charming eating in the old building, the food was supurb we were able to try alot of diffrent things. I must say we got the bread pudding on which I hadnt ever had before and it was delicious. It was the end of a perfect day. We stayed just out side baton rouge that night.
The next day we started the lovely drive accross texas. We made it to Lochart between san antonio and austin in the early afternoon to meet with Joes friend Tim. From there we figured wed stop in Ft Stockton, since its practically the only stop between san antonio and el paso. Anyway we got there around midnight and every hotel was booked. Aparently they struck oil or some nonsence like that. Anyway we were to tired to go any further, the next town Van Horn was about 2 hours away so we just parked it at the next rest area, grabbed the blankets and slept in the car.
The last day was all driving across more texas, new mexico wasnt too bad you are across it quick. We then stopped to visit a friend Jim in Bisbee, AZ. Interesting town, cute downtown. Strange the huge hole in the ground where they do the mining on the way into town. After Bisbee we stopped at the Mariott in Tucson for dinner, it was a wonderful place to eat they had a large assortment of seasonal, local and organic food on the menu. There is another place in Tucson a bit north called Mcclintocks Id like to try one day, aparently its reservation only and they were all booked when we went thru. Will have to hit it in the summer when all the snowbirds have left. So thats our trip we made it back in one piece. The subaru we rented worked well in all weather conditions and boy did we hit it all. Not sure we will take another mid winter road trip, but we saw alot of nice places with very few people around.
The next day we started the lovely drive accross texas. We made it to Lochart between san antonio and austin in the early afternoon to meet with Joes friend Tim. From there we figured wed stop in Ft Stockton, since its practically the only stop between san antonio and el paso. Anyway we got there around midnight and every hotel was booked. Aparently they struck oil or some nonsence like that. Anyway we were to tired to go any further, the next town Van Horn was about 2 hours away so we just parked it at the next rest area, grabbed the blankets and slept in the car.
The last day was all driving across more texas, new mexico wasnt too bad you are across it quick. We then stopped to visit a friend Jim in Bisbee, AZ. Interesting town, cute downtown. Strange the huge hole in the ground where they do the mining on the way into town. After Bisbee we stopped at the Mariott in Tucson for dinner, it was a wonderful place to eat they had a large assortment of seasonal, local and organic food on the menu. There is another place in Tucson a bit north called Mcclintocks Id like to try one day, aparently its reservation only and they were all booked when we went thru. Will have to hit it in the summer when all the snowbirds have left. So thats our trip we made it back in one piece. The subaru we rented worked well in all weather conditions and boy did we hit it all. Not sure we will take another mid winter road trip, but we saw alot of nice places with very few people around.
Friday, February 29, 2008
I-10 Day One - Philly 2008
Florida is a very pretty state, it is very heavilly treed. We eventually hit I-10 then just before Talahasse we went to the coast and took the coast highway 98. And it really hugs the coast. One thing diffrent about this coast than any others are the pine trees that run up to the sandy beaches. Very diffrent. We saw some huge fancy houses up on stilts as we went along. Saw a racoon and some deer munching on the side of the road. We are staing in Destin this evening just out side of Pensacola. We are headed to New Orleans today about a two hour drive.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
East coast - Philly 2008
Carolina Coast - Philly 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Mon Feb 25 2008 - Philly 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wedding Weekend - Philly 2008
Thursday night we meet the family for the rehersal dinner at Dave & Busters near Penns Landing. After eating we went and played the video games, Quinn was given so many tickets by diffrent people around the place he ended up with 1300 so he traded em in for two stuffed animals. After the video games we played pool till 1am, quinn really likes this game and between each game had the balls setup so he could make a practice shot. We were out till 1am, quinn fell asleep in one of the chairs.
Friday morning we wokeup to a blanket of snow somewhere around 3 - 6 inches I'd say. For lunch we went to Jims on South for some Philly Cheessteak. I had to pass on the Whiz part and just get provolone. Just seems odd that its famous for its cheessteak and the cheese is Whiz. It was good. After lunch we walked over to the liberty bell and the original capital buildings accorss from it. The congress house is so small its amazing to compare it to the one in DC that is huge. Friday night was the wedding on the way we drove thru chinatown. All the signs both street and the store signs were in both english and chinneese.
The wedding was a wonderful event, every one looked beutiful. After the ceremony they had apatizers that were amazing, lobster, shrimp, mini pizza, fruit, millions of other little mixes. After suffing your self there we went into the hall where the dancing began. Quinn was out there as soon as he could find someone to dance with. There was also a balcony that looked down on the event so him and taylor would go up and look down at everyone. Dinner again was supurb, and then came desert. It was like being in a pastry shop but you could try whatever you wanted. And boy was it some good stuff. Quinn finally fell asleep while his aunt Linda was holding him, he never slows down until he just crashes. We made it back to the hotel about 1:30am. Very good time.
Saturday we meet for a morning brunch at the hotel to see everyone. After that we headed to see some of the sites. We went to the libery bell again and around some of the other building down there. Saturday night we walked over to a martini bar called the continental, on the top floor was a patio bar mostly inside which was nice. It wasnt too busy at first but picked up by the time we were seatted for dinner. We then went downstairs for dinner and did a pot luck style dinner. So many diffrent things and unexpected things were real good.
Sunday we went to lunch at Genos on 9th, to get there we walked thru the italian market that was interesting. It had a bunch of street vendors from fruit and vegtables to other odd ends. Felt a bit like mexico. We walked by some meat markets and fish markets. Kinda neat to see these types of stores not typical in Phoenix. After lunch we went to the Museum of Art, they had alot of paintings by american artists. We also saw pennsylvania made furniture on display. Upstairs they had dutch and european art. After the museum we went to dinner at a FireHouse restaurant. It had the pool and everything, it was nice and quiet and the food was supurb. I remember now someone mentioning that philly was one the the most overweight cities in the US and I can now see why. Everything tasted wonderful. So after dinner we head out of town and drove across the water to New Jersey so Joe could say we hit another state. We took the coast down and crossed back over near Newark. We then went south and made it to Dover Deleware for the night. Sunday was a gorgeous sunny day today is lookin dreary again. We are headed down deleware accross the bridge into virgina.
The wedding was a wonderful event, every one looked beutiful. After the ceremony they had apatizers that were amazing, lobster, shrimp, mini pizza, fruit, millions of other little mixes. After suffing your self there we went into the hall where the dancing began. Quinn was out there as soon as he could find someone to dance with. There was also a balcony that looked down on the event so him and taylor would go up and look down at everyone. Dinner again was supurb, and then came desert. It was like being in a pastry shop but you could try whatever you wanted. And boy was it some good stuff. Quinn finally fell asleep while his aunt Linda was holding him, he never slows down until he just crashes. We made it back to the hotel about 1:30am. Very good time.
Saturday we meet for a morning brunch at the hotel to see everyone. After that we headed to see some of the sites. We went to the libery bell again and around some of the other building down there. Saturday night we walked over to a martini bar called the continental, on the top floor was a patio bar mostly inside which was nice. It wasnt too busy at first but picked up by the time we were seatted for dinner. We then went downstairs for dinner and did a pot luck style dinner. So many diffrent things and unexpected things were real good.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Day 5 & 6 - Philly 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Day 5 - Philly 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Day 4 - Philly 2008
We made it to New Hamptom on Monday. The drive that usually takes 2.5 hours took us 6 hours. Most of the way was sheer ice on the roads so we went about 15 miles an hour. Iowa has this law called "No Tow" which when affect if your car ends up in a ditch you cant have it towed until the No Tow is no longer in affect.
Basicly when the roads are 100% clear. So driving down I35 which is the main road N to S the roads didnt seem too bad. However in one area between the middle and the two sides of the road there were at least 20 cars scattered thru the snow. Joes cousin said most of the cars in the ditch happen in the first hour of the storm before everyone decides to slow down. When we arrived at the farm it was 7 degrees, Quinn being the kid he is decided to play out side. The farm had huge piles of snow and other snow drifts in the yard so it was an exciting challenge for him to try to make it to the top. The cold didnt seem to bother him at all, he is loving it.

Monday, February 18, 2008
Day 3 - Philly 2008
So we headed out early Sunday morning to try and beat any storms that decided to crop up. We hit some blowing snow with low visibility out of colorado springs until we hit I-80 then it was clear sailing and boy is it a boring drive. Usually in the summer you have diffrent types of crops this time a year its flat an very uninteresting.
We saw a few antelope, some cows and alot of tumble weeds tryed to attack the car. We made it to a rest stop outside demoines and they had an internet connection kiosk to their department of transportation. It was the most interesting map I have seen, usually in arizona the road is open or closed. Here they had diffrent severitys the road we were on was "normal" but ahead of us it was classified as "wet" then in des moines it was classified as "travel not advised" and north were we were planning on going was "completly covered". Needless to say we took its advise and stayed the night in des moines. Its about 9:30am now and looks like the snow plows have caught up so we are off to our first stop, should be there i about 2 hours.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Day 2 - Phily 2008
So we made it to showlow last night. We had rain all the way into payson and fog. then outside payson it was clear stary skies then when we hit the top of the rim we hit snow all the way into showlow. The snow banks off the road in forest lakes were huge, it was as big as the car. Its been a long time since I have seen that much snow. This morning we took a walk in the snow to kill some energy and everything was very nice. Snow everywhere with clear blue skies.

So we checked the weather before we left and then again when we hit Albaquerque and the nice storm that just left Arizona was going down 40 to Okalahoma City. So we decided to go north. We ended up in Colorado Springs for the night, not a bad deal the roads were dry with not much snow around. So now we are watching the weather channel and although we hoped to make it into Iowa tommorrow at the moment it looks like we may get stuck in Omaha. Its showing snow from canada to okalahoma and omaha to chicago. We will see...
So we checked the weather before we left and then again when we hit Albaquerque and the nice storm that just left Arizona was going down 40 to Okalahoma City. So we decided to go north. We ended up in Colorado Springs for the night, not a bad deal the roads were dry with not much snow around. So now we are watching the weather channel and although we hoped to make it into Iowa tommorrow at the moment it looks like we may get stuck in Omaha. Its showing snow from canada to okalahoma and omaha to chicago. We will see...
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