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.

Canada 2008 - Day 1 to 3

So we start our trip the plan is to go strait north all the way up to Jasper. Then go back down and west to vancouver and then back home avoiding california fires if possible.

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 night at a reservoir called Clark Resovoir just south of Dillon Idaho. It was a great location and campground and better yet it was free. The next morning the only noise we had to worry about was a couple flocks of geese and boy are they noisy.

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.

So now we come to today which we woke up about 6:30 to try and beat the crowds and get to a hike on the other side of the park. So we headed down the Going to the Sun road that runs thru the park. Very nice drive, if you ever drove down to Tortilla flats its very similar but bigger mountains. We stopped to see a number of things at one of our stops we ran into some mountain goats. They eventually came all the way down the hill and were within a foot of the path. Quinn got a big kick out of that. So from there we went up to logan pass which is at the tippy top on the continental divide. Up there we saw some big horned sheep just hanging out. So then down the other side of the mountain. We stopped and hiked in about 1.5 miles to victoria falls, a great hike that runs up the river so you see alot of little falls leading up to the grand finally. From here since we were making such good time we decided to hit some of hte parks other areas. We went to an area called Many Glaciers it has a Alpine like chalet which was built in the early 1900s to entice visitors to the American Alps. From there we hiked in about 1.8 miles to some not so impressive falls. But on the way in we did get to see two huge moose in the river eatting. So that made it worth it. Next stop the canadian side of the park called Waterton.
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.

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.

I-10 Day One - Philly 2008

So we stayed the night in St Augustine at a hotel next to the Golf hall of fame. It was too early to stop there but I know squatt about golf anyway. We ate at a wonderful local restaurant called Manatee and then headed into St Augustine to see Castillo de San Marcos. Its a spanish fort smaller than the last fort we saw but in the same octogon type shape. It had a mote but aparently it was never filled in, or if it was it would leak. From the top you could see the light house and a great view of the whole area. After walking around the fort we went for a stroll downtown. Very nice street with no cars old houses and newer onces built to look old. They claim to have the oldest wooden school house, it was tiny and it did look old. After downtown strolling we hit the road heading home. We went due west instead of up to I-10 right away, whick starts in jacksonville north of st augustine.
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.

East coast - Philly 2008

We hit the beach this morning but the wind was too strong and cold to spend much time out there. We drove to Savannah to see Fort Pulaski, it was very diffent it had a moat and dirt mounts that when you stepped down into some tunnels that run under it was a maze. If you look at the walls of the tunnels its made of a type of concreat but the material was made with shells. You could see whole clamb & muscle shells in the walls, ceiling and floor. After the fort we drove into Savannah to see some of the old houses. We went into one called Owens-Towns, in order to keep everything symetric and even when you look in or outside of it there were fake windows and doors. So in a room if there was one door there was another even if the door wouldnt open or go anywhere. The house had a staircase that started as one then split into two going up to the second floor then the second floor had a bridge that went between the two stairs to a little sitting room at the back of the house. Very strange touches to the house. We made it down to St Augustine for the night. We hope to start early tommorrow and see the fort it has tommorrow and some more beach of course.

Carolina Coast - Philly 2008

We spent some timeo on the beach today looking at shells. We first stopped outside our hotel which was on a place called shell island and its obvious where its name came from there were shells everywhere. We then took 17 south along the coast and made it to Myrtle Beach for lunch. We ate on the water at a fish place called Sea Captains. It had good food and a nice peaceful ambiance as the rain decided to down poor outside. The waves started crashing from the higher winds but by the time we were done the rain stopped so we made another short walk on the beach. Next stop was in Mt Pleasant, there is a plantation there called Boon Hall. The plantation is still being worked, they have fruits and vegtables. The main house was built in the 1930's so not that old but the slave quarters are still there and those are more original. There were nine of them standing, its amazing how small they seem. The plantation was had a big brick yard on it as well as the largest pecan grove. There are still about 500 pecan trees. They look very diffrent than the ones you see in phoenix cause they have ivy and moss all over them. The gardens even had some flowers, the dafidils were out and you could see other bulbs getting ready to come out. From there we took a look at fort Sumpter, we arrived to late to take a boat out to the fort which is in the middle of the bay. You could see its large brick walls out in the middle of the water. From there we drove to Charlston SC from where we were to Charleston there was a real fancy bridge that with the lights and the clouds look like a type of gateway. We stopped to see the north caroline battle ship. Man those ships are big. We then headed for our next hotel for the night on Hilton Head Island, to get here we had to take alot of bridges and if you think there are alot of golf courses in phoenix you havnt seen this place they are all over the place. Today we will head to florida we will see what we do next.

Mon Feb 25 2008 - Philly 2008

We headed south out of dover down the the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. Before the tunnel we went thru Lowes which claims to be the first town in the first state of Delaware. This town had some old buildings and a light house boat that was kinda neat. From there we stopped at a national park on an island called S somthing or other they had wild hourses running free. Joe attempted to go on the beach but the car was trying to get stuck so he quickly turned around and we drove back out. I wasnt expecting they white sandy beaches so far north. They were all very clean and beutiful. Finally we hit the bridge to get back to the mainland it was huge, when you first got on it you couldnt see land on the other side just lots of water and the bridge. We went thru two tunnels while out in the middle of the water not sure why they bothered but they were short streaches. From the bridge we hit Virgina Beach and ate dinner at a mediteranian restaurant that was good. We then headed strait south and stopped a beach resort in Wrightsville, North Caroline. The view is spectacular, the weather has finally warmed up enough. We have the patio door open and the ocean breaze comming in. We hope to make it to Charleston today and maybe even Savannah.

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.

Day 5 & 6 - Philly 2008

We went to the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago in the morning. They had a model train model with a model of Chicago and a bunch of difrent trains running that quinn enjoyed. They had a submarine, some larger trains, airplanes, baby chickens. The best part was the john deer tracktors that he was able to climb in and pretend to drive. Once we left the museum we headed east and hit a lovely snow storm due to lake effect off of michigan into Indiana. It made an area of about 20 miles a complete mess then nothing everything was clear. Once we made it out of the snow the sunset was beutiful off the snow storm. We stayed the night outside Cleavland. There was a lunar eclipse last night that was kinda neat, the skys were very clear so we had a real good view of it while we were driving.


Today we made it into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a very hilly state. We saw no flat areas and everything seems to be covered with trees. The town you can tell is real old. The freeways were slower than squat so we took side streets as a detour, very interesting parts of town. Old brick buildings that barely look livable. We shared dinner with the bridal party tonight at a Dave's and Busters. Quinn played some of the video games that gave him tickets to trade in for toys. Between his tickets and the ones everyone kept giving him he got two stuffed animals a dragon and a frog. After the games he help play pool with the rest of us then eventually passed out on our laps. We have the wedding tommorrow night, not sure what we will be doing during the day. There is an ice storm that is suppose to hit the area tonight so far it doesnt look too bad, maybe it will miss us. Heres hoping.

Day 5 - Philly 2008

We spent the day in New Hampton. Quinn decided to try and make a tunnel through one of the snow banks. We made it about 1/4 of the way thru before it was time for lunch. After lunch we headed out of town toaward chicago. The roads were a little icy but not too bad. We took 20 thru Debuque IA where we crossed the mississipppi. It was a very large river covered in snow, it looked pretty frozen. Once we crossed the river we went thru the town with the home of President U. S. Grant. It had a very nice old main street look to it. Illinois is a big change from Iowa as soon as you cross the river it seems to get hilly no more flat area. We stayed with Joes Cousin Susan Tuesday night. They have a great view of downtown. The car is covered with snow this morning so as soon as we can get that cleared up we are headed to the science museum downtown.

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.

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.

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...

Day 1 - Phily 2008

Today we start our trip out to Philadelphia. What a way to start, the weather here in Phoenix is rainy the mountains are suppose to be getting hammered with snow. We only have to make it to Show Low but it seems like a million miles a way with a wall of white stuff in between. So whats the forcast for the weekend. Each state we plan to cover in the next few days will have winter weather conditions. Hmm.. maybe I should pack that extra set of thermals.

Day 9 to Day 13 - Iowa 2007

We went to the river over the weekend. The mosquitos are awful, get eatten alive around here. Quinn loves to ride in the boat. No fear what so ever. They had a surprise birthday party for Joes Uncle Allens 60th. Quinn sung happy birthday and the abcs over the microphone. And would have sung everyother song he knows as well if we let him. Quinn danced with everyone that night, when it was late enought the mosquitos finaly went to bed.

Quinn has been running around in the grass and today we flew a kite. This is the relaxing part of the trip so not much to talk about. Thursday we head back home, first stop Omaha and the zoo.

Day 8 - Iowa 2007

We arrived late at the farm and will be spending the next 6 days here . Quinn played uno with his great grandmother this morning. We looked at some gardens, its cool seeing all the things they can grow here and how much space they can use. There are tomatos, watermelon, carrots, brocoli, green peppers, jalepeno peppers, lettuce, and lots and lots of rasberries, apples and even some grapes. Tommorrow we will be heading to the Mississippi.

Day 7 - Iowa 2007

Drove out of the badlands this morning and then pulled over to a card place. Pioneer auto show and antique town in Mudo, South Dakota. It reminds me of the dukes of hazard with the general lee tuting his horn. Quinn also saw a real Mater towtruck which he thought was cool. The rest of the day consisted of driving strait, driving flat, driving across corn fields. Although we went thru 3 states you couldnt tell unless you were watching the signs.

Day 6 - Iowa 2007

We walked around Devils Tower, I figured it was the plug of a volcano but according to the information its actually deep down in an old vocano at one point it was hundrds of feet under ground and the ground has just erroded around it. There were some climbers climbing too which look extreamly difficult. We now headed into South Dakota and the Black Hills. We first stopped at Jewel cave, but could only take the 20 minute tour cause we missed the longer one. It is suppose to be the second largest cave in the world. We then headed over to Wind Cave, but due to some donkeys in the road it took forever. These things wouldnt move they were so friendly they walked up to the car and poked there nose thru the windows. They were very pretty and healthy, not sure if you could consider them wild. But that was interseting. At Wind Cave we took the tour down the natural entrace, that was a treat. There is a tiny hole that is the natural entrance but at some point they made one with a door so we went in there. You walk down a narrow passage that slowly progresses down with stairs too. While in there the ranger turned off the light and showed us the old candle, amazing how much light it does give off. Then she blew that out. And wow is it dark, no light what so ever. Very strange. The tour was about 1hr and 15 minutes. Very cool they are the 4th biggest cave in the world. We drove the scenic route to mount rushmore about 10 miles an hour around constant U turns and narrow one lane tunnels. After that we headed for the BadLands for the night.

Day 5 - Iowa 2007

We watched old faithful go again. It goes about every hour and a half. We then went thru other gyser areas. Man does this area stink. The springs really stink, the mud holes are kinda cool they pop bubbles. Quinn keeps calling then "Sh.ooters". We stopped at one for about 45 minutes waiting for it to go I guess it only goes once a day. It was alot more bursty than old faithful but you sit alot closer so its a diffrent experience. We ran into some more buffalo on the way out of the park. The funny thing here is they were on the other side of the river so I was wonder if they knew how to swim, and then what do you know they start crossing the river. Guess that answers that question. So we had to wait while they crossed the road then all of a sudden there was some weird noise they were making and .i heard it from behind us and here come about 5 of them at a full out run to catch up with the others. I heard they can travel up to 30 miles an hour and boy is that a site. We also saw a moose on the way out of Yellowstone with her baby. But no bears. We almost hit one elk and one deer, but their suicide attempt failed thank goodness. The road isnt the best you come out of yellowstone and its flat as flat can be then all of a sudden you have to go thru a pass that seems to last forever. The speed limit is high but at night the dumb deer are all over the place. We drove to devils tower for the night. Saw a porcupine in the campground and a skunk crossing the road

Day 4

Woke up early and headed on a 1/4 mile hike to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Its not very wide but it sure is deep. We walked up the rim a bit to check out the lower falls. They are supose to be twice as big as Niagra. They did seem rather large, the path down to the base of the falls was closed so we didnt get very close. On our way back we practicly ran into a deer just eating some grass and a mushroom.


We next headed up to Tower falls, the path down to the base of this one was also closed. Only the top view point was visible. We then stopped on the side of the road a bit up to have some lunch. As we setup we saw some antelope in the meadow. We then noticed more and more people stopping and after a further look there was alot of antelope and a male with some big black spikes. A little bit later a coyote wandered up the medow, the antelope looked up then ignored him. One guy said they are only afraid of mountain lions and lightning and there are no mountain lions in the park.

We then headed out again after lunch. this time more people stopped on the side of the road. So we checked it out and there was this gigantic elk with a huge rack just laying in the creek scratching his back with his antlers. Then he stood up and started attacking the ground, quinn enjoyed this cause dirt and grass went flying. He then went back to laying in the water. strange. We went a saw a few more water falls then headed for gyser land. As we neared the first stop a giant buffalo took up the entire road. We had to wait as he passed us on the right taking his jolly time.

We next walked to mammoth springs and saw the smelly sulphur pools. And then some gysers we will likly go see more tommorrow. Quinn calls them pushers cause they push the water up. We saw old faithful just before dark and are staying at the old faithful inn tonight.

Day 3 - Iowa 2007

We figured out that near the hotel we could drive by Temple Square and the Capital which was on a hill and alot of old fancy houses leading up to it. Another weird site was old houses that actually were Old apartment buildings, all out of brick with porches and everything. Most of the area downtown Salt Lake was nice. We then headed north on 15 until we hit 89 and took that thru lots of mountain windy roads with big fancy boats. Each time we passed a lake there would be huge boats on the roads. We drove thru one small town that had antlers across main street that you had to drive under. Jackson has something similar it had antler entries on all four corners of the city park. After jackson we headed to Jenny lake and walked around a bit and took some pictures of the Tetons. You can still see some ice in some of the shadyer parts of the mountains. There was a real nice sunset while we were leaving and the moon was out early. We then headed into Yellowstone. Only bad part is it was dark so not only could you see nothing you had to drive slow for all the animals you couldnt see. We didnt really see anything. We stopped for dinner at Lake Yellowstone Hotel and walked to the lake. With the moon almost full it was very cool. We then went to Canyon area where we stayed the night in a cabin in the Cayon Lodge.

Day 2 - Iowa 2007

We woke up early the next morning and went on a few hikes of the canyonlands area called needles. It is a number of rock formations that are tall and skinny and have many diffrent colors. We also stopped at an old granery of the pueblo indians in the park. All the hikes were relativly short since we wanted to head to Arches National Park. On our way out of Canyonlands we ran into the mass heard of turkeys again. We then went thru Moab to get to arches. In arches we took the first loop trail that runs by 3 arches. This was neat because they are all withing climbing distance. And man was it getting hot. After these three we stopped at the overlook for the second arch which is the most famous one and on the utah licensplate. It was too hot to hike up to it maybe another trip. The last arch we went to see was called landscape, it is huge but very skinny looks like it could fall any day. The hike was a mix of hot suny areas and cool shady parts between the pilars of rocks. After this we started out to head into salt lake city. We took 6 into provo then decided to take a side route up to Park City to see the ski resort. There are some amazing houses in this area. We stopped at the resort and they have some rides so we decided to try some. The two we tried are called the slide and coaster.


The slide you take the chair lift up to the top then sit in this sled type thing with a break and you go down a tobagin type ride all the way to the bottom. Bit scary but fun. The coaster you get in a single car roller coaster type thing with a break again and it pulls you up to the top. Once at the top only one way to go is down, it has twists and turns a bridge some dips and you control the speed. Very wild, I went slow but Quinn had a blast with joe, they were cruisin. We are now in downtown Salt Lake City for the night. On to Yellowstone tommorrow.

Day 1 - Iowa 2007

We headed out early and drove thru monument valley. Lots of large rock formations but the rest of the drive was very flat. We then drove thru Mexican Hat and saw the rock that looked like a little mexican. After Mexican Hat we decided to take a "Short Cut" to get to Natural Bridges. Well this shortcut was strait up. about a 10% grade and it was gravel. switchbacks but one heck of a view. Once on top we reached bridges without issue. There are three bridges in the park. We did the overlook on the first two then hiked down to the last one. They are very large and the way they form is interesting.

To be classified a bridge a river has to assist in its formation. Otherwise it is considered an arch. So after bridges we drove up to canyon lands. We started down the canyon lands entry at about dusk, then comming around one corner we saw three black bears in the road, a momma and two larger cubs. One cub stood up on two legs to either get a better look or strut his stuff. Soon after the bears we ran into about 20 or more turkeys just making tons of noise and chasing each other around in circles. Well we decided to camp this first night and setup camp in the canyonlands campground. A very nice place with spaced out campsites and very nice facilities.