Denver

Tuesday morning we headed for Denver through the rest of the Rocky Mountains. The highest pass was at 11,115 ft and the van made it (barely)! We passed through some very cute towns and LOTS of snow. Our favorite was a town called Frisco where we stopped for coffee. It is the gateway town to Breckenridge Mountain and reminded us a lot of Truckee. The Giants played the Rockies at 1:10 in the afternoon and we got to the stadium with plenty of time to purchase tickets… good ones at that: 18^th row up from 3^rd base. The Giants didn’t come out with a win, but it was a great game non the less and we totally enjoyed seeing a game at Coors Field. After the game we met up with a friend and customer of Kyle’s, Brad Jester, at his house and met his wife, Christa and his daughter, Ella. Kyle talked to Brad every day while working at Earthbound, but they had never met in person before, yet Brad and Christa were not only totally cool, but fed us, gave us booz, and offered to let us stay in their guest room (luxury!). We totally hit it off with them and by the end of the night we felt like old friends. We were so appreciative of the hospitality.

A town on the mountain side in Colorado

The mountainous terraine

A view from the van front window

The snow! Lots of it!

The resorts were not open, but it looked like they could have been

Frisco, Colorado

The semi in front of us with flashers on too

More snow!

A small mining town in the Rockies

Our route so far

Kyle & the van in the parking lot at the Giant's game

Kyle at Coors Field

We stood at the field level while the players warmed up

White River National Forest

We found free camping for the second night in a row on Monday night at White River National Forest in Colorado. The van did well making it’s way to 8900 ft in the Rocky Mountains. We moved along slow but a strong tailwind helped us go faster than expected. We found a Forest Service ranger station and the Ranger at the office gave us directions to a campground no longer in service but permitted for free camping. We made our way there and found a great spot right on the White River. He warned us that there may be snow and there was, but we got a spot with dry ground – we even had enough space to set up a bocce ball court and use the set my sister gave us for the first time! The morning was cold (27 degrees in the van according to my thermometer), but we stayed toasty in our sleeping bags.

Our Bocce Ball court

Action shot!

If you look closely you can see the red ball in the air.

Notch Mountain

Star Gazing

Last night we were able to see lots of stars and with the help of our Iphone Ap we were able to locate the Leo constilation right above us and also Saturn which we could see in the distance. I also took the opportunity to do some night photography:

Sunset over the van

Not quite a full moon but still giving off lots of light

A car driving by in the distance and the van illuminated below

Arches National Park

Written on Sunday May 15th: Last night we had a celebratory dinner because Kyle found out he passed his Plant Pathology final with an 83%! He got a B in the class. We indulged with a steak dinner at “the best steak house in Richfield”, Steve’s Steakhouse and honestly, it was amazing. The place was packed, every person in town was having dinner there, the service was extremely friendly and the food was delicious. So if you are ever driving through Richfield, Utah – try it out! We left Richfield this morning about 9am, showered and refreshed. We made it slooooowly (a major headwind combined with climbing several thousand feet in altitude = 40 mph, flashers going & semi trucks passing us… but we keep saying it’s good for 2 reasons #1 we can really enjoy the scenery when going 40 mph and #2 you can take photos out the window without having to pull over, seriously) over many large mountains and arrived at Arches National Park about 12:30. We were told that the best arches were at the end of the park, so we headed for Devil’s Garden Trail head, which was supposed to have the most arches in the whole park. We stopped for a photo op at Balancing Rock.

Devil’s Garden trail was popular to say the least, but we got some great photos and found some parts of the trail less traveled. The rock formations are unique and individually impressive.

Begining of Devil's Garden Trail

Kyle standing under Landscape Arch

Landscape Arch

Partition Arch (as you approach it)

Partition Arch

Me standing at the base of Partition Arch

Partition Arch

Both windows of Partition Arch

Standing in Partition Arch

Partition Arch

Navajo Arch

Navajo Arch

I am not sure what this rock formation is named

but I thought it looked like files in a file cabinet

Double O Arch

Double O Arch

Inside the bottom O of the Double O Arch

"Finger" rock formations

And our goal for tonight was to find free camping… and we did! Less than 30 miles north of ArchesNational Park is an area a few hundred yards off the main road and there are at least a dozen RVs/toy haulers and several people camping in tents. So we found a spot for our selves and made camp.

New Orleans Cancelled

Last night while staying in our hotel room we happened to catch the news that the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana has been opened and New Orleans and Baton Rouge are in danger of flooding. According to CNN.com "In New Orleans, the river is now expected to reach its crest at 17 feet on Sunday, instead of 19.5 feet on May 23, according to the weather service. The New Orleans levees are built to withstand 20 feet." So, staying flexible with our plans Kyle and I have decided New Orleans may not be in the cards. We were really disappointed by this news but glad we are aware well before we spent hours traveling in that direction. I guess we'll just have to go for Mardi Gras in the future...

Zion National Park

Jen: Yesterday we left Lake Powell and arrived at Zion National Park via the East Entrance on Utah Route-9 which enters the park at about 5000ft elevation and takes you throught a one lane tunnel carved into the mountain and then down a switchback to the valley floor. We took a risk arriving such a small national park on a Friday, and as luck would have it all the campgrounds in the park were full. We intended to camp at a campground Friday night and backpack Saturday and Sunday nights, since there were no campgrounds available we made the decision to backpack to a campsite that night. From the main visitor center in the valley we had to drive to the north entrance to get to the trail head we picked. We were on the trail by 2:30 and arrived at our campsite about an hour later. The mountains are huge beyond belief and shoot straight up and the wild flowers were in full bloom. I was intreged by the ecosystem that had cacti next to pine trees. We had a breath taking view of Shuntavi Butte from our camp site. As the night went on we heard thunder and while we were sleeping it rained. When we woke this morning we made the decision to go back to the car instead of going further because the weather looked promising for more rain and cold. Today we made our way up I-15 to I-70 and treated ourselves to a night in a hotel in beautiful Richfield, Utah (only $53 with our AAA discount!). Tomorrow we plan to go to Arches National Park and do a day hike then camp in the Manti-La Sai Naional Forest... but if I have learned anything so far it's that our plans don't always go the way we think they will - so we'll just have to see what happens! Here are some photos of Zion and our drive today:

After we came through the mountain tunnel we got this view

The main valley of Zion National Park

Shuntavi Butte: view from our campsite

Our campsite with Shuntavi Butte in the background

Kyle enjoying the peace and quiet

The other side of Shuntavi Butte as we hiked out

Kyle on the trail

Shuntavi Butte in the distance

Beatty Point, Nagunt Mesa & Timber Top Mountain

Shuntavi Butte & Hop Valley in the distance

Pine cones next to Prickly Pear Cactus

The picture really doesn't do it justice... this view was simply amazing

Snow capped mountains we passed coming up I-15

The mountains from a distance