11.8.10.... 6am-12pm

After our day of bike riding..... we drove into Arches National Park (at sunset!!!) and just in time to get a campsite for the night.

We don't really have any pictures that do what we saw justice. the light, the shadows amazing.

But this is what we woke up to. 

The desert is magical.

Arches is other worldly.

We can't wait to go back!

All this before noon!

 

It was an amazing start to an epic day.

After grabbing lunch at Love Muffin Cafe

and more road/camping supplies at Moonflower Market 

It was time to start moving towards The Grand Canyon!

11.7.10

We woke up in the desert! It was crazy to roll into town in the dark, check in to a crappy Days Inn, pass out after a solid 12 hour driving day.... and then be greeted in the morning by the red rocks!

  We rented mountain bikes and headed off on some of the less challenging trails. This was my first time on a serious mountain bike on real terrain... and I am alive to tell of it! So that is something. And I would do it again!

I got to rest and sit in the quit of the desert while Yeshe tore up some of the more real deal trails.

It was a good day and well worth renting bikes!

11.6.10

 The Rockies!! There they are! Huge and amazing! Camera phones are no match for their grandness.

We spent the day driving through and around them. We saw the first of many elk.

 Yelp has been invaluable on this trip! It helps find so many little gems....

like El Tapatio! Of course I thought of you, Alpaca. And I wished all my Alpacas could have been with me. We so would have taken advantage of this Margarita special!

 Happily full of yummy food... we got back on the road to Moab, UT!

11.5.10

 Paul's day off!! We started with brunch at Snooze.

 Then silly times back at the apt. before a delicious dinner with Paul's lovely mom.

 Later (and late!) that night, we were treated to a tour of New Belgium Brewing.

 Thank you, Josh!!!!!!!!!!

 Beer drinking was part of the tour.

 I loved EVERYTHING about the facility. 

 It was all so clean and efficient. 

AND there were bikes everywhere! 

Beer and Bikes....sigh.

Scotty Parks!

Seriously, New Belgium is an awesome, innovative and inspiring company.  

Fortunately, I have seen their logo hanging in many bar windows here in PDX!

I will be a loyal consumer from here on out!

Thanks again to Josh for the tour and to Paul for his bed.

11.2.10.....11.4.10

The host with the most, Paul Arnaud Brandt, put us up in Ft. Collins for days! While he worked, we rode bikes on the City's lovely bike paths. Yeshe showed me some of his old stomping grounds and we ate loads of good food. One day day we headed into the Horse Tooth Mountains. We played in the cold Poudre River as we like to do in new places. At night.... we had fun times and more good food with Paul. So great!

11.2.10

We finished driving through Kansas.... and headed into Colorado! We walked the Buttes in the Pawnee National Grasslands. We saw more cows, crows, hawks and horses. These particular ponies were very friendly and let me scratch their ears. I stayed with them only for a few minutes.... but I will always remember them.

11.1.10

 

rested and nourished we head to the Missouri/Kansas border on I70.

somewhere east of Kansas City we leave the highway for scenic byways.

we saw many red tailed hawks, a ferruginous hawk, a swainson hawk, many American kestrels and  a female American kestrel, two great horned owls, 

a badger, deer, antelopes, rabbits and possums!

all on route 36.