Highlights and Memories

Tornado Alley
On our way from our first hotel to Colorado, we started noticing a very ominous looking sky. We gave our folks a call, more as a joke than anything else, to ensure tornadoes were not in the forecast. However, it turns out that there were lots of them, all around us, and headed straight for us. We pulled into a gas station to get Quizno's and see what was up. As my sandwich is being made, Jay is putting gas in the car, which he says was literally tilting off the ground with the wind. My sandwich is taking an eternity to roll through the toaster, and I catch glimpses of a TV with a radar map of the area, covered in bright red dots, with a rolling WARNING banner across the bottom of the screen. Then, a truck with yellow sirens pulls up. The driver, a storm-chaser tells Jay and all others to "get out of here right now and go east or south". Sheer panic sets in and all the occupants of the gas station, minus the poor Quiznos workers, scream and run flailing to their cars. My sub finally rolls out of the toaster and I pace...should I just leave it? I pay the kid at the register and run to the car, beginning to seriously freak out when I see the sky and feel the wind. I call my dad, who tells me there is indeed a hell of a storm where we are headed. We follow a road which turns into a dirt road, and end up in a field where the grass is literally bent over sideways, like something out of the movie Twister...not where we want to be. Finally we find our way to an east-heading highway and check into a motel in Salina, Kansas. All the ground floor rooms are taken, of course, save for a smoking room. The desk person tells me to get in the shower, as there are no basements. The TV is telling us to seek shelter, so in a fit of complete hysteria I sit in the shower for several minutes, which only made me more distraught. Eventually, we put on "Good Will Hunting" and watched it amidst very loud thunder and wind. I awake to find my car in one piece, and our trip officially under way.

Rocky Mountain National Park
We got a gorgeous campsite in Moraine Park Campground with a clear view of Long's Peak. We did several great hikes, one of which, Bierstadt lake, we saw a female moose and two young moose. Lots of Elk as well. A drive up Trail Ridge road gave us a glimpse into the tundra- there are few places you can drive at 13,000 + feet and get out to take a stroll.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison
We did an awesome 7 mile out and back hike on the north rim's North Vista Trail. We could see 3 mountain ranges from the top of Green Mountain. We drove down into the canyon (frightening and incredible) and camped at East Portal campground. We saw a huge Bullsnake, mule deer, hawks.

Arches National Park
Words cannot describe this otherworldy landscape. We did the classic Delicate Arch hike, windows loop and Double Arch hike. It was fun to scramble up the sandstone. We watched a gorgeous sunset gradually turn the stone a myriad of colors. We went mountain biking on the Klondike Bluffs Trail near Moab. It was very tough but had great views of the area, as well as dinosaur tracks frozen in the stone.

Canyonland National Park
We saw an amazing lookout point in the "Island of the Sky" where the Green and Colorado rivers converge. We did several fun, short hikes to Mesa Arch, Upheaval Dome and Cave Spring. We did an overnight venture into the Needles, amazing rock-spire formations. After leaving our heavy packs at camp, we endured a rough climb up to Druid Arch, but it was well worth it.

more to come...