The Great Grand Canyon Adventure

JULY 14th - The Grand Canyon (or so we thought)

The plan - drive to the Grand Canyon

The reality - We headed towards the Canyon and realized once you get into the surrounding area there is absolutely no cell phone service, so we had no way of finding out if the camping was full (the 1st come 1st serve). So when we got to Jacob's Lake it was getting late and still about 45 min. away from the Canyon we caved in and stayed in a cabin. It was super cute.

JULY 15th - The Grand Canyon take 2

We woke up early to head to the Canyon's north rim. (Arizona doesn't do Daylight Savings so it was 8am when we thought it was 9am!) Camping was full for the night, so we just planned on spending all day there and then figure out the plan of sleeping later. The Canyon is amazing! We hiked the Bright Angel Trail, and went to all the Lodge outlooks. Then after lunch we hiked Roosevelt Trail, and Point Imperial trail. Point Imperial is the highest point of the North Rim, and the hiking trail takes you through the forest area that has been burned and is coming back to life. It was so beautiful. Then we went to this Cookout that was kind of fun, but nothing to exciting.It was quite a day! We only did the North Rim side because it takes 5 hours to drive to the other side.

We drove until we got to sleepy, and then stayed at a hotel for the night.

UTAH

JULY 11th
We took the scenic route to Salt Lake City by I-10. It was quite a LONG drive. We stopped in Frisco Colorado for lunch, Grand Junction Colorado for gas, and Wellington Utah for dinner... Wellington was one of the oddest experiences so far. We stopped at the Cowboy's Kitchen which ended up to be a bizarre local place that serves about 3lbs. of food a person. This included bread, soup, salad, potato, and entree... it was quite disturbing, and can not be truly described in words.

We got into Salt Lake late and meet our first couch surfer host. It was a wonderful first couch surfing experience!

JULY 12th
Fun Fun Fun! We saw the Mormon Temple Square on a Sunday which was probably the most interesting day to visit. Then we met up with Kyle our couch surfer host, and he took us to the Salt Lake to float around. He also took us to Liberty Park for the drum circle. It was quite a turn around from the Temple. We got to see the edgier hipper side of Salt Lake. For dinner we went to the Bohemian Brewery which is where Kyle works.

JULY 13th
We planned to head to the Grand Canyon today, but my friend Devon let me know (for the second time apparently) that he was in Salt Lake City.... SOOOO we stayed another night. We walked around downtown while Devon had brunch with his family. We ate at a vegetarian hot dog stand, and hung out at the Sam Weller Bookstore.

Devon then took us on a "tour" of Salt Lake.

Devon took us all around Salt Lake and into the Mormon office building to go to the top floor. We had alot of fun hanging with Devon, but unfortunately he had to go spend time with his family. Fortunately, his dad let us stay the night at his place. It was so nice, hospitality runs deep in Devon's family.

JULY 14th
To the GRAND CANYON... upcoming post

COLORADO

Colorado
JULY 5th - Angel Fire NM to Broomfield CO

We stopped in Pueblo Co. to wait out a storm... our first real storm of the trip. When we finally got to Broomfield (where my brother Greg lives) we headed out to visit my cousin. After a brief chat we went out to Dave and Busters for some fun, and PRIZES!

JULY 6th
Rested, relaxed, and went to my cousin Susan's for dinner... nice chill day

JULY 7th
Slept in... Hung out in Lo-Do (lower Denver). We went to a "dipping" grill called Vesta where you get different food and sauces to DIP. After walking the city for a while we headed home with a movie... (oh man are we CRAZY)

JULY 8th
Played Wii, Cleaned car, Caught up on email... When Greg got off work we hit the town for some Gumbo, and drinks. We ended up at this bar getting free organic cocktails, and then we went to see MOON at the Landmark Theater. Greg fell asleep during the movie.

JULY 9th - by far the busiest day in Colorado
Got up and went to the Blue Devil's practice to see Greg's friend Jen. The Blue Devils are a Drum and Bugle Corp in case you didn't know. Greg stayed out with his Blue Devil peeps, so Ryan and I took some time to explore down town Denver.

We went to the Denver Art Museum, which is one of the most interactive Art Museums I have been to. Then we stumbled upon the 16th street shopping strip. After walking around for a while, we went to see an locally made film at the Starz Center called Sita Sings the Blues. Its super cute if you are into cartoon musicals. We ate at the Paramont, and then headed back to Greg's place.

JULY 10th - Exploring Boulder
Pretty much we just hung out in the shopping strip on Pearl St. until Greg got off work. Pearl St was really fun, it has street performers, shops, and restaurants (very entertaining). When Greg was free he took us to the Coors Brewery in Golden Co. It is a free tour with free beer samples, a must do for Coors fans if you are in the area.

I clearly am a bad blogger...

So its possible that no one is reading this, but if you are I am SORRY. I will put up a list of things we've been up to. Also, I have been working on a journal/sketch book that I can scan in and post.


SORRY AGAIN

New Mexico Update

This is a quick update of our trip so far, since I haven't had much time to post anything.

For our last day in Santa Fe we went for a picnic and then had a day at the Ten Thousand Waves Spa! It was amazing and relaxing. Then we had a wonderful dinner at this Indian vegetarian restaurant.

On July 1st, we headed to Taos New Mexico with Amanda to "site see" i.e. walk around the plaza. It was fun, but didn't take too long. Then Ryan and I headed to Angel Fire NM to his family reunion and spent time with them until the morning of the 5th. During our time there we shopped in Red River and Eagle Nest, had a "baby day" for Ryan's 2nd cousin, and then spent the 4th of July watching fireworks and a parade. Overall, it was a fun 4 days.

I am really behind on my blogging, but I will update about Colorado and Utah later.

New Mexico - Aliens, Bottomless lakes, Petroglyphs, Lava, and Santa Fe

Saturday June 27th
We arrived to our first location, Roswell New Mexico this morning. Nothing was open, so we headed to scope out the campsite at the Bottomless Lakes State Park. The area was beautiful in its own interesting way. It was legend that cowboys used to camp at these lakes and tried to find the bottom but never could, thus they became known as the Bottomless Lakes. Then we came back into Roswell and ate lunch at a local restaurant called Pepper's, where the food is spicy and the people are really fun. They directed us to the visitor center where we realized exactly how little there is to do in Roswell. Then we went to the Roswell Museum and Art Center and the UFO Museum and Research Center. We also checked out the local winery store and tasted Alien Amber Ale.

Back at the Bottomless Lakes, we went swimming, hiking, and then set up the tent for the night. We watched for UFOs but got a visit from a raccoon instead. We named him Old Sarge.

Sunday June 28th
Today was a day to explore the open road. After swimming and paddle boating at the Bottomless Lake Park, we left Roswell and drove to the Three Rivers Petroglyph State Park which was amazing! It contains over 2,000 drawings from Native Americans along a mile trail. Then we drove to the Valley of Fire which is a large cooled lava pit created by ground pressure. We hiked the 3/4 mile trail and had an amazing time.We arrived at our friend Amanda's around 11pm and chatted until bed time.

Monday June 29th
A day of rest! Today, we just ran errands, rested, went out for dinner, and talked. Tomorrow we have some fun plans though!

The Plan

I have had quite a few changes in my life recently, including graduating from college. So I decided to do something I have always wanted to, but never had enough reason or time to...

I am taking a long road trip around these great states! After getting back from study abroad in Germany in the Fall semester, I realized how important travel is to me. The plan is to travel to places I have always wanted to go to, and have some office visits here and there. I would like to also figure out where I want to live. Ryan, my boyfriend, is with me, and we are excited for new adventures.