home sweet home

hi y'all. been a week since i put anything up here. computer access was a problem. this past week saw us in several of the np's in southern utah. the highlight to us was definitely bryce canyon np. the hoodoo's, that's what they call them. they are spires of sedimented rock that remain after all the surrounding softer rock has crumbled away. so instead of a ridge, all that's left are these free-standing hoodoo's. i'll put some pix up. anyway, lots of colors, from whites to yellows to rose to rust and red. probably after the grand canyon, this was the most unusual thing we saw.


Bryce Canyon N.P. video

monday the 9th was the big transition day. we did about 300 road miles, went up in altitude about 4000 ft, from the flat plateau country up into forested mountains, topped out at 9400 ft on a pass over boulder mtn. it's really hard to breathe up there! even for an athlete like me! i got out of breath pulling my zipper up and down.

tuesday was a depressing day. it starts cloudy, cold and threatening. i slept like shit the night before, maybe it was the weather and/or the altitude, or just being homesick. when we went out to see bryce, and went up to 9000 ft to start our day, it was snowing and blowing like crazy. winter in may. it was not a topless day.

woke up wednesday morning the 11th, there was about 1/2 inch of snow on the cars and on the ground. thank god it melted by 10-11 am. travelled to zion np. the trip was very scenic, but we found zion disappointing, compared to other places we'd seen. seemed like more of a hikers' park than the casual tourist's. 15 yrs ago this day my father died. RIP, miss you.


Valley of Fire S.P. Nevada video

on thursday we went to vegas, via the valley of fire state park about 30 miles outside of vegas. that was really cool. valley of fire because the rocks are so red, in the sunlight they appear to be on fire. that's what the marketing people put in the brochure anyway. but it was pretty cool. very hot day out there, easily 90 degrees, maybe more in the middle of the day. topless, sunscreen and yankee hat. it was very quiet, just the birds chirping, the flies buzzing, the sun baking us, that dry desert heat, that even with long pants on didn't feel that bad. and the white contrails against the blue blue sky of the jets heading west into LA. red rocks against blue sky.

then out of the park and on to vegas. same as when we started out, yellow wild flowers roadside, guiding us along. and so the circle is complete.

so a day and a half in vegas to decompress; is that an oxymoron? anyway, saw kim and we went to fremont street experience on thursday night. all the world's there, and the light show is brief but i'm sure unmatched anywhere. saw mr. yamaguchi from the karate kid in the irish pub at palace station, gambling at the bar. saw him again the next night at the pub, doing a little jig to the irish band that was playing that night. won 260 dollars at keno. finally a gambling game i can maybe get into: passive, sedentary in a nice leather chair, inexpensive, and they give you free drinks, even jameson. arose at 430 am saturday morning for our 700 am flight home. home sweet home. 7692 miles on the road.

thanks to anyone who has been reading this stuff. and thanks to miguel for being a great travelling companion. i will definitely miss seeing him in his underwear everynight. but i do have those photos.... call me miguel, we'll talk....