The Long Road Home

Our adventure was nearly a year in the making with hours and hours on my iPad researching and it turned out to be everything we had hoped. We packed in a lot in two weeks. It was quite a whirlwind but we were smart to give ourselves a few afternoons of nothing but relaxation so that we would stay fresh and ready to tackle the day's activities. We spent two weeks smiling, laughing and thrilled at what we were doing. After the wiper blade fiasco in the pouring rain on the night we left, we had nothing but blue skies save for a momentary shower while getting off the mountain one day in Colorado. All the things I researched,from the places we stayed to the hikes we did turned out exactly how we would have wished. We saw 49 of the 50 state licence plates ( damn you North Dakota!) plus 7 Canadian provinces and 2 European plates. The parks attract people from all over the globe and we  met nice people from every continent. I said Bonjour to a French couple at Bryce Canyon, G'day to some Austrailians at Canyonlands and Shalom to an Israli couple at Arches. I would not change a minute of our trip.... then we began the drive home. 

The evening before we left to come home Cassie noticed a slight noise coming from the left front wheel area of the car. She is in tune to such things and I usually play them off as nothing. This time I could hear it but it really didn't sound like much to be concerned about. We woke up the last day and drove Trail Ridge Road and the noise was somewhat more noticeable but I still thought it was something maybe we should have looked at when we got home. As we left the park it was real bad and the more we drove the worse it got until the front end was shaking pretty bad. We were on the highway about  2 hours out of the park when we decided to find the nearest Dodge Dealership. Being out on the flat plains of Colorado by now, the closest shop was 30 miles away, Wolf Dodge in Sterling,Co.

 I called and gave them our 2 week tour of America story told them to expect us, and we limped along not knowing if we would make it. We have AAA but we did not want to set our ETA to home back by waiting by the side of the road for a tow for hours when we thought we could make it. Which begs the question "Then why did you get AAA Scott?" Good question. 

But make it we did. Just barely. We got there just after all the techs had gone to lunch so we took a seat outside so Cassie could at least work a little more on her tan. I talked to the GM of the dealership who was from Worcester and he was happy to break out his accent  and say "wusstah" to people who would understand him. Small world. After a bit,our van got taken in and the tech quickly assessed the problem. We had snapped off a stud on the front left wheel and the other lug nuts were barely holding on.  Why did we get AAA again? We would need a new stud, rotor, brakes, and driving on it had ruined the front tire.  Then minutes later, before we could mentally absorb the unexpected hit to the wallet, Amy the service manager came out and informed us that the dealership and in fact half the town had lost power and they didn't know when they wound get power back, when they would finish the job or even if they could get the parts because all computers of course were down.  

These were not good times  But just when we were feeling sorry for ourselves and thinking nobody's  life sucked like  ours, we started talking with an older couple who had arrive 15 minutes before us, and were in the same situation, but much worse.,They were from Minnesota and by coincidence were on their way to west to Utah to see the National Parks and had broken down nearby as well. Their timing belt broke and while that  can be an easily solved problem and you will have to just replace the belt, usually that is not the case. Most of the time a broken timing belt causes serious engine damage and repairs can be in the thousands of dollars. This is what happened to them, 1000 miles from home. We talked to them and they told us the dealership said they could give them a little money for a trade in if they wanted to buy a car but that repairing their car was not going to happen. That really was their only choice so as bad as our situation was, they provided us with perspective. At least we didn't go on vacation only to have to lay our beloved vehicle to rest somewhere out on the lone prarie of Colorado like a horse that collapsed from exhaustion while carrying a wagon train of settlers to California in the 1800's. 

Amy came out to us with keys to a loaner car and told us that a few miles down the road they might have power so go get some lunch and come back in a few hours. We appreciated that and if Beyoncé has taught me anything it is when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. We found a Pizza Hut and had lunch and tried to figure out how this happened. Was it the dealership back home who did a pre-trip checkup for us and didn't torque the lug nuts tight enough? If so how did we make it this far?  Was it sabotage by some Colorado stoner with a lug wrench as we slept in our hotel as Cassie suggested? Unlikely but that is a theory. Was it just one of those things? Probably.  We also worried about their ability to get the parts and would we be stuck in Sterling, Co. for days? I did my best to stay positive and keep Cassie's spirits up and when we made our way back to the dealership, we found they had power back ,our van was up on the lift and the tech had the parts to get it fixed. Hallelujah.

 It took a few hours and by then the Minnesota couple had left with a 2014 Ford now filled with their belongings for two weeks of fun out west. A little over 4 hours after arriving, our van drove up to us all fixed and ready to go home and after paying the bill and thanking Amy we were on our way hopefully to never see Sterling,Co. again.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We got to Des Moines Iowa by the end of day one then drove a marathon 1100 miles to New York on day 2 leaving us a short drive home for day 3. We slept in the van at a couple truck stops. You would be surprised how comfy it was and going in and cleaning yourself up while communing with the truckers at the truck stops adds to the adventure. 

We still made it home Saturday safe and sound and a little tired. We made memories to last forever and have vowed to tackle the northern parks like Yellowstone and Glacier NP next time. We also vowed to keep on hiking this summer around home, even trying to climb Mount Washington. Most of all we were just happy. Happy to have spent a special two weeks together. Happy to have been as Willie Nelson said  " going places that we have never been, seeing things we may never see again". 

But most of all happy to be home with those we love with a lot of stories to tell. 

Rocky Mountain National Park

   We have seen beautiful sights on our trip. The National Parks of the southwest all are amazing and unique but share warm weather, deep canyons and scarce water save for the mighty rivers that carved the landscape. Though only 5 1/2 hours from hot Moab, The Rockies are another world. It has 12,000 foot peaks, lush forests, roaring streams and waterfalls due to spring runoff and an abundance of wildlife. We hiked three trails in the two days we were there and it  was only a very small percentage of what RMNP has to offer. We could have spent weeks here and not see everything but what we saw was fantastic and unlike anything else on our trip. 

End to end on Trail Ridge Road, the park is 48 miles long and we started hiking two trails on the lesser visited west side. First was Adams Falls which is a short hike from trailhead to the falls but you can continue on to a meadow with great views and if you are lucky ,and we were, you may see some wildlife.,

As we walked up the trial we were doing what hikers tend to do and that is walk with our heads down so that we watch where we are walking. Don't want to trip over a rock or something.  Doing this though can result in missing a moose hanging out an arms length from the trail. We were walking, Cassie about 10 feet in front of me, and she suddenly screamed as she came face to face with a young moose. The moose wasn't nearly as afraid as Cassie and took a few slow steps away from the trail and resumed breakfast while posing for some photos for me. We had a good laugh at how loud Cassie yelled and I remarked that she had as much fear and screamed as loud when a 3 inch lizard ran past her foot at the Grand Canyon as she did for a moose.  

Just up the road was the Cascade Falls trail. It was twice as long and offered the same great views and we saw even more moose, a lot of deer and a fox. Plus this warning. Luckily no lions were spotted. 

 Another thing the Park Rangers warn you about are the afternoon storms that roll in nearly every day. You are told to get done your hikes by noon or be prepared to get wet or worse because there is accompanying lightning most of the time at the higher elevations. It was a beautiful day so we werent worried until with about a mile and a half left in our hike, the predicted daily storm appeared. 

We did double time with the sound of thunder off in the distance and made it back to the car as the rain began. The first and only rain we had since day 1 of the trip in Massachusetts. 

Thursday was the last day before we head back east. We started by driving the Trail Ridge Road across the park. It is 48 miles of climbing then decending the largest peaks on the park through a series or hairpin turns and switchbacks with no guardrails to save you from plummeting to your death. It is a white knuckle ride and luckily since we were there early there was very little traffic. which allowed us to drive as far from the cliff as possible, even if it meant driving in the on coming lane. It's really a cool road and always found on lists of the the best drives in the United States. 

Near the top is the Continental Divide. The point at which to the east rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean and to the west the rivers flow to the Pacific. We had to throw a couple snowballs too. 

At nearly the highest point in the park we stopped for a hike that I had been looking forward to. It is called the Ute Trail and it is s short 4 mile, fairly level walk above the tree line through the tundra. The expansive views of the mountains were some of the best in the park.

As you can imagine, at 12000 feet it was a pretty cold and there was still some snow on the trail in spots. I 

But the snow was the least of our problems. Before we got to the halfway point, a herd of about 10 elk and deer were grazing right in the middle of the trail. We got close enough to get some pics but what appeared to be the daddy of the herd made it clear our presence was not appreciated.

Bambi's father giving us the evil eye. 

We got the message and seeing as we were cold anyway, we cut the hike short content with our abbreviated walk. 

With that our National Parks adventures were over. If was a great way to end it and now the only thing ahead of us was a long highway back to New Hampshire. 

Arches National Park

Just outside Moab Ut, Arches NP is acpark filled with arches,spiries, balanced rocks and eroded monoliths. They have tried to piece together how this area was formed but it appears the evidence is circumstantial. But they know that this was once a sea bed and that sea evaporated roughly 300 million years ago leaving these structures scattered around an otherwise barren landscape. It's a very popular park with bus loads of visitors arriving daily. As we had been doing, we arrived early and beat the crowds for the most part. 

The most popular spot in the park is called Delicate Arch. It is an iconic southwestern landmark. It is on the Utah licence plates and is found on most Windows operating systems as a background or space saver. 

Many flock to shoot that perfect sunrise or sunset picture with the Desol Mountains framed on the left and it's also popular with night sky photographers. That's Cassie on the center of the arch. There were probably 75 or so people there when we got there and everyone is very considerate of each other's wish to get a good shot. So everyone takes a turn going under the arch for a quick pic then they move on to make room for the next person. It's nice because it leaves you with a shot that is not full of the multitudes that are there by mid day. Here is a panoramic shot. 

After taking in Arches, we hit the road for Colorado and what we found there after 100 degree temps was a culture shock .

Luckily we packed warm clothes.

Moab, Ut-Canyonlands Nat Park

Now this is the west. Canyonlands National Park is what you envision when you think of the western United States. I half expected see Clint Eastwood come slowly riding across the horizon like an apparition with a cigar from the side of his mouth. In fact many western movies have been filmed here. And after hiking here in the 100 plus degree temps , I am sure Clint Eastwood would

say"Scott,sometimes a man has to know his limitations." 

Knowing the weather report in advance, we got up early to get some hikes in before it got real hot.Even so it was in the mid 80's at 7:00. The park is a bit of a drive out of town, nearly 40 minutes out to the middle of nowhere. It is flat desert out to a enormous canyon and it's no wonder one of the lookouts is called Dead Horse Point because this land is not fit for man or beast. We hiked a few trails. Mostly shorter ones because of the heat because you are always in the sun here. The views were spectacular and a bit scary as the drop offs are over 1000 feet in places and there are no railings. They just warn you to be safe.  Cassie and I would get up just close enough to feel it in our gut then back off slowly.

Among the dust and desert though, you would find an occasional lonely desert wild flower. Cactus has a pink flower and right about this time of spring they bloom. 

We hiked the short trail to Mesa Arch which is the most popular trail in the park because it is rather short but the view through the arch of the canyon with the white capped Lasol Mountains in the background is beautiful. 

We then climbed Aztec Butte. A butte is a large hill with vertical sides with a flat top and they stick out on the surrounding flat land. 

On the way up we ran in to 2 couples from New Zealand. They were very nice and we had a good time talking about our countries and our National Park trips. They were on their way to Zion so we gave them one tips then we did what is common here in the parks.We took a picture of them on the top of the butte and they returned the favor. 

Then we climbed down talking the whole way. Here is Cassie and our friends. 

We rounded it out with a hike to Dead Horse Point which had a great view of the Canyon and the Colorado River

Tired and sweaty we left by 1:00 when the temps were 93. They would eventually get to 101 but we were safe in the car by then. We made our way back in to Moab.and had lunch. Before our trip I researched the good places to eat at each of our destinations. I used Trip Advisor a lot and I have found their reviews very helpful. Believe it or not, the top rated place to eat in Moab was a place called Quesadilla Mobilla. It's a truck like an ice cream truck that is parked on the side of Main St and all they serve are different varieties of quesadillas 

Trip Advisor did not let us down. The quesadillas were so good and the people running it were super nice. We found that in all of Moab. It is a young town with a laid back atmosphere and as you would expect with the parks close by, it is a very outdoorsy granola type community. It's the type of town where a lunch truck is the hottest place to eat. 

After chilling for a bit , we went downtown to the Moab Brewery for dinner and a couple of their beers. 

Yes I drank a beer made at he brew pub from the can. Why? Because Utah law does not allow beer above 3.2% alcohol to be sold on draft. So every draft beer can only be 3.2% abv.By comparison, a normal Bud Light or Michelob Ultra is 5%. The catch is you can get a beer with its normal alcoholic content if you order it by the can. That's legal. Makes perfect sense to me. 

Arches National Park is next, then we head east again to Colorado.