New Zealand!

[Short and sweet, sorry no pictures, and apparently no formatting]

Hello from New Zealand!!

We arrived this morning after a 12 hour flight on the best airline we’ve ever flown, Air New Zealand. I highly recommend them if you have the option. The flight was actually an hour shorter than predicted, which was nice, and they served 2 nice meals, dinner and breakfast, although at strange hours for our bodies. New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of Eastern time, so in Louisville it might be 9pm on Thursday but here it’s Friday at 3pm. I’m not sure how the jet lag will affect me tomorrow…

We arrived in Auckland then took a bus from the airport to a small town, then were picked up by our first WWOOF host family, so we are now at their house. We’ve taken a tour of their 16 acres and met a lot of their animals including 2 dogs, 2 cats, cows, 4 alpacas, chickens, horse, and 2 sheep. Seems like a fun place to be for a week or so! The family members we have met so far are super nice and welcoming too. Thanks, Heath and Joanna, for hosting us and introducing us to your beautiful country!

We were able to sit next to each other on the plane, which we weren’t planning on, and Adam had an aisle seat which he was very excited to have. He also let them know this was part of our honeymoon trip, so the flight crew brought us up to First Class for a nice breakfast with champagne, smoothies, and tasty food. Air New Zealand is currently the nicest and most thoughtful airline I have ever flown. They even wrote us a congratulations card! Really cool, and a big thanks to Adam for conversing with people as he does.

We are here after spending a wonderful few days in Los Angeles with some of my cousins. We didn’t get to visit everyone we hoped to, but we’ll be back in March and hope to visit more then too. My sister flew out from Cincinnati also, so we got a few more days of fun before heading our separate ways on Wednesday. We ate well, laughed a lot, and watched some movies with Ryan, Bryce, and their crew. Dave made some Skyline too, which is always a tasty reminder of my Cincinnati roots.

Ryan introduced us to some of his favorite eating out spots, like Cici’s and Coral Tree Cafe for brunch, Salsa and Beer for Mexican, sushi, and of course some In’N’Out Burger. We visited the Getty Museum, the Santa Monica farmer’s market for omelettes, and just got to spend some good time with my cousins, Ryan, Marni, Dave, and Meghan, plus managed to hit a few breweries (I can honestly say we didn’t push those, as someone else did all the research).

Traveling is wonderful. I’m hopeful we’ll have some pictures to post soon. Life is good in New Zealand!

Home!

Canyonlands National Park

[Sadly I have run out of time to get pictures into this blog post – I’ll add some when we get back. That seems important even though it’s 3 months from now.]

Tuesday, November 6, a big day for the United States, had us up early in the morning and into downtown Moab for coffee and internet at Red Rock Bakery. As the morning progressed we ventured into Canyonlands National Park at Island in the Sky and Grand View Point, a beautiful 2mile trail overlooking the canyons, then White Rim Trail, a 1.8mile trail to another canyon overlook. Other quick stops included the Black Canyon Overlook, the Green River Overlook, and an uphill 0.8mile hike to an Upheaval Dome overlook.

Upheaval Dome looks like a 1,500 foot deep crater but is actually a dome, either caused by a meteor hitting the Earth or salt deposits pushing up from below. Other park highlights included Mesa Arch, a long thin arch on the edge of a canyon where I sat to contemplate life for a while. We spent the evening with a quick drive through Arches National Park for sunset, with stops at a Delicate Arch view point, Panorama Point and Balanced Rock. We had dinner that night at Eddie McStiff’s in Moab, then booked a hotel room for a change of pace and election night results viewing.

The next morning was a slow one for us, with brunch at the Pancake Haus, a grocery stop, and a very nice Laundromat. We made our way back to Arches National Park for further viewing and the Devil’s Garden Trail to Landscape Arch which towers on a hill and is over 300 feet long. We also stopped at the Fiery Furnace Overlook, the lower Delicate Arch viewpoint (the arch on Utah license plates), Balanced Rock, and made our way to the Windows section of the park for North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch at sunset. We found a misplaced phone in the parking lot which we returned to the visitor’s center, then headed towards I-70 east and Colorado, stopping at a rest stop to cook some pasta with sandwiches before staying in Grand Junction, CO that night.

On our first day in Colorado we made our way to a few breweries including Crazy Mountain Brewery in Edwards, Backcountry Brewery in Frisco (coffee stout), and Tommy Knocker in Idaho Springs (maple nut brown). There were skiers on the mountains visible from the highway before we arrived in the Denver area, then headed north to Longmont and the Left Hand Brewery and Avery Brewing Co in Boulder. We stayed in a Boulder WalMart that night where the overnight parking lot cleaning machine enjoyed doing doughnuts in the wee hours of the morning.

Friday was our day in Rocky Mountain National Park where we drove to Bear Lake and hiked the 3.6mile trail to Emerald Lake, passing Nymph Lake and Dream Lake on the somewhat icy trail. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was gorgeous but eventually we made our way to Fort Collins and the New Belgium Brewery to taste a mole stout and chocolate stout in their crowded but energetic tasting room (dogs were even drinking beer inside). Our next stop was Odell Brewing Co for a taster flight and pint glass purchase before heading south to Denver to meet a friend, Allen, from WashU at the Denver Beer Company (pumpkin ale and chocolate stout). A guy in the bar next to us was painting a hops design on a snow board as we drank but we eventually pulled ourselves away and ended the evening at My Brother’s Bar.

What city is complete without an REI, so we stopped in on the Denver store, then went across the street to the Wilderness Exchange and GoLite stores, then Patagonia. We walked down 16^th Street in the sleet, then headed northwest to Arvada to meet my cousin Kim and her husband Paul for lunch. We spent a few hours catching up and laughing with them over pizza and a large cookie, then headed south to our second REI of the day in Englewood. We stayed that night with friends Bill and Cori and their lively kiddos in Louisville, CO (it’s confusing, I know) and shared conversation and good wine before sleep.

We were up early the next morning in preparation for our long drive to St. Louis, and were delayed slightly by the snow on I-70 which had closed the interstate temporarily overnight, but made our through eastern Colorado and Kansas. A quick stop at the Free State Brewery in Lawrence, Kansas for a delicious oatmeal stout showed us a bar I’d like to return to someday. Later that night we arrived in Belleville, IL and Tina’s lovely, welcoming house. The last day of our trip was relaxing, as we read and ate pumpkin whoopee pies at Tina’s, then had lunch with her before heading east to our final destination, Louisville, Kentucky.

We spent the evening with some amazingly wonderful friends we had missed tremendously, Abby, Alison, and Brad, and felt at home.  It was nice to not have to consult a map for directions, and to see familiar faces, and to know that at least for a few weeks we were home with people that were important to us and that we loved. Home!

The Grand Staircase

We arrived in Ivins, Utah on Saturday evening, after just a quick stop in Las Vegas  that included 2 brewpubs and an REI, of course. I had forgotten that people can still smoke indoors in Vegas, so wasn’t sad to leave. Ivins is home to good friends of my parents , Phil, Susan, and Margaret, who were so wonderful to host us for a few nights. I’ve known Phil since I was born and he’s never short of humor and wit, plus I managed to keep all of my shoes this trip. He’s also a great source of knowledge regarding interesting travel spots, and has known my parents since before they knew each other so provides a good back history, plus showed Adam some photos of me as a kid.

Sunday afternoon we drove up to Springdale, near Zion National Park, with Margaret to meet Phil and Susan for lunch after they biked Zion Canyon. Lunch at Oscars was a tasty burrito and a Polygamy Porter, local Utah beer with clever tag lines like “Bring some home to the wives” and “When you can’t have just one.” After lunch, Margaret very kindly offered us her car so we could explore the national park on the absolutely beautiful day. We were able to use the park shuttle to travel up and down the canyon, scoping out a few stops along the way for trail hikes later in the week. We ventured to the end of the 1mile Riverside Walk to see adventurers completing their journey in the Narrows, a flowing river in a narrow canyon that people wade up and back down. I think that’s on our agenda for our next trip to Zion.  We had dinner (chipotle chicken enchiladas) at the Whiptail Grill in Springdale that night on a recommendation from the always right-on Jenn, then made our way back to Ivins for more conversation while learning a lot about Mormons in Utah.

After purchasing our airline tickets to New Zealand (yay!) we headed southeast on Monday to Arizona and the south rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping at the Pipe Springs National Monument on the way (thanks, Tina, for the National Parks Access Pass which made so many random stops possible!). We learned more about the Mormon influence on Utah and Arizona and visited with a charming horse, mule, and longhorn steer.  Our drive included impressive views of the Grand Staircase, the various plateau levels of the earth in that region of the country, with its variety of colors and geologic features. Further ahead were the Vermillion Cliffs, named for their color, Marble Canyon, and the Navajo Bridge, now a pedestrian bridge but a great connector across the Colorado River for that portion of the state. I love admiring the structure of bridges, and this was definitely a favorite.

We camped that night in the Kaibab National Forest at a site near Grand Canyon National Park. There were some interesting bones next to the fire circle at our campsite, I’m thinking they were a random collection of elk bones including part of a jaw, leg bone and perhaps a hip bone. Halloween arrived just a bit early for us.

The next morning was an early one for us as we headed into the park for beautiful sunrise views over the Grand Canyon at the Desert View and watchtower area.  We continued west along the rim, stopping at various view points (Navajo Point, Lipan Point, Moran, Grandview) and then the Grand Canyon Visitor’s Center for a passport stamp and 20minute movie about the park before boarding the Hermit’s Rest shuttle to take us farther along the rim. We walked a few miles along the Rim Trail admiring the immensity of the canyon, the beautiful colors, and the Colorado River far below. Our last stop was Hermit’s Rest, a cool stone structure that used to be a stop for travelers in the canyon and has now been converted into a park gift shop.

Back in the busier tourist area of the park, we walked around the El Tovar Hotel, stopped in for a few minutes of a ranger program on elk, then enjoyed a porch swing on the porch of the hotel.  For sunset we visited Yavapai Point and the geology museum, then were the first to carve out a spot on the rim for pictures before being joined by plenty of others (we are trend setters for sure). After the sun set and the temperature began to drop we cooked dinner in the parking lot then attended a ranger program on the California condor reintroduction program in the park. Later we bundled up and participated in a guided cemetery walk by the light of oil lanterns and the full moon, learning about some of the early settlers to the canyon area from a man portraying Captain John Vance, a humorous canyon pioneer himself.

Driving back to our forest campsite that night we saw a mountain lion cub scoot across the road, then a multitude of large elk that regarded us with uncertainty in their tall stature. Their majesty was inspiring and gave me shivers as they stared back at us in the van. We also stopped to get water at the Desert View center and walked to the rim once again which was truly, truly magical in the full moon. Walking back to the car there was recent skunk spray in the air, we must have just missed the odiferous creature as that smell wasn’t there on our way down to our viewpoint.

The only other time Adam had been to the Grand Canyon it was so fogged in that he could only see the railing. This visit we had wonderful weather and definitely enjoyed our variety of experiences and wildlife interactions. The canyon in the moonlight was a true highlight, a moment I hope never to forget.

Hitting the road once again we headed north with a quick stop at the Cameron Trading Post. Lower Antelope Canyon is just outside of Page, AZ on Navajo land and is absolutely worth a visit if you are anywhere close. Carved by wind and water, you enter the canyon through an innocent looking crack in the somewhat flat desert ground, then climb down various sets of steps through the beautiful colors of smooth sandstone. Catching the rays of the sun offers a photographers dream, and our Navajo guide was eager to point out great photo opportunities while introducing us to this intensely special place with some tribal instruments and singing. I could have taken hours to wander along the quarter mile of the stone canyon.

Our guide also suggested we visit the Horseshoe Bend overlook, a spot along the Colorado River where the canyon forms a horseshoe and we saw a few rafters far below. We traveled to another well-known spot along the Colorado, Lee’s Ferry, where rafters put in to travel through the Grand Canyon.  That area includes the Paria Riffle (not large enough to be classified as a rapid), balancing rock structures, and so much natural beauty. Our journey back to Ivins on 89A that night was beautiful too, a new way to experience the dressed up nature of Halloween. We took Phil out to Thai food that night to escape their demanding trick-or-treaters, a delicious treat.

The next morning we caught up on laundry, dishes and blogging (caught up is a strong word there) before heading back to Zion National Park. We stayed in the South Campground in the park that night and met the very nice campground hosts (Adam wants their job) before cooking pancakes and potatoes on our Coleman stove and playing some Rummy500 before our cards started to blow away. It was beautiful to see the tall mountains all around us, and even more special to see them in the morning light.

We did some hikes in Zion Canyon that day, including a 3.5mile combination of the Lower and Upper Emerald Pools trails and the Kayenta Trail, then back along the river with the blue, cloudless sky above. Heading east in the park through the tunnels we hiked the 1mile Canyon Overlook Trail to an awesome viewpoint above the Pine Creek Canyon and Zion Canyon, then continued east to the Route 12 scenic area of Red Canyon. We drove through the beautiful formations of the canyon at sunset that intensified the red color before camping that night on a fire road in the Dixie National Forest. The absolutely beautiful starry sky provided an amazing backdrop to the chilly night. Adam even captured some cool night sky photos before we played rummy in the van on our coldest night (I think the low was 25 degrees).

Our slow Saturday morning eventually landed us in Bryce Canyon National Park with a quick visit to the visitor’s center before heading into the canyon amphitheater for the Navajo Trail and Queens Garden, a 3mile loop that wound amongst the hoodoos, tall spires of rock that have been eroded in unique patterns and fit the story of Coyote People. The almost cloudless beautiful sky was a deep gorgeous blue against the red of the canyon rock, and the hike up Wall Street, a continuous series of switchbacks, was intense but felt wonderful at the top with the whole amphitheater laid out below.

The afternoon found us driving south in the park for more viewpoints like Farview Point and Piracy Point, Natural Bridge, Aqua Canyon, Ponderosa Canyon and Rainbow Point, then north to Fairyland Point before heading east out of Bryce on Hwy 12. We spent much of the evening driving to find a campsite, and drove over Hell’s Backbone while knowing we were missing something in the dark but not knowing quite what it was. After a few false starts we ended up camping at a trailhead near the road, at about 9000 feet elevation.

Sunday we awoke early and headed east to Capitol Reef National Park, also in Utah. We stopped at the visitor’s center, stamped our passport, then pulled out of the parking lot towards the scenic drive when a ranger pulled us over to “talk about our speed.” Turns out we were driving 40mph in a 25 zone but hadn’t seen the sign (oops), and after an interesting discussion, she returned to our car with just a warning, saving us the $85 speeding ticket. It was comical but after it all we were relieved and followed the speed limit very diligently, 15mph through much of the park.

Capitol Reef was another park we had no knowledge of previously, and it was both beautiful and historical. We drove to the end of the Scenic Drive and then 2miles further on the gravelly Capitol Gorge Road to the Canyon Walk featuring the Pioneer Register (a signed list on the stone wall of travelers that passed through the canyon since the late 1800s) and The Tanks, areas that collect and hold water. Driving back up the scenic route we stopped at Grand Wash Road to see the old uranium mine, which apparently used to provide uranium to “heal” afflictions like rheumatism (people drank it).

Further down the road we hiked about 4miles in the Narrows on the Grand Wash Trail, with its interesting geologic features. Petroglyphs later in the park were fascinating then we headed out past Capitol Dome (where the park gets the beginning of its name), a white dome shaped like a capitol building, before the landscape changed quickly to concrete-like mounds and visible rock layers. We drove through the evening across open stock ranges, where the speed limit is 65mph but cows are free to wander across the road. That certainly kept us alert as we made our way to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

We camped in Glen Canyon at the Hite on the shore of Lake Powell where other campers helped us get situated in the dark since there was minimal signage to explain. We made dinner on the Coleman stove and played some cards under the absolutely beautiful starry sky and Milky Way. It was much warmer than our recent nights so I enjoyed our cozy blanket of stars and the various boaters coming off the water. It’s been a while since I’ve seen stars like that, even with all of our travels out west.

Monday morning was a gorgeous awakening in the canyon scenery, sights we had missed the previous night on our arrival in the dark. We headed further through Southern Utah, an absolutely beautiful section of this country. Our first stop was Natural Bridges National Monument for their 9mile driving loop that features 3 large natural bridges. We hiked a fun but strenuous 1.2 miles down to the Sipapu Bridge across stairs, ladders, and stone, arriving at the first large bridge for a look from below. We then hiked out to the Horse Collar Ruin Overlook, 0.6miles to see kivas and storage areas in the distant cliff, ruins from both Mesa Verde and Kayenta Anasazi who built 2 different kiva styles (one round, one square). We ventured out to the Kachina Bridge overlook, then hiked down to underneath the third natural bridge, Owachomo.

On the way out of Capitol Reef we discussed our future dream house (small and efficient) and how much we were missing our wonderful friends and family. We traveled to Moab, UT that afternoon and found their one and only brewery, Moab Brewery for a Raven Oatmeal Stout and tasty popcorn before checking out a few of the local gear stores, Gearheads and Moab Adventure Center. We landed that evening at a great restaurant called Peace Tree for internet, local advice, ribeye chili and coffee, before camping at Slick Rock that night. We played more cards under the beautiful stars (I blanked Adam 510-0) then tucked in for an evening in the low 40s.

[WordPress has just recently changed the way they handle pictures, and since I’m about of of time, these are just in their new method. I like the old way so far…]