BootsnAll Travel Network
Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, RSS


Archive for the 'Travel' Category

« Previous Page — « Previous Entries
Next Entries » — Next Page »
« Home

Greetings from (the) Tropic

Friday, October 17th, 2008

…Tropic, Utah, that is, which didn’t quite live up to the name. We arrived outside of Bryce Canyon to record low temperatures of 14 deg F. Not quite “tropical,“ so our decision on whether to camp was pretty easy. We opted for some cute, warm cabins the first night instead.

After 2 days, we had stayed at half the hotels (2 of 4) and eaten at all the (i.e. both) restaurants in town. However, it’s close to the NP and a pretty good value. Bryce Canyon itself is amazing and best explored on foot. We hiked the Navajo Loop/Queen’s Garden trail one day, and the Peekaboo Loop from Bryce Point the next. Here’s just one of about two hundred pictures we took of the Hoodoos. 

utahoct08-blog3.JPG

Posted in Travel, Utah | No Comments »

120 Hours of Moab

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

No, we didn’t participate in a longer version of the 24 Hours of Moab bike race (it’s for crazy people – check it out), but we did get to experience quite a bit in our time here. 

Utah continues to provide incredible scenery. We spent another few days in the Arches and Canyonlands NPs, and took a ranger-guided hike into a place called the Fiery Furnace, full of slots to squeeze through and rocks to climb over.  We also took another walk up to the Landscape Arch which is over 300 feet long, Partition Arch, and the remains of Wall Arch which collapsed earlier this year. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to see that 10,000-year event.

We also got lucky and scored a campsite in the Devil’s Garden, which normally has people waiting in line at 8AM.  However, it was a restless night with wind gusts up to 30 mph.  The tent held up, but maybe everyone else knew something we didn’t.

Since we spent a few nights there, Moab is definitely worth a few words. It’s a pretty interesting place with some of the vibe of a ski resort town. It’s filled with a strange variety of people drawn here by the natural resources – everything from cowboy off-road vehicle enthusiasts to nouveau hippie rock climbers, with retired RVers, and tons of German tourists mixed in. I’ve never seen so many Jeeps in one place. We suspect there may be a law against pickups with less than 8 cylinders and 5 liter engines, because there don‘t seem to be any.

All kidding aside, we really enjoyed our time here. I think Moab may have some of  the most creative T-shirt designers in the world. I’ll leave you with the caption from one with a picture of some hikers: “Bring a compass – It’s awkward if you have to eat your friends.”

Here’s a parting shot of Skull Rock from inside the Fiery Furnace. Next stop, Bryce.

utahoct08-blog2.JPG

Posted in Travel, Utah | No Comments »

Utahhhhh!

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

After a recovery from Vegas, we made it to Utah.   The drive to Moab is incredible and reminds you just how big and empty this country is. 

We first headed to Arches National Park and did an few short hikes.  You don’t have to walk far in this place to see some fantastic views and rock formations like no where else.  Next we drove down to Canyonlands National Park and did some more hiking in the Needles area.  The scenery there was totally different from Arches, but just as beautiful in it’s own way.  Today we came back up to Moab and hiked out to the Morning Glory natural bridge, yet another amazing formation.

After 3 days of hiking and 2 nights of camping, we opted for a motel room tonight.  Ahhh!  A shower and bed felt like luxury.   Here we are at the top of the Delicate Arch hike:

utahoct08-blog.JPG

Miles Driven: 1020 (for more trip info, check out the new Scoreboard at right)

Posted in Travel, Utah | No Comments »

Vegas, baby!

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

It’s finally here!  I’m done with work and officially unemployed now.  We kicked off the travels with a stop in Las Vegas to celebrate with some friends.  Happy 40th birthday to Eric and Mike!!

And congratulations to Jin and Min on the engagement!!  More later, but here’s snap of the gang before our amazing dinner, drinks, and dancing at Mix at the top of THEHotel.  What a view…

vegas-blog.JPG

 

Miles Driven: 270

 

Posted in Travel, Utah | No Comments »

Reading List

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

The trip planning is still progressing, but the things we’re doing right now aren’t really interesting enough to blog about.  I’ve renewed my driver’s license so it won’t expire while I’m gone. We got our International Driver’s licenses too. Eric has been doing a lot of “fixing” and painting to get the house ready to rent. We started to pack up things we don’t think we’ll use in the next two months, and the garage is filling up with boxes.  Slowly the mundane things on the To Do list are being checked off.

All of this is exciting for us because it feels like we’re actively getting closer to the trip, but probably not for most of you reading this. Instead of boring you further with the minute details, I thought I’d take some time to mention a few interesting books that have helped in our RTW planning. I read these a few years ago when the “year off” first started to take shape, but just found them again while I was sorting through some boxes. I’ve re-read them both it’s amazing how much of the advice we’ve unconsciously followed in the interim. These two books are very different from each other, but they have one thing in common – oddly both have different photos of a lone backpacker trudging across desert sand dunes. Some editors must think that image conjures up exotic travel. I personally hope I don’t ever find myself in that situation.

First Time Around the World (Rough Guides) by Doug Lansky – “A trip planner for the Ultimate Journey” – This book is a great practical “how to” and includes everything from planning an itinerary to packing lists to advice on “foreign” toilets. I found a lot of the insights on public transportation/taxis, food, and health to be great for any type of traveling, including a simple week long vacation.

Vagabonding by Rolf Potts – “An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel” – While this book also has a lot of good travel information and references, it focuses more on the psychological, spiritual, and cultural aspects of travel. It covers a variety topics including why people want to travel, earning your travel, and even ethical issues. This one made me examine my own reasons for and fears against making this trip. There are quotations about travel in each chapter from Thoreau, Whitman, Muir and numerous other writers and texts that worth the price of the book alone.

Aside from the “advice” type books, I also want to give an honorable mention to another great inspiration, Bill Bryson. While some may put his books into a “humorous travel essay” category, I think they also offer a great insight into why people travel and certainly added a few destinations to our itinerary. A few of my favorites are A Walk in the Woods, In a Sunburned County, and Neither Here Nor There. I’ll leave you with a quote from that last one that sums up a huge part of the fun and lure of travel for me. It also explains the grand sense of euphoria and accomplishment I felt after simply purchasing a bus ticket in Chile (to the correct destination and back, I might add).

“Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary understanding of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.” Bill Bryson – Neither Here Nor There.

Posted in Planning, Travel | No Comments »

« Previous Page — « Previous Entries
Next Entries » — Next Page »