Where should I start? So much has happened since I've left and it's only been one week.
Today was a glorious day! Namely, I was able to take a shower! The shower was a whole $2 in quarters. Those eight quarters got me a spankin' five minutes of shower water to wash off four days worth of silt and all its dusty cousins. On top of feeling so clean (I sparkle), I purchased a new sleeping mat from REI which is a full 2.5 inches thick! You too would find the prospect of sleeping on this mat something rivaling the concept of heaven if you'd literally been sleeping on a slab of 3/4" plywood for the last four days. Sleeping on plywood is bad news for those of you side sleepers. I'm pretty sure my hips are bruised every which way. Lastly, I'm happy to be out of the mud pits (aka. Mormon Lake, AZ) and sitting at this quaint coffee shop called Campus Coffee which someone from the Overland Expo recomended to me. For those of you unfamiliar with the outcome of mixing desert with torrential rains and even some percepitation in the form of snow (SNOW!), you get MUD, lots. Add thousands of monster 4x4 rigs tearing up the sparse vegetation covering the lake bed and you get a muddy mess. As much as I love the outdoors, there are two things I have a really hard time with: mosquitos and mud.
Anyway, I'm sure you'd like to know what I've been up to.
St Paul, MN to Denver, CO
Apparently, a lot of people who embark on these kinds of travel journeys have big sendoffs replete with tears and film coverage. For me, it was rather uneventful as was the first leg of the trip to Denver. Fortunately, I was joined by my friend, Mara, for this first portion. It worked out perfectly that she needed to be in Denver for work the same weekend I needed to at the Overland Expo. Big shoutout to all those who came to see my rig and let me show it off a little!
Camping in Kearny, NE
There's a night and day difference between the flat plains of Nebraska and the rolling hills of Colorado. As soon as you cross the border, the hills get bigger and bigger until BOOM! You're in the Rockies!
First close view of Rocky snow caps
So many elk!
Double Rainbow!
Due to time constraints and the weather, we were not able to do much hiking. But, we did make it to Rocky Mountain National Park. We made it a whole 11 miles up Trail Ridge, which is the east/west pass across the mountains. The road was closed due to snowfall. I found it quizzical how many people wearing shorts decided to light up at an altitude above 7,000 ft while it was snowing. Since Trail Ridge was closed, we took Hwy 7 back to Denver to wrap up our Rockies sight seeing which was definitely worth the drive.
Denver, CO to Flagstaff, AZ
Having dropped Mara off at work, I took off to Flagstaff, AZ. I still don't understand the whole timezone and daylight savings thing that Arizona practices, but the end effect was that I somehow made it to Flagstaff, AZ by 7pm, which was exactly the latest I could arrive at the Overland Expo per the instructions I'd received.
The drive from Denver to Flagstaff was probably one of the most scenic drives I've ever done. It felt like at every turn there was some wondrous scenery awaiting. I really enjoyed seeing the dramatic change from mountains to canyons and back to mountains. One thing that caught me off guard were the school bus stops along roads with 75 mile speed limits. Seriously, how can you pay attention to children crossing the road when you're goosenecking to see rock formations in places called names like Valley of the Gods.
Colorado
Utah
Arizona
