Hey Everybody,

Just wanted to point out, we switched our official road trip picture.

We actually took this one, and those are real cows in the road.

On the way from Breckenridge south we decided to take the advice of some fellow travelers and take the scenic route to the grand canyon by way of Ouray, Co.

 

They call Ouray the Switzerland of America, and Nat says they don’t look close at all. Apparently Brek is a closer match. Anyway one of the biggest selling points of Ouray is their famous hot springs. Imagine a Columbia association pool, with brown water and a slide and you have a rough idea of how the “springs” look. Apparently the pool is fed with spring water and cut with tap water to bring the temperature to 106, 98, and some other lower temp I now forget. After much anticipation a dirty pool was a harsh letdown from the lofty springs we had imagined.

 

Another risk in Ouray

 

We passed two campgrounds on the way to Ouray, one a KOA(Kampgrounds of America) and the other, closer to town, was a local one off RV site called Maggies. The sign proclaimed Maggie also served food (Maggie’s Kitchen) and that Maggie did not serve dinner. We decided to try Maggie out.

 

A nice guy named Steve showed us to our site and told us it would be 20$(to be paid the next morning, because that’s just the way they operate), showers included. I would call that a good deal. He also brought us over a bag of popcorn and later some wood and kindling for a fire… All on the house. The view wasn’t bad either. (Ouray is literally nestled mountains, and the river runs right by Maggie’s)

 

The next morning the showers were clean with shelves for clothes and toiletries… this is of note because most place lack hooks, toiletry shelves, and free showers… In any case we moseyed on over to Maggie’s kitchen and met Maggie for the first time. Coffee would have been on the house if I hadn’t brewed by own, but sugar and crème still were. We ordered breakfast straight from Maggie (Who is chief cook and bottlewasher with a little help from Steve) Breakfast was fantastic, The portions were huge and it was cheap! I guess it’s hard to explain the appeal of Maggie’s without actually taking you there. They just rocked my expectations, and definitely earned two more raving fans.

 

Sometimes taking a risk on the unknown turns out better than you could have hoped.

 -R

I am in love with Colorado.

 

It is the most mountainous state we have been through and it is practically all mountains. 

 

Check this out –on the way to the grand canyon we drove through sleet twice in Colorado.  The first time is was enough to cover the road in white.

 

We also drove through South Park, CO.  In real life it’s a small miner’s town in between mountain passes.  None of the stars of the TV show were spotted.

 

On another note – Wireless internet is popular… and usually not available.  I’ve been sitting out front of a shower house charging all or the batteries I have – And have been asked again and again if I’m getting wireless.  ( I am not) 

 

Apparently, the only wireless internet connection on the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park is a jealously guarded secret.  Of course I know this because I charmed an older lady at the trading post (That’s a western grocery store for the uninitiated)

 

For the record, the connection is at grand canyon national park headquarters and you can’t pick it up in front of the building because the router is in the library on the northwest corner.  A short hike around back confirmed internet is available and power is not, hence I am sitting in front of a shower house charging up/typing out blog posts for when I can actually upload them.

-Ryan 

 

Here we are at the Grand Canyon. Miraculously (or as Ryan says, because of good karma), our campsite happens to be practically walking distance from the only wireless internet for probably 100 miles from here. However, our cells phones still don’t work.

 

Just to back track a little, yesterday the plan was to stop at Mesa Verde, check out the cliff dwellings, and then head on out. We got to Mesa Verde and found out that at minimum it would be 3 hours to get through the whole thing and if we really wanted to take advantage of the sights, it would take 5-6 hours. So we decided to turn around and hit the road again.

 

Thanks to our lovely GPS, we discovered that our route took us directly through the Four Corners. After a little coercion and a lot of begging, Ryan said we could stop and agreed to pay the $3 a person for one of the most touristy pictures one could possibly take (don’t worry, its posted so you can see how ridiculous we look!)

 

I don’t know how many of you have driven to the Grand Canyon from Colorado, but I just want to make sure you know that in order to get here you have to drive through Mars. I’m not kidding. Look at the pictures. Also, there are these enormous castle/statue/tower things made from piles of rocks that we decided came about when a bunch of gigantic babies decided to play “blocks.” It’s craziness. It is most definitely a different planet around here.

 

We officially made it to the Grand Canyon at about 6 o’clock yesterday (except that we aren’t exactly sure what time zone we are in, so it might not have been 6). When you first come into the park you are at the “Desert View” end. There is this little section where you can look over the canyon. Also, there is this look out tower that someone built in the 1930s designed so that it wouldn’t look awkward in the surrounding landscape. Result: A Disney Chic tower on the edge of the Grand Canyon. It was here that we got our first look at the canyon. It is beyond impressive. There is no way to describe how small you feel standing next to this thing. Its been pretty dry lately so you can’t see the Colorado River at the bottom (you may never be able to see it actually unless you hike to it) but we did see the Painted Desert across the canyon and some other crazy deserts and mountains.

 

The rest of the night was fairly relaxing. We talked to some people in the grocery store about what trail to take and got some soup and Easy Mac to cook on the camp fire for dinner. In the process of dinner making we decided that I need to work on my Boy-Scout-Cooking-Merit-Badge.

 

Today we did the hike! Not to the bottom because that is a 6.3 mile hike and there are warnings just about everywhere that it is a terrible idea to attempt in one day. Instead we did the 1.4 mile version which was still a killer since we are 700ft above sea level and in the desert. But, with Ryan’s boy scouting skills and insistence on being a gentleman, it was great for me! We had a ton of water and snacks, and I didn’t have to carry any of it!

 

The irony of today was that even though we were hiking through this absolute monstrosity that makes you feel like you aren’t even a speck of sand in the world….we ran into some people from Maryland! Rockville to be exact. We ran into them at the end of the path where we turned around and started talking. They left a little earlier than us, but then we ran into them in the middle of the path…at the top of the path…at the shower house…at the grocery store…and who knows! Maybe we will run into them again tomorrow J

 

The rest of the day we just kind of hung around. Ryan is teaching me how to tie different knots since the Navy is basically a grown up version of boy-scouts, I thought I would try to get a head start. Now I know the “One-Handed Bowline,” the “Taut Line Hitch” and some other one that Ryan doesn’t remember the name for.

 

Now we are sitting at the shower house writing postcards and charging the computer because the place where we steal internet is technically closed now so we have to sit out on the steps behind the building and there aren’t any outlets there.

 

I am not going to even try to describe what it looks like to be here because words don’t do it justice at all. Pictures don’t either really, but look at them anyway!

 

NEXT STOP: Hoover Dam and Las Vegas!

~Natalie

 

“Gulch” – geological attribute that is not a canyon.  It is smaller than a fjord but larger than a rut.  Not usually filled with water.   

 

 

Google Search Results for “Kansas Sucks”

-R

As of this second, Ryan and I are sitting in this bar/restaurant called The Silver Nugget.  It is probably the only place in this town that not only had wireless internet, but knows what wireless internet is (and only the owner knew that!)   But even with that aside, it is wonderful place!  We have two waitresses and the owner keep comin by to check on us (and even ask if I am too cold).  BTW….he has on a blue plaid shirt and a cowboy just for a visual image.

So….as we type away we are being serenaded by a woman who looks like a skinny mountain version of Phoebe from friends.  Ryan took a video of her and thanks to his technical skills, there is a link that will let you watch right under this post!  You should check it out for the full effect.

Hmmm…what else to tell you about Colorado.  First of all, the scenary here is amazing.  It looks fake.  We have already decided that we are living in photoshop.  The clouds look superimposed on the sky and the colors are nothing like what we have on the east cost.

Also, the speed limits are fantastic!  Roads that would be 35 mph in Maryland are 65 mph here.  And people are nice on the road!  They actually move to the right lane when they are not trying to pass someone.  Its unbelievable.

And, along the highway, with all of this beautiful scenery, Colorado still likes to keep you guessing.  You know how in most places when there is an attraction off of the highway, there is usually a sign that tells you what it is (like the National Quilting Museum which we really did pass somewhere in the Kentucky/Tennessee area), Colorado just puts up signs that say “Point of Interest.”  Its like a mystery card!  You think to yourself…hmm…this could be good, should I try it?   In Ouray Ryan and I got sucked into the mystery and decided to check on out.

Well, actually im lying.  We knew what it was, but still, it did have a “Point of Interest” sign!  We had heard from some camp neighbors of ours in Breckenridge that the hot springs in Ouray were worth seeing (hence our planning this random city into our trip).  I was envisioning rocks in the middle of a river type thing with natural pools of hot water in them that you can bathe in.  In reality, the hot springs of Ouray Colorado looks like one of the Columbia Association pools with dirty water (and one of the older pools at that!) but complete with mushroom fountain.  To say the least, we decided to skip that sight.

I guess you win some and you lose some with the wild cards.

Next Stop: Mesa Verde state park to see the cliff dwellings then THE GRAND CANYON!!! (the only planned, non negotiable stop of this entire trip)

~Natalie

Were actually here right now. I just uploaded our first video! …and you’re already watching it. Stalker.

Anyway As Usual, WordPress it not making my life easy so Click Here to see the short Video!

I figured the midwest (aka completely flat land) would start on the west side of Kentucky.  Turns out it doesn’t get totally flat until midway through Kansas and into Colorado.

Also, Kentucky and Tennessee are alot more like home than I figured.  In fact, All the way untill Kansas we could compare what were looking at to some part of home.  Ever since then we’ve agreed that the west is nothing at all like home.  Not even one little part.  Not even close.

In Kentucky we saw dust devils!  They’re like mini tornadoes they suck up pieces of dried out cornstalks… Very Cool.

In Kansas, (even though our official stance is we hate it) The sky is huge.  Huge.  And the sunrise is so colorful it’s awe inspiring.

And we haven’t even gotten to the desert yet.

-Ryan

Now that I have gotten a little sleep (and  by a little I mean something like a 4 hour period when I was dead to the world) and something to eat I am feeling much better!

I am actually really glad that we skipped Kansas because we kind of stumble upon this really great little town called Breckenridge outside of Denver where we hung out for the day and night (thanks Mr. Gauthier!!!)   To be specific, we are staying at this little camp site on a lake in “Frisco” near the “Frisco Bay” obviously not the be confused with “San Fransisco” or the “San Fransisco Bay” The mountains are beautiful, the weather is cool but sunny, and the people are really friendly!

Pictures are on the way.  And, like Ryan said, wordpress hates our pictures, so we both tried to post some on Facebook.  Check them out here!

Next Stop: Grand Canyon (or potentially some other cool rocks along the way)

~Natalie