Monthly Archives: August 2017

GART Day 13: Last day and wrap up

Posted on August 13, 2017 | Leave a comment

This was always planned to be purely a travel day: Boulder to KC in one shot. Painful but necessary. We did make a slight modification and stopped in Denver for a cup of coffee with a dear friend from college (hi Erin!). Then the long haul began: 9 hours and 640 miles. Two stops for gas and snacks and that was it.

We learned a lot this trip about ourselves and the vastness of this country. Some lessons learned:

The ability to change elevations is necessary for my personal well-being. My friend Mary is convinced that whenever there is a chance to go “up” that I take it. She is right and I now realize how important that is. I miss mountains.
The elevation changes need to have greenery. Hiking in the desert was great but it isn’t the same as scrambling through forests with running water. The smell of pine cures many ills.
Utah does a better job marketing to Europeans than Colorado does. We heard French literally everywhere in Utah – including at our B&B – and heard nothing but English in Colorado.
Some of the cultural differences are comical. I didn’t think I would see hikers in Arches and Canyonlands carrying umbrellas but there were *many* Chinese visitors who did just that.
National Parks (and forests, etc.) are awesome and need to be protected. The $80 annual pass is an amazing deal – although it doesn’t cover parking at Mt Rushmote.
This is a really big country. It’s something that everybody kind of “knows” but you don’t appreciate it until you get out there and look around.

Final numbers from the trip:

Miles driven: 3, 964 (so close to 4K!)
Miles run (just San): 19.22
Steps taken (not including runs): 164, 358 – which means roughly 82 miles
National parks visited: 6
National monuments: 3
National forests: 3
Other (state parks, etc.): 3
States visited: 6 (I am counting Nevada because we lost money there but not Iowa because we didn’t stop.)
Wineries visited: 1 (hmmmm….)
Distilleries visited: 1
Calories consumed: did you really think I was keeping track of that?
French lessons completed: 6 (I know, I know)
Quarts of hydraulic fluid for the roof: 3

Thanks for following along – see you next year! (Or on the Cannon Chronicles if you are so inclined.)

Leave a comment

Posted in USA

GART Day 12: Waterfalls and a Winery*

Posted on August 11, 2017 | Leave a comment

And so we get to the last real day of the trip. We are in Boulder not just because it is a cool place but because of the proximity to Rocky Mountain National Park where we are aiming for a hike that involves waterfalls. Not just because I love waterfalls but we after spending the last two hiking days in the desert, we really want to see water in a natural habitat.

But first breakfast. When I book B&B’s I’m usually pretty particular to find ones who understand gluten free needs. I have made inquiries of some places in the past and their responses have made it quite clear that they don’t really understand. So when I got to breakfast this morning and there was gluten free homemade granola and I was served gluten free french toast, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven!

It was just what we needed to head to the Wild Basin entrance to RMNP to hike. After stopping for gas and an extra latte, we headed into the mountains. We got to the outer parking area and were told that we needed to hike in from there – which added a mile each way to the trip. Okay, we can deal with that.

Our goal was the Ouzel Falls – about 2.7 miles from the trail head or 3.8 miles from our car. The clouds had cleared although there was still the threat of rain and we started our trek. For two hours we hiked, climbing 950 feet through pine forests whose smell was a balm to any trouble. (Seriously, it was like sniffing Christmas for hours on end.) I found out a very important thing about myself: there is a maximum number of photographs of red rocks that I will find interesting but there is no upper limit on how much I want to look at rushing water.

It has been a very long time since I felt this kind of serenity even when rigorously climbing up hill. When we got to the falls, we were not disappointed. They were glorious to behold and the spray could be felt for yards around. {sigh}

On the hike back down, we stopped to have a picnic lunch on a rock overlooking the river. As we dug in, a sun shower passed through. That didn’t stop a very cheeky chipmunk from begging for a bit of my ham roll. He was obviously used to people and came right up to within a foot of me, actually begging for food. I had to rustle some plastic bags repeatedly to get him to scamper off.

After our hiking accomplishment, we went into nearby Estes Park – the favorite Colorado town for all crossword puzzle aficionados – where we happened to stumble upon a winery. And by stumble, I mean ask Google and make many wrong turns before, surprise!, there it was in front of us. Please note that it took until day 12 before we stopped at a winery – in our 6th state. Not that we didn’t try before but there was always something stacked against the occasion: the winery was closed; it was on the other side of the state; it only made fruit wine (ugh); etc.

So we did a tasting at Snowy Peaks winery and enjoyed it immensely. We sojourned on the patio with a class of Tempranillo (Frank) and Riesling (San) before deciding to bring home some souvenirs. (Only 4 bottles – quite restrained for us really).

DSCN1106

Then a drive back towards Boulder which happened to include a stop in Lyon where Spirit Hound Distillers is located. Apparently, they make a whiskey worthy of being included in Frank’s collection and the size of the sample they poured meant that I got to drive the rest of the way back to the B&B. It was very similar to our Scotland trips where the only time I drive is on the way home from the distillery.

We ended the day with a fabulous meal at Spruce Farm and Fish where I had the local trout and Frank had fish and chips made with local bass. One last soak in the amazing hot tub and it was time to prepare for the long drive home tomorrow.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 92 (smallest number to date)
Steps: 25,119
Floors: 37
Layers of sunscreen: 0 (we left the top up)
French lessons: 0 (no excuses – we just didn’t do it)
French conversations we overheard: 0 (apparently the French – and Italians, Germans, and Chinese – are all vacationing in Moab)
Number of sighs appreciating the beauty around us: I lost count.

* All credit to Adventures in Good Company for the title. They are an awesome women’s travel company who offer a great trip in Georgia called “Waterfalls and Wineries.” I can’t recommend that trip or the company enough.

Leave a comment

Posted in Colorado, USA

GART Day 11: A really uneventful day

Posted on August 11, 2017 | Leave a comment

Today is one of the transition days where we go from desert to mountains which means lots of driving and very little, if any, hiking. I got in a short run in the morning before we packed up. After another fabulous breakfast in the great outdoors (including GF pancakes for me!), we left the red rocks of Moab and headed toward the Rocky Mountains. It’s Boulder or bust!

So we drove. And drove. The red rocks turned to yellow and beige (and kinda reminded us of Idaho) before we hit the state line and things started getting getting greener. We’ve been driving alongside the Colorado River for most of this stay (like we did with the Snake River in Wyoming) and got to watch it turn from a latte colored muck in Utah to a much clearer river here in Colorado.

DSCN1087

We had a picnic lunch at a park in Vail and then drove some more. About 40 miles outside of Denver, the sky started to look ominous so the top went up. It was a good thing too because a mere half an hour later the rain started and by the time we turned off on the road to Boulder, it was a torrential downpour that included hail.

To show you how uneventful today was, we celebrated the odometer hitting 111,111:

DSCN1089

And so we arrived in Boulder a mere 6.5 hours later to light rain and grey skies. Our sightly burnt skin welcomed the change and we checked into the B&B and went to do some urban hiking in downtown Boulder.

We wandered along the Pearl Street mall which is very much like the Church Street Mall in Burlington and the Downtown mall in Charlottesville. I had heard they were all designed by the same people but I haven’t been able to confirm that independently (and I don’t want to go spreading any “fake news” )

We stopped for a quick drink and snacks while we did a Google search for places to have dinner. Right around the corner we found absolute gem: Shine is a restaurant with a 100% gluten free kitchen – and really good beer according to my spousal expert. It reminded me a bit of Cafe Gratitude only better. We had a fabulous meal – with donut holes for desert!!!! – before heading back to the oversized jacuzzi bathtub in our room.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 340
Steps: 8,342
French lessons: 1 (Quand puis-je avoir quelque chose à boire chez vous? Apparently it’s important to proposition people in another language before you learn to count)
Layers of sunscreen: 2
Number of construction sites encountered: 8

Leave a comment

Posted in Colorado, USA

GART Day 10: Red, red rocks

Posted on August 10, 2017 | Leave a comment

If our afternoon adventures in Arches weren’t enough to innure us to the landscape, today’s trek would be. After a lovely breakfast outside, we headed to Canyonlands National Park. We assumed it would be more of the same – and indeed we did see an arch – but this park is all about massive holes in the ground rather than smaller holes in the rock. I confess that don’t remember much about the Grand Canyon as it’s been more than 20 years since I was last there but I have a hard time believing that it is substantially more impressive than this place.

We got a pretty early start so we went straight for the moderate climb to see Upheaval Dome. Then a pretty easy trek along the edge of the ridge to the Grand View Point. A picnic lunch under a scrubby tree for shade and a final wander to see the arch of the day: Mesa Arch.

We managed about 5 miles in all and when the temperature hit 94 during the last hike to the arch, we decided to call it a day. We headed into Moab for supplies and a quick round of laundry before the drive back to Castle Valley. A shower and a change of clothes and we were off to a very nice but seriously overpriced dinner at a local resort.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 164
Steps: 18, 410
Floors: 32
Layers of sunscreen: 3
French lessons: 0 (too much to do)
French conversations overheard but not understood: dozens {sigh}

Leave a comment

Posted in Utah

GART Day 9: Where we start heading east

Posted on August 9, 2017 | Leave a comment

(Which means we are starting to head towards home and so must be on the back end of the adventure… sniff… sniff)

And so our urban sojourn draws to a close and we get ready to start the homeward leg of the trip. Another fabulous breakfast and we are ready to head out of Salt Lake City. Well, after we run a few errands of course. First we need snacks for the road so we stop at the local grocery store, Harmons, which is like few stores I’ve ever visited.

Then another stop at the local Mercedes dealer. Why you might ask? Well, it seems that the hydraulics that control the convertible top are not functioning quite right. Even though Frank had 4 of the cylinders rebuilt, apparently we now have leaks in one or two of the still old ones which causes major headaches – and lots of messy fluid spurts and drips – when the top goes up and down. We bought a few bottles of hydraulic fluid when we arrived in SLC and it seemed like a good idea to have a few spares. Unfortunately, the downtown dealer was out so we stopped at one a bit farther south and extras procured, we were on our way.

For just over 300 miles across the desert, we ranged on our way to the Utah sports mecca of Moab. Even though the terrain wasn’t much different that what we saw in Idaho, it seemed less annoying this time. Maybe I am now used to the nothingness of high desert. Maybe it was the great weather or well maintained roads. Whatever the reason, the miles flew by and after a short stop to pick up some lunch to eat on the road (who knew Subway made such good chopped salads?) we finally arrived at the destination du jour: Arches National Park.

We filled up our water bottles, donned our hiking boots and headed out to explore the vast expanse of red rocks and sand as fine as talcum powder. Unfortunately, the Windows loop was closed and we were not up for the hike to Delicate Arch but we did hike to the view point. And then we traveled the full length of the park to go see more arches – Landscape Arch was the goal but along the way we stopped at others including Pine Arch which was my favorite. Probably because it was pretty shady and you could stand directly underneath it.

We got in the requisite amount of hiking then headed into Moab for supplies. We picked up all the makings of a picnic supper (crackers, cheese, sausage, wine, etc.) and headed out to the Castle Valley where our B&B is located. We had a lovely meal al fresco, hit the jacuzzi for a relaxing soak before calling it a day.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 305
Steps: 11,278
Floors: 29
French lessons: 1 (Je voudrais quelque chose à manger)
Number of French people we have run into on this trip: 5 zillion or at least it seems that way.

Leave a comment

Posted in USA, Utah

GART Day 8: Of salt and spires

Posted on August 8, 2017 | Leave a comment

After a wonderful night’s sleep and a great breakfast, we hit the road again for the highlight of the day: the Bonneville Salt Flats. Any car nut, especially speed nuts, knows that the Bonneville Salt Flats are where many (most?) land speed records have been set. It is a 40 square mile salt pan west of Salt Lake City which is a vast white wasteland – and somewhere Frank has always wanted to go. So we did.

And it’s another post-apocalyptic setting, especially with the clouds and haze we had today. But it was really cool. And then we drove out on the flats – on the 10 miles stretch known as the Bonneville Speedway. It was cool and eerie.

Then we realized that we were only 10 miles from the Nevada border…. well, we can’t leave a challenge unaccepted. So we sped down the road to West Wendover, Nevada where we stopped at the Red Garter casino, spent a few minutes losing $5 on video poker (Frank won several times so he took longer to lose it all.), grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back toward town.

We made a quick stop at Great Salt Lake State Park to see the lake but it smelled pretty bad and the sand flies were unbearable so that didn’t last very long. So then it was off to the other big attraction in SLC: the Mormon temple. It is very impressive and the visitor centers do a wonderful job making sure everyone understands that the Latter Day Saints worship Jesus. We stopped at the tabernacle where the acoustics are unbelievable: we could hear a pin drop all the way across the building.

Just to be fair, we also stopped by the Cathedral of the Madeline, the diocesan seat for the Catholic church in Utah. The murals were impressive and the organ was fantastic. I find myself still lighting a candle for my mother in every church I visit and this was no exception. Then it was off to a fabulous dinner at a small plates restaurant, Eva, before heading back to the Inn. Frank managed to lose 3 games of pool to me before it was time to enjoy the jacuzzi bathtub and waste some time watching Lethal Weapon 4.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 285
Steps: 14,256
States visited: 2 (UT, NV)
French lesson: 1 (La rue est là bas)
Best poker hand: straight flush (paid $12.50)

Leave a comment

Posted in USA, Utah

GART Day 7: Stop, drop, and roll to Utah

Posted on August 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

Today did not go as we had intended. In my grand scheme, we would take some time after breakfast to go explore Sun Valley which was 20 minutes north of where we were staying. We were hoping to maybe get a short hike in the Sawtooth National Forest. But fate had other plans for us. Apparently, the haze we noticed on the drive yesterday was not from the heat or low cloud cover. It was smoke from massive wild fires just south of us were causing all the smoke. In fact, they were discouraging people from driving on the road that we were going to take to Salt Lake City.

So all those plans changed. I did a quick run in the morning – smoke didn’t seem to be an issue for me – and then got ready to hit the road right after breakfast. We changed our route to try to avoid the worst of the smoke and fire and put the top up on the convertible. We skipped our trip to Sun Valley since our new route was going to take longer than the original one and we understood that the valley was getting ready to possibly lose power for a few days as a result of the fire.

And then we drove. And kept driving. Nearly 300 miles without stopping. We could both see and smell the smoke as it hung over the vast boring beigeness of the landscape. It was a very unfun drive. One interesting thing was the hundreds of cyclists we passed on the road despite the smoke. For more than 45 miles we passed a line of cyclists all riding along the edge of the road as part of some event that we never did figure out.

DSCN0972

After four hours on the road, we got to Ogden, Utah where we stopped for lunch and to stretch our legs. I think it’s probably a very cool town but even the coolest town in Utah on a Sunday is boring. After lunch, we tried to get a hike in to Waterfall Canyon, partway up Mt. Ogden. I had read some cool stuff about it and every write up called it “a great little hike” which didn’t manage my expectations appropriately at all. We climbed more than 600 feet in just over a mile and got to a point where climbing over boulders was the necessary next step. And we decided not to bother. I don’t know how much farther we would have had to go to get to the falls but we were not appropriately equipped for anything longer than we had already done so back down we went. Here’s what the falls supposedly look like. Maybe another time.

We bundled back into the air conditioned car and headed to Salt Lake City. We arrived at our downtown B&B right as the Tour of Utah bike event was rapping up two blocks away at the state capital. I don’t think these were the same cyclists as we saw in Idaho though….

After a lovely dinner downtown at an Italian restaurant, it was time to get a last bit of exercise in so back uphill to the capital we went to watch the sunset.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 318
Average gas mileage: 26 mpg
Number of steps: 15, 234
Number of floors: 70 (!)
Layers of sunscreen: 0.5 (top was up all day)
French lessons: 0.5 (finished from yesterday.

Leave a comment

Posted in Idaho, USA, Utah

GART Day 6: And so we go to Idaho

Posted on August 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

We awoke to our last morning in the Tetons. It has been wonderful having the Grand Teton looking over our cabin during our stay but all good things must come to an end. I managed a short run in the park – trying to get in one run in every state! – before we hit breakfast and headed to our next adventure: Idaho!

I confess that I had to do a bit of work to figure out how to make a stop in Idaho fit the itinerary. But since we lost our one night in Montana to the condensed first part of the trip, it was more important than ever that we make this work and be enjoyable. We made a pit stop in Jackson – what a cute town, we need to go back – get the car and some clothes clean. Then we headed across the Teton Pass with it’s 10% grades to go from Wyoming to Idaho. And then the next 250 miles or so was somewhat surreal.

Once we left the mountains, we crossed flat barren terrain. Lots of bare beigeness as we ran alongside the Snake river. And heat. After coming down from the mountains, the glaring sun drove the temperatures up. We stopped for lunch in Idaho Falls at a lovely brew pub across from the falls before heading west once more. We passed more flat, bland fields – mile after mile. I was looking for potatoes but all we saw was nuclear research facilities – Atomic City anyone?

At last we reached the National Park du jour: Craters of the Moon. A park that no one I know has ever visited or in most cases even heard of. Yellowstone gets more visitors in one month than Craters gets in a year. But it is so much cooler IMHO. It’s a large volcanic field that looks like a set from Star Trek – we kept waiting for a red shirted Trekkie to pop up from behind the volcanic rock and get shot. If you ever want to know what post apocalyptic America looks like – I think I’ve seen it.

There were hills to climb up and caves to climb in. We had to get certified before going into the caves to prevent the spread of White-Nose syndrome which has apparently been devastating the bat population. We didn’t see any bats but the caves were really cool.

We wrapped up our visit and headed to the Bed and Breakfast in bustling Hailey, ID. It is literally a one-stoplight town just south of Sun Valley. With a population of nearly 8,000, it is a bustling metropolis by Idaho standards (we passed through several towns that had populations in the 100s). We walked downtown and had a FABULOUS dinner at CK’s where we sat at the chef’s bench overlooking the kitchen and got to watch all the food being prepared. I had a wonderful gaucho steak with corn-jalapeno cakes and Frank had fresh Idaho trout with Idaho potatoes. We wandered around town before heading back to call it a night. Our room at the B&B has an extra deep tub so I decided to have a relaxing soak before bed. I can’t even tell you the color of the bathwater when I got out – apparently volcanic rock dust is black and very fine. I didn’t even notice it in the restaurant but it was certainly obvious in the bathtub. Ick.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 279
Layers of sunscreen: 3
French lessons: 1/2 (we turned it off to pay attention in the mountains and never got back to it)
Number of photographs at Craters: 49
Steps taken: 12,248
Flights climbed: 24

Leave a comment

Posted in Idaho, USA, Wyoming

GART Day 5: Staying put

Posted on August 4, 2017 | Leave a comment

Because of the change in departure day, this was our first stop where we had two night in the same place. After a somewhat rough night, I slept way too long (Frank felt the need to make sure I was still alive) but we eventually made it to breakfast. Then it was off to the main event of the day: hiking in the Tetons! I wanted something that rated as an actual hike (so no pavement) and was a little more than the casual tourist would be willing to undertake. After some research we decided on the Taggart Lake- Bradley Lake loop in the southern part of the park. And boy were we glad we did.

It took about half an hour to get to the trailhead and the car park was pretty full by the time we got there. Nevertheless, she persisted. We headed toward Bradley Lake first and it seemed like the 800 feet elevation change happened entirely on this part of the hike! We kept going up and had fabulous panoramic views of Bradley Lake – one of the 6 glacial lakes in the park.

We then headed toward Taggart Lake which was where we found the real magic. The trail goes right along the lake front (which means we had a lot of “down” to do first) and we were treated with crystal clear waters with spectacular mountain views in the background. I couldn’t resist dipping my feet in the water – which was really cold! – before continuing on the journey. All in all, the route we took covered 5.9 miles which we did in just about 3 hours. We then visited various scenic spots in the park before heading back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool to wash off the dust.

Then to the Blue Heron bar for a drink before dinner. The reason we chose this lodge is that it is where the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium takes place each year. It is hosted by the KC Fed and many of my colleagues work very hard to make it a premier event for economists from around the world. Since I will never be an official attendee at the big event, I really wanted to see what the fuss was all about. And I promised a friend at work that I would have a drink in the Blue Heron for him – so I did: a Jackson Lake Lemonade which apparently involves huckleberries as do so many other things here.

We then had a lovely dinner in the Mural room where we got to watch the sunset over the Tetons. Afterwards, we struck up a conversation with an English couple and funnily enough, the wife went to school down the road from where I used to live in London. It was another case of “it’s a small world.”

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 55 (all inside the park)
Steps taken: 17,327
Flights climbed: 37 (according to my iPhone)
Layers of sunscreen: 2
Hours slept: 8 (in chunks of 4 with breaks)

Leave a comment

Posted in USA, Wyoming

GART Day 4: Catching up

Posted on August 4, 2017 | 1 comment

While I am very happy that we were able to salvage this trip, these first few days have been very trying. Essentially, we covered 5 days worth of vacation in 3 days. Today was the last day to cram things in before we got “back on schedule.” And we started the day right: fabulous breakfast (including GF quiche and banana bread!) and great conversation with our fellow B&B residents.

Then off to Yellowstone via WY 14 – one of the most amazing routes I have ever driven (okay, Frank drove so I just rode). It goes through Big Horn National Forest. We drove up and down as much as driving west. At one point we were over 9000 feet! The scenery is magnificent. Well, I’ll let you judge for yourself.

Then we stopped in Cody – home of Buffalo Bill – to grab some picnic supplies and get the top down on the convertible. Then off we went to the Shoshone National Forest. More unbelievably beautiful scenery and a picnic by a river. Note that the sign next to the one announcing the picnic area announced grizzly bears. And yet we ate there anyway. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Then on to the chaos that is Yellowstone. I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. I was shocked to see acre after acre of tree skeletons. (Note: need to Google that and see what I should have learned before we went.) After the peaceful beauty that we had just come through, the bus loads of tourists with selfie sticks was a bit jarring. We managed a short hike to the natural bridge – I got to climb things so I was happy. Funny that there was a sign that described how tiny this arch is compared to the ones in Utah (which we will be seeing next week!)

The traffic and the tourists were hard to take but we were determined to see the Grand Prismatic Spring and so we did. And it was pretty amazing.

But the number of buses and the pain of getting through the park made a trip to Old Faithful just too much to bear. So we headed south to the actual destination for the day: Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. DSCN0892 We arrived just in time for sunset. We grabbed a couple of burgers and retired to our lovely but stupidly expensive cabin to call it a night.