The Southwest

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As we've been reaching the end of our trip, we've started hearing the phrase, "take it to the limit, one more time", ringing in our heads more and more often. Maybe it is the Eagle's CD locked in the CD player or maybe it is our lack of motivation to start life in the "real world", but for whatever reason, we decided to hang a left and push DJ Tango the VERY dirty Durango to the limit. The easy, and boring, thing would have been to drive south from Salt Lake City, through Vegas, and head straight southwest to Southern California, reaching our final destination in a matter of days, if not hours. But as you all probably know by now, we don't always necessarily take the easy route. Instead, we decided to head east from Salt Lake and fully explore the Southwest. As it turns out, that was probably the best decision we've made on this entire trip. The Southwest is amazing! Full of culture, great food, and beautiful scenery, the American Southwest is like no other place on earth. Honestly. Take a look on a map and notice how many National Parks, Monuments, Forests and Recreation Areas are in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. It is truly a natural wonder we absolutely loved and know that all of you will love too.

Heading east on I70, Utah looks a bit ordinary and bland. Wondering if we made the right decision, we scoured the map trying to find a nice place to camp before we entered the Rocky Mountains. Luckily, we spotted Arches National Park; veritable stones throw from the highway. I've always heard that Arches was a spectacular place to visit, but never really realized where it was. Being so close to our route, it only seemed logical to spend an evening and a morning exploring this natural wonder. And "wonder", it is. The artsy town of Moab (I honestly think we've been to every "Artsy" town in North America) lies directly between Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. We rolled into town, found a great RV campground with a huge grass area for tents, set up camp in less than 20 minutes, and were off on our way to explore the park. Arches National Park is one of those things in the world that no written description or set of pictures can do any sense of justice. You really have to experience Arches for yourself to fully understand the magnitude and amazement of the natural arches. It is the kind of place that everyone who visits discovers for the first time. You cannot help but think that the feelings you experience must be so similar to those of the first explorers of the area who discovered these natural arches. Unfortunately, we only planned on having an evening and a morning in Arches and did not venture down further to Canyonlands National Park, where apparently some of the best rock art in the world exists. We would have been more bummed but after seeing Arches, we both decided then and there that we would definitely be back and take much more time to journey throughout the entire region. If you ever feel like the trials of city life are getting you down or the Closter phobia of a concrete jungle is coming down on top of you, check out Southern Utah.

After getting back into the heat a bit in Southern Utah, we failed to realize that even though the Rockies are only a couple of hundred miles east, they are up, up, up in elevation, meaning that it got cold, cold, damn freakin' cold. Road trip trick #68, look like a pro, stop of at a rest stop before you get to your friend's place, and change into climate appropriate clothes. Shorts and T’s quickly turned into pants and sweaters before we arrived atop the Colorado Rockies and our friends, Mark and Cali's place, in Frisco, just outside of Vail. Mark and Cali were newly married in October, just like us, so as you might imagine, the conversation easily flowed and the pictures were viewed. All of you should be very thankful that we found each other and shared out wedding stories, because it probably spared many of the typical newly married treatment. So, Mark, Cali, Marisa and I would all like to say, "You're welcome". A few beers led to the microbrewery in town and a very tasty dinner led to a heated game of trivia pursuit. Of course it was guys vs. girls. And, of course, need I say who won? I think we all know that men save room in the brains for trivia by not filling it up with silly things like how to color coordinate, or how to ask for directions, or when to wear shoes. The men, triumphant in victory, toasted a glorious evening and subsequently passed out. Thank you Mark and Cali for a great time and for the recharge on music. Who knew that musicians didn't stop everything and wait for us to finish this trip? I thought I put that message out to the industry. Damn that Madonna, always needing and wanting.

A very short drive down the hill the following morning dropped us right smack at the doorstep of Denver and at Marisa's Aunt and Uncle's place in Golden, Colorado. Its so nice to have family that we can stop and stay with along the way. Surely, a nice relaxing stay with family will refresh and reinvigorate us both. Yea, right. That might work in some families, but in this one, there is no stopping for the injured, yet alone the tired and weary traveler. Within 5 minutes of our arrival, Aunt Patty and Uncle Al took us on a "10" (and I say "10" because it was actually more like "40") mile bike trip and "guided" (and I say "guided" because it was more like "pissin' in the wind") us down the rest of the Rockies, through the Denver suburbs, around the Colorado oil refineries, between freeways, and obviously trespassing through active construction sites. Yea, I bet your Aunt and Uncle give you chocolate or something. I'm not sure if we found Patty's sister's place by sheer luck or by an act of God, but somehow we ended up there, which, for the record, is completely on the other side of Denver. Thankfully, this family knew how to treat weary travelers and treated us to an absolutely scrumptious dinner of BBQ'd steaks and chicken. Mmmmmm, BBQ. At this point you might be wondering about the bike trip back to Al and Patty's house. Lets just say, we are lucky to be alive, and leave it at that. (Just kidding, Lindsay, Marisa's cousin, picked us up and drove us home. Thank God for high school kids that still have to listen to their parents.) The next day, after our legs and knees all recovered, Al and Patty took Marisa and I on a tour of Denver, and thankfully this time we drove and took the bus. Denver is an interesting city. Like many of the western states, Colorado has one major metropolitan city and then a vast amount of farm fresh land. Which typically means, in political terms, that you get a huge population pocket but small land area of blue, and a small but spread out population of red. Also, Denver is actually a fairly old city, in comparison to other western cities, so there is a lot of old vs. the new. Just imagine the old classic cowboy farmer mixing with the mountain biking, vegan eating, tree hugger. Interesting clash, huh? But the clash does seem to be a cordial one. Denver is reinventing itself, once again, into a "classic" but "new" city. Good work, Denver, keep it up. The next day Marisa and I decided to check out "The Republic of Boulder". Locals call Boulder the "Republic of..." due to the fact that all of those vegan tree huggers who don't want to fight it out in Denver, live in Boulder. Boulder is also home to the University of Colorado making it, all together now, a cool college town. We had a great time in Boulder and would definitely consider it as a place to check out again, especially if we ever turn vegan. Mmm, tofu. (notice the lack of "mmmm" there) By the time we left Colorado and Marisa's Aunt and Uncle's place our stomachs were full, our laundry clean, and my butt still hurt a little due to the hardest bicycle seat on the face of the earth. Seriously though, we had a great time in Colorado and can't wait to visit again, but next time I'll be bringing a gel padded grandpa lazy boy seat. Thanks so much Hislop's! I'll be saving the "best" peace of Turkey for you next Thanksgiving.

Heading south from Denver, we decided to play it by ear and see what New Mexico had to offer. We started out by checking out the skiing artsy town of Taos. (I swear to God, every freakin' artsy town) Taos was cool, but seemed to be a little bit too touristy for us. We did have a great meal at Eske's Micro Brewery. Next on the hit list was Sante Fe, New Mexico. Sante Fe is awesome! Apparently the city made an ordinance a while back that every new building and house must be made in the adobe style. It is crazy. At times you feel like you've been transplanted back 100 years. Don't get me wrong, people can do amazing things with adobe these days, but the look and feel of the whole city takes you away to a completely different place. Easily the most original city in the US, there is nothing else like it. We could have walked around the city for days peeking into stores, restaurants, and gardens. It is definitely the type of place that turns everyone into a photographer. I've got about 50 pictures of a wagon wheel with a potted flower delicately growing threw it on top of an adobe house. Its art! And so is everyone else's picture of the same thing next door. Sante Fe is also a special place for Marisa. One of Marisa's best friends from college is from Sante Fe. Tragically she and her sister passed away about 7 years ago in a car accident. Whether by fate or something else, we found the memorial to Marisa's friend and sister without asking for directions or guidance. Sante Fe can be a very spiritual place and its peacefulness can be very humbling and yet invigorating at the same time. Definitely check out Sante Fe.

Lets just say the drive from Sante Fe to Northern Arizona happened and leave it at that. Not the most visually stimulating place on the earth, counting the miles and semi-trucks seem to be the only thing to do. Mark and Cali, thanks again for those new CDs. The came up HUGE! We decided to camp just outside of Meteor Crater along the I40, about 90 miles southeast of the southeast tip of the Grand Canyon. Oh, and Winslow, Arizona is not, no matter what the Eagles say, "such a fine sight to see". The land in this area of the country is dry and vast. And when I say dry and vast, I mean DRY and VAST. Imagine swimming in an Olympic sized pool filled with vermouth. So is pleasantly surprised us to find that our tent site at the RV campsite had Bermuda grass easily 3 inches thick. For tent campers, that is like Sealy Posterpedic comfort. After our great night's sleep we were ready to take on Arizona. We first hit up the Meteor Crater. As it turns out Meteor Crater in Arizona is the first proven and best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth? I'm serious. Check it out yourself if you don't believe me. www.meteorcrater.com The crater is amazing, but what really grabs you is the superb visitors center and science field trip Mecca. Too bad the damn thing had to land in Northeast Arizona. I would have loved checking this out on a field trip. They have all sorts of exhibits. You can even make your own meteor and crash it wherever you want. Hey ARod, I hope you like what I've done with your place? After learning just about everything there is to meteors, we heading up to the grand daddy of them all, the Grand Canyon. If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, other people can tell you it is FREAKIN' HUGE a thousand times over and when you go, you will still stand there and think to yourself, "This thing is FREAKIN' HUGE!" After too many pictures of the hugeness and a short hike down we decided to make it to our final destination of Sedona, AZ, before dark.

As it turns out, we are extremely lucky people and thank our lucky stars every day. On this lucky occasion, my Uncle Bob, gave us some time at his timeshare in Sedona. We stayed at the timeshare condo in Sedona for about a week, hiking and ....... Unexpectantly, our time in Sedona turned into about the closest thing we got to a "traditional" honeymoon. We lounged by the pool, strolled along the river, cooked breakfast and generally professionally relaxed and we had a wonderful time doing it. Uncle Bob, thank you, thank you, thank you. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We cannot express to you how much that meant to us. You truly are Special Peshall.

And that takes us to the end. After Sedona we hit the 10 freeway outside of Phoenix and drove west to Claremont, California.

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OK, OK, we will both write separate blogs with our "final thoughts" (just like Jerry Springer) and then that will be it. Maybe we'll even give you some more pictures. But we are in Southern California now and will be for some time (except the last two week of May when I, Josh, will be in the Northwest).

Hope to see everyone soon.

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Photos

Us under Landscape Arch
Don't fall! We are such the dare devils.

Delicate Arch
To get a perspective, people are haning out under and around the Arch in the distance on the left. We took this picture across a huge canyon. Pretty awesome, huh?

With Mark and Cali
In Frisco, Colorado. Not a bad gig, snowboard instructing and devising science programs for kids. You guys are awesome! Can't wait for Flag Day!

Boulder, Colorado
Definitely one of the coolest towns we've come across.

The Hislop's
Marisa's cousin Lindsay, Aunt Patty and Uncle Al in their natural state....just kidding! Probably the most active group we know. Thanks you guys! And nice "frowny faces".

Sante Fe, NM
Like nothing else in the US.

Camping in AZ
Probably the only patch of grass for 100s of miles.

Meteor Crater, AZ
Kinda made us feel pretty small in the universe, but the computer graphic movie with explosion cheered me right up. BOOM!!!! Good thing we have Hollywood to figure out what we would do.

The Grand Canyon
Burros! We don't need no stinkin' burros! But they do make for a nice picture.

Sedona, AZ
This is along the West Fork Trail. A beautiful place and highly recommended. Feel the vortex?