Utah, who knew? Part III

After the Salt Flats, we headed south to Bryce Canyon National Park to continue our hiking and camping. We again had a great time and were totally gobsmacked by the scenery. The hoodoos and the red rocks are truly breathtaking. We also did some hiking, which was also breathtaking as the rim of the canyon is at about 8000 feet above sea level. The air is pretty thin and we were gasping for air at a couple of points on the ascents back up to the rim. The camping was a little chilly as well, due to the altitude. While the nighttime lows in Moab were in the 80s, the lows in Bryce were in the mid 40s!

Utah, who knew? Part II

After our quick trip home to stock up on supplies, we headed back to Utah via the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was the beginning of the Bub Motorcycle Speed Trials week! I have wanted to compete at the Speed Trials for the past several years and thought it would be a good chance to see what I might be in for. We had a blast walking around the pits and seeing the variety of bikes and competitors. The Salt Flats are an eerie sight that we recommend to eveyone, it truly is an otherwordly experience.

Utah, who knew?

On our way back from St. Louis, we decided to stop and do some camping and sightseeing in Moab, Utah.  We went to Arches National Park and couldn't believe how spectacular the scenery was.  We also got to do some great hiking and took some pictures, as well.  The only bummer about Moab was our trip to the local microbrewery, while the food was delicious we did encounter Utah's archaic liquor laws.  Even microbrews have to be 3.2 ABV...  I had a couple of delicious Porters, but they may as well have been root beers.  Sad.  But all in all we had such a good time that we decided to make a quick dash home and get some more appropriate camping gear (and some beer in the cooler). 

St Louis, MO

After a trip to Ohio to visit my folks, we headed for St Louis, MO (one of our many former stomping grounds) to see our longtime friend, Michael. We filled our time with good conversation and food (including a "Cardinal Sin" sundae at Ted Drewes, which is worth a two thousand mile drive in itself, see picture). Colin and I had to swing through the St Louis zoo for old time's sake and spent quite a long time at the new stingray exhibit. It was a great experience, since you hold out a clean hand, flat in the water, and the stingrays rise up as they swim past to be petted (and fed, since they like to eat as much as I do). We also walked along the muddy Mississippi and under the Arch, which is a truly amazing feat of engineering. All in all a good few days.

Boog's Legacy

On Saturday, I taught our nieces and nephews to make the BEST ugly face ever. Left to right: Lillian, Colin, me, Judith, and John (Rachel was MUCH too dignified to participate) Just remember: eyelid, nose, eyelid with one hand, two fingers in the lower lip with the other. This is my legacy....

Bojangles

Tuesday we went up to Raleigh to see some friends and do some more
shopping for our trip. But of course we had to stop at Bojangles for
the best fried chicken dinner around! Quarter white, dirty rice,
biscuit and tea. Yum!

The Atlantic

We finally made it to NC. 2835 miles in a Scion xB, with an unhappy cat, in three and a half days, but we made it. Our first stop was Andy's Cheesesteaks for (obviously) a cheesesteak. Our second stop was to drop off the cat and our stuff at the folk's house and then we went right to the beach! The water was near 80 degrees, quite a change from the Oregon coast. We also had a good time with the cousins, nieces, and other family. John made his famous "dog poop" cupcakes for the cookout after the Sneads Ferry Shrimp Festival on Saturday. It was nice to see everyone before we leave and eat some delicious food. The fireworks at the Shrimp Festival were great, the best we have seen in years.