AUG 12
WOW, so it really has been a week since I wrote. FIRST OF ALL, HAPPY SHARK WEEK to all!! So I haven’t written, but that should tell you how Awesome this adventure is. So much for writing daily! Maybe I’ll push for weekly, b/c Im falling behind on posting pictures as well.
So a quick breakdown of where I have been and what I have done.
The night after I traveled up to Bosworth, MO to hang out with my mentor from Junior College and his wife. One of the greatest fighter pilots I know, and flew a lot of missions in Vietnam. Hearing some of his stories was just amazing. We also now share more of a bond then when I was in school, b/c now I have been there and done that more so. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be where I am today.
So the next day I took off for Omaha Nebraska! Good times there. Asked a buddy for suggestions and he gave me a few considering all I was going for was the zoo. So I rolled into town and went straight to the Strategic Air Command Museum! Pretty cool if you like Cold war era airplanes and such. Checked into a hotel and met up with a friend for dinner. After dinner they left, and I started moseying around in the midtown area. Jazz in the Park was going on. Great music and quite a few people dancing the night away. I was standing and watching, when a woman came up to me and asked why I wasn’t out there. For lack of a partner, so we went out and danced for the next little bit. Good times. The next morning I woke up and went to the REIGNING BEST ZOO IN THE WORLD! Well I think so still! After that took off down the road. With a quick stop in Lincoln, NE and a few pictures, I went on and saw the World’s Largest Time Capsule in the middle of NE. Unimpressed, and it took me a good 30 min to find, but quirky and cool nonetheless. I saw some amazing lightning while I was traveling down the road, so I decided to try to capture it. Got it, although no Cloud to Ground lightning, but still cool. Finally stopped in N. Platte, NE for the night. I think I got the last room in town, b/c all the rooms were booked up. Thought I would hafta sleep in my car even, which would have been fine, but not desirable.
The next morning I decided to change routes a little and go to CARHENGE. Similar to Stonehenge, UK, but with cars (don’t worry there are pictures of course). After that I took off to Chimney Rock and then to Scotts Bluff, NE! Wasn’t planning on the Scotts Bluff part until I saw it from a distance. So cool, so I had to drive/hike up and take in the view. Absolutely beautiful. All this area is where the Oregon trail came through, so it was cool to see the land, and what they had to go through. If you grew up in NC, part of the early curriculum was playing the game Oregon Trail in school, and to see it all was so cool! After that I just took off. Drove through Cheyenne, WY, and started looking for rooms in Steamboat Springs, a few more hour drive. Rooms weren’t working out for me, so I decided to drive just a little bit more to Laramie and stay there. Got some great local Mexican food and called it a night.
Next day I woke up and drove to the Dinosaur Nation Monument in Dinosaur, CO, and Jensen, UT. So cool, especially if you like Dinosaurs and who doesn’t. I was pressed for time, b/c I needed to get to my next stop, but I flew through that place. Saw a lot of Dinosaur bones still in the rock, and got to touch some bones. Haha! Very cool to see what you read about in books. After that, hea to MOAB as quick as I could go! I was trying to get up to the Arches park for a Supermoon rise tour. Just missed it, but met a few of the park rangers that were setting up the telescopes for after the tour, and I set up my camera shop near them. A few others shooting the moon rise there too. After that, the area cleared out very quickly and I found myself alone with my gear in the National Park that doesn’t close. I was getting great shots, but I hafta admit, since I had never been to the park, and I was trying to find the trail half the time, it was not the most comforting of feelings. Bumped into 2 guys later on, and I made sure neither of us snuck up on the other, bc I was pretty stationary shooting the Arches and stars, which I got great shots of. After that, back to the room for the next day.
This day took me to Canyonlands National Park. I have seen very few if any places like this. So majestic looking over the canyons. Amazing again! Lot of driving and hiking and I tried to do the 4 hr version. I did hit all the highlights but didn’t hike too much. A Mile on what steep climb, and then a bunch of ¼ milers for the scenery! Overall awesome though. After that I ran over to Dead Hose Point State Park, which is the majestic view of the Colorado river when it horseshoes, that everyone sees in pictures and movies! I’ll try to recreate it with my picture to be posted soon for you, but it is hard to do it justice. On my way around both these parks, I look up at the clouds and they had a very red tint to them. It seemed like the earth is so red it just reflects that onto the clouds. So beautiful! I got back to the room just in time to be picked up for the only thing I actually booked in MOAB. A sunset Off-Road Hummer tour. Thanks to the guys at MOAB Adventure Center, this was a very cool experience. Filled with cool views a beautiful sunset and some wild and crazy ride. Climbed a 45 degree incline rock, barley the width of the Hummer, a 100 or so feet, and I was riding shotgun! Of course we had to come back down too. Great driving by the guys, and I had a blast. Great story by Bryan our guide too. 6 kids and does this for fun, since his retirement covers most the other stuff…. Plus he has that entrepreneurial spirit and has a few other companies, like me. Its cool to se how people like that think! I often consider myself like that, b/c of the other business I run, so we got along very well.
On a friend’s recommendation, and since I got in a sunset, I needed to do a sunrise, so this morning I woke up at 5 to get to the Arches to capture the sunrise off the Arches. SCORE! I hope my pictures can do it justice. It reflects off the Arches so well and colors so vivid. Met some new friends up there that were photographers as well. We had a good time shooting. Then I decided since I was awake, lets knock out the park. LOTS OF HIKING TODAY! At least 6 miles of it, with Temperatures above 95. Went through over a gallon of water and still needed more. I learned my lesson from Canyonlands that I needed more water, so I bought a Camelbak, and a case of water that night. Also used my monopod as a walking stick. It did pretty well, and the camelback was great for carrying my camera gear as well, consider the hike needed both hands! After that came down from the mountains, went to a local brewery, and had a drink and dinner and now in my room, catching up on this, and getting pixs organized.
I will post some soon I promise! At least I have been keeping up with organizing for the most part. There are some pictures I want to take some time with it, and since I have been taking so many, I have decided to delete a lot as well, otherwise I will run out of room. When I say I have been taking a lot, I mean I’m approaching 2000 shots in under 8 days! Yes it has been crazy, but its given me focus and a drive to disconnect a little from other stuff. Well I’m going to sign off for the night now. On to 2 more parks and then the night in Salt Lake City tomorrow with some lifelong friends I met on my shark dive last year. Happy Shark Week again, and remember Sharks are friends, not food!
Thoughts so far: We as Americans, all say we want to travel, but how many have discovered our own backyard? There were hours today where no one I met spoke English! I have met some fascinating Europeans and some rude…. Well point is, a lot of them come over here for 3 weeks at a time, rent a Harley or a RV and travel the country. With and without kids. Go see the country! You don’t have to hit every state, but try to do a National Park every year! We live in the GREATEST nation, so now go out and see it.
-Traveling solo is interesting. It always has been for me, as I have even traveled the world by myself. This trip is different though! I’m still figuring out how to describe it. I have never done anything like this, and its pretty cool. A lot of alone time, lends itself to self reflection, and there have been times, I just got away from the crowds, put the camera down, and sat. I need to do that more often which I will in the coming days, especially when I get out to the coast. Yesterday in Canyonlands, there was a moment of pure silence. I’m not sure if I have ever heard pure silence before. Not even the wind. It was fitting that the sound of a plane broke that silence, but it was a moment I will remember.
- Safety and security when traveling alone is different. Its still hard to let my guard down, b/c of the life I have come from, but I’m liking being in MOAB, and my phone not having reception when I was in the parks. I will continue to disconnect more, and I think its really good and beneficial! As for safety, I mean personal safety from others, but also my confidence level to take care of myself should something happen continues to build. Now of course I have been trained in all of that in the past, but there are some points where I have put that training to work already. Already gone off the beaten path a few times, and the ability to get lost so quickly out here is amazing, but I always will find my way home, and this is just showing me that a bit more. Some other thoughts going through my mind but less and less as this trip proceeds. Hope you enjoyed reading, and stay tuned for the next installment, hopefully within a week.