This Country is Amazing and Beautiful

Road Trip Day 1

First stop: The Great Salt Lake

Just a short drive from our hotel, we arrived at about 9:30 AM and even though Ryan told me it would have a smell I wasn't prepared for the gag-worthy rotting odor that early. Good thing it was so pretty and interesting. Of course Ryan balanced on some precarious rocks to dip his hand in the water and had to walk around with a crusty hand until he found someplace to wash it. There was only a small visitor center at the marina and not a lot of people around, which I found odd because of how cool the place was. Once you get past the smell and crazy amount of flies it is truly a one of a kind place to see and made me even more grateful to have these opportunities to see this country's gems.

Ryan Note: I really wanted to touch the Great Salt Lake so I walked down to the water. The brine flies were everywhere but they scatter when you get near them so I thought I'd be fine. Turns out the sand/salt/minerals/whatever near the edge of the water is basically like mud that is very soft. I was just wearing sneakers and when I started to have my feet completely sink in and water fill my shoes, I jumped away. Jess did a great job capturing that moment. By the way, I did climb out on some rocks to touch the lake. It was wet and salty.

Second stop (1 1/2 hour drive): Bonneville Salt Flats

I admit I knew nothing about this until today. Ryan kept joking about driving the rental car on the salt flats and I would roll my eyes. Off the highway was a rest area and when we got out everywhere you looked was salt. It was squishy to walk on but hard enough that you didn't sink in. It felt like a combination of sand and snow - a little wet so it sticks together and kinda soft and smooth. It was shockingly bright and you really needed sunglasses. After spending some time walking along the salt we headed to the foot washer which was a couple spouts to wash all the salt from your shoes. The only other thing there was bathrooms and vending machines so we were on our way.

Ryan Note: The last picture is of me setting a new land speed record for humans. We bought a $50,000 camera just to have a shutter speed high enough to capture me in mid-run without it being blurry. Totally worth it.

Third stop (1 1/2 hours): Jackpot, Nevada 

If you really know Ryan and me you know that we can't get near Nevada without hitting some casinos. Well, Jackpot was one road with a few buildings and about 3 casinos so we picked the one with the funniest name (Cactus Pete's) and headed in to find out Chicago was performing there tonight! Even at 2:30 in the afternoon the place was packed! After hitting a tiny dumpy casino instead we lost some money and got back on the road. Alas, no jackpot in Jackpot...false advertising?

It might seem like we do a lot of driving on these trips but we find the change of scenery (and 80 mph speed limit) makes the time fly by and totally worth it. Random roadside views on highway 93 in Nevada are breathtaking.

Ryan Note: I saw a marker for a Historic Site so I almost killed us as we turned left off a highway to get to it. Turns out it was for a dam that was 8 miles away that you couldn't see from there. They set up the dam to help irrigate the dry land around there but a) it was around porous lava rock so water escaped around it and b) there's not much rainfall so the reservoir it created didn't capture a lot of water. It was built in 1910 and didn't fill up under 1984. Great job, Idaho. 

Now we are in Twin Falls, Idaho for the night. We ate dinner at a local eatery called Chili's (if you don't know Ryan I will tell you endlessly that he eats like a 4 year old and refuses to try new food or local restaurants). 

Now we're going to get some rest for another adventure day tomorrow. Can't wait to see what's next.

On the road again...

Our next long vacation has finally begun! This time the plan is to start in Utah and make our way through Nevada, Idaho and Oregon before ending up in Washington. We have a lot of plans to visit some parks and see some sights over the first week while the second week will be spent relaxing on San Juan Island in Washington State.

Even though we often spend hours each day in the car while driving hundreds of miles a day, it still seems like sitting on a plane is one of the most exhausting parts. We started in Raleigh and got to Salt Lake City via Houston. Our flights were on time and generally good (except for a windy landing in SLC) so at least that worked out.

After landing and getting our car from Enterprise (which was very easy at the airport here), we got to our hotel for the night and ate some dinner. After that, it was still relatively early so we decided to go to Temple Square, which is the headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka the Mormons). The Salt Lake Temple is pretty famous and is really a beautiful structure. The Square itself is very well kept and very peaceful. It's a little odd being there since we don't follow their church and it's obviously a big deal for those that do so we just spent some time walking around and taking a few pictures. It was nearly 100 degrees, though it's a dry heat, so that's better (not really) so we made it a quick stop.

Tomorrow we head to the Great Salt Lake, the Bonneville Salt Flats, parts of northeastern Nevada and then finally Idaho.

As they say in Utah, "If you find a place where the water is saltier than the ocean, never leave." Note: no one says this.

Home Sweet Home

We have been home for just over a week now and we are still talking about how great our trip was. 
It has been a busy week with appointments, laundry, hockey games, theatre tickets and catching up with friends.
So I guess this is the part where I talk about the start of the NHL season but I was raised that if you don't have anything nice to say you don't say anything at all.  Uh huh, sure but that isn't me when it comes to the Hurricanes.  We pay a premium to go to every home game and sit in the same seats knowing most people in the building are paying less, sometimes for better seats.  Don't get me wrong - it is a benefit to sit in the same seats every game since we have become great friends with all of our seat neighbors, often seeing them away from the arena.
This brings us to the product on the ice.  Going into opening night 2 of the top 4 starters have serious injuries.  Jordan Staal with a broken leg won't return until after the All-Star game...I am guessing.  Jeff Skinner with his 3rd concussion is up in the air for a return date.  One of my thoughts on the Canes is that this team needs to toughen up and absolutely crush a guy who elbows your bright young star in the head.  In a time when most teams are getting rid of enforcers maybe we should pick one up.  It feels like other teams look at the Canes as a soft team they can run over with no repercussions.  It is tight wire act trying to be tough and defend a teammate without taking a dumb penalty but let's face it, this team is not making the playoffs and with a good draft class coming losing might not be a terrible thing. If we can make a team think twice about taking a cheap shot on our guys in the process then hey, all the better.  Not saying it is going to be easy to sit at every game in a building half full and with more opposing fans but I can take it if there is a Connor McDavid light at the end of the tunnel.
That being said I would also like the front office of the Hurricanes to stop treating the fans here like groupies that only want to hear about puppy dogs and rainbows.  We can handle the truth.  We are aware this team has a few awful contracts, not enough skill and honestly a few players that don't seem to want to be here. So stop telling us you think you can win without making changes.  We do have fan favorites but you can blow this team up and put different guys on the ice and we will still show up.  Really anyone is fair game, - trade a captain or favorite goalie. We won't cry and we will think maybe you know what you doing (I know, I know - no team wants our over-paid princesses but let it be known no one is off the table).

I will still do my best at every game to cheer on my favorite team and just enjoy watching NHL hockey (most likely with some sarcastic comments; I am only human).  I can't make any promises for my booing husband but I will try and remember the funny stuff he says and let you know.

The best part of being home is spending time with our friends.  Last night we went to a nice dinner and then to see Phantom of the Opera at the DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center).  It was great.  The set was awesome and the actors were fantastic.  We didn't get a picture with all six of us but here is one of Ryan and I and two with Jen, Julie and me:

*One last funny story from this week:

Ryan woke me up one morning and I was in the middle of a dream so I remembered the last little bit.  I was at a pet rescue place and they had 2 cute, tiny, black puppies with white spots and the woman telling me about the puppies said they were brothers and had to be adopted together.  I thought that was ok and then she told me they already had names: Floyd and Jim Floyd!

Then Ryan woke me up and I told him all about it and if I see these puppies I must have them.  Later that afternoon it got weird: Ryan told me he got a work email from a man named Jim Floyd. Neither one of us know anyone with this name or have even heard this name before.  Super strange, Right?  I don't know what the universe is trying to tell us but Jim Floyd, we are listening.

Slowing Down

After nearly 5 weeks on various vacations and over 4,000 miles in the car, we're finally winding down. After finishing up Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, we haven't been doing as much the last couple of days.

On Saturday, we drove to northern Colorado from western Wyoming. Jess did the drive across Wyoming and it was the first time we saw a speed limit of 80 (though with straight roads and no one around, I think Jess was hitting 95 occasionally. The drive was pretty unremarkable - there were some mountains but it was more of a desert with nothing out there. The only kind of neat thing was there were a lot of fences near the highway, most of which were slightly slanted. They didn't actually fence anything in - cows and horses could just walk around them if they wanted to. We figured there was a reason to them but since the internet hasn't reached that part of the country, we couldn't look it up on our phones until later. When we go to Colorado, I looked it up and found out they were snow fences that break up the wind as it blows snow. Obviously snow still passes through them but by changing the wind, the snow falls on the side of the road instead of on the highway. I guess when I-80 opened in Wyoming in the early 70's it was closed most of the winter because it was too dangerous with the blowing snow and they almost closed it permanently until some guy figured out the fences by using a model that old railroads used to use. I guess now it works so well it reduces the need to re-plow almost completely.

We got into Loveland, CO and there wasn't much there except for a Cracker Barrel, so that's about all we did. After getting up on Sunday, we drove to downtown Denver with the intent of going to zoo. Unfortunately, there was some kind of run going on so there was literally no parking anywhere near the zoo. We bagged that idea and went to our downtown hotel hoping to check in early and thankfully our room was ready.  Football and napping took up our afternoon until the Colorado Avalanche game in the evening.

The weather this trip has been near perfect and we kept saying how lucky we were. Of course, that was the jinx since as we walked the mile to the arena from our hotel, it began to sprinkle. Jess got concerned but I thought it was no big deal - after all, the forecast called for maybe some light passing showers and we only had to walk 10-15 minutes. Obviously, halfway through the walk it became a monsoon with pouring rain and 30-40 mph winds blowing right at us. We got to the cold arena completely drenched so that stunk. At least we had good seats (since it was preseason, we got 2nd row seats for relatively cheap) and the game was fun. It's sad that for a preseason game, their attendance will probably be better than a weekday game in December for the Canes.

Today we're taking it easy before doing a tour at the U.S. Mint in Denver and then meeting a friend for dinner. Tomorrow we fly back and by Friday afternoon we'll be back in NC and life will start to return to normal. Good thing I have two more weeks off once we get back home. As they say in Wyoming, "home is where the snow fence is." Note: no one says this.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

We arrived in Yellowstone Thursday morning and drove around the upper loop.  First stop: Mammoth Hot Springs where it was crazy to see steam coming out of the ground.  The ground was white and trickles of water were all around.  There were many boardwalks and stairs leading to many different views.  It was something I had never seen but I wouldn't say it was pretty or scenic - just interesting and smelled terrible.  The sulfur smell from the hot springs fills the air with what I would describe as someone burning rotten eggs, It was hard not to hurry back to the car.

My favorite view of the whole trip happened next in Calcite Springs.  It was a view from the top of a cliff where you look down over the Yellowstone River with one bank being white (I believe that would be the calcite).  You could hear the rushing water of the river and it was so peaceful.

Supporting the Hurricanes from Yellowstone!

After a few more stops to view waterfalls and other scenery we made our way to our room for the night at the Old Faithful Inn.  Our room wasn't ready yet so we took a tour of the property and saw the geyser go off.  Old Faithful is impressive and a huge tourist attraction.   We have had almost every other park to ourselves but Yellowstone was jumping. 

So Old Faithful Inn...what to say...it is a large wooden cabin looking lodge.  It was pretty and you felt like you went back in time especially in the rooms.  No AC, internet, phone or TV made for a long night.  Some find it nice and relaxing to get away from it all but we aren't those people.  I was actually ok after I put my ear plugs in since I couldn't hear people, doors, toilets or creaking floors and I went to sleep.

We did decide to only stay the one night instead of our planned two because rain is heading in and we wanted to see the Grand Teton National Park in nicer weather (not to mention some of the road closures in Yellowstone added an extra few hours of driving time if we stayed another night).

Friday started still in Yellowstone seeing the Grand Prismatic Spring and whoa tourists.  We could barely find a parking spot and walking on the boardwalk wasn't easy with people stopping in the middle and flipping their hair to do a selfie.  We got to see the spring along with other geysers but it was very steamy and you really couldn't see the color variation like on the postcards.

Next we went to the Grand Canyon in Yellowstone and it made me want to see the real Grand Canyon.  It was beautiful with waterfalls going over steep canyon walls.

Yellowstone Lake was huge and had some of the best views of the trip.  It had everything - mountains, water, changing leaves and wasn't as crowded as the rest of the park.

Also, Yellowstone has giant Ravens that are loud and not afraid of people. They will walk right up to and either take food or squawk for a handout.

Grand Teton National Park is just south of Yellowstone so we made our way there and because you only have to pay once for both parks we didn't have to stop at a ranger station so we didn't have  a map.  We first came to Jackson Lake and then headed toward Lake Jenny and took a scenic drive along the edge of the mountains.  I think I liked this better than Yellowstone.  Yellowstone was a lot of driving through pine trees so it was hard to see the mountains but Grand Tetons you can see the whole time.  It was less crowded and made our stops to see the sites more enjoyable.