Canyonlands - Island In The Sky

Sunday, we decided to take a drive to Canyonlands. This was just a scenic drive not 4-wheeling trip so took the car. The weather was pleasant. In the sun you could actually be in your shirt sleeves but in the shade you really needed your jacket. Before you get into the park, you come to these rock formations called the Monitor and the Merrimac named after the Civil War ships. We spent some time here as there are several great and different rock formations as you can see in the photo.
This was also taken at the site of the Monitor and the Merrimac. We were really facinated by the swirls in the rock.
Once in the Park, you can see we found more snow again. This is looking out from a viewpoint. Thankfully, the roads were clear and dry. But the views were really impressive.
This is known as Candlestick Tower. It reminds us a lot of our own Castle Rock.
On our way out, we came upon this local panhandler walking down the middle of the road begging. We stopped, took his picture, but didn't give him anything.

Gemini Bridges

Since we don't do the Friday after Thanksgiving shopping thing we had decided to go 4-wheeling. But, we woke up to a skiff of snow on the ground with more falling so decided not to go. The snow was gone by noon but put our trip off until Sat. It was cold but beautiful. We drove to Gemini Bridges. The had more snow than we did (but then so did Moab, they had 2-3 inches). The drive wasn't too bad, one of the easier 4-wheel drives and the a short walk to the bridges.
We are above, looking down. You can go to the lower portion which at some time I'm sure we will do. It was fun trying to take pictures in shadows with bright sun and snow.
Here you can see Rick between the two bridges.

And this is what he was shooting. We really had a fun time. And to top it off, we found a tripod in the parking lot when we left!

Rick's Trip to Florida

On Thurs. Nov. 8, Rick had to fly to Florida for a Users Group meeting for his work. It lasted thru Sunday. He decided to take Monday and go to the Kennedy Space Center. Rick, Reid and Eileen had been there in Oct. 2000. We had been in Florida for the AKA National Convention and had taken a day to go and had really enjoyed it. One of Rick's loves is the space program so he was thrilled with the opportunity to go again. He said later it would have been more fun if Eileen had been able to be with him but with work still being done on the house and garage, no one to take care of Rocky, and a furniture delivery, she just wasn't able to. But he had a great time anyway. He was one of the last to leave at closing that day.

Rick took the expanded tour thru the Center back to some of the closed off areas. The launch pad where the astronauts of Apollo 1 died is such a somber place. You can walk around the launch pad and it is really an awesome feeling.

Trip to Zion National Park

This past weekend we drove down to Zion National Park. It was absolutely spectactular. And yes, we took Rocky with us. He is only allowed in parking lots and on the Pa'rus Trail, but even he seemed to have a good time. There were no reds or oranges but the yellows were outstanding. Especially against the red walls. But all of it was great. We took close to 800 photos. So it took most of yesterday just to download them onto the computer. And then to narrow it down to 5 for this blog was another job unto itself. We took the shuttle back on Sat. to the Temple of Sinawava and walked the one mile River Walk. We didn't go into the river and continue on as it was getting late, we weren't dressed for it and the water was really cold.


On Sunday we drove ourselves so we could stop at places the shuttle didn't. This lone red rock is one of Rick's favorites in the whole Park. It sits right next to the road. Again you can see the yellows were brilliant.

To the left is Checkerboard Mesa. You get to this by going on the Zion-Mt Carmel Hwy. This is the one with the tunnel. The tunnel is about 1.1 miles in length and is really something. There are so many different colors and types of rock in Zion it is really amazing.
Sunday afternoon we drove to Kolob Canyon. This is another part of Zion. The road is only about 5 miles long into it but well worth the side visit. Driving home we saw a spectacular sunset but by the time we could find a pull off from the freeway it had faded too much. We both commented on how great this weekend had been and how we had missed doing this. Can't wait for our next trip.

Our Place Then & Now

This is what our property looked like when we bought it July 2006. We were really excited about it.
This is what it looks like today. Nov. 2, 2007. As you can see, the garage is framed now. They are hoping to have the shell completed by the middle of next week. Of course, we all know how that goes.
This is the view from the end of the driveway. As you see, we park out of the way of the construction. Can't wait to be able to pull the cars into the garage. The shingle packages still on the roof are for the front porch that still has to be done.
This is Rocky, our famous watch dog. He does bark when people come and then wants to play with them. He still LOVES attention. He is 9 months old today.