Well it has taken me longer than I wanted but here finally are some more pictures from my road trip with Ruben last week.
This is just a very small sample of the literally hundreds of photos that I took during the course of the week. The landscape of the western United States lends itself very well to taking lots of dramatic photos.
Eventually when I have more time I will take these pictures and set them to a sound track and build a video out of it. But that is later this summer as there is just too much other stuff going on right now.
(The Colorado River from high above in the desert outside of Moab, Utah)
(Rock formation within Arches National Park)
(Me on the top of a rock formation in Arches National Park)
(Monument Valley)
(On the south rim of the Grand Canyon)
(The sun setting provided the walls of the Grand Canyon with tremendous color)
(Standing out side the helicopter that we took on our tour over the Grand Canyon)
Things have been quite busy for me in the last couple of months so I feel like I have been neglecting my blog. I really do hope as things quiet down a bit I can get back to making daily updates. There is a lot going on in our lives that will provide for some interesting writing!
Today as I sit here and write this blog entry I am looking out at one of the most audacious manmade spectacles in the world. My view today is from a hotel room in Las Vegas’ Mirage Hotel and Casino. From my window I can see the splendor of the Venetian and the gaudiness of the Flamingo.
Since last Saturday I have been on a road trip with my friend Ruben from Costa Rica. We bid adieu to the family last Saturday morning and left Denver heading west. (Zack was staying home under the wonderful care of Shelly – so I felt very comfortable leaving him behind. She does really wonderful things with him!)
For the first 6 hours of our trip we journeyed through horrible rain and snow. The cold temperatures in the mountains above Georgetown ensured that the roads were treacherous and covered in snow. Despite my continued cursing about the state of the roads and the amount of rain that was falling, the conditions ensured that we were treated to amazing views of waterfalls tumbling down from the sides of the canyon walls high above the Colorado River as we neared Moab, UT.
(In the Colorado River Canyon near Moab. A thunderstorm created these beautiful waterfalls.)
Our first stop on our trip was Moab. This stop was to allow us to visit ArchesNational Park and see all the beautiful slick rock country that surrounds Moab. In addition to spending time climbing some of the rock formations that make up ArchesNational Park, we also took a 4x4 tour of the slick rock desert above the Colorado RiverCanyon.
On Sunday we drove to Tusayan, AZ which is the gateway to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. On our way to the Grand Canyon we drove through such memorable areas as the Painted Desert, MonumentValley and Canyon of the Gods.
At the Grand Canyon we spent a considerable amount of Sunday afternoon and evening climbing around various points to get great views and take some wonderful photographs. The following day before departing the Grand Canyon, we took a helicopter sightseeing trip. For both Ruben and me this was first time either one of us had been on a helicopter!
The true adventure of the day though began around 7:00 PM when my car suddenly died about 3 miles on the Northern side of the Hoover Dam. Talk about being lucky! Had the car died when we were in midst of the ArizonaDesert, we would have been screwed. Thankfully I did have some cell phone coverage where we were and was able to call Shelly who did a fabulous job tracking down a tow truck service and finding a garage in Las Vegas to repair the car. (It was my 1998 Ford Explorer that broke down. The problem turned out to be a broken fuel pump.) Our hours of sitting by the side of the road were interesting as we saw a lot of stuff. The tow truck driver who was named Paco amused both Ruben and me when he finally arrived and kept us laughing for the entire ride into Las Vegas.
We have spent the last 3 days doing all the things that you tend to do in Las Vegas. Ruben is a freak about Cirque du Soleil and he wants to see 6 of the 7 shows that are currently running in Las Vegas. This evening he is seeing the last of them. I wasn’t as ambitious and only accompanied him to 4 of the 6. I on the other hand have been much more interested in the gambling! I love to come to Las Vegas and play cards – primarily Blackjack. I can sit at the tables for hours and hours playing, though thankfully I have gotten good enough at it that the few hundred dollars I allow myself to play can usually last me for my entire stay. (I set strict limits for how much money I will ever allow myself to spend while I am gambling. I stick to them and ensure I don’t regret what spend!)
On top of the shows Ruben has jumped off the Stratosphere bungee jump and has gone skydiving. It might seem like Ruben has done everything but the way he thinks about it is that most of these activities are not available to him in Costa Rica and he kind of doubts he will ever get back to Las Vegas again – or at least not for many years. So... it makes sense for him to definitely do them!
Tomorrow we will begin our journey back to Denver and the end of vacation. The end of vacation is always a time for contemplation for what you have done during your time away from your day-to-day life. Though the things we have seen and done have been fabulous I know what I will really appreciate about this vacation is the time I have gotten to spend hanging out with a good friend!
And as always – thanks and peace to all!
PS - I will add a lot more pictures to this post once I am home and can easily add them. For some reason my laptop is taking forever to upload pictures today.
I am writing today's blog in honor of my late father as today would have been his 95th birthday! (It is also my neice's b-day today to.) My Dad was a political science and history professor at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. I think he would have loved the political scene of today and how it would have made for some interesting discussions in his classes. He died in 2002 so he got to see all the hoopla and excitement that came with the contested presidential election of 2000. But I am sure he would have loved to see the stuff taking place today. Additionally, he was an unbashed liberal so he certainly would have been eager to see the ascendency (at least for now) that the Democratic Party is enjoying at this present time.
I read an article earlier this evening on the Huffington post about the intellectual giant who is the Attorney General of Virginia. Now I am not going to go into his political affliation but you can imagine what it is! Anyway this doufus decided that he was going to modify the Seal of the State of Virginia. The original state seal of Virginia features an image of "Virtus, the goddess of virtue, dressed as a warrior," with her foot resting "on the chest of the figure of tyranny, who is lying on the ground." She is holding a spear and her left breast is exposed. "
OK - you probably know where this is going. The guy decided to provide all his staff members at the capital with a new image of the state seal which shows the same image of the goddess Virtus but with an armored breast plate so that her exposed breast is covered up. What the hell! This ass pays homage to the original founders of our country in the way that they enshrined "states rights" into the constitution and all that jazz but then he turns around and disrespects their work because it shows a woman with a naked breast! (The state seal of Virginia was designed by George Wythe a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was adopted in 1776.) What a joke! This of course brings to mind what that other intellectual colossus - John Ashcroft - did when he became attorney general of the United States. He covered the statues of the Spirit of Justice at the Justice Department with drapes because the statues had been carved with their breasts exposed.
I really wonder if these bozos are afraid of naked women or what? What is/was the point of their actions? Was it because they were trying to protect someone - kids - from nudity? Or is it because their small little minds would become distracted by the sight of breast on statues. Personally I think it is the latter because most kids I know certainly won't have a problem seeing a woman's breast.
Anyway - this one is for you Dad. You would have been 95 today and I hope you are enjoying the political pickle we as a nation find ourselves in today. I hope too you are having a great laugh over this jackass in Virginia!
If you want to read the original article on Huffington Post here is the link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/01/virginia-seal-breast-picture_n_559673.html
We hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!
