CT Chillin

Spending time at the lake with family & friends..loving the stand up paddle boards.

Anyone else have a Grandma who is cool enough to go on a roller coaster?!

I hope I'm that cool when I'm 85.

xx L

Country road, take me HOME

Hit the road at 2:30 a.m. from Atlanta to blast strait on through to the homeland: Connecticut :)

-Touch down after 4,936 miles! 

Hotlanta

We had a great time in the Dirty South! The continued birthday celebrations, Lauren's fantastic city tour, great bars/restaurants, home cooking, farmers market, Atlanta Aquarium, five corners, MLK Memorial, and silly times with Lauren, Lindsay, and Meg all made for a fantastic time in Atlanta, GA. Can't wait to see them all again!

-Good times, hibachi, & basement bocci :)

-MLK memorial

-Elvis grants your every wish at Star Bar. We wished for beer and whale sharks!

-Liz, Karl, Matt, Lauren, & Lindsay. Thanks for a great time :)

Missouri?! I know! But it was great!

Miles from Sacto: 3138

Price of gas: $3.17!

Happy 27th Birthday Riz! We went to the St Louis City museum, which was a total DREAM! It's basically a gigantic, intricate playground for adults (and kids too). There is a 10 story slide, amazing caves, a giant praying mantis, labyrinths, bar; I could go on forever. If you're ever near St. Louis it's somewhere you HAVE TO go.  I've never seen anything like it!

Somewhere crawling around in the walls.  I'm telling you, it was WILD

So we were lucky enough to be able to Couch Surf with a couple wonderful guys for the 2 nights we were in Missouri. We checked out the St. Louis Arch on the last rainy morning:

A lot bigger than we actually expected it to be. 

Man, was it nice to actually feel rain again! My Sactramentans can empathize.

Colorado Springs

Nice visit with these three!

We had a great time in Colorado Springs, CO with Ian, Steph, and little Maddy!

Went to Garden of The Gods for some fun, casual scrambling 

Arches Natty Park

UTAH!

Miles hiked here: 4 plus some climbing and scrambling :)

Landscape arch below is 300ft along the base.

Double O Arch! Even found a way on to the top...

Onward and eastward...

Grand Canyon & Page, AZ

Swung through the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The view was nice but the people watching was better. The park requires you to walk about 7 minutes to the rim to see the big hole, so... Most anyone can and does go. There were thirty or so people around the fence looking over and taking pictures. Quote of the day from a woman standing about 10ft from the edge: "Hey! Where da rim at?!" 

Page, AZ

While beautiful, we had rough time in this area. In order to take advantage of Lake Powell, the slot canyons, wild desert rock formations, etc., you need: a boat, 4 wheel drive, or to hire a Navajo guide. Everything you'd want to see off the lake costs it's own fee because it's Navajo Nation land. Even for day hikes you need to buy a permit. Also there was one campground (full), no national forest & we had poor luck couch surfing. Ended up getting a room which was an expensive inconvenience but not a big deal. What will be, will be! I did take two apples from the continental breakfast, so take that!

The one 'freebie' hike that is part of the Federal NPS was short and beautiful. "Horse Bend" is part of the Colorado River.

 

Buddha Break

Able to meet up with our good friend Yogi Bob at a Buddhist Retreat on a mountaintop outside Prescott. As luck would have it we showed up on feast day, shared in the blessing and hanging of some prayer flags and even caught a sunset in between circling thunderstorms! Life is good and all is well. 

Burning up in Arizona

Miles from Sac to Phx: 1170

Salt River with Seany:

Matt found a DOLLAR in the RIVER.

Petroglyphs in West Phoenix:

Joshua Trees