Utah

I've been through the state of Utah several times on my drives across the country. It has always been one of my favorite parts of my cross country trip. It is so beautiful. Though I've been through it many times, I've never actually had the opportunity to stop and enjoy what it has to offer. I decided this was the trip I was going to finally see some of the things I have been waiting to see. 

We crossed over the Utah/Colorado state line on Interstate 70 West. I'm familiar with this road. Familiar enough actually that once I get on it in MO after seeing Gretchen, I could, in fact, make it all the way to San Diego without needing GPS at all. We only stayed on 70 for about an hour before we pulled off onto scenic Byway 128 south towards Moab. What a beautiful drive! I was recommended this route by fellow hikers from a hiking group I am in. I'm so glad I took the advice and ventured on this road. It followed the Colorado River through canyons and valleys. It was beautiful. 

We came to the town of Moab, which is a huge vacation destination for many. Jeeps come here to play, sightseers come to enjoy national parks, some come for the river. There is much to do in Moab. 

First thing, we ran to a grocery store to pick up groceries for the next few days. We would be camping at Arches National Park for the next two nights. 

With groceries in tow, and a new rewards card for a grocery store we would never shop at again (hey, we saved over $10!), we headed towards Arches. 

Many of you have never heard of Arches National Park, but I am sure that most of you have seen pictures of the iconic Delicate Arch. You'll recognize it on the pictures below. I've always wanted to go to Arches and see Delicate Arch. Last year I thought of stopping by on my way home, but a thunderstorm with cloud to ground lighting encouraged me to keep driving. Not this time! The weather was perfect and we were bound to have an amazing time! 

We got to our camp, which was really awesome. 

We were both pretty hungry, so we started up a fire and I introduced Donny to mountain pies. Pizza Mountain pies to be exact! With a little bit of trial and error, we ended up with some pretty amazing pizzas for dinner! 

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and headed straight for Delicate Arch trailhead. There are two reasons why you want to get to this trailhead early in the day: 1) it gets hot the later in the day it gets and 2) it gets ridiculously crowded! Thankfully we went at a perfect time! It was comfortable out and there weren't many people yet. The hike wasn't difficult at all. It was very enjoyable. The best part of the hike was taking the last step and rounding the bend to see Delicate Arch standing in all of it's glory. 

I squealed like a little girl! 

That was the main highlight of Arches. Everything else was just icing on the cake! 

Park Avenue

Balanced Rock

Firey Furnace. Permits are required to hike here. I'd love to do this sometime! 

Sand Dune Arch - One of my favorite ones we saw! 

Mid-Afternoon break

While we were at Arches, in the middle of the day it was extremely hot, so we took a drive to Canyonlands National Park. We stopped for a picnic in the shade on the way and only stayed in Canyonlands for about 2 hours. It was pretty interesting, though I can't say I am excited to ever go back. 

Lunch time!

Mesa Arch

Super huge puffs!!! The boys would be so excited! 

Our last National Park stop was Zion. We had been waiting for this one. However, we had a bit of a snag getting there (I'll save that for another blog) and I also got sick our first night of camping. So instead of staying 2 nights, we only ended up staying one. And instead of doing Angels Landing, we just did the Narrows and Emerald Pools. It was nice, but I definity wished I could have done Angels Landing. Some day we plan on returning and doing all of the Narrows (Permit required), and Angels Landing. 

Relaxing in the river after a super stressful day. 

Virgin River. On our way back to The Narrows. 

View from Emerald Pools trail. 

Utah. Loved it. Definitely going back! 

Trying to stay strong...

I haven't been having a very easy time since getting to Cali for one reason or another. I've not been feeling well and my anxiety has been out of control. 

I also haven't been able to get ahold of the person who was supposed to take me to Yosemite next Wednesday. 

At this point I could really use some prayers. There is a lot that is pointing me away from the trail right now, but I am trying to stay strong and keep going forth with my plan. 

Any support at this time is appreciated. 

Rocky Mountain

On Wednesday we pulled into Rocky Mountain National Park around 10:30 at night. It was already dark and I had previously reserved a campsite that you had to hike into. Thankfully it was a very short hike. In the dark it seemed to be an amazing campsite and I couldn't wait to see what it looked like in the morning when the sun came up. 

It was beautiful! Definitely one of the best campsites I've had before (in a public campground). The view was beautiful and the site was somewhat secluded from other sites.

We even saw some wildlife when we were packing up. There were several mule deer just hanging out in the campground. 

Once we got packed up, we went off to explore the park. 

We arrived at the Alpine Visitor Center about 20 minutes before the opened. This was fine because there was a challenging altitude hike up a large set of stairs to a viewpoint at 12,005ft elevation. I did this last year on my quick visit and wanted to show Donny the amazing views from the top. So we headed up the stairs making sure to take our time because of the elevation. 

The view from the top was amazing, as expected. Most of the pictures must be on Donny's phone because I don't have any on mine. Sorry! 

When we got back down, the visitor center was open. I couldn't wait to go in and get my National Parks Passport stamped. I stamped my passport and picked up a couple things to buy when all of a sudden I got super nauseated and almost passed out. Donny was standing behind me and the lady across the counter could see how pale I got real quick. She ran out and hurried me over to a seat. Donny was caught off guard because he really didn't know what happened. I just threw my money at him and told him to pay. Lol. After he paid he came over and I had him go get me some water. At that moment I started getting super hot and had to start peeling layers. I had on my down jacket, a long sleeve shirt and a TShirt. Yes, it was cold out. They still have snow mounds in the parking lots. A few minutes later an EMT came over and was talking with me to make sure I was ok. Turns out, he's from PA too! We talked and basically boiled it down to the fact that I only had 4 hours of sleep the night before and wasn't drinking enough water. He advised me to "get down" to lower elevation as soon as possible, even though I already had a couple hikes planned to do. 

We listened to him and went ahead and headed down to lower elevation. We did stop at Milner Pass, which is where the Continental Divide crosses the road. I had planned on hiking a mile into the trail and standing on the Divide there, but I still wasn't feeling well enough for that. So, we settled for a picture at the sign. 

Then we went down a little further to Green Mountain trailhead where I had planned a 3 mile hike on the Continental Divide Trail back to a big meadow that is supposed to be a great spot for seeing Elk and Moose. We hiked a few yards and decided just to go get lunch somewhere. 

We left Rocky Mountain Park knowing that we want to go back again. There is so much to do there! 

We stopped in the town of Granby, CO for lunch. Granby is the town of Killdozer. A man tried to bulldoze many buildings in the town in 2009. It was National News. You can find news videos on YouTube. It was a pretty interesting story. 

From there we drove through Colorado and into Utah. 

Next Stop: Arches National Park!

REIs Along the Way

The past couple of days have mostly been driving. We started out in Indiana yesterday morning and drove through Indy, Illinois and stopped in Missouri to see my best friend, Gretchen. Today we are driving from Missouri to Colorado. 

On Saturday we went to the REI in Pittsburgh, though not the one I work at. I wasn't planning on stopping at REI because I figured we had everything we needed. But at some point, we decided to stop at various REIs along the way. 

At this point we have stopped at REI Indianapolis, REI St. Louis and REI Overland Park (Kansas). By far, the best of those 3 was St. Louis. Indianapolis and Overland Park are very new and they have a completely different vibe to them. They are much more "retail" and give a very "department store" feel. St. Louis was more like the REIs in Pittsburgh and San Diego, which is what I am accustomed to. 

The REI in Overland Park is a stand alone building like REI San Diego. REI Indianapolis is in a plaza like REI Conshohocken (Philladelphia). The St Louis store is in a shopping center similar to the ones in Pittsburgh and Chula Vista (San Diego). 

Indianapolis

St. Louis

Overland Park 

The new REIs had a lot of really neat decor, despite looking like a department store. Their sleeping bag rack was really functional and organized, and their shoe wall was fancy with pegs, lighting and a wall display. 

Indianapolis

Indianapolis (say hi to Justin)

Overland Park

Overland Park (love the topographical map boards). 

I found it really interesting that St Louis has oars on their doors instead of the traditional ice ax. I'm going to have to ask my store manager about that and see if he knows the story behind that, as I believe he is from the St Louis area. 

As far as product goes, they all pretty much had the same things Settler's Ridge (my store) does. I did find that they all seemed to Cary Arc'teryx clothing, where as we really only carry their outerwear. And St Louis had some different snacks, which I got a few of to try. 

The Epic bar was disgusting. The olives were good. The honey stinger was predicable. 

I also liked this flyer that St Louis had at the registers. This would be great to stick into non-member's bags or staple to their receipts with a membership slip. 

I would love to stop at an REI in Colorado, but we are already pushing a 10:00pm arrival into our campsite at Rocky Mountain National Park. I'll save a visit to a CO REI store for another day. 

Good girl, Patsy!

Just want to give a super quick update on the Jeep. I had been having trouble with the transmission overheating for the past year. Whenever I drove on the highway at 70mph on cruise when it was about 80+ degrees out, the transmission overheat light would come on and my transmission would act all goofy. I had to deal with this on the entire road trip from CA to Pa last year. I had taken it into the dealership (actually, 2 different dealerships) last year and no one could figure out what was wrong with it. 

I went all winter with nothing going on, but as soon as it got hot out, it started acting up again. I took it to my dealership and they still couldn't find anything wrong with it. I did some research and called them with some ideas. Well, they didn't like that much, so I ended up calling Chrysler to put in a complaint. That got the ball rolling! 

Long story short, I took it to a mechanic at a Jeep dealership down in Pittsburgh. They had it for 2 weeks and were in constant communication with Jeep engineers. The final verdict: do a complete transmission flush. 

It must have worked, because I am currently in Kansas where it is 98 degrees and haven't had any issues with it acting up! 

So very very relieved!!!!  

From the start

I haven't had the chance yet to "back-blog" about the first few days of this trip. It's just been crazy busy. Right now we're driving through Kansas, so there is plenty of time to blog. We have 9 hours until we reach our destination for the night, and we've already drove 5 hours so far today. I think I'll finally be able to catch up to our current whereabouts. 

On Friday (June 19) I headed to work and worked a full 8 hour shift. That was probably one of the longest shifts I've ever worked. Knowing that I was about to embark on one of the most epic adventures so far in my life was just eating at me! 

Finally my shift was over just as Donny text me that he had arrived at the airport! I haven't seen this man for 6 months and I could't wait to start our trip together! I headed straight to the airport with a head full of ideas of things to do and see in Pittsburgh! 

We checked into our hotel and headed out for a night in the city. First stop: the original Primanti Bros in the Strip District. We drove around the city for a bit as I showed him some of the fun things we have: the Gateway Clipper Fleet, Station Square, Oakland/Pitt, Southside, etc. well, I showed him some of that stuff because I forgot to turn on my GPS and ended up driving too far east on 376. Haha. 

Finally, we got to Primanti Bros! No wait on a Friday night! Awesome! We got settled into our seats and the first thing I ordered was a Yuengling beer for Donny, as he has never had it before. The verdict? He likes it! Then we ordered our sandwiches. I forgot how insanely huge they are! 

It was a really great experience to eat at the original location and introduce Donny to traditional Pittsburgh food. Where else are you going to get French fries and coleslaw on your sandwich? 

Once we finished up there, we headed out for a walk down the Strip. It was surprisingly dead. I haven't been there since 2002. I guess I just thought it would be a little more busy. Most of the shops were closed and only the restaurants were open. We left there and drove around North Side. I showed him the Priory, which is where I had originally wanted to stay. 

Once it started to get dark, we headed in over to the Duquense Incline. It is an incline that takes you up the side of Mt. Washington to some of the best views of the city. There is so much history at the top in the little museum. We stood and looked at pictures and read information about the history of the incline and of the city. Really interesting stuff! 

The best part of the Pittsburgh portion of our trip was, by far, the view from Mt. Washington at night. I'd love to see it sometime during sunrise too, as the sun would be coming up from behind the city. 

The next day we headed to REI Pittsburgh and bought a few things for our trip before heading north to Mercer. 

We made a pit stop at McConnell's Mills State Park and did a quick little hike to Hell's Hollow Falls before going to my house for the evening. 

When we got home, we had dinner with my parents and then kicked back with my girlfriends from high school. They are the best group of friends anyone can ask for. Their love and support for me on this trip has just been incredible. They have encouraged me every step of the way and gave me a great send off that night. Knowing that they have my back gives me so much strength to go on this journey. Thanks girls! 

The next day, Sunday, Donny and I finished packing and set off on our trip west. First stop: Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We stopped by the visitors center to get my passport stamped (of course) and then grabbed some organic ice cream at Trail Mix, the little shop at the visitors center. Donny has never had a Buckeye, so we just had to get some of those too! 

Satisfied with our choice of snack, we headed off to do some hiking. There are a few waterfalls in CVNP to see, and with the amount of rain we had been getting, I knew they would be flowing full force. We saw the small Blue Hen falls and then the larger Brandywine Falls. There was even a rainbow at Brandywine Falls. 

Once we left CVNP, we headed into Harbor Creek State Park near Sandusky to set up camp. My last blog actually picks up from here, so that's where I will stop for now. Well, that and I am getting car sick from typing this all out. I need a break!