without color

having fun with Picasa photo editor - sometimes color is overrated - channeling a little Ansel Adams with last year's vacation photos...

Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist best known for his black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West.

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence." ~Ansel Adams

“I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.” ~Ansel Adams

If you are looking for some stories and pictures of the Tidwell's Wild West Road Trip, you are in the right place - Susan's blog with almost daily updates.

The thing about blog posts, they are in reverse chronological order (the oldest first, then back in time to the beginning).

So just scroll down and you will re-live our trip in reverse, and as you come to the bottom of the page, click on Older Posts, all the way back to the beginning.

It is not as good as listening to Buddy's funny vacation stories or watching someone else's vacation slides in person... but hope you enjoy!

 

vacation is over

With the help of our trusty GPS - or in spite of it, we made it home on Friday night.

Vacation is over.

5 weeks
7300 miles
14 National Park sites
2 state parks
15 campgrounds
3500+ pictures (and that is just me)

It is hard to think of getting back into the old grind. But it pays the bills, right?

It is good to be home again, visiting with family, catching up on the latest goings on with everyone.  And Buddy is working a lot closer to home than he has in the past year, so we will be here a lot this fall and winter, a good thing.  I believe in the next week or so there is a track meet and a drama play and an 18th birthday party for a special grandson - 18? how did that happen?   And I need to see my college student granddaughter, I thought she had forgotten us, but just received a text, so sweet, don't you love these newfangled gadgets?

Family ties are precious threads, 

no matter where we roam, 

they draw us close to those we love, 

and pull our hearts toward home. 

picture album HERE
Wild West Road Trip - day 34 
miles today 642/total miles 7315 
HOME, Ellijay, GA 
temp lo 62/hi 78 
elevation 2000

vintage postcards

Vintage Postcards - found at the NPS Visitor Centers, I fell in love with these postcards!

Between 1935 and 1943 the WPA's Federal Art Project printed over two million posters in 35,000 different designs to stir the public's imagination for education, theater, health, safety, and travel. Due to their fragile nature only two thousand posters have survived to this day; less than one tenth of one percent!

Based on these original posters, the NPS has commissioned reproduced posters, postcards, and note cards. The ones I have are from Ranger Doug.


picture album HERE
Wild West Road Trip - day 33 
miles today 532/total miles 6673 
Cottonwoods RV Park 
Columbia, MO 
temp lo 56/hi 72 
elevation 705

the road home

Colorado - snow capped peaks and golden aspens

A travel day from Utah to Kansas, all on I-70, most of the day was spent in Colorado.

We had snow at Loveland Pass. We followed the Colorado River through several canyons and went through several tunnels. We saw how the ski folks live in Vail. We saw dark green fir trees and bright yellow aspens.

We went from the red rocks of Utah through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and now are in the plains of Kansas, all in one day, a long day, but now we are 1/3 of the way home.


picture album HERE 
Wild West Road Trip - day 32 
miles today 551/total miles 6141 
Goodland KOA CG 
Goodland, KS 
temp lo 52/hi 72 
elevation 11,000+ Loveland Pass, CO

the last day

The last day of our vacation, a few more arches to see.

We leave out tomorrow for a whirlwind trip home - 3 days across the country from Utah to Georgia, then the weekend to unload and unwind and laundry and gear up for work again.

Buddy contacted his office to see where he is to report to work on Monday, so he is already planning on what all he needs to do before then.

It snowed last night on the nearby mountains, a sign that vacation is over, time to head home.


picture album HERE

Wild West Road Trip - day 31 
miles today 56/total miles 5590 
Spanish Trail RV Park 
Moab, UT 
temp lo 59/hi 63 
elevation 4025

Dead Horse Point State Park

This view from Dead Horse Point 

is one of the most photographed scenic vistas in the world 

(according to local info).

Colorado River making canyons along its way to the Grand Canyon.

picture album HERE

Wild West Road Trip - day 30 
miles today 122/total miles 5534 
Spanish Trail RV Park 
Moab, UT 
temp lo 62/hi 72 
elevation 5900

Canyonlands NP

picture album HERE
Wild West Road Trip - day 30

rocks, sand, sky

Delicate Arch

Castle Valley

Sand Dune

storm coming

Broken Arch

picture album HERE
Wild West Road Trip - day 29 
miles today 120/total miles 5407 
Spanish Trail RV Park 
Moab, UT 
temp lo 61/hi 74 
elevation 5000

red rock country

waiting for sunset

desert big horn sheep

Park Avenue

windows arches

Arches NP sunset

picture album HERE
Wild West Road Trip - day 28 
miles today 275/total miles 5287 
Spanish Trail RV Park 
Moab, UT 
temp lo 56/hi 90 
elevation 4025

one week left...

We left the Tetons this morning, heading south. On the way out one more picture of the smoky mountains. It looks like the Great Smoky Mountains close to home, our favorite place to get away.

Also on the way out, pulling the camper, crossing a bridge, Buddy shouted out, "MOOSE"!! I did a quick drive-by picture, kinda blurry, but proof that moose actually do exist and at least one is alive and well in Grand Tetons.

Heading south out of the mountains into the plains, as far as you can see flats and rounded hills covered with sagebrush. Found a little store in the middle of nowhere that had diesel - check out the sign over the door!

On south into Utah, the hills are popping up, rocky and colored for fall.

A long day of driving, talk turned to work - UGH! Just one week left, which of course is the length of our usual vacation, but it seems short now. One week until we get home, but after being on the road for over a year now, the definition of home is blurry…

Well, on the road again in the morning for a half day trip to Moab, UT - Arches NP, the last destination on our trip before the long trek home. Hopefully there will be no smoke there and we will get lots of pictures!


picture album HERE

Wild West Road Trip - day 27 
miles today 372/total miles 5012
Lakeside RV CG 
Provo, UT 
temp lo 30/hi 80 
elevation 4549

camping chair day

OK, we have one more day in the Tetons, what to do today?

We drove the entire park yesterday. The mountains are still out of sight covered in smoke.

So we took a day of rest, unusual for us. Most of the day we spent sitting in our camping chairs, reading, dozing.

A short hike around the campground finds a few deer, a fox, a bear scare.

We heard something huffing in the woods, we started talking loud and moving out of there quickly.

I know the rules, (see the sign above) but I wonder if that sign is placed there by the bears…

make noise - so we know you are there

carry bear spray - it is funny watching you get it off your belt

do not run - or run, either way it is fun to catch you

play dead - mmm - tourist buffet


picture album HERE

Wild West Road Trip - day 26 
miles today 0/total miles 4640
Colter Bay CG 
Grand Tetons NP, WY 
temp lo 36/hi 70 
elevation 6794

Teton wildlife

The quest is still on to salvage our few days in the smoky Tetons, to see more wildlife.

We finally saw a grizzly and a moose!  (see first pic)

We found a huge herd of buffalo and a few pronghorns on Antelope Flats road.

picture album HERE
Wild West Road Trip - day 25 
miles today 95/total miles 4640 
Colter Bay CG 
Grand Tetons NP, WY 
temp lo 30/hi 75 
elevation 6794