Miskanutalorado

Caption: Becca and I at the turn off to our camp in Moab, Utah

Greetings from Moab Utah, sorry for the lapse between posts this past week, since we last spoke Becca and I have traversed four states (Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Utah) driven one thousand one hundred and ninety eight miles (@ between $3.49 and $4.35 per gal.), and have 147 mosquito bites between the two of us.


I will go ahead and skip to reporting our adventures in Colorado and Utah because there just wasnt much happening in either Missouri or Kansas. We cruised straight through MO and KS in two grueling days and arrived in Denver ready for a good meal and a place to sleep that was mosquito proof. My friends Amber and Joel made it all come true. The next four days were spent either biking around Denver or rock climbing up Boulder Canyon near the city of Boulder, CO. A huge thanks to the two of them for showing us such a great time.

Caption: One of the many views from the road between Denver and Utah.

Then it was off to Utah, where we are currently calling home. It took a solid 9 hours of driving up and down 12,000 ft mountain passes to get us to Moab (thanks for the new brakes Scott!). We spent all day today visiting Arches National Park. We took a short back country tour through some of the park's more remote locations- absolutely breathtaking! Arches was formed millions and millions of years ago by a sea that would flood and leave salt deposits, over the years those deposits were mixed with sediment and hardened to form the thousand ft plus cliff bands present now. Then after the sea receded rainwater dissolved the salt deposits and created the cavities and holes that form the arches that have made the area so famous.


Caption: Balancing Rock in Arches Nat. Park (just to wet your whistle, more pics to come from Arches)


Caption: One of the three MAJOR mtn passes we had to drive on the way to Utah from Denver (this was at 9,000 ft)


Caption: Chaco's idea of a workout session

St. Louis City Museum

When we started planning this adventure, a friend told us about "this museum you HAVE to see". He did his best to explain it to us, and it sounded worth it. So we revolved the rest of the trip around going to St. Louis to visit this crazy place. As we got close, we worried that our expectations had been built up too much, and the museum would be a disappointment.

We could not have been more wrong. This museum is like nothing I've ever seen. We recognized it a few blocks away for the bus hanging off the edge of the roof.



As we got closer we stared, wide-eyed, at the incredible expanse of mesh tubes, wire cages, and strange-looking spiral stairs leading up to a number of airplanes and platforms 100 feet in the air.





We walked in, paid our $12 dollars, and started to wander. (notice, we did not sign any kind of waiver or release form or death plea). We quickly found ourselves twisted into abnormal positions trying to climb through a wire tunnel apparently made for 6 year olds.



For the next 4 hours or so, we climbed and slid and jumped and laughed our way through an entire warehouse of ingenious creations.



And that's all I'll say about it; words for things like that don't come very easily. All I can do is advise you to find out for yourself! (start by going to the website for city museum in St Louis, Mo)

"friend-hopping"

Before I start, here is our new home (in front of our old one, of course):



We spent a wonderful weekend in Botetourt (near Roanoke) visiting with some of John’s family; then got on the road again Sunday afternoon. The original idea was to go to West Va from there, but we decided to take a detour, which turned into an entire re-route. We ended up in Knoxville, Tn. on Sunday night with some old friends from the climbing gym, Andrea and Joey.

On Monday, Joey took us to the nearby climbing spot, which evidently he had not seen before. The climbing was great



and the scenery was beautiful,



but the approach was a bit….narrow.



We had a good climb though, and hit the road again Monday afternoon, headed to Chattanooga, to stay with another long-term friend, Matt Fields-Johnson. Tuesday morning we headed out to an awesome bouldering spot right by a golf course and spent the morning clamoring up big rocks.



And then spent the afternoon on even bigger rocks, with long ropes and fun gear!



Chattanooga is a pretty fun town-it's been rated among the top climbing towns in the nation, and we agree! Next--we think camping somewhere between here and Missouri.

On the road at last

We promised a blog, and here it is. We feel the name is fitting, because that is our attitude about this trip. We don't have solid plans, or timelines, or a set route. We have a truck, a dog, and a tight budget. So we're just going to take the trip One Tank At A Time.

For the last few days, we have been hectic trying to get everything packed and cleaned up. Yesterday was the longest day, 14 hours of moving heavy things, but was concluded by an incredible dinner by Master Chef Katie.

This morning, we finally closed up the house and hit the road at about 1:30 (after a generous lunch by the parents). But don't worry, we haven't left Virginia yet. We are visiting John's family near Roanoke for a few days, before we really head on our way.

Yesterday I would have told you that our next stop was the New River Gorge in West Virginia, but now we're thinking it might be more along the lines of Chatanooga, Tennessee. As we said, we just take it one tank at a time.

So here it is. Enjoy reading along.
-John and Becca