MEANDERING MOOSE

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK      In our opinion Bryce Canyon National Park is the most beautiful place in the world!  Of course, we are biased as we named our daughter after the national park.  Frankly, every national park and national monument fall into the category of beautiful.  However, it is Bryce NP with its fantastic rock formations and unique geological features that grabbed our attention.  Since we started this journey in April we have not visited any national parks and now we just bagged 3; Great Basin, Zion, and Bryce.  Each one has been amazing and the fantastic scenery is overwhelming. Bryce's Park!      We left the Oregon Coast on a 1,200 mile journey to Bryce Canyon NP as our daughter, Bryce, was planning to join us for a visit to Bryce and Zion National Parks.  On our way we stopped at Lava Beds National Monument, California and Virginia City, Nevada.  Lava Beds was loaded with heaps lava tubes ...

     We just spent a month traveling from north to south on the Oregon Coast-spectacular!  Depending upon the eye-of-the-beholder, this coast rivals, if not surpasses, the coast of Maine.  The coast has everything; long beautiful beaches, secluded coves, a mountain range along the entire length, and unusual geologic features jutting into the sea.  There is something unique at every turn in the road or on every step of the coastal hiking trails.  The summer weather is dry and sunny.  It is almost perfect, except the weather may be a bit of a surprise for those of us who spend summers on the east coast.  My niece Heidi describes the Oregon coast best.  She said "people in the east go to the beach for vacation while people in Oregon go to the coast."  Those beautiful Oregon beaches with crashing waves appear to lure you into the water.  However, immediately after stepping into the water your ankles freeze and loose all feeling. ...

     We are almost to the Oregon coast but have had a lot of interesting experiences along the way.  On our way from Sisters to Eugene, OR we decided to hunker down in a campground for the 4th of July weekend.  We drove into a dumpy looking campground and almost left before we discovered an open spot right on the McKenzie River.  Our site was 15' from some heavy Class II rapids with tons of cfs (cubic feet per second) shooting through.  It was instantly mesmerizing just like staring into a campfire.  We ended up just sitting there staring at the river and reading for 4 days. The McKenzie River. I had the chance to run the river.  It was the 1st time running a reasonably challenging river since 1989.  The river had standing waves up to 6' which used to be a "piece of cake." However, now I found it a little intimidating.  It was a fun run!      On the 1st day at the campground we met a couple, Julie and Tony, wh...

     Do I have your attention?  First, we finally made it to Oregon for our appointment to upgrade our electrical system.  Oregon is one lucky state as it has everything Nancy and I could want for a vacation.  Spectacular mountains, beautiful rivers, fantastic beaches, great breweries and wineries, and non-stop entertainment/activities (music, hiking, biking, fishing, etc.).  We can drive from desert to lush forests in less than an hour while traveling over breathtaking mountain passes.  This state is perfect!      On our way to Oregon we stopped at Bear Lake State Park in Utah.  Bear Lake is near the Wyoming border and is shared by both Utah and Idaho.  It is a large, turquoise lake, surrounded by red mountains, and is in an very dry region.  Of course, Nancy went rocking hunting and discovered tons (emphasis on "tons") of beautiful rocks.  Great, more weight to haul around the country! A small sample of Nan...

I can't believe we finally made it to "the west."  Things seem so different here.  Not only is the environment and geology dramatically different, but there seems to be no people around, even in town.  The most exciting thing is that upon entering Wyoming, the Colorado Rockies appeared on the horizon.       Cheyenne, Wyoming turned out to be a fun western town.  We enjoyed a free wagon ride around town and some unique western museums.  On Friday nights it seems that all the locals in Cheyenne gather on the downtown plaza for some free music.  Good music and good people watching. Nelson Museum of the West Cheyenne, Wyoming        We took a day trip to Vedauwoo (Vee-dah-woo) in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming. Vedauwoo is a small area with weird rock formations.  We stayed all day climbing the rock mountains and hiking around the rock formations.  I climbed about halfway up one of the ro...