Days 133 to 140 - Stockton

Hanging out with my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids was a perfect change of pace from solo adventuring!

Our days were filled with relaxing at home, playing school and catch and fort, watching movies, drawing, driving to kids appointments, more playing. Uncle Lee became a member of the family for the last two weeks of summer.

Here are the kiddos, starting with the youngest Grayson, 2. He loves climbing up tables and jumping (no fear), squawking like a bird, and his mommy. Grayson is at his ultimate cuteness when he dances up and down next to you when holding something in his mouth.

Carrington, 6. She loves playing games where she can assume the persona of other girls (with lovely creativity). She is a very good decorator of forts. Carrington and her friend Bella loved dressing up Uncle Lee as a princess.

Anderson, 7. He is, in his own words, "obsessed" with baseball. Close followers of the Washington Nationals, father Shaw and son Anderson share a fanaticism for the Nats. Anderson is always thinking about Nats baseball: watching every game, playing manager and super player on Xbox, and playing out fantasy games in his head always. He knows every Nats player's home runs and rbi stats by heart and knows all the major players in the entire league. His obsession is incredibly adorable.

One favorite moment was bike riding with Carrington:

Another was inciting crazy child behavior early one morning when mom was looking way too composed...

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Day 51 - Canyonlands Needles Pt 3

A deep connection to the nature surrounding you comes from the solitude of solo travel, but sometimes it is nice to have a companion! I ran into David, a retired telecom exec from Canada a few days ago on the Syncline Loop trail at Canyonlands Island in the Sky. Then I ran into him again halfway through my Chesler Park hike two days ago, then again later in the hike, finishing the last two miles together. David hiked his favorite trail, the Peekaboo trail yesterday, and said I could join him, but my heart was set on confluence trail, so we hiked separately. We did share a campsite though and exchanged travel stories. David was 55 and had retired at 50 from a high-level international job with Nortel and was now traveling full-time. We instantly bonded over our solo travel style. He outclassed me by leagues. He had trekked one month in Nepal, then another month in India, then some months in Asia. He had hiked and skied and adventured all over the western U.S. and Canada....

Day 40 Escalante Hole-in-the-Rock Road

I woke up late following a lovely slumber in a REAL bed-- such a luxury. I stayed in bed reading my maps and guidebooks, trying to put a plan together for the next months travels. I decided I would spend two more weeks in Utah and add on two weeks in western Colorado instead of spending all four weeks in Utah-- I was starting to tire of the desert and Colorado seemed like a good mix of backcountry beauty and civilization proper. The last must do in Escalante was Coyote Gulch, so I read and reread the route description in my guidebook and went to the visitor center to get my permit. I was going to do a loop down Hurricane Wash to Coyote Gulch to the Escalante River and then up Crack-in-the-Wall overland back to my car. Permit in hand, I lingered by the Outfitters wifi emailing and blogging and then drove out Hole-in-the-rock road forty miles to my trailhead. The road was dirt but well graded in most parts. A high-clearance vehicle was recommended for the last five miles but my Dodg...

Days 89 and 90 - Waterton

I started my journey north to Canada today. My plan was to head to Waterton Lakes, just north of Glacier, then to Calgary, then the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier and a few others, then to Vancouver and finally to Seattle, all over the next several weeks. But first I needed the Internet! I drove south out of Many Glacier to a place I remembered having cell reception. I did some emailing and calling back home, did some research for my Canada trip and watched the final three episodes of Game of Thrones--wow, the final two episodes were sensational. This rainy, dreary day was perfect for such activities. I then drove into Canada late in the evening and to a campground set in the cloudy mountains at Waterton. The weather cleared a bit the next day and I was able to do some hiking around this scenic alpine lakes district. Waterton Lakes district from a high hill called Bear's Hump: The chipmunks at Bear's Bump were very interested in the conten...

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