Sept. 25. The Road to Cheyenne

This may be the first time I have been on this stretch of I-80. I usually make the turn up to Yellowstone, after all who can pass that up - my favorite national park. But this is part of the reason I have missed other sites in the area. Leaving Salt Lake City was beautiful, colorful layers of sedimentary rock which later became enormous wind-blown sculptures. The altitude is higher and the temperature much cooler than yesterday. The last two thirds of the drive was mostly dry plains with the occasional sighting of a herd of small deer.
Yesterday was the first time I had been out on the open plains since the trip to Africa and every so often I would spot something off in the distance which I was sure was some kind of animal - most likely a hyena - but it always turned out to be a car coming around the horizon. We spent so many days in that African van searching for animals that it is a hard habit to break. I am very well trained to scan the distance and may not have noticed the deer today if not for my newly trained eyes.
Sorry about any typos and grammar - all of today's info was put in through the I-pod.
More tomorrow,
Yippee Ki Yea

Sept. 23 and 24 Traveling Again

Wow, what a difference it makes to travel in the Fall. Not only are there less people (crowds), but all the colors, and the air and moods are different.
Yesterday (the 23rd), I left very late and drove to the moon. Well, that's what it felt like anyway. I just spoke to Virginia on the phone and she said, "Remember, this all happened for a reason," (I'll tell you what that's about later). She was right! If I hadn't left so late yesterday I never would have had the opportunity to drive to the moon. The harvest moon was so incredibly huge that it filled the end of the highway in front of me and it felt like, if I just kept going, I would reach it. I spent the evening watching the moon change size as it rose into the night. And the night became day with its incredible brightness.
I didn't arrive at the Nugget (casino, What was I thinking?), until 10:30, and guess what? There was a big biker's convention in town. All the hotels and roads were packed with bikers. Which is fine with me. I have only had positive experience with these fellow road lovers.
Checking into the casino was a bit of a fiasco, as usual. But when I finally got to the room it was quite nice, and quiet.
This morning I exercised (good for me) and hit the road at about 10:30 AM. But not before I realized that I had left my most important travel bag at home! It contains my entire itinerary, directions, doctors info, maps, tour books and reading material. And most importantly, all of my food! I guess I set it aside to keep with me in the front seat and then just left it there -- hence the phone call to Virginia. (Turns out she can't get into the house because she has an old key - I will have to deal with all this in due course. All I can say is thank god for I-pods.)
Today was all driving. It will be the most one day driving I do on the trip and I am glad it's finished. I have checked into the Hilton who lets me use the internet to try to reconstruct my itinerary and I look forward to their very comfy beds.
The high desert today was beautiful. I saw my first color change between the hills - oranges, greens, and yellows. There was a fantastic display of color and light over the salt flats.
More later. :)

Aug. 12, 2010 Home

Nineteen hours starting at 4 AM. My god it was grueling. Four different flights and changes. Three customs checks, checking and rechecking baggage, passing through security four times,
riding trains (with all my luggage) to switch terminals, waiting for flights, keeping track of the correct currency, when to buy water, and finally the last flight from Calgary to SF was jam packed and full of shrieking children.

By the time I got to SFO and claimed by baggage and tried to call Kathy for the pick-up ride on my expired phone minutes, I had a mini-breakdown. After sobbing for a few minutes I felt better and managed to hold it together until Kathy and Phil dropped me at home.

Home feels weird and I can't wait to leave again.

Aug. 11, 2010 The Highlands and Loch Ness

I caught the tour bus at 10:15 AM. It is actually raining today and I have made good use of Kathy's umbrella.
Our first stop was at the burial cairn of a woman from 4000 years ago. It is now located in a farmer's field. The pile of stones covers a tomb inside where the bones and belongings of a woman were found. The cairn is surrounded by eleven (not twelve) standing stones and on the winter solstice the sun rises to shine directly into the tomb.
Next, we went to the Loch Ness Center where we went through the standard tourist presentations about the history of Nessie, the Loch Ness sea monster. This, of course, was followed by the obligatory gift shop.
Our next stop was Urquart Castle. Originally founded by a pagan "Pict" group, it has been owned, expanded on, raided and destroyed by the Scots, British, and Jacobites. It was alternately inhabited by the Scots and Brits several times. Only ruins of the castle exist now - the last group having blown it up with gunpowder.
We were given two hours to eat lunch, visit the gift shop, watch a short movie and walk around the ruins. It was raining off and on and two hours was too much. By the time the boat came to pick us up, we were soaked.
We had a 1 1/2 hour boat ride along Loch Ness (no signs of Nessie) and back to Inverness.
Tomorrow - the long trip home.