Oct 15, 2012 - Hit the Jackpot

Zion National Park was all that it was promised to be by the brochures. Endless up and downs and beautiful vistas. We walked an hour trail up and down one of the mountains and the view at the top was spectacular. You can see the hair pin roads leading up to this height. Saturday was a wonderful day experiencing God's awsome creation. Sunday we went to Calvary Chapel in Cedar City, Utah and experienced real worship with familiar tunes of praise and a bible study for over an hour on the topic of the Rapture. For those unfamiliar with this...

Sep 6, 2012 - Almost home

The home stretch: Jackson WY to Twin Falls ID to Boise ID. So much car time. Most of it through the middle of F&*king nowhere. 900 square miles of Idaho Nuclear Energy research facility to the north. NOTHING but sagebrush to the southern horizon. Craters of the Moon National Monument reminded me of Hawaii’s Volcano National Park without the beaches. It was unfortunate that we got there so late in the day. We only had about an hour to spend there after driving nearly 3 hours to get there from Jackson. By the time we got to Twin Falls, we...

Aug 8, 2012 - Twin Falls, ID

Hi All, Staying here one night. After getting set up we took a short drive to Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. Ever been there, it's beautiful. It's located on the Snake River, the falls cascades through a lava walled canyon over a basaltic horseshoe Rim nearly 1,000 feet wide. Called "The Niagara Falls of the West". Not far from here is where Evil Knievel had his ill-faded attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon on a motorcycle in 1974. Nighty night all, it's getting late and time for bed. Until later, Jim and Kathy

Jul 1, 2012 - Birthday Reflections

Yesterday I turned 45 years old. Hard to believe. My mom had a 25 year old when she was 45, I'm not even old enough to have kids. Charles gave me the perfect gift. A no gadget day. Our day didn't look a whole lot different on the outside, but with no gadgets we had more conversations and face to face time. It was lovely! We leave tomorrow for Washington. We will spend about 2 weeks visiting people in the Seattle area. Ben and Kim whom we have spent the last 2 1/2 weeks with believe that being a learner of Christ means studying and...

Jun 28, 2012 - Twin Falls, ID

We cycled along the Snake River valley today. Stopped in one of the local stores. From the name, it seemed to be ideal for cyclists who had been 5 hours in the heat. Got some good over look views of the gorge. It's hard to get perspective on the depth. You can see some golf courses at river level in one of the shots. I think the first tee is at the top. You just chip down to the green. Tomorrow morning, we are going back to see people "base jump", i.e., parachute from the bridge into the gorge. Also, we want to find where Evel Knievel tried...

Jun 21, 2012 - Craters of the Moon

Today we are driving one of the scenic drives from the book Most Scenic Drives in America. Our destination is Craters of the Moon National Monument. The drive there started out with ranches with unending hayfields being watered, but you hardly even see where the people live. After a while that all changes and you start seeing all this black lava rock – very similar to what you see in Hawaii. It goes on for miles and miles. We arrived at the Craters of the Moon and watched the movie about how it was formed. It is called Craters of the Moon...

Jun 20, 2012 - On the Road to Twin Lakes, Idaho

Time to leave Salt Lake City and head for Twin Fall, Idaho. The drive was very nice, not much traffic and interstate all the way. Nothing too much to look at, just a lot of sagebrush. Idaho is very desert-like, much like Utah. The ranchers have learned how to divert water from the mountains into irrigation streams and the only place it is green is where they are constantly watering hay fields. It was a short drive and we arrived just after noon. We got everything set up and went out to explore the town. We went to the Visitor Center in town...

Jun 18, 2012 - Humility in Knitting

I finished another knitting project. I was most proud of this one. It had the least amount of errors in it. The colors were beautiful and I was just proud...until I washed it. It not only shrank, but some of the yarn melded together. What a lesson in humility. I need to learn more about types of yarn cuz I obviously got the wrong kind for a scarf project. I also need to learn to be less proud! A foodie update - We went to a restaurant that walks around to the tables and gives out slices of pizza. It had bacon cheeseburger pizza, gyro...

Jun 16, 2012 - Twin Falls, Idaho

Did you know southern Idaho is a desert? I didn't. I thought it was like Wyoming and Montana (which I've also never seen) lush, green and woods. We're in the "high desert" whatever that means. We are staying in Twin Falls. Water is redirected to the town and there is a lot of farming. It's so weird to see all this green and then right beyond the city desert. Twin falls is where evel knevel attempted to jump snake river canyon. Now the canyon has a golf course, walking trails and parks. I can't wait to get our bikes down and go exploring....

May 26, 2012 - Crazy Weather

It's hard to believe that this morning we started out wearing shorts as we left Moab. Driving north, it started getting cloudy and of course the wind was still blowing hard. We noticed the temperature dropping quite a bit. We crossed the Idaho state line and drove into a heavy rainstorm, which turned into sleet. The road was very slick. The temperature dropped to 34 degrees. There were so many people driving past us at what appeared to be the normal speed. We also noticed quite a few cars that slide off the road. I guess it never occurred...

Nov 4, 2011 - Todays adventure - speed and endurance

My final challenge of clearing the mountain before the snow is proving the hardest. Leaving Cheyenne this morning with two snow storms on the way. Abandoning any plans of northern route and hoping to dash between the snow drops using the Utah/Idaho wrap around. If I can make it to Twin Falls by tonight I will be west of the first snow (a good thing) then would have a day with good weather to clear La Grande. It is an ambitious 600 plus drive, especially on top of yesterday's marathon ride. My only rule is to be off the roads by dark,...

Sep 25, 2011 - Twin Falls ID

Not much to say about Twin Falls ID. Lots of farm land on the trip here. This was a halfway point on our way to Reno NV. Got our laundry done and spent some time a a mall down the street. Mostly just hung around the hotel and read or played on the computer.