The Adventures of Dave, Lindsay, Cora and Edie

We are currently enjoying a few nights in Estes Park, CO and are enjoying the winter wonderland we've stumbled upon. Cold, crisp and....overcast. After 4 weeks of sunshine we were actually pretty thrilled to have some winter weather. Rocky Mountain National Park was beautiful with a layer of snow covering the peaks and then we drove down the scenic byway through Nederland and eventually ended up in Boulder for dinner at the Boulder Tea House( http://www.boulderteahouse.com/ ). Highlights included dinner with our friends Julie and Howard (and Noah, of course) in Denver and spending the day with our dear friend, Sara Boilen.

A night in Moab and a quick trip to Arches National Park before we hit the road towards Denver...

The four hour drive from the Salt Lake area to southern Utah's National Parks is an amazing change in scenery. We visited Bryce, Zion and Capitol Reef on our way to Moab. The Red Rocks of the Colorado Plateau seem to go for ever. We did stumble across a very effective and inexpensive way to keep people from speeding in some of Utah's smallest towns. There were a couple of these officers on patrol. We couldn't resist a quick snapshot.

We enjoyed some downtime at Lindsay's Dad's place in Midway, UT and got to spend time with her siblings, nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, no snow in the mountains so we didn't slip in any Utah ski days. But Dave did play in a little Turkey bowl with Lindsay's brothers and cousins! Needless to say, he's still a little sore.

We pulled into Durango, CO a little late so we couldn't see the gorgeous mountains around us until the next day. We headed north and enjoyed taking in the views along the "Million Dollar Highway" between Silverton and Ouray, both tiny towns tucked into the mountains. We highly recommend the drive and the San Juan Mountains are truly breathtaking. We made a quick excursion to check out Telluride and then pulled into Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in time to drive a portion of the South Rim. We didn't know what to expect with the Black Canyon NP but it blew us away. Similar to the Grand Canyon, actually, but it's a relatively new national park with a small number of annual visitors in comparison. We would have loved more time but the sun was going down and we had a long drive ahead of us....

We just dipped into the northwest corner of New Mexico, but that was more than enough to keep us busy and very happy. Albuquerque was a short stay (yes, shorter than usual) only because we had Santa Fe waiting for us. We ate, drank and wandered our way through this artsy town and enjoyed every minute of it. With recommendations from a few friends, we found great spots to eat. We might have enjoyed the local quisine a little too much... no beans and tortillas for a while. But we did fit in a great hike with views from over 9,000 feet. The high desert air is unreal. Santa Fe is definitely doing it's own thing. From there we headed up to Chaco Culture National Historic Park. We didn't know what to expect, but were blown away with this little spot in the middle of nowhere. Thousand year old buildings and strange petroglyphs. We're glad we found it.

We were pleasantly surprised by the great towns of Northern Arizona - Prescott, Sedona and Flagstaff specifically. We will definitely be back when we have more time to explore.

After two weeks in California, we have finally arrived in Arizona. Stopped off in Prescott, AZ and are staying at a unique historic hotel in the center of town ( http://www.hassayampainn.com/ ). Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area! We've been on the road for two weeks now and wanted to summarize the trip to date: Mileage (since leaving Montana) - 3,872 Montana plate sightings - 2 Highest gas price paid - $3.98/gallon in Leggett, CA Highlights - Yosemite NP, Big Sur, Disneyland (at least for Lindsay!) and Joshua Tree NP Favorite road snack - Hummus and whatever we can find to dip in it.... Thankful to have with us - single burner camp stove, down comforter, spanish language CDs, iPod, Thule roof rack (Thanks, Mom & Randy) Favorite meal - sushi in San Diego, Ethiopian in Sacramento, Chocolate covered banana in Disneyland Favorite accomodations - camping in Joshua Tree, Yurts in Big Sur Best toilet paper - Joshua Tree NP campground Favorite (and only) Wildli...

After a quick stop in Pomona to visit our friends, Nate and Kira, we headed into Joshua Tree NP. The desert scenery is totally unique and mysterious. The Joshua Trees are like nothing we've ever seen in the Northwest. We did a short hike to take in the views and enjoyed a night of camping in the desert, under the stars. It was hard not to think about the local wildlife while lying in the tent....UGH!

Why bother with southern California if you don't spend a day at the Happiest Place on Earth? Lindsay's Mom flew in for the day and we met up with her brothers who both live in So Cal. 13 hours later we had covered the highlights of both Disneyland and California Adventure Park....

The clouds were low so we couldn't see all the views but we saw lots of BIG trees!

Amazing! We had perfect weather and even got in a short hike to a gorgeous waterfall.

After a blistering pace through Sacramento and San Fran, we headed down the coast again. We saw some good friends in both spots and of course, wish we had more time. The fast pace is definitely tough to maintain, but there's so much to see! We did come across a few famous folks though. Most notably, Darth Vader. When he's not working on the Death Star, he really enjoys swimming lessons and corn dogs. After the Bay Area, we headed south through Big Sur. Very remote California coast... who knew?! We stayed at a fun spot called Tree Bones Resort where the accomodations are yurts. Highly recommended. www.treebonesresort.com Now we're off to a few National Parks. Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. We'll keep you posted!

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Calistoga, CA after a day of exploring Mendocino and the Lake District along the way. The drive was beautiful but the windy roads get a little old when you're in a station wagon and keep getting passed by porsches! We stayed the night at a fabulous European-style Inn on the main street of Calistoga ( http://www.calistogainn.com/ ) and jumped in on the festivites of Calistoga Blues and Jazz Festival. And today we're off to explore wine country a little more on another gorgeous day in Northern California. Cheers!

If Agent Starling is still looking for Buffalo Bill, we found him in Redwood National Park. Looks like he's been here for a while. Weird 80's tunes coming from Bill's boom-box, no less. We're on California's amazing northern coast. Foggy, dripping wet and green as anything. Views of the Pacific never get old. One unique beach town after another. Great vibe. Oh, and these 1,500 year old trees are pretty cool, too.

First official stop was in Eugene to visit Dave's brother Matt and the family.

We almost forgot to post a photo of the family we left behind. We left her on Halloween and are missing her already. This is her at her favorite place. Herron Park in Kalispell, MT.

After visiting friends in Coeur d'Alene, we stopped in Seattle for more friends and a quick trip through the old neighborhood. The highlight might have been the Wii tournament at the Klingler's place. As the photo shows, the Eimer's are always up for a little friendly competition. Alicia's smokin' serve was tough to return.