If there's one thing I've learned on this trip...

...It's that it's very difficult to keep a travel blog when your access to a good internet connection is very infrequent and the site you use to host the damn thing never lets you actually upload photos. Also, I'm pretty picky about what I put up, so I didn't really want to do a half-assed job with no photos all along the way. So I waited until I had time here to actually write stuff, until I could mess with photo files and actually upload them, until I had a solid enough connection to hang online long enough to compose. That's right, Compose.

So the last post was from Texas? Jesus. I hope I haven't completely lost your attention. And now to tell all the stories I should have been telling all along the way all at once would be far too long for the average contemporary american attention span. No offense, I'll just paraphrase and give some highlights since then. From Austin we've driven a few thousand miles up through Texas into New Mexico. Unfortunately we just cut across the top corner of that state and didn't have a chance to go to Albuquerque, which I've wanted to do for a long time now. But we did stay in beautiful sunny Clayton, NM where we ate at the historic Eklund Hotel - a very classy joint straight from the late 1800's. From there we took ... umm... Highway? 193? This is a highway in New Mexico:



Yeahhh. Twenty-odd miles of gravel, our bikes were not very happy on the back of the car, but we did see a pretty sweet herd of antelope and some incredibly gorgeous scenery. Not to mention a "town" called gladstone that, as far as we could see, consisted of a trading post and that's all. It was also my first experience ever in a snowy desert. Growing up in Vermont a kid could get to thinking that deserts are ALWAYS really really hot and snow in deserts couldn't ever exist. let this dispel that myth, that in a high New Mexico desert, we built an EIGHT FOOT TALL SNOWMAN!! Isn't it amazing!!?? it's HUGE!!


Then we stayed in Denver with Trevor AKA Twelve, Christy's old friend from Idaho. And it was Awesome!! I could totally live in Denver for a while.

And from Denver to Moab, Utah, home of Arches National Park. You may have heard of it in the news lately, it's one of the places that the Bush administration wants to open up to oil and natural gas exploration. Yup, including some of the land within park boundaries, even. National Park land, full of industrial equipment and the risk of environmental disasters. Oh right, it's safe, totally, just ask the Tennessee Valley Authority about the safety of natural resource extraction and energy production. Clean Coal my ass. Awesome guys, real cool guys. totally sweet.

Here's what Bush and the BLM want to fuck up:


Tons of big huge enormous red rock walls and crazy canyonlands and formations.


Balanced rock in the morning sunlight. And at maybe around ten degrees f.


Turret Arch. Photos do no justice. This thing towers probably seven stories up and had me choking on my tongue it was so awesome.


Christy being cute with Delicate Arch in the background.


Someday, this will ALL be OUUURRRSSS.... wait, it sorta already is. okay. Someday, This will all be littered with OIL WELLS!!!


Landscape Arch. 306 feet long, WAY WAY WAY bigger than any photo I'd ever seen made it look. It's HUGE, and way high up. definitely worth the hike.

AND!! ...a bunny.

Then we went to Salt Lake City. The record here of my thoughts on Salt Lake City have been censored by my better judgment. Mormons are completely insane and should keep their filthy paws off the California constitution. If you don't like gay marriage then don't $#*^!ng have one but don't go passing constitutional amendments limiting other people's civil rights. Ditto abortion, keep your religion to yourself. (jerks.) okay, partially censored.

Then to Idaho, then through Nevada to Lake Tahoe to Oakland. Now we're in Oakland. Told you I'd be summarizing. Do you have any idea how long I've been in front of this screen?

More later.