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Thanks for following our post-retirement road trip adventures on our blog! We are now in Day 11 of 17, our 6^th of 9 stopovers; we arrived this afternoon at the Knob Hill Inn in Ketchum ID, just below Sun Valley. Today we drove from our beloved Deer Valley, up through northern Utah and into Idaho. I have family in Boise, but we won’t be visiting them this time. We crossed over the Perrine Bridge over the Snake River Canyon and ate at a wonderful restaurant (Canyon Crest) overlooking the Gorge. Then we headed for Shoshone Falls, less than 10 miles away.

46 years ago on our family sojourn from NJ to Idaho to meet our newly discovered Spanish Basque cousins we stopped at Shoshone Falls. I remembered that they were spectacular, and I was hoping that the memories from my adolescence wouldn’t be crushed when I saw the Falls again. You know how those childhood memories don’t come close when you try to recreate something that was so profound “back then”. I recalled that there was a really nice park where we could run around, do cartwheels, get some of that car-ride pent up energy released.

The Falls were as amazing as I remembered, and the park was really pretty; lots of trees and GRASS (haven’t seen THAT in awhile). I did not do any cartwheels, for two reasons: 1) I had on a skirt, and 2) Mike was worried that I’d hurt myself. I’ve taken that as a challenge, and I will indeed be doing cartwheels at some point on this trip. When I am wearing shorts.

After a very brief walk around the park and on the shortest trail ever created, we continued our trip up to Sun Valley. We walked to the River Run ski access to check out potential hikes for tomorrow, came back to the hotel for dinner, and I’m now waiting for sunset over the mountains to catch a few sunset shots before I download our hundreds of photos and choose 20 or so for tonight’s entry.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, we may need to plan a ski trip here in the future!

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We’ve been coming to Park City and Deer Valley for the past 11 years, ever since Mike’s then-boss, CEO Chase Carey, told us that the “ONLY” place to ski was Park City. Why? Because it’s an easy flight from LAX to Salt Lake City, there’s a shuttle that gets you to the mountain in 45 minutes, the on-mountain shuttle service is free, and the skiing is phenomenal. He didn’t mention the restaurants, the unparalleled service, or the friendliness of the people. We discovered those on our own.

We’ve had the good fortune to be here in Deer Valley for HP (Hewlett Packard) conferences during the Sundance Film Festival in past years. The conference also included a day of skiing with former Olympians (Fuzz Fedderson, Steve and Phil Mahre, Heidi Voelker, Tommy Moe, and Shannon Bahrke, among others).

We bought a timeshare at Marriott Mountainside, a ski-in, ski-out resort in Park City, and we’ve managed to come here almost every year since 2005 to ski. Last year we were here in early June. We wondered what the hullabaloo was near the Stein Eriksen Lodge. Turns out it was Mitt Romney’s annual retreat with a lot of wealthy Republican movers and shakers. We didn’t have any opportunities to mix and mingle with the elite. Good thing, or I’d have gotten myself into a heap of trouble if we had.

As luck would have it, we happen to be here during the same conference this year. What are the odds? How does this happen???? The only impact to us is that we couldn’t get into one of our favorite restaurants for dinner.

We had a wonderful time exploring downtown Park City, enjoying wonderful food (including the best latte that I’ve ever had at Atticus Coffee & Tea), doing some shopping, and hiking. Mike Benson is a crazy man when it comes to working out. He was up and out by 7:30 two mornings in a row, hiking from the condo where we’re staying up to the top of Flagstaff Mountain (9100’ elevation). Then today we both hiked up from the Montage, which is where we took these photos. I’m obsessed with the Aspens. Everybody says that they are even more spectacular in the fall, and we hope to come back to enjoy that time as well.

It was wonderful to be in the same place for 3 nights, and in such a beautiful place. We have 7 more days until we reach Camano Island. The time is flying by!!

P.S. If you have an opportunity to stay in Deer Valley, we can highly recommend the Arrowleaf 2-bedroom ski-in, ski-out condo, Room 209.  (No, we don’t own it; we just stayed here this week.)

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When Mike and I spent a month in Spain in 2003, we planned an itinerary not dissimilar to our current road trip, meaning a few single-night stays in between more substantial visits to larger venues. In every case we wished that we had been able to spend more time in each of the single-night venues. Sos del Rey Catolico, Fuente de, Lekeitio, Bordeaux (I know, that’s in France): all places where we stayed only 1 night. Each of those places were worth more than a glance.

That’s how we felt about our one-night stay at Red Cliffs Lodge just outside of Arches National Park in Moab, UT. We stayed in a cabin on the Colorado River, and we enjoyed a lovely dinner, a beautiful sunset, a walk on the grounds, and time to plan our one hike the next day.

Mike and I are early risers, thank goodness, and we managed to get our tired butts out of bed, get showered and dressed, get the car packed, and make it on the road by 6:00 AM. I was a little apprehensive about the hike up the Delicate Arch trail; it was double the distance of Cathedral Rock in Sedona. And that hike kicked my butt. Turns out this one was a piece of cake, although we were grateful that we decided to start early given the 100+ degree weather in the forecast.

Our photos don’t do the majesty of this park justice. There was ridiculous beauty at every turn. We did follow our friends’ advice to bring plenty of water. I typically use trekking poles, more for the downhill than the ascension. I definitely didn’t need them. Next time ~ because there will be a next time ~ we plan to spend at least 5 nights at Red Cliffs Lodge, and we’ll start the Delicate Arch trail before dawn, with headlamps if necessary. We’ll do more of the hikes in Arches and in Canyonlands, probably in the morning, and do water activities (white water rafting, boat trips) on the river and maybe even horseback riding in the afternoons and evenings.

Back on the road, we arrived in Park City, UT in time for lunch at 501 Main (NOT a Mexican restaurant!), and we’re happily relaxing in a wonderful condo at Empire Pass in Deer Valley. Mike picked up soups, salads and sandwiches for dinner at a cute take-out café down the street so that we could just chill for the first time in a week. Looking forward to a few days of downtime!

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The drive from Santa Fe to Moab, Utah took us through Southwestern Colorado. The terrain along this route was awe-inspiring. We took pictures from the moving car instead of stopping every half mile or so to capture the beauty of the landscape. We wanted to get to Red Cliffs Lodge just outside of Arches National Park in time for dinner and sunset. We knew immediately that we’d come back to this beautiful spot. We weren’t able to take the evening river tour because it was booked. That’s the tough part about coming to a place for the first time ~ you don’t know which activities to book ahead.

Mike has continued to whine that I haven’t adequately described the terror that he (I emphasize “HE”) felt during our minor 2-hour getting-lost detour that we took in Monument Valley. Okay, so here’s what happened: I didn’t print out the detailed directions to get to The View Cabins, which are just inside tribal lands. I did however have the address, and I plugged it into Mapquest, and emailed it to Mike and myself so that we’d be able to access the directions if GPS didn’t have the specific address. I followed what I thought were the directions. Here I need to pause to admit that I am hopelessly directionally challenged. I get lost in parking lots. I used to get lost going to my grandmother’s house, where I’d gone for over 40 years. Anyway, I was pretty determined that we’d find these cabins on these dirt roads. Mind you, we only saw ONE other vehicle, a dusty pick-up truck that barreled past us going in the opposite direction. Mike made several attempts to convince me to go back to the paved road, and after an hour ~ yes, a full hour ~ I relented. I was thinking that being out on these dirt roads after dark probably wouldn’t be such a great thing.

Mike’s thought process was about those stories of people being abducted and left in the desert to die. He was terrified. And he became very, very quiet. As I started to get a little concerned I also became very quiet. Did I mention that neither one of us had cell service (I have Verizon, Mike has AT&T ~ sorry, Mike’s former colleagues, it’s about the network, nothing personal).

Well, we made it back to the paved road, called the hotel for the actual directions, and made it there with no further problem. It’s a shame that we had that not-so-great experience, because now Mike never wants to go back to Monument Valley. He said that I could go while he stays back in Sedona. Like that’s ever going to happen.

Since we’re only in Arches National Park for one day I’ll post all of our pictures in tomorrow’s entry. Meanwhile, these are the shots that we took from the car en route.

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What a wonderful day in Santa Fe! Started with Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (click link for a 360-degree tour of the Basilica), followed by a little shopping (Mike bought a custom-made belt and a cool hat; I scored a beautiful diamond-patterned leather jacket), then brunch at Anasazi Restaurant.

After walking through the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and browsing a few art galleries, we bought Mike a new wedding ring at Bella. The manager there is going to repair his original ring, which had an onyx inlay that has cracked and fallen out twice since we bought it in St. John USVI 15 years ago. We also visited a beautiful jewelry store, Fairchild & Co, which had beautiful and very unique pieces in it.

There are darling pop-up art galleries all over the city. We were both drawn to a gorgeous water jug made by Andrew Sanders, but we decided that we need to be sure of the placement in our Camano Island house before we purchase it.

We went back to the Basilica to take some pictures inside, but a ceremony was about to start, so we schlepped back to the hotel to actually RELAX for a change! Ahhh, vacation!!

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We finally made it to New Mexico! Both Mike and I have now been to 49 out of 50 states. We were excited as we crossed over the state line (and then drove over the Continental Divide). The northern part of the state is beautiful. We’re staying at the Hotel Santa Fe, the only Native-owned hotel in Santa Fe. It’s lovely, and I’d recommend it.

Today (Saturday) we drove up to Taos from Santa Fe via the “High Road to Taos” (we drove back via the “Low Road” that parallels the Rio Grande River). We took a quick run (drive actually) to Taos Ski Valley to check out the ski resort, had lunch at The Stray Dog Cantina (my choice ~ don’t get any ideas; I still don’t like Mexican food), then did a tour of the Taos Pueblo. This Pueblo has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the most significant historical cultural landmarks in the world (other sites include the Taj Mahal, Great Pyramids and the Grand Canyon). The story of the Taos Pueblo is fascinating and heartbreaking.

We drove over to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge to see this amazing gorge in the middle of nowhere and then headed back to Santa Fe.

It was nice to have a relatively “light” day for a change, although 5 hours of driving took its toll. We had dinner at Luminaria; started eating outside on the patio, but decided to move inside when the thunder & lightning started.

Tomorrow we’ll stay in Santa Fe and enjoy our last full day in New Mexico!

 

 

Once again I have to give a shout-out to my Mom for her vacation planning skills. When I was 14 she planned a weeks-long trip for our family of 6 to drive from New Jersey to Idaho, with interesting stops along the way. My Mom’s idea of camping was staying at a hotel without a pool. My Dad’s idea of a vacation included historical stops at places like the Truman Library, as many forts as my Mom would allow, and various monuments. My sisters and I liked the hikes, the stops at parks and waterfalls, and the hotels that did have pools. One of my fondest memories was swimming in Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park.

When I was 16, my Mom planned a month-long trip to Spain to meet and spend time with my paternal grandmother’s family and my Dad’s cousins from Idaho. I had a blast, and when Mike and I did a similar trip 30 years later I chose places that I loved as a teen-ager to revisit.

Cramming what should probably take 4 weeks of travel from CA through the southwest and up to Seattle into 17 days was challenging! We have four stops with single overnights. Monument Valley was one of those stops. The View Cabins were “rustic” – no TV (which we didn’t miss), no WiFi (which we did), but at least they had a coffee maker. The view from the cabin was spectacular. I woke up very early just to open the shades so that we’d get to experience the sunrise.

Having been lost on dirt roads for 2 hours the afternoon before, we decided to hit the road to Santa Fe earlier than we’d planned. I’m glad that we did, but sorry that we didn’t take any pictures during our sojourn on Tribal Lands. These are the shots that we did capture while drinking coffee on our cabin porch at sunrise.

So far, we’ve wound our way from California to Arizona, up to Utah for a quick overnight, and back down through AZ to New Mexico. Both Mike and I have now been to 49 states, with Alaska coming up next month! Here’s the map of our first 4 days of our road trip.

We are now happily ensconced in Santa Fe for a few days, with day trips to Albuquerque and Taos.

 

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Those of you who know me know that I live my life on spreadsheets. My Mom always had a cheat sheet for every holiday or fancy dinner party. Her vacation trip planning was mighty impressive. I’m glad that I’ve inherited that planning gene.

BUT: sometimes my proclivity for scheduling every second of every day gets in the way of being open to something wonderful. I’m working on that during our first adventure. I’ll never be a “fly by the seat of my pants” person, but maybe, just maybe I’ll loosen the reins just a little and see where it leads.

We took over 200 pictures in Lower Antelope Canyon (in northern Arizona, sort of en route to Monument Valley). Choosing just a few was mission impossible!

I’d like to point out one shot in particular. Our guide warned us not to lean against the walls, because sometimes spiders are there. We can’t see them because they’re so small. The telephoto lens caught quite a few of them, having a party of some sort.

We’ll go back to Antelope Canyon some day and take the photography tour. During our group tour yesterday there was a group of young ladies from Japan who took posed pictures (individual and group – and there were 6 of them) at every corner. Literally every corner. The tour normally takes an hour. Because we were in the tour behind them, our guide tried in vain to keep them moving along. And then they were in everyone else’s pictures because they were always in the way. The photography tour moves the other tours out of the way so that the photographers can have an unobstructed shot. Definitely the way to go.

Not having internet at the cabin in Monument Valley has put me off schedule. Trying to deal with my anxiety! Our next stop is Santa Fe, and I’ll have a few days to catch up.

 

 

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We had a rather long day Wednesday, waking up at 3:00 AM for our Hot Air Ballooning adventure, adding what should have been an extra 2 hours’ drive and a 2-hour tour of Antelope Canyon to our itinerary, and getting lost for an additional 2 hours before savoring the last moments of a beautiful sunset in Monument Valley on the border of Utah and Arizona.

Neither Mike nor I had ever been on a hot air balloon, and the experience was even better than I’d imagined. Involuntary and unexpected tears filled my eyes as we lifted off shortly before sunrise in Sedona. There are fires in Flagstaff, and the smoke gave the valley a mystical aura. Our pilot, Daniel, grew up in Sedona, and he gave us a week’s worth of history, trivia, and interesting facts and figures in one short hour. He assured us that the wind would shift at about 10:30, and then the smoke would blow toward Flagstaff. After our small group of 4 landed in a field, Daniel and his “chaser” deflated the balloon, packed everything up into the trailer, and we joined the other groups for a glass of Champagne.

We got on the road almost 2 hours earlier than we’d planned, thank goodness. Trying to find the location for the Lower Antelope Canyon tour was a little tricky, but I’m glad that we persisted. The tour, led by Ty, a Navajo guide, was spectacular. It was 95 degrees (“it’s a dry heat”) in the desert, but nice and cool underground. We descended 8 ladders to get to the bottom, and slowly worked our way up to the surface. Mike and I met a photographer at Fiesta Hermosa on Memorial Day week-end. We were admiring his work, and he convinced us that a side trip to Antelope Valley would be worthwhile. It definitely was. I keep joking that I am “planning to be spontaneous”… well, this is as close as it gets. Hearing about a place that sounds beautiful that was sort-of en route anyway, thinking about it for 4 days, and making a decision an hour before we got on the road, counts as “spontaneous” for me. Glad we deviated from our plan.

Our trip to Monument Valley was a bit more “exciting”. The drive itself is beautiful, through constantly changing landscapes. Red rocks jutting up out of nowhere, limestone structures, miles of sage green hills, high desert, and then another massive rock wall that reminded us of “The Wall” in Game of Thrones. Of course I had the directions via Mapquest, and when we reached Monument Valley I confidently drove us toward our destination, ignoring what the GPS in the car told me to do…. Almost an hour later, after driving about 20 miles on bumpy red dirt roads into tribal lands, past humongous rock monuments, Mike getting more nervous by the second (and by the way, no mobile signal whatsoever), and the sun starting to set, I gave in, and turned around. We called the hotel once we got a signal and realized that had we just continued down the one road that we were on, we would have reached our destination 2 hours earlier.

The View Cabins are rustic and tiny, but are aptly named. We woke up at 5:00 AM and were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise behind some of the more massive rock formations. If only we’d made it here in time for the full sunset show last night! God’s masterpiece is phenomenal. We have been in awe at every turn.

Having seen a great deal of the Valley during our misadventures, we decided to make our way to Santa Fe and forego the hike in Monument Valley. The forecast of 100+ degrees was a deterrent, given my intolerance for heat. But the sunrise – THAT was totally worth the price of admission!

 

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Mike likes to exercise. Most people would call it OCD. We woke up early (5:00 AM) yesterday, and the Big Guy went for a long hike BEFORE our hike up Cathedral Rock for 2 hours. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives. Challenging, but beautiful.

I’m a less ambitious exerciser. I’m happy that I had trekking poles, a hat, one of those “keep cool” neckerchiefs, and 2 Liters of water. Some of the “steps” up were challenging for someone who isn’t quite 5’3”. Once we got to the top (40 flights of stairs according to my Fitbit) we could have stayed up there for a very long time. Further proof of Mike’s “disorder”: he climbed the equivalent of 100 floors ~ the Fitbit Skyscraper badge.

After our hike we had a lovely lunch at L’Auberge on the banks of Oak Creek and then headed back to book a Jeep Tour at sunset and a hot air balloon ride tomorrow morning. We will be very sad to leave this magical, mystical place. We’ll be back for sure!