The Score: Miles=3023.6 PB&J=2  McDonald's Iced Tea=10   I left Monument Valley about 10 p.m. in order to make it to Canyonlands National Park for sunrise.  I turned onto the road that has The Needles visitors center and slept in my car on the side of the road.  I slept about four hours.  It was very windy and the car would rock with the strong winds. You could here coyotes crying in the distance and it was surreal because there were so many.  I have heard a lone coyote before out where my parents live but this was several calling all over from the sound of it.  Maybe wolves...

The Score: Miles=2506.2 PB&J=2  McDonald's Iced Tea=10   I woke at twilight in order to get setup for the rising sun.  I was astounded by how massive and breathtaking the huge monolithic monuments are.  I shot for nearly an hour close to “The View Hotel” which is located here at the top of a rim and has a view you would not believe.   I used the rest of the morning to drive the valley floor loop and take pictures.  I have enjoyed it so much I plan to stay for sunset and dusk perhaps even catch a few milky way photos if the weather cooperates.  It has been sunny then...

The Score: Miles=2492 PB&J=2  McDonald's Iced Tea=10   Greeting everyone from Monument Valley.  I wish I could say it is beautiful but I haven’t see it yet since it was dark when I got here.  The trip here was real nice though, there was a storm brewing (in fact it is raining here now)  which made everything real beautiful at sunset.  Today was good I didn’t leave Grand Junction till about 11:00 or so and headed to Telluride which I would have liked to explore more but I was going to try to make it here before sunset.  I traveled to the back part of Telluride and got a few shots...

The Score: PB&J=2  McDonald's Iced Tea=9   Car Trouble.  I had a very wonderful day going to and exploring Silverton, Colorado.  I spent nearly 5 hours there exploring the small town.  When leaving Silverton however my check engine light came on and I ended up driving to Montrose, CO and there had the Autozone people do a check.  Their reader came up with 4 different things it could be and they wouldn’t clear the light so I ran up to Grand Junction, CO where I am in a hotel right now typing this up.  I bought my own car computer reader and it said the catalytic converter...

The Score: PB&J=1  McDonald's Iced Tea = 8   Well I am now in Durango, Colorado.  I really like the town it’s does a very nice job mixing both new and old elements together to make a cohesive whole which is overall satisfactory.  I saw some very beautiful country today coming through the San Juan National Forest.  I have been trough several lovely little towns all with with various styles of architecture from traditional midwestern style wood buildings to Mexican Style Adobe type buildings with flat a flat roof. I am currently staying in a hostel called the “Durango Hometown...

The Score: PB&J=0  McDonald's Iced Tea = 7   Well I am here at McDonald’s again so I can access some free wifi.  I am in a town called Alamosa.  I should be photographing the dunes this morning but a Ranger stopped by my car last night and said I would have to leave the park since he believed I would fall asleep waiting for sunrise which would make me a “camper” which he called a misappropriation of funds.  The campsite was full when I got there so I couldn’t do that.    He said I had to at least leave the park and pull off somewhere to sleep.  I didn’t feel...

The Score: PB&J=0  McDonald's Iced Tea = 6 Today was a big day.  The Colorado Springs Balloon Classic kicked off with a massive balloon ascent. Breaking down my camp took longer then expected so I got there about 15 minutes late.  I got a few shots but not the ones I had pre-envisioned.  They are having a ballon glow tonight but I will be long gone by the time that gets started. I went back to the campground I was at and even though I packed up my camp already I decided to take advantage of their all you can eat pancake breakfast, it comes with a piece of sausage or ham and milk,...

Well it is the end of day two.  I am here in Colorado Springs at the Garden of the Gods Campground just outside the Garden of the Gods.  I wasn’t sure I would like being in a campground inside the city but it is pretty nice.  The facilities are clean, they have two pools, one for just adults, and a nice cantina that serves up a single dish on selected nights.  Tonights meal was BBQ Chicken with Beans and Slaw and a roll.  It was pretty good and only $6 bucks so the price was right and I didn’t have to leave the grounds.  Now the “downside” of this is that I have yet to eat what...

It’s end of day 1, or really the wee hours of day 2 actually.  I am a few miles from the Texas State line in a rest stop in Oklahoma.  It’s been a pretty good trip so far.  I found that my bike on the roof lowers my gas mileage by about 4 miles per gallon.  I decided to take it off the roof when traveling on the interstate and store it inside then move it back onto the roof to sleep.  There were some pretty amazing lightning storms in Oklahoma before Oklahoma City and had they continued this far I could have slept like a baby now.  I am pleased with my progress considering I didn’t...