New Mexico and Utah

I am not sure where to even begin but since last post we spent a night on the San Juan River in New Mexico where we cooked our local brats over the fire and then refreshed ourselves in the morning with a good ole head dunking in the river (chilly!).  Ashlin collected rocks into a sack so she could throw them in the river but between the time she collected them and our walk down to the river she had grown attached to the said bag of rocks and decided to keep them.  She also decided she was going to climb the tree at our campsite but in order to do that she insisted on having gloves on and a rope tied around her, very serious climber she is!  We then drove 4 hours to Moab, Utah in order to make our 8am pick up time the next morning for our canoe trip.  We found a great spot on the Colorado River that offered some shade and then started what ended up being a 3 day UNO competition.  Ashlin and Derek hiked up some rocks and Ashlin made a friend she named Henry (just a little lizard).  We used the leftover brat and cooked up some peppers and onions to make some yummy burritos.  I am trying to add in notes about food as people always ask what we eat.  I am going to let Derek take over and talk about our 3 day canoe trip down the Colorado. Peace :) Miss ya'll!!

Howdy!
Nice to be catching some shade and moving into the cool mountains after these past five days in the desert.  Our trip down the Colorado was spectacular but it was a test.  We had three straight days with 100 degree highs which is not so unusual for Georgia, but we don't make a habit of spending the days exerting ourselves in the sunny spots outside.  Anyway, we paddled 17 gorgeous miles the first day and set up camp in one of the hundreds of side canyons along the river.  It was rare feeling to get to hike around in a spot accessable only from the river.  The 2 mile canyon was guarded by 800 foot sheer cliffs on every side so the place seemed like our own little world (or oven).  The second day I got up at sunrise to take some pictures and we set off early because the sun hit our camp at around 7:15.  We stopped along the river and hiked to some ruins and paintings left by the "Native-Indians" as Ash calls them.  Native Americans are her new fascination now.  We had to push to paddle 24 miles as campsites were few and far between due to the high water covering the sandbars.  Oh, I forgot to mention the wind.  Dear god, the wind.  It was so strong that the current was flowing 6 miles and hour but we were moving 2.  Our canoe kept getting blown around by 30 MPH gusts so keeping the boat just pointed downstream took everything we had.  After 8 hours on the water we thought we found a shady-spot and we pulled to shore where we discovered the naked bathers that had already claimed the camp.  Everyone was surprised to say the least, especially since they were the first canoers we had seen.  We kept paddling and finally came to rest about 8 miles shy of the confluence.  After another night of camping on the river without another sole in sight we woke early again and paddled hard for the confluence.  We got picked up just shy of the Green River and taken back to Moab where we devoured some nachos and sat in the AC for a while.

This year we've decided how far we can go without hitting a hotel.  The KOA thing is not so good for camping, but great for the shower/laundry/Internet/take-out food thing.  Anyway, that's the route we're going to try this year and we're owning it.  KOAs instead of city-camping.  Represent!

So we are now getting in the car and driving from Green River, Utah to Great Basin NP in Nevada where is should be about fifty degrees cooler at night and forty cooler in the day.  We actually will be hiking through snow tomorrow . . . we'll keep you posted!

Peace. D-

Out of Texas and Into the Rockies

We have found that it takes a few days to hit our stride on these trips.  At times it is excruciating.   Spending weeks-on-end seldom further than arm’s length from one’s entire nuclear family, even if the entirety is merely three, takes an adjustment period. The assimilation is both catalyzed and hindered by these first few days which usually involves five to six hundred interstate miles, ten to twelve hours in the car and very little physical activity. We are all so eager to get out west, get out of the car and get to hiking and such that tedium runs a close race with reward.

But the promise of somewhere new beckons.  The daily grind and routine worries are slowly shed in favor of our new concerns - a level spot for the tent, a nearby water source, proper food storage from critters and the number of remaining daylight hours.  These things become the everyday.  Ashlin is the best litmus test for the transition from the norm.  People often ask how she spends her time when we are around camp. This morning finds her filling an empty Gatorade bottle with small rocks then pouring water on top of the pebbles before she dumps the bottle’s contents and starts over. She’s been doing this for about an hour as we pack up camp.  This is a good sign that we are turning a corner in our transition.

This morning as we move from Texas into the New Mexico Rockies the excitement begins to build.   We are getting to the good stuff and it is evident in our family’s mood.  Today marks the first day of something new and somewhere we haven’t been. The red rocks and mountains of the southwest desert will be our playground for the next few days. After a stop for supplies in Albuquerque (where we are now) we will be out of cell range and internet access points so we’ll update after the river trip in the Canyonlands!  Have a great week!

Peace. D-

Tennessee to Arkansas

On our official Day 1 we drove from Gatlinburg, TN to Little Rock, AR.  600 miles and 9 hours later we  ended up at a…KOA, that’s right folks we drove all that way to stay at a campground with WI-FI, a pool, and a shower.  Aside from not really having any other options I must say it was a good decision for the fact that Ashlin was ecstatic about being able to go swimming at 9pm.  We all survived day one except for our car stereo, or maybe it is our speakers.  The men at Best Buy could not decide which it was this morning but did say, “if we fix one and that isn’t the problem then we can just fix the other” I bet they would.  So, in order to not spend upwards of $700 we decided to buy an iPod docking station and that is what we are currently rocking out to.  Really not a bad option and Ashlin can use the remote from the back seat to make sure she can hear her Bryan Adams Spirit soundtrack.  Ahhh, life is good though, already only camping one night has made us all feel relaxed, energized and happy to be around.  No longer are we worrying about the day to day routine of life but rather getting excited about falling asleep without the fly looking at the stars.  I type this as we drive through Oklahoma in hopes I can post it later tonight when we drive through Amarillo.  Ashlin and Derek are doing wonderful, Ashlin is currently taking what she calls a “magic nap” and Derek is trying to stop himself from talking to me while I type J.  Talk soon.  Peace. 

Katie

Leaving Gatlinburg

So today marks the beginning of our journey west.  We left Atlanta Friday after much last minute freakage and drove 4 hours to Gatlinburg TN where we joined many other Ivesters for the family reunion.  For those who have never been to G-Burg, it's sort-of like Panama City Beach but in the mountains.  If you've never been to PCB or imagine airbrush T-Shirts, arcades, koozies with "clever" sayings, funnel cakes (fried dough for the Bostonians), spandex, pancakes, spring-breaks and family reunions.  Even though we technically hit National Park #1 with the Smokies we've been city-camping and eating out so the prospect of heading out of town towards the Colorado river sounds really, really good right now.  It's been fun seeing family but it's time to go . . .

We'll be cruising the drive-through states for a couple of days as we look towards Moab and the Canyonlands.  We hit the river Wed and paddle until Saturday so hopefully we'll have the first pictures and another update then.  Hope all is well with Ya'll!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

The Car Situation - One Week Left

385,357 – That number is the sum of our two 1998 Toyota Camery odometer readings.  Despite fear of jinxing us to a transmission failure 23 miles down some unpaved forestry service road I will go ahead and declare the following – these cars just will not die. 

Dubbed with the straightforward monikers of “Blue Car” and “Brown Car” for their most distinguishing feature, the brown car is AKA “Bruiser” due to some character marks earned while in our service.  Brown Car was the victim of a hit-and-run while parked on Peachtree one night resulting in a substantial dent to the driver’s side rear panel.   Days later my freshly licensed brother backed a mini-van into Brown Car.  Then Katie backed Brown Car into a parked flatbed-truck while pulling out of our driveway just days before I scraped the front panel on a length of brick wall pulling into a different driveway.

 Not done yet.

I honestly forget  where this fell sequentially, but somebody ran a red-light  downtown and slammed into the side opposite from  which my brother had just run into or was shortly about to smash. We did get money from our insurance company to fix the fairly significant cosmetic damage to Brown Car and we promptly spent the money on getting Blue Car to pass emissions. So while Brown Car looks and drips fluids like a boxer after seventeen rounds, Blue car is a fairly spry 13 years old.  With 64,429 less miles under the hood and the noticeably absent smell of burning that is Brown Car’s constant companion, we will indeed be taking Blue Car for the third straight year.   All I can say is we haven’t had a car payment in quite some time and Toyota should feature us in one of their ads.

As usual, the exact route the Blue Car will follow is sketchy at best. We know we have canoeing permits to put-in on the Colorado River outside Moab, Utah on June 23^rd.  From there we will paddle 54 miles downriver into Canyonlands NP where it should be gorgeous but hot enough to fry an egg on a rock Grizzwald-style.  We’ll get picked up three days later near the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers and taken back to Moab.  After that we’ll hit Great Basin NP in Nevada where a hike to the state’s only glacier is apparently just a 6-mile round trip.  One road we know we’ll be taking is Hwy 50, “America’s Loneliest Road”, out of Great Basin and across Nevada into Lake Tahoe (there may or may not be some degenerate gambling in Reno first).  Heading north somehow through northern California we will spend some time in the Sierras, see Lassen Volcanic NP, hopefully see Jared and Ryann, enter the southern Cascades and find our way to Crater Lake NP in Oregon.  After a possible backpacking trip there, we’ll head west to the ocean and take some time going up the whole Oregon Coast.  Lots of good hiking and sea kayaking possibilities abound.

From this point on we have no idea really.  Washington is a big mystery right now.  There is so much we want to do it looks like we might just have to wait and see what we feel like when we get there.  Beach backpacking in Olympic NP is an option as is a return trip to the Hoh River valley where we were two years ago.  Dare we repeat?  The San Juan Islands are inviting but seem a logistical nightmare for last minute travel.  The North Cascades NP might be up for a return visit because the wilderness area option just south of the park is really isolated and filled with Grizzlies.  Mt. Rainier again?  Mt. St. Helens?  Anywho . . . after we do what we do in Washington we’ll be heading across Idaho into Montana where we will be doing something somewhere in the state with Matt, Shell, Gramm, Molly, Eric and Roan.  We’ll come through Wyoming again on the trip back east where Ash may get her last horse ride of the summer.  We’ll keep you all posted . . . 7 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!      

P.S.  Katie took off for Bonaroo with Carley Wednesday.

Pre-trip excitement

It's officially 13 days before the three of us take off for yet another summer long road trip.  I know it is exactly 13 because at about 30 days prior Derek has been texting me the countdown.  The three of us are getting very excited and ready to leave.  I have two more days of school left and then we will be getting things in order so we can leave on the 17th.  Of course our trip this year will be kicked off by a good ole' Ivester family reunion in Gatlinberg, TN.  Hey, at least it is near the Smokies :).  This year, as we take our 1997 Toyota Camry on it's third run there are some worries circulating (mainly by myself and my mother) that the "blue car" won't make it.  In order to prevent this we are getting some royal treatment for the car as of late; e.g. new tires, alignment, radio fixed, oil change...you know the things that are usually neglected on a 14 year old car.  I would think by now Toyota would want us in one of those commercials, you know the ones, and then they would give us a fancy new Prius to more safely go on our trip.  Any Toyota connections out there feel free to send them our info :).  For now we eagerly await books we've ordered on canoeing the Colorado River, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and Judy Bloom (for Ashlin).  This, I can assure you will not be the last "Pre-trip" e-mail as I know for a fact that as soon as I get this done Derek will feel inspired and slightly jealous and will show me up with his fancy words and eloquent speak going in detail about where our trip will take us.  That's ok, sometimes the fire must be lit by whatever means possible.  Peace, Katie.