If you care to join me in my recent trip to Colorado and Utah, please read below and view the photos.

April 13 - travel day (NYC Laguardia to Dallas to Grand Junction).

April 14 – drove over to Utah and stayed in the Professor Valley area and did a hike up Fishers Tower and then on to Moab and hiked to Corona Arch.

April 15 - raining in the a.m. Will see how the day develops. Not much to do today due to the all day rain. Went to an antique car museum and drove by the first house Nanc & Warren bought in GJ.

April 16 - ran some errands with Warren and then went for a drive with Nancy thru the Colorado National Monument.  Very cloudy day, so not a great day for photos.  Used the opportunity to take some photos of the CNM anyway.

April 17 - had 5 inches of snow when I woke up this a.m. Went to downtown GJ while Nanc and Warren went to an appointment. Had coffee and walked around taking pictures of snow on the flowering spring trees. Met Craig and Liam for lunch, and then came back to the house and puttered around.  It was a very cloudy, snowy, and cold day.

April 18 - went to Gateway, CO by way of Unaweep Canyon and did some off-roading in some old uranium mines in the Dolores River Canyon.  Also saw some old mines and the old flumes the miners built along the Dolores River.  Drove around the Gateway Canyons Resort and the "The Palisade".  Saw some Desert Big Horn Sheep along the road on the way home in the Unaweep Canyon (bonus).

April 19 - helped Warren outside around the house today, and then went for a 3.3 mile hike in the afternoon up Kodel Canyon.  Great day!

April 20 - helped around the house today, Nancy made Grandma Hibner's sweet rolls (yum).  Went for a 3.4 miles across the street from Nancy & Warren's house up Chinley Bench and Goldstar Canyon. Saw some mule deer on the hike.

April 21 - Nancy and I went to Grand Mesa. Plenty of photo opportunities during different times of the year, but there was still so much snow that it was hard to get decent pictures. The Aspen fields would be gorgeous to see in the fall. We drove home thru Cedar Edge and had lunch at The Apple Cafe. We saw snow machines on Grand Mesa and dirt bikes on the way back to GJ. So much to do out here. Nanc and I drove thru the Monument to get some evening shots from various locations.

April 22 - washed the windows at the house in the a.m. Went for a solo hike part way up Monument Valley across from Nancy & Warren's house. Went to The Bin for dinner (where Craig works).

April 23 - did some painting at the house and helped Warren with the sprinkler system. Later in the afternoon we all went for a 7 mile hike at Pollocks Bench and Flume Canyon just a few miles from the house. Great place to get both sunrise and sunset pictures.

April 24 - went for a 4.2 mile hike at Rattlesnake Canyon/Arches. Awesome hike...would be a great place for both sunrise and sunset.

April 25 - Warren took Nancy and I up to the top of CNM and then we hiked down Monument Valley. It was a 6 mile hike from the top of the canyon to Warren & Nancy's house. We had a great hike and near the end of the hike we saw a herd of 15-18 Desert Big Horn Sheep.

April 26 - all of us went to Utah to hike Little Wild Horse Canyon, but when we got there the parking lot was full and it looked like it was going to be way too busy. We decided to go to Crack Canyon and hiked that and it was worth it. We hiked 4.6 miles and then drove over to Wild Horse Window and hiked another 2.1 miles. 

April 27 - hung around the house most of the day and did some general clean-up. Went to check out the Fat Tire Festival in Fruita, but didn't seem like too much was going on. So we came back to the house and sat in the sunshine drinking beer and wine and then had brats for dinner and sat around a pit fire enjoying watching the stars come out over CNM.

April 28 - left the house around 9:30am and hiked straight up the hill just across from Nancy & Warren's and headed toward Monument Valley. We hiked 6.6 miles on a trail that has become known as Nancy's birthday hike. Another great hike, but the heat beat me down and I was exhausted. Later we went out to dinner at 626 Rood in downtown GJ and Craig joined us.

April 29 - hung around the house in the a.m. and then took Warren to the airport. Nancy and I went to Palisade to visit the Plum Creek Winery for a wine tasting. Bought Jamie & Jason a gift. Later Nancy and I went for a 2.6 mile hike at the Mica Mine near Bang Canyon and then drove thru CNM one more time.

April 30 - travel day back to CT (Grand Junction to Dallas to NYC Laguardia).

Overall, the trip was fantastic!  Thanks to Nancy & Warren for a most enjoyable visit to the playground in their backyard.