4,500 Miles

Sorry i was so neglectful of posting pictures.  Here are some highlights from the last leg of the trip.  I need to revisit the southwest again.  Bryce Canyon was unbelievable, even with snow.  While in Zion and Bryce Canyon all i wanted to do was climb the rocks, hike down, i felt like moving, if that makes sense.  Jason heroically navigated us through some treacherous blizzard conditions in the mountains of Utah. We also got to visit Caleb's hometown of Hill City South Dakota.  Who knew he was a country boy? The Black Hills were amazing.

2,000 miles and counting

The last three days have been filled with so much unbelievably beautiful scenery that this rainy afternoon is almost a welcomed relief.  My brain has been on sensory overload.  Mountains, deserts, rivers, forests, so much amazing scenery!  And all in the US, who knew?
The Grand Canyon was sooo....any adjective will seem like an understatement but i'll go with incredible.  The morning was warm and sunny making all the rocks light up. We took a leisurely hike down Shoshone trail that took us this amazing outlook with panoramic views of the cannon. In the afternoon things clouded over and there was a bit of rain, but that just set the stage for the most amazing thing i've ever seen...a rainbow over the Grand Canyon! AUGH! It was breathtaking.

Zion National park was incredible as well.  We took the River Walk trail though the canyon and were surrounded by red rock, a clear river, tall pine trees, and some of the friendliest squirrels i've ever encountered.  Bryce Canyon National Park was really amazing as well. The oranges and reds from the rocks were so cool. Did i mention there was snow? It was..well just look at the pictures :)

1,500 miles and counting

Holy Cow! We went from mountains to deserts in a day.  The Great American Beer Festival lived up to all it's expectations.  We had some really good beers and ran into lots of fellow Wisconsinites. Capital Brewery won a medal for it's Autumnal Fire and New Glarus won a medal for it's black IPA.  Who knew they even made a black IPA? it was all gone by the time we went to try some so i'll just have to wait until we get home and get some.  Some outstanding beers we tried were Full Sail Imperial Stout, Alaskan Brewing company Smoked porter 2000 vintage, Dog Fish Head Burton Baton (english olde ale blended with IPA aged in a 10,000gal oak tank)(incidentally DFH also served up the worst beer i had at the fest!) Bootleggers Brewery Black Phoenix chipotle coffee stout. We had an amazing breakfast in Denver as well before the fest. Today we are going to see the Grand Canyon! Can't wait.

The mountians are calling my name.

I cannot wait until we are on the road.  Even better than that i can't wait until we are at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver! http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/  There's an  Award Winning American Cheeses and Award Winning American Beers pavilion that i'm really looking forward to checking out.  Today we are driving to Minneapolis to get Caleb.  Tomorrow morning at 4 am we hit the open road. I hope we have a playlist for that.

It's road trip time

We are staying in the US this time.  It's fall and that means time for road trip! Although technically this time i will be taking 2 bags on the trip (one for clothes one for toiletries) i'm still trying the minimalist packing method.  To prepare for the trip Jason and i are downloading music like crazy.  I got a few dramas from jwmedia.org and organizing some playlists.  I'm leaving all important details up to Jason. Where we'll be staying, where exactly we're going, those kinds of things.  We vacate Madison in 3 days.  I can't wait.

Back in Wisconsin. My heart is heavy.

I was not ready for this vacation to end.  We were having such a great time.  We nearly missed our flight Wednesday, so the usual excitement that comes with going home was instead replaced with severe apprehension and stress.  But we made it.  It was cloudy and cool in Chicago when we landed, however as soon as we crossed into Wisconsin the clouds parted and the sun came out as if to say, 'you're home now, you can relax.'  Here are some pics from our last days in Ireland.

Mike is feeding the lambs.

What does it mean?

Jasmine and i discovered this spot 4 years ago.  It's my favorite view in the world.

Dingle Peninsula

Seaweed cheese and Co. Wicklow cheddar.  A wonderful snack.

There were so many baby lambs everywhere! 

Mas an Tiompain Hill

Kilmainham Jail, Dublin

Learning how to pour the 'perfect pint'.

Gravity bar, Guinness Brewery, Dublin

It's Ireland!!!!

First things first.  Club soda with 'bits' and whatever funky Pringles we can find. Yummy.

Kilkenny Castle

I believe the sign says it all.

This is when the sky fell on our heads and we couldn't go on. 

Venice for a night

Last Pics from Slovenia Castles, Caves, and waterfalls



This may be the funniest sign i've seen while traveling.  You cannot enter the cave with a broken heart.