Kelsey & Rolo's Big Adventure

This one is a little bittersweet as this is the last post for part 1 of our adventures. Saying goodbye to the mountains is always difficult, but I’ll get to that.

From Rifle, pretty much our errand day and making sure my car wouldn’t die on me like my other one did 2 summers ago, we headed to Salt Lake. I somehow managed to take a different route than I have driving through Utah for what feels like the hundredth time (it’s been like 4 times). We got to Salt Lake, found our hotel, and managed to get one of my grad school assignments done while we waited for Ryan.

The rest of Tuesday was spent with Ryan-catching up, getting dinner, and hanging with Rolo. I have absolutely 0 pictures of my time in Salt Lake–I have some from my time out there 2 years somewhere on my Facebook if you’re curious.

Wednesday we headed north to Missoula, Montana, taking the very scenic route. We ended up crossing the Idaho-Montana border at the top of some mountain and I know I’ve said this before about other states, but Montana is my favorite.

We got to our campsite–this one had tons of bunnies that just chilled. Rolo was okay with them until another dog walked by and then we got tough guy Rolo.

Thursday we woke up early and headed to the National Bison Range because in case you didn’t know, besides elephants, bison are my favorite. It was truly the best way to start my day. Rolo could not have cared less about the bison–some herding dog he is.

From there we headed to Glacier National Park. Once again, this quickly became my favorite park (sorry Utah). As we headed further east through the park, the rain started to come down. If you saw on Facebook, that explains all the fog, but it was still the best day.

We made it as far as Billings, Montana that day before I pulled off to sleep. I opted not to revisit Grand Teton and Yellowstone as Rolo had been the best trooper for this trip.

Yesterday we woke up early, posted the Montana pictures, and hit the rode. We got into Glenview around 7am today–22 hours in the car–a quick 2-3 nap around 1am. Somehow I’m still awake and it’s only noon.

If there’s anything I’ve learned these past few weeks it’s just cemented the fact that it’s okay to not have plans. 90% of the time I had no idea where I was going the next day and that was okay. I didn’t need to keep to a schedule and if I didn’t get my tent set-up til 8pm, that’s okay because the sun didn’t set til close to 10.

In the meantime, going back to a schedule for a bit until part 2 of our adventures kicks off in August after grad school & Kusch’s wedding wrap-up.

Part 2 will be featuring the East Coast where we’ll meet up Mandy again and down to New Orleans.

Friday we left Carbondale and drove through the mountains to get to Denver so we could pick up Mandy from the airport. I am forever thankful to my adventure partner for coming out for the weekend to explore the mountains with us.

We left the airport and went back into the mountains without a definitive plan for where we were gonna sleep that night (pretty typical of us). As we were driving, Mandy figured we would stay in Silverthorne as we were hiking Snitkau in the morning and it was about a 30 min drive.

Of course we took a detour and drove through Arapaho National Forest for a bit before heading to our hotel for the night. Mandy apologized to Jimmy Johns for running out of bread and we settled for pizza since we didn’t feel like leaving the room. We actually planned our Saturday out (wild, I know) and called it a day.

Saturday we packed up and drove to Snitkau. From the car it seemed pretty easy, despite all the comments saying the first 1000 ft are the worst—they were not wrong.

Rolo was loving life and running up the mountain as Mandy and I were taking in the views.

After our morning hike, we drove around and moseyed back to the south Denver area where we were staying for the night. It was amazing seeing different areas of Colorado I hadn’t driven through before.

We got to the hotel, which was way too fancy for us, and made plans to go see End Game–I never got around to seeing it, and Marvel movies are kinda our thing. Rolo was the most tired pup and was out for the count, so he didn’t mind that we were leaving him.

Sunday we got up and ran some errands before going to the airport to pick up Matt who was back in town for a brief jaunt between Heartland and work things. After a long lunch and another trip to the airport, Mandy and I headed north to Ft. Collins area and hiked Horsetooth before once again heading to the airport so Mandy could (unfortunately) head back East.

I made my way to Denver for the night and got some grad school work done, not a lot as the internet was the not the best.

Rolo and I left Denver and headed to Rifle, Colorado. We got in around noon and ran to Walmart for laundry detergent, got our oil changed, got coffee while we waited to check-in to the hotel, and are currently relaxing. Rolo is passed out, happy to be out of the car. Laundry and homework are next on the to-do list as we are off to Salt Lake City tomorrow to see Ryan.

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated due to lack of internet and just enjoying the great outdoors and the open road.

From Kanab we went up to Vernal, Utah, which is right on the border of Utah and Colorado and the gateway to Dinosaur National Monument.

When we got to Vernal, we set-up camp and relaxed for the night after driving for most of the day. The following day we went to Dinosaur National Monument and saw the dinosaur bones in the quarry–they are very accommodating with dogs and allow you to drive up to the quarry instead of taking the shuttle. We then drove around the park and it felt like I was in Jurassic Park.

We then drove to Carbondale, Colorado–right in the mountains outside of Aspen. We got there at 3 and had a relaxing day at our site right next to the Crystal River with the mountains right behind us. Ironically enough we were at the same site Mandy and I had 2 years ago on my last road trip–only fitting since we were on our way to Denver to pick her up from the airport for the weekend.

It’s been a few days…the past 2 campsites I’ve been at have been in the middle of nowhere, so no service to even try to type this out on my phone (like the first day).

It’s been a busy few days, lots of driving and sightseeing since it gets so hot in the afternoon (close to 100 in the canyons).

We left Holbrook and headed to the Grand Canyon, driving through Flagstaff along the way. We went to the Grand Canyon taking the scenic drive (so much better than just the highway) and had the windows down the whole way–a helpful trick for Rolo and his drooling.

When getting to the Canyon, we opted to just go scope it out as it was peak hours (and also very hot). Dogs are allowed on all the trails in the South Rim (the side of the canyon that sees the most tourists). Rolo did amazing in a giant swarm of people and ignored other dogs as well.

We got a peak at the canyon but decided it was way too crowded and way too hot to try to do anything more than drive through the park.

We eventually drove to our campsite and set-up shop and cooked dinner.

My alarm at 3:30am went off way too early, so I hit snooze and woke up at 4am, figuring if we missed the sunrise, we missed the sunrise.

We got back to the Grand Canyon (about a 45min drive from our campsite) and found it was pretty deserted. We did about 1.5-2 miles along the rim of the canyon before heading back to the car. Rolo was a big fan of the canyon and was very sad to leave it, but we had things to see in Utah.

We made it to Kanab, Utah, where we’d be stay for the next 2 nights–the first at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and the second (tonight) at a hotel so I could Skype into my grad school class.

We got to town pretty early, I guess that’s what happens when you start your day at 4am…Instead of having Rolo bake in the heat at the dunes (88-90 with no hopes of it dropping til 6:30pm), we opted to go check out Zion National Park. Zion was never on my list for this trip because it’s not super dog friendly. That being said, it was still amazing to drive through. If you ever want to feel small, go there.

We moseyed to our campsite (after an hour of waiting for the heat to go away…thanks for the phone call mom!) and Rolo was happy to lay in the sand (and not sleep on the gravel). I also finished The Help–would definitely recommend. The movie did it justice, but the book gives so much more depth of the characters.

We woke up late, or at least I thought it was because the sun was shining, though it was only 7am, and got on with our day. We explored the dunes in the cool 60 degrees. Rolo wanted to romp in the sand off his leash more than anything.

After trudging back to the car, we started trying to figure out where to go for the day. We ended up taking 89, the scenic byway, and ended up at Bryce Canyon National Park–another park I didn’t put on my trip.

It was a pretty drive & stop & take a picture kind of tour of Bryce, as dogs aren’t allowed on any of the trails, but it was still amazing. 2 years ago I fell in love with Moab, this year Bryce stole my heart.

Tonight we’re staying in a hotel. Rolo immediately passed out on the bed. I got a nice shower and Skyped into my grad school class and getting caught up on what I missed last week (with my professor’s blessing). Afterwards a walk and dinner were in order (thanks Subway) and Rolo got a bone while I caught up on Below Deck Mediterranean.

Tomorrow we’re off to Colorado since we have to be in Denver by Friday for a visit from one of the best people.

2 days ago in New Mexico, I made a decision to get a hotel room last night because Rolo had been limping all day and there seemed to be no cause for it, so a real bed and some A/C appeared to be the most logical solution.

We got in the car and drove the 5/6 hours to Holbrook, Arizona and unbeknownst to me, we jumped into yet another different time zone. The lady at the front desk didn’t get as much a kick out of my naivety, but she still let us check-in at a very early 12:30pm.

Rolo was the happiest dog in the world to sleep in a room and on a bed. He was passed out for hours and snoring before he finally decided he had to go outside. So yesterday was a much needed Rolo rest day and I was able to get some more grad school work done.

Day 5, today, we backtracked a bit and went to explore the Petrified Forest National Park, which is amazingly dog friendly.

We got up and packed and were in the park by 9am–I wanted to give Rolo as much bed time as possible while still avoiding the afternoon heat and sun. We were able to get about 3-4 miles of hikes in, and Rolo was back to being his adventure pup-self.

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This morning Rolo and I were woken up at 4am (early wakeups are normal on this trip I guess..) to coyotes howling. Not exactly what I want to be waking up to, and Rolo agreed since he moved from sleeping at my feet to being my little spoon. Our plan was to get up early and shower, but we opted to wait a bit just to be on the safe side of things.

After we got the site clean, car packed, and dog walked, we headed over to the site next to ours so I could take the quickest shower of my life.

We went back up the canyon, watching the sun rise over the rim, and headed for New Mexico, only 3.5 hours from where we were.

An uneventful car ride later, we ended up at the KOA…I opted for a place with WiFi so I could work on some grad school homework. Our spot was set back from the other (empty) tent sites and completely shaded by trees, much to our delight.

We set-up tent and headed into the town of Las Vegas. Despite all of the signs and billboards telling us how historical it was, it was pretty underwhelming. Instead, we drove down the road a bit and found ourselves at the state parl

Despite me checking, double checking, and quadruple checking the forecast, it was still wrong. The 50% chance of rain turned out to be 100% chance of thunderstorms.

Rolo and I woke up at 5am to find a very nice (if I was at home sitting on the porch) storm rolling our way. Even if you know nothing, you know not to be in a tent when there’s lightning. In all of 7 minutes I had Rolo and the tent and myself in the car and the storm was still a bit away from us. While I sat there trying to figure out: if it was best to stay here, were we going to leave only to drive right into it (yes, yes we would have), how long would the storm last…those sorts of things–it started pouring. Looking at the radar, it would end around 6-6:30am, so Rolo and I sat in the car and watched the rain pummel the lake and lightning crawl across the sky.

When it finally let up and the radar said it was passed, we headed out to make our way to Texas.

The drive was shorter than the day before, roughly 8.5 hours with the 2-3 stops for gas and dog breaks.

Palo Duro was just a state park on a map that was somewhere between where I was and where I wanted to be. Reviews that I scanned made it sound like a really cool place, so I booked a campsite and Rolo and I were set.

Upon arriving, you come into the canyon at the top and have to make your way down to the bottom where all the campsites are.

Rolo and I found our site, set-up camp and went exploring the canyon. Since it was extremely hot and sunny, we opted for the shadiest trail to “hike” (more of a walk, but no complaints). It was about 2.5 miles roundtrip, not bad. Rolo was a very hot and tired boy, so that meant A/C on full blast and all vents pointed at him. We drove back up the canyon and went into the town where the nearest gas station was to get Rolo a bag of ice to lay on. Although unsure at first, he was a very happy boi when he realized it was a makeshift coolpad (RIP to his original one).

We drove back into the canyon, and I stopped for the scenic pictures leaving Rolo in the car to cool. When we got back to camp, the canyon was starting to cool off, the tent was quickly moved to the new shady area, and dinner was in order.

Quick turkey sandwich and lots of water and Rolo was ready for a nap. Texas is home to biting ants, my least favorite thing about the South, so we hung out in the tent with our battery powered fan (pointed right at Rolo).

I finished book #1, and started book #2, The Help, since I have yet to read it and ran out of time this year to even think about teaching it.

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Surprisingly enough, Rolo and I left on time by my standards at 7:20am, which was partially due to Rolo not wanting to leave grandma and grandpa’s and hiding at my dad’s side in bed.

We got into Rogers around d 5:30pm only to be greated by the suffocating humidity and heat I thought I left last year in South Carolina. After driving aimlessly through the campground trying to find our site, we finally found it tucked away in the corner on the lake shore. With that problem solved, the next one arose–pitching a tent with a dog tied around my waist. Rolo never makes things easy, so it was a fool’s dream to think he’d give me the 3 minutes to put the tent up.

Once that was finally up, a long walk was much needed and thankfully I had nice views of Beaver Lake while Rolo got out some of his energy.

After dinner, with the temperature still being a nice 84°, Rolo and I wandered down to the lake shore at our site and sat in the water to cool off.

With the sun going behind the trees and a wet dog drying off, I can finally get started on reading book 1 of the summer.