MY view

So Eric Was Focusing on the "fun aspect of the trip and matt on the "not so fun" aspect, me am just giving a over view

Day 1 left home at 6:15

Went to gas station with cool sign "HIDE YOUR BEAGLE VICK'S A EAGLE"
Ended up in Williamsport Iowa with outlet mall and Arbys

Day 2

Left Williamsport Iowa Headed to Denver!
Went to strategic air and space museum in Nebraska.
Ended up in Sterling Colorado
Ate at TJ Bummers
Day three
Did Hanging Lake hike
Stopped in Colorado Junction
Had Mexican food
Day 4
Missed Obama (landed in Colorado Junction that day)
Went to Colorado Nat'l Monument
Left for Moab
Did Delicate Arch Hike.

Ate sandwiches the Arch
Day 5

Went to Campground got #16!
Did Petroglyphs, Delicate arch overlook, Windows and Park Avenue Hikes Before Lunch

Went to Moab ate Sandwiches and walked around town for 2-3 hrs.

Left for Campground for dinner tube steak and salad

Did Landscape arch on Devils Garden Hike

Day 6

Left campground heading to Sand Dune Arch

Left For Canyonlands Nat'l Park (Island in the sky)

Went to the Grand View point and trail hikes a bit.

Went for picnic in the picnic area

Left for Upheaval Dome Hike.

Left Canyonland

Headed back to Moab For the night

....... To be continued (Have to go to bed)

My View On Our Trip

If Eric focused on the fun, positive aspects, then I'm going to point out the bad, negative aspects of the trip, and some of the good ones too for old times sake.

First of all, the days where we did nothing but drive for 10-12 hours. The only things you could really do were take naps and stare out the window while listening to Eric's playlist which contains almost nothing but Bon Jovi, Van Halen and stuff of his 70's rock CD's. And trust me, it is hard to try to sleep while listening to that. When you got to watch a movie, Sam would get sick, it would be turned off and it was back to staring out the window.

That was probably my least favorite part of the trip, but after that, that's when it became the trip I hoped it would be. Filled with visits to 12 nat'l parks and monuments, all with breathtaking scenery, interesting history, most with good hikes.

The other thing I wasn't the biggest fan of were the nights we camped. I'm don't mind canned food at all, but when you're trying to sleep, you roll over a bit to your left, and you're on top of somebody, that's when it gets a bit uncomfortable. Before, I never realized how great a bed to yourself was. So, when we were in a hotel and it was my turn to sleep on the rollaway cot, I was thrilled.

That's pretty much all I have to whine about so, 3 weeks, between 5-6 thousand pictures, and about 7200 km later, I can honestly say Zion was my favorite park, Angels Landing my favorite hike and I really enjoyed this trip.

Eric's Trip Notes

Our 2009 road trip to Utah and Arizona was lots of fun.

It had its ups and downs, but mostly ups. I liked seeing Delicate Arch in Arches, hiking up Angel's Landing and down in the Narrows in Zion. I also liked receiving 13 junior ranger badges because I learned new things and earned them at the same time.

It was also cool to see a lot of deer, a bunch of lizards, a couple elk and a few coyotes.

Going down the sand dunes in the Great Sand Dune National Park was fun but going up was hard work.

During the trip we went to many national parks and monuments such as Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, Wupatki, Glen Canyon, Walnut Canyon, Mesa Verde and the Jefferson Expansion Memorial.

That covers everything so that is our trip.

by Eric

Dream Theater-Black Clouds & Silver Linings

Okay, here's the situation here. I walk into a Future Shop, with little money in my wallet. I head straight toward the CD shelves, since that's where I always go. I see this album on the shelf for $12.99. Then, the $15 question hits me. To buy or not to buy, that is the question. I think for a few minutes, then next thing I know, I've given up $15 and walking out of the store with a new CD. This scenario shows perfectly my pitiful willpower. But after listening to this seventy-five minute long album. I thought to myself, best fifteen dollars I've ever spent. Out of the six songs on the album, four are longer than ten minutes. All the ten minute or longer tracks are incredibly diverse, going from a choir style intro to a heavy metal style to slowing down quite significantly shows how the songs cover more than one style and it makes it sound all the more interesting. But on the longest track, you have a four and a half overture style introduction to a minute of seagulls at the end.

Bottom line: Worth it. 4.5/5

Van Morrison-Astral Weeks

If you look on any greatest albums of all time, you are almost guaranteed to find this masterpiece on it. And why not? This is unlike any thing I have ever heard. Odd lyrics, barely understandable vocals all accompanied by instruments that you wouldn't find on many other albums. Yet they find a way to make it all work, and the result is incredible. People like Johnny Depp admitted that they were blown away by this work of art, which just goes to show how big an impact this album had on the world of music.

Bottom Line: a masterpiece 5/5

Supertramp-Crime Of The Century

Considering how harshly I rated the last album that I listened to, it seems weird going from a 1 to a 5 between two albums. Crime of the Century... I loved it. I just plain loved it. It sounded like one big orchestral performance, like an ELO album. (Eldorado is a great listen) With "School", "Bloody Well Right", "Dreamer", and "Asylum". This album is great all the way through and never slows down. An exceptional album.

Bottom Line: Worthy of a perfect. 5/5 

U2-No Line On The Horizon

If you're a big U2 fan and still haven't purchased this album, do yourself a favor and not buy it. This album was just plain painful to listen to. The only good song was "Magnificent" but everything else was horrible. It is just the same odd sounding tunes going for five minutes or longer, and I learned the hard way how painful that is. The only non-repetitive track was "Get on Your Boots" and still it was bad. U2 is a great band, but they are going to lose me if their next releases sound like this. So if you are planning to buy this album, take it from some one who has listened to it. Don't buy it.

Bottom Line: Terrible 1/5