Day 2 - Trinidad Lake State Park

As good as the first day of our awesome adventure was, the second day was even better.

The drive was about an hour shorter, and we were glad about that part because the Texas panhandle was about as flat and boring as it could be. It seemed there were cattle ranches that ran for 20 miles for the entire width of the panhandle.

We got to stop at the Texas sign and take pictures at a small pull-off area. We did make a stop at the Gray County Westbound Rest Area, possibly the nicest rest stop/information center

I've ever seen, which is a part of the Texas Safety Rest Area Program.

We had an awesome overlook view of one of the giant ranches, the Johnson Ranch.

Once we got through Texas, we entered New Mexico and started to see some rolling hills. We were only in New Mexico for about two and a half hours, but we did stop and get a picture with the state sign.

By the time we got near the New Mexico/Colorado border, we were getting a little tired of being on the road...and then we saw some snow capped mountains in the distance and our excitement level went up a few notches.

For the rest of the trip to Trinidad, CO we got camera happy and took a ton of Rocky Mountain pictures.

We did make a quick stop at the Wal-Mart in Trinidad, CO (some things never change) and then we were back on the road to Trinidad Lake State Park. We arrived early enough to go to the park office to get our campsite and get me a Colorado fishing license. Our campsite was on a ridge and had a wonderful view over Lake Trinidad from high above. We set up camp and I went down to do a little fishing, where I actually had a smallmouth bass up on the bank before it flopped off the hook and back into the water. The evening was very restful and the temperature perfect. We got to see another amazing sunset on a lake, and when we woke up, we saw an even better sunrise than on the first day. Once we watched the sunrise and packed up again we were on our way to Grand Junction, CO.

From Katy-

the sunrise at Foss was absolutely incredible!!!!!!!

Day two was a pretty nice drive. It is really amazing to Dean and I that the speed limits are 65 and 70 on most roads in other states so far. It still takes forever to get anywhere though.

We drove through many, many ranches and they all pretty much looked the same. The call Montana Big Sky Country, but so far I'm pretty impressed with the big skies we have seen in Texas.

One of the highlights of the day was when we saw the Capulin Volcano in New Mexico.

The rocks were so weird. The landscape in New Mexico was slightly other worldly in its strangeness to what we had seen earlier in the day.

I was super pumped when we saw real mountains! It was seriously awesome. I don't think I could get tired of seeing them and their snow capped peaks. Trinidad is an interesting little town.

I thought it was cool that the Wal Mart was laid out almost exactly like the WalMart off Harkrider in Conway (I mean if it wasn't for the Rockies in the distance behind the building anyway).

I love our campsite. The view of Fisher Peak was perfect. I even got to see a bald eagle just off our campsite flying over the lake. A great end to a great day!

Day 1 - Epic Roadtrip Honeymoon

Yesterday we headed out for the first day of our epic honeymoon roadtrip and the first day was an epic success. Yesterday was the longest driving day of the entire trip at about 8 and a half hours of driving. We stopped for a break in Fayetteville to see Katy’s sister before continuing on into Oklahoma. The driving in Oklahoma was ok, but it got very hot before we reached our destination at Foss State Park, OK on Foss Lake. We went up to the ranger station and the sign said to just set up camp and a ranger would come around and take our money for the campsite. We set up at the Mouse Creek Campground at a site that was about 15-20 feet away from the lake itself. We got a supper of chicken thighs, rice, and potato rolls going and relaxed by the water. After eating, we did some exploring and rested until the sun began to set. We had an awesome view of the sunset across the lake and we took pictures and sat to watch the beautiful scene until dark. Everything was absolutely perfect except for the 20-30 mph winds until 1 am. We are now headed to Colorado for the first time. Looking forward to cooler temperatures and fantastic scenery!

From Katy-

Oklahoma is an interesting state we love watching the character of a state develop as we drive through it. Since we drove almost the entire length of Oklahoma, we decided that the speed limits are almost always 65 but that's because there is not much in your way as you drive and it takes FOREVER to get anywhere. We saw our first (not working) oil rig just on the West side of

Tulsa. This picture was taken after OKC

notice the very short trees and flat landscape.

Apparently, Yukon is Garth Brooks hometown. They did have a pretty cool water tower.

It seemed like every gas station was at least 50 miles apart. Sometimes you just want to stretch your legs.

I love to see the big windmill farms.

It amazes me that more people don't invest money in that valuable resource. They are soo big and awesome!

Overall, we had a good day. It was lots of driving but the view in the end was totally worth it.

Tomorrow we are off to Texas, where they say everything is big!

Planning the Trip

Dean and I have spent almost a full year planning our epic honeymoon. It first started out as where could we go that would still be here in 50 years. When we decided National and State parks were the way to go we began looking for classic locations that seemed like fun. Top choices included: Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and Crater Lake. We developed trip plans to each of these individual locations, but we kept saying: "If we are going to be that close, we might as well... " visit this other place. We worked together during my long nights working 1st shift at the Co-op dispatch office to make maps on Google Maps and lists of activities we wanted to do and places we wanted to see. In the end, our trip became a large circle around the Western United States.

We not be going to all of original places we talked about, but overall we are visiting so many more.

In all stages of planning we have relied on various websites and guide books. Some of the most helpful are:

The National Park Service Website- this website has a wealth of information from operating hours and seasons to campgrounds, fees, and services offered. If you are visiting any National Park, Monument, or Forest, check out this source!

Fodor's The Complete Guide to The National Parks of the West- Love this book! Just has National Parks, but everything from trails to nearby camping and attractions are listed. Its easy to read and very helpful!

Other people's trips!- I found this trip on yahoo travel. It was really neat to see all the places we wanted to visit and what other people thought of them.

We leave in about 24 hours on our epic journey and we can't wait to share it with you!

If you could visit any of our nation's amazing national park areas, where would you go?

Summer Adventure Approaches

Here we are approaching “trip-eve” and Katy and I are getting more and more excited by the minute. The car is all packed minus some last minute things and it sort of feels like Christmas time. First, I guess I should do a little explaining about all the cool places we plan to visit on this western US adventure.

When we only have a few seconds to explain the trip to someone, Katy and I have taken to saying “we are going to every state west of the Mississippi except for Louisiana.” No offense to Louisiana or anything, but we’ve both been there and it’s way out of the way. When we have a few minutes we generally name our three big stops, Arches National Park, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone, and give a general outline of the route we are planning on taking. Although the details may change as we stop at our leisure, the plan so far is to make stops at: OKC, OK, Foss Lake State Park, OK, Trinidad Lake State Park, CO, Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, Grand Junction, CO, Arches National Park, UT, Sequoia National Forest, CA, San Francisco, CA, Sonoma, CA, Napa, CA, Del Norte Coast Redwood State Park, CA, Crater Lake, OR, Cape Lookout State Park, OR, Spokane, WA, Seattle, WA, Twin Falls, ID, Yellowstone National Park, WY, Gillette, WY, Rapid City, SD, Crazy Horse, SD, Mount Rushmore, SD, Sioux City, IA, Smithville Lake, MO, and finally back home.

Through the next month we hope to keep you all up to date in a far more thorough manner. This trip is going to be tremendously exciting and we can’t wait to share it with you all after we share it with each other.