Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell

After a night of uneasy sleep, because of the tipi almost flying away, we got up at 6 Am to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy, so no sunrise for us that day 🙁  Since we were already awake, we decided to get in the car and drive towards Arizona.

We drove for a couple of hours, before stopping at the Twin Rocks Café, in Bluff, a small Navajo town in Utah. A couple of pancakes and some coffee later, we got in the car again.

Just before entering Arizona we drove through Monument Valley, which is part of the Colorado Plateau.

In Arizona, we headed straight to the Antelope Canyon, where we went on a guided tour along with a couple of hundred Asian tourists… The place was a bit of a tourist-trap, but also one of the most beautiful sights ever. The guided tour took about an hour and a half, and was very amazing.

After the Antelope Canyon, we drove a little further to see the Lake Powell, named after the man who explored and mapped out the  Grand Canyon and the Colorado River, back in 1869.

We then drove of to Flagstaff, where we had booked a room for the night.

Jannie


Efter en noget urolig nattesøvn, fordi vi frygtede at vores tipi ville flyve væk, stod vi op for at se solopgangen kl 6:08. Desværre var det alt for overskyet til at se noget, så vi fik ikke nydt synet af solen der stod op den dag 🙁 Men eftersom vi allerede var vågne, besluttede vi os for at hoppe i bilen og køre mod Arizona.

Vi kørte i et par timer, inden vi stoppede i Bluff, som er en lille by ejet af Navajo indianerne. Her spiste vi morgenmad på Twin Rocks Cafe inden vi kørte videre.

Lige før vi kørte ind i Arizona, passerede vi Monument Valley, som er en del af Colorado Plateauet.

I Arizona kørte vi målrettet mod Antelope Canyon, hvor vi tog på en guidet tur, sammen med ca 100 asiatiske turister… Stedet var lidt af en turistfælde, men samtidig en virkelig smuk og stor oplevelse. Turen tog ca halvanden time og var ret flot.

Efter Antelope Canyon kørte vi lidt videre, for at se Lake Powell, som er en sø opkaldt efter den mand som kortlagde Grand Canyon og Colorado floden, tilbage i 1869.

Til sidst kørte vi til Flagstaff hvor vi skulle overnatte.

Jannie

Hanging Lake and Utah

After spending a night in Glenwood Springs, we got up early to go to The Hanging Lake, which is a beautiful lake in the hills. The drive there was only about 15 minutes, so we were some of the first visitors there. To get to The Hanging Lake, you have to climb a rather steep trail, about 1 mile up the mountain. It took us about an hour of hard work and a lot of sweat 🙂 But when we finally arrived, it was all worth it! So beautiful and peaceful, like a little piece of heaven.

We left the Hanging Lake premises around 11:30, and headed towards Utah. It was a rather long drive, and we were also tired from the long hike, but we were determined to go see the Arches National Park in Moab, Utah.

We had a short stop at our lodging for the night, a place called Moab Under Canvas. We had rented a tipi for the night. It turned out to be quite an experience, since the wind really picked up during the night, and at one point we thought the tipi would take of into the winds. But we stayed on ground at everything ended up good 🙂

After checking in at the tipi, we drove to the Arches National Park. There was a long line at the entrance, but we got through rather quick. The Park is huge, so unfortunately we didn’t get to see all the beautiful arches. But we got around to some of the really fascinating ones, as you can see in the pictures.

We spend almost 3 hours in the park, hiking on the trails, taking lots of pictures and driving from point to point. Also stumbled upon some interesting animals, lizards, beetles, squirrels and rabbits. Luckily we steered clear of snakes and scorpions.

Back at the tipi, we were so tired and exhausted from a long day, that we just wanted to lie down and go to bed.

Jannie


Efter en enkelt nat i Glenwood Springs, stod vi tidligt op for at tage ud til The Hanging Lake, som er en virkelig smuk sø oppe i bjergene. Det tog os bare 15 min at køre derhen, så vi var nogle af de første den dag. For at komme op til søen, skal man op ad en forholdsvis stejl sti, ca 1,5 km op af bjerget. Det kostede os ca en times svedig traven, men da vi endelig ankom, var det det hele værd! Det var så smukt og fredfyldt, en lille bid af himlen.

Ca kl 11:30 kørte vi derfra igen, og fortsatte vores tur mod Utah. Det var en rimelig lang køretur, og vi var trætte efter den lange vandretur, men vi ville rigtig gerne nå at se Arches National Park i Moab, Utah.

Vi stoppede kort, for at checke ind på vores overnatningssted, en slags campingplads som hed Moab Under Canvas. Vi skulle sove i en tipi. Det viste sig at blive en ret interessant oplevelse, eftersom vinden virkelig tog fat i løbet af aftenen og natten og på et tidspunkt troede vi lidt at vi ville få en flyvetur. Men vi blev heldigvis på jorden og det hele endte godt 🙂

Efter vores check in, kørte vi så mod Arches National Park. Der var en lang kø ved indkørslen dertil, men det gik heldigvis hurtigt at komme igennem. Det er en kæmpestor park, så desværre nåede vi slet ikke at se alt det vi ville, men vi fandt nogle ret interessante steder alligevel.

Vi brugte næsten 3 timer i parken på at vandre, tage masser af billeder og køre fra sted til sted. Vi stødte også på nogle forskellige dyr; firben, biller, egern og kaniner. Heldigvis mødte vi hverken slanger eller skorpioner.

Da vi kom tilbage til vores tipi, var vi bare trætte og gad ikke andet end at gå i seng og ligge ned.

Jannie

 

Winter Wonderland

We left Cheyenne and thereby Wyoming at 9 AM so we could get to the Rocky Mountains National Park (RMNP) early enough to see the sights properly. After 1,5 hours we arrived at Estes Park, Colorado where the Eastern entrance of the RMNP is located. Just before the entrance we passed a herd of elks.

We went adventurous and took a quick turn to the left and found Sprague Lake. Here we went for a hike around the lake trail and saw many fishermen and a couple of squirrels. A very peaceful part of RMNP. Less peaceful was it when an elderly man slipped and went into the lake. Fortunately he was able to climb out of the water and hand over his electronics to his wife (who was pretty mad, that the phone was now wet).

Then we headed to Bear Lake to hike around the lake trail up there. It was way more difficult to hike around as the trail was partially covered in snow and mud. It was a whole different experience as the Bear Lake was frozen and the mountain scenery a different one than we could see from Sprague Lake.

We ate a snacky lunch at Moraine Park, which was kind of the lowest point of the part of RMNP we went. Afterwards we headed for Trail Ridge Road. Unfortunately it was closed the most of the way, but we made it to Many Parks Curve, where the view was pretty amazing.

Afterwards we decided to go to Boulder to plan the rest of the day. We found a Starbucks, bought some drinks and borrowed their WiFi. The new destination was now set to Glenwood Suites in Glenwood Springs.

In order to reach I-70 to go West we had to move closer to Denver, which we had a brief sight of before heading into the mountains again. The road through the mountains was quite difficult to drive as you had to swerve between slow trucks and big horn sheep (we almost hit a herd standing in the roadside) up and down the steep percentages.

After an hour on I-70 we began to pass several ski resorts and decided to get some dinner in Vail. It turned out to be quite of a ghost town as the ski resort was out of season. But we managed to find a small pub called La Cantina. They made us some delicious Caesar Wraps, which definitely are worth a try!

Next up was Glenwood Canyon. Although the dusk had come it was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been! If you ever have the opportunity to ride the I-70, you should do it!

Now we try to pick our favorite photos from today’s trip in our hotel room in Glenwood Springs. It is not easy! Tomorrow we will turn back to see Hanging Lake before going further West.

Kasper


Vi forlod Cheyenne og dermed Wyoming klokken 9 i morges så vi kunne komme ud til Rocky Mountains National Park (RMNP) tidligt nok til at kunne se naturen ordentligt. Efter 1,5 times kørsel ankom vi til Estes Park, Colorado, hvor den østlige indgang til RMNP befinder sig. Lige inden vi kom til indgangen passerede vi en flok wapitihjorte (de nordamerikanske kronhjorte).

Vi følte os eventyrlystne og tog et hurtigt sving til venstre så snart vi var inde i parken. Her fandt vi Sprague Lake, som vi gik rundt om. På vandreturen så vi en del fluefiskere og et par egern. Sprague Lake er en meget fredelig del af RMNP. Mindre fredeligt gik det for sig, da en ældre mand gled og faldt i søen. Heldigvis var han selv i stand til at kravle op igen og overlevere sine elektroniske apparater til sin kone (som var rimelig sur over, at apparaterne nu var blevet våde).

Bagefter tog vi til Bear Lake, hvor vi også vandrede rundt om søen. Det var mere vanskeligt da stien var delvist dækket af høj tøsne og mudder. Det var en helt anden oplevelse, da Bear Lake var frosset til og bjerglandskabet et andet end det ved Sprague Lake.

Vi spiste en lille frokost ved Moraine Park, som nok var det laveste punkt i den del af RMNP vi besøgte. Derefter tog vi mod Trail Ridge Road. Desværre var den lukket det meste af vejen, men vi nåede op til Many Parks Curve, hvor udsigten var rimelig fantastisk.

Efter den flotte oplevelse i RMNP besluttede vi os for at tage til Boulder for at planlægge resten af dagen. Vi fandt en Starbucks, købte noget at drikke og lånte deres WiFi. Den nye destination hed nu Glenwood Suites i Glenwood Springs.

For at ramme I-70 (vejen mod vest) måtte vi køre lidt tættere på Denver, som vi lige fik et lille glimt af inden vi kørte ind i bjergene igen. Vejen gennem bjergene var rimelig anstrengende at køre på, da vi hele tiden måtte zigzagge ind og ud mellem langsomme lastbiler og tykhornsfår, mens de stejle procenter gik skiftevis op og ned. Vi var lige ved at ramme en fåreflok i vejkanten på et tidspunkt.

Efter en time på I-70 begyndte vi at passere adskillege skisportssteder og besluttede og herefter at finde lidt aftensmad i Vail. Det viste sig at være lidt af en spøgelsesby, da skisæsonen er slut. Heldigvis fandt vi en lille pub kaldet La Cantina, hvor vi fik et par lækre Caesar Wraps. Den lille pub er helt sikkert et besøg værd, hvis man kommer forbi Vail.

Herefter kom vi til Glenwood Canyon. Selvom mørket var faldet på, var det alligevel et af de flotteste steder vi nogennsinde har set! Hvis I nogensinde får mulighed for at køre på I-70, så skal I gøre det!

Nu prøver vi at vælge de bedste billeder ud fra dagens oplevelser fra vores hotelværelse i Glenwood Springs. Det er slet ikke nemt! I morgen tager vi et smut tilbage til Hanging Lake før vi drager videre vestpå.

Kasper

Going towards The Rocky Mountains in all sorts of weather

Today we started our trip towards The Rocky Mountains. We had coffee and donuts at Eric’s place, before we left around 9 AM to go to our first stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The weather was actually the most exciting part of this day. Started out with a beautiful sunny morning in Nebraska, and then, as we moved West along the I-80, it slowly started to rain. The weather forecast had plenty of scares in store for us. Tornado-risk, heavy rain, thunderstorms and a snowstorm…

Luckily we steered clear of tornados, going through the Plains, but the rain and the snow caught up with us eventually, and there was a thick fog almost all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska. And now (May 9, 8 PM), we are held up by snow and possible snowstorms sunday. So we are gonna stay in the Motel until Monday, where it is supposed to clear up and then we will proceed to The Rocky Mountain National Park.

Thank God for free Wifi 😉

Jannie


Idag startede vores lange tur mod vest og første stop, Rocky Mountains i Colorado. Vi startede dagen med kaffe og donuts hos Eric, inden vi kørte afsted kl 9:00, mod vores første stop i Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Vejret har nok været det mest interessante på den her dag. Først havde vi en smuk solskinsmorgen i Nebraska, og så, jo længere vi kom vestpå, blev det mere og mere regnvejr. Vejrudsigten havde lovet os alt fra tornadorisiko, voldsom regn, torden og ikke mindst snestorm…

Heldigvis klarede vi frisag på tornadofronten, men regnen og sneen indhentede os til sidst, og vi måtte køre i kraftig tåge stort set hele vejen fra Lincoln, Nebraska til Wyoming. Nu (9.maj kl 20 lokal tid), er vi midlertidigt bundet af sne og mulighed for kraftig snestorm søndag. Så vi har besluttet at blive på motellet indtil mandag, hvor det efter sigende skulle klare op og vi kan fortsætte mod Rocky Mountain National Park.

Vi er bare glade for at have fri Wifi 😉

Jannie

Visiting Nebraska

Thursday we went with Trish and John to see the wildlife refuge in DeSoto, which is located in both Iowa and Nebraska. We saw some of the animals, mostly birds and there was a museum of a steamboat that had sunk in the Missouri River just north of Omaha in 1865, and was recovered some 100 years later. Most of the inventory of the boat was still intact, because it had been covered by the mud of the river, which is actually nicknamed ‘Big Muddy’.

Eric had driven up from Omaha to meet us, and joined us at the exhibition.

After this we went to Eric’s house in Elkhorn, Nebraska, just outside of Omaha. Kasper and I got settled in and then the five of us went to get a quick lunch, before heading to The 21st Saloon in Omaha to see some live music.

We were joined by Eric’s girlfriend Dawn, some of their friends and Eric and John’s sister Suzie and her husband Bruce, at the bar. The band was a blues band called Levee Town, from Kansas.

The next day we went to downtown Omaha with Eric, Suzie and Bruce. We went to a Mexican restaurant and did a little bit of shopping. When Suzie and Bruce left to go see their son, Brock and family, we went to Dawn’s for dinner. She cooked a really nice meal for us and we had a really nice time with her and Eric.

Jannie


Torsdag tog John og Trish os med til et vildtreservat i Desoto, som ligger i både Iowa og Nebraska. Vi så en del fugle og nogle få andre vilde dyr, samt besøgte et museum bygget op omkring en dampskib som var sunket i Missouri floden i 1865, nord for Omaha, og som var blevet gravet op af floden ca 100 år efter. Det meste af inventaret var fuldstændig intakt, fordi det havde ligget velbevaret under flodens mudder. Floden kaldes faktisk ‘Big Muddy’ fordi den er så fyldt med mudder.

Eric var kørt op fra Omaha for at møde os på museet.

Herefter kørte vi til Erics hus i Elkhorn, Nebraska, lige udenfor Omaha. Kasper og jeg fik båret vores ting indenfor og efterfølgende kørte vi alle fem ind til byen for at få lidt frokost, før vi skulle ned på The 21st Saloon for at høre livemusik.

Erics kæreste, Dawn og nogle af deres venner mødtes med os på baren, sammen med Erics og Johns søster Suzie og hendes mand Bruce. Det var et blues band fra Kansas der hed Levee Town, som spillede.

Om fredagen mødtes vi igen med Eric, Suzie og Bruce og tog ind til Omaha, for at spise på mexicansk restaurant og shoppe lidt. Suzie og Bruce skulle mødes med deres familie hos deres søn Brock, så da de tog afsted, tog vi andre hjem og spiste aftensmad hos Dawn. Hun lavede et lækkert hjemmelavet måltid til os og vi hyggede os med hende og Eric.

Jannie

Kimballton & Elk Horn

John and Trish made us a lovely breakfast with pancakes and sausages. After breakfast we drove up to The Danish Villages, Kimballton and Elk Horn, Iowa. On the way there, we passed the place where John’s dad Jens/Jim had had a farm when John was a child.

In Kimballton, we took a short walk. The town was not that big 🙂 We took some pictures of the Little Mermaid and the other sculptures of some of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales.

Then we headed over to Elk Horn, which is right next to Kimballton. Elk Horn is known by us, from the Danish Television, who aired a documentary about the town a few years ago. We visited the Museum of Danish America, which has a lot of different documents and artifacts donated by immigrants from Denmark and their descendants. They had a Wall of Honor, where Rasmus and Bertha Villebro’s names were listed.

We also donated an old Danish book George had found that must have belonged to Bertha or Rasmus, and a copy of Gunnar’s book about his childhood and his grandparents migration to The United States.

We wanted to go for a quick bite for lunch afterwards, but the Danish cafe had closed and was no longer in business. So instead we went to see the old windmill that was donated to Elk Horn by the Danish town of Nørre Snede. We also stopped by the souvenirshop next door to it, where Trish bought a Danish Kringle for us, to have at breakfast.

For dinner we met up with John’s son Jens and his family in a restaurant in Caroll.

Jannie


John og Trish lavede en lækker omgang morgenmad til os, med pandekager og en slags pølse. Efter morgenmaden kørte vi til de danske landsbyer, Kimballton og Elk Horn, Iowa. På vej derhen, kom vi forbi det sted hvor Johns far, Jens havde sin farm da John var lille.

I Kimballton gik vi en kort tur. Det var ikke en særlig stor by 🙂 Vi tog nogle billeder af Den Lille Havfrue og nogle af de andre skulpturer af H.C. Andersens eventyr.

Efter det tog vi til Elk Horn, som er nabobyen. Vi besøgte Museum of Danish America, som har en masse forskellige dokumenter og artefakter doneret dertil af immigranter fra Danmark og deres efterkommere. De havde en Wall of Honour, hvor Rasmus og Bertha havde deres eget lille skilt.

Vi donerede også en gammel dansk bog som George havde fundet, og som formentlig har tilhørt Bertha eller Rasmus, samt en kopi af Gunnar’s bog om hans barndom og hans bedsteforældres emigration til USA.

Vi ville have spist en hurtig frokost der også, men den lille danske cafe var desværre gået nedenom og hjem. Så vi tog istedet over for at se deres vindmølle, doneret til Elk Horn af Nørre Snede. Vi var også en tur i souvenirshoppen ved siden af, hvor Trish købte en dansk kringle, til vores morgenmad.

Til aften mødtes vi med Johns søn Jens og hans familie på en restaurant i byen Caroll.

Jannie

 

Iowa

After breakfast with Jack, he jumped on his scooter and we followed him in the car, in to Minneapolis. Jack had some apples and some snacks for us to bring on the trip. So sweet of him!

From Minneapolis we headed towards Iowa, to visit John and Trish. The drive there took a little more than 5 hours, including a stop for lunch where we also changed places in the car.

John and Trish took us to The Green Lantern in Decatur, Nebraska for dinner. On our way there we stopped by the Missouri river to see a replica of Lewis and Clark’s keelboat that they used on their search for a water route to the Pacific. In this spot in Iowa, the two of them had also made a stop and camped for the night before going forward on their expedition.

After dinner we visited an Indian casino, where we had a try at the slot machines. We went home with a total of 0.45 $ 🙂

Jannie 


Efter morgenmad med Jack, hoppede han på sin scooter og vi fulgte efter ham i bilen ind til Minneapolis. Jack havde købt nogle æbler og nogle snacks til os vi kunne tage med på vores tur. Det var så sødt af ham!

Fra Minneapolis kørte vi mod Iowa, for at besøge John og Trish. Køreturen tog lidt mere end 5 timer inkl. frokost stop, og chaufførskifte.

John og Trish tog os med på The Green Lantern i Decatur, Nebraska, hvor vi spiste aftensmad. På vej derhen stoppede vi ved Missourifloden, for at se et replica af Lewis og Clarks båd, som de brugte på deres søgen efter en vandrute til Stillehavet. Stedet var også blevet brugt af dem til at slå lejr undervejs på deres expedition.

Efter maden tog vi på et indiansk ejet casino, hvor vi spillede et par gange på de enarmede. Vi gik derfra med 0.45 $. 🙂

Jannie

 

Dead End

After five days at the end of the road at Hill City, struggling to upload any pictures at bad internet connection, we haven’t found the time to upload all the pictures yet. We kinda like to get the right balance between experiencing the trip and write about it. So for now you will have to wait for the pictures and settle with text only. Hopefully we will be able to catch some time and good connection and slowly upload the pictures.

Kasper


Efter fem dage for enden af vejen ved Hill City, hvor vi har kæmpet med at få uploadet billeder med en dårlig forbindelse, har vi givet lidt op på den front. Vi prøver at finde en god balance mellem at opleve turen og at skrive om den herinde. Så for nu, må I nøjes med teksterne. Forhåbentligt kan vi snart finde lidt mere tid til at uploade billederne stille og roligt.

Kasper

 

Minneapolis

Jack made us a nice breakfast and we sad for a while at the table just talking, before we went on a bikeride in Minneapolis. We rode the bikes along some of the lakes out to the Minnehaha Falls. It took almost 2 ½ hours, with a couple of stops.

Among others we stopped at the quaking bog at Theodore Wirth Park, which is a sort of overgrown swamp, where we went for a walk and spotted a wild turkey.

After our stop at Minnehaha Falls, we biked back to the train station and from there we took the train in to the city to have lunch at Jack’s work, Brit’s Pub.

After that we went home to get the car and then drove to rugby practice with Jack. We didn’t attend the practice though.

Jannie


Jack lavede morgenmad til os og vi sad længe ved morgenbordet og snakkede, inden vi tog ud på en længere cykeltur i Minneapolis. Vi cyklede langs nogle af søerne ud til Minnehaha Falls, som er et mindre vandfald. Det tog ca 2 ½ time, med et par korte stop på vejen. Blandt andet stoppede vi i Theodore Wirth Park ved en overgroet sump kaldet “quaking bog”, hvor vi gik en tur og stødte på en vild kalkun.

Efter vi havde set Minnehaha Falls, cyklede vi til togstationen og tog toget ind til byen for at spise en sen frokost på Jack’s arbejde, Brit’s Pub.

Bagefter tog vi hjem og hentede bilen og kørte Jack til rugby træning.

Jannie

Shooting & Get Together


We got up around 9 AM. George had gone to church so we went over to Steve and Andy’s after eating breakfast.

Steve took us down behind the field where he let us try shooting with some of his handguns. We shot at a target, first with a 22 mm and afterwards with a 40 mm. The 40 mm had quite a kick, but after a few tries it went better.

In the afternoon, we had some company. Steves brother Kenneth and sister Deb came. They both brought their spouses, children and grandchildren too. Except Deb and Mike’s daugthers Kelly and Alison.

Everyone brought a dish to share, and we made some Danish meatballs (frikadeller), so they could get a taste of Denmark.

We had lunch, talked, played some ball and just had a nice time and around 6 PM we packed up and headed towards Minneapolis, where we arrived at Jack’s (Dolores and Mike’s son) around 10 PM. We are gonna stay with him till we leave for Iowa tuesday morning.

Jannie


Vi stod op ved 9 tiden. George var taget i kirke, så efter vi havde spist vores morgenmad gik vi over til Steve og Andy.

Vi havde fået lov at prøve at skyde efter målskive med nogle af Steves pistoler, så vi gik ned bagved en af markerne og satte målskiven op. Her fik vi lov at skyde, først med en 22 mm og derefter med en 40 mm. Der var godt kick-back i 40 mm’eren, men efter et par forsøg gik det ok med affyringen. Jannie havde dog ikke så meget held med sigtemålet…

Om eftermiddagen kom der gæster, Steves bror Kenneth og søster Deb. De havde begge taget deres ægtefæller, børn og børnebørn med, pånær Deb og Mikes døtre Kelly og Alison.

Alle havde medbragt en ret til deling og vi havde lavet frikadeller i Georges køkken, så der også var et dansk islæt.

Vi spiste, talte, spillede bold og hyggede os, og ved 18-tiden kørte vi mod Minneapolis, hvor vi ankom kl 22 hos Jack, som vi skal være hos indtil vi drager mod Iowa tirsdag morgen.

Jannie