Colorado National Monument

October 31, 2009
Today we collected all of Colorado National Monument. The pavement computer had a bad morning, I had to restart it three times before it was happy. We also had a campground to collect and since it is off season two of the loops were locked. We had to go to the Visitor Center and track someone down to open the gates. We ended up spending about an hour in the campground that only had 4 routes dealing with the pavement computer and locked gates....that is a long time so such a few number of routes. After that the day went pretty smooth.

This is the last park of our program's cycle 4. This means that this is the last park I had to collect with this truck! The new truck is currently being put together and should be ready in January! I'll write more about that later but I'm pretty excited. Today was a big milestone and it means I've traveled a lot of miles and been to a lot of parks.

To Grand Junction, CO.

October 30, 2009
Well, today is Friday and were are also checking out of our hotel and have all of our stuff in the truck...that is two strikes against us even before the day starts. Yesterday I had some problems with our grade reading in the afternoon, nothing horrible but something needed to be fixed. We took out the grade box and looked at all of the connections and cleaned things up hoping that would help but no luck. This morning the grade readings were still bad. After some pondering I thought it couldn't really be the grade sensor itself so we decided to take out one of the computers and take out the grade timer card. We cleaned things up and replaced the card and it fixed our problem. It was only about a 20 minutes set back. On the way to the South end of Canyonlands the roads were pretty wet and there was a pile of snow in the middle of each lane. It was very discouraging. It was that way for about 25 miles and then when we were about 3 miles from the start of our route it was like magic...the roads cleared up and they were dry! It must not have snowed that much in the park. I can't believe how much luck we have had on this trip. It seems I only have bad luck with the truck and the weather but this trip we have been so lucky and we are getting things done without any real delay...crazy! Maybe this will be how my life is when we get the new truck...little problems and less stress. We finished up Canyonlands today and drove to Grand Junction and will collect Colorado Monument tomorrow.

I posted a photo of an arch in Canyonlands called wooden shoe arch, it looks like a wooden shoe!

Oh, and just an FYI - in Canyonlands the view from the North side is much more impressive than the view from the South side. The North side looks similar to the Grand Canyon!

During the drive to Grand Junction a radio station was asking people to call in with Halloween jokes. I thought this one was cute...
Q: Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?
A: Because he didn't have any guts!

Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

October 29, 2008
Today I woke up to a dry parking lot! I was surprised it didn't snow overnight. What luck. The roads were dry in Arches and the North section of Canyonlands. We collected about 101 miles today which is a pretty good day. We found a few more arches today...not even close to the 2000 that are supposed to be in the park but I might be up to 15 if I'm lucky. The parks here are pretty empty I think because it is so cold. We didn't have anyone ask us about the truck today....amazing.

To Moab, UT

October 28, 2009
Today I expected to wake up to snow on the ground but there was nothing in Flagstaff. The 5 1/2 hour drive North to Moab, UT went well. That is the 2nd time I've driven that same exact route during this job...annoying. There isn't much to look at along the way and only a couple of small towns. There is a pretty big snow storm over Colorado and it was supposed to hit Eastern Utah but in Moab there are only a few flurries and nothing on the ground (yet). I'm happy about that! We arrived in Moab around 3:30 (back to MTN time) and decided to go to Arches to check out the roads. They looked slightly damp so we didn't collect. We decided to take a few photos and go on a short hike...very short because it was cold outside. The park was not really what I was expecting. We only saw two arches but apparently there are over 2,000 arches in the park so I'm still looking. I was also surprised to see a lot of sand. I was expecting more rocky soil. The picture of the snow I took using my zoom. There is no snow in the park but looking South this is what we could see. Tomorrow could be a bust if it snows a lot tonight or it could be a pretty good day...it is too early to predict.

Wupatki, Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon National Monuments

October 27, 2009
Today we collected three smaller parks in the Flagstaff, AZ area. Wupatki (dates back to the 1100s) and Walnut Canyon (dates between 1125 to 1250) both are ruins of old communities. Sunset Crater is an old volcano "Sunset Crater Volcano was born in a series of eruptions sometime between 1040 and 1100. Lava flows and cinders still look as fresh and rugged as the day they formed." http://www.nps.gov/sucr/index.htm
It was very windy outside today. The truck was blowing around and sage brush was hitting the truck with quite a bit of force. I took a photo of some sage brush blowing across the road. Despite the wind the truck held up pretty well. I only got 2 errors that caused a re-run. The pavement cameras didn't initialize right one time but those were the only three issues we had today. We were done collecting around 2pm so we took a short 1 mile hike in Walnut Canyon to look at the ruins there. It was a nice hike but there was an 185 foot elevation drop at the beginning, which was fine on the way down but on the way back up asthma set in again...so much for living in denial. Looks like another DRs visit might be in my future to get an inhaler (which I haven't had since about 2001)...uhhhh.

Montazuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments

October 26, 2009
I called for a cab to pick me up at 8:30am from my friend's house...the door bell rang at 8:10am! Luckily I was ready but not happy to cut my visit 20 minutes short...every minute counts you know. I grabbed my bags and was off to pick up the truck at a Ford dealer shop. The truck is really a money pit. I know that was a movie once (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091541/) but I just want to say that money pits really do exist...I drive one. I'm very, very glad we are getting a new truck! After getting the truck I headed to the airport to pick up Jeff and then we headed North to Montazuma Castle and Tuzigoot. Those parks are really small and the truck was cooperating so we finished the parks in no time. We were able to take a couple of short walks to see the old dwellings. I attached a couple of the photos. Oh, It was 85 degrees in Phoenix and then we get up to Flagstaff and it is only in the 50s!

To Phoenix

October 23 to 25, 2009
After work on Friday an airport shuttle picked me up at 3:30pm so I could catch a 6:30pm flight to Phoenix. I decided to head out a couple of days early to visit some friends (finally!). That is one of the small perks of this job. I can go to a place a couple of days early and not have to pay for the flight (if the cost is the same or less than it would be if I would fly on Monday). Anyway, the flight was great with little problems. Although when you fly so often you get to watch the same TV programs on the flights over and over. They only change their programs every 2 weeks or so. I got to watch a program on Las Vegas for the second time. Once the plane landed in Phoenix I realized we were pulling up to a gate that didn't have a jet bridge. The plane was pretty big and the stewardess said "I don' t know who we upset but we don't have a jet bridge so you will have to walk down several stairs". The problem was that the stairs were not tall enough for our plane so there was a big gap/step down to get off the plane...not very safe (in my opinion). Once I was inside the baggage area was super crazy. There were 4 carousels and a ton of people, most of us had no idea where we should stand to get our bags. I think every flight landed at the same time! I rank that one of the top 3 worst designed airports for heavy travel :( . I was not expecting it to be so crowded and crazy, but I did get my bag so it all turned out OK in the end.

On Saturday we went to a Mystery Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Castle
It was interesting and reminded me a bit of House on the Rock in Wisconsin but on a much smaller scale. The daughter of the builder was there and that was pretty neat. She still lives in the house but has her own personal upstairs area (with air conditioning). She sat on the porch and talked to us for a few minutes. We then went to South Mountain Park up Summit Road. It was a windy, narrow road up a mountain south of Phoenix and it was a good lookout over the city. I was able to get some pretty good photos of the city up there.

Back in Denver (again)

October 19, 2009
I made it back to Denver this evening. The trip went really well. I had an upgrade to first class so I didn't have to worry about someone sitting "on top" of me and we also got cheese and fruit for a snack. It was nice to have more space. I had to take super shuttle home since my car is still at the shop (which I should get back tomorrow) and the shuttle usually takes forever but this time I was able to get in a van that was leaving in 15 minutes. I got outside to find the driver arguing with some lady on the sidewalk. The driver was just trying to do his job and the lady just wanted to get home. The argument continued on and off for most of the ride home....crazy.

Anyway, I should back track and tell you a bit about the weekend. So the twins finally saw my sister and I together and we got things straightened out...I'm really Aunt Jamie and not mommy. They finally started calling me "Aunt Jamie" when I walked in the door. One cute story is that Rori (who is two) and I were sitting on the couch and I saw her biting at her toes. I said "Rori, what are you doing" and she looked at me and said "I bite" (like why was I asking...can't I see that)! It was really funny. Rori and Lele also can't say their brother's name Nolan yet so they call him Noman, which is also really cute to hear them say.

My sister and I went to see Sylvia Browne (http://www.sylvia.org/home/index.cfm) on Sunday and it was really good. I left the place feeling like things were going to be OK. I haven't really felt like that for quite some time. Unfortunately neither my sister or I won the free reading with Sylvia nor did we win a chance to ask her a question :(. Seeing her was great though. The casino did give us a free $5.00 gambling card for going to a show there. I don't gamble but it was a free $5 so why not. I played the double diamond slot machine and ended up winning $43.75...I'll take it.

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch on Saturday and I posted a couple of photos. These might be the only "personal" photos I ever post to the blog...I feel weird doing it but I hope people enjoy them. The sun was not cooperating the best but squinting or not these are a couple of the photos we got....

Home in MN

October 16, 2009
I made it to MN today. I got up at 4:50am (gotta love the early flights) and returned my rental car at the airport around 6:30am. Oh, my car is finally getting the hail damage fixed and should be ready for me to pick up when I get back to Denver (I can't wait)!!! The flight went well and I slept most of way. Abbi (my sister's 8 year old daughter) and my mom met me at the airport and we headed over to the MN history center. We then decided to go up the road to tour the James J. Hill house. I have toured the house a couple of times before but this time they let us go on an upper floor, which was interesting to see. That floor had the "private" family bedrooms. I also learned that James J. Hill is about #37 on the list of America's most richest people in history! He built the northern railroad line from MN to Seattle and his line never went bankrupt like most others did. After the tour we headed back to Rochester and I wanted to stop by my sister's house to see her other 3 kids. Here is the funny part....I haven't seen the twins (who are now 2 years old) for quite some time. I learned that they really only know me from being in a family photo that my sister has hanging on the living room wall. Abbi walked in the house first and said to the kids something like "someone is here to surprise you" and the twins walked over so they could see the door and they both say "Abbi" then "Grandma" then they look at me and pause (like they wanted to say something but didn't know what) and then finally said "mommy"! Oh, my sister was at work at the time. We all just started cracking up. I said "No, I'm Aunt Jamie" and they looked at me and said "mommy". I guess they were convinced. I kept saying "Aunt Jamie" and Lele would point at the family photo on the wall. I said "No, I'm really Aunt Jamie". I think it was a lost battle from the beginning. Lele kept coming up to me with her arms up saying "mommy" and Anthony said "No Lele, that is a stranger" (thanks for adding that twist in there bro...I am in the family photo, remember!) Anyway, we'll see how tomorrow goes when the twins can see both my sister (the real mommy) and I together at the same time.

One of several James J. Hill web links...
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/jjhh/

Back to Denver

October 10, 2009
I made it back to Denver this morning. Nothing is ever "smooth sailing" even at 6:00am. Since the airbag light was on in the truck I thought it would be a good idea to take the truck to the shop while we are back in Denver. I looked up a shop and wrote down a cab company's phone number...good to go right? We left the hotel at 5:30am and drove to Ford. On the way there we called a cab. We got to the address where Ford was supposed to be only to find out it had closed and was no longer there! We had to cancel the cab and try and find another Ford shop and still get to the airport on time. Luckily it all worked out but the next Ford shop we went to did not have an obvious spot for us to leave the truck so that took up about 5 minutes of wondering "what are we going to do". We finally found the right spot with the key drop box but they didn't have any forms to fill out with our truck info. I had to write things down on a scratch piece of paper I had in the truck. We eventually did make it to the airport on time and all was well with the flight. We got back to Denver and it was 16 degrees outside with light snow...I was not expecting that. Luckily my friend came to my place while I was gone and turned on my furnace...it was warm when I left so I turned it all the way off (thanks Tweez). I spent the afternoon unpacking and then went to the grocery store. I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking different things, way too much for one person to eat but it was good and a nice change from restaurant food. I'll be in Denver for the week then I'm going home to MN to see family this weekend.

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim

October 9, 2009
We finished up all of the routes in Grand Canyon this morning. We had one route and the truck gave me a couple of errors...rough morning. It was probably because there was evidence of a mouse in the truck. Really, I am not kidding. Other than the fact that it is really, really gross all I need is a mouse chewing on computer cables and power wires! Uhhhh...what next. Oh, the airbag light is also light up on the dash so I guess it is time for another stop at a Ford shop. We are spending the night in Peoria, AZ then flying out of PHX tomorrow.

I went to wash the truck today and after spending $5.25 I was only able to get one layer of dirt off and it is still pretty dirty...sad. Some guy asked me if the truck was the one that was used for the Google images. I said and tried to explain they use a 360 degree camera but he didn't really want to hear it he just kept talking.

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim

October 8, 2009

Today the sun was out! We had a productive day and are almost done with this park. We have one more 26 mile long route left to collect tomorrow morning. We are then headed to Phoenix and will fly to Denver on Saturday morning.

Two photos posted are from the East side of the park. The squirrel (maybe chipmunk) was in a campground near the village and didn't seem to mind our loud diesil truck, it just kept on eating so I took a quick photo.

Just to tell you another glamorous part of my job...The Internet at our hotel is really bad. We keep getting dropped, not dropped from the connection but the browser keeps saying the page can not be displayed. I've called their IT 3 or 4 times and I'm done with trying to tell other people that something is wrong with their equipment. So, since the connection is terrible in the hotel I'm currently sitting in the truck in the parking lot of another hotel that has reliable Internet. Not like I don't spend enough time in the truck already but now at 9:15 at night I'm in the truck again so I can get on the Internet...gotta love it. The only thing that makes it OK is I'm listening to the Twilight soundtrack.

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim

October 7, 2009
Today we woke up to wet roads! In the desert...really! The only good thing is that we are now on the South Rim where passing the time is much, much easier. We started down the Bright Angel Trail but made it about 1/2 a mile or so and then turned around. It started to down pour with sleet/small hail, it lasted about 5 minutes. We then just hiked along the rim. Overall the day has been rainy and cloudy with some periodic sunshine. We hope the rain is done so the roads are dry for us tomorrow! It was good to get out and hike some...We probalby hiked about 2.5 miles. We then ate lunch at one of the lodge restaurants which was pretty good and lodge atmosphere is always nice.

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim

October 6, 2009
Today was a productive day. We collected about 43 routes today. It was a long day in the truck and didn't get to see much scenery. We did see some deer and a pretty big elk while collecting, the photo was taken from the truck. At the end of the day we took a short walk to look at the canyon from this side. Look close at one of the photos I posted and you can see the South Rim lodge, photo taken from the North Rim. It was hard to find but Jeff's good eye spotted it and I tested the zoom on my camera to try to get a photo...not bad. Keep in mind it is about 10 miles away as the crow flies (23 miles - via the hiking trail).

Grand Canyon National Park - North Rim

October 5, 2009
This morning we took the truck to a shop to get the axle oil leak fixed and to have a new DMI rod put on the tire. It was productive and a good feeling to know those things were fixed. It only took about one hour.

We then drove south to the North Rim only to find out the last road we needed to collect was still closed. It is difficult to pass time in the North Rim because there are not many trail. We ended up sitting in the lodge doing some work on our laptops and then eating lunch in the lodge, which turned out to be pretty good food. We then drove up to Cape Royal road at 1:00pm and the gate was finally OPEN!!!! We collected the route, took a short hike to an overlook and we finished around 3:00pm. We then had to drive to the South Rim which is only about 23 miles as the crow flies but since there are no direct roads through the canyon the drive took about 4 hours.

The area driving up to the North Rim looks a lot like Yellowstone, not something I really expected. Today we saw Bison in the field when we were leaving the park.

Also, the truck is officially dirty. These days clean is only a relative term but we've had such long days (another 80 hour week last week) and a lot to fix on the truck to keep it running that washing the truck just doesn't take priority. It is hard to be proud of the truck when other people ask what it is, not only because it is dirty but because it often isn't working. I attached a photo of the outside of the truck. The axle oil is all over the back tire and on the chassis behind the tire, there is gas that flowed down the side (for some crazy reason), there is dirt, dust and bug guts everywhere. What a sweet truck.

Grand Canyon National Park - North Rim

October 4, 2009

Today we drove from Washington, UT (ZION) to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and then back up North a bit to stay in Kanab, UT.

The wind at the North Rim was howling today. They had gusts up to 70mph. They closed Cape Royal Road due to trees down on the road. A park ranger said by noon they had already cleared about 25 trees from the road. We should hopefully have access tomorrow. Since the road was closed our collection day ended around 2:00 so we took a short hike to an overlook (photo is posted). It was rough because of the wind.

One of the attached photos shows a bird that decided to hop on the truck while we were collecting routes in a campground. We were looking at some pavement video and were just about to do another run and this bird comes flying up at us. I have no idea what it was thinking...maybe it was trying to say "get out of my space".