It's no secret that I love road tripping around Oklahoma and visiting small towns. Some are lively, others are dying. A few are completely gone, but have left a couple of small pieces that tell the world that they existed. In all of these places, I take my camera and look for sights that interest … Continue reading Small Town Charm
Thursday, I went home sick from work. Some kind of stomach bug had taken hold of me and, although I was trying to get things accomplished at the office, everyone was like, 'Dude, go home.' So I did...and I rested. Friday I still didn't feel great, so I stayed home. I hate missing work, but … Continue reading Route 66 (Part II)
What a long and wonderful trip it has been! I logged over 3,000 miles behind the wheel and burned nearly 100 gallons of gas through six states in the last nine days. I saw mountains, valleys, rivers, flats, canyons, deserts, cities, and much more. It was the most successful road trip I think I've ever … Continue reading End of the Road
Today was a long day. Which is odd, really, when you think about how busy every day has been for the last week. But the 8 and 1/2 hour drive from Flagstaff to Amarillo isn't populated by much. Lots of wide open spaces full of scrub brush and dust. We only had one stop planned, … Continue reading The Home Stretch
Friday brought with it the last big destination on my trip west: The Grand Canyon. After decided to just wing it on the day of, my attention turned to the possibility of getting a picture of the sunset at the canyon. Since the sun sets at about 7:40 PM this time of year, that would … Continue reading Back to the Canyon
Monument Valley: a place I've wanted to visit as long as I could remember. And visit I did. For a brief time, I walked in the footsteps of John Wayne and learned some of the sacred history of the Navajo Indian tribe, the valley's original inhabitants. Throughout my time there, I thought about my father … Continue reading Monument Valley
Wednesday morning came early, as one of Alex's cats decided rattling blinds was the best fun-time activity to pursue at 6:30 AM. Though, considering I'd awoken early every day of this trip anyway, it wasn't that big of a deal. Too quickly, it was time to say goodbye to Alex. We had such a wonderful … Continue reading Arches National Park
We didn't have much in the way of plans for our full day in SLC; in fact, it wasn't until Tuesday morning that I recalled the salt flats as a point of interest. Alex was definitely up for the trip, even though it was two hours outside of town. We piled into her Rondo and … Continue reading A Dash of Salt
The Grand Vista Hotel in Grand Junction, at the end of all things, was a little less than Grand. I don't have any big time complaints, especially in light of some of the places I've stayed in the past, but it straddled the line between hotel and motel such that I had higher expectations AFTER … Continue reading The Beehive State
Some people take vacation and decide they're going to sleep in every day, relax, and not do much of anything. That's fine and good…when I take a day off here and there, that's definitely what I TRY to do (my body doesn't let me sleep in that far these days, and if it does I … Continue reading "As I look out over this magnificent vista…"
Rhys' Pieces 