Colorado-A Helping Hand up the Glacial Peak

Friday, July 25th, 2008The Rainbow and My brother Mac were signs of encouragement to help us in our Journey. The First night in the Rocky Mountain National preserve was colder than we would have ever imagined for being in the middle of the summer. We all struggled to stay warm enough to sleep that night. So I called Mac and he met us with reinforcements of warm, blankets, sleeping bags, jacket, beanies, and gloves. That made our sleeping feasible. Thank you Mac.

Mac also joined us the next day on a hike up into the Hallet Peak basin and past three beautiful snowmelt lakes.

Colorado-Montane ecosystem enjoyment

Thursday, July 24th, 2008



The Rockies are being infested with the Bark beetle as well. The evergreens are turning red, brown, and dying by the thousands. They are able to infest because the winter temperatures are higher and are not freezing them out. The scientists are saying it is another effect of the global warming, a few say it is cyclical, either way it is a horrible tragedy.

This is the Mighty Colorado river 5 miles from its mighty point of origin.

This the Colorado's state flower, the Columbine, and it was certainly an eye catcher.
Here we stood at the point where the mountains split the runoff water into the Missisippi to the East and the Colorado river to the West.

Colorado-On Top of the World in our Rental Car

Thursday, July24th, 2008
We most definitely keep on trekking in our new little Chevy Cobalt rental. We made it up into the Rocky Mountain National Park a day late, but we could not miss this magical land. We drove up above the treeline on the nation's highest highway, also known as Trail Ridge Road. We pulled over to explore the apline meadows and play in the glacial snows at 12,600 feet above sea level.

Alyssa the brave one, standing at a safe distance from the Elk grazing in the apline meadow, while every one else stayed in the car. She is actually standing on the side of the road with dozens of other tourists standing by in awe. It was quite a spectical.


I was captivated by the beautiful miniture bunches of wild flowers that are able to bloom in this harsh environment.

Broke in Colorado

Monday-Wednesday, July 21st-23rd, 2008

   "This too shall pass."

    Nothing like a little adversity to remind you of human vulnerability in this age of modernity. We blew up our transmission at the end of 12 hours of driving through Kansas and Colorado, as we climbed up t0 5600 feet elevation, just about 99 miles outside of Denver.  Monday Night along side the road, Tuesday's uncertainty, and Wednesday's wait all worked out so that we had a place to stay, food to eat, and the time and resources to find a proper fix for our problem. Turns out this particular VIN of Honda Odyssey had minor problems with 2nd gear and the module that shortened its life. We are getting a Honda factory updated transmission and updated module that will bring our van back to modernity.  

In the meantime, we are departing for the Rockies in a rental to continue enjoying our time together.

Kansas-A long journey through the land of prairies

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Today we had an over 12 hour drive from the from one corner of Kansas to the other, it is a vast land of endless prairies broken by towering grain elevators and the occasional town. 

Other than the small tourist attraction that claimed to have the world's largest prairie dog that we regrettably drove past, this sight caught my eye the most.  You have the future and the past sharing the same field, the electric windmills of the future sharing the pasture with windmills of the years gone by. 

Oklahoma-Starbird the Custum Car King

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

I just so happened that we went on vacation next to one of the best custom car museums in the nation, Daryll Starbird's Rod and Custom Museum. He had 25 of the cars that he has built over the years on display, many of which are so unique that Monogram made models out of them.

Upon visiting Daryl Starbird and seeing his creations, I realized that I tend to make many things in my life way too complicated. This man is rich and famous with world wide renown for his custom car creations, but yet he is still out in his small little shop plugging away on the next project by himself with the simplist of tools. This in and of itself is a huge lesson
The boys were asking Mr. Starbird about the Batmobiles, and he said he didn't build it but happened to have the original one the 50's in the boneyard out through the horse pasture. So after running away from a dozen hungry horses, chasing us because they thought we had food, we finally made it. Mission accomplished.

Missouri-Bridge @Joplin

Friday, July 18th, 2008

This looks like skateboard heaven or a scene from Tony Hawk's video games, but it was real.

This is actually a Christian endeavour, put together by several groups to give the youth their dream hangout. Maybe CCV's vision will expand from Starbucks to this and then I'll really regret getting kicked out. Forget charity and the poor this is the future of American Christianity.