Albuquerque, finally!

Well, we have finally arrived in Albuquerque. Things have been a bit hectic, looking for apartments or a house. First impressions were not the best, but the place is growing on us. But, we are happy to be settled and done with traveling for a bit.

Pueblos

After Moab, the whole crew (including Joan, Roger, Kris, Tim and Torben - oh and Lucy) headed down to Cortez where we spent the night. The next day we headed up to Mesa Verde to the check out the cliff dwellings. Torben wasn't too sure about this, but he took it in stride.

Next stop, Albuquerque!

More Moab

By the way, we ran into Roger and Joan in Moab, who knew? Also watch out for the blowing sand!

Moab

After Ogden, we made a brief stop in Temple Square in Salt Lake. Very pretty, but every conversation turned towards the great spirit in the sky which made things a little annoying. However, we did notice all the missionaries in the square were young, good locking chicks. Imagine that!?

After Salt Lake we made a stop in Helper - named so because this town is where helper engines were kept to get trains through the mountains - to see a small mining/railroad/history museum. Cute, but small, not the greatest, Torbs was only slightly impressed - enough to properly use the facilities.

Our next stop was a Dinosaur and Paleontology museum in Price. Torben spent most of the time digging in the sandbox looking for fossils (plastic cars, dog bones etc)

Finally we ended up in Moab. What a beautiful place! We met up with one of Kris's old friends, Dan, and his kids Evan and Issac. The kids got along tremendously, especially at the sand dune arch where they ran screamed, climbed, rolled, buried and jumped in the fine sand at the base of the arch. We were cleaning sand out of pockets, shoes and various bodily cracks for a few days after. The kids also introduced the monkey to Road Runner and friends, Meep Meep!

Ogden, Utah

After the falls, made it all the way to Ogden, Utah. Had no idea what to expect - but it was Monkey Heaven. First, trains everywhere. Second, the Treehouse Museum - a kids wonderland. Torben ran and explored the firetruck, the Thomas trains, the ethnic homes, the tree, the - well the place is huge and so much to do. After a nice dinner at a local brewpub - something about a rooster - Torben got to climb on the real trains. Ohhhhh, boy. There was so much excitement and a few happy dances. Actually, we found out the dance was not happy but potty. Torben had so much fun, he passed out at 8:30 pm and didn't wake up until 8:30 am.

Shoshone Falls, ID

We continued on our way to Boise, ID where we camped (in a hotel) for the night. Torben frequented the pool again, but this time we kept him away from the fruit until after the swim sessions. However, we were rudely awoken at 6 am by the fire alarm, which after 5 or six fire trucks showed up made Torben pretty happy - he even got stickers from the firemen. After Boise, we stopped in Shoshone Falls - just outside of Twin Falls Id. You would never guess they are there, but the gorge is shear and deep and the falls are wide. Plus we got our first sunburn of the year, after you haven't seen the sun for six plus months it doesn't take much.

Go West young man (well in our case East)

Although this chronicle is a little belated, here are a few pictures of our journey from Vancouver B.C. to our new home in Albuquerque NM. The first part of trek took us along parts of the Oregon trail and we found a wonderful interpretive center in Baker City, OR. We highly recommend it if you are traveling that way. Torben climbed onto real period wagons, gazed into the distance, and with a determined jaw and outstretched finger said "Go West, Young man, Go West!" Too bad he was pointing south, but maybe he was trying to throw off the cops who might have been chasing us from Pendleton, OR where Torben vomited in the pool turning it into a fruit cocktail. At the center, we also examined the actual wagon ruts of the trail which still exist and toured the wonderful museum about the Oregon trail.