20-21 september

20th September

I realise that sometimes I waffle on a little, especially since we've been doing a lot of driving lately and i've had a lot of time to write. Anyway, for those of you that can't be arsed with reading all my ramblings, i'll provide a condensed version as well as my usual jibber-jabber (one for the Mr T fans):

Denver -> Grand Lake: Hiking, speed boating and mountain stuff -> Glenwood Springs: Thermal spa -> Grand Junction: Not a lot -> Driving to Moab. End.

Those of you who are too busy or just not that interested can now switch off, or go to another site (apparently kate moss is designing a range for Top Shop, so that's probably worth checking out at www.topshop.com or there's bound to be some news going on somewhere at news.bbc.co.uk or you could read about Brighton being robbed by the shrimpers at www.seagulls.co.uk).

So, now that the part-timers have left us, we can get down to the details...

Colorado is the most incredible state - Jenny the Geologist would be loving it. The eastern side was a continuation of the great plains. From there you get to Denver and the rocky mountains start. I think they're formed by the continental divide - pacific meets atlantic. At first this creates huge great mountain ranges with snowy peaks covered in deep forests (tundra?). After that starts canyon country. The I-70 winds through glenwood canyon which follows the colorado river and is incredible. The canyon walls are about 400-500 feet high either side. Then, when you leave the canyons the desert begins, but not before seeing streams of old lava flow peeking out from through the barron lands... There's gold in them thar hills! We've just crossed the border into Utah and it's more of the same. We're driving near arches and canyonlands national parks which we're visiting later and you can see into the canyons. Breathtaking...

Last time you tuned in I think we had just arrived in Grand Lake and we were mainly moaning about how cold it was. I should note here that "we" no longer means Joey and I. No, we've not divorced, it's just that Joey now wants to be known as Duane-Lee. She thinks it makes her sound more like a cowboy and won't accept that it's not a girls name...

So anyway, Duane-Lee and I arrived in grand lake on sunday. On monday we walked through a tiny section of the rocky mountain national park (the main routes into the park were closed due to heavy snowfall) to adams falls. After lunch we did the coolest thing so far; we hired a speedboat! Just for an hour, but good enough. Now, those of you that know Duane-Lee, know that she dislikes boats, high speeds and choppy water (she also dislikes strippers and rollercoasters, but that's irrelevant for now). So, since this is not Duane-Lee's cup of tea, despite it being her idea, I started cruising us leisurely around the lake like a scene from driving miss daisy, or in this case driving miss duane-lee... After five minutes or so, I managed to covince duane-lee to have a quick drive herself. Within a few minutes cap'n duane-lee (or jack sparrow as she then decided to be called) fell in love with the whole thing and then spent 45 minutes zooming around the lake contradicting every previous dislike she had ever expressed. In short, I had about ten minutes to drive the boat, whilst duane-lee had the time of her life. Fears conquered on this trip: boats, high speeds and choppy water. Fears still to be faced on this trip: strippers and rollercoasters.

On Tuesday we hopped back into the van. I don't think i've described the van yet. Imagine all of the best bits from the a-team van, the captain caveman van, the tardis, and a dustcart. It's white, actually nearer off-white now, has seating for eight (yes eight), and about twelve drinks holders! Add to that the la-z-boy style seating and outstanding 20 odd mpg, and that's quite a van you have on your hands... The chicks dig it, and even duane-lee loves cruising in it..

Anyway, we hopped in the van on tuesday morning and left grand lake, and whilst we found the scenery beautiful, we weren't sad to say goodbye. Other than the owner of the inn, the people seemed a bit rude. They made us feel a bit inconvenient. Odd, considering they need us more than we need them...

From grand lake we cruised to glenwood springs. Glenwood springs is the home to the world's largest thermal spa pool. It was like hopping into a hot bath, but big enough to swim in and dense enough to float in. By this point duane-lee more resembled paris hilton lounging by the pool, whilst I was arsing around in the water... No change there then...

After our little lunch break at glenwood springs, we cruised on to grand junction near the colorado/utah border. A small yet pleasant town, where we ended up in another brew-pub. They seem to be all the rage here. Beer brewed on site and generally a good spread of tucker. Nice.

Whilst on the subject of food, I owe you wingwatchers a couple of updates. The first was back in salina, cowboy country:

Wingwatch: good texture. Nice smokey sauce and good presentation. 7/10. Effect they had on my stomach was not so clever. Adjusted score -1/10. Oh dear.

The second wingwatch was a little irregular. There is a chain of supermarkets here called "whole food market" and they have the most fantastic deli counters. One of which had a range of different wings - named by duane-lee as "the wingery". Didn't try any, but they looked awesome. Photo to follow. 10/10.

Today, we are cruising to Moab in southern utah. From here we can access the arches and canyonlands national parks.

That's all for now folks, other than to tell you that duane-lee thinks that I too should have an amusing name, and so she has now started calling me "landon"... Will this madness never end?

Thanks to all messages left and emails received. Always good to hear from y'all...



21st september
Howdy y'all. You should all think yourself very lucky indeed. As, whilst I am sitting here waiting for two loads of washing to make their way through the rinse and spin cycles, i've decided to update you on today's activities and take you through the various stages of the washing process... Alright! Wooh! Yeah! Great job!

1) sorting the wash into lights and darks. Since updating this blog yesterday, we arrived in Moab, southern utah, strategically placed between the arches and canyonlands national parks. It's quite a gnarly town. Full of dudes who skate and climb and canoe and stuff. It makes for a much livelier atmosphere than the last couple of towns... (at this point I check for black socks which have crept into the light wash).

2) add soap and select wash type ("tide" and "normal" respectively). Shortly after arriving here, we drove into arches national park. We arrived there about 4:30, and the sun sets around 7pm so we got some incredible photos. The parks are set up incredibly well (and sensitively too for america), so that you can cruise up near to a particular sight, then a short hike allows you to get really close. The arches and views as the sun set were quite spectacular... (here remember to put the money in the machine - $1.25).

3) wash cycle - in fact i'm going to merge the wash, rinse and spin cycles. Last night we went to another brewpub. It was pretty good again, and opposite the hotel. They had an english style ale, that other than being too cold and a tiny bit sweet would have made a fair pint of bitter. The folks in there were really friendly. We were chatting to one local who said how important the tourists were (take note residents of grand lake, colorado) and was generally friendly (perhaps he had his eye on duane-lee?), and our waiter, sorry 'server', was born in brighton!!! He was raised in california, but is moving to devon. General murmours of "small world, small world"... (don't forget you have to leave the door for a minute or two before it will open!)

4) sort out the clothes into those that can be tumbledried and those that can't... This morning we hired a jeep wrangler 4x4 for the day. Yeah! Gnarly dude. The roads into the parks are quite restrictive and will only get you so far, whilst the 4x4 trails allow you to see so much more. The first trail was only 7 miles and took us from moab to canyonlands via the gemini bridges; a couple of arches some 200-300ft high that you can walk over. The ascent there was pretty rough and steep, but the jeep and its able captain (me) did a great job... (make sure you don't tumbledry delicates!!! And pop $1.00 in the machine)

5) empty the drier and fold the clothes neatly. After lunch, it was time to put the other captain hill behind the wheel on what was supposed to be an easier trail. From the entrance of canyonlands the path (which is being generous - it was more like streams of shingle and rocks) wound down the inside of the canyons at a scarily steep rate, descending some 1500ft in about two miles. This path was about 10-12 feet wide and had no crash barriers. It was quite frightening, but fortunately we had signed release waivers so that nobody could be liable if we did die... Anyway, captain joey got us safely down, and I live to tell the tale. We did see a couple of clowns going the opposite way in their normal cars... What were these people thinking??? (here just check for any socks stuck to the inside of the drier).

6) clear up the washing tat (powder and laundry basket etc) and go. Tonight I think we might pop back for a spot more of the local brew and tucker, ready to head on up to salt lake city tomorrow. It's been nice here, but after spending a week or so in national parks, we're ready for some city action... (If using a public laundrette/laundromatt, it is customary to give the attendant a cursory thanks, cheers or goodbye).

So, there you have it: You know what we've been up to, we all know how to wash clothes, and i'm off for a well deserved beer. Just call me laundro-matt...

Ps, well done sweet fa on finding some winning form at last, and three cheers for the mighty sussex who look like they're going to wrap up the county league tomorrow after demolishing notts today... Mushy, mushy, mushy, ahmed, ahmed, ahmed!

Duane-Lee's musings:
Ok....i'll keep today's musings brief (like the contents of Matt's dirty washing load!)....just to clarify, I have not yet given up my birth name on an American cowboy whim......I was merely titilated by the names of the family members of a particularly amusing American reality show called "Dog the Bounty Hunter"! Duane Lee and Landon are 2 of the said bounty hunters 12 sons!

You probably all wonder how come we are indoors writing this blog and not out raging.....well we are in Utah after all where the majority of the population is Mormon and alcohol is not freely purchasable.....not like West Street then!

Todays amazing trip to Canyonlands was "rocking" (ha ha)...Geology Jen (my sis) would have loved it...photo's to follow. A question for Jenny...Why are the rocks red?and a bit green in places? Very complicated for me to fully understand......seriously Jen, we wished you were there to see the rocks it with us xx

Love to you all and thanks loads for e mailing us, it is always nice to hear from home.

Lots of love,

Jo xxx (AKA D.L)