Pennsylvania

Our first leg of the trip was from Toledo to New York across I-80. We left on the 29th of July around 3:30 in the morning. The Sun rose around Cleveland and the day bloomed perfectly—blue sky and cool temperatures. I drove from Toledo to the middle of Pennsylvania, where Yuri took over. Lena slept in the back seat much of the way.

I-80 in Eastern Pennsylvania	Farming in the Dells	Pennsylvania Mountains
The Delaware Water Gap	Yuri and Lena Beside the Delaware	Yuri and Me

New York City

We arrived in New York on the afternoon of the 29th and spent four days there. We dropped my stuff off at my sister's apartment on West 50th Street, then drove to Brooklyn where friends of Yuri and Lena were living near Coney Island.

During our stay, we strolled around the city, I spent time with my sister, Suzanne, and my friend Don, and I saw a play. This was the first time I had ventured out on my own in the city and I developed a familiarity with New York that I had previously not had.

Looking South from the Empire State	Flatiron	34th Street	Midtown and the Park
Looking north from the Empire State
Midtown Manhattan	Below the Empire State Building	The Concorde in Times Square	Times Square Looking South
Times Square Looking North	St. Patrick's Cathedral	Yuri and Me	Steam Leak!
Rockefeller Center	Animals	Central Park	The Lake
The Sheep Meadow	The Ramble	Street Find	Washington Square
Mulberry Street	Civic Center	The Municipial Building	Chinatown
The U.S.S. Intrepid Museum	The Battery	World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan	Bowling Green
Midtown From the Brooklyn Bridge	Lower Manhattan form the Brooklyn Bridge
Times Square at night

Kansas

After spending a few days in New York, we high-tailed it out west. We left from my parent's place near Philadelphia around 8 in the evening and drove straight through to Kansas. Our priority on this leg of the trip was to get there rather than see things. We drove through Indianapolis around dawn and kept on going, arriving at a campsite in the middle of Kansas at about 6 o'clock the following evening.

Kanopolis Lake	Sunset	Pawnee Rock
Me Atop Pawnee Rock	Fort Larned	Dodge City

Southern Colorado

As one drives into western Kansas and eastern Colorado, the signs of civilization become few and far between. We drove a main road into Colorado, US Route 50, but took the 70-mile, Colorado Route 10 to meet up with the southern road through Colorado. For over an hour we drove without seeing another town, not even an intersecting road. We only saw the occasional watering hole for cattle and the fences to keep them in.

We had an adventure driving across the prairie of Kansas and Colorado. A large bumble bee flew in the car and smacked into Yuri, awakening later to sting him on the arm. We were also stuck behind a large, open-topped tractor trailer overflowing with dead cows, their upright legs bouncing up and down as the truck motored down the highway. Be glad you weren't there to smell it.

Colorado Prairie	Colorado Hills	Yuri and the Cactus	Distant Dunes
Mountains and Camp Site	Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Monument	Medano Creek	Dunes and Mountains
Hot Stuff	Medano Creek Erosion	Along the Rio Grande	Bee Sting
Valley View	Valley Overlook	Yuri and Me	Rock Outcrop
Wolf Creek Pass			Treasure Falls
Sock Tan Line	View from US 550	A Rocky Mountain	Ouray, Colorado
Camp Hell	Yet Another Mountain View	Snow-Capped Peaks	Sandstone Exposed
San Miguel River	Flatlands	Utah, Dead Ahead	Arid Valley

Utah

We have now arrived in the deserts of southeastern Utah. This will be a brief venture into the low-lying basin where the temperatures are high and water is scarce. Our destination here is Arches National Park and a few other parks in the area.

Delicate Arch Viewpoint	Yuri and the Delicate Arch	The Wash	View From the Trail
Petrified Sand Dunes	Park Avenue	Teetering	The Balanced Rock
Morning in Canyon Country	Our Camp Site	Dead Horse State Park	The Winding Colorado
Colorado River gooseneck
Another View	Daredevil	Living on the Edge	Dead Horse Point Overlook I
Dead Horse Point Overlook II	Dead Horse Point Overlook III	Out on a Limb	Yuri and Canyon
Looking south from Dead Horse Park
Mesa Top	Approaching Storm	Twisted Tree	The Three Gossips
Sandstone Landscape	The Windows	The Double Arch	Getting Closer
Inside the Double Arch	Yuri in the Arch	View From the Double Arch	Joining the Arches
Me in a Window	Along Utah Route 128	The Colorado River	Sandstone Walls
Steep Walls	Fisher Towers

Central Colorado

From the deserts of Utah, we venture back into Colorado and to cooler climates. We make the transition from arid basin to alpine mountains and back to prairie and grasslands. First, we visit the Colorado National Monument, then Mount Evans, where the highest road in the U.S. was built.

Fruita Canyon View	Independence Monument	View from Rim Rock Drive	Coke Ovens View
Bridge Near Vail	Big Horn Sheep	Eastern View	The Road to the Top
Looking West	Hovering Clouds	Echo Lake	Yuri and Sheep
The Road Below	Posing Big Horns	Baby Big Horn	Mountain Precipice
The Top!	My Lovely Apartment Complex