Road Trip 2008 Planned....

The airline reservation has been made and the map is on the wall. We've booked our 2008 excursion -
Destination...... Everywhere.

This year instead of the Harley - we're jeeping it all across Colorado and Utah - with Moab being our ultimate destination.

Moab is on the southwestern tip of the Colorado Plateau, a unique geological feature that encompasses more than 130,000 square miles of the "four corner" states. I understand the unique attributes of this place very well because I did an honors paper on the Colorado Plateau in college. I actually travelled out there, took soil samples, rock samples and studied the geology and landformations for months.

Without going into detail and really boring you, suffice it to say that the Moab area which was once full of lakes, glaciers and waterfeatures, is now dry - exposing over 2 BILLION years of geological history by virtue of sediment and layering. You can touch and smell earth which existed over 2 billions years ago. Every time we head out there I never come home with less than five pounds of rocks, pods, dirt and sand. And yes - I would leave my favorite pair of Kate Spades in the trash if it meant either the shoes or the rocks gotta go in order to get my suitcase through that scale at the airport! And while I come from "five star" hotel stock (admittedly my family is made up of bunch of hotel snobs - but I love 'em!!) NO HOTELS on this trip. We typically camp for a few days and then head into town and stay in a hotel or at one of my family's places in Aspen or Lake Tahoe. But this time -- we are totally going au naturale. With the jeep Blaise and I can head off the main roads and go up into the mountains or down into the gulches and find a perfect spot out in the middle of nowhere to set up camp where we will stay for one night and move on in an effort to traverse as much terrain as possible. (NOTE TO SELF - remember to hide "unsensible shoes" better this time in suitcase so they don't mysteriously end up "M.I.A." only to find them under Blaise's side of the the bed when we return home.)

In any event - the trip is a few months away so we are now in the planning stages. But I'm one of those wierd people that get almost as much pleasure out of the planning and fantasizing as I do the trip itself. It all comes together as one event for me which is cool because instead of just a 10 day vacation - mine lasts for months.

Finally, and I promise I won't talk about it any more until AFTER it happens -- comes the most important part of the planning. I now have a few months to do a total revamp on my body, health and stamina and I have to get myself into the best shape ever. I really started the first of the year (that was one of those resolutions I wouldn't tell you about .) Well -- I have LOTS of work to do and I've totally changed the way I am eating and exercising to accomplish major health overhaul on my 5'1 (on a good hair day). I've done this two other times in my life - once in my 20's and once in my 30's -- Now that I'm in my (um - this is the hard part) 40's it's time to do it again .

Have a great Sunday. We're off to church - then I'm planting, sewing, reading and baking today. Do something spectacular today and BE INSPIRED!!!

PS - NO that's not us on the vertical incline - it's just some crazy guy - but gives you a good idea of the Extreme Moab - where NOTHING is off limits!