Cedar Point, Akron, and a Very Large Hangar

I made a stop in Akron, Ohio to see my friend Bill. Bill and I go back to by Albuquerque days…..He was always my go to guy: laundry, boy trouble, leaky faucet, boy trouble, moving things up or down the stairs, more boy trouble….guess some things never seem to change! We had a great time at Cedar Point riding roller coasters over and over again.....I had no idea they were so hard core! We arrived before they opened and were one of the last ones to leave (after the park had shut down, and they had to kick us out!). I was afraid they wouldn't let me stop for lunch!

One of the coolest sites in town was this HUGE hanger across the way. I was amazed! They use it to build blimps and secret spy stuff of course....what follows is a cut and paste off the Internet:

Big buildings are not unusual in Ohio, but Akron has a structure that makes "big" a bit of an understatement. In fact, when it was built, the Goodyear Airdock was the biggest building, without interior supports, in the world. It's vast. At its farthest points, it's 1,175 feet long, 325 feet wide, and 211 feet high. You could fit eight football fields inside with room to spare. The
structure is so big that a legend developed about rain falling inside it. That's exaggerated, though. In high humidity, the interior gets misty, but it hasn't actually rained.

Bill, thank you for your wonderful hospitality, encouragement, motivation and especially the friendship over the years!

Out of the Mountains and into the City - Chicago

WOW! Chicago is a pretty amazing city...i had no idea, as this was the first time I had ever ventured there.....just something truly beautiful and magical about this place.....have to say if I was looking for a home in the city this would be at the top of the list!

We ate pizza, saw the Picasso, checked out the architecture, ate popcorn, shopped....a really great walking city.

One of my favorite sites was a seamless stainless steel, and therefore mirrored, elliptical statue in Millennium Park.....almost like a piece of mercury that lost its way....you could watch the reflections of the clouds, people, and tall buildings....a really cool perspective to such an amazing place.

Badlands National Park and Moving Mounds of Dirt

We just did a quick drive through the Badlands on the way to Chicago.

The landscape looked rugged with eroding buttes, pinnacles, and spires....formations that seemed to contrast sharply with the flat plains and rolling hills......somewhat colorless, yet the rock/mud was filled with rich sand colored stripes....Certainly made for nice driving!

Devils Tower, Wyoming and the Biggest Harley Davidson Flag in North America!

Devil's Tower....Well, I'm still digesting this place, as it kinda gave me the eebee geebees.......I think it was a combo of everything.....debate about whether you should really be climbing it or not; as it is a place of prayer for the American Indians.....very odd, strange people wandering around that all seemed to have a 1,000 questions for you.....turkey vultures riding thermals that seemed to actually be following you.....(ok they were actually really cool)........the odd story of the man who parachuted to the top and was stuck up there for 9 days.....

The climbing actually was super amazing, but a little spooky at the same time.....run out with old school ratings, i'm still trying to figure out where the 5.5 pitch was supposed to be.................or maybe the place just has something to do with Close Encounters of the Third Kind......

Regardless, I'm left feeling that the place is just a little odd......

And regardless of being odd, it sure was beautiful at the top!

We just happened to hit the same week as Sturgis, the big motorcycle rally....we were told the flag that is flying is the largest Harley Davidson flag in North America.....

So long Jackson.....Hello Yellowstone!

Once again it was back to Jackson for some chips, salsa, beer and relaxing in the sun......It really was a great time in Jackson....I met a ton of really amazing folks, spent time with Evan's family (who were all so wonderful), visited Browse and Buy, ate bagels, ate the BEST chocolate cake - after a REALLY amazing dinner (thank you yet again Zach!), runs at the Elk Refuge, passed the hotel I lived in years ago....it was just really nice to see the place in the summer and reminisce.........(OK, enough of that)


Long story short, Evan didn't have to go back to work and was trying to get to New York.....so it worked out to give him a ride to Chicago....First stop Yellowstone! (Thanks for making the detour Evan!)

Old Faithful was still doing its thing!

It actually was a pretty miserable day with a lot of Gortex involved.....(and a cute skirt of course).......and if I remember correctly it was hailing, but that was no surprise! But we still walked around....its so cool to walk so close to the geysers and feel the warm air blowing across them, or randomly see water shooting into the air, and the colors the algae turns the pools, (bright blues, orange, yellow) is just amazing...........I still find it all very impressive and beautiful.......

Teton Climbing - Jackson, Wyoming

Ever since I spent that winter season in Jackson, I've been itchy to climb in the Tetons.....So after a couple of really nice in town days (including a ride on the Zipper at the fair!) Evan and I were off and climbing again. (above Irene's Arete)

Climbing the Grand Teton was more spectacular than I ever thought it would be.....

Alpine start (YES! I did get up!), beautiful sunrise, windy @ windy corner, and just warm and sunny on the summit....and the way down.....hail......did I mention it hails in Wyoming?

It was impressive how quickly the clouds would move in swirly, chaotic motion across the sky.....

Certainly a place where you could spend a lifetime climbing and not climb it all.....looking forward to revisiting the "hole" at some point in time...........Enjoy the slide show!