Looking for America (1)

Town Mouse regrets to inform you that for the next five weeks, you won't hear much about the Town Mouse garden. The reason? Town Mouse is attending the Advanced Training at the Guild for Structural Integration in Boulder, Colorado. The training is much overdue, Town Mouse did her original 5 months of training almost ten years ago, and she's very happy that it was finally possible to fit the training in.

Considering the carbon footprint of airplane travel, and the allure of a road trip, Town Mouse teamed up with a friend who had to fly to Europe anyway (and took the plane from Denver instead of SFO). After careful examination of the possible routes offered by Google and of the National Parks along the way, the two set off last Thursday for an adventure on the road. They had chosen the following route:

1.  Drive to 120 and take 120 through Yosemite (photo above) and past Mono Lake. 
2. Drive Highway 50 -- the loneliest road in America -- through Nevada (Photo from Wikipedia) and spend the night in Baker, NV. 
 

 
3. Spend the morning in Great Basin National Park, visiting the caves and hiking for a few hours. 
4. Drive Highways 50 and 70 to Moab, Utah, and spend the night. 
5. Spend the morning at Arches National Park, hiking and taking photos. 
 

 
6. Drive the final stretch on Highway 70 and arrive in Boulder two days before the training starts. 

Did our intrepid travelers make it? How often did they get lost? How close did they get to becoming seriously dehydrated and sunburned when they got lost in Arches National Park? Did the plug-in Prius serve them well on the lonely roads and steep grades? Were there wildflowers to admire? Come back to this blog to find out!

P.S. While you won't hear much about the Town Mouse garden, expect to hear about the Country Mouse garden, including some photos Town Mouse took on July 5th, when she was much impressed with the happy monkey flowers and other delightful surprises.