The Solway Lass

I've been crazy-busy since getting back but finally have a moment to breathe and thought I'd work in another post.

I first saw a photo of Whitehaven Beach about two years ago. I've been obsessed ever since. When we decided to plan a trip to Australia, we knew we couldn't pass it up. We love boats and sailing and decided to see Whitehaven and the rest of the Whitsundays on the sea.

There are a lot of party boats leaving out of Queensland's Airlie Beach but I think we found a good one. There were some very young backpackers on board but the rest of the group was is their twenties - making us the old foagies (and I'm still in my twenties!). Drinking a beer with a guy born in 1992 is something that was difficult to get used to. A CERTAIN SOMEBODY celebrated his birthday on board, the crew helped me to arrange a cake but the complimentary prosecco was best enjoyed the next day at sunset.

Our boat was the Solway Lass. She's a wooden tall ship with two masts - she was gorgeous when all sails were up. Built in 1902, she's criss-crossed the globe as she traded from Dutch to British to Scottish to German and finally to Australian possession when she was purchased for Whitsunday Cruises. Quite a change from her original cargo ship days carrying coal, produce, and stone.
We slept in a tiny compartment down below but it did the trick. No sailing at night but when we set off early the first morning, the rocking did get to me a bit. Nevermind though, the fresh air outside did the trick. A quick dip into the water (making sure to wear the scuba suit protecting against deadly invisible jellyfish - no joke, basically my worst fear - an invisible enemy) was even better.

It's hard to decide what we liked more, our time on or off the boat. On board, we had the gorgeous islands, crystal clear waters, cool breezes, and a rope swing. Ashore, well, stay tuned....

Independence Day

Spending Independence Day in the good ole USA is really a treat. It's not just the fireworks and BBQs, it's also the fact that we don't have to work and entertain at official celebratory events. Those events really aren't so bad but it's nice to kick back and have a real American treat every couple of years. With family in town, we headed to the Mall to watch the DC fireworks.

Now, I normally HATE the Mall during the 4th and, in years past, have avoided it at all costs. This year was different. We live downtown and in easy walking distance so the dreaded packed metro was skipped. Rather than deal with the crowds, we strolled down to the Lincoln Memorial around 7.30pm (fireworks were scheduled for a little after 9) and actually managed to find a nice spot to fit the five of us on the steps.


We chatted for awhile but the time passed pretty quickly and before we knew it, the fireworks were starting. EVERYONE had cameras out, obviously I did too. However, what I wasn't doing was taking photos of the fireworks and then showing them to my companions as the fireworks were still going off. Why would you do that? Anyhow, the musical selection was odd but the show was fantastic, even though the smoke over the reflecting pool kept growing.


I've seen fireworks over lots of international monuments but there's something special about being in my nation's capitol, listening to patriotic music and surrounded by red, white, and blue. It's been 234 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.

Badlands National Park

Our time back in the States has been really busy. Trying to cram in visits with friends and family, trips to the beach, checking out new restaurants, and preparing for Afghanistan has been very time-consuming! Stepping back and reviewing our vacation road trip helps to slow things down. It was only a few weeks ago but seems like ages sometimes!

Near the end of our trip, we headed from Mount Rushmore to Badlands National Park. Passing the Black Hills along the way, we realized that we definitely hadn't budgeted enough time for South Dakota and mentally added another park to our "must visit" list (which is getting pretty long). Badlands was pretty amazing though and well worth the trip. The terrain was a mixture of the prairie grass and rugged canyons, spires, and plateaus that house fossils tens of millions of years old.
Unlike Arches and Canyonlands, Badlands has more relaxed regulations regarding backcountry hiking and camping. From the site pictured above, we saw a family of three scurry right up one of the canyon walls without any specialized equipment. Far in the distance, you could see the Badlands Wall which local Native American tribes used as a scouting location - they had been hunting there for nearly 11,000 years.

Of course Badlands has had some controversy in its past due to the struggles between the Native Americans and incoming homesteaders. The Stronghold table was the site of the last Ghost Dance conducted by followers of the Lakota prophet Wovoka who believed that they would overcome the "white man". Of course, the massacre at Wounded Knee, 45 miles from the park, unfortunately said otherwise.

Wildlife is plentiful in the Badlands - bison and prairie dogs are most common. We didn't see any but the park's official literature and all the DANGER signs around the park tell me that rattlesnakes are also pretty common. Also unseen - bobcats, bighorn sheep, and coyotes. However, the most surprising threat was from the ubiquitous prairie dog (can you see it popping into the foreground in the above photo) who, as pictured below, have PLAGUE!

Mount Rushmore

I promise that we did tons more stuff after leaving Utah and Nebraska. Trouble is, I started back up in training last week and am having a very difficult time sitting down to write about it. As I sit in eight hours of powerpoint presentations, I try my hardest to focus on LEARNING ABOUT AFGHANISTAN and not drift off into daydreams of the Delicate Arch at sunset or Mount Rushmore lit up at night. It's tough.


My initial impression of Rushmore was "that's it??" as we drove up from the outside. That sounds pretty bad but it became quite a bit more impressive inside the park (it looked really tiny at the first view). An outdoor corridor was lined with the flags of all fifty states and we took the time to point out Texas, Ohio, and Virginia. In retrospect, I wish I'd checked if DC was there too. This was also the broadest view of the four presidents. We joined the crowds at the overlook, oohing and aahing for a few minutes. We then set out for the hike on the Presidential Trail that our guidebook mentioned.


Well, less of a walk than a flat boardwalk going around (under) the presidents, the trail still afforded various viewpoints and info stations where we could learn more about why each president was selected for Mount Rushmore. Sculptor Gutzom Borglum chose each of the four. Washington represents the spirit of independence in the US and, as the first president, is featured first on the left. Incidentally, while this factoid was mentioned in a guide, we learned at the Mount Rushmore museum the Lincoln was originally supposed to be carved into Washington's right, placing GW between him and Roosevelt! However, when Borglum started dynamiting the surrounding rock, he found there wasn't enough work space on that side of Washington and shifted Lincoln to the other side.

Thomas Jefferson, my favorite president, was the second selected for the monument due to his statesmanship and inspiring vision (particularly during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence). Theodore Roosevelt is to the viewer's right of Jefferson and is a particularly appropriate choice due to his instrumental role in the creation of America's National Park system but also for leading the country away from prior isolationist policies. Roosevelt's selection was controversial at the time as he'd only been dead for eight years but is now a clear choice.


Finally, on the viewer's far right, is Abraham Lincoln. Borglum chose to depict the 16th president with the beard he grew in older age, despite portraying the others in younger days. The beard comes out so precise and lifelike, it's hard to imagine how difficult it must've been to carve it into the mountain. Lincoln represents unwavering determination - a typically American characteristic - essential during the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation. Borglum's respect for Abraham Lincoln runs so deep that he ended up naming his son Lincoln.

Independence, visionary statesmanship, environmentalism, and determination. Four characteristics that all Americans should strive to live up to. I may have started out with low expectations but ended up leaving inspired by the four 60-foot faces carved into the Black Hills.

Canyonlands National Park

If Arches had been like walking around Mars, Canyonlands was the moon. Tall needle-shaped rock formations and canyons wider than the eye can see are a short drive away in Canyonlands National Park. If I'd spent the day before looking up to all the arches, I spent the next looking out into the wide horizon.


The park is made of three main districts: Island in the Sky, Needles, and the Mazes. We went with the former as our short introduction and were suitably impressed by the mesa plateau that we drove/hiked on, over 1000 miles above the rest of the terrain. The canyons were principally cut by running water (and receding seas) over millions of years and the layers in the rock formation are evident from certain views in the park - both the Colorado and Green rivers still run through the park.


We headed up to the Mesa Arch earlier in the day where my husband scrambled to the top of the arch for a photo opportunity, nearly giving me a heart attach 1500 feet above a canyon on a windy day. Sticking to the prescribed trail on the Island in the Sky, we didn't even scratch the surface of the magnificent 530 square miles of park land. We capped off the day with a "sound and light" canyonlands boat tour outside of Moab. Cruising down the Colorado, our guide pointed out shapes and figures in the surrounding cliffs until we turned around and bobbed back to Moab to accompanying music and dramatic lights.

Arches National Park

After a wonderful couple of days in Santa Fe, we climbed back into the car and headed to Moab, Utah. Moab is in a really special location, near to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We elected to go to Arches first during our three and a half day stay and it was a good thing as the weather just got windier and windier.


Located within the park's boundries are over 2000 natural sandstone arches along with quite a few other rock formations. It's in the "high desert" which means the altitude is high but not high enough to cause any sickness. The landscape was incredible - I've been to a lot of places but Arches might be the most beautiful in the world. We did the 32 mile drive through the park, stopping at overlooks for photos and pulling into the trailheads for various hikes. Balanced Rock (see below) was one of the easier ones - just a short trail around the base of the rock. Nearby were views of Park Avenue (called that due to the tall formations that appear like New York skyscrapers) and the Three Gossips. With a little imagination, you can easily pictures all kinds of other figures and shapes built into the canyons and out of rocks.

Our favorite hike was between the Sand Dune and Broken Arches. Sand Dune Arch was incredible, tucked inside quite a few other rocks and well-shaded, the sand beneath our feet was cool and fine. My shoes have mesh along the outside and was letting in quite a bit of sand so I ended up going barefoot as I walked around. The downside was that the wind had been picking up and with the shape of the rocks, really whipped the sand around. We headed to the Broken Arch from there. Usually a pretty each walk (it was under 2 miles), it became a bit tougher by the fact that we'd forgotten water and that the wind was blowing sand into our faces.

When we made it to the Broken Arch, we crawled up the rocks to hit the other side (my hiking partner is pictured below) and made our way through the last part of the trail. This is when the need for water really kicked in but we hit the local campground (and water fountain) right in town. The wind started to pick up again as we left but we weren't quite ready to call it quits yet.

We drove around the park, trying to decide where to return to for sunset. We'd picked up some sandwiches in town and were planning on a picnic. Since we'd decided to do Delicate Arch the last day, we headed back to the Double Arch you see below. You can't really tell from that photo but you can actually climb all up and down the rocks between the arches quite easily and find the perfect spot to watch the sun set.

When we returned to Arches two days later, the wind was worse than ever. The sky in Moab was red and sandy when we woke up and the sand gusts were painfully strong. With our sunglasses, baseball caps, and jackets zipped up to our chin, we looked like celebrities dodging paparazzi! We made it out to Landscape Arch (below) where, in 1991, a chunk 60 feet long feel from the top. No need to dodge debris that day, just the sand. Unfortunately, it was a little to tough to make the longer hike to Delicate Arch. We vowed to make it back sometime soon - no light promise since the three and a half days we spent wasn't nearly enough.