What's in a blog?

I cannot believe how time passes so quickly. 2007 has ended and we are embarking on a fresh new year. We look forward to many exciting travels in 2008. Areas we want to visit this year include the canyonlands and parks of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. We would love to revisit Eastern Oregon, the Snake River area of Idaho and the Cascades in Washington.

I am thrilled with our blog and want to thank Rikki for his leadership and creativity. I think he has done such an outstanding job starting our blog and keeping it going. I cannot believe we have such a worldwide audience now!

I am struck by what makes it to our blog and what doesn't. Less than a third of our adventures actually appear here. When we return from a three or four week trip we generally have about 5,000 photos and dozens of hours of raw video. Looking back over the year, there are some wonderful times that didn't make it here, not for lack of desire, rather from lack of time.

One particular trip was to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Rikki, Fox, Spencer and I spent three days with my cousin Mary and her husband John at their beautiful home in Sequim. Mary treated us to an insiders tour of Olympic National Park, as well as the abundance of seaside and mountain terrain in their semi-rural and historic area. I don't have our photos organized, but I hope to have them up soon as these are some of our favorite moments from 2007.

Another area I would like to reflect on before 2007 slips too far away is our back road 4x4 trips. These are some of my favorite experiences. We had a lot of near vertical road trips, including the White Mountains above Owens Valley, and off road jaunts in the Cascade Range in Washington, the deserts of California, as well as the Coastal Range in Northern California. Lots of mud, many gasps, lots of car washes, lots of fun!

Lastly, I hope to post some information on our style of camping and adventure. We joke a lot that we hate RV parks. Look for a post about how we have outfitted our RV to be self-contained, self-sufficient and able to handle back country roads.

Rikki and I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!