Los Angeles, CA

Hard to believe that the trip is ending... We have seen so many things and done everything we planned, and then some. It was really fun to travel with Dave, he is such a good friend!

After having breakfast, checking out of the hotel, stopping for gas and lattes, we hit the road back to reality. We saw the traffic increase the closer we got to LA. As we came across the Cajon Pass, we noticed that the scenery was similar to other landscapes we had seen, but the haze that surrounded it was hard to accept. Where we had seen blue skies and lovely fluffy clouds in the past few days, we were now seeing a dead sky around us. That's when I realized that I really didn't miss living in Southern California. I always loved the moderate temperatures, and thought that if I could I would move back sometime. I had been lucky to live on the coast in Santa Monica, where the smog was lessened. And of course, Joshua Tree had been a bit clearer. But the influx of so many people really has an impact on our environment, and it was definitely noticeable as we drove in.

One message is very clear to me - we must be more active in saving our Mother Earth! Any city can become what LA is now by uncontrolled development and reckless building. I hope that some of the images we've presented from our trip will help to remind everyone that there are still beautiful places in this country. And, that we can all help to preserve them for the future generations. Get involved! Peace to all of you!

Las Vegas (Again)

Sigh.. Time to leave Sedona. We went to another marvelous breakfast at the Casa - poached pear and french toast. There were more guests today because it was Saturday and people were there for the weekend. We shared a table with a young couple from Wisconsin, Tim and Reba. They were on their honeymoon, having gotten married the prior Saturday. They had been to the Grand Canyon and a few other places besides Sedona. It was fun to talk to them.

I took a few pictures of Casa Sedona that I'd like to share. It was a wonderful place to stay.

On the road again, we stopped for our lattes on the way out of town. As we headed back through "uptown" Sedona, we decided to shop for a wallet for Dave if we saw any place that was interesting. We stopped at the main shopping area, and went to a few places. Dave didn't find anything, but of course I picked up a few things! As we went on a little further, we saw a small place that sold leather goods. We stopped and viola (!) Dave found just what he was looking for.

Back on the road, we felt this would be the longest drive of the trip. We made pretty good time getting back onto I-40 and thought that Kingman would be a good place to stop for lunch before we got onto US-93 to go into Vegas. Kingman was "fast food city", so the best place we could eat was Denny's. Not bad, but definitely not Casa Sedona...

On to US-93 and I discovered that this route goes over Hoover Dam. I was really excited (!) because I've never been there, in spite of living in California and going to Vegas often. However, as we got closer, my enthusiasm waned as the traffic increased. It was amazing to see so many people there, and unfortunately tourist traffic and thru traffic had to take the same route. We could see they are building another road that bypasses the dam, but it was just to either side of the dam at this point.

We made it through and got into Vegas around 4:00 PM. This time around we were staying at Harrah's because it was close to The Venetian, where the Blue Man Group was playing. We checked in, moved our luggage to the room, and decided to go and pick up our tickets for the show. By the time we got our tickets, there was about 45 minutes until the doors opened at 6:00 PM for the 7:00 PM show. We figured it was too late to go back to the room before the show, so we walked around and gambled a little. The show was really fun! I've seen it before and it's pretty hard to describe. Go to the link above and check it out.

By this time, I was pretty exhausted. Not much of a party animal anymore...

Sedona, AZ

We were on time for breakfast and what a great treat it was! Tables were set up on the patio, with umbrellas to shield us from the sun, and bright colored table linens. Scott was there attending to everyone. We started with a fruit smoothie topped with a bit of whipped cream and strawberries. Then, we moved on to a delicious quiche, served with diced browned potatoes on the side. Of course, there was tasty coffee, orange juice, and cranberry juice. Excellent!

The night before, Dave mentioned to me that Scott looked like a friend of his, John Dunn. When Scott came by our table, Dave showed him a picture of John. The resemblance was pretty strong. Scott offered to give us some tips of where to go after breakfast, so when we talked to him, Dave took his picture to send to John. It was pretty funny to see both pictures, they didn't look exactly alike, but they could have been related. Scott showed us a few vortexes that were close by and directed us to the Center for the New Age on Route 179 for my reading. He also gave us a pass to park on National Forest Property.

With Scott's maps in hand, we decided to go to Cathedral Rock because it was close to us. We found the forest service parking , but when we got to the toll booth, the ranger told us that the pass wasn't good there and we had to pay a fee to enter. We paid, expecting to get brochures like you do in the national parks, but they only had a paper handout without much information on it. We asked for maps of the trails and they had one for sale. It wasn't great but it was something, so we bought it ($1.06).

We had already parked when Dave realized he left his camera back at the Casa. I had mine, so he decided to use it instead of going back. It didn't have the additional lenses, but I think the pictures still turned out great! Off we went with our postcard size map. We had a little trouble finding the correct trail, partly because Oak Creek ran through this area and people had made their own trails to the water. We finally found the stepping stones to take us across and started on the trail to Cathedral Rock and hopefully the vortex.







According to our map, the trail was about 3/4 mile. We figured that would be an easy hike, we could take a few pictures, and then head out to explore other areas. As you can see from the picture above, the trail was pretty easy to find now. But when we got into the wooded area surrounding the creek, we began to see other trail markers, and hoped we were on the right trail. The postcard size map was pretty useless at this point. We stayed on a trail that was close to the rocks, coming soon to some switchbacks that took us higher up the side of the rocks. The trail was rocky but easy to walk, however it was steep as we climbed higher. We both agreed that this was longer than 3/4 mile! We finally came to a point where we would have to climb rocks to get to the switchbacks that continued up to the peak. Since we couldn't see the next peak, we decided we had gone far enough.

So far, we hadn't felt any kind of change in energy due to a vortex. But as we started down, Dave had a sense of clarity and I noticed that all the colors around me were enhanced. I've had this feeling when doing yoga breathing, so I could have been that I was getting more oxygen to my brain after resting. Who knows for sure? Beautiful experience no matter what caused it!

After we got back to the car, we decided it was time to go check out the Center for the New Age, and have some lunch. Back to reality and traffic for a short period of time. We made it to the Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village, which happened to be across the street from the Center. We parked there because it was easier to walk across the street with the traffic than to maneuver a car. I was fascinated with the wind sculptures that were at various spots in the village, and Dave took a picture of them at the gallery where they were sold. It's hard to see in the picture, but there was a burst of wind and all of them were moving!



First stop was to make an appointment for me with Rima Thundercloud. Then, back across the street to have some lunch at Secret Garden Cafe. It was a lovely garden setting, and the food was heavenly. After lunch, I went back to have my reading, while Dave was gracious enough to spend some time shopping. It took a little longer than I expected, but it was fascinating and very appropriate for where I am right now in my life. It is rather personal and I'm not going to share any details. However, I would definitely recommend Rima to anyone. I plan to keep in touch with her, and the next time I'm in Sedona, I want to take a vortex tour with her. Too bad we weren't staying longer...

Petrified Forest National Park, Az

This morning it was time to head to Sedona. We decided to try breakfast at the Thunderbird Lodge (where we had picked up our tour). We ran into Roger and Clarisse (a couple who was on the tour with us) as they were finishing up. We sat near them and chatted a bit until they left to continue on their trip to Albuquerque. I think one of the best things about traveling is the people you meet!

After breakfast, we went to Changing Woman Espresso for our "on the road" lattes. It was really funny to watch the interaction of the two young girls who waited on us. They were probably in their late teens. One of the girls was making the lattes, and the other kept touching things on the espresso machine that she wasn't supposed to, I think just to irritate the other. I thought for sure they were sisters (kind of reminded me of how my sisters and I interacted in our youth!). It turns out that one was the aunt of the other (big family).


The drive to Sedona was going to take about four hours, and we didn't really have any stops planned for the day. But after we got onto I-40, we remembered that Petrified Forest National Park was right there. Dave and I had both been there before, but it's an interesting drive through the park. So, we hit the visitor center and gift shop, then drove through the park and took a few pictures. The Painted Desert is on the north side of the park, and the first loop took us through there. The picture below is from an area called "Teepees".





They are really serious about looting in the park. Before the park was formed, a lot of the petrified wood was removed. Today, as you enter the park, you have to declare any wood you have. When we were at the gift shop, I saw a package of rough petrified wood pieces with a notice on it "do not open until after you leave the park". You can see some of the wood from the road, but it's better to go on the trails. I think Dave got a good picture that shows the wood-like texture of the rocks.

Since the road was rather long, we decided to exit the park at the south entrance and take another route back to the freeway. We saw several park rangers searching a van as we exited. Not sure if it was exiting or entering the park, but they were looking for petrified wood.

We had lunch in Holbrook and continued to Sedona. While we were having lunch, I had a call from Scott at the B&B in Sedona to confirm our arrival time. He told us that we should be able to get to Sedona by around 4:30 PM. Off we go, through Flagstaff, and south onto Route 89A. Around Flagstaff, the terrain changed again to pine forests. We were making really good time, so we decided to stop off at one of the viewpoints to get a better look at Oak Canyon. Dave took a few pictures, and when we got to the end of the small trail, I could see the road winding down into Sedona. Oh yeah, I forgot about the winding canyon roads... that was going to slow us down a bit!

We made it to the "uptown" area of Sedona, where there are a lot of shops and galleries. Then, traffic came to a stop. We knew there was some construction going on but weren't sure if that was the reason for the slowness. As we inched forward, we watched traffic build up to several miles behind us. This was definitely going to make our arrival at Casa Sedona later than planned! But there was nothing we could do about it. There aren't many side roads in Sedona because of the canyons. All the traffic flows into 89A and 179 (going south), so we made the best of it. Finally, after about 35 minutes, we arrived at the main construction area at the junction of 179. What a mess! But it was a quick drive to the Casa after that.

When we arrived (I think it was around 5:15), the keys to our room had been taped to the door. We took them off, but saw that Scott was inside, so we went in. He seemed a little upset that we were late and hurried us into the area to show us where the happy hour hors d'oeuvres were. Then he showed us to our room, told us about breakfast, and suggested that we get something to eat before he put everything away. I guess it didn't help that we were making comments about the traffic and construction, I'm sure it's a nightmare for the businesses who depend on tourist trade in the summer. As we were eating some hors d'oeuvres, we decided we better be on time for breakfast the next day.

We hadn't really made any plans for Sedona, except to try to get to some of the vortexes there. I also wanted to explore the metaphysical aspect of Sedona with a past life reading, but we didn't know where to begin. So, we headed out to find a place to eat. Luckily, the construction was winding down, yet there were still detours. We decided to find a place nearer to our B&B instead of uptown. We went to the Red Planet Diner thinking it would be a fun, casual place. We were treated to some lightening shows outside during dinner, which was good because the food was mediocre, and mid-way through dinner our server disappeared. Oh well, we had to make it an early night anyway, because breakfast started promptly at 8:00 AM :-)

Canyon de Chelly, AZ

Yippee!!! We got onto the full day canyon tour!  There were only five people instead of six, but they went ahead with us anyway.  It had rained the night before, so the canyon floor was filled with water as we got underway.   It was a good thing we were in a large vehicle because if there wasn't water, there was mud.

Our Navajo guide, Ron, told us that we had to wait until we got to the junction of the two canyons to see if they were passable.  First thing in the morning there are a lot of vehicles in the canyon - half day tours with vehicles like ours, private jeep tours, and tours where the clients use their own cars.   Since we were going for the full day, Ron passed up the first stops and got ahead of everyone else.  The water continued to flow as we went along, and we stopped in spite of it to view some ruins.

  

When we made it to the junction, Ron told us that we probably wouldn't be able to go the whole way to Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly because the water was too deep in that canyon.  So, we started up the North canyon, Canyon del Muerto.  It was amazing to see the water flowing like a large stream down the canyons.  In a little while, we came across some people standing at the side of the water flow.  The woman started talking to Ron in Navajo, and he told us that she was one of the vendors who sold jewelry in the Canyon and she had come that far but was not sure if her truck would make it through the water.  Ron was going to go through first to show her the depth of the water and the path through it.  She came around in a Ford F150 and waited until we crossed.  The water was probably 2-3 feet deep.  We didn't have any problem getting across.  I guess the one thing she had going for her was that she was brave enough and knew not to stop, no matter what.  She was almost across and the water was splashing so high that her entire windshield was covered with muddy water.  She gunned the engine and came out on higher land!  We all applauded!  Dave and another woman, Nancy, were the main photographers on the trip, but we were all so engrossed watching to see if she was going to make it that no one took a picture.  Later we saw her at one of the ruins selling jewelry and fry bread.  Everyone gave her kudos for making it across.  She was sitting in front of a very muddy looking truck with the hood raised to dry out the engine.  I bought several pieces of jewelry from her, and everyone had some fry bread.  As you can see, our truck made it through just fine...

There were so many sights to see in the canyon, and honestly, I can't remember all the names to attach to the pictures.  But Dave took some beautiful shots that show some of the pictographs, petroglyphs, and ruins.  They will give you a feel for the canyon.

The water began to flow less as we headed for Mummy Cave at the end of Canyon del Muerto. At one point, Ron had to stop the truck because the water had gouged out a path across the road that was about 18 inches high and 4-5 feet wide. It was too deep and wide to get across. He must have had this situation before because he got out, took a shovel from the front of the truck, and began to knock down the sides so the truck could pass. Since there was only one shovel, he did the work himself.

Didn't take long to get back on the road to Mummy Cave.  Couldn't get too close to these ruins, but we had lunch there before heading back. Mummy Cave was named after they found several mummies there. I like the picture below because you can see the ruins in the background.

It was really funny on the way back out of the canyon to see the energy level of everyone begin to drop.  By this time, we had been out for about 5 hours and the jostling of the jeep was beginning to wear on everyone.  The funny banter we had shared on the way in was replaced with silence and possibly a little nap for some.  I know I had my eyes closed a few times.  When we got back to the junction of the canyons, Ron told us that we could go to White House Ruin, but that would be the end of the journey.  The water was still running in Canyon de Chelly, although it wasn't as high.  More beautiful scenery and finally White House Ruin was  in sight.  We all jumped out of the truck to take a closer look and pictures.  Then back to the top of the canyon and dinner.  It was a long, yet beautiful experience!  

Four Corners, AZ, UT, CO, NM

Yesterday, we left Cortez and began the journey to Canyon de Chelly. We decided to stop at Four Corners since it was on the way. Not too much to see there except for the survey marker that indicates that there are four states touching at that point. It's a nice exhibit, and everyone is milling around to have a picture taken with feet in all states at once. It was funny to see some people squat down and put a foot and a hand in a different state. They have so many people taking pictures that they built a stand so you can look down and see the entire monument. Only 2 people on the stand at once for picture taking, which meant that once it was your turn, you called your subject's name and everyone watched. It made it more sociable and there was a lot of laughing as pictures were taken.

There were a lot of Native American vendors on the site, so we did some shopping before getting back on the road. The scenery began to change again to the more desert like landscape, although there were a number of farms. At one point, the RV that was in front of us stopped and we couldn't see why, thought maybe there was an accident or something. No, it was only sheep in the road...

You can see a little dog trying to herd them, but I think the goat in the background was the instigator! Two of the sheep had crossed the road. Since there was no traffic, I got out of the car and shooed them back across with the others. It was pretty funny!

We took a back road to Chinle so that we could stop at the North Rim overlooks for Canyon de Chelly. We went to Mummy Cave and Massacre Cave overlooks. They are spectacular from above, and it was exciting to think that we would be seeing them from the canyon floor when we did the tour. When we got out of the car at Mummy Cave, a cute black and white dog came up to the car. He was really friendly, but looked like he needed some water. As Dave was pouring some water into a small indentation in parking lot, another little tan colored dog came up too. There was a woman getting out of a car and I thought maybe they were her dogs, so I asked her. She replied that they were wild and we should be careful. They really needed water, so we found a spot and poured what was left from a gallon jug for them, and continued down the trail. Another larger dog joined them in drinking, and the small tan dog followed us to the overlook, where he proceeded to jump up on the wall and lay under the information display. It made me nervous because there was a straight drop to the canyon from there. I think it was a small amount of shade for him. As we moved to the next display on the trail, he came along which made me happier. We ran into two locals selling petrified wood, and I mentioned the dogs. He said that they had been reported to the park service many times, but they don't do anything about them. It was sad to see them.

On to Chinle... We checked into our hotel and went to the Visitor Center to find out about the canyon tours. The ranger gave us a list of tours in the area. We went to Thunderbird Lodge to find out about a group tour. We wanted to do the full day tour because it went into both canyons - Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. We were the first names on the list for the next day, but they needed at least six people for the tour to go. If there weren't enough for the full day, we could go on the half-day tour. Oh well, keep your fingers crossed!

We went to have some food, and to look around Chinle. It's kind of a dismal town. I think the only thing going for it, is the park. I was amazed to see so much livestock roaming around - horses, cattle, and lots of dogs. Surprising that we didn't see any dead animals along the road, but I guess people slow down because they know they could be there.

After eating, we checked back to see if anyone else had signed up for the tour. Not yet! The woman taking reservations told us that they have a lot of walk-ins for the tour and the one for that day had filled up to over twenty people in the morning. So we're hopeful.

Mesa Verde National Park, CO

After getting gas and 2 lattes, we were on the way to Mesa Verde.  It's a little drive from Cortez to get there, and once you are in the park, there's a 14 mile winding, climbing road to the visitor center.  I'm not sure what the elevation gain is, but there were a lot of switchbacks in the road with hairpin turns.  I was glad Dave was driving!  

Not too many stops along the way, so when I could I was reading about the largest cliff dwellings that had been excavated.  The only way you could see them was to get tickets to do a tour.  I was a little nervous when I saw that one required climbing a kiva ladder 100 feet.  I know what you're thinking - I used to go rock climbing, but I was roped up!  There were 3 tours that we could do, and we hadn't made up our mind until we got to the visitor center and the line was about 25 feet long to buy tickets.  

We found that Wetherill Mesa had one dwelling on the tour, but we could also do a self-guided tour to one dwelling, and several ruins.  This area is only open during the summer and as the drive started, I knew why.  The road had more switchbacks than the road coming into the visitor center!  They had a nice set up at Wetherill Mesa with trams to take you to the cliff dwellings once we got there.  The trams also picked you up at various places if you were hiking.  They had several rangers there to give information and we started talking to one who had been there for a while.  He suggested that we go first to Step House and see the dwelling there, then come back and go to Nordenskiold #16 ruin overlook, and Badger House Community ruins.  

The hike to Step House was not very long, but steep in places.  We had glimpses of the dwelling as we went along.  Once there, we talked to the ranger on duty and began to explore.  We were able to climb a kiva ladder to a higher level and look down into the exposed kiva.  Normally, they are covered and the only entrance is a hole in the center.  I was exciting to see it and imagine what life was like in the dwelling.  They must have been smaller people than today, judging by the size of the doors and entries into the kivas.  

A few other interesting items were the hand print on the ceiling of the rock behind the dwelling, at least 50 feet above the floor of the dwelling.  It was probably created by putting the hand on the rock, then blowing dye or paint around it.  I'm guessing they must have stood on a rooftop to do it. 

There was a wall of petroglyphs the ranger told us were the largest group in the park.  I thought there would be more because most of the dwelling had been inhabited for centuries.  I think Dave got a good shot of the petroglyphs, don't you?

After hiking back from Step House, we took the tram to the trailhead for Nordenskiold for our next adventure.  The hike was about 2 mile round trip, and I bet at one time it was spectacular.  But there had been a fire there and most of the pines had been burned.  The undergrowth was coming back, but the trail was hot and dusty, and filled with grasshoppers.  

Once there, it was interesting to look across the canyon to see the ruins.  I was glad I had my binoculars because I could see a lot of detail.  It's amazing to think that a whole community lived on those rocks! 

We hiked back to the trailhead and on to Badger House Community ruins.  They were covered with structures to protect them from the elements.  This was an earlier community that lived on top of the mesa in the pit structures similar to those we saw at the Anasazi Cultural Center.  There were 4 areas that had been excavated from different time lines.  We could get very close but not climb into them.  The picture below shows an opening that is one end of a tunnel that connected to a small tower about 40 feet away.

Notice how the top of the kiva is at ground level, as we look down into it.  We were pretty tired at this point, and happily jumped on the next tram for a few final stops on the way back to the parking area.  We stopped at an overlook that showed Long House, which was one of the dwellings that required a guided tour.  There was a group at the site, and another waiting at the top of the trailhead.  Made us really happy we had gone out on our own.

Back to the visitor center, in search of some food.  Disappointed that the cafeterias were closed mid-afternoon and didn't open again until 5:00 PM, we had some food that's not worth talking about, then headed out to the last dwelling that could be explored without a guide - Spruce Tree House.  It was a short, steep hike down into the canyon, but well worth it.  By this time, we were used to seeing the rooms in the rocks, however, there was a reconstructed kiva that we could climb down into.  It was great!  I was surprised at how much room there was inside.  It was about 7-8 feet high and 10-12 feet in diameter.  There were about 7 of us down there and it was quite roomy.  I think this was a great way to end the day at Mesa Verde...

Back to town and the micro brewery for a cold beer and a good dinner. This was a long day, but tomorrow we have mostly a driving day to Chinle, AZ and Canyon de Chelly.

Anasazi Cultural Center, Cortez, CO

I went out and looked at the moon last night and it was beautiful!   So bright, glowing in the black sky.  

Time to leave Moab and head to Cortez and Mesa Verde National Park.  Stopped by the Wicked Brew again for our lattes.  This was the same drive-thru espresso place that we went to yesterday.  They had a funny sign on the side of the building about not being "Starbucks" and instructing us to order small, medium, or large.  I was reminded of a co-worker I had that refused to order a "tall" coffee at Starbucks because it was really a small :-)  I had a hazelnut latte that was heavenly!  Dave had his usual large latte, but they only did shots of espresso in increments of 2 so he had 4!  Whoa!  I thought I was a heavy duty coffee drinker...

On to Cortez, the drive was about 2 hours.  Dave and I were both surprised by the terrain.  It became mostly pasture and farmland.  We expected to continue seeing more desert area, but were pleasantly surprised.  When we arrived, our hotel room wasn't ready yet, so we headed out to the Cortez Information Center to take a look.  The man who helped us gave us some information about Canyon of the Ancients, which is a new National Monument.  It was created last year, but they don't have much funding yet.  The Anasazi Cultural Center is the monument headquarters right now, so we decided to check it out.

The center was fabulous!  As you came through the parking lot there was a small pueblo ruin in front of the building - Dominguez Pueblo.  Inside, there were lots of hands-on exhibits where you could pick up items and look at them through a microscope, or try your hand at weaving and/or grinding corn.  Plus, all kinds of archaeological information, history of the Ancestral Pueblo Indians, and a lot of photographs of the various digs.  They had a replica of one of the pit structures that had been dug near there that was really fascinating.   Most of the structure would have been underground.  Then, we went on a short hike to see Escalante Pueblo at the top of a hill overlooking McPhee Reservoir.  

There was a volunteer, Dennis, up there who used a compass to show that the kiva was pointing due North.  He went on to explain that they probably used the sun and a stick to mark the shadow of the stick from sunset to sundown.  That would give them East and West, then use that to find North.  So interesting...

We went back to the gift shop to pick up a few items and I took some pictures of the beautiful flower beds outside the center.  They had a lot of the same wildflowers we have in Texas - echinacea, blanket flower, mexican hat, wine cup - plus a lot of columbine.  Robert, the clerk who had waited on us, saw me taking pictures and brought out a print out of the flowers so I could have additional information.  :-)

Back to Cortez to check in, have lunch, and do laundry.  Kind of a reality check...

Canyonlands National Park, Moab, UT

This is the first 2 day stay on the trip.  It was really nice not to have to pack up and check out before heading out to Canyonlands.  Of course, we stopped for our lattes at a drive-thru espresso bar.  It was a small shack in what used to be a parking lot.  No way to go inside, 2 windows - one on each side - to order coffee.  The owner offered us free coffee if we bought a T-shirt.  None interested us, so we had to pay.  But the coffee was fabulous!  What a way to start the day!

Next stop was the Visitor Center at the Park.  It's amazing how much construction is happening in this part of the country.  Judging by the number of tourists we've encountered, I guess that the visitors to all the parks are up.   The visitor center was smaller than normal because they are adding on.  I like to buy gifts and things at the visitor's center because the money goes directly to the parks, and they can use any help they can get.

We bought a CD for a self-guided car tour, and started on our way.  Canyonlands is pretty different from Arches.  There are lots of sheer cliff walls and canyons to view.  Also, along the road was a wonderful high mountain "pasture" where domestic animals used to graze.  Since that is not allowed anymore, the native grasses are coming back for the deer and bighorn sheep, as well as all the little chipmunks, birds, etc.  It was quite a site!  We began the drive, stopping at view points and doing the short hikes to the overlooks.

OK, today I realized I'm out of shape...  How do I know?  Well, breathing like Darth Vadar was my first clue :-)   Some of the hikes had steep inclines or steps to get to the overlook, and of course, we didn't want to miss the sites.  So, up we went... Dave did much better than I did.  He was taking lots of pictures, I was scanning the horizon for bighorn sheep (when I wasn't gasping for breath).  I didn't have much luck although there were some fantastic sights.  About 3:00 PM, we started talking about food, so we knew it was time to leave.  Came back into Moab to a little Mexican restaurant for a margarita and wonderful Mexican food - not Tex Mex, which I've never gotten used to.  Cheese enchiladas, rice and beans.  Hmmmm... maybe that's part of the reason, I'm out of shape!

Today was the hottest day so far.  I think the temps were in the low 90s, and it was a clear beautiful blue sky.  It's still clear and hot at 7:15 PM.  I forgot that last night was the full moon, so I need to get out tonight and see it.  I'm sure it's spectacular here because the night skies are so dark... I'll give you a report tomorrow.

Arches National Park, Moab, UT

We had breakfast at a sweet little coffee shop in Bluff, UT. Andrea, one of the owners, was very funny and insisted that the oatmeal was going to be the "best oatmeal ever" - it was! We had to buy some to bring home with us. The coffee was really good too. It was an interesting place, with a lot of art work, jewelry, pottery, and other items made by local artists for sale. The coffee house is also for sale if anyone is interested.

The road to Moab was a pretty easy drive. Not much to report except a bit of rain on the way. I think the hardest thing to get a grip on in this part of the country is the time! Some parts of Arizona don't recognize daylight savings time, but the Navajo Nation does. So if you are traveling across the reservation, your time is different than other parts of AZ. Then, Utah is on daylight savings time, so it's always confusing. If you're able to get cell phone connections, the time is updated correctly, but that's not always available. So most of the time, we don't know what time it is! When we arrived in Moab, it was already 2:00 PM. We checked in to our hotel and went for a late lunch, then headed up to the Park.

The park was really crowded, so we opted to avoid some of the more congested viewpoints and trails. As usual, Dave got some great shots, and we got a good feel for the land. We stayed at the park until almost 9:00, but the light was good for shooting photos. The picture below is Balanced Rock.

Monument Valley, AZ

Well, this morning was the first time we didn't have our lattes!! We went down for the breakfast that was included with our room and found that you could hardly move through the buffet lines. So, we made a quick decision to go to Denny's and then got on the road without our lattes. Maybe that's why I was falling asleep in the car on the way to Monument Valley...

The drive was beautiful - it's astounding how many landscape changes there are as we change altitude. First we are in high mountain meadows, then in valleys and canyons surrounded by rock faces. Dave and I both thought that Monument Valley was just an area we passed through on our way to Bluff, UT. But we talked to a couple from Lubbock, TX, last night in Page and they mentioned going on the tour. As we found out, Monument Valley is a Tribal Park, so the concessions and tours are run by the Navajo tribe. We decided to take the 2.5 hour tour that included the back country. Had a couple of obstacles to overcome when we found they only took cash or travelers checks (does anyone use those anymore??). We were referred to the ATM machine at the trading post, which turned out to be out of order.

So, we had to leave the park and go across the street to Goulding's Trading Post and Grocery to get some cash. But that was okay - we bought some fruit for lunch while we were there.

Back at the park, we paid for our tour, and waited to see how many others were going to be joining us. They take you out in a truck that was modified with 3 bench seats in the back and covered to protect you from the sun. Turned out that we were the only ones on the tour! Our guide, Carlos, was the son of the owner, and he had lived nearby on the reservation for most of his life. He was a great guide! He pointed out all the places where films had been made. Lots of John Wayne movies, and some other movies like "Back to the Future III", "Eiger Sanction", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to name a few.

It is otherworldly in the valley - large rock spires intermingled with the mesas. We learned the difference between a butte and a mesa today. In the picture below the formations in the foreground are buttes, while the large "table like" formations behind them are mesas. Mesas usually have vegetation on top of them, and buttes don't. The spires would be considered buttes.

We also got to visit a Navajo home and see his grandmother preparing wool for her weaving. She couldn't speak English, but he could talk to her in Navajo. She was very old. Carlos told us that they weren't sure how old but probably close to 100 if not over! I felt privileged to be in her presence. Toward the end of the tour, Carlos shared a Navajo pray with us that is said at sunrise. It was about standing with beauty in front, behind, above, and below, and thanking Father Sky and Mother Earth for this day. It was lovely and hearing it in Navajo language was very special.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon, AZ

Even though we're in beautiful natural settings with limited internet and phone service, we've always been able to get our morning lattes!  We stayed in Kanab, UT on Tuesday night, and were very excited to try Laid-Back Larry's on Wed morning.  Guess what?  Larry is CLOSED on Wed!  Luckily, when we were walking in Kanab we saw another coffee shop, Linda Lea's.  So, we went there and said "hello" to all the locals hanging out in front, and got great coffee for the road.  Too bad for Larry!

The drive to the North Rim was spectacular - high mountain meadows with wildflowers, and many pine forests.  It was sad to see some large areas that had been burned due to wildfires.  But the growth on the forest floor seems to  be coming back, as it was very green.  We arrived at the North Rim and decided to take the rim trail to become acquainted with the views.  It was an interesting trail, in spite of being narrow, and it had a slow downward grade to the view point.  We began to notice a lot of people on the trail, especially families.  One family came into the view point with a lot of noise.  It was a father and 3 young boys.  Man, they wanted to climb on everything and he was having a hard time keeping them together.  I made a comment to him about having his hands full just as his wife came around the corner and said, "I'm the one who has her hands full, 3 little boys and 1 big one!"  It was pretty funny.  

Dave was taking pictures and I was having fun with my new binoculars locating the river on the bottom of the canyon.  I think the North Rim doesn't have the panoramic views that you get on the South Rim, but it's still GRAND!   As we started back to the trailhead, we really began to notice the grade.  Good thing there were benches strategically placed along the way.  I was starting to feel that I was really out of shape, so it was rewarding when other hikers were stopping too - misery loves company :-)  

When we got back to the trailhead, we decided to have lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge.  It was about 15 minutes until it opened, and we put our names in for a reservation.  Little did we know that we would have a choice of a table by the window with fantastic views.  We read later that there are only 9 tables that have a good view - well, we were at one of them.  The food was okay, but the ambiance...

From the North Rim, we headed back to the main road and on to Page, AZ.  We passed through Vermillion Cliffs and crossed the Colorado River before arriving.  As usual, Dave took some great photos.  We went to one of the scenic vistas in Page to look at the Glen Canyon Dam.  It was amazing, but the best thing for me was being able to view a Peregrine Falcon through my binoculars.  It was hunting on the cliffs near the outlook, and I was able to see it as it rested on the edge of one of the highest cliffs.  Sweet!

Zion and Bryce National Parks, UT

OK... we are a little behind on the daily travel logs, but we didn't have WI-FI and sporadic cell phones networks for the past two days.  On Monday, we left Las Vegas for Zion.  Beautiful scenery as we moved into Utah and higher elevations.  The red rocks and trees start to become part of the view.  Stopped for lunch in St. George, then on to Zion.  It started raining as we got to the park, but that didn't take away from the spectacular views!  Zion has high cliffs and with the rain, the waterfalls and streams were flowing.  We didn't stop to take too many pictures, but Dave captured a few terrific shots.  The highlight of the day was passing through the Zion tunnel to travel to our hotel.  The tunnel was built at a time when the cars were much smaller, so if you had a larger vehicle, you had to pay to pass through because they had to stop traffic on both ends until you made it through.  When we got to the entrance, we were waved around a large pickup that was going to have to be escorted.  Luckily, we went through before him.  

Our hotel had an interesting background, and I'll add that info later when I have more time.  But it had been in the family for over 60 years.  It is now a Best Western but it is still run by family members.  Good food, and a bonus of watching the hummingbirds coming to the feeders set by the windows!  

On Tuesday, we headed out to Bryce.  It is always interesting to me to watch the landscape change.  We had great weather and Dave took lots of pictures.  We decided to do the Scenic Drive in our car instead of taking the park shuttle, so we could stop for as long (or short) a time as we wanted.  It was so interesting to see the pronghorn deer along the side of the road in the high mountain meadows.  Since the view points were on the left side of the road, we went to the end of the drive before we really viewed the "hoodoos" and the fantastic canyons of Bryce.  I'd been there about 10 years ago, but Dave had no idea what he was  in for... The camera came out and was never idle unless we were driving.  I enjoyed watching the swifts flying through the canyons, and was really happy that I bought some binoculars for this trip.  Hard to describe all the scenes and wildlife - I think it really needs to be experienced.  

Las Vegas, NV

The trip to Las Vegas from Joshua Tree was smooth sailing. No attractions to stop and see, but the scenery was gorgeous. Passed the infamous Roy's Cafe in Amboy - in retrospect, we should have stopped and taken a picture :-( Skies were cloudy and Dave got a nice picture of the rain in the distance. All in all it was a peaceful drive.

Arrived in Las Vegas to all the hustle and bustle that we expected, but we were really surprised at the line to check into our room at Treasure Island. It moved fast and we had a great view of the Strip from our window. That night, we went to Mystere and it was FABULOUS! I am always amazed at the athleticism combined with acting in the shows. It was non-stop entertainment, and so much going on no matter where you looked. If you ever get a chance to see it, go for it!

Day One!

Wow, day one was upon us sooner than we expected!  But I got up early and got down to LAX and Karen arrived!!  The car was all packed (too packed, actually), and we hit the road for Joshua Tree.

Joshua Tree is only two hours from LA, and we had plenty of time to check in to our room, and then go check out the park. A nice trail Karen suggested that I hadn't known about, Hidden Valley, was really fun and I got some nice photos (forgot the weird Sony cable for that little camera, though :-(

Dinner was at Pappy & Harriet's, which was another great suggestion of Karen's!  Some real local color and good ol' country music.  Abby the waitress was pretty darn impressed with my iPhone! :-)

More to come...

Joshua Tree, CA

Made it out of Austin and LA in one piece... kind of tired from traveling.  It was great to see Dave again after all these years!  The car is packed to the gills with everything we need (or so we think): 2 coolers, bottled water, laptop (for blogging) and cables, cameras... you get the idea.  The weather is perfect for driving, a bit overcast so not too hot in the car.  

We headed out to Joshua Tree for our first stop, and were lucky enough to check in early.  From there we went to take a look at the Integratron. Sadly, it was closed for the weekend so we couldn't go inside, but we took some photos.  When we got back to the room, we found that we didn't have the cable hookup to download photos from the camera we used.  Bummer!  

Next stop was the Joshua Tree National Park.  We've both been here many times, but went on a short nature trail through Real Hidden Valley (climber's name).  It was fun to see a lot of lizards, birds, chipmunks, quail, and even some die-hard climbers.  They must have fingers of steel to climb on the rocks in July.  Reminded me of a great climb I led there called "Sail Away", I have a picture of that one at home.  So I think Dave took some good pictures there that we'll post soon.

We only stayed in the Park for a short time and headed back to the hotel to get ready to go to Pappy & Harriet's for dinner.  It hasn't changed a bit.  The waitress, Abby, used to wait on me when I was living out there 12 years ago!  She didn't recognize me, but she's hard to forget - wears a hat like Minny Pearl, including price tag.  So funny!

I was pretty tired on Sat night and ready to get some rest... I'm not a real party animal when I'm sleepy.  Am I ever a party animal? :)

It's getting closer

Dave and I have been planning this trip for about 3 months now. I kept thinking about things I needed to do: clothes shopping, arrange pet sitting, arrange for someone to check on my pond, etc., etc., etc. And I kept thinking that I had A LOT of time left... Yesterday I realized that there are less than three weeks until I leave Austin and head out to LA to begin our adventure! WOW! Time flies!

So, today I started making lists. It will be a pleasure to see the items crossed off as the time gets closer. I'm really excited to do some traveling in my favorite part of the USA. Plus, it will be great fun to travel with Dave!