Week 4

A lot of road passed under our tires this week.  We started out from the Grand Canyon and headed for Page, Arizona.  The drive took us through some of the canyon lands which were beautiful.

We drove through a Navajo reservation and stopped at an artisan's market where you could buy Navajo jewelry and pottery and weaving direct form the artist who made the wares.  I splurged on some jewelry and pottery.  What was most interesting was the artists' willingness to explain the various sybols incorporated in their work and the meaning of the symbols.  So interesting.

Once in Page,  Harry went off to play the Page-Lake Powell National Golf Course, while I tried to keep myself and the dogs cool.  The campground in Page was terrible.  Only bad one of the whole trip.  It had all of the amenities one would like, but the staff was incredibly rude.  I thought it was just me.  But they herded a bunch of us Canadians in one area of the campground and while talking to our neighbours, found out they were also treated rudely and were only going to stay the night rather than the 3 nights originally planned.  Whew ... at least it wasn't just me they were rude to!  As we left Page, we visited our 4th and last dam of the trip:  the Glen Canyon Dam.  Yeah, yeah ... we're weird!  Anyway, it proved a nice little hike and some pretty scenery.

While having dinner in Page, we both agreed we were ready to head home.  We looked at the calendar and the map and made a plan.  We really wanted to try to make it home for Jacob's 1st birthday (Oct.4) and found we had plenty of time to make that .  So off we headed to Anaconda, Montanna -- just outside of Butte.  Harry re-played a golf course that he had played 5 years ago when it was just new.  I toured around the town because I had almost no recollection of our stay there 5 years ago.  That was the occasion of the fateful riding accident that resulted in a bad neck injury and so much pain I had little awareness of my surroundings.  I opted not to return to the scene of the accident and ride there again!!

Next stop was Great Falls, Montanna.  Again, Harry golfed and I opted for some last minute cross-border shopping while still in the Land of Cheap!  Ah ... how I wish we had Target in Canada!  In Great Falls we were warned about the impending bad weather ahead of us.  Cold temperatures and s--w.  Yikes!  We set out early on Saturday morning for Calgary.  The air was brisk, the skies were both clear and grey and leaked on and off.   We only drove through rain, but the scenery  was white with snow at times.

  It was kind of a long day, but we arrived safely back home in Calgary late Saturday afternoon.  We unpacked some of the RV and then I took a long hot bath.  You don't get those when you're on the road!  :-)  A good night's sleep in our own bed again and then off to Linda and John's house for Jacob's 1st birthday party.  Surprising LInda was so much fun.  Her face was priceless and she was so happy that we came home in time for the celebration.  Big hugs from Jacob and Anthony also made it worthwhile.  The birthday boy enjoyed his special day ...

So, our trip was great, relaxing and refreshing.  We'll spend our last week of holidays here at home puttering around here.  We'll clean and winterize the RV, clean out the gardens, make applesauce and get ourselves ready to go back to work next week.

I hope I haven't bored you with our trip journal.  :-)  -Karen

Week 3

Oh my. So much in so little time! This week brought us farther south down the California coast, across the state of California into Nevada and Arizona. A lot of real estate and a lot of diversity in our wanderings this past week.

We started the week out by basing ourselves in Malibu ... parked right on the coast!  

From there, we toured around 

(Santa Monica)

and 

 (Beverly Hills)

and 

 (Hollywood)

 No ... we didn't see any stars. Didn't look too hard, though! Greater L.A. has sooooo many people and sooooo many cars and traffic jams for no apparent reason. After 3 days we were ready to leave the congestion of southern California and head inland. But before doing that we made sure we swam in the Pacific Ocean!   

Shortly after Harry took this picture ... mere seconds actually ... I went under! Even that small wave carried a lot of force. Harry was much better in the waves and managed to jump them and ride the top of them.

Our next destination was Las Vegas via a stop in Barstow, California. While in Barstow we toured a real mining ghost town. Mostly a tourist shopping trap, but we were able to glean some information about the mining that supported the area and some of the people who lived there. It was HOT and we were now fully in the desert. Thankfully the campground had a swimming pool where we could cool off at the end of the day.

Our journey from Malibu to Vegas took us from 

to 

 The pictures say it all!!

We rolled into Las Vegas where we stayed at a luxurious RV resort. Not because we were looking for the pampering but because it was on the right side of town for us! We took a car tour of Vegas in the afternoon, then went to the old downtown area for some supper. After a nice dinner we drove back to our RV via the "strip" which took FOREVER because of road construction. As I put on Facebook earlier in the week, Las Vegas really is "over-the-top". I couldn't help but wonder how much power and water that place uses in just one day. Maybe the U.S. could reach their greenhouse gas emission reductions just by shutting down Las Vegas! 


At any rate, one day and one night was enough for us so off we headed for the Hoover Dam. It was big.  

From Hoover Dam there's only one logical destination: the Grand Canyon (or "the big hole" as Renee called it).  We camped about an hour's drive from the canyon.  In the RV next to us was "Almost Willie", a Willie Nelson impersonator! Check him out:  http://www.almostwillie.com/  


We have spent the last 2 days hiking around various points of the south rim. There are not adequate words to describe what you see.

"O Lord my God, when I in awe-filled wonder 

consider all the works Thy hands have made ... 

How great Thou art."

A comical end to our day at the Grand Canyon included a raven who was a bit of a show off.  This raven spread it wings and glided over us, then with a loud squawk he tucked his wings in and rolled onto his back -- in mid flight -- then back to his front and the wings came out again.  The silly thing was doing aileron rolls!  And he did a lot of them as he swooped back and forth over us.  Amazing to watch!

Soon we'll turn north for the last leg of our journey. -K