A Great Finish to another Wonderful Adventure

Our return into Utah has reinforced our belief that it is the best state that the U.S. has to offer. We started this segment with a visit to Bryce Canyon where we have been before and always come away amazed at the hoodoo like rock formations in the canyon below. After that we drove into nearby Kodachrome State Park where we hiked the Panorama Trail (10 km's) where we saw the majority of the park's 67 spires (tall, thin rock formations) that sparkled in the sunlight. Some were red Navajo Sandstone structures while others were former geysers where the softer rock around them slowly disintegrated leaving them exposed. The colours throughout the park were spectacular.

From there we headed further north to Escalante where we hiked along the Calf Creek Canyon (another 10 km hike) to the Lower Falls where the mist from the 50 metre drop cooled us off on a warm day. A nearby geocache provided a different perspective of the waterfall. After the hike we continued driving north along the incredibly scenic Highway 12 which offered many beautiful views.

We have spent the past two days at Capitol Reef National Park. It is one of 5 NP's in Utah and the one we had targeted on this trip since we absolutely loved the other 4 and this one did not disappoint us. The landscape was created 65 million years ago when a buckle in the earth's crust, 160 km's long, occurred across south-central Utah. During our time there we did 6 different hikes, totalling 20 km's, with (Butch) Cassidy Arch and the Hickman Bridge being the most strenuous and rewarding with panoramic views (Bridges are created by water; Arches by wind and rain). Another hike took us along a narrow canyon wash that was used as a wagon trail route 100 years ago. The entire park is filled with dramatic cliffs and colourful rock formations leading to an abundance of photographs that we had to narrow down at the end of every day. There was also a good Morman pioneer influence within the park, with rock engravings recording their presence along with their (Fruita) orchards and some buildings still actively maintained. The Gifford Farm House sold freshly baked fruit pies and we enjoyed a tasty peach pie back at our campsite. After one final hike this morning we commenced our long drive home and on another nice, sunny day we made good progress arriving in Idaho Falls this evening which should allow us to make it back home tomorrow night.

Thanks for your interest in following our latest adventure. It has been another wonderful journey and we are blessed to have so many friends to meet up with on our travels and at the same time, new places to visit where we always seem to find incredible, unplanned finds along the way, seldom seen by most people.
Life is good!

Bryce Canyon - view from Inspiration Point

Kodachrome State Park

An old gas station just outside the State Park. Check out the lovely gate on the right side.

The 50 metre waterfall at Lower Calf Creek

Capital Reef - only the beginning

Gorgeous views everywhere

The Castle

Mesmerized by the views at Sunset Point

Hickman Bridge - no water flow right now but it must have been serious in it's day

Time to Turn the Page

Seeking warmer temperatures to mitigate the cold front that was moving in from the coast, we took a detour back into Arizona where the city of Page was at a slightly lower altitude (4,000 feet) and forecasting 15-18 C weather with night time lows still comfortably above freezing. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We have discovered several tourist-worthy places to visit here along with some inexpensive golf ($30 a round) on the lovely Lake Powell National golf course that we played twice. We also avoided the snow that fell a few days ago in places just over 100 km's north and south of us, while Page received some light rain overnight followed by an overcast, cool day. On that particular day we took a tour of the nearby Glen Canyon Dam (larger than the Hoover Dam and 3rd largest in the U.S.). The informative tour took us from top to bottom of the dam built in the early 1960's, explaining how the Colorado dam site was selected and built, and also about the water rights agreement that was developed to ensure adequate water flow would always be supplied to the downstream states and Mexico (annual volume commitments). Interestingly enough, up until 1996 (Oklahoma City bombings), visitors could do self-guided tours of the dam, even down to the interior turbine room at the base of the dam. The directional signs, imbedded into the tiled walls, still exist today.

On other days we visited the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area which featured the large dam created Lake Powell in a beautiful red rock, blue water setting. It is home to hundreds of houseboats in the summer and other water recreation activities draw huge crowds to the Page area. We also did a 1.5 km hike out to Horseshoe Bend where there was a spectacular view of the Colorado River from a cliff-top ridge looking 1,000 feet down into a canyon where the river made a sharp bend around another steep cliff on the other side. The highlight of our visit to Page however was a trip into Lower Antelope Canyon where we walked through an incredible slot canyon carved by wind and water. The canyon was very narrow, accessed by steep ladders, and the light filtering in from above created a palette of colours when it bounced off the smooth, round canyon walls below. The views were amazing and we took over 100 pictures while in the slot canyon for less than an hour. After several editing sessions that evening we narrowed it down to 40 pictures that we just had to keep.

With our time on this trip winding down we need to leave Page behind but we will have fond memories of our visit here. Tomorrow we will drive back into Utah where we plan to visit a few more National Parks to finish off our latest adventure.

Glen Canyon Dam - the top of the dam is 710 feet above the Colorado River. The highway bridge is in the foreground and the lovely Visitor Centre is at the top of the cliff on the left side.

The 8 power generating units at the base of the dam. One of the 50 ton turbines was being replaced while we were there.

Horseshoe Bend and the Colorado River 1,000 feet below.

Lower Antelope Canyon with it's narrow, winding slot canyon.

The filtered sunlight delivered some beautiful colours on the sandstone walls.

Every time we turned a corner, another photo opportunity emerged.

The rose

The slot canyon exit (after climbing a steep flight of stairs).

It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again

During the past week we have spent a lot of time returning to some of our favourite places and they have not disappointed. While we had a great time in Phoenix, which wrapped up with a 'discreet' tailgate party (to appease Security) and a Lady Antebellum outdoor concert, it was time to move on. We are rolling stones after all. Our next stop was in Las Vegas for a couple of days where we met up with Cottonwood friends, Mike and Barb, for some golf and dinners. One of those meals was at the always entertaining Casa di Amore where we used their courtesy limo service to get all six of us (including Brent and Barb for a second encore appearance) to and from our places south of the Strip. Our waiter (Brad) humoured us all night, not that we needed any encouragement on half-price wine night. It turned out to be our first trip to Las Vegas where we never made it to the Strip or downtown but we still had no trouble finding good food, drinks, gambling and entertaining ourselves.

We then spent two days in Valley of Fire State Park, arguably the most beautiful place in Nevada if you are not fond of neon lights. It is only one hour north-east of Las Vegas and it is a shame that most L.V. visitors never get a chance to see the gorgeous red rock sandstone formations in the area. Our campground (Atlatl Rock), where we stayed on a previous visit, was surrounded by spectacular 360 degree views. While there we also hiked out to the Fire Wave with it's wonderful white and red rock wavy lines. Our northerly route (in and out) was via the scenic Lake Mead Parkway which is also recommended unless you need to hurry and take the I-15.

We are now in Utah and spending two days in one of our all-time favourite places, Zion National Park. Last night we had dinner at Oscar's, a must-do while in Springdale, and the normal 15 minute table wait to which we have become accustomed , was well worth it. Today we hiked the Hidden Canyon trail which is another great hike within the NP. While it is shorter than the superb Angel's Landing and equally strenuous Observation Point trails, it still provided steep switchback paths and cliff ledges with chains to hold on to. The view at the top was incredible and a perfect place to stop for lunch which we did on our return. From that point we headed into the Hidden Canyon which is long and very narrow. We were planning on hiking in to the rock arch but somehow we missed it on the way in which resulted in a handful more of short, steep rock scrambles where you had to be very careful. The rocks finally won out and we retreated only to discover other hikers having their picture taken beside the arch half way back along the trail. It was a good workout and a fun hike.

Tomorrow we are leaving Zion and heading into new territory along the southern border of Utah where it meets Arizona.

Prepped and ready for the Lady Antebellum outdoor concert. We had good seats in the large amphitheatre.

The drive through Valley of Fire State Park

Part of the Fire Wave which is not an "official" trail for some strange reason even though a similar picture adorns their park map

A view of Angel's Landing (foreground, left, the very top) which we hiked on our first trip to Zion

When our advance scout mentioned 'more of the same', I got the 'look' and made the wise decision that it was time to turn around :-)

We somehow missed this arch on our way along the narrow canyon which wasn't more than 5 metres wide at any point.

A great view for our lunch stop on the way back to the main road at the bottom.

My last chance to make an impression at Spring Training?

During the past few days we have been enjoying the Cactus League baseball games. At the beginning of the month many of the minor league players were trying to make a good first impression, and while several did, the games were generally a bit sloppy (errors and poor pitching). Now that spring training is starting to wind down, the starting rosters for the games are filled with the regulars for the first 7 innings so the quality of play has improved. And with the weather remaining perfect (25C and sunny), it has been wonderful to sit and watch the games. In spite of not making an error yet (one perfect catch in the stands), or striking out (Pocahontas still loves me), I have not yet been approached by any scouts. Recently I changed my approach and started hanging out with some of the players in the hope of getting noticed (see picture below).

Prior to coming back to Phoenix we spent four days in Sedona visiting with my sister Lynn and her husband Doug from Vancouver who were in the area doing a 2 week home exchange. The deck on the home had beautiful views of the nearby red sandstone rock mountains. The scene seemed to change throughout the day as the shadows moved around varied rock formations. As a bonus my cousin Adele from Quebec and her husband Christian were also staying with my sister so it was a good get-together. We did a couple of hikes, the first to the Palatki Ruins and Pictographs (more hillside caves where the ancient tribes built) their small homes). Another day we made a return trip (for us) to Oak Creek Canyon where we rock-hopped (13 stream crossings each way) along the scenic West Fork Trail. We had some nice meals together and played games in the evening.

Tomorrow will be our final day in Phoenix. We have tickets for the Lady Antebellum concert in the evening and before the event we will be hosting a tailgate party with 4 other Calgary friends who are joining us for the concert. The next day we will drive to Las Vegas to meet up with some more friends for a few days.



Major League Baseball wannabe with Cleveland Indians new Closer, John Axford.......who currently makes $6 million more per year than I do.



Mike Trout smashing a home run that landed over the flowers in deep centre field. You may be able to see the ball just to the left of the middle light pole.

The view from the deck of the Sedona home exchange

One of the shorter rock crossings along our Oak Creek Canyon family hike

Enjoying the High Country

Heading north from Phoenix we have spent the past week in the mountainous area known as the High Country. With the higher altitude, averaging 5,000 feet above sea level, the temperatures have cooled down to 17-20C during the daytime but still quite comfortable for hiking and golf (more so than the 25-30C in the Phoenix area). We started off with a challenging hike in Lost Dutchman State Park (Siphon Draw Trail) that featured some steep rock scrambling. Then we drove along the scenic Apache Trail making brief stops at Tortilla Flats (early 1900's stagecoach stop), Canyon and Apache Lakes and the Roosevelt Dam along the Salt River. We spent a night in Roosevelt so that the next morning we could visit the Tonto Cliff Dwellings, where Puebloans built small homes in mid-mountain caves for protection from the elements and other tribes.

From there we continued on to Payson where we spent several days. The highlight was doing short but steep hikes in Tonto Natural Bridge S.P., where they claim to have the world's largest natural stone bridge in the world, measuring 183' high, 150' wide and 400' long. It was discovered in 1877 by a prospector being chased by Apaches when he hid in a cave under the bridge. The fairly steep hike to the bottom was only about a kilometre in length but it provided great views of the bridge and the opportunity to rock hop across the stream and climb larger rocks to get through the huge bridge 'tunnel' to get to the other side for more views and another trail back to the top. We found a couple of well placed geocaches along the way.

We have spent the past 4 days in Prescott, a beautiful place with nice, inexpensive golf courses and hiking opportunities. The town was founded in 1864 as a mining town (providing mineral riches to support the Lincoln's Civil War Union army, but was later devastated by the Great Fire of 1900 which destroyed most of the town. Prescott was rebuilt shortly after and many of the early 1900's buildings are still in use today. During our self-guided historic downtown walk we stopped by many of these establishments including several along Whisky Row where there were once more than 50 bars along one street. One of those The Palace Saloon is still in operation and had a beautiful long bar that had been brought to Prescott from San Francisco in the late 1800's by wagon. When the Great Fire started the bar patrons carried the long bar across the street to the safety of the large Town Plaza where it survived the fire while the saloon burnt to the ground. The bar was re-built shortly after.....it obviously had some very loyal customers.......and the long bar was returned to its rightful place. The long bar seemed to be the highlight of anything that was saved during the massive downtown fire. Today we hiked in the Granite Dells which are right beside our small RV Park. Lots of rock scrambling in a preserve with interesting rock formations requiring the various trails to be marked by painted dots along the trails to keep hikers ascending and descending in the correct direction.

Tomorrow we will drive a bit further north to Sedona where we will spend a few days, meeting up with my Vancouver sister and husband who are doing a home exchange for 2 weeks.

Looking back along the Siphon Draw Trail in Lost Dutchman State Park

The popular bar / restaurant in Tortilla Flats where the walls are wallpapered with autographed dollar bills

Tonto National Monument Cliff Dwellings dating back to the 1300's

Tonto Natural Bridge near Payson

Still smiling.......just before the rock hop across the stream and the rock climbing to get to the other side of the tunnel

Prescott's Palace Saloon and the Great Fire surviving long bar

Unbeknownst to me, advance reservations were required to have a visit with Slanting Annie

Granite Dells hike - Willow Lake viewpoint

Along the Red Bridge Trail - not your normal hiking trail

Baseball Heaven

We have been in the Phoenix area for 9 days now. Great weather (25C and sunny) other than a major rainstorm that hit the region last week-end. It was their first rain in over two months so it was needed but the massive volume led to flash floods and closure of the many golf courses for two days to clean up the mess. All is back to normal now, with heat and sun in the forecast for the next week.

During our time here we have good visits with former neighbours (Dave and Susan), Cottonwood members (Rick and Glenn) and ex-Xerox friends (Janice and Brian). We played four games of golf at different courses and Rhonda's new putter (from the PGA Superstore) is paying dividends already. When not staying with our friends we have spent time at a nice RV Park in Apache Junction. I went to a Jam Session one evening and over 150 people turned up to listen to 15 people from the park take turns playing mostly country music covers. It was quite entertaining.

We also went to our first Cactus League spring training game, watching the Colorado Rockies beat the home-side Chicago Cubs in their brand new stadium. It is still early in the pre-season and it showed on the field as there were 6 'official' errors in the game, and even more on my scorecard. No problem with my hands though as I snagged a foul ball in our 1B line seats. The ball park was beautiful, with Wrigley Field dimensions (minus the ivy wall) and over 10,000 fans at the game. We plan to attend another game or two later in the month. With 15 Major League teams training in the Phoenix area there are games every day and lots of choices.

Tomorrow we are leaving the Phoenix area and heading north-east into the mountains and Tonto National Forest where we will do some dry camping and hiking for a while.



Dave and Susan's lovely kitchen with a vaulted brick ceiling

Squinting into the direct sunlight as we enter the Cubbies new spring training stadium

Taken during a pre-game stadium walkabout. All the seats were filled by game time.



With our friends Janice and Brian just before the foul ball arrived.

What Was She Thinking????

After getting up early on Sunday to watch Canada win the Gold Medal hockey title again (yahoo), we spent the rest of the day at the final day of the Tucson Rodeo, the 89th edition of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. We had good seats to watch the action and fortunately for us it was a cloudy day since it was incredibly hot when the sun poked through the clouds. The young cowboys and cowgirls were fun to watch at the beginning and then the pro's took over for some entertaining action. The Bull Riding, always the final event, didn't take as long as we had hoped though. The bulls were in an ornery mood and none of the 11 finalists were able to hold on for the 8 second minimum ride so the qualifying leader took home the major prize money. They didn't give the audience a chance to cowboy-up which was probably a good thing.

The next day we left Tucson and my navigator suggested we stop in Florence for a few days on our way to Phoenix. She said it was a nice historical town, which it was, and we had never been there before. We toured the nearby Casa Grande Ruins (built in 1350) and on the day that we chose to do the historical walk to see the late 1800's buildings still in operation, she claimed to have a minor illness, so I did the self-guided walk around town while she rested in the camper van. There were many interesting buildings, lots of bars, including the Tunnel Saloon which had an underground bar for the really hot days (and probably prohibition later). They ran out of money building the Courthouse in 1912 when silver prices dropped in this former mining town so the Clock Tower has 11:44 painted on it instead of installing a real clock. On our way out of town the next day I noticed several seriously protected prisons and decided to do my own internet research today. It turns out that Florence is also know as Prison City, hosting 9 prisons (county, state, federal, private). As a result others have made claims that it has the world's largest collection of razor wire, which is believable since some of the prisons I saw had 3 or 4 fences making an escape a fairly arduous task. I also read a quote that claimed "officially, men outnumber women 5-1 but it is not the place to go looking for Mr. Wonderful with more than half the population (16K out of 25K) behind bars". So was she really ill, or did she send me out walking around land mines?

Somehow I survived and today we drove to Apache Junction, a place my parents called their winter home for many of their healthy retirement years. We stopped by their former home to find out there had been several owners since they gave it up more than 15 years ago. It brought back some good memories though and we took several pictures to take back home for them.

Tucson Rodeo - Saddle Bronc Riding

Bull Riding - the bulls won all 11 contests even with several world ranked riders

Casa Grande Ruins - the 'big house' built in 1350 by the Hohokam desert tribe

Florence Courthouse - I realized it wasn't 11:44 when I walked by but didn't realize the time was a painted on the Clock Tower until later.

Our Bar Will Open Up Tomorrow At 5 am

I read the on-line version of the Calgary Herald today and was surprised to learn that the Alberta Government had made a quick change to the provincial drinking law, allowing bars and licensed establishments to serve alcohol tomorrow (Sunday) starting at 5 am. Apparently, it wouldn't be proper to watch the Gold Medal hockey game without adult beverages being served to the thirsty puck nation. The Arizona bars are not as forward thinking so we have decided to open our own camper van bar at 5 am in the morning. Feel free to drop by for a sunrise cocktail if you are in the neighbourhood.

We had a nice finish to our Puerto Penasco stay. Brent and Barb hosted us for a lovely Valentine's Day evening, a BBQ and fire on their patio. Then Brent serenaded us with his guitar including two really good songs that he personally wrote. The next day we went to the Taste of Penasco with them and sampled some tasty food and drink in a downtown park. On our final day we relaxed by the beach.

We had an uneventful border crossing back into the U.S. and spent a couple of hours in Organ Pipe Cactus National Park before continuing on to Tucson where we have been for the last 5 days. Our RV Park (Far Horizons) is very clean and has excellent amenities including a large selection of cable TV channels allowing us to watch the Winter Olympics (finally) on several channels. During our time in Tucson we have played golf twice at two different courses, had some minor van repairs completed, and spent a full day at the World Golf Match Play tournament (small crowds so very easy to follow whomever we wanted on Day 2). Today we drove south to Tubac (an artsy community that we had briefly visited in 2009). We had a delicious lunch there and wandered around the many shops in the village. We also took a tour of the Tumacacori Mission National Heritage Park (preserved Spanish mission dating back to the 1700's) and before that we spent time at the restored San Xavier Mission (where a local baby was being baptized). Tomorrow, after the early morning hockey game, we will be attending the final day of the Tucson Rodeo (89th edition of the La Fiesta de los Vaqueros) where 200,000 people turned out earlier in the week for the world's largest non-motorized parade.

GO CANADA GO!

Valentine's Evening dinner on the patio

Taste of Penasco

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - a Jumping Cholla bearing early season fruit

Organ Pipe and Saguaro cactus' plus many more species in the park

San Xavier del Bac Mission - just south of Tucson

A local baby was about to be baptized when we visited the restored church