2017 Trip Home

We left Mesa on April 1, 2017.  About 400 units pulled out of the park that morning and it was looking kind of lonely there!  We travelled to Lake Havasu with Ruth and Wayne and then on to Vegas for two nights.  We parted ways in Vegas, they were heading to border to import their new motorhome and we were off to explore Oregon before heading to Vancouver Island.
We had decided to stay in the Reno area at Sparks, Nevada as we wanted to see Lake Tahoe and a few other attractions in the area.  As it turned out there was a huge storm that blew in from the coast and we pretty much did not go outside unless we had to.  The winds were high and there was a lot of rain and it was COLD!  We met up with people we know from Val Vista and they took us to a cute local restaurant for breakfast one morning.  Thanks Bob and Patti!  They are sort of celebrities there as they eat there once a week and entered a contest and won gift certificates to eat there for free.  Their picture is even on the wall in the restaurant.

The restaurant is called squeeze in and it has a cute history if you care to google it.  See all that writing on the wall behind us?
Finally, on Sunday the wind, snow and rain warnings were off and we headed out to Klameth Falls, Oregon.  The drive was going fairly well and then we got to Susanville, California!

 

We took the 139 California North.  Within minutes we knew it was going to be a long drive to Oregon with no option to bail out.  Immediately, I got my blankie, camera, snack and ditched my bra (sorry if that's TMI) and settled in to see a nature show.  Don, on the other hand, white knuckled the steering wheel and put foot close to brake pedal and prepared for a horror show.  Now, California is not known for its smooth highways, but I have to say it wasn't as bumpy as I expected.  The first 65 miles were with zero, and I mean zero shoulder and it was a very windy high up mountain road.

Speed was not an option and I saw so many pretty things which I had to describe to Don as he had to focus!  We could definitely see where the storm had hit this area in the previous few days.  There was water everywhere and snow in the higher elevations.  We travelled at 5000 feet for quite a while.  There was a pretty little creek/river that raced us for miles and miles.  Huge jack pines, cedar and another pine tree with red bark and long needles????lined the highway.  The trees were so close that the snow plopped down off the branches onto the highway in front of us.  They dropped giant pine cones beside the road.  I watched raptors, turkey vultures and even a blue bird out enjoying the sunny day.  Small rodents played chicken with our vehicle.

The highway improved a slight bit after about 70 miles and would have been way better not in a RV.  Of course, all these things amuse me so I quite enjoyed it but Don was happy to get to Klamath Falls last nite.

Next time we will heed this warning!   LOL   After getting settled in for the night we decided to cut our losses and get to Vancouver Island as soon as possible and leave exploring Oregon for another time.   So, today we drove to Madras, Oregon.  We will cross over on the ferry to the island on Thursday to join our friends Rick and Janet at Campbell River. 
Today's drive was very beautiful and scenic.  I saw a lot of bald eagles, and I think even some gold eagles, as well as egrets, ducks, geese and grebes. I watched a bald eagle drop his lunch and what I believe to be a gold eagle catch it in mid air.  How freakin cool is that??

As you can see there was a lot of snow! But the sun was shining and the sky was beautiful

 I think that might be a gold finch as it sure was yellow but it would not let me see its back!   It had a different call than I remember but hey, it's mating season and anything goes.  These pictures are from our campground that we are at tonight.  The air is so clean and fresh!  It's amazing how you notice clean air after breathing in pollution all winter.  HA   Tomorrow we have to take the long route in Washington as the passes are snow chain only.  I am looking forward to that ferry ride!!!!

Antelope Canyon Part 2  

it was cool to see rocks and sand sitting on ledges in the canyon

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as well as a few little bushes growing here and there

this is what it looks like from the surface where you enter and exit the canyon  - you would never know the amazing sights that lie below!

these are dinosaur tracks that have been preserved in the sandstone.

A mile or so down the road you can walk up a big hill and down the big hill and then about a km to horseshoe bend.  This is where the Colorado river forms a horseshoe shape in the rock.  I was the only one who wanted to go so everyone waited on me while I made a hasty trip to get a look and a few pictures.  I definitely got my cardio workout there.

All in all it was a wonderful trip and it leaves me wanting to explore the lake nearby as well as Flagstaff.

             Grand Canyon - Antelope Canyon   November 2016
After a wonderful and very busy summer with family and friends we crossed the border on October 21, 2016.  The weather in Mesa has been uncharacteristically warm for this time of year so we decided to take advantage of it and take a trip up to the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon.  These have been on our bucket list for a while so it was awesome to get to do both.  We went with Ruth and Wayne and we all headed for the Grand Canyon on November 9, 2016.

It is a little tricky getting photos of the Grand Canyon as it is  . . .   well, pretty Grand!

We only had a few hours in the Grand Canyon and on hindsight we should have stayed at least 2 nights in this area - but hey, now we can come back again.

if you look way way down you can see the Colorado river which looks like a tiny little snake .  A fellow told us it really is a raging river but we are nearly a mile away so really hard to get perspective.

this was later in the day and the dust and pollution made for some pretty shadows

After that we drove to Page, Arizona and spent the night at the Comfort Inn. We went to a cute little BBQ restaurant that even had an outdoor band. As we were kind of wimpy and chilly we ate inside. We drove through some beautiful scenery which we didn't notice as it was dark by the time we got there.  Luckily we had to back track the next day and saw it.  We had signed up for a tour of Antelope Canyon on line and our tour time was 9:20    We had a nice warm sunny morning.  If there is rain in the area tours can be cancelled as this area has totally flooded as recently as 2012.  In 1996 they used to have self guided tours and 11 people actually drowned in the canyon.  This canyon is on Navajo land so we had to pay per person to enter their land and then had to have guided tours of the canyon.

The tour was an hour and a quarter long but it felt like 15 minutes.  We had to descend down into the canyon on 5 flights of fairly steep step metal step/ladder type things. Then we walked along the canyon and we were in awe with every step.  They do offer photography tours as well and I think you get more time.   On this tour we had to keep moving and not much time to dilly dally which is my specialty.

hard to imagine that this is rock!  The water has carved out beautiful shapes in the sandstone.  there are some bumpy parts which we were told are calcuim deposits.  you can also see breaks in the layers where the earth has shifted.

The guides were really great and stopped to take pictures of all the groups.  They would also help you with your camera settings etc.  We used Ken's tour company which was suggested to us by Dennis and Gloria who had visited the canyon in October.  They did not lead us astray and we were equally impressed with our tour.

I cant begin to tell you how many times we turned a corner or looked up and were amazed at the beauty of this canyon.

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The sun makes the rock look like gold.