Day 45, Drive from North Rim Grand Canyon, AZ to Mesa Verde, CO via Four Corners, May 18th

373.4 RV miles today, 6,947.4 total

Beth & I had breakfast at the Grand Canyon Lodge with magnificent canyon views. We left the north rim and traveled over 300 miles to the Mesa Verde RV Campground ~ 1 mile from the Mesa Verde National Park entrance. We stopped at Four Corners in Navajo land along the way where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah all come together in one point. It is the only place in the United States where four state boundaries come together & was first surveyed by the government in 1868. Below is a picture of Four Corners from 1956. We had dinner at Shiloh’s Steakhouse in Cortez, Colorado. From just outside Mesa Verde National Park, m, b, s & t

“It is not down in any map: true places never are.” – Herman Melville(1819-1891, novelist, poet, author of ‘Moby Dick’)

DSC09693DSC09688017akDSC09720DSC09718taqxagDSC09700DSC09726

 

 

 

Day 44, Grand Canyon North Rim, May 17th

95 RV miles today, 6,574 total

Up early to head to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, elevation over 8,500 feet. Only 10% of the visitors to the Grand Canyon venture to the North Rim. We hiked the Bright Angel Point Trial & had lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge. Sunset at Point Royal after hiking past Angel’s Window. This has been a memorable day!! Overnight lodging at the rim, m, b, s & t

“Its colors, though many and complex at any instant, change with the ascending and declining sun; lights and shadows appear and vanish with the passing clouds, and the changing seasons mark their passage in changing colors. You cannot see Grand Canyon in one view.”–John Wesley Powell 

“Every season has its peaks and valleys. What you have to try to do is eliminate the Grand Canyon.”– Andy Van Slyke(Former Major League Baseball outfielder)

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors
to live a life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours.” —Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American
Philosopher and Writer

DSC09500DSC09510DSC09507DSC09556DSC_9933DSC_9936DSC09599DSC09606DSC09612DSC09647DSC09655DSC09666

Day 43, Bryce Canyon, Horses, ATV’s, Phenomenal Day, May 16th

125.3 RV miles today, 6,479 total

We got up early today to take our horses, “El Paso,” “Red River,” & “Rachel,” off the rim into the floor basin where erosion has shaped colorful limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into a spectacular array of spires, fins, and pinnacles known as “hoodoos.” These whimsically arranged hoodoos resemble church steeples, Gothic spires, castle walls, animals, and even people. Phenomenal ride! Back at the top, we headed over to get some Four wheeler ATV’s to travel the woods & along the rim. Another phenomenal ride! Then after a stop at Adobe Cafe in Hatch, Utah, we headed on to Jacob Lake, Arizona near the north rim of the Grand Canyon, where Shelby settled into her tree hammock. It was a phenomenal day, m,b, s & t  

“I’ve often said there’s nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.” –Ronald Reagan (40th President of the United States, 1911-2004)

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

DSC09339DSC09376DSC09369DSC09435DSC09416DSC09379DSC09482DSC09483DSC09484DSC09492DSC09491DSC09493

Day 42, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, May 15th

125.7 RV miles today, 6,353.7 total

                    We went back into Zion this morning to hike the middle & lower Emerald Pool Trails near the Lodge.After lunch, we left Zion passing Checkerboard Mesa (named by the geologic marks scratched across its surface that resembles a checkerboard) & headed over to Bryce Canyon via Red Rock Canyon to drive through the park and stop at Natural Bridge Point, Bryce Point, & Sunset Point. We then headed to The Pines Restaurant for a home-cooked meal. The Paiute Indian history says the colorful, wildly-shaped hoodoos of Bryce Canyon were “Legend People” who were turned into stone by the trickster god Coyote. Bryce Canyon is situated along the southeastern rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The word paunsaugunt come from the Palute Indian language. It means place or home of the beavers. Bryce Canyon isn’t actually a canyon. It’s actually a natural amphitheater. Marmots, a high-elevation mammal found here, are often called “rockchucks” by the local population. From Bryce Canyon, m, b, s & t
                “Lovely and majestic beyond the cunning of human thought, the mighty Zion monuments rise to the sun as lightly as clouds that pass. And forever florious and forever immutable, they must rebuke human pride with the vision of ultimante beauty, and fulfill earth’s dream of rest after her work is done.” — Harriet Monroe, 1899
            “It’s a heck of a place to lose a cow.” — Brother Ebenezer Bryce (Morman pioneer cattleman and the first permanent settler in the Bryce Canyon area)
            “Before there were any Indians, the Legend People, To-when-an-ung-wa, lived in that place. There were many of them. They were of many kinds–birds, animals, lizards and such things–but they looked like people…For some reason the Legend People in that place were bad. Because they were bad, Coyote turned them all into rocks. You can see them in that place now; all turned into rocks; some standing in rows, some sitting down, some holding on to others. you can see their faces, with paiint on them just as they were before they became rocks…” –Palute Indian legend describing rock formations in Bryce Canyon

DSC09160DSC09146

DSC09208DSC09210DSC09464DSC09253DSC09265DSC09277DSC_9712DSC09271DSC_9736DSC09301

Day 41, Zion National Park, Utah, May 14th

163.2 RV miles today, 6,228 total

We traveled from Las Vegas into Utah to check into Zion Canyon Campground RV Resort. We felt like we were already in the park with the views we have from our campsite. We took the Zion National Park shuttle tour stopping at the most northernly stop to hike the Riverside Walk 3 miles round-trip up to the Narrows of the Virgin River (nicknamed “Wall Street”), where thousand-foot cliffs rise right out of the water and hanging gardens surrounded us, allowing us to go no further without proper water gear. We walked among these towering cliffs in this narrow canyon seeing sandstone cliffs ranging in color from cream, to pink, to red like sand castles. Zion is often said to be the most beautiful place in America. “Spectacular” is uttered time and time again as eyes raise to view the vast monoliths. Zion National Park unveils its eight layers of sandstone, displaying what has taken two-hundred-sixty million years to carve and mold. Archeologists have identified sites and artifacts from the Archaic culture, dating from about 7,000 BC to 300 BC, from Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) and Fremont cultures, dating from 300 BC to AD 1225, and from Southern Paiute culture, dating from AD 1250 to present day. Mormon pioneers settled in southern Utah and began farming here in the 1850s. We took the shuttle back into Springdale just outside the park and had dinner at Wildcat Willies. From Zion National Park, m, b, s & t

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” –John Muir (naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States, 1838-1914)

“One hardly knows just how to think of it. Never before has such a naked mountain of rock entered into our minds! Without a shred of disguise its transcendent form rises preeminent. There is almost nothing to compare to it. Niagara has the beauty of energy; the Grand Canyon, of immensity; the Yellowstone, of singularity; the Yosemite, of altitude; the ocean, of power; this Great Temple, of eternity—” Frederick S. Dellenbaugh (1853-1935, Speech to introduce the nation to Zion Canyon)

DSC09110DSC09072DSC09079DSC09097DSC09091DSC09053DSC09082 ZION_7450DSC09111DSC09117DSC09125DSC09043

 

Day 40, Las Vegas, May 13th

19 RV miles today, 6,064.8 total

I met with the most interesting man in the world today & Shelby hung out with Justin Timberlake. We explored the various resorts including Mandalay Bay, The Wynn, Caeser’s Palace, The Venetian, Palazzio & Circus Circus. We had lunch at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris way up in the tower overlooking the strip. Hot again today ~ 102 degrees. We took Toby into PetSmart for his grooming and did a little bit ourselves. After dinner in “Thumper,” we headed back down onto the Strip to see Caeser’s Palace, The Mirage watching the volcano erupt & Treasure Island watching the outdoor ship battle.

“The night before I left Las Vegas I walked out in the desert to look at the moon. There was a jeweled city on the horizon, spires rising in the night, but the jewels were diadems of electric and the spires were the neon of signs ten stories high.”–Norman Mailer, An American Dream [1965]

1) On every continent in the world, there is a sandwich named after him. 2) He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels. 3) He is fluent in all languages, including three that he only speaks. 4) Once while sailing around the world, he discovered a short cut.  5) If he were to mail a letter without postage, it would still get there. 6) The police often question him just because they find him interesting. 7) His business card simply says “I’ll call you.” 8) He has won the lifetime achievement award, twice. 9) In museums, he is allowed to touch the art. 10) His passport requires no photograph.11) When he drives a new car off the lot, it increases in value.–Quotes from Dos Equis ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’

“Everybody has their own path. It’s laid out for you. It’s just up to you to walk it.” –JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (American Musician, Born January 31, 1981)

DSC08941DSC08968DSC08985DSC08951DSC08933DSC08971DSC08988DSC08998DSC08942

 

Day 39, Hoover Dam, “Viva Las Vegas,” May 12th

283.5 RV miles today, 6,045.8 total

We left the Grand Canyon early Sunday morning for the 283 mile drive to Las Vegas. On the way, we stopped by Hoover Dam, an incredible man-made feat. We took the tour taking the elevator down to the deep tunnels of the dam. We arrived in Las Vegas in 101 degree temperatures…dry heat but still pretty hot! We took in the Cirque du Soleil performance of “O” at the Belagio & then the impressive water fountain show. Yet another WOW moment of this trip!  We had dinner at the Belagio Cafe & walked around the Strip and then back home to “Thumper.” From Las Vegas Strip at Circus Circus RV Campground, m, b, s & t

 “This morning I came, I saw, and I was conquered, as everyone would be who sees for the first time this great feat of mankind. . . .Ten years ago the place where we gathered was an unpeopled, forbidding desert. In the bottom of the gloomy canyon whose precipitous walls rose to height of more than a thousand feet, flowed a turbulent, dangerous river. . . . The site of Boulder City was a cactus-covered waste. And the transformation wrought here in these years is a twentieth century marvel.” –Speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, September 30, 1935 at the Dedication of Boulder Dam, September 30, 1935

“I shouldn’t be near Vegas and have money in my pocket.” –Adam Sandler

 

 

DSC08872DSC08854DSC08878DSC08865DSC08886DSC08898DSC08928DSC08907DSC08908DSC08910DSC08911DSC08923DSC08934DSC08938

 

Day 38, “GRAND CANYON,” May 11th

0 RV miles today, 5762.3 total

We hiked off the rim down into the canyon today at Kaibab South going about 3 and 1/2 miles. Another surreal experience! Being in this environment is quite extraordinary. WOW, m, b, s & t

“Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American… should see.”– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, speech at the Grand Canyon, Arizona on May 6, 1903

DSC08758 DSC08762DSC08711DSC08770DSC08738DSC08764DSC08765DSC08794DSC08697DSC08784DSC08782DSC08786

Day 37, “GRAND CANYON,” May 10th

268.3 RV miles today, 5762.3 total

Surreal…that is what seeing the GRAND CANYON for the first time appears! We left our gracious cousins outside Phoenix & travelled through Flagstaff, Arizona to arrive at the Grand Canyon, elevation 7138 feet at our campsite in Trailer Village near the South Rim. We spent hours overlooking the rim including watching the sunset in awe. Words cannot describe it and pictures do not do it justice. We tried to imagine what pioneers must have felt while hiking the land not knowing what lay ahead and all of a sudden coming up on this massive presentation! After sunset, we went over to the Bright Angel Lodge for dinner before settling in for bed. From the rim of The Grand Canyon, m, b, s & t

“The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail.” –John Wesley Powell

It’s like trying to describe what you feel when you’re standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon or remembering your first love or the birth of your child. You have to be there to really know what it’s like.” –Jack Schmitt

“Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.” –George F. Will

DSC08610DSC08671DSC08666DSC08664DSC08662DSC_9012DSC08544DSC08554

 

Day 36, Phoenix, Arizona, Will Departs, Shelby Arrives, May 9th

0 RV miles today, 5494 total

Will left to go back to Shanghai this morning and Shelby & Beth arrived from North Carolina late this afternoon.  I washed “Thumper” today, a fun & monumental task. Jen (my 1st cousin, once removed) & I went out to lunch at Joe’s Farm Grill. She will be starting medical school at U. of Arizona at Phoenix this summer. I did not listen to the sign by the tree!?!? Tom flew in from Texas & we all went out to a Mexican dinner. Our families are combined by parents who were siblings. Hopefully planning a family reunion in 2014. From Gilbert near Phoenix, Arizona, m, b, s & t

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”–Desmond Tutu

“Family Rules: Always tell the truth; WORK HARD; Keep Your Promises; Try New Things; Don’t Whine; Laugh Out Loud; Alswys say I Love your; Use kind words; Do Your Best; Be Grateful, Be Kind; BE PROUD OF YOURSELF; Say Please & Thank You; Remember you are Loved.” 

“Peoples’s souls are like gardens. You can’t turn your back on someone just because his garden’s full of weeds. You have to give him water and lots of sunshine.” —The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer

“A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.”  ~Author Unknown~

DSC08524DSC08522
DSC08532images