"Drink it up. This one's for you. It's been a lovely cruise."

I am having a hard time dealing with being home after our 8 week Arizona (and beyond) Adventure. I think Dana is too. Okay, we've only been home a few hours. We got off the ferry around 10:30. We picked up some groceries on the way home. Once home we unpacked, had lunch. We Skyped Mike and Darlene this afternoon and learned that it was near 80 degrees and they were continuing with their fun in the sun. I told Dana to pack the 4Runner, we were heading south. Then we went for a walk around 10 Mile Point. We ran into our good friend and neighbour Bob on our walk. We got a chance to get caught up with Bob and find out how his and Mary Ann's trip to Columbia was and how they have adjusted to their return to the Victoria burbs. Seems we have a lot in common.

Let me back up a couple of days because we've had quite the last few days of our adventure. Friday, the 12th, Dana, Val, Hannah and I made the trip back up to the Mt Baker ski hill for some more winter fun. What should have been a quiet mid-week time on the slopes turned out very busy. Turns out it is spring break in Vancouver and a lot of Canadians choose Mt Baker over local hills for their own winter fun. The crowds we could handle. The wind? Not so much. It was howling once again on the slopes of the Baker hills. Not sure what it going on. Seems this is what we have faced more than not this year. Regardless of the conditions we were determined to be MBHC (Mt Baker Hard Core) this day, at least for the morning. Dana did 4 runs an I think I made it to 5 or 6 runs before succumbing to the warmth and safety of the lodge. No pics today as there was nothing to see but snow.

On Saturday we loaded the 4Runner for the last time as we headed for Point Roberts. Saturday was Dana's birthday and her family was throwing a party for her at the farm. Salmon, pasta salad, chocolate cake and ice cream. Yummy! We had a great visit and retired early as we were planning to catch an early ferry to the Island on Sunday morning.

We arrived home to warm and very clean house (thanks Lauren....). Everything looked great.

So, that's about it. Time to put a wrap in this adventure. We had an absolutely fantastic time. We saw so much. We put 10,000 kms on the 4Runner. We've had some discussion concerning whether we would return to Arizona. I think it is more than just likely. There is much more to see and experience.

I've really enjoyed blogging. I hope you have enjoyed reading the posts. Someday I'll re-read the posts so I can re-live our adventure.

Home sweet home.....

Idaho, Oregon, Washington States....making our way west.

Hi to all. We've been without internet for a few days. I'm posting our adventures for the last 4 days. The next time I post we will be home in Victoria (on March 14th).

March 8th

After a small but healthy breakfast at the motel we bid farewell to Twin Falls, Idaho. Out on the interstate we made pretty good time rolling through southern Idaho. To be perfectly honest, the drive through Idaho was "Boring" beyond belief. What we will remember about our short stay on Idaho is that the people there are very friendly and helpful. Also, the Agri-food industry is huge. It seemed that every acre was under production, except for some of the high grasslands that seemed to be used to graze cattle.

Soon we were in Oregon. Ontario, Oregon is the first town we went through. I could be wrong but I believe that this part of Oregon is known for its onion production. We literally had to keep opening the windows of the 4Runner to air out the interior. The smell of onions was overpowering. This went on for miles and miles.

After a while Interstate 84 swings north to Washington State. We went over Dead Man's Pass (for real) where it was snowing. We then dropped down into the Columbia River valley near the tri-cities of Kenniwick, Richland and Pascoe, Wa. We saw something here that we had not seen for a very long time. Green fields. It sounds odd, but really, we did not see many green fields in Arizona, and none in Utah or Idaho. The change in climates was quite evident.. Also, we were now down to under 1,000 feet elevation for the first time in 7 weeks. That too was noticeable.

We rolled into Lake Lenore, figuratively, not literally, around 5 p.m. It was great to be there. We were greeted warmly by Uncle Bob, Aunt Lynda and of course Midnight the standard poodle. We spent the evening chatting, looking at pictures from our trip, quilting and more quilting and more visiting. We finally rolled into bed around 11:00. Everyone slept pretty well that night.

March 9th

We woke up to sunshine and cool temperatures. After a great visit and breakfast Barry and Uncle Bob took Midnight (the dog) for a walk down by the lake. Actually the trip was more to find out if the oar pin on the paddles would fit the home made oar lock on the 12 foot car topper that Bob would borrow from the neighbour. The lake was filled with water fowl when we arrived at the shore. While you cannot see them in the pictures you will get a good sense of the beauty of the lake, the cliffs across the lake and the general area. It was a real treat for Dana and I to get to stay with Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynda. We very much enjoyed the short visit. Dana and Uncle Bob also enjoyed working on one of the new quilts under design and construction. It's going to be another beauty, Bob.


March 10th

One week ago we were sitting in the bleachers at the Mariner's Baseball park in Peoria. It was near 80F. Today we are skiing at Mt. Baker. The temperature is around 26F. It is snowing lightly. We are having a blast on the slopes. This is only the second day this year that we have been on the slopes. The first time in less than good conditions. I have included a couple of pictures that will give you a good idea of how the day went. Yes, those are ear to ear smiles on the faces of very happy skiers.

March 11th

We woke early with great enthusiasm and anticipation for another great day on the slopes. I called the ski information line to learn that the mountain had received 5 inches of new snow overnight. It was 26F degrees and snowing. Whoopi!! This is going to be a great day!! After a hearty breakfast we loaded up the 4Runner and headed for Mt Baker to ski for the day. We hit snow about half way to the ski hill. We arrived at the White Salmon Lodge base at 8:45. We were early so we got great parking. Now for the disappointing news. We didn't even get out of the 4Runner. The wind was howling. The snow was blowing. it was a complete white-out. You could barely see the base of the mountain. Skiing by brail is not our idea of fun so we headed back down the mountain with the hope that tomorrow would be a better day. Val and Hannah will be joining us tomorrow. Tomorrow it would be MBHC (Mt Baker Hard Core).



One of the more interesting sights on the road in Southern Idaho....


Another interesting scene on the road in southern Idaho.


Bob's borrowed boat on the shore of Lake Lenore.


Uncle Bob making sure he won't be up the creek without a paddle - that fits the oar lock.



Aunt Lynda, Uncle Bob and Dana the morning we left for the coast.

Living the Dream at Mt. Baker Ski Resort

March 7th - Where the hell are we??

The short answer to this simple question is, we are in Twin Falls, Idaho. The better question is why are we in Twin Falls, Idaho?

We woke up this morning in a crappy little interstate motel in Fillmore, Utah. Without a doubt the worst motel we have experienced for the entire trip. No problem, we survived.

From Fillmore we headed north on interstate 15 through Salt Lake City. I am trying hard to find a lot to write about concerning our trip through northern Utah. Flat, high desert, urban sprawl around the cities, and high snow capped mountains on the eastern side of the interstate. Of course there is the great basin and the Salt Lake, though this time of year everything is white or brown and the impact of the environment is somewhat muted. We did take an 18 mile side trip up one of the canyons to Alta ski resort. While we elected not to take to the slopes today the resort looked incredible. The elevation at the base lodges is about 8,500 feet. The top of the mountain is around 12,000 feet. There was plenty of fresh snow. Someday we will return to hit the slopes and experience the "greatest snow on earth".

We continued north on interstate 15 and connected with interstate 84 which took us out of Utah and into southern Idaho. By 4:00 p.m. we decided that we needed to find a nice motel with an indoor pool. Ah yes, and this is why we are in Twin Falls, Idaho. We checked into the Best Western and immediately headed for the pool. It was a salt water pool, so very little chlorine. It was not your ordinary motel pool. This one was about 50 feet long. We swam many lengths and it felt great. After a short rest we went for a long walk. It was nice to get some good exercise.

For dinner tonight we had quite possibly the best steak - ever! We went to the Rock Creek Bar (restaurant). The special tonight was a 12 oz. top sirloin. That's a lot of beef. But bar none, the best.

Tomorrow we are headed for Lake Lenore, Washington. We will spend the night with Aunt Lynda and Uncle Bob. It will be re great to get caught up with them.


This photographer took the day off......

Goodbye Arizona, Hello Utah. Or, Zion and Bryce Canyons in 1 Day...

Staying in Page, Arizona made it easy to leave Arizona. Let me explain. Page is a small tourist town perched above the Colorado River, Glen Canyon Damn and Powell Lake. This time of year there are very few tourists in Page, except for a few like us who are just passing through. Page seems to have all the problems of many small towns in the West. We came face to face with some of those problems including prejudice towards Indians and Indian problems off the reservation. Nasty stuff and realities one prefers not to experience. On the other hand, it is a good reminder of the struggles that exist in the real world. Makes one thankful for what we have and a reminder of what people need most, housing, jobs, education, family, compassion and community - not necessarily in that order.

We departed Arizona and entered the beautiful state of Utah on highway 89 to Mt Carmel Jct, Ut. Then we headed west on SR9 to Zion National Park. I am running out of words to describe these sights. Awesome. Amazing. Incredible. Inspiring. Life changing? Take your pick. Actually, I'll write about our time in Zion and Bryce Parks and leave out the adjectives. You fill in the word. Any of the aforementioned words will do. Here we go:

We entered the East gate of the Zion National Park around 10:30. The drive from the gate down to the visitors centre was ________. We went through a tunnel that was 1.1 miles long. We came out of the tunnel and dropped down to the bottom of the canyon. We were surrounded by ___________ rock formations and mountains. Around each corner was another _________ view. We took over 50 pictures. There is a road that goes up the canyon. What an ________ 5 miles. Really ________.

We doubled back on SR 9 to get back to SR 89 which would take us towards Bryce Canyon Park. Bryce Canyon Park is at serious elevation. One part of the park is at over 9,000 feet. Consequently there was a lot of snow on the ground that somewhat obscured the rock formations that we came to see. I have included a couple of pictures so you will get the idea of what there is to see and what we actually saw. Overall it was ___________.

The weather forecast was calling for a snow storm to blow into the region late today or tonight. We felt it best to head northwest toward Salt Lake City. After we left Bryce Canyon Park we doubled back towards SR89 and went north. We took SR20 to Interstate 15 and went north to where we are staying the night at Fillmore, Ut. I-15 was excellent. Utah wins the prize for the best roads so far. We even experienced posted speed limit signs stating 80 MPH. We travelled at 75 MPH and traffic passed us like we were doing 65 MPH. Zoom, zoom.....

Now a word about Utah hospitality, food and service. But first, Madelyn's words of caution burn in our ears. Madelyn wrote to us before we came south and warned us that Utah is a "a bit backward and not to get our expectations too high". Well, apart from the National Park staff, M is quite right. Now we are in a small town, beside the interstate, but the service and food here rate a big 3 out of 10. Perhaps I am being overly generous. Things can only improve from here. Tomorrow we head to Salt Lake City where we will find a motel close to the Alta Ski Resort. We hope to ski on Monday. Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself.


Zion National Park. Wow!


Entering the East Gate.




Zion canyon's splendour in the rearview mirror.


Check out the red pavement. Cool.....



Red Rock Canyon which is on SR12, on the way to Bryce Canyon Park.


View at Rainbow Point Overlook, Bryce Canyon


Sign posted at the Overlook at the end of the Bryce Canyon road.

The Grand Canyon Part 2 - March 4th

What a difference a day makes!

Our plan for the day was to rise early, eat breakfast and catch as much as the sunrise as we could at the Canyon. We did rise early. We did eat a good breakfast. We did not catch any of the sunrise. 2 of 3 ain't bad. Regardless, the Sun God was shining on us this day. Although it was very cold first thing this morning, -9C, it was a glorious sunny day. And, no wind!

After we checked out of our Best Western motel we headed straight for the overlook at Mather Point. After a short walk along the ridge to snap a few shots of the canyon we headed east on Desert View Drive which would, after 26 miles, take us to the East gate of the Park. Along the way there were many overlooks to explore and sights to see. The Canyon is absolutely amazingly incredible. After the 3rd or 4th stop Dana caught me saying, "Okay, this is absolutely the best view", and, "It doesn't get any better than this". I admit to being just a bit impressed with the grandeur and vastness of the Canyon. At the end of the day Dana said that it was so overwhelming that it hard to take it all in.

As we sit in our Hotel room this evening discussing what we saw today, we agreed that the Canyon was so big that words really cannot describe what we saw. Certainly my pictures do not do it justice, but as it is said, "a picture says a thousand words". Well, here is a couple of thousand words for you to take in. Enjoy the show.

Tomorrow we leave Arizona for Utah. Tonight we are in Page, Az. Tomorrow we head for Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.



Our personal Grand Canyon Tour Guide.


The following shots were all taken with the morning sun. Click on the photos for a better look at the canyon. Definately a couple of "wows" in here.

Sedona and the Grand Canyon

We have been looking forward to this day for a very long time. Some of you will no doubt have heard us go on and on about the Grand Canyon National Park and how amazing it looks in pictures and on TV. Well, today we got to see it close up and personal, in 2 Seasons.

First of all our day began early. We saw Mike and Darlene off at 7:00 a.m. as they headed off for their Thursday morning golf game. After a quick breakfast we packed the 4Runner and headed north. Our route took us north on Hwy 87 through Payson and Camp Verde and then on I-17 and SR179 to Sedona. Wow! Red rock canyon. Amazing contrast between the green trees and the deep red rock. Unfortunately the road from Sedona to Flagstaff was closed so we doubled back and continued up I-17 to Flagstaff. From there we ventured out on SR 180 to the town of Tusayan at the Grand Canyon.

Barry's knack for "weather events" when travelling continued today. The forecast for the Grand Canyon today was mainly sunny. No sooner had we arrived in Tusayan it started to snow, and blow. It was a bloody white-out. Plus, it was cold. We checked into our motel and headed for the Canyon. We got out to the Canyon just in time to see it being devoured by the snow storm. We were in shock. Maybe it was the bitter wind chill conditions. We decided that we would get up early tomorrow and head for the canyon in hopes of seeing what we came to see.

We decided to grab and early dinner at the Park. The clouds to the south were lifting a bit and it looked like we might get lucky and have some evening sun. Sunset at the Grand Canyon would be fabulous.

Guess what happened. We got lucky. Barry's travel luck seemed to be changing. The clouds completely lifted and we were in bright sunshine from 5:00 p.m. through to sunset. We hiked about 1 1/2 miles down the rim to the Hopi Outlook. We got there just in time to see the sun set in the canyon. What a treat. It was worth the many miles we travelled to get here, and worth the wait.

Dana tells me that tomorrow we will get up at the crack of dawn and get there for sunrise. Sound good.




What we saw when we first arrived at the Grand Canyon, just before the snow storm completely devoured the view.



When the sky cleared you could see forever..... What a magical place





Barry and Dana at sunset at the Hopi Outlook, Grand Canyon






Red rocks of Sedona


....more Sedona scenery.....

Mesa Madness

We're back Blogging.....

Yes, after a short hiatus we're back writing about our great adventures. To be honest, I've been so busy that I have not had any time in the past 5 days to Blog. The pictures are going to tell the story, but let me give you a quick run down of what we have been up to since our last blog entry.

February 28th we said farewell to Tucson. 6 weeks of southern Arizona adventure seemed to skip by. We had a great time but it was time to load up the 4Runner and head north to Mesa where we spent a fun filled 4 days with Mike and Darlene at their hacienda at Mesa Regal RV Resort.

We arrived at Mesa Regal in time to catch the 3rd period (and overtime) of the Canada vs USA gold medal game. When Sid the Kid scored the OT winner the RV resort erupted in cheering. I ran out of the house and into the lane. It was like New Year's Eve. You could hear hooting and hollering coming form all over the park. Of course not everyone was cheering, but the Canadian sure were. Btw: there are about 2,600 sites and approximately 5,000 people at Mesa Regal at any given time. Gives you the scale of what I am referring too.

Monday, March 1st - 0830 Coffee with the boys at McDonalds. A regular thing on any weekday. Lots of good natured banter about the Gold Medal game and other stuff. Visited an orange grove. Picked up a bag of "fresh" oranges. Orange juice from fresh oranges can't be beat! Some pool time in afternoon at the small pool. Barry and Mike played tennis for an hour before dinner. There are 5 tennis courts at the resort. We got to use a ball machine so we could practice our returns. Great fun! Barry and Mike capped the day with a game of pool at the "pool hall in the RV Resort". This pool hall has about 24 tables.

Tuesday, March 2nd - Visit to Old Town Scottsdale in the morning and for lunch. Barry and Mike went to Jobing.com arena in Glendale to watch the Phoenix Coyotes vs St Louis Blues. This was an "experience". First of all, unlike going to a hockey game in Vancouver, or anywhere else for that matter, you get to the "theme park" early, like 4:00. 3 hours early. You don't pay for parking. The theme park or entertainment centre that surrounds the arena included many fine restaurants, stores, places to hang out, water fountains, a theatre complex, a couple of hotels.... We walked around and took in the sights. We shopped at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville store and then eat at the Margaritaville Restaurant. Then we went to the Jobing.com arena. Mike had obtained a couple of discounted tickets ($25 each) off the internet that got us into the arena and into the lower bowl section. We didn't like the seats we had so we moved and settled for a couple on the Blue line just high enough so we could see game without having the glass obstruct our view. There were so many empty seats we didn't know which ones to take. We thought that there were about 5,000 at the game. This for a team ahead of the Canucks in the standings. It was very sad. The game was good, but not great, and the home team lost. Too bad, I guess.

Wednesday, March 3rd: Darlene and Dana had the morning together to visit. Mike attended a jewellery making workshop at the resort. Barry went to the big lap pool and did a few laps.
Dana and Barry head for Peoria at about 10:30 to take in the Cactus League (spring training) home opener for the Seattle Mariners. The M's played the SF Giants. The park where the M's play is fabulous. It holds around 5,000. Most seats were filled. Beautiful sunshine, Temperature around 77F. Back at the resort for dinner with Mike and Darlene. Another terrific dinner served up (thanks Darlene! Mike too.....)

Thursday, March 4th (today) - Back on the road. Separate Blog entry for this day..... Sedona and the Grand Canyon...





Gold Medal for Team Canada! As close as we got to the actual game. We will all remember this day for a very, very long time!


Dana with Bronze Pig statue in Old Town Scottsdale.


Jobing.com arena in Glendale, Az.


Entertainment centre that surrounds Jobing.com arena. In picture is Margaritaville restaurant, fountains and billboards.


Stadium in Glendale where the Arizona Cardinals play football. The grass in the picture is the playing field. It is one piece of grass that is rolled into the stadium when they need it. Otherwise it stays outside in the sun and rain (when it does rain....)



Seattle Mariner's home opener at Mariner's facility in Peoria, Az