What an unbelievable day. I know I say that too much, but I simply can't think of a better way to put it! We got a really early start today because we were going to take a long day trip from our location here in West Yellowstone, to Teton National Park. The only way to go is through a portion of Yellowstone, as the Tetons are actually an extension of Yellowstone that begins at the southern exit of Yellowstone.
We drove 275 miles today and though it was a busy day, we had such fun. We began our journey at 7:00 this morning by entering the West Yellowstone entrance and driving 70 miles from West Yellowstone to the Southern Yellowstone exit, then entering the Grand Tetons. Suffice to say the views of the Tetons did not disappoint.
In addition to the many glaciers that still exist within the park, there were also a couple of old homesteads from 125+ years ago that included original cabins and various other extended buildings including barns, wagons, etc. We got to walk through all the various areas and it really brings you back in time. Just standing in these areas I kept thinking that the people pictured lived and worked...in this very space, some 125 - 140 years ago. It kind of brings you back to that moment in time...it's one of the things I enjoy most about this lifestyle. I enjoy the wonderful views, scenery, and 'things to do' so to speak, but it's the actual history of each place that captivates me.
After driving through from the north to southern exit of the Tetons, we were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We parked the car and walked around for a couple of hours. It's a quaint, old town with the majority of buildings being National Historic Landmarks, filled will all kinds of quaint, wonderful little shops. Of course we had to get a picture of the elk horn terrace that are located in a few places within Jackson Hole. It's an actual arch of elk horns that Jackson Hole is known for.
We had to make a stop in Cadillac Bar, which I had seen on the Travel channel. The bar stools are actually saddles. Guess you just belly up to the bar and rather than plop down on a bar stool...just climb up on one of the saddles. Of course Mark had to get my picture doing just that. We shopped through the Jackson Hole local museum and saw lot's of memorabilia from the past. There were a couple of beautiful parks in the center of town, along with a stagecoach that would drive you around town for a mere $6.00 each, (but we passed on that).
By then it was close to 1:00 and we were starving. We had packed us a picnic lunch and drove back towards the Tetons at the entrance to Jackson Hole where there was a beautiful picnic area and stopped there for our picnic. After getting our bellies full, it was time to head back as we had a good 140 mile return and lot's of stuff to see heading south back through another section of the Tetons. We did see a coyote that had apparently snared a squirrel and he was snacking on him...we weren't able to get pictures in time though, darn it.
We had thought about possibly stopping by Old Faithful to see if we were close to the next anticipated geyser, but it was approaching 4:00 in the afternoon and we had left the dogs at home for such a long time that we decided to defer checking out Old Faithful as well as all the other Yellowstone geysers until Wednesday.
We've had Lot's of snow, sleet and freezing rain since we've been here. That's why we basically didn't do anything Saturday & Sunday...if it wasn't snowing, it was freezing sleet or freezing rain. The temperatures have been quite cold (well to us anyway)...the temps during the day have been in the low to mid 40's and in the upper 20's or low 30's at night. Brrrrrr!!
Based on tomorrow's forecast, we'll probably make a visit in town of the Grizzly Bear/Wolf sanctuary. Other than that, we'll probably just chill tomorrow. We've yet to really check out any of the Yellowstone geyers, springs and waterfalls. We hope to head to Yellowstone Wednesday for our first full day of tourism.
Well folks, that's a wrap for this update. We had a wonderfully blessed day today. We are very blessed to be able to take the time to see all the wonders God has created. Until next time~
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wildlife Galore
Yellowstone is proving to be as terrific and wonderful as I had hoped it would. Suffice to say it has not disappointed to date, and we have barely scratched the surface.
After taking a drive to Old Faithful for a quick look around the afternoon we arrived, we stayed home yesterday due to extensive rains and it's quite cold here. Well, I should say it's quite cold for 'Texans'. We stopped by the market this afternoon and were told temps drop to (-20) - (-40)...and that's not wind chill, but actually temperatures. They said that Yellowstone 'only' had about 5 Feet of snow this winter. Wow, I was freezing today with temps in the low 40's, rain and wind of 20+, the wind chills were off the chart for us.
But on to the important stuff--wildlife! To sum up today's wildlife in one word-- Awesome!! We decided to hold off checking out all the thermal activity and geyers today and take our babies (Clyde & Duffy) through the park and just look for wildlife. And we were certainly not disappointed.
Shortly after entering the West Entrance to Yellowstone we came across a couple of large Bull Moose. Their antlers were still covered in velvet and they were just beautiful to watch. On down a bit further we came across the first of many many Bison. One of the sweetest things I've ever witnessed was watching the new Bison calves being nursed, right next to us...within 10 foot of the car. Yellowstone is currently saturated with baby Bison calves right now.
On a couple of occassions, the Bison were within 2 feet of the car, so on one occassion I rolled down my window and lifted up Clyde so he could get "up close and personal" with them. It was hilarious!! Clyde acted like he Didn't See Anything!! What a hoot! This little chihuahua isn't dumb, that's for sure. Not a peep out of him...just acted like he was staring at the sky as the bison walked right by the car door and window, within 3 feet. Soooo cute.
We drove thru a part of the park called Norris, and on up to Mammoth Springs. It was there that we saw our first Bear. He was probably a juvenile and had silver hair. He was just taking a slow stroll from one side of the road, across to the other. There must have been 30 cars around along with a Park Ranger. So we pulled up behind a car parked on the road and Mark jumped out with the camera as the bear reached the middle of the street and just starts snapping pictures. Mark was probably within 10 - 12 feet from him and the bear wasn't the least bit fazed by the 40+ cameras snapping pictures of him. We watched him amble on up the hill on the other side until he was out of sight.
At the far northern end of Mammoth Springs as we began our drive south back towards West Yellowstone, we passed some of the most breath taking scenery we've ever seen. There's still lot's of snow at 8,000 feet and the views of the pristine snow with large pine trees look so tranquil and peaceful, like a picture on a Christmas card. The varied scenery during today's 120 mile drive in the park was just spectacular.
As we approached the end of our journey today we passed another blocked section of road with countless people off too one side. Mark made a quick u-turn and parked and we saw a rather large Grizzly bear on the other side of a stream. He slowly mingled and meandered his way along the river beds next to the water for a long time. We both got out and watched him for several minutes but the rain and cold weather finally forced us back to the warmth of the car.
We also saw Elk, Deer and numerous birds today and along with our Grizzly Bear, Black Bear and Bull Moose proved to be quite the wildlife outing. We were quite fortunate today as many visitors come to the Park and never see a bear. The only wildlife we've not yet seen are the wolves. But we still have 11 days here in Yellowstone, so you never know!
Tomorrow's forecast predicts highs in the 30's and low's in the lower 20's with 60% chance of precipitation, so we're planning on making some homemade soup and cornbread, and bundling up inside tomorrow and just watch tv and veg out. We stopped by the grocery store this afternoon and picked up a few groceries including stuff for a picnic on Monday.
Looks like Monday is a perfect weather day to head back and we plan on getting an early start and spending the entire day checking out many of the geyers and Yellowstone Lake as well as some of the Falls and who knows, maybe lot's more wildlife opportunities. We took very few pictures today, primarly just of the bears we saw. We'll kick our picture taking into high gear when we head back on Monday and we're really looking forward to finding a nice quiet location with spectacular scenery (easy to find in Yellowstone) for a picnic.
Well, that's a wrap for now. We had a wonderful day today and can't wait for our next trip into Yellowstone. So, until later~
After taking a drive to Old Faithful for a quick look around the afternoon we arrived, we stayed home yesterday due to extensive rains and it's quite cold here. Well, I should say it's quite cold for 'Texans'. We stopped by the market this afternoon and were told temps drop to (-20) - (-40)...and that's not wind chill, but actually temperatures. They said that Yellowstone 'only' had about 5 Feet of snow this winter. Wow, I was freezing today with temps in the low 40's, rain and wind of 20+, the wind chills were off the chart for us.
But on to the important stuff--wildlife! To sum up today's wildlife in one word-- Awesome!! We decided to hold off checking out all the thermal activity and geyers today and take our babies (Clyde & Duffy) through the park and just look for wildlife. And we were certainly not disappointed.
Shortly after entering the West Entrance to Yellowstone we came across a couple of large Bull Moose. Their antlers were still covered in velvet and they were just beautiful to watch. On down a bit further we came across the first of many many Bison. One of the sweetest things I've ever witnessed was watching the new Bison calves being nursed, right next to us...within 10 foot of the car. Yellowstone is currently saturated with baby Bison calves right now.
On a couple of occassions, the Bison were within 2 feet of the car, so on one occassion I rolled down my window and lifted up Clyde so he could get "up close and personal" with them. It was hilarious!! Clyde acted like he Didn't See Anything!! What a hoot! This little chihuahua isn't dumb, that's for sure. Not a peep out of him...just acted like he was staring at the sky as the bison walked right by the car door and window, within 3 feet. Soooo cute.
We drove thru a part of the park called Norris, and on up to Mammoth Springs. It was there that we saw our first Bear. He was probably a juvenile and had silver hair. He was just taking a slow stroll from one side of the road, across to the other. There must have been 30 cars around along with a Park Ranger. So we pulled up behind a car parked on the road and Mark jumped out with the camera as the bear reached the middle of the street and just starts snapping pictures. Mark was probably within 10 - 12 feet from him and the bear wasn't the least bit fazed by the 40+ cameras snapping pictures of him. We watched him amble on up the hill on the other side until he was out of sight.
At the far northern end of Mammoth Springs as we began our drive south back towards West Yellowstone, we passed some of the most breath taking scenery we've ever seen. There's still lot's of snow at 8,000 feet and the views of the pristine snow with large pine trees look so tranquil and peaceful, like a picture on a Christmas card. The varied scenery during today's 120 mile drive in the park was just spectacular.
As we approached the end of our journey today we passed another blocked section of road with countless people off too one side. Mark made a quick u-turn and parked and we saw a rather large Grizzly bear on the other side of a stream. He slowly mingled and meandered his way along the river beds next to the water for a long time. We both got out and watched him for several minutes but the rain and cold weather finally forced us back to the warmth of the car.
We also saw Elk, Deer and numerous birds today and along with our Grizzly Bear, Black Bear and Bull Moose proved to be quite the wildlife outing. We were quite fortunate today as many visitors come to the Park and never see a bear. The only wildlife we've not yet seen are the wolves. But we still have 11 days here in Yellowstone, so you never know!
Tomorrow's forecast predicts highs in the 30's and low's in the lower 20's with 60% chance of precipitation, so we're planning on making some homemade soup and cornbread, and bundling up inside tomorrow and just watch tv and veg out. We stopped by the grocery store this afternoon and picked up a few groceries including stuff for a picnic on Monday.
Looks like Monday is a perfect weather day to head back and we plan on getting an early start and spending the entire day checking out many of the geyers and Yellowstone Lake as well as some of the Falls and who knows, maybe lot's more wildlife opportunities. We took very few pictures today, primarly just of the bears we saw. We'll kick our picture taking into high gear when we head back on Monday and we're really looking forward to finding a nice quiet location with spectacular scenery (easy to find in Yellowstone) for a picnic.
Well, that's a wrap for now. We had a wonderful day today and can't wait for our next trip into Yellowstone. So, until later~
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Provo to Yellowstone
We left Vegas early Monday morning and arrived in Provo Utah Monday afternoon. We went from 90 degree days in Vegas to 40 and heavy snow showers as we approached Provo, wow what a change in weather. We were up early the next morning, had the RV packed up, the cars packed and ready to go...but when we went to lock the RV door and push in the steps, the steps broke off--completely! Ugh! And we just had the roof repaired the previous week. When it rains it poors I guess--(not that you should feel 'sorry' for us under the circumstances!)
Well, it didn't take long before we realized that we pretty much had to stay in Provo and get the stair repaired, as it's a 4-5 foot drop off from the front door to the ground. So we set back up, unpacked everything and Mark started checking around RV supply stores and finds the correct stairs and by later afternoon, he had the new stairs in and we were ready to leave this morning.
We were packed up and heading out of Provo by 7:00 this morning. We made great time and arrived in Yellowstone National Park by 2:00 this afternoon. After getting settled in at Grizzly RV Park we headed to downtown West Yellowstone, which is a quaint little town that we're really looking forward to exploring over the next 2 weeks. But first things first--we were starving having missed lunch. We found a nice little restaurant in town and had a terrific meal.
After filling our bellies, we decided to locate an information center to get information on Yellowstone. We're only a few blocks from the entry to Yellowstone and before we knew it, we were inside the park on our way for a quick visit of Old Faithful--totally unplanned. We didn't even have a camera. But wow, we sure weren't disappointed. The drive to Old Faithful did not disappoint for sure. We saw so many bison and on a couple of occasions, there were actually herds of bison on the roads bringing all traffic to a stand still as they strolled down the middle of the road. This time of year there are lot's of baby calves as well and they were sooooo cute. The bison were only a couple of feet from our car on several occasions. Just amazing!
Ok, enough about today. We're so glad to finally be in Yellowstone, I've wanted to see this park for many years. We've decided to slow down the pace a bit and as I mentioned earlier, we'll be here for 2 whole weeks. We hope to see all areas of the park...but it is huge so more about that later. Well that's a wrap for now, I'll try to update more regularly while we're here. In the meantime, we had a wonderful day and hope you did as well. Until later~
Well, it didn't take long before we realized that we pretty much had to stay in Provo and get the stair repaired, as it's a 4-5 foot drop off from the front door to the ground. So we set back up, unpacked everything and Mark started checking around RV supply stores and finds the correct stairs and by later afternoon, he had the new stairs in and we were ready to leave this morning.
We were packed up and heading out of Provo by 7:00 this morning. We made great time and arrived in Yellowstone National Park by 2:00 this afternoon. After getting settled in at Grizzly RV Park we headed to downtown West Yellowstone, which is a quaint little town that we're really looking forward to exploring over the next 2 weeks. But first things first--we were starving having missed lunch. We found a nice little restaurant in town and had a terrific meal.
After filling our bellies, we decided to locate an information center to get information on Yellowstone. We're only a few blocks from the entry to Yellowstone and before we knew it, we were inside the park on our way for a quick visit of Old Faithful--totally unplanned. We didn't even have a camera. But wow, we sure weren't disappointed. The drive to Old Faithful did not disappoint for sure. We saw so many bison and on a couple of occasions, there were actually herds of bison on the roads bringing all traffic to a stand still as they strolled down the middle of the road. This time of year there are lot's of baby calves as well and they were sooooo cute. The bison were only a couple of feet from our car on several occasions. Just amazing!
Ok, enough about today. We're so glad to finally be in Yellowstone, I've wanted to see this park for many years. We've decided to slow down the pace a bit and as I mentioned earlier, we'll be here for 2 whole weeks. We hope to see all areas of the park...but it is huge so more about that later. Well that's a wrap for now, I'll try to update more regularly while we're here. In the meantime, we had a wonderful day and hope you did as well. Until later~
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Back in Vegas
We decided to leave LA a couple days earlier than originally planned. I had forgot to previously mention that the RV Park we were staying in, is without a doubt the worst park we've ever stayed in. Good grief it was just hideous...but there weren't really any other options within 40 miles of the park and we didn't realize how run down this park was until we arrived. Suffice to say the pictures and feedback we had read didn't do this park justice so to speak--it was far worse than anticipated.
So last night we discussed heading out a couple days earlier than we had originally planned, especially since we disliked the park we were in and the electric had went out our second day and Mark walked down to notify the office and they never came. Fortunately Mark found the reset switch on the electric company box but we just didn't feel comfortable leaving the dogs in the RV and going out, so we decided to go ahead and leave early this morning.
We got an early start hoping to miss the majority of the LA traffic and with it being early Saturday morning, we didn't run into any problems. We made great time and arrived back in Vegas, at the same RV Park and we were even able to get our same spot from last week. We're going to stay tomorrow as well and head north towards Salt Lake City early Monday morning.
We have a reservation in Yellowstone National Park beginning Wednesday, so we'll be traveling for 3 consecutive days this week...which I'm not really looking forward to, but hey--I've always said "It's the Destination--Not the Journey"!!! Well that's a wrap for now, we had a wonderful day and hope you did as well. Until later~
So last night we discussed heading out a couple days earlier than we had originally planned, especially since we disliked the park we were in and the electric had went out our second day and Mark walked down to notify the office and they never came. Fortunately Mark found the reset switch on the electric company box but we just didn't feel comfortable leaving the dogs in the RV and going out, so we decided to go ahead and leave early this morning.
We got an early start hoping to miss the majority of the LA traffic and with it being early Saturday morning, we didn't run into any problems. We made great time and arrived back in Vegas, at the same RV Park and we were even able to get our same spot from last week. We're going to stay tomorrow as well and head north towards Salt Lake City early Monday morning.
We have a reservation in Yellowstone National Park beginning Wednesday, so we'll be traveling for 3 consecutive days this week...which I'm not really looking forward to, but hey--I've always said "It's the Destination--Not the Journey"!!! Well that's a wrap for now, we had a wonderful day and hope you did as well. Until later~
Friday, May 21, 2010
Busy Busy in LA
Wow, where has the time gone? We've been in Oxnard, a suburb of Los Angeles, since Monday. We've had a great time while we've been here, but quite honestly, we really couldn't handle living in LA on a long term basis. I'm not sure how these folks do it really. I thought Dallas traffic could be difficult...having driven to and from downtown Dallas for 30+ years I thought I was 'comfortable' in traffic--Not!!! But, let me back up a bit and fill you in on what we've been up to.
We got up early Tuesday morning and headed to Simi Valley to see the Reagan Library. Awesome!!! Without a doubt the best Presidential Library we've ever seen, hands down. It's very organized with multiple levels and things to see. The most amazing things were 1) Presidential plane used by Reagan; 2) His limousine, and motorcade of vehicles; 3) Reagan's burial site overlooking the unbelievable gorgeous mountains and 4) A miniature size identical model of the White House.
We were simply awestruck by the Presidential plane. It was a 707 and we were able to see everything from the actual cockpit seating, to the kitchenette, the Presidential Office, the First Lady's Office, Press Area, Key Staff member area, etc. They had some of Reagan's key trip detail laying out showing how the trips are detailed. It was just amazing.
I can't say enough about the miniature size White House. It is made to scale, exactly...one inch to one foot. It's been kept updated for 45 years by the same artisans. It's a literal working home. For example, identical chandeliers actually light up--the light bulbs are the size of a grain of rice! It's that detailed. You can look through the windows and see the private quarters and the tiny miniatures of the Obama's family portraits. It takes 1,000 hours to redo a single room when updated. It's constantly being updated. We were able to see the Blue Room; Red Room; Lincoln's Bedroom, etc. We were just amazed at the detail.
There were so many other things we enjoyed about this Library. An exact replica of the Oval Office when Reagan was in office was there as well. The views from the Library looking over Simi Valley leave you speechless. And of course, lastly we stopped by his gravesite, which overlooks the valley. It was just an all around wonderful day topped off by a stop at Jersey Mike's. It's a famous Deli we had seen on a Food Network show about top deli's around the country. Yum!! Mark had a Philly sandwich and said it was better than the original we had while in Philly last year. I had a ham/cheese with Mike's famous 'sauce' and loved it too.
Whew! We decided to "take off" yesterday and just chill with the dogs. But we were up very early today and headed off to Warner Brother's studio for a backlot tour of the studio. Oh my gosh...where to begin. This tour was the most highly recommended tour in Hollywood for several reasons--the tours are very small and detailed, only 8 at a time and you ride around the miles and miles of the studio in a large golf cart type vehicle.
We were first taken to the set of Two and A Half Men. We found out the shooting 'season' for television is from August thru April...so we just missed it. But we were given a behind the scene look at the set, how the live audience works and how the cameras are angled, etc. We were really surprised just how "small" the sets really are. They explained how the camera angles are designed to make the streets look larger. After a detailed tour of Two and A Half Men we moved on to the Props area. Wow!
There are literally acres and acres of buildings just to build the various sets and associated decoration. They took us through the saw mills; plaster mills; art department...you name it and we saw it. We were really impressed with the demonstration of "how someone is shot" and how they hook up the device to make it appear as real blood oozing down the shirt. They use miniature, tiny explosions that are attached to a plastic bag. When the miniature device is pressed it explodes, causing a hole in the clothing and with the bag above the explosion, it slowly oozes out. Just amazing.
We went on to the Hollywood backlots and saw countless sets that have been around for literally decades. Shows from Casablanca, to John Wayne moves, all of the Harry Potter movies, the Batman movies, and on and on. Then we were taken into the Warner Brothers museum...no cameras allowed and saw two floors of costumes and various movie props from Harry Potter, Batman, my goodness--so many movies from the last 50 years I can't begin to remember them all. Whew! What a tour! It was a very 'touristy' type thing to do and not something we would normally do--but well worth the time and money for sure.
Lastly, we were headed to a cemetery just a few miles down the road to check out the many famous actors who were buried there. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a Nightmare! It was apparently in downtown LA and we didn't realize it...not a good place to be during the week. I have never, ever seen traffic remotely that bad--even during huge traffic accidents over the years driving to/from downtown Dallas. There was no parking at the cemetary once we got there and it took us an hour just to get out of the downtown area. And the drive to get back to the Oxnard area was almost as bad. I cannot begin to describe the way people drive here. And there is NO need for blinkers in LA--they should just have the blinkers removed from ALL vehicles in LA because No One Ever Uses them!
I think we'd have been safer trying to scoot around the Daytona 500 during a race! Seriously. But, all in all--it was a terrific day. We've had a great time here in the LA area. Tomorrow we're driving up highway 1, which is right on the coast, up to Malibu and taking the dogs with us. We're hoping to get them out on the beach, they've never been on the beach and it'll be a hoot if we can.
We're tentatively leaving here Sunday morning for Yellowstone National Park. It's a 4 day drive, and now that I follow Mark in our Ford Escape, I'm not looking forward to that much driving, but I'm glad we went ahead and came back to California to see the Library and a little bit of Hollywood as well.
Our plans are to spend two weeks in Yellowstone. From there, we're not sure where we're headed as we're still undecided about the summer. So, stay tuned. Whew! Sorry for the long update--but we've been busy! I hope you had a wonderful day today...we sure did! Until later~
We got up early Tuesday morning and headed to Simi Valley to see the Reagan Library. Awesome!!! Without a doubt the best Presidential Library we've ever seen, hands down. It's very organized with multiple levels and things to see. The most amazing things were 1) Presidential plane used by Reagan; 2) His limousine, and motorcade of vehicles; 3) Reagan's burial site overlooking the unbelievable gorgeous mountains and 4) A miniature size identical model of the White House.
We were simply awestruck by the Presidential plane. It was a 707 and we were able to see everything from the actual cockpit seating, to the kitchenette, the Presidential Office, the First Lady's Office, Press Area, Key Staff member area, etc. They had some of Reagan's key trip detail laying out showing how the trips are detailed. It was just amazing.
I can't say enough about the miniature size White House. It is made to scale, exactly...one inch to one foot. It's been kept updated for 45 years by the same artisans. It's a literal working home. For example, identical chandeliers actually light up--the light bulbs are the size of a grain of rice! It's that detailed. You can look through the windows and see the private quarters and the tiny miniatures of the Obama's family portraits. It takes 1,000 hours to redo a single room when updated. It's constantly being updated. We were able to see the Blue Room; Red Room; Lincoln's Bedroom, etc. We were just amazed at the detail.
There were so many other things we enjoyed about this Library. An exact replica of the Oval Office when Reagan was in office was there as well. The views from the Library looking over Simi Valley leave you speechless. And of course, lastly we stopped by his gravesite, which overlooks the valley. It was just an all around wonderful day topped off by a stop at Jersey Mike's. It's a famous Deli we had seen on a Food Network show about top deli's around the country. Yum!! Mark had a Philly sandwich and said it was better than the original we had while in Philly last year. I had a ham/cheese with Mike's famous 'sauce' and loved it too.
Whew! We decided to "take off" yesterday and just chill with the dogs. But we were up very early today and headed off to Warner Brother's studio for a backlot tour of the studio. Oh my gosh...where to begin. This tour was the most highly recommended tour in Hollywood for several reasons--the tours are very small and detailed, only 8 at a time and you ride around the miles and miles of the studio in a large golf cart type vehicle.
We were first taken to the set of Two and A Half Men. We found out the shooting 'season' for television is from August thru April...so we just missed it. But we were given a behind the scene look at the set, how the live audience works and how the cameras are angled, etc. We were really surprised just how "small" the sets really are. They explained how the camera angles are designed to make the streets look larger. After a detailed tour of Two and A Half Men we moved on to the Props area. Wow!
There are literally acres and acres of buildings just to build the various sets and associated decoration. They took us through the saw mills; plaster mills; art department...you name it and we saw it. We were really impressed with the demonstration of "how someone is shot" and how they hook up the device to make it appear as real blood oozing down the shirt. They use miniature, tiny explosions that are attached to a plastic bag. When the miniature device is pressed it explodes, causing a hole in the clothing and with the bag above the explosion, it slowly oozes out. Just amazing.
We went on to the Hollywood backlots and saw countless sets that have been around for literally decades. Shows from Casablanca, to John Wayne moves, all of the Harry Potter movies, the Batman movies, and on and on. Then we were taken into the Warner Brothers museum...no cameras allowed and saw two floors of costumes and various movie props from Harry Potter, Batman, my goodness--so many movies from the last 50 years I can't begin to remember them all. Whew! What a tour! It was a very 'touristy' type thing to do and not something we would normally do--but well worth the time and money for sure.
Lastly, we were headed to a cemetery just a few miles down the road to check out the many famous actors who were buried there. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a Nightmare! It was apparently in downtown LA and we didn't realize it...not a good place to be during the week. I have never, ever seen traffic remotely that bad--even during huge traffic accidents over the years driving to/from downtown Dallas. There was no parking at the cemetary once we got there and it took us an hour just to get out of the downtown area. And the drive to get back to the Oxnard area was almost as bad. I cannot begin to describe the way people drive here. And there is NO need for blinkers in LA--they should just have the blinkers removed from ALL vehicles in LA because No One Ever Uses them!
I think we'd have been safer trying to scoot around the Daytona 500 during a race! Seriously. But, all in all--it was a terrific day. We've had a great time here in the LA area. Tomorrow we're driving up highway 1, which is right on the coast, up to Malibu and taking the dogs with us. We're hoping to get them out on the beach, they've never been on the beach and it'll be a hoot if we can.
We're tentatively leaving here Sunday morning for Yellowstone National Park. It's a 4 day drive, and now that I follow Mark in our Ford Escape, I'm not looking forward to that much driving, but I'm glad we went ahead and came back to California to see the Library and a little bit of Hollywood as well.
Our plans are to spend two weeks in Yellowstone. From there, we're not sure where we're headed as we're still undecided about the summer. So, stay tuned. Whew! Sorry for the long update--but we've been busy! I hope you had a wonderful day today...we sure did! Until later~
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Winding Up Our Time in Vegas
Tomorrow is our last day in Vegas, but let's back up a few days. We took a short drive out to Hoover Dam a few days ago. We had seen Hoover Dam 7-8 years ago when we took a short trip to Vegas, but the weather was really soupy, so to speak and we couldn't really tell anything about it. Having spent the previous entire day on the Last Vegas strip we thought it would be a nice change of pace.
Construction of the Hoover Dam began in 1931 and was completed 4 years later in 1935. The dam was constructed because of frequent flooding of the Colorado river in the 1800 and 1900's. The water from the dam had to be equitably divided between seven states, including Mexico. In 1999 it was named the number five construction achievement of the 20th century. President Franklin D Roosevelt dedicated the dam on September 30, 1936.
In order to get a detailed look, we decided to take a tour. We were taken down several floors underground and were shown the various aspects of the building followed by the visitor center and many artifacts. It was also a beautiful drive over there as well. All in all, we really enjoyed our visit to Hoover Dam and learned a lot as well.
We went back to the Vegas strip today and spent several hours. We went into many of the hotel casions and shopped around. Mark took lot's of pictures along the way as well. We gambled a couple of hours and only lost a small amount which was good--we never expect to come out ahead when gambling. We hoped to stay out long enough to get some pictures of the strip at night but 8 hours was about all we could handle...I guess getting 'old' takes a toll on your joints and aching feet after awhile! We're hardly big gamblers, so I doubt we'll do any more for at least a year.
As for our future plans, you may remember that last year we were headed to Simi Valley in California to see the Reagan Library when Clyde ruptured his ACL and we rushed home for his emergency surgery. We've decided that since we're only a day's drive away we'll head back to Simi Valley one more time to check ou the Library. We haven't decided if we'll head north from there, or turn around and head back east through Vegas towards Yellowstone.
We were recently contacted by our tentative workamper location in Glacier National Park and told that we would need to work a minimum of 40 hours weekly plus overtime as required for the park during the summer season of June-August, leaving us little time to enjoy the area...that really caught us offguard and we're not sure what we're going to do. If we wanted to work 40+ hours weekly right now, we'd just get fulltime jobs at home! We told her we'd get back with her and give her an answer later this week. Just wish she would have made that clear last March when we interviewed for the jobs. Oh well, that's life.
Well that's wrap for this update, hope everyone had a terrific week--we certainly did. Until later~
Construction of the Hoover Dam began in 1931 and was completed 4 years later in 1935. The dam was constructed because of frequent flooding of the Colorado river in the 1800 and 1900's. The water from the dam had to be equitably divided between seven states, including Mexico. In 1999 it was named the number five construction achievement of the 20th century. President Franklin D Roosevelt dedicated the dam on September 30, 1936.
In order to get a detailed look, we decided to take a tour. We were taken down several floors underground and were shown the various aspects of the building followed by the visitor center and many artifacts. It was also a beautiful drive over there as well. All in all, we really enjoyed our visit to Hoover Dam and learned a lot as well.
We went back to the Vegas strip today and spent several hours. We went into many of the hotel casions and shopped around. Mark took lot's of pictures along the way as well. We gambled a couple of hours and only lost a small amount which was good--we never expect to come out ahead when gambling. We hoped to stay out long enough to get some pictures of the strip at night but 8 hours was about all we could handle...I guess getting 'old' takes a toll on your joints and aching feet after awhile! We're hardly big gamblers, so I doubt we'll do any more for at least a year.
As for our future plans, you may remember that last year we were headed to Simi Valley in California to see the Reagan Library when Clyde ruptured his ACL and we rushed home for his emergency surgery. We've decided that since we're only a day's drive away we'll head back to Simi Valley one more time to check ou the Library. We haven't decided if we'll head north from there, or turn around and head back east through Vegas towards Yellowstone.
We were recently contacted by our tentative workamper location in Glacier National Park and told that we would need to work a minimum of 40 hours weekly plus overtime as required for the park during the summer season of June-August, leaving us little time to enjoy the area...that really caught us offguard and we're not sure what we're going to do. If we wanted to work 40+ hours weekly right now, we'd just get fulltime jobs at home! We told her we'd get back with her and give her an answer later this week. Just wish she would have made that clear last March when we interviewed for the jobs. Oh well, that's life.
Well that's wrap for this update, hope everyone had a terrific week--we certainly did. Until later~
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Gladys Kravitz
Remember the old 'Bewitched' series from the 1960's? If so, remember the first Mrs. Kravitz on the show? She was Samantha Stevens neighbor and was always spying on them and trying to find out as much as she could about them and what was going on inside their home. Well, guess what? We've got a Gladys Kravitz next to us here in this RV Park in Vegas!
Yep, that's right. Actually, at first it was kind of amusing for Mark and I but later, the more she talked it became quite evident that she's missing a few 'marbles', or something. We got a knock on our door around 9:30 a couple of nights ago and this lady appeared at our door explaining she was in the motorhome next to us. It was quite cool outside with high winds so I invited her in. Big mistake!
She's probably in her mid 60's and was probably trying to be neighborly, in her own way. She had brought over a piece of cake and some type of greeting cards. The first thing she wanted to know was "how to spell our name" Huh? Well, it got stranger from there. She wanted to know the "Year" our kids were born...hmmmmm, ok. We first thought maybe she was trying to sell the cards once she explained she had made them herself and handed them to me. But no, that wasn't the case either.
She went on to say that when she had knocked on our door she "hoped she could get in to get a look at our RV"...Huh? Wow, this was really getting strange. She talked for at least 45 minutes. She would be in the middle of a sentence and then start tapping her head really hard and forget what she was talking about and just changed subjects. She finally was leaving and then insisted that we come over and see a picture of a $16,000 purse she had taken on the Vegas strip?? I explained I couldn't I had to make an important call. Well, that didn't work...she was insistent, so we went next door for a few minutes.
Things continued to get stranger by the minute. She continued forgetting what she was talking about and changing subjects and hitting herself on the head. At one time she went from discussing cookies to telling Mark--"Hey, I have just the thing for you! Check this out and then showed Mark a special hearing aid device for listening to the TV. Huh? I tried really hard not to laugh...of course, Mark doesn't have a hearing problem. We finally got out of there. Whew!
Back home only a few minutes, a knock on the door. She wanted to give us a printed copy of a picture of this $16,000 purse. Ok...thanks I guess. She came back again knocking on the door for something else a couple more times--I can't even remember them all by that time. By 11:00 p.m. she had finally left. I told Mark to remind me not to be so neighborly in the future!
She was back first thing the following morning but Mark explained I wasn't feeling well (just couldn't handle her quite that early). Fortunately, appears she has new friends across the street now. Yipppeee! But seriously, it was quite evident something was wrong with her and we really felt sorry for her. It certainly didn't seem like dementia or Alzheimers, but there was something wrong. She was in a very expensive motor home and drove a nice Mercedes Benz. But bless her heart, she was a sweet lady but she obviously had some kind of problem.
P.S. I can say I now have a new found respect for Samantha Stevens on Bewitched.
Yep, that's right. Actually, at first it was kind of amusing for Mark and I but later, the more she talked it became quite evident that she's missing a few 'marbles', or something. We got a knock on our door around 9:30 a couple of nights ago and this lady appeared at our door explaining she was in the motorhome next to us. It was quite cool outside with high winds so I invited her in. Big mistake!
She's probably in her mid 60's and was probably trying to be neighborly, in her own way. She had brought over a piece of cake and some type of greeting cards. The first thing she wanted to know was "how to spell our name" Huh? Well, it got stranger from there. She wanted to know the "Year" our kids were born...hmmmmm, ok. We first thought maybe she was trying to sell the cards once she explained she had made them herself and handed them to me. But no, that wasn't the case either.
She went on to say that when she had knocked on our door she "hoped she could get in to get a look at our RV"...Huh? Wow, this was really getting strange. She talked for at least 45 minutes. She would be in the middle of a sentence and then start tapping her head really hard and forget what she was talking about and just changed subjects. She finally was leaving and then insisted that we come over and see a picture of a $16,000 purse she had taken on the Vegas strip?? I explained I couldn't I had to make an important call. Well, that didn't work...she was insistent, so we went next door for a few minutes.
Things continued to get stranger by the minute. She continued forgetting what she was talking about and changing subjects and hitting herself on the head. At one time she went from discussing cookies to telling Mark--"Hey, I have just the thing for you! Check this out and then showed Mark a special hearing aid device for listening to the TV. Huh? I tried really hard not to laugh...of course, Mark doesn't have a hearing problem. We finally got out of there. Whew!
Back home only a few minutes, a knock on the door. She wanted to give us a printed copy of a picture of this $16,000 purse. Ok...thanks I guess. She came back again knocking on the door for something else a couple more times--I can't even remember them all by that time. By 11:00 p.m. she had finally left. I told Mark to remind me not to be so neighborly in the future!
She was back first thing the following morning but Mark explained I wasn't feeling well (just couldn't handle her quite that early). Fortunately, appears she has new friends across the street now. Yipppeee! But seriously, it was quite evident something was wrong with her and we really felt sorry for her. It certainly didn't seem like dementia or Alzheimers, but there was something wrong. She was in a very expensive motor home and drove a nice Mercedes Benz. But bless her heart, she was a sweet lady but she obviously had some kind of problem.
P.S. I can say I now have a new found respect for Samantha Stevens on Bewitched.
Viva Las Vegas Baby
What a hectic couple of days we've had since arriving in Las Vegas. It's been exciting, fun, frustrating and a little bit 'scary'...yep, scary. First things first.
Frustrating - As we were pulling out of St. George yesterday we discovered we had a tear in our roof. Mark climbed up and after checking it out discovered that a relatively large piece of our rubber roof cover top had been torn. We're not exactly sure how it happened or how long it had been there. So as soon as we arrived in Las Vegas and got settled in we called for a local RV repairman to come out. The bad news is it's going to run around $600 for repair. Unfortunately, looks like our insurance won't kick in since we elected to have a higher deductible since we rarely seem to need insurance. Murphy's law I guess. They're supposed to be out early tomorrow morning and the front 1/3 of the roof will need to be replaced. It's supposed to take a couple of guys 5 hours for repair...a lot of work I guess. Oh well, 'stuff' happens huh?
Scary - As soon we got our roof situation handled after arriving we headed out for a bite to eat. Afterwards we decided to have our mail forwarded to us from our mail forwarding service as we needed to get our new car tags. After locating the Post Office in Vegas that handles 'General Delivery' mail, we headed down there to get the mailing address. Since it was on the far end of the Vegas strip (the side that is much much older and quite run down and well, 'seedy' you might say). There wasn't really any where for Mark to park so I hopped out to go in and get the Post Office mailing address. And...
Within 30 seconds of entering the Post Office all "HELL" broke loose! A young guy in line started screaming and cussing at a female attendant behind the counter. Instead of being afraid she starts screaming back at him and they were 'both' cussing each other out. Then the guy walks to the front of the counter saying "I have a gun in this pocket b#$@ch and I'm gonna kill you"!! He then proceeds to jump over the counter and a security guard comes out of no where and he starts yelling and pulling the guy off the counter and slamming him against the wall!!! The guy screams out "you don't have no f^^$%ng gun but I do to the guard". They're dialing 911 as this happens.
The young guy and security guard start wrestling around and pushing each other and he keeps telling everyone he has a gun and reaches in his pocket. I was so shocked I didn't do anything! Just stood there frozen like an idiot instead of running. Sheesh. Guess I'm not good in emergency situations huh? The security guard pulls the guy out the front door and you could still hear them both screaming at each other. Then I didn't know whether to leave or not and guess what another mail attendant said to me then? Welcome to downtown Vegas! Can you believe that? Even the female attendant didn't look scared and me? I'm thinking I've been in Vegas for 2 hours and I'm gonna get shot if not killed!
After getting the PO address I shot out of there where Mark was waiting in the car. After telling Mark what happened we realized that what happened was a federal offense, entering a Federal Building and saying you have a gun?? I don't know if the dude did or not...but I told Mark that from Now on--HE can go in these places, I'll wait in the car. I honestly haven't been that afraid since I was actually robbed when I was 16 years old working in a Pizza place. Whew, I won't forget this day that's for sure.
Fun & Exciting! Finally. After leaving the Post Office coming back down the strip I recognized the Pawn shop on TV. It's called Pawn Stars and I just had to go in and check it out. Awesome. I recognized several of the items from the TV show and we both enjoyed it. This morning, we were up early and on the strip by 9:30. We spent the entire day on the strip and went through many of the hotels including Paris Paris, New York New York, Monte Carlo, MGM, Caesars Palace, etc. We did a little gambling, not much. Seems like I always end up on the plus side and Mark on the negative. We figure our net loss for the day was around $15.00. Not bad for several hours of gambling huh?
Tomorrow our roof is being repaired and we need to stock up on groceries, etc., so we'll take the 'day off', so to speak. We're planning on taking a short trip to check out the Hoover Dam this week. We saw it many years ago, but it was so foggy we didn't get to see much. We also will go back to the strip for pictures...decided not to bring the camera today. We'll be here a week in order to get our mail delivery so we probably won't be heading out of here until next Monday.
We're considering a possible change in plans once we leave here. Stay tuned and once we make a decision, I'll update the blog. So, until later~
Frustrating - As we were pulling out of St. George yesterday we discovered we had a tear in our roof. Mark climbed up and after checking it out discovered that a relatively large piece of our rubber roof cover top had been torn. We're not exactly sure how it happened or how long it had been there. So as soon as we arrived in Las Vegas and got settled in we called for a local RV repairman to come out. The bad news is it's going to run around $600 for repair. Unfortunately, looks like our insurance won't kick in since we elected to have a higher deductible since we rarely seem to need insurance. Murphy's law I guess. They're supposed to be out early tomorrow morning and the front 1/3 of the roof will need to be replaced. It's supposed to take a couple of guys 5 hours for repair...a lot of work I guess. Oh well, 'stuff' happens huh?
Scary - As soon we got our roof situation handled after arriving we headed out for a bite to eat. Afterwards we decided to have our mail forwarded to us from our mail forwarding service as we needed to get our new car tags. After locating the Post Office in Vegas that handles 'General Delivery' mail, we headed down there to get the mailing address. Since it was on the far end of the Vegas strip (the side that is much much older and quite run down and well, 'seedy' you might say). There wasn't really any where for Mark to park so I hopped out to go in and get the Post Office mailing address. And...
Within 30 seconds of entering the Post Office all "HELL" broke loose! A young guy in line started screaming and cussing at a female attendant behind the counter. Instead of being afraid she starts screaming back at him and they were 'both' cussing each other out. Then the guy walks to the front of the counter saying "I have a gun in this pocket b#$@ch and I'm gonna kill you"!! He then proceeds to jump over the counter and a security guard comes out of no where and he starts yelling and pulling the guy off the counter and slamming him against the wall!!! The guy screams out "you don't have no f^^$%ng gun but I do to the guard". They're dialing 911 as this happens.
The young guy and security guard start wrestling around and pushing each other and he keeps telling everyone he has a gun and reaches in his pocket. I was so shocked I didn't do anything! Just stood there frozen like an idiot instead of running. Sheesh. Guess I'm not good in emergency situations huh? The security guard pulls the guy out the front door and you could still hear them both screaming at each other. Then I didn't know whether to leave or not and guess what another mail attendant said to me then? Welcome to downtown Vegas! Can you believe that? Even the female attendant didn't look scared and me? I'm thinking I've been in Vegas for 2 hours and I'm gonna get shot if not killed!
After getting the PO address I shot out of there where Mark was waiting in the car. After telling Mark what happened we realized that what happened was a federal offense, entering a Federal Building and saying you have a gun?? I don't know if the dude did or not...but I told Mark that from Now on--HE can go in these places, I'll wait in the car. I honestly haven't been that afraid since I was actually robbed when I was 16 years old working in a Pizza place. Whew, I won't forget this day that's for sure.
Fun & Exciting! Finally. After leaving the Post Office coming back down the strip I recognized the Pawn shop on TV. It's called Pawn Stars and I just had to go in and check it out. Awesome. I recognized several of the items from the TV show and we both enjoyed it. This morning, we were up early and on the strip by 9:30. We spent the entire day on the strip and went through many of the hotels including Paris Paris, New York New York, Monte Carlo, MGM, Caesars Palace, etc. We did a little gambling, not much. Seems like I always end up on the plus side and Mark on the negative. We figure our net loss for the day was around $15.00. Not bad for several hours of gambling huh?
Tomorrow our roof is being repaired and we need to stock up on groceries, etc., so we'll take the 'day off', so to speak. We're planning on taking a short trip to check out the Hoover Dam this week. We saw it many years ago, but it was so foggy we didn't get to see much. We also will go back to the strip for pictures...decided not to bring the camera today. We'll be here a week in order to get our mail delivery so we probably won't be heading out of here until next Monday.
We're considering a possible change in plans once we leave here. Stay tuned and once we make a decision, I'll update the blog. So, until later~
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Zion National Park
We've been in St. George, Utah since last Wednesday and we leave tomorrow for Las Vegas. We've been some what surprised how warm it is here. But it is southern Utah and St. George is only a couple of hours from Las Vegas, which reaches 110+ in the summers. We've since discovered that St. George also reaches temps in the 100's in the summer.
Across the street from our current location is a large mobile home area. It's also part of the same park. It's actually quite nice...they're all attached and look much nicer than a typical mobile home type park. We discovered that St. George is a mecca for snow birders--folks who spend their winter in a warmer area. Having said that, we're ready to move on.
We were some what disappointed with Zion National Park. We've become some what spoiled with the natural beauty the last several weeks. Especially after Moab and Cortez. We got a late start yesterday and arrived at Zion National Park. You can only enter the Park via a shuttle bus. They pick you up near where you've parked and there are 7 different locations in the park that you can be dropped off or picked up.
We did hike the lower Emerald Pool. It's a little more than a mile and once again, I found that I have to stop every few minutes just to catch my breath. Gosh I had no idea how out of shape I was. When we do get back to Dallas, I'm joining 24 Hour fitness to try and get back in decent shape again. But I digress. We also took a break at Zion Lodge and grabbed a bite to eat. We spent a half day in the park and we got a few pictures. Certainly no where near as many as we have recently though.
Utah scenery in general is just breathtaking. We discovered that on our drive in to Moab from Cortez, Colorado. We found the views in Zion National Park to be like those on our way into Utah. Maybe we've seen such awesome scenery in places like Arches National Park in Utah, seeing Zion National Park is just a tad disappointing. But all in all, we enjoyed our time here in St. George, Utah.
We're really looking forward to a few days in Las Vegas. Being only a couple of hours away, we thought it would be nice to spend just a few days and check out the new additions to the strip since we were last in Vagas, 6 - 7 years ago. Neither of us are big gamblers for sure--but we really enjoy seeing the recreation of areas like Paris, France and Italy, etc. We'll probably do a tad of gambling, for a couple of hours. That's usually all we do before calling it quits.
Well that's about a wrap for now, we leave tomorrow morning for Vegas. We've not yet decided whether we will stay at an RV Park on the strip, or stay at Lake Mead, which is an hour away and just drive in and enjoy the lake as well. Guess we'll know by tomorrow night, huh? Lastly, Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there. If your fortunate enough to still have your mother around--know that you're blessed. I sure wish mine was still around to wish a Happy Mother's Day to. Until Later~
Across the street from our current location is a large mobile home area. It's also part of the same park. It's actually quite nice...they're all attached and look much nicer than a typical mobile home type park. We discovered that St. George is a mecca for snow birders--folks who spend their winter in a warmer area. Having said that, we're ready to move on.
We were some what disappointed with Zion National Park. We've become some what spoiled with the natural beauty the last several weeks. Especially after Moab and Cortez. We got a late start yesterday and arrived at Zion National Park. You can only enter the Park via a shuttle bus. They pick you up near where you've parked and there are 7 different locations in the park that you can be dropped off or picked up.
We did hike the lower Emerald Pool. It's a little more than a mile and once again, I found that I have to stop every few minutes just to catch my breath. Gosh I had no idea how out of shape I was. When we do get back to Dallas, I'm joining 24 Hour fitness to try and get back in decent shape again. But I digress. We also took a break at Zion Lodge and grabbed a bite to eat. We spent a half day in the park and we got a few pictures. Certainly no where near as many as we have recently though.
Utah scenery in general is just breathtaking. We discovered that on our drive in to Moab from Cortez, Colorado. We found the views in Zion National Park to be like those on our way into Utah. Maybe we've seen such awesome scenery in places like Arches National Park in Utah, seeing Zion National Park is just a tad disappointing. But all in all, we enjoyed our time here in St. George, Utah.
We're really looking forward to a few days in Las Vegas. Being only a couple of hours away, we thought it would be nice to spend just a few days and check out the new additions to the strip since we were last in Vagas, 6 - 7 years ago. Neither of us are big gamblers for sure--but we really enjoy seeing the recreation of areas like Paris, France and Italy, etc. We'll probably do a tad of gambling, for a couple of hours. That's usually all we do before calling it quits.
Well that's about a wrap for now, we leave tomorrow morning for Vegas. We've not yet decided whether we will stay at an RV Park on the strip, or stay at Lake Mead, which is an hour away and just drive in and enjoy the lake as well. Guess we'll know by tomorrow night, huh? Lastly, Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there. If your fortunate enough to still have your mother around--know that you're blessed. I sure wish mine was still around to wish a Happy Mother's Day to. Until Later~
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Glorious Arches National Park
Well, I'm a few days behind schedule on posting. We're now in St. George, Utah to spend a few days in Zion National park. But let's back up to our last day in Moab, Utah a couple of days ago.
We initially went to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah last Thursday but encountered a freakish unanticipated snow storm. That didn't deter us spending the day enjoying the Park but we elected to hold off taking pictures until there were sunny skies so you could better see the true magnificient of the sandstone formations. And boy were we not disappointed!
On our way to Arches we first stopped by a diner so I could get an ice cream fix...chocolate waffle cone--Yum! Once satiated with my chocolate fix, it was on to the Park. Once past the visitors center, it's a 34 mile drive from the entrance to the end of the park. However, there are several side roads off the main street and we went down each and every sidestreet to ensure we didn't miss anything.
Since we already had some 200+ pictures of the Moab mountains, including Canyonlands National Park, several scenic byways that included petroglyphs, we wanted to limit the pictures taken at Arches to only those we considered a must have. We still took 100+ pictures! It's that gorgeous. The rock formations are so unique it's difficult to describe them.
There are several huge arches in the park, along with various named rock formations including "The Three Gossips", and the "Garden of Eden". In addition, we took several pictures of the first rancher in the area, who resided in a small log home with thatch roofing. The house as well as his rudimentary corral is still standing. It's really fascinating to see structures like that...it's like going back in time 100 years. The original table and sparse furnishings were still in the home.
We also took a couple of small hikes up the mountains to get a better view of some of the formations. Well--I should clarify, I took on one of the hikes and only made half of that one and decided to just wait for Mark to complete the hike up for pictures. The second hike Mark took on his own...I decided there was no need to attempt the second hike, I was still trying to catch my breath from the first one! (After all, it was 7000 feet above sea level!)
I've posted some of the Arches park pictures in the most current slideshow on the left hand side of the blog. Our week in Moab wasn't enough to see all of the amazing scenery and parks, but it was time to move on.
We packed up this morning and continued our trek west to the Zion National Park area to spend a few days checking out the park. Unfortunately, we were going to see Bryce Canyon National Park as well but discovered we are too far away to visit right now. We had planned on staying in Kabab Utah, but after checking out the RV Parks in person, they just didn't live up to our expectations or as advertised, so we continued on another 80 miles to our current location in St. George, Utah.
We'll be in St. George, Utah through Saturday for sure and possibly a little longer. We're tentatively planning on heading to Las Vegas for a few days once we leave St. George. But we haven't given up on seeing Bryce Canyon National Park either. We'll be driving back through the Bryce Canyon area once we leave Las Vegas and plan on spending a couple of days in the area so we can visit the Park.
Well, that's the latest for now. We drove 400 miles today--way too many for me! That wasn't our initial plan, but once we decided to continue on to St. George, our travel day extended too long. Ok, enough 'blabbing'...it's late and I am exhausted. We had a great day today--and hope you did as well. Until later~
We initially went to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah last Thursday but encountered a freakish unanticipated snow storm. That didn't deter us spending the day enjoying the Park but we elected to hold off taking pictures until there were sunny skies so you could better see the true magnificient of the sandstone formations. And boy were we not disappointed!
On our way to Arches we first stopped by a diner so I could get an ice cream fix...chocolate waffle cone--Yum! Once satiated with my chocolate fix, it was on to the Park. Once past the visitors center, it's a 34 mile drive from the entrance to the end of the park. However, there are several side roads off the main street and we went down each and every sidestreet to ensure we didn't miss anything.
Since we already had some 200+ pictures of the Moab mountains, including Canyonlands National Park, several scenic byways that included petroglyphs, we wanted to limit the pictures taken at Arches to only those we considered a must have. We still took 100+ pictures! It's that gorgeous. The rock formations are so unique it's difficult to describe them.
There are several huge arches in the park, along with various named rock formations including "The Three Gossips", and the "Garden of Eden". In addition, we took several pictures of the first rancher in the area, who resided in a small log home with thatch roofing. The house as well as his rudimentary corral is still standing. It's really fascinating to see structures like that...it's like going back in time 100 years. The original table and sparse furnishings were still in the home.
We also took a couple of small hikes up the mountains to get a better view of some of the formations. Well--I should clarify, I took on one of the hikes and only made half of that one and decided to just wait for Mark to complete the hike up for pictures. The second hike Mark took on his own...I decided there was no need to attempt the second hike, I was still trying to catch my breath from the first one! (After all, it was 7000 feet above sea level!)
I've posted some of the Arches park pictures in the most current slideshow on the left hand side of the blog. Our week in Moab wasn't enough to see all of the amazing scenery and parks, but it was time to move on.
We packed up this morning and continued our trek west to the Zion National Park area to spend a few days checking out the park. Unfortunately, we were going to see Bryce Canyon National Park as well but discovered we are too far away to visit right now. We had planned on staying in Kabab Utah, but after checking out the RV Parks in person, they just didn't live up to our expectations or as advertised, so we continued on another 80 miles to our current location in St. George, Utah.
We'll be in St. George, Utah through Saturday for sure and possibly a little longer. We're tentatively planning on heading to Las Vegas for a few days once we leave St. George. But we haven't given up on seeing Bryce Canyon National Park either. We'll be driving back through the Bryce Canyon area once we leave Las Vegas and plan on spending a couple of days in the area so we can visit the Park.
Well, that's the latest for now. We drove 400 miles today--way too many for me! That wasn't our initial plan, but once we decided to continue on to St. George, our travel day extended too long. Ok, enough 'blabbing'...it's late and I am exhausted. We had a great day today--and hope you did as well. Until later~
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Canyonland National Park
We got a late start yesterday before leaving for Canyonlands National Park. We finally headed out around 11:00 and first planned on stopping by Dead Horse State Park, only to discover there wasn't much to see really. So we continued on another 17 miles to Canyonlands National Park. It was on our list of To Do's before leaving Moab. Wow! I can't believe anything can make the Grand Canyon look small--but Canyonlands certainly does.
Canyonlands is 35 miles west of Moab and is the largest national park in Utah. The various areas of the park staggers the imagination. It is divided into three districts by the Green and Colorado Rivers: 1) Island in the Sky; 2) The Needles and 3) The Maze. Only Island in the Sky can be seen without the use of 4x4 vehicles. Each was named for their most prominent geologic characteristics, these districts are quite varied in what they have to offer.
The Island in the Sky section that we visited sits atop a massive 1500 foot mesa, quite literally an Island in the Sky. Twenty miles of paved roads lead to many of the most spectacular views in southeastern Utah. From these lofty viewpoints, visitors can see nearly 150 miles in any given direction, resulting in panoramic views that encompass thousands of square miles of canyon country. There are many hiking trails.
We did hike one trail, the one mile round trip to the Mesa Arch. Wow, it was really difficult to hike into the Mesa Arch. It's 6500 foot above sea level so I had a difficult time just trying to catch my breath. In addition, it was a much steeper climb than the park brochures indicated. The hike was classified as easy, huh! If that was an easy hike, I'll eat my shoe! Needless to say we didn't do any more hikes during our time in Canyonlands.
We had a terrific time yesterday in Canyonlands National Park. We took today (Sunday) 'off' and plan on going back to Arches National Park tomorrow to take pictures. We were there last week but there was a snow storm, and we didn't get any pictures. Tomorrow's supposed to be a sunny, warmer day so tomorrow we're off to Arches. Hopefully we'll have lot's of good pictures of Arches.
Tuesday it's chores day, laundry and getting stuff ready and packed for our travel day this Wednesday. We leave Wednesday and are heading to a city near Zion National Park. We've not yet decided exactly where we'll be staying...guess we'll figure that out one way or another, by Wednesday afternoon for sure! Well, that's about a wrap from here. We had a terrific day and hope you did as well.
Until later~
Canyonlands is 35 miles west of Moab and is the largest national park in Utah. The various areas of the park staggers the imagination. It is divided into three districts by the Green and Colorado Rivers: 1) Island in the Sky; 2) The Needles and 3) The Maze. Only Island in the Sky can be seen without the use of 4x4 vehicles. Each was named for their most prominent geologic characteristics, these districts are quite varied in what they have to offer.
The Island in the Sky section that we visited sits atop a massive 1500 foot mesa, quite literally an Island in the Sky. Twenty miles of paved roads lead to many of the most spectacular views in southeastern Utah. From these lofty viewpoints, visitors can see nearly 150 miles in any given direction, resulting in panoramic views that encompass thousands of square miles of canyon country. There are many hiking trails.
We did hike one trail, the one mile round trip to the Mesa Arch. Wow, it was really difficult to hike into the Mesa Arch. It's 6500 foot above sea level so I had a difficult time just trying to catch my breath. In addition, it was a much steeper climb than the park brochures indicated. The hike was classified as easy, huh! If that was an easy hike, I'll eat my shoe! Needless to say we didn't do any more hikes during our time in Canyonlands.
We had a terrific time yesterday in Canyonlands National Park. We took today (Sunday) 'off' and plan on going back to Arches National Park tomorrow to take pictures. We were there last week but there was a snow storm, and we didn't get any pictures. Tomorrow's supposed to be a sunny, warmer day so tomorrow we're off to Arches. Hopefully we'll have lot's of good pictures of Arches.
Tuesday it's chores day, laundry and getting stuff ready and packed for our travel day this Wednesday. We leave Wednesday and are heading to a city near Zion National Park. We've not yet decided exactly where we'll be staying...guess we'll figure that out one way or another, by Wednesday afternoon for sure! Well, that's about a wrap from here. We had a terrific day and hope you did as well.
Until later~
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