THE FINAL SAY

We arrived home safely and after looking over the place I guessed it was the place we had left some time ago. It just seemed so long ago but we had a great time and weather was great and we were well and we ate well and we arrived home safely. Just a few things we may have forgotten to tell you about.....The town Of Virtue had a store called Virtue Goods. There was Chilli, Organ, Radium Springs,Shakespeare, Lordsburg, Christmas, The Gap and Mexican Hat. We went through the Dixie National Forest located in southern Utah. And we saw a car dealer with a lot of new cars on the lot at least 25 miles out of town in the middle of the desert. We never did figure that one out. We were lucky to be able to stay in National Parks by asking for a spot at the last minute.We had not been through the Illinois farm country that early in the spring. The corn was barely out of the ground. We saw lots of irrigation taking place. Water will be in short supply some day. Hope you enjoyed our trip as we sure did............................GHOST

Last Leg Home

From Iowa City on, we were mostly driving and visiting, no touristing. The first stop was in Illinois to visit my Mother. She is 93 and in a nursing home but in reasonably good health. See picture. We also got to have visits and meals with Dorothy's brother and sister and sister-in-law. Then the next night we visited and ate with my two brothers, one sister-in-law and one sister. Pretty good gathering for such short notice, especially because my brothers are farmers and it's a busy time of year. After the family visits we headed for Nashville to see our long-time friends, the Mays. Dorothy and Marty had started on a giant jigsaw puzzle about 10 months ago and Marty had just finished it while we were gone. The puzzle is 7,500 pieces and it's NINE FEET LONG BY THREE FEET WIDE. The picture doesn't do it justice. After a brief overnight visit we headed for Knoxville. We found it green and lush, as there had been several nice rains during our absence. To quote another Dorothy, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home......."

Day 36 - Ogallala NE to Iowa City IA

Out before 7:00 from Ogallala to click off the miles on the interstate. Made only one stop all day other than for gas and food. Stopped at Gothenberg NE to see an original Pony Express station. Interesting. Other than that it was keeping the peddle to the metal, and Nebraska has a 75 mph limit. Among the oddities that non-Cornhuskers might be interested in: We saw a State Trooper driving a pickup truck with red lights, signage, and presumably a siren; Saw a pheasant fly in front of our car; Saw a giant plow; During extreme snowstorms they close off the interstate highway with gates; Saw a sign that says they built a section of the highway with 47,000 recycled tires. Also saw a couple of single wind turbines - nothing like Texas' long line of them. Stopped at Iowa City for the night and to get photos developed.

Day 35 - Durango CO to Ogallala NE

On the road from Durango by 7:00 for a big day of travel. Durango had a temp of 45 degrees and it was cool with blue skies most of the morning. We took scenic route 160 up the mountain and crossed the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass. The stream beside the road was roaring with water from the snowmelt. Found several large fields of snow at the top. Enroute we saw a hot air balloon with an early morning liftoff, a snow shed that protected the highway from large amounts of water from the snowmelt, many camping and whitewater areas and lots of horses. The majestic Rocky Mountains were in view much of the day. As we got beyond the mountains and into the foothills, we saw a buffalo farm and an elk farm, many cattle farms and ranches, farmers planting potatoes, and many fields being irrigated. Then on to the interstate and highballing it as far as Ogallala for the night. Had a high of 570 miles on the road today. Heading on to Illinois to see family.

Day 34 - Bluff UT to Durango CO

Left early after a crummy breakfast - they don't know about continental breakfasts yet. Just a short distance to Monument Valley - we wanted to see it in soft morning light. A number of movies have been shot there and we could see why. Monument Valley is entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation, which is probably why it isn't in the national park system. Very impressive. From there we swung down into Arizona again and back up to the Four Corners, where Dorothy got to stand in four states at one time. Then moved on up to Colorado, our ninth state of this trip. Our last stop of the day was at Mesa Verde National Park, where cliff dwelling people lived some 1,400 years ago. It's a linear park and we went up about 8,400 feet elevation after driving along some fairly sharp ridges. We hiked to the Spruce Tree House, where the picture was taken. Then on to Durango for the night. It's cooler here.

Day 33 - Bryce UT to Bluff UT

Left Bryce early and motored on to Kodachrome Basin State Park, an accumulation of beautiful red rock formations. Drove through some high country aspen groves in the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument. Then on to Capitol Reef National Park, which I really didn't know much about. We went on a scenic loop drive through this linear park and were impressed with its beauty, mostly red rock formations. On through the Glen Canyon (I didn't know I had a canyon named after me) Recreation Area and ending with the Valley of the Gods. We found southern Utah to be wildly beautiful with a scenic surprise at every turn. Among these were wild turkeys, open range (no fences, so that the livestock might appear on the roadway at any time - and they have the right-of-way - see picture of panhandling cows), and yes we even saw some rain. We stopped for gas at a station that is carved out of a boulder - we had to walk by rock walls to go to the rest rooms. And to top it off we stayed at a motel that was really manufactured housing (as in mobile home). It was in the town of Bluff (pop. 350) and we've had worse motels. An unusual day.

Day 32 - Cedar City UT to Bryce UT

Up early to get going then had to wait for the motel office to open at 7:00 so we could get room receipt and breakfast. Traveled some more scenic roads to get to Bryce National Park, stopping briefly at Red Canyon. We saw lots of quaking aspen along the road. Made reservations last night at a motel near the park, since there isn't much development around here. Checked into the Park and started the drive around to the scenic overlooks. Went on a one-hour hike to stretch the legs a bit. It's much cooler here and we're again at about 9,000 feet elevation. The red spires on the base of the canyon floor are called hoodoos, and they're the result of erosion acting differently on the layers of rocks. They are what Bryce is famous for and the reason the park is here. Bryce is fairly small for a National Park but I still shot about 80 photos today. Some of the animals are real friendly, such as the one that kept saying to Dorothy "Nevermore".

Day 31 - Grand Canyon NP to Cedar City UT

After a sumptuous breakfast buffet (with a retired Baptist minister and his wife from Louisiana) and a short but steep hike near the Lodge, we left the Grand Canyon behind to explore new areas. We passed through an alpine mountain meadow (elevation 9,000 feet) and saw some deer and some snow along the roadside enroute. Dorothy got real excited because we saw some real large trees again. No more cactus!! Then we headed for Zion National Park in Utah. We had been there many years ago when the kids were little and I wasn't that high on going back there. I am happy to report that my memory was wrong and that it was a really beautiful area. Zion is using the same approach that other parks are using in moving people - shuttle buses. We rode part of the loop and saw some really nice areas (including a weeping rock), then decided it was too hot to go further. Also went through a mile-long tunnel that was built in 1930. It's not large enough for some of today's buses and RV's so they have to man the entrances. Not having any contact with the outside world for two nights, we decided to head to Cedar City to find a motel that has internet service and other contacts with the world. We're back on Mountain Daylight Time again.

Day 30 - Grand Canyon National Park

We made the supreme sacrifice and got up at 5:00 am so we could see the sun rising over the Grand Canyon. It was well worth it. Not only was it a beautiful sunrise but it was a cultural experience as well. There are several points from which to watch the sun rise, so we selected ours and got there a few minutes before the appointed time. When we arrived there were approximately 300 tourists already there. They came in buses, they came in vans, they came in cars, they walked. But when it was all over, there was plenty of sun to go around. One of the things we had noticed at Grand Canyon is that it is an international site. It was given the award as a World Heritage Site several years ago and the world was coming to see it. Probably 80% of those at the sunrise spoke Japanese. Numerous other languages were heard around the Lobby and other places. After we had recovered from the 5:00 rising, we checked out and headed for the North Rim. It's about a 200 mile trip but we saw some more great scenery, including the Vermillion Cliffs and the Watchtower at Desert View. When we arrived at the North Rim Lodge, we decided to test our luck again and see if they had any vacant rooms. I think we got the last one, a handicapped room that was still available. And we thought last night's room was rustic. No internet again tonight but this room didn't even have television. And the walls were so thin that we could hear our next door neighbors talking even though we didn't want to. Had time to take another scenic drive along the North Rim and got back in time for a so-so sunset (no pictures).

Day 29 - Flagstaff AZ to Grand Canyon Natl Park

Started the day about 200 yards from an intechange of I-40 - can't seem to get away from it. Took our usual approach of going scenic back roads to the Grand Canyon National Park. We went to the South Rim, like all the other zillions of tourists. They have a shuttle bus service that goes about 18 miles along the rim, so we decided to take that as soon as we could. We bussed part of the trail and walked part. Two important lessons were learned on this trip: 1) this is a high altitude area (about 7,000 feet) and 2) I have a more serious case of vertigo than I thought. In some cases we were walking 5-10 feet from a ledge that had a 2,000 foot dropoff. We had made a reservation at the Grand Canyon Lodge about 3 days earlier (very lucky) and when we checked in we were reminded of our Tennessee State Park lodging. In a word it was rustic. We were fortunate to have television but there of course was no internet. I'm not sure if there was even cell phone coverage. But it was all worth it when we saw The Canyon. It's one of those things that you can't appreciate with only words and photos. I started taking pictures of beautiful scenery and ended up with 120 pictures of the Canyon before I was done. But it is truly one of the seven wonders of the world.