Day 35: Pendleton to HOME

Triple A arrived right on schedule and started the car. Good thing they had long cables because when the battery is dead, we couldn't switch it out of "park." Found out later that you can, but it requires a screwdriver and about 8 steps...

Anyway, the Nissan started right up. We had already packed everything so we wouldn't have to turn off the engine. I checked out and made a running leap to get in as Jim drove by.

Homeward bound, we were in familiar territory and soon came to the Columbia River and started down the gorge. Visiting the Grand Canyon and the other national parks has really raised the bar for us with respect to scenic beauty. Even so, the Columbia River Gorge passes the test with flying colors. I never get tired of it.

Soon we saw Mount Hood peaking over The Dalles. We stopped at Multnomah Falls for a rest and to take some pictures with fall colors in the background. Then we proceeded to Portland and crossing the I-205 bridge headed down the home stretch to Ridgefield. Funny thing is, although it feels good to be here, we both could jump in the car and leave again tomorrow. This trip was so enjoyable, we can't wait for the next one.

We got home at a little after noon on day 35. We were gone exactly 5 weeks and travelled 8,979.3 miles. We have a list of places we want to visit again: Padukah, Buffalo Valley, Pensacola Beach, Sedona, etc ... And a few places not to visit. All and all, a great trip.

So until we next hit the road -- I've enjoyed sharing our experiences with family and friends. Thanks for taking the journey with us.

Day 34: Twin Falls to Pendleton

As we left Twin Falls, we travelled over the Perrine Memorial Bridge which spans the Snake River Gorge. The bridge is 486 feet above water. Daredevil Evel Knievel attempted to leap across the Snake River Canyon a mile east of the bridge in 1974. Interesting story. Check it out at: http://weirdscifi.ratiosemper.com/evelknievel/canyon.html

We got back on I-84 and headed towards Boise. There was a lot of construction, but we were past the rush and made it through Boise and to the Oregon border in good time. Still no trees on the horizon, but we knew we would find them in Oregon. We stopped at Baker City and drove through the historic downtown area which was nicely restored and had some beautiful old houses, commercial buildings, and the Geyser Grand Hotel. Gold was discovered in Baker County in 1861. A number of mining towns sprung up throughout the county and many of those are now ghost towns, but Baker City survived.

Then we went through the Blue Mountains, descending abruptly at a 6% grade into Pendleton. We stopped at a view point to get a look at Pendleton in in the distance. At the stop, we saw a trucker who looked like the incredible hulk with four tiny dogs, three on a leash. The fourth came over to say hi. The large man with four tiny dogs seemed oddly mismatched.

It was early, so we decided to turn off at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino. From the highway we could see advertisements informing us that Tuesday was Senior Day, and that they had Free Child Care. We thought that was an interesting marketing duo. When we parked in the parking lot, a small bus pulled up behind us to give us a ride to the casino. We waved him off and walked. I guess they want to make sure they get all the seniors into the casino.

Jim and I are not gamblers. I haven't played the slots in 20 years and all the machines looked unfamiliar -- no arms. We found a nickel machine and tried to figure out how to play. We managed to get a dollar each into two machines. But no matter which buttons (some flashing, some not) we pushed (including the "spin" button) the machine would not spin. There was a "help" button that brought up a display that really did not help us. I finally pushed the "cash out" button. Still nothing.

Jim went over to get some help and managed to go into the dealer area -- mistake. They acted like he was a terrorist and shooed him out. He thought they were going to arrest him. I finally found a dealer that told me to look at the top of the machine where it had printed a ticket. She said we could put that ticket back in and try again -- I said no, thank you. So we went over to the cashier to cash in our two, one-dollar tickets. She smiled and said, "Would you like that in large bills. "

Then I spotted some machines with arms in the "non-smoking" area. We found a nickel machine that was much simpler to operate (and no "help" button). So we got the hang of it and managed to make one dollar last for about 30 minutes. But that was enough. I concluded that the secret was to choose a machine that did NOT have a "help" button.

We decided to go to the Pendleton Woolen Mills next. The Mills had a small museum of Indian art which I enjoyed. And beautiful Indian blankets and a variety of other items. We finally headed up the hill to the motel.

Later in the evening Jim discovered that the car wouldn't start. We figured that we left the lights on or something -- the car has an alarm, but it is in the audio range that Jim can't hear. Triple A will be here at 8AM tomorrow morning to hopefully start the car. If all goes well, we will be home tomorrow.

Day 33: Lehi to Twin Falls ID

Lehi (pop 19,028, elev 4,550) was named for a Mormon saint. The polygamous practices of the Mormons were vigorously prosecuted by the feds in 1870-80 and many went into hiding near here. Legend claims that when federal officers ordered a small boy to take them to a polygamist, he lead them to a chicken house and pointed out a rooster.

We got to Salt Lake City about 10 AM. We saw a sign for the left-hand lane that said "HOV/Toll only." After our Houston experience we shuttered at the word "toll." After seeing another sign that said "2+ or Toll," and seeing no toll booths on the horizon, we gingerly moved over into that lane and got through town with no trouble.

We've been through Salt Lake City a number of times, but never really seen the lake. I had a brochure for Antelope Island State Park, which is on the lake. So we decided to take the turn off and headed out to the Island. By the time we got to the entrance, we had lost all other traffic and were the only car in sight. There was a $9.00 fee at the lonely toll booth and we headed across the causeway over the lake to the island.

The great Salt Lake is called America's Dead Sea. It is all that is left of pre-historic Lake Bonneville, a huge lake that covered 20,000 square miles during the Ice Age. The lake has four rivers flowing into it and no outlet, so the water evaporates and leaves salt and other minerals behind. The current lake is 75 miles long and 28 miles wide. It is so salty that only brine shrimp, brine flies, and several types of algae can survive.
Speaking of brine flies, we got out of the car at a view point and immediately were swarmed by these creatures. They are everywhere. Fortunately they do not bite, but they swarm around you. I found myself using my arm as a windshield wiper walking along. They travel close to the water and the beach. I don't see how anyone would want to swim here, although there is a swimming area. I've placed these creatures into the same category as no-see-ums from Florida.

Antelope Island is home to a herd of 500 - 700 bison who roam freely. The herd started in 1893 when a rancher brought in 12 animals. In 1926 they held the "last great buffalo hunt" on the island and almost wiped out the herd. Fortunately there were enough animals left to re-populate and no more hunts. When the state bought the island, the bison came with it and became one of the largest public herds of buffalo in the country.

The visitor center had an interesting video on the animals. Every October they round them up using helicopters. Modern cowboys? They herd the bison into a coral, check the animals, vaccinate them, and choose animals to sell off. They keep the herd at a stable size so they won't overrun other animals on the island.

As we left the visitor center, we saw about 5 buffalo close to the road. Although we made a lot of noise they didn't seem interested in us at all. I guess we were not as noisy as a helicopter.

We left the island, got back on the Interstate and soon hit Idaho. As we turned onto I-84 we felt we were getting closer to home. When we saw a sign for Shoshone Falls we turned off the freeway. We crossed over the Snake River Canyon and headed up the river about 9 miles. We had come to the falls in 2003 on our return from Kansas, but there was no water. So we wanted to see it with water. And we found it. Shoshone Falls is 212 feet tall and called the Niagara Falls of the West. With water, it was quite impressive.


Twin Falls (pop 34,469, elev 3,745) was only a few miles away and we stopped there for the night.

Day 32: Bryce Canyon to Lehi

Since Ruby's was the only motel on this trip that did not provide a complimentary breakfast of some sort, we got an early start and arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park at 7AM. We decided that this was the perfect time to arrive at a national park. No crowds, no traffic. This park has a shuttle, but it was nowhere in sight and you can drive to all points of interest. So off we went to Sunset Point. We found ourselves on the rim of a canyon some 8,000+ feet high looking over a vast sea of hoodoos. I think they should call it hoodoo canyon. It was just amazing.

There was a path that lead down among the hoodoos, but we decided to do that on our way back since the sun was good for pictures and we wanted to stay ahead of the crowds. We passed a tour bus coming in as we exited. Bryce Canyon is not just one canyon but a series of semi-circular canyons with brilliant colors and spirals, balanced rocks, and all sorts of formations. All the view points were from the rim, looking down at the cliffs.

We stopped at a natural bridge formation and saw a raven sitting on one of the fence posts. I gingerly rolled down the window and snapped some pictures. But as we got out of the car, the raven stayed put. So I got closer and closer. He still stayed put. Having read somewhere that animals that are not afraid of humans are dangerous, I stayed back about 3 feet, but he wasn't budging. Instead of "never more," we named him "never move." He was still there when we left.

After getting our fill of canyon views, we went back to Sunset Point to take that path and get an up close and personal look at some hoodoos. The Navajo Loop sign said that it was 1.3 miles -- didn't sound so bad. So we started down into the canyon. It was very, very steep and windy trail with a number of switch backs and great views along the way. I kept stopping to take pictures and Jim kept saying, "you know we have to go back UP sometime." And, "Everybody is going down, but nobody is coming back up." We kept going until we finally reached the floor of the canyon and the trail leveled off. We took a break in the old river bed and turned around the bend. And then we encountered the UP part. The trail had about a 10% grade, was in the sun and at 8,000 feet gave a new meaning to the "breathtaking view."

We went slow and rested every few switchbacks, but it was a long climb back up. As we finally surfaced and were sitting on a short wall resting, along came a bus-full of Japanese school children with guides and a video photographer bringing up the rear. We decided to wait until they passed us, but I think we still ended up in their video.

Having exerted more than our daily ration of physical activity, we took another rest at the Visitor Center and headed out of the park, on our way home. We passed through the Red Canyon State Park. Just more beautiful Utah scenery. Also passed the exit for the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. According to my AAA book, hundreds of movies and TV shows were filmed there.

It was only 20 miles to the Interstate and we were back in the groove. After viewing the beauty of the national parks, the views from the freeway seemed desolate. Trees were gone and we were in desert hills all the way to Lehi (just north of Provo) where we pulled off for the night.

At our first stop in Arizona we noticed that the motel room clock was an hour earlier than Jim's watch. I just knew we couldn't be in the Pacific Time Zone. We checked my cell phone and it agreed with the motel, so we changed the watch. The only thing I could figure out was a daylight savings time change -- but we encountered it on a Tuesday or Wednesday -- we have trouble with what day it is too, but I know it wasn't Monday. Anyway, when we got to Lehi, the motel clock was one hour later -- back where we started from. So we threw up our hands and now just look at the motel clock when we check in to see what time it is.

We went over to the grocery store across the street from the motel and bought some TV dinners and tried to buy some beer. That's when we found out it was Sunday.

It's homeward bound tomorrow -- should take us about 3 days to get there.

Day 31: Page to Bryce Canyon via Zion NP

It was not as cold this morning. I guess that extra 3,000 feet makes a difference. We headed north on highway 89, immediately crossing into Utah. The country was beautiful. We were near the Vermilion Hills National Monument and that describes it pretty well -- layers of different colored rock (pink, red, orange, tan, etc.) sculpted into hills and mesas.

These layers were laid down at different times as this area was at the bottom of a great shallow lake -- and later a vast dessert with sand dunes thousands of feet high. Eventually the sand turned into sandstone. Then the whole Colorado Plateau was raised up from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Rivers formed to drain rain and snow and carved out the beautiful canyons in this area. Iron in the sediments rusted resulting in the vivid colors. The different layers of sandstone were composed of different material eroding at different rates. So the spires and pillars (called hoodoos) formed in many interesting shapes.

As we travelled along the road leading to Zion National Park, we saw about six small mule deer dead along the highway. Jim named it "dead mule deer road." They must be like possums here. We saw a number of live deer as well. Once we entered the park, the ranger told us to drive 12 miles to the visitor center and park. There was a shuttle to take us from there.

We immediately found ourselves on a winding road in the midst of colorful mountains -- snaking through the peaks. This offered beautiful views for me, but not the driver. Jim said he could usually look around when driving, but was not going to do that on this road. They did have scenic pullouts here and there, so we stopped to gaze at the towering mountains and steep cliffs rising in front of us.

Then we saw sign for a tunnel. And what a tunnel it was, straight through one of the mountains, dark, curvy and ONE MILE long. They had carved about six side windows through the side of the mountains. The semi-circle in the rock in this picture is one of these tunnel windows. They were spaced so that just when you eyes adjusted to the light, they would blind you again. Great for those with claustrophobia, not so good for the driver. We finally emerged and entered the hairpin curve section of the road (five) until we leveled out at the bottom along the river valley.

We got to the visitors center at about 10:30 and got one of the last parking places. There was another gate to the Park right next to the visitor center -- so we figured we came in the back door. Later we saw a sign saying that the parking lot was full and you needed to park in town (near the front door)....then take another shuttle from there.

The park shuttle was great, but crowded. Each shuttle was a double bus and one came by every 6 minutes or so. They took you to all the points of interest and stopped both ways on the route which made it easy to get anywhere you wanted to go. Getting Jim onto a crowded shuttle was about the same as getting him near the edge of the Grand Canyon. Fortunately, folks dispersed quickly and Jim really enjoyed being able to get places without worrying about driving and parking.

After an enjoyable visit, we left about 2:30 back on the tunnel road to make our way to Bryce Canyon. On our way, we saw a roadrunner run across the road. Later we saw a dead coyote-like animal beside the road -- wondered if that wasn't Wyle Coyote. We stopped at Ruby's Inn on the road to Bryce Canyon National Park about 1 mile from the entrance. We decided that one park per day was our quota. We would get up early and hit Bryce first thing in the morning.

Ruby's Inn is quite a place and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Bryce Canyon. In 1916 Reuben Syrett (Ruby) and his wife bought a ranch on the land where the current Inn is located. Some friends told them about the nearby Canyon, and when they saw it, they were enthralled. They told all their friends about it and ended up pitching a tent called a "tourist rest" to host them. More and more people came and they built a lodge and kept expanding as the Canyon became a National Monument and then a National Park. The current Inn is huge and is run by Ruby's children and grandchildren. There is a huge gift shop and grocery store, restaurant, swimming pool. Down the street, they have a camping/RV area with its own swimming pool, and across the street there is an old fashioned main street with more stores.

When we checked in they explained that the electricity would be off from 11:00 pm to 6:00 AM. It had something to do with the power company repairs. They didn't offer a discount, but they had hot water (until 11:00) After dinner, Jim went to the room to watch football and I toured the gift shop.

Day 30: Grand Canyon to Page AZ

It was downright cold this morning -- 26 degrees. Our car kept raising a "Warning: Cold Temperature" alert. (We aren't quite sure what our car expects us to do about it...) Gary and Kathy gave us both TEXAS sweatshirts, and those came in handy. Thanks, Gary and Kathy.

We packed up early and headed back to the Grand Canyon Park. What a difference between 2 PM and 7;30 AM. No cars in the parking lot - we were the first one. The Canyon was as gorgeous as yesterday, but more enjoyable without the mass of humanity.

We caught the shuttle to Yaki Point and enjoyed another great view. This is the point they recommend for sunset views. Morning views aren't bad either. The shuttle driver was very enthusiastic about the Park. He said he worked in law enforcement for 50 years and just couldn't take it anymore, so he moved to the Canyon and started working for the Park. He said that he now loves his job and described all the view points on the desert trail that we were taking out of the park. We hadn't seen the Colorado River yet, but he said there were several good views coming up.

So we had to stop at all the view points and at the Indian ruin and museum. We saw the Colorado River. Our final stop was at the "desert view" area. You view the desert and canyon from a 4-story tower built from native stone and decorated inside with Indian art. Spiral stairways lead to a view balcony, and a 360-view area on top. We paid a fortune for a hamburger at the snack bar and headed out of the park at about 1pm. The temperature had elevated to about 65, but seemed much hotter. We just aren't used to all these clear skies and bright sunshine. With a 40+ degree difference between night and day temps -- we discovered that layering is the way to go.

Highway 89 passed through the Navajo Reservation. It reminded be of the Reservation we passed through in Montana -- very desolate and barren land. It was a sandy pink desert with no vegetation. The monotony was only broken by small houses and trailers and the numerous roadside stalls used to sell Indian crafts and jewelry. Most of those were empty now (drat!) but I imagine they are quite active during the summer season.

The land gradually developed more character with multi-colored cliffs in the background. Actually quite pretty by the time we left the reservation and headed to Page and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

The GCNRA includes the Glen Canyon Dam (on the Colorado), Lake Powell and the surrounding area -- located in both Arizona and Utah. The dam is adjacent to a bridge spanning the canyon walls. We went to the Info Center just across the bridge and enjoyed a bird's eye view of the dam holding back the mighty Colorado on its way to the Grand Canyon.

The dam was built in the 1950's and the town of Page was founded so that the workers would have someplace to live. The town is uphill on a mesa with a fantastic view of the river valley, dam, and Lake Powell. Our hotel was right on the edge of the mesa and we could see all this from our window. We thought it would be expensive, and were surprised to get very reasonable off-season rates. I guess the Grand Canyon doesn't know about off-season.

When we got back to our room from our tour, we saw the message light blinking. Not knowing who would know where we were, we checked with the front desk. Turns out that there was a plumbing problem and we had no hot water. The motel offered to give us $20 off the room if we stayed. So we decided we could bathe tomorrow.

There is a lot to do here. Just down from the Dam is a marina and a huge lake to explore with fantastic canyon land scenery (they had pictures hung up in the motel.) There is also horseback riding, fishing, camping and rafting down the Colorado. And it is much less crowded than the Grand Canon. The only language we heard was English. It is not entirely a secret though because we saw several tour buses prowling the area.

We are going to visit Zion National Park tomorrow (and take a bath).

Day 29: Casa Grande to Grand Canyon

After enjoying a beautiful desert sunrise, we started out early and headed north. Phoenix (pop. 1,200,000+, elev. 1900) was sited on an old Hohokan village and named Phoenix to symbolize the new city raising out of the dust of the old ruins. And as we drove towards the city, it certainly rose out of the flat dusty desert in front of us.

We hit Phoenix at rush hour, and even though we took the "loop," we found ourselves in stop-and-go traffic through Tempe, Mesa, and Scottsdale. By the time we actually got to Phoenix, things had thinned out, but a major construction project managed to take up the slack and keep us going at a snail's pace.

We didn't really get a view of the skyline because the freeways are low, surrounded by tall concrete walls. It wasn't bad though because they had decorated the concrete in that southwestern "overpass" style using Spanish/Indian motifs. It was very attractive and left us a good impression of the city despite the traffic.

The architecture in this area is very non-intrusive. The houses are of stone or stucko and painted in warm shades of brown that blend into the landscape. This seems to make up for the lack of vegetation and looks very nice.

We turned off the Interstate to take a scenic drive from Cottonwood to Sedona. Just before we got to Sedona, we had a fantastic view of the red hills and stopped at a scenic view area. Here I had to balance my fear of snakes with my desire to take a good photo. In order to get a good shot, I had to climb the hill behind the parking lot -- watching carefully where I was stepping. I was nervous because there was an insect that kept making a distinctive rattling noise. Then when I hopped up onto a rock, Jim helped by saying, "Snakes like rocks, you know."

We turned off at Red Rock State Park and drove through some beautiful country with red rock canyons and pillars. Did you know that the red color in these hills is rust? Yep, iron oxide. It sure looks prettier on mountains than old cars. We thought we were on a loop until we saw the sign that said, "pavement ends." So we continued on carefully -- still managing to scrape the underside of the car (visions of our buffalo experience). The Nissan is just NOT comfortable being mistaken for an SUV. So we turned around.

Sedona is a beautiful town, nestled in the red rocky hills, surrounded by beautiful scenery on all sides. It has an intersting and scenic tourist area with shops/restaurants. We didn't stop, but Sedona is definitely on my list of places to revisit. (Wilcox -- not so much.)

The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff took us up about 3,000 feet in elevation around a number of hairpin curves. Flagstaff and Grand Canyon Area are at 7,000 feet. We drove through some beautiful country. Jim had been missing trees and wondering if he would ever see one again. Totem cacti just didn't do it for him. His wish was answered today. We started seeing the usual mountain variety of trees and some beautiful fall colors.

We got back on the Interstate for a few miles at Flagstaff and then took the exit for the Grand Canyon. Just a few miles from the entrance we discovered a Best Western and a few other hotels and tourist shops, plus an IMAX theatre. We got a room and suffered from sticker shock. This was more upscale then we were used to. The hotel lobby played music in the background and had a full dining room and gift shop right off the lobby. You needed a ticket to get into the complementary continental breakfast searved in the dining room. They also had several spiral staircases that reminded me of the cruise ship we took to Alaska. But the real shock was that our room glasses were made out of real glass, not those individually wrapped plastic cups.

We stopped at the IMAX theater on our way to the park an discovered that we could buy a park pass there. Jim went off to the restroom, and I got in line to get a ticket ($25 per vehicle). I asked if they had a senior discount -- never hurts to ask -- and the woman asked me if someone in my party was over 62. I said, "yes." Then she said she would have to see ID. I said the person was in the restroom with it, but I would come back with him. When I took him over there, she sold him a $10 pass that is good in any National Park or Monument. And she said told him to hang on to it, because it is good for life. Now that's a senior discount. And it applys to anyone in Jim's vehicle.

So we went off to the Grand Canyon to try out Jim's new pass. We got into the park about 2:00 and stopped off at the first parking area. We managed to get the last parking spot. The place was packed with people speaking all different languages -- but the view was spectacular. There are really no words in any language to describe the sight of that canyon. They had a large platform with guard rails that hung over the canyon (a shire drop of a mile down). I got out my camera and moved to get close to the edge to take pictures. When I turned around, Jim was not behind me. He was back against the steps. I had forgotten that he is afraid of heights. He told me if I couldn't find him, he would be huddled against the back wall. As he said this, another person said, "me too." So Jim started a support group for acrophobics in the corner.

Getting off the view platform, we started walking along the rim trail. Soon the guardrail disappeared -- good for photographers, bad for acrophobics. But little by little Jim got closer and closer to see the view which was phenomonal. We were both tired, so we returned to the hotel and then went to see the IMAX movie -- which was great, but the first scene was a plane zooming around the canyon -- Jim turned green.
But he really enjoyed it after that.

We are going back to the park tomorrow, then on to Utah.