Made It To San Francisco!

The Chair made it Unscathed

Claiming His Chair

It's Mine and I Like It

Big Boy

Eensy Weensy Spider on Water Spout

We finally arrived in San Francisco on Friday September 24th. We were happy to see Jenny, Nicholas, Samuel and Jenny's mom Carol and also to deliver the Windsor stool and digger-man trucks. Nicholas's metal Tonka trucks are heirlooms. The spider was not paid to make an appearance, but, showing up on the drainpipe and later on Daddy's sleeve, he delighted Samuel.

Grace Cathedral From The Top of the Mark

Our last night we had a night cap at the Top of the Mark and the next morning a cup of coffee in the Peet's next to the cathedral offices with Richard Schaper, Alan's classmate from Colgate. Richard is the CFO of the Episcopal Dioceses of San Francisco. Before coffee, we attended morning prayer led by Richard in the Chapel of the Nativity.

Bryce to Boulder, Utah to Las Vegas, Paso Robles and Salinas, CA

GPS Mistake?

We spent the night after Bryce in Boulder, Utah which was highly recommended by the Lonely Planet guide book. There was an interesting Anasazi museum there and the trip through  the Escalante and Grand Staircase areas was beautiful, although the winding road was a white knuckle ride exactly two hours in the wrong direction. The Boulder Mountain Lodge was pleasant but probably not quite as great as the book promised. So we were excited to finally arrive  in Las Vegas, although we did not expect our car's GPS to direct us to the establishment in the photo. "You have reached your destination," Gina, as we called her, said.  (Marion asked me several times if I had bribed her.) We did finally arrive at our hotel two blocks away. Vegas was Vegas, a curious assortment of good restaurants, casinos and a very strange collection of people especially the ones who were tooling around in their motorized wheelchairs and pouring their money into slot machines. We ate dinner at a very good Thai restaurant, Lotus of Siam, recommended by Jenny. It was the best Thai food that we had ever tasted.

Steinbeck Museum
Salinas, CA

On Charlie and Saville Marsh's recommendation, after spending the night in Paso Robles, CA and having a great meal at Artisan, recommended by Saville, we stopped at the Steinbeck Museum in Salinas. It proved to be a very interesting stop. It contained memorabilia from Steinbeck's life as well as video clips from some of the movies and plays that were based on his books. We also had lunch at his childhood home, two blocks away, which has been restored and contains a restaurant staffed mostly by volunteers.

Steinbeck's Custom RV

He traveled the country in this truck while he was writing Travels with Charley.

RV Interior

BRYCE CANYON UTAH Monday September 20, 2010

Bryce View

Choosing A Hike

Since Oklahoma, at least, erosion has been on our minds but this view shows the artistry of wind, ice and water. We learned from a ranger that Bryce is not a canyon because, unlike Grand Canyon and Zion, a river does not run through it.

Navajo Loop

We started on this trail. The very enthusiastic ranger at the Visitors Center had wanted us to save these switchbacks for the END of our hike.

like walking a labyrinth

Back on Wall Street

Ponderosa Pine

Fred wonders why the sky is so blue

Darwin Approved

Alan discovered Wasatch, a local Utah brew, at our lodging outside Zion. On the way to Bryce we picked up a six-pack of Evolution Amber, which states on the label, "This beer was part of our protest to the State Legislature to mandate the teaching of intelligent design in our public schools. Church and state should stay separated even in Utah." The tastiest two were on the porch of our cabin in Bryce National Park.

Sunrise at Bryce

Looking West

Just before the sun crept up above the eastern horizon, Jupiter was visible above the canyon rim. Martin alerted us to the planet's unusually close proximity and pointed out that the distance was roughly 100,000 times the length of our car trip. So glad we don't have to drive it!

We waited for this

Thor's Hammer

We may not agree on the labeling of this scene, but we did not argue about our last national park being our best. Bryce is spectacular!

Zion National Park

Moonrise in Springdale

It seems like my best photos are taken in parking lots! Don't forget to click on the photos in the blog so that you can see them full size. This was our first evening at Zion and we had just arrived at the Spotted Dog restaurant in the little town on the west side of the park when Marion pointed out this nice photo op.
If you go to Zion, you need to stay on the west side of the park where Springdale is just a few miles from the  west entrance. We chose the east side on the recommendation of the people that run the lodge there since the lodge was full. (I can only assume there was some money exchanged between the two parties because it was really inconvenient.)  We were only four miles from the east entrance but there was a ten mile stretch to get to Zion Canyon Road where you actually enter the canyon which required negotiating 10 hair pin turns on a road that was being torn up for reconstruction as well as two one lane sections that sometimes required a 30 minute wait until the cars from the other direction had passed. it was not a fun trip that first night after dinner in the dark.

Turkey Vulture

We saw this guy on the way into Zion on the Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River. He was probably waiting for us to drive off the edge of the road.

The Virgin River

The Virgin River has formed Zion Canyon just as the Colorado has formed the Grand Canyon.

Typical View at Zion

This was the typical landscape on the trail to the Emerald Pools at Zion. It wasn't particularly challenging  but we were beat after our hike on the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon. We weren't trying to prove anything anyway.

Approach to middle Emerald Pool

More Stunning Scenery

The Great White Throne

A Methodist minster with some clout was one of the first people to officially explore Zion. That is the reason  all the mountains and rock formations have biblical names including the name of the park.

Lunch Time Virgin River

The evening after this photo was taken, I couldn't find my USB cable that I used for downloading my photos into Marion's laptop and then into the blog. Marion noticed something after making this photo full screen that explained where it was. I guess it is a good thing that I didn't fall into the river as well while eating lunch.

Grotto

These grottoes are formed when  water penetrates between the rock layers and freezes and thaws which causes the rock to split and fall away from the cliff face.

We were in Zion on Saturday and Sunday, September 18th and 19th. We then went to Bryce on Monday the 20th, Boulder, Utah on the 21st, Las Vegas yesterday on the 22nd and we are now in Paso Robles, CA getting ready for dinner at Artisan which is a very nice restaurant according to our sources. If tomorrow is Friday, September 24th I think we are headed first to the Steinbeck Museum in Salinas and then to San Francisco where we will see Jenny, Nicholas, Samuel and Carol, Jenny's mom. It is very difficult to keep the days straight on a trip like this especially when we are moving from place to place almost every day. But it has been a lot of fun. Marion even was amused by Las Vegas where we spent the night yesterday. More on that next time. We are almost caught up.
We have saved Bryce Canyon, what we enjoyed the most, for the last, so you will have something to look forward to - but that won't be until tomorrow. The Blog will continue until we get back to Yonkers where I assume no one will be interested in what we normally do from day to day.

Grand Canyon South Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge

Waiting for the Shuttle to see the sunset at grand canyon

We are catching up now. On our first afternoon after arriving at the Grand Canyon, we didn't want to miss anything, so we raced to the shuttle to be on time for the trip out to Hopi Point for the best view. When we arrived, there was a huge crowd all lined up, so we had to wait patiently for the third shuttle. By that time, we would have missed the sunset altogether, so we got off at the first stop, Powell Point, which proved to be fine. The popular National Parks are crowded. Not so crowded to make the experience unpleasant but Marion commented that it was nicer when she used to go with her parents and there weren't a lot of giant tour buses spewing out people and fumes since they never seem to turn their engines off.

Sunset Grand Canyon

You may notice a little smoke just above the North Rim. That is due to controlled burns by the forest service to reduce the chance of devastating forest fires. We noticed that taking place in all the areas we drove through.

Alan on the South Kaibab Trail

Friday morning was our day to hike in the Grand Canyon. We always listen carefully to the advice of the Park Rangers at the visitor center and this was no exception. She recommended a hike which we later saw described as "STRENUOUS" in the park newspaper. She asked us how much water we had and then told us it wasn't enough. We needed at least two liters each and three would have been better since there was no water on this trail. We scoffed at the maxim at the beginning of the trail: "Going down is optional, Returning is Mandatory!" Off we went, at a nice pace. There was trail work being done by a large crew replacing the wooden treads holding the steps in place with stone. When we got to the bottom, halfway point of the hike, both of us were feeling a little lightheaded, but neither one mentioned it. It was probably a combination of not drinking enough water on the way down, 7,000 feet altitude, 95 degree + temperature and a fair amount of exertion for at least one senior citizen. But we did the mandatory part of the trip and made it back safe and sound. There are warnings everywhere not to attempt the round trip to the river in one day. At least two days is suggested and three is better. It is a tough hike.

After the Hike

Samuel's Windsor Stool on the South Rim
By the El Tovar Lodge

The chair has been enjoying its trip with us so far. On this morning, a man was staring at us and finally asked what the story of the chair was. So we told him. It has been fun. Then we left for Zion.

Gallup, NM

Main Drag Gallup NM

We are back at least partially. I am sorry that we abandoned you for so many days. First the internet connection was too slow to connect to the Blog especially for uploading photos. Then there was no WIFI. And now I have lost my USB cable which must have accidentally dropped into the Virgin River at Zion, while I tried to get my lunch out of my fanny pack behind my back. I was sitting on a stone in the river. Since we last spoke we have been to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and now we are at the Boulder Mountain resort in Boulder, Utah, 2 hours in the wrong direction for getting to the West Coast. Marion is responsible for that choice and i will leave it there. But at least we are sitting on the front patio of the office here, relaxing under a beautiful sky with a nice breeze and looking forward to  a nice dinner at their highly recommended restaurant which prides itself on using food of local origin.
But back to Gallup. Entering Gallup, one feels like one is going back in time and down in terms of economic level. Almost every storefront is a seller of Native American products both new, antique or pawned wholesale and retail. As we learned later at the Grand Canyon Lodge this is where all the retailers and gift shops in the Southwest and probably elsewhere obtain them.  It was an interesting place, where Marion shopped a bit.

Lunch at Jerry's Cafe in Gallup

I chose sopapillos--I hope I remember that right--because they match the red and yellow of the New Mexico license plate.

Grand Canyon Sunset

Just a teaser

I was able to upload one photo this morning but that was it. I will see you again later in the week.