Sunday - More than a little adventure!

This morning we headed out in are car pools to a local restaurant for breakfast where pancakes were larger than plate size (they used platters to serve). We then re-asssembled at the Antelope Canyou Excursions with extra time to spare so many of us wandered next door for extra clothing. The rain during the night had cooled things off.

The open sided trucks departed with all 24 onboard - and rain! We were all soaked by the time we had arrived at Upper Antelope Canyon. The ride in the lower canyon was through deeply rutted mud/sand and fun but you had to hang on but the rain had stopped.

Once we arrived to the upper canyon we discovered that it was a very interesting and beautiful narrow canyon with lots of small rooms and twisted sandstone formations going up to an opening in the "roof" - very unusual to us easterners and the colors very spectacular. As we wandered deeper into the canyon the rain began - making things more interesting.

At one point the call went out - GET OUT! Most people started exiting in a orderly fashion while thers paniced and were running and yelling while the employees tried to get crowd out and into our vehicles.

By the time we were loaded the waterfall and other water flows were starting to cover the area. This is the same area where Bill was standing - with no water as we entered.

A Flash Flood had been issued by the Park Service and Antelope Canyon had been closed. By 4-5 pm the full flash flood waters should occur.

We have all driven back to the campground and taken hot showers - now the sun is out and it will be interesting to see what the rest of the day brings!

Saturday - Full day cruise on Lake Powell

Today was a great day Cruising on a boat on Lake Powell and up to Rainbow Bridge National Monument. We hiked in to Rainbow Bridge which is the largest natural bridge in the world. We also had lunch on the boat and cruised into some canyons where you wondered how the boat could fit!

Tonight we are pleasantly tired after a day on the water! We had to purchase some more sun screen - with this heat and sunshine we had used up our very necessary supply!

We are to have rain tonight and perhaps tomorrow and with it should be a drop in the temperature. 94 - 104 with a humidity of 8% has been warm but has not stopped our activities, although some have been very uncomfortable.

Touring Glen Canyon Dam and Page

This morning we toured Glen Canyon Dam and it's generating plant and enjoyed seeing how and why it was built. It was pretty impressive to be on top of the dam and inside it and to see the bridge from a different prospective!

After lunch at a mexican restaurant we then toured the local museum and I tried to grind corn the Indian way - it is obvious I would not have made a very good Indian squaw! It was hard work!

Thursday - Start of Canyons Caravan
Today we ran errands and fueled up both the car and motorhome, then at 5 pm we gathered in a picnic area for Happy Hour followed by a hamburger and hot dog cook-out,

Wilt and Connie gave the orientation session for all and then we headed back to get ready for tomorrows adventures.

Wednesday - Rafting Down Colorado River

WOW!

This was a spectacular day - blue skies, clear water, spectacular views all in a four hour time period!

Water temperature was 48 degrees! Not too many people were brave enough to get wet - Bill was one of them!

Sure worth every cent paid for this ride!

Happy Birthday Anne!

This was our lazy day - no traveling and no plans. It felt good to have a day like this and did some laundry and headed into Page to check up on our reservations for rafting down the Colorado River tomorrow.

The picture of the mountain in the distance is a sacred Najavo spot.

Lake Pwell is suposed to be the house boat capitol of the world and we can see why! Many of the houseboats and great slides off the upper deck - looks like fun!

Monday - Flagstaff to Page Arizone

Driving Monday was only 137 miles and was either spectacular scenery or waste lands. The yellow wild flowers made for a beautiful contrast!

As we approached Page, we had construction with one way traffic - this cut through the rocks was something else! Thankfully Bill was driving and I was doing the looking.

This view is what we have from our front windshield - pretty cool looking over Lake Powell.

Additional Pictures from Sunday

Guess I can only put up 4 pictures at a time on the Blog.

Sunday and our arrival in Flagstaff

Today we started with breakfast served by the campground and then our washing the coach and Land Rover. We then headed to Gallop, NM where we stopped at WalMart to stock up on food.
Again we were captivated with the many trains going both East and West! One train had engines not only in the front an rear but in the middle as well!
Once we arrived in Flagstaff, we had a concert in the campground - how about these Swiss horns! This was followed by a spaghetti dinner put on by the campground. What a wonderful surprise!

Saturday 8/23/2008

Today was a longer day than we like to travel but it was a beautiful day to drive from Wichita Falls, Texas to Albuguerque, New Mexico.

This rest area in Texas was most unusual and a fun place to take a break. We enjoy Welcome Centers and we discovered that New Mexico now has a very nice Welcome Center - it opened in May and the previous one was horrible and you ended up feeling sorry for the employees that had to work there.

As we traveled along the way today we got to watch the great freight trains loaded with coal and others with double decker shipping containers heading somewhere - most likely from China!

The growth of wind farms west of Amarillo, Texas was most interesting and we wondered if they were owned by T. Boone Pickens.

Arriving back to Albuquerque via I-40 is great - you drive through a pass and then the city lies in a valley before you - but no hot air balloons today!

Friday 8/22/2008

Today we traveled all day in Texas and still have more traveling to do in this state! It is indeed BIG. This morning we departed at 8:30 am from Woodville and tonight we are in Wichita Falls, Texas. As you can see it is rather warm here but the outside probe was in the sun - and it was still hot and breezy.
We refueled at lunchtime and we had gone from the Flying J in Alabama - just south of Montgomery to Dallas, Texas and we did have some 19 gallons of fuel left but I was getting a little uneasy...
We have stayed hooked up and pretty much inside since our arrival here. Tomorrow will be a long day so we are being lazy. We wanted to go see the falls but the lady who checked us in told us that it wasn't worth the trouble since the river is all muddy and the falls are artificial and they just pump the muddy water from the river. Obviously she is not a star member of the local Chamber of Commerce.

Thursday - Day 4

Today we woke up to pouring rain and it had been raining most of the night - and headed off via Land Rover to Loblolly Lane to be with Barbara and Wayne. Over and over we said we were glad we had not attempted to drive the motorhome in yesterday!!!

Wayne met us at his gate and we followed him in to the house through the rain and the mud. It was such fun to be with them today after the major surgery Wayne had in May.

Their home is in the National Preserve - The Big Thicket and we went to the welcome center and viewed the film and the exhibits. Almost every exhibit had a snake in it and I sure was glad they were all dead!

This evening we made it back to the motorhome only to find the exterior docking lights were on - Smokey must have wanted to make sure we got back safely to the correct motorhome. Since it was dusk, it made hooking up easier and we we relieved that the batteries had not been run down...

3rd Day - Wednesday

Today we traveled to Woodville, Texas which is the first town north of Warren, Texas. Because of the amount of rain they have received here in recent days we elected to stay at a campground rather then risk the trip down Wayne and Barbara McCray's one mile long gravel driveway!

We traveled on US Route 190 instead of I-10 and enjoyed seeing the rice and sugar cane fields and the small towns of Louisianna. It rained or drizzled most of the way but had no major downpours.

This evening we went out to dinner with Wayne and Barbara to celebrate their anniversary - and Happy Anniversary also to Anne and Gene!

A number of you have asked about Smokey and his traveling and he has become a great traveler. He sleeps under the passenger seat most of the way and comes our occassionally to take a look around, get a few hugs and pats, give a few kitty kisses and then back under the seat. As you can see, we travel with Smokey's basket which contins his brush, toys, light, and his walking harness. When we stop, we get out the toys for a few minutes of fun and exercise for him. His litter box of course comes along as well as his food and dishes. At night he sleeps in our bed sometimes in a small ball by my feet but some night he seems to think that 1/3rd of the bed is his... In the morning we are up before he is (Because he has been up during the night getting and extra meal or two) and meows at us when we try to make the bed and he does not wish to leave his warm spot.

Tomorrow we will be hanging out with the McCrays at their place and will return to the coach for the night after dinner and to get ready for a Friday departure.

Mississippi Welcome Center

 

This Welcome Center just might be the prettiest in the whole nation! Inside they had lovely furnature including a tea cart like mine but complete with the glass top which has me wondering where my glass top is or if it has been broken over the years.

I am having a challenge in figuring out how to get all the pictures uploaded in order - maybe today will be better.