Lucy found another activity there at the bar too. She is a wild woman!
Now we spend time doing things in Spokane. Not sure what chapter two of this adventure will bring but here we go.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Eagles Have Landed
We had a short trip today. Only 196 miles to Spokane. We woke up about 5:30 if not earlier for some silly reason. We had one thing on our minds when we got up. Coffee and a muffin from Starbucks. We got ready and headed to Starbucks! AHHHHHH! Nice. We were on the road for Spokane fueled with caffeine and sugar. Life is good. When you go through Montana you have to stop at the 10,000 Silver Dollar Bar. One thing has changed. It is now the 50,000 Silver Dollar Bar. Mrs. Bar Lady told us that most of the silver dollars that adorn the wall are donated. They had enough donated to make the jump to 50,000 Silver Dollars. Lucy found some new friends while she was there. I tried to tell her not to talk to strangers but she has a mind of her own as we all know. She survived so I talked with them too. 
Lucy found another activity there at the bar too. She is a wild woman!
Now we spend time doing things in Spokane. Not sure what chapter two of this adventure will bring but here we go.
Lucy found another activity there at the bar too. She is a wild woman!
Now we spend time doing things in Spokane. Not sure what chapter two of this adventure will bring but here we go.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Journey to Spokane
Well, we drove 721 miles today. We are in Missoula, Montana. We drove up Highway 15 to I90. We went through the Big Sky country of Montana and it is spectacular. We saw a lot of rivers along the way. At every river Lucy said she saw fish jumping out of the river. She was sure each and every river would have great fishing. A couple of times I nearly had to wrangle (Montana talk for pull)her back in the car. She would see the water going over the rocks and was sure it was a school of fish. I didn't tell her that fish don't travel in schools in the rivers. We will get up in the AM and head to Spokane. Oh, we almost had to drive to Spokane tonight. No hotel rooms in Missoula. I got gas to start out for home and saw a Motel 6 sign. We called and Mr. Hotel guy said a room just opened up. He held it for us. Took us about a minute to get there. While we were there checking in he turned away at least 3 others. Whew! The good thing about this hotel is there is a Starbucks across the street. We have been looking for a Starbucks all day. No coffee/espresso shops in Utah! Starbucks and home in the morning. Amen!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Zion and Bryce
Well, it was a whirlwind of a day. We tried to find the geocaches before we left Williams. We had the right place but no GPS to direct us to the cache. Next time. We left Williams at 10 AM. On our way to the Zion we went through the Painted Desert. Its name suits it. Lots of colors in the rock and many different types of formations. 
This shed looking thing is where the Navaho Indians set up the jewelery and things they have made to sell. Many of the places were empty today. We stopped at one along the way and the things were beautiful. The Navaho houses were just small square homes. They looked like they might just be one or two rooms.
It took about 5 hours to get to Zion. Amazing, amazing place. It is like the Grand Canyon! Pictures won't do it justice but I will try.
Below you will see a tunnel. It is 1.1 miles long. It goes right through the mountain. Really, right through the mountain. It is narrow too, so large trucks and motor homes need escorts through the tunnel. Look at the picture below the tunnel. You will see a hole in the side of the mountain. You can see the hole in the picture above too toward the bottom of the picture. They cut out those holes every so often in the side of the tunnel to let light in we think. That shows how the tunnel is made right through the mountain. It was completed in 1930.
Then on to Bryce Canyon. I was frazzled because it was getting late and I thought we might get there after dark. No need to be frazzled we made it in plenty of time. Whew. Another beautiful place.
The rock formations are amazing here. We were at 8,300 feet elevation when these pictures were taken. It was just unreal!
We finally landed in Beaver, Utah. We drove for about 11 hours today. I wasn't really even tired of driving. We saw a lot of mule deer along the way and most of them were bucks. We also had to stop on the road so an antelope family could cross. There were two little babies. I tried to take a picture but I wasn't fast enough. The picture below is for you Mike.
Tomorrow we will head toward Spokane. I am not sure what our final destination will be. I have been out of school for a week and I have seen Lake Havasu, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon. Pretty neat don't you think!!!! Thanks for reading. More tomorrow.
This shed looking thing is where the Navaho Indians set up the jewelery and things they have made to sell. Many of the places were empty today. We stopped at one along the way and the things were beautiful. The Navaho houses were just small square homes. They looked like they might just be one or two rooms.
It took about 5 hours to get to Zion. Amazing, amazing place. It is like the Grand Canyon! Pictures won't do it justice but I will try.
Below you will see a tunnel. It is 1.1 miles long. It goes right through the mountain. Really, right through the mountain. It is narrow too, so large trucks and motor homes need escorts through the tunnel. Look at the picture below the tunnel. You will see a hole in the side of the mountain. You can see the hole in the picture above too toward the bottom of the picture. They cut out those holes every so often in the side of the tunnel to let light in we think. That shows how the tunnel is made right through the mountain. It was completed in 1930.
Then on to Bryce Canyon. I was frazzled because it was getting late and I thought we might get there after dark. No need to be frazzled we made it in plenty of time. Whew. Another beautiful place.
The rock formations are amazing here. We were at 8,300 feet elevation when these pictures were taken. It was just unreal!
We finally landed in Beaver, Utah. We drove for about 11 hours today. I wasn't really even tired of driving. We saw a lot of mule deer along the way and most of them were bucks. We also had to stop on the road so an antelope family could cross. There were two little babies. I tried to take a picture but I wasn't fast enough. The picture below is for you Mike.
Tomorrow we will head toward Spokane. I am not sure what our final destination will be. I have been out of school for a week and I have seen Lake Havasu, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon. Pretty neat don't you think!!!! Thanks for reading. More tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Train and Grand Canyon
We started the day about 7:30 at breakfast. Then we walked over to the train and what should we find??? A little argument between some cowboys. As you see we made friends with one of them for protection. Good move on our part don't you think?
We boarded the train for the ride to the Grand Canyon. It was a 65 mile ride. It takes 2 hours and 15 minutes. The first part of the ride the terrain looks a lot like Spokane. We started at about 6,800 feet elevation and then went down to about 5,000 feet and back up to 7,000 feet at the Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon itself is amazing. You cannot see a picture of it and get the feel for it. It is really beyond words! At first we wondered what we would do for four hours but we were watching the clock to make sure we got back to the train on time.
On the way home from the train we saw antelope, rabbits, and looked for elk but we didn't see any. We were robbed by some outlaws on the way back to Williams. They took money from just about everyone. Lucy emptied her change out for Mr. Outlaw. Mr. Marshall was more worried about posing for the picture than catching the bad guys. He said he wasn't in a hurry because the outlaws would eventually run out of train.
This is a picture of the steam engine that pulled us along the ride from the Grand Canyon to Williams. There was about 1,000 people on the train. Some cars were older than others. We were in a car that had air conditioning. Some cars had old windows with wood frames. Opening the windows created the air conditioning in those cars.
When we got off the train car we were greeted with a band and Lucy thought she should sing with them. Just kidding. Just a picture. You can see how into this band thing the kids were.
As promised I took some pictures of the lobby. There are lights every where so there is some glare in the pictures. It is a beautiful hotel. Very busy!
We are off to Zion and Bryce in Utah tomorrow. We are not sure where we will end up tomorrow night. If I have a connection I will blog. Lucy says hi to everyone. See the Spokane gang soon.
We boarded the train for the ride to the Grand Canyon. It was a 65 mile ride. It takes 2 hours and 15 minutes. The first part of the ride the terrain looks a lot like Spokane. We started at about 6,800 feet elevation and then went down to about 5,000 feet and back up to 7,000 feet at the Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon itself is amazing. You cannot see a picture of it and get the feel for it. It is really beyond words! At first we wondered what we would do for four hours but we were watching the clock to make sure we got back to the train on time.
On the way home from the train we saw antelope, rabbits, and looked for elk but we didn't see any. We were robbed by some outlaws on the way back to Williams. They took money from just about everyone. Lucy emptied her change out for Mr. Outlaw. Mr. Marshall was more worried about posing for the picture than catching the bad guys. He said he wasn't in a hurry because the outlaws would eventually run out of train.
This is a picture of the steam engine that pulled us along the ride from the Grand Canyon to Williams. There was about 1,000 people on the train. Some cars were older than others. We were in a car that had air conditioning. Some cars had old windows with wood frames. Opening the windows created the air conditioning in those cars.
When we got off the train car we were greeted with a band and Lucy thought she should sing with them. Just kidding. Just a picture. You can see how into this band thing the kids were.
As promised I took some pictures of the lobby. There are lights every where so there is some glare in the pictures. It is a beautiful hotel. Very busy!
We are off to Zion and Bryce in Utah tomorrow. We are not sure where we will end up tomorrow night. If I have a connection I will blog. Lucy says hi to everyone. See the Spokane gang soon.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Havasu To Williams
Well, the adventure begins. Lucy and Jackie on the road. We left Havasu about 10:30 today. Here we are ready to load into the car. We look ready and anxious to go don't we!!!
About 45 minutes north of Havasu is the town of Kingman. It is right along the Historic Route 66. I wanted to see what it was like so we pulled off the highway to take a look. After all we were in no hurry! This is a road trip. We took some pics.
Guess what Kingman has!!! This is where we ate lunch. This was not on the Historic Route 66! I gave up asking about milk!
We made it to Williams about 2PM. We checked in and then went to the train depot to pick up our train tickets for tomorrow and our meal tickets. The depot is about 1/2 block from the hotel. The restaurant is right next to the train depot. After we settled in we went shopping or tried to. About 5 blocks from the hotel is Route 66 again. That is where the shops are. We looked around a bit but didn't see anything that we had to have. Not real impressed with the shops actually. This is a picture of the street we were on below.
We tried to find a couple of easy geocaches and couldn't. We looked up a diner that was supposed to have one hidden on the property in the phone book and realized we were in the wrong area. We might try to find it tomorrow if we feel like it after the Grand Canyon. I didn't even think about bringing my GPS so we could geocache. Next time.
We ate dinner at the buffet and now I am in the lobby of the hotel typing this. Lucy is watching the D-backs on TV. The wireless connection in this hotel is only in the lobby. It is a huge hotel. We will take pictures tomorrow. We will get to breakfast about 7:30 tomorrow and then we will go to the Wild West shoot out at 8:30. Then we board the train! We will get back to Williams about 5:15. I am anxious to see the Grand Canyon!
The weather is great here. It was in the low 80's today and cooling off nicely tonight. It is beautiful here. Pine trees and blue skies! Should be a great day tomorrow!
About 45 minutes north of Havasu is the town of Kingman. It is right along the Historic Route 66. I wanted to see what it was like so we pulled off the highway to take a look. After all we were in no hurry! This is a road trip. We took some pics.
Guess what Kingman has!!! This is where we ate lunch. This was not on the Historic Route 66! I gave up asking about milk!
We made it to Williams about 2PM. We checked in and then went to the train depot to pick up our train tickets for tomorrow and our meal tickets. The depot is about 1/2 block from the hotel. The restaurant is right next to the train depot. After we settled in we went shopping or tried to. About 5 blocks from the hotel is Route 66 again. That is where the shops are. We looked around a bit but didn't see anything that we had to have. Not real impressed with the shops actually. This is a picture of the street we were on below.
We tried to find a couple of easy geocaches and couldn't. We looked up a diner that was supposed to have one hidden on the property in the phone book and realized we were in the wrong area. We might try to find it tomorrow if we feel like it after the Grand Canyon. I didn't even think about bringing my GPS so we could geocache. Next time.
We ate dinner at the buffet and now I am in the lobby of the hotel typing this. Lucy is watching the D-backs on TV. The wireless connection in this hotel is only in the lobby. It is a huge hotel. We will take pictures tomorrow. We will get to breakfast about 7:30 tomorrow and then we will go to the Wild West shoot out at 8:30. Then we board the train! We will get back to Williams about 5:15. I am anxious to see the Grand Canyon!
The weather is great here. It was in the low 80's today and cooling off nicely tonight. It is beautiful here. Pine trees and blue skies! Should be a great day tomorrow!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Hot is an Understatement
When it is this hot in the shade at 5 PM there is really only one thing to do!
Go Swimming!!! YeeHaw!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Eagle Has Landed! Final Leg of the Havasu Run
I am sitting at the computer in my mom's house right now. Keri and Ryland are here too. I had about a 4 hour drive today. Most of it was hot, hot desert! The drive out of St. George was beautiful. Big desert mountains right up next to the road! 
Well, after leaving those beautiful mountains came the desert. The dry hot desert. Whew!! I cannot imagine dealing with 120 degrees on a regular basis.
Trip highlight was setting foot in California! Even though I would not trade living in Washington for a second California is home too. I got out and walked around so I could say I actually touched the soil in California! Silly but true! 
I stopped in Needles at the first off ramp. Guess what I was greeted with there? Higher gas prices than in Spokane! Check it out. 
As I traveled farther down the road the prices came down to around $4.00 a gallon. Still way too high. I have averaged about 40 miles to the gallon. If you have to pay that high price it is a good thing to get 40 miles to the gallon. My motorcycle would be even better! No motorcycle road trip this time! Finally Arizona! I was anxious to see everyone and knew Keri and Ryland would already be there. 
Pictures of the family will come in my next post. Enjoy summer all you Washintonians. Mike's 83 degree motorcycle ride today sounds great. It is hot, hot here. Of course we have a nice pool to swim in. Time for a dip!
Well, after leaving those beautiful mountains came the desert. The dry hot desert. Whew!! I cannot imagine dealing with 120 degrees on a regular basis.
Trip highlight was setting foot in California! Even though I would not trade living in Washington for a second California is home too. I got out and walked around so I could say I actually touched the soil in California! Silly but true! 
I stopped in Needles at the first off ramp. Guess what I was greeted with there? Higher gas prices than in Spokane! Check it out. 
As I traveled farther down the road the prices came down to around $4.00 a gallon. Still way too high. I have averaged about 40 miles to the gallon. If you have to pay that high price it is a good thing to get 40 miles to the gallon. My motorcycle would be even better! No motorcycle road trip this time! Finally Arizona! I was anxious to see everyone and knew Keri and Ryland would already be there. 
Pictures of the family will come in my next post. Enjoy summer all you Washintonians. Mike's 83 degree motorcycle ride today sounds great. It is hot, hot here. Of course we have a nice pool to swim in. Time for a dip!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Leg Two Havasu Run
I started out from Twin Falls about 9 AM. Twin Falls is an hour ahead of Spokane. It was a bit overwhelming to think I had another 8 hours ahead of me. Once I got going though I got in the ZONE! I went through Salt Lake City and then Provo. The winter after I graduated from high school I drove from So. CA to Provo with a friend. She was going to school there and I was going to ski. We got in when it was dark. When I woke up and looked out the window there were these huge towering mountains right outside the door it seemed. Today when I went through Provo the mountains didn't seem as big but they are still very close. After Provo the drive was through the high desert. The highest elevation I saw was 6600 ft. I took a picture out the window! :-) I actually saw a speeder get caught today. A guy went by me probably going over 100 MPH. No blinkers when he changed lane or anything. Scary driving. About 5 miles up the road he was pulled over. Yippee. How many times to you see crazy drivers and wish there was an officer of the law around. This time there was one!
I finished this leg in St George, Utah. I drove about 8 hours today. I took some pictures of the Mormon Temples in St. George. Notice the red rock behind the first temple. This is the color of the soil all around the area. It is beautiful.
This water park is next to the second temple!
I watched license plates today! Hey, you have to do something when you drive! The farthest one was from Saskatchewan. That is pretty far away! I thought I had a long drive.
The hotel I am staying in has a pool. It is very hot so a dip in the pool is a strong possibility. I cruised around St. George just to check it out. I didn't get lost so that is a good thing. I found another Taco Bell for dinner. They didn't serve milk either. Weird. I guess it is a Taco Bell thing.
I will get to Havasu in the early afternoon tomorrow. Keri, Ryland, and Lucy will be there and I am excited to see them. I will be glad to have company for the ride back to Spokane.
Oh, by the way. I have seen no espresso shops since before Twin Falls. I did see a Starbucks sign in St. George but I didn't see the store. Must be around somewhere.
I finished this leg in St George, Utah. I drove about 8 hours today. I took some pictures of the Mormon Temples in St. George. Notice the red rock behind the first temple. This is the color of the soil all around the area. It is beautiful.
This water park is next to the second temple!
I watched license plates today! Hey, you have to do something when you drive! The farthest one was from Saskatchewan. That is pretty far away! I thought I had a long drive.
The hotel I am staying in has a pool. It is very hot so a dip in the pool is a strong possibility. I cruised around St. George just to check it out. I didn't get lost so that is a good thing. I found another Taco Bell for dinner. They didn't serve milk either. Weird. I guess it is a Taco Bell thing.
I will get to Havasu in the early afternoon tomorrow. Keri, Ryland, and Lucy will be there and I am excited to see them. I will be glad to have company for the ride back to Spokane.
Oh, by the way. I have seen no espresso shops since before Twin Falls. I did see a Starbucks sign in St. George but I didn't see the store. Must be around somewhere.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Leg One of the Havasu Run
Well, I drove 550 miles today to Twin Falls, Idaho. I did fine but got a bit tired toward the end. I decided not to try and go all the way to Havasu tomorrow. I enjoyed the ride. It was beautiful!!! I found a oldies radio channel and that was fun. A lot of songs from the high school days. Rod Stewart, The Turtles, etc. I rocked out. The Snake River Canyon is beautiful. A geological wonder!!! I had Taco Bell for dinner. You know they don't serve milk at the Taco Bell here!!! Amazing. Gas is around $4.15 a gallon. Of course in Oregon you still can't pump your own gas. There is a breakfast at the hotel here. I will get up eat and start out on the road again. Leave a comment and I will check them tomorrow. Time to relax!
This is a statue of Ira Burton Perrine. He helped develop this nice town in the early 1900's!
This is a statue of Ira Burton Perrine. He helped develop this nice town in the early 1900's!
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