ZION NATIONAL PARK April 2009 Day 2

Day 2 in Zion and Kathy is just making sure I go the right way, after all she is the navigator.
















Our problem is that we have travelled with Peg and Rick too much and have adapted to their way of approaching the morning. When it is over. As a result we didn't hit the park until after lunch.

Entrance to the Park.













However, we did get in a nice two mile walk in through some of the park and we also managed to get the rest of the info we needed for tomorrow. They have a shuttle ride that takes you 7 miles into park with various stops that you can get off, take pictures, have lunch, etc and then get on the next shuttle. We are going to take our bikes to the end of the run and then take our time riding back. That should eat up most of the day.

A few of the pictures I took today.

ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH April 2009

We left Laughlin, NV this morning and headed North to Zion National Park. We had to drive through a very dangerous zone about half way through the drive and I am proud to say that it did not get me. I kept my blinders on and drove right through Las Vegas and what made it even more astonishing was that Kathy kept chanting Pai Gow, Pai Gow in my ear. In spite if her chantings my resolve held and we are now in the town of Springdale, UT which is on park land but not inside the gates. The actual gate is about 2 miles down the road and we will be heading there first thing in the morning. I have attached a couple or three pictures that I took from 3 sides of our campground, I am anticipating some very spectacular scenery over the next couple of days.

LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ April 2009

We left Sante Fe on Monday, April 13th and arrived in Lake Havasu City on the 15th with a stop over on the 14th in a RV park near Kingman. It is sure nice to get out of the snow as we went

From This

To This

And This

Now this is more like it.

Lake Havasu City is not very old as it was founded in 1974 and it's claim to fame is the London Bridge. This is where the London Bridge ended up after it was sold in 1968 to Bob McCullough of McCullough Chain Saws. It was he who designed and cultivated the city into what it is today, a tourist town. The bridge was totally dismantled in London, each stone was given a number and then transported to Lake Havasu City where it was reassembled stone by stone. When they were building it here in Lake Havasu it was on dry land. The lake was diverted later to create an island and the bridge now spans the waterway.

The island is great for biking and we have been going for a ride every day, around the island and into town. It is about a 10 mile return trip but we kind of spoil the benefits of the ride as Kathy makes me stop at Starbuck's every time we hit town. There is also a walking and biking trail that takes you along the water that goes under the bridge and we have included that in our daily treks. The scenery is also pretty good. Eh Rick.

On Thursday the 17th I turned the big "60" and this is a nice spot to celebrate the day. We had a huge breakfast of bbq'd sausages, pancakes and eggs, all of which I cooked outdoors. We then went over to the beach for some sun and scenery and of course a starbuck's returning in the late afternoon. At which time I fired up the bbq and cooked a nice dinner of baked potatoes, steak for me and lamb for Kathy along with a nice salad which we ate outdoors as the sun was setting. It was a good day. I received a lot of birthday wishes on Facebook and they were greatly appreciated. Thanks to all.

We are going to be here until the morning of the 19th and then we are heading north. I don't think we will get much past Laughlin that day as Kathy has been bugging me to play some Pai
Gow Poker. She has become a Pai Gow junkie.

Well time has lapsed and we are actually in Laughlin, NV where we will spend the night. Then it is off to Zion National Park where we hope to spend about three days. We will be doing some hiking and I hopefully will get a chance to exercise the camera as I am told the scenery is beautiful.

WELCOME TO SANTA FE

Our first day here in Santa Fe was pretty uneventful as we spent most of the day just relaxing. We did go for a drive and saw some of the sights and did a little grocery shopping. We bbq'd for supper and spent the evening in. It was a relaxing day.

However, this morning we woke up to 2 inches of snow on the ground. It has been over 2 years since I have see snow and hopefully it will be a longer period before I see it again.

Welcome to Santa Fe.

THE RETIREMENT ADVENTURES BEGIN

Finally it feels like we are really on the road as we arrived in Sante Fe, New Mexico after nightly stops in Gainsville,Texas and Amarillo, Texas. The drive here yesterday was one of the most stressful drives I have made since being in a snow storm in Canada. The wind was blowing at 55 -59 mph for most of the trip and a couple of times I thought the camper and truck was going to roll. It is unbelievable how strong the wind can blow across the Texas Panhandle in the Spring. However we are here and will be for four days before moving on.

The trip was late getting started as it seemed the list things that had to be done prior to leaving just kept getting bigger or taking a lot longer that we expected. First some nim(Rod) clipped Kathy's car with the Truck Camper and we had to get that fixed. That along with her glasses being late delayed us a week, so during that time we had additional support struts put on that attach to both the truck and the camper. Then we had to get additional springs put on the truck as the weight of the camper ( 3700 lbs ) destroyed the airbags that we put on to support the 5th wheel. However the two additions have made the ride much smoother and more enjoyable.

Finally we were able to head to Granbury and put the 5th wheel in storage and head out. Let the retirement adventures begin.

Finally leaving Grapevine

Our New Friends wanted to come along.

The Vineyards, Grapevine, Texas

Still one of the nicer parks around.

3 WEEKS AND COUNTING

We are now down to three weeks before I am offically retired ( at least for the time being ) and it really started to hit home today. The reason it hit home today is that we sold Kathy's car. She said her goodbye's as she has had it for 12 years. We made deal with the people who bought it that we can keep it until the 24th. This will give Kathy a car for the next two weeks

SHREVEPORT, LA

I am a little late in posting this but last weekend we headed down to Shreveport to test out the Truck Camper. It was our first outing in it and despite it being very cozy everything worked well. We had a very enjoyable weekend even though it was a little cold with the temperature being in the 40's and 50's.

At the campsite in Grapevine. Getting ready to go.

At the campsite in Shreveport.

Imagine my surprise when I found out the campsite was on the Casino Property.

Our first breakfast in the camper. I cooked pancakes and eggs but we had to eat inside as it was to cold to sit outside.

We played a little in the casino's but no damage was done as we ended up even and in fact got a free dinner Saturday night. We enjoyed the evening with Eddie and Anna with a group of 5 of their friends. We met them again for breakfast and then headed back to Grapevine. All in all it was a good weekend.