RETIRED ON WHEELS

ZION NATIONAL PARK April 2009 Day 5

Today was our last day here in Zion National Park as we are headed to Bryce Canyon in the morning. There is so much to see here so being our last day we made it a very active one. The day started with a 2.5 mile bike ride up to Canyon Point where we caught the shuttle to the top of the Scenic Drive. Once there we filled our water bottles and headed out on a 2 mile hike called "The River Walk" which takes about 1-2 hours depending on how much sight seeing you do. It wasn't that easy of a walk as it was crowded and very up and down but it was very nice.

Kathy at the start of the River Walk

The Organ and The Pulpit as seem from The River Walk

One of the views from The River Walk

The Pulpit and The Organ viewed from the other side.

Once we finished the walk we hopped on our bikes and rode 5 miles to another spot called "The Grotto" where we had the lunch we brought with us and rested a bit. We then road about a mile down to the Zion Lodge where we locked up the bikes and headed out on a hike to "The Emerald Pools". There are three pools that run into each other and start from a single little waterfall high about the Upper Pool. The trip is about 3.0 miles roundtrip as you reach the pools in order and then work your way back down. This was the toughest hike we did as the climb in elevation was over 600 feet and much of it through paths that were very rocky and very narrow. There was also places where you did not want to look down. I must admit that my heart was pumping by the time we reached the top and we still had to come down and that was almost as difficult.

The waterfall that runs into the Lower Pool

Kathy slowly making her way up through the maze

Rod at the Upper Pool. Yes he did make it.

The Waterfall that starts it all by running into the Upper Pool

The Zion Lodge from about half way back down from The Emerald Pools.

Once we reached Zion Lodge after the hike we had to get on our bikes and ride the last 3 miles back to the campsite, but I must admit it was a little slower. Upon reaching the campsite neither one of had the energy to make supper so we limped across the street and had a nice supper. Needless to say it was an early night.

Zion National Park is beautiful and I would recommend that everyone comes here at least once in their life. I would also recommend that you spend at least 5 days here.

Tomorrow we head for Bryce Canyon.

ZION NATIONAL PARK April 2009 Day 3 & 4

There is a scenic drive in Zion that only tour buses are allowed to travel with the exception of the staff at the Zion Lodge which is on the Scenic Drive. Therefore there is only 3 ways you can travel the 12.5 mile round trip, tour bus, bike or walking. The first half of the trip is mostly uphill as you climb about 600 feet so we decided that we would take our bikes but we cheated. We rode the tour bus up to the top and rode our bikes down. Much easier. We did stop at most of the stops on the way down to either take pictures, have lunch or walk some of the trails that originate at the different stops.

One of the walks was to "Weeping Rock" as it was only 1 mile return trip, however the way in was all uphill. It certainly got our hearts pumping. Weeping Rock is actually a cliff face where the water runs out of different parts of the cliff and gravity does the rest. It is like being under a light rain. What actually occurs is that most of Zion is sandstone which is porous and gathers the rain water like a big sponge. The water then makes it way through the sandstone until it hits slate rock and runs along the slate until it breaks free and a small or large waterfall is formed. The water has been tested that comes out of the sandstone and is proven that it can take 1200 - 4000 years to make it through.

Our next stop was to do a little rock climbing, our first attempt and I thought we did pretty good. We were given a few instructions and then away we went. It was a lot more difficult than I thought but it was quite exilarating, knee knocking and breath taking. We had some people take some pictures of us when we were on the mountain.

Kathy about half way up.

Rod about two thirds of the way up.

Most of the peaks are named here at Zion and most of them have Biblical names as many were named by a visiting priest in the early 1940's. Two of the ones I took pictures of are " The Great White Throne" and " The Organ "

The peak in the middle is called " The Great White Throne "

The peak on the left is "The Organ" and you can see "The Great White Throne" to its right.

We also stopped at Zion Lodge and had some ice cream. A just reward for a energentic and taxing day. We continued home after that without any stops and went for dinner at the burger shack and then called it an early night.

This morning Kathy headed out for a hike up to Angels Landing which is a 5 mile return trip and most of it uphill. The last part is across the top of a limestone peak that is about 3 feet wide and 1200 feet down. No thanks. I stayed home and played poker.

She did well getting most of the way there but strong winds detered her from making it to the very top.

Our plans tomorrow are a couple of more hikes, not sure which ones at this time.

Here a few more of the pictures I took yesterday.

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.