Full Circle

Ironically, we spent the last night of our journey where it first began.  Kerrville, TX has a wonderful state park on the Guadalupe River, and that was the first campground we visited after buying our rig in Texas and heading home to Alaska in the summer of 2004. Zoe was barely three, and Zach was seven.

So on that last night, we swam, biked, and contemplated the many wonderful experiences of the past month. We debated the best moments and realized it's a very good thing that none of us could choose just one favorite. 

Thirty-three days...

Two countries...

Nine states...

Over 5700 miles...

Countless wonders...

Priceless.

Carlsbad Caverns

I include this photo not because it turned out well, but because it is the only one I have as proof we were there. Carlsbad Caverns was our last attraction, and we were glad we took the time to visit. It had been 14 years since Bobby or I had ventured into the cave, and we were once again amazed at the underground world that was once the bottom of the ocean. The kids enjoyed it, but we think they'll need to come back at least one more time when they're older to appreciate it fully. They were clearly distracted as the thought of birthdays, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents too near...

Aliens Among Us?

Look closely... can you tell who is the alien? We couldn't resist the
Roswell Alien museum-truly a close encounter!

Old Friends in Albuquerque

As our adventure to Texas nears completion, we were thrilled to visit
dear freinds in Albuquerque! My best friend from high school (mon amie
Fleur) and her husband Colin treated us to a delicious meal in their
beautiful home. Our thanks to their kids Ian and Arden for
entertaining our brood for the evening!

Durango Train Trip

One of Zach's most anticipated events of our trip was realized on
Monday when we rode the train from Durango to Silverton. This is one
of the only trips you can still take behind a genuine steam engine,
and the rail is so narrow in some places that you literally feel like
you're flying above the river at times. We climbed to an elevation of
over 9000 feet, so the climate changed rather abruptly from stifling
in Durango to cold and rainy in Silverton. It was a long day, but Zach
would have been willing to repeat it as many times as we would allow!
We also thoroughly enjoyed walking through Durango's historic district-
it's a charming town!

Lake Powell

The last two days brought an unexpected detour and another major highlight of the trip. We had planned to head straight for Durango from Bryce Canyon, but I couldn't resist a look at Lake Powell after reading about it in my National Parks book. We were driving by about 5:00 on Friday, and one look at the campground and lake had Zoe begging to stay. Miraculously, there was one spot left in the whole campground, so it seemed like we were meant to stay. At that point we only planned to stay that night and leave first thing on Saturday. However, it was one of the prettiest campgrounds we've ever seen, and we had access to the resort's wonderful pool, so we soon decided to stay on for Saturday as well. 

At that point the lake became irresistible! We decided a day in a speed boat was too tempting to resist. The kids had never been in one before, and they couldn't believe how much fun it was to blast along the lake with the sun and wind in their hair. I even managed to get up on water skis a couple of times--something I wasn't sure my 40 year-old bones could still accomplish! 

But beyond the thrill of the speed boat, this was the most unique experience we've ever had on a lake. We wound our way through desert canyons where the cliffs literally reached straight out of the water over a thousand feet above us. The water was the perfect temperature, so we were able to jump in as often as we wanted for relief from the 100 degree plus temperature. There were literally thousands of small coves to explore, so we felt isolated on the huge lake, stopping from time to time to allow the kids to explore the desert rocks. 

Unfortunately, I had forgotten to charge my camera, so we missed capturing one of the most beautiful spots of the trip. I guess that means we'll have to return one day....

Horse Ride in Red Canyon!

Zoe's biggest wish for the trip came true this morning as we took a horse ride through the Red Canyon near Bryce. Bobby and Zach opted out of this adventure, but Zoe and I had a great time winding through the Canyon. By the end of the hour and a half ride, we were both pretty sore and ready to get off, but we had a great time!

Bryce Canyon!

It's tough to choose favorite experiences on a trip this varied and amazing, but I think today will definitely make my top 5 list. Although I have read about Bryce Canyon and heard others tell me how magnificent it is, I was honestly unprepared for the wonder of this place. More intimate than the Grand Canyon, Bryce demands exploration, and the hike we took today was honestly the most incredible I've experienced in my life. We wondered what it must have been like for the early explorers of this region to walk through the woods and suddenly emerge on the rim of this canyon...

Zion and Cedar Breaks

We had not originally planned to visit Zion National Park, but after reading more about it and being a bit ahead of schedule, we decided to venture there before Bryce. We are soooooooo glad that we did! There is a beautiful little town right next to the park, and we lucked into another RV Resort with a nice pool. We visited Zion in the early evening and watched the sun set. The next day we headed to Bryce. Along the way we detoured to the Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is at an elevation of over 10,000 feet. The motorhome just continues to chug along no matter what we ask of it! It amazes us that we can be driving along in what looks like fairly ordinary landscape with pine trees and rolling hills and suddenly arrive at a breathtaking vista rivaling any scene we've ever witnessed!

Lake Meade & Hoover Dam

After we left Vegas, we drove to Lake Meade. We were surprised that it was still incredibly hot (around 107 the day we were there), and since the water was surprisingly cold, we decided to move on. We drove over the Hoover Dam twice after having to allow the motorhome to be searched. They have increased security quite a bit since 9/11, and they are now building an incredible new bridge which will divert traffic permanently.

A Couple More Vegas Memories

Now that I've had the chance to download all of my pictures, I couldn't resist adding these additional shots. The kids enjoyed meeting Elvis and Rod after the show!

Crazy Vegas Days

We chose wisely by staying in the RV resort rather than on the strip.
We were able to relax and swim in a peaceful atmosphere, which was
quite a contrast to the intense pace in the rest of the city! The kids
had a blast and stayed up past midnight on both days of our visit. We
saw two shows, walked through countless hotel lobbies, watched the
fountains at the Bellagio, and saw the Fremont light show downtown. We
celebrated Father's Day with a wonderful brunch buffet and ate way too
much! Our only fear is that we may have inadvertently made gambling
look too easy for the kids. We did almost no gambling the entire time,
but the Bobby put one dollar in a slot machine and turned it into five
with a single pull. Then, the last night I wanted 15 minutes of
roulette. I took $35 and turned it into $235 betting on lucky 14
(Zach's birthday)! I had learned my lesson from last time, so I left
as soon as I saw those $100 chips! So, at least I paid for the next
tank of gas before leaving town!

Stylin' in Vegas!

We decided that the best way to show the kids the lights of Vegas
would be in the open air, so we rented this convertible for a couple
of days. It was great fun tooling around even though it was too hot to
keep the top down for long during the day!

Another Death Valley Shot

I found this picture and had forgotten to include it when posting
about Death Valley. The temperature was 117 there yesterday, so I
guess we were actually there during a cold front...

Here Comes the Heat!

When we left San Francisco, we said goodbye to the perfect temperatures. We traveled first into a canyon and visited the Sequoia National Forest. We found a campground that was nearly deserted--perfect for riding bikes and watching the lizards and prairie dogs run around. Zoe is still trying to master the gears on her new bike, but she's getting better every day. As you'll see, Zach also found some interesting new drum sounds...

Yesterday we traveled and camped in Death Valley. We imagine this is what it would look like on Mars. It was 109 degrees, and the rules of the campground are that generators (and by extension air conditioners) are to be shut off at 7:00 pm. So, we had a hot night of dominoes in the rig (quite literally)! The generators are allowed back on at 7:00 am, and you might guess that I had the air churning again by about 7:05 this morning. Bobby said he'd never seen me so motivated to get moving quite so early! At least we weren't as crazy as those we spotted tent camping!

We arrived in Las Vegas around noon today. We're staying in a gorgeous RV resort near the strip--it has a fabulous pool, and Zoe is most anxious for me to stop typing so we can hit the water!

More soon! We miss you all!

Two Perfect Days in San Francisco!

Our good fortune continued with two of the most beautiful days we've experienced on the trip so far. The kids don't realize how rare it is to have cloud-free, 70 degree days in this city, but they soaked in the sunshine and had a blast. On Monday we road the cable cars all over and enjoyed strolling around Fisherman's Wharf. We also walked through Chinatown and saw the factory where they turn out thousands of fortune cookies each day (just two people working hard all day). Today we visited Alcatraz and then enjoyed the hands-on science museum called the Exploratorium. We have walked so much the last couple of days that we have two very exhausted kids, but sometimes that's a GOOD thing!

It's a good thing our translucent Alaskan skin has soaked in just a bit of sun since we will soon be headed to one of the hottest spots in the US--we should be in Death Valley by Thursday!

Thanks to all of you following us--it feels a bit like you're accompanying us on our journey.

San Francisco!!!!!

Today marked the highlight of the trip so far (at least for me). We arrived in San Francisco about 6:30 tonight. The sun was shining, and the Golden Gate Bridge couldn't have been more beautiful! I had never even walked across it, much less biked. We read that it's a wonderful bike ride, so we pulled over as soon as we had crossed and headed across. Truly a once in a lifetime experience! Zoe and Zach both have new bikes, but they did great with no problems at all despite the wind. When we reached the other side, we called my sister's house to see if they could see us on the bridge webcam, but we had the wrong angle. 

After we finished our ride, we had to navigate the motorhome through downtown San Francisco to reach our campground. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic on a Sunday night.

Mt. Shasta

We found the sun! It's absolutely perfect in this quaint little town
in northern California. We were able to explore the whole town in
under an hour-what you see here is the view from downtown.

Eugene Memories

Changing course gave us the chance to drive through Eugene, a city I
love despite some rather harrowing doctoral memories! Zach begged to
return to his favorite pizza place on the river which houses this
antique carousel from 1931. He loved it so much that this is also where
we went for my graduation night dinner!

Oregon Coast

Unfortunately, the rain found us as we drove down the Oregon coast.
Although the views were still spectacular, we decided to change course
in search of sunshine. When we reached Florence, we headed inland...

Proper Sticks at Last!

For Zach's concerned fans, no more spoons!

Reliving a Scary 15 Minutes!

This is a shot of Zoe in front of the Tanger Outlet toy store where we
lost her when she was three. While I was frantically searching the
store, she was casually searching for her dad in another store.
Thankfully, we shopped without incident this time!

Train Trip

Here's a picture from the surprise train trip through the Columbia
River Gorge area. We had the sun with us that day, and we visited the
Portland Rose festival carnival later that day. We heard some fabulous
music and discovered a band called Vagabond Opera.

Multnomah Falls

The end of our scenic drive yesterday brought my favorite part of the day. Multnomah Falls is the second tallest waterfall in the United States (behind Yosemite). We hiked up well above the halfway point, but the kids didn't quite want to do the whole mile up to the top. We ended the day much better than the previous night in a state campground near Columbia River.

Vista House

One of the stops we made yesterday was at Vista House, high above the Columbia River. The road was a bit dicey at times in the motorhome, but the views were well worth the effort!

Back in the US!

Although we had a fabulous time in Canada, we were happy to cross back
into the United States late Sunday afternoon.

On Monday we toured the Boeing plant in Everett, WA-truly amazing!
It's the world's biggest building by volume,and they said that all of
Disneyland would fit inside. We saw several planes being built-very
cool!

We also had the chance to meet Jason for lunch and meet his new puppy,
Cooper. 

That night we pressed on to Oregon but got hopelessly lost in search
of a campground. We finally spent the night in a grocery store parking
lot, but we were back on track Tuesday, traveling through the Columbia
River Gorge countryside. Spectacular drive-those pics to be posted
later as well! The river is quite high and near flood stage as you may
have seen on the news.

Speaking of news-yesterday was the first we'd heard in over a week
since we started our journey- it sort of felt like the world had
stopped turning for a bit!

Today we are surprising the kids with a scenic train trip- perhaps
that explains my 3:00 am wake up (which also explains this 5:50 am
posting)...

At least I used the time wisely and learned how to post much more
easily from my iPhone. Now I can post more often without having to
find a signal!

One more happy bit of news-our duplex sale was final yesterday! Woo
Hoo! Thanks to Dad for signing in our absence!

More soon!