As usual, we hiked up Cobble Hill Mountain. Meals are even better when shared with loved ones. We made sure to visit family before our road trip. We enjoy spending time with our nieces. We spent 19 days re-visiting seven American states on a road trip that resulted in several blog entries. After returning to Canada, but before boarding the ferry back home, we were grateful and happy to have meals in Burnaby with June & Janet, in Langley with the Wiebes, and in New Westminster with Karyn. (Lisa also met Barb Holley for lunch in Burnaby.) April is always a good month for new blooms. I was happy to watch the Warriors eliminate the Nuggets in "gold blooded" fashion, even catching some games while we were away. We were away from home for 24 days and I had to order a new computer, so we didn't watch nearly as much in April. I only had time to read two books.
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Lisa and I walked through the town, along the boardwalk, and on the beach both the evening of the 24th, and again the morning of the 25th. The tiny town features several kitschy sites and gimmicky draws, from "Jake the Alligator Man" to the world's largest frying pan. From Long Beach we drove North through the state to Birch Bay. Afterwards, Burnt Ends in Lynden served as the location of a long overdue reunion with my high school friend, Andrew - we hadn't seen each other in person for 31 years!
After having driven fewer than 5000 kilometres in an entire year, this road trip alone wound up being 6588 kilometres in just 19 days! We stayed in fourteen different accommodations in six states.
Having failed to actually see the lake in 2014 when we visited in very foggy conditions, we were so happy to discover clear views. There was still 12 feet of snow so Rim Road and both alternate exits were closed. Tunnels had been constructed to allow access to the washrooms and main lodge. From Crater Lake, we continued to Bend, home to the last remaining Blockbuster video store and 22 breweries. We visited Silver Moon Brewing, Deschutes Brewery & Public House, Bend Brewing Company, and Bunk+Brew on our downtown walk. April 23rd, we drove 256 kilometres from Bend to Salem. Along the way, we enjoyed views of Oregon's snow capped peaks and Detroit Lake. On a beautiful sunny Saturday, we hiked the "Trail of Ten Falls" in Silver Falls State Park along with thousands of other people. This loop trail is fantastic, as it winds behind four of the ten waterfalls. Our Salem airbnb was perfectly located for a walk through Willamette University's campus, past the State Capitol, to Riverfront City Park. We ended up walking 18 kilometres in one day. On the 24th, we completed the Oregon portion of our trip with a visit to Cannon Beach and its famous "Haystack" rock formation.
We drove 460 kilometres to reach Las Vegas for our third time, then walked over 18 more while there! After $5 lunches at Ocean One at the Miracle Mile Shops, we checked out some of the art installations at The Cosmopolitan. Next, we once again admired glassblower Dale Chihuly's "Fiori di Como" on our way to the Bellagio's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" botanical gardens display. We admired some nicer pools and paid respect to Tupac on the way back to Ellis Island to relax poolside. After a nap and coffees, we headed back to The Strip and checked out the crowded LINQ Promenade. The Venetian remains a classic. We noticed many unique shopping options and walked The Strip. We checked out the Wynn's "Lake of Dreams" show and floral carousel. Las Vegas is definitely something else! The following morning, we made a slight deviation from our route to drive the loop through the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The drive from Vegas to Reno was the longest of this trip as we put 769 kilometres on the old odometer. We had time to walk Reno's downtown and riverfront before ordering take-out jambalaya and salmon 'n' chips for Lisa's online dinner meeting.
Before leaving Sedona, we headed to the Crescent Moon Picnic Site for its iconic views of Cathedral Rock. Our next stop was the thousand year old 110 room hilltop pueblo at the Tuzigoot National Monument.
We drove 173 kilometres today, making it to Prescott to hike nearly five miles around Watson Lake in 28 degree weather.
We spent three nights at the centrally located Casa Remuda in Sedona. This base allowed us a more relaxed pace and far less driving than during the rest of our road trip, as we drove only 50 km & 29 km on Saturday & Sunday, while adding 7km & 15.5 km of walking. We headed out early to Cathedral Rock, lucked out with parking on our second pass of the lot before it was closed for the day, and beat much of the crowd to the trail. Cathedral Rock is said to be one of the main Sedona vortexes and it affords spectacular views, so visitors will definitely be satisfied. The Cathedral Rock trail is a popular short, steep ascent from the Back O' Beyond trailhead to the saddle points or "gaps" in Cathedral Rock. According to TripAdvisor, Sedona's number one attraction is The Chapel of the Holy Cross. (Parking was a zoo!) Bell Rock is another relatively short climb to an energy vortex. Nestled beneath the shade of the sycamores on the banks of beautiful Oak Creek, Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village provided a relaxing contrast to the exposed red rock hikes and 26 degree weather. Fashioned after a traditional Mexican village, Tlaquepaque, meaning the "best of everything," has been a Sedona landmark since the 1970s. Named for the Coffee Pot Rock Formation, the most popular restaurant in Red Rock Country features 101 omelette selections. Originally owned by Hollywood actress Jane Russell, many Old Hollywood stars including Elvis Presley frequented the restaurant. The Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout sits atop the Airport Mesa Vortex and attracts crowds at sunset. Sedona has garnered a reputation as a spiritual Mecca and global metaphysical epicenter; Casa Remuda is a great place to learn about it. Sunday morning we made it to Soldiers Pass Trailhead bright and early to claim one of only 14 parking spots... only to discover that the lot has been closed, requiring hikers to use the shuttle parking. The shuttle was not running yet, so this added an extra mile to our hike. After quickly reaching the Devil's Kitchen (sinkhole), we continued to the Seven Sacred Pools. We took the fork to the cave; I thoroughly explored the area, even climbing up on top to what turned out to be the Brins Mesa Trail. As the trail continues, the views open up and one finds more solitude. Between hikes, I was "sippin' pretty" on the Casa Remuda deck, enjoying sour fruit beer and sweet chocolate ice cream in the 29° sunshine. Sunday afternoon we hiked the easy, one hour Fay Canyon Trail. When we made our reservations, we hadn't realized that our Sedona stay was the entire Easter weekend. Walter and Vivian included all guests and some former guests in their Sunday dinner. (7 of 12 of us shown below) That evening I enjoyed more beers while continuing to be entertained by fireside tales of alien abductions (complete with body cloning and the implanting of one's consciousness), the source of Sedona's cosmic power (a 250 foot crystal embedded by alien lasers millions of years ago), and its many colourful residents (including Walter Soaring Eagle himself, who created a 7 mile medicine wheel around Sedona). I heard about a "space soldier" celebrating his 50th and 90th birthdays on the same day after having spent 40 years on Mars, fathering an alien child, and killing his own clone. It was a great reminder that people with very different beliefs can not only be respectful of one another, they can become great friends. We found commonality in our faith in love, and I truly appreciated our hosts' generosity, warmth, and caring inclusion.
Happy Easter! Our first stop of the 102 km day was Walnut Canyon National Monument where the one mile round-trip Island Trail provides access to 25 cliff dwellings. The Sinagua, a pre-Columbian cultural group, lived throughout Walnut Canyon from about 1100 to 1250 AD. Stop #2 was Buffalo Park where we walked the Nate Avery Trail. Next, we wandered around Flagstaff's tiny downtown core. On the way to Sedona, we checked out a portion of the West Fork Trail. We arrived in Sedona earlier than anticipated, so we found parking and explored "Uptown" and ate at Chipotle. Close to our airbnb is the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park. After checking into the eclectic and curious Casa Remuda, our hosts welcomed us with a barbeque chicken dinner. Sedona's McDonald's doesn't feature "golden" arches!
The first time we visited Las Vegas in 1998 we flew over the Grand Canyon in a small plane and were not impressed by the plain brown muddy sight. We figured there must be better views, so we returned by RV in 2014. We considered skipping it this time around, but decided to venture INTO the canyon, exploring a couple of hiking trails. First, we walked the easy two miles (return) to enjoy spectacular views from Shoshone Point. Next up was the more formidable Bright Angel Trail that led us 4.5 miles down into the canyon. Mules and horses are still used to transport people and supplies up and down the steep trails. People were cursing the switchbacks, but imagine the alternative! I appreciated the flowers along the way. Our favourite spot was this point near the 3 Mile Resthouse. We hiked down to the Indian Garden where there is more greenery. The 4.5 miles back UP felt much different than the first half of the hike! When we were done hiking Bright Angel, we were dusty, tired, and sore. By the time we reached Flagstaff, we'd driven 267 km and hiked more than an additional 25 (much of those steep)!
It turned out that the owner of this particular Howard Johnson by Wyndham, had sold the motel in January, notified no one, and was still collecting money from new bookings! The building is under construction to convert it into housing for the homeless.
After wasting nearly an hour on the phone with Wyndham, we moved to a nearby Best Western and eventually received excellent customer service from the third-party booking site we'd used, Trip.com. We rose early, had breakfast at 6:30, and hit the road in minus six degrees. By the time we reached our first hike of the day, it had warmed to minus three. (Was this why we had the entire place to ourselves?) The Paria Rimrocks, better known as The Toadstools Horseshoe Bend, Arizona (Why was so much of it still in shadow?) We were feeling very good about our progress and being ahead of schedule so that we could arrive comfortably early for our pre-booked tour in Antelope Canyon, until I suddenly developed a sickening suspicion that proved to be true - I had made my first blunder of the trip. Knowing that there was a time difference between Kanab, where we stayed last night, and Antelope Canyon, where we'd be hiking, I moved our clocks and watches by an hour... in the wrong direction! Instead of having an extra half hour to spare, we suddenly had 2.5 hours to kill. We had set our alarms early for no reason. No wonder we were the first to arrive at "The Toadstools". At any rate, we made very good use of an hour at Walmart, picking up several items we'd hoped to acquire at some point on this trip. We ate a snack, topped up with gas, and made the best of it.
This section is named for the "X" shape visible when looking up from the opening of the canyon when the sun is high in the sky. The play of sunlight and shadow creating changing colours is a photographer's dream. Canyon X is actually divided into two sections, North and South. One shares characteristics of "Upper", while the other is similar to "Lower". We experienced the best of both worlds, at a lower cost - at least that's what I'd like to believe. Canyon X is also longer and taller than the more famous sections. I'm not sure if I preferred Antelope Canyon or Buckskin Canyon; I'm glad we got to see both! I highly recommend a visit to Antelope Canyon. We got another look at the "X" as we exited. We stopped briefly to see the "Elephant's Feet". We drove 284 kilometres (traveling to Tuba City) and walked 10 more. When we exited the slot canyon it was 13 degrees and sunny.
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