Day Fourteen: Home At Last!!

Well, our original plan was to drive from Amarillo, TX to Memphis, TN and spend the night.  We did not stick to the original plan.  At 11:30 pm when we reached the first Memphis sign, Kevin decided to punch Augusta, GA into the GPS...arrival time was 8:26 am.  Huh!  He said, "What do you think?"  I said, "How tired are you?"  We decided that the 'barn' was looking pretty good and it was only 8 hours (after the time change) away.  So, we pulled into the next Love's truckstop and got a fountain Mt. Dew 'big gulp' and got right back on the interstate.

I did my best to sing and entertain Kevin, but had to take a couple of catnaps along the way.  When we hit Atlanta the sun was up so we stopped for a quick stretch and a bite to eat.  The long drive had finally caught up with Kevin so I had to take the wheel.  We reached the Belair Road exit at 9:00 am...woo-hoo!  I pulled into my carwash place because we had collected quite an assortment of bugs along the way (several people had stopped to admire them at various places) along with a lot of other dirt and grime...I know how much better a clean car drives and did not want Sondra to have to drive a dirty car back to Atlanta;) 

As we pulled out of the carwash, I realized that we didn't have a way to get in the house!  I gave Mom a wake-up call to tell her we would be swinging by for quick hugs and a key...she was a bit surprised to hear that we were home, but overjoyed (she could finally stop worrying about me).  So, a big 'THANK YOU' to Kevin for taking such good care of me and getting me home safely:)

At 12:30 pm, we had a big reunion at the Johnson home to welcome their newest addition.  It was so good to see everyone:  Rich, Sondra, Jake, Miss Connie, Ray, Kelly, Mattox, and Audrey...our circle of friends was once again complete!

At 4:00 pm Kevin, Baxter and I settled in for a long afternoon nap...         

Day Thirteen: Beginning to Worry

Where are you guys?

Day Twelve: Ktwins' Big Adventure

Day Eleven: Arches National Park

We arrived in Moab, UT with two missions:  enjoy a world-famous Moab Diner milkshake and visit Arches National Park. 

So, on Monday evening we had our first milkshakes (yes, first).  Kevin had strawberry-banana and I had chocolate.  A big ‘THANK YOU’ goes out to Mr. Lockhart for sharing this travel tidbit…these milkshakes were so thick and yummy that we had to go back the next day (we did try a meal first this time)!  Kevin had Chocolate Caramel Cashew and I had Chocolate Banana…yumJ  I guess we were making up for the missed ice cream earlier in the trip. 

We spent the night at the Red Rock Lodge.  Kevin was a bit nervous as we pulled in…the outside appearance didn’t exactly scream ‘Come on in and rest peacefully on a clean, comfy bed!’  We couldn't help but think that our hotel luck had just run out. (Moab was a happening place and all the reputable chains were booked.)  However, Kevin emerged from the office with a grin and a ‘thank you’ for me…evidently the manager is a Georgia fan and gave us an extra 10% off the room because I was an alumni!  (I secretly thought it might be for the room conditions.)  As we carefully and cautiously opened the room door, we were both pleasantly surprised with what was on the other sideJ   

We arrived at Arches National Park coated in sunscreen, wearing hats, armed with sunglasses, and carrying a gallon of water.  (Unfortunately, there was only one ticket left for the Fiery Furnace hike—Kevin was unsure about booking on-line.)  Anyway, we set out to see Balanced Rock before meeting the ranger for The Windows hike.  As we made our way past the Visitor Center, I couldn’t but think that some of these massive rocks looked just like Mississippi Mud fudge while others looked liked the products of a beginning pottery studentJ

Balanced Rock is pretty impressive.  As we followed the path back to the car I heard a rattling sound and stopped. Then Kevin stopped and looked, too.  We never saw the [rattlesnake], but it was a very distinct sound!

Our guide was a young Chicago girl just out of college trying to decide what to do in life.  She was personable, welcomed questions, and seemed to be very knowledgeable about the park.  Kevin was most impressed with the tapping technique to locate hollow spots in the rocks.  As we walked, she and I heard the ‘rattling’ sound—she confirmed that it was the sound of a rattlesnake.  We did not see it, but she saw them for the first time in that area.

Days Nine & Ten: Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

Do we go to Zion or do we not go to Zion…that is the question.   Well, we decided to go to Zion. 

Kevin set the alarm for the first time on our trip…6:45 am!  We needed to get an early start because our plan was to see Zion National Park then, drive an hour and take in Bryce National Park.  Our early start paid off because we got a prime parking spot, again (It wasn’t until three o’clock that Kevin discovered it was a 1 hour only spot…oops, but no ticket!). 

Thanks again to our personal travel agent, we knew to get on a shuttle right away.  We hopped on and off at various points and enjoyed several short hikes together.  The day was beginning to warm up as we finished the short, but steep climb up to Weeping Rock.  Kevin wanted to check out the adjacent trail called Hidden Canyon.  As I glanced over at the sign, all I could see was the sun beating down on the trailhead.  I told him to go ahead and I would just wait on the shaded bench next to the stream.   Little did I know that I would become Forrest Gump…almost two hours later Kevin emerged drenched in sweat!  Let’s see I visited with twin girls who joined me for their cereal snack, an Asian family who joined me for their picnic lunch, an extended family with seven children and a lively grandpa, a nice couple who shared that it had taken them 2 ½ hours to complete the hike (this is when I realized I was stuck), and a pleasant lady whose husband was on the same trail as Kevin.   After getting the details of Kevin’s hike—narrow ledges with chains, I decided that I had made a good choice after allJ

At three o’clock, a little later than planned, we headed for Bryce National Park. 

WOW…hundreds of hoo-doos!!  They looked like old castle or fortress ruins.  Kevin thought they were the coolest things he had ever seen.  We started at Sunrise Point and drove all the way to Rainbow Point, a 9115 ft. elevation.  Due to the lateness of the day, we decided to hike down into the hoo-doos the next day.

Days Seven & Eight: Grand Canyon National Park

We got to the Grand Canyon National Park at 11:00 am and were ready to hit the ‘hole’ running.  Could we do it all in one day was the big question?  We sure wanted to try!  We knew we would have to prioritize… so, we followed our travel agents’ instructions and found the Visitor Center firstJ

We were beginning to wonder about this so-called amazing natural wonder because we had yet to see anything registering on the wow-scale.  As Kevin wound around the park roads, I was reading up on the daily events in the park newspaper.  Then, very casually, Kevin said, “Honey, look.”  When I looked up from the paper…OMG(oodness)!   I have to say that the Grand Canyon definitely lives up to its reputation.


The pictures just don't capture the WOW:(

We continued on, stopping at the first two overlooks on Desert View before deciding that we needed to backtrack and hit the other side of the South Rim since we would be heading out this way tomorrow.

Someone was 'hamming it up' for the camera!

We got to the Yavapai Observation Station just in time to hear one of the ranger talks.  The young ranger summed up the ‘what, where, why, when and how’ of the Grand Canyon in just 20 minutes.  Afterwards, we headed for the shuttle station.   We didn’t think we were going to make the first one because there was only one seat (no standing allowed), but the driver said that she’d let us ride if I didn’t mind sitting on the tall guy’s lapJ   So, our Grand Canyon adventures were underway.  We spent the whole day hopping on and off the shuttle.  Each point offered a little something different:  a Stellar Jay, squirrels, chipmunks, bugs (as bad as the mosquitos in Alaska), plants, flowers, the Colorado River, and a man in wooden Dutch clogs (and I thought the girls hiking in flip-flops were being brave).  Each point gave a spectacular view of the canyon!



Sunset was scheduled for 7:45 pm and we definitely wanted to experience that at the Grand Canyon.   After making all the shuttle stops we went back to the Bright Angel trailhead.  We observed the people below before deciding to venture down ourselves.  We were barely past the second switchback and…whew—we had to tip-toe through the poop plops!!  (You would think with all that space they would have a separate trail for the mules!)  We did stop to view some remnants of Native American pictographs--believed to be painted by the Anasazi over 800 years ago.

Then, we continued on and passed through an archway. 

As we glanced upward, we recalled those words of wisdom:  For every step you take into the canyon, it is three to come back up.  So, considering it was dry and hot and our backpack packed with water was in the car…we headed back up.  Technically, we did hike down into the Grand CanyonJ

Even though Hopi Point was supposed to be ‘the point’ for sunset viewing, we decided to go back to Powell Point.  It was about an hour before sunset and beginning to cool off.  We made a quick dash to the car and grabbed our jackets (and water/snacks that were still in the backpack) and hopped back on the shuttle.  We were very fortunate, in that, not many people had chosen this point.  There was, however, a gentleman who proceeded to share his entire wealth of knowledge regarding the Grand Canyon in a tone audible for everyoneJ  Several people hung-out until just before sunset and then made a mad dash over to Hopi Point.  Kevin and I, along with two other couples, stayed and enjoyed a peaceful sunset.

The next day we set out for Glen Canyon Dam and a view of Lake Powell.  Our route included the 25 mile Desert View in the Grand Canyon Park…three hours later we pulled

out from the Watch Tower!



Looking up inside the Watch Tower.

 We thought we were finally on our way until Kevin spotted more wildlife…another brief delayJ

Hey Rich, I shot more than you this year!

Unfortunately, we were too late to tour Glen Canyon Dam.  We did, however, look around the Visitor Center and take some pictures.

As we stamped our Park Passport and selected our magnet, the lady at the counter asked where we were headed.  She was very curious about which route we had selected and walked us over to the map.  (She had uprooted from Michigan and made Arizona her permanent home.)  She was eager to share the many possibilites along with her many adventures over the past eight years...after 45 minutes she had convinced Kevin to alter our planned route home.      

Days Four & Five: San Francisco, CA

Our drive from Ukiah to San Francisco was a short one, but with lots to see.  Vineyard after vineyard after vineyard...we've never seen so many grapes!  Unfortunately, we're not much into wine so we were not tempted to stop.  We also saw lots of California dairy cows, but they didn't have much to say like the ones in the commercials:)  I did notice one billboard and told Kevin, 'I bet that's how Jake feels...'  It said,
                           I'm udderly devoted to moo!
Our first San Fran stop was Muir Woods National Park.  Boy, were we lucky...Kevin was able to get an end spot in the main parking lot!!  We weren't overflowing with excitement since we had just driven through a ton of redwoods along the Redwood Highway, but WOW!  This park is amazing.  You could easily spend a whole day wandering around taking in all of nature's little nooks and crannies.  There was so much to see:  trees, plants, flowers, rocks, streams, butterflies, and the Banana Slug (ugh).  Then, there was this group of European gentlemen we kept running into...are leather pants appropriate attire for a national park?  Unfortunately, we had to watch our time so that we could see the other sights on our list.  Maybe we can visit again someday:)

Look closely...I'm inside the tree trunk!

All of a sudden as we were driving along Kevin said, 'Grab the camera!  Hurry, hurry!'  So these are the pics I got...



This is the Golden Gate Bridge--we're driving across it!

This must be one of our luckiest days because guess what...we got another end spot in a really close parking lot to the bridge:)  I had forgotten that it was orange.  I remembered watching part of a documentary and the color of the bridge was a big to-do.  So, International Orange is the official color and is supposed to help the bridge blend with its surroundings...we're still a little puzzled since the water appeared to be blue???  The Golden Gate Bridge is a cool bridge.  When I asked if we were going to walk across it, Kevin's response was 'Do you know how long that would take?  It's a lot longer than it looks!'  So, we did not walk across it or even step foot on it:(  It really is a long bridge and it was a really windy day.

Next stop was Pier 39 for lunch.  Nothing grand...fish and chips at Chowder's.  Kevin and I agree that it is hard to beat the Barramundi we lived on in Australia:)

After lunch we headed to Pier 33 to board the ferry to Alcatraz Island.  We were both eager to see it firsthand.  We had a nice view of the San Francisco Bay as we made our way across the 'treacherous' waters.

Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Wardrobe

Alcatraz Showers



Alcatraz's 'Broadway Street'



Furnished Cell



Alcatraz Kitchen

Last Breakfast Served

Alcatraz Serving Line

Alcatraz Library

Alcatraz Visitors' Room

Prisoners' Visitation Station

Newest Prisoner?

Alcatraz Cellhouse