Phainopepla

Phainopepla
Phainopepla

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Catching Up

Yes, I have been neglecting this poor blog.  So, here in a couple of blog nutshells are the last four months!

Road Trip!  I love tripping around the country by car, stopping wherever feels good, revisiting favorite places and discovering new ones, taking in the sights, sounds, people, and wonderful food.  Generally, we take our travel trailer on the road, but this time we opted for the car as we wanted to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short time.  

First stop - the Grand Canyon.


It was lovely to stay at the Maswik Lodge on the South Rim in September.  The crowds have thinned somewhat, and the lodge is just a short walk to the rim.  Though the lodge is like a Motel 6 at Ritz prices, there's no denying that the LOCATION is what matters.  I got great views of the California Condors along the Rim Trail toward Yavapai Point.  We took the shuttle out to Hermit's Rest at the west end of the Park, and walked the Rim Trail back to the Village.  Unfortunately a lightning storm moved in and cut the hike short at Maricopa Point when the rangers closed the trail.  At the Bright Angel trailhead, I was impressed to see the recent renovation project by the Grand Canyon Association.  I'm happy to belong to this organization.




Any stay at the Canyon is always too short, but it was time to move on.  After a leisurely drive along the East Rim, stopping to enjoy the sun rising on the Canyon with our coffee, we drove north to the Highway 89A cutoff, the Navajo Bridge across the Colorado River, the magnificent Vermilion Cliffs and then lunch in the campground at Jacob's Lake.




The next day we pushed on to Boise, Idaho, where we spent a relaxing and enjoyable 3 days with Jay's brother and his family, eating fresh vegetables and fruit from their amazing garden, and cheering on the Boise State Broncos at a football game.


I'll post this half of the trip now, so it doesn't get unbearably long, and so I don't keep putting it off!  Thanks to my friends and followers for hanging with me!  Next, it's off to the coast.

8 comments:

  1. This looks like a great time!!! And congrats on the Condor!!! What an exciting find!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Chris. They're pretty common at the South Rim, but they never fail to thrill!

      Delete
  2. THERE you are!! Wow, I'd love the opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon (off season), and your beautiful photos only make me wish harder!! Great shot of the Condor. Where else did you wander off to??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karen, thanks for lighting a fire under me to get going again on the blog. We drove across Idaho and Oregon to the coast. Then down the coast all the way to San Diego. More on that, hopefully, this week.

      Delete
  3. Fall is a wonderful time to visit the canyon, especially the south rim for less people. So glad you got to see Condors. Next time come up the North Rim and say Hi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gaelyn, I do love the North Rim, so maybe we'll get there again next year. And I'll definitely stop to say Hi.

      Delete
  4. Good to hear from you. You have been frequently in my thoughts. Beautiful pictures of a wonderful road trip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Marilyn, sorry to be so delinquent with this blog. I must catch up on yours too and see what interesting adventures you're been having.

      Delete

I welcome your comments, but those from Anonymous users, or those including links will be immediately reported as Spam to Blogger and will be deleted. Thanks for your understanding.