Cryptobiotic Soil

Newspaper Rock

Today was our last day in this area. Leslie mentioned today that you could probably spend 6 months here as there is so many neat things to do. We were at the south end of Canyonlands today and it is so different than the north end.

Cryptobiotic soil is neat stuff. It looks crusty and lumpy and black. It is soil that hold water and nutrients for the plants that surround it to keep them alive in the worse part of the heat. The more moisture the lumpier and blacker the soil gets. You can tell as the plants are larger and healthier in these spots.

Newspaper Rock is a neat spot. Les and I were thru here 8 yrs ago and bought some native jewellry from the Navajos and she and Yvonne helped them out again today. Tomorrow we are off to Camp Verde for 2 days and then to Casa Grande for 3 or 4. Till the next post Adios Amigos.

Mesa Arch

Green River

Canyonlands for sheer majesty, is one of my favourites. Arches has all the fancy stuff but for sise and vistas it's Canyonlands.

Scientists are not sure what caused this huge hole in the earth but they think it was a meteorite about 60 million yrs. ago. There is an arch called Mesa Arch and it is pretty neat looking. Green River runs thru Canyonlands and the Colorado runs thru Arches. Both rivers meet down south and they say it is a good part of the Colorado to raft. May have to try that when Yvonne is a mite older . We hiked quite a lot today so tomorrow we are going down to Canyonland South and Newspaper Rock. Jim

Today was the last tour of Arches National Park. We got to see a few Arches and get the JR. Ranger Badge. The big arch is Landscape Arch and is 306 feet long. A 76 ton slab fell off in 1991 and there are some big cracks so it could fall down anytime. It could be the last time we could see it up in the air.

Tomorrow we are off to Canyonlands for a couple of days so next blog will be in a couple of days. Jim

Today was the day for adventure. We took a raft trip down the Colorado River. IT WAS SPECTACULAR!!!! Yvonne was so excited. When Amy the raft master asked who wanted to sit in the front of the boat where one got wet and close to the action Yvonne was the volunteer for that. She could hardly wait to get to the next set of rapids. She would laugh or yell yahoo everytime we hit a big swell. I guess when she is old enough we have to go on the big rapid tour as she is too small for that one as yet. Maybe I will have a sky diving partner after all.

The scenery was beautiful and we stopped for lunch at the Red Rock Ranch and Resort. What a neat place. We had a wonderful lunch there and then continued on our trip. We met some neat people on the trip. A young couple from Germany, Sebastian and Julia. Leslie from around Yellowstone park area and her friend Sandy from Maiu. Rick from Florida. Our Raft Master was Amy from just about every where and might have Yvonne join her on the raft when she gets older. This trip was worth every cent we paid and more. We will do this again for sure. Jim

Yesterday we started off in Arches National Park. For sheer beauty and serenity this is the place. Leslie and I were here in 2000 and we returned with Yvonne who is doing the Jr Ranger program. I think this will be #7 and Canyonlands will be #8 later in the week. For things to do this has to be one of the best places we have been. You can take half day full day or a 2 day camp and raft trip. They have quad and jeep rentals to explore the area. They even have Hummer excusions. I wonder if Arnold Swarnegger is part owner. lol. We will be here for 5 days and we have alot of ground to cover. The top picture is the Delicate Arch which is the most spectacular of all the over 2000 arches here. The second picture is of Balanced rock. In the opening of Indiana Jones you will see Arches as the backdrop. The 3rd photo is the rock formation called the 3 gossips, and the last is the Delicate arch and the formations on that ridge.

We will complete the tour of Arches on Tuesday as we are off on a Colorado river raft trip tomorrow. Wednesday and Thursday we tour Canyonlands and then Friday we head further south into Arizona. Jim

I-70 East through mid-Utah is one of the most gorgeous routes you can take. Today, we drove from Brigham City to Moab, Utah. We went from high desert and Rocky Mountain foothills to this geological paradise of eroded sedimentary red rock. Take a look at the bottom picture. I quite accidentally got the "super switchback" sign in the picture. Compared to BC mountain roads, this wasn't a tight switchback, but it gives you a picture of what the drive was like today. It was one of those OMG days - at every turn it becomes more magestic. Jim and I toured through this area in 2000 with our wonderful pop-top Dodge mini-van. We loved it then and have both been looking forward to revisiting it and introducing Yvonne to its beauty. We had a very long day today. We started at 9:30 AM and didn't get settled into our RV park until sunset. The view here is gorgeous. From our site, we are looking across to red rock mountains. We are right in the middle of both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We know from our previous visit that Arches National Park has the highest concentration of natural arches in the world. Canyonlands is an explorer's paradise. It is truly a 4 x 4 park. Without a 4 x 4, you can drive the main roads and take a look at the views - which are magnificent, BUT, if you have a 4 x 4, you can explore for days and days in this park. Many people dream of visiting the Grand Canyon, but if we had our pick, this spot is even more breathtaking.

Stay tuned for more documents of our explorations here......

Study, Study, Study, was the theme of this week. We hid out at Golden Spike RV Park in Brigham City. Jim was busy doing stained glass with the owner all week and Yvonne and I got through a few days of curriculum. We are down to 4 more days of work to finish Term 1 which is due Dec 3rd. I have a feeling we will make the deadline!! :-)

I am increasingly appreciating the fact that any child lives past the age of 5. I'm not sure that mothers and children should spend this much time together, but then again, tomorrow I may be reminiscing about how wonderful it is to spend so much time together. Ahh, such a delicate balance our lives are.

And we're off on our 2008 / 2009 Adventure! Highway Through The Blue Mountains in Oregon
Frisbee Puppy - Princess's first time playing frisbee!! It's bigger than her!
Conestoga Wagon used by emigrants along Oregon Trail
Recommended payload for family of 4 to emigrate from East Coast to Oregon
Very Picturesque, Three Island Crossing at Glenn's Ferry, Idaho.

Well, now that we are doing something interesting other than work, school, eat, sleep and you know....... We are back at updating our blog. We are now on our 4th winter travelling in "Tug" - as Yvonne has named our trailer. I guess we were just meant to do this. We go through so much work to get here each year and the last few weeks are such a blur before we go, that it is often surreal that we are about to go on the road again. But, here we are. We started off with a short trip to Bridal Falls. There, we got to have one last family gathering with the Gilette family hosting a lovely, delicious Thanksgiving dinner with us and Poppa and Grandma Mavis. It hit me then that it may be our last sight of family in some time. We thank all of you for the wonderful memories of family and friends that carry us through our travelling months.

We then spent 3 days in Osoyoos. We found a gorgeous RV park on the Nk'Mip Resort property. It is a Native run resort, RV park and winery. They have a beatiful rec centre with indoor pool. They managed to design it so that on the winter days, the sun comes through the windows right onto the pool lounge chairs. Very lovely. Jim and Yvonne spent a good chunk of each afternoon there, while I was working at the APEX Self Storage location there. Osoyoos is in general a beautiful town. The green of the orchards contrast with the desert hills and blue of the lake. I can see why many people buy retirement and summer homes there.

On Friday, we pulled out and crossed the border just minutes out of Osoyoos. The border crossing went smoothly with just a few leftover citrus fruits being removed from our rig. We then proceeded through very pretty country in central Washington. The orchards and wineries of our Okanagan continue for miles and miles on the USA side. We also got to see the Grand Coulee Dam. It is the largest power producer in the world. A very interesting sight to see. We made it to Pasco, Washington that first day and basically ate dinner and went to bed.

Yesterday, we drove across the Columbia River and crossed into Oregon. We drove through the Blue Mountains and into Idaho. We made it all the way to Glenn's Ferry, Idaho which has been a special spot for Jim and I since we discovered it in 2000. It is a spot on the north side of the Snake River where the emigrants from the east coast to Oregon followed the Oregon Trail. This spot is where the Native Indians helped the settlers to cross the river and save time on their trip. It is very picturesque. We are staying here today to catch up on some rest and work.

Stay tuned for more adventure.....