Category: Uncategorized

I got called on having no toiletries on my list. So here’s the deal.

I finger comb my hair. If I comb it for real it lays too flat and looks too thin. There is a comb in the hair clipper kit we both use so I can comb my hair if I really need to. And Dave has one I can use if he’s not looking.

We share nail clippers although I do keep one fingernail clipper on my key chain to clean up the messes I make by biting my nails. Still, Dave uses that one, too, so I don’t have to count it, right?

I did put my hair dryer and electric shaver on the list. I no longer use razors and shaving cream.

I do have my own hand lotion because I’m allergic to all other brands of it and Dave prefers his own to sharing mine. So, it’s really him that has his own lotion, right?

Dave and I share soap, shampoo, and toothpaste.

I do have my own toothbrush, though.

So add toothbrush to my list.

TTYL,

Linda

Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for any length of time know I like my history simple and amusing. When entering a national park they offer you a map and a newspaper. I usually read both of those, watch any films they offer, then search out children’s books in the gift shop. Then we take any scenic drives on offer but I send Dave out with the camera at most of the stops. If the park has a lodge with a restaurant we often eat there. Then I’m done with that park except for looking at the pictures Dave took and, maybe, writing a blog about the park.

After awhile the parks all start to seem alike to me. At least the ones in Utah do. After all how many ways are there to see the Colorado Plateau?

Bryce Canyon found a new way. I don’t know who writes their descriptions but check out this one from their website, http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm. “What is Bryce Canyon? Words confound when no comparable exist. A cave without a ceiling? A forest of stone? Even ‘canyon’ is misleading since Bryce is carved by freeze-thaw cycles, not a river. Yet, ‘world’s largest pothole’ is neither adequate nor flattering.”

And this one from page 4 of their newspaper, “Approximately (~) 200 million years ago (Ma), Earth’s crust was crinkling throughout Nevada, into southern Canada. A strong, dense Pacific seafloor had smashed into North America’s weaker continental crust. Much was at stake as the loser would be forced down and melted in Earth’s mantle. Although North America remained on top, it was shattered in the contest.” You can read the entire article at http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/upload/2010_Summer_Hoodoo-web.pdf.

That’s my kind of history.

Oh, yeah, here’s some pictures for those of you who feel deprived if I don’t include some.

No, we didn’t walk that trail. This is the park where my blister broke while still in the visitor center. Not that we would have walked that trail, anyway. High desert means no oxygen in the air, you know. Besides it was HOT! See, I have lots of excuses for not getting more exercise. Valid excuses. Right?

TTYL,

Linda

On the bottom of my right heel.

I didn’t feel the blister forming.

I didn’t feel it until it broke.

Then I felt it!

Walking became painful.

Now what?

Anyone for tiptoeing through the tulips?

Maybe we’ll go find a place we can hang out for a few days to give it a chance to heal.

Then I might catch up on the blogs of all the National Parks we’ve been visiting, hmmm?

TTYL,

Linda

I grew up in Illinois and Minnesota. We didn’t have mountain roads. My Mom moved to Denver and kept trying to get us to move, too.  I told her, “No. We would be divorced if we moved there because Dave loves to drive mountain roads and they terrify me so I’d never see him.”

Now we live in a motorhome driving all around the country. I can look at most maps and tell what roads I want to stay away from. Switchbacks are danger signs to me. Interstate roads through mountains are fine because they have wide lanes and shoulders. It’s those narrow lanes, winding back and forth, with steep grades, and drop off shoulders that get to me.

But some places you can only get to by driving mountain roads. The north rim of the Grand Canyon is one of them and Dave really wanted to go to the north rim. Here’s another song for you, “The things we do for love.”

The road to the north rim, US 89A in northern Arizona past Jacob’s Lake and Fredonia, Arizona, is a mountain road. I made Dave drive less than 25 miles an hour and I was still terrified. I HATE mountain roads! To borrow a really good word from Nick Russell (http://gypsyjournal.net/blog/): snivel, snivel. I wanted to curl up in bed and whimper until I went to sleep but I was too afraid to do that, either. In case you missed it–I HATE mountain roads!

Take me HOME!

TTYL,

Linda

What’s there to say? Big Canyon. Big Dam. Big Lake. Repeat.

TTYL,

Linda