The Years To Remember

 10/8/21 Our last full day was unplanned but our guide Raymond suggested The Valley of Fire since we were heading back to Las Vegas. What a great suggestion. The morning started off a bit rainy but was supposed to clear by noon. That seemed to fit perfectly into our plan, so we set off for Nevada. It did rain quite a bit but when we reached the park, just a few sprinkles and dark clouds remained. We started to drive through the park as we had no idea what the Valley had to offer. The moody sky made for a beautiful backdrop to the mountains. After about an half hour of driving and stopping for pictures, we decided on a short hike to the Red Wave and Seven Wonders Loop. Just gorgeous!                                        Just admiring the geology!                                                                  An unexpected slot canyon.     Purple and yellow rocks everywhere.     Another wave of color.          Admiring the view.          Photo credit: Susan Lennon It turned into more

 October 7, 2021 About an hour south of our AirBnB is the little bustling town of Kanab, Utah. Susan booked us a full day tour with Coral Cliffs Tours so we met our guide Raymond (excellent guide) at the BLM visitor center. No, not Black Lives Matter (though they certainly do) but the Bureau of Land Management. We got into his rugged jeep and set off for our first stop - PeekaBoo slot Canyon. (Note to the well endowed women - double up on those sport bras. Its a very bumpy ride and you'll be herding those girls the whole way if they aren't strapped down. I'm looking at you Lyne!) The Canyon was so pretty. Kanab is home to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary where we stopped to use the facilities. We got to pet a sweet old pup and talk to the very nice people there. We stopped at the cemetary for pets and a guy came over to discuss it. All the red flags went up at this organization, and while just a rescue now, had cult like roots in its past. We of course Googled the shit out of

 10/5/21 For reasons I cannot name, I could not get to sleep until nearly 4 am. I didn't want my traveling companions to wake me so I left them a note and the car keys explaining that I was sleeping, don't check on me and risk waking me. I ended up getting up by 9 anyway and just had a lazy morning. The weather wasn't great, but we decided to do a drive through Zion to get the lay of the land for our planned hike of the Narrows on Wednesday. I drove the 20 minutes to the park and we took the only road open to cars. We made so many stops to take pictures just from the edge of the road. None of us had hiking gear, so we just meandered our way to checkerboard mesa. I didn't get many photos as I was driving, but Susan and Lyne took some nice ones. As we were heading back towards the park entrance, down switchbacks and narrow ledges, I noticed my left eye getting twitchy. Then I started to lose vision in it. I rubbed it, blinked, but finally had to pull over and have someone

 October 4, 2021 Fortified with an egg sandwich and a really good coffee, we packed up the car and headed to Bryce for the Fairyland loop trail. This was easily one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever experienced. Susan and Lyne at the Great Wall: The 8.5 miles started out from the sunrise point area and soon we lost the crowds and were hiking pretty much by ourselves. I know not everyone is up for such a hike, but it seems such a shame to miss the sights from down in the canyon. After we passed the Great Wall, our next waypoint was the tower bridge. We wondered if it was a log bridge, or a stone passage or named after the Tower Bridge in London. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the latter.  We stopped for some snacks and water and to admire the sight. We were off on a short side trail, so backtracked to resume the Fairyland loop. We hiked, took photos, chatted and admired the landscape. It really was surreal and varied.                                   This tree reminded me o

10/1/21 - 10/3/21 A long planned trip began on the afternoon of the first day of October. Lyne, Susan, and I met up at Albany airport and uneventfully flew off to Las Vegas via Chicago with a Bloody Mary toast on the layover. We found our way to our hotel (Homewood Suites) right near the car rental place and got some sleep. I have no use for Vegas other than a convenient airport, so had no desire to see its sights.  Lyne and I set out in the morning to pick up the car - a very quick and simple process and we got a Mazda CX-5 with which I'm very familiar. And we set off for Bryce Canyon. At some point we stopped for food but were determined to hike on our first full day. We arrived past noon, but set off down the Queens Garden loop from Sunrise Point, then went up the Navaho loop to Sunset Point. It was stunningly beautiful! A view from near sunrise point Heading down to Queen's Garden Steller's Jay Susan & Lyne heading up the switchbacks Thor's Hammer We decided to