Almost home

well, our time on the road this trip is coming to an end.

Breakfast in St. George, Utah (I really like that place), lunch in Nevada (skipped through Las Vegas - that's for another time), and supper in Victorville, California. We considered pushing on home (briefly) and decided we've been there, done that. Downtown Victorville was a disappointment. There had been an attempt to revitalize at some point with trees and new curbs and paving. But the storefronts are now very empty. It's on the original Route 66 and ends at the Amtrak/Greyhound terminals but there is no parking and no residential areas around there. It's interesting that some areas have the resources (people with foresight and connections to people who can help get things done) and other areas present more challenges.

We went for our walk, relaxed in the hot tub, Don is now sitting outside (it's been hot - no more snow to enjoy) watching the wind whip around the trees (reminiscent of living in Palmdale) while I struggle with this teeny-tiny keyboard.

I'm hoping for a Mexican breakfast tomorrow (the hotel "free" breakfasts are pretty consistent) then leisurely ride home. It's been an enjoyable two weeks.

Cedar City to St. George

Wow – it took all day to get a half-inch on the map. Of course, we had to check out Zion-Kolob Canyon, the northern area of Zion (Don says he's never been) and then into Zion itself. Boy, was it crowded. No parking in the park. You can park outside (very commercialized area – shops, eateries everywhere) and wait for the shuttle to go in. We were very happy for our Senior Pass to the parks - $25 per vehicle to drive through. So we drove in, went through the tunnels (they stop traffic when a bus or RV goes through – down the middle) stopped a few times to admire the views, then turned around to go back and on to St. George. We assumed weekends would be crowded times but were later told it's always that way, except midwinter.

So, on to St. George and what a nice town. We shared a meal at Texas Roadhouse (we'd seen them other places but had never been) – it was good – finally got some vegetables (salads aren't veggies) and it was still plenty of food – we needed to walk it off (e.g., unlimited fresh-baked rolls with honey butter). We found the Historic District downtown and noticed all the printing businesses still going strong apparently. How the printing world has changed – all advertise graphics, some large format color printers, one even sells scrapbooking supplies. We had noticed one man working in the back of a shop near our parking spot. He was leaving when we came back so of course Don has a new best friend. Turns out he's the manager (not owner as we assumed), he was working on a major project for a picky customer and the machine was acting up, the business has three locations (i.e., not competition), they get a lot of business from Las Vegas, and his wife is an author who gives writing classes around the country so she wasn't home to complain about his going in on a Sunday. Also, he is 62 and would like to retire but doesn't have a big enough nest egg yet. The only thing we didn't find out was how many kids and grandkids he has.

Tony and his wife, our neighbors next door at the motel, have several, but that's another story.

Anyway, back to the really neat town of St. George. Their downtown is peppered with old brick buildings and great sculptures – young kids reading and playing outside the preserved historic school house, a kid in rain slicker and hat stomping in a puddle in the central park – the park was being used by Spanish-speaking families, reminding us of Sunday paseos throughout Mexico. Too bad we didn't bring the camera

Gunnison to Cedar City

Oh, oh – rain. Maybe I shouldn't have packed the rain shoes in the not-to-be-needed-again bag at the bottom and back of the Subaru.

It lets up a bit so we head out in the car for breakfast at the cafe downtown, a half block from our lodging. Don has noticed people park their cars a long ways from the curb (streets are very wide) and we learn why (the natives are so smart) – the rain water really gushes along the curb and the extra area allows one to avoid a tire dam/foot wash.

After a leisurely breakfast (had to wait for the biscuit to raise) we headed out and were able to avoid the major roads that bypass the smaller towns. Some of them remind us of Delft, MN with crumbling buildings and not much activity and others sport new homes and renovated Main Streets. They all have empty storefronts with For Lease or For Sale signs in the windows.

We took the “scenic” drive (Hwy 14) over the mountains to Cedar City – as if nothing else we've been seeing is scenic. Utah has been nothing but scenic the entire trip – snow-capped mountains, forests, lakes, a few plains for variety, red-rock cliffs, some lava fields, etc. – all spectacular.

It is Graduation in Cedar City (college town) so things are hopping. Cafes are closed (“catering an event”) and motels are full. We do find a place on the main drag and take our obligatory walking tour – up the downtown main street, back through residential. Huge houses on the outskirts, little houses in town.

Getting away

Well, we almost made it out of our studio before the maid started rapping on the door BEFORE 10:00 a.m. I was up before 7:00 and I debated how long to let Don sleep. I checked email/weather, quietly gathered my leftover stuff, quietly put their stuff back where it had been, etc. Finally, closer to 8:30 I panicked and opened the drapes and the curtains, admired the beautiful mountains with morning lighting and more rock/less snow, and noisily got the kitchen ready for Don to make breakfast (he always does such a wonderful job). Luckily he woke up by then. We did manage to finish off the Spam, baked beans, eggs, fresh pineapple, banana and juice.

Then the race to finish the coffee, load the dishwasher, gather the sheets/towels, pack remaining stuff, check all the cupboards, FIND A CART (not!)... and we were out at 9:55 a.m. Moving bags and more bags in stages to the elevator. Thank goodness we had loaded the car with the really big, heavy bags the day before. Eventually we did find a cart and found ourselves in our loaded Subaru heading down the mountain for the last time.

Maybe next time we should do Hawaii. Far fewer clothes needed (but then snorkel gear, maybe scuba stuff for Don, etc.)

Anyway, we're off the mountain. This is our UTAH trip, so we need to do Utah, which means AVOID the freeways.

We did. We made it all the way to Gunnison by 4:00 p.m. (according to mapquest, 114 miles, 1 hour 52 minutes). We do enjoy the small towns - walking the street of downtown, window shopping the closed stores, seeing how people live off the main drag. The variety of housing is remarkable - tiny little houses with yards decorated with children's toys, then HUGE McMansions - 3-story, 3-car garages, huge yards with large RV close by.

Heading home

Well, today is our last full day in our temporary home. There seems to be more mountain and less snow outside our window.

It took us all afternoon to try to be organized in our packing - 12 bags coming in seemed to be a bit much (and embarrassing). Of course a lot of that was groceries for the week (yeah, right). We got the major stuff back into the big bags (two sets of snowshoes, trekking poles, hiking boots, thermal underwear, vests, jackets and more big jackets, etc.) and regular clothes that we probably wouldn't wear again (jeans, more turtlenecks, etc) as we may head back through Las Vegas, weather.com suggesting it is currently 85F there.

We got the four biggest/heaviest bags onto the luggage cart when we realized the car keys were missing. So we checked every obvious place with no luck, then started to methodically pull things out of the carefully packed bags and found them in the pockets of Don's pants in the bottom of the last bag (of course). At least we didn't have to get to the car in the way-far-away parking garage to make the discovery. And that is why we ALWAYS start early.

Paul got me started on a blog last year and reminded me that I should keep it going. I'm getting better on this keyboard, so here it is if anyone is interested http://ruthdontravelers.blogspot.com/. It's these emails plus a few photos. I have more but it's still a drag trying to put them where I want them. Pagemaker is MUCH easier.

We'll be heading south by 10:00 am tomorrow. We have no idea how far we'll get. Will keep you posted.

Wednesday was another beautiful day in Snowbird. We hauled our snowshoe gear to the end of the road in Alta and hiked a bit, had our picnic lunch, watched some workers build a snow bank - found out they were getting ready to film some extreme sports snowboarding/jumping.

What beautiful mountains.

Then back for a soak in our private hot tub. I could get used to that.

Today, Thursday, is our last day on the mountain. We've enjoyed watching the weather and the skiers from our window. I'm still waking up with a headache, Don suffers with his sinuses, and we're ready for a real bed again (the leather sleeper sofa isn't all that comfortable to sit on or to sleep in) so today will be a last-minute snowshoe walk (if we can get moving), a last-time hot tub soak (allowing time for swimsuits to dry), doing a load of wash, trying to finish the food we don't want to carry back, and puttering at planned packing so it's hopefully not a last-minute throw-everything-into-the-car routine which is our usual modus operandi (especially since we have to be out by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow).

The photos are proof we did get outside.

Another beautiful day

It was another sunny beautiful day in Snowbird, UT. Hour-by-hour weather.com gave us until noon when the winds would pick up, so we decided it was time to check out our snowshoes and trekking poles we've had for a long time but have rarely used. By the time we finally got all our snow clothes on and figured out how to get ourselves strapped into our snowshoes and our trekking poles with snow guards to the right length and out the doors into the snow, it was noon and starting to get windy, as promised. We braved it anyway and had a delightful tour of the landscape we've been watching from our warm studio. We were plenty warm (at some point we have to wear or use EVERYTHING we so carefully packed and brought along, you know).

Not wanting to wear ourselves out at this elevation, we came back, had lunch and a nap, and headed out to Alta by the alternate route (by car), checked out the other buildings in this complex and grocery store (small jar of jam $6.09, small avocados at $2.99 each), came back, jumped in our personal, private hot tub to watch the snow grooming machine make its daily rounds, then back in for popcorn and a movie and noticed it was now raining outside - turning to snow - and it currently looks like a lightly misty fog out there. They were promising thunder showers at 9:00 pm - wrong again.