Just Do It

We spent this morning packing all our junk into the bags we brought over with us.  We have way too much stuff!!  A quick check of the rules of our airline tickets and it seems we are allowed 2 bags each and a maximum of 32kgs - I think we will be making another stop at a luggage store to buy another couple of bags!

After all our hard work we decided we needed a refresher at the pool and spent the most relaxing 4 hours blobbing around on loungers in between dips to cool off.  I could really get used to this lifestyle and I can understand why Palm Springs is such a popular retreat for the rich and famous. 

I went to the office this morning to book in for another night here and discovered that we have another day before we hand back the RV on the 28th, for some reason we thought the 28th was a Thursday not Friday - oh well, I guess we will just have to stick around in this sunshine for one more day.  I am finally starting to get a bit of a suntan, about time after being here an entire summer!

I looked at my blog this morning and was really peeved to find that the owners of this site have upgraded everything and made my writing really hard to read.  Believe me I didn't put question marks in on purpose and I sure didn't put the little boxes in either.  Hopefully they will come up with a fix for this soon and it will be legible again.

The boys and I spent a couple of hours at the pool this morning and are just about to head back there now.  Unfortunately there is no bar here so I might just have to sneak in my own beer!

Off we go on what is nearly the end.  A measly 84 miles is all we drive today and find a stunning RV park with 8 swimming pools and delightful view over the golf course with a lake in the middle.  Very relaxing.  First stop is the largest of the pools which is kept at a temperature that even I enjoyed.  After returning from the supermarket we spent some time giving the RV a wash inside and out.  The boys had huge fun washing the outside and there wasn't a dry body to be found at the end of it. 

The next day we head back to Cabazon where we started our tour for a final bit of shopping.  We must be getting a bit more discerning as we hardly bought anything - mind you they did have lots of winter stuff and very little of summer clothing.  I can't seem to get my head around winter when we are heading back to summer. 

We leave Vegas this morning with very mixed feelings. The boys have fallen in love with this place, probably something to do with the lights everywhere and being able to spend all day in a pool.  Hey, there again maybe Mum and Dad being happy and relaxed has something to do with it too.

Off to Big Bear and we curve up some very steep mountains to get here.  The change in temperature is very noticeable and I am glad I am wearing my jeans and boots.  I am amazed at our much I can remember of this place and where we ate last time.  We took a drive up to Bernie's old cabin which was very definitely missing the care and attention that he gave to the place.  A real memory lane stay this was and yet another chapter to the book.  We won't stay here very long as it is too cold with temperatures nearly down to freezing overnight.  I checked out the temperatures on line and I think Palm Springs is the place to be.  All down the coast appears to be foggy for the next week.

Our first stop after breakfast was the pool where we ended up spending all day.  It was a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky and warm enough to lie in the sun all day without getting burnt.  The boys spent a total of 5.5hours in the water and most of it running up and down the water slide.  We discovered the pool bar and took a liking to the pina coladas which were served in litre sized footballs.  We did have to keep a close eye on these and make sure the boys didn't pinch too much when they came up for little samples.

Andy's bug seems to have cleared up with the antibugs he has been taking thank goodness, although it has attacked Alistair and tonight during dinner it got me too.  Delightful. 

I went to bed early and then woke up in the small hours unable to sleep.  I figured I would head on downstairs and see what was happening there.  Still plenty going on including a really cool machine they were using to clean the escalators, and men in black overalls emptying the machines of their coins.  I figured I better have a go and splurged $1.00 on the 1cent pokie machine.  I reckon I did alright and came out with $10.17.  The boys were very impressed this morning when I showed them my winning ticket.

Today we did more of the what we did yesterday just blobbing round the pool enjoying pina coladas.  Rest and relaxation is wonderful, although after the last 2 days of doing exactly nothing I am feeling completely shattered.  We are leaving here tomorrow and will head to Big Bear Lake for another couple of days, hopefully in sunshine there too.

A late start this morning as we wait for Andy to visit the local doctor.  It is now 5days since he got his bug so we figure he better get it checked out.  She put him on antibugs and recommended the Circus Circus hotel in Vegas.  We arrive in Vegas about 3 and immediately gain an hour as we cross back to Pacific Time.  We seem to take forever to drive up the Strip with all the traffic lights and traffic around.  Not to worry though as there is plenty to look at.  The boys can’t believe their eyes and are pointing things out all over the place.  They have been watching the movie Oceans 11 lately and the Bellagio features in that so that was high on the “look for” list.  We eventually stopped and checked into the Excalibur Hotel where the theme is King Arthur and the knights of the round table – real boy stuff. 

Walking into the casino to check in has the boys not believing their eyes with all these people sitting at slot machines just pushing buttons and most of them are smoking while they are sitting there with a drink in the other hand.  We had quite a big discussion about gambling and who really wins.

Tonight we decided to go to the Tournament of the Kings dinner show in the hotel.  This was yet another eye-opener for the boys where we were served a dinner of soup, broccoli, huge fries, a scone and a whole chicken.  Much to the boys delight there were no utensils and as in the old days you had to eat with your fingers.  They didn’t need much encouragement to rip off the drumstick and start eating.  The show itself was spectacular with horses, kings, sword fights, jousting duels and hand to hand combat with axes and ball and chains.  The force with which they used these weapons was rather horrifying and I am sure we will see some new sword moves from Tommy in the near future.

We wake up this morning to a very wet camp, it poured down last night, probably very fortunately that it did, otherwise I think we would have frozen up here.  A short drive brings us to Sunset Point in Bryce Canyon.  This place is unreal – we thought there were heaps of circys yesterday, but man, here there are hundreds of them with variations in colour from red to orange to a sandy colour.  There is a hiking trail where you can walk to the bottom of the canyon, it is very steep and just starting to rain when we start off on this.  Andy and I get to about halfway when it starts to pour and we take shelter in a small overhang.  The boys aren’t so worried and are already at the bottom, they eventually make it back to the top very drenched and very orange from the mud!  We clean up and then head round to Bryce Point and the vista overlooking the whole ampitheatre – what an amazing sight – a whole valley full of circys.  We were very luck here with the view as just as we were leaving the clouds came in and obscured most of it.

Zion National Park is our next stop and it is raining heavily, - great we figure, wonderful weather for a national park.  The ranger on duty at the guard house assures us that Zion is even more exciting in the rain as the rock formations are non-porous and the rain creates hundreds of mini waterfalls that aren’t normally there.  Well this woman was right, the park was breathtaking with autumn colours in full bloom and amazing rock formations everywhere.  We went through one of the mountains in a tunnel that was 1.4miles long.  The tunnel was built when vehicles where a heck of a lot smaller than today and as a result it is pretty much one-way traffic now to cope with all the RVs and buses going through.  We were so very pleased that we didn’t skip Zion and we have pushed it way the list of favoured national parks and certainly one of the must dos for spectacular scenery. 

Time to reassess our route this morning.  We are 70miles from the northern rim of the “GC” Grand Canyon and 250 miles from the more usually visited South Rim.  Decisions are tough and we play around with maybe a tourist flight from Vegas, flagging the North Rim altogether and just heading to the South Rim.  We also want to get to Bryce Canyon – 70miles away and Zion 40miles.  I figure we could possibly afford to miss Zion as it appeared quite similar to Yosemite from the pics I had seen.  Bryce is a must do especially as we are missing the Canyonlands and The Arches National Parks.  We eventually decide to do the Northern Rim this morning and head to Bryce Canyon for the night.

Wow, what a spectacular sight!  The sheer enormity of this place is amazing.  We are lost for words here.  When Andy and I were last in Vegas we took a flight over the Canyon and that was wonderful, but the feeling of standing on the edge of this place is awe inspiring.  There is a short hiking trail out to one of the points and we take a wander out there with the boys practicing their very best “hiking” walks.  There were a couple of spots where there was just a walkway with sheer drops down both sides – I freaked out at that and had to look straight ahead so I could walk across them, much to the amusement of the boys.  We were again affected with short breath being at 8000 feet here and I commented to Andy how Dad must have felt with not being able to breathe properly.  We spent quite a bit of time here just taking in all the views and taking what seems like 50million pics.

We now have a rather short drive to Bryce Canyon and after only a couple of hours driving it feels like we have cheated somehow after all our huge long days at the wheel. 

We wake up this morning to see a huge mountain sitting behind us – amazing views.  First stop this morning is Cortez to get to the Wal-mart so we can get some dia-stop pills for Andy who has been crook since Santa Fe.  Pharmacy is shut so it is self help with the pills and some energy waters to help replace some of the fluids.  Next we head to the Four Corners Monument.  This is the one place in the States where four states meet at the one point – Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.  Another disappointing stop which is really just a tourist trap – a charge to get in, heaps of t-shirt vendors and one little plaque on the ground – next!

Monument Valley is the next stop on the list and also the cover shot on one of our tour guides and the spot I really wanted to get the same pic of.  Well, now we have a pic like that too J  Monument Valley is not a national park and is in the middle of an Indian Reservation.  The scenery is quite spectacular and some of the literature that we receive at National Parks would have been quite good.  We have since managed to pick up a book about it so can answer all our questions ourselves now. 

On the way we pass through the Glen Canyon Dam that is at the foot of Lake Powell, what a gorgeous spot and the very spot where they shot the Malibu video.  We couldn’t get a real good look at the lake but what we did see certainly confirmed that this was the place.

I love this place!!  This morning we headed into the old town of Santa Fe - all these gorgeous adobe Santa Fe style of house!  I love it.  We spend forever wandering round the stores and just enjoying the relaxed atmosphere.  I have completely fallen in love with this place and I think I could be very easily persuaded to live here.  Eventually we tear ourselves away from this spot and continue westwards. 

We manage to call in at several spots along the old “Route 66”.  This is pretty much non existent now with the freeways everywhere and the little bits of  the old road that are still around are very narrow and only run for stretches of about a mile at a time.