DAY 252 SUNDAY 18th MAY 2008

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (Miles to Date: 25625)

Today we left Jackson and headed North to Yellowstone National Park. On the way we travel through some magnificent scenery, with the backdrop of Teton range. We pull off to take some pictures and are lucky enough to see some otters swimming in the river and an osprey gracefully riding the thermals above our heads before swooping into water to collect its prey.

As we move north and rise in altitude the snow thickens around us, some places on the side of the road where it has been banked by snow ploughs it is five or six feet deep. A true winter wonderland, even at the end of May! Deep into Yellowstone we come across the vast expanse of Yellowstone Lake which is still covered by a layer of ice – which is rather surreal as we stand looking across it to the far off mountains in 70 degree temperatures and wearing T-shirts. Our campsite is at Fishing Bridge only a short distance from the lake. As we enter the site we are greeted by signs warning that we are in a area frequented by bears and that tents and soft sided trailers are not permitted. We quickly set-up camp and leave to find bears, the best chance we are told is off to east. On our journey we see a coyote strolling calmly along the roadside, we pull over to take a photograph. We have seen coyotes before but this is the closest we have got yet. As we watch this wonderful creature he seems in no hurry to get off, nonchalantly looking at us for a few brief moments before calmly moving onwards. If we could we would have picked him up and taken him home ... but I am sure the Park Rangers would have something to say about this.

Further down the road we pull into a pull-off in an open area where there are several other people all waiting for a sighting of some bears. Karen and Emily soon engage some of these amateur naturalists as we all patiently wait. People come and go, and one of the families befriended by Karen passes by and tells us just around the headland there is a mother and two cubs – so off we go. When we get there we find a large collection of people with binoculars, telescopes and cameras with huge lenses peering into the woods, which evidently means were are in the right place. One very kind lady with her telescope trained on the bears allows us to look through at the bears hiding away behind some trees – it is our first sighting of grizzly bears and we are very excited. We hang around as the watching crowd swells and the sun goes down beyond the horizon –even though the bears are not co-operating too much. A real comradery builds amongst us observers, our bond only broken by several bison who come amongst us – these can be unpredictable creatures so we keep them at a respectable distance, although at one point Mark has to make a dash to the car as one frisky beast makes towards him. Sadly we have to part with our new made friends and go back to our motorhome.

DAY 253 MONDAY 19th MAY 2008

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (Miles to Date: 25625)

Today we rose to a glorious sunny day in Yellowstone and we decided to head up to the north end of the park to visit Mammoth Hot Springs, one of the main thermal features in the Park. It is quite a ride from where we are staying to Mammoth – some 50 plus miles – but the scenery and wild life sighting makes it all worthwhile. The snow is piled high at the side of the roads, often several feet deep, but as we approach Mammoth at the north end of the Park the elevation is lower so by the time we get there the snow has all but disappeared.

The Mammoth area is one of the most developed areas of the Yellowstone, as well as the hotel and shops there are a several other buildings that are closely associated with the history of the Park. These are the barracks built for the troops who were installed here when Yellowstone was made the country’s first National Park, with a mission of protecting the Park’s wildlife and resources in the face of determined poachers (who to be fair had traditionally exploited the areas resources!). Anyway the troops are long gone and the buildings are now used by the Park Service as administration buildings, including the Visitor Centre.

The main attraction here is the hot springs. They have been rising up out of the ground from time immemorial. Unlike other areas of Yellowstone these springs are not laced with sulphur so there is no smell, but they do contain deposits of calcite which have been laid down over the millennia to form tiered terraces tens of feet high over the side of the mountain. These terraces are spectacular, and are at various stages of evolution. The springs in this area are forever changing. Some stop after many years of terrace building whilst others start up overnight. Where springs have dried up the terraces start to under go a transformation, initially turning a dazzling white (reminiscent of the Taj Mahal) and then in time a duller grey colour. These “skeletons” of old springs are exposed to the elements and without the renewing power of a flowing spring they are eroded by the weathering extremes of Yellowstone, are turned to dust and return to the earth from whence they came. In contrast to these dead springs there are the active hot springs! Here the steaming waters continue to build new terraces. The colour of these terraces are stained with yellows, browns and oranges marking the presence of tiny micro-organisms called Thermophiles, which thrive in these steaming spring waters.

From the bottom of the mountain there are walkways that wind their way up past the springs old and new. The newer, active springs are the most interesting with their flowing waters glinting in the sunlight and clear blue pools, but the architecture of the older terraces are still pleasing to the eye. As we get about half way up we bump into the English couple we met a few days earlier at Jenny Lake in the Tetons. If that was not coincidence enough a few steps further on we meet two young ladies whom Emily and Jack had befriended on the campsite we stayed at in Glendale, Utah when visiting Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. These two, originating from Michigan, are on an adventure, camping out the back of a car on a six week tour of the West, having finished school. Since we had left them 2 weeks earlier they had trekked up the West Coast through Oregon up to Seattle and then across to Yellowstone. It was an amazing coincidence for us to be here in the same spot at the same time – such events as these, which seem to happen with relative frequency in one’s lifetime can turn you into a believer of Fatalism if you are not careful. Anyway after exchanging pleasantries – or in Emily’s case flying leaps and hugs – we move on. At the top of the walkway – which is quite a steep climb, which is challenging at this altitude we reach Canary Spring which is the most active and splendid of the springs in the Mammoth area. This spring is flowing at a tremendous rate and cascades downwards hundreds of feet, it is truly beautiful and worth the climb (for the less adventurous there is a car park near the summit). We stay and admire this for a few minutes until the peace is broken by the arrival of a tour bus of Japanese tourists.

After another fabulous day we head back down south towards the Fishing Bridge Campground. As we get close Mark decides to go back down the road to where we had seen the bears the previous day. As we approach the area we see lots of cars on the side of the road with people out, pointing cameras and spotting scopes up to the hillside. We hurriedly park our car and join them. Our reward is to see a female grizzly with two cubs 2 or 3 hundred yards away climbing a hillside – whereas the day before we had needed a spotting scope to see them today they could easily be seen by the naked eye. What a joy! Last time we came to Yellowstone we saw no bears – in 2 days we had seen several. Happy now we go back to our campsite.

DAY 251 SATURDAY 17h MAY 2008

Jackson, Wyoming (Miles to Date: 25425)

This morning we returned back to Jackson as during our visit yesterday we found out about an event called Elkfest held around the Town Square. The main focus of Elkfest is an auction for elk antlers collected by the local Boy Scouts from the National Elk refuge a few miles down the road from Jackson. These collected antlers are auctioned off with 80% of the proceeds going back to the Elk refuge and 20% going to the Scouts. It is a big event with dealers and collectors coming from miles around to participate in the auction. As well as the auction there are activities organised by the Scouts taking place in the Town Square gardens and traders selling a wide range of antlers and similar artefacts. This is a big event in Jackson.

We arrived in Jackson about 7:00am and Karen manages to hook Jack up with one of the Scout Master’s organising the event so Jack is then invited to help in the auction beginning at 10:00am. That gives us time to visit our breakfast / lunch place – Jedediah's House of Sourdough – where we greedily tuck into a full stack of their sour jacks (sourdough pancakes) loaded with blackberries. Fuelled by this gluttonous intake we return to the Town Square to check out the Scouting games – all of which seemed to be about hitting or pulling people around, and the stalls set up by local environmental groups. At 10:00 am the auction started and Jack’s role was to help the other attending Scouts to hold up the antlers being auctioned off. This was a great honour and we were very grateful for the local Scoutmasters for allowing Jack to join in.

After an hour we had to drag Jack away as we wanted to go down to Teton National Park. The Tetons are a spectacular range of mountains that leap out of the plains, the tallest of the peaks being the Grand Teton (from the French meaning “Large Teat”) at 13,770 feet. Last July we went to the Jenny Lake Visitor Center and climbed up a trail where we were lucky enough to get close to a moose or two, so we decided to head back there. Unfortunately this year the snow is thick on the ground so we simply have to sit and admire these magnificent snow -covered craggy peaks from afar. We do get to chat to a few nice people; a older retired couple from the Cheshire in the UK – the man being the ex- director of research for AstraZeneca and another couple from the UK, who are with their son who has been studying at the University of Montana State and his friend, a fellow student from Japan. We walk around for a few minutes and talk to the Ranger on duty who recommends we go to the new Visitor Center at Moose Junction.

When we get to the Visitor Center we find it to be a modern, expansive building – it’s size making it more impersonal than others we have seen. Having said that the exhibits are of high quality and the film depicting the Teton National Park is wonderful. Jack and Emily spend sometime doing the Junior Ranger Programme and earning their badges before we head back to Jackson.

DAY 250 FRIDAY 16th MAY 2008

Jackson, Wyoming (Miles to Date: 25400)

From Moab we travelled North West to Salt Lake City, Utah. The only reason for coming here was to get some issues fixed on our motor home so all the time was spent rushing from one place to another. Luckily almost all of our immediate problems were resolved so we were able to push off pretty much on schedule.

Our next destination was Jackson, Wyoming, deep in the Rocky Mountains. The general area is known as Jackson Hole – and is well known for its ski resorts – which is not why we are here at this time, although there is still plenty of snow around up in the mountains. We are staying at the Kampground of America (KOA) site a few miles south of the town, which has a perfect location next to the Snake River, which is very turbulent this time of year from the snow melt. Unfortunately the site itself is pretty scabby- from the pitches themselves to the poor washrooms – never mind we’re only here for a few days!!!

Today we decided to take it fairly easy and went into Jackson itself to look around the shops. We had visited here last year and enjoyed the town a lot – hence our return. The old part of the town has a real western feel to it, with covered wood sidewalks and western style frontage to the shops. It is based around a small town square with a garden at it’s heart, the entrance on each corner ordained with tall arches made from the horns of elk. This is an exclusive resort town with plenty of expensive shops geared to the tourist trade, which is the mainstay of the local economy. We enjoy looking through these shops although a lack of money …. and more importantly space makes us refrain from buying anything.

Whilst walking the streets we usually have to stop and talk to every owner of a dog. This is Emily’s real passion. Today we got talking to a man who had got his dog from a rescue centre just a few yards from where we standing and he said they welcomed visitors. Well that was enough encouragement for us to set-off and find the place. The Animal Adoption Center in Jackson is a wonderful place – even as we enter the shop at the front of the Center we are greeted by a very friendly long haired ginger cat called Pedro, whom we fall in love with. Luckily we are not in a position to take any pets otherwise he’d have been coming with us. Out back of the shop is the area where the dogs and cats are kept, it is a wonderful environment and the staff are warm and friendly and make us very welcome. We meet all the dogs, including Jock a Black Lab and Buster who was an interesting mix of Basset Hound and German Shepard (the physical logistics here are hard to imagine). Jack fell in love with Buster and also a fantastically gentle three legged black cat called Guy Noir. This was great fun for all of us, especially Jack and Emily who have missed having a dog around since we left on this trip. So we all went home happy!

DAY 245 SUNDAY 11th MAY 2008

Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah (Miles to Date: 25000)

Happy mothers day! As a treat for Karen we decided to head off to Canyonlands National Park, not by the normal paved route but on the off road track across the park itself. We decided not to take our own Jeep, which after 160,000 miles of service we did not believe was up to the task and we still needed her to get us around afterwards. So we hired a modified Jeep Wrangler, in a olive green colour which got it dubbed the name Shrek.
Taking the road West out of Moab we turned after a couple of miles down the Potash Road – which surprisingly goes to a potash factory. This paved road follows the mighty Colorado River for 7 or 8 miles until it reaches a potash factory, from this point on the road becomes a track. For the most part the road is fairly smooth -with the occasional bump. We climb higher to where the potash evaporation pools dot the landscape, the chemicals in the water making them appear a vivid azure blue in the sunlight. This is a very dry and arid landscape but it’s starkness offers it own beauty – as we leave the potash pools behind we are in a valley with the sandstone cliffs surrounding us -some 1000 feet or so above where we are. The track takes us right to the edge of the Colorado River Canyon. Far below us the river, swollen by the melting snow, flows rapidly through the canyon it has carved over many millennia. We are a bit wary of the cliff edges, the fall here is several hundred feet – but the views are spectacular. Moving on we reach and ox-bow turn in the river which then leaves us to go South West whilst we follow a shelf road around the upper canyon wall. Eventually we reach the end of the canyon and from here the only way is up. This is the scary bit – these series of switchbacks, known as the Shafer Switchbacks (the trail is known as the Shafer Trail), wind their way up 1000 feet or more on the outside of the sheer cliffs of the canyon. The road here is very, very hairy, filled with large rocks and is only about 8 to 10 feet across. This is not a route for those who suffer from vertigo as you get to look down several hundred feet to the valley floor. The worst thing here is that this road is two-way and unfortunately there are quite a few people who have the crazy idea of driving the opposite way to us. Luckily there are a few wider spots in the road but even at these points one or other vehicle teeters on the edge of the cliff with huge drops. Finally, finally we reach the top of the Mesa and let out a big sigh of relief. To calm our nerves we go to the Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky Visitor Center. Ranger Karen gives us a presentation on how some of the animals and plants survive in the high desert environment.

With our nerve wracking climb up the Shafer Switchbacks already a distant memory we set off again, this time taking a different trail back to Moab. On this trail the main attraction is a set of natural bridges. To get down to these bridges there are some large boulders to navigate, but in our modified Jeep we decided to take route one over the top. Having been on the Pink Jeep tour in Sedona we had some confidence in what these off road vehicles could do – so we went for it. At the bridges we pull short of a several hundred feet drop – Jack, Emily and Karen, who are considerably braver than Mark, take a walk across these natural bridges.

From the natural bridges we head back toward Moab. We then decided to take a detour from the path down another track to the canyon floor. The trail is rough, climbing over large boulders, following a dried up river bed and up sand dunes. At one point we get stuck in an area where we have to try and climb out up a sand bank – after several minutes of panic about being stuck in an area miles from nowhere with no passing traffic eventually we make it out and get back on our trail to Moab! The final challenge is another trail following a shelf down the side of a cliff – but after the Shafer Trail this is no problem. We get back on to the paved road and head back the few miles to Moab, stopping at a massive sand bank we had seen the previous day. Jack and Emily had really wanted to climb up this sand bank and roll down – this proved to be harder than they expected so after catching their breath at the top they came down with a mixture of running and rolling.Bear Grylls is Jack's hero...and he makes it look so easy! (The photo does not show it well but the slope is around 45 degrees!)

DAY 244 SATURDAY 10th MAY 2008

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah (Miles to Date: 24950)

We are stationed here in the small town of Moab for a few days. Moab has become a tourist town based on it’s proximity to the Colorado River and several National Parks. People come here for activity holidays like white water rafting, mountain biking, climbing, hiking and off road motoring – hence it is quite a young persons place with plenty of outdoor clothing, cycle and jeep hire stores and of course bars. It also has a brewery – which does some pretty good beers – which has a restaurant and bar attached so you can conveniently sample their wares. The place we tried out in town is a bar come restaurant called Eddie McStiffs, which you could imagine gets lively at certain times of year. We called in between lunch and dinner so it was quiet which suited us as we just wanted to try the local micro-beers.

Our main reason for coming here of course was not to drink beer – although this was very pleasurable, but was to visit the National Parks. Today we decided to go out to Arches National Park just a few short miles from Moab. Here the full forces of nature have taken their full toll on the Navajo sandstone, creating a number of large, spectacular arches in the rock. Being Saturday it is very busy but we decided to call into the excellent Visitors Centre to begin with where they have some wonderful displays and orientation film, which was produced by National Geographic so it is of course well done. The park is essentially make up of one long road with a few little side roads, and from this road you can access the main feature arches easily. We decided to drive right to the end of the park and park up, from here this is a relatively 2 mile round walk to the longest arch in the park, Landscape Arch, which is a few hundred feet across but it only about six feet thick in places. It is a wonderful site to behold. The only thing which really spoils our enjoyment is a young, chunky lady who is hiking with a couple of friends who has here iPod playing through speakers as she is walking along. Personally we find this such an ignorant thing to be doing – has she not heard of ear phones!!! And why when some where like this would you want to listen to music anyway! Fortunately we managed to lose her and carry on our peaceful walk. On the way back from Landscape Arch we take a couple of detour paths to visit two more arches; Tunnel Arch and Palm Tree Arch (not quite sure how it got this name). The latter is interesting in as much that you can get underneath the arch and it provides a wonderful frame to the mountains and hills in the background.

We now head back down the main road towards the Park entrance. A side road takes you down to the access points for Delicate Arch, the signature arch of the National Park and the State symbol of Utah. There are two options here you can take a 4 mile round hike with strenuous uphill sections or the more genteel walk to a view point below the arch. Being pushed for time we decided on the latter, but this still involved a fairly steep climb on to some rocks. The arch at this point is some half mile away across a canyon with steep cliff walls on either side – although the arch is large it seemed small at this distance and in hindsight we wished we had a little more time and had taken the longer walk up to Delicate Arch.

Still we still had one more place we wished to see before darkness set in and that is the Double Arch, a name that speaks for itself. Again this involves a short detour from the main road (no more than 2 miles). The arch is an easy walk from the car park, not too many big hills involved here. Double arch is a huge structure formed supposedly by the action of water falls – although in this arid environment it is difficult to imagine waterfalls with the carving power to sculpt these magnificent creations. It is possible with a bit of a scramble up the rocks to climb up to a point underneath the arches. Looking up from this vantage point is an awe inspiring site, although for Jack and Emily the climbing up rocks seems to be the more exciting element of the exercise. With evening approaching the moon is faintly appearing in the sky above and is perfectly framed in one of the arches. Unfortunately none of have the photographic skills to capture this effectively.

Arches National Park is definitely a place worth visiting – but remember to be prepared to do a bit of walking as the best arches are not visible from the road.

DAY 242 THURSDAY 8th MAY 2008

Mesa Verde National Park (Miles to Date: 24750)

Yesterday we took the short drive from Monument Valley across the State Border into Colorado. En route we decided to cross through the area known as the “Four Corners”. This is well known to most people here in the US as it is the only point where four States meet; Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. As you might expect it is easy to get confused as to which one you are in at anyone time around here. To mark this spot, there is a monument, which sits on Native American Indian land. As with all such landmarks on Native American Indian territory there are traders selling a host of crafts, both traditional and not so traditional. Whist you can get prissy about the despoiling of landmarks life is hard for these people so we can fully understand why this is allowed to happen – especially after what has been taken from them in the past. Having said all this the monument itself is not very exciting and after a picture or two all is done and we actually spend more time looking at the craft work which is actually very good quality. From the Four Corners we swiftly move on to our stop over point for the night Cortez, Colorado.

The reason for selecting Cortez is it’s proximity to Mesa Verde National Park. This National Park is home to the largest and best preserved dwellings of the pre-historic peoples of the United States, the Ancestral Puebloans. When we set off from Cortez this morning it was a cold and damp day, and as we rose up on to the Mesa Verde the weather got bleaker as we entered into the cloud base and colder. By the time we got to the Far View Visitors Center it was down right cold and miserable. Not to be deterred we bought our tickets for the tour of the largest preserved ruin, the Cliff Palace and set off across the mesa top. Luckily the weather took a turn for the better and the time we got there the clouds had started to break up and the sun was shining.

The tour itself is wonderful. They do say that it is a strenuous tour, and that is surely the truth as you have to descend down the steep cliff a few hundred feet to get there and then go up some ladders to reach the ruin. The situation of these dwellings underneath the ledges of the sandstone cliffs is amazing. Winters are cold and the summers hot so it is easy to see why these places were chosen, but there accessibility is problematic especially for what essentially were a stone-age people. All the materials required to build these complex building structures had to be carried down from the top of the mesa. Our Ranger guide gives us a fascinating tour, explaining the history of these Puebloan people and how their society operated. Whilst these Puebloan people disappeared from these locations some 900 years ago, their descendants still live further south in New Mexico and Arizona. Many traditions have remained preserved and the tribal storytellers have continued to pass on stories of the Ancestors down through the generations. We are spell bound by the complexity of the building structures and how they have cleverly used the contours of the rock formations in their architecture. As they say what comes down must go up – and the route back to the mesa top is no less strenuous than the way down.

A short drive from the Cliff Palace is the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum. This is a wonderful museum that has a series of dioramas that depict the development of the Ancestral people from basket makers living in pit dwellings through to the pottery makers of the cliff dwellings. In addition there is a fabulous display of artefacts of these people. To help put this into context there is also a short film about the Puebloan people and the history of the National Park. By the time we have worked our way through the museum the sun is now fully out and it has warmed up considerably. Not far from the museum is another ruin, Spruce Tree House. This is the best preserved dwelling in the Park. The walk is down (and up) a fairly steep pathway but the journey is well worth it. Spruce Tree House is not as large as the Cliff Palace but the buildings are in better condition. There is also a reconstructed “Kiva”, a circular under-ground building used for ceremonial purposes. We are allowed to climb down into the Kiva via a rickety old ladder in the roof. Surprisingly it is not too claustrophobic down inside. The climb back up to the museum is quite steep, and as it is now considerably warmer we feel that we have earned the right to an ice cream – so on the way back out of the park we stop again at the Far View Visitors Center, this time at the restaurant. We happily eat our ice creams whilst gazing out of the window across the vast mesa top below us and into the valleys beyond – bliss!!

Again the day has gone past all too soon and we descend from Mesa Verde to the car park where our motor home awaits. We quickly hitch up and set off for our next destination, Moab, Utah.

DAY 240 TUESDAY 6th MAY 2008

Monument Valley (Miles to Date: 24550)

Last night we arrived late at Gouldings RV park on the border of Monument Valley, and were escorted to our spot by a very surly security guard. Mark has wanted to come here ever since we planned this grand tour. Monument Valley’s instantly recognisable buttes, mesa and wide open vistas has become the quintessential landscape of the Western movie, ever since John Ford made "Stagecoach" with a very young John Wayne. After this Ford,and other film makers, made numerous Western films in and around the valley including such classics as “Fort Apache”, “The Searchers” and more recently "Back to the Future". For Mark, having being bought up on a diet of John Wayne movies, this was somewhat of a pilgrimage.

It was extremely apt that we were staying on the Goulding’s RV park. Harry Goulding had moved to Monument with his new wife Leone—he called her “Mike” because, when he wrote her love letters before they were married, he had difficulty spelling her name. They set-up a trading post and began their long relationship with the local Navajo. Then the Great Depression hit and forced a lot of Goulding’s suppliers out of business. He heard that film director John Ford was looking for a location for a new Western movie,....probably Flagstaff, so taking his last $60 Goulding set off to Hollywood with "Mike"to regale John Ford about the suitability of Monument Valley for his new film. Miraculously,(he only had to take out his sleeping bag and threaten to sleep outside the Director's door until he was able to see him), he got a meeting with Ford, and 10 days later they were on set in Monument Valley making the film “Stagecoach”. The rest is history!

Monument Valley is located on the Utah / Arizona State borders and is set in the Navajo land. Whilst there is a loop road that goes around the valley, it is a dirt track and we decided not to risk our old lady of a Jeep on it. Instead we booked ourselves on a 3 ½ hour tour. Our chariot was an open backed 4 wheel drive truck; we were sitting in the back of the truck bed on some very uncomfortable seats. As we were boarding the skies looked very threatening and there were even a couple of claps of thunder. Undeterred we head for our first stop, a Hogan, along with our fellow travellers, two grandparents and their grandchild from the Netherlands, a German couple and two couples from the US. The Hogan is the traditional dwelling of the Navajo Indians, they are round buildings with a wooden frame structure and covered in mud. This works in the dry deserts of Arizona but would not be suitable for damper climates like the Northwest of the USA or the UK. Waiting inside the Hogan was a Navajo lady who was demonstrating weaving and other crafts, which we watch for several minutes. She demonstrates the traditional method of tying the Navajo ladies long hair in bun on a young lady from New York with greasy hair!Not Emily...just a very embarrassed young woman who got roped in! It is then time for the main event, a tour of Monument Valley. It’s one of those all so familiar places, with its' buttes, mesas and open plains. We soon leave the paved highway and head onto the loop around the valley, stopping frequently for photo opportunities. Luckily the weather has brightened up and the sun pokes out its head; the combination of sun and dark clouds sets up some dramatic scenes for the camera. One of our favourite places is called John Ford Lookout, which is up high on the rocks with a classic view down into the valley. A local Navajo kindly rides on horse onto an outcrop which gives us yet another photo opportunity.

Shortly after this our driver takes us off the loop road into areas where special permission is required to visit. Here we are up in the spectacular canyons of the backcountry. Amongst these canyons are wonderfully sculptured arches carved out of the Navajo sandstone by the rain, ice and wind, ruins of buildings constructed hundreds of years ago by the Anasazi and examples of rock art. Jack and Emily particularly like the huge sand dunes which they enthusiastically climb and roll and run down. The route is not as well trodden as the main loop road so there are more bumps, which just adds to the experience. As the truck is open to the elements we are soon coated with a fine layer of sand and dust. Finally the weather begins to co-operate and we are treated to the wonderful spectacle of the Monument Valley’s back country illuminated by the soft early evening sun.

As with all good things our tour came to an end and we returned to the Goulding’s campsite. Several evenings during the week they show John Wayne movies – and tonight it was the classic film “The Searchers”, where Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) and Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) spend years hunting down the Comanche Chief Chief Cicatrice (Scar) who killed their family and abducted Edwards’ neice. As with many such westerns the plot was questionable and the several scenes were politically incorrect, but it was a good old story and it was wonderful to see many of the areas of Monument Valley we had visited earlier today.The children are now addicts too!

DAY 239 MONDAY 5th MAY 2008

Antelope Canyon & Glen Dam (Miles to Date: 24400)

Today was an early rise as we had a tour planned of Antelope Canyon. Mark had long wanted to visit this strange geological feature, a cork-screw canyon – and had organised our route to pass through here. This valley is only accessible by taking a tour, so we drive into Page to the meeting point of Antelope Canyon Tours. We climbed into the back of a covered 4 wheel drive truck with our fellow passengers, a couple from France – a nice man who spoke great English and his wife who was Spanish and spoke little English. We are joined by our driver; Robert "Earth Boy", a Native American of sorts – we never did discover from what nation he derived (we assumed Navajo). He had been doing the job for a month having just moved down from Montana. Initially he was a bit taciturn, but once he got going he spoke at a thousand knots with a drawling accent, making it hard to follow for our French companions – so Karen had to translate into English for them. The ride to the canyon is a mere 20 minutes but that was long enough for our truck to develop a problem and have to have a replacement sent out. The vehicle that turned up was a closed truck – not as exciting as our fallen chariot, but with more comfortable seats. Onwards we go onto the Navajo reservation – here we turn off road and head down a wash, replete with signs about the dangers of flash floods. Luckily today the sky is clear as we head off road over the pitted wash floor, carved by the continuous traffic of tour vehicles. 10 bone-shaking minutes later we reach our destination, Antelope Canyon. This is a truly amazing place, it is essentially a slot canyon, the definition of which is a canyon where you can touch the walls with out stretched arms. In this case the walls have been carved into convoluted angles, so it appears to be shaped like a corkscrew. The sandstone has many shades of yellows and oranges which have been worn smooth. The canyon would be nothing except for it extends upwards over 100 feet where it is in parts open to the sky letting shafts of light down into parts of the canyon spectacularly illuminating the walls and floor. It is truly a magical place – even when filled with people. The canyon is only ¼ mile long be we linger for nearly an hour marvelling at this magnificent creation of nature.

When our tour is over it is only 11:30 and our next destination is only about 2 hours drive away so we decided to go back to Glen Dam, which is also a National Monument, and take a tour of the dam. Started in 1956 the dam was dedicated in 1966, it stands 710 feet high (just a few short feet shorter than Hoover Dam) is 25 feet wide up at the top and 310 feet wide at the bottom. Electricity from the dam supplies some 650,000 people in Arizona and provides irrigation water to the States of California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. Before the tour started Jack and Emily started working on their Park Junior Ranger book. All National Parks and Monuments have these books which young people – or adults if they wish – answer questions about the Park they are visiting and in exchange they get sworn in as a Junior Park Ranger and are given a badge – we have quite a few of these now!! Jack and Emily talk to the young lady Ranger on duty and enthuse about their collection of rocks and fossils. Before we get too far with this we are called to join the tour. Our tour guide takes us down from the Visitor Centre 110 feet down to the top of the dam – where our guide takes us out across the top of the dam and gives us oodles of information about the history and operation of the Glen Canyon Dam. After a half hour the tour is over and we return to the Visitors Centre. Jack and Emily went back to the Ranger station to Junior Ranger activity, where the young lady Ranger introduces us to a fascinating young man, David Rankin (www.rankinstudio.com). This was David’s first day as a Ranger here, but he is very knowledgeable about palaeontology. At the age of 14 David and his friend had discovered a Plesiosaur (a genus of huge marine reptiles) skeleton, from the late cretaceous period when this area was under a sea. Later in 2001 David found bones from a previously undiscovered plesiosaur which was later named after him - Eopolycotylus rankini. Strangely enough we had read about this story before in a new paper article in a restaurant – little did we know we’d meet the real man. Of course Jack and Emily were excited by this – especially Jack who you could imagine following in David’s footsteps. The other Rangers on duty made poor David do the Junior Ranger pledge with Jack and Emily – but he did well. Before we left he told us of the Land Management Bureau station in Big Water, Utah some 12 miles north that specialises in palaeontology – so off we set. This place turned out to be a gold mine of information on the region and its significance in the palaeontological world. The area, generally known as the Grand Staircase -Escalante is a National Monument and due to structures of the geology and the weathering of the rock formations, is rich in well preserved dinosaur remains. After watching a very informative film on the work being done on excavating fossils, we picked up some great materials for Jack and Emily’s school work and set off back to our motor home.

One of the things one should know about motor homes is that you either need to bring along with you on your trip a mechanic, electrician, plumber and carpenter or you need to develop the all-road handyman skills. The reason we mention this is that we have been plagued with several problems of late – on this occasion we had a problem with our towing system we use to drag the Jeep around behind the motor home. After about 45 minutes of cussing -and pointless physical abuse on inanimate object - Mark applies some finesse to the fine adjustments on the tow bar and we are ready to leave for our next stop near Kayenta, Arizona some 150 miles south-west of Page.

DAY 238 SUNDAY 4th MAY 2008

Glendale, Utah (Miles to Date: 24200)

Yesterday we had to take the road across to Cedar City, some 60 miles to our West. The trip takes us along Highway 14, the Markagunt High Plateau Scenic Byway. It lives up to its' scenic billing as we rise up to nearly 10,000 feet above sea level to the summit of Cedar Mountain. Down in lowly Glendale (at about 6000 feet) the last vestiges of snow have disappeared but up at 10,000 feet on Cedar Mountain there is still a covering of snow on the alpine meadows. The whole byway is 40 miles long, the last dozen or so miles cutting through a canyon with steepling walls, before reaching the plateau and Cedar City.

Cedar City, a place with a grand name, but little else to it apart from a few shops! After spending minimal time doing a few chores we head south on I-15, coming off on the exit for Zion National Park. Although we had already visited Zion, we had really loved it, and there were a few areas we had not managed to fit in during our last trip two days before. We park up at the Visitors Centre and take the bus up the valley. Our stops include the Weeping Rock, where you climb steeply for ½ mile to a sandstone cliff where the water that fell some 1200 year ago upon the top of the mesas seeps out, creating a temperate ecosystems at the base of the cliffs. After getting soaked by the waters of the Weeping Rock, we cross the road to the see the Virgin River. On the way back Mark has a shock -nearly stepping on a 4 foot long snake, luckily it was not a rattle snake, but still a bit scary. From Weeping Rock we catch the bus to the stop known as the Grotto, from here we take a 1 ½ mile Kayenta Trail which climbs upwards, and follows a ledge some 200 to 300 feet about the valley floor, eventually arriving at the Emerald Pools, before descending back to Zion Lodge. We take the bus back from Zion Lodge to the Visitor Centre before setting off back to our motor home.

Today we set off to our next destination, Page, just across the Utah border in Arizona.
Time zones in this part of the world are somewhat confusing.
Arizona maintains Pacific Standard Time, but all other States around it follow Mountain Time, as does the Navajo Nation Reservation, which makes up a large chunk of Arizona. As we are criss-crossing State boundaries at the moment on a seemingly continuous basis it is all too easy to get bamboozled. Page sits on the banks of Lake Powell (named after the pioneer explorer John Wesley Powell, a one-armed American Civil War veteran who explored the river via three wooden boats in 1869). Lake Powell, the second largest man-made lake in the United States, was formed in the late 1950’s by damming the Colorado River at Glen Canyon. Page was created to house the construction team and current day employees of the Glen Canyon Dam.
Our campsite is inside the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, with superb views across Lake Powell.

DAY 236 FRIDAY 2nd MAY 2008

Bryce Canyon, Utah (Miles to Date: 23900)

Another day ,another National Park.!! Today we headed north 50 miles to the other great park of Southern Utah, Bryce Canyon. As we found out later Bryce is not actually a canyon as these, strictly speaking, have to be carved by the cutting action of a running river. Bryce is a set of very special and delicate rock structures carved by the action of wind, rain and ice. The park is set at a high altitude, the top end being at 9,100 feet. There is a road that runs from the Visitor Centre 18 miles to the end of the park – this is the highest point and is a prominentary, that gives a 270 degree view down on the valleys below. Bryce Canyon’s distance from any major conurbation provides some of the clearest visibility in the United States and today we are able to clearly see Mount Navajo, some 82 miles away. From this point we head back down the road towards the entrance of the park, stopping every mile or two at viewpoints. The main features of the park are the delicate structures known as “Hoodoos”. These hoodoos have been formed over thousands of years by the erosive forces of water, ice and gravity. Ice is the most efficient form of erosion for breaking rock into smaller pieces. The Park gets approximately 100 inches of snowfall a year, and also experiences about 200 days of freeze/thaw. These three erosive forces coupled with the differential erosion of the four rock types of found in the Park’s formation create the wonderful sculptured structures we see today.

We get talking to a nice couple, the Rucker’s from Seattle, who are down here on holiday. As usual Emily, who can be very engaging (except when it comes to her parents) is the catalyst for us getting chatting.We turn out to have a great connection...they own a series of Soccer shops in Seattle and Emily ADORES soccer! All Brits are born with a predisposed gene!
We will see them again...despite having 16 of their own grandchildren we are invited to their place to play when we reach Seattle!

The most spectacular formations are in the canyon known as Bryce Canyon – the park is actually made up of several “canyons”. The late afternoon sun’s mellow colours bring out the best of the hoodoos and arches that can be seen from the view points. One of the most irritating things about visiting places like this the behaviour of other visitors. Even when signs are clearly placed saying “stay on the paths” people flagrantly ignore these. Today it is some French tourists who are stepping off the paths and going dangerously near the edge – they could be excused because of language but they have guides and bus drivers with them who should be more effectively chaperoning them (also it is often not foreign tourists breaking the rules). Jack is very indignant about the destruction of the cryptobiotic organisms in the soils around the pathways.He does his best to live up to his Junior Ranger promises and asks them to get off the soil. As soon as he does so a Park Ranger comes and shoos away the indignant tourists; we imagine more because of the danger of them disappearing several hundred feet down a cliff than the sanctity of life of micro-organisms!!Jack is thanked profusely by the Ranger who heard every word...and Jack feels life is worth living again.

Bryce is a truly beautiful place and we would have liked more time to explore the trails, some of which take you down to the floor of the canyon and amongst the hoodoos and slot canyons below. Alas time is once again our enemy and we have to shoot back to the Visitors Centre so Jack and Emily can complete their Junior Park Ranger books and get a badge. We also get a chance to see the 20 minute video on the history, biology and geology of the Park, which is on a par with the Zion National Park video and significantly better than the Yosemite Park video.

On the journey back to Glendale along Highway 12 we pass through the Red Canyon, part of the Dixie Nation. As we hadn’t managed to get down to the bottom of Bryce Canyon, we decided to get out here and take a short walk amongst the hoodoos and mesas of Red Canyon. The sun was setting, it’s late day rays supplementing the red coloured rocks and creating wonderful shadows. The red coloured rock was wonderfully juxtaposed by the blue sky and dark green vegetation. A splendid end to the day.

DAY 235 THURSDAY 1st MAY 2008

Zion National Park, Utah (Miles to Date: 23780)

After the last few days of travelling it is wonderful to have out butts firmly planted in one place for a few days, although there is a lot around here about to see so we shall not be resting. Understandably our plan for an early start this morning did not materialise so we did not actually manage to drag ourselves away from the motor home until after 11am. Luckily we did not have too far to go – a short 35 miles to the Zion National Park. Not many people had spoken to us of this Park so our expectations were not too high`- but, to our surprise, as we entered the park we were stunned! The sandstone formations and high mesas were staggeringly beautiful.
As soon as we entered the park we come across the “Checkerboard” mesa, a fantastically criss-crossed edifice etched in time by wind borne sand and ice cracking. We continue on down the valley and reach the 1 mile long, Mt Carmel tunnel. This was constructed back in 1923 -this tunnel was blasted through the mountains of Zion and was then longest tunnel in America and an engineering marvel, unfortunately they had not planned for 12 foot high, 40 feet long motor homes. Today we only have our Jeep, but to go through this tunnel in a larger vehicle you have to drive down the centre of the carriageway and be escorted. Being out of season we did not have wait too long to pass through. From here there are a series of hair pin bends going down some 2000 feet to the bottom of the canyon. Here you are overlooked by magnificent, 2000 foot high sandstone cliffs – some of the largest in the world. These cliffs were formed by sedimentary deposits laid when this was an inland sea, and the layers of sediments are clearly seen in shades of reds, yellows, oranges, browns and greys. We stop at the visitors centre to find out about the Junior Ranger programmes and what else is going on. As it is quite late in the day we have to decide how we spend our time. We catch the shuttle bus to the Museum where we watch a 20 minute movie that gives you the background fundamentals on the geology, biology and history of the park. Whilst this film is not as bad as the one we saw in Yosemite it is still somewhat sentimental and not hard fact enough for us well travelled Hoblets. We want information not PAP!!! Anyway we did admittedly learn a thing or two but decided it was time to explore the real Zion rather than a celluoid imitation (showing our age- now it probably stored on a hard disk drive).

There are no cars allowed to drive up the main canyon of the Virgin River, which only has one way lane for traffic each way. You have to go in and come out the same way. Before the bus shuttle system some 5000 cars went up and down this road each weekend looking for one of 430 parking spaces. We happily discard our car for the bus and head to the very end stop at the head of the valley. Here a mile long trail takes the river route further upstream, all the time the valley walls close in, and in the end they are probably no more than 50 feet across and hundreds of feet high. This area is called the Narrows, and in the summer months when the water flow has dropped you can take to the water and head up stream to where the gorge narrows further to only a few feet. Today the river is flowing too rapidly so there is no more to do than turn around and go back. We catch the bus back to the Lodge, about half way back down the canyon, and take another trail up into the hills where after about a mile we find the “Emerald” pools. There are three pools; imaginatively known as the Upper, Middle and Lower. The top pool is filled by water seeping through the permeable rock. The water continues to flow from the Upper, through the Middle to the lower cascading over the edges of ledges above each. We stand below the overhang of the Lower Pool catching kisses from passing drips. After admiring this glory of nature for a minute or two we realise it is getting a bit cold so we dash back to catch a bus back to our car.

DAY 234 WEDNESDAY 30th APRIL 2008

Glendale, Utah (Miles to Date: 23700)

On Monday we set off from Cave Junction on a long 1000 mile journey across to southern Utah where we planned to visit most if not all of the National Parks there. So after another hearty breakfast at the Treesort we set off on our first leg to Reno, Nevada some 480 miles distant, travelling through California. In our plans we had intended to make a short stop at Ashland to look around a bit more. As it happens we got somewhat sidetracked so ended up being in Ashland until 4pm – leaving us some 410 miles still to go before we reached Reno. Fortunately all of this journey is by freeway so we headed south to Sacremento on Interstate 5 and then turned east on Interstate 80. The journey down to Sacremento was very scenic as we climbed through the California’s Cascade mountain range, passing by the very impressive, snow-capped peak of Mount Shasta. This 14,179 foot volcano stand 10,000 feet above the valley floor, its isolation from any connecting mountains makes it stand out. It is only the 5th highest peak in California but is probably it’s most dramatic. By the time we reach Sacremento it is dark and we still have 150 miles to go to Reno across the Nevada border. This past of the journey would also have been scenic as you climb up through the Sierra Nevada range over high mountain passes in excess of 7000 feet. In winter this road is frequently closed by snow and is generally difficult to pass, this we note as we pass signs for areas you can pull off to put on snow chains and signs for snow rescue services. Luckily late April/ early May this is less likely but still possible so we head quickly onwards. We reach our destination at midnight, the children are fast asleep on the couches of the motor home so we leave them there and flop down on to our bed exhausted.

The next morning we are woken by the most un-holiest of noises. For one minute we suspect that it might be an earthquake, as recently Reno had been struck by 350 unexplained minor tremors. When we got up we realised that it was nothing more dramatic than a strong wind storm that had blown up over night. Our motor home was parked side on into the brunt of the wind (unfortunately with the way the campsite was organized we could not move it into another direction). High up on the plains below the Sierra Nevada peaks at 5000 feet the winds were gusting up to 50 miles an hour. We had planned to drive 370 miles on this day across Nevada to the town of Ely, this route taking us across Highway 50, known as the countries loneliest road. We feared setting out on very exposed roads, crossing plains with these high winds, so fear being the better part of valour we decided to stay put for another day. This was a great decision as the winds did not abate through out the day. Had we been somewhere interesting it might not have been so bad but we were parked in a great god forsaken concrete lot at the back of the Boomtown Casino adjacent to Interstate 80, 10 miles from downtown Reno. The site itself was devoid of character, facilities and cheerful staff – which is what you are looking for when you are stranded their due to the weather. The city of Reno is the desolate north western tip of Nevada, which itself is a desolate State. Here the main business is as in Las Vegas (and most of Nevada) gambling, except here it has none of the glamour or excitement. On such a cold, raw day we decided not to waste our energy exploring the town.

Luckily the winds have died down overnight and we decided to make a break for it. Instead of travelling approaching 700 miles in two days we are now going to attempt this in one single, long day!!! As we aforementioned our plan was to take Highway 50, nicknamed the “Countries Loneliest Road”. We were taking it from the small town of Fallon across to Ely, in excess of 300 miles, during which time we would pass through only 2 towns of any size (and they were not much to write home about). Today though the sun was shining and whilst the mountains and salt flats were not the same as driving through Hawaii it could have been a lot worst. Around about midway we come the town of Eureka (yes we FOUND IT!!!) which is a bit of ghost town, which you wind your way up though the hills to 6500 feet. Here the weather closes in, and it will remain like this for the rest of our journey. The wind picks up and the clouds come over and we are treated to wind blown fine powdery snow – and it is cold up at this altitude. Finally, finally we make it to Ely and start to head south east across Highway 21 into Utah, through the large open plains and up and down mountains – which was challenging driving. Some 15 hours after setting off, with minimal breaks we reach our next campsite in Glendale, a small village nestled conveniently amongst Southern Utah’s National Parks.

DAY 231 SUNDAY 27th APRIL 2008

Ashland, Oregon (Miles to Date: 22510)

When Mark had arranged to come to the Treesort he had not realised that it was as close as it was (if you can call 80 miles close) to the city of Ashland, the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Company. Well as soon as Karen found out she was on the phones seeing what tickets were still available. Luckily there were 4 tickets left for Saturday evenings’ performance of Midsummer Nights Dream – which was an ideal play as Jack and Emily’s introduction to Shakespeare.

We arrived early in Ashland to have a look around the town and to check in our hotel for the night. The town is very much oriented around the Shakespeare festival which runs from March through early November, but there a host of other things going with other festivals, theatres and events. We find a wonderful café called Zoey’s that provided a wonderful lunchtime selection of sandwiches, wraps and calzones, and a fantastic flavour selection of ice creams and gelatos. Of course we have to sample their offerings, especially the ice cream. From here we head back to the hotel for an afternoon snooze, before the evening performance. Unfortunately we are so dogged tired we almost over slept and had to rush back into to town, gobble a quick sandwich and head off to the theatre.

The presentation of Midsummer Night Dream was in modern dress but followed the traditional script. Puck and the other fairies we all men, dressed like something out of Rocky Horror show in tutus, fishnet tights and platform shoes. Wonderfully camp!! They also used a lot of contemporary music and dance throughout the performance, with much of it in a disco theme. The other main characters like the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, and the Athenians, Theseus, Hippolyta, Lysander, Hermia, Demtrius and Helena were fabulous. Our favourite characters having said all this were Bottom and his fellow thespians were full of character with excellent comic timing thrown in. Their entrance on to stage was in a multi-coloured VW camper van and dressed like hippies. The cast was magnificent and it was one of the best interpretations us grown-up Hoblets had seen and to our delight Jack and Emily loved it even though they had some trouble following the Shakespearian script.

After staying overnight in Ashland we took the long drive back to Cave Junction and the Treeresort. Jack and Emily were desperate to have one more afternoon playing around the farm. Fortunately a whole load of new guests had arrived for us to get to know. One of our greatest pleasures has been getting to know new people from the deliciouly friendly staff to most of the guests. As you might expect with this not being your normal bed and breakfast most visitors are the more adventurous sorts - and quite a lot of families. In fact when we arrived we were told that they were expecting 8 biker chicks which got Mark all excited, but when these ladies from the Motor Maids (the oldest women's cycle club in the USA turned up) he was disappointed to see they were all in the autumn years of life. Having said that they were lovely and had some real life to them. On returning from Ashland we met Michael and his son Eric from San Rafael in California. Jack and Eric struck up a friendship in no time based on their geeky love of computer games, which they managed to find enough to talk about for hours and hours. Mindyou with Emily entertaining herself with horses, dogs and our friend Rachel it gave us some time to get to know Michael and the others around the campfire.

DAY 229 FRIDAY 25th APRIL 2008

Cave Junction, Oregon (Miles to Date: 22360)

Back on the road again and moving north, we slipped just over the border of Oregon to the small town of Cave Junction- actually we are about 10 miles outside of the town in the middle of nowhere. Mark had planned this stay at the beginning of the tour and whilst many things had changed due to events, mostly out our control, this stop had remained constant. We are staying at the “Treesort” at the Out’n’About farm (you can see more about this place at http://www.treehouses.com/). We pulled the motor home off the paved road and took it down the extremely lumpy track leading to the Treesort and it almost shook the poor thing to death, things came flying out of the cupboards and at one point it felt as if the whole thing would tip over. When we pulled up Jack and Emily had no idea where we were and thought their mad parents had bought them to stay in a field. But once they saw the tree house we were staying in and the swings, the dogs and the horses that was it – we didn’t see them for the rest of the day. Emily of course was besotted by the dogs; Ginger, a gorgeous Chow/ German Shepard mix, Frida, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and Tank the Jack Russell.

Our home for the next few days is a tree house, quaintly named the Pleasantree, which is about 40 feet up in the air. To get to it you have to climb two spiral staircases and cross two very wobbly rope bridges. The tree house is very cosy with bunks for Jack and Emily and a mezzanine floor accessed by a ladder for the grown-ups. The mezzanine ceiling is very low (about 3 foot high) so space is a premium. Mind you we do have a sink, a toilet and a non-working shower in our tree house. Fortunately there is a spacious and welcoming guest house for us to retreat to and a cookhouse within which we rustle up our meals . Our favourite though is the fire pit that most guests collect around in the evening to chat while the children run riot around the farm yard. Luckily breakfast is included and the breakfast "fairy" serves up some wonderful food; quiche, frittata, delicious muffins and more.

Today, our second day at Treesort we decided to fill the children’s day up to keep them busy whilst the grown-ups just relaxed. So firstly we send them out on a horse ride with Tessa the owner’s daughter. Both Jack and Emily love horse riding and seemed totally unconcerned that they were going off on their own into the woods with a complete stranger. Around an hour later they return totally happy having tromped through the woods on their loyal steeds. In the afternoon we had arranged for them to take a class in mosaic tile making; this we considered to be part of their curriculum for art on our home-schooling schedule!!! Our final treat for the day was a course on zip wires. For those of you not familiar with this mode of transport it is a pretty simple, you put on a harness, climb to a high place, attach yourself to a wire and slide down. Easy!!! Well, on this day Out’n’About was being filmed by a crew from the Travel Channel making a programme called “Extreme Holidays” and we were to be a part of the filming. Joining us on this course we a lovely young couple, Rachel and Burt, from Washington State.

Being filmed was good and bad. Good- as it was exciting to be filmed, bad -in the sense of we had to do things at the pace of the filming process. The first couple of zip lines we went on were not too bad, the second of which meant climbing up a platform 25 feet off the ground and taking off. From here it got hairier. The next platform was 50 feet up a tree with no steps, the only way to get up (or so we thought) was to climb the tree (with ropes) or hoist yourself up on ropes. Jack was the first up, taking the climbing option, but he quite quickly decided he didn’t like this and was asking to come down. After some persuasion and help, Jack ,to his credit, made it to the top of the platform and gratefully took the zip wire down. Next was Emily who decided to haul herself up on the ropes and she slowly but surely made it up to the platform. The people running the course decided that there was no way that either of us grown-ups would make it up so we were taken up a hill and then put on a zip wire that hurtled us through the trees across the field to the platform where Emily and Jack had climbed. This platform was 50 feet up in the air and no more than about 5 feet square. By the time we Hoblets were on it with Rachel, Burt, the instructor and the lady from the film crew, another Rachel (who had a camera on her head) it was a crowded space and some of us – particularly Emily and Karen were terrified. One by one we took the zip line down to terra firma. By the end of the course we were glad to be down, but we had had the most wonderful, if somewhat terrifying experience.....and we can relive it all when the programme comes out later in the year!

DAY 227 WEDNESDAY 23rd APRIL 2008

Crescent City, CA (Miles to Date: 22300)

Rain, rain, rain and more rain! Yes ,it has been raining! Crescent City is the last “big” town on the Northern California coast line before crossing into Oregon. To be honest there is not a whole lot to Crescent City and in the drab wet weather it seems all the less appealing. The coast line here is rugged, with cliffs and beaches strewn with drift wood, cast up on strong Pacific storms. The beaches are great for beach combing and it would take a hearty person to brave the frigid and turbulent waters – especially at this time of year. Never mind this was a chance to catch up with the home schooling.

Today was an improvement over the previous day – there were some breaks in the rain so, being a bit cabin feverish after being trapped for most of yesterday inside the motor home, we decide to make a dash for freedom and took off down the coast towards the redwood forests to a place called “Trees of Mystery”. This is a classic case of making the most of one’s assets. This place is hard to miss, it is on Route 101 just outside of the town of Klamath, CA and has 100 foot high statue of Paul Bunyan, the legendary giant woodsman and his equally giant pet, Babe the giant blue ox. Beside the gargantuan statues is an equally impressively sized gift shop, where we pay our entry fee and enter the sodden redwood forest trail. Along the trail there are various arboreal oddities such as the Elephant, Candelabra and Lightning trees and spectacular examples of giant coast redwoods like the Brotherhood Tree and the majestic Cathedral Tree, where many weddings are held deep in the woods. At the top of the trail is another treat, a gondola sky ride that takes us up into the canopy high above the trees to the top of the mountain, offering spectacular views down in the valley. The ride is quite steep, so not for those who suffer from vertigo. The weather deteriorates again so we hurriedly beat a retreat down the mountain, quickly passing through a set of clever wood carvings created by chain saws depicting the tale of Paul Bunyan. It is too wet and cold to spend much time on this so we busy ourselves back into the gift shop where they supply all too sweet hot chocolate – but to us it tastes like nectar. Nicely warmed up we step into the museum, which is dedicated to the Native American nations. There is a section on each region of the USA, with a wonderful set of artefacts on all the major tribal nations. This collection was wonderful and was entirely due to the dedication of one woman’s effort over sixty years. In fact the museum’s collection rivalled all those we had seen in major metropolitan museums across the country!

To cap the day off we take a scenic drive along the catchily named Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, which takes us past some very impressive examples of coastal redwoods in the Prairie Creek State Park. We pull off to see the imaginatively named “Big Tree”, a 1500 year old redwood which is 340 feet high and 21feet in diameter. Apparently someone in the past wanted to reduce this magnificent tree to a dance room floor, but it was saved by the concerned public. Here we bump into Maree and Ray a nice couple from Australia who are themselves on an extended tour of the US, we spend a good amount of time chatting about travelling, educating children and a swath of other topics. One of the real pleasures of this trip has been meeting many wonderful people and exchanging experiences.Strange to think our blog made it onto their journal and is now in Australian homes too!