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Sorry we haven’t posted in a while but we have both been a bit under the weather with colds and are trying to get back to 100%.  We are now in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, at the Blackwell Island RV Park where our 60 day Alaska Tour will begin next week.  We left Bear Den RV Park in Grangeville, Idaho, four days ago where as you can see, we took a picture of an Aspen tree which was on our site.  We had to include this picture because of what we learned about these trees from a previous tour guide who pointed out the “eyeballs” or what looks like eyeballs on the bark of these trees.  He said that many people will not even pee in the woods because they feel like they are being stared at. (Hey, it was funny when he said it!)  Can you imagine a forest of eyeballs staring at you?

The trip through Idaho was quite a change in scenery from red rock and mountains to beautifully rolling hills with gorgeous evergreens, cattle, horses, and the greenest grass you can imagine.   We passed so many huge farms and ranches along the way.  We traveled Hwy. 95 and followed most of the Little Salmon River through quaint small towns full of fishermen, boondockers, cowboys, steak eaters and believe it or not coffee houses.  We could not believe the coffee cafes and drive-ins  in this part of the country that have more combinations than Starbucks can even imagine.  Who knew?  This ride to Coeure d’Alene was something new around each curve and we are really looking forward to the next part of the trip.  Aren’t you?

A really good surprise today. Cary chose an RV park in Idaho which was on the way to the city where we will start our tour to Alaska. He chose a park  in Eden Idaho which is about 15 miles from Twin Falls ID. We went into Twin Falls where we ended up at a place called Shoshone Falls. Cary knows  I love water falls. It is called the “Niagara of the West”. It is gorgeous  as you can see in the pictures. In fact the falls drop 212 feet to the canyon floor which is actually 50ft further than Niagara Falls on the US side. What a beautiful spot with a lot of history. The river  produces hydroelectric power to help irrigate the fertile farm lands. The irrigation system seem’s to run 24/7.  To add to this we drove down to a bridge called the Perrin Bridge. The bridge overlooks a deep canyon and is the only bridge where it is legal for base jumpers  to jump year round. We watched several  of them pack their parachutes  and walk to the center of the bridge, climb over the railing and JUMP. It was explained to us that since the drop is so short they must pull the cord with in 4 seconds and steer clear of the Snake River below in order to land on a flagged spot. You can see from the pictures that we stayed quite a while and watched them and of course Cary wondered why anyone would jump off a perfectly good bridge. This was quite a day for surprises and so enjoyable.  Our country has so many beautiful places that are there for us to enjoy and sometimes overlooked.

We arrived in Salt Lake City, UT  and the following day took a shuttle to Temple Square. We were fortunate to attend a live performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  We toured the grounds and learned so much about the history of the Mormons. The tabernacle is a domed building and the acoustics are so astounding that in perfect silence  a pin dropped can be heard throughout the tabernacle.  The pipe organ has  over 11,000 pipes and is the 12th largest pipe organ in the world. The statue of Christ which is called Christus was so inspiring.  This was a great day.

Just a few pictures of our time in Las Vegas, NV.  Not what we are accustom to, but exciting anyway. Gambled a few dollars and managed to pay for our dinners out. Did not arrive rich and did not leave rich. One positive we did get to  see the Jersey boys show and what a show. Worth every thing we spent. On to Salt Lake City, UT.

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Here we are at Zion NP, and I would have to agree with a friend that out of all the NP’s in Utah  Zion was the most beautiful. Even the drive through a little town called Springdale just added to the trip. We did not enter through the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel. We were a little skeptical about the size limit as well as the fee. Zion has a great shuttle system just like the other  parks. Once again you can see the differences between this park and all the others. We hiked to the riverwalk which is called the Temple of Sinawava, and hiked along the Virgin river to the beginning of the Narrows which is a hike through the river at the bottom of a narrow canyon. On this particular day the Narrows were closed because of a threat of flash flooding which happens quite often.  As you can see in the picture  I happened upon a “knot on a log”  on the way so he joined me for the hike.(heehee)  Also I did get a good picture of a deer walking around the visitors center like he was a tourist. The squirrels at the park seemed trained because every time they would approach a human they would stand up and beg. You can guess what people are doing and shouldn’t be.    Zion was gorgeous  and we would have had to stay for days to be able to see it all.

Our next destination was Bryce Canyon. We found a great RV park called Ruby’s Inn and RV park in Bryce Canyon City, UT. The best part was the grass patio. It was the first time GiGi got to potty  on grass for weeks.We took the shuttle into Bryce Canyon and hiked the Sunset Trail which takes you to the high points of the Grand Staircase. All of the National Parks are unique and  Bryce presented us to the “Hoodoo’s” which are the main attraction. They look like tentacles and have many different shapes.  We also took a  3.5 hour tour starting at the end of the scenic road and stops at all view points for pictures on the way down. The tour was excellent and we even caught a picture of a Stellar Jay and several Ravens. The tour guide was great and humorous. He explained about the history, animals, plants and rock formations. It was a great park and a great day.

We decided to step out of our safety bubble today and rented a jeep to go to Canyonlands National Park.  So much fun and I don’t think we could have seen all the beauty of this park without riding from the top of the canyons to the bottom.  The steep switchbacks on the Schafer Trail were outrageous but the view was more than that.  The biggest trick is when you meet an oncoming vehicle and have to find the widest point of the road (if you can) and wait.  Unbelievable the amount of vehicles which includes bicycles, dirt bikes, jeeps and razors that do this.  That reminds me that we waited on a Dune Buggy to pass near the bottom and the driver stopped to thank us and said “there are eight more behind me.”  We could have eaten lunch in the amount of time we waited.  Well, you can see in these pictures how beautiful it is and the best part is that I only threatened to hurt Cary one time and that was when I was doing a video on the way down and he grabbed the phone to video with one hand and steer with the other – of course that was when the steepest part was on MY side.  We also passed the place where they filmed the ending of the movie Thelma and Louise and stopped along the bottom to see the mighty Colorado River and the Indian petroglyphs on the rocks.  Nearby is Arches National Park with the popular balancing rock and double arch, but after Canyonlands it was not quite as much as we expected.  We had great weather and it was a great day !

We left Williams AZ on to Blanding, Utah. We tried to get reservations in Moab, UT which is next on the list, but due to an antique car show we couldn’t get a site until Monday 5/2. The drive was fantastic. These pictures were taken by Toni out of  window of the truck. We stopped for lunch in Monument Valley and just took in the view. Also passed Mexican Hat. You can see the road up ahead. WOW.