Monday, March 22, 2010 - Panguitch, Utah to Bryce Canyon to Tropic, Utah

We checked out of our hotel this morning and decided to make the 18 mile drive up to Panguitch Lake which turned out to be a very pretty drive. The lake was still froze - in fact there were ice shanty's on the lake yet. We went back to Panguitch and had a delicious breakfast (probably the best breakfast we have had in a restaurant since we left home).
From there we headed to Bryce Canyon and we decided to do a 3 mile hike from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point in Bryce Canyon. There is still snow there and so the hike in was a little slippery but not to bad. We were glad that we had our hiking boots on and our walking sticks along with us as we slipped and slided our way into the canyon. Once again the weather was fantastic with the sun shining and the views of the Hoodoo's all around us. At one point we were about a half a mile from the end of the hike and John decided that we should go on a different trail so that we would hike on the trail that Bryce Canyon has called Wall Street. This was a beautiful trail but as we started to climb up out of the canyon the path was very slippery. You literally had to take your boot and kick into the snow each step so that you wouldn't slide back down. We did this almost all the way back up on the trail until we got to the last few switchbacks that didn't have snow on them because the trail was exposes to the sun during the day.
Once we were done with the hike we decided to unload our bike and go for a short ride so that we could say that we biked in Bryce Canyon. Yes, our biking friends will understand this. We only biked about 3 miles because it was getting later in the day and it was getting colder (especially on the downhill rides).
From there we headed towards Escalante Canyon and we are spending the night in a little town called Tropic in Utah.
Tonight I am anxious to crawl in bed (to sleep). John finally wore me out today!
Happy Trails!

Sunday, March 21st, 2010 - Zion to Page, Arizona to Panguitch, Utah

This morning we checked out of the Bumbleberry Inn and headed to Page, Arizona. We stopped at Carmel Junction and ate breakfast and put gas in the car. We had a 1:30 appointment for the tour. Upon arriving at Page at 10:45 we went to see if we could get on an earlier tour. They had room so John and I went on the 11:30 tour out to Antelope Canyon. We rode in the back of a pickup truck that had seating for 14 people. The first three miles was on paved roads but the last three were on a sand wash and quite bumpy and very soft and fine sand. I loved it!

We had seen pictures of Antelope Canyon but didn't think we would be seeing anything that was comparable to the pictures that had been taken by professional photographers. We were pleasantly shocked and surprised at this incredible 1/4 mile slot canyon. Words cannot describe the beauty of this slot canyon and the way it weaves through the canyon with some narrower passages (20 feet wide at the widest and 5 feet at the narrowest and probably 300 feet deep). There is light shining periodically from above that cast such a beautiful glow on the canyon walls. We took so many pictures but of course pictures don't show the depth and character of the rock as well as we had hoped. Martin was our guide and he was very informative and responded to all of our questions regarding the area and that canyon.

After our tour we went and had lunch and then went to Lake Powell and the dam and did some site seeing. After that we headed to Panguitch where we will spend the evening and then go to Bryce Canyon tomorrow morning.

Happy Trails!

Saturday, March 20th, 2010 - Zion National Park - hiking and biking

Note: The picture of our bike with the mountain in the back ground and the "Life is Good" is for all our biking friends!

We woke up to a clear bright sun shiny day - about 40 degrees. John decided to do the Angel Landing hike and I decided to do laundry and then hike up to meet John. John started out hiking about 8:45AM and it was a beautiful hike, outstanding scenery, very exhilarating, and very little snow left (only in shaded areas on the mountain top). There were about a dozen other people at the very top of Angel's Landing with John. John asked someone to take his picture and then he recipricated by taking their picture for them. For anyone that enjoys hiking under extremely exposes conditions (exposed to drop off and cliffs as much as 1200 ft) - this is the hike that he would recommend. Extra panoramic views from the top and a great place to reflect on life. The hike up took John about 2 hours and 15 minutes - the hike down about an hour and 10 minutes. I met John by Refrigerator Canyon and then we decided to go back down so we could go biking.

Although our biking mileage has been rather limited we feel that today's biking has made up for the hassle of having to transport our bike 3,000 miles. Today's 34 miles were some of the most beautiful scenery on the face of the earth, as far as we are concerned. Once again the sun was shining, the Virgin river flowing alongside the road, and the beautiful scenery made for an incredible bike ride.

After biking the entire corridor, twice, we drove it and realized that you don't get to see nearly as much in a vehicle as you do on our bike with no vision restrictions. We also saw a number of men rock climbing on perfectly vertical rock as much as 1400 feet above the road way. Today's bike ride was one of the finest rides we have had in all of our 11,000 miles of biking on our tandem.

In the evening we got cleaned up and took a walk downtown to a restaurant and had dinner. After that we were tuckered out and content to go back and spend the rest of the evening in our room. Tomorrow is another day! We have decided to drive to Page, Arizona to take a tour out to Antelope Canyon!

One of the things I wanted to add, as I was walking up to Refrigerator Canyon to meet John I had stopped on one of the switch backs to catch my breath. Here comes a little oriental gal (probably in her early 60's) walking around the corner and she was out of breath. I said hi and said it's a tough climb huh! She commented, yes, I am trying to jog up it and it is very hard. Here I had been feeling sorry for her. Anyway, she then started to jog up the switch backs and I felt rather stupid. lol Later in the day as John and I went biking in the corridor we passed her several times and she was still jogging. I commented to John that she must be Forest Gumps mother (Run Forest Run). After we were done biking and loaded up the car and heading back to the hotel we came upon this same gal jogging alongside the road. We stopped and I asked her how many miles she had jogged or walked that day and she said once she gets back to the lodge she will have done 21 miles. I could not believe it - I mean she was jogging up the switch backs to Refrigerator Canyon/Scouts Landing and then when she came down she went jogging on the road. What a amazing person! I have added her picture to our photo gallery!

Happy Trails!

Friday, March 19th St. George to Snow Canyon Park to Zion

What a great day! This morning we checked out of the hotel and drove our car back to the St. George Visitor Center. We unloaded the bike and spent several hours biking on the beautiful bike trails that St. George has to offer. It is unbelievable how many paved bike trails that weave in and around St. George. While biking we stopped and spoke with a couple that had been walking on the trail and they recommended that we go to the Palms RV park to see about renting a place in St. George next winter for several months. Well, we have our name on the list but not certain if we will be able to get in or not. The gal at the Palms recommended that we check at the Rio Virgin complex and so we went there and spoke with Herb. He only rents out his units with a 1 year lease and if he can't get them all rented we would be able to get one for a couple of months then. He said to give him a call back in November. This is such a beautiful area and offers so many paved bike trails and hiking of all kinds. Mountains in every direction.

After that we drove out to the Snow Canyon Park (outside of St. George) and noticed that there are paved bike trails all the way out there and through out the park. It was extremely windy this afternoon so instead of biking John and I spent several hours hiking and climbing up and over rocks. It is a beautiful park. To all of our biking friends, if you want to bike some beautiful paved trails we would strongly recommend the St. George area. We only biked on a few and hope to come back to do some more exploring on there paved trails.

From there we headed up to Springdale, Utah where we are spending the evening. We stayed at the Bumbleberry Inn again. Tomorrow we are planning on biking in Zion and also do some hiking - John wants to do Angels Landing again - I will hike up to Scouts Landing and then wait for him to come back from Angel - Angel is definitely more than I can handle with the drop offs. We will probably also spend tomorrow night in Zion and then head towards Bryce Canyon on Sunday. We were told that Bryce Canyon got 3 feet of snow last Saturday.

So many times over the last month John and I have wondered what we did in our life to be able to deserve this type of a vacation. It has been wonderful and each day is a new wonderful adventure. We are definitely having a wonderful time together and getting to see so much of the southwest. We truly are blessed!

Happy Trails!

Thursday, March 18th -2010 Mesquite, Nevada to St. George, Utah

We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning in Mesquite and didn't bother to eat breakfast because we were still full from dinner last night. We put on our bike clothes and went biking and biked approx. 15 miles (all over Mesquite). We had to check out of the hotel so we went and cleaned up, loaded up, and headed towards St. George. While loading up the bike John had put the cable lock on the back bumper of the car and we ended up driving away without the bike cable lock. Approx. 20 miles down the road he remembered that he hadn't put it on the bike.
If you have never driven Highway I15 from Mesquite to St. George you are missing out on a beautiful scenic drive through the Virgin River Gorge. As we were driving I had mentioned to John that we should really go back and drive it again. Little did I know that we had left our bike cable lock back in Mesquite and when John remembered it we turned around and went back to Mesquite (Oasis Hotel) for the cable lock for our bike. Not really thinking that we would find it. When we got back there we found out that the cleaning lady had picked it up off the pavement and we were able to get it back. So we got to drive back through the Virgin River Gorge again.
We arrived in St. George, Utah around 2:00PM and went to the Visitor Center to find out if there were any paved biked trails in the area. The gentleman there gave us a map and told us that there are a number of beautifully paved bike trails around the St. George area. We were excited to get checked into our hotel and get on our biking clothes and get out and check out the bike paths. The sky was a beautiful blue and the temperature is in the mid 60's and we can see the beautiful snow capped mountains off in the distance. You couldn't ask for any better biking conditions and we had such a great time.
The bike trail was along the Virgin River and wound around the St. George area. We took a lot of pictures. On our ride we stopped and talked with one of the locals (very talkative older gentleman) and he suggested that we go to the "Pizza Factory" for supper as it was the best place around. He was right!
Tonight as we were walking back from the restaurant you could see the dark clouds moving in and the wind picking up. It may not be a good day for biking tomorrow (according to the weather forecast) so we may sleep and then pack up and head for Zion National Park and hopefully get to do some hiking. From there we will probably head to Bryce Canyon (however, we were told they got 3 foot of snow last Saturday) and then on to Moab, Utah.

Happy Trails!

Wednesday, March 17th - Las Vegas to Mesquite, Nevada

We woke up and had breakfast with Greg & Deb and loaded up the car and headed for Mesquite, Nevada. On Tuesday I had gone to the AT&T store and they gave me a new phone, however, when I plugged it in on Monday night it wouldn't charge. So as we headed out of Vegas we stopped at the AT&T distribution center (again) and got my phone fixed - they gave me a new battery.
On the way to Mesquite we noticed a sign advertising the Valley of Fire Park and decided to stop and see what there was to see. We were very happy that we had as it was a beautiful scenic drive and also we did a little hiking. Well worth the time if you are ever in the area. One of the things that John and I have noticed about this trip is that we realize that we do not have to go or do anything if we don't want to. This is the first time (in a long time - if ever) we have had this type of freedom and we are enjoying every minute of it.
Once we arrived in Mesquite we found a reasonable hotel and unpacked and then put on bike clothes and went biking. Mesquite is a beautiful desert town with a very nice bicycle trail and lots of side streets to bike on with beautiful homes. We put on 12 miles and then went to the Virgin River Casino/hotel for dinner.
We stayed at the Oasis Casino/hotel (same one we stayed at with Patti & Jerry Brecke a few years ago). We were surprised to find out that the hotel was open but that the casino had been closed due to the economy in this area.
After dinner I played the slots for a while and John went to the hotel room and spent some time highlighting the route in our atlas that we have driven since we left home.

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 - Las Vegas

John and Greg got up early and had breakfast and then headed to Red Rock Canyon Park to do a 5 mile round trip hike of Turtlehead Mountain. The climb was 2000 vertical feet so John got a real good work out. John said that Greg would make a good drill Sargent as he set a pretty aggressive pace. John really enjoyed himself and said that the hike was amazing.
I slept in until around 8:30 and then Deb and I took a walk to the AT&T store as my cell phone wasn't working. When the guys got back we had a lunch and then sat out by the pool for a while before we headed down to the strip. Around 3:00 or so we hopped in the car and headed to a bike shop and then the AT&T distribution center (trying to get my phone fixed) and then on down to the Strip. We walked around the Strip for a while and then went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.
On our way back to Greg & Deb's we stopped for a few minutes at Stacy and Jeff's home (Greg & Debbie's daughter) to visit with them for a bit.
We were all pretty tuckered so we said good night early to get a good night sleep.