Day 14

To cheap to pay $6.00 for WiFi, so will blog from my phone. We left St. George around 10:00 this morning and headed to Las Vegas, arriving a couple of hours later. Did gain an hour when we went from Mountain to Pacific time. Relaxed and now watching the Giants. Hope they can close out this series.

Tomorrow is a long drive to Bakersfield.  Gwen and Mike are supposed to meet us there for dinner. They'll start out from St. George.

Going from breathtaking drive through mountains 

To the flatlands 

Sam relaxing after the drive 

Day 13

Well, last day in St. George.  Five days just flew by.  This morning we left around 10:00 to go watch our pickleballers play in the mixed doubles tournament.  Marcia and Bob Umberger were one team and Pat Fidler and Dick Juarez were the other.  Pat and Dick had a difficult time and lost their first two games pretty quickly.  Marcia and Bob came close to winning the first of their match with a score of 12-10.  The second game they also lost. This put them in the loser's bracket and they had to play each other.  It's a one game match and Dick and Pat won that.  However, they lost their next match and were out of the tournament.   All four played really well and I think are looking forward to maybe coming back next year.

We only stayed for the first set and then went to lunch with Marcia and Rudy Lara at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant.  It is a chain out West and in Southern California.  Very Southern menu.   Also has a gift shop attached and we managed to escape buying anything.

From lunch we went to Jacob Hamblin's home.  He was born in 1819 and was a Western pioneer, Mormon missionary and diplomat to various Native American tribes.  Rex is a descendent of Jacob Hamblin and was hoping to gain more information as to just how he is related.  Unfortunately the gentleman who was leading our tour was unable to answer Rex's questions.



 

This evening we gathered again to watch the Giant's win.  Our group was smaller as four of our
couples departed today.  Tomorrow five of us head out, leaving only Gwen and Mike here.  They will meet up with us on Friday in Bakersfield.



Marcia and Dick



 Dick and Pat

Jacob Hamblin's home

His saddle where he logged many hours

Great room

 

Dormitory

St. George Mormon Temple

Gwen, Mike, Sue and Rex at start of game. 

Marcia and Rudy and Cheryl and Dick joined us later

Day 12

Not too much to blog about tonight.  Rex, Jan and Pete played golf this morning and Sue and I went to the outlet mall.  It is fairly small but we managed to find a few things we couldn't do without.  Kitchen stores are always fun to shop in.   I did get to drive a jeep for the first time.  Jan and Pete use that as their tow car and since Rex drove his truck to the golf course, they left their keys with Sue.  Hadn't driven a stick shift for quite a while, but I managed. 

Since a few of our group were going to a concert tonight, we had our potluck at 5:00.  Marcia and Rudy provided the main course of a pasta dish and chile relleno  It was delicious.  Everyone else supplied side dishes and dessert.  Thanks to the wonderful Carmel Apple Oatmeal Crisp that we had when we went to Liz and Marcia's cabin a few weeks ago, I volunteered t make that for the meal.  It was such a success that I was told to post it on Facebook so all could copy it.  Thank you again Marcia and Rudy for doing that.  It has gotten to be a tradition for our annual trip.

After dinner, those that stayed behind, sat and watched the Giants defeat St. Louis.  Tomorrow we have a couple of sightseeing places to visit and then on Thursday we will start our trek home.  This was actually the last night we all will be together.  Some leave tomorrow and some stay after we leave.  I am sure we are all trying to come up with plans for our trip next year.

Food line

Panoramic of our group

 

Day 11

Today started early since our pickleball members had matches at 8:00 A.M.  Marcia and Pat were partners and Bob and Dick were partners.  They all played very well, but lost their matches.  Since they had never been here before, they didn't know how to rank themselves.  If they come again, they now know at what level to play.  Their next match will be mixed doubles Wednesday morning.

Mike, Gwen, Elaine, Jan, Pete, Sue, Rex and I decided to go out to.  Jan and Pete are very familiar with St. George and recommended Café Rio.  It is kind of like a Chipolte or Freebirds, but much better.  They even make their tortillas. Excellent food.

After lunch we had our daily Mexican Train game and this time I was the winner.  Yesterday my score was over 500.

Before we left on our trip, Jan had suggested we go to the Tuacahn Amphitheatre and see the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid.  The theater is in the middle of a canyon and it takes your breath away.  I can't describe how beautiful it is and the show was just as spectacular. Our group was eleven women and we went to dinner before the show.  I am so glad I made this trip.

NOTE:  It was late last night and the internet connection was poor, so didn't post this blog.

Pickleball players (l-r) Pat, Marcia, Bob and Dick

Pat serving

Players and their fans

Dinner with the ladies before The Little Mermaid

Panoramic view of Tuacahn Amphitheatre

Intermission

Day 9

Today we left Bryce Canyon (32 degrees at 7:30 this morning) and arrived at St. George (about 81 degrees at 12:30 P.M.).  It felt really good!  St. George is a much larger city with all the stores and restaurants we are used to in Roseville.  We are here for the Senior Olympics and to cheer on some of the RV group who are playing pickleball.  Since I don't have a tow vehicle, Rex put his truck next to my motorhome.  We are using his space as a place to gather, one of our favorite past times.  Today was also Rex's birthday (again - we celebrated it last year in Albuquerque). We decided to go to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  After dinner we sat outside and watched the Giants beat St. Louis

Our group is finally almost together.  Mike, Gwen and Elaine and Marcia and Rudy will be here tomorrow.  Don't know yet what our plans are for tomorrow.  We are here for five nights.  

 

On the road from Bryce Canyon to Interstate 15

Gunny (r) sharing Sam's mat

 



(l-r) Dave, Bob, Marcia, Pat, Ted, and Jacquie

(l-r) Me, Dick, Cheryl, Jan, Pete, Sue, Linda, and Rex

Day 8

Today people went their own way. Some went hiking on different trails and Jan, Sue and I went shopping.  Was very excited to be able to find something for my kids and grandkids. Hope I did better than last year. It was a general store and had souvenirs, a post office and groceries. After shopping, Sue and I decided not to wait for St. George to do laundry and we were glad we didn't. Sue said it was the nicest laundromat in an RV park that she has  experienced. Makes you really appreciate having your own at home as you feed the machines with quarters.  After lunch Jan, Sue and I played another round of Mexican Train while the guys sat around and visited.  It was a beautiful afternoon with not a cloud to be seen.  It will be nice to get to St. George tomorrow and some warmer weather.  This morning it was 27 degrees outside when Rex and a couple of the guys got up and sat around having their coffee.  Only warmed to the low 60's.  Guess that is to be expected when you are at over 8,000 feet.

 

Panoramic view of our Laundromat

Mexican train  with Sue and Jan

 

Pete, Mike and Rex enjoying the weather

Sam taking a little siesta

Day 6

Today was moving on to the next place day, but first Mike wanted Linda and me to go through Zion to the other side to see the difference in the landscape, and he was right.  It looks very different.  Mike was a fabulous guide and we stopped at many view points.  We even experienced a motorhome going through the tunnel.  They shut it down on the other end and we followed it through.  It was very obvious that he needed more than the usual car lane.  There were three "windows" cut into the tunnel and we stopped on the way back and took pictures from the car.  No one was following us obviously.  Since we weren't sure how long we would be gone, we all decided that Sue and Rex and Jan and Pete should go ahead and leave for Bryce when they were ready.  They actually left about 15 minutes before we returned.   While Mike was pulling in his slides in preparation to leave, one wouldn't go in.  We sat around and watched while he attempted to fix it, but finally he decided he needed a repair person.  Mike insisted that we all leave since  help was on the way, so Jacquie and Dave, Linda and Woody and I  headed out.  It's a 2 1/2 hour drive and when we reached Bryce Canyon, Gwen (Mike's wife) texted and said they were finally leaving. Hopefully that is the only problem any of us has on the trip.  Thank you again, Mike, for a great tour.

 

(l-r) Dave, Linda, Jacquie and Mike

 

Some of the different landscape

 

Road we came up

 

Area where sand has worn away and left the start of an arch

 

Window from outside of the tunnel

 

Window from inside the tunnel



Day 5

Today was a quiet day.  Rex, Jan and Pete played golf while Sue, Linda and I went shopping in Springdale.  Bought a couple of items I absolutely needed (ha).  We leave for Bryce Canyon tomorrow, but before leaving, Mike is going to take Linda and me for a ride through Zion Canyon and the tunnel to the other side where they say the landscape is completely different.  Our GPS wants us to go through this tunnel, but in order to do that in an RV, you have to make a reservation and I believe there is a charge.  When it is your turn, they stop the traffic in both directions because the tunnel isn't large enough.  You take up both lanes.  We will go an alternate route to Bryce.





 

Linda (l), Sue (r)

Panoramic picture of mountain behind Linda and Sue

 

Day 4

Today started our rather early – 8:15 a.m.  Jacquie and Dave, Jan and Pete and I went back to Springdale to catch our Cliffs and Canyons Backcountry tour.  Our guide, Zack, was very informative and we learned a lot about the area settlers, and geological wonders.  It is a tour that only a small percentage of visitors to Zion Canyon get to see.  At the summit we had a 270 degree view of Zion Canyon.  We also visited Grafton - a ghost town.  Zack informed us that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed in Grafton.  When we returned to the RV Park our first duty was to walk six dogs.  Our other friends, Gwen, Elaine, Mike, Linda, Sue and Rex (my sister and brother-in-law), had gone on the Narrows hike and didn't return until around 4:00 p.m.  Needless to say, they were happy to see us.  Wish I had taken a picture of them.  Tomorrow some are playing golf, some hiking and Sue, Linda and I will probably visit some of the local shops.  

Our mode of transportation

Ghost town of Grafton

Great rock formations

and canyons

 

 The back of this house is all windows.  What a view!

 

Day 3

This is my first blog, but our third night out.  I left on Friday with part of our group going to St. George, Utah for the Senior Olympics.  Our first night was in Bakersfield, followed by a night in Las Vegas.  This morning we left and arrived in the afternoon at Virgin River, Utah.  Several of our group are going on a hike tomorrow in the Narrows in Zion.  It is a several mile walk in the water to where you reach a point where you can touch both sides of the canyon wall.  As you know, hiking is not my thing, so four others and I are going on a "Cliffs and Canyons Backcountry" tour on an open air bus/truck.  Should get some spectacular pictures.

 

View from dog park at RV park

My home for next couple of days