If you are wondering what we are doing in Arizona in October, it is because our next stop on Bill's work schedule is a string of sporting good store fixture work starting in San Diego, California, heading north through Los Angeles and finally up to San Luis Obispo. Then it is over to Las Vegas for two stores. The project will be over on November 12 and then we are not sure if there will be more work for Prime until after the New Year. This is where being on salary will definitely be nice!
We have applied and are waiting to hear back from two different Christmas tree companies -- one that has lot work open in three cities north of LA and the other which has potential openings in the Phoenix area. The work would run from the week of Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve and would pay out approximately $5000 for the two of us. Not bad for a month's work. The rig would be parked on the tree lot and have at least electric and water which would be far nicer than boondocking with the generator. It is possible too that the companies would provide a Porta Potty which would save us from buying and having to find a place to dump a Blue Boy septic tote.
We have decided that because Bill has work on the West Coast until the middle of November it does not pay for us to try to get to Amazon in Kansas much less Kentucky. Plans for where we will be spending the rest of the time off during the winter are still up in the air.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Bryce National Park Utah
We left the Salt Lake City area and headed south towards Bryce Canyon National Park. There are so many national parks, national forests, national monuments, state parks and so forth in Southern Utah that it would take a whole summer just to visit them all and do justice to the visit. So we picked the one that was the most on our route and decided to explore just Bryce Canyon during out first visit to that area.
http://www.nps.gov/brca
We took Hwy 89 south for the majority of the route and it was very scenic....
small ranches and farms, lots of twisting, turning creeks and, of course, beautiful mountains.
The day we picked to visit the Canyon had to be the first rainy day we had seen in over a month. Unfortunately the colors were not as bright or intense as the would have been on a sunny day but they were still breathtaking. The park itself is rather small with only 56.2 square miles and one road going the length of the park and back. The spires in the canyon are know as "hoodoos" and are formed when snow and ice wear down the soft limestone. The park experiences over 200 days a year below freezing which contributes to wearing down of the rock.
The park transcends 2000 feet in elevation and as such contains three different climate zones. Due to that fact there is a high amount of biodiversity and over 100 species of birds including the Stellar's Jay and mule deer.
http://www.nps.gov/brca
small ranches and farms, lots of twisting, turning creeks and, of course, beautiful mountains.
The day we picked to visit the Canyon had to be the first rainy day we had seen in over a month. Unfortunately the colors were not as bright or intense as the would have been on a sunny day but they were still breathtaking. The park itself is rather small with only 56.2 square miles and one road going the length of the park and back. The spires in the canyon are know as "hoodoos" and are formed when snow and ice wear down the soft limestone. The park experiences over 200 days a year below freezing which contributes to wearing down of the rock.
The park transcends 2000 feet in elevation and as such contains three different climate zones. Due to that fact there is a high amount of biodiversity and over 100 species of birds including the Stellar's Jay and mule deer.
Bill was quite happy to follow this buck mule deer quite a ways along the side of the road and the buck did not seem to mind one bit.
And who would have thought that the National Park Service has a quirky sense of humor!
We have decided that the South Eastern part of Utah would definitely be one area we would like to explore more of, possibly basing ourselves near Lake Powell and exploring outward in all directions.
Here is a bit of a visual travelogue driving the Bryce Canyon road south ascending to 9105 feet above sea level and then driving north back down to about 7000 feet. We decided to leave the area sooner than planned as it is starting to get a bit chilly at such high altitudes and snow was predicted within the next week or so.
And who would have thought that the National Park Service has a quirky sense of humor!
We have decided that the South Eastern part of Utah would definitely be one area we would like to explore more of, possibly basing ourselves near Lake Powell and exploring outward in all directions.Here is a bit of a visual travelogue driving the Bryce Canyon road south ascending to 9105 feet above sea level and then driving north back down to about 7000 feet. We decided to leave the area sooner than planned as it is starting to get a bit chilly at such high altitudes and snow was predicted within the next week or so.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Antelope Island Utah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope_Island
One day when we were still down in Salt Lake we took a trip over to Antelope Island. Antelope Island is a state park and is the largest island of the nine islands in the Great Salt Lake. The island is accessed by a 7 mile causeway from Syracuse, north of Salt Lake City and is 42 square miles in size. The island is home to the oldest Anglo built house in Utah called the Fielding Garr Ranch. The island is home to a herd of over 600 American bison as well as many other types of wildlife. The annual roundup of the herd is in late October but during our visit we were able to see some of them in the corrals as they had been rounded up for viewing by handicapped kids. We were allowed to walk around the corrals but were asked to do so quietly and carefully as the bison had just been put into the pens and many were very skittish. One park worker told us that when frightened they would charge the fencing so hard they would break their noses!
In the video you can see many areas where the Great Salt Lake is very low and dried up quite a distance from shore. We were told that it was because it was at the end of a long summer and Utah is notoriously dry. We think quite a bit has to do with the fact that everyone, and I mean everyone, waters their lawn constantly! Hello xeriscaping? Across the lake you are looking at the city of Salt Lake as well as the neighboring northern suburbs.
One day when we were still down in Salt Lake we took a trip over to Antelope Island. Antelope Island is a state park and is the largest island of the nine islands in the Great Salt Lake. The island is accessed by a 7 mile causeway from Syracuse, north of Salt Lake City and is 42 square miles in size. The island is home to the oldest Anglo built house in Utah called the Fielding Garr Ranch. The island is home to a herd of over 600 American bison as well as many other types of wildlife. The annual roundup of the herd is in late October but during our visit we were able to see some of them in the corrals as they had been rounded up for viewing by handicapped kids. We were allowed to walk around the corrals but were asked to do so quietly and carefully as the bison had just been put into the pens and many were very skittish. One park worker told us that when frightened they would charge the fencing so hard they would break their noses!
In the video you can see many areas where the Great Salt Lake is very low and dried up quite a distance from shore. We were told that it was because it was at the end of a long summer and Utah is notoriously dry. We think quite a bit has to do with the fact that everyone, and I mean everyone, waters their lawn constantly! Hello xeriscaping? Across the lake you are looking at the city of Salt Lake as well as the neighboring northern suburbs.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Happy Sight in Kanab
After stopping at Best Friends and then heading into Kanab for some lunch, we came upon an awesome sight. I had heard about carts or wheels or whatever you may call them for paralyzed pets but I had never seen one live in action. We had the absolute pleasure of meeting Cha Cha who was walking her human while in her Eddie's Wheels. You would have been amazed at the life in her! She was happy, bright eyed and raring to go. I am so grateful and happy that there is an organization like Healing Heart Sanctuary in Kanab that spends the time and reality tells us, the money, to make sure pets like Cha Cha who have so much more to give are able to do so!
http://www.healingheartsanctuary.org/
http://www.eddieswheels.com/
This is a condition near and dear to our hearts as our Pumpkin, the Bionic Cat, could have ended up in the same situation except for the expertise of Dr. Bruce at the Animal Referral Center in Appleton. Take a look at Cha Cha and know that she does not consider herself disabled one bit!
http://www.healingheartsanctuary.org/
http://www.eddieswheels.com/
This is a condition near and dear to our hearts as our Pumpkin, the Bionic Cat, could have ended up in the same situation except for the expertise of Dr. Bruce at the Animal Referral Center in Appleton. Take a look at Cha Cha and know that she does not consider herself disabled one bit!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Logan Back to Salt Lake City
http://www.jackpotnevada.com/index.html
One day in Jackpot we took a day trip up into Idaho with a stop at Miracle Hot Springs in Buhl.
http://www.mhsprings.com/home.html
After leaving the Jackpot area we stopped for the night in West Wendover Nevada which basically connects right to Wendover Utah....gambling in one city, no gambling and probably other fun things in the other. Wendover is the closest city to the Bonneville Salt Flats which were to have a huge race weekend the following weekend.
http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/bonneville_salt.htm
The Bonneville Salt Flats are part of ancient Lake Bonneville that was once the size of Lake Michigan. The salt flats were first encountered by white people when Jim Bridger, Kit Carson and other mountain men explored it starting in 1824. The infamous Donner party was warned not to try and cross the salt flats but decided to do so anyway. The result was one of the most horrific tragedies of migration to the Western United States when surviving members of the doomed wagon train resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party
As you can see although it may look like a frozen lake - that is the closest to a frozen lake I ever want to come to again - it is all salt. Dozey had a good time running around but we committed an unpardonable sin and forgot his Chuck it and tennis ball!
Behind on the Blog
I have been a bit lax on keeping up with the blog in the last month. The reason being is that I have gotten rather heavily involved in shelter rescue online. It is amazing but you really, really can make a difference just by networking with other like minded people and rescues! It is so sad and a real negative statement about our society that we would rather euthanized over 5 million cats and dogs annually rather than put our hearts and heads together and come up with better solutions!
One big solution obviously is to get your cats and dogs spayed and neutered. If you can't afford it all you need to do is search online for reduced or free programs or even just reach out online and help will be found for you. Another solution is to not buy your dogs from puppy mill breeders or chic, little pet stores in the mall who buy from puppy mills themselves. Vancouver just outlawed pet stores so maybe we need to follow our Canadian neighbors more. It is said that there will be 73 million people who will adopt a pet this year alone. When you factor in that 5 to 6 million animals are needlessly euthanized that means that there are people fighting over shelter pets! Please, please consider a shelter or rescue pet! You would give me back my mornings as well as save me a boatload of tears each and every day!
One big solution obviously is to get your cats and dogs spayed and neutered. If you can't afford it all you need to do is search online for reduced or free programs or even just reach out online and help will be found for you. Another solution is to not buy your dogs from puppy mill breeders or chic, little pet stores in the mall who buy from puppy mills themselves. Vancouver just outlawed pet stores so maybe we need to follow our Canadian neighbors more. It is said that there will be 73 million people who will adopt a pet this year alone. When you factor in that 5 to 6 million animals are needlessly euthanized that means that there are people fighting over shelter pets! Please, please consider a shelter or rescue pet! You would give me back my mornings as well as save me a boatload of tears each and every day!
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