2001 to 2005: 2003

Friday, October 31, 2003

2003 – 04 . . . First 2003 Entry - Getting Back to Our Lives

Well, my proposed two year sabbatical has come to an end. A lot of my anxiety about "being bored" has subsided and the yearly summer projects have helped me remember why I wanted to take the time in the first place. Certainly my attitude has changed for this, our third year out. Our travels ARE our chosen lifestyle. The fifth wheel feels like HOME and when we are not home, we stay in the Condo.

Our Summer 2003 was a rather not travelling summer. Again, we went to the RV Lifestyle Seminar in Kelowna but this time we were able to present a session (Relationships on the Road) following some interesting research over last winter. We always gain useful information there and manage to reconnect, as well as, meet new friends.

Our plan was to spend time up in the mountains . . . BUT . . . with all the fires, we got "invited out" the last week in July and the only other trip we took was to revisit Writing-on-Stone with Lifestyle Seminar friends to collect more petroglyph information and check out the old grain elevators that are quickly vanishing.

I did work on my "Manoeuvring the Career Lattice" E-manual and thought it was ready to go, only to realise (with help from my friends) that it really was just a hard copy version that could be downloaded and worked on the computer . . . so . . . scrap that . . . the next challenge is to make it a REAL interactive e-manual. There goes that learning curve again . . . JavaScript, Compiling an e-Book . . . and on it goes!! Fred spent most of the summer collecting all kinds of information for our next travel adventures.

firstep Human Resource Services officially suspended operations on July 31, 2003 and the work I've done has been on my own. My CPP kicked in August and we will continue this life as long as we can . . . as long as health and money permits.

We left later this year (and later than we should have) with the thought that we could extend our time in the spring . . . the weather was not co-operative!! Storms and cold before we left . . . cold travelling . . . all kinds of cold records set . . . COLDEST NIGHT IN HISTORY for that date in Dillon, Montana on November 6th.

Learned things:
1. Never wait til November to leave
2. Never pay attention to past weather statistics
3. Check the batteries in the camera before we leave.

Revisiting Zion

Somehow, Zion keeps calling us back. It is so spectacular and looks entirely different this time of year. Some of the leaves were just turning . . . yellows and reds against all the colour in the rocks . . . the shapes and the textures! WOW! There is no shuttle this time of year, so we were able to wander around on our own through the Canyon and over into the Kolob area (north west corner of Zion National Park).

Virgin River

We moved onto Virgin River Recreation area which is actually in Arizona (Arizona juts out in between Utah and Nevada for about 30 miles) and stayed there for a couple of days. We set up overlooking the Virgin River and our view was an incredible red streaked rock formation interspersed with cactus and desert brush - some that were still hanging onto their flowers. We made friends with this tiny, little chipmunk with a short fluffy tail (he loved the corn flakes we fed him and he was quite brazen about coming back for more) and the resident Road Runner who didn't seem to mind us invading his space and loved little bits of hamburger.

Into Nevada

And then there is Mesquite, NV. We stayed on the dry camping area at the Virgin River Casino and met some neat folks, as well as, a couple who actually live there. What, this is the third year I have tried to understand why we prefer the dry camping areas as opposed to the RV Parks and here we go again. Theres no questions "it's mainly because of the people"! It seems the people who stay on the dry camping areas enjoy socializing, helping and getting to know each other while the folks in the RV Parks tend to keep to themselves and stay inside their RV . . . I do enjoy the spirit!! Anyway, the food is good and cheap ($4.95 for Prime Rib) but it is loud, bright and noisy, so it was nice to leave, besides which we were starting to lose. We did manage to get out of there (three days including food) for about $3.00.

A couple of decades ago, Mesquite was nothing but a quiet little town just into Nevada. It had maybe one small casino. Today it's busy and bustling with four large casinos & hotels and more on the way. It seems to be a good stopping off place for folks coming from the north - the weather is usually very agreeable and a good place to warm up.

We missed the Valley of Fire again because the truck developed quite a vibration and we wanted to get to a place where we could get service, if we had to . . . so . . . onto visit with friends in Las Vegas. You know . . . it is almost impossible to NOT visit Casinos in Las Vegas. We stayed over the American Thanksgiving week-end and I absolutely shutter at the extreme commercialization - after Thanksgiving Day shopping push to start buying presents for Xmas. I get the image of the "hawkers" we have encountered in Central America and Indonesia. Here we have hawking, American-style . . . bombardment via radio, television, billboards, people handing things out on the streets, and on and on and on. Mind you, there are also some wonderful decorations like at the Bellagio.

We'll be carrying on southward come in the next couple of days. I wanted to get this page uploaded while we have good access to the Internet!

Monday, March 10, 2003

2002 – 03 . . . Episode 10 - Zion, at Last!!

Zion National Park has a special significance for us. It was over three years ago that we had to forego our return visit to the park to get back to Calgary to start a project that we found out (when we hit the Canadian border) was put on hold!! It was that happening that set off this great adventure for us. I became overwhelmed with the sense the I just wasn't having fun anymore and needed to do something different!! Not that I didn't like what I was doing but I felt like I was being controlled by situations and circumstances that were beyond my control.

This is when we started getting rid of all our belongings (the stuff we had accumulated over the past 30+ years), put the house up for sale and started planning for a future to bring the fun back into our lives.

Zion is a National Park in Utah north-west of the Grand Canyon. The Virgin River is to Zion Canyon what the Colorado River is to the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is absolutely awesome . . . Zion Canyon feels more intimate . . .

up-close and personal. Rather than the spectacular view from the rims of the Canyon (like the Grand Canyon), in Zion, you are in the Canyon looking up at the rims.

People actually climb mountains like this . . . straight up! Climbing is one of the favourite activities (No, we didn't try!!) and the hiking trails are everywhere.

When we were first there, we drove the Canyon road and up along the switch back highway towards Mount Carmel as well as the Canyon road. Because of the high volume of traffic, private vehicles are no longer allowed

along the Canyon and they have introduced a shuttle bus. The bus takes visitors up through the Canyon making about 10 interesting or scenic stops. At each stop you can get out, explore the area, take a hike or whatever and then catch another shuttle to take you further or back.

Our major hike and exploring was at the Temple of Sinawava, which is the last shuttle stop at the head of the Canyon. It's not a long strenuous hike but so much to see!!

The trail head starts at the narrows . . . then progresses into a marshy area along the river.

From there you travel along right up close to the rocks.

Our little friends were there to help guide and entertain us.

Zion . . . our last but definitely not least adventure on this trip! It was everything we hoped it would be.

We happily travelled on back to Canada with only a horrendous wind (around Helena) and rain (Great Fall right into Lethbridge) to contend with.

Thursday, February 20, 2003

2002-03 . . . Episode 9 - The Desert is more than Sand and Creosote Bushes - The Painted Canyon - Ancient Sites and Wildflowers

The Avi is the Avi is the Avi is the Avi . . . they are expanding . . . the RV lot has moved but some of the same people are there that were there last winter. The Casino hasn't changed and they still have a great buffet and the 99 cent ham and egg breakfast plus $1.10 for coffee. There was lots of movement in and out as people stopped there on their way up north. We met again with people we met at Benson, our friends from Yuma and our neighbours from Quartzsite but the most incredible experience was exploring the Painted Canyon.

The desert can feel so desolate and barren. In some areas all you see is sand, the creosote bushes dotting the terrain and the occasional Prickly Pear cactus. During the winter, even the creosote (greasewood) looks lifeless and there are few signs of any wildlife. As spring comes on, the creosote starts to show life . . . the small leaves, the buds and then the delicate yellow flowers.

As you gain elevation, different growth emerges . . . there is the mesquite shrubs and then different varieties of cacti, the Joshua Trees and wildlife that is less nocturnal and therefore seen more often.

Our visit to the Painted Canyon in the Dead Mountains gave us the opportunity to experience a different perspective of the desert and surrounding areas. We were fortunate enough to be invited to join John (a fellow who is interested in ancient sites and photography) to visit some ancient sites and see if the wild flowers were in bloom.

The Painted Canyon is in California in the Dead Mountains, one mountain range beyond the Reservation at Fort Mojave, NV. We drove as far as we could and then hiked in the rest of the way.

I realized how terribly delicate the desert is.

The flowers are so minute, fragile and delicate but the colours can be so vibrant. Yellow seems to be predominant colour for the flowers but there are brilliant purples and blues. What more can I say, we'll let the pictures do the talking.

We also encountered some interesting wildlife . . . the active beehive (which John said he had never seen in the desert before) and some very lazy lizards that camouflage themselves so well in their surroundings.

Ancient Sites and Petroglyphs

In all our travels through the Indian lands in northern Arizona and New Mexico, we were never able to see the Rock Art that we saw with John in the Painted Canyon. Of course, we were never able to be with anyone who was as knowledgeable and passionate as John is. He is not only interested in the Rock Art, he is a photographer and an explorer . . . especially around the Fort Mojave area.

As we travelled into the canyon, we saw, literally, hundreds of petroglyphs, many of them in panels where a group of travellers would (maybe) leave messages for others travelling this way. There is such wide controversy over the purpose and meaning of the petroglyphs . . . some say they tell those to follow what lies ahead, others say they tell of what happened there, still others speculate they carry a spiritual meaning, and maybe they just tell stories. Regardless, considering they are reputed to be thousands of years old, it is inspiring to see them, touch them and speculate on what they are trying to say. Apparently, the ancestry stems from Hohokam peoples but in the books I have had a chance to read, there is very little written about this part of the South West. My challenge this summer is to learn more and try to understand them better.