Bryce Highlights

The day was spent touring the park, going to overlooks and being DAZZLED!  Here are ten photos to give you a "taste" of the experience! 

Approaching Bryce Canyon

Hoodoos

The Colors are AMAZING!

More Hoodoos!

LOTS of Hoodoos

SOOO red!

The Gate to Bryce Canyon!

  




















Did we tell you that "The Loneliest Highway" is also the LONGEST highway - or at least, so it seems! Most of the day was spent crossing the desert from Ely into Utah, bound for the magic land of Utah's National Parks and Monuments - including Bryce, Zion, Arches and Canyonlands.  The gates of Red Canyon welcomed us into the Bryce Canyon area; another reminder of the unlimited Creative Energy which surrounds us!  Tomorrow, we'll take a shuttle around Bryce.  Larry can sit back and enjoy the scenery!

Nevada - Geology 101!

As we motored across Highway 50 from Fernley to Ely, we THOUGHT we were in for a long, B-O-R-I-N-G drive across "The World's Loneliest Highway", but we were dazzled all across the state of Nevada by the rocks - all kinds of shapes and sizes!  They were like a huge, rumpled table cloth that had been pushed up into folds.  The layers of rocks, once flat and buried, are now exposed and at angles pointing skyward - evidence of some past geologic activity of epic proportions! . 


The World's Loneliest Highway



How DID these rock formations happen???

Tilted Rock Layers, Pushed Up by Forces Below



Hmmmm....Volcanic ? 



Rock Folds Tilting One Way

.....And Then the Other!

Moving East

 Miles of "sameness" that go on forever.............  I now understand in some small way what the settlers must have felt, on wagon trains from the East, headed West.  Will this desolate landscape NEVER end? Will we EVER reach our destination?  Our present-day journey is about days; theirs was about months - fighting to survive unimaginable hardships.  I sit back in the comfort of my soft seat - heated when needed or flip on the air conditioning when it gets a little warm - - and change the CD to accommodate the moods of driver and passenger. My grumpiness all of a sudden morphs into gratitude!  Tomorrow will be more of the same as we head across Nevada, bound for Utah.  Our WiFi connections may have to be sacrificed for a day here and there, as we get away from the noise and "convenience" of civilization and explore the wildness of the National Parks and Monuments of Utah.   The wait for blog entries should be worth it!

Walking Among the Giants

Size Comparison!

A Magical Place!

Playing in the Trees!

Watch out for Dinosaurs!

A grove of giant  Sequoias forms a cathedral that eclipses any created by human hands.              Silence. Grandeur.       Massiveness beyond all imagining.   I  felt - - humbled, reverent, and really, REALLY tiny!  Even the ferns were giants!  The light streaming through the canopy above highlighted the details of the undergrowth and creatures on the forest floor.  The young "saplings" - maybe only a few hundred years old - stretched skyward, nudging between the behomoths many times their age.  It  is left to the imagination what these forests must have been like prior to the logging that took place in the 19th century.  Now, the saws are silent and peace has returned to these sacred spaces.  I am grateful for the vision of those whose past efforts made it so. May we continue their model of stewardship. 

                                                                                We continued our journey South along the Northern California coastline.  Conventions of sea lions congregated on the rocky outcrops just off shore, and created as much of a racket as our modern-day politicians!  Things smelled pretty fishy, I might add!    

                                                                                                                                                                               From Arcata, we turned East and wound our way up and down and all around the mountainous terrain on California State Highway 299, toward Redding; the Trinity River by our side throughout the journey.    We will sleep well tonight!

      

Southern Oregon Coast

Today, as we continued our journey south toward the Oregon-California  border, we encountered pockets of bicyclists near Coquille, pedaling with determination along the ups and downs of their narrow Coast Range route.  Our trip to explore Larry's old stompin' grounds in Powers ended short of the destination, due to the tentative grasp of the bikers to the edge of the road versus the girth of our casa on wheels.  We erred on the side of caution for the safety and well-being of all concerned.  Back to Bandon and south on Highway 101, we were treated to more scenic eye candy!  Rocky monoliths standing their ground against the watery force of the ocean waves; man-made monoliths created to span the rivers leading to the mother-sea; sentinels atop jutting capes equipped with warning beacons and horns to alert the unsuspecting mariners of the danger lurking where land and sea collide.

Our day's journey ended in Brookings, just north of the border.  Tomorrow, we anticipate a day among the Sequoias - the remnants of coastal forests of Redwoods.
It is initially difficult for me to break away from my daily routine at home....but I am not sorry once we are on the road!  There is so much to explore!

Down the Oregon Coast

Things were going SOOOOOO smoothly! Camper was packed up; last minute tasks completed and our 9 AM departure was right on schedule! We stopped in Molalla for a quick breakfast. Hmmm... better check the running lights on the camper. NO! NO! NO! NO running lights; NO right turn signal and NO right brake lights. We had no choice but to head back to Portland to resolve the problem. The electrical connections between the truck and camper were replaced in a matter of hours and we made our second get-away by early afternoon.

A quick stop in Salem to drop off some forgotten baby items and to hug the kids and we were on our way to the coast and points south. Highway 101 offers incredible vistas of the rugged Southern Oregon coast! The road snakes along the jagged seam connecting land and water, through forested hillsides which open to panoramic views of unspoiled, undiscovered beaches. The unforgiving ocean relentlessly beats against the coastline. Bridges connect one side of the bay to the other at Newport, Waldport and Florence.

As the sun dipped below the water, we approached Florence where we are spending the night. We enjoyed a tasty dinner of seared oysters accompanied by fresh vegetables and polenta.....not quite up to Grandpa Red's standards, but still just fine!

The camera was hastily packed away, so no photos today! It takes a day or two to get our travel routine squared away! The Northern California Redwoods lay ahead, so plenty of photo opportunities are yet to come! Stay tuned!