Bryce Canyon National Park

We arrived mid afternoon on the 21st. Dogs are not allowed off the pavement so we were concerned about finding a site with shade for Mitzie.

The only trees were evergreen and we couldn't park too close to them. We knew we had to rise early to walk to the lodge where the cowboys would be waiting for us so we drove to most of the overlooks, watched the sunset over the canyon and made an early night of it. The altitude on the rim averages 8,000' plus.

The ride was 3 hours of beautiful, spectacular, breathtaking and, at times, downright scary. The horses are alternated with the mules because "mules don't get along". Candy had a horse and Alan a mule. Alan wanted to rename Candy's horse, Tough, "fartsy". Every step was sorta musical. Alan's mule, Lisa, was the silent type.We were told that mules are better because their eye placement allows them to see all their feet at the same time.

The trail is full of switchbacks, quite steep and narrow and the sides look crusty as if they could slide away at any time. Hikers on the trail must give right of way and stay to the outside when passing horses. Sometimes the drop was as much as 1,000'. The guide cautioned us when approaching a tunnel that we were about to enter "the slide" and he disappeared with a wahooooooooo. It wasn't that bad but added to the fun.

We highly recommend this ride because we were able to see the formations up close and personal. However, we wish we had planned the ride as our last day on the trip. It was painful walking for the next 3 days!

Capitol Reef

We decided to tour the national parks of Utah in our "Toyota home". Our plan was to take a week starting on I-70 from Denver t0 Utah then cutting down to Capitol Reef National Park, on to Brice Canyon, Cedar Breaks and Zion before returning on I-70 all the way almost to the Colorado border to the cutoff for Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. We liked Capitol Reef so much that we decided to return via Capitol Reef then joining I-70 for Arches and Canyonlands.

The campground at Capitol Reef was a former Mormon settlement. It is kept green by the rangers who also tended the many fruit orchards started by the Mormons. Candy picked 16 lbs of peaches. They were small but yummy.

The campground is very clean and cool with green grass, huge old shade trees as well as a running stream. It is isolated and very quiet compared to the other campgrounds we saw. From the campground there's a scenic road that passes through 20 miles of huge rock formations and washes. The camping fee was only $5. We took sunset as well as sunrise photos.

Hurricane Earl

We've had a very active hurricane season so far. Most of the storms are turning north before they reach St John's longitude. This was true for category 4 Hurricane Earl.

Earl, now a Category 4 hurricane, is centered at 19.3 degrees north latitude and 64.7 degrees west longitude. This puts it about 110 miles northeast of San Juan.The wind speed stands at 135 mph, with gusts to 150 mph. It is moving west-northwest at 15 mph. The barometric pressure stands at 948 millibars or 27.99 inches.

Westminster

We took possession of our 1 bedroom apartment in Westminster. It's a huge complex with all ages and family combinations. We try to exercise in the weight room and use the pool, but, you know, we just don't get around to using the facilities as much as we should. This tells us that although this stuff looks good, maybe we just don't need the extra HOA expense if we ever buy a condo.

Stacy and Nick set us up with a bed, silverware and dishes. We bought a new shower curtain but our futon and dining room set (6 chairs, an oak table and 2 bar stools for $70) were "real deals" from Craiglist. We needed to get acquainted with Ella so that we could help with her care when the new baby arrived. Unfortunately, she is not comfortable with Mitzie. Mitzie, is just to barkie whenever anyone arrives (including Ella). So, Mitzie will probably spend our Italian vacation in a pet boarding facility.

Taos

We were supposed to begin our visit with Stacy, Ella and Nick. Due to Candy's miserable cold we stayed only one night with them, made arrangements with the apartment and continued on down I-25 with a visit to Taos in mind. Severe thunderstorms and just plain pooped caused us to stay two nights in a little motel on I-25 near Walsenburg. We opted for the scenic route (160) to Taos.

Taos was interesting but we saw items that are imported and for sale in St John (except they cost even more) and the galleries/stores were heavy on commercial "southwest" decorator items. It was very hot and dry. We were amused by a big black dog that took a bath in one of the fufu fountains. The architecture was probably the most interesting. We visited the "oldest continuously lived in pueblo" nearby and we stopped just north of Taos to see the Earthship houses. There were at least 15 houses, each very different exterior designs but all constructed with tire burms and natural/off the grid heating and cooling. We stayed at a KOA Alamosa. The next morning we explored Sand Dunes National Park. The dunes are huge and you can see tiny people climbing the dunes in both photos. We headed our for Royal Gorge which was a disappointment as it is totally commercial and one can hardly get close to see the gorge without paying to enter an "amusement park". This really illustrates what a wonderful treasure we have in the preservation of natural wonders by our national parks. We stayed in a little campground nearby and left for Denver arriving around 5:00 the following day.

Grant Tetons

Candice came down with a whopper of a cold the last day at Yellowstone.

The first day in Tetons National Park we camped in the national campground next to the lake with a fantastic view of the Tetons.

After that, Candy was too miserable to peruse the galleries....now that's sick; so, Alan visited with Brian Nash, a true adventurer who came to St John with us two years ago to find a job. He ended up as the beach bartender driving a 4 wheeler to serve Caneel Bay guests. He's now working as a bank manager, rock climbing and skiing at Jackson Hole. He told Alan all about being caught in an avalanche while climbing Mount Rainier this spring.

Due to Candy's cold we cut our stay in Jackson short and started out for Denver, hoping she'd be on the mend by our arrival. We planned to stay with Stacy and her family in Broomfield (Denver) Colorado for a few days before taking possession of a one bedroom apartment.

Yellowstone

We planned to drive across Washington and Idaho, spending a few days camping at Yellowstone near friends Dean and Denise Miller. Candice saw her first bear, but we were surprised that we spotted many less animals than on our previous visit two years ago. We've included animals we spotted we spotted on our previous trip.

The weather was fantastic. While we were there, a grizzly attacked 3 campers, killing one of them in his tent late at night. This was less than 50 miles away and we were happy to have the Toyota for sleeping.