Ensenada, Mexico the beach at last

Spent a couple extra days in Yuma, bike riding, wandering around the huge market again (without Robin), checked out their Farmers Market. We were amazed by the huge fields of lettuce - apparently Yuma provides 75% of the world's lettuce in the winter.
After Yuma we were in California, drove thru an area of gigantic sand dunes, in places they drift onto the hiway. At one point we were at 57 ft below sea level - quite the change from 9000 ft above a couple weeks ago. We set up camp close to the border & drove the car across to do our Immigration paperwork  - smart move, no where to park, scary roads & not great signs - we got our bearings so when we went across the next morning it went smoothly. Can't say that about any of the roads - the books are true - narrow (9.5 ft lanes), no shoulder (sometimes the white line looks like it's painted on the grass), potholes to swallow a car & wavy. I doubt that I will drive again until the US, Robin is doing well & says he's not really nervous! We still have both our mirrors.
We camped outside Ensenada for 3 nights, on the sand, listening to the waves, facing the ocean - amazing & worth the crappy roads. We found the fish market, bought fresh fish & shrimp & ate our fill of fish tacos there. We walked along the malecon looking at boats, watching the sea lions & listening to them bark. We happened to be there for the Baja 1000 - a 1000 mile race thru the desert & mountains on dune buggies, motorbikes & souped up trucks. Quite the party atmosphere, lots of people & fun looking at the fancy cars. We have been eating tacos from street vendors, so far we are well. No problems getting pesos from the ATM once we figured it out. Things are definitely cheaper, especially fruits & veggies. Gas is approx. 82 cents per litre. Yesterday was cloudy & cool, hi of 15C, today warm, sunny, 25C. We are staying in proper campgrounds in Mexico, not much for hookups & the bathrooms are a bit scary (old, cobwebs, small) but generally clean. Today we actually have WiFi & I hope it keeps working until I post this. We passed thru out first military checkpost today - the guy was friendly, spoke decent English & waved us through.
Internet too slow, so just 2 pictures - the view from our RV window on the beach campground for 3 nites! and the fish market.

Having fun, but missing the family.

Yuma - Cacti & Sunshine

Nov. 9/11  We have been away from WiFi for a few days, so will catch up from the Yuma library. We spent a day outside Flagstaff visiting National Monuments - first some cliff dwellings inhabited 1100-1250, then to Sunset Crater Volcano which erupted last about 1000 years ago. We walked over lava fields & learned more about the volcanic history of the area. On to Waputki where we walked around & into pueblos built out of red rock, a 3 storey "house" & an area with 100 rooms. On the way to Phoenix we stopped at Montezuma's Castle - a 5 storey cliff dwelling built into a limestone cliff - quite the sight to see! We saw our first palm trees of the trip outside Phoenix. We spent 2 nights in a casino parking lot, hot 87F. We met up with friends from Penticton who winter in Casa Grande, had a nice visit. Had a surprise in the campground - a rather large black widow spider walked over Robin's hand when he was hooking up the water! We have seen cotton fields, cotton bales, a road runner (bird), citrus trees (no, we didn't swipe anay!) We bought dates, oranges, pomegranite from farmers. I won $80 in a casino & actually cashed out! We wandered the HUGE Arizona Market where they sell everything from clothes to RV stuff to dollar store junk & more. We walked across into Los Algodones, Mexico for a look- there are more dentists, pharmacies & optical shops in a 4 block radius than anywhere else, also lots of tourist shops. We bought beer & fresh shrimp. Today we toured The Peanut Patch - tasty, bought some fresh peanut butter. The weather has cooled from 90 to 70's with wind & dust storms. We plan to cross into the Baja in 2-3 days, looking forward to this.

 We are healthy, happy & Living the Dream.

Grand Canyon Views

Zion National Park, Utah was our next stop - where you look up, up & up some more. Breathtaking cliff sides along the road, rock in rainbow colors - red, yellow, white, grey & pink. A one mile tunnel trip to enter, vegetation from cacti to pine trees to ferns, a red asphalt road, all wonderful to see. We hiked 3 trails, one called Weeping Rock, where water seeps out the rock layers & drips down the rock face, nourishing plant life clinging to the walls, as we walked behind the "rain". We had an unexpected sight on one hike, right on the edge of the trail - a TARANTULA! Of course Robin had to put his hand ever so close!
After Zion we travelled towards Arizona, red rocks, red sand and rocky areas continued, some volcanic. We stopped at Little Hollywood Movie Set Museum - the site of many, many western movies & TV shows - we wandered among the Wild West sets.
We drove thru the massive Navajo Indian Reservation seeing women selling their handicrafts along the hiway.
We are now based in Flagstaff, AZ - the Grand Canyon is spectacular! We spent the day there, hiking along the rim, in awe of the sheer size of it. Unfortunately there was a planned burn on the North Rim, so we were looking thru smoke a lot of the day. The canyon is 4000-5000 ft. deep, so hiking to the Colorado river is not a trek to be undertaken in just one day. We visited some ancient Anasazi ruins, drove along Desert View & climbed the Watchtower for more unbelievable views.
We have been browsing the shops in Flagstaff & admiring the Native artwork & crafts.
RVing is going well - we stay in Walmarts, rest stops & the occasional campground, the weather still freezes at night but up to 15-20C midday. We just opened an email from Jen & Adam, with pictures of Ty & Emma - these are still the best sights so far!

PS.. Got my first pension cheque this week!

Hiking and Biking

It's been a busy 2 days - first back to Bryce Canyon, listened to a ranger talk on geology then down into the canyon on a 5 km hike. It was amazing, walking beside the hoodoos, looking up the walls, & squeezing through slot canyons. The trail went down 600 ft in elevation, then back up - all this at over 8000 ft above sea level! We have been collecting corkscrews and bottle openers for a while & I think we found one of the only openers in Utah in the gift shop ( considering this is a Mormon state & limited drinking). Today we were off to Red Canyon, did 3 different hikes and biked along the trail along the hiway. It looked level but unfortunately it was quite uphill - we should come home in better shape! We did manage to snag a red rock for our pond. Thankfully it has warmed up - was still just below freezing overnite but up to around 18C  today. Tomorrow we are off to Zion Park in southern Utah, then into Arizona - not sure when we will update next as we may be back to cheap camping ie. Free. Meeting a few folks along the way - a couple from Oliver, BC & today a couple from Kelowna - small world. Still loving it!

Breathtaking Bryce Canyon

Our travels have taken us through Idaho, most notably Twin Falls where we were amazed at the Snake River Gorge & the Perrine Bridge 486 above the river,  the site of Evel Knieval's attempt to leap across in 1974. The Shoshone Falls, also on the Snake River drops 212 ft. & is called the " Niagra of the West". Hiway driving has been interesting, high elevations (4000-5530 ft), posted speed limit of 75 MPH with slow down for construction of 65 MPH.
In to Utah yesterday, temp of 26F in AM and snow in Salt Lake City. We spent a couple of hours in Temple Square, the Mormon "head office" & church -  actually enjoyed the tour given to just us by 2 young missionary women, one from Thailand, the other from Brazil. The buildings and displays are amazing, the best pictures were taken from the roof of their largest building which has over 4 acres on the roof with gardens, trees & fountains.

Today we drove to Panguitch, Utah, our base for Bryce Canyon touring. We actually have a campsite with full hook-ups & WiFi! We spent the afternoon in awe - first Red Canyon, then Bryce Canyon. Words will not do it justice, it truly is breathtaking. We stopped at several lookouts & did a bit of hiking - the elevation we were at is over 8000 ft! - hence a bit short-winded. Tomorrow we have more hikes planned, also want to do some biking in Red canyon. Still loving it!

Snow in Oregon

Our journey began going south thru the border at Osoyoos which took all of 15 min. most of it was waiting in line. No 20 questions, no need for all the proof of residency that I had collected, only a quick look in a few cupboards! Quick stop in Brewster, Wa. for a sandwich (stopped in a fruit packer parking lot) & a friendly fellow gave us 4 huge, delicious Fuji apples. We went to Leavenworth (quaint Bavarian town), but since it was a Saturday in October - Oktoberfest - there was no where to park our "little" rig so we will have to go another day. The scenery was amazing, beautiful fall colors, orchards, vineyards, then mountains, then back to cattle ranches, more vineyards - huge ones - & some crop fields. we have gone over a couple high mountain passes, pretty slow going up but we made it. Our first night's stop included large, paved, pull-through sites, a few trees, shopping close by & over night security - yes, you guessed it "Walmart". Cold in the morning (in Yakima)  26 F & only 8.5 C in the RV. We turned the furnace on then.
Robin drove the first day, but I took a turn yesterday - thru the Yakima valley, no high passes luckily.
We crossed the Columbia River into Oregon, saw many areas of gigantic wind turbines.
We stopped at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino & unfortunately left them some of our money. We crossed the 45th Parallel later yesterday - this is half way between the equator & the North Pole.
We arrived in Baker City, Oregon yesterday afternoon - it's a historic town, established in 1874 with well preserved buildings & beautiful huge trees - did some bike riding around, spent the night parked in a truck stop, watching it snow. We are off to find adventure, more to come later.

New Grandson

  October 5, 2012 at 1047 our newest grandchild arrived - Ty Jeffrey, 5 lbs & 11 oz, adorable, of course! We were blessed to be there & got to snuggle with Ty & Emma for a few days. Everything went well with the delivery and everyone is now home & doing great.
  This was the main focus of our trip to Alberta but we managed to fit in a family Thanksgiving dinner with all of our kids at Shane & Sarah's & time visiting with Scott. We made 3 trips out to see Karen's mom, helped her settle into her new place & took her out to Robin & Lawrence's farm for a visit & turkey dinner. The whole family also got together for a meal & catching up ( & showing off baby pictures!) We made a trip out to Two Hills for a wonderful visit with old friends, Sharon & Dwight, supper at the Two Hills Taco House & seeing more old friends at the hospital. Brought back lots of good memories. We wish we could have caught up with more people, but ther's always next time.

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  The trip out to Alberta & back was beautiful with the fall colors & good weather - we stopped for a nice hike at the Giant Cedars Boardwalk in Revelstoke Park & a picnic along a river. We're learning to trust our new GPS & finding it helpful. We're now back home, busy getting the yard ready for winter & stuffing more belongings into the motorhome. We leave next week, can't believe after the long countdown that it's really here!