San Francisco Bound

What an amazing time we have had since our last Blog. We completed our Canyon tours with a visit to Bryce and Antelope Canyons.  Amazing the difference in landscape between what I had envisaged the Grand Canyon area to be. In short the Grand Canyon (South Rim) takes a visit in person to appreciate the size and depth of the place. Beautiful to behold and the villiage is somewhere that Suzi and I could see us spending some time living/hiking and exploring the area. A very, organised free shuttle system for tourists and workers alike. The Park even has a school.

We then drove north to Bryce Canyon, Utah arriving shortly before dusk to find red sand dribble castles like those you would make at the beach on a massive scale. A totally different view that had me clicking madly to guarantee some decent photos.  As the sun started to set, the winds turned icy and the temperature plummeted we decided it was time to go and find an RV park, when suddenly the full moon started to rise over the Canyon rim which was worth staying and freezing our butts off to stay and watch. What luck!!!  We then had to go in search of an RV park that was not closed due to excessive snow. We ended up coming back down the mountain and staying in Paguitch, a small town nestled at the bottom of the magnificent Utah Mountains.

We planned to go to Zion which is meant to be different yet again but were starting to run out of time as we had booked a tour back in Page (a town on the Arizona/Utah border). The tour we took was of the Upper Antelope Canyon and was the most spectacular to date. It is a relatively young Canyon created by an earthquake and discovered in the 1930's. The Upper Canyon consisted of a massive red rock that was slit down the middle by the quake and then eroded by rain and the occasional flash flood into the most spectacular shapes and structures that soar above your head as you enter through the sandy flood plain. It was the Lower Canyon though, on the opposite side of the road that really blew our minds. It is entered via a slit in the ground (the rest of the world wouldn't even know we were down there). In this Canyon you decend deeper and deeper underground through narrow gaps and steel stairways. Not a place for the claustrophobic but stunningly beautiful.  Definitely one that I need to get a photo or 50 on the blog. Our favourite canyon by far! Most locals have never heard of it.

We then spent 3 nights parked outside our wonderful friends house in Phoenix. Anne and Bjorn and their beautiful daughter Nicole took us in with open arms and made us feel very welcome. The kids were wrapped to have a home rather than a van for a time and some company other than Mum and Dad. Suzi and Anne hit the outlets, Bjorn did a good job turning me to Apple after his tech demos and Nicole was wonderful with her 4 younger foster brothers. Thanks guys for taking us in and sharing your home. It was the perfect way to end our RV adventure.

Today we woke up in San Francisco in a DODGY motel. We picked up a hire car (similar to our Mazda)yesterday arvo after we flew in, only to find our bags wouldnt fit. We are now in a 4x4 v8 monster waiting for our similar vehicle to arrive.  Bloody huge! Cheaper to buy a car seat and nav sat than hire. What the? So we now own both. As a result we navigated into the city with nothing booked with a nav sat that thought we were in Vegas. Reprogrammed out location, but it would only give written directions. Not easy in Friday night traffic in a unfamiliar car/truck on 5 lane interstate driving on the wrong side of the road, jammed with traffic.  Took a place I had googled in what we thought was a good area. Wrong!

We are about to head out and explore San Fran, can't wait so until next time best wishes to you all.
The Wockies