Day 114 - Austin, TX - 8736 Miles

Well, I lied. I hadn't planned on any more sight seeing, but one of the beauties of driving trips with relatively short days is the "stumble upon". They are the places we had no intention of visiting or even any knowledge they were there but they just pop up.

One of those was heading across northern Arizona out of Flagstaff. We saw an unassuming billboard announcing the exit for Meteor Crater nine miles ahead. In the past I have fallen for these where you get off the interstate because of an advertised attraction only to see the next sign saying (in effect), "Thanks for getting off. Now drive 90 miles down this side road". Now with smart phones and GPS we could see the crater was only five miles off the interstate so we figured, "Why not?"

I had some minimal information on Meteor Crater but the guide filled in a whole lot of interesting background and history. The item I'll insert here that I found most interesting is that until 1965 the scientific community was convinced it was the result of volcanic activity rather than a meteor impact.

The reason the tour was so expensive was the tour guide also took your picture with your camera.

A picture of the largest recovered chunk of meteor at 1450 lbs. (The meteor is the one on the left.)

The next day we also had a "stumble upon" in Ft. Sumner, NM. We ventured a few miles off course to see Billy the Kid's grave.

He is buried along with his pals.

The Kid's marker is shackled in iron because it's been stolen multiple times before being recovered in Granbury, TX and Huntington Beach, CA. 

Now we're home. We were greeted by 93 degree heat and the chirping of a dead smoke detector battery. I figured all in all that wasn't too bad until I opened the laundry room door. A drip pan for condensation from A/C stuff had overflowed. Water accumulated in the ceiling until the ceiling collapsed leaving a gaping hole into the attic and sheetrock chunks all over the floor. Luckily we had left the washer lid open and the bulk of the water ended up in the washing machine tub. (It's theirs, not mine).

A downside of apartment living is that routine or preventive maintenance is a completely unknown concept. Nothing is addressed until it is a catastrophe. An upside is that when that catastrophe inevitably occurs, I just call and say, "Hey, your ceiling caved in. Let me know when it's fixed."

The end.  

Day 111 - Flagstaff, AZ - 7698 Miles

Today was a trip to the Grand Canyon. I managed to get a few shots of local wildlife while I was there.

Grand Canyon Squirrel

Grand Canyon Bobcat

Texas Cranky Geezer

Some random Grand Canyon shots.

Towards the end I got really daring, climbed over a protective railing, and worked my way out to sit on the end of a ledge so Terry could get a really good shot of me. I think she did pretty well.

This marks the end of any real sight-seeing on the way home. The next three days are just covering ground to get back home.

Day 110 - Flagstaff, AZ - 7486 Miles

Heading south out of Moab, UT we saw several more arches. It appears some of them escaped from the national park. They did make for a couple of more photo ops.

Terry at Wilson Arch

Terry at Golden Arch

From the arches we headed toward Monument Valley.

Run, Forrest, Run

Monument Valley turned out to have a $20 entrance fee. Despite a web site made to look a lot like a national park web site, they made it very clear an NPS Pass was of no use since this was a Navajo park. I can't complain too much since they spelled it all out in the "cost" section of the site, and it was well worth the $20.

Tomorrow is a day at the Grand Canyon.

P.S. - Because of Arizona's wacky time zones we lost the effect of moving from Pacific to Mountain Time two days ago. We are effectively back on Pacific Time. Although during the time we are on Navajo land in Arizona we are on Mountain Time. I think my favorite part of the return trip will be getting back on Central Time.

Day 109 - Moab, UT - 7164 Miles

Another day under our belt. We spent a couple of hours at Arches National Park. After all, I have to get my money's worth for my $10 life-time pass.

One of 2500 Arches

Me Illegally Hiking

Balanced Rock

Balanced Rock Maintenance

 

Day 108 - Twin Falls, ID - 6689 Miles

On our way home. We spent last night in Pendleton, OR. Our timing was almost disastrous. Today is the first day of Roundup in Pendleton. This is sort of a cowboy Super Bowl and prices change accordingly. Our hotel said had we stayed one night later, our cost would have been at least $100 higher. Restaurants throughout downtown were putting out their "Roundup Menus". They say, quite unashamedly, they are the same as the regular menus but the prices are about 20% higher. I'm guessing the locals don't do a lot of dining out during Roundup. The main street had been blocked off and was being filled with food trailers and vendors with all sorts of cowboy paraphernalia.

Main St., Pendleton, OR

Tonight is Twin Falls, ID. Made a quick stop to look at the Snake River Canyon.  If you look real close at the most distant part of the canyon edge, you can see Evel Knievel's jump ramp.

Snake River Canyon, Twin Falls, ID

We are one time zone closer to home. Tomorrow is Moab, UT. This will be the first stop on our return trip to a place we haven't visited before.
 

Day 102 - Ocean Shores, WA - 5804 Miles

Just winding things up and coasting until our Tuesday departure. I've booked a couple of hotels for the early part of our return journey. Now we're just hitting the places we want to stop at "one last time". Tuesday was the prime rib special at the casino lounge. This morning was the breakfast special at the casino lounge. Actually, I know a lot of the staff by name in the casino lounge. 

Making sure we hit the string of coffee shops we frequented during the summer. In one the owner gave us a "free cookie for later" when we left. In another I've become so predictable the owner just hands me a small drip coffee when I walk in. In a third they say, "Two large teas?" when we walk in. There's a reason I get coffee in one and tea in the other. This should be a surprise to no one, but it centers on me being cheap.

I've noticed that in what have become my three favorite bars (Elk's Head Tap Room, Pirate's Cove, and Porthole Pub) I see the same four or five guys distributed among them all summer. They probably say the same about me, though. The old guy with the long white hair and gravelly voice surveys the room when he comes in and selects a bar stool next to someone he can talk to as if they've been best friends his whole life even though he's likely never seen them before. Then there's the large guy who sits in the same spot usually wearing the same T-shirt that says "This working out thing isn't working out." The only change in his appearance is typically how much butt-crack he is sharing with the world on that given day.

We'll make one more trip to Olympia on Saturday to visit Terry's brother and his family. It's supposed to be 89 degrees which any more seems ridiculously hot, but I'll survive.

A couple of fun facts on Ocean Shores. Very few people are from here. It tends be be a retirement community. Many of the shops are run by retirees who, as long as they cover the shop's rent, are perfectly happy. Many are raising grandchildren because of difficulties either with the children or grandchildren. The thought is this will be a better environment for them. As a result many people have complained about the problems they bring to the schools. From what I've seen and heard though they don't have a true appreciation of what real problems in a school are. 

People here also have a different body chemistry than I do. When they use words like "warm" or even "hot" to describe a sunny day in the mid-60's I can't relate. If the temperature is at least in the mid-50's windows and doors are wide open in homes and businesses alike. Couple that with a nearly constant 15+mph afternoon breeze and I never have to worry about my beer getting warm as the cross breeze whips through the bar.

That pretty much wraps things up here. I'll probably put up a few pictures from the road on the way home. Now I have to check what Austin weather is like. I sure hope it's not over 75.

Day 98 - Ocean Shores, WA - 5772 Miles

Sometimes I think the good people of Ocean Shores hold secret town meetings in the middle of the night just to come up with ways to entertain me the following day. Well all I can say is kudos to the chair of last night's meeting since this morning on our daily beach walk we were greeted with this:

The unfortunate occupants, a young family with a small child and a babe in arms, stood nearby gazing forlornly at the vehicle. I was going to ask them how exactly they managed this, but I figured it probably wouldn't be viewed as helpful so I left them alone.

Ultimately North Beach Towing came to the rescue.

SUV Owner Explaining his Plight

Terry discussed the situation with Officer Sean of the OSPD. He also doubles as Happy Hour entertainment at Mike's Seafood.

Eventually the entire OSPD showed up - I'm guessing for crowd control rather than personal amusement.

It took a lot of tugging.....

...but finally success.

They towed him a LONG way from the water before they let him go. Amazingly the SUV started up. I'm guessing it's their last ocean-side drive for a while

Day 94 - Ocean Shores, WA - 5734 Miles

Everyone survived Chris' visit to the Pacific northwest. After Seattle there was an uneventful day in Ocean Shores (as most days are), several days in Olympia, and a night in Victoria, BC.

Much of the Ocean Shores day was spent at the Quinault Rain Forest. All this time I thought it was simply the name of a casino, but it turns out it is the name of a lake, a rain forest, and an entire Indian tribe.

Quinault Rain Forest

Quinault Rain Forest

In Olympia Chris was interested in outdoor stuff like horseback riding, hiking, ATV'ing, and shooting. This left me free for my favorite pastimes like wandering the mall and coffee shops.

Chris and his Cousin Maggie

I'm guessing I was the first person in Olympia to come up with this photo idea.

"The Kiss"

A happy accident in Olympia was that we were there for the Tumwater Artesian  Beerfest. I never pass up an event that has "beer" and "fest" in it's name.

One if the contests was a beer stein holding contest.

Women Contestants 

I stayed to watch because I assumed it would be followed by a wet T-shirt contest. Sadly, I was mistaken.

The trip to Victoria was a personal disaster. Despite all my practice during my Ocean Shores beer quest, I found I could not keep up with my 30 year-old son. We got to our room around 3 and Chris made a dinner reservation for 8 before we hit some local pubs.

One of my Final Coherent Moments

At about 6:30 I left to return to the room for a quick nap before dinner. That was truly my intention, but I think we all knew how it was really going to play out. Chris did manage to include me in photos from later in the evening, though.

Terry and Me at Dinner

Terry, Chris, and Me at a Bar After Dinner

Now I'm back to my hectic Ocean Shores life.