Waiting in Seattle

Seattle, Washington: August 29, 2005

Our Alaska cruise starts on August 29. We arrived in the Seattle area on August 21st. It was important to us to get here early so we could figure out how to get to our ship in Vancouver and find a storage place for our motor home. After looking at storage, boat, train, airplane and car options for a few days we finally worked things out. We were able to store our motor home in the RV park where we had been staying for the past week. From there we could drive our car to the Sea-Tac Airport and then take the Princess bus directly to the ship. This worked out to be our easiest and least expensive options.


While waiting for our cruise date we were able to make several excursion trips in the Seattle area. We went to Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Olympic National Park, the Space Needle and Port Angeles. Don’t go to the Space Needle. It is a total rip-off! They wanted $13 each, just to ride the elevator to the top for the view. We decided to decline their offer. At each of the parks we did quite a bit of hiking. There were some very nice trails and most had water falls and other things to see.

The top of Mt. Rainier was covered with clouds when we were there, so we were disappointed about that. We did get in a nice hike to Carter Falls. Fortunately we were able to get a clear view of the mountain several times as we traveled about the Seattle area.


Mt. St. Helens was very interesting. We drove up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory where we did some looking and hiking. The volcano is still active and gases were escaping to form a cloud above the peak. We also saw a couple of movies that showed the big eruption on May 18, 1980. It was incredible to see the destruction that resulted from the blast and mudslides; some of which is still visible after 25 years. Weyerhaeuser has done a great job in restoring the forest that was destroyed. The last eruption was in 2004 which did little damage by comparison.


Olympic National Park is very pretty. We took a trip to Hurricane Ridge and hiked 1.6 miles to the top. You could see the bay area, including Victoria and Canada. It was a great view! We went back down the mountain and after a six mile bike ride in Port Angeles we drove over to Lake Crescent. The lake was beautiful. From the lake we hiked up to Marymere Falls. We passed through some very old forest with huge trees on the way to the falls. It was a great hike!

On Our Way to Seattle

August 17 – 20, 2005

We decided to take our time getting to Seattle for our cruise to Alaska. Our first night was in Provo, Utah, then to Boise, Idaho and then Yakima, Washington. We traveled between 250 and 400 miles a day. It was a hard 4 days. We prefer not to drive so much without stopping to see the sights, but we had a deadline and needed to get to Seattle to firm up our plans for the cruise. We had to figure out how we were going to get to Vancouver BC, where we sail from, and where to leave our motor home (in the United States, not in Canada) and how to get back to our motor home after the cruise. The cruise is a one way sail, so we must fly back from Anchorage to Seattle.

While traveling in Utah, we ate at the Red Lobster. Our waiter, James Roberts, was very interested in what we were doing. As luck would have it, his sister, Sissy, lives near Seattle and has a covered RV spot with full hookups at her home. He offered us the spot while we cruised. We exchanged phone numbers and have been trying to figure out how to make the logistics of our plans work out. We’ve been in touch with Sissy a few times and as of this writing we are still working on this. Who would have ever imagined that our diner at the Red Lobster would turn out with a answer to our logistics problem. People can be so nice. You never know where the roads will lead us……

Angels Landing

Zion National Park, UT: August 16, 2005

Angels Landing is a 1400 foot high chunk of rock that juts out into the Zion Park valley. It has vertical cliffs on both sides that start at the top and drop on both sides to the valley below. The trail to the top is 2.5 miles long with a climb of 1,488 feet and is not for the faint-of-heart! It starts at the river below and winds through the narrow valley on the west side to a waiting point called Scout Landing. Along the way you get to climb up a set of 21 switch backs called Walter’s Wiggles. The switch backs allow you to ascend quickly up the mountain. Most hikers of the Angels Landing trail make it to Scout Landing, but only a few decided to go on to the top. It’s has something to do with the 1400 foot shear drop-offs on each side. It is not for anyone fearful of heights. Everyone that comes to the park talks about this climb.

We joined John and Bev Higbie at 8:00 am at the shuttle station for the ride up the valley. An early start is important because it can get very hot going up and down the rocks. We rode to the Grotto drop-off point. After departing the shuttle we crossed the river and started our climb up the valley. The first part of the trail has only a slight incline and is very easy. Then you get to a set of switch backs that gets your heart pumping from the climb. After that the trail goes to a more gentler incline until just before you get to the Walter’s Wiggles. From there it is a steep climb to Scout Landing.
When you get there you get a good look at what lies ahead. One-half mile of steep gutsy climbing lies ahead. Then you get to come back down, which is even more gutsy because you get to see what lies below. Only Delton and Bev decided to go on!
The climb to the top is mostly up and across vertical rocks that ascend one side or the other of the cliffs. Pictured are DELTON'S FEET from a very high point with a big drop! At one point of the trail there is a narrow section (about 30 inches wide) where the cliffs drop on both sides to the valleys below. At some sections of the trail there are chains that you can hold onto to keep from falling off. We were told that last year a Boy Scout fell from the top. He and a friend had ventured off from his Troup and they got a little careless.


Delton and Bev really enjoyed the climb and felt the rewards were far greater than the risk. John and Joni thought we were CRAZY.

Joni was expecting us to come back in about 30 minutes. She paced back and forth at Scout Landing and constantly looked up waiting for Delton and Bev’s return. It took us about an hour and a half to make the round trip. Joni was almost at panic-state by then. It was a good thing John was there to comfort her!

Grand Canyon, Arizona

August 16, 2005

One of our side trips while staying at Zion National Park was to go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a 2 hours drive and we went there with John and Bev Higbie.

Delton had been to the South Rim before, but not the North Rim. Joni has never been there before. It was spectacular! We took in the scenic views and hiked a few trails, ending our day with a wonderful meal at the lodge. Our window table had a magnificent view overlooking the Grand Canyon. What a sight!

Pictured is Joni getting use to a new comfort zone, looking over the edge of a steep drop-off.

We needed more time to see the whole park, but only had one day. It’s definitely a place to go back to.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

August 12, 2005

We took a side trip to Bryce National Park in Utah during our stay at Zion National Park. Bryce is located about 90 miles northeast of Zion.

We went on a 5 mile hike through the canyons, meadows and forests. The beginning of the trail was amazing. It had rock formations from years of erosion that left the land in a rainbow of colors, cliffs and rock carvings.

Joni was very apprehensive walking the narrow trails with big drop offs and steep up and down climbing. The trail was supposed to take 4-5 hours to hike. We made it in 2 ½ hours – probably a hike record. A major storm was looming in the background which would have made the trail slippery and dangerous and there would have been no place to take shelter. Joni fled through, hardly stopping to look at the beautiful sights, while Delton tried to keep up. We got a great workout!

Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah

August 9-17, 2005

We stayed at the Quality Inn/RV Park in the town of Springdale during our trip to Zion National Park. The park is ½ mile from the entrance to the park, very convenient to both the town and the park. We didn’t need to use our car as we could walk or ride our bikes wherever we needed to go.

We met our friends John and Bev Higbie there. John and Bev were the first people we met on our very first campout in our motorhome in 2002 at Lake Ray Roberts in Texas. They own a beautiful 42 foot ForeTravel motorhome and have helped us through our life style change from home on land to home on wheels. Bev has been a major support in getting Joni through the sale of our house and getting into the full time RV experience.

John and Bev had to work during our first few days at the park, so we took a few hikes and met them during the evening. We saw some spectacular views while hiking and riding our bikes through the park.

Pictured are Delton and Joni on the way to Angel's Landing. It is a trail not designed for the faint-of-heart.

Lake Powell, Utah

August 8, 2005 Page, Utah

We spent one night at Lake Powell, Utah – on our way to Zion National Park in Utah. We had been driving for a few hours in the desert and everything was dry and dusty. All of sudden we came upon Lake Powell in the middle of the desert.


The lake was amid tall rocks and canyons. We had a beautiful camp site with a great view. Many water activities made it the perfect place for Joni. She wanted to stay a few more days, but we had reservations and friends to meet at Zion. It’s a place we will definitely go back to.

New Friends - Hal and Lori Reese

August 4, 2005 - Fun Valley, Colorado

We are always meeting new people and making new friends. In our last few days at Fun Valley, we met Hal and Lori Reese in the diner line at the dining hall. We ended up sitting together that night and again a few nights later.

As we got to know them, we found they were from Decatur, TX. We told them about Tim (Delton’s brother) and his wife Kim having just moved to Decatur. Hal is a vet who works there with his wife. They are neat people and strong Christians who we hope will become friends with Tim and Kim. We hope to see them again when we are in Decatur with Delton’s family for Thanksgiving this year.

Horse Back Riding

August 3, 2005 Fun Valley, Colorado

It was a beautiful morning and couldn’t have been a better time to go horseback riding in Fun Valley. We had a group of about 15 people and 3 guides. One guide led the way and the others followed, keeping everyone in line and together. At one point, a guide had to ride ahead to clear the trail of cows that were grazing.

The 2 hour ride was up and down the mountains and across some streams. We were on some steep up and down hill climbs with many rocks. The horses took their time so as not to stumble. While waiting for all the horses to descend, Joni’s horse got spooked by another horse and “plowed” into the group of horses. It shook her up a bit, but Delton thought it was funny. We had a great day.