GRAND CANYON, METEOR CRATER, PETRIFIED FOREST AND THE PAINTED DESERT

Sorry for the delay in the update. Barb's dad passed away March 18 so we have been in Waverly, OH settling the estate. Barb and Patsy should be hired as 'estate settlers' as they rigorously handled every detail and left no stone unturned. Even so it took about five weeks to finalize about 95% of the issues.

Barb's dad had many issues, any one of which could have done him in. His last year had been a challenge. Pneumonia was the culprit -- that eventually evolved into a cardiac arrest (per the death certificate). The old Marine is now hopefully in Heaven 'boot camp'. Tough loss for everyone -- but as it all developed it became evident that 'it was time'. He will stay alive in our memories.

The following transpired before 'the passing'. In the normal scheme of things I download the pictures and outline the blog, and Barb puts on many finishing touches. Barb is now in N Canton visiting friends as I am attending to warranty issues in the MH, therefore I will finalize the latest chapter in our travels.

So here it goes ............................

Ventured to Williams, AZ and took the train up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Was a spectacular place to visit, and lived up to the hype. But it was cold and windy!!!

From 'the Canyon' we went to the Meteor Crater (near Winslow, AZ), a hole in the ground that was made approximately 50,000 years ago. Diameter is over 3/4 of a mile and is 550 ft deep. Fortunately 'the hole' is in the middle of nowhere.

Then we visited the Petrified Forest and the impressive Painted Desert.

The Painted Desert!!

Next stop Albuquerque, NM, where we were fortunate to share a few hours with Sam and Katie Miller (Bill's sister Elaine's son and daughter-in-law). Awesome couple. Sam, an avid fly fisherman, is a JAG Lawyer serving a stint in the Airforce.

Visit was cut short though as we received a call from Waverly, OH that Barb's dad was ill and ambulanced to the hospital. Looking forward to revisiting Albuquerque and the Millers.

Traveled the 1700 miles in 2 1/2 days in time to visit Barb's dad during his last few days. The next five weeks were spent attending to the funeral and estate settlement issues.

Stay tuned to our next blog, as this week Barb is heading to Ireland for a week with her school room mate, Ronni McCalmont. Should be a great week for the two of them. While they are gone, Bill and Matt will be attending a three day golf school. Tough life.

.................. and make it a great day!!!

We made the turn and are headed east!

Our eastward journey has begun and Las Vegas was our first destination! What a fun "Adult Disney" town. Enroute to Las Vegas we saw some snow capped mountains. This wasn't new to us, but our objective is to follow the sun, not the snow. Fortunately the weather was beautiful during our Vegas stay.

We decided to check out all of the major hotels on the strip. Between the extraordinary exterior architecture and the unbelievable interior glitz and glitter ---- each was an 'event' and very entertaining.

We saw gondolas in the Venetian, real lions in MGM Grand, real pink flamingoes in the Flamingo, the Trojan Horse in Caesar's Palace; pirates at Treasure Island and of course all the casinos. We won a little and lost a little but had a great time playing!

Our favorite was New York, New York.

And in the Paris shopping mall was a store named WOLFORD - we had to take a picture of course!!!



Visited the Madame Toussaud wax museum, and lucked out with this picture. Here is Bill helping Tiger line up a putt. Tiger was for real, the wax figurine was Bill.

Barb was in true awe of Princess Diana!

We went to see Blue Man Group, an excellent audience active show. It was a real experience - if you ever have the chance to see them - GO! Lots of fun and laughs - also very talented guys! Went to the Golden Nugget in the old part of Las Vegas to see "Defending the Caveman", a one man show that had us in stitches - another must see if you ever get the chance. He was right on about men and women and the differences - "hunters and gathers!" Hysterical!

The picture below is actually Blue Man Group in the wax museum but we thought it would do for our close up and personal shot!

The 'old' part of Las Vegas is now called the Fremont Street Experience. It was an event of its own. Every hour the casino lights go dark and there is a light show inside an overhead canopy over the street. Millions of lights and a true Vegas happening. Here is a picture of the tallest 'lit' sign in Vegas (on Fremont St). This was a bit of 'old Vegas' sign of the times, with a few lights in need of replacement.

At the end of our stay we spent a day driving to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Lake Mead was extremely low, however no one seemed too concerned because of the heavy snows in the mountains this year. We also drove over it in the RV on our way to the Grand Canyon (next blog)

Commercial trucks are not permitted to drive over the dam, probably due to security issues. They are however building a bridge next to the dam, that should be competed by 2010.

Next stop is the Grand Canyon, stay tuned!!