In San Antonio, after my last update, I met Storm. Storm is a strange woman who talks to spirit people and can see several realities. I spent a few hours with her and learned just how weird some people can be.
That night I took two of my passengers out to a real urban cowboy bar. Everybody had cowboy hats and did all sorts of western dancing on the huge dance floor. The bar even had a rodeo. After a group prayer for the airplane crash victims and the United States of America, we watched bull riding and barrel racing.
The next day we headed over to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and watched the thousands of bats fly out for their nightly feed. The next morning we headed back up to the Cavern and walked around.
After two days of driving and a stop at the Four Corners Monument, we arrived at Monument Valley. We went on a horseback ride with the Navajo Indians. We slept under the stars in the middle of a good sized canyon and they sang while we danced around the fire. The next morning we galloped around the valley some more before driving to the Grand Canyon.
I started one of my favorite Grand Canyon hikes a little before sunrise the next day. I walked about four miles down into the canyon. Then I took a small trail that parallels the Colorado River along the plateau 1000 feet above the bottom. For these middle four miles of the hike, I have never seen another hiker. In the middle of this deserted section, there is a small river that, in the past I was able to sit in and enjoy the afternoon. This time, however, the water level was too low so I was only able to soak my feet while I read my book. I really like this place because it is a little deserted oasis in the middle of a pretty harsh desert. After lunch, a little reading, and a nap, I hiked up the normal crowded trail back to the rim.
My muscles were sore from two days of horseback riding and a good 13 mile hike, so it was off to Lake Powell. We jumped off of the cliffs and swam a bit before heading over to the Paria Canyon Guest Ranch. There was about eight other Trek groups there and so, naturally, there was a big party.
After a slow start the next morning, we went on a small hike up to some mushroom shaped rocks. It had been raining a lot so we took off our shoes and hiked in the river and in the mud. It felt good on our feet. I think, in southern Utah, you can stop the van and start walking anywhere and you will see amazing things. It rained the rest of the day, so instead of renting a boat and cruising Lake Powell, we went bowling.
That night was another party, so the next day was another slow start. We had lunch at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and played in the pink sand for a little while. It was good, but off-road vehicles were allowed to play there also. It was strange to roll down a sand dune while watching for traffic.
We continued on to Zion National Park to discover that the week of rain we had been camping in had washed out the road to the main part of the park. This meant that we got to hike in a seldom visited portion of the Park that I was curious about anyway. We hiked along a stream bed for a few hours until the canyon got too small to continue up. Hiking small canyons is one of my favorite hikes, so I enjoyed it a lot.
On Monday morning, we drove along Lake Mead and in Boulder, Nevada, a few of the passengers went skydiving. That evening we pigged out at the Rio Buffet in Las Vegas and then cruised the strip in a Limo. It was a pretty good birthday for the now 54 year old Jean.
On our free day in Las Vegas Jean and I went to the Startrek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. We spent four hours and it was not enough. They have a museum of the future which details the future history of Startrek. We looked at phasers, costumes, and relics of the future. They also at a timeline that detailed the future as explained in the four Startrek series and eight movies. This was followed by a shuttle craft simulator ride that was easily the best simulator ride I have ever heard of.
After the ride, we shopped in Garak's store and then had dessert in Quark's Bar. Jean drank a Warp Core Breach and then had one of the most impressive drinks I have ever seen. She ordered a James Tea Kirk. It was pale blue, had gummi worms in it and was easily 1.5 liters. Everyone at the bar took pictures of it. Jean and I had our picture taken with her drink and one of the Ferengi when he came around to check on his bar. Then a big Klingon woman told me to go back to the bar and not leave until I was unable to leave.
I didn't drink too much, but Jean - oh boy. After two hours of sipping two big drinks without getting up - she was in a state. I had to offer her considerable help during our walk to the van the pick up the others and head out on the town for the evening. Jean and I both decided that we would like to live in the Startrek Experience.
On Wednesday, we drove to Los Angeles, toured Hollywood and finished the trip with a Thai dinner. With six mostly fun people and several excellent chefs, this was a great final trip for the year.
I spent the next three days cleaning all of my equipment and the van before returning it all to Trek. By Saturday night I was finished and it was time to retire again.
I have worked for 15 of the last 16 months, and all nine months of this year so far. That is more than anyone should ever have to work. I plan on taking about eight months to recover. This year I have driven around 40,000 miles in five countries from Belize to Alaska, the entire North American Pacific coast and over to the Atlantic coast as well.
Sunday morning I flew to Boston and my luggage arrived Tuesday night. The flight from Los Angeles to Denver was incredible. In under two hours I flew the same route I drive in ten days with Trek. We left L.A. at sunrise so the shadows on the ground were perfect the whole flight. We went over Las Vegas, Red Rocks State Park, The Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, Zion National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP, Grand Canyon NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument, Boulder Mountain, Lake Powell, Arches and Canyonlands NP, the Rocky Mountains, around Pikes Peak, over the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado and over many other towns and places I have been in the last few years. I sure got Trek's money's worth out of that flight.
In Denver I got to look at the new airport. It was nice, but Atlanta had the same trains between terminals over ten years ago. The voice of the train was nicer in Denver, though. When I got to Boston I took the train out to my father's place.
When I got off of the train I walked down a new street in a strange city with a heavy backpack on my back. This was the most comfortable I have felt since I left Australia almost a year and a half ago. Walking with a pack on my back in a new place with no particularly pressing schedule may be my definition of happiness.
Cousins Susan, Alan, Liana, and Bailey were visiting my dad, Elizabeth and Emily so we all went out to eat. On Monday, Milo (my brother) came down from his summer home in Maine to visit for the week. This week my dad, my brother and I are just hanging out and visiting old friends.
