The second half of a tour to Los Angeles, a three week tour of the US southwest and a trip to Florida

Near the end of last November, I left Mazatlan with my group and drove up to Los Mochis. We spent the night and took the train up to the Copper Canyon the next day. It was nearly a twelve hour train ride and we were all happy to get off the train by the time we got there.

The next day we hiked down the side of a canyon and sat in some hot springs. The day after that, some people went hiking, but I took a great bike ride with two others. I tried to ride through some mud, but the front tire just sank right in. I did a great flip over the handlebars. After another nice walk the next morning, we took the train back down to Los Mochis.

Next on our schedule was a very long drive. We drove up to Nogales, on the US border. It was very cold. We crossed over on the 7th of November and went to a hotel near Tucson, Arizona. We ordered some pizzas and watched the presidential voting results on TV. Eventually, we gave up on waiting for a winner and went to sleep. On the 8th, we went to San Diego and had a fun night out. The last day of the trip, I went to the San Diego Zoo and had a great time there. Then, it was up to Los Angeles to say goodbye.

On the 10th of November, I went into the Trek America office and did not do much. That night, I drove up to Visalia, California with Ivan and Matt. That drive was an adventure in itself in Ivan's very old pickup truck. We went to Mateo and Jaki's house and spent the night. Saturday morning, a few of us went hiking in Sequoia National Park. We even got snowed on at one point. It was pretty. That night there was a big party at the house and the next morning Mateo made us all a great breakfast.

I got back to LA on Sunday night and met my new group. On the morning of the 13th, I headed north with 13 new passengers (twelve women and one man). We did a quick tour of LA, stopped for a bit in Santa Barbara and spent the night near San Luis Obispo. Then we went up to San Francisco for a few days of sightseeing and eating. While there, I met up with Michiko, a Japanese passenger from two years ago in Mexico. I also hung out with my friend Sue for one evening at a Jazz jam session. Then we all headed east to Yosemite National Park. We did a great hike there over some snow covered trails. It was a bit slippery at times.

On the way out of the park we stopped to look at some big Sequia trees and then camped near Bakersfield, California. From there we drove to Death Valley. Along the way, we saw a fighter jet from the Air Force fly below us through a canyon. It was impressive. At our campsite in Death Valley we had some resident foxes and even a coyote. We went on a few short walks in the Valley and spent the afternoon playing on the sand dunes. I had a great time, as usual, rolling down the sand.

From there we went over to Las Vegas for our buffet and Limo ride. The next day, Thanksgiving Day, I took three passengers out to Red Rocks State Park for a hike in the desert. The hike was awesome. To leave the park, I decided to take the jeep road. Some parts of it were a bit too rough for the van, but with Daniel's help, I was able to get over the rough and narrow parts and come out the other end intact. We then raced back to Las Vegas and went to the Star Trek Experience. The ride was as much fun as ever and we had dinner in Quark's Restaurant.
We stopped at the Outlet mall on the busiest shopping day of the year for a quick bit of shopping, and then headed up to Zion National Park in Utah. We did a nice stroll up a canyon and a nice hike up to Angel's Landing viewpoint before heading over to the Paria River Guest Ranch for a bit of a party with my friend Easton. We also did a great horse ride there. Parts of the river were frozen, but the horse and I were heavy enough to break through.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon. Most people hiked. I took Daniel to the clinic for his non-healing wound and did some paperwork the rest of the day. Then we went to Monument Valley and took a tour by jeep. That night they all slept in a Hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling. Then we headed south to Betty and Rusty's cowboy camp. We had a relatively quite night there. They made there always excellent food for us and we dressed up in Cowboy clothes the next morning.
We moved on to Joshua Tree National Park and had another nice hike through the desert to an oasis. We stopped for lunch near some great rocks and I had a lot of fun climbing on them. Our final night stop on this three week trip was in San Diego. I took a group of them down to Tiajuana, Mexico. I really enjoyed being back in Mexico, even if it was only a border town for a few hours. After a short last night out and a visit to Disneyland, the trip was over.

On the 4th of December, I spent my birthday in the office avoiding work. I spent the next two days in the office, also avoiding work. On the 7th of December, I flew home to Florida. I spent the next two weeks sitting on the couch and occasionally visiting family. I flew up to Boston yesterday and will go back to work next week. I will head back down to lead tours in Mexico for the next three months.