Dear Drew's Blog Readers,
We are finally home after an action packed trip on the road; one which touched seven U.S. states altogether: Washington, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California and Oregon. If we weren't on a major freeway we were on an arrow straight " ribbon road" or a snaking ,winding road or a white knuckle switch back road, or even a portion of the venerable Route 66. We had plenty of sun and comfortable warmth everywhere, but also a taste of real desert sandstorm conditions plus some bitterly icey winds. Attempting to get all of the thousands of possible pictures everywhere is like trying to empty the ocean with a mere teaspoon. We were awed by the magnificence of the many canyons we visited: the Grand Canyon ( North and South rims), the Bryce Canyon, The Zion Canyon and the Antelope Slot Canyon. None of these should be missed, particularly the Antelope Canyon. Approaching this one is like entering a large cave at ground level, with walls very close on each side, towering above at a height of 30 or 40 feet. Endless centuries of erosion have created such a curious, magical world of myriad shapes that everyone is shooting pictures breathlessly. Small openings at the top of the canyon allow shafts of sunlight to fall straight to the ground, like glorious pillars of brightness. Due to the wind's high velocity that day, there was red sand blowing constantly, falling on our heads like a shower, getting into cameras, pockets, ears, noses and mouths. Watching it disappear down the bath tub that night was fun!
Travel to Arizona, for those interested, should include a look at the very smart looking city of Sedona, to enjoy it's location smack dab in the middle of " Red Rock" country. Hoover Dam was another place worth a much longer look than we had time for.
What else?- oh yes, we saw a Cirque de Soleil performance, rode a cable car in San Francisco, visited Hearst's Castle and even took a jaw dropping airplane flight over the western Grand Canyon. If the plane banked even a little, you could see absolutely straight down below you through the good sized windows.
We enjoyed the oceanic vastness of the desert with it's beautiful arrary of wild flowers, and ( again) those ever so straight roads that appear to drop abruptly off the earth at the horizon.
Coming back along the California Coast the highlight for us was the charming city of Carmel -by- the- Sea. No, we didn't see any sign of Clint Eastwood- I guess they forgot to tell him we were coming...
Oregon greeted us with stormy rain and winds which only served to dramatize the surf and views of the monolithic rocks which protrude from the sea or the sand.
Finally, we turned eastward after a night in Poulsbo, Washington ( seeing my cousin) to visit family in Kamloops: Norman's son, his wife and their 2 adorable sons. We enjoyed getting a great dose of the energy and antics of a two year old and a four year old!
So home we are, for a summer in Victoria. Meanwhile, I'm wondering....where will we go next?
Trudi Prelypchan
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