Late post

I had problems uploading pictures so the blog sort of came to a stop.  We are home now and it was a great trip.
 When I get a chance I will catch up the blog for the rest of the trip.  We drove a total of 11514 miles!

Since Sequoia

After Sequoia Nat. Park we headed up to Yosemity. The view was great but I think it was more for hikers and rock climbers than just driving thru. We then went to Carmel by the sea just south of San Francisco. We spent the night in Salinas.  In the morning we headed north thru San Francisco and across the Golden Gate bridge.  From there we moved over to the coast and followed hwy.1. We spent the night at a hotel called TimberCove. It was right on the ocean we had a little rain but the view was fantastic. From there we continued up the coast to Arcata and spent the night. On the way we passed many of the giant redwoods, they were amazing. After Arcata we drove thru Redwood Nat. Park and on into Oregon. The road up the coast was one fantastic view after another. On the way we passed herds of Rosevelt Elks just laying in a field.  They let us drive right up to them and take pictures.  We spent the night at a great hotel in Newport Oregon. We were on the side of a cliff and on the 4th floor which gave us a great view of the beach and ocean.   The next morning in was raining so we headed inland on our way to Seattle Washington.  As luck would have it the sky cleared and we had good weather all the way in.  On Sat. we went to the Space needle in downtown Seattle and then to the Zoo. That evening we had dinner with an old friend of mine from Gtmo.  Today we went to a Reformed Episcopal Church which was listed in our church directory.  The service was from the 1928 prayer book but was enjoyable.  This afternoon we are just resting for the next leg of our journey.  In the morning we will head to Missoula Montana crossing the top of Idaho.  It's a long drive but the next day we want to be in Yellowstone early.  We have reservations at a lodge in the park.  We are finally turning back east and headed toward home.  Wish us luck with the weather.  It looks like snow at Yellowstone and COLD.
Will try and post pictures later.

Trip to Sequoia Nat. Park

 Worlds largest tree

We had a great time in Sequoia Nat. Park.  It was way into the snow and walking was a problem.  The road up was one lane due to  the outer lane collapsing. they were rebuilding it.  These are the worlds largest trees.  We had lunch in the park and then headed to Fresno for the night.  We wanted to go to church on Sunday so we decided to spend Sunday night here too.  We went to St. Mary's Anglican church. It was a great service. On Monday we are headed to Yosemite and then on to Big Sur and Carmel-by-the -Sea. We are not sure if we can make it all the way or not, we may have to stay somewhere on the way. After that we are headed up the coast thru San Francisco and on to the Red Woods. So far we have put over 5500 miles on the car.

Las Vegas to San Diego

Hotel in Vegas

 My old house in Coronado

 San Diego skyline from Coronado

 Star of India worlds oldest operational Sailing ship

 Out of order this is going into Sequoia National Park

 Brenda at Coronado Beach



The trip from Las Vegas to San Diego was not to bad. We arrived early and went over to Coronado to see where I used to live and the beach.Then went to the hotel which was right down town.  In the morning we headed to San Diego Zoo.  They say it is one of the best zoo's in the country and I have to agree.  We spent about 4 hours there riding the zoo's bus and walking.  Brenda was tired so we went back to the hotel and then I went to the maritime museum.  It was good too. the next morning we headed out to Sequoia Nat. park.

Pictures up to the Grand Canyon

Viva Las Vegas

It seems that I just have not had the time to post anything lately. At Cedar City we headed to  Bryce Canyon. It was wet and very overcast. you could not even see the tops of the mountains.  We almost didn't go.  As we headed over the mtn. it started to snow,  There were drifts along the road 3 or 4 ft deep but the road was clear. By the time we arrived at Bryce Canyon it seemed to have cleared up but during the day we had sunshine, overcast and snow but the view was great.
The next day we went to Zion National park and spent the night in St George. Zion is more for hikers than sightseeing.  The view on the main highway was as good as in the park.
On the 13th we went to the Grand Canyon.  On the way we stopped at Dog Town,  It is an animal rescue organization.  They have around 3500 acres and rescue just about any animal you can think of,  They have 4 vets and 20 vet techs. on staff.
The Grand Canyon was great, not real crowded. We spent four hours  hiking  and touring the canyon rim.
Our next stop was Flagstaff Az. where we spent the night and drove down to Sadona.  Again the views were fantastic,
Today we are in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay hotel.
We leave Wed. for SanDiego.

After we left Mesa Verde we went down into Arizona and back up into Utah through Monument Valley. Thats where many of the westerns were filmed. Then up to the Natural Bridges Nat. mon via a short cut!  The road turned to gravel and we drove up the side of a 1000 ft mesa.! You could not even see the road from the valley. Then up to Moab and the Arches nat. park. There is so much to see in Utah you get sensory overload. Yesterday we headed to Bryce Canyon park.  We ran ahead of the rain most of the day but heading south through the mountains it finally got us.  We even were driving through snow.  Today it is wet and very overcast and I don't know what Bryce canyon will be like.

Mesa Verde

What a day. We left SantaFe about 8:20 and headed north into Colorado.  The views were fantastic.  We wanted to go by Los Alamos but were worried that if we did we would arrive at Mesa Verde to late to really see it.  As it turns out we were right. 
You can't imagine how fantastic Mesa Verde is.  The pictures just don't do it justice. I can't figure out how they got up and down some of the cliffs. We are staying at the Best Western in Cortez CO.  In the morning we will go to Canyons of the Ancients just west of Cortez.

 They were moving a herd of cattle up the highway. do you believe it?

We crossed the great divide today so now all the water will flow west instead of into the Gulf.