Mini-tour Days 31, 32 and 33

Day 31 was time to return the RV, and then move to the Hacienda Hotel, which was where I had stayed the night before I met Janine and Jordan in LA. It is a nice clean hotel, close to LAX, with a nice restaurant attached. We arrived and checked in, had some dinner / late lunch, and then all ended up having a reasonably early night and a great sleep.

Day 32 was purely a rest day, and preparation to catch the plane back to Australia. I had a lesson with Nick in the morning while Janine and Jordan got a shuttle to a shopping village. I met them there for lunch, enjoyed a stroll around the centre, and then we all returned for dinner and another early night.

Day 33 we packed up our suitcases, then after putting them in storage headed back down to the shopping centre to pass a couple of hours browsing. We had dinner back at the Hacienda, and then headed out to LAX to catch our 11:30pm flight. The flight back was cheerfully uneventful, hitting the ground in Melbourne at around 8am.

So our mini-tour of the US is over, and has been a fantastic experience on a number of fronts.

However the blog is not over.....

A week or so ago I made reference that another exciting chapter was coming. Janine and I are off to Ecuador in 3 weeks, staying over there for 2 weeks to meet Mike Adams (founder of www.naturalnews.com) and also to attend a seminar hosted by Brian O'Leary. The seminars are covering health, economic, and energy issues. We are really looking forward to seeing what sort of community is being established at Vilcabamba, and meeting people who live positively, actively creating their lives rather than being created by them.

So I am looking forward to that next installment. For now, I have three weeks back here in Australia devoted in trading, and planning the next stage of our lives.

Bye for now!

Mini-tour Day 30

The day had arrived - needless to say, we all had a ball, Jordan especially!!

I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Mini-tour Day 29

Today was more of a functional day than a sightseeing event. We travelled from Lake Isabella to Anaheim, Los Angeles.



The one unexpected bonus was seeing more snow as we travelled through the mountains south of Lake Isabella. We arrived safely in Anaheim ready for the big finale of the trip...one Jordan was eagerly awaiting!!

Mini-tour Day 28

Today was an extra that we squeezed into the trip - I really wanted to see Death Valley. So we travelled north from Las Vegas, hit Beatty on the eastern border of Death Valley National Park, then swung west to travel through the park itself.



Travelling up through Indian Springs (from Las Vegas to Beatty) we struck very strong cross winds for about 50 miles. They were strong enough to be throwing the RV across the road - I was actually wondering at times if the RV would stay on 4 (actually 6) wheels! However we made it to Beatty, stopped to have a look at a quaint little 'Trading Post', then fill up with petrol before crossing Death Valley (I didn't want to run out of gas in the middle of that place!)

It turns out Death Valley is aptly named, and the gale force winds stayed with us through into the valley. We descended from around 5000' to 5' at the valley floor, where those winds resulted in a sand storm.



It seems not a lot grows down in the valley, and I could see why with a lot of the sand being covered with what looked like a salty crust.



After having lunch in the middle of the valley I decided to go for a walk into the sand dunes - I couldn't go into Death Valley without experiencing some of it first hand! It turns out I walked by myself, and the distance to the dunes was deceptive - around 40 minutes round trip. When I got back I received a lecture on how stupid I was walking out there by myself. I thought I was fine as it wasn't that hot and I could see the RV in the distance at all times, but apparently when the winds picked up and the sand storm got thicker Janine couldn't see me.

Moving along we stopped at the village sitting in the middle of the valley, Stovepipe Wells. The winds were still doing their thing, with sand going everywhere. The park itself is closed to all traffic during June and July due to the excessive temperatures.

After our short break we started the climb out of the valley, back up to around 5000' again. the winds were still kicking up and in places small rocks were flying around. Got scary again in places with strong gusts really pushing the RV around. Luckily Jordan fell asleep and missed a lot of it.

The mountainous landscape was harsh yet gorgeous, with craggy peaks and lovely browns. When we reached the alpine plains we stopped as the lighting was impressive as the sun started to drop. We jumped out of the RV and were greeted with freezing winds coming off the mountains - what a shock after the relative heat of Death Valley! However the light show with the clouds and water vapour rising off the lake was worth it!



We continued on into the night and eventually reached the KOA at Lake Isabella. I'm thankful our GPS was so good as there were no signs for the KOA at all until we reached the camp itself. Just winding roads, strong winds and pitch black. However we arrived safely and then enjoyed a nice hot meal - very welcome as the freezing winds were around for the night.

Tomorrow - back to LA...

Mini-tour Day 27

After a quick breakfast we wandered around the corner and into Circus Circus. It really did seem like a City within a Hotel. The first area we visited was the indoor theme park - even had a great roller coaster!



Next stop took a while to find, but we eventually found the circus within Circus Circus. It turned out to be just one act, but Jordan loved it. After that we wandered up the strip to Treasure Island which was quite a way. It turns out that Circus Circus is quite removed from the majority of the casinos. The walk was nice though as it was a lovely sunny day. Treasure Island has 2 'pirate' ships outside - big ones too!



After visiting a few more casinos we decided to hop on 'The Duece', a double-decker bus that runs up and down the strip. We got a great view of the other casinos, and got off at the far end of the strip to see New York New York, Excalibur, and then wander back towards the Circus Circus end. By this time it was getting dark, and we got to see the lights. Great to see, hate to have the power bill!!


We got to see the dancing fountain outside Bellagio, the exploding Volcano outside Mirage, the Eiffel Tower outside Paris

It was amazing to see so many slot machines, and so many Casinos built to huge sizes. The Eiffel tower replica at Paris Casino is 1/2 the size of the real thing!

Contrary to my earlier understanding, Las Vegas is actually very expensive. Everything is charged for, the meals are the most expensive we have seen in the US to date. It also isn't suited to a family style visit, so if we go again it would have to be an adult only affair.

All in all though it was worth the experience, however next time I'll know to bring a swag of cash so we can enjoy decent meals and some of the attractions and shows on offer.

Tomorrow - Death Valley here we come!

Mini-tour Day 26

Today was originally scheduled as a trip to the Grand Canyon, staying overnight in the same area. However we decided that we wanted to squeeze Death Valley into our itinerary, meaning we needed to be in Las Vegas by this evening. So we decided to head up to see the Grand Canyon, and then drive on to Las Vegas and stay there for 2 nights.



The southern rim of the Grand Canyon was 50 miles north of Williams, where we had stayed for the night. I was surprised when we arrived to see more snow, which still didn't seem congruent with the Desert scenery we found ourselves in. I should have been used to this by now, for all the desert we had passed through had included snow!

We parked the RV and set out on foot for the southern rim of the canyon. The walk included our obligatory snow ball fight - however this was short lived as we didn't all have gloves, and making snowballs with your bare hands gets a bit painful after a few minutes!

The rim was only half a mile from the car park, and there it was in all it's grandeur.



I was surprised that I didn't find it nearly as visually spectacular as either Red Canyon or Glen Canyon. When I mentioned this to Janine she felt the same. It is almost as though there sheer scale of the Grand Canyon (10 miles across from side to side, and 1 mile deep) diminishes its visual splendour. I think that to really experience this canyon you would need to take the mule trip down to the base, and spend a few days there. Perhaps that or a helicopter flight through it. Anyway, viewing from the top doesn't do it justice.



After having lunch in the National Park, we headed back south and then west to Las Vegas. This drive was principally on freeways, and therefore a purely functional trip rather than sightseeing. Once again the GPS guided us flawlessly to the campsite, which is right on the 'strip', next to Circus Circus.

Into bed we went, looking forward to experiencing our first real city of the trip tomorrow.

Mini-tour Day 25

Today was a delightful morning, waking up to a light covering of snow. What had been lovely red canyon walls the night before were now dusted with fresh snow. Jordan was looking forward to more snowball fights with Mummy (although they are rather one-sided!)



The day was destined to be a long one, driving down to near the southern entrance of the Grand Canynon, however the delights started early with the Red Canyon showing off a new side with the fresh snowfall.



We steadily travelled south, crossing over into Arizona. I have to say that I never expected to like the desert, having historically favoured lakes, trees, mountains and the like. However I found myself being totally enamoured with the reds and browns, especially the dramatic cliffs of the canyons and mountains. Gorgeous!

And then we drove through Glen Canyon - absolutely spectacular, with a huge dam and hydro station crossing the river below.





Having been driving for a while, we found a nice, clean McDonalds for Jordan to have a play and let off some steam. Considering the hours we have been spending on the road the last few days he has been fantastic, sitting for hours in his booster seat playing imaginary games with his various toys.

Eventually, after a long day travelling south we arrived at the KOA - once again the GPS performed flawlessly. I would not like to have done this trip without it!

Well, tomorrow morning it is off to the Grand Canyon we go!!

Mini-tour Day 24

Today was a rest day here in Bryce Canyon - a wonderfully peaceful spot with amazing scenery out our window.



I had a private lesson with Nick today, I find them incredibly useful as he goes through each of my trades with a fine tooth comb, identifying characteristics which do not serve me. Additionally I spent a few hours planning another very exciting part of our future - more on that after we have spoken to some people concerned.

Jordan spent the day burying some of his toys in the red dirt, as well as getting half the canyon over his clothes!!

All in all it was a lovely family day, leaving us refreshed and ready for the trip to Grand Canyon tomorrow!

Mini-tour Day 23

We packed up early this morning and headed off to the Young Living Oils facility at Mona, which is just 30 mins south of Provo, and on our way to Bryce Canyon.



The treatment we received from the Young Living staff was amazing. They sent someone out from their Corporate Headquarters in Salt Lake City to escort us around the facility whilst the person who actually runs the production facility gave us a tour of the entire place. We saw how they grow the herbs from seed in their glasshouses, plant them in their fields, extract the oils etc. Of couse Janine went shopping in the outlet on site :-)



Leaving there we headed off the main highway so as to see more of the countryside. The interstate highways here are great if you are in a hurry, but we try to avoid them so as to see the smaller towns, and get more into the countryside. Then you get to see things like this...



The further south we travelled the more the landscape changed, until we started heading towards Red Canyon.



Amazingly enough there was a lot of snow in the canyon - however we were at 7800' at the summit of the canyon!

I was amazed by the canyon itself, I'd never seen anything like it. Absolutely beautiful.



The diversity of nature on display here has to be seen to be believed, so many different ways of expressing its magnificence.

We arrived here at the campground before dark. It amazes me that we are literally in the middle of a canyon, a long way from any towns, and here I am on the internet!

Tomorrow is another rest day, more trading and tai chi study, and what an outlook I have to do that.

Mini-tour Day 22

Rest day, spent my time catching up on trading study, tai chi etc. No photos, however tomorrow we head off for Bryce Canyon which should take us into a whole new side of the US.

Mini-tour Day 21

We had originally scheduled to stay 2 days at Bear Lake, however we decided to move straight on to Salt Lake City. It was interesting to observe my feelings, as the closer we got to the city with its hustle and bustle, the more I wanted to turn around and head back to the quiet of the mountains and forests. That was especially interesting considering Salt Lake City is bordered by mountains!!



Well, we passed the camp ground, and saw it was flanked by high-tension power lines and mobile phone towers. Janine and I had a 2 minute discussion and decided to continue on to Provo which is 45 mins south of Salt Lake City. Interestingly enough, Salt Lake City KOA is the one camp ground I have forgotten to pre-book - more than a coincidence I think!

The camp site at Provo had a small stream running through it and it's own colony of ducks, both of which Jordan liked. The owner was a real cowboy, complete with the voice about 3 octaves below middle C!!

No photos from today - hopefully tomorrow will make up for it...

Mini-tour Day 20

Once again we woke up to a frozen water line, nice to have the independent holding tank and water pump in the van! As you can see the site was still fairly well covered in snow this morning, very pretty!



After a nice hot breakfast of oats we headed over the state line into Wyoming. The further east we travel, the more I am enjoying the countryside. My favorite state has changed from Oregon to Washington to Montana and now Wyoming!



Jackson is a gorgeous small city just south of Grand Teton National Park. If I were to move to the US, Jackson would be the choice of home town. It is beautifully clean, has an air of prosperity, and the most gorgeous outlook with the Teton Pass in one direction and Grand Teton National Park in the other. We stopped there to buy some supplies for lunch, anticipating having lunch in the National Park. The supermarket we went into had a great Organic selection which we availed ourselves of.

Into the park we went, amazing scenery...



After a yummy lunch with the mountains shown above as our outlook, we got down to some serious winter sports.



Once again it was boys against girls (not our fault there is only one girl!!). Not surprisingly Janine soon tired of this game and went off to her own endeavours.



Reluctantly we had to pack up and head south, our camp for the night being in Utah. On the way south we passed through Snake River Canyon, what scenery. An absolute highlight, and another placve we will return to. Gorgeous sights with the houses being made of beautiful red timber contrasting with the white of the snow. Nice homes too, we never saw any in poor repair.



And much to Jordan's delight we saw out first Burger King (called Hungry Jacks in Australia) with a playground - a very big one too! That was at a delightful town called Afton, straight out of a John Wayne movie!!



As we head south the snow slowly disappears, we have a small amount at the KOA in Bear Lake, however it is still very cool.

Bye for now!

Mini-tour Day 19

We woke up this morning to a near empty RV park. It turns out that most of the people staying in this part of Montana at this time of year are Canadians who are heading back home after taking their RVs south to spend the winter in Arizona. The park itself had a small river running through it which is well populated with fish. Lovely scenery.



We met the people staying behind us who had just bought the RV park. Really nice couple. Bob, the husband, had been CEO of some financial company who forsaw the financial collapse of the USA a few years back, and had steadily managed his way out of stock and property holdings, cashed up, and then looked for a secure path through the coming financial demise of the USA. Interestingly his view of the near future of the USA was the same as mine - a bullish spike in the next 6 - 12 months followed by a second, and deeper, wave of the recession / coming depression.

Bob's wife, Jan, is doing her PhD in Natural Health, and so of course the 4 of us got on well and chatted most of the afternoon. Jordan also had a great time playing with Bob. They have a 36' fifth wheeler with pop-outs. Very big inside, with a full size kitchen with 2 fridge-freezers, full size washer and dryer, large bedroom with walk-in robes, queen size bed and shower / bathroom. All for $26,000. Amazing price, the more I see the more I realise Australia is very over-priced in so many areas.

Back to our holiday - I discovered that we are 3 weeks too early for the roads to open in Yellowstone, and so modified our itinerary for the next few days. Grand Teton National Park is open, but can only be entered from the southern entrance. That would make the drive tomorrow too long, and so we decided to pack up and head down to an RV park close to that entrance tonight. So off we go!!



We never left until around 5pm, with a 3 hour drive to Victor which is just east of Wyoming. The vistas we saw today were even more spectacular. Large mountains and frozen lakes dominating the skyline.





We pulled into this camp around 9:30pm, to find the thickest snow we have seen yet. Our site is literally shovelled out of the snow. No doubt we will have fun exploring the camp tomorrow morning (whilst being pelted with snowballs from a certain little boy), before heading into Grand Teton National Park to see yet more wonderous sights!