Condor

Yesterday was our only full day at the Grand Canyon. We started it by meeting Nancy, Bill, Jim and Jennifer for breakfast at the Market Plaza Cafeteria. It is such a relief to eat at a cafeteria, we have done nothing but eat “real” meals since we arrived and even I am tired of eating! This is even a surprise to myself!

For breakfast, all I had was a bowl of cereal and coffee, and it was perfect. Then we all caught the blue route bus to go to the top of the South Rim, the plan being to walk down. This would have been a terrible mistake if we had gone through with it. But we realized the bus was going too high, so we got our at the Abyss. Jim and Jennifer did not go with us and explored the park on their own. From the sound of what they told us later that day, it sounded like they had a good day too.

Nancy, Bill, Alan and I walked down only two stops before we realized it was too hot and we were too tired. But the views were amazing and we did see one Condor in the distance – too far for Alan to get a photo.

We got back on the bus at Hopi Point – riding to the top and then back down. At this point, we were very hungry and attempted to eat at Bright Angel Lodge. This lodge is right on the rim and was built in the 30’s. It looks really cute and I wish we could have stayed around there a bit longer. Eventually, we were told to go to the bar and they might have space for us to eat. They didn’t, but boy did that air conditioning feel good!

Anyone visiting the Grand Canyon should make sure they do not miss a visit to Bright Angel Lodge!

At Market Plaza, in addition to the cafeteria, there is a deli, complete with scones! We had lunch there and it was delicious!

Crossing paths with Jim and Jennifer at this point, Alan and I realized we were the only ones not going for a nap! But we wanted to see the East Rim, we had never been there. So we caught the Green Route bus and ended up at Yaki Point. On the way, Alan and I spotted a dog-like creature, sort of coyote colored, but looking more like a German Shepherd. So I asked the bus driver if coyotes or wolves were in this area and he said both. We have seen coyotes before and this creature really did not look like a coyote. So we went to the bookstore, conveniently located at the Mather Point Visitor Centre and looked it up. It was a Mexican Wolf!! Wow! Who would have thought we would be that lucky!

Meeting up at the cafeteria for dinner, all six of us decided to do sunset at Yaki Point. Catching the Green Route bus again, with the same bus driver who was a delight to have. He seems to really enjoy his job, he commentated all the way up, singing songs and just being very pleasant. On the way up, I was watching for the wolf but never saw him, but we did see a small elk. But sitting on Yaki Point, we were able to observe 3 Condors soaring above us! They were so clear you could even see their tag numbers!

Sunset is never good until after the sun goes down and most people leave before the “show” starts. Unfortunately for Alan, the group we were with were ready to leave as soon as the sun went down. At first, Alan asked them to wait for the next bus, but for some reason, he felt under pressure and left too early. It was heartbreaking to watch the sky go such gorgeous colors while we were trapped on the bus!

Maybe it was a good thing we left a bit too early. On the way back, Nancy began to feel very unwell and she really needed to be back in her room. I hope she is ok this morning. We had planned to have some time to ourselves after the sunset to catch up on 30 years, but this was not to be. So now we will have to plan another get together as soon as possible.

The small print in my marriage license has all kind of strange clauses – such as going with Alan to sunrises when we are on vacation. We had considered my not going this morning, but I read somewhere due to all the wild life in the park, it is suggested not to go anywhere on your own, so I went this morning! Glad I did too, there were loads of mule deer munching away at their breakfast!



I must admit, the Grand Canyon is not my favourite national park, from the first time I saw it in the 70’s, I have always wanted more from it. This is my third trip here and it still does not move me the way Bryce, Zion, Mesa Verde, the Tetons, Arches, Canyonlands, and so many others do. But at least this time, I saw some interesting animals and that was very special!



                                    “Why do laundry when you can just buy new clothes?”

Kissed by a Cowboy

After another beautiful sunrise at The View, we bid a sad farewell to Monument Valley. This is such a peaceful and spiritual place, I think we would have all gladly just stayed here for the duration of our trip.

But we have places to go and people to meet, so off we went! We made the obligatory stop at McDonalds along the way, where I got a Reese’s McFlurry! Searched Flagstaff for a Walmart. Our SatNav took us to Sam’s, which was no good. As we were leaving Flagstaff, there it was!! But we had to go on and wait another day for Walmart.

The remaining bit of our journey is really retracing our footsteps from our trip 2 years ago. But doing things bigger and better. In fact, this started with Monument Valley. In 2008, we essentially just drove through it, taking pictures and moving on. We never got the Valley in our soul, literally, since by the end of this visit, we must have ingested at least a pound of red dirt. (It felt that way anyway!) We ate Navajo food and toured Monument Valley – seeing views that can never be seen if you do not go deep into it. So, with any luck, although we are not doing anything much new, we hope to continue having new experiences based on what we know we missed last time.

Our ultimate destination today was Grand Canyon, but we wanted to go back to Williams, AZ. We all had fallen in love with the iconic Route 66 town, but we had gotten there too late last time to enjoy it. So we factored in lunch at the same diner we went to last time. We did not factor in that this is Memorial Day weekend and the town was absolutely booming! How lucky were we? As we walked toward our diner, I was stopped by a cowboy and kissed! Not a bad start to a visit!

We sat at the same table as last time at the diner and then each of us went on our merry way to see what we wanted. The shops are darling here and everyone bought something, which was great. I found a craft show and finally spent my budget on jewelry!

We drove on to Grand Canyon and checked into Yavapai Lodge. Once again, repeating a pattern. But we were put into a nicer bit of the lodge, so we do have air conditioning, a fridge, coffee maker and no ceiling fan. This was a nice surprise, especially the coffee maker!

A highlight of being at the Grand Canyon was knowing that my little sister from my sorority days (Delta Delta Delta) was meeting us there, with her husband. The plan was to meet at the El Tovar Hotel bar at around 5:30. And the plan worked!! It was amazing to see someone I have not seen in at least 30 years! And I am very grateful that she and her husband, Bill, drove 6 hours to come meet us. We had a very relaxed evening, first a drink at the bar, then sunset over the Grand Canyon, then dinner in the cafeteria. We were all so tired that this was enough.

                                            Bill Bevens, Jennifer, Pat, Nancy Bevens and Jim

Nancy brought two batches of Oatmeal cookies for us! I don’t think she realizes how perfect that gift was: to me – a road trip requires home baked cookies and this would have been impossible for us to have. And now we do! Thanks Nancy!

                                                         “Fill your life with simple joys”

Watching the Stars Move

Once I gave up on battling the computer last night, I went back up to our room.  I am so glad I did!  The moon had just risen over the rock formations right outside our balcony.  Full moon too!  It was so beautiful. 

We sat on the balcony for a long time, with Alan taking long exposure photos. So we could actually see the stars move!  Or at least that is the way we felt at the time. 

View from our balcony

I forgot to mention yesterday that there is a sandstorm going on around Monument Valley.   As we drove in yesterday we noticed it and it has obscured visibility a bit. Which is a big disappointment.  It is very interesting to see though.  And the sensation of being covered in fine red dirt is really odd.  In fact, once I took my shoes off last night and also today, it looked like I had done a very bad self tan! 

I am finally adjusting to the time change and actually slept through the whole night last night!  Luckily I woke up in time to see sunrise from our balcony though.  What an experience to observe sunrise over the Mittens!

Sunrise from our balcony

Our Navajo Guide had advised us to go on the guided tour as early as possible, so he picked us up at 8am.  The wind was not bad at that time so the sand storm did not ruin the trip. It was such an amazing experience that I would recommend anyone visiting Monument Valley to give Jerome a call.  I will be happy to give a contact email for him if anyone wants it.  He was born in Monument Valley in a Hogan.  A Hogan is the traditional round house I mentioned yesterday.    I ended up buying a book about them, so now I know the hogans around people's houses are actually there for ceremonies like birth and marraige.  Groups of  Navajo families live close together and there is usually a hogan around their homes.  Jerome took us into one where one of his grandmothers was carding and spinning wool.  (it was his grandmother's sister, so we could call her a Great Aunt probably)  She was 97 years old and has been in a few of the westerns filmed around here.

The Hogan inside looks very similar to a Kiva, the roof is the same pattern of wood and the hole in the roof lets in the same amount of light. However, you enter through a door on the ground instead of climbing down from the roof! 

Jerome also took us to see "pictographs". These look like cave drawings, but are on the outside of the rocks. 

We also went to John Ford point where I lost my hat for the first time.  Thankfully, I did not feel like a silly tourist becuase Jerome lost his on the same gust of wind. Alan caught up with both of them.  I was not so lucky the second time, when we were almost climbing over sand dunes with no apparent track in the road.  Another gust grabbed my hat and it went out of the vehicle and was lost forever.  It was a straw cowboy style hat with beads on the string around the top.  I can only hope someone finds the hat and uses the beads for jewelry one day!

I feel like we got a very special tour, we did see other tours go by and none seemed to get the special attention we got from Jerome.  Topping off the tour with a visit to the big Hogan, which is the name of a rock formation.  After being shown what looked like an eagle up in the rock formation, Jerome had his Navajo drum and sang two lovely songs, he said his grandfather had taught him.  I was actually in tears with the wave of emotion, standing in the midst of such natural beauty and being able to experience traditional Navajo music and singing.

Our Navajo Guide - Jerome

It is just about time for the moon to appear again, so I better close for now.  I know I still owe photos from yesterday, but the downloads are still very slow, so I will try again some other time.

"Whether a horse turns out to be a good cow horse or a poor one pretty much depends on the intelligence of the handler."

Monument Valley

This is only the end of our first week away! I cannot believe what we have done, seen and accomplished so far!  And none of us seem worse for wear (yet anyway!).

We left Cortez, Colorado this morning, after a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese!  Shiprock, New Mexico was close so we thought we would go there.  As we entered New Mexico the sign said "Entering the Navajo Nation".  And it was all Navajo from the look of it. In addition to regular family homes, they also had little round/octagonal houses around.  I was wondering if this was the sort of modern day Kiva!  Don't know who to ask about that.

Our main destination enroute to Monument Valley was to see Four Corners. This is the only place where four states meet:  Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.  It is a National Monument.  When we got there, the gates were padlocked shut, well, actually the padlock was open but the monument was closed and security was watching so no one could go in.  The sign said it was "under construction". In addition to the 4 or 5 cars and RVs driving in and being disappointed, three motorcyclists came in.  I offered to take a photo of them together and then asked them if I could take one of them. ( this photo is really good and I will make sure I can add it another time)

We drove on to Valley of the Gods, which is a minitiature Monument Valley.  I have pictures, but the computer seems to not want to download them for this blog tonight. So I will add in photos later.

Then we went to Goosenecks State Park. We had been here two years ago and Alan just loves it!  None of the rest of us was bothered to see it again, but it was no big deal for us to go back. The only reason Alan needed to go back - he had the wrong camera lens last time!!!  I made the most of it though, there was a Navajo woman selling jewelry and I bought myself a gorgeous necklace!

We are now staying at The View in Monument Valley and they view is spectacular!  This hotel was just built and designed so that every room over looks the Mittens.  Alan took sunset photos right from our balcony. 

It seems all really nice hotels make getting on the internet difficult. The View offers free internet access, but only in the lobby and dining room. So I am sitting in the lobby, freezing while doing this. But the view out the window is magnificent so it is not all bad. 

We are going on a tour tomorrow with our very own Navajo Guide: Jerome Richards.  When he gave me his card, I was disappointed he did not have a more "Indian" sounding name. But I am really looking forward to our trip and will let you know all about it.

Until then, I will do battle with this computer and try to get some photos downloaded!

 It took 7 minutes and still the first picture would not download.  Very sorry!  I will make sure I add these in at a later date.  If not on this blog, on another one.  I might have to wait til we get to a less nice hotel though!

"Life is a journey and you have the only map"

Visiting the Ancient Puebloan dwellings

Today was an incredible day!  We left Moab in the morning and went straight to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.  I have always been intrigued by the cliff dwellings of the ancient Puebloan people but never thought I would be lucky enough to actually see them!

Cliff Palace

It is very lucky that I read somewhere this park takes a full day to see.  It takes almost one hour to drive from the entrance to the cliff dwellings! The mountain just seems to go on and on. We booked a Ranger guided tour of the Cliff Palace, which is the biggest dwelling in the park.  There are over 600 settlements in the park!! This gives an idea of how big this park is.  To get to the Cliff Palace, you have to be brave, not afraid of heights, ladders and slippery, uneven stone steps.  You go down and down until you are standing where people raised their families (and turkeys) over 900 years ago.  There are also rooms under the ground called Kivas. These were probably used for religous ceremonies.  It was hard to visualize how they worked until we went to see a different settlement called Spruce Tree House. 

After visiting Cliff Palace, you then have to climb more slippery, uneven stairs and 3 10 feet ladders!  I do not like ladders at all, but the whole effort was worth climbing even scarier ladders if I had to!

Alan and I in a Kiva

Alan and I then went to see Spruce Tree House, which is a bit misleading, as it is not in a tree and not a single house, but another settlement!  The Rangers there have reconstructed a Kiva and Alan and I climbed the ladder through the tiny whole in the roof to get to the floor.  It was beautiful, if a bit claustrophobic!

Spruce Tree House, the ladder goes to a Kiva

view from the bottom of the Kiva's ladder!

We asked about how the original inhabitants got in and out of their dwelling place and the Ranger told us they had hand and footholds all the way up.  In essence, they rock climbed to get in and out of their homes.  Their doors started 2 feet above the floor, possibly to keep babies and toddlers from toppling out. But once they were old enough, they had to rock climb in and out themselves!  I cannot imagine telling my 16 month old grandson now that he can walk, he will have to start climbing without help! 

I will end this now with a saying I noticed in a shop window in Salina, Arizona

"Important parts of every journey are when we stay still"

Eating my way through 6 states

We are still in Moab, checking out tomorrow to unknown territory again. Hoping to stay in Cortez and visit Mesa Verde National Park.  We are a bit worried about this though, because we actually hit hurdles in our obstacle course last night when we arrived in Moab and hope it does not happen again! 

I already mentioned that it was quite a journey from Las Vegas to Moab. The reason we put ourselves through that torture was to have a good starting point. We had no reservations booked and did not anticipate this to be a problem, it never has been before. However, two major problems: we forgot the time change so we got into Moab around 7 instead of 6. This is quite late to find a room. And we never realized this was such a popular area. There is so much to do here, hike, whitewater raft, rock climb, jeeping and many other really fun things. So the place is absolutely booming with people! We went to every single hotel in Moab. It was getting really scary because Moab is not close to anywhere and we would have real problems. The very last one had two rooms and we grabbed them for 2 nights!

It is sheer heaven to stay on one place for two whole days!

Today we went to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. We saw lots and lots of rock formations and pretty desert flowers.  Sadly I was really not in the mood to enjoy the beauty of the area.  I think yesterday's trip just took the energy away for awhile.

Alan and I at the Arches National Park

Another arch

This prickly pear was in Canyonlands, the ones blooming at the Arches were yellow!

However, I am still enjoying my food! When we were in San Fransisco, I saw another of Mark Twain's sayings: "A cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education".

I realized last night that I am probably ruined for life about pizza.  On our last night in San Fransisco, after the night loop bus tour, when we were chilled to the bone because we sat on the top wrapped in Ikea blankets, we were really hungry.  We stopped at the first place we saw, which did not look very impressive. Ordered pizza and a pitcher of beer.  That was such a wonderful pizza! I did not know how that pizza would change my life though until I ate pizza again last night. I now know it will be a long time til I eat pizza again. I will have to wait for the memory of pizza perfection to fade!  I have no idea what the name of the place is though.

This morning, Alan and I decided to just eat the fruit we bought, it was perfect.  We have really been eating too much.  then we went on the journey to the canyons and ended up missing lunch!  Not good. But we ate at the Moab Brewery tonight and that made up for it.  I had hot cheese soup and a stuffed potato.  It was really good!

It is also much warmer now, thank goodness!  The temperatures got up to 70 degrees.  And it felt wonderful!

Tomorrow is another day and another town, don't know if we will have internet access, but if we do, I will try to keep this blog up.  I am actually enjoying doing this and hope it is enjoyable to read!

Driving through snow in Arizona in May!

This has been such a busy 3 days, I don't know if I can get it all down before I collapse in a heap!  I am still not adjusted to jet lag. But I do seem to enjoy the odd sleep patterns I develop and the lonely times in late evenings and early mornings where I have to entertain myself quietly.  Such as now.

After only sleeping in LA, we caught another plane and travelled to San Fransisco for two nights, staying at the Hilton on O'Farrell Street.  It was a beautiful hotel, dangerously close to a huge Macy's!  We bought an all loops sightseeing bus trip and did the downtown, Golden Gate Bridge/Sausolito, Nob Hill and Night tours.  Although we learned an incredible amount about this vibrant and cultured city, by the end of our two days, we could practically recite the main lines!  Even singing along every time we passed the Hotel California! 

I love coincidences and this one was amazing.  I started a book called The Sacred Bones by Michael Byrnes the day after going to Sausolito and there is a line in the introduction I would never have fully appreciated without having been on this trip.  The strange thing is this book is about antiquities in Jerusalem, similar to the Da Vinci Code.  The line was:  "he swore he could smell the perfume of its sweet eucaplytus trees".  Just after driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, we passed a grove of Eucaplytus trees and the beautiful perfume followed us for the longest time.


We caught a streetcar to get to Pier 39 for breakfast and to see the Sea Lions that have made Fishermans' Wharf their home since the 1989 earthquake!  There seem to be almost 100 of them, all shapes and sizes and completely at home with all the people looking over them.  When they first arrived, (the assumption is the earthquake scared them and they looked for refuge at the wharf), the city tried to scare them away.  But nothing worked and now they are a tourist attraction!

On our second day, we visited Alcatraz. We all had to by extra clothes because it is much colder than it should be here. I thought I was prepared and remember a saying of Mark Twain's: "the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Fransisco".

To go on a boat in this cold weather, I bought a pink hoody and a pink pashmina to wear with a cardigan, and my reversable black and green fleece. I also have no closed toed shoes and wore my wool socks with my sandals!

Alcatraz is amazing and it is difficult to put into words, but I would recommend anyone visiting the area to make this a priority. 

On Sunday, we flew back to LA to pick up our Chrysler Town &  Country and drive to Las Vegas.  This was just a one night stopover at the Golden Nugget.  Wow, what a huge hotel!  We were in the Carson Tower and went up and down to dinner and to the Fremont Experience and I still have no idea how to find our room!

The Fremont Experience is another event that is impossible to describe.  They closed off the streets between the Golden Nugget and the other iconic casinos at this intersection, built  a sort of roof/movie screen over the street and every hour they do sort of a musical laser show tribute that is breathtaking!  We saw the Queen and Kiss ones.  Anyone visiting Vegas should NOT miss this and it is free!

Now we are on today, when we checked out of this beautiful and huge hotel, got in the car and travelled ten hours! This was the most horrible day of our trip because we had to do alot of miles to get to the position to accomplish everything else we want to do this trip.  As far as I am concerned, we have already done enough for a two week vacation, and we have only been gone 5 days! 

And it is still so cold!!  It has been in the 40's most days and the layers of clothes keep getting piled on.  It does give me an excuse to buy a few heavier items, but I have never required an excuse to shop so I don't really appreciate this!

We are now staying in Moab, right in the middle of Canyonlands for two nights. It is a really cute place and we walked up the main street and looked at shops. I even bought a Christmas present today!  The lady at the shop told us it should be in the 100's just now, not in the 40's.  This cold cannot last the entire time we are over here, but then I guess I will have to complain about how hot it will be!!

The Stick and Stein

Once in LA, we went to the Travelodge at LAX South.  You would think after eating all day that we would not be hungry?  Well, you would be wrong!  There was an IHOP just behind the Travelodge, but I like IHOP for breakfast, not dinner.  So we asked and were told just beyond the IHOP was the Stick and Stein.

This looks like a sports bar, with loads of tv's and pool tables. But the best bit was the early bird specials:  sirloin steak and prime rib!  My stomach will always prefer American restaurants, it is amazing what you miss when you live in a different country.  So I was really excited about getting Prime Rib, and the meal did not disappoint!

First was salad bar, then the main course, complete with sour cream for the baked potato and loads of horseradish for the Prime Rib.  And lots and lots of raspberry iced tea!!  I knew I was home again!

Had a real scare in London!

Whew! We made it to Los Angeles!  So far we have been up 22 hours and are just about to go get something to eat.  But I need to tell you the story of today from the beginning -

Alan and I picked up Jim and Jennifer and checked in no problem in Glasgow to fly to London Heathrow.  At Heathrow, Alan and I were pulled aside because there was a question about our ESTA's.  An ESTA is a US government requirement for all non US citizens to submit prior to flying to the US.  Alan had done his last year, but somehow it had not registered and they were concerned about me not having one.  Turned out, Alan's was ok and they finally realized I was American.

So we settled ourselves down to wait for our flight, when suddenly, Alan gets a phone call from Colin at British Airways who says his reservations have been flagged up and our seats are cancelled!  the other 3 of us were listening to this conversation, that just seemed to go on and on.  Alan was very cool about it, didn't get loud or angry or anything, just quietly desperate.  but it was going nowhere, so I asked to speak and I immediately began to grovel to this Colin guy, baring my soul and begging shamelessly to let us get on the plane.  Jim and Jennifer were horrified because they were not bumped.  It was awful.  then while I was talking to "Colin", he confessed that it was really Craig and he works with Alan at Cowcaddens Fire Brigade Training Centre!  Boy was I not amused! 

I gave the phone to Alan and Craig confessed that this was a wind up! Firefighters are renowned for their practical jokes and this was a very good one.  Craig could not have known we had already been flagged and this was so perfectly timed after that.

Although I did appreciate the quality of the practical joke in general, all three of us had to have chocolate following this conversation!



 
View over Greenland, we did not see Iceland and the famous ash cloud.  We never expected to see this view today either.  Not only did we have the cancelled seats scare, minutes before boarding, it was announced the British Airways strike could go on, it had been challenged in the courts. 
 
However, we did board and things were different than normal, no duty free sales, no service apart from meals.  That was actually really good because we could just get up and help ourselves, like going into your own kitchen!
 
!We are not even going to wonder about how we get back, we are just going to focus on the present.

My head is in the ash clouds!

This picture was taken right before Whitney and her friends left the party on Saturday night to go out!Today feels like Monday since I went to a Patient Rights Bill Seminar yesterday.  And I am still recovering from all the preparations and residue involved with Whitney's birthday party.  I never had a hang over or anything like that, but I used every single serving dish in the house, or at least that is the way it feels. So there are so many things left to put away and straighten out, in addition to getting ready to leave for Los Angeles!  Oh, yes, there are still loads of bedding plants to be planted too, I bought them for the pots in the garden so it would look nice, and guess what?  Most of them were not planted! 

So far, the British Airways strike is officially off, but now the news says there might be disruption tomorrow. That is really much too close to Thursday for me to relax about it! 

The ash cloud closed airports yesterday, but it is gone now. So they say.  Apparently, it all has to do with wind direction and we are not supposed to be getting the direction that brings the ash anymore.  Not sure if that is going to make me relax about leaving on Thursday either.

What am I going to do tonight?  It is Whitney's "real" birthday!  But she has gone to lunch with a friend and won't be back til about 8 or so. Lunch????  Oh well, don't ask. They each have a child with them, a little 2 year old girl and Whitney's little 16 month old son.  So it will be directly to bed for my grandson and then maybe - another birthday cake? Can you have too many birthday cakes?!?

When do I have time to pack?

Whew!  What a busy weekend!  We have been working hard to get our house and garden ready for a cocktail party that my daughter asked for to celebrate her 21st birthday.  With only about 3 weeks notice and a house and garden totally neglectd due to building an extension and also 5 years of my being County Commissioner for Girlguiding Ayrshire South, not to mention normal family life!  Or what ever passes as normal when there are 4 generations living in one house!

On Friday, Whitney and I went for a spray tan!  I have never done that before and was a bit worried about it.  But it was ok, and I feel wonderfully tan now.  After living in Florida for 10 years, I do like to be a bit tan!  This should last about 7 days and with any luck, I will be in California then and can work on a tan naturally.

Saturday was very stressful, getting food and the house and the cake and the balloons and the garden furniture and myself - ready for a big party.  And it was worth it!!! We had some "older" friends ( our age) and Whitney had school friends and work friends.  The deal was cocktails and I found myself trapped in the kitchen making Pina Coladas and Tequila Sunrises, the only cocktails on the menu.  Linda and her husband made wonderful Bruschettas and Sue made a whole party's worth of wonderful food, plus what I had done.  JIm and Jennifer brought a variety of desserts. 

Sunday, doing dishes, returning glasses and being very tired.  and I did manage to start packing!

But the bad news it, the ash cloud is back and loads of airports were closed yesterday.  So we are still working around obstacle courses!  Now considering at least driving to London in case Glasgow is closed on Thursday.

So the packing MUST be finished tonight!

Ok so far

Today seems to be full of good news!  First of all, our British Airways flight from Glasgow to London is the only one not cancelled on Thursday! So it looks like we will make it to Los Angeles on time to achieve all our planned activities!  (something tells me it won't really be that easy, but I will remain optimistic just now)

Then, I managed to get to ASDA during lunch today.  That is not usually newsworthy, but we are hosting a cocktail party tomorrow night for my daughter, Whitney's, 21st birthday.  My Mom offered to cater it, but my friend, Linda, decided it would be "fun" for us all to cater it on our own!  Yea, good idea! Actually would be good if there were not so many other responsibilities happening in my life.  But it has been fun experimenting with recipes and planning all this FOOD. 

My problem with food though, is I continue to use American recipes. Then I get frustrated when I cannot find what anyone would consider simple ingredients.  Well, anyone living in the US anyway.  So at times like this, I wander up and down grocery store aisles, searching.....much better to do on  my own.  I did manage to locate most things on Sunday, but not everything.  Plus it is close enough to buy the fruit for my chocolate fountain!  So being on my own in ASDA is my idea of a good time!

Alan bought the chocolate fountain for me years ago, and he has never seen it being used.  Poor guy.  It really has been used, but not at home!  Guide meetings, friends' children's birthday celebrations, but not at home.  So Alan will be in for a treat tomorrow! Should I let him clean it?  That is the only downside about a chocolate fountain, so much wasted chocolate and I end up wearing lots of it while cleaning!

And the price of strawberries seems to be going down, all good news!

Our overseas flight is cancelled!

Alan just phoned to let me know that British Airways has announced flights affected by the strike and our's is one of them!  However, we are now booked on the next flight, only 3 hours later.  This is not a problem since we were only going to relax by the pool or whatever when we got there anyway, that first day.

We do have to travel from Glasgow to Heathrow though and we do not know, yet, if that flight will be cancelled.  Nice of them to only announce a few each day, gives us something to look forward to!

The plans are to drive to London if necessary, but I certainly hope not!  I am supposed to be working on the Isle of Arran the day before we leave and not driving to London!

As long as we get there, we are not going to worry about getting back, the flights won't be announced anyway til a week before.  Most folks just worry about running out of time or money while travelling.  Us?  We have to wonder if we are going to get home!

Summertime

This is a photo I took last year in my friend, Cathy's, back garden. I think it just looks like a perfect British summer afternoon, strawberries, cream, cherries and champagne, along with the promise of good friends spending the afternoon just talking and relaxing.

With any luck, I will have new pictures to post when we are rediscovering all the wonderful canyonlands in the wild, wild West!

Until then, this photo will have to do!

If it ain't ash, it's strikers

My husband, Jim & Jennifer and I have been planning a trip to the western United States for well over a year. We hd travelled there in 2008 with another couple and felt we had not done it right. So a very high quality return has been painstakingly and painfully planned. The four of us have met regularly at least once a month, it seems a bit over the top, but every day was planned, organized, reservations made, highways chosen, etc. "Nothing" could go wrong!



Famous last words. First came the infamous volcano ash, we live in Scotland, so we do have cars covered in a fine layer every so often. We know people who have been stuck in Istanbul, Manchester and Tenerife. We accepted this could be a risk to us. But the volcano has to stop sometime, right? It has been going on since March and airports were closed yesterday.......



Oh, did I mention we are flying British Airways? Yes, the ones going on strike two days before we fly out! We had an emergency summit meeting last night to discuss options. Looks like one option is to leave 3 days early! With a big of creativity, this won't even mess up our reservations and planned meetings with friends and family along the way. However, since we are having a big 21st birthday party in our house and garden, on Saturday, the idea of flying out Monday instead of Thursday is a bit daunting!

Watch this space to see what happens! Either way, we will have a good time, but I really wish we could just get excited about going and not have to worry about logistics and possible set backs!

At least we are not going to Fort Walton Beach this year. My Mom has a time share there and it is one of the most beautiful beaches on earth, honest! My dear niece and her family are going instead. I don't know if the oil spill will have reached that part of Florida yet, but it is another addition to the travelling obstacle courses!