We decided to have breakfast out, and stopped outside the park , egg and cheese bagels at an cute little café. We took the 8:15 shuttle into the canyon. The only way to see the 10 mile Zion Canyon Drive is by shuttle and it is very easy to use and very efficient. The shuttle is totally free, cuts down on pollution and there is virtually no waiting - the shuttle comes every 7 minutes. We took the shuttle to the last stop at the end of the canyon, Temple of Sinawava. We hiked the Riverside Walk Trail to the end of where you could walk. People had water shoes and kept going up the canyon by walking in the Virgin River. We spotted a mule deer along the trail. Next we stopped at Big Ben ... read more

A lazy Sunday morning here in Mammoth Lakes, CA. We took our time getting going this morning, a well deserved break. After breakfast we went into town, did laundry and grocery shopping. We found a free wi-fi at Looney Beans. I was finally able to download Verizon Wireless software on to the new Vista computer (after 4 months of waiting for the software to become available). Now we have a reliable computer to get on line with if the old Toshiba craps out again. Had lunch at Subways and hit the road about 12:30, heading for Death Valley. We were driving south on Route 395 through a lovely valley, with towering mountains on either side of us. We were looking at this unusually high mountain and I looked on the map to identify it, and it ... read more

We woke up to a damp drizzly morning. Our drive along the coast was exciting - too exciting for me. I was the one hanging out over the drop to the cliffs and ocean below. We saw a quaint lighthouse at Point Arena. We were surprised that most of what we saw today was farms and pastures right along the ocean. This reminded us of Nova Scotia, where it is mostly farmland along the coast. Cows were out to pasture in these fields on cliffs directly above the ocean. I didn't see any fence to keep them in - they are probably too smart to get too close to the edge. Stopped at an A&W Rootbeer for lunch. The lunch wasn't so hot, but the root beer was great. My sister Diane and I both worked ... read more

There was 17,900 miles on the Honda this morning, which means we have traveled 5,400 miles since the start of out trip on August 15th. We had the oil changed at Honda World in Coos Bay. Very efficient and friendly people at this dealership. Then we were on our way heading south again along the coast. We were pleased to see that the coast was once again rugged and picturesque. We drove over Humbug Mountain and noticed how much greener it was along the southwest coast. We had lunch in Gold Beach and before we knew it, we were in California. We stopped in Crescent City and finally got an internet connection so we could send some blogs out. Our phone service along the coast has been very intermittent. We saw seals along Anchors Way and ... read more

We decided to stay in Cape Perpetua another day. We found a Honda dealer in Coos Bay - about 73 miles from here - any we really need to get the van serviced. Today being Labor Day we decided to take a holiday. We walked the beach trail at Smelt Beach. The ocean pounds against the rocks here sending spray into the air. There is a blow hole, where the water comes in under the rocks and blows high into the air. There was literally a “glass house” on the beach, at least the side facing the ocean. You could see every room and every ugly piece of modern, yet worn furniture and even the resident in her sweats. In the afternoon we drove south along 101 and found a beautiful lighthouse at Heceta Head. When ... read more