Woke up and it was nice and sunny, great we thought, had pancakes for breakfast to keep me going on the hike – not actually into the canyon but along the rim and off we set. First we walked to the Bright Angel Trail to see where Howard had hiked back out from before, we went a short way along the path down and got to a corner and before I knew it I was running back up the path with my mind going get out get out!!!! See its’ sheer drops and no barriers I just cannot do them!! Howard played about taking photos of the trail paths – he had not seen them properly when he came up before so it was great for him to actually see what he had done. He didn’t ... read more

When we arrived at Fort Collins after a long day’s travel we check into the Motel 6 (bit grotty) and as we unloaded the boot this old guy came up to Howard and asked him if he was here for the Wood Turner’s Syposium!!! Hee hee. 10th September ’11 Fort Collins to Grand Junction, Colorado Well it turns out it is long drives plus sightseeing! On our way we visited the Rocky Mountain National Park, again different scenery – this time Alpine! In parts it looked like Switzerland or Austria, really pretty and really cold! The highest pass we drove over was 12,183 ft! Howard reckons that is the highest road he has ever driven over himself. As we made our way out of the park we knew there was what appeared on the map to ... read more

The Crazy Horse Memorial was simply stunning and so moving. The dedication of the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and his family is over-whelming. After his death his wife continued to oversee the project and the whole family are involved (he had 10 children!). They believe the project should be funded through public donations from people who believe in what they are doing and have twice refused to accept government funding. Feeling it would undermine the principles of the site and that their plans would not be realised. The film they show, shows how he was written to by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear who heard of him after he won 1sp prize at the 1939 New York’s Worlds Fair. He invited him to the Black Hills to carve Crazy Horse so that the white man would know ... read more

I must put you in the picture, ever since arriving in America Howard and I have had this strange compulsion to start moulding things into this odd shape. It started off with little packs of butter at breakfast, progressed to ice creams, even soggy towels weren’t safe. Once we had bought a fork in Walmart it got worse, any time we had food we seemed to form a kind of mountain out of it and then had to use to fork to scratch down the sides. I was beginning to get seriously worried I can tell you! One evening I was flicking around on the tv trying to find HBO so I could watch True Blood when a news station caught my eye, I couldn’t believe it, there just for a flash was a picture on ... read more

We left Drigg for another long day of travel which was broken up by visiting Teton and Yellowstone. Teton was an area of soaring mountain peaks, another truly beautiful lake (but nothing compared to Crater Lake) only spoilt by all the boats and yachts that were moored there. In a way it was a shame as this park seemed to be used just as a cut through to Yellowstone mainly, rather than being enjoyed in it’s own right. However as it led straight into Yellowstone Park I guess this is to be expected in a way. We were only visiting the West Yellowstone area today as the road we needed to take to our camp site led out from there, but it was the geyser area with Old Faithfull in it so we were quite excited ... read more