We are now off on a mini-Grand Circle trip with the two Texas grandkids, Rachael and Kyndi, and the two Lakeside grandkids, Brooke and Erron, all supervised by Grandpa and Grandma Fish, a.k.a. Jerry and Claudia and our travelling companion, “Valentino”, Claudia’s pet fish…a Siamese Fighter, commonly known as a Beta. Rachael and Kyndi arrived on Friday. When we picked them up at the airport, their first request was to go to Fiiberto’s (a drive-through Mexican joint across the street from our condo) for lunch. Filiberto’s has, by far, the best Mexican fast food this side of the Rio Grande. Claudia had two chili rellanos and some rolled tacos. I had a fish burrito. The kids each had a burrito. Happiness was rampant! We then went home and I found out that all girl-type kids are the same. They all have a cell phone or iPod screwed into their ears 98% of the time. Anyway, we kicked back and got everyone settled down for the night.
We (Claudia and I) got up early to get things ready. The house was (mostly) prepared by 8:00 am so I brought the Motorhome down to the condo for its final packing. Alisa, Corey, Brooke and Erron showed up around 8:30 bearing gifts of carne asada and milk. After loading everyone on board, we took off for Sin City…Las Vegas. After a 7-hour non-eventful drive, we arrived at the Oasis RV Park and got all settled in. We then took off for the Fremont Street Experience. You’ve all heard the saying, “What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas”? Well, when we got to Fremont Street and got parked, the people watching was phenomenal. After all, it was St. Patty’s Day Weekend and the crazies were out! There was the usual green hair, green clothes and all that but there was also the Goth look, Punks, biker types, etc. The Goth’s had more tattoos showing than skin. The rest had only about half their skin tattooed. We passed the time walking and watching until 8:00 pm when the Fremont Street Experience started. Now, picture us beneath a white screen canopy with thousands of “wierdo’s” looking up at a “happening” displayed on the canopy. It was sort of a Star Wars theme where space ships, green aliens, other spacecraft and things flew around. The “Good Guy’s” (Earth space fighters) fought it out (and won) with green aliens and saved earth from the alien invasion. It was quite an experience. I will try to download a few photos if I can figure out how to do it. Remember, this is all new to me. After the show, we returned by a circuitous route to the RV park. OK, OK, I made a bad turn and went the wrong way. Drop it!
The next day, it’s off to St. George. It was a short drive but getting off to an early start with teenagers is not in their vocabulary. I think we got out of there about 11:00 or so. When we got to the RV park, there was a problem. The space wasn’t open yet so we parked in overflow and took off to explore the area. We did Snow Canyon…beautiful rock formations. When we got back to the park, we slid into our assigned space, had dinner and then went up the street to the Tabernacle where a high school choir was giving a presentation of the songs they had done in a choir competition. They were really good and have won many awards. Tomorrow…off to Zion!
Up, up and away at the crack of dawn…somewhere in Asia maybe. I do believe we got out before noon…but not much before! We entered Zion and drove straight to the end of the road..the Temple of Sinawava. We took a short hike to the river, took pictures, tested the temperature of the water (42-degres) and then drove to Weeping Rock. I learned a very important lesson there. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER walk in front of a group of teen-agers when the path is lined with snow. I thought I had the wrong jacket on. I was sure I left the one with the bullseye pattern on it at home. Apparently not! After our hikes, we hit the Bumbleberry Pie store and then visited the tame elk farm in Springville. After that…home and a Tater Tot casserole a la Claudia and a chicken bake with fried onions and cheese.
The next day was an early start. We actually left at 7:30, got to the park in Kanab about 9:30 and soon headed off to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the largest no-kill sanctuary in the USA. We saw a video and went on a 1.5 hour tour of the facility. Really impressive! We then went to lunch before the afternoon session started. Lunch was at their restaurant. First, a short indoctrination to the folks that run this place. Most are English or from Europe and are all vegetarians, environmentalists, “greenies”, bunny-huggers, etc., etc. Now…lunch consisted of a nice lettuce salad, with several varieties of beans and other condiments, fried meatless balls made of rice and ???? with a sweet sauce. The piece de resistance was (I think) peanut butter soup with maybe some tomatoes in it. After the first bite, I was ready to head for the nearest IN-N-OUT burger joint for some REAL food. After lunch(?), we headed for two quick tours of the wild birds they were rehabbing and the tame birds, mostly parrots. In amongst the bird cages were about a dozen wild turkeys that wait for the custodians to throw out the “old” bird seed. Turkeys are not dumb! We then left for our volunteer assignments, the cattery. The kids assignment was to play with the cats so they became more “humanized”. Our assignment was to watch the kids so they didn’t steal a cat. On the way home, we saw a group of four big tom turkeys, all fluffed out and strutting for some hens. I “shot” then with my camera, not having a more appropriate device with me at the time.
Dinner was Kyndi’s Panini sandwiches (delicious). BTW, all recipes mentioned in this blog may be had by contacting the appropriate chef (or me). Each kid had the assignment of choosing, help prepare and clean up two meals during the trip. Some meals were very imaginative! We then headed for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon via the Glen Canyon Dam at Page, AZ. We went on a dam (NOT damn) tour at noon-thirty. It was super-interesting. After four years of leading tours to this area, we finally got to do the dam tour! After the tour, it was off to the G.C. We pulled in about 6:30 or so and got all snuggled in. There was snow all over and we ran the furnace all night long. The kids, of course, got into a snowball fight within five minutes of our arrival. This time, I did not join them!
I set up the barbecue and we had some man-food…STEAK! The next morning, we took off for the east entrance and the “Watchtower”, a circular rock tower with very impressive views of the canyon. We then headed west, stopping at all the major pull-outs and look-outs. Along the way, we came across a really beautiful coyote who stood by the side of the road and posed for several pictures. He was obviously a member of the local wildlife union and it was his appropriate time to mingle with the tourists.
Dinner was 5# of carne asada, expertly prepared by Erron and Grandpa with an inside assist from Claudia of tortillas, guacamole, sour cream and salsa. I ate two big ones. I would have had a third but I had to sample the meat as a quality control function as it came off the grill and two was enough.
Friday saw us packing up and heading for the beautiful lush paradise of Needles, CA. We did stay at a very nice park though, the Desert View RV Resort. Now I ask you, what else would you expect to see but desert if you looked around while standing in Needles? There were also some other aptly named landmarks in the area. Big Sandy Wash and Little Dry Wash come to mind immediately but I’m sure there are others. I’m sure there is a brochure around somewhere on the exciting sights in and around Needles. I’m just sorry we can’t stay to check them all out but we must press on and head for home tomorrow.
Saturday morning was bright and beautiful. We all slept great without any heater or extra blankets. Pulling out about 9:15, we headed west. When we got to Kingman, all the kids wanted an IN-N-OUT burger so we pulled off the freeway and stuffed ourselves with double-double’s, fries and chocolate shakes. Yummy! After lunch, it was westward ho again until we pulled into the home driveway a little after 3:00. The trip was over. How’s that old saying go? Necessary souveniers…$75. Great food…$200. Fuel for the motorhome…$700 Memories…Priceless!
