Alaska/Canada/USA (2015) Diary

Wednesday 19 AUGUST 2015 |Brisbane  Los Angeles  Seattle Wednesday 19 AUGUST 2015 |Brisbane  Los Angeles  Seattle
(QF015 BNE-LAX 10:25-06:25 | AS475 LAX-SEA 10:15-12:50)
(Tour blurb - Fly to Seattle Airport from Brisbane via Los Angeles. On arrival, the local tour guide will pick you up at the baggage claim area with Nexus Holidays’sign and transfer you to the tour hotel.)

We got up at 6am this morning, an early start to shower and do last minute shutting up of bags and house, and catch our 7am taxi to the international airport (flight was 10.25am so had to be there 3 hours before). After checking our bags in (with a mostly self check-in at a kiosk type system before lining up to an actual person), we bought our Bundy rum for the trip and had some breakfast while we waited for our 13 hour long flight. (I think this place would be great for conmen and pick pockets, preying on unseasoned travellers who are distracted from keeping a vigilant eye on their bags whilst reading/doing their own check-in on the kiosk computer screen, and tagging their bags.) Touching down on the western coast of the United States of America, at the international airport in the city of Los Angeles (USA), at around 6.15am on Wednesday 19th August! the same day we left! We gain a day on the way over, but lose a day on the way back.

We got our bags, surveyed them for any serious damage/tampering, and made our way through the border control. We were then expecting to go through the next check point with the sniffer drug dogs and officers singling people out to check in their bags and ask all the usual questions about bringing in unacceptable items or checking alcohol limits (common with international fly-ins), but there was nothing. We get more of a gruelling at Brisbane airport when we arrive back from overseas. All of a sudden we found ourselves outside the building, and trundling our bags with quite a few others, a long way to the domestic terminal for our flight to the city of Seattle (USA) (in the state of Washington). We expected to have to show the visitor visas we had to pay for and print before we left home but nobody seemed to want them, and we expected to pay for our check-in baggage on this domestic flight but nothing was said (happy about this one).

After walking and walking, all of a sudden we were at the spot where we check in our baggage, but we hadn't put the bought alcohol into our check-in bags yet. We knew we had to do this or lose it (the 'nothing over 100ml in the cabin' rule), but there hadn't really been a spot to stop and do this along the way, and so we had to pull out of the line and hurriedly do it. We put both 1.25 litre bottles in my bag, separating them and trying to insulate them as much as possible from the shocks of baggage handlers, and lucky we did. As we handed them over, the handler (no smart uniform dressed business person behind the counter here) just picked each up and threw it roughly onto the conveyor belt, upside down with a thud! We just looked at each other with raised eyebrows and remarked how we know they do that behind the scenes but thought they'd take a bit of care when the customer is right in front of you! Luckily there was nothing broken and I only had a couple of things leak slightly, and they were wrapped in plastic bags, however one of my wheels has been damaged.

We travelled Alaskan Airlines to Seattle. I love the look of their planes, with a head of an unshaven man with wild black hair, painted on the tail - looking like he'd been momentarily taken from his driving a team of huskies job to pose for this photo. Once checked in we sat down and waited the next nearly 4 hours til our flight time, which was about 2.5 hours. On arrival and after getting our bag, we met up with our tour guide who checked us in, and then walked us to our hotel connection bus, another bit of a walk, and of course the bus wasn't there. We probably waited around with the other tour people, for about 45 mins while he sorted that out. It was only about 10 mins drive to the hotel, the town of Tukwila and the Ramada Hotel staying for 2 nights, but when we got in only about half of the rooms were ready! Apparently check in is 4pm! which is reasonable consideration check out is 12pm, but that didn't console our weary bones considering they knew we were an international tourist group, and would be weary from a long plane ride. It was quite warm outside with our bus driver telling us later, that it was forecast to be 10 degrees cooler tomorrow, although that's Farenheit not Celsius. The several walks we ended up doing after both flights were welcome after being couped up for such along time. We noticed each of the 3 airports we've been in today (Brisbane, Los Angeles and Seattle), were all having renovations done.

We weren't happy about our rooms not being ready, seeing as we were all tired (didn't sleep well on the plane), and irritable, in need of a shower and had had enough of sitting/standing around just waiting and waiting since the beginning of our (around 28 hour) day. Our last flight had arrived close to 1pm and nearly 1.5 hours later we were still waiting... We were told another hour wait yet for our room but after 40 mins (nearly falling asleep sitting in reception with a few others, hoping we made it look untidy enough that they would speed up our rooms availability) we finally got into our room at 3pm - success! We unpacked the necessities, had a shower and went to bed for a couple hours. I got up close to 7pm and went to dinner at the pub/restaurant here at the hotel, which was good as there didn't seem to be anything else within walking distance. Dave didn't bother, wanting/needing sleep more than food, and still feeling satisfied enough from the international flight, even though that ended well over 12 hours earlier.

Thursday 20 AUGUST 2015 Seattle Sightseeing
(Tour blurb - Start the day with a fascinating visit to the world's largest airplane manufacturer, the Boeing Company. Return to Seattle for an expert guided tour through the vibrant districts of Pike Place Market, Historic Pioneer Square, the shopping district and the ever-fascinating China Town. Get a true taste of the local scene as the tour continues through the many distinct suburbs of Seattle, stopping along the way to check out Salmon Ladder and Ballard Locks.)

Had a wake-up-call for 7am in case we slept in but we were both awake. We got dressed and had the hotel's complimentary breakfast before catching the tour bus for our 45 mins drive in peak traffic for a tour through the impressive Boeing Aeroplane Manufacturer site - it was huge! The main building is the world's largest building (472 million cubic feet by volume). We witnessed up close from the tour balcony, several planes in various stages of assembly for airline customers around the world. The buildings that held these workings, had doors that were 100-120 metres wide and 100 metres high. The doors were painted with great colorful plane murals. Outside lined up, were various airline type planes that had been assembled waiting for last minute finishing touches before testing - including Air New Zealand, Thai Airlines, Alaskan, Jetstar and assorted American lines (no Qantas ones). Our tour guide told now when we ring to book a flight we can ask what plane type it is, and say 'If it's not Boeing, I'm not going!' (We did resist buying the tshirt!)

Next we were bussed to the Pike Place Markets, a very busy, bustling place full of every kind of product including arts, crafts, special foods, fruit/veg, meat, and seafood. One seafood place, when they sell a fish, do this routine where one shouts out something (we couldn't work out) and then throws the whole fish to another fellow about 10 feet away. Nearby was Rachael The Pig a life size pig made out of brass type metal with lots of metal trotter prints nearby, and everyone seems to want to have their photo taken with her (me too). Nearby was building with a colourful, metal facade all bent out of shape, and it was meant to be a large replica of one of Jimmy Hendrix's smashed up guitars, a tribute to the music world. Hendrix apparently came from Seattle. While travelling in the bus our tour guide pointed out where the small boathouse was that was used in the movie 'Sleepless in Seattle' with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (unfortunately we couldn't see the boathouse because of a large building in front of it).

Next we drove to the Ballard Locks or the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. The Locks form a permeable barrier between Lake Washington's freshwater ecosystem and the potentially damaging saltwater of Puget Sound, and they are designed to allow passage of vessels while minimizing the intrusion of saltwater. What had originally been a shallow canal for floating down felled logs, would become an 8 mile long canal, 100feet wide and 30 feet deep finished in 1917. While we were there about 6-8 boats of all different sizes lined up to go through the lock, and so we were treated to the locks in operation.

Over the canal and a short walk is the 21 step Fish Ladder. Salmon hatch in lakes, rivers and streams, or fish hatcheries. After a short growth period in fresh water, they head out to sea. When mature, they return to spawn in the same river, stream, or lake where they were hatched. Fresh water is needed for the fish to spawn, for their eggs to hatch, and for the protection and survival of their young. Whe then locks were built the natural drainage route of Lake Washington was changed and the locks and dam blocked all of the salmon runs out of the Cedar River watershed. To correct this problem, a fish ladder was built - migrating salmon swim up the fish ladder, much like how they swim upstream and up a waterfall in other parts of the world. We could see them in the water and they were enormous! (pity we didn't have a fishing line) The fish ladder is one of a few in the world where salt water meets fresh water.

Friday 21 AUGUST 2015 Alaska Cruise
(Tour blurb - Today transfer to Seattle Pier and prepare to embark on an incredible journey through the soaring glaciers of the wonderland that is Alaska. Spend the next seven nights aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise's Jewel of the Seas, taking in stunning natural wonders and indulging onboard the luxury ship.)

This morning we checked out of our hotel and boarded the bus at to Seattle Pier, where we boarded our cruise ship called the Jewel of the Seas around 10.30am for 7 nights. It was a lovely sunny day, just right for our outlook to starting a cruise. We went through all the passport checks, security checks, check ins, etc and sat up on the deck chairs with a coffee for a while, because we couldn't actually get into our room until 1pm - mmn, sounds familiar! Dave had brought his latest toy, a drone, to use in the latter part of our trip with the campervan, but was told he couldn't use it on board and they put it into safekeeping for the duration of the cruise. We booked an excursion before checking into our rooms and had a late lunch at 2.30pm. Not long after that all the passengers had to assemble in their respective areas out on deck, for an evacuation talk/drill.

Dave's big bag turned up at our room but mine didn't. We kept checking through the afternoon but still no show. Around 6pm Dave spoke to one of the staff and found out my bag had been sent to a waiting area because the scan had shown what appeared to be alcohol bottles in there (our Bundy bottles). Aha! Caught! We'd hoped they'd just forgotten about it. So we had to surrender them for the rest of the trip too, and will have to just buy on board expensive stuff, although no Bundy! (US$7 for one shot of Captain Morgan! so won't be having too many) After dinner we attended a welcome evening in the theatre, a fairly short evening which included a juggler who was quite good and funny with it.

Saturday 22 AUGUST 2015 Just Cruising
(Tour blurb - Settle in to this spectacular ship and take the time to explore the huge array of world class facilities. With 16 bars and restaurants, three pools, fitness centre, rock climbing wall, spa, cinemas and more, this magnificent vessel has everything you could possibly need for a relaxing time out.)

Today is just cruising northward all day at sea, no port stops, so time to catch up on relaxing and exploring the ship. It started out fairly overcast and rainy but cleared up a lot to partially sunny. We noticed the ship is rolling a little bit today, not much of a problem although it can easily catch you off guard when you're walking, and you can easily slow motion roll into someone before you realise it. We're trying to pace ourselves with the food, but it's so hard in the Windjammer Cafe where it's casual dining, a smorgasboard and large variety of foods for every meal, and you just want to take a little taste of everything, which can mount up. We walk away overly satisfied (polite for 'stuffed') and decided we should only have breakfast and dinner, with something small in between, a snack of cheese and crackers, or a salad - good intentions, we'll see.......

There's plenty of activities going on each day and you can pick and choose which ones you would like to join, if you want, or you can do nothing - a nice guilt-free feeling of being able to choose what you feel like doing, and not what you must be doing, like when at home. We have a fairly nice room with a large round porthole window (worth the extra cost, doesn't open), measuring about 1.5 metres (4-4.5 feet) in diameter. It takes up just a little more than half the height of the wall and it is quite pleasant (don't need the lights on during the day) so we don't mind spending time in our room. We've met some nice people from different countries.

Later in the afternoon the ship rolling grew a little stronger, and walking down the hallway felt like we had the wobbly boot on. I noticed containers containing 'sick' bags were attached to the railings where the elevators and stairs were located. We went to dinner at 7pm which is at the back end of the boat. Unfortunately the pitching and rolling started to make Dave feel queasy so he went back to the cabin. We found out the next day that yesterdays seas were the worst this boat's crew has experienced in 2 years!

Sunday 23 AUGUST 2015 Juneau & Mendenhall Glacier Excursion
(Tour blurb - Alaska Inside Passage: Dock today at the Alaskan capital of Juneau and explore the huge city, or kick back and relax aboard the ship. Depart at 8pm.)

This morning the rough seas had died down and we sailed pleasantly up the Alaska Inside Passage, enjoying the lovely scenery. The boat docked just before midday at the Alaskan capital of Juneau (USA). Alaska was originally settled by the Russians, who apparently sold it to the Americans in the 1867, eventually making it the 49th state. By the 1860s the Russians were badly overextended due to the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the declining fur industry. In 1867 Russia signed a treaty to purchase the territory for $7.2 million, less than 2 cents an acre! There was a public outroar, the thought being that this land was fairly useless, but the riches of the remote, lawless territory were gradually uncovered - first whales, then the phenomenal salmon runs, then gold.

We had an easy morning and then after lunch, caught our bus for our excursion to see Mendenhall Glacier. It was overcast and showery. Our bus driver was quite comical and gave us commentary all the way to the glacier. You cannot get to Juneau by car, you have to fly in or come by boat. There are vehicles here, cars and buses, but they have been shipped in. Our excursion bus driver said vehicle theft here is virtually nil, because if you steal one, you can't drive it away, out of town! So if a car is stolen, it's usually to do some 'joy-riding' and the fine for this is $50. He said to hire a car for the day is $70, so......

We drove along Juneau's Gastineau Channel and through the Mendenhall Valley on the way. There were quite a few churches and the driver told us that back in the day of the rapid town growth due to the gold rush, the rule was that for every hotel that was built, a church had to be built - the number of hotels declined but not the churches (surprising, the opposite of what I would expect). We passed by Gold Creek, where gold was discovered in 1880, and the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge. At the end of the valley was the magnificent sight of the glacier, bluish, dirtyish and appeared to be a rushing river, frozen in time. After going to the visitor centre we walked closer to the viewing platforms. There were several small bluish icebergs floating in the water nearby.

The scale of the glacier is difficult to comprehend from a distance. At its terminus, the face stretches half a mile across and nearly150 feet (approx 50 metres) from top to bottom. It begins 12 miles away (5/8ths of a mile equals 1 kilometre) and 1 mile higher in the Juneau Icefield. The ice melting today on the glacier's face, fell as snow on the ice field over 80 years ago! Since that time the ice has travelled over 12 miles, averaging1 to 2 feet per day, grinding up and transporting millions of tons of rocky debris. Some of the rock debris is ground down to a fine powder which stays suspended in the water, not sinking to the bottom, and so the water constantly looks cloudy. This cloudiness is carried in the water far away from the glacier, so that water flowing in another town, like Skagway, still has this cloudy appearance.

Why is the glacier ice blue?
Freshly fallen snowflakes containing large amounts of trapped air, reflect white light directly back to our eyes. As fresh snow settles, the individual snowflakes slowly change from star-like crystals to rounded grains of ice. The weight of new snow piling up on top of these grains presses them together, reducing the air between the grains. In time, the compacted ice grains form a solid mass of ice. When light strikes these crystals it is bent, or refracted inside the solid ice. Only the blue spectrum is transmitted back to our eyes.

We got dropped off back in the town and had a walk around. There were souvenir shops one after the other. It was still rainy so we consoled ourselves by dropping into the Lucky Lady hotel for a drink. There was a noisy hotel called the Red Dog Saloon which we noticed was packed and people standing at the door to get in, tourists like us. A couple locals told us not to go there because prices go up just for us, tourists, while the cruise boats are in, and when the boats have gone there's a commercial put on the tv to tell everyone the prices are back down!! Not surprised but pretty cheeky to advertise it!!

Next we walked to the Mount Roberts Tramway, a cable car that goes up on a very steep angle, and doesn't take long to get to the top. The aerial tram ascends 1,745 feet up Mounts Roberts, providing lovely panoramas of the city and its nearby glaciers. On the way up we saw 2 Bald Eagles sitting in the top of a tall tree, and they were still there when we came back down. Apparently there are more Bald Eagles here in Alaska, than anywhere else in America. From up there you could see that behind the town is just a wall of mostly pine type trees, climbing up the steep rocky mountainous terrain.

We caught the shuttle bus back to the boat, very tired but had a good day.

Monday 24 AUGUST 2015 Skagway & White Pass Scenic Railway
(Tour blurb- Dock early this morning in Skagway, a hugely popular borough of Alaska, famous for its rich mining history. Depart at 8:30pm.)

We docked at the town of Skagway (USA) this morning about 7am. We had an early breakfast and left the boat at 7.50am to join our excursion, on the White Pass Scenic Railway. The train climbed slowly up, for about 2 hours, to the 2,865 foot summit and around a 20 mile plus ride. The mountain scenery was breathtaking, panoramas of glaciers, cliffs, gorges, and waterfalls, and it got cooler and cooler the further up we climbed, although it was warm inside the carriage. We could see the snow capped peaks of the mountains. The water ran down the mountains and into fast running streams, that had the same cloudy appearance I described yesterday, caused by the glaciers grinding the rock to a fine powder. It only took about an hour, half the time, for the train to get back down to where we started.

Of course, the rail line was built because of the gold rush, a way of transporting goods, equipment, etc up and down the mountain. It is very rugged and unforgiving country, and it was a tough life for these prospectors, willing to risk their lives to try to make their fortune. Horses were used to carry equipment up but they didn't get far before the terrain was too much for them - only mountain goats had no trouble. Apparently about 3,000 horses were used and lost their lives, falling over the sides of the steep, rocky terrain to their deaths. Down in the town was a plaque dedicated to these unfortunate animals. We travelled along the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, enjoying spectacular panoramic vistas. We listened as the guide shared tales of the Klondike Gold Rush and construction of the 19th century narrow gauge railroad.

On the way back we got off at the train depot and walked a short way to the town. The weather started out overcast but not rainy, and progressively got sunny later in the day. It was much more pleasant than yesterday, walking around. Again there were lots of souvenir shops as you'd expect and there were tons of people there, with at least 4 cruise boats in port. After walking around for a while we stopped for a drink in the Red Onion Saloon which also in its day, had a brothel attached. Fixed to one wall near the ceiling, were about 20 different types of chamber pot. The saloon workers were dressed in the clothes of the late 1800s, and the women wore riskée revealing clothes, as you would expect brothel workers to wear during those times (low cut with the clothing that boosted up the cleavage). There is now a brothel museum upstairs, entry being $10 for 20 mins, the proud sign saying the price hasn't changed in over 100 years!

We went into a local gift shop that sold more up market souvenirs and at the back was the Corrington Museum of Alaska History. It featured more than 40 artefacts, ranging from a 6 foot mammoth tusk and a fossilized mastodon tooth, to hand woven spruce-root and baskets weaved with whale baleen (the krill/other food sieving structure in whales' mouths). There was a large impressive collection of engraved walrus tusks. The museum detailed the history and artefacts of Alaska dating back to the first inhabitants indigenous tribe, the Tlingit (pronounced 'Clingit' - don't understand why it's not just spelt like that in the first place, same as many of Australia's Aboriginal words). I got talking to Mr Corrington, the owner himself, about how he amassed such a lot of wonderful memorabilia. During our so interesting conversation, and partly because of my accent, he gave me a small thin layer of 10,000 year old mammoth tusk, (looks just like a white piece of tree bark), a lot of which he comes across in his work. He said after thousands of years and temperature extremes, the ivory grows fragile, brittle and splits into thin layers. Wow, so I have my own piece of prehistoric memorabilia! By the way, I told him I don't have an accent, he does! Ha Ha.

In one of the museum displays, I saw some Babooshka Dolls and have also seen them elsewhere in other shops, and wondered why. Then It clicked - Alaska was inhabited by the Russians who traded with the Tlingit indigenous people for their furs and other handmade items. These dolls (that fit like layers, one smaller doll inside a bigger one, which then fits inside a bigger one, and so on, with about 4 or more dolls) were part of their culture, so the dolls now become part of Alaska's culture/heritage. Enclosed in a glass case, was the 6 foot female mammoth ivory tusk which was 30,000 years old, carved along the length with scenes of Alaskan Natives, fighting mammoths. It was something to behold - it apparently took 2 years to carve and was for sale at a price of only US$52,500! (currently about AUD$78,000!)

The most outlandish building of Skagway's 7 block historical corridor along Broadway Street, and possibly the most photographed building in Alaska, is the Arctic Brotherhood Hall (which is actually in 2nd St). What was a fraternal hall is now home of the Skagway Convention & Visitors Bureau - and you can't miss it even if you tried! It's the first thing that catches your eye as you look down the street. Its facade is covered with 8,833 pieces of driftwood that were attached in 1899, and extensively renovated, piece-by-piece, in 2005 - not sure what 'renovated' means in this case, being bits of driftwood(?) (It reminded me of the 'house of sticks' that the second little piggy built to keep out the big bad wolf)

Not far from the train depot there is a fast flowing stream and in there, we saw fish, salmon swimming upstream. After investigation we found it is part of a hatchery system and the salmon were making their way upstream to spawn. There was a real stink and as we looked down in the water and the waters edge we saw many corpses of those that'd already spawned and then died (as is part of their life cycle). It seems a big waste of fish but we're told the flesh of salmon at this stage is not very nice, and they do provide food for other animals and birds although we didn't see any feasting on them. A man did tell us he saw some otters further up eating the fish (probably the live ones). Those that aren't eaten, break down and become nutrients in the soil/river bottom, and food for the plants and trees. These salmon are a big part of other wild animals' life cycle, the bears, otters and birds, which wouldn't survive otherwise, so a close watch is kept to protect their ongoing life cycle. We saw hundreds of them quite close up, swimming and jumping up out of the water, jumping up the barriers across the stream, or just marking time in the water against the current while they caught their breath (so to speak). I was really chuffed, as I'd only ever seen this on tv, usually with the 'Bro' (David Attenborough).

We walked back to the boat around mid afternoon and felt pretty tired but had a good day.

Tuesday 25 AUGUST 2015 Tracy Arm Fjord
(Tour blurb - Arrive in Tracy Arm Fjord this morning and take in the mind blowing scenery and magical wildlife. Depart at 12pm.)

This morning we got up at 6.20am (even before our wake up call) to dress quickly and head out to the front of the boat as we were motoring up Tracy Arm Fjord, (named after the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Tracy), within the Tongass National Forest, and is part of the Tracy Arm Fjords Terror Wilderness. The best time to be out there was between 7-8.30am. We've turned around and are located back around 80 miles south of Juneau. It was very cold up on deck so we rugged up - it was a lot colder than when we were in the towns. The further we travelled up the fjord lush rain forest recedes and we entered a stunning canyon of bare rock, and the more bits of ice/icebergs we saw floating in the water, broken off the glacier further up. We learned that when a bit of ice breaks off, it's said that the glacier 'calves' the iceberg (like cows). During the summer, the fjords have considerable floating ice ranging from hand-sized to pieces as large as a 3 story building. The fjord is 30 miles long and one-fifth of their area is covered in ice.

Small waterfalls cascaded down 3,000 foot high granite walls. The panorama of mountain peaks and nearly vertical rock cliffs is astounding. At the end of this waterway is a very active reminder of the Ice Age - the Sawyer Glaciers. Apparently there are twin glaciers - North and South Sawyer but we didn't go quite that far because there were many iceberg 'calves' and we didn't go there. The captain stopped the boat and did 360 degree turns (slowly) so that everyone, no matter where they were in the boat, could see the scenery. Wildlife that could possibly appear were whales (humpback, orcas), seals, mountain goats, bald eagles, and maybe even bears. We didn't see any but I heard a lady saw an otter or seal at the side of the boat.

The rest of the day is just cruising so we can relax and catch up on the sleep we missed from getting up early. We can also go and eat too much as we do every day in the smorgasboard restaurant. We at least didn't buy the drinks package that included unlimited soft drinks ('soda') - don't need any more encouragement to put on weight in this place, especially with empty, sugar-laden drinks - except those I put in my Bundy rum....

Wednesday 26 AUGUST 2015 Just Cruising
(Tour blurb - At sea today, lose yourself in the breathtaking panoramic views from aboard the ship, and savour the crisp clean air of the Alaskan seas.)

No ports today - just cruising and relaxing. Lovely and sunny outside and the seas are relatively calm.

Thursday 27 AUGUST 2015 Victoria - province of British Columbia Canada
(Tour blurb - Stop at Victoria, Canada at 9am, depart for Seattle at 6pm.)

We docked around 9am and after breakfast, we left the ship and walked along the waterfront, past Fisherman's Wharf where there were different brightly coloured buildings, at which you could buy cooked seafood. On the water nearby, seaplanes were taking off and landing back on the water, after showing tourists an aerial sightseeing view of their lovely city. Everywhere in the streets and hanging from the street lamp posts, were beautiful flowers of many colours. Victoria is known as Canada's city of flowers. Apparently a lot of retired people come here to retire as well as many newly married couples come here for their honeymoons. So Victoria is also known as the 'city of flowerbeds, newly weds, and nearly deads'! Ha ha!

Canada is a Commonwealth country, stilled linked to Britain and the monarchy, as is Australia. Captain Cook is credited with having discovered this country too (even though the Russians had apparently been here for 2 decades), hence Victoria's province being called British Columbia. There are many signs of English influence here, in the bulldings and there were some London type black taxies driving around which were actually tourist sightseeing vehicles. There was an English lolly shop and a cafe called the London Tube, with the same looking signage of London's underground train. We loved the many beautiful and very different styles of houses, most appearing to be quite expensive. You could see the English influence in these houses too.

We rode one of the red Hop-On-Hop-Off buses for about an hour around the town. We passed Fan Tan Alley, Canada's narrowest street, which featured in the movie Bird On A Wire in which Mel Gibson apparently was in a chase with Goldie Hawn on a motorbike down this street. There were quite a few tall totem poles around the city, as we'd also noticed in Juneau and Skagway. These totems were and are, symbols to the indigenous people, with particular animals of importance to the individual clans, carved into the timber. After the full circuit on the bus, we had some lunch and enjoyed walking around in the lovely sunshine.

This is the last night of the cruise - will be back in Seattle tomorrow.

Friday 28 AUGUST 2015 Seattle – Canada
(Tour blurb - After being picked up from Seattle Pier today, drive north to Seattle Premium Outlet and shake off those sea legs at the world's best outlet shopping with over 120 stores at incredible prices. This afternoon cross the border into Canada.)

We disembarked from the Jewel of The Seas this morning at 8am. We were up at 6am to pack, have breakfast and be ready for the express exit at 7.30am. We also had to pick up Dave's drone that they confiscated at the beginning of the trip - we couldn't have it with us. It was particularly quick getting it and then we waited down on the pier with the others, for over 2 hours until our bus came. When we were dropped at the pier for the beginning of our cruise, the cruise guide asked us to be ready for the bus at 8.30. We finally left about 10.30am! None of us were very impressed. We stopped at the Seattle Premium Shopping Outlet which not many of us were happy to do but it was a chance for use to get onto wifi which was too expensive on board (US$20 per day for the 7 days, or US$40 for 24 hours continuous which is about an insane AUS$60!).

After reboarding we travelled for a while, stopping for a short time at the duty free before the border, and then waited at the US/Canadian border for about 45 mins before we were processed. The scenery was beautiful - there are so many trees/forests. We then travelled for a long time, stopping mostly for comfort stops, and arriving at our destination at about 6.30pm, at the town of Harrison Hot Springs in the province of British Colombia (Canada) and the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa for 1 night - a long day! By the time we got our luggage, got inside and finally found our room (in a rabbit warren of a hotel - had complicated system of hotel rooms and floors to which they were attached), it was about 7.30. Didn't get a chance to try out the hot springs in the hotel, which was included in our fees. We would've been happier to skip the shopping and come here earlier to enjoy the hot springs and the lovely lake across the road. We dumped our bags and walked down the road to have dinner - at least that was nice.

Saturday 29 AUGUST 2015 Harrison Hot Springs –Jasper
(Tour blurb - Enjoy an amazing introduction to the incredible Canadian landscape today with a stunning guided drive through Fraser Valley, Coastal Mountains, Kamloops, the North Thompson River and Mount Robson. Evening arrival in Jasper for hotel check in.)

Another long day again today. We had to be at the bus with bags by 7.15am as we had a very long drive, about 500 miles. It was raining but did fine up later. We're not happy with our bus which has quite a few faults with bad air conditioning, some seats that can't be adjusted and are not comfortable, a couple minor leaks (with the rain) but still not acceptable, a real crackling over the speakers when the tour guide turns the microphone on to speak, to name a few. We had a ride in one of the other group's buses later in the day into the town, and it was luxurious, with lovely soft seats and so comfortable! We need to complain!

We made a few stops and one was Mount Robson which was spectacular! It was nearly 4,000 metres high with mostly of bare rock, snow up top the peak was shrouded in the clouds. Another stop was to see the salmon spawning in one of the rivers. It was a bit hard to see them and they weren't as numerous as the ones we saw in Skagway. We arrived at the town of Jasper in the province of Alberta (Canada) and the Tonquin Inn for 1 night. Dave and I lucked out here - they obviously didn't have enough standard rooms for all of us so we're in a suite for no extra charge - it's self contained with it's own loungeroomWe are now in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Driving in to the town we saw 2 elk on the side of the road - exciting!

Sunday 30 AUGUST 2015 Jasper –Columbia Icefield –Banff
(Tour blurb - Start the day by getting your blood pumping with a scenic hike through Maligne Canyon, before heading south to travel along the world-famous Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. Highlights of this beautiful mountain scenery include Athabasca Falls, Peyto Lake, and the Columbia Ice field and a ride on the "Ice Explorer" on Athabasca Glacier.)

Now I am writing this diary about 7 days after it actually happened due to getting behind because of the busy, long, and late days, that really left no time to sit and write the day's activities up, so could be not so accurate or fully detailed. Dave has also had a hard time keeping up with arranging all his photos in a timely manner.

We visited MaligneCanyon, travelled along the world-famous Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park, Athabasca Falls, Peyto Lake and the Columbia Icefield. We also visited Athabasca Lake and Not too far away from Jasper is the famous Whistlers skiing fields that everyone visits.

The Columbia Icefield is located in the Canadian Rockies astride the Continental Divide, along the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. The ice field lies partly in the northwestern tip of Banff National Park and partly in the southern end of Jasper National Park. It is about 325 square kilometres (125 sq mi) in area, 100 metres (330 ft) to 365 metres (1,198 ft) in depth and receives up to 7 metres (280 in) of snowfall per year. The last major period of advance occurred during the Little Icde Age, which lasted from about 1,200 to 1900 AD. Around 1800, the Athabasca Glacier peaked, then went through a period of recession, and then advanced again until 1840, when it began receding until the present day.

We drove to the Athabasca Glacier this morning, boarded the Ice Explorer, which is a big monster of a truck, with big monster tyres. It slowly crept out onto the glacier where we were able to get out and actually walk on the glacier - it was great! and cold! I have walked on Fox Glacier in New Zealand about 40 years ago and don't remember it being as wet and slushy as this one. One of the ladies no sooner got off the bus than she slipped straight onto her backside. I did one better - Dave had got off and walked around to the back of the bus and I followed him. As I neared the back of the bus my right foot broke through the ice and I sunk up to mid thigh in ice cold water! The only reason I didn't sink any further was that my left knee stopped me as I went down hard on it, on the ice (had a bruise for days after). No one was around me and for a few seconds I thought I was in trouble. I could actually see Dave standing on the other side of the bus, at the back, but he didn't see or hear me. I called for help but straight away started to get up myself which was surprisingly easy (luckily no more ice broke) - the main worry I had was that I might have lost my jogger, the only closed in shoes I had brought with me. As I got to my feet on hard ice, the young driver was there, helping me up and asking if I was ok. I had a graze on my right leg from the ice as I went down but otherwise ok.

We checked into our lodgings in the town of Banff in the province of Alberta Canada, and into the Juniper Hotel for 2 nights. The view from our hotel balcony is so picturesque with the Rocky Mountains right in front of us. We were ferried into main part of the lovely town of Banff, and picked up later, by our coach driver, Mike, and had dinner with 2 couples at the Wild Bill's Saloon in town - enjoyable night. One couple was Lyn and Ivan from Zillmere in Brisbane, and the other couple was George Wallace and his wife Gloria. George is a bit of a comedian like George Wallace from Theatre Royal (which is from, probably about 40 years ago, a variety show called Theatre Royal and comedian, George Wallace was a major part of the show) but he looks a lot like my brother Les, similar mannerisms and sense of humour too - it was really uncanny.

Monday 31 AUGUST 2015 Banff AND Our 24th Wedding Anniversary
(Tour blurb - Today is spent in Banff National Park enjoying the natural beauty of the area with a leisurely hike taking in Johnston Canyon, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Later on visit the iconic Banff Springs Hotel and Bow Falls.)

We visited the Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park this morning, and walked the 1 hour return, scenic walk to the Lower Falls. It was a lovely picturesque walk along a rocky catwalk and the falls at the end were pretty good! We had to get in line to see them as it meant walking through a narrow tunnel to a spot that only took about 4 people easily.

After seeing the mountain formations called Castle Mountain today, we drove to lovely Lake Louise and saw the wonderful glacier just behind it, high in the mountain.  The Rocky Mountains are really spectacular!  I remember hearing in the American movies, that a family would vacation at Lake Louise and that that was really something - and now we've been there.  The turquoise colour of the water is really beautiful! Haven't seen a bear yet but saw a couple deer yesterday on the roadside, and saw a couple very small squirrels or chipmunks today (there's a bit of disagreement which one they were) - so cute.  We also saw Lake Moraine and the 11 peaks, a mountain range with 11 peaks reaching for the sky.

It's our wedding anniversary (24th) today so we went into town (2ks away) for a very nice dinner with another couple (Lyn and Ivan at Bamboo Thai Restaurant) - got a reminder at lunch today when we'd bought a wrap and the package said it was packed 31 Aug!  We'd remembered days ago but forgot today.  We'd be going into town for dinner anyway actually so no real change there, but another couple from Zillmere said they'd like to join us if we didn't mind, seeing as it's our anniversary, and we were happy to have them join us. 

On a sad note, this morning we heard when we were in the bus ready to set off for the day, that 2 of our group's couples were robbed yesterday, from their hotel room - spoiled their holiday. One couple from Sydney, were actually in their room, the man was in the shower and the lady was on the balcony on the phone when someone entered their room and stole their wallet and purse off the table! Cheeky bugger! The rest of us were ok but a lot of us went back to our rooms and secured anything of value in the room safe, if they had one.

Tuesday 01 SEPTEMBER 2015 Banff –Vernon
(Tour blurb - Jump aboard the coach this morning and head for the world-famous wine country of the Okanagan Valley, home to sandy beaches, wineries, orchards, and gardens. After arriving in Kelowna in the afternoon, enjoy a refreshing tour and samples of one of the best wineries in the region. This afternoon take in the views of Peachland, Summerland and Okanagan Lake on your way to Vernon.)

We didn't end up going to any wineries. We did stop at the lookout for the Big Hill on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line (in British Columbia, Canada), the most difficult piece of railway track on the Canadian Pacific Railway's route (which traverses Canada from east to west). It is situated in the rugged Canadian Rockies west of the Continental Divide and Kicking Horse Pass. Even though the Big Hill was replaced by the Spiral Tunnels in 1909, the area has long been a challenge to the operation of trains and remains so to this day. Figure 8 spiral tunnels were cut through the big hill and when they were finished, the distance travelled was doubled but the steep gradient was cut by half, making it a much safer journey. All we could see was 2 openings in the hill but unfortunately no train came through.

Our bus took us through the Okanagan Valley, beautiful scenery. We visited and had the luxury of walking around the very swish Banff Springs Hotel or Fairmont Hotel for the rich and/or famous, who would be the only ones who could afford this isolated rocky mountain setting in an opulent lifestyle. We arrived at the town of Vernon (Canada) and booked into the Village Green Hotel for 1 night. After having a few drinks in our room we had dinner with a nice couple from Dalby, Linda and David Stephenson, whose company we really enjoyed.

Wednesday 02 SEPTEMBER 2015 Vernon –Vancouver
(Tour blurb - After breakfast, relax on the sandy beaches of Okanagan Lake or stroll along the heritage downtown centre lined with shops, parks, and outdoor cafés. Arrive in Vancouver in the afternoon.)

We were instructed to have our bags out at 8am ready to load up the bus. When the bus finally turned up they said there was a problem with the lowering/suspension of the bus and so wouldn't be ready until about 12.00! This would eat into our sightseeing time. We finally got away at 12.30pm and most of the day we just travelled, stopping mainly for comfort stops and coffee breaks. We were told by our tour guide that because of this mess up dinner was free for us tonight (just paying for our drinks). We finally got to the hotel (not ours) for dinner about 8pm, without booking into our hotel first. We were all pretty tired by the time we finally got back to our hotel and booked in by about 10.30pm - this was at the town of Richmond in Vancouver (Canada) and the Executive Plaza Hotel for 1 night. This left us no leisure time. All in all there are many disgruntled passengers on this tour who will not be putting in a very good report. We did enjoy the first part our tour which was the cruise.

We drove alongside Okanagan Lake, a large, deep lake in the Okanagan Valley of the province of British Columbia. It looked a lovely place to retire to, with many boats on the water. The lake is 135 kms long, between 4 and 5 kms wide, and has a surface area of 351 square kms. The lake is home to several species of fish, including rainbow trout and kokanee. It is said by some to be home to its own lake monster - a giant serpent-like creature named Ogopogo (similar to the Loch Ness monster). Whilst driving we saw the William R. Bennett Bridge, a pontoon bridge completed in 2008, which links Downtown Kelowna to West Kelowna across Okanagan Lake. The bridge is able to be a floating structure because of the almost complete absence of strong winds.

Arriving in Vancouver we saw the Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938, and looking very similar to the San Francisco Bridge. It is a suspension bridge that connects the City of Vancouver to the North Shore municipalities. The term 'Lions Gate' refers to The Lions, a pair of mountain peaks north of Vancouver.

Friday 04 SEPTEMBER 2015 – Own arrangements in Los Angeles

This morning we had breakfast and walked about 1 km down to Escape Campervans where we picked up our mini-van type campervan. We went back to the hotel and picked up our bags, checked out, and drove to Oak Hills in the state of California (USA) and the Oak Hills RV Park for 1 night. Lots of lovely scenery, mountains and open ground and it was quite cool here - under the doona night.

Saturday 05 September 2015

Driving today (can't easily tell the number of ks we travelled as can't get that easily off the new gps) we came across a sign for the Calico Ghost Town, a former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and today has been converted into a county park named Calico Ghost Town. Located off Interstate 15. Nevada is known as the Silver State.

We finally found a place to stay - in the town of Las Vegas in the state of Nevada (USA) and the Oasis RV Resort for 4 nights. What a place this is! It seems to be the up market place for rich people and their RVs (Recreational Vehicles). 99% are huge bus like vehicles, trailing cars that are our normal family cars, not just a small get around vehicle. There is a manned gate and we thought we might not be allowed to come in, with our small mini van type vehicle - we felt like gypsies! Anyway they let us in but holy hell - about AUD$60 per night and that's with a discount and on a smaller site! The place is like a small town with lovely roads and nice facilities - enjoying ourselves for a while.

Sunday 06 September 2015

Rest day - washing and sorting out our camper the way we want it.


Monday 07 September 2015 Labour Day Holiday in Las Vegas

Got picked up at 6.45am for a helicopter ride (Maverick Airlines) to Grand Canyon, crossing over into the state of Arizona (from Nevada). Fantastic views and we set down for breakfast which was champagne and a sweet snack (not savoury/protein which we would've appreciated more). We were right next to the Colorado River which is dammed by the Hoover Dam, another impressive structure, and this dammed water then forms Lake Mead. We were in a chopper with 4 other people from Sweden who were here for wrestling championships (1 of the males was a competitor). We had another stop on the way back, in the middle of nowhere, to refuel. We flew in tandem with 2 other choppers, and refueled at the same time - it was like syncronised swimming. It was a great experience.

The shuttle bus dropped us in the main town at the MGM Grand, which is a big gambling place, entertainment place with many shows - I was expecting to see some evidence of it being the filmaking place that I know MGM is famous for but didn't see any. We walked around the 'strip', as it seems to be known, of Las Vegas - mostly souvenir shops, lots of showy blingy shops. Walking through the casino with all the gambling going on either side of us, was amazing, and it seemed to go on forever! It was quite hot in the street and very busy. Our last activity was a monorail ride through the city. Caught a taxi back to the park and went for a swim in the park's pool.

A few facts:-

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the state of Arizona in the United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).[1] Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted.

Las Vegas Nevada; officially the City of Las Vegas and often known as simply Vegas, is a city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, the county seat of Clark County, and the city proper of the Las Vegas Valley. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for gambling, shopping, fine dining and nightlife and is the leading financial and cultural centre for Southern Nevada.

Tuesday 08 September 2015

Had another rest day today to try to catch up with things. The leisure battery in the van has cut out after only a day and a half, when it was supposed to last for 3 days before needing to be recharged by driving the car. This means our fridge which is the size of a big kitchen drawer, is not cold! So we had to take it for a drive this morning which was good as we hopped into Walmart and Home Depot (which is just like Bunnings) to buy a few things - one is a tarp to stretch out at the back of the van where the kitchen is (for shade) and a little fan to plug into the cigarette lighter for night time, because it is so hot! Went for a refreshing swim this arvo in the park's pool. By evening the fridge was again not working so will have to address that tomorrow.

Wednesday 09 September 2015

Dave rang Escape this morning and they have a place for us, about 10 kms away in Vegas, to take the van to get new leisure batteries. Our gps has died too so we're relying on the IPAD which doesn't give voice directions, so that's me now - woe betide us all! We got there without too much drama and the new batteries were replace fairly quickly, and we were on our way. The scenery of mountains and such open spaces, are really spectacular and gob smacking! We'd never seen anything like it before. We stopped at the town of St George for the local visitor centre, where we got some info and saw they had a Wildlife Museum - it was really good! We surprisingly only spent just over an hour there. It had all these taxidermied animals, over 300 species from Africa, Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, and North America, covering over 33,000 square feet of all natural habitat exhibits. We had a personal electronic tour guide device to tell us all the information.

After leaving there, we drove a few more kms down the Interstate 15 to the town of St. George (state of Utah) (USA) and the St. George RV Park for 1 night.

Thursday 10 September 2015

Our fridge was not working again this morning so there's more to the problem than just the leisure battery. We rang the roadside assist mob that the office suggested yesterday, but they said they couldn't really help without the van being in one of their shops. There's no place here in Utah where we can take it - their places are mostly in California or Florida. So we decided to buy an esky and ice (which will be a regular thing throughout the rest of our trip) and continue on our way - letting them know by email that we are not happy and that we expect recompense on our return. Late this afternoon a young Netherlands couple turned up beside us in the same RV park and they are also in an Escapes rental, an older one, and are having much worse problems that us, so we actually feel a bit better!

When we left the park (after putting our clocks forward 1 hour - different time zone) we drove to the nearby Walmart to buy the esky, ice and other provisions. We then drove northward about 35 miles to Zion National Park which wasn't originally on our bucket list but the guy at the park said it was good, and it was. We tuned into the radio channel for the park which gave us some vital information before we reached the outskirts of the park. We parked and saw a small bird running in the bushes which looked very much like a roadrunner that we saw on the cartoons (as a child). A free shuttle took us into the national park, where we paid for an annual pass which will cover us for the rest of the parks we plan to visit. Inside we hopped on one of the park's shuttle buses which constantly drove back and forth on the scenic drive, a drive that only these authorised vehicles could use at this time of year. You could hop off at various stops along the way and view these sights or go for hikes, some quite difficult for those seasoned hikers.

One of the interesting stops we did was Weeping Rock - a fairly steep path of 800 metres up to an overhanging blind rock arch (reminding us of Wave Rock in Hyden Western Australia), which 'rains' every day of the year. The spring water seeping out of the rock 100 feet overhead takes nearly 1000 years to travel through the porous Navajo sandstone above. The percolation slows at the underlying dense, less-porous Kayenta sandstone layer, then follows a downhill course, raining on the observers below. Another stop was called Narrows (Top Down Hike or Bottom Up Hike) but weren't doing any hiking - we just walked a short way to the beautiful clear cool running water and took in the view and a few pictures. This hike was where serious hikers could walk 25.7 kms (16 miles) one-way, and most of it was actually in the river - you could hire special shoes to do this. We saw a little squirrel trying desperately to scratch its way into someone's backpack as it lay on the ground - probably could smell some food. The mountain scenery is unsurpassed and any new ones we come across seem to be better than the last!

We caught the shuttle back to our van and drove a short way to Springdale (Utah) (USA) and the Zion Canyon Campground for 1 night. In our campsite we were surrounded by the majestic mountains - beautiful.

A few facts:-

Zion National Park is located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile (590 km2) park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles (24 km) long and up to half a mile (800 m) deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River.
Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park's unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity.
Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches.

Friday 11 September 2015

We went for a short walk this morning before leaving the park and then we set off toward Bryce Canyon National Park. We still had a few miles to go through Zion National Park and drove through a long igloo shaped tunnel and a shorter one through the mountain. There were 'windows' in the tunnel which were built into the side of the tunnel as ventilation and also a way of getting rid of excavated material during construction of the tunnel. On the drive we had to stop to view the buffalo/bison on private property, a ranch - I was really excited as I hadn't seen them in the flesh before. There were calves as well.

We stopped for some lunch at little town called Orderville and then drove about 60 miles north to Red Canyon (15 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park) and the Red Canyon RV Park and Campground for 3 nights.

Saturday 12 September 2015

It's been quite hot before we came north here yesterday. A summer nightie sufficed previously, no doona and we'd even had to buy a small fan that plugged into the cigarette lighter. Yesterday it was hot in the day but got quite cold last night - had to put on my flannie PJs and in the middle of the night, Dave had to dig out the doona we'd put away. Today it warmed up but not too hot thankfully. We drove to Bryce Canyon National Park this morning. It's different to Zion Canyon in which we walked yesterday - the views and tracks are all done down in the canyon. Bryce is viewed mainly from the rim, looking down into a giant natural amphitheatre, filled with geological structures called hoodoos. They reminded us of the Pinnacles in Western Australia and have been formed in a similar fashion due to weather erosion. There are many hiking tracks and the serious hikers can go down into the amphitheatre and view these hoodoos up close. I think the best view however, is up at the rim.

We parked outside the national park and caught a free shuttle bus which took us to all the viewing stops. In the bus along the way, we saw some prairie dogs , standing guard at their mounds, and some mule deer, so called I presume, because they have big ears like mules. We went right to the end at Bryce Point and walked along the rim, to Inspiration Point, a 2.4 km walk. The views were just so spectacular. One elderly fellow we spoke to said the altitude really affects him - we are 8,000 feet above sea level. We wondered if it was affecting us as we live at sea level. I didn't feel anything different but Dave thought he felt more tired(?)

A few facts:-

Dixie National Forest is divided into four area with Red Canyon as the most diverse. It is near Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Red sandstones will grab your attention as you enter Red Canyon.
Bryce Canyon National Park is a National Park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m)

Sunday 13 September 2015

This morning we drove a short way down the road to a turn off onto a dirt road, which took us to the Losee Canyon Trailhead. Here we walked the Arches Trail, a 1.1 km loop where 15 small arches exist in the red rock formations. The trail had some steep sections but was fairly easy. The large rock formations have some amazing shapes - one was the side on view of the fish, grouper, and even Dave could see it. Dave finally got a chance to fly his drone that we've brought with us. Unfortunately it had a little crash but luckily wasn't damaged - need to recheck it before trying again. After that we drove further to the Red Canyon Visitor Centre where we took the Hoodoo Trail, a short easy .5 km loop. Two short hoodoos in particular stand out as they are seen immediately by all the cars that drive on this main road past the visitor centre. There are also two distinct red arches over the road that all the cars drive through - been carved through back in the 1920s. While doing the walk we saw the Ponderosa Tree, a big tree with some black tiger-like stripes down the caramel coloured bark. When you smell the bark (which the sign actually says to do by the way, it wasn't my idea) you can actually smell vanilla and/or butterscotch! The sign also said that when there's a fire, this tree sheds its bark to prevent the whole tree from catching fire - clever.

Close by was the Photo Trail - a 160 metre trail that climbs to a ridge overlooking Red Canyon to the east and the Sevier River valley to the west. Amazing views yet again! The trail was quite steep in places and I was a bit worried - it's always easier climbing up than down. On the way back down Dave took off his belt, we each grabbed hold of one end, and he walked behind me, keeping the belt tight, so I had something to hold on to as I descended, which was very helpful. There weren't any trees or rocks to grab onto, to steady myself. Dave was holding onto the belt with one hand and onto his shorts with the other - the belt was keeping them up! There were these young people just about running up and down this steep trail - oh to be 10 foot tall and bullet proof again!

This morning while at the Arches Trail, we could see the sky blacken in the distance and thunder rolled. We got worried for a moment as we've heard how there can be flash floods in these canyons. Fortunately it bypassed us, but this evening the black clouds rolled in again and rained over the RV park (still getting used to saying 'RV' for Recreation Vehicle, instead of caravan). We'd been hoping it wouldn't rain as the van doesn't have any shelter other than the driving cabin area, or the made up bed inside. We could fold the bed up and we'd have a table and a couple seats but then you've got to redo the bed at night again, which is a nuisance. We were lucky at this park though because we were able to move alongside a shelter, which had a table, light, power points and a table. We had our meal in here before it rained and could do our computer and map planning work - it was great. So far no RV park we've been to, has a camp kitchen, where tenters can go to cook their food, wash up and usually there's a tv. At home and in other countries camp kitchens are common. I'd be surprised if not many people travelled cheaply here, using tents. The size of the RVs here is amazing! They are so big, buses really with several slide-outs on the sides, and nearly always towing a car, and often a big car. We thought our Casa was big but she's a baby compared to these!

Monday 14th September 2015 Monday 14th September 2015

We left the park this morning and drove northward for around 5 hours all up today. We're heading for Salt Lake City and eventually, Yellowstone National Park. It rained a bit overnight but we were able to do breakfast and pack up this morning before it started again. The scenery on the way was again, magnificent, with such amazing looking mountains and so many differing colours. Some of these colours we've noticed were contributed to by the foliage changing to autumn colours of yellow and orange. Some big black clouds hung in the sky and we did travel through some heavy rain. We stopped for a few supplies in one of the many towns we went through on the minor highway. Whilst inside the supermarket the lights all of a sudden dimmed, but finally came back on, and I heard one of the ladies say that was due to a lightning/thunder crack.

We ended up stopping at a town called Spanish Fork (Utah) (USA) (maybe 50 or more miles south of Salt Lake City) and a stopover called Canyon View RV Park for 1 night. It's not a manned RV park but a bit like the national parks we've been to in OZ where you put the money in an envelope with your details and put it in a locked receptacle for collection. There's a golf course the nearby and a park right next door - it's the park's toilets we're using but there's no shower. We have power and water, the ground is bitumed and the parking spots are marked out and numbered. When we arrived there were about half a dozen RVs already here. It's fairly quiet although next to a road, and there isn't much in the way of lighting. In general, the lack of lighting and a camp kitchen so far on the whole trip, has made it a bit hard for me as I normally don't go to bed til late, about 11.30 or even later, and here, I'm having to go to bed around 8.30 or 9.30 and so just lie there for a few hours. Anyway put it all down to experience and file it under the 'done that, won't do that again'.

Tuesday 15 September 2015

This morning we drove north to Salt Lake City, the capital of the state of Utah but we decided we didn't want to stop there. Instead we went west because I wanted to see the Bonneville Salt Flats, globally famous for the automotive endurance and land speed racing carried out there. Teddy Tetzlaff drove a Blitzen Benz to an unofficial speed of 141.73 mph in 1914. The Salt Flats are internationally renowned as a unique backdrop for filming major motion pictures, fashion layouts, and automobile commercials. The movie The Last Indian, with Anthony Hopkins, was made here, about the Indian type motorbike breaking a race record. The Salt Flats are just over 46 square miles in size (30,000 acres), which equates to about 147 million tons, or 99 million cubic yards, of salt.

Unfortunately we didn't get that far as we saw the sign that said it was over 100 miles away and that would take too much time out of our schedule, so instead we stopped at the closer Great Salt Lake State Park and the Great Salt Lake Marina. The lake's salinity levels range between 5 and 28 percent, compared to the ocean at 3 percent. About 4.5 billion tons of salt are in the lake, and commercial removal of salt equals about 2.3 million tons annually. You can swim here and find out how unsinkable you are due the salt content. We could've camped (5 camp spots available) here but we needed to move on and it was raining so we didn't even try the 'unsinkable' theory. The Great Salt Lake is a remnant of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, which covered more than 20,000 square miles of land. The present lake is about 75 miles long and 35 miles wide, with a maximum depth of 33 feet. Water levels in the lake are far from constant and depend on seasonal evaporation and precipitation.

We continued on our way and drove for most of the day, north, and crossed the border into the state of Wyoming. We finally stopped at a town called Big Piney (Wyoming) (USA) and decided to treat ourselves to a night in a motel, the Big Piney Motel for 1 night, especially as we didn't have a shower last night and also because of the rain. It's no fun trying to cook at the back of the van in the rain. It rained quite a lot and heavy, on the drive. When we got into our room Dave turned on the tv and heard that 4 people have been killed and some more missing in Zion National Park in flash floods today! We were there just 5 days ago and had read signs about how the flash floods can be deadly. These people were probably doing the hikes down in the water areas to be caught out. We're hoping our trip further north to Yellowstone will be uneventful, although more rain is expected. I enjoyed staying up late here with the lights and tv on!

Wednesday 16 September 2015

We left the motel early this morning, about 8.30am, so we could get a good head start on the trip. It looked like it was going to clear up but we were wrong. We stopped in the town of Jackson, population nearly 10,000, and a town geared up for tourism. Apparently skiing is popular from here and other equipment, eg. canoes, showed there seemed plenty to do here for the adventurers. We visited the Visitor Centre to get info on the 2 national parks ahead. We also walked around town for a bit, still raining, and noticed 3 street corners where a arche was made out of deer antlers! It was really interesting. We were told that deer shed their antlers every year and take about 6 months to grow new ones. The cast off ones are collected by people wanting to sell them, or others who make them into something for the public, such as these arches. We ducked into a place called The Liberty Burger for lunch, and it was the nicest burger we've had in a while. The place seemed to be pretty popular with people being turned away as the place was full.

After that we continued on our way and soon entered the Grand Teton National Park - famous for the Teton Range of granite mountains. On the way we saw a herd of deer feeding on the side of the road, and noticed the beautiful autumn colours of yellows and oranges, again changing the colour of the landscape. We were in doubt as to where we were going to stay - the lodges in which we would've liked to have stayed because of the rain and cold, were too expensive, the cheapest being US$206 for the night, close to AUD$300! and we just couldn't justify spending that sort of money. We knew there were campgrounds but didn't know if we'd get in - we'd heard they fill up pretty quickly but hoped as the summer was over we'd have a good chance. We happened on the Jenny Lake Campground which said it was for tents only but we went in for a look. There were plenty of spots, and as Dave said, we weren't much different to a car with a tent, taking up no more space, and actually, less space, as we don't have a tent. We knocked on the caretakers door and asked and they said it was ok - we paid for 1 night. They warned us about making sure we don't leave any food, garbage or anything else with a smell (like deodorant, perfume, toothpaste, etc) outside our vehicle because it will attract the bears, black bears! Grrrrrr! We've seen this in documentaries where the bears break into tents where food has been stored. Apparently the black bears are not usually black, but range more from brown to blonde - I hope to see one from a long way away. If you're found to break the rules above to do with leaving stuff outside, you can be fined.

We found our spot and set up. On each site is a big metal box with clips to lock the heavy drop down front - this is where tenters can store their food and other smelly stuff. We went for a walk down to Jenny Lake and saw a few different types of squirrels on the way. At one time a mule deer with several smaller ones in tow, walked close to our site feeding as they went, not too perturbed about us but still wary. Towards the late afternoon, the cloud lifted a little off the mountains and we saw their snow capped, craggy beauty. We were told that the snow up there was fresh - hoping there won't be any snow while we're here. The rain eased up late this arvo as well so hoping for a sunny day tomorrow. It was cold and so after dinner we hunkered down inside the van - it was 7.10pm! It's getting earlier and earlier! I did some computer stuff til about 8.30 and went to bed. It was so cold and as we didn't have a shower, we went to bed in our clothes - not a common thing!

Thursday 17 September 2015

Dave got up through the night, nature's call, and found one of his size 12 crocs (shoes) was missing. That was obviously something that had an odour that we shouldn't have left outside our vehicle for the bears! (like the other things mentioned in yesterday's diary). We assumed a bear or wolf had taken it for its own personal chew toy, but I did find it about 6 metres away, not chewed up - obviously something did pick it up and carry it away as the wind wasn't that bad. We left Grand Teton Nat Pk today and entered through the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park - Yogi Bear's old haunt (for those of my vintage who might remember this cartoon). We saw Moose Falls, Lewis Falls and Kepler Cascades on the way to probably the main thing I wanted to see in Yellowstone, and that was Old Faithfull. We made the 3pm showing of Old Faithfull, the world famous hot spring geyser and most renowned of Yellowstone. Many people turned up for it. The rain kept hanging on with little blue patches every so often, teasing us. Around this area are many hot springs bubbling and spurting up, some with lovely coloured water, and some with sulphur smells.

We saw some free roaming deer and bison again and everyone stopped to take photos. Some of our drive took us up higher into the rainforest, and we realised how high we were when we saw snow on the trees and logs. As we drove further down again the white disappeared even though the rain did not. As it neared to 4pm we decided we needed to hurry up and book into a camping place - a bit worried there may not be places left. Luckily we found one at Madison Campground for 1 night. Here they warned us that this was Grizzly Bear territory and the usual rules applied with food, garbage, etc being left out unattended. As soon as we set up I started cooking dinner. It seemed like it might fine up but I wasn't taking any chances. Luckily I did - I'd dished up and we were halfway through dinner when it started raining heavily, and then the snow came, and little bits of hail! Luckily Dave had set up the tarp at the back of the van but after a while the leaks started coming through into the cooking area where we were hurriedly trying to finish our meal. We were constantly bumping the tarp to clear the water and ice from it.

This is starting to get ridiculous - tonight it is 6.10 pm and we are again hunkering down inside the van as it's cold and wet. Again I am typing my diary sitting in bed while Dave is sleeping beside me, having no trouble going to sleep. Again we have gone to bed with no shower and are in our day clothes - too hard and too cold to change, and no point when we haven't showered. Luckily with it being cold we don't need a shower as much. There are places where we can pay for a shower but they aren't here where our van is and it's been too hard to organise, especially with trying to fit in our sightseeing. Tomorrow we expect to be out of the park and I hope, in a motel or similar, with a decent shower and room to move about under one roof.

Friday 18 September 2015

Thankfully, today the sun was out and stayed that way, and eventually our fingers and toes thawed. Well we've not yet seen a bear, any bear, or any moose, and anyone we've spoken to hasn't had any luck either. We're leaving Yellowstone Nat Pk today, having only seen about one quarter of it, but not really having the time to see any more - it is so large, has 5 entrances/exits around the boundary in 4 states. There are other things we want to see and have to make our way back towards Los Angeles where we hand the camper back in about one week. We left the park through the West exit into the state of Montana for a very short time, until we crossed into the state of Idaho - being in 3 states in under 1 hour. Today before we left the park, we were lucky enough to see some elk, and a couple males with the antlers - it was quite exciting. Cars were pulling over everywhere to take photos, causing about a 2 mile traffic jam for vehicles coming into Yellowstone - luckily we were leaving.

We stopped quite a few times for photos and did a scenic drive, called Firehole Canyon Drive, which didn't allow for any large RVs or any vehicles towing. There were plenty of photo opportunities along this drive, mostly water falls, some volcanic rock and fast flowing water. We stopped for lunch in the state of Idaho, at this chicken place that had these giant wedges as we call them (they called them 'logs', quite aptly), made from Idaho (of course) potatoes. We got 4 each on our plates and that was enough I tell you. We continued on our drive south-west, and looked for a motel type accommodation tonight, to have a decent bed and shower, internet, and be able to just walk around inside and be able to do stuff after dark. We finally found a place in the late afternoon, at a town called Idaho Falls (Idaho) (USA) and Motel 6 for 1 night.

Saturday 19 September 2015

This morning we drove a short way to where we saw the waterfalls that this town is probably named after - Idaho Falls. They were near a bridge and weren't your regular waterfalls that you see flowing down a cliff. They were right in the middle of town at a bridge, seemed to be part of a fast flowing river and there seems to have been a bit of manmade assistance to it. It was a lovely feature of the town. Nearby were young people busily draping glittery material along hand rails and decorating tables and chairs in readiness for a wedding later in the day. It was a lovely setting. Saturday morning market stalls were set up on both sides of the road, selling all sorts of things, from crafts to meat. One guy was selling deep fried bread/scone which was the size of a dinner plate and tasted like doughnut. On top you had the choice of either raspberry butter or honey butter - it was really decadent and I wasn't going to have one but Dave insisted. I had to prevent him from having too much bad stuff so I had half - it was delicious, and decadent!

We then drove west to the Craters of The Moon National Monument and Preserve. This was a place really worth the visit. The Preserve covers 750,000 acres, made up of vast volumes of lava, issued not from one volcano, but from a series of deep fissures, known collectively as the Great Rift. Beginning 15,000 years ago lava welled up from the Great Rift to produce this vast ocean of rock. The most recent eruption occurred a mere 2,000 years ago, and geologists believe that future events are likely - luckily there were none while we were there. We were amazed at the different types of lava shapes/patterns. Very fluid flowing lava forms smooth, rope-like lava, where thicker and more viscous lava emerges, rubble -like and crusty. Some looked like half burnt wood left in a fire, while others formed a shape like molten chocolate, frozen in the flow. Then there were many vast areas of big piles of what appeared to be rubble, which were the result of rocks and debris being spewed up into the air and rained back down to earth. Some of them put me in mind of big mounds of black manure left by giant dinosaurs.

We drove around a 7 mile loop road, stopping at 3 different places to do the walks on special pathways made through the volcanic material. We walked the North Crater Trail, the Spatter Cones and the Indian Tunnel. The last one was a lava tube, similar to the ones we saw at Undara on our Queensland trip in 2014. The tube is formed when the outside of the flowing lava cools and hardens, whilst inside the tube, the molten lava keeps flowing, eventually leaving a tube that's hollow inside. Eventually some of the ceiling of the tube falls in but some of the enclosed tube is still left, and can be walked through. We walked a little way into this one but didn't have a decent torch and it was too dangerous to go further in the semi-darkness. It seems the name, Craters of The Moon, was derived from a statement made by a geologist in 1923, Harold T. Stearns, who described this area as "The surface of the moon as seen through a telescope". NASA's Apollo Astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, Eugene Cernan, and Joe Engle learned basic volcanic geology here in 1969 as they prepared for their moon missions.

We then drove south-west to the town of Jerome (Idaho) (USA) and the Jerome KOA (Kamping of America) Campground for 1 night. This is the first campground that has a family or club room where you can watch tv or just sit at the table to do whatever, which is really nice for me as I like to stay up late.