August 22, Saturday

I did a tally of the mileage and gasoline costs. Here we go. We filled up on August 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16 and 18. We spent a total of $1364.79 Canadian and took 719.117 liters. The $1364.79 Canadian = $990.81 US.

We travelled 2797.6 km. So, 2797.6/719.117 = 3.89km/liter or 9.15 mpg. We travelled 2797.6km/$1364.79 = 2.05km/dollar (Canadian) = 1.27 miles/$0.73 (US) = 1.73 miles/dollar (US)

We took on propane on August 11. We tool 14.15 liters for $19.25.

August 19, Wednesday

Early 5 am wakeup on the phone. Traffic construction in front of the Springs RV Resort starts at 7am and is one lane, really a mess. We decided to beat the 7am crazy and leave earlier, hence the 5am wakeup.

Coffee and toast and final packing got us on the road at 6:35. Traffic into Delta was crazy and the planned 1.5 hours turned into just about 2 hours. We pulled into the CanaDream lot at 8:45 am. Quick checkout, I guess others folks re-pack their RV on site, we were ready to eject. The drive was intense with Sandy navigating morning road construction and commuter traffic.

We took the RV back in July with 432 miles to empty. We brought it back with 441 miles to empty. It was 118.2km into the Delta CanaDream depot. I purchased 2600 travel miles and unlimited generator use. 10 hours on the generator and 2797.6 miles on the RV. There was a mileage overage of $103.70. Pretty good planning, I’d say.

Uber driver showed up at 9:30 and we were at the airport by 10:15. We were through security and customs by 11am, looking for breakfast/lunch. The airport Air Canada ‘Rouge’ class lounge was really sparse, so we wandered over to Vono Volo for lunch and a delicious Tempranillo!

Air Canada AC1772 direct to LAS departs at 2:10pm. It was 5 minutes early and we arrived in LAS right on time. Luggage was early off and dinner at South Point was Baja Miguel’s. Life is complete! It was a great trip, I do miss the forest.

August 18, Tuesday

Our last day and we are headed just down the road to Rowena’s Inn in the Sandpiper Resort area today. It is featured on Sandy’s Hallmark movies, so she’s anxious to see it in real life.

Just like the movies, the Sandpiper Lodge is beautiful. We took a stroll down to the eagle and salmon spawning area on the property. No eagles and the salmon stream is bone dry, something wrong with that picture.

We had lunch, a Korean BBQ sandwich at their clubhouse restaurant, quite good. Dinner food not until 4pm so that didn’t work.

We headed to Kilby Provincial Park, right around the corner, POTA CA-3679, right on the water at Harrison Lake. Struggled to make 10 contacts, 1 SSB and 6 FT8 on 20 meters, with 3 FM 146.52 QSOs. I met VE7xx, Kevin for an eyeball QSO here at Kilby. He lives in Abbotsford and came up to Chiiliwack for a campout. He may try CA-3679 tomorrow!

We added $62.04 and 34.295 liters for tomorrow’s journey back to Delta. We’ll see how the math works out.

Dinner was at the Black Forest Steak and Schnitzel Haus for takeout dinner as we packed up for home! Good eats!!

We are checked into Air Canada flight AC1772 from YVR to LAS, departing 2:10pm!

August 17, Monday

Went down to breakfast at 8 am, it is from 8-9am and had a great ‘british’ breakfast with a soft-boiled egg and cheeses and breads and coffee and juice. It was really delicious. The smoke is still around and the views are really obscured.

Sandy wanted to sample another winery before we headed to Harrison Hot Springs. We chose Seven Stones vineyard just down the road, arrived shortly after their 10am opening and had a great tour and tasting of their wines. Interesting that they grow malbec and chardonnay grapes on site. We tasted 2 whites and 3 reds. We purchased a bottle of Legend, a cabernet that we’ll take home with us.

The drive to Harrison was a little long, we stopped in the EC Manning Provincial Park visitor’s center for a quick lunch. The park is close to Vancouver so it gets a lot of visitors, beautiful country, but as we travelled further west, it got more and more smoky. I was hoping we’d be out of the smoke soon.

We arrived at the Springs RV Resort about 3pm after touring the town in the RV. It is a beachy town on Harrison Lake, lots of summer activities and hotels on the water’s edge. Restaurants are a bit away from our campground.

Campsite grade = C, very nice and clean, but there are 288 campsites crammed in a smal space. This is even tighter than in Banff at Village II. Neighbors right next door, tight fit and permanent residents primarily in the park, it seems.

We need to bring the RV back at 432km to empty. I figure we need to add about 30 liters to bring our numbers in line. We are averaging 24.3 liters / 100 km which, according to google is right around 10 mpg.

August 16, Sunday – happy 46th anniversary, dear!

We left camp after a quick shower and english muffin with coffees. We were on the road by 8:33, Sandy was cracking the whip. We dumped and filled and are ready.

We had breakfast at sicamouse at G&G restaurant, good eats. We travelled down Canada 1, the sky getting smokier as we travelled south west. Google had highway 97 blocked, Apple maps had no such issue. The drive.bc website stated that 97 was open from 7am-7pm, beware of firefighters and other safety officials on the road.

We had no issues and arrived early. The ‘harvest host’ campground was ‘park off the street on the grass’, lame and should be reported to Harvest Host. We had reserved a room, so we parked the RV on the ‘grass weed pach’ and checked in. The room is a whole lot better than parking off-kilter on the road.

Since it was early, we had our Mumm’s and snacks in the RV before we headed to our room.

The included 2-wine tasting was anemic, the pizza and merlot were quite good though. The staff could do all they did to minimize their workload. Not impressed.

We did 318.4 km today with fuel of 55.412 liters at 1.899/liter for a total of $104.67. This should be the last fill-up.

August 15, Saturday

After a leisure breakfast, and nice showers, we went into town to check out the Saturday farmer’s market in the downtown area. Before we left, I checked out spot 33, that which we were assigned to, next to the playground. The site 34, 33 and 32 are essentially parallel parked, one behind the other with zero privacy. It can be done, but it would be a tight fit. I tried, the other sites had cleared out. On the way out, we stopped by the office to see if another site opened up, they were out doing rounds.

Lots of fruits and vegetables, amazing for this area. It is warmer today and we are at a lower altitude, so maybe the growing season is a bit longer. Everything looked fresh and delicious.

We decide to wander over to the Mt. Revelstoke National Park, but got turned around at the entrance. No vehicles longer than 26′ permitted. So much for that idea and playing NA QSO SSB Party up at some elevation.

Lunch was at Begbie brewery and tasting room, just east up the road. The caprese salad was delicious and nicely presented. The beers weren’t too bad either, I had a Gravity and then a sample of their other high IBU pours.

Right next to the brewery is the Revelstoke RV and Cabin Resort. I saw it on the internet, we drove down to it, checked it out a took site 47, with full hookups. It is in the shade with a nice private area. Well worth the price, we would have roasted back in #33. All is well and tomorrow, we have booked the LAST room at the Crow’s Nest Winery. We are supposed to dry camp there, but it is getting warmer as we return to Vancouver. It will be nice to have a nicer dinner and retire to a ‘civlized’ room! We’ll see.

Tried to play on the NA QSO SSB party for about an hour, got exactly one contact (not really sure, I think it is not confirmed).

Dinner at Parmajit’s Kitchen. It did not disappoint. Hunter schnitzel with extra mushroom gravy and brat won-tons as an appetizer!

Revelstoke RV and Cabin Resort = B, Williamson’s Lake Campground = D (in our assigned spot). Today we drove 29.3km and filled up with 66.581 liters at $126.55. Maybe we have one more fill-up?

August 14, Friday

Lake Louise to Revelstoke, Williamson’s Lake campground. Being smart this time, we drove over the shower building, parked and each took a turn.

We took off, refueled with 48.075 liters for a total of $96.10 at $1.99/liter. We travelled a total of 258.8 km today.

Had breakast in Samson Cafe, at one of the coffee shops in the little area. Not much to speak of, but the ham/egg croissant sandwich was passable.

Our journey took us west on Canada 1 pretty much to Revelstoke. We tried to get to Emerald Lake, but the traffic was impossible, just like Peyto Lake. We stopped at the top of Rogers Pass and saw the cork-screw train tracks. These are like those in Tehachapi to ease the train grade climb. We lunched in Golden, at a McDonald’s, good to have familiar food for once. We drove through Glacier NP, there is NO road access into the park, so no radio there. We stopped by the Giant Cedar trees in the afternoon for a nice walk and stretch.

We arrived in Revelstoke, headed to the washeteria and were done and ready of dinner. We walked over to Cantina del Centro for some Canadian-Mexican. Margaritas were good, the tacos and enchiladas … interesting.

Drove to the campground, site 33, right next to the kids playground, seriously? Went back to the office, and they gave us site 28, just for tonight. We have to move later tomorrow.

Campground = C, location beautiful, sites need work. We are here for one more night.

August 13, Thursday

Shower success, we woke up, had a cup of coffee and headed by 7:50 to the shower house. There is only one here, but it has 6 men and 6 women stalls so at that time of day, there was no line. It was a little cool and drizzly, but we got it done.

Breakfast was the Mc-Dee english muffin but with scrambled eggs.

We packed up and were at the Lake Louise ski base for the shuttle bus to Lake Louise by about 10:45. It is about a 15 minute ride to the base of the ski lifts.

The parking attendant gave us a nice opening to park the RV. We popped out, ran the generator for a bit, it’s cold. Our bus slot is 1:00pm and the earliest we can board is 12:45. We had lunch, those croissant sandwiches from Safeway in Canmore. Let’s hope the weather opens up a bit.

The weather took a dump for the worse as we were boarding the bus to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. We got to Moraine Lake, a beautiful location, took a few photos, looked in the gift shop. There is a lodge there that is right on the lake. The rain let up just enough for amazing views of the log jam and the lake itself.

Our ticket gives us Moraine Lake, shuttle to Lake Louise, a drop off at the lake and a return trip to the base lodge. We jumped on the next shuttle and it started to rain, pretty steady to the Lake. There is a Fairmont Lake Louise on the shore and it is all signed and roped off to keep the rif-raf out of the hotel. I was hoping for a nice cocktail by the lake, with a nice fire … but that wasn’t to be. Pretty snooty, if you ask me.

We hopped on the shuttle to return to the base lodge at the ski resort after a few photos. We couldn’t even get one together, there were so many tourists at both locations. Lots and lots of asians, wow.

We arrived back at camp after a short downhill ride, drove throught the Samson “mall” and were back in camp about 3:30.

Dinner, using the convective oven was the pizza flatbread we picked up, again, at the Safeway in Canmore. It was pretty good with the Seghesio red we found, again at the Canmore Safewway liquor store adjacent to the grocery.

We travelled a whole 11.9 km today, we are at 77991.1 km on the odometer, for a total of 1742.4 km so far (1083 miles).

Lake Louise hard side campground = B, beautiful location, showers kinda remote.

August 12, Wednesday

Another lazy day to Lake Lousie. We tried to take a shower, but the shower house line was 6+ people, so we forgo that for maybe this afternoon. We dumped and filled (#4) at the Village II campground station before leaving.

After breakfast, and the aborted showers, we packed up and out to Lake Louise. On the way, the GuideAlong app kicked in and suggested we sightsee to do the Johnson Lake, Two Jack Lake andLake Minnewanka tour. After that, it suggested we head up to Mt. Norquay for Banff overlook views. The trip was well worth it.

Next, the GuideAlong suggested the scenic Canada 1a, the Bow Valley Parkway route to Lake Louise and pointed out some scenic stuff on the way. As luck would have it, the provincial forest folks were out parked next to a group of two brown bears. On the way, we stopped at the famous Morant’s Curve for the classic canadian train advertisement photo op.

We travelled up to the Lake Louise base lodge, had a burger lunch that was fair. We talked to the Parks Canada folks to understand what and where we show up for tomorrow, 1:00 pm excursion to Lake Louise.

We worked our way to the Lake Louise hard-site campground, spot #184. It is at the far end, tucked near the Bow River and away from the train tracks as possible.

We drove a whopping 104.4 miles, the odometer reads 77979.2 km. We dumped and filled today at the Banff campground before leaving

Banff Tunnel Mountain Village II campground = D. Bathroom facilities OK, showers FAR AWAY – no way and not nearly enough.

August 11, Tuesday

Still overcast and smoky, photo opportunities have gone out the window.

We drove into Canmore, just south of Banff in the foothills and discovered the CITY. The Safeway store and liquor store were amazing. La Crema on the shelf!

We filled up on propane, gasoline, water and groceries and wine and champagne for our anniversary on Sunday. Nice to be in the big city. We took 14.14 liters of propane for a total of $19.25, ($1.36/liter) the gage is past full now, we were sitting right at about 1/2 before the fill. We filled up with $150.00 that took 78.99 liters ($1.90/liter), almost filled, the range showed about 860 km, go figure.

We found the artist Jason Carter’s gallery in town. We saw his work yesterday in Banff and decided to recheck his work, it is beautiful. We picked up 4 prints and 1 small gicicle, to be shipped home. Sandy scored at the quilt and fabric shop in town, also to be shipped home. A good shopping day, the boss is happy.

We came back, Sandy drove for a bit on Canada 1. We were getting ready for dinner and our bus ride into town. We arrived a few minutes before the reservation and were seated. The prime rib was probably one of the worst pieces that I have had. We had a new wait staff and after the meal was paid for, I asked to speak to the manager. I mentioned the cut of meat, she said she would talk to the chef, but she really cared less. EPIC FAIL, it truly is a mistake at this place.

Today, we drove a whole 58.5km. We are at 77878.4 km on the odometer.

August 10, Monday

Morning showers, down the road a piece and then town bus for more exploring!

We spent ZERO miles today and took the bus shuttle into town for a late breakfast at Melissa’s Missteak. The prime rib eggs benedict on yorkshire pudding was amazing, a must do again. Sandy had pancakes and they too were delicious. We were so impressed that we made dinner reservations for tomorrow at 5:30 pm!

We spent some time just strolling and shopping, nice to just be on cruise mode. Hopped on the bus back by mid-day and I played radio at CA-0005, Banff NP. It was a struggle to get the 10 for POTA, tough SSB QRP conditions.

August 9, Sunday

Travel day from Jasper to Banff. We did 298.4 km, started about 9:30 and arrived in camp around 3:30 pm. While it is a beautiful drive on the Ice Fields parkway, there are lots of stops for all kinds of opportunities. We dumped and filled today before leaving the Jasper camp (#3).

We arrived at the Columbia Icefield viewpoint, lots of cars and buses and RVs. We decided to pass on walking out the glacier, been there – done that, in Alaska. The views are amazing everywhere we look, but so is the smoke, making photo ops less appealing.

The summit of the highway is near Peyto Lake and there is a viewpoint overlooking the river. We took the offramp and were immediately stopped with traffic just getting to the overlook. Again, way too much traffic! We moved a couple of road barriers to make a space so that I could do a U-turn and bail out. After the maneuver, I had an RV behind me give me the ‘thumbs-up’, he was going to do the same thing!

We arrived at the Banff Tunnel Mountain Village II campground. We are in spot A-14 on the ‘cheaper’ side. It is literally streets paved with cutouts for RVs on both sides. Not what we pictured. The other side of the campground, Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court campground, has a traditional feel with RV spots with full hookups. Their shower/bath houses are sprinkled throughout. Our shower house is down the road a piece, each bath/sink house has NO showers. There are 5 showers for the entire portion of our campground, not well laid out and not like the facilities at Jasper. There, we were spoiled, probably, because the facilities burned down in 2024!

Authentik Canada has been a real let down, campsite selection-wise.

The city is SO crowded that you leave your RV and take rapid transit. It is free to town, easy stop here in camp, by $1 for seniors on the return. Very convienient. The bus driver mentioned that summer is their busy time, winter time – no one comes because it is so hard to get to. The only folks here in the winter are the die-hard locals, interesting.

The bus took us to the center of town, we stopped at the IGA market after stopping for an early dinner at the Boss Kitchen and Bar. The pork ribs and the forager salad were a perfect split for us, good eats!

Tomorrow, we stay in camp and explore the town!

Campground = B, nice facilities, but the camp itself with all the dead trees is kinda sad.

August 8, Saturday

We started with coffee, a caramel machiatto from the coffee truck, along with a raspberry scone and sticky bun. The plan is to head to Miette Hot Springs for a relaxing soak.

Propane is still around 5/8 tank. We only use it in the morning to turn on the heater, minimal stove top use.

Before we took off, we were visited by a family of elk, right outside the campsite. Beautiful creatures and Sandy spotted them, heading to the washroom!

We grabbed some coffee from the coffee truck here, and planned to hit the Miette Hot Springs for a nice soak. On the way, we spotted some big horn sheep on YellowHead 16. Everyone stops on the highway, surprising that there are not more crashes. We checked into the hot springs and were soaking by 11:45, parking was getting a little filled up. We wrapped up about 12:30 and headed back down, taking photo ops on the way. We tried to check out the Fairmont Jasper Lodge, but we couldn’t find RV parking, disappointing.

We decided to run into town, grab another water bottle and a few more things. We ended up grabbing a nice Italian diiner of chicken parm and spaghetti carbonara. They were both quite good and we were able to re-heat them in the microwave, dinner at 6pm. We run the generator from 8-10am and 5-7pm to cool us off and make coffee.

Played radio at CA-0040, Jasper NP on 2 days, August 7 and 8 from 5:15pm-6:00pm and then 7:00-7:45pm (the next day). Eleven contacts each for both days on SSB.

August 7, Friday

A little crispy 44 degrees this morning. We put the heater on around 7:20 am, genny time is between 8-10am. The batteries were showing 12.0-11.9, need charge. We have solar and generator and the car alternator so as long we have gas, we should be fine. Propane is sitting at about 5/8 tank.

Today we replenish and explore the northern part of the park. The campground is covered with dead trees from the 2024 Jasper fire, kinda sad, you’d think they’d cut them down.

We spent the day doing laundry, shopping in town, getting a few groceries and driving up to Meligne Lake and Medicine Lake on the return. The laundry facility in town was very efficient and had lots of washer/dryers. Smoke came into the valley and the views are pretty obscured. The ridge lines and glacier fields are pretty spectacular, but with the smoke, photo ops are pretty bad.

Dinner was a ‘King Burrito’ from the food truck here in the campground. There is also a coffee truck on site as well. We ran the generator from about 5:30 – 7 pm.

Today we filled up, 154.99$ and 83.37 liters here in Jasper. Gas seems cheaper if you find a Petro- Canada, 1.859 / liter.

Played radio at CA-4680, Historical Site of Jasper on FT8, made 11 contacts, I think. This was in the evening and then the next morning to cover the day.

August 6, Thursday

11am tickets for a river safari in Blue River, BC. A photo opportunity of a life time on a jet boat! Our reservation required us to check in at 10:30, so …. mom had to wash her hair and we had to be on the road by 9am or so. Breakfast at the Painted Turtle was added to the agenda, so we were there at 7:50. The Eggs Benedict – mini, were excellent, just one egg and hashbrowns and we hit the road about 9am.

We arrived and checked in at River Safari, on Mud Lake (with a floating restaurant) for our tour. We were out until about 1:45 or so, split a huge burger and were on the road, again at 2:30.

2.5 hours later, we arrived at Jasper NP, no entrance fees required this summer. Our campspot, J-20, was easy to find and we were parked and cooking at 6pm. We have generator time from 5-7pm and 8-10am. This site has no facilities, so we’ll see how our energy management goes. We have batteries, a generator and solar panels.

Dinner was taco salad for me, salad left over from lunch and build-your-own tacos for Sandy.

This is a beautiful location! We drove for 3.5 hours from Dutch Creek campground. It was 323.8 km.

Campsite rating = B, spot 20J was pretty level. Close to the nice washroom, kitchen and shower facilities.

We dumped from the campsite at Dutch Creek today (#2) before taking off.

August 5, Wednesday

A lazy day, with visiting 3 waterfalls in the Wells Gray Provincial Park on the agenda. Two of them above our campground and one further south. We put on a whole 65.8 km today and are camping at Dutch Lake Resort and RV Park. It is very smoky, drifting in from the west all day.

From our campsite at Wells Gray RV park, we went north to Helmcken, Dawson, the Mushbowl and Spahats falls, beautiful all.

We made it back down to Clear Lake, time to relax and tried to do some laundry. Long line … gave up.

We (Sandy) have discovered that for the next 3 nights, while we are in pristine Jasper National Park at the Whistlers RV campground, there are NO hookups for us. I assumed, incorrectly, that there were in ALL locations except for the vineyard stay, but that got lost in translation. We left a message with Tanya, our tour coordinator, and we’ll see what happens. There are NO private RV spots in Jasper, no rooms to rent, it is high, high, season.

Campsite rating = B, spot 29 was pretty level. Bathrooms a long walk.

August 4, Tuesday

Lots of driving today, we left Whistler around 9:20 and arrived at Wells Grey around 5:15. We dumped on site before taking off. We dumped and filled this morning before leaving camp. (#1)

Last week we were rescheduled to Wells Gray RV Park in the park for tonight. The original campground in Historic Hat Creek was deemed too smoky and in an evacuation readiness zone, so Authentik has us push on to a new camp in Wells Gray. BUT, it meant for a very long drive. I asked if we could double either at Wells Gray or Dutch Creek, and the answer was that both camps were full for 2 nights. With this new approach, we push to Wells Gray, then backtrack to Dutch Creek. Oh well.

It was very smoky and a slow and bumpy highway ride through mountain passes on highway 99 (especially slow), Canada 1 and finally Canada 5. There were beautiful views, but totally obscured by the heavy smoke.

The Historic Hat Creek campground we were supposed to stay at, we passed around noon. The camp was the staging area for the local firefighters and would not have made a good overnight stop, good call Authentik.

Horsting’s in Cache Creek is a working farm that has a farmer’s market and sandwich and coffee shop attached in an outdoor setting. The potato bread is amazing, and was in the ham, turkey and cheese sandwich we split, delicious.

We pressed on after lunch, through Kamloops and headed north on Canada 5. Kamloops has a Costco, we drove by on the freeway.

We put on about 456.3 km today, about 283 miles.

No cell service or WiFi in Wells Grey. There is an executive 9 hole golf course, go figure with one set of left-handed clubs.

Tomorrow should be a relaxing 30 minute drive backtracking to our scheduled camp for tomorrow.

We added gas twice, once for 100$, 51.30 liters and the 2nd for 85.14$ at 46.57 liters. That one filled up the tank so at full, we have 777km of range.

Dinner was a Horsting’s steak and chicken ‘cowboy’ pie, sort of like a turnover, with steak and vegetables and the same with chicken. We also had a peach ‘pie’ for dessert, with the coconut ice cream from Whistler! Nice to have a microwave/convective oven combo.

Campsite rating = C, spot 121 was pretty level, nice by the creek, a few horse flies.

August 3, Monday

Campsite H-04 is fully equipped and right next to the WiFi antenna. Speed is slow but it works.

A leisurely morning, Sandy whipped some ham and cheese burritos. We couldn’t find bacon at the Squamish Walmart, low supplies.

Nice shower facilities, clean and hot water. We headed over the 1.8km (in the RV) to parking lot 3. It is designed for oversized vehicles and is adjacent to the town square of Whitsler. Whistler is like downtown Mammoth, by the chair lifts area.

Lots to shop around with we ended up at the south end of the village where the Whistler Village Gondola and Peak to Peak gondola and Blackcomb gondola connect. The ticket price was $110 and the lines were pretty long. The information attendent suggested we start on the Blackcomb gondola and do the trip in reverse, less people over there in line. We had our flip-flops on, and really weren’t equipped to do some mild hiking around, The views are spectacular, but we’ll save them for another time or rides in Lake Louis, Jasper and Banff. We have time.

Early lunch was at Beacon Pub and Eatery. The pulled pork Poutine was delicious, but a little rich for me. It came back later. We shopped some more and were done by early afternoon. We hooked back into H-04 and ordered dinner at Barn Nork, a Thai eatery on site that is open from 4-8pm. Seating is extremely limited, 4 tables, but the reviews are fantastic. We ordered spring rolls and fried rice with chicken. Huge portions and healthy. Highly recommended!

Early to bed, a long day tomorrow. Due to the fires, we are driving through our next camp and pushing through 1 day ahead. 6 hour drive, ugh.

August 2, Sunday

Leisure wakeup and breakfast downstairs in the restaurant, not even average. The snacks at the Starbucks down the road were better.

Scheduled an Uber for 10:45 pickup to head to the Delta CanaDream RV pickup. He arrived early, there is a PRIDE parade right Davie St. We were early and he zig-zagged around the road closures. We arrived at the RV pickup right around 11:30. We upgraded to an early checkin at noon, but Michael took us early. We also paid for the walk-around tour, nice to get a refresher.

Once inside the RV, I realized the MBH model given, had 2 pop-outs for the queen and dining areas to the left. NOT what I wanted, but the fine print states that is a ‘representative’ layout. This RV came with 76248.7 km (47379 miles) and 3/8 of a tank of gas. We return it the same way, 342 km to empty. This is an older vehicle, and I disappointed.

After checkout, we were unpacked (in the lot, nice and convienient to store the luggage in the trunk) and on the road about 1:22 pm. Navigating out of the city was tough, it took the 2 of us, me on my iPhone and Sandy on her iPad.

First stop was Squamish and the Walmart. It was pretty picked over, low on supplies but we found what we needed. The next challenge was the state liquor store, found it and finally some gas. My credit card maxed out at 250.00 dollars Canadian for 131.648 liters of fuel (34.8 gallons). The gas gage showed full, so that was close enough. We travelled 107.7 km to Squamish. Our elapsed time was 2:26 minutes but that was with stops at Walmart, the liquor store, the Boston Pizza place (order to go, awful) and the fuel stop. It took about 1:30 to get to Squamish.

Another 45 minutes and we arrived at 6:15pm at Riverside RV campground, spot H-04. Nice and level and we settled in and stowed some stuff away with a beer and red wine. Initially, reception couldn’t locate the reservation, but it had a last name of Authentik-Canada, oh well.

The bed – not too bad, a little annoying having to pop in/put, but do-able. It bothers me more than Sandy.

A relaxing day tomorrow to explore Whistler.

Campsite rating = B+, spot H-04 was pretty level, but in the foot traffic path to the trailhead areas.

August 1, Saturday

Early wakeup at 3:30 for a 4:30 departure from South Point. We arrived at the LAS about 4:45, earlier than our planned 5am. Once we found Clear, the TSA pre was a breeze and security was too.. Our gate was E-3 and the lounge was at E-2. Disappointing spread, but the expresso machine was nice.

We boarded right on time at 6:15 and took off just about 4 minutes late at 6:55. We arrived in Vancouver about 15 minutes early. We used the ArriveCAN app for our CBSA declaration and sailed right through. You scan your passport and it spits out a receipt that you hand to immigration/customs and we went right on through. No more passport stamps, sad face.

We called up an Uber XL, he was right outside in the pickup zone and we were in the Best Western Plus Sands hotel by 10:30am. We dropped off our luggage and headed to breakfast at the Red Umbrella, just up the road, 5 minutes. Delicious eggs benedict that we split.

We picked up the BigBus Hop ON/OFF and toured around Stanley Park. We stopped at the Granville Island for shopping and lunch/dinner. While we were there, we took the false creek ferries day pass ride around the waterfront area. Go figure, tomorrow is a big gay parade day and event. We pick up the RV at noon, so we gotta book earlier to miss the parade down Davie Street.

Lunch/dinner was at Tap and Barrel Bridges, the halibut fish and chips were really good!

Another long day tomorrow!

July 31, Friday

Time to get this trip on the road, a drive into LAS for Air Canada flight 1773 tomorrow morning.

First, IMAX screening of the Odyssey at the AMC by Total Wine. Kinda tired place, dinner was at Flecha, owned by Mark Wahlberg, pretty good stuff!

We scanned our passports and a second time for their smart chips to get our boarding passes from Air Canada. The passport’s chip gets read by the iPhone, but you have to take it out of its case and follow directions, pretty cool.

Friday, July 10

Woke up and packed up, breakfast at the airport instead of the Marriott, non appealing menu at the hotel. The shuttle was awaiting us, so we were there easily by 8:30.

Flight AS932 direct for OGG to LAS leaves at 10:36 am. The flight in from San Jose was a little late, so we took off closer to 11:10am. No issues and we were in Las Vegas by 7:20pm, about 10 minutes late, and to South Point, grabbing a bite to eat at Baja Miguel’s by 9pm, really our 6pm!

A nice 3 weeks, but we are both anxious to get home. Western Canada RV trip in 3 weeks, for 3 weeks!

Thursday, July 9

A nice morning to pack up and clean up the condo. We had lots of food and crap to get rid of. We left about 11:30 am. Hertz check-in was quick and we racked up 1503 miles over the 3 weeks we were visiting. It is a BIG island!

Our flight to Maui is at 1:56, AS 1259. We arrived at the airport, checked in quickly and arrived in Maui right on time. Gate 12 is new at Kona and is air-conditioned.

The Marriott Airport shuttle showed up quickly after Sandy called and we were in room 231 by 3pm. Lots of food trucks on both sides of the hotel and the Costco directly across! The Krispy Kreams was just down the road, per 97.9 Wowie FM station we picked up in Waikoloa, so I made the trek, easy-peasy for dessert. We ate in the hotel, basic so-so food, I had the cobb salad and Sandy had the cheeseburger!

Wednesday, July 8

Breakfast was eggs and steak and fruit, leftovers. We had to run to pick up a dozen eggs and the packing continued. We were shooting to get the family out the door by 11am, they left about 10:30. We recommended they drop their baggage at the curb, while Tommy returned the car to the Hertz counter, less stuff to carry on the shuttle bus. They arrived with plenty of time.

Their Hawaiian flight to SMF was on time and they had a more pleasant flight on the return home. So they told us. They made it home to Rohnert Park by 12:30 am, ouch.

We ran into Kona in the afternoon. Sandy wanted to visit the Quilt Passions store, lot’s of cool stuff and fabrics. We shipped 2 large USPS flat rate boxes home from the new Post Office (by the new Safeway) and picked up a pizza from Kona Crust, NY style pizza, NOT, but it worked.

The afternoon and evening was to pack and relax and munch …

Tuesday, July 7 – Rosie Family last day

Breakast at the Kona Biscuit, slammed and shorthanded, the meal was painfully slow. I never received my meal and when it did, I refused and asked that it be taken off the bill. The portions are so huge, that Sandy split hers with me.

Off to Waipio Valley overlook through Waimea and then the trip to Hilo, quick stop at Akaka Falls, for the Farmer’s Market. We thought Wednesday, with a cruise ship in port would be overflowing, but it was a litlle smaller than usual.

Back via Saddle Road and a last dinner 5:30 pm dinner reservation at the Ocean Restaurant on site. The meals are quite food, the mac-nut ono was fantastic. The sunset heat was brutal, we wrapped up quickly.

The evening was a confusion of packing the Matthew clan up. They are departing about 10am tomorrow for their 12:56 pm flight to SMF.

Monday, July 6 – Beach Day

Our last day with Doug and Lauren, so we headed to A-Beach for a bit of water toys and fun.

Rylan took to the water just great but with the wind blowing, all didn’t last long and headed back to the pool for a lazy afternoon and family steak BBQ before driving them down to the airport for their 9pm ‘ish departure on Delta 486 to LAX, a 3 hour layover and their flight to PHX. They arrived safely in LAX in the early hours of Tuesday.

Sunday, July 5 – Pool Day

Something new at the Ocean’s Beach bar/restaurant. They have Sunday brunch, twice a month. Reservation for 10 today at 11am. Good eats.

Girls went shopping to the King’s Shops and the boys stayed with the girls at the pool.

Dinner at the Manta, Mauna Kea resort at 5:45pm! The manta rays did not disappoint after dinner, the girls were excited to see them do their loops in the shallow water.

Tomorrow night, Doug and Lauren head home.

Saturday, July 4 – HAPPY 250th America!

Another leisure day, went to the Queen’s Marketplace for keiki activities. Walked around in the blistering heat, Sandy was a litle deydrated.

Lunch at Lava-Lava beach club It’s hard to not choose this place for lunch/cocktails, the breeze is always super and the menus have improved from 2 years ago. The 2 water babies spent from about 3-6pm in the pool having a great time with the parents, uncles/aunties and granparents, we all got a turn in the water. Aidyn has really lost her fear of the water, she is a little Evil Knievel!

Dinner was mom’s spaghetti for all of us. We passed on the trip to Kona to see the fireworks, we were all a litle wiped out.

Friday, July 3 – FISH ON

An early rising for Doug, Tommy and Scott. On the Huntress (again) at 5:30 and back to the harbor about 3:30-4pm. Jackpot score: 60-70 pound yellowfin tuna with Tommy, 700-800 catch and release blue marlin with Doug and a 150 pound marlin with Tommy later in the day. I took a by, no sense in getting my back in another ‘situation’.

The girls had a spa day at the Hilton and I got to program, by hand, the KX3 for a POTA US-4565 activation. All I need to do is find the time. Without the proper tools and cables, it is tough for me to use the memory keyer. As Tracy always said, use a checklist!

Thursday, July 2

Leisure breakfast, Scott and Maryann, and Rosie and Tommy to Volcano and a tour of the island. The rest of us – at the pool and lunch and maybe naps!

Dinner was burgers at the Matthews 14E residence!

Wednesday, July 1

Mayhem – today we picked up the Matthews families at the airport. They arrived at 10am and we met them to help offload the luggage, child seats and just unburden them as much as possible. They picked up a Dodge Durango at Hertz, seats 7 or 8, perfect for them!

The day was spent waiting for 14E to be ready (right at 4pm), watching the FIFA USA game and swimming in the pool! A nice relaxing time for all, but the girls didn’t have their nap, a little concerning for dinner time.

To ease the day, we had a reservation for 10 at the Roost Steakhouse in the Queen’s Marketplace. Wednesday is 2 for 1 18 ounce prime rib, so … we had 8 orders! For the $65 price, not too bad. Not Lawry’s, but it panned out just fine.

Early to bed for us and the girls, a good sleep for all!

Tuesday, June 30

A nice leisurely morning, with a quick breakfast and lunch at the Four Season’s. It’s a beautiful view and lunch is pretty good.

Dinner was at the Napua (Restaurant at Mauna Lani Beach Club), outside to the left of the Mauna Lani Resort. It is the ONLY restaurant on the island that is covered by the REZZY American Express Platinum card. The Ono was very good, we all split two meals, the drinks were pretty good and the $100/quarter credit is pretty cool. Interesting that this is the only restaurant on the island that qualifies.

Makaiwa Bay snorkeling is open for the public after 5pm, before that the gate is closed to residents of the Mauna Lani Beach Club the only.

Monday, June 29

Tried the Kona Biscuit for breakfast, located in the Queen’s MarketPlace. Good eats, lots of variety and they turn the restaurant into a steak dinner place on Thursday-Sunday evenings.

Drove to the Mauna Lani to check the festivities for the 37th annual Turtle Independence day launch on the 4th. The turtles aren’t quite ready, so there will be no release, but plenty of keiki conservation activities. We’ll see how it goes!

We headed down to the Hula Lamp shop to pick up one more lamp for bedroom #1, this one,Wailani, does the hula!

Lunch at the Ocean Beach Club on the premises, the mahi tacos were pretty good!

Doug and Lauren arrive this evening on Delta flight 311. It’s a little tough picking up folks in the dark, but we managed. We took them to the Marlin Bar about 8:15 and we pretty much closed down the place by 9:00 pm

Sunday, June 28

A slow day today, we went to Macy’s, Safeway and Costco for a few more incidentals. Nice and easy!

Salad and Costco chicken leftovers for dinner.

Saturday, June 27

Field Day and Kilauea #50 eruption. Not sure what to do, I elected to play radio and call CQ FD. I was at Giada’s Beach south of the Hilton from about 10-12 noon. Nada, I’m pointed the wrong direction and running QRP. I picked the wrong time of day for west coast contacts, later in the day would have been better, but still on the west side is tough to the mainland. Back at the condo, I played a bit more and managed to connect with an LAX station for ONE whole FD contact.

Should have taken the trip down to Volcano, would have been more fruitful.

Spaghetti and salad for dinner, yummy!

Friday, June 26

7:30 departure for the airport, arrived at 8:00 am, dropped Tony and Tess off. Their checkin was simple and painless.

Breakfast down Alii Drive at the Lava-Lava Beach Club, yummy MacNut pancakes and Eggs Benedict.

A stop at the new Safeway, very nice. The old one, above the Walmart is still there, but for sale, I guess.

Back at the condo to relax and we did a quick stroll through the Friday 2-4pm Farmer’s Market in the Queen’s Marketplace. No real produce, but lots of trinkets.

Dinner was chicken tacos, a nice way to unwind.

Thursday, June 25

Our day for the volcano! It is predicted that Kilauea would fountain between the 25 and the 27th. Off we went down the coast. First stop was Kona Joe’s, then Miranda Farms down in Ocean View/Naalehu and then the Volcano House for lunch. A little cloudy in places.

The view from the Volcano House was pretty good, but we drove out to the Jagger Museum, now demolished for another vantage point. The Park Service, interestingly enough, kept the bathrooms! No spouting or spitting, just a lot of steam and different yellow and orange swatches on the ground due to the sulfur build-up.

From there, we drove out to the East Road and the Devastation Trail overlook. The East Road was the one we travelled with Nana long ago, it is now closed because of the collapse of the caldera. From there, it was a short 0.85 mile walk to the overlook. From this location, you can see both vents, from the Jagger Museum, you see the south vent and the north vent is hidden.

We kept driving Highwy 11 down to Hilo, up over Saddle Road again and arrived at the Queen’s Market Tommy Bahama’s for dinner. A long day and Tony and Tess are packing for their 10am Southwest flight to Sacramento.

Wednesday, June 24

Waikoloa snorkel lunch cruise from A-Bay! We woke up to a pretty good wind from the northeast. About 8:20 or so, we got a call that the boat was having problems and the departure time was pushed to 11am with a return of 2pm. Well, that allowed us to rethink the snorkle trip, none of us wanted super choppy water to contend with. So, we worked it out to our favor – the trip was cancelled for us and a refund was issued.

With that, we decided to head over to Hilo and look around. Our first stop was the Hilo’s Farmer’s Market (Wednesday and Saturday), it’s increased in size. Stop 2 was for lunch at the Hilo Bay Cafe for lunch, quite good! Stop 3 was the Kilauea Kreations II quilting store next to the S. Tokunaga Store, a fantastic fishing tackle store and finally, a trip to the Big Island Candies.

Back over Saddle Road, rainy and foggy until the crest. We arrived by 4pm, all is good!

Tuesday, June 23

Movie day, we went to see Disclosure Day at the Queen’s Market luxury movie theater, kinda like Coral Cliifs at home.

I think I fell asleep for parts of it, but over all, it was pretty good. We shopped at the Kings and Queens Market place, things are a little slow, crowd-wise. After the movie, we hit the market for a few more ingredients for our Costco steak dinner, yummy!

Monday, June 22

An early bird for our charter on the Huntress at 6:45. Onboard were Capt Jack and deckhand Chris for a nice half/day fishing cruise. The slip is easy to find, pass the gas dock and at the 2nd speed bump.

The seat rotation was determined with Tess, Tony, Sandy and I. Well, Tess hooked into a 175 pound marlin about 2 hours in the trip. It was quite the exercise for those 45 minutes of fighting time. The rest of us got skunked out, we were hoping for one more, oh well. We were back on shore at 1pm.

We headed back to the condo to clean up and and had a delicious spagehtti dinner.

Sunday, June 21

Again, a slow startup. We had Huevos Rancheros, with Tony and Tess. Excellent!

We headed down to Don’s MaiTai bar, only to find that the MaiTai flights are no longer. We had pupus and We had pupus and drove back up to Costco for a few more items to the condo – dinner was at the Manta in the Mauna Lani complex.

The Manta did not disappoint! After dinner was a quick stroll to the viewing platform for the Manta Rays. Kinda a little to late for the party divers se more. <ondat

Saturday, June 20

First morning, beautiful weather, and comfortable beds!

Nice and leisure breakfast that Sandy whipped up. We took a trip up the coast to Kamuela for the Farmer’s Market, it has grown a little and the produce is still amazing. Strawberry papaya, 3 for $5 and the white pineapple at 7$/pound.

Tex’ Malasadas didn’t disappoint and the apple, pineapple and Bavarian cream fillings were delicious. We probably should have held out until AFTER lunch, oh well …

Our appointment was at 12:30 for the Hawaiian Vanilla Company lunch and tour. Again the farm didn’t disappoint and the chicken burger meal was amazing. These vanilla folks really like their product and their efforts show.

We returned via the middle belt road, stopped at Ace Hardware, Foodland and KTA in Kamuela for a few more items. Monday, we have a fishing trip and we need to bring our own food and drink, we are all set now.

Dinner was burgers and corn, delicious. But, we first hit the pool bar for a Mai-Tai and other adult beverages. Things are getting a little more expensive, non happy hour price, $18, still yummy though.

Again, early to bed, I think we are getting our bodies adjusted.

Friday June 19

Woke up at 3:30 am for our flights to Maui and Kona. There is no direct flight from LAS to KOA so we are forced to make these connections in either Kona or Honolulu.

Flight AS9111 and 1140 were both on time. Hawaiian Airlines gives off the vibe that they are bought out and fading away. It was great to be on time. Luggage arrived as well, the Hertz car was another Buick and we were at the condo, Waikoloa Haliikai 14G by 4:30 or so.

Tony and Tess arrrived on time, around noon or so and made their way to the condo via Uber. I pre-checked with the front desk and the Waikoloa Coast management outfit, they had the pool keys and car pass ready.

A quick run to the Island Market and dinner was some delicious wines, champagnes and charcuterie, delicious. Groth Sauvignon Blanc, Rose of Grenache and then some bubbly Schramsberg Blanc de Blance 2015.

We were early to bed!

Thursday, June 18

Quick trip in the afternoon to South Point for our early trip.

Tuesday, May 5

Monday, May 4

Flew down from STS to SDG and to the La Jolla Hilton for tomorrow’s conference.

Flights on time, nice drive with a Buick Encore. The first Ducks/Knights hockey playoff game!

Dinner at Mama’s Pizza down the road, very light crust, a must-do again.

Doug and Lauren fly out to Phoenix tonight and us tomorrow to LAS.

Sunday, May 3

Girls Mother’s Day celebration with a Devil Wears Prada #2 movie matinee. The boys got to watch the girls and have our fun too.

Emee and Taylor and Yazmin flew out in the late afternoon back to Vegas.

Dinner was Thai from TinyThai, marginal.

Saturday, May 2

A busy birthday celebration that went great, lots of friends and family and fun. Sandwich turkey wraps for the adults.

Dinner out at Mi Pueblo, 11 of us, all good and entertaining, Rylan does not like loud celebrations.

The girls went to Emee and Taylor’s overnight. They are staying at the DoubleTree, marginal, they said.

Friday, May 1

Lots of prep and store stops, but Rosie is ready. We picked up Rylan and made our bubble juice formula for tomorrow’s party. Supposedly, about 30 kids invited, oh my!

The girls were tired so they stayed at home instead of overnight at the ‘hotel’.

Thursday, April 30

Breakfast at Primrose Cafe, always a wait, but good enough fare. We took the shuttle to the Aria/Crystal shops stop, right next door.

We took Rylan to school dropoff and kept Aidyn at home for some time with us.

The Sistine Chapel display was hi-res photos of the frescoes on the ceiling. All panels were organized with explanations and audio snippets. It was well done.

We had lunch at the Aria food court and headed to LAS. We did not check to see if our 4 pm to Santa Rosa was on time, we discovered that at the airport! Oh well, an hour or so late and we were in Santa Rosa with a 7 seat Buick Enclave SUV, very nice! We are staying this time at the Hilton Costa hotel.

Wednesday, April 29

We drove down to Las Vegas and stayed at the Park MGM, we stayed at the ‘Marriott Reserve’ hotel on the top 4 floors, we in room 3033. A nice room but not over the top either, kinda like the lowe floors, but darker. We have tickets tomorrow to see the Sistine Chapel display. We had dinner at Eataly and it was marginal at best. We don’t need to go back there, plenty of other options. It is just too presumptuous.

Saturday, March 21

An uneventable flight back to LAS. TSA issues were non-existent. I physically broke my iPad Mini, so we spent the afternoon chasing down a replacement for $400, ouch. I slammed the door on my backpack yeserday, which had the iPad in it! We spent the night at South Point.

Friday, March 20

Early run for cinnamon rolls, packing and a long trip back to NorCal, but we survived. The girls travelled great and we did bring a lot of stuff!

Dinner at Mi Ranchito in Cotati, was just ok, we prefer Mi Pueblo.

Thursday, March 19

Farm Day – we headed to the Avila Valley Farm, all of an hour to explore.

Lunch at home and then Pismo Beach day in the afternoon. Fun to watch the 2 girls and the waves. We kept the girls awake, quick showers and poor Aidlyn finally collapsed asleep on a living room comfy chair.

Dinner was left-overs, nice and calm.

Wednesday, March 18

We headed to Cambria for lunch on Moonstone Drive. We ate at Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill, good fish and chips for Dave and a salad and bowl of clam chowder for Sandy. Good eats.

We hit the beach for exploring, lots of cool driftwood to explore around. In the car, the girls fell asleep and we continued up the coast to the Hearst Castle turnoff and picked up a bottle of sparkling rose. Nice and relaxing views on the beach!

Sandy made a reservation at Vista Steak and Seafood for dinner. Over priced, marginal meals but with a view, disappointing.

Tuesday, March 17

We headed to the Avila Beach Aquarium, it took at most an hour, pretty small but lots of hands-on that the girls really didn’t want to do, yuck!

Lunch was at the MerSeas on the pier at Avila Beach. OK fish tacos and shrimp basket. The ‘advertised’ wharf windows to the sea, were 4 portholes, lame. We explored a few Shell Beach tide pools on the way back.

With both girls asleep, we headed to Walmart, to do the marshmellow Easter egg dyeing project, maybe tomorrow After that, Rylan shared her disappearing cotton cand trick! She was very proud and it was very cool!

Dinner was at Giuseppe’s for dinner, probably the best meal on the trip. Lasagna for me and Carbonara for Sandy.

Monday, March 16

Quick drive over to the Old West Cinnamon Rolls to accompany our cereal! Yummy.

We packed up the car, girls and headed out to the north entrance to the Pismo beach. $5 gets you all day on the beach. The girls though it a little weird, but got used to it quickly, gotta dodge the cars going up and down. Almost got stuck, but 4×4 mode got us out, worth the investment.

Cool Cat on the Pier near the pier for lunch, marginal fish tacos. Dinner was back to the Market for ribs.

Sunday, March 15

We left Rosie’s around 9am and arrived around 3pm, we stopped by the Dinosaur Park to kill some time before our 4pm checkin. We were staying at the Seven Sisters managed property (the Sea Gem) at 284 Harloe Ave, Pismo Beach, CA 93449. Three stories, garage below, 2 bedrooms on 2nd floor and kitchen/living space on the top floor and then a rooftop deck! The girls had bunk-beds and Rylan took the top one!

Ran over to California Fresh Market for supplies. Dinner was pizza and build-your-own salad bar.

Saturday, March 14

Flew into Santa Rosa on Alaska Air (Skywest), spent the night at the Fairfield, to pick up Rylan and Aidyn tomorrow for our week down in Pismo Beach. We picked up a Buick Envision, all-wheel drive to play on the beach! It was an upgrade from our original reservation.

March 2, Monday

AA4811 flight at 9:48. We left the Marriott about 6:40, arrived at the airport (after the people mover) and grabbed a quick breakfast. Our flight was delayed until about 10:10 departure and we were at STG airport right around noon. All good, a fast trip!

March 1, Sunday

We are catching up with Patie and Jaime at 9 o’clock for brunch and then the ball game, Dodgers vs Angels!

Breakfast was at Hope’s Brunch House in Phoenix. It was pretty good, lots of variety. We headed to the ballfield and arrived around 11:30 am, the filed opened at 12:05, 1 hour before the game start.

We asked Doug and Lauren to meet us at the main entrance behind home plate. They entered through the center field entrance. Why they could’nt make their way to where we asked is a mystery. I had to walk around the entire field to pass the tickets through the fence. NEXT TIME, everyone is responsible for their OWN TICKETS. Dodgers 4-3 over the Angels. We were seated in the 106 section, along first base (and the visiting team, I guess). It was in the shade and HIGHLY recommended for future location.

The 6 of us were headed to Peoria, a restaurant row that Doug and Lauren recommended. With it being Patie’s actual birthday, she picked PF Chang, it was pretty good.

We dropped off the Cervantes’ at their timeshare condo at the Legacy Golf Course and called it a night.

February 28, Saturday

Breakfast at the Daily Dose, again.

Phoenix hosts a Renaissance Medieval Faire, we are headed there today. Arrived around 1pm, traffic was nuts. We had Theo, Lauren’s nephew too. He is a cutie and did quite well. We bailed about 4:30 pm and headed back to the hotel area.

We were headed to PF Chang, but deviated to Talking Stick, up the 101. A little entertainment and dinner. We had hoped for some Chinese, but ended up at a Mexican taco place. It was pretty bad.

We made it back to the hotel and found a place for tomorrow.

The Dodgers play the Angels tomorrow 1:05 PM.

February 27, Friday

Everyone doing their own thing this morning. We headed to the Daily Dose, a breakfast place on Scottsdale Blvd. It is nice to be close to old downtown, but it is a little crowded, especially with the amazing weather. Amazing breakfast, huevos rancheros and banana bread french toast! A do-over for sure.

Saw Doug’s newcBlackwing Cadillac, had lunch at the Tamale Store and headed to Carry On, the speakeasy in downtown Phoenix. A cute place, classy cocktails. It is themed as a airliner travelling internationally, we travelled from New York to Tokyo.

Dinner was at Bourbon and Bones, a steak and bourbon place on Scottsdale Blvd, right next to the Marriott. Yummy steaks, huge portions, plates to share. Amazing wines and, obviously bourbon selections.

February 26, Thursday

Game day at Camelback. Dodgers vs Chicago White Sox.

Blustering 90°> game day. We carpooled with Jamie and Patie after breakfast at the Morning Squeeze up on Scottsdale Rd. Mediocre heat, blah food, plus a wait because the cooking staff was understaffed. That, should have been a clue.

Game was great, hot in-the-sun seats. Doug and Lauren passed on this game but will join us on Sunday. 7-6 victory, go Dodgers!

On the return, through rush hour traffic, we had dinner at Loco Patron mediocre food at best. We had to ASK for chips. Pass on this one!

February 25, Wednesday

Flew into PHX from SGU, flight leaving at 12:15 on AA4812. Navigation problem on the plane inbound from PHX, delayed until 4pm. Had lunch at Silver Reef brewery, didn’t disappoint.

Arrived safely but late and headed directly to Pasta Brioni in Scottsdale and met up with Doug and Lauren. Good food and wine.

Checked into the Marriott Scottsdale Downtown. Nice suite, tired hotel.

Saturday, December 20

Up at 7am, buffet breakfast at 8 and off to the airport by 9am. We were done with baggage checkin, security, and passport control by 9:45. A very efficient system, or we were extra early or both.

We are flying out of Terminal 2, Gate D10 for a 12:25 departure. We should arrive about 2:15 pm today!

We were both pretty much exhausted and the food on the plane was not the most appealing, oh well. A long 10 hour flight and we arrived at 11:24 pm AMS time or 2:24 MST. Passport control was super quick with the Global Access cards and Customs was a breeze as well.

We were home by 7:00 or so and getting ready for bed by 8pm. I calculate that to be a 22 hour awake day.

Takeaways:

• Markets on the weekends are extremely crowded
• Make sure you dress in layers
• SilverSeas package really not required
• The Veranda Suite AA room is well worth the upgrade, even if you don’t use the balcony because of the cold.
• If you need snacks during the day, bring them. The galleys are closed except for meal times.
• Walking can be extensive, think about being in the L (leisure) group.
• The Marriott Sheraton AMS Airport hotel is literally in the airport. A great and convenient way to fly out of, no shuttle required. You walk 5 minutes to the terminal.

Friday, December 19

8 am suitcases out for a 9 am tax departure to the Sheraton Airport hotel. One last breakfast, we passed out our gratuities to Lawrence, our stateroom attendant, Vukacin and Eric, our restaurant stewards, and Rofi and Alexandra, our lounge attendants. They all worked tirelessly to keep us clean, fed and watered, an amazing staff!

The room at the Sheraton was ready, amazingly and we walked over to Shiphol airport to get our bearing for tomorrow’s KLM635 departure, should be easy. This is a great hotel to depart from, literally you walk to the airport entrance. We walked to the airport gate to get a lay of the land.

The driver of the taxi service, Mounir, (mounir1095@gmail.com) mentioned a tour to a cheese farm and fishing village that he ran. He convinced us to spend our last day out, instead of in the hotel. We booked a nice private trip for 1:30 and we were on our way to Simonehouve for the cheese and Volendam for the peppernuts cookies, poffertjes (mini pancakes) and fishing village. Very quiet, clean and picturesque town, easily worth a day trip to explore the shops, bakeries and restaurants. It reminded me of an upscale Solvang.

A nice sunset, finally, to boot, tomorrow a long day. It will be good to be home.

Dinner in the hotel, basic faire, nothing really appealing.

Thursday, December 18

A down day for me, feeling a cold/cough coming on. I had no energy for the last walkabout. Dordrecht, Netherlands will wait for another trip.

Mark found me some dry cough tablets and some Ricola cough drops. One more day to go.

With the excursions in the afternoon, why cut off breakfast at 9:30 is a mystery. So much for sleeping in, folks said. A brunch would be much better and accommodating. Oh well.

We better find hot chocolate and the glühwein tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 17

We arrive in Cologne right after breakfast. The highlight today is the Cologne Cathedral.

Our tour left about 9:30 am, and the boat is parked across the river. It was a 0.8 mile trek to the Cathedral (1.6 mile total) before the city tour started.

The tour of the Cologne Cathedral and the 3 Christmas Markets was pretty cool, if we hadn’t walked from across the river, the enjoyment would have been even higher. My highlight was the relics of the 3 Magi in the rear of the church. There was a ‘monument’ from the triple sarcophagus that could be touched, way cool.

After the tour, we had lunch at Früh, a local brewery/restaurant. Delicious hunter schnitzel, best I’ve had in a while!

We retraced our steps and did all 3 Christmas Markets one last time. No more for the remainder of the voyage.

Dinner, at 7pm, was ok. I think we are getting ‘food-id’ out, I am for sure.

Tomorrow, we cruise and arrive at Dordrecht, in the Netherlands. We are starting to wind down.

Tuesday, December 16

A slow morning, halleluia. Breakfast, then cruise viewing. But, the weather is cold and foggy on our journey to the port of Koblenz, Germany.

The mid Rhine river section reveals castles on both sides of the river as we sailed down river to Koblenz. Beautiful scenery!

Lunch onboard and our walking tour began about 2:15. There will be no more bus rides for our tours as we wrap up the trip. There are 7 Christmas markets and we discovered 3. Sandy is about shopped out. We visited the Church of Our Lady where we found a painting of St. Nicolas, the Sinterklaas chase we were after for the girls.

The weather today was better, but it does get cold as soon as the sun goes down. Back on board by about 4:30, with dinner at 7. We are still not adjusted to later dinner meals.

Monday, December 15

We have 3 stops today. We arrive in Mannheim, tour the Christmas markets, the boat moves to Mainz, and we re-board to our port of Rüdesheim.

Off we went at our 9:15 bus ride to the 15 minute center of town trip. Again, lots of Viking folks and we had the guide with us until 10:45 or so. The markets don’t open until 11am, so I can’t figure out why they drag us out before the markets open. She took us to the high end shops as a delay. This is worth a comment on the evaluation. It has been true throughout the Christmas markets we’ve visited. Sandy found a shoulder purse in one of the stores on the boulevard. Beware pickpockets!

Back to the bus for an hour’s drive to Mainz. The boat had floated ahead and picked us up, I guess to speed up the float down to Rüdesheim.

We arrived in the city right on time. The Christmas marketplace is a walkable pier to town stroll, much more refreshing. Dinner was at 7pm, so we had to visit the town before. It was cool and dark, but this market was the best so far, IMHO.

Dinner was with a new group, 2 sisters and another couple from South Carolina. Toni and Mark were off to their monastery wine tasting and dinner extravaganza! Great dinner conversations.

A nice slow morning tomorrow, we float down the middle Rhine with castle views beginning at 9:10.

Sunday, December 14

Strasbourgh, the Christmas capital of France.

Four Viking boats are tied up here in the port on the river. A leisure breakfast today, woke up about 6am, maybe we are adapting. Instead of the menu, we both ordered from the egg station.

We met our 9:20 departure bus for trip to the inner city. The city was interesting and compact, conquered by the French and German people many times over history.

The central focus of the city is the Cathedral of Notre Dame, beautiful architecture. The weather is cold and foggy again, not prime for photos.

The Christmas Markets are blending together, the more crowded areas are around the food vendors. We were back on board around 1pm for lunch.

We passed on the afternoon 2:50 excursion to Gegenbach. Too much walking and cold and lots of people = our 1 excursion per day limit.

Dinner was German-themed, sausages and schnitzel and snapps. So-so, I missed the real-deal gravy of Thomas’ Euro RV trips.

We seemed to be sailing a lot over the evening, kinda odd.

Saturday, December 13

We tossed and turned all night but managed to sleep through until 8am. Breakfast was done at 9:30, but we snuck in. Pancakes, 3 tiny, were delicious from the menu. I went back to the breakfast buffet for the normal stuff. Tip, forget the fixed menu, stand in line for the omelette station. Sandy’s egg benedict was just that, one egg.

Our tour for today at 2:15 was the Christmas Market in Freiburg. The morning time was for a quick walk into Breisach and see the sites. The Christmas Market was not found, the flower mart and farmer’s market were disappointing. The weather did not cooperate either, cold and foggy.

Our bus trip into Freiburg for the Yuletide Market and organ concert was super packed. A Saturday Christmas Market and we were in a mosh pit, most uncomfortable. We arrived at the bus barn about 3:30, missed the concert because of the walking to the market. There are several wings through out the downtown area and we couldn’t shop comfortably. There was a scuffle, which didn’t sit well, someone yelled ‘pickpocket’

It was cold and foggy and out gathering time of 5:15 couldn’t come fast enough. A nice bus ride back in the dark and dinner at 7:30. They eat late, because of the excursions. There is one seating for all 200 or so of us. A little vodka shot was awaiting our return on the gangplank.

Dinner was ok, I had the ‘potroast’ prime rib and Sandy had the chicken. The Gnarly Head cabernet, on our Silver spirit package was quite good. Mark and Toni had boarded earlier from their tour, so we had a nice gathering for dinner.

Tomorrow, 2 4 hour tours, we’ll see how that goes! Sleepy time about 11pm and a wake up alarm about 7am, ouch.

Friday, December 12

Not a good night sleep. Woke up early and hit the road. Taxi to the airport at 6:30.

Flight KLM1943 was pretty much on time, we were shuttled to the City Hopper area on the tarmac to board our flight to Basel.

Arrived at the Basel airport, met with Viking staff and escorted to our bus for the trip to the Viking Eistle. There are 3 Viking ships in Basel loading today. The Eistle, the Vili and the ? Lunch on board waiting for us and the room, 316 was ready. As ae had lunch, Mark and Toni came down the gangway and joined us.

We had an included Basel city tour scheduled, but we blew it off and spent the afternoon unpacking and relaxing through dinner. The Angus rib eye steak was so-so.

Thursday, December 11

A nice leisurely breakfast in the M Lounge, a good spread. Douwe Egbert Nespresso machine in room 721 is a life saver.

Christmas Market in the Museumplein for the afternoon. It was a short walk, and the Market was so-so. Lots of food and trinket vendors, the authentic pork frankfurter was small for the price, even though it looked huge on the grill.

We had the Festival of Lights at 5pm, a 90 minute tour, so we time for a quick rest and bite at the hotel. We used the Tram to get to the boat launch, the Stan Hugyens awaited. The tour included an open bar and the Tempranillo was pretty good. Tram in reverse back to the hotel.

An early morning 9am flight tomorrow from Amsterdam to Basel, 1:20 or so, then transfer to the Viking Eistla. Our stateroom is 316.

Wednesday, December 10

Arrived right on time. Customs took about 15 minutes, no issues and luggage was waiting after. We stepped out, took a taxi (50€) to the Marriott Central and room was ready. We were unpacking by 12:30 or so.

Mark and Toni were in the lobby and we caught up for a bit and a lunch bite at a local pub around the corner. Public transportation is huge and very efficient.

We are taking a Pure Boats boat tour of the Festival of Lights tomorrow. Mark and Toni did it yesterday, it includes a wine and cheese cruise. We hopped on the tram and wandered over to the pickup location for tomorrow’s voyage.

Back to the hotel for happy hour and then the M Lounge for munchies. By 5pm I was fading, but got a recharge and we both made it off to bed by 8pm.

Tuesday, December 9

Off we go! We left about 12 noon for our 4pm KLM636 flight to Amsterdam. We should arrive around 11am tomorrow, Wednesday.

Arrived at LAS about 1:45, we are clear on the east side of Terminal 3, between pillar 29-28 in spot 31. Sky Priority of KLM636 was quick and painless, 17.6 and 17.4 kg per suitcase. Clear and TSA Pre were quick as well. We are in The Club at LAS lounge awaiting boarding at gate E3, 3:30 pm for a 4:05 flight. Took off about 4:40, but captain mentioned a tail wind.

Tuesday, November 25

Packed up and got a 9am or so start. Fog in the morning, but not nearly as dense as yesterday. Cool photos from the room. We had breakfast at the Blue Coffee Pot restaurant in Kayenta, good eats.

Drove through to Page, shopped at the Safeway for Thanksgiving and adult drink beverage supplies. Next stop was Kanab for a quick Mikey-Dees and a potty stop at Bee’s in Colorado City.

The drive was much more picturesque on the way back, nice to see what you are driving through!

About 650 miles or so, round trip.

Monday, November 24 – Happy Birthday!

Solid fog early in the morning. Our room package included a breakfast buffet, marginal at best. The fog wasn’t lifting. I though for sure, by 10am.

We headed over to the blue pickup point and Lorraine Bagay was ready to go. Off we went and we couldn’t see a thing, everything we knew was there, wasn’t. She recommended to the park superintendent that they close it, until the fog lifted.

By 10:30, Lorraine suggested we turn around and reschedule for later in the day, since we were staying one more night. I had thought of asking, but she volunteered first. We picked 2:00 pm. With a little time to kill, we drove back to Forest Gump to see the opportunities, not much better, so we headed back. The fog was still pretty stubborn in the park, but on highway 163, there were some cool photo ops.

Lunch back at Goulding’s, right before a tour bus arrived and then it was 2pm time. The fog was definitely burning off.

We had booked the extra loop, the 2.5 hour trip, and it was amazing. The colors and shadows were growing in places, but the views were amazing and Lorraine was a fount of knowledge. We were done by 4:30 or so. Pizza at the Goulding’s gas station was the birthday celebration, not so good but the fare is limited there in Monument Valley. A nice slow evening watching Apple TV.

Sunday, November 23

Wandered around and got ready to take off. Where is my wallet? Long story, short, at Fiesta Mexicana! After panicking around for a while, I drove over around 7:30 am to the restaurant, hoping someone would be there, but it was locked up. Cold and drizzly weather forecast too, groan.

I finally remembered that the Apple wallet tag was in my wallet, turned on Find My, Devices and there it was, beaconing at me from the restaurant.

Breakfast was at the Rustic Thistle, the chicken fried steak (we split it) was the best I’ve ever had, super light and yummy, highly recommended.

10:30 back to the restaurant (it opened at 11am) and a manager was just arriving. I asked about my wallet and he promptly brought it out. All was intact and we gave him/the worker who turned it it/ a small reward. Whew!

Drove highway 98 to highway 160 to 163. I had hoped to do Moki Dugway, Mexican Hat and then the Forest Gump Point, but the weather did not cooperate. We drove to the Hat Rock Inn on the San Juan river, stopped at Mexican Hat for photo ops and finally Forest Gump Point. Got the photo op, but the clouds were low and obscured part of the Monument Valley. Oh well.

Continued on to the View Hotel for our 2 night reservations. I remember a ‘obscured’ view room, but room 111 was great. It would have been better to be on the 3rd floor, but the hotel has no elevators. Nice clean room and great views.

After dumping off our stuff in the room, I headed over to scope out the tour situation for tomorrow. We can drive our own vehicle in or you can do a tour (much easier with a guide). I stumbled on ‘Sacred Monument‘ outfitters and booked us on the 10am tour. We chose a Suburban rather than the outside truck bench seating. Lorraine, our guide was there, we introduced ourselves and she mentioned that the food, in general, was better at Goulding’s Lodge across the valley (just about 5 miles to the west). The restaurant at The View is pretty limited, but Goulding’s wasn’t much better. There is NO alcohol on the reservation, I had a non-alcoholic Guinness, interesting.

During dinner, the sun started to break through and illuminate the buttes. Oh well, was able to get one photo op on the return back to the View.

Saturday, November 22

We decided to leave in the afternoon and overnight in Page, Az. The drive from home to Monument Valley/Mexican Hat/Moki Dugway would be a long Sunday, so we broke it up. In one long day trip, it wouldn’t give me much time to explore.

Room was at the Courtyard by Marriott, Lake Powell. It was a little tired, clean, but not up to the photos on the website. We were on the 4th floor and arrived about 4:30 pm. Checked in a headed out to dinner at the Fiesta Mexicana on the boulevard. It looked familiar, it is the same chain restaurant up in Moab, Utah. Good food and killer margaritas.

Monday, August 25

One last malasada at Passion Fruit bakery, they really are delicious and worth the wait. We were there right when they opened at 7am, and there were clients ahead of us already. I had the cinammon with vanilla filling and Sandy had the cinammon sugar with ube filling. Yummy.

We checked out of the complex right about 9am.

Flights HA214 from LIH to HNL at 11:39 left a little early and HA18 from HNL to LAS departed at 3:05pm from the C7 gate. The meatloaf or eggplant dinner meal choices were really bleak. The Airbus 320 layout is very nice and comfortable, the food on HA really sucks. Interesting, that the layouts on the Alaskan first class suck, but their food is actually better. It’s nice to have StarLink on board.

Arrived early at 11:15pm. By the time we had baggage, got in the car, drove to South Point and hit the pillow was about 1:15 am.

A great family trip!

Sunday, August 24

Got to play in the HQP in the morning from about 10-1130 am. Made a total of 52 QRP contacts. Left after lunch to head down to Koloa and Poipu for some last minute shopping.

One last Mai-Tai at Brenneke’s and dinner at the Beach House. It didn’t disappoint with the macnut swordfish. A nice touch was a lei for each of us for our 45th anniversary!

Saturday, August 23

Played radio on 15 meters for the Hawaii QSO party. Made 14 contacts in the morning and 14 contacts in the late afternoon (the next day). The QSO party runs from yesterday at 6pm to Sunday at 6pm. Signals to the west coast, using the EFHW 15 meter lead snagged a few 10 meter contacts also. I used the SOTAbeams Tac-Mini and the X-Tenna 49, 56 and 64:1 transformer from KC8YBC. On 15, the 64:1 was slightly better, but not really. Good performance from the KX3 and the 3Ah Bioenno LiFePo battery.

There was a craft faire at the Veteran’s building in Lihue until 2pm and a stitchery display at the Kukui Grove Marketplace until 5pm. We did them both, with lunch in between at the Mariachi’s in Nawiliwili., a mistake with the fajitas, pretty greasy and tough. Bummed.

Dinner was flatbread pizzas (hawaiian and pepperoni) from the Island Country Market in the Coconut Marketplace. Nice and mellow.

Friday, August 22

Early rise for the Matthews family last sunrise. Rylan said to me that she would miss Nana and Papa and just melted my heart, again.

We packed up the family and made it out the door by 8:00 am or so and shortly after that to the airport. We parked and then unloaded the gear as a group. Agriculture, baggage check-in and then TSA-Pre. They were through by about 8:30 or so for their 10:50 am HA66 flight direct to Sacramento. The flight left a few minutes early!

Breakfast at Kauai Diner in Lihue, good stuff.

Stopped at the Singer Sewing Center for fabrics and the Kapaia Stitchery for cool knitting projects. Sandy had some materials and supplies shipped via USPS.

Flight HA66 landed at 3:30 our time, 6:30 PDT. Rosie and family made it home safely.

Dinner was a salad and leftover calzone and pizza from Bobby-Vs. This was actually one of our better meals.

Thursday, August 21

Gaylord’s and the KIlohana plantation farm tour at 10:00 am. It was entertaining and we topped it off with a Dole Whip ice cream soft-serv!

Back to the condo, with the girls asleep. Tommy grilled some burgers and hot dogs for lunch while Sandy and Rosie did some last minute shopping up in Kapaa.

Pool time afterwards for one last time, clean ups and then time for one last dinner at the Hukilau Lanai in the Kauai Coast Resort. This was the same place that we took the girls for Rosie’s high school graduation! The meals were pretty good, interesting we all had some type of steak, rather than fish!

After dinner packing and time for bed.

Wednesday, August 20

Breakfast with guava french toast and then packing up for a trip to Hanalei Bay for swimming and relaxing. Doug and Lauren checked out of their room, storing stuff in ours. Arrived before noon, already packed, but we found for 2 vehicles. The water was calm and beautiful, I think Rylan is a mermaid.

No lunch truck, (Paco’s Tacos, supposedly) but we managed to return to the condo by 3:00ish, clean up and head out to the Oasis for dinner at our 5:15 reservation. The swordfish was just as good the 2nd time, it did miss the cream sauce and mac nuts though.

Doug an Lauren’s flight is at 9:15 back to Phoenix, they left about 7:25 or so and arrived to return the little car and make their checkin. They left a few minutes early on AA648 and arrived in PHX right at 6:00 am.

Tuesday, August 19

Boys day fishing out of Nawiliwili hardbor on the Ku’Ula Kai from Apex Charters. Tommy and I agree that the seas, 6-8′, made walking around tough.

We were almost skunked on the trip, but a skipjack took a lure and we didn’t hear it click off. It was tonight’s dinner meal.

The girl’s had a spa day on site the Waipouli Beach Resort.

Monday, August 18

Douglas, Lauren, Rosie and Tommy went down to Port Allen for their Napali snorkel and cruise trip/ We had the girls all day exploriing the pool again. Our lunch with them was at Lava-Lava Beach club.

By the time we finished with lunch. the kids were coming back from their cruise trip.

Dinner at Bobby V’s Italian eatery lots of varieties. A good day!

Sunday, August 17

Flight HA65 left Sacramento 5 minutes early, Rosie and family on the way for a 9:15 am arrival. Papa can’t wait!

We went to Lilikoi Bar and Grill for a late breakfast/lunch/.

Pool time wit h the lazy river and the 2 water slides, lots of fun for Rylan! Dinner was our steak dinner (from Costco’s).

Saturday, August 16 – Happy #45 Anniversary!

Lazy anniversary morning and brunch at the Break and Feast restaurant in Koloa. It really was quite good, with the banana-mac and loco moco getting great reviews by us.

We drove out to Eleele, Port Allen, Hanapepe and Jo-Jo’s shaved ice in Waimea. Took the highway up to the grand canyon of the pacific, the overlook was closed, but there were turnouts to view. Magnificent!

Auntie Lilikoi’s was a quick stop and a 5:15 dinner at Merriman’s in Koloa. It is really between Koloa and Poipu and the meal was the best yet. The A’u (long billfish-swordfish) was delicious.

Friday, August 15

Another relaxing day! Doug and Lauren took the car to explore and we had some quiet time. Breakfast burritos in the condo, they do have ease-bake tortillas at the Safeway.

Lunch at the Taps and Hops Eatery across the street. Beer selections were pretty good, mah-mahi fish sandwich was also good.

With a little time, I took out the KX3 and the mini Super Antenna for the 4pm 40meter.net net. The same old folks and the same old topics. WH6FC, Rick, gave me a warm welcome, nice to hear that and much appreciated. Receive signals were amazing for me, but my QRP transmitting signal was bleak, but actually heard! I didn’t have a 40 meter radial, but on the grass, with the 10,15, and 20 radial bunch, I was able to tune quite well.

Dinner at the Oasis on the Beach restaurant here on the property. It was delicious and should give Merriman’s a run for their money, tomorrow night!

Thursday, August 14

Tried the Kountry Kitchen in Kapaa for an 8:30am breakfast, not too bad, lots of varieties to choose from. Shopped in the town, lots of things to see.

Quick break at the condo and then a jaunt to the south coast, Brenneke’s for late lunch/dinner and exploring the Beach House restaurant, Spouting Horn and Koloa areas. The Tree Tunnel is still there and doing well! In Poipu, there is a Tommy Bahama’s clothing store and the Merriman’s, Kauai. We may try both out for dinner.

A nice and mellow exploration day. On the way back, we stopped by Lydgate beach, down the road from our condo. We’ll have to take a picture of the girls at the same beach we have a photo of Rosie!

Wednesday, August 13

A nice slow day. The kids went off to do their thing, Sandy made breakfast and we tried out the Island Craves malasada place up the road. Good stuff.

We took a Lyft over to Duke’s in Nawiliwili for lunch. Meals are best remembered from the past. My best fish has been the taco truck up the road. We didn’t even opt for the Kimo’s Original Hula Pie!

Dinner was our Costco chicken and fresh salsa, yummy!

Tuesday, August 12

Nice day to explore. Beautiful sunrise about 6:15, malasadas at Passion Bakery, delicious. You pick the filling, wait and they box them up for you!

Stopped by the Costco and the Target in Lihue for a few more items. Breakfast was the malasadas.

By the time everyone was ready, we decided to take a drive north for lunch. We found some food trucks in Kapaa for mahi-mahi tacos, good eats.

We continued the drive up the coast. Bubba’s Burgers and Ono Burgers (Anahola) are still there, drove through Kilauea, Princeville and Hanalei. Drove the coast line, to about the Tunnels location and turned around. Headed to the 1Hotel (the formerly St. Regis and the Princeville Hotel) for a view check and cocktail. Still a beautiful view of Bali Hai! For nostalgia, drove over to the Cliffs Club (Cliffs at Princeville now) for a quick photo op.

A quick return trip to the hotel and prime rib dinner, quick walk, at the Bullshed next door. It was better in the past.

My neighbor, Perry, took it upon himself to park his trailer right in front of our house. He parked it there yesterday, Monday at noon. I texted him this morning and asked him, nicely, to move it. He did. This guy continues to be pretty bold, annoying. He was pouring concrete this morning. I think he thought he could get away with taking up space so that things are convenient for him.

Monday, August 11
Came in last night to South Point, nice dinner and early rising for a 6:30 departure to the airport. Breakfast in the cafe but also continental onboard with POG mimosas, yummy!

It’s nice to have Starlink onboard the Airbus 330. HA31 from LAS to Kahului left 1 minute early, 8:49 am. Doug and Lauren left PHX and arrived about the same time. We connected with HA349 in Maui to Lihue.

Arrived in Maui right on time, but flight from Honolulu is running behind. Took off about 2:30 and met Doug and Lauren in the baggage area, with no baggage from the LAS to LIH flight. All LAS baggage (we weren’t the only ones) missed the connector from Maui to Kauai, groan.

Before arriving at the Waipouli Beach Resort, lunch/ dinner at Lava Lava Beach Club, nice but not like Waikoloa. We were in the happy hour menu, missed the lunch menu and not ready for the dinner menu, said the waitress, bummer.

After some mashing of teeth, baggage claim promised delivery to the resort, by 5, 8-9, 2am or so. You pick an answer. Around 5:30pm, I got a message and text that delivery was at the door to A-106, no answer, so she left. We were at the Safeway, but Doug and Lauren were out exploring the complex. Finally hooked up and baggage driver, on her way back to the airport, turned around and met us in the lobby. Finally, all good.

Drove over to the Safeway and picked up a few necessary items, it is literally across the street. The crowds were crazy in the market. Monday arrivals, I guess.

Land package from Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage to Homer to Whittier. Cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. Photos on SmugMug here.

Lessons learned: Land packages we need to research how much time we spend on a bus/train. How long do we have in each stop is important. We missed Telketna entirely, and were in Anchorage for only 1 night. The trip to Homer for 2 was really a waste and created a long, backtrack to the boarding in Whittier.

The Westmark hotel in Fairbanks is a dump.

The upgrade rooms (building S, for $400) is really a waste. We were luck in that we got it refunded, after they (the hotel manager) explained it was overbooked and were bumped off!

The drink package, 15 drinks per day, per person with a cap of $11/drink charge needs re-evaluation.

Monday, August 4

No hurry in the morning, Alaska 658 from SEA to LAS was delayed and left at 12:55 instead of noon and arrived at 3:30. By the time I was ready, running slow about 9:15am, we just decided to grab breakfast at the airport. The shuttle was timed perfectly, we hopped on and arrived to lines for baggage and security. Everything worked out and the flight was uneventful, luggage arrived and we were on the way home. Dinner in Mesquite at one of the 2 Mexican restaurants in town, on the north side of Mesquite Blvd, past the Casablanca.

We made it home about 9pm, with the hour time change and were both pretty wiped out over the days’s travel!

A nice ending to a 2-week trip! Now … time to get ready for Hawaii! Sunday night in LV, then direct LV to Maui to Kauai on Monday!

Sunday, August 3

Hurry up and wait! We set out our luggage by midnight and kept what we needed for this morning. Met one last time with Bhaki and Juno, after we had some room service coffee and a quick breakfast in the Lido, deck 9. Bhaki timed it just right, so that we could provide their gratuities, interesting. Princess, in the Neptune lounge also received a gratuity from Sandy. These folks really work hard on the cruise ship and they all did a great job. Nightly animals on the bed are a thing of the past. I think we had 2 animals in 7 days.

We were in the Black-2 group for disembarking, 8:15am meetup on the dock for an 8:45 departure of a 3 hour Vancouver tour and direct drop-off to the airport. Pandemonium. Well, the 8:45 departure was more like 9:30 and the driver and guide promised the group that we would be at the airport around noon. The bus was overpacked and behind us in line, got sent over to another tour bus. Sandy and I were the last to board and luckily the tour guide gave us his seat right up front. Well, noon became 12:15 or 12:20 or so. Sandy was little wound up, but our Seattle flight slipped from 1:48 to about 2:20 and then even further, so we had plenty of time for a quick lunch bite. We were at gate E81 for flight 926, then E82.Then, we missed our slot for takeoff because of broken tug pull and an airshow in the Seattle airspace. We did make it to Seattle about 4pm and to the Marriott SEATAC hotel room about 5pm. Room 573 was a considerable walk, the direct elevator to it was broken. Quick dinner in the hotel and ready for tomorrow’s flight back to LV.

Saturday, August 2

Our last day aboard, nice and mellow. Breakfast at the Pinnacle Grille and we wrapped up our photo package selections. 5 photos for $100, including the digital download versions.  Nowadays, the digital download is a scan code, using your phone device, on the receipt. Very quick and nice!

A quick 9 game BINGO for an upcoming trip on Holland America, we didn’t score, but fun! Lunch snacks in the Lido deck, ready for the Seafood Boil tonight.

Dinner at the Lido Seafood Boil! Interesting fixed menu, Ivar’s clam chowder and then a pot of salmon, crab, scallops and mussels. We were at the 5:30 seating, there are 2 tonight, 7pm is the other. I tried it, not impressed, too much work. But, a nice gimmick and worth the upgrade meal price.

Tracking the voyage down to Vancouver, we are going through some interesting straits, pretty narrow, I thought we’d be sailing on the outside (west) side of Vancouver island, but no. Way cool. Chatham Point, Browns Bay and the Seymour Narrows are the challenges, but we will be sailing tonight for a 7am arrival. We won’t be able to see much of the excitement. They bring a pilot on board, to help the crew with the navigation.

We are checked in on Alaska for flight 926 from Vancouver to Seattle. We are doing a Vancouver city tour and airport drop-off, we disembark the ship about 8:15am.

Friday, August 1

We woke up to liquid sunshine!, cool and drizzly for Ketchikan, normal weather. Breakfast at Pinnacle, I think. We decided to take a lazy day and just putt around Juneau at our speed. We have been here before, not too much but sightsee through the quaint town. We walked over Creek Street in the mining red light district back in the day and we managed to find 2 fabric stores! I think they scored some merchandise. The drizzle/rain and me not feeling the best (I have Jamie and Patie’s cold now) put a damper on things and we head back to the ship for lunch.

We caught up with them for dinner at the Dining Room and they put us on deck 3. The perk of walking up is pretty nice and convenient. The meal was actually pretty good tonight and the service was on top of things, interesting how things can change if the wait-staff changes!

Thursday, July 31

Juneau visit today! Found my Alaska Brewery baseball hat, halleluia! A nice relaxing day, breakfast in the Pinnacle, most folks gone off for excursions, we passed on our Mendenhall glacier and garden tour.

Shopped in town for a bit, had lunch at the Alaska Brewery Public House in town. it is really hard to have bad halibut anywhere up here!

Beautiful town, lots of seaplanes and 4 cruise ships, our included, in port! Busy, busy, Dinner in the main dining room, 6pm walk-ins.

Ketchikan tomorrow!

Wednesday, July 30

On a schedule, off the boat at 7:30 for an 8:15 Science Kitchen Alaska adventure. It really was quite good, sourdough, pH and build your-own Baked Alaska to wrap up. Jamie stayed behind and we met up at the Skagway Fish House on the wharf for lunch. Good meals!

We all boarded the 2pm White Pass Yukon Railway (WPYR) Summit Excursion scenic railroad adventure. It too was pretty cool, tough those gold miners in the early 1900s! A narrow gauge track and a great narration along the route. Back on board by 6pm or so. The boat is leaving at 8:30 for Juneau, last tender at 8:15.

Dinner at the Dining Room, level 2, Orange Class about 6:30pm (a perk of the 7th deck). Neptune suite folks just walk up in front of the line and are seated without a waiting list. Good stuff. Dinner was ok, I had some halibut chunks in a cream sauce and Sandy had the rigatoni and chicken meatballs.

Tuesday, July 29

Glacier Bay adventure begins. The pilot captains were augmented by the Alaska Glacier Bay vendors and NP rangers for their onboard narration for today.

Breakfast at the Pinnacle Lounge, a perk for those in the suites. Not crowded and not open to the general public.

A nice day cruising Glacier Bay. Lots of glacier to see, great narration by the NP staff. Lots of lookie-loos all over the decks. We saw the John Hopkins and the Margerie glaciers at the end of the Tarr Inlet. We heard the calving of the glaciers when it was quiet.

About 3:30, we found out that there was an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Kamchatka in eastern Russia. Tsunami.gov showed the tsunami warnings, advisories and watches. We in the southeast peninsula were a watch … which was then cancelled. It affected the Hawaiian islands and mainland US more than Alaska.

Canaletto for dinner, it is a roped off area of the Lido dining area and they make it “special”. Dinner, for Italian was underwhelming.

Monday, July 28

1st day at sea traveling to the Hubbard Glacier. Experienced breakfast room service to make it easy. It is difficult to eat in your room, even though we have 2 sitting areas. Tomorrow, a sit-down somewhere.

Staff brought an apology note and a sweet treat delivered to each of our staterooms. Patie and Jaime recuperating from their colds/flu.

Beautiful, calm and sunny day for cruising. Lunch at the Lido dining area, they were advertising you-build fish tacos. They were cold to lukewarm, again disappointing.

Guests crowding the deck 10 Crow’s Nest (interior coffee/cocktail bar forward for best viewing) and the same was true for the deck 4 outside viewing area. The ship rotated  twice for viewing from port and starboard stateroom. We didn’t approach as close as we did in 2011, or so we think. The photos will tell.

Dinner at 7:30pm at the main dining area. It was much better than the night before, but that is a little late for us to eat. I had the crusted salmon, Sandy had the 2-way lobster and Patie and Jaime had the filet. A good meal.

Sunday, July 27

Left at 8:50 from the hotel and headed down to Whittier. We took a quick stop at Tern Lake for a potty break, but there were bathrooms in the rest area/turnout!

Resumed the journey and finally stopped at Portage Lake sundries store for another break, but we stopped because our Whittier window in the tunnel was for 1:30 and we didn’t want to miss that. All were back on board by 1pm and we were the first bus in line! Busses go first.

The fun begins! We were on board by 2pm. Luggage followed later. Except for Patie, we all had our luggage on board. At dinner, at the Pinnacle Steak House, staff informed her that it had been found. It had be confiscated in security because of a gift knife that she brought on board! All good now.

Meals not piping hot, we mentioned it to the wait staff, and they didn’t seem to concerned. The manager came by at the end of the meal and … he brought the chef. They both listened, while our waiter was standing by. Not impressed.

Saturday, July 26

Checked the window, looking out at Kachemak Bay and the weather is a go! 6:30 trek (0.3 mile walk) to the Alaska Bear Safaris (Adventure Airways, N180AE) for a 6:45 check-in and 7:00 am flight out to Katmai NP and the Brooks Falls. The DeHavilland Beaver is an amazing airplane, the radial sound is really comforting. The flight was about 1:45 there, cruising about 115 knots and about 6,500 ft cruise to the Falls. The return gathering time was 11:20 am, giving us about 3 hours in the NP. Didn’t even get our shoes wet, docked right on the shoreline!

We earned our Bear School pin, listening to the ranger give her talk, and took off for 1.2 miles to the falls. Yes, there were bears on the way and bears on the way back, they have the right-of-way and we have to get off the trail to let them pass. Unless, they decide to play/flight/nap on the trail, then … the humans wait for them. We had 5 encounters, 3 on the way and 2 on the return, that mades me nervous and time was going tick-tock.

Our pilot, Trent, told us to make a bee-line to the falls, because the wait at the platform can get to over 2 hours. 40 people on the platform, 30 minutes to enjoy, because of the summer crowds. July is the peak bear feeding season. Everything is very well organized and we had a blast, no waiting for us! The 2 bear trail encounters on the way back, made us nervous about our 11:20 departure, but the 3 couples made it back safely and on time.

We left the Brooks Camp at 11:38 and were back on Beluga Lake by 1:15pm. Again, low and slow, about 115 knots and 4,500 ft cruise.

Holland America is having a shuttle down to the Homer Spit from 5-8 pm, we’ll see what we do. Sandy is craving Mexican, so we are walking over to the Mermaid Cafe for dinner.

Tomorrow, 7:30am luggage out and 8:30 departure from the lobby for direct drive to Whittler, where we finally board the Noordham! Since we are isolated from any food place and we have a suite with a microwave, we picked up some Jimmy Dean type frozen eggs dishes for breakfast AND freeze-drived COFFEE! from the Safeway across the street. Yummy!

Friday, July 25

A long bus ride from Anchorage to Homer. We walked over to the Biscuit Club down the street, but found a line. Bus leaving at 10am, but still in a rush, argh. We ran into Jamie and Patie coming back from the Crimson restaurant down the street, highly recommended, so we went. A little slow, but it didn’t disappoint.

The room, 301, in the Anchorage Hilton was really not to standard, avoid that place.

We stopped at the Princess Lodge in Kenai for lunch, wrap sandwiches, just below average. A little shopping to in the nick-nack shop. Soldatna was our next stop at the Safeway complex. I ducked into Sportsman’s Warehouse for socks and Sandy and Patie into a quilting shop that she remembered! We picked up some energy bars for tomorrow’s adventures!

We arrived in Homer right on time, about 5pm. The Aspen Suites hotel is about a mile from any restaurant, so we found a taxi to Fat Olive. It was pretty good, just as we remembered it. Meatballs and pasta and a nice apple-pecan salad and vino!

A long day that really could be shortened!

Thursday, July 24

Bags out by 7am and we ready at 8:30 am this morning. We met Jamie and Patie accidently on the hotel complex shuttle bus as we were headed to the main lodge and they corrected us that the pickup was at their Canyon Lodge, not the main lodge, location!

Bus ride to the train depot and transfer to the train was very smooth. We were on the Princess Wrangell train coach, in seats 9c and 9d. Our coach director, Peter, kept us in factoids throughout the 8 hour train ride. We arrived in Anchorage at 6pm, the exact planned time.

This train to Anchorage is just for Princess and Holland America and is geared that way. Our non-existent stop in Talketna was disappointing, just to unload Princess passengers, we could not get off. Sandy wanted to show Patie a fabric shop in town, but it was not to be.

The service on the train was really impeccable, the bartender made sure you were topped off and Peter kept the services flowing, both sharing history and organizing the lunch in the lower lever of our observation deck coach. Lunch, a shared cheeseburger was so-so, but the scenery flowing past was amazing. The trip was just a little long, 2 hours shorter would have been perfect.

The 5 minute transfer to the hotel from the train station turned into a mini-tour and history lesson of downtown Anchorage (per Edgar’s request of the driver), we really didn’t need that after a long day, oh well.

The Hilton Hotel in Anchorage is average and tired, room 601 for us. We ‘lyfted’ to the Glacier Brewhouse, it dd not disappoint. Sandy made an Open Table reservation for 7:45, we arrived about 7pm and before we could reach the bar, our table was ready. It was just as good as in 2021, the noise level is a little loud, just as before. I had the pesto crusted halibut and Sandy had the BBQ ribs. The appetizer fondue pretzel was spot on too. A great meal! The 49th State Brewery is good too (from our trip for lunch in 2021), but it had a crazy waiting line out the restaurant door.

9am luggage out and 10am at the door tomorrow for our 7 hour bus ride to Homer, groan. Let’s hope the bus is a little more roomy!

Wednesday, July 23

Nice leisure day in Denali. Breakfast for the 2 of us at the Canyon Lodge, it was nice to have a sit down breakfast. Jamie and Patie left, after the late-night return, to meet at 4:50 in the morning for the Denali Tundra tour. We did it from Teklanika in 2021 from the campground and went all the way to the Eilson Center. Now, with the road washed out, you can only go to mile 43. We skipped this trip’s ride! This morning is dirizzly and foggy, not really a day to be a passenger in an old rickety school bus.

Cleaned ourselves up and went across the street to shop. Came back to the Princess complex and had lunch at Fanny Q’s, it too was pretty good. A little more shopping at the Princess and Patie joined Sandy to hit the quilt shop across the street, again.

I took the Visitor’s Center park shuttle, jumped off at Horseshoe Lake and did a quick 1/2 mile walk to the lake overview.

Took the shuttle up to the Visitor’s Center and back to the Holland America complex. We all met up at the Canyon Lodge bar, relaxed and had pizza dinner at the Prospector’s Pizzaria and Alehouse. It too was pretty good.

7am luggage out the door and 8:30 am meet at the Main Lodge for our train ride to Anchorage!

Tuesday, July 22

Luggage out the door by 6:30 and bus leaving at 9:15 this morning. Walked over to Forget Me Not espresso coffee shop for breakfast. Extra shot coffee and a split breakfast burrito, one of our better breakfasts.

Bus ride to Denali most of the morning. We stopped in Nenana for a quick potty break and enjoyed the beautiful drive to the park.

All rooms were dialed in, luggage in our rooms, but the rooms, not quite ready. We were dropped off at the Ridge View complex, ALL the others headed to Canyon Lodge. Our room, 304, we find out was occupied! The staff clerk thought her scheduled showed that room occupied for a while this week AND this was not the S-Building that Darnell promised, the one with the river view. The complex is so large, as is its sister Princess hotel, that we had to take the shuttle back to the front desk. After working through the issue, calmly actually, the clerk had us correctly dialed into Building S, room 106. River view and we can hear the Nanana river flowing out the window. A nice room, dated, but very cabin-y feel. Life is good, the luggage was in the room and even a couple of killer chocolate chip cookies.

We met up with Jamie and Patie for a quick lunch snack at Karsten’s Public House and a meet and greet with Edgar at the Pubic House at 3pm.

Dinner was across the complex at the King Salmon in the Princess complex and did not disappoint. Our 4:30 reservation was followed up with our Denali Jeep Expeditions on the gravel Denali Highway. It was fun, we chose to use 1 Jeep instead of the assigned 2 we had. 100 mile round trip and we made it back to the room about midnight. It was an OK tour, the geologic ‘esker’ we drove on was pretty cool.

Monday, July 21

Bus left for the paddlewheeler at 7:55 am. This will be the first time we meet our informal group travelling to Whittier.

Breakfast buffett was bleak at $24 each. Reviews of this hotel are 2 or 3/5 (food and accomodations) now we know why.

The Riverboat Discovery paddlewheeler adventure was really pretty cool, the trip to the Athabascan village was as well. The Gold Dredge 8 operation tour was also pretty cool, we found gold! It was a long adventure day with a good bus tour guide (a North Pole High history teacher!), the lunch at the paddlewheeler dock was not up to standard. Everyone in a communal dining area on long benches. We had stew, really minimal beef soup, salad and bread and water or tea. Not meeting expectations food here, that may be a good thing for my waistline!

As we departed the last tour, Edgar informed us that our upgraded river-view Denali suite ($400 upgrade) was cancelled. We called the Denali Holland America Denali desk and finally spoke to Darnell who moved us to a river view room, not a deluxe, nor a suite in that river-view building, building S. He will NOT be on duty tomorrow, but his manager Brooke Taylor (907 683-6450, main line) will be. We will see and we will work through our $400 being returned to us, not Holland America cruise credit! Again, he had no courtesy to give us a call directly. Sandy suggested we need to upgrade our cruising lines.

Sunday, July 20

Met up with Patie and Jamie at 9am for breakfast. We drove around downtown Fairbanks and ended up at Fender’s for eats. It was pretty good with an 80’s rock and roll vibe. Downtown is really small.

Headed up to the Aleyska pipeline viewing area. It’s about 6 miles out of town on the Steese Highway. Amazing what commitment can do. 800 miles of pipeline laid in 2 years. Where has that drive gone?

The Fountainhead Antique Auto museum was amazing, definitely worth the visit, highly recommended!

The Great Alaskan Bowl shop was our last stop for the day. We returned the rental by 3pm (a 2 hour extension) and connected with the shuttle driver for our return to the hotel.

The Westmark Hotel is tired and needs an uplift. Munchies in the hotel restaurant before our 4-6pm (window) meet-n-greet with our tour guide, Edgar Serrano. He will be with us for the trip. No cocktail hour, no hors d’oeuvres. Disappointed.

Saturday, July 19

Transfer from the airport Marriott to SeaTac had us there about 8am but lots of people checking in added to the confusion of finding the 1st class checkin. Once we figured that out, it was pretty simple to find gate D4. Jaime and Patie arrived from their early flight from ONT to SEA. They were able to fly all in one day, but the flight left at 6am. We had that option from LAS, but that is just too early for us.

AS174 left on time and we arrived in FAI right on time as well. Met the Holland America cruise agents (I was surprised) who took our bags to be delivered directly to our room, 320. We grabbed the rental car and headed to the North Pole. Wrote postcards to the grandkids, shopped and headed out to the Chena Pump House restaurant. The blackened halibut was really quite good.

After our meal, we headed back to Fairbanks to check into the Westmark Hotel. In room 320, we found our luggage, all was good. Headed to the bar for a nightcap and called it a night about 7:30pm, 9:30 our time in MDT.

Friday, July 18

Had a calm breakfast and left by about 8am. Drove through the long term/reservation turnoff for parking, it’s not there. You read the fine print on the receipt QR code and it tells you to enter the SHORT term reservation area. NO signs at the parking structure until you enter it. Oh well, it worked.

Alaska 629, from gate E15, was right on time and the flight was smooth into Seattle.

Picked up the Marriott shuttle van and .. room 619 isn’t ready until 4pm. We took a Lyft into Pike Place Market, crowded with cool stuff and people. We had early dinner at Ivar’s Acres of Clams down in the Miner’s Landing area. Good stuff and took a Lyft back to the hotel. Very efficient and very quick, this Uber/Lyft stuff. The standard ride price to the Pike was $65.54 and the return priority pickup ride was $79.28. Both were available within minutes of our ride order, I should pay attention. It is cool to see where your driver is too, they can see what you look like, I guess, according to the 2nd driver.

Early AS174 9:57am flight from Seattle to Fairbanks tomorrow!

Thursday, July 17

Drove down to South Point in the afternoon for a quick overnight and flight out tomorrow. It leaves at 10:14am, so we have to check in by 8:30 or so. We have pre-paid reservation parking in the Terminal 3 parking garage. We’ll so how that goes.

April 29, Tuesday 

Travelled  up to the Arches NP for a quick mid-week getaway. We had reservations at the Hilton Hoodoo in Moab. It is a nice place in the center of town, but off the main boulevard by one street.

Left on Tuesday about 9:40 a.m. and finally arrived about 4:30 with the delay/stop on I-70. A motorcycle crash, in the center divider and a Life Flight was the cause of the delay. We passed the rider’s partner, gathering up belongings, the bike was a real mess. Prayers.

It was a long day and we went directly to dinner at Fiesta Mexicana, it was ok, not great. We checked into room 331 after dinner.

We had a timed pass into the park for Wednesday at 2:00 pm, but we logged in at 7pm on Tuesday for next days tickets and snagged a 9-10am slot instead. I forgot to cancel the 2:00 pm slot. I used 2 email addresses to have 2 accounts, one for me and one for Sandy.

April 30, Wednesday

Wednesday breakfast in the hotel, Josie Wyatt, just ok.

Entered the park about 9:15 or and spent some time getting oriented at the Visitors Center.

We had the Action Tour Guide audio app for Arches NP and enjoyed listening to the narrations. We did the Double and Windows arches, the Turret arch, the Delicate arch (upper parking lot view) and the Landscape arch at the north end. The scenery was amazing and the cloud cover held off until we were wrapping up. Sandy waited for me at the parking lot for the Landscape Arch. The distance was 1.8 mile round-trip and well worth it.

No time for ham radio at WFF-KFF 0004, bummer.

Wednesday dinner was at Pasta Jays (Italian) in Moab, huge portions, ok food.

May 1, Thursday

Thursday we had breakfast at the Moab Diner, not too bad. We headed to Canyonlands NP and the Island in the Sky road to the Mesa Arch overlook. It did not disappoint. The trail is .65 mile in length, so it was a non-issue for both of us. Amazing views looking down into the valley. We saw the Shafer Trail below and I am intrigued.

No time for WWFF KFF-0010, ham radio-wise.

We drove out of the park and to the Deadhorse Point SP and had our box lunch from the Diner. Both parks share the plateau and the valley floor, so it was aquick 15 minute drive. We passed the Shafer Trail entry. We could see the switchbacks and the valley floor and the Colorado river.

No time for WWFF KFF-3066 either.

After photo ops, we headed back out of the park and to the Potash Rd, just before the bridge into Moab. Don, K9DON, recommended the petroglyphs stop and it did not disappoint. The Potash road turns into the Shafer trail as well. We turned around at the petroglyphs.

From there, we headed east, past the bridge, up Highway 128 paralleling the Colorado. We went about 15 miles upstream to the Castle Valley turnoff. Again, the views are pretty cool, probably more popular for rafters in the summer. In the future, we should explore the Red Cliffs Lodge (it’s a Marriott) and the River Grill restaurant.

The day wrapped up at Zak’s on the main drag, it was ok too.

May 2, Friday

Friday morning was breakfast,again, at Josie Wyatt, marginal at best. We tried the doughnuts at Doughbird’s, again on the main drag and on the way, we discovered the breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe, we must try it!

Also, we must put the Sunset Grill on the dinner menu for a future visit. We left Dougbirds about 9:30 and arrived home at 3:00 pm, 5.5 hours.