TRAVEL AGENDA IN 2005

6/21-7/4 Inks Lake State Park TX
7/5 Stamford TX
7/6 Lubbock TX
7/7-14 Glorietta NM
7/15-8/7 Fun Valley CO
8/9-17 Zion National Park UT
8/29-9/6 Alaska Cruise
9/24 Stamford TX
9/26-10/10 Inks Lake State Park TX
10/10-10/21 Lake Ray Roberts TX
10/21-12/12 Twin Coves Park, Grapevine TX
11/24 Thanksgiving, Decatur TX
12/25 Christmas, Coral Springs FL

Christmas in Florida and an Engagement!

Coral Springs, FL: December, 2005


Our Christmas this year was great. We spent two and a half weeks in Florida at Joni’s Mom and Dad’s house in Coral Springs, Florida (near Fort Lauderdale).

The best part of the holiday was that all of Joni’s boys were able to be there. Jim lives in New York, Ken lives in California and Chris lives in Texas, so getting everyone together at the same time is not an easy task. But, this year was different. All of us came to be together with Grandma and Grandpa. The boys all flew in on Christmas day and stayed most of the week.


The highlight of this Christmas was Jim’s engagement to his girlfriend Barbara O’Connor. Our family has been waiting for Jim to place a ring on her finger for a few years now and we are all very happy to be welcoming Barbara to our family. Jim proposed in a white horse drawn carriage in New York City, just a few days before Christmas. What a guy!

Jim and Ken spent one afternoon scuba diving off Fort Lauderdale beach. They both have their scuba certification and try to scuba whenever they can. Joni, Barbara and Chris enjoyed the beach while they were out their in the ocean about 300 feet from shore.

Ken used to live in West Palm Beach and went to see some of his old friends. Jim and Barbara took a side trip to Fort Myers on the west coast to visit Jim’s former boss.

Some old friends of ours, Dale and Carol Heistand from Trophy Club, live a few miles from Joni's parents house. We were able to get together, have lunch and catch up on some news. They love to travel and own an RV also. We hope to get together with them sometime during our visit to Florida.

Our visit to Mom and Dad's was great. We all had a good time. Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed watching all the activity and were glad that everyone was together.

McGibbon Visit

Lakeland, FL: December 19, 2005

On our way to Florida for Christmas, we stopped in Lakeland, Florida for 2 nights. Joni’s best friend from college, Gayle (Hannah) McGibbon, and her husband live there. Joni and Gayle have been able to see each other a few times over the last few years and enjoy every minute they are together.


We parked our motor home in front of their house and plugged in our water and electric. Gayle and Dean offered to give us their bedroom, but since we brought our bed with us, it was easier for us to just stay in the RV.

One evening Joni, Gayle and Gayle’s granddaughter went to see “The Nutcracker”. Joni had never seen it before. We enjoyed our night out, while the guys stayed home and watched football.

One afternoon we toured Lazy Days RV, a huge motor home sales place. Dean sat in the driver’s seat of every motor home we checked out. Seems to us that RVing is in their future.

We told them of our plans for traveling through south Florida for the winter. They seemed to like what they heard and will join us when we go to Key Largo at the end of January. We’re really looking forward to spending more time with them.

Steel Magnolia House - Paul & Karen Reinhart's

Natchitoches, Louisiana: December 12, 2005


Paul and Karen Reinhart are good friends from our Sunday School class at Memorial Baptist Church in Grapevine, Texas. They left a successful real estate business over two years ago and followed their dreams of owning a bed and breakfast house. The dream has turn into a full scale adventure. They purchased the house that was used for the making of the movie Steel Magnolias. Julia Roberts, Sally Fields, Dolly Parton and Shirley McLaine were just a few of the stars performing in the movie.



The garden pictured is where Julia Roberts (Shelby) father shoots birds out of the tree in the wedding scene - which annoys Shirley McLaine (Clairee).

It needed a lot of repairs and work to get it back in shape. Paul and Karen wanted to restore the house back to its original condition and also restore the feel of the house to the movie setup. With a lot of blood, sweat and tears they have done a wonderful job. Business is very good and their B&B is one of the most popular spots in Natchitoches.


We enjoyed our time with Paul and Karen. We were able to update each other on common friends from church and events in our lives. They gave us a complete tour of the Steel Magnolia House and its history. It was great to be with them.

Christmas Musical at Church

December 10-11, 2005

This year our church presented a Living Christmas Tree, for the Christmas season. Being loyal choir members, we wanted very much to be a part of the performance. We stayed “home” for an extra week so that we could be in it, leaving for Florida on the 12th.

A large scaffold in the shape of a Christmas tree was erected in the church parking lot. Can yiy find Delton and Joni in the tree???? It was decorated with lots of lights and color. Spotlights and tree lights were programmed to change and move with the music that we sang. As people came to see our performance, they were greeted by parking lot attendants who directed them as to where to park. Then they were offered hot chocolate and cookies and were told to tune their car radios to a certain channel where they could listen to our music. They could choose to remain in their cars or sit outside and listen.

We had an early freeze this year and were concerned that we would have to move inside, but God gave us warm up just in time. Even so, there were heaters placed under and inside the tree, blowing hot air on the us as we sang. We were not cold.

It was great to be able to in choir again – even for a short time. We have travels around and visited a lot of churches, but there is nothing better than being at your home church and being part of a church family. A good time was had by the choir, band and all who attended.

Twin Coves RV Park

Grapevine, Texas: Fall, 2005

We stayed in the DFW area most of the fall 2005. Since we were spending Thanksgiving with Delton’s family we decided to stay a little longer and sing in our Christmas musical at church.


We stayed at the Twin Coves RV Park on the north side of Grapevine Lake. We were close to Trophy Club and close to Memorial Baptist Church. It is a nice little park with only about 40 camp sites. We had a view of the Grapevine Lake and access to some great hiking trails that went from the park to Grapevine Dam – about 8 miles one way.

Joni continued to ride her bike every morning. The park was a great place to ride. The park is in a very nice area of Flower Mound having homes ranging from $800,000 to $1,000,000. Joni enjoyed riding among the beautiful homes, but it made her wish she had a house again. But, once we got on the rode again, she was fine not having a house.
We just had a little set back for while.

We had a few visitors while we were there, but mostly went to visit our friends at their homes. We spent 4 days with Kandy and Val Franklin in Trophy Club during the NASCAR races. RV parks had filled up early due to the races, so we enjoyed a long weekend with our friends in Trophy Club. We parked in front of their house and Joni said she felt like she lived in Trophy Club again. She was pretty happy about being there. After the races were over, we moved back to Twin Coves Park.

During our stay at Twin Coves, we had a cold front move in. Since the temperatures dipped to about 15 degrees, the park shut the water off. It’s not much fun staying in an RV in cold cold weather without water. Soooo, we called our friends, Mary Jane and Dave Mulaski, who live in Trophy Club. They said we could stay with them until the cold snap was over. Again, Joni was so happy to be in Trophy Club. The Mulaski’s actually live on Joni’s old block (before she married Delton) – Meadowbrook Lane. We spent some of our time there playing bridge and making plans for our Florida trip. The Mulaski’s will be taking their motor home to Florida this winter and we will be spending a bunch of time with them.

Sunday School Party at the Fain's

Southlake, TX: December 11, 2005

Jerry and Charlotte Fain opened their home to our Sunday School Class for lunch. They are gracious hosts and we have enjoyed being at their home on several occasions. Our Sunday School leader is Larry Van Loh and he led us in a time of sharing and giving thanks. After our sharing time we had prayer with specific requests for concerns for family and friends, travel and our troops that are in harms way.

Charlotte prepared a wonderful ham and everyone brought dishes to share. As always, we had more too eat that we needed. This was a departing time for us and we had a great time saying goodbye again to our close church friends.

When you meet friends you always find out a few new things. It was interesting to find out that Jesse Vasquez grew up in Stamford, Texas, which is also Delton’s hometown. Jesse graduated in 1968 and Delton graduated in 1960. They had a great time taking about the Glory Days of Stamford High School football.

Skit at Church

December 6, 2006

During our stay in the DFW area (home), Joni was asked if she would like to be in a skit at church to be performed during the Sunday morning services. She jumped at the chance.

It was called “Body Parts”. It was about a guy named Bob who was a passenger on a plane. He was sitting next to a non believer. Bob wanted to talk to the non believer about Jesus, but was very nervous about it. The skit is about how his body reacted to this situation. Joni was Bob’s BRAIN! Her part was about how Bob’s brain would feel stupid if he were asked a question he couldn’t answer. Each body part had it’s own reason for feeling uncomfortable. The parts were: stomach, hands, brain, bottom, mouth and face.

It was part of a sermon series given by our pastor, Greg Simmons.

Southlake Carroll High School Football

Irving, TX: December 3, 2005

Southlake Carroll High School played Plano in the 5A State Quarterfinals. The game was held at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas This was the second playoff game that Delton was able to see of the mighty Dragons. Walt Fenoglio has been the voice of the Dragons for many years and he invited Delton to come to the game. The Carroll Booster Club has been videoing the games for several years and Walt does the play by play. In one of the games Delton helped out with the spotting. The videos are placed on DVD and VCR tapes and sold to Dragon supporters. Proceeds are used to purchase items for the various athletic teams at CHS.


As you can see from the picture there is quite a crew supporting this production. These are dedicated Dragon fans and it’s incredible how much time they spend in producing the game footage. They research their opponents statistics coaches and players and are well prepared to add interesting facts to the play by play coverage. During the game they keep detailed statistics on the game and are prepared to recap this information at any time. The job they do is amazing and it’s equivalent to what you see on any broadcast you get on TV.

Thanksgiving in Decatur, Texas

Decatur, Texas: November 24, 2005



Delton’s youngest brother Tim and his wife Kim were host to our family in their new home just outside of Decatur. Tim recently retired from the Navy and his family moved from California back to Texas. They are really happy about being back to the greatest state in the USA. The house is wonderful with over 3900 square feet, over six acres of land and a swimming pool. In addition, they have a 1500 square foot detached and insulated garage that they call the barn. This is where we have stored most of our belongings.


Delton’s Mom, brothers and their families joined in for the Thanksgiving feast. Brother Max was unable to join us because he was in the middle of stripping cotton. Mom had brought her famous peanut butter fudge which we have enjoyed eating since we were boys. She also made her turkey dressing. It’s better than anything else you will ever eat.


As always, the boys had to watch the Cowboy game. It’s great to see them winning again. We also had a good game of golf on Friday at Lake Kiowa. We fielded two teams and played scramble. After eighteen holes we ended up with a tie. On Saturday, we went back to Tim and Kim’s house for more food and games.

Hurricane Wilma – South Florida

Coral Springs, FL: December 3, 2005

During our stay in the DFW area this fall, Hurricane Wilma made its way through south Florida. Joni’s Mom and Dad live in Coral Springs, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. Needless to say, they were affected by the storm, as the eye of the hurricane passed over their house.


Damage to their home was minimal. Their backyard screen structure, which completely covers their pool and sitting area, was completely destroyed. They had quite a bit of roof damage, as the solar heat units came loose, banging on the roof, and finally being totally ripped off. They were without electricity for 4 days, but still had running water. Nobody was hurt and the house is basically OK. Mom and Dad were shook a bit, and Mom asked both Joni and her brother, Rich, is come down and help out.


Rich went first and was able to help with the clean up of the all the trees, branches and debris. It was a big mess. Joni went after Rich left and was mainly there to support Mom and Dad and make sure they knew that everything would eventually be back to normal. The streets will have fewer trees, less bushes, and the remaining trees will have fewer branches. That’s all!

Back in the DFW Area

INKS LAKE STATE PARK, TX September 26 – October 10, 2005
LAKE RAY ROBERTS STATE PARK, TX October 10-21, 1005

Upon leaving Delton’s High School Football team reunion, we decided to go back to Inks Lake for 2 weeks before heading back to the DFW area.

We thought the weather would be great and the hot weather would be gone, BUT the temperature was over 100 degrees for 10 out the 14 days we were at Inks Lake. Texas just didn’t want to cool down. Joni actually enjoyed the weather because she felt like she missed summer – being up north all summer.


We got to see some old friends and made some new friends while we were there. Pictured are Robert and Lynette - park host friends we enjoyed getting to know.
Delton caught some catfish (which we enjoyed eating with our friend Robert) and Joni loved paddling around in her kayak. .


We left Inks Lake and headed to Lake Ray Roberts – HOME. Joni was so excited to be back home. We got right back into the old routine – just like we still lived here. We’re involved in church, choir, old friends (Kathy and Skip McKie are pictured) and family. It’s good to be back!

One day while Joni was riding her bike around the campground, she noticed a car driving slowing past our campsite. The man was in the car and the woman was walking along the car, taking notes on the camp sites. Joni overheard them talking and heard them mention our campsite. We were originally scheduled to move out of our site the next day, but had decided to stay a few more days. Joni felt she should mention that to the people in the car, so they would choose a different site. WE HAD THE BEST SITE IN THE CAMP GROUND! Well, she rode her bike up to the car to talk to them and after a few minutes, the man extended his hand to introduce himself.
It was MARK DAVIS, popular local and national radio talk show host. He and his family were riding around looking for a good site to reserve so he could park his boat right at the site. How exciting that was!!! Joni talked to them for about 20 minutes, mostly about RVing and traveling around the country. Maybe he will use the topic of “Fulltime RVing” for a topic on his show one day.

Another funny thing happened while at Lake Ray Roberts. Joni was out paddling in her blow up kayak one afternoon, when she noticed a guy (about 25 years old) riding around on his wave runner. She noticed that he was stopping and starting a lot and thought he was just playing around. Actually, he was having engine trouble. Finally he caught Joni’s attention and asked if she would tow him to the bank around the lake (not very far away). She tied a rope around her waist and he held the other end of the rope and she started to paddle. It was hard – against the wind and all. Finally, when they realized they weren’t getting anywhere, they decided to switch places. He paddled the blow up kayak and she rode on the wave runner. They slowly made their way to the other bank. Too bad no one saw them and took a picture. It was a very funny sight.

Since we’re spending so much time in our old home town, we decided to move back to the Grapevine area. We moved to a Twin Coves Park on the north side of Grapevine Lake, only a 15 minute drive to our old stomping grounds.

Skip McKie's Retirement Party

October, 2005



We were lucky to be able to attend a retirement party for our dear friend, Skip McKie. Skip retired from Southwest Airlines in October. We were able to attend a party given at the Love Field and at the Skip and Kathy’s home in Trophy Club.

When a pilot retires, his last flight is treated very special. Many of the McKie’s family were able to take the flight with him. When they arrived back at Love Field, 2 fire trucks greeted the plane and shot water over the plane as it taxied to the gate. It was like laying down the red carpet for a job well done.

A party was given in the pilots lounge after the flight. Later on, Kathy gave Skip a party at their home, inviting many friends. We were so happy to attend, not only for Skip, but because we were able to visit with many of our friends and neighbors from Trophy Club. Joni spent most of the day with Kathy, helping her with the preparations and catching up with news from the months we’d been gone.

Weekend of Champions

Stamford, Texas: September 24, 2005

A fifty year anniversary celebration took place today to honor the Texas State Champions for AA Football for the years 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1959. Delton was a member of the 1958 and 1959 teams. A social hour and banquet was held at the Stagecoach Inn in Stamford. Coaches Bill Anderson and Larry Wartes were featured speakers as well as members of each state championship team (Jackie Mills, Mike McClellan, Jimmy Payne and Bobby Gamblin). Legendary Texas Coach Gordon Wood was represented by his son Jim. Gordon was coach of the 1955 and 1956 teams. Delton played for Gordon during his sophomore year and Coach Wartes was head coach of his 1958 and 1959 teams. A special video was shown highlighting each team’s accomplishments.

The Stamford vs. Jacksboro Homecoming football game was played that afternoon. Each championship team and player was recognized at the game. The combined win/lose record for the championship teams was 58-1-1. Delton was an End and one of his receptions played a key role in the Championship game against Brady. This highlight play appears in the book King Texas Football. Out of the people that Delton associated with in this group, players and coaches, there are six people recognized in the Texas High School Coaches Hall of Honor, one U.S. Congressmen and a Federal Judge. Many others went on to very successful careers in business and agriculture. Their experiences during this time on the gridiron contributed greatly to their success.

Delton’s dad, Doc, was very proud of all his sons and especially loved watching them play football. He passed away last year and we all know he would have greatly enjoyed coming to this celebration event. Delton’s mom, Josie, participated in the event along with wife Joni and brother Ron.

On Our Way Back to Texas - The Rocky Mountains

September 11-15, 2005
We spent 2 nights in Seattle after returning from our wonderful cruise to Alaska. We caught up on our laundry, business and other daily tasks. Then we started our long drive back to Texas.

We had about 2 ½ weeks to get back to Stamford where Delton was looking forward to his September 24th high school reunion for the championship football teams 50th anniversary.


We drove for 5 straight days, driving about 250-300 miles each day. We when got to Loveland, Colorado, we decided to stay for a while. We were at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and knew this was a place to enjoy.
We stayed at the Riverside RV Park for 5 days and took day trips into the Rocky Mountains to do some hiking and biking.

We drove up above the tree line on the Trail Ridge Road on one adventure, which took us into some very cold snowy weather. I couldn’t believe it was September and it was snowing – hard. The road was narrow with big drop offs and no guard rails. We drove very slowly and the view was spectacular, but Joni couldn’t see much since she was driving and wouldn’t take her eyes off the road….. She only looked when we stopped!


Eli and Lisa Bernard, our education pastor and friend from First Baptist Church Trophy Club had just moved to Loveland, so we decided to stop on their doorstop and surprise them. We had a great visit and they invited us for diner the following night. It was fun catching up on the latest news from the last few years.


After leaving Loveland, we had a few extra days before the reunion, so we decided to visit our friends, Walt and Gayle Fenoglio in Glorieta, New Mexico. We spent one day picking raspberries with them, did some hiking in Glorieta and played cards with Gayle and Walt and some of the volunteers in Glorieta.

Delton’s friend and co-worker from IBM, Gary Miller, lives in Albuquerque, which is close to Glorieta, so we decided to see Gary and his wife Ellie. They live in an adobe house with a beautiful view of the mountains in their back yard. Delton enjoyed catching up on old times with Gary.

After spending 5 days in Glorieta we were ready to head back to Stamford for the reunion. We stopped off in Lubbock to visit Larry and Linda. While there we got our refrigerator fixed, the Jeep inspected and Delton got his address changed on his driver’s license.

Cruise to Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska: September 5, 2005

After months of anticipation we were finally on our way. We drove our car to the Sea-Tac Airport and boarded the Princess Cruise Line bus which dropped us off at our ship in Vancouver, BC. Delton was excited because Alaska was the only state of the 50 that he had not set foot in. He had waited for many years to make this happen.

We had several other family members coming along to make this very special. Delton’s mom Josie; brothers Ron, Larry and Max; sister-in-laws Linda and Rita; uncles and aunts Robert and Ruth Isaacs, Dorothy Bailey, and Tommy and Betty Keenum joined us in Vancouver. The aunts are all Josie’s sisters which made it special for her. Joni loves the water so cruises are always fun for her, although she would have liked the weather to be a lot warmer.

The ship left the port on Monday afternoon, August 29th, from Vancouver with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord and Whittier. From Whittier we rode a bus to our final destination of Anchorage. This is a one way cruise so we took Alaska Airlines back to Seattle. As always the most enjoyable parts of the cruise are the eating and entertainment; aside from the excursions. We had a lot of each and despite a lot of walking on the excursions managed to gain a few pounds.

When in port the some of the ladies wanted to shop, so the guys reluctantly tagged along. There were not very many hardware stores for the guys, mainly jewelry, t-shirts and the typical tourist traps. Other than dinners together and a few shows everyone seemed to have their own glitch for doing things. The sisters like to shop and they drug Robert and Tommy with them. Larry and Max with their wives had their thing going. Ron was gracious to hang out with us in whatever we did. We like to hike!

Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway are all located in the Inside Passage of Alaska. Ketchikan got its start during the 1897 Gold Rush Era but for the past several years its mainstay industry is tourism. The brothers and sister-in-laws wanted to see the salmon run so we headed up to Creek Street. The tide was going out so all of the salmon were hiding behind rocks to wait for calmer streams. We saw hundreds of large salmons. All the girls but Joni quickly tied of this, so shopping began. Since Creek street use to be the old “Red Light” district for the miners we had to take that in. At the Dolly House Museum we had a little lady entertain us as we strolled by. Then the gals, except for Joni, drug us off for more shopping. Joni preferred hiking and looking at the sites.


Juneau was also founded because of gold. The gold mining industry was halted in 1944, but continues to play an important part in their economy, as does fishing and tourism. Joni, Ron and I decided to take the Mount Roberts Tramway which was just a block from our ship. We were able to see bald eagles both going up the tram and coming down. On top we had a great view of the city and bay area. It was a beautiful site. There were also trails going further up the mountain which we explored. We stopped at Father Brown’s cross which is at 2,050 feet with a great view and then went on up the mountain for another couple of miles and over 3,000 feet elevation. We enjoyed the hike and exercise. After coming down we explored the city.


Skagway got its start because of gold, but in a little different way. The gold was discovered in the Yukon Territory and Skagway was the passage to get there. Two routes were taken to get to the Yukon. One was straight up and over the mountains and the other was up the valley. Both were very hazardous. After a few years a narrow gauge rail line was built up the valley. We took the White Pass Scenic Rail ride to the top of the White Pass and learned a lot about the history of this area. At the top you could still see the trail that the miners used. There was a movie made about the other trail, but I cannot remember the name of it. My mom, brothers and sister-in-laws all made this trip with us. It was great sharing this experience together.


After Skagway we headed to open waters in the Alaskan Gulf. We had two stops along the way, first at Glacier Bay and then College Fjord. Both bays offered great views of active water front glaciers. We were able to hear the thunder created by the splitting ice and see calving take place. Calving is where ice breaks off the glacier and forms an ice berg. We had a great sunny day at Glacier Bay. On the way out of the bay we were able to see our first bears and also some whales. They were quite a ways off so it dampened the excitement. The next day at College Fjord was overcast and cold. However, the glaciers were something to see.

Our last port was Whittier. We moved our luggage off the ship and checked our bags into Alaska Airlines. From Whittier we took a bus ride to Anchorage. It was a beautiful ride up the bay with more whale sightings. One of the buses in our group had a run-in with an RV. The bus lost one of its mirrors and had a few excited passengers. They are still looking for the RV. He was in a hurry to get wherever he was going. In Anchorage, we mostly did the tourist stuff and some shopping. At the end of the day, we took a bus ride to the airport and caught our flight to Seattle. This ended a great trip and loads of fun.

Waiting in Seattle

Seattle, Washington: August 29, 2005

Our Alaska cruise starts on August 29. We arrived in the Seattle area on August 21st. It was important to us to get here early so we could figure out how to get to our ship in Vancouver and find a storage place for our motor home. After looking at storage, boat, train, airplane and car options for a few days we finally worked things out. We were able to store our motor home in the RV park where we had been staying for the past week. From there we could drive our car to the Sea-Tac Airport and then take the Princess bus directly to the ship. This worked out to be our easiest and least expensive options.


While waiting for our cruise date we were able to make several excursion trips in the Seattle area. We went to Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Olympic National Park, the Space Needle and Port Angeles. Don’t go to the Space Needle. It is a total rip-off! They wanted $13 each, just to ride the elevator to the top for the view. We decided to decline their offer. At each of the parks we did quite a bit of hiking. There were some very nice trails and most had water falls and other things to see.

The top of Mt. Rainier was covered with clouds when we were there, so we were disappointed about that. We did get in a nice hike to Carter Falls. Fortunately we were able to get a clear view of the mountain several times as we traveled about the Seattle area.


Mt. St. Helens was very interesting. We drove up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory where we did some looking and hiking. The volcano is still active and gases were escaping to form a cloud above the peak. We also saw a couple of movies that showed the big eruption on May 18, 1980. It was incredible to see the destruction that resulted from the blast and mudslides; some of which is still visible after 25 years. Weyerhaeuser has done a great job in restoring the forest that was destroyed. The last eruption was in 2004 which did little damage by comparison.


Olympic National Park is very pretty. We took a trip to Hurricane Ridge and hiked 1.6 miles to the top. You could see the bay area, including Victoria and Canada. It was a great view! We went back down the mountain and after a six mile bike ride in Port Angeles we drove over to Lake Crescent. The lake was beautiful. From the lake we hiked up to Marymere Falls. We passed through some very old forest with huge trees on the way to the falls. It was a great hike!

On Our Way to Seattle

August 17 – 20, 2005

We decided to take our time getting to Seattle for our cruise to Alaska. Our first night was in Provo, Utah, then to Boise, Idaho and then Yakima, Washington. We traveled between 250 and 400 miles a day. It was a hard 4 days. We prefer not to drive so much without stopping to see the sights, but we had a deadline and needed to get to Seattle to firm up our plans for the cruise. We had to figure out how we were going to get to Vancouver BC, where we sail from, and where to leave our motor home (in the United States, not in Canada) and how to get back to our motor home after the cruise. The cruise is a one way sail, so we must fly back from Anchorage to Seattle.

While traveling in Utah, we ate at the Red Lobster. Our waiter, James Roberts, was very interested in what we were doing. As luck would have it, his sister, Sissy, lives near Seattle and has a covered RV spot with full hookups at her home. He offered us the spot while we cruised. We exchanged phone numbers and have been trying to figure out how to make the logistics of our plans work out. We’ve been in touch with Sissy a few times and as of this writing we are still working on this. Who would have ever imagined that our diner at the Red Lobster would turn out with a answer to our logistics problem. People can be so nice. You never know where the roads will lead us……

Angels Landing

Zion National Park, UT: August 16, 2005

Angels Landing is a 1400 foot high chunk of rock that juts out into the Zion Park valley. It has vertical cliffs on both sides that start at the top and drop on both sides to the valley below. The trail to the top is 2.5 miles long with a climb of 1,488 feet and is not for the faint-of-heart! It starts at the river below and winds through the narrow valley on the west side to a waiting point called Scout Landing. Along the way you get to climb up a set of 21 switch backs called Walter’s Wiggles. The switch backs allow you to ascend quickly up the mountain. Most hikers of the Angels Landing trail make it to Scout Landing, but only a few decided to go on to the top. It’s has something to do with the 1400 foot shear drop-offs on each side. It is not for anyone fearful of heights. Everyone that comes to the park talks about this climb.

We joined John and Bev Higbie at 8:00 am at the shuttle station for the ride up the valley. An early start is important because it can get very hot going up and down the rocks. We rode to the Grotto drop-off point. After departing the shuttle we crossed the river and started our climb up the valley. The first part of the trail has only a slight incline and is very easy. Then you get to a set of switch backs that gets your heart pumping from the climb. After that the trail goes to a more gentler incline until just before you get to the Walter’s Wiggles. From there it is a steep climb to Scout Landing.
When you get there you get a good look at what lies ahead. One-half mile of steep gutsy climbing lies ahead. Then you get to come back down, which is even more gutsy because you get to see what lies below. Only Delton and Bev decided to go on!
The climb to the top is mostly up and across vertical rocks that ascend one side or the other of the cliffs. Pictured are DELTON'S FEET from a very high point with a big drop! At one point of the trail there is a narrow section (about 30 inches wide) where the cliffs drop on both sides to the valleys below. At some sections of the trail there are chains that you can hold onto to keep from falling off. We were told that last year a Boy Scout fell from the top. He and a friend had ventured off from his Troup and they got a little careless.


Delton and Bev really enjoyed the climb and felt the rewards were far greater than the risk. John and Joni thought we were CRAZY.

Joni was expecting us to come back in about 30 minutes. She paced back and forth at Scout Landing and constantly looked up waiting for Delton and Bev’s return. It took us about an hour and a half to make the round trip. Joni was almost at panic-state by then. It was a good thing John was there to comfort her!

Grand Canyon, Arizona

August 16, 2005

One of our side trips while staying at Zion National Park was to go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a 2 hours drive and we went there with John and Bev Higbie.

Delton had been to the South Rim before, but not the North Rim. Joni has never been there before. It was spectacular! We took in the scenic views and hiked a few trails, ending our day with a wonderful meal at the lodge. Our window table had a magnificent view overlooking the Grand Canyon. What a sight!

Pictured is Joni getting use to a new comfort zone, looking over the edge of a steep drop-off.

We needed more time to see the whole park, but only had one day. It’s definitely a place to go back to.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

August 12, 2005

We took a side trip to Bryce National Park in Utah during our stay at Zion National Park. Bryce is located about 90 miles northeast of Zion.

We went on a 5 mile hike through the canyons, meadows and forests. The beginning of the trail was amazing. It had rock formations from years of erosion that left the land in a rainbow of colors, cliffs and rock carvings.

Joni was very apprehensive walking the narrow trails with big drop offs and steep up and down climbing. The trail was supposed to take 4-5 hours to hike. We made it in 2 ½ hours – probably a hike record. A major storm was looming in the background which would have made the trail slippery and dangerous and there would have been no place to take shelter. Joni fled through, hardly stopping to look at the beautiful sights, while Delton tried to keep up. We got a great workout!