Canyonlands a-go go

Well, one and all, for the last few days we have been driving through the various canyons of Arizona, Utah; so we went to the Grand Canyon; Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. The landscape has been unreal; colourful and dramatic. Day one we went from Scottsdale to Grand Canyon via Sedona - a little town at the beginning of the canyonlands. That afternoon we went on a helicopter ride over the South rim ; a matter of "feel the fear and do it anyway" for at least LM and others on the ride; but it was beyond amazing. Next day up early (Maz, remember who Brad was in Italy?) and on to Lake Powell for a ride on the lake and down a canyon until we could almost touch the sides. Next day to Monument Valley ; where over 20 films have been made; including Thelma and Louise as well as Back to the Future #3. Various John wayne films; just about every Western ever seen; it was great BUT "feel the fear" feat #2 for LM - off I went on a 6 seater plane for an aeriel tour of the valley while dm went back by bus. Stay tuned lots of photos follow. Lorl if i say that i exhaust4ef the camera battery on the fkight does that communiate? Thence via bryce canyon to see and atay o/night in zion canyon ; whichwe lrft today to travel to las veags where we are now. we have finished one memory card and have boiught anither one; will put phtos in maybe tomorrow. ti has all benn beyong amaxing; insight tours are faultless in just abut eefyr detail; weather has bee intersting say 15 in san francisco minus 20 at lowest in alaska grandcanyon lake ppowell back to say 14 - 20 at most today it was 30 in las vegas. no rpizes for working out whixh ones i prefer. love to all lorl

us and some of the local foliage

sunny arizona

here we are in arizona - the colours of the desert (as in the previous word) are lovely;

we had planned to go to tombstone and on a tour of the apache trail but both were cancelled. so we have been at the resort nooney nooning; it is hot here but not as bad as i thought ; they had 90F or high 30C the week before this which would have been too much.

i am seeing lots of v big cactuses - a life ambition / bucket wish. i.e. to see those really huge cactuses you see in the old western movies. they have them here in the resort in abundance. dmmm will no doubt down load photos of same.

tonight we meet the insight tour guide and fellow travellers then it will be off onthe road again via g canyon to l vegas.
love to all lorl

Midnight to 2am at -30

Have to follow this blog from the bottom up (don't ask me why I'm blowed if I know why it puts the photos loaded first LAST). The middle night we were at Chena it was 'up the mountain' in a snow tractor rugged up to the eyeballs. Have a gig at the suits and boots we were in at right. Laurel inside the yurt is above.

The hill top was to be the best place to see the Aurora Borealis if it came out ... so we went. But it didn't show ... until we came down at 2am and were woken by phone at 3am to be told "its out" and so we got up, rugged up in our own kit (including a T-shirt around my ears acting as a scrarf) and saw it. Impossible for a galah like me to photograph but it was erry and beautiful. This is the one time that the photos are probably better than the naked eye.

Next day it was back to normal (except up at the crack of 11am) and a visit to the dog kennels and a sled ride. Those alaskan huskies just love to run and pull. They go barking wild when they know the sled is about to much off - and that includes all the dogs that remain tied up and who would be pulling! Great fun, best day of all (could it be we were getting acclimatised?) and the northern Lights came out again that night, at a social hour of 10:30pm.

Well, it is midnight in Phoenix so time for bed. Love to you all, Den

More at -20 (well, more or less)

This trio is one shot of the Hot Springs (other side of the snow capped boulders!), two knights - 1 blue light 1 in reddish light jousting in the Ice Museum and LM standing inside the Moose Lodge where our room was. This is obviously the entry space with a couple of friends to greet us - one moose, one caribou (?) and one goose methinks hidden by a seat. The accommodation was a pretty good 3-4 star; probably 5 star for where we were.

Pics Take #2

This time on the fancy wifi at the Camelback inn in Scottsdale Arizona? YES, he is DM standing outside at Chena Resort 100km north of Fairbanks, Alaska in what is about 20 degrees Fahrenheit (sp?) and -5 or so Centigrade. The locals told us it was warm for this time of the year!

Now for a second pic! Here goes. YES, Laurel hugging an ice dog in the Ice Museum at Chena. The resort uses geothermal power to run the place and to keep things a cool -20 (F and C almost the same at this reading) in the Ice museum. They had lots of beautiful ice carvings with suitably coloured lighting. We had a Appletini between us in an ice glass. Bit strong but sweet and yummy. They said we could keep the glass as a souvenir but we couldn't think how to pack it without it breaking.

I'm doing okay with the pics so I'll trying loading 5 at once next blog - which is only minutes away! Den

Pics to cover the Chrissy card theme

Trying to upload some at Seattle airport. Here's hoping! Nope sorry folks, after 10 mins saying "loading, loading" IT DON'T LOAD. I'll give it another try at Phoenix. Meanwhile, we've had a good flight from Alaska (apart from a fella throwing up a bit and getting hostie help in the seat behind a sleeping LM). Met a man at reception in the last place we stayed who is from Kentucky and came to Alaska for a year about 20 years ago. He was the third driver we've had who came to visit and stayed on but he was the only one to call what others call 'the lower 48' America! Yawl have a good day now y'hear (Arghhh!). Den

living in a Christmas card / dreams come true

ALASKA ; cold; cold ;cold WONDERFUL COLD!!!!!!!
we arrived ok in Fairbanks and went by shuttle to Chena 2 hour trip - pronounced cheena; unpacked etc
over the 2 days we did it ALL -

• went to the ice museum to see the ice sculptures;
• had a cocktail in an ice glass;
• met the huskie dogs ; those dogs are amazing and in their way as mad as you know who; we were told they v rarely see small dogs so if they ever do they tend to think they are some kind of squirrel and do what comes natural ie have a bonus snack....;
• rode in a dog sled
• went on a night ride in a tracked arctic people mover
  
• saw the northernlights twice - once at 2;30 in the a.m. once at 10;30; just as well as that was the purpose of the trip; and yes they are eerily and majestically beautiful
• on the way back into Fairbanks saw 2 moose in the tress by the roadside

But mostly it is so wonderfully cold; i am making much use of Kath's winter coat but that and lotz-z-layers is all you need.
it is so GREAT to feel toasty warm in yourself but have the cold stinging your face and hands;
totally exhilarating and immensely beautiful
It is like being in a Christmas card, white and quiet and serene all around you;
lots of absolute blue skies, sun, sparkling snow;
cold cold cold
just wonderful
am i communicating that i sort of like it - in fact i am more convinced that this is the sort of climate we were supposed to live in... it's the Viking in me.
The night we went out on the snow train it got down to minus 20 C and we hired special clothes; after than the mere 27 F or minus 3 C actually did actually feel warm... i kid you NOT; as you can imagine lotz-fotos on the way....
today we are in Fairbanks itself to catch a plane tomorrow a.m. to Arizona
Today in Fairbanks we went to the uni museum which was nice ; i found a craft place and stocked up on patchwork books either unavailable or v XXXey in Oz also some fat 1/4s of fabric that remind me of Alaska - but am saving the BIG " throw myself in the way of to temptation experience"for the quilt tour in Las Vegas tho

Thanks for the posted comments - it is great to be in contact; Dmmmmmm will do clever things with the camera and post some photos

You could say that the Alaska interlude has been successful
luv2all-lorl

At Chena Hot Springs

Yes, I know a day has gone by and no blog from the Mahoneys. In fact we haven't blogged for a few days because it is now Wednesday and we are back in Fairbanks but the wireless internet connexions are just not working for out little netbook PC. So we cannot load the photos we'd like to. Blast! But at least we can post a bit - three nights and 2 days at Chena were good, good, good. We saw ice carvings at 20 below, took a snow plough up to a hilltop yurt from 10pm to 2am to see the Northern Lights (wh went there) only to come down and be rung at 3am because THEY'RE OUT. I understand LM has blogged downstairs on the faster ASlipine PC so I'll end here. See yawl soon, Den

let it rain let it rain let it rain

hello one and all - lorl speaking - the last day in S F was v rainy -but none the less intrepid as we are we battled on ; went on a hop on hop off tour and spent a while in the Disney museum. it showed his life and work form his ancestors onwards through to Disneyland to his death in 1966 It was quite nice - i really think in his own way Walt d actually made his contribution.
the bus tour was good and showed a lot of the city - actually it is a nice place we just lucked out with the last 2 days . Not to worry - not many photos after that 1st day

Hi-ho readers of blogs. A few mixed up pics from Day 3. First (even tho' I suspect it will show up 2nd when I publish this blog, there is a hangover of Day 2 - LM on the ferry have long since passed under the bridge with the funny name and the red colour.

Then a lady with Laurel that she spotted as we walked away from Pier 39 a 2nd time. Her windcheater is what caught Laurel's eye. It says "The three quilters Chris, xxx and Christina. This lady is Chris and we ended up talking about (what am I saying, I just talked to the husband about ... goodness knows what) quilting and their group who meets each week etc etc fat quarters, etc, quilting tour in LV for LM etc embrodiery etc ... etc.

We ended the day late, had a nap (won't say which one of us - could have been both) and then ate "in" at Denny's downstairs. They have special meals and prices for Seniors ie. OVER 55!!!! So one crumbed chicken and a something sald later we hit un sack.

Day 3 was wash-out as far as the Segway tour went as the heavens opened (ah, beautiful Melbourne - I mean SF). But we took cable car into the city, shopped at Macy's (well, one of us did anyway - see photo) before coming back via Borders (v sad, closely down) and the Cable Car museum, which was fascinating and free! That last photo looks like it is of a 1910 cable car, and it is. And it is still working. Great fun, noisy, rocking, slloowwww. And that brings us up to date. Time to go to the local Irish pub for a counter-r=tea and early(ish) night maybe. See yawl, D.

Photos from Day 1 and 2

Hidy-ho folks. We start with a piccy from the evening of Day 1 at Scoma's waterfront restaurant. After that comes 2 pics of us at Muir Woods with Laurel among the trees then hugging a little 'un with Alice. Alice is an Aussie PhD stude from ANU into planet genetics (can't you tell by looking at her? but she was a sweetie). While waiting for the boat to take us on the Bay we walked down touristy Pier 39 and overloooked the tourist-type sea lion colony at vigorous relaxation (pic of which I don't know how to turn rightways round). On board there was lots to see including the Golden Gate (which ain't golden but red/orange) and Alcatraz which, like the trenches of the Somme, neither L nor I wanted to visit. No doubt we'll have a passing pic of it in the next blog. SF is a lot like Melbourne in weather and pace at which it moves, but the natives are SO in-your-face. Oh America; right. Should have known. See yawl, Den

Oh yes and about Day 2

Didn't post after dins after all. Justed zzzeded off. But now its friday morning just before we depart for a segway ride around Fisherman's Wharf and beyond, and probably in the rain as well.
hello lorl here; would you believe that according to the 24 hour weather channel s f is the wetest place in usa today;oh dear - still we are planning a segway trip then after that hop on hop off tour; one other issue alaska is not reported on the weather channel or hawaii either - which seems a little insensitive luv2alllorl

San Fran 2 days of extremes - days not weather

Hi Ho folks and world. One 13.5 hour flight later and so little real sleep it wasn't funny. We would probably have breezed through such a flight in our 20s or 30s but this time we felt the effects. Still I (Den) got to watch 3 good movies on the Qantas plane (which was roomier on the side in cattle class that other jets we've been on in our time). I can recommend The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (with subtitles - which is actually good on a plane), Morning Glory (funny, with an aging Hans Solo) and Secretariat (which is about a fast horse and a determined woman).

We landed on schedule at SF at 9:30am local time and, after relying on LM intuition about direction and asking for one, we got on the shared van shuttle which dropped us off at the door of the Holiday Inn at around 11am. Well, at the door yes, but our actual room was in the building next door so off we chuffed, into the next building across the street, passed the 24 hour Denny's and up to Lvl 4 where we duly unpacked.

I went for a short walk to buy some ponchos because we landed in the wet and the temp was 12 degrees! Quite a change from the 29 the day before we flew out of Syd-eney (thanks Mr Samaranch). Lucky we were ready for Alaska! Out came the Kath coats and we were toasty warm. After I got the ponchos, walking back from the two blocks I'd been I came over a bit seedy, so knew it was time to snooze. Snooze? LM and I woke up at 8pm!

Like I said '2 days of extremes' and this was the first one done - flying, vanning and sleeping. Oh, plus a PS, we got some good tips for getting up and down "the strip" in LV from a young couple from Mackay in Qld who have been travelling since before the cyclone hit up there (it missed Mackay - this time). Our sleep day was capped off by a dinner out in Fisherman's Wharf where a lady in the street saw us looking at a menu and said "you should go to Scoma's just down a bit. It's the BEST place to go. I used to live here and I still come back to it. Just go down Al Scoma Lane and you can't miss it ..." She seemed pretty genuine and pleased to tell us, so we did. It was a packed restaurant on the waterfront - actually on a jetty out over the water. We has to wait 10 minutes for a seat while we had a drink and listened, amused, to the bartender-ess tell the enquiring couple next to us, AND the SF waterfront population for several miles around, her life spent 27 years serving at Scomas. PS. Laurel had the plate of salmon & salad and I had 3 lamb T-bones (ie. lamb chops) with spinach (!) and some unearthly form of potato mash. Then it was more sleep so that we could spring up at the crack of 7:45 (slept through the 7am alarm or else didn't set it right - my money is on the latter) for an 8:45 trip to see some giant sequoira trees and then some. But Day 2 - which was delightful - and so at the other extreme, is over to LM to tell after we come back from dins. See yawl later, Dennis Mar-hone- knee.

Even before we go - 2 sleeps to go!!!!

Hello folks and world - here we are again about to set off on the Alaska > Arizona trip; from a balmy minus 30 to30 in Phoenix Arizona. . LOTZALUV to one and all; hopeful of wonders, amazement and FUN!!! PLS write!!!!