Cedar City

Entering Utah was like driving into a beautiful story book. The flatness of the Nevada landscape gave way to rolling green hills and snow, capped mountains in the background. We drove into the town of Cedar City, a former mining town. We had decided that going to Moab would be too long a drive and this would be a good half way stop. This was the original plan but the more we thought about it we needed to spend at least a week in the Moab area and we would not make it in just one day. So we decided we would go directly to Salt Lake City and have an extra day to see friends there instead.
We found the Koa to be in the middle of the city. We drove in, found our tent site, set up our tent and headed for the pool. It wasn't a large one but it was cool and refreshing non-the-less. There was a large public laundromat on the property and we had it was easy to get out laundry done.
We returned to our camp to find a young couple setting up their tent near us and we got to know them. Chris and Lauren originated in Main took a plane to San Fransisco and rode on their bikes over Donner Pass, through Carson City, across the desert all the way to Cedar City. Lauren was looking at the map given to them by a local friend who was a distance rider. It showed them all the less traveled roads that would be safer for bikes to ride. They usually stayed with people along the way having connected to the sight on line. They both carried Blackberry phones to stay connected and sent e-mail and blog notes. Their blog is wheel horse with no name. She uses Blogspots as I do. Lauren commented on the difficulty of riding long distance in the dust so I gave her my windsurfing glasses that were more like goggles. I hope they will help as she had a long way to go.
They had met two other riders who were leaving later as they usually road faster so that way they would all meet at the next point of destination. Lauren commented that one of the fellows was boxer and he was riding a bike with only one gear. We thought that was amazing thinking of the high hills and mountains they would have to cross. In the morning we found that both fellows came to the campsite late in the night and we saw them still asleep in their sleeping bags. We wished them luck as we drove off to our next destination, Salt Lake City

Viva Las Vegas!

We had planned two nights in Las Vegas to give us a break from tenting. I needed one as the night before in Williams Koa a large group of boys scouts settled in for the night after we had gone to bed and were just ready to go into slumber land. For the next hour he heard yelling, calling, and peg pounding. Apparently, they needed to do this well in order to get their merit badge in tenting. Finally, when things got quiet we heard the crunching of pebbles close to our ears in the path to the bathrooms. Even with earplugs in my ears, I would awaken with the crunch-crunch all night long. So we didn't get much sleep that night, and we rolled into the Palace Station Hotel a bit drowsy thinking about a comfortable bed.

Later that afternoon we decided to explore the hotel. We found that there were two pools. We gathered our goggles and set out to do some laps. When we arrived at the pool we found a family playing the catch game, but they were using a special kind of ball that skipped on the water. Dad would throw the ball and the three teen-aged girls would catch it. They were pretty good as the Dad did everything he could do to make it tough for them. He would throw the ball and make it bounce five times bong, bong, bong, bong, bing, SPLASH! John and I looked at each other and knew we could not compete with this group. So we went in search for the next pool. We found it near the back of the back of the hotel. It was much more mellow and more our style. We quickly put our goggles on and dove in to do our laps. For fifteen minutes we scissored back and forth scattering the bathers to the edge of the pool. We got out satisfied with our workout and left the bathers to enjoy the pool all to themselves.
We headed for our room in the tower which was a $20 upgrade from our sky miles deal. It was a newly renovated part of the hotel. After dinner John was determined to win this money back so he headed for the nearest blackjack table. We could see why this club was favored by the locals as the minimum down was five dollars. So John plunked down his five dollars and played for about fifteen minutes. As soon as he was ahead twenty-five dollars, he quit happy to have beat the dealer.

The second night we were scheduled to move to the Flamingo – the original Las Vegas hotel built by Bugsy Siegel. The hotel had been renovated many times since its beginning, but it still had the choice spot on the strip. It was built in a horseshoe with a beautiful tropical garden in the center. Looking down from our window to the sight below we could see water falls, and lagoons filled with huge koi and exotic ducks. We were eager to see more of this lovely garden, so we got dressed in our swim attire and headed down to explore and then hit the pool.

We meandered around the grounds and noticed a section with pink flamingos, just like the ones we have at Jungle Gardens in Sarasota. Around the corner we came upon a lovely water fall that spilled twelve foot outcrop of rock. It looked like a scene from Kauai with lots of vines and orchids all around. As we moved closer for a better look, we almost tripped over a mermaid. At least that's what we called her. The girl had her feet in the water and was draped over a rock reading a brochure. She was a journalist out of work and had just been give a free ride status with the airlines a as friend designated her as his "significant other." She was now checking brochures to see where she wanted to go next. The only problem was that "Sharon" did not have any money and was also trying to figure out how to get some. We gave her some ideas as we wondered how she ever got herself in such a situation. Later on in the afternoon after having gone swimming, we saw her lying down sleeping on the park bench by the flamingo exhibit.

That evening we didn't want to go out into the strip to find a show so we opted for a show in house. Our choices were: Donny and Marie or X Burlesque. John chose the latter and I was not going to argue as he is our driver after all! After a little nap we went down to the stage door. The host seated us in the second row which was close enough for this small cabaret. He seated other people in strategic places, like a group of four young guy's right in front of the Pole. He also stopped to whisper to a young man in front of us and then asked, "Is that ok with you?" to which the young man named Paul, answered with an enthusiastic. "Sure!"

Six beautiful well-endowed dancers began as a still cameo picture behind a frame and then one by one stepped through the frame and the dancing began. Most of the routines were in the jazz style like some of the dances we do in our Dance Trance exercise program but with more emphasis on T&A. In one interesting sequence one dancer who was at least 6ft tall came forth and did a cartwheel in pike heels landing on the platform in front of the Pole. The guys nearby had eyes as large as saucers. The dancer then proceeded to whip her body around the pole extending her legs with the spike heels just missing our boys. She then shimmied up the pole like a zoo animal and turned herself upside down holding on the pole just by her highs! She extended her hands out to the boys doing little fluttering motions with her hands. You could almost see the sweat glistening on the boy's brows. She then swept around, stepped off the platform and was gone in an instant leaving us sitting with mouths open.

Now it was time for audience participation. The number had to do with taking a flight on an airplane and something about a five mile club. I guess this is what Paul consented to doing because a dancer came down and took him by the hand to the stage where he had to sit in a chair. The dancers went on with their routine around him and he was looking a bit worried with a nervous grin on his face. Finally, the lead dancer turned his chair around and wheeled it through the open curtain and then it closed. They left it to our own imagination as to what was happening to poor Paul. Then the dancers finished their dance and Paul was rolled back on stage with his shirt open and hair all tousled and with a bigger grin than before. He was then escorted back to his little wife.
The last part of the show were routines in the different styles such as Country Western, belly dancing, and an Arial dance like you might see in Cirque du Soliel. The dancer suspended herself by her arms and did all sorts of tricks while swinging back and forth on the stage. At one point she spun around so fast that she was almost a blur. Being a dance teacher, I enjoyed the performance on another level than that of other audience members. So I was delighted with the evening entertainment.

 

Hoover Dam – A Great Man Made Wonder!



On the By Mass over looking Hoover Dam



We made it to Nevada!

We left Arizona and the great natural wonder of the Grand Canyon on way to Nevada. As we drove near the border of Nevada we came upon the great man made wonder, The Hoover Dam. It was named after Herbert Hoover and it is the second structure named after him that we knew, the first being Hoover Tower on the campus of Stanford University. Some call it Hoover's Last Erection.
We drove in to the parking lot and went through inspection. Security saw our Rocket Box and flagged us aside. Bummer, we thought. In San Padre we found out that our Rocket Box had a defective lock so we had to tie it down with ratchet tie down straps. So now John had to get up on the ladder and unstrap the box, open it and show the security guard that it had nothing but sails. We passed inspection and were told to go and park.

Hoover Dam-A Man Made Wonder!

We climbed up to the Hoover Dam Bypass just opened this year. This bridge is dedicated to Mike O'Callaghan, the governor of Nevada responsible for the building of the bridge, and Pat Tillman who gave up his football career to go to Iraq and lost his life to friendly fire. We stood by the memorial plaque and did some reading about the dam. Here are some stats: Building started in 1931 during the Depression employing people. 112 people died in the project. J.G. Tierney, a surveyor, was the first to die and his son Patrick was the last to die 13 years later to the day of his father's death. To those who died, a plaque was erected that said, "They died to make the desert bloom." The dam was built by a consortium of five companies two of which were Kaiser and Bechtel from San Francisco. It cost $49 billion dollars. It was finished by 1936 ahead of schedule. It is 726.4 Ft in height, 1,244ft in Length, and holds 250,000 cu. Yd. of water. This water created Lake Meade Reservoir and generates 4.2 Kwh of energy for Nevada and Los Angeles. Bugsy Siegel owes his success to this dam as well as the Motion Picture Industry in L.A. Wow!

We walked until we were right in front of the dam and took our pictures. We didn't have time to go into the dam and see the generators though we had been in several dams on the Columbia and studied how they work to generate electricity. I remember supervising the making of electro-magnates when I taught physics in middle school. This was just one on a grand scale. It just goes to show you the power of moving water with the help of gravity all being put to good use.

The Grand Canyon Experience!

The Triceritops



Mushroom Tents of Many Colors



We set aside two days for out Grand Canyon experience spending two nights in Williams, Arizona instead of spending one night in Flagstaff and then going on to Williams. We were glad that we made this change in our itinerary as we were pretty tired after going through the Painted Desert. We found the Koa Campgrounds about half mile from the interstate and happily realized this campground was the find a perfect site only a short walk to the bathroom and showers. So we set up our tent in record time and checked the camp out. This Koa had a restaurant for breakfast and dinner, a large indoor pool, a theater to show movies, and a stage for entertainment. There were plenty of showers which were clean and well kept. Finally, there were running trails up the mountain that would be a joy to attack after a long ride. We were determined to work out every day and I brought my weights and exercise bands as well as my jump rope, but running outdoors or swimming laps have always been our first choice of fitness.

We set up our campsite among many dome tents and it looked like a colorful mushroom city from the Wizard of Oz. Our "Triceratops" seemed to fit right in. We then went into the town of Williams a small cowboy town. We passed under the large archway that pronounced, "The Gateway to the Grand Canyon." It was clear that many people there had been or were going to the Grand Canyon and this little town was making the most of getting the business with many quaint restaurants, curio shops, and gas that sold for $4.30 a gallon! We were interested in some kind of a sports bar to find out who was ahead in the U.S. Open so, we went into Poncho McGuillecudy's Mexican Restaurant. We ordered our meal and were surprised that it was the best Mexican food since eating at Pedros in Los Gatos.

As we were ready to leave, John asked the couple behind us for directions to the Canyon since we were planning to go first thing in the morning. As we got to talking we found out that Scott grew up in the bay area and knew some of our best friends. Small world! Both Scott and Sandy were teachers and liked to travel during the summers. They were about ten years younger and were still teaching, Bob teaching Special Ed. and Sue was teaching Kindergarten. They enjoyed their jobs but were not happy about the system and had plans to change things. He came into teaching after being a policeman and Sue had been working the computer field with Atari when it first materialized as a game computer in schools. They too were writing a blog and so we exchanged e-mails and blogs so we could stay in touch.

Early the next morning after breakfast at the Camp Diner were made our way up the hill for the drive to the canyon and soon we were joined by tour busses, cars of every description, motorcycles, and even bicycles. It was about a fifty mile drive with little to see until we got near the canyon. Then we saw hotels and a regular village adding to this all the building that harbored the welcome center and gift shops. The south rim if the canyon was definitely suited for tourism. Judging from all the different nationalities of people there, the sight was popular all over the world. Several groups were accompanied by their own guides and spoke in their language explaining about different attractions. We followed the group in the welcome center and went in to see the prepared film that would set the stage for us when we made our way around the rim. It was very enlightening to find out how the canyon configuration came about and to power of the Colorado River as it carved the canyon revealing for us the thousands of years of layers of rock. The fact is that this natural phenomenon is presented like an open book for everyone to see and examine. People see it on many levels. To some it is a challenge to scale down its path and reach the river. To others it is the beauty of the ever changing colors as different light shines its colors, so artist and photographers study the canyon in different lights. To geologists it is a wonder to explore its many types of rock and how they accumulated throughout the billions of years our Earth has gone through change.

On top of the world!

John and I left to explore the rim. If we were younger or planned for the altitude change, we might have wanted to scale down Angel's Path but we were not prepared for it. Our young friends from New York back at our campsite spent the previous day hiking down the Kobab path which was more difficult and they noted that it was not a piece of cake. It was very narrow and a steep drop to the side. So we decided that was not for us at least on this trip. We went around the rim and observed the unbelievable rock formations below and took pictures that would never do justice to natural light. We followed the billion year walk that would take us close to the end of the rim and touched the different rock samples along the path. My father, a mining engineer, imprinted on such the love of rocks as he had a wonderful collection and loved explaining about them as if they were real living things. Seeing the many samples and where they were in the canyon each telling their stories, they seemed a part of the living planet that we must learn to preserve.

Another group of people that feel the same way about the canyon are the Navaho Indians who live near the canyon. The Navaho House stands near the end of the rim walk. In it is their beautiful artistry in their jewelry, basketry, and clothing. Their spokesman presented us with the importance of the natural world and how the Navahos believe it as a sacred part of life. They presented us with their dances and being a teacher of dance of other cultures through the IB program; I was fascinated by the beauty of the choreography and the style and measured rhythms of their dances. The first dance presented was the dance of the hunt. They presented this dance as the Navahos do it and also the variations as done by the Utes and the Piute's. The second dance added girl dancers and they did the dance of the basket. This dance showed how the basket is used and the importance of it in everyday life. These baskets are woven with such perfection and they can even hold water. Finally, the spokesman asked his parents to come and dance. As the elderly couple walked on the stage with great dignity, they performed a movement dance with the father moving about in sprite jumping steps while the mother moved in a slow repetitive touch-step sequence with beautiful straight posture and elegance. To end the program the narrator emphasized how important it was to make sure the young never forgot about their Indian heritage as well as the importance of the natural world such as the Grand Canyon.

By the time the sun was starting to set we were enriched with so much natural beauty that we set for home to our campsite fulfilled with our experience at having seen such a great Wonder of our World.

Arizona – A place of wonder- The Painted Desert

A place to buy great presents!

Arizona – A Place of Wonder!

Part 1: The Painted Desert

Crossing the line to Arizona we went into the visitor's bureau where we talked to the director, Roxanne. She was a Navaho Indian and proudly shared with us the sights we should see. We were planning to go only to see the Grand Canyon but she insisted we stop and to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. She also said that as seniors we could get a pass for $10 that would be good at any other National Park. So we bought the package and set out to find the Painted Desert.

Stopping at a rest stop on the way, we met people from Tennessee who were traveling in a huge, red, tour bus with Tennessee Tours written on the side. They seemed to be going to the same sights as we were, and we were bound to see them often in the few days to follow. They were going on the Route 66 and then to San Francisco. The tour had them stop at hotels along the way. They all seemed pretty contended as they traveled in air conditioning and had TV for entertainment. We ran into this group at the next stop which was a curio shop along the highway where you could buy presents and mementos of the trip. We stopped here and got some presents for Lynda, Jake, and Berkeley.

John and his new friend Roxanne

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forrest were self-guided tours that you did following a map given to us by Roxanne. As we approached the guard house we were waved on with our Senior Card. We drove seeing sage brush and not much else for a while and we thought maybe we had been duped into this route. When suddenly we turned the corner and the sight took our breath away. The earth suddenly took on the most amazing colors as if a master artist had a field day. We got out of the car and took pictures that were amazing. The pictures do not even do justice to actually seeing the different shades of pinks and reds in the rock formations. We continued our drive and stopped at the Navaho house where John picked up a pamphlet on how to become a Junior Ranger and handed it to me with the challenge to see if I could fulfill the requirements. It looked pretty interesting so I said, "Great!"

We follow the tour eventually getting to the Petrified Forest. We were amazed for the second time that day as we saw great chunks of wood that had been made into rock. Again we took pictures of the colors imbedded in rock that was organic matter. We hiked around the whole area where these trees had lived when this part of the world was in the tropical zone. As it happened, North and South America were joined with Europe into one land mass. This part of the world was about where we find the equator today. There was also a large inland sea so much of the land that is now Utah down to Arizona was underwater. I remember when we lived in Utah it was possible to go hiking up the hills and find tiny sea shells and fossils.

Sample of a petroglyph

We stopped at one point of interest where there were petroglyphs that were visible through telescopes set up for viewers to see. We share the site with a group of youngsters from a nearby reservation. The group had driven three hours in three minivans to get here. The reservation elders felt it was most important for the young teens to know everything about their culture including knowledge of the land and the primitive peoples that came before them. The kids seemed to be enjoying the trip as we talked to them by their cars. Just like kids anywhere they were listening to rap on the radio and were pretty hip.

We continued our drive to the Information Center and I only had half of my form filled. I was hoping to get some answers here or I would never get to be a Junior Ranger. I expressed my concern to the real Ranger at the desk and she said to go and view the film and then look about the exhibits and then go outside to find the rest of the answers. That seemed a lot of research and John was regretting having mentioned "Junior Ranger" to me. I, however, was getting excited as we went in and saw the film which turned out to be most informative. They had an animated section showing how the logs were swept down river and settled into the silt. As time went by the minerals in the soil permeated the organic matter in the tree and formed a solid rock. The film also mentioned the prehistoric animals that were living in this habitat and I knew there were lots of questions regarding these animals on my form. When the film was over we went out to look for the giant tree. We hiked until we found a section that looked like a forest with a great many large trees lying undisturbed. The rangers are ever on the alert for people taking any rocks. The film even showed a guy get hand cuffed when they found some rocks in his pocket. So though it was tempting, we simply took pictures. One question asked for me to put my arms around the largest tree and see much circumference was left to cover. So I found a large tree and did the bear hug while John guestimated the rest of the tree. Now all needed to do was find out about the animals in the museum. Jake, our grandson, would love to be here to see this exhibit. I know he may not know these unusual animals though he knows many by name. Several of the animals on display were similar to the Alligator of present day. And some looked like the typical prehistoric carnivores from Jurassic Park. I finally completed my form and triumphantly went up to the desk to have the ranger check it out. She said it was fine and had me do the oath of the Junior Ranger and got my badge which I shall wear proudly.

Teens from the Navaho Reservation taking the tour.

A sample of petrivied wood

A Junior Ranger  - at Last!



Mary infront of the Painted Desert



New Mexico – The Land of Enchantment!

As soon as we crossed the line from Texas, we saw a complete change in scenery. No longer did we have the lovely roads and the fields of corn, cotton, and wheat. Instead everywhere your eye could see there was sage brush and long plateaus known as mesas. We also had to change our clocks to Mountain Time so we made up an hour, putting us ahead of our schedule which is always nice. Around sixty miles from Albuquerque we passed by a platoon of motorcyclists riding free as the wind with their hair flying like Easy Rider. It was No Helmets for this group! They wore black leather jackets that said, "Survivors – Clean and Sober."

The road was suddenly redressed with many billboards advertising local Indian casinos and restaurants. We found ourselves in the center of a vibrant city and since we were famished decided to find a place to eat. There were many interesting restaurants but we chose Jason's Deli. It was noon and the Deli was full of people going through the line. We opted for a salad bar and sandwiches. I was surprised that they offered a whole menu for non-gluten entrees and breads which is seen more and more in pure food communities. We opted for the salad bar that had Romaine lettuce and baby spinach as well as a great variety of fresh vegies and fruits. This was my kind of place.

When we were done, we put the Garmin Girl to work again. She directed us to our Koa Campsite a few miles out of the city. This Koa had limited number of campsites for tents, but we were able to locate one in the far corner. It was perfectly suited for us under the shade of large poplar trees and away from the road. We quickly set up our campsite and hit the pool which was under shaded roof. This was a welcome sight as the heat index was in the 100s.By far this was the longest pool of all the Koa Campsites with its rectangular size making it perfect for swimming laps. We had the pool all to ourselves and enjoyed our favorite football-catch game.

Albuquerque is a vibrant city with many things to offer visitors. We were told to make sure we went on the Tram that took you to the top of the nearby mountain. We were also told about the great bike trails all over the city. We were sorry that we had not set aside more time in this lovely place, but we found we had just a small window of time for the evening. We chose to be picked up by the Casino bus and go there for dinner. The small bus picked us up at our campsite. The driver was a walking-talking Chamber of Commerce for Albuquerque. He went on and on about how great the place was. He actually had only arrived six months before. He sold his house in Maine and relocated when his daughter got a great job in Albuquerque and his son became stationed nearby in the air force. Now that he was semiretired, he worked for the casino driving people about. He took us to the popular Casino run by the local Indians. Since it is within the reservation line, Indian casinos are often out of the jurisdiction of local governments. We had no plans to gamble and we were not hungry yet, having had a large lunch, so we went to the bowling lanes upstairs from the Casino.

We got a lane, rented shoes, and found a ball that would fit my hand. I was pretty rusty rolling lots of balls in the gutter, but John soon got into the groove and was hitting strikes. We had the lane for an hour so the second game I did much better and John kept breaking 100. Next to us there were three other bowlers. One was an Asian fellow who was super smooth and he delivered the ball with a deep knee bend so it slithered hitting all strikes. The other fellow was a lefty and prepared his motion way over to our lane so we had to be careful not to collide with him on his delivery. The third fellow had some kind of palsy and walked with an awkward gait holding the ball at shoulder level. When he delivered, he let it drop so hard we thought he would crack the floor. BONG! Somehow he never put the ball in the gutter and his scores were higher than mine. By the third game I was doing better bowling a few strikes that put me over the 100 mark. Somehow I beat our neighbor by a few points. By now John was on a roll and got his score up to 140. Not bad for not having bowled for over a year!

John hits another strike!

The bowling experience gave us an appetite so we went to the first floor restaurant and sat and ordered a light meal: Mild chicken wings for John and a bowl of soup for me. For some reason we waited forever for our food and finally when it came John's wings were so hot he turned as red as his shirt and gulped down his beer. I was waiting for my cream of chicken soup to cool, and John asked me if I wanted a chicken wing. Watching his eyes still dilating, I said, "NO Thanks!" So now it was my turn and took a large soup spoon and delivered the soup in my mouth. Within a second I grabbed for my water glass and gulped down as much as I could to put out the fire in my mouth. I looked carefully at my soup and saw a lot of green things flowing around. My suspicions were correct; my soup was full of jalapeno peppers. It was too late to ask for reorders as our bus was waiting for us but we voiced our concern to our server and her reply was, "Welcome to New Mexico where everything is HOT!"

Amarillo – Get Your Kicks on Route 66!

We arrived near the city of Amarillo, Texas so we turned on the Garmin Girl who then gave us excellent directions to our Koa Campground. We were greeted by furious, hot wind so much so that just opening the door to the office yanked my hand and slammed it against the side of the building. Ouch! Dust was flying all around and the trees were swishing in a wild dace with the wind. I wondered how we would be able to set up our tent let alone sleep with it blowing everywhere. To my surprise, John opted to getting a log cabin which came to $60. The cabin had air condition and electricity for recharging the computer and all the other gadgets that needed recharging which was a must on this trip. It had two sets of bunk beds in the back room and a full bed in the main room. We used the full bed for our entire luggage and slept in the bunk beds in the back with John choosing the bed near the air conditioning.

By now we had accumulated lots of laundry, so we decided we would do this and take a swim while we were waiting for the wash to end. The pool was perfectly cool and refreshing and we managed to do our laps as the water in the pool was too cold for other campers to enjoy. Because we were the only ones in the pool, we also got to play our favorite game of catch with our sponge football. By and by more campers came so we decided to check on our laundry. While the clothes were drying, we had an opportunity to talk to Jeff and Marie who were retired teachers from Ft. Lauderdale. They traveled every summer and since they knew we were going to southern Utah, they told us of some of the best trails to follow. They were on their way to meet other campers in Colorado. They traveled in a fifth wheeler which is a camper pulled by a pick-up truck. They used to tent for many years when their daughters were growing up. Now they felt they deserved a bit more luxury. We gathered our laundry and placed it back in the cabin then made plans for dinner.

The BIg Texan's Boot!

A New Hat for Mary

This Chair is TOOOO Big!

John likes the Western Stringers!

A local restaurant called, The Big Texan, sent a courtesy limo come to the campground to pick people who wanted to enjoy a steak dinner. We joined another family and left in the limo which we thought was great since we didn't want to go driving around in the wind to places unknown. We arrived at the Big Texan and everything was BIG! The limo, of course, then the Boot…perfect for a picture. We walked in and I headed to the curio shop, much to the dismay of John who was on a budget. I found the perfect red hat and told John to put it on my credit. As we waited for our table, I spotted the largest chair I had ever seen and climbed on it to show you how big it was. We then were guided up stairs which was great so we could see all the action below. We split a meal because we knew it would be BIG! We were right. Our server, Andy, prepared our meal in two separate dishes. As we began our meal there was great drama occurring down below. A fellow who sat at a raised table was attempting to complete the challenge of eating a whole meal consisting of a huge steak, spud, salad, vegies, and desert. If he was able to eat it all, the meal was free; otherwise he would pay the restaurant $100.

Andy stopped by from time to time to see how we were doing and we would chat with him for a while. He was twenty-three and just graduated from University of Texas and was looking forward to getting him Masters in finance at NYU. His secret passion was surfing in Hawaii. John pointed out that he was probably pretty good since he had a low center of gravity. And added, "I bet you played football." Yes, he had been a fullback in high school and though he could have gotten a scholarship to play in college, he opted not to and to concentrate on his studies. We asked him where he liked to go surfing in Hawaii, thinking he might be one to hit the North beach. He said he had an aunt who had a condo on Waikiki beach and he liked to surf out by the farthest swell. We sympathized with him as we loved to surf Waikiki with the long rides into shore.

Suddenly, we heard a great hoopla downstairs and looked over the railing. The challenger had done it; he had eaten the whole meal. Several people came up to take a picture of him as he sat on his high thrown with a big belly and a sheepish grin on his face. By the time we had finished our desert, we were serenated by the Western Stringers who had made their way to the balcony. John told them that I was a line dancer, so they played a fast two step with the fiddler doing his best to keep to moving at a fast pace. It was a great meal and a great evening and it did not break the bank. As we were waiting for our limo for our return trip, we watched the eating hero waddling out the door with a tooth pick in his mouth and still wearing a grin on his face.

We returned to our cute little log cabin and tried out our bunk beds. This was not unlike our experience on the cruise ship. The beds were just as narrow and a challenge for both the top and bottom bunks. John chose a bottom bunk and had to be careful not to bonk his head when he got up and I chose a top bunk and had to be careful not to fall over and carefully make it down the wood ladder. Outside the wind kept blowing and we were grateful to be in our cozy cabin.

The BIG Texan Limo at our Service!

Our Little Log Cabin