|
Park City, Zion, Grand Canyon - 1/5/08 |
|
|
|
|
Written by Jane
|
|
Friday, 11 January 2008 |
Happy New Year! 
One problem with writing only once a month is that we’re covering so much ground it seems like I can’t possible get it all in in one entry. My New Years resolution will be to blog daily!Unlikely perhaps but a good goal nonetheless.
Where to begin? We finished up our time in Cali with a few days of hiking in Marin.  We dragged Miles’ brother Telo and his girlfriend Shannon up to Green Lake and then spent some time searching around the Fairfax area for Miles’ and Telo’s house that they lived in for awhile growing up. It was such a groovy little town – very crunchy but in a laid back California way. Marin is unbelievable. Kell and I almost made it to the top of Mt. Tamalpais on an old fire road and saw some beautiful vistas of the Bay area.    But alas, we had to turn back so that we could make it back to San Francisco in time to see Miles’ friends Tom and Andie, and their lovely new baby, Juniper.  Isn’t she a gem? On our last day there, we drove out to Point Reyes, an unbelievable section of parkland on the coast that combines long cove-like beaches, with highland like hills. The lighthouse sits at the end of a rocky promontory that raised the hair on the back of my neck a bit, but was well worth the fright to see. We had hoped to spot some gray whales off shore but settled instead for sightings of sea lions, pelicans, and elk.        
We decamped for higher ground (Utah) and hoped to make Salt Lake the same day but our truck and trailer problems continued to plague us. So it was that we found ourselves in Elko, Nevada, at around 11 pm, with temperatures falling below zero, and our truck’s check engine light on, AGAIN! This time, it was at least still running and the Onstar folks said it was the turbo intake AGAIN! But that meant we could continue on. But rather than risk it, we pulled into a nearby campground for the night. When we finally got ourselves into the trailer, we couldn’t get the door to shut – and it was blowing really cold snow outside so this was not a welcome development. We struggled with it for about a half hour and finally decided to tie it shut using an inside handle. In the morning, a service rep was able to talk us through a temporary fix and we were on our way again. The drive into Salt Lake was a long, very straight, flat road over the salt flats, but striking in terms of contrasts/scenery.  
Unfortunately, one of our first days in Park City was spent taking the trailer into another dealer for a bunch of work that is needed. We’re going to have to bring it back in mid-February to have the work finished. I think I’ve finally resolved myself to the fact that the trailer will always need some kind of work – and that thankfully the warranty isn’t up for another year and a half so we’ll have a healthy window, post-trip, to have all of the remaining items dealt with before we put it on the market for resale. Just like a new house! But on wheels…
In the meantime, we parked at the Park City RV resort which turned out to be a great spot for us. It was fully equipped, complete with hot tub, and though it was right off a highway, it backed up to a large area of preserve, a running stream and some nice hiking trails. It was also very close to Miles’ sister’s house where we spent many evenings over the holidays. We got completely dumped on while we were there. About 3 feet of the white fluffy stuff in the three weeks we were there. We spent several mornings shoveling our little site out and dealing with all the attendant problems of being in sub-zero temperatures – frozen pipes, frozen locks, frozen black water tank, frozen gray water tank, ice inside (yes, inside) the trailer windows. But all worked out more or less ok. There were a few days where we were forced to use the resort’s showers and toilets, but it was completely doable. By the end of our stay, we realized that to survive this winter’s weather, we’ll need a tank heater for our black and gray tanks, and we began the process of devising an insulation skirt for the bottom of the trailer – to help with the various freeze-ups that inevitably occur.
We had a lovely trailer park Christmas. I actually broke down and bought a little tree for the table and a few cheap ornaments, hung stockings in the windows stacked the few things we got for Kell and from Santa on the table Christmas Eve. Kell and I set out the milk from a coconut that we had found in California for Santa and his reindeer and wrote a note explaining its exotic origins. Santa was kind enough to drink it all, and leave his candy cane for Kell to eat instead. Kell was happy as ever, even after findout out that the one toy from Santa was missing an essential piece (can you believe that sell “remote control” toys where the remote control is “not included”???!!!). Anyway, the toy store was happy to send it back to Santa and give us one that included the rc unit. Alls well that ends well.          
Santa was extremely sweet and generous with me, leaving me a beautiful pair of diamond stud earrings (what did I do to deserve this?) and a new camelback backpack for skiing. I felt really badly afterwards, having complained to Miles’ sister the day before about how he was always shopping on the day before, or the day of, any occasion. Well, he did get them shipped overnight on Christmas eve but had done his research long before apparently – to my great surprise and wonder.
Although I missed my family on many occasions over the holidays, I also felt some relief at not going through some of those motions on this first holiday without my Mom. It would have been nice to be around my family while going through this but I was relieved not to be reminded at every turn of my mother’s absence from the holiday scene. But on Christmas Eve, I played for Kell Jenn’s video of my mother reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to Kendall and Camryn and felt as though somehow, she was still around.
Although we spent most of our days either getting ready for or celebrating the holidays with Miles’ family, we did get a bunch of skiing days in … at Solitude, Deer Valley and the Canyons. Kell’s skiing is coming along very well, despite a minor meltdown late on his first day back on the slopes. We just overestimated how far he could go and had a hard time talking him down the mountain. But the next couple of ski days worked out beautifully.
We also got to have a couple of outings sans child -- yippee. Christmas Day we had a nice snowshoe in the foothills just behind our campground, and then another day at the movies, and finally, on New Year’s Eve, a whole evening and night to ourselves while Kell stayed at Meg and Ben’s. Of course, he was more than happy to do that all the time as he and Miles’ niece Izzy got along famously. It seemed like all Kell talked about while we were there was when he would next be able to see Izzy. It was great to see that they could get along so great with three years between them. And it was sad to have to leave. Park City is a great spot recreationally, and it was nice to be around family for awhile.  
Anyway, after a few weeks in the snow, we headed off two days ago to make our way down to Pheonix, where Miles’ will meet up with some colleagues later this week. On our way, we spent a day at Zion – one of the most beautiful places I think I’ve ever seen. We arrived just ahead of a major rain storm that made the red walls of the canyon glisten all around and then finally burst with waterfalls everywhere we looked. We tried to hike up to the top of a saddle called Angel’s landing, and made it most of the way up, crossing small streams that rushed across the trail. But we were finally turned back by waterfall crashing directly on to the trail that, had we gone through it, would have either meant being completely soaked the rest of the hike, or worse, slipping and falling off the sheer cliffs that bordered the switch-backed trail. But still the vistas were astoundingly beautiful and Kell was a trooper all the way up despite being pretty well soaked through by the time we finished.    
We left Zion for the Grand Canyon, passing through Glen Canyon on the way. Apparently, Glen Canyon would be almost as Grand as the Grand Canyon were it not for the brilliant damming of the Colorado River at one end, which formed Lake Powell, now a western boating mecca. But dam and all, it was still achingly beautiful.    
When we arrived here tonight in the Grand Canyon, we found ourselves in the midst of snowstorm, and had some trouble pulling the trailer up the hills, even in 4WD low. We’re safely ensconced now and looking forward to getting our first glimpse of this snow-covered wonder. |
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 11 January 2008 )
|
|
