Meteor Crater, New Mexico and Texas

We stayed the night in Flagstaff, Arizona and were up bright and early Saturday morning. Just east of Flagstaff is a meteor crater that was made about 50,000 years ago. Huge.

To get an idea of how big it was, they have a cut out of a 6 ft. astronaut holding a flag on the bottom. It was really hard to see,and you missed it if you didn,t know it was there.

It brought back memories when you read the names of the early astronauts that we remembered from years ago.

Then on into New Mexico, and lots to look at there.

We took side trips on old Route 66 in both Arizona and New Mexico.

Saw this sign, but not sure...

And then into Texas, with cows, open highways and Montgomery County.

We spent the night in Buffalo, Texas, pretty much had the motel to ourselves.

The Grand Canyon

Pictures just can't do justice to how impressive the Grand Canyon is. We visited Grand Canyon West, on the South Rim.

I think seeing how small the helicopters looked below us, put perspective into how deep and large the canyon was.

I climbed up on some rocks and a fellow from Brazil took my picture. Sarah and I posed here with the Colorado River behind us. Directly behind the rock we are sitting on is a sheer 4000 ft. drop. It was amazing and frightening to walk on the rim and look straight down. Sarah wouldn't get too close.

We walked out on the skywalk and looked through the glass floor.

Even the drive out to the canyon was interesting, as we meandered through the desert and cactus. There were even cattle roaming on the roads.

Sarah was worried a rattlesnake would get her, so we had to rush this picture.

This was one of the Texas gates that kept the cattle in their proper places. It took quite a bit to convince Jesse that they were allowed to use a Texas gate in Arizona.

We thought of the boys when we saw this sign.

Breaking news at Home...

She was due on my birthday, but I guess that didn't impress her, so Arla Rose waited a few more days. Congratulations Dan and Katelyn. Do I get to call myself a Grand God Father?

And in the breaking records news is that while we are away, Jesse shipped over 4000 litres of milk for the first time ever. And he says there are 3 more cows going in the tank tonight, so he expects to set more records.

Grandma would also like to thank Jesse for taking her out for Easter dinner. Dolan Rd. Irving. Nice.

Arizona, Nevada, Hoover Dam, and then Arizona again

Thursday morning we left Sprinville, and were excited to find the speed limit was raised again. 80 mph or 127 kph.

We ran into a bit of snow again, but after we started to decend into Arizona, the temperature went from -3 C to +13 C in about 20 minutes. It was a spectacular drive downhill, driving with one hand and taking pictures with the other.

We took a side trip into Las Vegas, to look at the casinos.

On to see the massive Hoover dam, and a tour of that. It was crazy busy, and as you can see in the last picture, they are building an impressive bypass. We got stuck in traffic for 5 or 10 minutes, but the line up we passed as we left was at a standstill right up to the 7 mile marker in Arizona, so at least 12 km.

We spent the night in Kingman, Arizona.

Leaving Vancouver

There are things you don't get to watch out your kitchen window in Midland, so we enjoyed watching them assemble a crane outside Peter's window. On our next visit, our view of the mountains will be somewhat obstructed by a new building.

After we were satisfied that they had things under control, we loaded up and headed out. Our cross Canada trip over,we started back through the States.

Into Washington state again, and we got on the 90 eastbound at Seattle, if we stay on it, it'll take us right to Boston.

Back into the mountains again, and on into Oregon. The views are magnificant. There is alot of country out here.

We stayed the night in Baker City, Oregon. Then we headed towards Idaho and we learned a few things. Did you know it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon? The speed limits increased to 75mph (121 kph), and we saw lots of fields that could use Jesse and the brush cutter.

We saw lots more mountains and valleys, lots of potatoes getting planted, and then a sign for snow, and then snow. We drove through Salt Lake City in a blizzard, but we made it through safely and spent the night in Springville.