This morning we left Rubys hotel (and everything she owns) in Bryce Canyon…

This hotel has it all…swimming pools, gym, shops, artwork…

Indian artefacts…

A reception area of log cabin genre…

Where I met my fellow travellers for a buffet breakfast before hitting the road from here (Utah) to Cortez(Colorado) and a couple more states in between…..a proposed 6 hour drive – that actually took 8 hours with our sightseeing stops! After a couple of hours (maybe three) on the road, we were in Arizona…and came to the Glen Canyon Dam…(not on the agenda but well worth a stop)

Another hydro electric dam on the Colorado river – which was constructed from 1956…to provide electricity and water reservoirs (supply) to these southern states…

Chuck had a little work to attend to and Tona and I explored the Carl Hayman information centre (the namesake of the senator who drove this project)

Again in the middle of the desert this water body was spectacular!

Yesterday in the rocks at Bryce Canyon, I mentioned this landscape looked like what would have been dinosaur country and sure enough …here at the Glen canyon dam…was a monument to these creatures!!

Inside we explored the history of the area and I had a little play in the Junior Rangers area…

After this leg stretch, we hit the road again travelling the long straight roads in northern Arizona…to a random town in the middle of nowhere where we stopped for a snack! And continued on to the four corners monument…as we crossed….four states in one hit…

I am standing in four states of USA at one time…

As above, however, travelling with a land surveyor, I was duly informed the actual spot may be wrong…the actual four corner meeting point is around 1500 feet away in any of the four directions from the photo opportunity spot!! (As above)

A 20 minute stop and a long drop bathroom break cost USD 8,00 each…. The Indian land obviously holds a high value…but as Russ always said “might as well see the place while we’re here”

We arrived in Cortez, Colorado around 4pm…checked into our hotel for the next two nights and crossed to the adjoining restaurant/bar at 5pm…for a few beers (finally enjoying our beers of choice) and snacks….on the terrace as the sun went down …very pleasant end to a long car day!!

This morning after a hotel breakfast, we left Springdale and Zion National park…a two hour drive to Bryce Canyon National Park. Google drive time was actually 2 hours short and the drive was 4 hours, however, we did make a few scenic stops as we traversed mountains, visited caves, took the (dirt road) scenic route…and stopped to fuel up! From hot rocks to mountain snow as we travelled from Cedar Park through the Dixie National Forest.

Over the mountain pass we stopped at several viewpoints to capture the valleys and mountains dotted with snow!

As we dropped over the top of the range in the valley the lakes were still frozen, and snow was bordering both sides of the roads…

First planned tourist stop was the mammoth caves…a free attraction…waving in and out of internet and google map updates our driver(Chuck) found himself reversing out of dirt roads and private property…and finally heading in the right direction…a 4 mile dirt, rutted track to our proposed destination..,

Sue climbed in and Tona and Chuck were the emergency rescue team (if needed)

First climb was a cave in this black hole… with a locked gate until next month leading to the bat breeding colony!

The second cave, and much smaller hole to climb in was about 2.5 foot high. I had to climb in on all fours…and snapped a couple of pics…

Just to prove I had been underground!

We then headed off…towards Bryce Canyon National Park….again taking a few detours and dirt roads… and entering the Red canyon area, diving through arches…

And surrounded by cliffs of red rocks…then on into Bryce Canyon….We decided to take the car to the first lookout point on the agenda …. Inspiration Point on the Canyon Rim Trail….now just warning you all, the next series of images may be a “you had to be there” scenario, but the views and heights were unbelievable that these are a mere snapshot of the pics I took!

Parking in the viewpoint car park…of course it was a climb up! With an unbarriered track edge….dropping off thousands of feet into the canyon. my stomach turned every time I got a little close to the edge…

Rock formations in yellow and red cascading into the floor of the canyon.

A handrail edge at a very strategic lookout point…where we were comfortable to take a selfie!

From the track climbing up to inspiration lookout, the panorama opening before our eyes.

This tree living on the edge, its roots barely holding onto the ground!

Quote: “Truth be told, Bryce isn’t a canyon. It’s a natural amphitheater carved into the eastern flank of the Paunsaugunt Plateau by millions of years of wind and water erosion” Unquote…

To me it looked like a giant volcano had erupted leaving the enormous circular hole filled with the most incredible rock formations..

Inspiration Point, outside the viewpoint area, the track fell horizontally down….

A panorama of the canyon…

And yours truly bravely clutching the outermost rail of the point…

Looking down to the Forest floor…if you look closely you can see a zigzagging walking trail to the bottom…and if we looked hard we could see the odd person down there…I didn’t envy their walk back out!

This viewpoint then continued with a rim walk to the next lookout Bryce Point…a 1.5 mile (3km) walk around the rim edge of the canyon. We decided to walk this and back to the car rather than driving the next area.

This part of the rim track fell away both sides…with quite a breeze whipping across…the stomach somersaulted a few times!

Another example of rim track edge – without any safety rails!

A view of the canyon looking further out to the snow capped mountains in the distance..

Finally reaching the Bryce point viewpoint ….and dizzying heights continued…

More vegetation on the edge…

The final rim leading to the platform..

Majestic views from the opposite side from where we started…

And…..More…. Ok that’s it for today, but honestly, if you are ever in this National Park area of Utah….Bryce Canyon National park is a must see!!

Instead of retracing our steps (on foot) we took the (free) shuttle back to our car and headed back to our place for the evening….nearing 4pm and all hungry

Ruby’s Inn, and everything else…one room ready the other not…we decided late lunch, early dinner, and a drink was much needed …we devoured a huge buffet selection and then settled in for the evening….much longer drive ahead tomorrow on the National Parks adventure!!!

Yesterday did not end with the Vegas strip meandering…we each gave the pokie machines $50+….

Was hard to choose our machine! Then it was time to don the evening glad rags and head to the Eagles concert in the newest music venue on the strip “ The Globe”

Lit up with an ever changing light show from the outside..Tona and I both chose green as the wardrobe code..

Inside the globe the graphics were amazing and ever changing, moving images

Even though we were enclosed in the sphere it felt like we were at an open air concert with the sky image.

With an hour to kill, having been given strict etiquette instructions, that there was no standing, dancing or phone lights allowed, we decided that a beer or two was the only alternative! Three pints came to $138.00NZD so we really lashed out with two rounds and kept the cups as souvenirs, as I’m sure we paid a premium for these too!

Don Henley and the band, including Glen Fry’s son pounded out two hours of fantastic music accompanied by ever changing images and graphics on the inside of the sphere! I knew almost every song (and words)…..I didn’t realise I knew so many Eagles songs…it was an amazing concert, sounds wise as well as visuals! Probably puts it at my number 1, ahead of Cooper Alan and Cat Stevens. The walk back to the hotel was a challenge…to find an open door to enter our maze of a hotel and possibly added another couple of thousand steps onto an already big count! Midnight bed time after a very action filled day!

We left our Venetian Hotel, yes even with their own gondola river, around 8am and headed northeast to the state of Utah, destination: Zion National Park.

We had been spying these road side cafes and fuel stops (in Nevada) called Terribles…also touting clean bathrooms (like Buc-ees in Texas) so in need of a comfort stop we decided to check them out…

The entrance to the toilets was pretty impressive but the toilets not a patch on Buc-ees!

Onwards and upwards to the township of Springdale on the edge of the Zion National Park….an afternoon of hiking on the agenda..

Too early for check in, we dropped our car at the hotel and caught the (free) shuttle buses into the park and disembarked at stop number 6 to start the walk to the emerald pools and waterfalls!

The walk started with a horizontal zigzag of about a mile uphill…by now warming up, this climb was interspersed with tree shade rests and water sips!

It was pretty much a narrow rocky, orange dirt track with human (lots of them) traffic both ways…we soldiered on….

Stopping to admire the sheer cliff faces on either side of us.

Lots of pancake rocks

And prickly pear cactuses on the side…

The rock towers were orange, white, black and every shade thereof!

The emerald pools were a little unimpressive, as were fairly dry waterfalls feeding them…did manage a steep side track to catch this trickle…

However the towering cliff faces were spectacular!

As it was only mid afternoon and we were still standing after this two hour hike we decided to venture further into the mountains to walk (the easy) highest 2 mile track following the riverside walk up to The Narrows..once again on the shuttle bus(no cars allowed in the park) we commenced this trail, somewhat heartened by the sight of prams returning!

Following the river on a flat concrete path, only slightly undulating, we encountered some local wildlife…

Little squirrels starting to hop around the many walkers….increasing in numbers (walkers and squirrels) the further in we ventured…

A couple of young deer sunning themselves at the foot of the cliff faces…

Hand rails on this trail unlike the last more precipitous one, where there were no barriers!

The mountains closed in and the river became more rapid…super pretty bush and rock formations…

The end of the track, The Narrows, where one can continue on a three day wading hike further in and up the river…

A quick selfie, the Texans and Kiwi, still standing….but feeling like we had legs that were starting to scream out for a rest(food and a cold beer)

Back down the trail at ground zero…

Drinking in the sights and sounds and the last of our water…and trying not to step on the scurrying squirrels running beside us!

Back at the visitors centre with the crowds these two deer sent us a sign….bottoms up….so it was burgers and beer at the pub before catching our final shuttle back to our hotel, to check in, shower and put our weary feet up…another great day of adventures!

Early morning start to meet our shuttle to the little red birds to fly into the Grand Canyon…blue sky morning and the Texas crew up front with our pilot Ryan!

We took off around 8ish, after a very comprehensive safety briefing, life jackets firmly tied around our waists in case we ended up in the lake Mead Reservoir…

We flew over the Hoover dam… constructed between 1931 and 1935 and supplying power to the greater area since…

Lake Mead is a man made reservoir, courtesy of the Hoover Dam backfilling the Colorado river further up into the Grand Canyon, with a water area of 640 square kms, 162 meters deep at deepest point, supplying water to a large area of this desert. It is also a recreation area for fishing (introduced fish) and swimming in the very hot months of summer!

About an hour in our little red birds, found us land near the bottom of the Grand Canyon on the south side..

Stretch the legs….

Check out the local plant life…

Room with a view…

And Bubbles for breakfast along with a picnic snack basket…

9.00am….very on vacation aren’t we!

Loading back into our helicopter we flew back over the cliffs and crevase’s of the Grand Canyon..

Getting a great view of the reservoir waterways..

Our Pilot, testing the champagne intake as he swerved and circled the Las Vegas Strip before landing to shuttle back to our hotel

One of many, majestic hotels on the strip!

Time to strip off the jeans and don shorts and head out to the strip….this hotel is so huge…that can take half an hour…but we found it and went off in hunt for lunch..

This was it…streets were filling up either way some interesting sights and attire (or lack of it in some cases…sure it was hot but street wear v’s beachwear is a fine line.

Opposite our eating place we entered the flamingo hotel establishment….complete with the casinos, food halls, shops…

And a wildlife habitat – flamingos sunning it…

Big fat gold and white fish

Turtles…and…

Texas Lovebirds! Tona worked out its 12 years to the day since they last visited Las Vegas.

A few more sights…the Las Vegas Eiffel Tower…

Caesar’s Palace…

With fountains and Roman monuments…terrazzo marble floors and millions of slot machines…

A much needed lie down out of the 35 degree (celcius) afternoon in preparation for tonight’s show!

Thursday morning found the Lake Jackson crew packing for hot and cold and yes…..even Chuck is on holiday…

This little guy sunning it by the pool…

While Chuck added water to overflowing (?) so as to stop the water level dropping too low while we are all away for a week…

Leaving the house around 1pm we headed to Houston Hobby airport for a 4.30 pm flight across country to “Las Vegas” the starting point of our adventure!

Almost three hours in the air, a coffee and a couple of snack bags of crackers, saw us flying over the Grand Canyon mountain range on a blue sky day!

Lake Meade in the distance as we neared Vegas…

Off the plane and straight into the hustle of Vegas(we hadn’t even got our bags yet), it was 8pm Texas time, but we had gained another couple of hours so 6.00pm Nevada time….it was going to be a long day!

Collected bags, caught a shuttle bus to the rental car hub..,about 15 mins from airport…. Et voila….

Come all the way to Vegas, and get to travel around in the clone of my car – first Mitsubishi eclipse cross I have seen in the states and it’s the same colour as mine and all (back in nz)!!! Minus the baby seats!

Chuck and Tona navigated the shortish trip to the Venetian hotel…on the strip where we are staying for two nights!

Spying the Trump Hotel – there you go!

After walking a couple of miles ( just from hotel car park) we found the check in foyer… Wow what a place – the suite I am in is about as big as my house!

By now it was 8.30pm (10.30 pm Texan time) and these Texans were hungry…so we went to food hall alley (still inside hotel) and found a restaurant to eat a light dinner, followed by a quick flutter on the pokies(still in hotel) – Tona and Chuck on the positive side and me kinda watching as I don’t know how these things work- will have another bash today!

Rolled into my luxurious bed around 10pm local time… and up early this morning for our next adventure!!!

Buc-ee’s fuel stops, founded in 1982 in Lake Jackson, Texas by a couple of guys with the business model of “Clean bathrooms” has taken off to include 50 locations across America, boasting…cheapest fuel, longest car wash and worlds largest convenience store…selling like everything…food, clothing, toys, homewares, gifts, pet stuff, BBQs, Artwork and anything else you can think of!

Buc-ee is a beaver! This store is in Texas city about an hour south of Lake Jackson, and Tona and I set off for a shopping day…first hitting the outlet mall…

A very quiet Tuesday, and great customer service as we hit the Levi’s, Hey Dude, and every other brand you can think of…beelining for the clearance sections (me anyway) and picking up some great bargains! Saving the best for last and spending an hour and a half at buc-ees…

Greeted by the smell of their famous BBQ cooking as we entered…we picked our way around the Warehouse sized store…collecting our treasures…

A bathroom stop…in the beautiful art adorned bathrooms, who else would think of selling artwork on the bathroom walls!

A bakery full of 99cent cookies, which I forgot to stock up on as we left…

There huge range of beef jerky in every flavour you could imagine and more…and their production line of pulled pork, brisket, turkey and chicken sandwiches …. Whose aroma filled the store, and one just had to grab a variety for dinner on the way out…

Then to top it off…the job vacancies board outside…

Some pretty good wage rates for those looking for work, especially when converted to NZD! At this time.

While the world is reeling from Mr Trumps tariffs, fueled by mainstream media….business at Buc-ees is booming, and life goes on!

Sunday found us at morning Church, followed by a chilled afternoon before visiting with Travis (Tona and Chucks son) and Ashleigh and kids for a Mexican dinner!! Completed with TV time watching the Houston Rockets (the NBA team our own Stephen Adam’s plays for) destroying the Golden State Warriors (our beloved? Steph Curry’s team!) Good end to the day….

This Morning, Tona had planned a trip north west to Brenham to view the fields of Bluebonnets, a wild flower that blooms in this region only for a couple of weeks in April!

First stop, Tony’s cafe and parking next to this gorgeous little Ford!!

Easter bunny to welcome GiGi (Tonas mum) at the door….followed by bottomless coffee and…

Pecan Waffles! A breakfast for kings!!! Really only needed half of this but managed to clear the plate!

Then with a kiwi navigator (yours truly) a couple of extra side trips were made in the hunt of the (somewhat elusive) bluebonnets…

We continued up to Washington on the Brazos national park, where in 1836 the Texans signed their independence as a state!

In this replica of the hall …

More bluebonnets and wildflowers ….

A stroll around what was the original town (no buildings left standing) that became the capital of Texas in 1842-1845

After a very warm start to my sojourn here the temperatures dropped on Sunday to late teens (Celsius) during the day and single digits (winter jammies) overnight..,

We arrived back in Lake Jackson around 5pm only to be alerted, on Tonas phone, that the power was off at home, so we met Chuck from work and dined at a cafe in town….returning to a very quiet and dark (by 7pm) evening until the power burst back into action just before 9pm..

Tomorrow we return to summer temperatures and more adventures!

Thursday night, in the first big rain of the Kiwi Autumn, I boarded my flight for Houston Texas – 13.5 hours in the back seat (only one neighbour seat-mate) , no meal choice as we were last in the food chain, only to be served a nasty meatball mash after two hours in the air!

At least catching up with friends (also heading overseas) for a beer and a fish burger at McDonald’s at the airport, before boarding, sustained me for the best part of 12 hours before a more edible breakfast was served and landing!

I took off at 8pm Thursday and landed at 3.30pm Thursday, gaining a day with the time difference (actually getting here before I left) My Texas family Tona and Chuck meeting me and driving to Lake Jackson (very kindly having my favourite beer chilling)

Sitting by the pool, enjoying my first night with these wonderful humans!

First night was a no jet lag sleep and refreshed on Friday morning, Tona and I hit the supermarket….

Everything is big here in Texas…. The jackfruit (whatever they are) the size of basketballs and the bananas the size of a foot long subway sandwich! We shopped for lots of fresh fruit and veges (half the price of our NZ supermarkets) and headed home after checking out the local shoe shop “Hey Dude” selection…..(a must have on the shopping list)

Unloaded the groceries, took a sandwich and back into town for a spin at Walmart…and an hour later, with arms loaded, heading to the checkout, the power went off…we saved a lot of money as we were instructed to dump our selections in a trolley and leave….unsure of the issue…we grabbed a cool drink and met Chuck at Maclean park, for a bush walk along the Brazos river (a small 4.5k stroll) before heading across the road to watch one of the grandsons play baseball…

An obligatory beer before dinner and early night, which found me staring at the ceiling until 1.30am….jet lag hitting me like a ton of bricks! Needless to say a little sleep in for me, a good strong coffee and on the road again to Sugarland (suburb) to see Tonas daughter and her two kids (and two golden doodles) for lunch….another small(not so small) shopping expedition at Academy sports on the way home…and it’s nearly 5 o’clock here so we know what that means..

The glorious sunshine and slightly cooler summer has continued through March, a hectic month in our kiwi lives…

Another fantastic friends wedding on the hilltops above the Leigh coastline. Taking a shuttle bus for the Waiwera crew, with a very old driver who got us there (just) safely after a scary ride up a very steep dirt road…being sober at this time did mean a stiff drink was needed on arrival! The trip home was eventful to say the least (in the dark)! However a great night was had by all…

The girls all made a big effort and enjoyed a babyless night! And a very slow day the next day.

The babies have been battling their first few months at daycare and Gran’ma Sue has had lots of baby time as one or the other or both have a little sickness!

But life goes on as we make the most of the sunny days with snotty noses and sticky eyes!!! Hanging out on the waterfront (eating crackers) enjoying the sunshine!

We farewelled our Swiss friends at the beginning of the month, who, after a month of our summer warmth headed back to their cooler hometown of Zurich!

We have been gifted with colourful sunrises and sunsets and family days…

A cortina cruise up north to Whangateau to watch George play a football tournament was a fun activity!

In between babysitting days I have managed to reconnect with my sewing machine and finally make the babies their winter blankets! A Sue tradition….

My house has had its end of summer wash and the spiders have been given a hurry up! (They shouldn’t make there home on my house)

Less than two weeks before I hit the skies again for my next adventure! A few more house chores….garden to lock down for winter…as the flowers are fading…

February has been a whirlwind of socialising, visitors from the northern hemisphere, babysitting, car shows and a wedding!

The sunshine gods have been kind to the Waiwera-ites and we have had warm days and very little rain! A welcome climate change from the last few years where we have been erecting floodgates!!

My brother Kevin and Roland have just left after a month in the homeland…which meant we caught up with a lot of friends and family!

Kevin and I with one of our Swiss visitors

Thames visit and a visit with Sir Keith Park (memorial statue) who flew in the defensive of Malta in the 2nd world war for the English airforce! That was after a road trip to Tauranga to see another old friend!

Earlier in the month my Swiss family arrived and a day trip to Muriwai beach and the Gannet colony….

We also Celebrated my oldest grandsons (Tyler) 4th birthday with all the visitors!! and family

Preceded by another day at the Orewa beach hop (car show) and then it was a cut and polish for my cortina which was invited to the Ellerslie car show….

In all her glory on a hot Sunday! The family all came along for a picnic lunch

As I was locked in for a full day!

And thrown in – a concert with George and Jess to see Bryan Adam’s belt out his tunes…my birthday present from last year!

Florian, Verena and Benjamin(Swiss crew) headed south to see the sights after several days in waiwera with the family and return tonight for a few days before heading home…

Meanwhile the boys and I were privileged to share a special wedding with one of Jaxon’s friends in the middle of the month…

He and his new wife now live in Washington DC and brought a contingent of Americans with them to celebrate…it was an effort for the gal from the beach to scrub up into formal attire! Charity shops and sewing skills required to produce the masterpiece!

Amid all this activity I have had my baby sitting skills honed with a sick Henry(Jax baby) for a week

Playing with Russell’s childhood trucks made by his dad! Now while I don’t share my political views online….I need to share the disaster that is our health system. A family of four (two small children) cannot get into a medical practice here on the Hibiscus Coast – having relocated here three months ago, no doctors are taking new enrolments. I had to take this little man to the emergency clinic at the cost of $105.00 for a 5 minute consult to identify an ear infection (which I knew was the problem) and a prescription of antibiotics – usually a doctors visit for kids under 12 is free (when enrolled) !! Rant over!

On a final note…

My flowers are still blooming….

The vege garden flourishing and still feeding the family and drinking lots of water!

The last month of the first quarter of 2025 promises to be equally entertaining – with more visitors (from Australia), another wedding and a little dog sitting thrown in!