Blogging

I promised at the end of December 2010 to blog more often in 2011. I didn't post as much as I had wanted to, but I did do better than in 2010. It's tough when you're a little Kokopelli. Even though Terri's laptop is much easier for me to use than her desktop PC was, I still need help opening the lid. Betty the Cat sometimes helps me, but I'm still a little nervous around her. (If you need reminding, check out the picture in this post from Feb 2009 - last pic in the post: http://littlejoesadventures.blogspot.com/2009/02/cat.html.)

Actually, if I post just a few more this year, I'll match my best blogging year (2009). I've got 6 weeks left. Let's see if I can do it!

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

Awesome Adventures! Las Vegas

You can't talk about Vegas without thinking of this saying, so I just had to add this picture. :) It is a sign at the airport in the departure area.

This is the last piece of our adventures from October.

Las Vegas 

We drove from the Grand Canyon to Vegas along Route 66. We had one day in Vegas before flying home. Here are the things I can share with you about this piece of our trip. :)

Debbie, Trish, Carla & John

We celebrated Terri's birthday at the cheesecake place.

Terri made some friends along Freemont Street.

This is where I first met Terri in 2004!

Here I am looking across the Strip at the Grand Canyon store.

I think this is a pretty good way to end this post. :)

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

Awesome Adventures! Grand Canyon

This is part two of our Awesome Adventures!

Grand Canyon National Park

We drove from Utah along the east end of the Grand Canyon to the south rim. We hiked the South Kaibab trail down and the Bright Angel trail up. There are a lot of warnings about hiking down and up in one day, but we made sure we were prepared. Plus, we were hiking with four people who have hiked the Canyon multiple times, so we all felt very safe.

It was about 7 miles down on the South Kaibab trail. We started out at 7:40am and were eating lunch at the Phantom Ranch around 12:30. After an hour or so break, we hiked up the Bright Angel trail which is about 9 miles. We made it back to the South Rim at 6pm. We had lots of breaks along the way and took way too many pictures for me to post here!

The group - Kanta, Dom, Terri, Debbie, Rainy, John, Carla, Joe & Trish.

Me at a view point along the trail.

Some friends we met on the way down.

At the Colorado River.

Enjoying a well-earned Grand Canyon beer after our hike!

Sunset over the Canyon.

Watching the sunrise from Cedar Point - about 40 minutes down the South Kaibab trail.

Sunrise

That's such a short overview of our hike. Doing it in one day was just amazing! But, it didn't leave much time to just stop and really enjoy the views and the energy in the Canyon. We did get to do that while watching the sunrise at Cedar Point though. I could've spent the whole day sitting there watching the sun move the shadows around the Canyon walls.

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

Awesome Adventures! Zion

It's been three weeks since I got back from one of the best adventures I've been on! I went to Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas with Terri and eight of her friends. What a great time we had! Terri is sure lucky to have such amazing friends.

I'll blog about our trip in separate posts so this doesn't get too long.

Zion National Park

Since I'm from this area and I have a special connection with it, I was the logical choice to help John with the navigation. :)

Zion is in southern Utah. Terri had never been to Utah before and was pretty excited to visit another state. Zion is Utah's first national park, designated in 1919.

We hiked the Angels Landing trail. This is listed as a "strenuous" hike. I'm glad Terri had me strapped tightly to her backpack - it's quite the hike - narrow and steep. The warning on the brochure says: "Long drop-offs. Not for young children or anyone fearful of heights. Last section is a route along a steep, narrow ridge to the summit." Phew! They were right! It is an 8.7km round trip with 453 metres of elevation change. But worth every step!

Click here to go on a e-hike of Angels Landing. It is a multi-media view of what we did. There are pictures, videos, sound files, and lots of information. Check out the third slide. It has two videos with it - one of the Virgin River flowing as usual and one of it during a flash flood. Pretty impressive! The sixth slide is a great view of the first leg of the hike. I think my friend Suzanne will really like the seventh slide. My personal favourite is the tenth slide with Walter's Wiggles. :)

The chains people hold onto while climbing Angels Landing

The narrow bit up to Angels Landing

Here I am at the top of Angels Landing

These are Terri's friends who hiked up Angels Landing with me

Debbie, Kanta, John, Dom, and Terri

This is called Walter's Wiggles. Love the name!

We only had a week for our adventure, so unfortunately, this is all we got to do in Zion. I sure hope I get to go back one day!

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe