Dan and Rebecca Early are on the road! After 36 years in Central Oregon we've sold our home and started a great adventure.
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Returned to Las Vegas. We didn't fly out of Portland until 9:00 pm which caused us some concern We were surprised to find there were only 20 passengers on the flight. The flight was on-time and we breezed through the check-in at The Palms. This was a way different experience than arriving late afternoon.
View from The Palms
Returned to Portland. Hot Tea Cold has a standing Monday night gig at the Blue Diamond. It was great to see the boys and meet the horn players who dropped in to jam.
Hot Tea Cold at the Blue Diamond
Karen Holmes turns 60! So glad we were able to celebrate with her.
Happy Birthday, Karen
Birthday sunset!
Met Tucker for breakfast yesterday and hit the road to Yachats by 12:30. Austin and Eve were supposed to behind us by couple hours. Sleep deprivation caught up with them and they decided to stay in Portland. We had an incredible dinner at Karen's (seafood Lasagna and enchiladas). Britton and Todd arrived by midnight. This morning we all met at Seal Rock for a minus tide beach walk. Its cool and gray out but still wonderful.
Britton, Tucker & Todd at Seal Rock
Studying sea life with the Holmes'
Tucker, Britton and Diane. This photo has a surreal look to it!
Flew to Portland to attend a family event in Yachats over the weekend. We arrived in Portland at 9am, The four of us are exhausted and sleep deprived. We took a nap at Austin's and then took care of some business at Verizon and our bank. Celebrated being back in Portland with a Manhattan.
We meet Austin and Eve in Las Vegas for three nights at the Paris Hotel. We store the RV, uber to the hotel, and check in. Austin and Eve arrive around 7pm. We have dinner at Planet Hollywood, catch the last few minutes of College Basketball final game. Walk around a little. Dan & I go to bed. Austin and Eve stay up until 5 am. We don't see them again until late the next day, Dan and Rebecca get a little pool time in and try to hunt down a Verizon Store in Caesars Palace (no longer there). We meet the kids at the Ballagio to look at the latest atrium decor. Dinner and a little walking around the Cosmopolitan and Aria. Dan goes to bed, Rebecca stays up until 3am. A sketchy morning to follow but managed to get downtown in time for the 5pm tour of the Neon museum followed by dinner and a walk through Fremont Street. Dan & Rebecca manage to get to bed by 2am. Austin and Eve pull an all-night-er. Our plane boards 6:10 am.
View from our room at Paris, waiting for the kids to arrive.
Eve at the Ballagio atrium. Guy behind her looks like Kevin Spacey.
Austin & Eve...all dressed up.
Neon Museum was great!
Spent a couple of nights in Lake Pleasant where we intended to see George and Kate before we left the area. Dan was feeling so poorly that we had to cancel our plans. From Lake Pleasant, we drove to Flagstaff to stay with Matt and Jenn for a couple of days. Took Dan to Urgent Care on Easter Sunday. Diagnosed with Bronchitis, he was sent away with steroids, antibiotics and codeine flavored cough syrup. We left the next day for Lake Havasu. Though it was an incredibly windy ride across the desert, the lower altitude eased Dan's symptoms. We were delighted with our water-front spot at the Islander RV park on Lake Havasu Island. We spent a great week here. Dan's feeling better.
Our spot on Lake Havasu
We witnessed some lovely sunrises
Even go the Kayaks out!
And, spent some time with Pete and Julie.
Despite the high pollen count warnings, we traveled to Tuscon. Neither one of us have been bothered by allergies in the past. Tucson offered us a good taste, however. After a couple of days, Dan was feeling pretty miserable. We managed to spend a little time in Saguaro National Park on our way to Lake Pleasant. We will have to try this again because it really is beautiful.
Saguaro National Park West
Apparently, everything was blooming.
East of Phoenix interested us because of Saquaro Lake and the surrounding ghost towns. We were able to book three nights at the Eagle View RV Park in Ft. McDowell. We were not expecting Donald Trump's Campaign to show up next door in Fountain Hills while we were there. Aside from the traffic and helicopters, however, it was uneventful and did not disrupt our pool time too much.
Watching the coverage happening 1.5 mile away.
The "backyard" at Eagle View.
We returned the rental car yesterday and will spend the rest of the week on foot or on bikes. Biking is a little intimidating because the Spring-breakers are in town bringing traffic. Doesn't matter though, urban hikes are just as interesting. Bend artist, Marietta Bajer is represented at the Exposures Gallery, We checked out her work, very impressive.
Marietta's work displayed at the Illuminations Gallery
Peak a boo rock views even on an urban hike.
Waiting on line for dinner at Elote. Kids joined ducks in the pool...entertaining, to say the least
Matt Johnson and Jenn Holmes joined us at Ranch Sedona for a night. They are great to hike with because they know the area so well and spot wildlife we would otherwise miss. We plan to visit them in Flagstaff in a couple of weeks.
Dan, Matt & Jenn spotting various ducks at Montezuma's Well.
Courthouse Rock
View from the Hudson Grille
Gary Johnson joined us at Rancho Sedona RV Park. He's been on the road for a few weeks and was starting his journey back to Oregon. We were able to get the RV washed and waxed (way overdue).
Gary and Daisy
Prepping for the shower
Gary and Dan
Rancho Sedona RV Park has a beautiful setting. It sits on Oak Creek flanked by Sycamore and Cottonwood Trees. Blue Herons are building nests nearby. Today we hiked into Fay Canyon. The cliffs made us feel very small.
The trail ended here!
Heading into the canyon
Outing to Jerome. Lunch at the Haunted Burger. Man down...Charity stricken with desert fever. Carol and Rebecca brought her back to the house. The rest went on to explore the shops and art walk.
Super Supper Bloody Mary's
Visited the ancient ruins of Tuzigoot National mMonument. Followed the hike with a picnic lunch on the Verde River. Strolled the town of Cottonwood. Rebecca, Carol and Brenda went to find the Vortex near the airport. We all had dinner together at the house followed by hot tub and outdoor fire in the fireplace.
Kerrie looking over the ruins.
picnic on the Verde River. Denese, Laura, Kerrie, Carol & Brenda.
Break in Cottonwood. Brenda, Charity, Helen, Laura, Kerrie, Denese & Carol
The girls arrived yesterday and hit the ground running this morning. First stop: Red Rock State Park headquarters for maps and pass. Next: hike up Bell rock to find the vortex. Stopped at Chapel Hill for a look at the church (an Apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wrights designed it). Finally lunch in Sedona (Javalinas). A very long but inspiring day.
Start of the hike up Bell Rock.
The Chapel
We rented a house in Cottonwood for a week primarily for Rebecca and her girlfriends from Oregon who will arrive on Wednesday. We get a couple of days alone in this massive house, a welcome opportunity to stretch out and enjoy the peaceful location and magnificent view of Red Rocks.
Rental house in Cottonwood....what a view!
Even has a pool and hot tub!
Met Dan's nieces, Abby & Lindsey and all their kids, along with Rebecca's cousin's George & Kate at Saguaro Lake. It was 86 degrees, we blew up the Kayaks and watched the kids try to maneuver them. Eight year old, Daisy was a natural.
Kate, George, Brody & Abby
Dan met with former Carnegie Mellon classmate, Bill Phillips. Bill, a professional photographer, moved to the Phoenix area several years ago. Dan and Bill caught up on 45 years worth of life stories while Rebecca went to get a hair cut.
Bill Phillips and Dan Early catch up over lunch
photo taken by Bill Phillips
After retrieving the RV from storage, we settled into an RV Park about a mile north of where we stayed before the Florida break. On the good side, there was a lovely Italian restaurant within walking distance where we ate the best linguine with clam sauce we've had since leaving New York. On the weird side, the park was a quarter mile from the "Castle" (Essentials for Lovers Mega-store) which resembled an adult sized, castle shaped bouncy house. Today we took a tour of Frank Loyd Wright's Taliesin West. This was his "winter" camp and place were he (and his apprentices) explored various ideas. Fascinating place. Afterwards we went to the Capital Grille for Calamari.
Meeting Room at Taliesin West
Dan and FLW Statue
