Back from Out West trip and the Colorado River

Hard to believe, but it's been over a month since we returned from our trip our west in which we made it all the way to California then turned around at Needles, CA and followed Route 66 through some incredible landscapes across the Arizona desert.

Our final night, before meeting our friends Bill and Pam in Page, AZ, was in Williams, AZ which is right near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon where most people experience the canyon. There is a steam train there in Williams that will take you all the way to the South Rim. I spoke with my twin cousins Ronnie and Donnie and they told me that they had taken that trip the year before.

We picked up Bill and Pam in Page, AZ where they dropped off their rental car they had used to see some of the other canyons in the area, and headed off the Marble Canyon, AZ where we were to meet our rafting trip group the next morning.

On June 25th we met the group and they took us down to Lee's Ferry where the boats were waiting for us. All the preparation that was suggested on our trip packet would now become a reality for we had to face the idea that there was no way out of this canyon for 188 miles in 7 days.

After we launched the guides gave a little talk reminding us of what was ahead and what to expect. Now things were a lot more real than when you were just reading about the trip in the brochures. They told us not to take any risks we didn't have to since medical help was anywhere from 2 to 10 hours away. That was sobering and at the same time exhilerating.

They also impressed upon us how important it was to practice good hand washing and sanitizing since with a group this size, 32 people, if one person got sick from poor hand washing habits, it could affect the whole group including the guides who were responsible for your safety.

Now that they had layed out all the potential hardships we might encounter and had everyone thouroughly impressed they went on to serve a great lunch and then NY Strip steaks for dinner that evening. That took the edge off the first day.

When we arrived at camp the first night one of the guides did a demonstration of how to set up these free-standing tents they had for each couple. Then he went on to say that we wouldn't want to use them, but were just in case of rain, which in the desert wasn't too likely especially this time of year. And that's the last time we saw a tent. We slept out under the stars every night there after. Because of the lack of moisture in the air and total absence of any city light polution, we could see the milky way every night when you open your eyes during the night.

On that first day the water was still pretty cold, since it comes out at the bottom of Glen Canyon Dam just above where we put in, at 48 degrees. There are no bugs down in the canyon since the water is too cold for mosquitos, but not for scorpions and a few other creatures. They told us that the water would warm up about 2 degrees every day as we traveled down river. That first day we went over some pretty big rapids and the cold water plus the cool morning air made the going pretty chilly. That would change later in the week when it would be 115 degrees after lunch and the only way to survive was to dip your shirt and life jacket in the cold water and then wear it.

One of the things they kept telling us, when we would stop mid morning for a potty break, was that if you didn't have to go then you weren't drinking enough water. There was plenty of water available at all times, since they processed actual river water using their on-board filtering system as the boat was underway. They were always mindful of our well being because if one person got sick from dehydration it could affect the whole group.

When we got to some of the bigger rapids the crew would give a little pep talk about what was up ahead and what to expect as sort of a warning so there were no surprises. Sometimes they would exagerate a bit to make sure everyone was sufficiently impressed as to the difficulty that was up ahead. That way people would excercise more caution that they might otherwise and hang on tight.

When we went though the biggest rapids on the whole trip, we did almost loose someone. Amber, the swamper for our boat had moved into position in the slot seat in the middle where no one was to sit because the pilot had to see where he was going through that slot. That should have been a signal that this rapid would be a big one. Part way though that set of waves, I turned my head to see Amber flying forward and notice that Michelle, our 16 year old dare devil, was caught in the ropes and about to go under the boat. Amber reached for Michelle's life jacket and pulled her back onto the boat.

They gave the same talk for some of the more difficult hikes too. Some of the hikes involved climbing up steep rocky cliffs and along narrow ledges and they didn't want anyone who wasn't sure of themselves to be getting into trouble because they weren't warned of the potential dangers.

Again, the idea that if someone was to take risks that they shouldn't and got injured this could affect the whole group so they tried to discourage any risk behavior by getting people to be sensible. Some of the warnings turned out to be a bit extreme by design so that if someone was not sure of themselves they would err on the side of caution.

We had one set of 16 year old twin girls and their parents with us and one of these two sisters was a dare devil, the other was quite the opposite. She was the only one who really pushed the limits of sensibility. She was usually the first one to climb up on the rocks and dive in when we would get to a swimming hole. She even did a back flip off one rock ledge.

When we got to the narrowest part of the canyon the water was really deep as witnessed by the slowness of the flow through that section, there was a ledge about 30 feet up. Few in the group went up to that cliff, but, predictibly the dare devil twin was one of the first to mount the rocks. She and her dad, also a daredevil, jumped in together to the cheers of all who were watching.

As if the meals we already enjoyed weren't enough, NY Strip steak on the first night, Salmon, on the fifth night, when we were already thoroughly impressed with the organization of what the crew had done so far, they rolled out ice cream that had been kept on dry ice since the beginning of the trip. If that wasn't impressive enough, that was the night they told us that they had packed all the food for our 7 day trip plus all the food for the next 3 day trip that was to meet our boats when we departed on day seven at Whitmore Wash.

The last night out was night 6. We had just done our last major rapids and our friends Bill and Pam joined us on the front rubber for the final thrill. There was celebration in order and a toga party. We were all to dress up in the sheet they had issued us at the beginning and wrap it around us like a toga.

On day 7 we would be packing our bags in the morning after breakfast and launching for the brief trip down to Whitmore Wash where we would meet the helicopter for the 8 minute flight to Whitmore International Airport (that's right International). We boarded a 30 seat prop plane for the one hour flight back to Marble Canyon where we had left one week before.

A quick trip to Las Vegas

After arriving in Daytona Beach Tuesday afternoon I had Wednesday off to recover from the trip from Raleigh before embarking on a quick trip to Las Vegas to add some function to the Jersey Boys Theater in the Venetian Las Vegas.

The trip started with getting a cab to the Daytona Airport Wednesday night to pick up a rental car that would take me to the Orlando Airport where I would fly non-stop to Las Vegas. Arriving at the LV airport I went straight to the taxi line since I had only my carry on bag with my computer in it. The taxi took me straight to the job site and I began work on the items on my list.

After the work was done and tested, I stayed for the 7PM show to make sure everything went well and it did. Around 10 PM I walked across the street to the Treasure Island Hotel where I would stay until my morning flight back to Orlando. When I got to the head of the check in line the clerk told me that they had no rooms, but that she'd have to upgrade me to the Execturive Suite on the 33rd floor for the same price. I told her that would be ok.

As I entered the room, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was this nice entry way and straight ahead, out the window was the Wynn Hotels and Palazzo where I had just been. This room had two full bathrooms, one with a shower and one with a jacuzzi tub, a living room with a plasma TV and a bedroom separated by a frosted glass partition with another Plasma TV.

I took a few pictures with my cell phone camera since I didn't bring my Nikon D40 on this trip. The pictures are not very good coming off the cell phone, but they show a little of what this room was like.

Out West Trip June 2008

Just wanted to announce our trip out-west that we are embarking upon, starting on June 18th, 2008.

This is our long awaited trip to the west coast in our '63 Impala SS where we will visit parts of the old Route 66, the highway that used to be the gateway to the west, from Chicago to Santa Barbara, CA.

It all started two years ago, when we were with our friends from Poughkeepsie, NY discussing our next travel adventure, when the idea of a raft trip down the Grand Canyon came up. I said then, if I'm going to do that, it will be before I turn 60. So, since I turn 60 this summer, this summer it would have to be.

We decided to combine that rafting trip with the road trip in my '63Impala SS on Route 66. Lots of planning ensued and it all had to fit in and around two dates - June 10th, when Judith's high school ends, and July 10th when she begins teaching the Duke summer class.

So on June 10th we traveled to Daytona Beach, where Judith works for the College Board for a week. At the end of this job on June 18th we head up to Northern FLA and west on I-10. Seven days later we will end up in Marble Canyon to meet our friends and the rafting trip - 7 days, 6 nights on the Colorado.

At the end of the rafting trip on July 1st a helicopter picks us up and drops us off at a nearby airport where we fly back to the starting point at Marble Canyon.

The total raft trip is 188 miles in 7 days. We will camp each night in the canyon and are allowed an airline carry-on sized duffle bag weighing 20 pounds to carry all our essentials and they are stowed in a dry bag on the J-Boat. This trip is a piloted and guided excursion and we are mostly passengers. No rowing or steering, just hang on and enjoy the water splashing on you.

They have a seating section in the front of the J-Boat that is referred to as Gusto seating and I can only imagine what that means. The picture at the top is a typical J-Boat. There are a total of 60 rapids of all descriptions along this trip and I hear that this year the Colorado is higher than usual from melting of the above average snow fall this past winter.

The idea of driving the Impala out Route 66 to explore the old route has been on my mind since I built this car starting 10 years ago last December 31st. The restoration took 3 1/2 years and lots of money and since July 2001 the car has been on the road. It's maiden voyage was a trip to the Latham area to attend my 35th high school reunion. At the time the car was much less roadworthy than it is now having just emerged, 3 weeks before, from a total restoration where every piece of the car was removed and restored.

During the last 7 years I made lots of drivablility enhancements so the car is much more roadworthy now than it was 7 years ago. At the same time I kept the appearance mostly stock. The car started out during the original restoration with disc brakes, air conditioning and a set of Michelin radial tires. For those who know cars, this car currently will log around 22 mpg on the highway which is mandatory with the price of gas lately.

Since the restoration I've added a (700R4) 4 speed automatic transmission, cruise control, larger front and rear stabilizer bars, a full gauge set and a new 605 power steering conversion all of which are drivability enhancements. The car drives better than it did from the factory in 1963.

Nigel's Weekend in Virginia

This past Memorial Day Weekend we made a trip with Nigel to visit our friends from Stanfordville, Pat and Greg Bull meeting them at their son Eric's house in Scottsville, VA.
Eric and Molly have a lovely old farm house on a beautiful 5 acre setting where Nigel was welcome and played with two other dogs all weekend. They ran and played and tired each other out.
On Saturday we spent the day in Lexington, VA at the VA Horse Center watching Molly ride in a competition. There was lots for Nigel to be curious about at the center.
After we returned to Raleigh on Monday, Nigel needed a bath so we got out the soap and hose and went to town washing him.

Here is a video of some of Nigel's exploits:

Timothy J. Daoust Graduates

On Friday May 16th, 2008 Timothy J. Daoust graduated with his Masters in Music Composition in Greensboro, NC. Here's a 21 second clip of the delvery.

Slideshow of Paul Jr. and Tim Jr. Graduation

Graduation Video -1



Graduation Video -2

Nigel Goes to College

This weekend Nigel made the trip with us to our graduation party for Paul Jr. and Tim Jr.

He traveled really well on Friday after Mom finished school, picked him up at the PetSmart in Cary where he'd had a bath.

We took lots of pictures and some of Nigel too. And here's one of Timothy hugging Nigel.

When we got back to Raleigh we noticed he was looking trim, so we weighed him on our bathroom scale. Mom picked him up and handed him over to me while I stood on the scale and he and I both together weighed ??? pounds, 65 of which was Nigel.

Nigel got to run in the mountains and enjoyed some rib bones and bits of bacon. Uncle Tim practiced walking him, or rather, running beside him. Everyone loves Nigel, he IS a dog ... a very good dog.

Nigel takes a walk

The other day when I went outside to do some work in the yard I took Nigel with me and after throwing the ball with him for a few minutes he took the ball and went over to the corner of the yard and hid it.

So I turned my attention to something else and a few minutes later I didn't see him so I called him an clapped my hands like I usually do and normally in a few minutes he will show up. This time he didn't. So I go around the house to look where I found him one other time and he wasn't there.

I got in the car and brought one of his squeak toys along with me and as I drove through the neighborhood I kept squeezing it hoping he would hear the sound and come running. I went up to the park and went out to the field that he knows, but did not see him. I got back in the car and drove around some more streets sqeaking the toy, but no Nigel.

I went back to the house and decided to put up a posting on the neighborhood electronic bulletin board and after about a half hour of trying figure out how to post to this board, being that I had recently changed my email address, I managed to post a plea for lost dog.

Then I got up and went to the kitchen door only to find Nigel standing there at the door smiling as if to say, "I'm not telling you where I went".

A Day with Nigel

Just a few shots of Nigel so you can see what your dogs day is like. :-) In the first one he is retrieving an the second he is getting brushed.

Sorry about the blurry images, I need a D-40.

Now that I am home this week I take him out several times a day to throw the ball or tire. He seems to love it, that is until he gets tired, and then he just sits down and says, "I'm not going to run after that thing anymore". He's getting more sentences now, not just, "I'm a Dog".

Oops ! Now that I'm in Raleigh

I should start blogging from my new location. It's been a year April 6th since we moved from our old house in Garner to the new one in Raleigh. Hard to believe it's been a whole year.





I'll start blogging here now, since I don't seem to be able to change the name of my old blog garnernc.blogspot.com to the new blog address.



Hartley and Nigel have come to an understanding, whenever Nigel gets too close Hartley just hisses at him and he gets it and backs off.

They both want to be with me all day long and usually spend their day watching me work in my office.

Nigel is such a good dog. This week since I've been home all week after 5 straight weeks of on the road, I've had a chance to settle in with Nigel. Our days consist of going out 2 or 3 times a day to throw the tire or a ball around and play fetch. He tires of it after about 5 or 6 throws and then just lies down and looks at me as if to say "that's enough, go sit down".