L'aventure américaine

This morning, during the sunrise, the weather was incredible (aside from being cold). It was sunny with the just the perfect amount of clouds for a beautiful sunrise and the weather remained ideal for the rest of the hike. Really, the weather has been perfect for the whole trip; we couldn't have asked for anything better. So, after we had returned to our room this morning and took a nap, I woke up and opened the curtains. Now that our last little adventure was over and it was time to pack up, the weather was completely cloudy, cold and pretty darn gross. I think that that adequately sums up this trip. The U.S. is sad to see the Martin's return to France and so am I. It was a wonderful trip and I can't thank them enough for it. So, I'm signing off with gros bisous from me et les deux Cabbage Cabbage.

This morning is very far away and it almost seems like two days have passed since I woke up this morning at 5:30am. It's been a very full day and we literally watched both the sunrise and the sunset. Which is why we were up and out of the hotel room by 6:20am this morning. It was pitch black when we left, but by the time we reached our destination in the park, there was just a hint of light in the air. I must add that that air was 32 degrees and COLD. We were there before everyone and truly got to see the sunrise in its entirety. It was incredible, but extremely frigid, and we were glad to see the sun because it brought out the magnificent reds, but mostly (for me, at least) because it brought some promise of warmth. We hiked down into Bryce after that and having gotten there so early, we had the place completely to ourselves, which was wonderful. The park is really like another world and it was an unreal hike. One had the sensation of being surrounded by beings from anothe...

It was a sign on the bathroom wall in our hotel at Jacob Lake and it certainly proved to be true today. Today was another day where this morning seems far away and it's difficult to believe that we've seen so much in just one day. We began another beautiful day this morning in Springdale, just outside of the park, and it took only minutes to enter Zion. We started out with a small hike, walking briskly by the river and marveling at the canyon walls surrounding us. The shuttle dropped us off at different spots around the park and we took various stops to see the steep walls, chocked full of color. At the end of the shuttle line, we descended to see "The Narrows," the part of the canyon where the rock was too hard and it becomes a very narrow river gorge. Francois and I took off our shoes and waded in the frigid water (51 degrees) until our feet were so numb that the water seemed almost tepid. We walked upstream a ways with incredible beauty surrounding us and mana...

The Martin's got a lovely rendition of that song today and I'm hoping that none of it made it onto their videotape. We have definitely seen the range today and one can easily imagine Cowboys and Indians duking it out on the Western Plains. We started with the Grand Canyon this morning, which certainly didn't disappoint. I was very glad that we came via the North Rim as there were fewer tourists and less commercialism. The weather was beautiful and we were able to walk a little to see the vistas, although the altitude did play a role in our hiking decisions. We had lunch there and lounged around on the decks of the Lodge before we finally decided to continue our journey through the West. Denise wanted to see Lake Powell, and though I was a little hesitant to add this 100 mile detour onto our trip, I'm certainly glad that we did. We were able to see the Colorado, the Vermilion Cliffs and vast expanses of land with a sky as immense as you can imagine. Lake Powell wa...

J'ai vu un hibou dans la foret. It's the sentence of the day. I have been informed that after a major in languages and two years living abroad, I mispronounce my "r's" in French. So, those of you that I ever tried to correct (er, Charles...), ignore me. We are in Jacob Lake, 42 miles north of the Grand Canyon right now and we're staying in a perfect little inn. We ate some delicious mountain trout tonight and mingled with the unusual mix of tourists, hunters, locals and hikers. I think that the Martin's were the only French people, though I listened hard for other languages. It's quite a change from the past couple of days and it's bizarre to think that two nights ago we were in New Orleans. All went well there and the plane ride was long, but went smoothly with very few transportation hiccups. We arrived in Las Vegas late last night and in our new rented Malibu (just like my car, only better!), we drove down the Strip, marveling at "la ...