Today was a day of rest for me... just didn't want to climb back in the truck again and drive another 100+ miles today... so I didn't. Slept in a bit this morning instead and then putzed about the trailer for most of the morning. Got some new clothes hooks mounted on the wall and finally got my polar fleece jackets and vests all hung up. With any luck I won't be needing them much, but it's nice to know they are there if needed.

    Also got the last of my bags from this summer unpacked and all the stuff in them put away. I was getting tired of having to move it from the bed to the couch to the seat and back to the bed. The main problem was that some of the stuff lives in the back of the truck most of the time, and it's full of my bike rack and chairs until I get the bumper welded back together. So it's a bit of a mess also. The good news is that the bumper will get fixed on Thursday morning. Talked to the guys at the RV shop next door and they took a look at it yesterday afternoon while I was at the coast. No problem welding it up, and maybe even adding some extra support pieces, I'll just need to take it over there is all.

    Other than that the only other thing I did was go out and do some grocery shopping and take a short walk. Still a bit cool outside, but it was sure a beautiful autumn day here in Maine.

    Will be getting up early tomorrow and heading out to Bar Harbor. They have a 3-4 hour light house cruise that takes off at 9:30 in the morning. A bit early for me... but I can do it if I need to. Hope to spend the day over there in that area and then pick up a couple live lobsters to cook once I'm back at the trailer. Looking forward to a nice day out.

     Here are pictures from our 10th day on the Grand Canyon River Trip.

Early morning sun on the river cliffs.

The cooks have been up since before light getting breakfast ready. I think it was pancakes, bacon and eggs and assorted other goodies.

This early in the morning the life jacket actually feels good because of the extra warmth it gives.

More cliffs from the lava flows are showing up here and there along the river.

In places where the lava rock has broken apart you get some really interesting shapes. What I like is how the barrel cactus seems to be able to grow right out of the rock.

We had several large flocks of sea birds flying around us for several days. I think they must of been passing through on one of their migrations. One of the people on the trip knew what they were, but I forgot. About the size of a pigeon they were light underneath and dark slate blue/grey on top. They were beutiful as they twisted and turned in flight.

 

Pumpkin Spring, a sacred site to the Hopi. You can see where it got it's americanized name from.

The view from the top. This was not a hot spring like you would find in Yellowstone. It does evidently have lots of dissolved minerals in it though, which is how it built up it's outer rim as they percipitated out of solution.

Several people used our stop as a reason to get wet and have a little fun. This is Alex.

Alex in mid air... upside down.

Love the hair.

Doug, Deb and Alex. I like their shadow on the water.

 

 

Here we have Jillian trying to fly.

Back on the boat. From L to R, F to B we have Helen, Jill, Donna, Tom then Ginny, Marty, Maggie and Paul, Ben and Jillian are in the very back.

A small barrel cactus I found that still had some of it's fruit pods left on.

Walker took us on a short hike after lunch to this rock where people have left heart shaped rocks over the years. When we got there though someone had thrown all the rocks away... We soon located most of them and replaced them again. This is John and Caroline. It was their anniversary today so I took a few shots of them and some of the other couples.

Aren't they cute!

 

Tom and Donna

Dennis and Jan

Jim and Patty

Some of the girls... Jan, Jodie, Donna, Deb, Ruth, Patty and Caroline

A nice barrel cactus.

Our 2nd hike of the day was up another side canyon with waterfalls on it. Here we have Maggie and Caroline cooling down.

Helen.

Donna. Just Chillin!

An upper waterfall. Donna, Tom, Fino, Jim, Deb and Bill

Me.

A small gecko kind of critter.

Don't we all look happy here?

Camp for the night.

Our last camp site for the trip and it's one of the best. Lots of sand and great views all around.

 

My feet started to look like tiger paws from the boat shoes I wore and suntan marks from them.

 On a more somber note: I found out today that the husband of a good friend of mine, she and I have known each other for almost 40 years, passed away last night of complications from brain cancer. I had only met Bob a couple of times but really liked him a lot, not only because of who he was, but also because of what he meant to my friend Jan. You could see that there was a lot of love and mutual respect in their relationship even though they had only been together a very short time. I grieve for Bob and for my friend Jan. I hope she will do okay in the coming days and weeks and that she will realize that there are many of us out here, even if we are far away, who will be thinking of her tonight and for many days and nights to follow.