We left Page with overcast skies, and rain threatening ahead. It had rained all night, too! We stopped to see dinosaur tracks in the rocks - they were full of water. When we got to the drive along the rim of the Canyon, it was coming down in buckets, so we didn't get to see much from there! We finally got to the airport where the BBQ's were to go, and the mechanic crew did a great job getting them unloaded. Boy, were we glad to have all that weight off the truck, and get rid of the trailer!!

We did get to go on the helicopter tour - it was great! Here are assorted photos - we just kept on taking them!

Today we drove all the way through Utah, with some great clouds.

We stayed at Brigham City, got up with the sun, and headed out.
Going through Salt Lake City bright and early was great - very little traffic. We went past the Temple, glowing in the sun.
We caught glimpses of the Great Salt Lake, pink in the sunrise.
At a rest stop later in the morning - high barren country, mostly cattle.
These little sunflowers were growing everywhere, along the roadsides, even fields of them. If you click on this one, you can see a couple of grasshoppers flying by. I didn't even notice them until I looked at the photo on the computer.

In the south of Utah, we finally turned east to head to Page. We were in the Vermillion Rocks area, with the interesting formations and colors. The forecast thunder storms were shaping up - in this country you can see them from a long ways off.
We finally wended our way down to Glen Canyon Dam, at Page, AZ. Lake Powell was very low, you can see the water levels above the dam.
We pulled off to take a peek down into the canyon. Page was packed, it being Saturday night of the Labor Day weekend, but we really lucked out getting a hotel room. We pulled into a motel, which said no vacancy, but when David asked, they had just had a cancellation, so we got a room!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2008
We have a lot of miles to cover, so most of my photos are from the truck. We passed several grass fires - this one was in the area between the lanes, and was still burning on the far side of that lane.

Last night when we pulled into the Motel 6, we saw this llama tied up to the trailer. Turns out there were 3 of them, spending the night in the corner of the parking lot. This morning, the owners cleaned up the pile of poop, then hauled them away.
Our first glimpse (later many) of the Snake River. We followed it through the rest of Oregon and into Idaho. It is also the route of the Oregon Trail,
which went right through this rest stop, which had a historical marker about it.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2008
Finally time to start a road trip! It will be great to leave cold wet Washington for the sunny warm southwest! David fills the tanks.

On the ferry - the official start of any trip off the Island. We'll deliver 3 BBQ's to the Grand Canyon!
We didn't leave until noon, so we drove until well after sunset, which was lovely over Eastern Oregon. We stayed the night in Pendleton, OR.

Boy, this season has the most snakes I've seen! There are piles and piles of them around the yard and garden. Three of the black-and-yellow variety piled here against the rock wall.

And a huge pile, over two dozen (it was hard to count, and this wasn't all of them!) of the browns and blacks, big and little. They slither every which way when they feel or see me.
And this one was in such a hurry he left his skin behind. Well, I doubt that was it. There are discarded skins lying all around - they disintegrate after a few days in the sun and/or rain. But this was interesting as it disappears into a crack in the retaining wall.

David got a big order for 3 BBQ's, and they're coming along nicely. Above he and Greg adjust the tray, and below shows one a bit earlier.

They need to be delivered to the Grand Canyon by Sept 1, so we're going on a road trip! It should be a lot of fun.

This is also the time of year when the fluff flies! I've been watching these bits of nothing float by, carrying their seeds to new and wonderful places.

What does it matter that we think the thistles are a nuisance? To many other species, they provide food and shelter. And they have a beautiful way to propagate.

We've had a plague of swallow babies inside the house today! The second batch of nestlings are fledging, and for some reason ended up inside. Most of them found their way back out, but I had to rescue two who went for the closed windows. I figured if they were foolish enough to do that, they could put up with having a picture taken before they were released. Not very happy, but then got to fly to a nearby tree and really tell me all about it!

And these poor guys had their nest fall to the deck, but seem to be making the best of it. Of course, one of these nights when they're dormant, it will be removed!

These funny little moths were battling with the bees in the lavendar today. They were just as busy at the bees, flitting from one blossom to another, then zooming off to chase? mate? play? with others of their kind. You had to be quick to catch them!

It's that spider time of year . . . I don't particularly like them, and I HATE finding a web with my face, but I do love their weavings and their webs. This little guy above was just finishing up with wrapping a little fly. Happy days in the webs.

This one was camped out in a thistle head - there were several smaller bugs, so I'm guessing happy days in the thistle, too.
And I noticed that the madronnas have started to split their bark, revealing the bright green layer. But I didn't notice the spider hiding at the top of the photo until I looked at it on the computer!