Yellowstone National Park continues to deliver the thrills, we have now seen a wild grizzly bear, several black bears and their cubs, one particularly close encounter with a very large chilled out black bear – he was brilliant and strolled across the road 10 meters in front of us, no one told the bears they should stay 90 meters from the humans.
We watched a wild otter swimming upstream in the river, got far too close to countless Bison and saw a pack of wolves in a rescue centre – they were awesome and looked like huge, scary domestic dogs on steroids.
Next we drove down to the Grand Canyon which is another natural wonder that has to be seen to appreciate its size, it is beyond huge. We walked a short way down into the canyon which just helped to emphasis how big it really is – check a map. Grand Canyon National Park also has lots of wildlife as we witnessed when returning to the car park to find a small group of deer munching grass just feet away from our car, 4 feet from wild deer as they pinned Stephen next to the car is a little too close for comfort!
A short drive later (LOL no such thing in the USA) we enjoyed a morning horse riding near Santa Fe, New Mexico. An absolutely amazing experience from grooming and saddling our horses ‘Boots & Pearl’ to spending a relaxing trek through the beautiful scenery. Into Santa Fe for lunch and then down to Roswell for an ‘interesting’ look around. I’m not saying we know what went on down there in the 1940’s but something has definitely been covered up.
We have jumped on and off Route 66 several times on our journey, lots of iconic sights to see and we even dropped in to see the clinically insane Harvey Russell at his memorabilia store, it may take Annette quite some time to recover from that encounter!
We have been extremely lucky to have had beautiful weather almost all the way, we seem to have been travelling between tornadoes and electrical storms and missing them all by 24 hours. We’re hoping this continues as several fatalities have been reported already this year from tornadoes and we have been glued to the tornado warning channel in the evenings to see if our planned path forward is clear.
Only 4 more weeks to go, we cannot believe how fast this trip is going but we still have many many more places to visit and things to do – we’ll post again next week with continued coverage…
Annette
I really can’t believe how quickly the last 8 weeks have gone, but we’ve done so much and created so many memories and as you say we have so much more to do yet 👍
Yellowstone was truly amazing, I thought we were lucky to see one grizzly on our first day but then to see bears with cubs was lovely they were so cute but best of all (and closest) was Mr chilled strolling across the road without a care in the world, he was definitely something else 😍
Thank you for a real Grand Canyon experience, trekking down into the canyon was a great idea, it really gave a different perspective, although the return journey back up in the heat was a bit of a challenge for me 😄 as were the deer back at the car 😅
The hands on experience with the horses before going on our trek was lovely and it really helped build my confidence with Pearl, it was another special day.
The above experiences were wonderful although I can’t say the same for the trip to see Harley Russell! It was certainly a memorable experience, just not necessarily in a good way, but at least we had a laugh about it, but not to be repeated 🤣
Back on public transport in just over a week which I’m sure will bring its challenges again but at least you’ll get to enjoy the scenery while somebody else is driving 🤞
Linda Dougherty
It all looks and sounds amazing. Carry on enjoying your adventures and living your best life. Always lovely to read your posts and messages. Take care always xxx xxx
Dave
So do you know the way to Amarillo yet? 😉🤣
Stephen Howarth
Luckily for us there were signposts for Amarillo as we left Roswell so I’m not sure why Tony Christie got so lost? Maybe he should have asked Neil Sedaka, one of the original song writers 🤣
Alison Swindells
You are having such varied experiences and seeing some wonderful sights. Loving reading about your special adventure. So happy for you both 💓
Annette
Thanks Alison, we’ll need theses blog posts to remind ourselves of all we’ve done 🤣
Take care xx
Ruth and John
Hi Guys We are so glad you are having a great time.
We know about the tornadoes as we have a friend in Oklahoma,and fortunately they have gone round his house.
Enjoy the rest of your adventures.
Sending Lots of love.
Auntie Ruth and Uncle John x x x
Annette
Thanks Auntie Ruth and Uncle John.
Glad your friends are okay, it must have been pretty scary for them.
We will continue to stay alert and informed in order that we can avoid an encounter with one 🤞
Lots of love and hugs 😘😘xx
Carlos
Still jealous on all this American activity!
I am curious though, whats happening in 4 weeks?!
Annette
That’s when the diet starts 🤣 and then booking the Canaries for our wedding anniversary 🌞 👍
Joyce Howarth
It is lovely to hear about what you are both experiencing and knowing that you are enjoying everyone of them. Enjoy your special day today Stephen , Happy Birthday.
Love Mum
Stephen Howarth
Thank you for the birthday wishes, we are certainly packing each day with new and interesting experiences.
Ken Jackson
It’s so good to read that you are still enjoying all these experiences and I add my best wishes for Stephens Birthday wherever you are now.
Now continue with your adventure.
Love
Uncle Ken
Stephen Howarth
Cheers Monkey for the birthday wishes, we’re currently in Chicago after a busy few days travelling. We’ve still got lots to see and do over the next few weeks.