Day 3 - Arrived safely at VentureOut in Mesa AZ

At 4pm today we checked into, what is to be our home for 3 months, in Mesa AZ . We left Hurrican in Utah at 8am in order to enjoy our sunny adventure through an amazing Zion Canyon scenic drive. The pink, red and white sandstone hills and deep cutout ravines & valleys give the 40 minute ride through Zion a vision of natures handy work over 1000s of yrs. The Escalante limestone Steps began in the Bryce Canyon area of mid Utah. Water, wind and time shaped the southerly extention of this wear & tear of mother earth through the Kolob Canyons, Zion Canyon, Glen Canyon and finally the mother of all canyons, the Grand Canyon of Arizona. Our trip took us east to the town of Kanab, then Page through rolling vast mesquite covered landscapes on route 89 down to Flagstaff on old route 66, now #40. Our elevation was between 6500 and 5000 feet above sea level. The ground was sprinkled with snow but the hwy was bare, with few semis to hinder our cruising at 60 - 75 m/hr.
We charged south on #17 from Flagstaff with elevation dropping as we approached Phoenix (about 2000 ft). The landscape changed from ponderosa pine to large Mugo pine to desert cacti. About 45 minutes south of the turnoff to Sadona (beautiful redrock country) we saw our 1st Sajuaro cacti, then tedibear, pricklypear and ocotilo cacti. We roared by the Outlet Malls on the outskirts of Scottsdale to Mandy's disappointment and managed to evade the state troopers who were out in force, a sunny warm day. Ah "the valley of sun" we have arrived.

Day 2, Idaho and Utah behind us....

Bedded down in the small town of Hurrican Utah tonight, extreme south in Utah near Zion Nat.park. Mandy and I share 2hr shifts of driving with Mandy and Lulu (gps) doing a great job of navigating, Mandy loves picking the route and talking back to Lulu who can be overbearing with calls for U Turns when we deviate from her chosen path. We stuck to the main hwys of #84 through Boise in Idaho and down into Utah through SaltLakeCity and then #15 south to Hurrican.

Day 1 - Washington & Oregon behind us...

Our US border person was concerned we were leaving Canada for good at 7:10am, when he saw the luggage we were bringing. But once over the border we covered 920 kl in 10 hrs to overnight here in Ontario Idaho. We left I-5 at Bellevue Wash. and headed east and south on Hwy 90 through the hay region of Ellensburg WA, apple region of Yakima WA, wine country of Richland WA, the onion growing area of WalaWala WA, and then it was rolling grass & cattle grazing country covered with a skiff of snow in the high country of Oregon over the Columbia river and into sunny Idaho. The Super 8 Motel is our preference at $55/night and of course wifi, hot tub & fitness rm. We were thankful the highway was not busy and we experienced every kind of weather in that 10 hrs, except snow, thankyou... LG-Life Is Good

Our Mesa Arizona contact info...

Our mailing address at Venture Out is
Ken Witt
Box 1186, 5001 E.Main St.
Mesa AZ 85205
** our site location within VO is
Unit 617 Merlin
** our cell # in Mesa AZ is
480-703-4862
** you can still reach us and leave a message at
604-853-2717 Abbotsford tel #
** email address worldwide......
kwprotek@gmail.com
The golf clubs, walking poles and pickleball rackets are in the trunk and its poring rain outside... we are just about ready to roll... LG-life is gooood

Moody blues, grizzly greys and turbulent puddles, its time to leave...

The last number of days has been spent meeting with friends and family before our 3 month getaway. And also communicating with friends who want to stop in to Venture Out in Mesa and experience our winter play ground. Tomorrow we stuff/pack the car, check our list twice but not before a final coffee gathering farewell with Frank & Esther Martins. Sometimes it seems we are leaving for years but our ties to Abbotsford are strong and we value each friend dearly.
We have choosen two routes to Mesa so as we approach 1/12 we keep our eye on the weather channel to see if I-5 or #90 through Utah is the road to travel, time and distance will determine our ultimate route...