We passed through the downtown of San Luis Obispo on our way to Morro Bay. Along the way, Ellen remembered having a brochure for montana de oro state park which is listed as the third largest park in the state. Since it was on the way, we decided to check it out. We were very pleased with this discovery. We hiked Bluff Trail which took us to high scenic overlooks of the ocean. There were fields of wildflowers all around us. It was very beautiful. We were able to get down close to the water's edge after climbing down some rock formations. The power of the ocean and the sound of the breaking waves was a sight to behold. 
We left the park and continued on to Morro Bay. We visited the shops there and had lunch at the same outdoor restaurant we ate at two years ago. The clam chowder is still the best and the outdoor atmosphere was unbeatable. 
We took the morning ferry from downtown Long Beach to the city of Avalon on Catalina Island. The crossing took about one hour and the boat had many more passengers then either of us had anticipated. 
We completed two great hikes today. However, being Easter Sunday, church came first. We went to the 8:00 a.m. mass at St. John Vianney this morning. It was a beautiful church with two large windows flanking the altar. The view of the red rock mountains was a continuous reminder of the existence of a Higher Being. We left church and drove directly to our first hike trail head. We hiked the Huckaby trail beginning at Midgely Bridge. This trail descended into the Oak Creek Canyon and ran along side the Oak Creek. The rushing water along this moderate rated 2.5 mile trail was very beautiful. We met a U.S. Forest Service ranger along the trail who took the time to point the local vegetation and especially the poison ivy. We asked him for a suggested next hike and told he us that West Fork was one of his favorites. As it turned out, we had plans to hike West Fork already and this only confirmed our plans. We completed our hike of the Huckaby trail and the drove North on 89A about six miles to Call of Canyon and the trail head for West Fork. This three mile trail was listed as an easy wilderness trail. This was one the best trails we have every hiked. It was located in a canyon with the Oak Creek running through the middle. The trail took us across the river 15 times on the way out and once again on the way back. It was very beautiful with many picturesque locations along the trail. We were very tired after this hike of three hours. We then stopped in Sedona for some shopping on our way back towards our hotel. We found a Mexican restaurant and had a very good meal. We got back to the hotel for a very needed hot shower.
We said goodbye to the Grand Canyon this morning at 8:00 a.m. What a beautiful national park. We got to Sedona in about two hours and stopped in at the Visitor's Center. We got a lot of good information from the ranger on the various hiking trails and area sights. We changed into our hiking clothes and hiked the Bell Rock Pathway and a portion of the Courthouse Butte Loop. These were listed as easy and moderate trails. The trails were not marked very well and at times we were not sure where the trail was taking us. We climbed up onto Bell Rock and had a great view of the area. 
We decided to hike the Rim Trail this morning since there were many areas of it we had not seen before. We are glad we did. We started at Kachina Lodge where we are staying and followed the rim to Mather Point. The trial had numerous locations that provided great views of the canyon. We stopped in at the Visitor’s Center and purchased a couple of books on the Grand Canyon. The author of one of the books was there and signed our book. We then took the shuttle bus back to our room. After lunch, we decided to try out the bikes. We took Hermit Road (which is closed to car traffic) to Hopi Point the highest outlook on this road. We stopped at all the outlooks along the way. Each provided a different view of the canyon. We could clearly see Bright Angel Trial a portion of which we had hiked yesterday. We could also see Phantom Ranch and the bridge leading to it with the binoculars. We then rode to the grocery store for a few items before returning to the room. In all it was a very full day of hiking and biking. The weather was beautiful with sunny cloudless skies and temperatures in the upper 60’s. We are happy that our last day at the Grand Canyon was so wonderful.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon by entering the East Entrance. We stopped at Watchtower for our first look at the Grand Canyon. It was a sunny day with clear skies and the colors on the canyon walls were magnificent. We drove along the South Rim to El Tovar Hotel where we checked into our room. We are staying at Kachina Lodge which is right on the rim trail. The canyon is just outside our building less than 30 yards away. We changed into our hiking gear and descended on the Bright Angel trail. We hiked to the 1 ½ mile Rest house 1131 feet below the canyon rim. There were a lot of hikers on the trail, but not so many that it was a problem. After a short rest, we started back up the trail to the top. We hiked the three miles in about 2 ½ hours. We were tired, but pleased with the hike. Once again, the views were spectacular and different with each turn or switchback of the trail. We were glad to get to our room and clean up after a great first day at the Grand Canyon.
We left our hotel in Parker, CO for a one hour drive to Manitou Springs, CO to ride on the 9:20 a.m. Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Pike. The ride up was very scenic and full of facts about the surrounding area as told to us by our conductor. As we ascended, the weather was warm and sunny with clear views of the panoramic Rockies. It took about one hour to reach the top. The weather was cold (approximately 20 degrees) and windy. The visitor center provided some hot cocoa and lunch. By the time we came back outside, it was snowing near white out conditions with a temperature of seven degrees. We had been warned about altitude sickness and immediately felt the effects upon arrival at the top (14,000 feet). The anecdote for being dizzy and light headed was to move slow and drink plenty of water. It helped! We found warm weather once again once we descended the mountain. We experienced two very different worlds in about three hour’s time. 
We left Loveland, CO early this morning for our one hour drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. While driving just outside Estes Park, CO we saw three small Bighorn Sheep. In the city of Estes Park we saw three elk causally walking across the street. We realized then that we were not in Ohio anymore! In the park, there were many herds of elk and mule deer to be seen. We stopped at the visitor's center and got maps of the park and some help in deciding which trail to hike. We drove to Glacier Gorge Junction where we began a 2 1/2 hour hike. There was lots of snow on the trail and it was a difficult hike. It was around 35 degrees and a combination of snow and rain was falling. We choose not to use our snowshoes which was a mistake. The snow was deep and sometimes very soft making it difficult to hike. That plus the very steep trail and the higher altitude caused both of us to get short of breath. We needed to stop often. If that was not difficult enough, we got lost at least four times. The trails were not very well marked and we keep taking the wrong fork in the road! Even though we were glad to make it back to the car and to get out of our wet clothes we really did enjoy the hike. We then drove back down the mountain passing through Boulder and Denver on our way to Parker Colorado. We checked into our hotel and really enjoyed spending time in the hot tub. We then drove over to Matt and Gretchen's home for dinner. We had a wonderful time talking with them and playing with Brodie, Eva and Max. It was good to see them and their beautiful family.
Our wandering ways have continued with several trips completed this past year including four trips to California to visit Jen, Dan, Elise, Thomas and Julia. We were fortunate to once again be able to stay in the Hansen’s home located directly across the street. As always, we had a wonderful time. We traveled to Italy, France and Spain with the Fitzgerald Group. We had a great time, made new friends and have many memories of these trips which have been reported in our photobooks. We were able to be with John and Joan in their Florida home and enjoy their relaxing company and the wonderful beaches. Below is a listing of our various trips:
