Westward Ho!

One week from yesterday, on August 27, 2018, I will begin a new adventure in the great west.  It will be the first "domestic" trip that I will undertake as a retired traveler.  It was always my plan to attempt one "foreign" and one domestic trip each year, while I am still able.  For a variety of reasons, the in-country trips have not occurred, buying a condo, moving, professional commitments, etc., all have frustrated the fulfillment of that worthy intention.  Finally, three years into retirement, I'm going to begin exploring parts of our great (it's always been great, despite some claims otherwise) nation that I have missed in my wanderings.  There is no particular reason to have chosen this one, other than it came up at the right time and it peaked my interest.

Trip #1-D is, once again, with Road Scholar, with whom I have been very pleased, not withstanding some disappointments in the Great American Get Together in Banff,  This will be in the small group format of the trips to China and Southeast Asia.  We will be touring the national parks of Utah, including a peek at the Grand Canyon, which, believe it or not, I have yet to behold.  Considering the recent attempts by our deranged president to severely reduce the area and services in these parks, I think the timing is especially fortuitous.  I'll be able to visit these grand, natural wonders before they are down-sized to picnic areas to accommodate the special, commercial interests of the few!

Getting to Saint George, Utah, our debarkation point, proved to be more than I could manage on my own.  So, I called upon my friendly travel agent, Bill, who found the magic route that will get me to my destination on time with minimum hassle.  I'll have to leave 27J at 4:00 am to catch the flight from O Hare to Phoenix, and from there to Saint George.  But I've talked to the doorman, who assures me that there is no problem attracting a taxi at that hour.  Who can believe it?

As in some of my past adventures, I will attempt to record and post day to day happenings that might be of interest.  My relatively new Dell computer served me well in Banff, and will be my companion on this trip as well.  I feel no sorrow at the demise of the iPad.  I've moved on.  Stay turned..........