Kodachrome State Park

This place is well worth the trip too. You could hike for days here! With all the rain southern Utah got in the last few days they closed the park because the only bridge in was damaged. It re-opened Tuesday afternoon when we arrived. They had evacuated everyone there. It was like have the park to yourself for a while.

Grand Staircase-Escanlante National Monument / Escanlante Petrified Forest State Park

This was a beautiful place. There is a great campground there. May consider it next time. More pictures to come after I get them off Kathy's phone.

Petrified tree's

Bryce Canyon to Flagstaff

A few photo's of the trip from Bryce Canyon to Flagstaff. About 3/4 of the way there we had two tires blow out. Funny thing was we had just stopped for about 30 minutes just before this happened so not sure what caused it. Good thing we have Goodsam Roadside. One phone call and service will be here in about an hour.

Our campsite at the KOA in Cannonville, UT. The middle of no where. A great place to escape if you don't need groceries, cell service or reliable internet :)

30 minutes before the blow out. 

 And the blow out!!

Bryce Canyon, UT

We arrived in Cannonville, UT (pop 63) in the rain and hail storm. It rained all day yesterday and last night. We are staying at the KOA which is small but nice. Today the weather was a mixed of wind and rain. Fortunately it didn't rain while we were hiking at Bryce Canyon.

I thought the entrance fee was a bit steep for a National Park ($25 a day) but it was worth the trip. The shuttle is definitely the way to go. The parking at the view points are limited. There are some really nice hiking trails and next year we want to hike the bottom of the canyon as opposed to the rim. It was beautiful but a little chilly, windy and 49 degrees. The top of the rim is at 8,800 feet.

Tomorrow afternoon we are going to Escalante Grand Staircase and the Petrified Forest.

Cannonville is in the valley 

Next year we plan to hike to the bottom

Way too long....

Guess I lied when I said I would keep this up. Now I really do intend to. What a summer!
We arrived in Carbondale the 2nd week in May. Nikki and Travis got married here in July.
We had lots of company and it was a wonderful time.
Unfortunately on August 10th my younger brother Dwight (52) died of a heart attack at the Charlotte Airport travelling home with his wife. Labor day weekend we went to PA for the memorial which was really nice.

This year we leave for North Carolina on Saturday 9/27. We get back 10/31.

Our travel plans are:

Carbondale to:

Bryce Canyon, UT
Grand Canyon, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Silver City, NM
Roswell, NM
Amarillo, TX
Checotah, OK
Hot Springs, AR
Starkville, MS
Ozark, AL
Lawtey, FL
Wilmington, NC

Noah is 3!!

Noah with a present from Great Grandma and Granddad Kirkland

Saint Patrick's Day Parade - Wilmington

Saturday we went to the parade!  It lasted about 30-40 minutes and had all the town officials, military groups, dance groups and the Marine Corp Band from Camp Lejune.  It was a beautiful day around 75 and sunny. We really enjoyed our first parade with Noah, although he probably didn't care much. The sirens were not his favorite thing.

Watching the parade

Noah is in there somewhere

Battleship North Carolina in the distance