Saskia and Richard's RVing Adventures

Our plans went awry mid October when we heard that Richard’s brother Don had fallen 20 feet out of a tree while out hunting in Arkansas.   With a dislocated shoulder, punctured lung, brain trauma, cracked ribs and vertebrae, you could say it was a near miss.   He was lucky he didn’t lose his life. After 3 weeks of recuperation with 1 on 1 attention from his daughter and her family at their home near Dallas, Richard was going to spend some time with Don, to move him home and make sure he would be able look after himself on his own. Richard's trip meant we had to reschedule our planned stay in Vegas, where we were supposed to be meeting up with my nephew Steven and his new bride Stephanie who were going to there for their honeymoon.   I was going to miss their wedding in Scotland but had contented myself with the thought that I would be able to congratulate them in person in Sin City.   If all went well, we would still be able to spend a couple of days with them at the en

I feel like I have been put through the wringer.  I know, I know, but I really can’t think of anything more original to say than that cliché! Every muscle in my body aches.  Not to mention the joints – shoulder sockets, ankles, knees… Never has getting in and out of bed, nor sitting down, nor climbing in an out of our fifth wheel or our truck, been so painful.  But the cause of all this was absolutely worth it. Now I’ve mentioned before ( Rockslicking Granny ) that hiking down steep ravines is a challenge for me.  The hikes we recently did that pushed me out of my comfort zone in the Moab and Bryce National Park areas over the past month have been a preparation of sorts for my first attempt at a “strenuous” accredited hike. My husband Richard’s former work colleague Bob Erikson and his wife Debbie talked us into this escapade 6 months ago – because the hike to the Subway on Zion National Park land https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/thesubway.htm is a permit only walk.   I

I remember the feelings that ran through me when my husband Richard and I visited the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was June 2010, one of our annual trips from Scotland to the USA, to visit Richard’s mom, and take the opportunity to do a short road trip at the same time.  It was, for me, the most incredible vista, the memory of which I thought would last me a lifetime.  You know, when you finally reach that time in the assisted living home and share the best and worst of times with your inmates… this one place would be the one to top it all. For me, standing on the edge of a precipice with views that extend for miles over more than 180 degrees of buttes and cliffs wearing layered coats of color, was the most humbling and spiritual feeling I had ever felt looking at a geological wonder. My heart soared and I felt on top of the world and closer to heaven all at the same time.  I cried at the beauty of the scene, and my existence in this wonderful world. I finally understood the wo

The highlight of our week spent in Moab, Utah, must be doing a Highland fling under the iconic Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, in Utah.   And it wasn’t because I was applauded for my dancing – though obviously doing an attempt at a Scottish jig over my crossed over hiking sticks was deemed one of the more unusual poses that visitors to this site attempted that morning. Posing under the hundred plus arches that can be found in the area seems to be a common activity.  By the way, arches are caused by wind erosion. No, the highlight for me doing a jig here, was the fact that I was there at all AND had the nerve to let go of my hiking poles to dance on a ledge with precipitous drop offs on either side of me.  To reach this world famous arch you have to hike about a mile and a half on a “difficult” uphill climb over open slickrock  slickrock “with some exposure to heights”. And that’s the operative word.  Heights.  It’s not that I have a fear of heights.  Neither