Ashland

Fall colors in the hills above Ashland

A week following the Las Vegas trip, I was in Ashland for another business trip.  Not quite Canyon country, but it is always nice to get down to southern Oregon and I had time for a nice walk in the hills above town.

Grand Canyon and Las Vegas

 Looking at the Canyon from Powell Point

 A business trip took me to Las Vegas for four days so I added a weekend to the trip and Maria and I joined me as we fled Vegas upon arrival and headed to Williams, Arizona. We spent two nights there in a converted rail car at the Grand Canyon Motel.  Maria and William had not been to the Canyon before so it was fun to watch their reactions at seeing this amazing place for the first time.  I'm always amazed to see it - there is no landscape that I have seen anywhere that can match it.  We also enjoyed a drive through Oak Canyon to Sedona and on to Jerome, a mining town high in the mountains nearby.  We also were able to see Hoover Dam and the Vegas strip, which is a spectacle. 

 We had a perfect fall day for our visit

 There is one interesting development on the Vegas Strip now, the newly completed City Center.  Very cool - and no stupid theme!

Cape Kiwanda

Looking north toward Cape Lookout from Cape Kiwanda

We spent this past weekend on the other side of the mountains, camping in Pacific City at Webb County Park.  We were a short walk from the dory launching beach and Cape Kiwanda State Park (also the Pelican Brewery, which was terrific).  Not exactly wilderness camping, but we had great time playing on the beach under sunny skies.