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Six thousand four hundred and thirty two, six thousand four hundred and thirty three, six thousand four hundred and ????? CRAP! I'm still trying to count my big Vegas winnings. Between counting my pennies and mowing the lawn (twice this week) I haven't had much time to post some more tidbits about our latest adventure. Jo and I are still trying to edit down our hundreds of photos from the trip so we can put together a reasonable set to share with anyone that we can pin down long enough to look them. I pulled out a couple of pics that I thought might be a little entertaining. In the first shot we see a member of the Hualapia Nation whose job is to keep "White Eyes" from blowing into the canyon. There are no guard rails or fences so, if you get too close to the edge, poof! you get quick 4,000 foot thrill ride down the canyon wall. In spite of the fact that there are signs all along the rim, our Native American friends feel the need to warn us in person. The "Guard Lady" is appropriately dressed in bright colors with an equally bright umbrella so that if she blows over the side, she can safely float to the river below and be easily found. Being so colorful, she also a highly visible example of the danger at hand. Anyway, I was quite taken with her and respectfully refer to her as "Pocahanis Poppins".

Another colorful sight in the canyon is "The Boat People". They tour the canyon by water for days or weeks or until they are swamped by a falling, heavyset Native American woman with a broken purple umbrella. There's really nothing to significant about them, but they are colorful. As if the massive natural sculptures of Mother Nature throughout the canyon weren't enough, she even went to work on a smaller scale with the rocks along the trails. For example, the head of a Mastiff in the third pic. The last picture(s) is another example of the thoughtfulness of the National Park Service. They provide the visitors with constant reminders of their location. This can be seen in the photo of Jo and me in Zion Canyon. A fellow tourist was kind enough to take a picture of the two of us in the canyon setting. While checking to make sure the guy got a descent shot, we realized the the Park Service was kind enough to mark our location with a big X carved into the canyon wall. (see blowup).

I'll close this, longer than intended, tale with this tip for all future travelers. When asking another tourist to take pictures of you and your companion, follow these simple guidelines. 1. Pick someone who looks like they the right end of the camera. Check their equipment (don't let your wife catch you doing this in cases involving younger ladies). If they have a better camera than you, they might be a good choice. Maybe offer to return the favor by taking his (her) picture. (consider taking off with his camera if it's a lot better than yours) 2. Attach one end of a long heavy chain to your camera and the other end to your companion. This accomplishes a couple of purposes. First it keeps a potential thief from taking off with your camera (like you considered doing with his) and you can adjust the chain length to insure the proper cropping, thus not cutting off your head or chopping off the desired scenery.
Sorry for being so long winded but it's the first posting in a week.