Back to Canada

So on April 10th we set out to return to Canada.

It's been heating up here and I thought I'd be ready to go back by now but the last week has been really nice temperature-wise and I think I would have stayed longer if I could.

Can't though...we have to be real careful not to stay too long in the USA each year lest they consider us residents and try to collect taxes from us. Income taxes that is...but we're retarded...no in-come...only out-go. Still...who needs the hassle?

We had a few stops on the way...the first night we saw Fleetwood Mac in concert at The Forum in Los Angeles. We've seen them a couple times in the past decade in Calgary at the Saddle Dome but each time it's been minus Christine McVie. Christine quit Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and only rejoined them October last year. So even though it was quite a bit out of the way and involved another trip down the freeways of L.A. we really wanted to see them. And it was worth it. What a great live band. We paid a small fortune for our seats (row 6 dead centre) but it's probably the last time we'll get a chance to see them so WTF.

Here's a shot of Mick Fleetwood's drum kit.

And the two retardees waiting for the show to start. We came a bit early not knowing what traffic would be like.

And this is a shot showing how close we were to the stage.

Lindsey looks very bored or pissed off in this shot but the opposite was true - he's a wild man on stage and, in my opinion, is the whole show. This was Landslide which is just him on guitar and Stevie on vocals so I think he was just trying to make sure that she got all the attention during the song.

And of course Christine. The crowd was very happy to have her back in the band.

Below is a link to a bunch more photos of the show.

Link

So after a night in Los Angeles we set off for a night in Las Vegas to see another of or favourite bands...Steely Dan. Totally different venue from the previous night. Here's a link to the website showing the auditorium. It was A-OK...the only problem is they serve liquor during the show and our serving girl seemed to keep coming back to where we were sitting.

Here's a shot of the stage from our seats and you can see the damn girl just to the left of centre. She's coming to offer me another beer....I can't say no....

We spent two nights in Zion National Park after Vegas. What a spot. Busy though. I can't imagine what it must be like during summer when all kids are out of school.

Anyway...here's a bunch of shots of rocks and things.

NOTE: these pictures all look better on a larger screen.

And here's the retardees once again.

The picture above was taken just above the arch in the picture below. It was about a mile hike in from the highway to what's called the Canyon Lookout

And the shot below is what you see from the Canyon Overlook.

We did four hikes in two days. All relatively short and easy hikes. The next time we'll be better prepared and do some of the harder ones.

Some critters beside the highway.

After Zion we shot for Butte, Montana and spent the night in a lovely Best Western. This is what the car looked like the next morning.

And this is what the road looked like on the way to Calgary - on the US side that is - the weather improved dramatically as we go into Canada.

And now we're back and this is the lovely view of Fish Creek Park. Still pretty brown but the grass is starting. I can feel another trip coming on!