West Utah Canyons - 2012 Family Travel

Planning Map for the Canyons 2012

This was our first family vacation in 2012.  It was not easy to have our two adult children join us now, as they have work to do and school to go to. The excuse was to celebrate my birthday in July.  But if we waited until then, the whole family would have had a hard time getting together for this one-week long vacation travel.  On the left is our planning map using Google Maps.  I also used Google Documents for a spreadsheet that had all the text information of this map and the lodgings and reservations for this trip. 
I cannot believe how easy and efficient it has become over the last thirty years to travel.  Now we have GPS, online maps, and cellular phones.  I still remember the planning we had to do with those AAA maps and Tour Guides.  The last stretch to the destination is always a challenge.  You are within a couple of miles of your friend's home, but you missed one turn and got lost.  There was no cell phone and there was no easy pay phone to get to. Retracing your steps and back to the main roads were the common recovery procedures.

Family Picture in Sin City at Palazzo, Las Vegas

We drove down to Irvine, California on Friday, June 15, to meet up with Michael, who is attending graduate school at UCI there.  We had a luncheon with my college classmates in San Gabriel on Saturday.  We headed to Las Vegas for the first night. We picked up Joseph in the evening, who flew in from San Jose, California. Las Vegas, the man-made Sin City, has many splendid and magnificent "Towers of Babel" of our time. We had our wonderful breakfast at Palazzo per Joe's recommendation.  I personally cannot never eat enough to get my money's worth.

Zion National Park 2012 Family Portrait

Our first stop was Zion National Park.
We visited quite a few national parks in Colorado and Utah when Jeanet had her college re-union in Denver about 10 years ago.  We were happy to visit this section of the southwestern states.  Because of time, we had to skip the Capitol Reef National Park this time.  I would like to go there some other time.

Mountain Goat in Zion National Park

We took the free shuttle service to see most of the canyon. It was quite convenient and environmentally friendly.

It took us by surprise to see a couple of mountain goats on our drive to the scenic Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. We took this picture from the window of our CR-V.

Bryce Canyon National Park June 2012

Our second stop was Bryce Canyon National Park

The picture on the left cannot reveal the grandeur of the canyon below. It is not just because of my simple and humble digital camera.  There is no true substitute for seeing it for yourself.  I still took pictures, although there are many better pictures out there.  The reason is the same for me and other people. I took them because we were in the pictures :-)  They are really just for memories.

There is also a free shuttle bus service in this national park for some key vista points. I really like this service.

Switchbacks in the Navajo Loop Trail

Here we learned the word "hoodoo," which is a tall, thin spire of rock.  This makes this national park unique.

We did a couple of short hikes in the park the next day including the "hoodoo hike" along the Navajo Loop Trail.  You got a close look at the hoodoo's.  It is well worth the workout.  This shot on the left shows the quick switchbacks on our way down to the canyon. Note that we had three people in the picture at various points of the trail. Michael was a distant dot at the top.

Deer Having Evening Meal in Bryce Canyon National Park

Deer families are common scenes in the Bryce Canyon National Park. They are so comfortable with the environment and they are not afraid of humans at all.

We went to a "star party" one evening for a nice ranger talk and Power Point presentation on where we are in the universe.  It was quite informative.  We are such a tiny speck of dust, but we are so conscious of our existence.  The human race is really a lonely tribe in the vast galaxies.  After the talk, we got a chance to line up to see the stars and planets through the many telescopes set up by hobbyists. The most stunning one for my family was Saturn.  That unmistakable ring was easy to identify. It is so much like a textbook picture.  For that matter, we could be fooled if they just put microfilm there on the eyepiece.

At the star party, I learned to identify the little dipper (Ursa Minor) by first locating Polaris, and the celestial swan (Cygnus) by locating the amber blue-green head Albireo and the bright tail Deneb, one of the Summer Triangle. In the past, I could only identify the big dipper (Ursa Major), Polaris, and Orion.  I hope that I can reliably identify the swan and the little dipper in the future.

Bryce Canyon National Park Lunch in the Picnic Area

We found a nice shady picnic table for our Subway sandwich lunch in the park. There were nearby Subway shops in the parks we visited.  The sandwiches were wonderful to have as lunch.  We had enough of them for the trip and would probably not eat that for a while.

Bison Herd at the Entrance of Grand Canyon National Park

Finally, we came to the Grand Canyon National Park North Rim.  Technically this is in Arizona, not in Utah.  We had been in Grand Canyon a couple of times before, but only to the South Rim.  The South Rim has better access and is more popular.

The drive to the North Rim was quite serene and beautiful.  I really appreciate the roads and infrastructure that get built and maintained. There are a couple of bison herds near the park entrance area. That was our first surprise.

Log Cabin in National Grand Canyon Park

This is the log cabin we stayed at the Grand Canyon National Park North Rim. We had no wireless access and no TV. That's perfectly fine with me.

Jeanet, Joseph and Michael's Mule Ride in Grand Canyon North Rim

We had a one-hour mule ride in the morning on the last day.  The trail was not difficult since this was for beginners. It went near the canyon a few times, but mostly we rode in the woods.

We remembered to slow down on our way back to look for the elk farm that we saw on our way in.  We stopped to take a few pictures.  This Sugar Knoll elk farm is in Glendale, Utah, which, is situated between Bryce Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon National Park North Rim. We were hoping to find the ostrich ranch we saw on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park, but failed to find it on our way back.

The temperature went up to 110 Fahrenheit at one point near the California border on our way back.  We were glad to be in the car with air conditioning.  We were thankful that the trip was fun, safe, and uneventful.

Our Mother - Always in Our Hearts

Our Mother

Our mother, Yuhsin Ko Lee, was born on August 21, 1927, in Shan Yao, Jiangxi Province, China and passed away on July 15, 2011, at her home in Davis, California, at the age of eighty-five.

Growing up in a farming village, mother developed a tenacious and intrepid character after losing her mother at a young age. She was spirited and bright, though the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War stopped her schooling. In the midst of war-torn China, mother met father, Hsueh Lee (deceased), and they married in 1947 in her hometown. Due to civil unrest, mother fled with father to various places. Their longest stay was three years in Hong Kong, where their eldest child, Tzong-yu, was born, and where mother heard the Gospel, received Jesus Christ as her Savior, and was baptized. In 1954, the family moved once again, settling in Taiwan, where the rest of her three children, Maria Li-ching, Churng-fung, and Si-yang (deceased), were born. While father held a middle school teaching position for the following thirty-plus years, mother devoted herself wholeheartedly to the family. Not only did she faithfully manage the household and lovingly raise her children, she fastidiously monitored her children's learning. As a result of her dedication, we were each able to complete our college education despite difficult circumstances. Mother's selfless devotion to the family had been our greatest blessing and model. For twelve years, she tirelessly cared for our youngest sister Si-yang throughout her ongoing illness until her eventual passing. In his later years, father suffered from three strokes. It was also mother who patiently and uncomplainingly cared for him and supported him. Even the grandchildren, all grown now and leading productive lives, trace their upbringing to their grandparents.

After father passed away in 1991, mother moved to the United States. First, she accompanied Churng-fung's family to Wisconsin where Churng-fung pursued her advanced degree. Following those blissful years, she joined Li-ching's family in California and settled there, returning occasionally to Churng-fung's home in Taiwan. Throughout those past twenty years, mother participated in church life, increasingly depending on the Lord, calling often on His name and enjoyed His love. Early this year, mother was confined to bed rest due to her congestive heart failure condition. All of her children rallied to care for her -- Li-ching tended her full-time; Tzong-yu traveled to Davis regularly, spending innumerable weekends with mother; while Churng-fung made a special trip from Taiwan to visit mother in May. During those months of illness, whenever mother heard brothers and sisters singing and praying out in the living room, she would joyfully echo with "Amens" from her bed as she enjoyed the Lord's comforting. At the time of her death, both Tzong-yu and Li-ching, who resided in the States, along with their families, surrounded her, accompanying mother to peacefully complete her journey on earth. The comfort that mother received in the Lord and from the saints was evident from her countenance. We are grateful to the Lord for His grace toward her.

We thank the Lord for giving us such a mother.

[NOTE: These will be used in the Memorial Service for my mother on July 23, 2011. I came up with a Chinese draft with Li-Ching. Churng-Faung did the beautiful final editing. My niece Tina took this and translated to an English draft while I did the final editing. We are proud to do this for her and we are sure that she is proud of us as well. She is always in our hearts.]

我們的母親

我們的母親 李柯玉馨女士，生於1927年8月21日中國江西上饒，卒於2011年7月15日美國戴維斯家中，得年85歲。

母親生長於農村，因年幼喪母，養成堅忍獨立的性格；母親生性開朗健談，聰敏過人，惜因中日戰爭爆發而輟學在家。1947年母親在家鄉與父親--李雪先生(已逝)相識相愛，在戰亂中結為夫妻。跟隨父親輾轉流離，在香港調景嶺三年中，生下長子宗虞，期間聽得福音，接受耶穌為救主，受洗歸依主名。1954年一家人再度遷移，在台灣相繼生下三女：麗卿、春芳與思琰(已逝)。在父親擔任中學教職三十餘年間，母親勤儉持家，無微不至的照顧兒女，同時嚴格督促子女課業，使我們都得以完成高等學業，在無依困頓的環境中得以自立。母親對家庭盡心竭力，成了我們兒孫最大的祝福與榜樣。么妹思琰天生殘疾，母親日夜照料長達十二年；父親晚年三度中風，也多虧母親耐心照顧扶持，無怨無悔，如今孫輩也個個長成，品性端正，都源於父母親的恩澤所賜。

父親於1991年辭世後，母親遷居美國，先到威斯康辛州陪著春芳一家求學，享受天倫之樂，後再與麗卿一家長居加州，也間歇往返台灣春芳家休養。二十年期間參加召會生活，對主耶穌愈發信靠，常呼求主名，享受主愛。今春(2011)，母親因心臟衰弱臥床靜養，麗卿全力照護，宗虞來回奔波照應，春芳亦於五月飛美探望。臥病期間，當母親聽見弟兄姊妹在客廳唱詩禱告時，都會喜樂地在臥床上以“阿們”回應，得主撫慰。母親臨終之際，在美居住的宗虞與麗卿兩家兒孫們，隨侍在側，平安地陪伴母親走完她在地上的行程。母親在主裡在聖徒中所受之安慰，洋溢於眉宇之間，使我們感謝主對她的恩典。

感謝主，把這樣一位母親賜給我們。

National Parks: Cross-country Drive (3/3)

Mount Rushmore was normally out of the way for many of our travel plans. But I decided to visit this National Memorial since I was quite close to South Dakota after visiting St. Paul, Minnesota.

We ran into two thunderstorms. I had to drive through one head-on on I-90 for about 20 minutes on our way to Rapid City, SD. Michael drove through another one in Custer State Park near Hot Springs, SD. We actually pulled over for 10 minutes to wait out the pea-sized hail storm. These were some driving experiences.

The visit to South Dakota's Custer State Park was quite worth it. There were so many animals that you could see from the side of the road, including deers, elks, bisons, prairie dogs, wild turkeys and even a donkey herd.
















The visit to Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD was quite accidental. Our motel was in Hot Springs and it was a 5-minute drive. I liked pre-historical things and this was a real pleasure to see.
It was an ancient karst sinkhole and turned out to be a deathtrap for large animals as they could not climb out on the slippery slope. There were many unearthed Columbian mammoths and there were some Woolly mammoths as well. The excavation is still underway, and everyone can participate. It is my fancy to do a little of that in the future. South Dakota has no income tax. It is a bit too cold in winter though.


I visited Yellowstone National Park almost thirty years ago. This time I saw a whole lot more animals in the wild. I think the re-introduction of bisons to the park is a success story.

It was 47 degrees Fahrenheit midday Thursday in Yellowstone National Park, and with the wind-chill factor, it was freezing. We stopped by the Old Faithful Inn for a couple of coffee after watching the geyser do its magic.
The same beautiful 5-story high lobby is still there.

The geological wonders and the volcanic activities distinguish Yellowstone National Park from others like Yosemite National Park in California.

On the way back to California, we literally passed through the Grand Teton National Park. We wished that we had more time for these two National Parks.

Flaggs Ranch Resort is located outside of the South Gate of Yellowstone National Park. It has a nice but expensive restaurant. There are no other places to eat :-(
There was no cell phone coverage in Flaggs Ranch Resort (between south gate of YNP and Grand Teton NP).
No WiFi obviously. That evening was the only exception for the entire trip, i.e., no cell phone coverage and no WiFi.











The GPS took us to the northern route through Idaho when we specified our destination in Nevada directly from Moran, WY (south gate of Yellowstone National Park). Originally I thought we would pass through Salt Lake City.

Lodging:
Americas Best Value Inn at Hot Springs, SD @ $76.46 per night
Americas Best Value Inn at Cody, WY @ $125.38
Brandin Iron Inn at West Yellowstone, MT @ $153.90
Flagg Ranch Resort at Moran, WY @ $193.32
Motel 6 at Winnemucca, NV @ $73.91
Grandma's home at Davis, CA
Home sweet home at Campbell, CA

Where we went and miles driven:
MN, SD, WY, MT, ID, NV, CA

Sunday, June 19, 4:30 pm @46258 - Sunday, June 12 10:00 am @43642 = 2616 miles
Total miles driven from Avon, Connecticut @41326 is 4932 miles. It was almost 5000 miles.

Changes in America for the Worse:

These are disappointing observations in this trip. I had higher expectations for the Americans that I remembered.
1) Free refills for dine-in customers only at McDonald's. Isn't that obvious?
2) Some people fill their ice chest with Motel 6's ice machine?
3) The vending machines need to be protected in cages (in one of Idaho's rest areas). In this case, it is very likely that the cage is used to fend off wild animals, not to prevent human vandalism.






























Finally,
we were happy to arrive at Davis, California, Saturday to see grandma (my mom) after a 3-week absence. She was weak physically, but she was happy to see us. She was always in our thoughts when we were on the road. The night without cell phone coverage made me a little worried. Officially the trip ended on Sunday when Michael drove the last leg from Davis to Campbell in less than two hours.















A few links we used to search or call for lodging:

Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com/
CheapHotels http://www.cheaphotels.com/
Motel 6 http://www.motel6.com/ - It is absolutely no-frills, $2.99 for WiFi. Overall it is a value proposition. It is interesting to note that "Americas Best Value Inn" is becoming a good alternate for a good value proposition. They have free simple breakfast and free WiFi.
Hotwire http://www.hotwire.com/index.jsp - It is a hit-n-miss sometimes as you won't know what you'll get exactly until you commit to it. Overall, we have no bad experiences.
Yellowstone agent http://www.usparklodging.com/yellowstonenationalparklodging.php (10 percent surcharge) - Looks like that in a busy travel season, you have to pay to solve the complicated lodging requirements. There are many agents to choose from. The park is "big" and you should plan your direction of travel, and make reservations accordingly at different locations in the park. In our case, we stayed at Cody, WY, and went in at the East Gate. We drove through the park west/north bound and the next night stayed near the West Gate. We then drove south/east bound and stayed the last night near the South Gate.

Mid-West: Cross-country Drive (2/3)

We changed the route at the last minute so that we could have a lunch stop at State College, PA, to meet my friend LL and his parents, who were visiting from China. It was a small world that I found out about this a few days before I started the trip. I got to know LL in Beijing's Toastmasters' circle a few years back.

Ann Arbor, Michigan is where I had my first full-time job in the United States.
It was at Sycor, which later became Northern Telecom Inc., and then Bell Northern Research. Now this 100 Phoenix Drive building belongs to Borders.
Jeanet also worked in Ann Arbor with Warner Lambert, and with Double A Products in Manchester, MI. Those two companies were also gone and/or morphed into something else.













We bought our first home on Marian Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1979. I took a picture again and I waved at the current owner when he happened to drive out from the garage. He will never know that I lived in that house 30 years ago. Life is a mystery ;-)

Joseph was born in the University of Michigan's Women's Hospital in 1980.

I attended SIU at Carbondale to get my Master Degree in Electrical Engineering. I have fond memories of this school. The financial support I received made my first two years worry free, and everything I encountered had a serious impact on my understanding and appreciation of this new country and culture.

Two interesting signs of our time:
1) Condoms for sale from Motel 6's vending machine. It is not cheap for the name brand Durex.
2) Reserved parking spaces for expectant mothers in front of the Borders' main office.

Lodging:
Motel 6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan $55.49 per night
Motel 6 in Marion, Illinois $46.61 per night
Motel 6 in Caseyville, Illinois $52.05 per night
YJN's apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota

Where we went and miles driven:
PA, OH, MI, IN, IL, WI, MN
The Yahoo! Map planning tool originally had us going through St. Louis, Missouri, and then Iowa and Minnesota. Somehow, our GPS directed us back towards Chicago, crossing the Wisconsin border and then to St. Paul from the Wisconsin side.

Friday, June 10 7:30 pm @43642 - Monday, June 6 9:00 am @41701 = 1941 miles

We hit record-high temperatures on June 8 and June 9, we both felt a bit sick from heat stroke. It was near 98 degrees in those two days.

Whom else or what else we saw:
1) University of Michigan Women's Hospital, Joseph's birth place.
2) Ann Arbor apartment where we stayed for the first year.
3) Ann Arbor's home for the second year.
4) My work place at Sycor, Inc.
5) Jeanet's work place in Warner Lambert in Ann Arbor and Double A Products in Manchester, Michigan.
6) Southern Illinois University Electrical Engineering Department and the campus lake.
7) SIU's apartment and old house I called home for a total of two years.
8) Minnesota visit to the family of YJN, who is doing his sabbatical at the University of Minnesota.
9) Mississippi River and its most upstream lock in Minneapolis near the old Flour Mill Tower.
10) A 9-hole golf game at Roseville, Minnesota near YJN's beautiful apartment. YJN's family and Korean food and hospitality were so memorable. I got to know YJN 9 years ago at IBM Almaden Research Center when he came for a year of visit.

East Coast Wrap-ups: Cross-country Drive (1/3)

This is the East Coast part of the cross-country drive home. I flew out from SJC to BDL through DEN Friday, June 3, 2011. We packed Michael's belonging and left Avon Saturday morning 11:30am.





This is our 2006 Honda CR-V, which will take us back to California. The starting odometer reading was at 41,326 miles.





Lodging:
Holiday Inn Princeton $86.22 everything included (tax recovery charges and fees is $16.22).
Best Western $79.99 everything included in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Where we went and miles driven:
CT, NY, NJ, PA
Saturday June 4 11:30 am @41701 - Sunday June 5 8:00 pm @41326 = 375 miles

Whom or what we saw:
1) Kennedy Medical Center, Michael's birth place.
2) Edison, New Jersey home which we lived in for 5 years.
3) Holmdel's Bell Labs location where I worked for 5 years. This once housed 6000 people, but now has been for sale for quite some time and is closed to visitors. The front access lawns are home for wild geese now. This tower is supposed to represent a transistor, which was invented at Bell Labs.
4) Michael's nanny, SL.
5) My old boss at Bell Labs Holmdel, YW.
6) my Bell Labs colleague, BF.

Here we have two pictures of Michael about 21 years apart in front of the same Edison house.

One Year Anniversary - Home and Heart

May 20, 2010 was the official date I transferred back to the United States with Oracle. I came back for family reasons. There are certain duties and responsibilities in all stages of our lives. When those are more important, I have to put off my personal likings and preferences, such as adventures and explorations in new things and new places.
To the left is a picture we took this past March in Los Angeles for Joseph's birthday. Michael happened to be in town during the school break, and we were happy to drive down to spend a week in Joseph's apartment.


Here is another picture taken last summer when we took my mom out to an orchard to pick fruit near Davis, California. Recently, her physical health has been in serious decline, but her spirits are still high and her mind is still sound. We hired a live-in 24-hour helper, as she has difficulty getting up by herself now. She is in the hospice program again after a fall in early April. I have the same apprehension about this program. The staff and program are very helpful and humane. But their goal is to do the send-off with the best care and comfort. I am in denial.
The hospice staff advised us to use morphine for my mom for her chest pain. She is in bed about 20 hours a day, except for meals and bathroom trips. Her energy level is low and easily exhausted. Technically, it is a case of myocardial infarction. My younger sister flew in from Taiwan on May 3, and Michael flew back from the East Coast on May 6. We hope that there will be no regrets, but, deep inside me, I am still holding on to that slim chance of near-full recovery.

Michael is coming back to California in early June after one year of teaching at the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut. This fall he will start working toward a Master's degree at UC Irvine in chemistry. We plan to drive from Avon to Campbell, California. According to the Yahoo! Map planning site, a non-stop drive is 3046 miles. That's what's shown on the left. In this planning stage, we are including a few stops to visit; this will include places I had never gotten back to for 30 years. I'll make a journal and take pictures to blog this cross-country trip.













Otherwise, I enjoy the California weather and seasons. This is something many Californians take for granted. I picked out four pictures for each season from my archive for the Campbell home.

(Spring) Azaleas and roses blossom in the backyard.

(Summer) The loquat tree in the backyard finally bear the first fruits last year since we planted in 2005.









(Fall) Foliage and beautiful yellow leaves of the ginkgo trees in the neighborhood street. There are many ginkgo trees with only two bearing fruits. The smell of the fruits is not so great ;-)

(Winter) Frost in the front lawn last winter. It was quite rare.