Across
1. Friendly breed of dog4. Hoof sound
8. A long way off
12. Dislike intensely
13. Hindu spiritual teacher
14. Former capital of Nigeria
16. Without purpose
17. "___ never work!" -- doubter's comment
18. Electronic money
19. "Pour me a ___". This August we made our annual visit to Seattle to watch the Toronto Blue Jays play the Seattle Mariners. There's lots to see in Seattle. This year we visited the Chihuly ___ Museum. I had not realized that ___ could be used as a material for sculpture. Dale Chihuly is the artist whose works are on display at the museum. He has created beautiful works of art. If you ever visit Seattle, and you are artistically inclined, this museum will delight you. We also visited an exhibition on the profession of espionage on display in the Seattle Center. The way nations conduct spying and catch spies has a fascinating history, and is no less relevant today.
21. Faith, ___, and charity
23. Gaelic language
24. "For ___ a jolly good ..."
25. Not odd
27. Boozer
29. House of Lords member
30. Small dog's bark
31. Country next-door to Canada (abbr.)
34. Science fiction modified human who is part flesh and part machine
37. Boxing match
38. VI in Roman numerals
39. Stringed instrument mentioned in the Bible
40. Holder of cremation ashes
41. ___ Spumante
42. Turkey ___ ___ king, a dish likely to be served after Christmas
43. A feature of the Arizona landscape. Our big vacation trip this September was driving to the Grand Canyon. The Dodge Grand Caravan we purchased last year proved its worth. With both back rows of seats stowed in the floor, we had plenty of room for our travel fridge and luggage. We drove in stages, leaving on 6 September. We took the Anacortes ferry from Sidney and stayed overnight with our friends Heiko and Carol Miles in Anacortes. Henceforth we would stay in hotels. From Anacortes we travelled to Kennewick, Washington and there the trip began earning the name that Art subsequently gave to it, "The Forgetful Trail." After leaving Kennewick we realized we had forgotten food in our room fridge. So we phoned the hotel and asked them to keep the food in their freezer till we could pick it up on our way back. Our next stop was Mountain Home, Idaho, oddly named because there weren't any mountains in the vicinity. Till then the land we drove through was arid, although we saw crops in some places where irrigation was provided. From there till our next stop in Provo, Utah, we saw greener country and lots of farmers' fields. Next stop was Hurricane, Utah. Leaving there we realized we had left behind our laundry basket with our accumulated soiled clothes. Another phone call asking them to keep it till we could pick it up on our way back. The next day arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park. Art started not to feel well, feeling very tired and headachy. This lasted the three days we were there. We attributed it to altitude sickness. The Grand Canyon is 7000 feet in elevation. After living at sea level these
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many years,
Art's body needed time to adjust. The mild illness did not prevent us from exploring the park. When we startecd planning this trip the year before, we looked into taking the mule ride to the bottom of the Canyon and staying overnight at the hostel there and riding back up the following day. As it turned out, the hostel is booked within minutes that they start taking reservations for the following year, so we had to settle for a 2.5 hour mule ride along the south rim. Art's
mule was named Shannon, and she at
29 years was the oldest mule. She
knew the trail so well that Art
had only to hold the reins loosely
except when the group stopped to
sightsee.
Alanna's mule was named Jezebel and needed a slightly firmer hand than Shannon. When that ride ended we gave thanks that we had not made the trip to the bottom we had wanted to do. We are no longer youths. We had not saddled up for decades (not happy experiences even then) and our poor backends paid the price. At ride's
end it took two mule wranglers and
me some minutes to dismount Alanna
who felt woozy and a lot of pain
when trying to swing her leg back
over her
mule's rump. Reflecting back, Art says, "Shannon made it easy on me. When the ride ended I leaned forward in the saddle and said thank you to her. She looked surprised. I guess people don't
usually thank their mule when the
ride is over." There are lots
of displays and ranger talks about
the geology and ecosystem of the
Canyon that we enjoyed. There were
large numbers of tourists from all
over the world, and Art found the
people as interesting as the
Canyon. After we left we realized
we had left the charger for our
Nexus tablet behind. We decided
just to replace it. We next headed
to Zion National Park in Utah,
picking up our laundry in Hurrican
en route. At Zion one can reach
the Canyon bottom by car. The
various rock strata that the
Virgin River has revealed through
erosion are very visible. One can
see geological history with one's own eyes. From there we went to Bryce Canyon, Utah and saw the most amazing shapes formed from red stone by wind erosion. This was probably the most beautiful natural wonder we saw on our trip. After that we stopped in Salt Lake City and visited the headquarters complex of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). We took in an organ concert at the Mormon Tabernacle. A huge organ and a huge sound. Thence back to Mountain Home. After leaving there Art realized he had left his bath robe, with his wrist watch in it, at the hotel. Once again a phone call asking that the hotel courier the items to our home in Sidney. We picked up the food we left behind in Kennewick (minus a piece of cheese -- where did that get to?). And that, dear friends, is why we have named this trip "The Forgetful Trail." 45. Reddish brown horse 47. Colour that means "stop" 48. The length of time one has lived 49. Act seductively in a theatrical way 50. How a man might address his good buddy (short form) 51. Places 52. Paranormal ability (abbr.) 55. Not fully closed 58. Lose traction 60. The way many commercial fishermen fish 62. One may be ticketed for exceeding the speed ___ 64. Deep black 66. The largest continent 67. Part of an ice skate 68. Hawaiian feast 69. Relative of a gull 70. Biblical pronoun 71. Trans-Siberian Railroad city 72. "That's ___, folks" -- Porky Pig's sign off |
Down 1. Soup scoop2. Book of maps 3. They governed a district or province in the Ottoman Empire 4. Computer Generated Imagery (abbr.) 5. Founder of a Protestant church 6. Acrylic fiber 7. ___ and paper mill 8. Okanagan Pale ___ , Art's favourite beer 9. Aspect 10. Food thickener 11. ___ Jr., first name of Art's Aunt Therese's youngest son 12. Lofty 15. "___ Loves You", an early hit of the Beatles, whom Art idolized in his early teens. He has all their songs on CD, a fine addition to his collection of well over 500 CDs. It just seems to keep growing. 20. Soothsayer 22. Jacob's brother in the Bible 26. ___ out, relax by doing nothing 28. Select, with "for" 29. Dad 30. Hither and ___ 31. The Beatles' "Back in the ___" 32. Present or future building location 33. Angle at which a shoot branches off from the stem 34. Blacken with fire 35. Ivy League University that is also a brand name for a kind of lock 36. Actor Pitt 37. Maidenform product 40. "What's the ___?" -- cry of defeat 41. How 39 across might be pronounced by a Cockney 43. Month between Feb. and Apr. 44. People who have big ones have an inflated opinion of themselves 45. Anatomical pouch 46. Leave out 49. Liquor brands popular in Russia 50. A central figure at most weddings 51. Botanical genus of the flax plant 52. Artist's stand 53. What water does when it goes down a drain 54. "A man, a ___ , a canal: Panama" 55. Priest's robe 56. Dump a boyfriend or girlfriend 57. Asian nurse 59. Approximately 2.2 pounds (abbr.) 61. Pro ___ , divided proportionately 63. Peg supporting a golf ball 65. Loud laugh |
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