Roger Nelson wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
    RN>>>> Because anyone going north to south is going downhill.  (-:0   
      
    RW>>>> Not exactly. If your north starting place was on a plateau and you   
    RW>>>> were going south, that might be down hill.   
      
    RN>> Yes, exactly.   
      
    RW>> What if you're driving west from the white cliffs of Dover?   
      
    RN> More than likely you'll run into a flock of Bluebirds.  (-:   
    RN> [...]   
      
   The same thing occurs when you drive west to the cliffs over looking La   
   Jolla, accept they're sea gulls and not bluebirds.   
      
    RW>> I'd never seen the Gulf of Mexico except in pictures, until I moved   
    RW>> here. The Pacific is a beautiful blue while the Gulf is an ugly   
    RW>> brown full of jelly fish.   
      
    RN> Go a little farther out and it is green until you get to the Gulf   
    RN> Stream, which is a beautiful blue.  I've been in it.   
      
   I've never wanted to be 'in it', rather on it. After watching a couple of   
   guys using a towed diving-board pulled by the boat I was driving ride to   
   the bottom of the ocean, just outside of San Diego Bay. When they surfaced   
   they had to clear their masks of nose-mucus, I had no desire to be in it.   
      
    RN>>   A couple of years from now, if not sooner, I'm going to take a   
    RN>> trip to Las Vegas and from there go to see the Grand Canyon.  My   
    RN>> only regret will be I won't be able to ride a horse while there.   
      
    RW>> There aren't any horses at the GC...only mules. Take the old steam   
    RW>> engine train from Williams instead. It stops at the GC lodge and   
    RW>> you can get a room and stay for a few days. There's also a   
    RW>> helicopter ride over the canyon, which is much easier than riding a   
    RW>> mule to the bottom.   
      
    RN> Surely there are stables nearby where a horse can be rented.   
      
   Sure, but they don't ride down the canyon, they ride through the forest to   
   the rim and you get to look down in it. You can do that after parking your   
   car in the rim lot and walking to the edge.   
      
    RN>  I thought I saw an ad a few years back when I almost went there --   
    RN> Apache something-or-other. [...]   
      
   There are probably a bunch of them...you can even vist the Navajo Indian   
   Reservation by horseback.   
      
    RN>> What a tangent!  (-:  Make that northwest and southeast.   
      
    RW>> You might want to look a little closer: The canal itself runs in a   
    RW>> east/west direction in Panama. However, ships traveling from the   
    RW>> Pacific to the Atlantic travel in a northwest direction, while   
    RW>> ships traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific head Southeast.   
      
    RN> Isn't that what I wrote?  (-:   
      
   Nope. Panama the country is slanted at an angle to a north/south grid,   
   thus \ - while the canal is situated purpendicular to the n/s grid, or   
   west to east and vice versa.   
      
    RN>> I find that difficult to believe and since this didn't come up   
    RN>> before you made the trip, you naturally wouldn't notice since you   
    RN>> wouldn't have had that on your mind.   
      
    RW>> Oh but I would. I always keep track of my mileage and how much fuel   
    RW>> I use, where we fuel up and where we eat (not necessarily at the   
    RW>> same stop).   
      
    RW>> I never take such a trip without planning the route first. Indeed,   
    RW>> when I didn't like the route traveled to Illinois on one particular   
    RW>> trip (IH-40 to US54 at Tucumcari, NM northeastward to Wichita, KS   
    RW>> (IH35)), I sat at my parent's kitchen table and planned a different   
    RW>> and faster route back to San Diego.  US54 was scenic, but a   
    RW>> terrible road to use if you're in a hurry. My dad recommended it,   
    RW>> so I considered the source and didn't take it home...   
      
    RN> I didn't mean to make that assumption, so it's different for us.   
    RN> (-:0 [...]   
      
   But not lately. I've traveled the country from Illinois to Washington to   
   California and back again. I've traveled the country from California to   
   Illinois more often in fourty years than I want to think about.   
      
   These days I just let my GPS plan the route and if I want to go a   
   different way than the GPS plans, I just drive that way and let the GPS   
   bitch about it. ('turn around when possible') ... Ignoring that, I drive   
   on until the GPS modifys the planned route and shows me a new route to my   
   destination.   
      
   BTW, I don't know how many times I've passed the Grand Canyon turn-off,   
   but I've only been there once. All I saw was a big hole in the ground and   
   no possible way to enjoy myself looking at something I can't get close to.   
   (100 ft tall pines that look like small blades of grass from the rim   
   vantage point) The train ride from Williams to the canyon rim is $70 for   
   each adult and that's coach. Observation fare is $170...if you don't want   
   to stay the night, then you can return on the return ride at 3:30pm and   
   find cheaper lodging - in Flagstaff.   
      
   Accept for the Park Ranger guided tour, it wasn't worth spending anymore   
   of my time there.   
      
      
            R\%/itt   
      
      
   --- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012   
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian  (1:387/22)