We are home! Larry likes to put it on me that we can’t be gone longer than X number of days, but this time he better take the blame. There was hardly any stopping him once we headed east. I have two nephews in Oklahoma, one in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa. I thought we could take an extra day or two and see both of them. No, OK City was “too far out of the way”, so we only got to see Jim and Johnna in Tulsa. So we are home a day or two sooner than we had thought we would be.
We did stop yesterday near Branson but didn’t have time to do a blog. We got in there about 2:00 and got set up, then went to Velma and Burnell’s house for a visit. They grilled some burgers and also had homemade apple pie and ice cream for dessert. We played a couple of games of gin-rummy before heading back to the camper for the night. We did have good internet service there at Acorn Acres in Branson West which is probably less than ½ mile from their place, but it was too late for any blog entry.
Larry has some statistics from our trip:
4592 Total Miles
3382 Towing Miles
25 Days
8 States
7 National Parks
2 State Parks
Thanks for following our blog. This will be our last entry till our next lengthy trip.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
September 28, 2010 Mingo RV Park Tulsa, OK
Yesterday we drove across the northern part of New Mexico and into the panhandle of Oklahoma. We did finally get out of the mountains and into some desert area that was a somewhat lower altitude. Around the border of NM and OK, we got into some farm country where we actually saw a few corn fields. Mostly though it was hay fields and cattle grazing ground. We saw quite a few animals, usually around the cattle, that at first we thought were deer. When we got a closer look, we decided they weren’t deer, but maybe antelope. They had a white belly and tail and some muted white stripes up their chest. They were usually too far away to get a good picture, but there would be about 6 to 10 out near a herd of cattle.
Another unusual sighting, that Larry spotted several times, was tarantulas crossing the road. At first he thought it was some kind of large bug, then decided it was a spider. I never did see them, but he said he wouldn’t realize that was what it was till we were almost on top of them and it was too late for me to see them.
The OK panhandle is very long! And very sparsely populated! Larry was worried that we didn’t have a campground reservation. I argued that we’d find a campground along the way. Guess what? We began to think we weren’t going to find one at all. People joke that you can always pull into a Wal-Mart parking lot. Wal-Mart? There weren’t ANY of those around. We planned on a campground at Guymon, OK, that had shown up on our trip planning software, even though it was a little earlier than we wanted to stop. When we got to Guymon, there was no campground. We finally located a State Park on the trip planner, called and they said they were open and had space for us. So we drove a couple of hours LONGER than we had wanted to, but it was a real nice place.
The good thing about the long day yesterday was the shorter trip it made for today. I had called my nephew, Jim Gambill, yesterday and told him we would be passing through Tulsa today and wondered if we could get together for a little while. We talked a couple of times today and Jim and Johnna came to meet us at the campground shortly after we got here. Their daughter, Elena, had a softball game this evening, so their evening was taken. We would have gone to the game, but they didn’t think she would actually be playing because it was a “Seniors” game, and she is a sophomore. She is usually a starter, but this was to be a special game as the last home game for the seniors, but they needed to be there to help set up. We did have a good visit with the two of them but we missed seeing either of the kids.
We’ll head out from here tomorrow and stop by Branson for a visit with Velma and Burnell (Karen’s sister & brother-in-law). We’ll be home in a couple of days.
Another unusual sighting, that Larry spotted several times, was tarantulas crossing the road. At first he thought it was some kind of large bug, then decided it was a spider. I never did see them, but he said he wouldn’t realize that was what it was till we were almost on top of them and it was too late for me to see them.
The OK panhandle is very long! And very sparsely populated! Larry was worried that we didn’t have a campground reservation. I argued that we’d find a campground along the way. Guess what? We began to think we weren’t going to find one at all. People joke that you can always pull into a Wal-Mart parking lot. Wal-Mart? There weren’t ANY of those around. We planned on a campground at Guymon, OK, that had shown up on our trip planning software, even though it was a little earlier than we wanted to stop. When we got to Guymon, there was no campground. We finally located a State Park on the trip planner, called and they said they were open and had space for us. So we drove a couple of hours LONGER than we had wanted to, but it was a real nice place.
The good thing about the long day yesterday was the shorter trip it made for today. I had called my nephew, Jim Gambill, yesterday and told him we would be passing through Tulsa today and wondered if we could get together for a little while. We talked a couple of times today and Jim and Johnna came to meet us at the campground shortly after we got here. Their daughter, Elena, had a softball game this evening, so their evening was taken. We would have gone to the game, but they didn’t think she would actually be playing because it was a “Seniors” game, and she is a sophomore. She is usually a starter, but this was to be a special game as the last home game for the seniors, but they needed to be there to help set up. We did have a good visit with the two of them but we missed seeing either of the kids.
We’ll head out from here tomorrow and stop by Branson for a visit with Velma and Burnell (Karen’s sister & brother-in-law). We’ll be home in a couple of days.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
September 26, 2010 Eagles Nest RV Campground Eagles Nest, NM
When we left Durango this morning, we dropped south to travel thru New Mexico. We have been on two lane roads winding back and forth and up and down most of the day. We certainly saw a variety of landscapes today.
We’ve had desert, mountains, lush valleys and back to deserts, mountains and we are spending the night in a valley. I say it’s a valley because it is lower than the mountains surrounding us, but the elevation here in this valley is 8,250.
Pretty elevated when you consider that Troy’s elevation is 561. The towns here show the elevation on their city limit signs instead of the population.
One area we came thru today was quite different than any we’ve seen so far. In the desert before we got to Taos, we started seeing some mostly underground structures. The part of the structure that was above the ground was brightly colored with twists and odd angles. There were several of them, almost like they each had maybe a two or three acre plot and it was an area called EARTHSHIP with maybe 40 or 50 total. I compared the setting of them in the desert to being almost like the prairie dog towns we have seen. The entrance referred to ‘bio-diesel/ bio-textural’ something or other. We have a few pictures of them. They were quite different and odd.
The city of Taos was an upscale artsy (translate to expensive) type area with very narrow winding streets lined with one art gallery after another.
We’ve had desert, mountains, lush valleys and back to deserts, mountains and we are spending the night in a valley. I say it’s a valley because it is lower than the mountains surrounding us, but the elevation here in this valley is 8,250.
Pretty elevated when you consider that Troy’s elevation is 561. The towns here show the elevation on their city limit signs instead of the population.
One area we came thru today was quite different than any we’ve seen so far. In the desert before we got to Taos, we started seeing some mostly underground structures. The part of the structure that was above the ground was brightly colored with twists and odd angles. There were several of them, almost like they each had maybe a two or three acre plot and it was an area called EARTHSHIP with maybe 40 or 50 total. I compared the setting of them in the desert to being almost like the prairie dog towns we have seen. The entrance referred to ‘bio-diesel/ bio-textural’ something or other. We have a few pictures of them. They were quite different and odd.
The city of Taos was an upscale artsy (translate to expensive) type area with very narrow winding streets lined with one art gallery after another.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Sept. 25, 2010 Alpen Rose RV Park Durango, Colorado
This morning after arranging for one of the park employees to take the dogs out sometime mid-day, we went into Durango to catch the bus portion of our Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train excursion. It is 45 miles to Silverton from Durango and the bus trip was a little over an hour and half ride to get there. Both towns sit in a valley, but different valleys, so you have to get over a mountain (10,500 feet) to get there. Silverton is also about 1,000 ft. higher in altitude than Durango.
It was at about 8,000 feet. One of the peaks by Silverton that was 11,800 feet had snow on its cap. This was fresh snow from Wednesday of this week when the rest of the area had rain. During the trip up, we were told we hit the peak of the fall colors.
Silverton is a very small town that relies totally on the tourist trade. It was originally a mining town and remains set up to appear like an old western town, some of the buildings actually were from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
There were jewelry and T-shirt shops plus restaurants, one right after the other, on both sides of the street. We had some lunch and looked in several of the stores. Believe it or not, we didn’t buy a single thing.
We rode the train back to Durango. It seemed like a loooong trip back. The tracks follow the Animas River between the towns and that 45 mile trip takes 3 ½ hours. For the first hour or so, it runs right along side the river which had several rapids. Then it gradually begins to climb up above where the river has cut into the rock canyon. Eventually, as the train chugs along at a snails pace, it gets to the top of the pass, then starts down, still at a snails pace. There were interesting sights along the trip, but it did seem to take an awfully long time. There were a couple of bridges as we went on one side of the river then the other. There was also a lodge, Tall Timber Lodge, which was only accessible by rail. There were a few other places that seemed to be very isolated with no visible way into them other than by rail, raft or by foot. I suppose the highway was not terribly far away, maybe about a half mile, so I guess the people we saw hiking came into it on foot that way, then crossed the foot bridge over the river.
It was nearly 7:00 when we got back to the trailer. We talked to the guy who had walked the dogs. He said he had taken them out twice and they had been good. We thought he had taken the wrong dogs out for a walk. We have time for a shower to get rid of the sooty smell that drifted into our railcar so we can relax a little this evening.
It was at about 8,000 feet. One of the peaks by Silverton that was 11,800 feet had snow on its cap. This was fresh snow from Wednesday of this week when the rest of the area had rain. During the trip up, we were told we hit the peak of the fall colors.
Silverton is a very small town that relies totally on the tourist trade. It was originally a mining town and remains set up to appear like an old western town, some of the buildings actually were from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
There were jewelry and T-shirt shops plus restaurants, one right after the other, on both sides of the street. We had some lunch and looked in several of the stores. Believe it or not, we didn’t buy a single thing.
We rode the train back to Durango. It seemed like a loooong trip back. The tracks follow the Animas River between the towns and that 45 mile trip takes 3 ½ hours. For the first hour or so, it runs right along side the river which had several rapids. Then it gradually begins to climb up above where the river has cut into the rock canyon. Eventually, as the train chugs along at a snails pace, it gets to the top of the pass, then starts down, still at a snails pace. There were interesting sights along the trip, but it did seem to take an awfully long time. There were a couple of bridges as we went on one side of the river then the other. There was also a lodge, Tall Timber Lodge, which was only accessible by rail. There were a few other places that seemed to be very isolated with no visible way into them other than by rail, raft or by foot. I suppose the highway was not terribly far away, maybe about a half mile, so I guess the people we saw hiking came into it on foot that way, then crossed the foot bridge over the river.
It was nearly 7:00 when we got back to the trailer. We talked to the guy who had walked the dogs. He said he had taken them out twice and they had been good. We thought he had taken the wrong dogs out for a walk. We have time for a shower to get rid of the sooty smell that drifted into our railcar so we can relax a little this evening.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sept. 24, 2010 Alpen Rose RV Park Durango, Colorado
We knew we had a short drive to get to this campground, so we had a leisurely morning getting ready to move. It was only about an hour drive thru the mountains. Things were really green coming thru the valleys and mountains, thanks, I’m sure, to the recent rains we’ve seen. This is really a very pretty area. Most of Durango seemed to go along with the “old west” theme. Our campground is in a valley outside of Durango. Our site is nice and shady with a little grassy area between campers. They have a two acre fenced dog park area where Penny and Harry can run free for a change. Next to it is a pasture with several horses.
Tomorrow we will ride the Durango-Silverton Train. We’ll take a bus to Silverton and then ride the train back to Durango. This evening we’ll just have a quiet restful evening.
It was beautiful country today, but no pictures. We should have some tomorrow after our train trip.
Tomorrow we will ride the Durango-Silverton Train. We’ll take a bus to Silverton and then ride the train back to Durango. This evening we’ll just have a quiet restful evening.
It was beautiful country today, but no pictures. We should have some tomorrow after our train trip.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sept. 23, 2010 A&A Mesa Verde RV Park Campground Mancos, Colorado
We had a big rain here last night shortly after I finished the blog. Then shortly after we went to bed it came through again. We had lots of thunder and a heavy downpour. This morning we went up to Mesa Verde National Park and we could see the results of some of that heavy rain. The highway department was cleaning up the roadways from the rock and mud slides that had come down where they had cut into the side of the mountain for the road. We were surprised at the height of the mountain of Mesa Verde. It doesn’t look all that big from down here, but the altitude was over 7,000 ft. It was quite a climb, zigzagging back and forth all the way up, the views were spectacular.
The cliff dwellings were very interesting. We had seen some before, but were never able to get up close to them. The ones we had seen before, we were on the ground and looking up at them 50 to 100 feet above us. Today we went on a tour of one called Cliff Palace.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and made it all very interesting. We had to walk down some narrow and steep stairs that had been created from the rock by the CCC in the 30’s and climb a couple of wooden ladders to get to it, then repeat the process only up a different course of steeper rock stairs and longer ladders to get out. We did NOT go into the one called Balcony House that you had to “descend down a 32 foot ladder, crawl through a 12 foot tunnel that was 18 inches wide, then exit by climbing 60 feet along an open rock face and two 10 foot ladders”.
I repeat, we did not do that one. We did stop along the road and hike back to a viewpoint to see it. We were told by a park ranger that it was only about ¾ mile hike on level ground. She lied! Apparently she has never been to our area of the country because she doesn’t know what level means.
We stopped at a few other lookout points which weren’t very far off the road. It’s amazing how many cliff dwellings there are in this area. Some are quite large, the one we toured had 150 rooms, and some are very small, consisting of just a few rooms. We also stopped at the museum which was interesting, but by this point we were pretty worn out. I was having trouble breathing and Larry’s leg was hurting, so we came back to the camper. We rested up for an hour or so before going into town for a bite to eat and a stop for a few grocery items. Much to Penny and Harry’s relief, we are back to stay for the evening.
The cliff dwellings were very interesting. We had seen some before, but were never able to get up close to them. The ones we had seen before, we were on the ground and looking up at them 50 to 100 feet above us. Today we went on a tour of one called Cliff Palace.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and made it all very interesting. We had to walk down some narrow and steep stairs that had been created from the rock by the CCC in the 30’s and climb a couple of wooden ladders to get to it, then repeat the process only up a different course of steeper rock stairs and longer ladders to get out. We did NOT go into the one called Balcony House that you had to “descend down a 32 foot ladder, crawl through a 12 foot tunnel that was 18 inches wide, then exit by climbing 60 feet along an open rock face and two 10 foot ladders”.
I repeat, we did not do that one. We did stop along the road and hike back to a viewpoint to see it. We were told by a park ranger that it was only about ¾ mile hike on level ground. She lied! Apparently she has never been to our area of the country because she doesn’t know what level means.
We stopped at a few other lookout points which weren’t very far off the road. It’s amazing how many cliff dwellings there are in this area. Some are quite large, the one we toured had 150 rooms, and some are very small, consisting of just a few rooms. We also stopped at the museum which was interesting, but by this point we were pretty worn out. I was having trouble breathing and Larry’s leg was hurting, so we came back to the camper. We rested up for an hour or so before going into town for a bite to eat and a stop for a few grocery items. Much to Penny and Harry’s relief, we are back to stay for the evening.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sept. 22, 2010 A&A Mesa Verde RV Park Campground Mancos, Colorado
We drove about 6 hours today to get here. It was a relatively uneventful trip, just very rough roads and threatening clouds. We could tell it had rained in several places, but all we ever saw was just a short shower. We had one-way traffic in one place where water had previously been over the road and workers were shoveling mud off the road. We skirted around the edge of Monument Valley.
We didn’t drive through it, but we had been there a few years ago (it was raining then too). We were planning to stop at Four Corners, where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico meet. In fact we turned into the area and paid our $6 entrance fee, but when we got back into it, the parking lot was a muddy mess and we didn’t want to wade through it. We circled around the parking lot and left. Oh well, I guess that was a $6 donation to the Navajos.
It has been pretty warm every where so far, usually in the mid to upper 80’s. Today we watched the temperature drop most of the way here. It was about 63 when we got here about 4:00 this afternoon. It has dropped now, probably down in the 50’s now. I’m sure we’ll have to have heat on tonight.
We didn’t drive through it, but we had been there a few years ago (it was raining then too). We were planning to stop at Four Corners, where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico meet. In fact we turned into the area and paid our $6 entrance fee, but when we got back into it, the parking lot was a muddy mess and we didn’t want to wade through it. We circled around the parking lot and left. Oh well, I guess that was a $6 donation to the Navajos.
It has been pretty warm every where so far, usually in the mid to upper 80’s. Today we watched the temperature drop most of the way here. It was about 63 when we got here about 4:00 this afternoon. It has dropped now, probably down in the 50’s now. I’m sure we’ll have to have heat on tonight.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
September 21, 2010 Trailer Village South Rim of Grand Canyon, Arizona
It’s Tuesday afternoon and Ross & Kelli left about a half hour ago to drive to Flagstaff to catch a plane on their way to Phoenix and then on home to Portland. We had a real good time while they were here and REALLY appreciate them coming to hike in the canyon with Larry and spend time with us. It’s been like a whirlwind these past few days. We have seen elk daily right in amongst the RV’s.
I’ll try to go over what has been going on.
Saturday: I did laundry and Larry cleaned the camper in the morning. In the afternoon we went up to the rim and to some of the lodge areas to look around. We didn’t do too much because we knew Ross & Kelli would want to go up there too. Besides, we had been here before, I think in ’03. They were to get here about 6:30 and we were meeting them outside the park entrance because we have the senior passes for National Parks which allows us to get in free along with 3 additional guests. Otherwise the fee to get in here is $25.00 which is good for 7 days. After we met them outside the park, we came back here and grilled hamburgers for supper. We sat around and visited for a while before heading to bed. They all had plans for a busy day on Sunday.
Sunday: I fixed a good breakfast for everyone of bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. Larry, Ross and Kelli had planned to walk one of the trails into the canyon. They weren’t able to get into the lodge at the bottom of the canyon, so they were just going to go down one so far, then come back up the same day. Larry had been doing lots of reading up about all the trails and found one that was supposed to be shorter than the more popular Bright Angel trail and have some great views. The South Kaibab trail to Cedar Ridge was supposed to be a 3 mile round trip that could be walked in 3 to 4 hours. They decided to do this trail on Sunday, and then maybe part of the Bright Angel trail on Monday. The South Kaibab trail turned out to be a little more strenuous than they had thought it would be. It dropped 1000 feet in that mile and a half. Going down wasn’t so bad, but coming up was pretty tough!
Larry thought he had trained by walking our level subdivision, after all that 3 mile round trip was just like walking twice around our subdivision. He does that almost daily. He just forgot to factor in the heat, elevation and altitude. While on the trek they heard of someone being airlifted out due to heart problems from the North Rim Trails. They made it out safely, but decided maybe that was as much of a challenge as they wanted to do. After resting up and showering, we went up to the rim and lodge area to look around and had dinner out at one of the restaurants.
Monday: After resting up overnight, they kind of regretted that they didn’t get to go down on the Bright Angel trail. So they went up to the rim and the lodge area again which is where that trail begins. They walked down a short way so they could get some pictures and at least be able to say they had walked on it.
Later in the day we drove out of the park to where the Indians have stands set up selling jewelry and other souvenirs. We came back into the park and stopped at various overlooks for more pictures.
We have lots of pictures of rocks! We grilled for supper, went out to watch the sunset, and ended the evening by playing a few games of cards.
Tuesday: We got going this morning so we could get on the shuttle to go to the west side of the Park called Hermits Rest. This is an area that is only accessible by taking the shuttle. We got off the bus at several of the outlooks and took more pictures of course.
We thought these overlooks were some of the most beautiful of the canyon. We got back to the trailer in time to eat a quick lunch and for them to pack to leave before we went back up to the lodge area to view the unveiling ceremony for the new Grand Canyon quarter. There was quite a crowd gathered as Indians danced and representatives from the state and the mint made their individual speeches and the quarters were given out to some school children.
Chase Bank had a stand set up where you could buy the newly minted coins as well. There were a number of people walking around with approximately 10 rolls of quarters each. We were cheap, we just got one roll. We’ll be leaving here tomorrow. I’m not sure if we’ll have phone service or internet service where we’re headed, but we’ll try to keep up with the blog.
I’ll try to go over what has been going on.
Saturday: I did laundry and Larry cleaned the camper in the morning. In the afternoon we went up to the rim and to some of the lodge areas to look around. We didn’t do too much because we knew Ross & Kelli would want to go up there too. Besides, we had been here before, I think in ’03. They were to get here about 6:30 and we were meeting them outside the park entrance because we have the senior passes for National Parks which allows us to get in free along with 3 additional guests. Otherwise the fee to get in here is $25.00 which is good for 7 days. After we met them outside the park, we came back here and grilled hamburgers for supper. We sat around and visited for a while before heading to bed. They all had plans for a busy day on Sunday.
Sunday: I fixed a good breakfast for everyone of bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. Larry, Ross and Kelli had planned to walk one of the trails into the canyon. They weren’t able to get into the lodge at the bottom of the canyon, so they were just going to go down one so far, then come back up the same day. Larry had been doing lots of reading up about all the trails and found one that was supposed to be shorter than the more popular Bright Angel trail and have some great views. The South Kaibab trail to Cedar Ridge was supposed to be a 3 mile round trip that could be walked in 3 to 4 hours. They decided to do this trail on Sunday, and then maybe part of the Bright Angel trail on Monday. The South Kaibab trail turned out to be a little more strenuous than they had thought it would be. It dropped 1000 feet in that mile and a half. Going down wasn’t so bad, but coming up was pretty tough!
Larry thought he had trained by walking our level subdivision, after all that 3 mile round trip was just like walking twice around our subdivision. He does that almost daily. He just forgot to factor in the heat, elevation and altitude. While on the trek they heard of someone being airlifted out due to heart problems from the North Rim Trails. They made it out safely, but decided maybe that was as much of a challenge as they wanted to do. After resting up and showering, we went up to the rim and lodge area to look around and had dinner out at one of the restaurants.
Monday: After resting up overnight, they kind of regretted that they didn’t get to go down on the Bright Angel trail. So they went up to the rim and the lodge area again which is where that trail begins. They walked down a short way so they could get some pictures and at least be able to say they had walked on it.
Later in the day we drove out of the park to where the Indians have stands set up selling jewelry and other souvenirs. We came back into the park and stopped at various overlooks for more pictures.
We have lots of pictures of rocks! We grilled for supper, went out to watch the sunset, and ended the evening by playing a few games of cards.
Tuesday: We got going this morning so we could get on the shuttle to go to the west side of the Park called Hermits Rest. This is an area that is only accessible by taking the shuttle. We got off the bus at several of the outlooks and took more pictures of course.
We thought these overlooks were some of the most beautiful of the canyon. We got back to the trailer in time to eat a quick lunch and for them to pack to leave before we went back up to the lodge area to view the unveiling ceremony for the new Grand Canyon quarter. There was quite a crowd gathered as Indians danced and representatives from the state and the mint made their individual speeches and the quarters were given out to some school children.
Chase Bank had a stand set up where you could buy the newly minted coins as well. There were a number of people walking around with approximately 10 rolls of quarters each. We were cheap, we just got one roll. We’ll be leaving here tomorrow. I’m not sure if we’ll have phone service or internet service where we’re headed, but we’ll try to keep up with the blog.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sept. 17, 2010 Trailer Village South Rim of Grand Canyon, Arizona
There’s not much to write about today and no pictures to post. We drove about 5+ hours today thru the desert. There were a few mountains off to the side and we cut thru a couple of passes, but it was mostly desert land. The areas we came thru are probably the most worthless in the nation, because that is what the government gave to the Indians. The areas were called Navajo Nation and there were many extremely poor homes and run down trailers. It is very sad.
On the way in we saw a sign for an animal crossing, it was a cat, I guess a bob cat or mountain lion. As we were checking in, there were 3 deer grazing just off the trail. Shortly after we got here, Larry wanted to walk up to the Market Plaza which has a restaurant, a grocery store and a post office. He was certain we could cut thru some trees and come out right by it. It would have been shorter to have taken the road. We did see a young female moose (or possibly an elk) about 30 feet off the path. On the way back we saw it again and again we went the long way around. I think we’ll take a drive later to try to get out bearings straight about where everything is.
We probably won’t be posting daily after this while we are at the Grand Canyon. We don’t have internet service here at the trailer so we will have to drive up to the lodge to post this. Tomorrow we need to do some housekeeping chores, cleaning and laundry. Ross and Kelli will be coming in tomorrow evening. So I think we’ll take a day off on the blog. I don’t know what I could find to write about laundry, vacuuming or cleaning the bathroom.
On the way in we saw a sign for an animal crossing, it was a cat, I guess a bob cat or mountain lion. As we were checking in, there were 3 deer grazing just off the trail. Shortly after we got here, Larry wanted to walk up to the Market Plaza which has a restaurant, a grocery store and a post office. He was certain we could cut thru some trees and come out right by it. It would have been shorter to have taken the road. We did see a young female moose (or possibly an elk) about 30 feet off the path. On the way back we saw it again and again we went the long way around. I think we’ll take a drive later to try to get out bearings straight about where everything is.
We probably won’t be posting daily after this while we are at the Grand Canyon. We don’t have internet service here at the trailer so we will have to drive up to the lodge to post this. Tomorrow we need to do some housekeeping chores, cleaning and laundry. Ross and Kelli will be coming in tomorrow evening. So I think we’ll take a day off on the blog. I don’t know what I could find to write about laundry, vacuuming or cleaning the bathroom.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sept. 16, 2010 Bauer’s Canyon Ranch RV Park Glendale, Utah
Today we left the trailer (and the dogs) at the RV Park and drove to Zion National Park, about 30 minutes away. Zion is beautiful. We climbed somewhat in altitude as we were going in, but then we started down and zig-zagged back and forth going down to the basin of the canyon.
They are redoing the road into Zion so it was slow going and one way traffic on parts of it. There are a couple of tunnels on the way in, one wasn’t very long, maybe 200 yards or so, but the other one was a little over a mile long. These tunnels had been constructed back in the ‘30s and were quite an engineering feat.
We parked the truck at the visitor’s center and rode the shuttle all thru the canyon. We got off at a couple of places and hiked back into some marked trails. We had packed some sandwiches, apples and water for lunch which we ate along the side of the Virgin River that runs thru the canyon. I really enjoyed this day much better than yesterday because of the altitude.
I had a lot of trouble breathing yesterday in the thin air, but today we were in the bottom, so it was quite comfortable. It was rather warm, I guess it was about 85 in the canyon. Parts of the canyon were in the shade and really comfortable, when you rounded a bend and got in the sun, it was quite warm. They are predicting 92 for tomorrow in the area where we are camped. One lady told us it had been hotter in September than all of August.
Some of you may say “too much information” after the next story, but we thought it was kind of interesting to watch. They had a couple of hiking areas closed today. There were septic tank trucks and a helicopter sitting at one trail head area which was near the road. The helicopter would fly up to the other area which was not accessible by any kind of vehicle, hook onto the septic tank and bring it down to be cleaned out, then fly the emptied tank back up. The bus driver said the tanks were supposed to be some expensive tanks that were not supposed to have to be cleaned and would not damage the environment, but they hadn’t worked out as planned. So, the helicopter is only costing $500 an hour to empty the relief station on the way to Angles Landing.
We have been amazed at the number of foreign visitors in all the parks. There are numerous tour buses with European and Asian visitors. It almost seems they outnumber the Americans. We have run into people from Germany, France, Netherlands, England, Israel, Japan and Australia. These are just the ones we are certain of, I’m sure there are other countries represented as well.
In this campground we have several over the air TV channels and pretty good internet service. We do not have phone service though. Phone service has been spotty for a while, as we go over the mountains, but here in this valley it has been non-existent.
They are redoing the road into Zion so it was slow going and one way traffic on parts of it. There are a couple of tunnels on the way in, one wasn’t very long, maybe 200 yards or so, but the other one was a little over a mile long. These tunnels had been constructed back in the ‘30s and were quite an engineering feat.
We parked the truck at the visitor’s center and rode the shuttle all thru the canyon. We got off at a couple of places and hiked back into some marked trails. We had packed some sandwiches, apples and water for lunch which we ate along the side of the Virgin River that runs thru the canyon. I really enjoyed this day much better than yesterday because of the altitude.
I had a lot of trouble breathing yesterday in the thin air, but today we were in the bottom, so it was quite comfortable. It was rather warm, I guess it was about 85 in the canyon. Parts of the canyon were in the shade and really comfortable, when you rounded a bend and got in the sun, it was quite warm. They are predicting 92 for tomorrow in the area where we are camped. One lady told us it had been hotter in September than all of August.
Some of you may say “too much information” after the next story, but we thought it was kind of interesting to watch. They had a couple of hiking areas closed today. There were septic tank trucks and a helicopter sitting at one trail head area which was near the road. The helicopter would fly up to the other area which was not accessible by any kind of vehicle, hook onto the septic tank and bring it down to be cleaned out, then fly the emptied tank back up. The bus driver said the tanks were supposed to be some expensive tanks that were not supposed to have to be cleaned and would not damage the environment, but they hadn’t worked out as planned. So, the helicopter is only costing $500 an hour to empty the relief station on the way to Angles Landing.
We have been amazed at the number of foreign visitors in all the parks. There are numerous tour buses with European and Asian visitors. It almost seems they outnumber the Americans. We have run into people from Germany, France, Netherlands, England, Israel, Japan and Australia. These are just the ones we are certain of, I’m sure there are other countries represented as well.
In this campground we have several over the air TV channels and pretty good internet service. We do not have phone service though. Phone service has been spotty for a while, as we go over the mountains, but here in this valley it has been non-existent.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sept. 15, 2010 Bauer’s Canyon Ranch RV Park Glendale, Utah
We drove just 1½ hours this morning to get here which is near Zion National Park. We just parked the trailer, ate a little snack and left to drive another 2 hours south of here to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We had never been there before, we’ve just been to the more popular South Rim, which is where we are headed again after we leave here in two days. It will be about 5 hours to the South Rim from here and the North Rim would be out of the way and add quite a bit to the trip, so since we had the afternoon left we went there today. We’ll have the whole day tomorrow to devote to Zion. The North Rim is higher in altitude and is shut during the winter months because of the sever weather. It also is not as developed with hotels and restaurants. Prior to getting to the entrance of the park, we were in the Kaibab National Forest. There we saw a buffalo herd, a mule deer, a fox and a flock of wild turkeys. The flock of turkeys was really large, there must have been 20 to 25 in it and they were crossing the road. . We also saw 3 mule deer in the park as we were leaving.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sept. 14, 2010 Ruby’s RV Park & Campground Bryce, Utah
We arrived here after a 4 hour drive on Utah’s Rt. 12, thru the mountains, green valleys and more mountains. This road is one Larry had debated about driving, pulling the trailer, because of the steep inclines and snaky road.
It is #3 on the list of the 10 most scenic roads in the U.S. The road had lots of twists and turns, but only a couple of areas that had steep drop-offs. We made it fine with no problems at all.
After we got set up in the campground, we left the dogs in the trailer and drove into Bryce National Park. We had been seeing smoke since we came over the last mountain and the further we came, the more it looked like we were driving right into it. There was a warning about not having camp fires because of the high winds, so guess what the National Park Service was doing. They had a “controlled burn”. To get into the Park, we had to drive thru heavy, heavy smoke. They were stopping traffic and only letting cars thru one direction at a time. When we went thru it, you could hardly see at all. It wasn’t quite so bad coming back out, but the fires were still burning. With the wind, I don’t see how they had much “control”.
This Park is beautiful. The columns of rock, called Hoo-doos, look like buildings or churches. Some of them look like people huddled together. The colors are beautiful, especially the dark oranges.
They had several overlooks to take pictures and one area where there were trails to walk. They were really steep and I knew I couldn’t handle them, but one trail was just a little over a mile long, so Larry walked that one by himself (him and a hundred or so other people). I guess I could have made it down, but I’d still be there trying to make it up. I’ve already had problems breathing with the thin air so I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk back up very easily. He really enjoyed it though and made it in slightly less than an hour.
We’re settled in for the night now. We don’t have any TV signal so we’ll read a while and probably go to bed early.
It is #3 on the list of the 10 most scenic roads in the U.S. The road had lots of twists and turns, but only a couple of areas that had steep drop-offs. We made it fine with no problems at all.
After we got set up in the campground, we left the dogs in the trailer and drove into Bryce National Park. We had been seeing smoke since we came over the last mountain and the further we came, the more it looked like we were driving right into it. There was a warning about not having camp fires because of the high winds, so guess what the National Park Service was doing. They had a “controlled burn”. To get into the Park, we had to drive thru heavy, heavy smoke. They were stopping traffic and only letting cars thru one direction at a time. When we went thru it, you could hardly see at all. It wasn’t quite so bad coming back out, but the fires were still burning. With the wind, I don’t see how they had much “control”.
This Park is beautiful. The columns of rock, called Hoo-doos, look like buildings or churches. Some of them look like people huddled together. The colors are beautiful, especially the dark oranges.
They had several overlooks to take pictures and one area where there were trails to walk. They were really steep and I knew I couldn’t handle them, but one trail was just a little over a mile long, so Larry walked that one by himself (him and a hundred or so other people). I guess I could have made it down, but I’d still be there trying to make it up. I’ve already had problems breathing with the thin air so I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk back up very easily. He really enjoyed it though and made it in slightly less than an hour.
We’re settled in for the night now. We don’t have any TV signal so we’ll read a while and probably go to bed early.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sept. 13, 2010 Thousand Lakes RV Park Torrey, Utah
We drove about 4 hours this morning thru the desert to arrive here about noon. After getting things settled in the trailer and a wild chase after the dogs thru the campground, we ate some lunch then took a drive to Capitol Reef National Park about 12 miles away. At the entrance to Capitol Reef is a small little historic town called Fruita. This area is like a little oasis in the desert. It is situated on the Fremont River and is green and has lots of trees. There is also a fairly large apple orchard where they have signs to “pick your own”. The apples looked pretty small compared to those at home.
We drove on thru that area to the National Park area where the sign advised that it was a 20 mile round trip thru the park. You went in for 10 miles and back out on the same road. There were areas to pull off for pictures and areas to pull off and hike various trails. We stopped at one such hiking trail that went up a canyon between sheer rock walls called the Grand Wash that was 2½ miles long. To get to the hiking trail, you left the paved road and drove a winding rock and sand road about 3 miles into the canyon (this road followed the wash between the cliffs and ended at the beginning of the hiking trail). The hiking trail was rated easy but we went only about a half mile or so in to it before we turned around and came out. I was getting out of breath on it because it was a pretty gradual climb.
At the end of the 10 mile road, there was another rock and sand road that went about 4 miles into the canyon to reach the trail called Capitol Gorge. This trail was 1¼ miles in and was level so we thought we’d hike it at least part of the way in because it was supposed to have petroglyphs and pioneer markings and registries. We ended up walking the whole thing. At the very end there were supposed to be “tanks” with an 80 ft. climb. (These were supposed to be water pockets in the rocks.) I climbed up maybe 20 or 30 feet and decided I couldn’t go any further. Larry wanted to go on, so he kept going. There were a few other people doing the same thing. He climbed up to where he thought it should be, but never could find anything that fit the description. Other people had the same experience. One couple was still trying to find it by going in a slightly different direction. We never did talk to anyone who had found them. We came back totally exhausted. Luckily we had taken water in with us.
Fortunately we signed up for a meal that is to be served here at the campground tonight. Otherwise we would be eating sandwiches or cereal.
We drove on thru that area to the National Park area where the sign advised that it was a 20 mile round trip thru the park. You went in for 10 miles and back out on the same road. There were areas to pull off for pictures and areas to pull off and hike various trails. We stopped at one such hiking trail that went up a canyon between sheer rock walls called the Grand Wash that was 2½ miles long. To get to the hiking trail, you left the paved road and drove a winding rock and sand road about 3 miles into the canyon (this road followed the wash between the cliffs and ended at the beginning of the hiking trail). The hiking trail was rated easy but we went only about a half mile or so in to it before we turned around and came out. I was getting out of breath on it because it was a pretty gradual climb.
At the end of the 10 mile road, there was another rock and sand road that went about 4 miles into the canyon to reach the trail called Capitol Gorge. This trail was 1¼ miles in and was level so we thought we’d hike it at least part of the way in because it was supposed to have petroglyphs and pioneer markings and registries. We ended up walking the whole thing. At the very end there were supposed to be “tanks” with an 80 ft. climb. (These were supposed to be water pockets in the rocks.) I climbed up maybe 20 or 30 feet and decided I couldn’t go any further. Larry wanted to go on, so he kept going. There were a few other people doing the same thing. He climbed up to where he thought it should be, but never could find anything that fit the description. Other people had the same experience. One couple was still trying to find it by going in a slightly different direction. We never did talk to anyone who had found them. We came back totally exhausted. Luckily we had taken water in with us.
Fortunately we signed up for a meal that is to be served here at the campground tonight. Otherwise we would be eating sandwiches or cereal.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sept. 12, 2010 Riverside Oasis RV Park Moab, Utah
Today we went for breakfast here at the campground. They served breakfast yesterday and today with hash-browns, eggs, sausage, pancakes and coffee, all for $5. So I guess we had our usual Sunday morning breakfast, we just missed our usual breakfast gang. We sat at a table with a young man who said he works as a tour guide. He asked where we were going from here and told us several things we should see at each place. I guess our own tour guide, Larry, is doing well because he knew about all the things this guy mentioned.
We went about 45 miles south of here today to see Newspaper Rock and than to drive thru another section of the Canyonlands National Park. This was the section called Needles. We drove thru there in a couple of hours. It too, is much undeveloped and most of the named rocks and cliffs were pretty much like we had seen yesterday. Beautiful, but I guess we’re getting jaded because we weren’t as excited about seeing them as before. The battery in our camera went dead shortly before we left there, but I think we did get a few pictures.
Newspaper Rock
Wooden Shoe
Driving thru town I saw some beautiful copper whirligigs for the yard. I admired them, but said they were probably too expensive, suggesting they would no doubt cost a few hundred dollars. We drove in there this afternoon and looked around a little. I was right, they were too expensive, the smallest starting at $550. I did not get one.
It’s kind of warm here today with temps in the mid 80’s. At night though, it gets down to the mid 50’s. We need the little electric heater on first thing in the morning, and then by late afternoon we need a/c.
We went about 45 miles south of here today to see Newspaper Rock and than to drive thru another section of the Canyonlands National Park. This was the section called Needles. We drove thru there in a couple of hours. It too, is much undeveloped and most of the named rocks and cliffs were pretty much like we had seen yesterday. Beautiful, but I guess we’re getting jaded because we weren’t as excited about seeing them as before. The battery in our camera went dead shortly before we left there, but I think we did get a few pictures.
Newspaper Rock
Wooden Shoe
Driving thru town I saw some beautiful copper whirligigs for the yard. I admired them, but said they were probably too expensive, suggesting they would no doubt cost a few hundred dollars. We drove in there this afternoon and looked around a little. I was right, they were too expensive, the smallest starting at $550. I did not get one.
It’s kind of warm here today with temps in the mid 80’s. At night though, it gets down to the mid 50’s. We need the little electric heater on first thing in the morning, and then by late afternoon we need a/c.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sept. 11, 2010 Riverside Oasis RV Park Moab, Utah
We took off a little after 8:00 here this morning (it’s easy to get going early here since it is an hour behind what we’re used to) and drove to Arches National Park which is just 2 miles from our campground. We drove around there and walked some of the trails back in nearer the arches to get a better view. This was a beautiful area with ?? arches of course.
These are the rocks that have been hollowed out from wind and rain and created a hole in the rock. There were also several spires, tall thin columns of rock left standing after the rest of the rock has worn away. We had the dogs with us in the truck thru Arches and by then it was almost noon, so we brought the dogs back to the trailer, ate some lunch and took off again, this time without the dogs.
After noon we went to Canyonlands National Park which was a little further away. This is a really beautiful park which looked very much like the Grand Canyon, but it does not get the attention the Grand Canyon gets.
The government has done very little to develop it. It is still very much in its original condition with the exception of the roads running thru, a few paved scenic overlooks where they have put up a waist high barriers so no one goes over the edge, and a few pit toilets. The whole thing covers 527 sq. miles and is divided into 3 sections. We were only able to go thru one section, called Islands in the Sky. These canyons were formed by the Green River running thru it on the east side. The Colorado River runs on the west side of it and they join at the south section. We’ll post some pictures, but they really don’t do it justice.
We also made a quick run thru Dead Horse State Park which is very much like the Canyonlands NP, and sits on a point that abuts the Colorado River.
There are sheer cliffs on all sides with the only access being only 30 yards wide. In the 1800s, cowboys used Dead Horse Point to catch wild horses. They herded the horses onto the point and built a fence across the narrow neck to create a natural corral.
These are the rocks that have been hollowed out from wind and rain and created a hole in the rock. There were also several spires, tall thin columns of rock left standing after the rest of the rock has worn away. We had the dogs with us in the truck thru Arches and by then it was almost noon, so we brought the dogs back to the trailer, ate some lunch and took off again, this time without the dogs.
After noon we went to Canyonlands National Park which was a little further away. This is a really beautiful park which looked very much like the Grand Canyon, but it does not get the attention the Grand Canyon gets.
The government has done very little to develop it. It is still very much in its original condition with the exception of the roads running thru, a few paved scenic overlooks where they have put up a waist high barriers so no one goes over the edge, and a few pit toilets. The whole thing covers 527 sq. miles and is divided into 3 sections. We were only able to go thru one section, called Islands in the Sky. These canyons were formed by the Green River running thru it on the east side. The Colorado River runs on the west side of it and they join at the south section. We’ll post some pictures, but they really don’t do it justice.
We also made a quick run thru Dead Horse State Park which is very much like the Canyonlands NP, and sits on a point that abuts the Colorado River.
There are sheer cliffs on all sides with the only access being only 30 yards wide. In the 1800s, cowboys used Dead Horse Point to catch wild horses. They herded the horses onto the point and built a fence across the narrow neck to create a natural corral.
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