For better or for worse

Click the photo for a slide show of today's travels. You will notice several things: 1) the changes in terrain, especially the colors of the rocks; 2) Jill's dad worked for the railroad, and our grandson, Josiah, is nuts about trains; 3) windmills are really big - compare the windmill vanes to the earthmover parked under the windmills!


Another successful travel day is under our belt. We left Moab Valley RV Park this morning with mixed emotions. We had a wonderful stay in Moab, and enjoyed ourselves. On the other hand, shortly after we arrived on Thursday, a travel trailer pulled in adjacent to us. When the doors of the Toyota Sequoia tow vehicle opened, people just kept pouring out of it. At the same time, another SUV pulled up to the cabin across the driveway pulling a trailer loaded with ATVs. More people piled out.

Joy, the matriarch of this clan, came over to greet us effusively and announce that more were coming the next day. When it was done there were 14 people involved - 7 adults and 7 children, ranging in age from about 1 to about 11 years of age. Guess where the hub of activity for this group was. That's right, at Grandma and Grandpa's trailer. I couldn't believe the amount of gear they unloaded.

The "shared" space between our two vehicles was about 12 feet wide and 40 feet long with a tree in the center and a picnic table on each end. Ostensibly, one end of the space was ours and the other end was theirs. Well, it wasn't long before tricycles and bicycles were whizzing past Sadie's door. There were children perched on "our" picnic table, presumably because "their" picnic table and an additional table that they had brought along were both covered with gear.

Now don't get me wrong. I like people, especially the ones I meet in campgrounds, and I adore children. But fourteen people in an area designed for about four is a bit of an overload. The clan was very friendly and not rowdy, but that many people just take up room and make a lot of noise. Consequently, we were not able to enjoy "our" yard, except when they were off "4-wheeling" or at the swimming pool. In retrospect, I think they did an amazing job of keeping the lid on things, but it would have been better if they had had an end space for their trailer, where they would not have had to "share" the yard.

We bid the park and the neighbors adieu and headed north on U.S. 191. We followed 191 all the way to I15, just south of Provo. At Provo, we exited and found the Lakeside RV Park, which is quite lovely. There are lots of trees (albeit cottonwoods, which are in the process of shedding their cotton!), and the lady who checked us in was sweet as could be. The trade off for the trees is that we are unable to get a clear view of the southern sky, so we can't get satellite TV reception. All things considered, that is a small price to pay.

Our trip today took us from 4,200 feet at Moab to 7,476 feet at the summit of Soldier Pass and back down to 4,500 feet at Provo. Sadie did amazingly well. Either I am getting used to driving her, or all this exercise is doing her some good. She purred along and took the hills in stride.

The terrain changed a great deal as you will discover in the slide show. Tomorrow, we will contact Jill's cousin Carol and see if we can get together with her and her husband. We haven't seen them for 5 years, so it will be fun to catch up with them.

Big rocks and small worlds

Click the picture for a slide show that should leave no doubt why it is called Arches National Park

We will spare you about 2/3 of the photos that we took at Arches National Park today. Some of them didn't turn out, but even among the ones that did turn out, there were too many to put them all in the slide show today. Jill has become an accomplished photographer, especially when it comes to making amazing photos while we are underway. We both were carried away by the beauty and the uniqueness of the rock formations we saw today. We have seen a lot of red rocks in the past three weeks, but these formations were so unusual we couldn't stop shooting.

At the first place we stopped to take pictures, there was another car parked, and a couple about our age was just about to get in it. Jill noticed that they had an Oregon license plate and asked them where they were from. The woman said they were from West Linn, and we told them that we were from Clackamas. Then the woman took off her sunglasses, and Jill realized she was a teacher who used to work in Jill's school. We had a lovely chat with them. They are on more or less the same loop we have been on, but they are going in the opposite direction, so we were able to make some recommendations for their sightseeing itinerary. What a small world.

We got up early so we could arrive at the park for its 7:30 AM opening. Our purpose was two-fold. First, we wanted to capture the early morning light. Second, we wanted to be ahead of the crowds, this being a Saturday. We scored on both counts. As I believe you will see in the photos, we got a lot of great shots that play up the shadows against the red rocks and the blue sky. We also found that, by the time we were about to complete our exploration of the park, there was a large influx of new visitors showing up.

I don't think there is a way for photos ever to capture the essence of a place like this. It is too grand, and as I remarked to Jill, the beauty of the desert can only be appreciated by both seeing it and experiencing it first hand. There is just an indescribable feeling about walking among these wonders and feeling the sand beneath your feet as you wander among unfamiliar plants and unfamiliar sights and odors. As one woman we met at a viewpoint said, "It would be hard not to believe in a Creator once you have seen this."

After we finished exploring Arches, we returned to Moab, where we found a farmers' market underway in the local park. It was a time capsule of the sixties. There were people selling all kinds of craft items, longhaired people in tie-dyed shirts, and a trio comprised of guitar, mandolin and harmonica playing and singing bluegrass music. I told Jill, this seems like "hippy central." Later we found the KaleidoScoops and had some ice cream.

We decided yesterday to forgo visiting Canyonlands National Park. The activities that are available there seemed to be beyond what we could comfortably undertake in a day. Instead we rediscovered the joy of taking care of the mundane necessities of life: laundry, grocery shopping, exploring the town and just enjoying quiet time to read and relax.

Tomorrow will be a travel day. We have now completed the "planned sight-seeing" that we had set our hearts on for this trip. So, we look forward to the serendipitous discoveries that God undoubtedly has in store for us. Our next destination is Provo, UT, where we hope to connect with Jill's cousin Carol. Stand by for further developments.

Over hill, over dale

Click the photo for a slide show of our drive from Durango to Moab, UT.

We bade a fond farewell to Durango and Alpen Rose RV Park this morning. This was not without some trepidation, because we had driven the first forty miles of the road we had to travel yesterday on our way to Mesa Verde. Right out of Durango, there is a long uphill grade, about eight miles, if memory serves. As usual, though, Sadie behaved herself and there was no strain. All systems functioned as they are supposed to, even though we rose from 6,500 feet to 8,300 in a short time.

Once we cleared the mountain grades just about at Mesa Verde, we saw before us a vast sprawl of rolling hills, very lush and green. At Cortez, CO, we turned northwest on US 491. That took us into Utah, and at Monticello, we turned north on US 191 toward Moab. From Monticello, we lost nearly 3,000 feet of altitude coming into Moab. The terrain also changed from the lush green of Colorado to the red rock formations we were so familar with in southwestern Utah.

We are set up at the Moab Valley RV Park. Which is lovely. Our space has a nice shade tree and some lawn for Pogo. In fact as I write this we are sitting on the lawn. We have spurned the jeans and flannel is favor of shorts and sandals. Pogo got a bath, and she is outside with us drying off. The temperature is a balmy 85. We look forward to seeing two more national parks in the next two days.

More ancient history

Click the photo for a slide show. The first three are from our campground. There is one of Mesa Verde, and yes we drove all the way to the top of that mesa! Then we visited two sets of cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park. The first set is called the Cliff Palace. There are a few flower pictures in between and then a set of photos from Spruce Tree House, the best preserved (90% original) cliff dwelling in the U. S.

Just another crummy day in paradise! I took the dog out for a walk this morning and snapped a few photos from the 1 acre off leash dog park that is part of our campground. After breakfast, we packed up and headed for Mesa Verde National Park. From the gate it is a 15 mile drive to the visitor center, and it is ALL uphill! There are a number of ruins to see here, and we didn't have time to see them all, so we chose the most famous (Cliff Palace) and the best preserved (Spruce Tree House).

These areas were inhabited from c. 750 A.D. to c. 1300 A.D. The remaining structures were constructed during the last 100 years or so of that period. The Cliff Palace is thought to have been a gathering or ceremonial area, inhabited by some kind of leaders, government or religious or both. The Spruce Tree house was more like a residential area.

In the photos, you will notice a number of round structures that are dug into the ground and lined with stones. In their original state, these holes in the ground were covered over with a roof made of beams and sticks and covered over with mud. There are two pictures taken inside one of these "kivas" that is intact. You can get a little idea of the way they were constructed. In another photo taken at Spruce Tree House, you can see some holes in a flat area with ladders protruding out of the hole. These are kivas that have been covered over and their tops make a kind of patio for the kivas and other structures built on the next level.

The kivas were dwellings for extended families and were very cleverly designed. There was a fire pit in the center, just under the hole that the ladder protrudes through. Along the side of the wall was an air shaft that allowed fresh air in to provide air for the fire and the inhabitants. You will notice in the indoor picture a small wall behind the ladder. This was a "vane" to direct the air around the room. As you can imagine, even with this clever system of ventilation, the inhabitants breathed a lot of smoke. Many of them apparently died from emphysema.

The people who lived here farmed the land on the top of the mesa, growing corn and squash. Later they also grew beans, which filled in their dietary needs for protein. It seems that corn protein can't be processed by the human body in its native state. With the addition of beans to the diet, the corn amino acids can be processed and used by the body. Prior to the introduction of beans into the diet, many of these people were malnourished. They ate little or no meat.

Now, I haven't mentioned that both of these ruins are located about 100 feet below the top of the mesa. So, you guessed it, we walked down a hundred feet and then back up 100 feet. The exit from Cliff Palace is via a number of stone steps and three ladders. It is quite a climb! At 7,000 feet it is quite a challenge, too.

We ended our exploration of the cliff dwellings tired but happy. This was what I had in mind when we began planning this trip. We snapped a few shots from the mountainside on the way down. After a quick drive through historic downtown Durango on the way back, we returned to Alpen Rose RV Park, where Pogo was very glad to see us. She got a run in the off leash dog park!

You better stop, children. What's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down.

Click the picture to see a slide show of our trip from Santa Fe to Durango.

Jill: "Do you hear something?"
Tom: "Yes. What do you think that is?"
Jill: "I don't know. Do you think we should pull over?"
Tom: "Yeah. I think we'd better. I'll just pull in in front of this gas station."

Tom pulls the coach over on a large paved area in front of a gas station about 14 miles south of Chama, NM, which is about 14 miles from nowhere. He gets out and walks around the coach, looking under and up, trying to find something that would make a metallic sound. Nothing.

He continues back to walk around the toad. About this time, Jill comes out and asks, "Did you find anything?"
Tom: "Yeah. The right rear tire on the toad is gone."
Jill: "Gone?"
Tom: "Gone! It must have had a puncture and got low on air and just blown out."

Looking at the right rear wheel, we found a ring of rubber around the wheel, and the edges of the rim were scuffed up from rolling on pavement. There was a little damage to the fender liner, but it was very minor. Ironically, we had seen a pickup we were following have a blowout some miles back, and I told Jill, "That's why I check the tire pressure on Sadie every day before we hit the road."

I got the spare out and the jack. There was a weird looking part in with the jack tools, which of course, I had never looked at before, so I got out the owner's manual to see what it was. About that time a grandfather/father/son trio, who had stopped for gas, came over to offer help. The father said he had a floor jack and insisted on using it, instead of that "piece of junk they sell you with the car."

Before I knew it, he had the tire changed and the jack back in his truck. We thanked him profusely and wished him safe travels. He did the same, and we got back on the road. Our rescuer had told us that in Chama there is a Chevron station that sells tires. We drove around Chama for a few minutes, looking for the Chevron station, and then decided to go to the tourist information center that Jill had seen as we entered the town. As we approached it, we could see the Chevron station, so we bypassed the TIC.

The owner of the station could not have been nicer. He first said he was out of the size tire we needed, but then he came back and said his employee had found one. Inside of 15 minutes, the new tire was mounted, balanced and replaced on the car. We again thanked our second rescuer profusely and hit the road for Pagosa Springs, CO, some 47 miles distant. The worst of the damage was that we lost the wheel cover. Nevertheless, we felt blessed that the damage was not worse and that no one was hurt.

We crossed the state line into Colorado a little while later. The landscape had changed a great deal from our beloved Santa Fe. It was equally as beautiful, in a completely different way. We continued on to Durango, where we are parked in a beautiful grove of aspens, nestled in a valley. I will post some pix of the park tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the pix that Jill took along the way today. I think you will notice the gradual change in terrain.

Incidentally, Sadie did just fine, even though we changed altitude from 7,000 feet to 5,600 to 7,800 to 8,100 and finally settled in Durango at 6,500. Veronica, not so much.

Decisions, decisions.

Click the photo to go on a hike with us in William Hyde State Park, NM

Today the sun came out. (For a minute we thought we must be in Oregon, not New Mexico). I had a few little maintenance projects to do on the coach, which I was able to dispatch pretty quickly. Jill wanted to do a load of laundry, but someone beat her to the machines, so she put that on hold.

We were not sure what to do with our day. We saw most of the outdoor stuff in downtown Santa Fe yesterday, and we had planned to go to Museum Hill, which is home to four museums. But when I saw the cloudless sky, after so many rainy days, I said, "Let's find a park, where we can take Pogo for a walk." Jill was not enthusiastic, at first. She had her heart set on the museums.

There is a collection of hiking/biking trails just outside of town, called the Dale Ball trails. We thought they would be perfect for our purpose, and as the beautiful weather grew on Jill, she consented to the hike. We programmed Maggie (our Magellan Maestro GPS unit) and hit the road. Eventually, we arrived at the William Hyde State Park, named for a beloved scout master of Santa Fe.

As we puzzled over the map, the ranger approached us and asked if we needed any help. We explained that we were looking for the Dale Ball trails, and he told us that we had gone way past them, but that there were nice hiking trails in the state park, one of which leads to a waterfall. Well, that was all we needed to hear. We paid the $5 for a day pass; I threw on the back pack, and we headed up the trail.

If you have lived your whole life at sea level and then started hiking up a trail beginning at 8,400 feet elevation, you can understand that this was no mean undertaking. The beginning of the trail is quite steep, and it was not long before all three of us were winded. We stopped, had some water, caught our breath, and continued. Soon, we were wondering whether the altitude or the scenery was taking our breath away. I estimate we climbed to 9,000 feet.

This is a gorgeous park. After a number of rest breaks we arrived at the waterfall, which isn't large, but it is beautiful. Pogo had a drink from the stream, and Jill and I sat and drank in the beauty of it all. Finally, we decided that we needed to head back down.



Arriving back at the visitors' center, we explored the lodge, which sits back from the road. It is used primarily for gatherings. The ranger told us they have had two high school graduations there this year and a number of weddings. We hiked up behind the lodge and sat on a bench. From that perspective, it became clear that there is a run above the lodge that is used in the winter for sledding and tubing.

Reluctantly we packed up and left. There was still that pile of laundry awaiting us, and we needed to stop at the grocery store. We returned to Sadie very tired, but very happy. Jill acknowledged that she was glad we had not spent this day of glorious weather inside of a museum.

The town with the really long name...

Click on the photo for a slide show of Santa Fe.

In case you were wondering, I took a day off from blogging yesterday. It was a travel day, which means there is always lots to do. The weather has been cool (upper 60's to lower 70's for highs), ever since we got to Arizona and New Mexico. It has been gusty, rainy, and today we had hail.

Nevertheless, we have been having a wonderful time. The drive from Gallup to Santa Fe was pretty uneventful, except that it did involve some altitude changes again. Gallup is at 6,400 feet; Holbrook is at 5,000; Albuquerque is at 5,200; and then in the 55 miles from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, we had to rise to 7,000 feet. In fact that rise occured mostly in the last 1/3 of the drive from Albuquerque.

The drive was pretty easy, if you factor out the road construction and the downpours, but Sadie is not really fond of climbing steep grades when she starts above 5,000 feet. In spite of that, she did fine. It was the people behind us that suffered. (Yes, Charlie, I do remember when you chided me for buying an RV and being the guy you always get behind on a hill with no passing lane.) Fortunately, I25 from Albuquerque to Santa Fe is 4-6 lanes all the way. Jill got some nice landscape photos that begin our slide show for today.

Our sightseeing outing for today included going to the Rodeo Road Baptist Church. Unfortunately, they had published the wrong time for their worship service on their website, so we missed that. We found the Grace Community Church and went in, but they were in the middle of the sermon. So, we went to Tortilla Flats and had New Mexican food for breakfast. It was pretty wonderful, and Jill thinks she can duplicate it.

After breakfast we went back to the Trailer Ranch RV park where we are staying, changed our clothes and caught the bus for downtown Santa Fe. What a treat. (No, not the bus, although that was not bad.)

Santa Fe is a charming town that has remained true to its Spanish/Mexican heritage. It was founded in 1608 by Don Pedro de Peralta, on orders from his superiors in the Catholic Church in Mexico. The official name given to the town by Peralta was "La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís", or "The Royal City of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi." Santa Fe (I'll just use the short-hand name; I think you can follow which town we are talking about) became the capital of Neuvo Mexico in 1610, making it the oldest capital city in the U. S.

The Spanish, Indian and Catholic influences are all readily apparent in the architecture of many of the buildings in Santa Fe. As you look at the slide show, you will see the Basilica of St. Francis, the Loretto Chapel (more about that in a moment) and the Church of San Miguel. There are photos of a number of other buildings as well, but you will notice the architectural themes in everything from government buldings to hotels to shops and churches.

Loretto Chapel has an interesting history. It seems the chapel was built two stories tall, but the architect somehow forgot to include a stairway from the ground floor to the second floor. The nuns who were connected to the chapel prayed for a solution. Shortly thereafter, there came an itinerant carpenter, who made a spiral staircase which uses no center post and no nails. It is called the "Miracle Staircase."

San Miguel church, as you will see in one of the photos, was built in 1610 and is the oldest church building in the U. S. We were unable to go inside, because a wedding was in progress. The same was true at Loretto chapel. So, in spite of their age, and in contrast to the Mission church in Zuni, these churches are alive and being used.

Across the street in front of San Miguel church is an area called the Barrio Amolca (I think). It is said to be the oldest neighborhood in the U. S. Across the street beside the church is a house, made of adobe, which is said to be the oldest house in the U. S. I don't know if this means that it is the first house built or the oldest house that is still standing. At any rate it is a tribute to the durability of adobe construction, as are a number of other buildings made of adobe, including the Barrio and San Miguel church itself.

In the center of the town is a square, called "The Plaza" by the locals. It is very similar to the town square, called "Zocolo" in Oaxaca, Mexico, which I visited many years ago. Given the history of Santa Fe, I was not surprised to see this feature.

Today happened to be the opening day for the Museum of New Mexico History, a couple of blocks from the Plaza. That fact, coupled with the fact that this is a holiday weekend, probably account for the crush of people we found in the downtown area. There was a line about two blocks long of people waiting to get into the museum, which definitely accounts for the fact that Jill and I did NOT go in. As much as we love history and museums, we hate standing in lines.

We also walked by the State Capitol. It's the one in the pictures that shows part of the Seal of the Great State of New Mexico. The front of the building is hidden behind some beautiful trees. In spite of their beauty, I was not happy that they blocked my view of the capitol.

Having finished our self-guided walking tour, complete with rain squalls and hail storm, we headed back toward the bus stop. Along the way, we encountered a fun art show in an alley, and then we came back to the Plaza (which just seems like it ought to be the Zocolo).

We smelled a wonderful aroma wafting across the street, so we crossed over to the Plaza, and there we found a street vendor selling fajitas and such. It was too much for our resistance. Jill had a chicken fajita, and I had a chile relleno burrito. It was the perfect end to our day of exploring this beautiful city.

Galloping through Gallup (groan...)

Click on the mural for a slide show...

OK, so we have been in New Mexico for 24 hours and the rain just keeps on raining. For this weather, we could have stayed home! Nevertheless, we are enjoying our stay. Unfortunately, this has been an expensive stop, especially considering that we only chose to stay in Gallup because it is halfway between Flagstaff and Santa Fe.

This morning we piled in our little Nissan Versa, which I have temporarily dubbed "Veronica." We drove about 50 miles to the Zuni Pueblo, a living community that includes many artisans and other Indians who choose to stay on the reservation and live according to traditional Indian customs. We paid for a tour of the pueblo and one of the Old Mission of La Senora de Guadalupe.

The mission was built in 1729 by Spanish missionaries who used forced Zuni labor and then forced the Zuni to convert to Roman Catholicism on pain of torture or death. The mission was abandoned in the 19th century. It has been restored twice since then: once in 1966 and again in 2006. Nevertheless, the adobe building is sadly in need of repairs again.

After the 1966 restoration, a Zuni artist moved into the mission and took up residence. He guided tours of the mission, which today only consists of the church building and a fenced in cemetery. Apparently, he charged for the tours as a means of supporting himself. In the meantime, he painted huge murals of the Zuni Kachinas or gods on the interior walls . The practice of making images of the Kachinas is forbidden by the Zuni religion. Consequently, the artist has fallen into disrepute in the community.

The Zuni people want to restore the church building and in the process paint over the murals. The artist claims they are his private property and wants them saved before the building is restored. This controversy has held up the restoration for some years. The current tours, sponsored by the Zuni Pueblo government, are a means to pay for the restoration, when the issues have all been settled.

This is an interesting situation. For some reason, the Zuni want to restore the building, and yet only 5% of the population are practicing Catholics. The church walls are adorned with the Zuni Kachina murals above (which are not allowed to be photographed for religious reasons) and the 12 stations of the Cross below. Religious services are not held in the building, but only members of the Zuni religion can be buried in the church cemetary. It is taboo to set foot in the cemetary, except for a funeral and burial, so the grounds of the cemetary have gone to weeds and the occasional candy wrapper or beer can that has apparently blown in with the wind. Once you have trod the sacred ground in the cemetary, you must burn your shoes.

Our guide said that her father is the head of the religious arm of the Zuni Pueblo community and he is a medicine man. These functions account for about 3/4 of his time, so he is only able to work at gainful employment about one quarter time. There are many taboos about disturbing anything that has to do with ancestors; so, many buildings are abandoned after people die. About 92% of the population of the pueblo are active in the pursuit of the Zuni religion. Zuni language is taught in all grades: one hour daily in elementary school, three hours in middle school, and four hours in high school. There are also Zuni language courses available through the University of New Mexico for college credit. It appears to me that the apparent poverty among these people is in large part due to their religious and cultural beliefs and choices. That was a revelation for me, because American Indians are obviously as capable of learning, working, crafting, farming, and any other pursuit as any other Americans. So, it appears that their poverty is something they have chosen to accept as the price for maintaining their culture and religion.

Our tour also included a walk around a neighborhood of homes constructed of either adobe bricks or sandstone blocks. (There is a picture in the slide show of adobe bricks on the left next to a pile of sandstone blocks.) The poverty is evident. Every home has a Zuni oven. In the slide show there is a picture of a row of these ovens. They look like bee hives. The ovens are constructed of sandstone blocks and covered with adobe mud mixed with straw. A fire is built in the center, and then pots of food are placed around the perimeter and cooked overnight, as in a slow cooker. Alternatively, the center is cleared and sourdough bread is baked with the fire around the perimeter, like a pizza oven. Much of the cooking done in these ovens is for ceremonial purposes.

I took very few photos on this tour, in spite of paying the $10 "photo permit" fee. One is not allowed to take pictures of certain things in the community, and people can only be photographed with their permission. The tour took about 45 minutes, and at $15 a head didn't seem like a good value. Perhaps, I am just spoiled because I was not able to use my National Parks senior pass here.

On our way back to "camp," we stopped in Gallup and visited a "Trader" shop. Most of the business in Gallup seems to revolve around selling Indian wares. I must say, the artisans who create these items are very talented and creative. We saw everything from jewelry to pottery to bows and arrows to figurines (called fetishes) of animals. Some of the items are really gorgeous, and the prices attest to that fact. We bought a modest piece of pottery and a pair of earrings for Jill.

After our shopping spree, we had lunch at a little place called Camille's Sidewalk Cafe. The weather didn't permit sidewalk dining today, but the food was wonderful. It is served fast food style: order here, leave your name, pick up over there when your name is called. It was great fun.

Lunch was followed by a short, self-guided walking tour of Gallup's downtown area. We took photos of some of the architecture and several murals painted on the various buildings. One mural depicts Native American heroes from a Marine brigade in WWII.

We are staying at the USA RV Park, which I surmise is owned by a Viet Nam veteran. It is a very patriotic theme, as you can see in the slide show. There is a reference to POW/MIAs on the plaque in front of the statue of liberty. It was our patriotism and the location on the historic Route 66 that swayed our decision to stay here.

So, for a stopover for which we had no expectations, our stay in Gallup has been quite satisfying, educational, and enjoyable, even if it has been the most costly stop along our way!!

Stormy weather, but Sadie liked it

Today was another travel day. We drove from Flagstaff, AZ to Gallup, NM, knowing virtually nothing about Gallup, except that it is about halfway between Flagstaff and Santa Fe, NM, which we really want to see.

It turns out that Gallup has its own charm. The architecture is really wonderful. I hope tomorrow it will be better weather for strolling the city. That brings me to the title of today's post. The weather was good and bad. It was good because we had a tail wind, but it was bad because we had some pretty exciting rain squalls, complete with lightning and thunder! The closer we got to Gallup, the worse the weather got.

It is our considered opinion that this is unusual weather for Gallup. First, the water doesn't seem to drain off the streets, suggesting that the streets are not designed to accommodate heavy rainfall. Second, Jill, who is a very curious soul, looked up statistics about Gallup on the internet. She learned that average rainfall in Gallup in May is 1/2"...for the whole month. I'm sure we got that much today!

Now, the other half of the title of this post refers to the fact that Sadie just purred all the way today. I attribute this fact to two things. First, the temperature was much cooler than Tuesday, when we came to Flagstaff from Kanab; about 20 degrees cooler, to be exact. Second, although we lost 2,000 feet of altitude as we drove from Flagstaff to Holbrook, AZ and gained back 1,400 feet between Holbrook and Gallup, the slopes were gentle and Sadie rarely had to work hard to make the grades. It seems the farther we drive, the better she runs. I think she has been needing exercise.

Along the way today, we saw some beautiful scenery, but then when have we not? Jill got a few pictures from the coach today, but the rain and the dark gray skies made for poor conditions for making photos. The slide show above includes one shot of the desert terrain, one of a big coal-fired power plant near Holbrook, a couple of the painted cliffs, outside of Gallup, and one of a remarkable monolith, also near Gallup.

Tomorrow, we hope to visit the Zuni pueblo, which is a living community, and, we are told, represents a little slice of American Indian life. The pueblo is home to an Indian community of artisans. But more about that tomorrow. For now, I will end by saying that today was different, but really satisfying.

Ancient ruins and aged highways

Click on the photo for a tour of Walnut Canyon National Monument...

The weather has changed. We arose to mostly sunny skies, but at the morning wore on, the clouds began to thicken. We decided today we would explore the Walnut Canyon National Monument cliff dwellings. The park is just a few miles east of Flagstaff, AZ, an easy drive.

The tour is a bit strenuous. There are 247 steps to descend and ascend again on the tour of the cliff dwellings. Descending was pretty easy, but at 7,000 feet altitude the ascent was a bit of a challenge! We made it, and we were glad we had made the effort.

This canyon is 400 feet deep, carved by Walnut Creek eroding the limestone and sandstone. The result, as you can see in the pictures is a stratification of the walls, which produced a series of rock ledges, one overhanging the next. When a local volcano erupted in about 1070 AD, the local Indian populations were scattered from the surrounding land.

Some of them moved into Walnut Canyon, so named for the black walnut trees that grow in parts of the canyon. They found the niches between the rock layers easy to enclose by building front walls of local rocks and mud for mortar. There was once a thriving community of about 300 cliffside homes in this canyon.

As you can see from the slide show, there is a variety of plant life here, and in fact, there are different ecosystems within the canyon itself. On the sunny, south-facing walls, yucca, prickly pear and other plants native to dry climates thrive. On the shady north-facing walls, Douglas fir and other species native to cooler, wetter climates abound. So, the residents of the canyon could change their climate, just by choosing a different rock niche a few dozen yards from their current home to build a new domicile.

On the plateau above the canyon, the residents pursued agriculture, including the cultivation of corn and various kinds of beans. They also hunted the native animals: deer, sheep, rabbits, and so on. The last two photos in the slide show are of reconstructions of buildings on the plateau. One was partially underground, the other was a two room pueblo built on the surface. Both were likely used as dwellings, but at different times in history.

Following our visit to the cliff dwellings, we drove into downtown Flagstaff to look around and shop for a few necessary items. It is an attractive town of about 58,000 population. We drove into town on the fabled US Route 66. The locals get a lot of mileage out of the historic significance of this old highway, once the main road from Chicago to Los Angeles. It has now been replaced by Interstate Route 40 for practical purposes, but Route 66 lives on in the hearts of the people who remember its heyday.

We returned to the J&H RV Park just as a thunder shower was beginning. So, we are enjoying the afternoon relaxing with Sadie, and nursing Pogo through her fear of the thunder.

Michael An-Jill-O

Click the photo to see the artist's first one-woman show...

This was a travel day. We traveled east; we traveled south; but most of all we traveled up and down. We left Kanab, elevation 4,900 feet and headed east along US 89. After a time we turned south and crossed the border into Arizona. We had ascended to nearly 6,000 feet, but now we descended to 4,000 feet as we approached Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam (A couple of the on-the-go photos will give you a little idea of the grandeur of this lake and the Colorado river running out of it through the Glen Canyon dam.)

Just past the dam, we arrived at Page, AZ, a nice tourist town, which obviously caters to the people who come to visit Lake Powell. From Page, we ascended slowly (Sadie did fine, but I was groaning as we slowed to 30 mph.) to 6,000 feet in a short few miles. I began thinking, Well, this is not so bad, Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet, and we are already at 6,000. Oops! As soon as we crested the summit, we descended down a 6% grade to 5,000. From there it was down to 4,500 and up, up and down. Until we reached our highest altitude of the day, 7,276 feet, just outside of Flagstaff. Flagstaff itself is at about 7,000 feet elevation.

But the big story of the day is Jill's photography. She picked up the camera and began shooting photos. She kept telling me, "I'm getting some really good shots." But I had no idea, until we arrived at J&H RV Park in Flagstaff and got settled. Then I downloaded them and was treated to the slide show above. I think you will agree that some of them are suitable for framing.

We are happy to be settled for the day. The weather is a little stormy. We have had a bit of rain, and the wind is blowing. Nevertheless, the temperature is in the upper 70s, and we are quite comfortable. Jill decided to do some laundry, so I sat down to blog (brag) about her photos. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. (Remember, they were all taken from a moving vehicle.)

The extremely adequate canyon...

Click the photo for a slide show.

Just another crummy day in paradise; that's what we had today. We got up early, and I did a few maintenance projects on the coach and the toad. Mainly, I cleaned the bugs off the windows and the front of the coach. I also replaced one of Sadie's headlights, which I had noticed was not burning when we arrived at the Hitch 'n' Post. I think there is a bad taillight bulb, too, but I need to check that later.

I had been on the internet earlier investigating RV parks in Flagstaff. It became apparent that the good places fill up fast, so I called for a reservation at the J & H RV park. A recorded voice told me I couldn't call until 9 AM Arizona time. Since Arizona doesn't recognize daylight time, that meant I couldn't call until 10 AM local time. So, I went about my business. Jill got everything ready for our day's outing.

At 10:00 AM on the dot, I called the park and made a reservation. That was a load off my mind, so I was now free to enjoy the day. We loaded Pogo into the car, along with our backpack, containing everything we needed for a day's outing, except, as we would later learn, the beef jerky! We headed out of town for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The drive is spectacular, and I was taken completely unawares by the dense pine forests that cover the hills on the way up to the park. I remarked to Jill that it seemed odd we had to climb 4,200 feet in altitude so we can look at a hole in the ground. In fact, when we reached the lodge, we were within a few minutes' drive of the highest point on the rim of the canyon.

We arrived at the park, and I smugly forked over my Senior LIFETIME Pass for the national parks. (Did I mention this gets me into any national park in the U.S. for free, for the rest of my life?) We then drove from the entrance about 35 miles to the visitors' center and lodge. As you will notice in the slide show, the lodge is a spectacular structure.

As we walked into the front of the lodge, we found ourselves in a large foyer. On the Left were the reservations desk, a desk selling mule rides into the canyon, and a large room that appeared to be set up like a theater. On the right and down a flight of stairs was the dining room, which has ringside views of the canyon. Straight ahead, and down another short flight of stairs, is an octagonal observation room with windows on five sides looking directly into the canyon.

It quickly became apparent that the architect who designed this building knew his stuff. The lodge sits literally on the precipice of the canyon. Looking out the windows of the lodge, or from the observation deck just off the octagonal room, you can look almost straight down for thousands of feet. It is breathtaking, literally. In the Visitors' Center there is a sign on the wall that says something to the effect that people are so overwhelmed by the grandeur of the canyon that they speak in whispers. Throughout the afternoon as we wandered about the observation points near the lodge, I listened, and people did speak in whispers. One fellow was trying to locate his party and was hollering their names at the top of his lungs. I must admit, it seemed irreverent of him.

With the time change, and the fact that we had eaten our breakfast early, not to mention that we forgot the beef jerky, we were getting pretty hungry by the time the dining room opened for lunch. We went in and got a table right by the window, where we had a panoramic view of the canyon as we enjoyed some wonderful burgers. At the table next to us was an attractive family of Mom and Dad and four sons. We overheard the Mom address one of the boys as Josiah. Well, the die was cast. Jill struck up a conversation and told Mom all about our Josiah. They had quite a lovely time conversing for a few minutes.

We returned to the Visitors' Center after lunch and asked the ranger if there were a place where we could walk Pogo. He told us where, and we got Pogo from her crate and had a nice stroll around the grounds, where we met a woman from Portland. She and her husband both retired this year, so they are on a five week vacation trip, similar to ours. We had another fine conversation about where they had been and where we have been, and where they are going and where we are going.

That completed we were ready to head for Sadie. We made two stops on the 76 mile trip back. One was at an observation area along the highway. There were three Navajo Indian women selling jewelry and other gift items there. They had some beautiful pieces, but we weren't moved to buy any of them. The second stop was at Honey's Jubilee Market for a few groceries.

We were glad to be home again, and we both felt that we had had an extremely adequate day.

Hymns and reunions and blessings from Zion...

Click on the flower to see our adventure du jour.

The day dawned bright and clear, again. It is Sunday, so we had decided to go across the street from our little campground to attend the New Hope Bible Church. Well, I want to tell you, that we were in for a treat.

We were warmly greeted by several members of the congregation. As we waited for the service to begin, Jill looked through the church bulletin and said, "It doesn't say anything about a sermon. It is just all music." I searched the bulletin and found the same thing. Not only that, but there were many more songs listed than I have ever seen at a church service.

At last the pastor came to the front of the church (capacity about 100 people) and introduced Carl and Ruth Engstrom, who proceeded to minister to us for about an hour and 15 minutes with hymns, gospel songs, instrumentals (piano and organ), solos, duets and congregation participation. What a blessing it was to hear them sing and play some of my favorite hymns.

This dear couple will have been married for 50 years next month. They live in their motor home full time and travel cross country ministering to congregations throughout the U.S. Had we planned to find the greatest blessing in a church we were visiting, we could not have done better.

Now, never let it be said that I can't take the edge off a blessing. We have been trying to make contact with our son Patrick's birth mother, Susan, who lives up the highway a few miles and works at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary that we visited on Friday. Wouldn't you know that, not only did she call during the church service, but I had forgotten to put my phone on silent ringing. So, just as there was a lull in the music, my phone began to ring its fool head off! I'll continue this story a bit later.

After church, we headed for Zion National Park, not knowing what to expect. Well, I can tell you, we got another huge blessing The photos in the slide show above don't do any justice at all to the beauty of this magnificent piece of God's handiwork. Jill and I agreed that, driving along the road through the park, we felt as if we were on a Disney ride. The scenery has a surreal beauty that looks almost as if it had been carved by a sculptor, which of course it has...and One greater than Walt Disney.

There is one outstanding man-made feature of the park. It is a tunnel that is over a mile long leading down to the floor of the canyon and the visitor center. Unfortunately for modern drivers, the tunnel was built in the 1930s and sized for the cars of that day. The highest point in the center of the tunnel is 13' 4" high, but the arched ceiling means that the clearance at the sides is considerably less. As a consequence, when a bus or motor home or other large vehicle wants to pass, the traffic coming the other way has to be detained until the taller vehicle passes through, because the tall guys need to drive down the middle of the tunnel straddling both lanes! Nevertheless, this long, dark tunnel is quite impressive...and a little scary for the claustrophobic, I should think.

Because we had brought Pogo along with us, and because it was 97 degrees in the canyon, we opted not to take the guided shuttle bus tour. I don't know what they could have shown us that would have topped what we saw from our own little car. We came away thoroughly satisfied that we had seen a natural wonder.

When we were on the way back to our Sadie, we stopped at the intersection of UT 9 and US 89, which is only 5 miles from Susan's home in Orderville. There was no cell phone coverage anywhere today, so we stopped at the Thunderbird Restaurant and called from a pay phone. (I thought later how fortunate we are that there are still some anachronisms left in the world!)

Well, to shorten the story, we made contact, and Susan and her husband Jim and their two youngest children, Kelly and Paul, met us at the Thunderbird. We all had ice cream delights and a wonderful conversation about all that they are doing and about Patrick and his new bride, Katie. It was the perfect end to a lovely day.

Azure skies and rufous rocks...

Click the picture for a slide show. The first four slides are in Red Canyon; the rest are in Bryce.


The day dawned with another cloudless sky. Jill and I were excited, because today was the day we had set aside to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. We packed some snacks and a lunch, including water bottles, loaded Pogo in her crate and departed for the 76 mile drive to the park.

As Jill said, the drive to the park was enough to satisfy our desire for sightseeing. Nevertheless, we were very glad we made the trip to see Bryce. One of the reasons we were so pleased with the trip began yesterday at the Pipe Springs National Monument. I had heard, but forgotten, that at age 62, U. S. citizens or permanent U. S. residents can purchase a pass that admits them and anyone in their vehicle to any National Park in the U. S. for free, for life! The cost of this amazing pass? A sawbuck, two fins, a thousand pennies... ten measly bucks! I KNEW there had to be SOMETHING good about getting old.

The admission fee to Bryce is $25 per car, so the pass saved us enough to cover more than half of what we dropped in the Bryce Canyon Lodge gift shop. But I am ahead of myself once again.

There is an 18 mile drive from the park entrance to the far end of the canyon. As recommended in the literature that we received at check in, we decided to drive to the far end and then work our way back, stopping at the various observation points along the way. We proceeded to the end point, where there are a large parking lot, sanitary facilities and several observation points.

We were awestruck by the beauty of the canyon. From the 9,100 foot elevation of this terminal viewing location, you can see more than 80 miles to the horizon. I think, though, that the highlight of this stop was not so much the beauty of the natural surroundings, but rather the people that we met there.

As we were viewing the sights, I overheard a gent telling another fellow about two cannibals who were having dinner. As they enjoyed their meal, one of them said to the other, "You know, I don't like your mother-in-law." His friend replied, "Well then, just eat the noodles." Of course, I couldn't stop myself from sharing the story about the two cannibals who were eating a clown, when one of them said, "Does this taste funny to you?"

That started a wonderful conversation. Dottie and Jill connected on a number of levels, and John and I swapped awful stories and puns for about 45 minutes. John and Dottie are visiting Utah from Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania. They are Mennonites, and we enjoyed comparing notes with them on the things that God is doing in our lives.

At last, we had to part with our new friends. As we made our way back to the front gate of the park, we stopped at several viewpoints, and of course, we took many photos. The canyon is really breathtaking, and yet we found that eventually, all of our pictures were beginning to look the same. So, we headed for the last stop along the route, which is the Bryce Canyon Lodge.

The lodge was built in 1923 by the Union Pacific Railroad and became a destination point for Union Pacific passengers. It is a beautiful building in a gorgeous setting. The influx of visitors that Union Pacific provided eventually led to the area becoming a national park. And the rest, as they say, is history.

We returned from the canyon tired but happy. Jill mixed up a batch of G&Ts and I sat down to blog. I hope you enjoy the slide show attached to the photo above.

Indians and Mormons and homeless animals...

Click the picture for a tour of Pipe Springs National Monument


Today was the day we thought our sightseeing would begin. That was before we started on this journey and saw so many wonderful things along the way to "the show." We are currently residing in Kanab, UT, which is a cute little town, obviously devoted to its tourists. That devotion is apt, because Kanab sits within a day's drive of an amazing array of sightseeing meccas. These include: Bryce Canyon National Park (NP), Zion NP, Pipe Springs National Monument, the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and Lake Powell, to name a few.

Today, in the hub of all of these places, we chose first to do...our laundry. It has been many years since I used a coin laundry, sometimes known as a laundromat. It was not too unpleasant. Jill and I carried our load across the street from the Hitch 'n' Post RV park, where we are camped. We took along a couple of cheesy novels and some laundry soap, and within about an hour, we had clean undies and sox and towels and PJs and jeans and shirts. Well, it was just a miracle to me, and all for the sum of $2.25.

When we returned to the coach, we decided to take the advice of the park owner and make a trip out to Pipe Springs National Monument. This is an interesting place. There is a natural spring there that for centuries was used by the local indians. When the Mormons moved into the area, Brigham Young encouraged them to homestead. Well, a fellow named James Whitmore (no, not the actor) "signed some papers" and was given 160 acres, including the spring. He began farming the area, but shortly, a band of indians showed up and ran him off the land and killed him.

Young encouraged the settlers in the region to retreat back closer to Salt Lake for protection. Later, when things seemed to have calmed down, the Mormon church bought Whitmore's land from his widow and established a "tithing farm." This was a fully functional farm, the purpose of which was to provide work for people, so they could tithe to the church. In addition, the farm produced butter, cheese, beef, sheep, and vegetables, with which they fulfilled a contract with the church to provide supplies for some 400 workers, who were engaged in building the Mormon Temple.

The current buildings at the monument site have been rebuilt on the original sites and, as nearly as possible, to the original specifications. There are two cabins, one of which housed the people who were sent by the church to work the farm. The other was used as a barracks for guards who were part of the Mormon militia that guarded the spring. In addition, there is a fortress built around the spring itself. It is called Winsor Castle, after the original occupant and overseer of the farm. This building also housed the first telegraph office in southern Utah.

The farm and all the buildings are now jointly operated by the National Parks Service and the Kaibab band of the Paiute Indian nation. It is a fascinating place, rich with history. The fortress, for example, not only protected the spring and the settlers from indian raids, but it also was used later as a kind of an underground railway to protect polygamist Mormons from Federal marshalls who were sent to the area to ensure that the Mormons abandoned polygamy as a condition for Utah statehood.

We returned from our visit to Pipe Springs and had a fine lunch of homemade soup. Then we decided to round out the afternoon with a visit to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Angel Canyon, just north of Kanab. This operation is the largest non-euthanizing animal shelter in the U. S. It covers some 33,000 acres and is home to thousands of domestic animals, including cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, and birds which have been abandoned or injured or otherwise unable to be cared for elsewhere. The operation is impressive, and I believe is fully funded by donations.

We took a guided tour of the facilities, which was very interesting. Jill and I both felt that it is a shame that there aren't similar facilities to provide for humans who are abandoned or injured or otherwise unable to be cared for.

The facility is nestled in Angel Canyon, which is a beautiful red stone canyon with Kanab creek flowing through it. It has been the setting for more than 100 movies and TV shows about the old west, including "The Outlaw Josie Wales" and "The Apple Dumpling Gang." All things considered, Jill and I agreed that this was a satisfying day!

Click the picture for some more photos of Angel Canyon

Of iron ships and wooden (headed) men...

Click on the picture to see a slideshow of the scenery we encountered between Fillmore and Kanab, UT


Today was a test of mettle: ours and Sadie's. We left our lovely little campsite at Wagons West in Fillmore this morning and crossed the street to the local Shell station. Going in the driveway, I heard a little scrape, which I assumed was the bottom of the tow hitch. I was intent on fueling, and kind of forgot about the incident.

We headed for Kanab on I-15. When we got to Utah route 20 we exited to head for Utah route 89, which is a scenic byway into Kanab. As we started to ascend the pass, Sadie was seeming pretty gutless, so I pulled over to check and make sure the toad had not somehow locked up its brakes. Good thing I checked. It seems that, when I bottomed out at the Shell station, I pulled the power cord for the lights on the back of the toad loose from the socket where it plugs into Sadie's rear bumper.

The plug on the Sadie end of the cord had been dragging for 68 miles and was sanded off at a perfect 45 degree angle. The cord was slightly chewed up, presumably from dragging, too. There was nothing I could do to remedy that situation on the side of the road, because I needed a new plug.

So, we plodded on; and I do mean plodded. I had no idea where we were going or what we would encounter. Sadie inched her way up a grade that must have been at least 6%. At times she could only muster 30 mph. In her defense, we started up this hill from about 6,000 feet elevation: not a good altitude for an unsupercharged gasser. The sign at the summit said, "7,960 ft." I gave Sadie a pat. She had struggled, but she never complained. Her engine temp stayed below 220 degrees, and the transmission temperature stayed below 200 degrees.

Well, as you know if you have ever driven a heavy, slightly underpowered vehicle over a mountain pass, getting to the top is the easy part. On the other side of the summit was an 8% grade! Yikes!! I slowed to a crawl and put Sadie in 1st gear. We slowly descended the grade, which had some hairpin turns rated at 25 mph. I tried to stay off the brake pedal. Gradually, the 8% grade gave way to a more gentle slope. And at last we descended into the most beautiful valley.

We continued on, but all the while, I was torn between praise for Sadie and self flagellation for my cockiness in not having checked what that scrape was all about. We drove on another 20 miles to a nice little town called Panquitsch. As we rolled into town we saw an auto repair shop, and we stopped to ask where we might get a new plug for our cord. The gent in the shop directed us to the NAPA auto parts store 4 blocks down.

We found the NAPA store and went in to see if by some outside chance, they might have a plug that would fit our setup. Well, it turns out, the gent from the auto repair shop had preceded us to NAPA and helped me look for the part. When we didn't find one, he checked with Mat, and Mat had one in the back, which he sold me for $5. I ran back to Sadie and started working on repairing the cord, only to find that it required a very tiny Phillips screwdriver. So, back to NAPA, and another $4 later, I was able to fix the cord. It took a total of about 1/2 hour. Thank you NAPA, thank you unknown auto repair guy, thank you Mat, and thank you Jesus!

The rest of the trip was beautiful, uneventful, and much less stressful.

The moral of the story: When I assume, I make an "ass" of "u" and "me." In this case, however, "u" were totally not involved, so guess who the "ass" was!

Thank God for a quick, easy and inexpensive fix...and for yet another lesson learned!

More serendipitous fun...

Today was a beautiful day, involving more of the serendipity that has characterized this trip, so far. Because we ended up staying in Mountain Home, ID, instead of Twin Falls as we had originally imagined we would do, we ended up yesterday in Ogden, UT instead of Provo. So, today, instead of spending a second day in Provo, as we had originally imagined, we are in Fillmore, UT.

This is a very quaint little burg of about 2,000 population. Little did we know that it was the first capital city of Utah. Brigham Young, governor of the Utah Territory in 1850, located the geographic center of the state and designated the area as the Territorial capital. In a shrewd political move, to ensure that the Territory was accepted by the U. S. government, Young named the county Millard and the town where the statehouse was erected Fillmore, after the sitting president.

The scenery on the drive here was breathtaking, as we rose to nearly 6,000 feet above sea level, surrounded by snow capped peaks. The town of Fillmore, which we expected to be a stopover on the way to Kanab and the "real" vacation sights, turns out to be full of history and charm. Click on the photo above to see a slide show of some of the sights we encountered today.

Getting out of Dodge...

Today, the big excitement was in hitting the road again. The weather forecast called for high winds in southern Idaho today. The camp host at Mountain Home RV Park suggested we postpone traveling for a day. It seems that a 31 foot by 9 foot motor home side represents a great deal of un-reefable sail area!

Well, my trusty sidekick and navigation officer, Jill, checked further on the weather and learned that the high wind warning was to begin at noon and last until 9:00 PM. In addition, the winds were predicted to be from the NW, and we were heading SE. So, we made an executive decision to simply arise early (not a big deal for us) and hit the road by 7:30.

We arose to light (10 + mph) winds from the NW. I had drained the holding tanks the evening before and hooked up the toad. This morning all that was required was to disconnect the water service and power cord and stop at the gas station on the way to the freeway. We got underway about 7:35 (again, not wanting to show up the airlines.)

The outcome was good. The tailwind actually made driving more comfortable most of the time. I will calculate our gas mileage after we fill up in the morning, but I suspect the wind may have helped there, too. Unfortunately, we heard the residents of the wind-affected area are expecting 45 mph winds with gusts to 60 mph. Here's hoping they are all OK.

Tonight we are staying at the Century Campground and RV Park in Ogden, UT. It is not of the same caliber as the Mountain Home park, but it is nice enough and reasonably priced. The staff is helpful and friendly, and we are quite comfortable. We are right next to the freeway, but there is a double cement wall, so the freeway noise is minimal. There is not much to do here, so we are settling in to a "relaxing evening at home."

Bruneau Dunes State Park

Click on the photo above to see a slide show of a little jaunt we made to Bruneau Dunes State Park, which is about 18 miles south of Mountain Home, ID. These dunes are the tallest in the U.S. They don't cover a large area, but they are impressive. They were formed by the prevailing winds acting on sand in what amounts to a circular shaped valley formed by the Snake River.

In order, the photos are:
Snake River, south of Mountain Home, ID
Snake River, south of Mountain Home, ID
Bruneau Dunes State Park, ID. Tallest sand dunes in America.
Mesa land near Snake river, ID
Bruneau Dunes SP
A small dune at Bruneau Dunes SP
Big Dune and Big Dune Lake

Of course, photos never do justice to landscapes, but we were pretty impressed. Enjoy.

A better picture...way better

The park host at Mountain Home RV Park is Bob Lankford, who is an amateur photographer. Last evening he took this photo of our feathered friend the burrowing owl and was kind enough to give us not only a copy, but permission to publish it on the blog.

Needless to say, Bob is a better photographer than I am, but then I don't have as much of my life savings tied up in photo equipment! If you like Bob's work, you can see more of it at webshots.com.

Sometimes, things are not what they seem to be

Here's a feathered friend we met in Mountain Home, ID. He is a burrowing owl, who has become quite the celeb at the Mountain Home RV Park, where we are staying tonight. This fellow moved into an abandoned badger burrow a couple of days ago, according to the park host. Unfortunately, my little Sony digital camera doesn't have enough zoom to get a really close picture, so I had to crop a distant shot and blow it up.

Mountain Home is about 5o miles east of Boise. It has a population of about 11,000, and is host to an Air Force base. Our original destination for today was Twin Falls, ID. The story of how we ended up in Mountain Home is a little embarrassing.

Last evening, after a lovely day exploring La Grande and Union, OR, we settled in for an evening of relaxation. At bedtime, Jill discovered that the lights in the bedroom wouldn't come on. Then she discovered that the bedroom TV didn't work. I checked all the fuses and breakers, and nothing seemed to explain the problem.

Later I checked the monitoring panel, which tells the status of all the batteries and holding tanks. It was dead. Then, this morning, we discovered that the refrigerator was not working. I pored over wiring diagrams; checked the fuses and breakers again; and removed the bedroom TV from its enclosure to check the ground wire, because the previous owner had had a new ground wire installed. Nothing seemed to explain the problem. We looked up a couple of RV repair places in Boise and decided we would stop there.

As a result of all of this fun, we got a late start from La Grande. At the Weatherby rest stop, we opened the door on the curb side of the coach, and I realized we had been traveling with the electric step extended. After I got finished feeling embarrassed about the step being out, I flipped the switch to make it retract, but nothing happened. Was this yet another electrical failure?

The interesting thing is that it took this situation with the door to bring me to my senses, because I have had this problem before. Almost without thinking, I checked the house power main cut off switch. Bingo! It was turned to the off position. I switched it on, and suddenly, we had lights in the bedroom, TV in the bedroom, refrigerator, and monitoring panel...and the step retracted on command.

The next thing I thought of was how I would have felt, if I had taken Sadie to an RV repair facility, only to be told, "You have to turn the switch ON for it to work." Or worse, what if they had spent two days working on the coach at $80 per hour before they found the switch turned off and then presented me with the bill?

Jill and I were elated to learn that our beloved Sadie was feeling better again. The rest of the trip was a pleasure, but we were behind schedule, so we decided to stop in Mountain Home and continue tomorrow...or the next day. We love this place! Check out our "camp."

On the road again...

All hooked up and ready to roll...vacation here we come!


With apologies to Willie Nelson, we are on the road again. It feels great. Sadie performed like the lady she is. We left home within a couple of minutes of our ETD of 9:00 AM. (We didn't want to show up the airlines by actually leaving on time.)

But I am ahead of myself. We arose at 6:00 AM, since we were too excited to sleep any longer. After a light breakfast we loaded all the last minute stuff (you know, cell phone chargers and the like) aboard the coach. We ran a last load of dishes and one of laundry, so that we can return to a clean house. Then I ran Sadie down to First Choice Auto for a final airing of the tires. My little compressor is just not powerful enough to put the necessary 95 psi in the tires.

When I returned to the house, I hooked up the toad, and we loaded Pogo aboard, closed the doors of the house and hit the road. On the way by her exit, we called Mom to tell her we are on our way. The weather has been gorgeous - temps in the low seventies, puffy white clouds in an azure sky - and the driving easy. We stopped for a rest break just west of The Dalles, and for another one near Boardman, where we had lunch.

From there it was an easy run to LaGrande, except for the run up Cabbage Hill at 37 mph. Still Maggie behaved, and all systems worked fine, including the new transmission temperature sensor. Heading up this 6% grade, the tranny temp topped out at 190, well within the normal operating range. I am so proud of my old girl.

We arrived at the Eagle's Hot Lake RV resort at 3:25 PM. It is a lovely park with large, level spaces, and breathtaking scenery. Pogo was happy to be done traveling and get out for a stretch of her little legs.

As I write this, we are enjoying Wi-Fi, satellite TV, and all the comforts of home. This "camping" is rough...know what I mean? Here's a shot of Sadie at Eagle's Hot Lake RV resort.
And another...

D-day, minus one

Today is our final packing day. I think Sadie is all ready mechanically. Now we just need to make sure we have all the stuff aboard that we'll need for day to day living. The packing is going well, so far, and we should be able to finish without too much stress.

Tomorrow, we plan to leave about 9:00 AM...destination, LaGrande? We'll see where our travels take us. One of our parameters for this trip has been that we will make as few reservations as possible, and when we get tired of driving, we will find a place to stop for the night...or maybe a few nights.

So, a little final packing today, and we are ready to roll! Stay tuned.

This is the way we sew our stuff...

Sadie is still in storage. We will bring her home in a couple of days and begin final checks and packing.

In the meantime, I have had a couple of sewing projects. The first was a canvas-edged screen which will fit over the front window of the coach. The purpose is to decrease the amount of sunlight that comes in while parked on bright days. I'm pretty happy with the finished project, in terms of its overall appearance. Unfortunately, our sewing machine is not quite beefy enough for this kind of sewing. So, there are a few areas where the stitching doesn't look great. But as a dear friend from my past used to say, "From the road it'll look good!"

The second sewing project was a bit simpler. There is a window in the entry door of our coach. At night, we like to cover it for privacy. The coach came with a snap-on canvas cover for the window, which works fine, except for one thing. In order to install and uninstall the cover, it is necessary to open the door and the screen door, exit the coach, close the screen door, install the cover, open the screen door, enter the coach and close the door. I noticed that there are a couple of snaps above the door in the interior of the coach. So, I made a canvas flap that will snap on to them and hang down over the window. I installed some extra snaps, so we can roll the flap up and snap it to itself, leaving the window uncovered.

Finally, I completed a project that I have been meaning to do for nearly a year. In order to protect our little Nissan Versa that we tow behind Sadie (commonly known as a towed vehicle, or "toad") from rock chips in the paint, I purchased a Le Bra front cover. The only problem is that, in order to hook up the toad to Sadie's tow hitch, there are some tow bracket sockets, an electric cable and some aircraft cables for the surge brake on the tow bar. In order to be able to use these items with the "bra" on the car, I had to modify the bra by cutting some holes in it and binding them with bias tape. Now, I can use the bra for protection of the paint on the toad and still access the necessary connections for towing our little car.

There are only 6 days left until our departure. We are excited, a little scared, and our heads are swimming with last minute details and packing to complete. It will be good to be on the road!