Once we left Colorado, we felt like we were finally heading home even though we still had over 2000 miles to go. Fortunately for us, we had family and friends to see along the way with lots of unexpected places to see as well. Our first stop took us to Ashland, Nebraska for a stop at Claudia’s aunt’s home. They provided us with a nice shady site and 30 amp service put in just for us and a nice house with a beach in the back yard to use. The weather was beautiful while we were there and we totally enjoyed our time playing on the beach and in the lake while visiting Claudia’s aunt and cousins. Once we left Ashland we had a pleasant trip over to Ackworth, Iowa where we were hosted by our friends Dave & Debbie from Sandpipers, and once again we were provided with enough electricity to keep the A/C running. The temps were in the 90's so that was a real nice perk. As an added treat, our friends Randy and Sue were camping there as well. The six of us started the afternoon off by catching up on the past several months and enjoying an extended “happy hour” together. During our visit Randy and Sue took us for a tour of Des Moines, Iowa’s capital and their old hometown before they hit the road full time like we did 2 years ago. They also took us to Pella, a beautiful small Midwestern town known for its Dutch heritage and its annual tulip festival. It was quite unique and it gave us a great look at a small town in rural Iowa. On our final night in Ackworth, the 6 of us had a great time together as we enjoyed a wonderful bbq dinner. It was such a treat to spend time with these awesome friends. After a couple of days we parted ways until we meet again in Texas. Following a one night stay at a campground in Utica, Illinois we arrived to visit our friends Bob & Catherine, also from Sandpipers at their home in Peru, Indiana. Peru is known as the Circus Capital of the World. It has been home to seven of the world's major circuses for their winter headquarters. They host an amateur circus performance that was currently going on and that we were able to see. Our friends and hosts Bob & Catherine kept us entertained and busy during our visit. We enjoyed their company so much as well as their beautiful home, including their lovely pool. Stella enjoyed the freedom of their large yard as well as the company of their dog and 2 horses. After a nice dip in their pool, we spent our first night downtown enjoying the fair that was going on. The fair corresponded with Peru’s annual Circus week that was happening while we were there. On July 17th, Claudia and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. We spent a good part of the day relaxing by the pool, followed by a great dinner out at a nice Mexican restaurant with Bob & Catherine. It was within walking distance and the weather was lovely so it was a very nice night to be out and about. On that Saturday we headed off early to the home of some friends of Bob & Catherine in order to enjoy the Circus parade from their front porch. We had great seats while in the shade and the parade was quite unique from those we’re used to back east. There were lots of beautiful, antique circus wagons and more horses of all kinds than we could count. All in all it had a very nice small town feel and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Following the parade we headed to a local gathering spot for a pitcher of beer and to enjoy the bag pipe band that had been in the parade. Following another afternoon at the pool and a great homemade dinner, it was time to head to see the circus for ourselves. We had great seats and the circus was very professionally done but performed entirely by kids of all ages up through high school. The finale included a trapeze act that was as good as any we’ve seen. All I could think of as a dad was how tough it would be to watch my daughter doing what those girls were doing. Our final day in Peru started off with a nice brunch out followed by more relaxing by the pool. Once we parted company with Bob & Catherine we made 2 overnight stops, one in Huron, Ohio and one in Akron, New York. Our final stop before returning home was in Moravia, New York to visit more friends of ours from Texas at their summer campground. We met up with them shortly after our arrival and enjoyed their company that night as we were treated to a wonderful homemade dinner at their home. The following day we all took a ride and then a hike over at Watkins Glen State Park. Within two miles, the glen's stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course. The gorge path winds over and under waterfalls and through the spray of Cavern Cascade. It was a beautiful hike. For the next couple of days we enjoyed our visit with Lou & Alma, spending time at the pool and meeting new friends. Finally it was time to return to our “summer home” at Camp Sawash in Uxbridge, Mass. For those that don’t know, Camp Sawash is the home of my sister and her husband who allow us to “camp” in their driveway each summer, this time for about 8 weeks. We were so excited and were both awake early so we got a start first thing and arrived by midafternoon. As we pulled into the driveway, Stella actually cried with delight when she saw my niece’s dog Tank sitting there waiting for her. It was a so great seeing so many of our family members throughout the day and we still have a many more to see as the days go by. We have lots of appointments, errands and chores to do while we’re here but we plan to spend most of our time relaxing and enjoying our time with family and friends. We love our life on the road but there’s no place like home.
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Our first stop in Colorado was in Durango and that stop turned out to be a lot of fun. On our first full day there we explored the historic downtown area which still has that old western look to it. We spent the following day taking a planned train ride aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to Silverton and back. Silverton was (and still looks like) an old mining town while Durango was the place that all the ore was brought to by train. The train ride took 3 ½ hours each way but we rode in a car that had live narration during the entire trip by people who portrayed real life characters from the era when the train was in its heyday and entertained us with some great stories. We were able to spend a couple of hours in Silverton where we did a bit of shopping and had a great home cooked meal at the Shady Lady, an authentic real life bar and restaurant that used to also entertain men in the rooms upstairs. The train ride itself had some great views and at times some scary ones as we rode along the edge of cliff faces. It was definitely worth the price of the tickets. It was a long day so Stella enjoyed a bit of pampering from one of the work campers at our campground although we understand that she didn’t want to stray very far from the RV. I guess she worried that if we came back and she wasn’t there we’d leave her behind. The following day we started off with an all you can eat country breakfast served at the campground. That afternoon we headed back into Durango for dinner and a show. For dinner we chose the Diamond Belle, an authentic saloon located in the Strater Hotel built in 1887 and preserved to look as it did back then. We both enjoyed a couple of homemade chicken pies while listening to some live ragtime piano music. After dinner we strolled around a bit before arriving at our table in the Strater Theatre where we ordered drinks before our show. The show was titled “Guitar Strings, a Cowboy & a Lost Peacock”. This was a somewhat hokey skit that involved time travel between a 1915 cowboy and a 2015 guitar player who bump into each other right here at the Strater Hotel. It included a bit of music, poetry and comedy intermingled with a bit of local history. Like I said, hokey but still a great night out and we did enjoy the show. On our final day in Durango we took a ride out to Mesa Verde National Park where we saw just enough of it to know that we’ll be coming back. We did get to visit one of the many pueblo ruins that exist there but the park just had too much to see in one day. Before heading out of Durango and after reviewing our mountain guide we discovered that our planned route to Glenwood Springs would take us north up route 550 which we learned had switchbacks, cliffs with no guard rails and steep grades exceeding 8%. Everyone who has driven that route told us the same thing… Don’t’ do it!! We listened of course so we headed all the way back through Moab to get back on the interstate. It was a longer drive but a lot less stressful and from what we’ve heard since then, route 550 may not have even been possible considering the length of our motor home. We weren’t crazy about the campground we stayed at in Glenwood Springs but made the most of our time there by getting some chores taken care of and some errands done. We did end our visit there on a high note by taking an excellent raft trip down the Colorado River. The river was running high and fast and gave us quite the ride. The rapids we rode were rated as class 2 and 3. We were both apprehensive but enjoyed the ride even more than we hoped and are now ready to try some class 4’s. We hit the road for our next stop in Colorado Springs and although we took the interstate most of the way, it was quite the ride. We crossed the Rocky Mountains, over the continental divide and through the Eisenhower Tunnel. The highest elevation we reached was 11,088 feet. The grades were tough and at times we were traveling at 20 miles per hour as we climbed. It was nice to arrive at our campsite knowing that the toughest part of our trip was over . We enjoyed our final Colorado stop in Colorado Springs as much as possible even though we experienced a lot of rain and thunderstorms while we were there. We did get to explore Garden of the Gods a couple of times and found it to be beautiful. Unfortunately, due to the rainy weather, we never made it to Pikes Peak. That visit will have to wait until another trip. We knew we weren’t going to be able to see a whole lot of Colorado this year but we saw enough of it to know that we’ll definitely be back. It really is a beautiful part of our country. From the moment we arrived in Moab it seemed we were always busy. We did spend a good part of our first day catching up on some relaxation but late that afternoon we headed out to get together with some friends we met while we were at Bryce Canyon. We enjoyed dinner out, drinks at a local pub and then went to watch some good old cowboy music at a park in Moab. We enjoyed getting together and hope to meet up with them again sometime. On the following day, a Sunday, we decided to avoid the National Parks and took a ride over to the Moab Motion Picture Museum to see some of the memorabilia from many of the movies that have been filmed there. Hundreds of old westerns as well as some new movies have been filmed there and the tour was interesting. In order to get to the museum, we traveled through the Colorado Riverway Recreation Area where we saw some beautiful scenery. Many of the areas we traveled through were used in some of those old westerns we learned about. Finally, on Monday we decided to begin our visit to Arches National Park. And what a beautiful park it was. Over the next few days we hiked over a dozen miles and viewed a hundred or so arches. The most famous arches, Landscape Arch, the Window Arches, the Turret Arch and Delicate Arch, just to name a few, required some serious hiking if we wanted to get close. Because of this we’ve hiked to some pretty remote areas of the park. One of our hikes took us through an area of the park called Park Avenue, not necessary famous for its arches but for its beautiful sculptures of towering rock. On our final day at Arches National Park we waited until midafternoon to begin our visit. We traveled the entire scenic drive one last time, stopping at many of the overlooks for photo ops and a look at the landscape with the afternoon sun setting. We also took one last hike that evening in order to see Broken Arch and Sand Dune Arch which we hadn’t seen yet. Even late in the afternoon the temps were near 100 degrees so this final 2 mile hike was quite exhausting but totally worth it. Finally, as we were making our way out of the park, the drive was quite beautiful as the sun began to set. We’ll be left with great memories of a beautiful park. The next day it was time to see something new so off we went to Canyonlands National Park about an hour away. As I mentioned to Claudia along the way, we had to rein in our expectations. After all, Arches would be a hard act to follow for any place. The fact is Canyonlands was nothing at all like Arches. This place was beautiful in its own way. Canyonlands is a huge, expansive area where you can look across open areas for miles and miles and see nothing but wilderness. You’re sitting on top of everything and looking across vast areas of canyons, rivers and desert. We took several hikes while we were there even though the temps were near 100 degrees. The first took us to an area known as Upheaval Dome which looks down into a mysterious area that may have been created by a meteorite impact but no one knows for sure. After this hike we traveled along the scenic drive overlooking some of those vast areas I mentioned. Our second hike was our big hike for the day. It was about 4 miles round trip and took us out along the top of a mesa to an area named Murphy Point. From this point we could look out for what seemed like hundreds of miles in almost every direction. The views were breathtaking. We were pretty much exhausted following this hike and the weather remained hot so the rest of our day was spent mostly just stopping at overlooks and taking a couple of short hikes. This was definitely a one stop park for us but we’re very glad we took the time to see it. With the temperatures topping 100 degrees we decided to end our visit to the Moab area by taking care of some housekeeping in the air conditioned motor home although we did head to downtown Moab a couple of times to enjoy some shopping as well a couple of meals out. We also didn’t completely waste our days away since we ended up giving the motor home a complete wash and wax, something that was overdue. With our final day in Moab being the hottest and most oppressive day of all at 105 degrees, we stuck to doing some grocery shopping and preparing for our trip to Colorado. We loved it here in Moab and we’ll be back someday. We’ve decided that when we do return, we’ll have a 4 wheel drive vehicle in order to explore some of the more remote areas. Capitol Reef National Park was much more than we expected. It’s probably due to the fact that it’s overshadowed by Bryce, Zion and Arches National Parks which seem to be much more popular. We decided to take a trip to the Capitol Reef National Park visitor center immediately after we set up camp. That turned out to be a great decision since the day was gorgeous and we had a deep blue cloudless sky for a background as we took many pictures of the park with the sun shining from a perfect direction. The pictures turned out beautiful but as always, they still can’t do the area justice. The following day was also very nice, although a bit cloudy which turned out perfect for our hike along the Fremont Trail. This was a 4 mile trail that had an elevation change of 770 feet which allowed us some fantastic panoramic views. The trail was winding, rocky and narrow and it dipped up and down with some very steep grades. For me, this is the most enjoyable of all types of trails. Before we took the hike, we drove down an 18 mile paved scenic road through the park where we stopped at several outlooks for more spectacular views. Unfortunately, we couldn’t continue down the unpaved portion of the road as we had planned due to flash flooding from recent rains and more rain that was in the forecast. The following day was rainy at times and cloudy most of the day but we still took a ride down to an area of the park we hadn’t seen yet. Along the way we stopped to see some petroglyphs that were hundreds, possibly thousands of years old as well as an old farmhouse, schoolhouse and blacksmith shop left behind by the early settlers. Unfortunately, due to the rainy weather that arrived, our planned trip down scenic route 12 to Escalante needed to be cancelled and will have to wait until another visit. We’ve come to realize that no matter how much time we allow at any one place, we just can’t see everything we want to. This is a beautiful area and we’re sure we’ll get back here someday. We arrived at Bryce Canyon Pines RV Park with a less than pleasant beginning. We were given a site that was very uneven and we had to use every tool at our disposal in order to park level. Even after we were able to level off, we hated the site. It was in the back of the park and surrounded by maintenance trailers. We also had literally no yard and our door opened over the fire pit. I decided to check at the office to see if there were any other sites available, especially since we were going to be there for a week. They were very friendly about it but said they were booked solid and there was just nothing they could do. I reluctantly accepted this and headed back to the site. Very soon afterwards, the manager arrived, agreed that our motor home was too big and not a proper fit for the site and moved us to another site. The new site was much more level and we loved our front yard. We spent our first full day with a drive into the park. Our first stop was at the visitor center where we looked over maps and enjoyed the 20 minute movie. From there we drove to the southernmost point in the park, about 18 miles away from the entrance before turning around and stopping at each of the overlooks along the way. We saw some incredible views and as we inched our way north, each view just kept getting better. Once we returned to the “main” section of the park, about 5 miles from the gate, we skipped the remaining viewpoints and headed home for the day. First thing the following morning we headed off and enjoyed a nice breakfast at a local restaurant. Following breakfast we returned to the park and got on one of the shuttle busses which took us back to Bryce Point, the last stop we made the day before. From there, we hiked up and down along the rim trail for about 4 miles to the final vista, Sunrise Point. The hike gave us the chance to really enjoy all those spectacular views close up. The following day we once again got an early start in order to arrive for our reservation at the Bryce Canyon Horse Corral by 7:30. From there, we took a horseback ride down into the heart of Bryce Canyon where we saw such magnificent views as the Wall of Windows, The Chessmen, Silent City, and the Bristle Cone Pine Trees, said to be the oldest trees on the planet. That horseback ride was everything we hoped for. I was assigned Tin Man, a steady, reliable, experienced mule who clearly knew the trails better than I did. He liked to hug the edge of the trails at times (yikes) and did like to bend over and eat flowers whenever we stopped but he was an easy ride. Claudia was assigned Strawberry, a pokey horse who didn’t seem thrilled with her passenger. She was right behind Tin Man but when she got too close, Tin Man liked to give her a kick so she kept her distance. The ride took us from the top of the canyon and all the way to the bottom. Some of the trails were easy while others were steep narrow switch backs. All around us we saw beautiful landscape with thousands of hoodoos, sculptures carved in the sandstone by wind and rain. We traveled through natural bridges and across dry river banks. Many times we felt like the horses would fall off the steep winding cliffs but we were assured that the horses were not suicidal. That wasn’t all that reassuring at the time. We were so glad we did take the ride however since we couldn’t have seen the canyon like we did if we hadn’t. We certainly wouldn’t have been able to hike through as much area as we did by horseback. The down side of the trip became more apparent as the day went on and even more so the following days. The pains began on our backsides but continued to our knees, calves, thighs and stomachs. It was of course, still one of the best things we’ve done. Before leaving the area we took a ride into Red Canyon, just outside Bryce where we took a short hike on the Hoodoo Trail to get some nice close-up views of more Hoodoos. On our final day we returned to Red Canyon with Stella and enjoyed a great 3 mile hike along some fairly rustic trails, occasionally with nice steep grades and all with gorgeous views. I think it’s safe to say that our visit to Bryce was everything, if not more than we expected. We really didn’t know too much about the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area other than it contained Lake Powell, a manmade lake created with the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. It turns out that this place is perfect for anyone wanting to hike, bike, boat, swim or pretty much do anything outdoors. And the best part for us was that we arrived with perfect weather, bright sunshine and temps in the 80’s and 90’s. This weather continued through our entire visit. We started off with a trip over to the dam where we took some pictures looking down into the Colorado River on one side and across the dam to Lake Powell on the other. We also took a short trip over to a scenic overlook that gave us some more great views. Next, it was time for some tours. Our first tour put us on rubber rafts and took us down the Colorado River about 8 miles. This trip actually started with a bus ride through a 2 mile long tunnel built through the sandstone mountain from the top of the dam and down to the river. Once at the river, we boarded our rafts and began the float down the Colorado. We were surrounded by 2000 foot cliffs all around us and the views were breathtaking. We made one stop along the way where we were able to hike into a remote area to see some petroglyphs that were thousands of years old. After that we continued our trip downriver until we arrived at an area known as Horseshoe Bend. At that point we began an enjoyable return trip upriver at a much greater speed using the engines on board. The sun was hot but the spray was cool. The next day started with a tour through Upper Antelope Canyon. This place is a sacred canyon that exists on Navajo land and the tours were run by the Navajo Indians. The canyon is a dry slot canyon, very narrow at times and only about a quarter of a mile long. It was a beautiful canyon and certainly worth a visit but there were so many people there that it took away some of the beauty. Our guide was very helpful in getting us some great pictures however. You’ll see what I mean once you see them in our photo album. Later that day, we took still another tour. This time is was out of the Antelope Point Marina where we boarded a very comfortable tour boat that took us out into Lake Powell and over to Antelope Canyon, a gorgeous canyon where the tour boat maneuvered its way through a series of tight turns and stunning views before returning to the marina. This portion of Antelope Canyon is actually a continuation of the Upper Antelope Canyon we saw earlier today. All in all, we enjoyed all three tours very much. Between the three we were able to experience the Colorado River, the Navajo Desert and Lake Powell, all totally different environments, all breathtaking. On the way back from the marina, we made one last stop in order to view Horseshoe Bend, our turnaround point on the Colorado River Tour from 1600 feet above the river. It turned out to be a lot more of a hike than we thought it would be but the view was spectacular and it was great to see where we had been just a couple of days earlier from a much different perspective. On our last day in the area, we decided to go to the beach with Stella. We had an absolutely beautiful beach day and found a great spot over at a place called Lone Rock. The three of us had a wonderful time running and splashing through the water before it was time to return to the campsite and get ready for the next day of traveling. This really is a wonderful area. Next time we return, we’re thinking about renting a houseboat for a few days. Who wants to join us? Once we arrived at our campground, about 10 miles outside of Zion, we were thrilled to discover that not only did we have a delightful location but we had a nice little river running behind our campsite. This was great news for Stella who immediately began running through the water like a little kid. When we drove into Zion Canyon National Park for the first time we started our visit off by taking a 20 mile drive along the Zion Mount Carmel Highway. This trip gave us our first look at Zion with some spectacular vistas and a drive through a historic one mile tunnel, cut through the solid sandstone. The next couple of days we had some wet and cloudy weather so we enjoyed walking around the town of Springdale, a quaint tourist community. There we shopped among the souvenir shops and discovered a great little candy store where they made fresh candy and where we each enjoyed some of our favorites. After a couple of days the sunshine reappeared so we returned to the park to discover some new areas. We spent an afternoon taking a nice hike along the Virgin River. It was a flat trail where we could look up into the canyons and saw many great views. After our hike we enjoyed a great lunch at a local spot named Wildcat Willies where I was able to indulge in a beer sampler platter of 4 different 5 ounce beers for only $5. I just couldn’t resist. Since we were visiting during the Memorial Day weekend, we decided to wait to return to the main part of the park until Monday afternoon when the crowds started to thin. Instead, we took a ride to a more remote area, the most northern portion of Zion, Kolob Canyon where we stopped and enjoyed many overlooks before taking a nice hike to the Kolob Canyon Viewpoint. The weather at this point had also turned very nice so we returned later in the day to take another hike along the Virgin River but this time we took Stella and of course she loved it. There’s nothing like a river and some fresh air for her to really enjoy herself. We saved the best for last by getting an early start on our final day and took the shuttle bus through the entire canyon. The shuttle buses allowed us to get on and off along the way and we were able to take several short hikes before our final much longer and difficult one. We enjoyed some magnificent views at many of the stops as well as along the bus route itself. The shorter hikes took us into some beautiful wooded areas with water streaming out of the mountains in a tropical rainforest type of environment and along a beautiful section of the Virgin River that we hadn’t seen before. Our longer hike required a lot more climbing and covered over 5 miles. This final hike took us to several pools of water, all created by dripping water from higher elevations. There was a lot more climbing across some very uneven terrain that we didn’t expect so we were definitely tired by the time we returned but as always, very happy were took the time to do it. After visiting Zion, we became even more excited about what was still in store for us in Utah and Colorado. Once we left the wilderness, Las Vegas seemed like a foreign land. We started out with a day on the strip as we waited for our friends Caren and Mike to arrive from Florida. We decided on Caesars Palace, Treasure Island and the Venetian to spend our time at. All 3 were gorgeous hotels and so huge. It seemed like we walked for miles and we enjoyed the sights. We decided on brunch at Treasure Island to eat. It was good, but ouch. Now we knew what to expect for prices on the strip. We did a bit of gambling, but unfortunately the big jackpots eluded us. The next day we met up with Caren & Mike. We headed off for drinks and dinner at a French restaurant right there at the Paris and close to the theatre for our show later that night. The meal was definitely a bit pricey but oh so good. Next it was off to the show. We all really enjoyed the show and agreed that the choice of Jersey Boys was a great one. It told a great story and had some fantastic music. We left with a whole new appreciation for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The following day the four of us decided to cross the boulevard over to the New York New York and hit the Irish Pub for lunch. I was the driver behind this because I just had to try the highly recommended Chicken Pot Pie. It was so worth the trip. We all enjoyed our lunches and our drinks before heading back to our campsite for more cocktails. Then, to hit someplace a bit different on our final night together, we headed off to the old Vegas and enjoyed the Fremont Experience complete with all sorts of characters, lots of old style gambling casinos, cheap beer, some great live music and a fantastic light show. As we headed home for the night, we said our goodbyes to Caren and Mike, promising to meet up again sometime next year. The following morning we headed off for our 35 minute drive over to Boulder City. That visit was a lot of fun and we had a chance to relax a bit as well. We spent our first day, Claudia’s birthday, by taking a trip out on Lake Mead aboard the Desert Princess, a paddle wheeler where we enjoyed a 90 minute narrated tour of a very small portion of this huge lake but that also made its way over to the Hoover Dam for some great views. Our next day took us over to the dam for a great tour of both the dam as well as the power plant deep below. It really was a great tour except that I found out I have a mild case of claustrophobia. You really become very small in that deep, closed in environment. On our final day in Boulder City we took Stella out with us for a 4 mile hike along the Historic Railroad Trail. This trail used to run a railroad that was used to transport materials and people to and from the dam as it was being constructed. It was an excellent trail complete with old railroad tunnels cut through the mountains and we had beautiful weather to enjoy it. Next, we headed off and arrived back in the wilderness, this time in Jacob Lake, Arizona. We found out along the way that the motor home is quite capable of climbing some pretty steep inclines as we ended up at an altitude of about 5,000 feet higher than when we left. The elevation of our campground was at 7,500 feet. We were staying at the closest RV Park to the north rim of Grand Canyon but that still left us an hour’s drive to get there. We only had 2 days so we didn’t waste any time and headed out for the hour long drive to the north rim on that first day. Unfortunately it was quite overcast but the next day’s forecast didn’t promise to be any better. We made it to the visitor center and took a hike out to Bright Angel Point in order to look across to the south rim of the canyon about 8 miles away. As expected, the view wasn’t that great across the canyon due to the weather but the hike was fun. The hike was less than a mile round trip. The paths were narrow and the drops were steep and the views from the trail were outstanding. Next we headed off for a 20 mile drive up to Cape Royal and Point Imperial, two of the best viewing areas of the north rim. Just as we headed out however, we decided that the weather just wasn’t good enough and that our best bet was to go back to the campground and return the next day. That turned out to be a really good call. That drive back to the campground took us through blizzard-like conditions with snow accumulating on everything around us and didn’t stop until just before we got back to the campground. The next day turned out to be beautiful with partly sunny skies and temps near 70 degrees. We returned to the rim and enjoyed a spectacular day with great views from many vistas, including from Cape Royal and the highest viewing point on the entire north rim, Point Imperial at 8,803 feet. We couldn’t have asked for a better ending to our visit. Once we arrived in New Mexico we were reminded of how barren and parched it can be. Poor Stella needed to do her business on sand or gravel since the presence of grass was practically nonexistent. We enjoyed a trip over to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque while we were in Rio Rancho. We learned about the history of the Pueblo Indians and followed that with a visit to the ruins of one of the pueblos at the Coronado State Monument. It was a small site and just added to the excitement that we had ahead of us over the next couple of days when we planned to head out on the Jemez Mountain Trail for more pueblos and great sights. Unfortunately, that night, one of my teeth broke. Fortunately, I was able to find a dentist that would see me the next day and they did the only thing they could do which was to extract the tooth. Because it was abscessed, they weren’t able to put in any stitches causing my activities to be restricted for a few days as it healed. This meant that we sat around doing very little for a couple of days. We decided that we’ll just have to return and visit the area another time. Our next stop took us to Holbrook, Arizona where we spent 3 nights. While there we had a great time exploring the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park. We traveled over 30 miles of the park by car and hiked over 6 miles of wilderness trails that 200 million years ago were part of a forest and swamp where prehistoric creatures roamed. We were able to walk among those exact same trees, now petrified into a form of rock so hard that it takes a diamond saw to cut through one. We saw petroglyphs carved into stone over a thousand years ago by people with no written language and we saw the ruins of homes they used to live in. The area was absolutely beautiful and we had gorgeous weather to make it even better. Once we left Holbrook for our Grand Canyon visit, we made a pit stop at Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona along the way. This is noted as the largest and best preserved meteor crater in the country. It was quite a sight to look across this 1 mile hole in the ground and comprehend that it was created in 10 seconds. It turned out to be a great stop. After this visit, we continued along and arrived at our campground inside Grand Canyon National Park. We were a bit delayed as we got close to our site in order to let the herd of elk cross in front of us. It was quite a sight. Later, while Claudia was walking Stella, they happened upon another elk, only a few feet away who really never gave either Stella or Claudia any notice. It turned out, that wouldn’t be the last of the elk we would see. We started our visit at the south rim of the Grand Canyon with a trip to the visitor center and a nice 2 mile hike along the rim. Here, we were able to enjoy our first views of this majestic wonder. Our next day was mostly cloudy and we had some heavy rain at times so we hopped in the car and headed east to the Desert View area about 20 miles away. Along the way we stopped at many overlooks, some while the sun was out and others while it rained. Finally, on the following day the weather looked great so we headed out early for a hike along the Bright Angel Trail. We hiked over 2 miles down into the canyon and then another 2 miles back up. It was quite the workout but we both did great and the views were worth the hike. On our last day we had beautiful weather with a cloudless sky and bright sunshine. We jumped on the bus early and headed to the western side of the rim. The busses are the only way to see this part of the park and you can get off and on at various scenic spots. We stopped to enjoy at least 8 different viewing areas along the route where we spent lots of time enjoying the beautiful views and hiking along the rim. Once we made it to Hermit’s Rest, the final stop along the rim, we found a picnic table overlooking the canyon and enjoyed a picnic lunch. It was a perfect way to end our visit. As planned, on April 14th we left our winter home at Sandpipers behind and headed off down the road for the first time in over 5 months. We started off with stops for some shopping in New Braunfels where we picked up some supplies at Camping World. We also stopped at Buc-ee’s, a Texas tourist trap that according to Claudia was a “must stop” for more shopping. I have to admit, it was definitely unique and geared towards travelers (all sorts of junk food) as well as campers, hunters and fishermen. Our next stop took us to our Motor Home dealer for some necessary maintenance. That stop was quite successful with all issues getting resolved quickly and we ended up at our first major stop in Canyon, Texas, near Palo Duro State Park one day early. We enjoyed our stay there although we did miss a few planned activities due to Bank of America. The short story is that our credit card got compromised and the person in charge of getting us our replacement credit cards screwed up. First they were slow in getting the cards out so the delivery date was delayed a day and secondly they made the decision to leave the name of the campground off the delivery address so after waiting all day for a “no show” UPS truck we received an email saying that they couldn’t deliver due to an “incomplete” address. Luckily we were able to contact UPS by phone and make the 30 minute drive into Amarillo to pick up the cards. Fortunately, all was not lost and we were still able to spend a day making a trip to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum that was quite informative about life on the panhandle. From there we enjoyed a great lunch at Wrong Way Feldman’s Diner, an awesome local restaurant. We also spent a day with a trip into Palo Duro Canyon State Park where we enjoyed some great scenery and a couple of short hikes. Afterwards we took a ride over to the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo where 10 separate Cadillac’s are buried nose down into the ground. It was the first of several old Route 66 hot spots we’ve stopped at and we had fun walking around. Next, we topped off our visit with a trip to the Big Texan Steak Ranch, another historic Route 66 hot spot for one of their world famous steaks and some bbq, not to mention an awesome margarita for Claudia and some great local brew for me. The next day we made the relatively short trek west into New Mexico where we settled in at the Santa Rosa Campground for a couple of days. There weren’t a lot of places to visit in Santa Rosa although we were right in the heart of old Route 66 with a lot of history which we intended to discover. We started our first day off with a delicious, although pricey breakfast at the Route 66 Restaurant while listening to the music of the 60’s. This place was complete with an old time lunch counter, juke box and loads of memorabilia. We followed breakfast by crossing the Pecos River for a drive to see some of the old buildings in the area and some of the rural New Mexico landscape. While on our drive we visited Puerto de Luna, one of southeast New Mexico’s oldest permanent settlements and an area that Billy the Kid frequently visited. Before calling it a day we stopped by to visit the Route 66 Auto Museum that was loaded with not only many great restored antique cars and trucks but also some awesome muscle cars from the 60’s. And on top of that, the museum was also filled with some really neat memorabilia such as gas pumps, soda machines, highway signs and phone booths. On our last day there we took a drive over to the Santa Rosa Lake State Park where we hoped to do some hiking with Stella. We did get one short hike in but the wind picked up and it started to rain so that shortened our day considerably. So far this trip the new motor home has handled great and we’ve enjoyed lots of new places to see as we continue to head west. It’s been a great start. |
AuthorsEd and Claudia always dreamed of retiring and travelling the country in their motorhome. They retired in 2013 and this is the continuing story of their adventures on the road. Archives
March 2024
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