Summer Journey - The Home Stretch

Day 13: Wednesday, June 24th (403 miles)

We are on the home stretch of our adventure. We said good-bye to Colorado and to our "neighbors," the Bakers, and we headed toward Utah. We drove about a hundred miles through rolling green ranch land until the landscape began to change yet again, and we were surrounded by red-rock cliffs. We stopped at Arches National Park (http://www.nps.gov/arch), home to Utah's unofficial state symbol. Here are just a few photos of the beatiful formations. (And,yes, Natalie is wearing a "PETA" t-shirt in the first photo, but if you look closely, it says "People Eating Tasty Animals." The back goes even further to say, "All God's creatures look best next to the mashed potatoes and gravy." Gotta love that Colorado sense of humor!)

Leland and Natalie both earned another Junior Ranger badge at this park. It's a really neat program--and the parents learn as much as the kids!

We got back on the road, and this time I took the wheel. I drove for a couple hundred miles--and it wasn't all straight freeway. The road had some gentle curves and quite a bit of fluctuation in elevation. It's a little daunting going down a 6% grade with 6 tons of trailer pushing you down the hill. I also exited the freeway, pulled in for gas and made several turns. One of these days, I'll even pull into a campsite. I don't think, however, that I'll ever be able to back the trailer in like George can!

In the early evening, just as the sun was setting, we drove through the Dixie National Forest. The light of the sunset on the already red cliffs was intense. Here are a few photos, but they really don't do justice to the beaty we experienced.

We arrived at our Bryce Valley campground, settled into our site and feasted on leftovers!

Day 14, Thursday, June 25th

We drove into Bryce Canyon (http://www.nps.gov/brca/), went to the visitor's center and museum, watched an orientation movie and, of course, signed up for the Junior Ranger program. Then we were ready to experience Bryce Canyon (which really isn't a canyon at all) for ourselves.

We attended a ranger-led program on the geology of Bryce, during which we learned how the area was formed. Then we walked the rim to different vista points and enjoyed a picnic. Because of the almost total lack of light pollution, Bryce is famous for stargazing, so we stayed late in the hope of seeing a heavenly show.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, and the skies were covered with clouds. Oh well, we have a good reason to come back someday!

Here are a few pictures (doesn't it look as if Natalie is standing in front of a painted backdrop?)

Instead of stargazing, we went back to the trailer and played Monopoly. This wasn't just any game of monopoly, however--it was the "National Parks" version. We picked up the game in New Mexico and had a lot of fun customizing it. You get to choose which parks to put on the spaces. For example, our "Boardwalk" and "Park Place" are Yosemite and Grand Canyon. Rather than "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards, there are "Trees" and "Trails" cards. One of the "Trees" cards read: Win a Junior Ranger Essay Contest. Collect $50 from each player. Guess who drew that card. It was also the person who won the game (not that I'm bragging...).

Day 15, Friday, June 26th (337 miles)

We said goodbye to Bryce and headed to Zion National Monument. We knew that there was a tunnel we'd have to be "escorted" through. It was built in the 20s, and for large RVs they shut down two-way traffic and let you drive down the center of the tunnel. Unfortunately, the curves in the tunnel make it dangerous for vehicles over 50' in length. So we had to drive around Zion rather than through it.

We were naturally disappointed, but we were at that point in the trip where we were actually looking forward to going home. So we recalculated our route for Las Vegas and called my niece, Lena.

Then, Utah decided not to be outdone by New Mexico and Colorado in the thunderstorm department. The thunder and lightning weren't quite as impressive as in Colorado, but the rain came down in buckets--the windshield wipers couldn't keep up. And, in true "sour grapes" fashion, we decided that Zion would have been miserable in that weather, anyway.

To get our fix for a National Park, we found that Pipe Springs National Monument was on our revised route. A site held jointly by the Kaibab Paiute Tribe and the National Park Service, it is an important site for the tribe and for the Mormon pioneers. We learned a little about what life was like in the 1800s, and Leland earned a Junior Ranger badge after all.

In Nevada, skies were clear and the temperature was over 100. We lodged at the KOA at Circus Circus, and Lena picked us up. We had a great dinner with Lena, her husband Justin and their son Dylan. Nico was out of town, and we missed him. After dinner and a short cruise down the strip, we all came back to the trailer and talked (and watched Transformers) until almost midnight! It was great to catch up with them. Justin payed Natalie a high compliment: he said that she reminded him of Rory from Gilmore Girls (perhaps Natalie's watching all seven seasons on DVD over and over again has had some influence on her).

Tomorrow we head home!

Summer Journey - June 23rd Update

Day 12, Tuesday, June 23rd
Here's more about our adventures on Tuesday. The Mesa Verde cliff dwellings were amazing (http://www.nps.gov/meve/). We drove to the Park, about 9 miles from our Kampground, and then wound 15 miles through the park just to get to the Visitor's Center. After a lunch at the Park's cafeteria overlooking the valley, we drove about 5 more miles to the Museum and "Spruce Tree House" ruins, which was a self-guided tour. Stepping onto the trail behind the museum and seeing the dwellings nestled into the red cliffs brought back a rush of memories. I hope to find some of my mom and dad's old travel notes; but, based on my response to the site, I'm pretty sure that these are the ruins we visited when I was a child.

Then we drove even further into the Park to reach the trailhead for the "Cliff Palace" tour. The temperature was in the 90s, and there was no shade at the scenic overlook. We started the tour and gratefully made our way down the trail and into a shaded area with a view of the Cliff Palace, where we sat and learned some history of the ruins from our ranger. Then we made our way down to the ruins themselves. Just as the ranger was wrapping up his talk, Colorado decided to show us that it could do thunderstorm better than New Mexico.

It had began as a gentle sprinkle and then developed into a steady downpour. Under the protection of the cliff overhang, we could observe the rain while staying nice and dry. Plus, the temperature was still warm, so it was pleasant. Then the lightning strikes began. As the strikes were within 3 miles (as determined scientifically by our ranger, "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, boom"), he kept us in the cliff dwelling. Leland, who has a hard time staying still, was walking quickly (not running!) along the path to one of his newly made friends. There was a very loud roll of thunder, and I'm sure that I saw Leland leap about 5 feet when the sound hit! The storm seemed to abate, and the ranger was just about to release us when we saw a lightning strike in the valley before us and almost immediately heard the thunder. Because of its proximity and the acoustics of the canyon, it was the loudest thunderclap I've ever heard. There were more than a few gasps. After sufficient time had passed without another strike, our ranger let us exit the canyon. We had to climb stone stairs and three 10-foot ladders to reach the rim. This last picture is a view from the ladders climbing out, looking back on the ruins.

When we returned to our campsite, we were pleased to see our "neighbors," the Bakers, had come to our rescue. They, too, had gone to Mesa Verde that day, but (not surprisingly) they got an earlier start than us--so they returned to the campsite before we did. The day before had been so calm and warm that we thought nothing of leaving our awning out. However, the thunderstorm in the east had brought some pretty heavy winds to the campground area. The Bakers rolled up our awning and chased our swimwear that had blown away. Thanks, Baker Family--and good luck in Ohio!

Summer Journey - Part 4

Day 10, Sunday, June 21st (343 miles)
Happy Fathers Day! Before I describe our journey, I have to report back on our second trip to the caverns yesterday. We really enjoyed the ranger-guided tour, and the rooms we visited were spectacular--my favorite was the Queen's Palace. Coincidentally, this is also the place where we experienced "total darkness." The ranger had us all sit down (apparently folks have experienced vertigo during this experience while standing). Then they turned out the lights and everything disappeared. Everything. We were 1,000 feet below ground with no possible way for any natural light to reach us. The blackness was absolute. And it somehow affected our vocal cords because the 50 or so people on the tour abruptly became totally silent. After a few minutes, the ranger used his lighter to show us what one-candle-power would look like. It was fairly amazing how much we could actually see by the light of that single flame.





Leland's Junior Ranger status had been conferred on him the night before at the bat flight, but Natalie received her designation this day.




Now, on to Fathers Day. We hit the road. Our ultimate destination was Albuquerque. On the way, however, we drove through the Sacramento Mountains and were again astounded by the variations in terrain. We left the bleak desert and entered high green valleys dotted with barns and cows. The steep decline out of the mountains was a challenge (to our brakes and my nerves). But we made it safely back down into the desert again and arrived at our interim destination: White Sands National Monument. http://www.nps.gov/whsa

We had learned a little about gypsum at the caverns, and it was fascinating to see just a tiny portion of the more than 275 square miles of pure gypsum sand at the monument. (Trivia question: Do you know the difference between a National Park and a National Monument? Answer: National Parks are designated by Congress and National Monuments are designated by the President.) Here are a few pictures from our 112-degrees adventure in the dunes:












We left White Sands, drove through Las Cruces and then headed north toward Albuquerque. We hadn't realized how close we had been to the Mexican border until we were stopped at a checkpoint, complete with a drug-sniffing dog, and asked by Immigration officers if we had anyone in our trailer. George answered, "No," and I guess we must've looked trustworthy because the officers smiled at us and passed us through without verifying the contents of our trailer.

Day 11, Monday, June 22nd (295 miles)
Two driving days in a row! We headed north toward "Four Corners," a way point on our travels. The kids were excited about being in 4 states at one time, and I was excited about revisiting another childhood memory. We learned that we were actually standing in 6 places at once: Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico--and the Navajo Nation and the Ute Nation.













When we stopped at our campground (or, technically "Kampground," since it was a KOA), we re-thought or original plan to leave the next morning for Utah. Three driving days in a row didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. Plus, the campground was inviting, the pool was beckoning and we learned that we were only a few miles from Mesa Verde National Park (thanks, Randy!). So we decided to extend our stay for a second night.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, it was still in the high 80s, and the kid's sure enjoyed the pool. They made some instant friends with the family "next door." We shared ice cream, glow-stick bracelets and made plans for a joint campfire with them for the next night.

Day 12, Tuesday, June 23rd
I'm writing this as we prepare to head to Mesa Verde National Park to visit the historic Indian ruins and cliff dwellings. More to come!

Summer Journey - Part 3

Day 7, Thursday, June 18th (488 miles)

This was the day of the "big drive"--488 miles, our longest stretch--from Holbrook, AZ to Carlsbad, NM. Even though we didn't stop anywhere for sightseeing, it was still an interesting day. We stopped for food and fuel, and even one special errand, along the way. (You might notice something different about Leland in subsequent pictures.)

We cruised along Interstate 40 through Albuquerque (lots of road construction) and made our turn onto 285 south. I can honestly say that I've never been on a more desolate stretch of road. For the most part, it's a divided highway with 2 lanes in each direction...and for much of the drive, we were the only vehicle on the road.

Sometimes, when we get bored on a drive, we'll play the "Alphabet Game," where we find words on signs and vehicles that begin with each letter of the alphabet. On 285, however, there were as few signs as vehicles, so this game was out of the question. Instead, we decided to find a word beginning with each letter of the alphabet that described the area we were driving through. Here's our list: Abysmal, Barren, Creepy, Desolate, Eerie, Forlorn, Gigantic, Hellish, Inhospitable...you get the idea.

We had one small adventure on this highway, again, due to our nav unit. We were about a hundred miles from Roswell when George announced that we had about 75 miles' worth of gas in the truck. So, we turned to the nav unit, requested the closest gas station and it told us that it was 50 miles behind us! Given the descriptions of the road, above, you can imaging our (okay, my) panic. However, we pulled out our Road Atlas to find that we were about 20 miles from a town at the junction of two highways. We traveled on, found a gas station there and breathed a sigh of relief.

After a quick dinner in Roswell, we completed our journey to the Carlsbad KOA. Whew!

Day 8, Friday, June 18th

We ventured to Carlsbad Caverns (http://www.nps.gov/cave). It was an awesome experience. We learned about how the caverns were formed, the discovery of the natural opening and the initial explorations, and the scientific value of the caves' environment. We took the self-guided tour through the natural opening, which led 750 feed underground, and then took the "Big Room" self-guided tour, which wound about a mile and a half around an area into which you could fit 6 football fields! Due to the cavern's darkness, the few pictures we took didn't illumninate much more than the kids, but I've included one anyway. You'll have to take my word for it that the cave formations were amazing.

Leland earned his third Junior Ranger badge at Carlsbad Caverns after we attended the bat flight viewing at sunset. Hundreds of thousands of bats spiral out of the natural entrance and fly off into the twilight to consume half their weight in bugs. Cameras are not allowed at this event, but you can visit the website to see some impressive images.

We were treated to another one of mother nature's spectacles last night: a desert thunderstorm. The lightning lit up the sky and the thunder boomed for hours. We fell asleep to the rhythmic patter of rain on the trailer.

Day 9, Saturday, June 20th

Today dawned clear, and we're relaxing a little bit. I'm doing laundry as I type this entry. Later today, we're headed back to Carlsbad Caverns for a ranger-guided tour of an area you can't visit on the self-guided tours. During part of the tour, we're supposed to experience "total darkness." It should be interesting.

Summer Journey - Part 2

Day 4, Monday, June 15th

On Monday, we returned to the Canyon on our own and traveled the rim from east to west. Our day began at "Desert Vista" where we climbed to Watchtower and got our first glimpse of the Colorado River.

Making our way west, we stopped at several vista points; and, at Grandview (the former location of one of the first hotels at the Canyon) we hiked down into the Canyon about a quarter-mile (I thought it was more

like a half-mile, especially on the trip back up, but my family is convinced it was the shorter distance!).

We hopped on the Shuttle Bus back in the Village, as it's the only way to get to the western side of the Rim Trail. Here are few picture highlights from that end of the Canyon:

Day 5, Tuesday, June 16th (125 miles)

We broke camp and hit the road. Including today's drive, we've traveled 784 miles (344 mi. from home to Barstow; 315 mi. from Barstow to Williams, AZ).

Today was a short drive, but we had a number of fun stops along the way, beginning with Walnut Canyon, a National Monument just east of Flagstaff that is an amazing display of Indian cave dwellings. http://www.nps.gov/WACA

After exploring Walnut Canyon, we continued East to Meteor Crater, a 4,000 ft. diameter crater created about 50,000 years ago. http://www.meteorcrater.com/

Then we continued west, and couldn't resist a stop to take pictures "Standin' on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona."

We then rolled on to our final destination of the day, our campground in Holbrook, AZ.

Day 6, Wednesday, June 17th

We had quite an adventure on this day. Our intention was to spend the day exploring the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, which we did. However, getting there was half the fun. You may recall our navigation unit that couldn't find our first campground. Well, it played a role in the story. We plugged in "Petrified Forest" and were pleased when the unit "found" our desired destination. We were a little surprised at the direction it recommended, but we knew there were two entrances to the park, and we just figured it was taking us to the one at the far end. The highway signs clearly said that the Forest was 10 miles ahead, but the nav unit instructed us to exit. We did, and it put us on a frontage road for about 5 miles. Okay. Slower, but okay.

Then the road turned and there was a sign "Pavement Ends." Feeling adventurous, and noting that the road was so well graveled and driven that it was very nearly paved, we decided to see where the nav unit would take us. The scenic route, we hoped. There wasn't much scenery other than vast, flat fields, but we did see an antelope, which was cool. There were a couple other vehicles on the road, so we weren't too worried. However, the nav system led us to cross a railroad crossing. There was a train passing, and there was also a Santa Fe Railroad truck waiting at the crossing. We talked to a very kind gentleman who chuckled when we told him that our nav system had directed us this way, and he pointed across the road and told us that the Forest was just across the tracks but that "we couldn't get there from here"! So we turned around, retraced our steps and followed the highway signs. (Later in the park, we found the access road that led to the RR tracks, and it was marked "authorized vehicles only"! So I suppose we could have continued and entered the park; although it was probably best to do so through the front gate.).

The Petrified Forest was amazing. We attended a ranger program that allowed us to go off of the trail and look for fossils and other interesting items. Then we drove through the park, stopping at designated points to walk through the Forest, see Indian ruins and examine petroglyphs. We completed the day with a drive through the Painted Desert. http://www.nps.gov/pefo

Summer Journey - Part 1

Day 1: Friday, June 12th
School's out for summer! We were excited to begin our journey, but not surprisingly (*smile*), we got off to a late start. Intending to leave in the morning, we finally got loaded up around 2 o'clock. We saved loading the refrigerator and freezer until the last minute because it would turn on but didn't get cold (which is ironic in light of the fact that our refrigerator in the house had broken down the day before and we had to beg for same-day service from the Sears repairman!). Undaunted, we got in the truck about 2:20 and entered the address of our first destination, only to be told by our new navigation system that the address could not be located! With the GoogleMaps directions in hand (like good Scouts, we were prepared), we pulled out anyway. When we reached level ground, we turned on the refrigerator again, crossed our fingers and headed on down the road.

We stopped for a quick dinner at the junction of highways 46 and 5, and we were delighted to find that our refrigerator was working just fine. Then we rolled on until we reached the Calico KOA in Barstow. Arriving in the dark of night (against the advice of our friend Sheila), we were pleased by what we could see: a neat campground, populated by other travelers like ourselves (it can be a bit disconcerting when there are too many permanent residents with fences and flowerpots!). The site was nice and level, and we didn't even have to unhitch. We simply plugged into the electricity, popped out our slides and settled in for the night.

Day 2: Saturday, June 13th
In the morning, our initial impressions were confirmed. We had a quick breakfast in the trailer and decided to hit the campground's showers (since we weren't fully hooked up). They were nice and clean, like the rest of the park. We were a little surprised to find out that they were pay-as-you-go showers. Armed with quarters, we returned to the showers. One of us took a 2-quarter shower, another a 3-quarter shower and one of us a 4-quarter shower (Can you guess by whom?).

It didn't take long to break camp, and we were soon on the road to our "real" first destination: a campground near the Grand Canyon. Having arrived at night, we couldn't see the surrounding area. But when we left, it was apparent we weren't in the fertile valleys of California anymore. The terrain was very dry and dusty, with little vegetation and black rocks erupting from the soil.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside diner in Needles, which boasted of Route 66 origins. The parking lot was set up for truckers and George slid our trailer into place like a big rig driver. The kids enjoyed bottles of "Route (66) Beer," and Natalie had her first-ever Monte Cristo sandwich.

We rolled in to our campground in Williams, AZ: the Grand Canyon Railway RV Resort, in the late afternoon for our 3-night stay. We were in line behind an interesting family. At first, based on their clothes, we thought they might be Amish. But after taking in their numbers (two men, five women and seven children) and considering our proximity to Utah, it appeared that they may have been an entirely different sect.

What the RV park lacked in charm (it was basically a parking lot with full hook-ups) it made up for with it's location and amenities. It is co-located with a hotel and adjacent to the rail station that serves the Grand Canyon. After picking up our rail tickets for the next day, we explored Willaims' portion of Route 66 and enjoyed dinner at a 50's style diner.

Day 3, Sunday, June 14th
We awoke earlier than expected...something to do with the RV park being right next to the railroad and the 5:30 a.m. train coming to town with it's whistle blowing!

Before we boarded the train for our journey to the Grand Canyon, we enjoyed a whimsical wild-west show. The train ride was about 65 miles, and we were fascinated by the different terrain and vegation we passed through. During the trip, we were serenaded by a cowboy, told stories by our coach's conductor and visited by the Marshall (who, for some reason, pegged Leland as a delinquent, asking why, at age 10 he didn't have a job or a wife!). While the train travel was a lot of fun, we were anxious to get to the real star of the show: the Grand Canyon.

And then we arrived. Walking up the stairs and over a small ridge, we were finally there. And it was, in a word, breathtaking. I was pleased to discover that unlike many other childhood memories, the Grand Canyon was still as big as I remembered! It was George, Natalie and Leland's first view of the Canyon, and they were duly impressed.

With a limited time in the park on this day (we had to return on the train at 3:30 p.m.), we made the most of our time on the rim near the "village." We had a quick stroll around the rim, got Leland enrolled in the Junior Ranger's program and had lunch at the "Arizona Room" overlooking the canyon. Then we made our way East on the Rim Trail. We didn't get very far though--as we had to stop at every turn and take a picture of the view. (We'll post a slideshow of pictures as soon as we have an Internet connection that will support the large transfer of files.)

Karma was in full force this day. One of my clearest memories of the Canyon was my mother's panic everytime I got near the edge. At age 8, I had no fear and was bemused by her reaction. Fast-forward to the present. Natalie is now the one without fear, and I was the one standing well back and sick to my stomach at her proximity to the edge.

On the return train trip, we were serenaded (this time by an Indian), entertained by some really lame jokes ("California has Happy Cows, but Arizona has Summer Cows...."some are" brown, "some are" black and "some are" white.) and the train was boarded by robbers. The railway was so proud of its recycling efforts that it even recycled a few of the actors from the morning's wild west show to be the train robbers in the afternoon!

Returning to the campground, we grilled steaks, enjoyed an Arizona sunset, and we planned our next day's visit to the Grand Canyon. More to come!