tales from the Drivers' seat

Peace River and Solomon's Castle

2012-01-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

We spent two and a half weeks at Peace River Thousand trails park near the town of Zolfo Springs Florida. While there we met a great couple from Washington State and among several things we decided to do was to take a 6 mile trip down the river on our inflatable kayaks. The four of us went to the Paynes Creek Historic State Park to launch the boats. It was late morning and the park closed at 5PM; we had lots of time, and it was all down hill.
We shared taking pictures of each other and thanks Bruce for this shot.

At one time a palm tree fell to the center of the river and then continued to grow up. Lots of head room as Ronda and Bruce floated under it.

Same situation but this one has yet to turn back toward the sky. Lots of Live Oak trees full of Spanish Moss along the river bank.

You may not have noticed but this river is running real sloooooow with lots of very shallow spots where we got stuck on the bottom. Dick had to get out several times and pull us over the high spots.

He was a little concerned because he had both his camera and Android phone with him and wanted to keep them dry. The day drifted by and it was getting late. Our backs and arms hurt and we still had a long way to go to get back the the campground. As we rounded the final curve to the take-out spot, Dick had to get out for the last time and pull us over another shallow spot.

The only problem with this spot was that people have been digging in the river looking for fossils and it was full of big holes. Dick got in a hole as the boat drifted against him and down he went. Unfortunately he had the Droid on his belt. As he surfaced with the phone in his hand Jackie was able to do a quick dry and it still works fine.

Our 6 mile trip turned into 10 1/2 miles and took us over 5 1/2 hours. Dick and Bruce jumped in the jeep and were able to get back to the State Park to retrieve Bruce's truck just minutes before it closed.

Great time with a great couple but a little longer than we ever expected.

We had heard about a place called Solomon's Castle and had to visit it to see what all the hype was. We had the pleasure of spending some time with the owner Howard Solomon and to view some of his very unique art work and facility.

This is his home and gallery; the exterior is old tintype sheets as exterior siding. If this was grand to look at one needs to go inside to view some of his work.

On another part of the property is this building made to look like the Texas Alamo. Good job except not sure what type of Mexican was standing in the yard.

There is a creek (swamp) running through the property so he built a "boat in the moat". And inside is a restaurant with very good food. We had lunch here.

We will let you read his website for some of the names he has given to his pieces.

On the property we found another huge live oak tree full of Spanish moss. We love it...

While walking around the grounds we came upon this five foot tall plant with flowers that we had not seen before. A very striking bloom complete with what looks like berries on the stem. Had to shoot it for a screen saver. Please feel free to use it, just right click and save it to your computer.

While in Nevada last year we went rock hounding and picked up a few pounds of various size of Apache Tears. Dick finally dug them out of the basement and tried tumbling them. It took him seven weeks but they came out beautiful shiny black and brown. Now it's time to wire wrap some with sterling silver wire or maybe wait for another few weeks until the second batch is finished and then see what he can make from them. Don't want to rush into anything.

To be continued...

Roaming around Florida...

2011-12-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

We would like to take this time to wish all our family, friends and followers a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. It has been a fun year that has seen us travel the four corners of this great Country. From California to Washington to Maine and where we will end out the year here in Florida.

Here we are at Downtown Disney, spending a day just wandering through all the shops with just about everything that Disney could think of selling and to our dismay most of it was made in China. We did manage to get out of there with just lunch and a couple of small gifts for grandkids.

Another day we had the pleasure of viewing the Manatees in the river next to the power plant where the water temperature was about 85 degrees. They sit on the bottom and walk around looking for food and then will rise, take a breath of air and go back down again.

The fish will follow them and keep them clean; fun to watch.

Looking down the river you can see lots of the Manatees.

Spent another day walking Siesta Beach on the Gulf that is self proclaimed the most beautiful beach in the world.

The pure white sand is the remains of shells rather that ground up rock. Firm to walk on but stays cool under foot on a hot day. Lots of people enjoying the day and also...

lots of birds watching the people watching the birds. Had to say that.

On Wednesday evenings when in the area we meet up with friends at Old Town Kissimmee enjoying live music, old cars and street dancing.

We have spent a lot of time just relaxing but still get out and see some of the area. This time it was Kennedy Space Center near Orlando on the Atlantic.

We took the bus tour around the base and got a good, outside look, at the assembly building where the space shuttle was assembled to move to it's launching pad. This is the largest single story building in the world.

Got the chance to view the Apollo/Saturn V rocket-- 363' tall and weighs more than 7 Boeing's 747 Jumbo Jets at about 6.2 million pounds.

We also got to take a ride that simulated the take-off of the Saturn V rocket. What a ride!!!

A full size wall mural with spectacular lighting showing the Apollo/Saturn V on the launch pad.

Had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Washington State and have made plans to take our rubber boat with them about 13 miles up the Peace River later this week. (We'll drive up and paddle back.) If you don't hear from us soon just assume the gaiters got us and send someone to retrieve CC.

To be continued...

Moving south to Florida

2011-12-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

From Virginia, our last post, we continued to move south into North Carolina where we spent a few days and finally got our bicycles out for long past due ride. This trail was another "rails to trails" and was about 17 miles long. (We didn't do all 17 miles--just 7.) A very flat but beautiful ride thru the woods.

After the ride we spent a relaxing evening with Jackie's nephew Brad Cook and his fiance Melissa who prepared a delicious dinner. We reciprocated and had them over to our humble home the next evening for dinner and very enjoyable evening. (The bike trail goes less than a mile from their home.)

What better stop than the next state south of here into South Carolina. We found a camp site on a very large lake just behind us. Not many people around and several miles away from the freeway so quite pretty.

The morning broke with a light fog over the lake just behind us, but that evening was another example of the changes that mother nature shares with us.

We only spent two nights here, but with sights like this it was hard to pack up and move again.

Last state before we made it to Florida was Georgia where we spent a few days seeing some of the sights, one being Fort Frederica National Monument. Georgia's fate was decided in 1742 when Spanish and British forces clashed on St. Simons Island. Fort Frederica's troops defeated the Spanish, ensuring Georgia's future as a British colony.

The remains here are mostly the refurbishd foundations,

If interested you can get more history of this National Monument. Check it out here.

This area of Georgia was full of live oaks with spanish moss drifting back and forth in the light breeze.

Not far from the National Monument was St. Simons Island Lighthouse sitting in the middle of town built in1872 and stands 104' tall.

We made it up the 129-steps to get a picture of Jackie looking over the Atlantic Ocean

Well, we finally made it to Florida where we are greeted by a half dozen or so Sand Hill Cranes wandering around the park. You could feed them out of your hand.

Check out the eye of this guy (gal?) watching to see what Dick was doing with the camera.

And finally this guy was sharing our site living in a hole he dug next to the sewer hookup.

We have our schedule all set until about the 3rd of March when we plan on heading back north and then west. Remember, it's all subjet to change. If interested in our schedule just click here.

To be continued...

Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg Virginia

2011-11-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

The plan was to tell and show you with our pictures where 104 men and boys landed at Jamestown Virginia May 13 1607 and set up the first settlement that was later to be part of the United States of America. By 1609 there was close to 300 colonists in Jamestown. Then the winter of 1609-1610 came and when it was over, only 60 survivors remained, most dieing from starvation. The town was slow to grow on it's own until 1620 when 90 unmarried women arrived.

The town finally started to grow and prosper once they found out what a wonderful cash crop there was in tobacco, sending it back to England for a very good profit. The original settlement went into disrepair and finally found it's way back to nature. Several people in the last century tried to locate the original site but all decided that the river had taken it all, until 1994 when there was one last try in trying to locate it. A post hole was located and next to it was another and then another. Continuing to follow the trail of post holes, the outer perimeter of the original Jamestown fort was located. From there it was pretty easy to start excavation to locate all the treasurers that lay beneath the soil.

When Dick went to look over the pictures, to his dismay they were not there, lost to the delete key on the computer we think, so we won't be telling you about Jamestown in pictures, but will go to another period of history in our great Nation where we spent two days,

Colonial Williamsburg Virgina consists of over 300 acres of the town of Williamsburg that has either survived or been rebuilt to the late 18th century or at the time of the start of our desires to become an independent nation. It was time to cut our ties with England and the war that lasted over 7 years came about because the men here drafted and signed a document called 'The Declaration of Independence'.

The capitol building at the end of Duke of Gloucester Street has been rebuilt several times through the years.

From the web:
The first colony to speak for American independence, Virginia spoke with the unanimous voices of the gentlemen who gathered May 15, 1776, in the tall brick building that dominated the east end of Williamsburg. From what had been England's original New World possession, Virginia instructed its delegation at Philadelphia's Continental Congress to move the question of freedom. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence records the Continental Congress's answer.
The gentlemen at Williamsburg sat in the oldest representative assembly in what was now the world's newest nation. The legislature first met at Williamsburg on April 21, 1704, when the Capitol on Duke of Gloucester Street was still under construction. Literally and figuratively, however, its foundation dated to 1619, when the House of Burgesses first convened at Jamestown.

A little closer look

Walking the main street of Williamsburg one can see people in period dress who will reenact scenes from our history.

Shop keepers showing off their trades. Weaver...

If you get tired of walking just hitch a ride on a carriage.

Here is a scene in front of the baker's building, depicting people of the time of the revolution talking about what was happening. We loved the feeling of being right there!

Bassett Hall built around 1760 but displayed today as it was furnished by the John D Rockefeller Jr. family in the 1940's

Exterior view, looks pretty good for being built 250 years ago.

To be continued...

Connecticut and Pennsylvania

2011-11-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

Off to CT to visit more friends in Milford; thanks Barb and Dave for your hospitality. No RV parks in the area so we just parked in the local Walmart parking lot off in a corner for 3 days and spent some wonderful time with them. One day they took us on a day trip to the campus of Yale University and while there we visited Beinecke Rare Book Library housed inside a building made of thin marble so the light actually penetrated it. Inside was a glass encased room housing all the rare books. Quite an interesting design. The public is not allowed inside the glass but you can have the books brought out to you for research. If you are interested in more details about this library go to
beinecke.library @yale.edu.

Outside Dick had to set the pose as "the thinker", really lame, but that's Dick.

Now this is a lot better with the two of us.

We had a long day touring Yale and stopping for pizza in town. On another day they took us to Weir Farm National Historic Site. Weir Farm National Historic Site was home to three generations of American artists. Julian Alden Weir, a leading figure in American art and the development of American Impressionism, acquired the farm in 1882. After Weir, the artistic legacy was continued by his daughter, painter Dorothy Weir Young and her husband, sculptor Mahonri Young, followed by New England painters Sperry and Doris Andrews. Today, the 60-acre farm, which includes the Weir House, Weir and Young Studios, barns, gardens, and Weir Pond, is one of the nation’s finest remaining landscapes of American art.

The house is currently being brought back to what it was when the Weirs lived there.

Departed CT and off to PA where our first stop had to be Ephrata, PA. Being we are from Ephrata, WA, we just had to see this town. Quite a bit larger than our Ephrata. We still wore our Ephrata Tigers tee shirts and people stopped us and informed us that Ephrata was not the Tigers. Most were interested to hear that there is another Ephrata, even though we pronounce it differently.

Looking down through town. A really pretty small town with very friendly folks.

Then it was off to visit the Hershey Chocolate Company. We took a tour of a mockup factory and then the store with all the chocolate one could want. But we were good -- we only bought postcards and one small candybar to share.

Looking down on just a small part of the store.

We also had to check out some of the covered bridges in the area. Of course we did this in the jeep, not taking the Motorhome through.

And one last view of the fall colors.

To be continued...

Fall colors in Maine

2011-10-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Every place we have been in the last year or so we have been told that it's hotter than usual or wetter or drier than every year. When we finally got to Maine to see the fall colors the message we received was that you should have been here last year to see the great foliage colors.

We did a lot of looking and here are a series of some of the pictures we got of the colors of New England, so just enjoy some of what we saw.

No color here, just the sun shining on the a small bay in Maine.

To be continued...

1000 Islands and Singer Castle

2011-10-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Our goal when we left western Washington was the little town of Medway Maine, and it took us 56 days, 3,984 miles and we stopped at 26 locations. Had the pleasure of visiting friends and family as we traveled across our great Country.

But before we share some of Maine's fall colors we need to finish up a few places we visited before we arrived here. So lets go back to up-state New York where we hiked into salmon falls and wished that it was about 2 weeks later so the leaves could have had more time to turn. But you get what we saw.

Only 120' of falling water but sure was a great place to visit. We hiked to the top of the falls and got some pictures shooting down from the side of the hill. CC got to go with us on this one, and seemed to have a good time.

Another day we drove to Alexandra Bay and took a tour boat for a 3 hour trip to tour the Singer Castle. It turned out to be a foggy day so it was hard to get some good clear shots. This is the 1000 Island part of New York and we sailed by lots of islands, both small and large. This one looked like a battleship to us.

This was 3 islands that they put in a walkway between them to form one complete island with a lighthouse. One of the islands we saw was so small that the small house (not pictured) that was built on it cantilevered over the water on two sides. When you own an island we guess you can do with it what you want.

But the surprise an hour out was our destination, the Singer Castle. A part of American history and local folklore meet at Singer Castle on Dark Island, located on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Singer Castle is the only castle on the river to be completed, fully furnished and resided in during the heyday of the 'great builders' and industrialists in New York. The Castle remained in the possession of the original Bourne family from its construction in 1905 until the mid 1960's. The castle was built as a hunting lodge by the 5th President of Singer Sewing Machine Co. It is not currently occupied, but one can rent the guest suite for $700/night which includes a catered dinner and breakfast. Any takers?

This castle was on another island. We could have got off the boat and toured this one (self-guided), but opted not to. (next time) It is currently being completed. (Construction ended in the 1930's when the owner's wife died unexpectedly.)

Although it was a foggy day, we thoroughly enjoyed the boat trip and the history lessons.
On the way back to our home (motor home) we had to turn around after driving by this so Dick could stop and take this picture to share. We like to close our blog with something a little fun so hope you enjoy this shot.

To be continued...

Michigan, Ontario Canada, New York

2011-09-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Another great stop was to visit Jackie's high school classmates Bob and Margie (Scheiler) Stephenson in Williamston, Michigan. They have a nice long driveway next to their beautiful old (over 100 years) home with lots of room for our rig. We spent two days there but had to leave because of the weight we put on eating there. Thanks Margie and Bob for such a great time.
Margie has a beautiful garden with lots of beautiful flowers. Dick was out early one morning and found the morning sun just kissing this tall grass.

We spent one morning walking the gardens on the campus of Michigan State University where Jackie found a new friend.

After leave Stephenson's, we stopped briefly (overnight) at MOC friends Charlie and Nila's. It was fun seeing them again and catching up. Good luck on getting your home ready to sell.

The shortest way to New York from Michigan was going through Canada and while there we had to stop at Niagara Falls. It was a warm and sunny day with lots and lots of people taking the boats down on the river or just strolling along the walkway.

See we really are there in Canada. Dick was worried about bringing what booze we had in the motor home across the border but he explained to the crossing security "this is our home and we have several bottles of odds and ends of booze, the same as most people have at home." He just looked at us and said "have a good day". It was about the same getting back into the USA. Both were more worried about firearms. All that worrying for nothing. (Now you know why he has white hair!)

Just could squeeze both falls into one picture so for those that have not been there can see what it's all about.

This shot is from our lunch table on the second floor of a very over-priced restaurant. But what the hey, it's only money we are sure the kids don't want it.

Two days in Canada and then to Parish New York in the Parish of Parish New York, figure that one out. We spent a week here just relaxing and enjoying some of the sights.
On one of our excursions we drove to Oswego NY to see the Fort of Ontario. It was closed on the day that we went to visit but they forgot to close the gate. We did get inside to get a few pictures.

`Oh look this door is open and we can go inside and take some pictures out the window.

After taking a self guided tour we found that they realized their mistake and closed the gate. But Dick in his infinite wisdom figured out how to get it open so we could escape.

Did we mention that on the way to Oswego we took a short trip to Mexico?

This is for Uncle Dave, sorry to say the limit of salmon is 5 per day in Lake Michigan, maybe it's time to run the Discovery east and get in on some of the salmon there.

For those who have been following us on facebook, know that we have left New York and traveled through Vermont and are spending one night in New Hampshire at a forest service CG and tomorrow will be at our final destination in Maine that will be the 31st State we have spent a night in.

To be continued...

Still heading east with lots of stops

2011-09-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

We are continuing east and got about 200 miles west of Sioux Falls, South Dakota where we had another problem with the engine on the motor home. It turned out that I State trucking in Billings had failed to install a clamp on the turbo and we lost just about all power. We limped in to Cummins, Sioux Falls on Labor day and set up camp like we owned the place. We talked to them on Tuesday morning and they said they would get us in and fixed and on our way.

We took a tour of the town and spent a half day wandering around Falls Park. Beautifully done park with a good place to have lunch near the heart of town.

This was once an industrial and quarry area of the town but they finally cleaned it up and what a great place to spend the day. We even walked the legs off CC!

We got the rig fixed and headed out of town to visit friends who are camp hosting at Oakwood Lakes State park north of Sioux Falls, where we ended up staying 3 nights and got our picture taken on one of our hikes. Dick wanted to show off how his beard is growing so he can be Santa this Christmas.

We ran across our first really green frog so of cource Dick had to get down and get a picture to share.

We spent about an hour at the beach in the evening taking some shots of the sunset with the unique cloud formation and reflections on the smooth lake.

It took some time to figure out what the black line is that originates from the center of the picture and came to the conclusion that its a shadow cast from the thick cloud in the center. If you look closely you can see its reflection in the water. First time Dick got a photo of a shadow reflecting in the water. Oh well we thought it was cool.

Got to keep moving, so our next stop for only one night at a local winery in Winona MN. Google Harvest Hosts and for a membership of only $30 per year you can stay for free at wineries and farms around the country. Did we mention "FREE"?! Looking down over the town of Winona with a lake in the forground and the Mississippi river in the back.

Walking the downtown area among some of the old buildings was interesting. This one jumped out at Dick and he had to share it; see if you can figure out what it is.

The deep red brick behind the green ivy was a startling contrast in colors and if you look closely at the top of the picture you can see the ivy growing over the windows. Hard to see but its there.

The First United Methodist Church that covered a city block had some very unique towers...

as you can see here.

Not sure what use the window is but sure would have liked to try and see it from the inside.

From Winona our next stop, where we are writing this, is West Bend WI where our dear friend Ardith Rehfeld has decided to spend her remaining days with her family. We spent some quality time reminissing about our travels Sunday evening and again on Monday. If you are a friend of Rod and Ardith, then you can leave a message and follow her strugles here at CaringBridge. We love you Rod and Ardith and will continue to keep you in our prayers.

To be continued...

Washington State to South Dakota

2011-09-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Off again breezing through Idaho except to stop and have lunch with a classmate of Jackie's (thanks Charlotte Bouley) it was great seeing you again. We then continued into Montana where our next stop was at a BLM area East of Butte and found a nice place to pull off in the trees for the night. Woke up surrounded by cows but C C scared them away!

Another 160 miles to the little (very little) town of Reed Point Montana for just another night. Went for a drive in the afternoon and Dick had to stop and get some pictures of the area.

Far out in the country on a narrow gravel road we found nice farms and beautiful pastures and one or two very sad abandoned places. Not shown but very funny was a street sign pointing to "Retirement" and when you turned the corner the sign read "Dead End"; we sure hope not.

If you have followed our blog you will know that we had some overheating problems in the motor home on the way back to the NW. We thought it was fixed until we headed over Snoqualmie Pass and found that it still needed fixing.

After leaving Reed Point we headed to IState Truck Repair in Billings on Wednesday the 24th in hopes of getting it repaired. They checked it out and said "they might get us in on Monday". Long story short we finally got it fixed and on the road again Thursday morning. We spent 7 nights in their parking lot testing out our new solar (worked great) and one night in a hotel when they had the rig in the shop. Sorry but this one is a little dark, well it was night and it cooled off from the mid 90s to the mid 60s.

We spent two evenings sitting outside with a great couple from Austria sharing stories and a little wine; thanks Petra and Tino for sharing your time with us and hope to see you again in the future.

We made the best of our time there meeting up with Rick Young and his lovely wife Laurel for a craft show in Bridger and then a wonderful dinner at their home. Great to see old friends again.
While in Bridger we went to an area above Red Lodge where Dick's great grandfather homesteaded in 1899 and where his grandmother was born. This is a picture of Dick standing over the rootceller that was on the ranch.

Keeping up with a day of genealogy we went into Red Lodge and had lunch at the Pollard Hotel and we think found a picture of his great grandfather tending bar in 1907.

We also spent part of two days with Dick's cousin that he has not seen in years. They shared some old pictures and stories about the family.
We spent one afternoon visiting Pompeys Pillar National Monument. This was another stopping place of Wm. Clark of Lewis and Clark fame and is the only visible record of their journey with his signature inscribed in the hillside.

We tried to get a picture of his signature but this is the best we could do.

As we said, on Thursday we finally got the heck out of Dodge (Billings Montana) heading for De Smet Lake near Buffalo Wyoming. But on the way we stopped at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument that used to be called Custers Last Stand. Kind of a sad place to realize that about 300 people, both whites and native, died here.

Most of the graves are marked where the soldier fell and was buried except the remains of the officers were moved to another part of the country. The natives took their dead with them and buried them.

But now there is a very well done monument to the tribes on the battlefield.

With a little research we found our next stop on the lake with very few if any people around and had a great view out of all the windows on our rig sitting on the end of a long point.

After setting up we decided to head out on another back road and saw 20 or 30 Pronghorn Antelope. Very hard to get a good shot because as soon as they hear you, off they go. Snuck up on this one.

We had to stop at this old abandoned home out in the middle of nowhere so Dick could get some pictures. Some one had big hopes and dreams here and this is all that remains. The inside was lath and plaster with most of the plaster gone and the floors and ceilings totally rotted.

Not sure why it had two front doors and one back door.

A closer look in black and white at some of the years of patching to keep the weather out.

Dick stuck his head into the house saw a critter in the attic so he very carefully went through the house and out the back in time to see a large owl looking down at him. Just as he raised his camera the owl turned away and took off so this is the best you get of this guy.

We are now sitting in Box Elder South Dakota for the weekend and plan to head out on Monday along with the crowds heading home from the 3 day weekend.

To be continued...

Back to the North West and family..

2011-08-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hey, remember us? It's only been a little less than two months but a lot has happened and we got to see a lot of family and friends during this time back home. It was time to spend more time with family and friends and leave the computer at home. Dick also left the camera at home most of the time. He would rather take photos of landscape than people.

We left Arches National Park on June 27 and headed for Canyon View RV park in Spanish Fork Utah. A paved parking lot with water and electric, but OK for one night. Our motor home overheated on the mountain pass. We then headed to our favorite camping place near Wells Nevada where we spent 3 nights; see the picture of our rig above.

On the way out of town we stopped at a truck wash and had them hydro blast the radiator and clean out all the red dust from Arches in hopes that it would solve the overheating problem. As it turned out, it made things better but we found out later that it did not solve the problem.
Off we go again to Bully Creek Park on Bully Creek Reservoir in Vale Oregon for one night but ended up staying two. Tried to go to the local United Methodist Church on Sunday morning but after checking the time for the service on the board in front of the Church on Saturday they changed the time later that evening so we missed service.

On the 4th of July we ended up at 1000 trails Sunriver Oregon and played tourist. We visited the Lava Lands and drove up Lava Butte to view the huge lava flows. And then it was off to "The Big Obsidian Flow" and what a pile of glass.

This photo is not a black and white shot but sure looks like it. Black obsidian and white snow.

Dick had to add these photos for our good friend Ray Howard and a very talented flint napper that we met in Delta Utah, Danie Kersey, who makes the most beautiful knives, arrowheads and spear points from obsidian. If you are interested in purchasing any of his work let me know and I will forward your address to him.

Another shot of the acres and this time with a little green in the background. There is a trail that runs about 1/2 mile through the flow. If you go there take it slow and easy, you sure don't want to trip and take a tumble on this path.

A close look at some of the obsidian. Sure would like to load the motor home up with a pound or two of this stuff.

Really tough to get a picture with pure white and black but there is a little color in Jackie's shirt.

While in the area we fought off the mosquitoes and took another hike to view a very beautiful waterfall.

Another view from another direction. Glad we took the time to spend some time in the woods after several months in the desert. Wow, what a difference and we are glad to be back in the northwest where there are real trees.

7/6 Another day traveling but this time to get some big changes to our rig. We spent two nights at AM Solar in Springfield Oregon where we had 3 solar panels put on the roof and the battery and solar controllers in the bedroom. We are now totally self contained and don't need any stinking RV parks. (As long as the sun is shining, of course.)

After spending one night at 1000 trails in Chehalis Washington, we finally ended up at our destination in Poulsbo on July 9. We spent lots of time with all three girls and all grand kids for a few weeks.

On one of our free days we took a drive to Sequim for their annual lavender festival and found a field or two of plants close to harvest time.

Another day we took a ferry to Seattle where we both were born. What a beautiful day to stroll the waterfront with Deanna, Daisy and Dani.

After a few weeks with family and friends on the west side of the mountains we headed off to Ephrata where our trip started over three years ago. After getting a new windshield in the motor home, we ended up at Dick's brother and S I L for a great week plus visiting with them and all our super
friends. Thanks all for sharing your time with us, and thanks Guy and Joan for your wonderful hospitality.

We left Guy and Joan's to spend two nights with them camping on Lake Roosevelt where we had our first chance to use the new solar and it worked great. While there we got the chance to take our boat out for couple of hours on the water. Near our campsite was a large old dead tree with a very large Osprey nest with two little ones and Dick was able to get some good pictures but for some stupid reason they never downloaded. If you really want to see them let us know and we will send copies to you.

We ended our trip to Washington by spending three great days with some very special people near Spokane Washington before starting our trip to the east coast, Dave and Kelly Anderson. Thanks for a wonderful three days and fabulous food. We also got to see Jim & Carolyn Retzer, MOC friends who Kelly invited for dinner. Such fun catching up on what everyone's been up to.

While in Quartzsite

The light you see radiates through the rock in this 45 second exposure.

Thanks to all our friend and family for sharing yourselves with us during our trip back home. Now it's time to head out on our next journey. We departed the Anderson's for a trip to the east coast to see the fall colors. We will try and update this blog a little more regularly as we travel across our great country.

To be continued...

A tour of special places at Arches Natinal Park in Utah

2011-06-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

After two months it's time to hook up and move on. We will depart Arches National Park early Monday morning and start heading back to Washington to visit family and friends. Last week we had daughter Debbie here to visit us. She came to relax, enjoy the heat and do nothing. The day after she arrived we had a huge rainstorm; she must have brought it from Washington State.

We did get a nice ride in that day to see some of Moab and the mountains around here. But after that is was hike, hike, hike (so much for relax, Deb!). We had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Dell Keys who is a volunteer here at the park and knows her way around the Fiery Furnace like the back of her hand, so she took us on a evening 3- hour trip through areas not seen by another human, well maybe a few.

We snaked through several very tight spots...

found Surprise Arch with the evening light making it glow...

Jackie was showing off how she could walk on two fins at the same time. We all had to do it to get here.

Another area we searched out was Skull Arch aka Underpants Arch (so named by Dr. Keys husband, who passed away a couple of years ago).

Debbie had to crawl through of all places Crawl Through Arch and

work her way under the rocks to come out in another area.

We did get a picture of the three of us after walking through Walk Through Bridge.

We exited the Fiery Furnace with a look back with no idea of where we went in or came out. What a joy to go in there again with such a great tour director as Dr. Keys.

Up an hour before sunrise and headed to the windows section of the park so Dick could get this picture that he had wanted to take for the last 2 months. Looking through North Window at Turret Arch about 5 seconds after the first rays of light hit it.

We made a deal with Dr. Keys that if she gave us a tour of the Fiery Furnace we would show her Magic Mystery Bridge (See a previous Blog). To give you a better understanding of it's size look closely and see if you can find Debbie sitting on a ledge of the main wall. Thanks to Brenda, our co-host, for this great picture.

Still another day and another hike into the Devils Garden, but just the three of us. We wanted to try and show Debbie some of the areas that most people don't see. We made it all the way to Double O Arch and found a way to get this shot from behind the arch. It's hard to see but behind the little tree in the lower left is the smaller of the 2 arches.

And this shot we have only seen one other time and it is looking at the backside of Landscape Arch with Debbie sitting on the edge of a 200' drop off.

We got our picture taken in front of Navajo Arch sitting on an old Juniper tree. The last time the two of us came here there was snow on the ground.

As a parting shot (pun intended) Debbie showing her excitement after walking through Broken Arch.

Thanks for the visit Debbie; we had a ball showing you a few special places at Arches. Glad you got to "relax".

To be continued...

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

2011-06-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Another 3 day trip to the town of Cortez Colorado with 3 nights in another hotel bed listening to people walking up and down the halls all night long. We decided to leave our home in Arches National Park rather than take it with us but hope we don't do this again.

We did get another check off of Dick's bucket list and did 3 trips into Mesa Verde National Park for step back into history starting about the year 500 through about 1400 when the ancestors of today's Native Americans populated this portion of the country.

Jackie is getting a closer look at one of the many canyons below (way below) where these people lived for close to 1400 years before moving south due to unknown reasons. Could have been that the food source dried up because of drought, over planting, lack of fire wood for cooking or that they finally depleted all the natural resources in the area. An answer still to be found.

A look at one of the several long canyons where at one time there were over 600 separate archaeological sites in this area. There were trails up and down all the canyons for movement between the homes or villages. Not sure we would want to travel over this landscape in bare feet.

We drove out onto one of the many Mesa's and took a self guided tour of Step House. This is one of the few dwellings that you can tour without a Ranger guide. We pushed this tour as we needed to catch a bus for another tour. Still very interesting and as usual Dick got a lot more pictures than we will show here.

To really get the full effect of these sites you will need to click on the pictures to enlarge them. The magnitude of these structures is unbelievable until you walk through them. This is just one small section of Step House showing how they incorporated the large chunks of rock that had fallen from the top of the cave into their homes.

Moving on to another location is Kodak House, have no idea of where this name came from. If they told us we forgot. This is a two level series of homes; not sure I would want to live in the lower section but that's another story left untold. They farmed on both the top and in the canyon. It's a long and hard way to get up and down.

They could have used the upper area more for storage and the lower for living.

Still another location is now called Long House. Don't know if we could climb up and down from this house very often or would want to.

Again this house had a storage area above the living area. No sneaking to the storage shelves for a midnight snack here.

Another area called Square Tower House. Some of the houses have deteriorated from time and weather and others vandalized through the years by pot hunters.

A little closer look at the square tower and other rooms around it.

And finally for this Blog is Cliff House, quite an extensive series of rooms both living areas and ceremonial areas.

Dick's grandfather was a stone mason, he could have learned a lot from these folks with walls still standing over a 1000 years.

A final shot showing a closeup of the remains of some of the rooms at Cliff Palace some round and some square and some from floor to ceiling.

For our granddaughter Molly, here is a shot of some of the wild horses that populate this National Park.

Before heading back home to Arches we made a side trip to "4 corners" said to be the point where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico all meet. This is on the Indian Reservation so they charge $3.00 each person to enter and give you the opportunity to purchase items from the 80 or so booths set up around the perimeter.

To be continued...

Magic Mystery Bridge found

2011-05-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

As we posted in an earlier blog, our friends Robbie and Alice had searched for Magic Mystery Bridge here at Arches National Park with no luck. On another day we searched with Alice and still came up empty handed. Alice had got a GPS location from a website that was wrong. Robbie searched on top of the slickrock and we searched in the washes, nothing.

With a little more research on Dick's part, he located other GPS coordinates and found it's location on Google Earth, so off we went today with our trusty GPS in hand. I think we failed to mention that Dick forgot the extra batteries and by the time we needed it, all we had were dead batteries.

Dick was able to take the batteries out of his camera and put them into the GPS until the Bridge was found and then switch back so we could post this blog with pictures.

We headed out of the campground with Jackie taking the lead down between the fins, knowing that it was our duty to find and share this soon-to-be great find. Look closely as this is one of many pictures of Jackie in this posting.

We had to stop and enjoy the beautiful view looking out across the LaSal Mountains.

We got to Broken Arch going east, took a right down into the wash, being careful to stay off the cryptobiotic soil by staying on the slickrock and the washes. With compass in hand we tried to head due east from Broken Arch. This path took us downhill but brought us on top of the slickrock. In just about 15 or 20 minutes we look to our right and see the large canyon that Magic Mystery Arch was at the head of.

Then there it was, or at least we could see the top of it. This shot is from the top of the Bridge looking north- east into the lower canyon. The rock in the lower right hand corner is the top of the bridge.

Needing a way to show the scale of the top of the arch, Jackie offered to walk out for another shot of herself. Probably hard to see but she is not smiling right here! The longer you stand there the narrower the top gets; trust us it's true.

A little closer shot, but what's she saying? "Take the damn picture so I can get off of here."

From the top of the bridge you can look back west and just see Broken Arch about in the center of this shot. What was interesting that if approached from the northwest you can locate the arch, but if you come from the southwest or east you can's see it until you are on top of it.

We (Dick) decided that the best way to get to the bottom was to follow the fins to the northwest and then follow a wash down to the bottom. So one last shot from this side and off we go again to get to the bottom of things, pun intended.

We had to travel a good quarter of a mile before finding an area where we could get into the wash. Well we made it down but it took over an hour working our way over dead trees, huge rock falls, loose sand and rocks. Several times we got to a point where we had to go back up the hill and find another path.

The closer we got to the bottom the steeper it got. We finally got to a point that we knew we could not get back up the wash so had to find a way down.

But we did take the time to stop and smell the roses, well at least one cacti growing out of the cryptobiotic soil. So, does a flower grow in the desert even if no one sees it? You bet!

As you can see by this picture we did finally make it to the bottom; not sure how, but in one piece. Look closely as there is another picture of Jackie.

Dick was able to crawl up between the arch and the back wall, finding a shelf to very carefully walk out onto so he could have at least one picture of himself in this blog.

Facing the bridge from the bottom we found a steep but quick way up to the top for one final shot from the other side of the Bridge. Sure wish we had tried to get down from this side as it would of saved an hour of hard hiking. Oh well, now you know if ever trying to get to the bottom of Magic Mystery Bridge go down from the end to the southeast corner.

Thanks to the help of Google Earth we were able to locate the bridge and finally find it. With the added detour it took us about 3 hours but should have been 2 including a lunch stop and lots of pictures.

Just to the left of the M in Magic you will see a black line, this is the space between the bridge and the wall.

A few details for all those arch hunters out there:
The Bridge was found in 1962 when a pipeline was run through the park. Originally called Pipeline Arch but was changed and labeled in 1975
It's span is 95' long an the top is 11' wide. (It really feels a lot narrower when you are standing there)
It has a 62' opening between the spans.
It is 12' away from the solid wall at the top.
It has a 48' opening below the span.
And it's location is:
38 46' 17" N
109 34' 23" W

If you should decide to view this normally unseen bridge, please take the extra time to stay off the cryptobiotic soil and stay to the washes and slickrock. This soil has been growing for hundreds of years and one step will put and end to it's life.

Need more details on location or route, send us a message. This is a very special Bridge as very few people get to see it because of it's location and difficulty in locating it. We feel very blessed to have found it. And now to walk some more to keep from getting stiff--

To be continued...

Capital Reef National Park, Utah

2011-05-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

Dick's dad used to use the saying "going on a bus-mans holiday", meaning that when the bus driver would take a holiday he would go for a bus ride. Being camphosts at a National Park, that's what we did on our last days off. We visited a National Park and a National Monument. Actually we visited 2 National Parks and one National Monument in one day but that's another story.

Our days off started on Sunday with a trip to Moab for church and then off for about 150 miles to a hotel near Capitol Reef National Park. We arrived, unpacked and headed off into the park to check a little of it out. As you can see, it was a clear day with a few clouds and lots of red rocks.

As we approached the park we got a feeling of the magnitude of the hills.

Another view looking down at the river in the bottom of the canyon from a great vantage point.

A trip into the visitors center with more of the hills in the background.

Very interesting combination of texture and color throughout the park; what a site to see.

A view through the juniper trees to the hills in the distance, again notice the colors at the base.

Here we go again with the Jeep up a narrow back road into a wash and canyon. Looks like the rock bugs have been at work on the side of this hill.

As we are about to leave a narrow spot in the slot canyon.

More rock bugs at work on the hillside.

On the way back to the hotel we caught some shots just before sunset.

On the second day when the weather wasn't as nice, we took another day trip around the park, south to the town of Boulder on Hwy 12 and then east through a small part of Grand Staricase-Escalante National Monument (another Blog posting), across the southern end of Capital Reef, took a left going north now back to the hotel. This is called "Loop the Fold" and covered over 127 miles. It was an incredibly beautiful drive and we would recommend it to anyone. More of the color in the hills while going back into the park.

And a little closer, the red looks out of focus but it's not.

This is one of the pictures you have to click on to view the switchbacks we had to go down. When you get to the bottom and look back it's so steep you can't see where the road goes down.

Another trick picture for you to figure out. No one ever comments on these so we will tell you now what it is. Take a look before scrolling down and see if you can figure it out.

For thousands of years the smooth surfaces of the side of some of the cliffs turned very dark; this has been called desert varnish. The Native Americans used these surfaces to chip or paint what are called petroglyphs or pictographs. But in this case a large section fell off the side and ended in the middle of a wash where through the years some of the desert varnish was washed away leaving this interesting pattern. The size here is about 4' wide. Fun to shoot and fun to share these unique pieces of nature.

To be continued..

Starting 4 years on the road at Arches National Park

2011-05-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

Happy anniversary to us!!! We celebrated the start of our 4th year on the road and still have a lot to see of this beautiful Country of ours. Jackie retired April 30, 2008 and the next day we departed on our journey. So stand by for some statistics before we share more pictures of our latest adventure. As most of you know, we switched from a Big Sky Montana 5th wheel to an Allegro Bus in October of last year.

In 3 years we have spent at least one night in 25 states
We pulled the Big Sky 21,002 miles
We drove the Allegro 5,175 miles
Sight seeing we drove the truck 38,074 miles
And sight seeing in the jeep 7,502 miles
Total miles driven 71,753 or an average of 23,918 miles per year

We visited 170 campsites, averaged 154 miles between sites and stayed an average of 6.44 days at each site.
Shortest stay was one night and longest was camp hosting at Arches National Park for 2 months last year.

We posted 211 Blog’s and had 28,340 hits.

And for the final statistic, we took (saved) an average of 95 pictures at each stop for a grand total of 16,211 pictures. So with that we hope you enjoy some of the first pictures starting year four of our travels.
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Well, here we are back camp-hosting at Devils Garden Campground at Arches National Park for the months of May and June, but will try a share totally different pictures that when here last year. We don't plan on taking any pictures in the snow as we did last year.

We arrived and spent a few days visiting with our friends Robbie and Alice, and when they moved out of the host site on May 1 we started work and moved into site 35 the same day. Thanks Robbie for all the firewood you saved for Jackie.

This gives you an idea of the size of our site and the view we have. We have water, sewer and Park solar power. A large concrete pad to plant the rig and Jeep on. And a nice fire pit for campfires in the evening, a must for Jackie (although not when it's really windy, which is has been quite a few nights). (Can you see Jackie hanging clothes on the rack Dick built for the ladder?)

Day one we took off back country hiking with Alice to try and locate Magic Mystery Bridge and on the way we visited Broken Arch.

Headed down a wash following Alice's GPS coordinates. She and Robbie have tried 2 or 3 times to find this bridge and failed. Could it have anything to do with bad coordinates?

Alice ahead with hands on hips, should have been a sign but we kept on going. We never did find the bridge but we hope to get back out there another time when Dick's knees are feeling better and we have the proper location. Thanks Alice--we had a ball.

Back in camp for the evening sunset onto the sandstone fins throughout this beautiful park.

We had company come and visit for about a week and did several hikes with Mike and Gwen. Mike got this shot of Dick in Skyline Arch. What the picture fails to show is the heavy wind blowing through the arch and the 300' drop off on the other side.

Dick and Mike headed off to Tapestry Arch on a short hike and got Mike to pose to show the size.

On another day all four of us headed off to the windows section of the park. If you click on the picture you can see the people inside of Double Arch. Another warm sunny day for a great but short hike.

And one last hike before our friends have to leave, we took them to Park Avenue and hiked the one mile down through a wash with the magnificent fins on both sides as the sun was about to set.

Half way through Park Avenue we continued to see this unbelievable scenery.

And where did this large flowering plant come from in the middle of nothing but rock?

One last shot as we head out of the wash and back to the car.

On the way back to camp we stopped and took a shot looking back at the evening shadows.

And finally the evening sun setting behind Klondike Bluffs and then back to camp for a nice fire and firepies.

To be continued...

Rocks and Goblins

2011-04-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

Off again for another adventure and look who's driving? Jackie got behind the wheel for the first time and did great. We headed north on highway 6 out of Delta and then 36 miles out into the desert to one of the best rock hounding areas of Utah.

As you can see we found a place with no one around for miles. What more could you ask for than a super quiet place and a nice firepit and oh yes, lots of rocks.

After loading up over 50 pounds of Joy Agate, Drusie, Chalcedony and Jasper we headed out to Topaz Mountain where we found a few pieces of Topaz. Most of the people were attacking the mountain with hammers and pry bars but on this day it was not our thing so we sifted through the tailing's. Topaz comes out of the mountain brown but after being subjected to light it turns clear and that is what we found.

Can you find Jackie digging Topaz in this picture?

This area of the desert and mountains is full of old mines and one day while driving up an old wash we hiked up the side of the hill to check this one out. It looked to be 60 or 70' deep. Not sure what they were looking for here but looks like they found it. Don't slip, it's a long way down and no way out.

Another day another trip and up on the side of this mountain there was an old school bus. We had no idea how they got it up there or why they did it. Must have been used as living quarters at one time.

Put on the long lens so we could see the bus a little closer. Looks like it is about ready to roll over the edge.

After 4 days in this spectacular area we went back into Delta to empty tanks, do laundry and back to Delta Community Church for Easter Sunrise Service and then off we went again to BLM land down the road from Goblin Valley State Park. This is only a two night stay and then we finish the trip to Arches in the morning.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and found a place with another great view. It was a windy so no fire, watched a little TV and early to bed. Tuesday morning we woke up to sunshine and a cool morning so off we went to the state park. This is the only place in the world where mother nature left this kind of geology.

The valley was full of these unique eroded structures that you wander around and...

... if so inclined you could climb on them.

Jackie found a way to get to the top of this one.

The valley is surrounded with high hills with very unique features. Can you find the face in this picture, it's looking to the right. If you are ready to give up go ahead and scroll to the next picture and then come back to see it's location.

So go back and look above what looks like a cave and there it is.

If you found the face now see if you can see what we saw in this area of the valley? On the left we see a boy on the left kissing and girl on the right and the big pile of rocks is two kids with there face toward the wall counting for hide and seek. Use your imagination, well, that's what we saw.

Before leaving Jackson California we had all new tires put on the jeep and while running the washes at Topaz Mountain we got a big slice in the side wall of the left front tire. We put on the spare and continued on our way. Today while back in the washes near our camp the warning light came on saying we had a low tire. Again miles from nowhere we turned around and got back home without any problem. We will post some of the pictures on this trip at another time so come back soon.

To be continued...

Roads, back roads and another cave...

2011-04-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

We have now traveled about 450 miles on route 50 west to east through Nevada and into Utah and saw another vehicle every 10 miles or so; I guess that's why it got it's name "the loneliest road in America". The name came from a Time / Life article in the 1980's.

No problem standing in the middle of the road to get this. A truck went by about 20 minutes after this shot was taken

Not sure how many mountain ranges we went over with elevations up to about 7500 feet. Cold but no snow. Part way across one of the desert valleys where the road was built up a few feet above the edge, we saw for several miles where people had stopped and by using stones spelled their names along side the road. We could have stopped again in the middle of the road to get some pictures but decided to just keep on going.

On a day trip (still on 50) we ran across this entrance arch to some private property. Someone took lots of time out in the desert finding deer and elk horns, and the sign on the property said "horns a plenty".

Glad we purchased a 4wd jeep so we could head out directly into the desert just for some fun. Here we are in the middle of a jeep road having lunch. We never did see another vehicle for miles. So quiet except for the birds. After lunch Dick went hiking in the rocks and Jackie took a nap.

We decided to take a dirt road back home, came over the crest of a hill and this is what 7 miles of bad road looks like. At the crest of the hill it continued straight another 7 miles until we finally made a gradual turn. It turned out that we had to travel on this road about 25 miles before hitting a solid highway again. Glad we had lots of gas because the total trip this day was about 200 miles.

We could not go to Nevada without visiting it's only National Park, so off we went to Great Basin National Park only to find that the main road was still closed because of snow and ice. But part of the Park is Lehman Caves, and of course we had to do the caves tour.

It was a great tour that lasted about 90 minutes and because of the season we had a small group touring with us.

Quoting from the literature: "Lehman Caves is remarkably well-decorated with cave formations, or as geologists call them, speleothems: Stalactites, Stalagmites, Helicitites, Flowstone, Draperies, the mysterious Shields, and more."

You have to click on these pictures to enlarge them to see some of the details.

A close up of some of the flow-stones.

Some of the areas only had a clearance of 4' but this room must have been 25' tall.

And out we went through a man-made exit from the cave. We only wish we could have stayed down there a few more hours but the SD card on Dick's camera does have it's limitations and he only took 125 pictures!

So we are off still heading east so check back for more of our travels. We are posting this while sitting in Delta, Utah. The problem with that is we again are close to the train tracks and they run all night long and with lots of horns as they go through town. (Dick wrote this in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep, thus the comment on the trains.)

For those that don't know our plans, we are heading for Arches National Park, scheduled to arrive April 26 and act as volunteer campground hosts for May and June and then head back to Washington.

To be continued...

Big Sky Montana 5th wheel for sale

2011-04-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

FOR SALE

Sorry but the truck is sold

2007 Big Sky Montana by Keystone.

The Big Sky shows "pride of ownership" by us. Maintaining and traveling with this rigs has been a pleasure for both of us, but it's time to change our lifestyle and go a different direction in our travels. That is if things go our way.

Hooked up and ready to go this morning.
Enjoying another day of relaxation with the awning out.

This is a copy of the original brochure (8 Pages) that showS better what the inside of our rig looks like than I could do taking my own pictures. I will be happy to send or post more pictures if needed. You can click on any picture to get it to it's maximum size and see all the details.

The pictures show 2 rocker recliners that came with the rig but we have removed them and added a LazyBoy dual reclining loveseat that is so much easier to move for closing the slides and it's a wall hugger so does not take up as much room. It is also so much more comfortable. The fireplace has an electric heater that you can turn on and off or just view the mock fire.

Note the 4 door refrigerator and the full size microwave/convection oven plus below the 3 burner stove top is a gas oven. And it's great for making cookies. The couch folds into a queen air bed, just push the button and in about 1 minute it's ready to make up.

The fan keeps air moving around for both heat and cooling; we have spent time camping in temperature as low as -10 degree F. without any problem.

The table pulls out and you can seat 4 for dinner or cards.

We have added the W/D with exterior venting and without putting a hole in the side of the rig.

The tires are all new Goodyear rated for 110 psi and installed last summer. They show no wear.

This is how Keystone puts the rigs together. We have been proud to own the Montana and feel they do an excellent job in manufacturing these units.

The last page of the brochure is a complete list of all standard and optional items that Keystone put into our Montana. The Big Sky Premium, Value package and Comfort and Convenience group are all "mandatory" options by Keystone. You can't purchase the rig without these items.

Remember just click on the picture and you should be able to read it.

A partial list of additional improvements made by owner:
1. Installed SplendideW/D,
2. Two awnings over windows,
3. Extra shelves in kitchen pantry,
4. Moved bathroom fan and light switch,
5. Sold heavy recliners & added new love seat,
6. Added wine glass holder that will hold them during travel,
7. Changed bedroom window to slide type for more air flow,
8. Special storage space for printer,
9. Added 4 12 VDC 101 amps each AGM batteries,
10. Added Tri-metric battery monitoring system,
11. Added more storage under bed
12. Added 120 VAC outlet on side of bed,
13. Added 12 VDC outlet in cabinet next to bed,
14. Added hot water tank on/off switch in kitchen,
15. Added storage under refrigerator,
16. Changed location of under bed safe,
17. Added filter water at kitchen sink,
18. Added plant stands on wall in living and bedroom,
19. Added bookshelf under rear window,
20. Added additional shelving in entry closet,
21. Added under counter light in kitchen,
22. Added fan to vent in bedroom with two way switch,
23. Split kitchen and entrance lights to two switches,
24. Inside handle to open and close kitchen vent,
25. Added screws to all day/night shades to keep from coming apart,
26. Installed exterior connections for cable TV,
27. Added PVC tube under rig for storage,
28. Rain gutter over back window,
29. Outside shoe storage next to door,
30. Door and screen door closure

31. 4 new LT235/85R16 Goodyear G614 tires installed July 2009. Note these are G rated tires

with a maximum of 110psi pressure. The best you can get for this weight rig.
There are more but just can’t remember.

This is a copy of the MSRP sheet with the addition of two modifications that I added to the Big Sky.

Send us an email at HiFiverDriver@yahoo.com or BigSkyDriver@gmail.com

Some exterior views of the Big Sky Montana and the truck. Pulling the rig behind the Dodge diesel is an extreme pleasure. You have to check the mirrors to make sure it's still there. We have pulled it in over 40 MPH winds with no sway or wandering.

Some quick details about the Big Sky are below.

2007 with 4 slides, electric awning, electric front jacks and rear stabilizers, dual pane windows, slide toppers, awnings over front room and dining room windows, 4 12vdc AGM batteries with Try-Metric battery controller, Splendide washer/dryer, 2 televisions, surround sound with AM/FM 4 CD changer, 4 door refrigerator, full size microwave/convection oven, fireplace, queen size bed, queen size air bed in front room, one of a kind pull out printer drawer. The list goes on and on so see the details below. Don't forget the Mor/Ryde pin box.

Jackson California and MOC Rally

2011-04-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was another Montana 5th wheel owners rally at Jackson California, southeast of Sacramento. We arrived two days early and were the 3rd RV there. The rain finally stopped and that big yellow ball of sun came out. And we must say the weather for the rally was perfect with warm days and lots of sun.

The first morning we headed out for a walk around the park and Dick had to rush back into the rig to get his camera and take some shots of the morning mist in the hills from the ridge that the park sets on.

We started our walk and the the light bulb went on in his head when our noses started working. That's about the time we came to the conclusion that the morning mist was nothing more than smoke filling the valley. Don't tell anyone that it's not a misty morning.

An interesting light bulb below--Dick had to photograph it because of it's uniqueness. It was at the entrance of an antique shop.

Most of our activities were in the evening so during some of the days we got out and about and ran across this beautiful old oak tree and just had to capture it to share.

One of the evenings most of us went out to dinner a few miles from the park, and the meal was just grand. On the trip home (after dark) we went by two areas that Dick wanted to come back to during the day to see them better.

The first was this unique building that at one time was a Italian restaurant. The day was very overcast with lots of storm clouds so these are a few of his shots. The gate was closed near the building so decided not to get any closer in case someone was living inside.

Would have loved to see the inside but maybe another day.

The sun started to come out to give us a few light shadows of the face of the structure.

Down the street we found St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church built in 1894. It was the first Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church in America. It was built on the side of a very steep hill and is surrounded by the graveyard. The black storm clouds seem to add to the earieness of this location. Most of the oldest stones bear inscriptions using the old Cyrillic alphabet, while newer stones have used the newer Cyrillic alphabet or English.

Must be a tradition to add a cross at the top of the headstone. Check out the storm clouds that finally brought rain, snow and hail that night. That is the night after the end of the rally.

There are lots of stories that are told by the inscriptions but the interesting one that Jackie found and what we think are 3 siblings buried in a row, all born in the early 1900's
Left: "John (we will leave off the last names) W.W. II Veteran-Silver Star, Bronze Star,-3 purple hearts, Commissioned on the field of battle, Judge, Senator, U.S. Marshall, and County Supervisor."
Center: "Lorraine (same last name) American Legion Aux, Veteran's of foreign wars Aux, Former Amador County Supertendant of Schools."
Right: ""Sharkey" Milos (Same last name) Gambler"

Need we say more?

During the rally several people took a day trip to McLaughlin's Daffodil Hill Memoral garden to see some of the 300000 bulbs in bloom. They said it was well worth the trip to wander around the garden and view the beautiful flowers.

We were busy that day so 10 of us went the day after the end of rally. Now remember that we said the weather was beautiful for the rally but we got snow the night after the rally ended. Well, that's the day we went to see the flowers and when we got there the park was closed becayse the owners felt it was not safe with all the snow and ice on the paths so we had to settle with taking a few pictures over the fence.

This was the security guard that was there to make sure we kept behind the gate.

To be continued...

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

2011-03-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

We found another beautiful spot with a view to die for in central California. In the hills 10 miles outside of Sequoia National Park between the towns of Lemon Cove and Three Rivers is a Corp of Engineers campground called Horse Creek campground. It sits on one side of the lake in a very beautiful valley that they dammed. When we pulled in, the first question they asked us was if we wanted to be a campground host as they needed someone right now.

We thanked them but said we would take the host's site as it's only one of two that has full hook-ups. We signed up for week stay and settled in.

It was sunny the day we arrived and was to continue that for one more day and then look out, here comes the rain. We headed to the park the second day knowing the top of the park is over 7000' elevation and lots of snow was coming. There was lots of snow at higher elevations but the roads were clear and off we went.

Quite a unique entrance sign for a National Park. It was going to be a long trip through the park and we decided to go over the top through Sequoia NP and Kings Canyon NP and make full a circle to get back home.

First stop was an old section of the road that went under this large rock. Not sure what the clearance was but not much.

At higher elevations we made it into the sequoia forest with some of the largest and oldest trees in the world. Because of limited parking we could not stop and see the largest trees so will save that for next time.

What a grand day to traverse the park with the contrast between the red in the trees and the white on the ground.

We stopped and took some pictures for this family and then some for us. We are now in Kings Canyon NP and about ready to head back down.

At Kings Canyon NP Visitors Center the snow was over the windows with a big opening that acted as a frame. We saw the movie, toured the visitors center and headed back to the Jeep. It was really cold up here and we only had light coats. Not smart thinking or I guess we weren't thinking.

We made it back home traveling on roads that would put a European road race to shame. We never saw so many twists and turns on one road before! We were glad we left CC at home because she surely would have been carsick.

We stuck around home for a day or two because of the heavy rain and then found another day that cleared up so we could go back and try it again. Except the road was closed 6 miles into the park because of snow and slides. We had planned to go for a hike, and lucky for us the hike we wanted started right where the road was closed.

This is about 3 miles of the creek (horse creek) from our campsite looking at the mountains and all the new snow.

In the Park we saw lots of signs of spring at the lower elevations with this tree in full bloom and the top of the mountain shrouded in clouds.

We parked the Jeep where the road closed and headed up a trail (Paradise Creek) that followed the river for about 2 miles. It was cool but saw some spectacular scenery. Two or three areas with water falls.

We looked and looked but did not see any critters until Jackie said "stop, that's the prettiest lizard I have ever seen". What an eye she has. Look closely as we added some arrows to this picture so you can locate what she found.

Dick quickly pulled out his camera and got a shot of it and then started to lean in a little more and got another, he kept getting closer and closer and closer...

One knee was in the mud and he was bracing himself with one hand on the wall to get as close as he could, like 4" away and the critter never moved. I guess he thought if he stood still we wouldn't see him. No long lens for this picture.

Heading back down the trail and then back home for a relaxing evening and then back to rain all night and it's still raining.

To be continued...

San Diego Maritime Museum

2011-03-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

As we posted in our last blog we spent part of a nice sunny day on the waterfront in San Diego to view the ships that are part of the floating San Diego Maritime Museum. It's quoted as being "one of the world's finest collections of historic ships."

Because Dick sailed in a submarine when he was in the Navy, our first stop had to be the USS Dolphin, SS 555. The Dolphin is shorter and a little older than the boat Dick sailed on but it was exciting for him to go aboard and remember how tight things are in a submarine.

The control room was a lot different than the boat Dick was on. Both are extremely crowded with little room to move around but this is the heart of the submarine operations.

The Dolphin has a very small galley and one table to feed the crew. This is the mess hall and what you see is the cooking and cleaning area with the table on the left.

Down the wharf moored to another pier was a Soviet Attack Submarine B-39. Quite interesting to see how the other side of the world sailed in a submarine. This boat was commissioned in 1974 and was built in Sudomekh shipyard near Leningrad. This boat was only 30' longer that the Gudgeon that Dick sailed on.

She had 6 torpedo tubes forward and 4 aft.

Just looking down through one of the compartments.

An interesting photo of the Star of India with the backdrop of San Diego, a little of the old and new. The Star is the world's oldest active ship and has an all steel hull. She was launched in 1863 and made 21 trips around the world.

Blue skies, white sails and lots of rigging on her 3 masts.

The Captain's stateroom was small but a lot larger than some of the few cabins in this deck of the boat.

Are you ready to climb the mast and rig the sails? They take her out about two times a year.

H.M.S. Surprise (replica) is a 179' full rigged ship. Her designers and builders made a painstaking effort to recreate a 24 gun frigate of Great Britain's Nelson era Royal Navy.

Glad we don't have to buy the rope in her rigging.

Ready to hoist the sails and sail away.

We walked through town, caught our trolley back to the car and headed home after another great day seeing another portion of our great Country.

To be continued...

Guitars and city tour

2011-03-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

Jackie got a great book for Christmas "Watch it made in the USA" and we took advantage while in the San Diego area of California where we headed out on a rainy day to Taylor Guitars for a great factory tour. They have one tour a day and it was only 30 minutes away. It was an excellent tour, and free besides!

Took lots of pictures but will only post a few. In this step of production one individual would match up the grain and shade of the wood pieces for the back and sides of future guitar.

Close to the end of the tour you can see the shell of the guitars and the matching necks ready for final assembly. Rather than fit by hand they now use CNC machines to cut the matching parts for a perfect fit.

In the visitors center you can pull any guitar off the wall and play all you want. These are the five basic guitars made by Taylor.

And the various woods they use from all over the world for the back and sides.

Another day trip into San Diego and a bus ride around town. The tour was over 2 hours with lots of things to see. We did the full trip then came back to the start and then back on the bus to the waterfront where we had lunch and a tour of several ships. More on that part of the trip on another blog.

After the waterfront, then downtown, we went through Balboa park with lots to see but they charge for just about everything. Must be California.

The far end of the trip was Coronado which at one time was nothing but sagebrush and rabbits. Next to the docks was a display showing pictures in tiles of the history of this area of Coronado. Yes, that's Jackie in the picture.

The boat house was built 1887 and is now a restaurant. It was open for dinner only so did not get a chance to go inside.

Going across the Coronado bridge showing just a few of the thousands of boats in this area.

And heading back across the Coronado bridge back to San Diego in an open vehicle, no seat belts and 60 MPH a little scary (not to mention how these California drivers drive!).

Outside of Taylor Guitar we found lots of these hanging from several trees and had no idea what they are. They are about 1 1/2" in diameter and get hard as they dry out. We did some research to find out what they are and thanks to the secretary and our new Droid X we got all the information. Check out our next Blog for details, that is unless you know what it is.

To be continued...

More beauty of the desert...

2011-03-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

After departing Roosevelt Lake we spent one night back in Casa Grande to flush out tanks and split the driving to California into two days rather than one very long drive. That evening just at sunset Dick went out to get some pictures of the sky and turned around to see this beautiful, full 1/2 circle double rainbow. By the time he got the picture the second rainbow had faded but still got this one with the pot of gold on our rig.

The next day was not the best day to travel but we went ahead and made the trip to Yuma Arizona and then across the boarder to Pilot Knob RV resort in the very little town of Winterhaven California. We ran across heavy winds and then got into heavy rain and finally sun as we got closer to our destination.

The desert does strange some interesting things when it rains, especially the ocotillo that will sit dormant and looking dead with no leaves until a few days after a rain the very small leaves will come out and then beautiful large flowers at the top of each stem. While walking one morning we ran across this one that had started to put on it's new coat of leaves.

A closer look shows the new growth but it's a little hard to see the sharp sets of needles that we find on most plants in this area. The leaves are tiny and don't require a lot of water but will start to drop off as soon as the plant starts to dry out again and then sits there waiting for the next rain to start the process all over again.

Another Ocotillo, but this one decided to only bloom the flowers and not produce leaves. Must know something we don't.

This is a closer view of the very beautiful flower that is about 6" to 10" long.

On another day we took a trip to Castle Dome Mines Museum where a wonderful old mining ghost town sits about 10 miles out on a gravel road in the Kofa National Wildlife Park. Over 30 buildings have been moved from the surrounding area to form a town and they are all full of original furnishings. A must see if in this area.

The main entrance building has a very unique exterior as hundreds of these boxes were left when the silver mines finally shut down.

What are they, you say? Just click on the picture and be glad they are all empty.

A typical view of the inside of one of the buildings where most of the treasures are just laying around for you to pick up and inspect but those thing that might wander off are behind lock and key.

One of the 5 bars that helped make up this town in it's heyday. All 5 bars are filled with old bottles.

Looking across the center area gives an idea of the size of this little town.

Not shown was one building where the walls were all painted white and all military personnel asked to sign. There are thousands of signatures and notes. Another building people have put up business and personal cards with push pins on all the walls. After adding ours' we looked around and found one of our friend Steve Grobstig. What's the chances of that happening?!!

During WW II General George S. Patton used this area for tank-training exercises and had camps set up in the desert between Quartzsite and Yuma area. We have run across some of the areas in the past while snooping around the desert; we found where a camp had laid out a huge compass rose on the ground with the name of the camp or nearest town.

While traveling to the museum we saw three areas where the surface gravel had been removed in adjoining areas and wondered why this was done and when. We raised the question and found that during the training the army set up rows and rows of tents and who wants to sleep on a bed of rocks so now have a smooth place to sleep. Well it's a little smoother and still remains after 60 to 70 years.

To be continued...

Roosevelt Lake Arizona with more saguaro

2011-02-18T20:58:00.000-08:00

Google blogs have a new updated system for posting pictures and while trying to learn the new system we got a lot of these pictures out of the order we wanted them in. So if we jump back and forth please excuse us.

Still at Roosevelt Lake and enjoying the sun, desert and water. Took a ride one day and saw this unbelievable Saguaro. The only problem we were in shorts and flip-flops but had to zig zag our way through the thick bushes full of sharp poky thorns. We finally found our way to this guy that was about one to two thousand yards off the road. When we got there we found that this was not just one saguaro but a group of six growing in a very tight knot. You get a better idea of the size with Jackie standing next to it.

Back at our camp the evening Arizona sky was on fire again. Just had to step out our door to enjoy this beauty. We have the best site in the park with views out three sides of the rig and a short walk over the rocks to the water.

Took a day trip over the Apache trail, a narrow dirt road through the desert and over the mountains with unique colors in the hills. Well, we should say lots of shades of brown with some vivid red in it and maybe a little green.

The Apache trail road we followed to the base of the mountain.

Another shot showing some of the beauty of this area.

A pair of another big guys growing out in the desert and another trek with shorts through the desert to get closer for some shots. What Dick isn't telling you is that he got really scratched up taking these pictures (or actually going across the desert so Jackie could take the pictures from the jeep)!

Ouch!!! who is the idiot who would put his hand out to rest against this monster?

Look closely and figure out who that weird guy is standing out in the desert with his arms sticking up in the air.

Out of order but Robbie had set up this feeder and we got this shot in the shade. Next time will try to get a good shot in the sun to show off the bright colors..

We got our boat out and headed out for a tour with Robbie and Alice. Spent part of two days out on the water and had a ball. Good upper body workout. And the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

Out of any order but another view from our site.

And this is what saguaro look like when they finally dry out and die. Hard to find these still standing as they fall shortly after they die. This one must be over 30' tall.

It was hard to leave this beautiful place where we'd had so much fun with friends, but we pulled out today and are spending one night back at Casa Grande. We will be heading to California in the morning (actually Pilot Knob, just across the California border from Yuma). Did get some great shots of the sunset and a rainbow over the park but that will have to wait for the next blog.

To be continued...

Off to Roosevelt Lake, AZ

2011-02-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

After 3 plus weeks we finally hitched up the Jeep and headed west about 20 miles to Ehrenberg Arizona on the Colorado river to try and clean out all the dust from inside and outside of the MH and the Jeep. The tanks are clean and empty and ready to start over again on another venture.

The evening view out the back of our site looking across the river into California we witnessed another beautiful sunset.

Still another look before heading out the next day. We headed to Roosevelt Lake with a two day stop back in Casa Grande to cut the long distance of travel into two days. One of the fun things about this lifestyle is the friends you continually run across on your travels. Fifteen minutes after arriving at Casa Grande, who pulls up next to us but old friends Charlie and Nila. We had a chance to sit and chat before they headed out in the morning.

We pulled out and headed over the mountains, found a great site next to the lake and settled in for another week or two of dry camping with a view to die for. The saguaro in this part of the Tonto National Forest are several hundred years old and are just huge.

The bridge crosses over in front of the dam and Dick thought the arch reflections in the water were significant for a picture but hard to see.

A little out of sequence but a view from our campsite, which Alice described as the "primo" site.

But better still is a view looking from another directions at friends that we get to share more time with. Robbie and Alice and Alice's sister Mary and her husband Bill who we had the pleasure of meeting last year, as well as Steve and Jeanie (not in the picture).

We took a trip down the road today to visit the Tonto National Monument Cliff Dwellings. This is the lower cave with a short 3/4 mile hike up the side of the hill. Being the first up there in the morning it was great to have the site to ourselves.

While small it was still exciting to visit the homes last occupied over 700 years ago. The ancient Salado people were farmers and had to travel a long distance down the mountain to tend their crops.

They probably didn't care but they sure had a fantastic view from their front rooms.

No lake, just a river when these people lived here. Yes, that's Jackie on the trail back down the hill and in the distance if you look closely you can see one of the many campgrounds in this area.

We had to take this shot to give an idea of the size of the saguaro.

The hillside also is covered with most of the desert plants including this cholla with the light making the needles glow. But don't try to touch it--they don't call it "jumping cholla" for nothing!

This little guy is one of the birds that makes it's home in the saguaro.

See if you can figure out what this (in focus) picture is of?

To be continued...

The picture above is the reflections of the stain glass window on the side of Robbie and Alice's RV.

S O B in the desert

2011-01-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

After Christmas it was back to Casa Grande for a few days to re-provision the rig and then off to Quartzsite Arizona on the 12th of January to meet up with our friends in the Montana Owners Club, most of whom still have Montana 5th wheels. Because we are still members, we are allowed in the circle and don't count as SOBs (some other brand). We set up camp out in the desert in a 420' circle with about 60 other rigs.

Circling around our camp in the morning and evening were some of our neighbors with ultralites that could sail above us with cameras. After taking pictures of our camp they came over and presented us with a series of great aerial shots.

A view of our camp and motor home group camped near us. Also scattered around the desert are small groups and individual campers. This is just one very small area of campers on BLM land. Quartzsite is the Mecca for RVers in January with thousands of trailers, 5th wheels and motorhomes camped out in the desert, enjoying the RV show, gem and mineral show, and lots of vendors of all sorts of things. RVers can find nearly everything they need or want.

Dick took some liberties and filled in 3 or 4 open sites with a little photo shop to form a full circle of Montana's and a few SOB's (Some Other Brands).

Dick got up early (1 day) and got the morning sunrise from our rig. (Actually Jackie got Dick up as she was leaving for her daily walk with several other friends from the circle.) It was a great place to get our daily exercise and enjoy the quiet of the desert.

And in the evening we shared happy hour with about 120 other people while we watched the sunset about the time a campfire was started in the center of the circle.

We watched the full moon rise in the East over the flags flown from all the rigs.

What a sight to see just after watching the sunset and turning around to watch this sight.

Great time with great people, some new friends and lots of old ones.

A view from outside the circle with some of our flags flying.

and a shot of a portion of part of the inside of the circle. From Plomosa Road one could see all our flags flying and know right where the Montana group was.

Dick spent 2 hours riding a quad with a friend in and out of the washes and had a ball. He wants to do it every day but we don't have a quad and we don't have a way to haul one (or two) around.

We had to move out of the circle to another site because our 14 days were up but we went back to travel to the Desert Bar about 5 miles out in the desert with about a dozen other rigs. This is quite a unique place to visit and our 3rd time there. We got to dance to a live band, had lunch and took a few pictures and then back to our dusty, dirty car.

Our last shot done in Black and White of the solid steel construction of this building made as a tribute to the owner's father.

We will spend another few days here and then head to a campground that has all the water we can use to take some very long showers, full hook-ups, and we'll try and clean out the dust from everything. After that we head for the US side of the Mexican boarder and hope to cross over and get some fresh shrimp and cold Margaritas.

To be continued...

Our "vacation" to Washington State

2011-01-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, we know, it’s been several weeks since we took the time to do a posting on our Blog. It’s not that we have been so busy, it just takes a lot of time to plan what to tell and show and to put it all together.

The last we posted we were on our Christmas trip back home to Washington State to visit all the family, and did we do that.

We started right off rushing to get our rental car and heading to Dick’s nephew’s home for a DRIVER family get together. They opened their home and kitchen to all the family and we had a wonderful time including lots of good eats. Thanks Dante and Shosh for hosting the family. We could post a dozen pictures from here but will keep it to just three including a family shot.

Lots of good food and family.

And finally a long past due family photo. Sorry Uncle Dave that you had to stay and work on the boat, we missed you.

After the party we spent a few days visiting with Debbie and Rich at their home in Olympia, which included a day trip back to Seattle to visit the Museum of Flight, where Debbie got to fly a fighter jet and…

Dick got to take a walk in space.

What a spectacular museum with planes on the floor, ceiling and outside plus lots of other unique airplane related displays. If ever in Seattle we would recommend a trip to visit here.

Then it was off to visit with Deanna and Darin including Christmas with them and two of our grandchildren. While there we took in the Christmas light display at Warm Beach Park, a private Christian camp. Lots of beautiful lighted displays, a talking tree, carolers, pony rides and fresh donuts.

The lights depicting the mountains stood about 25' tall; what a display.

Before we headed North to visit Deanna and Darin, Jackie’s brother Brett and his wife Kate hosted a Christmas gathering with dinner for Jackie's side of the family (COOK). It was a real treat to see all her family many of whom we have not visited with in a long, long time.

It's fun to watch second cousins see each other for the first time. We wonder what they are thinking. The one on the left, Jackie's niece's daughter, is actually older than the one on the right, Deanna's daughter. She may be tiny, but she's tough, or so we're told. Those two had fun together and so did the other second cousins. Too bad they live so far apart.

And yes another family picture to share.

Then it was off to Michelle and Jason's for a few days to spend some time with more of our beautiful grandchildren.

A fun time rocking to tunes in the basement.

Well we got 5 of the 6 grandkids. Daisy was standing next to Dick taking her own pictures with her new camera. We also got to see Molly, our oldest granddaughter, ride her horse, but no pictures of that. She is quite the horsewoman.

We headed back to Jackie's brother's for 2 days and then back to the airport and a plane ride back to Arizona.

Thanks to all for sharing your time and families with us. We continue to miss you all but it is a lot warmer here.

We spent a week or so in Casa Grande after our return and are now in the center of the universe in Quartzsite Arizona soaking up lots of sun with a great group of people (the Montana Owners). Lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets to share but that will have to wait for another posting.

Love to all and
to be continued...

From Texas to New Mexico to Arizona

2010-12-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

After finally leaving Texas we made it into New Mexico and one of our stops was Rockhound State Park near Deming. We have been there before and really enjoy the view from the side of the mountain looking west toward town. At night the lights from the city and surrounding area light up the distant valley, yet it's out in the country and very quiet and peaceful.

One of the nights we spent there mother nature decided to show off what she can do and Dick was able to step out of our MH and get several beautiful sunset pictures.

No red filter here just the sky on fire. Or that's what it looked like.

A few days before we took a trip in the late afternoon to White Sands National Monument.
Very nice visitors center and talked to a Ranger that came from Eastern Washington. We did not realize that this park was in the middle of nowhere and just about ran out of gas! We had to travel another 10 miles past the park to get gas and then back to the park.

We had the AC running in the Jeep but it looked like a snow storm had just came through.

Very difficult to get good pictures with white sands and white clouds but we gave it our best try.

People were out there sledding, just like it was snow.

On the way back to our MH we ran across another beautiful sunset behind the mountains.

Before we departed Texas we took a car tour of various old Churches. While we saw 8 or 9 Churches of various sizes and religions we will only post a few in our blog due to space only.

All Churches were open for viewing with no one around so we were able to see some beautiful art work inside.

Most of the Churches are well over 100 years old and have been brought back to excellent condition.

We spent about 2 weeks in Arizona and then got on an airplane and are now visiting family in Washington State. The MH is in storage and we will be back there on the 3rd of January. We'll spend some time re-stocking and then plan on going to Quartzsite for a few weeks to camp with the Montana Owners Club as SOBs (some other brand). We both love being here with the family but can't help remembering how warm it is in Arizona. Luckily CC is still in Arizona with Robbie and Alice (who we hope will give her back!). It's cold here.

To be continued...

Louisiana swamp critters...

2010-12-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

While in Louisiana we spent quite a bit of time visiting and touring some of the swamps. One day we took a boat tour through a large swamp and river. It was exciting to see what we would see and get a shot of. You can see the water height changes by the color on the trees.

A great blue heron was just sitting there asking to have his picture taken. What a huge beautiful bird.

This guy was just lying there watching us as we floated by. He measured about 12 to 14 foot long.

Another day we went for a drive along a lake (looks like a swamp to us) and Jackie spotted this guy sitting in the trees as we drove by. Really blended in with the color of the tree but we did get several good shots of him.

Turtles are really hard to get on film. If they see you move, they are gone back into the water. Finally did find three on the log.

We think this is an Anhinga that was just about ready to take off heading for the top of the trees but still in view of Dick's camera where he got some more pictures of him (her).

This fella (gal?) was relaxing in the sun on a floating log. These guys we spotted while walking down the road.

What can we say? What do you think? Picking flowers or a vegetarian?

Interesting what you can see if you look further into the swamp.

Several pictures of Egrets. Hard to get a good shot with those wings flapping hard.

Just at sunset.

Looking for dinner.

Aren't they beautiful?

Hope you enjoy a little different blog with just some of the critters we shot while in Louisiana.

We finished our tour of Louisiana and headed west through Texas (888 miles) and are now in New Mexico for a week or so and then will head to Arizona.

To be continued...

New Orleans Louisiana

2010-11-25T18:42:00.000-08:00

We left Florida on the 17 of November and started our trek back west. Went through Alabama, Mississippi and ended up in the little town of Abita Springs, Louisiana, about 30 miles due North of New Orleans. We traveled just a little over 200 miles that day. Set up the rig and spent the rest of the day just sitting around and relaxing.

Today, the 18th, we took off in the jeep and headed toward New Orleans. About 10 miles down the road we found Pontchartrain Causeway (bridge) that took us across Lake Pontchartrain. We have never traveled on a bridge that was so long (24 miles); the other side was not visible until we got about half way across. Took over 20 minutes at 65 mph!

We finally got to the other side, found the visitors center, and then the French Quarter. Spent the day just walking the streets and shooting pictures. Had a great lunch sitting on the balcony of a restaurant and enjoying watching the people below on Bourbon Street.

Nothing special with the pictures just shots that Dick thought might be a little different than most you would see so not much to write about.

Line-up of horse and carriage's waiting for tourists.

The lady in the window is a manikin but hard to tell until you get close.

A little run down...

and around the corner a big change. Guess it's the same here as most places.

The flag reads "FALLING LEAF ZONE", cute.

Canal Street.

Loved the shadows.

Our view at lunch looking down Bourbon Street.

Take the time to look up and you get a different view of the buildings.

Lots of plants on the balconys.

To be continued...

Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow, NAS Pensacola

2010-11-19T20:06:00.000-08:00

A week or so ago we decided to take in our first ever Air Show and headed to Naval Air Station Pensacola for the Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow. We drove onto the base, found a parking space and hiked to the field along with 50 to 100 thousand other people. The price was just right, free.

We settled into our chairs and Dick started to take pictures. One of the opening performaces was a parachute team that came down with the American Flag while the drop plane circled.

We walked the tarmac viewing some of the 17 planes on display.

Walked through one of the smaller ones :>)

Just about the time the F-15E Strike Eagle flew by at close to 600 MPH the battery went dead in Dick's camera. A long trip back to the car to get the extra batteries only to find four more dead ones. Back to the flight line and missing the chance for more good pictures we found a booth that had some batteries. Great, just in time to get some shots of this jet powered glider perform. What a beautiful display of flying with smoke from both wing tips.

The Yak 52 Russian design built in Romania,

The star of the show was Blue Angels F/A-18 with a top speed just of 1,400 MPH and can still fly at 129 MPH with a sneak pass while you are looking at the rest of the planes just off the ground at 600 MPH. And the Blues performed for nearly an hour, keeping us on our toes wondering which way they would come from next.

You can feel the sound completely through your body as they fly what looks like just a few feet above your head. Click and blow up this picture and you can see the smile on the pilots face.

No we did not turn the picture over.

Four of the six in a slow pass with wheels down.

And a fast pass.

Straight up again at 30,000 feet per minute.

And finally a shot of all six.

All we could say was W O W a day sitting in the warm sun watching a fantastic display of air power and it was all free.

To be continued...

Alabama and Florida

2010-11-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Just in case you forgot who we are we will start this long overdue Blog with a reminder picture of the two of us taken in Alabama by our good friends with whom we spent about two weeks while sitting at the Tiffin customer service area in Red Bay Alabama.

Service area is a very busy place. We arrived on a Saturday and were given a place to park with power and water until they could get us a full hookup site in a few days. We moved on Monday to a full site with about 100 other people trying to get service. Tuesday the scheduler came around and gave us two choices, sit here for 6 to 7 weeks to get into a bay for service or wait for a few days and get work done by 2 men for 3 hours each. We elected for the express service.

Not quite sure why but we got a call on Tuesday afternoon to pull into a bay. We moved into the bay and spent about 1 1/2 hours there fixing some small things we needed repaired. They send all rigs back to the campsite in the evenings with instructions to be back at 7:00 AM. We did this and part way through the repairs they said "sorry but your time is up". They changed the ice maker in the refrigerator and did a few other repairs. We paid for what they had done and moved the rig back to our site.

The next day Dick walked back to the repair area and told them the ice maker was not working. They had us move the rig back into a bay and decided to pull the refrigerator and not only fix the ice maker but change the fans on the back of it. Not an easy job to pull the refer and get it back into that little hole.

When completed we asked for the paperwork so we could pay and they told us not to worry about it. Don't have to tell us twice. Three guys for three hours should have cost us a few dollars.

The next day we took a tour of the factory and while there the tour guide convinced us to go talk to Bob Tiffin the owner about another problem we had. When they built the bus 6 years ago they put a thick plastic or vinyl coating on the front below the window. Through the years it has failed, making the front look like it was covered with bugs. We asked Bob what Tiffin could do about it. He reminded us that the 3M product had a 3 year warranty that expired 3 years ago. He did say he would take care of it and for us to go see the service manager in the morning.

Remember we are now looking at 6 to 7 weeks wait to get into a bay for service. First thing the next morning we visited with the service manager; he had received a call from Bob Tiffin to get us fixed up. When we asked about a schedule he picked up the phone and when he got off he told us to move our rig into a bay. It took about 3 1/2 days for them to remove the 3M material and repaint most of the front. We talked them into sanding and repainting the area above the window and split the cost. They charged us $150 for all the extra work and got us out in 4 days. We had received an estimate from another company of $1,500 plus the cost of removing the 3M coating.

We spent several evenings playing cards and games with old friends who are still waiting to get their new bus fixed. We also did day trips with them to see the countryside. One of the areas that the locals told us to visit was the Worlds only Coon Dog Cemetery. Off we went to this area out in the woods and yes there is a very large Cemetery there for Coon Dogs only. It was started in 1937 and has a few hundred dogs buried there.

Quite a large area complete with picnic tables and shelters.

This is just one of the many stone headstones.

When we finally got out of Red Bay we headed to a Corp of Engineers park in the little town of Forkland Alabama. This site must have been over 100' long and take a look at the next picture...

for a view out our front window. This was really a great park so put it on your list of places to stop.

A change of plans (or a wrong turn) find us now in Florida in the town of Milton in the panhandle area. Being this close to the gulf of Mexico we had to head for the beach. Here white sands with bright sun casts our shadow while walking together.

As we said the sands are really white with hardly a person to share our time together on the beach; little or no oil here.

Jackie with shoes in hand letting the waves splash her feet, maybe we should just stay here for the rest of the winter.

Just a picture of the pier jutting out into the Gulf of Mexico with the afternoon sun glistening on the water and a shore bird finding a small island of sand to rest on.

We met a couple from our old car club in Washington who have been living in this area and had a great time seeing them and sharing a bite to eat at the Hog's Breath restaurant. Thanks Tom and Karen for sharing part of your day with us. It was great seeing you guys again after all these years.

Out for a walk the other day we ran across this sign in the front yard of a local home. Not sure what kind of eggs that a yard can produce but the price looks good.

Wednesday we head out to New Orleans so if you have any suggestions of good places to see in the area please drop us a hint.

To be continued...

A birth, a death, a Trace and fall

2010-10-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here we are back in the State of Tennessee with our front window looking over a lake with the fall colors all around us. More on that later. We took a drive the other day to see this area of the country and made a stop at the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln at what is now the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park across the boarder in Kentucky.

He was born here but only lived here for about the first two years of his life.

From the visitors center there was a boardwalk trail that led to the monument next to Sinking Springs where the family got all it's water. A short but pretty trip through the woods.

This monument was erected between 1909 and 1911 as a tribute to him and his family.

A closer look shows some of the beautiful marble that the structure was made from.

Inside is what at one time was thought to be his boyhood home but turned out to be a neighbors but it does depict the size and style that his parents were able to build for the family.

When he was about two the family was forced off the property and moved a few miles away on 30 rented acres in Knob Creek. After the family lost their battle with the courts to prove ownership of the property where Abraham was born, they packed up and got out of Dodge. He was born in Kentucky but spent most of his young life in Illinois.

He did help the family work the field in the back of this picture and lived in a cabin similar to the one here.

As we traveled around this part of the country we saw lots of very large barns and were finally able to find one that we could get close to. We have all seen the pictures of the tobacco drying in the barns. This was our chance to see it first hand. This is just the first layer of the plants and in the next picture...

you can see how big this operation is. This is about as close to tobacco that we want to get these days. This is the only barn we saw that had open sides; most were wooden sides with vents in the roof. Very interesting but not for us.

We found a Thousand Trails Wilderness Preserve or park near Hohenwald, Tennessee and settled in with this view out our front window. Just a little morning mist on Chief Creek Lake.

This area is close to the North end of the 450 miles Natchez Trace (trail) and we were able to travel about 1/4 of it. A winding 2 lane road through the countryside with limited access roads to or from it. It was built with most of the cross roads going under or over this roadway so there is little or no traffic on it. The original trail was used by merchants, travelers, indians, and thieves going from the New Orleans area to Nashville area, some as early as the 1700's.

Not sure how we did it but just realized that some of the pictures are out of order so will try and fill in the details as best we can.

One of the pull-outs along the Natchez Trace showing some of the Kentucky farmland or I think they called them ranches around here.

What was amazing to both of us was the mowed grass around here. Along the Trace there is grass between the road and the tree line as much as 100 yards wide, and it's all mowed. The larger homes around have huge, like 50 acre front yards and it's all mowed. Must be very sick people around here.

Another stop along the Trace we found the death and burial place of Meriwether Lewis. This is the monument that was erected over the burial place of Meriwether.

The death of Meriwether still has not been solved to this day but most people think it was a suicide that happened on this property.

Back to the RV park watching the fall colors over the lake behind our campsite.

Might as well share one more picture before the end of this Blog. Happy fall to all our friends.

We headed out this morning and are now in Red Bay Alabama where our MH was born. We have a few items that need to be fixed so what better place than Tiffin factory. Looks like we maybe here for some time as this is the busiest time for repairs at the factory, with so many folks heading south for the winter. But we have friends here which should make the wait more bearable, once they get well. (They both have bad colds, so our playing cards or games in the evening will have to wait.)

To be continued...

Indiana and a Mammoth cave in Kentucky

2010-10-15T19:20:00.001-07:00

While at the Montana Owners Rally in Goshen, IN, we had a little time to do some site-seeing. We passed quite a few of these Amish buggies. It was really interesting on the narrow roads, especially at night. And even Wal-Mart has space set aside for parking them!

A traffic jam! Hey Molly you could take all the kids to school in one of these.

Back in Batesville, IN we took one day off from moving into and setting up the RV to drive to a little tourist town called Metamora. Here is Jackie outside one of the interesting buildings.

But look what is inside! It was so crowded with "stuff" you could hardly move through! But the lady in charge seemed to know where everything was! The weekend before we were there was their big festival (Canal Days) and thousands of folks had been in town. She complained that people had moved her stock and she had spent all day putting it back into place!

There was room after room of more "stuff"!

Down the road was the Cookie Jar Store. Dick asked if this was an earthquake zone and was told no, but all of the shelves are covered with a special blue cloth, "just in case". They had every cookie jar imaginable! (Several Star Wars for Deb and Wiz for Deanna--sorry we can't bring them to you!) They also sell very delicious ice cream. I think she said thay had over 2,500 of them.

More cookie jars. I think there were seven rooms full!

A hint of fall showing around this house next to the train and next to the canal in Metamora:

One of the views in our campground as we walked in the mornings:
Fall is here and it's time to work our way South.

Off to Kentucky and Mammoth Cave National Park. Our first day here and we chose the 4-1/2 hour, 4 mile tour! It was very interesting with lots of steps and much up and down. Here are some folks entering the cave.

Most of this part of the cave was rock, but here are some drapery formations at the end of the tour.

Stalagtites and stalagmites, etc.

To be continued...

We did it...

2010-10-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

We last told you we had gone to Tennessee to see an Allegro Bus for sale and then wanted to go to Ohio to see another one. Well, when we got to Ohio and walked into the 40' Allegro Bus, we both looked at each other and knew this was the one. We did a detail inspection and took it for a drive, negotiated a price with the seller, shook hands and told her we would be back in a week to pick it up.

We packed up and went north to Goshen Indiana for a Montana Owners Rally near the Keystone factory. We had an OK time with about 100 other Montanas. Took a factory tour, passed up a $1000 off on our next Montana and then headed back to Batesville Indiana on Wednesday.

We went to Ohio on Thursday, picked up the 2004 Allegro 40' Bus and came back to the RV park here in Batesville to begin the process.

The fun started, it took us 4 long hard days to sort through everything and move into the the Motor Home (MH). Then we had to take several loads to Goodwill, and still took another 3 or 4 days to reorganize the MH, hang our pictures and make it home. Now Dick has to start installing the Wilson antenna, router, and XM radio and other things.

We pulled up door-to-door and decided we needed the exercise up and down the stairs rather than put a board between the rigs.

Today we finally got to a point where there is nothing sitting out looking for a place to be put, so we took the time to get some pictures. The antenna booster and router will be sitting on the dash until Dick gets it all installed. (We need you, John.)

Starting from inside the front door looking back on the right side toward the kitchen. No gas oven so I guess we will be doing less cooking.(We do have a microwave/convection oven, so guess we'll have to work on learning how to use it.) The bright area above the counter is a decorative mirror. There is a great spot for CC just behind the chair. Yes Robbie that is a bottle of our favorite liquid behind the chair so CC can lick any drops around the top.

Storage, storage, storage, but not as much as we had inside the Big Sky, so some stuff which was inside before is now in the basement. Inside the area just behind the kitchen table is the washer/dryer. The couch folds into a double bed and if needed (for small kids) the table will drop down for another bed.

The cabinets are a very rich looking cherry wood and really make the place look great.

Just another view looking back toward the front. The MH has only two slides, the one on the left and one in the bedroom, but there is still lots of room. A little small for dancing, but that's never stopped us!

A sink in the toilet area and also outside next to the shower. The toilet is electric and could pose a problem if we are dry camping for an extended length of time. I think we will be filling the black tank in about a week. Oh well we will just have to wait and see.

Looks like we need to trade in the "trailer life" magazines for "MH life".

Just another picture looking back toward the bedroom.

And the bedroom looking toward the rear with the wash basin counter on the right.

And then turning around and looking at the shower and basin counter with some of the bedroom storage.

Looking at the chest under the bedroom window.

And peeking around the other side of the MH is our new toad, well it's new to us. We purchased a 2006 Jeep Liberty Renegade and we feel like we are in a sardine can after years in the truck!

We traded in the truck and came out with a healthy check to help pay off the MH.

The only problem is that we have to put most of the "stuff" that was in the truck in the basement of the MH. We are still trying to figure out how we can keep the boat with us so if we run across a pond while being tourist we can just blow it up and go paddling.

CC can now stand on the seat and look out the window in the back seat, which she did for the first time today as we took her to the vet for her yearly check-up. Poor dog, first ride in the Jeep and she had to go to the vet! Then to add insult to injury, after we got home she got a bath!

Our schedule is to pull out of here next Wednesday and start heading south but to take our time and see what is interesting in this part of the Country, if only to have pictures to post for you all, or is that y'all.

To be continued...

Back to South Dakota for catch up

2010-09-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's a little past time for an update so here goes. While in South Dakota we decided it was time to to look a little harder for a Class A motorhome. We found to our liking four units, one in Tennessee, one in Ohio and two in Texas. After one of the ones we liked in Texas was sold we decided not to try for the other one. So we called the owners, Jim and Sue in Tennessee and told them we should be there within the week.

We headed toward Tennessee, it was only 1400 miles away. We traveled about 300 miles per day and arrived on Thursday. We contacted the owners and to make a long story short we had to travel to Alabama to see the rig. It was a great trip getting to know a wonderful couple and did get to see the rig. It is a very nice motorhome and we are considering making an offer but first we have to take a look at the unit in Ohio. Tomorrow we go to Ohio and will get a chance to take a look at that one. So at this time we have not made any decisions. Whatever we do, our big concern is how to dispose of our 5th wheel and truck. So time will tell.

We are now in Indiana and still heading for Goshen and the Montana Rally.

So let's backtrack and here are some pictures we took in South Dakota prior to our marathon trip.

We guess we don't need to tell you where our first day trip was to. How exciting to finally be here to see what we have been looking at in pictures for years. What was most interesting was that 95% of the carving was done with dynamite. Holes drilled to a specific depth in a close pattern and then the surface blasted away.

I guess no one was around to pick up all the loose rocks.

A close up view on a bright sunny day, sharing this view with hundreds of people there.

At the base of the mountain a mock-up of the statues was made and then measurements taken taken from the model, multiplied by 12 and relayed to the mountain.

A close up to give a better idea of what one face looks like. This was taken after leaving the park and is the only face that can be seen from this location.

How can you go to South Dakota without seeing the Badlands, and let us tell you they are B-A-D. No way could you get out if you ever got into them.

Sorry about the shadow but you get what you can.

Jackie finally got to see mountain goats before leaving the park (We have looked for them in several places over the last 28 months.).

On the way home we had to stop at Wall Drug. It takes up about 2 city blocks of maybe a 5 city block town of Wall. Had lunch, purchased post cards and headed home.

Ran across this big guy so had him pose, took the shot and off we went before he decided Dick should not be there.

Back at the park the wild turkeys took over the place. Are they just waiting for dinner?

To be continued...

A little of this and a little of that...

2010-09-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

The last we spoke we had left the area of Dick's great grandfather's homestead in northern Colorado and made our way north into Wyoming where we found our way to Glendo State Park. The park surrounds an 800,000 acre reservoir. There are around 12 campgrounds around the reservoir with spaces for over 300 camp sites. They had a bad flood this past spring and much of the park close to the water is currently being renovated. As we checked out the area, we were only able to find two other campsites being used. However, as we left the park the ranger told us that the reservation part of the park would be full for the holiday weekend.

We picked a site on a point overlooking the reservoir and set up camp, including the generator as this is all dry camping here. We had planned on staying 3 nights but because of continued problems with the generator we hooked up a day early and headed out.

Before we left we did check out some of the area and took this picture from across the reservoir.

If you look closely at the above picture you can see our rig sitting on the bluff, or you can scroll down and see us a little easier with a zoom lens. Looks like we had the place to ourselves, right? And we did. It was so nice and quiet, we hated to leave.

We did get to Fort Laramie, and spent part of the day there with plans to go back the next day but because of the generator problems we will have to do that on another trip.

We headed this time to NE Wyoming to the little town of Sundance. The town that the Sundance Kid took his name from(and spent some time in the local jail). That's about all the history for this town.

One day we found a back country dirt road and just went for a drive to see what the area was like.

We found this sign out in the middle of nothing and as you can see it is nothing. Not sure what Meadowdale is as we could not see a thing except cattle and grazing land.

On another day we made the trip to Devils Tower National Monument. This is the first National Monument.

Most of the ranches have completed the haying for this year and a view looking across a ranch toward Devils Tower.

There is a trail about 1 1/2 mile long that we took around the base of the tower. Nice trail in the woods with lots of views of the tower with lots of people trying to scale the sides.

On the way into the park there is a very large field full of holes with little heads looking up all around.

The prairie dogs posed for some pictures.

Just down the road we ran across a fawn that had just about lost it's spots but still had a few (mom wasn't far away).

A few miles down the road from Sundance was a place called Vore's Buffalo Jump. We had to see what this was all about. There is quite a large sinkhole that has been here for thousands of years and the Indians would stampede the Buffalo, run them off the edge of the hole. The story goes that they would run over 700 buffalo, slaughter them and take all the butchered pieces to a camp about 2 miles away, process it for future meals, etc.

The building in the hole is to protect the diggings that have been uncovered. They dug a hole about 25' deep and determined that the "jump" would have been done about every 15 years. This whole thing was discovered in 1970 when the feds were getting ready to put I-90 in, and this site was right in the path.

Looking at a very small piece of the excavation inside the building showing hundreds of bones.

Dick figured it was time to do some rock hounding so out into the wilderness again to a spot he had found on the Internet. The only problem is once we got there and started up the dry river bed was he was not sure what he was looking for!

We walked about a 1/2 mile up the bed and picked up a bag of rocks; still not sure if it was what we should have found. It was a nice trip and we did find...

this old truck out in a pasture. Looks like it is need of a little restoration.

Not sure of the age of this old log home but would guess that it and the one in the distance on the right could date back to the late 1800s. We have seen a lot in these few short days so just wanted to share a little of it with you.

And finally, Dick started wire wrapping some of the petrified wood we found in Arizona. A different twist with the added glass beads. It measures 3 1/8" tall and 1 5/8" wide and it could be yours for only $85.00. It took 6 weeks to polish the stone and 2 evenings to wrap with all sterling silver wire.

We're off to the Rapid City, SD area for six days before starting our trek to Indiana for the Montana Owners Rally.

To be continued...

Rocky Mountain National Park

2010-08-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

We arrived with reservations for 3 nights at the Park, set up camp including the generator so we could keep the batteries charged up. Dick's CPAP machine takes about 6% of the battery and then using the lights, water pump and refrigerator we need to charge them up in the morning.

We headed up and over the mountain and as usual took the narrow dirt road to the top at over 14,000 feet. Here is looking back down the valley, and we are only half way up the side.
What incredible views! We did find that we were a little light-headed when we arrived at the Visitor Center.

For some strange reason the park is full of what they call wild animals. We pulled over to watch a moose in the stream (of course he wouldn't turn around, so Dick got another "butt shot"). Just before we got there a bicyclist was watching the Moose as he came around the corner and just rode his bike off the road into a tree. All turned out well after the aid car came.

This scraggly guy kept watching us as he walked (or ran) away.

The elk herds came down into our part of the park every day and we lost count at about 80. One evening some walked right up to some people. Kind of scary. And you should see the cars blocking the road, just stopped to take pictures!

This is one of the two bucks that are feeding together.

Just before sunset with the haze of the evening hanging over the mountains.

Took another ride one day and found this campground. It is a rather nice Forest Service campground on a creek with lots of trails around. We talked about going there, maybe as hosts, but unfortunately there is no cell service. Guess it is not for us.

We are now in Wyoming for the first time after spending 3 days in the little town of Walden Colorado where Dick's great grandfather homesteaded. We came away with lots of family details dating back to 1882 and again met several very helpful friendly folks. Walked the 1882 homestead and that was kind of cool. Their museum is great.

To be continued...

Three for the price of one...

2010-08-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Our two weeks is about up here in Monument Colorado. The park where we are staying is very nice with lots of trees and fills up on the weekend with lots of kids so it keep us thinking about our grand kids that we miss.

We have spent a lot of time seeing the area and at the same time doing some family research, mostly Dick's side of the family but still looking for details on Jackie's grandfather who was born in Boulder Colorado before they registered births. Without a birth certificate or listing we can't find his parents details. We met a wonderful lady in Castle Rock (yes, Castle Rock, CO) at the historical library who, as an archivist, was a terrific help to us regarding Dick's family. We even went back a second time and she helped us find even more. Thank you, Johanna.

We have had several days with afternoon thunder storms so do most of our site-seeting before the rain starts. We have been to over 14,000' high and to 1,000' underground in a couple of days. One day we went on a tour of a gold mine and they took us down 1,000' to the main drift saw a lot of equipment both old and newer, still working. Newer being early 1900s. The tour was great but the pictures are not, so have not posted pictures of this trip. Did see some gold in the rock that they plan to take out another day.

1) The trip to 14,110' was via a Cog Rail Road that took us to the very top of Pikes Peak. We could have driven up but they wanted $12.00 per person to drive your own vehicle to the top. We thought it would be a lot more fun taking the train. When we got to the top the temperature was 42 deg. but with the wind chill it was right around freezing.

We finally reached the top in this train with a maximum grade of 25%. It looked like straight up but looked worse when going down. Glad the brake system works.

A little hazy but you could see 5 States from the top.

Again a view looking off in another direction. Notice that what looks like a third rail down the center of the track is just the Cog strip used for pulling us up and taking us down. Also notice that we are above the tree line and the top of this mountain is all rock.

Just a little proof that we did it. No running at this elevation and glad we brought sweaters with us.

2) This day trip was at a more normal elevation. As normal as you get here in Colorado. Between the freeway and the base of the mountains is the Air Force Academy with a nice visitors center and self guided tours of the property. Hiking a trail we got a look at the student lodging, class area and the chapel. The chapel can be seen from all over town; it's quite a landmark.

The chapel is built primarily of aluminum and stained glass and is a beautiful structure with room for several denominations using it at the same time.

This view just shouted Black and White so why not?

There are several areas around the academy where they have historical airplanes mounted on raised platforms but nothing bigger than this B-52. Wow, what a monster.

3) Back underground but not far, just under the edge of the cliff is the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and Museum. They have done a great job bringing it back to a condition where you could wander through the buildings. This is about half the width of the Dwelling with the other half extending off the the left.

I think the handrails were added later.

You can see that they had several floors just like what we have now. Very interesting and glad we took the time to see it.

There is so much to see in this area, we are sure we will be back again. And in spite of the thunderstorms, the weather has been great.

We are off to the Rocky Mountain National Park so not sure if we will have Internet or telephone.

To be continued...

Hanging out and having fun in Colorado

2010-08-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

We have been staying at Blue Mesa Ranch Resort, a Western Horizon resort in Gunnison Colorado. Fancy name for a large RV park. Every Saturday those that want can set up and sell products they have made or purchased for resale.

We set up a table like many others and tried to sell some of Dick's jewelry and polished stones. The first item that he sold was his first wire wrapped project that he made. The next Saturday he sold a pair of earrings. Not the best place to sell higher cost jewelry. We did have fun and while sitting there he made some more pieces to sell and Jackie made some cards (not ready to sell them yet).

Another day we packed up and headed to town for a river rafting trip down the Gunnison river. Kind of mild but it was a great day until it started to rain. It cooled down fast and we got a little wet but had a great time.

Found some more places where the wild flowers came out in bloom and just had to stop and get some shots of them. This was just a small garden at the RV park but with carefully adjusted shot he was able to not get the road or fence in the picture.

Back doing family research Dick found that his Great Great Grandmother was buried in a very small mountain town in 1883. On the trip up the mountain we found a beautiful reservoir. This is in the Taylor Park area near the town of Tin Cup or Tincup.

The cemetery at Tin Cup is several knolls, each for different groups (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish). The only information we had was that she was buried in the Protestant cemetery, the grave was in the second row near the middle and at one time it had picket fence and a wood grave marker that are now gone.

You have to cross the bridge to get to the cemetery.

The trees have grown up throughout the area and it was very difficult to determine what the rows are. Based on what little information we had this was the grave site we picked to be hers. We put flowers on the grave and departed in the rain.

Hope we got the right one, but will never know for sure.

A few miles away, the family settled in an area called Union Park on 20 acres in the middle of this valley and extending into the forest on the right.

This building was there about the time that the gold mining was going strong in the area and is still used as a cow camp.

Hope to go back another time now that we know the exact location of the Texas Placer mine and see if there is any indication of a home where she died.

Another day another trip up into the mountains. This time it was to an historical RR tunnel at the end of a road. The road to Alpine tunnel is the old narrow gauge track bed that gains several thousand feet up the side of the mountain.

This is a view down the valley at only about half way to the top.

The rock retaining wall was put in around 1880 and still holds the road in place. That clear strip on the right is the same road.

Not sure what is around the corner but glad no one was there when we went around the bend. Notice it is straight down with room for only one vehicle.

On the way up there is a restored water tank. One of several but the only one that has been restored.

Half way up the mountain some of the track still stand, but this is a siding where a town once stood. If there was not a sign here one would have no idea of what was here over 100 years ago.

Finally at the top the remains of several buildings and the restored station and one other building. While there we found two people working on restoring the large stone building on the left.

The tunnel is still there but a rock slide has closed it off at both ends. It was only in use from 1881-1910. Must have cost thousands of dollars to build the tunnel and the RR to only be in service for that short time.

Did we mention that it took us 1 1/2 hours to travel the 10 miles to the tunnel?

On the way back home we ran across the Indian in the side of the hill.

Looks like he is looking over a ranch and the valley.

Stay tuned for more of our travels.

To be continued...

First stop in Colorado

2010-08-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Lets see if we can figure out what all these pictures are; it's been awhile since we visited these areas of Colorado. In our last posting we told you we are in a hole as far as Verizon is concerned so yesterday we took a ride to a little town up in the mountains and found a good hot spot so we were finally to able get the pictures uploaded. Sorry about the delay.

After setting up in Fruita Colorado at a very nice but over-priced State Park we checked out town and the local visitors center for information on the area and all of Colorado. We ended up spending 4 nights here but it was still over 100 every day so up to the mountains we went where it was a little cooler.

Just up the road from us is the Colorado National Monument (more red rocks). It was impressive, but after all we've seen in UT & AZ, not the best. There is a loop road, about 35 miles that goes up to the top, across and down the other side into Grand Junction.

We did stop at the visitors center, saw the movie about the Monument, checked out the campground, stopped at all the lookouts and walked some of the trails.

Not sure how far it is to the bottom but it's too far for us old timers to try and get there (and back!).

Looking North down to the town of Fruita, if you look closely, just on the other side of the river, you can see our rig at the State Park. Let us know when you find it.

Just another shot of Monument showing how close it really is to town. Kind of a hazy day so not

the best shots Dick has taken. Looking across the valley is the Grand Mesa National Forest, and yes, we have some pictures of that. Keep looking.

We started at about 4500' of elevation and kept climbing and climbing to over 11500', and what a view from the top. When we took this picture looking at China in the distance we still had not arrived at the top!

The temperature went from 100+ to the low 60s and everywhere you looked were mountain lakes. That funny strap on Dick's back is his camera strap. Notice that this is the first time in months that we have had to put on jackets. Glad we had them stowed in the truck for just this situation.

We still had shorts, but think that's about all we wear. Jackie and C C enjoying the view of more lakes.

On the hike to the viewpoint Dick had to stop and shoot some of the wildflowers. So very delicate with the purple lines in the petals.

Hard to see in this shot but the mountain meadows were full of various colors of wildflowers.

A little closer look.

Not sure how this picture got out of sequence but this is Jackie seeing how close she can get to the edge back at Colorado National Monument. (Notice, she's not very close--not nearly the daredevil Dick is.)

Rather than take the paved road back down from the National Forest we found an old one lane gravel switchback road that took us to the bottom that you can see off in the distance. Now we know why they call this "Lands End Road". We do this a lot, sure glad we have a 4WD truck with good brakes as this was about a 7000' decent. Then when we were almost down we came across a winery, so of course we had to stop and rest and check out the product. It was very good and we ended up buying a couple of bottles. (This is for Marie and Pat -- they'll understand.)

We are still at Blue Mesa RV Ranch in Gunnison so I guess this area will be our next post, so..

to be continued...

Colorado for a few weeks...

2010-07-28T14:01:00.001-07:00

We finally made it out of Utah and are now in Colorado until we decide it's time to go to Wyoming. We spent 4 days at Grand Junction and then moved to Gunnison where we are staying now at Blue Mesa Recreation Ranch for about 17 days.

We have tried several times to post pictures but we are in a valley between two large hills so do not get very good Internet connection. We have pictures of Colorado National Monument and the Mesa National Forest at close to 11,000 feet to share. Please be patient and we will get going again soon. We will just have to take the computer to town and get them posted for you.

If you want to reach us please send us an email and we will find a hot-spot and give you a call.

So for now we sill sign off only...

...to be continued

Still in Utah

2010-07-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Another day another day trip to see more of southern Utah. This time was to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park where most of the sand is blown in from more red rocks. There is a pink hue to the sand but hard to photograph.

Most of the park was set aside for playing with 4 wheel rigs like the Oregon coast dunes but a small part was set aside for walking. There was a nice half mile loop, hard walking, but nice views with lots of descriptions of the plants there.

A minute after taking this shot about 10 buggies came roaring over the top of the dune. Looks like fun but sure breaks up the silence of the park.

Not sure how the Yucca plat continues to survive as it is buried completely under the sand except for it's flower.

Wow, yellow flowers growing out of the dunes. Must not need much water as there isn't much here.

The winds keep moving the sand over this dune so nothing is growing here.

Pink, green, yellow and blue add a unique color pallet to this photo combined with the slope of the dune caught Dick's eye.

On another day, a few miles down the road just outside of Kanab there is an old cave that was used in the late 1800's and early 1900's as a gathering and party place for the local kids. It was purchased by a Mormon family who cleaned it up and turned it into of all things a bar and dance hall in the 1950's.

After 25 years of drunks and fights the owners closed it down and turned it into a tourist spot with a museum and gift shop still operated by family members. The original owner had quite a collection of artifacts, native American, rocks, and dinasaur tracks he had collected all over the southwest.

The entrance was revamped with stone and glass with exterior walls to add some southwest charm to the exterior.

A closer look at the entrance shows the fine detail that was added to an old cave.

The cave is all natural except they added dirt and cement to give a level floor and painted the ceiling to cover the graffiti from years of abuse. We could only see 3 large rooms and not sure if there was more. Looking into one section of the museum with lots of Native artifacts.

And another day we drove the 80 miles to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It was over 10500' of elevation and what a welcome relief going from 105 to 65 deg. temperature, and yes, we brought our sweaters. The drive up there was beautiful and included checking out a private campground on the river. Driving from 4000' to over 10500' and back, we saw many different landscapes, all beautiful.

This area to us was a little like Brice Canyon but still very unique and beautiful. Did we mention that the white you see here is.... yes it's snow.

It's interesting how the forest comes right to the edge of the canyon.

We had a lovely lunch (packed earlier in the day) at the picnic area by the campground. We were able to take CC with us this time as it was cooler, and she enjoyed watching the wildlife (deer, squirrels) while we ate.

Just another view looking deeper to the bottom.

Wish we had the time and youthful energy to hike and camp down at the bottom but maybe during our next life time. (smile)

More snow and hoodoos to tweak your imagination on how they are formed. Do love our new lens.

To be continued...