Visit to National Memorial Park

No wonder people carry guns here!

We visited the country's only National Memorial Park yesterday - Coronado.  Located south of us, on the Mexican/US border, chosen to be located here with the understanding that this park would be an international park with Mexico and the US - that hasn't happened yet - they hope some day in the future.  The park commemorates Francisco Vasquez de Coronado's expedition from Mexico up through to Kansas and return in the 1540s, a 'probable' route that he used through this area.  Spain sent out Coronado to find the seven cities of gold that previous explorers Cortes, Pizarro, de Vaca, and Father Marcos de Niza told about and exaggerated.  Coronado never found the cities nor the gold but did meet many native Indians and introduced the Spanish culture to them and to this day Spanish culture has integrated into our life with food, customs, words and phrases used, Catholicism, farming.

Trail to top of Coronado Peak

After leaving the visitors center we started out on a paved road but quickly it turned into a dirt, narrow, windy dusty road and started up the  switchbacks up to the top of Coronado Peak to get to the hiking trails at the top of the mountain. As Dave was driving up all I could think about was he had lots of practice with narrow twisty roads from our time spent in Glacier and Going-To-The-Sun Road.  Met a car coming down and we just made it by - by inches - to continue to the top. Not quite as pretty as Glacier with snow capped mountains - in fact this view was desert, dry, but still quite impressive.  This park borders Mexico and from the top you could see the border clearly defined with a wall. We encountered a National Park Trail Crew rehabbing the beginning of the trailhead moving huge boulders up farther onto the mountain - phew!  After reading the warning sign right at the beginning of the trailhead, we now understand why many people carry guns.  When we visited Amerind last Sunday a group of motorcycles came in - all weaving gun holsters and guns - even the women (theirs were in pink)!

Lovely day there - the vista views were amazing.  Looking north we were on the back side of the Huachuca Mountains and at  the other side of the mountain is Fort Huachuca Army Base and Sierra Vista.  Lots of history in this area.  What we didn't see during this visit is Border Patrol cars/vans.  Where we are camping - this is a common sight, seeing them sitting off the road, watching everything and everyone.  Have to go through check points each time we go to Tucson, common thing for us now. At night we can see the Border Patrol checkpoint out of Tombstone from our camper and Dave says he can see spot lights moving around.  Some times we see their helicopters flying around, low, looking for someone.  Doesn't scare us, just a fact of life here.

On our way back we decided to go out to eat - something we don't do alot of.  We were told of a great pizzeria not far from the National Memorial called Mimosa.  Wow!  Great pizza!  But a nice way to celebrate both our birthdays together.  We will begin today to pack the final things up and tomorrow we will move up to Picacho and leave the RV here and come back Tuesday morning to move off anything left or forgot and make sure all liquids are emptied, then move it to the dealer in Huachuca City - not far from here.  Picacho here we come!

A Walk in the Riparian

Dry San Pedro River - cattle under trees

We went back to San Pedro Riparian which is run by the BLM Tuesday afternoon.  We hiked this area last December and wanted to come back to go further on the trail, to see the ruins of a stamping plant and what else remained of the ghost town Fairbanks.  What surprised us the most was the dry conditions of the Riparian.  What is a riparian? It is the area along a river which serves many purposes: helps the stream get rid of energy with less erosion and flooding, has diverse habitat of animals and foliage, usually has a huge animal dependency to the water. Anyhow, we have visited many riparians on our travels but this one is quite unique.  At the turn of the century the town of Fairbanks was a thriving community with schools, banks, hotels, liveries, stores, etc.  Had a railroad here that was a major stop between Tombstone and Tucson.  As late as 1975 the town had a resident but now the it is just buildings and a ghost town.  Down the road from Fairbanks stood 9 stamping mills along the San Pedro River.  We wanted to hike to one of the last remaining structures of the Grand Central Mill, about 2 miles from Fairbanks.

Remains of Grand Central Mill

We knew that this was probably a free range area for cattle and horses and heard the rustlings in the brush and heard moo-ing.  Wasn't until our return walk back along the San Pedro where we saw the cattle standing in the dry river bed.  Found the stamping mill - was amazed at how big it was.  Must have been quite noisy - 24/7 workings and the pounding going on must have heard for miles. Saw what was left of the mill and also some foundations of buildings - probably in support of the mill.  Dave discovered an open mine shaft and he got pretty close - said he couldn't see the bottom.

Ranger Robert

Along the way ran into a woman weeding and discovered that she was with the BLM doing trail maintenance.  She said that we would find another person a little farther.  Talked with him for some time about what his work is - a Ranger with BLM - and his history, was a National Park service employee doing fire fighting (we can certainly relate to this from this past summer) and also as a ranger.  When he started as a ranger here at San Pedro there were 2 other rangers with him and with the cut backs - he's the last man standing.  We also talked in length about buying American made only - which we strongly follow - not patronizing stores that bring in products from out of the country and we also buy from the mom-and-pops' businesses when ever we can before going to the chain stores - helping keep the small business going.

The trail was flat and packed dirt going out to the Mill but on our swing around along the River it became sandy and hard to walk.  We both ended up limping by the time we got back to the car - me for my foot problem and Dave from twisting his knee.

Amerind and Whitewater Draw

Gopher snake at museum

Snake by our car

Sunday we decided to head out to visit a museum called Amerind located in Dragoon about 20 miles east of here.  But first, when we were getting into the car, Dave said - we have a visitor - a snake.  What????  Okay, we are in the desert and I have not been paying attention to where I walk - I sure do now!  We didn't know when we got to the museum is that they were celebrating 75 year anniversary - that day.   Great.  Lots of people, lots.  They had a wildlife - snake - exhibit there and we questioned one of the handlers about the snake we saw by the RV and they said more than likely it was a baby gopher.  We really didn't spend time in the museum, which is one man's interest in American Indian artifacts and then the development of the museum to share with the world, due to the amount of people there - had to wait in line to look at a display.  We will come back another day to spend time and look at the many displays.  This museum is nestled in the Dragoon mountains, can't see it at all from the road, looks very Spanish in design, and was very impressive inside.  It kept going and going and going.

Hopi Dancers 

The museum had invited various Native Indian dancers/performers and artists to spend the day, we saw the Hopi while Navajo and Tohono O'odham were scheduled for later in the day.  We happened to get there in time to see Hopi Indians sing songs and perform dances.  Listening to some other folks around us, they were wondering if they could take pictures since many Indian functions and pow-wows they had attended in the past did not allow picture taking.  The elder who presided over this session said of course - take as many pictures as you like, and there will be a question and answer period after that hopefully will answer anything you see or hear.  It was a family affair - grandfather was the moderator/drummer/singer, 3 girls were sisters - his granddaughters, the male dancer was his son, and the young man singing with him was his grandson.  The woman in black by the elder helped with everything was the girls' mother, the elder's daughter. The program started with a 10 year old girl singing a song about harvest time.  Took alot of courage to stand in front of about 400 people and sing in your native tongue.  Then the dancers came out with the grandfather singing and playing the drum with his grandson chanting with him and keeping time with a rattle.  I was most impressed with the stamina of these people, they danced continually for 25 minutes, stopping for about 2 minutes between each song.  The costumes were hand made by the grandfather's son, the head pieces again were handmade by the mother of the girls.

Sandhill Cranes - big birds!

After this performance we moved to the museum and art gallery but it was too crowded.  We opted to get some fry bread, if you get a chance to eat one of these, do it.  Very yummy.  We got our fry bread with honey and powder sugar.  I think the best we ever had was in Taos Pueblo in New Mexico.

I see you!

We left by 1pm to head over to Whitewater Draw, an area that is the resting place for the sandhill cranes as they migrate further south for the winter, they come from as far north as Siberia.  We had been to Whitewater last December and there were over 30,000 cranes here, close,  just awesome.  We are about 6 weeks ahead of the full thrust of the birds, saw maybe 5,000 but much further out feeding.  We will come back here late December to see them again.  You can hear them way before seeing them.  Stay tuned - we will visit this again and I'll report then. And our last sighting on our way out of the Draw was this pretty hawk - keeping us in his sight.  I see you!

Buffalo Soldier Museum

Displays inside museum

One of the places we wanted to visit while here in Tombstone is the Buffalo Soldier Museum located inside Fort Huachuca, an active US Army base, located in Sierra Vista at the base of the Huachuca Mountains, about a 15 minute drive south of where we are camping.  We had no idea what to expect or see so the day was an oh-my! day.  After going through the gate and getting directions as to where the museum was, we started driving on the HUGE base - and I do mean HUGE! - passed 2 elementary schools, a Burger King, gas station, hospital, grocery stores, housing, etc.  Got lost, but eventually found the museum.  There are 2 museums to visit housed in 3 buildings.  The museums tell the story of how the fort was established in 1877 as a temporary camp and eventual permanent base and of the military intelligence that is intricate to the armed forces.  Fort Huachuca (Who-ah-chew-cah and means 'thunder' in Apache, they believed weather originated in the mountains) has played a role in national defense since then.  As a matter of fact, this base is the center for all military intelligence development and training for all armed forces in the country.

The Buffalo Soldier Museum is located within the 2 Fort's museums and pays tribute to the African-American men who were trained and fought in the Spanish-American Punitive War of Mexico in 1917 and also in World War I and II.  The term 'buffalo soldier' was coined by the Apache Indians because their curly hair and dark skin resembled the buffalo.  Two regiments were established here and were trained and deployed to various conflicts around the world.

Military Intelligence Museum

The oh-my came from learning about the role the Fort plays today.  The military intelligence that is developed and products developed and tested is mind boggling.  Of course we were not allowed to see any of this, but we did know it was housed in various buildings around the base by watching a movie inside the museum.  One note:  we have noticed high in the sky over the base - we can see it from our campground - a balloon type thing just floating up there.  I asked the guard as we came into the base what it was - he said it monitors the border for activity, a security camera.  The base is located right near the border of Mexico.  And I am sure that this blog will be scanned by their intelligence since I mentioned Fort Huachuca.

And one more thing....the city of Sierra Vista is deceiving.  It boasts a population of 44,000 and the base has approximate population of 135,000! but it doesn't have the big department stores that you would expect for a large city.  Biggest store is a Wally World and JC Penney.  Two main grocery stores, big 3 car dealers, lots of small businesses.  You can drive one hour north and be in Tucson which is where I think they most go for shopping.

Donkeys, Coyotes, and Sunsets

We have been very busy while here in Tombstone, can't believe we have been here two weeks already!  We spent last Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday up in Chandler doing grandgirl watching while Mom and Dad were at work. Was great to see them again after almost 5 months of us being on the road - how they have grown and matured! Now we will get to see them alot while here for the winter - Yay!

Donkeys being led home

Each night we are here we are serenaded with the coyotes - typically coming awake about 6:45pm and running all night, back and forth, howling, then quiet, then running by again.  At first we were elated to hear them, but now - it has become ho-hum, but I find I am woken up all the time as they pass - I still love it!  And no rhyme or reason as to when they first run by or when they stop for the night.  We find their scat (poop) markings at the fence line not far from us so they are close.  Yesterday we went on a hike on one of the trails here at the RV park, taking the fence line west, traveling about a mile total.  Saw lots of animal prints, some big marks - looked like horse tracks, and lots of people feet where some may also be hiking.  As we rounded the fence line along the road, still in desert sagebrush and various foliage that I should have learned by now, we came across 2 donkeys in a high fenced area, right near the front entrance to the RV park.  There was a woman inside the fence with them, hugging one of them while brushing the other.  One man was getting water and filling a bin inside while a third was walking along the fence for security for the donkeys.  Started up a conversation with the woman - are these your babies?  Yes, they ran away yesterday and found themselves in this RV park (it's fenced all around except at the  entrance way). She said the coyotes spooked them and they took off, they tracked them yesterday for awhile but lost the trail.  She said they will come back in the morning and walk them back to their place - not sure where but I think it's a far piece to walk them (maybe 3 miles?), said they are really spooked and won't stand a ride in the trailer - will have to walk them home.  Sure enough, about an hour ago Dave took their picture as they were being walked out.

Beautiful Sunsets - looking towards California

Sunsets?  Well, just about every night we are given the most spectacular show, almost as good as Santa Fe skies, almost.  And many mornings are just as colorful.  The mornings scare us - being tuned into the weather during our time as sailors on Lake Erie - we remember the saying, "Red sky at night - sailors delight. Red sky in morning - sailors take warning."  Within two hours of sunrise the skies clear to crystal blue and no warning is sounded.  Absolutely beautiful day. Every day.

We pack up the RV, or should I say unload, and take it into the RV dealer on the 29th.  From then on we will be in Picacho.  This is a lovely place - we will miss it when we leave.

Final thoughts on the Montana Trip

Now that our 'summer' escape has ended, and we are safely back in AZ, thought I'd give some quick facts about this past trip.  We traveled 8,777 miles with the truck and put 3,479 miles on the RV's tires.  We camped 20 miles from the border of Canada in Hungry Horse, Montana and 20 miles from the border of Mexico in Huachuca City (Tombstone), Arizona.  We lived through 24 degree temperature in Montana and 103 temp in Utah.  We were on the road for 113 days - our longest of being 'out'.  We traveled from Arizona to Utah, to Idaho, to Montana, to Wyoming, back into Utah, down to New Mexico, and back into Arizona.

We visited the following national parks/monuments/sites:  South Rim and North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Wupetki National Monument, Sunset Crater NM, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Escalanti
Staircase NM, Pipespring NM, Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, Lewis & Clark National Historical Site, Fort Benton NHS, Upper Missouri River Breaks NM, Rockefeller National Parkway, Grand Teton NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Dinasour NM, and too numerous to mention - lots of Lewis and Clark sights and places of their Corps of Discovery Journey plus lots and lots of local interest places.

We stayed at 15 different campgrounds - and all but two were great. Our elevation at camping was at 8100 feet (Alpine, AZ) to the lowest of 1900 at Williams, AZ. The main theme we thought we were going after before heading out was to see the wilderness of Montana.  Had no other expectations.  However, in reflecting, this trip we learned 3 main things - geology, history, and how to have fun via a Razors (ATV).  We had our first blush with Razors in Wagonhammer Campground in North Fork, Idaho where we talked with our neighbor who is a third generation farmer and his grandfather built the  farm and house they live in.  He was so enthusiastic about his Razor - couldn't wait to get back home and run it.  From that point on we started to see these ATVs being pulled all over the place.  Then when we got to Moab - WOW!

We were red-rocked out by the time we left Glendale Utah where Zion and Bryce Canyon NPs were and that is when we first got our scare of wildfires.  And never left the smoky haze from then on until we got to Gallup, New Mexico.  Only then did we have clear skies.  Hope this coming winter is very wet for the west - they need it.  Have seen some very poor areas (New Mexico comes to mind) and some very rich areas - Kalispel, Montana. RV held up well after our first boo-boo that happened not far from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, on Navajo Indian Reservations' roads - they are awful!

All in all, a trip we thoroughly enjoyed and looking forward to next spring's trip to the State of Washington.  Will not be blogging for awhile - will alert you via email when we do something special while here for the winter in Picacho.

Tombstone Territories

We got up early yesterday morning (sun rises in AZ around 6:00am right now) packed up and carefully moved out of the campground by 8:30am.  Since we had to wiggle to get into the sight due to the pine trees, had to wiggle just as much to get out.  Still, was lovely to hear nothing other than the wind rustling the pine trees and the occasional bird talking.  Wednesday we had driving into the little town of Alpine to fill up the truck and while Dave was doing that, I went into the store and asked the clerk what her thoughts were on driving through the White Mountains, south on US Route 191.  She said - don't recommend it - 25 miles an hour, hairpin turns, if you are bigger than 40 foot, not allowed, very steep drop offs, no guard rails, go this other way - and she gave me an alternative route out and south.  We did as she said yesterday, driving eastward back into New Mexico to head south.  But, again, we had to drive through the Mogollon Mountains then, hairpin turns, steep descent, but lovely views.  Traveling through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.  This area we traveled was just west of the huge wildfires that were here in May/June.  We saw just a scant of it - glad we didn't have to worry about it now.

Dragoon Mountains

Dropped down into Safford, Arizona by noon, and then headed west again towards Benson, Arizona on Interstate 10, then headed south towards Tombstone.  We started out at 57 degrees at 8:30am and by the time we got the slides out and set up, it was 92 - welcome to Arizona! We look out our living room window to the Dragoon Mountains - that's to the north east, and to the west are the Whetstone Mountains.  This area we are in is of course the Tombstone - Wyatt Earp fame, also this was the stronghold of Cochise, the Apache warrior that gave the US Army hell back in the 1880's. To the south is of course Mexico and the Huachuca Mountains and a fairly large town called Sierra Vista (will do shopping there), and at an elevation of 4000 + feet.  Amazing - yesterday we were in 8200 feet and now at 1/2 that.  Will go down to 1800 feet by the time we are back in Picacho.  We are in Tombstone Territories RV Campground, 8 miles outside of Tombstone, and 20 miles from the border of Mexico.  Border patrol is on high alert, 2 agents were killed just a few days ago by drug smugglers near the border, so the activity is intensified.  We are quite safe here, the property butts up against the US Army Military Base - Fort Huachuca - to the south.  Very quiet.  About 11:30pm last night the coyotes came roaring through, yelling and yipping.  Grace was laying on me and she stood up and looked out the window, sure she was going to growl but didn't - she's a good guard cat.

We have this space for a month, can't beat it for $11.50 a night with full hookup.  And we are about 9 miles from the Jayco dealer, so when we are ready to move to Picacho for the winter, we will unload the RV, close it up, and take it to them for service.  In the meantime, we are about 3 hour drive south from the grandkids, will see them once or twice before heading to Picacho for the winter.  Will enjoy this place - was a goal to camp here for a couple of years.  Glad our trip is done for this summer, but sad it's over.  Can't believe we did it with out too much pain.

Alpine, Arizona

Made the move yesterday from Gallup, New Mexico, to Alpine, Arizona.  Talk about quiet, peaceful, no trucks/trains/car noises here in Alpine.  And last night was so dark - amazing.  We are about 180 miles from Tombstone where we will sit for about 3 weeks, enjoying our last hurrah and getting the RV ready for the dealer.  This little town of Alpine is snuggled in the White Mountains, a haven for boaters, fishing, camping and off-road ATVs (oh no). When we do move the RV to the dealer, it is a mere 10 miles into a small town called Huachuca City (pronounced Whoo-ah-choo-cah).  We really have to get this thing in - the rough roads we encountered on this trip took a big toll, bolts broke, things came out of alignment, the front nose piece is a tidge loose, etc.  We want the RV in great shape for our next spring jaunt which will be going north west to Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and California. Looking forward to that.

Heard coyotes last night, there is a good size pond/lake near here and the Canadian geese have been flying in and out since we got here.  I think the coyotes were after some late night snack.

Today we chill out, I was lucky through this whole trip not to get sick and last night I got way-laid with a whopper cold - or could be sinus crud.  Regardless, I need today to nap on and off in order to be half way alert for Dave's directional person tomorrow.  Have about 4 hour ride ahead of us, mostly through the White Mountains, south to Interstate 10 and then west until Benson, then south to Tombstone.  Sad our trip is coming to an end - but learned this morning that Glacier Natl Park and Yellowstone Natl Park are getting hit with snow.  Good timing on our part!

Gallup, NM

Moonrise over North/South Window Arches

Our last night at Moab was very serene - until about 11:00pm when 3 young couples decided to start playing some board game outside and it had a timer that binged for time limit on answering ?.  I am all for people having fun, laughing, but not at my sleeping expense and my ears.  Seems this beeping thing was at a pitch that my ears really hurt from it.  So - at 11:50pm I was the bad guy and yelled - QUIET! which broke up the party and they went to bed. Most campgrounds have a policy where quiet time is from 10pm to 7 or 8am.  They were talking and laughing so loud that we heard them 5 sites away.  I heard the RVs near them turned on their A/C units to block out their noise instead of just telling them to go inside, or go to bed.  Anyhow, I'm bad.

Wilson Arch

The full moon came up over the North Window and South Window arches Saturday night and we got some great pictures to remember this by.  When we got up and looked out the window Sunday morning, the moon hadn't set so Dave was able to get pics of it setting over Canyonlands National Park.  When you have ever seen a moon rise in one national park and set in another?


Left yesterday morning and headed south down Route 191.  About 25 miles south of Moab we passed Wilson Arch - we didn't need to go to Arches - right here!  LOL.

Shiprock - Tse Bit'a'i

Traveled south until we got to Monticello and turned southeast on Route 491.  From Utah into Colorado into New Mexico.  Most of the day was spent riding through Navajo Indian Reservation which doesn't have any campgrounds.  Passed Shiprock, Tse Bit'a'i, which in Navajo means Rock with Wings. This name refers to the legend of the great bird that brought the Navajo from the north to their present lands.  Shiprock, a huge rock mountain, is located in the center of the Ancient Pueblo People, or Ancestral Puebloan civilization, a prehistoric Native American culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi. The town of Shiprock is all Navajo - signs are in their native language then subtitled in English.  Had reservations at this campground in Gallup, NM - a tad disappointed because we don't have full hookup, and we are in the main path of comings and goings.  There are over 35 Airstream RVs with another 16 coming in today.  They are staging here to go to Albuquerque Wednesday when they all converge at the Hot Air Balloon fest.  Remind me never to be in this part of New Mexico next October - second year in a row we are caught with limited camping opportunities due to the balloon festival.

We thought we would do some sightseeing while here but as it turns out, the nearest 'thing' we wanted to see is at least 95 miles away.  There are two Navajo Indian Casinos around the areas we wanted to go to - so maybe this winter we will just do a little side trip and head back in the car and stay at the casino. So - today instead we will go shopping, get some cat food, the bed frame up-lift mechanism broke so have to go find a hardware store.  We will leave tomorrow morning, heading south again, this time going west and picking back up Route 191.  Will take that down into Alpine, Arizona.  Getting closer!

Ready To Move On

We have had a great time here in Moab, Utah, but as all things good, they must come to an end.  We will be leaving in the morning for Gallup, New Mexico, not by choice, but by chance.  Seems I forgot that this is the time of year for the Albuquerque Balloon Fest and all the campgrounds are full up.  And Gallup is 125 miles from Albuquerque!  Wow, you must really like to see hot air balloons to travel that far to see this.  We got the last spot in the campground, not full hookup, but we'll deal with it.

We are not sure how long we will stay there before moving south again.  While in Gallup there are many attractions, but of course, nothing is close.  We will be just at the outskirts of the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations and there are no campgrounds inside these reservations so we had to go into Gallup.  Once we are there tomorrow, we will ask what to see and do (worth seeing and doing).  Canyon de Chelly National Park is about 90 miles from there and this is a place we have wanted to go to, and of course, in the middle of the Navajo Indian Reservation.  We will see how the next couple of days play out.  We are sad that our play time is coming to an end, but anxious to get on with the winter activities and seeing the grandgirls again.  I know they are looking forward to us being back - have asked a couple of times - when are you going to be here?   I am sure that they have grown so much now in the last 6 months that they will all be taller than me (a little joke for them and me!)

From Gallup we will travel south to Alpine, Arizona, in the heart of the White Mountains.  That will be just an overnight, then travel to Tombstone where we will stay for about 3 weeks.  We have a recall to deal with, and some things are broke or getting ready to or need service.  Sometime around the beginning of November we will show up in Picacho and get the park model going for our winter time.

We will watch the comings and goings on our last afternoon here in Moab.  Our neighbor, the one with the reversed Class A motorhome, are out on the ATVs right now, going on some routes that were deemed 'hard'.  Watching the women get out of the ATVs yesterday and could barely move - and they were on 'easy' trails.  Can't wait to see how they are in a couple of hours when they get back.  Looks like fun, but looks painful at the same time.  So many toys here.  ATVs, dirt bikes, convertibles to drive around the parks in, corvettes, so many different kinds of RVs.  See alot of rental units, also.  Been fun.

Arches Done

North Window and South Window Arches - from RV

We spent the day at Arches National Park yesterday, our plans were to get to the Devils Garden area where there are a number of arches you can hike to from one trail.  But first - this park is what we call 'tourist' friendly meaning you see many tourist buses parked, and gorges of people jumping in and out of them.  At the beginning of the park where there are huge sandstone monoliths of rock, one bus was stopped and bazillion Asians were standing around the bus with their netbooks and iPads and computers clicking away - a funny sight.  This park does not have many hiking trails,

Landscape Arch

very friendly for those who can't walk far - most trails to see an arch are about .2 mile long.  No ATVs, only 2 campgrounds where there are only 30 sights per place, don't have to worry about bears or other animals except rattlesnakes in the summer, no bicycling.  You can drive from the entrance of the park to the end where Devils Garden area is, in about 30 minutes.  One of the smallest parks we have been in.

Elephants &  Double Arches

We drove to the end of the road of Arches avoiding much traffic since they were stopping at all the sites from the beginning, and got a great parking spot not far from the entrance into the Devils Garden.  This is the area where Dave wanted to go to specifically because he remembered hiking here 25 years ago.  I remember not hiking this part back then - sitting it out due to a splitting headache.  We had decided we would hike as far as we could - the trail was marked at 4.2 miles and was rated as difficult the last 1.2 miles of it.  We made it to that difficult part, watched the people climb up and over and sliding around on the slickrock going up and decided not to go farther.

North Window and South Window Arches  up close

Still was lovely walk, able to view Tunnel, Pine Tree, Landscape, and Double O Arches without a problem.  We missed out on Navajo, Partition and Private Arch by not going further.  That's okay - I wasn't in the mood to skinny along on my butt or to jump between slickrocks to get from A to B.  Landscape Arch made history back in 1991 when a large part of it collapsed.  I remember reading about it and glad we saw it.

From this walk of Devils Garden we drove to The Windows Section and hiked to Turret, North and South Window Arches, and to see the Parade of Elephants (really looks like them) and saw Cove and Double Arches. Also - we can see North and South Window Arches from our campsite and here we walked right up to them.  How cool!  We are really red rocked out for sure now.  Then, stopped along the roadway on the way back out to see The Tower of Babel and the Courthouse Towers - both huge sandstone spires that do resemble their names.  Last stop was at the Park Avenue area where we viewed a beautiful valley and looking up to the left - I swear I could see a huge grizzly bear in the formation of the balanced rock.  This bear/rock is 35 feet tall!

A grizzly bear! Just kidding

Good day in the park.  We can understand a woman's conversation the other day when she said that they 'did Arches yesterday and today Canyonlands".  Yes, you can see Arches in one day - there is only one hike we did not do and that is called the Fiery Furnace where you have to get a hiking permit to go in - they only allow a small number of hikers a day to enter.  Again, that trail is rated strenuous and we aren't up to that.

And back here at the campground we are having fun still watching the ATVs and their RVs coming in.  We have new neighbors on both sides. The one is something else - a huge 44 foot diesel pusher Class A motor home - and we never have seen this, but it has rear kitchen and living room area, plus the bedroom is near the front of the unit.  This is totally reversed from anything we have seen.  They also have 2 ATVs with another 2 couples' truck.  Did I mention that Moab is considered the 'Mecca of ATVs in the world'?  Amazing!!!

Arches NP

Skyline Arch

Delicate Arch - symbol of Utah

We sat still Sunday and Monday because rain showers were predicted, and for once, happened.  The skies cleared enough for yesterday so we ventured into Arches National Park.  We can see Arches out of our bedroom windows - can see North Window and South Window Arches pretty clearly.  Our goal was to drive through the park, look at different areas we want to come back and hike, and then go get pizza in Moab.  However, the spur of the moment hit us and we hiked two different arches - Delicate Arch - this is the unofficial symbol on license plates you see, and also to Skyline Arch.

When we got to the Devils Garden area where there are about 20 arches, the parking lot was full.  We realized we would have to come to this area early in the day, hike where we want, have lunch, then move on to the other area we want to go to called The Windows Section, where North and South Window Arches are.  This is planned for tomorrow, if the weather permits.  Speaking of weather.  10% chance of thunderstorms means - 90% chance it will and 10% it won't.  This is what is going on today.  Reverse thinking.

Scenic Drive along Colorado River

Skyline Arch - pretty, big, and no one hiking there.  This was our first place we stopped and looked at.
From there we drove back to Delicate Arch, said that the hike to the base (stand under it) was 3 miles and was a steep climb over slickrock (flat rock and slippery when wet), so we opted to go to the observation area and hiked up to the upper viewing place.  Got a pretty neat view of it from there.  Got back to the car in just enough time - thunderstorm hit.  Poor people caught out on the slickrock!

Some ATV fun here

Drove into Moab for pizza, so-so in quality, then Dave wanted to take some pictures of all the ATVs here in town.  Amazing place if you are into ATVing - rent them, go on a tour, or bring your own.  This town is nicknamed, ATV center of the US.  No kidding.  On our way back to the campground I took us on a little side trip along the Colorado River.  This little gem of a road is amazing - hugs the canyons with Arches on our left and the Red Rock Canyon on our right.  BLM campgrounds along the river, bike trails, and of course, rafting.  Told Dave - just a few ore miles then I'll turn around.  Found a 5 star lodge nestled into the canyon right on the river, winery attached to it, called Red Rock Canyon Lodge.  Wow.  Got back to the campground about 5:30pm and sat and watched the fun of the ATVers coming back and all the RVs coming in for the night.

Dead Horse and Canyonlands

Grandview Hike in Canyonlands

View of Monument Valley from Canyonlands

We went across the road from where we are camping and ventured into Canyonlands National Park. First of all, our expectations of Canyonlands was high since the other 14 or so national parks/monuments/sights we have visited on this trip has been great - so we were a tad disappointed.  Glacier is for hikers, Yellowstone is for camping and looking at geysers, Tetons is for boating and camping, Canyonlands is for ATVs and off-road vehicles.  Very little hiking, and very few places to stop and look/see. Most of the sights are from ATV view point - and there is one trail they talk about that if you do it right - should take you 2 to 4 days on the ATV (camping along the way).

We did do a small 2 mile hike called the Grandview - which walked along the rim of one of the canyons - pretty, breathtaking in vista views although the smoke prohibited you from seeing really far.  Talk about red rock country!  Canyonlands is split into 4 areas, only one is accessible by car and that is Islands in the Sky area.  We could only see across the canyons to the Needles district and also see the river district below us. Have only seen pictures of the Maze district - again best by ATV or by boat.  The Green and Colorado Rivers converge within the park and to go on a river boat ride would be awesome but it isn't in our plans to do.  First time on this trip where we realized we won't go back into a national park to see something - one day was enough and in our case - 4 hours.  Pretty, desolate, but kinda boring.

View of Colorado from Dead Horse Point - notice smoke in air

We left Canyonlands and drove back the same way we came in and adjacent to this park is Dead Horse Point State Park run by Utah.  What a gem this park is!  And the views are breathtaking!  The story behind the name is:  around the turn of the century cowboys rounded up the wild mustang horses found in the area and corralled them at the point of land where the state park is located.  They selected the ones they wanted and for some reason left the rest of the horses inside the corral, in view of the Colorado river, without food or water.  And thus, they died.  The state did a wonderful job with paths, interpretive signs, and the view points - WOW - did we have wows for this little place. Would have to say that if you want to see the Colorado and wide expanse of red rock and canyons - Dead Horse Point State Park is the place to come - forget about the Grand Canyon.

Razor type ATV

The wildfires are still raging - the one near where we camped in North Fork, Idaho has grown to over 405,000 acres - we wonder if the campground is gone.  And the fires in Jackson and Alpine Lake in Wyoming are also still going strong.  These fires' smoke has drifted down into this area and we are sad that the pictures we have taken show the sky as very smoky.  But, can't do anything about it, sadly.   With the jet streams shifting more north, the forecasters say that the smoke should now start to move back north and clear up the skies.  Our plans are to visit Arches National Park maybe tomorrow, if not Tuesday.  Calling for thunderstorms tomorrow - so we'll see.  We are having fun watching all the ATV and dirt bikers parade around in the morning, getting ready to head over to Canyonlands.  There are so many of these ATVs - look fun but I wouldn't want to eat the dirt from a fellow dirt biker.  2 seater, 4 seater, dirt bikes, off-road vehicles - so many toys here!

ATVs and Moab

Hot Air Balloon in Vernal

Wednesday night as we were watching the sunset something huge and red caught my eye - looking down the roadway out of the campground towards the main street there was a hot air balloon preparing to take off.  I told Dave - lets grab our cameras and go see.  No sooner had I gotten up out of the chair and started to grab the camera when the balloon took off - womp - and fast!  Oh well - best we could do is a quick picture through the window.  Seems Golden Corral had some sort of promotion going on.

Yesterday morning we did our thing, packed up and took off south on Route 191 towards Moab, Utah which is in the south east corner of Utah - not far from Colorado and New Mexico  and we will be here for 10 days - to see Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  We are camped right near the road that leads to Canyonlands on our right and the view we have is unbelievable.  And we are 2 miles north of the entrance on our left for Arches.  How convenient is this?  We are also glad we are out of Vernal, have forgotten what it's like to be in a city park.  Very noisy and about 5:15am to about 6:30am all the worker-bees start their diesel trucks and leave.  Other than this morning interruption - would have to say that this campground was very quiet - except for the time in the morning when they all go and also being in town - you heard the sirens, the loud trucks, but - it's done.  Won't go back there.

View out our living room window - Canyonlands NP

The ride was great - very desolate. We thought the road to Vernal was a tidge hairy in terms of descents - well, we drove the RV over the highest pass - called Summit, at 9115 feet getting here.  Going up wasn't a problem - it was gradual and didn't notice how high we were climbing, we drove through  Book Canyon - had to stop for cattle in the road but again, desolate.  Then - on top of the mountain - and the ride down, well, the truck screamed really big time holding the RV back.  We travel a bit, then a sign says, 20 miles an hour ahead - hairpin turn - Yikes.  But.  Truck did great, it turned over to 55,000 miles while going up that mountain.  

We are in a premier sight - we look out towards the "islands in the sky" formations of Canyonlands.  We deserve this place - it's beautiful!  Seems most RVs here have ATVs - there are tons of off-road trails here and all over Moab.  Fun to watch them go and then see them come back in the early evening.  Seems Razor brand of ATV is the most common here.  No - we aren't getting one!

Field House of Vernal, Utah

Great exhibits!

We had on our agenda yesterday to go to two different museums here in Vernal, however, we could only find one which was fine, we got sensory overload on the one we did find.  The place we went to had so much information about the geological aspects of Vernal as well as what and where living things were 250 billion + years ago and to the present how things evolved.  Again, can't even grasp how long ago this was - the beginning of earth's life.  As we drove into Vernal on US 191 we kept seeing signs saying something like - sea clams from 223 billion years ago was found here, or, X dinosaur skeleton found here, or, fossils from X years ago found here.  Would have meant so much more by coming to the field house in Vernal first, then drive the 80 mile loop around the area.  But as it was, this Utah Field House is a gem.  Very kid friendly, had so many exhibits to explain who lived where, what they looked like, how they excavate a find, how the area was a vast lake then floods, then lifting of the mountains, extinct period, etc.  We both felt we learned alot, but dinosaurs eduction is definitely not something I am going to go after.

I didn't know this!

We think that the people in 2 campsites over are out on a dig.  There are currently 3 digs going on in the area, sponsored by universities and/or institutions.  What we did learn is that Andrew Carnegie was very interested in dinosaurs and he financed the original excavations back early 1900's.  I guess what is most fascinating is that in this 80 mile loop around Vernal there are the most skeletons of dinosaurs found in the world.  When we look out at some of the rock formations in the area we now realize we are looking at rock from 250 billions of years ago - the earth has pushed up this lowest level of rock to the surface when the uplifting of the mountains occurred.  And we understand now the red rocks of the area and the golds (Yellowstone) and greens and purples of the rocks.

Very hard life!

Lazy - stretched out and looking out window

On the lighter side - Grace is keeping herself busy - sleeping.  What else do cats do?

Today, as normal before move day, we clean, laundry, start putting stuff away for the move tomorrow to Arches National Park area - Moab, Utah, about 220 miles south of here.  This is in the south eastern area of Utah.  Will be our last time camping in Utah, then swing into the north east section of Arizona and begin the last 45 days of our trip to get to our last stop, Tombstone, and then back in Picacho for the winter.

Dinosaur Quarry

Exhibit hall where the dinosaur bones are

What an unusual day we had yesterday.  Not far from our campground is the Dinosaur National Monument, a 210,000 acre park that is designated to protect the dinosaur quarry found here.  It is one thing to see a dinosaur in a museum but somehow doesn't hit home or seem real.  We had to take a trolley to the exhibit hall, a building to enclose the wall where the original excavation was, because the parking capability isn't adequate for the amount of visitors. But standing inside the quarry exhibit hall and seeing REAL dinosaur bones - well, that's something else. And not just a couple of bones - thousands in one place.  The bones have been carbon dated to 223 million years ago - I can't even fathom how long this is. The discovery of these relics came in 1909 when paleontologist Earl Douglass began excavating the fossils. Douglass extracted 20 complete skeletons and 10 species of dinosaurs which are now displayed in museums throughout the country. And just recently when a geology team was doing some study of the earth here,  they found a new species of dinosaur that they don't know what it looks like or how big - all they have is it's head and about 3 feet of it's neck.  I don't know if they are going to try to get to the rest of it's body or not.

Look closely - see the bones?

One of the exhibits in the hall was excellent in pointing out how these bones got into one location - all jumbled up.  223 mya this area was a savanna, plush, had a wide river, lots of foliage and dinosaurs roaming, coming to the river to drink, fight among each other, some dying right there. Some event happened and there was a huge flood, causing the bones of the dead as well as those that probably drowned, to wash down the flooded river and get snagged, just like today a flood would cause a jam if debris were caught.  Then the scientists say that mud washed over the bones, encasing them, and millions of years go by, more deposits from floods, etc.  Add to this the event of the mountains forming, pushing up the land which is what happened in this area - huge cliffs of crystalized mud shoot up about a mile, looks like they are tilting up on a 45 degree line.

Split Mountain and Green River

Dave overhead a conversation with a volunteer park ranger and the conversation was thus, "people actually break down and cry when the come here, they are so overwhelmed to see real bones still enclosed in mud".  I heard a couple of boys come into the hall and gave out a huge - WOW! We definitely know our great nephew, Cody, would absolutely love this place.

We walked the Fossil Discovery Trail which started outside the exhibition hall and meandered in the quarry for about a mile and showed you different fossils still intact in the quarry.  You can see these fossils and bones without too much imagination.  Well marked.

Petroglyphs on rocks

After walking the trail we took the audio car tour along about 10 miles of the park.  It took us by pictographs (paintings on the rock) and petroglyphs (scratched or carved designs) which have been dated to over 7000 years ago.  Then further on down we saw Split Mountain where the Green River actually carved into the mountain and caused the Uinta Mountains here to split in half.  Very pretty.

A good day outside walking the trails.  And very pretty - and green! - seeing the Green River meander through the Uinta Mountains.

Dinosaurs, oh my!

Deer outside the RV this morning - which way out?

We packed up this morning with a treat to begin with.  When I opened the shades to the windows about 7:15am, there in front of me were 4 mule deer, just staring at me like, What?  They quickly realized they couldn't jump the fence and hopped over to the other RVs and I assume figured out how to get out of the area.  Why didn't they come to visit sooner?  Got on the road at 9am, chilly and about 48 degrees.

Followed US Highway 191 south out of Pinedale, traveled through the Green Valley basin where the old Pony Express and the Oregon Trail crossed in a small town called Eden, then on south into Rock Springs and go on Interstate 80 - yikes - a fast moving road! But only for 6 miles, then south again on US 191.  Dave thought afterward that driving Glacier National Park's

Utah's sense of humor

Going-to-the-Sun Road was a piece of cake after what we went through today.  8%, 9%, and even 10% grade drop in elevation on the road down into Vernal and along the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.  Pretty, very scenic.  Glad we tanked up the truck in Rock Springs before heading south.  I got my fix again of aspen trees turning gold, just beautiful in the forests. When we got within 20 miles of Vernal, there was a sign that we read and then got an Oh-oh.  Said, 10 switchbacks ahead next ? miles, 10% grades - use low gear!  Truckers - check brakes!  Oh boy.  Well, they were right.  The poor truck's brake system got quite a workout trying to keep the 15,000 pounds of RV plus the 6,000 of the truck's weight down to a creep of 20 miles an hour.  Talk about screaming engine!  I am surprised Grace didn't yell at us - it must have hurt her ears, it certainly hurt ours.  And Utah has a funny sense of humor - each hairpin turn it would remind you how many more to go.  Thanks.

Finally got into Vernal Utah about 2pm, about 240 miles later.  And the temp was about 80.  Welcome back to the high desert!  What a difference.  Here's the scoop about Vernal.  Vernal is in the basin of the Uinta Mountains which is one of the few mountain ranges in the world where it lies east to west instead of north to south.  Lies 30 miles from the border of Colorado and 20 miles from Wyoming in the northeast corner of Utah. Vernal, unlike most of the other Utah towns, was not settled by Mormons - the president of the LDS church said at that time - this area was a no-mans land, only good for hunting.  Did you know that Vernal is the only town in the US that does not have a railroad!  Imagine that!  One notable person from Vernal - if you are an OSU fan - Gordan Gee.  Why did we come to Vernal?  We stopped here because:  a) 240 miles is alot for one day and we wanted to drive all the way to AZ on US 191 and we need to stop and b) Vernal has the Dinosaur National Monument here, and Vernal is one of the largest archeological finds of dinosaurs in the world.  Are we interested in dinosaurs?  Well, not particularly, but it never hurts to get educated and learn something new.

We plan to be here about 5 days, then move again south to Moab where Arches National Park is and also Mesa Verde National Park is close to drive to.

Moose

Alpine Lake Wildfire in distance

As we drove into Pinedale today we saw a strange cloud above the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains - wasn't there yesterday.  Realized it was a wildfire - the Alpine Lake Wildfire on the Wind River Indian Agency to the east.  Winds picked up and the fire took off today and is now at 21 thousand plus acres.  Lightning caused.  Terrible to see. And the fire near Jackson is still raging, moving eastward away from Jackson.

Another thing we learned - and saw - is that this area is a natural migration route for deer and pronghorn.  Warnings on the roadway state to beware of deer on roadway.  As a matter of fact - they have built overpasses to allow the herds to move across the highway and not get killed (as well as people getting hurt when they hit them.) We saw this in Montana also - natural bridges for the animals to cross. And do we see alot of pronghorn now along the road.  Glad we don't travel at night - an accident waiting to happen.

Bridges for animals to cross

We went to the CCC ponds in Pinedale today, this is an conservation area that the Civilian Conservation Corp developed back in 1933.  We came here because yesterday the professional photographer that we met and talked with said that he is working on a project, taking photos everyday of the year while at the CCC ponds.  He said it is a lovely place to go to and he was right.

Pretty CCC ponds

Fremont Lake in background

As we were driving to the ponds we were confronted with Fremont Lake - a glacier-formed lake that is 9 miles long, 1 mile wide and 600 feet deep right on the outskirts of Pinedale.  Very pretty.  Rounded the corner and got to the parking area of the ponds, reviewed the map trail and decided to go to walk the loop trail. Pretty ponds and streams.  Lots of bird life, cold see tracks and scat - since found out from our reference material in the RV that the scat was from moose, either coyote or wolf, and from mule deer.  Okay - so where is the moose?  The one pond is noted for seeing moose activity, another is for waterfowl, and a third for fishing while a forth for beaver dams.  The photographer said he took a pic of a mother and baby moose - looked like they were kissing while at the beaver pond.  What chance would it be that we got to see moose in Wyoming when we have not seen them in Maine or Canada or Montana?  It was still a lovely walk, amazing that something like the ponds exist so close to the town. Oh well.

Meese!

I am ecstatic!  We saw a mother (sow) and two babies (calves) - so does more than one moose make it meeses?   We passed a couple who were coming from the other direction and they warned us that the sow and calves were just ahead but to keep our distance - the sow could be very aggressive protecting her babies.  Well, we couldn't find where they said to look.  So, Dave went up on an outcropping that looked down over the pond and I went a little further up the trail - I could hear the breaking of twigs, snorting, splashing of water, so we waited until they came into the clearing. They definitely could see us, we stayed downwind of them regardless.  Talk about a great reward!  Wonder where the bull moose was?  Good day in Pinedale.  Tomorrow morning we pack up and leave and head to Vernal, Utah - about 250 miles south of here.  Will visit a couple of national monuments, staying for about a week before heading more south again.

Mountain Man of Green River

Display inside the museum

We drove into Pinedale (Wyoming) yesterday, about a 30 minute drive south on route 191.  Cute town.  Population about 1700 but it has everything you could imagine.  Big hotels, lots of places to eat, a micro brewery, QUILT SHOP, cowboy apparel, banks, gift shops, sporting goods stores, ya-di, ya-di, ya.  We are always amazed that when we get into these small towns, there is so much.  We are in the heart of the Green River Rendezvous area, I'll explain in a bit.  Winters here in the mountains are pretty brutal, lots of snow, 20 below, wind chill into the -40's.  But spring/summer/fall - its a great place to spend some time, especially the second week in July - they host the Mountain Man Rendezvous.  Did I tell you I am an American History nut?  This town would be fun to see in July.

The Hat That Opened The West

As early as 1600 beaver top hats were the style and when beaver became extinct in Europe, and right after Lewis and Clark's Expedition came through, the American West was opened up for exploration and hunting.  The Mountain Man became a symbol of the true American frontier.  For over two decades the men would trap beaver and other animals, sending their hides back to St. Louis for money. Fur companies formed, trappers became aligned with them, and these company men roamed the Great Western Basin.   Over 100,000 beaver hides were consumed in the fashion industry every year until beaver hats were replaced with silk, this by 1840.  However, during 1825 to 1840, the Mountain Men would come together 16 times at designated rendezvous places and swap stories, product, resupply, realigned with different fur companies, and 9 of these gatherings were held within 20 miles Pinedale.  How did these people know what the day of the month was to be here?  After the beaver trapping days were over by 1840, these men became guides, laying the foundation for the opening of the American West.  So - present day - during this July reenactment, over 15,000 people come to see the doings.  What fun!

One of Fred Pflughoft's books

We went to the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, dedicated to those men who worked and plied their trapping skills for the fur industry trade.  Pretty impressive.  Displays of their living quarters, had the original rifle of Jim Bridger - the well known mountain man you have heard about; displays on how they lived such as their camp, their traps they used, how they spent their winters, their cooking and hunting supplies, etc.
And, in an other area of the museum was the Archaic room - when the gas companies started drilling for gas, they discovered remains of ancient peoples dating back over 10 thousand years ago.  Pretty well preserved and what a find!

While in Pinedale, Dave went to a sporting goods store to look for some hooks/clips.  He struck up a conversation with a Fred Pflughoft, he learned he is a professional photographer and has written over 14 books.  We did see his books while in the National Parks' book stores, glanced at them, but now we are talking with him!  He gave Dave some insights and pointers on what Fred looks for while on a shoot, as a matter of fact he has done a PBS series of Lodges of the National Parks.  Wow.  And - he told us about a current project - we are going there today to see and hopefully find some of the things he has shot.  Google this guy - or better yet - go to pinedaleonline.com  and go to photos and then click on Fred's photos.   We are impressed!