Northern Idaho & Southern British Columbia & Alberta

Day 27&28 April 27 and 28, 2006


Yesterday we departed Polson, MT on Rte 200 headed for northern Idaho. Most of the trip was through a beautiful serene valley with cattle ranching, following a winding stream crossing it occasionally and then back again to the other side with the Rockies to the west as we headed north.

Don, Deanna & Carol

The folks we visited, Don & Deanna, had moved about a year ago from San Francisco to his grandmother's home in Clark Fork, a wonderful little town of 500 or so people situated on the Clark Fork River which feeds into Lake Pend Oreille, a large lake, one of the largest if not the largest in Idaho. This is a very beautiful area and they took us on a quick tour of the area on our way to dinner at an eclectic old ice house overlooking the lake. We visited a beautiful stream, called Lightning Creek, I think. after dinner we toured the 'upper class' area.

A Cold One at the Ice House Restaurant

of homes on the lake and saw many deer.

Don and Deanna are in process of building an addition to the old homestead and renovating the original structure. They had a lovely large yard fenced in and the 'dales loved the freedom of this wide open space. Don is a third generation iron worker/supervisor and works large jobs all over the world with a specialty in suspension bridges. Deanna is a former airline stewardess for Delta who has interests in Airedales (they have two along with a Pug), gardening and many other things. They are in process of purchasing the local feed store so will soon sink deeper roots into Clark Fork. We had a wonderful respite with them.

Today we traveled north westerly through Sand Point and Bonners Ferry Idaho, really gorgeous country with forests, ranches, streams and mountains crossing the border into British Columbia where they confiscated Carol's (animal defense) pepper spray, but asked no questions about the dogs and their vaccinations. We followed Rte 95, then 93, then 3 and 2 through magnificent territory with wooded slopes racing up to steep snow capped peaks all through the southeast corner of B.C. at one point a dozen deer croosed the road in front of us and shortly afterward a dozen elk were scrambling up a steep bank into the woods. Lots of game her enad I'll bet the fishing in the Elk River is also good. We followed the Elk for many miles and just before crossing into Alberta the area has become a coal area mined by the Elk River Coal Company.

Crow's Nest Pass Continental Divide & Border of Alberta and British Columbia

With such high, beautiful mountains around us I expected that the pass into Alberta would be tortuous and difficult, but Crows Nest Pass was mild compared to most that we have taken. This is both the Continental Divide and the border between Alberta and B.C. The roads in both B.C. and Alberta have been superb, much better than their U.S. counterparts. Immediately after crossing Crows Nest we were on the Alberta Pririe with wheat farming and cattle ranching. This area seems an extension of Montana to the south, but appears more prosperous.

On the rolling praries are hundreds of huge windmills, the type that Vermont is twittering its energy debating one tenth of what Alberta has already installed. Somehow they seem to 'belong' on the prairie, more so than on the mountains. Interesting that Alberta with ample energy supplies of natural gas has chosen to move into wind, too.

We are in a somewhat barren RV park situated by a river in Fort Macleod, but the restrooms are clean, if not fancy. Quite a difference from Montana's highest rated in Polson.

Tomorrow we will be in Calgary visiting an Airedale breeder in the afternoon. Tonight's shower felt especially good after Carol whipped up a macaroni special with bison meat sauce. Yum!

Northwestern Montana & Northern Idaho

Day 25 & 26 April 25 and 26, 2006

Yesterday we left Helena and drove northwest on the scenic route US 89 toward Glacier Park. We traveled in beautiful weather through endless rolling gray prairie for 140 miles with almost no traffic (several minutes between cars). This was mostly cattle ranching country but when it was flat enough, wheat fields were seen. Thousands of cattle, mostly black Angus, with many calves were like black dots on the endless peaceful plains. While driving I was thinking the part of Montana we drove through could have easily accommodated the whole state of Vermont. The rolling prairie was dotted with crossroads towns amid mega-ranches with cattle and fences all that could be seen up close, but the whole vista was framed by the snow capped Rockies to the west. Wonderful warm weather the whole trip.

After passing through the Blackfeet Nation and East Glacier we went around the southerly end of the Park on US 2 for 60 miles to West Glacier, both nothing much more than small villages. We found the North America RV Park a few miles beyond the entrance framed by the mountains and stayed the night among a few RV people who work in the concessions and stores at the entrance to Glacier and are basically full time RVers, working in the summer and doing whatever they want wherever they want the remainder of the year. None of the concessions were open, but these folks were the 'opening up' crews, some of whom had arrived in late March. This RV park was recommended by "Ken" who I met in the RV park in Livingston after leaving Yellowstone. He had worked at Glacier last year and the folks here knew him.

Today we went as far into the park as possible, about 14 miles, but The Road to The Sun will not be open for another month. We are about 6 weeks early to have seen the whole park, but the taste we got was enticing.

After visiting the Hungry Horse Dam, we made our way via Kalispell to Polson, MT where we are now camped high above Flathead Lake, the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi, at Montana's highest rated campground. It is very nice, probably eight rigs here tonight, with a fantastic view to the west of the lake, Polson and the Rockies beyond.

Dogs have their own fenced run and the place is grassy and very clean inside the buildings and out.

After a great meal of ribs, chicken and steak with a Caesar salad, we will sleep well, I'm sure.

Tomorrow we're off to visit Airedale people in northern Idaho. After that, Banff beckons.

Montana Prairie and Glacier National Park

Day 25 & 26 April 25 and 26, 2006







Yesterday we left Helena and drove northwest on the scenic route US 89 toward Glacier Park. We traveled in beautiful weather through endless rolling gray prairie for 140 miles with almost no traffic (several minutes between cars). This was mostly cattle ranching country but when it was flat enough, wheat fields were seen. Thousands of cattle, mostly black Angus, with many calves were like black dots on the endless peaceful plains. While driving I was thinking the part of Montana we drove through could have easily accommodated the whole state of Vermont. The rolling prairie was dotted with crossroads towns amid mega-ranches with cattle and fences all that could be seen up close, but the whole vista was framed by the snow capped Rockies to the west. Wonderful warm weather the whole trip.

After passing through the Blackfeet Nation and East Glacier we went around the southerly end of the Park on US 2 for 60 miles to West Glacier, both nothing much more than small villages. We found the North America RV Park a few miles beyond the entrance framed by the mountains and stayed the night among a few RV people who work in the concessions and stores at the entrance to Glacier and are basically full time RVers, working in the summer and doing whatever they want wherever they want the remainder of the year. None of the concessions were open, but these folks were the 'opening up' crews, some of whom had arrived in late March. This RV park was recommended by "Ken" who I met in the RV park in Livingston after leaving Yellowstone. He had worked at Glacier last year and the folks here knew him.

Today we went as far into the park as possible, about 14 miles, but The Road to The Sun will not be open for another month. We are about 6 weeks early to have seen the whole park, but the taste we got was enticing.

After visiting the Hungry Horse Dam, we made our way via Kalispell to Polson, MT where we are now camped high above Flathead Lake, the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi, at Montana's highest rated campground. It is very nice, probably eight rigs here tonight, with a fantastic view to the west of the lake, Polson and the Rockies beyond. Dogs have their own fenced run and the place is grassy and very clean inside the buildings and out.

After a great meal of ribs, chicken and steak with a Caesar salad, we will sleep well, I'm sure.

Tomorrow we're off to visit Airedale people in northern Idaho. After that, Banff beckons.

Helena, Montana

Day 24 April 24, 2006

'Orphan Girl' Mine Derrick

We stayed last night in Livingston, MT at Osen's RV Park (John's wife is from Vermont and he had spent time 20+ years ago in the Marlboro-Bennington area. The park had a very large fenced in dog area, so the two 'dales had a great time romping and using some of that pent up energy. They loved it. But it was cold and snowy when we arrived with a biting wind. Again, the cabin heater was wonderful.

After stocking up on food and gas, we headed for Butte where I spent a couple of hours at the World Mining Museum, really a fascinating place at the site of the Orphan Girl Mine which operated until the '50s, when nearly all underground mining of gold, lead, zinc and copper was halted in favor of a huge open pit operation which created a VERY big hole and one of the largest Superfund sites in the U.S. (I owned a few shares of stock in Anaconda Copper when ARCO bought the company and closed the pit mining operation in Butte). The Museum is really quite spectacular with outdoor and indoor exhibits of tools, machinery, equipment, stores and shops all created with the original equipment and goods of the times. It is well worth seeing if you are ever in Butte.

Then on to Helena where we are sharing a nice RV park with one other rig. It's much warmer tonight, in the 40s. Last night it was in the 20s. I think we are at much lower altitude than in Livingston and the weather was clearing a bit at sunset after cloudiness all day with spitting snow depending on the altitude.

Tomorrow we will continue toward Glacier Park and take our time about it. In the last two days we have only traveled about 340 miles total.

Grand Tetons and Yellowstone

Day 22 & 23 April 22 and 23, 2006

Staying Close to Momma

Old FaithFul

Carol with Grand Tetons


Two very big days and two extraordinary parks. Yesterday morning we were in Grand Teton National Park and Today in Yellowstone. The Tetons were extraordinary, again little to no traffic and glorious weather. Not all of the park was open because of the heavy snow pack this year, but we saw plenty, including elk, bison and three moose.

Because the south entrance to Yellowstone was closed, we were not able to travel directly north into Yellowstone. Instead we headed back to Jackson, then north through Idaho through potato and wheat farming areas and into West Yellowstone, Montana. The west entrance to Yellowstone had just opened on Friday, so after a night in a local motel (the RV park was under 3' of snow!), we headed into THE PARK.

Unfortunately, most of the road network will be closed until late May, but we were able to travel to Old Faithful and our timing was good. Five minutes after arrival, she erupted. Nearly everything was closed and only a handful of people were in the park. We saw bison, elk, bird life and many of the hydrothermal phenomena that make the park famous. I learned that there are more geysers in Yellowstone than in the rest of the world combined. What a place! Someday, we must return later in the year to really see the whole park.

The only other road open was north from Old Faithful to Mammoth Hot Springs. We drove out of the park via the north entrance, followed the Yellowstone River on U.S. 89 and are now ensconced in small, but nice RV park in Livingston, Montana. It has a large, fenced, grassy dog park which pleased Scuffer and Jesse no end as they chased balls and sticks getting some much needed exercise. We arrived with spitting snow and temperatures near freezing, so the RV cabin heater feels real good after running the dogs in the biting wind. Tomorrow, on toward Glacier Park, then on to northern Idaho to visit some Airedale people.

Utah via Idaho to Jackson, Wyoming

Day 20 & 21 April 20 and 21 2006

View to Capitol Reef National Park into Arizona from 9,400 Feet on Utah Rte 24

Escalante Canyon, Utah

Thursday morning we left Ruby's RV Park at Bryce Canyon and decided to take Rte 12 and 24, a Utah scenic byway, and believe me it was! Although slow going, with lots of up and down canyons and winding road, we encountered almost no traffic. This a gorgeous drive and in beautiful weather, which we were blessed with, not to be missed.

The route is partly in Escalante Canyon and in my opinion, it was as beautiful, if not more so than Zion, although of a different sort. Huge boulders, red rocks, a flowing river with views above and below. Magnificent!

Later along the way we climbed over a pass at 9,400 feet with a dry road but plenty of snow all around and a view at the top to die for over a couple of hundred miles across Capitol Reef National Park and beyond Lake Powell to Navaho territory!

By all means take this route if you ever have the opportunity. Finally Rte 24 led us on to I-15 and we headed north toward Salt Lake City, a trip through a long flat valley with some majestic views of the Wasatch Range to the east. SLC is your typical booming southwest city expanding in all directions and we had some slowdowns on I-15 as we passed through during rush hour, with 5 lanes of traffic in each direction. We decided on a small RV park, The Golden Spike, in Brigham City about 25 miles north of SLC. The dogs were happy as clams because this park offered fully manicured grass, very well kept with very clean facilities.

After the morning chores, including a stop at Wal-Mart to stock up on food and necessities, we found that our overhead ventilating fan was on the fritz. Back to the RV park and with the help of a full time RVer, we borrowed a ladder and I was able to fix the fan which was stuck and needed only a shot of WD-40. Carol gave him a small bottle of maple syrup for the loan of the step ladder. Off again at midday heading to Jackson, Wyoming, where we are tonight (in a motel, because the weather was a bit cloudy and we thought a fresh morning approach to the Tetons would be better).

Today's journey via Logan, Utah was up the Logan Canyon over the top and then down to Bear Lake and a jaunt through the southeastern corner of Idaho through Montpelier and Paris up and down the mountains with good roads, temperatures in the 60s, little traffic and plenty of snow still present in the high ground.

This is ranching country with lots of beef cattle, many of which had just given birth. We could see the tiny calves still on the ground. This long valley in Wyoming is the Star Valley which leads to the Snake River. Shortly after entering Wyoming, we followed the Snake River for 20-30 miles and here we are in Jackson, a bit like Stowe with some very nice housing and the commercial architecture is very clearly Western High Quality.

Today marks the 1/3 point of our journey and we've traveled almost 5,000 miles with wonderful weather, the only rain was in New York on I-87. Since then it has been perfectly clear until tonight, with a few scattered clouds. We'll settle in tonight and I hope to upload some pics to the laptop which I will post later.

Bryce Canyon Vistas

Day 18 & Day 19, April 18 and 19, 2006 No online access for two days as we are in an RV Park in the "Ruby's Inn" complex of lodging, restaurant, diner, RV park, general store, post office, gas station and nearly any other facility you can imagine, a near-monopoly just outside the Bryce Canyon National Park. We traveled here yesterday from Vegas through some very scenic country beginning in Mesquite, NV, another boomtown on I-15, then on Utah 9 through Zion National Park.

Wonderfully clear weather both days. Last night it was very cold here at Ruby's, down to 19 degrees, so we had to use the cabin heater and we were comfy warm. The slide valve froze in the holding tank. Fortunately it was shut (otherwise it would have run free when it thawed, and if we were traveling, that would not be a good thing!) so that when it thawed later in the day's bright sunshine, I was able to dump waste this evening.

I'm glad we decided to stay here two nights because we spent a full afternoon in Bryce, so far the most beautiful park we've seen. We drove the 18 mile length and back and stopped a dozen times at the various sites for incredible photos on a bright blue day. I uploaded them to the laptop, so as to be able to include a couple here. Bryce is magnificent with its hoodoos, the tall multicolored spires that are everywhere you look. The stop-view sites allow you to get up close to some of these beautiful structures. Both Carol and I could not stop clicking the magnificent vistas.

I expect it to be well below freezing again tonight, so we'll probably have some holding tank freezing again. The fresh water system is fine because all the plumbing for that is within the heated space and I have a fresh water tank heater should I need it. We'll leave tomorrow, Thursday, and stay somewhere near Salt Lake City before heading toward Yellowstone on Friday. We grilled a steak for supper which was quite good, although the evening was cool and breezy.

California and Las Vegas

Day 15 April 15, 2006 & Day 16, April 16, 2006



Rose, Antonio, Sarah, Carol & David

We arrived at Eric and Rose Letson's home in Lakewood on Thursday evening after a long battle with the horrific rush hour traffic on I-10 heading west from Blythe, CA. We began encountering bumper-to-bumper, 'accordion style' traffic beginning 80 miles east of L.A. It abated only slightly for the remainder of the journey to the Letsons. We had a marvelous time with them on Friday and Saturday morning with great food and fellowship with them, Rose's mom, Sarah, and their young son, Antonio. We even celebrated Eric's birthday at a party Friday night.

When leaving on Saturday, the RV got hung up while backing out of the inclined driveway into the street. Friendly neighbors offered the solution by bringing over scrap lumber so that I could run the wheels up higher to provide clearance. The next Letson adventure began when I filled up with gas at the neighborhood Mobil station. I discovered about 10 miles onto the freeway that I didn't have my SpeedPass (which is as good as a credit card for buying gas at Mobil). I must have dropped it at the station. We called once more on the resourceful Letsons who went to the station and actually found it. They'll mail it home and Carol has another for use on the remainder of the. We are forever indebted to them for their kind hospitality and we owe them a 'finders fee.'

After leaving CA in more freeway traffic jams, we arrived in Las Vegas 5+ hours later with a brief stop in Barstow. We are in the Oasis RV Resort just a few miles from the strip. As we were preparing to back into our lot, the man across the street backed up without looking right into the RV's passenger side door. Not severe damage, a noticeable dent, but the door is still operable. The next hour was consumed dealing with exchange of insurance information and contacting my insurance company to report the mishap.

We had a wonderful Italian dinner at Nora's at Jones and Flamingo. Nora is a friend of Rose Letson's mother who called to tell them we were coming! We met both Nora and her husband Gino who are about to open a second restaurant. Who says we aren't networked?

Sunday morning we attended Easter service at the 3,000 person megachurch, International Church of Las Vegas, pastored by Paul Goulet who was a youth pastor at Community Bible Church in So. Burlington, VT when we first moved to Vermont in 1978. We did have a chance to say hello after the service. ICLV is one of the largest churches in the city and continues to grow as the city continues to explode with construction everywhere it seems, much like Phoenix.

We traveled the length of the strip for 1.5 hours in stop and go traffic to see the place, then on to Henderson to visit Terri Stevens, a Wooliedale customer and an Airedale breeder. Back to the resort to find that the strong wind had damaged our 10x10 self-standing canopy shade while we were away (I think I can send for some repair parts, but it may be usable with some duct tape repair...we'll see. Some chit chat with the neighbors, one or whom has been a full time RVer since 1978, then supper and evening chores.

Tomorrow is a 'stay at the park' day, no traveling, although we may have dinner with friends, the Colemans, from Vermont who arrived in Phoenix the day before we left and are now touring around the Southwest and just happen to be in Vegas when we are.

Oasis in the California Desert

Day 12 April 12, 2006

We are at 'an oasis' in the desert, Rancho Ventana RV Resort, tonight in Blythe, CA just across the Colorado River from Arizona on I-10. The CA desert seems to have gotten all the irrigation water from the river. The AZ side is dry as a bone while this side is lush with flat-as-a-pancake farms which seem to be growing alfalfa this time of year. However, I haven't seen any cattle ( I later learned that here they grow specialty grasses for export, like alfalfa and timothy and other forage crops. They sell the high quality product in Japan for five times the price they get for it locally).

We are on the way to visit friends Eric and Rose in L.A. having been with friends Rick and Pat in Phoenix for two days, where I had the RV serviced. Dave and Cheri (Pat's sister) from Vermont arrived yesterday and will travel in the area. As God would have it, They will be in Las Vegas the same day we were there, so we'll have dinner together. It was good to see the Fletchers since they moved here from Vermont in November.

Phoenix is a boom town! They're building building houses everywhere and adding 300 new residents from other places each day. Traffic is atrocious on the 10 lanes of I-10 during rush hour. The infrastructure is strained, but there seems no shortage of land. Some say at the present rate of growth, Tucson and Phoenix will soon merge.

I think the limiting factor will be water, not only here, but in other desert cities as well. That said, the housing in the neighborhood where Rick and Pat live is beautiful. This is a 20 year old planned community in Phoenix near Chandler that is in excellent condition and the vegetation is mature and beautiful with graceful palms and cactus fo many types. The Bouganvilla is in full bloom everywhere and was gorgeous.

Tomorrow we'll visit Joshua Tree National Park for half a day, then be in L.A. for the night.

Christ Among the Partisans - New York Times

Christ Among the Partisans - New York Times

Garry Wills has stated the reality of Christ and the abuse of His teachings and scriptural truth in the service of politics far better than any I've read. Take heed, ye politicians of whatever stripe! Christianized politics is an oxymoron. Jesus will not be boxed in.

Elderbloggers Stake Their Claim - New York Times

Elderbloggers Stake Their Claim - New York Times

Only 160,000 of us over 50s folks blogging? That number seems low, but I sure enjoy doing it because it keeps me connected to thinking, writing and opinionating. And when traveling, it provides an easy and fun journaling experience.

I often wonder whether blogs will exist in their present form 20 years from now or will they evolve into something different?

I have linked my web calendar to this blog (way down on the lower right of the page; scroll down to see it) as a way for folks to see where we are headed. Dates are approximate because we want the freedom to vary our itinerary as a place beckons or attracts our attention.

Phoenix, Phoenix

Day 11 April 11, 2006 We arrived in Phoenix yesterday afternoon after a short trip from Flagstaff via Sedona. I really like the Ponderosa forest country in the high country at 7,000 feet and above. The forests have little or no underbrush and you get the feeling that a horse back ride though these groves would be as much fun as watching 'Ponderosa' when we were a lot younger. By the way, We have not yet seen a person on horseback during our 4,200 miles. Is this the West? We see plenty of horses in pasture and in trailers, but more people riding ATVs than horses!

Sedona is a beautiful place with obvious tight architectural constraints in building nearly any structure so that it blends well with the Red Rocks surroundings. This is a very upscale destination, a bit like Vail in the desert. A very eye-pleasing place. After Sedona we descended to Phoenix, a metropolis boom town with vibrancy and new construction everywhere, The large housing developments are quite beautiful with lots of common areas for jogging, dog walking and even fishing ponds, at least in the Fletcher's neighborhood. We walked the 'dales this morning and Scuffer fell in the lake trying to get at some ducks! We did laundry and showered yesterday and generally will relax today.

Other friends of ours and the Fletchers, the Colemans from Colchester are flying in today to spend two weeks, traveling in the area and spending some time with the Fletchers. I scheduled a service appointment for the RV at Tempe Dodge for Wednesday. I want to be sure the buggy continues to perform as well on the remainder of the trip as it has so far. Verizon has cellular broadband service here in Phoenix, so as I lounge on the patio near the pool, I can write this post and browse the internet at high speeds and entertained by the cooing of the mourning doves. Cool, both this service and the weather this morning!

The Canyon Above All Canyons

Day 9, April 9, 2006



Today was a visit to one of the wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon! After a brief stop at the Trading Post in Cameron (What a stupendous place for Indian stuff and just about everything else you can imagine, including a gallery of very expensive native American art, sculpture, pottery and Indian clothing, including a $9,000 pair of beaded Navaho moccasins and a $55,000 piece of Navaho woman's clothing !!).


The weather was gorgeous, bright blue sky and clear, crisp air. Not very crowded with people, but parking is a real problem near the South Rim. We could not have asked for a more stupendous day to see Nature's handiwork. We stopped for the iMax show on the trip south and it is well worth seeing how it captures the mystique of the Canyon.(as soon as I upload my pictures to my laptop, I'll add some to the blog. Remember, Carol and I are sharing the laptop and both writing journals and blogs, so when we get to Phoenix and stay put for a couple of days, I'll do that.)

We're at an RV park (getting our kicks) on 'Route 66' in Flagstaff for the night nestled in among the pines. A quiet place and not very many rigs here so early in the season.

Supper is finished and Carol's turn on the laptop coming up in a few minutes.

Navaho Nation Visitors

One Artist Buying From Another

Day 8 April 8, 2006

We're now in Tuba City, Arizon, a part of the Navaho Nation, and what looks to be a fairly prosperous town after passing so much native American poverty in along the way. We had a wonderful meal (best steak of the trip, so far) at a restaurant next door to our RV park which is part of the Quality Inn. The park is a very nice facility and we even have cable TV, but alas, no internet access via Verizon for the first stop on the journey. We'll catch up on email and blog posting later when we have access.

The trip here from Richfield, Utah was a very pleasant journey in the Sevier River valley for the early going with beautiful sunny weather in the 60s. We were high up most of the time and traces of snow were evident here and there in the forest and on high ridges.

We visited Best Friend's Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah on the Arizona border. This is an incredible facility. They own outright 4,000 acres in Angel Canyon and lease an adjacent 30,000 from the Burea of Land Management for 'protection' as a natural area. Best friends is the largest sanctuary in the U.S. with 1,500-2,000 animals of all kinds, mostly dogs and cats. This organization has 270 employees in Angel Canyon and hundreds of volunteers, some who come for days or weeks at a time form all over the country. The facilities are incredible in design, funtionality and cleanliness. The place is so big and so thorough in caring for animals who they sponsor for adoption, if possible, that it's hard to fathom. With a $24,000,000 annual operating budget, they have seen substantial growth as a result of hurricane Katrina. The side trip was well worth the 2.5 hours. Their website is www.bestfriends.org.

Then on to Arizona for more desert, gullies, gulches, mounds, escarpments and canyons and a wonderful lodgepole pine forest in the high country near the 8,000 foot entrance road (road closed in winter until May 15) to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
So very little traffic on U.S. 89 and 89a from Fredonia, Arizona to Tuba City. Travel was easy, if boring, with so much painted desert scenery and good roads. Sunday we're headed to Grand Canyon.

Arches and Canyons

Landscape Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

Day 7 April 7, 2006

After a hearty breakfast at the Moab Diner amongst the locals and several early arriving 4-wheelers for a weekend desert rally, we set off for Arches National Park. Since we are now senior citizens we can have a pass for all the parks for $10.00 forever. God Bless the U.S. National Park Service!

The weather was wonderfully sunny in the 50s and 60s throughout the day. I can understand why this climate is so appealing, except in July an August. Arches can be reasonable well seen form driving the 18 mile route, which we did. At Devil's Garden I took a 2 mile hike while Carol napped and studied some Italian. The hike led to Landscape Arch, the longest at 360' (some controversy exists about how to measure these arches) and fragile after a big chunk fell off in 1991.

(Lots of photos but not yet time enough to edit and upload. Patience, please.)

We stopped at the brand new visitors center, a very nice building with several full-size sculptures of the animals of the desert, including a very nice bronze of a big horn sheep, and several displays of the histroy and geology of the park. A 15 minute movie describes the arches, their history and geology, also very well done by the Discovery Channel.

Then back on I-70 through more dry, Utah desert with some spectacular views, but also plenty of mundane, uninteresting landscape that seemed like driving through a huge endless gravel pit.

Up over the mountains we went at 8-9,000 feet, I'd estimate, and then downhill for 15-20 miles to our destination tonight, a small RV park in Richfield, a growing town in the Sevier Valley with what seems to be rich farmland for beef cattle. Along the way we saw a herd of 15-20 deer in the mountains.

Tomorrow we lose I-70 because it ends here. We will head for the Grand Canyon on US-89 and probably stay a day or two at Tuba City, AZ. while visiting the 'big daddy' canyon. We left the Colorado River in Moab, but will soon find it again in Arizona.

Musings from Moab

April 7, 2006

Denver to Moab, UT today via the Loveland Pass (of course it was snowing, but not sticking to the road, so traveling was OK!) I-70 after Vail, is a good road through a territory I wouldn't pay a dime an acre for. Such desolation and desert, for the most part. Traveling was good the whole way with light traffic and few trucks. Vail and the valley contain plenty of megahomes and little parking in the village.
Lot's of oil shale drilling around Rifle, CO. At least a dozen drill rigs at work, a real boom town now that petoleum is >$60/bbl.

We're at a the Arch View RV Park in sight of the national park and will visit tomorrow.

Time for a shower and a few odds and ends now that the sun has set.

Denver Nuggets

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Yesterday was a 'rest' day in Topeka with new found friends (owner of Lacie, an Airedale) which included good fellowship, meals, a guided tour of Topeka, including the elaborate state capitol and an Episcopal church with a fantastic organ which someone there was kind enough to play for the three of us, by Mark Saylor then a steak dinner, and a good night's rest.

We are on the road again currently in Colby, KS, just east of the CO border. We hope to spend the night in Denver and if luck holds, will meet up with Jessica Sarkisian, daughter of our lifelong friends, Vahan & Anne from MA & NH.

It's very warm today with clear weather and light traffic on I-70.

Update 8:30 pm Wednesday
We are now in Denver at a Sam's Club ready to settle in for the night. We heard from Jessica enroute. She's in Aspen so we won't be able to connect while we're here. The drive through the High Plains of eastern Colorado is a desolate one. We stopped at Flagler, a farm town (they're all wheat towns here.) for gas, then made a straight shot for Denver.
What a change from desolate high plains with little sign of life, except the cattle, to the bustling metropolis of Denver with 8 lanes of I-70 traffic.

Carol's 'nuking' some leftover chicken Parmesan with a nice fresh salad for supper.
Tomorrow we're off to Utah with a stop at Arches National Park near Moab.

It's been one long drive through America's heartland, but we haven't seen any place yet to beat Vermont or New England.

God's Country

A New York law firm had a matter involving real estate in Louisiana. They asked a New Orleans firm to search the title and received a detailed report. The New York firm wrote back, that the report was fine as far as it went, but what happened before 1803? The New Orleans firm answered as follows:

“In 1803 the title was acquired from the Republic of France by purchase. The Republic of France acquired it from the Kingdom of Spain by conquest. The Kingdom of Spain acquired its rights by virtue of the discoveries of Christopher Columbus. Columbus,
before embarking on his voyage of discovery, received the blessing of the Pope
of Rome who is the Vicar on Earth of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of
God. God made Louisiana.”

Day 3 Now in Kansas City

Another 500 mile day finds us in the Wal-Mart parking lot just east of Kansas City on I-70. The driving improved from light rain in Indianapolis to a sunny day just as we passed through St. Louis.

In Illinois 5 tractor trailers were strewn about in the median in Illinois. They apparently were hit by a tornado or very strong winds that threw them off the road and their cargoes were everywhere. Don't know if any drivers were hurt, but what a mess. We were very fortunate to have been just rattled around some in a windy thunderstorm.

Farms, farms, and more farms. The landscape is very bland to look at but thank God for those who work this wonderful soil to bring us all manner of inexpensive food.

The weather promises to be good for the next couple of days. Tomorrow we'll visit some folks and stay overnight (yeh, a shower!) in Topeka that Carol met on the Internet through her Wooliedales business.

We had a wonderful dinner buffet at a place called Golden Corral, apparently a franchise in this part of the country, but this is the first one we'd seen. An amazing deal for @20 bucks for two people. Wonderful steak, beef ribs, chicken roasted or fried and oodles of veggies and salads and you name it! Such a deal!!

Dogs are doing so very well. We and they are on the same bathroom break schedule, so it works out fine for all of us.

Indianapolis & Tornados

We spent the second nite in a Wal-Mart parking lot after two days and a thousand miles into our cross country journey. Excitement reigned here last night as a line of severe thunderstorms and heavy rain squalls came through. The tornado sirens wailed as we watched the TV weather and listened to the National Weather Service emergency alerts as the winds rocked our RV a bit. We're fine, no damage.

The heaviest winds were northeast and southeast of us. We were in Lawrence to the northeast of the city. It's now cooled considerably and Carol is making breakfast. The dogs are traveling well and are really no bother.

We are headed for another Wal-Mart just east of Topeka, Kansas to spend tonight.

Traffic is light on the weekend, but I suspect it will be heavier today on I-70.

This Verizon BroadBandAccess and National Access service is great!! I'm online via FAST!! broadband now. Carol was on for two hours yesterday while driving at 65 mph and we never dropped a connection. So we may be online more often than expected, as long as we're in Verizon cell territory.

More later.