The housesitters are set, and so are we...
Departure date is July 14th! Woohoo!!!
Friday, June 20, 2014
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Making Plans for our big 2014 Trip!
Dear Friends,
We are happy to report that the three of us are returning to Alaska this year! Our plans are to leave mid-July. After attending the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers and Photographers conference in Glacier National Park (see rmowp.org), we will continue north to Alaska.
For those of you who are wondering about Roxanne, she continues to have the heart of a lion. The nerves in her rear leg muscles remain weak, but she has adapted well. At the moment, she can hike only about a half mile or so, but we hope to increase that with added exercise and swimming while on our trip. She turned 12 years old on Thanksgiving Day and certainly shows no signs of giving up any time soon. That's our girl!
We invite you to join us again this year as we continue blogging our adventures.
Alaska!!! Woohoo!!!
We are happy to report that the three of us are returning to Alaska this year! Our plans are to leave mid-July. After attending the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers and Photographers conference in Glacier National Park (see rmowp.org), we will continue north to Alaska.
For those of you who are wondering about Roxanne, she continues to have the heart of a lion. The nerves in her rear leg muscles remain weak, but she has adapted well. At the moment, she can hike only about a half mile or so, but we hope to increase that with added exercise and swimming while on our trip. She turned 12 years old on Thanksgiving Day and certainly shows no signs of giving up any time soon. That's our girl!
We invite you to join us again this year as we continue blogging our adventures.
Alaska!!! Woohoo!!!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Best Road Sign of 2013
The winner of this year's best road sign goes to...
 |
| On Gros Ventre Road near the Grand Tetons |
Friday, October 18, 2013
Staat Stats 2013
To summarize our 2013 adventure, here are a few Staat Stats:
Days on the road: 49
Number of National Parks missed due to shutdown: Glacier Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, and Mesa Verde
Miles travelled: 9,538
Miles travelled on gravel roads (including 4-wheel drive trails): 495 (mas or menos)
Days on the road: 49
States visited: 13
Lowest recorded temperature inside the camper: 34 degrees (the result of an empty propane tank... burrrrrrrr!)
Lowest recorded temperature outside the camper: 17 degrees
Greatest snowfall: 8 inches
Consecutive days of rain: 10 (it would have been 14 days, but we had 36 hours of beautiful weather in Quinault)
Nights in motels: 8 (including 5 days during family visits)
Cheapest gasoline per gallon: $2.929 per gallon (Española, NM)
Most expensive gasoline: $3.799 per gallon (Challis, ID)
Number of gallons of gasoline used: 674 gallons
Number of National Parks missed due to shutdown: Glacier Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, and Mesa Verde
Beautiful places that we would have missed had it not been for the shutdown: Davis Mountain wild horses (UT), Highway 105 through Uinta Mountains (UT), Fremont Indian State Park (UT), Posey Lake and Hell's Backbone Road (UT), Highway 46 and 90/145 (UT/CO)
Thursday, October 17, 2013
The Last Leg
David and I first visited Heron Lake in 1975. Pristine and beautiful, we remember watching an enormous sailboat cruise past our campsite. Although drought and Albuquerque's water needs have drastically reduced this lake, it is still lovely.
We camped at Heron, enjoying a relatively mild evening, strolling for elusive geodes and watching the sunset. With storm clouds brewing, however, we headed into the camper as rain began to fall. Thunderstorms kept the rig rocking most of the night, but morning brought sunshine and a herd of five buck, a doe, and fawn near our campsite.
Newfound friends from the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers & Photographers group (rmowp.org) live in Taos and invited us for brunch Tuesday morning. We had planned to shower here at Heron Lake, however, we discovered that the park had already closed the showers for the winter. Again, we are on a quest to find a place to clean up.
On our drive from Heron Lake into Taos, we had extra time to dilly-dally. We took Rox on a hike along the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge, knowing that the next several days would be hard driving. The wind blew fiercely and had a bite to it... proof positive that we were in for a cold night.
Taos caters to a different style of folks than those of us who camp primitively. We ended up in a commercial campground so that we could shower before meeting our friends. Early in the morning, our propane tank ran dry. We decided to wait until daylight to change it out. As a result, we awoke to a bone-chilling temperature of 34 degrees inside the camper.
We had a wonderful time visiting our friends, then headed east to Texas. By Tucumcari, we decided to cash it in for the night. We found no campgrounds less than $40 and ended up staying in a $48 Motel 6.
The three of us slept restlessly. At 3:30 a.m. mountain time, David was whispering, "Are you awake?"
We found our morning coffee fix in Amarillo. We made it home before five o'clock.
It felt like a sudden end to the trip, but home felt warm, wonderful, and palatial. We noticed that both of us were humming, "Ain't it good to be back home again."
We will sleep in our own bed tonight. Roxanne is already in her favorite position, belly up against the front door. All is well.
 |
| Heron Lake, New Mexico |
Newfound friends from the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers & Photographers group (rmowp.org) live in Taos and invited us for brunch Tuesday morning. We had planned to shower here at Heron Lake, however, we discovered that the park had already closed the showers for the winter. Again, we are on a quest to find a place to clean up.
On our drive from Heron Lake into Taos, we had extra time to dilly-dally. We took Rox on a hike along the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge, knowing that the next several days would be hard driving. The wind blew fiercely and had a bite to it... proof positive that we were in for a cold night.
 |
| Rio Grande Gorge near Taos, New Mexico |
We had a wonderful time visiting our friends, then headed east to Texas. By Tucumcari, we decided to cash it in for the night. We found no campgrounds less than $40 and ended up staying in a $48 Motel 6.
The three of us slept restlessly. At 3:30 a.m. mountain time, David was whispering, "Are you awake?"
We found our morning coffee fix in Amarillo. We made it home before five o'clock.
It felt like a sudden end to the trip, but home felt warm, wonderful, and palatial. We noticed that both of us were humming, "Ain't it good to be back home again."
We will sleep in our own bed tonight. Roxanne is already in her favorite position, belly up against the front door. All is well.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Colorado Snow
Another beautiful day... another beautiful drive on another new road over Utah's Highway 46 and Colorado's 90 and 145.
As we left Moab, the sun began breaking through the clouds. We noticed that all of the surrounding mountains had a new dusting of snow. The further we drove, the more snow we found. By the time we arrived in Ridgway, the snow was deep, and the roads a bit icy.
One of our favorite drives in this area is up Last Dollar Road. It has several beautiful aspen groves, and I was on the hunt for gold. As we turned to determine the road conditions, we spied a lone coyote on a snowy hill.
Last Dollar Road was slushy but passable. We decided to camp at Ridgway State Park for the night and take photos tomorrow. I love Colorado but hate the prices of their state campgrounds. Visitors must pay a camping fee of $20, the daily pass of $7, plus pay for showers. It seems particularly odd that prices would be so high with so much national forest land available to camp on for free. This evening, however, the sunset alone was worth the price of admission.
We broke camp the next morning, excited to find color. My beautiful Colorado Rockies didn't disappoint.
With the snow so deep, however, we found some of our favorite drives impassable. We took a drive up to the Dallas Creek trailhead, only to turn back because of snow. Roxanne, however, loved it!!!
With more snow in the forecast and honking geese urging us ever onward, we continue to move south. We feel caught between two worlds. It seems too early to go home, yet the morning chill and mountains dressed in wedding white whisper otherwise. We have bouts of restlessness, sometimes feeling like the old John Denver song... that we should have been home yesterday.
By the time we hit Durango, the sun was shining. The die had already been cast, however. We are heading home.
As we left Moab, the sun began breaking through the clouds. We noticed that all of the surrounding mountains had a new dusting of snow. The further we drove, the more snow we found. By the time we arrived in Ridgway, the snow was deep, and the roads a bit icy.
One of our favorite drives in this area is up Last Dollar Road. It has several beautiful aspen groves, and I was on the hunt for gold. As we turned to determine the road conditions, we spied a lone coyote on a snowy hill.
Last Dollar Road was slushy but passable. We decided to camp at Ridgway State Park for the night and take photos tomorrow. I love Colorado but hate the prices of their state campgrounds. Visitors must pay a camping fee of $20, the daily pass of $7, plus pay for showers. It seems particularly odd that prices would be so high with so much national forest land available to camp on for free. This evening, however, the sunset alone was worth the price of admission.
 |
| Sunset Ridgway State Park, Colorado |
 |
| Dallas Divide, Ridgway, Colorado |
With the snow so deep, however, we found some of our favorite drives impassable. We took a drive up to the Dallas Creek trailhead, only to turn back because of snow. Roxanne, however, loved it!!!
We found Owl Creek Pass also to be snowy, slushy, and icy. The view, however, was as remarkable as always...
 |
The next day, we headed for Silverton. We had hoped to drive the four-wheel-drive trail to one of our favorite spots, an old ghost town above Silverton. Unfortunately, we found the snow too deep to even attempt. We drove on towards Durango, stopping amidst new snow flurries to take a few photos at Molas Pass.
|
 |
| Molas Pass |
By the time we hit Durango, the sun was shining. The die had already been cast, however. We are heading home.
“All things on earth point home in old October;
sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences,
hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds,
the lover to the love he has forsaken.”
~ Thomas Wolfe,
Of Time and the River: A Legend of Man's Hunger in His Youth
sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences,
hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds,
the lover to the love he has forsaken.”
~ Thomas Wolfe,
Of Time and the River: A Legend of Man's Hunger in His Youth
Friday, October 11, 2013
Moab Reunion
 |
| Outside Moab, Utah |
As we shared lunch together, Kate spoke about her amazing adventure and how she felt about it ending so abruptly. Both David and I had to smile when she announced that she was considering hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail again rather than just completing Washington. Once adventure gets into your blood, it is certainly hard to shake. Go Kate!!! We can't wait to see what happens next.
The rain managed to follow us... as Kate, who has also had sufficient rain for at least a few weeks, said, "this is the desert!!!"
With the rain and both Arches and Canyonland national parks closed, it became a cleanup day for us. We found the "Barkery" and gave Roxanne a much-needed bath. With the rain and wanting a place for the family to gather, we also found a motel room. Thankfully, it had a laundromat, so we were able to wash enough cold weather clothing to get us home.
Our need for a family fix satiated, we awoke this morning with our sights set for Colorado's Million Dollar Highway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)