Canyonlands National Park and Colorado River

We have decided that we don't need to go to the Grand Canyon - our views today will more that satisfy that need to see such a spectacle. Canyonlands National Park was established relatively recently - in the early 60's and its beauty rivals the Grand Canyon.The Green and Colorado Rivers merge in this park to form the main branch of the Colorado which runs through the Grand Canyon in Arizona to the south.
Canyonlands is remote - the nearest large city is Salt Lake (we are camped in Moab) - and getting here is not the easiest trip. But oddly enough we have run into more Europeans than Americans. We have met (and visited with) people from Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, Spain and Italy, to mention a few. All flew into San Francisco and either rented cars or RV's and are following a similar trail through the Great Southwest. Many have kids in tow (their schools don't start until mid-September) and all are happy to practice their English with us.
This evening we took a jet boat ride on the Colorado which followed with a "Dutch Oven" meal that was as good as any we have had. Since we are nearing the end of the tourist season, there was only 6 of us on the boat - one couple from Louisiana and the other from Germany - an international group if ever I saw one!
Home in 5 days!

Moab Utah - Arches National Park

More rocks - more incredible earth colors - more out-of-this-world vistas. Words are insufficient to describe this geology. Little arches, medium arches and large arches. One actually fell a couple years ago after a million years of standing at attention. Fortunately it was overnight with no tourists underneath!I have met the nicest people touring this part of the world - several families from London, and I hear French and German spoken everywhere. Europeans are as fascinated by this part of the world as we are, and their school schedules are different from ours, so they get to avoid the large crowds during the middle of summer. One woman I spoke to today commented that we, Americans, must be frustrated with the immenseness of our country and the inability of being able to see all of its beauty in one short lifetime. I agreed. We are planning our next trip already.....

Moab Utah Riverside Oasis RV Park - Arches

I was actually sad to leave Monument Valley this morning. Mike is not crazy about this stark, rocky, desert landscape, but I love it. And the individuals that populate it. I have more respect for the Navajo people than ever before. Not only are they artistic and wonderfully creative, they also possess a warm, friendly, sharing nature and a hardiness that rivals our pioneer ancestors. To be able to eek out a living in this harsh country is truly something to be proud of, and I have left the area with bits of their artistic souls - some beadwork, a piece of sand art and my favorite - a woven rug. The rug is small, but is precious to me - I feel a connection to the artist somehow and I am trying to learn more about her from the young man who sold me her rug.We left for Moab by 10:00 am and headed another 150 miles north - traversing more sandstone landscapes with varying hues of red, yellow, green, white, purple and pink. We are no where near Arizona's Painted Desert and Grand Canyon, but the rock and sand colors are similar hues.
Only a couple small towns were between us and Moab, and their existence evidently depended upon a water table that rose to the surface - there were no rivers nearby. Where there was water, plants flourished - the land is volcanically rich. But water is a rarity and mostly reserved for people and animals. The desert wins 98% of the time.The La Sal Mountains are the prominent formations, but there are other rocks, like Monument, that suddenly jut from the landscape....

and arches. Lots and lots of arches. We'll see more of these Saturday.Our RV park is an oasis - large cottonwood and Mulberry trees abound and there's lush green grass at every site - totally opposite from the last park at Gouldings (in Monument Valley). There was only red sand at our site - and hardy small trees with drip waterers that barely were surviving the desert.

Behind a levee here, just 150 feet from the trailer lies the mighty Colorado - a wide, swiftly flowing river that we plan to go boating on tomorrow. I may even buy a fishing license and get my rod wet....Mike has laughingly suggested a hot air balloon ride - and I did notice parachuting available, too. But I think my sky adventures are over for the summer. Besides, I want to sky dive with Merideth, if I do it. Mother-daughter bonding is good...

To Monument Valley, Utah

We have left planet Earth and entered Monument Valley Zone. There is no other place on this world like this. Yesterday, as we headed west and crossed south western Colorado, the topography quickly changed. The plants became smaller, due to less water available, but no cactus appeared. Surface water disappeared and the rock formations evolved into structures I had never seen before. No longer were there mountain ranges. Instead jutting into the sky are jagged peaks and structures that are surrounded by plains and buttes. They are large, but not connected like the Rockies are – not in a continuous range of rocks. And it seems as if every time we crest another butte, the color and texture of the hills change – as does the vegetation, such as there is. Red mountains evolved into green mountains, and they evolve into striped mountains which change to yellow ocher mountains with red stripes waving through them – sideways.

I hung out the truck snapping pictures almost continuously, asking Mike to “pull over” whenever there was a chance. Mike is blaming my brother, Boyd, for this treeless trek (he’s been here and loved it!) I blame the geology gene that my family possesses. I love the vast, tree-void, rock-filled expanse that is South Eastern Utah.

The Navaho Nation own most of the land we have crossed today, and my first thought was “Leave it to the US government to ‘give’ the most worthless, non-productive land to the Indians.” There are a few oil wells visible, but I didn’t even see Antelope on the open range – nothing much lives well here. But there is something strangely appealing about the terrain. Hollywood recognized its potential, years ago and many classic westerns have been filmed here (without worry of fences or electric lines or jet planes appearing in the background). Many of John Wayne’s movies used Monument Valley as a background as did the Indiana Jones movies.

Durango Silverton Train

Yesterday I relived my childhood and we rode the Durango/Silverton train, following the Animas River most of the way. Over forty years ago I enjoyed the same trip with my parents, my brother, Boyd, my Father's father and our cousin Dolph. And it was exactly as I remembered it - clackety clack, rocking open train cars, cinders in the eyes, the smell of steam and burning coal and SPECTACULAR scenery.Our locomotive was built in 1923 and used over 5 tons of coal for the round trip - and it was all stoked by hand by one man.
Hanging out the window afforded my many wonderful photo ops, but also resulted in cinders in the eyes. I WILL be painting mountains for quite a while when I return to the studio! And my mother promised to find the slides we took of the original trip years ago. With any luck, we'll get the projector working again and relive some fond memories!
Today we leave Durango and head out for southern Utah and Monument Valley. It's been uncommonly hot in this part of the country and even topped 100 two days ago in Durango. The nights have been nice though, and in the shade during the day, it is not unpleasant. I think Texas is actually cooler, though!

Durango and the Glider Ride

After getting some housekeeping chores out of the way, we spent the morning in Durango, ate lunch at a good Italian restaurant and shared Stone Cold Creamery Ice Cream with Georgia. We had an appointment with the glider folks at 3:00 and I was unnaturally calm as I was was strapped into the cockpit.
Lttle did I know what was in front of me!
The take off behind the tow plane was pleasant enough - a little bumby since it was on a grass runway, but not at all scarey. I was in the front of the plane with the pilot, Jon, directly behind me. The foot pedals and stick were functional in front of me, but I kept my hands and feet clear!

The tow plane quickly found a thermal and Jon instructed me to release the tow rope by pulling the red lever on the console. I did as instructe4d, the tow plane fell away immediately and we were gliding!
The flying was thrilling at first and I enjoyed viewing the Animas River Valley below. That was until Jon found the thermal updraft and started flying in a tight circle to ride it upward. WHEW! I later found out that MORNINGS are the best time to fly gliders - afternoons get rather bumpy and sloppy. NOW they tell me.
We circled upward, adding 1000 feet quickly to our altitude, with Jon continuing to ask me, "You all right, Darling?" To say I was dizzy was an understatement, but I refused to admit queasiness and even sang "God Bless America" with my happy co-pilot!
To say I was relieved when we headed for home is an understatement. The landing was a controlled crash, since a glider has only a wheel on its nose - no other landing gear. When the canopy was opened for me to disembark, I refused help getting out, but my legs were rubber and Jon commented that I looked at bit pale and would I like a glass of water. I nodded yes and collapsed into a lawn chair on their patio.
I will never fly in a glider again.
Mike laughed at me all the way home and is still laughing.
I will parachute with Merideth next.....

Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings

Visiting Mesa Verde Thursday left me with many more questions than answers. And not only were the structures impressive, but the trip to the top of the mesas was just as spectacular and hair-raising!
The buildings were constructed over a period of only 100 years starting around 1100 A.D. Before that time, the residents lived in the area, but on top of the Mesas, as farmers and hunters. Archeologists still speculate what encouraged the move to the cliffs and again what made them leave the area entirely 100 years later, leaving their homes undiscovered and untouched for 600 years.Hundreds of actual dwelling sites have been documented, and we explored two of the more famous ones: Balcony House and Cliff Palace. Both sites required visitors to go down a steep, hang-on-for-your-life stairway and climb up and out via wooden ladders. Mike gamely ignored his fear of heights and managed both. Good thing we have been doing some major hiking and altitude acclimation already.
Friday we explored Durango and did a bit of housekeeping and laundry. I flew in a glider - more about that later. Saturday we ride the train....

Thirty Mile Campground Creede, Colorado

My grand ambition to post here regularly failed to take into account that we would be off the grid for the first three weeks of our trip!
Now we are in Durango, planning to visit Mesa Verde and maybe even go glider flying (don't worry Mom - They are safer than planes - after all, there is no motor to worry about!!!!)
We have decided that Thirty Mile Camp, 30 miles from Creede, Colorado is THE place to go in August to escape Texas heat. The campground has no electricity or sewer hookup and you have to load water from a faucet. Every morning we awoke to a temperature in the thirties which WOULD have been even better had we had propane working. But we developed a leak and so had to do most of our cooking on a fire and wait for the sun to warm the RV. Don't feel sorry for us though! The hiking was spectacular, fishing on the Rio Grande Reservoir was productive (Mike beat me!) and the stars were brilliant.
Georgia spent her time hiking with us and keeping the raging chipmunks out of our camp. I think her paws may be as sore as our muscles, but we are all enjoying ourselves!When we arrived in Durango yesterday, we did stop at an RV repair facility and got the propane leak repaired.

Day 2 - FRIDAY - La Veta, Colorado

None of the clocks in the RV are working yet - I haven't replaced the old batteries.
Still in Capulin, pre-dawn, Mike got up to tinkle, and I followed after him. After I had crawled back into bed, I noticed he had looked at his watch and I inquired about the time. Five-thirty, he mumbled. Thirty minutes later I gave up trying to get back to sleep and thought "What the heck, six o'clock - I'll read a while - quietly". After an hour, I find my watch and discover that NOW it was 6:00 am - Mike had been referring to "Texas Time" - it was really 4:30 in New Mexico. By then I was already into my book, sleep was impossible, so I just stayed up.
Three hours later, after breakfast and purchasing the grass fed, free-of-hormones meat that we always get in Capulin, we said goodbye to the Volcano and hit the road. Crossing Raton Pass into Colorado was uneventful, but again we were following clouds and rain squalls - and glorious coolness (60 degrees). The Spanish Peaks were visible as soon as we crossed into Colorado.Three hours later, we arrived at our destination in La Veta - the Elk Lodge RV Park - right across the street from a gorgeous golf course and at the base of the West Spanish Peak Mountain. Deer and Elk frolic on the links while golfers play through. Last year I photographed 4 trophy mule deer buck here on our way to Cuchara.After lunch we set out up the mountain to Cuchara to see if the National Forest Campground was crowded (we plan to go there Sunday and stay for a week). The drive is less than an hour, but we are staying in La Veta because when we ride the train tomorrow, Georgia can't go with us and we want to leave her alone as little as possible).
On the way up the winding, switch back road, we rounded a corner and saw a Dodge truck precariously hanging over the edge of the narrow mountain road with two young men clinging to the back of it. Another truck had just arrived from the other direction and its driver was desperately trying to find a way to tow the Dodge off the brink. All he had was some nylon rope. Meantime the two kids hanging on the back of the Dodge (and their female companion) informed the growing crowd (no one could pass - we were a captive audience) that it was their weight keeping the truck from falling over the edge to the creek 25 feet straight down below.
The Good Samaritan in the Ford was worried that the rope would break and possibly do more harm than good. They needed a tow chain, and the one we usually carry in our truck had been removed to wash the bed and was not replaced. We were no help (but I DID grab my camera and begged forgiveness from the hapless hangers-on for taking pictures).Eventually someone DID arrive with a chain and tow strap, and it was quickly tied to the Dodge and the savior Ford.With a mighty roar, the Ford pulled the Dodge off the edge of oblivion and disaster was avoided. According to the young people in the truck, they had just parked the truck to photo the creek below and the e-brake was engaged. But with all the rain we've had, it appears as if the edge of the road was mushy, and as the truck started over the edge, the boys jumped on the back to counterbalance it. It was lucky they weren't in it when it started to fall - I doubt this story would have had a happy ending!We continued up the mountain and discovered that the campground was staying pretty full and we decided to get there soon after 1:00 pm Sunday if possible. The scariest part of our trip is going up this road with a 35 foot RV. The switchbacks are hairpin and harrowing - especially if you encounter someone coming DOWN with an RV. USUALLY those leaving are gone by noon, though, so those arriving get the whole road. USUALLY. We've never had to back up, but we have had some close calls with vehicles NOT pulling RVs. Most people are fairly careful, though.
Oh, and we found out that there have been 6 new black bears spotted in the area and one was shot by a camper in the Blue Lake campsite one-and-a-half weeks ago. It is against the law to carry a handgun into a National Park, but the camper WAS NOT ticketed. Don't worry, Mom! We'll be OK!!!! Life on the edge......ha ha ha!

Day 1 To Capulin, New Mexico

The first day of this year's BIG TRIP finally arrived and I don't think I could fit anything else into the RV or the ice chest. Thankfully it has been raining for a week in our area of Texas and that mainly means our neighbor, Ron, won't have to move the big bales of hay into the pasture for the horses quite as often. The gate and house was secured, the refrigerator was empty, and all our neighbors promised to stop by regularly. The kids plan to spend a night or two and keep the yard mowed. There was nothing left to do but leave.We left fairly early Thursday morning between rain squalls and passed green pastures and standing water all the way across Texas. I cannot recall ever seeing the dry land corn and cotton near Amarillo so healthy. And all the pastures are lush. Oddly enough, though, the two biggest cattle feedlots in West Texas were empty. Mike said it's because of the drought that has, until recently, covered most of the state. Many of the big ranchers have sent their cattle north, and that's evident with the abandoned empty feedlots and pastures.New Mexico was green and rainy, too, and we arrived in Capulin around 6:30 pm Mountain Time. We quickly set up the RV, ate dinner and settled in for the evening. A late afternoon shower treated us to a spectacular double rainbow right out our front door.After the rain let up, I went exploring for images on my bike and got some pretty nicely illuminated skies and buildings.Tomorrow we head out for La Veta and the train ride.