Trek Drifters

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-12-24T09:57:00.001-08:00

We have so much to be thankful for and 2011 was a great year for both Nancy and myself. We look forward to the coming year and all that it has to offer. Merry Christmas and a healthy, fun-filled, and prosperous 2012. Enjoy your family and friends during this special time of the year.

Death Valley 2011 - Titus Canyon Jeep Quest

2011-11-24T13:02:00.001-08:00

Rhyolite, now a ghost town, was known as the "Queen City". From 1905-1911, it was the largest town in the Death Valley area with a population of 5,000-10,000 people. During its heyday, it contained 2 churches, 50 saloons, 18 stores, 2 undertakers, 19 lodging houses, 8 doctors, 2 dentists, a stock exchange and an opera. The town contains numerous ruins including the Bottle House, Senator W.A. Clark's train depot, remains of a 3-story bank building, and the jail.
Red Pass (5,240’) - The highest point on the road is this divide between Titanothere and Titus Canyons. Stop to enjoy the grand view in both directions.

Leadfield, "boomed" for less than a year in 1926-27 because the lead deposits disappeared very quickly. All that is left today are a few shacks and a number of mines. Many of the mines are open, but enter at your own risk. Loose rocks, rotten timbers, unexpected vertical shafts, and animals seeking shelter are potential hazards.

You enter Titus Canyon just below the ghost town of Leadfield, the road enters the main fork of Titus Canyon. Limestone cliffs rise high above the broad wash; their folded layers reveal the work of great mountain building forces. Rugged, steep slopes provide habitats for bighorn sheep, cacti, and hanging gardens of rare plants.

The final 1.5 miles of the Titus Canyon is the very narrow. The walls squeeze down to less than 20 feet apart in some places. As the road enters the narrows it detours out of the wash and descends what is often the roughest part of the entire trip. It's a good idea to scout this section out before driving it.

Scotty’s Castle is hidden in the green oasis of Grapevine Canyon in far northern Death Valley, the Death Valley Ranch, or Scotty's Castle as it is more commonly known, is a window into the life and times of the Roaring 20's and Depression 30's. It was an engineer's dream home, a wealthy matron's vacation home, and a man-of-mystery's hideout and getaway. Walter Scott, Death Valley Scotty, convinced everyone that he had built the castle with money from his rich secret mines in the area. The problem, there were NO mines. Albert Mussey Johnson actually built the house as a vacation getaway for himself and his wife Bessie. Scotty was the mystery man, the cowboy, and the entertainer, but he was also a friend of Johnson’s. Albert was the brains and the money. As different as they were in real life, they both shared a common dream.

We have put together a YouTube movie presentation with a sound track. Turn up your speakers and click on the full-screen option in the lower right hand corner of the movie frame to get the full effect. CLICK HERE to watch the movie presentation.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon 2011

2011-11-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

Only 10 miles as the raven flies from the South Rim, the North Rim offers a very different experience. Solitude, awe-inspiring views, a slower pace, fewer people, spectacular sunsets, and the feeling of going back in time are only a few of the many attributes the North Rim has to offer.

The North Rim sits atop the Kaibab Plateau, which is 8,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level. Its lush green meadows surrounded by a mixed conifer forest sprinkled with white-barked aspen provide an oasis in the desert. The yellows and oranges of quaking aspen and the reds of Rocky Mountain maple, gives the forest a magnificent glow. The crispness in the air warns of winter soon to come during Early Fall.

We stayed two days at the North Rim Campground, which was closed for the year. It was a very quiet, enjoyable, and peaceful time for us. Discover the uniqueness of the North Rim, you will not be sorry!

We have put together a YouTube movie presentation, with a soundtrack. Turn up your speakers and click on the full-screen icon in the lower right hand corner of the movie frame to get the full effect of the presentation. CLICK HERE to view the movie.

Spectacular ANTELOPE CANYON

2011-11-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

A few miles east of Page, AZ on the Navajo Reservation is the most photographed slot canyon in northern Arizona. Over thousands of years, wind and water scoured a narrow crevice in the mesa to form a slot canyon. A slot canyon is a narrow canyon formed by water rushing through rock. A slot canyon is significantly deeper that it is wide. Most slot canyons are formed in sandstone or limestone rock. Upper Antelope Canyon measures a quarter mile long and 130 feet deep. When the flash floods occur in early spring, the canyon is completely filled with water. Once at the entrance, it’s an easy hike through the canyon which is fairly level.

The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tse' Bighanilini, which means "the place where water runs through rocks.” It has also been called “Corkscrew Canyon” and is one of the very few slot canyons in the area. To older Navajos, entering a place like Antelope Canyon was like entering a cathedral. They would probably pause before going in, to be in the right frame of mind and prepare for protection and respect. This would also allow them to leave with an uplifted feeling of what Mother Nature has to offer, and to be in harmony with something greater than themselves. It was, and is, a spiritual experience. Only a Navajo guide can take you to the canyon.

We have put together a very beautiful YouTube movie presentation of our trek through the canyon. It was a very spiritual and emotional experience to share this very special place with our Navajo guide. There is a sound track with the movie so turn up your speakers and click the full-screen icon in the lower right hand corner of the movie frame. CLICK HERE to watch the movie presentation.

Capitol Reef to Escalante/Grand Staircase

2011-11-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

Click On Pictures To Enlarge and See Transcriptions

Capitol Reef National Park is characterized by sandstone formations, cliffs and canyons, and a 100-mile long bulge in the earth's crust called the Waterpocket Fold. Erosion has carved the rock into marvelous shapes. Since its designation as a national park in 1971, Capitol Reef has been intriguing visitors with its twisting canyons, massive domes, monoliths and spires of sandstone for many years.

Fruita was a Mormon settlement dating back to the late 1800’s along the Fremont River. Still present are the historic one-room school house, blacksmith shop, and the Gifford House and barn. No more than 8 to 10 families lived in this community at any one time. Twenty-two separate fruit orchards were originally planted in the valley. Apple, Peach, Cherry, Pear, and Apricot trees still grow in the orchards and are maintained by the National Park Service. You may pick and eat fruit free of charge while staying in the Fruita Campground. Fresh fruit pies and other pastries are also prepared daily and sold in the Gifford House.

Leaving Capitol Reef, we took Scenic Highway 12 ascending to 9,640’ before arriving in Escalante, UT. Our goal was to rent a jeep and to follow the original path of the 1879 Mormon expedition hoping to colonize the community of Bluff, southeast of the Colorado River. This route was very difficult and led them to a 1,200’ sandstone cliff above Glenn Canyon and the river. They found Hole-In-The-Rock which was a narrow, steep, and rocky crevice. They worked for months to prepare the road, using blasting powder to widen the upper section and had chisels to carve anchor points directly into the sandstone. On January 26, 1880 they began their descent to the river. Wagons were heavily roped, and teams of men and oxen used to lower them through the upper crevice. The blasting holes, anchor points, and gouges from the hubs of the expedition's wagons are still visible in the walls of the crevice. They used this as a supply road for only a year before locating an easier route to the north.

The memorial pictures above are in tribute to the original Mormon San Juan Expedition and a group of Mormon Boy Scouts and adults, who tragically lost their lives traveling this same route in 1963.

We have put together a YouTube movie presentation with a sound track. To get the full effect of the movie, turn your speakers on and click on the full-screen icon in the lower right hand corner of the movie frame. CLICK HERE to view the movie.

Four Corners, Monument Valley, Natural Bridges, and Goblin Valley

2011-11-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

We left Albuquerque and headed north to Bloomfield, NM with the hope of visiting Chaco Canyon with an archeologist. Unfortunately, our trip into the canyon was rained out so we headed to Four Corners and Monument Valley. We passed through the town of Farmington NM with a stop at the Hogback Trading Company.

A visit to Hogback Trading Company is as much a part of the Four Corners experience as visiting the monument. Established in 1871 by Joseph Wheeler this post quickly became an institution in the daily lives of the Navajo people. Alabaster sculptors, silversmiths, weavers and young artisans of all forms have been encouraged by the Wheeler family for over 125 years.
Today, Tom Wheeler, fourth generation trader, continues the traditions of his great-grandfather and maintains a highly regarded reputation with artisans and collectors. Tom's hospitality, knowledge regarding history, and the most extensive inventory of Navajo Rugs and Turquoise Jewelry keeps visitors returning! Here, Nancy purchased her first piece of beautiful jewelry which had passed on through Tom’s family, which made it very special.

The Monument Valley trip had to be cancelled because of rain. There are no paved roads in this area which is on the Navajo Reservation. We spent the night at Mexican Hat and then traveled to Blanding, UT where we spent the night. We awoke to snow covered mountains and headed north to Natural Bridges.

Natural Bridges National Monument has three very distinctive sandstone bridges. These natural bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water. Arches are formed by the erosive action of frost and seeping moisture.

Goblin Valley is full of strange shaped rock formations surrounded by walls of eroded cliffs. The wonderful stone shapes result from millions of years of geologic history. The goblins are made of Entrada sandstone which has been sculpted by forces of nature such as uplift and erosion by wind and water. The uniquely shaped goblins lure you to join them in their desert playground.

We have put together a YouTube movie presentation showing pictures of Four Corners, Monument Valley, Natural Bridges, and Goblin Valley. There is a sound track so turn up your speakers and click the full-screen icon in the lower right hand corner of the movie frame to get the full effect. CLICK HERE to watch the movie presentation.

Albuquerque Balloon Festival 2011

2011-11-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

Thirty-eight Roadtrek'ers assembled in Albuquerque this year for the annual balloon festival. For many of us, it was the first and definately will not be the last. The celebration lasts for a week with a full schedule of events occuring from dawn to night fall. Each morning there is Mass Ascensions - a launch of all the participating balloons which as been a customary feature of Balloon Fiesta since its earliest days and is the most spectacular display of sound and color in all of aviation. During mass ascensions, balloons launch in two waves. Launch directors, also known as zebras because of their black-and-white-striped outfits, serve as traffic cops, coordinating the launch so balloons leave the field in a safe and coordinated manner. Weather permitting, balloons begin to launch at about 7:15 AM on mass ascension days, led by a balloon flying the American flag to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner. It is a very emotional site! The balloons are prepared for launch in early dawn and float into the sky and then touch down in designated landing areas. This is one of the most spectacular events that you can ever imagine.

We have put together a YouTube movie with a sound track. Turn your speakers up and click on the full-screen option in the lower right hand corner of the movie frame. CLICK HERE to watch the movie presentation.

Mesa Verde National Park 2011

2011-11-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

On June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to “preserve the works of man.” It was the first and is the only park of its kind. He preserved an extraordinary record of Ancestral Puebloans , who made this place their home for over 750 years. Archeologists have called these people Anasazi, from a Navajo word translated as “the ancient foreigners.”

Traveling the Mesa Top reveals the full range of ancient architecture in Mesa Verde as the Anasazi’s lived in Pithouses, Pueblos, and then Cliff Dwellings. People lived in Pithouses from about 550 AD to 750 AD. These homes featured a living room sunk a few feet in the ground and four corner posts supported the roof. The firepit had an air deflector. An antechamber might contain storage bins or pits. Many features of the Pithouses were used in building Pueblos. Pithouses involved into Kivas.

By 1000 AD the people of Mesa Verde had advanced to skillful stone masonry. These dwellings were concentrated in compact villages and had many rooms, often with the Kivas built inside the enclosing walls rather than out in the open. The stone walls of the large pueblos are regarded as the finest ever built in Mesa Verde, with their straight courses and shaped stones.

Most of the cliff dwellings were built from the late 1190’s to the late 1270’s. They ranged in size from one-room houses to villages of more than 150 rooms – Cliff Palace. Ancestral Puebloans lived in the cliff dwellings for less than 100 years. By 1300 Mesa Verde was deserted. There are several theories regarding their migrations. Whatever may have happened, some of today’s Pueblo people, and maybe other tribes, are descendants of the cliff dwellers of Mesa Verde.

The movie presentation will show you the progression of the Ancestral Puebloan people of Mesa Verde. Remember to turn your speakers up and click on the full-screen icon in the lower right hand corner of the picture frame. CLICK HERE to view the movie.

Canyonlands National Park - 2011

2011-11-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

The Wooden Shoe

Just thirty miles northwest of Moab and Arches National Park is Canyonlands. This spectacular wilderness of rock lies in the heart of the Colorado Plateau. Water and gravity, this land’s prime architects, have cut layers of sedimentary rock into hundreds of canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. In the center are two canyons carved by the Green and Colorado rivers. Surrounding the rivers are vast, very different regions. To the north is “Island in the Sky”, to the east is “Needles”, and to the west the very remote “Maze”. Canyonlands was established in 1964 and very few people had traveled the remote land and rivers. Only Indians, cowboys, river explorers, and uranium prospectors had dared to enter this rugged corner of southeastern Utah. Canyonlands still remains largely untrammeled – its roads are mostly unpaved, trails primitive, and rivers free-flowing. Canyonlands is considered “Wild America”.

Island in the Sky is a broad mesa wedged between the Green and Colorado Rivers. Closest to the mesa’s edge is the White Rim. It is 1,200 feet below the top of the canyon and 1,000 feet about the two rivers. You will notice the rim in the pictures.

The Needles unit is very different than the others. The rock formations are very different and rise above the grassy meadows. The Needles are rock pinnacles banded in red and white. Many small arches can be found similar to the Wooden Shoe. Early Puebloans farmed this area as there was adequate water, arable land, and good building sites. In the late 1800’s pioneering cattlemen settled in this area. In 1926, there were 7,000 to 10,000 head that ranged over 1.8 million acres. This widespread ranching operation required cowboys to stay out on the range with the cattle. They lived in isolated outdoor camps such as the one near Cave Springs, which was used from the late 1800’s to 1975. The camp was established at Cave Springs because of the reliable water source that was available. Today, there is still a working cattle ranch that has been greatly down scaled from earlier times.

We have put together a “YouTube” movie presentation with music. Be sure to turn up your speakers and click the full-screen icon in the lower right hand corner of the movie frame to get the full effect of the presentation. CLICK HERE to watch the movie.

Arches National Park - 2011

2011-11-20T09:21:00.000-08:00

Landscape Arch (306' Long)

The park lies atop an underground salt bed that is responsible for the abundance of arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths that exist. Thousands of feet thick in places, this salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated. As time passed, the residue from floods, winds, and the oceans blanket the salt bed. The debris was compressed as rock and at one time was possibly over a mile thick. Water, ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for over 2,000 sculptured arches in the park. Landscape Arch is the longest measuring 306’, base to base, and is only 6’ thick at its narrowest width. Delicate Arch, an isolated remnant of a by-gone fin, stands on the brink of a very deep canyon with the dramatic La Sal Mountains as a backdrop. This is the arch you will see on the Utah State vehicle license plate. Towering spires, pinnacles, and balanced rocks, perched atop seemingly inadequate bases, fill the park and are abundant scenic spectacles. Salt under pressure is unstable and is no match for the Entrada (salmon-colored) and Navajo (buff-colored) Sandstone. New arches continue to be formed and old ones destroyed. Erosion and weathering work slowly and relentlessly, as these dynamic landforms gradually change through time.

American Indians used this area for thousands of years. They searched the arid desert for animals, plant food, and stone for tools and weapons. They left behind evidence of their passing through petroglyphs, artifacts, and villages. The first non-Indian explorers came looking for wealth and mineral forms. Ranchers found fertile grasses and raised cattle and sheep. In the late 1800’s John Wesley Wolf, a disabled Civil War Veteran and his son Fred, settled in Cache Valley. A weathered log cabin, root cellar, and corral are still evidence of the primitive ranch they operated for over 20 years.

I have put together a movie presentation for your enjoyment. Turn your speakers on and click the full-screen icon in the lower left corner of the picture frame to get the full effect of the movie presentation. CLICK HERE to view the movie of Arches National Park.

NEW Bench Seat

2011-08-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

After returning from Alaska, we decided that we would like more storage space and also add a AC/DC portable refrigerator/freezer for our extended travel trips. We love to shop at Costco and Wal-Mart along the way and needed some more storage space for grocery items, plus additional cold storage. To provide this added feature, we took out the captain's seat behind the driver's seat and replaced it with a bench seat. We also added an extension to our counter top for additional space. Other additions include a magic bullet for those early morning smoothies and evening margaritas, plus a toaster oven. We are excited and set to get back on the road for our next adventure series.

ROADTREK Alaska - 2011

2011-08-14T17:57:00.001-07:00

Alaska 2011 - Hyder, Alaska to Whistler, BC (FINAL Alaska Post)

2011-07-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

"INUKSHUK"

Our trip down the Cassiar Highway (Hwy. 37) was a beautiful drive. Our goal was to get to Hyder, Alaska. We were starting to think about getting back home as well. However, there were still some places and things that we wanted to see and do. The weather was great and the scenery spectacular. We wanted to stop and look around at Jade City which was very interesting. They say that 70% of the worlds jade still comes from this area. In the slideshow below, look for the Jade sculpture of the INUKSHUK (In-ook-shook). This means "in the image of man" and were lifelike images of man erected in stone. They were unique to the Canadain Arctic and along Canadian's most northern shores. The original purpose of the Inukshuks was to act as a compass or guide. The ancients used them for safe trips and to guide them to the hunting grounds and home again. They were also used during winter snow storms where 30' to 60' of snow fell and drifted. As seen above, it was the symbol used on the 2010 Winter Olympics Logo. We saw more black bear on the Cassiar Highway than you could ever imagine.

We arrived in Hyder, Alaska with overcast sky's and a very thick cloud of “skeet’s”. There really is not much to do in Hyder, especially if the weather is bad. This area is very beautiful with its rugged mountains, waterfalls, and glaciers none of which we were able to see clearly due to the low hanging clouds and weather. We found a campsite at “Camp-Run-A-Muck” campground. We knew that we were too early to see the grizzly bears feeding on salmon, but drove up to the viewing site anyway. The highlights of our Hyder experience were seeing Bear Glacier and having the halibut stuffed dinner at the SeaAlaska Inn restaurant. We were not disappointed and would highly recommend this family kept recipe.

The weather forecast was for more rain, so we decided to bag Prince Rupert and visit the ‘Ksan Historical Village in Hazelton, BC. “Ksan is a reconstructed Gitxson village located at the confluence of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northwest British Columbia. Gitxsan “People of the River of Mist” are a thriving, active First Nation community who still display the richness of their culture and heritage. There are approximately 13,000 members with 70% still living in the territory. It is the desire of ‘Ksan to preserve and truthfully portray the lifestyles of the people who have always lived here. All of the dwellings and totem poles are created from Red Cedar trees, as well as all other things: canoes, storage boxes, hats, cedar bark clothing, ceremonial masks, and tools. Cedar rope is still used to hoist totem poles and beams. Fishing is still a very important part of their survival and they look forward to visiting their many fishing camps in the summer months. We stayed at the very nice campground located in the village. To get to the village, you must cross the famous Hagwilget Bridge (single lane suspension) over the Bulkley River canyon. This bridge is 459’ long and is 262’ above the river. It is still one of the highest suspension bridges in North America.

Our next stop was the Treasure Cove casino in Prince George where we spent the night in the parking lot. The next morning we headed south through Clinton, BC to the Hwy. 99 junction and to Whistler, BC. This is a paved over logging road that takes you down the Fraser River and through the coastal range mountains to Pemberton and Whistler, BC. This is a single lane road in many places, crossing single lane bridges, with grades up to 17%. The scenery is spectacular and well worth the “white knuckle” experience.

Whistler Village and the surrounding area is a recreational paradise. After making several attempts in our past to visit Whistler Mountain, we finally got the opportunity. We stayed at the Riverside RV Park, which was within walking distance of Whistler Village. Historically in 1877, the Pemberton Trail first connected this region to the Pacific Ocean. It quickly became the inland route for prospectors and trappers into this untamed frontier area. In 1914, recognizing the immense recreational potential, Mrytle and Alex Phillips from America, bought 10 acres near Alta Lake and built the Rainbow Lodge. Soon after, the railroad came into Whistler Valley and this area became British Columbia’s top tourist attraction. Alta Lake is at the base of both Blackcomb and Whistler mountains. Today, it is an internationally-renowned four season destination and will be remembered as hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics.

We stayed two very enjoyable days, had beautiful weather, and did some hiking. Before departing Nancy and I looked at each other and said, “What a fantastic adventure and opportunity to share together in our lives”. This was a life-event never to be forgotten and we headed home to Fox Island.

We would like to thank those of you that followed us on our “Alaskan” adventure. Putting the blog together in a timely manner is a lot of work, but well worth the memories that you can share with those that you love – family and friends. THANK YOU!

CLICK HERE to view our slideshow traveling the Cassiar Highway to Hyder, Alaska.

CLICK HERE to view our slideshow of the 'Ksan Historical Village.

CLICK HERE to view our slideshow traveling Highway 99 to Whistler, BC.

2011-07-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Alaska State Flag and Song
written by Maria Drake

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue
- Alaska's flag. May it mean to you
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes, and the flow'rs nearby;
The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams;
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The "Bear" - the "Dipper" - and, shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light,
Over land and sea a beacon bright.
Alaska's flag - to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.

There is nothing that will compare to driving your own rig and experiencing the interior of Alaska. The people, huge vastness, wildlife, perseverance of life, history, and absolute beauty is true and exciting. Living in Alaska is not for the timid or light-hearted. They are very proud people who still choose to live their lives in a very traditional manner.

They fish, hunt, grow enormous vegetables to winter themselves through cold, cold temperatures. The symbol on the Alaska Flag (Big Dipper and North Star) truly reflects what Alaskans are all about. Many times Alaskans cannot and will not depend on materialism or new technology, but choose to survive through self-sustaining relationships with mother-nature, a determined will and spirit, family, and friends. They depend on strong work ethics, helping each other, and generational survival techniques. Understandingly, many young children are home schooled.

This truly has been a life-time experience that both Nancy and I will never forget. When you consider the population of Alaska (approximately 725,000) living in a state that is almost 2 1/2 times bigger than Texas - there is something to be said about those numbers. You either make it through a winter in Alaska or you don't! The time clock has been turned back over 100 years now with the excitement and challenge of a new generation of gold seekers. This is truly "The Last Frontier" in America. We hope that you all have an opportunity to enjoy it someday soon.

Alaska 2011 - Haines/Skagway, Alaska

2011-07-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Original White Pass Trail of 1898

After some very exciting times in Fairbanks, we headed to Haines Junction and down the beautiful and scenic Haines Highway. Haines is located at the most northern end of Lynn Canal, which is the deepest and longest fjord in North America. It is located in the heart of the Chilkat Valley with both the Chilkat and Chilkoot Rivers filled with all five species of salmon during the spawning months (May to October). Also in the fall months, it is a gathering place for approximately 6,500 bald eagles who feed off the salmon run. Commercial fishing is the primary industry, but Haines was also in the Discovery Channel’s hit show “Gold Rush Alaska” and Dalton City, where portions of “White Fang” were filmed. This was a book made famous by Jack London. We departed onto the Alaska Marine Highway, with a 45 minute ferry crossing through Lynn Canal to Skagway, Alaska.

The history of Skagway, Alaska is very complex. We have come to know Skagway as the jumping off point for thousands of gold seekers in the late 1800’s. Like so many other places throughout the United States, what is viewed as the discovery for opportunity and wealth is in reality the invasion of the traditional territory of the indigenous populations. This is exactly what happened in this area of Alaska. People do not recognize the suffering, loss, and onset of oppression experienced by the "First Nation" people. First nation tribes are slowly trying to bridge the gap that still exists around this community regarding their history and the Gold Rush Era.

The 33-mile Chilkoot Pass Trail was the starting point for many. The trail started in Dyea, which is 9-miles west of Skagway. Today, Dyea (Alaska) is a one man “Dyea Dick” town. Before the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, this trail was controlled by the Tlingit Nation and was a trade route over the coastal mountains to the interior First Nation peoples’ land. Over 30,000 gold seekers stumbled up this trail and the last ¼ mile known as the “Golden Stairs” which had an elevation gain of 1,000 feet. At the top of the pass was Lake Bennett which provided water passage to the Yukon River and Dawson City, still 550 miles away from the gold fields. Once at the summit, over 7,200 wooden boat were built to navigate the connecting lakes. This water route only provided about 3 months passage as the lakes would freeze up and the miners would need to winter tent camp at the top of the pass until the lakes thawed. They suffered through 40 below temperatures and more. Most had to scale the pass 20-40 times (3 months) to get their required 2,000 lbs. of supplies over the pass and be given final approval by the Canadian government before they could go on. Gold was discovered on Bonanza Creek (Dawson City) in 1896. Traveling this route it would take the gold seekers 1-2 years to ever get to Dawson City, which in most cases proved to be too late for any prosperity. Upon there arrival, many turned around and went back home. Word that gold had been found in the Yukon Territory was first announced in Seattle, WA on July 17, 1897 when it was touted that more than 2 ton of gold had been found in the Klondike. A list of the "Gold Rush Miners" supply list can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

Because the well-known foot trail, Chilkoot Pass, was so rough and rugged an alternate route was discovered and became known as the White Pass route. One of the original pioneers of this route was "Skookum Jim" Mason. He and two of his friends were the first to find gold and filed the first mining claims on Bonanza Creek in 1896. He arrived far ahead of the others seeking gold treasures. This route was longer, but not as steep. The White Pass Yukon railroad was started May 28, 1898. By July 6, 1899 construction was finished to Lake Bennett and trains were running to the White Pass Summit. The railroad was completed to Whitehorse on July 29, 1900, some 26 months after it was started in Skagway. This was a remarkable effort This offered a direct route to the Yukon River from the water port of Skagway. People could now travel by ship from Seattle, WA to Skagway, by train from Skagway to Whitehorse, and by riverboat from Whitehorse to Dawson City. The tight curves through the mountains called for narrow gauge track which was 3 feet apart on a 10-foot wide road bed. The total cost of the project was $10 million dollars and was built with thousands of hands, 450 tons of explosives, - 60 degree temperatures, and with of loss of 33 workers. Many of those lost are buried in the Skagway cemetery. It is estimated that over 100,000 men and women headed north with only about 35,000 reaching their goal. By the time many of the gold seekers arrived in Dawson City, the gold rush was over. Today, Skagway is a cruise ship/tourist town only 4 months out of the year!

CLICK HERE to view the Gold Rush Miners Supply List (One Year)

CLICK HERE to view the Haines, Alaska slideshow

CLICK HERE to view the Skagway and White Pass Yukon Railroad slideshow. Come on board and take the train ride with us. We are on the back of the caboose on the way back to Skagway. Enjoy the ride up and down the mountain.

CLICK HERE to view our slideshow of the Skagway Cemetery and climbing out of Skagway to the top of the Chilkoot Pass and the connecting lakes. You will get an idea of what is was like to hike the Chilkoot Pass trail and then jump into your home-made boat and paddle your way to Whitehorse and catch the riverboat to Dawson City.

Alaska 2011 - Chena Hot Springs/Fairbanks, Alaska

2011-07-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

You will not want to miss this post and all of the pictures that we would like to share with you. We were very busy and enjoyed all of the outdoor adventures in this area of Alaska. This is what makes all of our travel quests so exciting and educational.

This portion of our trip was one of the highlights. We left Denali and headed to Chena Hot Springs, which is 60 miles northeast of Fairbanks. Prospectors started using this spring fed hot water bath to cure their aches and pains in 1905. In 1911, a trail was established from Fairbanks for mushers and the “Hot Springs Stage, which took 20 hours to get to the hot springs. The chemical content of the hot spring water makes this comparable to the famous springs at Carlsbad in Bohemia. Chena Hot Springs will continue to welcome people from all over the world to bathe in the curative powers of hot water.

We spent one night enjoying ourselves at the hot springs and then headed back to Fairbanks for three days. Along the way we got to see the Alaska Pipeline which was very exciting. Here we visited the University of Alaska “Museum of the North”, enjoyed the famous Pioneer Park “Salmon, Halibut, Cod, Prime Rib BBQ” dinner, toured the El Dorado Gold Mine, and traveled the Chena River on the Riverboat Discovery. At the El Dorado Gold Mine you travel by narrow gauge train through a working gold mine, explore historic drift mining in a permafrost tunnel, and pan for gold. In a very short period of time panning, Nancy and I were lucky enough to get $30 worth of “flower gold”.

We traveled down the Chena River in the Riverboat Discovery stopping by Iditarod Champion and Alaska Legend “Susan Butcher” and her family. Susan not only won the 1,100-mile Iditarod Dog Sled Race (1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990), but she is the only dug musher to summit Mt. McKinley with her dog team. Susan’s life was cut short on August 5, 2006 when leukemia claimed one of Alaska’s brightest stars. Her family (husband and two daughters) keep Susan's legacy alive. One daughter is preparing to compete in the 2012 Iditarod race. While on the river we also got to visit Chena Village, which was on the original site of an Athabascan Indian Village in the early 1900’s. These people still carry on their traditional hunting, fishing, and gardening ways. Today, the Alaskan "First Nation" communities still use the entire "catch" in a useful, functional, and practical manner. There leave NO WASTE!

The University of Alaska “Museum of the North” was spectacular. Exhibits focus on Alaska Native cultures, wildlife, geography, and history of each of Alaska’s five major geographic regions.

Below there are four (4) slideshows for your enjoyment. Each one has some great pictures to share with you. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we had fun!

CLICK HERE to watch the Chena Hot Springs and Alaska Pipeline slideshow.

CLICK HERE to watch the El Dorado Gold Mine and Pioneer Park slideshow.

CLICK HERE to watch the Riverboat Discovery (Susan Butcher's Kennel & Athabascan Village slideshow.

CLICK HERE to watch the “Museum of the North” slideshow.

Alaska 2011 - Denali National Park

2011-06-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

Denali - "The High One or Great One"

We could not wait to start our adventure to Denali National Park. We left Anchorage and passed through Wasilla, Alaska – once the home of Sarah Palin. We understand from many Alaskans, that she now lives in Arizona. We did not get to visit with her on this trip.

Mt. McKinley (Denali) is the highest mountain in North America. It stands 20,320’ high and to be able to view “The Great One” or “The High One” from its base to the top is not always possible. We were fortunate to have that “postcard” picture day.

Talkeetna, Alaska is a railroad town. Talkeetna is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is full of log cabins and old buildings. It is the permanent home of people who are very proud of their lives’ and their families. Talkeetna, Alaska is McKinley’s mountain town. The BEST professional mountain climbers from every country in the world come to this town as their jumping off point to climb Denali. You see Tibetan prayer flags, as well as Korean banners, grizzled trappers, and Alaska huskies in a very exciting and authentic Alaskan location. Flight service, from Talkeetna, takes the climbers into various locations on the mountain, including McKinley base camp at 7,200’ on Kahiltna Glacier. We had a caribou burger and beer at the West Rib Café & Pub. This is where the climbers, if successful in their summit attempt, gather to celebrate. They enjoy the West Rib caribou burger and a beer. Their names and artifacts left behind fill this old building. Around 1,200 to 1,500 make the attempt each year starting in the spring, with only a 50% success rate. The Talkeetna, Chulitna, and Susitna Rivers all meet at Talkeetna, Alaska and are a sight to see when the waters are high and the salmon spawning.

Denali National Park was awesome! There are 1 ½ million people that visit the park each year. Denali is served by the Alaska Railroad and brings people to the park from Anchorage and Fairbanks on a daily basis. We stayed at Riley Creek Campground for three days. We took the tour bus to Eielson Visitors Center, which is 66 miles into the park. This is the only way that you can see the park’s interior. Denali National Park is 6 million acres of pristine wilderness. The Denali Wilderness Preserve can only be accessed in the winter by sled dog teams. On our tour we got to see Mt. McKinley (base to top), grizzly bears, moose, caribou, dall sheep, and many birds and small mammals. It is amazing to see so many large predatory animals living is such close proximity to each other on the tundra. This can only happen when there is a vast food source available to these animals in the spring and summer months. We did not get to see any wolves or lynx, but they were definately around the park as evidence showed. Come winter, everything changes as the snows start to fall. We had a great time and took many, many pictures.

We also got to visit Sled Dog Kennels. There are 31 Alaska Huskies that are employed by the U.S. Federal Government to patrol and carry supplies into the Wilderness Preserve, which is 2 million acres, in the winter time. Ten dogs pull a sled that may range in weight from 350 to 500 lbs., which includes the “musher” and supplies. There are remote log cabins in the wilderness where park employees stay during the winter months. The Alaska Husky is not recognized by the American Kennel Society as a breed dog because it is not a “show” dog. The Alaska Husky is a “work” dog and is much bigger than the “racing dogs” used on the Qwest and Iditarod Sled Dog races.

CLICK HERE to view the Talkeetna, Alaska slideshow!

CLICK HERE to view the Denali National Park slideshow!

Alaska 2011 - Seward, Homer, Soldotna, Hope to Anchorage, Alaska

2011-06-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

“The Deadliest Catch in Alaska”

Seward, Alaska is known as the “Gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park”. Since we had taken the glacier tour previously, we did not visit this national park. Established in 1903, Seward was an important transportation hub for Alaska’s mining, exploration, fishing, and trapping industries. The town is named after William H. Seward (U.S. Secretary of State) under President Andrew Johnson. Seward was instrumental in arranging the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. The original Iditarod trail (938 miles) was established in 1910 as a mail route to Nome, Alaska. The world famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race (1,049 miles) is now run between Anchorage, Alaska and Nome, Alaska. Seward is a very small progressive and friendly community. It is famous for its mural paintings.

Homer, Alaska is the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World”. There are so many halibut that are caught daily, it is hard to imagine that this will continue forever. We enjoyed spending time on the Homer Spit and seeing all of the boating activity, but unless you fish either salmon or halibut, there is not much else to do there.

The town of Soldotna, Alaska is the “hub” of the Kenai Peninsula. We will definitely go back here and spend some time in the future. This is the takeoff spot for an abundance of physical activities relating to fishing, hiking, biking, clam digging, socializing, and relaxation. We really enjoyed our stay at the family operated Diamond M Ranch RV Park and would like to go back and visit these wonderful people someday. In 1963, Carrol Martin and his son Blair piloted a renovated tugboat and a 400 ton barge to the Kenai. Blair was nine years old at the time. The family was originally from Colorado and wanted a different life style. They purchased a 400 ton barge from Foss Tug Company in Tacoma, WA and loaded all of their belongings on to it. This included all of their livestock, personal belongings, and the necessary building materials for their new home in Alaska. They purchased 80 acres on the Kenai Peninsula where they now live and run the Diamond M Ranch RV Park. This family is very special and their story is very Alaskan. Leaving was our most emotional experience of the trip!

Hope, Alaska was an old mining town at one time located on Turnagain Arm. We wanted to visit this small Alaskan town because of Nancy’s middle name and to see the cabin of some friends who live in Anchorage, Alaska.

Anchorage, Alaska is the biggest city in Alaska and we enjoyed the tour that our friends provided. We stayed just one day as we could not wait any longer to get to Denali National Park. We left and headed to Talkeetna, Alaska which is the headquarters and take-off location for all Mt. Denali (McKinley) climbers. We were not disappointed as our next post will show!

CLICK HERE to watch our slideshow!

Alaska 2011 - Tok, Valdez, to Whittier, AK

2011-06-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

Alaska 2011 – Tok, to Valdez, to Whittier, AK

We head south from Tok, AK with the intention of staying at Blueberry Lake campground which is at the top of Thompson Pass on your way to Valdez. The weather was terrible so we decided to continue on to Valdez and spend a couple of days.

Valdez was founded in 1899 when gold seekers built a tent city at the base of the Valdez Glacier. They crossed the glacier into the interior of Alaska to seek their riches. In 1900 they laid a telegraph line between Washington and Alaska, bypassing Canada for the first time. In 1964, the original town of Valdez was completely wiped out with the 9.2 earthquake and a huge tidal wave. In 1967, the town was condemned and moved to its present location.

Today Valdez, hosts premier salmon and halibut fishing, winter activities, and serves the Valdez Marine Terminal, which is the southernmost end of the 800-mile Alaska Pipeline. The oil spill of 1989 caused an influx of people to Valdez to help with the clean up. During this time new buildings were built, of which the command center is now a big hotel. Valdez, Alaska has overcome many major hardships and is a constant reminder of its history.

Whittier, Alaska is located on a ice-free arm of Prince William Sound. During World War II, the U.S. Army constructed a port and rail road terminal. At the time Seward, Alaska was the major supply port for the military. It was feared that the Japanese would bomb Seward and wipe out the military supply line. A “secret port” was established at Whittier because of the constant low cloud cover and ice-free port. Two large buildings dominate the skyline – the 14 story Begich Towers, which houses the entire permanent community of the town. The Buckner Building, once the largest building in Alaska, has been abandoned. Today, the community is an important recreational center, industrial, and cruise ship port.

To drive to or from from Whittier, you must drive through the 2.5 mile Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel. This was the World War II-era tunnel used for supplies and was transformed into the longest vehicle/railroad tunnel in North America in 2000.

There are two slideshows for you to see. The first is about the community of Valdez and our ferry ride to Whittier. The second is about our 26-glacier cruise in Prince William Sound and the abundant wildlife. Hope you enjoy them both.

CLICK HERE to watch the Valdez, AK and Aurora Ferry ride.

CLICK HERE to watch the 26-Glacier Cruise and wildlife pictures.

Alaska 2011 - Dawson City, Yukon to Tok, Alaska

2011-06-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

Alaska 2011 – Dawson YK to Tok, Alaska

We had a great ferry ride across the Yukon River and headed up the “Top Of the World” highway that connects the Yukon Territory to Alaska. It is a very slow dirt road and one that you do not want to travel if the weather is bad. There are no guard rails and there are some pretty steep drop-offs to places unknown to man below. The road is 107 miles to Chicken, Alaska which is mainly a prospecting town now. There are a couple of campgrounds, with generated 20 amp power, but no water or toilets. It is very remote!

However, there is the Chicken Café, which serves up some pretty awesome meals. You can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner and that is where most everyone eats that lives in the area. Nancy and I shared the sourdough blueberry pancakes that were served in a gold pan. There are a few tour buses that pass through every so often, giving tourists an opportunity to see how people survive in the remote Yukon Territory.

There were several gold prospectors that were staying in the campground with us. We got to meet a couple of very successful prospectors who had several mining claims in the area. We really enjoyed learning about their trade and the stories they shared. Don’t think for a minute, that the “gold rush” is not re-occurring in this area again.

We left Chicken, Alaska and headed to Tok, Alaska. Tok is on the Alaska Highway. It is the only town that you will pass through both going and returning from the interior of Alaska. We stayed at the Sourdough RV Park, which is known for their famous nightly pancake toss. If you are lucky enough to toss a sourdough pancake into the bucket, you will get a FREE breakfast the following morning. Skip won a FREE breakfast with his second toss.

We left Tok and headed to Valdez hoping to find a beautiful campsite in the mountains. Unfortunately, we ran into some rainy weather and drove the distance to Valdez. We passed the Alaska Pipeline on several occasions, but in the spring and summer you cannot see it from the road. You don’t dare drive off the highway to see it either, or you will be in big trouble. The surveillance of the pipeline is unbelievable.

Watch for our next blog Valdez, Alaska to Whittier, Alaska and our tour of the 26 glaciers in Prince William Sound.

CLICK HERE to watch our slideshow. You will especially want to see pictures of the two gold prospectors that we met in Chicken, Alaska.

Alaska 2011 - Whitehorse, YK to Dawson City, YK

2011-06-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

Alaska 2011 – Whitehorse, YK to Dawson City, YK

Prospecting and mining is still the #1 industry in the Yukon Territory today. Through 2010, there have been 13,527,555 ounces of gold taken from the territory. Needless to say with the current price of gold, there are more and more people coming into the territory seeking their fortunes. Dawson City, YK and the Bonanza Creek area still beckon those adventuresome souls.

The aspirations of these people goes back to 1896 and the great Klondike Gold Rush. It all happened back then on a sunny August afternoon when three Yukon sourdoughs made their historical discovery on Rabbit Creek, later named Bonanza Creek. Not much has changed since then, except for technology.

The town of Dawson City is pretty much the same with its dirt roads, old and restored historical buildings, and the sense that there is still time to strike it rich in the 21st century. The charm still prevails and the allure of a “by-gone” era.

Dredge # 4 still rests in the Bonanza Creek valley after sinking and then being restored. It was built in 1911 and abandoned when it stopped being profitable in 1959. The dredge is still the largest wooden hulled, bucket line dredge in North America. It played a big part in the development history of this area. The dredge machine consisted of the bucket excavator, revolving screens, gold saving sluice boxes, tailing piles from the stacker which pivoted, and was a floating barge with a control room. It needed water to operate, so moved up the creek beds very slowly leaving tailing ponds behind. This whole operation only took 5 men to operate.

There are two slide shows which I hope you enjoy. The first is our trek to Dawson City, YK and the second is our tour of Dredge # 4.

CLICK HERE to see our slideshow of Dawson City.

CLICK HERE to see our tour of Dredge # 4.

2011-06-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

Alaska 2011 – Teslin Lake, YK to Whitehorse, YK

After having lunch with several friends at the Teslin Lake Café, we headed out to Whitehorse. We spent the first night at the Pioneer RV Park and then decided to move up the road to the High Country RV Park which was closer to town. We spend three more days in Whitehorse relaxing and getting caught up on things. The highlights of the trip were touring the S.S. Klondike, Beringia Museum, Miles Canyon, Frantic Follies, and having fresh Halibut Fish-N-Chips at the Klondike Rib and Salmon House. It was also very exciting for Nancy to visit the original home of Sam McGee. Nancy's father, Ralph, would recite the poem "Cremation of Sam McGee" written by Robert Service, while he shaved many mornings before going to work. We also enjoyed the visitor’s center and walking around the city going back into history ourselves.

Whitehorse, YK became the transportation center of the Yukon Territory in the late 1800’s. Whitehorse was named after the historic rapids on the Yukon River which flowed through Miles Canyon. With the formation of the hydro-electric dam the rapids have been eliminated, but Miles Canyon still exists today. In 1900, construction of the White Pass & Yukon Route steam railway from Skagway to Miles Canyon opened up this area for the gold fever excitement that filled the air at that time. Whitehorse was the take off point for Dawson City, YK and the riverboats on the upper Yukon River.

The Beringia Museum takes you back to the last great ice age. While the rest of Canada lay frozen under massive sheets of ice, a region encompassing eastern Siberia, eastern Alaska, and Yukon remained untouched by glaciers. Sea levels were so low that grassy tundra was present supporting astonishing varieties of animals, plants, and man-kind. The world’s earliest humans moved into what is now North America about 24,000 years ago. There were herds of wooly mammoth’s giant bison, camels, and many other huge four legged critters.

The S.S. Klondike, built in 1929, was the largest sternwheeler on the upper Yukon River. She was 240 feet long, carried 300 tons of cargo, and had a 40” draught for the shallow Yukon River. The Klondike was a “sternwheeler”, not a “side-wheeler”, which made it easier to navigate the fast flowing, shallow, winding rivers like the Yukon. The S.S. Klondike was originally built to haul 4,500 ore bags (125 lbs. each) coming from the silver mines between Dawson City and Whitehorse. She was powered by a wood-fired locomotive style fire-tube boiler. It held 15,000 gallon of water, drawn from the river. Sternwheelers were first used on the lower Yukon River in the late 1860’s to service the many trading posts and communities. At the height of the Klondike Gold Rush (1897-8), there were 250 riverboats on the Yukon River transporting supplies and people. The Klondike had a crew of 23, earning $25 a month, and provided one-way passenger accommodations for 32 (1st Class - $35 each) and 43 (2nd Class - $25 each). The Yukon River was frozen solid for 7½ months, so the shipping season was short. Each Fall, the boats were hauled out of the water and wintered on “skid-ways” in the Whitehorse Shipyard. After sinking in 1936 and being rebuilt the S.S. Klondike carried passengers and cargo on the Yukon River until 1955 – the last Yukon River sternwheeler in active service.

We have put together two separate slide shows. The first is on Whitehorse, YK and the second is a special presentation of the S.S. Klondike. Hope you enjoy!

CLICK HERE to view the Whitehorse, YK slide presentation.

CLICK HERE to view the S.S. Klondike slide presentation.

2011-05-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

Alaska 2011 – Fox Island, WA to Teslin Lake, YK

We started our trip north to the “Last Frontier” on May 10, 2011 and headed up I-5 to Birch Bay. Neither of us had ever been to this area, so we decided to spend our first night on the bay. Early the next morning we headed over the Canadian border, at Sumas, and had a very smooth crossing. We passed through Hope, BC and spent the night in Clinton, BC. We then traveled to Prince George, BC where we spent the night, in the parking lot, at the Treasure Cove casino. Departing Prince George, we passed through Chetwynd, BC which is known as the “chain saw carving” capital of the world. We arrived in Dawson Creek, BC, which is “Mile 0” of the Alaska Highway. This is where we met up with 23 other RoadTrekers who were seeking the same goal. The weather was beautiful and the town very accommodating. There was a terrible fire east of us at Slave Lake, Alberta and the smoke was very bad the 2nd day here. The forest fire destroyed over 40% of the town, including the high school, library, several downtown buildings, and many private homes.

Departing Dawson Creek, we headed north to Fort Nelson. This was an eventful night. Eleven of us decided to park alongside a frontage road for the night. About 11:30 PM, the town’s hired hand knocked on all of our doors and told us that we either had to move or pay a $50 fine to the city. Many of us moved across the street and parked in the IGA parking lot, only to be kicked out of the lot at 5:00 AM to make room for the delivery trucks.

We left Fort Nelson and headed to Toad River, where we camped at a pull-out spot along the river. You really start to get a feel of what lies ahead with the beautiful rugged snow-covered mountains, ever changing vegetation, wild rivers, frozen lakes, and wildlife. We had to make a short stop at Testa River RV Park to enjoy their world famous cinnamon rolls and freshly baked sourdough bread. We waited for an hour, sipping tea and coffee, for our hot rolls to arrive on the table and it was worth every minute. Our baker was a third generation member of a family that has owned and operated this facility for over 80 years. The family was originally trappers and gold seekers in this area. A night around the campfire at Muncho Lake, still frozen, was spectacular and very entertaining. Then on to Liard Hot Springs which is at the end of a ¼ mile boardwalk and well worth the plunge. This is a totally natural hot springs (102 to 108 degrees) surrounded by forest vegetation. After our soak, we head up the highway to Watson Lake where we stayed for a couple of days to catch up on laundry, TREK cleanup, and just relaxation. Here we visited the world famous “Sign Post” park, which was started in 1942 by an American soldier working on the Alaska Highway posting the first sign remembering his hometown. There are currently over 72,000 signs from all over the world in the park. Tomorrow we will leave for Teslin Lake, Yukon and then on to Whitehorse, Yukon where we will stay for four days and enjoy the history of this community.

CLICK HERE to see our picture slide show of our trip from Fox Island, WA to Teslin Lake, Yukon. Then hit the slideshow button in the upper left corner to watch the slideshow.

TRAK's New Look!

2010-07-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

(Click on pictures above to enlarge them)

TRAK has a new look. We added a 2-piece removable bonnet (hardtop) to TRAK's top notch and a touch of Moloka'i for comfort. She has a 2" receiver on her tail for our bike rack and lots of storage area when we put the back seat down. She tows beautifully and likes her new TOAD responsibilities when we arrive at our destination. TREK and TRAK seem to be getting along just fine right now! We both enjoy having her in our family.

Sequim, WA (July 7-10)

2010-07-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

(Click on the picture above to enlarge it)

The weather was perfect, so on the spur of the moment, we decided to head to Sequim, WA for our TREK and TRAK maiden voyage. We got a late start in the day and arrived at Diamond Point RV Park which is about 7 miles south of Sequim off HWY 101 about 3:30 PM. We got a great camp site for only $10 a night with full hook-ups. After getting settled, we jumped in TRAK and headed north to Sequim. We drove around Sequim and then out to Marine Drive which goes through the beautiful lavender fields and along Sequim Bay. It was a spectacular drive and we enjoyed traveling through the farm country. Before heading home, we decided to stop at the Seven Cedars Casino for their fantastic buffet and try our luck on the slot machines.

The next morning we headed to Sequim again. We went to the John Wayne Marina and hunted down a couple of caches. We then headed out to the Dungeness Spit that separates the Straits of Juan De Fuca and Sequim Bay. We ran into a lot of very successful people crabbing. They were able to get six crab per person and they were pretty good size. After spending some time at the spit, we headed along the bay to the “Three Crabs” restaurant just to see where it was located. We decided not to eat there because it was so terribly expensive. We headed back to Sequim because we wanted to visit the famous “Railroad Bridge” Park. Now, you can ride your bike from Diamond Point all the way to Port Angeles. Most of the trail is now paved. There are some very challenging hills along the way, but it certainly is a great opportunity to see some very beautiful country.

The last day we wondered around the lavender fields and spent time relaxing at many of the small parks along Sequim Bay. We finished up the evening having the Prime Rib buffet at the Seven Cedars casino for only $14.00 each. What a meal finished off with peach and banana Flambe. The weather could not have been any better and we certainly got to see why so many people decide to retire in this community. We love having TRAK as it provides a whole new dimension for us to see and enjoy the countryside.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow from the Sequim, WA trip.

God Bless America - July 4, 2010

2010-07-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

( Click On Picture To Enlarge It)

Give thanks and show appreication to all of those special people that have helped to insure our independence and freedom in America today - be thankful! Have an enjoyable, happy, and safe day with family and friends. Remember the foundation blocks that America was originally built on and let's work hard to get those principles and values back into our government before it is too late!

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, he would NOT be happy celebrating July 4th -- because America is no longer free. The truth is, we have given up our freedoms to power-hungry politicians, liberal special interest groups, and the secret wealthy elite who are doing everything they can to maintain their power forever.

Independence? Let's get it BACK!

"Let FREEDOM Ring, Let FREEDOM Ring"

Cowboy Dinner Tree Restaurant

2010-06-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

(Click on picture to enlarge it)

This restaurant is a MUST when ever you are around Silver Lake, OR (Central Oregon). It is on your route to or from Reno, NV. The Fort Rock Park National Monument is about 21 miles away, so there is a lot to do in the area. In order to get a place to eat at the dinner table, you must have a reservation. They only serve two entree's - a whole BBQ chicken or a 2 lbs. BBQ sirloin tip roast. It all comes with a huge bowl of salad, their famous bean soup, homemade yeast rolls (12 per table), special desert, and all of the fresh lemonade or ice tea you can drink. They do not serve any liquor, but you can have all the wine, beer, or beverage of choice in the tepee outside the restaurant before dinner. There is no electricity, credit cards are not accepted, but they do have flush toilets. The Christmas lights hanging on the building are run off their truck battery. This is one of those "once in a life-time experiences". What a BLAST - GUARANTEED you will be haul'in some "grub" home!

CLICK HERE to see the menu for yourself and how to get there!

TRAK - Our New Toad

2010-05-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

TREK is happy to have a new companion to drag along on our adventures. TRAK is a 2002 Chevrolet Tracker 4x4 that will be hauling Nancy and I to those high mountain meadows and lakes, streams, and desert oasis. TRAK will not replace our feet, kayaks, or bikes, but will add a 4-wheel dimension to exploring new pursuits and help us get to those more distant geocaches.

HEAD'N HOME - Sunriver, OR

2010-03-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

We met Brianna and went to IHop for breakfast. She looked great and it was fun talking to her about her college life. Brianna recently was nominated and received the "Sweetheart" award from a local fraternity. She was the first freshman to receive this honor. It came as a complete surprise to her, but getting to know what she values in life, it was no surprise to us. After breakfast, we got to visit her dorm room and meet her roommate. We then got to take Brianna to her 1:00 P.E. class and she looked very cute all dressed for her activities. Brianna is very well organized and to see her in this realm made us feel very proud of her. She is a very special person and has a very strong set of values. Nancy and I were upset with each other, as we forgot to take our camera with us, but left with very fond memories of our beloved granddaughter.

We headed west toward the Colorado River and spent the night at the Avi Casino RV Park, near Needles, CA. We had previously spent two nights here at the beginning of our trip. Our route was to get to I-5 ASAP as we were not feeling any better. We made it as far as Visalia, CA and spent the night. "Up an at em" the next morning, we drove to Corning, CA and spent the night for FREE in the Rolling Hills Casino truck parking lot. We had dinner at the casino and had a good night sleep before leaving for Sunriver, OR early in the morning. We needed to make a stop at Gordy’s in LaPine, OR to dump our black, grey, and fresh water tanks. The temperature was still in the low 20’s at night in Sunriver and we wanted to make sure that TREK would not freeze up. We arrived safely at our home around 2:30 in the afternoon and could not wait to get a hot shower, a soak in the tub, and to sleep in our bed.

Although we had to cut our trip short because of weather and our health issues, we really had a great time, saw some absolutely beautiful country, and met some very interesting people. More important, Nancy and I really enjoy having the opportunity to travel and see the country together in our cozy quarters. We continue to learn so much about our diversified population and cultural heritage of our country. Being out in the real world truely exposes you to what makes America such a great place to live. We both place a very high value on our relationship and getting to spend this time together is very important to both of us.

Thank you all for following us during this time period in our lives. We both hope you have enjoyed seeing the pictures and traveling with us. We have enjoyed hearing from many of you and your prayers. You inspire us to keep our blog rolling and updated with our adventures..

We appreciate and love all of you!

Skip and Nancy (2 Drifters)

Montezuma Castle - Camp Verde

2010-03-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Our next stop was to be Flagstaff, AZ and to see Brianna, our granddaughter, who is in her first year at Northern Arizona University (NAU). This was something that we both were looking forward too. Checking the temperatures in Flagstaff (6,903'), which were in the low 20's, we decided to spend the night in Camp Verde (3,133') and drive up the following morning and have breakfast and visit with her.

We also were starting to deal with another issue - our health. Neither of us were feeling that good, plus we both had similar symptoms - sinus allergies, nasal drip, coughing, sore throat, clogged ears, itchy eyes, but fortunately no temperature. It look like it was the FULL MEAL, SINUS DEAL! The pollen counts in Arizona are at the highest levels during this time of the year, and we both had been stomping around in the desert for days admiring the cactus bloom.

Our plan, after visiting with Brianna, was to head to the northeast corner of Arizona and visit Monument Valley, then to Four Corners and to Mesa Verde, and on to Moab, UT and the Arches. We checked the weather in those areas and the temperatures were still in the 20's with snow predictions on the way. So considering this and our health issues, we decided to head home after our visit with our granddaughter.

Before leaving Camp Verde, we both wanted to visit the Montezuma Castle. It is not a castle nor was the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II ever present. Montezuma Castle is a pre-historic American Indian structure that is one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the United States. Rising 100 feet above the Beaver Creek floodplain, Montezuma Castle is a testimony to the resilience and innovations of the "Sinagua" people. The castle is 90 percent original despite years of unauthorized excavation, visitations, and even one attempt to blow apart a wall to collect artifacts.

The castle was a small and dramatic part of a large community of people spread up and down the waterways of the Verde Valley. As many as 6,000 to 8,000 people may have lived in the valley in small villages no more than two miles apart. The 19 rooms could have housed 35 to 50 people, conserving precious farmland and the huge Sycamore Tree groves near the creek. There was a feeling of security as the series of ladders used to climb to the site could be pulled in for the night and the panoramic view of the valley gave advanced warning of anybody entering the area. Historians feel that it was the final leg to a major trade route from northern Arizona. People following this trail were seeking salt, cotton, argillite, and other minerals.

Were the residents of Montezuma Castle keeping watch on traders or other visitors entering the area, or was it simple a very nice place to live? No one really knows.

CLICK HERE to see our Montezuma Castle pictures. Go back in time and place yourself in one of the small rooms of the Castle and think about why you would be there.

Back To Tucson!

2010-03-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Bill and Janice Hendricks with Nancy

(Click picture to enlarge it)

After waking up and discussing our diesel smell problem, we decided to drive north to HWY 10 and then west to the Safford, AZ cutoff. Our original plan was to visit Safford, AZ and then come in from the east to Superstition Mountain, which is in the Apache Junction area. Once we got to the cutoff, if we were still dealing with the diesel smell, we would head back to Tucson and the Dodge dealership. Well, we got to the cutoff, and there was still the diesel smell coming off the engine, so we continued west on HWY 10 to Tucson. When we got back to Tucson Dodge, they discovered that the new fuel filter they had installed was cracked. While we waited for two hours, they replace it with a new one and we headed north towards Apache Junction.

We got to Gold Canyon in the afternoon, which is east of Apache Junction, and decided to stay at the Canyon Vista RV Park. Our friends Bill and Janice Hendricks have a home in the Mountainbrook development, which was right across the road from the park, so we got to see and visit with them. We also got to visit and have dinner with Tony Steeneck, his wife Gayla, and their daughter McKenna at their beautiful home in Mesa. Tony was our manager when we owned and operated Leisure Sports and Ski in University Place many years ago. We had not seen Tony for several years, so it was fun catching up on what has happened in our lives.

Rodeo, NM

2010-03-30T12:28:00.001-07:00

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We left Bisbee and started our trek to Rodeo, NM and the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. We traveled to Douglas, AZ and then north on HWY 80. While driving, we became concerned because of a constant diesel smell coming off the engine. This was not customary for TREK to stink like this while driving her. We decided to find a campsite and then figure out our next move. We wanted to camp in the Chiricahua National Monument area, but this portion of the national park system has been closed due to the economy. We drove up into the mountains only to see that the maintenance of roads and facilities normally provided by the park service were non-existent. This was very disappointing to both of us as we were looking forward to hiking and spending some time in this area. There had also been several crime issues committed by illegal aliens in the Portal, AZ area and for the second time on our trip, safety became the priority. We ended up staying one night at Rusty’s RV Park in Rodeo, NM.

Growing up as youngsters, we were exposed to many different stories about the Native American people in our country. To be able to relive some of these stories and discover the many truths of what really happened is always beneficial. Just south of Rodeo is a memorial monument dedicated to Geronimo, great Apache warrior and leader. It was just a short distance from this memorial that Geronimo, and his small band of people finally surrendered on September 6, 1886.

Prior to this final surrender date, on March 27, 1886 Geronimo agreed to surrender to General George Crook on the condition that he and his followers would be returned to the reservation after two years’ living in exile. Crook agreed, believing that he had secured the most favorable terms possible. President Cleveland and General Sheridan were infuriated. They both informed Crook that the conditions were “unconditional surrender” and that sparing their lives was the only condition of the bargain. Feeling betrayed, Geronimo and his people bolted the encampment on March 29th and fled to Mexico.

In mid-July General Nelson Miles heard that Geronimo and his people were again reconsidering surrender. Miles dispatched Lt. Charles Gatewood from Ft. Bowie with orders to seek out Geronimo. Gatewood crossed over into Mexico and on August 23, 1886, his scouts picked up Geronimo’s trail.

On August 24th, Gatewood met Geronimo and his people on the banks of the Bavispe River, which is in Mexico. They were told to surrender and that they would be sent to Florida with their families to wait out President Cleveland’s final decision on their fate. Geronimo was visibly shaken when informed that some of his relatives and friends had already been taken to Florida. On August 25th, Geronimo said he would go to the border and surrender to General Miles.

On September 6, 1886 Geronimo and a small portion of his original people agreed to the surrender terms. At this time there were only nineteen men and twenty-eight women and children left in his band of warriors. Six Apaches (3 men and 3 women) refused to accept the surrender terms and fled back to Mexico, where death at the hands of the Mexican border guards awaited them. The picture above is the actual site of Geroimo's surrender and is located in Skeleton Canyon just a short distance from the monument, which is off HWY 80.

The surrender of Geronimo in Skeleton Canyon on that historic day, forever ended Indian warfare in the United States.

CLICK HERE to see the pictures of this area.

Bisbee, AZ

2010-03-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

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With much hesitancy, we headed east towards Tucson on HWY 86 Sunday morning. We had scheduled an early appointment for Monday morning at Tucson Dodge for TREK to get an oil change, new fuel filter, and a new air filter. We wanted to keep her purring! We spent the night in the Tucson Mountain Park and enjoyed the surroundings. After completing TREK’s appointment, our plan was to head to the Cochise Stronghold and spend the night. We drove to Sunsites, AZ where we talked with a very interesting fellow in the Chamber of Commerce office. He advised us not to spend the night, as they had been having big problems with the illegal aliens in the area. The stronghold has a very small and unattended campground and he felt that our safety might be an issue of concern. We took his advice and headed to Bisbee, AZ.

Bisbee, AZ was founded in 1880 and named after Judge DeWitt Bisbee, a financial backer of the Copper Queen Mine. It became the county seat for historic Cochise County. This old western town proved to be one of the richest mineral sites in the world, producing nearly three million ounces of gold. It also produced more than eight billion pounds of copper, not to mention the silver, lead, and zinc that came from these rich Mule Mountains. By the early 1900’s the Bisbee community was the largest city in the southwest between St. Louis and San Francisco.

At its prime, Bisbee had a population of over 20,000 people and became the most cultured city in the southwest. Despite its culture, however, the rough edges of the mining camps could be found in the notorious Brewery Gulch, with its saloons and shady ladies. In 1908, a fire ravaged most of Bisbee’s commercial district along Main Street, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes. Reconstruction began immediately and by 1910 most of the district had been rebuilt and remains completely intact today.

Activities began to slow as the mines played out and the population began to shrink. The mining operations became unprofitable in 1975 and the Queen Mine operation shut down. Queen Mine has seven levels, 143 miles of passageways, and natural ventilation due to the many shafts and drifts. The average temperature inside the mine is 47 degrees. In 1954, the mine operations opened Lavender Pit. For 20 years, they extracted over 351 million tons of material which covered 300 acres and was over 1,000’ deep. They closed this operation in 1974, one year before closing the Queen Mine operation when copper prices plummeted.

CLICK HERE to take the Queen Mine video tour and learn more about this historic area.

CLICK HERE to see our Bisbee and Queen Mine pictures. The town is very historic and cultural, but the surroundings are not very appealing as a result of the devastation.

Organ Pipe National Monument

2010-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

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We left the park and headed south through Blair Valley, which was just beautiful. We will be going back here someday and doing some real exploring. We spent two days in Yuma relaxing, doing our laundry, and enjoying the $5.00 dinner specials put on for the 55+ community of RV’ers. We went swimming and soaked in the hot tub, where we met some very interesting people. We could not wait to head to our next destination.

Organ Pipe National Monument is located just south of Why, AZ. Interesting fact - this community was originally named"Y" because of the intersection of highways 85 and 86. The spelling later changed when residents petitioned for a post office. Organ Pipe National Mounument is surrounded by the Mexican border to the south, the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range, and a very large reservation, which is the home of the Tohono O’Odham Native American people. This entire area is some of the hottest and driest desert land in the USA. This entire area is very densely covered with over 28 different varieties of cactus, including the famous Saguaro and the much rarer Organ Pipe Cactus.

The Organ Pipe Cactus grows in the far south of Arizona and can only be found exclusively in this pristine area of the desert. The Organ Pipe is much more common in Mexico and is distinguished from the Saguaro by having thinner stems that branch from it’s base. The Saguaro branches higher up it’s central trunk.

We took a wonderful hike to the Victoria Mine. This was a center for gold and silver excavations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ruined stone buildings, rusting pieces of iron equipment, and sealed off mine shafts can be seen. Perhaps, the biggest attraction of the hike was to see the abundant Sonoran Desert plants and the expansive views of the Sonoyta Valley into Mexico. The “night sky” was brilliant as we viewed the “Milky Way” and the many constellations in the clear, cold night sky from our $6.00 (nightly fee) Twin Peaks campsite.

CLICK HERE to see our pictures of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument area. This is one of our most favorite places that we have been so far in our travels..

Anza Borrego State Park (CA)

2010-03-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

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“Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present, you will never find it” (Thomas Merton – Monk)

After spending three wonderful days at the “Fountain of Youth Spa” we headed south to Brawley on HWY 111, then northwest to Anza Borrego State Park. We really wanted to stop and see "Salvation Mountain", which is now a national monument located in Slab City (CA), but the road was closed because of the big rainfall the night before we left. This state park is the largest in California. The park is named after Spanish explorer Juan Baustista deAnza and the Spanish name “Borrego” which means Big Horn Sheep. Borrego Palm Canyon is the third largest natural palm oasis in California. It is a beautiful, well-watered oasis, tucked away in a rocky V-shaped gorge. The hike into the palm grove is about 3 miles and there are over 800 palms in the canyon. Although were did not see any Big Horn Sheep, it is a very popular hike to view them perched high above the canyon floor on the rocky cliff shelves. We did see many ocotillo cactus and several other types, which were just starting to bloom. Here, is where we both discovered Arizona “Lavender” and its wonderful fragrance.

The campsites are very primitive and spread out, with water and power provided. The first nights stay in the park was pretty stormy, with very high winds. We hiked the canyon on the 2nd day and the weather was spectacular. We highly recommend a visit here, especially when the cactus are just starting to bloom.

CLICK HERE to see our pictures of the canyon and take the hike with us to the Palm Grove. The creek that we followed up the canyon was still very full of water. We had to cross it on four different occasions, without any foot bridges.

Fountain of Youth Spa (Salton Sea)

2010-03-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

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After leaving Joshua Tree National Park, we decided to really indulge ourselves. We thought that we were headed to "SLAB CITY", but found the “Fountain of Youth Spa" RV Park just east of the Salton Sea and north of Niland, CA. The Salton Sea is over 200’ below sea level. Driving south on HWY 111, you think that you are in on the moon, except for the many scattered mineral springs each creating its own oasis of plant life. Here at the “Fountain of Youth Spa” RV Park there are 7 separate pools of different sizes and temperatures. There are even two huge bathtubs that you can fill with mineral water and soak with the Jacuzzi jets running. This is a remarkable get away for people that stay here for 4-5 months at a time. There are over 600 individual sites with 67% of them filled with our friends from Canada. There are so many activities going on daily that it is impossible to get bored or find nothing to do with your time. We will definitely come back here in the future and recommend this to anybody that needs healing and enjoys water therapy.

CLICK HERE to the see the pictures of this wonderful place in the middle of nowhere. Remember we were just east of the Salton Sea and we will be going back to this heavenly place sometime next year.

Cottonwood Springs (Joshua Tree National Park)

2010-03-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

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We left early and headed to Indio, CA to find a Wal-Mart and buy some leveling blocks for TREK. We found what we needed and then headed east back into Joshua Tree National Park and the Cottonwood Springs campground which is located at the south end of the park. We found a great campsite and also met up with our new friends Bill, Anne, and Sara (sheltie) from Victoria, BC.

Cottonwood Springs was an important water stop for prospectors, miners, and teamsters traveling from Mecca, which is on the north end of the Salton Sea, to the mines in the north. Water was necessary for gold processing, so a number of gold mills were located there. The remains of an arrastra, a primitive type of gold mill, can be found near the springs.

Cottonwood Springs was first mentioned in a gold mine claim filed in 1895, indicating that the trees are native. Huge Fan palms first appeared around 1920, perhaps from seeds deposited by birds or coyotes.

CLICK HERE to see the pictures of Cottonwood Springs and the Fan Palms. We enjoyed this hike with our Canadian friends Bill and Anne.

Wall Street Gold Stamp Mill

2010-03-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

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The hike into the mill was fun. This was an area where gold miners would bring their ore to be processed and stamped. The mill was very well preserved and we enjoyed role playing while exploring the many relics still present. We met Joey and Justin, who had been Eagle Scouts in the past and friends forever when we arrived at the mill site. They were both very familiar with the history of this area, as they both helped build the “Boy Scout” trail in the park which is 13 miles (roundtrip).

CLICK HERE to see the pictures we took of the Wall Street Gold Stamp Mill. Go with us through time and meet Joey and Justin.

Keys View and Barker Dam

2010-03-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

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From an elevation of 5,185’, you overlook a stunning and expansive view of the Palm Springs area, the San Andreas Fault, and the Salton Sea to the southeast. The view is spectacular and you can even see the wind power mills in the valley. Barker Dam and lake were built around 1900 to hold water for cattle and mining use in the area. The dam today forms a small rain-fed reservoir used by wildlife and birds. This was really an amazing area to hike. We saw petroglyphs in a rock cave dating back many years ago by native american people which told a story of the past.

We took a very short hike through a Joshua Tree forest which was very interesting on our way to Barker Dam. The trees are spread very far apart because they need to survive in the desert and there is only so much moisture and nutrients in the soil.

CLICK HERE to see the pictures we took of Keys View and the Barker Dam area. The lake was a very special place and you would never have know it was there unless you saw it for yourself.

Joshua Tree National Park

2010-03-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

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Joshua Tree National Park is a completely separate eco-system between the Mojave Desert (3,000’ or higher) to the north and the Colorado Plateau (3,000’ and lower) to the south. The San Andreas Fault, Palm Springs Desert strip, and the Salton Sea can be viewed from the mountain tops in Joshua Tree National Park. The Joshua tree is neither a tree nor a cactus and received its name from the Mormon people that discover this unique environment. They named the tree after the prophet Joshua because it resembled his outstretched arms to those who believed in God. They say that ½ inch represents one year of the trees lifecycle. Many of these trees are extremely tall. They survive in the desert and grow quite a distance apart from each other because of the lack of moisture and nutrients in the ground. We have heard that this is the only place in the country where the Joshua Tree exists.

The geologic landscape of Joshus Tree is spectacular. How did the rocks take on these fantastic shapes? What forces sculpted them?

Geologists believe that these granite rock formations were formed more than 100 million years ago. Molten liquid, heated by the continuous movement of the Earth's crust, oozed upward and cooled while still below the surface of the overlying rocks. These plutonic intrusions are a granitic rock called monzogranite.

We stayed at the Jumbo Rocks campground (4,400’) for two nights. We paid $5.00 a night for our campsite. We had a fire ring, table, and very clean pit toilet’s available to us. The nights were very clear, beautiful, and cold (30 degrees). We were able to see many different constellations in the dark sky. Here we hiked the Skull Rock, Keys View, Barker Dam, and the Wall Street Gold Stamp mill trails which take you through the many magnificent rock outcroppings. We spend a lot of time just wondering around among the Joshua Trees enjoying the weather and looking at cactus, birds, rock formations, and wildlife. It was very difficult to leave this area, but we needed to move on to the Cottonwood campground (3,000’) located in the park and see the Fan Palm Oasis area. While we were staying at Jumbo Rocks, we met our new friends Bill, Anne, and Sara (sheltie) from Victoria, BC. They are both very nice people and we have shared some very memorable experiences with them so far.

We saw so many beautiful sites and took so many pictures that we have separated our three days at Josuha Tree National Park into three picture albums: 1) Jumbo Rocks, 2) Keys View, Barker Dam, Wall Street Mill, and (3) Fan Palm Oasis (Cottonwood Canyon).

CLICK HERE to see the pictures we took of Jumbo Rocks. Look for the many different images in the rocks as you view the pictures. You may need to go through them a couple of times.

Buckskin Mountains - Colorado River

2010-03-07T13:48:00.000-08:00

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February 25th to March 1st

On Wednesday morning (Feb. 25th) we decided to head north to Bullhead City, AZ. We have never been to this area which is right across the Colorado River from Laughlin, NV. Some people that we met at the Avi Casino told us about an opportunity to stay at the Sunrise Resort RV Park in Bullhead City for two nights at a total cost of only $19.95 with full hook-ups. Yes, the catch was a one hour presentation about their national campground network. We met a very nice salesman named Bob Smith, but as many of you know we are both a very hard sale at this time in our lives and headed south with just our memories. We were not really impressed with Laughlin, NV because it is primarily a gambling area.

We headed towards Lake Havasu and along the Colorado River. South of Lake Havasu City, AZ there are three very scenic Arizona State campgrounds. We decided to spend two nights on the Colorado River at the River Island State Park. The park is located at the base of the Buckskin Mountain Range in AZ. This is a very beautiful spot that is tucked away in a small cove on the river. This particular area seems to be a very popular hangout for RV’er who like to spend a few months at a time on the river. There is a lot of hiking in the area and we scrambled around in the Buckskin Mountains for a day. We hiked into the Skinner copper pit mines and got to see some of the cactus just starting to bloom.

We left the campground and headed south to Parker, AZ so we could find an internet connection and pay our bills online. We found a hot spot and will be able to keep the “wolves” away for another month. Our plan was to head west again into CA and spend the night at 29 Palms, CA which is the gateway to Joshua Tree National Park. We needed to do some laundry, grocery shopping, and reorganized ourselves. We ended up spending two days in 29 Palms before heading into the national park.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of pictures taken during this portion of our trip. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow. You can also click on the pictures above to enlarge them.

Week 1 - Southwest TREK 2010

2010-03-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

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Week 1 – Feb. 17th to Feb. 25th

We left Fox Island and headed south to Champoeg State Park, just south of Portland for our first night. This is a very historic and scenic campground on the Willamette River. There are over 5 miles of bike paths in the park so we decided to go bike riding and hunt down some caches that were close to the park. It was a very beautiful day and we would highly recommend this area for overnight camping. One of our goals was to take advantage of any opportunity to have a seafood buffet. The next day we headed south to Canyonville and the Seven Feathers Casino and RV Park. We arrived early enough to really enjoy ourselves and took a swim in the indoor pool and soak in the spa at the RV Park before heading over to the casino to enjoy their famous buffet. Yes, we stuffed ourselves full of king crab, shrimp, prime rib, and all of the trimmings that go along with a buffet. We both received our “players club” cards when we arrived at the casino. They gave us each $5 to play with and we both decided to go home early as Nancy won $40 and myself $15 – not a bad night for the two of us gambling on their money.

The next day we headed south of Eureka, CA to a little town called Fortuna, CA. We traveled by “Trees of Mystery” on HWY 101 where “Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox” still reside. I last visited this area when I was a very little boy with my family. Obviously these huge statues have had a few coats of paint since then, but look the same as I remembered them to be. Located just outside of Fortuna is the Bear River Casino, which is small and very nice. We again indulged ourselves in another seafood buffet, which had lobster, crab, shrimp, prime rib and all of the trimmings. We got our “players card” and were given $10 credit each this time. We did not break the bank, but Nancy again was the winner going home with $25 and myself with $10. What a good time with an abundance of good food and would recommend both of these casino stops for travelers.

We woke up early Saturday morning and headed to Indio, CA and spent the night at a place called French Camp which was very nice and quiet. Our next stop was in Barstow, CA where we prepared to spend our first real “boondocking” (dry camping) adventure on the desert in Mojave National Preserve. We woke up to light snow and howling winds. We headed to the preserve and an old historic town called Kelso where the train still rolls through every now and then. We toured the old train station and then head south to the Kelso Sand Dunes hoping to find a spot to dry camp. When we got to the sand dunes the wind was blowing very hard and it looked like rain. We had lunch and after discussing the weather and not wanting TREK to get sand blasted decided to head to Needles, CA. Here we stayed for two nights at the Avi Casino which is south of Laughlin, NV on the Colorado River. There is a KOA campground at the casino and we had so much fun here we decided to stay for two days. This casino is south of Laughlin, NV and located on the Mohave Indian Reservation all by itself on the river. As you can see from the pictures, there are many amenities and fun things to do. We were not as lucky with our rookie gambling skills, but lost only a small portion of our previous gambling winnings so we are still ahead.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of pictures taken during this portion of our trip. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow. You can also click on the pictures above to enlarge them.

POINT, PLUG IN, and POWER UP

2010-01-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

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Cape Blanco and Depoe Bay

2009-10-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

On Sept. 9, 2009 we left Sunriver, OR and headed west to the Oregon coast and Cape Blanco. We traveled to the Umpqua River and the Steamboat Springs Lodge to have breakfast. Here, there is a 90 mile stretch of the Umpqua that is only open to fly-fishing. A big highlight was to visit the steelhead pool on Steamboat Creek, 11 miles from the lodge, and see the many fish that had fought their way up to this point. From there we traveled to Cape Blanco which is on the Oregon coast about 25 miles south of Bandon, OR.

Cape Blanco is the most western point on the Oregon coast. The Cape Blanco lighthouse is the most southern on the Oregon coast. This lighthouse was proposed in 1864 and had it's first lense in 1870. We stayed at Cape Blanco State Park for two nights and had beautiful weather. We hiked, geocached, and enjoyed the remoteness of this area.

We left Cape Blanco and headed north to Depoe Bay, OR. Our friends Gene and Josie Whisnant have a cozy condo just back from the ocean where we stayed 2 nights in TREK. We had a great time visiting the area with Dorothy Blanchard and our friends. We saw the spectacular coastline and introduced our friends to geocaching. We enjoyed a cup of hot clam chowder at Mo's and a great dinner at the famous Tidal Raves restaurant.

Depoe Bay is the world's smallest navigable harbor. It has been carved and shaped by powerful natural forces. Waves run beneath lava beds creating spouting geyers that spray 60 feet into the air. Depoe Bay is also known as "The Whale Watching Capital of The Oregon Coast". We saw many whales in our short stay. Depoe Bay is also home for many different types of sport and commercial fishing.

Upon leaving Depoe Bay we continued north to Astoria, OR and crossed the Columbia River into Washington. We traveled to Long Beach, WA and found ourselves in a parade of antique cars. After exiting from the parade, we decided to head to Bay Center, WA which is at the mouth of Willapa Harbor. We spent the night at the KOA campground and had a cold beer at the local tavern and some delicious oyster dressing.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of several pictures taken in this area. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow. You can also click on the pictures above to enlarge them.

Our First Home Grown Oyster Feed

2009-09-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, we decided to try and grow some oysters in front of our beach home. We planted 1,500 oysters in bags staked to a beach line. It was so successful that we planted another 1,500 oysters this past month. It takes from 9 to 18 months for the oysters to mature depending on the type. We really enjoyed our first harvest and have had many since.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of several pictures taken in this area. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow.

Soap Lake Trip

2009-09-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a peaceful place to escape, then head to Soap Lake, WA. Soap Lake is a mineral lake located in the heart of Washington. It was one of the most known mineral spas in the country, prior to sulfa drugs and penicillin. Here, you can nourish your soul as well as your body with a soak in the water and then relax in the sun.

Dry Falls is one of the most spectacular geological wonders of the world. It is four times the size of Niagara Falls, stretching 3 1/2 miles wide and over 400 feet high. Today, it overlooks a desert oasis with lakes and wildlife. Sun Lakes State Park in just below Dry Falls. This entire area is very unique geologically and magnificent in beauty.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of several pictures taken in this area. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow.

Ocean Shores, WA

2009-07-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Our final night (Sunday) was spent at Copalis Beach, just 6 miles north of Ocean Shores. Once we got our campsite, we went to Ocean Shores to visit the "Sand Castle" festival. Things were winding down, so we only got to see the one sand sculpture. They also had several chainsaw artist with their cedar sculptures. We left Copalis Beach early the next morning and headed home with lots of memories. Thanks TREK for another safe trip!

Ruby Beach - Pacific Coast (WA)

2009-07-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

We rose early in the morning and had a good breakfast in a local restaurant. We felt relieved to leave Forks, WA in one piece!

As you head south from Forks, WA on US 101, your first sight of the Pacific Ocean is at Ruby Beach. The shoreline at Ruby Beach has it all - sand, pebbles, rounded stones, driftwood, and sea stacks. Between the mighty Pacific breakers and the towering coastal firs, the pebbles and sand of Ruby Beach serve as a barrier between two worlds. Occasionally sea and forest connect, but mostly this magical stretch of shore calls those looking to wonder, wander or just beachcomb.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of several pictures taken in this area. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow.

Forks, WA

2009-07-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

Nowdays, you cannot drive through Forks, WA and not sense the full impact of Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" book series. It is overwhelming and will stimulate anybody's curiosity to read her books. There are four books in the series - "Twilight", "New Moon", "Eclipse", and "Breaking Dawn". Once you start the first book, you will not want to put it down. From then on, you will read the entire series - GUARANTEED!

We drove to LaPush and explored the scenes, as described in the book "Twlight". We had a great time and spent the night at an RV park in Forks, sleeping with one eye open. If you read the first book in the series "Twilight", you will understand the pictures in our short slideshow. For those of you who have read the first book "Twilight", then take this quiz and see how you do! CLICK HERE to take the "Twilight" quiz!

CLICK HERE to watch the short "Twilight" slideshow. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow.

Makah Canoe Celebration

2009-07-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a very special canoe celebration by Makah tribal members. There were 3 traditional Makah canoes that were given to three separate families. This was a promise made by tribal elders over 38 years ago. It is a goal of the Makah tribe to give each family, which can be very large, a personal canoe to resume their ancient fishing ways of the past. It was a very emotional and educational opportunity for us to celebrate with them. We enjoyed a delicious meal of specially prepared elk and salmon, which was served during the celebration.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of several pictures taken in this area. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow.

Cape Flattery - Tatoosh Island

2009-07-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Cape Flattery is the most northwesterly tip of the USA (48 States) and looks across the mouth of the Straits of Juan DeFuca and Canada. The Pacifric Ocean is the backdrop and Tatoosh Island is located off the tip of the cape. There use to be a Makah fishing village on Tatoosh Island years ago, but no longer! In the winter, storms rage through this area, with winds of 100+ MPH on occasion! Look how calm and beautiful the day was for us. We had a great time exploring and seeing the spectacular scenery and the rugged coastline.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of several pictures taken in this area. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow.

Hobuck Beach - Neah Bay, WA

2009-07-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

On a spur of the moment, Nancy and I decided to take a trip around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. We had never been to Cape Flattery and had not been in this area for several years. It was going to be beautiful weather so ws just decided to head out in TREK for another adventure.

Hobuck Beach Park is on Hobuck Bay, which is located on the Makah Indian Reservation. The Makah tribe has built a very beautiful RV park at this beach. This is where the tribal members would launch their whaling canoes when harvesting the big gray whales that still frequent this area. This is not a practice anymore with the tribe. A few years back the Makah tribe was on national TV when they launch their canoes and harpooned a gray whale and took it to shore. They used the entire whale, in their traditional ways, to share with all tribal members. The hunt was not for commercial purposes, but for self-sustaining use only. This was a very special and meaningful event for the tribe.

CLICK HERE to watch the slideshow of several pictures taken in this area. You can change the viewing time by increasing the seconds once you launch the slideshow.

Day 29-34 (Clearwater River Valley, BC)

2009-07-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

We traveled the Yellowhead Highway south to Clearwater, BC and spent the night at the KOA campground. The next morning we did some grocery shopping and headed up the Clearwater River highway to our friend's (Jim & Colleen Vadheim) cabin in the valley. Their cabin is located just outside of Well Gray Provincial Park on 70 acres of some of the most beautiful and pictureque land that you can imagine. From the first day of our arrival, until our departure, the time was filled with excitment, adventure, exploring, laughter, fun, good food, friendship, and many unforgettable memories together. Our day would start with a cup of coffee in the early morning, sitting on the deck, counting the black bear grazing in the surrounding pastures. We would occasionly see sand-hill cranes, Canadian geece teaching their young survial skills, a doe with her new-born fawn, and the pastured horses romancing each other.

We hiked into the bush, viewed some of the most dramatic waterfalls, took a boat trip up the pristine Clearwater Lake, played golf, and had a very interesting experience with a black bear that weighted around 600 lbs. or more. This was a very special time for us to spend with our friends and bring to a close our exciting trip. We headed home on June 11th which was our granddaughter's 18th birthday and for her graduation from high school on June 14th. Thanks Jim & Colleen for a great time - we love you guys!

We arrived home safe and sound to Fox Island. Upon completion of our trip, TREK'S odometer had an additional 5,500 miles. We averaged 21.8 miles per gallon on our trip - not bad! You better get yourself a ROADTREK before they run out of them!

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 28 - Jasper, Alberta

2009-07-11T21:50:00.001-07:00

We arrived with plenty of time to get a great campsite and tour the town. We had a great time looking at all of the shops and decided to have pizza for dinner. So far we had not seen a moose, so we purchased "Bowinkle" as a magnetic mascot for TREK. After dinner we treated ourselves to an ice cream cone and headed back to the campsite. As we approached our campsite, we notice an elk feeding in the meadow next to our campsite, so we took a picture. Nancy is a Bev Doolittle fan and so before we left in the morning, she took some very beautiful pictures of the many aspen that were in the area. Our next stop will be in Clearwater, British Columbia where we are looking forward to visiting our friends, Jim and Colleen Vadheim. They built a cabin on 70 acres of land in the Clearwater Valley and we will be staying with them for 5 days exploring the countryside.

Leaving Jasper, we headed west through the mountains and the Yellowhead Highway south to Clearwater, BC. We passed the second highest mountain in British Columbia which is Mt. Robson (12,972'). They say you can never see the top of the mountain because of the clouds. We found out that this was a true statement, so we took our picture and then I goggled a picture so you can see the top of Mt. Robson.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 27 - Hinton, Alberta

2009-07-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

After leaving the Icefields, we traveled north to Jasper, Alberta. We wanted to head east towards Hinton because it would be closer to Miette Hot Springs, plus we wanted to do some laundry, relax, and catch up on things. Miette Hot Springs is nestled high in the mountains without any other distractions. It is the hottest springs in Canada. When I was here as a little boy, we could not go into the hotsprings because of a polio epidemic in Canada. This was very upsetting, so one of our goals for this trip was to finally take a plunge and enjoy this Canadian pleasure. After stopping to buy groceries in Jasper, we headed east across the Athabasca River and came across a herd of Big Horn Sheep, which were coming out of the mountains to water in the river. After taking a few pictures, we found the Hinton KOA campground, which was very nice. We finished all of our chores and got up early the next morning and headed to the hotsprings. As we traveled into the mountains we saw a black bear sow and her 3 cubs. We learned that a Black Bear sow will usually have either 2-3 cubs every other year. We arrived at the hotsprings and soaked for longer than we should have before heading to Jasper to spent the night. They have 4 pools - 2 hot pools with different temperatures and 2 cooler plunges at different temperatures. We learned to use the pool rotation effectively, so we stayed for almost 2 hours and never got light headed. We wanted to spend the night in Jasper and to walk the town, so we headed west to find a campground at Jasper.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 26 - Columbia Icefields

2009-07-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

The final leg up the Icefield Parkway was spectacular. There were just too many glaciers to mention by name so we took many picutres to share with you. The scenery was very special, but extremely fragile. There was a haze in the air from the controlled burns in the area, but cleared up as we traveled north. The glaciers are definately shrinking in size, as was especially evident at Athabasca Glacier (Columbia Icefield). This glaicer is currently about 85 sq. miles in size, but receding around 33' per year. I can remember as a young boy, this glacier being all the way to the road. I took a picture to show you where this glacier is today in comparison with the road. The first time that I was here would have been 60 years ago with my parents. We both felt that this part of our trip was very memorable.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 25 - Lake Louise

2009-07-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

We woke up early and headed to Lake Louise on a very beautiful morning. We wanted to be able to have a full day of hiking and exploring. We by-passed the freeway and took the old road to Lake Louise and it was spectacular. It is hard to explain traveling and viewing the scenery of the Icefield Parkway. The emotions that you feel cannot be explained in words. You need to see it for yourself to understand. We arrived early at the Lake Louise campground (10:30 AM) a got a great campsite close to the bathhouse. There are two magnificant lakes in this area, Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. We packed up lunch and headed up the road to Moraine Lake, which was still frozen solid. We hiked around a bit and then had lunch. There were several people that were brave enough to walk on the frozen lake, but we decided to just watch them.

After lunch we headed to Lake Louise, which I can still remember visiting as a young boy with my parents some 60 years ago. When we arrived at the lake, you cannot help but notice the Fairmont Lake Chateau Hotel. There were a lot of visitors, so we decided to hike to the end of the lake, which is at the base of the mountain range. Along the path, you could not help but notice several rock climbers ascending and desending the cliffs. The lake is open year-round and offers many recreational opportunities to visitors. The weather was beautiful and started to get very warm, so we decided to have a cold beer and wine at the hotel and look back at the lake and the glacial fields in the background.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 23-24 (Banff, Alberta)

2009-07-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

We left Waterton Lakes early and headed to Banff, which is the beginning of the Icefield Parkway route to Jasper, Alberta. It was a very beautiful day and the scenery was spectacular. The Canadian Rockies are larger than life, rugged, and very pristine. Banff is nestled in the Bow River Valley and is located in Banff National Park. Their are two primary townships within the park (Banff & Lake Louise) and the entire area is an outdoor paradise. It is a wilderness area filled with wildlife, unusal rock formations, high alpine meadows, glaciers, and jade green lakes.

We stayed for two nights at the Tunnel Mountain campground just outside of Banff. We walked to town and then discovered that they have a trolley car transportation system, so we took advantage of that service. We strolled the town and visited the famous Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel which was officially opened in 1888, when the Canadian Pacific railroad was built. We took a relaxing plunge in the Banff Hot Springs pool and had a very hard time leaving. We topped the night off with dinner at the "good old" Spaghetti Factory!

We took a hike to the Hoodoos, which overlook the Bow River valley and could see the Banff Springs Hotel in the distance against the pictureque backdrop of the mountains.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 22 - Waterton Lakes National Park

2009-07-04T07:56:00.001-07:00

We crossed into Canada without any problems and got to show our passports for the first time ever. Waterton Lakes is located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada and borders Glacier National Park in Montana. There are three beautiful lakes (Lower, Middle, and Upper) which are located at the base of the Canadian Rockies. The mountains are very spectacular and rugged and there was alot of snow on them. Upper Waterton Lake was still frozen. You cannot help but notice the Prince of Whales Hotel when you arrive at the very small quaint town of Waterton which overlooks the middle lake. It was built in 1926 and named after Prince Edward. We camped at the park in Waterton and enjoyed riding our bikes around town and the lake. We took a short trip into the mountains to Red Rock Canyon and hiked out to the falls. It was very beautiful and we enjoyed having lunch by the river.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 21 - St. Mary's, MT

2009-06-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

We left Fort Benton and got diesel and went to Wal-Mart for groceries in Great Falls, MT. We tried to get some Canadian money, but the banks did not have any, or so they told us. After trying 5 different banks, we decided to get out of town and use our credit card in Canada. Our next stop was St. Mary's, MT, just south of the Canadian border at Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. We crossed over into Canada (Alberta) at Babb, MT and got to use our passports for the first time. It was a very smooth crossing with very few questions. The area around St. Mary's is very spectacular and beautiful. You are looking straight at the Rocky Mountains. You can cross over to the westside of the Rocky Mountains through Glacier National Park at St. Mary's. We stay at the St. Mary's KOA and had a great campsite. One thing that you can always count on at a KOA, is a hot shower!

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 20 - Fort Benton, MT

2009-06-05T20:07:00.001-07:00

We had a long haul from Medora, ND to Fort Benton, MT. Fort Benton is considered to be the "birthplace" of Montana. It was founded in 1846 by the American Fur Company at the head of navigation on the Missouri River. It was the premier Blackfoot trading post in the Northwest. Steam stern wheelers would travel to Fort Benton to bring new settlers into the area, plus take furs back down stream. Lewis and Clark put their canoes into the Missouri River at the Fort Benton site on their return trip from discovering the Pacific Northwest route. It is a very beautiful historic town with only about 1,500 people living there today.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 18-19 (Medora, ND - Teddy Roosevelt Grasslands)

2009-06-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

Medora, ND is a very small community nestled at the southern most end of the Teddy Roosevelt Grasslands, commonly called North Dakota Badlands. It is where Teddy Roosevelt built a cabin and hunted. He had such a fondness for this area that he later proclaimed this area as a National Park, along with many others. It is a very fertile wild and rugged landscape with plentiful wildlife, reptiles, and birds. The southern unit of the park has a herd of wild buffalo and horses, of which we took some pictures. The many brillant colors were especially enjoyable at dawn and dusk.

The town was named after the wife of a French nobleman, who raised cattle, built the first slaughter house, and was responsible for bringing the railroad into this area. He became very weathly by shipping beef to the east coast. The town is famous today, not only for it's history, but for the musical performances throughout the summer months that attract people from many different countries.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 14-17 (Rapid City, SD)

2009-06-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Rapid City, SD on Friday (May 22nd). This was of course Memorial Day weekend. Our engine indicator light came on again and would not go out at all. So we decided to check this problem out with the local Dodge dealership in Rapid City. We found Dodge Town and needed to see a diesel mechanic. Just our luck, their only one, was on vacation until Tuesday (May 26th). We decided to stay and get our oil changed at the sametime. Not knowing where to stay for four days, we decided to join KOA which had a campground about 1/2 mile from the dealership. As it turned out, we had a great time.

First of all, they had a breakfast at the campground every morning where you could eat all of the pancakes you wanted for $1.00. We got to meet John Horton, who had been cooking pancakes at this campground for over 20 years. He had flipped over 1 million pancakes since he started cooking breakfast each morning at the Rapid City KOA. John is also a retired professional cowboy rodeo rider, and currently writes poetry and sings cowboy songs. He is very humble, but exceptionally talented and loves to entertain people. We got to know John and became very fond of him.

We also weathered 3 inches of rain in less than 3 hours with lots of high winds, thunder, and a spectcular lighting show. We took in the Memorial Day bike race in Rapid City, visited Art Alley, and did the President's Cache Walk through town. Rapid City is known as "The City of Presidents". There is a bronze statue of 35 American presidents located on different corners in the historic downtown area.

We visited a very amazing Native American gallery of arts and artifacts, then went to the local micro-brewery and had drumettes and a couple of home brews. We eventually got TREK back in running order and headed up the road to Medora, ND and the Teddy Roosevelt Grasslands.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 13 - Mount Rushmore & SD Badlands

2009-05-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

We spent the night in Keystone, SD at Kemp's Kamp RV Park. We were hoping to watch the American Idol finals, but missed out. We got up early and headed up the road to Mount Rushmore which was 4 miles away. We arrived early and had breakfast at the memorial site, watched the presentation, and hiked to the base of the sculpture. There were not very many people around, so we enjoyed exploring the area. After our visit, we were excited to head east through the South Dakota Badlands. We were also looking forward to staying the night in Wall, SD and visiting the "famous" Wall Drug Store and have a cup of 5 cent coffee and a home-made doughnut. The drug store is 76,000 sq. ft. in a town less than a thousand people. The owner of Wall Drug came up with the idea during the depresson, of offering FREE ICE WATER to thirsty travelers. Not only did they successfully survive the depression, but they have become the #1 roadside attraction in America today!

The Badlands are a geological feature that rise up out of the prairie created by wind, water, and time. They are mystical and give you the feeling of a painted desert, moonscapes, and Jurassic Park all put together. It is hard not to imagine, as you cross the Badlands, the thousands of Tatanka (Bison) that migrated across the grasslands of this magnificant arena of beauty. At one point in history, the Plains Indians would hideout in the Badlands or camp up against them for protection. There were also many famous outlaws that had their strongholds in the area.

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Day 11 - 12 (Custer State Park)

2009-05-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

We spent two nights at Crooked Creek Ranch RV Park and it was very peaceful. It borders the Michelsen Bike Trail which cover 109 miles of old railroad bed converted to a bike trail. We had every intension of riding this portion of the trail, but decided to catch up on laundry and relaxation. We met Mike, Maxine, and Mini Swartz from California. They also have a Roadtrek, so we stuck up a friendship with out any issues right away. We "Trek'ers" stick together. We also met up with Dennis Bennett, his wife, and two labs. There daughter Julie, an actress, is a very close friend of Adam Lambert (2009 American Idol finalist). We had a big day of traveling and adventure ahead. We went to Sylvan Lake, explored the Wind Caves, did Iron Mountain Road through some very narrow tunnels, and spent the night in Keystone, SD.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 10 - Crazy Horse Memorial

2009-05-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

"They made many promises, more than I can remember - They never kept but one: they promised to take our land, and they took it" (Red Cloud, Lakota Chief 1891)

Crazy Horse is pointing and saying, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."

In the mid-1940's a group of Lakota elders approached famous sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and ask if he would create a memorial to their history and heros. This was after Mount Rushmore had been started. He agreed and the project began in 1948 and the work continues today at the memorial site. Although Korczak has died 7 of his 10 sons, daughters, and wife continue the project today, strickly on donations. They have refused any government assistance due to past history. Inheriting this project and it's goals from their father, they continue to fulfill this original committment. They have built a beautiful museum which includes the original home and studio of Karcsak and an extensive presentation of Plains Indians artifacts and history. This memorial site is a very spiritual and emotional experience to visit. Putting the magnitude of this creation into perspective, upon completion the final sculpture will be as long as a cruise ship and taller than a 60 story skycraper. Crazy Horse is the world's largest carving and is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Day 9 - Deadwood, SD

2009-05-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

After the TOWER, we headed through Spearfish and onto Deadwood, SD. In the 1870's was the site of the last big gold rush in North America. In fact, in Deadwood on upper main street you can still take a tour of the Broken Boot gold mine. Fueled by gold, Deadwood became a lawless camp of get-rich prospectors and a business district largely of saloons, dance halls, card palors, and bordellos. Then came frontier legends like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane who lived and died in Deadwood and are buried in the local cemetary. Today, it is designated as a National Historic District. Our first impression arriving in Deadwood, which was set deep withing the mountains of the Black Hills is a very western, wild, casino filled, and Harley's. It is still a rough, dusty, dirty authentic western town. It is a mecca for gamblers and it was interesting to see the variety of people in town. Kevin Costner has left his trademark after "Dancing With Wolves" and owns an entire building which is filled with movie memorbilia of his past. He also has a an attraction called "Tatanka", which is the story of the bison and a huge sculptural reinactment of a "Buffalo Jump". Not being gamblers, we walked around the town for awhile, ate dinner in town, and took the trolley back to Whistler's Gulch where we were spending the night with TREK.

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Day 8 - Devils Tower ("Bear Lodge")

2009-05-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Sundance and spent the night. We learned something interesting about Wyoming. We took a walk to a convenience store to buy some beer. You can only purchase alcohol in Wyoming bars, so we did with out.

We got up early and headed for Devils Tower. This is a huge monolith rising up from the Black Hills valley. The Belle Fourche River runs along it's base. It is 5,112' high, which is over 900' from it's base. The Kiowha legend tells of 8 children (7 sisters and a brother) playing in the forest. Suddenly, the boy is struck dumb and began growing claws and hair, while running on all fours. The terrified sisters ran, as the "Now Bear" brother, chased them. The sisters came to a very large stump, which spoke to them saying, "Climb up on me now!" The stump started growing upwards immediately, as the BEAR clawed all around the stump trying to reach them. The seven sister were then born into the sky and became the seven stars of the BIG DIPPER. Devils Tower is a very popular rock climbing challenge and there are over 200 routes to the top.

This magnificant pillar set in the Black Hills was established by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906 as America's 1st National Monument. We hiked around the base of this BIG ROCK and took many pictures. We saw many rock climbers and a giant BULL snake crossed our path. We also observed many examples of Native American prayer taliman's hanging from the trees, which stand for safety and good health.

Exiting from the park, we got to take a photo of the Mayor of Prairie Dog Town (see photo).

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Day 7 - Custer Battlefield

2009-05-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

Packed up and left Cody and headed towards the "Battle of the Little Bighorn". We had to take a detour as the pass was closed on HWY 14. We went through Greybull, Worland, Buffalo, and Sheridan, WY. We went over Powder River Pass (9,668') in the Bighorn Mt. Range and the weather was great and the views were magnificant. We crossed over into Montanta and stayed at the 7th Ranch RV Park in Garryowen, MT. The couple that owned the park were educators and cashed in their retirement pensions and bought a section of land close to the battlefields. The facilities and views from out campsite were unbelievable. We got up early the next morning and headed to the battlefields on the Crow Indian Reservation.

The "Battle of the Little Bighorn" took place June 25-26, 1876. This site memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their ancestrial and traditional way of life. Although the Plains Indians won the battle, they subsequently lost the war against the white man's efforts to end their independent, nomadic way of life. After the battle, Lakota and Cheyenne families removed their dead and placed them in sacred places. We viewed a presentation of the battle history and then drove through the entire area stopping frequently to take pictures and spend moments reflecting on the gravitiy of what happened here and why (clash of two cultures and the end of one). We left after spending a couple of hours and headed down HWY 90 to Sundance, WY and Devils Tower.

Also at this site, there is a memorial burial area for other American soldiers that have died in many other wars.

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Day 5 - 6 (Cody, WY)

2009-05-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Cody, WY late afternoon and stayed at the Ponderosa RV Park. We spent two nights here. Next morning we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum and spent about 5 hours there. It is made up of 5 different museums in one facility, four of which we went toured. The four we toured were the Museum of Natural History, Buffalo Bill, Plains Indians, and Cody Firearms Museums. The Western Art Gallery was closed. We took a break and found 4 caches in the area before visiting The Irma Hotel, which Bill Cody built in 1902 and had his Wild West Roughrider Show headquarters. Within this beautiful hotel we got to see the "famous" cherry wood bar which Queen Victoria gave to Bill Cody as a gift. We had a great time and really enjoyed this flavor and history of this special town.

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Day 4 - May 12 (Dillon, MT)

2009-05-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

We are currently in Dillon, MT and are staying the night at Southside RV Park. The elevation is around 5,100' in Dillon and it is suppose to get into the mid-20's tonight. Dillon, MT is a farm and ranch community that has a touch of culture, history, and recreation. At one time it was the largest wool shipping point in Montana. It was also central for early Montana mining camps and settlements. We decided not to cross over Lost Trail Pass (7,100') because of the severe winter conditions in the mountains today, so decided to go east on HWY 90 to Butte, MT and then head south to Dillon, MT on HWY 15. We had dinner at Sparky's Garage Diner where we had a plate of BQ pork ribs, baked beans, sweet potato fries, and corn bread. that were outstanding. Our waitress, Melody, just graduated from University of Montana Western with a 4 year degree in education. She was very excited, full of idealism, and energy. She had just finished her first job interview and will be teaching 2nd grade. Her class load will be 13 lucky kids.

The University of Montana Western was built in 1890 as a Normal School, preferably a teacher training college. It recently has branched out into other academic areas, thus becoming affiliated with the Unversity of Montana. Melody's classes during her 4 year preparation were very much different than other institutions. She attended class for 18 days, from start to finish, and took her final. She would be in class for 3 hours per day for that time period. She mentioned that it was a very concentrated program, but she loved the learning experience.

As you can see from the picture above of TREK, we woke up to a very beautiful morning for our trip through Yellowstone National Park and onto Cody, WY.

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Day 3 - May 11 (Missoula, MT)

2009-05-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

NO pictures today!. We left the RV park and got fuel. We were headed south on HWY 93 over Lost Trail Pass (7,056') towards Dillon, MT. OOPS! Big change of plans - the engine diagnostic indicator light came on and we have decided to head west to Kellogg, ID and the nearest Sprinter dealership to get it checked out. After reading in the owners manual about potential problems, we decided to head west. Ever heard of Dave Smith's Motors, well that is who took care of our warranty issue in about 10 minutes and put us back on the road east again to Missoula, MT. After a 250 mile round trip to take care of this issue we decided to stop at Jelly Stone RV Park again, so we could watch "Dancing With The Stars" and "24". We had an interesting day, but were glad that TREK was healed and ready to continue on her journey with us.

Day 2 - May 10 (Missoula, MT)

2009-05-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

We headed east and crossed the Snake River between Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID. We headed up HYW 12 along the Clearwater River scenic by-way for about 90 miles towards Lolo Pass. We followed the river through beautiful farms and pine studded gorges on a narrow twisty road. This is through Nez Perce country, where Cheif Joseph led his people. Along the route the Locha ("rapid waters") and Selway Rivers merge with the Clearwater. We got to see many rafters and kayakers challenging the wild rapid, especially along the Locha River. We traveled over Lolo Pass (5,225'), which is the state line between Idaho and Montana. We wanted to stop by Lolo Hot Springs as Skip was there when he was 7 years old. We spent the night in Missoula, MT at Jelly Stone RV Park, where we met Linda and Georgette from Kelowna, British Columbia. They also had a Roadtrek and it was fun to share stories with them. We had a great night and were ready for Day 3 to come!

We Are OFF And Trek'in - Day 1 (Starbuck, WA)

2009-05-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

We got up early this morning May 9th (Saturday) and hit the road. We had planned on leaving Friday, but got hung up with the satellite dish installation. The weather was beautiful so we decided to go on HWY 26 when we crossed the Columbia River at Vantage, WA. This is the highway that you would travel if you were heading to Pullman, WA to watch the "Cougars" play football. It takes you through Othello and some beautiful farm country. We turned right at Washtucna, WA and headed to Starbuck, WA. This is a bump in the road and we stopped to check out the famous old jail house. Yes, there was a little restaurant across from the jail that served coffee, just not Starbucks. We spent our first night at the Tucannon River RV Park which is about 55 miles west of Lewiston, ID. This is a very nice park right next to the Tucannon River, which is one of the few "wild and scenic" rivers left in Washington. We got to use the satellite dish for the first time and beamed in on all of the local channels out of Seattle. It was great!

The 4-Way Test

2009-04-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

A very close friend of ours shared the following statement with us regarding the things that we all think, say, and do. I would like to share what he had to say with you!

- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

These four principles seem like they are pretty good advice!

Grayland Beach State Park

2009-03-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

On March 9, 2009 (Monday) we took Trek on a shake down trip to Grayland Beach State Park which is about 8 miles south of Westport, WA. We are preparing ourselves and Trek for our BIG trip in May to ID, MT, WY, SD, ND, and into Canada. We had a great trip and really had beautiful weather considering this time of the year. We had our camping spot pretty much all to ourselves and could climb the sand dune behind our site where we could look out over the ocean. We awoke the first morning to cold temperatures and YES snow. This did not stop us! We headed south for 5 miles to Tokeland, WA and bought some fresh dungeness crab right off the boat. We also hunted down some geocaches in the area for a total of 12 during our entire trip. Some of the great memories will be having clam chowder at the famous "One Eyed Crab" restaurant in Westport, visiting the Westport Meritime Museum, cooking pancakes on the grill outside, watching the surfers off the Westport jetty, enjoying a beach fire, and the beautiful walks on the beach and around the Westport area. We stayed for four nights and cannot wait to go back sometime soon. The weather, after the first morning, was clear and sunny with the temperature staying in the mid 40's. We hope that you enjoy our pictures!

The picture above is of the original Westport Lighthouse. Standing 107' tall this was dedicated in 1898. It is the tallest in Washington and the 3rd tallest on the West coast. The base sits on 12' of sandstone. Walls at the base are 4' thick and are made of brick with a coating of cement on the outside. It takes 135 steps to bring you to the lantern room. In 1898 this sat 400' from the high tide line, now it is 3,000' back from the high tide line. We love lighthouses and wanted to share just a little more local history.

CLICK HERE to view our picture slideshow. If you would like to read the picture captions, then change the viewing time from 3 to 6 seconds. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, click the BACK ARROW icon in the upper left corner of the page and it will take you back to our blog page - enjoy!

Heading Home

2008-11-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

We have decided to head for home (Sunriver) and then back to Fox Island. The weather forecast for the next week or so is good and we need to put TOWME2, our 4'x6' utility trailer, in the garage for the winter. We have had a great time in our travels and would not have changed anything. We have put over 5,000 miles on Trek and she has performed great for us. Trek averaged 20.5 MPG while pulling TOWME2 and without the trailer averaged 23 MPG, which we were very pleased. We have certainly developed a bonding with Trek and have enjoyed traveling with her. We thank the many of you who have followed our path and shared our travels with us. It has been fun and a real learning experience for both Nancy and myself. We have been blessed with our health and safe travel and give thanks to our creator for making this all possible. The blog has been updated with many new pictures and you can view them in a slideshow presentation. Many of the posted entry's have numerous pictures and we think that you will have as much fun looking at them as we did taking them. We will be signing off until our next adventure and wish all of you a Happy Holiday season ahead with family and friends. To view all of the individual posts and pictures continue to scroll down to the bottom of this page and then click OLDER POSTS in the right hand corner of the page.

Saddlebrooke, AZ

2008-11-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

We arrived at Saddlebrooke in the afternoon on Tuesday (November 4th). We stopped and visited with our friends the Mears in Tucson for a short-time before our arrival here. The next 3 days will be busy for us enjoying all of the activities at Saddlebrooke and looking at real estate.

Marana, AZ

2008-11-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

We arrived at the Valley Of The Sun RV Park in Marana, AZ Monday afternoon. This RV park is one of many, many Passport America sponsored parks around the country. We paid for our annual membership fee the first couple of nights on the road. We joined Passport America and have been saving 50% a night on our fees. It is really a great company and the parks are great. We will stay here for one night before moving on to Saddlebrooke in Oro Valley. It will be just a short drive to Saddlebrooke where we will be staying for 3 nights. We love Saddlebrooke and cannot resist enjoying this area when we are here.

Friends Depart

2008-11-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

The morning of November 1st we parted company with our good friends and RV mentors, the Hanson's. They were headed to Happy Trails in Surprise, AZ and we were headed to Mesa, AZ. We really enjoyed their company and had a fantastic time getting to know each other. We will really miss them in our travels, but are looking forward again sometime soon to travel with them across the country. Our plans are to stay at the Mesa Spirit RV Park in Mesa, AZ. We will be going by the service department at Holiday Motorhomes in Mesa to talk with them about a couple of things with Trek. Trek has performed great and has not caused us any problems. We just need to talk with the service people about somethings so will do so on Monday (November 3rd). We will be heading to Tucson, AZ after we meet with the service people.

Prescott, AZ

2008-11-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

We left Cottonwood, AZ the morning of October 29th and went to Prescott, AZ. This is a very beautiful area and very popular with retirees. The elevation is much higher that either Phoenix or Tucson and can get very cold in the wintertime. We stayed at the Prescott Valley Elks Club for three days. This is where we spent Halloween, but we got no Trick or Treaters that night. CLICK HERE to learn more about the Prescott, AZ area.

Oak Creek Canyon (Sedona)

2008-11-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

Our hike up the west fork of Oak Creek was spectacular. The oak and vine maples were very brillant and colorful. The creek was full of water and it was so very peaceful. Considering that just a couple of years ago there was a huge flood in the Oak Creek basin the vegetation has really flourished. The weather was beautiful and the temperature was perfect. We had to forge the creek on several occasions, but it was well worth the effort.

CLICK HERE to view our Oak Creek Canyon slideshow! When you have finished watching the slideshow, click your BACK ARROW and it will take you back to our blog page.

Dead Horse Ranch State Park

2008-11-20T14:08:00.000-08:00

We left Kanab, UT on October 27th and were headed to Cottonwood, AZ. Our plans were to stay at Dead Horse Ranch State Park and go up to Sedona, AZ and hike the West Fork of Oak Creek on Tuesday (October 28th). The RV facilities at Dead Horse were great and we enjoy our stay. There were several fishing ponds and they were getting ready to stalk the ponds with fish. The weather was fantastic and we were looking forward to our trip to Sendona, AZ in the morning.

CLICK HERE to see our "Dead Horse Ranch State Park" slideshow. There were many great fishing holes and only one fisherman. When you have finished viewing the slideshow click your BACK ARROW icon and it will take you back to our blog page.

Emerald Pools Trail (Zion)

2008-11-20T13:55:00.001-08:00

Our second hike was to Emerald Pools. There are actually three separate pools that you can hike too. We hiked into the 1st and 2nd pools. It was a 2.5 mile hike round-trip and the fall colors on the vine maple were spectacular as you will see. We really enjoyed this hike as you could not only see the beautiful fall colors in the trees, but smell it as well.

CLICK HERE to view our "Emerald Pools Hiking Trail" slideshow. When you are finished viewing the slideshow, click on the BACK ARROW icon and it will take you back to our blog page.

Virgin Riverside Trail (Zion)

2008-11-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

When you get to Zion you must park your car in the huge parking lot. You then get on a shuttle which takes you up the canyon for about 7 miles. There are several spots along the way that you can get out and get back on again. At most of the stops there are several trails that you can take that are either loop trails or come out at another pick-up spot. We selected two trails to hike which were both very beautiful. The Riverside Trail goes up the Virgin River and is 5.6 miles round-trip. It is a more popular trail as it as been paved for most of the way. Where the trail ends you can continue up the river, but you will be hiking in the river itself and must be very careful for flash floods. The canyon walls get steeper the further up the river you go.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see the rest of our river walk pictures.

From Riverside Trail

Zion National Park

2008-11-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

We got up early in the morning and had a lite breakfast. We headed west from Kanab to Zion National Park to spend the day. When we arrived the air was smokey from a controlled burn in the area, but the air soon cleared itself. We were anxious to do some hiking as the fall colors were magnificant. At Zion National Park you are already in the canyons looking up at the sheer walls, compared to Bryce National Park, where you are on the rim of the canyons looking down.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see all of our pictures.

From Zion Canyon

Kanab, UT

2008-11-20T11:31:00.001-08:00

After a short drive, we arrived at the Kanab RV Corral Park. We got settled into our spots and Dick and I went to play some golf. We had a great time playing the 9-hole course and decided to treat ourselves to a Mexican dinner afterwards. We went to bed early because we were excited about spending the next day at Zion National Park.

Heading to Kanab, UT

2008-11-20T10:59:00.000-08:00

We left Bryce National Park the morning of October 25th and headed to Kanab, UT. The evening before we left Bryce, we met a very interesting couple from Belgium. They are Vincent and Ellen. We watch them as they walked a "tight line". This is a 40' line that is suspended between two trees. Inorder to walk the line, they must be perfectly balanced at all times. Both of them are very skilled at performing this task and it was amazing to watch them. They are both teachers, Vincent is a sport's teacher and works with special needs students while Ellen is a college professor who teaches her students to become school teachers. They both are on sabbaticals and love the outdoors, especially climbing. Both have a great foundness for each other and love Corona beer. We loved talking with them and would like to share their blog page with you as well. Beware, it is in their native language, but great pictures. To view their blog page CLICK HERE.

Queen's Garden Trail (Bryce)

2008-11-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

What goes down, must come up! We took the Queen's Garden trail out of the canyon and it was spectacular. We hope that you enjoy our pictures climbing out of the canyon.

Click on the picture below and then on slideshow to see all of our picture as we climb back out of the canyon.

From Queen's Garden Trail

The Navajo Loop Trail (Bryce)

2008-11-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

We awoke early in the morning of October 24th and had breakfast. We had located a great camping spot the night before at the North Camping Ground in Bryce. We moved our rigs to the park and then headed out for a day of hiking. We decided to hike the Navajo Loop Trail down into the canyon which is about 1.75 miles and then take the Queen's Garden Trail out of the canyon which is another 1.75 miles. There is about an 800' elevation fall to the floor of the canyon and then you climb back out of the canyon. It was a beautiful day and the temperature were expected to be close to 70 degrees. We packed our snacks and water, then headed out on the trail.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see the rest of our Navajo Trail pictures.

From Navajo Loop Trail

Bryce At Sunset

2008-11-19T16:07:00.000-08:00

As soon as we got ourselves settled in our camping spots, we took Dick and Alice's car to get some pictures before the sun went down. As you can see in our pictures, Bryce National Park is a very special place. At Bryce, you are looking down into the canyons from the rim. It takes on an entirely different view at sunset and sunrise periods of the day. At any time, it is just awesome.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see the rest of our pictures.

From Zion At Sunset

Arriving At Bryce National Park

2008-11-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful trip across some spectacular country. We crossed the Colorado River at the Navajo Bridge and headed south through Utah towards Bryce National Park. We traveled through some very prosperous Mormon farming communities with the hub of their towns the Mormon church. It was truely a pleasure to see these clean and productive communities. We arrived at Bryce National Park and stayed the first night at Ruby's Campground and RV Park. We picked out a great spot in the RV park that was private and quiet. We went the the Cowboy's Buffet after a hot shower. We had a great nights sleep and were looking forward to waking up and hiking the canyon. The National Park ranges in elevation along the rim from approximately 8,000 feet to over 9,000 feet at the northern end of the park.

Click the picture below and then slideshow to see all of our pictures.

From Arriving Bryce

Ely, NV

2008-11-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

We headed out the morning of October 22nd towards Ely, NV. We knew that it was going to be another long and lonely drive on HWY 50. The elevation of Ely, NV is 6,260' and is at the head of the Great Basin National Park. We arrived safely in Ely and the temperature was 66 degrees. There were only two RV parks in Ely so we decided to stay in the most appealing. When we awoke in the morning, it was 19 degrees out and our city water hose was froze up. Thanks to Nancy's hair dryer, we got ourselves thawed out and headed to Utah on HWY 50. There did not seem to be any plumbing problems and we were excited to move on to Bryce Canyon National Park. To learn more about the historic Ely, NV area, CLICK HERE.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow is view our pictures of the Great Basin National Park. They are beautiful!

From Great Basin

The Loneliest Road In America - HWY 50

2008-10-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Fernley on Oct. 21st and stayed at the Desert Rose RV Park. It was a great place and when we woke up in the morning, we showered and did our laundry. We needed to be on the road by 9:30 AM as we are headed to Ely, NV which is about 275 miles away. Once you leave Fernley, NV you are on what they call "The Loneliest Road in America". It is Highway 50. We fueled up and headed east on a journey across the high plains and mountain passes. We will cross over several passes that are in excess of 7,200 feet.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see more pictures!

From Lonely Highway

Redding, CA

2008-10-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

When we arrived in Redding, CA the weather was beautiful and the temperature was 78 degrees. We stayed at the Redding Elks Club which is right next door to the Turtle Bay Exploration Park. We woke up to a clear and brisk morning and went for a 3 miles walk through the park. The park is located along the Sacramento River and is just beautiful. We crossed over the river on the Sun Dial Bridge. We passed many walkers, runners, bikers, and baby carriages. It was a great walk among the beautiful oak trees. Fall is definately on the way! After our walk we did some grocery shopping and we purchased a trailer tongue jack with wheel and a spare time for TowMe2 and headed east for Fernley, NV.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see more pictures!

From Redding

Headed To Redding, CA

2008-10-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

We pulled out of camp (Beachside) on Monday (Oct. 20th) and are headed to Redding, CA with our friends Dick and Alice Hanson. This is their rig in front of us. We left just in time as the heavy rains are falling on the Oregon coast. Our plans are to go to Utah and visit Bryce National Park and then head south to Arizona. We will be traveling with Dick and Alice for this part of our trip. They spend a couple of months a year in the Phoenix area. We may spend a week with them at "Happy Trails RV Park", which is around Surprise, AZ and was built by Dale Evans & Roy Rogers. Do you remember them?

Our First Wild Mushroom Hunt

2008-10-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

The 9th annual Yachats mushroom festival was great fun. We went to the mushroom dinner on Friday (Oct. 17th) and attended several classes on the importance of mushroom ecosystems, mushroom identification, mushroom exploring, and recipe cooking. We ate mushroom burgers, soups, and enjoyed our first wild chanterelle pasta dinner with chicken. We had a great time collecting our first wild mushrooms and will continue to hunt for them over time. We started our hike into the forest on Sunday morning. It was clear and cold. We hiked to about 400 feet where the fog had settled in and there was moisture. It was here that we picked our chanterelle mushrooms and there were many to be found. It was a fantastic and educational experience for us.

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see more pictures!

From Mushrooms

Cape Perpetua

2008-10-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great day of hiking and exploring the Yachats area. We hiked up to the top of Cape Perpetua where you could see for miles. It was approximately 2.5 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 800 feet. After we hiked down, we explored the coastline and all of the tidepools. It was another spectacular day at the ocean!

Click on the picture below and then on slideshow to see our other pictures!

From Perpetua

The Perfect Campsite!

2008-10-15T19:53:00.001-07:00

We arrived at Beach Side State Park and picked this beautiful campsite. It would be my first attempt at backing up the trailer. Yes, I needed help! We had power, water, fire pit, clean restrooms, hot showers, and the beautiful Pacific Ocean in our front yard. Can you imagine all of this for just $17 a night? Upon our arrival, we bonded quickly with the Verhaag brothers (twins) and their wives from WA and the Kositsin's from British Columbia, Canada. We will be staying here for 6 nights. We are hoping that the weather will hold for us. The mushroom festival starts on Friday (Oct. 17th).

Click on the picture below and then slideshow to see our pictures!

Perfect Site

Heceta Beach Light House

2008-10-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

This is the lighthouse at the northern end of Heceta Beach. To learn more about the history of the Heceta Beach Lighthouse CLICK HERE.