I'm a little late with our last post. We were up with the sun and headed toward Ft. Stockton. Had a wonderful stop for coffee and breakfast at IHOP. And then, you guessed it, we kept getting pictures of Aiden on the cell phone and before we knew it, we were home.
We drove 7,302 miles across our great United States of America. May God continue his blessings upon us all.
Jeep
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Day 26 - How close to home will we get?
Trying to find the quickest route back to Boling. MapQuest says one way, the "lady in the box" says to go to Albuquerque to El Paso and take I-10. We opted for the MapQuest route - Albuquerque, Cline's Corner, Carlsbad, then to I-10. And what can I say......there's not much excitement on this route! Have traveled it many times in the past.
We decided to stop for the night at Brantley Lake State Park outside of Carlsbad. It was 445 miles from Farmington. We went biking down to the lake and even took a short swim. There was a strong wind from a thunderstorm which made the cool water feel a little colder. Enjoyed an awesome sunset over the mountain and a really good grilled sirloin. This is a nice park for being in the middle of nowhere New Mexico!
We decided to stop for the night at Brantley Lake State Park outside of Carlsbad. It was 445 miles from Farmington. We went biking down to the lake and even took a short swim. There was a strong wind from a thunderstorm which made the cool water feel a little colder. Enjoyed an awesome sunset over the mountain and a really good grilled sirloin. This is a nice park for being in the middle of nowhere New Mexico!
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| Good night! |
Day 25 - Farmington NM Bound
Our route today will take us east out of Zion Park via the Zion-Mt. Carmel highway. There is road construction and the road doesn't open until 8 a.m. Was very pretty to watch the sun rise over the mountains.
It was well worth this drive, even with the construction. Saw deer and mountain goats - so pretty on the sandstone cliffs. Made it through the mile long tunnel A-OK. Stopped at Glen Canyon Dam. The visitor center here is really good. Would like to come back and spend more time in this area.
Our purpose for going through Farmington was to see Zac - our future son-in-law. Met him and his step-father LaRay for dinner. Zac took us up a hill outside of town to see an awesome sunset. It was all good!
It was well worth this drive, even with the construction. Saw deer and mountain goats - so pretty on the sandstone cliffs. Made it through the mile long tunnel A-OK. Stopped at Glen Canyon Dam. The visitor center here is really good. Would like to come back and spend more time in this area.
Our purpose for going through Farmington was to see Zac - our future son-in-law. Met him and his step-father LaRay for dinner. Zac took us up a hill outside of town to see an awesome sunset. It was all good!
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| Sunrise in Zion |
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| Checkerboard Mesa in Zion |
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| View from Glen Canyon Dam in UT |
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| Glen Canyon Bridge - UT |
Monday, September 20, 2010
Day 24 - Zion National Park, Utah
It was 38 degrees this morning! Woke around 3 to see the stars - there were a gazillion of them. We have a window we can open above the bed which makes that real cool to do! The sunrise was beautiful coming up across the basin.
Headed out through eastern Nevada and western Utah on Hwy 21. I think we might have counted 5 cars. Very lonesome but beautiful out here. Arrived in Zion via the South entrance. Found a campground at the South Campground. You have to take the park shuttle now to go on the scenic highway. It's not that bad, a little hot though.
First stop was at the Court of the Patriarchs where you see cliff faces of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Next stop was at the Zion Lodge where we took a hike up to see the Emerald Pools.
After that we stopped at Weeping Rock. Here our hike found us at some dripping springs and hanging gardens. The water percolates through the sandstone until it hits shale and then seeps to the surface 1,000 to 4,000 years after falling as rain on the plateau above. The last stop was at the Temple of Sinawa where we took a river walk where the canyon narrows (and the road ends).
Headed out through eastern Nevada and western Utah on Hwy 21. I think we might have counted 5 cars. Very lonesome but beautiful out here. Arrived in Zion via the South entrance. Found a campground at the South Campground. You have to take the park shuttle now to go on the scenic highway. It's not that bad, a little hot though.
First stop was at the Court of the Patriarchs where you see cliff faces of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Next stop was at the Zion Lodge where we took a hike up to see the Emerald Pools.
After that we stopped at Weeping Rock. Here our hike found us at some dripping springs and hanging gardens. The water percolates through the sandstone until it hits shale and then seeps to the surface 1,000 to 4,000 years after falling as rain on the plateau above. The last stop was at the Temple of Sinawa where we took a river walk where the canyon narrows (and the road ends).
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| Court of the Patriarchs - Abraham and Isaac |
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| Jacob |
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| The Virgin River |
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| Weeping Rock |
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| River walk |
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| Temple of Sinawa where the canyon narrows |
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| Moon rising over the campground |
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Day 23 - Great Basin National Park, Nevada
We haven't seen our National Parks passport since getting it stamped at Mt. Ranier. I sure hope it will show up.
Coming into Great Basin you wonder at the on set - how could this be such a great place? It looks like mountains and desert. We stop at the Visitor Center in Baker. Then I convince Ron that we will drive up the scenic road at least as far as the 2nd campgroud and then we'll see what feels right.
What was right was Camp site #1 at the Upper Lehman Creek Campground. It backs up on the creek. We off loaded the camper to head up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive- 10,000 feet. Where's the air????? Heck, our campsite is at 7,752 feet. Haven't camped this high the entire trip.
We did some easy trails. Heck - can't breathe good enough for anything else! There are aspen trees up here and they are all turning fall colors - gorgeous!!
Came back to the campsite to enjoy this little piece of Heaven on Earth. Put our chairs by the tumbling creek. Brought our books to read. I decided to sit on a rock in the creek and soak my feet - man, was it cold!!! Then Ron gets my attention. There is a whole herd of mule deer walking between us. This young buck, still in velvet, stands 5 feet from me trying to figure out why I'm in his watering hole, I guess. I couldn't decide if he was going to be my friend or not. Awesome! He finally jumps the creek. Such a nice evening.
This park is young, established in 1986. It includes much of the South Snake Range. From sagebrush at it's base to Wheeler's Peak, 13,063 summit, there are lakes, streams, wildlife, varied forests and caves.
And - this is the best place to star gaze! They say they have the least amount of light pollution here in the U.S. Unfortunately, the moon is about 3/4 full. We'll check during the night.
Coming into Great Basin you wonder at the on set - how could this be such a great place? It looks like mountains and desert. We stop at the Visitor Center in Baker. Then I convince Ron that we will drive up the scenic road at least as far as the 2nd campgroud and then we'll see what feels right.
What was right was Camp site #1 at the Upper Lehman Creek Campground. It backs up on the creek. We off loaded the camper to head up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive- 10,000 feet. Where's the air????? Heck, our campsite is at 7,752 feet. Haven't camped this high the entire trip.
We did some easy trails. Heck - can't breathe good enough for anything else! There are aspen trees up here and they are all turning fall colors - gorgeous!!
Came back to the campsite to enjoy this little piece of Heaven on Earth. Put our chairs by the tumbling creek. Brought our books to read. I decided to sit on a rock in the creek and soak my feet - man, was it cold!!! Then Ron gets my attention. There is a whole herd of mule deer walking between us. This young buck, still in velvet, stands 5 feet from me trying to figure out why I'm in his watering hole, I guess. I couldn't decide if he was going to be my friend or not. Awesome! He finally jumps the creek. Such a nice evening.
This park is young, established in 1986. It includes much of the South Snake Range. From sagebrush at it's base to Wheeler's Peak, 13,063 summit, there are lakes, streams, wildlife, varied forests and caves.
And - this is the best place to star gaze! They say they have the least amount of light pollution here in the U.S. Unfortunately, the moon is about 3/4 full. We'll check during the night.
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| Mt. Wheeler - Great Basin NP |
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| Aspen trees showing fall colors |
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| Here's our back porch this evening |
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| Mary's friend from the river |
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| Oops - another toe shot, but man, this water is cold! |
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| Sunset at Great Basin |
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| The moon is rising |
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| Creek behind our campsite at Great Basin |
Friday, September 17, 2010
Day 22 - Trekking across Nevada
Brrrr.....44 degrees when we woke up this morning. We thought we would make Great Basin National Park, but when I turned on the "lady in the box", she politely informed me that our destination was 598 miles away. Ugh.......
If you've never been to Lakeview, OR and you are in the neighborhood, check out the "Tallest Town in Oregon". It has a very cute western facade, and a very nice laundromat.
The scenery in Nevada reminds us a lot of Big Bend country in Texas, except maybe not quite as dramatic. While crossing the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, we did see a nice size herd of wild horses and a few ferral burros. There were quite a few mountain passes - only 6000+ feet, but when they started, they pretty much went straight up.
I guess after 21 wonderful nights of campsites, it was time to finally reach one of "those"......you know, where they charge you an arm and a leg to park on crunchy gravel, 10' from your neighbor. That's what we found at the Double Dice RV Park in Elko, Nevada. Maybe if we were the gambling type of people, we would have found their casino a little interesting. We do have cable TV, so guess we'll close the blinds and stay inside tonight.
If you've never been to Lakeview, OR and you are in the neighborhood, check out the "Tallest Town in Oregon". It has a very cute western facade, and a very nice laundromat.
The scenery in Nevada reminds us a lot of Big Bend country in Texas, except maybe not quite as dramatic. While crossing the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, we did see a nice size herd of wild horses and a few ferral burros. There were quite a few mountain passes - only 6000+ feet, but when they started, they pretty much went straight up.
I guess after 21 wonderful nights of campsites, it was time to finally reach one of "those"......you know, where they charge you an arm and a leg to park on crunchy gravel, 10' from your neighbor. That's what we found at the Double Dice RV Park in Elko, Nevada. Maybe if we were the gambling type of people, we would have found their casino a little interesting. We do have cable TV, so guess we'll close the blinds and stay inside tonight.
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| Sheldon National Wildlife refuge |
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| I think the sage brush is the state flower of Nevada. |
Day 21 - Crater Lake National Park
So nice to wake up in the Oregon high desert! Dry and cool with that fresh, semi-arid smell.
We got into the north entrance of Crater Lake and drove the west rim down. It's really cold and windy up here - the truck says it is 43. Cloudy and a few drizzles, so you can't really see the turquoise color like we did the last time we were here when it was surrounded by snow.
Crater Lake was the 6th national park established. It is 5 miles wide and ringed by cliffs almost 2,000' high. The lake has a depth of 1,943 feet, the deepest in the United States.
We decided to keep driving and landed at Goose Lake State Park, right on the Oregon/California border. (And Ron said he didn't want to go to California but I made him step on the state line!) Lots of quail and deer. The neighbors had some sort of UFO thing they were flying in the dark. Sure glad we knew it really wasn't one because it sure appeared to be one.
We got into the north entrance of Crater Lake and drove the west rim down. It's really cold and windy up here - the truck says it is 43. Cloudy and a few drizzles, so you can't really see the turquoise color like we did the last time we were here when it was surrounded by snow.
Crater Lake was the 6th national park established. It is 5 miles wide and ringed by cliffs almost 2,000' high. The lake has a depth of 1,943 feet, the deepest in the United States.
We decided to keep driving and landed at Goose Lake State Park, right on the Oregon/California border. (And Ron said he didn't want to go to California but I made him step on the state line!) Lots of quail and deer. The neighbors had some sort of UFO thing they were flying in the dark. Sure glad we knew it really wasn't one because it sure appeared to be one.
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| Crater Lake |
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| Crater Lake |
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| CA on the left, OR on the right |
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| And he said no going to CA!! |
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| Crater Lake |
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| Crater Lake |
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| State Line sign from our bike ride |
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| Deer don't know which state they like the best |
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