May 5 (1 night, Anaheim, California USA)
Alright, the car is done. Well almost done. One trim part did not come in so we took the car without and the body shop will ship the part to us when it arrives. We are headed back to Texas to pick up the coach and continue the “Big Adventure”. Tonight we will stay at Brother Bill's and in the morning head out for Apple Valley to see my son and granddaughter once more. We went out to have dinner with my sister Judy and her husband Tag. Bill couldn't join us since he had another commitment.
May 6 (1 night, Apple Valley, California USA)
One night in Apple Valley. Angelina is laughing and smiling a lot now. She is so cute. Golden, my daughter in law, introduced spicy sweet potato fries to us when having dinner. It was not bad at all, and I kind of like it. While adults were having dinner, baby Angelina was also given a baby cookie to keep her occupied. Five minutes later she fell asleep with one hand holding cookie into her mouth. Kodak moment! both Joel and I grabbed our cameras and took quite a few pictures of her.
May 7 (1 night, Litchfield Park, Arizona USA)
Phoenix is a good days drive from Apple Valley so we stopped to see Mike and Sylvia. The temperature was 60 degrees when we left Apple Valley and was 92 degrees when we arrived in Litchfield. Mike also volunteered to sketch up some house plan ideas for the house we are going to build in Thailand. We spent several hours putting some ideas down on velum. In the evening we all went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and met some friends of Mike and Sylvia.
We decided to leave Litchfield early in the morning as we didn't want to start our trip with the heat. It was supposed to hit 100 degree on that day. We said good bye and thanks for their warm hospitality to Mike, as Sylvia was still in bed. We stopped at Mimis restaurant for our breakfast. We highly recommend this restaurant. We were very satisfied with its ambiance, food, and service. Great breakfast, and three days later Sim still talked about it.
May 8 (1 night, El Paso, Texas USA)
It was warm when we left Litchfield, but the temperature dropped down pretty quick when we hit the border of Texas. Big dark clouds all over sky and it looked like we headed directly into the rain storm ahead of us. Rain poured down for about two hours and did a good job of washing all the bugs and dirt off of the car. Lightning strikes were common all along the road to El Paso. Another good whole days drive and we stopped in El Paso. Not much going on here. We went to bed early and got up early. After all we had to drive across the state of Texas today.
May 9 (1 night, Flatonia, Texas USA)
Flatonia is a little town out in the middle of nowhere. We stayed in an OK motel and had dinner in the local Bar-b-que place. Food and service were pretty good. We will be in Nacogdoches tomorrow. Yeah!
May 10 – 13 (3 nights, Nacogdoches, Texas USA)
We are back in Nacogdoches. The coach is ready and looks great. We picked it up and moved over to the Foretravel Factory Campground. There is a Buddy Rally mid month and Xtreme wants us to stay to show off the coach but we are late getting on the road so I don't think we will stay. Besides, we heard they were turning people away due to a lack of available space.
May 13 – 14 (2 nights, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma USA)
We drove towards Oklahoma today. It came to our surprise that there were frequent Oklahoma toll fees along the way. Did not know Oklahoma had toll roads. We are parked in the driveway of my friend and former co-worker Steve. Steve and I worked together in So. California and No. California. We have known each other for 30 years. We have not seen Steve and his wife Penny since their wedding and reception in Sunnyvale. We hung out for the day and got caught up on all the news since we last met. The next morning we went for a bike ride down to the Arkansas River.
It is about a 5 mile ride, and when we got there I got dizzy again, just like I did in Mexico. Sitting down and drinking lots of water, and I was good to go for the ride back to Steve's house. I felt a bit bad because during the entire ride up and back Steve was waiting for me. Some of the hills I could not ride up and had to get off the bike and walk. Sim lost her six year old Oakley sunglasses while riding somewhere along the trail.
May 15 (1 night, Dodge City, Kansas)
There was a tornado that stuck one town in Kansas two weeks before we visited Dodge City. When we passed the town called Pratt, we saw the evidence of the tornado destruction: piles and piles of trash along the side of the road. They had us bypass that town in Kansas that was completely wiped out by the tornado. Our detour was at least 50 miles. Dodge City is a cow town as told by the large number of feed yards with thousands of cattle roaming around and eating. We stayed one night at the Gunsmoke RV park.
There were gusty winds with big ugly dark clouds that evening. The roar of the wind woke Sim up in the middle of the night. Next moring, she told me the wind shook our big rig. She thought about what she should do in order to survive if a tornado comes this way.
Then she realized that there was nothing she could do, so she went back to sleep.
She said it was better to die while sleeping.
In the morning we headed straight to the Boot Hill museum and visitor center. We were a bit early for the museum but the Visitor Center was open so we hung out there until the museum opened. Inside the museum we had access to the original Boot Hill. The grave markers have some pretty funny sayings. They have a street of period stores including the Long Branch Saloon, a General Store, a Newspaper office, and even a period school house. They are restoring an old Church too. They have a living room set up with a couch and chair and an old B&W TV with Gunsmoke running continuously. Memorabilia of Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty is everywhere.
Kansas people whom we met were nice and friendly. While I filled up the propane tank, Sim was waiting for me in the office because it was cold and windy outside. It took about ten minutes to finish the tank. Here is the information Sim knew about store Manager in that ten minutes. The store Manager married two times. His first wife died a few years ago. He is a native Kansas, but moved to Oklahoma city with his first wife, and loved that town more than his birth place, Dodge city. He planned to retire in two years and would move to Oklahoma city. His second wife loved traveling, so they went to Colorado Springs almost every weekend. He had two girls and his second wife had two boys. They all together had nine grandchildren. And the gentleman who helped me was his son in law, and he didn't have front teeth.
May 16 – 18 (3 nights, Durango, Colorado USA)
We arrived at the Alpen Rose RV park late in the evening. Had a bit of trouble finding this place. Sim plugged the address into the GPS and when the nice lady said “Arriving at destination on right” we saw an empty field. A couple of phone calls to the park and we had good directions and found it with no more problems.
The next morning we headed off for Mesa Verde National Park. We spent the entire day at the park looking at the ruins of the Ancestral Puebloans. Originally the Indians lived on top of the mesa, farming, growing corn and wheat.
At some point they moved down into the canyon and under the large ledges.
They built adobe homes with steep walls right into the cave openings.
Their ceremonial rooms were called Kivas. Each Kiva was built the same. A round room dug into the earth, with a wood beam roof covered with thatch. Each kiva had a fire pit, ventilation shaft, air deflector stone, small pits for ceremonial stuff, some rock benches for sitting and a sipapu. A sipapu is a small round hole dug into the earth that represents a gateway to the underworld. This gateway is where all people came from when the entered this world. Later the Indians, called Anasazi abandon these dwellings and moved back on the mesa and lived in pit houses and still later started building rock homes above ground.
May 18
We debated whether we should ride the train or drive the Jeep.
We decided to drive the jeep because we could do the whole San Juan Skyway and Million Dollar highway loop. The train just goes to the town of Silverton, which was just one fourth of the loop. The San Juan Skyway is one of Americas most “Scenic Byways”. The colors of the rock formations and the numerous scenic overlooks remind you of the John Denver song “Country Road.”
The colors of the white snow covered mountain tops, light and dark green of grasses, purple, yellow, pink flowers, and a clear deep blue sky. It was a peaceful and serene feeling just to be there.
Some towns we stopped at, like Silverton, brought us back to an old era; there were small streets and some unpaved; there were no fences in between each house; and most houses were built in Victorian style. They were painted neatly, and in all the colors you can name from purple, pink, green, yellow, etc. We didn't see any duplicate colors. My favorite little town was Telluride. Tucked in a valley at the base of a mountain, it had a very small town feel. Spectacular views is an understatement here.
May 19
Hello everyone, it is me, Sim. May 19 was my birthday, and Jim didn't forget.
He had better not because I reminded him the day before. Jim got up before me which was unusual. He said “Happy Birthday to me and asked what would I like to have for breakfast. Oh! Looked like he was thinking of making breakfast for me, and forgot about what I told him for my B-day breakfast.
So, I reminded him that I would like to have my breakfast served at Jean Pierre Restaurant and not atThe Scudder Coach. He said just testing to see my reaction. Quick thought, Jim, but I knew that he, indeed, forgot about it.
He took me to Jean Pierre Restaurant for breakfast. See! if you plan what you want to do on your special day and tell your loved one, then you will never be disappointed. Well, some of you may prefer to have a surprise birthday, which more romantic.
Well, Jim misplaced his romantic somewhere long ago and has never found it.
So, my solution is “Tell him straight, and nevermind the romantic part”
When we walked into the restaurant, a gentleman wearing shorts and plaid shirt who sat alone at a table with his morning newspaper, looked at us and said we could sit anywhere. I wondered why this customer was so friendly.
While we were deciding what table we wanted to sit, he said to make yourself at home. I realized that he was Mr. Jean Pierre. Man! he made me like his restaurant already. I like people who are down to earth. I had a crab and asparagus crepe with fresh orange juice, and Jim had baked French toast with coffee. Great food.
I liked the ambiance that made me feel like I sat in my own kitchen. After breakfast, I reminded Jim I wanted to see and get pictures of the stream train, that is staged at downtown Durango. It was perfect timing because the train departed 10 minutes after we arrived at the train station. So, we got a good picture of the departing train. It was a delicious and fun birthday so far. We were heading off to Moab at 9 am on the 19th of May.
May 19 – 20 (2 nights, Moab, Utah USA)
We had picked an RV park out of the Passport America book as the place we were going to stay while in Moab, but when we arrived, they were full. This was the first time this has happened to us. I guess because it was the weekend and more people are out on vacation now. Can't imagine what it is going to be like in June when the kids are out of school. We ended up in an RV park north of town which turned out to be a better location anyway. The rate was $30 a night but the space was huge and we had 50 amps.
If you have the opportunity to go to Arches National Park, don't miss this park. The views are spectacular, and the park is easy to drive. There are many pull outs and points of interest.
Hi there, I am back to continue my Birthday story. We arrived Moab after 1 pm. We had leftovers for lunch on my birthday. Who cares! As long as it is a delicious leftover, don't you agree! By noon, Jim forgot it was my birthday already, it seemed. He let the B-day girl wash the dishes. I wanted to remind him, but it was not fun that way. I think by writing this to tell the audience is better way to get back to him.
The park provided cable T.V. with 72 channels. Wow! we have never had this many channels before, I checked every channel and found out only 10 channels I liked. I ended up watching the movie Shawshank Redemption on the afternoon of my B-day.
It was the third time I watched this movie. Instead of going out for dinner, I decided to treat myself by cooking my own dinner.
I think everyone would agree with me that no one else knows best what we like than ourselves.
So I cooked according to my taste. I told Jim about dining in and later we would go out to downtown for ice cream. We walked around town to find the store that I had seen earlier that had Ice Cream and Smoothies, but were surprised to find it closed when we arrived. Great! We found another store with Ice Cream and I ordered a single scoop Rocky Road in a waffle cone. Well, their idea of a single scoop is actually 3 huge scoops. The young man kept scooping ice cream onto the waffle cone, and I had to tell him to stop. He looked at me liked he could not believe what I said. So, I told him I was serious and I meant it. He smiled and stopped scooping immediately. Whoa! it was too much, and I knew I would not be able to finish it. We strolled down in downtown for a while. Oh! I also bought my new sunglasses to replace the Oakleys I lost in Oklahoma. Jim picked the pair for me a brown color frame, and they cost $4.00. Folks! How do you like to have breakfast in Colorado and dinner in Utah on your birthday? I loved it. It was,indeed, a happy birthday celebration.
May 20
We headed off for Arches National Park. First site we stopped was Park Avenue. It was unbelievably amazing. The rock formations are something that you think are just impossible to have happened just from the erosion of the mountains.
They look like works of art. The Balance Rock was neat too, but eventually it will fall because of rain and erosion. I don't want to be around when it falls because that is one big rock. We decided to hike out to the Delicate Arch. It is only about 3 miles out, but it was a tough climb for me. I had to stop and rest quite a few times. There is very little shade in the park from trees as it is mostly high desert. Take plenty of water, it was HOT when we were there. The rangers recommend taking a quart of water per person. For the more adventours hikers and those in better shape than me, we recommend Devils Garden hike. It is 4.2 miles and we were told it is one of the best hikes in the park.
May 21 – 23 (3 nights, Zion National Park USA)
We arrived at Zion park about 2 pm. After watching a television program at the Zion Visitors Center about all the trails and attractions at Zion, Sim liked the Emerald Pool, so we took the shuttle to the Zion Lodge stop. The shuttle runs every 6 minutes, therefore there was no need to get out of breath to catch any of the shuttles. Sim suggested we hike on a less strenuous trail today because I had been driving all day. We agreed to hike to the lower Emerald pool, but, by mistake, went on the middle Emerald Pool trail. We were done for today, and my energy level was down to zero. Sim had prepared food at Salt Lake City for the three days we were going to be at Zion National Park because we were dry camped. The first night we had baked squash soup with stuffed pork. Yummy!
Zion is a spectacular park with many many shady hiking trails. From easy flat 1 milers to strenuous steep 8 milers. We did all the easy ones and a couple of the moderate ones. On the second day, we planned to start at the furthest trail and work our way down to the closest trail to our campsite. We hiked four moderate-two-mile trails, including
River Walk trail, Weeping Rock trail, Grotto trail, and Lower & Upper Emerald Pool trails.
River Walk trail was paved and shady, but a long trail. We saw a number of people walk into the river to go to the Narrows trail, which famous for its beauty. We didn't go because we don't do well in cold water and didn't like the idea of wearing damp shoes all day. Weeping Rock trail was an easy and short trail. Every visitor got wet involuntarily when they arrived at the point where the rock was weeping.
Before continuing our hike to the Emerald Pools, we stopped at the Zion Lodge to have lunch. We climbed the Emerald Pools trails, including the Lower, Middle, and Upper. The Upper trail was a little bit of a challenge due to its distance and elevation, plus the heat. At the Upper trail, there were a couple of hikers who had repelled down the face of the mountain from several hundred feet up. There rope however was hung up about 2/3 of the way up, and they spent an hour trying to get it down. We joked with them about leaving it, and the Rangers citing them for littering. Eventually they were able to get it loose and down came 300 feet of rope along with the offending rocks with a resounding crash into the Emerald Pool. On the hike down Sim mentioned that her pants were a bit loose, and she should have an ice-cream to maintain her weight. Yep! we had ice-cream when we got down to the bottom of the hill.
Riding the shuttle at Zion National Park was fun and enjoyable. Each shuttle driver had his or her own style of cracking up passengers. Our favorite shuttle driver was Dan Dan the driver man, that was how he introduced himself. He was very informative and made us laugh with his jokes. We got on his shuttle on the way up. And at one spot on the way down, we again happened to use Dan's service. We greeted him by his name. So he knew that we rode with him in the morning. Then he said he would not bore us by telling the same story. I think he had a hundred stories to spare.
May 23
Today we drove from Zion over to Bryce Canyon for a day trip. We left around 8:00am and it was about 60 degrees. When we got to Bryce the temperature was 32 degrees, and it was snowing. We stopped at the Visitors Center for our maps and to visit the Museum.
From there we headed to the end of the road intending to work our way back to the park entrance after stopping at all of the points of interests and pull out overlooks. We did not hike or climb today because the temperature was way less than my age, and it is against my principles to be anyplace where the temperature is less than my age. Sim teased me that I really dressed according to the weather; wearing shorts at 32 degrees. However, I felt much better when I saw two other tourists wearing shorts and flip flops. For sure, my feet were warmer than them because I wore socks and tennis shoes. All in all, the Hoodoos (pillars of rocks), and unusually shaped rock formations provided a beautiful and mysterious landscape.
May 24 – 25 (2 nights, Salt Lake City, Utah USA)
We are staying at the KOA in SLC. It is a nice park, with full hookups and happens to be close to downtown. We arrived late in the afternoon. On the way here from Zion we stopped in Provo and had six new tires put on the coach. The tires were almost 6 years old and starting to crack on the sidewalls. The one right rear tire had a big piece of rubber missing from a huge pothole we hit in Mexico, and I have been driving with my fingers crossed ever since.
In the morning we headed out for Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. We went into to Visitor Center and found out that we could get a tour of some of the sites to see. Well the tour was less a tour and more about what the LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is all about. Our tour guides were Sister Moses, from the U.S and Sister Kawai, from Japan. That was OK. It was very informative, and Sim got a good understanding of the Mormon philosophy.
Admittance to The temple is exclusively for members of the church so, we were not allowed to tour inside. The 32 acres of Temple Square all owned by the Mormons has lots to see even though you cannot go inside the Temple.
After lunch, we went visit Brigham Young's house, called the Beehive House. There, we were given a tour by Sister Chelsie, from the U.S and Sister Jenny, from Canada. Brigham was the second Prophet of the LDS, and the one who led his people to Utah. It was said that he was as busy as a bee. That was the reason his house is called “Beehive.” We were informed that Brigham Young attended school only 9 days, but he was excellent in reading and writing. He valued education so much that all his kids were sent to school including his daughters, which was rare in those times.
We noticed that the LDS always put two sisters to work together. And those two who worked as a pair are from different countries.
After the Beehive House, we went to see the LDS convention center. What I could say was “humongous” The size of this conference center is 1.4 million square feet and its can hold up to 21,000 people. It was built for the bi-annual conventions for the LDS congregations. The space, however, is rented out to only cultural events, and nothing else. We were informed that all the LDS buildings are paid off, and the organization is debt free. Quite impressive.
May 26 – May 29, 2007 (4 nights, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA)
We came in the West Entrance to Yellowstone and are parked at Fishing Bridge RV Park. Well it is not much of a park, but more like a parking lot. It is a good thing we don't spend a lot of time in the campground because it is less than spectacular. You would think they would put the campground near the lake, but instead it is tucked into the pine forest. There are no hiking trails at all.
May 27
The first day here we headed over to the Old Faithful area of the park.
On the way, we stopped to take pictures of bear, bison, moose, and mule deer that came to the road side to have their lunches. It was our lucky day. We got to the Old Faithful area about 20 minutes before Old Faithful Geyser was scheduled to go off so we found a good spot to watch and wait. The geyser went off 10 minutes before schedule, and it was quite a sight to see. We oooohed and ahhhhhed along with about 300 hundred other tourists.
After the eruption we took the trail up and around geyser hill and up another couple of miles to the various other geysers and beautiful hot pools in the valley. We saw several other geysers go off. We wished we could have witnessed the Giant Geyser, the tallest geyser in this area. Its spectacular eruptions last an hour and can reach 250 feet. Unfortunately, unlike old Faithful, it is unpredictable. Last year it erupted only 27 times. We learned that some dormant geysers can slowly become active again. Like the Giant Geyser, it was dormant for many years after an energy shift in 1955. The unique and magnificent looks of each geyser and hot springs pool kept raising our curiosity, and we kept walking from one geyser to the other, until my back could not take any more, then we realized that we walked very long way. We looked at the trails map and tried to find the shortest route to back to our car.
May 28
Today we went to the Canyon area of the park. This area is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The main feature is a multicolored canyon carved by uplifts and glacier melt down some 14,000 years ago. The canyon is 1200 feet deep and 4000 feet at its widest point.
Two wonderful waterfalls highlight a visit to this area. The Upper Falls drop 109 feet and the beautiful Lower Falls drop 308 feet. Trails along the North and South Rim of the canyon provide excellent vantage points for both falls and there are trails that lead to the brinks of both falls as well.
May 29
We got up before the sun, I mean 4 am, and drove down to Grand Tetons National Park. Temperature that morning was about 27 degrees, and it took me 10 minutes to de-ice my car's front windshield. Why did we put ourselves in that situation, well, we wanted to get pictures of the Tetons as the sun was coming up. We guessed it would take one to one and a half hours to get there, but it took longer than what we thought. We had no information about the attractions at the Grand Tetons. We did not make it before the sun came up, but we,
got some nice pictures. The mountains are particularly dramatic as they rise up out of the valley without any foothills leading up to them.
We saw Elk out early for some breakfast. On the way back to Yellowstone, there was a coyote strolling along the side of the road. We slowed down to match his pace and drove along side of him for 50 yards. He finally tired of our presence and crossed the road behind us. By 9 am we were done at Grand Tetons and were ready for an early nap.
May 30
As I mentioned before we were not impressed with the Fishing Bridge RV Park location where we were parked, we decided to move to Mammoth Hot Springs today. We took a chance to go there without any space reservation because its policy is first come first served.
Mammoth Hot Springs is located close to North entrance. There was plenty of space, and we drove around and picked a nice spot half way up the hill.
There was still plenty of time left in the day so we headed up to the Lower Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. We parked and set out on the wooden boardwalks they have erected to keep people off the delicate landscape and thin crust earth that these geo-thermal features are based. There are signs everywhere telling you to stay on the trails and paths, but footprints abound where ignorant people have left the trails and or stepped off the boardwalks. There is a lot to look at here if you like hot springs, venting steam and smelly pools of hot water. By late afternoon, I had had my fill of Hydrogen Sulfide and was ready to call it a day.
May 31
Time flies, it is the end of May already.
At 6 am Sim saw Coyote meander by where we were parked. After breakfast, we went to the Upper Terrace Drive . In this area, there are about six hot springs; Prospect Spring, New Highland Terrace, Orange Spring Mound, Bath Lake, White Elephant Back Terrace, Angle Terrace and Canary Spring.
Don't miss Canary as it is the best of them all, assuming it is still going when you get there. Apparently these springs start and stop randomly and without notice. Five of them, however, are presently dormant. Only Orange Spring Mound is currently active.
From the evidence, Bath Lake must be a really good size hot spring lake. This is where people used to bathe in the waters until that was stopped.
Now it is dry. So, we saw all attractions at Mammoth, and it was 9 am, what's next! We picked Norris Geyser Basin as it was not far from us, about 25 miles.
Most of the geysers and hot springs at Norris are blue in color.
We didn't witness any geysers erupting even though we wished Steamboat Geyser would. It is the world's tallest active geyser. It throws water more than 300 feet high, and lasts for four hours. It erupts every 4 to 50 years and the last eruption was May 2005. So, in fifty years when it is erupting I will enjoy it from up there. We saw a lot of mule deer between Mammoth and Norris. Bison are everywhere. There are about 3,000 of them in all of Yellowstone Nat'l Park.
One night in Apple Valley. Angelina is laughing and smiling a lot now. She is so cute. Golden, my daughter in law, introduced spicy sweet potato fries to us when having dinner. It was not bad at all, and I kind of like it. While adults were having dinner, baby Angelina was also given a baby cookie to keep her occupied. Five minutes later she fell asleep with one hand holding cookie into her mouth. Kodak moment! both Joel and I grabbed our cameras and took quite a few pictures of her.
We drove towards Oklahoma today. It came to our surprise that there were frequent Oklahoma toll fees along the way. Did not know Oklahoma had toll roads. We are parked in the driveway of my friend and former co-worker Steve. Steve and I worked together in So. California and No. California. We have known each other for 30 years. We have not seen Steve and his wife Penny since their wedding and reception in Sunnyvale. We hung out for the day and got caught up on all the news since we last met. The next morning we went for a bike ride down to the Arkansas River.
It is about a 5 mile ride, and when we got there I got dizzy again, just like I did in Mexico. Sitting down and drinking lots of water, and I was good to go for the ride back to Steve's house. I felt a bit bad because during the entire ride up and back Steve was waiting for me. Some of the hills I could not ride up and had to get off the bike and walk. Sim lost her six year old Oakley sunglasses while riding somewhere along the trail.
There was a tornado that stuck one town in Kansas two weeks before we visited Dodge City. When we passed the town called Pratt, we saw the evidence of the tornado destruction: piles and piles of trash along the side of the road. They had us bypass that town in Kansas that was completely wiped out by the tornado. Our detour was at least 50 miles. Dodge City is a cow town as told by the large number of feed yards with thousands of cattle roaming around and eating. We stayed one night at the Gunsmoke RV park.
There were gusty winds with big ugly dark clouds that evening. The roar of the wind woke Sim up in the middle of the night. Next moring, she told me the wind shook our big rig. She thought about what she should do in order to survive if a tornado comes this way.
Then she realized that there was nothing she could do, so she went back to sleep.
She said it was better to die while sleeping.
In the morning we headed straight to the Boot Hill museum and visitor center. We were a bit early for the museum but the Visitor Center was open so we hung out there until the museum opened. Inside the museum we had access to the original Boot Hill. The grave markers have some pretty funny sayings. They have a street of period stores including the Long Branch Saloon, a General Store, a Newspaper office, and even a period school house. They are restoring an old Church too. They have a living room set up with a couch and chair and an old B&W TV with Gunsmoke running continuously. Memorabilia of Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty is everywhere.
We arrived at the Alpen Rose RV park late in the evening. Had a bit of trouble finding this place. Sim plugged the address into the GPS and when the nice lady said “Arriving at destination on right” we saw an empty field. A couple of phone calls to the park and we had good directions and found it with no more problems.
They built adobe homes with steep walls right into the cave openings.
Their ceremonial rooms were called Kivas. Each Kiva was built the same. A round room dug into the earth, with a wood beam roof covered with thatch. Each kiva had a fire pit, ventilation shaft, air deflector stone, small pits for ceremonial stuff, some rock benches for sitting and a sipapu. A sipapu is a small round hole dug into the earth that represents a gateway to the underworld. This gateway is where all people came from when the entered this world. Later the Indians, called Anasazi abandon these dwellings and moved back on the mesa and lived in pit houses and still later started building rock homes above ground.
We decided to drive the jeep because we could do the whole San Juan Skyway and Million Dollar highway loop. The train just goes to the town of Silverton, which was just one fourth of the loop. The San Juan Skyway is one of Americas most “Scenic Byways”. The colors of the rock formations and the numerous scenic overlooks remind you of the John Denver song “Country Road.”
The colors of the white snow covered mountain tops, light and dark green of grasses, purple, yellow, pink flowers, and a clear deep blue sky. It was a peaceful and serene feeling just to be there.
Some towns we stopped at, like Silverton, brought us back to an old era; there were small streets and some unpaved; there were no fences in between each house; and most houses were built in Victorian style. They were painted neatly, and in all the colors you can name from purple, pink, green, yellow, etc. We didn't see any duplicate colors. My favorite little town was Telluride. Tucked in a valley at the base of a mountain, it had a very small town feel. Spectacular views is an understatement here.
So, I reminded him that I would like to have my breakfast served at Jean Pierre Restaurant and not atThe Scudder Coach. He said just testing to see my reaction. Quick thought, Jim, but I knew that he, indeed, forgot about it.
He took me to Jean Pierre Restaurant for breakfast. See! if you plan what you want to do on your special day and tell your loved one, then you will never be disappointed. Well, some of you may prefer to have a surprise birthday, which more romantic.
Well, Jim misplaced his romantic somewhere long ago and has never found it.
So, my solution is “Tell him straight, and nevermind the romantic part”
When we walked into the restaurant, a gentleman wearing shorts and plaid shirt who sat alone at a table with his morning newspaper, looked at us and said we could sit anywhere. I wondered why this customer was so friendly.
While we were deciding what table we wanted to sit, he said to make yourself at home. I realized that he was Mr. Jean Pierre. Man! he made me like his restaurant already. I like people who are down to earth. I had a crab and asparagus crepe with fresh orange juice, and Jim had baked French toast with coffee. Great food.
I liked the ambiance that made me feel like I sat in my own kitchen. After breakfast, I reminded Jim I wanted to see and get pictures of the stream train, that is staged at downtown Durango. It was perfect timing because the train departed 10 minutes after we arrived at the train station. So, we got a good picture of the departing train. It was a delicious and fun birthday so far. We were heading off to Moab at 9 am on the 19th of May.
Hi there, I am back to continue my Birthday story. We arrived Moab after 1 pm. We had leftovers for lunch on my birthday. Who cares! As long as it is a delicious leftover, don't you agree! By noon, Jim forgot it was my birthday already, it seemed. He let the B-day girl wash the dishes. I wanted to remind him, but it was not fun that way. I think by writing this to tell the audience is better way to get back to him.
The park provided cable T.V. with 72 channels. Wow! we have never had this many channels before, I checked every channel and found out only 10 channels I liked. I ended up watching the movie Shawshank Redemption on the afternoon of my B-day.
It was the third time I watched this movie. Instead of going out for dinner, I decided to treat myself by cooking my own dinner.
I think everyone would agree with me that no one else knows best what we like than ourselves.
So I cooked according to my taste. I told Jim about dining in and later we would go out to downtown for ice cream. We walked around town to find the store that I had seen earlier that had Ice Cream and Smoothies, but were surprised to find it closed when we arrived. Great! We found another store with Ice Cream and I ordered a single scoop Rocky Road in a waffle cone. Well, their idea of a single scoop is actually 3 huge scoops. The young man kept scooping ice cream onto the waffle cone, and I had to tell him to stop. He looked at me liked he could not believe what I said. So, I told him I was serious and I meant it. He smiled and stopped scooping immediately. Whoa! it was too much, and I knew I would not be able to finish it. We strolled down in downtown for a while. Oh! I also bought my new sunglasses to replace the Oakleys I lost in Oklahoma. Jim picked the pair for me a brown color frame, and they cost $4.00. Folks! How do you like to have breakfast in Colorado and dinner in Utah on your birthday? I loved it. It was,indeed, a happy birthday celebration.
We headed off for Arches National Park. First site we stopped was Park Avenue. It was unbelievably amazing. The rock formations are something that you think are just impossible to have happened just from the erosion of the mountains.
They look like works of art. The Balance Rock was neat too, but eventually it will fall because of rain and erosion. I don't want to be around when it falls because that is one big rock. We decided to hike out to the Delicate Arch. It is only about 3 miles out, but it was a tough climb for me. I had to stop and rest quite a few times. There is very little shade in the park from trees as it is mostly high desert. Take plenty of water, it was HOT when we were there. The rangers recommend taking a quart of water per person. For the more adventours hikers and those in better shape than me, we recommend Devils Garden hike. It is 4.2 miles and we were told it is one of the best hikes in the park.
Zion is a spectacular park with many many shady hiking trails. From easy flat 1 milers to strenuous steep 8 milers. We did all the easy ones and a couple of the moderate ones. On the second day, we planned to start at the furthest trail and work our way down to the closest trail to our campsite. We hiked four moderate-two-mile trails, including
River Walk trail, Weeping Rock trail, Grotto trail, and Lower & Upper Emerald Pool trails.
River Walk trail was paved and shady, but a long trail. We saw a number of people walk into the river to go to the Narrows trail, which famous for its beauty. We didn't go because we don't do well in cold water and didn't like the idea of wearing damp shoes all day. Weeping Rock trail was an easy and short trail. Every visitor got wet involuntarily when they arrived at the point where the rock was weeping.
Riding the shuttle at Zion National Park was fun and enjoyable. Each shuttle driver had his or her own style of cracking up passengers. Our favorite shuttle driver was Dan Dan the driver man, that was how he introduced himself. He was very informative and made us laugh with his jokes. We got on his shuttle on the way up. And at one spot on the way down, we again happened to use Dan's service. We greeted him by his name. So he knew that we rode with him in the morning. Then he said he would not bore us by telling the same story. I think he had a hundred stories to spare.
From there we headed to the end of the road intending to work our way back to the park entrance after stopping at all of the points of interests and pull out overlooks. We did not hike or climb today because the temperature was way less than my age, and it is against my principles to be anyplace where the temperature is less than my age. Sim teased me that I really dressed according to the weather; wearing shorts at 32 degrees. However, I felt much better when I saw two other tourists wearing shorts and flip flops. For sure, my feet were warmer than them because I wore socks and tennis shoes. All in all, the Hoodoos (pillars of rocks), and unusually shaped rock formations provided a beautiful and mysterious landscape.
In the morning we headed out for Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. We went into to Visitor Center and found out that we could get a tour of some of the sites to see. Well the tour was less a tour and more about what the LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is all about. Our tour guides were Sister Moses, from the U.S and Sister Kawai, from Japan. That was OK. It was very informative, and Sim got a good understanding of the Mormon philosophy.
Admittance to The temple is exclusively for members of the church so, we were not allowed to tour inside. The 32 acres of Temple Square all owned by the Mormons has lots to see even though you cannot go inside the Temple.
We noticed that the LDS always put two sisters to work together. And those two who worked as a pair are from different countries.
On the way, we stopped to take pictures of bear, bison, moose, and mule deer that came to the road side to have their lunches. It was our lucky day. We got to the Old Faithful area about 20 minutes before Old Faithful Geyser was scheduled to go off so we found a good spot to watch and wait. The geyser went off 10 minutes before schedule, and it was quite a sight to see. We oooohed and ahhhhhed along with about 300 hundred other tourists.
Today we went to the Canyon area of the park. This area is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The main feature is a multicolored canyon carved by uplifts and glacier melt down some 14,000 years ago. The canyon is 1200 feet deep and 4000 feet at its widest point.
Two wonderful waterfalls highlight a visit to this area. The Upper Falls drop 109 feet and the beautiful Lower Falls drop 308 feet. Trails along the North and South Rim of the canyon provide excellent vantage points for both falls and there are trails that lead to the brinks of both falls as well.
We got up before the sun, I mean 4 am, and drove down to Grand Tetons National Park. Temperature that morning was about 27 degrees, and it took me 10 minutes to de-ice my car's front windshield. Why did we put ourselves in that situation, well, we wanted to get pictures of the Tetons as the sun was coming up. We guessed it would take one to one and a half hours to get there, but it took longer than what we thought. We had no information about the attractions at the Grand Tetons. We did not make it before the sun came up, but we,
got some nice pictures. The mountains are particularly dramatic as they rise up out of the valley without any foothills leading up to them.
We saw Elk out early for some breakfast. On the way back to Yellowstone, there was a coyote strolling along the side of the road. We slowed down to match his pace and drove along side of him for 50 yards. He finally tired of our presence and crossed the road behind us. By 9 am we were done at Grand Tetons and were ready for an early nap.
Mammoth Hot Springs is located close to North entrance. There was plenty of space, and we drove around and picked a nice spot half way up the hill.
There was still plenty of time left in the day so we headed up to the Lower Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. We parked and set out on the wooden boardwalks they have erected to keep people off the delicate landscape and thin crust earth that these geo-thermal features are based. There are signs everywhere telling you to stay on the trails and paths, but footprints abound where ignorant people have left the trails and or stepped off the boardwalks. There is a lot to look at here if you like hot springs, venting steam and smelly pools of hot water. By late afternoon, I had had my fill of Hydrogen Sulfide and was ready to call it a day.
At 6 am Sim saw Coyote meander by where we were parked. After breakfast, we went to the Upper Terrace Drive . In this area, there are about six hot springs; Prospect Spring, New Highland Terrace, Orange Spring Mound, Bath Lake, White Elephant Back Terrace, Angle Terrace and Canary Spring.
Don't miss Canary as it is the best of them all, assuming it is still going when you get there. Apparently these springs start and stop randomly and without notice. Five of them, however, are presently dormant. Only Orange Spring Mound is currently active.
From the evidence, Bath Lake must be a really good size hot spring lake. This is where people used to bathe in the waters until that was stopped.
Now it is dry. So, we saw all attractions at Mammoth, and it was 9 am, what's next! We picked Norris Geyser Basin as it was not far from us, about 25 miles.
Most of the geysers and hot springs at Norris are blue in color.
We didn't witness any geysers erupting even though we wished Steamboat Geyser would. It is the world's tallest active geyser. It throws water more than 300 feet high, and lasts for four hours. It erupts every 4 to 50 years and the last eruption was May 2005. So, in fifty years when it is erupting I will enjoy it from up there. We saw a lot of mule deer between Mammoth and Norris. Bison are everywhere. There are about 3,000 of them in all of Yellowstone Nat'l Park.