22 miles from Yosemite

      We looked at the map and decided that we would take the safer route to Yosemite via the freeways rather than the back roads. Luckily it was Sunday so our trip through Sacremento and three other smaller California towns wasn't really too bad except for going from about 7000' of elevation down to 191' and then back to 3000'. It was a tiring day for Rick and hard on the gears and brakes.
     We are staying in a KOA about 22 miles from the Yosemite Park entrance. When we arrived the KOA staff told us that we had really made the right decision in avoiding the back roads. They talked about 9% down grades, narrow roads with no guard rails, and sharp curves. I am SO glad we decided to be cautious.
     Our new campsite has huge oaks and pines everywhere, a pool, and rec room. It will be a great place to stay for four days. (There are also about 2 dozen kitties running around everywhere). It will be really nice to slow down a little and sleep in. We saw lots of almond orchards and vineyards around Merced, CA. So we celebrated our arrival to Yosemite with some Merced California wine. It was pretty good - or maybe we were just so happy to be here.

Too Much Nevada

     I am not eager to return to Nevada. What a boring, dusty, smoky state. Everywhere we stop there are slot machines and smokers - in the gas station, the RV campground office, and the grocery store. Blinking lights with obsessed gamblers smoking madly away.

    So what do we do on these long boring portions of the ride? We ask questions about all sorts of weird things - what is potash? where is route 66? what is in those dozens of double tank trucks drving into Salina, Nevada? Some things we eventually get answers to later on the Internet. I now know what sorghum looks like and it IS what was growing outside Fort Kearny.

     Since we were driving the California trail for many miles we talked a lot about being in a wagon train and driving ever so slowly across such barren, waterless land. This led to talking about Rick's mom driving to California with another army wife to meet up with Henry. We saw a bunch of old cars driving through Canyonlands - 1929-1938 and it brought home what a challenge she took on in driving a little car with another woman all the way across the country to San Louis Obispo, California.

     Tonight we have stopped at a campground in Truckee, California. It has beautiful, big trees. Actually just after leaving Nevada we got to the Lake Tahoe area which is high, full of lakes and streams and trees. I feel like I can breathe again. Tomorrow - Yosemite!

Into Nevada

     Today we saw a lot of salt. Our drive started around the outside of Salk Lake City. It was really interesting to notice that each new housing area has a white steeple on a building within the 8-10 block square. I am assuming that these are the meeting houses for the Mormons. I was pretty interesting to see how much faith is part of the community here.
     After making it out of town we drove around the lower part of the Great Salt Lake which is really low so a lot of what we saw was Great Salt Lake bottom. A short way out of Salt Lake City we came to the Great Salt Lake flats for about 100 miles. Once again – No Services! It was very flat and really pretty boring after the first bit of interest in the idea of that much salt. At the far end we saw the Bonneville Speedway.
    We are now on Pacific time and closer than ever to California. But this time change has us going to bed earlier and earlier and getting up earlier – not a bad thing when we are trying to get on the road.
     Our stop tonight was in Elko, Nevada. Mostly it seems to be a town of casinos. Our niece Shelley lived here when first married. I would have cried every night. There is really nothing here to recommend it. Our RV “park” has mostly gravel everywhere with about 20 trees planted in the gravel to provide “shade.” Sometimes we are “camping” and some nights we are just “traveling in our RV and pretending that we are staying in a motel.” Actually I have stayed in lots of motels with nicer grounds. Ah well, we have cable TV and we are both tired.

Utah Desert high country

     First - I put some pictures into the previous posts now that I have better Internet access. And thanks for the comments - I miss everyone so much it seems like you are with us on the trip.

     We thought we had a shortcut today but saw a sign which warned to "expect road construction delays" so we went the longer route - I70 - which went through some really odd country. After seeing signs that said "No services for 100 miles" we headed into a high desert with huge walls of rock called "reefs" on the edges. There were only low desert bushes and a few short trees for miles and miles. The junk on the ground was light crumbly stuff that looked like ash. The road went up and up and then down and down. Too much to relax while driving, but too boring to be really interesting.
    Then the road went up through a high pass and there were trees, water and signs of fall everywhere. The bushes on the hills are now red and the Aspens are yellow. Really beautiful! We drove as far as Provo, UT - Isn't that where Donny and Marie Osmond are from? I am now humming songs from their greatest hits. Our campground tonight is why we are on the road - lovely grassy site with nice trees and a good view of the mountains. AND TV and Internet. We have not had TV or newpaper all week and missed the anxiety about the stock market completely. Sometimes ignorance IS bliss.

Some big canyons - not Grand

     Canyonlands was quite different than Arches even though they are only 30 miles apart. The views were mostly of some amazing canyons of the Colorado and the Green Rivers. The air was cooler in Canyonlands and there were even a few drops of rain.
     Moab is a good place to stay to see both of these parks. In addition, there are literally dozens of areas to do off-road biking and dune buggy riding. The town seems to be full of folks with Jeeps and souped up little 4-wheel drive vehicles. You can take a 100 mile road through the park and camp along the way - really into the wild. None of the campgrounds have water, however, so you need carry water and gas as well as all of your camping supplies and food. I could really see Kim having fun here.
     There were a few short hikes that we took to get closer to some of the views, but the alititude is still over 5000' and we both get winded pretty quickly. We had a nice picnic at Canyonlands for lunch and then headed back to look at more of the "Arches." On our drive we came across an old ranch that was there in the 1800's. Wow, it certainly would have been a hard place to live - hot, then cold, high and mostly dry. The ranch was next to the only stream we saw in the park aside from the major rivers. I am not up for moving to this sort of wilderness.
     Tomorrow we head back to the freeway system and go north. Hopefully to cooler weather.

National Park #3 - Arches

     It was only a short (150 mile) jaunt to Arches National Park today. Weather is much hotter - 92 this afternoon. We are staying in the town of Moab right outside Arches. It is really a tourist destination and full of campgrounds and motels. Lots of "No vacancy" signs and RVs everywhere. We found a campground with SHADE which is nice although the sites are pretty small and the ground is all dust. But it is home for two nights.
     Since we got in early we headed up the road two miles to Arches. What a fabulous park! The rock formations can't really be seen fully in pictures - they are too vast and amazing. We drove around a bit and got out and then hiked, but the heat and the dry air really take a toll on us quickly. Since it was late afternoon when we were there the shadows were long and really made the pictures show the dramatic difference between sunlight and shadow.
     We went grocery shopping after a dinner out and found dozens of French, German and Dutch tourists all buying water and snacks. We have run into a older couple from Wales a couple times now - very nice and so interested in the Western US.
     Off to fold my laundry now - everything on the road is harder - so I will shut down my laptop after sitting in the laundry room to make use of the very limited wireless in this campground. Tomorrow National Park #4.

Mesa Verde Challenge

     I have often looked at the pictures of the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde Park and wanted to see them. A book by Nevada Barr about a National Park Ranger working in the park also made me really interested in seeing the ancient sites. I guess I never put the “Mesa” part into my understanding of where these villages really are. We drove up and up more until we were on top of the mountain on a large flat plateau – a mesa. The cliff houses are built under ledges which are sometimes hundreds of feet below the lip of the top of the mesa.
     We started by driving around and looking out across canyons to see some of the cliff dwellings. Then went to the Visitor Center to learn that to tour most of them we needed to get tickets for a guided tour. We were warned that the tours were “strenuous” and “challenging.” Remember – we are at 8100’ and just climbing into the RV is “strenuous” and “challenging,” However, this visit has been on my Life List of things I really want to do so we signed up for the tour which included a 100’ descent, a ½ mile walk over uneven path, and then an ascent up 5 ladders. (The other tour included a crawl through a 18” hole for 12’. I don’t think my body fits in an 18” hole).
     After a “last lunch” we headed off for our tour. We were somewhat reassured since there were plenty of other senior citizens on the tour. We started down some steps which quickly turned into stone steps about 5” wide and uneven depth. Sometimes we had to squeeze ourselves between two rock walls to get down, down, down into the area under the lip of the cliff. All of us were panting by the time we got to the bottom and the afternoon sun was quite hot so we stopped for a chat with the guide in the shade. Soon we moved into the large area which at one time had 100 people living there. It was truly amazing. I had a few minutes of absolute awe and then began to worry about the ascent of 100’ back up some very authentic wooden ladders made of tree branches stripped of bark. We were told not to look out over the canyon on part of the trip up.
     So we both made it and have pictures to prove it. One more life challenge checked off.
After two bottles of water and a quart of juice I am re-hydrated and ready for our drive to Moab tomorrow. National Park #2.

More Colorado High Passes

     We are definitely in "Rocky Mountain High" country. Rick does not want to hear me sing any more John Denver. Today we headed off to Mesa Verde on a route which promised roads that were manageable by our RV and truck. The drive began fairly flat and then the road became narrow, windy and steep. We climbed to the summit of Wolf Creek Pass at 10,800’ and drove into an area of big rocks, pine trees and running streams that looked like the Black Hills. The drive down from the pass was actually harder as it was much steeper going down than up.
     Our drive was fairly short today – under 200 miles – so we arrived at Mesa Verde National Park in early afternoon. The mesa is huge and high. We could see it from miles away. Sort of mystical and haunting.
     We checked into the park at the entrance and were told that the campground was four miles into the park. Four steep and steeper miles. Rick is a wonderful, calm driver and manages the brakes and transmission perfectly so we don’t overheat. I KNOW that he can manage it all well, but still I am just worn out from holding on to the seat and clamping my jaw shut.
     The campground is pretty empty except for the few sites that have water and electric. The hills rise up all around us even higher than our current 8100’. I am just beat both from the drive and the altitude. We relaxed all afternoon and then took a walk around the campground. Just a ½ mile which was partly uphill has worn me out.
     Once again the minute the sun drops behind the hills it is really chilly. Good sleeping weather.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

     National park number one on our grand tour of the West. We are at San Luis Lakes State Park, Colorado, in a little campground that closes tomorrow. There are only a dozen or so campers here. Our campsite is at 7500’ – high desert country. The sun is setting and reflecting off the 14,000’ Colorado peaks all around us. Across seven miles of desert we can see the Great Sand Dunes National Park. An almost full moon has risen over the mountains in the other direction. It was a sunny day at about 70. Now that the sun is setting there is a very cool breeze. It’s supposed to get down into the 30s tonight. Everywhere there is sagebrush, cactus and a bush with little yellow flowers. It smells dusty and herbal, and a little smoky from a nearby campfire. I can hear a flock of geese flying down to the reservoir. It definitely feels like fall. Are you here with me?
     It was a good day - sunny when we got up and clear. We drove to Walsenburg, CO and headed west into the mountains. (After waiting for a parade to go by – Yes, the small town parade went down the highway for about 30 minutes).  Our first challenge was to be a 9500’ pass – It was a piece of cake. We were on the way down before we realized that we had made it to the top.

The Great Sand Dunes are pretty awesome. However, since the park is at 8100’ we did NOT do a long hike into them, but managed to climb one and sit down. The sand is deep and fine which makes it hard to walk in, but feels good on the feet. In the summer they say it can get to 114 out on the sand so it was great that it was much cooler.

I am happy that I can curl up in a nice warm be tonight – it is very chilly. Tomorrow we have another pass to tackle – 1000’ higher than the last one.

Rain rain go away - 4th Day

     It rained all night and drizzled all day and was only about 57. We started the day with a list of tasks as well. Since we are going to be camping high elevations - over 7500' - it seemed best to call in a prescription for Rick's high altitude sickness prevention. That meant we had to be sure to stop at a drug store when we hit Pueblo.
     Then, as we were putting in the big slide, we noticed that some of the rubber gasket had come off and was drooping into the living room. Not a good thing when it is raining. When we closed up it seemed like the outside facing pretty much would keep the rain out, but it was a problem to be solved. I found a Camping World in Colorado Springs, but they could not work on the rig until Tuesday. They referred us to someone in Pueblo. By lunch time the rubber gasket had slid out about 2 feet. YIKES! We drove endlessly through rain and boring 2 lane highway to Pueblo and YES they were able to jam it back into the slip. They told us it could come out again, though, so we will have to keep an eye on it. Then we beat it over to the pharmacy and were able to fill the prescription.
     The campground tonight is right on the freeway and noisy, but we gave ourselves a night out at a Mexican restaurant and a little grocery shopping. Now it is raining again. Tomorrow we tackle our first mountain pass and then get to the Grand Sand Dunes National monument. I am hoping for some sun but may not see it as I squeeze my eyes shut when we climb over the pass.
     We are both beat! Traveling is hard work.

Third Day Sightseeing in Nebraska

     Well it DID rain and I did not get all the windows closed in time so I have a wet book.  It was chilly and rainy as we started out across the rest of Nebraska. Our first goal is to get to North Platte to stop at the Golden Spike Tower which is a huge Union Pacific Rail yard. It handles 15,000 railway cars every 24 hours. This was a big deal for Rick to see and I enjoyed it too. We went up in a tower and looked out over nearly 3000 acres of rails and cars getting repaired, moved around and readied for going east or west.
     After leaving North Platte we headed further west on I80 along the Pony Express Route. Much of this follows along the river valley which was fairly pretty. It is clear that fall is coming and things are dry but the hills are covered with yellow and purple flowers along with the gray green sage and gold grasses so it is really beautiful.
     I managed a couple of phone calls with my consulting job today and got some work done this afternoon so things are still moving along ok with the job while I am on the road. We will have internet access for a couple more days and then go into the dark while we are in state and national parks over the weekend.
     We stopped today in Sterling, Colorado at a dusty, deserted little campground which has some decent shade trees and is far enough away from the Interstate that we will once again have a peaceful night. Still very cool - we had to close up all windows when the sun went down.
     Life on the road is good.

Day 2 - Into Nebraska

     The KOA in Des Moines was really quiet and pretty so we both had a great night's sleep. It was windy and cool this morning as we drove through some lovely hilly areas and then into the Nebraska flats. We traveled off and on along the Platte River and saw lots of historic sites related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as the beginning of the Oregon Trail. There are Black-Eyed Susan Daisies blooming everywhere - This must be the season for them.
     We have seen lots of fields of crops that I can't identify - I need the city girls guide to farm crops so that I can figure out what some of them are. Rick spent summers on his uncle's farm and said that one of the mystery ones is "sorghum." Can't prove it by me.
     There was a lot of truck traffic today and with the wind the driving was harder and longer. We stopped for the day at Fort Kearny State Park. The Fort was set up to protect settlers on the wagon trains and folks going to the California gold fields. Some of it has been restored. We stayed in the State Park campgrounds which were nearly empty and really pretty. Things are going well. Looks like rain tonight.

Off to California - First day

     We left Apple Valley by 10 am. Sunny and 60. Very little traffic on the road so it was an easy start to our long trip. Gas is under $4 so life is good. We saw lots of wind farms on the way to Des Moines as well as many pieces of them on trucks. They look much smaller standing in a field than the parts do sitting on a truck. They are HUGE.

     No problems with the trailer - we just needed to get everything re-situated after a lot of informal use over the summer. I am frustrated that I only seem to get my personal email and not my business email like I do at home.

     Our neighbor ran out to take our picture as we left so we have an official Day 1 photo. It is good to be back on the road.