April 27th Made it as far as Calgary

On our way home and made it to Calgary, Alberta to visit family.

April 24, 25, 26 Trip home to Canada

We are on our way home. Some photos of the road trip through the windshield of the Kountry Star.

April 23rd, 2009 Arches National Park near Moab, Ut.

Today we drove to Moab and found a wonderful campsite by the Colorado River near Moab. We could only get the site for 1 night as there was a huge show and shine starting the next day. ( the next day we saw hundreds of cars coming into the Moab area as we headed north). We only had the afternoon so we entered Arches National Park at 3:48 PM and toured until the daylight ended. We have to come back it is spectacular.

April 22nd, 2009 Four Corners and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

Four Corners.

Today we went on a very long trip from Farmington to Four corners to Mesa Verde then back to Farmington.

Four corners is the only place in the USA that 4 states meet at a corner, the states are Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.

From 20090422 Four Corners and Mesa Verde National Park Colorado

From 20090422 Four Corners and Mesa Verde National Park Colorado

Mesa Verde, Colorado

We arrived at Mesa Verde early on the afternoon and were able to take a guided tour of the ‘Cliff Palace’ then we took a driving tour of ‘Far View Sites Complex’.

Mesa Verde is the only national park set aside “to preserve the works of man.” The park is 53,073 acres, 8,100 of which is designated wilderness. The Ancestral Puebloans moved into the Mesa Verde area by AD 550, occupying the Colorado Plateau region until AD 1300.

Then guided tour was wonderful. The ranger made an excellent presentation of the ‘Cliff Palace’. Teri even managed the ladders to get done and get up back on the Mesa without too much trouble. :)

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff swelling. The tour is one hour in length with a walking distance of 1/4 mile. It involves climbing five, 8 to 10 foot ladders for a 100 foot overall vertical ascent.

The Mesa is high high above the valley and is flat on top. Mesa Verde ranges from 7,000 feet elevation to 8,572 feet at Park Point. For more information check out www.nps.gov/meve .

April 21, 2009 off to Farmington New Mexico

Today we went to Farmington, New Mexico. We stayed at a very interesting little campground that specialized in model trains as well as a campground. The model trains are outside and is an impressive display but I especially liked the exit sign with the following checklist:

From 20090421 Mom and Pops in Farmington New Mexico

From 20090421 Mom and Pops in Farmington New Mexico

Aztec Ruins

Later on this same day we went to the Aztec National Monument near Farmington, NM.

“Over two centuries ancestral Pueblo people at Aztec carefully planned and built a settlement that included an array of large public architecture and smaller structures, earthworks, and ceremonial buildings. Aztec’s extended community rivaled Chaco Canyon, 55 miles south, where a network of structures took shape and flourished between 850 and 1130. Aztec’s first inhabitants were strongly influenced by Chaco in architecture, Ceramics and ceremonial life. At first Aztec may have been an outlier of Chaco, an ancillary place that supported Chaco activities. Or it may have been a center in its own right as Chaco’s regional influence waned after 1100. The population at Aztec ebbed at times but persisted through cycles of drought and cultural changes. Even after several generations, the final layout of the community adhered to a master plan set out by the initial builders in the late 1000’s. The people left during the late 1200’s leaving behind well preserved structures and artifacts that tell of their lives in this region, Today many indigenous peoples of the Southwest are their descendants, maintaining strong cultural and spiritual ties to this site.”

For more information go to: www.nps.gov/azru

Off to ‘The Rally’ at Albuquerque

We are off to the Affinity Group rally called ‘The Rally’ for Thursday the 16th to Monday the 20th. We find out that we are one of 2,600 rigs with 8,000 people in attendance. There are venders of all descriptions, RV manufacturers with all their new products and Lot and Lots of seminars on any subject you could imagine. ( Example: the health benefits of chocolate to Fire and Life Safety, Training for RVers) I went to as many seminars as I could and Teri went shopping. She liked the new Mountain Air.(about a half million).

In the evening they had entertainment in a 5,000 set tent.

• Thursday was LaLa and the Hubcaps. They put on a good 50’s-60’s show but were just OK.
• Friday was Neil Sedaka. This was by far the best show of the weekend. Sedaka was very professional with a wonderful band. Great mix of audio-visual with life performance.
• Saturday was Rita Coolidge. Teri did not like this performance as Rita has changed her stile to a slow blues. She does NOT sound like her original early recordings
• Sunday was The Osmonds. Three of the older Osmonds preformed an excellent show.
• Monday was Papa Doo Run Run. This group recorded with the Beach Boys and on there own in the late 50’s early 60’s. This show was also excellent.

Teri enjoyed the rally but had 3 complains:

1. The rally was at ‘Expo New Mexico’ but the evening entertainment and the camping was at the ‘Balloon Fiesta Park’.
2. The bus service between the two places was poor. Teri spent 2 hours of Friday waiting to get back to Fiesta Park. I left 1 1/2 hours later and waited 3 hours.
3. There was not enough food service at the fair grounds  and none at the Balloon Park.

Balloon Ride at Albuquerque

At 5 AM the alarm rings, off to the balloon ride. At 5:45 I am in line to sign the waivers. There will be 14 balloons in the air this morning. The balloon I am in holds 14 customers and 1 pilot.

The procedure is to lay out the balloon on the ground. Then attach it to the basket on its side. Attach the basket to the chase van. Fill the balloon with air with 3 gas powered fans, then add HEAT. All of a sudden the balloon is up and we have to hurry up and get in.

Very gently the balloon rises and off we go for about an hour in the air.

We landed about an hour later in an empty field. We bounced 3 times before the pilot had enough air out of the balloon to stop.

Back to the balloon fiesta grounds for a glass of Champagne and a snack.

We had to say the following Irish Balloonists’ Prayer:

“The winds have welcomed you with Softness.

The sun has blessed you with his warm hands.

You have flown so high and so well that

God has joined us together in laughter and set us gently back into the loving arms of Mother Earth.”

The Photos:

That evening after Rita concert a few of the balloons set up for a NIGHT GLOW concert.

Petroglyph National Monument Albuquerque, New Mexico

Today we stayed in Albuquerque and visited the Petroglyph National Monument.

Some Photos:

Road Trip to Los Alamos, New Mexico

Today we went on a day long road trip to see the birthplace of the atomic age at Los Alamos.

We took the long way around to Los Alamos via hwy 4. This was a very slow highway up the mountain range and over to Los Alamos. On the way we stopped at the Pueblo of Jemez Visitor Center.

The actual Jemez State Monument is closed on Tuesdays.

We went up and up the mountain range until we came to the Valles Caldera National Preserve. We went over 9,000 feet above sea level crossing over this caldera, then went down hill to Los Alamos via 15mph switchbacks. Wonderful views but very slow highway.

We arrived at Los Alamos and had to go through a security gate to enter the city.

We went to the Bradbury Science Museum. This museum is devoted to the atomic age, from the creation of the atomic bomb to the present both non-military use and military use. The displays are first class with both pros and negatives on the dropping of nuclear bombs on Japan.

They had both casings for ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man’ used on Japan to end WWII.

Then we took the short route home via Santa Fe New Mexico

More Photos:

Trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico

We left Holbrook, Arizona to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the way in Holbrook Teri had to take the picture of a house being constructed in Holbrook.

We entered New Mexico

Here is Albuquerque

On the 13 of April we did to grocery shopping, oil change on the Honda, etc..

Petrified Forest National Park and Route 66 in Holbrook, Az

Today we got up early, packed a lunch and off to the Petrified Forest National Park.

We started at the south gate and toured the Rainbow Forest Museum.

Then off to the Giant Logs trail:

We then drove up the 28 mile road with many stops on the way.

Near the end of our trip we stopped at the Painted Desert.

Route 66 at Petrified Forest and Holbrook, Az

The rest of the photos for the day:

Meteor Crater in Arizona and Holbrook

This morning we left Lyman Lake State Park for a short drive to Holbrook, Arizona. We pulled into the KOA at Holbrook and went downtown. We toured to ‘Historic Navajo County Courthouse’, which now is the tourist booth, museum and family courthouse. The place was full of history from the old jail to the law books on the courthouse floor. No pictures because I left my camera in the motorhome but this photo is off the web www.legendsofamerica.com/AZ-NavajoCourthouse.html .

Meteor Crater

In the afternoon we went 60 miles west and arrived at Meteor Crater. This photo was from the Honda CR-V.

We first set out to see the crater.

The crater is 1.2km across, about 0.2km deep and the circumference is about 3.8km. The theory today is that about 50,000 years ago a huge iron-nickel meteorite or a dense cluster of meteorites, estimated to have been about 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons, traveling at 40,000 kilometers per hour, struck the rocky plain with an explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT.

Teri is again attempting to take home the largest fragment of this meteor.

In the 1920’s Daniel Barringer started drilling in the crater in hopes of finding the meteor. In 1929 the funds were exhausted, the drill bit permanently stuck and the drill cable broke. Here is all that is left from the drilling on the crater floor.

We then toured the museum and watched a short movie.  The crater and surrounding land is privately owned and the admission price reflected that. This was a $15.00 per adult tour. Glad I saw it once, but I think once is enough.

Wildlife on the trip:

Lyman Lake State Park.

Today we took the trail from City of the Rocks near Silver City, New Mexico to Lyman Lake State Park near St.Johns, Arizona. The route was slow as we went up and down mountain passes. We started at 5,000 feet above sea level the to over 7,000 feet the down to 4,400 feet then up again to over 8,400 feet then finally going down.

Lyman Lake State Park:

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico

Today, we went by Honda to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. A very slow drive on switch back roads.

We had lunch at the trail head then went off to the cliff dwellings.

The Mogollon

The people who built the cliff dwellings were part of the Mogollon culture. They combined hunting and gathering with faming and traditionally built pit houses or surface pueblos in the mountainous areas of Arizona and New Mexico. The Mogollon found abundant game and fertile soil in the Gila River Valley for both native vegetation and their crops of corn, beans and squash. Breaking with tradition, the Tularosa Mogollon built inside the caves of Cliff Dweller Canyon with rock, mortar and timbers from trees cut between 1276 and 1287. But by 1300 the Gila Cliff Dwellers had moved on.

Approximately 40 rooms were built inside several natural caves in Cliff Dweller Canyon. Artifacts and architectural elements show that these ancient cultures traded not only materials but ideas. The Gila Cliff Dwellers left behind macaw feathers from Central America, and the built T-shaped doorways also used by other cultures.

We did see some small wildlife:

And some large trees on the trail

More Photos: