The Palace and The Pits

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

We really loafed around this morning, having breakfast while still at the Cortez KOA.  We pulled out shortly after 10am and backtracked into Cortez to fuel up.  Then we again headed for Mesa Verde National Park. 

Not fully understanding the markings on the park map, we stopped at one of the first turnoffs.  Fred, Wilma, and Barney all walked up the “short, gentle trail” according to the sign at the beginning of the path, and found that at 8500 ft elevation it was anything but gentle.  We huffed and puffed our way to the top and nearly froze doing it. It was still quite windy, and certainly not warm. Turns out the map markings only meant overlooks, not ruins. 

We continued on to the VC and stamped our Passport books.  We are having a good time with the books. Our next stop was at the museum. Since we already had our stamp for the park, we didn’t take our books in, and there at the stamp station was one we didn’t have. So Barney went back out and got the books.  There were actually two stamps there, but the ranger told us one was the same one we had gotten at the VC.

Behind the museum is the Spruce Tree House, a cliff dwelling. It is visible from the top, so Betty and Wilma found a bench and stayed there while Barney and Fred trekked down the hill to see it. The sign there said it was a strenuous walk and after the “gentle” walk earlier, Wilma wasn’t about to go down. It is a pretty large place with many rooms.  Amazing to think it is probably 800 years old.

Cliff Palace

Spruce Tree House

Barney going down into a Kiva

Barney in the Kiva

We then took the Mesa Top loop, and stopped, and stopped, and stopped!  There are many areas of different types of ruins.  Some on top of the mesa, and some cliff dwellings.  Most are visible from close to the parking areas, and some were just a short distance down a paved path.  One area is overlooking a fairly large canyon, and had a number of visible ruins, including the large Cliff Palace.  The wind had calmed, it was sunny and just warm enough, so we had a great day.

Betty discovered a stamp location in the Cortez area that we had missed.  We stopped at the rest area and called to see where exactly we needed to go to get that stamp.  Turns out it was at the museum in the park!  We did not go back!  Since we had talked to the ranger there about the stamps, seems like he would have told us if he had one for the other location. Oh well.

Grabbed a few snacks to munch on instead of fixing dinner, and headed to Durango.  Can’t park overnight at the Walmart there, so we are again in a KOA.

We will chisel out more on the rock pad later.

Ruins Viewing the Ruins

We spent the night in a nice little RV park in Monticello, Utah.

Betty and I were awakened by what sounded like a trashcan lid being blown around in the wind. The wind had blown all day and during the night we had wind, rain, thunder and some snow for good measure. Fred and Wilma, next door didn’t hear the noise. This morning we found one of our storage access panels was not locked. Once the panel was locked the “trashcan lid” was not heard from again.

Wilma fixed a great breakfast of biscuits, hash browns and sausage. With breakfast taken care of, we're off to explore the Four Corners Area. We took Rt. 191 south through Blanding then turned on Rt. 262 then took another left toward Hovenweep. This road has a few good spots in it but with the exception of a water filled pothole that covered the windshield with muddy water, we made it in good condition.

“Hovenweep" is Ute/Paiute for “deserted valley”. The VC (visitor’s center) is very nice and the staff is pleasant and accommodating. We got our passports stamped (first things first). Then set out to view the “Little Ruin Canyon”. The formerly occupied portion of the canyon is less than a mile long. The loop trail around the site is about one and one half miles long with a couple of fairly difficult spots. There are numerous ruins scattered along the rim of the canyon with more toward the canyon floor. Fred and Barney walked about halfway to the head of the canyon to a spot called Tower Point. The ruins are estimated to have been built in 1230 to 1275. The people who lived there farmed corn, beans, squash and possibly even cotton.

Fred and Barney

Barney, Betty & Wilma

In looking at the construction of these ruins you can’t help but admire the craftsmanship that the builders displayed using very simple tools. Those parts of the structures that are still standing display tight masonry seams; well mortared, smooth joints; smooth curved surfaces; and indications that some walls were plastered. It is apparent that the builders knew a good deal about construction using only available natural materials. I am really impressed! No trips to Home Depot for blocks and mortar mix.

From there we drove to the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado. After getting our passports stamped we toured the museum and headed for Mesa Verde. According to the tour book the in-park campgrounds were supposed to open on May 7, however they won’t open until May 11 this year. We ate a late lunch inside the park and decided to check into an RV park and return to Mesa Verde tomorrow so we will have more time to enjoy it.

Smiting the Moabites

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Let the record books show…our visit to Arches National Park will be logged as a day of heat and gusty winds spent in a sea of humanity seeing the sights there to behold.

We started at the VC, stamped our books with three different stamps, and bought a sticker to go on the page.  Since the theater was not functioning, we did not view the spectacular movie to acquaint us with the park, so we headed out.  We stopped at most of the pull offs, and took several short walks to see the different formations and arches.



Barney, Betty & Wilma at Wolfe Ranch

Balanced Rock











Newspaper Rock

Delicate Arch



Stopped at the picnic area for our breakfast, but ate inside because of the excessive winds.  Then we finished our tour of the park. Wilma liked Canyonlands much better.

We stopped at the VC in Moab, picked up some brochures, and watched a blurry movie about what the whole area offers.  That kind of told us we didn’t really need to stop at the next thing we had planned (the Needles district of Canyonlands) because the sights involved some hiking in and Wilma’s knee isn’t doing much hiking right now.   We also stopped for a few groceries and fueled up in Moab.

Stopped down the road at a rest area for a short break, and Betty fixed our dinner that we ate at a windy picnic shelter.  We went on to see Newspaper Rock, then stopped at a small RV park in Monticello for the night.  After four days off grid, we are more than ready for a shower!  The inverter and mifi are working out pretty good to keep us off grid.  Glad to have them.

Monday am – we are also getting showers from the sky today to go along with extreme winds.  Our MPG will really take a dive.  We are planning on heading over to Hovenweep National Monument and stops in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, then on to Mesa Verde National Park.

We will chisel out more on the rock pad later.

Horse Thieves and Dead Horses

Saturday, May 07, 2011

After staying at a rest stop again, we drove through Horsethief campground for possibilities for tonight.  We really weren’t impressed, so decided to go on to Canyonlands National Park and see the sites.  We stopped at a picnic table at the VC and had our breakfast, then went inside and stamped our books. 

 

Originally had thought we could see most of Canyonlands and maybe some of Arches, but we barely got through the top section (Island In the Sky) of Canyonlands.  It is awesome.  Fred and Barney climbed about a jillion stairs to see Upheaval Dome.

Upheaval Dome

 Wilma’s highlight was seeing a few vehicles on the White Rim Trail, having read a few trip reports on the forum about it.

The White Rim Trail is down there!

  Fred said next time we come we can rent a jeep and do the trail ourselves. (not!) We stopped at numerous overlooks, and even though it isn’t very far to the next one, the view can be entirely different.  By afternoon it was quite windy, and we probably have as much windburn as sunburn.

 

We went into Deadhorse State Park and had dinner at a nicely located picnic table with more than a gentle breeze.  Got to share a little of our supper with a tiny greenish colored chipmunk.

 

Decided to find a camping spot before dark, so came out of town a ways to some BLM land.  Found a good site and are settled in for the night.  Here we are out in the sticks, and had a truck pull up and a couple came over to talk to us.  They also own a Bigfoot camper, and were surprised to find two of us together.  They didn’t have their camper with them and were heading for a motel, but checking out boondocking sites for the future.

Canyonlands Campsight

Twas a very good day, we are all tired, so more tomorrow from the chisel and rock pad of Fred and Wilma, and Barney and Betty.

Missiles and Whistles

May 6, 2011

Missiles and Whistles

We wanted to be at the Golden Spike National Historic Site early enough to see the 10:00 am locomotive moving into position.  We first stopped at the ATK (Thiokol) Rocket Park.  Lots of technical stuff I don’t understand since I’m NOT a rocket scientist, but very interesting, with a fairly large display of the missiles and rockets they manufacture. Barney is the rocket scientist and understood a lot more than the rest of us.  The 149 foot long reusable solid rocket motor was very impressive - not only the size, but the fact that the spent boosters parachute to the Atlantic Ocean. They are recovered from the water, and then sent to Florida where they are disassembled, returned to the ATK Thiokol plant in Utah, and refurbished for use on future space shuttle flights.

Booster rocket for space shuttle

The Rocket Park

With our normal penchant for being in on the action, we arrived at the Golden Spike just before 10, in time to hear them announce the usual schedule for the locomotives.  THEN they also announced that we just happened to be there on the day they were rehearsing for the May 10 anniversary celebration, so we got to see the whole re-enactment process of both the Central Pacific Jupiter and the Union Pacific 119 locomotives moving into position, with all the bells and whistles, and bells and whistles, and bells and whistles. If we had come on this trip any earlier in the year, we would have missed all of this because the trains don’t start running until May 1.

Fred & Wilma, Betty & Barney

And then they meet!

Five star and 11 on the 1 to 10 scale were some of our ratings for the Golden Spike visit.

Continuing on through massive construction on I15, we stopped at Timpanogos Cave in hopes of getting another stamp in our books. They don’t open until late May. You would think that since that is the case, the entrance station would have the stamp available (they do have the attendant to take your money to get into the attraction). Oh, well, that will be another trip.

Proceeded on down highway 6 through Price to Green River where we splurged and stopped at Subway for dinner.

After trying and failing to find a campsite in Moab, we back tracked to the rest stop at the highway. We’ll chisel out more on the rock pad tomorrow.

Let the Longggg Slowww Journey Begin!

May 5, 2011

After Barney’s doctor’s appointment, we really are leaving on this longgg (we got all of two miles down the road and stopped for lunch at Taco Bell,) slowww (another five miles down the road and we slowed to a crawl through a construction zone,) journey.

Our first stop was at the Hagerman Fossil Beds Visitor’s Center (VC in ranger talk) where we got stamps in our National Parks Passport book. They are also the VC for the Minadoka relocation camp, so we got five stamps in one stop! The fossil site is not open to visitors, but If you have a shovel and a broom, maybe you could sneak in to the dig. They do have a few fossils in display cases in the VC.

We drove down state road 30 so we could see Thousand Springs, which were running very strong, and then on to Twin Falls. We stopped at the Perrine Bridge which crosses the deep Snake River gorge (where Evil Knevil tried to jump the gorge in his rocket cycle many years ago). Perrine Bridge is approximately 1,500 feet (457 m) long and 486 feet (148 m) above the Snake River. Originally named the Twin Falls-Jerome Intercounty Bridge, a Steel cantilever bridge was opened to traffic in September 1927, and at the time, was the highest bridge in the world.

The bridge overlook area is the prep point for base jumpers, and today we watched seven jumpers packing their chutes. When they headed up to the middle of the bridge, we went to the viewing area. They jumped one at a time and tried to land closest to the big red X beside the river. The last two jumpers went together and came down one right after the other. Perrine Bridge is the only man-made structure in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit.

Continuing our exciting sloww journey, we again slowed to a crawl in a construction zone.

We chose the lovely truck weigh station/rest area at the I84/I86 junction for dinner.  Had a nicely located picnic table, and truck traffic for entertainment. What a feast we had. Life is good!

Then it was on to the next rest stop for an overnight stay.

Great day! Back at you tomorrow.

First trip anywhere in more than 3 years

Friday, April 1

10:30 am – left Flying J after topping off the fuel. Had lunch at La Grande Taco Bell, and stopped at Grocery Outlet. Stopped at Hermiston Pilot to fuel up. Note to self: don’t stop there again. Saw Steve and Nichole B at Hood River rest stop –worked with us several years ago. Had baked potato and salad at Wendy’s in Troutdale.  Filled up fuel at Loves.  Wasn’t crowded (unusual).

Planned to stop at I5 rest area for night.  Too early – 8 hour max stay.  Tried nearby state park, not open.

Dark now, and starting to rain.  Went on to Longview to stop at Walmart.  What a joke.  Took us about an hour to find it.  Turns out Longview is quite a bit bigger than we thought.  Garmin had us going in circles 3 or 4 times, then took us to an old location that is no longer a store.   Asking locally pointed us in the right direction, and finally had to ask Garmin for Home Depot, knowing Walmart was close by.  Who would have expected it to be on the truck route through town – that we usually take but didn’t because we were looking for Walmart.  Pretty good laugh for the day.  So 12 hours after starting, we stopped for the night.  Lot of rain and wind during the night.

Saturday, April 2 – Happy Birthday to Christopher

Pushed on to Astoria, and Fort Stevens. Went up to overlook at the PTI (our nickname for the Peter Iredale shipwreck which remains on the beach 100 years after the wreck).  Sharon fixed us breakfast there at the beach.  Extremely windy, some rain, some sun, cold. 

Sheriff stopped by and asked if we wanted to leave peaceably. Told us they were bringing a body up to the parking lot that had washed up on the beach. The Coroner couldn’t access the beach.  He said we could stay in the lot and might not want to look out in that direction. Much later came to say they were finished. We’ll have to look at local news to see what that was about. Just part of the action we have a habit of running into when we are out and about.

We got our usual campsite #114, and 3’s got 112 right next to us because their usual 165 in back of us wasn’t available. 

Sunday, April 3

Got the news from the care home that Mom is not doing well today. Not responsive. Tracy went out and thinks Grandma knew she was there.

Went down to the outlet mall in Seaside. Couldn’t find anything we had to have in Black and Decker, Kitchen Store, or Totes. Not really in a mood for shopping. Went to Costco and Fred Meyer where Don bought a pair of jeans because he only brought the pair he was wearing! 3’s were able to move from #112 to #165 so we are back to back in the sites we like best. That way we can walk through their site to the good bathrooms and showers.

Shirley called at 7:45 PM Pacific time to say she had a call from the care home to inform her that Mom had passed away 45 minutes earlier. They said they could not get us by phone. Had been on a lot of calls today to the care home and family.

Monday, April 4

Heavy rain all night, and did not let up all day. Spent some time at the Maritime Museum in Astoria. We were there a few years ago, but wanted to see more than we had time for previously. It is a not-to-miss site.  We got our first stamp in the Lighthouse Passport book there! (Columbia Light Ship)

Went to a new fish and chips place in Astoria and had Halibut and Salmon with fries and coleslaw (quite expensive but good).

Stopped by a building that had a sign saying “steam locomotive repair shop”. Open but nobody there. It would have been an interesting stop.

Next stop was Fort Clatsop just out of Warrenton. We got our first 4 stamps in the National Parks Passport book there. We are on a roll!

Tuesday, April 5

Spent a lot of time at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  The self guided tour and the sample line are not to be missed. We had lunch there and then got ice cream to top it off. Excellent. Then we went over to Cape Meares to get a lighthouse stamp but they were closed today, so we’ll have to save that stamp for later.  It was too late to stop at the Cannon Beach History Center for the “Terrible Tillie” lighthouse stamp, so went back to camp.

Wednesday, April 06

A lot of sunshine today. Got some good pictures of the two campers while having breakfast at the beach by the PTI.

Went back down to Cannon Beach to get the “Terrible Tillie” lighthouse stamp.  Successful this time.  Watched a little kite flying on the beach. Then went across the Astoria bridge to the Cape Disappointment area.  Terry went up the hill to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive center and got us the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse stamp.  We all walked out to the North Head lighthouse, but the gift shop was still closed for the season, so no stamp available.  We’ll have to come back for that one.  Ate fish and chips at Buoy 9 in Hammond.

Thursday, April 07

Have to start home today. After stopping to put fresh water in the tank and dump the gray and black water tanks we ate breakfast at the PTI. Wanted to go to Johnston Ridge Observatory on Mt St. Helens, but it was snowy and closed. The road does not open until sometime in May (the anniversary of the eruption). We headed south on I-5 to Vancouver, and found our way to Fort Vancouver. There we got five new stamps in the National Parks Passport book. How cool is that? We were surprised that Fort Vancouver is so large. It was begun by Hudson’s Bay Company and later became an Army post. We stopped at the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch, then started looking for a place to stay on I 84. On the way we stopped at Multnomah Falls which was running quite fast this time of year. We first stopped at Cascade Locks and safely went under the 12 foot clearance overpass into the camping area – it was closed. We sailed right past Memaloose State Park that was open and had campers. Then we went down the road to the Dalles Dam which did not allow camping, so  we went to the park below John Day Dam and found a spot that worked for us. It’s very dark and few people around. We are locked up tight, and expect to be safe.

Friday, April 8

After a clear, cold night very close to the train tracks, we got up, had a banana, and headed east on the freeway. We stopped for fuel at Boardman, and then went on to the Taco Bell and the Grocery Outlet in LaGrande. Arrived home about 3:00 PM. Mostly it was a nice trip!