Arizona Heat

We headed south along the Vermillion Cliffs and crossed over into Arizona. We were careful to gas up on the Utah side and bought our groceries on the Navajo Reservation so we are trying to do our part in not giving Arizona any of our money. We spent the night in a Forest Service Campground (Federal money) just above Sedona. Pulled in there about 3pm and only 5 sites available out of over 100. Whats the deal? Is everyone camping now? It is certainly not a wilderness experience. This is higher density than we have at home. Took off early this morning and headed down to the

Suguaro National Park just west of Tucson. The cactus are in bloom and the campground is deserted. Must be the 97 degree day that has everyone spooked. We are sitting in the shade, have cell service again, and the wind had just started. We got through the areas where blowing sand can close the highway early before the winds picked up so our timing is good, but we are supposed to have 45 mph gusts tonight. Just like having the furnace fan on. Next few days here will be windy but warm and clear so not sure what we will do but the wet spring has caused the desert to be green and beautiful. We hear that the Iceland volcano has caused a lot of European visitors to cancel their trips to the US, but we are still seeing lots of rented RV's and hearing German spoken in many of the campgrounds.

Kodachrome Basin

We learned our lesson at Zion and we are now going to be on the road by 8 am to the next campgrounds, especially if it is a weekend or a popular place. The drive went by Bryce and Red Rock Canyons where there is still some snow on the ground and it is still cold at night. You can see the frost still on the ground where the irrigation pipes were left on to keep them from freezing. Kodachrome Basin is another of our favorite spots and it has changed too. Reservations are allowed so camping site choices are limited, but the campground has been spruced up with free showers and paved roads. Weather today is warm and we spent the afternoon hiking the Angels Palace trail. Could not have done it without the poles, but still I whined on the real steep sections coming down. I am swallowing copious amounts of glucosamine and phenocane every morning and it is helping but just buying me a little more time. Will need to look seriously at the knee replacement when we get back.
They have posted the next 5 days of weather here and it looks dismal. The wind starts blowing again on Monday and it will be snowing here and all through the Escalante area including Bryce Canyon and Arches for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Then a brief break and a few more cool days. The cool wet spring just does not seem to want to break. So in spite of our vow to boycott Arizona we are heading south. We have no intention of looking at more snow and being holed up in our van for days if we don't have to. We hear the desert is still in bloom and we will go see for ourselves.

15 years later ......

We stopped at the Cathedral Gorge before crossing over into Utah. What a really great place. Campground was ugly so we didn't want to stay but the hoodoos were great.

It has been that long since we were camping in Southern Utah and things have really changed. First of all St George, Utah. What is that all about??? Last time we were through there it was a sleepy little town to restock, get gas, and get out. Now it is mega houses on the edges of the canyons and in the surrounding hillsides and wall to wall malls, freeway stop shopping, and high end sporting goods. Wow ... Anybody knows what happened to make St George so popular let us know. We know it is scenic but what are all these people doing for a living so that they can build these artsy half million dollar homes?

So we zoomed through there after a quick grocery stop and headed up to the Zion/Springdale entrance to camp. Got there about 3:00pm and all the campgrounds were full. We hate this new reservation system. We never used to have a problem getting in there. So we had to back track about 30 miles and stay in a State Park campground at Quail Creek. It was on a reservoir just above a dam. Crowded with RV's and boaters and crammed together in non private sites and the wind blew all night. We ate and went to bed as soon as it got dark. Got up early the next morning and went back to Zion to the first come first serve South Campground (Watchman is ALL reservation only now) and we drove around and had our pick of about 15 unattractive vacant sites out of the 120 or so that are there. By 11:00 that campground was full too. This is ridiculous. Without a 'reservation' at most parks, state and federal, you need to be there by noon to get any spot. Takes a big cut out of enjoying the journey and stopping along the way at interesting places. (We better not stop ... we need to get to the campground before it is full).
We did figure it out that afternoon. If you want to stay another night you walk around and find someone that is leaving the next day at a nice site and then you ask them if they mind you putting your receipt under theirs on the pole and then you pay for that site at 7 am when the NPS opens the following morning and move all your stuff there when the other folks leave. So we got a really nice private view site after that first night.

Zion now has shuttle buses to go up the canyon and after using it the first afternoon we love it! The last time we were in Zion it was not possible to hike some of the trails because there was no parking at the trail head. The place was jammed with cars and RVs and tour buses and was frustrating and a madhouse to try to get somewhere. Now the buses are quiet and peaceful and we got to see a lot more of the park.

It has been in the 70's here and sunny and we love Zion. It is one of the most spectacular places we have ever seen. The colors and light changes throughout the day and it is magnificent.
We both did some easy hikes, we me using my new trekking poles (Thanks Tim). They really helped my knee on the downhill stretches. I am sold. Steve then went up to Angels Landing. A 1500 foot climb to the top of the ridge. There are chains in place in a few of the dicey spots to give hikers something to hang onto and to keep folks from slipping off the cliffs and it's narrow ledges and rock steps with sheer drop off on both sides. Glad I missed it. Wind has picked up again and we are heading east tomorrow.

On the Road Again

Well we are off again. We were home for nearly 2 months and we got rested and caught up and ready to travel again. This time we are taking our van "Pearl" for a trip camping and exploring the southwest. Our VW camper van is nearly 12 years old but she gets good gas mileage and is a very comfortable ride. We can hole up in her in inclement weather and be packed up and gone pretty quickly when we get the urge to move on and see more sights.


We planned on leaving on Monday the 29th but the weather reports were pretty dismal with high winds and snow all along our route. We waited and watched the weather carefully and waited for a path that would go through a weather hole and get us to some sun and heat. We left after a quick decision on Friday morning. Our first night was along the Columbia River at Plymouth. We thought it was a state park but it turned out to be a Army Corp of Engineers campground. We didn't even know that they had them, but it was a great deal. Beautiful grassy grounds, electric hook ups, free showers, even a washer and dryer. All that and my new
Federal Land Senior Discount card got us 1/2 price. It was windy there but a nice spot along the river adjacent to the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge. We headed out early the next day and hit snow in the Blue Mountains. Luckily it was not sticking much, just a little slush on the road for a few miles. Our front wheel drive made for easy traveling.
Next stop was on the Snake River in southern Idaho at Three Island Crossing. Another nice grassy campground where the Oregon Trail crossed the Snake. Weather here was still breezy but sunny now. Cool at night but still comfortable.
The next morning we thought we should head through Salt Lake City to avoid weather and as we went in that direction we started seeing a lot of heavy clouds ahead. We made a few DOT phone calls and found out that it was snowing heavily in Salt Lake City and the basin so we changed course, backtracked about 30 miles, and headed back to our original route through Nevada on Hwy 93. So glad we did. The Great Basin huge and scenic and beautiful this time of year. Don't think we would like it in August at 110 degrees and all brown but it was really pretty now. Cold! We went over passes that were 7000-8000 feet. Weather was sunny and clear. We turned up the music and cruised at 75mph. We spent the night at Cave Lake State Park in Nevada just south of Ely. This is really cowboy country. We stopped in town for supplies and were the only ones not wearing cowboy boots and driving a big 4WD truck. Campgrounds were limited and we are at high elevation everywhere. Our stop for the night was at Cave Lake State Park. It was at 7500ft and we were the only ones there. The ranger came by just before dark and asked if we minded if they shot off fireworks that evening as a practice run for some big Memorial Day Weekend show they put on. What a great bonus. But so glad our little home has a propane heater! We knew it was going to be cold at night (note snow in photo) and it was 25 degrees when we got up. We just reach over and turn on the thermostat and snuggle back in for about 15 minutes and then life is good.

Thanks for Participating

We want to thank all of you that have been reading about our journey. This has been a enriching experience for us and we hope we have not bored you with our ramblings and our particular version of travel in Mexico.

We have tried to show you some of the great experiences we have had, but we have also had some heart wrenching ones that we have kept to ourselves. The mean streets and polluted sprawl of Mexico City, the hillside slums and poverty of Oaxaca, the impact of tourism, and a gringo invasion into the local economies. We also had a lengthy conversation with the driver of our van one day about the true economic problems in Oaxaca and what really happened during the uprising in 2006-2007 and the collision course it is on for a repeat performance. A very sobering look at contemporary problems in Mexico today. Not every day was easy and fun.

We have met some fellow travelers that have been adventurous, gracious, and inspiring. And we have met a lot of them that are selfish and rude, and should have stayed home. We know that we travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will tell us. And we travel, in essence, to see things new and fresh again — to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love with life once more.

Writing to this blog has been an interesting experiment, and we have found that it has helped us to stay connected to friends and family, and has been a great way for us to keep a bit of a journal of our trip too. Thanks to all of you who have been sending us emails from home, or far away on your own adventures, and for keeping us up to date with your lives.

We fly back on Monday the 8th and will be home on Tuesday evening.
Adios for now ....

Yum ... Part Dos

Still Delicious ..... and we are not tired of it yet!

Luck of the Draw

We have been having good bus trips this entire time until our trip from Puerto Vallarta to Guayabitos today. The buses to Tepic run every 1/2 hour for the short 1 hour trip about 50 miles north. We always just walk into the station and grab the next bus. Usually a good fast trip. But today was a classic. It wasn't just the spider web broken windshield that had us a little uneasy as we walked up to the bus to board. Those things can happen on Mexican roads. No bathroom on this bus ... well its a short trip, but also that means no tv ... yea, no crappy western or dark crime drama blasting away in Spanish. We are fine with that. But after we got on and they started the engine and backed out of the station the loud squeaking and squealing at every bump had us convinced that this bus needed repair. So ... broken spring? bad shocks? no shocks? not sure. Whatever it was came from the front drivers side and since we are close to the front every single bump (and there are hundreds) had us bouncing up in down in our seats like we were on pogo sticks. Ok ... well, it will be a short trip, so we try to smile and go with it. Not every trip can be perfect. We then putt along at about 35 miles an hour instead of the 50 we should be doing on this 4 lane highway and the driver pulls over for anyone along the road that hails him. Ok .. so this is going to be a slow trip.

After about 10 more miles our driver gets flashing red lights and pulled over by the cops. He gets out and gets into a heated disagreement with them for several minutes. Not sure what happens, he's waving his arms and yelling, but he doesn't appear to get a ticket and gets back into the bus in a bad mood ranting in fast Spanish to his co-pilot who rides along to collect money and tickets and handle the bags. We start up again and rattle along bouncing up and down like we are on some kind of amusement park ride with the bus squawking in a regular rhythm. More miles pass and after a while we guess even the driver gets tired of the noise so he turns on music in the overhead speakers really loud ... a Mexican Neil Diamond wannabee .... there is no escape. The baby on the lap of the lady behind us starts screaming non stop. We look at each other and try to keep our sense of humor. We have had such great trips on comfortable professional rides that it is only right to get one of these.

The road narrows to a 2 lane winding road to go through the mountains and traffic backs up to about 12 vehicles because of a huge propane truck going slow up the hill.

Mexican Joke: Why do bus drivers always pass on a hill?
Answer: Because usually there is no one coming.

So after crawling along slow he now decides that it is macho duty to pass these vehicles, one at a time, to see who can be first behind the big truck. It is appropriate the he has the statue of Jesus on the cross on the dashboard and he gives the sign and a little kiss before each one he attempts to pass. We stop watching. It is better not to know. There is nothing we can do except look out the side windows and try not to think about it. We notice out the side that we are seeing lots of roadside shrines with fresh flowers on the edges of this road.
After nearly 2 fun filled hours we finally arrive at our stop on the very narrow edge of the now back to 4 lane highway. We get off and the co-pilot jumps off and goes into a tiny cubicle that acts as a bus station. We need our bags. They are in the compartment under the bus. The guy comes back and opens the door to the compartment and motions to Steve to get them himself and disappears again. Steve has to nearly crawl in completely to get mine out. He hands it to me, there is no room in this narrow spot to swing it up onto my back so I balance my two and his small one as I stand next to the rear wheels of the bus. He goes back in for his big pack. The top half of his body is in the compartment and I just see him from the knees down. Without warning the driver decides to pull the bus forward about 20 feet and it starts moving, Steve tries to scramble back out ... bangs his head hard on the open door of the compartment, leaps back near to the edge of the road where the concrete drops off about 4 feet to another road below, somehow manages to do enough fast foot work to keep his balance, and bangs hard repeatedly with his fist on the side of the moving bus. The driver finally stops. We have no idea what the driver was doing. The bus door was open, he had not loaded his new passengers, he wasn't ready to leave, he wasn't blocking any vehicles ... what the hell? .... a really close call for Steve.
So after several thousand miles across this country, the last few legs remind us that you can never be complacent in this land of personal responsibility, and always need to be paying attention and expect the unexpected. But at least for now we are thankful to be back safely, and will be enjoying our last few days on familiar ground.