City of Rocks

We had enough of Tucson and Arizona in general and headed east to New Mexico. We knew there was another wind storm coming so we got ahead of it crossing the desert. We went to Silver City, the birthplace of Billy the Kid, but were unimpressed and did a quick gas and ice stop and moved on to a campground called ‘City of Rocks’. What a strange and interesting place. The theory is that these formations were thrown 180 miles from a volcano near Albuquerque. It is a flat lying sheet of reddish lava that had been chiseled by water borne abrasives into the likeness of a ‘city’ with streets and house sized forms. The jointing of the rocks has taken place along vertical rather than horizontal planes, so that the ‘buildings’ are more or less the same height of about 40 feet. The camping areas are spread out among the rocks so you really can get a little privacy. It was a very trippy little place and we found a fairly level spot behind some big rocks to get out of the wind. This is the first place where we saw a rattlesnake … actually we ran over it on the way out and it was BIG. Covered the entire lane we were in and looked like a patch in the asphalt until we got on top of it. Didn’t seem to hurt is a bit … it just continued on its journey … as did we. We started heading north and stopped in the town of Hatch … supposedly the Chili capital of the World (so say all the signs. We decided that we were ready for a non camping lunch so we stopped at the Pepper Pot and had some great green chili enchiladas and chili rellenos. Would be fun to be here for their Labor Day Chili Festival.

Heading East

We have decided to head into New Mexico and then start to work our way back up as the weather will allow. Still lots we want to see and hope to be in Mesa Verde in the next few days. This is a lot harder to keep up with this travel journal than our trip to Mexico because of our remote locations in canyons and limited services. So I will be checking in when I get a chance but if you don't hear from us for a while then assume all is well and we have found the wilderness experience that we are looking for. Back in touch when we can!

Night Under the Stars

We lucked out and found a last minute opening for the night telescope program at Kitt Peak Observatory. We have jumped at the chance and drove the 45 miles west and up to the 6875 ft mountain for this after hours program. Kitt Peak has the worlds largest collection of telescopes with 25 optical telescopes, two radio telescopes, and the worlds largest solar telescope at their National Solar Observatory. We started at 6:00pm with a box dinner and an explanation of the many telescopes available and the research being done on the peak. We then went out for the sunset and to one of the telescopes for a viewing of Venus. As it got dark we had instruction in using star charts and were issued good quality binoculars for constellation identification with astronomers who had lasers to point out what we were looking for. We then went back into the domes for viewing. We watched the process of setting up the telescopes and rotating the domes into each position for each subject. We were a small group of just 12 people so we really got to ask questions and get excellent information. A few of the highlights were Saturn with her rings and moons, the Whirlpool Galaxy that is in the process of a massive collision with its companion galaxy, the Ghost of Jupiter that is a blue gas cloud of a dying star, and Omega Centauri a globular star cluster that is only visible low in the southern sky and we would never see in the north. It was a late night and after 11:00pm before we were ready to leave. No lights of any kind except for red lights are allowed anywhere on the top of the mountain, so we could not use headlights for the first few miles down. We followed one of the instructors in a lead car that knew the way. It was a little harrowing as this is like driving down Hurricane Ridge with lots of twists and turns and a steep descent (and no moon). Once we got down onto the valley floor we had to go through a Border Patrol checkpoint as we went north. That was really weird. Seems so foreign to have to say where we have been and where we are going and where we live and why we are out driving. Did not have to show ID, but they did shine a light in our van to see if we were smuggling anyone. I understand the problem down here as we saw it all too clearly last fall, but there needs to be a better solution. In any event ... other than feeling like we had just crossed the Berlin Wall everything went smooth. It was after midnight when we got back to our campground but our night truly under the stars has been a once in a lifetime event that we are still
talking about.

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.