Western Trip 2014 Albuquerque to Home

Saturday morning it was cool (45 degrees) but clear skies and we were on the road by 7:45, bound for Albuquerque.  Again the scenery began to change some but we were still going from 5700 feet to 7000+ feet and back down and up again and again.  No real long climb or decent but enough.  Occasionally we would cruise along for miles on a flat plateau and we passed through a number of Indian Reservations.  About 125 miles from Kirtland AFB we pulled into a Navajo reservation ‘travel center and casino’ for a break.  We really didn’t need fuel, but topped the tank and gave us all a chance to stretch.

Lilly did here usual thing at a stop and then had a long drink before getting back into the truck. 

When we arrived at the Kirtland Famcamp, we got into the next to last site large enough for us.  There were three other ‘small’ sites available but the host, who was still in the office, set us up with a good long pull through. 

After a quick run to pick up some milk and a few items we headed to the southwestern area of Albuquerque to visit a cousin we had not seen in several years.  Bret and Karen Bare have lived in Albuquerque for 35 years.  We had a nice visit then headed out a “New Mexico” restaurant. Three hours of conversation and we had an agreement to meet the next morning at 9:30 for a trip to the desert for some hiking and searching for petrified wood and special rocks and stones.

We met at the Bares and each drove as we both took our dogs, Lilly and Nellie.  We left there house and drove west on I40 and exited at MM11 and drove on an asphalt road for a mile or two and then onto a washboard dirt road.  The truck bounced and bounced and no matter which side of the roadway we took, we could not find a smooth spot.  We came to a side road and Britt turned right (he was driving a Suzuki with four wheel drive).  We then we passed a rancher and turned down and even more rutted trail. 

At a wider spot we stopped and took off on foot down the hill in search of whatever we can find.  We hiked across the desert and found small cactus, ‘iron’ balls and all sorts of special rocks and petrified wood.

Judy and Britt study some unusual stones.

Lilly beside an"iron" ball meteor.

We picked up what appeared to be a small piece of white rock.  Britt said the way to tell rock from bone is to do the ‘tongue’ test.  Bone sticks to your tongue but a rock or stone does not.

Lilly and Nellie enjoyed the freedom.

After our desert adventure we went to the Route 66 Casino for a nice lunch.

Monday we drove into Albuquerque and visited the “Old Town” area.  The church in the square has been there over 300 years.

Though it was hot out, the inside of the church was cool - in part do to the five foot thick walls.

Monday night we had the Bares for dinner at the RV.  They parked at the Home Depot outside the base and we drove them in – and back out after dinner and a nice visit.

Tuesday morning we pulled out of Kirtland a little before 8 bound for Amarillo, Texas.  The drive was uneventful – other than the time change – again.  We arrived about 2PM Central Time or 1 Mountain Time.  We settled in to the Overnight RV park on the eastern edge of Amarillo. The WiFi was good but the cable not so.  So we just watched TV using the RV antenna.  Of course everything is an hour earlier.

When we were setting up, we could see and hear Air Force F5’s fly over and then do touch and goes a bit north of us.  On investigation (with the help of Google) learned that they were most likely trainers from Brooks AFB in Texas using the old Amarillo AFB as a touch and go location.

We were up and on the road at 8 for the 230 mile drive to Oklahoma City and Tinker AFB.  Again the scenery changed and we went into flat country with farms and cattle ranches.  We pulled into the Famcamp a little after two and settled in.  After dinner we took Lilly for a long walk on a 3.2 mile trail around the base.  No we did not walk all the way – just part way.

Tinker AFB is a very large base right at the southeast edge of OKC and it is now surrounded by homes and businesses.  We followed instructions and entered through the Truck/RV gate and found the Famcamp about 200 yards down the road.  It is not a very big park – only 30 sites – but the hostess met us and lead us to our site.  After some lunch and rest we headed off to explore the base and promptly got lost.  We took a wrong turn out of the park and ended up driving though all the industrial area.

We did make it to the BX/Commissary area but nothing we wanted/needed so it was back to the Open Range and dinner.

After a short walk with Lilly after breakfast it was off to downtown OKC, specifically the Bass Pro Shop parking lot.  That is where the downtown free bus stops.  We missed the first shuttle but caught the next one and were dropped off right at the memorial.

The memorial is different.  On one side of the block long reflecting pond are empty chair representations arranged in rows according to the floor the person was one.  There were full size chairs for adults and smaller ones for the children in the day care center.

The picture on the right is of what is called "The Tree of Life."  It was left standing and unharmed after the blast that brought down the federal building and the other nearby buildings that were destroyed.  It is now surrounded by a wall and benches and office workers were there eating lunch when we visited.

On the wall of the old newspaper building across from the bomb site, one of the first responders had spray painted this. 

We walked through some of downtown – lots of businesses and very busy – then caught the shuttle back to the truck and then back to Tinker.

Early the next morning we were on our way to Branson, MO. We traveled East on I40 then north on I540 and then on US412/US62 and then US65.  Once through Fayetteville, AR, we were on some very winding and hilly roadways.  Some how along the way Judy found an interesting station on the Sirus radio; we could not believe it but it was a French Country-Western music.  Could not recognize the words but some of the melodies we did understand.

It was about 2 when we got setup at Oak Grove campground.  A nice campground and the woman at check-in was very helpful – including information on The college of the Ozarks and a quilt shop.  The place is about two thirds full and it appears that there are some full-timers here who work in Branson.

After getting all set up and a bite to eat we walked up the road to two places that looked interesting.  One was a ‘craft’ house that had all types of locally made items.  The other was more of a ‘flea market’ place.

It was now time to take a drive, so we headed for the Farmstead/IMAX theater area where we were told we would find a quilt shop.  It was a very large and expansive quilt shop with lots of material as well as finished items.  We picked up two more pieces of material for the quilt pattern we bought in Cheyenne. 

After some more browsing we stopped by this place for dinner. (That's Judy by the chicken leg)

After dinner we headed back to the campground.

The next morning we drove to The College of the Ozarks a bit south of Branson.  It is a small school knows and Hard Work U – each student has a campus job that earns them tuition, books and fees.  They need to pay for room and board.  The main facility is the Ketter Center, a huge log hotel and conference center.

We stopped by the ice cream stand at the lodge and each had a ‘single dip’ waffle cone.  The waffle cones are fresh made right there and the ‘single dip’ ended up being a stuffed waffle cone!  The two girls working there were both freshmen.  One had applied right after high school but didn’t make it the first time.  This past year, six thousand applied but only 350 were accepted.

After a walk through the ‘old town’ part of Branson it was back to the Open Range to get ready for a departure for Indiana. There is an hour time change so we want to get in at a decent hour.

Our departure from Branson was easy, not much traffic on the road at 8 on a Sunday morning.  It was not a bad drive, except for the road construction and areas on I70 that had been paved, and then ground down to rumble strips.  We were making good time so decided to move on to near Terre Haute for the night.  We pulled into a KOA not too far off I70.  We had a nice spot and nice area for getting Lilly a nice walk.  About seventy-five yards from our spot there were two burrows – sort of petting zoo thing.  Every once in a while they let out with some loud “heehaws.”  At first we weren’t certain what the noise was but soon learned.

After a very un-restful night we started out for Ohio. The highway noise was a real problem all night.  The section of the road near the campground had been ground down for repaving and trucks all night long rumbled and rumbled along.  We were looking forward to getting back to Ohio!  We passed through Indianapolis with no problems and soon hit the Ohio line.  Though we could have made it home (arriving in early evening) we opted to spend one last night at Wright Patterson.  We needed to pick-up a few grocery items.

We pulled into the campground in early afternoon and after setting up hit the commissary and filled the Ram one last time.

As it was the first time we left Wright-Patterson nearly six weeks ago, it began to sprinkle as we finished packing and loading up.  We had intermittent rain all the way to Columbus.  As we hit the passed through the city and connected with I71 the sky opened up and it rained very hard for the next 20-25 miles.  The trip home was pretty normal but we saw two bad accidents in the southbound lanes of I71 north of Columbus and then one on I76 near the Wadsworth exit.

It was just a few minutes after noon when we backed into the drive – home after one day shy of 6 weeks and more than seven thousand miles of driving.  By six that evening we had the Open Range all unloaded, things put away and the inside and outside of the RV cleaned/washed, even managed to give the Ram a bath.

So ends this bucket list journey.

Western Trip 2014 Las Vegas to Mesa Verde

Las Vegas/Hoover Dam

We headed north to pick up UT 20 to go over to I15.  It was an up and down highway and when we were at the highest, the truck thermometer indicated the outside temp as 33.  We could see the condensation on the outside mirrors begin to shine with ice.  We got on I15 and traveled the 35 miles south to Cedar City where we picked up UT 56.  Once clear of the city limits, it became a narrow two lane state highway with trucks, buses, and RV’s moving in both directions at 60 -65 MPH.  After 60 miles and upon entering Nevada it changed route names (NV 319) and the road got a bit worse.  Finally we hit US95 and it was better, but was still 100+ miles of two lane.  Once we hit I15 we only had to travel 10 miles to get to the Nellis AFB exit.

We did not realize until we checked into the campground that we were now on Pacific Time.  Once into the base and campground we got ourselves setup and had some lunch.  Boy was it hot! 

We spent the rest of the day getting our bearings and checking out the BX and Commissary.  Both are pretty big as this is the home base for the USAF Thunderbirds as well the Navy Top Gun and Red Flag exercises (air to air fighter training).

Friday we were up pretty early so took advantage of the time to do our laundry and pack up snacks and drinks for the day.  We hit a quilt shop on the way.  It was nice but things certainly were pricey.  Judy came away with a couple of ideas though.

Before we got to the actual Hoover Dam, we stopped and walked about half way across the Mike O’Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial bridge.  You could get some good views of the dam from the walkway along the westbound lanes of the bridge. This bridge was built as a bypass to having traffic pass over the top of the dam.

After that hike we drove to the dam itself and paid $10 to park and then another $12 each just to go in the visitor center.  The visitor center was interesting and gave a lot of history, but nowhere did it say how many men died in the dam.  One sign noted that a number of deaths were attributed to pneumonia!  It was a marvel of construction.  Before they could even start the dam they had to carve out four tunnels through the rock to divert the river.  These tunnels are fifty six feet high and nearly ¾ mile long.

On the drive back to Nellis we passed a sign giving the temperature as 113 degrees!  By the time we got back to the Open Range we were beat from the heat.

Saturday we decided to do the strip so we headed down Las Vegas Boulevard.  We picked a real weekend to be here.  Seems it is some sort of a Mexican holiday and bus loads of folks from Mexico and local Latinos are in the city.  There was a big parade going on and streets blocked off.  We did see the Pawn Stars Pawn shop, Trump tower and lots of other casinos.  Actually we were not greatly impressed with downtown Vegas.

Grand Canyon/Mesa Verde

Sunday morning we were up and on the road out of the heat.  It was 80 degrees as we were hooking up and the truck A/C felt mighty good.  We traveled the same roadways as we did going to Hoover Dam on our way to the Nevada/Arizona line.  This time we stayed on US93 and crossed over that high bridge mentioned above.  The scenery changed and became more flat, but still a higher elevation.  We tried to get some pictures from the moving truck of the different boulders and rocks along the way.

Once we hit I40 the rough ride began.  I40 in Arizona has got to be the longest stretch of rough interstate highway.  We thought I70 in Indiana westbound was bad but this is worse.  Because of the time change on entering Arizona (now on Mountain time) we got into the Canyon Motel and RV park at a decent hour.  As Sept 14 was our wedding anniversary we had decided to go out for dinner.  Rod’s Steakhouse was recommended but it was closed on Sunday.  Instead we opted to head into beautiful downtown Williams on old Route 66.

Before dinner we checked out the downtown and some shops before heading to Poncho Macgillacudy’s.  We enjoyed a nice Mexican dinner – and in fact brought some home.

This is our site at Canyon Motel and RV Park.

Monday morning we had a leisurely breakfast before heading north to the Grand Canyon.  The drive to the park from where we parked took nearly an hour.  Judy had read a lot about the park so we knew pretty much what we wanted to do. We found a parking spot in the nearly full lot and stopped by the visitor center, but the line up to speak with rangers was quite long.  So we opted to strike out and walk the short distance to Mather Lookout.  Once there we could see why it is called the “Grand Canyon.”

We ‘hiked’ along the rim trail, stopping to admire the expanse and dramatic views. At one point we happened upon an artist who was just finishing a 12X15 painting of a tree.  This week in the park there are a number of artists painting park scenery and views.  The paintings are to be sold at a gallery to help support art in the park.

We took so many pictures.

At the Bright Angle Trail head we headed down the steep trail to the bottom.  We had decided to hike part way down…going all the way was too much.  Actually the down part is not too bad, though steep.  It is the return trip as it is all up hill.  We hiked down and found a nice spot to have a bite to eat.  As we were seated, three young ladies came hiking up and one asked if we wanted our picture taken.  She said we looked ‘cute’ sitting there.

This is the trail back up, notice the droppings?

On our return to the top, we walked some more along the Rim Trail. We stopped near a lookout and found this squirrel begging for scraps.

This is what the rim trail is like - not a hard walk/hike and from many areas you can get wide views of the canyon and in a few spots even see the Colorado River.

At the train depot area we  hopped on a shuttle for a reide back to the truck.

 We were pretty tired by the time we got back to the truck – and had that drive back to Williams.

Before dinner we made one last trip into Williams to check out the Quilt shop and pickup a couple of items at the Safeway.

Up early and had to finish packing up in slight drizzle but by the time we were 30 miles down the road, it was dry and just cloudy.  Once through Flagstaff we headed north on US89.  Just north of where the East Entrance to the Grand Canyon we stopped at Cameron, Arizona   This an old stone trading post and hotel.  We had just started browsing when not one, not two but four tourist buses rolled. 

This is the "old" suspension bridge that was part of the original US160.

A while later and further up the highway we came to the “Four Corners” area where Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet.  It happens to be on Navajo land and they have set up a tribal park around it.  We did go in and wonder the four states.  The point is now surrounded on all sides by adobe like structures housing Native American wares for sale.

We decided to try some “Indian Flat Bread” so stopped by a stand outside the market area.  Just inside a young indian man was drawing indian designs on flat and semi-flat rocks to be sold.  As our bread was frying we talked with him.  When he turned to us we could see that he was wearing a Cleveland Indians hat.  Asked about his feelings on the subject of the name, he said it was fine with him.  

A little further north we turned off on it US160 and across the Painted Desert area.  Again the landscape changed and you could see for miles.  Off in the distance were low mountains and bluffs long mesas and giant sandstone pillars.

As we approached Cortez the sky darkened and we could see lightening bolts across the horizon.  The last ten miles in the campground was in a driving hard rain.  It seemed to let up some as we led to our site and we were able to get unhooked and mostly set up without getting too wet.

This is our spot at Mesa Verde RV Resort – a little over a mile from the main entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. 

Thursday we headed to the park.  When we arrived at the visitor center we gathered some information and signed up for the 12:30 Ranger lead tour of Cliff Palace.  We had about two hours before the tour so we had time for at least one hike because it is a 20 mile drive to the dwelling sites.  And it took every bit of it as it was a real up and down drive along roads winding around the mountain sides and down into valleys and back up again.

We had time to do the Soda Canyon 2 mile hike.  At the end of the trail there are three lookouts from which you can get spectacular views.  From one we could see the Cliff Palace on the opposite side of the mesa.

Judy thought she might find a unique dead cedar branch to decorate as a Christmas tree this year.  But they were all too big to drag out, especially with so many people around.

At 12:30 Ranger Jim began our guided tour down 140 feet into the dwelling area.  It was a narrow and steep climb and in some spots we were going down on steps cut into the sand stone by the CCC.  At the bottom we sat on rock mostly in the sun as he gave his presentation on the history and what we do know about the people who lived here in the year 1200AD.

We walked ito the area and gathered about a “Kiva” or round house or building they used for religious or meeting ceremonies. In the center was a fire pit and on one side and opening that led to a vent shaft on the surface to bring in fresh air.  As we were preparing to move on, Judy feinted and dropped to the ground. The combination of standing, standing in the sun, and the altitude got to her.  It took several minutes but soon she felt better and was able to stand.  We moved on a bit and the wooziness returned so we rested some more and opted to take our time hiking up the steep trail and climbing the two wooden ladders.

Rather than taking any additional hikes we drove to the Museum for a short film then a stop at a gift shop/camp store on the way out of the park.  On the way home we decided to spend another night here and just take it easy. Saturday we head for Albuquerque and begin the journey back to Ohio. But it may take a while to get there.