12 December 2021 Year End Travel Summary

 It has been a very busy year of travel for us and we were blessed to see so many of the natural wonders of out great country. To summarize:

 

1.    Drove over 19,000 Miles in the Behemoth (Our F-350). 

2.    Visited 8 National Parks (total so far of 50 out of 63).

3.    Visited 11 NPS National Monuments (total so far of 53 out of 85).

4.    Visited 7 States.

5.    Visited 30 other interesting places (Preserves, Refuges, Recreation areas, Bureau of Land Management National Monuments, National Forest National Monuments, National Historic Districts, State Parks).

6.    Visited friends and family along the way.

7.    Saw a lot of Pueblo and cliff dwelling ruins.

8.    Posted 102 entries to our Blog.

9.    Leslie wrote and sent around 500 postcards

 

We are starting to plan next year’s itinerary, but are waiting for some things to fall out. We think we will finish up the east coast parks that we did not get to see in 2019.  You are welcome to meet up with us anywhere along the way! 

We wish y'all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

25 November 2021 Thanksgiving

 We made a green bean casserole from scratch (no canned ingredients here), a cranberry and apple chutney, fresh fruit salad, and a brussel sprout salad as our contribution (along with half a case of Gruet Wines) to the family Thanksgiving Meal. We all met over at Cynthia and Felix’s new home and were in awe of the renovations they had made to the house since they bought it in March. Felix’s sister Deborah was in from Austin. Lauren arrived with Olivia and Avery in tow. Felix’s daughter Ava popped in for a visit and Brian showed up after his workout. There was plenty of food and drink for all and we definitely indulged ourselves to the fine food and drink. By the end of the night, Olivia and Avery had worn not only their parents out, but also all of the rest of us. So much energy! It was great to be with family again after a long 9 months on the road!

Leslie with her Grand Nieces

Prepping the Feast

Thanksgiving Feast all laid out

A full table!

22 November 2021 Fort Worth to Conroe TX

 The drive down from Fort Worth was uneventful but took longer than we expected due to numerous traffic jams. Were staying at a different RV Park this winter. We are trying the Leisure Lane RV Park in Conroe ($570 per month) this year. It’s a bit further from The Woodlands, but is more in the country so there is less traffic. Its about the same amount of driving time to our relatives and places we like to go, but longer distances with less traffic. They have higher speed internet connections (with a modem that we rent for $68 per month) that is leaps and bounds above Rayford Crossings. The roads are asphalt but our pad is all concrete. There are no big trees to worry about (no acorns bombarding us during the night) and we have a fairly large grassy area and a large patio. So we are quite happy with the park so far. 

8 November 2021 Amarillo to Fort Worth TX

 The drive from Amarillo to Fort Worth on US287 is long and boring. The highway is lined on each side by hundreds of miles of pasture and cotton fields.  You can see forever, but there is nothing to see! You have to be careful with the little towns US287 goes through because the highway is a major source of income for them (traffic tickets). Coming into Fort Worth, we had to go through downtown on the rebuilt I-35E corridor during rush hour. Having to change lanes in rush hour traffic with 60 feet of rig is no fun. Fortunately, there are still some nice folks out there who will let you over. We pulled into Mansfield just as the sunset at 5:40 after 8 hours on the road. We are staying at the Texan RV Ranch ($305 for 1 week). This is our first time here. We were a bit surprised by the amount of traffic on the roads to the RV Park as it is outside the city in a more country setting. Water pressure is not great (only 40lbs). 

7 November 2021 Canyon

 We paid for reservations a couple of weeks ago for a visit to Palo Duro State Park. We wanted to hike the Lighthouse trail. But when we got up in the morning, the wind was blowing hard. David had hiked the trail once before on a windy day and the wind picks up a lot of sand and dust and blasts you. So we decided maybe we would just drive the canyon. We stopped off in the town of Canyon to pick up some local honey at the Honey Bee Vineyard before heading out to the park. At the entrance, we informed the ranger of our reservation. But she said she did not have one under that name, and David had not gotten a email from the system. So we were denied entry to the park. We were halfway back to the Wanderer before we realized that the reservation was probably under Leslie’s name and we had not thought to ask. But it was not worth the drive all the way back, so we called it a day and rested up for tomorrow’s long drive to Fort Worth. 

6 November 2021 Albuquerque NM to Amarillo TX

 We got an early start this morning for our drive to Amarillo. We knew we would lose an hour in the time zone change but did not realize we would gain it back the next that night with the change to daylight savings time. We are staying at our usual spot in Amarillo, the Oasis on the west side of town. Our spirits got a lift when we saw the Welcome to Texas sign! It’s always good to come home to Texas! Were only here for a couple of nights.

Home Again

Oasis version of Cadillac Ranch

25 October – 5 November 2021 Enjoying Albuquerque

 David had to work most of the week days we were in Albuquerque this time. But we got out to our favorite places around town. Etta has made big progress and is more like here self than we have seen since March or April.  We got her Cushing’s test back and it looked good at her current medication level. We stopped at Gruet for a wine tasting and ended up picking up a couple of cases of wine for the holidays on the 30th. We drove down to Old Town on the 31^stand were surprised to find it pack with people in costumes! We had completely forgotten it was Halloween and did not know that Albuquerque has a big Halloween (and Day of the Dead) celebration in Old Town each year. So we went back in the afternoon on the 1^stand were disappointed to find many of the restaurants in Old Town had not survived the pandemic. But the Old Town Pizzeria was open and we found they had really good  Pizza and beer. One new place we also tried was the Nexus Brewery and enjoyed their New Orleans style food and good beers. We went over to Andy’s one evening to once again be wowed by his sound system.

 

Leslie and Samantha got together one of the days when David and Rick were working and took the tram up to the top of Sandia Peak before enjoying margarita’s in Old Town’s Church Street Café. 

23 October 2021 Etta Testing

 We got up and took Etta up to the Banfield Vet on the north west side of Albuquerque. We arrived at what we thought was on time, but were surprised to learn we were an hour late. Neither of our iPhones had updated, nor the clock in the truck, so we completely missed the time change when we left Arizona behind! But they took her anyway. We headed out to get some breakfast but got a call from the vet saying they needed the Insulin we had since they did not have any for her glucose test. Surprising that a vet does not have any insulin. We picked Etta up later in the day and the vet told us to increase her insulin doses to 5 Units twice a day and bring her back in two weeks for a follow up test. The Cushing’s test results will take five days to come back. Etta is definitely feeling and acting better on the increased dosage which is a huge relief to us as we feared we might have to put her down. 

22 October 2021 Holbrook AZ to Albuquerque NM

 We waited to hit the road this morning until we could give Etta her insulin shot. We made several stops along the way for Etta to relieve herself as she is still drinking large amounts of water. Again, all the rest stops were closed and we had to get creative in finding places to pull over for her. The I-40 Interstate is in serious need of TLC and there were some serious bumps that tossed the Wanderer and us around a bit. When we arrived in Albuquerque, we found stuff strewn around in the trailer that we had never had problems with before. We are staying at the American RV Resort ($64 per night no discounts) on the west side of town where we have stayed before.  

21 October 2021 Petrified Forest NP

 Etta seemed to be better this morning, so we decided to do a quick tour of Petrified Forest National Park in the afternoon. We drove to the south entrance of Petrified Forest NP and stopped in the visitor center. They had a limited set of exhibits open and of course the park store. We got our passport stamp, hat and post cards before heading out back of the visitor center for the trail through petrified wood. We strolled the trail and could not help but compare the petrified wood here with what we had seen in Utah. We stopped and got our picture in front of “Old Faithful” log where Albert Einstein had stood for a picture in 1931. It was interesting how the wood in logs sitting right next to each other could have such different colors from different types of minerals absorbed. We then drove the 29 mile park road to the north, stopping at the Crystal Forest to do the one mile long loop trail and the Jasper Forest overlook. The shear quantity of petrified wood was amazing. The one log we saw in Escalante-Grand Staircase NM was bigger than anything in this park, but the shear quantity of petrified wood all along the 29 mile road was amazing. The park had signs warning you not to take any samples and even had inspection stations and sensors at the park entrances to check that you did not. But they also had signs that said that theft of the petrified wood was not as significant as rumors indicated. There was plenty of petrified wood for sale inside and outside the park that came from surrounding private land including some very large pieces back in Holbrook. The northern section of the park road overlooks the Lithodendron Wash with dramatic landscape. Only about half the property within the national park boundaries, as designated by congress in 1971, is controlled by the park service. The rest is still in private hands. There is also a piece of the old Route 66 “Mother Road” within the northern portion of the park that is preserved. 

Entrance Sign

Petrified Log

"Old Faithful" petrified log

The colors are amazing!

Petrified log coming out of the ground

Long Petrified Log on Crystal Forest Loop Trail

Looking out from Jasper Point

Petrified log balanced on an eroding hill

Lithodendron Wash

20 October 2021 Declaring an Emergency

 Etta seems worse this morning so we head to the local vet with the intention of declaring an emergency. When we arrived, they suddenly had the time to squeeze us into their schedule (which did not seem that busy). After an exam, urine tests and blood tests, the vet had us bring Etta back to the office. Her glucose levels were extremely high. One of the side effects of Cushing’s disease is diabetes. After talking with the vet, we decided that this had probably been building all summer since Etta has been more lethargic than normal. We attributed it to the extreme heat in Las Vegas but we now believe it was due to her glucose levels going up. The vet told us we would need to begin giving her insulin injections but the exact dosage would require a multiday test that they were not able to handle at the moment (the vet office was also the Animal Control office and all the kennels were full with strays that had been picked up). We would also need to repeat her Cushing’s test to see if the medicine dosage for that needed to be increased since that could also be the cause of the elevated glucose. The vet said we could begin here on 4 units of insulin, once a day as a way to make her feel better until we could get her to another testing facility. So she showed us how to give her the shots and supplied us with insulin and needles. When we got Etta back to the Wanderer, we could already see she was feeling better. Her tail was up and wagging and she had more energy. We called the vet in Albuquerque we had been to in March and made the earliest appointment we could (Saturday) to get her in for the tests. Then changed our reservations at the RV parks (here and in Albuquerque).

19 October 2021 Keeping an Eye on Etta

 We called the Holbrook vet office in the morning and were told that we could not get in to see the vet for 2 weeks. We checked around for other options and the other vets are over 40 miles away and also have limited hours. So we decided to keep an eye on her for today.

18 October 2021 Williams to Holbrook AZ

 We pulled out of Williams around 11 on our way to Holbrook. We were not in a big hurry since it was only a 2-3 hour drive. We noticed Saturday that Etta was suddenly drinking a lot of water and she had an accident while we were out to dinner last night. This is very much not like her. She was still eating fine but was very lethargic. So we decided to get her to the vet when we arrived in Holbrook. We stopped a couple of times for Etta to go to the bathroom on the way. Unfortunately, none of the rest stops in Arizona seem to be open. So we had to get creative in places to pull over safely. We are staying at the KOA in Holbrook ($42 per night, KOA discount). Once we got set up, we called the local vet office (there is only one) and found out they were not open on Monday Afternoons. Etta is still not acting normal and we are worried about her. 

16 October 2021 Grand Canyon Railroad

 One of the last things we had planned in this area was to take the Grand Canyon Railroad up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon the way people have traveled there since 1906. The train we were on was not a steam engine though. They only run the historic steam engines on the first Saturday of each month from 1 April through 30 September. So we had the 1950s era diesel locomotives. The train on this day had a lot of cars attached as there were a lot of visitors going up to the Grand Canyon. On the trip up we had seats up top in one of the dome cars. The view from the dome was actually quite good. We had hoped it would be scenic and we would see lots of wildlife from the upper deck. But it was not to be. We saw no wildlife on the trip up, and after being in this area for three weeks, we did not find the scenery very interesting. The train only rolls at about 25MPH, so the 64 miles up to the park took about 2.5 hours. The train crew tries to keep you entertained with stories and rotating musical entertainment. But at least it was relaxing, not having to wait in line at the entrance station or circle around looking for parking. Once we arrived at the park, we strolled up to the Bright Angel Lodge and then along the rim trail towards the Lookout and Kolb Studios and to the top of the Bright Angel trail before heading back to the El Tovar Hotel. We had made lunch reservations at the restaurant in the El Tovar in advance and as we strolled up, we received a message our table was ready and waiting for us. We got lucky and had a table right by the window looking out over the canyon. We had a leisure and delicious lunch with magnificent views over the canyon. After lunch we decided to walk off the calories and strolled along the Rim Trail towards the Geology Museum for a mile before turning back to make our train back. You only get about 3.5 hours in the park before the train leaves back to Williams and they will leave you behind if you are not on time.  On the way back, we had picked one of the luxury cars (the seats had knee room and padding) for the trip back. We did see one elk along the route before the obligatory simulated western train robbery. One of the robbers took Leslie’s had and fingered her Engagement ring commenting; “I bet I could get something for that!”. Leslie was not amused. We decided that this was the first train we had been on since the train from Venice to Milan in Italy. We don’t think we would do this train ride again. 

View from the dome as we leave Williams

Going around a corner

Arriving in Grand Canyon Train Station

El Tovar Hotel

View from the Rim Trail

View from the Rim Trail looking toward El Tovar (yes that is snow on the ground)

View from the rim trail

Historic Grand Canyon Train Station

All Aboard!

Historic Williams Train Station

One of the historic steam locomotives

14 October 2021 Boynton Canyon and Subway Cave

 We wanted to do a hike in the red rocks before we left, so we researched the various trails in the Sedona area to pick our something scenic, but not too difficult. During our research we came across references to a Subway cave, similar to the Subway Cave in Zion National Park. So we settled on Boynton Canyon trail to the side trail up to the Boynton Canyon Subway Cave. We reached the trailhead at noon and secured the only parking spot in the parking lot. We followed the Boynton Canyon trail for about two miles before turning off to the Subway Cave. The trail up to the Subway cave was very primitive and unmaintained.  We had the impression the NFS would prefer people did not go to the cave. There is a cliff dwelling in the canyon next to the Subway Cave and many people after climbing up to the cave, work their way around on a ledge to the cliff house and nearby petroglyphs. When we made it to the base of the Subway Cave, one look had Leslie deciding she had come far enough. The climb the last 30 feet was up a steeply inclined slick rock surface. After looking things over and seeing the other people in the cave that had made it up, David decided to go for it. As he was working his way up, Leslie heard two other guys slip and fall, hurting themselves, trying to get up. David made it up the steep rock, partially on his butt, to the extremely cool cave and the view out. David was glad Leslie had not tried it, because it would have hurt her bad knee. It was a dicey climb, fortunately going down was easier than going up. He did not go around to the cliff dwelling since the footing looked very slippery. But the pictures were worth it. The hike out turned into a slog. David could not help but think of another hike out with a group of his fried where they came up with a chant: “Cheese Burger, French Fries, Iced Tea, One more step, cheeks hold together”. We both laughed but could not get the chant out of our heads as we trudged (5.8 miles, 827 feet of elevation gain, 3486 calories burned) our way to the Behemoth. We decided we had earned pizza and beer so we made our way to Pisa Lisa’s for awesome wood fired pizza and local brewed beer. 

Entrance Sign to Boynton Canyon

Boynton Canyon

Cliff Dwelling near Subway Cave

View from back of Subway Cave

Looking out of Subway Cave toward Sedona

Subway Cave with the climb up to the cave

Its steeper and slipperier than it looks

David looking down from the edge of Subway Cave

13 October 2021 Pink Jeep Tour

 Leslie has been looking forward to this tour for the last three days. We arrived in Sedona in time to have lunch at The Vault on the patio with a beautiful view of the red mountains. We met our guide, Lucian, along with the other guests on the tour. The Jeeps they use are highly modified Jeep Wranglers. The modifications are done in their own modification and maintenance center. We took the Rim Tour which follows the old (1890s era) wagon trail out of the valley towards Flagstaff. In the 1890s and early 1900s, it would take three weeks to go to flagstaff and back. The road is minimally maintained, mostly by the tour operators, and less so by the National Forest Service. David secured the front passenger seat and Leslie jumped in the back and bounced around. Lucian gave us a running commentary about the history of Sedona, the road, and geology of the rocks along the way. The views were very scenic from the upper portion of the road. The ride was bumpy, but a lot smoother than if we had done that road in the Behemoth!

Our Pink Chariot

View from the Old Wagon Road

Red Rock formations

View from the Airport Mesa Overlook

11 October 2021 Jumping RV Parks

 We moved to another RV park in Williams today. We could not get three weeks in a row at Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, so we booked our final week at Railside RV Ranch ($46 per night, no discounts), about 2 miles away. It’s not as nice as GC but it keeps us in Williams for another week to finish up our explorations. There is a snow storm coming in tonight, so the weather is definitely changing. 

10 October 2021 Sedona AZ

 We set out to explore Sedona today. We looked into some hikes in the Sedona area but wanted to look around a bit first. We took 89A south from Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon. It was a beautiful drive but the road is very narrow and winding for the Behemoth. When we arrived in Sedona we spent 30 minutes finding a parking spot and then went to the Sedona visitor center to get some information. We noticed the Pink Jeep Tour company was across the street and headed over to investigate. Leslie was wanting to do a Pink Jeep tour of the Sedona backcountry since she and her mother had enjoyed one years earlier.  But when she looked online, they showed being completely booked up on the tours she was interested in. But when we checked at the office, they had availability for Wednesday for the Rim Scenic Tour, so we booked a tour. We then wandered down the street and found a place to get lunch. The town was packed full of people being a beautiful holiday weekend. After lunch we headed to see the Red Rock Scenic Loop. After heading onto the loop, we headed down to the Crescent Moon Park. The agent at the visitor center had recommended a hike in the park to get nice view of Cathedral Rock. The hike was only about a mile along Oak Creek. There was not a bridge to cross over the creek to hike around Cathedral Rock, but we did get one clear view, the rest of the hike was shaded by 100 + year old sycamore trees along the creek. We then drove the rest of the Red Rock Scenic Loop and were not overly impressed with the limited red rock views unless we kept our eyes on the rearview mirror. We drove back into town and headed down 179 to the south of town. We tried to find the Oak Creek Brewery, but drove past it without seeing it. With traffic so crazy, we decided to continue on down to visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross that is built on a large red rock outcrop. But we could not find a place big enough to park the Behemoth and the place was packed with people. So we decided to visit both of those when we come back for our Pink Jeep Tour and headed for the Wanderer. 

 

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Cathedral Rock

9 October 2021 Grand Canyon Take 2

 We had ambitions to get up early and head back to Grand Canyon NP this morning, but our best laid plans did not work out and we did not hit the entrance gate for the NP until 12:15. There was a ¾ mile long line to get through the 5 entrance gates. That’s when we suddenly realized this was Columbus Day weekend! So the park was going to be packed and parking was going to be painful. We were right, the park was packed and it took us 30 minutes to find a parking spot. Our plan was to visit the western portion of the South Rim. The only ways to get to visit the western portion was to either hike the Rim Trail or take a shuttle bus. Eyeing the line at the shuttle bus station, we decided to hike the Rim Trail for a ways, then pick up the shuttle at one of the overlooks. We hiked the Rim Trail from the top of Bright Angel Trail to Hopi Point (2.8 miles, 351 feet of elevation gain, 1120 calories burned). The trail is paved up until just before Hopi point. From that point on, the trail is rocky and rough. We decided not to rick Leslie’s knee and ankle on the rough trail and jumped on the shuttle to Hermits Rest. The views along the trail are gorgeous and we stopped repeatedly to gawk. We found a really nice site to sit and enjoy our lunch while watching the shadows in the canyon change with the sun. Hermits Rest was pretty cool and well worth the trip to visit. We then had to wait 30 minutes to get a shuttle back to the village. Once back, we considered going to the lodge to get a beer before leaving, but one look at the swarms of people in the village area was enough to convince us to head back to the Wanderer.  Having avoided big crowds has served us well so far and kept us safe and healthy.

You can see sections of the Bright Angel Trail

Leslie getting close to the edge