DSCN3684.JPG-1
The first day was spent trying to get out of Texas. We ended up that night in El Paso and having dinner at a TexMex restaurant (what else?). The next day we hurried past Deming to Silver City and the San Francisco mountains
After a lot of discussion we decided to drive there rather then fly, and to hotel it rather than dragging the trailer. We also decided on a Southern route to get there and to come back on a Northern route, visiting lots of places on the way
|
DSCN3684.JPG-1 The first day was spent trying to get out of Texas. We ended up that night in El Paso and having dinner at a TexMex restaurant (what else?). The next day we hurried past Deming to Silver City and the San Francisco mountains |
 |
DSCN3690.JPG-1 We had time to explore a park leading past enormous trees into a slot canyon which was hewn out of the rockface leading to a mine. The night was spent in Eagan. |
 |
DSCN3705.JPG-1 Having put the first, boring 800 miles of driving behind us, the beginning of real tourist visits was to the petrified forest. Lots of broken-up trees. As we visited the various attractions we rated them * thru ***** which you will see on most of the different places. This one was *** |
 |
DSCN3710.JPG-1 Beautifully petrified |
 |
DSCN3711.JPG-1 With a few flowers spotted around in the sterile desert |
 |
DSCN3725.JPG-2 A display showed why the trees were broken up - they started off whole but erosion removed the supporting ground until they fell into a gully and broke up. |
 |
DSCN3740.JPG-2 Next was "Newspaper Rock" with literally hundreds of pictographs. These were several hundred feet away - to prevent tourist damage - but a telephoto lens does wonders. |
 |
DSCN3750.JPG-2 Next to Petrified Forest is Painted Desert… |
 |
DSCN3759.JPG-2 …pretty but not too exciting (about one star *) |
 |
DSCN3763.JPG-2 Just down the road is the Winslow Meteor Crater. Spectacular. ***. The white specks in the bottom of the crater to the right of the people are normal sized sheds. |
 |
DSCN3766.JPG-2 They even had a backdrop where you can pretend you walked to the bottom of the crater. |
 |
DSCN3768.JPG-3 We stopped the night in Flagstaff and then headed South to Montezuma's Castle (***). This was named by some ignorant explorers who thought he was Aztec. Had some Indian FryBread on the way - delicious. |
 |
DSCN3774.JPG-3 Next, to Jerome, an old mining town that is now an artists' colony with lots of knick-knacks to buy (**)… |
 |
DSCN3776.JPG-3 … and with a mining museum *** |
 |
DSCN3786.JPG-3 On the way back to Flagstaff for the night we drove through Sedona (*) |
 |
DSCN3793.JPG-3 Next day to the Grand Canyon (*****). Quite chilly |
 |
DSCN3810.JPG-3 … |
 |
DSCN3824.JPG-3 … |
 |
DSCN3828.JPG-4 The Watchtower (****) is an art project… |
 |
DSCN3839.JPG-4 … with all types of decorations inside. This is shooting upward from the lowest floor. |
 |
DSCN3844.JPG-4 … English archers at Crecy anyone?... |
 |
DSCN3845.JPG-4 … This one is Diane on Peyote |
 |
DSCN3847.JPG-5 …a great view from the top. |
 |
DSCN3849.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN3866.JPG-7 We wanted to go to Page but the road was broken, and with the likelihood of several hours of night driving without the possibility of lodging we elected to drop anchor in Tuba City on a Navajo reservation. Delightful hotel but Peter tried the mutton stew in a local restaurant. It was old, boiled sheep with semi-raw veggies in a thin, watery soup. As the Indians say in movies - Ugh! Next day we found houses built under rocks. |
 |
DSCN3876.JPG-7 Finally - Bryce Canyon (*****) |
 |
DSCN3880.JPG-7 … absoutely delightful, somewhat chilly with occasional rain |
 |
DSCN3884.JPG-7 … We drove along the 15-mile Rim road, stopping at each turnout |
 |
DSCN3908.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN3913.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN3932.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN3956.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN3969.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN3978.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN3997.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN4004.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN4024.JPG-7 Red Rock Canyon on the way from Bryce to Zion |
 |
DSCN4026.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN4040.JPG-7 Then there is Zion (***) |
 |
DSCN4046.JPG-7 We took a bus ride up the valley to look at Angel's Landing (from below) and the Dripping Rock and then had a good lunch… |
 |
DSCN4047.JPG-7 …under the watchful eye of the Watchman. |
 |
DSCN4049.JPG-7 We spent the next night in Vegas. We didn't gamble this time so there is nothing to report until we got to Death Valley (**) the next day. |
 |
DSCN4053.JPG-7 Then up US395 to Mono Lake… |
 |
DSCN4076.JPG-7 …and Tahoe (***) for the night. |
 |
DSCN4086.JPG-7 Lake Tahoe lead us over the hills to Redding on "the 5" and thence… |
 |
DSCN4089.JPG-7 ... to Crater Lake (*****). Surprise! It was snowing and the clouds were low |
 |
DSCN4091.JPG-7 … |
 |
DSCN4097.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4101.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4103.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4115.JPG-8 Another great favorite is Lake Quinault (*****) where we spent the next night. It was built by the CCC in the '30s. This is the view from our bedroom window. |
 |
DSCN4117.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4120.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4122.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4129.JPG-8 Finally, we got to our rental house on American Lake in Tacoma. An excellent choice. Here, Diane is holding her great grandson Gino. Austin (grandson) is in the backgound along with Crystal, his wife, and baby James (great-grandson), |
 |
DSCN4138.JPG-8 The Lake was lovely… |
 |
DSCN4140.JPG-8 Our next-door-neighbor was "The Castle" where you can stay the night for up to $500 each (including breakfast) |
 |
DSCN4152.JPG-8 This is our rental with an upstairs deck around to the left looking over the lake |
 |
DSCN4158.JPG-8 We did a little sightseeing to Snoqualmie Falls. Here is Gracie (granddaughter) |
 |
DSCN4160.JPG-8 … with daisy crown |
 |
DSCN4170.JPG-8 The sunset off our deck |
 |
DSCN4181.JPG-8 This is the generational picture. From the left, Gracie (granddaughter), Diane (matriarch and great-grandmother), Gino (great-grandson), Austin (grandson), Geoffrey (son), James (great-grandson). We're in Defiance Park |
 |
DSCN4204.JPG-8 Gracie had fun celebrating her 5th birthday in the water.. |
 |
DSCN4210.JPG-8 …and we had fun on the deck. |
 |
DSCN4217.JPG-8 Next day we visited Lakewold, an old country house with fabulous grounds.. |
 |
DSCN4226.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4228.JPG-8 … |
 |
DSCN4238.JPG-9 The lake has several bald eagles - we saw up to five of them most days. |
 |
DSCN4242.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4251.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4256.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4259.JPG-9 Another trip was up the peninsular over the bridges that replaced "Galloping Gertie" the bridge that was aerodynamically unsound and fell into the Sound. I guess it was "sound" in the end. |
 |
DSCN4265.JPG-9 Then back to Seattle on the Bremerton Ferry with fabulous views… |
 |
DSCN4271.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4273.JPG-9 …On the way throught Seattle we visited the Freeway Park in Seattle (built over the main freeway) and full of trees and waterfalls right in the middle of the City and Volunteer Park with its famous Doughnut sculpture |
 |
DSCN4317.JPG-9 Then back to the eagles |
 |
DSCN4324.JPG-9 ...and a very unusual sunbow with sundogs each side created by ice crystals high up |
 |
DSCN4334.JPG-9 After a ten-day stay it was time to leave. We went via Whidbey Island and Deception Pass |
 |
DSCN4338.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4339.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4342.JPG-9 …and Mount Erie with an unbelievable view to Canada over the San Juan Islands. |
 |
DSCN4345.JPG-9 … and hundreds of mule deer |
 |
DSCN4354.JPG-9 We stayed the night in Winthrop, which is done up to be an old Western Town (**) and continued on to the Grand Coulee Dam (***) - fifth largest in the world |
 |
DSCN4363.JPG-9 Surprisingly it was built for irrigation rather than electrical generation. These are pumps to hoist water. It is used at peak times to generate electricity. |
 |
DSCN4373.JPG-9 Onward to Spokane for the night and then the Lake Coeur d'Alene. The Lake Resort has a walk-way all the way round |
 |
DSCN4374.JPG-9 …which, if you are a swallow, has uses other than getting to the boats. |
 |
DSCN4377.JPG-9 Here's the hotel (a little too expensive for our budget) but a great place to visit (**) |
 |
DSCN4379.JPG-9 The next night was in Bozeman but Diane made me stop to view some of the advertisements on the way |
 |
DSCN4391.JPG-9 We also stopped in Butte (****) and toured the huge open-pit mine and other mining features. |
 |
DSCN4392.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4394.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4396.JPG-9 … open cast mining still goes on |
 |
DSCN4398.JPG-9 The memorial to the miners who were killed in the mines |
 |
DSCN4401.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4404.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4411.JPG-9 After Bozeman we took a side road over toward Yellowstone and found all sorts of unexpected treats. |
 |
DSCN4413.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4414.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4415.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4417.JPG-9 Finally - Yellowstone |
 |
DSCN4418.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4424.JPG-9 …We walked around Mammoth which is bunch of Hot Springs that are laden with minerals. When they gush water, some evaporates leaving all sorts of terraced pools. The colors are differently colored algae that live at different temperatures |
 |
DSCN4425.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4430.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4440.JPG-9 And, of course, the American Bison aka Buffalo. |
 |
DSCN4444.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4447.JPG-9 One of the purposes of the trip was to meet up with Joyce and Iris (ex-City IT people) for a "land-cruise" so we had arranged to meet in the Togwotee Mountain Lodge down by the Tetons |
 |
DSCN4448.JPG-9 … |
 |
DSCN4461.JPG-9 The next day, the four of us toured Yellowstone… |
 |
DSCN4462.JPG-9 Stopping at waterfalls |
 |
DSCN4469.JPG-9 and Hot Pools (the blue is caused by minute suspended particles) |
 |
DSCN4473.JPG-9 |
 |
DSCN4477.JPG-9 |
 |
DSCN4481.JPG-9 We saw Bison, Elk, Black bear, Grizzly Bear but no wolves, much to Joyce's chagrin - she had been hoping for a wolf. |
 |
DSCN4482.JPG-9 There were lots of geysers |
 |
DSCN4486.JPG-9 |
 |
DSCN4492.JPG-9 |
 |
DSCN4497.JPG-9 Old Faithful was not on its best form |
 |
DSCN4499.JPG-9 But the Old Faithful Inn (****) WAS |
 |
DSCN4514.JPG-9 Then back to Fort Collins to stay with Joyce for a few days. |
 |
DSCN4517.JPG-9 Diane was very ill during those days and had to stay in bed most of the time. After we got home we heard reports of an epidemic of Norovirus in Yellowstone and the Tetons which had exactly her symptoms. It took about 10 days to recover… |
 |
DSCN4520.JPG-9 …meanwhile we travelled back over Raton Pass. |
 |
DSCN4528.JPG-9 Stopped at Capulin Volcano Natl Monument (****). Peter walked around the crater… |
 |
DSCN4529.JPG-9 …on a steep path… |
 |
DSCN4530.JPG-9 …with fabulous views… |
 |
DSCN4531.JPG-9 …lot of explanation about lichens (thousands of years old) |
 |
DSCN4532.JPG-9 …and tree damage from porcupines |
 |
DSCN4536.JPG-9 Then back into Texas in time for a fierce storm that included lightning, heavy rain and dust. All the restaurants closed because of electricity failures except for fast food joints. |
 |
DSCN4537.JPG-9 Finally - where else but West Texas? |
So we ended at home in San Antonio 35 days and 7106 miles later
Return to other trips