California Here We Come...

Right back where we started from. Okay, not quite, but we did cross back into the home state. We spent most of the day exploring the Southern Sierras. Our end destination was Lake Success in Porterville and we could have taken the interstate thru Bakersfield. Alas, that is not how we roll. Instead we took some very, very windy roads over several passes and were treated to a diversity of terrain. We drove through high desert, saw a couple of ghost towns, miles and miles of Joshua trees and then finally came upon the Sierras that we know and love. We rolled down the windows and made sure we enjoyed the aroma of the cedars. Ahh, almost made me homesick. Once on the other side of the mountains we dropped down into golden rolling hills with lots of Oak trees. We've been all over the US and there is nothing like the California hills. We loaded up on provisions at the coolest upscale Hispanic grocery store. Geez, what I'd do to have a store like this in Nevada City. The produce was abundant (papayas, mangoes, cherries, tomatillos, peppers, plantains, melons, cactus to just name a few) and piled higher than anything we've seen. There were more cuts and variety of meat than I even knew existed, and displayed so beautifully. The dulce pan section was colorful and vibrant. There was also a whole section devoted to just making tortillas. Maybe this is how they do it in the Valley, but it sure was new to me. We drove through acres and acres of Orange trees before settling down at Success Lake. We were going to swim, but opted instead for a Scrabble game. Tomorrow we head for Sequoia National Park where the Russell family is having a big reunion. I'm looking forward to hanging out in one place for 4 days with Ned's sisters, cousins and 95 year old Aunt. Let the partying begin! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Success Lake, Porterville, CA

A Day of Many States

And I mean the title both literally and figuratively. We crossed in and out of States seven times today, mainly going back and forth between Utah and Arizona before finally settling down at an RV Park in Las Vegas. We drove thru some really remote areas, including doing a drive thru Colorado City, known as the home of the polygamist FLDS sect. We arrived there at about 2:30 in the afternoon and all the streets were completely vacant and the town was eerily quiet. We eventually drove by the church where there were hundreds and hundreds of vans and pick-up trucks lined up. Ned wanted me to take a pic, but by this time we were being watched and followed from two different pickups so we thought it best not. The town has absolutely no facilities for visitors, no gas stations, restaurants, etc. They do have enormous houses with high compound fences surrounding them. We made several other stops along our rather long day in the car including a visit to the Glen Canyon Dam and Visitors center. It's situated on Lake Powell and is one of the system of dams regulating the Colorado River. Quite impressive. We also stumbled upon Pipe Spring National Monument, an infamous spring where the clash of several cultures over many years occurred. This would be the Paiute Indians, early Mormon Settlers and US Gov't. The nearby town of Moccasin, still in existence, houses the descendants of the original Mormon Settlers. We also decided to do a drive thru there. Needless to say it was our day for polygamy and I told Ned not to get any ideas. (He says not to worry one of me is plenty enough!). We didn't want to stay at another rather barren state park so we decided to head for Vegas. Thus, the other end of the spectrum. Instead of early pioneer culture we are now immersed in Sin City. This RV park is not the usual way we roll, but we are embracing our inner Vegas. We enjoyed the rather ostentatious pools, including the sand beach and water falls. Poor Winnie is lined up in a sea of behemoth RVs. We are still really proud of the ol' girl as she has taken us across the country and back.Today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Oasis RV Resort, Las Vegas, NV

A Monumental Day

Before we left the park we decided to partake in the all you can eat pancake breakfast offered at the park's outdoor cafe. We usually plan one breakfast out on our road trips and this was it. The Indian woman who made our pancakes was very sweet and told Ned that the reason they were so good was because they were made with lots of love. awww. We decided to take a small detour and see the 4 corners. Yep, all 4 states; Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico do meet up. We got the obligatory shot of us straddling the states, but I must admit that the Indians hawking all their wares at the marketplace was much more interesting. I even picked up a pretty necklace, thanks Ned. The drive between Mesa Verde and Monument Valley was jaw dropping. We drove along the San Juan River and were awed by view after view of different rock formations. Part of the time the sky was hazy from the nearby Arizona wildfires, but by the time we reached Monument Valley Tribal Park it had cleared up. We are camped at Goulding's, a private campground, hotel, park, dining, tour guide, and trading post. Their big claim to fame is that John Wayne made 4 movies here, along with a bunch of other movie stars. We both felt a little old and a little sad when a young boy, seeing all the John Wayne posters and memorabilia asked his mom, "So who IS John Wayne." sigh. The campground plays a John Wayne movie every night, tonight is "Stagecoach", we passed on the opportunity. Instead we opted for dinner at The View, the restaurant at the tribal park. We decided to go native and eat two of their Navajo specialties. Ned had pork green chili stew and I opted for the pozole. Both were accompanied by the biggest pieces of blue corn Indian fry bread and tortillas known to man. Dinner was so so, but maybe I'm just dying a slow death of carbs today. Seriously...The sunset view after dinner was pretty remarkable. It's definitely a bucket list item. As we watched the light slowly change the color of the rocks we tried to count all the different languages passing by. It's now dusk at the campground, and we have a gorgeous view through a canyon of the rocks turning purple. today's pics Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Monumennt Valley, Az

Exploring Mesa Verde National Park

Ned here again. We made a casual departure from Lathrop State Park this morning, heading for Mesa Verde National Park. This is one of those locations that neither of us had ever been to, so it seemed appropriate to finally get it on our schedule. The drive over the San Juan Mountains, the southern tip of the Rockies, was spectacular. It was fun to see snow covered mountains again for the first time in a month. The lush green of the aspens, mixed with darker green of pines which lines the mountainsides is really beautiful as we drove over the highest pass today of 10,500 feet. We stopped at a mountain village for lunch and sat outside on a deck overlooking the river. It was fun watching the kayakers and paddle rafters make their way past as we ate. Soon we arrived at Mesa Verde and we were both blown away with how amazing this place is. Somehow we had imagined we would drive up into an arid little canyon and look up at some cliff dwellings from below. Instead we drove up to the top of a very impressive green mesa with unbelievable views in all directions. Our favorite view was from the highest point in the park looking down across the Mesa with the snow covered Rockies in the distance. We also had a great time walking down the trail at the Spruce Tree House, as the sun sunk low in the sky, exploring an amazing 800 year old stone cliff house of the Anasazis. When we returned to our campsite and started making dinner, the sun was beginning to drop behind the hills. We checked the van thermometer and saw that it was 62 degrees. We both ran around and got on sweat shirts as fast as we could, because it felt really COLD to us. We are amazed that after a month of staying in places where the overnight low is in the low 80's, our bodies now consider 62 degrees to be a veritable cold snap! We're off to snuggle down in our sleeping bag, and expect to sleep well tonight.see today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Playing Cowboys in Dodge City

We were woken up in the middle of the night by howling winds gusting up to 45 mph. We thought for sure the Eurovan was going to picked up and blown away. When we entered the park we noticed a large RV trailer was lying on it's side and was smashed. We now understand, it was probably caught in the latest tornado or winds. We had visions of this happening to poor Winnie with us in it. Needless to say we had eyes the size of saucers and didn't sleep much the rest of the night. By early morning things had finally settled down, and two bleary eyed campers stumbled from the van. Today's big adventure was playing cowboy in Dodge City. We did a quick run thru Wichita and then headed to Boot Hill. Having seen Tombstone, Az a few years ago we thought this would be an upscale version. Boy, were we wrong. Tombstone is sooo much better. It's a real town that you can walk around. You feel like there's a "there" there. Dodge City is basically an industrial working town with a one block touristy Boot Hill that you have to pay to see. The tone was set by the intro movie called, "Relive the Legend". Everything is a replica, and frankly our own Rough and Ready is a lot cooler. None the less, we paid our dime and had a few laughs yukking it up. Ned also treated this cowgirl right by buying her an honest to goodness Kansas rib eye steak. We originally were going to spend another night in Kansas, but after driving thru the rather bleak Western side of the State we opted to keep them doggies rollin'. Eastern Colorado wasn't much better so after a long day in the saddle we finally set up camp in the foothills of the Rockies. Ahh, to be back in the West again. For the first time since New Orleans I put on a very light sweater and haven't had to battle the mosquitos or flies. We can see a glimpse of snow on the mountains from our campsite under the Pinion trees. We might even have to do a little snuggling to keep warm. Oh what a change from living in our bathing suits! See today's pics Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Lathrop State Park, CO

Digging thru the Russell Roots

We were pokey leaving this morning and took our sweet time getting to Garnett where Ned's dad (Oak) was born. It was fun driving thru some of the small towns and I have to admit I was surprised by how green and pretty Kansas is. This is our 4th cross country trip and we always managed to miss Kansas thinking it looked like the panhandle of Oklahoma. Tomorrow we head to western Kansas so that still may be true, stay tuned. Once in Garnett, we visited the Clerk Recorder's office to see if we could get a copy of Oak's birth certificate. Unlike Calif. the County office does not issue birth certificates. You can only get those thru the state. (guess we're not in Calif anymore, yuk yuk). Ned brought along some family documents and an old map from the County that showed which tract of land his grandfather had purchased in 1916 for $1000. Ned's dad was born in a stone house that used to reside on this 120 acres. Our mission was to find this plot of land. Armed with the township map and modern day google maps on the iPad, we drove down several gravel roads until we finally located the property. It's still a beautiful undeveloped piece of prairie. His grandfather was never successful in farming this plot and sold it in 1919 for $1. Ironically, it is now dotted with oil wells! Ah, hindsight. After this fun adventure I really wanted to bike the Prairie Spirit Trail. As you probably know, I'm a fanatic about biking the Rails to Trails. Ned did some further puttering around in Garnett and I rode about 10 miles to the next town of Richmond. It was really pretty biking thru the prairie and seeing some spectacular wild flowers, but dang was it hot! Maybe doing it at midday wasn't the best plan of action. I was originally going to ride further on, but I was relieved to see Ned in Richmond waiting with a picnic. God Bless that man and air conditioned cars. It was about 95 degrees and just baking hot. Tonight we are in another Kansas State Park campground which leaves a lot to be desired. The showers are without a roof and have no doors, the campsites are on mowed grass with very little tree cover, but thank goodness the lake is cold! Tonight at 6:30 we were the only people floating in it. What do they know that we don't know? Currently there is a 25 mph dry wind, which sure beats the still and muggy weather in the South. today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:El Dorado State Park, KS

A Hitch in Ned's Gitalong

Before we left on the trip, Ned was having problems with his knee. He had it checked out and was told it was a Baker's Cyst (fluid behind the knee) and it should eventually heal. Things have been going fine for several weeks, but about a week ago it started acting up again. He's been icing it and I've picked up the majority of the driving the last several days to give it a rest, but the leg and foot continued to swell. So, we thought it best to get it checked out again. I did a little research and found a medical clinic in Fulton, next to Westminster College where the Winston Churchill museum is located. First thing this morning we made a bee line for the clinic and waited...the doc scheduled a sonogram for later in the day to check for blood clots. So, we spent the interim time perusing the very in-depth exhibit about the life and achievements of Winston Churchill. (thank you Polly & Eric for this tip). Churchill gave his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at this college, with Truman in attendance. We were quite impressed with the museum and famous Wren church that was brought over from England and rebuilt stone by stone. Still having some time to kill, we visited the historic little town and had lunch. After a trip to the hospital lab and back to the doctor's, the good news is that there is no blood clot. Ned does have a popliteal cyst, which means a lot of fluid has built up in his leg and foot, but he'll be okay until we can get home and he can see an orthopedist. Fortunately, he's not in much pain...or maybe he's just being macho and telling me that. So, no more bike rides for my biking buddy, but lots of swimming was encouraged. Mmmm, I asked him if perhaps he didn't take a big enough swig from the Fountain of Youth springs! We weren't able to visit Truman's library, museum and home, but did manage to make it across the state line into Kansas. This is our 4th trip across the country and each time we managed to skip Kansas. Since Ned's dad was born here we thought it only appropriate to further explore his family's roots here. Ned had some family documents from the county recorder's office and we think it will be fun to do some sleuthing tomorrow and see if we can locate his dad's boyhood home or plot. Now, we are camped near a lake, or more like a flooded prairie, sipping on sangia and enjoying the drier heat. Even though it was another scorcher day, it sure makes a difference when it's less humid. Ned says he might be walking like Grandpappy Amos, but he really does feel fine.See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hillsdale State Park, Paola, KS