Rockhound State Park with Jean & Bill

Great time at Rockhound SP with Bill & Jean. We haven't camped together since April so lots of catching up to do. They bought a new deisel Allegro... beautiful with so much room! Got to keep John away from the RV dealers ;-)) First night was a great dinner in their new place.

The next day we spent the day in the car but it was soooo worth it. Drove to Silver City for a quick stop at a fun coffee shop. Then on to the Catwalk National Recreation Trail. What a fabulous place! Pretty canyon with a creek wandering through it and big Arizona Sycamore Trees turning color. The catwalk was used to maintain a pipeline that ran down the canyon to a mill and mine. We had a great walk on a sunny crisp day. On the way home we stopped at City of Rocks SP. Weird and interesting rock formations. A good place to come back to.

The next day started out with a fun hike at the campground with view back to our sites. Then went to Spring Canyon, just up the road to look for Ibex. The Shah of Iran gifted 27 Ibex in the 70s and they herd has grown to around 500. They had been spotted the days before but unfortunately we didn't see them. Had a nice walk instead.

On Wednesday we headed home. Thurday was a great potluck dinner with 100 people and tons of yummy food. Talked to the kids by phone. Shannon & Chris did a wonderful job of hosting their first Thanksgiving including Erik, Jenn, their Dads & Matt. I'm so proud of her and a bit sorry I wasn't there to enjoy.

Hiking, Biking, Exercizing, and Painting

Hard to believe that we have been at Desert Trails 2 1/2 weeks. One of the best parts of DT is how active we are here. We have been hiking at Madera Canyon, Brown Mountain, and met Bill & Jan at Catalina State Park.

We go biking on Mondays with the bike club which is a great way to find new bike paths. Kirsten & Cline arrived a couple days after we did and we had our first dinner at Mi Nidito (fun mexican restaurant). I had my first acrylic painting class of the season. Lake Michigan on a stormy, snowy night. Not too bad for an amatuer.

I have a new volunteer project. On Friday mornings I am a dog walker at the local shelter. I walk 5 or 6 dogs for 20 minutes a piece. They are in cages all day unless there are volunteers to walk. It is hard to walk away at the end when they look at you with their sad eyes.

Heading to Rock Hound State Park near Deming, NM to meet Bill & Jean Potabi (from Albuquerque). Staying Sunday through Wednesday. Then back to Desert Trails for Thanksgiving. Hard to spend the holiday away from the kids. But I made my reservations to fly to Portland in April when the baby is due. PS - It's a girl!!!

November 5th - Desert Trails and catching up

Back at Desert Trails on October 31st! Lots of fun catching up and watching new people come in every day. Day 1 I fell off my bike into a big ole prickly pear cactus and a big OUCH! Pat and Russ (nearby when I fell) came to my rescue, the angels. John spent hours picking spines out of my arms, legs, side, and even my ear. Had to throw away some of the clothes I had on because too many spines that I couldn't see and I sure didn't want them back in me. Our first entertainment night was a Steel Drum concert outside on a lovely evening. Fun!

Finally, I am caught up on my blog after a month of traveling and I am vowing to do a little every week from now on. Love the sunshine! And the sunsets are spectactular.

October 2010 Week 4 - N Rim, Mogollon Rim, Kathy & Bill

From Zion we tried to see the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. We walked to Bright Angel Point near the Visitor Center and were in a cloud the entire walk. Just had glimpses down a side canyon. Oh well, another time. We did tour the visitor center and checked out the lodge, cabins, and campgrounds. Definitely want to go back during warm weather. Between Page and Flagstaff we stopped at the Meteor Crater and Wupatki National Monument. Both were worth the stop.

Next stop Canyon Point Campground at the Mogollon Rim which is at 7500 feet and about 30 miles from Payson. Loved the Canyon Point campground and good thing it had electricity because one morning it was 28 degrees. Lovely bike rides in the almost deserted campground and great hikes along the scenic rim trail and Woods Canyon Lake. The fall colors were amazing. The aspen we golden and when the wind blew the quaking was a site to see.

On to Phoenix to see Bill & Kathy. As always we had a fabulous time with them and laughed our way through 3 days of fun. While we were there we caught up with some of the gang of friends and attended a Halloween party. Great decorations, super costumes, and lots of dancing... I think I am too old for Footloose anymore. Kathy, Bill, and I were bandits. We weren't sure what John's costume was but we think he was Dumb from Dumb and Dumber.

John & I spend an afternoon at Frank Lloyd Wright's home and institute, Taleisin West. Fascinating place. He was one of the first architects to design an 'american' facility that reflected the beauty of the desert. All the building materials came from the desert and this place was out in the middle of no where at the time it was built. Go see it if you have a chance, but take the short tour.

October 2010 Week 3 - Sand Hollow SP, St George & Zion

We had a couple days to fill and found a wonderful campground in Hurricane, UT not far from St George. Had a beautiful site overlooking the lake and the red rock formations. Rode our bikes on long stretches of empty roads around the lake and did some hiking in nearby Snow Canyon SP. Another lovely place to explore more on another trip. Nice walking tour of the historical sites in St George and toured the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum. We met Bill & Jan Hendrixson from Renton and had fun getting to know them both at Sand Hollow and again at Zion. Hope to stay in touch as we had a lot in common and they are full timers too.

From St George we made a short drive to our favorite campground, Watchman at Zion National Park. I had made reservations in February so we had a great spot. We looked up at gorgeous canyon walls from every window in the coach.

The leaves are turning beautiful colors, especially the aspen. Biking the PaRus trail every day and hiking the Watchman, Riverside, and North Peak trails. Took a day trip to Bryce to hike the Queens Garden Trail. Last year I checked out because the trail has steep drop offs, sometimes on both sides. This time we both made it the whole way and figure it is part of our fear conditioning therapy ;-) We spent time again with Jan & Bill and made plans to meet up in November at Picacho Peak.

October 2010 Week 2 - Reno, Lake Mead & Hoover Dam

Spent a couple nights in Reno on the way down since neither of us had been there in years. The downtown area a pretty sad but the big sign is still there and the rest of town is nice. Did a circle drive down to Lake Tahoe, around part of the lake and then back to Verdi by way of Truckee. What a cute old town. Then on to Beatty and Las Vegas on the way to Lake Mead and our favorite dry camping spot.

We stayed at Echo Bay with a nice view of the lake and the trees. It was in the 80s which was great after the cold weather we just left. Spent one day at Valley of Fire and hiked the white dome trail with a slot canyon. There were spots with water up to our thighs but we had a blast.

We have been to Hoover Dam before but haven't toured the Visitor Center so decided to spend an afternoon there. Beautiful day, great views, and saw the new bridge which was almost done. It opened a week later.

October 2010 Week 1 - Ashland Lassen Burney Falls

One the road again. YeeHaw! Headed to Ashland and the campground at Emigrant Lake. Beautifully kept park with nice big sites and lovely views of the lake. Took several long hikes and bike rides in Lithia Park and along the Bear Creek Greenway while we waited for Erik and Jenn. They arrived on Saturday and we had a great couple of days with them exploring the city and the area. Sunday night we had tickets to a wonderful performance of Hamlet. It was set in modern day. The lead actor was terrific and we enjoyed it.
From Ashland we headed down I-5 and Hwy 89 to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate as it was cold, foggy and rainy the three days we were there. We did get to see some of the geothermal activity and toured the visitor centers. Drove the park road and planned to hike Bumpass Hell but it was 33 degrees and so foggy you couldn't see so decided it would be another time. Definitely want to go back.

One afternoon we drove to MacArthur Burney Falls state park. Fabulous walk in the sunshine to the falls overlook and then down the trail to the bottom and the lake area. Beautiful 2 hours! The trees were yellow orange and green. A shy heron was fishing along the banks of the creek. Just terrific.