Mesa Verde.....cold
Totems
Arch Monkey Off My Back
Dan's New Hat
House On Fire in B&W. We also have the color versions of this. For a house on fire it sure was hard to find!!
Arch Monkey Off My Back
Dan's New HatHouse On Fire in B&W. We also have the color versions of this. For a house on fire it sure was hard to find!!
Goblin Valley
Switchbacks to Shafer Canyon
Just Don't hurt the Cheese !!!Classy Moves by two wild and crazy guys. The RV chicks dug our duds and and vastly superior IQ. Good thing they were all in walkers so we could get away. 
Ryan's Graduation, Christopher taking the picture.
Mesa Verde/Utah: After a few days in Farmington I was ready to move up to Cortez and meet Dan. It was good to have a travel partner that brought drinks!! Cortez for two nights was cold but Mesa Verde was so worth it. Crawling around the ruins bumping heads on rocks, climbing ladders was good adventure. These same type dwellings are all thru the southwest and I can’t help wonder how did the know-how spread from one corner of the region to the other without blueprints or written language? Word of mouth was the ranger’s viewpoint. Looks like it must have been a hard life.
Monument Valley: Such a classic. I got back to the Totem Poles like I wanted and Dan got to the Valley like he wanted. We were on a very red dirt road in the Avalanche that seemed to absorb the red sand into every seal and hinge. A week later I still don’t have it all washed out. But the valley is beautiful as the many photos taken will show.
Misc up to Arches: So the great thing is that the trip can be adjusted for things like weather. It started to rain when we were camped at Bluff Utah. But we managed to see some great places anyway. House on Fire ruin, Natural Bridges Nat’l Monument, and the coolest drop-off going down into Mexican Hat and the “Little Monument Valley”. Natural Bridges is a certain “do over” because it is just to cool not to hike. So after all that, the next morning it was raining more. We decided to go to Goblin Valley where it might not be raining and take the Hwy 95 up there. That was an incredible day due to the scenery along the way. That road gets a “do-again” because there is just to much going on to take in with just one trip. Goblin Valley camp was full after that drive so after our nighttime rock painting we decided to look at the BLM land opportunities around the area. Sure enough, found a perfect spot with others around too, camping for free is so good!!!
Arches: Off road to Tower arch was a great little 4x4 adventure. So was the hike to the Delicate Arch overlook……”do-over”. We didn’t have the time to spend on walking to the arch so that is a must for next time. So between the off road and hiking to the various arches it was another quick to sleep evening.
Canyonlands: How can you spend just one day in Canyonlands and say you’ve seen enough? Take the switchbacks down into Shafer Canyon out to the Potash Ponds and back into Moab. Ouch, uffff, bump, bang…….etc. It was bumpy the whole way, 3 hours or so of it. We did the best we could to minimize damage to the jeep and ourselves but I did get sore from the ride…..Motrin is my friend. But it is so cool down there I would label that as a “do-again” with a smoother ride. Pictures abound around every corner, just a great drive……..but watch out for the bumps. Glad we took time to do the overlooks first, the sun and clouds made for very picture perfect overlooks at Dead Horse Point, the Grand Overview and points between.
So the camp at Moab was excellent but we didn’t get to spend enough time there. There were giant gaming sets that could have taken up all evening. But we did try to get our best on and impress the other campers with brilliant moves and classy dress.
Last but not least: Dan and I drove down to Fullerton so he could drop me off and see my son Ryan graduate Magna Cum Laude from Fullerton State, one of only a few President Scholars to get such honors. The proceedings were hot and some 4 hours long, but worth every second to see this milestone in his life. I have no basis to compare the incredible string of academic achievements he has put together since…….grade school thru middle school thru high school and now thru college………wow! Some company will be lucky to land him and that process is still in works.
Today (Sunday 18th): is a fix camper day, laundry and sit by the pool…it is so hot. The next event is the Wave on the 21st. I will enter the wave, antelope canyon and North Rim in the blog before I get home. This has been an excellent kick-off to a retirement.
Ryan's Graduation, Christopher taking the picture.Mesa Verde/Utah: After a few days in Farmington I was ready to move up to Cortez and meet Dan. It was good to have a travel partner that brought drinks!! Cortez for two nights was cold but Mesa Verde was so worth it. Crawling around the ruins bumping heads on rocks, climbing ladders was good adventure. These same type dwellings are all thru the southwest and I can’t help wonder how did the know-how spread from one corner of the region to the other without blueprints or written language? Word of mouth was the ranger’s viewpoint. Looks like it must have been a hard life.
Monument Valley: Such a classic. I got back to the Totem Poles like I wanted and Dan got to the Valley like he wanted. We were on a very red dirt road in the Avalanche that seemed to absorb the red sand into every seal and hinge. A week later I still don’t have it all washed out. But the valley is beautiful as the many photos taken will show.
Misc up to Arches: So the great thing is that the trip can be adjusted for things like weather. It started to rain when we were camped at Bluff Utah. But we managed to see some great places anyway. House on Fire ruin, Natural Bridges Nat’l Monument, and the coolest drop-off going down into Mexican Hat and the “Little Monument Valley”. Natural Bridges is a certain “do over” because it is just to cool not to hike. So after all that, the next morning it was raining more. We decided to go to Goblin Valley where it might not be raining and take the Hwy 95 up there. That was an incredible day due to the scenery along the way. That road gets a “do-again” because there is just to much going on to take in with just one trip. Goblin Valley camp was full after that drive so after our nighttime rock painting we decided to look at the BLM land opportunities around the area. Sure enough, found a perfect spot with others around too, camping for free is so good!!!
Arches: Off road to Tower arch was a great little 4x4 adventure. So was the hike to the Delicate Arch overlook……”do-over”. We didn’t have the time to spend on walking to the arch so that is a must for next time. So between the off road and hiking to the various arches it was another quick to sleep evening.
Canyonlands: How can you spend just one day in Canyonlands and say you’ve seen enough? Take the switchbacks down into Shafer Canyon out to the Potash Ponds and back into Moab. Ouch, uffff, bump, bang…….etc. It was bumpy the whole way, 3 hours or so of it. We did the best we could to minimize damage to the jeep and ourselves but I did get sore from the ride…..Motrin is my friend. But it is so cool down there I would label that as a “do-again” with a smoother ride. Pictures abound around every corner, just a great drive……..but watch out for the bumps. Glad we took time to do the overlooks first, the sun and clouds made for very picture perfect overlooks at Dead Horse Point, the Grand Overview and points between.
So the camp at Moab was excellent but we didn’t get to spend enough time there. There were giant gaming sets that could have taken up all evening. But we did try to get our best on and impress the other campers with brilliant moves and classy dress.
Last but not least: Dan and I drove down to Fullerton so he could drop me off and see my son Ryan graduate Magna Cum Laude from Fullerton State, one of only a few President Scholars to get such honors. The proceedings were hot and some 4 hours long, but worth every second to see this milestone in his life. I have no basis to compare the incredible string of academic achievements he has put together since…….grade school thru middle school thru high school and now thru college………wow! Some company will be lucky to land him and that process is still in works.
Today (Sunday 18th): is a fix camper day, laundry and sit by the pool…it is so hot. The next event is the Wave on the 21st. I will enter the wave, antelope canyon and North Rim in the blog before I get home. This has been an excellent kick-off to a retirement.
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