Arches

This turned-out to be our last photo tour of our trip. But it was a good one. We started fairly early in the morning. It is interesting how the light changed as the day progressed.

The wall says it all...

Very well done visitor exhibits




The early light lends itself nicely to silhouette photos.

Mimi takes an early morning stroll under a balancing rock. Should this be a hard hat area?

One of the things I didn't expect was the beautiful background setting of the LaSal mountains with a fresh snow cover from the day before. Mimi is enjoying the view.





The rock formations with mountain background (in sepia).





Arches on rocks






Even the dead wood enjoys the view





The Three Gossips. They are whispering among themselves - "What's going to happen with Hillary?"




Others nearby strain to overhear them



Some formations just stand silently and make a statement - the strong, silent type.








Double Arch, with a view...





Mimi successfully climbs the Double Arch






Secret of arch formation - the rocks that fall from the center are always found right underneath





Baby arches in the process of formation. This could be a triple arch in a few thousand years.




Dead tree... it's all about form





The back part of the park, called Fiery Furnace





Tree sunbathing







It's good to look down sometimes. This is beaver tail cactus in bloom.






In many areas of the park, the sandstone has been broken into huge slabs from the earth underneath sinking. That is the first stage of arch formation. The slabs themselves consist of layers of different types of sandstone, which erode at various speeds, creating the arches.

This scene looks like something created for a movie set. Even when you're there it still looks too perfect to be real.

This is the last series of pictures for this trip.

Hope you enjoyed them as much as we did taking them....

We are home safely after a loooong drive home.

Tripus Interruptus

We called it quits today ! Had a nice morning touring Arches again. Will post pictures tomorrow. When we finished with Arches, we were preparing to drive down to the Needles section of Canyonlands - about 60 miles south. As I withdrew the bedroom slide, the motor suddenly started whirring very fast. That means it lost it's gearing with the slide. Probably a broken shear pin down in the bowels of the mechanism. Mimi and I looked at each other and decided on the spot that the trip was done. We have serious travel fatigue, and poor Smokey is being stretched pretty thin. The Eastern Utah thing was somewhat of an add-on to our New Mexico trip. We are pretty strung-out, and just pushing ourselves at this point. Not fun anymore. In retrospect, Eastern Utah deserved its own trip, not just as an afterthought.

Done means done with us. We made our way up to Rt. 70, and began heading west. Stopped at Richfield, Ut at the Elks lodge. It overlooks the golf course, and they were very welcoming. I'm liking this Elks thing ! A few good notes - the windshield is holding so far. The bedroom slide tries to open on sharp left turns. So we have to watch those turns! These are typical PIA things with motorhomes, and what I call non-fatal events. They can be fixed. A fatal event (knock on wood, sign of the cross) is a blown engine or transmission. We will be high-tailing it home from now on. The decision feels good to both of us. Mimi agreed not to try to poison me, and I won't ask her to stand in front of the motorhome while I test its brakes. Fair is fair.

Slick Rock

Thursday, 2:30 pm. We emerged from our hibernation chamber that we use when the weather is bad. A look out the window revealed sunny skies, cool breezes, and puffy clouds. Decided to explore the rock formations in back of Moab. These are very popular with mountain bikers, motor bikes, four wheelers, and jeeps. It's BLM land and you can do pretty much what you want there.

Some happy bikers beginning the trail

Beautiful views, even for non-bikers

Sandstone sculptures

How would you like this campsite? Can't beat the view!

Tomorrow: Arches again

Stopped

That's it. Completely hamstrung. The weather is horrible. We started touring Arches under ominous skies yesterday morning. Very grey, flat lighting. Could see the majestic formations, but not photograph them. There was not enough light, and the camera repeatedly said, "Picture blurry". "Do you want to keep it?" This is very frustrating, since I was looking forward to some great photography at Arches. As the morning progressed, the weather deteriorated. We finally headed back to town for a Chinese Buffet Lunch. Then to Smokey for a long nap.

Luckily I completed repair work on the windshield yesterday afternoon. I smeared the worst areas with clear epoxy cement, working it into the cracks. Then covered the epoxy with clear tape for reinforcement. Finally, black RTV was squirted into the base, to restore waterproofing. Doesn't look bad, but has a rough surface. We have good glass insurance. So replacing the windshield should cost the deductible - $100.

Today the weather looks even worse. Rained all night, and this morning is heavy rain and projected for all day. We're in kind of a bind. Hesitant to drive the motorhome in the rain. All of the repair work on the windshield will probably quickly tear up the windshield wiper, as it goes over the area. So we will sit here and wait-out the bad weather. An in-depth check of Weather.com shows a giant low pressure system going over most of the country.

Googled Moab, to see what's happening here. This is a one horse town - large, but geared to one thing - tourism. Lots of motels, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Few basic services. No WalMart !
This may be a town that is well-off financially, but doesn't have any place to spend their money.

The Gummit has been here, though. They went through here years before, leaving 12 million tons of uranium tailing's lying around. They swear that the radiation is so low that it is not dangerous. But, want to move it to a hole outside of town and seal it over. Just to be sure, I guess. These days I absolutely do not trust the Gummit, and look forward to leaving the low level, nondangerous radiation behind.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good

A few observations about Mesa Verde. We spent more time than expected here. It turned-out to be a really nice campground. Our site - on a hillside, allowed us to overlook the small valley, watching birds and deer come and go. The deer are no dummies. They hang around in this valley, grazing the grasses and bushes with plenty of cover for privacy. The campground is arranged in loops on the bottom and one side of the valley. Brush fills the loops in, and makes the campsites pretty private. The deer quietly sneak into the center of the loops at night - I'm sure for safety. What predator, like a mountain lion, is going to risk an encounter with (shudder) a tourist ? That would mean an instant end to the mountain lion.

Last night was funny. The deer were making their way down the hillside opposite the campground, and some tourists spotted them. Acting like they had never seen deer before, they gathered at the bottom of the valley, and stood there forever, watching them and taking photos. Little did they realize that they were blocking the deers path to the campground for their overnight bedding. I could see the deer, just standing in the brush, waiting for the tourists to leave. Probably talking to each other about another beginning of the tourist season, and the inconveniences of it.

A good half of the campers are from other countries - mainly Germany. They have these small Class C's - about 22 ft long, and zip around in them. Every time I see one go by I'm reminded of The RV Movie with Robin Williams. The little motorhomes have these cheesy signs and pictures plastered on their sides, turning them into giant billboards. For the foreign tourists, what seem like high rental rates and gasoline prices to us are a bargain for them, due to the demise of the value of the dollar. O well, maybe their visiting will help dispel European notions of a crime-ridden America. Just stay away from the cities!

As we headed north, towards Moab, the traffic suddenly ground to a halt. Ahead was a pack of llamas who had escaped their pasture and were making their way to a farm house - across the highway, naturally. They were milling around on the road. Some wanted to proceed, others return to the pasture. All ended-up crossing the road except one, who reluctantly returned to the pasture.

This was one of the first sights we encountered as we entered Utah. You can see that the background is beginning to become interesting. The beehive-like formation is in the middle of nowhere. There was even a little door at the bottom. A cave may have been formed inside. Don't have any more details now.

The Bad

As we proceeded north, I asked Mimi to cross-check our position on the map with the GPS. The GPS said we were on Rt. 491, the map, which is pretty old, said Rt. 666. Humm - Same road. We surmised that the Mormons just couldn't have a road designated as 666 in Utah - The Devils Road! Given their political clout, it was changed to Rt. 491.

The Ugly

As we were cruising along, I was thinking about the lack of problems we have had on the trip. That's always a deadly thing to do. Mr. Devil must have been listening. We pulled into Moab around lunch time, and after a little searching, found the Elks Lodge on a small mesa, right above downtown. We positioned the RV strategically, and began leveling. Smokey has four very powerful hydraulic pistons to raise, lower, and stabilize side to side. Those pistons are also able to twist the frame slightly. Soooo... I over did it, and CRAAAACK! Ruined half of the windshield. I'll go out later and stabilize it with silicone caulk and tape until we can get it fixed at home. O well, stuff happens...

Tomorrow - Arches !!

Change of Plans

As we were sitting around the campfire last nite, I asked Mimi if she "Really, really wanted to go on the train ride Monday". Turned-out she didn't. I was also ambivalent. Our thinking was: We have to get up very early, drive 30 miles to Durango, find the Depot, and hope that they have seats. If they do, it would cost close to $200 for the ride. You go to Silverton, and are held captive there until the train leaves to return to Durango. Naturally, Silverton is a tourist town with $10 hamburgers, etc. I don't know, maybe we're getting burned-out, but that tour didn't sound attractive any more.

Instead, we will go into town, restock on groceries, water, etc. and get ready for our final push - the parks of eastern Utah. Several years ago we toured the western Utah parks (Bryce, Zion, and Capitol Reef). It was a great trip, but we had to return to work. This time we will try to see Arches, Natural Bridges, Canyonlands, and possibly some others.

So today we went to Durango to do some touring and restocking of supplies. Mimi wanted to see Fort Lewis College, since it had good memories when she last visited it when 12 years old. Her dad took some summer classes there, bringing the family.


The college had grown tremendously over the years, with many new buildings. The background of the Rocky Mountains is beautiful.




The clock tower in the center of the campus indicated almost lunch time. I decided to treat Mimi to a Burger King lunch in town. Lucky girl !

Mimi checking-out the lilac blossoms.

A nice view from the student life center. My college was downtown Chicago - with a much different atmosphere. These kids are very fortunate!



Sculpture of Potter Women on campus

Giant sculpture of a Horny Toad. Must be their mascot - notice the shiny front leg which is rubbed for good luck. Or someone has a very strange fetish...



The campus is on a mesa, overlooking Durango. Durango used to be a nice town, but it is overrun with with traffic. Geographic constraints keep if from expanding much.

On our way back to the Mesa Verde campground, we passed by the Hogan Trading Post. There were giant arrows sticking out of the ground, surrounding the building. Fearing that they were recently attacked – possibly by the fabled Pueblo Grande tribe, we pulled into the souvenir shop and breathlessly asked if they were OK. The manager laughed – the arrows were just telephone poles painted like arrows and set into the ground at an angle. Whew ! That was a relief ! While there Mimi bought a wooden cane. Perfect. She could use it as a fire poker, and, when her knee goes out – a cane. Now that’s a practical souvenir

More Cliff Dwellings..

Yesterday was our major exploration day. We took two tours of cliff dwellings - Balcony House and Cliff Palace. We also spent some time with two new neighbors across from us - Linda and Liz. Linda is an award winning photojournalist and Liz is Professor Emeritus from Arizona State and Berkley. Here they are with Bailey, the dog. Their cat (Bow Tie) is shy, and mostly stays in the motor home. Fortunately (for me), they had an injured windshield, so it was Dr. Glass to the rescue!




Ranger Rick prepares us for the tour. This one involved lots of climbing and crawling - something not easy at this high altitude. Many of the rangers are young - in their 20's. Nice kids - dedicated, knowledgeable, and energetic. Nice to see.



A view across the valley. Once you get the hang of it, cliff dwellings are easy to spot, since they typically exist about 100 ft. below the top because of geologic reasons. There are hundreds of dwellings in the park. Only four of the biggest are accessible to the public.




This is ominous. I don't like heights...





Didn't like this climb much either...







The climbing is worth it once you get into the cliff dwelling.





Mimi enjoying the tour immensely.






More ladders!




Mimi makes an excellent student as she listens to the ranger lecture.

The climb back up. We couldn't believe that they allow kids of any age on these tours. There were infants to teenagers roaming around, with no barriers to edges which go hundreds of feet down. I guess the rangers think the parents are responsible enough to keep them safe. Wrong!

Can you spot the cliff dwellings on the other side of the canyon?

Here is a close-up of one that's not accessible.






Home sweet home after a long day of touring





Happy hour starts at 4:00 pm, with a great view from our campsite.




Tomorrow - we will attempt to ride the Durango-Silverton railroad without reservations. We'll see if we can get aboard.