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An Amazing Adventure~Part 11

4 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

After we had crossed the Continental Divide at Milner Pass, we drove on up to and stopped at the Alpine Visitor Center, at 11,796’ above sea level.

The air temperature was only 56°!! We were glad we had our sweaters and jackets with us! The tree line is at about 11,000’, so we were well above that, and vegetation was sparse, and we were glad we were inside the vehicle!

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On one side of the mountain was some left-over snow! I guess the sun doesn’t get to that side of the mountain very often.

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There were about a dozen chipmunks running around there—all along the stonewall– at least five or six were running at a time. One even jumped on Brian’s jacket, before jumping off quickly. They were really cute—standing on their hind legs, paws up, begging.

We drove along the Trail Ridge Road and it’s reported to be the highest continuous PAVED highway in the United States. It was still pretty rough and narrow, but at least it was paved.

We drove to and parked at the Bear Lake Ranger Station.

There was a trail Brian wanted to walk, but thought it would be too difficult for us, so he took off by himself. We were to meet up back at the parking lot. Karen, Fred and I began our “virtually flat” walk around the lake. We discovered that their idea of virtually flat and ours, differed greatly! There were times it was pretty rough going—but we eventually made it. It was a lovely walk and a gorgeous lake to walk around. Again, there were stands of Aspen trees that were just beautiful.

 

As we were leaving Bear Lake, we came upon a LOT of cars parked by the side of the road. So we stopped to see what was going on. And we were so glad we did! There was a heard of Elk in the meadow—one bull and about 10 cows, with one rather young calf in the mix. We got a lot of good pictures. We were amused to see that the bull was chasing after one particular cow—and she was having absolutely NOTHING to do with him! He bellowed quite a few times. It was so funny!

As we drove off again, we came to a few more Elk by the side of the road– just eating. We stopped and took more pictures. They seemed to pay us no mind at all.

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It was time to head to Denver for our final two nights. But we stopped in Estes Park for dinner. We stopped at a place called Baba’s Burgers and Gyro’s—just a small diner on the side of the road. They were actually about to close, but they told us we could come on in and eat. We were glad they did, because those who came in after us were turned away! There was one other couple in the diner, and as we all got to talking, it turned out they were from Orlando, as well! Small world! The food was really good, and we were glad we had stopped.

 

 

~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

 

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 10

28 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                  

The next morning, we had a buffet breakfast at the hotel, then stopping for a gas fill up before heading East. Our first stop was at Beaver Creek Ski Resort. Brian parked the van and we headed up to the Beaver Creek Village.

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Very swanky ski resort there—unique shops mostly pertaining to the ski industry. And apparently President Gerald R. Ford and his wife, Betty, were great enthusiasts in the area—so much so that there was Gerald R. Ford Hall, a convention center of sorts.

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We saw some gorgeous bronze figures there.

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It was heading on toward lunchtime by that time, so we decided to just stop there and eat before heading on to Vail. We stopped at The Blue Moose for pizza and a soda. REALLY good pizza! We ate at one of the outdoor tables, and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine and cool weather.

From Beaver Creek we drove on to Vail, Colorado proper and Lionshead Village. We visited Vail Village and Ford Park—the Betty Ford Alpine Park, which is the world’s highest botanical garden. Beautiful garden, with a children’s section in it, as well. Some gorgeous leaf-changing color, as well.

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From Vail/Beaver Creek, we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park.

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We saw Grand Lake, and Lake Grandy. We saw some very old cars! Don’t know exactly why they were there, but it was fun to see them.

There was also a bronze memorial to Park Ranger Suzanne Elizabeth Roberts, who was killed by a rockfall while in the Haleakala National Park on Maui, Hawaii. She had served at Rocky Mountain National Park for 10 years before going to Hawaii. Nice Memorial.

We were most impressed with the huge stands of Aspen trees we saw. Those were the trees that I grew up seeing in the New Mexico mountains outside Albuquerque, so they meant a lot to me. Those yellow and orange leaves were just beautiful!

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The outside air temperature was 71° as we started up the mountain, and was 58° at 10,500’ which was two miles above sea level!   Brian was quite insistent that he wanted to see a MOOSE! So we kept looking all along the drive up. He did finally see one—laying down—but he saw it! It had quite a large rack (of horns) on it, as well. Brian was well pleased.

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We crossed the Continental Divide at Milner Pass, which sits at 10,759’ above sea level. The air temperature was 60° there—rather chilly!

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~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 9

21 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

I would like to make a “disclaimer” here: Some years ago, Fred and I purchased “Lifetime” passes to our U.S. National Parks. For a very nominal fee, admission to our NPS are free—for our lifetime! They came in very handy on this trip, with all the NPS parks we entered. If you are ever thinking about making such a trip—it is very well-worth your money to purchase a pass. Karen and Brian had theirs, as well, but probably paid more than we did, since we purchased ours as “seniors.” Look into it….

We finally made our way to Arches National Park.

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There are over 2000 natural stone arches in this park. There are massive pinnacles, fins, and balanced rocks. It’s one place you won’t want to turn your head for fear of missing something amazing. And you should recognize the Delicate Arch—made famous as the desktop picture on a lot of computers! It is also on some of the Utah license plates, and the Utah state quarter. It looks like it isn’t very big—and we only saw it from a distance—but it’s 65’ tall—that’s about as tall as a five-or-six story building! I’ve seen pictures of it with people below it, and they look really tiny!

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The entrance to the Visitors Center at Arches has some amazing bronze animals.

We saw a great video about the formation of the arches within the park, and are told how they are continually changing—and eventually will collapse with just the right time, wind, rain, and snow.

Brian was more adventurous than the rest of us, so he plowed ahead, while we took our time climbing Park Avenue. We’re told that it was named that because the massive rock formations reminded the Arches National Park discoverers of Park Avenue in New York City.

 

It was a bit slow-going for me (I’ve GOT to get my knees fixed!!), but we made it, and saw some fantastic formations along the way. There was Bowed Rock, Windows, Turret, Caves, Pothold Arch, Queen Nefertiti,

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the Three Gossips,

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Panorama Point, Delicate Arch and others. Fred and Brian went on further to see and photograph Landscape Arch.

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We saw the balanced rock from several angles. We saw lots of “fins”

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and some arches within large rocks.

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It’s just beyond description. And we walked along side some massive rocks, just lying around. Again, Brian is more adventurous that the rest of us, and climbed up on a couple of them. He’s nuts!!

As sunset was approaching, we headed out of Arches and went into Moab. We stopped at a Wendy’s for supper, and at a grocery store to refill our cooler. Then we drove over two hours to Grand Junction. We stayed at the Grand Vista Hotel there.

 

~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

 

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 8

14 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

The next morning, we had breakfast at our out-of-the-way hotel. It was surprisingly good—make your own waffles and all the stuff that goes along with that.

We went through the little area known as Fruita. There is a bit of history about it, as well. It was settled by the Mormons, and they planted all kinds of fruit trees—apple, pear, peach, cherry, apricot, mulberry, even Potowatomee Plum (I’d never heard of that one). They made their living off all the things one can make from fruit. The original name of the place was Junction. After the success of the fruit trees, they changed the name to Fruita.

The residents (usually no more than about 10 families) built a one-room school house, which still stands today, after some renovation. The National Park Service purchased most of the land—and trees—and razed most of the buildings. But the school house survived. And while the land and trees belong to the National Park Service, the public is invited to help harvest. According to their website, any fruit consumed in the park is free. If you pick the fruit and take it out of the park—you are charged. Interesting. Here is a picture of that one-room schoolhouse.

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From there, we headed on to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, in Moab, Utah. It took us a while to get there, so by the time we arrived, it was time for lunch.

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I found it interesting to know that Canyonlands National Park is the LARGEST park in Utah! When looking at the map, there is an area five or six time larger than Canyonlands, but then I realized it is the Grand Staircase Escalante National MONUMENT—not a national park Big difference—I suppose mostly who controls the area. Canyonlands has deeply eroded canyons interspersed with sheer-sided mesas and a variety of spires, arches and unusual rock formations

We had a picnic lunch near the Grand View Point, at an outside picnic table. We were joined by some chipmunks and either a raven or a crow (we aren’t sure just what each of those birds looks like, so…..). They must have had some scraps from other picnickers, because they were quite bold.

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After lunch, we drove around Canyonlands, as much as we could. Again, of course, I wanted to get out and take pictures of just everything I could see. So Brian stated that when we stopped, it was for a “two photo stop” only. If I took more than two photos, he would go off and leave me (he never did)! Of course, if HE got out to take pictures, the deal was off!

 

We stopped at Buck Canyon Overlook. Fantastic scenery. It’s like I just couldn’t get enough of it all. Apparently the Green and Colorado rivers confluence carved out what we saw. Absolutely amazing! Breath-taking! And frankly, I thought some of the rock formations were as spectacular as what we saw in Grand Canyon.

The elevations in Canyonlands range from 3,700’ to 7,200’ above sea level. That makes for hot summers and cold winters. Sometimes the temperatures can change as much as 50° within one day. The area has less than 10” of rain per year, usually in the summer by monsoons, which can cause flash flooding.

There is also an area within Canyonlands called Upheaval Dome. The “experts” still aren’t sure—even after all these years of studying it—whether it was a salt dome that exploded, or a meteorite impact. It was a bit of a hike—classified as a “short steep trail” to get to the overlook, so Brian was the only one who made that trek. We contented ourselves with the sign.

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~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 7

7 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

The next morning, we slept in just a little, and had breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove around St. George, Brian wanting to show us the town. He drove us by the Mormon Temple there.

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We discovered that the very first Mormon Temple in Utah was in St. George, rather than in Salt Lake City. After it was built, Brigham Young decided he wanted the bell tower taller, but the town refused. Then came a lightning strike on the tower, and a fire, that destroyed it. The bell tower was then rebuilt taller “just in case….”

From St. George, we drove north, stopping at Kolob Canyon briefly. It is within Zion National Park.

Kolob Arch – one of the largest freestanding arches in the world

 

From there we drove to Bryce Canyon.

 

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All along our drive to Bryce, we were treated to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This is actually not within the National Park Service domain but is the first monument administered by the Bureau of Land Management . It covers 1.7 million acres, so it is huge! Brian told us that many people had arrived there, asking where the “staircase” was? They were expecting a wind-worn staircase. But the “staircase” is actually the mountains themselves in multilayers and multicolors (some call them technicolors), making up a staircase effect. The colors are magnificent, and it was, indeed, a treat to watch the mountains as we went by.

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I think that Bryce Canyon National Park is best known for its Hoodoos (odd-shaped pillars of rock left standing from the forces of erosion). Neither Fred nor I had ever heard that term before – have you? They can be found on every continent, but here is the archetypal “hoodoo-iferous” terrain. Descriptions fail. Cave without a roof? Forest of stone? (Courtesy NPS). We were told that Ebenezer Bryce said, when describing the canyon filled with hoodoos,“It’s a #*%& of a place to lose a cow!”

We traveled the Scenic Byway 12 (Highway 12), considered by some to be the most scenic highway in the United States. It was awarded the All American Road in 2002. It goes all the way through Bryce Canyon National Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, through Dixie National Forest, and on to Capitol Reef National Park. It was, indeed, a lovely route to travel.

Capitol Reef is known for it’s reef-like cliffs, topped by a rock formation that resembles the dome of the U.S. Capitol.

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We arrived just before sunset. The rock formations are quite breath-taking and the colors on the cliffs were spectacular.

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There are several areas in Capital Reef that contain unusual Native American etchings called petroglyphs. Strange!

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We stopped for our overnight just past Capitol Reef National Park, at a Roadway Inn, supposedly near Torrey. It’s located in the heart of red rock country—and the surrounding “rocks” are indeed red. Unfortunately, it is in the middle of no-where. The Roadway Inn, where we stayed, is the only motel within 1½ hours in either direction, and was more than an hour round-trip from any restaurants. Consequently, we had another of our “picnic” dinners in our rooms. We had connecting doors between our rooms, and we opened them up and shared. It was actually rather fun. Unfortunately, our toilet decided not to cooperate, and Fred had to get a plunger from the front office and fix that contraption!

I had been taking pictures of just about everything I could see—even just the dirt, I think. I had taken a flash drive with us, and since Brian had his laptop with him, he downloaded about 600 pictures from our camera to the flash drive. It’s a good thing he did, too, as I took another 300+ before the trip was over!

 

 

~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

 

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 6

30 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

Heading to Utah, we stopped at the Pipe Spring National Monument near Colorado City.  It is a very interesting place—built over a natural spring.  (an interesting footnote is that during World War 2, a series of tankers were built and named after National Parks.  Here is a picture of the S.S. Pipe Spring, courtesy of National Park Service)

S.S. Pipe Spring

I was intrigued to learn that the fort at Pipe Spring was home to the first telegraph station in the state of Arizona.  While not on the original line from Washington D.C., or from San Francisco, the Mormon church built its own adjunct line linking communities north and south to Salt Lake City.  It was called the Deseret Telegraph.  There was a room set up in the fort with the telegraph equipment.  It was manned by women usually, the first being only 16 years old.

We were surprised to learn that Texas Longhorn cattle had been brought to Pipe Spring, and were an integral part of that culture.  There are descendants of the original cattle still there today.

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From Pipe Spring we drove north into Utah, and Zion National Park.  Unfortunately, we decided to take the last eight miles on a road that was barely on the map!  It was full of ruts and holes and took WAAAYYY too long to get to our destination!  But make it, we did, and decided it was the worst part of the trip so far.  Also unfortunately, it was the most direct route to get to Zion.

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Brian wanted to hike to The Narrows—a gorge where there are cliff walls a thousand feet tall with a “narrow” opening through them.

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The Virgin River that runs through there can be relatively calm, or—with flash floods—can be very dangerous.  Fred, Karen and I did a short hike, but then turned back to wait for Brian.  There is no way to hike through The Narrows without getting into the river and depending on the time of year, getting your feet, or knees, or entire body wet.

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It sounded like fun, and we saw plenty of wet, happy folks emerging, but my knees just wouldn’t let me hike very far.  We later took a shuttle ride through the park and got some great pictures.

 

We also saw some deer, and got some good pictures of them.

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We learned that in 1968, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed in the park.

From Zion National Park, we stopped for supper in Hurricane, Utah.  We ate at Durango’s Mexican Grill.  Really good—very similar to Moe’s Mexican Grill, if you are familiar with that.

From there we drove to St. George, Utah.  We stayed in the Lexington Hotel there.  We were about half-way through our trip, so we did our laundry there—enough to keep us in clean clothes until we returned to Orlando.

~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 5

23 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

As we were leaving the Grand Canyon, once again we had a picnic meal near the van. After we packed up from our meal, we headed toward Cameron. But before we arrived, Brian stopped the van and we all got out. It was a clear night, at elevation, and with almost no visible “town” light, and we did some stargazing. It was AMAZING! And I was able to see the Milky Way for the first time in my life. It is really beautiful! I never thought I could see it with my “naked eye” like that.

We headed to Cameron for an overnight at the Cameron Trading Post Hotel, in Cameron, Arizona.

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It is near the Grand Canyon, but outside the National Park.   Interesting place—perhaps not as “fancy” as the Ute Casino, but unique in its own way. It was established in 1911 as a Navajo and Hopi trading post, where the Native Americans would bring their goods to barter.

The inside of the restaurant was unique, as well. Notice the hammered tin ceiling.

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There was a small garden near the hotel, that Fred and I wandered through the next morning after breakfast.

From Cameron, we drove northwest toward southern Utah, but we were still in northern Arizona at this point. We were still following the Colorado River—the river that carved out the Grand Canyon. We stopped and walked across the Navajo Bridge, built to replace Lee’s Ferry.

 

 

Lee’s Ferry was essentially the only way for the Mormon’s to cross the Colorado River, leading them into Utah. Lee’s Ferry is designated within the southwestern most extreme of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and is considered the northernmost end of Grand Canyon National Park. It was an important crossing point before construction of the Navajo and Glen Canyon Bridges. It was named for John Doyle Lee, who operated the ferry for many years. The ferry was in use for 60 years, before the bridges were built in 1928. If one didn’t cross on this ferry, one had to travel another 800 miles just to cross the 85 feet of the Colorado River. So it was an important ferry crossing.

 

Driving out of Glen Canyon, from Lee’s Ferry we passed an area with several balanced rocks, and an inspiring vista of Cathedral Peak.

 

 

We then made our way alongside the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument that was set aside in the 1990’s due not only to its beautifully colored cliffs, but also its importance as a preserve for nesting condors.   We continued our journey through the upper end of Kaibab Plateau National Forest where we stopped at the Forest Station for a picnic lunch.

 

~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 4

16 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

As a child growing up in New Mexico, it seems I had always known about “Shiprock” New Mexico. It wasn’t until many years later, that I knew what or where Shiprock was, or the Indian lore about it. It is a majestic piece of rock—possibly volcanic but probably sandstone—that is just out in the middle of nowhere. It just sprouts up by itself. It is absolutely magnificent, and for some reason, holds a special place in my heart.

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Brian had not thought that we would have time to cross into New Mexico, but then proclaimed that it was a “pilgrimage” for me, so we went to see it. I’ve had a framed calendar photo of it on our wall for many years, but Karen and Brian had never seen it in real life. They were AMAZED.

As we were leaving Shiprock, I made the statement that “it’s dirty, it’s dusty, it’s scrubby—and I love it! This is home!” Of course, I hadn’t lived in New Mexico for more than 50 years, but it still felt like “home” to me. Funny how our minds work.

From Shiprock, New Mexico, we crossed into Arizona, heading to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park that is in both Arizona and Utah—Navajo Nation land. Absolutely AMAZING!!

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This picture is of the two formations called “Mittens” – and you can see why. They look like right and left handed mittens.

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And here is Brian, trying to hold up The Cube. Those are enormous rocks! It reminded me of a “saying” that my dad had, i.e. “I sure wouldn’t want that pebble in my shoe!” I asked Karen if I had told her about that “saying” of her grandfather’s, and she said “no.” So she got another touch from the grandfather she had never known. I keep wanting to pass along those things to our girls and their children – so they will know him, as well.

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The roads in Monument Valley are just dirt—and, as you can see by the car—it just covers everything!

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We stopped by the side of the road there and had a picnic lunch right at the car. The wind was blowing in such a way that the dust made by any cars passing by would blow the other way from us, so we weren’t eating dirt!

At many of the stops along the way, there were Native American women selling hand-made jewelry. I bought a neat beaded necklace with a silver Kokopelli at the center. He’s my favorite Indian character—the flute player.

After we had packed up from lunch, we headed to Grand Canyon National Park. I don’t remember how long it had been since Fred was there, but I think I was about 8-years-old the last time I visited the Canyon! It hasn’t lost its appeal at all for me! Absolutely breathtaking!!

There are so many pictures we took of the Grand Canyon, that I just can’t show them all. But here are a few of our favorite sights.

 

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These were taken at sunset. Absolutely gorgeous!!

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On the side of one of the buildings up top, this sign was posted. Marvelous!

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~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

 

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 3

9 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

Leaving our friends, we drove to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado, just north of Alamosa, after stopping in Alamosa for lunch.

There are 30 square miles of dunefield. I never even knew there was such a place! And it’s right at the foot of a mountain within the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range that is 13,297’ above sea level! There are five dunes that are over 700’ tall.

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We had sand dunes on the west side of Albuquerque, and we used to go there just to play around in the sand. But they were completely different from the sand dunes here at the National Park.

These are shaped by the wind (naturally), and the Medano Creek that flows below the dunes. We stuck our toes in some of the water oozing from that creek. Amazing!

We walked out on the sand—that in the summer can reach 140°! I took my sandals off and felt that lovely warm/wet sand between my toes. However, when we got back to the van, I realized that my feet were coated with something like oil! Fred and Karen had to clean my feet off for me!

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The next part of our journey would take several hours. Brian suggested that we listen to a book-on-tape (MP3 in this case). Unable to connect his smartphone to the car’s sound system, he set up a unique amplifier: a plastic cup, set between the front seats, with his phone set in it, speaker into the well of the cup. It was amazing how the sound was so much louder and clearer. We listened to this story the entire trip. If you haven’t heard (or read) Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (author of Seabiscuit), let me recommend it to you. None of us slept through any of it—and it was 11 discs long!

From the Great Sand Dunes, we drove to Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.

 

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This is another place Fred and I went on our honeymoon 53+ years ago. Here is a picture of us in 1964 when we made a second trip with my parents. We hadn’t been back since.

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Unfortunately, because my knees are bad, I couldn’t make it down the trail to the cliff dwellings, but Fred, Karen and Brian made it, while I went to the gift shop and spent some money. I’m sure Fred wished I could have made the trip down the trail instead! It was a first trip there for Karen and Brian. It is a fascinating place, for sure.

For our overnight, we had another great experience. We stayed in the Ute Mountain Casino and Resort in Towaoc, Colorado.

The rooms were large and well-kept, and we slept well. The next morning, we had a great breakfast there. The rooms were quite inexpensive, probably because they thought everyone who came there would play the casino.

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~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 2

2 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

The next day, Brian was working. He works with a Christian organization called GEM—Greater Europe Mission. You can check them out on the internet—great organization. Before he went to his meetings, we walked through the Garden of the Gods again—through the mist. We saw rabbits and some deer. I really LOVE this stuff!

While Brian was at work, Karen, Fred and I visited the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

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Again, Fred and I had visited there on our honeymoon 53+ years ago, but the Chapel was not completed at that time. It was such a treat to see it up close and personal. It is a massive structure, and really beautiful.

 

Next we went to Peterson AFB Museum. We had a great guide, Carl—he was very knowledgeable about the history of Peterson. He also told us that, when he was young man, he was working at the golf course on base, and his supervisor called one day in a tizzy. He was told that “Ike” (President Dwight D. Eisenhower) was flying in for a round of golf, and Carl had to caddy for him! And he did! What an experience for a young man!

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There was some really neat architecture in this place. Very “hollywoodish.” One funny exhibit there had a “Wild Hair” painted on the fuselage. The caption said that the pilot had complained and complained about something wrong with the engine, but the mechanics couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Someone made the remark that it seemed like there was a “wild hair” in the engine—and the name stuck!

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After we picked up Brian, we headed south. We stopped at a neat BBQ place called Obie’s and picked up some great BBQ. We then headed to the house of a childhood friend of mine for supper and overnight. (More about them at the end of this tale)

Brian had called them the previous evening and spoke with Ruth Anne. He told her who he was, and said we would be there in about 10 minutes. We heard Ruth Anne clear in our room saying: “WHAT! TONIGHT?” He’s quite the joker. Ruth Anne and her husband have built a cabin for themselves on top of a mountain—and have 35 acres of land—and absolutely MILES of dirt road to get to them! But we had a great time with them, and I was so pleased that Karen and Brian had the opportunity to meet them. They are such fun people. They provided us with an enormous breakfast the next morning and sent us on our way.

 

 

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Brian said later that one of the highlights of the trip for him was to meet these friends—however, the nearly-tame red fox and her two kits right outside the back door probably had something to do with it!

 

 

 

~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~

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