November 2018 – Adventures of Roy and Laurie

November 29, 2018

A Few Nice Days At The State Parks Of Arizona

With a bit of time to “kill” before our Thanksgiving date in sunny Southern California we decided to spend some time at the uniquely wonderful Arizona State Parks. The first was called Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Not sure why the name but we saw no dead horses just some live ones being ridden on the trails. The second was McDowell State Park in the Phoenix area. We are having a hard time adjusting to this 70 degree and sunny weather….NOT. In all seriousness though we are having trouble with the sun going down at 4:45 or so. It seems as once we roust ourselves out of bed and shower up the sun is going down! We did manage to squeeze an Arizona Fall League baseball game in where some of the Met’s prospects were honing their skills. At Scottsdale stadium we watched a wonderfully relaxing game for a few hours with a beer and a dog. Very cool. We also had our tandem bicycle cleaned and tuned up so we can start getting more serious about riding it places.

We have come across so many different types of cacti in the Sonoran Desert.

The “standard” Saguaro cactus dots the Arizona landscape. They are all different sizes and shapes but man are the needles sharp! Yes, I touched a few.

Just to give you an idea of the size of these beasts!

Laurie found a “fuzzier” type of cactus. No, they are not really fuzzy and still plain just hurt when you touch them.

Thank goodness this is a child’s play thing in a playground at our campsite or Laurie would not have that awesome smile.

It was finally time to relax at the end of a nice birthday when all of a sudden…..

We saw some mountain bikers navigate their way through these two barrel cacti. I could not imagine what would happen if you rubbed one the wrong way?

On one of our longer hikes we had to share the trail with a few horses. Of course they felt they were sharing the trail with us!

When we saw the horses coming at us we moved completely off the trail. The riders asked us to talk calmly to the horses as they walked by as they were easily spooked.

We had to open and close a few of these types of gates during this hike. Not sure why but we happily complied with the instructions.

Here are a few pictures from our Arizona desert hikes:

Laurie ponders thoughts only the desert can bring out in one’s mind.

We have never seen a rescue heli-pad on a hike before. Not sure of why the need exists in the desert?

Just landed safely! Hiking poles make for great helicopter blades.

Check out the semi-circular rainbow (minus the rain) as the sun set on one of our nicer hikes.

This stick bug in the bed or our truck seems to be doing fine except for his missing hind leg.

As a lifelong NY Met fan I was thrilled to spend my 56th birthday at Scottsdale Stadium watching their prospects play in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.

A front row seat on my birthday. This is the first baseball game we have seen with general admission. As there could not have been more than a couple hundred folks there a good seat was easy to come by.

A picture of Peter Alonso. He is labeled as the Met’s first baseman of the future. The future might be next season the way he was hitting today.

Ali Sanchez is one of the Met’s top catching prospects. He threw a few runners out at second base the day we watched him.

November 28, 2018

Warmer Climes In Page, Arizona

After all the toadstool watching we figured there had to be more to Page, AZ than that so off to a short hike at “Horseshoe Bend” on the Colorado River.

You can see why they named it Horseshoe Bend! Absolutely fabulous!

We actually saw a few kayaks floating by on the mighty Colorado. We could not imagine floating along through this awesome canyon.

What a cool looking couple of old retired folks!

At a BBQ joint all the locals were raving about we watched the birds taking advantage of the peanuts in the buckets. Very cute but what would the health department say about this?

A bit of shopping produced this nicely named product. Looks like our President has opened up a can of vocabulary worms? Never in a million years would we have expected to see something like this in a public store!

In the background you can see 3 tall smoke stacks. These belong to the Navajo Nation. The coal-fired power plant will be shut down next year as it sells its electricity to California and that state is trying to combat global warming by reducing its carbon emissions. Good for the globe but we are not sure what the Navajo think about that.

We visited a resort on Lake Powell with the thoughts of returning someday and renting a houseboat for a good time.

A view of the marina on Lake Powell. All those boats are high-end houseboats. Very pricey!

Even though it is November the houseboat industry is in full swing.

Is it legal to avoid parking in the handicap spots by parking on the sidewalk?

We love these full-scale relief maps that we keep running into. Lake Powell is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.

Not quite as impressive as the Hoover Dam but……Damn is that dam impressive!

A picture of the Colorado River after it has generated the electricity by flowing through the turbines in the dam.

We had to take a picture of this bumper sticker! No other words necessary.

All this exercising has taken a bit of weight off of us and made our legs grow too.

November 23, 2018

A Couple Of Cool Hikes Around The Toadstools Of Arizona

After leaving the Grand Canyon area we were not quite sure what to expect as we headed slightly south to preserve the plumbing in our Bullet camper but when we saw this sign on the side of the road we had to stop in and take a look.

First off…..how the hell does one get through the fence to go on the hike? We could not figure out if the gate-like contraption was there to keep things out or keep them in and what things?

The landscape on this hike was literally other-worldly.

Off we go! There must be more to this hike than a sandy path and neat colored rocks?

A toadstool is also called a hoodoo her in the desert southwest. They are big rocks that are left on top of a tall spire as the water erodes below it. As a math teacher I had to have my picture taken with this Pi shaped hoodoo.

Next stop, Page Arizona on the shores of Lake Powell. We were having so much fun with 75 degrees in the day and only 40 at night that we stayed for a few days. Day one was set aside for a nice hike down what is called a slot canyon. These canyons are deep and narrow and usually dry but if you get caught in one after a brief downpour anywhere upstream of where you are walking, look out as there is no escaping with the canyon walls so steep and high!

Doesn’t look like much of a trail does it?

Would you slip down in this slot canyon for a hike along the canyon floor?

If this were to fill up with water, where would I go?

Check out the toadstool (hoodoo)! Also, the water did some awesome etching on the canyon walls here.

Check out the cracks in the canyon wall here!

Boy I hope there is no earthquake that might send this rock structure down toward me!

As there was a ‘fork” in the road I decided to help future hikers by building a small cairn. These are rock piles that tell folks they are still on the trail.

This picture is one example of why Laurie says I should not be color blind. Anyone impressed?

This part of the hike was a bit sketchy to say the least. Laurie is taking the picture and wondering how she is going to make it down too.

Here is a closeup of the artwork Mother Nature’s water provided for us.

Look at this artwork. The rocks were as smooth as a baby’s bottom!

Which line will Laurie pick to scale this rock wall?

Now all that pass by here on this slot canyon hike will know our true feelings…..or at least until the next flash flood rolls through.

November 19, 2018

Pipe Spring, Arizona…..A Story In Itself.

After freezing our “you know what’s” off in Utah near Bryce and Zion National Parks we decided to head south for slightly warmer climes. We were pleased there was no damage caused by the pipes in our camper freezing up but we probably should not push the envelope too often.

We pulled into Fredonia, Arizona for a few days of fun and excitement. One day was spent driving to, and exploring the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the other was spent touring local historical exhibits. Pipe Springs is a National Monument hence it is run by the NPS for our pleasure. They really have done a superb job of designing the visitor experience at all the national parks we have visited so far.

At Pipe Spring we were greeted by Ben, a member of the Kaibab Paiute Nation. We pushed him for information as he was a Native with an NPS uniform on and seemingly okay with it. He said the tribal numbers are down from thousands to around 300 today with most houses on the reservation being lived in by non-native, rent paying folks.

Our tour guide was a wealth of excitement, energy and knowledge. As has been the case there were only 4 of us total on his tour as the temps are scaring some tourists away we suppose. We forgot to get a picture of the fort itself so we copied this first photo from Google Images.

Isn’t that a wonderful “door within a door”? this is the main entrance to the fort the Mormons built to protect the water that came from the “Pipe Spring”.

This is a picture above the mantle of the Mormon caretakers in the fort’s early days.

This is the original organ to the place. Most of the furniture we were shown was actually used back in the 1800s which really intrigued us.

Doesn’t this look like a cozy place to do your homework/bills?

The bottom half of this stove was also original to the fort. It might be a pain to light and manage the cooking fire each day but boy does it look awesome!

We had to ask about the strange teacup here. The guide said it was a “mustache saver”. It was supposed to keep the tea from disturbing one’s ‘stache.

This is called the birthing bed. As polygamy was frowned upon many a second or third wife would come to the fort to secretly have their babies before returning to life on the prairie. Many a second or third wife was quoted as saying “I came here to the fort and feel like I have been sent to prison so my husband won’t have to.”

Doesn’t this stove look like it would be nice and cozy on a cold winter’s night?

We thought this slat bed was awesome as a space saver. To heck with today’s futon style, you can give us a few of these.

This is the actual pipe in Pipe Spring! This is what all the fuss was over way back when. Finding a water source in the desert is crucial for survival. Eventually, years later, the Natives, the NPS and the owners of the fort decided to split the water rights 3 equal ways. The NPS had a geological study done on the water table and were told that it would run completely dry in 10 years or so.

This is a cheese making table for separating the curds from the whey. The guide said it was probably used outside and not in this room as the heat the table emanated would be too much for the desert surroundings.

We would love to have one of these lazy susans in our kitchen!

This set up was kind of hokey but nice all the same. The NPS tried to create artifacts that were time period relevant. Volunteer blacksmiths kept things up to date anytime something broke or needed to be replaced.

There was a gorgeous 3/4 mile path set up on the back of the property so a good walk was in order.

The NPS keeps this a working farm of sorts. Along with these long-horned steer there were mules/horses that had been retired from a service life lugging tourists up and down the Grand Canyon paths.

This has nothing to do with Pipe Spring but was an advertisement in Fredonia that we just had to include. Not sure there would be Mormon approval here?

Roy affixes the Arizona sticker on the progress map. We spent a cold night in Utah so we figure we earned that one yesterday.

November 17, 2018November 19, 2018

The Grand Canyon…..Only North Rim This Time Around.

We have both been waiting since childhood to see one of the 7 natural wonders of the world called Grand Canyon. We are pushing the envelope on temperatures around here as the general elevation is 5000-8000 feet and the temps dip into the 20s at night. We drove for over an hour on the winding Arizona/Utah roads to reach the North Rim and were not disappointed by anything we saw during our drive or visit.

We were the only people on the approach road to the park so we did not even have to pull the truck over to get a picture of the entrance sign!

Our path to the canyon was temporarily blocked by this small herd of bison. There is a watering hole on the left side of the road so no need to ask “why did the bison cross the road?”

The two alpha males of the herd made sure all were safe during the 20 minute road crossing ordeal.

This lodge was closed for the season but we could not imagine what it would cost to stay in one of those “rooms with a view” as they overlooked the canyon.

We divided our day into 3 segments. The first allowed us to take in all the wonderful scenery along the same path that all tourists flock to on the North Rim. Absolutely gorgeous (if you are familiar with the bumper sticker “Ithaca is gorges” you would agree that NPS needs to come up with some slogan for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon as it must be one of the world’s biggest gorges)

Laurie cannot think of any better place to be! Fresh air, scenery and each other’s company cannot be beat.

That rock outcropping is screaming “climb me”. Can you hear it?

Those happy smiles are as genuine as they get. And this was just the beginning of the day

Our next adventure took us out to Point Imperial for a 6 mile hike along the rim (3 miles out and 3 miles back). When you do an out and back hike versus a loop you do get to see different views of the same scenery and, although seemingly repetitive, wonderfully different at the same time. Here are some views we had on our hike:

That looks like a nice spot for lunch Indeed! ……..NOT

Laurie “followed” that spire in the middle of nowhere as we did about a 270 degree walk around it. The spire kept changing its view for her at each turn.

Check out the boulders half way down lying precariously close to the edge!

After our gorgeous hike we the drove windy road out to Cape Royal and walked the path out to the lookout areas to see the sun go down (well, almost down)

This is a picture of Cape Royal from the distance. We thought twice about walking over that big “hole” in the wall.

Not sure I needed the sun glasses at this point but don’t they look cool?

Check out the angle of the sun and the shadows that were created on this wonderful evening.

On our drive back to Fredonia, AZ we stopped at one of those “scenic view points of interest”. This announced the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. There was a neat placard that described the different color layers to the vast monument:

This detail is all our camera could muster but it was impressive to look at. Even my color blindness did not take away from the beauty.

I wonder if Mollie gave her permission to have her physique represented in this picture.

We thought it very odd that these domesticated bovine specimen were just wandering down the approach road to a national park. the concept of free range cattle is something we are not used to experiencing.

November 12, 2018

Hoover Dam….Or Is It Boulder Dam?

After touring around the Hoover Dam area and reading all the information kiosks we are wondering really why is it called the Hoover Dam? Much controversy over the years but it was originally called Boulder Dam. Finally in 1947 the United States Congress passed a resolution naming it after the 31st president Herbert Hoover. The road over the top of the dam was the only route for traffic to follow until a new bridge was constructed in 2010. The bridge is named the Pat Tillman/Mike O’Callaghan Bridge with no controversy that we could see. Pat gave up his career in the NFL playing with the Arizona Cardinals to go fight in Afghanistan where he was killed in action. Mike was the Governor of Nevada for 8 years in the 70s. The engineering that went into this bridge is amazing. We recommend you-tubing documentaries on the construction of both the Hoover Dam and the bridge.

A picture of the approach to the dam. That is Lake Mead in the background.

This picture was taken from the Tillman Bridge and shows the dammed up Colorado River behind one of the world’s largest dams. The shadow of the bridge makes for a nice pic.

Laurie has one foot in Arizona and the other in Nevada as she points to the plaque that describes the dam as one of the 7 engineering wonders of the world.

The demarcation line of white that you see records the highest water levels over the dam’s history. Only once, in the 1980s was the spillway used to prevent the water from flowing over the dam.

Here is a picture of the 2 hydro-electric plants at the damsite. Best we can tell, the dam was built for electricity generation but the fresh water in Lake Mead has allowed the cities of Vegas and all other southwest cities to thrive, also.

The Tillman Bridge taken from the Hoover Dam. Until the bridge’s completion the only way across the Colorado for miles was on the road over the top of the dam. This caused major traffic issues. Now the bridge takes the cars/trucks off the dam and lets them bypass the area quickly. This allows for a much more peaceful time touring the dam site.

The parking garage in the background did not let us pay $10 to park there as the scooter in the back “counted” as an extra gas can. I guess they don’t want any explosions in the area!

We are not sure if OSHA would approve of a plaque memorializing the 96 deaths that occurred while the dam was under construction.

This clock showed the official time in Nevada. During Daylight savings time the Nevada clock “springs ahead” to catch up with the Arizona clock even though they are in different time zones. Fascinating eh?

The official clock on the Arizona intake tower states the same time as the clock on the Nevada intake tower as we were there on the day Daylight Savings time ends.

Here is a shot from the rear of the dam. It shows the 4 water intake towers that feed the hydroelectric generators at the base of the dam.

A grand day was had by all at the Hoover Dam.

November 9, 2018

Vegas!!

A quick southeast drive later we found a comfortable RV park to base out of that was only 4 miles from the strip proper called Roadrunner RV Park. We spent an afternoon and a separate evening wandering the streets of Vegas as well as some quality Bingo sessions. The highlight of our visit was going to a show called The Mentalist. Gerry McCambridge wrote the television series called The Mentalist and has been headlining on the Vegas strip for 13 seasons. We felt lucky to be here on Halloween proper as the costumes were out in full force. They were all a bit risqué to photograph for the blog:)

This picture is actually taken inside the Planet Hollywood complex where we saw a show called The Mentalist. The did a great job making the domed ceiling look like the sky.

This show was well worth the money and time spent to see it. Roy was even included in the last trick regarding the Mentalist’s picking of the week’s powerball numbers. Full disclosure, those numbers didn’t win us anything as he gave me the ticket he used to do the skit.

Each guest had to write down some personal information that the Mentalist would later use in his show.

As a math teacher I am hard to convince regarding these mental games but Gerry certainly had us guessing on how he performed his tricks. We bought his book and cannot wait to start reading it.

A quick lunch had us out exploring in time to see some “street performers”.

The clown on stilts and the jester were both talented performers.

Wish I had the arm strength and balance to do what these jesters were doing.

We could not imagine having to stand absolutely motionless to be a “live statue” in this exhibit. We figured being all white helped hide any slight movements. We did not see any until her shift was over and she packed up and left.

Off to the dressing room labeled “clowns on stilts” after a hard day’s work.

You order your drink at the kiosk and the robot makes your cocktail. Is technology wonderful or what?

Every establishment seemed to have slot machines just waiting to take your money. Not sure if they figure you will buy the beer/wine and drink it there before playing the slots?

We actually won nearly $100 playing slots on our 2 day stay. We have the strategy (if you really want to call it that) of leaving each machine right after a big payout. Seemed to work for us on this trip.

Paris or Vegas? What a nice replica this was. Walking the strip at night is much more interesting.

Even the RV Park was glitzy! Back to our home away from home……our Bullet camper. We did see a few actual road runner birds during our visit.

As meals were either very expensive or buffets that were less expensive but offered way too much food for us old folks, we concocted a number of great meals in our trusty toaster oven. Well we did splurge on Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream!

Roy ups his Karma balance by helping a woman find her car and her husband.

November 7, 2018

A Mighty Dust Storm Alters Our Death Valley Plans

On day 2 in Death Valley National Park we did 3 separate hikes and had 2 wonderful meals with good friends Scott and Kathy. Our first hike was to the remnants of two volcanoes in the park. The second was to a spot called “The Devil’s Golf course” and the last to an oasis with a desert waterfall called Darwin Falls.

This picture is of a volcanic crater called Ubehebe. Perspective is a tough thing when looking at pictures of things that are so large.

Look how tiny we appear to Scott who is actually half way down to the bottom himself. Laurie and Kathy are at the bottom and Roy almost at the bottom not sure if he should take the leap of faith and walk out into the crater.

Off to the left is a separate crater called “Little Hebe”. Love those names. Almost like we were walking a moonscape.

Lunch this day was at Chez Dando. Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and a cold beverage before a short nap and another hike or two.

After lunch we visited the Devil’s Golf Course and Darwin Falls:

This is the “Devil’s Golf Course”. Named that as only the devil can tolerate walking on these rocks. They were all salt crystals and were sharp enough to draw blood with a soft touch to the skin. Very cool though!

After driving for about a half hour we came to a dirt road with no markings. It was incredibly bumpy with large rocks but our map said to get to the falls/oasis we needed to drive it. Scott white-knuckled it for the entire 2 miles before it petered out into a walking path.

Off we went with Scott and Kathy in the lead to find the promise land.

This cast iron pipe wound all the way from the falls (there was a cistern there) to the nearby town of Panamint Springs. All we could figure is that the dozen or so residents of the town got their water from here? Some of the pipe had been replaced with pvc.

The walk was barren except for these cacti until we got closer to Darwin Falls.

Here is Darwin Falls. Not sure how it got its name but it really was spectacular. Just imagine this is in the middle of Death Valley!

This is what we woke to on day 3. Boy does it hurt when the wind picks up the sand and hurls it at you.

In dust this thick, the road just disappeared right in front of our eyes.

We visited the visitor’s center at Furnace Creek before heading to Vegas. We love these huge relief models of any area we visit.

November 6, 2018

Death Valley National Park, California

When we heard that our friends Scott and Kathy were going to be in Death Valley for a few days we decided to head that way and meet up for a few hikes. Our pictures were somehow (read my screw up) deleted from the camera so many of these pictures are courtesy of Scott and Kathy.

As we rolled into Death Valley on October 27 the thermometer in the truck read 91 hot degrees. There was absolutely NO humidity so it was actually fairly comfortable. Night time lows were around 55.

Sun rise before a beautiful day in Death Valley.

Our first hike was an out and back through Golden Canyon. Temperature was 93 degrees and there was almost NO shade. Lots of sunscreen was used today!

Our first hike together was through Golden Canyon. It is supposed to be one of the park’s most popular hikes. We did see a few hikers but generally only when near a parking lot and information kiosk.

Gorgeous surroundings! We were taking a picture of Scott and Kathy while they were taking a picture of us.

Laurie and Kathy take a nice rest in the sun and the “gentlemen” go forward looking for an easy out to the parking lot.

Scott and Kathy are having a good hike. It did get a bit hot with almost no place to be in the shade during our 3.5 hour hike through the canyon.

After drying out in the desert sun we chose to spend the evening exploring Badwater Basin. This is the lowest point in the western hemisphere at 282 feet BELOW sea level.

After reading books and having thoughts for years about being at the lowest place on the continent we finally made it!

An end to another fantastic day of sightseeing in the desert.

Check out the remains of the small lake in the basin as it is surrounded by salt flats for as far as the eyes can see.

See if you can find the little white sign close to the middle of the pic. It says “Sea Level” Very cool indeed.

As the sun was setting we drove the 8 mile, one way loop through Artist Palette. Nice colors here.

November 4, 2018

Yosemite National Park, An Encore

We have yet to find a National Park that we were ready to leave after only one day and Yosemite was no different. On day 2 we were itching for a more strenuous hike and a good workout. The hike up what is called “Four Mile Trail” was actually closer to five miles and rose around 3000 feet of the valley floor to a spectacular view of the Yosemite Valley below. Unlike hikes back east this hike provided awesome and slightly changing views all the way up and down.

Upon arrival to the valley we saw a medic chopper landing in the field. There were also ambulances there. It was weird that no one seemed in a rush to do anything though. Maybe it was a recovery effort instead of rescue?

We had a tough time finding a parking spot for this hike. The poor truck had to live the day with its wheel propped up on the curb, so it didn’t stick out into the road. This was actually one of the better parking jobs I have ever done. No ticket at the end of the hike to return to either.

Usually Laurie is like the jack-rabbit and moves up the trail quickly but today I had to look back to see what was keeping her. She just wanted some photos of me on the trial I guess.

Here is a nice shot of the famous “Half-Dome” monolith framed nicely by the dead branches of two pines.

The path all the way to the summit was actually paved! The pavement was almost completely eroded at times. We asked why it was paved and the park employees said that back in the 1940s when it was constructed it was all the rage to pave well walked paths?

We took this picture so we could count the rings when we got back to our Bullet Camper. How many do you count?

The last mile of the hike up was through a nice pine grove. Totally different mindset.

These are not called Half-Dome for obvious reasons. The map was dotted with names like “North-Dome” etc.

This is a shot of what was called the “Rock Precipice” You would not catch us wandering out there for a view!

We found 3 National Park Service employees doing some rock-work on the trail. They were very happy to take a break and talk to 2 old timers with lots of questions. We marveled at the skill they possessed.

We have never seen rock-work done by blasting out the rocks right at the site to supply the rocks needed for the work. Check out the blasting holes drilled in this huge rock.

Here are some more lovely pictures of what Yosemite has to offer: