Had to split up the 'catch-up' post due to the number of photos. This catches it up until we leave on 09/30.

08/22 to 24 –El Malpais National Monument, Grants NM

 

The Spanish originally explored this area and gave it the name “El Malpais” which means Bad Country or Badlands.  They gave it this name because they could not use their horses to cross much of the area, as it was (and still is) covered by lava flows.  As the lava cooled cracks were created, some very large, which prevented them from effectively utilizing the animals.  Additionally, water is fairly scarce in the area, which contributes to the “Badlands” connotation.  In fact, the only consistent source of water in the area is at El Morro National Monument, over 40 miles to the west.

In order to make some use of our two days in Grants, we took an afternoon to tour the eastern side of El Malpais National Monument and Conservation Area.  We stopped at the Sandstone Bluffs to take in the view of the valley to the west.  On the side of the road out to the Bluffs, we came across a ruin of a rock house.  The view of Mount Taylor, the largest local volcanic cone, was impressive.  When we got to the Sandstone Bluffs, the view of the valley is not only spectacular, but one can really see the impact of the lava flows, the most recent of which is only 3900 years old.  The lava is visible between the small scrubby vegetation, giving the valley floor the appearance of an irregular green/black patchwork.  The only 'wildlife' we saw though was the critter on the photo (either a large squirrel or a prairie dog, as there were others around that area) plus a little chipmunk or small squirrel and a lizard (barely discernible on a rock (see if you can see him/her on the photo.)

Can you see the face in the rock? (top looking right)



Can you see the lizard?

Can you see the rock FACE (at the top).

Can you see the Skull (or is it a Monkey)?

Can you see the face (looking left, with a beard) 

 

 

While on the bluffs, we noted a couple about 100 feet away, who were VERY close to the edge of the cliffs.  They started up a conversation, indicating that they were there because her grandmother had just passed away and their purpose was to honor her spirit.  By standing on the top of the cliffs and facing into the wind, they were breathing in her spirit.  They were members of two different local clans of the Acoma clan.  We had a fascinating conversation about their beliefs about honoring the spirit of the departed.  They also pointed out various items in the landscape and described how they were used in the native culture.  In the top of the stone bluffs were some depressions, some of which appeared to have been man made.   They were.  Our new Indian friends explained how the depressions at the top of the bluff were used for soaking their feet and the importance of the tadpoles that were swimming in the water of one of them, as they are supposed to possess superior spiritual powers.  They also explained how to make a tea from sprigs of the evergreen next to us.  The tea is excellent for bronchial infections.  They also explained how to make a tea from a type of grass that grows along the road.  Before they left they asked to keep in touch, as they had so enjoyed sharing their culture with us.  A few minutes after they left, they came back.  They had identified the grass that they were telling us about, stopped to gather some and came back to bring it to us, so that we could try making a tea out of it.

 

 

On down the road we stopped to see the Ventana Arch, the largest natural arch in New Mexico. 

We stayed at the Bar S RV Park, which we had read about with positive reviews for a short stay. The RV park was OK but nothing special; yet at $22/night with full hook up (Good Sam) it really was a Good place to stay for a few days to use it as a base to tour the area.  We’ll probably stay there again, to finish exploring the parts of the area we didn’t get to see.  There are nearly 30 volcano cones in the area, along with ice caves, which is why the area is called the land of Fire and Ice.  Then there is El Morro, with its inscriptions in the ruins at the top of the cliffs and then there are the lava tubes and bat caves to hike to and the Wolf Sanctuary to visit. Next time.

09/03 – Texas A&M Game Watching in Conroe TX

Bill is a Texas A & M grad, so being here close to College Station and Bryan has given him an opportunity to show me around the area where he went to school.  It has changed more than a bit in the last 30 years.  It has given me a chance to learn more about A & M and the school’s culture.  For the first game of the year, we headed to Wings and More where the local A & M Alumni group was meeting to watch the game against UCLA.  We were late getting there because we elected to stay at the motor home and watch the Michigan/Hawaii football game.  What a great game – the Michigan game that is (M-63, H-3).  The Aggie game was more if a nail biter, going into OT, but the Aggies pulled it out 31-24.  Full disclosure, Mary had to purchase Aggie shirts to wear for the games and when we are in Indiana, we will take a side trip to Ann Arbor, where Bill will be required to pick up a couple of Michigan shirts.  Yes, we are a house divided, but at least it isn’t an Aggie/Longhorn or Michigan/Ohio State rivalry that is between us. 

09/24 - We now have some “yard ornaments.” 

 

We have an American garden flag on a stanchion with solar spot lights on it at night and as of yesterday, we also have Texas A & M and University of Michigan garden flags on display.  We have also started an herb garden in a planter, parsley and chives at the moment, with plans to add Basil and cilantro or something else. 

That is it from roughingitgently for the moment.  We’re headed to Indiana on the 30^th and will be in Decatur on the 15^th to prepare for having Fleetwood work on our coach.  We don’t know how long it might take to have everything completed, so again we’re standing by to stand by reminds Bill of military life, while someone is working on our coach.   When Fleetwood finishes the work, if we have time, we’ll head to South Carolina and have Freightliner perform some mileage-scheduled maintenance on the coach, then back to Florida.  NEXT POST will be from Indiana.

NEXT POST: October 2016 - At Indiana and Michigan 

 

September 19, 2016 - Oh my! Time just flies by and we're now back in Texas.

Since leaving Eagle Lake we moved on to the Wonderland MH and RV Park in Redding, California, a so-so but economical campground with full hook up in Redding, California. The park itself was not too bad but the spaces were very cramped and due to the trees in between the sites, satellite was a chore to connect. Our left slide was about 1 foot away from the neighbor’s awning and sitting area. Luckily there was no one on our right. Bill was sick with a bronchial congestion (probably in part from the high altitudes) so this was a welcome change from our previous 5,000 – 6,000 feet, at just 500 feet. Also there was another VA outpatient clinic there so he got attention and meds for it there (2 visits). We spent 8 nights in Redding at the Wonderland RV Park ($150 for the 8 nights) with full hook up, it was hard to complain about the close proximity even with the short spaces and hard maneuverability for a 41 foot coach. We didn’t do too much in this area, other than go to the V.A., and shop at Costco, but did manage a trip to the Lassen Volcanic National Park and a visit to explore some lava tubes.

Toward the end of our stay there we managed to get an appointment with Fleetwood Warranty at the factory in Decatur IN for October 17^th until ALL our new coach issues were taken care of (including a crack in the right outer wall at a corner of the bedroom slide).  Then we found out that we still had an issue to deal with back in Texas, so since we already had an appointment to be in Decatur IN on October 17^th, we decided to get there via Texas, so we made a 14-nightreservation at the Thousand Trails Lake Conroe Campground & RV Park on Lake Conroe, which is beautiful and FREE.

We decided to drive down IH-5 to IH-15 to IH-40East, which is when one realizes just how BIG California really is. On our way to Texas we stayed one night at a small campground in Williams AZ, 3 nights at a campground in Grants NM and 2 nights at rest stops. Though we had taken care of our issue in Texas, we also considered future camping savings and purchased a Thousand Trails Elite membership upgrade. Our 2-Zone Camping Pass membership allowed us a 14-night stay FREE with a required 7-night stay out of the Thousand Trails system (i.e. at other non TT campgrounds or dry camping somewhere else AND it only allowed us Thousand Trails campgrounds in the South EAST and South WEST zones, which include campgrounds as follows:  Florida (3), Georgia (1), South Carolina (2), Alabama (0), Mississippi (0), Louisiana (0), Texas (7), Arizona (1), Nevada (1), California (15),Oregon (4), and Washington (12) for a total of  46 eligible campgrounds. Under our upgraded plan we can stay up to 21 consecutive nights absolutely FREE (no $3 daily charge after the first 30 days) at ANY of ALL of the Thousand Trails WORLD/NATIONWIDE (US plus Canada and Mexico) AND there is no longer any time period that we need to be out of the Thousand Trails system, so we can go from one TT campground that we just stayed 21 nights at, directly into ANY other TT campground and stay there for up to another 21 nights, and so on, at over 730 campgrounds. Additionally, we can also stay at any ENCORE campground for only $0 - $20 per night, depending on the level of luxury of the each campground. For example, there’s one on the beach just outside of Key West. Try getting a $20 rate anywhere near Key West. Also reservations can be made up to 210 days in advance vs. 60 days under the previous membership.

So we have been at this campground for the original 14 nights, and upon upgrading extended our stay for 21-nights more… ALL FREE. Therefore we shall be here until September 30^th, when we will go North and East towards Decatur IN for our October 17^th appointment, though arriving there on the 16^th, as Fleetwood will put us in their own campground for FREE; then pick up the coach by 06:00am and return it to us by 02:00pm every day until we are satisfied that all issues are resolved to our satisfaction. At that point our plan (so far) is to start heading back home, although we may stop in at Gaffney, SC to visit the main Freightliner Service Facility to have the coach serviced for its first maintenance service and go over the owner maintenance requirements with them.

The photos are not as many as in previous posts because we have been doing less outings around here, but we did not want y’all to think we had gotten lost or something

08/14 - Shasta Dam, Redding CA 

Since Shasta Dam was so close to where we were staying, we thought we would check it out.  It was HOT!!  Not a day to really enjoy the beautiful park-like area around the dam.  But, from inside the Visitors Center we had an opportunity to watch the raptors soaring above the dam area.  One stopped mid-flight and dove straight for the river below.  Since the river was out of sight at that particular point, we didn’t get to see if the dive was successful.  It was an awesome sight. The other striking scene was in the forest across the lake.  The leaves on the trees were bright red, but it area.  We learned that the fire retardant dropped on the fire to put it out was the cause of the bright red color.  Check the attached pictures.

 

08/15 – Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA 

We heard about this park while we were staying at Eagle Lake.  It is very small by National Park Standards at only 106,452 acres and just over 400,000 visitors a year.  However, it shares many of the most famous features with Yellowstone.  The last time Lassen erupted was in 1921, but that was merely the end of a series of eruptions of varying severity that began in 1914.  Mt. Lassen, the peak from which the park receives its name, reaches a height of 10,463 feet and highest point of the road through the park reaches an altitude of 8,512 feet.  Yep, it was much cooler than down in Redding!  About 25 degrees cooler.  And yes, Bill got to play in snow again.  We had intended to visit Bumpass Hell, which is an area of thermal features.  The area includes steaming sulphur vents, mud pots, boiling springs and fumaroles.  Unfortunately, it was a 1.5 mile hike each way and with Bill’s bronchial issue and the 8,000’ it was not to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make up for not seeing Bumpass Hell, we stopped instead at a lava tube.  We climbed down a stairway built where the ceiling of the lava tube collapsed and entered a very eerie place.  The Park Service has not installed any lighting in the lava tube, so it is completely dark once one leaves the area immediately below the opening.  It is also quite cool, particularly by Florida standards.  The temperature is a constant 46 degrees year around, fortunately, we had followed the advice in the brochure and had flashlights and jackets with us.  The tube varied in height from about 6.5 feet to 12 or more and in width from 12 or so to over 20 feet.

 

The floor was not very even, so I paid a lot of attention to my feet to maintain my footing.  There were some pretty deep cracks in the floor, hinting at another lava tube below.  In all, the tube was probably more than a quarter of a mile long, before we came to a second stairway that took us back to the surface.  More than once we both thought about the earth tremors we had felt in the Eagle Lake area.  All we could do was hope that there would not be any while we were underground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way through California to pick up Interstate 40 to head back toward Texas, the effect of the drought was very evident as we drove through the San Joaquin Valley.  There seems to be a war of sorts going on between the farmers in the valley and the folks in the city.  We noted numerous signs indicating that farmers use the water to grow food for the nation.  All along our trip we have seen windmill farms, but the one we saw as we were traveling toward Arizona was the McDaddy of them all, as you will probably be able to tell by the photos.

 

08/19 - Dry Camping on IH-40

The real interesting event of this portion of the trip was after we stopped at a wide spot at an exit to spend the night.  (NOTE:  we ended up staying on the side of exit ramps a couple of times because about every other Rest Area that we have come across has been closed and sometimes there has been more than 200 miles between open rest areas.)  But back to why this stop was more interesting than others.  We had been having some issues with the battery in the Explorer not holding the charge while being towed, so Bill went out to check on the situation while Mary worked on fixing some dinner.  It was nearly dark outside.  When Bill came back into the coach, he was not alone.  He had found a young (20s) woman walking along the road.  Keep in mind, this exit is MILES from anything.  It seems she had just been released from the local jail, which was on the other side of the highway, and quite a distance away from it at that.  It was so far away, that it did not show up on Google Maps when we were trying to identify a place to park for a few hours.  According to her story, she had been in jail on a misdemeanor charge and was looking for the person coming to pick her up and the battery had died in her iPhone. We couldn’t help her with charging the phone, as Bill’s phone is an iPhone 5 and her phone was a 4 so the charging tips were different.  If she had had an Android, we could have helped her and even given her a charger.  So she left and walked back toward where she had arranged to meet her friend, hoping he was going to be there.  Bill went out again about midnight to make sure she had found a ride or at least offer her some food/soda or possibly a safe haven for the night, but she was no where around so hopefully she was picked up by her friend, or obtained a ride in to where she wanted to go. 

  

 

08/20 – Canyon Motel & RV Park, Williams AZ

When doing our original trip planning in February and March, we had identified this park as a reasonable place to stay while visiting the Grand Canyon area, so nothing fancy, but gave us full hookups and a place to relax after spending a couple of nights on the road.  (Unfortunately the photos were corrupted.)

08/21 – En route to Grants, NM

Travel on this section of road was relatively uneventful.  The scenery is ever changing, from pasture with small low trees to red rock cliffs and scrub sage for vegetation.  As we got closer to Grants, the volcanic origin of the landscape became more apparent.  

 

 

NEXT POST:   08/22-24 -