Valley of fire day 3

There is an ancient wagon road that runs through the park. Thats the only trail bikes are allowed on. That was fun. We hiked a couple more trails this afternoon. The park apparently has quite a few Desert Bighorns. We have seen some every day. Sun is setting and we are on a road that closes at sunset. Gotta go

Valley of fire day 2

Today was a hiking day. The trails here aren't very long so we could knock them out pretty quickly. There were Indian petroglyphs and weird rocks. I climbed up above the campground and took a pic. We did bump into some search and rescue guys that were recovering a body that was on a trail we were hiking. Slightly disconcerting. That pic of me under the big duck was taken a little ways from the coroner's truck. We were the only people on that trail for some reason. We'll do more of the same tomorrow. I'm itching to get back on my bike.

Valley of fire SP NV

This place is about 40 miles out of Las Vegas. In fact we hit Las Vegas during the morning rush. The campground has absolutely no cell service so if you need to get a hold of us for some reason contact the park. We are in site 29 in Atlatl campground. This park is another one of those spectacular spots. We will be here 5 days. We saw the Desert Bighorns beside the road. I can post and we can make calls from the end of a climbing road not too far from camp. We will probably make the drive every day.

Pahrump NV

We stopped here on the way in. There is a winery next door that we visited and we noticed this RV resort after our wine tasting. We needed to do laundry and resupply so here we are. On the drive here we stopped and drove into Ash Meadows wildlife refuge. That place is the home of the pup fish. 10,000 years ago the climate was different. Lakes and rivers were everywhere. As the climate changed, the environment dried up and the fish were really screwed. There are a few small, warm, salty springs where the pup fish evolved in a way that allowed it to survive. They are extremely endangered and highly protected. The small colony of pup fish in Ash Meadows stopped a  planned development and shut down thousands of acres of farming. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing the pup fish to avoid extinction. Cool huh! Below is a pic of a pup fish I took this morning. The little guy is only an inch or so long. The other pic is a typical sunset in Death Valley. We move tomorrow.

Day 7 (last day)

Some of you might remember an ancient TV show called  "Death Valley Days". It was sponsored by 20 Mule Team Borax. We visited an old Borax mine this morning. The mule teams pulled loads weighing up to 36 tons. At the end of the borax wagons was a water tank holding 1600 gallons of water and behind that was a wagon full of feed for the mules because the destination was 160 miles away and it took 10 days to get there. Boy does that sound like a fun trip. This park has 4 big areas of sand dunes. We spent several hours this afternoon exploring the biggest dune field. Walking in loose sand is not one of Jenny's favorite activities but I kept telling her it was a really good workout for leg muscles. Anyway, were done here. Should be in Nevada tomorrow. Our trip is far from over. We're not expecting to be home until this time next month but we have made the turn.

Day 6

We did some more driving and hiking today. There is a road that climbs up to 5500 feet above the Valley that is supposed to have the best views in the park. I would say that almost assuredly has to be the case. We did some exploring once we got up there. It was cold and windy. We did have jackets but the conditions weren't conducive to a prolonged stay. There is a high dollar resort near Furnace Creek that needed to be visited. We did that. I shudder to think what a 1 week stay in that place would cost. We did another backcountry road and now its the gift shop for the souvenir Tshirt. We have one more full day here. There are still some places to visit and trails to hike.

Day 5

This was another one of those days. We were away from the MP for over 7 hours and put a little over 100 miles on the Forrester. This is a big park with a lot of miles between attractions. Our goal today was a group of 10 charcoal kilns, built in 1880s. Apparently, charcoal burns hotter than wood and some part of the mining industry here needed charcoal. The kilns are at 6000 feet because there are Pinion pines up there and you need wood to make charcoal. Like most things around here the kilns were only used for 3 years before charcoal was no longer needed. The drive up to 6000 feet was really cool, in fact it was so cool, there was maybe 2 feet of snow up there. After we explored the kilns we tried to do a hike but the deep snow turned us back. This morning we had to dump the holding tanks and fill up the freshwater tank. A pretty simple process because there is nothing to disconnect. I will put todays pics on this post tomorrow.

Day 4

To much to cover so I'm not going to cover much. We did a 7 hour drive. 30 miles and 3 hours on the coolest, most hair raising, dirt road we have ever seen. It was beyond spectacular. We stopped at a ghost town. One of the only buildings still standing was made out of bottles. We also stopped at mining town that only boomed for six months. A very quick bust. Pics of the drive below.

Day 3

Here's some Death Valley information: the park is 3,396,000 acres. That's 1/3 larger than Yellowstone, making it the largest park outside Alaska. Most of the park receives less than 1 1/2 inches of rain per year. A temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded here in the 30s. That temp was the highest ever recorded for a long time. We beat that temp in Beaufort last August. The humidity is frequently < 5 percent and the rangers warn that if you sit in the shade with that humidity you will lose 2 gallons of water in a day. That's all I got for now. We had another adventurous hike today. We visited a sheltered Canyon with a small stream and a waterfall. Tomorrow we will probably do a scenic drive. I will add pictures to this post tomorrow.

Day 2

Here's the deal with the pictures for the blog. Neither ATT or Verizon has deemed it worthwhile to put up a tower in the Valley. There is a fly by night company that has a tower here. 3G only. That should normally be enough but for some reason it isn't allowing our pics to be included when I send the blog out. There is a possible work around but I'm not sure it will work. If it does you will know. Today we did a fabulous hike. We are both sort of drained and have been chilling this afternoon. We are here for 1 week. I will post more tomorrow, with or without pics.

Death Valley NP day 1

Our drive into the park was, obviously, mostly downhill. The campground is 140 feet below sea level. We hit the ground running and visited a few scenic places. We did a bike ride around Furnace Creek and then visited the park's visitor center. We got some good advice from a ranger and then drove around and did some hiking that she suggested. We took too many pictures. Some are below.

Last day at Pahrump

Today is our last day before we begin our descent into Death Valley. There was laundry and groceries. A trip to a winery and several opportunities for pics. We are not sure about cell coverage in the park. You should know if we have coverage tomorrow. Our plan is to be in the Furnace Creek campground for a week. Our site has no electric or water hookups. We will be using the generator or the batteries for the duration.

Pahrump Nevada

Unusual name. We are in a resort RV park. We have stayed in resort RV parks before but none of them were quite like this one. This park has a restaurant, a bar, a spa with saunas and massages, a gym and the the over the top, ultimate super RV resort thing----a bowling alley. We didn't do any of the resort stuff except for laundry. Actually that's why we are here. We want to get prepared for our upcoming week in Death Valley. That starts the day after tomorrow. I took the pic during our hike yesterday.  It is a brick outhouse on BLM land on the shore of Lake Havasu. Not sure that I remember seeing a brick outhouse before. Our tax dollars could not have been spent on a more durable place to do----do do.

Day 2 Cattail Cove

We haven't had any significant hikes yet on this trip. A long hike is possible here if we hike out of the State Park and enter BLM land. The map we had was not much more than a piece of paper with a line on it. Not real helpful. Anyway, I figured maybe an hour and 1/2 to do the loop. We made it back in 3 1/2. There were trails everywhere and we were obviously not on "THE" trail. We actually were off trail for a good portion of our "hike". We ended up just turning around. At least we knew where we had been. I did climb up a hill above the campground and took a pic. We move tomorrow.

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Cattail Cove SP

We are still in AZ. Near the town of Lake Havasu City. The lake is formed by the Colorado river. Lake Havasu city's claim to fame is that London Bridge is here. Rember the "London bridge is falling down" ditty? It's that London bridge. The bridge was built so long ago (1831) that automobiles weren't considered in the design. It was sinking at a rate of 1 inch every 8 years. In 1967 the City of London put the bridge up for sale. In 1968 the developer and city founder of Lake Havasu City bought it. (2.46 mil) Each block was numbered and the bridge was disassembled. The blocks were shipped through the Panama Canal and then trucked from Long Beach. The bridge was put back together like a puzzle and  rededicated on Oct. 10 1971. The total cost was $5.1 mil. We ate a very good meal at the bridge. Of all the places we have ever been, this is one of them. We are here for 2 nights.

new

Wet weather in Tucson

Had a good ride this morning during spitting rain. I got disoriented a few times because I was trying to make it a loop ride and there are quite a few trails that are not "official" that look like they are. I made it back in 1 1/2 hours tired but still in one piece. To answer Pat's comment: The Saguaro can live to be 200 years old but it grows extremely slowly. A 10 year old cactus might only be 2 inches tall. It can be 40 ft. tall and if water is plentiful will absorb it like a sponge. Large Saguaros can weigh 5000 lbs. if they are fully engorged. Their roots are only 4 to 6 inches below the surface but extend outward a distance equal to the height that the cactus has grown. We move tomorrow. The sun has set and it's still raining.

Catalina SP Arizona

This park is in Tucson. We have been here once before so we sort of have an idea of things available to us. There is a Walmart about a mile from the front gate. We visited that Walmart and left it with a significantly thinner wallet. Tucson is in the Sonoran desert. The identifying plant of the Sonoran desert is the Saguaro cactus. There are a lot of Saguaro's in this park. We are here for 2 nights.

Leasburg Dam SP

We are alittle North of Las Cruces NM. Most of the drive was on pretty lonely roads. We eventually got on I 10. That's the first time we have been on an interstate in awhile. The Leasburg dam was built to divert the Rio Grande into a canal so it could be used for irrigation. The area behind the dam is completely filled with dirt. Normally there's a lake behind a dam. Not this one. The river is pretty low. (See pic). We are only here for 1 night. Tomorrow is Tucson.

Epic Ride

Jenny shuttled me to a trailhead about 10 miles from here. I was able to connect the trails from there to the trailhead here. I had a great time. The trails are super. One of the trails passed near a waterhole that had a old stone ruin. Weird to see water out there. This park is called "The other side of nowhere". It certainly felt like it during the ride. I saw no one. This afternoon we drove into Terlingua to absorb some of its ambiance. There are some weird dudes living there. Terlingua is so far out of mainstream Texas that it probably attracts miscreants and maybe some retired airline pilots. We move tomorrow.

BBNP

We had a pretty long day driving around Big Bend. A lot of dirt roads. We hiked to Santa Elena Canyon and then visited some historical farms. The rock formation forming Jenny's ears is called the Mule Ears. Our last stop was a trip into The Chisos mountains for a late lunch. Jenny and I were trying to figure out how many times we have been here. She remembers being here 3 times and I have been here 6 times. It's a big park and there are places we haven't seen yet. We might come through on the way home. We have one more full day here. I'll get back on my bike tomorrow.

BBRSP

That's Big Bend Ranch SP. At 300,000 acres it's the largest SP in Texas by far. I rode some of the trails in the park this morning then we drove the 'River Road' (Hwy 170) to Persidio. It's a 40 mile roller coaster. Very scenic. We stopped a couple of times and did some hiking. We ate lunch at The Bean Cafe in Prisidio. It was recommended to us by a park ranger. One of the hikes we took was in a slot canyon (see pics) There is absolutely no way to build a border wall along that 40 mile stretch of river. The idea of it is absurd. The person who came up with that idea must be intellectually challenged. Or possibly worse. Anyway, we are going to spend tomorrow in BBNP.

Lajitas Tx.

We are staying in a commercial resort. How could there possibly be a resort in Lajitas Texas? You got me. There is a golf course and a shopping area, a hotel and some condos. We went to the bar and had 2 margaritas. $23. We pulled into a gas station just outside the resort. $3.99/gallon. We went without. This is the boondocks of Texas. We are here because we wanted to be here. Big Bend is right here. Big Bend Ranch State Park is right here. Bike riding, hiking, scenic drives, illegal immigrants, border walls, this place has it all. We are here for 3 nights. I took an uphill bike ride after we arrived and I saw that sticker on a car at the resort.

Headed West again

We spent a couple of days in San Antonio visiting with Larson. The pic is Jenny, Larson and his weekday caretaker, Josefina. We are now a couple of hours west of SA in Brackettville. The area we're camped in is called "Fort Clark Springs". There was a calvery outpost here in the 1800s and it was the home base of some Buffalo Soldiers for a time. There were 1000s of German POWs interned here during WW2. They are actually responsible for a lot of the construction that is still standing. Jenny and I spent a couple of hours biking around and reading about the historic buildings. It looked like most of the remaining buildings were on the national register of historic places. This is a commercial property now and it is kinda run down. We have been to many historic forts similar to Fort Clark that were National Monuments or State parks and they were well maintained as educational destinations. Some of the historic buildings are now private residences with junk in the yard and beat up pickups parked out front. Oh well. There is a pretty robust spring here. It fills a swimming pool kinda like Balmorhea. We rode our bikes along the swimming pools outflow. We move tomorrow.

Goliad day 2

I am currently suffering from extreme history overload. We spent 2 1/2 hours in a Spanish Presido reading about Texas. Here goes: Mexico eventually won independence from Spain. Their newly acquired land above the Rio Grande was very sparsly populated. The Mexicans invited Anglos to move in provided they swear allegiance to Mexico. They offered "Grants" of land to make the move more attractive. Well, when the number of immigrants topped 30,000 the new Resident's decided they wanted  independance. Santa Anna had just taken over in Mexico and he wasn't happy. When he over ran The Alamo in 1836 he ordered all 185 survivors of the 13 day siege killed. After that he marched his troops here, where there was a contingent of 350 Patriots. There was some slow intel and the commanding officer here, Col. James Walker Fannin, hung around too long. He ended up getting trapped. He eventually surrendered and Santa Anna ordered all of his troops massacred. 350 soldiers were killed and their bodys burned. Remember The Alamo and remember Goliad became battle cries. Santa Anna finally got his ass kicked at San Jacinto and Texas was rid of Mexico. One more bit of history. The Mexican General (Ignacio Zaragoza) who was the hero of "Cinco de Mayo" was born here. He is responsible for beer, margaritas and nachos that we enjoy every May 5th. The river in the collage is the San Antonio river, it flows through town.

Goliad SP

You'll never guess where this place is. It was a pretty short drive (65 miles) from Rockport. The central attraction in this park is Mission Espiritu Santo De Zunica. Established in 1722 by Spain. They were trying to convert the local natives to Catholicism. There was apparently a rule in Spain that you had to be a catholic to become a Spainard and they needed Spaniards to populate their new world property. They kept trying until 1830 when the Mexicans terminated their plans. There is a lot of Texas history here. I'll go into that tomorrow. I was able to try on some Spanish chain mail and one of their helmets at the parks museum.

Goose Island day 2

This park has a small separate section that protects what was, at one time, the largest tree in Texas. It's a Live Oak that is estimated to be 1000 years old. This particular tree has a name, it is called "The Big Tree". Not very imaginative but very descriptive. After our visit with the tree we drove to the ferry and visited Port Aransas. Jenny and I lived in the Everett's beach house there for the first 9 months of our marriage. There is a house on the lot where the old house was but it is not the same house. After a drive on the beach we visited our first Texas HEB. We leave tomorrow for Goliad.