Torrey day 4

Today's adventure was a long hike on the frying pan trail. The scenery was spectacular but the trail was brutal. We did it one way leaving one car at the take out and driving the other to the trailhead. We were on the trail for nearly 6 hours and saw no one else. Either everyone else knew something we didn't or we didn't know something we should of. Even though the hike was difficult, and we were happy when it ended, the experience will not be forgotten any time soon. It was an A+.

Torrey day 3

We did a long scenic drive today after a visit to the visitor center and some fruit harvesting from the extensive orchards in the park. We decided that we should probably take a day off from hiking. We hit the trails again tomorrow. 

Torrey Utah day 2

I probably should have mentioned yesterday that we are in Torrey to visit Capital Reef NP. We did a long hike today down Sulfur Creek. It was supposed to be 5 miles but Apple, and Garmin begged to disagree. There were 4 waterfalls that required some scrambling to get around. It was an adventure that shall not be forgotten very soon. We are here until Thursday.

Torrey Utah

John and Jeanne arrived a few hours after we did after 2 long days of driving. We did a couple of short hikes to get their legs working. We will do some serious exploring starting tomorrow. Yesterday's ORV tour was a 90 minute rollercoaster ride. It was called a Sunset Tour and that it was. We didn't get back to the MP until 9:30. The weather has been cooperating for the most part. Highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s. More tomorrow.

Kanab day 3

We have booked a 2 and a half hour sunset tour through parts of Coral Pink Sand dunes SP on ORVs. We are riding, not driving. We most likely won't get back to the MP until pretty late so I probably won't post anything about that until tomorrow. We put the Old Girl in storage tomorrow and drive to Torrey Utah to meet up with John and Jeanne. I did a pleasant bike ride this morning around a lake that is not far from here. See pic.

Kanab day 2

Today we did "The belly of the dragon". Apparently, years ago, a tunnel was dug through a hillside to facilitate the efficient movement of flood waters under a highway. Through the years, after many floods, that tunnel has grown and been reshaped. It's now a tourist attraction. We walked through the tunnel and continued up the canyon for about a mile before turning around. The next part of this trip will be visits, with John & Jeanne Begnaud, to Capital Reef, Bryce and Zion. 10 days total. We have booked a storage facility for the RV here in Kanab. We visited that place this morning and we think there's a good chance it will work out. There was some confusion about the site we had been assigned and the availability of electricity at the site. Please cross your fingers. Not sure what we will do tomorrow. We will need to give some thought to what we will need to take with us on our National Park tour. More tomorrow.

Dark Sky RV campground

We are in Kanab Utah. On the way here we drove through Page Az and drove around lake Powell just to have a look. It's still a lake, just very much diminished. This campground serves a free meal for all the campers every Thursday. That's today. Lasagna and complementary beer and wine. There is also a star gazing deal with telescopes at 9:45. Hopefully we can stay up after eating lasagna and drinking wine.

Flagstaff day 2

I've been thinking pretty deeply today about Flagstaff. A flagstaff is a stick with a flag on it. I'm just wondering. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight without thinking about it. Anyway, Flagstaff's elevation is 7200 feet. There is effectively 23% less O2 at this altitude. I mention that because I rode a few of the Forest Service trails behind the KOA this morning. During the short ride to the trailhead my heart rate was above 150. This is not a good sign. During the ride I encountered a young lady who was out for a hike. She passed me. Kinda embarrassing. Anyway, I exhausted myself but recovered enough to take Jenny on a hike on some of the trails that I rode. So, we both got some much needed exercise. We move tomorrow to Kanab Utah.

Flagstaff KOA

Today's drive was a windy challenge. The Sprinter has a feature called "crosswind assist" when it senses that the van is about to get blown over the upwind brakes apply themselves for a brief moment. The first time it happened it scared the shit out of me. It happened maybe a dozen times today. The wind was really bad. We are in camp under the ponderosa pines and it's still really bad. It is a cool wind however. We might need the heater later. This KOA backs up to a national forest with trails. I will try to ride a few of them tomorrow. We stopped a few times on the way here. We weren't in a hurry. I tried to capture the blowing dust a a gas stop along the way. We are here for 2 nights.

American RV resort

We made it to Albuquerque unscathed. The last time we stayed here was probably 5 years ago. This place has deteriorated quite a bit or my memory of it has deteriorated. Anyway something has deteriorated. We probably won't stay here again. There was a pretty strong thunderstorm that blew through here after we arrived. It was preceded by a wall of dust. RVing has many different experiences. We head to Flagstaff tomorrow. It took us 17 days for us to get out of Texas. I took no pics on the drive. I'll see if I can find something in the archives.

Palo Duro day 3

It was 56° this morning and 98° this afternoon. The park rangers opened the trails one at a time as they dried out. We had a couple of good hikes on freshly opened trails. One of the trails we hiked had a sunscreen dispenser at the trailhead. That was a first for us. We have seen large numbers of roadrunners everywhere we have been. It's hard to take their picture (beep-beep). That colorful lizard picture is unedited. We get on I 40 tomorrow and should end up in Albuquerque for a one nighter. Hopefully nothing blog worthy will happen tomorrow. Here's hopeing.

Palo day 2

It started raining this morning and hasn't stopped. The soil in the canyon is not sandy, it's just dirt. The trails are now just mud. The park trails have all been closed due to that sad fact. No significant, or for that matter, insignificant outside activity occurred today. I will give you some Palo Duro Canyon info: "Palo Duro" is Spanish for "hard wood" in reference to the Rocky Mountain Juniper tree that is common in the Canyon. The "Red River War's" final battle was fought here in 1874. That was the end of the Southern Plains Indian rebellion and opened up the area for settlement. Of course it was previously settled by the Indians but that's another story. Charles Goodnight moved in and started raising Longhorns. His ranch reached its peak in 1885 at 1,325,000 acres and 100,000 head of cattle. The canyon is 120 miles long and 700 feet deep. It's the 2nd largest canyon in the country. One of the branches of the Red River  started carving it right after Trump was born. Maybe before that, it's hard to tell. Hopefully things will dry up soon and we'll be able to get out. More tomorrow. PS-the burger was pretty good.

Palo Duro Canyon SP

This is the second time we have visited this Park. I think we are here for 3 days. I'll have to check. The campgrounds are in the bottom of canyon with no cell service and no wifi. The world could end and we wouldn't know it. I guess we'd find out eventually. We will be hiking and I will be biking starting tomorrow. I will keep you informed as best as I can.

Big Spring Texas

There is, what used to be, a big spring here. The natural spring dried up in the 1920s. The city of Big Spring has replaced the original natural spring with a reasonable facsimile and built a park around it. There were numerous informative plaques to read covering the history of the spring near the viewing platform. At least 12,000 years of historical evidence has been discovered. The Spaniards first noted it's existence in the early 1500s. It was being used forever and then we showed up. Are we good or what? There was a disc golf course in the park and I couldn't resist playing a few holes. This is a one night stand. We are in Palo Duro SP tomorrow.

More Cattle Rustling

We spent some time this morning trying to check on (find) some cows scattered across a couple of hundred acres of thick central Texas woodlands. We had only limited success. John and I spent the afternoon bobbin, which in local parlance is floating on something in the lake and drinking beer. This is explained as "we be bobbin!" Our stay here is almost over. We head north tomorrow. It has been a great get together with good friends and exceptional hosts.

Pushing Doggies

We had to rustle some Angus Bulls today and transport them to San Saba for an upcoming cattle auction. John is estimating $2700 per cow. I have decided the profession of cowboy might not be as exciting and exotic as depicted on TV. Trust me on this. Those signs were posted on the walls of the intake shack. We are eating and drinking to much. We might recover over time.

Kingsland Texas

Just a quick post. It's getting late and I am barely conscious. Six of us have assembled at John and Jeanne' river house. This is lake LBJ not Buchanan like I thought. The group includes, us, John and Jeanne, Bill Carroll and Diane Maxwell. We have been served a great meal, cheap Bourbon and enlightened conversation. Today is Monday, we continue our journey on Thursday.

The Falls day 4

Today was hiking. If you were an animal hiker you probably couldn't hike all of the trails in 10 days. This is a place that really requires several backpacking trips. Obviously, not going to happen. There is a pretty good chunk of the park that is on the other side of the river. There are no bridges but there is one low water crossing. I would not consider the water level to be low. A visit to that side of the park will have to wait for another trip. The wet spring here has really brought out the wild flowers. Hence the pictures. It's now becoming late afternoon and we are about to head into Johnson City just to say we have been there. I think we will definitely try to camp here again. Tomorrow we are at John and Jeanne Begnauds house on lake Buchanan with a few of the Aggie Group for a couple of days.

The Falls Day 3

We drove into Dripping Springs today to take care of some administrative stuff so there is nothing adventurous to report. We have one more full day here and plan on getting out on the trails tomorrow. We had Bill and Patty over to the MP for drinks and dinner. A good visit. More tomorrow.

The Falls day 2

Today was an exploring day. I rode this morning and we hiked this afternoon. It's pretty hot (96°) and I'm a mess. This park is huge with many miles of trails. If the trails I attempted to ride this morning are any indication of the rest of the trails, I probably won't be doing much trail riding. It was brutal. This is the heart of the Hill Country and the hills are made of limestone and that combination was too much for me in places. There is still much to see and do in the area. We are here for 3 more nights.

Pedernales Falls SP

Just a quick post. Our campsite has no service. Text only and it's spotty. We linked up with Bill and Patty with some effort. They live in a pretty isolated location. We will see them again tomorrow.

Day Quattro

I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling. We had an Informative lunch with Maggie today. Our trip will get underway tomorrow. We have a short drive to Johnson City with a stop for a few days at Pedernales Falls SP. Bill & Patty Carroll live near the park and we will be visiting with them. For some reason we have never stayed in that park. With all the rain South Texas has been having lately there might even be a falls to look at. I'm going to try to post something every day but what frequently happens with these Aggie get togethers is that what I should do doesn't get done and what I shouldn't do does.

SA day 3

Just some more socializing today. We did drop by Jason's house for a brief hello. We have a lunch date with Maggie tomorrow. It's 10:00 Tuesday night and there is a frontal passage on top of us right now. We are getting tornado warnings and flash flood warnings on our phones every few minutes making in nearly impossible to get any sleep. The thunder is worse because you can turn off your phone. It goes without saying that I won't be able to post anything tomorrow if we don't survive this. If I post tomorrow you'll know that we did. Here's hoping.

SA day 2

We spent most of the day at Jim & Anne's house in Garden Ridge. They hosted a traditional Memorial day barbeque lunch with Jerome and Yogi and Jenny & yours truly. Coincidentally, Yogi was celebrating her birthday. That get together broke up and left Jenny and I here for a 2 hour hot tub marathon. Jenny actually got in the water. It was amazing. We are spending the night here and will be visiting with some of our seldom seen relatives tomorrow.