In Phoenix Area

We're here in the Phoenix area hoping to visit with friends and family. We're currently staying in Casa Grande near Jim and Chris. We also have plans to see my sister and her family. Unfortunately I have another friend who used to live in this area but her contact information has changed - so Cathie J-M, if you're still checking my blog, please call or email me! We'd love to see you and we're here til Sunday.

Valley of Fire State Park

We would highly, highly recommend a visit to Valley of Fire. (Thank you Dee and Jerry for recommending this park to us!) Consider this as a potential day trip the next time you go to Vegas for business. It's a much shorter drive than to the Grand Canyon, and you can really experience the park in a day trip - something you can't do at the Grand Canyon. You could also make it a loop drive and drive back via Hwy 167 along Lake Mead NRA.

We couldn't decide why they called this park "Valley of Fire": is it because of the fiery red color of the rock or because the summer temperatures can reach burning hot temperatures of 120 degrees. We just considered ourselves lucky to be here in October!

Elephant Rock greets you at the east entrance:
A drive up to Rainbow Vista gives you a panoramic view of the area:
Several short hikes will get you immersed in red:
The trail by White Domes will even take you into a slot canyon. These narrow hallways of rock are one of nature's wonders.
I think they should call "White Domes" something different - like Rainbow Sherbert Domes. They're not just white. They are striped or splashed with many pastel colors. We'd climb to the top of a dome and just sit and sit soaking in the views. As the sun changed, the colors changed before our eyes.
And for those who like some history in their parks, there are hundreds of petroglyphs in different areas of the park.

Boondocking

Friday we decided to head south and stay with the warm weather. We skirted the western edge of the Grand Canyon, but didn't really feel the need or the desire to go all of the way to Vegas this time. RVing friends of ours had recommended Valley of the Fire State Park to us years ago, and it had been on my list of "recommended places" just waiting for the right opportunity. This was it! It's about 75 miles northwest of Vegas. But to our surprise when we arrived at 4:30 pm, the campgrounds were already full. We hadn't considered that to be a possibility considering it is relatively remote. The rangers recommended several options, the closest being the BLM "free zone" = no fees, no rules. "It could get loud.", we were warned. We had driven by two areas on the way in. One area had great views, but was filling up with RVers. Another section was down a dirt road and only had a couple of RVs back there. We decided to try out the quieter Sandmine Road first. Only after making the turn onto the dirt road while towing Ele did we notice the fine print - 4x4 recommended. Yikes! We detached and Andy went to investigate.

We were able to drive Spirit down the road without any problems. And, we were about to experience one of our rare boondocking weekends. "Boondocking" is an RVing term referring to camping in a remote area without any hookups. Some RVers do this frequently and have developed special tricks or techniques on surviving without power or water. For example, solar panels on the roof of their RV.

So, here we are....our closest neighbors were several hundred yards away. It was quite a liberating weekend.
We enjoyed the most beautiful sunsets....
...and watched the full moon rise over the distant mountains...
...and drank our coffee outside watching the sunrise light up the sky. All in quiet solitude.

St George, UT

We had been working and driving a lot so it was awfully hard to keep us indoors on such a gorgeous day. We took a few hours to go hike and explore the nearby Snow Canyon State Park. Absolutely stunning. It has a little bit of everything - sand dunes, petrified sand dunes, lava tubes, and lots and lots of color. The red and white sandstone formations are breathtaking. It reminded me why we love southern Utah so much. Zion Nat'l Park is a short distance away and I couldn't believe we weren't going to go visit - but this was a wonderful substitute. And only a 15 minute drive from town.
Sandstone is a great surface to hike on. Even with steep slopes, it's easy to climb because it is so grippy on the soles. This ascent required a vertical scramble to get to the apex. But from this viewpoint we were able to see the whole park and see more of the volcanic activity that had occurred in this region.
Another, but man-made, beauty in St George is the St George Mormon Temple built in 1871. From a distance this all-white temple really stands out against the red rock bluff behind it.

St George, UT - On Two Wheels

The town of St George is great for biking. There are lots of interconnecting paved trails to get around town, tour the Virgin River area, or ride into the State Park. So one day we hopped on the Virgin River trail right from our campground - how convenient is that!
You might have noticed that I'm not on a paved trail in the picture above. We bypassed a "trail closed" sign to see why it was closed. Well, last year they experienced one of those 100-year floods and the Virgin River decided to pick up the asphalt trail and move it...or remove it.

We met a biker on this trail that told us of an area nearby that was great for mountain bikes - the "most fun you'll have in the desert", he said. So the next day we hit Bear Claw Poppy Trail...and had lots of fun on the rolly-polly hills...
We couldn't remember all of the directions he gave us, but we remembered that one area was easy and the other....well, he broke two ribs in that section. Unfortunately we we went through that section looking for the easy section. It must get crazy if it is busy, though. All of the trails crisscross and with the hills it would be hard to tell who is on which trail. Good thing we had it all to ourselves.

Driving Days

We had a beautiful drive from Idaho to Provo, UT. There was snow on the mountains and some times on the ground close enough to touch, but it didn't lay on the road. I took a lot of pictures on this drive and on our arrival in Provo, so I thought I'd post them as a video for something different.

We would've loved to have stayed in the Provo/Salt Lake City area longer because there is so much to see and do here - the Capitol, Uinta Brewing, Mormon Temple, Timpanagos Cave, and more. But, we realized that we were really craving some warm weather! We miss exercising and wearing shorts and feeling the heat of the sun. I know, we're soft! But we just feel it's time for a change...so today we drove to the southern border of Utah to St George.

It was a full driving day for us. But we had to get some work done, so we stopped at a rest area for lunch and put up the dish! This is why we have satellite!
We were able to get on the road early and still get to check the market for potential trades before the market closed. Perfect.

And now we are all toasty warm again...the weather forecast is in the 80's. Yea!

We're still in Idaho

We ended up spending two extra nights in Boise because we didn't want to drive in the winds and rains that have been hitting the area. Yesterday we were lucky enough to have a beautiful drive to Declo, ID. It was sunny in the valley where the highway was, but we could see snow on the mountains to the north and south of us. It was quite beautiful. I love it - when I'm not driving in it!

We reached our campground just before the expected winds arrived. They've been around 20-30mph with stronger gusts. Not fun to drive in when you're a 11' tall box. Here's a picture of our view of the local mountains. I think it's almost time for skiing?!Idaho is a very pretty state. We would love to explore more of it, but now is not the time. It will stay on our list of places to return to.

This picture is for Andy's Mom - she just adores squirrels! Ha! Not in the least. But this lil guy was stuffing his mouth with a papery bark to take home to pad his nest.
We should be in Salt Lake City this afternoon....

Laura Lee

It's been a sad week for me and my girlfriends. September 11th has always been difficult for us as it constantly reminds us of our dear friend Laura Lee Morabito. But this week we learned that they have identified several of her remains. I hadn't considered there would be any remains since she was on one of the planes (American Flight 11). But the thought of having something to bury has brought her family some peace and they will be holding a funeral service for her tomorrow. They had erected a tombstone in her memory in 2001, but now they will have something to place beneath it.

After absorbing the news, I had started to worry that they had just recently come across the remains. I was finding it disturbing to think she could've been in Ground Zero all of this time, but thankfully she was found in 2001. It wasn't until last week that they had identified her remains thru DNA testing. Apparently she was the 1,618th victim of the 2,750 to be identified. So that makes my heart ache for the rest of the families still waiting. And I also worry that her family will get calls in the future that more remains have been identified. It would be heart wrenching, in my opinion, to keep opening the grave.

One of the remains identified happened to be her left arm which still had her wedding band on. Her husband has been wearing it since it was returned to him, but tomorrow at the funeral he will be giving it to Laura's mother.

Unfortunately, we can't help but think and imagine what happened that day six years ago. So, I'll just say what I'm thankful for: I'm thankful that her wedding band has been found, I'm thankful that her family will now have peace with a proper burial, I'm glad her family is kind enough to keep her old girlfriends informed, I'm glad that there are scientists still working on identifying each and every person, and I'm glad there is technology available today to allow this to happen.

Boise, ID

We were blessed with glorious sunshine the first couple of days here in Boise. It wasn't necessarily warm, but there was the sun to lift our spirits. One day after work, we went into town and rode our bikes along the Greenbelt Trail which allowed us to see some of the city, parks, and Boise State University campus.
But today the weather has turned. It is damp and cold and this morning at breakfast I looked out the window only to see that the nearby mountains now have a white coating on them they didn't have the other day. We still haven't decided on the best route to cross the Rockies yet - stay north and go thru Cheyenne, WY....or go south thru Utah to Albuquerque...or go south to Vegas, then east. While we decide, we're taking care of car and RV maintenance before moving on.

Heading East

We finally have turned east and are heading home to Florida. We made it 290 miles today, putting us close to the Idaho border. We know it's going to start snowing soon in the mountains, so we stayed along the Columbia River Gorge to get past the Cascades and the Sierras. But Andy just told me that the forecast for our area has already changed...they're now expecting snow by Thursday here in eastern Oregon. Yikes!

Portland, OR

We only had a day and a half to visit with our friends in Portland. We got together with Jen, Aquiles, Rene and Todd for dinner Friday night. Then Saturday we spent the day with Jen and Aquiles. First we hit the downtown Farmer's Market and then went for a bike ride on Sauvie Island. Sauvie Island sits in the Columbia River just outside the city.
The Island is very pretty with corn fields, u-pick flower farms, pumpkin patches, and corn mazes.
But, here is a warning: don't ever, ever, ever go on a sunny weekend in the fall. Never! It took us over 2 1/2 hours to go 3-4 miles. No kidding. There is only one bridge to get off and on the island so there were no other options. We actually took turns walking on the side of the road just to get out of the car. I had to laugh when I saw this sign - No Stopping or Parking - and considered calling the police to report the 300+ cars parked on the road. But I didn't think they'd find me humorous. Then there was the electronic speed limit sign - you know the ones that flash when you go over the posted speed limit? - well this one was mocking me with its "00" mph!

But, we realized that all we wanted from this weekend was to be with our friends and it really didn't matter where we were or what we were doing.

More Motivation

While in Auburn/Bellevue area we found some extra motivation to make trading work for us. Rush hour traffic. Our RV Park in Auburn was only 30 miles away from the class. We figured with highway driving it wouldn't take that long. Unfortunately we didn't realize how bad rush hour can be! It took us 1 1/2 hours to drive to class on the second morning.

If we can be successful in trading, we'll never have to worry about those ugly commutes again!

Auburn, WA - Investools

Some of you might be scratching your heads saying, now why would they be hanging out in the cold and rain in Seattle-area when the rest of the country is 85 degrees and sunny!? Well, we realized that Investools was offering several classes in the area, and since we were in the same place at the time the classes were being offered, we thought we'd take advantage of them. The first refresher class we took was Beginning Stocks which was the same weekend Andy's Mom and sister left. Tomorrow there is a refresher class on Advanced Technicals. We were about to leave the area with the plan of hitting this class in San Francisco at the end of October, but it filled up. So we decided to stay in the area this past week and take it in Bellevue. Getting back to the basics should help us with our trading.

Chimacum, WA - Kinetic Sculpture Race

After Mom and Carol left, the sun went with them. We had 8 straight days of rain and dreariness to coincide with the sadness of their departure. We started to call a day "nice" if it stopped raining at all, or "great" if we could see patches of blue sky for several minutes.

So when we heard of Port Townsend's Kinetic Sculpture Race we just had to go see the zany-craziness of it all. It was the perfect cure for our duldrums.

This poor bull didn't seem to make it far...the Start was a few blocks away, but the microbrewery where he stopped must've been too appealing! We never saw him again in the race.
Perhaps it was the 'weights' on the backside that made the water portion of the race difficult?
The racers had to take their man-made, man-powered, works of art through water, through a sand pit, through the Dismal Bog, and up and down the hilly streets of town to complete the race course.The Magic Bus was powered by 5 women on bicycles, blasting The Doors:

Unfortunately we had to bail out shortly after the race started the Dismal Bog portion because it started pouring. I was bummed to miss out on watching more racers drag their creations through the mud, but my hands went numb.

If you ever have an opportunity to watch a Kinetic Race, you should check it out. The creativity involved in building these movable structures is really fascinating. And, obviously some work...and others don't, which makes it all so entertaining.

Our Seattle Loop Trip

We had a wonderful week last week with Andy's Mom and sister, Carol. We did so much and saw so much it's hard to even just mention the highlights of our trip. But, I'll try my best:

Our stay in Seattle: beautiful hotel in downtown area with a view of the Space Needle. We did most of the touristy stuff: Space Needle, Pioneer Square, Pike Place, Hiram Chittendon Locks & Canal, and lots and lots of walking and exploring the city.

In Port Townsend: checked out the shops and restaurants. Toured Ft Worden State Park and the lighthouse.

On our way to Victoria we saw a pod of Orcas from the ferry. While in town, we walked and walked and walked. It's a great walking city. Our hotel was on the Inner Harbor, with great views of the seaplanes and Harbor Boats , so it was nice just hanging out there, too. We also went to see Hatley Park Castle and gardens.

We took another ferry to Anacortes. We toured the town and then the next day drove down Whidbey Island via the slow route. We drove thru Washington Park, stopped at the vista for Deception Pass Bridge, and ate lunch in Langley. After the ferry to Mulkiteo we stopped at the Boeing factory before returning to the city.

I put my pictures up on our Webalbum for you to visit. I know this is a very abbreviated version of our trip, but hopefully the pictures will help fill in some details.

While Andy and I were on yet another ferry on our way back to our RV in Chimacum, we realized it was to be the last ferry of our visit. We had taken 7 ferries in 10 days. You can get pretty used to this mode of travel.

We had so much fun with Mom and Carol that it is now sooo quiet without them. Our next visitors will be my girlfriend, Jen and her husband. That'll be next weekend, so at least we have some more company to look forward to! We're still working on the details of "where", but at least we're committed to the "when".

Washington Ferries

One of the joys of the Seattle area is all of the ferries you can ride to cross the multitude of waterways. Well, maybe driving the RV onto a ferry isn't really a "joy". I, of course, make Andy tackle this task. Ferry workers will guide you into a space within inches of the wall to your left, the car to your right, and the car in front. During this past ferry boarding the worker flipped in the RV's mirrors (so he wouldn't hit the neighboring obstacles) which basically makes you drive blind. Andy couldn't see how close he came to me in Ele next to him. Yikes!

This picture doesn't give the tight quarters justice...

Oak Harbor, WA - Deception Pass

We're no longer in Oak Harbor, but we didn't post any pictures from our wanderings around Deception Pass State Park. This park has three different sections to it - one on the north side of the bridge, which had more of the rocky bluffs; one on the south side of the bridge; and the third took you out to Cornet Bay. My favorite was the northside.
Here are two pictures from that walk...
This shot makes us miss our kayaks: