All Hallow's Eve Eve

Friday morning was pretty exciting (not). Freightliner told us to arrive at 9:30AM for our oil change. When we arrived, they said it'd be 2 more hours. So, we tooled around Old Town for a while, and then cooled our heels at the oh-so-scenic industrial park while they serviced Rocksie. Finally got out of there at 12:30, but all is well with the engine.

Needing some tourist fun, we decided to ride the tram (also since it was on our way to our new campground).

Sandia Tram
World's longest. Many amazing statistics: 4,000 foot vertical gain in less than 2 miles. Tower 1 sits at an 18% lean (creepy looking!), Tower 2 and base at summit were built with 5,000 helicopter loads. One of the canyons near the top is called "TWA Canyon" for the plane wreck years ago. Very rugged terrain, and very cool tram ride.

''



You can actually see our Navion in the parking lot waayy down there. See the largish dot by the left side of the tower, in the middle. That's Rocksie ;-)



-17 degree windchill up at the 10,000 foot summit


Then we checked into a KOA campground in Bernalillo. Very nice place with free pancakes in the morning. (Very tasty. But the breakfast burrito smothered in green chile was even better. We split that and even have lunch leftovers.)

Friday night dinner was a real treat. Not only did an old Landmark friend come pick us up at the campground, she took us to her favorite spot, which is also a Roadfood recommendation. And the icing on the proverbial cake was that a very fun bluegrass/jug band was playing.





So the day that didn't start out well ended up as a great day. You never know. Off we go on sunny Saturday to do a few errands, watch some Indian dancing at the Indian Cultural Center, and go for a hike. And maybe carve a pumpkin....

Hanging out in ABQ

We finally figured out what to do about our tire troubles, thanks to the wise ones on the View/Navion Yahoo group. Ordered 2 new Continental Vanco 4 Season tires (that match our other ones) for our left rear duallies via a recommended tire web site (Tire Rack, for those of you who may need that info). Turns out that one's dual tires should be a matched set: same brand, same size, same age. I guess that makes sense, but we did not know that yesterday when we bought the one replacement tire. Still can't figure out how we got such a large hole on the INSIDE sidewall of the tire.

The new tires will be delivered to a 5-star tire shop (highly rated by 96 folks plus the highly rated tire seller) via FedEx 2-day (surprisingly not expensive; barely $10 more for 2-day than ground!). Hope to get these installed Monday.

Very nice Freightliner fella installed a new headlamp for us for free, showed us how to do it on our own, and sold us an extra replacement, all for under $18. Needed that after the tire oops. Still can't figure out why some folks said it was a 2-hour job that required removing the grill. News flash: those folks are just making work for themselves!

Did some errands along Route 66



and headed to Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Center to get hiking trail maps. Got nervous about some dark clouds coming, so we headed back to the campground for lunch. Good thing. Here's what it looked like just as we got there.

(It's all melted now, but it's fixin' to be really cold tonight. But this is why we stuck close to "home" today.)

Decided to get our oil changed at Freightliner tomorrow morning, given our positive experience with them. It'll be 1500 miles early, but given that we're 1000 miles from home at the moment, we won't have to worry about going over our recommended change time. Takin' care of things while we wait for the tires.

Think we'll see some cultural sites around town, ride the world's longest tram up the mountain once the weather has cleared out, and do some hiking till we are road-worthy again.

The Dark of Night

So, after being awake from 1:30 to 4:30 this morning worrying about the tire (I should NEVER read email late at night! Someone from the View/Navion list who we respect suggested that we should get the other dually tire inspected for damage, since it had to bear all the weight when the other tire went flat. Worry, worry, worry....)

Today is shaping up to be quite pretty, though. No sign of the predicted snow storm--gorgeous (but really cold!) sunrise. The German shepherd LOVES this weather.

Perhaps we can get the tire inspected somewhere else and find new headlights today, so that we're free to resume fun tomorrow, when precipitation threat is gone and temps start to go back toward normal. (It's something like 30 degrees below normal, just so you don't think that our planning was totally wonky.)

OK, enough worrying, time for action as soon as the coffee kicks in.

There's a Hole in the Tire, Dear Liza, Dear Liza....

Sing it with us!

We thought our rear duallies were looking flat, and the Cat's Eyes were open a bit, but when Lisa went to refill them, the pressure read OK.

Given the inclement weather today, we decided to go to a shopping mall for a change of scenery. Lisa insisted (thank goodness) on stopping at a nearby truck tire place to have the fellows look at our tire. They were crazy busy and asked us to come back in two hours. So, we did a little shopping and headed back. Turned out we had a two-inch diameter hole in the sidewall of one of the rear left duallies. Ouch! We have no idea when or how this happened. Neither of us recall catching a curb (plus, who scrapes the LEFT side tires?). A mystery. Any theories?

We had to buy a tire of lesser quality (BF Goodrich) than we'd like, but at least it's not flat and we can make it home and let our real tire guys look at it.

Just as soon as we got that handled, the front headlight went out. A new project for tomorrow, provided it doesn't snow....

Southwestern Colorado

Sunday: Mesa Verde National Park

And we thought Canyon de Chelly was something! At Mesa Verde, you drive a winding, 20+ mile road to the top of the mesa, which takes almost an hour.




At this time of year, many of the sites were closed, but along the Mesa Top drive, there were many archaelogical sites (with enclosures built over them to protect them from the elements), one after another, illustrating the entire history of these people, from pithouses (all of which burned down)



to masonry structures that were built on the mesa top


to the amazingly complex cliff dwellings of the 13th century. Note the four-story tower in this one:





We actually got to clambor around one of the 4,000 ruins at Mesa Verde (Spruce Tree House), including climbing down into a kiva, which was phenomenal.







After spending hours hiking and exploring, we took our tired selves back to our in-town campground for a nice treat: the ability to walk to dinner. We went to a local favorite, Main Street Brewery, which not only brews its own ales but also raises its own grass-fed cattle herd. (And yes, their symbol is Kokopelli with a pint of ale, not his more typical flute....)



Thought this was going to be a foodie mecca, but when I asked what kind of cheese they had for the burgers, the waitress looked at me as if I had three heads and said quizzically, "American." So, it was OK and still a treat to be able to walk from the campground into town and have a grown-up dinner. (Lisa had the Rocky Mountain trout, since we won't be able to get such a thing down south soon.)

Monday: Durango and Dolores

Drove over to neighboring Durango to change our perspective from pre-Columbian times to at least the Victorian age. Previewed the architectural walking tours, but opted for walking Main Street and doing some serious window shopping. Very cute galleries and "shoppes." Ended up having lunch at what could have been a tourist trap, but ended up being a real delight: a saloon that's part of an historic hotel. The waitresses were all dolled up in wild western saloon garb. We took suggestions from the barkeep for what to have for lunch, and he was dead on: chicken pot pie (which nicely took the day's chill away) for me, and a homemade feta/spinach quiche with soup of the day (a pork and white bean stew) for Lisa. Delicious.



Then we took the dog and walked along the Animas River walking trail--probably the last day for the pretty leaves, given the coming storm.

On our way back, we fought the urge to do errands and take a nap and, instead, drove up to Dolores to the Anasazi Cultural Center since it had been so highly recommended. We thought we wouldn't stay very long, since we (mistakenly) thought we'd seen/read enough on the Ancestral Puebloans (aka Anasazi). Well, get rid of that arrogant attitude, girls! This place (pun intended) rocks. Very helpful volunteer and paid staff. Interactive and fascinating exhibits. We tried grinding corn (wow, is that hard), we observed fossils under microscopes, we learned how archaelogists have been finding all these sites (Canyon of the Ancients, for which this museum serves as visitor center, has 6,000 sites!), we saw tons and tons of artifacts from Indians up through the Old Spanish Trail pioneers. If you're ever in the area, don't miss this place. We also were able to take Nick on a mile walk up a very steep hill to see one more pueblo ruin, but also get a 360 panoramic view of the area. We tried to explain to Nick that this is what we've been seeing the past few days, while he was guarding the RV, but he wasn't impressed....

Tuesday: Heading south

We drove from Cortez, via Shiprock (beautiful) and then 550 to Albuquerque. Got into town for a late lunch at our first Roadfood.com stop of the trip, the Model Pharmacy. I've been wanting to go to this place all year. (We've passed through ABQ twice before this, but not had time/felt inclined to go 'sploring.) What a treat. Lisa opted for the recommended milkshake (Albuquerque's "best" for many years in a row) and a grilled cheese, while I got the salad sampler and a lime Rickey. The atmosphere was really what made the place, plus the amazing selection of toiletries in the pharmacy. French perfumes and hair accessories (I got a few for my growing locks), lovely handmade cards (bought one for a friend's mom who was just stricken with a rare cancer). Nice stop.
Here's the Roadfood.com review for elaboration and photos.

Then we proceeded to our campground, which is just great--grass and a dog run for Nick. Pavement (so no muddy paws), continental breakfast, and a hot tub for us. We rough it sometimes, but we make sure we live well during a storm ;-) And boy are we glad we left Colorado when we did. On Tuesday morning when we were leaving, we saw a ton of pickup trucks with snow plows affixed. Turns out they needed those.

Wednesday dawned, as expected, here in ABQ, stormy: rain, cold, fog. We'll probably head out to the mall for a little change of scenery this afternoon, but will be tucked back in before dark and snow is expected.

Our Farthest Point North: Cortez, CO

Reached Cortez at noon, after stopping at Four Corners (what a giant rip off, but the Navajo fry bread was tasty).


Spent the afternoon doing non-archaeological things: lunch out, grocery shopping, scouting out RV parks, RV wash/debugging/cleaning, and dog walking around town--we ended up staying at an RV park across from the tourist center and a park.

Canyon de Chelly

We ended up spending all afternoon here at Canyon de Chelly, with free dry camping at the adjacent NPS campground. We had NO idea that this place was SO spectacular. Let's put it this way: most national parks/monuments you can look ahead and see what's coming: Yosemite's Half Dome, giant redwoods at Redwoods NP, et al.

Pronunciation:
Canyon de SHAY
As in t-say-ee (morphed by the Spaniards into de Chelly)


But these canyon parks...you drive along the canyon edge without seeing anything, really. Then you walk to the viewpoint (sometimes quite a distance) and then, holy breathtaking view, Batman! This place is so very special not only for its scenery and archaeology (one site was continuously inhabited for 1000 years!), but also for the fact that the Navajo people live and work amidst the national park. There are still farms on the canyon floor (1,000 feet down from the rim). Native craftspeople ply their wares at most of the overlooks. (We caved to one particularly charming boy. A faithful reader out there is getting this for Christmas ;-) We were behind a school bus at one point and had such a kick watching the little ones, especially the little girl to whom 2 puppies came RUNNING to greet as she walked home.

The canyon floor:


Spider Rock (800 feet tall):


We had to almost force ourselves to the last overlook yesterday, but we were amply rewarded. As we stood looking down to the Mummy House ruin, we all paused and looked around to see if the others heard what we heard: Navajo flute music drifted up from the canyon floor over 1000 feet below. Turns out that there was a tour down there. We could barely see the people from that height, but we all heard the lovely music, given the lovely rock canyon wall acoustics.

Then we settled into another free campground. Pretty tough surroundings, eh?

Navajo National Monument

What a find. Left our dreary commercial campground Thursday morning and set off on a small reservation road (that we had been assured was OK). Lovely road. Saw many, many hitchhikers (couples and families). Learned later that this is typical in the Navajo nation; drivers pick up hitchhikers in exchange for lively conversation.

Lost an hour (again) since the Navajo nation observes daylight savings (and AZ doesn't). We've been confused for days over what time it actually is, since we gave up changing our watches multiple times/day.

Reached our first destination, Navajo National Monument, around 1PM (noon, tummy time) and had a snack. Good thing, as what there is to do at this monument is hike out/down to various overlooks to see the amazing Anasazi ruins (1270-1300). This large alcove once housed about 145 souls in a complex housing system.


More things learned: alcoves like this are formed by spring water dissolving the sandstone, so not only does one get shelter one gets water in choosing this as a home. Also, a south-facing alcove like this is really prized for its shade in summer and warmth in winter. Apparently, a drought around 1300 drove the folks away, but archaeologists believed that the people intended to return, as they left many things behind. There was also an area showing a sweat lodge and traditional hogan, which Miss Lisa just marches into, ignoring the sign....





After our brisk walk (50 degrees-ish, at 7300'), we decided to check out the 2 campgrounds offered at this place, to see if we should press on with our driving or stay. Wowee. 2 separate camping areas, very different from each other. One primitive with canyon views, one with paved sites and a real bathroom with hot water and flush toilets. All of it: free. And we can get AT&T here, of all places.

We couldn't pass that deal up, so we donated $10 and settled in. We are really liking our short (100 miles or less) driving days. We went back to the visitor center to watch the film (a very dated late 70s/early 80s piece not written from a Native perspective, which was too bad) and talked with one of the Navajo artists that are allowed to work inside the visitor's center. (There were 3 ladies--a potter, a weaver, and one making some kind of craft, plus a fellow who was painting. The ladies all had signs saying that you could take their picture for $5. All looked very absorbed in their work, so we didn't chat.) We did chat with the painter, because he wanted to show off his work. Very interesting pieces; we ended up buying one of his small canvases--very nice Monument Valley scene.

Because we were camped in the "Sunset Campground" we prepared for that event at 5:30 (per the Weather Channel, but they didn't get the memo about the Navajos following daylight savings time). So, we grilled out and had dinner and THEN enjoyed the 6:30 sunset.













Planning on taking a second hike this morning now that the sun is finally rising and then heading over to Chinle and Canyon de Chelly, a place my brother has been recommending that we go for almost 20 years! Can't miss it again....

Southern Utah/The Arizona Strip

Who knew that the northern part of Arizona was called the Arizona Strip? That was one of many things we've learned over the past few days--again, without Internet, cell, TV. I think we're planning on staying put somewhere for a few days soon, so perhaps I'll catch up on the brief essays rolling around in my head (Pipe Springs NM and its lessons from history, people's reviews of Coral Pink Sands SP, small town diners). But till then, a list of photos must suffice. (The writing bug escapes me right now.)

Tuesday: After our rainbow in Sand Hollow State Park, we drove very beautiful back roads through UT and AZ (with the darn time changing constantly). We visited Pipe Springs National Monument: what a surprise. Our National Park service guide, a Paiute Indian, gave us a very interesting tour. On these trips, we keep learning so many things that they don't teach in school....

No photos because the weather was uncharacteristically cool and stormy, but we managed to keep dodging the big downpours--just seeing them framing the amazing scenery off in the distance all day.

After lunch in Kanab--which bills itself as Utah's "Little Hollywood" for all of the Westerns filmed in the area--we played around on some of the movie sets.









Then we camped for the evening in gorgeous Coral Pink Sands State Park, 23 miles north of Kanab and worth the golden-aspen-tree-lined drive. Those sand dunes are a heck of a cardio hike! Lisa made it farther than I did; I was having trouble acclimating to altitude. The dog, however, was in sand-romping heaven. Our campsite also had the first real trees he's seen in a week.



The storm clouds made for a very lovely sunset:



Wednesday morning: Started the day off with Christmas shopping at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Angel Canyon. The work these folks do with 1800+ rescued animals is something. We didn't take the tour because one of us wasn't interested ;-)

Since the weather had cleared and it was a crystal clear day, we made a day-trip run down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. All of the services there are closed for the winter now (except for the lodge's gift shop and the visitor center--these remain open till 11/30 or if snow closes the roads). We were a bit nervous about the drive--there are signs everywhere warning that the road isn't snowplowed nor is it patrolled at night--but we didn't have snow and we were driving in the day (!). All was well. What an overwhelming view, though. Hazy (lots of controlled burns going on) and high noon, so photos aren't that great, but it took our breath away--numerous times.














Then we headed off to Page, AZ, via a very scenic drive around Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and over the Navajo Bridge--an unexpected surprise. A 1927 engineering marvel (which is now only a foot bridge) over the Colorado, hundreds of feet below. (Find the raft down below.)





Spent the night in a crummy CG, but got laundry done and watched some Weather Channel. Thinking we may need to cut the Colorado portion of our trip short, given the weather. We see 40s/teens (high/low) coming by Wed. of next week.... Too cold for us.

Off we go today to Monument Valley and the Navajo National Monument. May end up in Cortez, CO tonight; may not. We'll see. We've been enjoying making it up as we go.

Cue "Desert Rose" by Sting

This morning in the desert; view from our doorway. Taking our time while the rain falls....

Off the Grid and Out of Words?

We have been off the wi-fi/Internet grid for several days now. I almost think it's made me speechless, which is a very odd thing. So, here's a brief recap of Sat-Sun-Mon, given my sparse words. (Maybe the few words matches the whole sparse desert vibe. Perhaps.)

Saturday: Bakersfield to a re-visit of Tecopa Hot Springs. Stayed at a new place, walking distance to our most favorite restaurant and with its own labyrinth. Awesome. Decided against the hot springs baths this time, though, since we both got nasty folliculitis the last time. Can't start off a trip with cooties. But we had the most wonderful dinner at Pastel's Bistro (the one I reviewed for Roadfood.com last March)--five stars AGAIN. Spinach-stuffed, juicy pork chop with roasted vegetables. Simple but perfect. And the Sunday morning labyrinth walk: perfect, too.








Sunday: Tecopa Hot Springs to, we initially intended, Utah. But at noon-ish, we decided to stop by Valley of Fire State Park, about 50 miles north of Las Vegas. Thought we'd have a picnic lunch and keep going. To heck with that: an amazing place, rated 9s and 10s on rvparkreviews and for good reason. Just a spectacularly interesting place, full of red rocks, desert varnish and petroglyphs. And very easy to get sunset and sunrise shots!













Monday: Valley of Fire to St. George, UT area for some re-stocking of salad fixins and bottled water. Ended up driving the historic district walking tour because the winds are just FIERCE today (30 mph steady) and blowing around the prodigious amounts of sand that all these rocks turn into eventually. Plus it's hot. Staying at Sand Hollow State Park in Utah tonight, next to the folks we camped near LAST night. Too funny. We've seen them at the petroglyphs, on a hiking trail this morning ("Mouse's Tank"), and now three states over. Funny. We may now amend our plans for tomorrow to follow THEM. They're venturing down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and back (all the campgrounds down there are closed for the season). Maybe we'll try that, too. Who knows? We just keep making up this trip as we go along, which--so far--has been AWESOME.

Expect the weather to turn cool tomorrow, which will be great. Have had quite the hot weather the last 3 days. It cooled down in Tecopa, but never did in Valley of Fire. (Aptly named, apparently.) Still in high 80s in evening here in Utah, but there's a "wind chill" ;-)