John and Aileen on the road

LAST ATV RIDES FROM CALIENTE THIS SEASON

2012-02-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

We were up shortly after seven Tuesday and I prepared for ATVingwith Randy, who is visiting Caliente for a month and is parked a couple spaces up from us. However, the weather decidedotherwise. We had .36 inch of rainbetween 8 and 10am, according to neighbour Bud’s rain gauge. I did go up to the meeting spot but I was allalone! Randy and I went out Wednesdayand the weather was great with no dust. Two other guys joined us and we had a great ride exploring severaltrails new to me and one main one that I had ridden only once. I went out ATVing again on Thursday with 16others and again it was a great ride. Tomorrow will be my last ride with the group this season. I will have to put fuel stabilizer in thetank before parking it in the shed for the summer.

Aileen’s scooter has been malfunctioning for some time andwe were thinking it must be the electronics causing the problems. The batteries died the other day which we hadbeen expecting as we thought the scooter was about 4-5 years old. Boy, were we wrong. They were 7.5 years old, doesn’t time fly. NAPA had to hunt around to find the specialdeep cycle and when I installed them the scooter seems to be perfectlyfine. Aileen has been using it lots andhas had no problems.

Ken and Char, our friends from Billings, Montana wanted totake us out for supper before we left so on Tuesday we went to PF Changs inMesa and had a great supper. They do asuper job with gluten free. I puttogether a slide show highlighting my three years of ATVing this area and havebeen sharing it around with the ATV group and other friends. It is about 17 minutes long and set to music.

For those who have been frustrated trying to leave commentson my blog, you will be pleased to hear that I have disabled the word verification part of the process. Google has just instituted that two words requireinterpretation and typing and one is really fuzzy and difficult tounderstand. One of the bloggers I follow,Rick, is a computer whiz and he described in today’s post just how to disablethe blighter. I thought I had done itsome time ago but perhaps it snuck back in with the new interface that came outrecently.

Aileen has been busy doing last minute things in the parkmodel preparing for out departure. Shehas also done some typing for the park newsletter. She is still learning new things about hernew computer which I imagine will be a long process.

A view from the Big Spline trail to the pass toward Martinez Canyon

A telephoto shot to the pass above

A view of some of the trails we have to choose from

The spring wild flowers are starting to bloom just as we are preparing to leave

Some one decided to add some colour to this prickly pear

One of our Wednesday stops was at an abandoned amethyst mine where I picked up this fist sized piece

We happened on these Jeeps playing in one of the washes

Well, he made it around the rock in the above picture

This guy tried a different route. His rear bumper is digging in the ground. I think I heard a rumour that my dear sister in law, Anne, is going to let me take her Jeep out playing this summer.

I find the lichen covered rocks in the Box Canyon area fascinating and I have to say my pictures do not do justice to the actual scene. I can't portray the luminescence and depth of character that I see in person

WINDING DOWN OUR TIME IN CALIENTE

2012-02-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

Along the top of the world trail

The Ocotillo are just starting to bloom

Lunch in a secluded wash

Getting high on the top of the world trail

Along the top of the world trail with the Thumb in the background

82 year old Blue taken last Tuesday. Today, six days later, he had triple heart bypass surgery. The doctor said it all went well, I imagine he's done riding for this season though

In Martinez Canyon

Grave on the way to Martinez Mine

Below Martinez Canyon

Poppies are starting to bloom along the trails

Martinez Maiden

Honey bee at work

Poppies along one of our trails

We’ve pretty much sorted, cleaned and packed everythingexcept the last minute things. I modifiedthe shed on the rear lot to accept my ATV and we’ve stored a few other thingsin there as well, until next fall. Ifthe lot sells, we’ll write it into the contract that we have the use of theshed until we return in November. If itdoesn’t sell, then we have the use of it longer. I went ATVing Tuesday and Thursday last weekand hope to get out three days this week since it is my last chance to ridethis season.

We’ve been busy with other things such as finding Aileen anew computer since hers totally died. Well, the battery died, but there were too many other issues to makesense replacing the battery. We had ourmonthly ATV potluck tonight. Tomorrownight is a win, lose or draw party for one of our neighbours who is running forthe board in tomorrow’s AGM elections. Wednesdayevening, friends Ken and Char are taking us to PF Chang’s for supper. They have a great gluten free menu.

We plan to leave here next Tuesday, the 21^st,heading back to Canada. We are going toGila Bend the first day, lunch with friends in Yuma Wednesday after stopping inDateland for some dates and a date shake then Quartzsite that night. No idea which route we’ll follow from thereyet. We are targeting crossing theborder about the 29^th of February or March 1^st.

BUSY IN FLORENCE

2012-02-07T05:09:00.000-08:00

I went riding with the group on Thursday and it was nicehaving our regular leader, Ed from Saskatchewan. He always puts together a nice ride. On Friday Aileen and I went up to Chandlersince Sprouts Natural Foods had a big sale on. We stopped for lunch at Barro’s Pizza as they advertise a gluten freepizza. It must have been crosscontaminated in the oven or something as Aileen was sick in the evening. We went to Casa Grande on Saturday and hadpizza at Picazzo’s and she had no after effects. Picazzo’s is different in that they have a separatekitchen for the gluten free menu.

We have been looking at computers for Aileen but haven’tfound one yet.

We’ve been emptying out the park model deciding what to takewith us in the motor home and what to take to our storage shed at Bev’s. The rest either stays in the park model or isdisposed of somehow. The Honda CRV willbe well loaded for the trip north this year.

There are two horned owls in the park again this year and I’vemade several tries at photographing them, as have several other people. We’ve managed to go to one of the pools mostnights but it is inching up in temperature. The other three pools have all been too warm for Aileen. Mitzy had us up at 1 and 4:30 am yesterdayneeding the dog park. Aileen took herfirst then I did the last. Last nightwas a repeat and we didn’t think it would be so urgent so didn’t followthrough. Mistake!!!! Around 4 am she was really in distress andwhen I got up to take her, it was mostly too late. Aileen had the mats mostly cleaned when I gotback from the dog park so we took a load of laundry down and did it. That is why I’m working on my blog postbefore 5 am today.

On Sunday, Aileen cut my hair and bathed and clippedMitzy. She made good wages that day. I went to part of the music jam but only gotto hear Wendy sing once as they quit just as it got to her. They had to quit early since there was a SuperBowl party happening in the hall right behind them.

One of our resident owls, there is a pair of them

Lichen on a rock on our Tuesday ride

Gonzales Pass on Hwy 60 from the rock I hiked up to. If you look in the lower center right, you can see the ATVs where I started from

Bird's eye view of ATV lunch spot

Looking northwest from the hill I climbed

Part of our route home

The hill beyond where I climbed

After a quick lunch, I hiked up to the right hand rock outcrop

Pete and Randy at the crown cactus

Along the Martinez Rd

Yesterday, I took Mitzy out back on the ATV before going formy ride. Pete Moris came along with hisfriend Randy in his red Rhino. I tookthem to the turquoise mines then to the crown cactus and out to BoxCanyon. We puttered up the canyon thenturned up the Martinez road which it appears they were on the other day. I took them over the high line road whichthey enjoyed. We stopped for lunch downin the wash part way through the high road. It was very quiet out there as we only saw three ATVs and four jeeps thewhole day. We came home over the LittleSpline which they’d also done. Aileentook Sophie, the cat, to the vet in Coolidge for her annual teethcleaning. Her blood work all checked outvery well. She’s in surprisingly goodhealth considering all her issues when we first got her after she’d beenrescued from a drug house.

BACK IN FLORENCE

2012-02-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

Monday morning it was 2.4C when Aileen got up and 45F insidethe motor home. Brr! We had a mostly quiet day. The big excitement was going to the dumpstation a few miles up the road. We were14^th in line at 2:20 pm and it took an hour and a half to get dumpedand take on fresh water. The secret isto take a book to read and just keep moving ahead with the line.

We had an appointment Tuesday morning to get the motor homeplumbed for hooking up a ceramic propane heater in the living area. We arrived plenty early but the staff, whoclaimed to have installed a large number of these, couldn’t seem to figure outand agree on a plan. After three of themstood around scratching their heads without any consensus, I finally told themto forget it. Aileen had arrived at thatdecision earlier and left to sit in the car rather than watch the idiots. This was a business that has been active in Quartzsitefor many years. All they had to do was drill through from themotor home floor then through the bottom of the storage cupboard below and thentap into the propane line. I imagine I coulddo the same myself, but I wanted a licensed tech to do it for liabilitypurposes.

We really enjoyed our stay last night in the desert nearBouse. It was so quiet andpeaceful. We certainly didn’t miss OldYeller and the other noisy generator on the other side of us. The nearest RV was probably half a mile awayand we didn’t hear any generators. We hada nice sunset last night and a gorgeous sunrise today and the stars were soclear and bright during the night. We hada fire and roasted wieners for lunch after we got set up yesterday. After an early supper last night, I walkedacross to the nearest little mountain and clambered up. There was a great view of the whole area fromthere. When I got back to the bottom,there was an old pickup parked there and I got chatting with the lady sittingin it. Her husband was out checkingclaim markers as the whole area is part of their gold claim. I chatted with him when he returned and he warnedme about snakes after the first week of March. They gave me a ride back to the highway.

We headed homeward midmorning today. Aileen drove all the way to I-10 where westopped for lunch then I drove the rest of the way. We took on some gas in Gila Bend and stopped inCoolidge for drinking water. We aregoing to continue living in the motor home rather than move back into the parkmodel for a couple weeks. We are goingto have to see about getting Aileen another computer as hers has bit thedust. For the last while, she hasn’tbeen able to get online if she’s plugged in to power. Now her battery has given out and won’t hold acharge long enough to do anything. It hasn’tbeen that long since we replaced the battery and I think it would just be awaste to put another one in given the other things wrong with the old computer.

All the little mountains are composed of this conglomerate type of rock which crumbles easily after weathering

Looking north

Northeast

East

The above pictures were taken from that little pimple on the right side peak

STILL IN QUARTZSITE

2012-01-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

We’re still hanging out in Quartzsite. We’ve had a couple more game nights with ourfriends. Last night we did a big batchof laundry then had supper in the little café attached to the laundromat. We’ve beento the big tent a few times and several of the other sales areas but haven’tspent too much yet. I bought a nicesturdy set of aluminum steps for when our steps are too high from the ground, acouple of new style LED replacement bulbs and some tee shirts for both of us.

We went back to the La Paz outdoor market today since theweather was so nice and we needed groceries in Parker. The selection here inQuartzsite is limited and expensive. Wetook the opportunity to have lunch at the Crossroads Café which was verybusy. The food seemed pretty good forthe price, too. For a change of scenery,we returned home via Poston then Ehrenburg which is near the California line.

I’ve had a phone call and an email wondering where the heckwe are and is it true your place is for sale, from different ATV clubmembers. I did speak to several peoplein the weeks ahead of our departure telling of our plans for visiting Quartzsitebut I guess it didn’t get all around. We’vebeen twelve days since dumping our tanks which is doing really well. Aileen has several strategies in place toconserve water but I think tomorrow will have to be the day. It can be quite a long process getting to thedump station if you go at the wrong time of day. The lineups can be huge. Last time we found midafternoon to be best.

Looking down our row toward the big tent. Jim's osprey flying in the foreground

I hiked up to the top of Q Mtn one afternoon, this is looking down towards where we are parked

The big tent surrounded by RV sales and other vendors

looking to the south

If you look closely, you will see some golf browns (sort of like greens, I guess)

This guy flies over periodically

We had a nice sunrise yesterday morning, normally I just see it out the bedroom window. I did run outside with the camera then jumped back in bed

La Paz market

Colorado river and RV parks just north of Parker

Outside the big tent

Inside the big tent

One of the outside vendors

HELLO FROM QUARTZSITE, AZ

2012-01-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

From the left ours, Jacquie and Jim then Dian and Maurice parked with thousands of others in Quartzsite, AZ

We’ve been boondocking in La Posa West at Quartzsite for aweek already without internet. Afterexperiencing more difficulty in finding free internet, I went and bought apersonal WiFi hotspot (MiFi) from Verizon. We’ll be able to use it all the way to the Canadian border then cancelthe service until we return south next time.

We had a busy few days before leaving Florence. Mitzy went to the vet for her annual teethcleaning and was fortunate in that she didn’t need any further work. We did a lot of sorting and packing with thepossible sale of the lots in mind and to travel over to Quartzsite for a coupleweeks. We will have some big decisionsto make before we leave for Canada around February 23. What to try to keep and what to disposeof. The ATV is the really big one forme.

We’ve had several games nights here with Jacquie and Jim andDian and Maurice. While Mexican Trainwas our initial focus, Skip Bo has also been really popular. We went up to the La Paz market Saturdaymorning north of Parker but mostly just looked. On Sunday, Aileen and I drove over to Bouse,poking around the side roads a bit. Wehad a nice lunch in an old Mom and Pop restaurant that serves breakfast all day. Yesterday we went down to Yuma which is abouta one and a half hour drive. We visitedEarl and Sharon who we originally met in Cluxewe Campsite on northern VancouverIsland. They were responsible for usbuying the motor home from Sharon’s sister. They’ve been wintering in Yuma for years. We had a nice lunch in a pub then did a bitof shopping before heading home in time for supper. It was quite windy all day, but worse downsouth.

I bought a couple of electric blinds for blocking the sunwhen we’re driving the motor home and Jim has kindly been installing them. I’ve made a couple of other small purchaseshere during the RV show but so far have kept it down. We’ve had quite a bit of cloud, lots of windincluding dust and a small shower since arriving in Quartzsite but the weatheris forecast to get much better over the next few days. Today was really nice.

A little wildflower we saw on our trip to Bouse

There were a lot of these trees blooming along the Gila River just north of Yuma. There were a bunch of bee hives located close by.

Broccoli and lettuce fields along the road side just north of Yuma

That would be the old highway bridge in the background

GETTING INTO GEAR and FOR SALE!

2012-01-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Our neighbour Carol found this Giant Water Bug in her carport the other day so we sent one of the local dogs over to check it out

Things are starting to happen here after a period of not toomuch doing. Aileen attended the monthlypark board meeting Tuesday to support her request for one of the swimming poolsto have the temperature lowered to swimming temperature as the current temperaturesat all the pools are too warm for herMS. Her efforts were in vain eventhough there was a fair bit of support via a petition.

I’ve been ATV riding several times and there has been somefrustration with some other riders not following proper protocol. When it is dusty, we have fairly large gapsbetween riders to let the dust settle. Because of that, when we come to a trail junction, each rider must waituntil the one behind has seen which direction to turn. This is usually more of a problem with largegroups but the other day with only eleven riders we had a problem twice inabout two miles. The first time it tookquite some time but we did find each other. The second time, the leader noticed he only had two riders with himfairly soon and was able to come back to find the rest of us. In the second instance there was a multitudeof choices in which trail to take. There were close to thirty riders lined up atyesterday’s gathering so Jim and I said we were going off on our own. We quickly departed before anyone else decidedto come along and we had a good ride. Since we had determined earlier we were going in a small group so Jimcould do a little gold panning, I took my good camera, several lenses andtripod. While the idea of riding byoneself is very intriguing, it is just not really wise. There was the case of the guy who rolled hismachine a while back and my old friend Ken and I were able to rescue him. Itcould have been a real problem since he was totally trapped underneath his ATVand could only get out with our help. At themonthly ATV potluck, that chap expressed his gratitude several times tome. He was so lucky that his only injurywas a broken collar bone. His wife isstill very angry at him for being so foolish by riding too fast for conditions –period. I heard of another resident in thispark who rolled his machine on top of himself and it was several hours before someonefound him and was able to get him out.

Jim had a flu bug or something for several days and I had asinus issue then a sore back so we finally got together the other night forMexican Train. Jim won followed by Jacquie,Aileen and me. You’d think as scorekeeper I’d be able to have a better showing! We will get more games in the next couple weeks as we are heading toQuartzsite on Tuesday for a week or two with Jacquie and Jim and will meet theirson’s in laws, Maurice and Diane, there.

I have been polishing the motor home using a product calledProtect All and it is so easy to use. Well, with my sore back maybe not that easy, but you just rub it on andrub it off with a micro fibercloth. It does an excellent job ofcleaning and the surface doesn’t have to be totally clean. I wipe the worst of the dust off with a softcloth then apply the Protect All. Itgoes fast but there is a lot of surface on the motor home. Of course, I’m just getting it all nice andclean to go sit in the dusty desert for two weeks!

Aileen and I decided to put our property in thepark on the market, so we did the deed today using an agent here in the park. Forthose of you who thought you’d come visit us some day, it’s probably toolate. We plan to go back to our original plan ofexploring more of the southwest. We willboondock more and try to plan some RV park stays periodically for a week ormaybe as long as a month so we can thoroughly explore different areas. Withhaving our current set up, we seem to pretty much stay just in this area as itis easier than moving everything back into the motor home for a little trip, thenback into the park model on our return.

We took a drive over to Casa Grande today after signing thereal estate listing as I was craving a buffet fix at the Golden Corral. By being very careful, Aileen was able tofind enough gluten free food. Lookingfor a light supper tonight, Aileen made us eggs benny and were they evergood. She’d bought some gluten freehamburger buns made by Kinnickinick out of Edmonton, AB and I remarked theywould make really good eggs benny buns. Shewent online for a recipe and minutes later the most excellent benny’s wereserved.

Along the Gila River near South Butte

Me, photo by Jim

And Jim coming down the rock ledge; it was more exciting going back up!

In Donnelly Wash near South Butte are these beautiful rock formations

There's just the one area, no others like it anywhere close that I'm aware of

A cactus garden in the wild. There are ocotillo (the tall thin stalks), cholla, saguaro and a barrel cactus.

This is last season's fruit on a fish hook barrel cactus. Note the curved spines

SITTING IN NEUTRAL (or so it seems)

2012-01-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

I went riding with the group on Tuesday January 3 and wasthe leader again. One huge advantage tobeing leader is being up front out of the dust. I get to stop for pictures and everyone stops behind me. The good part of that is the group staystogether much easier. If I’m in the middleof the group and stop for a picture, often the group in front gets a long way in front and if they turn offand the last person doesn’t wait at the junction, it makes it difficult todecide which way to turn. Because of that, I don’t often stop and justget frustrated about missing a good shot. There were 29 ATVs out on Thursday so they split into two groups to be more manageable.

I didn’t go out Thursday or today as my back has been sorefor the past several days. I think itmust be a bug of some kind. I had a soreleft little finger for a few days then my sinuses started leaking a lot. Then my lower back got sore and I seem to have some sciatica with painrunning down both legs. I went in a hottub last night but it wasn’t very warm. Threeof the pools are way to war for Aileen so we have gone twice to one that isbroken and has no heat. It has been holdingat 72F which Aileen finds good for exercising and I found fine for swimming onenight. I didn’t chance it last nightsince my back was unhappy in general.

We have a busy week and a half then we hope to get over toQuartzsite for a few days and maybe do some travelling and exploring for a fewdays. I’ve been doing lots of readinglately, enjoying our well stocked park library.

The green seat is for the driver, the one out front is for the passenger. Looks like an exciting ride

This home built rock crawler is powered by a 6.0 l Chev V8 and is all hydraulic. When running, it will raise up to 52 inches of ground clearance. The owner is from Nebraska and said he built it in six months. He is boondocking in the desert in a huge fifth wheel pulled by a tandem axle highway truck

Note that each wheel is individually driven by hydraulic motors

We revisited the Top of the World Trail on Tuesday, that's the Thumb on the left

When coming through Box Canyon, some of the guys spotted what I missed, namely these eight bighorn sheep. When they told me about the sheep, I went back with a couple of the guys to get some pictures

THE VISIT IS OVER

2012-01-02T17:38:00.000-08:00

We took our son Richard and granddaughter Georgia up to SkyHarbor Airport in Phoenix this afternoon for their flight back home toVictoria, BC. The week went by in ablur. We had lunch in a New York styledeli in Chandler called Chompie’s and the food was excellent. I would eat there again except it is a bitout of the way for us. Maybe one of the otherthree in the greater Phoenix area is closer.

Richard and I took the Christmas decorations down yesterdaymorning. After bacon and eggs forbreakfast yesterday, we were going to go for a walk out back but it was toowindy so we settled for a stroll through Tierra del Sol instead. We chatted with Nelson and Jerry along theway. We also stopped and visited UncleJim J through the motor home window for a while. He is still ill with what he thinks is theflu.

Carol from next door came by with her big beetle so I took afew pictures of it. I got to show her mytarantula pics. Richard went online andidentified it as a Giant Water Bug. Richard and I went to Coolidge after lunch and gave the car a wash, putgas in it and filled both ATV gas cans as well. I took Richard for a tour around the DelWebb, Anthem, housing development on the way. We poked around some Florence back streets on the way home.

The rest of this week promises to be quiet but the next twoafter that will be quite busy. We’llhave to see how it goes.

Someone decorated this Ocotillo out in the desert behind our park. Notice the water and dish for the dogs who are walked out there

One of our cotton gins in operation

The ball came out of the water pretty fast when held at the bottom of the pool

Georgia loves the pool

Gimme!

THESE PICTURES GO WITH THE FOLLOWING TWO POSTS

2011-12-31T19:58:00.000-08:00

Linda blasting up the hill

Dennis coming up the rough and rocky road

Dale and Marlene in their new Razor

Some of the country we ride through

The remains of a Havalina in an old mine shaft

A large group for lunch

Looking over to the eastern side of our normal riding area

Our son Richard riding with Aubrey

Another crested (or crown) saguaro

An end view of the crested cactus, looks like a Manatee

THESE PICTURES GO WITH THE NEXT BLOG BELOW

2011-12-31T19:34:00.000-08:00

All the pictures here were taken in Box Canyon which is a favorite spot for us to ATV through

This red rock was intriguing since there were no others like it

Our grand daughter Georgia

Mitzy posed for me

Some neat grasses Richard discovered when he went further up the creek and suggested I might enjoy seeing them

Box Canyon is a fascinating place and I need to spend more time there

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

We got to the airport over an hour early on December 26 topick up Richard and Georgia so we wereable to leisurely find our way in. I wasable to move the car way closer than we first parked as well. I took my book and read. The plane was pretty much right on schedule,so we were in the car and moving by about 10:30 or shortly after. I think we were home shortly after 11:30 pm.

Richard finally uncovered Georgia to wake her the nextmorning when it seemed she would sleep all day. Aileen made us pancakes for a late breakfast then I took R&G andMitzy for a walk out back. We put onabout two miles. After lunch hadsettled, we went to pool 2 for a couple hours. The pool was at least 87F. It waswarm enough to stay in for an extended period and of course felt really warm toR&G since their backyard pool has no heat. I read for a while but the wind was cool. I finally moved to the hot tub and read therefor a time before putting the book aside and getting fully submerged then hopping in the pool.

There was just a touch of frost Wednesday morning. I only saw it on a couple of vehicles thatweren’t parked under cover. The pastfew days had mostly seen a harder frost. I took Mitzy out for a walk since R&G hadn’t appeared by 9 am. I called Aubrey H and lined up a ridefor Richard for Thursday. Later, we allwent to Casa Grande after a car wash in Coolidge. We managed to drive by a couple of cottongins so Richard could see the large number of bales awaiting processing. Since it was already noon when we got there,we had lunch at In and Out.

We went to Ross’ Dress For Less looking for a swim suit forRichard but none in stock. We managed tofind one for him at the Outdoor Store by Best Buy. We checked cameras at Best Buy, Radio Shack,Target and finally he bought one at Walmart. After a few more stops here and there, we finally got home and went topool 3. Georgia had been nagging all dayabout swimming. By the time we finished,it was time to come home and barbeque sausages for supper.

There were 20 ATVs out Thursday with 24 people as we had sixside bys. We had a good ride but it wasquite dusty. We wandered around quite abit then finally got to the Ajax Mine for lunch. After, we went above the mine and circled aroundto the right toward the Thumb then almost back to Ajax . It was a good trip for Richard as itshowcased a lot of our riding territory. I think he enjoyed his day with Aubrey. I had Aubrey take Richard to Dick’s place on the way home as he waslooking for help to load his CanAm which wouldn’t start. When we got there, Peg came out and said Dickwould be late as Dennis’ new CanAm was broke down and being towed in. The four of us there went ahead and got itloaded anyway. I had a call from Dicklater thanking us.

On Friday morning, I walked Mitzy over and around theFlorence Garden’s storage compound then A, R & G picked us up and we wentto Coolidge. Richard took his camerainto Walmart and traded it for a better one. The first one had little blades that opened and closed when turned on oroff and they sometime stuck causing vignetting. The new one has a lens cap and a more powerful zoom. We filled the water jugs and got a few groceriesat Shopes then visited my sister Wendy and Randy for a few minutes.

It was lunch time when we got home so we got at that. Later while Aileen napped, I took Richard andGeorgia out to Box Canyon in the car. Wewalked up the little side canyon then up the Box part way. It was very busy out there with all sorts ofvehicles. It was supper time when we gotback. I downloaded my pictures aftersupper and edited a few. I mostly shotHDR. I definitely got different shotsthan I’d get when out with the ATV group.

I took Mitzy to the dog park this morning. I’d stayed in bed until Aileen startedfeeding her then got in motion so I was in time to take her. I loaded the car after Aileen packed us alunch. When R&G were ready we hitthe road. Gassed up in Florence thenstopped at the Greek Monastery. Nextstop was at Biosphere 2 where Richard was hoping to get an overview but it wastoo well hidden.

We made it to the Winkelman community park along the GilaRiver for a leisurely lunch. We stoppedat DQ in Globe after walking through a flea market where I bought some fusesand slip joint pliers. I went to pool 3with R&G after unpacking the car. Itwasn’t too refreshing since it was 92 and the hot tub was 102F. Georgia thought it was great of course. The pool was a dominant subject on our roadtrip today. We drove about 300 kms.

Aileen and I wish you all a healthy and happy 2012!

One of the chapels at the Greek Monastery

A view from the other side

The only thing green on this tree is the parasitic mistlestoe

A tall smokestack in Winkelman, AZ

Georgia enjoyed the slide in Winkelman Park

She tried out being a cowgirl

A stone motel in Superior, AZ

A couple of shots of the motel reflected in Queen Creek

HO HO HO!

2011-12-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

Port Alberni couple in the front, her sister second on right, Jim and Jacquie back right, Wendy and Randy center and Aileen and I on the left

Christmas carolers in our driveway Christmas Eve

Looking west down our street. Our place is on the right with the blue lights

Looking east down our street. Our place on the left, has the bluish lights. A golf cart went cruising through giving the streaking tail lights

Best of the Season to All!

Life continues at a rapid pace for us. I have been ATVing several times. I spend half an hour in the morning and againin the evening walking to all the swimming pools recording the temperature. Certain people have been trying to discreditmy data by saying all the pool thermometers are broken, so I bought my own andrecord both temperatures. We’ve been toCasa Grande a few times and I’ve been to Mesa and Apache Junction twice in thepast week. Yesterday, Jim J and I wentto Harbor Freight which is a guy’s toy store with lots of discount tools andthings and Home Depot. I managed tospend less than $10.

My old friend Ken (82) and I shimmed up the pipe sleeveswhich raised the RV cover higher. Weused a come along and my ATV winch to pull the top of the pipes over thenjammed some large spikes in to take out the slack. With the very strong winds we had, the roofwas bobbing and dipping a lot, mostly because of the slack created by the differencein pipe size.

A week ago Saturday, Ken M and I went out to the diversiondam just before two pm. I was about tohead home again when Aileen called and said there was no rush so we carried onto the turquoise mine and wandered around a few trails there. On the way home, I stopped Ken at the sevenmile rail crossing to remark on the fact the wind had changed totally (180degrees) on us since going out. Whilewe were chatting, Jim E (an ATV friend who was riding with the main group thatday) came roaring around the corner and past us. As we idly watched him disappear, I had theimpression I’d seen him up on two wheels, then we didn’t see any more dust sowe got down there asap and sure enough he had rolled off the corner by the bigpuddle. He was trapped under the uprightATV with his full face shield helmet hooked in underneath the machine. Ken and I were able to lift the ATV upenough for Jim to crawl out. Hecomplained of a sore shoulder and seemed a bit confused. We gathered up all his belongings which werescattered around pretty good then I drove the machine back up onto the road andKen helped Jim get up further along. The only damage I could see was a broken lid to the tote box and theright side of the handlebar bent down. He was very lucky! I don’t knowif the others in his group following would have noticed him over the bank asthey would be watching the puddle. Later, it was determined he had broken hiscollar bone.

I was lucky enough to sell the framed print of the OldMercury Truck as a Christmas present. Many had admired it but none had room to hang it or the money to waste. I went to the last two music jams in ourpark. The group surprised Wendy on herbirthday by calling her up to the mike at the start of the break, then we allsang happy birthday. She was quitesurprised. One of the ladies brought anice big decorated cake for all to share.

Aileen contributed quite a bit of time to the CalienteClowns and their mission to make Christmas a little cheerier for some of thelocal disadvantaged children. She helpedsort and organize gifts and also went to one of the events where things weredistributed. We delivered a carload offood and gifts to the second event which was on Dec 23. This had been donated by our block herein thepark. We’re continuing to type articlesfor the park newsletter as well.

We went to my sister Wendy and Randy’s for Turkey lunchtoday. We picked up my Aunt Jacquie andJim on our way. Wendy and Randy hadanother BC couple from Port Alberni and the wife’s sister from Victoria overfor lunch with us. The couple boughtjust around the corner from Wendy. It wasa large delicious feast and there were lots of leftovers.

Tomorrow will be a long day as Richard and Georgia fly intoPhoenix at 10:19 pm so it will be about midnight when we get home.

Some of the clowns and the guys who made model airplanes for the kids. Aileen with the big hat

Some of the beauty in Box Canyon

Lunch spot on an ATV ride

This is called the Thumb and is a dominant landmark for miles

Some interesting bluffs along the Martinez Mine Road

One of the rock obstacles in Box Canyon

PARTIES AND EXCITING NEWS

2011-12-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

My new tote boxes

I put on four loads of laundry Sunday morning first thingthen took Mitzy to the dog park. Imanaged to have breakfast and a haircut by Aileen while the clothes were in thedryer. Then I took Mitzy for our walkout back. Aileen didn’t go to church butrushed around on various projects. Sheworked up a little blurb for Marie about the Colorado dinner. She worked on revising the Colorado posterfor Marie as well.

I had purchased two large toolboxes from Lowes and finallyfigured out their placement on the ATV then enlisted Ken Mackley’s help to getit done. I am very pleased with how itlooks and hope it works as planned. Itook it over to show Scotty as he was thinking of getting one for his. It took me awhile to get everything cleanedup and I vacuumed as well since I’d made a mess drilling the plastic and therewere a lot of feathers and seed puffs on the carpet from the recent wind. I also put the motor home awning out to dry.

I went to the second half of the Sunday jam and there wassome good music played and sung. Igrabbed the vacuum and cleaned all the Annex carpet as soon as they werefinished. Linda and Arnie usually do itbut they didn’t appear so since our Alberta friend’s party was up next, I justgot at it. We had a good visitingtime. Aileen sat next to Maxine wholives at 311 Ocotillo. They hadn’t metbefore although I’d met her and her husband several times. In fact it was from them I borrowed the 2x6’swe used to lift the RV cover. There weresnackies then pizza and Caesar Salad and a lot of laughs. Our friends are going back to Alberta forChristmas then they are off to their time share in Mexico for the rest of thewinter.

I went up to the clubhouse at 9 am Monday and bought Canadasupper tickets for Jordan’s and us. Aileen went to the meeting then helped some of the clowns package uppresents for the disadvantaged kids they support. She came back about noon and got me to helpload our car and Phyllis’. I had stayedhome all morning to put the turkey in the roaster at the prescribed time. That went well, but I forgot to turn off theturkey neck on the stove so the pot had boiled dry when we returned. Luckily it was all salvageable. Shortly after four pm it was time to take outthe turkey and it was very well done which made for hard slicing. There were about 52 ATV people at thepotluck. We had a surprise appearance bySanta and I got some good pictures of some of the ladies (and guys) with him.

We had 1.5 inches of rain over Monday and Tuesday, accordingto Daryl’s rain gauge so we spent most of our time indoors. Tuesday definitely wasn’t an ATV day. We lay abed a little later than normal sinceit was darker than normal. Aileen wentto the board meeting. Mitzy and I stayedhome and waited for a lady to bring Aileen’s new bib and apron over. Sue (I think) didn’t seem anxious to go home andback to work so I showed her a few slides and a show on my computer. We had a good chat. Aileen was pleased with both items when shegot home. She had admired the lady’swork at Country Store in the clubhouse last Wednesday and the lady said shecould put any of her patterns on an apron. She didn’t do bibs so Aileen took her old one over as pattern and nowthe lady has a new line to work with. Nobody seems to sell bibs here, which is surprising.

Kathy Richardson (filling in as block leader since both ourleader and alternate aren’t here) came by to see if we wanted luminaries, whileAileen was napping. Aileen went justdown the next street for a haircut at 3pm. She’d mailed her last Christmas cards in the morning on the way to themeeting. She also dropped off the littleColorado Dinner notices to Marie that we’d done up the other day. I was appointed meatloaf maker for supper. It turned out fairly well, I guess. Aileen cooked veggies to go with the leftover mashed potatoes from the potluck.

Last night, I did the pool inspection about 7 in the rainand the pools were 88, 89, 95 and 95! Idoubt it even got up to 50F yesterday. Talk about wasting energy. Wewent to pool 1 and it was very nice, in fact, almost too warm at 88F. It poured on us most of the time which justhelped to cool us a bit.

The weather has improved for us today and it was quitepleasant in the sun for a time. Mitzyand I got for our walk out in the desert. She was eager to run today after being cooped up for two days. I took pictures for Betty who we bought ourtrailer from as the ones she had done had a nasty colour cast. I tidlied them up in PhotoShop then took themover on a thumb drive so she could make prints. Next I went to help Patty onthe street behind us as she couldn’t figure how to send an attachment from hernew email program. It took awhile but I finallyspotted the button for it.

Aileen jut remembered a few minutes ago that we have the ATVhappy hour at 4 pm. I’d forgotten asusual. She also came out with theexciting news that Richard and Georgia are coming on the 26^th until January2^nd!

Finger Food? Karen was taking some turkey home

Come on, its my turn

Now she's happy

Mickey's trying the soft and cuddly approach

Dennis is asking for a new quad

Here's our grand old man Blue who, at 82, rides three days a week

Karen, Dennis' wife and Ruby who is Blue's wife

Our yearly group shot

ANOTHER LONG GAP IN POSTING

2011-12-10T18:48:00.001-08:00

Our life continues to whiz by at a rapid pace. We’ve been having some pretty cool weather sothe swimming pools went from too warm to too cold in a couple of days. We had several frosty days in a row and infact, some of the mornings were cooler than Salmon Arm up in BC. Where Iused to hunt for the coolest pool, lately I’ve been searching for one that’swarm enough. I’ve been monitoring allfour pools since November 14 and Aileen has been working on a letter to theboard of directors requesting that one of the pools be regulated at atemperature no higher than 86-88F. We’vebeen getting strong support from quite a few residents.

I’ve been riding my ATV only two days a week mostly thisseason and finding myself the leader a few times. My Uncle Jim found a deal on an ATV the otherday and it is almost identical to mine, same colour and year etc. We went on a ride up the Gila River onThursday which may be our last river ride for some time. The river had been nearly dry except for afew pools but has now begun to flow again. I was leading the group and got myself stuck for the first time. We managed to get on a trail and move a fewmiles further upriver then were able to ride in the river for somedistance. A couple of our riders areinterested in searching for gold, so being a small group, we were able toindulge their passion.

We went to supper with friends one night and played a couplegames of SkipBo then had other friends over another night. I played some of my photo shows to them untiltheir eyes glazed over. We’ve been acouple times to Casa Grande and to the Mesa Market. We’ve been to ATV happy hours the past two Wednesdays and they are a good time. One night wewere just finished covering pool 4 when we heard a large crash and some wailingthen hollering. A lady on her returnfrom bingo, had fallen up the steps and banged her head on the bottom of thesliding door. Her daughter came runningfrom up the street and got there just after me. Apparently this is a too common occurrence lately. I couldn’t see any marks but suggested theyice both the forehead and her right shin which she banged on the step. That was enough excitement for me.

Tomorrow we have a going away party for an Alberta couplewho have been here a couple months and are going home for Christmas. Sometime after New Year’s, they are going totheir property in Mexico for the balance of the winter. It’s a rough life! Monday night is the ATV potluck for whichAileen is cooking a gluten free turkey and Wednesday night is another ATV happyhour. Then there is probably rides Tuesday and Thursday. Aileen has a couple of Caliente Clown meetings and a Celiac support group meeting. Did Imention we lead a rather busy life?

On December 1 we had a nice little dust storm. This is out behind our park

Some of went riding December 1 and it was quite pleasant where we were until mid afternoon when the dust started coming again. We are approaching the top of what is called the Little Spline

On December 6 we went by some petroglyphs

The Thumb is on the left, some of the country we ride through

Just above Box Canyon

Close up of the above photo

I got stuck. It was too steep and muddy to climb out. Photo by Jim Jordan

We're moving! Photo by Jim Jordan

One of our riding trails along the south side of South Butte

This unique area is just to the right of the above photo and I've never seen any other similar landscape in this region

Dave checking the contents of Jim's pan

Eureka! Can you see the tiny speck of gold?

Riding up the river. There are no fish or anything to worry about and the river dries up a few miles below us. When they eventually let water out of the Coolidge Dam many miles upstream, all the water will be channeled into an irrigation canal

BUSY, BUSY AND PROCRASTINATING

2011-11-30T21:21:00.001-08:00

This has been a longer gap than normal as I have beenprocrastinating. Life here has been justtoo busy and I’ve been enjoying having a well stocked library in the park. We’re both reading more than we have inrecent years. We were shocked to hear ofthe passing of our good friend Carole on November 22 at the age of 67. That’s young these days! We’re not sure of the cause yet but itappears to be complications from her diabetes. She was only ill a day and a half before suddenly going. She was one of my best photo pals and enjoyedgoing out shooting with me whenever we could get together. She was the glue holding together theregional photographic council in the Okanagan as she had taken over the chairwhen I left to wander. Aileen and I alwaysenjoyed getting together with Carole and her longtime partner Bev. Another person who didn’t get to enjoy a longretirement. So sad!

I walk Mitzy for an hour most days I don’t go ATVing and forhalf an hour on those days I do, usually out in the desert behind thepark. I try to fit in at least half anhour riding my pedal bike as well. I alsowalk to all four swimming pools each night after supper recording the pool temperature. We are going to write a letter to the boardto see if one pool could be kept at a cooler temperature for swimming andexercising. Some of the pools have beenin hot tub range reaching 98F.

We enjoyed a great turkey supper last Thursday for theAmerican Thanksgiving. Aileen did theturkey, potatoes, gravy and cole slaw while Marie did buns, green beans andmarshmallow yams. Aileen also made apumpkin pie from scratch. Supper wasdelicious. Jacquie (my aunt) and Jim andfriends Ken and Marie joined us. We hada game of Mexican train later won by Ken. Aileen went with Marie to some Black Friday shoppingin Casa Grande but didn’t buy much except some items for needy kids in the area.

I washed the motor home one day and did the outside of thewindows another. I washed the car on ourback lot another day and was appalled how filthy our water is here. I rinsed the soap off and shammied the carbut there was still lots of muddy streaks on the glass. I don’t have a filter on the outside tap. I spent much of my free time on Saturdayputting up Christmas decorations. I missedseveral days of ATV riding as my machine was in the shop for service which gaveme more time to do these projects. Aileen has been busy cleaning both the motor home and park model. She did quite a bit of typing for the parknewspaper and both of us were part of the proofing team.

We went with Jacquie and Jim to the Mesa Market which is ahuge covered sales area about 30 miles from here. We all bought a few items. Later, I managed to listen to part of the jamsession which my sister Wendy was playing in here in our park. There was some good music to enjoy.

I spent a few hours on two occasions giving some one on oneinstruction in Photo Shop Elements to our friend Selma. I enjoy helping people learn new things likethat. Yesterday was my first ATV ride ina week and a half and I hope to get out with the group again tomorrow.

We were off to Casa Grande for the morning shopping andlooking. I made some fridge magnets andused up the magnetic adhesive material I bought at Michael’s a couple yearsago. I managed to get the last threesheets at Michael’s today and found a larger roll which I hope will work, as itis cheaper. Using this material allowsme to print on high quality photo paper which I adhere to the magneticbacking. I tried using the magneticprinting material but the colours get lost in the dull surface. The result bears no resemblance to myoriginal photo. Tonight we went to anATV club happy hour/supper over in Sun City which is about ten miles west ofus. There was a good turnout and we hada good time.

The old ranch house at the 96 Ranch where we went on our ride yesterday

The fireplace in the above house

A new Crown Saguaro for me near the 96 Ranch

This nearly expired Saguaro looks like it should be on Easter Island

Can you see the laughing camel in the side view of the Crown Saguaro?

Beauty and the Beast

WORKING AND RIDING

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80 year old Dave is upright after laying his ATV on its side - no injury and no damage

Charlie's riding high at low speed

Lynn assured me he was smiling

Moon in the Saguaros

Some old mining ruins, this is the chimney/oven for smelting

More mining derelicts

This an all too common scene out in the back country. These idiots take all manner of items like old TVs and blow them to bits along with literally tons of glass. It would be nice to identify them and deliver all the crap to their front yards!

Life continues at great speed in our home. I have been ATVing a few times, Aileen and Ihave both been typing for the community newspaper and I worked on getting theroof raised on our back lot RV cover. Being so far from major centers has reared its head with thisproject. After much searching, I found acompany in Phoenix to buy my 3 inch diameter pipe sections. We drove there one day to pick them up andwith a couple small detours, it was 150 miles round trip, much of it citydriving. That took care of most of thatday. Then I found a place to rent a pipecutter to cut my 2 7/8 inch existing pipe and it was in Gilbert. It was 52 minutes to get there when I lefthere at 6:30 am. Then of course, we hadto return it later.

The actual job went fairly well. The pipe cutter worked very well but thedrilling of the half inch holes proved to be real challenge. The new pipe I had installed last year was incrediblyhard to drill and we went through several bits before finally settling into asystematic approach using certain different bits. It was very fortunate that one of my helperswas a retired machinist. My youngesthelper was 70. The others were 75, 76,82 and 83! We cut the three pipes on theeast side, one at a time, put a larger pipe sleeve on to contain the cut offpipe then raised all three by eight inches. We had planned on doing the west side which has four pipes but decidedwe’d gained enough clearance with just the one side. We backed the motor home in and there wasplenty of clearance so we decided that to stop at that.

Aileen made a delicious stew and had made a loaf of glutenfree bread in the bread machine which was really tasty. Only two of the helpers (and one wife) wereable to join us for the lunch but Aileen sent soup home with another.

Mitzy and I have been going for hour long walks out in thedesert on the days I don’t ride. On thedays I do, I take her on the ATV then we walk for a few minutes. This is in addition to her several dailywalks to the dog park. I went toCoolidge and sat in the line at the motor vehicle office for an hour one day torenew my ATV licence. By buying the $25 offroad decal first, my ATV licence plate renewal was $4.94, isn’t that a deal?

We went to Ken and Marie’s for Mexican Train Friday eveningand I was the lucky one that night. Wehaven’t been able to go to the pool every night since the bozos are keeping allthe pools too hot for Aileen. Last nightwe went and ran the cold water hose into the pool and as long as Aileen stayedclose to the end of the hose, she was able to function. She found a chart online detailing acceptabletemperatures for certain activities and conditions and for MS, the recommendedhigh is 84F. The coolest pool in herelast night was 92F! It isn’t even refreshingto go in the 92 pool after the hot tub.

With having the motor home finally on our lot and plugged into power, Aileen has been cleaning it. She had the carpets cleaned yesterday and it was less than half what wepaid in Errington last summer.

RIDING THE RIVER

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That would be the Gila River ride on Thursday. With the continuing drought conditions thereisn’t actually a river here anymore. Ithink the San Carlos Dam is preventing any water from escaping. There are long stretches of dry river bedalternating with some pools. As you cansee, some of the pools are still fairly deep. We went out with 16 ATVs and hada fun ride up the river. There were acouple spots where we had to detour around some too deep pools. It was nice to have one chap not afraid totest the waters before we all plunged in. He only flooded once, necessitating being winched back to shore. We had to remove the air cleaner filter andspray ether into the carb for a while to get the water out and gas flowingagain. It ran just fine afterward.

We went to Safeway, Fry’s and Walmart for groceries on Friday. We hadn’t planned on Walmart but Safeway’sturkeys all had gluten as did Fry’s. Fry’s claimed to have gluten free on their website, but not in thestore. The checkout guy didn’t ask ifwe’d found everything so Aileen mentioned it. He then said “did you find everything alright?” to which she replied“no”. When she said her piece about theturkeys, he said Walmart carries gluten free! So, instead of getting a turkey for 59 cents a pound, we bought two for98 cents per pound and we’re good for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Ken and Marie came about 4:30 as arranged for her birthdaysupper. She turned (secret) today. Wehad a delicious chicken thigh supper which Aileen did in the crockpot. There was rice, salad, nice asparagus and carrotsthen gluten free birthday cake and ice cream. We played SkipBo after with the ladies whipping us two of the threegames. The guys managed to win the lastone.

Here's Donna leading the pack

Dick scrambling up the bank

Lynn waiting for rescue on his drowned machine

Some places were harder than others to get up

Sometimes a little extra speed helps

Dick's on his way

Yahoo Jim!

Sandi's turn

Maureen posing under the arch where we had lunch

A tarantula

The lens cap is 2.75 inches across

BACK ON MY ATV

2011-11-08T20:10:00.000-08:00

We had a frosty morning today. The forecast was for 41 this morning butthere was frost on the roofs with a nasty little wind blowing. I took Mitzy for a ride out back beforeheading up to meet the group.

I was the leader of six today. We went to the turquoise mine area then up tothe Crown Saguaro. From there weexplored a side wash then went by a sort of mutated crown cactus and over toBox Canyon Rd. We went up the big washparalleling the road and found a spot to have lunch. We continued up the wash after lunch thenspotted a trail heading back toward where we had been earlier so we tookit. It brought us out to another wash whichwe explored for a short distance. I wentfurther than the rest and actually found an old cat road which allowed me toget out of the wash but it was pretty old and unused.

I decided to head back since Dennis was turning the grouparound. Just down the trail, Gene in aPolaris Ranger had somehow broken an axle in loose gravel and his right frontwheel was turned 180. The guys managedto tie the drive shaft up and turned the wheel back into position and he wasable to turn around. The wash we were inactually exited onto Box Canyon Rd right where we had turned up for lunch. I think Gene was able to drive home with noproblem. He was going good last I saw,but Blue and I went to town for gas. This was only the second day out for the Ranger as he just got it backfrom the shop after extensive repairs. It’s a 2009 with only 1300 miles. He’s second owner and has hardly used it so he is not impressed.

It was raining quite well yesterday morning and I managed tohold Mitzy off for a time before making the trek up to the dog park. I went to get Ken and his big ladder, whichturned out to be shorter than mine. Wefound the RV cover to be about 11’11” at all four corners. We need to raise it about 6 inches. Neighbour Phil stopped by and chatted so Iasked his opinion on the best method to raise the roof. He thought Jack’s idea of cutting the posts andputting in a sleeve was best. After muchsearching online, I finally found a place in Phoenix where I could buy sectionsof pipe. After many phone calls, Ifinally found a place that rents pipe cutters large enough to cut my 2 7/8”pipe. It is in Gilbert so I have threetrips up to that area in the next few days. Wednesday to pick up the pipe and check for screen door repair parts forthe motor home, pick up the cutter when I get a day set for the work and thenreturn the cutter later in the day.

I’d tried to fix a slight leak in the park model kitchen hotwater tap but true to form, it leaked worse after I cleaned the crud out. The hard water is a killer for ourplumbing. Ken and I went to Casa Grande and bought a newone at Lowe’s. I installed the new tapswhen I got home and that went quite well.

Here's a picture of me coming own what's known as the Water Fall, taken with my camera, by Maureen

This Road Runner allowed me to take his picture as I was coming across the dry Gila River on the way home from fueling up in Florence

A Crown Saguaro on the left and a normal one on the right

This is not good! The axle snapped off it appears allowing the right wheel to over center

A QUICK TRIP TO BENSON, AZ

2011-11-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

L-R Aileen, John, Suzy and Jerry

Yesterday was finish cleaning up from the party day. We tried to make it a rest day as well. I went to Coolidge for a couple thingsincluding washing all the dust off the car from the Friday dust storm. Aileen had a nap. When Aileen went for her nap afternoonyesterday, I sat in my chair and I think I napped as long as she did. It must be the turning 65 since I don’tnormally nap at all. The weather hascooled off about 20C from a couple days ago so instead of the air conditioner,the heater has been on a few times. Wedid go to a yard sale up the street and I picked a heater for my little roomaka “the man cave”. I also got foursmall wood picture frames.

Today, we went on a different type of adventure. We drove to Benson, AZ to visit fellowbloggers, Jerry and Suzy. They have beenmy most faithful blog commenters for a long time. Jerry posts an interesting blog periodically www.jerrysuzylifeonwheels.blogspot.com. Theyare a friendly couple and it felt like we had known them for a long time assoon as we met. We spent the afternoonchatting and putting away a great lunch which was a combined effort of Jerry,Suzy and Aileen. My contribution waseating more than I should have. Theyhave a park model in an SKP park a couple miles south of Benson, which is not farfrom Tombstone. Their park is a nicequiet spot with large roomy sites. They also have a Class A motor home in which they travel. Weleft here at 8:15 this morning and returned about 6:45. We did stop on the way at Home Depot for a bit of a lookaround and then at Sprouts, which is a combined health food type store andnatural foods market. They had a lot ofitems we use but some of their prices were a little steep. We stopped a couple of other times to walkMitzy. Only two short stops on the way home.

WHAT A PARTY!

2011-11-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to find this plant with its last few blooms of the season. I believe its called Cowboy Whiskers and is a large member of the Prickly Pear family

Aileen has been slaving away for days preparing a nice birthdayparty for me and two of our friends and neighbours. June was 75, Hiro was 71 and I was 65, all ofus today. Aileen made a huge batch of chili in theelectric roaster and did large bowls of both potato and rice pasta salads. She cooked a large crockpot full of supertasty wings, made a gluten free cake and more. Several friends brought dishes and appies so we had far more food than35 of us could eat. I think a good timewas had by all.

I had been cleaning the carport over the past couple daysand this morning a friend helped haul 5 large tables from the clubhouse andchairs from some neighbours. I hadeverything mostly set up in our carport when one of the neighbours alerted meto the weather forecast. I went andchecked on the computer and sure enough, a nasty dust storm was on itsway. I managed to rent one of our banquethalls on short notice so we moved the party inside. Several of the friends came and helped getthat set up then we hauled all the food up there later. It was much nicer being inside and lookingout at the wind and dust until it got too dark to see. We seemed to fare alright with the storm butboth I-8 and I-10 were closed at times. These dust storms are like snow storms up north except you have brownout rather than white out conditions. They closed the highway this time because just about all the previousseveral storms have resulted in multiple car crashes with several fatalities.

I’ve been out riding my ATV twice with the group and it wasdusty. The long drought is continuing inSouthern Arizona. They could use somerain like the northern part received the other day as we were driving. I’ve also been enjoying getting out on mypedal bike as well. It will be awhilebefore my butt gets used to the seat again but I really enjoy riding around theparks when the weather is nice. It appearsour temperatures will be about 20F cooler for the next week. However, we are still well above snow/frosttemperatures and that’s what matters to all of us hiding out down south!

Left to right - Hiro, June and John. Isn't she a young looking 75?

SETTLED IN OUR WINTER ABODE AGAIN

2011-10-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in Caliente last Thursday mid afternoon andhave been busy ever since. Our newcleaning lady did an excellent job, and at a cheaper rate, than the previoustwo so that was a real bonus. We’vedone lots of visiting with old friends and used the pool each night. We found a spot close by to park the motorhome until we get the RV cover roof raised enough to park the motor home underit. We scraped coming out last February andwith the suspension modifications we did in Grant’s Pass, it is likely we’d notmake it in. Several of the neighbourshave already offered to help with whatever I come up with for a solution.

We have been shopping a couple times getting restocked inthe food department. Aileen has been busyplanning a party for my 65^th this coming Friday and laying in foodfor that as well. I think we are over 30 invited guests so far and more friends are coming in every day so it could be up around 40 bythen. One of our guests will turn 75 thatday so the event has been expanded to include her special day. We washed the park model and carport today sothat’s looking pretty spiffy. I imaginethe carport will be pretty crowded with guests on Friday.

Yesterday, we were invited to a pumpkin carving party. Never heard of such a thing among us olderpeople but it turned out to be great fun. I did our pumpkin freehand while Aileen did one for our neighbour,Kathy, who is still in BC recovering from surgery. Aileen worked from a pattern and her pumpkin lookedreally sharp when the candle was lit in the evening. Our works of art were on display on the clubhouse stage this morning during the regular Monday morning coffee/announcementsmeeting.

I was happy that my ATV started easily and seems to berunning fine when I got it out from where it spent the summer. I’m looking forward to riding again even thoughit is a little warm and very dusty. I willhave to hang well back to minimize the dust, which is what I normally do anyway.

Aileen's work of art

My freehand effort

THESE IMAGES GO WITH THE FOLLOWING POST

2011-10-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

Our self portrait at the Four Corners

Evening at Goosenecks. The pickup was from Phoenix, Randy and Diane from Florida were in the center motor home and that's us down at the far end

A morning shot of our home, that's Monument Valley peeking up in the back

Valley of the Gods

Valley of the Gods, see the face on the right side?

Valley of the Gods with Monument Valley behind

Goosenecks of San Juan River

Up on Muley Point

There is more to this report in the post following.

BACK IN ARIZONA

2011-10-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we were on the road about 10. Aileen drove the car to Safeway in Cortezwhere we refilled the larder again. Ihooked the car on while she put the groceries away. We went to the Four Corners Monument forlunch. The Indians charged us $3 eachfor the privilege. We took ourobligatory photo, looked at some of the jewelry then beat it.

We got detoured in Bluff as an old VW camper was on firebeside the highway. It was 2:45 when wegot to Goosenecks State Park and found ourselves a nice spot right on thecanyon edge. Aileen tried to nap afterwe got the motor home set up. I putteredwith the outside things like getting the scooter off the car and building abottom step since it was quite a drop from the stairs.

After a good sleep, we had a slow start Saturday morningjust lazing about. Aileen made uspancakes for a change. After breakfast,I took my camera for a walk all the way to the end of the mesa then back alongthe other side. We both spent quite awhile sitting outside. I read mostlywhile Aileen did puzzle book. I cookedsteak for lunch and Aileen did spuds, onions and mushrooms inside and they wereyummy.

We fed Mitzy a little early, packed our supper and went tothe Valley of the Gods. The lighting wasexcellent but the road was horrible with huge washboard for much of it. There was lots of crawling along today. I hate washboard like that. I did get some good shots though.

Aileen cut my hair mid morning on Sunday. She was only part way along when the GigHarbor, Wash. couple came along and stopped to chat for a while. He‘s the guy in Telluride who said hewouldn’t run over me when I was in the middle of the road taking a picture. Then they were beside us at the Four Cornersparking lot. They were heading forNatural Bridges and thought they’d check in on us.

I’d seen a light down in the canyon Sunday night which Itook to be a campfire. On Monday morning I found a couple tents and araft tied to shore while looking through my binoculars. I alerted Randy to the fact we would maybesee a raft float by so he and Diane came over in time to see it. Randy and Diane are from Florida and hadspent the summer work camping at a KOA in Durango. They were parked just up from us atGoosenecks and we hit it off. Randy isan avid photographer so we had lots to talk about.

Later, I suggested to them and Aileen we could go to MuleyPoint and everyone agreed. We had agreat time up there shooting and visiting and having our picnic. I met a young couple from London. I gavehim my blog with the idea he could see my images of the area.

We stopped part way down the Moki Dugway at a couple of placesto see the view. It was Mitzy’s suppertime when we returned so Aileen fed her then I took her for her stroll. Aileen had a short nap. I put some pictures of Randyand Diane onto the thumb drive to give to them. Randy came back with me and I did a few HDR processes while he tooknotes.

Randy and Diane came by for a short visit before departing Tuesdaymorning. It was very warm all morningthen in the afternoon it clouded over and we had several thunder storms comerolling through. I was out shooting thedarkening skies for a time. I made ithome before the rain began along with some real major wind.

I chatted with a photographer from Georgia quite a bit. He’s retired air force and has a secondcareer as a nature photographer. He stoppedby last night and we chatted through the window as he was just leaving and wanteda bit of info on the Dugway and Muley Point. Sometime after dark, we saw lights coming in and it was himreturning. He’d enjoyed the Moki Dugwayand Muley Point but didn’t feel like the 1.5 hour, or more, drive back to hismother ship. He sleeps in his Highlandertwo or three nights away from his RV quite often so as to be in goodspots. Bill came and visited until past10:30. We looked at lots of mypictures, mostly of places he hasn’t been yet. He’s 51.

Last night was quite stormy. I’d run the Hondagenerator a while last evening since all the clouds interfered with the solarpanels charging the batteries yesterday. Afterfive nights boondocking at this greatGoosenecks State Park, we were hooked up and on the road just before ten thismorning and it was dry for a while. Wetook Highway 191 south from Bluff, UT to I-40 then I-40 to Holbrook where weare in OK RV Park tonight. We hit somemajor rain along 191. The desert wasreally flooded, with water lying everywhere and some of the creeks wererampaging mud. Unfortunately, there wereno places where I could pull over to get pictures as there was no way we werepulling over unless it was guaranteed firm. We had our lunch in a Mormon Church yard in Chinle as we could not findanywhere else paved to park and it was still pouring and blowing. Shortly after that, the temperature reallystarted to drop and at one point was down to 1.1C which would be maybe 33 or34F. We had a lot of sleet on thewindshield and one short stretch had some slush on the road. The ground alongside was white for somedistance also.

Looking down from Muley Point toward the Goosenecks of the San Juan River

I named this the Kissing Rock

Part way down the Moki Dugway looking out over The Valley of the Gods

Storm over Muley Point

The storm coming through the Goosenecks shot from the motorhome window

The last wave of the storm, it is getting brighter

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT – MESA VERDE

2011-10-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

We took a drive over to Mesa Verde this morning since we areonly about 20 miles from the entrance and our yearly national parks pass isgood til the end of this month. The lightingwas difficult with the sun and shadow but we did what we could with it.

We came home through Mancos just for some differentscenery. Aileen managed a nap after we returnedhome while I started packing stuff up for our move tomorrow. We plan to move over to Goosenecks State Park in Utah where we hope to dry campfor a few days. We need some down time,or at least quieter time. This will bethe last blog for a few days, I expect, since there is no free internet anywherein the area that I know of. If we’re daytripping somewhere bigger, perhaps I’ll take the laptop along just incase. We haven’t come up with a routesouth to Florence after we leave Goosenecks, yet. We’ll decide when the time comes based on theweather, mostly.

RICO, OPHIR AND TELLURIDE, CO

2011-10-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

In our campground

Dolores River

Old Coke Ovens

Rico, CO

Near the Ophir turnoff

I took Mitzy out around the frosty dog run Wednesday morningthen came back for my camera since there was some nice colour and reflectionsto be had. This Dolores River RV Parkjust north of the town of Dolores is one of the prettiest parks we’ve stayedin. There are huge areas of cottonwoodtrees that are at their peak colour and pathways through the groves and alongthe river and large ponds.

We hit the road at 9:50 am bound for Telluride. I thought we were getting a little jaded withall the mountains and colour but boy, today was probably the highlight ofColorado! We were up close and personalwith a lot of great looking mountains all day on the drive. We got to Ophir just after noon and drove alittle way up the Ophir Pass Rd to have our lunch all by ourselves. After lunch I walked about 1/2 of a milefurther up the road and got some even better views. Sadly, the road was better than what we’dalready driven so I could have driven more and then walked further . I probably gained 500 feet or more so I didquite a bit of puffing. Aileen and Idecided Ophir has to be the prettiest location to live in.

From there we finally made our way to Telluride which wasrather anti climatic as it is another tourist trap town which we normallyavoid. The only surprise was seeing thetwin high waterfalls at the head of the valley with the big house or severalhouses beside the falls perched on the cliff edge.

Our return toward home was fairly slow since we were gettingnice light on a different aspect than in the morning. We also ventured a few kms up the Alta LakeRd before turning back. Aileen drovefrom Lizard Head Pass home. I was fairlybeat with all my walking and many times in and out of the car. I took 437 shots, so about 140 differentsubjects.

PLEASE NOTE- THERE ARE TWO MORE SETS OF PICTURES FOLLOWING THIS POST. JUST KEEP SCROLLING DOWN.

OPHIR AND AREA WITH OCTOBER 19 POST

2011-10-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

Upper Ophir looking up to Ophir Pass

Time for lunch

Walking further up the road

See all the iron bubbling up with this spring?

Just to prove I was there

The lower part of Ophir

A VISIT TO OURAY AND SILVERTON

2011-10-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

We got ourselves organized then left about 9:30 heading forOuray, CO. We made a few photo stopsalong the way and it was lunch time by the time we got to Ouray and 3.5 milesup the Sneffels road. We turned aroundsince the mountains were in cloud. Wehad lunch in a slight wide spot but ate in the car since it was so coldoutside. It was 7C but very windy.

After lunch we headed for Silverton. Red Mountain Pass (11,091 feet) was greatscenery and I have to say rivaled the Canadian Rockies in wow! factor. It was partly overcast on the way but greaton the return. The Durango-SilvertonNarrow Gauge Steam Train was in Silverton when we arrived but it was in ahorribly ugly location. I walked downMain Street Silverton taking pictures while Aileen followed along with thecar. It was nice to have shuttle servicetoday.

As we were returning through the Dallas Divide, the lightingand colour were excellent so I had to stop for more pictures. I was surprised just how much colour wasstill out there on today’s trip. I hadthought the leaves could be done already. We managed to get home by 5:30 after 313 kms (196 miles).

Ridgeway, CO

Looking down the Sneffels Rd

Ouray overlook

South of Ouray

The Durango-Silverton steam train

Pink BBQ

Main Street Silverton, note the off road taxi

Thar's iron in them hills

Heading up to Red Mountain Pass

One of the many old mines

The next four images are of Dallas Divide west of Ridgeway, CO

HEADING DOWN THE ROAD FROM GRAND JUNCTION

2011-10-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Aileen helped me load the scooter rack before she walkedover to church this morning. I got theoutside packed up and the scooter loaded then finished up getting ready totravel. I took the motor home over forgas and cleaned the windshield then parked it on the road in front of thechurch. I walked Mitzy through the dogpark then around the upper loop before getting the car and taking it out tohook up. I had a few minutes to restbefore Aileen came along and we could hit the road.

Westopped for lunch at West Creek rest area, somewhere before Gateway. We stopped at the Historic Flume which wasquite the feat to build back in 1888. Wegot to High Country RV Park in Naturita, CO about 4 hours after leaving GrandJunction. It was only 166 kms but westopped a few times for pictures and lunch and we poked along admiring the beautiful Dolores Canyon which was quite twisty. We didn’t expect to have internet but we are picking it up from thelibrary or visitor’s center. The RV parkis nearly empty. One guy istenting. He finally got an elk drawafter eight years of trying and managed to get his bull this morning. We plan to stay a couple nights and dosome exploring tomorrow from here.

Aftergetting the motor home set up and the scooter off loaded from the car, I wentback about 15 miles to shoot some nice colour along the San Miquel River. We went for a walk along main street aftersupper. I peeked in the little grocerystore and was surprised to find most of their prices much lower than GrandJunction Walmart, Safeway and City Market. How can that be when this near ghost town is miles from anywhere?

On the way to Gateway, CO. The orange is Scrub Oak

West Creek Picnic Area

Remnants of the Hanging Flume

Close up detail of above image

Reflections in a muddy creek

The San Miquel River near Naturita

LEAVING GRAND JUNCTION

2011-10-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

Aileen talked to Marie yesterday morning and when she foundwe were leaving today, invited us for supper since she had planned on doing itSunday night. We went to City Market forsome groceries then Aileen packed a lunch and we went off to the ColoradoNational Monument.

After lunch at the picnic area, I hiked up the Serpents Trail. I’d told Aileen to wait an hourbefore driving up to the top of the trail. However, I was only 45 minutes to the top including taking lots ofpictures so had to wait awhile. I passeda young couple on the way up who had moved from Las Cruces a month ago. They were very friendly when we visited awhile at the top. We drove through theMonument so Aileen could get a good view finally. The previous two times she has ridden on theoff side from the view. We got home intime for her to have a good nap. Iworked on backing up to my external hard drive until it got too full. It said there was still 43 GBs left emptybut it lit up red and wouldn’t accept any more. Good thing I have a second 500 GB that I haven’t opened yet.

We went to Crutchfield’s before 5 and Ernie and Atha werealready there. We chatted a while thenhad a large and nice supper. Afterdishes were done, I showed my Colorado shows to date. I couldn’t get the HDMI to connect to Ken’sTV so had to show it on the laptop. Weplayed Backup 8’s and one game each for guys and gals. We headed home about 9 pm.

On to our nextadventure. Don’t know if we will have internet for thenext couple days. The plan is to go onlyas far as Naturita, CO today and explore from there a bit. Then I think we’ll get down around Cortez orDoloros, CO for a few more days.

I went from the bottom so gained the 770 feet

Near the bottom starting up

See that nipple peak I'm looking up at?

It wasn't long before I was looking down at it

ROAD TRIP TO THE NORTH OF GRAND JUNCTION

2011-10-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

We went for a day long drive north then east of here via Highway 139 to Rangely, Meeker and Rifle thenback on I-70. I think it was about 390kms. Only took 63 pictures so about 30subjects today. We had a leisurely tripup to Douglas Pass and at the high point, we took the gravel road up to nearthe microwave tower for some great views. There were a few old buildings I would like to have worked with butaccess was denied. There were lots ofinteresting rock and clay formations throughout the drive but often no parkingaccessibility when I needed it. We wereimpressed with the large flock of sheep in one field. We got home about 4:30 just in time for Mitzyto have her supper and Aileen to put her bread on.

This is the North Fruita Desert

Douglas Pass on the right and part of the hill leading up to it

Along the White River north of Meeker, CO

The large flock of sheep

The only old house I was able to play with but from outside the fence which was signed

ASPEN, MAROON BELLS AND LEADVILLE LOOP

2011-10-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

I had set my alarm for 6 am yesterday morning, but when I woke up at 5:15 I decided to getmoving. I may have gotten 5 hours sleepbut that’s doubtful. I threw together alunch and had breakfast and was on the road by 6 am.

There was a lot of oilfield worker traffic on I-70 all theway to Glenwood Springs and then it was rush hour traffic all the way toAspen. The Maroon Bells road was reallyquiet; I saw maybe a dozen cars while I was up there. It was very cold since Maroon Lake was stillin shade and it was at 9580 feet. Thecolour was mostly gone but for bits here and there.

Next, I drove up to Independence Pass which is 12,095 feetand the wind was just howling. I surewished I had taken my winter jacket with the gloves and ear muffs in the pockets. It was sunny and -1C but the wind chill wassomething else. There were lots ofpeople up at the top. One lady fell on anice/snow patch and couldn’t get up so two of us helped her husband get her backup. I saw a guy snowboarding in thefairly shallow snow with his dog running along behind.

I spent some time in Leadville but just on the main street. It seemsto be a vibrant town at 10,200 feet elevation and I can imagine the winters arequite harsh. I had to wait for road work a couple times,once shortly after Leadville and the other at Gilman. I hit the I-70 about 3:30 and was home inabout two hours. I stopped for tendollars gas somewhere as it looked like the gas was going to get too low beforeClifton. It was $3.79 per gallon and isonly $3.18 in Clifton. I put on justover 600 kms (375 miles) on my big loop and took about 116 photos.

Today we are going to the monthly Arizona lunch where thelocal people who winter in Florence get together. Our time is winding down here in GrandJunction. I think we will head down theroad somewhere on Monday but no idea where as yet.

At the top of Independence Pass

Near Twin Lakes, CO.

Twin Lakes

The main drag in Leadville, CO

North of Leadville

The little burg of Red Cliff, CO

I thought this log house looked neat

Red Cliff is just up the canyon to the left. There is a narrow entrance road on the left of the bridge where the van is coming out. The main entrance is the lower bridge and the main Highway 24 bridge is the high one over the Eagle River. There is also a rail line jammed in there.

WILD HORSE HUNTING

2011-10-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Aileen went to church with Ken and Marie on Sunday. It wasn’t far to go as their church is rightnext door to our RV park. After, she andI took Mitzy and went to the Palisade Farmer’s Market. Wow, high prices! We drove up to Cameo next and stopped at afruit stand and got a huge watermelon for $2.49. We drove up to the lower entrance to the wildhorse area but couldn’t get too far as one of the creek crossings was erodedtoo deep. We had our Saturday’s picniclunch in the trail parking lot then took a drive through the Colorado NationalMonument. We took a detour out of theMonument to the rural area called Glade then back into the Monument again.

We went to Ken and Marie’s for SkipBo with their friends,Ernie and Atha. We played teams and theladies whipped us two out of three games. We did have a good time though.

Ken and Marie came bya little after 10:30 Monday morning to pick us up for the trip to the upperwild horse area. The scenery was prettygood both going and returning so lots of pictures were taken. We had a late lunch at the top of the BookCliffs after seeing two groups of horses, one of them quite close. After lunch I got a series of shots of twohorses mating. Interestingly, the mareinstigated the whole encounter. We cameback out to the highway a different route and I would have liked to have beenby myself as there were lots of great pictures to be had but time was marchingon and everyone was getting tired. Wewere both really tired last night so it was earlier to bed for both of us.

The following is from the internet;

In 1971 Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horse andBurro Act to protect, manage and control wild horses and burros on publiclands. This legislation declares that "...wild free-roaming horses andburros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; thatthey contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich thelives of the American people..."

You can find colorful hands of wild horses scatteredthroughout Colorado's four uniquely beautiful wild horse herd management areas.Piceance (Pe-an(t)s) Basin - East Douglas Creek, west of Meeker; LittleBookcliffs, northeast of Grand Junction; Sandwash Basin in the northwesternpart of the state; and Spring Creek, southwest of Montrose.

The Bureau of Land Management maintains and manages wildhorses and burros, in "herd management areas." These areas presentunique opportunities for people to view wild horse herds and their habitat.

COLORADO'S ADOPT-A-WILD HORSE

OR BURRO PROGRAM

Due to federal protection and a lack of natural predators,wild horse and burro herd sizes often expand beyond the capability of the rangeto support them. The BLM then rounds up the excess animals and makes them availablefor adoption.

The natural enemy of wild horses and burros is the mountainlion. Drought, range conditions and severe winters also control thesepopulations naturally.

Colorado's wild horses are feral. Feral means domesticancestors turned wild. Wild horses and burros adapt well to captivity.

Burros are in demand as guard animals to protect sheep herdsfrom predators.

Tuesday morning Aileen put supper in the crockpot then wewent grocery shopping. While she nappedafter lunch, I mailed a cheque off to pay our Arizona property taxes which wereup about ten percent this year at $315.84 in total. I then spent a couple hours wandering aroundthe Harbor Freight store. For youCanadians, think Princess Auto on a grander scale.

We had Ken and Marie for supper last night then we all wentto Palisade to Ernie and Atha’s for dessert. Aileen took her gluten free dessert and Atha had made a nice desserttoo. We played three more games of SkipBo,all which were won by the guys.

Happy Birthday to my sister Susan today.

Some of the wild horses

There was a great variety of natural features that kept me excited

The kissers on the left with lots of spectators

I think this must be a ghostly choir

Some Colorado fence posts

The contrast of this red hill against the plain gray was neat

The Juniper trees can be really photogenic. This one looks pretty dead until you look at the one branch that is growing just fine, thank you

Not sure what this flower was but it was pretty interesting

GRAND MESA

2011-10-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

We picked up friends Ken and Marie this morning and theycame along with us to Grand Mesa. Somereports have it as the largest mesa in North America. Ken guided us up the gravel access road as itwas more interesting and less traffic. Weran into more snow than anticipated and the soft snow/slush the cars drove inthe past two days was today frozen, which we flattened out with our undercarriage making a fair bit ofnoise and to the displeasure of a couple of passengers. We could have used a few more inches ofclearance for sure, but we made it. There was some cheering when we came to the ploughed, paved main road We'd taken a picnic lunch, but with the -5Covercast and windy, it was decided to have lunch at the lodge. Lunch was good in the big log lodge and freeof charge, were a couple of chocolate labs who visited each table on a regularbasis. No scraps left under any table! My altimeter said we were up as high as10,400 feet so it was very pleasant when we dropped back down to valley leveland +13C.

The Grand Mesa is a large mesa in western Colorado in theUnited States. It has an area of about 500 square miles (1,300 km2) andstretches for about 40 miles (64 km) east of Grand Junction between theColorado River and the Gunnison River, its tributary to the south. The northside of the mesa is drained largely by Plateau Creek, a smaller tributary ofthe Colorado. The west side is drained largely by Kannah Creek, which isreceived to the west by the lower Gunnison River. The mesa rises about 5,000feet (1,500 m) above the surrounding river valleys, including the Grand Valleyto the west, reaching an elevation of about 11,000 feet (3,400 m), with amaximum elevation of 11,333 feet (3,454 m) at Crater Peak. Much of the mesa iswithin Grand Mesa National Forest. Over 300 lakes, including many reservoirscreated and used for drinking and irrigation water, are scattered along the topof the formation. The Grand Mesa is flat in some areas, but quite rugged inothers. I copied this from Wikipedia.

The fog kept rolling in and then receding as we made our way up the hill

Okay, let's set the scene. This doesn't look like much does it? It is a pipe stuck in the bank to channel the water. However, note that it is freezing and there are a few plants still out.

These leaves are encased in the ice

These green plants have become encased in ice one drop at a time from the water dropping onto the rocks and splashing outward.

Just up the toad was this frozen waterfall

We kept getting peek a boo glimpses of some colourful treed hillsides

This is Hoar (or Rime) frost on the grass

Its beginning to look like winter is settling in

I took this tonight after supper, a couple miles from our RV park. These are part of the Book Cliffs, a natural feature, which run for miles on the north side of Grand Junction. I'm parked along side I-70 shooting out the window.

FALL COLOUR IN THE SNOW

2011-10-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Today was our 44^th anniversary. Did I stay home and treat Aileen like aqueen? Did take her out for supper? Unfortunately, I must admit to neither. She stayed home and did laundry and bakedgluten free bread. She also made oursupper. Aileen would not have enjoyedthe trip today as I got home at 5:40 after 425 kms (266 miles). She doesn’t appreciate driving in slippery mud or snow or really bumpy roads either.

I was out the door before eight bound for the highmountains. I went to Ridgeway, CO thenfound County Road 7 (Dallas Creek Road) which turned out to be a winner. It was a mostly single width road but it wasastounding how many other vehicles I met up there at the 10,000 plus footlevel. There must have been forty peopleup there, and many had tripods. One chapwas from Germany, another from Alaska and several other US states licenceplates were visible. It would have beenbetter to have been an hour or two earlier but I didn’t feel like getting uptoo early when I wasn’t sure the weather was going to co-operate. It was more than two hours of fast driving toget to my first shots on the 7 road as it was. I wouldn’t want to drive that fast in the dark (there’s too many deer onthe highways) so it would be closer to three hours from the motor home. I was pretty happy with what I got.

I tried another area on the other side of Dallas Divide butit bombed. I went back to Ridgeway andtook the Owl Creek Pass Road but the light died on me. It was a much rougher road as there hadn’tbeen any maintenance for some time by the looks of it. I met a surprising number of Jeepers(Jeeps) andPeepers (Leaf Peeper is the name given to those of us checking out the fallcolour) along this road. Most of theroad only had two ruts in the snow so exciting when meeting another car on acorner.

We’ve had some rain the past few days since arriving here in GrandJunction. The rivers and canals arerunning very muddy and the mountains mostly have snow. We went to the Texas Roadhouse last nightwith three couples, from Caliente, our Arizona hangout, who all live in Grand Junction. The food was tasty and reasonably priced butI still had an upset stomach in the night. We enjoyed visiting and catching up with the friends. I spent part of two days this week making slide showsset to music using my ProShow program and I’m now caught up. We played Mexican Train with Ken and Marieone night and while Aileen was clear winner, I was a distant fourth.

The above images were all taken on Dallas Creek Rd

This image was taken on the main highway at Dallas divide

This image and the rest following were all taken along the Owl Creek Pass Road

I VISIT THE COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT

2011-10-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Aileen gave me a haircut yesterday morning before we leftLakeside RV. I had been expecting amostly flat drive to Grand Junction and was surprised when we started through areally rugged and rocky notch in the mountains. It was pretty interesting actually. There were some long hills along the route but nothing we couldn’thandle. We were a little over 2.5 hoursmaking our way to Grand Junction. It wasonly 186 kms, our shortest driving day this trip. We missed seeing the sign for RV Ranch andhad to call for directions although we had been really close. We booked in for a week and are pleased withthe excellent WiFi.

While Aileen napped I did some research on the area. Later I went for groceries as the larder wasgetting rather bare. Shortly after I returned,we went to Ken and Marie’s for supper. Their daughter Donna had flown in a couple hours earlier fromOregon. She left this morning drivingback to Oregon with her brother, who she had persuaded to move out there forwork. We had a great evening with ourfriends and Donna sharing lots of laughs. Donna went on her mother’s computer to check out my blog and I guess sheliked it since she forwarded the link to her daughter and friend.

We had a quiet morning here today doing a bit of maintenancestuff. Aileen washed all the screens asthey were very dusty. She did somelaundry this afternoon after her nap. I wentto the Monument after lunch and spent the whole afternoon there. It is fascinating with all the different rockshapes, cliffs and towers. I enjoyedbeing on my own and walked to places I wouldn’t normally do if someone iswaiting at the car. I started walkingup the Serpent Trail which used to be the original road back in 1912. It has been a walking only trail since 1961. Imay have someone drop me off at the bottom and pick me up at the top some time.

The Balancing Rock

The community of Fruita is in the distance

A VISIT TO THE NORTH RIM OF THE BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON RIVER

2011-10-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

We headed off to the North Rim before nine this morning onwhat would take most people about 1.5 hours. Well, it took us over 3.5 because there was a lot of fall colour alongthe way. I’m hoping some of themountains get some snow so I have a different background for the colour. The Black Canyon was impressive and uniquebut every overlook was pretty much the same so not too many pictures were taken. We did appreciate how few people were on thenorth side compared to the large numbers we could see on the other side. I presume it is mostly due to the fact ittakes about three hours to get from one side to the other.

This is part of Blue Mesa Reservoir, the lake near our camp

The fall colour shots are all along Highway 92 above the Gunnison River

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison River

These two afternoon shots reflect the subdued lighting with mostly overcast sky

We did get home a little earlier this afternoon so Mitzyfinally got her much needed bath. I washedthe motor home windshield to get the bugs off so we start out with clear visiontomorrow. We are moving on to GrandJunction, CO where we will stay for a week or perhaps longer. We will visit friends Ken and Marie andexplore more of Colorado from our base there.

WE TAKE SOME ROADS LESS TRAVELLED

2011-09-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

We headed south today with our destination being Lake City,CO. Instead of taking 1.5 hours, we didn’tsee Lake City for nearly 4 hours. Thatwas because we saw this little road heading uphill and decided to go just alittle way up it. It was called BlueCreek Rd. We got into some of our bestfall colour yet and had to keep going until we ran out of deciduous and intoall evergreens up at Soldier Pass which was at the 6 mile marker. The road was very narrow with only a few widespots for two vehicles to pass. It wasin very good condition but steep at times. In our two hours or more, we only saw three other vehicles and they wereall as we were on our way down.

We had our lunch along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison Riverthen wandered into Lake City which seems to be an old mining town re-inventedas a winter and summer recreation area. Manyof the original buildings have been restored and several had plaques on themdescribing their history. There were atleast two places renting Jeeps and ATVs and skiing seemed to be big in thewinter. There were lots of hiking trailseverywhere we went.

We decided to check out one of the roads leading from townwhich led us up to an old mining town built in 1876 called Capitol City. The weather started to deteriorate on uswhile we were up there and got worse as the afternoon progressed. Coming back down to Lake City, we continuedon up to Slumgullion Pass which was at 11,530 feet. There were some fantastic views on the way upand it would be great on a clear morning. From the pass, we took forest service road 788 which was also one ofthose single lane gravel/dirt roads. Thesurface was a little slippery in places with the rain but it was rock underneathso as long as you didn’t drive too fast, there was no problem. We saw several deer. One was a big four point but he was a littleshy to wait around for me to change lenses. We have seen a huge number of deer on our trip this year. I think this gravel road, which led usthrough the Powderhorn area, was actually quicker getting us home than if we’dreturned to Lake City.

Here's a view of our Lakeside RV Park from across the reservoir

Along Highway 149

This and the following three images are on Blue Creek Rd

Highway 149 leading to Lake City

I think this is the old mining town of Henson. It is a few miles from Lake City on the road to Capitol City

The old town of Capitol City is in the center of this image

Pretty much all that is left of Capitol City, CO

Looking down the valley to Lake City from Capitol City

On the way up Slumgullion Pass there was this area which reminded me of Artist Point in Yellowstone

The view from 10,800 feet on the climb up to Slumgullion Pass. The high peak on the right is Uncompahgre which is 14,309 feet in elevation. Lake City is down in the valley this side of Uncompahgre Peak

Along Forest Road 788

HERE’S WHY COLORADO IS NOTED FOR FALL COLOUR

2011-09-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry Jerry and Suzy but I’m just not finished takingpictures just yet. For those puzzledover this statement, check out yesterday’s comment from Jerry. Aileen and I took our lunch and headed up toCrested Butte, CO from Gunnison. What atreat for the eyes! Colour everywhereand the car kept stopping so I could shoot another set. From Crested Butte we headed up to KeblerPass and even more fantastic colour. We wereamazed at the sheer number of other people doing the same thing; it wascrowded. There were lineups of cars inboth directions and lots parked and a surprising number were actually using tripods so they were serioustoo. I took 125 different shots todaywhich meant somewhere between 30 and 40 stops for the car. I said to Aileen at one point that I might aswell just keep walking instead of getting in and driving a few feet for thenext picture stop. Of course you didn’tknow the next stop was so close. Wereturned via Ohio Pass which was a bit rougher road but far less people. The clouds rolled in mid afternoon and we hada few spits of rain as will be visible in the last picture.

This is part of the community of Crested Butte

These peaks are called The Castles and from the east they had many turret formations visible

GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK

2011-09-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

We left Colorado Springs Monday morning and drove 283 kms tothe Great Sand Dunes. We stopped on theoutskirts of Walsenburg for lunch. Therewas a stall selling fresh produce so we bought several things for our larderand contributed to the local economy. Thesand dunes were pretty impressive and we got a site in the campground where wecould look right out on them. No internet for us for the two days though.

After getting the RV set up and Aileen established andheading for her nap, I drove up the gravel road below us to the “Point of noReturn” where I parked then walked (and walked!) down to the dunes. I walked along the edge of the dunes forquite a way then climbed part way up. Thesedunes have the softest sand I’ve experienced. It was one step ahead and ¾ step back each time. Combined with the 8200 feet elevation, it wasquickly exhausting. I decided early onI was going to walk the Jeep road back which I did although it had lots of softsand in spots too. I did lots ofshooting during the two days and got a few keepers.

One interesting thing that happened was just as we weregoing into the visitor’s center yesterday, my PSA photo friends from England, Brianand Diana were coming out. I’d beenseeing them all week at the conference but had no idea they were going to be atthe Great Dunes. Later in the afternoon theycame by the campsite for a visit. It wasnice to have a chance to visit away from the busy conference. They had to leave by four pm to get back toColorado Springs before it got too dark.

We made the drive to Gunnison, CO today and it was aleisurely 240 kms. We decided to takeHighway 114 through the mountains and it was a good choice. Just one easy 10,135 foot pass with goodgrades and hardly any traffic. I haveseveral areas in mind to check out for fall colour and interesting sceneryaround Gunnison. The forecast is not thebest with possible thunder showers every day for the next six. The temperature is to get down in the low 30’sFas well so maybe there will be some snow up high to enhance the colour. I notice the forecast just 50 miles to thewest is much better so perhaps we’ll do okay.

We’ve booked two nights here at Lakeside RV Park and mayextend it depending on what we find. Fromhere we plan to go to Grand Junction, CO for a week or more to visit friendsKen and Marie and do more exploring.

The internet is so slow here this post has taken quite some time to get up.

Some of the Juniper trees have interesting shapes

Those who have a good imagination should be able to come up with the same thing I did with this guy

Lots of interesting small animal tracks

There were so many flowers still blooming

The last shot I took this morning before leaving from right across from our site

WE GO FOR A LATE AFTERNOON DRIVE

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We went for a drive late this afternoon up to Cripple Creek then out to Florissant passing the restored Hornbek homestead. We saw a large number of deer mostly in groups. We also spotted a herd of about fifty elk. After being a very warm morning and afternoon, the clouds rolled in and we even had a few spatters on the windshield. As we were passing the Woodland Park hospital on the highway, there had been a motorcycle/Jeep collision. The bike didn't look damaged but was flopped on its side in the middle of the four lane. I wonder how the rider(s) made out since hardly any riders wear helmets in Colorado. We had a baked potato for a late supper when we got home.

A bit of a teaser for fall colour

Cripple Creek, CO main street

A twice widowed mother of four, Adeline Hornbek, had this house built in 1878

A LAST VISIT TO THE GARDEN OF THE GODS

2011-09-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

We had a leisurely breakfast after a good night’s sleep thenwent back for another visit to the Garden of the Gods. It is one of those places you could visitfrequently without getting bored. Therewere lots of people there already this morning and quite a number of rockclimbers.

We had a break back at the motor home then went off foranother grocery run. We likely will nothave the large store opportunity for a week or however long it takes us to getto Grand Junction. There is a second blog posted today. The other will be right below this one.

MY TRIP TO THE CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO

2011-09-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are a few pictures from my visit to the zoo on my tour last Tuesday.

The top of Helen Hunt Falls

Looking out over Colorado Springs. Before coming here, I thought it was right in the mountains, rather than on the edge of the flat lands. That's the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on the right just below us.

Up close and personal with a bull moose

Nice kitty!

This was taken inside a dark building at 1/40 second F8 and ISO 6400. Gotta love these new digital cameras! I was using my 100-400 at 340 mm.

Whadda ya want?

Rest time

Nyah, I don't think so!

Meercat

For those who wondered what I saw when I went beyond Helen Hunt Falls on the Tuesday tour, I went up alongside and above this sloping water fall.

MY PHOTO CONFERENCE IS OVER

2011-09-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

Here it is Saturday and I’m rather glad to see the end ofthe conference in a way. They have keptthe hotel way cooler than needed; you shouldn’t have to wear a coat to themeeting rooms when it is in the 70’s F outside. I seem to have come down with a head cold or infected sinuses which I willblame on the air conditioning. My last tourthe other day was to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. While they have a large number of animals, getting a good shot proved impossiblein many cases. Sometimes the wire was totight a mesh and often the glass was way too dirty to be able to shootthrough. Before getting out of the bus at the zoo, wedrove past it up to the Will Roger’s Shrine of the Sun perched way up the hillsidelooking over the city and the prairie beyond. I will share some of my zoo images next post.

Aileen did laundry on Monday. Her gluten free bread made Sunday turned outvery well and she has made another batch. After I posted my blog Monday afternoon we went for the drive suggestedby the guy I met in Manitou Springs. Wewent up 26^th St right beside our RV park here and followed GoldTrail Rd which turned into gravel later. There were some pretty impressive drop offs and two old train tunnels todrive through. I was pretty surprised todrive by Helen Hunt Falls which was to be part of my tour Tuesday! I got my pictures as I imagined it would bedifficult to get much Tuesday with the big group. It is a tiny area to take pictures from andyou have to shoot really tight to remove the ugly bridge from the image. It was an excellent suggestion from thatchap. When I went with the group on Tuesday,I just went for a walk beyond the falls on the path and got considerably higherand saw some other scenery.

Helen Hunt Falls taken on Monday

30 second exposure of Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak. It was pretty dark still

Pikes Peak in the background is 14,110 feet

My five point buck

The balancing rock with no people in the scene. You need to get there pretty early to beat the crowds. The above were my Wednesday morning shots.

I brought my friend JP Bajaneree sp? home with me for supperon Tuesday and we had a good visit. Heand Aileen hit it off too. I showed himsome of my pictures and he thinks I should be presenting at futureconferences. It was nice to becomplimented. Later at the evening whenwe met people, he kept going on with the same thing. I chummed around with JP while we were inYellowstone for the conference two years ago. He and his wife immigrated to Florida from India about eight years agoand he is very enthusiastic about his photography. We were on all three tours together thisyear.

The next door neighbour woke me at 5 am Wednesday morninggetting ready to leave for the day with his noisy diesel truck. Mitzy didn’t like the noise either so wascomplaining. I decided to get up about 6and go up to the Garden of the Gods. Well it was still dark when I got there and darn cold. I fired off a 30 second exposure when I firstgot out. I moved to the far end of thebank above the visitor’s center as it got lighter. After a bit I could hear brush snapping andwhen it got a little lighter, I saw several bucks in a little patch of scrubbrush below me. I had to go to the carfor my long lens and did get some good shots of a five point mule deer.

I’ve had a couple longer gaps between programs during the weekso I was able to take Aileen shopping for groceries. I made it home for lunch and supper nearlyevery day since Wednesday except for one lunch and one supper. Thursday evening there was a social get togetherfor all the attendees other than the US. My friend Harbin from Vernon BC, one of the American members, a ladyfrom Sydney, Australia and a lady from Jakarta, Indonesia were at my table andwe had a great time visiting and discussing photography around the world andsharing bits of our lives. The three eveningprograms Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were excellent with lots of goodphotos.

I have spent some time trying to lay out some kind of routefor us over the next while. I want to goto the Great Sand Dunes southwest of here since we may never get this far tothe east again, then work up through the San Juan Mountains. Not sure where from there but probably GrandJunction to visit our good friends Ken and Marie. I think we’ll stay here another night so wecan put some time into planning and perhaps some more pictures around here. We went to the Garden of the Gods againtonight. I wanted to see some differentareas and boy did I ever. I went to theSiamese Twins and then took an obscure trail since the main one was going thewrong direction. I have this thing whereI prefer to not return by the same way I went which often (as in tonight) makesfor a longer and more difficult trip back to the car. I’m very fortunate to have a very patient(usually) wife. I ended up climbing tothe top of the highest hill before finding a route down to the road again. I ended up following a creek bed as the trailpetered out. One benefit of my detourwas the opportunity to get those two twisted Juniper trees which I have includedwith this post.

One of tonight's images in a different part of the Garden of the Gods

The Siamese Twins

Twisted Juniper and part of the Garden

Another twisted Juniper with Pikes Peak

An after dark shot tonight with Pikes Peak in the background. Some one is shining a spot light on the first Garden rock highlighting the so called Kissing Camels.

Close up of the Kissing Camels; they are at the top

2011-09-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

This morning’s trip had an interesting start. Nobody on the bus including our driver knewwhere these Paint Mines were. Fortunately someone had given some hand written directions and wemanaged to find them after driving 35 or more miles. These formationsare scattered in pockets around the grassland and are created by wind erodingthe soil from around the harder rock which seems to be composed mainly oflittle quartz crystals held together with mud. We spent over two and a half hours there and I only covered about halfof the area. I could see at least two more of the pits andthere were likely more I couldn’t see.

Tomorrow is my last tour and it will be a tossup whether I amable to make a post as the evening programs start so my time at the motor homewill be rather curtailed.

Some of my images from the Paint Mines near Calhan, CO

FIRST FIELD TRIP

2011-09-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

We went for a drive up the Highway 24 from here and turnedaround at Divide yesterday morning. I had expected to seea raft of high mountains when we got up on top and was disappointed to seehardly any and those just barely showing on the horizon. I guess we have to go further west to findthem. I hope to get some tips on goodphoto spots this week at the conference.

Yesterday my conference tour took me to Manitou Springs fora walk around the old town which is a real tourist trap although there are some nice distinctive buildings. I was impressedwith the politeness and friendliness of the younger people I encountered. One interesting point was I got chatting tothis guy who wanted to know what I was taking pictures of. When he saw I was from Salmon Arm, he gotreally excited and told me he had actually been there for Roots and Blues a fewyears ago. In the evening we went to Garden of the Godsbut the sky gods weren’t with us. It cloudedover just prior to our getting there and we only had brief flashes of goodlight. Usually we were in the wrongplace when that happened. I’m glad I went there the night before toexperience better light. This morning I’moff to the Paint Mines which is another type of geologic formation.

Farming at 9,000 feet

A neat old house getting ready for renovations

Old Manitou Springs

Garden of the Gods again

Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak in the background

The last shot taken just at dark, I could barely see through the view finder

WE’VE ARRIVED IN COLORADO SPRINGS

2011-09-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

We drove a lot of this big sky country in Montana, Wyoming and northern Colorado

Aileen shot these two pictures of the massive traffic going through Denver. Our friend Char said we should use the toll road. We were thinking maybe we should have as this went on for a long time

Well here we are in Colorado Springs, CO right on schedule(dang, there’s that plan word again) and it felt like a long way. It was 2610 kms (1631 miles) and sevendays. There was so much construction onthe whole route. It’s not too much fundriving for many miles at high speed and restricted to single lane, often onthe opposite side of the freeway with nothing but some plastic cones betweenyou and the opposing traffic who are doing 65mph or more. I was amazed at the number of hills therewere as the interstates tend to follow the contours which made it difficult touse cruise control for extended periods. The rig wanted to downshift too far too early which was noisy.

We had three nights with noisy campgrounds too close to theinterstate and three night with quiet ones. We are crammed cheek by jowl in our site here in Colorado Springs but itis pretty close to my conference location. The hotel is six miles from here and three of it is on the interstate soabout nine or ten minutes driving depending on lights. Aileen will be able to take her scooter andexplore Old Colorado City which is only half a km from here.

I went and found the conference hotel after we got set upthis afternoon and got my registration package. After supper we went for a drive and found ourselves in the Garden ofthe Gods. The light was interesting so Idid some shooting. I’m going there on mytour tomorrow afternoon and evening so it will be interesting to see how itcompares.

These are all at the Garden of the Gods

These guys were posing for someone else

There is a young girl climbing up near the top

A pair of many deer we saw. The big guy on the right appears to have a broken left hip as the leg stayed in that position.

After the sun went down the sky and rocks came together better

MODEL T'S AT BANNACK

2011-09-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

There were seven Model T's from a club based in Florence, MT visiting the park. They managed to get permission to drive in and take pictures of their cars with the old buildings. Two of the cars were from Alberta. All seven were travelling around via back roads without any support vehicles and staying in motels

There are three more posts from today lined up below this one. John

CHANGES TO HOW YOU VIEW MY PICTURES

2011-09-15T18:43:00.001-07:00

I noticed with this post that when you click on a picture toenlarge it, all the current pictures line up across the bottom of the screen. You can just keep clicking on the thumbnailsto move through all the pictures without having to go back each time first. You will notice there is a white X in a blackbackground up in the top right. By clickingon that X, it closes the pictures and takes you back to the text. They can never leave things alone can they!

I have made three posts today. This one, one with pictures and text and onewith only pictures.

HOWDY FROM CASPER, WYOMING

2011-09-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

View over Grand Forks valley

Smokey sunset, Grand Forks

Above Grand Forks

Am I doing this right?

Posing for me

The full moon through hydro poles

We’ve been on the road for five days since the last post andcovered 2033 kms (1270 miles) which is making pretty good time for us. We stayed in Grand Forks, BC the firstnight. When the RV park owner heard Iwas interested in photography, he offered to take me up the mountain after supper. I said sure! When he came to get me, I asked if there would be much chance ofwildlife, he said, oh, maybe some grouse. I decided to take my long lens just in case. First off we saw a bear but too far for goodphotos. While up top, I took somepictures over the town but it was rather smoky so not too good. Then as I was heading over to try some shotsof the full moon, a bighorn sheep popped into view. I went back to the truck for my 100-400 lensand the sheep posed nicely for me when I got back. He even allowed me to change the lens betweencameras so I could take advantage of the higher ISO of my big camera.

We crossed the border at Cascade on Monday morning and itwas very smooth. The lady was pleasant andhad hardly any questions. We made it toSt Regis, MT that night and although WiFi was promised, no one was getting onthat night. Next morning it worked well. We think the lady had the firewall settingtoo high as she told me how she was paranoid about people downloading the wrongthings.

On Tuesday we deviated from the plan (see, sometimes I actuallyplan ahead) and went to Dillon, MT which was quite away off course. I had heard about the Bannack ghost townrecently and wanted to go there. I setAileen up in the campground , unloaded the scooter and rack and went off to theState Park which has protected Bannack since 1954. I have to say it wasone talked about place that delivered! Ispent several hours in the town and wasthe last person there by an hour . Thepark guy had no problem with my staying late and in fact chatted along with mea couple times. I shot mostly HDR incolour and black & white. I hadn’tshot in camera black & white before and was very impressed with myresults. I took 688 shots at Bannack butonly about 150 different subjects since for the majority I took 6 shots foreach subject doing HDR for colour and b&w. I changed between colour and b&w each time so used lots of timeup. I was impressed that my camerabattery was still nearly half charged after 688 shots which included lots ofpeeking (checking to see how the shots looked). Everything was done on the tripod too.

Yesterday we made it to Billings, MT where we were to visitfriends Ken and Char. Well, we’d had anemail a couple days ago that Char had suffered a heart attack and had a stintput in. She had been home a day already whenwe saw her last night but she was not resting like she should. Ken, who is 82, came back to town from plantingwheat to take us to the Golden Corral for supper. He came back to the motor home which wasalmost next door at Walmart and visited longer. He will be hauling fertilizer with his Kenworth for the next while fromBillings out to Hysham, about 86 miles away, then will probably haul grain orhay. He had both knees replaced lastyear and they are working out very well he said. He crawls around mechanicing and in and outof machinery all the time.

We got an early start this morning and did our biggest dayputting on 462 kms getting to Casper, Wyoming. That’s a pretty big day for us as we don’t push the speed. We try to keep it about 100 kph or just over60 mph. There are a lot of hills alongmost of our route and we have gained over 4000 feet of elevation with another2000 to come in the next two days. We hadseveral days of really warm weather but just about froze yesterday with thehigh less than 10C (50F). We are back tolow 20’sC (70’sF) today.

PICTURES FROM BANNACK, MT WITH ABOVE POST

2011-09-15T18:14:00.000-07:00