On the way home

Tuesday, Mar 19

Weather has never affected where we go or what we do on this trip, but today after looking at the forecast for Colorado, I decided we would be better off if we were on the Eastern side of the Continental Divide rather than the Western side.  The forecast for tomorrow is for rain, and at the elevations that we have to go (over 11,000 feet) to get over the Continental Divide, I thought it would be better if we got over today.

We sure hated not to be able to go to Canyonlands National Park.

It was a long intense day of mountain driving over winding and steep interstate highway.  Thankfully, all the snow we saw was on the mountains and roadsides, not in the road.

The canyons which Interstate 70 winds through are so narrow that the lanes have to be stacked on top of each other

Vail, Colorado - ski country

This is the highest elevation we've experienced on this trip - and it is really cold outside.

And tonight we are in a Walmart parking lot.  That's a first for this trip.  But we got over the Divide so late in the afternoon, we decided that all we are going to do tonight is eat supper and go to bed - so Walmart works.

It's interesting to note that this Walmart, like many other chain stores we've seen in some communities out West does not look like a Walmart.  It is built to community standards, not Walmart (or other chain stores) standards.  That is real nice to see.  It's such a shame that beautiful communities across America (and Beaufort specifically) do not have standards that require these chain stores to look like they are part of the community.

We did do a little shopping after we parked and got a movie to watch.

There's not really much we want to see between here and home, so the rest of the trip is probably going to be dead heading.  Just trying to get miles behind us.

We do plan to stop and spend a couple of days with Tony and Jill in Wichita, Kansas, then it's straight to Spruce Pine.

Wednesday, Mar 20

A pleasant days drive heading East all day.  The morning started with some steep downhill grades as we came out of the Rocky Mountains, but from then on, flat, flat and flatter.

We stopped late afternoon near Colby, Kansas - and we're beginning to enjoy the convenience of Walmart's parking lots.  When we park at Walmart, we can get all the supplies, pick up a movie at Redbox, enjoy a relaxing evening, get up early, run the generator without restriction, and roll.  And that's about all that's left of this wonderful journey - rolling East.

Thursday, Mar 21

A windy drive to Wichita and we arrive at Tony and Jill's.  We've parked the RV in their driveway, topped off the water in the motorhome, and connected electricity.  We're set for a few days of visiting and enjoying old friends.

Friday, Mar 22

I'm back into swimming and Clara's back into shopping.  There's a great YMCA near here and I took advantage of it to help get the kinks out.  Clara and Jill shopped all day.  I just don't see how they do it.  Tony and I went by Best Buy to see if they can fix a hum in the motorhome radio when we're using the auxiliary input.  They think they can and we've scheduled an appointment for tomorrow.  It's either fix the hum, or a new radio.  The hum really affects listening to books that we stream from my cell phone.

Saturday, Mar 23

Back to swimming and shopping. It's starting to snow this morning, but no significant accumulation is expected - just cold and damp.  Kind of reminds me of Beaufort in January and February.

And, the radio is fixed.  It took the guy at Best Buy about two minutes to diagnose the problem and correct it.  No more buzzing when listening to books.

Sunday, Mar 24

We awoke to a surprise!  5 inches of snow overnight - and cold.

Tony gets the snow blower out to clear the drive

Later in the morning, the roads were passable, so I went to the Y to swim.  We spent the afternoon watching some of the NCAA tournament and tonight we had Hal and Susie Martin over for Pizza and Beer.  They were stationed at Blytheville AFB at the same time we were.  They now live near Wichita.

Monday, Mar 25

We have a very frigid departure from Tony and Jill's and head South to Oklahoma to catch I-40.  Our preferred route through St. Louis doesn't look to good because of the snow.

Our third night at a Walmart near Ft. Smith Arkansas.

Tuesday, Mar 26

After a pleasant night (and two movies that weren't so pleasant), we get a good start on I-40 East, only to be caught in construction traffic (a bridge being replaced near Little Rock) and sit on the interstate for nearly 3 hours.  That has slowed our progress and tonight we're in another Walmart parking lot between Little Rock and Memphis.

Wednesday, Mar 27

Tonight we decided we wouldn't stay at a Walmart, and there are several state campgrounds near I-40.  We picked one - Edgar Evans State Park on Cedar Hill Lake near Cookeville, Tenn.  The Campsite apps showed that it could handle Big Rigs.  The first time we drove through the park, we really questioned that.  The campsites are wooden platforms set on steep mountainsides beside the lake.  We kept looking for the motorhome sites.  After a phone call, we found that the wooden platforms were the campsites, so here we are. This is a first for us.

Parking on a ramp (or maybe a better term is dock).  This is the only park we've ever seen that went to the trouble to create a park on steep hillsides.  It's really unique and makes for a nice experience.

We are on a beautiful lake enjoying a nice sunset.

It's interesting to consider the variety and types of sites at which we have camped on during this journey.  I think the extremes are Why, Arizona where we were in the middle of a desert that may not see an inch of rain a year, to here in Tennessee, where rain is plentiful and we sit on a lake that contains more water than probably falls on Arizona in a year.

Tomorrow we should make it to Spruce Pine.  I checked with our caretaker and he says the roads to the house are clear (they had 7 inches of snow over the past 3 days) and we should have no trouble getting up there.  So, tomorrow will probably be the official end to the journey.  This nice campground is a great way to end the journey.

Thursday, Mar 28

We arrived back at Spruce Pine today after a rather long drive from the campground in Tennessee. It was good to see our smooth rounded mountains with trees again after the rugged, treeless mountains of the West.

It seems that snow has been the theme of this journey.  We were there for the "once in ten years" snow in Tucson, snow has been in all the passes, snow at Sequoia, snow at Yosemite, snow on the Continental Divide (the Colorado one), snow in Wichita, and snow here at Spruce Pine when we arrived.  There are advantages (you don't need reservations in the best places to stay) and disadvantages (it is sometimes cooler than we would like) to travel at this time of year.

We have driven the motorhome over 5,500 miles since picking it up in Albuquerque, and the car over 1,500 miles driving it out West and touring once we parked the motorhome. This has been an epic journey. We've seen places and experienced events of which we could have only dreamed.

Getting back here to the familiar causes me to be reflective on how fortunate we are to be able to see the places we have. And to be thankful that we have the health and resources to accomplish these dreams.

On this journey we have met and seen a lot of interesting people from all walks of life. Every time  we meet someone new, I remind myself that everyone has a story, from the guy that worked diligently to get the tires balanced correctly on the motorhome, to the camp host at Edwards AFB who retired from the Air Force, is the camp host and has a business of his own. I wish I had the time to listen and learn each of their stories. They must be fascinating.

I keep my blog and try to post to it each day. I've found that if I don't write in the present tense daily on the blog, I quickly forget the little interesting events of the day. By keeping the blog (really a journal), I can refer to the writings and pictures and remember vividly the places and emotions of each day. I wish that I had had the forethought to have kept a journal of some type for the many events of my life. It would really mean something to me today. As it is, I am left to try and remember, but I can never capture the excitement and disappointments of the daily, mundane life.

As we settled in this evening in a “big house” with all of its amenities (we don't have to "dump" the holding tanks, ensure that we have enough water on board, or worry about electricity), I already remember fondly the “little house” which is parked out on the driveway.  In the "little house" it is only a few steps from the bedroom to the kitchen, and no steps from the kitchen to living room, and a couple of steps to starting the engine and moving the “little house” to another exciting location.  We hope to move back aboard the "little house" again in May for a trip to Ohio.

Two months on the road is about enough though. I need to settle down for a few weeks, catch up on the mail, do my taxes, ensure that the houses (Beaufort and Spruce Pine) are in good repair, and complete a thorough cleaning of the motorhome. There is also the sailboat which desperately needs new bottom paint.  Then we'll be ready to cast off again and start a new journey.

Utah/Arches National Park

Sunday, Mar 17

We knew that today would be a long hard drive.  We got up early (before the times when generators are allowed to operate in the park) and moved the motorhome to a parking lot, started the generator for coffee and breakfast, then got on the road.

It was a day of extreme diversity on the road, from dry, arid desert, to 8,000 foot snow covered mountain passes, to roads through sheer cliffs, down the longest, steepest descents we've seen, and crosswinds up to 40+ mph with a sandstorm.

Sand storm

Finally, settled in Moab, Utah

All this made for a couple of tired campers when we pulled into a very nice RV Resort in Moab, Utah.

The first thing we did was change into bathing suits and hit the hot tub and swimming pool for an hour of relaxing and soothing sore, aching muscles.

Monday, Mar 18

We could not decide until the last minute whether to go to Arches National Park or Canyonlands National Park.  It's unusual to have two great options of National Parks to visit.  There is no way we could do both in one day, and we chose Arches.

What a treat!

Although not as spectacular as some of the other National Parks we have visited, this is well worth the visit.  The geology of the arches and their spectacular setting make it a very special place.

Arches National Park reminds me of a term "geological years" that I have heard to describe many of the features of the Western US.  I think in terms of "human  years".  When I think of changes to the landscape that I view, in our lifetimes (human years), we may see a rock fall or a piece of an arch fall.  However, the arches, along with  the other spectacular geography that we see today in places like Arches can only be viewed in "geological" years.  They may have been formed over a thousand years, a million years or a billion years.  It's impossible for me to comprehend "geological years".

Mimi balances Balanced Rock in her hand!!!

Balanced Rock! But you have to wonder for how long - another million years or next week.  The rock that is balanced on top is 55 feet high.

Mimi in the arch waving to me

Looking up at the arch from beneath it.  I just know it's going to fall - someday!

These arches are called "The Windows"

The Wolfe Family lived in this isolated cabin in what is now Arches National Park from 1898 to 1910.  It is hard to believe that they could have survived in this harsh, desert environment.

This is the most spectacular arch in the park.  It is 306 feet across, bigger that a football field.  Only a few years ago, a 60 foot rock slab fell out of the arch.  Someday, it will all be gone.

This is a very old tree that is fighting hard to survive.  The green limb behind Mimi is the top of the tree, and the trunk of the tree is in front of her.

The Happy cameraman

We saw this sign "after" we had walked under a bunch of arches and balanced rocks.

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For Anna and Evan:  Water and ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park.  On clear, blue-sky days like today, it is difficult to imagine such violent forces - or the 100 million years of erosion - that created this land which has one of the world's greatest densities of natural arches.  Over 2,000 cataloged arches ranging in size from a three-foot opening, the minimum considered an arch, to the longest, Landscape Arch, measuring 306 feet base to base.  

Today new arches are being formed and old ones destroyed.  Erosion and weathering work slowly  but relentlessly, creating dynamic landforms that gradually change through time.  

Change sometimes occurs dramatically.  In 1991 a rock slab 60 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 4 feet thick fell from the underside of Landscape Arch, leaving behind a even thinner ribbon of rock. 

The park lies atop an underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths of this landscape.  

Thousands of feet thick in places, this salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated.  Over millions of years, residue from floods, winds, and the oceans that came and went blanketed the salt bed.  The debris was compressed to rock, at one time possibly a mile thick.  

Salt under pressure is unstable, and the salt bed lying below Arches was no match for the weight of this thick cover of rock.  The salt layer shifted, buckled, liquefied, and repositioned itself, thrusting the rock layers upward as domes, and whole sections fell into the cavities.

Faults deep in the Earth made the surface even more unstable.  As the salt's subsurface shifting shaped the Earth, surface erosion stripped off the younger rock layers, leaving what we see today.

Zion National Park

Friday, Mar 15

NOTE:  For those of you that are following our journey, you may look at additional pictures which we've uploaded.  We could not, by any means, use all of them in the blog.  You should be able to see all the pictures at the following link.

https://plus.google.com/photos/103547083335306738471/albums#photos/103547083335306738471/albums

We've settled into a large park near the South Entrance (the main entrance) to Zion National Park.  It's only drawback is that we are boon docking - no utilities. We had forgotten that it's a weekend, and for the first time in a long time, the park is a little crowded.  But we got a great spot.

After several days of constant travel, we've decided to stay put for at least two days, maybe more. It's quite exhausting to get up every morning, get everything ready and drive a couple hundred miles in a relatively complex machine, then set up camp again that evening.  Plus it takes constant attention to keep this 30,000 pound bus on the road.  We need a break.  At this rate, I'm not sure when we'll get back to Spruce Pine.

Clara needs a break!

For about the first time since we've been on this trip, we ate dinner comfortably outside on the picnic table.  It is quite warm - and there is NO SNOW.  The temperature should be in the high 70's or low 80's tomorrow.  It's been a while since we've seen these comfortable temperatures.  We've got no specific plan other than to see some of the beautiful sights.

Saturday, Mar 16

Clara made the comment today that "I've given out of adjectives to describe what we have seen". Sheer cliffs that reach 2 to 3 thousand feet straight up in the sky. Rocks with layer upon layer of beautiful colors. White mountains, red mountains, green mountains, black mountains. It's all here, and in beautiful excess.

We started the morning with a slow drive up Zion Canyon. Every curve brought majestic new views. It was hard not to stop and take another picture, and another, and another.  We ended up with over 200 today.

At one point we even took a picture out of the sunroof because that was the only way we could see the cliff because it was straight up right beside the road.

It's impossible to capture the magnitude of the cliffs next to the roads.  This picture was taken through the sunroof looking straight up.

After enjoying this ride,  we took another road which takes us through a 1.1 mile tunnel. We had considered taking the RV on this road and going to Bryce Canyon National Park, but the park service requires a lead car, and they have to stop all traffic while the motorhome goes through the tunnel because of our size and height. After driving through it in the car, there wasn't much question that we are going a different route in the motorhome.

The rock layers go in many different angles.

We were fascinated that the scenery could be so different on the tunnel from from that in the canyon.

After taking in as much as we could absorb, we went out of the park into the Gateway Town next to the park and had an open air lunch at what was once a gas station. Great Mexican food.

After some ice cream at another stop, Clara had to go back to a store we had briefly visited yesterday afternoon. She wanted a Wind Sculpture that a local artists makes. It will fit well in our yard in Beaufort. I don't think it would last very long in the 90 + mph winds at Spruce Pine.

Clara's new Wind Sculpture

After all this, we still had time for our first bike ride on this trip. We've either been too busy, it's been too cold, or too hilly. We've dragged the bikes around for all these miles, and it was nice to be able to get on them and ride for a while.

Tonight we've enjoyed a campfire (again a first for this trip).

For Evan and Anna:  Anna, much like what you've said many times when we are at the mountain house - "The mountains never change but they change every day".  That applies dramatically to Zion National Park, and many other places here in the West.  Everything in Zion takes life from the Virgin River's scarce desert waters.  Water flows and solid rock melts into cliffs and towers over millions of years.  The landscape changes as canyons deepen to create forested highlands and lowland deserts.

A ribbon of green marks the river's course as diverse plants and animals take shelter and thrive in this canyon oasis.

North of Zion, rain falling on the 11,000 foot-high Colorado Plateau races downhill, slices Zion's relatively soft layers, and pushes its debris off the Plateau's Southern edge.

Long before today's landscape even appeared, streams, oceans, deserts, and volcanoes deposited thousands of feet of mud, lime, sand and ash.  The immense pressure and heat of accumulating sediments turned lower layers to stone.  Later underground forces uplifted the Colorado Plateau over 10,000 feet above sea level.

Rain water then worked the Plateau's minute cracks, loosening grains and widening fractures - and eroding the Plateau into today's mighty canyons.

These processes continue, rivers still deposit sediments that turn to stone, earthquakes still punctuate the Plateau's upward journey, and erosion pries rockfalls from Zion's seemingly unmovable cliffs.

Eventually, in millions of years, this beautiful canyon will melt away and others will form.

All it takes is time.

The mountains never change, but they change every day.

We're thinking that we'll head toward Arches National Park tomorrow.