Road Trip 2015 - #10 Lake Powell

September 26, 2015 - I had wanted to return to Lake Powell since our one-day visit back in 2009.  I knew just what I wanted to do - camp at Lone Rock and kayak a lake that has more shore line that both the east and west coasts of the continental US.  Well, one out of two isn't bad.  And Red Rock was abundant here too.  

I had read many reports of the sandy conditions at Lone Rock and risks of taking a camper down to the lakeside beach.  We decided to get a full-amenity spot at Wahweap and then scope out Lone Rock.  I called and Wahweap had two camping spots left - I took that as a sign and booked one.  Upon arrival, we decided to just stay put for three days and enjoy the luxuries of a full-hookup site.  Beside from here we had a spectacular view of the Super Blood Moon Eclipse.

Our first stop was Horseshoe Bend.  As scared as we are of heights, this was a view we couldn't pass up.  It's quite a trek to the 1000' drop off but as you can see if was quite worth it.

We visited the Glen Canyon dam.  Lots of cement here...

Our next stop was Antelope Canyon.  I've had a print of this place in my spare bedroom for years - I didn't even know where it was when I bought it.  Serendipity I guess.

Here's where we went in.

Here's where we came out.

And here's what was in between.

A surreal place for sure.

I wanted to revisit Cottonwood Canyon Road in Utah - about 20 miles away - so we headed off in that direction only to find the road closed.  Boo but we would've probably just got lost again in there anyway.  We continued down Hwy 89 to Paria Canyon which is just a beautiful riot of color.  

Unfortunately during this jaunt our truck started acting up considerably.  Whenever David accelerated, the exhaust brake would kick in to slow us down.  We made it out of the canyon and limped the truck back home.  Thank goodness for Google as I found that disconnecting the EGR valve would mostly correct the problem.  David made a call to his nephew in Grand Junction and they agreed that we could bring the truck up there and Derek would do the EGR delete upgrade that David had been wanting.

To take our mind off of our truck woes, we rented a jet ski for the day and explored the southern end of Lake Powell.  I just love that this lake is simple and exquisite at the same time.  The day was priceless!

In Labyrinth Canyon

  

 In Navajo Canyon

In Antelope Canyon 

In Warm Water Creek

At Antelope Point Marina.  See the reef below?  It's probably 20 feet under water.  The clarity is amazing!

I was so amazed at this little outhouse that I...hmmm...threw David off the jet ski.  We got catty-wonkered and I gassed it to straighten us back up and...splash...there he went.  I laughed so hard I could barely drive back to get him.  He didn't think it was near that funny...but I'm still giggling as I type this.

I was finally able to fulfill my dream.  I kayaked around 60' houseboats, ski boats and party barges.  Then at times there was no one to be seen.  I stayed out all afternoon...until sunset.  I love this place!

From Lake Powell we started our detour north toward Grand Junction, but we had a couple of stops to make along the way.  Breathtaking stops.

Road Trip 2015 - #9 Flagstaff Sedona

September 23, 2015 - We reluctantly left Datil but were excited about finally making it to Arizona.  On the way to Sedona, we stopped by the Petrified Forest National Park and drove through to see some of the Painted Desert side as well.

Just as we were approaching Flagstaff, the inevitable happened again.  Another blowout on the camper.  But I had foreseen this.  In Datil, I told David that if we have a blowout it would be that tire.  It just had that look.  From now on, I'm looking at all of our tires.  I now know that I know THE look...lol.

We fully intended to boondock somewhere north of Sedona (as we would head north from there), but where was a big question.  I located some information about a Forest Road 237 and we located it easily.  Pumphouse Wash is the name of the dispersed camping area here. It was about halfway between Flagstaff and Sedona.  It was a bit hilly and the dispersed camping sites were made for campers much smaller than ours but we finally located a perfect spot - nice and big and flat - in area #4.  Once again we were able to make use of our solar.  We also were the only people in our area...for a couple of days that is.

There were a couple of highlights of this area - other than being totally FREE.  We were on the edge of the wash - actually a small canyon with beautiful hiking.

Lots of room for the pups to run and David loved the sounds of elk bugling all around us.  We even went stalking once; however, we soon began to think the bull elk was stalking us!  His sound and closeness made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.  We never saw him though I'm certain he saw us.

We rode the scooter to Sedona which was a very pretty ride but not as inviting as I thought it would be.  I love Santa Fe and thought Sedona would be similar but it just didn't seem as inviting.  We rode through to Cottonwood where we had a drink in Old Town.

We went for a short hike at Grasshopper Point which is a cool little canyon area just south of Sedona.  They said there was a swimming area there but we apparently didn't hike far enough to see.  We heard a lot of water, just didn't see it.  Maybe next time.

Of course the red rocks of Sedona were beautiful, but on Friday the camping area got very busy with kids and ATVs and lots of noise and I knew there were more red rocks where we were headed.  It was time to turn north.

Road Trip 2015 - #8 Datil

September 20, 2015 - Upon leaving Carlsbad, our goal was to work our way slowly across central New Mexico on our way to Sedona.  What we discovered was an area that we enjoyed as much as any other on our trip.

Of course, heading north from Carlsbad took us right into Roswell where we had to stop and look for aliens.  And we found some!

And they can laugh at themselves a little too...

At Roswell, we turned west and went in search of the perfect spot to vegetate for a few days.  We stopped at Socorro for supplies, drove through Magdalena, passed the VLA (which we knew we were coming back to) and arrived at Datil Wells, a small BLM campground - $5.00/night - that had community water and vault toilets.  

Back in the cattle driving days, they would bring herds from Arizona across central New Mexico to the railhead, about 100 miles.  Water was scarce so they drilled wells every 10 miles so the cattle would have water.  The wells are still operational and the campground water at Datil Wells BLM is supplied from one of these wells.  Pretty cool.

Datil Wells had extensive and well marked trails leading up and around the surrounding hills. Pretty of room for the dogs to run, gorgeous overlooks and the beginnings of our elevation acclimation process as we were camped at about 6,500 feet.

The VLA - Very Large Array - is worthy of a tour.  It is the location where the beginning of the movie Contact was filmed.  The Very Large Array is one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories.  It has 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration. Each antenna is 82 feet in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 22 miles across with the sensitivity of a dish 422 feet in diameter.   The antennas sit on reclaimed railroad tracks and can be moved in close to each other or far away depending on whether the scientists need micro or macro data.  

And of course they had stuff for us novices to play with.  

This just amazed us.  We could barely whisper into the antenna and could hear each other clearly.  Something about parabolas...whatever...it was cool.

The cloudy weather kept following us...

But we did get to use our solar set up for the first time and it worked magnificently.  Our batteries stayed charged and the only time the generator came on was to watch football at night.  The alien that followed us from Roswell approved too.

In the opposite direction of the VLA was Pie Town, NM.  How can you resist getting pie in a town called Pie Town.  I had a New Mexico Apple Pie which was apples, green chiles and pinon.  It was delicious.

On the way back we explored Forest Road 6A (need to remember that) and the Sawtooth Mountains.  A beautiful area!  We did have a minor truck issue when David backed into - a tree? - and bent the exhaust pipe into the spring.  What a noise we dealt with on the way home but it was easily fixed at the campground.

We made friends here!  The campground had a very small visitor area with WiFi which is where I went to scope out our next destination.  Heather was there doing the same thing.  Turns out that Heather and Tom are from Barre, Vermont - a town of less than 10,000.  Wow, I have a cousin, nephews and aunt and uncle who live in Barre!  That bit of commonality as well as them being early retirees like us, and ATV enthusiasts all lead to a fun evening of getting to know each other.  We truly hope to meet up with them again.

Road Trip 2015 - #7 Carlsbad

September 17, 2015 - After a midway stop in Fort Stockton, we arrived at Brantley Lake State Park just north of Carlsbad.  No description needed.

Clouds help make the most beautiful sunsets and that was the case here.  Also, we had awesome heat-lightning shows each night. 

Of course, we visited THE caverns.  We had been before but booked a guided tour this time.  We were lucky enough to have a guide who's father and grandmother had worked in the caverns so she was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.  She was a treat.

We did a little bit of off-pavement exploring...

The last day before we left Carlsbad was a rainy one.  We did some house cleaning and then settled in to watch the LSU game only to find it not available so we decided to explore.  What we found was a local winery just a few miles down the road - Balzano Vineyards.  What a fortuitous find!  Not only did they offer free wine tasting but they also had access to the LSU game!  We were the only customers and we had a fine and lengthy visit with our hostess.  David walked in not really liking wine much.  He walked out with a much greater appreciation!

New Mexico is one of our favorite states so we had to move on to explore more of it.

Road Trip 2015 - #6 Bandera

September 12, 2015 - Not only is the Bandera Beverage Barn a drive-thru liquor store with an attached RV park but it also has a laundromat!  The selling point was not just the $10/nightly rate (full hookups!) but that the park sat right on the Medina River.  So not only is the place cheap, I can kayak right outside my door, let the dogs play in the river and ride some of the most notorious scooter roads in Texas.  And did I mention that Bandera is the Cowboy Capital of the World...and only 40 miles from San Antonio.  We had a very, very busy four days here.

Our first scooter ride was to Kerrville on a very twisty, turny Hwy 16 where we had dinner at a little diner just off the Guadalupe River called Bill's BBQ.

The next day was packed - the Alamo, Riverwalk and missions.

Then we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns.  We kinda consider ourselves cavern connoisseurs since we've been to quite a few.  NB was cool but our guide was a novice and much of the cavern was "dead."  I'm glad we went but it is not a do-over.

We had a long scooter day attacking the Three Twisted Sisters ride, enjoyed the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop, did run-thru's at Garner and Lost Maples State Parks.

And then I got my paddle.  David took me and my kayak about three miles upriver and dropped me off.  The water in the Medina was beautifully clear and completely devoid of anyone else.  I saw many deer, all types of birds (including a hummingbird dive under water in the river!), rabbits and fish of all sizes on my two plus hour journey.  I had to manuver around a small spillway and walk my way through a couple of shallow place but it was a truly magical solitary paddle.  I love having these every now and then.  They are so renewing!

It was hard to leave such a beautiful area, but New Mexico was calling...and we were listening!