Dead Horse State Park/Canyonlands National Park

October 5-7, 2010


By 11:00 am, we were on our way to Dead Horse State Park, less than 25 miles up the road. Located on a mesa towering 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, it offers breathtaking views of the La Sal Mountains and Canyonlands National Park.

Except for a narrow neck of land, the mesa seems like an island. We both wondered how Dead Horse got its name. According to the legend, at the turn of the century, cowboys used the Point as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa top. After they herded them across the narrow neck onto the point, they fenced off the neck, 30 yards wide, with branches and brush. With sheer cliffs on all sides, the horses had no where to go. The legend states that one time the horses were corralled and left without water where they died of thirst high above the Colorado River.



We found our site 14 and had our lounges out in no time to enjoy the sunny afternoon. It was a treat to have electric hook-ups after dry camping for several days. We took a short hike to Big Horn Overlook before calling it a day.







On Wednesday, we drove from Dead Horse State Park to Canyonlands National Park, established in 1964 and Utah's largest. We went to Island in the Sky, a broad mesa wedged between the Green and Colorado Rivers and one of the three regions of the park. After stopping at the Visitor Center, we went for a hike to Murphy Point with some spectacular views including the Shafer Canyon Trail and the White Rim Trail.






 After our hike, we drove to the Grand View Overlook. It was an amazing 100 mile canyon vista.




 We watched a thunder and lightening storm moving our way and as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees,we hightailed it to the truck.




 Just a few miles down the road, we heard loud noises as if someone was throwing rocks at Dan and Gail's truck. It did not take long to figure out that it was hail and we got one hell of storm with water cascading down the rocks onto the road. I cannot imaging getting caught in one of their flash floods and hope that I never experience one.



On Friday, after breakfast, we all went on a 5.5 mile hike that looped around the campground. It offered some panoramic views of the canyons and Colorado River.






Our last evening together, we had a salmon feast while watching a lovely sunset.






Tomorrow, we sadly all part ways: the Hicks heading to Bryce Canyon NP, Dan and Gail back to Colorado, and we will be going south to Mesquite, NV. It was a fun week and we enjoyed sharing it with family and friends. Thanks Dan and Gail for all of your planning and being our social directors.

Arches National Park Moab, Utah

October 2-4, 2010

We woke to another glorious day, full of anticipation and excitement. Once we were on the road, it did not take long to cross into Utah. Driving into Arches National Park was spectacular; a grand display of towering spirals, fins, pinnacles, and of course some of the more than 2000 natural stone arches that the park is famous for. We passed formations called Court House Towers, Three Gossips and Balanced Rock. Although Arches did not become a national park until 1971, its formation began over 300 million years ago from the forces of gravity, ice, and water creating this natural gallery of art.

Bob's brother Dan recommended that we reserve site 52 at the Devils Garden Campground and it was perfect, nestled in some unique red rock formations. Thanks Dan!



After getting settled and relaxing, we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner, a lovely sunset, and a rather boring ranger talk at the amphitheater.

 Skyline Arch looms over the amphitheater: it is amazing to think that it started out as a narrow strip of sandstone called a fin. As the water seeped into it, froze, and then expanded, it caused chunks of rock to fall off. Eventually, gravity and erosion formed the arch.





The plan for morning was to leave early for a long hike in Devils Garden. When we got to the trail head, my sister-in-law, Gail asked us if anything looked familiar. As we looked out, she reminded us that the graphics on the side of our Laredo is what we saw before us.



The temperature was just right for hiking but we knew that the sun would be beating down before long. If my memory is correct, I think that we saw 13 arches on the 9 mile hike, including the famous Landscape Arch. One of the longest natural sandstone arches in the world, measuring 306' long and at one point only 6' thick. It is not a place that you want to be underneath; in 1995 a huge chunk fell off and was captured on video.




When we got to Double O Arch, we took a primitive trail that looped back to the main trail. The description described it as “strenuous: expect narrow ledges with exposure to heights, with rocky surface hiking and scrambling on slickrock”. I have to say, it was accurate except for the part that they omitted, “expect a rapid heart rate at anytime” and that did not have anything to do with being strenuous, just plain scared! But it was worth every step.



We were thankful to have a shower to jump into when we returned but not before enjoying a nice cold beer. After a lovely dinner with wonderful traveling companions, we decided to forgo the ranger talk and enjoy the night sky. Arches is one of the Parks that avoids lights at night and as a result, the starry night is breathtaking.

The next morning as I was just getting out of bed, I saw Dan, Gail, Bob and Sue coming to our door ready for a hike. Oops, I thought that we were leaving at 8 am. I got ready in record time while Bob pulled the covers up and mumbled something about, “have a good one”. The trail head was right next to our site and took us to Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch, and Tapestry Arch.



It was a nice easy trail with rabbitbrush, yucca, and desert sunflowers that looped back to our campground. Bob was outside and I could smell the aroma of bacon sizzling. I count my lucky stars everyday that he is such a good cook! There is not a restaurant that I know of that beats a delicious breakfast in the great outdoors, especially with this view of red rocks, pinyon pines, juniper trees, and our own blue pinyon jay. Our morning was spent reading and relaxing. This is the time that I take a few minutes contemplating and appreciating being retired, healthy enough to travel and really experience the magnificent beauty that our country has to offer. Either Bob or I usually end up repeating our mantra, “this is living”.

 In the afternoon, we joined Bob and Sue Hicks  for a hike to Delicate Arch beginning at Wolfe Ranch where disabled Civil War Veteran, John Wesley Wolfe and his son settled in the 1800's. Of course, before the settlers, the Puebloan, Fremont, and Ute Indians survived in this arid desert. The hike to the Arch was 3 miles RT but we climbed 480' on slickrock and just before getting to the Arch we had to traverse a rock ledge for about 200 yards. My first thought was that if we had to pass other people, I was clinging to the inside rock wall.







The view of the mesas, Colorado River canyon, La Sal Mountains, and the 45' high Arch was awesome. On the way down, I figured that I had lost count of the number of arches that we had seen but figured it to be over 20...only 1, 980 to go! After getting to our car, we headed into Moab to check out the town and to restock our groceries. Moab is a unique little town with wonderful scenery, including the Colorado River. After getting our groceries, I had planned to visits some of the local shops and galleries but the 85 degree heat and the two hikes changed my mind so we headed for ice cream instead. The shopping will have to wait until next time!

When we got back to the campsite, I jumped in the shower and Bob went outside and started some taco soup for dinner. As he was preparing it, a wind and rain storm came up. He tried to grab as much as he could before the downpour. When I went out later, I found a knife and spoon, onions etc, spread around the campsite. We never did find the cutting board. Needless to say, dinner was inside...a perfect night for soup. Tomorrow, we have to leave for Deadhorse State Park. We could have easily stayed here a week or more. Thanks again Dan and Gail for sharing one of your favorite places with us and for being our fearless leaders.



Please feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, or add your thoughts to the comment section.

Happy Trails,
Judy and Bob



Alaska to Colorado

September 28-October 1, 2010

Our trip from Alaska to Denver was uneventful and to our surprise Alaska Airlines arrived on time. We were happy to see Dan and Gail’s smiling faces at DIA. Thursday was a busy day unpacking, preparing the 5th wheel, and grocery shopping. We were pleased to see that Bob and Sue Hicks from Longmont were coming with us. When they came to Alaska a few years ago, we enjoyed spending time with them . At 9 am on Friday morning, we pulled out of Dan and Gail’s driveway excited to be on our way to our next adventure.

The drive, winding through Glenwood Canyon following the river, was stunning. We stopped in Eagle for a picnic lunch before continuing on to Grand Junction and the west Fruita entrance to the Colorado National Monument.

  We climbed to the plateau on Rim Rock Drive overlooking the grand valley of the the Colorado River.

 After getting settled in Saddleback campground (campsite 10 in Loop A), we relaxed before the six of us enjoyed “michigans” for dinner followed by a lovely sunset.

Colorado National Monument is getting ready to celebrate its Centennial in January thanks to John Otto’s tireless efforts to conserve these majestic red rock canyons, towering monoliths, so beautifully sculpted by water, wind and erosion over millions of years. On Friday, after breakfast and before it got too hot, we all went on a 6 mile hike on the Monument Canyon Trail. We passed the Cook Ovens, colorful sculpted domes,




 Kissing Couple and Independence Monument, the largest free-standing rock formation in the park. It gave me shivers imagining my brother-in-law Danny climbing this 450 foot monolith.

 There is not enough money to entice me to go up and down that rock. That evening, we had another wonderful potluck: pulled pork and coleslaw!

April 20-23, 2010

Nashville, TN

We got a little later start than we had planned to, but at least we missed the heavier traffic. We arrived with some daylight left and called to see if we could get into our campsite site a day early at the Seven Points Campground on Percy Priest Lake. We were in luck and had a beautiful site close to the lake with plenty of privacy. The dam, reservoir, lake, and 19,000 acres are all part of the US Army Corps of Engineers Project. It is by far one of the nicest campgrounds that we have stayed in. When we went out to our picnic table the next morning to cook breakfast, there was some wild turkeys and a female mallard duck on the grass. After breakfast, we strolled down to the lake and sat at the beach.

The campsites right on the water were beautiful and we made a mental note of the numbers in case we come back and want to reserve a spot. It is hard to believe that this gem is only 15 minutes from downtown Nashville. 

Music City was calling our name and there was a lot to see. We parked across from the famous Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry and now a premier performance facility. We walked down to Broadway and immediately could hear the music pouring out of the bars.

We stopped at the Somment Center where the Visitor Center is located, along with the Bridgestone Arena, home of the Predators hockey team.

As soon as I saw that Bon Jovi was playing (Circle Tour), we headed to get tickets.

Fortunately, we had several hours to kill before the show. After walking around checking out the sites, we found a bar called Legends Corner, on the Honky Tonk Highway. Thanks Seth Thompson for the tip! The band was great and we loved the bar. The walls were decorated with album covers, many that we used to own.

From there, we moved on to a bar called Toosies to listen to more good music. Willie Nelson got his first songwriting job after singing here.

Before the concert, we went to Rippy’s Smokin’ Bar and Grill for some pulled pork and cold beer. We met a couple from Knoxville, TN, also waiting for the concert. The guy grew up not far from our hometown and immediately knew that we were from upstate NY. Apparently, we still have a bit of an accent. It was finally time for the Bob Jovi concert.

We had fantastic seats and what a show. After 27 years of performing, he and the band are as good as ever. Richie Sambora is still amazing on the guitar. This was definitely a highlight of our Nashville trip. Of course, we had to go back to Broadway and listen to some more local musicians before calling it a night. When we got back to the parking lot, the attendant talked our ear off. He married a woman from Wasilla and loves Alaska. He said that he kept a good eye on our truck.

On Thursday, we spent the day at the Lake. I walked and read, enjoying the peacefulness. Since we only had one day left, we had to make some choices. Our first stop was an obscure music store called Third Man Records to buy some White Stripes and Dead Weather t-shirts for our son, Eric. We decided to save the Grand Ole Opry for the next trip and go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. It was three floors of country music’s roots, legendary instruments, original lyric sheets, memorabilia, and some amazing exhibits. The Hank Williams family, Brenda Lee, and Ernest Tubb exhibits were featured and did not disappoint.

As we were walking out, we stopped at the elegant Hall of Fame rotunda and saw all of the inductees since Country Music's early beginnings. From there, we walked to the famed Printer’s Alley but not too much was going on so we went to Robert’s Western World to have a bite to eat and listen to some traditional country music. The Don Kelly Band was playing when we got there and was fantastic, especially the guitarist, JD Simo. Wow, could he pick. There is no doubt that his young guy will be going places in the music world. We had a great evening and left shortly after listening to Brazilbilly featuring the owner of the bar. Even though we enjoyed their music, we had a full day and were ready to head for the 5th wheel. We had a long day ahead of us on our last leg of our adventure.
Where we are:

View Larger Map

Savannah, Georgia

April 17-19, 2010

We got off the ship at 9 AM and within an hour we had picked up our truck and were on our way north to Savannah, GA. We stopped in Jacksonville, FL at Sonny’s Barbeque. They had excellent ribs and our waitress kept us in stitches with her down-home friendliness and sense of humor.

We arrived at Skidaway Island State Park outside of Savannah over the intracoastal waterway. We had to stop as the drawbridge came up to let 2 sailboats pass through. The park was a first-come-first-served campground and we found a great campsite with plenty of privacy. We relaxed and then went for a hike on some of the trails in the Park.

The trails wind through live oaks with Spanish Moss hanging from them, marshes, cabbage-palmettos, pines, and Georgia's state flower, the Cherokee Rose.

I finally figured out where the saying, “Sleep tight; don’t let the bed bugs bite!” came from. The story is that that the moss was used to stuff mattresses. Apparently, red bugs, (or chiggers) reside in the plant. I am certain that the mattress company did not last long!

On the way back, we spotted a bird called an indigo bunting. It was a majestic blue and I could have spent an hour staring at it's beauty but he flew away.

As we sat outside at our site, a lady on a bike stopped by to ask us about Alaska. Janie and her husband Bob Murrell and friends Loren and Mary, all from Virginia, came back over after dinner. We showed them some pictures and answered all their questions. It was a fun evening and we have a feeling that we will see them all in Alaska one day.

The next day, we went into Savannah and took the Old Town Trolley Tour of “Georgia’s First City” and then walked the River Front and around several of the charming city squares.

James Oglethorpe with the help of the Yamacraw Indian Chief Tomochichi, established the colony of Georgia in 1733. He designed the squares with the homes on the north and south and the churches and public buildings on the east and west.

Savannah’s historic district offered extraordinary architecture and lovely restored homes and churches. One particularly famous house was the birthplace and childhood home of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts. I liked The Olde Pink House, now a restaurant. After walking several hours, we came upon Paula Deen’s restaurant, “the Lady and Sons” located in a charming brick building that used to be a hardware store.

Bob had the buffet of traditional southern dishes and it was superb and I had a delicious Cornucopia Salad. I could only eat half since Bob kept giving me bites of his. He even shared his to-die-for peach cobbler. Yum! We decided to walk back through the squares to the truck, working off some of the calories. Oh, but they were worth it. I was fascinated by the some of the old streets made from “tabby” a natural mixer from oyster shells, ash, sand, and water.

I would have loved to spend more time visiting some of the historic homes and art galleries, but we also wanted to go to Tybee Island. We settled on the Savannah History Museum located  in the old passenger terminal of the Central of Georgia Railway. It had many interesting historical exhibits and one that seemed a bit out of place-Forest Gump’s bench.

Apparently, people kept trying to steal it from the Chippewa Square. I am surprised that they did not have the feather that floated down from the nearby church.

From downtown Savannah, we drove along the Savannah River to Tybee Island. Our first stop was the Tybee Island Light Station one of the first public structures in Georgia, the original was completed in 1736. The present lighthouse is 154 feet tall, the lower 60 feet dates back to 1773 and the upper 94 feet from 1867.

 I walked up the 178 steps to a splendid view of island and the 5 miles of uninterrupted beach. The Light Station had all of its historic support buildings on the site.

We returned to Skidaway Island, built a fire and had a relaxing dinner. That is until a Chuck-will’s-widow bird started its continuous singing of its name. Bob realized that it was the same annoying and loud bird who woke him up the night before. He got his flashlight and found the tree, shining the light toward the bird. He flew away but was back by the time that we were in bed. I got the earplugs out and was out in 30 seconds flat! On Tuesday morning, we got an early start for Nashville, TN.
Where We Are:


View Larger Map