A Visit to the Ranch

'M' Hanging off 'T' - our brand top left
BBQ under the Cottonwood Tree

Those of you who have been following my blog may recall that for the past 2 years we have called in on friends Amanda & Clint, and their 4 daughters, and parked our RV in the front yard of their ranch. Well this year they have moved to another ranch and we had arranged another visit. Amanda gave me the new address, and I entered it into our GPS, with the benefit of knowing we could just ring her if our GPS led us astray. All was going well, and we passed through the little town she mentioned that came just before our turn off. So far so good...She warned us there would be 8 miles of gravel road. Spot on. Everything going like clockwork. We turned onto the gravel road, and Murray slowed down to reduce the amount of dust and to save undue vibration of the RV. Before long we came to a fork in the road - the main gravel road continued around to the left, but the GPS was insisting we take the 'road' directly ahead. I figured this would be a good time to ring Amanda and confirm our route. No signal on our phone. As the street the GPS was taking us on was actually the street the ranch was on, I suggested we continue straight ahead. The road didn't look as though it was used very much, but then again, I considered that as most of these ranches were several hundred acres each, there wouldn't be too many people that actually use this road.

Like good Christian soldiers, on we marched - well, drove. As we approached a rise I hoped (& silently prayed) that the 'road' ahead would become more like a country road, and not like a single lane throughway. There were bales of hay neatly rolled in the field beside the road - and there was a fence on either side of the 'road' - only the distance between the two fences wasn't much wider than our RV. Hmmm. Where are we? As we topped the rise, we faced water to one side, and what looked like marsh on the other. The tracks on the 'road' were hardly discernable. Our vehicle weighs 8 tons - what if the ground is soft and we get bogged? We have no phone reception...Aha, there in the distance we spied a sizeable ranch on our left, and thankfully, I had one bar of service on my mobile phone. I thought, we're right now - houses, phone reception - too easy. I rang the ranch and told them that we were in their street, and our GPS said we were 4 miles away. Clint answered the phone and said they would keep a lookout for us. Little did he know we were coming in on a different route than what he was expecting. It turned out we were using what is called a 'section line' road over here. I guess it is an access road between ranches or farms. Certainly not meant for 32' RVs! If a rancher had been out inspecting his fields and looked over and seen us driving along like Miss Daisy, he would have had conniptions!

The road got rougher & rougher, and we were grateful that every inch was getting us nearer to our destination. Finally, we saw a pond with some cows around it, and a ranch house nearby. Then we saw a well used gravel road ahead. Darn. I think we were meant to be on that road all along. At that point, Clint rang to ask where we were. I described the view and he was amazed as we were only one ranch away from his property. He had been looking to the south where we should have been coming from, but not us - we had taken the short cut, through the North Dakota hay fields, and arrived from the north. We have never been so happy to see a familiar face - or should I say 6 familiar faces. Clint, Amanda, Taylor, Hayley, Emily & Macey were all there as our RV sailed into the ranch.

Clint showed us an area alongside a row of trees where we could park the RV for the night, and then it got down to serious socialising. Our first stop was to see the ranch house that Clint & Amanda are remodelling. Even before we entered the house, Clint asked us to come up with an idea for a family 'brand'. I thought he was designing a new brand for their new ranch (to brand their cattle), and that he was asking all their visitors to make suggestions. Between the dining room, lounge & kitchen they have erected a huge wooden log that they are 'branding' with their friends brands. When they figured they have them all there, they will varnish the log and preserve them forever. Well, obviously most of their friends own ranches so they already have a legitimate brand, but Murray & I don't have one. I had a look at the others on the pole, and usually the brands included an initial from the owner's name. So, I drew a few options for Murray to choose one, and he decided on what they call here, a 'M' hanging off a 'T'. The picture makes it all clear! Our 'brand' has been immortalised in North Dakotan history! After a tour of the renovations, it was time to get down to some serious socialising.

While Amanda had two huge, homegrown briskets roasting in the BBQ, we spread ourselves out in chairs underneath the largest Cottonwood tree I have ever seen. I can't wait to see it decked out in Christmas lights. We were joined by 3 other rancher couples and their children, and Murray & I spent several hours eating an array of food while listening to their ranching stories. They work hard these folks, but they play hard too, and seem to have a lot of fun. How they have the energy to come up with their practical jokes after the long, hard hours they work, beats me. It was school for the kids, and ranch work for the adults the next morning, so by 10pm we broke up the gathering and the visitors headed home. Murray & I said goodnight and agreed that we would say goodbye to Amanda and the girls before they left for work/school at 7-7.15am. At 6.30am Clint had to load 10 cows with their calves from a barn next to where we parked our RV onto a truck, so Murray agreed to give him a hand, and set his alarm for 6am. We thought our night was coming to an end…see the next installment!

Audubon Lake, North Dakota

Our site at Audubon Lake
Canada Geese glide tranquilly

Frieda teaching me the German Kuchen recipe

Fresh Peach & June Berry Kuchens baking

The proof of the pudding...

Frieda, Lenny, Wes, Avalyn, Murray & I at Riverdale

Many of you will be familiar with Audubon Lake, as it is our 4th visit here, and one of our most tranquil campgrounds. On our first trip we stumbled across this lake, met some lovely North Dakotans, and the rest is history. Like Mountain View, Arkansas, we visit this place each year to catch up with friends.

After our week down with Avalyn & Wes on the lake near South Dakota, we spent one night in the capital city, Bismarck, did our Wallydock and got our welding completed. I had morning tea with Irene and Avalyn joined us, then I walked across the road to the big mall where Murray & I met up with Amanda and her 4 delightful daughters for lunch. After that, we stocked up with groceries and gleefully headed up the road to what has been our favourite North Dakota lake campground. Audubon. We got there a little later than expected on Monday evening, so Murray was still cooking dinner when friends Frieda & Lenny arrived. They couldn't let our arrival go without a celebratory drink. Hear hear! We had a lovely time catching up on all the news - like us, they had also bought a new house recently and we shared 'new house' stories.

The next day, friends Kathy & Milt pulled their camper in next to ours and we exchanged our news. We heard about the lovely home they had bought in Florida, only about 45 mins south of NASA/Kennedy Space Center. It is sad that so many homes have been taken over by the banks due to the financial situation here, but on the other hand they provide a wonderful opportunity to those who can afford to buy them. Kathy & Milt have lived in a small community not far from Audubon all their life, apart from Milt's stint in the military. They have often escaped the harsh North Dakotan winters by flying to Florida for several months, but now they have bought a house there, and will spend 6 months each year in their Florida residence. Why deal with snow & ice when you can be walking along the beach instead.

Before we knew it, Saturday was here, and we were off to spend the afternoon with Frieda & Lenny and see their lovely, new home. Frieda and I baked her German heritage Kuchen dessert pies, as I wanted to take some to the ranch the next day. We ended up making 12 pies and 2 loaves of cinnamon bread. Obviously we had to test the kuchen, so as soon as the first one cooled, the four of us polished it off. Yum. The pies were still cooling when Avalyn & Wes arrived and the 6 of us went out to dinner at a steak house in another town, several miles away. It was a fitting farewell to our delightful time at Audubon, as the next day we would be heading to the ranch for a night. See you again in 12 months time Audubon...

First Walmart Overnighter

RVs parked at Walmart

Largest Walmart I have seen - like a Castle - Charleston, South Carolina

It just had to happen didn't it? We had to experience what it was like to take advantage of the free overnight parking at Walmart stores across the USA. Not all Walmarts allow free overnight parking though, so if you plan to free park, you need to check first with Walmart staff. Otherwise you might be rudely awoken at 3am and asked to move on.

When you have no hookups (power, water, sewer), it is called 'boondocking'. I read the other day that if you boondock at Walmart, it is called 'Wallydocking', or doing a 'Wallydock'. Made me smile! Ever since we started our US motorhoming adventures in 2007, we have heard and read about RVers parking free at Walmart, but to be honest, now that we are retired, why go without creature comforts. Unless you are doing a trade off for some spectacular scenery of course. So in the 3 years we have been RVing, we have never done a Wallydock. The parking may be free, but if you have no power (not supposed to run a generator) then that limits our preferred leisure activities as we have no TV and no internet (our current laptop battery only runs for 45 mins then dies (our new MacBook battery will run at least 8 hrs - whoo hoo)). RVs have battery power to run lights, plus most like ours will have water pumps and gas hot water heaters, so we can shower despite having no power or water hook ups.

However, Wallydocking is truly a wonderful resource for RVers in an emergency situation. If you arrive late into a town and have no campground booking, you often just need a few hours of sleep to make it safe to continue on to your destination. It is not designed to be a subsitute for a regular RV campground. This is one of the reasons why many Walmarts now ban overnight parking - because local campgrounds have complained to their council representatives that they are missing out on revenue. The other reason is due to a minority of RVers abusing the privileges - leaving rubbish behind, using generators, taking up extra space by using awnings, etc.

For those of you in Australia who have never been to a SuperWalmart, they are a huge store that is a cross between our Woolies/Coles & Target/Kmart, only 3 or 4 times the size, with a full pharmacy service and a comprehensive RV section & sports section, where you can also pick up a fishing license. Within their store building they also have an optician shopfront, a banking agency, and either a Subway or a McDonalds. Consequently, the parking lot is HUGE, and RVers never have any trouble parking their huge rigs there when they drop in for their shopping. The other bonus is that these stores are open 24 hrs, so the parking area is well lit and has around the clock security.

According to RV magazines and websites, the rules for RVers who overnight park at Walmart are as follows:

• Do ask permission
• Do patronise the store by shopping there
• Don't use a generator
• Don't put out awnings or jacks
• Don't sit out in deck chairs and light up the BBQ

Don't laugh! On our maiden Wallydock, we pulled up next to another RV in the parking lot (for extra security this being our first experience). He had his generator going (very noisy) and his jacks were down. We thought he may have only turned the generator on to use the microwave to cook a quick meal, so we happily wandered off to the shop. On our return about an hour later, his generator was still going. We ended up moving to another site as it was too noisy for us to get to sleep.

Our Wallydock was bought about by a combination of factors. It was a Sunday night, and the next morning we had booked the RV in for a welding job at 8am. We had already paid for the campground which was 70 miles south, and had planned on a very early start to reach our appointment on time. However, during Sunday afternoon, the friends camping with us decided to pay an overnight visit to their own home, leaving us as the only campers in the campground. Due to the isolation of this particular campground, we had no service on our mobile phone, and a tornado watch was in effect. We figured it would be more sensible to head north where at least we could get shelter if a tornado hit, and we would also have reception on our phone. Plus we would be only minutes away from our welding service centre, so we wouldn't need to have such an early start. As we didn't get up to the city until late, campground offices would be shut and we wouldn't have time to wait around in the morning to sort out payment. We figured it was the perfect opportunity to experience a Wallydock first-hand.

We arrived at the Walmart carpark around 9.30pm. We went inside, checked it was okay to park overnight, then proceeded to do some shopping. We got back to the RV and after moving to a quieter location, we settled in for the night. Apart from hearing a few horns honk and some enthusiastic drivers doing wheelies in the parking area for a few minutes, it all settled down and we had an undisturbed night. Mission accomplished. Thank you Walmart.

Reconnecting in North Dakota

Medora, North Dakota

Horses up on the skyline

Setting sun reflecting on clouds over Lake Oahe (our RV on left-may have to magnify photo by clicking on it)

Best Walleye so far...

A few family & friends have commented that they have checked the blog and found no new entries. I think I have finally reached full relaxation mode, and have been pretty slack. However I did get my beads out and have had some enjoyable hours playing with them. I have also been editing a novel for an emerging writer, so I guess I haven't totally zoned out.

After we left Yellowstone, we entered Montana, then took a road less travelled through eastern Montana. It wasn't the most scenic of routes, but we saw a few antelope and an interesting ghost town along the way.

We spent a very pleasant few days in Medora which is just over the border into North Dakota, and a pretty little town. Next stop was Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota and a bustling city. We needed to call into the the optical centre at Walmart to order me a new pair of glasses, and Murray needed to get his fishing license there, so after that, it was pedal to the floor and we may a bee line to our campground 70 miles south down to the North & South Dakota border. Our friends Avalyn & Wes were camped there on Lake Oahe, and said it was a nice spot.

They were right, it is really lovely here on the lake. Our first sunset was beautiful - at this time of the year the sun doesn't set until 8.45pm, which must be very pleasant for the locals who know that in winter it gets dark by 5pm. It is such a treat to wake up each morning and look out the window and see the lake, or stand at the kitchen sink and see the lake. Good Feng Shui. There are no other souls around and it is lovely & quiet. In fact, apart from our friends, we are the only ones in the campground. It is harvest time in this area, so a lot of the local farmers are caught up with their own fields or helping neighbours. I thought some folks from the city might have turned up later this evening, but it is now 9.45pm Friday and no one else has arrived.

Each day Murray & Wes go out fishing in the boat and spend about 7 hours doing what they enjoy most. Needless to say we are eating lovely, fresh walleye once again. Time for a fish fry tomorrow for dinner. Last night Wes drove us 11 miles south to the little town of Pollock, where we had dinner in a cafe/restaurant. The most expensive items on the menu were walleye & rib fillet, but we get walleye back at the camper, so I enjoyed a juicy steak instead. On the drive to dinner we passed numerous golden wheat fields with many in the process of being harvested. We were amused by the antics of pheasants as they scooted off the road into the nearby grass - they are lucky it isn't pheasant hunting season (October) or they would not be so cheeky! Apparently, in hunting season, if the pheasants are on the side of the road and there are no 'posted' signs denoting you are on private property, you can get out of your car and shoot them. Of course, by the time you have got out of the car and retrieved & loaded your weapon, they have disappeared!

On the way home it was getting dark, but there was enough light to see the antlers on the male deer that just beat us across the road. Further along, a timid doe stood by the roadside with her nostrils quivering before turning around and moving off the road. Thankfully we haven't seen any snakes at the campground this visit, however the men did see a bull (harmless) snake swimming in the lake yesterday, and today they saw what has been described to us as a rattlesnake between 3 &4 ft. It was definitely a rattler, but the length is the questionable bit - one says it was 3', the other says more like 4'. Even at 1 ft they are killers, so I remain alert whenever I step outside the RV.

Yellowstone - Nature's Wonderland

Just before sunrise - Wyoming
Sunrise

Golden fields bathed in sunlight

Majestic Grand Tetons

Mr Elk

Bison Family

Bison coming out of the Yellowstone River - everyone stops to watch them

The alarm went off at 4am - yikes. That's right folks, we wanted to be on the road and at Yellowstone's door by 8am to have the optimum viewing time to see the animals. Our campground was 2.5 hrs away, and we needed to shower, breakfast and make a quick stop into the 24 hr Walmart to pick up fresh supplies before heading off. Little did we know that an hour after we walked out of Walmart, the police apprehended an escaped criminal just one hour north of us. He and his 2 accomplices were supposed to be hiding out in Yellowstone, so we expected to see lots of police in the area, but never saw one. Hmm. Perhaps they were working undercover, disguised as bears!

Sunrise occured at 6.15am and it was a real treat to be driving along the Wyoming countryside and watching the darkened landscape slowly become suffused with the day's first light. Magical. It was lovely seeing antelope and deer out enjoying the fresh new day. Further afield we saw a female moose in the distance - you don't see too many moose around, so we pulled over and just watched her for awhile. Before long we came within view of the majestic Grand Teton mountains - unbelievable. The last time we visited the area it was the end of Jun 2008 and there was a lot of snow on the mountains. Not so this trip though, as it is well into summer, but they were still a sight to behold.

Entering Yellowstone and driving past the pristine lakes and heavily forested areas, you really thank the conservatives and get a sense of how astute the early US Presidents were to designate National Parks to preserve nature lands for future generations to enjoy. Yellowstone being the first NP in USA. Our first animal sighting in Yellowstone were of two healthy male elk. Murray pulled up beside the road and I got out and got a good photo of one of them. The other was moving away and was hidden amongst the trees. We decided to make a bee line for Hayden Valley which is our usual bison spotting area, but were pleasantly surprised to see them a lot sooner. A herd of them were conveniently milling beside the river and adjacent to a large parking area, so we had plenty of room to park parallel to the road, open the RV door, and just sit on the step, soaking up the sun, the view of the river and of course, the bison. We stayed on the RV steps as you are not allowed to approach within 25 yards of the bison, and we were a lot closer than that. There were three large bulls in this group, and they were constantly bellowing as they shadowed a female - seemed as though they were saying to the other males, 'keep away mate, this one's mine'. The one nearest us was getting increasingly agitated, and I pressured Murray to unlatch the door in case we needed to escape inside quickly - didn't want any 2000lb (900kg) bull dribbling on my steps and trying to get inside our RV! They may look cumbersome, but they can move at 30mph (48kph) and only 3 weeks ago in Yellowstone, a woman was rammed and flipped by a bison. Further north we saw a line of bison swimming from one side of the river to the other, then they had right of way on the road as they crossed to the other side. We didn't see any bears this trip, but made do with having seen them here on our last visit. At day's end, we headed out of the North Entrance gate and crossed the border into Montana and right into a thunderstorm. Thankfully our RV park (right on the edge of the Yellowstone River) was not far away, and the rain kindly abated while Murray connected us up. We are only 170 miles (274 km) from where Custer faced Sitting Bull and died at the Battle of Little Bighorn - Benn was with us on our visit there back in 2003.

Rocky Mountains, Colorado

Here we are at the Summit of the Rockies
Eric & Marie share the adventure...

Some of the beautiful wildflowers

Elks cavorting in the meadow

Marie heading back down from our morning hike...

When I heard John Denver's song 'Rocky Mountain High' decades ago, I never imagined for a minute that I would ever visit the area. Yet here I am. It's amazing how life turns out. Fortunately, our friends Marie & Eric drive a 4WD to tow their trailer, so that is how we enjoyed our day trips to the Rockies. The visits wouldn't be nearly so pleasant if we had to negotiate hairpin bends in our 32' motorhome, and there certainly wouldn't be enought room to pull off to the side of the road when we spotted elk! Although we had 4 sets of eyes peeled for moose, they were evasive, but instead we had several sightings of elk, and particularly enjoyed the antics of two male elks jostling with one another right beside the road.

Summer is prime tourist time in this area of Estes Park and the eastern entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park. For our day trip, we decided to set off at 6.30am to enjoy the peace and solitude of the drive before the hordes arrived. After passing a herd of grazing deer, we reached the summit of 12,090 ft before 9am. The weather was kind, and the wildflowers colourfully dotted the mountain sides. Marmots, squirrels, picas & chipmunks darted around the scenic paths as we made our way to elevated viewing areas. We couldn't miss taking a photo at the Continental Divide where we refreshed what we had learnt in history lessons - that precipitation from the East side eventually drains into the Mississippi River and finally reaches the Atlantic ocean, whereas water from the West side of the Rockies makes its way to the Colorado River & eventually to the Pacific Ocean. The Rockies stretch all the way from Alaska down to Mexico. Amazing. As we descended from the lofty heights, we saw what looked like snow lower down the mountain. Turns out that it was small hail blanketing the side of the road and the meadows - boy, we were glad that it was fine when we passed through hours earlier.

Today is our last full day in the area, so we decided that Eric would hit the donut shop early, and return to our RV with a selection of donuts by 7am, and we would have the coffee brewed. By 7.30am we were on our way back into the National Park where we took a 2 mile hike to Alberta Falls. We were blessed with a cloudless, blue sky and a pleasant mild temperature. After taking several photos and just enjoying the beauty of nature, we headed back to our RV Park for an early lunch and some domestics in preparation for our departure tomorrow morning. Eric & Marie have a long drive south ahead of them to southern Utah, and we will make tracks to the north east for Yellowstone NP - yes, our third visit.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Marie, Eric & Murray with 4 Rainbow Trout
Lunch on the River in Steamboat Springs (Eric had just finished a 50 mile bike ride)

Balloonist farewell - leaving Steamboat Springs (that is Marie & Eric's camper in front of us)

Scenery en Route

Ranch with Snow-Capped Mountains at Rear (beautiful when magnified)

Our 2 night stopover in Steamboat Springs, Colorado was really just to give us a break before attacking the high elevations of the Continental Divide. Our campground was very basic, but because it was outside of the city limits, it was nice & quiet. Murray was having a chat with the owner and asked if there were any good fishing spots & was thrilled to be told there was a good spot only 2 miles away, on the owners property. Before our engine had cooled, the owner had taken Murray for a drive to check the river out. By 5.30 am the next morning, Murray was on his bike with fishing rod in hand. He was back by 9am with 4 beautiful rainbow trout 20-21". He was stoked & couldn't get the grin off his face. Eric then left to do a 50 mile bike ride (he has done 200 miles in one day in the past), so that left Marie & I simply no choice but to head into the delightful shops in town. Murray declined joining us, citing the 4 mile round-trip uphill bike ride, the adrenalin of the fish catch plus the early start had worn him out! Either that or he didn't fancy following two women around the shops - don't blame him! The shopping was fantastic, and 4 hours went by in a heartbeat. Before we knew it, Eric had finished his bike ride and was ready for a feed to replenish his energy levels. We rang Murray to see if he wanted to join us for lunch, but he took a rain check, so the three of us treated ourselves to lunch at a new restaurant right on the river. Stunning.

The next day we exited the pretty city, aptly farewelled by an air balloon! Murray suggested that they were ensuring we left so that some fish were left for other anglers. Ha ha. We initially crossed the Continental Divide at Rabbit Ears Pass - at a height of 9,476' above sea level. Our destination was the Rocky Mountain National Park, and we could have taken another route right through the NP, but other travellers had advised us to go north to Laramie, Wyoming as the NP road was not for faint-hearted RVers. We have since learnt that we could have turned off before Laramie and headed down towards Denver then into the park, but never mind, we enjoyed our drive and picnic in Laramie. We saw beautiful snowcapped mountains in the distance, with ranches dotted along our route. We survived the traffic congestion and road works in Fort Collins, and entered the canyon drive leading into Estes Park, located at the Eastern entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Ready for our next adventure...

Salt Lake City, Utah

Our Salt Lake City RV Park with Mountains
Expensive Rigs - RV & Hummer

Salt Lake City with Marie & Eric

Murray & I coming down on the Zip Line

On top of the ski mountains - at 0ver 9,000 ft

It was a bit like a homecoming returning to the same RV park in Salt Lake City, with the beautiful mountain views, where we stayed in on our previous visit. The same managers were still there at the Pony Express RV Resort, and once again they kindly offered to drive us into the city if that is what we wanted. Walking around the park it was obvious that there is a lot of money being spent in the RV industry. The size and magnificence of some of the RV's was mind boggling, especially when they paired it with a hummer or a jeep as well as two expensive motorbikes which I saw at one site.

Our Sacramento friends Marie & Eric pulled into the site opposite us with their 4WD and trailer. We first met them 2 years ago at Lake Powell in Arizona, and each year we have managed to catch up with them. They are great company. Last year we drove a hire car from LA to San Francisco to meet up with them, and then they drove us to spend a night at Yosemite NP, then also a day trip to Lake Tahoe. Here is the link to the photos from that trip. This time we will have spent 3 days together in Salt Lake City, then 2 nights in Steamboat Springs, Colorado before spending 5 nights in Estes Park, at the East entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

On our first full day together, we visited the Mormon Genealogy Center trying to fill in a few blanks in our respective family history. Eric & Marie also caught a training session of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (we had enjoyed it on our last visit 2 years ago) and then we met for lunch downtown. After a few more hours researching our ancestors, we returned to the park, and then went out for a bite to eat. Next day we spent a day visiting the ski resorts of Park City and Deer Valley, which hosted several events for the 2002 Winter Olympics. At Park City Ski Lodge we took advantage of the summer activities on offer, and Eric, Murray & I took a chairlift up the mountain to catch a Zipline (like a flying fox) ride down. That was a thrill! We then caught the free shuttle downtown and found a great place for lunch, with a window seat overlooking the footpath where we could watch all the visitors wandering around. According to Forbes Traveler Magazine, in 2008 Park City was named as one of the 20 'prettiest towns' in the US. It sure was pretty with its baskets of summer flowers decorating the main street, but I can only imagine how spectacular it would look in winter with a blanket of snow. A real alpine fairy wonderland.

Utah Re-visited

South of Moab, Utah
Dinner Moab Campground - stunning mountain views

Moab Sunset

Three rabbits playing before sunrise...

Light appearing in the East

The moon disappearing in the West, just as the sun rises in the East

Oh yes, the sun has hit the ranges

On to road to Salt Lake City

The road, the river, the railway - all heading to Salt Lake City

Dry, scorched summer landscape south of Salt Lake City

Two years ago we visited Utah for the first time and were gobsmacked with the scenery - especially Monument Valley, Arches NP and Natural Arch. To revisit Monument Valley would have added 2 hrs to our travels out of Colorado, and considering it was 36C, we decided to keep the day short and be kind to our engine and tyres. Perhaps we'll visit Monument Valley next year?? Anyway, our 2.5 hr drive from Colorado to Moab was a real treat. My camera didn't know which way to point. About an hour into our trip, which happened to be lunch time, I noticed an appealing cafe just ahead. We pulled into a shady spot and entered the building. They offered toasted panini and real expresso coffee. Yippee. We found a lovely tree shaded table outside on their patio and enjoyed the ambiance with another 2 couples out there. We chatted to one couple who were on their way home to Cortez, CO, the city we had just left. He retired at the end of last year, and they have already done a trip to Oz, and plan another visit in the coming years. We exchanged contact details, so who knows, we may see them in Ballina one day.

As we neared Moab, Utah, a place we had stayed before, the scenery became more impressive. Mind you, it may have struck a chord with me because its reddish colour and ruggedness has similarities to the scenery in central Australia where I grew up. It was very hot when we checked into our RV Park in the middle of the afternoon, but we couldn't resist sitting outside to have our dinner, with the mountains in the background. We didn't last long out there though, as the flies liked our home-made rissoles as much as we did.

After dinner we waited an hour for the temperature to drop a few degrees, then we went for a sunset walk outside our park. I hope you enjoy the photos. As I have said before, the camera doesn't have a hope of capturing the surrounding beauty of what we were seeing. The next morning I set the alarm to catch the 6.15am sunrise - not a common habit of mine! I was waiting for the sun to hit the red rock in the mountains to the SE behind us, not considering how long the sun would take to rise above the mountains on the East, where the sun was rising. While I was waiting for the sunrise, I couldn't help but take a photo of the 3 rabbits enjoying their early morning adventures around the campground. Due to our early rising, we had showered breakfasted and were on our way by 7am, heading for Salt Lake City. The last time we visited the area was in May 2 years ago, and there was still snow on the mountains. This time, being later into the summer, the area was so dry and brown. Once we hit Salt Lake City the businesses and private homes had beautifully manicured lawns and gardens, so it was nice & green there, but along the road and in open fields, the brown, dry grasses reflected the long, hot summer.

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Leaving New Mexico
Arriving Colorado
Mesa Verde Ahead
GPS showing elevation of 8298 feet

Visitors Center overlooking the valley below

Diorama of Cliff Life for Ancient Puebloans

Early tools all made from animal bones

This vest is fully beaded in the front - amazing!

Spruce Tree House Cliff Dwelling

The view on the way down Mesa Verde

Our drive NW out of Santa Fe led us through some amazing geologic formations and pretty countryside. Subtly the landscape changed from arid plains with stone mountains to pine forests among mountainous slopes. Within a few hours we found ourselves in the SW corner of Colorado. Very picturesque, even in the middle of summer. In winter of course there would be snow on all of the mountains and ski season would be in full swing. Our course was set for a visit to the ancient Puebloan ruins at Mesa Verde NP. A 'Mesa' is defined as 'relatively flat elevated area with steep sides'. The third photo from the top attests to that. Can you believe the early American Indians were living here in this place from 550 AD and for the next 750 years? Mind boggling. In Mesa Verde NP, there are over 600 cliff dwellings, although we only visited one, the Spruce Tree House.

Winter snows do untold damage to roads, and the winding 20 miles of road (elevation over 8,000' above sea level) along the edge of the Mesa was no exception. There were road workers at several spots and often there was only one lane open to traffic. Fortunately a lovely breeze came in the windows and as we had called into a little town just before the park and picked up some cafe lattes and pastries, we turned off the engine and enjoyed our enforced coffee break, admiring the surrounding scenery.

The main visitors' center at Mesa Verde takes bookings for ranger guided hikes and tours of cliff dwellings, complete with interpretations of the sites. There are limited artifacts on show at the museum and no video to watch, so we continued onto the next main stop which was the Museum. It continuously ran a 25 minute video which gave the most wonderful description of the history and life of these early people. A comprehensive museum showed tools, clothing, craftwork and early foods found during archeology digs. Glass framed dioramas depicted life in the cliff dwellings and provided a most impressive display of this ancient culture. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent here. From the museum we took the 1/4 mile paved steep path down to the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling where visitors can see the dwelling first hand and imagine how is was to live there. From information we read in the Visitor Guide, the Spruce Tree House was constructed between 1211 - 1278 AD, contained 130 rooms and was home to around 80 people. The clever location of most of the cliff houses served to protect them from the snow and cold winds in winter, and the rock overhangs provided shade in the summer. They effectively used natural rock crevices and ledges to enhance their dwellings. Well worth a visit.