New Mexico and Colorado

Hi All,
It's been over a week so I thought I'd best post an update.

Sunday, August 28, we left Amarillo and our RV park neighbor that tried for 30 minutes to convince me the earth was flat, behind. I'm not kidding. He knows for a fact that earth is flat. We OBVIOUSLY haven't really had men on the moon either. I wasn't about to get into that argument so I just smiled and waited for an opportunity to go inside. Susan finally came to the rescue.

From Amarillo we drove to Las Vegas, New Mexico to spend the night at a state park before moving on to Santa Fe. From Las Vegas to Santa Fe is the most uninhabited land I've ever seen. We were on a state highway, albeit a two lane highway, and could go for an hour and not see another car. Don't even think about cell service. In its own way, the scenery was beautiful. We could see mountains all around us, no telling how far away.

In Santa Fe we stayed at a campground in another state park, Hyde Memorial. It was well out of town and adjacent to a national forest. Another beautiful spot. In Santa Fe we took a walking tour around town. The place we probably would have missed had we not taken the tour was 109 E Palace.

This plaque was on the outside of the building but we stood in Robert Oppenheimer's office.

The Loretta Chapel staircase. It stands with no visible means of support.

After a few days in Santa Fe we moved just north of Taos to an RV park in Questa, New Mexico. We actually never spent any time in Taos proper. We tried one day but the traffic was awful. There are other things to do around Taos so we were not bored. We spent one morning at the Taos Pueblo. This place was amazing. The Red Willow people have lived here for over 1,000 years.

No electricity, all water comes from the river that flows through the village.

The only modern utility is propane for light and heat.

The cemetery, around the remains of a catholic church. The Spanish destroyed the church with cannon fire with 150 Red Willow women and children locked inside.

The Red Willow tribe were the first Native American Indians to fight for and have land returned that was taken from them by the US government. Blue Lake and 48,000 acres was taken in 1906 and returned in 1970.

While in Taos (Questa) we took a drive out to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. At 565 feet (172 m) above the Rio Grande,  it is the seventh highest bridge in the United States and 82nd highest bridge in the world.

Susan walked out onto the bridge to take this photo. No way I was going out there.

 On the Friday before Labor Day we moved from Questa, New Mexico to South Fork, Colorado. My sister-in-law's family has a house in South Fork and they were nice enough to offer it to us for the long weekend. It was a great place to stay and gave us the opportunity to see some of Southern Colorado.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Who would have thought there would be sand dunes in Colorado? Approximately 30 square miles reaching 750 feet high.

On the way to Pagosa Springs we stopped at a scenic outlook.

It did not disappoint.

Hot Spring in Pagosa Springs, Colorado

On the drive between South Fork and Pagosa Springs you cross the Continental Divide.

Every drop of rain that falls west of the line flows into the Pacific Ocean. Rain that falls to the east flows to the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico

Stream running along the highway.

Treasure Falls

Creede, Colorado had a balloon festival for Labor Day Weekend. They tried for a launch at 7:00 AM on Saturday and Sunday, but this was as close as they got.

This explains why on Sunday the balloons didn't get out of their trailers.

Creede's underground fire station.

The views are breathtaking.

And who can miss a photo op with a large fork?

That's all for now. Take care.
Brian

Museums and hikes

Hi All,
Thursday we toured two museums in Oklahoma City, the Osteology Museum and the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum.

The Osteology Museum was pretty neat, if you like skeletons. Skeletons of all kinds of mammals and other animals. I think Susan could have spent the whole day in there. It was really quite fascinating.

The Oklahoma City Memorial Museum was excellent. It is laid out in a timeline that led up to April 19, 1995- what happened that day and then what happened in the aftermath. There was a meeting at the Water Resources Board, across the street from the federal building, that started promptly at 9 AM. The meeting was recorded. You listen to the recording and hear as the meeting starts. Two minutes into it, you hear a huge explosion and then chaos. It's hard not to relive the day with all the news reports coming out of Oklahoma City. The museum is very well done and I highly recommend anyone that finds themselves in OKC take the time to go see it.

Friday was a travel day. We headed west from Stratford and crossed back into the Texas panhandle, That night we stopped in an RV park on the eastern edge of Amarillo.

Today (Saturday) we did a 5.5 mile hike in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the US. It is quite impressive. Gorgeous is a more accurate description.

After our hike we stopped at the Texas Air and Space Museum at the Amarillo Airport. There was some pretty neat stuff there and our volunteer guide was very knowledgeable. After our hike and the two hours we spent at the museum, we were done. Sunset tonight will be followed very quickly with sleep.

Take care.
Brian

On the road again

Finally!

After a couple of months of dealing with Ford and truck issues we gave up and bought a new truck. We are now driving a new a new Dodge 3/4 ton diesel. It is soooooo much better. We ended up driving back to Texas to get it as there are a lot more options in Texas than in Georgia.

Our new truck

Anyway, yesterday we left and headed north. Last night and tonight we're in Stratford, Oklahoma. Stratford is about an hour south of Oklahoma City, where I grew up. Yesterday we drove by my old house as well as my elementary and junior high schools. It was a nice walk down memory lane.

Last night we went by the memorial at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. We heard it was impressive at night and we were impressed, and saddened. On the lawn are empty chairs for the 168 people that were killed in the bombing. The base of the chairs are glass cubes with the name of the person it represents etched in the glass and a light inside. The chairs are arranged by the floor the person was on when the bomb went off. The saddest part is seeing the smaller chairs that represent the children that were in the day care or with their parents that morning. A sad day in American history.

Today we'll go back into the city to tour the museum and see a few other sights.

That's it for now. Take care.
Brian

A quick update

Within an hour of posting the update, the dealership called to say they ran into a problem getting the old turbocharger off, now another part is on order and it'll be at least Monday before the truck is ready.

Not so fast

Hi All,
Well, things didn't go quite as well as we had hoped. We picked up the truck from the Ford dealer and the next day headed north. After a stop in Jasper, Ga to get some groceries the check engine light was back on. We turned around and headed back to Atlanta and took the truck back in (fifth time). After a couple of days the dealer returned it to us having replaced an air line that had a pin hole leak.

With the hopefully repaired truck we headed out again the next day. This time we made it 100 miles and into North Carolina before the light came on. We turned around and headed back. The truck is now in a Ford dealership for the sixth time. After a couple of conference calls with Ford Motor Company they were finally able to make one of the turbos fail. This is after the truck has been there over a week. Today is two weeks it has been in the shop this time and HOPEFULLY we'll be getting it back today or tomorrow. Fortunately the drive train is still under warranty and Ford ponied up for a rental car. But our plan was to be in Atlanta for 2 days and we've been here three weeks. We're ready to get on the road again.

Not wanting to waste our time here we had a construction project to raise the carport at Susan's farm to allow us to get the trailer under it. Our friends Mark and Tammy helped each day. To say Mark "helped" would be a huge understatement. He was the brains and most of the muscle for the project. Here are some pictures as we went along...

The carport as it was when we started.

The first "wall" is up and completed. On to second one.

Tammy supervising

Yes, we're using a car jack to raise the carport.

My dad would be so proud. But this doesn't show the multiple cinder blocks stacked three feet high when it came time to move the carport on to the wall.

Mark's truck and some chain helped keep the carport from sliding down the hill and off the cinder blocks. OSHA would not have approved of any of this

All done!

Take care!
Brian

Bat Cave

Millions of Mexican Free Tail Bats leaving the cave in Mason, Texas. They are flying within feet and sometimes inches of you. What an amazing experience! The steward suggested a slow motion video. Here's how it turned out.

Update

OK since Brian is obviously not going to do a post, I guess I’ll have to do it!!!   

Actually, we’ve been pretty busy.  We got to Texas July 2nd and thought we’d be bored with 2 whole weeks there, but never even slowed down.  We had a ton of admin stuff to do (title and tags for vehicles, etc) and had to go to Dallas several times to have the truck looked at.  We got to stay a few nights with Brian’s brother and his wife, see family, and have some time with friends.  Independence Day turned into a 3 day deal with fireworks Saturday and Monday (the 4th).  The neighbors did theirs on Sunday so it was pretty non-stop!

Then we took a road trip to Mason, TX, down in the Hill Country where Brian used to hunt.  It was hot, but absolutely gorgeous.  That is really TEXAS out there.  The Grote family were as gracious, welcoming, and funny as ever, and our 2 days flew by.  We also got to see an unbelievable bat cave nearby.  7-8 million bats leave that cave every night at dusk and it is quite a spectacle. Brian will try to post a video of the bats. The steward was a wealth of knowledge and explained everything to us and about 20 people gathered there.  She also had her 2nd flat in as many days, so we gave her a lift home!

Since leaving Texas, we spent a fabulous 4 days on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR with Terry and Teri Moore and their large, fun, friendly crowd.  This has been an annual outing for Brian for many, many years so it was nice to renew that tradition.  We had a blast and Brian got to ski and ski and ski. Hooray!!  He did great until he pulled his Achilles, but it was fortunately our last day so no big deal.

We left Arkansas and headed toward Atlanta in what was supposed to be a leisurely fashion, but the dang “check engine” light came on again (4th time) so we boot scooted on and took it to our 3rd Ford dealer.  They have supposedly fixed it so we are headed up to the Nantahala to meet friends.  From there we plan to get to CT in time to see Brian’s grandson, Alec, before he heads off to college (University of Texas, of course) in early August.  From there we hope to go on up to Maine and the Canadian maritimes for the rest of the summer.  We need to be back in Texas in early October, as Brian is expecting another grand baby!!  

All for now.  We’ll try to be better about posting.  Sure wish we could figure out when the relaxing part is supposed to start!

Susan