 |
|||
         |
|||
           
I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine. ~ Caskie Stinnett
Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey ~ Babs Hoffman
The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. ~ G.K. Chesterton
71% of the Population believes in global warming, while the other 29% are still trying to resolve the "Earth is Flat" debate
It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end ~ Ursula K. LeGuin
In recent opinion polls, solar energy scored higher than all other forms of energy when participants were asked what type of energy is best for future generations.
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. ~ James Michener
Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. ~ Anatole France
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. - Douglas Adams
"Thousands of
tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out
that going to the mountain is going home; that wildness is necessity;
that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of
timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life."
|
Pat's October Blog If This is your first time here, you might want to start from the beginning with my previous months Blog's January Blog February Blog March Blog April Blog May Blog June Blog July Blog August Blog September Blog For Those That Don't Know Me, You can click here to read my Bio Photo Gear We Use - Solar Tips, Fact's and Trick's we've learned while on the road
_______________________________________ We were up early and headed towards the Boundary Waters area for the next few days. We stopped at a local outfitter to get one of our propane tanks filled. Although we have two, one had gone empty a few weeks back, and we know the area we're headed to isn't that populated. We might as well stock up while we know we can. While the guy was filling up the propane tank, I was asking him if he could give me any pointers for heading into the Boundary Waters area, and he told me to "Go inside and talk to the girl behind the counter, she is very familiar with that area" So I went in and talked with Dawn who grabbed a Gazetteer and pointed out numerous spots to camp, hike and fish. I bought the map and thanked her for all the info. I guess this week starts Moose hunting season, so she said "If you're going to be hiking in the woods, make sure you have some bright colors on." I hate to start off a new month with such a topic, but while driving North, we got a phone call with some bad news. My Grandfather on my Dad's side of the family had just passed away. Although we knew it was coming, he had been in a nursing home for the past few years with his health deteriorating, it always hurts to hear it when it finally does happen. I spoke with my family on the phone while we were driving, and said many prayers in my head.
That's a picture of my little brother Joe, on his 21st birthday and my Grandfather at the Red Dog. Makes Joe a 4th generation Bonish. Once we got farther North, we noticed the temperature was dropping drastically. Dawn had told us that this area had already gotten some snow, which was another reason we wanted to make sure we were stocked up and ready for any weather we might run into. We pulled over in Two Harbors as it was getting late in the afternoon to see the lighthouse. I got out to snap a few pictures and while I was walking back towards the camper, I noticed a hissing sound coming from one of the tires. Oh Man, not another flat!!
We want to be up and on the road early to get to the Boundary Waters area and see what kind of wildlife we can see. Neither of us have ever seen a Moose before, and Dawn said our chances were pretty good this time of year to spot one. So I'm really excited. On Another Note: I had added a few pictures to the September Blog, so if you missed them make sure to go back and check them out, they are really cool!! Our Time Spent in the Boundary Waters Thursday October 4th 2007
Our first day up here, it poured rain the entire day, and I don't mean just a nice light rain. We're talking a down pour for multiple hours. This put a stop on any hiking we had planned. So we just drove around some back roads looking for Moose or Bear or anything that we could, but saw none of them. What we did see was a bunch of deer, a few Eagles, one bald one and one huge American Eagle, and a whole lotta lakes.
Our chances of seeing any moose were very slim with the beautiful weather we were experiencing. Talk about a heat wave! With temps in the low 70's, this area that had already seen snow this year, was thinking they were back in the midst of summer.
With the sun setting and eminent darkness approaching, we knew we needed to find where we were on the map. I thought it was funny when the GPS went from giving us the road name we were on and the direction we were traveling one second, to just saying "Driving North West" and showing a blank screen, oh, and we were supposed to be heading South East!?! That's not good. So while turning around and debating whether we needed to put it in four wheel drive, we saw a guy standing by his house/hunting cabin. I jumped out and asked him where I was on our map, which brought out a laugh saying "Yeah, you're mighty lost if you think you're going that way"
I looked at Cindy asking why she was so quiet, which brought out "The only thing I can think of is rounding one of these turns and hitting a Moose!" We made it back to the Sunline and I think I fell asleep at the dinner table within a few minutes of finishing my meal. Much to our dismay, we hadn't seen one big animal, but did get to take in some beautiful scenery. The Boundary Waters area is so big with so many different areas to paddle, being here for only a few days was just a tease. This is something we will have to come back to when time and nice whether allows us a few days to camp in the back country and enjoy it for all its worth. Friday October 5th 2007 Waiting out the Storm We got on the road early yesterday morning to start heading back towards Victoria and our friends Derrick and Tish. We stopped at a few different water falls along the road way and tried our hardest to get a few shots of a bald eagle along the coastline. Our antics of locking up the brakes, grabbing the camera gear and running down the side of the road didn't lead to any good images, or at least anything that I'm proud of, it just made us look like idiot tourists to any passing motorists. Cindy really wanted to see Duluth and its architecture, so we found a Wal-Mart, dropped the bike off the back and road around town for a few hours. This little port town is filled with cool galleries, historic buildings and plenty of good restaurants. We wandered around for awhile before seeing a sign for Fine Art Photography. I love to look at accomplished photographers and try to learn from their work. Ken Kollodge and his wife have lived in Alaska for the last 30 years and have some stunning work from the Great White North.
In the middle of the night, Cindy woke to something banging on the side of the camper. Now we've had this Travel Trailer for a full year this month, and have slept in it for 9 months straight, and not once have we heard this noise!?! The wind had picked up and it felt like the temperature had dropped 20°. The camper was rocking so bad, the coats hung on a coat hook were banging against the wall. She got up to take them off and after getting in bed, we heard the noise again. What we later found it to be was the little strap that hangs down from under the awning. The wind was blowing so strong, that that little strap was making it sound like someone banging on the door. Now, were just sitting here debating on whether to get on the road or not? The wind is still blowing in strong gusts, and the rain is pelting the side of the camper so hard, it sounds like sleet! Not the best driving weather. After this weekend with the Birthday girl, it looks like we're high tailing it south to some warmer weather. Tuesday October 9th 2007 After a long weekend spent in Victoria Minnesota with our best friends Derrick and Tish, I needed to rest a few days. Those two are some of the biggest partiers we know, and when ever we get together, man do we have fun. Talk about a weird weekend weather wise. On Friday when we were worried about driving home because of the nasty weather we were having in Duluth, I called Derrick to ask what the weather was like only a few hours south, and he said "What are you talking about? It's beautiful!" So we jumped on the road, and drove the few hours south to their house.
Like he had said, we got an
hour out of Duluth and its nasty weather, and the skies cleared up and
the temperature rose about 30°. We met them at Floyd's for a
couple of Coors
We woke up Saturday morning to beautiful weather with a call for record highs. We put the boat in Lake Minnetonka and spent the rest of the day just taking in the unseasonably warm weather. This lake is huge and with this kind of weather this late in the season, plenty of other people had the same idea we did. As the sun was setting, we pulled the boat out of the water and headed home. Derrick and Tish's neighbors Jim and Jackie had invited us over for some cocktails out on their back patio. Jim and Jackie were a riot to hang out with as we all had the same views on so many things, you'd think we had been friends for life. We talked about traveling and Jim showed us his Land Rover Discovery he had built for the trails of Colorado where they used to live. What a sweet ride he has. By the end of the night, a few more neighbors had come and gone and one by one, we were all falling asleep in the warm Indian Summer temperatures. As usual, Cindy and I were the last ones out on the patio talking with Jackie when we finally said our "Good Nights" and crawled into the Sunline. We all kept joking how out of place our little camper looked in their beautiful neighborhood with all these monstrous homes. Then just as fast as the warm temperatures had came in, they were gone. We woke up Sunday morning to much cooler temps and some slight rain. Cindy and I ran some errands early before coming back to Derricks house where we spent the rest of the day in the basement glued to his huge plasma screen. Between flipping through hundreds of channels of Sunday football, Cindy catching up on her decorating shows on HGTV, and me getting caught up on some emails, we did absolutely nothing. Tish made one of her fabulous dinners and we ended the night with a hilarious movie, 'Knocked Up.'
This REI was the largest one we've ever been in. After an hour of wandering around spending thousands with our eyes, we both grabbed each other saying "We need to get out of here before we go broke." We left with our saddles and headed South West. A few hours drive in some very windy conditions and we landed in Mankato Minnesota. We found a local municipal campground, Land of Memories, and set up camp. While Cindy made some dinner, I adjusted the kayaks and mounted them so I didn't look like the true Pollack that I am. Oh, and we got a phone call from my little brother Joe to tell us he had proposed to his long time girl friend Nicole and they are now officially engaged!! Congrats Joe and Nicole!! Wednesday October 10th 2007 Heading South by South West While listening to the local news last night, we heard that the Boundary Waters area just got snow!! Thank goodness that we were out of there when we were. We could see the cold weather blowing in, and knew that we needed to high tail it South before we got caught in some nasty weather. The temps were probably only hovering in the 40's this morning which is just about 30° too cold for our liking.
So I don't really have much to talk about for today. We drove some beautiful roads, Route 60 West, found out that Coors/Molson is going to merge with Miller Beers, which should do wonders for our stocks, and thanked the Gods that we had Satellite Radio to keep us sane. Hopefully we should be somewhere south in the next few weeks, because this cold weather is for the birds. I'm really looking forward to the South West and all it has to offer. Thursday October 11th Happy Birthday Little Brother!!
After too long behind the wheel, we were pulling through the one stop-light town of Cambridge Nebraska on Route 4, when we spotted a Municipal park that had a camping sign. Since we left Minnesota, almost every town we pass through has a small campground in the local park. This makes so much since and really is inviting for tourists passing through. This park even offered 30/50 amp hook-ups and had monstrous cotton wood trees lining the small oval camp. The temperatures have come back up to those perfect fall 65° nights that makes sleeping oh so comfortable. Cindy made some scrumptious hamburgers on the grill and we walked the dogs along the small town sidewalks enjoying the quiet streets along with the beautiful display of stars due to no light fall-off and crystal clear skies. Friday October 12th Our Longest Day of Driving Yet
Half way through the game, she told me how bad I suck at this game. Apparently I was making her run for the ball to much and not just hitting it back to where she was standing. I thought the whole idea was to get some exercise and run around the court. I let her know "We weren't playing catch, and if she wanted me to return it right to her, then go get her mitt." All in all, we had some fun and were both sweating by the time we were done. We packed up and got ready to head out. When we pulled up to the dump station, we were treated with something we had never seen before. Rather then a sewer cap to dump the waste into, there was a grate like what you see on the street. When we had met Jim and Miki in Munising, he had told me of a campground they had stayed in like this, but I had never seen one for myself. There is just something about "Out of sight, out of mind" that a normal Dump Station has to it and the grate thing was really disgusting. You had to open the black tank, and watch everything flow out onto the grate!! Not that I watched, but what ever didn't go through the grate, had to be hosed down until it did. Actually I lied, I called Cindy out and had her look at the mess when there were a few presents on top of the grate....LOL I thought it was pretty funny, but when I yelled for her to "Come Quick" she didn't think it was very humorous to see last nights dinner sitting on top of the sewer grate. I guess we have different things we find funny. I just kept picturing Robin Williams in the movie "RV" and the mess he went through and found the whole ordeal quite humorous. I try and turn everything into a joke so it doesn't make me mad, or disgust me. So, once that crap was out of the way.....Sorry, I had to use a good pun in a situation like that, we got on the road for real.
Lucy, the beagle, used to get out of our yard when we lived in Michigan all the time. Our neighbors had horses and she would go roll in the manure to try and cover herself with the intoxicating smell, it was like a drug for her, her entire goal in life was to break loose of her chain and get to the manure. I'm sure driving through miles of this odor was a living hell, or a dream come true depending on which way you look at it.
Wind gusts would blow us across the road without warning and this isn't even tornado season. Cindy would get mad at me when I would ask for the hundredth time "Hasn't anyone thought to plant trees in this state?" We saw signs stating 'Free land - Must Develop' and we wondered what it must be like to live out here? You go for miles without seeing anything, and I don't mean just not another car, you don't see anything! I've always said, I could live in the mountains alone with just nature. But I know I could never live out here for any length of time, and by length, I'm talking hours. There is nothing to look at, nothing to do and no one to talk to!?! At one point, Cindy fell asleep while we were driving. She slept for about 45 minutes and when she finally lifted her head back up, she looked around and said "Were you sleeping too?" I asked what she was talking about and she said "I don't think we've moved, this is the exact same thing I was looking at when I fell asleep!"
Imagine how much the wind break of trees would create and how much it would change the structure of this land. For thousands of years, nothing has disturbed the winds, if trees and ground cover was to divert the destructive forces of Mother Nature, how would this change this barren land? Maybe driving for 9 hours with only your thoughts to keep you company is a bad thing, but these are some of the things I think about while driving. Now were sitting in a municipal campground on the Kansas/Oklahoma border seeing if we can withstand the windstorm that is trying to turn us over. Cindy keeps clicking her heels together saying "There's no place like home!" Someone from RV.Net forum contacted us asking how we enjoyed Nebraska and it's wind, but I'll say that Kansas has stronger winds than Nebraska since we've been here. Again, it makes me wonder why aren't the empty fields lined with Wind Turbines to generate power and cut off our ties to foreign oil? Just a thought! Saturday October 12th 2007 For some reason in the past few days, our refrigerator has stopped working on the Propane setting? It works fine if we're running it off of 120A/C, but whenever we try and light the pilot off of Propane, you hear the ignition clicking and then nothing?
So we have an appointment in Albuquerque New Mexico on Tuesday morning at the only place that said they could fit us in. Since we had full hook-ups in this campground, and we have a day to kill, we just sat around enjoying the clear skies and warm temperatures here on the Kansas/Oklahoma border. It's just amazing to me that towns like this exist. Every few hours a semi-truck passes through, but that's about it. Not much movement otherwise and nothing really to do. It's sort of eerie if you think about it. Numerous people have contacted us asking us to list what routes we take so they can either follow along on a map, or re-trace them on one of their own journeys. It's somewhat hard for us to list them all, because we just tend to wander. It all depends on what the weather is like, or what we feel like doing that day. One thing is we never try and take Interstates. If you look at a Rand McNally map, the little red lines are the only ones we try and stay on. The grey lines are more preferred, but harder to come by unless you have a Gazetteer for each state.
So if that makes since to anyone, I'll try and start listing some of the routes we take. Just remember if you ever try and follow them, they out of the way and not the fastest way to travel. Sunday October 13th 2007 Up and on the road early, we figured while we're driving, we can keep our bigger Xantrex inverter on which will power the refrigerator and keep the food cold. We've been trying to eat as much as possible, but when it started acting up, Cindy had just stocked the thing full. The skies are clear, so with our digital readouts coming in very strong off of the solar panels, we should be able to keep the inverter running all day long while we drive and not have to worry about killing our bank of batteries. This is when we're thankful for the Lifeline Batteries and their deep cell capabilities.
At one point, a coyote ran up onto the edge of the road, stopped on the white line, looked at us and then took off running along side the truck like a dog would do just having fun. Man can those things move! We were doing 45mph and it was running beside us like it was nothing.
After wandering around Nara Visa for awhile, we jumped on Route 54 West and headed towards Tucumcari. I know I'm a huge advocate of hating the Interstates, but to get to Albuquerque without going through some high elevations, we needed to jump on I-40 West for our Tuesday morning appointment.
With our mouths still watering and the thought of margaritas fading from our heads, we crossed the cattle guard and climbed back onto I-40 to find a campground for the night. A few exits down, we saw signs for Santa Rosa and one of them said Campground. We pulled in and our dreams were even more squashed when Cindy asked where the nearest place was we could get a drink. The woman behind the counter said "I'm sorry this is a dry area!" So warm tea with honey with our BBQ Chicken dinner and we called it a night. Monday October 15th 2007 What a difference just one state can make. We go from the flat lands of Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas and right into the foothills of the Continental Divide. Oh yeah, and before I forget, remember when I said that Cindy had asked the lady at Santa Rosa Campground where we could get a drink so we could get our Margarita we were jonesing for and she said this was a dry area. Well we leave the campground this morning and a mile down the road is another campground that was $10 bucks cheaper and had a bar right in front of it!?! WTF is that??
"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything." - Charles Kurault Driving along I-40, you can see so much cool stuff, but there isn't an exit to get off for any of it. When traveling down the back roads, you see something cool, you can just turn off and find the road that leads you to the point of interest. Oh well, what can you do? We did see a few old churches that were guilt in the early 1800's and a town that Billy the Kid used to frequent while staying in this area.
We drove a few minutes out of town and found a great little place for half the price. Hidden Valley Campground is right out of town, and set up on a hillside with all the amenities. We need to get this fridge fixed and get out of this city life. We've been looking towards Santa Fe, and there are quite a few hikes, bike trails and stuff that looks like it's right up our alley. So as soon as we can get out of Albuquerque, we're heading North to Santa Fe. Tuesday October 16th 2007 Waking up really early to very chilly temperatures (Low 40's) we got ready and drove the few minutes back into Albuquerque to Myers RV Center. Once we were up and about, we realized we had gotten up much earlier then we had set the alarm on my phone for. Getting out of bed, getting the heater going to warm it up a little and enjoying some breakfast, we were both sitting at the table when we heard the actual alarm go off. See my cousin back in Michigan had sent a text message to say that his wife had a new phone number and to make note of it, the only problem was he sent it at 7am Michigan time, 5am our time. So when we heard the ringer go off, we just assumed it was our alarm set for 6am. Don't ask me why he felt the need to send a text message at 7am to begin with, but it got us out of bed an hour before we had planned. We pulled into Myers just as they were unlocking the doors, and hopefully, it would be a quick fix so we could be out of here before being assaulted by the local bum population.
While we were at the Laundromat, Brian called to say it was ready. WOW! Not even an hour and they had the problem solved. We went back and he said the pilot had came out of alignment with the ignition. He also said the whole thing was very dirty and they cleaned it up, something that should be done every six months with us being on the road full-time. One hour labor and we were back on the road with a working refrigerator. I'm thinking we might have been a little too fast to judge Albuquerque. When we drove down into the main part of town, near the college campus to find the Kinko's, the area reminded me of any college campus area. Much cleaner with dozens of eclectic shops and boutiques to shop in and a nice mix of people walking the busy streets. Although I did have a bum come ask me for money while we were doing laundry, and Cindy had one walking towards her while she was waiting for me outside Kinko's, this area was much cleaner then when you first get off I-40. Still way too populated for us, but not as bad as I had first made it out to be. Cindy has found that when someone is approaching her, if she grabs ahold of Luca (The Pit-bull) and says "No, leave them alone" they tend to walk the other direction real fast. Little do they know he is really just looking for a friendly rubdown and would probably lick them to death, but it keeps people from approaching her when she's alone. The Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe If you're ever in the Albuquerque area and heading towards Santa Fe, you can either take Interstate 25, which will get you there fast, or drive a few exits east on I-40 and jump on Route 14, or the Turquoise Trail.
When we got to the little town of Madrid (pronounced Mad-Rid) we both wanted to pull over and walk the narrow streets. This place is as eclectic as they come, and has character dripping from its storefronts. Owned by hippies, artists and people who have dropped off the grid, this place begs to be explored. We had the camper behind us, and really didn't want to take up 11 parking places, so we just passed through planning on returning to spend an entire afternoon in this area. We drove through Santa Fe, which reminds me of another college town. With all its galleries, boutiques and eclectic shops, this to would take a full day to explore. We just passed through and drove straight up and out of town passed the Santa Fe National Forest and into Hyde Memorial State Park. These parks are pretty high up, and our ears were popping the entire drive up the mountain side. We found a campsite for only $14 a night that had 30amp electric, but no water. We signed up for the rest of the week.
These mountain roads are what motorcycles are made for. Tight turns, steep climbs and even faster down hills. I knew Cindy was freaking out, but when you get a road like this, you have to have some fun on it. It's obvious this is a motorcycle destination because of all the bikes that were riding up and down the canyons. The aspen covered hillsides fight for your attention, but pulling over on the bike to take it all in is much easier then stopping the truck and trailer combo. We watched the sun set over Albuquerque and Santa Fe before riding back down the mountain to the warm camper. It was going to be a cold one at this elevation, and even with a leather jacket on, I could feel the air temperature dropping quickly. Wednesday October 17th 2007
Elevation changes the weather
very quickly. I had made a comment to Cindy a few days back about
how certain clouds hover around the peaks of the larger mountains.
We woke up this morning to very cold temperatures and while walking the
dogs, Cindy started yelling
As soon as we got into Santa Fe, the temperature had risen about 30° and was a beautiful warm day. Obviously the warm clothes we were wearing were going to be shed very quickly. Driving back up Route 14, our first stop was at Cerrillos. This little town was once the Capitol of New Mexico and had been visited by Kings and Queens, Presidents and famous movie stars in it's hay-day. Was the set for the movie Young Guns, and Vampires and now just sits lonely and empty. We saw this wild west looking saloon called Mary's that has been in this location since the turn of the century. We went in to take a look, and Mary herself was hunched over behind the bar. This 92 year old woman was still tending bar. I asked how she was doing to which she replied "I'm here, and that's about it!" We couldn't have a drink, because Mary didn't take credit cards. We later found out from a local in Madrid when we said we had stopped in here, that you need to have exact change, as she doesn't keep change in her register either. Something tells me that Mary should throw in the towel and hire a bartender.
Most of the art work is a mix of dolls, kids toys and bones. It has to be seen to be understood, but Tammy was more than happy to explain each piece to us. She sat with her cat right at her side telling us why she had made each piece, and what the story was behind it.
From Tiny Town, we headed into Madrid. This old mining town isn't much more then a narrow main street lined with old miners cabins that have been turned into art galleries and weird eclectic shops. The locals are a mix of Cowboys, Hippies and local Indians who all get along just fine. It was wild how one gallery like the ROCK paper Gallery had fine furniture from all around the world mixed with local artist paintings and drawings and the next might be a hodge-podge of antiques and knick-knacks that you could find in any gallery. From coffee shops to ice cream parlors, this town has something for everyone no matter what your taste is. When we got to the end of the block, we saw the Mine Shaft Saloon. With a mix of rough looking authentic Cowboys and burly bikers on the front porch, Cindy and I looked at each other and knew this was our type of place.
We said our goodbyes and walked back down to the truck. What a funny little town with some very interesting locals. Never be intimidated to meet new people, because you usually find the best stories and coolest places in the local dive bars. We know from experience, our bar was the local dive bar, and everyone who passed through walked out with at least one funny story to pass on.
Tonight will be the first time in a year that we have had to turn on our tank heaters to make sure nothing freezes. Something tells me we chose the wrong campground. Thursday October 18th 2007
Wandering around admiring is what we did all day today. With beautiful weather, warm sunshine, and a cool breeze, we wandered from gallery to gallery fondling turquoise jewelry handcrafted by local tribes, eyeing beautiful copper sculptures of battles fought over the taming of the west, and absorbing some of the local culture and magnificent architecture. Cindy kept saying "If we had a house to put some of this artwork in, I would max out a credit card just in this small town." It is so hard to see such amazing pieces and not be able to purchase any of them. We'd love to be able to buy a piece of artwork from each town we visit, but with no where to put it, we'll have to rely on our photos for when we need to decorate our next house.
We found out the hard way that
not carrying any cash might make you miss out on some cool sights.
We try and put everything on a credit card, so we can keep track of our
monthly expenses, and never have to worry about losing anything or being
robbed. I usually have $10 or $20 in my wallet, but we just
finished up with laundry, and had spent it a few days earlier. We
wanted to visit the Loretto Chapel and the Miracle Staircase. The
chapel was built by French and Spanish artisans who modeled the chapel
after Sainte Chapelle in Paris. The story goes that the sisters of the
chapel prayed for a carpenter to build them a stairway to the choir loft
which had been overlooked while under construction. An unknown
carpenter
When I told her we were going to Santa Fe, she asked if I would take plenty of pictures for her. We found the chapel, but there was a $2.50 entrance fee - Cash. I reached in my pocket and realized I only had a credit card?! Oh well, we'd just come back tomorrow. We continued to wander around till we got our fill of the local artwork; we then found Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works outfitters. I was looking up the best places to climb on a few different websites, and this local outfitter had a few pages rated, with directions and conditions of the local trails. When ever we get into a new area, the best way to find the best hikes, climbs and trails is to stop by the local home town outfitter and pick their brain for hot spots.
This place was loaded with the
latest gear, and a map selection to make Rand McNally jealous. I
actually had to wait in line to get the owners time for him to show me
some local climbs as a few others were doing the same thing we were.
He was happy to sit and go over them with me showing which ones he
thought would be best for us at our skill level. When we told him
we were originally from Michigan, we sat talking about our favorite
hangouts.
Cindy is almost worse then me when it comes to buying technical clothing and outdoor gear. Funny part is, once I found out she was trying some things on, I grabbed a few pieces that I thought would look good on her, and carried them over to the dressing room. I handed them to her, and she laughed holding up the same exact pieces. We keep joking that we're sharing the same brain when it comes to our thought process. With these cold temperatures, she needed a few warm pieces that she could walk outside in without having to bundle up too much. The newer technical garments are so advanced, that they'll keep you warm in the coldest of winds with their wind stopping layers, yet allow your body to breath when it comes to running or hiking. We both really need to update our clothing soon, as most of our gear is a few years old and way out of date. This is one area where we both know you don't skimp and buying the best will save your hide if caught out in a storm. That will have to be down the road, as we're on a pretty tight budget, and these new garments aren't cheap. Friday October 19th 2007 Getting our First Taste of Elevation
I'll say right now that us flatlanders are not used to these elevations. We both needed to stop every 100 feet to sit down and catch our breath. It's not like we're that out of shape, it's just that our lungs couldn't seem to get enough air into them. The dogs on the other hand loved it, and Luca was pulling Cindy up the hill most of the way wanting to go faster.
Within the last mile, the dogs had given up. When ever we would stop to take a break, instead of pulling Cindy, Luca was now flopping on the ground huffing and puffing. By the time we got back to camp, we were practically dragging them. Maybe 3 miles at this elevation was too much for them. We later found out after both of them wouldn't stop licking their paws, that if we're going to take them for climbs in this country, we need to get them some booties for their feet. The rocks here are very course and were tearing up their pads something fierce. Within a few minutes of being home, they were both snoring so loud, it seemed as though it didn't bother them too much. It was still early in the day and looked like we had a beautiful afternoon ahead of us, so we loaded up the truck, woke the dogs up and went for a drive down some of the logging roads. While at Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works I bought a New Mexico Gazetteer and found that there was a narrow logging road that crossed some backwoods terrain right near our campsite.
I was amazed that the dogs were even awake for much of it. I'm not sure if they liked the fact that they were fighting to stay awake to take in all the wild smells of nature, but after one time when Luca fell asleep sitting up and the rough road bounced him onto the floorboard, he called it quits and zonked out for the rest of the ride.
What we didn't plan on was the 2am wake-up call from a coyote right beside the camper. For some reason, this pup decided to sit beside the Sunline for about a half hour and call to the neighboring population of wild animals. At first we thought it was really cool, then after awhile, we just got used to it and fell back asleep. I guess it's one of the prices you pay for sleeping in the wild. Saturday October 20th 2007 After yesterdays hike, we woke with aching calves and tender backs. I guess we're not in as good of shape as we thought. We spent the day cleaning the camper and talking with our German neighbors. While walking the dogs a few days ago, I spotted a camper that I knew was from out of this country. On the Sunline Owners Club website, a member had just returned from Europe and posted pictures of various campers from across the pond. These campers are much lighter, have very different hitch mechanisms and are a few years ahead of us in technology. Rainer and Vera Heise had their tow vehicle and 19' travel trailer shipped over by boat, and are spending one year traveling around the United States. After I got done talking with Rainer, I came inside and Cindy said "You have to stop using slang, he doesn't know what you're talking about." It's very hard to use the proper words when talking, but I did notice that he was having trouble understanding what I was saying.
While at Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works, I asked where the best spot for authentic Mexican cuisine was and all three guys behind the counter said Maria's. Each gave their favorite dish and all 3 said be careful with the margaritas. So we rode across town and found this little restaurant that was so well recommended. With over 100 margaritas on the menu, a list of tequilas taking up an entire page, and mouth watering smells drifting over from the kitchen, we found the place they were talking about. We both ordered big margaritas to cool our throats from the spicy salsa they offered for appetizers. I ordered a chicken avocado dish and Cindy ordered the sampler platter.
Lets just say that the rest of the night was spent cussing the pepper Gods from the bathroom as Cindy laughed from the couch saying "You didn't have to eat all of it you know!, and spray some air freshener" Now I normally love spicy/hot food, but this didn't even taste that hot. Granted I was sweating while eating it, but the flavor was amazing. It was the after affects it had on my stomach that did me in. I'd go back in a second and would recommend the place to anyone, but don't read through the menu so fast that you miss read one of the words. Next time I'll call a cab, and wash my meal down with a few more Margaritas. Sunday October 21st 2007 Make sure to Listen to the Weather Forecast before going hiking Planning on hiking another local trail today, we woke up early and packed up our backpacks. Cindy went to take the dogs for a walk before we left and returned saying "We're not going hiking!" I guess the winds had picked up and the temperature had dropped drastically in the past hour. She said there was no way she was going to attempt a 12,000' peak if there was snow at 8000'. I was trying to talk her into it when we started talking to the German couple again.
| ||
My
family will just have a small service, so Cindy and I wont be flying
home for the funeral, but I know they understand as we had talked about
all of this while we were home a few weeks ago. We were sort of
expecting it would happen this month. So with that said, I'm sorry
if I brought the mood down, I just felt I needed to give my Gramps a
little mention on his final day. We love him and he will be
missed.
I
found a screw stuck in the tire with a slight leak. I didn't want
to be changing a tire in the dark, so I grabbed the plug kit out of the
tool box and tried to hurry up and get a plug in it. While
plugging the tire, I stopped while I was reaming the hole out and
thought, this has to be the worst possible sight you could see, so of
course I had to take a picture. Once the plug was in, we stopped
at the nearest station to air it back up all the way, and found a
campground just as it was getting dark.
We
were both so excited about going to up to Northern Minnesota and camping
in the "True North" as my friend Wade likes to call it. This area
is some of the most beautiful country we've seen so far. The
colors are much different then the fall colors of Northern Michigan.
Michigan has tons of maples which turn multiple colors to give you an
entire spectrum to gaze at. Northern Minnesota is loaded with
Birch, Poplar, and Aspen. These trees tend to only turn yellow or
gold. The Poplar and Birch turn a deep goldish yellow where the
Aspen only turns a pale yellow, but what I'm saying is the mountain
sides look like someone had spilled a few million gallons of yellow
paint down them.
The
next morning we woke up to crisp blue skies and cooler temperatures.
We got on the road real early hoping to take the Gunflint Trail as far
North as we could. This is Route 12 which is the only road through
the millions of acres that make up the Boundary Waters area. Talk
about a scenic road!! Words cant describe it's beauty, especially
with the fall foliage in full swing. We got off the main road and
took some forest service roads which are more like a two track trail,
but snakes right through the heart of the swamps and many lakes that
make up the area. 
When
we got as far North as the Gunflint Trail would allow, we stopped in a
campground to take some pictures and just bask in the afternoon sunshine
with not a sound to interrupt us. We talked with a friendly camper
who had gotten a flat tire and helped air it up for her so she could
make it back into civilization to get it fixed. As we were headed
back, I asked Cindy to look on our trusty Minnesota Gazetteer Map to try
and find a forest road back to our campsite. With the GPS and the
Gazetteer, there was no way we could get lost!?! Yeah Right.
When the road went from forest service road, to two track to running
smack into a river with no bridge, we knew we were lost. 
Much
to our dismay, we hadn't paid attention to the fact that the route we
were looking at on the map went up to each side of the river, but didn't
cross it. So miles of backtracking were needed to get back to the
campsite. All under a cloak of darkness so thick, I was out
driving my bright lights at 30 miles per hour. At one point, we
saw two glowing red eyes in the distance, probably the size of a coyote
or wolf, but before our lights could bring it into focus, it was gone
into the woods. 
When
ever I think I'm getting good at photography, I only need to see work
like this to bring me back down to reality and humble my ego.
Ken's work if fantastic, and he truly loves the field of photography.
You can tell by the way he will tell how each photo was taken, and give
you a nice story to make the images all that more inviting. We sat
talking with Ken and his wife for what seemed like the better part of
the afternoon about traveling and what to expect when we get up to
Alaska. They gave us plenty of pointers on the roads, the locals
and what to expect. Then they recommended a fantastic little
restaurant where we filled our bellies before heading back to the
Sunline. 
Lights before heading home to their house. It had
been ages since we had played our favorite card game Euchre. So
the rest of the night was spent laughing hysterically while us guys beat
the girls in multiple games of cards. It doesn't always happen
that way, so I have every right to brag. 
Another whirl wind of a weekend
with these two, and like I said in the beginning, I need a break. On Monday morning, we pulled
out of Victoria early and found a local REI Outfitters. The kayaks
were driving me nuts with the way they were sitting crooked on the roof
top. I needed to
find another pair of saddles to raise them up level, and knew REI would
have them.
So we were up early and on the
road. Within a few hours of driving Southwest on Route 60, we were out of Southern
Minnesota and into Iowa. I cant say much for this section of the
Mid-West except they grow alot of corn. Corn from horizon to
horizon. At one point, Cindy said "We've seen more combines then
we've seen cars pass us" and she wasn't lying!
Another
long and uneventful day of driving backroads through one stop-light
small towns of the Mid-West. I'd love to say we did something fun,
but I'd be lying. 
Cindy
got some wild spur up her rear end this morning and challenged me to a
game of Tennis at the local courts. I personally love playing
almost any sport, I just don't like doing it with Cindy, we are way to
competitive and it usually ends in an argument. 
If
you've never driven through Kansas, it's like being on another planet.
From horizon to horizon there is nothing but fields of corn, sunflowers
and cows. For the most part, it's very pretty, just very
monotonous, but when we would drive through the sections that held
thousands of cattle, we would hold our breath for as long as we could
and gag when we had to actually breathe. Now the dogs on the other
hand would wake from a dead sleep and sit straight up sniffing the air.
They would scratch at the window, which means they want it rolled down,
and once they had an open window, they would shove their heads out as
far as they could get them no matter how fast we were going. I'm
guessing they were trying to take it all in. We joke wondering
what they're saying to each other when a time like this comes along.
Are they saying "Why don't we ever stop at these road side attractions?"
or are they saying "Mom and Dad really know what routes to take us so we
get the best smells we can!"
All
day I kept thinking of what our pioneers were thinking when they were
traveling through these parts a few hundred years ago in covered wagons?
There is nothing except for grass or grain for as far as you can see.
I know they would have been traveling through the wild grasslands with
hundreds of thousands of buffalo roaming the prairie. How
beautiful that must have been!
At
least when we were driving through the prairies of Southern Minnesota, I
felt reassured that they were harnessing the wind when you would see the
horizon lined with giant wind turbines. Here, along the miles of
nothingness of Kansas, there is literally NOTHING. No wind
turbines, no trees, no houses, no towns and no people. Why are the
logging companies depleting our natural forests when we have these
millions of acres that are sitting empty? Why not plant trees to
cover the empty fields and harvest them rather then let all these acres
sit empty.
For
instance, Nebraska was way too hard to list all the back roads we took.
Just that list would take up a few paragraphs. But once we got to
the Southwest corner of the state, we found Route 61 South, which turns
into Route 161 South as soon as you cross over into Kansas. Route
161 T-Bones Route 36 which we took West for just a short time till we
ran into Route 27 South. This road, or little driveway if you
will, goes from the top of the state clear through to the bottom.
The entire time we were only a few miles from the Colorado border, but
remember this whole area is Grasslands territory. Long empty views
as far as you can see. When we got to the bottom of the state, we
found Elkhart where we are right now. I can see the Oklahoma
Welcome sign from our campground, and we're literally straddling the
state line. 
We
crossed over into Oklahoma and jumped onto Route 56 West. In this
Northwestern section of the state, we were in as fast as we were out.
Say a half hour and we were in
The
first time we saw a group of Prong Horn Antelope, we were both yelling
and pointing while I was trying to lock up the brakes of our fun train.
We pulled over looking at them through our binoculars for while before
getting our fill. After a few hours, we realized this section of
road was like driving through a sanctuary. Herds of Antelope,
white tail deer, coyote, and thousands of cattle lined the narrow roads.
At one point, Cindy yelled for me to stop while pointing out the biggest
white tail buck either of us had ever seen. It was just on the
edge of the road and strutted along keeping an eye on us but not minding
too much. 
When
Route 412 intersected Route 402, we dropped down on that heading South.
Route 402 was just as barren as 412 was, but even better. When we
ran into our next intersection at the small town of Nara Visa, we pulled
off the road in awe. Here was a town that used to be bustling
during the Route 66 days, but now had completely dried up. An old
Desoto sat rotting in an old gas station bay like it was just waiting
for the oil to be changed. An old bar looked like it just needed
the lights turned back on before we could be sitting enjoying a few
Coors Originals it was advertising on the door. Shops still had their
windows filled with supplies, but everything was closed up and the
streets sat empty. Except for the constant heavy truck traffic
that never even slowed down while passing through, this once bustling
town had dried up and vanished when the big Interstate system came
across the Nation. 
This
section of New Mexico is very strange. There will be an exit sign,
but if you exit, it only leaves you in a small dried up village that has
nothing but a family cemetery and a few abandon buildings. This is
what happened when we got off at the Montoya exit. You leave the
exit ramp, cross a cattle guard, and are sitting beside another
ghost town. There were a few homes where workers lived for the
cattle company that had signs saying they owned all this land, but other
than that, not much else.
When
Cindy said "Hey, a few towns up is a town called Cuervo! Ready for
a margarita?" My mouth started watering thinking of a cold drink
to wash down this dry, dusty heat we were enjoying. Besides, it was
getting late, what better place to stop for the night then in a town
named after a tequila? But when we exited I-40, we were dumped
into a few old adobe structures that were barely standing. The
post office was a few single wide trailers shoved up against each other,
and a service station that had a dozen cars up on blocks.
So
we wandered around Santa Rosa checking out the roadside attractions that
used to cater to the tourists when Route 66 was in it's hay-day.
We also found out that those ghost towns we kept seeing yesterday,
Montoya, Newkirk and Cuervo had all dried up when I-40 was put in and
Route 66 was no longer the main road to travel on. What a shame.
Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes I like to bring up at times like
this.... 
We
drove to Albuquerque and right away thought "We need to get out of here
as quick as possible." If you look at a map of
Locals
must not think these temperatures are cold, because we saw people
waiting for the bus with shorts and t-shirts on? Aren't we
supposed to be from Michigan and used to these temperatures?!
Brian, the Service Advisor got us written up and said he would give us a
call when it was finished. We figured we'd have some time to go do
laundry and find a Kinko's so I could get some things printed out
and mailed. 
This sixty mile trail consists
of steep elevation changes, followed by some twisty roads and tight
turns. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the scenery is so
beautiful, it's hard to keep your eyes on the road. The views you
see along this route are what I conger up every time I think of the
South West. Adobe houses clung to hillsides, wide open expanses
with a deep blue backdrop. Mountains all around as far as you can
see, and plenty of ranches, the real kind lining the roads.
I
got the bike down while Cindy did a much needed dog hair removal of the
inside of the truck. Its gotten to the point, that if we put the
windows down while driving, you need to close your eyes and mouth for a
few seconds, as the initial blast of air fills the interior with stray hairs.
When she was done, it looked as if a massacre had taken place around the
truck. Hair was everywhere, just what we needed to attract the
local bear population. 
"Is
that snow falling?!" Indeed it was snow, but if you looked towards
the valley and Santa Fe, it was nice and sunny. We packed up the
truck and drove off the mountain towards Madrid. 
From
Cerrillos we found Tiny Town. Tattoo Tammy (what the locals call
her) is a colorful lady who lives off the grid on the side of Route 14.
Her trailer is set up with solar panels and a wind turbine and she told
us she is celebrating her tenth anniversary of being in this location
this month. She collects just about anything to turn into 'Art',
and has a bone collection that would make any morgue jealous. When
I asked her where she got most of her thing she uses in her art
projects, she said "I'm a collector, I find things everywhere."
She also told us that many of the locals drop things off that she might
be able to use, like a full ostrich carcass she showed us that she was
planning on making into a big sculpture. 
One
entire section was a pile of broken glass. She said when ever she
needs to relieve stress, this is where and how she does it. Then
she uses the glass in other pieces of her art work when the time comes.
Tammy had a bowling lane with a working return, doll houses set up to
make up an entire town (Where the name Tiny Town comes from) and so many
different odd-ball things, that we were here for what seemed like an
hour before we saw everything. 
We
strolled in and bellied up to the bar. It didn't take long for a
local to come over and introduce himself to Cindy and ask about her
camera. We got to talking, and Chris turned out to be a local real
estate broker who despite his biker apparel, was very friendly and
informative. Chris told us of the local history of the town,
pointed out a few of the famous artists who were also sitting at the
bar, and told us of a few different places not to miss. Chris said
he had to introduce us to one of the towns most colorful characters and
called over Cowboy Bob. This 80 something year old cowboy was the
real deal. With years of rodeo riding under his belt, Cowboy Bob
said he had broken almost every bone in his body at least once.
While he was talking to us, I happened to look over his shoulder at a
poster hung on the back of the bar which was a Naked Man with nothing
but a cowboy hat hung on his God given hat rack. I kept looking at
it and looking at Bob thinking the two looked alike when Bob noticed my
eyes looking past him. He said "Are you looking at that poster?"
I said "Yeah I am, it looks an awful lot like you" He chuckled and
said "Yep, that's me all right" and went on to tell us about how a man
of his age can keep his hat hung there for an entire photo shoot.
When
we were driving back towards our campsite, we both looked at the
mountain peaks surrounding us, which were now covered in snow! I
joked and said "Watch, well get back to the camper and there will be
snow on the ground." Remember when I said the clouds were hovering
right around some certain peaks, well that's where our campsite is.
As soon as we started the climb up and out of Santa Fe, you could feel
the temperature drop. By the time we got back to our campsite, it
had probably dropped 20°. There wasn't snow on the camper, but the
peaks just above us had a fresh layer on them. We climbed in and
fired up the heater. Our beagle is so funny. She mustn't
like this cold weather too much, because when we turn the heater on, she
lays right up against it. Cindy keeps yelling at her to stop
stealing all the heat, and when you finally grab her to move her away
from it, her fur is so hot, it feels like its going to burn your hand.
Santa
Fe, 
came
along and built the spiral stairway without the use of hammer or nails
and with wood not native to this area. He left before he could be paid
and no one is quite sure who he was or how he completed the masterpiece.
Engineers still marvel at this carpenters accomplishment and my mother
had just told us of this church while we were home in Michigan.
Apparently
his wife used to live in Michigan, and he was very familiar with the
state. By the time he was finished highlighting various areas not
to miss, I found Cindy in the dressing room with a few new pieces she
had to have. 
Up
early loading the packs, we had planned on hiking the Circle Trail which
actually left right from our campsite. With a starting elevation
at 8800', the 3 mile round trip climb peaked at 9400' and should give us
a great introduction to this area. We decided we would bring the
dogs with us and see what they thought of this areas flora and fauna.
When
we got to the peak, we both sat having some lunch enjoying the never
ending view. I've always said that I enjoyed climbing better then
the coming down part. I'll have to get some trekking poles or
something to relieve some of the stress off my knees, but coming down
seems to aggravate them terribly. Not that I'm complaining,
because the hike was beautiful. We only passed a few people and
had most of the forest to ourselves; alone with just the sounds of the
wind blowing through the pines and our own thoughts.
Logging
roads in 
Pulling
back into the campground as the sun was setting, we were putting the
dogs into the camper when the coyotes started howling all around us.
One would call from a neighboring mountain top, to have another reply
from a far off peak. We sat up listening till we couldn't stand
the cold any longer and called it a night. Climbing into bed with
aching muscles and sore backs from this mornings climb, we knew we were
going to sleep good tonight no matter how cold it got.
The weather was beautiful today
so we rode the motorcycle down the mountain and into Santa Fe. We
still needed to get those pictures of the Loretto Chapel and the Miracle
Staircase for my mother and knew that it was open till 4:30pm. We
rode past and made sure they were open, but wouldn't you know it that
after finding a parking spot and walking a few blocks over to the
chapel, 5 minutes earlier they put a sign up saying 'Closed Early' for a
ceremony. That's twice now that we've missed this attraction.
When they set down my entree, I
didn't see an avocado on the plate, instead, I saw chicken covered in
various peppers and spices that was already making me sweat. When
I said I don't think this is what I ordered, Cindy started laughing and
said "It didn't say avocado, it said Pollo Avado!" This must mean
"Burn your Ass" in Spanish, because although I couldn't get enough of
it, I paid dearly for the rest of the night.