Homeward Bound

We wrapped up some minor landscaping work at Breckenridge on Wednesday before pulling  out early Thursday morning.  It was a beautiful morning as we pulled said good bye to the rugged Rockies.  The morning sun was just starting to kiss the earth exposing a beautiful blue sky and a soft pink hue reflecting off the snow capped mountain peaks.

We headed south through the Hoosier Pass (elev 11,542') which had breath taking hair pin turns and views. The trip was uneventful as we passed the Royal Gorge, Pueblo (ok we stopped for Starbucks), and Raton. As we made our way into Texas, it became evident we weren't going to be able to take the most direct route to spend the night in Lubbock. Lubbock was surrounded by horrible storms- tornado watches, flood warnings, hail and three 18 wheelers overturned in the ditch or across the freeway. We went to the west of Lubbock before working our way down to I-20, threading the needle between strong storms to spend the night outside Abilene. After arriving at a RV park on the east side at 8:30, we devoured a quick meal of rice and beans, enjoyed a glass of wine before falling asleep inspire of the loud thunder and unbelievable lightning. About 800 miles (600 was planned) over 14 hours. Will be soooo glad to get home!

Breckenridge

We left Grand Junction Monday morning and moved on to Breckenridge. It was a relatively short drive of about 200 miles. We arrived at our RV site, Lyle was able to see it for the first time since we purchased it last summer. Although it isn't the most picturesque site in the park, the location is in high demand and we had it rented out all winter long which covered all of our operating expenses. It is the place that we have felt most at home on the trip. We are definitely mountain people. The snow capped mountains and the crisp fresh air are wonderful. We settled in and then went exploring in the nearby town of Frisco. Everything is very quiet here, very early in the season. Kemosabee Sushi was one of our stops and we enjoyed several rolls amongst the locals before going and picking up a Redbox movie and settling in for the night. It got colder and colder and then it began raining although the weather app said it was snowing!

Yesterday morning after going out for breakfast to the Butterhorn Bakery, we decided to drive up to nearby Keystone. A lovely resort area but it was like a ghost town, even the Starbucks was closed! The shops and restaurants all appear to reopen June 5th when the summer season begins. After returning to our site, we did a little spring cleaning. I have figured I have observed 5 springs so far this year. 1. Houston. 2. Norfolk 3. Calgary 4. Grand Canyon 5. Breckenridge as observed by this photo:

Today we will check out Breckenridge and then get ready for the 1100 mile trek home leaving early tomorrow morning. We are worried about all the bad weather not only for the  drive back but for our family, friends, and fellow Texans going through such unprecedented weather. We are so sad at the loss of property but mostly for the loss of lives. Praying for the rain to stop!

Grand Junction, Colorado

The 23rd was a laid back day, it was rainy and overcast for most of the day.  We went for a lovely breakfast at Main Street Cafe which had Canadian content but didn't have the opportunity to figure how/who as they were so busy.

I later had the opportunity to READ...it felt very decadent!  After a short walk over to a local grocery store in Hurricane, Utah, my sweet hubby made a lovely dinner of shrimp pasta.  The other outstanding event was that our new next door neighbors were from California and turned out to be conservative, similarly concerned about the future of our grandchildren and who was going to pay for everything in the future...

Today, after much analysis over routes and weather, we chose to move on to Grand Junction, Colorado. 380 miles later we arrived at a small KOA campground. Not as nice as our prior home but still lovely. After settling in we went on a winery tour. To me, this was one of the highlights of our trip, meeting with local business owners, learning their struggles, who they are, and where they are from. Our first stop was Whitewater Hill, a lovely winery that was hopping with activity. Squeezed in amongst other patrons, we found it the most commercialized of the three we visited and the one that was the least intimate. The second winery, Hermosa, was a convenient hop, skip, and a jump down the road. Much more interesting, more character and fabulous Cab Franc. More rustic as the tasting room was in a converted garage but we felt great affinity with the vintner. An electrical engineer (Dirk has his origins in civil engineering) AND he lived in Conroe and commuted to Sugerland back in the days before he declined fed he wanted his children to have an agricultural upbringing. Great personality, loaded with personality, and loves people!  The final winery we visited was an older couple who had bought the winery 7 years ago and unfortunately and uncharacteristically lost their vineyards two hail and frost during two of those years, a catastrophe for anyone in the agricultural business without crop insurance. We spent the most time with them, meeting a neighbor vintner with a geology background who explained extensively the balance of water wllocation of the Colorado River water rights with California. Stable at the moment but certain to get ugly if the drought continues. Maybe another night here...we shall see whether the campground has space to extend a night, what the weather window is for Texas and whether we face snow in Breckenridge. Having a fabulous time but missing family, especially our Alli Mae!

Zion National Park

Zion is a beautiful park!  We parked outside the park and took a shuttle in (the drivers were much nicer here). The weather is so very odd, the leaves were just starting to bud in the South Rim of Grand Canyon and here in Hurricane, Utah, (200 miles to the north) the trees are fully out, Spring is well along its way. I have been through 4 springs in the last two months. 1. Houston. 2. Norfolk 3. Calgary 4. This trip.  And we will miss spring in Breckenridge as it is still snowing there. It is warmer in Calgary, Canada than it is here right now.

Anyway, we did a bunch of hiking through the park, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, had a picnic lunch, and boarded the shuttle out of the park just as it began to rain. On the bus we met a lovely young lady who is working as a traveling nurse in Grand Junction in ICU. Originally from Florida, she came out here and is making the most of her time here. She was a great source of info for the next leg of our trip. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Grand Canyon 2 and Moving Day

Skipped blogging yesterday so I will combine two posts in one. We spent yesterday with 'The B" hiking the eastern part of the South Rim. It was exhausting, I think we are still struggling with the altitude change (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) but the scenery was amazing!  We stopped at various spots to rest, snack and gaze in awe. We took a shuttle bus to the last spot and two minutes after we disembarked we had the bus driver chasing after us to twice threaten us that she was "calling us in" for bringing a "dog" on the bus!!! We did NOT hide B when we got on the bus and didn't realize pets weren't allowed. Everyone surrounding us were drop jawed at the confrontation and then proceeded to tell us about their bad experiences with drivers!  It was discouraging as most of these people were European and I felt embarrassed by the lack of presenting our best front to these guests of our country at arguably one of the seven natural wonders of the world. We didn't let it affect our mood but we faced a longer walk back to our truck than anticipated as we were now on the 10 Most Wanted List of the Grand Canyon. We finally made it back to The Village and decided to stop at The Tovar Hotel for a light lunch in the bar which was supposed to have an amazing view of The Canyon. Trip Advisor failed me...the nachos were an embarrassment., unmelted shredded cheese, no jalapeños, salsa was scarce, major landscaping was going on in our view, no need to go on! BUT the views we had earlier more than made up for it all!

Today we moved on to southern Utah!  On our way out of Grand Canyon, we stopped at several points along the rim and were most impressed with Lipan Point!  We were able to see more of the Colorado River  and there was virtually no one there!  We are staying in a lovely, mud free RV resort at the Willowwind RV Resort in Hurricane, Utah.  Although we are across from building construction in the resort, we feel like we have improved our position in life immensely!  

Tomorrow we will visit Zion National Park!

The Grand Canyon!

I am updating the blog for yesterday as I lay curled up in bed. It is 28 degrees outside and we have no water...it is frozen. We are discovering that maybe May is a little bit too early to travel north.  We arrived at the Grand Canyon area last night after leaving Santa Fe.  We are realizing more and more how lovely is our spot in Breckenridge. All of the campsites in the Grand Canyon Camper Village (private campground, not associated with the national park) have been little more than gravel parking lots, the nicest being the one in San Angelo. I will include a photo of the current one when I gather enough courage to stir from my covers. It makes me realize that in life you need to look for the beauty and not the ugly. Ok, we are staying in a mud pit, strewn with cigarette butts, right across from the shabby restrooms and ugly dumpsters. The entrance to the campground backs up to restaurants so all of their trash is haphazardly stored there BUT it is the closest campground to the park and reservations for the park were made a year ago and there are beautiful poplars or aspens lining the entrance.

Looking forward to viewing the Canyon for the first time ever and declare it in Ben Rathwell fashion "yup, that is a hole" as he declared when we had suggested a trip here 15 years ago, we promptly regrouped and drove to Disneyworld.

Well, it was everything we imagined!  We drove to the park, got on our bikes and road to various points along the way. The rude was uphill both ways, or it sure felt like it!  One of  the signs on the return trip warned of the steep 6% grade, no wonder we struggled!  The views were majestic!  A quiet steak dinner tonight in "23" and more exploration along the east side of the park tomorrow.

Santa Fe

We spent day two driving. Many, many miles of vast openness with "no cell service". How do people live out here? I like alone time but I think even I would suffer in this environment. We have not had much luck with the weather, we arrived in Santa Fe in the rain, a balmy 36 degrees. We ordered takeout Chinese food from a little mom and pop place that was excellent and hunkered down in "23" for an evening of quiet relaxation at the Trailer Ranch RV Resort which was conveniently located but not picturesque by any stretch of the imagination.

This morning we went for an excellent TexMex breakfast at the Pantry. Afterwards, it was off the the Plaza area. We crashed a Loretto Line tour in a open sided vehicle with great success! Our tour guide was a delightful, older gentleman who was a wealth of historical information.

We later walked around the Plaza area, viewing the Miraculous Stairs in the Loretto Chapel, St Francis Cathedral, and of course a stop at STARBUCKS!  A quiet dinner in "23" before heading out in the morning for Grand Canyon. It is warming up and we have patches of blue sky.

A New Adventure

It has been a very long dry spell of no Airstream adventures...but today began day one of a two week trip through New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Texas. "23" was lovingly bathed, polished and readied last weekend. Today we set out for a stop over in San Angelo. We took a back roads route through College Station, Killeen, Temple, and many other small towns. It is heartwarming to drive through some of the towns to see the vibrancy of the downtown area and sad to see the boarded up buildings in others. But what is consistently strong is a sense of patriotism, flags waving in the breeze, pickups ambling down the wide, welcoming streets. America, the land of the free, I wonder if we truly understand what that means.  Have we grown complacent due to the rich gifts we receive from living in this country? I remember thinking as a young mother that I was well educated in dealing with my children. Time and time again I was humbled (and continue to be humbled). I am afraid the country is guilty of the same naïveté. Enough of my political ramblings but I am so moved by the opportunity to explore, connect and learn more about this country.

So appreciative also to get out of the dreary, stormy, gray weather we have been experiencing for far too long!  A change of scenery, a change of pace, and change of experiences will be medicine for my tired, draggy soul!  I think the photos below reflect my change in attitude already.

We spent the night in San Angelo at a small KOA, nothing to write home about, it was small, tightly packed gravel sites but it was extremely well maintained. The hosts were delightful. The man who led us to our site made me realize that no matter how bad your situation is, there is always someone who has it worse and we should be thankful for what we do have. He commented on the concerns people have for the California drought (which does cause me concern as so much produce comes from there) but he listed off all the dried up lakes in this area due to the 20 year drought. Just salt of the earth folk, I love having this opportunity to experience this vast, amazing country and its people!