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! 

The End

Five weeks of being away!  It has done the soul well!  Am so ready to dive back into life in The Woods!  Have missed my hubby, my baby, my family, and my friends ( and yes that includes everyone at work)!  Am so very thankful for Louise for enduring this trip!  I think the hardest part of the trip was today!  550 miles and so close yet too far from home.... We landed in a campground in Fort Worth which is a generous description. Although the description in the Rv Park reviews suggested something nicer, it turned out to be a park for permanent inhabitants. Not what we had in mind!  We are a bit nervous although our  immediate neighbors seem very nice. They helped me fix the cross threaded water hose when I couldn't undo it.  We disconnected "23" and scouted out a take out dinner from Chilis. It wasn't the best but it sufficed. Needless to say the Princess found something to shred before we got back in order to voice her displeasure with being abandoned for 30 minutes.

A photo from our site last night, which we described as rustic last night and now seems like an oasis! Looking forward to seeing all y'all!

Salt Lake and Breckenridge

We spent Wednesday at the Family Search Library in the heart of The Temple area of Salt Lake which is the largest genealogical library in the world. I found a marriage record that I had been looking for on one of Dirk's relatives and found a Mingling Memories book on Red Deer, Alberta history which I have at home. It was a successful visit and we wished we had had more time there as there was so much material, eager research assistants and so little time!

I still found it very disturbing the concentration of homeless particularly one young couple holding a four month old. We drove up to a beautiful view overlooking the city, the city definitely has potential but needs industry.

The Princess had a full day of playing with new friends at the spa and like us she was ready for some downtime that evening.

The next morning we awoke at 6:30 and were on the road by 7 as we had 460 long miles ahead of us. It was a very beautiful drive, we loved the ruggedness of the mesas especially around Grand Junction. We ate our lunch as we drove and even in spite of our two Starbucks stops and two diesel stops, we were able to arrive at 4 pm in Breckenridge. Definitely the nicest campground of all of our stops and also the most familiar. The only downside was having to back into the site which took a couple of tries as it was the first time I had to do so extensively.

We unhooked, drove into town for a very tasty fish and shrimp dinner and topped it off with a wonderful crepe from a street side booth. Quite satisfied we rolled back to "23", watched a movie called Simon Birch which is a great movie about friendship, strength of character and faith. Bedtime and on to Raton, NM in the morning.

Salt Lake City - Here We Come!

It has been a full day without any photos except one!  We were up at 6:45 and on the road by 7:30. We had an appointment to keep in Salt Lake at 3 pm! The Princess was to be interviewed for a spot at the spa on Wednesday while Thelma (Annie(me)) and Louise spend the day the Family Search Library.

It was not an easy drive!  Shortly after departing Yellowstone, we encountered more road construction. Although the road itself existed (unlike the road into Yellowstone), it was extremely narrow and it was raining!  A harrowing 4 miles was behind us and not soon enough!  I don't know how we didn't knock over many of the cones...I believe there was Divine intervention!  From that point forth any road construction signs put me into a cold sweat until we had passed. Of course when we reached Salt Lake we had to drive through the worst rain we have encountered yet. Thank goodness for navigation!  We had a slight detour to an airstream dealer who took a look at a intermittent tail light and a leak under the sink. They were quickly repaired but while we waited, we received a tour of their facilities. Their building was primarily filled with vintage Airstreams and other aluminum trailers pre dating the Airstream brand. One aluminum trailer was a one of a kind built/owned by Howard Hughes. It was very interesting and the staff were very friendly.

We quickly drove over to the campground, checked in and unhooked the trailer in the pouring rain. After a quick clothing change into dry clothes, we departed for Princess B's appointment. After careful review of her background, social habits and health data, she was able to pass to the next round...the interview by a panel of her peers!  As we held our breath and watched the interview process through the webcams, we soon were informed she had passed!!!  We left her for a couple of hours to enjoy her new friends while we ate lunch/dinner and went to Walmart for a new bike lock. It appears our cable lock would not be sufficient for our location. Which brings me to my observations thus far of Salt Lake City.
1. It is much smaller than anticipated with a population of only 191,000.
2. Of that 191,000 it would appear that homelessness is a major problem. There were so many homeless, more than I have seen in one afternoon in even downtown Houston. I was so bewildered by the numbers that in researching it, articles tout the elimination of homelessness by nice, permanent housing. It seems to me that it has drawn the homeless to the city for the support they may not get elsewhere. How long can a city of this size support such a structure. Nice
In concept but I can't imagine it will last.

The Princess seemed to enjoy her time at the spa. She didn't go through the usual frantic joy she usually exhibits when I am away for even five minutes. A quiet night for all!

Yellowstone 2

Second day at Yellowstone was exhausting!  We drove over 200 miles around the park and walked  everywhere when we weren't driving!  Our first stop was Gibbon Falls.

Poor little Princess walked all the way down to view the Lower Falls and then had to be carried back up!

Everywhere we turned was another beautiful sight!  After last night's quick tour of geysers, we didn't stop for one today!  By the end of the day we were natured out and happily drove back to "23" for wine and snacks. Our grandiose ideas of watching the Yellowstone IMAX movie, completing the drive of the loop, and many other items just was not happening this time. Ready to get up bright and early to make our way to Salt Lake City.

Yellowstone

Only 260 miles yesterday but they were NOT easy miles!  From Great Falls to Yellowstone the roads got progressively narrower. One patch was under construction and really did not even have a road! I never seen such shoddy construction! Down to 5 mph, many times I pulled over to let a long line of traffic by. As we continued, Louise kept remarking how beautiful specific points were but there was no point I felt I could steal a glance even for a second as the road now even in great condition, could result in disaster given any swaying!  She was very good at describing what I missed. I am very fortunate to have her as my co-pilot!

We arrived at a little tourist town called West Yellowstone at about 2:30 and set up in our beautiful RV spot at Grizzly RV Park which was perfectly level!  After disconnecting, we drove into town for lunch and dinner to a pizza place which was very good. Then on to Yellowstone to try to squeeze in as much as we could over the next day. Our first stop was the Ink Pots. Although I had been here before, I couldn't help but be amazed by the colors, the strength of nature (and we think man is so strong with all of our technology) and the vastness of the park. I did get into trouble for bringing the Princess so for the rest of the time I ended up carrying her. We passed a bison as he ambled along the roadway much to the delight of the tourists. We were shocked by the parents who allowed their children out of the car to view him. Not only was he massive but I don't think people appreciate that I is a wild animal and a male at that!  We stopped at the Lower Basin which was amazing and then onto Old Faithful. We arrived just as it finished erupting so we walked around to view other much smaller geysers.

As the sun began to set we became increasingly concerned it would soon be dark. Then just as the twilight began to fade, a gasp arose from the audience as Old Faithful began her show.

It was a faster drive back to our awaiting beds but we still were able to enjoy the colors in the sky and the last slivers of light reflecting off of the river. All in all it turned out to be a great day!