Roadside attractions

 Well we left Show Low and headed to Williams. Williams looked like a neat place to walk around when we were here before. Vowed to return and check it out and so we have. It sits on historic Route 66, "...get your kicks on route 66...). Still looking for Martin Milner and George Maharis in that cool Corvette they drove...


 But before we get into that, there were things to see and do along the way. So first things first, here we go.


You know the words so sing along with me: "...standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see, it's a girl my Lord in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me..."

  A little further down the road another attraction to be found. Ever see the movie "Starman" with Jeff Bridges, mainly the final scenes? We we were there. A meteor crater a mile across is pretty impressive.

carpe diem

Fool's Hollow

 Since we have been on the road for a week it was laundry time. At one time was opposed to having washer and dryer in coach, now quite the opposite. Mary did laundry an read, I went fishing. Not catching, just fishing. We did enjoy some long walks around the lake and park. At 6300 ft elevation those hills get steep. Betty boop I bet your 5k times would be longer up in this thin air. So few words and mainly pictures today, (hold the applause I might be sensitive.)


 A photo tour of Fool's Hollow State recreation area.

lest you think we are in desert just because it is Arizona

Friendly reminder to click on photo for larger view.

carpe diem

VLA

  Anyone know what the title means or stands for? Anyone watch the movie "Contact" starring Jodie Foster? How about X-files? We are listening...

 Well if you don't know by now, I might as well tell you: Very Large Array

 Here it is via Google Earth.

View from US 60

you should have figured out they are radio telescopes

listening to the cosmos

 It is south of US60 between Socorro and Datil New Mexico.In between the mountains is this grassy plain know as San Augustin, therein it sets. We were facing a long drive so did not go into visitor center.

 Crossed over the continental divide at 7789 feet between Datil and Pie Town. Guess it is all down hill to California from here.

  We are currently in Show Low Arizona, a very nice town in the White Mountains. This park, Fools Hollow state recreation area, is very nice. Here for three days to catch up on laundry and chill. Arizona does NOT recognize daylight savings time. So we went from CDST to MDST to MST, very confusing. 5pm in Texas is 4pm in New Mexico but 3pm in Arizona.Will go back to MDST when we enter Utah next week. At 6300 feet elevation here and the air is a little thin.

Valley of Fires wrap up

 They say this lava flowed for 30 years. Now as Dr. Sheldon Cooper would say: here are some fun facts; flow occurred about 5000 years ago, lava consist of olivine basalt which is similar to flows in Hawaii, flow is 44 miles in length and 2 to 5 miles wide, average depth is 45 feet with deepest being 165 feet, surface area of 127 square miles. One heck of a lot of molten rock anyway you figure.Tough growing conditions to be sure. I lack photographic skills, but the following is my attempt to bring you the essence of this part of the Tulrarosa Valley.

 This pretty girl happened to come by so I used her for a sense of scale.

Various shots of terrain and fauna

Found that same pretty girl resting by a Juniper tree

We are parked out of sight behind Juniper in center of photo

  Tomorrow it is on to Arizona. Some things of interest before we get there to share, but that is for another post.

As always,

carpe diem

April Fools

   And we were the fools. Heading to the high country I expected to run into some cold weather. Did not anticipate being in winter storm warning in Texas. We had gone all winter with no snow. The Texas part was just rain when we left. The next 200 miles was snow, sometimes just a dusting, other times near white out conditions. One heck of an April fools joke don't you think?


  New Mexico, the land of enchantment as they call it. What do you think of when you think of New Mexico? Desert, maybe historic Santa Fe or perhaps trendy artsy Taos and the paintings of Georgia O"Keefe? How about lava? No? Well you should, We are at Valley of Fires Recreation area just west of Carrizozo which is just west of Ruidoso. According to experts it came not from volcanoes but from vents that opened in valley floor. Quite a large flow best shown via Google earth. All that black in the center is lava flow. Save the flight to Hawaii to see lava, just come to New Mexico.

And now some views from our front, and back, porch for next couple of days. Goodnight from 5270ft elevation in New Mexico.

Train passing in the distance

  Next stop Show Low Arizona

Buffalo Gap

  We left a day early to avoid forecast of rough weather. As Wise county is under severe thunderstorm warning as I type, looks like smart decision.

 We used to have the goal of visiting all of the state parks in Texas. Well life got in the way and we are way behind. For some reason, even though we drove thru the town dozens of times, we never visited Abilene State park. We can now check it off our todo list. Abilene has a nice museum we had heard about, and being addicted to museums, we visited. Frontier Texas is well worth your time if in the area. Definitely worth the $7 admission, after I played the old age card!

 A couple of views and comments about Abilene State Park.

 We have stayed in plain campsites, screened shelters and even cabins at state parks. Never one of these and these are the first I have seen in person.

 They have seven of these Yurt's. Door locked but we peeked in thru screen and they look nice inside with bed, sofa, frig and heater. Cool/coldweather sounds good, August I think not. Maybe we will leave Maggie home and come stay in one.

 A little more in my ongoing tribute to the CCC's

Built in 1930's but still nice place to sit and enjoy

We saw one very similar at AH Henry SP in Georgia

"Head West young man"

 I believe it was Horace Greely, a publisher in the 1800's, who made that statement to encourage westward settlement.  No plans to settle "out west" but will be departing soon on our westward journey. If you followed along last fall you will recall it was all about the "low country". The land of majestic live oaks, Spanish moss and sand beaches. This little sojourn will have none of that, except it will have sand. We anticipate being road warriors for about 7 weeks so somewhat shorter than last fall. Dang doctor's visits and prescription refills get in the way.

 It might be useful for you to research the difference between "national park" and "national monument". I have as I  was curious, I will let you do your own research. The reason being is that our travels will take us to 13 national parks/monuments. In order of visitation they are as follows: Grand Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, Zion, Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyon Lands, Natural Bridges, Hovenweep, Canyon of the Ancients and last but not least Mesa Verde. To be sure time does not allow a complete and thorough examination of all the things to see and do. Consider it the Cliff notes tour if you will. We spent part of a day at the Grand Canyon some years ago, the rest will be all "new to us". Along the way we hope to show you some interesting sights that are not national parks/monuments.


 This picture courtesy of Google Earth will show our basic path.

 The numbers represent our planned (so far) overnight camping locations. Not real comfortable using the term "camping". Stopping, overnight stays, roughing it smoothly locations as Tiffin calls it probably more accurate, Departure planned for Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on prescription being filled and weather pattern approaching. Next entry later in week from somewhere down the road.