We're in Heaven!

On Friday, May 9th, we snagged the "perfect" campsite in the Capitol Reef (Utah) Fruita campground and we ended up staying there for eight idyllic days! We hiked and explored daily and then in the afternoon, we would return to the lovely "green" garden where we camped.

Camping in a beautiful park of fruit and Cottonwood trees

Red rock contrasted against green trees, water and shade

An historic Mormon farm in the canyon

Deer rested here lazily in the late afternoon shade of the apricot trees

Fire and Ice

We're back! We've been having such a wonderful time, but since there hasn't been a reliable internet signal for Verizon (here in Southeastern Utah) while we were exploring Zion, Bryce, the Escalante Staircase and Capitol Reef, we've been unable to update our blog until now.

Nearly two weeks ago (Monday, May 5th -Thursday, May 8th), we visited Zion and Bryce National Parks - two of the original and most popular of Utah's red rock wonders.

Huge red sandstone monoliths of Zion towered over the Cottonwoods

View from the Zion Emerald Pools "walk" over the canyon

Valley of Fire

Valley of Fire at sunset

Our new favorite park in Nevada is the Valley of Fire which is located near Las Vegas, just outside of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The Joy of Simple Accomplishments!

Yes; finally success!  We now have an "official CA" license plate for our Casita and we registered her at the smallest DMV office in CA - in Needles - a two-person office with no lines (it took about 30 minutes total) and we actually walked away holding the plate.  It's amazing what can be accomplished with the right people helping out.

We're now legal for CA

Walking Down Memory Lane...

When we were kids, during the 1950's and 60's - every alternate summer, my Dad would pack up the trailer and take our family our for our two week summer vacation - usually to the desert to "hunt for rocks."  As you can imagine, it was probably the very last thing kids would love to do for their summer vacation (in blistering hot weather, with sand, cactus, and rocks as our scenery)...but it was our father's passion, so we all went along with him and helped him find the rocks he liked (jasper, beautiful agates, opals, and petrified wood).

Walking in the Steps of the Ancients...

This past Thursday through Saturday, we visited Chaco Culture Historical National Monument in NW New Mexico - north of Albuquerque off of Hwy 550.  This desolate park is located 21 miles off of Hwy 550, 13 miles of which is a rough, dusty, dirt road  (and 5 miles of which is washboard).  The camping is fairly primitive here (there's heat, flush toilets and non-potable water in the restroom), but there's no electricity or water at the camp sites and drinking water is only available at one location at the visitor's center.  The visitor center is barren - missing a museum and historical displays. It's not an easy place to get to and there are few creature comforts there,  however, the peace and quiet of this remote location, the massive surrounding desert, the honey-colored Chaco Canyon cliffs and mesas, the phenomenal number of ruins and the tremendous importance of this Ancestral Puebloan site in its central relation to other important sites in the southwest (Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Bandelier, Betatakin, etc.) make it a "must see" for those interested in "first people" history and culture. Thank you, Betsy (from our hiking group), for recommending this place.

It's been a tough day here...

Holy Frijoles!

For the first part of this past week, we spent three wonderful days in the Bandelier National Monument near Santa Fe, New Mexico (off of Hwy 550 and Hwy 4) and we explored the ancestral pueblo sites there, which were built of stone and mud mortar and anchored by tree trunks into the sandstone rock of the surrounding cliffs. We were even able to climb up the wood ladders to peer into the small cavates (caves) which were carved out behind the individual top floor rooms. Enchanting.  And to think that these pueblos were built in and around 1175 and were lived in until the 1400's.