Apr 8, 2013 - Blowin' in the wind

OK - started the morning with news of a wind warning and they weren't kidding!! Holy smokes - is it EVER windy!!!! It really slowed us down so we only made it to Grants, NM instead of Flagstaff AZ. Went through a dust storm and saw enough tumbleweed for a lifetime. It was actually really cool and a bit scary at the same time. We stopped in Albuquerque for a couple of hours for a break and to do some shopping. We had lunch at a very good Mexican restaurant. The New Mexico scenery is amazing! I love it here but would never move here because I...

Apr 2, 2013 - Payson To Grants

Since roads to Tonto Natural Brige State Park and the Mogollon Rim are still closed, I got back on 87N to Winslow. I stopped to see the "Standin' On The Corner Park"- a tribute to the 70's song "Take It Easy" by the Eagles that made Winslow famous. I also got to see another of Peter Toth's Whispering Giants. I saw one in Naragassett RI last year and hope to see more as I travel the country . There is one or more in each state. The ride on 87 is so beautiful - it is quite a diappoinment to have to turn on US40 and head east. In the interest...

Oct 3, 2012 - rimrock and wildflowers

We said a sad goodbye to Don and Cathy and got on the road to Albuquerque. We planned to stop in Gallup for the night and then push on to Albuquerque Thursday morning. The interstates are the fastest route, but we like the secondary roads as much as possible, so we backtracked south a few miles on I-17 to pick up Highway 260, which would take us north and east, and bring us into I-40 at Winslow. Half way there we elected to go through Payson, and take roads that would not bring us to I-40 until Holbrook. The result was a long leisurely...

Jul 11, 2012 - Grants to Sunset Crater, near Flagstaff, AZ

July 11, 2012, Wednesday Grants, NM to Flagstaff, AZ, Boondocking in Coconino NF across US89 from Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. We had a fairly boring drive today. Stopped for gas in Gallup, NM ($3.31) and in Flagstaff ($3.36). We are going to the Flagstaff, AZ area to visit Sunset Crater NM. We stopped at Sunset Crater, in 1977 or 78' with the kids when we visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon & Bryce & Zion NP's in our pop-top camper trailer. We remembered getting out of the car at a CG outside Sunset Crater to nice cool...

Jul 10, 2012 - Dallas to Grants, NM

July 9 & 10, 2012 Monday & Tuesday. Dallas to Grants, NM with overnight stop in Vega, TX, 30 miles W of Amarillo. It was a bit of a long days drive to Vega on Monday. I couldn't leave Homer on cruise control, sit back, relax and let the miles go by. There were too many small hills and valleys along US287 from Dallas to Amarillo. Every time Homer started up a small hill or coming up out of a little valley, the cruise control would downshift the transmission from 5th gear to 4th trying to keep our speed at 60mph. I had to keep a close eye on...

Jun 29, 2012 - Time to Move On

We have been staying in the Days Inn in Albuquerque for 12 days. This past Saturday we decided enough was enough and went shopping for another RV as after replacing 5 different things on the old one it still did not run right and Ralph the mechanic was going to sent it back to the Ford ($$$) place. We did not want that to happen. We found a 2002 Fleetwood Fiesta, class A 32 foot with a slideout. The dealer agreed to take our old RV with its problems in on trade so we made a deal and we are on the road again! While we were in Albuquerque we...

Apr 29, 2012 - Rope Yarn Liberty, Grants, NM

We needed a day to do laundry, restock food and acclimate to 6500 elevation. The area is very depressed. We are camped at a KOA in the middle of an old lava field. In some ways, it looks a lot like the big island Hawaii. Next to the campground is a series of corrals with horses, calfs, goats and burro. They have a mechanical steer that moves around in a circle. I assume it is all for training. The first evening, 3 cowboys were trotting around a burro and trying to lasso it. It was on a line to keep it going in a circle. It was...

Oct 5, 2011 - Grants, NM

10-5-11 Grants, New Mexico Saturday, we did a walk in Sacramento and then drove to Reno. Sunday, we walked in Reno and spent a bit of time in a couple of casinos. I (CB) won a little and Shirley lost a little playing penny machines. Monday was tough. We drove to Beatty, NV, in really strong winds and three construction sites which consisted of long waits, pilot cars, and long strings of vehicles. None of the roads were "torn up", they were generally painting lines on new pavement. A two lane road with bunching is not a relaxing way to...

Aug 31, 2011 - Another fun day in Grants NM

Some info from the National Park Service about El Morro follows. El Morro is Spanish for "the headland" or "the bluff". "El Morro is a cuesta - a long formation with a gentle upward slope that drops off abruptly at one end. This land is composed of sandstone layers deposited by wind, desert streams, and an ancient sea. Sandwiched between upward pressure from underground forces and the weight of newer rock above (since eroded), the sandstone developed cracks that gradually weathered into the long vertical joints prominent today." "Travelers...

Aug 30, 2011 - Fun in Grants NM

We left Carlsbad on Monday, 8/29, and headed for Grants NM. It's off I-40 which is north and west of Carlsbad. We were hoping for a few days of cooler temperatures. Until we got there, we didn't realize that there are fun things to do in the area. Today we went to the Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave. The tour starts at the old time trading post. It was built in the 1930's along with a saloon and dance hall. The Zuni Mountain Railroad was operating and logging was in full swing. Beer was kept cold using ice from the ice cave. In 1946 it began...

Apr 24, 2011 - Day 20 Holbrook, AZ-Grants, NM

This glorious Easter morning turned out to be another OMG!! day. We departed the campground and headed through Holbrook on the way to the PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK. The wind started to pick up and it even rained about 50 drops of rain. We arrived at the entrance to the park and of course had to stop at the gift shop, where we saw some beautiful petrified wood. Note the colors in picture 4, which of course does not really do it justice. We drove into the park and made several stops to gawk at the large amount of petrified wood. It's...

Mar 30, 2011 - Grants, NM

We left Camp Verde and we headed to Gallup, NM. We drove to the RV park we selected. Well, it was empty, sand had blown all over the sites, the bathrooms were closed and the sites had no delineation. So went to Plan B and we drove on. We saw a RV park advertised on a billboard that said full hookups $17. So we stayed there. Today we drove to El Malpais National Monument. We went to the Ranger Station (it should have been called the Visitor Center as is was really good). We then drove to the San Cliff Overlook and then the "arch". I think it...