ON THE ROAD AGAIN Since we had full hookups at Mesa Verde National Park, we emptied the black and gray tanks prior to leaving. Besides, we wanted to reduce the weight as much as possible before descending the multi-switchbacked mountain road. We were scared to death! But the good Lord took care of us and we had no problem whatsoever coming down in 2nd gear. In fact, the brakes on DunnGone were applied only sparingly. We stopped at Cortez just outside the park to fill with gasoline and do some much needed shopping at Walmart. Between Cortez, CO, and Monticello, UT, we observed extensive farming operations, including row crop production. High prairies began almost immediately after proceeding north through Monticello. South of Moab, UT, significant rock formations began to appear, along with high mountain ranges. It was interesting to note the almost sudden change in topography today as we traveled north, dropping 3,000 feet in elevation.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK It had been over 30 years since Donald last was at Arches National Park and his memory had faded considerably. He did not remember having to drive from the valley floor up several switchbacks to enter the park. Also, many trails had been added, and some of the formations had changed. Since we had reserved a site in the campground, we drove immediately to the site to set up DunnGone. Unfortunately, it was at the other end of the road, 18 miles from the entrance. Our site was across from the restrooms, slanted downhill, but had an arch in the background. We did not have enough leveling blocks to compensate. We were both hungry for vegetables—Donald prepared another skillet dinner of potatoes, jalapenos, smoked sausage, zucchini, and onions—and we ate like there was no tomorrow.

ARCHES GALORE Driving back almost halfway to the entrance, we began our tour in earnest, with our first stop at North Window and South Windows (what Donald calls Looking Glass Arches).

We proceeded to Balanced Rock, some 54 feet tall balanced on a base double or triple that height, then to Delicate Arch, Fiery Furnace Viewpoint, and Landscape Arch. Photos of these, as well as the entire trip, will be made available via Picasa when we return home. This is an awesome national park, and offers relatively easy hikes. Anyway, you can get a taste of the park from the photos we’ve included here. The campground was packed with no vacancy. Kay couldn’t believe how many campers there were and especially how many tent campers there were. Donald took an extra trail to try to see the famous Arch that fell and broke this past August, but he never saw where it was. Kay thought this was one of the most beautiful parks she’d seen. It’s almost like a moonscape. The sand is slightly pink (from the pink/salmon colored enormous monolith structures) and they are so enticing. One can see why the Indians thought they were people/giants who had offended the gods and had been turned to stone in this place. There was a quiet and serenity there that was intriguing.

GREAT DRIVE Awakening early, we departed about 7:15 AM, filled DunnGone with gasoline and headed toward Mesa Verde National Park near Cortez, Colorado. The drive up US Highway 550 was very nice, four lane all the way to the Colorado border. Traffic picked up considerably near Durango, but eased after leaving the outskirts of town.

ARRIVING AT MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK We arrived at Mesa Verde National Park about 1:00 PM after a grueling 4 mile drive of switchbacks up the side of the high mesa. Kay is frightfully scared of heights and she mustered all her willpower to survive the drive. Going down tomorrow, towing the Saturn no less, will be a challenge for both of us.

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK We set up DunnGone in Morefield Campground, Ute Loop, Site 161, with full hook-ups, including sewer. The site was relatively level, so setting up was a breeze. Kay made sandwiches and Donald collected potato chips, drinks, jackets, and cameras and loaded them into the Saturn. Unfortunately, we both forgot the Federal Access Pass which would have covered the cost of any ranger led tours. It worked out okay since most involved heights and Kay is scared … of heights. We drove to the visitor center, found a picnic table, and had lunch. Following a walk-thru of the visitor center, we did a combination driving, self-guide hikes tour of the park. It is too awesome to mention each and every cultural site, but our favorites were Cliff Palace, Balcony House and Spruce Tree House. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling and is the featured site in most photographs of Mesa Verde.

Spruce Tree House is the best preserved cliff dwelling, and we were able to do a self-guided hike down to the site. Balcony House was the most challenging ranger-led tour so we bypassed the hike down to it, but photographed it from the opposite mesa top.

CHANGES IN MESA VERDE Donald visited Mesa Verde in his “former” life in the late 1970s. Many significant improvements have been made from updating the campgrounds, paving many of the trails, building a new entrance and Visitor’s Center, and vastly improving the park roads. This is a “must see” national treasure.

FINE DINING A restaurant, Tecolote, had been recommended to us, and was also featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive-In. We wanted to try it, but discovered it was open only for breakfast and lunch. We opted for breakfast—Donald had the scrambled eggs and chorizo with potatoes and Kay had eggs over easy with a green chile sauce, fried bananas, and potatoes. It was GREAT; best dining out food on the trip.

BANDALIER NATIONAL MONUMENT After filling our tummies with food and the Saturn with gasoline, we were off to Bandalier National Monument. This landmark occupies the Frijole Canyon near Los Alamos (there were some really weird and freaky looking animals and people walking around the national laboratory grounds there), and contains many cliff dwellings, pueblos, corresponding kivas, and petroglyphs on the cliff face.

We did a short hike around the features that were open to the public, with Kay climbing and exploring, and even going into several dwellings. Though the canyon was over 6,000 feet in elevation, we took it slow and easy with no bad side affects.

AN AFTERNOON OF REST After returning to the park, we spent a half hour by the pool swimming and sunbathing, then returned to DunnGone for sandwiches and soda. Today is wash day as we depart tomorrow AM for Mesa Verde National Park.

WORK! What was supposed to be a day of sightseeing started off with WORK, of all things. Our plan had been for Kay to do homework online using the air card while Donald did DunnGone housekeeping chores. Kay got off to a good start, and Donald had begun vacuuming when the phone rang. Two hours later, Kay had finished homework AND most of the housekeeping chores—either real good luck or great planning for Donald.

HISTORIC TAOS Kay has never been to Taos and was surprised with its storied past, particularly involving Kit Carson. After a tour of several art and souvenir shops, and a walk through the plaza, we toured Kit Carson’s home and museum. He was quite an historic figure, and the History Channel has shown his biography several times—well worth watching. Kay bought some t-shirts and enjoyed touring several of the stores on the square around the Plaza.

TAOS PUEBLO It had been some 20 years since Donald had visited Taos Pueblo, and he was surprised at the number of souvenir shops that had opened in what had historically been residences, and at the lack of poverty he observed in the 1980s. Taos Pueblo consists of the oldest continually occupied “apartment” dwellings in the US, having served in that capacity for over 400 years while Taos Pueblo itself is some 1,000 years old. There is a beautiful stream that runs through the community. Kay bought a blue corn flat bread, something like a funnel cake. We cut it into 4ths and put honey on one, salt on one, brown sugar and cinnamon on one, and powdered sugar on the last one. All were quite good.

RED RIVER-ANGEL FIRE LOOP Following our visit to Taos Pueblo, we drove the Red River-Angel Fire Loop, with the northern pass over 9,000 feet. One of Donald’s “bucketlist” items was achieved when he saw aspen leaves turning a bright yellow with the onset of fall. The drive was characterized by spectacular scenery mile after mile. It was the close of another beautiful day in "the enchanted land". Also, we enjoyed another gorgeous sunset.

LEAVING TEXAS Departing at 8:30 AM, we drove through winds coming across the plains through much of the western Texas panhandle. As we entered New Mexico, highway signs warned of strong crosswinds, however, we found the wind ebbed considerably. The drive was relatively long for us, but with the change in time from Central to Mountain, we pulled in about 3 PM.

SANTA FE The last half hour was spent in Sante Fe traffic that was rerouted because of street construction. Trailer Ranch RV Park is very nice, and definitely doesn’t cater to rednecks. However, we fooled ‘em and got the “honeymoon” site. After setting up, we had a quick sandwich and checked out their showers—very clean.

KAY’S BIRTHDAY AND HISTORIC SANTA FE Today is Kay’s birthday, meaning dinner in the old part of Santa Fe. City bus transportation had been recommended; we caught the next inbound to the Plaza. Many of the Indian vendors had left the Governor’s Palace and the others were preparing to leave for the evening. Mucho Gusto Restaurant had been recommended for dining and Kay chose it for her birthday celebration. Walking along the streets by old cathedrals brought thoughts of what Santa Fe must have been like during the days of the Santa Fe Trail, and Kit Carson’s time here. However, back to Mucho Gusto, we started with margaritas, and tortilla chips and salsa. Kay ordered a shrimp dinner and I had lamb, pork, and chicken soft tacos. The shrimp in Kay’s dinner were bathed in a much too overpowering lime and tequila sauce, but the tacos I had were good. Following dinner, we strolled through the markets near the courtyard,  where Kay received a handmade silver and onyx bracelet for her birthday. After a bus ride back to the RV park, we made phone calls, read and sent emails, and updated this journal.

SUNSET There was an incredible sunset with oranges, gold, salmon, blues, turquoise,and pinks. It filled the entire horizon and made swirls of color even in the eastern sky.

EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE It cooled considerably after sunset, so the roof vents were opened for cool, fresh air. After a good night’s sleep, we were up at 5:30 AM, and departed at 7:30 AM.

PALO DURO CANYON STATE PARK, TX A rest stop was made at a unique Texas rest area after about two hours of driving, followed by a gasoline stop (9.5 MPG) a half hour later, arriving at Palo Duro Canyon State Park at 11:30 AM driving down a 10%, 2 mile grade.

Our site was not the best, but okay. After setting up and lunch, we did a short driving tour of the canyon floor, and returned to the top rim so Kay could get a signal on the computer air card to submit her computer class homework. Returning to our campsite on the canyon floor, I took a long nap, and Kay toured the visitor’s center. After dinner, we did a sunset driving tour, but did not see any animals. The rest of the evening was spent updating the journal and watching television (yeah, we were able to get a HD signal via our roof antenna).

GARMINA AND MELLIE  Oh, yes, we have been using the Garmin GPS and also a Streets & Maps program for our driving instructions. Kay likes the Garmin best, and calls ‘her’ Garmina. She also calls our motorhome Mellie because it’s a Jayco Melbourne.

OVERSLEPT, BUT NO HARM DONE We overslept this morning, not waking until 7:30 AM. This is a bit unusual for us, but after a breakfast of toasted English muffins and coffee, preparations were made for moving on down the road. Hooking-up is proving to be less challenging and time consuming, so we departed at 8:30 AM. US Highway 412 took us all the way to near Tulsa, via several turnpikes. We spent $18 on tolls today driving through OK. Most of the roads were okay, but some were terrible, jarring DunnGone and us to pieces—is this what the roads to Alaska are going to be like?

JELLYBEAN, THE RVING CAT Ms. Jellybean has adjusted beautifully to RVing again. She gets in her carrying cage almost before we start up. She doesn’t like all of the movement of leaving – slides coming in, etc. She does like the RV tho. She likes to look out the window at the woods or animals. She also doesn’t have to go far to get petted. The only time she ‘cries’ is when she’s hungry or needs to use the liter box when we’re traveling.

FOSS STATE PARK, OK Stopping for gasoline (9.7 MPG) and lunch, we arrived at Foss State Park about 2:30 PM. We drove to one of the 3 campgrounds, and it provided tight maneuvering quarters as it was mostly for tent camping and picnicking. A 50/50 guess as to which of the remaining two campgrounds proved bad odds; after unhooking the toad, and inspecting various sites, finally, the third and last campground proved to be worth the trouble—it was wonderful, with pull-thru sites overlooking Foss Reservoir. The level, concrete pad resulted in near effortless set-up.

It was quite windy, but the LaFuma recliners proved to be our undoing. We enjoyed a drink and the picturesque lake.

Donald prepared a skillet dinner, and after eating, Kay read for her computer class and Donald updated this journal. Then it was early to bed.

DEDICATED TO DAD This has been a difficult summer, to say the least. Donald had back to back trips to Canada and the Bahamas, the latter accompanied by Kay for daughter Karyn’s wedding, then Donald signed up to go back to work. He spent a good portion of the summer waiting on “phantom” work which never came. On July 15, Dad fell and broke his femur in 3 different places. Despite all the effort he could muster, he was not able to do the rehab, and his heart finally gave out. Dad died 5 days ago on September 15. This trip is dedicated to and in memory of him. We think of him every day, and will miss him greatly.

DEPARTURE Last trip we mentioned hooking up our toad. Here are a couple of belated photos. After hooking up, we departed about 10:40 AM.

NORFORK, AR, TO NATURAL FALLS STATE PARK, OK Our initial route was US Highway 412 which carried us all the way to the park. A gasoline stop was made at Springdale, AR (6.8 MPG through the Ozarks). At 2:33 PM we arrived at Natural Falls State Park, near West Siloam Springs, OK, setting up in Site 14. After a quick set-up, we hiked to the observation area and viewed the 77-foot waterfall.

This was an excellent campground, with level, concrete pads, water, and electric hook-ups. The staff was great. We enjoyed the new LaFuma recliner chairs, BUT there was a race track just across the road, and the noise was terrible; we went inside.

MORE SAD NEWS! My sis called late to inform us that Uncle Francis had died. Uncle Francis was Dad’s only brother still alive. Now, Aunt Lucena remains the lone sibling out of an original 13. This was sad news indeed—two brothers gone within 5 days. Our sincere sympathies go out to the family, and especially cousin Linda. She was a great daughter! The LOUD Red Neck Racing we heard until falling asleep after 10 PM somehow seems a little less important.

Departure Day Today is departure day. It has been a great trip, and we really like Petit Jean State Park. So far, everything has worked except the gauges for the water and gray holding tanks. We had a leisurely breakfast, a short walk, and began preparing for our return home. The awnings were still wet from last night’s rain, but we rolled them up anyway. Hooking up the dinghy was easy today compared to last week; guess it is the experience! We departed the campground at 10:00 AM, filled up with gasoline at Clinton, and made it home at 1:30 PM; total distance from there to home is 130 miles. We had many “crooked and steep” roads, slow “oil and gas field” traffic, and much highway work. Now, it’s catch-up on laundry and returning to life as usual. This trip is another one in the books! A week’s rest and reorganization and we’re off for the Southwest and a ‘bucket list’ trip to the Grand Canyon!! Howdy, partner!!

A Morning Stroll We’re back to a normal routine with cappuccino and French press, followed by our morning cereal. Nothing is planned today. After reading email, updating this journal, and Kay doing homework, we took a long stroll through the park, stopping by the Visitor Center/Interpretive Center. We met an interesting old couple from Ontario who tent camped several sites from us last evening. They were on a several month trip, having been to Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and southwest, and were headed east to visit some Stonewall Jackson civil war sites, then back to Ottawa. We had an interesting conversation, needless to say. Kay was amazed that they appeared to be doing all of this traveling from their car and a tent in the back seat! She admits she could never ‘pare down’ that low! hehehe!

Petit Jean State Park The park has an interesting history, being Arkansas’ first state park with heavy influence by Mather, founder of what is now the National Park Service. After a brief lunch of salad and smoked turkey gumbo, we spent additional time on the computers. We drove to Cedar Falls Overlook, and it was magnificent; neither of us had been to the overlook, so we believe it is new or at least new to us. There is a handicap accessible ramp/walkway to the viewing area, and the falls was flowing full after the heavy rains last week. We also stopped to peer inside Mather Lodge and it is much the same as always.

Monday Night Football After returning to the campground, Kay did homework, and I watched Monday Night Football. We grilled hot dogs and they were delicious. Then, it began to rain. Though short lived, it was enough to drive us inside where I watched more football; Oakland and Darren McFadden are going to have a tough year, and Kay continued homework!

I now see why she was/is a much better student than I. She has already studied more on this computer class than I would have studied the whole semester. Oh well, somebody’s got to do it! Oh, yes, why is she taking a computer class? Her teaching certificate is up for renewal this year and since she hasn’t taught in the last 5 years, she must take two college courses that would be related to one or more of her fields to renew her license. Technology courses are approved also as they relate to almost any teaching field. Kay is taking an Internet-only Introduction to Computers 2009, and it is certainly taking more time and more work than I think she anticipated!! She does say she’s learning a lot. She doesn’t seem interested in going back to work in education but she claims it took her a long time, hard work, and money to earn those degrees and license and she just isn’t ready to let them ‘lapse’. C’est la vive!